Spiritual Living Podcast

Guest speaker Neil Williams describes how fulfilling it is to think about what would be most meaningful as a remembrance of our lives---how a gift from our estate can support our individual values and passions. Our conscious participation in all our giving lifts our spirits, feeds our souls, and makes us happier and healthier people. When we leave a charitable gift in our will, we leave an expression of our spiritual nature, a natural extension of our place in our community. "Life is an eternal givingness, the offering of the cosmic self to the joy of its own fulfillment. We are a part of this joy and we find fulfillment only as this joy passes through us to others... Everything moves in circles. We short-circuit our own good when we refuse to pass it on." -- Ernest Holmes

We are always being guided. Even when it doesn't feel like it. The world is our classroom and other people are our assignments. When we recognize our problem, condition, or error-belief, we can give it a name. This is the spiritual practice of labelling or noting. It can distance us from the experience. It can release it from being part of our false identity. It gives the mind something to do. It helps us to recognize our patterns. Eventually the experience being noted disappears. If we look at the thing we are afraid of until we really understand it, it will no longer have any element of fear for us. -- Dr. Ernest Holmes Feel the feelings that live beneath the old pain. Call on compassion to clear the path. The way to get rid of fear is through the cultivation of faith---a faith founded on the thought that God is all there is. -- Dr. Ernest Holmes

We are responsible for what we see, because perspective is everything. Things are not what they are; they are what we think they are. We are not responsible for what our eyes are seeing. We are responsible for how we perceive what they are seeing. The circumstances of our lives have less to do with our happiness than the sense of control we feel over our lives. How we frame the circumstances of our lives is so important. It is the simple, small things that can change everything. To have a radical shift in perception, it can be as simple as perceiving our job with more gratitude. More gratitude, more love. A small change can change us forever. Divine Abundance is forever manifesting in our affairs. Today, we expect every good thing to come to us. For we know that Divine Abundance is forever manifesting Itself in our affairs. We are keeping our whole mind and thought and expectation open to new experiences, to happier events, to a more complete self-expression. Everything that belongs to Spirit we accept. Every

Knowledge is power and self-knowledge is self-empowerment. But as Dr. Joe Dispenza says, "If we use our brain to change our brain, it will only make our brain worse." We must open ourselves to pure consciousness to let go of resistance and make a profound change to our lives. Make time to connect to the Divine, to surrender to the Great Unknown, and to foster the feeling-tone of gratitude. Pentatonix video of "Imagine".

In today's talk, lifestyle meditation teacher Mandy Trapp seeks to answer the question, "Who are we?" Drawing from the teachings of Adi Shankara, an 8th Century teacher in India, Mandy presents his "Layers of Life" as a way of knowing ourselves in a different way. The Layers of Life represent us as three bodies, each composed of three parts. The three bodies are the Physical Body, the Subtle Body, and the Causal Body. The Physical Body (environment, body, energy) The Subtle Body (mind, intellect, ego) The Causal Body (personal soul, collective soul, universal) Why did we come here? Why did our soul choose to come as us? We came to re-member---to create and have experiences, and to remember Who we belong to. Ultimately, we only have two desires at the soul level: to be happy and to be free.

We tend to look at prayer as an isolated activity---a tool, a quick fix, or an emergency manoeuvre. We think it's something we do one time and it's done. But that's not how life works. Whether we realize it or not, we are praying continually. Every thought is a prayer, and our thoughts are shaped by our beliefs. We all have beliefs, and what we believe about our lives is what keeps showing up. Our beliefs can add to our life, or limit it. They narrow, guide, expand, limit, and eliminate the happiness in our lives. When we use affirmative prayer, we want to pray using words that the Universe can say a resounding YES to! Ernest Holmes said, "Feel the prayer. What does conviction about what you are praying for feel like? Faith has a feeling tone. Abundance has a feeling tone. Love has a feeling tone. Feel your prayer. Keep feeling it after the prayer is spoken. Be your prayer. Feel it."

Michael Beckwith said, "We are on the planet to be and express the Divine Love of God, that is alive in every fibre of our being, waiting to be released through us onto our world; living as love is a way of life that brings heaven on Earth." A Victorious Attitude: To recognize the unlimited power of God brings victory to the soul. All problems begin and end with our own consciousness. We are as miserable or as creative and free as we decide to be. We begin to solve our problems at the point of origin when we are awake in our consciousness. The Soul's True Nature is Love Awakening: We must welcome our soul to have more love and truth in our lives. We can delay our soul's evolution and emergence but we will never escape its call. Every mind is on a soul's journey. The Proof is in the Doing: When we apply the principles in our lives---adding in moments of meditation throughout our day, adding mindfulness---we know we are really making a difference and change is possible.

