June 7 '09 Hole in our Soul

This is written from my memory. Please contribute anything I missed in the comments section. TY, scb

Recently we at Center of Light have engaged in consciously shifting our identification of who we are from soul to Spirit.
(There was a time, probably when we were children, that we identified with our physical expression: “I am my body. I am hungry. I am tired. I am a victim and lotza folks are the boss of me.”
Then we came to recognize that we are more than our body, our body is a tool for experiencing, and probably, if we are engaged in New Thought, made that shift some time ago to identifying ourselves as soul: “I am what I think, therefore, I change my thoughts to change my feelings to recreate my world. I am a victor, an overcomer of my past misperceptions. I align my thoughts and feelings with spiritual ideas.”
When we came to recognize that we are more than our mind, our mind is a tool for creating and manifesting spiritual ideas (“I am healthy in mind and body, prosperous in all my affairs . . .”), we consciously began making the shift from identification with soul to Spirit. Or as DB said, ‘We always knew we HAD a Spirit, but we thought we were soul.”)

Now our reality is: We are that which we have been seeking. We are that we have been longing for.

Our practice . . . what 12, 15 times a day? . . . has been:
· Becoming conscious and aware in the present moment. Breathing in this eternal moment of now.
· “I am a spiritual being and this, right here and right now, is a spiritual experience.” Breathing in the fullness of this reality, resonating with the truth of this reality.
· Being in the moment fully aware that if heaven is where Spirit is, and this is where I Am, then this that I have created is heaven. Breathing in the perfection and wholeness of this moment.
· Loving and embracing what is. Breathing in the assurance of being loved and loving, of being valued and valuing, connected as a vibrant and vital part of the whole . . . in Oneness.
OK. We made up this process and are way open to other ideas for shifting our reality from soul to Spirit.
But let’s go back to soul for a moment . . . what is it? Our conversation this morning included some of the following ideas, theory and perceptions:
1. The soul is our personality.
2. The soul is the contract we established before we came into this incarnation. Some folks feel that the contract includes the lessons to be learned. However, we seem to agree that karma as personal ~ “I messed up in my last incarnation so I want to heal and clear that this time”~ may not be the way it is. It’s not about punishment(!) Our contract may be more about contributing to the collective consciousness with the intention of taking on an aspect of ‘the human experience’ for embracing, clearing, healing and transforming.
3. The soul is the role we play, not the truth of who we are . . . like the reality of “Forest Gump”. Tom Hanks (spirit) is the reality and when given the opening, can change the script of our Forest Gump role, or personality.
So it seems that at some point in our experience we come to the awareness that something in our life is missing. We feel an emptiness, a hole in the donut, a hole in our soul. We long to fill up that nebulous empty space, yearn to satiate that nebulous whatever is missing. (We have experienced how this works . . . “I’ll get more/more/more money, education, relationships, stuff . . .” We self medicate to take the edge off, become addicted, and become a human doing . . . filling up the space with doing stuff. It doesn’t work, as in can’t fix the problem at the level of the problem.)
And it also seems that what we feel is missing . . . what we have been longing for . . . is connection and Oneness. We initially go with, “My longing is for a deeper relationship with God . . . with Spirit. I want to feel and experience that connection with Spirit . . . with all life. I want to have the experience of Oneness, the wholeness of everything . . . see and experience the expression of God in everything.”
And in time we come to, “Ooops, I’ve been longing for a personal relationship with Spirit . . . I am that which I have been seeking. I’ve been experience separation and seeking my tribe . . . I am already connected. I am an individualize expression of God . . . God is all there is . . . and I am, as a spiritual being, connected and one with all there is.”
Whhhoooooa . . . Awesome. And we begin to breathe again . . . breathe deeply . . . Owning our space as a valued and vital, loved and beloved part of the Whole . . . the hole in our soul is filled in the wholeness of Spirit.
So now, how do we put feet under the realization of our connectedness . . . our oneness.
Let’s consider facebook . . . (some folks gaged . . . some pumped the air, “Woo Hoo”. Our time was up and we confirmed in song . . . You are the face of God . . . I hold you in my heart . . . You are a part of me . . . You are the face of God!)

