roger

I'm not totally sure what "humble" is, but I'll tell you one thing that's for sure: Only people who feel GOOD about themselves can be humble. Arrogance and negative pride are traits of people who are insecure.

Well, let me add two points to the idea that we already have what we really want. Take the idea that you are WORTHY. I've noticed that people, including myself, look to sexual experience to feel worthy. There are some women I've known of who openly admit that they only feel worthy when a man is inside them. But you see, if these women REALLY knew, if they really REALLY knew that they are ENTIRELY worthy, they wouldn't NEED sex to feel worthy. Another idea is that we're innocent. ACIM says that addictions come from GUILT. So therefore is a person really and truly, fully BELIEVED in their innocence (that they are absolutely guilty of nothing), then they wouldn't be addicted. I can think of other examples such as the fact that we're all equals, and that we already have the ONENESS we seek through sex. It's one thing to merely "intellectually assent" to the divine truth about us, it's another thing to fully believe and accept it. A quote from ACIM: "If you could have a moment of complete belief, you would move from belief to Certainty." Btw, just for the record, and for humility's sake, I, myself, have NOT had my moment of "complete belief," or what Neale Donald Walsch calls one's moment of "perfect knowing." Of course, everyone ALREADY knows with utter certainty deep within, we just have to remember that knowing.

Know that sexual desire is a longing for one's "divine nature," for LOVE. It just takes the APPARENT FORM of sexual desire. It is God/love/Tao/Buddha Nature, that the individual truly wants and needs. The Hindus say that all desire is a desire for sat-chit-ananda.....which is absolute existence-consciousness-bliss......which is one's divine nature. The thing is that everyone ALREADY HAS this "divine nature," they just need to know it!

One way to look at it, Nine Tailed Fox, is that we are all EQUALS. No one is "better" or "worse" in any way. Except, perhaps RELATIVELY speaking. What I believe is that everyone is PERFECT. Everyone loves everyone. We are all equally WORTHY. Fear, weakness, hatred, arrogance, and guilt are only ILLUSIONS. Archangel Michael (who was being channeled at the time) told me once that "You have no weakness, they are all illusions." You have no fear, no weakness, no REAL lack of love within you. You're already perfect. People might not be satisfied with themselves until they accept this.

Hi everyone. I joined this website because I want to "connect" with others regarding spiritual matters. Basically, I believe, as most people here do, that we're all forms or manifestations of the Ultimate Reality, God or Tao, Buddha Nature, whatever you want to call it. My desire is to honor and recognize that universal essence in everyone, and therefore to find it within myself. I believe other people are our greatest teachers, and I want to learn from the people here, and maybe you'll gain something from me also. I'm very respectful, you won't hear me tell anyone they're wrong to believe whatever they believe, or being judgmental towards anyone. They best way to heal may be to not judge and to just accept everyone as they are. But don't get me wrong, often I can't help but to judge people if I feel mistreated by them. I'd rather not be that way, I would rather be utterly forgiving and not be so sensitive, but I guess this is just "where I am right now." The fact is I seem to get hurt very easily. Maybe you all can help me with that. Whether you can or not, I'm here to love and honor everyone, and I look forward to me experience here. Peace to you all. Roger

That's a very interesting idea, and one that God spoke about to Neale Donald Walsch. What God said was, "I teach you that the trees are not the forest." The way I interpret this is that SPECIFIC things do not necessarily reflect the truth about EVERYTHING. An example is if a young girl is abused by her father, she might grow up hating MEN. She mistook ONE "TREE" for the ENTIRE "FOREST." Suppose I've had a handful of girlfriends who ended up being serious bitches. I might then believe that I could NEVER have a successful relationship, because ANY woman I had would be that way. But that's obviously not true. What I would need to do is see that not ALL women are cruel just because the SPECIFIC women I've known were.

Urpflanze, That's a very interesting quote. Thanks for sharing it. The right brain sees the context, the left brain the details. Right brain sees the forest, left brain, the trees. That's amazing.

Thanks Cat. I've enjoyed this conversation and learned some things. Peace.

EVERYONE wants love. Everyone without exception, whether they realize it or not. The supreme irony is that we ALREADY HAVE and even ARE the love we desire and seek so desperately. KNOW IT!

I feel that it happens once, and it's a done deal. I went on a retreat many years ago, and I opened my heart, and it's remained open ever since. It happened in a single interpersonal encounter in which another person and I exchanged very, very great love. Also, many teachers speak of "opening the heart center," and there seems to be the universal implication that one has either DONE this, or they HAVEN'T.

