The Gift of Not Knowing

The Gift of Not Knowing

We all drift into confusion and we’ve all had experiences of dualistic thinking as we journey through life. We also have an amazing gift and the capacity to realign ourselves with clarity. There are essentially two parts of knowledge, the first comes from intellectual learning through studies, books, workshops etc. and the second is one is knowing through our direct experiences with life. Wisdom comes from the second.

In our direct experiences with life, I feel that knowledge comes from the other side of our ability to sit with two things at once that both appear to be true. Whereby, conflict is the tension we feel when we have two mutually exclusive choices; the tension of seeming opposites seems to reveal the illusion of separateness. The gift of seeing, on the other side the illusion, offers us guidance to a living truth, within our heart, we can be two places at once.

We need to practice feeling comfortable with the tension of opposites and the practice our ability to accept Not Knowing. The practice is to feel with the heart, deeper, beneath the illusion. When things are unclear, not obvious, or the tension between right and wrong is mired by judgment, assumptions, old beliefs, our job is to wait, to endure the tensions of Not Knowing. As uncomfortable as this feels sometimes, it requires a crucial ongoing practice to not act prematurely by naming or labeling what we encounter in our experiences. The truth requires us not to make assumptions, opinions or beliefs in hast. Take the time required for the truth to reveal itself, to surround us fully as we journey within the threshold of transformation.

The Greek word para (beyond) and dox (belief) … is more than simply a paradox of "beyond belief"; it feels more like beyond our current understanding of things. Without the courage and patience to feel beneath the surface of our experiences, and without the ability to trust the waiting process, we are not able to grasp the transformational gifts that come to us from Not Knowing.

By remaining in the space in which all things are true, where there is no separation, we find ourselves in the midst of a higher truth. The practice of sitting with the Not Knowing begins with trust in the unnamable mysterious space that holds us all. The true space of knowledge leading to wisdom. May we all meet each other in the safety of this sacred space, and in the brilliant light of this space may we remain committed to deepen our trust in each other and in life itself. ….. Blessings of love and light, Christina

Time is a Path

Time is a path that, if allowed to unfold, will lead us to the core of what really matters and although for many of us these might be difficult times, in day to day terms, we must let time unfold our tests of courage. We must let the story we are in continue to unfold so that we might live closer to the Divine moment that is constantly forming everything. By letting the story unfold, the mystery of time will keep moving through us and we will be returned to the heart of what matters.

I was always curious about how our different religions manipulated the bible for self-gain and how they made Jesus, our other prophets and God fit in their self-centered plans. It was this curiosity that broke me from the church … and I became a seeker of the truth.

I love Jesus, the man, the spiritual leader and how hard he tried to bring us into God's love, which was already in us, but not recognized. It seems at times that searching for the real message of Jesus incarnating upon the Earth has been a challenge for many and an obsession for several decades now. Yet in almost every religion the real Jesus message seems on some levels to be misguided.

I feel that what Jesus envisioned was a world ruled by God, which cannot occur unless human nature changes radically. In everyday life Jesus’s teachings seem impossible to follow. Our ordinary daily experiences do not permit us to follow the Golden Rule. If we treated everyone else the way we wanted to be treated, there would be no wars, crime, or divorce. If we obeyed the injunction to resist no evil, all too probably the world’s evil-doers would run amok. The lesson of the current times is showing us that change is required. And you know that I believe that awareness and mindfulness are the practices we must learn to meet these challenges.

My writing this morning is to honor the coming of Christ and his story. I believe that Jesus was a teacher of higher consciousness. He wanted to raise his followers to the same level of God consciousness that he was in. Only then is Christian doctrine livable. If that sounds like blasphemy, consider John 10:34. The priests in the Temple wanted to stone Jesus for blasphemy when he claimed to be the Son of God, and he gave a startling reply: Jesus answered, ‘Is it not written in your law,” I said, you are gods”? He quotes Psalms 82 to argue that if scripture makes everyone a god, he cannot be blaspheming to make the same claim for himself. In many other places, Jesus calls his disciples “the light of the world,” and he promises that they will perform miracles greater than his.

