LIVING in BALANCE from PURE AWARENESS

LIVING in BALANCE from PURE AWARENESS

I have written before that the mind is not free to be happy. However, there is nothing wrong in seeking happiness as a goal. In fact, this will all allow us to create the situations, pleasant and unpleasant, which will eventually push us towards the real purpose of life. Our efforts for self-improvement or spiritual growth can be a source of anxiety, disappointment, fear of failure and greed for results; or they can be an enjoyable game of hide and seek with our true Self in which at some point we will get tired and stop, and It will appear from Its hiding place within us.

There is the inner work to be done and if we do not make any and/or continuous efforts towards self-improvement or spiritual growth, we will remain stagnant. If we make these efforts we will have many successes such as health, vitality, a more positive and effective mind, greater creativity and many other benefits. But we will still be living in the ignorance of our programmed minds. We are still identified with the ego. The ego might temporarily be having a happier and more positive life, but it is not free and we have not arrived at theosis, ... according to Orthodox Christian thought, man’s life purpose is divinization or theosis … “we are each destined to become a god; to be like God Himself, to be united with Him.” To acquire the likeness is to be deified, it is to become a ‘second god’, a “god by grace’. ‘I said, you are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High’ (Psalm 1xxxi, 6).”

The ego will never actually be enlightened. Enlightenment is simply the realization that we are not the ego, that we are not the body and the mind. There is no personality that will be enlightened, we will simply stop identifying with the personality and become the unlimited observer and essence -witness of all. Of course, the personality can be greatly improved and embody, to a certain extent, all of the divine virtues, but the perfection of those virtues can come only when we are no longer identified with the body and mind, and their fears.

There is duality in everything and here is that pesky duality in this experience. If we make no effort, we have no results, and if we make an effort it may just magnify our ego. Every effort made by the ego to improve its life, strengthens its hold. For example; if I meditate in order to become enlightened, I am meditating from the ego which is waiting to be enlightened. It will never happen. If I am doing selfless service in order to get into heaven, then I am doing it for selfish reasons and am locked in my ego. If I wake early and pray so that God will take care of my material life, I am verifying that I am only this body, and also that God does not know what is best for me. Perhaps our meditation should be like walking in nature or watching an enjoyable theatrical production. We are not thinking about what we will gain or how this will help us. Nor are we looking for results as we walk or watch, we are simply fascinated by and enjoying what we see. The Balance is not to give up the effort; it is to enjoy it and have total faith that the results are perfect. Again, we will need to remind ourselves that we are not the ones who are making the effort, but that we are the witness of the effort.

To live a life in Balance we must realize that our Divinity is dependent on arriving at perfect inner peace. This peace can be achieved only through realizing ultimate truth and unconditional love. We can manifest truth and love only when we are free from fear. We can be free from fear only when we realize that we are not the ego who is seeking in the first place. But that realization must be experiential and not intellectual. We will need to see through the false sense of identification, pass through the physics class of nonduality. From this intellectual place, we will know that we are not an object-observer or experiencer and while the mind might be satisfied, the heart still longs for more, it remains unsatisfied.

Living a life in Balance is living from Pure Awareness; knowing that "The Kingdom of Heaven is Within." We cannot read, hear, watch, or think our way to the experience of it. However powerfully evocative, these will only bring us to the frontiers of our personal process of discovery. We cannot come to the experience by reading a description, however profound and articulate, or looking at photos, however beautiful. Pure Awareness, is only experienced when all that appears ceases, including the experiencer-perceiver. We will need to remember, to reminding one's self, and re-concluding, again and again, the concept, that “All there is, is Consciousness.” It is here that we will know the experience of dissolution and bliss that comes when the mind has been liberated and the heart of the I AM being has been illuminated from within.

