Beyond "Normal" - The Liquid Level Of Consciousness - By Wayne Wirs

Beyond "Normal" - The Liquid Level Of Consciousness

I am not enlightened, and yet, I am no longer "normal." Since you are reading this, I suspect you probably feel the same. Somewhere between the normal, Solid level of consciousness and the transparent, Ethereal level of enlightenment, lies a very fluid, Liquid level of awareness.

Just ahead lies a beautiful glen, a large clearing in the forests of the Soul. This glen is with you wherever you are, it lies just behind your mind, just behind your thoughts, just behind your emotions. This is sacred ground, the source of your true nature. Before proceeding, you must leave your beliefs, your opinions and your Solid ideals behind, for those are the traits of the Ego and the Ego has no business here. In the center of this glen lies a still, mirror lake, a lake where all your thoughts, emotions and dreams arise. Gaze down into this lake, into the image that stares back in fascination. See the reflection of your true face in all its natural brilliance....

Are you a "Liquid?" Do you experience the following symptoms?
   - When you see a tree, do you see living, breathing life, an integral part of something so much more?
   - When you feel the breeze, do you experience it as a lover, caressing your skin in a show of intimacy?
   - Do you see thoughts arise in your mind, glisten for a moment, then splash silently back into nothingness?

And the most important question of all...
   - Always?

Solid people rarely see the subtle. Ethereal people always do. And the Liquids? Liquids constantly flow back and forth between the two extremes. Like the tides of the ocean, they rise and fall according to their own nature. Sometimes experiencing the Solid, sometimes experiencing the Ethereal.

At times we'll see It. At times we won't. Back and forth we go. Sometimes caught up in our minds, our little story. At other times it's almost as if we didn’t exist, a "transparent eyeball" (as Emerson so aptly described), that looks out upon a world where boundaries fade and the words of Man are nothing more than moving air.

See this still and lonely lake. Its waters reflect the sky. Below the surface, nothing can be seen, and yet from its depths the entire Universe arises. Can you see this lake that lies behind your thoughts? Can you see the peaceful glen that lies behind your mind? Where do your emotions begin? What is the source of all your thoughts? Watch them arise and you'll soon find what you have never lost.

Many people, when they first start to experience the Liquid state, think that they are Enlightened. They think that they have achieved the realm of the Ethereals. They tell the world they are Awake - They teach, they write, they get a distant "I see God" look in their eyes. They mislead. It isn't intentional; they just don't understand. There is a simple test though, the test of Constant Consciousness....

Sleep. The night closes in around me. Thoughts arise from the stillness; I watch them, and the simple act of seeing them causes them to fade. Dreams arise, and I watch these. Sometimes I'll play with them, flying through the trees, walking on the rings of Saturn, chatting with the Buddha. Like the thoughts, the dreams gently fade back into the Stillness, the Emptiness. All is silent - no thoughts, no dreams, no ego story - but an aliveness just the same. I watch this Emptiness, too. I am this Emptiness. Without thoughts, there is no time here, only this moment, only this Awareness. Gradually, the world starts to form again, my chest softly rises as my body solidifies out of the Nothingness. I hear the sparrows outside my window and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin....

Constant Consciousness. The sign of the Ethereals. They are aware even in the depths of deep dreamless sleep. They are always aware. They are not fooled by the mind, they do not "forget" their True Face as we Liquids are so apt to do. They don't get caught up in a world of meaning and beliefs and ideals. Awareness during deep, dreamless sleep. I have only experienced it once. But then, I am not enlightened.

The awareness of the Liquid is always in flux, always shifting between two viewpoints, between that of the Solid and that of the Ethereal. Seeing the homeless man approach, his eyes fixed steadily upon you, you feel your body cringe, not wanting to be bothered, not wanting to hear a tale of woe. But suddenly a shift occurs, the compassion arises, and the feeling of oneness envelops you. Though you can't afford it, your hand reaches into your pocket for some change....

There is nothing wrong with being Liquid. Once you become comfortable with its dynamic nature, it can be almost magical. Everything has its normal, solid perspective, and at the same time everything is imbued with a spark of the Divine: Awareness becomes clear and filled with intuition; music takes on a movement and life of its own, and the rain dances happily to the symphony of the Gods.

