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<Susanrose> while we are waiting...
I am in Pittsburgh, Pa - It's 9pm Sunday, March 29, 1998.
^alex^ is in North Pole, AK 5:00pm
helia is in Pottsville, PA.. 9:00 pm
<aurael> from PA...near Philadelphia
Sunshine- is also in Pittsburgh, PA
stars is in Vancouver, Washington...
Jackie is in Colorado
Rob is from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
<Susanrose>
Is anyone here for the first time?
<veda> yep
<CBon> more or less Susan..
Aurorah is here for the first time.
<SurferJR> 1st time in one of these discussions...:)
<Susanrose>WELCOME!
WE NEED to relax now
Breathe together
Breathe together, and create a group mind
Breathing deep now. Breathe in peace
Breathe out concerns
Breathe in light Breathe out fear
A Coming Together.
A Group mind
All Seeking the unity of Spiritual Growth.
As we prepare to listen to others.
Breathe in.......Deep Feeling our connection to the air,
the wind the water, the oceans the fire and molten lava the earth,
the soil and the pulse and hummmm of all life
in the web of GAIA,
our mother, our earth.
Topic: Handling our Fears and Worries,
Getting Control of Our Minds.
Are you a "thinking addict"?
Are you experiencing life?...
or are you playing movies in your mind
about being alive?
Realize the race of endless
thought after thought is not the real YOU.
The spirit that is eternal, blessed, whole, and worthy.
Life is evolving as it should and you are, too.
Other people in our lives are not a problem,
our job, boss, car, situations are not a problem.
What seems like a problem is not that, it is our
relationship with that.
The friendly attitude of
noticing where our attention is going,
and then saying "OK, it went there.".
Don't fight it.
Just set it down
like you would a suitcase when you are through
with carrying it. Then return yourself to your Center,
to your breathing. Your breath is music the universe is singing
in your body. Moment to moment to moment.
When in a difficult situation, remember what
an emergency room physician said in his instruction
of emergency room staff:
Many people who work in emergency care
get all nerved up, pulse racing palms sweating, thinking
Oh God, I have to move fast! and do it right or else......
Just remember
The emergency is the Patient's emergency,
NOT yours.
They need your calm deliberate mind and
intellect. Take the seconds you need to take
a deep breath step back and get the big picture.
We need to step back from our fears and worries too.
Sometimes thoughts can get right in our face
and shout at us, over and over. You would not
tolerated that from a friend, co worker, or ANYONE.
Why do we tolerate that from our thoughts?
Say to that warning thought,
"Well, OK, maybe you have some use,
but for God's sake BACK OFF!"
So don't let thoughts, worries, and fears get right
in our face, and keep us frozen, like we are unable to move.
YOU CAN STEP BACK.
Then when some distance and objectivity,
see if it has any value.
Are you dancing to the tune of an over used thought?
It is possible to talk back and say, well
there you are again. Didn't I just hear from you yesterday?
Well you are repeating yourself, and are no longer useful.
Are you having a relationship of enmeshment
with your thoughts? Or self judgment?...
"There I go again, thinking about THAT again!"
Don't berate yourself over your thoughts, see where
your thoughts went and just let it go.
Come back to your center.
Breathe...
in---- out..... balance.... in one.
Let the relationship of you with your thought
be what YOU want it to be.
Not as a victim, but an OBSERVER of where your
attention is going.
States such as stress out, tired of living,
burned out, fed up, is when your relationship
to a repetitive thought has led you to
over load.
This endless noisy parade of thinking
saps us of our energy and wastes our time.
Not only will be feel better if we focus on the moment,
but we can indirectly improve the human condition.
Here is a quote from a web page
(http://www.maui.net/~kwright/Michael/Michael_Messages.html)
that was attributed to Archangel Michael:
"Now, it is time to relinquish the needless activities in
your life that are keeping you from coming into harmony with
Spirit....You have an allotted time on Earth
(determined by your Higher Self), and a specific mission to
accomplish.
