Copyright Tam Black 2014 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
I am light. My body is light. I am free. I know my fulfillment: I feel it rise within me, expand out from me.
Sharing
Moksha is the Eastern concept of Freedom. This is a spiritual freedom, not a civil/political freedom. For many people who practice Eastern religions or follow Eastern philosophies, Moksha is the goal, the highest attainment. This is a State of Being that we can attain here, now, as human beings.
Human beings were born able to attain this State. We all have the ability. (I am reminded of the idea from A Course in Miracles that says, “Miracles are everyone’s right, but purification must happen first” Principle #7; we are so much more than what we allow ourselves to believe).
In my (humble) opinion, the Christ’s Ascension was the achieving of the state of Moksha.
The body, here-now, this human body, is able to attain Moksha, ascension. Human beings are able to so fully align with highest Divine Love and Light that all of their bodies–mental, emotional, physical, and etheric–take on a Divine State. All of their bodies become Divine Love, Divine Light.
I am light. My body is light. I am free. I know my fulfillment: I feel it rise within me, expand out from me.
Copyright Tam Black 2014 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
I now invite, welcome, and receive the effects of Divine Love, and I am Truly grateful.
I experience Divine Mind as I experience these effects, and Divine Presence confirms itself in my life, activities and affairs.
Sharing
I wrote this Journey in 2014. At that time, I had only just begun thinking how important it is to invite Divine Love and Divine Presence into my life and affairs. Now, six years and 3 Fulfillment Journeys later, after I’ve been using the phrase, “I invite, welcome, receive…” regularly, frequently, and I look back and remember there was a time when seeing the effects of the Divine in my life was not a regular, common occurrence.
Leonard Orr used to say, “the Divine is so ordinary It’s often overlooked”.
When I was studying with Leonard, 25 years ago, I took this to mean that I should pay more attention to ordinary, common things that I would often overlook in order to become more aware of the Divine in my Life. It became a mindfulness practice, to notice the Divine, to find the Divine in small things, in the base happenings of my life.
Now I understand this phrase very differently, and I am certain that it has to do with consciously inviting the effects of Divine Love into my normal, ordinary, base life more and more frequently over the past 6 years.
The way I now understand Leonard’s phrase is very akin to the Sixth Principle of Miracles, “Miracles are natural. When they do not occur something has gone wrong.”
I experience miracles every day. It’s hard to explain; it’s not like big things are happening. It’s not like time stands still or the heavens open, or I am “cured” of anything, or anything like that. There are basically 3 categories that I notice “miracles” in my life:
Something potentially really tragic or dangerous unfolds in front of me and I meet it with Peace, clarity, and equanimity. For example: When I was on the highway at 70mph and the truck ahead of me lost it’s tire, with one huge piece flying at me and several smaller pieces flying every which way. I just notice, breathe, and “see” where I can drive safely and do so. Or, another driving example: It was a dark and stormy night (yes, really), I was driving up Route 1 (NJ), with people in a hurry all around me going 50-55 bumper-to-bumper traffic. A car on my right cuts me off to pass the guy in front of him, then immediately slams on his brakes because traffic ahead is slowing down. Just before that happened, I “knew” he didn’t see me, knew he was going to cut me off, and I was prepared and slowed down in advance–he still almost hit my front bumper… I have several more of those kinds of stories. I always know that I am safe, that all is well, and–sometimes–I feel like I was put into those kinds of situations to remind people to slow down with “near misses”, to help them avoid a much worse situation in their future.
My life works…perfectly. What I mean is that big things in my life work out perfectly. Moving. Job. Finding a place to live. Meeting “the right” people. This is why/how I know that whatever happens with my relationship, it will be perfect. All is well. (This is not to say that I am immune to tough emotions, mind-disturbances, or uncomfortable situations–I have these, too, and I simply remain vigilant in keeping my mind focused as best I can on the Divine through these situations).
I notice that when I do have disturbed thoughts or feelings, or am in a disturbed situation, when I change my mind to invite the Divine, I handle the situation better than “I” could ever handle the situation. I’ve experienced this over and over. I turn my mind to God in the moment, and all is well. The situation smooths out, tensions dissipate, emotions reconcile, the other person becomes more peaceful. “Om Namah Shivaya”.
