The Freedom Trap

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose,

and nothin' ain't worth nothing but it's free"

From "Me and Bobby McGee"

If there has ever been a more poignant piece of wisdom couched in the lyrics of a popular song, it must be one that I haven't heard. Every time I listen to this I'm reminded of where I live, the Northern Rivers of NSW. This area is awash in leftover Hippies who hoard their freedom like Scrooge Mcduck hoards his gold, locking it away safe and sound lest they ever need it.

And like gold, freedom only's value is in the spending. While it sits there uselessly idle it must be protected and defended at all costs. No commitments can be made, lest they create restrictions on other possibilities. No actions can be taken, should they lead to the consequence of further action being needed. No gifts may be received, opportunities taken or engagements made, lest they give rise to obligations. One must sit like a frightened Dragon jealously guarding ones hoard, not daring to stretch it's magnificent wings and fly into the wide blue sky lest some thief come to steal it away.

In this way freedom becomes the ultimate trap, for what is freedom if it is not the freedom to 'DO' something. If we allow our need for freedom to paralyse us in this way, we are bound as tight as the most desperate of slaves. We are literally without choice, for every choice requires of us that we spend some of our precious freedom. How ironic, that to truly 'enjoy our freedoms' we must relinquish them. Though I speak satirically, I am constantly saddened by the number of people who have fallen into the freedom pit. I watch them writhe around in an agonising illusion of joy, desperately defending against anything that might make a claim on them, completely unaware that the sharpened stakes that are pricking at their bare flesh are actually the myriad thousands of natural impulses and drives that are urging them towards a life of meaning and fulfillment.

"To be or not to be" said the bard. Though I bend this sentiment (perhaps) a little from it's intended mark, I think it nonetheless relevant. "To choose or not to choose" , "to act or not to act", 'to love or not to love" might be some of the many interpretations we can draw, bringing us eventually to the rub - "to live or not to live" -  THAT is the question.

Narcissism and the New Age

Aaaaah the drama of it all.

I recently found myself trapped in a room with an injured new ager. Now I'm not talking about someone who watched 'The Secret' a couple of times, but the real deal. Budhha heads (the new age fruit bowl) adorning every surface, a morning circle of the house with Tibetan bells and arcane chanting to scare away the evil spirits (amazing how easy it is to scare away evil spirits these days), twice weekly smudging to cleanse the house of 'negative vibes', prayer flags hanging across every opening lest dark entities seek admittance in the middle of the night - you get the picture.

So anyway, it seems that during a terribly meaningful new age social event someone knocked a wine glass over, causing it to shatter and impale this persons foot. To the average person this falls into the 'shit happens, deal with it' category of life experience. But to the dedicated new ager this is a highly symbolic event involving deep messages about 'lack of support', spiritual interventions to get the person to 'slow down' and unhealed childhood wounding. Quick someone call a clairvoyant. Of course such an event requires intense discussion with a large range of friends and any poor sucker who hasn't managed to escape the persons immediate orbit with sufficient speed.

Now it seems that this person is in need of a pair of crutches for a little while, which for most people would involve a quick trip to the emergency department of the local hospital to loan a pair. Not so easy for the new age mind though. There are many dangers inherent to such an adventure, a myriad of social implications about supporting the 'system', the psychic risk of entering such an unenlightened institution, the potential for other peoples negativity to attach itself to the unwary traveler and of course the fact that it might cost a small amount of money. All of this must of course, be weighed and considered in a conversation that takes at least an hour, eventually requiring an elaborate escapade involving at least 4 people (the injured person plus three others to provide psychic protection in their time of disability).

GOOD GOD. Will you people PLEASE get a life.