Perhaps our own personal vision must come from a deeper value structure, that has been discussed many times – call it myth, archetype, or the wisdom tradition – and Jesus stands as one of the high peaks of that invisible structure. God-consciousness will never perish. Since Jesus once embodied God-consciousness, he is keeping it alive at this moment, offering to teach the way to anyone who wants to find it.

What is consciousness?

I feel that on some level we all know what consciousness is. We can tell when we’re awake, when we’re thinking, when we’re pondering the universe, but can anyone really explain the nature of this perception? Or even what separates conscious thought from subconscious thought? Historically any debate over the nature of consciousness has fallen to philosophers and religious scholars rather than scientists. However, as our understanding of the brain increases so does consciousness reveal itself.

A good analogy of consciousness: Imagine the difference between the image of an apple to your brain and a digital camera. The raw image is the same whether on a camera screen or in your head. The camera treats each pixel independently and doesn’t recognize an object. Your brain, however, will combine parts of the image to identify an object, that it is an apple and that it is food. Here, the camera can be seen as ‘unconscious’ and the brain as ‘conscious’. http://thebrainbank.scienceblog.com/

Jesus was primarily a teacher of even higher levels of consciousness. This view is non-traditional, to say the least, Jesus wanted everyone to rise to the same level of God realization that he was in. Jesus provided spiritual challenges that caused man to see and feel things from another perspective. Isn't this exactly what Jesus was doing in his own time on this earth? Many people from his (Jesus's) own faith rejected him and his teachings because they were too rigid in their own beliefs, and made no room for further enlightenment. We are continually called to grow in spirit, faith, knowledge, and most of all, compassionate love towards one another. It is when we live according to the message Jesus declared, that we deepen our kinship with God. Although it may seem like chaos, this is the awakening that is occurring on Earth right now.

Jesus, while perhaps the first modern human to achieve “Christ consciousness,” was also “The son of man,” meaning he was "human" like the rest of us and was here to show us “The Way.” I don't believe that Jesus was interested in creating yet another world religion … but instead to remind us of our true nature beyond body and mind. To remind us that We are indeed all ONE, meaning each of us is part of God, each of us has the same Christ consciousness within awaiting our remembrance, and to cede that knowledge, that territory to another … even Jesus … might just be the ultimate failure.

Jesus reminded us that any of us can do what he did and more, thus those who imagine Jesus as the sole incarnation of God are surrendering their own relationship to God. But then, this is how most humans choose to live: by surrendering their lives to their spouses, their bosses, their political and religious leaders, and so on. With an “it’s better to let others think for me”, attitude and reasoning. I believe that Jesus was counseling just the opposite: think and BE for yourselves because in that BE-ing is God Itself.

Cosmic or Collective consciousness is defined as:
“As above, so below, as within, so without, as the universe, so the soul…” – Hermes Trismagistus

“Cosmic consciousness, a consciousness of the life and order of the universe which is possessed by few men at present. It is a further stage of human evolution which will be reached by all humanity in the future.”.

Pantheism, is the belief “that the universe (or nature as the totality of everything) is identical with divinity, or that everything composes an all-encompassing, immanent God.”
While the current state of consciousness that dictates our reality still tends to anthropomorphize God in an attempt to relate to “the-all-that-is,” it is through digging deeper and connecting the dots of what we see and what we cannot “see” that we can find what God may truly mean.

God is the creative energy expressing itself through life force, and life force is creative energy perpetuating creation … this is God expressing itself on Earth through the human experience.

We can see God expressing itself on a cellular level hidden in the pattern that connects humanity to nature, as well as the cosmos. If we look to the trees, the sky, and all around us – this intelligence reveals itself through the sacred geometry that governs intelligent design.

Once we identify the pattern, we can find God in all. God is expressed through the action of what we create, and we are a part of this God because creation created us to be creative. God is within, but is also without… and if we look to nature, we can appreciate this pattern through your every breath.