The Solid "You" melts. The story gradually fades, and the Awareness that sees out your eyes, that sees out everyone's eyes, crystallizes. The drives, goals, and motivations of Man seem at once both silly and necessary. All Life acts in accordance to its nature. All is as it should be. All is well. On the lips of your True Face, a smile radiates.

---

Wayne Wirs is the photographer and author of Fading Toward Enlightenment - Life between the Ego and the Ethereal. A preview to FTE can be found at http://Fade2e.com. Wayne can be contacted at wayne@waynewirs.com or through his website: http://waynewirs.com.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~  ~   ~  

Download the free ebook - The Implications of the Soul 

Free Audio Track - Past Life Recall

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~  ~   ~  

I have been a FAN of Wirs since I ordered his book back in 2005.  
His spiritual journey is captivating without the - mumbo -jumbo.   

The outstanding photography invites you to.............
come live in the moment of each picture.  !!!!

XO XO XO

Deb  

UPDATE -

Wayne Wirs

1961 – 2017

https://realization.org/p/wayne-wirs/wayne-wirs.html

Mantra-Tasking

Mantra-Tasking

Sometime around the first of the year, I was washing my hands for about
the millionth time and I started thinking.....   There are certain mantras that I
wish to hold in my mind.    What a better time to repeat the mantra than when
I am washing my hands.   I also thought... heck I am even multi-tasking.    

Taking what is normally a mindless sort of event and giving it added purpose.

Just today when I thought of writing this post, I thought to myself...
'Hmmmm it's not multi-tasking........  IT'S Mantra-Tasking.

So if there is some thought you wish to hold near and dear in the day,
consider incorporating the thought as you go about this simple task.

This would also be another way to incorporate an
affirmation in your daily life.

My thoughts have been....

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.


So....... are there any mantras or affirmations that you might be
trying to hold near and dear in a day ?   




Daily Mantras Can Reduce Stress



* Not my bathroom - just a photo I found  :)

Inauguration Day Poem

Praise song for the day

By Elizabeth Alexander

Each day we go about our business, walking past each
other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about
us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our
ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a
uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of
repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of
wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica,
voice.

A woman and her son wait for the
bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says,
"Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth,
whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of
someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I
know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into
that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the
names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the
bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering
edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen
tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy
self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you
need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital,
filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to
preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can
be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song
for walking forward in that light.

http://www.elizabethalexander.net/home.html

I've read some criticism of this poem and I have read some praise.    I personally
loved the entire poem.    If you might not have been so taken, perhaps there is just
a line that will speak to you.    

To anyone who follows blogs, these words might speak to your heart ....

"We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider,
reconsider."

There is a New Blog in the Neighborhood.

Welcome the White House to the Blogging World

The first WHITE HOUSE blog post was made today:  

Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 12:01 pm EST


Macon Phillips, the Director of
New Media for the White House opens with a
first post.     Well in all there are 4 entries for today. 

 YIKS,
4 in one day....  Someone better set Mr. Phillips straight here,
he could be making the rest of us look bad.  LOL
Seriously, how exciting are these times....

www.whitehouse.gov/blog

Stop Shooting Arrows - Words

 My friend, Patricia Singleton over at   Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker
wrote a wonderful piece last week......... 


Kindness.... Why Is It Easier to Be
Kind to Strangers ?

Patricia's has written this is such a way where you are stopped
right in your tracks and it gets you thinking.     Everyone can answer
this in their own way.    It's personal.   

If you are not familiar with Patricia's blog, she always shares
every bit of her authentic self .... the good and not so good.
The lessons learned from reading her writing is always powerful. 

Link to Patricia's Post

The words we speak can be like arrows.   

Here is a visual reminder.........






I have explored the kindness aspect in a previous post
titled ..... Tone.  

Gratitude ~ Day by Day

My blog friend, Deb Call over at Spirit in Gear wrote a wonderful New Year's Day post -

Try This in Lieu of Resolutions

Deb says this......

"Phil Gerbyshak's What's Your Word of the Year for 2009?
caught me at a time when I most need it.  He suggests building your
year around one word that resonates for you.  He gives credit to this
idea to Christine Kane's Resolution Revolution
post.  She supplies a lot of help if you need inspiration around words
to select.  Both are excellent posts about creating something more
powerful and lasting than a New Year's resolution."

