THe Middle Path- Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield is one of the leading Buddhist teachers in the West. He has lived and taught with many Christian monks, nuns, Jewish mystics, Hindu saints, Sufi teachers and leaders in the transpersonal psychology . From this rich experience , he has now written a moving and fascinating work about how the modern spiritual journey unfolds, and the difficulties even the most dedicated people encounter – whatever their faith.

It is incredible the history that reveals itself in the abuses of such a peaceful teaching as the Buddha. Unfortunately, the teachings of people like Jesus, Buddha, Socrates have been turned into religious dogmas with rules and regulations telling people how they should and should not worship. He calls it spiritual materialism. The same elements of human nature exist in the spiritual as well as the material world, all ready to compete for dominance, control, power, and money. On the other hand there are many wonderful people living simple and rewarding lives. He says the sacred is found in the ordinary.

Idealism seems to be the biggest danger in religion, trying to reach an unreachable standard, and glorifying religious enlightenment and experience. The only perfection can be found in the imperfect. Ideals should inspire us to surpass ourselves. Ideals are tools for inspiration not realities within themselves. Buddha, saint, or sage pure human beings don’t exist. The following are a few examples in his book:

In awakening our whole sense of identity shifts. We let go of our small sense of self and enter the unbounded consciousness out of which we come. What becomes known with absolute certainty is that we are not and never have been separate from the world. It is as if our heart, our knowing, expands further and further until we contain everything, until we are the world.

When our identity expands to include everything, we find a peace with the dance of the world. The ocean of life rises and falls within us – birth and death, joy and pain, it is all ours and our heart is full and empty, large enough to embrace it all.
In the deeper meanings beneath the profound, the answers come only as we deepen our ability to live in the reality of the present, to open and close like the lotus, to enter the dark forest and dance in the market.

They do not point to an ideal state, but to the flexibility of the tao, the naturalness of the lotus. They teach a letting go of fear and self-consciouness of worldly and spiritual clinging, until we are free to be ourselves.

The goal of reflecting on past failures is to seek understanding that contributes to healing and redemption rather than blame.

This paragraph is my thoughts. It seems to me the hardest achievement is to find the middle path, as humans we are so prone to extremes or unbalanced thinking.

I think that for every idea we need the opposite to balance it. I am not my mistakes but at the same time because of my genetic link I am likely to repeat my mistakes. The good news is I can change and gain knowledge to practise healthy principles and evolution is then possible. We can find the freedom of our own spirit, and discover that our family history is not who we are. The truth is not found in what it confirms but what it denies.

The middle path embraces opposites. It rests between them, acknowledging both truths, caught by neither side. In this way we can see from one perspective that human life is suffering, with its inevitable string of losses culminating in sickness, aging and death. Yet from another perspective it is also grace – filled with gifts and blessings, expressing a divine beauty. Our very suffering can be seen as the grace that brings us to compassion, surrender and humility.

Before the illusion dissolves completely, moments of doubt and anxiety may occur

04/11/2012 by John Smallman

To awaken is your destiny and nothing can prevent you from achieving it. Some of you may be going through periods of doubt and anxiety, when it seems that you have no connection with the spiritual aspects of yourselves during these last few moments before your awakening. Do not be worried by this feeling of separation; it is just your becoming aware of the fact that in the illusion you do appear to be separate from one another and from God, and that is painful.

You chose to play the game of separation, and you have played it so well that you forgot that you are eternally and unbreakably connected to each other and to your Father. Now, as you approach the moment of your awakening from this intense illusory state, you are remembering the rules of the game and experiencing an intimation of what the pain that separation from God would feel like, if it could happen. It is indeed unsettling, but it will pass.

You are eternally one with God; no other state is possible. Nevertheless, before the illusion dissolves completely, as you allow the glory of the divine Light of God to enfold you, moments of doubt and anxiety may occur. They are unreal, imaginary, and they distract you from living in the now moment. When that happens you can and should effectively add strength to the awakening process by focusing on moments of joy and happiness that you remember in your lives, and when doubt or anxiety arise, remind yourselves of those moments, reconnect with the feelings that were then present, and make them real now. The energy you encourage by focusing on pain and suffering from the past draws you back into the illusion, because it is only there that it is possible to experience those feelings, and that is something you do not want to do.

You are never alone. I keep reminding you of this because as you struggle with the daily issues of life in the illusion, it is almost impossible for you not to keep forgetting this. When you feel down, depressed, anxious, take time out (just a few minutes will do – even a few seconds will help), relax your mind by focusing on your breath, your love for someone dear to you or some other peaceful state, and ask your guides, angels, or God Himself, to help you release the feelings which drag you back into the nightmare where it seems that Love does not exist in any meaningful way. And you will be helped.

Never forget that you were created in Love from Love, even though in your illusory state that does not appear to be the case. Without Love there would be no life, no existence, because Love is All there is; It is God expressing Himself through His Creation. Knowing this then, and deep within yourselves you do know this, let go of your doubts and fears by reminding yourselves that this is absolutely and irrevocably true.

What you are seeing and experiencing all around as pain, suffering, betrayal, insufficiency, and conflict is illusory. Your worldwide collective cultural belief systems have convinced you otherwise as part of the unhappy game that you have chosen to play, and now is the time for you to refuse to play it any longer. And now you have more help than has ever before been available to help you do this, so engage with your faith that this is indeed so and accept the loving assistance that is being offered to you constantly and enthusiastically in every moment.

