Soul Centered Astrology Report
s
by
Andrea
de Michaelis
Law of attraction, your free will is a tool, look for who to thank, Lessons learned living in a yoga ashram. No one even comes close to Abraham-Hicks
Hello and welcome to the November 2007 issue of Horizons Magazine. As I was finishing up this issue of Horizons, and wondering what I would write about, an email came in from a friend that gave me the answer. I love when that happens! I didn't have to wonder, Hmmm, which shall I do? Answer my friend's email or get my work done? because I've come to realize that maybe my friend's email IS my work right now. If whoever is before me is truly my multitude that I am given to serve, then I'd be remiss in not doing the work presented to me. So I answered his email.
Sven puts himself through college by working two jobs. He's likeable and charismatic, he's a serious worker, and a cool person with a good heart. That makes insecure coworkers jealous. He's now looking for another job because one brat is trying to get him fired from a job he really likes. He wrote asking about bad karma. I realized as I wrote this to him, that it would be my article this month as well. How perfect when it all falls into place like that!
When I was living in a yoga ashram, I learned some giant lessons. I used to think I was there so I could be in the quiet and peaceful atmosphere and be able to just sit and meditate and pray all day and get real spiritual and enlightened, blah, blah, blah... So it would piss me off when people were making noise when I was trying to meditate, or they would be talking (about stupid stuff) behind closed doors when we were supposed to be in silence. Instead of everyone helping everyone out and everyone sticking to the practice and becoming holy beings, heck, we were all acting like everyone else out there in the real world that we were trying to get away from. What were they doing here if they weren't serious about working on themselves like I was? How can that be?
Well, I learned that was because they WERE just like me, I just had a distorted idea of I was. And who I was. And a distorted idea of our purpose for being brought together, and a distorted view of how that purpose should play out. I went in thinking that since we were so enlightened, we would automatically support each other's strengths, when in fact what happened was we got a lot of opportunities to confront and work on our weaknesses. But of course we didn't always see that. Sometimes a lesson is only a lesson if you know it's a lesson.
Gurdjieff said, “The worse the conditions of life, the more productive the work, provided however you remember the work. Remember you come here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself, only with yourself.” Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity.
IT'S THEM , IT'S NOT ME
As I was living and working with this group of people, I had many opportunities to change my thinking so I could attain the peace I sought. But since I didn't recognize them as opportunities, I didn't take advantage of them. Since I didn't KNOW it was part of my lesson, I didn't treat it as a lesson. That is, I didn't meditate on it and try to figure it out. I just thought I was living and working with a bunch of rude, unconscious, ignorant and uncaring people.
I'VE ATTRACTED IT ALL
What I know now is that I attract everyone into my life for a reason. Whoever shows up in front of me and rubs me the wrong way, is a reflection showing me an area I am weak in. Whoever shows up in front of me and rubs me the right way is also a reflection, they are a signpost to show I'm heading in the right direction.
WE AGREED TO ALL THIS A LIFETIME AGO
I've learned that we are just a big group of people who all chose to jump into this giant tumbler together, all agreeing to let our sharp edges be knocked off and smoothed in the process. But I didn't always remember that I agreed to be part of that process. That's when I'd think someone else was doing something TO me. That's when I forgot that I attracted them. That's when I'd forget that we agreed together before coming into this lifetime to help each other work on our stuff.
WHAT CAN I LEARN FROM THIS?
Then I'd read some spiritual book and I'd meditate and I'd remember,
Oh, right, this is what it's all about! Then I'd re-visit the situation in light of it being a lesson to find what I could learn from it. For me, many lessons early on had to do with teaching me acceptance, patience and self control. Teaching me I did not have to take personally anything anyone else did. I did not have to react to every word and behavior of someone else. I did not have to change anything. All I had to do was change myself.
MAKING CHANGE
Hahaha we hear that a lot, just change yourself but what does that mean? That means that other people are going to do what they are going to do. We don't know their sad and lonely lives, we don't know their private pain. If they are acting ugly, believe me, they are stuck in an emotional situation they do not know they are in, much less know how to get out of.
What would Jesus do?
Would he talk about them behind their back to his friends and other co-workers and let everyone know how pissed off he was? Would he plot ways to get back at the offender? Or would he have some compassion for this person who is acting out of pain and not-knowingness?
USE YOUR FREE WILL AS A TOOL
You hear people talking about free will as if it's an excuse, but it's actually a tool you can use if you recognize it as a tool. You can exert your will to discipline your mind. You can use your willpower to keep your emotions in check so you can see your life situations objectively. You can use your willpower to focus on what is true when your imagination runs away with you. You can exert your will to discipline yourself to choose what you want to observe and where you place your attention, rather than just being swept away by whatever appears in front of you.
