Throw Your Heart Over the Fence

So what does it mean to ‘throw your heart over the fence’? It means to take a risk and love again! Love your SELF!! Have no expectations of yourself, forgive all your several flaws, stop comparing yourself to others, spend joyously on your self, spend time with YOU, listen to your needs and fulfil them, accept no truths but those that empower you, honour yourself for every achievement, big or small.

“Throw your heart over the fence and the rest will follow.” –Norman Vincent Peale. Read this again. Do you understand it? What is this fence? Is it the limits of your thought systems? The boundaries beyond which you will not permit yourself to feel? The physical restrictions you place upon yourself?

The truth is that the fence has been made by screwing into place every wooden log of thought with the help of long and sharp, toughened nails of feeling, and then giving it a glossy look by the paint of moralistic judgment and criticism. Sprinkled liberally onto the fence are the adornments of social conditioning. With this fence firmly in place, we feel a false sense of security, of protection. Within this fence, we wonder, ‘am I in, or is the world out?’

At this stage it becomes vital to ask of ourselves: “What am I so scared of that I need the fence?” This answer cannot and will not come easily, but you can get a very good hint if you are aware of your reactions. What you react to the most, what hurts and angers you the most, this is your point of greatest fear.

Once you have identified it, ask yourself the ‘what if…’ questions. What if I were to be completely alone? What if I am abandoned and rejected? What if I had very little money? What if I had no one to call a friend? What if I am scorned? What if… what if…..There are as many questions as there are people on earth. Keep a close note of your answers, and very soon you will see a definite pattern that will give you a surprising, but clear, look at why you need a fence.

The Wonder of Miracles

Most miracles lack the element of drama and fanfare, and go by unnoticed. The dramatic ones seem too big for us to work towards. As a result, whether small or big, the power of miracles is lost to us. Miracles have the power to lift us out of routine and mediocrity, and touch the strength and will of the spirit within.

“And could you keep your heart in wonder at the daily miracles of your life, your pain would not seem less wondrous than your joy…” Kahlil Gibran

Miracles lie strewn around us like the delightful shells on a sea shore, but we wait dejectedly at the water’s edge for the oyster to bring in our pearl. This wait becomes interminable, and sooner or later results in despair, cynicism and apathy.

The Taj Mahal is undoubtedly a wonder of the world, but the miracle lies in the fact that in every marble block the artisan saw the full vision of this wonder, and painstakingly and lovingly chiseled it to life. Often the ‘bigness’ of a created form stops us from being aware of the small miracles that came together, silently, to enable the manifestation.

In daily life, we are often as ‘blind’. We pray for miracles, but refuse to open our eyes to the numberless joys that embrace us. Sight, hearing, and mobility are miracles that are daily taken for granted by those blessed with them. Only the blind and the deaf and the immobile know their true worth. Feelings, power of discernment and passion are found to be evident only in acts of magnitude.

The miracle of soundless breath, the joy of music and art, the warmth of a bright summer day, the cool exhilaration of rain, the pristine beauty of a snow clad mountain, the grasp of a tiny hand, are considered as temporal moments, their inexplicable divinity lost in the inevitability of their occurrence.

Most miracles lack the element of drama and fanfare, and go by unnoticed. The dramatic ones seem too big for us to work towards. As a result, whether small or big, the power of miracles is lost to us. Miracles have the power to lift us out of routine and mediocrity, and touch the strength and will of the spirit within. The power of each miracle is unique and different, for no miracle is quite like the other. The magical difference of miracles is seen in the uniqueness of each snowflake, each strand of DNA, each fingerprint, reach raindrop. Let your vision not be jaded by the apparent sameness of each day. Be alert to the unique joys that each miraculous day has to offer.

Miracles are Divine, certainly, but the spirit that sculpts it, is human. You have the power to sculpt the miracles of your own David; you only need courage, faith and determination. The courage to persevere, the faith to recognise that the darkest night brings the brightest dawn, and the determination to strive on when all others have decided to quit the race. We pray to God for a miracle, being completely ignorant to the fact the God has already given us the tools to create them. Your intelligence, desire and passion help you to draw its blueprint, and your strength, will and courage to breathe life into it.

