And So It Came to Pass...

And so it came to pass in the weeks and days leading up to the Winter Solstice of 2012 and the great cyclical galactic alignment that the forces of duality provided the residents of planet earth plenty of chances to make the choice for love and forgiveness.  Plenty of challenges were brought forth to allow humans to feel and release their deepest fear and anger.  Choose love these challenges asked .... Choose forgiveness... Learn and choose compassion.  Let go of the old fears and angers and choose love.  But most of all choose love and forgiveness for yourself...

Blessing and Gratitude...

Here is a suggestion for building compassion and releasing judgmental and negative thoughts.   First you must learn to recognize when you react in judgement and recognize when you are having negative thoughts.  It is fairly easy to know when you are being judgmental.  Often there are certain types of people, certain behaviors that we notice that trigger these judgements.   Negative thinking in general is more difficult to recognize because we do it so often.   Self criticism is a big one.  “That was stupid”, I’m so dumb sometimes”, or things like... ‘arthritis runs in the family’, “Our family is prone to fits of depression”.?
Practice noticing when you do these things.  Practice till you can recognize when you start to say and think negative things.    Now that you realize you are doing something judgmental or coming up with a negative thought step in to stop it.  Therapists used to have suggestions for thought stopping.  They may still use these.  They would suggest you say out loud a very emphatic “stop”.   Now this might work well for when you are alone but could be a bit embarrassing if you were among a group of people.  Another that they suggested is to wear a rubber band on your wrist and when you realize you are unable to stop thoughts feeding into your mind, you stretch the rubber band and sting yourself with it.  
Try this instead.  If you happen to see someone on the street that you know triggers your judgement make a choice to switch your thought to a blessing.  Under your breath or in your thoughts simply say ‘bless you’.  Using just this you will soon find yourself doing more blessing than judging.  But now combine that blessing with gratitude.   Bless the person your see and add a thank you to the universe.  One thing to avoid in this is saying to yourself “I am grateful I am not like that person”  however you can express your gratitude that you have a home, that its a beautiful day, something on that order.  Try it.  Make a game out of it.  You will find that your attitude will begin to shift.   

This is Compassion...

'If the meeting becomes too much imagine yourself floating above and just observing.'
What a great and timely reminder.   To become the observer in any situation gives one great insight and can lead to compassion.  If you are upset by any situation try imagining yourself as a completely unbiased observer.   Also try observing yourself when something upsets you.  This is not an easy thing to do but you might find it very interesting to be yourself and observe yourself.   Once you can observe your self and others in an unbiased state as possible you can begin to understand what makes you or another do the things you do.  This is compassion.  

Every Choice You Make.....

The same information coming from different sources lends integrity to the information.  This is from an older book by Gregg Braden called WALKING BETWEEN THE WORLDS, The Science of Compassion.  These quotes are about making choices for compassion and how it effects the world around us and moves out in ever widening ripples of influence in the world.

“Each time someone else opens up enough to recognize that they have a choice in how they respond to life, your choice of compassion assures that they have another possibility to select from...
Someone must do it first.  Someone must take the initiative to move beyond the cycle of old choices and responses and recognize the opportunity of a higher response to life’s offering.”

Every choice you make for love and compassion has influence beyond your imagination.  But even if it just made one person feel better wouldn’t that be enough?

Claiming Responsibility for Humanity...

