As your consciousness, refinement and pureness of heart expands you will become less judgemental, less corrective, less reactive, less black-and-white, less critical, less apt to blame and less tormented by others and their faults and views.

Every positive thought is a silent prayer which will change your life. 

Think deliberately. 
Think carefully. 
Think purposefully. 
Think positively. 

Taking personal responsibility is not about being "responsible" it is about seeing your truth and evolving.
If you cannot be open minded, then you do not possess your ideas, your ideas possess you.

As the aperture of your heart opens to love, you will receive more of the light of compassion, acceptance, gentleness, grace and understanding.

Empowerment is never about blame; it is about taking personal responsibility.

ps/smoh

People who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot...

There are ways to live life that some people are not even aware exists, especially people who have had little self-reflection live life in a huge reality blind-spot. 

They truly believe that life is a certain way, when it really isn't. It is like a sad inside joke that everyone is aware of, but them. 

They think they have it all figured out. 

They really believe they are "good" people. 

They do everything right on the surface. 

They are responsible, friendly, pay their bills and work hard. 

They put food on the table for their families. 

They have good credit scores, don't speed and keep a clean house. 

But something is missing. It is so "missing" they don't even know it's missing.

They are emotionally and spiritually dead. 

They recoil from or avoid affection. 

You will never meet a deep penetrating gaze from their shallow eyes; only a surface glances. 

They will touch your hand with their hand, but never with their heart. 

They will serve your body but not your soul. 

They can only connect with you through utility, but never passion. 

If you need cupcakes or a jar opened, they are perfect; if you need compassion or wisdom, you are all alone. 

They are only a person as society made them, not as nature intended them. 

They live life so perfectly, but know nothing of life at all. 

They did everything they were told to be a good person, but are hardly a person at all. 

They are empty. 

They are dead inside.

They are usually very judgemental. 

They see themselves as nice but are often mean and cold. 

They feel themselves superior. 

They think everything they do is exactly the way it is supposed to be done. 

They are repeaters. 

They lack original thought. 

If you challenge their slumber with awakened thoughts, they will panic and flee. 

They will make you feel crazy because they only believe what the masses believe. 

They are the embodiment of the masses, because they have not become their own individual person.

Individuation is an attainment of spiritual maturity frighteningly seldom attained in today's mono-cultures. 

You cannot change these people. 

You cannot snap them out of their sleep. 

Only a tragic event will awaken them.

How does one see their own blind-spot? 

Maybe you know someone like this. Or, maybe it's you. 

Maybe you're dead inside and don't even know it.

ps/smoh

The beautiful path is not a place outside of yourself, but rather a place you carry with you everywhere you go.

If you are reading this, then you are likely on your own journey to uncover your unique vision of success in life. 
You are seeking, and that is wonderful. 
Every moment you are open, as a humble student, you are surrounded with infinite possibilities of choice. 
As a powerful creator, your potential success only awaits the genesis of thought. 
But sometimes we all need a little guidance, and it is my deepest pleasure to share here with you, some of the tools, constructs, and ideas that have opened my world and heart to so many profound successes.

Many people think they want to accomplish what other successful people have in life. They see the worldly achievements, but seldom consider that many such achievements are constructs of the false world. 
They believe they want those things, and when they focus on them, to their bewilderment, those very things move out of their reach. 
My version of success is that my life is full, purposeful, beautiful and boundless. 
I attribute this success to my spirituality, good health, and community of positive relationships which have all come to me, as a creation of choice. 

Success comes from finding your centre and self. You see, being yourself in a world which wants you to be someone else, is the highest possible attainment. I own my time and command the space of my being – 
a space where I am allowed to grow into my true, unique nature. 

Success is a spiritual process, not a worldly one; that is to say it is an internal process, and not external. It is a process of peeling off the layers of conditioning, becoming your essential truth, and living the inner-life. 
Success is therefore a process of honesty and often times, also courage.

