divine living
Life Invites You To Dance
In the quietude of the morning, as the sun gently rises with a golden glow glistening through the trees, I feel a calm within reflecting the clear blue sky. The season is changing. The heavy heat and humidity of summer has dissolved into an idyllic balance of coolness, warmth, and lightness in the air.
It is a time of transition, moving toward autumn, but not fully there yet. For me, it is a season of revitalization and renewed inspiration. The vastness of nature expands all around and the interconnectedness of every soul within it reaches the forefront of my awareness.
Today, I will be intuitively teaching a dancing with nature class at the World Peace Sanctuary nearby. All of life is a dance with nature and its Creator. We are invited into that partnership and party of life, to move together in joy and harmony.
But how do we join the flow? It begins at the feet, at the root of the tree of life. In Srimad-Bhagavatam, the great celestial sage Narada instructs, “As pouring water on the root of a tree energizes the trunk, branches, twigs and everything else, and as supplying food to the stomach enlivens the senses and limbs of the body, simply worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead through devotional service automatically satisfies the demigods, who are parts of that Supreme Personality.”
Not only are angels, nature spirits, and demigods part of the tree, but so are we. Like leaves upon it, we are connected not only with the twigs, branches, and trunk, but with the root, the very source and sustenance of all life. By watering that root with our whole-hearted attention and intention, we are nourished, supplied, and satisfied.
But what does this mean practically? It means peace and growth rest not in pursuit of individual desires, but in harmony with and service to Divine desires. Endeavoring to serve separate interests is futile and unfulfilling, just as watering the leaves and limbs of a tree individually would be. They would dry up and die if simply watered separately. Continue reading
Surrendering Your Free Will To Divine Intervention
To have free will means to have choices, to act at your own discretion. Choices in what? Well, in everything. From eating ice cream for breakfast, to establishing a humanitarian mission to support the homeless.
The ice cream is a simple choice, while the non-profit requires significant planning, a vision, a passion and purpose, as well as personal sacrifices, effort and action.
But both will have consequences. Eating deserts for breakfast may lead to weight gain and even long-term health problems. Helping the homeless will make the world a better, safer and happier place.
Between these two extreme examples, there are a myriad of life paths, choices, decisions, options, and potential experiences. It is what we call life and relationships. In all these possibilities the power of free will always exists.
You also have the free will choice in life of taking things too personally, being too controlling or demanding, being lazy or discontented, playing the victim…or living your life with courage, joy and gratitude.
One of the most prevalent challenges many people is their unwillingness to accept the principles of co-creation. To live a happier, more peaceful life we have to accept that just because we have free will in our own life choices, the world we live in is a co-creation. We do not only choose for ourselves, but we also choose everyday along with others. Every day is an act of co-creation. And not everyone always chooses the same things. We must learn to accept this.
Go with the flow? Never, you might say, I need to be always in control. I call the shots! The paradigm shift of realizing that I am spirit in a physical body is what changed it for me. Consider what your life might look like today had you more often simply trusted the Divine, Universe, God, Creator, Spirit, Source to let things unfold for the greater good, at the right time and in the right way? Well, it’s never too late to try. The results just might surprise you.
Raising Your Vibration Changes The World
When I was a Yoga teacher, I often had students invite me for dinner or a social visit to help them clear the energy in their home. I would always remind them that, while I may be able to improve the vibration of their home and clear any negative energy, the results would only be temporary.
Attaining an improved energy frequency in this way, of feeling light, happy, hopeful, and positive, can be like a ‘quick-fix crash diet’ to get some weight off quickly. The instant, easy results may motivate one to lose weight more permanently with a sustainable, sensible nutrition plan and fitness routine, but it will never be a long-term, lasting solution on its own.
I have been practicing energy work and raising my vibration since I was teenager. My practice intensified when I began to study Kundalini Yoga in my 30’s.
Raising one’s energy vibration is a basically a process of expanding and strengthening the aura – our personal energy field. Various energy influences can cause our aura to retract and become diminished, for example as we grow older, or when we are traumatized in childhood. The aura ‘pulls in’ to protect us, much like someone might hunch over when they are being physically attacked.
Poor posture is often the result of the fourth (heart) chakra and the aura retracting to protect the self. Our energy vibration is a combination of the aura and the chakras or energy centers. When you realign and balance the chakras, you basically ‘take out the psychic trash’ and your vibration is heightened.
Having a consistently high vibration, however, can come with its own set of challenges. For example, I cannot wear a watch, for because my vibration tends to make them break down or stop moving. I often have problems with machinery and technology in my environment. I have also been told that went I walk into a room, the vibration changes.
