Elsabe Smit: Recent Episodes
Elsabe Smit
Elsabe helps you understand the mystery of Love and life, so that you can regain control of your life.
What would you like to resolve?
There is a metaphysical process by which the negative desire to receive for the self alone is transformed into the desire to receive for the sake of sharing.
Our bodily dis-ease is merely a means of expressing the concepts that we obtained somewhere on our path, and that makes us ill until we change the cause.
Some people are not more spiritual than others. Some people simply have more wisdom to gain than others, and that includes me.
I have realised that when I ask from my heart, I receive. I may not receive when I want it, but I do receive when God is ready to give. It is as simple as that.
God is the only consistent element in my life. Everything that I labelled as good and everything that I labelled as bad is part of the illusion that I am creating every day in this existence.
If I can do so much good by simply directing my thoughts, can you imagine how much damage I can do by applying my thoughts?
Let us work on ensuring that for each one of us, our inner voices and our spoken words both contribute to a spiritual power that is welcomed anywhere in the world.
A ‘poor me’ attitude is of no use to anyone except yourself, and even then, it does not resolve anything. You need to trust that the experience is necessary for you and that you must go through it.
“…seeking for the Truth inside of you makes you different and doing that is at least as old as mankind.”
“Positive words generate positive angels, while negative speech produces negative angels.”
For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who do not believe, no proof will ever be enough.
Rumi said when you hear something, your character changes, but when you see, there is an inner change.
When you lose your income, it is an opportunity to refocus rather than retreat. See it as a blessing rather than a punishment.
There is only one life, and death is an illusion, and every time period we spend on earth in a body is a tiny part of the illusion.
I firmly believe that God gave us gifts to use so that we can take care of ourselves, and God is not our babysitter. Am I wrong? Does that indicate that I do not trust God to provide everything I will ever need? Or am I right and we have to take care of ourselves in our physical bodies because God provided us with the ability to do so?
My soul is a treasure that I am grateful for every day that I am alive, because my soul keeps my body going. As for Spirit, my relationship with Spirit is closer every day and every night.
Why is it that when you do something good, especially for other people, you feel good about what you have done?
Why is it that people who live a spiritual life somehow believe that they should not charge money for their services?
You cannot change other people. You can firstly accept yourself as perfect for this purpose, and then change yourself into a better version of you.
We create all the time already without even realising it. We can enhance this creation with conscious planning, daydreaming, and visualising.
I read this in The Book of Q or The Gospel of Thomas: “And if you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Pay attention to the sick and say to them, 'God's kingdom has come near to you.' But if you enter a town and they do not receive you, as you leave, shake the dust from your feet and say, 'Nevertheless, be sure of this, the realm of God has come to you.'"
The philosopher Rumi said, “Your thinking is like a camel driver, and you are the camel: it drives you in every direction under its bitter control.”
We have forgotten to ask questions about the moral fibre of the people who serve us, those who guide us, and also ourselves.
“The first Five Days of Creation do not deal with real time, but rather with spiritual phases.”
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What if you no longer need to work for money? What if you can do (and is expected to do) what your heart desires because all of your basic needs are taken care of?
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A good tree does not bear rotten fruit; a rotten tree does not bear good fruit
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Depression happens where a person deliberately blocks the flow of energy and then tries to deny that it happened, like building a mud wall in a stream of water, and then wanting to know why the water is no longer flowing
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Are you open to new points of view and new structures?
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What is your purpose for today?
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No matter what the payback is, we should help one another unconditionally.
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Enrich your journey with like-minded people who resonate with you.
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When it comes to the really important stuff in life, intuition trumps science every time.
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The whole world is lighting up with goodness. Are you joining?
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Is your work love made visible? If not, start dreaming about the work you would love to do. Your time is coming.
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It is up to you to find the wisdom in your experience and become happy.
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When you cry, you will laugh. We are given the promise of joy after tears.
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When you share inner sight with a person, you are drawn to be companions.
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Do you know that your thoughts can destroy a person on the other side of the world and everyone in-between?
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Once you have been through the dark night of the soul, you will realize how light always overcomes darkness.
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The message in any book is far more important than the book itself.
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Our children and grandchildren have the gift of enriching our lives every day. Let’s remember that.
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Can you plan for tomorrow without any baggage? Are you planning for your own tomorrow or letting someone else do it for you?
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Light always overcomes darkness
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Have you seen this day before?
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Which is more important about Jesus – the message or the messenger? You decide.
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What is the status of your relationship? Are you pulling your weight?
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“If you know the price of everything but you do not know the price of your soul, you are lost.”
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“Human prosperity flourishes by natural gifts and not by gigantic industrial enterprises.”
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If you tell the world about your acts of kindness, you still have a lot of ego to put aside.
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Barging into relationships where you are not welcome is not a good idea. Move on and find your spiritual family, and make the world a better place.
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To find God, simply close your eyes and cut out the world.
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Are you independent? What does being independent mean?
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What is the face of evil?
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Are you waiting for someone to tell you how to use your talents?
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Is God a God of Love?
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What is the illusion, and what is the truth?
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Why are repetitive patterns significant?
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#time
#timer
#timenow
#currenttime
#timezones
#timeis
#whattime
#thetime
#timerightnow
#timebetweendates
#metime
#timeline
#timedifference
#todaytime
#correcttime
#timeperiod
#fromtimetotime
Do you trust numerology?
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#numerology
#numerologyreading
How does quantum tunnelling relate to spirituality?
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#quantum entanglement
#heisenberg uncertainty principle
#quantum tunneling
#daydreaming
#mind map
#entanglement
#daydream meaning
#day dreaming
#heisenberg principle
#day dreaming meaning
#mind mapping simple
#mind map design
#heisenberg uncertainty
#mind map word
#a mind map
#heisenberg's
#mind mapping is
How does quantum entanglement relate to spirituality?
