Loving Awareness

Interconnectedness of being

Posted by matthew on December 7, 2007  |  6015 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F12%2F07%2Finterconnectedness-of-being%2FInterconnectedness+of+being2007-12-08+06%3A08%3A38matthewhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F12%2F07%2Finterconnectedness-of-being%2F

If you look at life like a poet, seeing beauty in the simplest things, you do not need to go anywhere to find beauty. You can see that within manure, a flower is waiting to be born. It is not in the future as an abstract concept; it is there now, in its fullest potential. Within an acorn lying on the forest floor is a magnificent flowering tree. If you listen closely, you can feel the tree whisper to you from inside the acorn, with its majestic tranquility. Within a storm inflicting damage on a community is also the breathtaking beauty of sun squirming its way through the clouds to a new dawn, bringing new energy and a re-creation of what we thought was perfect, but has new perfection to expand upon us.

This potential also works with emotions and relationships. Within a storm of a relationship where there is deep division and conflict, there is also a great empathy waiting to unfold. This is because there can be no compassion without understanding, and to find understanding we must experience. You cannot have empathy for someone’s violence without having experienced the urge to lash out yourself. And it is through empathy, or love, that we transform the world. Peace does not come from imposing rules of peace; it comes from living peace. This applies within relationships and activism equally.

The interconnected nature of the universe applies to me in particular in my own journey. This being is within me:

Feeling the weight of someone’s body on top of me, I shut off. How could this happen? How can I let this happen? I shall never trust the world again. I shall keep kicking until I no longer feel a weight on top of me. I shall never trust myself again. I shall never trust the world again. I hate being a child, for helplessness is the worst of all evils.

This being is also within me:

The child breathes contentedly in utter trust, feeling the warmth and support surrounding me. I am helpless, but within that helplessness comes the ability to invite help. Everything I need is here now. In utter vulnerability, I let the world touch me and the fullness of it brings utter joy. My helplessness is a gateway to feeling the love around me. I trust completely.

The two beings are of course one; they are me. Within the vulnerability of a childlike state is also the ability to be traumatized, and within the ability to be traumatized is the ability to heal, learn empathy, transform the world, and live a life of Love. Nothing needs to be done to ‘transform’ one into the other; they are both inseparable. They are me.

In thinking about healing, we usually focus on the loudest voice. The hurt child screams loudest and we rarely hear anything else, so we think that’s all there is. We lose awareness of the joyful child that is present in the moment and has never left us. And it is awareness that transforms â???? not counseling, medication, or even diving into the pain â???? but simple awareness. It is through awareness that all aspects of ourselves are reconnected and integrated. It is how compassion is learned; seeing how interdependent we are.

Whether within one’s Self, in relationship, or in society, there is a great interdependency. The pain cannot be without the joy and compassion. A pauper cannot exist without the ultra rich. There would be no destruction of the rainforest without all the world participating in its consumer patterns. This is not simply the link of cause and effect; it is a deeper connection on the level of being. You are the environment of the world, you are the disparity of wealth, and you are both the joys and pains that exist in you and without you.? Invite this in; it is the gateway to living a live filled with peace.

Emotions as beauty itself

Posted by matthew on December 2, 2007  |  5915 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F12%2F02%2Femotions-as-beauty-itself%2FEmotions+as+beauty+itself2007-12-03+04%3A41%3A45matthew1561948290

For this post, I’ll include more of my personal journey: that of dealing with emotions. I’ve always been someone who has had had very intense emotions to deal with, especially those related to my past sexual abuse. Because of this, many emotions have come at any and all times, without apparent ‘reason’: at work, in relationships, light social times, and with family. Without any visible reason or sense, at least in the immediate context, it’s easy to hold judgment about strong emotions in our culture. It can appear to make others uncomfortable.

This isn’t particular to sexual abuse; it is quite common to anyone sensitive and emotionally open, dealing with pain in any way. Emotions are emotions. They don’t make sense. If they did, they would be thoughts, not emotions. The heart has reasons the mind knows not of, and never will. Our need to make sense greatly depends on how allowing we are of the emotion. A grand sense of joy flittering like butterflies across our hearts when we see, for example, kittens playing with string for the first time, won’t require much sense. And yet, when it comes to ‘negative emotions’, such as pain, fear, anger, self-hatred, or a mix of them that could be called inner conflict, we often simply don’t allow them to come forward as naturally. We want reasons, explanations, labels, and hopefully a way to protect ourselves against them appearing again. This is the illusion of control reasons give us.

