The Everyday Mystic

Christmas Eve is magic.  Millions of people around the world are turning their thoughts to peace, hope and love tonight and the combined energy of those hearts and minds alone makes this night holy.  Ancient legend says that on Christmas Eve, animals talk to humans, sharing their wisdom. It is time to plug into the power of the soul world tonight and draw down some wisdom for you.

From my heart to yours, here is a Christmas Eve meditation. 

Mindfully light a candle, preferably white, and place it in front of you. Sit comfortably, with back straight and feet on the ground, or on a meditation cushion or bench. Soften your belly. Gently close your eyes. Take several deep, long breaths to relax your body. Quiet your mind by focusing on the breath for several moments. Let go of any tension in the body – relax your leg muscles, your stomach, your shoulders, your face.

When you feel centered and relaxed, imagine that it is night time and you are walking up a wooded path that gently slopes upward toward the top of a hill.  It is a chilly night, but the climb and your warm clothes keep you warm on the inside. You are carrying a lantern that casts a gentle but powerful light, so that you can see clearly the path in front of you and the trees that seem to hug the side of the smooth path you walk.  You can’t see where you are going but you keep on, knowing that the climb will be worthwhile and you will be richly rewarded for your efforts.  Imagine your slow but steady steps as you climb the hill. Take in the beauty of the safe, still night as you breathe deeply of the forest’s clean, crisp air.

With one more step, you erupt through the woods and arrive at the top of the hill.  There is a beautiful wooden bench there, waiting to provide you rest after your long climb.  Sit on the bench and rest for a few moments, giving thanks for the climb.  When you are ready, look up and search the night sky.  Do you see a particularly bright star in the eastern sky?  Focus on it for a moment, and appreciate its beauty.  As you gaze at the wondrous star, ask yourself the following questions and listen intently to the wisdom that comes to you, either through your knowing, your hearing, your sight or your feeling:

• What am I grateful for this Christmas Eve?  What blessings can I appreciate?
• What are my visions for myself and my loved ones?  What good do I wish to manifest in my life during the coming year?
• What are my hopes for this earth and all my sisters and brothers on it?  What are my blessings for everyone?

Linger on the hill top until you hear or know the answers, then gently pick up your lantern and slowly descend, following the beautiful and peaceful path. When you are ready, open your eyes, take a deep breath and smile. You may wish to write down the answers that you received on the hilltop.

Blessings to you on this holy Christmas Eve.

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Today is election day, and from the news reports I’m seeing, there may be long lines at the polls.  Waiting in line doesn’t have to be a waste of time - instead, it can be an opportunity to practice meditative contemplation using a breath prayer or affirmation.  The Jesus Prayer is a breath prayer that many use, or you can try a comforting phrase, said in rhythm with your breath, such as "All is well" or "God is in this moment".  Try it - either today at the polls or the next time you are stuck in traffic, waiting in line at the post office or just waiting. Using a breath prayer brings great peace - instead of feeling all stressed out by the wait or the annoyance, you can sustain a sense of calm throughout the experience.

The Jesus prayer is a simple phrase that is prayed repeatedly, again and again.  It can be said out loud or in your mind:

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

It can be repeated in rhythm with the inhale and exhale of your breath: inhaling, say "Jesus Christ, Son of God", exhaling, say "Have mercy on me."  Many devout Christians have repeated this simple prayer throughout their days to feel a connection with God.  It is very comforting.

I have trouble with the exact wording of this phrase, as I cannot get my thinking, egoic mind around asking for mercy, as that implies that I am a bad person.  I have more than enough self-inflicted guilt for a lifetime, so that phrase doesn’t work for me. At least not yet! Instead, I revert to the language of the Catholic mass, which uses the Greek version of the Jesus prayer:

Kyrie Eleison. (say, "kereeay elayzone")

Christe Eleison. (say, "kreestay elayzone")

In English, this translates to "Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy."  I find comfort in these words, which I repeat as a breath prayer: Inhaling, I say "Kyrie Eleison."  Exhaling, I say, "Christe eleison."

It’s good to have a breath prayer in your back pocket, so to speak, for times when you might get irritated, like waiting to vote. 

Speaking of voting, if you are a US citizen, please exercise your right to vote today.  Voting is a privilege that not all people on earth enjoy.  It is a spiritual duty that keeps you in right relationship with your integrity and your Highest Self.  Blessings!

