Holiday Gift: The Blessing of Oneness

My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from
God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
~ Yeshua

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware,
joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.”
~ Henry Miller

"I could only believe in a God who could dance…
And now a God dances through me."
~ Friedrich Nietszche

Exercise

In the blessing of Oneness we become available to the immediacy and potency of Divine Grace that is seeking to flow to and through us in each moment. We become present to the atmosphere of blessing that surrounds, enfolds and uplifts us. We embrace our wholeness – our imperfections and failures as well as our successes and talents as equal blessings from the Divine – each containing a hidden blessing of Oneness.

For today, allow your heart to flower in Oneness and become an active blessing for yourself and for the world. Throughout the day whisper the mantra: “just to be is a blessing, just to live is holy” – and fully embody the truth that your essential nature is a beautiful and nourishing blessing.

Everywhere you go and with everyone you meet, perceive and receive the blessing – intending from the deepest chamber of your heart, abundant good for others and for the Universe. Acknowledge the omnipresent and omnipotent, universal beauty hidden from the material eyes revealed by the Gaze of Oneness.

The Blessing of Oneness is a bridge between Heaven and Earth. Call forth the vision of goodness and illuminate the world with your unique Blessing of Oneness today. Be awed and amazed by the miracles created when you know for certain that everything and everyone is holy now.

Affirmation

I share the blessing of Oneness – creating an atmosphere of blessing and conferring happiness, well-being and joy to every being I meet.

Practice 2 -- The Breath of Oneness

Practice 2 ~ The Breath of Oneness

“All the principles of heaven and earth are living inside you. Life itself is truth, and this will never change. Everything in heaven and earth breathes. Breath is the thread that ties creation together.”

— Morihei Ueshiba

“Ancient lovers believed a kiss would literally unite their Souls,
because the spirit was said to be carried in one’s breath.”

— Eve Glicksman

“Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness,
which unites your body to your thoughts.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

***

Exercise

Begin this practice by becoming aware of your breath, expanding it throughout your entire body. Allow your breathing to organically circulate, connecting cells and organs, blood and bones. Feel the beauty and elegance of your body’s intricate design. Through each inhale and exhale, allow yourself to be filled by the Spirit and filled with Oneness . . . then permit yourself to become empty, in Spirit and in Oneness.

The Hebrew word for breath is ruach, but it also signifies spirit and wind. It is your breath that connects you with Spirit and your Soul. It sustains your Soul. Now, with your breath, animate and give expression to your Soul, knowing that breath and Soul are from one origin. Allow yourself to be filled with the breath of Oneness, which is love, joy, peace, and unity. Exhale separation; inhale Oneness. Exhale fear and anxiety; inhale God’s loving presence and power.

Imagine that you’re breathing with every living being and organism on the planet and in the cosmos. Breathe with the trees and with the ocean. Breathe with the children in Africa . Breathe with the monks in Tibet . Breathe with the saints and mystics from the past: Jesus, Buddha, Krishna , Moses, and Muhammad. Breathe with your friends, family, and community. Breathe with those you consider “different.” Breathe with the planets and stars. Breathe with all of creation and know the truth of “I AM One. We are One.” Come alive with the breath of Oneness! Dedicate your breathing as a prayer for all sentient beings. Allow a single word or phrase to arise on your lips, and send it out to the world through the breath of Oneness. In this practice, your breathing becomes a prayer and a profound act of sacred activism.

Practice the breath of Oneness for at least five minutes at the beginning and end of your day and your Soul will settle into a heavenly peace. Return to it often throughout the day in order to practice the presence of God wherever you are and in whatever you’re doing.

Affirmations

I AM breathing Life, and Life is breathing me.

I AM forever connected to my Soul in the Spirit of Life. I AM, I AM, I AM.

*** ***
James: Following one’s breath is one of the primary focuses of almost any meditation practice. It’s also a wonderful way to understand Oneness. We breathe in and out, and although these are separate actions, we need to do both to survive. If our breath went in one direction only, we’d die. Yet they are really the same. If we follow the breath and use it as our focus throughout the day, it can help us stay in a state of active relaxation; thus, we can sense Oneness to a greater degree.

Anakha: The breath of Oneness connects us in all directions. It connects us in the present moment to ourselves, to those who have come before us, to those who are here with us now, and even to those who will come after us. It’s a beautiful process: connecting internally and vertically by breathing in the Spirit of God; and also experiencing a horizontal, external link to each other through our breath. We come together through the simple awareness that we’re all actually breathing in life together.

For all the differences we might experience on the planet today, there are basic experiences we share. Everyone, in this very moment, is breathing in life. That’s really beautiful when I think about that . . . about really connecting in that sameness, in that Oneness, to my brothers and sisters around the world.

James: I like your explanation of “breathing in life together.” When you think about it, every time we breathe we’re taking in at least a million atoms that were also breathed in by Jesus, the Buddha, Gandhi, and every other person who has ever lived. Every single breath connects us with every other person and every other being who has ever lived on this planet. So each breath we take literally links us to a state of Oneness, not just in theory, but in actual physical practice. So we can use our breath throughout the normal course of our day to remember Oneness . . . just by being aware as we breathe, acknowledging our connection with every person who lives now or has ever lived.

Anakha: That’s beautiful. If I’m consciously breathing with and even for different people or places around the planet—I’m thinking of Israel, for example—then through this awareness, through my love-filled breath, I can begin circulating my compassion to Israel or to any of the areas on the planet that are experiencing separation, conflict, or war.

What if I’m able to circulate love just through my conscious breathing? You’ll notice, when you start to breathe with another, that you can actually change and regulate the pace and depth of the other person’s breathing. As I was practicing this morning, I started to become aware of different places on the planet. I could actually feel my heart soften as I experienced genuine compassion being born out of Oneness through conscious contact with my very own breath.

James: So the breath of Oneness is a tangible way we can begin the softening of our own hearts in order to feel this state of Oneness that’s all around us . . . something we can apply to the most ordinary moments of our lives.

