Tuesday, August 31, 2010

SEPTEMBER RADICAL EXPRESSION

I have begun many a lecture with some verbal version of the physics principle “THE ACT OF OBSERVATION CHANGES THAT WHICH IS OBSERVED.” I have used it so many times because the truth of that statement fills me with wonder, possibility, and zeal. This principle, while relatively recent in terms of scientific discoveries, has been spiritually known by seers for centuries. They have almost universally called it PRAYER.

“We are always looking at what we are looking with. You cannot separate the observed from the consciousness of the observer. You will always find what you are looking for. Perceptually, the story you are internally telling will always be born out.” No matter how many ways I say it, the message remains the same; we were created with the same freedom and creative dynamics as those of our Creator. Vision is a key component of conscious co-creation, and we are each invited to call forth a greater world of wisdom, serenity, harmony, and abundance by first seeing it within, and then evoking it in the without. THE WAY WE BEHOLD THE WORLD LITERALLY CHANGES ITS COMPOSITION. There is no greater discovery to be made by human beings living in a spiritual Universe. We are here to create a world of heaven here in the realm of earthy form. We evolve as begin to awaken to this responsibility and privilege, and to use our Source given Insight to see the world of effect in new and expanded ways.

At the risk of offending my readers, let me say that generally we are a spiritually and creatively lazy generation. We look at the world we call reality, and believe the effects that we observe. We act as if they are solid facts. We join in the drone of constant sound bytes and instant internet information, looking for ways to deal with a world that is coming at us. WE ARE INDIVIDUALLY AND COLLECTIVELY CREATING THE WORLD WE THEN DEFEND AGAINST! While it is imperative to look squarely at what is, as it is, it is equally important to not be seduced into believing the world of form has any authority over us. When we identify with effect, we forget our Causal nature. When we engage in trance talk, we disengage from the Power of our creative word. When we mature to the point where we can honestly look at the world just as it is, and yet spiritually call forth a transcendent reality- then, and only then will we step into the co-creative nature that is our birthright. The truth of this creative power is that we CANNOT DESCRIBE WITHOUT ALSO ENGAGING OUR PRESCRIPTIVE POWER. We must begin to listen to what we are saying, because our words will be returned to us as experience. And physics has now given us the ability to literally measure the cause and effect relationship. We can measure the power of an intention. We can gauge what effect a certain quality of attention has on that intention. This is astounding in that we are scientifically PROVING THE POWER OF PRAYER.

It really isn’t as much WHAT you look at, as HOW. To look at some effect and resist it as a fact only strengthens the power of the effect. To bring a heartful presence to the same effect and to intend to see it differently and transcendently will have a miraculous affect on that effect. Call it Presence, call it prayer, call it intention, or call it observation- the way you choose to behold any effect has a profound affect that literally “changes that which you are observing.” It is time to awaken to the Power of Presence. It is time to claim the dominion we have been given over the world of form. It is time to step into and engage the power of prayer, which is the power to align with and in Source, and to allow that Source to create through the act of our conscious observation. It is time to wake up and to pray attention. Be willing to see what in your own consciousness is in need of transformation. Pay attention to the lens through which you are seeing the world. Note when you are limiting possibility by looking through past perception. See through the single-eye vision of Insight, and look upon a changed and transcendent world. Come to. Awaken to the power within. Have the courage to see what is yet to be. Use the act of observation to “In-vision” a world of One. That is the true power of prayer. That is the true mission of an awakened Soul.


SEE CALENDAR ON SITE FOR CURRENT SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

ON HOLD

Have you ever felt as if Life has placed you on hold?

I recently called a particular company with what I suspected would be an easily answered question. “I will need to place you on hold, Mr. Stevens.” After a period of time, the very pleasant representative came back on the line with much apology and no answer to my inquiry. “Would you mind if I place you back on hold, sir? Please hold.” The second round of apologies was followed by the announcement that during my next hold, a supervisor would be summoned. I assured the slightly harried sounding woman that I indeed did not mind being placed on hold. As a matter of fact, I was rather enjoying it. “Really? I never hear that.” And she would not have heard it from me in the not so distant past.

I have learned a great deal about myself in the past few years from the way I choose to be while I am placed on hold. I certainly have enough experiences of it. When I am blessed enough to actually encounter a living, responsive human being on the other end of a telephone inquiry, it is common to be placed on hold at some time during the interaction. As I have had for many years a wireless telephone complete with headset, the time on hold became an opportunity to either remain at my desk and busy myself with other pending activities, or I would take off into another area of the house to fill the void with something that I could then label constructive. I had yet to learn the value of actually being on hold when you are placed on hold.

The mind certainly does not relish this notion. Our technology today offers us non-stop mental stimulation. Unless there is some type of massive power outage, we never have to be without internet, world news, social networks, chat rooms, and of course, e-mail. This is often occurring while we are also talking on the phone and even driving the streets and highways. The never ceasing mind content is reflected perfectly in our ever busy information age. To be stopped and to be placed on hold has an often jarring effect on the hyped up central nervous system. And it offers a great opportunity to really experience the current state of our own inner atmosphere.