Half the planet is starving to death and most of the rest live under the burden of poverty, oppression, tyranny and debilitating disease and your making a spiritual saga out of a minor injury. This is the travesty of western privilege and narcissism taken to the very extreme. People who's lives are so empty of anything truly meaningful that they have to construct an endless drama in which everyday mundane occurrences are imbued with universe shaking importance. Apparently the great creator, with the responsibility of endless life forms on endless planets circling endless stars in an endless universe is taking time out to give deep meaningful 'messages' to a bunch of spoilt, unemployed, self indulgent children who can't find anything useful to do with their lives.

With all the suffering in the words, all the people who are truly in need of a helping hand, all the causes and injustices that could do with some real attention and energy - the best these people can find to do is to gaze endlessly into the reflection of their own spiritual ego. I guess I should be more compassionate and understanding, but I hate to think of all that 'good energy' going to feed something so irrelevant when it could be feeding starving children.

People ask me why I'm so anti new age. I'm not really. Anything that connects people to something greater than themselves or inspires them to a more loving and engaged life is OK in my book. However I have little patience for things that simply give people the licence to live useless, small and self focussed lives. Life is a gift that requires us to be engaged and participating if it is to have any meaning. It is our interaction with the 'whole', with life itself that make it worth doing. Or in other words, the meaning of life is life.

The true tragedy of our new age friends injury is that it can create for them such a sense of tragedy and drama. For someone who was engaged in a life worth living, this would be nothing more than a minor inconvenience - easily overcome and soon forgotten. Certainly not something that requires hours of discussion about what it really 'means'. I can't imagine that Nelson Mandela ever spent much time cogitating over a stubbed toe or sprained wrist.

Divine Humanity

If there is one theme, one assertion that lies at the core of all my postings, it is this. That there is no separation between the world of Humanity and the world of God. No duality, no veils to be lifted, no qualitative difference at all. To be Human is to be Divine.

Further I would say that until a person has come to this knowing, all spiritual pursuits are vain idolatry and wasted time. Mostly they are actually attempts to obfuscate the truth by creating a false perception of separation. This is done with sincere intent, in that the spiritual seeker is truly caught in the belief that their humanity is somehow inferior to divine reality, but nonetheless it is a false path. The 'Course in Miracles' refers to such pursuits as delaying tactics, designed to put off the day when we look into the mirror and see the Son of God looking back at us.

Which leads to the question of why we would do this? Why would we hide from ourselves the magnificent truth of who we really are, while we suffer under terrible delusions of inadequacy, isolation and worthlessness? The answer is simple. This is in fact the purpose of the Ego, to create a wholly believable perception of separateness. Without this perception, this identity of limitation, we could not truly exist in human form and participate in the adventure of creation. If we were not able to forget that we are in fact the child of God, with all of God's power and abilities, we could not reconcile our perception to the experience of limitation that is human life. It would be like going to see a movie while constantly repeating to ourselves that it isn't real - there would be no point and no enjoyment in going. In the same way that we must be able to suspend disbelief and engage in the experience of the movie to enjoy it, we must be able to forget the true scope of our self to enjoy the game of life.

Of course, this begs the the question of why do any of this in the first place. Well, why not? Imagine that you are the son of God - omnipotent, omniscient, invulnerable and endlessly creative. Limitless power, limitless love, and limitless oneness. After a time wouldn't you begin to wonder what it was like NOT to be all this? What it is like to know limitation, vulnerability, struggle and striving? Well, we did - and here we are. Of course to HAVE the experience of diversity instead of oneness you have to create a whole lot of different forms to occupy - the body. To KNOW this experience you have to create a way of perceiving yourself as limited to the individual forms you are occupying. Thus you create the Ego, whose primary program is to make sure that you do not realise that you are not merely the form you occupy.

Yet, like all good games, it eventually must come to an end. In the final reel we always wake to the fact of who we are, and it is this sense of a deeper knowing that first leads us into the spiritual path. The problem is that in our attempts to deepen our experience we can be led onto a great many dead ends. Many eastern religions, and the major western ones, teach the path of renunciation. The theory is that by detaching from the world and our humanity we remove the distractions that keep us from the awareness of our God nature. It works too, if you are willing to spend the next thirty years siting in a cave on a mountain.