Practice 1: The Rhythm of Oneness

Practice 1 ~ The Rhythm of Oneness

“Happiness is not a matter of intensity, but of balance and order
and rhythm and harmony.”

— Thomas Merton

“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.”

— Thich Nhat Hanh

“Even in the middle of a hurricane, the bottom of the sea is calm. As the storm rages and the winds howl, the deep waters sway in gentle rhythm, a light movement of fish and plant life. Below there is no storm.”

— Wayne Muller

Exercise

Returning to your natural rhythm and moving with the pace of the universal heartbeat restores you to Oneness. Slowing down connects you with the rhythm of Life, with your essential self, and with other people. Holding yourself in this way brings you into the very heart of Oneness.

There’s a close connection between the rhythm of Oneness and the rhythm of your footsteps, your breathing, and your mind. Today, practice finding a pace that connects you with your breath, heart, and mind . . . truly connecting with your natural rhythm and flow. Notice when you feel your movements becoming forced and harried. Within that gentle awareness, take a moment to pause and return to your center. Breathe and rest for a moment in the stillness. Repeat the word ahimsa (meaning nonviolent actions) as a mantra throughout your day as you continue to return again and again to the rhythm of Oneness.

Imagine this practice as a moving meditation, like tai chi, or as a flowing dance, such as ballet. Allow one action to create and flow effortlessly into the next. Every breath, step, and thought is connected. As you engage in this practice, the frenetic pace of your thoughts will become slower and calm down; and your breathing will become fuller and more relaxed. You’ll experience the beauty, vitality, and energy of life. You’ll feel connected to your own deep personal integrity and to the integrity of life that surrounds you. In this place, you’re moving within ahimsa—expressing compassion to yourself and others—and you’re in union with all things. Paradoxically, when you slow your pace to your natural rhythm, your movements become more graceful, powerful, and focused—thus, more is accomplished, created, and received with less effort and energy.

For today, experiment with pace, rhythm, and movement. Discover the Rhythm of Oneness for yourself and share it with others.

Affirmation

I AM moving with the rhythm of my heart, in harmony with the purpose of my Soul, vibrating with all of creation.

*** ***

Dialogue Between James Twyman and Anakha Coman

James: There is a natural rhythm to life that gives us a tangible experience of Oneness. We felt it when we were born and when we were young, but as we grew, we realized that the evidence around us painted a very different picture. This evidence led us to believe that we’re in competition with every person and situation we encounter. This is how the ego was born, and we nurtured it because we thought we needed its protection. But in reality we were simply out of rhythm, and Oneness felt like a distant dream. Now that we realize this, we can enter back into the stream and sense that natural rhythm again.

So, Anakha, earlier you were speaking about the Oneness we felt when we were born and when we were small . . . and that we had to actually learn separation. I’d like us to talk about that a bit more. This was a natural condition—something we needed while we were young, wasn’t it?

Anakha: Yes. When we watch children, we see that they are certainly in, and are accepting of, their own rhythm. They’re deeply in touch with their basic needs, whether it’s for food, attention, comfort or rest. They’re also wide open to the flow of their emotions. One minute they may be sad, the next minute mad, and the next, joyfully laughing and playing. Children allow themselves to move at their natural rhythm and pace. They accept what arrives from moment to moment and then allow it to spontaneously flow into something else.

It’s quite a beautiful experience to observe children in that place of Oneness. Yet what happens when we’re young is that we start to interact with the world, our parents, and our primary caregivers; and in that process, our experiences tell us that we’re less than whole . . . that something is wrong with us, we’re not enough, or we’re not doing “it” right. And from those events a core belief of fear is created. We start mistrusting our inner rhythm, our essence, our natural state, our emotions, our truth . . . and we begin trying to fit into something that will guarantee our safety, security, acceptance and well-being.

The journey into Oneness includes identifying and dissolving those limiting beliefs that were created early on. Most often they aren’t even in our conscious awareness. They live just below our awareness in the subconscious; and they have a powerful impact on how we show up in the world, and how we act and relate to others. When we begin slowing our rhythm and discovering our natural pace—our automatic way of moving, speaking, and breathing—we reconnect to the state of Oneness.

James: One of the things I’m feeling right now is the importance of not judging these natural rhythms. We must know that they’re natural and vital to the evolution of our Souls. Allow the state of remembering and forgetting. We came here to forget who we are for a moment so that in remembering Oneness we may appreciate it more deeply.

I think this is really the journey of the Soul. So we don’t want to look at the way that we’ve lived—our ego existence—as wrong or bad because that actually makes it difficult to release or transform it. I think we have to accept and love ourselves exactly as we are. At that point, we’re ready to remember, ready to step out of that state of forgetfulness and think back to why we were born, why we’re here. And then we can activate that knowledge in our lives and in the world.

Anakha: Beautiful . . . yes! It’s a process. The rhythm of Oneness will bring us back into love and tenderness for ourselves and one another. And yes, there’s already enough pain surrounding how we’ve lived within the illusion of separation—we certainly don’t need to add insult to injury. Compassion is absolutely necessary as we allow those beliefs that have manifested as separation in our lives to actually begin to heal and dissolve.

Oneness and Defying Gravity

Incredible it is how many layers there are to this oneness work. So Anakah seeds the beginning of her Oneness work inside Carolyn Myss' work, and now after reading Defy Gravity I see Carolyn's work and our oneness work equally integral to the other's entelechy, all part of a greater whole.

Carolyn describes how we need to work through the potentially destructive shadow passions of our bodyheartmindsprit not by overthinking our problems but by opening ourselves to the graces of our bodyheartmindsprit.