I would definitely say yes. As I see it, we must first WANT to forgive, THEN we will be willing to. So DESIRE comes first, and willingness follows. This must be why many people have to hit rock bottom before they become willing- before they hit bottom, they don't truly WANT to change. It's like quit smoking, first you WANT to, then you become WILLING.

I think the key is WILLINGNESS, Cat. You gotta WANT it. Sometimes people have to suffer profoundly before they become willing. Many have to "hit bottom" before they open their hearts. There are two ways to learn love and forgiveness, the easy way and the hard way. The easy way is by loving and forgiving. The hard way is by not loving and forgiving. Peace.

You know Cat, I have to be very honest with you and say that affirmations have only helped me minimally. It's kind of funny that this is just now occurring to me, because I've been repeating affirmations for years now. What HAS helped me is my search for understanding, and also Transcendental Meditation. When it comes to understanding, it seems to me that one must be very HONEST with themselves, and make a wholehearted search to find truth. Without honesty, the person will not find true clarity. And in my experience it takes great courage to be truly honest with oneself. But unless one OPENS THEIR HEART TO LOVE, they will never succeed. There's a Buddhist master who teaches that you can meditate all you want, but the only thing that will save you is to open your heart. Nothing else will do it. I think it's like meditation and other spiritual practices can serve as a SUBSTITUTE for real love. Basically, instead of divine love, some people meditate and that fills the void. But this is counter-productive and defeats the whole purpose of meditation. Open your heart to love, your mind to truth, your eyes to beauty

Hi Cat. Well, fragmentation is an illusion. Everyone is ALREADY whole. But one must somehow "remember" their wholeness, or it will just be an intellectual concept. Deep spiritual experience is necessary, which can come in a number of ways, including meditation, and possibly more importantly, through love and forgiveness. A Course in Miracles says that forgiveness is how we "remember." It also says that "forgiveness offers everything I want." So basically, my opinion is that we are already whole, but this wholeness must be remembered and experienced through loving forgiveness. The Course also says, "without forgiveness I will still be blind," so it is questionable in my mind whether it's even POSSIBLE to know one's wholeness without forgiveness. Another quote from the Course: "It is as certain that who holds a grievance will forget who he is, as it is certain that who forgives will remember." Peace to you and thanks for your post.

One thing to consider is that creativity isn't the only manifestation of right brain thinking. You're obviously very spiritual, and probably intuitive also. These are right brain functions. I remember in English class I could never come up with stories our teacher wanted us to write. But I always did well when interpreting stories. BOTH of these would be considered right brain functions. My point is just that your right brain functioning might take different FORMS than what is typically considered creativity. Just trying to point out another way of looking at it

Hi Urpflanze. I enjoyed reading your post and I have some things to say about it. There are two seemingly OPPOSITE approaches to liberation, but they have the SAME goal. You mentioned INDULGENCE, and the other way is RENUNCIATION. BOTH are valid approaches, and IT DEPENDS ON THE INDIVIDUAL which path is RIGHT FOR HIM/HER. There is no right or wrong path. It depends on the needs and desires of each individual. Some prefer indulgence, some prefer renunciation. The key is to follow the path of your HEART. Follow the path that gives you the most JOY. Some people find sensual pleasures a burden and distraction. They prefer to focus exclusively on spiritual liberation. Others find SPIRITUAL fulfillment by indulging themselves, and eventually go beyond the attachment to or need for extreme indulgence. Shortly after I got on the path, I renounced many things, in the belief that renunciation is the way to liberation. I quit smoking and drinking, I gave of all forms of sexual pleasure, I quit listening to the radio, I changed my sleeping habits, I became a vegetarian, I quit drinking caffeine, I even quit THINKING and would meditate all day long as I went through the day. This change lasted a little over a year. I then decided that it was okay for me to have pleasure and I took a path of indulgence. I think some people take a path of renunciation, and LATER begin to just do as they please, as I did. I feel that for most people in this day and age, the "middle path" is very appropriate, which is what Buddha taught. In the middle path, you don't go to extremes, you indulge, but you don't OVER-indulge. You strike a BALANCE between indulgence and healthy self-discipline. The middle path seems to me to be the most effective and self-loving approach.

