ENLIGHTENMENT: A GOAL OR A GIFT

Posted on May 18, 2011 | 4 comments

Awakening to the Journey

I recently read in Oneness by Rasha, “The process of awakening is not one in which a definitive threshold is crossed and one is then enlightened, transformed, or ascended.  There is much backsliding to be expected on this journey….Your own preoccupation with the concept of completion will keepthat state of attainment ever elusive.” (p. 92)

Over the years I have known people whose life goal was to reach enlightenment.  For a long time I assumed there was possibly a path mapped out in Eastern religion that would lead one to that goal.  I never explored Hinduism or its relatives, but when I began to experience Buddhism, I found meditation so challenging that I decided there was no point to set enlightenment as a goal because it was unattainable in my lifetime.  If it happened, it happened.  Setting enlightenment as a goal seemed self defeating.

 The Ego Loves Spiritual Goals

When I first read the Oneness passage above, it really resonated with me.  A friend and I had a conversation on this topic.  He wanted to attain enlightenment
in this lifetime.  I said that I felt making enlightenment a life goal was an ego response.  It was the ego that wanted to brag about being enlightened, but that true enlightenment just happens.  When we become attached to doing good so that we will become enlightened, we are not being authentic.  Again, we are not acting from the heart, but to fulfill a goal created by ego.

Living authentically from the heart will take us to a place beyond ego.  We will help others because we truly care about them, not because it impresses them.  We will release judgment toward ourselves and others, embrace our backsliding and learn from it how to live more consciously.  We will understand that the journey is endless.  What matters is not the imaginary end but how we experience the process.

 Respect Each Person’s Spiritual Journey

Each journey is unique, and we create it by the choices we make each day.  Each of us awakens at our own pace. The reason I use the word “awakening” as part of the title in this blog is that the first step to any growth is to awaken or become aware. Whatever wisdom has awakened within me over the years has appeared when I least expect it.  Often as I search for an understanding of one mystery, the answer to another emerges. Just when I start feeling that I’ve reached a point of healing about an issue, the pain or grief may erupt more powerfully than ever.  What I know is that this is individual and unpredictable and that it is a gift, no matter how painful it may be.

However, who am I to say that it isn’t good for my friend to choose enlightenment for a goal?  Perhaps that is exactly what he needs to do in order to learn his karmic lessons.  But my goal is still not enlightenment.  I need to keep things simple and just live each day as consciously as I can. I want to treat myself and others with respect, to offer help when I can, and to create activities that stimulate the joy within me so that it will spill over to others.  A spiritual teacher of mine used to say our purpose on this earth is to expand our energy and to do that we need to experience love and joy.  When we are able to do that, we are enlightened.

How do you see enlightenment?  What do you think about Rasha’s comment on
enlightenment?  © 2011 Georganne Spruce

Related posts are “Diving Deeper” and my first experience with Chakra Balancing, “My First Time”

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ATTRACTING ABUNDANCE

Posted on May 11, 2011 | 3 comments

What are you thinking as you pay your bills? Do you see this
activity as a reflection of the scarcity in your life or of the abundance?

Positive Thoughts Have Power

I used to know a woman who wrote on the top of each check, “Thank
you, God.”  For her, having the money to pay her bills was a sign of abundance, and she sent gratitude out into the Universe each time she spent money.  She
wasn’t a wealthy woman with unlimited resources.  She worked at a job, owned a house and had responsibilities,
but she chose to focus on what she had instead of her lack.

I don’t write “Thank you, God” on every check, but whenever
I remember, I say “Thank you for this abundance.”  It is important to acknowledge what is good
in our lives and identify that as abundance.  Acknowledging this gift from the Universe makes me feel good and raises my vibration.  That vibration ripples out into the Universe, drawing to me more positive energy in many forms.

Definition of Abundance

Don’t limit your ideas of prosperity or abundance to finances.  Anything uplifting contributes to our concept of abundance.  What about the love of friends and family?  What about opportunities for growth or expanding awareness?  What about a surplus of food?  What about good health or an understanding health practitioner?