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#quantum entanglement
#heisenberg uncertainty principle
#quantum tunneling
#daydreaming
#mind map
#entanglement
#daydream meaning
#day dreaming
#heisenberg principle
#day dreaming meaning
#mind mapping simple
#mind map design
#heisenberg uncertainty
#mind map word
#a mind map
#heisenberg's
#mind mapping is
- 5 things you need to know about karma and synchronicity
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- Karma
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- Simply put: what you sow, you will reap
- Cuts both ways - good and bad
- Concept is in all religions and philosophies
- Be aware of your actions and activities - they come back to you
- You can eliminate karma with good deeds - but you need to do those good deeds for the sake of the good deeds and not to “play the system” - that would be insincere
- Synchronicity
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- Event with no cause - at least no discernible cause
- Destiny - part of life script
- Carries individual meaning - touches you in the heart when it happens
- Take note of it - your intuition tells you whether you need to act on it
- You have no control over synchronicity, but you can make life easier by being aware and observant, and acting when you become aware of synchroncity
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#karma
#coincidence
#synchronicity
#karmameaning
#karmaisreal
#karmais
#raisedvibration
#karmameaninginenglish
#highvibration
#goodkarmameaning
#badkarmameaning
#synchronicitynumbers
#kharmameaning
There are 5 things you need to know about after life:
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Life is eternal. There is no beginning and no end.
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You only have one life, punctuated by journeys on earth and elsewhere in this universe
- Each journey on earth is planned in detail before you enter this world
- In other words, there is no after life - there is just life and incarnations.
- Past lives assume a timeline which is only an earthly experience.
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#life
#incarnation
#otherlives
#afterlife
#lifeisbeautiful
#allmylife
#lifeasweknowit
#thelifeahead
#lifeinpieces
#thetreeoflife
#backtolife
#lifeitself
#wakinglife
#thelivesofothers
#incarnationmeaning
#youonlyliveonce
#lifestooshort
#reincarnationmeaning
How much do you know about the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life?
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#bias
#gender
#transgender
#bias meaning
#all genders
#gender identity
#sexual orientation meaning
#gender meaning
#different genders
#gender is
#whats bias
#tree of the knowledge
#the tree of the life
#gender examples
#biasness meaning
#sexual identity meaning
#tree of knowledge of good and evil
#gender bias
#sexual identity
#halo effect meaning
Spirituality is beyond gender.
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#bias
#gender
#transgender
#bias meaning
#all genders
#gender identity
#sexual orientation meaning
#gender meaning
#different genders
#gender is
#whats bias
#tree of the knowledge
#the tree of the life
#gender examples
#biasness meaning
#sexual identity meaning
#tree of knowledge of good and evil
#gender bias
#sexual identity
#halo effect meaning
Change the question: can anyone benefit from a relaxing massage or a Reiki treatment? First try both experiences and then decide.
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#healing
#aura
#reiki
#solarplexus
#reikimassage
#3rdeye
#reikitherapy
#colorfulaura
#reikiis
#energylines
#the3rdeye
#auraenergy
#divinehealing
#faithhealing
#humanaura
#reikienergy
#seeingauras
#auraofaperson
#reikisessions
#reikiforfertility
How do you know that you are in your spiritual awakening? I will tell you about five signs that will show your progress. We will also look at the difference between religion and spirituality. There is no right or wrong. You need to do what makes sense to you.
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 2: https://bit.ly/36IbQen
#Spiritual
#spiritualawakening
#spiritguide
#spiritualmeditation
#spiritworld
#spiritualenergy
#thespiritual
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#lawofvibration
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#spiritualbutnotreligious
#lawofattractionsuccessstories
#spiritualgoals
#lawofpolarity
#13universallaws
#spiritualreligion
#spiritualbeing
Will you join a cult when you choose a spiritual path? Find out for yourself.
Find out more about my audio/video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
#is spirituality a cult
That depends on how you choose to define life. Are you referring to this existence which is temporary, or to the life that never stops, of which this existence is a tiny part?
Find out more about my audio/video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
#islifeeternal #iseternallifepossible
The question is: if you believe spiritual awakening is evil, why do you believe that?
Find out more about my audio/video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
is spirituality evil, is spiritual awakening evil,
Are we talking about "mind, body, soul" or "mind, body, spirit"? Do y know the difference?
Find out more about my audio/video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
#subconsciousmind #lovingkindness #mindfull #creativemind #healthymind #habitsofmind #bemindful #strongmind #peacefulmind #yourmind #mindspace #onemind #bodymindsoul #relaxyourmind #beingmindful #peacefulmindpeacefullife #thevoid #enterthevoid #bodyscanmindfulness #subconscious #mindfuleducation #highermind #mindfulnessis #busymind #mindfulnessbenefit #dobemindful #mindbalance #mindforbettermentalhealth #mindbodyspirit
Do you use the steps in the creative process to manifest what you need?
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#creation #creativity #creationmeaning #creativeprocess #planyourfuture #thecreativebrain #creativemind #creativepeople #creativeintelligence #typesofcreativity #myfutureplans #creativegenius #thecreativeprocess #creative life #creativeimagination #beingcreative #creativebrain #creativityis #procreation #creativeflow #creativepersonality #theoriesofcreativity #acreation
What is locus of control and how does it relate to spirituality?
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#locusofcontrolmeaning #externallocusofcontrol #locusofcontroldefinition #locusofcontrol #internallocusofcontrol #locusofcontrolpsychology #internalandexternallocusofcontrol
How do you define infinite energy?
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#solarplexus #peoplesenergy #typesofenergy #infiniteenergy
Discover whether you have the gift for precognotion.