Hi CC555. I have a few ideas you might find helpful. Try repeating the affirmation, "I love and respect myself, I accept myself as I am." This will help you because you're making an INTENTION to love yourself by the very act of repeating this affirmation. The truth is you ALREADY KNOW how to love yourself, you have simply "forgotten" what you already know in your heart. Repeating this affirmation will help you tap into that knowledge. Also, know that you are an infinitely beautiful, worthy, lovable, divine, and glorious being. You are a manifestation of God/Tao/Buddha Nature, however you want to put it. To get this knowledge from your head to your heart, you can repeat "I am...." affirmations. Examples are: I am worthy. I am beautiful. I am holy. I am divine. I am wonderful. Self-hatred has to do with a NEGATIVE view of yourself. So these kinds of affirmations can help you tremendously. I hope that helps.

I thought of two more things that have to do with the idea of divine justice. A Course in Miracles says that "God's Will for me is perfect happiness." And God says (if you believe it's God) in Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch that He "wills that no one suffer." So basically, God's Will for everyone is "perfect happiness" and freedom from suffering. How then could suffering EVER be God's idea of JUSTICE? That would present a contradiction in God's thinking, which would be impossible. God's WILL and God's JUSTICE can't be in conflict, or God wouldn't "WILL JUSTICE". Clearly, suffering, profound or minor, is neither God's will nor God's idea of justice.

Karma is commonly understood as the law of JUSTICE. But what is justice? Few would argue that GOD'S idea of justice is what TRUE JUSTICE really is. In other words, if God is perfect, certainly His/Her/Its understanding of justice is perfect also. But this can seem to present a conflict when it comes to "justice." It has been said that what you do/give comes back to you. Give people love, and you get it in return. Give pain, you receive the same. This is my idea of "karma." The question is, is this "justice"? Suppose a man rapes a woman in one lifetime. Is it then GOD'S idea of justice for this man to come back as a woman and get raped??? That seems to me to be highly unlikely. The God I believe in is not vengeful, and would hardly see violence as just. A Course in Miracles says, "All attack can only be unjust." Then how could the above scenario be "just"? God surely responds to wrongdoing with LOVE, not with further attack. "Two wrongs don't make a right." A loving parent wouldn't violently attack their child if he or she did something terrible. Rather, they would seek to understand the child, and then work to correct his or her errors through loving instruction and wise counsel. Also (if you believe in channeling), Jesus says through one of his human channels, Paul Ferrini, that "the only reason what you do comes back to you is so you can become aware of what you have created." In other words, "karma," the law of cause and effect, isn't really about punishment, but simply owning and being responsible for one's choices. Anyway, there are other manifestations or aspects of the idea of karma, but I just wanted to share my ideas about the law of giving and receiving, and how that relates to divine justice. Peace to all.

Hi everyone. I think I found an effective solution to many of my problems, and it may apply to many of you also, so I'd like to share this with you all. Often, when people come together, there is a "shared karma," a problem or issue that they all share, which they reflect or mirror for each other. It's like the idea that "like attracts like." People metaphysically attract others who share a similar karma. All my life I've had great difficulty with my emotions. I've had a tendency to be far overly sensitive, and to get hurt very easily. Guilt and shame have been constant companions for me as well. It's not this emotional turmoil that I think many people here have, but rather, the REASON I've had these problems which is that I didn't feel WORTHY. Many of you believe that everyone is divine, or a manifestation of Tao, God, or however you want to put it. And I just want to share with you all that you, along with all beings, are 100% WORTHY of that divine nature. Period. If any of you reading this feel at all unworthy, or that you're not "good enough," that you're inferior or "less than" in any way.....then relinquish such thoughts once and for all immediately. YOU ARE WORTHY! YOU ARE WORTHY! Amen! You will never be more worthy (or less) than you already are, for you are already the eternal Tao. Roger

Thanks for the warm welcome, Steve.

Thanks Cat. Nice to be here.

3bob, you said there is no disconnect between "ultimate" and "relative" reality. That seems to me to be the point and the whole meaning of the idea of "illusions." A friend of mine once said, "The relative is but the dancing appearance of the absolute." The absolute, in my mind, is God, Tao, Buddha Nature, love, perfection. And the world of phenomenon, of time and space, is just the FORM that that absolute takes. Enjoyed reading this thread.

I enjoyed reading some of your blog, and thanks again for the links about the SFQ healings.

Thanks again, Pythagoreanfulllotus. I'm gonna try Spring Forest Qigong again. I've experimented with it before, but only for a very short period of time. You've inspired me to try it again. My brother originally introduced me to the "Paraliminals" and to SF Qigong. He is also the one who told me about this website. Thanks for sharing that link about all the healings SFQ has helped people find. I think I'll try SFQ again, but this time for a longer time than I originally did.