Just like when a really negative person can bring everyone in down, or even make you feel ill, a positive, high vibration can make a room light up. People literally get high off the energy. The feeling is similar to falling in love or after one has given birth to your child. A raised vibration is a kind of low-level euphoria anyone can achieve.
You Are A Bright Star In A Benevolent Universe
We live on a vibrant planet, a microcosm of a vast universe of mysterious galaxies, infinite passages, magnificent star clusters, and more than a zillion types of light we can only touch in the stillness of our souls. I am reminded of this splendor each time I gaze into the night sky.
I am also reminded of our presence in this wondrous universe upon waking in the morning and witnessing the magnificence of the sun rising above the hills. And then there is that pre-dawn twilight period when a sacred stillness envelopes all.
It is at these times that I feel most connected to the Divine Essence of Life that flows through the entire Universe. It affirms that I am also a part of this vast and expanding wonder of abundance, benevolence and unconditional love.
We sometimes lose sight of the fact that we have been created complete and dynamic, with an endless array of spiritual, metaphysical and psychological powers to forge through any goals we might establish for ourselves.
Too often we see ourselves as lacking in the ability to move our lives forward, especially when everything seems to be going wrong. It is during these periods that we must take a step back, breathe deeply, and focus on how magnificently perfect we were created.
Each of us is born with an inner compass and a set of spiritual gifts to guide our lives to celestial heights, even in the most rough moments when it appears that our world is crumbling.
I once had a wise friend who was a revered elder in our community. Throughout her life she has freely shared her wisdom with me. Towards the end of her earthly life, she reminded me that we were each born with the perfect tools in place to navigate through any ordeal, both the positive and the seemingly negative.
She urged me to reflect upon the higher guidance we were born with, and not be afraid of trusting my inner voice, especially during the bleak periods. So, in honor of my dear old friend, I encourage you today to utilize your special set of spiritual tools and trust in the higher guidance it leads you towards.
The Three Laws of Grace
There are three primary Laws of Grace that function under the overarching Law of Attraction. Grace is generally associated with divine support or spiritual help, but in this context it simply means that we are always free to choose again.
The Law of Love
The first Law of Grace is the Law of Love. The Law of Love does not refer to feelings, sentiments or emotions. Too often it is assumed that love is a feeling we get when we are with someone, but in metaphysics and spirituality love is not a feeling.
Instead, spiritual love is choosing to accept others as they are and to want what is best for them. What most of us know as ‘love’ today is actually ‘like,’ because to like someone or something is conditional. Real love, on the other hand, has no conditions. It is unconditional.
There is also a common belief about ‘love’ that can be very damaging to relationships. Sometimes we create emotional attachments to future events and declare that “this is love.” Yet, it is impossible to love a future other – either you love a person, or you do not.
When people conjure up extensive images and stories about a future version of another person and attach their mental and emotional attention to these things, they often create a strong sense of painful longing, which creates within them the desire to change the other person.
It is this painful yearning that is the key to understanding, because with the Law of Attraction like always attracts like. Painful longing can only ever attract more pain. It does not even matter how compatible two souls are in this life, if one of them is participating in such a painful longing, then pain will inevitably become the result of the relationship.
Love is unconditional acceptance and there is only one love. Therefore, Buddhists believe one cannot have friends and enemies. If you have enemies then eventually all of your friends will become enemies, and vice versa.
The Secret Power of Enlightened Beings
Enlightened beings feel powerful because they are allowing and connecting to an unlimited source of energy. Divine Energy is eternal, unlimited and available to all who seek it. It is continuously pouring forth. Just like the Sun, it has never stopped shining since the beginning of time.
Accessing more of the Divine Source is a choice we make every day and only possible if we are truly in alignment with spirit. Enlightened beings use all of the energy available to them to manifest the truth. The enlightened and spiritually awakened do not drag the veils of illusion into their daily reality.
Each and every time we make a healing change in our everyday reality, we free up energy that can be applied to seeking our spiritual truth instead. Imagine how powerful and limitless you can be if you choose to do this in your own life. This is true, ageless power, not the illusory power bought with money, status, petty human obsessions or material possessions. And that is what we should all be going after.
The central perception of enlightened humans is that they are never alone. If you live with the limiting belief that life is experienced with only the five physical senses and consists only of that which can be observed and measured in the material world, you will surely miss out on the miracles, blessings and divine guidance that is so freely available to each and every one of us.
Receiving an intuitive forewarning that prevents us from entering a dangerous situation is an example of divine guidance. These messages are from our spiritual essence and our inner guidance system to help us along our path in life.