Spiritual Inspiration

REFLECTIONS on the Our Father — part 2

Posted on by Dr. Toni

You manifest all Creation, including me, out of your radiant Light. As I realize that I am connected to the Source of all energy  and the vibration in the cosmos, I bring Heaven to earth.

Heaven is already here — IT’S MY PERCEPTION THAT MAKES LIFE hell…

Whatever I am focusing on causes me to feel… Emmet Fox used to teach us to focus ON GOD  Think God. (My upcoming book teaches you how to do this. It’s coming soon…)

I am learning each day that I am vibration.  I’ve been very moved by the teachings of Abraham, (Esther Hicks) and the work of Wayne Dyer which I am reminded of here.  “There’s nothing more important than that we FEEL good”.  Just yesterday, I said some negative stuff – and, of course, it showed up in spades….. in the past, I would have felt quite bad about how I responded and that someone would even think ill of me.  I found myself asking – what can I think that would let me feel good (feel
God)?  I was reminded to love myself, even the personality that is critical – oh, another part of me that is unloved….how can I love this part more and use it more appropriately  — much better thinking  …..what’s the personality in you that you can give more love to today…  frightened person?…angry person?.. lazy?…….

You help me to create a space daily for me to experience Your life-giving healing energy through remembering who you are and who I am.

That’s how we heal these personalities – remember who you REALLY are – ASK for grace.

I love the thought of hollowing out a space for God.  practice first seeing YOURSELF not anybody else..

Eg. If you watch the news and find yourself ANGRY –

See SELF as cause… notice the anger… maybe even notice how prevelant that is in your life…asking for grace…

This is the way to enlightenment, folks… Awareness…Ask for grace.  NOT ABOUT WORKING ON YOUR FLAWS—  (I know this isn’t what a lot of people teach — but, I really believe it — the answer to growth lies in remembering who you really are….)

Many years ago, I used to play the guitar and sing – the words of one of my favorite songs is coming back to me now:

Do you know who you are? Can you see with my eyes

Have you heard what I’ve said in my word, do you know who you are

And if I am the Father, then you are the son and all that you need I will give; let your heart be at rest, I’ll do what is best for I said, I have come that you may live.

DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE?

From Joe Vitale – Fear and the Creative Power of Your Mind

Posted on by Dr. Toni

by Kathy Zant
www.ZeroFearNow.com

Fear affects all of us. People talk about the
fight or flight response, but there’s another
reaction that is even more common and
detrimental: becoming paralyzed, unable to move.
Thoughts about what may happen race through our
minds coming up with elaborate possibilities…
possibilities that will likely never occur.

Often when fear begins racing in our minds, waves
of emotion follow like a raging stream carrying
us away. Those emotions can be extremely
powerful. We begin to feel that the fears are in
fact truth, and that our visceral physical and
emotional reactions solidify our beliefs that we
can’t move from where we are.

The emotions and physical reactions are very
real. The basis for those reactions — the fear
— usually is not. Those fear come from illusions
within our mind.

Isn’t the mind wonderfully creative?

It can concoct elaborate schemes of what could
happen, and think through all of the ways you can
protect yourself like a chess game without an opponent.

Let’s see if there are some ways we can use that
brilliant creative power of your mind to move you
forward, instead of erecting defense systems
against something that doesn’t exist.

How is fear keeping you stuck?

Do you want to ask for a raise, but you’re afraid
of being denied?

Do you want to apply for a more exciting job,
but you fear that you’re not qualified?

Do you want to ask a pretty girl out for a date,
but the thought of her saying no makes your
stomach turn?

Do you want to lose weight, but inside there’s a
quiet fear of the attention you might receive if
you do?

Fear blocks your manifestation

No matter how much attention you might place on
achieving your goals, how much you want them,
hidden, unconscious fears often get in the way.
Then we end up feeling frustrated and angry that
our manifestation efforts aren’t going the way we
planned or hoped.

Tips for overcoming fear

Explore your emotions. If you find yourself
within that raging stream of emotion, allow those
emotions to flow. But separate yourself from
them. Instead of following the current, pull your
conscious mind to the riverbank and watch the
emotions flow. You don’t have to be carried away
by the river, you are not the river. But you will
learn a lot about yourself and your patterns by
watching your emotions flow through you. Perhaps
your intuition will show you where the basis for
those emotions exists within you, and you can
release the cause of your fears.