LOOK FOR WHAT'S GOING RIGHT
You don't go into Publix and just reach into the produce bin and grab a tomato. You take a moment and glance at what is in the bin and choose the one you want. And you can train yourself to do that with your thoughts and attention as well. Yes, there's a horrible car accident over there but as you say a quick prayer, look, help is on the way and the paramedics are well trained and the ambulance gets there fast and the emergency room is set up for just this kind of thing. You can train your thoughts to automatically look for what's good in any situation, it just takes practice.
BLESS YOUR DETRACTORS
Or yes, your co-worker is a bitch and loves targeting you for torment and watching you react. But thank her for helping you make a decision to no longer be around that kind of behavior. Thank her for helping you realize this job may no longer be for you. In thanking her, you are training your thoughts to not only automatically remember what's good in the situation, but to learn the lesson and move past it.
LOOK FOR WHO TO THANK
Or yes, your last boss laid everyone off without warning and then jerked everyone around about their final paychecks, but thank her for knocking you off the hamster wheel that was keeping you stuck anyway, and making you find another job you like better. By looking for who you should thank for a situation, you are training your thoughts to automatically look for what's good, and that's good practice.
GET OVER IT AND GET ON WTH IT
It's hard to not get caught up in the personality dramas of the ones you are around all day long, but with just a little willpower you can focus your attention on much better things and get a much better result. The benefit of working on it is so you can get past all the drama and get on with a much more fun and more expansive life. When your job or your life is becoming a tight fit and you feel the need to squeeze yourself out into more freedom and joy, you can do it the hard way or you can do it the easy way.
DO IT THE HARD WAY
The hard way is by hating your job and complaining about it and just looking for another job. The problem with this way, is that the only things that will change are the location, names and faces. The problem will be the same. And they will keep being the same until you work the problem out with that person in the here and now, and learn that lesson and move past it.
OR DO IT THE EASY WAY
The easy way is to know this and know it's a lesson. The easy way is to sit and write down (no, don't just think it, write it down, trust me) what you see the situations and problems are. Then consider this as a lesson plan and work on it.
You can ask yourself this, from Byron Katie:
Does this thought bring peace or stress into your life?
Where does your mind travel when you believe that thought?
Whose business are you in when you think that thought?
What do you get for holding onto that belief?
Can you find a peaceful reason to keep that thought?
What do you assume would happen if you didn't believe that thought?
Who would you be without the thought?
How would you live life differently if you didn't believe that thought? Close your eyes and imagine life without it.
Imagine you are meeting this person for the very first time with no story. What do you see?
Who are you right now, sitting here without that thought?
If you lived this turnaround, what would you do, or how would you live your life, differently?
FROM THIS MOMENT ON
The easy way would be to start right now with the intention that from now on, it's going to be different. And you're the reason it's going to be different. You're going to pretend it's the beginning of your job instead of the end and you're going to remember why you love it there. The customers like you, you make good money, the bosses appreciate you. The work used to be fun, the people used to be fun, remember those times and put yourself mentally in that place again.
USE YOUR WILLPOWER
React to the coworkers as if you didn't know their life stories, their problems and complaints. React to that friendly, fun place you know they have with their own friends. Use your willpower to focus your attention on all these good (even if they are small and few) details. Use your willpower to make yourself act and react from an emotional place that says, I know you can be friendly and fun, even though you aren't that way with me, so I'm going to pretend you're doing it anyway, just because it feels better to me when I do that.
AN UPGRADE IS ON THE WAY
And when you pretend that, and when it begins to feel better, that means you are using your willpower effectively. And when you keep pretending that, and when it feels better, that is your signal that change for the better is on the way. That is your signal that either you will change jobs or she will change jobs or maybe everyone will just begin to get along and either way you win. And when you've worked it out, you don't drag your baggage to the next job, the lesson is over and done with when you leave this one.
GETTING CAUGHT IN THE ILLUSION
I used to beat myself up for this back and forth, this remembering and then forgetting. Then I realized, this is the illusion. The knowing and the forgetting. This is the stuff of life: the remembering and the forgetting. I no longer beat myself up for forgetting, I just try to get the lesson quickly once I remember.
WHAT MAKES ME FORGET?
What makes me forget? Allowing my thoughts to be controlled by whatever is moving or talking in front of me, with no time for personal reflection on my own. This can include tv and friends. Allowing my thoughts to just arise in response to external stimuli, and allowing myself to ponder those thoughts whether it's what I want to attract into my experience or not. Like allowing myself to get emotionally caught up in the sad stories of people I love because I want to be there for them so I listen when I know it doesn't serve either of us to do that. Getting caught up in those movies is what makes me forget. So when I do remember, I remind myself why would I want to spend a split second of my attention on anything that has nothing to do with my hopes and dreams and goals and wishes?
