An Open Letter to the Bankers

For those who take things in the internet literally, this is intended to be a parody.  Its a joke. 

This is for the Occupunks

This is my post in defiance of the un-American and un-fun movement called Occupy Wall Street.

Seriously, what do these people want?  I mean, this is America, the country where you are free to speak your mind (provided it is not between the hours of 10PM and 6AM, and done with out those unsafe structures called “tents.”) where there is a free press (that is for profit, which of course is their right, even though it does not technically make it free, but who cares commies) and you have the option of becoming whatever you want to be.  If you want to be a smelly hippie who like getting his head bashed in by the police, then you can.  Welcome to the constitution baby.

Hey if they don’t like it here , then they should move to France where they make men dress like women and women dress like 12 year old boys.  It’s the law, look it up!

            By the way,  Jesus died for America, so therefore it is our divine right given to us by God Almighty to allow certain people to get really rich while everyone else has to struggle for survival.  That’s God’s evolution, and if they don’t like it then they are going to hell.  It is in the Bible, somewhere.  Oh yeah, and they should take a shower. No one likes the way people smell, we prefer to smell chemical soaps and deodorants manufactured by God-Fearing, Jesus approved Corporations, you know the job creators.  Corporations give you both a job, and a smell free environment.  Who cares if the chemicals in the products might cause cancer, or the plastics contribute to global warming?  Do they think we are going to live forever?  You think the dinosaurs thought to themselves, “hey we should stop, you know, doing dinosaur things because we might go extinct?”  No, they kept working their jobs until the comet smashed into them and they went extinct.  That’s what Jesus wanted.  So I say, shut up and keep consuming, and don’t question the financial industry, like a good Christian dinosaur would do!

An I wish they would stop whining about police brutality.  Don’t they understand that the police have invested untold millions of citizen’s tax dollars in high tech riot armor and weaponry?  That’s my tax dollars, and I expect them to be used!  What were they going to do, leave them in the armory and negotiate with smelly hippies?  That would be a waste of valuable tax resources.  Better to use them against defenseless protesters than go to waste.  After all, we won’t be able to use them when we go extinct.  Just ask the dinosaurs. They used their body armor and claws and teeth right until the end! 

Work is Freedom.  If I were the mayor of New York, I would herd those Occupunks on train cars, and ship them off to a place where that motto is taken seriously.  A place where they can be reeducated on the divine plan which enthrones the few to rule the many.    A true workers paradise.  

Contacting Your Higher Mind

What does it mean to say that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God?  This is a difficult question to answer because in order to answer it properly one has to know what image of God is being reflected in the human person.  Some would say for this reason it is an impossible question to answer.  I disagree, and I believe that the answer to this question can provide great spiritual knowledge to the one who understands it.  The answer can be trans-formative.

In order to understand the God whose image we were made to reflect, we need only look at God’s main attributes, like infinite goodness, love, joy, peace, etc. How do we know that these are God’s infinite attributes?  Because human beings seek what is good, and loving, and what will bring them happiness.  Human ideas of love, and the good, and what will truly make them happy are in a state of error and disorder, however, no one can deny that all human beings seek good things in abundance. Therefore, they must be the attributes which show us what image of God we were made to reflect.

We can then conclude that since we all desire these things, then human beings were made to reflect infinite goodness, mercy, love, compassion, forgiveness, happiness, life, health, etc;  that is, we were made to reflect any positive idea or attribute you can think of. These attributes are what God IS, and therefore this is what humans SEEK, and thus comprises the image we were made to REFLECT.  However, our errors, lack of faith, fear, encounters with evil, and other problems of life cause us to reflect other things into the world, bringing trouble, pain, suffering, death, and other negative experiences to ourselves and others.  This happens because humans have freedom, which is attribute of God, and as a result they can choose things which they believe are good and will make them happy, but these choices are made in error.  For example, the modern world is in obsessed with material prosperity, because they believe, in error, that it will make them happy, provide them access to love, fame, adoration, etc. What it brings, however, is a deeper slide into error, and pain, and unhappiness.

The unfortunate side effect of the human propensity to choose that which appears good, is that people begin to believe that life is a mixture of good and evil, joy and pain, which is symbolized wonderfully in the story of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  The reason God warns Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is because we were not made to reflect good and evil, we were made to reflect good and as a result, experience God’s infinite life.  Through freedom, human beings choose both good and evil, and through this error leave themselves outside the garden, cut off from the Tree of Life, trapped in a world of struggle, frustration, pain, and lack. 

The path back to the Garden, the Way to the Tree of Life lies in realizing the central, foundational truth of the Bible which calls us to become images of the infinite and invisible God. We can do this because Jesus has shown us the Way, through Love, Works of Charity, Service, and Prayer.  We can train our mind to depend on God alone, and to think and act on thoughts of infinite love, happiness, joy, health, and know that the more we think these thoughts and act on them, the more we become transformed into the image of the Infinite God.  And if God is with us, then truly who can stand against us?

                                   

Psalm 40 and Psalm 50

Are you happy?  Are you experiencing life as full, abundant, joyful, and full of infinite possibilities, or are you living a life of struggle, frustration, pain, apathy, and lack? Do you wish life could be different, but have resigned yourself to the race belief that life is a trial to be endured, not an adventure waiting to be lived?  


You are not alone.  Millions of people around the world live lives of quiet desperation, working jobs they hate, ruled by corrupt institutions, living in substandard conditions, and dealing with family members and loved ones who bring them nothing but pain. Most accept fatalistically that this is the way life is, or how God intended life to be, because we have been taught this idea from the moment we came forth from our mother's womb into this world.  The powerful in society, the governmental, business, and religious leaders, continue to tell this story because it leaves them in control of the vast resources of the world while they resign the majority of humanity to a fight and struggle for the crumbs that fall from the master's table.  As a result, most people never dare to dream that life can be anything more than a struggle for survival, or a test to be endured until death finally comes to bring us eternal rest from our pain.