We are partners in this great adventure, and we
are all forging ahead into uncharted territory. We are at a
co-creative expansion level never before attempted or
attained, my brave ones, and you are right in the middle of it.
It can be an exciting, exhilarating time of great joy and
wondrous accomplishment if you will just
"stay tuned" to your inner guidance
AND FOCOUSED ON THE MOMENT."
<Dreamie> amen to staying focused on the moment :)
<Lotus> success can depend on whether or not
one believe thoughts are actually real too
<Susanrose> Yes, Lotus. Thoughts are things.
Thoughts are real. When an EEG shows the brainwaves,
and it is energy. So no wonder those overworked thoughts drain us!
Scientists tell us that energy never dies. I believe thoughts
can enter our aura, making it brighter and more beautiful,
or dark and polluted, depending on our frame of mind.
This same energy can haunt the places we leave...
Like the "presence" felt in a home, church, or school.
It is said that the pointed top of a church spire is a
representation in the physical of the thoughts and prayers
forming a "cone of power", as it is directed towards the heavens.
So since thoughts are real, BE MINDFUL of your thoughts!
Some of us need to put our thoughts on a diet.
Just like we don't want to load up on junk food,
we want to ditch our junk thoughts too.
<CBon> where does PLANNING enter?
Is not planning comparable to putting on a ball glove
to "better catch the ball" that is coming from the future?
<Susanrose> Planning is covered in this soon...
It is the ego saying we are going to look stupid if
we do not plan... now it is good to plan,
even visualize your victory or success....
but dwelling on your whether your plans will go well
is something else. It is allowing the fear thoughts to take over,
saying that your plans probably won't have a chance,
so you have to plan even BETTER.
<CBon> thanks for your good insights
<Barringtn> I feel all of what you're saying Susanrose is valid
Fear and victimhood I find are always present
in any of my times of feeling limited.
Planning from these feelings makes circles in frustration.
<Susanrose> I used to be afraid of forgetting
to do something, so I bought a planner
like Ganesha and Gina have (smile)
If it is written down in one place and referred to
every day, then it saves on the thinking time about
the future.
<Susanrose> Thank you for Comments
We are the center, the person that
is there in the now, sitting there and Breathing....
is in a state a peace, awake and aware of the
tenderness of life.
<tjmac> breathing seems to be the essence of so many paths
<Susanrose> Yes,
The practice of stilling the racing thoughts
and being in "the now" of each breath sings to us.
This is MY life, MY breath...
Life is breathing right here in this body,
deepening in the delight of just being alive.
It's really not fair to that life or ourselves to traipsing off
and thinking like we do. It 's not that thinking is bad.
I am not here to criticize thinking.
If you are like most people though, you are involved
in thinking or feeling about the past....
or thinking and feeling about the future.
We are full of plans about the future. Sometimes they
are helpful, sometimes not. We are afraid
we will be caught unprepared if we are not planning.
Like John Lennon said, ...There we are
with our life happening in this moment, while we are
busy making other plans.
What is not getting much attention at all is the right here
and right now. My heavens, that is the only time we are
really alive!
We might be missing something, It might be why when
we get up in years we say:
"Where has my life gone, What was that all about?"
Well, we have to be present to it, to know what it was all about.
Think of an hourglass. All the thoughts of the future are
the grains of sand at the top. All the thoughts of things
past are at the bottom. The neck of the hourglass is
the precious moment of NOW.
That is where the only
true activity is. It is the only place the forward movement
can be observed or felt. One grain of sand at a time.
One now, another now, another now,
just one at a time.
This is where the REALITY of our life occurs, not our
thoughts about our life. The grains of sand above and
below are pretty useless unless it is their turn to
make their move.
<Jackie> good analogy, Susan!!
<Susanrose> Also interesting to me is that red blood cells
seem to line up single file when the
arterial blood changes to venous in the capillaries.