The forests and mountains where I live are one of the most bio-diverse
areas in the world and constantly feed my spiritual needs.  This area also has an abundance of people who share my values and many opportunities to explore self-growth and artistic expression.  Despite often living on little money, I’ve had little debt and never felt poor.  It isn’t a mind-set I choose to embrace.

How To Draw Abundance To You

I grew up in a family with a huge scarcity consciousness so it is an on-going challenge for me not to allow that to become an obstacle.  In order to feel prosperous most of the time, it is important to keep one’s energy up and to be free of expectations about the source of the abundance or how it will look. Sometimes we receive what we requested but don’t recognize it because of our preconceived ideas about its appearance or source.

 Recently, I discovered that my car needed an expensive repair.  Repairing it at the price the dealer quoted me would have destroyed by monthly budget, so I asked the Universe for another solution.  First, I released my fear to clear my mind. Secondly, I expressed gratitude for the good in my life and the fact
that I had extra money in savings. Thirdly, I visualized gold coins showering me and the car being repaired for much less than the dealer’s quote.  I
visualized this until I felt it had actually happened.

Within a few days, through a friend, I found an excellent mechanic who would do the repair for half price, and the next day my tax refund was deposited in my bank account.  It was more than enough to cover the repair.  Since I had made a mistake on the tax return and had no reason to expect it so quickly, this was a delightful surprise.  I knew the synchronicity of these events was not random.

In the final analysis, I see everything good that comes into my life as abundance.  As a result, I feel secure most of the time.  When I don’t feel that way, I use the three steps I mentioned above.  That’s how you too can create abundance and flow with the Universe.       © 2011 Georganne Spruce

For information on creating abundance, try these following
links and any of the Abraham books by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

 “Removing Brakes from Abundance in 17 Seconds” – Abraham

“How to Attract Abundance” – Wayne Dyer

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BEING THE RIGHT ONE, Part 4, Releasing the Fear

Posted on May 4, 2011 | 5 comments

Eckhart Tolle says, “Joy does not come from what you do, it flows into what you do and thus into this world from deep within you.”

 Have you ever noticed that when you feel joy, you are totally free of fear?  Joy is really love, for when we feel joyful, we feel loved or feel loving.  It’s all one.

Years ago when I had chronic fatigue syndrome, I awoke one morning, and as I lay in bed still feeling weak, a soft cool breeze blew over me.  This was New Orleans in the summer, so a cool breeze was no small thing.  My cat lay purring next to me.  Suddenly, I was flooded with joy.  It welled up within me and I felt profoundly grateful for being alive.  For a moment, I was totally free of all the daily fears that I would never recover, feel energetic again or be able to live a normal life.  For a moment I was free of the daily depression I had experienced for three years.

In that moment, I realized the joy was always there within me and had nothing to do with what was happening in my life.  I could draw on it at any time.

 Fear Can Block Joy

When we believe joy resides outside us, we are always looking in the wrong place.  But sometimes we do not realize that joy is within us because it is buried deep beneath layers of disappointment, anger, frustration, and other negative emotions that can be heavy to lift.  All negative emotions are caused by fear, so in reality our fear is what blocks our ability to experience love and joy.  Only when we release our fears and clear the mind can love and joy flow to the surface.

The Effect Of Fear On The Mind

We all experience fear sometimes, but what is important is that we learn not to let it control us.  As long as we experience fear, it will block our mind’s ability to pull through information that will help us solve the problem that has created the fear.  Fear will only pull through information that helps us cope with the fear.

 How To Release Fear

When fear arises, we must direct our minds to release the fear, and if we are willing to let it go, a peaceful feeling will replace it.  As I direct my mind to release the fear, I often take a deep breath and exhale in order to feel the release throughout my body as well as my mind. When the fear is released, the mind will be clear to pull information from our memory and the spiritual realm that will help us solve the problem that stimulated the fear.  We will always be given the guidance we need when we need it.  If a clear solution does not appear immediately, just know that it will come in time.

