My “Two-Minute” Video for this Week: Surviving or Thriving?
The Year of YOU! – Richard’s Commentary
February 6, 2014 — RichardRosemary is nothing if not provocative. She wrote her Ezine article last week after coming down from her very successful Possibilities Playshop during which she led our group through an afternoon of meditation to meet a guide for the year, more meditation to clear blocks and cut cords, and most importantly to get in touch with our “bodacious wish” for the year. Then we created a “roadmap” or a “guidebook” to move us through the year to help us make our “bodacious wish” come true! So, I am not surprised when she states:
This year make a pact with yourself to BE WHO YOU CAME HERE TO BE. If that is your only resolution, goal, to-do YOU WILL BE AMAZING this year!
The Playshop was all about being. We did not use our left-brains; we did not plan; we did not schedule; we made no resolutions. The only “to-do” was to continue to work on the Guidebook and add detail selected intuitively using our right-brains and our own inner guidance.
The Playshop, the Guidebook, pictures pulled from magazines, words cut out because they trigger some meaningful thought or feeling or experience, cards pulled from an intuitive deck or Tarot deck are all tools to help us plumb our inner depths. We all know why we are here; we were born knowing. As we grow, get an education, move into a career path, earn our way, build relationships, join communities, we often forget or repress our truth, our purpose. But we know!
Books come into our lives to help us remember. Yesterday evening our Spiritual Exploration Group came together around the topic of books, especially books that were the most influential in our lives. My measure of this is “What single book would you want to have if stranded on a desert island?” We had a wonderful conversation; many fabulous books were discussed and shared. The books that seemed the most meaningful were those that drew ourselves out; set ourselves free; helped us remember who we are and why we are here!
BE WHO YOU CAME HERE TO BE begins with remembering. Find and use the tools to remember. It’s there inside; draw it out.
With this new year of the Wood Horse I am meditating more, dreaming more, practicing mindfulness and receiving incredible guidance. Where does this come from? Inside me; I am remembering. And these memories are beautiful, expanding and powerful expressions of WHO I AM.
And I WILL BE AMAZING this year!
How are you experiencing the Wood Horse energy after the first quarter moon into the New Lunar Year? Are you ready to be who you came here to be? My bodacious wish for you is to have an amazing year! We live in an amazing time of heightened potential. We all have a role to play. I will look for you in the field!
PS: The Possibilities Playshop Rosemary held to create our 2014 Guidebooks, roadmaps for the year directed by the moon and our intuition, was a truly amazing event. And now you can play too! The videos of the meditations and the process for creating the Guidebook are now available; Details Here
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Possibilities
January 21, 2014 — RosemaryMy Two-Minute Video for this Week: Possibilities:
PS: Do you want to open up the possibilities for you in 2014? Join my playshop, in person or by video link, and expand your vista of possibilities; then lay out your play script for 2014! January 25. Details Here
The Power of Connection – Richard’s Commentary
January 16, 2014 — Richard“Connection” is Rosemary’s word for 2014. It is not surprising that early in the year she would choose this to write about. This word, in all of its meanings, can be taken in many directions. Rosemary goes through a long list, connection to Higher Self, connection to guides and angels, connection to others (both positive and negative connections to the people in our lives), connection to our purpose. All of these are important connections to be aware of, to remember; as Rosemary writes:
Connection is an energetic that, at its highest level, we all seek. We want to feel connected to others, to our guidance, to Source. In seeking we sometimes forget that it is not to be found outside ourselves, but to be remembered as an inner truth.
For me her point here is if we are disconnected from ourselves, from that “inner truth”, then can we be connected to anything or anyone on the outside? And how easy it is to disconnect, to fall into isolation, to withdraw. I wonder sometimes if this isn’t at the root of the issues we face as a society, as a country, as a culture looking for something on the outside, some connection we are longing for but have no means to identify or find.
I don’t really want to get into politics here but somehow this word “connection” brings up social concerns. Humans are a connected species. We wouldn’t have survived and evolved over the millennia if we had been an isolated, individualistic being; in the wild we are not strong enough, don’t have all the necessary skills within ourselves to go-it-alone.