But what if this story of life is a false story?  What if life is only perceived as difficult because those in power have controlled the way we think, and if we could perceive life differently, if we could throw off the shackles that the powerful have put on our minds and hearts, then life would be abundant, happy, and full beyond our wildest dreams? What if God is waiting, patiently, for people to call on him with confidence so that he can unleash the awesome, infinite power of the spirit into their lives, which would begin to transform them, their circumstances, and the very world which the powerful have forced us all to inhabit? Would it be worth trying to see if it is true?

 This experiment is enacted by the author of Psalm 40.  The Psalm begins with the phrase:

I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry. 

The Psalmist is letting us in on a great secret, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see.  He is telling us about how he waited patiently for the Lord, which is another way of saying he believed with conviction that God was good, and righteous, and compassionate, and holy, and as a result God would answer his request.  The Psalmist tells us that because of his firm conviction, shown through his patience, the Lord turns to him.  What a wonderful image!  Before this, he experienced God as having turned his back to him, but now the Lord turns and shows him his face. He sees for the first time that the God he was introduced to by the leaders of Israel was a false God, and for the first time in his life he meets the true God of Israel, the Lord.


How strikingly different is this image from the image of God presented to us by our religious leaders, an image of a  God who demands worship and sacrifice (mediated of course by his churches), a God who supports the powerful and demands money, a God who encourages those who are not in power to be submissive and accept their lot in life, a God who keeps score and cannot wait to punish humans for the least little transgression.  For his whole life the Psalmist was taught this image of God, a deity who was distant and could only be approached by offering sacrifices through the mediation of the Temple Priesthood.  For all intents and purposes, God had turned his back on him, for he did not know him, nor did he feel that God cared about him.  But something inside him tells him that the Lord is not a distant, uninterested, deity of the powerful and he acts with conviction on this faith. He waits patiently for the Lord, and amazingly God turns his face to him and hears his cry.  


The next verses of Psalm 40 tell us how the Psalmist's world, and his circumstances, have now changed forever because of his new found knowledge of the Lord.  

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand. 

This firm act of faith by the Psalmist changes his worldview and his world. God has lifted him out of the slimy pit, the mud and mire of limiting human beliefs about God and the world, and into a world where anything is possible because the Lord is waiting to make it so.  This is symbolized by the rock he now stands on. He no longer ascribes to the race view that life is a slimy pit of despair, suffering, and death, but he now stands firm on the rock of conviction that life is good, that God is good, and that what he formerly believed was an illusion.  This belief is expressed when God:

put a new song in my mouth, 

   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
   and put their trust in him.
 
Fear of the Lord is not a state of anxiety, but is instead a response of awe and reverence.  When we meet the true God for the first time, we are rightly awed at the power of the Lord, the Power of his Spirit.  We realize that anything is possible, so we put our trust in him. The Psalmist tells us that his testimony will enlighten many others to put their trust in God.  They will see his face as well, and their lives will be forever changed. They will become vessels for the infinite Power of the Spirit.  


We cannot wait for the rich and powerful to mend their ways, and honestly we have to admit at this point that many will not.  We should pity them because they suffer from the same illusions of lack, struggle, pain, and suffering as everyone else, the difference being that they have sold their souls to the illusion and created institutions dedicated to it, which makes it harder for them to get out.  They are trapped, where as we, because of our lack of power and influence, have a way out.  


Our world is changing.  The world of lack, pain, suffering, and death is crumbling around us.  The powerful are raging because they cannot control the runaway train of change that is sweeping through the world.  Economies are in free fall.  Governments are going bankrupt.  Religions are in decline, both in membership and influence.  God seems to have turned his back, or is instead turning his face towards us in wrath.  People wander as if in a daze, full of apathy, violence, ignorance, and greed.  Many ask, is this the end of the world?

For the world of pain and lack, yes the end is in sight.  But we do not need to go down with it.  We can wait patiently for the Lord, we can believe and trust in his goodness, mercy, love, concern, and infinite power and ride through the storms raging around us and live lives of victory, abundance, joy, and peace.  We can, like the Psalmist be lifted out of the muck and slime of this world of death and be placed firmly on the rock of truth.  And if we trust, with conviction, believing that God can do anything, and that God wants us to be happy and live full lives, we will become a new creature, worthy to step out of the ashes of this crumbling world system into a new age of human life without limitation, without suffering, and that transcends death.


This verse from Psalm 50 should give those who hold the reigns of power pause:

 ¹⁶ But to the wicked person, God says:
   “What right have you to recite my laws
   or take my covenant on your lips?
¹⁷ You hate my instruction
   and cast my words behind you.
¹⁸ When you see a thief, you join with him;
   you throw in your lot with adulterers.
¹⁹ You use your mouth for evil
   and harness your tongue to deceit.
²⁰ You sit and testify against your brother
   and slander your own mother’s son.
²¹ When you did these things and I kept silent,
   you thought I was exactly^[c] like you.
But I now arraign you
   and set my accusations before you.
 ²² “Consider this, you who forget God,
   or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
²³ Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
   and to the blameless^[d] I will show my salvation.”

The Secret to Unleashing The Infinite, Creative, and Limitless Power of Spirit In Your Life

What would you say if I told you that within you lies an infinite, creative, and limitless power? What would you do if you knew that you could easily access this power through focused meditation, the use of affirmations and denials, and living a life of service and charity? And further, how do you think your life would change if you began unfolding this power in your life today?

It is by now an accepted fact of science that the human mind operates on two levels. The first level is the objective or conscious level. This level of the mind thinks, reasons, makes hypothesis, and makes choices. It is a small part of the overall human mind, the tip of the iceberg so to speak. The second level of the human mind is much larger, and usually operates in the background hidden from the musing, reasoning's, and deliberations of the objective mind. This is the subconscious or unconscious mind. The subconscious is like the part of an iceberg hidden by the water. It is the largest part of the iceberg (ask the Titanic!), and operates largely unseen and in the background. It is easy to take the subconscious mind for granted for this reason, however, it is a mistake to ignore the subconscious.

The subconscious is a giant, and is extremely powerful. It operates largely on suggestion, so whatever you send to it unfiltered by the objective mind will usually end up manifesting itself at some point in your life. Thus it is extremely important to learn to control the influences, thoughts, and suggestions which bombard us on a daily basis, so that our subconscious is focused on only our good.

