Releasing the Past, Embracing the Present

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=P6IDoxi9QsE />


"We are stardust, we are golden, and we got to get ourselves back to the garden"



:^)

Cosmic Charlie, yeah!



LOL, i forgot there for a moment our shared "Grateful Dead" reference point. It was all there in the music, right? In the Dead's lyrics, the Beatles, the whole sixties scene was centered on this understanding, that we are *not* the fictitious individualized selves society has told us we are. We are a part of everything, a part of the Universe. This is our deeper identity...



"Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world."

(Grateful Dead)

"Limitless undying love it shines around us like a million suns it calls us on and off across the Universe." (Beatles)



Franklin's Tower



In another time's forgotten space

your eyes looked through your mother's face

Wildflower seed on the sand and stone

may the four winds blow you safely home

Roll away ... the dew

Roll away... the dew

Roll away... the dew

Roll away... the dew

You ask me where the four winds dwell

In Franklin's tower there hangs a bell

It can ring, turn night to day

Ring like fire when you lose your way

Roll away... the dew . . .

God help the child who rings that bell

It may have one good ring left, you can't tell

One watch by night, one watch by day

If you get confused just listen to the music play

Roll away... the dew . . .



http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=PGA3Sf24pxs />


:^)

I think so. The big challenge is to start and see your "I" differently. You are a child of the stars, we all are. Love is something bigger then our limited ideas of self. Unfortunately, our thoughts about our "selves" can block this natural universal love. I dont know if you believe that or not, but this is what all the great spiritual traditions teach. Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Islam... they talk about God or Tao or Buddha Nature... in the end it all comes back to love.



This is what Jesus taught. Love is bigger then us. Love doesnt just come to you cause you "did something to deserve it." Actually, I think sometimes we get that message from society, from parents and relationships. But the spiritual masters do challenge that idea.



Spiritual growth is a process of looking at our beliefs and challenging them. Carefully, thoughtfully, considering what we believe- is this really true?

"we are the source of our love and that others, by loving you, create love in themselves. When you love someone completely, the love is IN you. When you hate someone the HATE is in you and it hurts you, not them.



When you are feeling lonely, you are missing your SELF - your true self that loves you. The love in you for your SELF is not being expressed because you focus on what is outside of you - that which you cannot control. That is the source of misery"



That's it exactly WindingPath. You explain it beautifully. Very easy to fall under the spell of the collective illusion, which is that our feelings come from what happens to us. It's not that way at all. We are the creators of our own experiences, all the time. Things happen to us, but all feeling flows from within.



:^)

What an awesome post and discussion. MP you constantly remind me of where the center is when I lose it. It's easy to lose that center - the place where all your love comes from.



You remind me that we are the source of our love and that others, by loving you, create love in themselves. When you love someone completely, the love is IN you. When you hate someone the HATE is in you and it hurts you, not them.



When you are feeling lonely, you are missing your SELF - your true self that loves you. The love in you for your SELF is not being expressed because you focus on what is outside of you - that which you cannot control. That is the source of misery -

Neat.. I'm going to look for this next time at the video store. Thanks Marcus, MP.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=SrKvzPXULME />


:^)

God, you guys inspire the heck outta me...I bow to you all..*smiles*



I can't help but be reminded of how quantum physics and spirituality also have their roles to play in many, if not all, of our lives in terms of our finding our own sense of balance, if not revelation...



Rent "What the Bleep Do We Know" sometime. It might surprise you, for all of the challenges it may bring to your own intuitive table...



:)

LOL.. thank you :) I just watched the movie (Across the Universe) again yesterday.. that's definitely one of my most favorite scenes.. I love the part when she opens the door and the apartment is transformed into the sky and clouds.. That's what I feel like right now! I'm looking at the world with wide open eyes.. it's fantastic :) :)

Dear Prudence won't you come out to play

Dear Prudence greet the brand new day

The sun is up the sky is blue

It's beautiful and so are you

Dear Prudence won't you come out to play



Dear Prudence open up your eyes

Dear Prudence see the sunny skies

The wind is low the birds will sing

That you are part of everything

Dear Prudence, won't you open up your eyes



Look around round

Look around round round

Look around

This story has really helped me put some things together. And has opened the door a bit more to start to see the path that I am on. I feel like I am being led somewhere, and you all are a part of finding my way there!! I'm starting to see my own evolution a little more clearly. This is so cool, lol ;)



((((Thank you all!!!)))) I love you guys :)

Hi Dee, Leila, trailguide,



Yeah. "Fully realized instruments of love" Nice! I definitely think this is how the great masters lived and moved in the world. They no longer identified with their personal identities and saw instead how they were a part of something larger and universal. Gandhi, Jesus and Mother Theresa believed in God, and saw themselves as servants of God's light and love.



