Copyright Tam Black 2014 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
My Self wills only to extend itself. Extending, sharing, and creating as Divine Love, through Divine Mind, is my sole purpose. My Self knows its fullness in Divine Love and wills only to liberate me to fulfill my purpose and my joy.
Sharing
My Self is the True Reality of “me”. My Self is my Divine Self–always One with God.
God is the Great Creator. Love is both God and the energy of God’s creations, the force or vehicle by which God extends.
Everything is One with God. There is nothing God/Love did not create.
My Soul Purpose is to Know myself as this Self–One with God, One with Love, an extension of Love, created in, by, and through Love.
When this becomes my sole purpose (here’s that 100%), I will Know both Fullness and my Self as that Fullness.
If I do not know myself as full, if I am not aware of myself as One with God, One with Love, then I have limited and separated a part of myself, which then sees itself as less than 100%.
Love wants only to liberate me and bring me to 100% of understanding and knowing myself as Itself (Love).
Copyright Tam Black 2018 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
We focus our minds and hearts entirely on the Divine Presence within. We think, we speak, and we act in accordance with Divine Will, releasing Divine Substance into all our activity, ordering all our financial affairs.
Sharing
I ran into an old boss today at the supermarket. She was my supervisor from 2003-2008, and the best boss I have ever had. She valued people; she understood how to bring out the best in people; she believed in encouraging people to become better colleagues to each, and better human beings in the world.
Right around 2008, leadership in the organization changed, and her boss (who valued her and supported her vision) was replaced by someone who did not have the same values and principles, someone who valued money and personal advancement over people and cooperative effort. Needless to say, work became very stressful for my former boss, and since then she has been up and down, and down and up, trying to find a place where her strength and leadership style could be valued again.
As we were taking leave of each other today in the supermarket, she said, in her resilient and tenacious spirit, “We just rise…again and again…”
I have known several people–myself included–who have been bullied and beaten down by bosses who cannot seem to fathom the value of employees, the value of people, the value of relationships. I feel sad for this state of the world (but I feel like it is beginning to sigh its final breath); I feel angry that people don’t know how to treat other people; I feel sad for all of the really good people I know who have experienced this.
But I cannot, I refuse to, believe that this is our future.
There are way too many people out there making changes, doing the work, being kind, building relationships. Just today, I found these folks, who look absolutely amazing:
I know that over the past week or so, I’ve diverged from the topic of abundance in my writings. At first, I thought I was totally off base, and that I should try harder to stay on topic.
But that’s not how the Journeys work. The writing (this) is about what is inspired within, what wants to come out and be expressed, regardless of whether it is on topic or not.
Because it’s always on topic. These things come out for a reason. You may not know it when you’re writing, you may not understand today, but everything is connected, and there’s a reason that your mind/brain prompts you in certain directions.
Here’s what I currently think about my so-called off-topic musings: The world is changing…big time. There are a lot of beliefs, behavior patterns, systems, structures, etc., that are passing; they are dying, and they are fighting against their inevitable death knell. What we are experiencing is this final fight before their end.
This has to do with abundance because so many of those dying patterns have to do with greed, corruption, selfishness, pettiness, domination, and abuse…and it’s those patterns that are dying, to be replaced with new patterns of cooperation and community, appreciation for diversity, love of life and all that entails, sharing, helping, caring, and building sustainable systems that support and encourage these values.
Abundance is so much more than money or wealth, and I think that is what I’ve been getting at over the past few days. Everything that enriches lifeis abundance. And that’s where we are headed.
Copyright Tam Black 2018 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
I claim who I am, the essence of my Self, established in and by Love. My Self shines with the strength, beauty and power of its essence, Love. As I open to my Self, accept my Self, and Love my Self, the Life of Unity infuses all my activity and transforms my consciousness. Life as my Self renews my Joy and restores my trust in Life itself.
Reflection
“Change is the only constant”. Yet so many people resist change…or at least that seems to be the case.
Why?