The conscious and subconscious minds are very powerful. However, they are still limited because they function in the material realm only. They are not infinite, and limitlessly creative. That distinction is held for the higher, or spiritual mind.

The universe we inhabit is very real. However, it is only a small reflection of the sum total of reality. The conscious and subconscious minds, as powerful as they are, are limited by our senses. However, the spiritual or higher mind transcends these limitations through inspiration, wisdom, and truth. Once we learn to access this higher mind, this inner wisdom, we truly overcome. Our lives become infinitely more powerful because spirit is an infinite power. Spirit is the foundation and driving energy of the created, material universe.

This spiritual mind, the Power of the Spirit, is the real Secret, and the Master Key to truly manifesting goodness and abundance in life. Through meditation, focused affirmations and denials, and good works we can release into our lives more good than we can imagine.

How do you contact the higher mind? By spending time, each morning and evening, entering the silence and learning to listen to its voice. By practicing affirmations and denials which strengthen and fortify your mind and heart. And by living a life of service and commitment to oneself, and one's neighbor.

We are more than we imagine because we have access to the infinite power of spirit. Begin practicing meditation and affirmations today and watch your life begin to change in ways you never imagined.

Christian Meditation, Sacred Silence

Are you a Christian who would like to know how to enjoy the benefits of meditation, but are afraid to try it because you believe it is not compatible with Christianity? If so would you like to see what the gospels have to say on the subject?

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:6)

There is a general mistrust of meditation by Christians. This stems from the fact that meditation is seen by many Christians to be an occult practice, and there is no doubt that it is practiced by occultists. However, the gospels mention that Jesus practiced meditation, and as the passage above points out, Jesus encouraged his followers to meditate as well.

How does Jesus encourage his followers to meditate? The passage offers 3 simple steps.

Step One: Go Into Your Room. This Means Have an Open and Receptive Heart.

Jesus did not mean literally go into a room. Most people who lived during Jesus' time lived in open houses with one room, shared with many people. Jesus was speaking symbolically. The room is the human heart, the seat of intuition, desire, and emotion. Jesus is telling us that the first step is to have an open and receptive heart, to believe and expect that God can be found through intuition, and feeling. This takes trust, but this trust is not misplaced and in fact it is the only way that you can see the Father, who is unseen.

Step Two: Close the Door. This Means Silence the Objective Mind.

The objective mind needs to be silenced. There is nothing wrong with our objective mind, and in fact it has an important function to play. However, it gets in the way during prayer and meditation, because it constantly chatters, judges, and tries to keep us totally focused on the life of the senses. Praying to the Father means opening ourselves up to a higher mind and communing with it on its terms. We must close the door on our objective mind and the experiences of the senses, and open our hearts and minds to another reality.

Step Three: Wait For The Father.

If you approach meditation with an open mind and heart, and are able to effectively silence your objective mind, then you will be ready to commune with the universal mind, which Jesus calls the Father. Jesus tells us the Father will see us in secret (that is while the objective mind is quiet) and will reward us with His presence. At this point, you will be establishing a relationship with the universal higher mind through direct contact with your mind and heart. And at this point transformation becomes possible.

As you can see, Jesus offers a method of meditation which is effective for communing with God. There is no doubt that as a Christian, if you follow these steps, you will meet God in the silence of your heart and mind.

Are you a Christian who is looking for a deeper relationship with God?  Does your heart and soul yearn for a deeper relationship with the living God? Or maybe you suffer from the negative effects of anxiety, depression, or stress?  Click Here! for Christ-Centered Meditation and Relaxation downloads.  Stop putting your life on hold, and start unfolding the Power of the Spirit in your life today

Emotional Freedom Therapy, The Key To Emotional Freedom

Click The Picture To Learn More About EFT And How It Can Improve Your Life

Can Emotional Freedom Therapy really alleviate the suffering caused by irrational phobias, anxiety, depression, and traumatic emotional stress?  Does it work quickly, safely, and effectively and can it be used easily by anyone?

Emotional Freedom Therapy, or EFT as it is known, is a cutting edge energy therapy technique that is quickly becoming the therapy of choice for many respected psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors,  and other clinical professionals.  EFT is also being used effectively by many professionals, business leaders, and athletes as an effective tool for increasing performance and positive growth.  The amazing thing about EFT is that not only is it effective for dealing with a host of emotional problems, but it works amazingly fast, and its effects appear to be long lasting.  More comprehensive studies need to be done, but it appears that EFT works, and the best thing about it is that the patient can, in most cases, heal themselves.

EFT is new, however its roots go back thousands of years to ancient healing systems such as acupuncture and acupressure.  All these healing systems subscribe to the same basic philosophy; that good health is related to balancing and freeing the flow of energy in the body by applying pressure, or needles (or in the case of EFT tapping) to pressure points or meridian channels in the body.  When you encounter a negative experience, especially a negative emotional trauma, your mind stores the memory of the event and the emotions which were attached to it.  The negative emotion causes a neurological disturbance which, if repressed and not dealt with properly, can lead to further problems such as depression, phobias, anxiety, and depression.

The negative experiences are relived every time a stimulus from life triggers it.  And each time it is relived, the damage becomes more ingrained, as the person suffering believes that this is normal for them, that they were born this way, and there is nothing that can be done to solve the problem.  Unfortunately, most people are often unaware of what the root of their problems are.

Emotional Freedom Techniques seek to unblock the effects of negative emotional trauma by using a finger tapping technique on certain meridian points while concentrating on the issue at hand.  Unlike traditional acupuncture you do not use needles (especially effective if you suffer from a needle phobia), and instead of applying pressure, the tapping is designed to unblock the neurological pathways that are blocked.

Emotional Freedom Therapy is not a magical cure for every disease, however it shows real promise for helping people achieve emotional freedom.

To find out more about EFT, visit:

The True Meaning of Life Is Goodness and Abundance

There are many people who believe that life is nothing more than a cauldron of trouble and problems, from which there is no escape. Most people never stop to ask themselves whether this belief is actually true. But what would you say if I told you that it is only true in so far as a person believes it to be true? Would you believe me?