While reading Genesis 22:8 this morning from the Biblcal portion discussing Noah and the Flood, it became clear to me how aligning with the One is absolutely central to the kind of processes Carolyn is talking about. Genesis 22:8 includes the Hebrew phrase "Ki Yetzer Lev HaAdam Ra MiNeurav;"/meaning "For the yearnings/desires of the heart of the human are "Ra" from the time of their youth." Now "Yetzer Ha Ra" sometimes translated as our evil or shadow inclination also refers in Jewish tradition to our inclination towards aggressiveness, sexual urges, and ego assertiveness, all basic ingredients for healthy creative life as long as they're aligned with the One Who is the Source of all life, blessing, and grace, instead of being aligned with ego-centeredness. These issues of Yetzer Ha Ra in turn are very close to some of the areas Carolyn Myss looks at and are also directly tied in with the chakra system in our bodies and the kabbalistic Tree of Life.

A parallel powerful connection that also came to me today was in a central chant used with the Jewish New Year Holidays: U-t'shuvah, u-t'fillah, u'tz'dakah ma'avirin et ro'a ha-g'zeirah But [Teshuvah]Repentence/Return/Realignment with the One, and [Tefillah] heartfelt prayer, plus [Tzedakah]righteous action [Ma'avirin]transform/cause to pass to another place [Ro'a (same root as Ra)]the harshness/shadow side of [Ha-Gezerah] the decree of how we're written into the Book of Life.

So all of this is part of the One, and to become fully manifested in our lives only requiring our continuing and ongoing active participation in aligning ourselves with the One, and with the manifesting of the One in our interactions with other people and with the entire universe, and through our doing this in all the four worlds of our bodyheartmindspirit.

The Entelechy of Oneness

When I was on my 40-day silent retreat in July/August 2007, I was guided one afternoon to pick up some pods that I had been calling “the seeds of new life” (blessing and dowsing with the daily Eucharistic wine) — and take several of the seeds and acorns and drive 20 miles to the nearest Barnes and Noble bookstore. Upon arriving at the bookstore I was guided to place the seeds on the shelf that I wanted to have my book appear on. I looked around and found the “Mysticism” section, and noticed that there was a woman cleaning and dusting the shelf. I obviously needed to wait to place the pods/acorns/seeds so I wandered into the children’s section and immersed myself in a Bible picture book. After awhile, I went back to the shelf. As I browsed the titles, I noticed Carolyn Myss’ book Sacred Contracts on the shelf and pulled it to me. I placed one single acorn in the book sleeve and put the book back on the shelf with a few seeds and pods around it. I whispered a silent blessing for Carolyn and “the seeds of new life.”

Today (October 20, 2009, approximately 2 years and 2 months later), if you visit www.hayhouse.com you will see the book I co-authored with James Twyman on the “e-shelf” right above Carolyn Myss’ new book “Defy Gravity.”
The Proof: A 40-Day Program for Embodying Oneness. Miracles do happen…every moment we tune into and act upon the subtle guidance of our soul!

I am reminded today of two quotes:

“Trust in the Slow Work of God”
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

and

“It is the entelechy of the acorn to grown into the oak tree. The entelechy of a caterpillar to grow into a butterfly. And yes, every single person is born with the entelechy of greatness.”
~ Jean Houston

And so it is. It’s in every one of us. Amen.

These Times Require Greatness!

All over the world psyche is now emerging, larger than it was. What had been contained in the "unconscious" over hundreds and thousands of years is up and about and preparing to go to work. This fact is the news that rarely makes the News, and it will have consequences greater than anything we might imagine. The negative consequences of this revivification of hidden content are there to be seen on the media -- violence, oppression, the explosion of old fears and hatreds in countries that for decades had been contained under the lid of totalitarian regimes, the frequency of alcohol and chemical addictions, especially among those who feel that they have extra life to kill. "Thank God, our time is now," poet Christopher Fry says, "when wrong comes up to meet us everywhere. Never to leave us, till we take the longest stride of soul men ever took." This stride of soul must carry us through every shadow towards an open possibility, in a time when everything is quite literally up for grabs. We can do no less. The psyche requires its greatness, as do the times.
~ Jean Houston ~

Suicide or Adoration?

As I was driving tonight to pick-up my Jack Russel Terrier — “Jack” at his doggy daycare Noah’s Arf, I was reflecting on my experience of the world during this time. Today I felt the exquisite teeter totter nature of The Great Death (the dissolving of fear based systems that carry the traits of greed, power over, superiority, arrogance and imbalance) and The Great Birth (the emergence of loved based systems that carry the traits of sufficiency,sustainability, harmony, equality, humility, and balance. We are centered on the edge of one of the most significant awakenings the collective has ever experienced on the planet today. The rapid acceleration — the breakdown, the break through and the emergence — has many of us working double time to transmute and transcend our own personal “content” as well as the collective consciousness. It feels unending, because it is unending. We are on the ride…the upward spiral of consciousness well on our way to the Oneness meme. To ride this ride, means a constant surrendering into the unknown…living outside of the comfort zone…residing in what I call the emergent zone — where the new rises from the center of unconditional love, from the source of oneness itself. To live in these times means to be centered on the razor’s edge, to walk the line.

Yes, breathing is good here. Receive a couple breaths as you read and receive these words.

As I was reflecting and making my way through the dark back streets of The Pearl District in Portland, Oregon…I began hearing an inspired voice of guidance saying, “You chose this time, this place. You chose to be a part of this rapid acceleration and this radical shift. You are here on purpose. You are here for a purpose. Everyone, absolutely everyone that is alive on the planet today opted in for this awakening. And everyone, including you, is playing their part perfectly. Yes, you could have opted to live your adult life in the 50’s. You could have been a housewife and a mother…doing the shopping and mixing a drink for your husband at 5 aka Mad Men. You could have been content with the status quo, or at least quietly settled for it. But you didn’t choose that era, you chose this one. For the exact reasons you are resisting it …you chose to come to participate in The Great Emergence."

We all did.

As I listened I began to feel the truth of what was being communicated to me. I am not a victim to these times and neither are you. I am not powerless in my presence here on earth and neither are you. I can and will and do choose to participate fully and actively in this emergence and the creation of a new world sourced in Oneness.