Separate your fear from the object of your fear.
If you fear being rejected, that may stop you
from asking for what you want or need from life.
The key is to not avoid the action that might
cause rejection, but to re-identify the problem
as the fear itself. Fear is the obstacle, the
rejection is not an obstacle. It’s only feedback
that will guide you on the path to getting what
you want.

Re-address the consequences. What if your mind,
running off with possibilities, is completely
right? What is the absolute worst thing that can
happen from your worst fears coming true? If you
can find a place within yourself where the worst
possible scenario is somehow okay to you, then
the fear will dissipate. What if you are told
point blank that you’re not qualified for the job
of your dreams? What happens next? Use your
mind’s creative power to find ways where you can
be okay with the worst possible scenario. Perhaps
it means you take another course, or study at
home in the evenings, or manifest a job that’s
more suited to your needs. The rejection is only
a problem if you don’t have a plan of finding a
way to be okay no matter what happens.

Just do it. There are some
instances of fear-inducing situations where you
just can’t find a logical way out. Your gripped
by fear, but you know that being stuck and
paralyzed is not an option. You have to move one
way or another. The only thing you can do is…
take action. You might be taking the “wrong”
action, but all you can do is move from the place
you were. When you can move, just a little bit,
you begin to develop momentum and the fear will
no longer be the primary driving force in your
life. You’ll have moved from a place of inertia
into a place of movement, and you’ll no longer be
blocked. That first step doesn’t have to be a
huge step, it just needs to be A step.

Of course, if you’re looking for a quick way to
supercharge your courage and break through
unconscious fears, take a look at the new
Subliminal Manifestation DVD, “Fear-Less:
Transcend and Break Through Fear.”
http://www.ZeroFearNow.com or
http://www.SubliminalManifestation.com

REFLECTIONS on the Our Father — part 1

Posted on by Dr. Toni

I don’t think calling God Father is a gender issue anymore . A Father is one who gives origin to, or brings forth into the world. So we are all fathers to our own experience. We are all the creators of our life. Whether you are doing it consciously or not, you are the creator of your life. Our aim is this church is that we do so consciously. That we become consciously aware of the creative process and aware that we can bring forth into our lives the events and conditions that we desire.

God, as Father is the great cause, the cause of all life. There is only one source from which all ideas and all living objects proceed and that is First Cause – God the Father. Jesus, the Great Example used the word Father in referring to the Creative Principle we call God. “It is not I but the Father within that does the work.” Father was a word understood by the people as the head of the household. Father stands for the head of our spiritual house or spiritual nature. The creative force, spiritual cause behind
all manifestation. E.H. said “The Spirit of God, which we think of as the Heavenly Father, is a Divine Presence.” We should honor that Presence every day.

SOURCE of all life in the Universe

Is God really source in your life?
Worried about lack and limitation of ANY Kind – financial, or physical – Antidote is to note God as Source

All is created out of the unlimited Substance of the Universe. If we are blaming anyone or any circumstance – The God in me is the source of my experience.  I am source. We are source   Anytime you hear the word Because – BE Cause..

Get this deeply and it will change EVERYTHING in your life…  Nothing can ever harm you – nothing can ever stop you…your vibration attracts ALL experiences to you…. So it goes on to tell us how to change that vibration…

You cause my whole being to vibrate at the thought of your great love for me.   —  change your vibration?

Admittedly, not everyone has favorable father experiences. But all can take comfort today in the remembrance of their Heavenly Father. God loves without condition. There are no strings attached. It is understood in our teaching that God is Love. This means that God never withholds love and could not withhold love, because then God would not be God. Our perception however can cloud our view of reality. God loves everyone of us equally, as well as unconditionally, we need never be jealous or envious of anyone.

Reminds me of a story about a man who had grown up bitter, convinced his father loved his younger brother, but not him. That was an interpretation he had carried with him since he was seven years old – when he saw his father secretly give his brother a silver bar, and he didn’t get one. From that moment forward, an icy chill settled in between father and son, and eventually, communication ceased entirely. They hadn’t talked to each other in over ten years when the son decided to confront his father about that
long ago memory. To his total amazement, he found out the silver bar he remembered so well had been the foil from a stick of chewing gum, and that was the injustice – the perception around which He had built his entire life.