This week, Dr. Patrick introduces Martin Luther King's idea of the Beloved Community, and what that means. "Jesus had finished the greatest experiment with life that any man ever made. There were no longer any doubts or questions, no longer any 'ifs', 'ands', or 'buts'. He implied, 'This is the way it is, now go and prove it.' We are on an adventure of self-discovery through faith. The Infinite Intelligence can only respond to what we give It. And we are learning the greatest lesson in life, that man and woman do not live by bread alone, but by a Subtle Power which flows through everything, a Divine Presence which encompasses everything." -- Dr. Ernest Holmes. Our goal is to create a beloved community, and this will require a qualitative change in our souls and a quantitative change in our lives. Our opportunity is to clear away the obstructions that keep us from living in unity. The first step in the quantitative change is self-acceptance. It is knowing that we are enough, that we are loved beyond measure.

The soul is like a wild animal. It is very shy. It is not called into our life or our experience with loud noise. It is typically found in the quiet, in the depth of the forest where it lives. All it needs is a welcome, an invitation. We have fallen asleep in the world of materialism. Without the soul's participation, we continue to want more and more. "The world is beginning to realize it has learned all it can and should through suffering and pain," says Dr. Ernest Holmes. "We are the drop of God in the ocean of God." Self-love is so important---it helps us work from the higher realm. We deserve to be our own friend! Let us take a little time to love and appreciate ourselves. "Love is within us. It cannot be destroyed. It can be ignored. To the extent that we abandon love we will feel it has abandoned us. Denying love is our only problem and embracing it is the only answer. Through the power of love we can let go of past history and begin again. Love heals, forgives, and makes whole." -- Dr. Ernest Holmes

Resolutions are the sign that we are ready to live our lives in a new way. The world commonly believes that thinking, planning, and doing are very important. And they certainly are important for getting things done in a linear way. But a better idea for connecting with ourselves and our joy is stopping, being, and listening. This leads to insight, clarity, and inspiration. The first law of Love is to listen. If we ever go to that place of stillness, out of it everything comes. The uncreated creativity, the creative possibility of the individual out of the uncreated, the voice that is not spoken yet is ready to articulate. We are given a new name written on a white stone. A new name. A new nature. We are free. Nothing is holding us back from our good. As we receive this new name, we may ask ourselves these questions: What is ours to do? What have we come here, at this point in time, to be? What is the quality we are here to express more of?

Our planet is now moving from mysticism to the higher wisdom of practical mysticism. We choose to be on the path of resiliency. We can shape and direct our thoughts, our feelings, and our lives. We are not stuck. There is an Unseen Force with which we can develop a closer relationship. We take responsibility because we have created the place where we are right now. We can re-create and do something new, to create something that brings us to life. Life is not predetermined.

After his miraculous self-healing, Dr. Joe Dispenza travelled the world to learn the common traits and beliefs of people who have had remarkable results. They all: Develop a deep relationship with the unseen force for good. Take responsibility for their lives. They understand that their mismanagement of their lives created the situation. Realize that the best way to move from the old self to the new is to be creative. Ask open-ended questions. Believe that life is not predetermined. Einstein said, "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift." In order to make a change in our lives, we must put down some of the rational mind and surrender to the field of the unknown. J. Krishnamurti says in his book As One Is: To Free the Mind From All Conditioning, "The mind can only be free when it is completely still.... It cannot find anything new with the burden of the past, with the burden of knowledge."

Our founder Dr. Holmes said, "We need not be superstitious to be spiritually minded. Spiritual mindedness is a persistent and consistent attempt to feel the Divine everywhere, and in all things, and it is the capacity not only to believe in but also to perceive, to feel, and to react to a Unitary Wholeness, in essence an Infinite Personalness, a Beauty, a Love, and I also believe, a Laughter which exists in the universe. The Ultimate Reality, spirituality is normal, natural, spontaneous, effervescent, never difficult, and never withholding." God is the Thing Itself. Chiropractor and author Joe Dispenza met It when he was injured in a bicycle race and shattered several vertebrae. Rather than undergo the recommended but immobilizing surgery, Joe developed a relationship with the Infinite and healed himself through the power of his mind. He visualized healthy vertebrae, and through God, his body healed itself. Note: The thumping noise heard in the recording is two large staffs, like Gandalf the Wizard uses in Th

What a great way to start off a new year! Be inspired to bring your uniqueness, awesomeness, and special presence everywhere you go. Learn steps and practical tools to having the life you want, thriving, loving, and creating something new. It's the opposite of "I'll believe it when I see it"---Dr. Patrick helps us find a way to believe it first and then we will see it become our reality. Our brain is not simply a record of our past; we can use it to become a map for our future. Through diligent attention to our thoughts, we can learn to change the way we think and feel; this is how we become a magnet for the experience we are seeking.