May we all live our lives in perfect Balance from Pure Awareness, accepting and loving all aspects of one’s self and of creation. May we become the witness to all that is happening within and without and remember that all is divine. May we be curious and amused by the fantasies and fears of the mind, with no need to act upon them, if we realize that they will bring harm to us or others. May we simply be the watcher, accepting all, loving all and allow all to pass into the nothingness from which it came. ……blessings and love Christina

“Neurons that Fire Together Wire Together.”

There’s an old saying in neuroscience: “neurons that fire together wire together.”

This means the more you run a neural-circuit in your brain, the stronger that circuit becomes. This is why, to quote another old saying, “practice makes perfect”. The more you practice piano, or speaking a language, or juggling, the stronger those circuits get.

Scientists have known this for years. However, nowadays researchers learn another part of the truth: In order to learn something, even more important than practicing is the ability to unlearn, or to break down the old neural connections. This is called “synaptic pruning”.

This is How it Works

Imagine your brain is a garden, except instead of growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables, you grow synaptic connections between neurons. These are the connections that neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, and others travel across.

“Glial cells” are the gardeners of your brain—they act to speed up signals between certain neurons. But other glial cells are the waste removers, pulling up weeds, killing pests, raking up dead leaves. Your brain’s pruning gardeners are called “microglial cells.” They prune your synaptic connections. The question is, how do they know which ones to prune?

Researchers are just starting to unravel this mystery, but what they do know is the synaptic connections that get used less get marked by a protein, C1q (as well as others). When the microglial cells detect that mark, they bond to the protein and destroy—or prune—the synapse.

This is how your brain makes the physical space for you to build new and stronger connections so you can learn more.

This is Why Sleep Matters

Your brain cleans itself out when you sleep!
Have you ever felt like your brain is full, usually when you learn something new, or start a new job or a hobby? Well, it may just be.

When you learn lots of new things, your brain builds connections, but they’re inefficient, ad hoc connections. Your brain needs to prune a lot of those connections away and build more streamlined, efficient pathways. It does that when we sleep.

When you sleep your brain cells shrink by up to 60% to create space for your glial gardeners to come in and take away the waste. That’s how they prune the synapses.

Have you ever woken up from a good night’s rest and been able to think clearly and quickly? That’s why. It’s like running fragmentation on your computer.

This is the same reason naps are so beneficial to your cognitive abilities. A 10 or 20 minute nap gives your microglial gardeners the chance to come in, clear away some unused connections, and leave space to grow new ones.

Thinking with a sleep-deprived brain is like hacking your way through a dense jungle with a machete. It’s overgrown, slow-going, exhausting.

Thinking on a well-rested brain is like wandering happily through Central Park; the paths are clear and connect to one another at distinct spots, the trees are in place, you can see far ahead of you. It’s invigorating.

This is How You Can Control What Gets Deleted from the Brain

It’s the synaptic connections you don’t use that get marked for recycling. The ones you do use are the ones that get watered and oxygenated. So be mindful of what you’re thinking about.

If you spend too much time reading theories about the end of “Game of Thrones” and very little on your job, guess which synapses are going to get marked for recycling?

If you’re in a fight with someone at work and devote your time to thinking about how to get even with them, and not about that big project, you’re going to wind up a synaptic superstar at revenge plots but a poor innovator.

What you focus on prevails! You literally craft your own mind by choosing what you pay attention towards.

Of course, you can hardly control what happens to you throughout your day, but you can control how much it affects you. To be more specific, you can choose WHAT affects you and construct your own neural connections.

Instead of focusing on things that hold you back, focus on things that make you a better human being. Instead of imagining scenarios that will most likely never happen, meditate. Clear your mind. Bring your mind to the now and use your mental energy toward things that benefit you.

It really is a game of strategy. You need to smartly use your mind, to be smart. Resisting the temptation of things that don’t benefit you, that’s what makes you smart.