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Yesterday was Halloween, a vastly misunderstood spiritual holiday that has been bastardized by marketing mavens and turned into a secular holiday that has little to do with its sweet spiritual origins. In earth-based spiritual traditions, Halloween was honored as new year’s eve, the time to honor your ancestors and to align yourself with wisdom from the spiritual realm.  On Halloween (All Hallow’s Evening or All Holy Evening), the veil between the two worlds (temporal and spiritual) is the thinnest. In the purest sense, it is a time of introspection and communion with All That Is.  It is a time to make yourself right with the Divine and with the spirits of your loved ones who have made their transition. 

In the Christian tradition, today is All Saints Day (November 1) and tomorrow is All Souls Day (November 2), a time to honor all saints and souls that have passed away. 

In Mexico, parts of the US Southwest and Central America, it is a time for people to honor their ancestors in Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations.  Rather than looking on death as the end, these people honor the ongoing spiritual life of the dead with flowers and food.  Dia de los Muertos celebrations extend from October 31 to November 2.

I had a session yesterday with my spiritual director, as part of the spiritual director’s training program I’m enrolled in.  Spiritual direction is like a working with a coach who is concerned about your spiritual journey.  I should have known that a session on such a holy day would be significant. Throughout the session, I cried as if I couldn’t stop and communicated often with my deceased mother, who I could hear as if she was in the room with me. I was so wrung out after the session that I went to bed for most of the remaining afternoon.  I realize now that I experienced something deeply holy in that spiritual direction session, a communion with my Mother and with God. My experience was catalyzed by the power of the day, All Hallows (All Holy) Eve.  Duh! - in retrospect, I should not have been surprised or confused by my experience.

How might you observe this powerful holiday time, when the veil between the spiritual and temporal world is the thinnest?  It’s not too late - All Saints Day and All Souls Day span the rest of the weekend!  Here are a few suggestions to enjoy the sweetness of this holy time:

• Bow in gratitude to those who have come before us.  If you can do nothing else today, take a moment and simply bow, with your palms together in front of your heart, to the miracle of life and death and to those who have preceded us. 
• Light a candle.  The act of lighting a candle for your deceased love ones, or for all decreased souls, is a simple acknowledgement of the light and love that is always stronger than darkness and hatred.
• Build an altar.  Many people enjoy building an altar at this time of the year.  You might place a picture of your departed loved one on it, next to a cross or other symbol of your faith. Flowers make it lovely. It can be simple or ornate. Build an altar that makes you smile and feel happy. 
• Set aside time for a special prayer or meditation time. Make time for a special meditation or prayer session in which you quiet yourself and listen.  See if you can hear God’s message for you, either directly or through the voice of a deceased love one. Express your gratitude for the life of your loved one. This is a good time to forgive or apologize to that deceased one, to make things right with them.  Do not underestimate the power of soul-to-soul communication.
• Visit a loved one’s grave site.  Bring flowers to honor that person. Take time to be quiet and speak to your loved one.  Notice anything you sense, whether it is physically, mentally or audibly. The dead communicate with us through any means at a spiritual being’s disposal: they might send you a soft breeze, an inner knowing, a tingle or feeling of warmth, or words that you sense or hear.  Be aware, notice and honor whatever comes to you.

Blessings to you!

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Last Sunday at the Adult Sunday School that I teach at my church, we talked about the different types of prayer. In a group brainstorming session, we listed the different ways we pray.  Far from a theoretical, academic or exhaustive compendium, this is an experiential compilation of how prayer works in the lives of a group of amazing souls.  I share it here:

Supplication - This is prayer in which you ask Source for some outcome, as in "Source, please heal my illness." Sometimes the best way to pray in supplication is to add, "I ask for this or whatever serves my highest good."  This recognizes that our narrow viewpoint may not include the goodness or lessons that Source might offer, which are far more perfect than anything we could conceive of. 

Intercessory - This is prayer is for the well-being of others, as in "I ask for your blessings for my daughter and son."

Bargaining - A form of supplication, you bargain when you promise God or Source something in return for the blessing sought. Hey, we all do this from time to time, but we recognize that Source’s love is abundant and Source probably just chuckles (metaphorically) when we bargain-pray.

Surrender - The best example of this is Jesus’ prayer on the cross when he said, "Not my will, but Thy will be done."  Surrender happens when we hand over to Source or God our worries, our grasping for a desired outcome and recognize the abundance of God’s blessings.

Ritual Prayers (Lord’s Prayer, the rosary) - These prayers are pre-scripted and can carry great emotional significance.

Seeking connection - In this type, we ask for connection with Source energy.