The world around us is very real, however it is also in many ways an illusion. For example, life appears to us to be quite orderly and stable, however at the quantum level the physical processes of life and the universe are actually random and unpredictable. Also, matter appears to be stable and solid, however it is in fact made of electrons and protons, which are units of energy. What does this tell us?

It tells us that life is not what it appears to be or what we believe it to be, based upon the information of our five senses. As a result, the beliefs we have and hold so dear about life are based upon faulty conclusions and faulty understandings. In fact, many scientists and philosophers have concluded that the only thing we can be certain of is that we have consciousness, that we are having some kind of a subjective mind experience. Everything else exists in our minds as beliefs, which may or may not be true.

This is amazing and liberating information. It means that if we believe that life is meaningless, cold, full of trouble and toil, this is the very life we will get. And if we believe in the goodness of life and our ability to overcome it, then this is the life we will experience. If it is not in the mind, then it cannot be in life.

The first step then is to believe that greater things are possible, that life is fundamentally good, and that life has meaning and purpose. And this is not just a mind trick, it is really the way things are. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into a long dissertation explaining why this is so, however one simple statement will perhaps shed a little light on the subject. Ask yourself, why would I desire good in my life if there was no good to desire? The universe is governed by good, and the badness and evil we experience exist because of what we think and believe about life. Evil is disorder and chaos, the effect of wrong thinking. If we cease to think evil and believe it, it will disappear, revealing the foundational goodness of the universe.

Life is not a cauldron of problems and misfortune. But do not take my word for it. Test it out for yourself. Purchase a good meditation and positive affirmation program and see for yourself the goodness and abundance that life is waiting to bring to you.

Mindfulness Meditation - Living in the Moment and Feeling Happy

Click Here to Learn About The Benefits of Biblically Based Meditation

Mindfulness is a meditative practice which seeks to help the practitioner to live in the moment. It is based on eastern meditative practices, specifically Buddhist techniques, which train the mind to experience life in the now. The philosophical belief that is the foundation of mindfulness practice is that human beings are much more than what they appear to be on the outside, and that this earthly experience we call life tends to cloak or veil our true nature from us. As a result, mindfulness practices attempt to focus our minds away from the illusion of earthly life, and onto our true nature, our hidden self. The idea is that by living in the moment, and discovering our authentic self, we will feel and be happy.

A simple example of mindfulness practice would be, as I sit here typing this article, I could practice by emptying my mind of everything except the act of typing. This would ground me in this moment, and would help train my mind not to wander into worrying about the future (like considering when I will publish the article, or will anyone want to read it). Then as I move onto another task, I would become completely immersed in that until that is completed. This practice will help me gain control of my thoughts and feelings, thus leading to mental freedom.

As you can see, mindfulness exercises can be very effective for gaining control over negative thought patterns. For example, a great deal of the mental anguish people experience is caused either by brooding over past mistakes and problems, or from worrying about the future. Mindfulness exercises can soothe the anguish by helping train the mind to accept the hurts and mistakes of the past, and to work on what they can control right now in order to make the future better. And for many people suffering from depression and anxiety, or other forms of neurosis, meditation and mindfulness practices have been demonstrated to be extremely effective at reducing, or curing altogether, these mental ailments, helping them to feel happy again.

The benefits of mindfulness practice are obvious. The only problem with this practice is that it cannot always be easily integrated into the life of a non-monk (which of course makes sense, since these techniques were developed by monks, for monks). Also, mindfulness is seen in Buddhist philosophy to be an end as well as a means. And as a Christian, I feel that mindfulness is a means to achieving an ever expanding conscious awareness of how the Spirit of God is working through me, and in my life and the lives of others. Mindfulness cannot work for me as end unto itself.

However, these problems should not deter anyone from practicing mindfulness, because the benefits far outnumber any problems. And the problems can be overcome. I have been able to practice it in a way that works for me both from a pragmatic standpoint, and a philosophical one. Here is a basic outline of how I integrate mindfulness into my life.

I try very hard to give my complete attention to whatever I am doing, or whoever I am interacting with at the moment.

If I am teaching my class for 65 minutes, they receive the very best I can give them for that time. If my kids want to play, I give them everything I have for that time. I try to limit distractions, and focus my mind only on what I am doing right then and there. Notice I said I try, because it is not easy. But it can be done, and I find when I do it then I am much more productive, and less worn out at the end of the day.

When I meditate, I really have trouble quieting my mind, particularly if I have a busy day ahead. 

So my main focus in meditation is to get my objective mind very still.

Learning how to make my mind still helps me to stop worrying about things I cannot control. It also helps me be very effective at completing the tasks I need to accomplish that day. And, it has helped me learn to control my thoughts, emotions, and impulses much more effectively.

If I make a mistake, I move on and immediately see it as a learning experience.

I do not beat myself up over my failings anymore. Not that I am happy about them, but I try to look at them more for what they can teach me about where I am heading in life, and the spiritual progress I am making. This helps me turn a negative quickly into a positive, it shields me from making the same mistake again, and I do not live in the past brooding over and regretting what happened. I do not expect to be perfect, but I do expect to be aware and present. That is the goal I work towards. I try as best as I can to let things go.

Are you a Christian who is looking for a deeper relationship with God?  Does your heart and soul yearn for a deeper relationship with the living God? Or maybe you suffer from the negative effects of anxiety, depression, or stress?  Click Here! for Christ-Centered Meditation and Relaxation downloads.  Stop putting your life on hold, and start unfolding the Power of the Spirit in your life today.

The Benefits of Meditation: Five Immediate Benefits Even Beginners Can Experience

We often hear about the benefits of meditation, and there are many.  However, the benefits of meditation are often quite subtle, and do not show themselves immediately.  Also, meditation practice take a bit of getting used to, since most people are just not used to sitting silently and doing what seems like nothing.  For the person who is new to meditation, these factors may cause them to give up on meditation.  However, this would be a mistake.  In this article, I would like to encourage people to continue or to take up meditation by pointing out five benefits that immediately happen when you begin meditating. 

First Benefit: Training your mind to be still.