To me, how this manifested was a desire to expunge all the emotions. They obviously caused problems, so it made sense to want to get rid of them. I thought of them as a water well containing nothing but poison stored there from all the past pains in my life. So I tried to ‘get it out’ as much as possible, whether it be via counseling, venting, punching pillows, or even meditation and trying to transform myself in that manner. Eventually, things would be ‘clear’ and I would be more ‘balanced’. Of course, things didn’t work that way, because implicit in all these actions was a fundamental lack of love for those emotions â???? which creates even more negative emotions to vent. The perception that there was something wrong with me created more problems. The never-ending process continued. Thinking there was something wrong with me because I had pain simply created more pain.

A different way of looking at them instead is what was channeled to me recently.

At this time, perhaps you would like to think of your emotions, instead of something you need to get out and express, think of them as art, as a creation that you are constantly perfecting. They’re not finished yet, but you see their beauty in whatever state of creation they are in. You don’t need to share it even, because they are so beautiful. Bring this creation, all the beautiful colors that you know, and all the love you have inside you, for you love this creation. It is the most beautiful creation you have ever made, and you derive great satisfaction from the process of creating it. Take your time. Use visuals if that helps. Look around you. Find elements of what you see that perhaps might be included in this creation of yours. You will know it when you see it – anything that needs to be included. Have fun with this process, for it is yours. It is the first thing that’s truly belonged to you.

This brought up much tears in me, because it went to the heart of who I am: an expressive person with an intense of love of beauty and art. And if I do not see myself as a work of art, then of course there will be a lack of love for Self. Corresponding to this was indeed a visual image of moving and surreal color, much like the movie ‘What Dreams May Come.’ We see art and beauty in Van Gogh, Dali, or other artists who express darkness or ‘craziness’. After all, it’s on the page and there are skills involved. However, there is an implicit dismissal of the skill involved in simply allowing emotions to come to fruition and expressiveness in this society. There is tremendous skill in this. We see this in movies, on the stage, of an actor being very true with emotions, but it is easy to discount this in ourselves. This is not the same as being able to pick the right words and expression of them. It lies simply in being those emotions, in allowing them fully.

As I reach new levels of allowing of my emotions, I’m encountering vastly new perceptions of my life and my past, and even hidden memories. Finally remembering who crawled into my bed at night, the helplessness, shame, impotent kicking, and a split of consciousness that persisted into adulthood. There are, of course, many emotions connected to this journey, much like any prisoner might feel after coming into sunlight after thinking a cell block was home for many years. There is frustration, there is helplessness, and yes, there is self-hatred. I’m finding this isn’t a contradiction in any way to loving myself. It has its own beauty; a disconnected aspect of myself that’s screaming from years of being walled away. There is beauty in goth designs, and there is intense beauty in these emotions as well. They are a valid journey home.

Love, especially for ourselves, isn’t a thing or something to gain, or anything to ingrain into our minds through writing a million affirmations or reading thousands of blogs. It’s a perception – an awareness. Shifting how we look at something, especially ourselves, creates transformations. In fact, every transformation is precisely a change in perception. There is nothing but this, because there is perfection in everything, including intense pain. In the case of emotions, my experiences have created a subtle yet powerful difference in my experience in them. There is wonder in these emotions, simply as an expression of what is. The simply perception of beauty in utter vividness is, in the present moment, more loving than a thousand affirmations.

The law of attraction, Part 1. Beyond Abraham.

Posted by matthew on November 26, 2007  |  573 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F11%2F26%2Fthe-law-of-attraction-part-1-beyond-abraham%2FThe+law+of+attraction%2C+Part+1.++Beyond+Abraham.+2007-11-26+18%3A59%3A55matthewhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F11%2F26%2Fthe-law-of-attraction-part-1-beyond-abraham%2F

Much has been said about the “law of attraction” elsewhere, particularly relating to channeling from Abraham/Hicks and The Secret. This is our own channeling on the subject, recorded live, and really addresses some of the disempowering aspects of what is commonly known. Press play below to listen:

The Law of Attraction: Part 1 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

You can listen to this via iTunes via this link:

The transcript of the session is as follows: (this is for reference, but it is highly recommended you listen as there is much more connotation available when hearing the spoken word live)

We’ll start with basics. In the universe in which you reside, of course there are certain ‘laws’ that operates. There are certain agreements made on a combined level among all the people in the universe. Everyone has agreed that this is how things operate and this is the way reality will operate. This is what you refer to as ‘laws’. Gravity, for instance, is one. It’s a physical phenomenon. But it doesn’t have to be â???? you have chosen to make it this way. This is our reality, this is how we’re going to operate, so we’re all ‘cool’ with this. When you say the ‘law of attraction’, there is a fair about of truth to that, because that is what you have chosen as part of the collective reality that you have all built.