One would think that if change is the only constant, then it is completely natural. And if it is completely natural, doing it should be easy…and natural.
So, why do so many people seem to have a problem with change? Here are some ideas:
Change is imposed from outside, or not chosen
Transition periods are associated with adapting to the change are difficult
The new/different situation will be “worse”
Even so-called positive change people seem to have a rough time with, mainly associated with the second point above.
If people have a conscious or sub-conscious aversion to change, I wonder how resistant people are to transformation?
And if people are resistant to transformation, then is there a resistance to today’s Guiding Thought, “the Life of Unity infuses all my activity and transforms my consciousness”.
I feel like this awareness is a valuable insight. Although I do not feel resistant to change, if there is a part of my mind that is–especially one that is subconscious–then it is working against what I am trying to accomplish with these Journeys. Transformation is the whole point of the Journeys.
I just remembered that I wrote about this very thing at the very end of the last Journey. That feels significant. I must be working on this in my inner mind, my subconscious, my inner self.
These Journeys instigate change. The whole point is to teach myself to think in ways that are more loving, kind, unified, compassionate. As I have been doing this, small changes happen in life–the Life of Unity infuses all activity.
But it does not happen all at once, and in some ways, it happens so subtly that the change is barely noticeable most days.
Then (and this is what I’ve experienced), you wake up one day, and realize something is different; you’re different. But it happened so slowly, and now feels so natural.
This is what it means, I think, about “in a twinkling of an eye”. It’s not that it happens all at once, that fast; it’s that when the changes are happening in incremental amounts, over a long period of time, it takes some time for the brain to realize it, and “see” it. Then it just seems like it happened so fast.
I’m going to keep thinking about this whole change/transformation thing. I think it’s much bigger than I am currently aware of it being, and I need to open myself to learning about what it’s teaching me. And what does this have to do with worth, anyway?
Copyright Tam Black 2018 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
I erase all I think I know of my Inner Divine Mind. I am changing. I am changed. All is new. With a blank slate of pure luminescence, I simply wait, feeling my inner glow.
Transformation!
I want this. I invite this. I welcome this!
I allow myself to change, to become more attuned to my Self, more aligned with my Self, and more congruent with my Highest Purpose. As I wait and watch my Highest Purpose appear in my activities as people and circumstances, I breathe, I smile, and I live.
Reflection
You see, this–this change, this transformation–is happening now, everywhere, with everyone. We are all caught up in an amazing, unprecedented shift in humanity and consciousness.
It’s happening whether you are onboard with it, or not. Whether you believe it or not. Whether you think you have a role to play or not (and I assure you, you do have a role to play).
There are three things I see as essential points today:
Approach everything as a blank slate. Judge nothing on old terms–they are outdated, extinct, and no longer effective. Approach nothing on those pre-judgments; rather approach with your luminescence, which is the truth of you and connects you to everyone and everything. With this attitude your advance will align with what is coming, not what is passed. You will transition into the new more smoothly, more easily, with greater harmony and less turmoil.
Want this. Invite this. Welcome this. Make the choice. Just give in to it. It’s happening. You might as well get on the raft that is in the rapids, rather than shaking your fist from the water and telling the rapids to stop.
Wait and watch. Be patient. Here is something I read just last night that sums this up:
Generally, we see Nandi sitting directly opposite the main door of the temple, where Shiva’s idol or Shivalingam is located. He is not waiting for Him to come out and say something, he is in waiting.
Nandi is a symbolism of eternal waiting, because waiting is considered the greatest virtue in Indian culture. One who knows how to simply sit and wait is naturally meditative. He is not expecting anything. He will wait forever.
Nandi is Shiva’s closest accomplice because he is the essence of receptivity.
Before you go into a temple, you must have the quality of Nandi – to simply sit. So, just by sitting here, he is telling you, “When you go in, don’t do fanciful things. Don’t ask for this or that. Just go and sit like me.”
The fundamental difference between prayer and meditation is that with prayer you are trying to talk to God, with meditation you are willing to listen to God. You are willing to just listen to existence, to the ultimate nature of creation. You have nothing to say, you simply listen.