Miracles don’t happen; they are created. They don’t wait for you to be unhappy, or for things to go wrong. They are as naturally a part of our existence as our selves. Due to our lack of awareness of the miracles around us, we tend to ignore our inner power till difficulties knock at our door. In the face of hurdles, we summon our strength to the fullest and thus invite miracles. But miracles do not need difficulties in order to BE. Your awareness of the miracles of joy will summon your divine will and remove the need of trauma and conflict.

(To register for the unmissable 15 part distance program ‘Harnessing Miracles in Daily Living (Using Your Inner Power to Enrich Your Life)’ please email me ellaeenah@jadefirelight.com)

Summoning divine will is easy; it only requires you to KNOW that you are unique, matchless and limitless. When you limit yourself, you limit your children, and pressure them to think small and dream finitely. The greatest gift that you can give a child, is the knowledge of his own uniqueness, so that he takes pride in being who he is, rather than carrying the humiliating burden of imitation. Teach him that it is more important to fill the inner space, than to fit into the cramped boundaries of society. See him smile in the realisation that HE is the miracle.

When the eye sees only the truth of miracles, can it ever recognise the illusion of pain?

The Inner Kingdom Of Love – Part II

(Please read The Inner Kingdom of Love -Part I before reading this blog)

Erroneous belief systems about God have led many to disbelieve in God. To those who believe that God does not exist, I say, look into your eyes and uncover the God seed within. God can never be eliminated, can never be defeated, can never be rejected. The God Force lies buried under the clutter of self-debasing and self-destructive beliefs, the journey towards the Inner Kingdom revealing its brilliance to us.

The God Force has been called by many names, and has been personified in many (hi)stories. Depending upon what we have heard, and read, our belief systems communicated with the Force in fear or love. Often our relationships with our parents, teachers, and primary care givers also played a defining role in this. The more we heard, the less we connected to the Inner Kingdom, and the more lost we became as we searched outside for a force we considered ourselves incapable of comprehending. Rarely were we taught of our true inner divine nature, as more emphasis was placed upon reiterating our negatives, constantly affirming humanness as a state of sin and entrapment by temptation. Soon, the Inner Kingdom did not even remain a shadow for us, and was forgotten under the heavy burden of guilt, shame and despair. Believing that the God Force lay within our reach, nestled gently in our higher hearts and higher minds, was inconceivable, and the thought that the keys to the Inner Kingdom were entirely at our command seemed almost blasphemous. Thus, negative ego wove web upon web of non-truths that we accepted.

Fortunately many of us have awakened from this drugged slumber, and have determinedly stepped onto the ‘yellow brick road’ towards our Oz – the Inner Kingdom. Spiritualists, for long, have called this process ‘evolution’. Conscious evolution requires constancy and resolve. Though some steps may seem steeper than others, consistent onward movement takes us surely to the source of divine freedom, and the font of divine creativity. Though buried deep under the rubble of conflicts, harsh emotions, fragmented dreams, and broken resolves, the core of the Inner Kingdom is ever pure – unaffected, unadulterated, non-diluted by the experiences of the ego.

Often I have been asked why I am certain of the existence of this Inner Kingdom. When I see the God Nature revealing itself in the unquestionable certainty of dawn, the glorious rising of every full moon, the clockwork rhythms of the changing tides, none of which can be replicated by the intellect of man, I can intuit that there must necessarily be the same unseen God Nature within me, and all that is God Self. When I can hear the innocent delight in a child’s laughter, the gentle soothing in a mother’s song, the uncontainable passion in the lover’s whisper, I know that God Speaks, God Lives, God IS.

The Inner Kingdom of Love – Part 1

There are many who have moved beyond the old fear-driven concepts of heaven and hell, sin and punishment. We no longer believe in a God who is looking for different ways to condemn us to lives and after-lives of doom, retribution and atonement. The human race, as a whole, rejects those old truths and has evolved to the liberating principle of a Universal Force of Love that weaves the human fabric, holds it together, and coheres it into a seamless whole.

Love has no desire but to fulfill itself. To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. ~Kahlil Gibran

All religions and all paths tell us only this one truth – we are the creation/ image/likeness of God. Ask any four-year old to give you the primary quality of that which she understands as God, and the prompt reply will be ‘love’. This means, of course, that within us, hidden by the fabric of the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious, is the omnipresent and tangibly real God-quality, Love. And, yet, as we glance at the world as it is today, the evidence of this God-quality often seems hard to come by. What is it that weaves human lives into conflict, and, more significantly, what is the unifying culmination of this incomparable complexity?

