«Want is a growing giant whom the coat of have was never large enough to cover...»
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recently, I have been thinking and talking a lot about gratitude.

It seems that so many of us want more than what we have. It's not that we aren't happy with what we already have in our lives, we just want more. We want a better relationship, we want more money, we want a bigger house, we want, we want, we want.

But what about being thankful for what we already have?

A few months ago, I received a Gratitude Journal as a gift from The Secret. The journal is encased in a beautiful heavy leather, tri-fold binder. I really liked it because it had a private, secret feel to it. Like what I wrote would be just between me and God. The journal itself is divided into two sections; 'Gratitude Now' and «Gratitude Intentions'. Each page of the journal has quotes that relate to gratitude.

Receiving the Gratitude Journal seemed like God offering me the «next step» on my journey. But I found it really hard to get started. It wasn't that I wasn't thankful...it was just finding a way to state the gratitude. And the idea of being thankful in advance for things that I wanted but didn't have was almost not conceivable to me. So the journal sat on my shelf.

About a month ago, the journal called to me. So I took it off the shelf and opened it up, staring at the blank pages. It was hard, so I just started with the obvious. 'Thank you, God, for giving me loving and interesting children. Thank you for the beautiful children that I work with and the joy they give me each day.' Then, I thanked God for putting people in my life that made me want to be a better person. And that was it. I couldn't make it past that.

I read and meditated on what I had written every day. I said the words of gratitude in the quietness of my mind and aloud. I remembered that, if God were indeed everything, then I was also a part of God, however miniscule. I reminded myself that my thoughts could become things.

And just about a week later, things started to happen. My life began to change. I began to find people in my life who were suddenly making me really look closely at myself; to question the strength of my own beliefs; to evaluate my purpose/ to find my true relationship with God, the Universal Mind.

I found that the gratitude started flowing so much more easily. When I was sad or frustrated, I found things to be thankful for instead. It wasn't easy, but I saw it manifesting huge changes in my life. Just a little gratitude for what I already had.

I have this friend who is fabulous in many ways. He's young, he has a great job, he's handsome, and he owns his own home. He has what I believe to be a good relationship with God and seems to try to be very faithful. Looking in from the outside, he seems to have a pretty perfect life. But what he doesn't have that he really wants more than anything is a wife and a family. In the relatively short time I've known him, it's been an ongoing conversation. He is so concerned with what he doesn't have, what he wants, and the reasons that he doesn't have it, that he overlooks how wonderful his life already is, even without that.

Last week, I told him a story from a parent's point of view. As a mom, I give my children everything that they need and a lot of things that they want. They don't usually have to ask me for things...I sort of just supply them. On occasion, though, they want something else. When they are so focused on that one thing that they forget what a great life they actually already have, I don't give them what they want. After all, they don't even recognize how blessed they already are! On the other hand, if I know that there is something that they want, but they not just focused on getting it, but instead are enjoying all they have in their lives, then I give it to them, if I can. I think that God, as a parent, must be much the same way. He just wants us to appreciate all that he's already given us without always wanting something else.

I, for one, am extremely blessed. I have great friends who are always there for me; an awesome family; my children are bright, intelligent and interesting. I have a home, I have a car, and I have food on my table. I have talents. I am blessed. Yet still, I too find myself wanting more. But what could I possibly need that God hasn't already given me?

Want is indeed a growing giant. When we get what we want, we just want more. So many times, we forget to stop and just be thankful for what we already have. Gratitude is such an amazingly powerful gift. Use your gratitude as often as you can and you'll soon find that you are given more than you could even ask for.

Peace.

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The Goddess Mari is a belly dance instructor, performer and choreographer from the Chicago area. She has been working online for almost 8 years and manages multiple websites. She owns and operates ArticleFocusBlog.com, which is a pay-to-post, high quality article blog.. In this series, she chronicles her own search for a greater existence.
Visit her at GoddessMari.com

Categories: Spirituality.
Tags: goddess mari, gratitude, the secret.

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Your strengths. Your weaknesses. Your life. Create a personalized plan for happiness today!

Some things we take for granted. Like getting dressed. Unless we are paraplegic, an absolute klutz or have just smoked far too much cabbage, getting dressed is a cinch.

