Thursday, June 14, 2012

Blessing!

Step 2 in the Way/Tao/Path is to be willing, unconditionally, to be a blessing to others.  This, my friends, can be delightfully surprising and wonderful, and it can be scary, if we allow ourselves to feel fear. 

It's important not to feel fear, because fear is the opposite of love, and the Tao/Way/Path of Enlightenment is the Way of Love.  We never know what might happen when we allow Love to operate, and to bless through us. 

Last week, I was headed home on the DC metro one night, and arrived at the exit gate of the Takoma Station after dark, only to find myself going through the ticket gates with three young African-American guys. 

All of a sudden, I heard one singing, and he had a nice voice. So, pausing only for a split-second to debate (in my head) the pros and cons of speaking to a complete stranger in this setting, I said to him, "You have a nice voice."

One of his friends immediately retorted, "Don't encourage him!"

So, I turned (they were behind me), and said to the one who sang, "Wait a minute, how old are you?"

He replied, "Twenty-six."

I told him, "You're never too old to be told that you're good at something.  I was 30 years old before I was told that I have the gift of writing."
What followed was a conversation about writing books - the other young man has a dream of writing a sci-fi fantasy type of book, so I encouraged him to follow his dreams.  I shared with them how I was moved to write, and self-publish, my first book when Michael Jackson died.

We had a very touching conversation, standing in the semi-darkness of a metro station at night - I and three young men with whom I would never have had a conversation if I had not sought to bless one with a compliment.  I feel so grateful for this conversation.  At least the young man who plans to write did too.

Sometimes this business of being a blessing seems easy like that.  Sometiems it is a little more challenging.  The very next morning, I was running late on my walk (sometimes I have to jog a little) to the metro, when I encountered a toothless man at a bus stop along the way.

This very large man was asking me something which at first I did not understand because of his lack of teeth.  Then I realized he was asking (me!) for a cigarette.

I told him I did not have any as I kept walking.  Then he asked me for a hug.  By then, I was past him a good fifteen feet, but I turned, hesitated, and he did not help the situation by adding that he "just wanted to prove that I'm not a rapist."  Hmmm....

So, I paused and asked him if he believes in God.  He said he did.  I asked him if he believed that if I hugged him, God was hugging him too.  He said he did.  So, I walked up to a strange, large, toothless man, and gave him a hug.  He kissed me on the neck. 

I told him I had to go, and he released me from the hug, and I said something about having a blessed day, and really hurried on my way.  Okay, I confess, a small part of me was a little concerned about all this, but mostly, I truly hope that this man at the bus stop actually experienced a hug from God that day.

When's the last time that you received a hug from God from a total stranger?  When's the time you gave a hug from God to a total stranger?  I'm sure God was hugging me and kissing me, if only I could let it be just that. 

Blessing.  It's so often unexpected, both in the giving and receiving, but that is the Way/Tao/Path of Enlightenment.

May you also be blessed!
Carol

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Rise Again!

Good morning!  This is your wake-up call.  If you feel dissatisfied in any way with yourself or your life, then please listen to these words:  the change you seek begins within.

Whether you need hope, peace, love, or less anxiety, or to let go of anger, you are the one in control of these processes inside you. 

Whether you need to be treated differently, need a different income, need security in your life, you and your higher power need to cooperate together to accomplish these tasks, and your higher power is always cooperating, so the question becomes:  are you cooperating too? 

We often want the world to change around us.  We often want people to treat us differently.  We often want something to happen differently in our lives. 

So, under the pressure of all that desire, too often we seek to control people and events outside of ourselves.  This always leads to unhappiness, either in ourselves, or in others - usually in others.  The law of karma will sooner or later give us a kick-back on this.  So, if you've been receiving some karmic kick-backs, it might be time to ask why. 

Sometimes we receive karmic challenges simply so that we can gain self-mastery.  After all, we really have very little control over others, over life, and over the universe.  What we do have control over is ourselves.  So, the ultimate mastery is self-control.

When life sends us some negativity, therefore, we simply need to figure out how to rise above that negativity, and soar on a positive plane, free as an eagle from all earth-bound desires. 

Not there yet?  We will step-by-step explore how to get there.  Soaring, free and clear of attachment/desire, is the Way or the Tao of True Spirituality, which has no religion, and which is the essence of all true religion. 

Step 1:  acknowledge with faith that there is a higher way, a higher path, a higher power, and that you and the Way/Path/Power are One.  Therefore, cooperation is a necessity!

Love & Light,
Carol