This is what it means to be cosmically conscious, to see God in all, and to be God in all you create. The ONE source is pure divinity, but we are a part of that divinity – we are not separate. Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Osiris, Moses, Thoth, Socrates, Hermes, John Lennon, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Buckminster Fuller, Alan Watts, Terence McKenna, Drunvalo Melchizedek, Deepak Chopra, Esther Hicks and many more… all have lived this concept, but they reveal it through the language, poetry, and music that is indicative of their time and experience. ....collective-evolution.com

Everything is energy and there is NO separate from source, there is only separation through language… humanity’s comprehension of the messages encoded through text and “implemented” through the rules and rituals that put religion into a box of belief. The “box” is an illusion, the limit doesn’t exist… life, just as the universe, all connected, is ever evolving, expanding, and infinite. God truly is ALL, ALL is God, God is the cosmos, we as human beings are the cosmos made conscious, and this lifetime is merely but a chapter in a story that never ends.

The truth is, that given enough time, life bestows its gifts, sometimes in small steps, May we all find the courage to remain open to the mysterious flow that is much larger than any one single event. Perhaps the world we see around us today is revealing, on a Global level, the separation that needs to be healed in order for humanity to Unite as One; as the consciousness of God. …..Blessings of Love and Light, Christina

Unity ... The Oneness of Our Being

It has been stated that out of the suffering strong souls emerge. As the world witnesses these current events, may it change the way we look at the world's suffering.
For many centuries spiritual leaders have taught us that we are one family and that the solution to all of our problems is to live in unity, peace, love and cooperation. Christ gave special emphasis to these values and encouraged his followers to think of God as their mutual Father and all persons as their brothers and sisters.

Although some efforts have been made in that direction, such as the United Nations, the European Union and other - mostly economic - forms of cooperation, we are still quite far from a world in which all feel that they are brothers and sisters in the same family.

This lack of unity has deep and widespread negative repercussions on all aspects of our lives. It creates a reality in which we care for ourselves and those we consider ours and are indifferent to what happens to all others. This is not an effective system, because whatever happens to anyone eventually has repercussions on us all. When others are not happy, healthy and do not have enough to live respectfully, that in the long run, eventually negatively affects our personal reality.

Only in unity and cooperation can we create the systems of education, transportation, health and economics that ensure our wellbeing on this planet. Otherwise, humanity is like a body in which too much blood is moving to one part of the body and little or no blood to another area of the body. Both parts of the body suffer. When material wealth accumulates in one part of the world and not in others, it is only natural that we will have anger, hate and terrorism; especially when the rich continue to use the poor to get richer. This problem has become even more acute now because of television and Internet, because those who do not have can see how others live and experience even greater feelings of resentment. They wonder, "How can they have and waste so much when they see that we have nothing? How can they not help us?"

Only when all the cells in a body cooperate, share and work for the general good of the whole body can those cells themselves are well. The health of each cell depends on the health of the body and the health of the body on the cooperation and selflessness of each cell. If a cell decided to care only for itself and not perform its functions for the body, it would be considered cancerous and an enemy to the body. Only through unity and cooperation of all cells can the body be well and only when the body is well, can the cells receive what they need from it.

In the same way each human is like a cell in the body of humanity whose purpose is to seek what is simultaneously the highest good for him or herself and also the whole. The body of humanity will recover from its serious illness of alienation, discontent, war, poverty, famine, homelessness, drug abuse, and injustice when all humans realize that only by caring for the whole can we actually create what we personally need.

It all has to do with our circle of identification and circle of action. Each of us has a circle with which we identify and are interested in the wellness those in that circle. Some people's circle does not even include their own selves. They do not care about themselves and do not care for their health or happiness. They are self-sabotaging or self-punishing.

Most people's circle of identification includes their spouse, parents, children and siblings. Beyond that circle they are less interested in how others are faring. When we grow emotionally, mentally and spiritually, our circle expands to include fellow workers, people from the same area, race, country and religion and then beyond that to all beings regardless of nationality race or religion. Eventually our circle of identification expands to include all animals, insects and plants - as expressions of divine consciousness - with which we are one.