Fortunately for me, as a seeker and lifetime student of the world, the seeds of softness and sensitivity had been sown in my soul by wiser, gentler hands, and I found my way to a more graceful understanding of the true nature of success and power. 

My understanding evolved from the outer realm of control, materialism and ego in my youth, to the inner realm of surrender, spirituality and compassion of today. In this context surrender is not a weakness, but rather an empowering state of humility – the humility necessary for self-realization and living a life of purpose.

There are graceful ways of accessing your purpose and success, with time, invitation, gentleness, cooperation and surrender. 

When one learns to focus energy through surrender and sensitivity, they become free, and can access the expansiveness of endless possibility. 
To say it another way, the art of surrender is the art of getting out of the way of your own growth. Your greater purpose is already written in the fabric of your being: your purpose awaits your arrival. 

You need not strive to become your greater purpose. When you release the illusion of control, you begin an effortless free-fall toward a grand reunion with your original self; a self uncorrupted by the world’s false lessons of fear, control and limitations.

Your true purpose is to become your own unique self, and to do so in happiness and free from fear. You are a unique and beautiful expression of the mysterious gift of life and creation. 

Beyond the clumsy, brute force tools of will, determination and hard work – 
and free from the heavy attachment of want, 
and the illusions of burden and blocks, is the true technology of creation through being. 

The true creator-self is a light-at-heart and care-free child, who accesses destiny as a simple act of joyful play. 
Your life is meant to be filled with beauty and joy. 
A life of success comes from seeking a life of beauty. I call this journey, walking on The Beautiful Path.

The Beautiful Path is not a place outside of yourself, but rather a place you carry within you everywhere you go. 
It is the place you want to be to re-center. It is the garden of peace you seek, but is not a tangible place that exists in the world – it is within. 
Go there, within. 
If you nurture a beautiful garden in your heart, the singing bird will come and fill your world with beautiful music. 
The sweet music of your own joy and success is a cultivation of both the heart and mind. To move forward, simply set your intentions, be grateful for what you have, be open to what is possible, and the rest will happen, as a beautiful and effortless journey of cooperation and listening.

There is no greater path than the act of listening, because the observer who listens can begin to see themselves as a part of one expression of purpose and being. 
Life is always speaking to us at every moment. The subtle whispers, cues and nudges are there as guideposts, to gently carry the humble listener along the path back to the source and the true self. Always choose to trust yourself and your ability to listen. 
Listen to your intuition and the quiet promptings of your heart. Let it all go and enjoy the profound gifts found in your quiet places. 
These gifts are your birthright. 
Everything you wish to “create” is already there, waiting for you.

The master action to move forward, is a form of inaction; being still and quiet. It is in this quietness you can hear your intuition. 
Too much aggression and work will move what you desire further away. 

The most effective form of creation is an act of cooperation, not force. All things are accomplished by the meditative act of releasing illusions and simply becoming. 
The master tools of success are invitation, patience, time, gentleness, cooperation and surrender. Let go of everything. 

That is how you get everything; you let go of everything. When we try to control, we become controlled; when we release, we become free. 
Success, just like poverty, is a state of mind. 
You can become instantly successful with a simple thought, but long-lasting and pronounced success comes to those who renew their commitment to a mindset of abundance every minute of every hour of every day.

I hope you will join me in the accepting your own unique gift; the gift of yourself. Let us meet in a high place, where we can call ourselves friends and share a moment together – with a smile – and feel gratitude for the awesome gifts in life we share together.

Gracefully flowing through natural conflict

Conflict is a natural part of existence. 

"Life is a struggle for survival for every organism at every level. Everyone must "fight" for something at times, though some struggle more than others, and often unnecessarily. 
Brute force will sometimes get you through a challenge, but usually not without hurting and depleting yourself in the process. 
Brute physical, intellectual and emotional conflict often causes a great deal of collateral damage. There are gentler and more graceful ways to interface with natural conflict. 

