Can We Love Unconditionally?

I have listened to many discussions over the years, about whether there can be true unconditional love. Is it something that can exist in relationship? Can people love each other unconditionally, and if so, what about the harm we do each other? Can love exist between people that has no conditions or boundaries at all?

Harold W. Becker, in his article Unconditional Love - An Unlimited Way of Being, describes the term like this: Simply stated, unconditional love is an unlimited way of being. We are without any limit to our thoughts and feelings in life and can create any reality we choose to focus our attention upon. There are infinite imaginative possibilities when we allow the freedom to go beyond our perceived limits. If we can dream it, we can build it. Life, through unconditional love, is a wondrous adventure that excites the very core of our being and lights our path with delight.

What do YOU think?

Does Evil Exist?

There is a wide variety of opinion on the existence of evil. Some see any opposing force as evil, while some think that to be termed evil requires an act resulting in an injury to life of some kind. What are your thoughts? How does your belief about evil effect your life?

The 19th century Christian mystic Thomas Troward defined evil this way: "This is the old original sin of Eve. It is the belief in Evil as a substantive self-originating power. We believe ourselves under the control of all sorts of evils having their climax in Death; but whence does the evil get its power? Not from God, for no diminution of Life can come from the Fountain of Life, however evil may have relative existence, it can have no substantive existence of its own. It is not a Living Originating Power. God, the Good, alone is that.

What we recognize as Evil is the One Good Power working as Disintegrating Force, because we have not yet learnt to direct it in such a way that it shall perform the functions of transition to higher degrees of Life without any disintegration of our individuality either in person or circumstances. It is this disintegrating action that makes the ONE Power appear evil relatively to ourselves; and, so long as we conceive ourselves thus related to it, it does look as though it were Zero balancing in itself the two opposing forces."

What do YOU think?

Forgive and Live

There seem to be many faces to the process of "forgiveness" being worn these days. Many books, lectures and workshops are available to help us contemplate and adopt forgiving behaviors. We are all taught as children that forgiveness of friends and family is an important part of social life. What are YOUR thoughts on forgiveness? How do you make it work for YOU?

William Blake tells us: "In heaven, the only art of living is forgetting and forgiving."

The process that Neville Goddard presents as forgiveness, takes us beyond separation and cause, and requires that we simply see everyone in their highest potential: "What we mean by forgiveness the identification of the other that we would forgive with the ideal that other wants to embody in the world. And so we do to him what we expect or would like the world to do to us. So whatever I myself would like to embody that is the vision that I must hold of every man that I meet in my world; that no man is to be discarded, every man is to be redeemed, and my life is the process whereby that redemption is brought about. And I do it by simply identifying the other with the ideal I want to externalize in my world" and you find yourself then not justifying but forgiving, and you will realize that freedom and forgiveness are indissolubly linked. You cannot be free and not forgive, for the one that you would bind and judge and condemn anchors you by your own judgment of him--for he is in you. And so by identifying him with the ideal you want to really realize you free yourself."

What do YOU think?

Celebrate Thanksgiving with Gratitude

". . . the pang of affection & gratitude is the Gift of God for good. I am thankful that I feel it; it draws the soul towards Eternal life & conjunction with Spirits of just men made perfect by love & gratitude, the two angels who stand at heaven's gate ever open, ever inviting guests to the marriage. O foolish Philosophy! Gratitude is Heaven itself; there could be no heaven without Gratitude. I feel it & I know it. I thank God & Man for it . . ." William Blake

The United States of America is today celebrating Thanksgiving as the one day of the year that we are encouraged to look inward at all the blessings in our lives, and give thanks for what we appreciate. I think that as global consciousness emerges, the awareness of gratitude as a powerful attitude of spirit, that contributes to emotional integrity and happiness in life, occurs more and more. Sacred space is created by complete honesty, appreciation and psychological safety. Gratitude plays an important part in our unfolding, this day and every day.

The GO GRATITUDE experiment that began in 2005 offers a model for making gratitude a habit. As of 3/14/07, 972,343 people have watched the GoGratitude Flash movie and 178,539 people from all walks of life and from 153 countries have joined the Gratitude Experiment since its launch on Nov 21, 2005. A wave of gratitude sweeps the globe. How refreshing.