Christ spoke about this in his parable about the man who would arrive in God's presence and God would tell him, "You did not care for me when I was poor, without clothing, in jail or ill." and the man would ask surprised; "when were you in any of those conditions?" And God answered, "Whenever any of my children was in those states, it was I."

It is imperative that we realize that there is actually one divine consciousness in this universe and that it is expressing itself through all beings, including ourselves. The same divine consciousness that is at the center of our being is at the center of all other beings, regardless of religion, sex, race or nationality. Thus in reality every person we see is actually the divine itself expressing itself in through the unique form and personality of that being. The same is true for all beings.

Imagine a light flowing out from one center through many millions of holes in a sphere surrounding that light. Imagine that each hole has a different film image printed on it so that as the light passes through it, the light takes the form of that image. Those many millions of images then appear on a spherical screen around the sphere giving the appearance of millions of different forms appearing on the screen. All images, however, are in reality different expressions of that one light. They have one source of being and their being depends on their continual projection from that source. If that stops, they cease to exist. Their existence is continually dependent on that one source.

Our bodies and minds are those images that appear on the screen and appear to be separate from each other. But, in fact, we all have one common divine source. That does mean not that these beings are aware of that fact or behave in accordance with their inner divine nature. They may be insensitive, greedy and violent. But in the center of their being, they are divine consciousness - the same one that is expressing itself through us.

Our circle of action is usually smaller than our circle of identification. There are groups of people we care about but are not willing to share our time, money and energy with. Our interest does not result in action, sharing or sacrifice. It is essential for our personal, social and planetary wellbeing that we expand our circle of interest and our circle of action. Only in this way, will we be able to create the material, emotional and spiritual abundance for all - which we all deserve.

This can happen only when we let go of political, national and religious differences and desire for all to have what they need. It is important to let go of our fear of those who belong to other religious and national groupings and realize that they too are our brothers and sisters here on this planetary spaceship moving through the universe. We need to care equally for all Americans, Iraqis, Iranians, Israelis, Palestinians, Somalians, Greeks, Turks, Christians, Moslems, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists. As souls we have no race, nationality, religion or gender. We are beyond all these. These are labels we wear for the duration of our life here on earth. We need to overcome these and care equally for all.

This oneness of our being has been verified on many levels. Spiritual teachings clearly indicate that there is one divine consciousness expressing itself through all beings. We are one spirit. On a physical level, we are physically literally one with all around us. It is only our mind that creates the illusion of separateness, and the resulting fear and self-centeredness. Cooperation between countries, religions, political systems and all varieties of people is the solution to all of our problems. .....Love, Light and Blessings, Christina

Thoughts, Wishes, Affirmations, and Prayers

Thoughts, Wishes, Affirmations, and Prayers

“All that you behold, tho’ it appears Without, it is Within / in your imagination, of which this World of Mortality is but a Shadow” ….William Blake. This quote reminds us of the power living within each of us every moment of every day.

The experience of affirmations is a perfect example of how the power of thought works. Sometimes we repeat them hundreds and even thousands of times. Some make sticky notes and attach them on mirrors, dashboards, framing them all around them. When my friends’ affirmations seemed to fail, I’d ask them why? What do they believe is the reason for the failure? I found a common thread that connected each explanation. It seemed that the person reciting the affirmation was doing little other than reciting the words --- there was no emotion underlying them. We have to fuel the affirmation with the power of our love, as if it is already accomplished; I sometimes call this praying inside out and upside down, whereby we give gratitude for the new condition to become real in our lives. I believe this is the key to success with affirmations and what sets one apart from a wish and an empty thought.

A thought is simply an image in our minds of what is possible or what could become in any situation. Without the energy of the love or fear that fuels our thought, it has little power and remains just what it is…..the thought alone is not enough to instigate a change or an outcome. Simply hoping, wishing, or saying that something is successful has little effect upon the actual situation. In these experiences we haven’t arrived at the belief … the certainty that comes from acceptance … the certainty of what we think is true, coupled with what we feel is true in our body….this is what makes a wish a reality.