<Jackie>
I have one thought that keeps coming up...
"I don't want to go to work tonight!!!"
and I keep ignoring it...because I have to go to work anyway
<Lotus> haha
<Susanrose> so... Jax: be in the moment and sing
Hi ho hi ho it's off to work I go ..hahaha
<Jackie> it's I owe.. I owe... so off to work I go.....
<Susanrose> Similarly, in the book "The Aquarian Gospel
of Jesus the Christ", Jesus teaches a group the lower caste people
of India how to be joyful while working. So instead of overthrowing
the caste system, he helped them find bliss in the now.
Incidentally, the people in power were not at all happy that
their workers seemed to be enjoying themselves so much!
I will go on with my planned script:
In the third "Indiana Jones" movie,
Harrison Ford has a book that gives him directions.
He is standing on the edge of a cliff. It says when you come
to the abyss, step forward.
The book has told him what to do so far, and has been correct,
but his eyes tell him.."I'll die if I step". He steps out in an act of faith.
He discovers that there is something there, he takes another step
and there is something there. There was bridge
that human eyes could not detect. He crosses to the other
side, throws gravel back and then sees that the bridge was
there the whole time.
What this modern "myth" is telling us is that:
He had to take the step to find out there was support for him.
Life won't do us the disservice of saying:
"OK. I'll promise you'll be safe, go ahead! Here is your written
guarantee".
Life won't do that...because. we are life itself, and life is an adventure.
Life is always gifting us, also with opportunities to laugh at ourselves.
Being mindful is coming to the raw experience of that,
and trusting the process.
There is something inside of you that doesn't want you doing this.
It has a real agenda. The ego personality wants control over you
rather than the REAL YOU... a spiritual being living in bliss,
on this earth. It's main weapon to take the offense
on your experience of peace is FEAR.
<Jackie> I remember that scene in that movie
and every time I come to an abyss (problem) I think of it.
<CBon> I love that... you cannot separate a belief from the action
that a believe comes from
I like that Indiana trusted "the word" hehe
<helia> trusting the process=faith
<Sunshine-> well said helia
<Barringtn> Susan, I've been seeing the difference in
living in peace is summarized by the clarity
of our intent, fear is expressed through our desire for this or that...
<runner> Believe in yourself,,even when no one else does...
believe and it will come to pass, but your belief must be strong
<CBon> and you have to have a good authority... "sometimes"
hehe
<Susanrose> Virtue is my shield, and Understanding my sword of light.
I will now resume:.
A common flavor common to everything
other than being in the present moment is fearfulness.
(That sounds wrong I know, but just hear the explanation.)
<^gina^> :)
<Susanrose>
Fear needs the future or the past as its play ground
Fear is thought. Fear is NOT what is happening right now.
In this very moment fear does not exist.
If you watch carefully, notice all the
things that try to take you away from "right now".
These thoughts say:
What if I don't get what I want,
or too much of what I don't want?
In your needs for planning to protect your FUTURE...
there is an element of fear.
So fear says:
"If you don't plan, something bad will happen,
and you won't be equipped to handle it.
So I will save you."
It is fear trying to make itself into your savior.
If you step out of the path of a large bus,
fear will say "You dummy, you almost got yourself
killed. I made you just out of the way, and
you should be sooooo grateful!
See how fear
takes credit for what intelligence did?
Count on your intellect to preserve your body,
not your panic or fear reactions.
If we buy into fear's sales job of it's importance to us,
then what we end up in a feeling of anxiety.
The commentary on the PAST goes like this:
"If you hadn't done it like that...
If only you hadn't humiliated yourself."
OR...
"You did such a great job. Good!"
Stay with that thought and see if it doesn't
turn on you soon. For example:
"So you BETTER do more of that in the future.
You set a precedent for that much work.
Don't get lazy now, or you will be embarrassed."
It can't even let you enjoy the moment.
Fear has to have the past or the future
to play in, because right now, in this very
breath moment fear does not exist.
