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Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:38:57 -0700

Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was still falling.
Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection.
"Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"

This is one of my favorite Zen Stories because the lesson is so important. Through our thoughts we carry tremendous burdens that we could let go of at any time. However too often we carry these heavy thoughts because for some reason we can't let them go. It is like we grow attached to the feelings generated by these thoughts or maybe it is because we can continue to hold onto the blaming we can do from them.

What thoughts and the accompanying feelings do you need to let go of in your life? Are you holding onto the negativity so you can blame others? What is the benefit to holding onto the past events or situations? You might say there is no benefit to retaining these negative experiences. If not why don't you let them go? The answer has to be that in some way these negatives have been serving you or you would have let them go like the monk Tanzan did with the young woman.

Let me state this in another way. If you have past negative thoughts and emotions you are carrying around like the monk Ekido did all the way to the monastery then you must get some benefit from doing so. Here are some possible benefits: if makes you feel better than the other(s) involved; you like to suffer (that would be sad); you have a hard time forgiving because you prefer to be angry; you like to blame others and situations; your low sense of self is more comfortable with negativity; or other not so healthy reasons.

Maybe it is time to take inventory of the unfinished business that you are carrying around with you? Can you imagine how much freer you would feel to not carry the burdens of the past any longer? Be like the monk and set your burdens down right away, release what you need to released, let go and move on. The benefits of letting go and moving on way outweigh what you get from holding onto the past.

Have a good day and set yourself free to be present.

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Sat, 07 Mar 2009 13:33:36 -0800

Last night I was out walking mindfully under a blanket of stars and the light went on. I am still attempting to understand the impact of the insight I had. In that moment I understood that my attempts to open myself to more prosperity were too driven by my ego. My inner work has been very productively lately and the practices I am doing seem positive. They were positive but the ego in me was driving them. As I write this I am hoping to provide clarity to myself and to share insights that may be of value to you.

Over the years I have shrunk the impact of my ego on my life. Ego's impact in your and my life can be seen as:

* The need for the approval of others
* The need to have control
* The need to be right
* The hurry/worry push inside to make things happen
* The fear driven rationalizations that make ok what isn't.

Shrinking those sneaky ego strategies can happen by shedding some light on them, by becoming more aware that they are operating in your life. The more that you catch these strategies in action the more you can arrest their development. It is best to think of these ego techniques as not bad but more survival. The ego works most powerfully in a void of insight. The more insight and awareness you have the less the influence of the ego. Again ego is not bad, it is more instinctual and protective but lacks the expanded viewpoint of consciousness.

As I write this, I see I am spending more time on the ego issues than on the liberating side of last night's insightful walk. When I saw the workings of the ego, hidden under the spiritual practice, I immediately felt relieved to see the reason I had yet to create the results I was seeking. At that moment as I remember it now, I then felt the freedom of dropping the ego needs and was totally open to flow of the Stream of Well-Being, the Source of the universe. Let me see if I can state that in another way. When the light came on that the ego was driving my spiritually focused prosperity practices, I could then make a choice to go about what I was doing in a more enlightened way. I am going to try to state this again from a different angle. In the moment of awareness, I saw there was no need for me (ego), instead the Higher Self was allowed to operate. This Higher Self is one with the Source of all creation.

Again the challenge is to put into words what is understood beyond the rational mind. My invitation to you is to step back and see:

* Where the ego is running the show?
* What insights in you are waiting to be understood or integrated?
* How you are getting in your own way?
* What knowing you have that is beyond the rational, maybe more intuitive?
* What is your relationship with your Higher Self?
* What is the guiding force inside of you?
* How are you connected to the Infinite Source of the universe?
* What limiting ideas or beliefs hold you back from living your desires?
* What do you need to do today to set yourself free?

One last thought, there are a few key feelings here that are great guides to let you know if you are on the right track. If you feel joy, aliveness and real freedom, you are definitely on the right track.

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Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:55:48 -0800

Feel the Joy of Freedom

The close of January is coming quickly, how are you doing at getting your life going in the direction you want it to go? What successes have you had? What are you doing that is working? How is your life shifting for the better? What are you most grateful for in 2009 so far?

These questions are important because it is always a good idea to keep track of your efforts and to appreciate the positive results. I have noticed so far this month that I have been feeling more joy and freedom. This improved state of mind and heart seems to come from my emphasis on joy and freedom as what I most want to create in my life. As I pursue a joyous life, I seem to find more of it. As I seek more freedom, I feel freer.

My emotions play a big part in the shift that happens. Lately my focus on being joyous in life helps me feel light and appreciative of what is going on. As I let go of my own expectations, I seem to be more present and without restrictions. This makes life much more enjoyable. When I feel positive things just work out better.