As you begin meditating for the first time, you will notice that your mind is full of chatter.  We often feel that this chatter is beyond our control, that we cannot stop it from invading our minds and distracting us.  However, even a novice learns through meditation to calm and control these thoughts to a degree.  This teaches us a great lesson: that we can control this mind chatter, and with further practice there may come a day when we can be masters of our own minds.

Second Benefit: Me Time.

Meditation forces you to remove yourself from the rat race of life.  There is an old saying about the rat race; even if you win, you are still a rat.  Meditation is a way to reward yourself with stillness, silence, and focused attention on yourself and your needs.  Modern life tries to keep us distracted, busy, and manic.  Meditation recharges, renews, and rejuvenates.  It is true me time.

Third Benefit: Improved Metabolism.

Meditation slows your breathing, heart rate, and reduces blood pressure.  Meditation releases tight muscles and opens blood vessels to help blood flow more freely.  Meditation allows your breath to flow easily and evenly into and out of your lungs.  All of these things have a positive impact on the overall health and well being of your physical body.

Fourth Benefit: Increased Calm and Patience in Life.

One thing you will see immediately once you begin meditating is you are more calm and patient.  There will be degrees to this, and some days will be better than others, however meditation immediately begins to effect a sense of calm and patience in your daily life.  This will have wide ranging effects down the road for your overall health, including reduced stress, increased energy, and a greater appreciation and joy for life. 

Fifth Benefit: Self-Esteem, and a Better World.

Nothing feels better than knowing you are taking control of your life, and doing something positive for yourself, your loved ones, and the world around you.  Meditation is an easy and effective way for any person to begin taking positive action to improve their health and the quality of their lives.  And happy, healthy, and vibrant people radiate positive energy to those around them, making their little corner of this world better for everyone they meet and interact with on a daily basis. 

I hope you begin meditating today in order to enjoy these five benefits immediately in your life.

Using the Power of the Spirit to Make Right Judgments

1 Cor 4:1-15
Brothers and sisters:
Thus should one regard us: as servants of Christ
and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Now it is of course required of stewards
that they be found trustworthy.
It does not concern me in the least
that I be judged by you or any human tribunal;
I do not even pass judgment on myself;
I am not conscious of anything against me,
but I do not thereby stand acquitted;
the one who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore do not make any judgment before the appointed time,
until the Lord comes,
for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness
and will manifest the motives of our hearts,
and then everyone will receive praise from God.

Judgment is defined as “the cognitive process of reaching a decision or drawing conclusions.”(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&defl=en&q=define:judgement&sa=X&ei=PD9qTcjHKYa0lQeP_PD-AQ&ved=0CBcQkAE).

As human beings, we make decisions and draw conclusions constantly. Yet in the reading, Paul is exhorting the Corinthian community not to judge, going so far as to say he does not even judge himself.

Jesus also instructed his disicples to “judge not, lest you be judged.” But, how is it possible for a human being to stop drawing conclusions and reaching decisions? It seems that this teaching is unnatural, and if followed would create a person who is paralyzed and unable to function. Choosing, and making decisions is as natural to a being human as breathing. What is going on here?

It is clear from the passage that the judgment Paul is referring to is not the human capacity to reach a conclusion, but is instead more like a judgment rendered by a tribunal, or some other institution empowered by the ruling authorities to determine guilt or innocence. Jesus is referring to the same type of judgment in the Gospels. Paul is not exhorting the Corinthians to stop thinking and choosing, but is instead teaching them to not determine guilt or innocence by themselves, but instead to leave it to the Lord to decide. But, Paul leaves us another mystery when he says, “do not make any judgment before the appointed time, until the Lord comes.” Now, he seems to be switching things around to say “you can judge like a human tribunal, but you have to wait until the appointed time, when the Lord comes.” It can be very confusing.

This mystery can also be solved by looking at the rest of the passage. Paul is speaking in symbolic language, however his point is clear. The Spirit of God is to be the judge and tribunal of the individual Christian, and the larger Christian Community. However, the execution of the decision of the Spirit is left to the individual members of the community. Once the Lord comes, at the appointed time, it will be clear what needs to be done, and the individual/community can then judge rightly. In other words, the Lord will shine light on the problem, and reveal the decision that should be made. Until that happens, nothing can and should be done.

How many of us wait for the Lord to tell us what needs to be done before we choose to do something, or pass judgment? I know that I am extremely impatient as I wait for the Lord's “appointed time.” This method of judgment calls for a deep spirituality, one that surrenders completely to the Power of the Spirit within. It is something that takes practice to learn to patiently wait for the Lord. However, it is the only way to be sure that our judgments are right and just.

As Human beings, we cannot stop making decisions. To be successful in life, we must learn to allow the Spirit of God to guide us as we make judgments. As Paul Points out:

“he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God.”

Once we learn to wait for the Lord to judge the situation, we will always judge rightly.

The 3 Keys for Transforming Negative Thoughts Into Positive Beliefs

Are you a perfectionist? Do you brood and worry that the work you do is never good enough, and as a result you will never be good enough?

You are not alone in feeling this way. Millions of people in America and the West have been raised to appropriate this negative mindset. We are taught from a very young age that what we do, and who we are, is just not good enough. To fix this problem, we are advised to work harder while expecting less in return. To spend more, even though we receive less quality, are paid less, and prices are rising. We are told to accept, without question, the myth that humans are by nature lazy, shiftless, and imperfect beings who must continually strive to overcome their inherent imperfection through mindless drudgery and toil. The cure for our affliction, we are told, is (surprise) to work harder and longer, spend more, while knowing our inherent imperfection will always rise up to keep us from achieving the perfection we seek. It is a vicious cycle, which dominates the western mind.

There are many reasons why this negative mindset has taken root in western culture. However, I would like to focus on how to begin rooting it out of your mind, so that you can begin to appreciate who you are, and the many good and positive contributions you bring to life.

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus teaches:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

The modern westerner reads this and likely thinks that this passage advocates laziness, a lack of ambition, and if taken seriously will lead to poverty and lack. However, the passage cited above, if understood, can instead lead you to a life of freedom, happiness, abundance, and prosperity. But how can your needs be met without labor or worry? This seems too idealistic, too good to be true. But is it?