There are many who have moved beyond the old fear-driven concepts of heaven and hell, sin and punishment. We no longer believe in a God who is looking for different ways to condemn us to lives and after-lives of doom, retribution and atonement. The human race, as a whole, rejects those old truths and has evolved to the liberating principle of a Universal Force of Love that weaves the human fabric, holds it together, and coheres it into a seamless whole.

Truly, the Kingdom of Love lies within us; it lies within our heart. In present times, when the energy of Unconditional Love is activating within all of humanity, it becomes imperative to understand this Inner Kingdom. As the human race, we are constantly encountering duality and polarity, not only around us, but within our very natures. Let us briefly take a look at the polar opposites of our desires. We seek to be free on one hand, and desire the sacred bonds of relationships on the other. We strive passionately to expand our horizons, ever reaching outwards and beyond, even as we endeavour to journey inwards towards the centre of our divine core.

These may appear as journeys to opposite poles, but the Inner Kingdom of Love, experiences them as interrelated. The Inner Kingdom knows that ‘no man is an island’ and sees the relatedness of our independent journeys. The monarch of this kingdom seeks not to control and overshadow, but to empower, enrich and bring to life the strongest potential of joy lying within each. The unifying thread of Divinity that runs through each one of us takes as much pride in the growth of another as it does in the blossoming of its own creative force. Separation, loss and death is viewed by the Inner Kingdom with acute sadness, yes, but not with crushing anguish. Sadness is tempered by a higher understanding of the impossibility of loss, and surrender to the inevitability of personal will. Thus, though we may possess not the omniscience of God, we own the living irradiation of divine love.

Placing God Between You & Your Hardships

Destiny has only two roads to offer to all. The road that you pave with your power, or the road that you stumble along, falling over the debris of your godhood. You are the writer of your destiny, and the indelible ink of your pen is the choices you make.“Surrender is placing God between you and your hardships.”

The truth of the above statement is brilliant in its simplicity. To comprehend it fully, you have to understand your current beliefs, and then be ready, willing and able to change them. The most significant belief that you need to focus your attention on, is your belief that you are less than God. The constant reiteration of your flaws and vulnerabilities forms a belief system which labels you as flawed.Your strengths you take for granted, and when your attention is drawn to these by another, you often undermine their importance by using statements like, “That’s not special in any way.”

Pride in one’s self and one’s achievements is often considered to be ‘blowing of one’s trumpet’. Highlighting your flaws, on the other hand, is accepted as a brave statement of humility. Thinking of self as equal to all the masters, teachers and gurus that you revere seems unthinkable, and comparing yourself to God, positively blasphemous! When you hold such a self-debasing belief system, your inner dialogue is one of shame, blame and guilt. This inner dialogue leads you to resign to the hurdles you face, often with an unvoiced hope that this resignation will please ‘god’ who will then favour you with his abundant blessings. Resignation suggests defeat, a belief that you have failed, an even stronger belief that you do not deserve success.

Resignation brings with it a sense of loss, gnawing worry, and acute impatience. It is not an experience of your Inner Authority, but an utterly helpless call of one who has fallen under the burden of powerlessness. Sitting back and doing nothing because you want a ‘higher power’ to do it all for you, is the escape route of one who is either too lazy to exercise his Inner Power, or one who is so filled with the fear of anticipated failure that he is paralysed by it and unable to take the required action. 

Open The Door To Success

Success will crown the head of one who is at ease with the expansion of others, and not intimidated by it, overly impressed by it, or resentful and envious of it. A successful man’s mind is open but not impressionable, flexible but not changeable, discerning but not judgmental. It seeks reasons not excuses, explanations not justifications, change not stagnancy.

Many times I have been questioned about why complete success does not sweeten the plates of all, even though positive thoughts and attitudes are constantly worked upon. The answer lies in responsibility. Success comes to those who are willing to ‘grow up’, stop playing the ‘poor-me’ game, and stop being dependent. It comes to those who are courageous enough to see their true reflections in the mirror, and not blame their ugliness upon the nearest available person. When the buck firmly and squarely stops ‘here’, only then will success agree to be under your command. Success demands a strong master, not a weak one who wishes to be pitied, and led by the hand at every turn. Success does not come to one who is filled with resentment, blame, envy, arrogance and selfishness. It comes not to the tyrant, nor to the victim.