That is the quality of Nandi – he just sits, alert, not sleepy. He is not sitting passively. He is very active, full of alertness, full of life, but just being – that is meditation!
That is Harmony with the Divine.
~Raguvir (Albert Boll)
In emptiness, with outstretched arms, welcome what is here, now; welcome what is coming. Don’t try to understand, don’t think you know what things mean–you don’t! Just be with your Self, invite the inevitable, and wait for the Presence of God.
Bless you for your current and ongoing participation in the Life we Are.
Gratitude strikes your heart like a bell, resounding love through your being. Gratitude opens your heart to Love’s purity, your very own essence! Experience such deep gratitude for your heart, your essence, your ALL of Life!
Play the Guiding Thought here (loops automatically). Journey of the Heart audio created by Brad Vanlandingham for Susanwithpearls-
Sharing
There have been two times, over the past six months, that I’ve experienced “karma” or “energy” or “emotional crap” (I am not sure what to call it) lift up and leave my body/energy field.
The first time was shortly after I did the mundan, and I had done a fire ceremony. I don’t even remember what the “crap” was that I had been holding on to, but all of the sudden, I felt it evaporate. It was as though something material and heavy in my energy shifted, and floated up and out of my energy field. I felt it, and thought, “huh. That’s new”.
The second time was just yesterday. We all carry with us things we learned, or inherited through our family-line (at least we carry it…until we don’t). I’ve been noticing energies that I can identify as things that have been with me for years, that I can see having their origins in my parents, grandparents, maybe (probably) further back.
I was in one of those dunking booth moments, totally immersed in a chaotic emotion. But. I was also watching myself be immersed in the chaotic emotion: in the water and on the platform at the same time:
I felt sorry for myself. SO SO sorry for myself. “Woe is me”. “Nobody loves me”. “Nobody cares”. “If they did they’d…>fill in the blank<…” “If I were lovable someone would…>fill in the blank<. ” Boooo hooooo hoooooo.
I had been in and out of this state for a few days…no, longer… I knew the energy was “not mine”; I knew it was something that I was feeling, but it was not something I believed in, claimed, or identified with. But I was in it.
Sometimes it’s really hard to know what to do to get out when you are so deep in it. Sometimes it’s scary, cause I wonder if I will get out of it. Sometimes it feels like I want to be there, like I want to self-sabotage, and feel sorry for myself, and then I wonder what the hell that is all about.
All of this was going on in that fateful moment.
Then, the part of me that was watching myself go through the emotional contortions, finally, finally got leverage to pull myself out. I remember exactly the thought that gave me the leverage: “It’s not fair to my relatives who carry this, that I should continue it; it’s not fair to the people I project this onto.”
In that thought, I felt a profound sense of duty and obligation. Other people don’t deserve my bullshit. They may not even know, but that doesn’t matter. I have a duty to discontinue my own BS, to save others from guilt/blame/shame, and maybe even to break the chain of inherited BS.
I don’t know why I turned to the meditation that I did, but I immediately thought, “Transmute, transmute, by the violet fire, all causes and cores not of God’s desire. I am a being of Cause alone. That Cause is Love, the sacred tone.”
I said it once. And the bullshit lifted. Seriously, it was just gone. here…and then…not here. poof. In that instance, everything changed. I changed.
I continued saying the meditation a few times for good measure anyway.
I have read about how things can happen “in the twinkling of an eye”. I know A Course in Miracles talks about things like walking through the veil, or pushing aside the clouds. I’ve now had two experiences with this. It really can be that simple. Crap can just go away. Just like that. Gone.
Today, a story of encouragement. If you wonder about results, or about what you might be accomplishing, read this. Though this is my story, your efforts will bring your own successes in your life.
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Copyright Tam Black 2015 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
Love is unconditional. Choose to be unconditionally devoted to the Love which is unconditionally devoted to you! Embrace life in Love as your True nature. Connect with All in Love. Stand boldly in your heart-center, unwavering in your dedication to Unity of Life in Love.