Sure, if you happen to be the winner of the 2004 Imelda Marcos Shoe Collection Trophy, you might have trouble choosing just the right shoe for the occasion. But actually slipping your foot into your selection should be a cinch.

The only time getting dressed should pose a problem is on April Fools Day. Underwear is pretty hard to put on when it is drenched in water. Harder still when it comes straight out of the freezer. And even harder when wrapped around last year's frozen Christmas cake. But that still leaves 364 days of easy dressing.

Some things we just take for granted...until you become a parent.

«No!» Little Lady screams in mock rage.

Just come back here so I can pull up your socks and slip on your dress.

«No!» the toddle repeats in defiance.

Did you know that there are some things you can do at 30 miles per hour? Putting a toddler dress on an agile speed-demon is not one of those things. Around the chair. Over the back of the couch. Under the table. Into the bathroom. SLAM!

Ouch. Make that: into the bathroom door.

«No!»

Please, Little Lady, let me put on your dress.

«I'm not Little Lady. I'm Baby Swan.»

OK, Baby Swan. Let me put on your dress.

«You're Papa Baby Swan.»

OK. You're Baby Swan. I'm Papa Baby Swan. Just let me put on your dress.

«Now I'm Tutter.»

Tutter is a mouse puppet in a children's show she watches. OK, Tutter, let's put on the Tutter dress.»

«No. You be Tutter.»

OK, I'll be Tutter. I'll be whomever you want be to be. Yesterday I was Big Spider. The day before I was Spider Web. I remember being a crocodile, a monkey and a detective. I have no idea who I am anyway, so I might as well be Tutter.

«Are you Tutter?»

We hear a lot about the «terrible twos», but we don't hear much about the identity crisis years. Speaking with mothers down at the play center, it seems many kids go through this phase.

«I saa-aid, are you Tutter?»

How did your mother dress her toddler?

You probably did, too. Ask your mother if you ever went through a phase when you were always pretending to be someone else...so much so that you were almost convinced it was real.

It's bad news if your mother's eyes gloss over nostalgically and she answers, «Yes dear, I remember when you were quite convinced you were an African dung beetle.»

It's worse news if she adds, «I think the pre-teen years were the hardest. We had no idea how to explain the birds and the bees to a beetle.»

But the worst news is if your mother sighs and says, «I remember well. Your father and I are still hoping it's just a phase you're going through.»

The best of us go through identity crises now and then. I am The Happy Guy. I am also a writer. And a search engine optimizer. And a husband. And a homeowner. And a father.

But not this morning. This morning I was a very tired and frustrated Tutter mouse puppet...with a toddler dress in one hand, a stubbed toe in another, and generously distributed bruises to prove my credentials.

«No!»

Aw, c'mon, Baby Swan. This is your Tutter speaking. Please come out from under the staircase.

«No. You be Baby Swan.»

I suppose that at her age, she can probably get away with going topless. But sooner or later she'll get hungry. And when she comes out to feed, I'll get that toddler dress on Baby Swan. Or Tutter. Or whomever that toddler is today!

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David Leonhardt publishes The Happy Guy humor column. Get a free humor ebook with your purchase of Climb Your Stairway to Heaven. Check out also the free A Daily Dose of Happiness ezine David Leonhardt also runs a Liquid Vitamins website.

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A quick word of caution before we begin. This article is for serious students of spiritual truth only. The traditional orthodox Christian reading this, or the atheists out there, or those with strong unrelenting opinions and perceptions, or those with strong likes and dislikes, or those who automatically think society is based on truth, or those who think their current thought processes are already the highest level of truth, may not be ready for this article.

If you're not ready, or not interested, that 's solely your choice, and there 's nothing wrong with that. Just a friendly warning.

Nobody can be faulted if their level of consciousness hasn't yet evolved to the point where they see Enlightenment as being important, attractive, and meaningful. But eventually, Enlightenment is the goal that replaces all other goals.

As you read this article you'll notice that certain words are capitalized when «normally» they wouldn't be. The reason they are capitalized is because of the context in which those words are used. We capitalize the words «God», «Divinity», «Buddha», «Silence», «Awareness», «Reality», «Truth», «Love», and so on, because of what they represent. If however, your mind has a hangup about which word is used in describing that which is unseen, formless, and beyond words, this article is perhaps not for you at this time.