In order to delete something, simply, stop thinking about it. Even when you are reminded, change your focus and attention. Sooner or later it will get marked for recycling.  ....Love and Light, Christina

Experience Peace with Unconditional Love

We are living in chaotic times, our world is suffering, continuous moments of powerless and feelings of injustice. The condition of the outer world at the present time is such that those who sincerely seek the light and want the constructive way of life must have more than human help if they are to survive over the present period of chaos which is the accumulated discord generated by the collective humanity en masse through the centuries, and which is pressing heavily upon the outer experience of individuals and our world today.

Last night I attended a concert by Loreena Mckennitt and it was a eye opener for me. Her presentation of songs, poetry and journal readings were of a time in Ireland of the great famine. A time when 2 million people died of starvation and another 2 million immigrated to Canada. I was deeply touched by these moments of our history and it brought to mind many other such tragedies in our past as a collective human society. Going deeper, perhaps the gift of recent election results in America is a map, an indicator of where we are in our human evolution ... a wake up call ... to seeing and accepting responsibility for our history. Acceptance and taking collective responsibility for our current human society is truly a prerequisite for change and a call to action from the heart. Herein lies the gift of the experience.

Our earth and its humanity are well into the "I AM" age and nothing will bless us as individuals to so great a degree as the conscious understanding of this creative word. The "I Am” or “Divine Presence" within is likened unto the pit or seed of a peach; the thought-world around it unto the pulp of the peach. The pulp represents not only the thought-world created by the individual and the collective but also the universal all that is; ever present, waiting to be acted upon by the conscious determination of all of us. Without the seed of "I AM" we are rendered helplessly blind to find our way through.

What do you believe will happen, if we all committed to eliminate egotism, selfishness and all negative acts that have been causing pain and suffering to others? What if we loved each other and no longer placed responsibility for our feelings and will power on anyone on the outside? Just creating intention to all these areas would fill our heart with love and unity, connecting us to our higher consciousness, our I Am.”

It is a privilege and honor of every being at this time to call in the
"I AM Presence," with all earnestness and love to these great ones who have come before us, to protect our countries, their government and all their people, to illumine all officials of all governments, to perfect all within their borders, and to compel obedience everywhere unto the Light of God that never fails.

In the Fullness of My Love, I believe we can co-create a new reality, one of unity, peace and joy for all and to the world and may this time of awakening be unparalleled in its happiness and joy to mankind......Love, light and blessings Christina

The Most Direct Path to Fulfillment

Through the consciousness of selflessness we realize, perhaps for the first time as a species, that it is our responsibility to proactively participate in this realignment. Many of us no longer accept our society and it’s ills as a given; and many are becoming proactive, social co-creators and the social potential movement is awakening.

As we gain deeper alignment with the patterns of creation, we sadly see a world that is out of alignment. We see systems are breaking down, causing misery, alienation and violence all around us. This seeming breakdown might be a natural process from the point of view that we are undergoing a birth process…The birth of Venus. Just as the systems of biological organisms, designed for the old phase of development, they seem to be inadequate for this new phase and must re- pattern themselves.

Perhaps it is a matter of timing. Perhaps it was not possible to create harmonious societies on any large scale, beyond the relatively peaceful tribal communities, until we experienced the events of the last decades…..just as it is not possible for the fetus to get up and walk. Perhaps the great visions of new ways of being could not have been realized until we passed through the events we are still undergoing. And perhaps our preferred visions of a co-operative, selfless society could not come true until we had matured to the next stage of our evolution, the awakening process we are undergoing now.

For example, most of us were stuck in the belief of Newtonian physics. Perhaps we needed to understand what Quantum physics tells us; that all physical beings and objects come forth from one field of energy and subatomic particles; we are one energy and one matter. It is only our mind that creates the illusion of separateness, and the resulting fear and self-centeredness. On a physical level, if we examine ever more deeply into the nature of our physical existence we will discover, as scientists have, that in fact there is one field of energy and particles from which we are physically made. If we could see the subatomic particles that constitute our physical body and the physical environment in which it exists, we would not be able to distinguish between our bodies, the air around them and the other beings and objects surrounding us. It is all one implicate field of energy and matter. We are physically literally one with all around us. 
Our goal cannot be to return to the past, nor can it be to move forward to a future that is more of the same. When we understand our evolutionary potential and awaken to our emerging social and spiritual capacities to fulfill an evolutionary change; society will be activated with excitement and hope as creative possibilities call forth potential. Many of us are seeing this now.