We can choose to learn The Law of Emergence and her principles of presence, reverence, resonance, oneness, guidance, coherence, brilliance, co-creation, etc. We can learn to source the Intelligent Design that is emerging through us and in the world. We can become emergent leaders, facilitating and midwifing the birth of the new.

A world that works for all.
A world that works for all.

Sustainable.
Sufficient.

Inclusive.
Harmonious.
Alive.
In Love!

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, “The day is not distant when humanity will realize that it is faced with a choice between suicide and adoration.”

We have arrived. We have a choice. We chose to be here for this moment. To choose suicide or adoration. Choosing is a courageous act. Choosing to be the eyes, the ears, the hands, the feet, the voice, the heart of the Christ Consciousness. Let us emerge with, from and as the radiant and radical center of unconditional and unconditioned LOVE.

Judging from the numerous rapid licks I received from Jack when he jumped in the car tonight, it is clear that the canine population is choosing adoration! What will you choose?

Amen.

The Realities of Oneness

Have been going through a lot of emotional purging, a steady flow of sadness...but in many ways it's been grief without necessarily an object. Yeah, I have caught threads of general themes...ala opportunities lost, years wasted, etc....but it's all been part of simultaneously feeling immense gratitude for where I am now and excitement at the choices I have.

Today is different. For several days, I have noticed a headline online about a FL family where the mom chose to go completely blind in order to continue healthcare for her two daughters...all of whom share a rare genetic disorder. I've been staying fairly focused the last few days...not letting myself be distracted by my usual interests...but for some reason I especially was not going to read that story.

Today curiosity won out...reading about how they've had "good" regular health insurance for years yet have lost so much: their house, and their peace and tranquility, to the burdens of mounting debt from medical co-pays. At some point I just start sobbing...one of the young girls telling her blind mother that it's going to be okay and rubbing her back. It is so not OK...to live in the most fabulously wealthy country of all time....bestowed with the most abundant set of natural resources on our entire beloved planet...and to know that this would not happen to any family in the rest of the industrialized world. It is so not OK to be reminded, once again, what a barbaric country the United States is in many respects...to realize, once again,what a travesty the adminstrations since 1980 have made of the profound, sacred vision that the founders of this country brought into form through the literal sacrifice of their blood.

All right, time for a walk...give the energy somewhere to move. Half a block from my house, I encounter a somewhat surreal scene playing out across the street. Another family with two young daughters is trying to gracefully conclude a conversation with a guy on the sidewalk and get in their car but he seems to not be registering any of it and is asking them in a loud, passionate voice if they remember an old comic book character that he's referencing.

Taking it in, I feel the immense loneliness that exists all around us...how many people don't feel seen or heard in their lives...and when there's an opening, all that hasn't been expressed starts pouring out in ways that trample social clues. As I write this am remembering how impacted I was by the synopsis of the book Bowling Alone when it first came out...describing the epidemic of people in this country who are cut off from others, who live terribly isolated existences. As I continue my walk, more tangible grief at the state of humanity surfaces...for the tragedy of our pervasive, multi-faceted, personal/collective disconnections...a disconnection syndrome.

What an utter, unrelenting blessing to be part of community.

Then, coming back with the intention of writing this post...the previous story is still on my screen and I notice a link to an article by Christiane Northrup MD that I've been wanting to read on an apparent move away from C-sections back to more vaginal births...wonderful news, indeed. But I haven't been really keeping up with the data, which is not surprising since it doesn't get much attention, does it? But "maternal deaths" have doubled in the United States in the past 25 years!

That is, new mothers dying because of childbirth. Doubled. Dead. Twice as many.

Is there something wrong here? Wrong in the reality itself? Wrong in the fact that something so fundamentally feminine...so truly human...gets so little notice?

Not only that but the United States ranks below 40 other countries in the world in terms of our maternal deaths...and, not only that, but we use skewed measurements of maternal deaths to make our healthcare system look better than it is when other countries don't...and, not only that, but our own CDC says that our actual maternal deaths are three times higher than reported. Forget the grief: it's rage I feel now.

Rage at the economic/political cesspool that this country has been dragged into...rage at the intentional dumbing down of the American populace...rage at the systemic graft and corruption that have become our political "system"...what journalist Greg Palast once labeled "the best democracy money can buy."

*****
For me this is one of the realities of the Oneness practices: I can no longer live in my isolated little bubble...with my own close friends nearby, in touch...and doing okay. I can't ignore that violence, in its abundant forms, happens with the magnitude it does.

I can no longer guard my heart in ways that I thought would protect it...but actually does violence to me (and others) by cutting me off from the truth of fully living...from the full-spectrum realities of Life.

The Blessing of Oneness-Becoming Available

So we continue the spiral of life with these great exercises that originally came through Anakha's life. In the midst of my doing some yoga this morning and before I even read the posting of The Blessing of Oneness, it came to me out of my own experiencing that two keys of this work are 1)that it does come out of life experience (incorporating all the bodyheartmindspirit aspects of our being)and 2)it's keyed into what in Hebrew is called Kavvanah-the way we align ourselves (through our bodyheartmindspirits)with the Universal Source of all life possibility we call the One ie becoming available and tuned into experiencing and manifesting the life blessings of the One.

And this is so much more a full encompassing of our reality and what we can be than just new "thought" or putting out our "intentions" into the universe. It's the honest to G!D spiral dance of life-becoming available to & part of the Blessing of Onesness.

Oneness through Intimacy in Many Forms

Intimacy.
Intimacy in all it's forms.
Intimacy with all it's combinations of participants.
Intimacy is something that we love and thrive in, a loving expression of Oneness.
Intimacy is also something about which we sometimes feel fear. Sometimes we initiate intimacy from a place of fear, and somehow it comes out wrong. Then we just pull ourselves back to a place of love, and keep on going. I had the opportunity to do that today. From honestly expressing in most intimate terms, came realizations about myself and others, forgiveness of things long past, and growth. Hopefully i have caused nothing of discord, hopefully i have created openness and oneness. Hopefully, we have been an intimately connected fabric of humanity.