However, we see some problems with the oversimplification of this concept that has been presented recently. Obviously this as a concept has been in existence ever since all the people who wished to human decided to create the reality in which you now live, which happened a long, long time ago. We would like to restate some of what is known as the law of attraction in order to clarify some matters. However, as we said, this will be a 3 to 4 part series, and we would like to give the first of those parts now.

We would like you to think about your lives not necessarily in terms of things accomplished. Which what we realize how most people in your society view their lives. Instead, we would like you to begin to view your life in terms of experiences. All of you come pre-loaded, as it were, in each lifetime with some experiences you wish to encounter. Along the way, you make choices to either ditch some of those or to add new ones. All of you do this all the time â???? there are constantly choices being made depending on who you’re meeting up with and what agreements you are making, reneging, etc. So there is always this constant interplay of agreements, choices or decisions being made. All of these, of course, are experiences that you have. Now you may choose to grow from these experiences or may choose to disregard them entirely. Those choices are always up to you. If you choose to grow from an experience then, chances are next time you can move on to a new kind of experience. If you choose to ignore the experiences, then chances are you will continue to present yourself with the same type of experience over and over.

The law of attraction, then, is a little bit like that. You know, they say (‘they’ meaning whoever the scads of people are that teaching what is the law of attraction), that you attract to yourself what you give energy towards. Again, this is a gross oversimplification, but in terms of what we just said regarding experiences, you can see there are elements which really sound similar. In other words, if you choose to present yourself with an experience, and you choose to ignore that experience, or ignore the growth potential of the experience, then you will continue to most likely present yourself with similar experiences, so as to eventually see what growth there is from that type of experience. This feels a lot like attracting the same thing to yourself, over and over again. But it doesn’t really work that way on an energetic level, meaning that ‘the more you give energy to something, you’re going to get back the same thing.’ No, because everything you do, everything you do in life, is always a choice. There is no magic universal energy that decides to bring good things or bad things to you. It is always you choosing to have experiences, and you choosing to make something of those experiences, if you choose to make anything at all.

Another point we wish to make is in terms of, again, another perceptual difference. It is true that many of you perceive life, your lives, the lives around you and the universe as a whole, as a place that’s rather forbidding, and a place you have to resist because it’s going to act against you. You realize that this mindset comes of course from fear, a place of not accepting reality, of not accepting the fact that you choose your life, and not accepting that everyone else is really making their own choices and not thinking that much about yours. So the concept of creating your own reality again has quite a bit of merit, but that has been oversimplified as well. Yes, you are creating your own reality, you are all collectively creating reality all the time, you are always making choices. And when we say ‘always’, we mean that within each breath you are constantly choosing, 1) continue breathing, 2) operate your body as you have, 3) to perceive things the way that you do, and not to change it in an instant, which of course you have the ability to do. Believe it or not, you can change your perception like that (snap) if you want to. Typically you do not choose to do that, as there can be other repercussions from a choice like (as there are repercussions from every choice) that that might create difficulties and further perceptual problems that may be one day uncomfortable. So you might not choose that. But you are always free, of course, to make any choice that you wish, and as such, are always continuing to create what exists around you and create who you are inside.

This is part 1 of a series and will be continued!

Breaking through the chains of identity

Posted by matthew on November 23, 2007  |  567 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F11%2F23%2Fbreaking-through-the-chains-of-identity%2FBreaking+through+the+chains+of+identity2007-11-24+00%3A25%3A10matthewhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F11%2F23%2Fbreaking-through-the-chains-of-identity%2F

I had a question recently asked of me, which is what this article is based on:

How do you form new identities when there are expectations other people place, in terms of maintaining an identity? How do you find ways of letting go to holding on to that and allowing more of yourself to come through?

To answer this, let’s first look at what identity is. The etymology of the word comes from the Latin words for “sameness” and “over and over’. This in itself gives a good picture of it - a fixated pattern or image that can be repeated over and over. It can be looked at as a temporary protection against the unknown. Where there is the dark unknown and the feeling of helplessness come from it, then terror appears, and so there is a desire to control that comes from this. Identity is the standard result.