You are going to awaken. You have been asleep and dreaming for long enough. It is God’s Will and yours, as it has been since the moment of your apparent separation from Him, that you do so, and His Will will not be denied or prevented. Turn to Him in your faith as you ask for help because He cannot refuse you. You are His children, eternally beloved, sinless and guiltless, and just having a horrible nightmare. His one desire is for you to awaken into the joy of His Presence and know yourselves once more as you truly are.

With so very much love, Saul.

Zen Coaching

The Background of Zen Coaching - - - Who Am I?

Faith Affirming

By Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Faith is the complete reliance on the power and goodness of Spirit and the firm belief that you are always connected to this goodness. Always affirm your faith and not your doubt. When you affirm that things might not work out, that your troubles continue to mount, that your problems are insoluble, that God has not been listening, or that you are powerless in the face of so many struggles, you are affirming doubt rather than faith. The ability to know faith and affirm it allows it to manifest in your life.

In John 14:27, Jesus said, “My peace I give to you.” This is an affirmation of faith. He certainly wasn’t suggesting that peace is very difficult to have and you must struggle for it. Jesus brought peace to everyone by affirming it. Likewise, in his healing work, he didn’t imply that we haven’t been having a great deal of success lately with leprosy, but if you listen to me you have a thirty percent chance of surviving over the next five years. Instead, he declared, “You are well,” affirming faith at the highest spiritual level, and healing took place.

You too must learn to affirm your faith in the face of doubt with thoughts that things will work out, things will improve. Think, write, and say affirmations like these:

I intend to create prosperity.

I’ll do what is necessary to eradicate this problem.

I know I am not alone.

I have faith that all is for good.

I give no energy to the negative because I know all is in divine order.

I will consult with God and know that I will be guided to do what is needed.

These are all affirmations of faith, which, when practiced, will permit you to say “no” to doubt and “yes” to life.

2 witnesses caught the same UFO in St Petersburg, Russia. April 9, 2012

Do You See The Obstacle Or The Goal?

By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.
April 09, 2012


Where does your mind generally go - to the obstacles or to the goal? You CAN change your mindset if it is stopping you from having what you want.

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. ~Henry Ford

What happens for you when you get a great idea about something you want to do—a new business, a creative project, a vacation and so on? If it really is a great idea for you, you likely feel a sense of excitement about it. I’ve learned that my feelings of excitement let me know that this idea is a good one for me—that it is on the right track regarding what is in my highest good.

What often happens next?

One of two experiences might occur:

• Thoughts and images pop into your mind of all the obstacles—of how hard it will be to accomplish what you want to do.

• Thoughts and images pop into your mind of how to achieve what you want—regardless of any challenges that might come up.

Which one most often happens for you?

Focus on Obstacles

Does the part of you — your wounded self, who is afraid of mistakes and failure - take over? What does this sound like?

• I don’t have what it takes to make this happen.
• I don’t want to make a fool of myself.
• I don’t have the money to make this happen.
• It’s too much work. I feel tired already.
• It’s too hard.
• I will never find the time for this.
• It will never work—it’s a bad idea.
• What if I fail—then what?
• Who am I to think I could do this?
• Other_____________________________.

How do you feel when you tell yourself these things? What happens to the excitement? Do you end up feeling down and discouraged? I’ve learned that feeling down and discouraged is my inner guidance letting me know that my thinking is off course. I’ve learned not to pay attention to negative thoughts—to say to my fearful wounded self, “I’m not listening to you. You don’t know what you are talking about.”

Focus on the Goal

As I said, when I’m excited about an idea, I know that this is my inner guidance letting me know it is a good direction for me. I trust my excitement, and I also trust that my inner guidance lets me know I’ve gotten away from what is in my highest good, when I focus on obstacles and feel down or discouraged.

Focusing on the goal, and the excitement about the goal, is what opens me to the ideas of how to get there. In my experience, it is this excitement and openness that help me find the way to do it. Some call this “The Law of Attraction”—that like energy attracts like energy. I have found it to be invariably true that focusing on my excitement about an idea brings me what I need to carry my idea into fruition.

My inner thought process, instead of focusing on possible obstacles, goes something like this:

“I REALLY want to do this! What do I need to do to make this happen? How can I learn what I need to learn to achieve my goal? Who can be of help to me?”

Once I see a direction, then I often pray for the people and situations to come into my life to support me in my goal. I have complete trust that this will happen—and it always has. However, it’s rarely instant. I have to stay focused on the goal rather than on the obstacles, and maintain my level of excitement about the idea, no matter how long it takes.

Henry Ford faced many obstacles before he invented the Ford. He went bankrupt before he was finally successful. We all know what would have happened if he had allowed the obstacles to stop him.

Daily Inspiration

Grace is a gift of Spirit that comes when we stay open to learning about loving ourselves and others. Grace is the feeling of extraordinary well-being that enters the heart when the heart is truly open. Grace is what we experience when love rather than fear is motivating our thoughts and behavior. By Dr. Margaret Paul

http://www.innerbonding.com/show-article/3105/do-you-see-the-obstacle-or-the-goal.html

" Cosmic Love " by Kitaro