It's also completely unnecessary. The game is designed to arrive at this conclusion without any extra effort required. As we mature our experience naturally and simply deepens until we arrive at the knowing of our true nature. This path is known by many names, some being the 'Tantric' Path or the 'path of life' . It's not really a 'path' at all, because all it requires of us is that we embrace and surrender to our humanity. At the point where we have become truly integrated with our humanity we discover the divinity of our experience. The truth is that every event that ever happens to us is guiding us towards our eventual and unavoidable awakening - all we need do is trust life. Easier said than done, I know.

That is, unless this natural process of maturation is interrupted or retarded - usually by our attempts to detach from or resist our humanity and our natural life experience. Oh well, it wouldn't be much of a game if it didn't present some challenges.

Food, glorious food

Food, Glorious Food

For as long as I can remember I have battled with a food addiction. It has been the defining negative behaviour of my life, my great nemesis, my own personal Moby Dick. Like Moby Dick it seems to lurk in the unseen depths, leaping up suddenly to wreak havoc and destruction on my world. I meet it with futile rage, powerless in the face of it majesty and absolute refusal to submit to my wishes and demands. Though I speak about it with a satirical edge of drama, it has been a serious source of suffering for me. I have woken every day to find it dominating my thoughts, controlling my actions, and impacting on my health, wellbeing and self esteem.

No attempts to address it have ever worked. A long line of therapists, books, practices, diets, mind changing methodologies, 12 step programs and other desperations have failed miserably. Over time I had become aware that the harder I tried to 'handle' it, the worse it became. The more I tried to control it, the stronger it got. Eventually we arrived at a uneasy truce where I gave in by simply not trying to manage it, merely hoping each day that it would not cause too great a problem for me. I was a beaten man, suffering my pain in a miasma of silent debilitating shame and confusion. Welcome to the dark side of my life.

However, you may notice that I am writing in the past tense. this weekend gone, that all changed. Today I am a man released from a terrible imprisonment, no longer gripped by the iron fist of self hatred. What has freed me is a simple realisation, a moment of blinding insight that left me laughing stupidly in joy and wonder. Want to know what it is? (I'm teasing).

JOY. My addiction is the manifestation of repressed joy. Far from the terrible trauma or shameful secret I imagined it to be - at the core of this behaviour is a delicious, delectable, degustatory deluge of delight. I LOVE FOOD. I absolutely adore food, in all its forms (OK, not shellfish). I love it's sweetness, it's tang, its texture and its taste. Food is one of the great joys of my life, one of the major benefits of being in a body on planet Earth. I mean, seriously, I know that 'breatharians' and others who stick to regimens of dietary purity are reputed to live long lives, but why bother. If the cost of such longevity is the denial of such pleasure I really cant see the point.

Food, Glorious Food. Food brings me incredible joy, and the only reason I've been overdoing it for all these years is that I have not been allowing myself to have that joy, to en-joy my food. Why? Because the messages I received as a small child around the enjoyment of food were extremely negative. "Don't be a guts", "you'll get fat", "Don't let anyone see you", "be moderate", "watch your weight", "Don't be greedy", "always leave some on your plate" and so forth. My simple joy was turned by these into a shameful secret. By the time I was 12 years old I used to sneak out when everyone else had gone to bed and eat where no one could see me enjoy it, then crawl back to bed feeling ashamed and guilty but finally satisfied.

I have thought all my life that the problem was this eating that I needed to control, while all along the problem has been the belief that I needed to control my eating. Since making this discovery I haven't been overeating at all. Now when I eat, I sit down and really enjoy it. By allowing myself to finally have my joy, to receive the gift of this human life, I naturally stop eating at the point where I'm satisfied. I no longer need to run back for seconds and thirds because the child in me has been allowed his simple joys without being berated and repressed. Since making this discovery the weight has been gradually coming off, not because I try to 'lose it' through diet and exercise, but because I no longer overeat and I naturally want to live an active life. This is life the way grace designed it to be, an instinctive and effortless balancing act that requires no interference from a frightened mind.