Making Time

Posted on by Dr. Toni

In our modern society, even people who are retired have a lot of demands on their time. To find time to seek God we have to simplify our lives; there is no way around it. So much time is wasted in the endless pursuit of “newer and better” material possessions. What is the result of our culture’s obsession with material acquisitions? The Buddha put it very succinctly: “Those who have cows have care of cows.” So, take time today or sometime this week to do an analysis of your life: How much time do you put into
caring for all the unnecessary “necessities”-the “toys” that the media and advertisements have made you believe you can’t live without? And, see where you can MAKE time for spiritual practice. I recommend no less than an hour a day – and the Dalai Lama once said, if it is too hard to find an hour, you need two!

In addition to a specific time set aside for prayer and meditation, find ways to bring God into your life every day as much as possible. At the monastery we were reminded by bells five times a day to pay attention to God.  I thought I could take that practice home by using the telephone – mine rings at least 5 times a day!  We can use that continual reminder to bring our  minds back to God, and this will go a long way towards helping us keep our inner balance.

Ultimately, the secret of balance is to put God first. Paramahansaji Yogananda reminds us, “giving God a second place is giving God no place.”  Yet how often do we indeed give God second place, third place, fourth place, eighth place, tenth place, because we feel everything else is more pressing. It’s a flaw in our human nature. We continually delude ourselves that “No, I have to do this; I can’t afford to miss that”-and so we end up putting off our spiritual practice, or forgoing it completely. We have
to discipline ourselves to overcome that. Schedule your life; plan a balanced routine of meditation so that you’re getting a set amount every day, and then follow it. Should you fail on occasion, just try again. Persevere. When you make the determination, “I will do it, no matter what,” you will see a wonderful change come into your life. Drs even have proven that blood pressure and other bodily functions come into balance when we spend time daily in prayer.

How much time do you spend during a month in silence?  Do you give yourself at least one day a month to focus on your spiritual life?  How many of you take at least a week at least once a year for a retreat – to focus on your spiritual connection?

If we say that God is number one and that our spiritual lives are our first priority, how well do our schedules show it?

How many of us remember the scriptural commandment: “Keep holy the Sabbath.” I don’t mean just to be able to mouth it – but, remember to practice it.  What happens to you when you hear me say, at least one day a week should be given to spiritual pursuit?  I believe that as we “remember the Sabbath”, we will  find that are leading a much more balanced and healthy life-physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Suppose we are giving one day to committed spiritual practice.  What about the other six?  When we speak of Balance as a spiritual quality, we are also speaking of living life on Purpose – as I said earlier, having time to do everything that is important to you.  Check out how you spend your life. Are you truly living and spending time on what is important to you?   For example, When did you take your last vacation?  Does your work consume more of your time than you’d like?
Are you seeing signs of burnout?  When was the last time you took time to play? Making time for hobbies you enjoy-is a necessary component of spiritual and psychological balance. You will get much more accomplished in your work and in your spiritual life, and you will be healthier physically-if you remember this

 

Yin and Yang

Posted on by Dr. Toni

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the Yin and Yang of life. How do you balance the need to take action and make things happen with the need to allow them to happen? I believe that in our society, more people need to move towards allowing than towards doing more. We are a community of doers.  We judge ourselves on our accomplishments.  True, there are many couch potatoes in our world, but, I believe they are that because they have been so busy doing and are looking for a way out and don’t know any other.

I’ve been meditating since I was about 12-13 and so, yes, I am an advocate of meditation. But lately, I’m even more an advocate of simple stop and reflect and check your guts type of living. I find the days I ask myself after each activity, okay — what’s next? I find myself being led to actually DO more and feel more relaxed.  Some days I even tell myself I don’t have to work today – and then ask – what do you want to do next? More often than not, I accomplish more on those days then when I have a long checklist and plan. The reflection continues.  I’m sure you’ll be hearing more from me on this topic.

In the meantime, I’d love to know what YOU think about this?