Sometimes I feel guilty when I want to stay quiet and on my own, some say I’m wasting life if I’m not spending it with friends. But that’s not true. There is more to life than the outer 3D physical life that we live. There’s an inner life that is just as real and just as responsive. When I interact with this inner reality, I’m not just going into my head and working out personality conflicts and inner compulsions. I’m being led to ever greater disclosure and understanding of the circumstances and people and events around me.

When I understand them, I respond to them differently.
When I respond to them differently, my world changes.

How to discover this inner reality? You spend time in contemplation and as questions come to mind, you’re guided to answers. Sometimes you’re guided to other people, sometimes you’re guided to dive deeper within.

A friend remarked, watching a group of young professionals knocking back shots and multi-pours of alcohol, “wonder what their livers will be like in 20 years if they keep this up.” I was never a big drinker, never liked the taste or the buzz. I have a few friends who used to be big drinkers when young and apparently still are. It’s taken its toll healthwise: tummy issues, liver issues.I think of the tummy like a bucket that holds our nutrients and things like over drinking makes it rusty so nutrients leak out.

The liver is the machine that processes it all and removes toxins from our bodies, so I keep that machine clean. Excess drinking, sugar and prescription drugs clog that engine. Lotsa folks can drink and take Rx with no problem. Lotsa folka can’t. It helps to know which you are.

LOVE is the key. If you are not in love with yourself, your spouse, your family, or friends, find someone or something to love today. If you are fighting, sad, confused, depressed, or sick, find something you can look up to and feel better about. If you are depressed or stuck, get up and move your energy.

Stuff will come at you constantly. Instead of trying to avoid it, strengthen yourself from the inside so it doesn’t dis-rail you. People will always be pulling the rug out from under you. Learn to dance on a moving carpet.

I’ve reached a tipping point with several real life friends. As my friend, you’re allowed to have your own opinions, whether I agree with them or not. But it changes how I feel about you when you make mean spirited generalizations about an entire group based on a few mouthy fanatics. It changes how I feel about you when you continue to bad mouth former and current candidates. Your words reveal a biased media is your news source but the meanness is what gets to me, so we stay off these topics when we speak. The fact that you spend so much time on bashing the loser liberals who all want something for nothing will keep me at arms’ length. I can love you but have unfollowed you so I don’t see those things that are your right to say. But I’ll be sad to miss the rest of your life experiences.

Ram Dass as Richard Alpert

“We’d be sitting somewhere and I’d say, “Did I ever tell you about the time that Tim and I …”
And he’d say, “Don’t think about the past. Just be here now.”

Silence.

And I’d say, “How long do you think we’re going to be on this trip?”
And he’d say, “Don’t think about the future. Just be here now.”

Be Here Now

I’d say, “You know, I really feel crumby, my hips are hurting …”
“Emotions are like waves. Watch them disappear in the distance on the vast calm ocean.”

“He had just sort of wiped out my whole game. That was it — that was my whole trip — emotions, and past experiences, and future plans. I was, after all, a great storyteller.

So we were silent. There was nothing to say.”

Visit http://ramdass.org

I see folks complain they hate Facebook because their news feed is full of negativity and complaining. That’s not a FB thang, that has to do with who you have as FB friends. I seldom see complaints on my news feed because I have either unfriended toxic people or unfollowed dear friends who are whiners or whose viewpoints I don’t agree with. I learn something new and useful every day.

Image by Cliff Pollard

Since it’s all an illusion anyway, does it really matter if your mantra comes from a trendy pop up guru or an ascended master? What matters is how much YOU believe it matters. A lifetime ago I prayed for years to the “wrong” invisible and mystical being yet found comfort and wisdom, guidance for personality integration and personal growth all the same. That was bcz that was what I set out to find and that was what I BELIEVED I found. The Universe aka Divine Source aka Great Spirit aka God aka Your Inner Being or Higher Self aka Source Energy (etc ad infinitum) will connect with you thru any means you make available. Whether someone else thinks its “the real truth” or not.

Just spoke to a woman who’s trying to remove resistance from her life so she can attract more dollars. She told me she bought a purebred puppy which is giving her a lot of laughter and joy but that doesn’t seem to be enough to drop her resistance so she can attract $$. She heavily invested this year in a project that should bring her lots of money, but so far has not. My spidey sense told me she had financial obligations tied to the project that she had not fulfilled. I took that to mean she still owed someone for funding the project. I also felt she had several personal loans from friends that she was not paying back. She admitted that was true but one reason was she didn’t know the puppy would cost so much, vet, etc.

Also she did have a little money in the bank but she needed to save that for a rainy day. I told her it’s all related. Even if she has to bottom out her nest egg to pay everybody back, doing that would open the flow of her dollars. She was the one crimping her own hose, keeping the dollars from flowing thru. A fave dollar mantra of mine is “My cash flow is never ending, twice as much as I am spending.”

Years ago I had a tax accountant who I later learned didn’t exactly know what she was doing. When she moved and I had to get a new tax chick, I immediately owed the IRS $10,000. WTAF??? At the time I had one remaining investment which totaled $40 more than I owed. Ya gotta laugh. I opted to close the account so I didn’t have the debt hanging over my head, impacting my dollar karma. Because I know it’s all related. Everything. If you want people to pay you dollars, make sure you’ve paid everyone you owe. Even mom, even your ex. Empty your pockets so God can fill them with diamonds.

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