When the effects of Divine Love become usual, common, and ordinary, Miracles are experienced naturally, as life. When Miracles are experienced often, usually, as common, daily, ordinary interactions, it’s easy to “overlook” them. One way I notice the miracles in my life is by reminding myself, that others don’t experience life the way I do; other people have hardship and struggle. My life is good. So very good.
And one day, this will be the experience of everyone. Miracles are natural. Divine Love is Who We ARE. Divine Perfection is what we can expect. Always. All ways. This is Life.
#
I just had an unrelated thought that I’d like to share:
I’ve always thought of A Course in Miracles to mean something like, “A class-type format, which through study will teach a person what miracles are and how to live a miraculous life”. And, it is that.
My new thought changes the meaning of the word “course”, to mean “a route”, a path, a direction. So not only is A Course in Miracles a learning format, but it is also a course/route to Miracles. Not much different than a Journey, eh? 🙂
Everywhere Fulfillment is, I am. Fulfillment is everywhere. Fulfillment is. I am.
Sharing
First, I’m changing my Why a little bit. Yes, all that I said in my Why is true and correct, but after an emotionally raw and rip-me-open past 48 hours, I have some foci I had not thought of before.
I want to use the Journey simply to stay sane for the next 40 days. 2020 has been a bear, and it’s not over yet (especially with the election coming up, and people losing their marbles with all the Covid stuff).
I want to use the Journey to reflect on my relationship, and process the bear-of-2020 relationship stuff through Journey of Fulfillment. Although the past 48 hours ripped me open (the kind of emotion that produces a nausea in me; I feel strong emotions very physically), I had some really solid insights about who I am in relation with my partner, and what I need/want out of a relationship. Tough stuff–for me, anyway. (kind of a new realization: I’ve never actually had a fulfilling relationship (present relationship included), but it’s possible, now more than ever, with this partner or no one.
Now, the sharing…
The first thing that occurs to me with the Guiding Thought, especially after what I just wrote about my relationship, is that Fulfillment stands apart from the relationship. “Fulfillment is“. There are no qualifiers here; it’s not here sometimes and not other times. Fulfillment is.
But it’s not now; I may be fulfilled in my Divine Self, but the unfulfillment in my relationship glares too brightly in my face, and in this physical body/relationship, the Divine Fulfillment does not come through.
By my own understanding and teaching, if the “out there” (in this case the relationship) is not right, there’s something in here (inside myself) that needs to change. If I open enough to Love, the Divine will pour forth, righting all, straightening all paths. It has not done this for me in the past because I’ve never thought that I could; I’ve never even thought that I could actually have a fulfilling relationship. What does that even mean!??
I’ve just never thought that something was not right out there. I’ve never thought about trying to be fulfilled in a relationship. I’ve always just taken what has come and tried to be happy (and I’ve been pretty happy, afterall, my moon is in Sagittarius–we are resiliently happy folks).
Here’s my thinking: I should be able to simply be fulfilled, with no reference to anything or anyone. I should be able to rise above worldly cares, be all, bring love and light to a situation and be fulfilled. I should be able to call forth my Divine Self and be all that I need or want, because I already am all I need or want. I AM.
Four thoughts come to mind.
“Don’t should on yourself” (thanks, Judy).
I’m not a monk–as my partner recently reminded me. Monks sit in a cave with no relationships. There are no dynamics, no bumps, no surprises, no mutual feelings, no stimuli, no push-pulls that prod and nudge and swiftly kick a monk. A relationship has all these…and more.
The fact that I am thinking about that I could have a fulfilling relationship is huge. I mean…really. Think about that. I bet there are lots of people who go through life assuming that there is some fulfillment in a relationship. Not getting fulfillment but expecting it is very different than having no concept what so ever that a relationship can actually be fulfilling.
I feel like I have found a place where I have restricted the flow of the Divine in my life. I have limited the Divine. I have been unconscious about all of the possibilities for fulfillment, and all of the good the Divine wants to flow forth from me. I now have an opportunity to expand and allow more of the Divine in my life.
Thank you for being here. Do you think it might be an intense Journey?
The Divine Presence of Love is the most natural energy in the world and beyond. Through the wisdom of Love, I understand Love as True wealth and an expression of my Divine nature, to be cultivated in my consciousness, expressed, and shared. My Love is infinite. My wealth is infinite. I realize this as my reality and circulate wealth with joy and gratitude.