In other words - enjoying my food isn't the problem - it's the solution. the problem was in not trusting myself, not trusting nature, not trusting grace and not trusting joy. So I hope you will join me in celebrating my new found freedom, and maybe even find some hidden joy of your own.

In Joy I trust.

The Satan Game

A dear friend of mine recently invited me along to see a 'teacher' they are in to. Reluctantly I agreed, only to find my reluctance justified. Don't get me wrong , I think teachers are fine and have benefited greatly from sitting with many people who were able to connect me more deeply to grace and to myself. But not all teachers are equal. In my experience their are two types of teacher. The first are those who, from their  own grace and knowing, facilitate us in the discovery of ourselves. The second being those who are playing, or are caught in, what I call the "Satan Game".

The Satan game is both very simple and highly complex. It is simple in that it boils down to one simple message: "You are not okay the way you are, and you need to be fixed/changed/evolved or in some way improved". It is complex because it invariably involves a huge edifice of complicated and seductive theories, levels, practices and lessons that must be learnt in order for us to earn our way back into love/bliss/redemption or power. Of course, all this arcane knowledge we apparently require can only be gained at the discretion of the guru/master/teacher who has the inside scoop on deep secrets that transcend everybody else's inferior or 'less evolved' understandings. Usually, but not always, this involves handing over large amounts of money. It always involves handing over large amounts of personal power.

This one was no exception. A self declared reincarnation of Jesus (3rd one I've met so far), this particular character proceeded to enlighten us with the knowledge that he was the only being to ever transition the entire 22 dimensions of God's universe and return to Earth. Of course, the rest of us slobs were only at the first level along with the billions of other spirits stuck in this desperate purgatory. But have no fear, with the aid of his deep wisdom that no one else has access to (of course) we would soon be be able to rocket to the head of the queue and achieve the heady bliss awaiting the devoted at level 22.

Now I've seen quite a few of these guys over the years, but this one was probably the most impressive in terms of having the act down. After a while you get to recognise the tricks of the trade.

Step 1: Establish some sort of entirely unprovable 'spiritual authority' (i.e. I'm Jesus).
Step 2: Speak the predictable 'objections' of the audience (an old door to door sales trick).
Step 3: Establish the idea that the audience are 'free to choose' and that the presenter is in no way attached to the audience members choices (actually, only the really good ones do this).
Step 4: Create the context in which anyone who is 'close minded' or 'resistant' is just working through their 'stuff' or denying themselves the growth and learning they really need. This particular teacher managed to imply that anyone who expressed objections was committing an unloving act on the rest of the audience (Always nice to see something new).
Step 5: Deal with all questions or challenges by a process of 'engulfment'. this means that rather than argue with the challenger the presenter acknowledges what their saying in such a way that it makes it seem the challengers ideas are valid, but a 'lower' form of understanding.
Step 6: Once having quelled all audience dissent, proceed to establish that the audience members reality is an inferior experience, implying that this is because of some flaw or limitation in their understanding or evolution.
Step 7: Proceed to outline the path by which the listener may redeem themselves to the heights of spiritual ecstasy as defined by the presenter. Of course, this path is a deep and mysterious thing that cannot never be fully described or understood, but must be experienced under the guidance of the teacher.

Or something like that. There are a few other things to look out for. There will always be enough 'truth' in the teachings to get them past casual inspection and make them seem superficially attractive. The good ones will appear humble, simple and sincere (they may even be sincere in their belief - that why I call it the Satan game - the deception can be at any level). There will always be the promise of being special or privileged, an attractive idea to the wounded egos that are drawn to these teachers. Last but not least, none of the teachings will ever be provable or backed up by empirical evidence and you will almost always be encouraged to 'go beyond' your mind and 'transcend' or 'release' any feelings that might be objecting to the program. Though the very best will also 'engulf' rather than oppose these.