Reflection
I’d like to share a breakthrough moment with you. When contemplating why I was doing a Journey of Courage, I mentioned that I want the courage to be absolutely at peace in the face of fear, as represented primarily by Daniel of the Old Testament. Can you imagine the stress of going to the lion’s den, but being perfectly at peace? I had a moment of experiencing this. Here’s how it went:
I was confronted at my job by a person higher in the chain of command than me, about an “issue”. The solution was simple and obvious, and I conceded to the solution immediately, yet this person continued to badger me with words and looks of contempt. It was a very classic authoritarian situation, where one person (my colleague) is in power and dominant, and the other (me) is powerless and subordinate: think parent-child, police-suspect, teacher-student, supervisor-employee, etc. Do you have an idea of the dynamic?
You might imagine there was stress and tension. I could feel my brain begin to “short-circuit”, as the biological effects of stress kicked in.
And yet, I also felt an underlying calm and peace. A part of my brain was aware of the conflict-induced stress, yet another part of my brain was noticing how at peace I was. In the midst of conflict, I found myself thinking, “This is how it happened with Daniel. This is less intense than going to a lion’s den, but this is the same phenomenon. What I am doing is working!” In that moment, I understood the possibility of being calm in the face of fear. I can do this.
I was not trying to be at peace. I was not even thinking about Love or God or Mantra. The peace felt completely natural and effortless. Of course, all of the effort went in prior to the incident, but the effort paid off. Let me reiterate: This was an understanding of the feeling, with an intensity that I could handle. Now that I have experienced, or accomplished, this level of intensity, I can continue to cultivate the mindset that brought it about for higher levels of intensity. The practices matter! The practices bring results!
In addition to a feeling of peace, I had this thought, which was a bit of a bonus! “This is also how financial freedom works. Do you see how natural and easy this feeling of peace is? Do you feel how you are doing nothing, and you are aware of your inherent fullness (of peace)? Financial freedom is this feeling of ease and naturalness about money and abundance. One day, you will find yourself in the middle of an experience of fullness of money and abundance, and you will feel this feeling, as though you are totally at peace, and the experience is completely natural, and you are not doing anything to ‘make it happen'”.
This feels like a nice confirmation, as well as a nice step. I know I have to keep working, continue diligently. And let me tell you: I am really inspired to accept and embody today’s Guiding Thought. Love is unconditional. Choose to be unconditionally devoted to the Love which is unconditionally devoted to you! Embrace life in Love as your True nature. Connect with All in Love. Stand boldly in your heart-center, unwavering in your dedication to Unity of Life in Love.
Love returns to those devoted and dedicated to It.
The point is: it takes courage to change, to figure out a new way of being, to become something different than what you are used to, what you are comfortable with. But the good news is…it’s becoming less painful to change than to remain in old thought-patterns that no longer serve Love and the upliftment of humanity.
Copyright Tam Black 2015 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
Love is unconditional. I choose to be unconditionally devoted to the love which is unconditionally devoted to me. I embrace life in love as my True nature. Connected with All in Love, I stand boldly in my heart-center, unwavering in my dedication to Unity of Life in Love.
Reflection
I know someone who used to hold-in all emotions, causing mental and physical health problems. After years of therapy, this person is finally able to “express themself”. In fact, now this person says whatever comes to mind, and is known in several circles as someone with “no filters”.
Having no filters, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad…but in this particular case…it results in this person being known for doing and saying things that are insulting, cruel, thoughtless, ignorant, and insensitive. People around just shrug and say, “no filters…”, as though that explains and excuses the behavior.
Having no filters, however, does not equal insensitive behavior; I know many people who say what’s on their mind without being cruel or insulting.
In fact, “no filters” is inaccurate terminology. What comes out simply shows what the filter actually is, what’s really going on in the mind, in the way the thoughts are processed internally, and then come out as words. This person has filters; they are just filters that allow mean and insensitive things to come through.