Reflection
In common parlance, “natural energy” is used to mean things like solar energy, wind energy, hydro-electric, or geothermal energy.
Yet, according to today’s Guiding Thought, the most natural energy in the world (and beyond) is Love.
Similarly, people talk about “the power of Love” (two examples below…), but rarely- if ever -do they mean it in the same sense as one would think of electricity or solar power.
“The power of Love” is mysterious, intangible, unpredictable, uncontrollable; a pull between two people, a push that makes people act in ways they would not, if they were not under its “spell”,
“Natural energy”, and “natural power”. Why are the same words used for Love, and for the energy of the elements that we harness to run our gadgets and gizmos?
Is there actually an underlying similarity? An underlying commonality?
I don’t have this well-thought out. But here’s where I’m going:
Love is creative. Literally. Love creates. Love is infinite. Creation is infinite. Wealth is infinite.
The catch? Even though Love is the most natural energy in the world, and my Divine Nature, I must have the consciousness of It as my expression.
When I do that, when I realize this as my reality and prove it by living it and circulating wealth with joy and gratitude., then I know my Love is infinite. My wealth is infinite.
Divine Abundance expresses infinitely through my own Divine Presence. When I identify with my Divine Presence, I open the floodgates and Divine Abundance flows naturally, easily, and effortlessly through me, materializing all good in my life and affairs.
Reflection
I’ve had a bit of a breakthrough, in a new understanding/definition for abundance.
I was describing this feeling of pressure, constraint, restriction (as it was then expressing as pain in my neck). She said, “It’s all about abundance…”
And it hit me. Time is abundant. Time is infinite and eternal.
Why? Because Divine Presence is infinite and eternal, and I AM that Presence.
Time limitations (pressure, restrictions, constraints) are experienced only in this third dimensional, material body.
Spirit, the Holy Self, the Divine Self, does not even know such limitations. All is One; All is Now.
Another friend of mine has been using the word “spaciousness” recently. Whenever I’ve heard her say it, my brain feels like it’s glitching. I think, “what…what does that even mean”. Now I understand that space and time, in the context of abundance are when I open the floodgates and allow Divine Abundance to flow thorugh naturally, easily, and effortlessly…as Eternality and Infinite Space.
My mind and heart focus entirely on the Divine Presence I Am. I think, I speak, and I act in accordance with Divine Will, releasing Divine Substance into all my activity and all my financial affairs.
Reflection
With today’s Guiding Thought, I’ve had a “real” clash. What happens when the will to acknowledge Divine Presence becomes undermined by perceived “real” physical pain? I mean the kind of sudden, stabbing, muscular pain that makes you unable to move. What happens when just focusing on anything, much less Divine Will, or Divine Presence, is difficult? What happens when The Truth of Divine Reality comes face to face with the body’s limitations? Is this what death is like: facing the unknown, clinging to the body?
This has been my situation:
I got one of those severe muscle cramps in my neck that is (I believe) caused by a micro muscle somewhere else tensing up. My first experience with this was about 10 years ago, when I stepped over my dog (a very normal, non-rigorous action) and my lower back absolutely screamed in pain. I went from a zero to a 7 in an instant. I could no longer walk; I could barely move. Fortunately, I visited my sister (who at the time lived 550 miles away; the correspondence of the visit and the pain was completely coincidental), and she told me that when small muscles (micro muscles) freeze up, they can cause severe pain in other, seemingly unrelated muscles. She did her non-professional version of trigger-point therapy on me, poking and prodding my hip and hamstring until I felt another different severe pain. At that point, she took the eraser-end of a pencil and pushed down on that pain even harder. Payback for being the bratty little sister is a bitch. I howled, it was SO painful. But. it only took about 25 seconds. The pressure with the pencil eraser “unlocked” the frozen micro-muscle, which then released my lower back. It was, absolutely a miracle. My sister performed a miracle. Wow.
My current situation is similar. I did absolutely nothing to provoke pain, but all of the sudden, out of the blue, my neck was giving me sharp pains whenever I moved to the right, or up. It’s excruciating. When I laid down, I could not lift my head it hurt so much. I used tuning forks on my neck for about 15 minutes; it helped, but only for a few hours. I had to sleep sitting up. I did about 5 hours of reiki, and that did not stop it. I slept for an hour on my bed of nails. That did not stop it.
