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My Next Adventure | ||||
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Given the music we selected and the time of the year, you may have come to Church expecting a Seasonal talk. In a way, I think this is a Seasonal talk. Because some say, this is the time of the year when we are closest to the Angelic Realm, a time when the veils become thin, when it is easier to connect with Jesus, ascended Masters, or guides. This is the time of the year to take a step in a new direction, to dedicate ourselves and our thinking to the Spiritual, a time for change. And a time to exchange gifts.
Friday during my morning meditation, I was reminded of what I would like to call “The lesson of the dishwasher.” That is, to use our dishwasher, I simply put the dishes in, add soap, close the door, and push a button. The rest happens automatically. Wouldn’t we like that to be the way spiritual things work? Just start them and they work without any conscious effort on our part? Sometimes that does happen. A few weeks ago David demonstrated one HeartMath lesson – placing our hand over our Heart. This is very easy and very powerful. I love simple solutions.
As most of you know, I like to start with a joke. Humor helps us learn more, grow, and expand. The trouble is, what engineers think is funny, most people don’t. And when engineers tell a joke, people sometimes don’t know it and take what they say seriously. So I want to be sure to mention that the following is a joke.
You may be familiar with Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers. For many years they had a radio show called “Car Talk” on Public Radio. People would call in with their car problems and Click and Clack would try to solve them. I loved to listen to them and often they had simple solutions for complex problems. They were very sharp, knowledgeable, and entertaining. Here is one story I like.
A man called about an expensive car that he owned, I think it was a turbo Mercedes Benz. He told them what it was doing and asked for their advice. They said that they knew exactly what was wrong and what he could do about it. They told him to park it on a level spot, get out, raise the hood, and wait until the engine cooled off. I thought, ‘Wow! Click and Clack are going to come up with some simple solution.” They went on,
I want to start with the three important points of my previous talk titled, The Next Step: 1. The importance of Stopping - Because it helps me see the forest for the trees. 2. Paying Attention - To look for clues. 3. The Next Step - To move toward where I am heading.
By showing up at Church, we have already taken the first step. We have taken time to Stop.
I would like to Pay Attention by remembering some past adventures: One of my first was a 5-day Vision Quest where I went off by myself and spent a lot of time listening, and meditating. This is when I learned, “I am fooled by the Physical.” A lesson that I am still learning.
I made a trip to Nepal on my own. I had never been to Asia, had a wife and three children, a job, a small farm, and a house I was remodeling. Later I learned that it was on this trip that I became a Mystic. The trip taught me that my life was magical, and introduced me to Tibetan Buddhism. It also strengthened my intuition because I essentially used it to navigate. One of the things that called me to Nepal was three monks. They showed up in our bedroom in the middle of the night. Since I was not clairvoyant, it was my best guess that they were monks. Two years later I traveled with four friends to Tibet. There we visited Buddhist monasteries where I eventually met the three monks. Each separately, and in the order that they appeared to me left to right. Again, I found my way by following my intuition. In Australia I found my didgeridoo. In South America, I traveled to Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. While I was in Peru, I discovered that a vortex could be used to open a portal. In Bolivia, I learned, “The importance of saying Yes.” I will read you the story of how that happened:
On Monday, I wake up early in a hotel in downtown La Paz, Bolivia. Our tour bus is leaving shortly for Copacabana where we will spend the night. On Tuesday, most of our group will leave for Peru. Four of us will stay behind. They are Carole Glenn, our friends Jeannette, Greg, and myself. We will travel independently for a week. I have known about this for months and we have traveled all this way, but I only have a vague idea of where we should go, and what we should do. Most of all, I have made no arrangements for the essentials like a guide, a driver, accommodations, and meals. Like me, Jeanette is seriously concerned. Carole has confidence that things will work out, and Greg is calm. When I asked Greg how he could be so calm when I am so clueless, his comment is, “You have a good track record.”
I remember on my trip to Nepal, I was by myself, but experienced a similar experience. On that trip I sat up all night meditating and eventually magically found my way. Now I need another miracle. So I meditate asking for help and suddenly it dawns on me that I have not said, “Yes.” I was just going along for the ride and thought that I would feel OK with whatever happened. I realize that this is no longer the case. So I gather my authority and say, “YES! I agree to do whatever it will take.” I say this over and over again as strongly as I can.
I go down the hall to see if Carole is ready. She is so we go down to the desk in the hotel and I ask if they have a travel agent that they use. The desk clerk says that they use an agent by the name of Alex. Armed with a map from the desk clerk, Carole and I set out for a six-block walk to the travel agency. The travel agency is small hole-in-the wall office and after I enter, I quickly look around and don’t see anyone that looks like the right person. Then I hear a voice behind me, “Oh you must be the man from the hotel.” I immediately feel that this is the right man. We sit down at his desk and my feeling that he is the right person gets stronger. I tell him that we are interested in going south. We talk about areas and finally he says that there are some rock islands in the salt flat that he feels will be ideal and points them out on a map. They are a long ways from anything. As I am talking to Alex, Carole checks out things with her pendulum and I check my intuition. I mention that we will need a car and driver, as well as hotels. Alex points out things on the map and explains how everything can be taken care of. I ask how much and he says $440 US a person. I ask how much of a deposit he needs, and he says, one person. So I take money out and pay him, saying, “that it is for me.” (I think, “Now for me, this is really saying Yes!”) Alex says that the car and driver will meet us the day after tomorrow at 8am at our hotel in Copacabana.