Today I suggest your try the following visualization to loosen up the flow of what you want into your life:

Imagine yourself living this amazing life, full of what you want. You have the freedom of a rich flow of money, vibrant health, peace of mind, great success and lots of love and joy. You have a home you enjoy and relationships that matter. You feel alive and inspired by what you do. You make a positive difference in the world.

Now feel how it would feel to have this wonderful life, feel the joy, feel the peace, feel the excitement, feel the energy, feel the freedom as if you have no limits and can do what you want. Feel how great this all feels. Feel the relief of total freedom to fully be who you want to be.

The more positive emotions you get rolling the more you vibrate as a level where you make things happen as you want them to come about in your life.

Yes what a joy it is be to be fully who your really are.

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Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:39:23 -0800

Have you felt the light again shining in Washington DC with the new inspired leadership of President Obama? He has hit the ground running full speed. This is what America needs after the incredibly dreary past eight years of war, torture, greed, deregulation, illegal spying on citizen, unchecked profits at any cost, corporate dishonesty, a Congress totally asleep at the wheel, secret prisons, lost legal rights, an executive branch with no real moral compass, endless advantages exclusively to the rich, unchecked abuse and harm to the planet, a ruined reputation around the world, and the complete ignoring of what was for the good of the people.

No wonder everyone was feeling out of sorts. The gloom is being lifted. Can you feel yourself coming back alive? The challenges are yet still great to clean up the huge mess but we can now have hope again and together can weather the storm.

Yesterday the employment picture grew bleaker. Even the experts are unclear on how to fix the wreckage left by those in charge. Now however there is some one with a plan. His leadership appears to want to include everyone who is willing to join in to make things better. He has what is called a Big Tent approach asking people from all points of view to come together and heal the nation and the planet from the years of neglect and bad ideas.

That tent is big enough for every citizen. The president has made that clear. He is asking us all to join hands and go forward with a shared focus. Can you feel the power of his intention? Can you sense the good in all of us wanting to join in? Is there really anything we can't take on and succeed? Do you really have any doubt in the greatness of human nature to rise to the occasion?

Today, pick a project that means something to you and lend some time or give some resources to move it forward. Pick up the phone and call your elected officials, give them support for ideas you believe in and cheer them on. Write the president and thank him for his great start and let him know you believe in the hope in his heart.

Then sit quietly with yourself and listen inward to your own heart and turn on the beacon of hope that is waiting to shine from you. The moment is right for your further evolution.

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Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:11:59 -0700

The Milky Way, Moose and Me
The last night of our little retreat was spectacular, as I looked upon the Milky Way feeling both very small and expansive at the same time. Small because we are part of such a magnificent universe; our planet literally is just a minute dot in the greater scheme of things. Yet somehow we think of ourselves as so important. This inflated ego nature, in all of us, is a dysfunction of our thoughts. I sometime think if people could only see how insignificant and amazing we are then everything would be ok. The chaos of human life would subside if we could only be both something special and not inflated about it.

Unfortunately most people are not the least acquainted with their amazing nature nor do they realize with genuine humility their true insignificance. Each of us is so much more than we truly understand. Our potential is limitless, our ability to be creative knows no limits, our heart can love ceaselessly and without restrictions. Yes all that possibility is within us. Instead too much time gets spent trying to pump up the fragile ego, which is often attempting to offset the modeling we received by other fragile egos. That is human nature yet the evolution of who we can be, makes more possible.

The greater possibility resides someplace beyond our thoughts and conditioning. The quantum leap of human understanding seems to be around our true nature. I invite you to try on the following ideas and to take the next step in your conscious expansion:

* We are all one, (no matter your beliefs, religious affiliation, nationality, color or sexual preference) interconnected in consciousness, heart, and spirit, constantly exchanging the particles that make up everything.
* There is an intelligence, a knowing (in you, find it) that is beyond our thinking, that wisdom is free of the ego and our conditioning.
* This moment each of us can set ourselves free by going beyond the daily dramas, by seeing beyond our limited thinking, and instead reside in our higher nature, which is here in the silence of impartiality.
* We are all here to love and be joyous, there is no higher calling than expressing these two ways we can be.

Have a good week. It sure feels nice to be writing again.

One last reporting: The other morning up in the mountains, as we prepared to leave for the Sustainability Festival in Ft Collins, we came outside to see a family of four moose in the yard eating away at the leaves. I have only seen a few moose in my life and that number doubled here only 30 yards away. They are beautiful creatures and in a moment of realization, I saw they were connected to me.