I reminded myself of the Truth of my Being. That I am Perfect, Whole, Complete. That Divine Will is Perfect Health. I did mantra. I listened to meditations. Still there was pain. How can one believe in the Truth of Being, when there is so much pain? How did Jesus do it?
Then my sister said, “roll your back on a small, hard ball against the wall. Find the frozen muscle, and push.” So I did. She was right again. The pain is not gone, but it’s a lot better. May back is sore from pressing so hard all over it, but I’m going to do it again, and again, and again, until the pain is gone.
I could not focus entirely on Divine Presence today. But I still have faith that one day… the Truth of Divine Presence will so-fill my mind and heart (100%) that all body-ego-earth trappings will be unnoticeable.
My consciousness is the gateway through which Divine Love flows, materializing my infinite Supply. I am now conscious of my own Inner Divine Presence—Infinite Love—expressing through me, providing me with the means to be aware, to understand, and to know It as my Self– more and more!
Reflection
I’ve been working a lot with words like “tangible” or “concrete” or “experienced” when I do my healing work. No longer do I simply ask for healing energy; I ask that it show up for the person I am working with in tangible or concrete ways, asking for them to experience healing in a way that they can recognize.
Similarly, when I direct my energy toward abundance, I ask for it to show up in tangible, concrete ways.
Divine Source does not know illness or lack, limitation or poverty. It only know wholeness, health, abundance. That is what it is. Thus, that is how Divine Source knows me.
If I say to Divine Source, “flow through me, be me, give me all the health and prosperity you can!” It says, “I’m already doing that. I am pouring forth the Fullness of Being to you at all times!”
Divine Source does not understand the little mind of scarcity. Divine Source only knows Itself as It IS, nothing else. It cannot join us in our consciousness of anything less than what It is. All it Knows is that It is constantly flowing in, through, and around us.
If I am not seeing or experiencing that flowing-forth of abundance, it’s up to me to expand upward to join The Full, Pure Consciousness of All Being.
And since that Full, Pure Energy of Being is always flowing forth as me, I can direct it where, when, and how I want it to appear in my life. How do I do that?
I say something like this, “I am my I AM Presence. I am One with the Full, Pure Energy and Consciousness of All Being. As that Oneness, I direct the Full, Pure Energy of Being to flow into my material reality providing me with tangible, concrete goods, services, and money for me to utilize in my life and experiences. And with deepest gratitude, I offer the Full, Pure Love of my Being to Divine Source (my Father-Mother-God), in gratitude for the opportunity to serve.”
Ask for tangible prosperity, in ways you’ll recognize it. Ask for what you want. Direct the energy. After all, it’s your energy.
Increasing my thoughts of Love and my attitude of service dispels all fear of lack and limitation. As I serve more people with Love, money and wealth flow abundantly to me. I use money and wealth with love and wisdom to create a life I love through my highest vision.
Reflection
Wow. So much comes up for me today.
“As I serve more people”: I’ve been saying regularly, “I offer this >fill in the blank< to my Father-mother God for the opportunity to serve”
“increasing my thoughts of Love”: I’ve been saying to myself regularly, “I pour forth the full, pure Love of my being to >name< for >condition or quality (like healing)<
I just thought this morning: that what I want to create is a life that is worthy of me.
It seems like I have already implemented the basic components of this Guiding Thought.
And, that’s the point, right? To implement.
It’s no good if the Guiding Thought remains mental masturbation, the fleeting, momentary satisfaction of “ok, I did that. I’m done”. The Guiding Thought must be implemented. That’s what bridges the Spiritual and the Material: The mental must become physical. Thought must become reality.
Thought always becomes reality. The question is what is your reality? And What thoughts did you have that formed into your material world?
But more than that: What thoughts have you chosen consciously today that is creating your world tomorrow?
You are today because of what you were yesterday. You will be tomorrow because of what you are today. Form yourself. Now is the time you have to become what you imagine yourself to be. Implement your imagination, and become…
My Inner Divine Love Presence Knows what I need or desire before I do. It is constantly providing me with ideas, material goods, situations, and interactions to fulfill all my needs and desires. I relax and allow the Presence Within to supply me with everything I need.