Life happens right now.
Fear keeps pushing
us into the future.
We get entangled in the thoughts about it,
then "it" is in charge. Same with the past.
If we can train ourselves to be more
present moment oriented, we will have less
moments of fear. Life is not afraid of life.
Our ideas will tell us that life is going to kill us.
Well here we are, one day we will die, but here we are.
<runner> All feelings are an inherent part of what we are born with...
Is fear just one of the imaginary demons that we begin to build
during childhood ..perhaps
<Susanrose> to respond to Runner:
I think Fear is fueled by our small ego that is afraid of being
absorbed and loosing it's identity.... it does not realize that the free will
will remain to redifferentiate when it is wanted
<runner> Thank You Susan..a clear explanation :)
<David`3`> to runner - fear does not and can not exist
in each unique moment - there must be a memory (past)
or an anticipation (future) for fear to exist.
This is learned - it is not inherent in us.
<runner> Thank You David 3 :)
<Barringtn> Living in Gentleness with my"self" means listening
to that breath, that gut reaction, all the signs of Self
<Sunshine-> fear is = False Evidence Appearing Real
<Susanrose> I like that Sunshine...F=false E=evidence
A=appearing R=real
<CBon> Susan, you do not discount the hot stove reaction..
you incorporate it as a quick gut reaction to danger...
I mean you don't have to "think through" the burn scenario do you?
<Susanrose> nope... I think divine intelligence built in a
REFLEX to save us it is not necessarily FEAR that caused
the reaction
<CBon> ah...
<helia> a reflex?? or.. instant obedience to our innerself??
<Susanrose> helia reflexes can obey inner intelligence
<runner> Perhaps fear can also be of benefit if we harness
its energy CORRECTLY....perhaps intelligence can be of aid
in combination with fear..if the truck moves on us rapidly...
intelligence..if use properly can lie atop fear and direct the adrenaline
<Jackie> runner...that is a good analogy...fear has it's place
in the scheme of things.
<Barringtn> I agree with runner, it's like riding a horse
which can be too powerful or just right.
<David`3`> fear may cause us to 'freeze' when the truck comes at us -
the being in the moment is what allows us to act
in an appropriate manner - not just react
<Susanrose> Yes, I would tend to agree that fear would cause
more terror and paralysis than appropriate action
<runner> Intelligence Over fear can sometimes help us to survive
but what of the physical resources necessary
to scamper out of the way..Fear in the
case of the truck is a instantaneous..event the trick
is to perceive the fears which we need to override cerebrally
<Susanrose> Fear takes credit for what intelligence did.
it is an intelligent thing to preserve the body.
Although there may be a useful adrenaline rush that may
accompany fear, I think a master can direct the same amount
of energy, (and more) to a targeted goal without the terror
that would accompany the feeling of fear.
For example....
there are guru's who can consciously controll their heartbeats.
Maybe someday we will be evolved enough *instantly* ask
our livers for more glycogen, our adrenals for the adrenaline
in TRUST of their divine purpose to cooperate instead of
using the feeling of fear for an extra kick.
Black magicians use the fear of sacrificial animals
to give oomph to their magic. So yes, fear has a certain
energy of it's own, but I do not think it needs the respect
it is trying to sell to us regarding it's value to our existence.
<David-> fear is supposed to be an automatic response
to a dangerous situation. in an esoteric way,
it would seem to be displaced.
<Barringtn> When I'm identified with my fear base,
it's destructive potentially, when not (as much) then it can be instructive
<Susanrose> OK.... that was a good debate on if fear is necessary....:)
<CBon> I like the disconnection between conscious fear and reflex...
sounds gestalt, but still very pertinent and relevant..
<Susanrose>
What about pain?
The painful thing about the pain is not the sensation itself
so much as the commentary about what the sensations mean.
We have the interpreter ego.
Howard Kosell and Frank Gifford will tell you on Monday night
football "What happened". You couldn't just see it.