The profit centered, self-centered capitalism also fails as a worldview guide to us; we see the spread of poverty, damage to the environment, and massive power in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals and global corporations. Unconsciousness directed our collective actions in the past, often without our knowing consent.

I can think of no finer lens to see the world through than this current movement towards conscious evolution currently expanding on our horizon I see humanity moving towards a higher dimension of life itself. I believe in perfect timing for everything in the universe and that we are being guided towards a more just, peaceful, loving and regenerative world. A vital aspect of that vision are the selfless acts of feeding the hungry, healing the sick, stopping the violence, and freeing the world of poisonous toxins. The most direct path to fulfillment is the practice selflessness....Love and Light Christina

What is Imagination?

What is Imagination?

Imagination is the quality that outdoes reality; any kind of reality. Imagination is the infinite road.

Consciousness wants to create new consciousness, and it can.

Imagination is how it does it. If there were some ultimate state of consciousness, imagination would always be able to play another card and take it further.

In any area of life, and especially when it comes to mind, perception, power, empathy, and so on, there is always a status quo. It’s the place where a person says; Well, that’s enough. I’ll settle for what I have. I’ll stop here.”

Sooner or later, this leads to boredom, frustration, problems and conflict. It leads to decline.

Imagination, which knows no bounds, is the source for the most adventurous explorations.

It can have a great impact on the material world, of course, but one mustn’t conclude it is composed of matter or energy.

Imagination is non material. To think otherwise winds you up in using some form of physics to depict imagination and then you are imposing limits on it. This is an error. Imagination doesn’t obey any laws of physics.

If imagination is the sincerest form of flattery, we’ve flattered reality enough. It doesn’t need any more. Imagination creates new realities.

You can create the same thing over and over, and eventually you’ll be about as alive as a table. Inject imagination into the mix, and everything suddenly changes. You can steer that boat anywhere you want to. You can build worlds.

The lowest common denominator of consensus implies an absence of imagination. Everyone agrees; everyone is bored; everyone is obedient. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are massive floods of unique individual creation, and then that sought-after thing called abundance is as natural as the sun rising in the morning.

Sitting around in a cosmic bus station waiting for reality is what reality is. Everything else is imagination.

There are those who believe life is a museum. You walk through the rooms, find one-painting, stroll into it and take up permanent residence. But the museum is endless. If you were a painter, you’d never decide to live inside one of your canvasses forever. You’d keep on painting.

The relentless and obsessive search for all those things on which we can agree is a confession of bankruptcy.

When we re-learn to live through and by imagination, we enter and invent new space and time. But space and time aren’t superior forces. They come into being when we turn on the tap of imagination.

With imagination, one can solve a problem. More importantly, one can skip ahead of the problem and render it null and void.

There are a billion murals on a billion walls, and a person chooses one and falls down before it and devotes him/herself to it. He/She spends a thousand years trying to decipher it. So be it. This isn’t imagination.

Imagination isn’t a system. It might invent systems, but it is non-material. It’s a capacity. It feels no compulsion to imitate reality. It makes realities. Its scope is limited only by a person’s imagining of how far imagination can go.

The human race is obsessed by the question: What exists? It appears to be a far easier question than: What do you want to imagine? This comparison explains why civilizations decline.

Imagination is a path. Walking on the path long enough, you find the answers to all the questions you’ve ever asked. You all find the power that people dream of.

May your Hearts be filled with Love, Health, Happiness, and Joy. May you be surrounded by Peace and Harmony.and may your Spirits be guided toward the Light of Wisdom. ....... Many blessings and much love….Christina Reeves