Meditation/contemplative/silence - Although our group disagreed over whether meditation is a form of prayer, I list it here. A participant reminded us of the saying, "Prayer is talking to God while meditation is listening to God." For me, meditation is getting in touch with the Divinity within our souls. It’s our attempt to silence the ego’s talk in order to reveal our God Self’s voice. It’s a way to acknowledge our connection with Source in silence.

Affirmative prayer (saying affirmations) - One participant cited Louise Hays’ affirmations, found in her book, "You Can Heal Your Life", as a prayer that she has memorized and uses as a prayer.  Affirmations are a way of acknowledging your connection with Source and your strengths and talents.

Breath prayer - A breath prayer is a combination of two or four brief phrases that you mentally repeat on the in-breath and the out-breath.  This could be called a long mantra, and is a beautiful way to incorporate repetitive prayers with observation of the breath.

Feel the oneness - Sitting in the knowledge of your connectedness with Source and all that is.

Praise and gratitude - "God is great" is an example of praise, as well as the Hebrew blessing, "Baruch attah adonai, Eloheinu melech ha’olam" (Blessed are you, King of the Universe).  We express the wonder and the mystery of Source in our prayers of praise. Or, we express our deep gratitude to Source for the blessings we receive.

Song, music - Music can transport us to a state that incorporates both our emotions and our spirit.

Nature - Many people, myself included, sense awe, mystery and oneness while in nature. I love to sit in my backyard and just observe - I listen to the birds’ songs and the music of the wind in the tress, I appreciate the vivid colors of my garden, I smell the jasmine vine (see my post about resurrection in the garden), I feel the wind on my face.

Circular prayer -  This is a group experience of prayer in which each person sequentially adds her spoken prayer to the collective.  Once each person in the circle has spoken their prayer, a collective "amen" is said by the leader or the group.

Visualization - This is a variation of the affirmative prayer, in which we visualize a desired outcome, or visualize a process that leads us to a spiritual awakening. For example, I visualize heavenly light pouring into the top of my head in order to initiative a connection with the spirit world.

Walking - Conscious walking, or walking meditation, is a way of focusing your attention on your breath and your body.

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I’m in Charleston, SC this week for a conference.  As I was walking the streets of this lovely and historic town this afternoon, I came to a Jewish synagogue, called Congregation Beth Elohim, that has a beautiful garden.  The gate was open to the garden, so I walked in, thinking I would simply see another one of the beautiful secret gardens for which this city is well known.  It was a nice garden, but what caught my attention was the inscription that was chiseled in the stone over the entrance to the stately sanctuary.  It was a wonderful English translation of the heart prayer of Judaism, the Sh’ma (Deuteronomy 6:4), that I had never heard before. Most of us who come from a Judeo-Christian background recognize the Sh’ma even though Christians may not know its common Hebrew name. We know it as, "Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God is one." Listen with your heart to the different language that I discovered this afternoon:

"Hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God is the sole eternal being."

I’ve always had trouble with "The Lord our God is one", because I interpreted it as a way of turning the Israelites against the religions and deities of their neighbors, who had many gods and goddesses.  To me, the Sh’ma represents the ancient Hebrew patriarch’s systematic obliteration of Goddess-worship - in ancient, earth-based religions, a Goddess was often accompanied by gods (usually Her son) or She went by many names. To say that "The Lord our God (notice the male implication) is one" declares not only that monotheism is the ticket but that the Hebrew God is the only way - the Lord God’s way or the highway, so to speak. I take a dim view of the ascendancy of any religion over another, so this assertion goes against the grain for me.  And, as Kristin (me) the teenager would often assert, what about the Christian Trinity - isn’t that a polytheistic view of divinity?  What’s so wrong with polytheism, I would ask my Sunday School teachers.  They did their best to describe it in a way I could grasp, but I don’t remember being satisfied by the answers.

So, back to the present and the inscription at Congregation Beth Elohim.  God is the sole eternal being.  I can really get that. The concept of a "being" is much less discrete than a "god", so my mental image of the Divine is more formless when we describe it as a being.  Being can be a state of consciousness, which I also like as a description of the Divine.  Solely eternal - yes, I can buy that - God is the alpha and omega, the ground of our being, the Source, the Infinite Intelligence, the eternal.  I like it!

I’ll just add that I believe that we, too, are part of the eternal being.  A Course in Miracles tells us that "God is incomplete without you." We share in the eternal being-ness of the Divine, and we are all one.  One with each other and one with the Divine.

