Tag Archives: consciousness

Your Meaning, Your Consciousness, Your Empowerment

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To know the meaning you had to go through the experience and even then the meaning changed before your eyes.   Frank Herbert, Heretics of Dune

[A]s we come more into touch with our own ancient . . . consciousness of living as a situation to be experienced and interacted with, we learn more and more to cherish our feelings, and to respect those hidden sources of our power from where true knowledge and, therefore, lasting action comes.   Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches by Audre Lorde

It is not the anger . . . that will destroy us but our refusals to stand still, to listen to its rhythms, to learn within it, to move beyond the manner of presentation to the substance, to tap that anger as an important source of empowerment.   Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches by Audre Lorde

One can never simply receive a bit of information nakedly.  The process of perception is vitally bound up with the process of inner re-creation, in which one utilizes whatever forms are available in individual psychic existence.  Robert Jay Lifton

The probe agony lifted Teg to a new level of ability.  Crisis had tipped him over into another dimension of human possibilities.   Frank Herbert, Heretics of Dune

It is a man’s reaction to things that determines their ability to exercise power over him.   Howard Thurman

Awakening Consciousness

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It’s exhilarating to be alive in a time of awakening consciousness.  It can also be confusing, disorienting, and painful.  Adrienne Rich

When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.  Audre Lorde

It is crucial that we develop real awareness of ourselves as citizens of Earth, linked by mutual and indissoluble bonds.  When we clearly recognize this reality and ground ourselves in it, we are compelled to take a strict accounting of our way of life.  Daisaku Ikeda

Perhaps the immobility of the things that surround us is forced upon them by our conviction that they are themselves and not anything else, and by the immobility of our conception of them.  The Jesus Incident by Frank Herbert and Bill Ransom

The cosmos is within us.  We are made of star-stuff.  We are a way for the universe to know itself.  Carl Sagan

The quality of your consciousness at this moment is what shapes the future.  Eckhart Tolle

Expanded Consciousness

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I started reading Joel Goldsmith again and seem to be getting more from his teachings.  I am more clearly understanding that the external manifests to the degree that my consciousness expands.

“We will achieve [tangible expression of our inner consciousness] in proportion to our ability to relax mentally, to gain an inner calm and peace, and therein quietly contemplate the revelations which come to us from within.” The Infinite Way, Joel Goldsmith, p. 126

I have intellectually known this since I had a visualization of being counseled to stay inside my circle – counsel that I disregarded for many years, choosing instead to challenge, fight, and run away from adverse circumstances.  Now that I am more frequently living my life from within my circle, I practice calm, peace, trust, and even joy in the midst of turmoil. Because I am now aware that my “circle” is the part of me that is undisturbable, I am taking my growth to the next level.

This way of living is a discipline that requires practice.  It’s learning to live from a foundation of trust, not control.  When I roller skated, I was the tail, not the lead skater of a group linked together for better or worse.  The only control I had was to physically let go of the hand I held, which wasn’t always the safest option.  I realize now that, without effort or thought, my mind at that time was free.

In those days, I didn’t even think about getting hurt.  I thought about how uncool it was to wear knee and elbow pads.  I never did learn how to jump over people in case of a crash; but, that was my focus, not an injury.  I so admired the guys who had that degree of agility and skill.  The point is – I didn’t think about the bad things that could happen.  I only thought about fun and how to have more.

When the circumstances of my life changed and I had little time for fun, I became concerned about security.  Thoughts of lack and limitation followed.  I began to grasp onto what I thought I might lose and want more of what I had.  It took many years, but sooner or later, my life began to reflect my thoughts.  Not realizing my contribution in this regard, I blamed the external, which resulted in feelings of bitterness, resentment, and condemnation that, unfortunately, produced conditions that caused more of the same.

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Corrective Suffering

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Yesterday, I was thinking about Job, the Biblical character.  It is often stated that Job praised and thanked God throughout his afflictions; but, he didn’t.  He complained extensively.  He was angry.  He wanted God to appear before him and tell him face to face why he was made to suffer when he had been so faithful, good, and righteous.  One of Job’s friends said that his words showed that he had turned his spirit against God.

In the end, however, Job recognized that God’s ways are mysterious and that “when he hath tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”  One commentary to the Book of Job states: “Job’s experiences opened his eyes more fully to the ineffable holiness of God, leading him thereby to self-knowledge and self-judgment.  The sufferings of Job are shown to be corrective rather than penal, being used [by] God to test and refine his character.” Commentary in the New Scofield Reference Edition of the Holy Bible, pp. 587, 600.

Perhaps a lesson of Job is to learn to acknowledge God in all things and to grow in awareness that all is of God, regardless of our perceptions of good and bad.  The enduring nature of God creates and destroys beyond our understanding or control.  The best that we can do is to raise our awareness and consciousness and live the best that we can according to the virtues and principles that we know.  We can strive for correct understanding that leads to correct behavior.

As I walked through a very beautiful park surrounded by nature, I began to feel a oneness with Spirit as It Is, not as my usual desire to know God so that my life will improve.  For that period of time, I simply existed in my beingness with no strivings.  Briefly, I had no doubt or uncertainty.  I felt an inner contentment, fulfillment, and happiness.

However and whenever we are able to align ourselves with Infinite Source, our lives run more smoothly.  The Universe responds to the chaos or harmony of our thoughts and behavior.  We are playing its keys and creating our own music.  Perhaps Job’s prior sustained prosperity caused him to stop growing in consciousness.  Maybe he was merely going through rituals of praise and worship.  When we lose or disregard our awareness, our connection to the Source, we experience corrective adjustments pushing us back to Ourselves.

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