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.