I am so glad I diverted my walk into that synagogue’s garden.  Thank you, Congregation Beth Elohim, for a new perspective on this ancient wisdom.

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This week, I’ve been sharing ways that we can connect to Divine Wisdom.  We’ve discussed the four ways that we perceive spirit in our lives and I shared a meditation that helps me converse with God.  Today, I’d like to share some of the wisdom I’ve heard in the past week.  I think that each one of us can benefit from these messages.

Here is what the Divine told me this week:

"Remain in the energy of allowing, not the energy of fear, especially with money.  Fear sets up a wall around you through which money cannot flow to you.  Open your heart, body and soul and just allow blessings in."

"Peace within ourselves is the pre-requisite to external peace.  Teach forgiveness."

"You do well hearing me in your meditations, but listen to me during the day.  Take your journal and write what I tell you.  In this way, you will learn to listen to me during the day. In this way, you will know what to do."

"You’ve had strong feelings today.  But I tell you the envy you feel is out of place.  Beloved, you are exactly where I want you to be.  I have a plan for you and how could you be anywhere else?  Why can’t you accept it for what it is, which is perfect?"

I share these pearls of wisdom as my gift to you today.

Interested in the power of forgiveness?  Come to my Forgiveness Workshop this Saturday, April 19, 2008.

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I heard Lynne McTaggert, author of The Intention Experiment, speak last night about her research into the latest scientific theories about the power of thought to change matter.  It was great to hear her personally explain many of the concepts I have read in her books.

I’ve discussed her work in previous posts in this blog and I’d like to expand on a premise I proposed before.  McTaggert makes a distinction between prayer and intention that I don’t grasp.  She says, “With intention, the agent of change is human; with prayer it is God.”  Because I believe that each human being carries the essence or spark of God in their hearts and souls, humans are God’s agents of change.  I therefore equate prayer and intention in most instances - read on for more!

Two more thoughts about this: First, that in order for our intentions to be Godly, they must come from love and not fear.  In other words, intentions must come from the pure essence, the God essense, of the soul.  Intentions that aim to harm someone or something originate from fear, not love. For an intention to double as a prayer, the intention must embody the highest good for all those affected by it.

I guess a corollary to that statement is that prayers that seek to harm another or to bless us at the expense of another are not true prayers.  I always wonder what God thinks of us when we pray for our team to win the football game. Assuming that the other team prays the same thing, how does God choose which team’s prayers to answer?  I’ll leave that as a rhetorical question for right now.

Secondly, an intention or prayer is best manifested when emotions are included in it.  You do this by imagining how you or the person you are praying for feel when the intention becomes form.  For example, I pray that this blog will be successful and touch other people’s hearts and help me find my voice.  Therefore, I set my intention while imagining the feelings of satisfaction and joy I will get when I know that my writing has touched others.

Want to get involved in world-wide intention experiments?  Please visit Lynne McTaggert’s website at www.theintentionexperiment.com and sign up for her e-newsletter.

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Last week was a hard week for me.  I am making a transition in my business, away from what I’ve been doing for the past ten years and into something unknown.  This blog is part of that transition.  As I’ve mentioned before, my promise is to blog for the year 2008 and see what happens.  I hope that by sharing my spiritual journey with you, you will find courage on yours.

My journey is taking me through some dark woods right now.   I look ahead, and I can’t see where the path is going beyond the next few feet.  The guiding moonlight has not yet appeared.  Periods of transitions are scarey to me, while at the same time they are strangely exciting.  The problem is, I am not a patient person.  I have trouble waiting for anything.  However, I am comforted by the affirmation that Julia Cameron, in her book The Artist’s Way, suggests: "Leap, and the net will appear."

So, I am trying to trust God and the Universe to bless my intention and grace my transition period.  I am trying to remain in a state of quiet expectation and excitement.  Where will this take me?  I am trying to set my intention and let God take care of the details.  I trust that the right people will show up in my life to help me, that money will come to me in the right amounts and at the right times, and that I am on the right path for me at this time.

Prayer:

Source of our being-ness, I rest in your arms.  I trust in the process of change.  I trust that the universe will bring me blessings, not curses.  I leap and the net appears.  Amen.

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Redemption is such an exciting experience when it happens to me.  Redemption excites me and incites in me an incredibly grateful heart.  It makes me realize that I truly walk hand-in-hand with the Divine – just like you do, like each one of us do.  I hope that by sharing my story, you might awaken to the Divine’s redemptive power in your life. 