Lots and lots of wonderful, positive instances of intimacy happened today!
Today my two intents around intimacy were to pet a dog and find lots of what i call 'platonic intimacy'.
Well, intimacy found me, and i created a bunch. The intimate encounters - the Onenesses - of the day showed me intimacy in a rainbow of different forms. Got to do a favor for my new neighbor, had a deep, deep hearted conversation with a friend, heard workman stories from a dude, and all kinds of stuff. Got to puppy-sit a lonely little guy tied up outside a store, too.
The main thing I learned today, though, was that I love a lot of people, and a lot of people love me. Each of these loves is unique and perfect in itself. There is no one-or-another of it. Sure, each of us shares this or that facet of ourselves with that or this friend, and perhaps not with many other friends. Yet we each share real, deep, honest, wholesome love with a lot of people.
oh yeah... and i introduced my best friend Doyle to a way awesome lady i met recently, and they got along real good. way real good, in fact. = )

May i invite you to follow along in a guided daydream?

Imagine someone you love. Someone you feel comfortable with. Someone you like to hug.
Imagine your are hugging them. A big, cuddly, warm hug.
They are hugging you, too. All snugly nice.

Imagine someone else who you love, who you feel comfy with, and who you like to hug.
Imagine you are hugging them. A big, cuddly, warm hug.

Now, imagine that in hugging the second person, you are hugging the first also. Somehow there is an empathic link between all three of you, and somehow you are all three hugging, in what feels like a single one-on-one hug together.
Now, imagine there are four, or maybe five people hugging in this big, cuddly, comfy hug. Everyone adding their love, their oneness to the hug.
Feel the love that is there. Feel the empathic connection.. the love coming through.
As each person feels love, it is shared empathically by everyone in the group. So each person in the group feels sooooo much love! They feel very, very loved indeed. So they, in turn, love more! Their renewed love goes out to the others. More love is poured into the group through the empathic connection, the oneness.
Feel the intense love that is building! Feel the love each cuddly huggy person is feeling, adding, resonating...
Feel the Intimacy of Oneness

From Separation Into Oneness

Breakdown. The breakdown of ego. The pain of separation and isolation. Humility. Shame. Self-hatred. Confusion. The more I continue to do the practices and stay on the path, the more the light shines on the ways where I've rejected the Oneness. Where I've chosen to stay small, hold back, and live inauthentically.

It is both miraculous and painful. To have to experience and feel the truth of how I've lived = not fun. It sucks in many ways, actually, at least in the short-term. The miracle, though, is the opportunity to release and transform those ways of being that previously have been unaccessible.

Patterns and habits and behaviors that I've engaged in since childhood are being revealed. Deeper truths are emerging. Where there has been only darkness, the light is appearing. There is a way out, another possibility. I'm not the small self who I thought I was.

This is miraculous! As I take time to feel and be present with the places that I've been avoiding through addiction, distraction, and avoidance, the short-term pain gives way to long-term gain. I feel the shift within me. I see the shift outside - in my work, relationships, health, spiritual connection. The old ways are dying; the new ways are emerging. Oneness is becoming a reality, separation an illusion.

That is the miracle and promise of this path. Liberation. Wholeness. Unity. Oneness. I know it. I feel it. I am it. The intention, willingness, and commitment bears the fruit for those who are willing to show up and stay in.

God?

Does this mean that us Atheists are not as included in the Oneness as those with God fantasies? Personally I would rather believe in Santa Claus, he has a believable location and no natural disasters are attributed to him. The Jolly Old Guy seems like a better choice than the big bad guy in the sky. Your exercises lead to Enlightenment which contains within it a realization or certainty of connectedness ... It stands on it's own merit. If you need fairy tails, please indulge ... but it will seem silly to those who don't.

Dancing The Divine

Dancing the Divine

Awakening
embraced by my own sheets
sparkling creations of mine
sprinkled about the room
I smile
walking by a tree
dripping earthy green moss
and ferns
luscious water pearls
holding sunlight’s smile
an ant crawling up my leg
all me
the dust of creation
and
that from which the dust came
a place where fear
no longer can plant its seed
I am I AM
the Divine dancing itself
into creation
never alone
always at home
inside
of me

© Morgine

Waking Up From The Dream

Waking Up From The Dream

Waking up from the dream: I was watching the rivers be mined for ore and oil and copper and stone and crystal as huge plates of knife cut into her black mud and sought her mystery. She was ugly in this state, unappreciated, uncared for and devastatingly hurting. I awoke crying, in rage, in sadness, in misery at this very direct message from my mother; from me. My own body, my own spirit has been treated in this way. The feeling I was having as a human in this experience of witnessing my mother be drugged, raped, and beaten – was like watching my own mother, Sally Marie Torkos be eaten alive by demons. As I write this I am still crying, attempting to put each word down so that I can fully release this medicine. I understand my place here on Earth more and more each day and sometimes it’s just enough to work to hold on and not choose to curl up and fall asleep for another 2,000 years. I am strong though, and feel Her and My and God’s strength returning.

The second part of the dream was the very deep sensation of the magic of the Daime in my body and blood working on me like Ephedrine (the word very clear in the dream directing me further to the story of this plant Ephedra). Now this is an interesting bit because here is what I read on the web about ephedrine:.....(read more at http://wisdomtalker.blogspot.com/2009/10/waking-up-from-dream.html)

The Turning Point - Who is John Galt?