Because of the nature of interconnection mentioned in previous articles, identities are not isolated towers etched in stone. Your identity depends on the interactions you have with others, particularly intimate relationships. The degree of ‘sameness’ and repetition of behavior in relationships creates safety and protection more firmly than any amount of home security. Conversely, when someone’s behavior and identity fluctuates without agreement from everyone involved, a sense of betrayal and threat is often the results. When you question your identity, ripples flow outward that invite everyone surrounding you to also question their own identity. For some, this is incredibly fearful. To real degree, this can feel if one’s life is about to end – because in some ways, it is.

Identity, therefore, is central to the perception of isolation and separateness that human beings are subject to. If you hardwire your perception of Self to be a fixed collection of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, then you will automatically disconnect from all beings that are not this collection. You may see this in such actions as politics; the identity is so strong, so dependent on connections with others of like mind that the disconnect then it is quite likely that those on the ‘other side’ are disconnected from to such a degree that their humanness is no longer seen. When taken to its natural extreme, this can cause violence and wars.

The problems do not come from any idea of what you are, but always from what you are not. If you deny connections, whether to others or within yourself, you are in fact wielding a scalpel, surgically cutting yourself off from the universe. This is violence. This is an attack, both at the world and at the Self. There is no outward form of violence that does not directly come from this core split.

To work with this, we suggest an exercise adapted from Thich Naht Hahn :

When you meet something, instead of a label which implies separation such as ‘tree’, ‘house’, or ‘road’, state instead that you are what you see. ‘I am this’ is a good phrase, or a statement of ‘I am a tree’ when you meet one. Rather than this be something enforced on your mind, expand outward to breath in the essence of what you are seeing.

Another way to do this is via the practice of mindful eating. Your absolute interconnection is not simply with what you see, but everything that is connected to what you see as well. An example would be the eating of brown rice. (preferably organic!). As you are eating, feeling the soft fibers in your tongue, invite the perception that you are the rice, and that you are enjoying changing form to help preserve life. You are the plants in the field that produced this output. You are the workers that cultivated the food. You are the sunlight that gave life to this plant. You are the water that irrigated the field. You are the rain and sky that brought the rivers. You are the people that package and brought the rice to you. You are even the animals that ate from the field before it was cultivated. You are all that.

Imagine then, that with every bite you are taking, you are affirming your connection to the earth, the plants on it, the sun, the animals, and every human being interconnected on it. This connection is in every bite of food, and indeed in every breath you take. Living with this connection at a conscious level is an ever present source of joy.

In this exercise, the ‘who you are’ is absolutely inclusive, and thus without violence. There is nothing you are not, and thus nothing you have to use force to separate yourself from. This is where true power comes from. If you have difficulty feeling this connection in this exercise, then we suggest trying it again in a natural setting, where animals can be viewed. Animals naturally feel this interconnection as part of their way of being, and can be great teachers in this. Children can be as well.

‘Letting go of identity’ is therefore not a true letting go. There is in fact no need to let go of who you are â???? only to let go of the perception of what you are not. You may in fact be a professional, reliable person who doesn’t want to impose on others, but you may also be a human being who has pain inside and deserves the chance to make mistakes, get angry, and be wrong.

If you decide to undergo on the path of expanding your identity, take caution, for the ripples this path creates can create much reaction in others. In fact, we advocate asking those close to you for permission first, even if in your own mind or in a dream state. Leaving behind past shelters of identity is usually a terrifying undertaking, and it is good to prepare and gain support beforehand. But it is good to remember that it is always in the unknown that true experience of Love resides, and this is why terror is often experienced before Love is. And it is in the expansion of Self â???? not the destruction of it â???? that Love is experienced. Your awareness of identity can expand to where your identity is your family, the community, the earth, and the universe. This is in fact what is true at this very moment, and we invite you to rejoin with your birthright.

The Void

Posted by matthew on November 11, 2007  |  537 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F11%2F11%2Fthe-void%2FThe+Void2007-11-12+06%3A39%3A52matthewhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F11%2F11%2Fthe-void%2F

The following is channeled material we recently brought through:

Question: There is a concept across many traditions of inviting or surrending to ‘The Void’. What exactly is ‘The Void’, and what is the process of surrendering? What can be gained by it?

A simple way to describe the Void would be absence of all expectation. In other words, a total acceptance of what is. Not what could be. Not what should be. Not what might be â???? but simply what is. We have noticed that the concept of accepting what is is paradoxically simple, yet inherently complex. It is difficult for the human, caught up as you are in the illusions of life as a human, that is, possessing a body, interacting with others and perceiving things simply on a physical basis, to consistently recognize that there is so much more, and yet at the same time so much less than what it is they perceive. To be completely immersed in the Now, then, requires such a large degree of trust that one has no need to manipulate reality to become anything more than what it is.