By using meditation, practicing gratitude and releasing our fears, we can become more spiritually conscious and awaken to a calmer, more joyful life, empowered from our centers.  When we are the source of our own joy and feel good about ourselves, we become “the right one” and draw to us those people and experiences that will enlighten and enliven our lives.  Learning to release our fears allows us to have access to the wisdom of the Universal Mind, Spirit.          © 2011 Georganne Spruce                   

Similar topics are discussed in Oneness  and The Vortex.  See the side bar.

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BEING THE RIGHT ONE, Part 3, Meditation

Posted on April 27, 2011 | 2 comments

Using Meditation to Find Your Inner Self

In order to be “the right one”, rather than looking for completion outside ourselves, we must be in touch with our inner selves.  However, during most of the day, our focus is on the outer, the daily routine of our lives, and our minds are concerned with working, solving problems, shopping and running errands.  The chaos and noise of the outer world and our active minds distract us from being in touch with our inner selves. 

Over the years, I have learned to integrate my spiritual and material lives so that, for the most part, I am at least marginally in touch with my center most of the time.  As problems arise, I stop and turn inward for a moment, observe and evaluate my options.  It has taken many years to reach this point and the practice that has made this possible is meditation.  Years ago when most of my friends practiced Transcendental Meditation, I was drawn to Buddhism and began the sitting practice of zazen.  Now I’ve created my own version of a meditative practice.  It doesn’t matter what form of meditation we use.  Any form will put us more in touch with our spiritual selves.

Meditation Takes Us Beyond Ego

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of meditation is that it takes us beyond our egos.  When we are caught up in the turmoil or pressure of everyday life, our egos are often fully engaged.  We are concerned with how we do our jobs or who will get the promotion or be laid off.  Parents worry about their skills as parents.  Are they doing the right thing about their children’s problems?  Why is this friend or partner being distant?  Don’t they like us anymore?  Did we do something wrong?

As Eckhart Tolle points out in A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose, “…almost everyone carries in his or her energy field an accumulation of old emotional pain, which I call ‘the pain-body.” (p. 140) He goes on to explain how negative emotions feed the pain-body and make the ego more powerful.  The only way to combat this is to be present so our egos don’t control us.  With regular meditative practice, we can be present, an observer in our own lives, operating from our peaceful center and unobstructed by the needs of the ego.

 Meditation Supports Spiritual Awakening

Meditation takes us to a place deeper than ego where we are able to release our attachments to the concerns of the day and our emotional pain.  This place is sweetly quiet, a place empty of conflict where we learn to observe our thoughts and emotions and release them without judging or attaching to them.  In this holy place within, we become an empty vessel and create a space where Spirit can visit and provide us with deeper insights.  In this peaceful place, all is well and joy flourishes.

Once we are able to find this peaceful center and commit to experiencing it on a regular basis, the inner balance this creates spills over into our daily lives.  We learn to identify those moments when we are about to turn an incident into a major drama and are able to choose not to.  We notice that we are being caught up in the fear that something negative might happen, and we choose instead to envision the event turning out positively.  Instead of panicking because we don’t know how to solve a problem, we are able to sit quietly and wait for the mind to clear.   

Knowing we can choose to experience our challenges with a positive or neutral attitude gives us more power over our lives.  Knowing we have a center that is peaceful and connects us with the Infinite Mind gives us a beautiful security.  In this place of inner joy, we are healthy, whole, and complete.  Having access to our inner selves, we know we will always have the capacity to be “the right one” in our own lives.         © 2011 Georganne Spruce

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BEING THE RIGHT ONE, PART 2 JOY

Posted on April 20, 2011 | 2 comments

 Living A Joyful Life Through Gratitude

Creating inner joy is the key to a deep sense of inner confidence.  If we know how to find joy within ourselves, that is a powerful tool for spiritual growth.  If we can do that, what else might we be able to do? 

This is the second part of a series on “Being the Right One.”  Last week, I quoted Ken Keyes, Jr., who said, “As we grow in consciousness, we discover it is more important to be the right person than to find the right person.” For the next two weeks, we will explore this concept, identifying tools we can use to create this inner joy that helps us feel healthy, whole and complete. 