Through email yesterday, I received a sizable order for my book about the technical services industry, called Spectacular Support Centers (www.spectacularsupportcenters.com), from a company with whom I had a bad experience when I spoke at their conference several years ago.  Out of the blue, this company’s bookstore representative requested copies of my book to sell at their upcoming conference – the same conference that I had the bad experience in a previous year!  The enormous significance of this simple book order didn’t hit me until last night.  While packing the books for shipment, I suddenly put all the pieces together. 

This, I realized, is redemption in action!  It took me several months to get over the hurt and humiliation of the experience at that conference (I won’t share details, but suffice it to say that I am both a perfectionist and an obsessor, so when I’m humiliated, whether it was my fault or not, I obsess about it).  I was mad at myself and at the organization. In retrospect, both parties were equally at fault for whatever wrong was done. One of my regrets was that my angry response to the situation precluded any chance of working together again – neither party would have wanted that!  Or, perhaps, that was just my interpretation of it.

But – my book opened a neutral avenue for us to work together again, in a non-threatening, indirect way.  “This is a God-thing!” I almost shouted as I taped shut the box of books I was packing.  This is redemption.

Redemption.

  The word drips with religious overtones, some of which may have negative connotations to you.  If so, thanks for reading so far!  Here’s what I mean by redemption:  Redemption refers to forgiveness of past sins, a chance to start afresh with something or someone, to begin again anew.  To convert a situation infused with negativity to one suffused with possibility.  Redemption is springtime, when new life conquers the death and despair of winter. 

Redemption is possible in every situation.  Seek it.  Indulge it when it happens, but above all, be grateful for it when it graces your life.  That’s how I felt last night.

Prayer:

Oh God of Many Names, I am full of gratitude for your grace and the redemption you sent me.  Help me to know in my heart that redemption is always possible; indeed, it is a possibility that resides beneath the present illusion. Help all sentient beings recognize the joy of redemption in their lives. Amen.

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Much has been written, said and published about the Law of Attraction recently.  The movie, “The Secret”, was a run-away best seller despite its non-Hollywood origins. The Law of Attraction states that what you think about and focus on becomes reality through the energy of thoughts.  In my last post, I remarked that I’ve read Lynne Mc Taggert’s book called The Intention Experiment: Using your Thoughts to Change Your Life and the World and find it fascinating. 

One of the topics McTaggert broaches in the book is the power of negative thoughts.  She calls this the gremlin effect, and relates several stories from her own life that illustrate the potential power of negative thoughts.  In the adult Sunday school class that I teach at Pathways Church (www.pathwaysuu.org), we discussed the gremlin effect and what negative implications our thoughts may have.  Participants (including me) shamefacedly shared gremlin effect stories - ranging from pregnancy miscarriages to premonitions about sex offenders to deaths.  In all these stories, we wonder if it really was our vengeful or hateful thoughts towards another or ourselves that caused ill effect.  In many cases, it appears to be a correlation between thoughts and negative effects.

If vengeful thoughts have negative consequences, must we feel completely responsible and therefore guilty for what happens?  I have some strong opinions about that.  I believe that our thoughts are only one variable in the equation.  The other variables include the other person’s thoughts, the society’s thoughts and the sacred contract of all souls involved in the situation.  Carolyn Myss, in her book Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential, describes how each soul agrees to take on several lifetime challenges or archetypal situations before birth.  Michael Newton, in his book Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life between Lives, also describes this pre-birth process.  With its consent, the soul is pre-destined, if you will, to encounter situations in that lifetime that will challenge it to respond in ways that could help the soul evolve and mature.  We all are born having made these agreements in heaven.  I call these contracts lifetime pillars – the big learning opportunities we have in a lifetime.  As an example, a lifetime pillar for me is learning to take negative criticism without using it against myself, without self-recrimination.

The concept is similar to karma, except that we agree to and accept the challenge before birth.  A soul might acknowledge its need to learn compassion due to a demonstrated lack of it in a previous lifetime, so it agrees to encounter life situations in which it could feel the lack of compassion from another.

When something “bad” happens to ourselves or others, I believe we need to consider what pillar in that life is being evoked or challenged. Of course, it is only speculation on our part as to what the other person’s challenge is, but nevertheless, we must acknowledge the possibility of a pillar.  So, it is not just our negative thoughts that may have caused a “bad” effect, but the intersection of at least four elements: our thoughts, our sacred contract, the thoughts of the other person and the sacred contract that person made before birth. 

What are your thoughts?

Prayer:

Holy One, help us take responsibility for our thoughts without taking blame.  Amen.

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