In order to be successful you have to first accept responsibility for who you are, what you do, and how you do it. You have to acknowledge your flaws and stop playing mind games with yourself and others in order to get your way. Manipulation and underhanded scheming are the tools of the powerless. Intellectualization and rationalization are used by those who do not have the strength to act, to do, to change, to evolve.

Self-assurance is invaluable in attracting success. Self-assurance is not empty boastfulness about never being wrong; it is full knowingness that you have the wisdom and ability to overcome your mistakes, rectify your flaws, and turn your potential into power. A self-assured person takes help, advice, and guidance in the true spirit of self-improvement, knowing full well that the final responsibility of the action and execution lies within his grasp alone. Statements like, ‘But you told me to do it…..’ and ‘I will do whatever you say….’ ensure that success stays away from you.

Success will crown the head of one who is at ease with the expansion of others, and not intimidated by it, overly impressed by it, or resentful and envious of it. A successful man’s mind is open but not impressionable, flexible but not changeable, discerning but not judgmental. It seeks reasons not excuses, explanations not justifications, change not stagnancy.

A successful man undertakes regular self-appraisal, not constant criticism of another. He seeks to pull himself up, not another down. He competes with self and thus has no rivals. He is not vainglorious, constantly seeking the approbation of others, ensuring by overt and covert means that he is the centre of attention, of pity, of sympathy, of admiration. He is not submissive or deceptively meek, tyrannical or self absorbed.

Dear friend, success demands that you know your truth, and have the strength to voice it. It is when you are uncertain of who you are and what you stand for, that you begin to manipulate others in order to get their approval, always ensuring that it is at the cost of another being disapproved and put down. Open recognition and acknowledgement of another’s growth and achievements is not threatening to a man who is supreme within himself. Expressions of gratitude and apology are not viewed as demeaning and unbecoming. Such a man does not provoke, instigate or incite; he encourages, urges, stimulates and supports.

Decision-making comes easily to one who is ready to claim success as his divine right. Yes, decisiveness needs guts – to be right or wrong. The desperate need to be always ‘right’ results in dragging your feet and procrastinating. The need to be right at all times comes from a deeper need to be constantly patted on the back by others. The root of this is inability to acknowledge yourself because to do so you have to be ready to see the ‘good’ with the ‘bad’. It is much easier to use another’s mind and blame them for the failures while, of course, gulping down the credit yourself. It takes a core of steel to say ‘I messed up’ ‘I made a mistake’ and to appreciate the dignity involved in picking up the pieces of that which you have broken.

Dear friend, if you have worked hard to attain success but have yet to taste its full sweetness, read through this article again. How much of this do you honestly identify with? If you have ticked off even one, then your answer lies in front of you.

Success is as far away from you, as you are from self-responsibility. The shadow that falls upon you, is not another’s but your own. Stop being content to read about successful men; have the courage to be one!

Love Bitter, Love Sweet

When you hurt me

You love me…

So do it again.

When you pierce my heart

You touch my love…

So do it again

When you scorn my truth

You love me too…

So do it again

When you walk away

You give me your Love…

So DO IT AGAIN!!

 

How many discoveries and inventions has man made? How many frontiers have we conquered? Emotions are the next frontier to be understood and conquered. This does not mean to drug our emotions or suppress them, but to understand them, so that we can direct our emotional energies and intentions to true forgiveness, acceptance and joyous surrender. It is time for us to grow up emotionally, to mature into emotionally ‘complete’ beings.

No magic pill will do it, no wave of a fairy’s wand. The only way to reach that emotional maturity is to recognise Love in all its forms. When there is Inner Fullness, you can experience the Love in the heart of one who hurts you, you can hear the Love in the words that humiliate, and you can respond with Love in the face of scornful rejection.

An unknown but wise author has said, ‘You are as big as the smallest thing that makes you mad’. Our emotions are beacons on our pathway of knowledge and wisdom. They light up for us our own inner ‘lacks’ which make us react to the pain of others in ways that are uncharitable, judgmental and critical at worst, and self-pitying and victimised at best. Yes, every hurtful word spoken to you, each thoughtless action that you bear the brunt of, and all unkind behaviour that you are subjected to, is the manifested pain of one who has not reached his full emotional maturity.