As you spiritually mature you will begin to look at conflict in less self-centered ways. You will realize that engagement is an option. 
There is an enlightened way to flow with, in, and through conflict. Learn to resist but do not be un-moveable in your resistance. 
Resist like the water. 
Flow. 

You don't have to win. 
You don't have to be right. 
You don't always have to teach the the corrective lesson. 

Sometimes you can teach the lesson of patience and non-engagement. Be wise. 
Sometimes it is best to stand back from conflict and allow other elements in someone's life to do the hard work for you. 
Time is a masterful teacher. 
Silence is a masterful teacher. 
When we want to talk, we can instead listen, and let our attentiveness to another's need to speak, be our silent statement. 
But whatever you do, always do it in love and not anger, and in compassion, not contempt.

When someone is attacking you, they are coming to you for advice. 
How you react advises them. 
When someone is vicious toward you they are giving you a glimpse of the pain they carry in themselves. 
The way you engage someone's pain either reinforces their pain or helps to release it. Be gentle when you can. 
If you are strong and safe within yourself then be patient and teach your virtues by your calm example. Try to be less reactive. 
Try to be very kind to yourself and others. 
Start with one departure from your negative and reactive habits. Instead of assuming, which creates pain and suffering for everyone, be open, curious and expect cooperation. 

Learn to be light. 
Have you ever tried to catch a tiny feather floating in the air? 

It's very hard to do. 
When you try to grab a tiny floating feather it just flies right around your hand! The more violently you grasp the faster the wind carries it away. 

In your heart and disposition, be as light as a feather and when they reach for you — you will blow right by their grip; you will effortlessly flow to safety. 

Be as light as that feather. Have a smile of calm in your heart. 
Be peaceful. When you walk in peace you will literally see attackers shattering themselves against your inner-calm. 
They will defeat themselves."

Control your mind and remain undisturbed. That is the secret of Perfect Peace.

The being who really understands things at the deepest level will remain rational and undisturbed no matter what set of circumstances one happens to find themselves in. 

They understands that it does no good to become stressed and panic, in fact, they knows that by allowing their mind to become stressed is defeating oneself within one core. 

You have to be able to control your mind and think rationally during times of duress; you cannot panic or let your fears take over.

This is easy for me to say while I am sitting behind a desk and writing in the comfort and safety of my own home, but how do you control your mind and remain calm and collected when you are confronted by a knife wielding thug in a parking lot? 

The answer is that you have to practice controlling your mind and emotions, before that situation ever arises. 
You must put yourself into these kinds of stressful situations during your normal practice sessions.

Realistic practice scenarios prepare your mind and body to deal with that rush of adrenaline that you will experience if you ever find yourself in such a situation. 

Dealing with these emergency situations is just like dealing with any other situation, the more experience you have, the better equipped you are to deal with the problem. 

This principle applies to everything in life. 
You become better at things as you do them, whether it is playing the piano or dealing with a violent encounter. 

ps/smoh

Many are searching for their purpose....

We are driven by our own and others’ expectations of us, 

by images from the media and 

by social, cultural and class norms that can be difficult to escape from.

I believe we all must have our vision and purpose clear; 

it’s a deep-seated spiritual need in us.  

By which I don’t mean religious at all, although for many people those two things intersect; 

I mean in the context of having a sense of purpose understanding one’s direction, these are things we need..

An important part of the course is taking a look at the obstacles we place in our own way – 

the mind games we play, 

the negative self-talk – we’re expert at tripping ourselves up.  

It’s a point of recognition for people when they see how they do this to themselves.

Learning to connect with Source, you may think of this as God, or the Divine, the Universe, or as the impact and result of meditation, relaxation and/or prayer.  

It’s the groove that artists and sports people find that channels beautiful work and opens the path to the goalpost.....especially if you don’t already have this in your repertoire.

ps/smoh

When you are out there partying and horsing around, someone out there, at the same time, is working hard, someone is getting smarter, and someone is winning.