The void, then, is again the absence of all expectation and a complete immersion into all that is the present. This ‘all’ must include, of course, all your dreams, desires, pain, love, and humanness. So a complete acceptance of all these things takes place for one to take place in the Now. Simple, yes? Yet when you consider each element, each one seems to bring with it so much more, so many issues, so many requirements of your time and energy and thought, that it seems impossible to divorce yourself from those in order to reside completely in the present. We remind you, then, that there is no need of course to separate yourself from all that you are. There need only be the joyful expansion of your perception to embrace all that you are into this one present moment.

Surrendering, then, to this absence that also includes everything requires, as we said, an enormous degree of trust. You must trust yourself. You must trust your perceptions. You must trust that you are not truly separated from any part of you. And you must trust that this joyful expansion can actually take place. We invite you, then, to dip one toe into the Void this time with us.

Sit comfortably and close your eyes. Place your awareness, if you will, on a spot located on your forehead between and above your eyes, often referred to as ‘the third eye’. To enhance sensitivity you may likely massage this area. While breathing comfortably and deeply, bring your awareness then to this spot. And as you do so, notice how it grows. It grows to encompass all that you are, all that you ever have been, and all that you ever will be. Notice too the sense of love and acceptance that comes simply with this noticing. Embrace all your former selves and all your future ones. Breathe them in and allow them to take stronger presence within your present self body. Trust that all these selves hold for you the information you most need to know right now. You may or may not ever be consciously aware of this information, yet it is yours at this moment. Breathe in again and let out that breathe, letting go of any expectation of what any of these selves bring you. You feel it leaving your body. Place your hands over your heart, and seal in that awareness to hold within you forever.

By regularly exposing yourself to the Void, you increase your conscious awareness of your own trueness and all the potential that lies within you at all times. In other words, by learning to surrender you become a more complete and whole person.

It is often implied that the fear of death is the basis for all fears, and that it is by experiencing a form of death that true transformation can occur. How does the Void relate to this fear of death and the transformation referred to?

The concept of death is indeed a frightening one to most people. We would say that it is no accident that there are parallels between the concepts of death and the Void of which we speak. In each case, that spark within you that is You is always maintained despite outer transformations that are taking place. In the case of what you refer to as death, it is simply the physical body that transforms. Everything else about you â???? your hopes, desires, dreams, and memories â???? are still retained, and always are a part of the You that you are in this life. There is an aspect of death to the transformation that occurs when one surrenders completely to the Void, but again, that inner spark of You-ness is always retained despite external transformation. The transformation that occurs when one surrenders to the void is not one that is necessarily physically apparent. Yet it is one that allows the fullness and completeness of you to emerge as if to play.

It is the fear of transformation itself, then, that is the root of the fears of death and the fear of surrendering to the Void. It is natural to attempt to hold on to what one has been, for that is all one knows. However, if you alter your perception so that you can embrace all that you will be, your fears of transformation, whether from death or from surrender to the Void will be eased.

If you have questions you think would be good to get channeled answers for, please leave a comment!? Thank you!

That childlike state, and Love.

Posted by matthew on November 6, 2007  |  5236 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F11%2F06%2Fthat-childlike-state-and-love%2FThat+childlike+state%2C+and+Love.2007-11-06+07%3A49%3A42matthew754129290

This is also available via podcast.

That childlike state - and Love. [ 8:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There is so much we can learn from children. Most of us are disconnected from that childlike quality inside ourselves, that innocent state of joyful wonder that makes love for children so natural. In fact, we can think that that the only way to experience that state is vicariously through our children. We can restrict our boisterous play to only be in the company of children, and make sure we always make â??˜sense’ in the company of adults.

And yet, much of the education of children is really a movement away from wonderful qualities that would greatly serve society. By the time adulthood is reached, through public schools and the gauntlet of teenagedom, there can easily be layers upon layers of defenses, filters, and preconceptions that prevent the wonder of a child and guileless expression. We are taught a learning of accumulation of facts and how to act in such a way that is â??˜normal’. In spite of the tremendous value we know children have, we are in some way denying that value, by trying to exclusively teach them while not learning from them. We don’t see them as equals, as Dr. Marshall B. Rosenberg, author of “Nonviolent communication”, says in his article on raising children compassionately.