We Can Choose How We Want to Feel

How we think determines what we experience.  How we think determines how we feel.  How we think is a choice to some extent and that is often determined by how much responsibility we are willing to take in moderating our own thoughts.  It’s easy to say that one person has an easier life; so of course, we think it’s easy for her to be happy.  That’s true to a certain extent, but how do we account for the fact that there are people paralyzed from the neck down who still find pleasure and joy in life?  And how do we account for the people who have everything money can buy, but are unhappy?

 I will admit a few bites of dark chocolate can go a long way toward making me feel better when I don’t feel harmonious, but what do I do when that luscious, lingering taste deserts me?  Nothing external lasts.  It’s always about the interior, our feelings and thoughts determine what we experience and if we can think joyfully, we will experience joy. 

One Way to Create Inner Joy Is to Think Positive Thoughts of Gratitude

One of the most meaningful practices to create joy is gratitude.  There are many ways to experience gratitude.  Every morning when I first awake or am at breakfast, I thank Spirit for all the good things I have experienced recently.  I used to do this sometimes on the way to work.  I’ve even taken a moment while I was stopped in traffic, to thank Spirit for a couple of things.  Many people keep a gratitude journal where they write down the things they are thankful for each day. Expressing thankfulness can be done anytime, but allowing time for gratitude at the beginning of the day is very beneficial. 

I especially love my friend Debra’s practice.  “Each day when I am going for my walk / run, I am always grateful……..first that I can get out and use my body to run up and down the hills. Second, that I live in such a beautiful place in which to enjoy the wonderful outdoors. When I am grateful, my morning exercise becomes joyous and not something I am complaining about having to do. It makes my whole day more positive.”

Finding Joy When Life is Difficult

On those days when I feel everything is going wrong, I force myself to hunt for those tiny morsels of gratitude,  remembering how much I really have – shelter and food and the necessities of life.  Sometimes, I simply thank Spirit for helping me through another day.  It’s interesting how focusing on one tiny object of gratitude always leads me to the next one, and before long, I feel that glimmer of joy lighting up the negativity. 

That glimmer of joy reminds me of all the times I felt confused, bereft, or abandoned and how it passed.  This joy reminds me that I am stronger than I think I am.  It refuels my confidence and I remember that I am never alone.  Spirit is always there and with Spirit, I can do anything.  And I am grateful for that.  © 2011 Georganne Spruce

Do you want to know more about thinking positively?  A wonderful source is The Vortex by Esther and Jerry Hicks.

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BEING THE RIGHT ONE

Posted on April 14, 2011 | 4 comments

“As we grow in consciousness, we discover it is more important to be the right person than to find the right person.” Ken Keyes, Jr.

How many times have you said, “If only I had the right___.”  We can fill in the blank with any of the following:  the right partner, the right dress, the right friend, the right job, the right house or the right degree.  Actually the list is endless.  What we are really saying is that we believe something outside of us is magical enough to fix what is not right within us.  If we are not at peace with the interior, the exterior will never be acceptable.

When I found the house where I now live, I chose it for many reasons.  It has beautiful hardwood floors, it’s one level, it has lots of trees around it, and it’s in a quiet neighborhood.  But the main reason I chose it was that when I walked in the front door, it felt like my center.  The energy felt like my peaceful energy when I’m meditating.  A feeling of happiness and thankfulness filled my heart.  The energy of the house’s interior matched the energy of my interior at its best.  I wanted a house where I could come home from the trials of the world and find life there – a place of healing, regeneration, and celebration that matched the best part of me.

Too often we focus on what is out there, and time after time we are disappointed.  Husbands, parents, bosses, friends just don’t live up to our expectations.  The problem isn’t with others; the problem is within.  When we are the right persons, we fill up our own emptiness.  We find the courage to make the decisions that will make us happy. 

One time when I lived in New Mexico, I was complaining about everything that was going wrong in my life.  I said to a friend, “If I could just put together the life I want, I would be happy.”  Without missing a beat, she smiled and said, “When you’re happy, Georganne, you’ll have the life you want.”  She was right of course.  When we generate that joy within, take responsibility for being the right person in our lives, our expanded consciousness becomes a magnet for all good things.  The people we meet and the experiences we have are matches for our joy within.