This is not admonition against relaxing or having fun, but rather an accurate statement on moderation and our habits. 
It is very easy to get into the habit of not working out,
taking a day, or two, or seven, off. 
It takes discipline to continue to work hard and stay in shape, 
but it takes very little effort to blow your workouts off and 
do something which requires less effort.

Use this to help keep yourself motivated. 

Whenever you feel like simply blowing your workout off, just remember that there are others out there who are no blowing off their workouts, 
who are getting stronger, 
more dangerous, and, 
have malicious minds to boot.

Stay motivated and continue to work hard. 

There is a time for relaxing, partying with friends, and just horsing around, but never at the expense of your training. 

Someone is preparing to win when their life is on the line; make sure that someone is YOU!

Self-discipline is the cornerstone of any endeavour.

ps/smoh

God and Love are two of the most misderived words by our species.

There are no right and wrong answers, only perceptions and feelings through intuitions, thoughts, experiences. 

"LOVE is certainly linked to non-attachment and non-judgement, empathy and compassion, care and kindness first of all within oneself and towards oneself before it can extend to others...

God is all-encompassing, the totality of all there is including the Force and energy of Nature, of all the universes... not a distinct entity similar to humans to reward and punish human beings..." said one.

 Poets and prophets have been trying to define these two words since the beginning of time. Not sure we can solve this puzzle here. 

But it does make for great dialogue. 

As a frequency both these words become something that you have to connect to rather than something you can see physically with your five senses. 

Like a radio a computer or a wireless cell phone connects with some unforeseen force.
By looking inside ourselves we can find the true answer.

"And the true answer is nothing! 

And yet as humans we want to come into this reality of illusion and nothingness and meld it to our choosing. Energy always has a need to flow. 

Hence there is something beyond words

Something beyond words is 'no word' which is 'no mind'. No mind is anything -- Nothingness... Emptiness... Consciousness... Spirit --And that who we really are.

We can come to this body and extend this conversation as far as we can or simply observe everything because 'I AM' Nothing which is the source of everything.

Nothingness (Awareness, Consciousness, Spirit, I AM) become something when there is thing (mind).. If there is only awareness what remain?" ...said another.

There are no definite definitions for God and Love, only experiences which continue to evolve our definitions of these two mysteries. 
How we define these terms is a function of our evolution. 
And that is true of most of our language and world views....

ps/smoh

Don't let the behaviour of others destroy your inner peace.

Leaving your life up to the behaviour of others is unthinkable. But that is exactly what you are doing if you continuously allow the behaviour of others to destroy your inner peace. 
There is always going to be rude, 
unthoughtful people, 
and inevitably, you will cross paths with them almost daily. 

If you allow these people to continually destroy your inner peace, and keep your mind disturbed, angry, and frustrated, it will be hard to maintain your sanity, much less your inner peace.

Learn to live outside of the effects of other people's behaviour. Observe it, but do not internalize it, almost as if you are watching a play or a movie. 
Do not let them get into your head. 
Focus on your own behaviour, not on the behaviour of others. 
Make sure that you are clear about the kind of life that you want to live, 
the kind of person that you want to be, 
and 
then focus on being that person and living that kind of life.

Imagine that you have an invisible force field around you that prevents the behaviour of others to affect your mind. 
At the same time, continue to keep your attention on keeping your own thoughts and behaviour in tune to who and what you want to be. 

Baltasar Gracian stated, 
"The man of principle never forgets what he is, because of what others are."

ps/smoh

It is best to leave alone the things that do not concern you!?????

The admonition above seems like common sense. It is best to mind your own business, but the question is what is his business and what is not his business.

If you are out buying groceries and on your way back to your car you see some thug trying to mug a lady in the parking lot, is that your business? 
Many people may consider this whole incident none of their business because they don’t want to get involved, but truth is one have that option.

Living in this world that we shared makes certain things our business, even if you wish that they weren’t your business. 