May 31,'09

Announcements:
Donna Beth's sale begins Wednesday thru Saturday; You may also put bids on items, along with what you would like to pay and your name and phone number.
Circle of Light: John Martin will share Buddhist chanting at the potluck next Monday.

COL topic: When We Get Off Center . . .

It is our understanding that we are perfect just the way we are . . . perfect, loved and beloved. There is nothing to fix about us, so we stay in the consciousness and awareness that:

We are spiritual beings and this is a spiritual experience.

We are not spiritual beings having a human experience.
Yes, we have a soul and a body (What are we? Spirit, soul and body.)
And soul, our personality, our soul contract, the phase of mind where we think, feel and emotionally respond or react to situations and experiences, is a tool to be used for functioning in the world. It is not who we are . . . we are Spirit.
And body, the vehicle that responds to what we perceive in our thinking, feeling and emotions, is a tool that houses the Spirit and soul and is used for functioning in the physical world. It is not who we are . . . we are Spirit.

Whether we call it The Indwelling Presence of God, The Christ, Our Real Self, Our Natural Self, Our Divinity, Our Sacred Self, that which we call Spirit is the individualized expression of the eternal, all-knowing, everywhere present, all powerful Energy that we call God.

We, as Spiritual Beings, are perfect. There is nothing to fix. (Although we have probably spent years working at the soul level to fix ourselves . . . heal, clear and cleanse, transform. Thinking we are soul, we have worked at the conscious phase of mind to heal the sub-conscious perceptions and agreements between the thinking and emotions, in order to align with Spirit.)

Today we get it . . . we are that which we have been seeking. We are that which we have been created to be. We are the individualized expression of the universal energy that we call God. Now we spend our time remembering and accepting this Truth. "I am a spiritual being and this that I'm experiencing is a spiritual experience." We respond to our experiences from this awareness, this knowing, this perfection.

And, from time to time, we find ourselves 'off center'. We become mesmerized by the situation or the experience, totally focused on what we perceive as 'the problem'. This some-form-of-upset is the red flag for the opportunity to heal, transform or shift energy in our space to a new level. It may be our own stuff surfacing, or it may simply be the stuff of the collective consciousness . . . our opportunity, should we choose to accept it, is to participate by contributing to the well-being of the whole by clearing, healing and transforming what was held as the reality to a new light, a new awareness, a new level of understanding.

So, rather than experiencing these 'off center' times as , "Oh shoot! Here it is again. I thought that was fixed." we step up to the plate in our heart, bite the bullet, as they say, and engage in the transformation of energy. Every therapy I'm familiar with offers the tools and steps for a process we can use to go through, grow through and get though 'the problem' to experience the peace and empowerment of overcoming to the other side.

Using the tools of Angeles Arrien, Ph.D., in "The Four-Fold Way ~ Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary", we engage in the process by:

1. Showing Up and Choosing to Be Present (the way of the warrior)
2. Paying Attention to What has Heart and Meaning (the way of the healer)
3. Tell the Truth without Blame or Judgment (the way of the visionary
4. Be Open to Outcome, Not Attached to Outcome (the way of the teacher)

While these tools and this path is especially appropriate for ways of being in business and professional meetings, this process also serves to bring us back to our center::

1. Rather than allowing 'the problem' to lurk around in the shadows and blindsiding us at the most inopportune time, sit down, show up in intention and be fully present to what is happening right now in you. Bring everything into conscious awareness.
2. As all the aspects of 'the problem' comes to light, pay attention to what has meaning to your heart. Be fully present to being with this awareness and insight.
3. Tell the truth to yourself about the situation. What are you really feeling? Be clear and cover it all. And, I think, be with whatever shows up. Be with what is.
4. Be open to taking whatever direction you may be given . . . without being attached to the outcome.
5. At any point in the process, participate in Ho'oponopono!

So, we live in the joy, peace and harmony of our perfection until we get 'off center' . . . perfect. This too is perfect and the opportunity to contribute to the collective consciousness as well as experience a shift in our own experience. For this we have come.