This week let’s make a list of all the things we can do daily to generate joy within ourselves.  Each time a wave of joy springs up inside, notice what you’re doing or thinking that has generated this.  Please share at least one thing under comments and I’ll use your ideas in my next few posts.  Blessings!

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

 

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WORDS ARE MY DNA

Posted on April 6, 2011 | 3 comments

Where does the intoxication of spring lead you?

When grape hyacinths and red tulips spring up in my front yard, I get an urge to create something new in my life.  Like many people, I’ve never created children or a vegetable garden. Words are the DNA of my creations, and whatever form they take is a new creature.  When I wonder about what I have to pass on to the next generation, I think it is simply this: the word beings I create through time.

Like the flowers in the yard that scatter their seeds so that new flowers will grow next year, I scatter thoughts, ideas and stories into the wind, hoping they light on fertile minds and light a fire or provide comfort.  Growing up, there was one thing I loved as much as Nature – books.  Before I could read, my mother had to lock my books away in the dining room bureau drawer to force me to go outside and play. 

I can’t imagine what kind of life I would have had without knowing Faulkner, Dostoyevsky, Keats, Dylan Thomas, Margaret Atwood, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf or Alice Walker.  Books exposed me to cultures and ideas that I would never have encountered in my environment.  My mother taught me to love books, and with books in my life, I have never been bored.

So, as warmer spring days descend on us and the fragrance of fresh cut grass fills the air, I always come down with spring fever.  I have trouble focusing on any work and stand in the yard feeling the breeze blow through my hair forgetting what I came out there to do.  The activity of my mind slows down as I take the time to watch the squirrels spiral up the tree trunk and the crows congregate for a communal discussion.

I’ve come to understand that spring fever is the mental equivalent of cleaning out the closet.  It forces me to slow down and clear the mental space so that there is room for a new revelation or this year’s spring poem to come through.  I wait patiently for the bud of the idea to appear and when it opens, spilling its beauty onto my paper, I birth a new creation. 

I am always saddened when I meet people who believe they are not creative.  The Creator lives in each of us.  How can we not be creative?  It’s in our DNA. When we allow ourselves to think outside “the box” or learn something new, we are exploring our creativity.  When my electrician finds a way to rewire my ancient lighting fixtures although the parts he needs can no longer be bought, that’s creative.  When I have to substitute rice flour for wheat flour in a recipe, and I still end up with an edible cake, that’s creative.  Creativity is about living, not just about art and poems.

What creative urge is pulling at you?  Rebirth yourself this spring and feed your creativity and spirit.  There is always something new to be created.

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

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LIGHTING OUR DARKNESS

Posted on March 30, 2011 | 2 comments

“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.”  Carl Jung

 March is so fickle.  Half winter and half spring, she taunts us with indecision, but at least until lately, she surprised us with a few sunny days. This rainy darkness depresses me; I want to bask in spring sunlight.   Instead, like so many moments in life I am left to find a way to “kindle a light” in this darkness.

 To be honest, there is light in my life right now, but the darkness I live with is a heavy cloak that wears me down.  In addition to the cloudy darkness of a rainy day, I struggle with several loses.  A couple and two single friends, all of whom are very dear to me, have moved away.  I miss the fun we had and the frequent conversations that went deeper, filled with caring and insights.  I grieve the loss of closeness that can only be felt face to face.

 How do I “kindle a light in the darkness” of these circumstances?  I remind myself I am grateful for the technology that allows me to communicate with them.  I am grateful for the friends I have who are still here.  I am grateful that the sciatica that caused so much pain is gone and I now know how to prevent it from recurring.  I’m grateful for the wonderful botany class I’m taking where I can interact in a deeper way with Nature and share my love of it with others in the class.  I’m grateful for all the guidance I’ve received in the marketing class I just completed.

 By focusing on gratitude, my energetic vibration rises, and I create a light that reveals the positive elements of my life.  When I write, I experience more peace and joy, especially when it uplifts and inspires others.  When that happens, the light expands to my readers and to the people they touch.  Remembering what is good is the lamp we may always light in the darkness.