The situation above is a prime example of this. As a true being, you would have an obligation to spring into action to help the lady in trouble. 
It would be unethicle for you to simply ignore what was happening to this poor lady in the parking lot. 
Actually, it is a disgrace for anyone to simply ignore that situation, but that is another subject.

While it is best to leave things alone which don’t concern you, it is vital that you are able to discern what concerns you and what does not concern you. 

“Mind your own business” does not merely mean that you walk through life blindly closing your eyes to the things going on around you. 

It literally means what it says mind your own business. 

The personal business of one being has a wider range than the personal business of the average person on the street. 

Think about this.

Religious Tolerance? If your religion requires you to kill me for my disbelief, I don't have to tolerate it....

( •_•)
\) (> 
/ \ If you are going to call yourself a religious person, then you should be more focused on feeding the poor, helping those in need, and spreading God's love throughout the world, instead of building elaborate churches, mosques, or temples.

There are A LOT of people in this world who need help and who see even those with the lowest incomes here in Australia, as rich.
If you are going to proclaim your love for God, then back it up with more than words. 

Walk the walk instead of just talking the talk! 
To do anything less is to be a hypocrite.

I Choose...

To live by choice, not chance.
To make changes, not excuses.
To be motivated, not manipulated.
To be useful, not used.
To excel, not compete.
I choose self-esteem, not self-pity.
To listen to my inner voice, not the random opinions of others.

You do get to choose, you know. 
You, and you only, make the specific decisions about how you will live your life. 
But you do have to choose. 

If you don't choose, you will simply live by chance. You will find that living by chance, making excuses, competing, and listening to others will come naturally, if you don't make a firm decision to live life your way.

Don't allow yourself to fall into self-pity, being used and manipulated, and then making excuses for your lack of discipline. 
This is not the way, choose to live life YOUR way. 

Choose to live by choice, not chance! 

ps/smoh

The most fascinating thing in all the universe....your present experience!

Whatever is arising in this moment - 
whether it's confusion,
 fear, 
anger, 
pain, 
or just a sense of not knowing which path to take 

Let that very movement be captivating, enthralling 
let it fill all space with its essence. 
Allow it in completely and don't judge its existence, 
whatever it is. 

And if you can't allow it in, if there is a struggle to allow, wonderful! 
Allow that too. 
Allow the non-allowing. 
Accept your inability to accept a single damn thing. 

Let even that be fascinating, as it was when you were a little baby.
Let the whirlpool of this moment become a stream, 
let the stream become a raging river, and 
let the river flow into the ocean, and realize that the very thing you were fighting against was not separate from that vast intelligence we call Life. 

It was only an intelligent cry for complete attention. Water (consciousness) can take any form - whirlpools, lakes, canals, rivers, oceans - for it is all there is. 
Resistance is futile, when you are everything.

Nothing to do, nowhere to go. Now is the only path. The wound contains all the medicine. This is love beyond the speaking of it.

ps/smoh

NB
'The absence and presence of free will' is yet another belief.....
Of course!!!!!!!!!!!

‘The wound contains all the medicine’... 
And yet we are so accustomed to rush for all kind of patch remedies without giving the wound the attention it deserves.

FOR A FRIEND

"Friend, I know your heart is broken, 
I know the future seems unclear to you, 
I know you feel the absence of answers right now, 
I know you feel a terrible longing for something you cannot name.

But let's begin where we are. 
Let’s not focus on the thousands of steps that will come on the path, but the place where we stand on the path right now. 
And there is only now.

Know that many others have gone through what you are going through, and remember that sometimes it seems darkest before the dawn. 
But instead of longing for the dawn, and rejecting the darkness, let us touch the dark parts with gentleness; let us shine our light there. 
Let us meet what is present, not rush towards what is not yet present. 
For even the darkest cave may contain treasure, and even the most intense and uncomfortable feelings may actually contain strange medicine.

Walk your path courageously, friend, and know that loved ones walk with you."

ps/smoh