Reflection
What came to mind as soon as I read the first sentence was the song “Are My Hands Clean” by Sweet Honey in the Rock.
The song itself is about oppression and exploitation of workers. This makes it a very interesting juxtaposition to this Guiding Thought. The song maps the travels of the raw materials and labor that go into making a blouse, from El Salvador to the US to Cargill, back to the US, then to Venezuela, then to Trinidad and Tobago, then back to the US, then to Haiti, then back to the US…
Corresponding this to the Guiding Thought (minus the oppression and exploitation) is that whatever I need or desire is known to my Inner Divine Presence when it’s the equivalent of a raw material. My Inner Divine Presence knows the path that everything I need or desire will take in order to get to me. It knows the people that need or desire will pass through; it knows the shortest path; it knows how every situation needs to turn out, sequentially, in order for whatever I need or desire to make its way to me.
If I need or desire a new residence, My Inner Divine Presence not only knows the best place for me to move to, but it knows the way I will find it, how I will come up with the money for the move, who will help me make the move, etc. If I cooperate with my Inner Divine Presence, and follow Its Plan, every step is already set up perfectly in advance. If I am not listening to my Inner Divine Presence, and think that I know better, there will be bumps, detours, delays…
If you have ever worked with the energy of Shri Ganesha, you know that this is how Ganesh helps: he removes the ego-driven decisions about what someone thinks “is best”, thus opening and allowing the Divine Plan to have Its perfect way.
Text and video, Are My Hands Clean?
I wear garments touched by hands from all over the world
35% cotton, 65% polyester, the journey begins in Central America
In the cotton fields of El Salvador
In a province soaked in blood,
Pesticide-sprayed workers toil in a broiling sun
Pulling cotton for two dollars a day.
Then we move on up to another rung—Cargill
A top-forty trading conglomerate, takes the cotton through the Panama Canal
Up the Eastern seaboard, coming to the US of A for the first time
In South Carolina
At the Burlington mills
Joins a shipment of polyester filament courtesy of the New Jersey petro-chemical mills of
Dupont
Dupont strands of filament begin in the South American country of Venezuela Where oil
riggers bring up oil from the earth for six dollars a day
Then Exxon, largest oil company in the world,
Upgrades the product in the country of Trinidad and Tobago
Then back into the Caribbean and Atlantic Seas
To the factories of Dupont
On the way to the Burlington mills
In South Carolina
To meet the cotton from the blood-soaked fields of El Salvador
In South Carolina
Burlington factories hum with the business of weaving oil and cotton into miles of fabric
for Sears
Who takes this bounty back into the Caribbean Sea
Headed for Haiti this time—May she be one day soon free—
Far from the Port-au-Prince palace
Third world women toil doing piece work to Sears specifications
For three dollars a day my sisters make my blouse
It leaves the third world for the last time
Coming back into the sea to be sealed in plastic for me
This third world sister
And I go to the Sears department store where I buy my blouse
On sale for 20% discount
Are my hands clean?
Divine Love is infinite. Therefore, my source and supply are infinite. As I increase my consciousness of my Inner Divine-Love Presence as my Source and my Supply, money, wealth, and prosperity increase in my life experience—and I use that money, wealth, and prosperity to fully express my Inner Divine-Love Presence.
Reflection
I feel close to the Divine when I contemplate infinity.
Infinity never ends.
Concepts can be imagined infinitely. I can contemplate the idea of infinite peace, or infinite Love, or infinite harmony, or infinite perfection. Even though my brain spins, I can still imagine these concepts to exist infinitely.
But if I think about material things, it’s harder to imagine them infinite. After all, we live in a finite world, right? We’re using up the earth’s minerals, the fresh water, the forests. We need to replenish the resources, plant more trees, clean the air we have, because if we don’t they will run out, right? This body is finite; it will some day die and decay, right? There is scarcity, lack, nothing on earth is infinite; people must fight and compete over resources and goods…”enough to go around? Bah!”
At least that’s the mentality many humans have.
Odd, then, that this Guiding Thought indicates that “inifinite” is both spiritual (Divine Love) and material (my supply as money, wealth, and prosperity).
SusanWithPearls 