I would like to express gratitude for my friend, Chris Bernard, and his vision of love and support. Thanks too, to all my friends, readers and family that fill my life with light and love. So many thanks. Happy Thanksgiving.

Global Consciousness

Most of us can feel the interconnectedness of life to some degree. To be sure, we all possess varying degrees of awareness of the "soul of humanity." How do you feel this connection and how does it effect your life?

I believe that each of our souls evolves, and every group that we participate in forms an evolving soul that together, comprise the soul of humanity. As we are involved and evolve, so does the soul of humanity.

Rudolph Steiner suggested that both East and West traditions expressed something along the same lines: "To Arjuna, Krishna says 'Thou must be so and so, thou must do this or that, then wilt thou rise stage by stage in thy soul-life.' To his Corinthians St. Paul says: 'One of you has this gift, another that, a third another; and if these work harmoniously together, as do the members of the human body, the result is spiritually a whole which can spiritually be permeated with the Christ.'...What the soul is to become, the destiny of the soul, how throughout the whole evolution of mankind it evolves in manifold ways, concerning all this St. Paul gives us quite definite and profound conclusions." What do YOU think?

The Oneness and the Separation

We all feel that we are unique individuals, and at the same time can feel that thread of connection that allows us to feel the oneness of life. How is this duality important in your life? I think that if we can embrace the oneness (or the god within us) and the sacredness of all others, we can see others as a reflection of ourselves unfolding. This can give us clues, like signposts to our own spiritual path.

According to Greg Braden, there are Seven Mirrors in the Essene Mystery of Relationship. These mirrors are:
1)who we are in the moment;
2)What we judge in the moment;
3)what has been lost, given away or taken away;
4)our most forgotten love;
5)our relationship with God;
6)our dark night of the soul;
7)our perfection.
According to this belief, our experience becomes a vibrational mirror that reflects one or some combination of mirrored patterns in others. Recognizing the wisdom of the mirror accelerates our evolution of emotion and understanding. God speaks to us and guides us through the universal law of vibration and our experience unfolds according to divine will. What do YOU think?

Know Yourself Through Compassion

What role does compassion play in your daily life and why is it important?

The practice of compassion increases our capacity to care. It reinforces charity, empathy, and sympathy. It is very good exercise for your heart muscle.

But when you move toward others with compassion, you are likely to bump into some common attitudes, just waiting to close your heart again. The usual suspects are judgment and all its associated "isms": racism, sexism, ageism, classism, and nationalism.

On a personal level, your compassion is sabotaged by feelings of ill will toward others: spite and malice. These feelings, and others arising out of emotional wounds and personal pain, are actually symptoms indicating that you need to have compassion for yourself. What do YOU think?

Love and Self Discovery

Does love lead to self discovery? How?

Both light and shadow are the dance of Love.
Love has no cause;
It is the astrolabe of God's secrets.
Lover and Loving are
inseparable and timeless.
Although I may try to describe Love
When I experience it I am speechless.
Although I may try to write about Love
I am rendered helpless;
My pen breaks and the paper slips away
At the ineffable place where
Lover, Loving and Loved are one.
Every moment is made glorious
By the light of Love.
-Rumi -----

What do YOU think?

The Law of Attraction

There is alot of discussion about the Law of Attraction since the release of the DVD, The Secret. Do you use this law in your life? If not, why not? If so, how?

The law of attraction states that you get what you think about; your thoughts determine your experience. A person's thoughts (conscious and unconscious), emotions, beliefs and actions are said to attract corresponding positive and negative experiences, or "harmonious vibrations of the law of attraction".

Although this idea has been popular among certain philosophers and denominational adherents for centuries, the idea has recently received intense criticism from multiple circles in the media, the scientific community. What do YOU think?

Consciousness and Healing

For those who consider themselves healers, what is your process? For those who have healed, what is your process? Is the process of remote healing different?

Many believe that humanity is moving toward a model of healing in which personal relationships, emotions, meaning, and belief systems are viewed as fundamental points of connection between body, mind, spirit, society, and nature. Integral medicine embraces the recognition that human beings possess emotional, spiritual, and relational dimensions that are essential in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and the cultivation of wellness.

What do YOU think?