It is Love that brings you the awareness that just as your anger is your unexpressed pain, just as your cruelty is your unacknowledged guilt/shame/hurt/powerlessness, so is this true for all else. Though it is a form of Love that is the most difficult to recognise and acknowledge, hurtful words and painful actions are Love’s loudest clarion call. When you can turn with love-filled eyes and genuine understanding to one who is unkind and inconsiderate, you help the pain to heal so that Love can show its gentler and more favourable aspect. In this you are the true bearer of the Light, illuminating the darkness that lies within another human heart.

Dear friend, as you endeavour to resolve your inner pain, understand that all around you, others are attempting the same. Each one is trying hard to deal with their deep, hurting wounds. The same silent cry of understanding that has often left your lonely heart demands that you offer to another the compassion and love that you so desperately seek. Each compassionate thought comes back to you as Love, each understanding smile returns to your face as a radiant glow, and each forgiving deed brings to you untold gifts from the Divine.

Remember, that which you believe in, shall BE! Study your experiences and you shall recognise your beliefs. When you can see the darkness of your beliefs, acknowledge the lack of emotional maturity that is reflected in your experiences. NO ONE IS DOING ANYTHING TO YOU. If this is your belief, you shall experience the Power of the Universe, a Power that can be wielded only by one who is Master. It takes a Master and not a martyr to offer the other cheek; it takes a Master and not a victim to know that the wound inflicted upon another is but a dim reflection of the sores within; it takes a Master to know that ONLY LOVE IS REAL; all else is a reflection of the slave within.

Beloved bleeding heart, if you wish to heal, then you must heal another. If you wish to Love again, you must be large enough to see love all around you; in the most hideous face, in the most merciless form, in the most monstrous visage. Seek it not only in justice and kindness, in beauty and gentleness, in service and sweetness. Love’s needs lies strongest in the angry word, the cruel action, the unkind thought. When you are hurt and wounded, have the courage to smile, to rise up beyond your own pain, to recognise the need of another soul, to say with all Love, ‘Do It Again’.

A Shift In Perspective

The easiest way to break a habit is to focus your attention upon creating another habit. Do not empower the habit you wish to break by giving it your attention. Even when it crops up and thrusts itself in your face, smile at it gently for you know it is only demanding to stay alive, and then instantly turn your attention to the new habit that you wish to establish out of your conscious urge to be in joy.

“Our thoughts create our reality. How do you typically think about yourself? Do you berate yourself for being stupid, sloppy, forgetful or insensitive? Or do you watch yourself with interest, respect and compassion? Stay alert to your self-talk and let go of judgments that don’t serve you.”

When you wish to change something in you that is causing you discomfort at any level, there is a two pronged effort that you must make.

One prong is that of Knowledge. Learn more about that ‘something’, its origin, the beliefs that engendered it, the Universal Law that you are resisting, the attitude that you assume out of unconscious habit. Also identify what you would be content to replace this ‘something’ with. Do not be content with compromise!

Ensure that this exercise in Knowledge is only focused on Self and not the ‘other’. Do not even make an attempt to ‘understand’ the other; often this is an exercise in ego where you deceive yourself into believing that you are attempting to be compassionate and bigger than yourself. Because you do not really wish to let go of blame, you camouflage it in ‘good’ thoughts and words so that you feel ‘spiritual’.

Divine Union

Emotional strangling is a sure way to destroy the reality of Love.

• “Sex is more than an act of pleasure, it’s the ability to be able to feel so close to a person, so connected, so comfortable that it’s almost breathtaking to the point you feel you can’t take it. And at this moment you’re a part of them.”…Author Unknown

There is no human being on earth who has not felt the deep need for sex; an act so complete in itself that its truth can stand alone, even without the validation of orgasm. But, in order to attract the Consciousness of Love into your life, you have to create an inner environment that permits beautiful feelings to flow freely within you. These feelings are positive and healing, for they not only embrace you, but flow outwards to encompass others as well. In order to be nurtured by such feelings, you have to heal the emotions of the past that have a stranglehold over your heart. Emotional strangling is a sure way to destroy the reality of Love.

We each view sex as a way to experience the ecstasy of this reality. But what is ecstasy? Is it not the anchoring of the intangibility of Divinity into the tangible orgasm of form? And how is this anchoring made possible? Through emotion. To experience the manifestation of the formless, we must be open to our emotions, for they carry the encoding of change within them.