How do you light the darkness that appears in your life?                                               © 2011 Georganne Spruce

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DANCE THE TRANSFORMATION

Posted on March 24, 2011 | 1 comment

I know transformation is a good thing.  It may not always be easy, but it always leads to something better.  However, right now, I’d like to ask the Universe to slow it down a bit.  There’s the consciousness transformation, my technological transformation, my yard’s transformation (I really need to say some affirmations about this one), and the recent transformation of my washing machine which left a puddle of water in the floor after I used it.  At least if the dog leaves a puddle, you can talk to him about it.  My washing machine has nothing to say except, “Gurgle.”

What the washer didn’t tell me was that it wasn’t spewing water out of the little hole in the back as I thought, but that the drain was stopped up. The washing machine guy couldn’t fix it so I had to call a plumber.  Unlike cosmic transformations, at least this one will stop.  When the plumber arrives, he will fix the problem.  There will be a defined moment when the machine will be usable again today or tomorrow.  I hope.

 But in the midst of the unexpected shifts that occur in cosmic and personal transformation, it’s a good idea to remember that life is a dance – usually an improvisational one.  Sometimes we travel long paths that never seem to end.  Sometimes we travel short paths that constantly loop back upon themselves and trip us up.  We may dance solo or with a partner who smoothly waltzes around the dance floor or one who, like a tango dancer without a sense of rhythm, keeps tripping over our feet. 

 What we must remember is that with an improvisation there is no intention to set choreography.  As we improvise, we are in the flow, allowing an authentic movement to carry us spontaneously through space.  At first, there may be awkward moments while we search for a movement theme that entices us to keep moving.  Then, mysteriously, we make one beautiful movement that leads so perfectly to another, and we are joyously engaged with the dance.

 I’m not opposed to planning life or dances; in fact, I accomplish much more when I plan and organize, but transformation is an improvisation I want to leave room for in my life.  No matter how stressful change can be, stagnation is not life.  Snoopy had it right.  “To live is to dance. To dance is to live.”       

So when the washer breaks down on the day our blogs or major work are due, or the dog pees on the new carpet five minutes before company arrives, remember it’s all part of the dance.  It may not be our favorite part, but who knows, after we take the deep breath we desperately need, our next step may be the beginning of a beautiful theme.  Or we may suddenly find puddles amusing. 

 What transformation are you experiencing? Please share your comments.

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

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THERE’S THE RUB

Posted on March 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?” Rumi

 Last week, I wrote that I was fairly happy with the appearance of my blog, but wanted to make a few changes, and when I woke the next morning, the new design flashed through my mind.  But here’s the rub.  When I tried to implement those changes, I spent hours frustrated by the limitations of the theme’s template or my own technical deficiencies.  By yesterday morning, I was so frustrated, I gave up.

 It’s so interesting what happens when you give up.  The technically oriented friend who usually helps me had had a computer meltdown, so she couldn’t help when I decided to try one more time.  At that point, I gave up a second time, deciding I better learn to live with the design I had.

 In the evening, during the marketing class I’m taking, the instructor directed us to look at a particular blog.  It looked nothing like my blog, but had a format similar to the one I wanted to create.  I quickly discovered it was from the same blogging company I used and this template design had originally been my second choice.  I rushed to the blogging site, applied the template to my blog, and miraculously my blog appeared with all the design flaws corrected.  In addition, I had an abundance of feature choices.

 How fortuitous that the teacher had directed us to that blog! Again, I thanked Spirit for this little miracle, and remembered the lines by Rumi.  Getting all tied up in irritation always creates tangles that circle in unpleasant loops, never solving the problem.  It’s only after we take deep breaths and open up the surrounding space, that we can say, “Ah, there’s the rub – so what? Turn it over to the Universe and let that mysterious connection with Life loosen the tangles, and solve the problem.” 

It is amazing what comes forward when, even for a moment, we accept we do not know the answer to the problem confronting us.  Our egos hate that and urge us to force an answer no matter how ridiculous.  But if we choose acceptance instead, something magical ripples through the Universe, polishing our rough edges and opening us to the best solution.

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

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