Along the course of 'Listening' to the Voice of God (that which is 'spoken' by the Universe) it happened today that the overview of my Statement of Purpose of This Lifetime became evident, and was ratified in a conversation during a chance meeting with an Intender named Karen. (..a significant name in my life, on a par with John/Jonathan and Sharon/Shannon..) This kingpin revelation merely bespoke what I already knew of my life-long intentions. Yet it was the context that allowed the kingpin to fall into place.
. This is much like the assembly of a jigsaw puzzle. With the frame of it and many of the pieces inside having been put together, the placement of one particular piece enables the puzzler to gleen the overall picture of it. "Aha!", the puzzler exclaims, "This is a becoming a picture of [some sailboats, a garden]" ...whatever it looks to be a picture of.
.When I was a young man, twixt bar-mitzvah and adulthood, I dreamed of affecting the world. During the 'sixties in L.A. my mentress was a hippi named Sharon. My heros were John Lennon and Wavy Gravy. During the seventies my mentor was an activist and science fiction author, John F. Carr, and my heros were John Galt and myself. {Who is John Galt?} For the year before my bar-mitzvah I thought carefully about what God Job i would like to perform/be as an adult. I chose to be a Prophet. (Man o' God: 'other duties as assigned') (umm.. bad career choice. anything else might have been majorly easier. i don't recommend it. but then, i tend to do things big. one might think i'm from texas. sort of a bull in a china-shop full of porcelein matadors. if this sounds arrogant, well, you don't see what you have not yet seen. (i truly wonder if Teacher has seen?))
.Is a pattern emerging here? All my major influences were social activists, and my career path reflects that. I drop pebbles in the calm waters of the collective pond. I ask little questions here and there, sending ripples out to la-la-land. Those ripples come back in the form of policy changes within individuals and small or large organizations.
.Today I went to my favorite chapel, Mocha Momma's Good Coffee(.com) in Sellwood to read a book lent to me by a very important friend, Whitney. The novel is Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn. One particular sentence stood out and changed my destiny. "A culture is a people enacting a story." This sentence is said kingpin. The puzzle piece that tied all the other pieces together. How so?
.In the New Consciousness we are aware that "All the world is a stage and we are the players." (~Will S.) In sociology we know that a culture is a unified group of individuals, an entity; ie, a single player... a people. The unification factor is called Group Mind or Collective Consciousness. The 'story' being told is an improvisational stage-play in real life. In psychology we know that people, and cultures, recieve and act out 'behavioral scripts'.

The stage is set. We see a pub. People laughing, joking, telling the stories of their lives. Big people, little people. In the shadows sits a dark figure. Silent, watching, listening. One of the Men says to avoid that one... he's a Ranger, and those kind are always up to something; trouble runs before them like adventures... no one knows his name, but he is called Strider.

...to be continued...

ref's:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Galt
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_consciousness
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_script

The Softly Booming Voice of God

The Discipleship of Oneness
.[in my opinion...] This is the crux. Here is the beginning of Newness. Here is where we truly begin to be aware of our Oneness with God/the Universe/All. Here is the trailhead that leads to budhahood. If we pay attention to any of these lessons, may we pay attention to this exercise now and in every moment of our eternal lives. God is continually showing us about life and living. This is the breath of life. The word spirit means this - the breath that God breaths into us. This breath, this spirit, is composed of information in many forms; Words, emotions, trends, happenstance. It comes to us by many media; books, trees, people, animals, comedy, astrology, scents, illness, clouds, our own bodies, minds, and hearts.
.Thus far in this Journey we have learned to be aware: aware of trees and people, attitudes and thoughts, our own breath and the breath of the world around us. Now we put this mindfulness into receptive holistic action. Now we begin to consciously gleen the messages God gives us constantly. Earlier I said that if we listen carefully we will hear a tiny little voice; when we tune into that tiny voice it booms like a bass drum! That is the voice of God. (God: our higher power as we visualize it to be. this may be Jesus, the Council of Twelve, angels..)

.Listen to the children. Watch the cats as they play. Find messages in your own body. Read your holy scriptures. Talk with friends. Go to school. Read fortune cookies. All of these!
.Then WELCOME THE CHANGES IN YOURSELF THAT GOD INVITES YOU TO ACCEPT. These changes will be, at their core, shifts in your own awareness, shifts in your own cognition, shifts in your own paradigm.
.In the world of Intending we find that by shifting our own thoughts, the world changes around us. Even when things might actually BE the same, to us they become vastly different. And it goes beyond that.
.Noel McInnis suggests that we be like water. Allow ourselves to flow around the rocks of life. That does not mean to ignore them. That means to allow ourselves to integrate with the river. Allow the river to shape us. No, that does not imply we should be pansy pushovers. We still have discernment and responsibility. That does mean to be attentive to the lessons that present themselves in blatant or subtle ways. Watch for coincidences. Listen to lectures. Use discernment about what you accept to yourself and what you discard.
.Of all the exercises thus far, I personally regard this one as the most vital to your personal growth as a god/goddess. I speak this with the experience of several decades of having practiced this exercise. Please regard this one with care and fervor. Please make this one part of your own beingness, now and always.
Even beyond that, you will likely be amazed at the difference this exercise makes in your beingness, such that you will likely hear about it in comments from other people.

This is the Trailhead to Oneness.
This is truly about the Discipleship of Oneness.

Tree's Message

Talking to my Honey Locust Tree Friend

I do not really endure anything. My life is all about joy and being in the present moment. I see life quite differently than you do, being human. For me, every moment is perfect, joyful, meaningful, divine and filled with a vibrancy and deliciousness which is rare in your life.

I do not define myself by my experiences. I see nothing wrong when the wind or snow carries away one third of my limbs and they lie broken on the ground. I find no problems with birds digging holes into my bark, bees sucking the honey, rain and wind blowing the leaves off my branches. There is only joyful adoration for the joy we all share in each other’s company. The fallen limbs can serve to nourish my own roots so to speak. Insects will dissect them into food for others. There is nothing lost and only abundance to be found in every moment of every day. Seasons come and go and I flow with them whatever they might bring, for I am prepared. I am part of everything and I am connected. I know what is happening and there is satisfaction and a deep understanding of it all.