Ignorance is everywhere, and it 's nothing new. The average person doesn't have a clue as to what Enlightenment is, many spiritual seekers have misguided ideas about what it is, and many spiritual teachers also don't have the correct understanding of what it is.

But because «I» personally have stood on the brink of Enlightenment (but feared to follow through) «I» have a much greater understanding of what it is, and how to get there, than most others. So no, I'm not Enlightened, and even if I was, I couldn't say that I was because there would no longer be an individual ego/mind, and if there is no ego/mind, there is no individual «I» to claim anything.

If this is completely beyond your current level of understanding, keep reading and it should become clear what is meant.

First, we need to understand exactly what Enlightenment is. So to clear matters up, we're just going to spell it out in a very simple, clear, and lucid manner.

Enlightenment is.. the permanent dissolvement/cessation of all thoughts, thinking, concepts, and emotions of the ego/mind. The key words there are «permanent» and «all». Enlightenment is the ceasing of all concepts, all notions, all ideas, all symbols, all words, all intellectualizing, all emotions, all thoughts, and all thinking.

In order to let all of them go, one must be fully aware of them, and one must be watching them silently rather than being identified with them. When you watch them non-judgmentally and without words or emotions, they dissipate into nothingness. When you watch them, you are Awareness, not the mind, and when you are wholly and completely Awareness, the very energy behind thinking is let go of.

Second, we need to understand exactly what Enlightenment is not. Enlightenment is not the development of psychic abilities, is not astral traveling, is not channeling entities, is not a temporary trance state, is not an artificially induced altered state of consciousness, it has nothing to do with «new age» anything, it doesn't involve the past or the future, it doesn't belong to any one specific religion, it doesn't involve conspiracy theories, it has nothing to do with UFO's or aliens, it doesn't involve so-called «ascended masters», it doesn't involve playing with the law of attraction (karma), it doesn't involve visualization, it has nothing to do with vibrations or energy, it has nothing to do with science, it doesn't involve sex (tantra), it has nothing to do with crystals, colors, or vortexes, and it certainly doesn't involve codes, mysteries, or «secrets» of any kind.

The surreal is not real. There 's a reason that Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Plotinus, Lao Tzu, Muhammad, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargardatta Maharaj, Meister Eckhart, and many Zen Masters never taught any of these things. Some of these things are outright false and harmful, others are just simply irrelevant to personal growth, and some of these are quite beneficial to the average person, but when it comes down to Enlightenment, every last bit of everything needs to be unlearned and let go of.

Reality (Awareness) with a capital «R» has no shape or form whatsoever, and is beyond all intellectual concepts. The real Truth is eternal and changeless. It has always been relevant, and it always will be.

Real spirituality involves bettering oneself by ways of selflessness/love and higher levels of awareness/truth that help us let go of concepts and thoughts because it 's concepts and thoughts that obstruct peace (of mind). Spirituality is not the introduction of even more concepts, unless those concepts help us let go of concepts. Peace of mind is silence of mind. Which means that thoughts, thinking, perceptions, views, attitudes, emotions, concepts, opinions, beliefs, and attachments are the true underlying source of all suffering in our lives.

Many people say «I wouldn't want to live life without my emotions or thinking» (and that 's okay if it 's okay with them), but they don't realize that's the ego/mind talking, and if one were even for a brief moment to personally experience exquisite, ineffable, and profound Peace/Silence, one would certainly no longer hold that point of view.

Awareness is the only Reality. Essentially, you are not the mind and body of change (relative truth). You are the still, silent, unchanging Absolute; the Awareness that is aware of the mind and its comings and goings, when a deliberate point of being aware of it is made.

Watch the mind. That Awareness is changeless, timeless, shapeless, formless, and infinitely eternal. It has no beginning or end. It always has been, and it always will be.

If you're able to watch the mind, then you are not the mind. How many minds do you have? Are you the mind, or are you the observer watching the mind? Only one of them is real.

Just like the heart or lungs, the thinkingness of the ego/mind/brain is going and going all by itself. It has nothing to do with a «you» doing it. In other words, you are not the thinker of thoughts. Take 5 minutes to watch the mind and see for yourself. You can't control it because it 's on complete autopilot. You can't stop it by controlling it, but you can stop it by watching it and losing interest in it.