No it is not. In fact, this passage offers 3 keys for achieving true success, and overcoming the negativity of perfectionism. They are as follows:

The First Key: Believe life is orderly and good, and all life receives exactly what they need to live a full and happy life.

Whether you believe in God or not, it is a scientific fact that all life, yours included, is supported by invisible forces (energy) and unconscious processes (like breathing) which your striving and worrying has no impact on, other than to impede their proper functioning. For example, anxiety and worry makes the breath shallow, and increases the heart rate and blood-pressure. Stress releases hormones that cause metabolic damage, and negatively impact the nervous system. So the first key is to cease worrying and striving, and to become convinced that God, the universe, whatever you choose to call it, is good, and will provide for your needs abundantly. Striving, worrying, and working long hours only impedes and frustrates the natural order and function of life, which is to provide the necessities of life for all.

The Second Key: Be generous with your gifts, talents, and possessions.

The universe obeys certain fixed laws, and one of them is the law of cause and effect. In the passage, Jesus teaches us that if we wish to effect success, abundance, and happiness in our life we must first cause it by giving life the very best we have to offer. This is not perfectionism, because perfectionism teaches you will never be good enough. No, this law tells us that whatever talents or gifts we have, if we offer them freely to the world with passion and purpose, we will receive goodness and abundance in return. By storing our gifts (the symbol Jesus uses is a barn), and refusing to share them freely with the world, we show our lack of belief in the goodness and abundance of life, and create a state of lack, struggle, and poverty in our life. So the second key teaches us to act on our belief in the goodness of life by giving life the very best we have. This will cause life to return to us every good thing that we need to live in happiness, freedom, and abundance.

The Third Key: Live for today.
Most people live either in the past, brooding over regrets and mistakes, or the future, hoping that someday their life will be happy and complete. In the passage, Jesus instructs us not to worry about tomorrow, that today has problems of its own. If you want to be truly happy, you have to accept that the only moment you really have is right now. Do you want to live this moment worrying about what other people think? Is it really worth it to worry about things you cannot control?

Instead, use the time you have to effect positive change, first in your mind, and then in your life. Believe you are good enough and life is good. Practice this belief by giving to life the very best you have. And live now, and enjoy the miracle of life in all its fullness.

Follow these three keys and you will overcome the negativity of never feeling good enough, and you will begin to enjoy success in life.

Click Here! to find out about Christian Meditation.

How Do You Define Success?

Success is a word which has different meanings for different people. For some, success may mean achieving great wealth, or social status. For others, it may mean living a much simpler life, a life free of the concerns and cares of the material world. Whatever the definition, this blog is dedicated to presenting a view of success that may be somewhat countercultural. I believe that success, ultimately, can only come to those who are able to commune with the Divine Spirit which resides within each person. That Spirit is called many things by many different religious traditions, however whatever we as human beings choose to call it is immaterial; it exists and can be found within if we take the time to look for it each day. Jesus said “Seek and you shall find” and “Go into your closet (mind) and seek the Father in secret, and he will reward you” and these promises of his were not made in vain. If we take the time to quiet ourselves each day, preferably twice a day; once in the morning, and once in the evening, we will find the power to be successful in life is with us, waiting to be actualized in our lives, and the lives of those around us. We will discover true success.

Success, then, seems very simple, but it is so very hard to practice. When we first try to practice seeking the Father Within, our conscious, waking mind fights us with distractions. It does not like being ignored and quieted, which we must do to link up with the Divine Mind of the Universe. Our culture will not support our efforts, as it teaches us that our busy lives are much too hectic to spare a few minutes each day to find the Divine Power Within. Our friends and family members will not understand us when we talk about the benefits of seeking the Power of the Spirit, and they may wonder if maybe we have joined a cult, or gone crazy. And there are our own doubts, and fears, and rationalizations as to why this cannot be true. What seems so very simple is in fact very difficult, which is why Jesus said the Road to Perdition is wide and many travel it, while the Road to the Kingdom is narrow, and very few attempt to travel this way.

You must understand this: if you take the time to connect with, and actualize the Power of the Spirit Within, then you cannot fail, you will ultimately be successful in life. The Father of Creation, the Divine Mind who supports and sustain you and the entire created order, will be unleashed into your life. And since this Divine Power is Infinite, it cannot be contained, frustrated, or opposed. You will live as a Son or Daughter of God, full of wisdom, knowledge, love, compassion, and every high ideal that you can think of or imagine, for what you meditate upon, you become.

The manifestation of the Power of the Spirit in your life may not happen immediately because it takes time for the finer energy of Spirit to manifest in the dense vibration of our material universe. However, know that it will happen; slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, your life will begin to change, and be full of all good.

Be faithful, humbly practice communing with the Divine Mind twice a day, and watch your life change for the better. And remember, the Power of the Spirit is a gift from the Divine Mind, and can be taken away if it is being abused, taken for granted, or if you cease communing with the Spirit twice a day. Find the Spirit Within, and begin living a life of success.


Click Here! to find out about Christian Meditation.

Reaching Your Goals and Dreams in 2011

Would you like to know how to make 2011 the year when you reach your goals and make your dreams a reality? If so, you should know that the road you will travel will not be easy. After all, if the road to reaching your goals and dreams was easy, then everyone would be traveling on it. The fact is, the road to mediocrity is the easy road, and it is the road that many people travel. Make up your mind now to accept that problems and difficulties will arise and they have to be met with persistence, courage, and confidence. This is an important first step in making 2011 the year you reach your goals and make your dreams a reality.

Once you have made up your mind that the road you have chosen will require persistent effort on your part, you are then ready to practice a powerful affirmation which will serve you well in your journey to make your dreams a reality. I learned this affirmation from reading Dynamic Thought by Henry Thomas Hamblin, and I can attest to its effectiveness. However, In order for this affirmation to be successful, you must practice it every morning upon arising, and again in the evening. Spend a few minutes quieting your mind, and relaxing your body. When you feel sufficiently relaxed and clamed, repeat this affirmation slowly, trying as best as you can to visualize the significance of this statement, and impressing it deeply into your sub-conscious mind:

There must and shall be no failure this time. This time, I will succeed. This time, I will be victorious.