I learned a long time ago the value of listening to Life when it is seeking to place me on hold. When I am getting the message that it is time to slow down and to take a pause, I know the wisdom of heeding this call. Not that I always like to listen. Not that it is comfortable. My activity tends to equate to my prosperity. Slowing down when the bills are due can create quite an inner rebellion. And yet I have found that when I am being summoned by my Soul to put things on hold, I can either do that voluntarily, or circumstances will do it for me. How often do we push through these inner urges only to find ourselves being stopped by illness, accident, unemployment, etc? The Universe doesn’t punish us for not listening. Our own Souls do know, however, what is most needed at any given time, and they will ensure that those needs are met. The Soul is not interested if it makes sense to the linear mind, or if it feels convenient. Enormous inner expansion often happens when we are on hold. As in all of nature, seeming inactivity gives birth to many a resplendent manifestation.

So the next time you are placed on hold, consider thanking the gifting representative. And then stay on hold. This is valid whether it is a telephone interaction or a Life opportunity. We all sometimes feel as if Life has placed us on hold. Inertia is rarely a welcome friend. And yet it is a necessary part of emergence, and it offers us the gift of reflection and renewal. Being on hold and staying on hold grants us spaciousness and serenity, and those are fervent states of being. You will know when it is time to re-enter the activity. And you will be far more creative and productive for having been on hold.

SEE TAYLOR LIVE ON SITE FOR CURRENT CALENDAR OF EVENTS AND ALSO TIMES ON HOLD

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

AUGUST RADICAL EXPRESSION

It is a great paradox that our aversion to pain is what keeps us seemingly locked into it. We humans may often give lip service to the adage “no pain no gain,” yet when we come face to face with pain in any form we could mostly care less what promised gain may be just around the corner. We want out of here, right now.

Though we tend to categorize pain into physical, physic, emotional, relational and so on, the reality is that pain is pain is pain. It is all ultimately the same at the energetic level, and no amount of labeling or categorizing does anything to deter it. The brain is actually not much of an ally in our relationship to pain. The fight-flight mechanism kicks in at the slightest hint of perceived trauma, and we are thrown into reaction faster than we can know what is happening. It is the relationship to pain that I want to focus on in this inquiry.

Pain seems to be inevitable within the human experience. We all encounter it, and we all are mostly resistant to it. Though this resistance seems as inevitable as is the pain, this is where the opportunity of a whole new relationship to pain is possible. Pain within the energetic system creates an automatic contraction. It could also be said that an energetic contraction is actually what is at the root of all pain. While contraction is automatic, resistance is not. Resistance is simply prolonged contraction. Resistance is the pushing against pain. I personally think of pain in the form of an acronym: Pushing Against Internal Now. Though we think that pain is mostly caused by external forces, the truth is that pain is always experienced internally. Pain is always experienced in here. There is a me that is the experiencer of the pain, and it is in coming to awareness of that experiencer that choice becomes possible. Our innate aversion to pain has us trying to create distance from it. This takes a myriad of forms, yet the result is always the same. When we try and distance, we create resistance. Pain in any form is always a call to come closer. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, pain is a call to welcome what it is energetically bringing forth. It is an invitation to allow, to welcome, to attend, and to Presence. Whatever we push against will always push back. In wanting to be free from the pain, we actually tether ourselves to it. Rather than wanting to be free FROM pain, why not open to be free WITH the pain. I so often hear clients speak of being IN pain. I never find this a helpful descriptive. You cannot be IN pain. You can and do have an experience OF pain, but to place ourselves in a position of being lost in an encompassing pain is as inaccurate as it is unhelpful. Pain is indeed a call to freedom. It is not, however, a freedom that is achieved by additional resistance or suppression. Pain is indeed a wake up call. It need not be an enemy. As we awaken and open into the experience of the experiencer, pain becomes opportunity. It becomes an invitation to open where we have been closed. It prompts us to compassion where we have perhaps been judging. It entices us to relax where we have been contracted

I do not see or believe that pain is a punishment. I do not believe that we are here to endure pain until some cosmic debt is paid. I do not hold that we must suffer while here in the human realm; and yet, pain and suffering there is here in the human experience. We are always at choice as to how we relate to it. That choice is by virtue of consciousness, and that truth is not to be taken lightly. The higher the level of consciousness, the more choice that is available. The more choice that is available, the less resistance there is. As long as we insist on distancing ourselves from our experience of pain, this resistance will lead to suffering. In fact, resistance is suffering. When we come into a level of consciousness that allows us to come closer and to presence our places of pain, a great intimacy is achieved and great revelations are at hand. I am not saying that pain must contain a story. It is not that kind of revelation. A deep inner Knowing of Universal comfort, compassion, loving-kindness, and grace are available in our very own choice to come closer and to stay. And miraculously enough, when we stop demanding that there be no pain, pain lessens.

Perhaps there will always be pain. Yet there will also always be the Inner Presence necessary to approach it in a welcoming and embracing heartfulness. Every contraction is a choice to open. Every pain is a choice to welcome. Every challenge is a choice to love. Welcome the experience of pain, and live in the openness that allowing brings. Rather than pushing against internal now, open into the Presence that embraces even the pain as one concentric whole.

SEE TAYLOR LIVE CALENDAR ON SITE FOR LISTING OF CURRENT EVENTS