old world vs new world part 10

(photo courtesy russellreno)

The business -- and life -- mantra for the new world must become: How can I help you to succeed?

old world vs new world part 9

(photo courtesy henkster)

adult spirituality isn't about the books or seminars or films or businesses or healing centers we create, it's about how we treat each other in the process of creating these things.

listening

(photo courtesy tom@hk)

We are moving out of a time when we focused on trying to solve ourselves and each other, and into a time when we honor each person's journey.

A time when the most healing energy we can offer others -- and ourselves -- is simply to be present for them, to listen to them without judgment, to hear their story without trying to fix them. The obsession with trying to fix things, us, the planet, has gotten us into more trouble than contributed to genuine healing.

Because when we try to fix something we start from a place that we are broken. And maybe we aren't (there are always exceptions, such as people with biological challenges, or planetary problems that we have created).

Maybe we're divine beings who chose to lose themselves in the dense world of matter in order to better understand the complexity and power and beauty of creation from within.

Maybe if we'd honored one another from the beginning without judgment, we would naturally have returned to our divine state in a more graceful and timely way.

Maybe if we'd been allowed to 'flow' without having our 'waters' diverted or damned-up by trying to fix everything, we'd have gently returned to the 'ocean' eons ago.

Offer help and encouragement, of course; share -- absolutely.

But also simply be present and listen and offer an understanding smile and a comforting hand.

That might be all the miracle someone -- and ourselves -- really needs.

Spiritual Hollywood

(photo courtesy alan light)

In the case of Hollywood, adult spirituality isn't really about making more films about spiritual folks, thought there's nothing wrong with this and it may be helpful to many on their individual paths. It's not just about maintaining the status quo while increasing personal wealth (again, nothing wrong with this) and getting to hangout with spiritual celebrities at the spa.

Billions of praying Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and New Agers haven't fundamentally changed the world, though it makes us feel better about ourselves. Christ dying on the cross and Siddartha leaving his wife and family haven't fundamentally changed the world.

"E.T" and "Saving Private Ryan" and "Ben Hur" and "Apocalypse Now" haven't fundamentally changed the world.

What changes the world is how I deal with you and how you deal with me. Changing the world is about changing individual consciousness -- and then putting it to work in the real world.

It's about honor and integrity and patience and compassion and inclusion and forgiveness and love.

It's about spreading the love and the wealth. It's about taking the time to go the extra mile than is called for. It's about treating everyone as equally important and worthy of being listened to and supported. It's about how can I make you successful?

That's how you change the world.

You change the world -- not by the products the world produces -- but by changing the way the world does business in the first place.

Not through a massive weekend box office or back-slapping at an award's show. You change the world by changing ourselves then changing others, one person at a time. One heart at a time.

And if a terrific movie comes out of that exchange, then how cool is that?

Mastery

(photo courtesy fatal cleopatra)
True mastery is not tested and achieved on the mountaintop, but in the desert, not in the ashram, but in the slum, not in the healing conference, but in the AIDS ward, not at the peace gathering, but on the battlefield. Not in the calm, but in the storm.

August 8th Visions

(photo courtesy _bastian)

I envision:

A colorful, joyful carnival at the North & South Korean border.

An international flower market and festival at Tienanmen square.

Jerusalem and Gaza and the West Bank as a global center for religious/spiritual studies filled with libraries and lecture halls and conference centers.

Iraq as a thriving metropolis.

Iran as a pluralistic society filled with global universities.

The refugee camps in Africa as wildlife parks and environmental housing projects.

The battle zones in Africa as peaceful, economically developed nations.

The slums of South and Central America as beautiful, clean and simple housing communities with parks and civic centers.

Mountainous waste dumps as parks and ecological study centers.

The oceans and lakes and streams as sparkling, clean waterways.

The sky brilliant blue, free of smog.

Leaders in Washington and all nations taking a moment of silent prayer/meditation for the highest good of all before doing business.

Wall Street and Hollywood replacing greed with the pursuit of abundance for all.