Change the filter, change what comes through.
Expression is important, but maybe what is more important is what filter is being used internally –maybe this person’s initial health problems weren’t caused by holding things in, but rather by the types of things being held in (and now we know what this person was holding in!).
People are becoming more and more impatient with cruelty and suffering, on every level, from any person (even oneself!). More and more, people are thinking, “there’s got to be a better way”.
Collectively, we are finding that better way.
Refuse to tolerate your filters that allow through any cruel, insensitive, thoughtless, ignorant thoughts or behaviors–they are affecting you inwardly, and they are being expressed outwardly, whether you realize it or not.
Change your filter.
Embrace life in love as your True nature. Connect with All in Love. Stand boldly in your heart-center, unwavering in your dedication to Unity of Life in Love.
Don’t just look, find the better way. Be the better way. Be strong in Love.
Round 2, welcome! How have things been going? Are you beginning to see/feel connections between Love and Gratitude? Gratitude and Joy? Joy and Oneness? If not, no problem. Life has plans for you, and gives you what you need when you are ready for it. Keep going.
This round, for those of you new here, we switch things up a bit. See this page for a bit of an explanation, under the header ‘Four Rounds” (or not, it’s not complicated or anything, but maybe your brain would like to have some understanding before proceeding…).
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Copyright Tam Black 2015 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
Remember your Self and recognize the Love within you, the Love you are. See this Love as all you are and all there is, the reality of you, the reality of me, and the reality that is the Life of All. Honor this Love and this Life, and offer gratitude for Its Being. What Joy there is in Being!
Reflection
Everything is a blur. I feel like everything, including me, is moving really really fast. The thing is, I am keeping up, but I don’t know how, and I don’t know where I’m headed. Imagine being George Jetson on the treadmill, but never falling, just always being at that point where you’re running really fast to keep up (take 12 seconds, go’head):
That’s how I feel.
But at the same time, I feel completely OKAY. It’s such a juxtaposition. At any other time in my life, if I felt like I were running really fast to keep up, I would be making lists of all the things I have to do, what I need to do to prepare and organize, all my goals; I’d have anxiety about getting it all done. I would be worried that I’m not doing enough to feed my mind and heart. I would be worried about how I was handling personal and professional relationships; I would be trying to figure out the psychology behind my interactions.
Even though I am feeling movement all around me (within me!), my mind is surprisingly quiet. “Things” are just happening, or rather, I am doing things, without feeling like I am doing anything. I’ve never quite experienced this before.
I Love. I am Thankful. I am Joyous. I am Alive…I am Love. I am gratitude. I am Joy. I am Life!
How do I know? Things I am accustomed to have disappeared, or they come very briefly, then disappear. Anxiety has disappeared. Thoughts about “that contrary situation” have been silent. Wanting to plan and get shit done has disappeared. Wondering what the future holds for me has disappeared. I haven’t been thinking.
But shit has still been getting done, smoothly, effortlessly. It’s the wanting, and all the thoughts about how to that are gone.
There has only been one (seeming) downside to not thinking: I was a mile away from home this morning, on my way to work, when I realized it was Martin Luther King day, and I did not have work. We had a good laugh about that when I got back home.
And, another thing about this–whatever is going on with me–I am so in love with people, in a way I have rarely been in all my life. People are amazing. YOU are amazing. Look at yourself, feel your body, feel your SELF. WOW. No one is like you, no one can ever be like you. You are such a gift! I am SO happy you are here, that I have you in my life in this small way. You enrich me, just by being. Thank you!
I have been feeling this way about lots and lots of people! Just Wow.
Is this IT? Is this remembering myself? Is this being Joy? Is this being Life? Is this what I’ve been talking about and working toward?
Whatever the case, let my joy and love carry my gratitude for All to All!
It’s sometimes hard to explain, when I feel the words of the Guiding Thought flowing through me, giving me a sensory experience of their meaning. I hope, perhaps, today, you will feel it with me.