Buddha and Lao Tsu (who wrote the Tao te Ching) did not believe in God, but they were keenly aware of the illusion of their own self identity and saw the entire Universe as one seemless unfolding process. And for them "enlightenment" was to get in sync with that process, transcending self identity. So... kind of different ways of getting to a similar conclusion.



All the paths of the great masters seem to lead to this understanding, that our social identities are illusions, that a greater spiritual truth flows through us into the world...



When our dreams of separation no longer block the light...



:^)

LostLeila: "There is no way to experience love except for giving it away. We may think we are getting, and sometimes people are giving to us but actually the only way we ever feel it is by giving it away too."



Trailguide: "The unlimited source is here always, the capacity is within us all. The challenge is willingness to surrender to it. And a true challenge it is."



MakingPeace: "Once we learn how to do this- loving in a way that is beyond the norm- we are transformed and become a transformational person in this world, a source point for others... ...Cool thing about love, when you think about it we only really experience it when that happens, when we are giving it away freely... Really deep love is like that right?"



George Harrison:

"We were talking

about the love we all could share

When we find it

to try our best to hold it there

with our love, with our love

we could save the world

if they only knew"



I think it is a process we go through to reach this place, this way of loving. It's learning to let go, to surrender, to love without attachment (as everyone has said). For most of us, it doesn't happen overnight.. we *evolve* into it.. it is a journey; it requires experience, practice.



And we need others to help us get there. The special people in our lives are there to help us with this. We don't always realize this, nor do they.. but eventually we can recognize the gifts that are right in front of us, to help us on our journey.



Like a flower.. developing into a bud, then opening slowly, gradually, until it is fully in bloom.



I came across this quote in another story that has stayed with me:



"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world."

~Mother Teresa


http://www.experienceproject.com/uw.php?e... />


Jesus, The Buddha, Mother Teresa.. all fully realized instruments of love.

Yes! And in some ways this is just seeing reality more as it is, isn't it? I mean, we are each always a source point for love entering into our world. Always. I like to think of this in terms of God holding us in his arms and sending love out in the world through us but you can think of it in terms of the Universe, or Love.



We are always entry points for God's love into our lives, even when you don't realize it. There is no way to experience love except for giving it away. We may think we are getting, and sometimes people are giving to us but actually the only way we ever feel it is by giving it away too. I think. I don't know, it's beautiful to think about and yes, trailguide, we need to surrender. Surrender to God, surrender to Life, to Love.



When you've seen beyond yourself

then you may find

peace of mind is waiting there

And the time will come

when you see we're all one

and life flows on within you and without you

There is just so much beauty and wisdom here, WOW!



"connecting solo" .... such profound paradox. Finding the source for oneself means finding the source for everyone.

The unlimited source is here always, the capacity is within us all. The challenge is willingness to surrender to it. And a true challenge it is.

Within You, Without You

George Harrison



We were talking

about the space between us all

and people who hide themselves

behind a wall of illusion

never glimpse the truth

then it's far too late

when they pass away



We were talking

about the love we all could share

When we find it

to try our best to hold it there

with our love, with our love

we could save the world

if they only knew



Try to realize it's all within yourself

no one else can make you change

And to see you're really only very small

and life flows on within you and without you



We were talking

about the love that's gone so cold

and the people who gain the world

and lose their soul

They don't know, they can't see

Are you one of them



When you've seen beyond yourself

then you may find

peace of mind is waiting there

And the time will come

when you see we're all one

and life flows on within you and without you

Hi Dee,



Yes. But i think (if we are fortunate) we eventually reach a point where we do have the capacity to become a "source point" for the spiritual energy of the Universe that flows into our world. You need to have support conditions, and your mind has to be in the right place, stage...



Sometimes we can get all we need from our family and friends, but if we learn how to "connect" solo, it just magnifies our capacity to love deeply.. which transforms everything, like a light being turned on in a dark room... a love light...



It's like flying. Like going from gas power to solar power- where suddenly you realize you dont need to go hunting and digging for the energy that sustains you, that actually its been dancing all around us, all the time. That love can be accessed and experience anywhere, for free.. We become less needy, less dependent.