This planet has been in war for generations.  Time after time there has been genocide often perpetrated by religious organizations.   Who thinks up these things?  Who starts and perpetuates these conflicts?  The answers to these questions are very difficult to face and understand.  Who has done all these negative things to the planet and to its inhabitants?  There is no other possible answer WE have done these things.  It has been obvious a long time that we are one... All are children of God.  We are all made of the same thing.  And once out of this human life we are all powerful infinite beings.  That we are ONE is a powerful insight but one that is very difficult for most people to accept.  “I am not at war”, we cry.  “I am not killing people and killing off their culture.”  There is no Them.  It is our participation in the collective consciousness.  It is our own attitudes that are mirrored to us as how humans can be to each other.
In the late 1980’s the collective consciousness tipped.  There are now enough individuals finding peace in their hearts and lives.  There are now enough people concerned about others.  There are now finally people showing compassion.  So why do we still have war? Genocide?  murder? homelessness?  The planet is in the process of changing.  The old ways are fighting hard for survival.   If we can take responsibility for ourselves and for the condition of the planet we can hasten the evolutionary changes.  As a seemingly separate expression of life on this planet it is difficult to claim any responsibility for all of the horrible things taking place but the more of us that can do this the faster and easier it will be for Peace to come to earth.  

Compassion is an Awareness...

The path to Spiritual Mastery and the evolution of mankind from a violent race to a peaceful, powerful, evolved humankind must include compassion and unconditional love.  And, in fact, unconditional love and compassion go hand in hand.  The  definition of unconditional love is contained within the words themselves; loving without condition.
Compassion is a little harder to get a handle on.  Compassion is viewing, observing an individual/group without the viewer’s individual bias coloring the observation.  It is knowing that behind the appearance, action, and being of any individual is a body and mind and a lifetime of programming that has placed them where they are at that moment.  Those individuals include ourselves.  Recognizing that our programming places us where we are, giving us reasons for who and what we are as well as what we do is not easy.   We must recognize first the need for compassion and then overcome our own programming and our own biases.
Two quotes from WALKING BETWEEN THE WORLDS:  The Science of Compassion.
by Gregg Braden.
From the dedication:  “It is you who will anchor a new wisdom rooted in compassion, laying the foundation for those with the courage to follow.  It is you who are asked to remember love, compassion and trust while living in a world that has hated, judged and feared.”
and from the preface:  “Compassion is an awareness that you become, rather than something that you do on occasion.”

Compassion for Ourselves...

Compassion for another is suggested as a way to increase your own vibration and help heal the other human and the planet.  But often we forget that it is just as important to have that compassion for ourselves.  We are often not aware of the negative programming and the unconscious guilt that we have taken on and how it has affected our health and our abilities.  Forgive yourself for any conscious and unconscious programming, be kind to yourself, pay attention to the self talk and be easy on yourself.  
You are an infinite being having physical experience.   Remember that...

We are Born...

We are born into life on earth with almost total amnesia as to who and what we are as spirits.  Add to that we are born into basically animal bodies.   It amazing that we are able to make any progress in our physical lives on earth let alone spiritual progress.  Some people make very little progress.  Did not Jesus say, ‘the poor will always be with you.”?  To even start pulling yourself up begin to learn Compassion.  Together compassion and love with intent can pull you up along with the ones who receive the benefits of your compassion.   The compassion can take the shape even of a simple smile.    Amazing how much a simple smile can do to a person in pain. 

Compassion and Love...

Compassion and Love joined hands and stress and fear drifted slowly away.  

"There is No Them, only Us..."

As I write this I am listening/watching A PBS program called Moyers and Company, facilitated by Bill Moyers.   In this program he is interviewing a Mexican American Poet, novelist and essayist, Luis Alberto Urrea.  It was some of his work that was removed/banned from classrooms in Tucson, Arizona, schools.  This is a very powerful interview and if you are ever at want for a definition of COMPASSION view this interview and/or read from Mr. Urrea’s work.  One of his quotes:  “There is no them, only US.”
The entire interview:  http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-between-two-worlds-life-on-the-border/
Mr. Urrea’s website:  http://www.luisurrea.com/

Take a Step into Your Future...