Find out more about my audio/video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
#precognition #precognitionmeaning #trustedtarot #trustedpsychics #psychictoday #psychicpredictionsfor2022 #psychicpredictions2022 #psychicliving #precognitiondefinition #2022psychicpredictions #precognitivedreams #psychicability #psychicworld #psychicdetective #thepsychics #sevensensepsychic #psychicdream #ghostmediums #psychicpredictionsfor2023 #psychicpredictions2023, #2023psychicpredictions
Discover whether you are an empath.
Find out more about my audio/video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
#empath #empathymeaning #empathsmeaning #empathyexamples #meaningofempathetic #beinganempath #empatheticperson #typesofempathy #intuitiveempath #emotionalempathy #typesofempaths #empathydef #anempath #superempath #whatsempathy #famousempaths #empathi #empathyis #personwithnoempathyiscalled #narcissistempath
What is consciousness really? Are you conscious?
Find out more about my video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
#whoamI #Iam #whoyousayIam #iknowwhoIam #IamwhoyousayIam #doyouknowwhoIam #whodoyousaythatIam #whoamItoyou #whoamIthatyouaremindfulofme #IdontknowwhoIam #don’tknowwhoIam #whoIamquestions #meaningofwhoamI #whoamIam #conscious #selfconscious #consciousmeaning #selfconsciousmeaning #collectiveconsciousness #consciousmind #Iamconscious
Discover why you feel lost or afraid, and what actions you can take to become content.
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#feelinglost #fear #fearmeaning #fearofbeingalone #fearoftheunknown #newlife #negativethoughts #badthoughts #automaticnegativethoughts #howtogetridoffear #allihavearenegativethoughts #negativethoughtsexamples #negativeautomaticthoughts #howtoovercomefearoffailure #reframingthoughts #exercisestostopnegativethinking #challengingnegativethoughts #facefear #negativethoughtsandanxiety #howtodealfear #reframingnegativethoughts
Discover what self-awareness means and what it is not. Learn how you can improve your self-awareness.
Find out more about my video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
#selfawarenessmeaning #selfawarenesscomesfrom #whatdoesselfawarenessmean #activitiesforselfawareness #whatdoesselfawarenessmean #synonymsforselfawareness #selfawarenessdef #selfawarenessdefine #selfawarenessdefined #whatdoesselfawarenessmean #selfawarenesscomesfrom #selfawarenessasaleader #selfawarenessmean #selfawarenessforleaders #selfawarenessleader
Discover what grounding means and how you can use it.
Find out more about my audio/video course "Following a spiritual path: Recovering from religion vol 1” and get a free PDF summary at this link: https://bit.ly/32zQ6Q8
Are you recovering from a past relationship that no longer exists for whatever reason, including bereavement or lost friends or a past job?
Do you need to decide whether to stay or leave your current relationship?
Listen to this book and make the best decision ever so that you can move on.
Inner trauma is reflected in your body. Get to the core with morning pages rather than depressants.
Don't wait for friends and family to appreciate you. Love yourself and others will follow.
Some parents struggle to let their children go. Children are entitled to leave the nest.
You can deal with wedding stress by not expecting a perfect wedding. What you experience before the wedding is a taste of married life.
There are times when a dreadful work situation is about our colleagues telling us to move on. Don't try and fight it - move on to a better opportunity.
You are ready for a relationship when you are ready to face the fantasy as well as the nightmare. Any relationship teaches us wisdom about ourselves.
Do you simply believe what a figure of authority tells you, or do you do your own research and make up your own mind?
Sometimes it is difficult to take responsibility for your actions, but it is always the best option.Sometimes it is difficult to take responsibility for your actions, but it is always the best option.
Religious people who believe God made everything perfect are the most vicious when it comes to accepting gay people - even their own children.
If you truly believe that the devil exists, then you will find the devil around every corner. How about rather finding God in everything?
Religious people can sometimes redefine their interpretation of God's word to the extent of being absurd. Why not just be good and do good?
Rather than mock people who are different from you, find out what makes them different and why. The knowledge gives you options that you never had before.
You can apply The Secret as much as you want, but if your thoughts sabotage you, you will not get what you want.
Everything happens at the destined time. The time is determined by your soul, and not by your body or the world around you.
There is a range of emotions that we go through as part of the grieving process. We only complete the process when we understand that we have not lost anything with the death of a person or animal, or the loss of a possession.
Our thoughts are originally cosmic waves of consciousness that we first turn into thought and then into action. There are more waves than people, so nothing prevents you from achieving your goals.
The Law of Attraction focuses on your wishes without any judgment. Ensure that you focus on what you want, rather than on what you don't want.
A journey does not only take you from point A to point B. The journey also teaches you that language is emotion more than words, and gives you experiences that are irreplaceable.
Keep learning and keep asking questions. That is a powerful way of breaking down boundaries.
Don't believe everything you read in the Bible. There is much truth hidden behind prejudice and wrong translations.
If you believe in and celebrate Christmas, you may choose not to read the rest of this article, because I respect your choice and wishes and have no desire to change you or your beliefs.
If you don’t believe in Christmas or you have not made up your mind yet, read on. I may have some interesting information for you.
I am not convinced that a person called Jesus ever lived. I have read widely on the subject and can put forward a convincing argument that Jesus did exist, that he spent a fair number of years travelling the world (including countries as far away as India and the current United States), that he eventually was crucified and survived that experience, and then got married to Mary Magdalene. Apparently, they had three children and then got divorced, and Jesus was last heard of when he was still alive and well into his seventies.