Once we learn how to do this- loving in a way that is beyond the norm- we are transformed and become a transformational person in this world, a source point for others. At first you're not going to be doing it all solo like Jesus, Buddha or Mother Theresa, i think.



We start off more like a hybrid car, experimenting with this new way of thinking about life and ourselves, new way of looking at love. It takes time, practice.



Thing is, once you start giving love away, freely - without expectations and attachments- all the time, people gravitate to you, they want to be near you. And so we *get* the love we need, just we are no longer dependent on "getting" it from other people, most of the time, when in "universal" mode.



We're just giving, giving, giving.



Cool thing about love, when you think about it we only really experience it when that happens, when we are giving it away freely... Really deep love is like that right?



Rising up from within you and without you.

It's very comforting to know this. Love is always there, it surrounds us, fills us, infuses every cell of our being.

It is a challenge, though, because we seem to need to find it in others. We need our family, our friends, to share it with. We need to feel that we are loved by others, and that our love is returned. This is a basic human need, as important as air to breathe and water to drink. Little babies in orphanages who get their basic needs met, yet never get held, who don't have another to love them, often die. With a need for love so strong, how are we to let go, and trust that the universe is there to love us?

It's easy to find this in the moment, to catch it from time to time, to see it in simple things of beauty. But it seems impossible to find it in a lasting way. We are left with this very powerful human need to find it in another. In a special person, a child, a friend, a parent, a lover. Without someone to reflect it back to us, we feel loneliness. No amount of realization of the truth of love is bound to change this. We still need others. Need our family. Need our friends. Need someone to love.

Hey ((everyone))).



Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and comments Dee, swanfether, Leila. I know, as Real Woman was saying, this can be such a difficult challenge to experience day to day. It sounds nice, but seems so far from our usual reality.



I'm not saying this way is easy, not at all. Its hard as heck, probably the hardest thing we all struggle with. Only for a completely enlightened being can this be easy, and I haven't met one yet.



But its in that practicing, of letting go and seeing the deeper universal, that we do become more skilled, more enlightened, more free and more loving, over time...



You meet someone like this and you just want to jump into their arms. Its like your mom or dad when you were little, to be with a person who knows that love lives within them and within all of us is precious beyond belief.



But this is each of us, the truth about each of us. And to be truly free we each have to learn this about ourselves, trust this about our selves, that we are each the eyes and hands and face of God, of Universal Love, of the Tao unfolding. Trust that about yourself and see that in everyone else and you'll never ever feel lonely again.



Cause we are always home, here, always loved, always capable of giving away love, freely, without needing to find it in anyone else... Cause we understand and TRUST with completeness that it lies always within us. Always. The jewel in the lotus, as they say in Buddhism. The Lord of Love, as they say in the Upanishads. The heart of Christ, in all beings, as Mother Theresa taught...



Always here.

I don't even know what to say..



I'm just feeling the Universal Love...

Sigh... You are all so beautiful.

Your poetry is beautiful.



"...The wind, the stars, the trees and sky-- This is the deeper you and I, the totality of who we really are- the Great Tapestry of LOVE and Universal Life that brings all individual expressions into being...Love then- the eternal flame, the sacred gravity of all beings- rises up again in our hearts..."



Its the deeper river of existence where our essential BEINGNESS is what we are. You are reminding us of that place. And it's so obvious when its obvious (if you know what I mean).



And like RealWoman is saying, there are times when such truths are but distant glimmers of hope. Twinkling stars on a foggy night. Its been a very foggy evening and although I could not see any stars at all (in the sky) it DOES help to feel them shining through the TLC in your words here.



Tears, fears, numbness, bewilderment, grief, rage and delight. The array of our human spectrum. I think that the DANCE is determined to take us through the whole 9 yards. And thank goodness we do not have to do it alone!



I love E.P. for bringing an entire community of amazing individuals into an arena of vulnerability, exploration and caring.



Yeah for all of us--wherever we are!

Hey ((sister)). I know that feeling. We live usually in the personal, and so seek love there. And yet, its only in the Universal i think, that we really find the spring of love, all love.



The personal is a reflection of that deeper well, an expression of the universal. Seeing that, we realize that when we fall into another it was always the entire Universe that is holding us in her arms.

MakingPeace, I am in tears..... I am not doing so well. I hope I can believe this, someday again.