Tag Archives: Transformation

AWAKENING TO THE END OF SUFFERING

Posted on June 8, 2011 | 2 comments

Do We Have To Learn Only From Suffering?

One day it occurred to me that I had always believed that suffering was a good thing and the primary way we learn, and I thought “why?”  Why do we believe that spiritual awakening and growth always come through negative experiences rather than through positive ones?  This, in fact, is the philosophy of most of our world.

On the day that I asked, “why?” I was fed up with negative experiences.  I thought about the life of children and how they cannot learn how to love if they are not loved.  The interactions with their parents teach them how to be human beings, for better or for worse.  It is common knowledge that criminals who commit horrendous crimes are often victims of abuse or are mentally ill.

Learning From Positive Experience

While it is true that we can learn from suffering, we need to come to understand it is not the only way.  On the day I asked “why?” I declared to the Universe, “I no longer want to learn from pain and suffering; I want my learning to come from positive experiences.”  I declared it loudly with great emotion.  What manifested were several experiences where people expressed ideas that, unknown to them, helped me to avoid mistakes or offered me deeper insights about situations.  I was reminded again how important it is to listen.

But of course, most suffering is self-inflicted.  It’s all in our minds.  We create elaborate stories to prove we are being hurt.  We’re sure a friend is unhappy with us only to find out we haven’t heard from her because there was a crisis in her business or family or she has had endless company.  We’re sure we’re going to be fired when the thought has never entered our boss’ mind.  We tend to expect the worse and by doing that we draw unpleasantness to us.

When I declared I only wanted to learn from positive experiences, I did understand that it was really me, not the Universe, that would have to change in order for that to occur.  When a problem arose, I tried to stay in a frame of mind where I expected to find a positive solution.  This often required me to first release any fears about the problem.  I also chose to avoid contentious people and situations and take responsibility for staying centered.

Letting Go Of Suffering

One very scary practice I’ve used a couple of times in my life is to affirm, “I release from my life all those people and circumstances that do not support the Divine Plan for my life and welcome into my life those people and circumstance who do support the Divine Plan for my life.”  This is what I call “cleaning the spiritual closet.”  Do not take this lightly!  I am often surprised by the amazing results of this practice.  Even when the losses from taking this action hurt, I’m always able to see what happened was for the best.  Most importantly, it reminds me who I am.  I am a spiritual being first.

The last time I did this, a really loving person became more friendly, a person I thought had dropped out of my life returned with a more supportive attitude, a totally new and loving person came into my life and a couple of negative people dropped away.  Not a bad response to one affirmation.

 Choosing A Cheerful Soul

In the end, this is just another way to let go and to get in touch again with our Divine purpose.  Eckhart Tolle explains how to end suffering better than I ever could, so please click on his name and listen to his five minute video.  We may have to experience suffering at times in our lives, but we can choose to leave it behind.  Have I succeeded in creating a life where I never have to learn through suffering?  Well, no.  It’s still a work in progress.  But more and more, I feel positive about life and am cultivating a soul that is cheerful rather than sad.  Friedrich Nietzsche said, “There is one thing one has to have: either a soul that is cheerful, or a soul made cheerful by work, love, art, and knowledge.”  I’m with you, Freddy.  I’m gradually awakening to the end of suffering and I hope you are too.

Please comment and share your thoughts and responses.

The source of much of our joy is finding our passion.  Read more at “Finding the Fire.”

© 2011 Georganne Spruce

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HAVING FAITH

Posted on May 25, 2011 | 1 comment

Clearing the Heart Blocks

 Several summers ago, I attended a retreat in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina taught by Vani(Linda Bretherton), a healer from the United Kingdom.  The setting couldn’t have been more inspiring with ponds and streams, a butterfly garden, and a quaint rustic lodge.  The year before, Vani had worked on my charkas, opening many blocks that enabled me to find the courage to pursue a more heartfelt life.  In a small pavilion by a rushing stream, we did deep, difficult work, and when I left I knew it would take a while to integrate what I had experienced.

For the next year, my life was rather stressful, but also joyous, because there were times when I was joyfully immersed in writing, stopped worrying about how to make a living and just celebrated being alive. Only when the sense of lack from my early conditioning came back to haunt me did I feel stressed.

Spiritual Messages

This conflict between my emotional and practical sides had always been a challenge.  One night just before the retreat, I had a dream in which I was at the Intuition Institute.  Referring to my lack of clarity concerning the path I should follow, I asked, “What’s this all about?”  The answer was “It’s a struggle between the rational and the intuitive.”

Then, almost a month after the retreat, I woke suddenly at 3:30 am like a bolt of lightning had hit me.  Totally lucid and feeling surprisingly peaceful, I saw a large billboard in my mind.  Across it in neon letters, Spirit wrote, “It’s all in place. Relax.”  That was simply too much for me to process, so I turned over and went back to sleep.

By the time I woke again, I could only respond to this message with awe.  It didn’t seem quite real.  However, the theatre teacher in me was very impressed with how dramatically effective Spirit had been in getting my attention.  She was usually more subtle than this, but evidently I hadn’t been listening very closely or my fears were clouding my mind.  Clearly, she didn’t want me to miss this one.

The Fear of Letting Go

After I exhausted myself analyzing the meaning of this remarkable experience, I realized I was avoiding accepting this simple and beautiful message. Underneath it all, I didn’t trust myself enough to believe I deserved Spirit’s trust.  What if I were unable to truly accept this? And what if I could accept this?  That was a scary thought: really turn my life over to Spirit, to do it completely this time.  To really let go.  To have complete faith.

 I have a little poster on Faith that says,

When you have come to the edge of all the light you know,

And are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,

Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:

There will be something to stand on

Or you will be taught how to fly

 I remembered all the tears I had shed at the retreat.  They came in enormous waves as if the ocean were crashing through my soul.  They were uncontrollable, washing away large quantities of deep sadness, ancient wounds, carrying me through deep currents to eventually deposit me in the light again where I knew I was a Divine Being.  I had underestimated the power of those tears to force me to let go. 

What more could I want to know than “It’s all in place. Relax!”

And yet, there I was a week later – angry, resistant, confused, stressed, clutching, attached to one point of view – unwilling to shift my thinking to a new perspective.  Even after releasing my fears and reaffirming that I was open to Spirit’s guidance, I fell back into the quagmire of negativity and attachment.  Where was my trust, my faith, my knowing?

At a ceremony on the night before the October full moon, I chose an Insight card, “Prosperity.”  I asked, “How?”  The answer was “It’s coming.”  For clarification, I drew another card that stated, “Take time off to allow your body to rest and renew.”

“It’s all in place. Relax!”

So, I rested.  On the full moon, something shifted.  I let go of my need to control the situations in my life.  I accepted the possibility that looking at the cause of my anger from a different perspective would allow me to understand these situations in a deeper and more beneficial way. I considered the possibility that I truly did deserve Spirit’s full support, that I did deserve this gift, that all I wanted was already in place waiting for me to claim it.

Five years after Vani’s retreat and Spirit’s amazing message, I have continued to receive financial and emotional support for my writing from many unexpected sources.  I have learned to trust that I may not know the outcome of the whole plan, but I simply take the next step.  I don’t need to know what the step after that really is, for Spirit keeps surprising me with where she wants me to go.  I’m learning there is not one answer; there are many answers.  I have to remind myself frequently to let go, relax, and make space for the miraculous to bless my life.

Faith is, after all, the ultimate acceptance that the unknown is Good.  “Relax!  It’s all in place.”       © 2011 Georganne Spruce

Check The Vortex on the side bar for more information on The Law of Attraction.

 

 

 

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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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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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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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