On the other hand, I can also put forward a convincing argument that Jesus was a resurrection of the myth of a virgin birth, where the ruling tyrant wanted the baby dead. The baby became an adult, was worshipped as a savior and put to death on a cross between two thieves. He then rose from the dead and ascended to heaven. Other mythical characters that had the same history include Bacchus, Narcissus, Zoroaster, Cadmus of Greece and a list that is too long to repeat here.
It also makes no sense to me that a monotheistic religion such as Christianity then breaks down their one God into three gods which includes this figure, Jesus.
I was impressed at how flexible and adaptable religion is, and how big an impact the Christian Jesus has even had on other religions, when I discovered what the Hindus did with Christmas, which is not a traditional Hindu holiday. In 1985 a five-day festival named Pancha Ganapati was created by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami along with elders of various Hindu groups.
During the festival of Pancha Ganapti Hindus create and decorate a shrine in the main living room of the home. The focus if the shrine is a statue of Lord Ganesha. Every day the children of the home dress the statue in a different color. On 23rd and 24th December, the third and fourth day of this five-day festival, presents are handed out. Now the Hindu children can also receive presents and not feel left out when the rest of the world goes mad on tinsel and sanctimonious songs.
Apparently, the tradition of having a Christmas tree is rejected as a heathen practice in Jeremiah 10:2-6: “Thus saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen ... For the customs of the people are vain; for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.” I know many Christians who ignore this part of their Good Book but insist that the rest is true.
Why does Santa Claus always dress in red and white? Because he works very hard on Christmas Eve delivering gifts to children all around the world, and when he gets thirsty, he stops and drinks Coca Cola out of a red and white can. Yes, that company decided that Christmas was really about the spirit of Santa Claus, and they decided to dress him in company colors.
And to think all of this started with a Public Relations job that was commissioned by the Christian church 2 000 years ago! I wonder if they would be willing to take on the PR for my new book?
| What are your beliefs about Christmas? Why? |
I love travelling. I enjoy the butterflies and anticipation of getting on a plane. I get excited about the idea of arriving and having to find my way, especially when I do not understand the language and where the country is different.
But I also enjoy discovering beauty and interesting history near my house. England is one of those countries where even the mundane probably has a history of one or more centuries. And like other European countries, they are proud of their history and happy to display their knowledge to anyone who wants to listen.
But what has all this to do with a spiritual journey, you might ask? Everything.
A spiritual journey is much more than packing your bags to visit a holy place. There are people who go to a graveyard regularly to talk to those that are buried. Other people visit a spa and get pampered from head to toe. Others simply sit in a garden and regain their balance. Then there are people who survive trauma such as bereavement, divorce, rape, torture, redundancy, and so on, and become an inspiration to others. And others go shopping to release their stress.
How do these journeys qualify as spiritual journeys?
The tarot major arcana describes our journey through life. We enter life as innocent fools, and have various experiences that cover every aspect of life. We choose to have a particular slant, such as emotions, intellect, money, or faith. We also choose a life theme, such as Love, Justice, Judgement, Temperance or any combination of the major arcana.
People like to think of themselves as unique, because we are all unique. Each one of us chooses a different combination of aspects that we want to explore in our lives. Then we get born.
Our spiritual journey on earth commence when we choose to inhabit a body and those cells start to multiply and divide after conception. From that moment, we are destined to have a spiritual journey on earth. When we also choose the experience of a journey such as a pilgrimage or hajj or any other form, the journey is more intense during that time, because of our focus.
Does this mean a still-born or aborted baby does not have a spiritual journey? No. They have their own journey which coincides with the mother’s journey, and with the journeys of everyone that are affected by them. When the medical doctor or nurse or chaplain or social worker deals with the consequences of death at any stage, they do so because they chose to explore matters such as life and death as part of their own lives. They cannot do so unless other souls are willing to participate in these journeys.
We have conflict in our lives and it gets resolved. We have troublesome relationships and grow from them. We doubt ourselves and find our confidence. We have traumatic experiences and recover from them. We feel the intense joy of being loved and we have our senses stimulated by nature. All of these happen for a reason.
Every single experience we have in life is planned as part of our spiritual journeys.
Do we have to be spiritually aware to gain from these experiences? No. Where a person claims to be an atheist, they are still able to love and be loved. You can be very religious and still experience intense gratitude or have out-of-body experiences.
You may not want to put a label of spirituality on any experience you have, or you may shy away from describing anything in your life as spiritual, but that does not make anyone less spiritual.
On the other hand, going on a pilgrimage of any kind does not make you more spiritual either. You may raise your awareness by doing a consciously spiritual journey, but when you started out in life you were on a spiritual journey, just like the person who chose not to do a pilgrimage.
And when we leave this world, we will continue our spiritual journey, because it is an eternal journey regardless of what you believe about any life after this.
If you have already packed for your journey, take my advice. Leave half of your stuff behind, so that you can make space for new discoveries. If you insist on travelling with a full suitcase, expect your body to protest. Expect physical illness and exhaustion. If you are afraid of your physical journey, your body will protest, but that is only the symptom of your fear of a spiritual journey. And there is nothing you can do to avoid your spiritual journey – you cannot even die, because the journey continues after your death.
If you only pack half your stuff, expect to bring back not only gratitude and joy, but also new challenges – that is proof that you are alive and still on your journey.
| What is the nature of your spiritual journey? How do you gain from your journey? |
I like to believe that there is good in every person, and all we need to do is keep looking and keep loving.
I am also realistic because life has taught me that this approach only works up to a point. Some people are on this earth to spread poison and malice, and with the best will in the world you cannot change them, because their mission is not to change.
There have been times in my life when I was so bombarded with negative energy that I felt I was being dragged down into the same space as the people who projected their lack of self-love on me. I have had to make some very hard decisions about people that were supposed to be close to me, but who were clearly out to destroy me. I had to distance myself from those people and it was very painful but necessary for my own survival.
