Gardening for Your Soul and Your Success

Today I planted a bunch of new plants. I got some herbs, flowers, cucumbers and squash. I also got an organic spray for my tomatoes, which seem to be bugged about something. I enjoy tending to my plants, making sure they are watered and fertilized. I feel as if I am doing something worthwhile.

There are many things that can come out of a successful garden. I enjoy the flowers, eat the vegetables, and cook with the herbs. Each day I watch their progress with anticipation and satisfaction. I really enjoy watching plants grow and produce food and beauty. Maybe the best is the satisfaction of success and being a part nature at work. I feel like I am touched by the plants and their progress in way like I am touched by those who actively grow as human beings.

I appreciate watching the cycle of life that plants model so well. There is a seed. Then the seed is germinated. After first action comes the plant to the surface, into the light. It grows well with good care. When it bears fruit the cycle is at its most robust phase. Harvest extends for a while and then the plant goes quiet and readies to return after sleep or ends it’s cycle.

The sounds a lot like us humans. We begin as a very small unit of life, seed or egg. Then germination takes place and this life moves into gear forming the body, which will eventually come out into the light. From there comes the cycles of childhood, teenage adjusts and young adulthood. I watch young parents and know they have to be at a very robust place to thrive in the midst of raising a family. When the family grows up and goes away we humans adjust by focusing on other things. In India many later in life focus on their inner work trying to be fully conscious. After awhile we age and get old. Then we leave this life and body behind. If you believe in the transmigration of the soul then you think of yourself coming back again like a plant who reawakens.

If you have a nice size pot or several pots, or a plot of land you can use them plant a garden and enjoy the cycle of planting, growing and harvesting. They are a great reminder of our own journey and actually represent a great plan for success. Plant the life you want with intention, grow the ideas, take care and take action and reap the benefits. A plan you can follow that is simple like nature and a fully of possibilities and potential to enrich you and your life.

Let me know how things grow.

At an Earth Fair and in Unity Consciousness

I spent much of today at an Earth Fair in Denver talking to people about peace. I have been quoting Blessed Unrest by Paul Hawken as a book that is an inspiration to everyone out there doing what they know and feel they need to do to make a difference.

I talked to two women dispensing advise about gardening who had a sparkle of aliveness, questioning and revolution in their eyes. Not the armed kind of revolt but one driven by reason, truth and heart. I talked to a modest man, I assume a doctor, who had been to Cambodia on a medical mission to help those in need. He couldn’t wait to return to do something that really mattered to him and those he helped. Others shared their excitement for life and we smiled and wondered what was possible. Have you ever read Be here Now by Ram Dass? The brown section of that book must be dipped in something that is mind expanding.

I looked up into the sky and saw the blue beauty of midday and the dancing green leaves so clearly. Everything in the park was aglow and vibrating with life. I see so much more when I am feeling full of life and purpose. It is as if there is a greater me in that expansive state beyond ordinary boundaries. There is a knowing in that space of total connection to all living things as if the world was all unfolding in me. I hope you have been there too? It is place I call unity consciousness and it is located somewhere in you waiting to be realized.

Please take the time to find yourself. Don’t settle for less then all that you are. I smile when I feel the connection we all have and I want to meet you in that place where we are one in knowing. Remember the sense you have about this expanded possibility and journey there through the silence. You know the way because it has been calling you for so long. Isn’t it time to listen?

Meet you there or back here soon.

Self-Realization For You and All Human Kind

I was thinking, while reading something last night, how can I take this blog higher? By higher I mean to take myself and you the reader into higher levels of awareness, consciousness and self-realization. Years ago I read a very fascinating book called the Autobiography of a Yogi by Yogananda. The book took me on a journey of about self-realization and the inner capacities we possess. Yogananda was a highly conscious human being who came to America from India. Although he died years ago his influence is still with us. There are communities around the world that live by his guiding principles. There is a place in Los Angeles called the Lake Shrine were Yogananda spent time and if you walk in awareness there you can still feel his presence.

I was thinking of others who I have been acquainted with at least on a soul level. I have sat and walked in meditation with a number of deeply spiritual souls and doing so always expands me. There is something so special about being with others human beings who have tapped into the vastness of consciousness, into who they are at a spiritual level. If you have an opportunity to go sit with or take in the grace of a holy person do so. There are several wonderful women who have the realization of the Divine Mother who travel about and to sit with them opens your heart. Ammachi and Mother Meera are two that will touch you deeply.

Yesterday I was reading an article about meditation and intention. There is a gather amount of research that shows that people meditating together with intention can have a very positive affect. That creates a positive picture in my mind of people together in stillness surrounded by light and that light flowing through communities and cities calming the hearts, minds and souls of everyone. One of the research projects was in Washington DC and was focused on reducing crime during the summer when there was usually a spike in trouble. The research was very controlled as far as variables and the results were interesting. The crime rate actually went down by 20%. Maybe, we could gather in meditation around Congress and the White House and to spread light and inspire great leadership.