Deb's 2 words are ...  "ease" and "savor."     Check out her post to see how she
has started and plans to blend these words into the fabric of her life.

My word ~  *Gratitude*        

HEY.... it's nothing new, and I even have a category already in place.  :)

 

I had tried to hold the word in my thoughts and really live
it,
but there were times last year I did not accomplish that.

 

The day it SMACKED me over the head was a day in December.
I was removing 4
empty ice cube trays from my freezer. 

 

We had rearranged our kitchen early on in 2008.  Moving
the
refrigerator, meant disconnecting the water line to
the ice maker.   The frig
was in the house 8 years ago,
and although it's working fine, there will no
doubt be a
time soon, when it will need replaced.
Rather than run a new
water line, we opted to go with
ice cube trays.  I bought 4 of them.  I
tried to remind
myself of the aluminum trays of my youth.  Be thankful
for
these plastic ones where the cubes just pop out. 
I tried that MANY
times.   But still every time I went to
empty and fill a tray, I bitched at
how I missed my ice
maker, and what a pain these trays
were....

 

Well...  in my mind, the rant of no
ice maker started
up while I was filling the trays....

 

I was stopped RIGHT in my bitching tracks ....

 

I heard.....

 

BE GRATEFUL YOU HAVE CLEAN AND SAFE WATER !!!
BE GRATEFUL YOU
HAVE ICE !!!
BE GRATEFUL YOU HAVE A REFRIGERATOR !!!
BE GRATEFUL YOU HAVE
A HOME !!!

 

Not only with the ice cube trays, but everything
else ...........  ~*~ Gratitude ~*~  Day by Day !!!


THANKS Deb, for the idea to HOLD the word all year through. 






My 4 trays.  

 

Graffiti Interviews

Graffiti Interviews

 

Joe Powers has this on the opening page of his
site..........

 

Soul Graffiti™ LLC was
created with the single mission of building a community
aimed at shifting consciousness away
from "material graffiti" to that of "soul graffiti."

Soul graffiti is not about
inspiration or philosophy, but rather about action.

We believe that through soul
graffiti - conscious acts of kindness -
we can leave a permanent mark on
this world and upon the lives of others.

 

 

I've listed the names of those interviewed and also have a
link

to his page here......

 

'kindness, love and compassion'.......   Let's KEEP it going.

Graffiti Interviews

http://soulgraffiti.com/cms/content/category/3/15/35/

'There are so many people around the world spreading the message of kindness, love and compassion. In our Graffiti Interview section, we speak with some of these people who share their ideas, thoughts and experiences.'

Judith Orloff, M.D. -World Renowned Medical Intuitive

Mark Victor Hansen -
International Best Selling Author

Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. -
Author & Spiritual Clairvoyant

Mira Kirshenbaum -
Psychotherapist & Award-Winning Author

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev -
Realized Master, Yogi, & Mystic

Frederic Luskin, Ph.D. -
Dir., Stanford Forgiveness Project

Ron Scolastico, Ph.D. -
Psychologist, Author, Artist

David Friedman -
Kabbalist, Artist, & Teacher

Julie Salamon -
Best-Selling Author & Journalist

Echo Bodine - Renowned
Spiritual Healer

Julie Exline, Ph.D. -
Professor & Kindness Researcher

Elizabeth Sar'h
Petrinovich, Ph.D. - Doctor of Metaphysics

Calvin Standing Bear -
Native American Musician & Healer Venerable

Tenzin Yignyen - Buddhist Scholar & Teacher

James Van Praagh - World
Renowned Medium

Michael Nagler, Ph.D. -
Award Winning Author & Peace Scholar

"Abraham" - Evolved
Spirit Teachers channeled by Esther Hicks

Gary R. Renard -
Christian Teacher & Acclaimed Author

Nancy Nester, Ph.D. -
Spiritual Healer & Teacher

Ken Page -
Internationally Renowned Spiritual Healer

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My blog post from October of 2006

 

"Soul Graffiti" Artist

Sharing a Get-Away For Your Mind

~ Calm Sanctuary ~

 Just for a moment, take a few deep relaxing breaths  


Picture yourself sitting in one of these chairs.....

toes wiggling in the sand..... the sound of the water.   

Ahhhhh I am so there...Calm Sanctuary indeed.   