Myself as being non-judgmental, open, flexible, forgiving, loving and compassionate.

old world vs. new world part 8

(photo courtesy spiralz)
Indian 'Ten Commandments':

1. Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect. 2. Remain close to the Oneness. 3. Show great respect for your fellow beings. 4. Work together for the benefit of all humanity. 5. Give assistance and kindness wherever needed. 6. Do what you know to be right. 7. Look after the well-being of mind and body. 8. Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good. 9. Be truthful and honest at all times. 10. Take full responsibility for your actions.

old world vs. new world part 7

(photo courtesy woodley wonder works)

The world and its workings won't change until there is a change in our consciousness. We can create all the seminars and workshops and global initiatives and green industries and positive-change production companies, and we will have simply transferred the same fear-based, power-based, ego-based energies from one paradigm to another. But nothing fundamentally will have changed.

What do I mean by a change of consciousness?

Some examples:

No more locks, security codes or passwords. We are in the era of No More Secrets; the Age of Michael; the Violet Age. We either trust that there are no accidents in the universe or we don't. Period. And we also trust that what we put out we receive back. Or we don't. Period. If you steal from me than you need whatever was stolen more than I do. I trust in the universe. You do not. Yet. Besides, none of us "owns" anything. It's all on loan to us as ways to express love.

When an industry or production assistant or secretary receives a phone call on the same day from President Obama or Steven Spielberg and another call from an unknown person. Each must be treated as EQUALLY IMPORTANT. Period. After the call, and further down the line other information may come to pass that determines how much energy you direct toward that unknown person, but THE UNIVERSE REQUIRES US TO KNOW THAT EACH AND EVERY PERSON ON THE PLANT ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT. Period.

No more contracts. Our word becomes our bond. We may have basic written agreements but they are only to place in writing information we may forget or unconsciously neglect. But in the New World we either trust in the universe or we don't. Period.

No more lawsuits. I will not sue you because you will not consciously cause me harm. You will not cheat or steal from me because to do so harms yourself more than it does me. If you unconsciously cause me harm, you will accept responsibility and apologize and I will forgive you and we will move forward together because you and I ARE ONE.

My very first thought as an employer or producer or government leader must be: How can I help you to succeed? Because when you succeed, I succeed. I either believe in the Law of Attraction, or I don't. Period.

These are just a few of the changes in consciousness that must come about for us to survive the coming changes and create that New World we've never truly imagined before.

But must now.

cynicism

(photo courtesy darkpatatar)

cynicism is fear resigned into unhappiness manifesting as anger cloaked in intellectualism.

a new prayer

(photo courtesy babasteve)

Prayer, especially in the western tradition, has become somewhat of a solemn affair, usually used to invoke something from Someone for self or someone else. Nothing wrong with this. Prayer, meditation is a very good thing. Keeps one grounded, connected and a bit humbled -- not by a thundering God -- but by a stunningly powerful universe, of which we are an intimate part.

But perhaps now is the time to expand the concept of prayer to include a more...active approach. The Zen Buddhists have it right: everything can be a prayer.

Everything should be a prayer.

Everything is a prayer.

Make mowing the lawn a prayer, and not a downturned-head affair of somewhat embarrassed reflection, but a song of movement and breath and grass and sunlight and water; the weight and the rumble of an engine, the smell of oil and gas.

Make sex, whether self-pleasured or shared, a prayer. And not one of cultural or personal or religious shame and hesitation, but one of giddy and giggling and laughter-infused passion; of gratitude for the feeling of pleasure, of physical joy radiated out into the universe. A prayer of orgasm, free, open and astonishing.

Make doing the dishes and washing clothes and cleaning the house an act of prayer, an act of consciousness. For we are doing something that not even the archangels can do.

Make laughter a prayer. And sorrow. And pain. And even fear because as we face fear and acknowledge it and make it a sacred event, it delivers us to our freedom, to our light. To our Self.

Make work and typing and Internet cruising a prayer of adventure and knowledge and delight in the power of communication.

Make bowel movements and headaches and hangovers a prayer by simply being present for them, because even these we will miss profoundly when we are gone.

Make of our lives a prayer by living them honestly and openly and bravely.

Make our breath a prayer, for there is ecstasy there, and life, and the Divine.

Make death and passing a prayer of life simply lived, for this is not a journey for the faint-of-heart, regardless of our successes or failures, crimes or punishments. As Shakespeare wrote, "There is a special providence in even the fall of a sparrow."

My prayer for you: that the winds of time and life blow gently at your back.