So if you were to take some time to quiet yourself and tune in what do you think the benefits would be? Meditation comes in many forms but at its simplest form it is sitting quietly in awareness. In awareness for mediation purposes means tuned into what is going on in you, your thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Watching yourself, your breath and your internal dialogue can be very enlightening. In quiet contemplation you have a direct pathway to all that you are and can be.

I have an idea that involves you. I would like to propose that each day you sit or walk in silence and tune into the more expansive possibilities in you. Take as much or as little time as works for you. Together we share an intention to make the world a more peaceful and compassionate place. If you have friends who want to join you please have them do so. If you live in DC or near your State Capitol you could have your intention focus on sending more light to those places. I use light to mean insight, wisdom and compassion. Does that work for you? The other place we can send light is to all those big and little organizations around the world working for a better planet. Transforming us and our fellow humans is the goal so that all can be self-realized in heart, mind. body and spirit. Now imagine the earth when we are successful.

This is Part One of a journey to higher self-expression. I hope you are coming along for the ride. Please feel free to share your experiences as we go. You can share by pushing the post a comment button below and add what you want to share or you can send me an email at explorelifeblog@gmail.com. Your comments and shared experiences are greatly valued by me.

In the Flow Of Life

The day has started I am up and moving. I usually go for walk to let the inspiration kick into gear. Then I go downstairs to sit in front of my computer and let the blog start to write itself. I find the more I am relaxed the easier the process. I now have over 80 blogs written and have learned to trust the process. You know, trust is a very important part of writing and of life. I have found the more I trust the more the flow.

I feel open to the flow of wisdom, creativity, love and abundance that is all around me. The universe is made up of an endless flow of all this and much more. I walk along this beautiful path in the morning and I am struck with the abundance that surrounds me. The varieties of grasses, plants, trees, flowers, birds seem endless. Even the stream is full to the brim as if meanders through my neighborhood. It seems when I appreciate the amazing richness of the natural world I feel uplifted and inspired. Does that happen for you too?

Life is such a gift and each day an opportunity to live as fully as I can. I want to be rich in consciousness and spread it everywhere I go. I want to see the beauty around me and live a beautiful life. I want to live in flow of money and abundance to experience the freedom and to invest in a better world. I want to love and have compassion for all living things. I want to let creativity express through me and spread a bouquet of words, colors and musical notes around the globe. I want to feel the joy and laugh enough to have my eyes sparkle like the stars. I want to sit quietly and know peace and let that peace spread like a wildfire into the hearts of all humankind. I want to dance, run, bike and enjoy my body healthy, fit and alive. I am you; can you feel the flow going through us?

Today let you life focus on the inspiration in you and around you. Look around and see all there is to love and appreciate. Find things of beauty and recognize that in you. Read writings that uplift you and carry those words as yours. Gaze into the face of child and remember the one in you. Feel the urge to play and cut loose and step away from the routines, at least for a while. Take a moment to say thank you to yourself for being who you are and for following your desire to express even more of yourself. Yes you that extraordinary person waiting to express him or her self.

In the flow and together we let things go, we relax, we enjoy, we express who we are and the world changes naturally to reflect our expanded hearts, minds and souls. Shall we dance?

Peace, Cindy Sheehan, You and Me

I read with sadness an article about Cindy Sheehan resigning as the “face” of the Peace Movement. She has been very brave despite all the attacks directed at her for standing up to the president. There have been many false accusations about this well intended mother on a mission. Why do many Americans speak so strongly of rights of the Constitution yet do their best to try to quiet opposition? Cindy’s point about people being more concerned about the result of the American Idol show then what is going on in Iraq was a powerful one for me. That point got me thinking about why that could be true?

It is easy to focus on entertainment and feel it matters because it is pleasant and interesting. It is not easy to focus on war because it is very unpleasant and hard to watch. So in the busy lives most of us live, it is easier to choose entertainment as a way to try to balance all that seems off balance. To spend time actually getting informed about what is happening in Iraq would not exactly be uplifting.

How do you decide what to take on and when to take care of yourself? What issues are worth your time and energy? How can you feel empowered enough to do something? Is it better to find your own peace first and then work on things that matter to you?

I have lots of questions but few answers. I find myself thinking of a Martin Luther King quote that says, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” You and I must learn to hear the calling inside as to what does matter. I know peace does matter to me and every day I do something to spread peace and consciousness. This blog is for me a way to help people find their own purpose and peace.

Back to Cindy who has been kind of a hero for me as she did what she felt she had to do. Her courage has inspired many. She is very disappointed that on a political level nothing seems to be changing. I share in the frustration and yet there is a part of me not the least surprised. This war has become a real problem created on political level of consciousness. The same level of consciousness that created the problem is incapable of creating a solution. It is mired and only a higher/different level of consciousness can move it towards some kind of positive end. Does that make sense to you?

I am sure the American Idol show has value and a choice to focus on that is perfectly ok. Then if you can be aware that while watching it you are taking care of yourself in some way that is great. When you are ready, you are invited to get up off the couch and stir things up in some way that matters and feels full of positive purpose. When you do, you become a wonderful gift to the world. Then your performance will shine as bright if not brighter then any entertainer and you will become my American Idol.

Be you, be bold, be passionate, be the change you want to see in the world.