Humans have this ability as well when they join in the dance of Oneness. When they begin to understand the interconnection of life and that we all share and take our part in its special magic. Long ago some humans were much more in tune with Nature. They understood the rhythm of the seasons and knew if they were going to endure a colder winter than normal. They were living in the flow. Today you isolate ourselves from this part of you. You live inside dwellings, cover your bodies with fabrics and your feet with coverings so that few people allow their bare skin to touch the ground. It is no wonder you have lost your balance and understanding and feel so disconnected with your lives and each other.

Come commune with nature and you will find yourself much more at home with your fellow human beings than you ever thought possible before. We have the answers you seek. We are the answers and someday soon, you will know and become the Nature you so long to spend time in, because you are alone without her. Hear the call and sleep here in your dreams. Walk naked among us and the love you seek, will permeate your cells as you dance the dance of freedom and your heart and ours will become one once again.

Endurance

Endurance

For me my change began when I Embraced everything instead of just enduring change. I have been living with my Best Friend for over 41 years. Back then we were married and raised two amazing and wonderful children with families of their own. Then about 10 years ago he was guided to step away from our relationship while nothing was wrong. We had beautiful loving sex, an honest open relationship, fun, joy. We were both greatly confused, however, we trusted his guidance. It became the darkest night of my soul as I journaled for four years through this long moment. there are no words to describe the pain. I knew this man since I was a small child! One day I am making love and lying with my beloved and the next day we are living at opposite ends of our mobile home and no longer doing things together.

Despite all my intense pain and confusion, I “embraced” them, knowing inside they were a gift. I embraced and loved myself throughout this struggle, understanding their were gifts, although at the time, I had no idea what on earth they could possible be! So I remained and just kept embracing it all. About five years into the process I realized we had done everything together: cooking, cleaning, classes, meals, business and so on. Neither one of us were being our “authentic selves”! We thought because we were happy and joyful, that was what mattered, yet deep inside we were ignoring our “soul’s longings” and not paying attention to them.

So now all these years later I am finally owning my own unique gifts and talents and brilliance! I am an inspiration to all my friends. I am leading a totally new life! I am grateful for the painful separation, because without it, I might still be living ignoring my true self and not living my passion and my dreams!

Endurance of Oneness

Faithfully waiting for the storms to pass and bring a warming calmness and peaceful flow of income!! Endurance of Oneness is a perfect topic for me today as I sit with the concerns of my financial world crashing in all around me. Staying in a place of calmness amongst the chaos. Allowing all to be as it is and knowing deeply that it truly is all in Divine order and already on its way... I look forward to being present to and hearing the whisperings of the old growth tree... revealing its secrets about the storms it has weathered and persevered!

Total humiliation. A lousy score on a SIMPLE exam

.Well, I took the stupid electronics test for the Rockwell Collins job fixing avation electronics. You know, autopilots for 747's and junk like that.
.Okay. Maybe i'm biased here because i'm having to go back to a repair technician job. I got past that level of work fifteen years ago. But a job's a job and right now that counts for a LOT.
.But it still pissed me off. Here I was all scared because I couldn't remember electronics theory and all, so I spent the week trying to review my books from college. None of it was sinking in until Monday when I wrote a journal thing and cleared some baggage from 2007 - the year from hell. All of a sudden it all came back. That had been over a woman and a relationship that I wasn't man enough to let go of. But I love her, so I hung in there. No wonder I've been pushing women away ever since. (well, until now, it seems)
.So today I went to PSU to take the test. And ya know what? It was all first and second semester basics. It was actually a good test for the job, and I would have written it the same way. But the study guide they had given me led me to think it would be much more advanced.
.But it was when i finished that I REALLY got peeved. All I got for a score was 87%. That's embarassing. I feel like an idiot. It doesn't matter that I haven't thought about analog electronics for some fifteen years, but still. This was the basics. Heck, I couldn't even remember how to calculate amplifier gain in decibels. There were stupid logic circuits that threw me for a loop. It was ugly, my friends. I am very very humiliated by this experience. Never again. I'm gonna power up my workstation at home and start building some practice circuitry.
. Anyway, sorry if this doesn't have anything to do with Oneness. I just need to blow this off. Gawd, I feel stupid!

fred meyer greeter man

as i walked into fred meyer's this morning
i noticed a greeter at the door
an older man, looking a bit tentative
"welcome to fred meyer's," he said.
i tried to catch his eye to acknowledge him
and noticed that he quickly looked away
i made my way through the store
buying a couple of grape kombuchas
this time as i walked towards the man
i began to think, "i see you, i acknowledge your presence,
i acknowledge your purpose here."
and as i did that, he looked up and grinned ear to ear.
"have a good day," he said.
"thank you," i said.
our eyes locked in recognition.
we wear so many disguises.
he was here today to see me
when i needed to be seen
to be reminded that i am still here.
i was here to see him,
to remind him that he does
have a purpose,
and that he matters
what he does has meaning.
at least this is what i knew
in the moment.
there is so much more
going on
than i could ever conceptualize.
this divine design and theater
where life is enacted
holds so much depth and meaning.
so often i skim the surface
today i mine the depths.
with humility i shared
my presence and recognized
another's purpose
in such a seemingly small way,
i participated in the
humility of oneness.
i matter, you matter.
we are here on purpose.
amen.

What is today's topic??