This morning, I had the Today show playing in the
background while I was at my computer. 
A segment of the show was talking about travel
destinations.    One that was talked about was Stephanie's Inn
located on the Pacific coast of Oregon.   

http://www.stephanie-inn.com/default.asp

http://www.stephanie-inn.com/images/video/video.asp

~ Of Dreams and Spirit ~

The story of Lopez Lomong is an absolute must read. !




I
dedicate this post not only to Lomong and his ~ Spirit ~, but the

~ Spirit ~
that LIVES in each and every one of us.   

‘True Olympic spirit is often found away from gold medalists
with
their agents and sponsorship deals -- it is found
in its purest sense in
those that come last.’
(Agence -Presse- French
News Agency)

 

Presumed dead in Sudan, Lopez Lomong lives American dream

         
   

By WAYNE COFFEY    

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

   
  Wednesday, July 30th 2008, 10:15 PM
   

   

   

       

                        

Lopez Lomong, now the pride of Tully, N.Y., goes from war-torn homeland
to representing U.S.A. in Beijing.

Twenty miles south of  Syracuse and 6,000 miles west of East Africa, a
freshly hung flag flies over the tiny town of Tully. It is on the pole in front
of the high school, just beneath the American flag, a big white rectangle with
five Olympic rings, a salute not so much to the Beijing Games that will commence
next week, but to the Lost Boy who found a home and a life and an athletic
calling, and who has made virtually everyone in his central New York state
village proud.

The
village of Tully has 924 residents and one traffic light, and one remarkable
1,500-meter runner, Joseph Lopepe (Lopez) Lomong, child prisoner turned feted
Olympian. He will begin competing in Beijing on Aug.15.

"We've never had someone in the Olympics before, and we probably will
never have another," says Eileen Baldassarre, a Tully resident whose sons are
friends with Lomong. "This is huge, because...those of us who know Lopez know
what a nice and generous kid he is."

Says
Lomong, "I came a long way, for sure, from running through the wilderness to
save my life, and now I am doing this for fun."

At
23, Lopez Lomong is a sinewy 5-11, 148-pounder and one third of perhaps the most
intriguing team of 1,500 runners the U.S. has ever assembled, a melting pot on
the move. The favorite for gold is Bernard Lagat, the defending world champion,
who captured bronze and silver in the two previous Games, running for his native
Kenya before becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen. The runner-up in the trials
earlier this month was Leonel Manzano, a Mexican-American and two-time NCAA
champion for Texas, whose father reportedly crossed the border 16 times before
becoming a legal U.S. resident.

And
then there is Lomong, a man whose journey has taken him from the southern Sudan
village of Kimotong to a Kenyan refugee camp in Kakuma, to the lakeside home of
Rob and Barb Rogers in Tully. He has seen kids in the next bed die, and has
visited his own grave. Why wouldn't he savor his Olympic achievement?
"This
is America, this is the land of everybody," Lomong says.

Lomong's story has been well chronicled, a fact that makes it no less
chilling. At age 6, while attending Mass with his family in Kimotong, he and
some 50 other children were taken at gunpoint by a government-backed militia in
Sudan's long-running Civil War, hauled off in a tarp-covered truck to a work
camp. After several weeks, three older boys found a hole in a fence, escaped the
camp and brought Lopez with them, walking for three harrowing days through woods
and wilderness, before stumbling into Kenyan border guards.

For
the next 10 years, home for Lopez - one of the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan -
was a a sprawling Kenyan refugee camp, where meals consisted of U.N.-provided
corn and came once a day. Soccer provided about the only respite from the
bleakness and boredom. The notion of anything better scarcely occurred to him
until late summer of 2000.

Lomong earned five Kenyan shillings (about seven cents) for moving some
dirt. He didn't spend it until he heard it could buy him a chance to see the
2000 Olympics on a black-and-white TV.

Lomong and a few friends walked five miles to see the Games. He came away
mesmerized by Michael Johnson, running the 400 meters.

He
prayed that God would give him a chance to do something similar. "I saw him run
so fast and I said, 'I want to run just like that,'" Lopez says.

A
year later, shortly after 9/11, an international relief effort began to place
the Lost Boys in American homes. Lomong wrote an essay describing his ordeals.
Rob and Barb Rogers, devout Christians, saw a notice in their church bulletin
one Sunday that Catholic Charities was looking for foster parents for the boys.