Children, in their simple wisdom of being who they are, have tremendous amounts to teach and remind us. How easy it is to break down in tears when a child touches your cheek after noticing some held back sadness. Being silly and unrestrainedly playful around a child is the most natural thing in the world. They remind us what is truly important in life. And what they teach us, via the characteristics they model, can be applied to all of life, not just our interaction with them.

To help see this, I’ve listed a number of characteristics young children have that we could all learn from. It is these characteristics that epitomize Love.

• Vulnerability. This is not only an absolute open sense of trust and visibility of self, but also the rapidity at which the task at hand takes complete focus. It is when a child (or adult) is most like themselves, without any apology or attempt to be anything else. True vulnerability always results in more openness, more allowing, and therefore, more Love. We feel this around children, and it is this sense that we respond to in children. A baby is completely vulnerable, completely open to the manipulations of life force around it, yet at the same time, is completely trusting that this process will result in continued life, growth, and for all intents and purposes, Love.

• Harmony. Children are not separate from their environment, their parents, or even themselves. If their parents are upset, they will feel it too. There is no intellectualizing the experience, no controlling of their actions. They feel the state of their surroundings, which includes themselves, and at the same time naturally move towards a balance. Because of this, problems do not accumulate. If they are upset, they scream. If they are sad, they cry. The next moment is often something completely different, as any parent knows!

• A sense of perpetual wonder. Simply mouthing the phrase ‘it brought me back to being a child again’ conveys this. Life is vivid, full of vibrancy and new discoveries behind every corner. There’s new ways of seeing and interacting with even familiar objects. Children have that sense of wonder because they’re completely present in the moment, immersed in the explosion of colors around them at every moment in humble appreciation.

• Exploration beyond “right” and “wrong”. As my previous post, The Beauty of Gray mentions, we tend to get locked into black and white thinking. Something is either good for us or bad, and all our interactions with it is based on this label we have. Children interact directly. And because of this, they are in a perpetual state of exploration. There is no “wrong” behavior – they see nothing strange about putting corn chips down your pants if the mood suits it. (I have personal experience with this!).

• Leaning through play. This is the utmost extension of the previous point. With nothing ‘wrong’, every action is playful. Silliness makes more sense than seriousness, because it voices the absurdity of trying to control and label all the experiences occurring. And learning occurs very quickly because of the open state of the child.

• Trust. There are no worries in a child’s mind beyond the immediate moment. There is simply a powerful trust that all they need will be there.

All of these states, of course, are as accessible to adults as they are to children. But for the most part, we have been educated away from such means of interacting with each other, and even with children. But this education can be discarded.

The next time you are with a young child, be a young child yourself. Don’t put on a mask of acting child-like, such as faces and ‘goo-goo’ sounds. Play as if nothing mattered. Relate to them from a place of equality, for they are teaching you as much as you are teaching them. Know that their vulnerability is at the same time incredibly fragile and immensely powerful, and that this dichotomy also resides within you.

‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, â???’

It is of course very humorous that millions of people have quoted the Bible on becoming like a little child without making any movement whatsoever towards that effect themselves. Being childlike is in essence the same as being full of Love. It is a state of playful unity and harmony to the surroundings, appreciating and welcoming the uniqueness of everyone in the world. It is a state of continual transformation with no end in sight. It is a state both of incredible fragility that comes from vulnerability and of incredible power to affect, like what you see in the eyes of a child.

It is you.

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Connecting With Nature

Posted by admin on October 28, 2007  |  517 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F10%2F28%2Fconnecting-with-nature%2FConnecting+With+Nature2007-10-28+18%3A54%3A52adminhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F10%2F28%2Fconnecting-with-nature%2F

I’ve been thinking lately of my connection with nature, exploring that connection more deeply, especially following a recent and quite profound experience I had in the forest (and here’s yet another quite amazing one; can you tell this is a bit of a theme here?) and I invite you to think now about your connection with nature.

I suspect that for the most part we really don’t give this much thought. Nature is simply ‘there’, and our day-to-day awareness doesn’t often extend to a real connection to nature beyond, say, noticing the gorgeous deep velvety reds of the Japanese maple trees, or the clearness of the autumn blue sky that provides a backdrop to the clouds in a usually overcast sky. We notice these things, notice their beauty, even perhaps notice their perfection, but fail to go that extra step and really connect with it: feeling the trees and their dance of interconnectedness, bursting into bloom yourself along with the geraniums in the pot on your windowsill, becoming the bird intent on seed-gathering to acquire energy to store for the cold winter ahead. We don’t usually feel what it is like to BE an aspect of nature, even though we are an aspect of it ourselves.