The consequence was that by detaching myself from the person and the situation, I discovered what those people had to teach me. I was then able to appreciate the wisdom I gained from them and think of them with unconditional love - or so I thought. The love was there, but on condition that despite my gratitude towards them, I had to stay away from them if I wanted to be my true self.
I discovered that as people we are not capable of unconditional love, but we are capable of forgiveness - in the sense that forgiveness means understanding what those people have had to teach us, and feeling gratitude for the wisdom we gained from our experience.
Social media is no different from life - in fact, social media contacts are probably even more intense and instructive than having personal contact with people.
When we have personal contact with people, we can lie and pretend, and get away with it for a while. With social media, every word and sentence you type carries its own energy, and people pick up on that energy, even if they deny that such energy exists.
On social media I have blocked contact with a handful of people of the type of "hi mem I want to merry nice amerikin girl mem do you life alone mem". I have blocked contact with one other person who was incredibly destructive and who on more than one occasion had a field day while intoxicated, only to brag about the situation afterwards.
I do believe in freedom of speech, and I also believe that bad energy rubs off. There are times when you must decide to either love and leave a contact, or be dragged down to the level where that contact feels comfortable. This is no different from life away from the internet, just more intense and therefore happening much faster.
If you ever decide to block a social media contact, I trust that you will do it with love and understanding rather than with anger and resentment.
| Have you ever needed to walk away from a person who dragged you down? What wisdom did you gain from the experience? |
Are there things in your past that you would rather forget? Do you regret things you did, or opportunities that you missed?
Do you sometimes think how different your future will be if only you could change your past? Now there is a scary thought - why would you want to change your past?
Think of your life as a series of events. Each event has a purpose, otherwise it would not happen.
Now think of all those events that you would rather forget or wipe out. What was the purpose of each one of those events? How did each one of them contribute to making you the person you are today? And what kind of person would you have been had it not been for those events?
For example, you had the opportunity to study and get a qualification. At the time, you did not want to take on the financial obligations, and you could not imagine yourself being disciplined enough to study for three years. Instead, when your parents finally kicked you out of the nest, you took the first job that came your way. You earned enough to survive and have a good time with your friends.
Then one morning you woke up and realized what you had done by turning down the opportunity to study.
What is next? Too often you get caught in a spiral of self-blame and self-pity. You focus on the missed opportunities and you tell the younger generation not to do what you have done.
Do you step back and identify and appreciate everything you have done in the meantime? Do you think of the people who look up at you as their natural leader? Do you list the skills you have gained along the way? Do you look at yourself as a unique person with character traits that are not taught as part of any formal qualification, such as empathy, using your discernment to decide who should be given a hand up and who should be left to learn from their "mistakes", how to manage your finances, and so on? The list of what you have learned because of the route you took is often far longer than the list of things you believe you have lost.
So here is the choice: remain stuck in the past and continue to regret and resent the path you have taken, or make a list of everything you have gained and learned, that made you the person you are today. Who you are right now is a result of your past, and also your foundation for the future, regardless of how you choose to deal with your past.
The foundation is there. You can use half of it and build a future full of self-blame and self-pity, or you can use the entire foundation and build a future based on appreciation and gratitude for who you have become.
You will make the choice that is right for you.
| Which past experience do you still need to recognize as a source of wisdom? Do you resent your past because you have not yet found the lesson in the experience? |
If I were to get a new pendant, which design will say most about me?
Of course, I can wear a cross, but which version?
There is the simple +, a symbol of the distant planet Nibiru, which crosses the orbits of many of the planets in our solar system as it approaches the sun every 3 600 years. The design may be significant, but a bit boring, I think.
Then there is the T or Tau, which was used as a symbol of divinity on the sculptures of Isis and Osiris. This is also the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, signifying the last word of God. The Tau cross is also a symbol of immortality - but do I want to be immortal and outlive my granddaughter?
I could choose the ‘Jesus cross’, ✝. This had nothing to do with Jesus until long after Christianity came along. This cross was a symbol of consecration of holy objects, but around 1 700 years ago, it became the symbol of the crucifixion of Jesus. Did you know that the Mormons (a version of the Christian faith) do not even allow this type of cross in their churches? Do I want to wear something that represents pain and suffering? I suppose it is in the eye of the beholder.
But how about the ankh, ☥, known as the "knot of eternity", which has been used by both the ancient Egyptians and the Koi San for healing purposes? Many of the Nguni-speaking people such as the Zulu, Xhosa and Swazi believe that the ankh represents their sun god. I was told that the ankh also represents the Nile river with its seven deltas. Either way, it looks beautiful as a piece of jewelry.
I also like the visual image of the extra twist in the swastika, which is an ancient Hindu and Buddhist symbol of peace and completion of four principles working together. The Chinese use the swastika as a symbol of good luck - tempting! However, the swastika was taken over and abused by Hitler and his cronies - a real pity, because they turned a beautiful symbol of sacred fire into a symbol of evil. I like to think that I make up my own mind about things, but would I want to be a target of other people's ignorance? Sad.
Maybe I should consider a pentacle. . .
I have come across this illustration of the pentacle, explaining its Wiccan meaning.
(Acknowledgement to Wiccan Parents on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=499565270130956&set=a.350988751655276.87248.350985608322257&type=1&relevant_count=1)
OK, so it is not quite a cross, but I like what it symbolizes. Did you notice the five vowels (a, e, i, o, u)? Some Wiccans also believe that the circle around the star represents unity and wholeness, or mankind surrounded by Divinity (I like that).
I am undecided between a pentacle and an ankh …
| What symbols represent your faith? What do you know about the history of the symbols? |
These are instructions for the best journaling method I have ever encountered. If I remember correctly I first read about it in ‘The Artist's Way’, a book by Julia Cameron. Believe me, it is potent - as long as you stick to the rules.