Alex asks a young woman to walk us back to the hotel in time to catch our tour bus. Thanks to her we make it just as the tour bus is loading. About half of our group is already onboard. Others brought our luggage down, so we grab it and get onboard. After sitting down, I realize that in just 45 minutes, we have gone from no clue and no plans, to an arranged trip with all the details taken care of. I look at Carole and realize that she is in shock. Actual I am too, but not as much as she is. This is the power and importance of saying, “Yes, I will do whatever it takes.” This can be a necessary step in an adventure.
When I review these adventures, I realize that they have some common characteristics. I had to: 1. Follow my best guess. 2. Use my intuition. 3. Step confidently onto the unknown. 4. Say yes, I will do what it takes. 5. There is another common characteristic; it could be called “The Power of telling others ” In doing this, we are publically saying “Yes”, and others can join in. Sometimes that is by being supportive (or at least not being negative), and sometimes it actually means coming along.
In our Course in Miracles group that meets here Monday afternoons, we read The Disappearance of the Universe, and are now reading Jesus: My Autobiography. As I mentioned last time I spoke, these books are written in straightforward language and have meant a lot more to me than the Course in Miracles. I am very grateful to Brian Jones for leading me in this direction. One of the most striking things about these books is that they present a view that agrees with what I learned from Tibetan Buddhism. That is, that this physical world is an illusion but behind it is an unchanging truth. The physical world is a trap that we are caught up in and that we return to life after life. The Buddhists see it as a wheel. However, there is a possibility of reaching Enlightenment, where we escape the wheel of life.
These books present four important concepts: 1. Enlightenment happens in Life, not in the afterlife. 2. We enter the next life at the level we left our previous life. 3. Everything in the physical is a result of mind. 4. We are recreating everything in the physical world every second.
I had planned on everything becoming clear after I died. I thought of this as Enlightenment. The thought of entering the next life at the level we leave this one is so strong for Tibetan Buddhists, that they practice the moment of death. In this way, they become ready to leave at the highest level. I was working with a guide at one time, and I was not very happy with him. So I said, “You're nothing but a mental projection.” He answered, “So what do you think you are?” When I heard this, I had a sinking feeling. I have heard of the concept that we are recreating everything over and over again. In a sense, it is flashing in an out of existence. When I first heard this, I thought it was pretty strange. However, now I am coming to accept that it could be true.
These concepts and some others are creating my next adventure. Simply put, My Next Adventure is to seek Enlightenment.
Enlightenment is described in Jesus, My Autobiography as “… the absolute transformation of mind, removing all the blocks to love’s presence – removing all blocks, all fears, and all hatreds …” How will I do that? I am not sure. However, this too has been a characteristic of my past adventures. To overcome uncertainty, I decide where I want to go, and then take steps that might lead me in that direction. Now that my goal is Enlightenment, I have decided to take the following first steps:
One step is to give this talk, to say "Yes" in front of my friends. Another step is to continue to attend our Course in Miracles group. Another step is based on the idea that we are remanufacturing our body every second. In the past, I have thought that what we do is what changes the body. Now I am starting to think that it is what we believe that changes the body. For example, It may be our belief in exercise that makes a change, not the exercise it self. So my step is that I am going to believe that my body can be replaced by a stronger, healthier, and higher vibrating body every second. Second by second, I can be better. And at any second, there could be an instant change.
I will also asking that our Alohem meditation group undertake this new adventure. If you think that you might want to join our meditation group, see Carole Glenn.
I am inviting you to come with me on this adventure.
I know how powerful this last step can be. On Monday, when I saw Ildi, I told her how unsure I was about this talk. Ildi said, “Whatever it is, it will be good.” That one thing, helped me all week.
Here is a brief summary of what I think is important from this talk: 1. Adventures have common characteristics, including uncertainty. 2. My Next Adventure is to seek Enlightenment. 3. Each second we may be better, stronger, healthier, and enlightened by what we think. 4. Like the joke at the beginning of the talk, we may have to find a level spot, stop, get out, lift the hood, and kiss some of our old beliefs goodbye.
Meditation This meditation is what some of us first experienced last month during a gathering. That is, there is an energy building and we can call it in by ringing this bell. You may feel this energy coming in as a series of waves. I will then play the didgeridoo to help remove any blocks and balance out the energy.
Take a deep breath, hold it, and then as you let it out feel yourself relaxing. Take a second deep breath, feel yourself relaxing more. Take a third deep breath and feel yourself relaxing even more. Get in touch with your inner senses. I am going to ring a bell to call in energy that has built up. You may feel waves of energy. End by developing an Attitude of Gratitude
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