ANOTHER EMAIL, ANOTHER TOPIC
A few months ago, a friend forwarded an article about The Secret and he wrote, the article doesn't say that the Law of Attraction is invalid, but it says that all of one's mind has to work together in order to manifest the things or circumstances that one wants, and it is nearly impossible to control every part of one's mind. I found that to be just one example of what is misunderstood about ˜The Secret. Rhonda Byrne did a disservice in removing Abraham-Hicks from her movie, because without the Abraham-Hicks material, questions remained unanswered and basic concepts are unclear. Byrne has an excellent marketing story and did a good job - when editing out the Hicks involvement - of discovering earlier books on the topic and making them the focus. Without exception, however, all the teachers shown in the original (with Hicks) version of the movie were very familiar with the Abraham material and that was initially the common thread. And that part is no secret.
IT'S REALLY NOT ALL THAT HARD
Abraham makes it clear we do NOT have to go through all the mental work to make anything happen. That in fact it is IN THE VERY ACT of the mental work that we encounter the most resistance, and resistance is always the ONLY thing EVER holding us from what we have identified we want.
CAN'T ALWAYS IMPROVE THE ORIGINAL
Some teachers in the movie now have packaged up multi-cd programs costing thousands of dollars, and the material they sell can all be found for free at the Abraham-Hicks website. They are without exception all versions of processes taught by Abraham in the last 20 years, with added commentary.
This is clear to anyone who has followed the Abraham work through the years. This is clear to anyone in the media who knew any of the teachers involved in the movie at the time the segments were taped and as the project was being shopped prior to production. This is not a small group of people. Those involved all have staff and publicists (not to mention friends and relatives) who were eager to be in the know and have advance information and to share it with whoever they could. Something they may regret now that the official spin is a completely different back story.
The result will be that for many people, the first they hear about âthe law of attraction is through The Secret movie. They will have many unanswered questions. If they buy the affiliate books and cd programs, they will hear the added commentary, and the commentary reveals how much the authors actually have personally grasped the Abraham teaching. And surprisingly most miss the key component. Yes, even these brilliant teachers don't all really know the secret.
I'm thrilled that Abraham-Hicks is finally - 20 years later- becoming popular with the mainstream media, as witnessed by their books and dvds: The Law of Attraction, The Secret Behind The Secret, The Astonishing Power of Emotions, Ask and It Is Given and The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent. More recently, there has been an increase in the number of people other than Esther and Jerry Hicks who claim to channel Abraham and who advertise themselves as being available to those who are unable to schedule personal appointments with Esther, and unable to attend a Hicks workshop.
I've experienced several of these Abraha sessions and - for those who are afraid they are going to be singled out - don't worry, no one is. I simply have not found any of them to be so. Not that some don't have good information to repeat, and are sincere in wanting to help others understand the law of attraction. Their sessions however are mostly a monologue, a repetition of Abraham-Hicks words, although most of them can answer basic questions. Since I've attended and listened to hundreds of hours of Abraham-Hicks programs and workshops in the past 10 years. I know the Abraham material very well and work with it personally every day. And I have never experienced anyone who even comes close to bringing forth Abraham except Esther Hicks.
In workshops through the years, several who stood up to ask a question have said they felt the presence of Abraham and felt they were channeling Abraham at some point and, through Esther, Abraham agrees we all have access to receive the same information.
Some took that as confirmation that they should begin offering Abraham readings to other people and through the years I have experienced many of those as well, and some are friends. For each one, they lacked the fluidity of speech, the quick instant response, the crystal clear message. I'm not saying these are pretenders or wanna-be's. I can't know what everyone's motivations are. I'm saying, it's my experience that if I want the Abraham message, Esther Hicks presents it like none other.
WHY AM I EVEN WRITING ABOUT THIS???
I am writing about this because I have received so many inquiries asking what I think. So, for those of you seeking to more fully understand the law of attraction, do yourself a favor and visit
www.Abraham-hicks.com
The more I learned about how the spirit world works, the more I understood why - as your consciousness evolves and you gain more and more knowledge - individual names and identities are unnecessary and just serve to get in the way and confuse your thinking. It takes your focus off the message and puts it on the personality of the purported guide. And that's not the purpose of a reading, is it?
The purpose of a reading usually has to do with gaining information to learn how to successfully navigate through the world you are living in now, to attain soul growth and learn to live so that you can make the most of what you have.
You may have questions about a particular area of your life and you don't understand what the repeating behavior or thoughts are that are causing this to keep happening to you.
You may be in a relationship with an uncommunicative partner and you have questions you'd like answered, since she won't talk with you about it. You don't need to receive the answers from some famous channelled entity, you would just like some straighforward, truthful answers.
And if you agree, then you're in luck:
I just placed a new Free Directory of Psychics on the website at
www.horizonsmagazine.com
And correct, I am not on the list. I've just scheduled myself through as much of next year as I want to work for now, so thanks for all the appointments. If there is someone you know who is an honest and accurate reader, send me their name or ask them to email me.
Enjoy our offering this month.
Life is good! Hari Om
Horizons Magazine
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