Get yourself an A4 exercise book. Set your alarm for about 30 minutes earlier than normal and have the book and a pen ready next to your bed. If this is impossible, leave the journal for when you are really tired and ready for bed - but early morning works best in my experience.
When you wake up, start writing immediately.
Here are the rules - and for best results, DON'T CHEAT:
Write your journal first thing in the morning, before you do anything else and before you are fully awake. This is so that you can make best use of the ‘sleep mode’ that your brain is still in. The little censor in your head who tells you what is OK to write and what is not, is still asleep and you will have free reign.
Write down anything that is in your mind, without questioning it. It may be the dream that you just left, or an issue that occupies your mind, anything. Just keep writing without thinking at all.
Write three pages and then STOP, even if it is in mid-sentence. Once you have completed three pages, you are awake and you lose the benefits of sleep mode.
Do NOT stop until you have written three pages. If you don't know what to write next, then write exactly that, until the next thought comes into your mind.
Don't tell anyone that you are keeping this journal. The moment you do so, you may be questioned about what you write down, and the censor kicks in and you may become aware of what you write. You don't need that kind of pressure from anyone.
DON'T read what you have written at any time during the first two months - not for any reason. It does not matter what you write. What matters is that you write. After two months, you can read back what you have written - or not.
What can you expect when you follow these rules? Your handwriting will fluctuate - it will be small, large, all over the place, very tidy, illegible, too much pressure on the page, whatever. It does not matter. The journal is between you and yourself, and nobody else will see it.
Expect to be quite emotional at times. Don't try to avoid the tears - keep tissues nearby. When you follow this method, you allow your demons to come out in a safe manner and this is very healing.
Expect to ask questions. You will write what is in your mind at the time, and you will get answers - trust me. You may not like some answers, you may not believe other answers, and others will be pure wisdom, but that does not matter. Just accept - this all comes from you and it is OK.
This is the cheapest and most effective therapist I have ever met.
| What technique have you used to help you make sense of your life experiences? |
Have you ever had one of those experiences where you ask yourself:” Why have things gone so wrong for me? What have I done to deserve this?”
I have had many of them over the years. When I was still a church goer, the standard sanctimonious answer was “Just suffer through it. One day you will see the reason why God has punished you like this, and then you will understand.”
It made no sense to me whatsoever that this old man with a beard sitting up there in the clouds would ‘punish’ me with things like a broken leg, a divorce, redundancy, trusted friends who disappointed and betrayed me and so on.
Surely, He had other, more useful things to do with His time than to think out these various ‘punishments’ for me? And if He really was gunning for me, then he had his knife in for everyone around me as well, because they each had their own version of ‘punishment’.
The funny thing was that over the years I did discover why things had happened to me – and no, it had absolutely nothing to do with punishment for my sins.
I discovered that sin had nothing to do with my ‘evil’ nature. For me, sin happens when I move away from my true, loving nature. And guess what? I am not the only person who has a loving nature. The more I looked around, the more I discovered that the world is filled with good, kind, loving people.
All of these people experienced their own version of ‘sin’. All of them wanted to know why unpleasant things happened to them.
The question I asked myself was: why was it that while I had these bad experiences, I could not understand why or what was happening to me, but later, looking back, they all made complete sense to me?
This triggered my search for the meaning of human experiences. My reasoning was that if we all must go through these experiences, surely, we could expedite them if we knew their purpose?
My quest has led me to two conclusions. The first is that there really is a purpose behind every experience – but it has nothing to do with punishment or suffering. Life is one massive experience, filled with a series of smaller experiences. Every single life experience we have is part of a bigger Plan.
For most of our lives we are not aware of this Plan. We just get through every day, and we have no idea of what happens to us and how we learn and grow.
The second conclusion is that it is easier to find the reason for an experience once you have been through it.
For most of our conscious experiences, we have a plan and we focus on the outcome. Once we have achieved the desired outcome, we are happy because we have achieved our objectives. But all of these plans that we consciously achieve are one-dimensional. Whatever we achieve is always less than we are capable of, for various reasons.
Then we have other experiences that we regard as ‘bad luck’ or co-incidence or other people’s mistakes that we must suffer for. We often feel that these experiences are out of our control. We like to blame other people for them.
I have discovered that these ‘unplanned’ experiences are the really meaningful ones. They are multi-dimensional. They are not measured by formulas or outcomes of achieved goals. They are the meaningful experiences which teach us far more than anything we can consciously plan.
For us to have successful lives, we must go through these more complex experiences.
Does this mean that we must first experience everything and then only later understand the meaning? Initially, yes. It is only much later, when we have learned to decipher and respect the code of life, that we become aware of the meaning of an experience while we are having it.
We first must be in the picture and experience the picture. Only once we know every corner of the picture, do we learn the skill of detachment. Then we can still be in the picture, but a part of us can step out of the frame and look at the picture from the outside in. You cannot see the picture when you are in the frame.
This new view helps us to learn our life lessons much quicker.
Don’t confuse detachment with denial.
Denial is a pressure cooker which can boil over at any minute. Denial is a bomb waiting to explode. Denial is something that you need to deal with, and the only way to deal with it is to stay in the picture until you can happily smile and enjoy being in the picture.
Detachment, on the other hand, will only occur when you have learned that being in your picture is natural and normal. Once you take ownership of your life, you stop reacting and start responding.
That is when you can step out of the frame and see the whole picture. That is when you understand the meaning of your experiences and understand that every single experience was a blessing.
| Think back to a life-changing experience you have had. In what way did the experience make you a wiser, more self-loving person? |
I don’t know if you have noticed how organized religion keeps compromising in an effort to keep people in the church. I am not referring to one specific religion either.