By denying a true connection to nature we deny an essential aspect of Self.

There is tremendous value in connecting with animals, trees, and other elements of what we consider to be nature. These elements, are part of our home, part of our world, and are as such connected to us, to humans, in a very intimate way. We share space. We share air. We share resources. Not only that, but we share in the creation of our world, the global creation of the reality we know as life. And because of that there is an undying connection between us as humans and ALL of the so-called ‘natural’ elements of nature.

Think back to a time when you were connected with nature. For most of us this happened easily and naturally when we were children. True connection to nature is a childlike state, a natural state, a state of innocence. Rediscovering your own true connection to nature now will help you reach that state again more easily, time and again, and provide for you a spiritual home to which you can return over and over, always having this base of existence and perception to belong to. And being more often in a state of childlike innocence leaves us so much more open to vulnerability and openness in every aspect of our lives, allowing us myriad opportunities for growth and understanding.

But how can we re-connect to nature if we think we have lost this in the mundane aspects of living life?

It is not enough, for some, to simply state an intention and then order the universe to ‘make it so.’ New pathways of perception need to be forged, new roads to awareness.

For me, what has helped remake these pathways has been two things: being open and being present.

I invite you, then, to find your own corner where you can feel nature. This can simply be a spot near a sunny window in which you can feel the rays directly upon you, but feel free to use your yard, a park, any open spot where you can sit awhile undisturbed. There need be nothing ‘magical’ or special about the place, for truly, nature will find you wherever you are.

Sit comfortably in your chosen spot, then, and imagine the time when the things around you didn’t exist. There were no buildings, no electrical lines, no lawns, not even the trees you see now were there. Once, in time, things looked very different from the way they look now. If you allow it, you can imagine this time, for you possess a connection to it. It is in your genetic memory, in every cell of your body. Imagine each cell, then, unlocking this distant memory. See in your mind’s eye the immense past, every possibility, every moment of time, hanging between you and time’s dawn. You have access to all of it. Now notice the thread that runs through these pages that flutter in front of you, the pages of the past. There is a single thread that weaves its way through ALL of time, through every moment, through every experience, and that is the thread of nature, of our connection to the Earth and to every element of the Earth, every tree, every plant, every stone, and every living being. Keep looking and you’ll notice that this thread is connected to you as well. Do you see it? Can you feel it now, tugging gently at you, a little insistent, reminding you of your immense past, of your deep connection with All That Is?

There it is, then. Your connection to nature is there whether or not you have felt it all along. It is undeniable, this connection we all possess to one another, to the Earth, to every living being on the Earth.

The lessons from connection to nature are many and varied and often depend on the individual, but regardless of perspective there is always growth opportunity through human connection with nature. After all, it is your home. It is your life. To deny nature is denying an aspect of Self, and to fully embrace nature, to accept it in all its splendor, ugliness, and beauty, is a huge step in actually accepting your Self.

I invite you to embrace your connection with nature, then, to embrace the fullness of your humanity, which will in turn bring fullness to every aspect of your life.

The nature of community (Podcast!)

Posted by matthew on October 21, 2007  |  494 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F10%2F21%2Fpodcast-1-community%2FThe+nature+of+community+%28Podcast%21%292007-10-22+06%3A52%3A19matthewhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.loving-awareness.org%2F2007%2F10%2F21%2Fpodcast-1-community%2F

Announcement: This site is now podcasting!

The podcasts will be a growing library of channeled and non-channeled material related to this site. If you’re not familiar with channeling, it is essentially how information was accessed for Conversations with God, the Seth material, and the material surrounding the Law of Attraction. It is quite natural, and most people channel without realizing it. Essentially, channeling means connecting to beings on other planes of existence – and usually beings with enormous awareness, compassion, and love. Every time we connect with these being we’re filled with such vision, and from there we try to bring it into our every day lives. Hopefully these podcasts give a more direct glimpse of what we’re involved with. So let’s get started. This time – on community!

Podcast #1: The nature of community

Click the play button :

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There’s so much more to offer from listening to the voices, but for reference, here is the transcript:

The nature of community and what we can do to help build it.

We would like to remind you this evening that at all times each one of you is concerned with building, creating, maintaining, and living in community. This is the largest part, we would say, of the human experience, for without others, there is no interaction, there is no growth, there is no experience, and there is no Love. Although, we hasten to add that Love of course exists whether or not you experience it through others (through your interaction with others), or simply alone though yourself and your own introspection and perceptions of the universe. So we repeat again that it is the creation, the building, and the maintaining of community that takes up the majority of the human experience.