Two things: (there's way more, but these are enough for now)
- This morning I woke up thinking about a friend of mine. Specifically about his lower back, in the coccyx-lumbar region, slightly inside. I felt that he was sensitive there, feeling discomfort. (okay, people - pull your minds out of the bedroom long enough to hear me out.) A little while ago I found him walking slowly to the store. He explained that the other day at work he injured his lower back, around the coccyx-lumbar region while lifting a table at work the other day. We talked about the effects of drugs, alcohol, a course in miracles, and yoga relative to his health. This experience has revealed to himself about his desire to be healthy, and he is laying plans to transform his habits in that direction.
- I have not yet looked at the Oneness exercise for today, and have no idea what it is. My main focus is taking an electronics exam today: Rockwell Collins and I are curious about how well I remember this stuff.
. A theme is emerging... maybe call it "Revelation of Oneness"? There's the event I just described, which relates with my own willingness to accept that I empathically feel other people. "I'm NOT woo-woo!" Well, maybe a little bit. This is something i consider to be probelematic. I watched and talked with a baby who was in the process of learning about herself and how to get mom to repeatedly pick her hat up from the floor. A barista told me about that someone lent her Power of Now, and she's looking forward to finding inner growth in that. I got a yen to co-write a story with a friend, but faltered with the idea that because I'm an Intender, fiction tends to become reality and i'm afraid of being too revealing of my inner self regarding the topic i had in mind. Consider the word 'manifest'; to record actual events, as in a ship's log. And yes, what i write, even in fiction, really does happen.
-- ...and so it goes. Perhaps I'm off-base regarding the name of the day's topic. Let's find out if my awareness and perception of the actual goings-on relate to the actual topic-o'-the-day. Ruba agreed to be my validation monitor for this experiment.
in resonance...

Noticing

I am in the awareness of how I have stood in places of non awareness

It has been brought to my attention through spirit

The oneness experience continues to move me

away

from old interactions with myself

others

and non truth

I seek wholeness through experience and

wisdom grows

recognizing

the opportunity to always look within

remembering my true essence

and gathering data that reflects

the wholeness of each moment

It is all ability to stand in the energy generated by my emotions

the gift of Now!

golden thread

everything i have known of my life is falling away
a dissolving of what has been
inside and outside
nothing, no-one
to hold onto
other than
this golden thread
i am suspended between
what has been
and
what will be
untethered soul
what will become
a mystery
i have no semblance
of what is emerging
blinded
dumbfounded
in the mystery
the void
out beyond faith or trust
breath my sole companion
i whisper faintly
to the heart of my heart
"i will, my will, thy will."
amen.

Coming to Life as Me

Last night, in a pub, I got into the beginnings of a fist fight. There was a lovely woman beside me and a jerk trying to get between us. Testosterone was thick in the air. There was physical contact as he pressed forward. There was physical contact as he was pressed backward.

Long ago, before I joined with Yeshua, I enjoyed participating in pugilistic confrontation (sparring). My only detriment was that I would crack up laughing during a fight. But I looked at it this way... my opponents needed every advantage they could gain; especially if there were only two of them such that I had them vastly outnumbered. (if that sounds arrogant, well, go get some martial arts training and then we can talk about it.)

I have always been a peaceful man. Even during a spar. Even when my sparring partner thought it was a real fight and was out for blood. Especially then. I used judo-like techniques to control my puppet -- er, uh.. opponent. I'm far too loving and kind to hurt someone with blows or breaks. "Make love, not war." I love my enemies dearly. They are often my best of friends and teachers.

Since my Transformation I have used more subtle ways of controlling wayward people, such as love, nice words, and beer or pot. There is strength in meekness. Consider a herd of passivistic cows. Consider Ghandi and King.

But somehow, last night, I was back to how I had been long ago. The thrill of Battle! Okay, so it was not much of a battle. And the dude was drunk off his ass. But hey.. it was FUN! I got to be all macho and stuff. Yummy Delicious! It really brings out the woman in me. (or the child? or the dog? i'm confused!) And when all was said and done, all of us were friendly and playful again. That's the best part of fighting... making new friends. Hey.. It's a guy thing.

People, something is happening to me. I'm coming out in a big way. So are my other friends on this Journey. It's like being a butterfly who is emerging but was not aware of having been confined. Naw.. it's more like being a bear coming out of hibernation. I'm not 'different'.. I'm becoming more ME than ever before!

Fire of Oneness --> Rebirth in the Spirit

The Fire of Oneness exercise describes what my friend Pastor Patterson and I call 'Baptism of the Spirit'.
(Baptism: transformation, rebirth, release and grow anew)

. This happened to me fourteen years ago, in the form of ten dreams. I had done a similar thing as this exercise here, in that I released some of the trappings of my self-image and allowed God to lead me to my true beingness.
. While I slept that night I was delirious... sweating and shivering with cold and hot and cold.
. The first dream was of falling into the Pit, Satan drawing me downward. I called out for help. Finally I declared, "I and the Lord are One. I belong to God." I woke up then, to find my wife being concerned about me calling out in my sleep.
. The next nine dreams were all prophetic, and only one has not already manifested.
. That was seven days after I accepted Yeshua as being my personal messiah.
. That was after I spent seven days in a seminary retreat - my initial training for what I call the Christ Corps.
. That was the beginning of my own path of Oneness, and the beginning of some truly amazing experiences. Since then a vortex of magic has followed me around like a puppy.
. Tonight (day 26) I embrace this Fire of Oneness with the Love and confidence of a child who trusts his Father. This is gonna be AWESOME!

{Meanwhile, later that night...}

That was sooo awesome!
. I took the stuff I wrote in the Shadow exercise to the Artichoke Cafe last night, and listened to the live folk music with some friends who bring out certain ways of being in me. As always happens there, the songs ended up reflecting my own heart. (no; not the other way around ... heart first, then the song. it's one of the nuisances of being an Intender.)
. That was a great way to - not process, but to - simply release the old garbage and to emerge as myself, however it was that I was emerging. No fear; Lots of Love.
. And with a certain amount of self-discovery! Fuck, I'm beautiful to me! Not to sound perverted, but I think I'm falling in love with myself. I've NEVER felt like this about me! At this rate, I might be able to truly accept compliments. I'm gonna go try it this morning.
. Once I got past the release, I snuffed out the candle on the table and enjoyed a very special evening, with some very special, loving people.
. The next-to-last song of the evening was about letting ourselves shine like the spring-time sun, or some such.
. The very last song expressed thanks for taking a chance on experiencing love, by coming here tonight.