Before long, 16-year-old Lopez Lomong was on his way to Hancock Airport
outside Syracuse. He was shocked when the Rogerses met him in their car.
"He
walked to the airport (in Kenya), and assumed he'd walk from the airport
(here)," Rob Rogers says.

Lopez was awed by the breadth and asphalt splendor of Interstate 81, by
electricity and running water. He enrolled at Tully High, became a cross-country
and track star, before moving on to Northern Arizona, where he grew into an NCAA
champion. Lomong's American adventure was just beginning, and it was for the
Rogerses, too; they have since taken in five more Sudanese boys.

Rob
Rogers buys and sells heavy equipment, while Barb manages the 27 apartments they
own, and runs their laundromat, Suds and Bubbles. Uncertain about how a
virtually all-white community would receive their adopted Sudanese sons, the
Rogers have been heartened by the whole experience. Apart from a single nasty
epithet written by two high school kids - an incident that aroused the ire of
almost the entire school - the embrace has been universal.

"We
thought we'd be in the 'out' crowd, and now we're in the 'in' crowd," Rob Rogers
says, laughing. He pauses and talks about how life has changed since Lopez made
the Olympic team on the night of July 6 - exactly a year after he gained his
U.S. citizenship. He did it with a bell-lap charge that carried him from sixth
to third, balky ankle be damned.

"The
highlight of my life is telling CNN I couldn't talk because HBO was here,"
Rogers says.

At
Christmas time last year, Lomong went back to Kenya and Sudan for HBO's "Real
Sports" program, which was doing a segment on him. He reunited with his birth
mother, Rita, and his younger brothers. He even visited the grave his family
made for him, certain that he was dead. It was a small pile of stones that
contained a necklace and childhood keepsakes. They happily took the pile apart.

"They brought me to life again," Lomong says.

 

Thanks to a Tully-wide fundraising effort
spearheaded by Eileen Baldassarre, more than $13,000 has been collected to send
Rob and Barb Rogers to Beijing, along with Jim Paccia - Tully High's track coach
- and his wife, Cheryl. Rob Rogers got in the Olympic spirit almost immediately
after watching Lopez make the team, ordering an Olympic flag and banner on the
Internet for $68. The banner is on the front door, the flag flying in the front
yard.
His foster son, Lopez Lomong, a Lost Boy no longer, will soon be
surrounded by the best runners in the world. He will race hard, and whatever
happens, he will be powered by gratitude, and unencumbered by fear.

"This is payback for the people who helped me
through my childhood," Lomong says.
"Now I am running for America. I'm an
American citizen and I can go out and compete.
I'm so
thankful."

Former 'Lost Boy' leads U.S. team as

Beijing welcomes the world to China

 

(Photo - Pretty/Getty)

Lopez Lomong, one of the Lost Boys
of Sudan,
leads Team USA into Beijing's national
stadium.

 

----------------------------------------------------------

http://lopezlomong.org/

 

Lopez Lomong's
web site

" When we were in Africa,
we didn't know what was there for us as kids--we just ran.
God was
planning all of this stuff for me, and I didn't know.
Now I'm using
running to get the word out about how horrible things
were back in
Sudan during the war. Sometimes these things are not on CNN,
so if I
put out the word, I hope people can get the information.
Right now,
similar terrible things are going on in Darfur; people are
running out
of Darfur, and I put myself in their shoes."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Save Darfur

www.savedarfur.org

The
Save Darfur Coalition's mission is to raise public awareness about
the
ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response
to the
atrocities that threaten the lives of two million people in the Darfur
region.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Olympic Spirit


http://www.olympicspirit.org

Inspire
the Youth of the World



'Our vision and purpose is clear -

To be an icon of Olympic values and ideals, to inspire and motivate

the youth of the world to be the best they can be'

Mark R.
Dzenick

Chairman - Olympic Spirit Group

'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.'

My dear friend Patricia, from Spiritual Journey of a Lightworker,
wrote a post yesterday....

You Had It All The Time

Patricia shares about a book she is reading,
I Had It All the Time written by Alan Cohen....

In Patricia's words....

'What it took me years to realize and what this book says is, 'I had it all the time.'

'I
spent years running here and there, reading this book, watching that
video on self-improvement. According to Alan Cohen's book, I didn't
have to do any of that searching. I already had it; I just didn't know
it. All I had to do is remember who I really am.'