If we were to define community, we would define it thusly: Community is the combined spirit of those involved. It is very simple. That is all it is. Since each of you possesses within you the vastness of the universe, each of you brings this to all the myriad communities of various sizes and composition that you take part in. Therefore each of you brings a completeness to all the communities in which you participate. However, it is the nature also of being human that you experience separateness and isolation. This often brings within you a great sense of sadness that can be pervasive and difficult to see through. There are, then, operating within each of you, two seemingly opposing forces. One of the creation, building and maintaining community, and the other of stark isolation and separation. We would say that it is this seeming constant struggle that occupies many of you for lifetimes. Especially as you gain experience and knowledge through the reincarnational cycle, you bring with you each time you incarnate additional memories of what existence is like when not in human form. It is during those times that you experience the sublime sense of connection with all that is, and this dim half memory accompanies many of you as you incarnate in human form. There is resistance, then, to living life on Earth (as you see it in your perception), resistance to allowing yourself to become immersed in the experience that you are having. While on the one hand this presents you with many unique and often interesting challenges, there is as we said an accompanying and pervasive sadness that also can plague you.

We would offer you, then, some tools if we may, to help you see through the mask of isolation that you have wrapped yourself in, and to help you feel a connection with all the communities that already exist within and around you, and as a part of you. In fact we offer the thought that even hearing these words, or reading them, may help transform your perception to a degree where you can allow yourself to acknowledge the community that already exists. There is no need to strive to build community and create something which already exists. You have community because you are human. That is your community, and allowing yourself the perception of being totally here, now, will allow you possibly to sense the completeness and the perfection of the community that you are already a part of.

Changing the subject slightly, we wish to point out that in common usage for most of you, the word ‘community’ is really more what we would term as a ‘group’, meaning a collection of people, possibly like-minded people, or people moving along a certain path to a certain degree together. However, when we say ‘community’ we like to bring it down to its basic element, to commune, meaning to be one with, and to remind you now and forevermore: Every time you hear this word ‘community’, you will be reminded on some level that you already posses a oneness with all that is, and there is nothing you can do to separate from that oneness. So if you should hear at some point, talk about ‘warring communities’, you can smile a little at yourself, thinking ‘that’s ridiculous’, because community means a oneness with all that is, and how can one single thing possibly be at war with itself? And again you will be reminded that because of your humanity, you are already one with everything else there is.

Question: The follow up question is more in terms of conscious recognition of this state. Group dynamics are more of a co-creative atmosphere. In other words, it is not simply the individual that promotes the recognition of the interconnectedness of all. So what are productive ways to go about promoting this as a group consciousness, seeing as that we are already connected and one with each other, but we can certainly learn something on living it?

If it is your desire to be a part of various groups that operate at what we loosely say as a ‘higher level’ of awareness than other groups that you may be involved with, we would suggest then that if possible, you engage in some energetic exercises together as a group. We are somewhat amused by the image of the members of say, large corporations all standing out in an empty parking lot doing jumping jacks. And while that is an exercise that could be performed that would help raise this group dynamic, this consciousness if you will, there are many ways of promoting exercises on a group level that would also have the same desired effect. In essence, any time you can get a group of people of doing essentially the same thing at the same time will have that effect, whether it is jumping jacks on an empty parking lot, rooting for the same team, ganging up on someone in an online discussion group, or joining a social networking group in order to send ‘energetic tendrils’ to one another. Any time a group of people is performing essentially the same action at the same time it will have this effect. The more of these actions that can be performed, the more changes are enacted upon the group, and the more intricate the dynamic becomes. We would say also to remind you that each group of people has its own consciousness to some degree that is separate from the individual consciousnesses that make up the group, and it is the nature of this consciousness to change, evolve, and transform, just as your own does. This ‘consciousness’, if you will (and it is not a perfect term by any means), can be altered under many conditions. It is most preferable, as we said before, to do this under a combined group effort, but a group consciousness can be altered by a single individual who is part of the group, simply from their own desire to enact changes upon the group’s consciousness. You have likely seen this in action.

Changes to a group’s consciousness can also occur as the result from reverberations from situations and occurrences that happen to other groups around the globe. There is, of course, a rippling effect throughout all of humanity, from any occurrence anywhere. Certain types of occurrences have a greater degree of effect on different types of groups. The permutations are too numerous to go into at this time.

All of this, of course, is part of the interplay under the general framework called Love.