Howard had to interpret for you.
I remember when I had a few temporary weeks of
unexplainable back pain. What was worse
than the pain was the commentary
in my mind... What did
that mean to by nursing career if I could not do the
physical work or lifting people out of bed, or rolling them over
to change an occupied bed? In my mind, I had imagined the
worst... a disability for me. How Gloomy!
( I got better!)
Isn't that what this judging mind is always doing?
You can't just experience what is happening, it has
to interpret it for you.
Fear is built into that.
The paradings of the mind can be fear based. What if
I get too much of what I don't want, what if I don't get what I want?
<^alex^> see FEAR...acknowledge FEAR...
accept FEAR as that...move on...
<^gina^> living in the now
<Susanrose> Yes,
Instead, say "this is now", and respond to it.
Trust this moment, whatever it may be. Sometimes
it will be pleasant, sometimes our hearts will break.
Each time it will be life in its basic form.
Life deepening in its interaction with itself.
Life is that which never dies,
enjoying, delighting in itself.
When you get past the fear stuff, what you taste is
something that feels like it just IS. It is deathless.
It is the greatest evidence I know, that we just live.
That doesn't end. It may take different form.
It's not that we need the body, the body needs US.
There comes a times when the body just can't do it any
more. That doesn't mean US ends.
It means the body ends.
Isn't it quite an adventure whatever is to happen next?
Life is robust, intelligent, forward moving.
This is a big. wonderful, delightful,
adventuresome thing that I am participating in.
Will it end in it's present state?
Yes, it will, it seems to be part of the deal.
I don't know what that means except
every day ends too.
Every breath ends.
And there is a next breath. So far, there has always been
a next day after every night. I take that as hints.
The final breath doesn't mean the end of every thing.
More like a forward moving in a way
that I am not
going to know about until that moment comes.
I would rather practice being alive every moment I am alive.
When that moment comes, what I have been practicing is
being awake to what is happening. Frankly I don't want to miss
anything. I want to see what it is like, when that time comes.
I am not going to get out of it alive any more than anybody else.
There is a change that will happen. The way I read life is,
it is as exciting and as sensual and as compassionate as
any body I have ever met before, without limit.
<David`3`> nicely said Susan, very nicely said
<Lotus> lovely insightful thoughts on fear
<Susanrose>
None of us are safe, or have a clue
what will happen in the next moment.
Yet here we are. Something is going on.
We are supported quite a bit.
When you are centered in the moment of now,
you begin to realize how much there is to be grateful for.
There is not one of us here that has not been given so much
that they could never repay it.
Remember Jimmy Stewart in "Its a Wonderful Life"?
He was about to jump off a bridge over financial problems,
but then realized how rich and full his life really was,
regardless of his problem.
Most people when asked:
Would you take a million dollars for what you have?
(For example, no one would remember you, you could
start over somewhere else with a million dollars in your
hands) most would say no! Think about it.
I wouldn't !
Bet you would say no too.
<^gina^> nope
<Susanrose>
It is hard for doubt to co exist when affirming
gratitude. Yesterday I was feeling down about
my inability to accomplish some things I wanted to do,
and my daughter's teen age complaints.
Then I found out that my 33 year old neighbor
was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
A single mother of 2, computer programmer
who's household really depends on her paycheck.
Geesh! did my problems ever look small!
Then I went to visit her, and she told me of
how GRATEFUL she is, because it had not
spread to the lymph nodes, and her doctor
gives her a good prognosis,
if she does chemotherapy and radiation after surgery.
So I guess we can always find something
to give thanks.
Sunshine- is thankful to be living
<^gina^> I will pray for her Susanrose
<David-> Sunshine :)
<Susanrose> thanks for prayers for my neighbor
her name is Kathy
<^gina^> was doing it through you
<Susanrose>Edgar Caye said: never worry when you can pray,
if you can't pray you better worry :)
<^gina^> hahhhaa
<Susanrose>
In the excellent Dale Carnegie book:
"How to Stop Worrying, and Start Living"
I found this saying:
I had the blues because I had no shoes.