So, you are not the body and its senses, and you are not the mind and its thoughts. You are the infinitely silent Awareness that is aware of them.

One is not subject to the countless faulty workings of the ego/mind when one stops identifying the automatic random repetitive thoughts of the mind as being «me». The very nature of the ego/mind can be summed up in one word... drama. And what is drama? It 's the absence of peace (of mind).

«Every phenomena that exists is a creation of thought; therefore I need but empty my mind to discover that all of them are void.» - Huang Po, Zen Master

Just how does Enlightenment happen? To begin with, you (the mind) doesn't ever make it happen. It happens by ITSELF when all concepts of the mind are let go of, when the very energy behind thinking is let go of, when the physical chemical reaction of all emotionalism is let go of, when all wantingness and neediness is let go of, and when not even Enlightenment is sought after.

1. This can be done by the completely unconditional and radical forgiveness and acceptance of absolutely everything, as it is right now in this very moment, always. This is the path of non-judgmentalism acceptance, forgiveness, love, compassion, and selflessness.

If there 's full blown acceptance of absolutely everything as it is, then there 's nothing to judge, nothing to describe, nothing to define, nothing to talk about, nothing to express an opinion about, no thing to make into something, nothing to express a belief about, nothing to search for, nothing to manipulate, nothing to change, nothing to force, and there 's nothing to think about at all.

Everything just is, nothing more, and one sees the absolute perfection and beauty in everything because everything and everyone is currently operating at its own level of awareness and/or evolution. Everyone and everything is what it is right now because that 's exactly what it needs to learn, or unlearn. People really don't know otherwise, or they don't want to know otherwise. If they really knew otherwise, they would already be otherwise.

2. Enlightenment can also happen by way of wisdom/truth/mindfulness/awareness, which involves non-effort, loss of interest in all thinking and thoughts, and letting go constantly and continuously. Watching the mind does not mean forceful concentration because concentrating is something that the ego/mind does. Nothing can be forced to happen, as force is the nature of the ego/mind. As soon as you watch thoughts, they disappear. If you try to fight thoughts, you give them more strength because focus and energy is being put into fighting and conflict, which is again, a thing of the mind.

You must be fully aware that nobody becomes Enlightened, and that there is no conflict. You are already that Awareness, you always have been, and you always will be, even when you're falsely identified with thoughts and thinking. Just like the sun is always there even when clouds are covering it.

If you are already formless unmanifested all-encompassing all-knowing Awareness beyond words and concepts, then there is absolutely nothing to get, grasp, gain, or obtain. You are already utterly whole, complete, and perfect, and there is nothing to search for, not even Enlightenment. You are already That. There is only Self-Awareness, the awareness of oneself as Infinitely Everything beyond physicality.

But don't try to imagine this with the mind because it can't be done. Just get out of the way and lose «yourself». Get out of the way. Let go. Give up. Surrender.

In fact, this whole writing is the consequence of selflessness, silence, surrendering, allowing, waiting, listening, «receiving», intuition, epiphanies, being, and knowing. It has nothing to do with the intellect/ego/mind, and if on occasion it does, then something has gone wrong.

When the moment arrives, the end is not an end. At the moment of Enlightenment the individual «you» (ego/mind) disappears completely and literally dies. The me, myself, and I ceases to be. At that final moment there is a feeling of «I'm going to die», and this doesn't mean bodily death. It means the very essence of what you individually think you are (thoughts and thinking).

The ego/mind fears it 's own death, but all fear is an illusion because fear is an emotion, and all emotions (physical chemical reactions) are the result of being identified with the ego/mind and brain/body (physicality).

When the mind goes silent it 's replaced by void, by nothingness, but that «nothingness» is only «nothing» because it 's formless, non-physical, and unmanifested. In actuality, that «nothingness» is an all-encompassing Infinitely Everything, which is a profound ineffable Peace/Love/Wholeness/Completion way beyond description, which just simply Is. It 's No-Thing, yet Infinitely Everything, yet beyond both because both are mere concepts (thought forms). All words and concepts are meaningless because they are born from the ego/mind.

«The ultimate Truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They're not the Way. The Way is wordless. Words are Illusions.» - Bodhidharma, founder of Zen

So you see, it 's all really quite simple once it 's spelled out. But if you still don't get it (and you want to), «my» website is dedicated solely to the topic of Enlightenment, and it goes into far greater detail. This was just a brief summarization. The Truths of Life website, as a whole, is much more complete.