See what I mean about highly complicated? Fortunately, there is a simple way to tell the difference. If we assume for a minute that the universe is the manifestation of a loving Creator, would such a being really do this to their creations? Would a loving God create all these tests and trials? the idea that happiness can only be found by leaping though extraordinary spiritual hoops is absurd. The premise that any one being would be of greater worth or value than another is sick. The concept that we would have to strive against impossible odds and unearth hidden secrets that are only revealed to a few 'special ones' is basically cruel. If you were God, would you do this to your children?

No is the answer. There is only one 'truth' we ever need to know. "We are BEAUTIFUL and PERFECT, just the way we ARE". Every problem we can ever have, every moment of suffering we can ever know, comes from forgetting that simple truth. All the horrible things we do to ourselves and each other come from the simple fact that we have come to believe something different to this. In the moment that I accept this truth everything else falls away. I can no longer believe in 'levels' of love or spiritual attainment. I can no longer see myself or others as broken and in need of fixing. I can no longer see my reality as something that needs to be transcended or transformed. I can, in that knowledge, only be who I am.

So what is the purpose of the Satan Game? To hide the simple truth that we are OK just as we are. It has to be complicated, seductive, and full of outlandish promises or we'd see though it too easily. Why does it exist? Beats me, I only know that it does, and that it is easily seen through with a single question. Does what this person is saying connect me to the knowledge that I'm OK, or does it try to convince me that I'm not?


Together we rise

Seek and you shall . . . . seek?

I live in Byron Bay, the California of Australia. replete with sunshine, great surf, fabulous weather, high unemployment and every imaginable type of therapist, healer, workshop and spiritual pursuit. A veritable 'seekers' paradise. Let me define what I mean by a seeker. Seekers are a subculture of privileged western society who are in search of spiritual attainment. The stated goal of a seeker is this indefinable thing thing called enlightenment. Why indefinable? Because if you can't define it, you can't know when you've attained it.

Seekers congregate in places like Byron Bay, Los Angeles and Goa because the lifestyle is excellent and no one expects you to have a job. If one is going to be seeking, it might as well be somewhere comfortable and enjoyable. Seekers drink coffee or green tea in little street side cafes where they meet with other seekers. Seekers have tried every sort of spiritual practice, sat with every guru, done dozens of workshops, seen every sort of therapist, and try to make a little extra cash to supplement the welfare cheque by offering their services as whatever sort of healer they can claim to be.Seekers do yoga, have numerous short term relationships, experiment with Tantric sex, despise religion, protest against capitalism and governments, talk about how they would have an electric car if they could afford one and tell you their big dreams of living sustainable lives.

I used to be a seeker. Hell, why not? It sure beat working for a living, the women have great bodies (all that yoga) and 'progressive' attitudes towards sex, and as long as you talk endlessly about saving the world from those dirty capitalist dogs no one expects you to actually make some sort of contribution or assume any sort of responsibility. It's a cruisy life, a sort of spiritual hedonism with the added benefit of getting to think you're one of the 'special ones'. Homo superior just waiting for the rest of the world to catch up with your spiritual development and recognise your trailblazing wisdom.

The problem is that I did, quite by accident, the one thing that a seeker is never allowed to do. I found. "Wait a minute" I hear you say, Isn't that the goal of every seeker? Well actually, NO. The goal of a seeker is to seek. Ceaseless, vigorous, determined seeking. If you actually find what you are apparently seeking you lose all the benefits of being a seeker. No more spiritual ego trips and delusions of superiority. No more free ride at the expense of those 'normals' you so deftly deride. No more excuses for transient relationships that you really can't commit to because they might interfere with your 'spiritual progression'. No more grandiose delusions of saving the world to compensate for your almost total lack of usefulness and contribution.