If you are part of the religion, these compromises are probably the most logical thing to do. However, looking in from the outside, sometimes I can only shake my head.
I remember many years ago, in the 70’s, the furor that women caused in my congregation by actually going to church with a bare head. The rule was that a woman had to cover her head when entering a church, but a man had to take his hat off. Why? What is wrong with a woman’s hair? And why the different treatment for men and women? But the church could not stop the trend and had to change the rule. Today women go to church without hats.
I once went into the cathedral in Cologne where a male tourist was instructed by a stern-faced cleric to remove his hat. I was tempted to take that same hat and put it on my head, just to see whether I would also be challenged. And would God have noticed that any of His/Her rules were broken? Whose rule is it anyway?
I was still a church-goer when the Christian church in my culture had their big soul-searching about allowing woman preachers. This was at a time when feminism was the rage, and of course the church kicked against this new trend.
The solution was to allow woman preachers to be trained (this required two university degrees and was quite expensive) and then to use them in “soft” positions namely working in old age homes or with children. This way they could be side-lined and were not able to ‘do too much damage’.
Of course, right-minded women ignored such nonsense and chose different careers, and the church got its way while appearing to adapt.
This strategy of compromise is still being used.
There has been much conflict in the Anglican Church over the past few years about accepting gay clerics. I cannot understand why and how one’s sexual organs and how you choose to use them are of so much concern to the church. Surely the church is about faith and what happens in your heart and mind?
Anyway, a proposed solution is to settle for two styles of Anglicans – those who accept gay people and those who do not accept gay people. Then the church’s agenda does not need to be questioned. The point is that the number of bodies should keep growing, because for every person who gets disillusioned and leaves, there should at least be a replacement.
The Hindu faith also designed a compromise. In the Hindu faith, there is no Christmas celebration, which traditionally meant no Christmas presents at a time when most other religions exchanged presents.
However, in 1985 a five-day festival named Pancha Ganapati was created by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami along with elders of various Hindu groups.
During the festival of Pancha Ganapti Hindus create and decorate a shrine in the main living room of the home.
The focus of the shrine is a statue of Lord Ganesha. Each day the children of the home dress the statue in a different color and they get presents.
This is a very recent appendage to the ancient Hindu faith, but why not? Problem solved, and people can get and give presents like the rest of the world – and the retailers are rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of all the new customers.
Compromise is such a mighty tool that it can even change a person’s race. In Judaism, a child’s race, and by default their faith, is determined by the mother’s race, and by default her faith.
When a Jewish man marries a non-Jewish woman, the woman can ‘become’ Jewish by going through a program of accepting the Jewish faith. Problem solved – and let’s not talk too much about the racial classification and rock the boat. What is important is that the man is retained for the faith, and the woman expands the faith by bearing children of the correct ‘race’.
Speaking of Judaism – I heard a lovely story the other day about compromise on an individual level. A Jewish merchant visited some old (Christian) friends and business colleagues on his rounds. He happened to arrive at a time where the family were ready to have their supper, and with typical hospitality they invited their guest to share.
But then the hostess started apologizing because the meal included pork sausages and she wanted to be hospitable but did not want to offend her guest. The Jewish merchant solved the problem by laughingly saying “But Ruby, must you give it a name?” as he took his seat at the table and helped himself to the sausages. Good for him!
| What practices have you changed to confirm your beliefs? This question does not only relate to organized religion. For example, do you meditate? |
Soldiers choose to kill from the base chakra, while entertainers provide joy based in the heart chakra.
If you preach religious tolerance, then you must practice it, even when you are challenged.
Hating another person is not a solution to anything. Finding a more practical means of resolving a problem is much more useful.
Don't stress about what has not happened yet because if you do, you create your nightmare.
The loss of a loved one and grieving can cause mild depression. Using a diary can help you recover quicker.
Sometimes people get stuck in grief. If you are willing to accept help moving on, there is a lovely life waiting for you.
Dis-ease and illness get our bodies off balance, and that impacts on our mental and emotional health.
How you use your own sexuality is your choice. How you use the sexuality of others is abuse.
When everything is wrong, you are very close to big changes where everything goes right.
We cannot change the choices our parents make. We can only love them for what they teach us.
Some children are skinny. Love them for who they are and ignore other people's comments.
Parents should not make their children feel guilty about growing up. Children don't owe their parents anything for the decisions the parents make.
There comes a time when we have to let go of our children and trust that they will make the decisions that are best for them.
Getting a sibling when you are already an adult requires you to re-think and adjust to many things.
Children are entitled to live their own lives. Parents should not deny their children the freedom to become adults.
When a door closes, don't try to kick it open Rather look for the opportunity that opens up.
Some stagnated relationships are just a phase, while others are due to fear of letting go.
Where people jump from one sexual relationship to another, the subscript often relates to a life script of betrayal and rejection.
Where people jump from one sexual relationship to another, the subscript often relates to a life script of betrayal and rejection.
A relationship ends on many different levels. You need patience with yourself while working on the different levels.
Don't judge the actions of others that you don't understand. Rather observe, learn and decide what you want to apply in your life. You may want to change your mind later based on your own experience.
Some people thrive on stressing about everything. Rather than reassure them, tell them you respect their choice to stress but there are other choices available.
A relationship and parenting are partnerships. This means two people must make an equal contribution.
When your partner is insecure, they need to deal with it. Don't allow them to use up your energy.
We are all relationship material - that is the purpose of life. What did you learn from your failed relationships?
Meditation is a means of resolving your own issues. God does not take responsibility for your decisions, but rather equips you to make better decisions.