Until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.
A dialysis patient told me
once that when he needs to cheer up
he thanks the Lord for how far he has been brought,
and how he has been carried throughout his illness.
I used to think Love would cast out fear, but
this did not work so well for me. My fears about
the people close to me could always say
it was because of my "Love" for them that I was
so afraid that things would straighten out with them.
So after some prayer, what is more effectively for me,
is PRAISE and GRATITUDE, to transform the my fear.
Using this as a mantra:
Praise God! (or your most Trusted Name of a Divine One)
Thank you for __________! (List)
Lastly,
The last type of fear we have is of our own power.
We have the magic to transform consciousness at will.
This is the alchemy of the inner wizard.
I used to get real peeved when I hit a red light
driving to work. Like most of us I was running late,
and usually ask for lots of green light manifestations
to get me there.
But I have a choice when I must stop to say:
Thank you God, Great opportunity to do a
minute of deep breathing and centering,
or great opportunity to look around and observe
the day, or great opportunity to put on lipstick (hehe)
So what could be perceived as a frustration
can be consciously chosen to be yet one more blessing.
Something in us does not want us to know
how powerful we really are.
A mind boggling quote attributed to both
Marianne Williamson and Nelson Mandela is:
"The greatest fear is NOT that we are inadequate
Our greatest fear is that we are POWERFUL beyond measure."
We don't want it because that means we are responsible for
ourselves. Our inner world. Our state of consciousness.
<^gina^> Very True
<Susanrose>
We trade in the last trinket of defense when we own that.
Our ego mind says:
"I want to reserve the right to blame you for my unhappiness,
thank you, so none of this powerful beyond measure stuff.
If I am unhappy I want to say, It's my boss, it's my finances,
it' my spouse, it's my friends, it's my kid, it's booze, it's whatever."
We are powerful beyond measure and fear is
afraid of that kind of power. The last step in our awakening
to reality, is seeing through that.
There is really nothing to be afraid of.
The only thing we need to fear is fear itself.
So, what happens when
we drop our fears, even the fear of being powerful?
You are just LIVING.
Maybe Life is OK
Just the way it is. I don't need to worry about fixing it,
changing it, or me either. Maybe I am free to just participate
in it all, openly.
<Barringtn> Thank you, Susanrose for your energy ...
<CBon> clapclapclapclapclapclap
<Lotus> {{{{{Beautiful susanrose}}}}}
LadyNada spins around a few times...
<Lotus> pearls for contemplation
^gina^ bows to Susanrose for such a wise and beautiful session
<runner> Well spoken Susan, and Thank you for the valuable insights:)
<SurferJR> Thank you Susan, amazed! :)
<David-> thank you Ms Rose
helia *hugs* Susanrose.. thanks.. I needed this tonight
<Susanrose> First timers- I hope you enjoyed tonight! - smile
<SurferJR> Was a little hard to follow at first,
but it was great! thanks :)
<David`3`> we liked it too, us old timers :)
<Barringtn> Yes, my only problem was my fear of how to do this
as I cant type and I don't feel
comfortable with the software... I'll learn!
<^gina^> Barringtn we all start that way....we don't mind mistakes
see you all next week
<Rob> goodnight!
<helia> good night Susanrose:))
<David`3`> good night all and thank you again Susanrose
<Susanrose> Thank you all for coming. (Approximately 23 people
from around the world were here for tonight's gathering.)
I give special thanks to Kevin Henry,
a therapist from Pittsburgh who works in rehabilitation and hospice
counseling. With his permission, I used much of his material
that he presented on the topic of mindfulness.
<runner> Calm seas and gentle winds to you all....
Picture Credit: The artist is Rawn,
a gifted irc friend.
Thank you for sharing "Enlighten".