The problem with actually 'finding' is in what you 'find'. Finding is not an achievement or a triumph. Not an elevation to sainthood or eternal freedom from pain and suffering. Not a free ride to wealth, sex and power. Not the attainment of magical powers and mystical wisdom. Finding is the simple realisation that you are just like everyone else. Just as divine, glorious and amazing as everyone else. Just as deluded, selfish, violent and flawed as everyone else. Just as capable of love and of evil. Just as frightened, just as deceitful, just as noble, just as responsible for the state of things, just as small and powerless, just as creative and resourceful, just as dependent on the good will of others, just as capable of kindness.

Finding does bring freedom, but it brings tremendous responsibility too. The freedom it brings is freedom from the need to be special, to be different, to be perfect, to be superior, to be extraordinary. The responsibility it brings is to play you part in the great game of creation, to contribute, to love, to ease the burden of others, to look after yourself, to cry for your suffering and the pain of your brother, to make the world a better place because of your presence in it.

Seeking is easy. It's merely the act of an immature ego inflating itself with dreams of separation, specialness and the easy way out. Finding is hard. Its the surrender of a mature ego to the realities of life and the responsibilities of love. So how do you 'find'? Simple - you stop seeking. You recognise that your seeking is a trick you are playing on yourself. Nothing more than a fantasy you use to distract yourself from what is right in front of you - life. A Course in Miracles calls seeking 'delaying tactics'. Trying to put off the moment in which the ego must surrender it'a attempt to 'rule' the kingdom and take up its alloted service role.

That which is real has never been hidden, never been lost, never been obscured from our view. It is simple reality. Sometimes joyful and exciting, sometimes hard and daunting.So why, you may ask, should we stop seeking and simply 'find' what has always been in front of us? Because it is the only way that peace and happiness can ever be ours. Heaven is not the absence of pain, difficulty and effort. It is the willingness, the bravery, to respond to them with love. It is the adventure of life, faced with simple courage, and the supporting hand of grace. But grace can only help those who are prepared to give up the isolation of egotism and specialness, and rejoin the ranks of our shared humanity. Grace is only present in that which is real.

The Invitation - stop seeking, FIND.

Together we rise.

The REAL Law of Attraction

So I guess you've seen 'The Secret', or read one of the many books available on how you can use the so called 'law of attraction' to make your dreams come true. A little positive thinking, some creative visualisation and a few affirmations should have you driving that shiny new Porsche in no time at all - and without any effort, work or outlay either. After all, you are the creative force of the universe aren't you? You can have anything you want, use the power of God at your whim, remake reality to your liking with a single thought, right?

Oh, but hang on a minute. That's not really the experience you've been having is it? Nor does it seem to be anyone else's experience. Must be those pesky negative beliefs getting in the way. Maybe you just need to work harder at those self affirming affirmations, be more vigilant about watching those annoying self sabotage thoughts (where'd they come from?), make your visualisations more vivid and emotionally engaging. Of course if all that fails, it doesn't really mean it isn't true, it's just that the universe is having to teach you more lessons before the gates of wealth and power open to you.

It has to be true. All those people selling you these ideas and concepts seem to be doing all right. Then again, they do seem to be using your money to do it. Strange that. If their so good at all this manifesting, why do they need to sell you all these expensive training programs, books and DVD's to make their dreams come true. But it just has to be true, doesn't it. If it isn't true, if all this power is not yours to use, then who are you? Just another human being getting pushed around by the big bad world,  having to slave away at a job just like everyone else? Merely another normal person facing all the trials and tribulations of this unpredictable, overwhelming, difficult little life.

Well, perhaps neither of these realities is entirely true. Maybe there is a middle path. It's possible that we do in fact have a part to play in the great story of creation, that we do have some power over what comes our way - just perhaps not as much as we would like to think. It's also possible that we have some limitations to deal with, that reality requires something of us before it rewards us with our dreams fulfilled. Maybe it's not really us who are making the rules here. 