Patricia's post started me thinking about the many online articles I have read by Alan Cohen.    Cohen has an easy, endearing style to his writing.

THANK YOU Patricia AND Alan !!!  I have no complaint whatsoever.


I found this article of his to share..........

Thank
You
for Everything

by Alan Cohen

The story is told about a woman Zen master named Sono who taught one
very simple method of enlightenment. She advised everyone who came to her to
adopt an affirmation to be said many times a day, under all conditions. The
affirmation was, 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

Many people from all arenas of life came to Sono for healing. Some
were in physical pain; others were emotionally distraught; others had financial
troubles; some were seeking soul liberation. No matter what their distress or
what question they asked her, her response was the same: 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.' Some people went away
disappointed; others grew angry; others tried to argue with her. Yet some people
took her suggestion to heart and began to practice it. Tradition tells that
everyone who practiced Sono?s mantra found peace and healing. 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

My friend Lisa, an attractive woman in her late 30?s, came to one of
my seminars after I had not seen her for a number of years. She informed the
group that a year earlier she had been diagnosed with a brain disorder that
required immediate surgery. The surgery was done, a steel plate was inserted in
her head, and her doctor keeps her under close observation. Lisa reported that
now she lives from day to day. Privately I told Lisa that I was sorry she had
gone through this whole ordeal. "Oh, don?t be sorry," she told me emphatically.
"I?m not sorry at all. This was one of the best things that has ever happened to
me. It really got me to appreciate my life and relationships. I married a
wonderful guy and we are thinking about having children. I wouldn?t trade the
experience if I could.' 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

Can you imagine what your life would be like if you simply dropped
your complaints? It's a radical proposal, since most of us have been trained to
question, analyze, and criticize everything we see. But then we end up
questioning, analyzing, and criticizing ourselves. Then we miss out on joy, the
only true measure of success.

The ecstatic mystic poet Hafiz proclaimed, 'All a sane man can ever
think about is giving love.'  One evening I received a phone call from my friend
Cliff, a Jewish guy from Brooklyn who discovered A Course in
Miracles and became a world-class love exuder. Cliff just went
around finding good and beauty in everyone he met. On the phone, Cliff told me, 'I just called to tell you how much I love and appreciate you.'

'Well, thank you Cliff,' I answered, delighted. 'I really appreciate
that . . . What prompted you to call me at this moment?'

'My knee was hurting me, and I knew that the only way I could feel
better would be to give more love. So I began to think of the people in my life
who I care about, and you came to mind.'    'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

As we approach the holiday of Thanksgiving, many of us will be
getting together with our families. Perhaps family issues may come to the fore
and we might be tempted to fall into a pattern of rehashing old resentments and
arguments. Wouldn?t it be fabulous if, as we sat with our relatives, we held in
mind, 'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.' Imagine
what this Thanksgiving would be like if we decided that no matter how much mom
complained about dad; how much dad bugged us about getting a real job; or how
unspiritual our ex is, we chose to be an unstoppable appreciation machine and
found the good in our loved ones. Indeed this would be a triumphant Thanksgiving
to remember!

Yes, I know, there is a voice inside you objecting, 'But if I did not
complain, people would walk all over me and selfish opportunists would
genetically manipulate my food and terrorists would keep crashing airplanes into
buildings and . . ., . . ., and. . . . Got it. Now if you went to Sono, her
response would be,'Thank you for everything. I have no complaint
whatsoever.'

 I am simply suggesting that we practice the mantra for an
entire Thanksgiving day. And then maybe one day a week. Then we might start to
feel so good and our lives will become so effective that we want to turn every
day into Thanksgiving.

In my book Handle
with Prayer I state that the highest form of prayer is
gratitude. Instead of asking God for stuff, start thanking God for stuff, and
you will find that God has already given you everything you could want or need,
including the adventure of discovering more riches every day.

Life is a big treasure hunt. Eventually we grow weary of seeking
treasures outside ourselves, and we begin to look within. There we discover that
the gold we sought, we already are. The beauty we overlooked because we were
focusing on what was missing, still lives and awaits us like an anxious lover.
As T.S. Eliot nobly noted, 'The end of all our exploring will be to arrive
where we started and know the place for the first time.'

Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.
Have
a great Thanksgiving.