You may not aspire to spiritual mastery, whatever that might mean to you but do you know you can vastly improve your life by adopting some of the characteristics of mastery.  Some of these characteristics make a lot of sense just by themselves.  Some may not have occurred to you.  Masters are sensitive to beauty in all forms.  Masters are egoless and do not direct attention to themselves.  They have respect for Nature and all of its members.  Unconditional love is a characteristic of masters.  They radiate true wisdom.  A Master will not instill fear.  They are universal and non-sectarian.  The true Master is the embodiment of compassion.   Read and contemplate this list.  Look in a mirror.  Does any of it fit?  Spiritual mastery might fit you very well.   Don’t be afraid to take a step into your future...

From a Higher Perspective?...

I have spoken often of learning to look at our lives and our world from a higher perspective.   But it is not a simple matter or easy to do all the time.    And in situations like the murders that took place this day after midnight at the showing of the latest batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, it may be almost impossible. 
The evil that humans do is human caused but we may never know why these things happen.
 There were some very interesting ‘coincidences’ with this situation.   The movie theater is thirteen miles from Columbine High School, the location of another mass murder in 1999. 
Another co-incident is the case of the female sports blogger that survived a shooting in Toronto, Canada, when two people were killed and others wounded at the Eaton Centre Mall shooting on June 2, 2012, only to be gunned down in Colorado.    
When our minds are reeling with our attempts to make sense of these ‘senseless’ incidents about all we can do sometimes is try our best to release judgement and  be compassionate in our feelings.   We can be supportive when possible and hope that sometime we might be able to gain an understanding of these things that happen in our world.  

The other side of Compassion...

The American news satire organization called THE ONION in its review of the year has the headline,
"Deaths of 20,000 Japanese Afford Planet Solid 15 minutes In which everyone acts like a Human Being."  Now the Onion can very satirical, very caustic in its commentary on the human condition but it would appear that in this case they may have made a very important point.   The great tragedies do that for us and in the new energy the feelings of empathy brought about by great tragedies stay with the planet.  We humans have a tendency to get over things rather quickly that do not effect us directly but when there is that scale of emotion it stays with the earth.   and that scale of empathy can help turn the tide.   There have been a lot of these kinds of events:  9/11, Haiti, Katrina, tsunami, earthquakes, and volcanoes and each one of them has brought about an outpouring of compassion and empathy.    While these are terrible terrible tragedies they do have an effect on the planet, negative as well as positive.     

An Irony of Extremes...

Norway and in particular the city of Oslo, has become a place of irony showing us the extremes human are capable of. 
Norway is home of the Nobel Prize.  Alfred Nobel was an engineer and inventor with many inventions the most infamous of which was dynamite.  Approximately 8 years prior to his own death he read his own obituary in a French Newspaper.  It was actually his brother that had died but the newspaper had gotten it wrong.  The title of the obit was “The Merchant of Death is Dead”.  Being called the Merchant of Death disturbed him and he changed his will and started what would become the world renown Nobel Prize. 
On 7/22/2011 Norway became a place of tragedy, in which a great bomb blast and the shooting of many children showed us the other extreme humans are capable of.
This is another example of fundamental belief carried to an extreme. 
All religions are a result of the human search for God and all religions have a basic belief in Love.  
What is it about humans that make us so capable of such destructive behavior?  And yet we are capable of the best of behavior, generous and loving and caring.
What is your reaction to this tragedy?   Will you react in Love and compassion?  

“Speak of compassion, Master”

“Speak of compassion, Master”, the student said.  “I see people that seem to call to themselves all kinds of adversity and I don’t think I always feel compassion for them and their misfortune.”
“My child” said the Master, “It is for that very reason that we should feel compassion for others.  When we are able to look at the other, and see God in them and when we are able to look at the other, no matter his fortune, and see ourself in them, then we are feeling compassion.  All are children of the ONE SOURCE and they are looking for God in their own way even as you and I are.  When we can look upon them as we would want ourselves to be seen, when we can do for them as we would have them do for us... we are expressing compassion.  By your asking the question, my child, you are learning about compassion.  It is compassion that will turn the tide and bring peace to our beloved home.  Thank you, my child, for asking this question about compassion.”