After all, imagine for a minute a reality in which your every desire is instantly fulfilled, and so is everyone else's. We're going to need a lot of super models, expensive cars, big houses and platinum credit cards. If everyone is rolling in it, who's going to serve us our double espresso latte in the morning? Who cleans the toilets, changes the babies nappy, does the really hard jobs, or the boring ones? If everyone has three investment properties, who's renting them? you don't have to think about this very far to realise that there's a pretty big hole in this Utopian ideal. For your reality to be everlasting ease and comfort, someone else's has to really suck. So, what's wrong with being merely human anyway?

John Bradshaw, in his book "healing the shame that binds you", gives us something of a clue about all this. He calls it the shame bound personality problem. An identity bound in what he calls 'toxic shame' cannot accept itself as it is, cannot live with the limitations of being human, so it wanders ceaselessly between the polarities of devastating shame and absolute shamelessness. Such a person is bouncing between perceiving themselves as a subhuman, disgusting worthless failure or a superhuman invincible success story with the power of God at their fingertips.

Why can't they stand to know themselves as just a normal human? Because the trauma's of their life have left them feeling profoundly ashamed. Ashamed of not living up to the expectations of others. Ashamed of not being able to defend themselves (or others) against the assaults they've experienced. Ashamed of not having been able to heal the perpetrators of those assaults who are usually parents or loved ones. Ashamed, Ashamed, Ashamed. An seemingly unbearable, unresolvable, unforgiveable feeling of not being OK. Better then to escape, to lose oneself in a fantasy of ultimate power and ultimate fulfillment.

But this blog is not about healing the shame that drives us to such dreams. It's about the Real Law of Attraction. Because it's true that we are creative - that the universe bends to our will. It's just that our will is not under the control of our ego. We cannot make our will (which is the will of God inside of us) submit to the authority of a mere personality, of a mind caught in delusions of grandeur and shame. It is our ego that must surrender to IT if we wish to become happy and fulfilled. This is not a random universe, ruled by tantrum throwing personalities screaming for instant gratification. It is a universe of order and of love, where we each serve each other like the cells of our body serve one another.

The real law of attraction is simply this - "our reality will aways reflect our consciousness, whether we like it or not". Every unhealed wound will bring exactly the situation that is needed to re-trigger it, so that you may have another opportunity to heal. Every mistaken belief will manifest in a vivid four dimensional technicolor life experience to be reviewed. Every attempt to escape yourself will come crashing down around you so that you might once more choose to turn and face what your really are. Every attempt to defend, insulate and avoid the reality of your true state of being will fail, usually in spectacular and shocking fashion.

If we think you can manipulate this simple truth with affirmations, visualisations and positive self talk we are sadly, devastatingly mistaken. God is not so easy to fool. Grace is no sucker to be conned. Reality is not a toy that exists for the gratification of immature ego's.

So - would you be happy and fulfilled? At peace with yourself and your life? then stop trying to change your reality, which is the greatest teacher you could ever have, and start changing your mind. Find out who you really are. Do the things you really love. Share the gifts you have been given. Uplift others with your positive words. Live the passions that make you feel alive and excited. Do the work that is before you. Play your part in the great scheme of creation and creation will give you everything you have ever needed (but maybe not everything you have ever wanted).

Do you want to know the real secret? There is no secret. Never has been. Never will be. What a cruel trick that would be. For a loving creator to fill his children with the desire for  happiness and then withhold from them the knowledge of how to attain it. That knowledge is built into every cell of your body. The truth and wisdom you seek has always been there, freely available. People have been shouting it at you for years. However, you will have to give up illusions of control, delusions of specialness, and the idea that you can somehow take from life more than you give to it. Nature isn't stupid, and she holds all the cards.

Together We Rise.