Once you feel the statement has made a significant impression, create a mental picture of yourself. In your picture, see yourself happy, healthy, full of joy and eager to begin living your new life. Imagine you are walking down a wide path which leads upwards to a sunlit summit, while behind you is a murky, foggy wasteland which is receding into the darkness behind you. Understand that whatever you mentally picture in your mind with clarity and purpose will manifest itself at some point.

Finish your meditation/affirmation session with the following statement and say it with conviction:

I cannot fail. I am Success. The power is within me to achieve what I set my mind to do.

Remember, the road you are choosing will not be easy, but then again nothing good in life ever comes easy. You will have to work at it. However, by using HTH's affirmation and visualization practice, you will draw to yourself invisible forces which will aid you in your quest. I wish you all blessings in your journey towards success.

Click Here! to find out about Christian Meditation.

Manifesting and the Law of Attraction

Do you often fee that life is a burden? Do you imagine that others are luckier than you are, or have figured some secret about how to be happy? Can you remember a time when you were happy, care-free, and full of idealism and zest for life? Do you wish you could be that person again?

If you have identified with any of these questions, know that you do not have to live this way. To live this way is a choice, and believe it or not it is a choice that many people make every day. You are not alone in feeling this way. Millions of people around the world live lives that are less than they had hoped for. Some people live trapped in despair and loneliness. Others are dealing with addictions which are threatening to destroy their lives. Some are in bad relationships that they do not know how to make better, or cannot find the strength to leave. Others work dead end jobs with no hope of advancement. But it does not have to be this way. You can choose to live a life of happiness, success, abundance, joy, and victory. You can choose to change your life.

*One disclaimer. Some personal problems need to be treated by a competent professional. Part of the choice of creating a new life for yourself may be seeking the help you need to get better. This journey does not have to be taken alone. Find the help you need.*

It is a proven fact that our universe obeys certain fixed laws. All modern scientific advancements are based upon this truth. And, since you are connected to this universe as its child, you must obey these laws as well. For example, if you were to foolishly imagine that you could fly, and you jumped out of a perfectly good airplane without the aid of a parachute, then the law of gravity would take over and the result would be pretty bad. However, if you jumped with the aid of a parachute, you could fly, or more accurately float safely to the ground. The lesson here is obvious: once you understand the laws that govern life it becomes possible to take steps to make them work for you, rather than against you.

There has been a lot of talk lately about the law of attraction, and quite frankly most of it is at best misunderstood, and at worst dangerous. However, while a lot of the information on attraction is confused and misleading, one thing is certain: you can easily attract to yourself what you think and believe is true about life, and the universe around you. For example, if you believe the universe is a chaotic, unfriendly, and confusing place then this will be the kind of life you will manifest. If you believe the universe is a dog eat dog competition where only the strong survive, then you will draw to yourself situations which mirror these beliefs. However, if you believe the universe is a kind and orderly place that was designed to offer each one of us an interesting, abundant, fulfilling, and happy life, then not only will you experience these things in your life, but you will finally be aligning yourself with the established and orderly laws of the universe. Instead of swimming against the tide of the laws of life, you will begin floating effortlessly with the streams of living water. You will have discovered the master key of creating a successful life.

I want to take a moment here to make sure I do not make the mistake many others make when talking about the law of attraction. Manifesting a good life does not mean I sit and think thoughts of abundance, and lazily wait for them to appear. Many abundance teachers are peddling this on the internet, and it is a false hope. There is no escaping this fact: if you want to align yourself with the laws of the universe, you must be willing to work for what you desire, and it must be something good for you and for the world around you. Otherwise you will remain frustrated, or you may draw to yourself a harsh lesson which the universe wishes to teach you. You may find yourself in worse shape than you were before you began manifesting.

The power lies within you. Once you learn to use this power, and align yourself with the laws of the universe, you can make it work for you. But do not be fooled. Throughout history, many have opened the bottle of the law of attraction and not understood the genie that has appeared to them. The old axiom that Jesus taught applies: what if you were to gain the whole world but lose your soul in the process? What can a man give in exchange for his very life? Tread carefully, and understand that by using your thoughts and creative imagination, you can either bless or curse your self. Either way, the choice to a good life is yours if you learn to align with the fixed laws of the universe.

Click Here!to learn more about Christian Meditation.

What is Meditation? An Exploration of the Possible Benefits of Meditation

Can the practice of meditation really relieve stress, bring serenity, and possibly improve your health?

Scientific studies seem to indicate that it can. Meditation has often been used as an effective method of stress and pain relief. Meditation has also been shown to be effective in increasing attention span, which may be good news for people who have attention deficit disorder. The evidence is clear, although much study still needs to be done, meditation has been shown to help relieve stress, bring a sense of serenity, and may improve some health issues like attention deficit disorder.

However, while meditation promises a host of verifiable benefits, and maybe others yet undiscovered, it remains shrouded in mystery. However, as mysterious as it may seem to the beginner, over 20 million Americans are now practicing some form of meditation. Are you interested in joining this growing number of people who are practicing meditation to improve their quality of life? If so, this lens will attempt to unveil some of those mysteries for you, and offer good, balanced information which will help you unlock the secrets of mediation, and be able to take advantage of its unique benefits.

Let me begin with a disclaimer. I strongly believe that meditation can be a powerful tool for personal growth and healing for everyone who practices it. However, some meditation techniques are not appropriate for most people, and in some cases are self-hypnosis programs which, in my opinion, you want to stay as far away from as possible. Be cautious as you begin your meditation journey, and keep your meditations as simple as possible. Any meditation program that calls for long hours, complicated breathing techniques, or asks you to buy lots of materials or go on long retreats, is not necessary for beginners. However, where you go on your meditation journey is up to you. My advice at the beginning is to keep it as simple and easy to use as possible. This will ensure you get off to a good, positive start.