A thought that is imbued with the power of emotion produces a feeling that brings it to life. When this happens we have created an affirmations as well as a prayer. Both are based in feeling….and more precisely, in feeling as if the outcome has already happened. The clearer and more specific we are, the greater the opportunity for a successful result. This is why the words, “feeling is the prayer” are so powerful. With an absolute knowing that all is well and through gratitude for what has already occurred. We create the changes in life that already mirror our feeling.

“Reality exists only where the mind creates a focus” and all that we experience, Tho’ it appears Without, it is Within, then clearly our beliefs are the programs that determine our experience. It is the power of our belief that creates the actual fact and for that reason it may also be one of the most difficult places to make a change. When we really believe something we have a feeling about it….an instinct or a gut reaction. The key to change is that our belief registers with us on such a deep level. We can begin by exploring our own beliefs, our own unique and personal programming; here we will be able to see precisely, how our inner experiences shape our outer world. ......Love and blessings, Christina

The Nature of Our Patterns

The Nature of Our Patterns

All too often man ignores the wisest command ever given by a sage, the famous “Know Thyself” inscribed in the temple of Delphi.

So much of living a full and happy life is about knowing ourselves, and both the forming and the breaking of patterns is a lifelong learning practice. On the path to higher levels of understanding who we are, our inner work requires us to discern the patterns that are shaping our lives; which ones sustain us and which ones no longer benefit us, and which ones might we want to create. As we delve into what it means to live with patterns, we need look no further than the story of our own lives waiting to unfold. We need to be clear that most often there is a constant tension as we are continuously creating patterns to make sense of our lives and then become aware of those that no longer fit with who we are becoming. The goal is not to eliminate the tension, in fact that is impossible because we are always forming, sustaining and breaking down patterns, always being born again, living and dying in some form. The tension is helpful in revealing the patterns and learning how to hold onto those which sustain life.

Upon examining the nature of our patterns, we need to discern the healthy ones, those that we practice mindfully from the unhealthy ones of our habitual routines. What we can do is practice the art of softening our habitual routines back into mindful and meaningful practices. The rigid, sharp edged ones need to be soften or broken so our hearts can be at peace. This softening and breaking of patterns is not about eliminating our humanness, not about eliminating our want to be loved; it is about curbing the stubborn ways we hurt and disrespect ourselves to get that love. So often we go looking for our self where we are not.

It is not helpful to label our patterns as good or bad and then try to rid ourselves of them. The aim is not to make ourselves pure and one-sided in our aliveness, but to be authentically our self, learning what our strengths and weaknesses are. It’s about learning how to live in the rhythm of being human and to celebrate our self as the magical imperfect vessel of Spirit that we are. We self-realize because the self is the only way through which we can experience life and our place in the world. What actually saves us from our self and our patterns is the power of our own honest gaze. Self-reflection is a tool we can use to cleanse and become our transparent self, the one who feels both aliveness and pain, the self that feels everything that moves us through life.

Life is role playing, we wrote the story and now we need to study the script and do the work of endless rehearsals when our patterns keep revealing themselves to us, learning the lessons we came here to learn. Patterns are like this, until the lesson is learned, they are automatically repeating themselves, often without our even knowing. Every day, we are offered many chances to practice seeing our patterns simply by being in relationship to the many forms of life that feed us, that mirror us and connect us. As with many things that matter in life, we must know ourselves, we must face life despite the countless distraction and obstacles, and our patterns as life is our journey.

Through humility and awe, as we continue our inner work of seeing and transforming our patterns, we find ourselves living a more curious journey, perhaps even a journey back to innocence, back to the beginning. The closer we get to the truth and beauty of who we are, the more truthful and beautiful we become. As we move through the distractions and obstacles, reconfiguring our habitual patterns we become clear vessels and it becomes easier to merge with the rhythm of All that is. It is here where we discover a curious law of inner alchemy; the closer we get to the light, the more fully we become the light and it is in this moment we find out once and for all, who we are. ….Blessings and Love, Christina