Luke's telling of the Christmas story is a message of hope. Drawing from the work of Alexander Shaia's interpretation of this gospel, we hear Luke's voice saying, "When you think there is no turnaround, keep going." When Mary is told she is going to have a child, she is the picture of grace and acceptance. She is receptive and open to the experience. She doesn't worry or question the angel---she knows. When we share in Mary's sense of knowing---which is stronger than faith or belief---we can keep going even when we are cast out or going through difficulties. We are all pregnant with the Christ.

Invoked or not, God is present. We are about moving into leadership in a way that is powerful, that is spiritual. We are here, taking a stand, making a declaration to create a new reality, to move from resignation to new possibility. We need to learn to internalize our capacity for moving from resignation to new possibility. This is the soul experience. It is spiritual because it has to do with the human heart. Our soul connects us at depth. It is a deep experience of oneness. We must observe the soul. To watch it, to keep an eye on it, to observe it as a spiritual advent. The soul always looks like our latest addiction, our latest obsession. But what is driving the problem? Let us take interest in our soul. Let us invite it. Our soul craves expression. What is here for us today? What is ours to do? What is ours to put down?

Most of us have learned from society that there is something wrong with us. We can easily become caught up in a hundred fears which constrict us and our energy. When we are consumed by our fears, we forget the universal principle of more. We are seeking to increase our capacity for responsiveness, for aliveness, for connection---we just forget how. Do not blame yourself for chaos---anything that feels imperfect---in your life. Simply ask, "What is there for me to know in this?" There is always something to know in every situation. We have the opportunity to uncover the true beauty of our being, long buried under false ideas of who we are. In times of conflict, we can ask ourselves, "What is my role in this conflict?" This helps us learn more about ourselves, from a loving perspective. Gratitude is so important. Imagine if everyone knew and recognized their own wholeness---we would love, accept, honour, and respect each other, knowing that no circumstance diminishes who we are.

Those who cannot change their thoughts cannot change anything. -- George Bernard Shaw The ones who think they are crazy enough to change the world are the ones that do. -- Steve Jobs We are crazy enough to believe in the unitive field of oneness. We are crazy enough to believe that we are all connected. We shift consciousness by not engaging in the language and behaviour of separateness or fear. Matt Damon said, "Please find what you can do to make a difference." Learn something, and then share it with someone else. Zig Ziglar said this, "We are what we are and we are where we are because of what has gone into our mind. And the way we change who we are and where we are is by what goes into our mind." Act as if. Act as if it already is. In other words, we fake it till we make it. When we act as if we have the power, the Universe will take us at our word. Every great dream starts with a dreamer. And every great dreamer has spent time sitting still. It is the practice of anchoring ourselves in ourselves wherever

Today's talk centres around untying the knots that limit our magnificence and abundance. We are enough, just as we are: There is a perfection that lives within each and every person. We don't obtain it---we reveal it. Ernest Holmes put it this way, "I am guided by the same intelligence and inspired by the same imagination which scattered the moonbeams across the waves and holds the force of nature in its grasp." We are a community of possibility thinkers. We are powerful beyond measure, and there is nothing that we cannot become. It is our opportunity to take a stand for love---We stand for transformation. We showed up on this planet to demonstrate love. Gratitude releases the flow of life and unleashes its power. We are surrounded and immersed in an Infinite Good. How much of It may we experience? As much as we can use this day.

If we want to do a thing that is really worth doing, we must mentally grow until we are that thing which we want to see made flesh. This may take time, but we should be glad to use all of the time necessary to reach the desired outcome. -- Ernest Holmes Inspired by the book Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler, Dr. Patrick speaks about the power of abundance. Abundance is our future. We will invent, innovate, and create ways to solve challenges that loom over us. Our news sources, unfortunately, sell us primarily negative stories. We often fall into their trap of negativity. But we have the ability to knock down our problems. In fact, we are living in the most peaceful time ever in human history. Abundance is not about creating a world of luxury---it is about creating a world of possibility. We can take that which is scarce and make it abundant. We must increase our ability to express our love for one another, openly and freely. We can learn to socially engage