One last disclaimer. The mind is very powerful and you may find that once you start to spend time exploring the deep recesses of your mind, you are becoming aware of strong emotions, or issues which you had long ago repressed, or forgotten about. You may find that these issues are causing you distress. If so, you may need to seek professional help, or the help of a member of the religious clergy of your particular spiritual tradition to deal with the problem. Meditation is a tool to help guide us to good health. Sometimes it functions as a sign post to point us in the direction we need to go to get the help we need. Be aware of what you need, and do not substitute meditation for the help of qualified professionals who can further guide you towards serenity and peace of mind.

How to Begin Meditating. Is it AUM or is it OM?

At its most basic level, meditation is the practice of focusing the mind on a particular object. All meditation practices which are common today are rooted in a particular spiritual tradition, and were developed around focusing the mind on the divine, however the divine was conceived to be in that particular tradition. Most of the more advanced meditation practices of these traditions were kept secret (although they can now widely be found all over the internet). They were only available to priests, monks, nuns, and other adepts who had given up everything to learn these secret techniques and achieve enlightenment. By giving up all worldly pursuits, and submitting to the discipline of a master, guru, or church, a person showed his/her worthiness to be trusted with these secret teachings, among them specific methods of meditation and breathing which were designed to bring a person into an altered state of consciousness. Eventually, if the student faithfully practiced and followed the advice and teachings of his spiritual teacher or church, he/she could achieve a state known as divine union. This state of divine union is called many different things like satori, nirvana, or Kingdom of Heaven, however, while the names are different, the experience of divine union is always the same for those who achieve it. The practitioner who achieves divine union experiences an expanded state of consciousness where he/she feels completely submerged into another reality, one of which he/she is a part of, yet is completely beyond them as well.

It is impossible to avoid the fact that all meditation methods are rooted in a particular religious tradition. If you are an atheist, it will be difficult to find practices which do not, at some level, point to something beyond as the source of all existence. And even if you are not an atheist, you need to come to grips with this fact before beginning meditation, otherwise you will find yourself confused and frustrated. For example, some westerners can easily incorporate eastern meditation practices into their lives. However, eastern practices are centered around certain fundamental principles; like Karma and Reincarnation. Eastern meditation also demands, in some traditions, total detachment from all worldly pursuits. Westerners, (like myself, I have problems with these beliefs), may find it difficult to accept these teachings, affecting the quality of the meditation.

What do you believe? Are you a Christian who wants to develop a deeper relationship with Jesus? Or are you suspicious of organized religion, but open to the possibility of some reality that exists as the source of all life, but are unready to commit to a particular religious tradition? Be honest, because the answers you get will determine what kind of meditation practice you use, and how effective it is.

The Secret to Building a Better Life

What if I told you that you have, within you, the secret you need to have a successful, happy, and fulfilling life? That within you is unlimited power to grow, develop, and achieve your personal desires? How would this knowledge change you and the life you are currently living? What doors could this knowledge open for you? Do you think it would be life changing to know you have the power to make your dreams come true?

Now notice I did not say, you have the secret within you to an easy life. Life is about working and earning what you receive, and there is no short cut around this hard fact. Of course, I know you know this, because if you are reading this article, then you are one of the many people out there who work extremely hard, both at your full-time job and at home, yet you feel that your life is far from a dream come true. Some of you may feel like you are literally a paycheck away from total disaster. Perhaps you are a single mom trying to survive on a meager income, never seeming to be able to get ahead. You wish you could spend more time with your kids, you dream of giving them the kind of life they and you deserve, but you only manage to fall further and further behind. Maybe you are a middle-aged man who has been working the same job for years. You assumed you would have your job until retirement as long as you "played the game" however now the rules of the game have changed (funny how "they" get to change the rules whenever they want, without your consent. Does that seem fair?), and your company is contemplating layoffs. Or maybe you just wonder why life seems to have lost all of its joy? Oh yes, you know well that life is not easy, but I'm here to tell you it does not have to be as hard as it is. In fact, if you know how to tap into the power and potential inside yourself, you will transform negative thoughts into positive action, and begin to build a life which is headed in much more meaningful directions.

Ultimately, the purpose of life is to live, and live in abundance. There is no greater truth than this. We have been taught a lie, and that lie is that life is a fight over scarce resources, a war in which every person looks out only for themselves, and competes with others and the very universe itself, for scarce and dwindling resources. However, by simply reflecting on nature, we see that this is not the truth. Our earth provides more than enough abundance for all its creatures to live, to reproduce, and to enjoy their lives at whatever evolutionary level each creature happens to be at. Nature, for all its complexity, tends towards balance and harmony. It is only human beings who live lives of scarcity, extreme competition, and imbalance, seemingly against the laws of nature. The tragedy of this is that it is self-imposed, it does not have to be this way. However, to change this state of affairs for ourselves, it means we have to change our way of thinking. It means we have to change our minds, and this is not easy. After all, who has the time to really spend on changing ourselves? After a hard days work, most people collapse, with barely enough strength to carry themselves to bed at night. It seems too hard. But it is really simpler than we imagine.

A wise man once said a journey of a thousand steps begins with the first one. All problems become easier to solve if they can be broken down into small steps. So here is step one, perhaps the hardest of all the steps, but if mastered it will send you along your journey with a full head of steam, ready to unlock the powers that lie hidden and dormant within you:

Believe that God, the universe, whatever you choose to call the universal structure of our existence, loves you as its child and wants you to be happy, successful, fulfilled, and living in an abundance of good. You must believe, essentially, that life is good in all its manifestations, and is structured only to give you good things and these in abundance.

Notice I did not say you had to believe in any particular God or religion, although if you are religious this can make the first step a bit easier for most. But you do not need to be religious to take this first step. You simply must take it. What have you got to lose? If it works (and it surely will if taken faithfully and with conviction) then you have begun to build a better life for yourself. If it doesn't, then you lose nothing other than a few minutes of your day. Either way, I am certain you will not be disappointed.

Of course, this is only step one. The next steps involve practicing the art of awakening and experiencing all the good that life has for us. Taking these next steps involves researching and finding teachers, books, and programs that can help you unlock the secret potential lying hidden within you. This is where you begin the work of building your life, brick by brick.