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About the Author:

Jarett Sabirsh is a very serious student of truth in all of its relative forms. While being dedicated to helping others, he uses his gift of being able to simplify complicated subject matter to get right to the root of problems. He is the author of The Truths of Life.

Categories: Spirituality.
Tags: awareness, buddhism, consciousness, divinity, enlightenment, god, love, Spirituality, truth, zen.

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Somewhere Near the Beginning

About a year ago, I realized that I had lost myself somewhere along the course of my life. This was a very disturbing realization, as I had always looked at myself as a rather «together» sort of person. But I woke up one morning and realized that my trouble marriage wasn't really getting any better in spite of therapy, I was in more than one codependent relationship, I had no spiritual focus, friends who I thought were my best friends really weren't my friends at all, and I didn't even know what I wanted from life any more. Not a good place.

This realization made me see that I had been focusing on fixing the wrong things. I was trying to fix my relationship with my husband; I was trying to fix the problems in my friendships; I was trying to fix my life. But I wasn't trying to fix myself. It was time for me to take the focus off the things that had gone bad in my life and start working on the things that had gone bad in me.

«Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.» Luke 6:42

Having been raised in a very strong Christian family, I had always felt strongly about spirituality. I have never been a strong supporter of religion, though, even as a child. I found myself questioning throughout my life. I attended different denominations, finding comfort in what my family called a «non-church» Unitarian Church. I've always wanted to talk about God, but not have someone else tell me how to believe. With no Unitarian Church around me and nowhere else I felt comfortable and welcomed in the truest sense, I sort of let my own spiritual upkeep go.

Flash forward to a confused and lost goddess who no longer remembers that she is a part of God. She wants to find her way again.

My search began at the local bookstore. At one point in my life, I had found meditation to be a really powerful force for me. So I started in the music section looking for guided meditations that I thought might be good for me. I found «The Secret Universal Mind Meditation». (Please visit http://www.GoddessMari.com/recommends.html for more information on recommended items.) This has been a life-changing meditation for me. I referred to the meditation as «positive brain washing». Yes, brain washing can be a bad thing, but it doesn't have to be. I wash my body every day. Why not take a little time to wash all the crud out of my mind too?

I watched «The Secret». And then, as the continual student that I am, I started reading books and listening to CDs, hearing lectures, and going to discussions. I started reading the bible and devotionals. I started seeking out friends who were willing to spend time discussing their ideas and ideals with me without passing judgment. I even ended a few friendships that had taken a bad course and were counter productive to my personal growth. That was the hardest thing for me to do.

The thing is that I began to really see the power of manifestation, of the Law of Attraction, of prayer. I had some very negative friendships that were making me feel bad on any number of levels. There was a friend who was so verbally abusive to her children that I felt nauseous after seeing her. There was a friend who was so verbally abusive to me when upset that I began doubting my own value and self-worth. I realized that as long as I allowed myself to be used, disrespected, or just continued to hang around people that didn't have the same values as I did, I would not be able to put my life and my own mind in order. Back to the «first take the log out of your own eye» thing...how could I help anyone become a better person, find fulfillment in their life, or discover their own self-worth if it was all a struggle for me?

This is where this series begins. With an eternal being, a part of God, a person created from energy and pure thought...who had forgotten who she was and who thought she was only a limited human. Me. This series is my journey -- however crooked, curved, bumpy or beautiful and divine the path might be. Take this journey with me. You don't have to agree with what I say or think. Just remember, you are also an eternal being, a part of God, a person created from energy and pure thought. And remember to work on yourself before you try to work on others. That includes me.

Peace.

=========================

The Goddess Mari is a belly dance instructor, performer and choreographer from the Chicago area. She has been working online for almost 8 years and manages multiple websites. She owns and operates ArticleFocusBlog.com, which is a pay-to-post, high quality article blog.. In this series, she chronicles her own search for a greater existence.

Visit her at ArticleFocusBlog.com or at GoddessMari.com

Categories: Self Improvement.
Tags: law of attraction, personal growth, positive manifestation, Spirituality.

Permanent link: Somewhere Near the Beginning (Write a comment).
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