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Copyright Tam Black 2015 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
Gratitude makes all things new! When I am aware of my Source in Love, I see its activity everywhere. It is the Substance of Life itself! I am in the flow and create and expand with Love, in Life!
Reflection
There are so many people doing enlightening (in-light-ening) work. There are so many people learning to do the work of healing, forgiveness, caring, compassion, loving, reconciling. People are waking up; Love is bustin’ out all over! Thank YOU for your contribution.
Whatever brought you here, whatever your self-perception is, YOU are one of these people. You are waking up; you are enlightening yourself and others; you are a necessary and important part of everythingthat is happening in this world; your light contributes to everyone’s light, to my light. We bless each other. We support each other. We encourage each other…even if we don’t know each other, ever meet, ever talk, or ever interact at all.
I see its activity everywhere.
Even when there is nothing obvious, like when I can see (or understand, or feel) how we enrich each other, without knowing each other, I can see its activity everywhere. This is a hint of the seeing that I have been writing about.
I feel SO thankful for you, for us, for our being here, now. I feel such Love for you, for us, for our being here. Does it matter, “which comes first”, the love or the gratitude? Do I tap into the love, because I feel such gratitude, or do I feel such gratitude because love fills me?
I feel so excited about the work we are doing. I feel optimistic. There are SO many amazing people doing the work, doing their work, shining their light. What’s not to be excited about? (I guess to answer that, all you have to do is tune in to the political conversations, but…even despite those conversations…I am excited!)
Speaking of the political climate, I should say: Now is a time for us to continue with full dedication and commitment to our Purpose, to being the Love we are, to bringing in the Light. We need each other. The world needs us. Dig deeper. Be more focused. Commit more time. Stand up. Do the work. Shine your light. Be the Love you are.
Thank you, for being.
Highest Vision for the World (what’s yours? Tweet it! #pearlsofvision)
Hands reaching out to help. Everyone helps everyone, or anyone. No divides, no divisions. Just willingness to be there for another human being.
Copyright Tam Black 2014 Designed for susanwithpearls.com
Guiding Thought
My joy unifies! Accepting my own joy—acknowledging it, sharing it, and expressing it—heals myself and others. To be wholly joyful means to be wholly love…means to be wholly my Self.
Sharing
What do you love? What brings you joy? What is it that you need to accept within yourself that will allow you to express that quality/characteristic that brings you joy? Or are you doing it already? What is unique and original within you? What do you do with that? Who are you?
In a way, today’s Guiding Thought is really about honesty. It’s about being deeply, truly, honestly your Self. It’s about releasing anything that prevents you from expressing your Self. It’s about the simple pleasure of knowing who you are (acknowledging), and sharing that part of you that only you contribute to the whole.
How close are you? How close are you to your Self? How much Truth do you tell yourself? How much Truth do you live?
For me, it feels like I have spent a lifetime uncovering, discovering, and striving to live as my real Self (that’s probably because I have…). It started when I was around 9, with Plato’s quote of the Oracle at Delphi, “Know Thyself”. It progressed to Shakespeare’ s “This above all, to thine own self be true, and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst then not be false to any man.” One of my favorite books as a pre-teen was The Real Me by Betty Miles; in college I studied identity politics, authenticity, and alienation (among other things); after college I (basically, for all intents and purposes) “dropped out” of society to “find myself” (I know, it’s cliché, but that’s what I did—it worked!).
And here I am, doing Journeys, which I LOVE, which are unique to me, which I share, which bring me great joy.
And still I feel like I have so far to go, so much to learn about myself, so much to discover, so much to share.
The bucket is never full. Every drop matters, but the bucket is never full. There is always more to do! More to learn! More to share! Despite how far I go, how far I feel I have come, I look ahead and see how far I have yet to go.
Even though this might sound a bit defeatist, it’s not! It’s inspiring! It’s motivating!
To experience your Self as infinite, take an inner- step in every direction! How long will that take? FOREVER. Is it worth it? Absolutely.
SusanWithPearls 