OK, first let me explain what forgiveness means. Forgiveness is definitely not a smarmy ‘I will look down on you and turn the other cheek so that I can be the martyr’. It is also not ‘I will be the judge, jury and executioner and forgive but – how dramatic – never forget’. If your version of forgiveness is anything like that, you will suffer from lack of forgiving for a long time to come. You may even end up with physical symptoms of this lack of forgiveness eating away at you – cancer, blocked arteries and what not.
So what is forgiveness then?
We have all sorts of challenges throughout our lives. We have conflict on so many levels – with work colleagues, friends, relatives, and also within ourselves. You know as well as I do there is no way to avoid all conflict in life. Even if you try, the harder you try to avoid conflict, the harder it pursues you.
Every person that you have conflict with is an actor on a larger stage called life. You are also an actor on the same stage.
We have these conflicts because each one of them forces us to learn more about ourselves. We finally ‘get it’ and we understand why we needed to go through the experience. Sometimes the lessons are easy, for example we clash on the sports field so that we can prove who is the strongest. Understanding that lesson is forgiving your opponent for hurting you.
Other times the lessons are more serious, for example when you trusted a friend who stabbed you in the back. Maybe you saw the warning signals long before the incident happened, but you chose to ignore your intuition and the situation got out of hand, and instead of saying ‘Now I know that next time I should trust my intuition’ we say ‘that person is a so-and-so and I will never forgive him’. Guess what? While you roll around at night thinking about this person, they sleep like a baby. While you spit fire whenever someone mentions this person, your body bears the brunt in stress while this ‘bad’ person doesn’t care. Once you see what the lesson was about, you will realise it was all about you, your understanding, your experience, and none about the person you needed to forgive.
So why is it so difficult to forgive? Because we love to wallow in the ‘injustice’ that people do to us. We get stuck on one thought and don’t move on to the next one.
However, if you ask yourself ‘what am I learning?’ every time the thought appears, eventually the answer will follow your question. If you follow this process until you no longer have any ‘negative’ thoughts about the person you need to forgive, you will finally get the answer. Once you fully understand, the knowledge is embedded in every cell of your body, and there is no looking back. Then you have forgiven.
How long does this take? How long is a piece of string?
But if you don’t start today, you could spend a lifetime resenting and no time forgiving.
This is a perfect time to think of the list of people you need to forgive, and ask ‘what’s in it for me?’ about each of them.
Do you dream at night? Of course you do – everyone does. If you tell me that you don’t remember all your dreams, I will believe that.
If you don’t remember your dreams, do this: before you go to bed, simply ask in your mind to remember whatever you dream, and leave it at that. At some point you will remember a dream.
For those who do remember dreams, keep a notebook next to your bed. When you do remember a dream, write down all the details you can remember. Focus especially on objects, animals and your own emotions. Then, when you have time, do some research on the internet and find out about the symbols in your dreams. You will discover that each object, animal or emotion may have several meanings. You will know which meaning resonates with you.
Over time, your dreams bring information to you and reflect your life and your own personal development. This is especially the case with dreams about your house – and I don’t mean the physical house you are living in in this world.
To give you an example: I often dream about my house – and the house has changed over time. Thirty years ago, the dreams were really upsetting because every room in my house had a toilet and I was forever scrubbing toilets – to the extent that I did not want to go to sleep so that I could avoid dreaming. Looking back, that was the time when I was very unhappy in my marriage.
Later on the house changed – it became a multi-story palace with many rooms. Each room was richly decorated, and I was short of nothing, but the house scared me. I was alone in the house, and it was too much for me. This was about the time when I was first exploring my clairvoyance (which was amazing) and at the same time I had to deal with the rejection of my culture and religious heritage which no longer made sense to me.
Recently I dreamt about being in my house again. I loved it there, but noticed that there were twenty doors from which you could enter the house. Some of them were locked, and others were not. None of the doors had keys. I resolved to buy new locks so that I could replace all of the locks and be able to decide who can come in where. What makes you think that I have never had as much control over who I am as I have now?
Listen to your dreams. They speak a secret language that you can learn to decipher. They give you ideas, warn you, teach you, and get you to explore a whole different world.
Sweet dreams …
Followers of the Christian faith choose for a few weeks every year to give up something that they like for forty days as proof of their faith. An even larger number of people decide to have an ‘earth hour’ during which they focus on conserving energy by switching of lights. The members of the Baha’i faith have their annual nineteen-day fast, and the Muslims have Ramadan.
What is wrong with this picture? The same as with every picture where people go to church on Sundays (or on the day your faith demands) and do everything different because it is a day to prove their faith.
There is a process where we become aware of what I will call a quantum vibration. We then slowly form a thought. This thought turns into words, and then into action.
When does this happen? It happens all the time – even when you are asleep. It does not stop – not ever, not even when you die and leave your body behind. This is the nature of consciousness.
What does this have to do with faith?
Whatever the basis of your faith - whether you are part of any organised religion or not - this is the process that all of us follow all the time. We are not even aware of the process.
Does your faith change during lent or on a Sunday because you give up chocolate or wine for forty days or go to church every Sunday? Did your attitude towards conserving the earth and energy change because you switched off a few lights? Probably not.
We do not live our lives in boxes with different labels like Sunday/work/eating or whatever we want to call them. We first feel the quantum vibration, regardless of what it relates to. Then we put those vibrations into words or actions or both, and only then do we decide which box to put the words or actions into.
Deciding to have an ‘earth hour’ makes no difference. Accepting that we have abundance, and that with abundance comes a 24-hour responsibility, makes a permanent difference. Accepting that you can have as much chocolate as you want any time of the year, and that with that abundance comes a permanent responsibility towards your body, makes a permanent difference.
How about not observing an hour or a week or even a month of austerity, but rather observing a lifetime of responsible abundance?