How many of the political battles we see raging in this country, whether it is over healthcare or foreign aid, political favoritism or retribution are about social issues, connections. It almost seems that people divide along the lines of: “we are all in this together” or “I’ve got mine; you need to be strong enough, work hard enough to get yours” – a survival of the fittest mentality!
Interestingly, since Darwin comes to mind here, much of the current research on the evolutionary process reveals that it is cooperation that is a primary mechanism for evolution, not competition! And we have to connect to cooperate, connect to survive and evolve!
Connection, beyond the necessary interdependence for survival, does begin within. When we are connected to ourselves, to Source, to Angels and Spirit Guides, we gain a certain level of confidence that can lead us outward to find healthy connections with others. When we are connected to our purpose our connections become productive and benefit society, the greater whole beyond ourselves. These vital inner connections are the ground for our being human, for lifting our spirits to join with others, in connection, in community to move and evolve consciously.
Are you connected?
The Success of Your Authentic Self – Richard’s Commentary
December 19, 2013 — RichardRosemary and I just returned from our monthly gathering of the EQUAAC group we are part of. This is the Equality Anne Arundel County group who, among other things, worked for the passage of Marriage Equality in Maryland. It’s a wonderful, warm group of men and women, both gay and straight who happen to believe in “equality” in all things! Rosemary and I are always welcomed with open arms, hugs, kisses and big smiles. It is such a pleasure to be part of this group!
And one thing always strikes me when we get together: I can be my authentic self with these wonderful human beings. I don’t have to pretend; there are no pretenses; there are no hidden motives, no one trying to get an upper hand or convince anyone of something other than genuine gladness to be together.
Maybe this is a luxury of getting older. I can be myself no matter whom I’m with or what I’m doing. Why can’t it always be this way? Here’s Rosemary’s answer:
We forget.
We forget to reach inside ourselves for answers. We forget that we are ‘enough’ just as we are. We forget that no one else knows exactly what our Soul Contract with the Universe is and that we agreed to come into this world at this time.
I am forgetting less often! I am working very hard, through my various practices to remember who I am, why I’m here and to live with that level of authenticity. And it does take practice. The ego wants to pretend; it’s sometimes easier that way, less risky. The ego doesn’t always like authenticity. But inside there are better answers; “real” answers. When we go inside we do remember what’s important.
And it is a matter of remembering, as Rosemary points out in yesterday’s post. We all come in knowing and remembering our purpose, our true self and the true reason the Universe called us to BE, here and now. Society and our ego want us to forget. We go through our growing years and our “educational process” learning to forget! If we all remembered to fulfill our purposes society would be very different. And society, just like our egos, wants to maintain the status quo.
There may be stability in the status quo but I wouldn’t call it success. Where is the impetus for evolution if we all toe the line and forget our purpose? Where’s the progress if we ignore our inner truth and accept someone else’s judgment about that? Where’s the lesson, the gain, the success if we pretend we are something other than who we came here to be?
Our success can only truly be measured against our true purpose. We all know our purpose; we may have forgotten it but it is in there, inside. We came with blueprints; we can remember. It takes practice but it is there.
Rosemary’s clarion call is to “remember.” I echo this call! We are called to awaken to our purpose, to our authentic selves. What better time than now, this holiday season and at year’s end to take up this cause and remember!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: The Success of Your Authentic Self
December 18, 2013 — RosemaryWe forget, sometimes. We get caught up in images and activities and, horror of horrors, what other people think. We look in the mirror and see all the things that don’t match what we think we are supposed to look like. We envy the person who has the better partner, car, job, bank account.
And so we try. We follow a leader who says, ‘Just do what I do and you will have great success.’ We buy the clothes we think we should wear. We only date the folks we think our friends, parents, children will approve. We take a job that pays what someone says we should make, even if the job makes us feel miserable.
We forget.
We forget to reach inside ourselves for answers. We forget that we are ‘enough’ just as we are. We forget that no one else knows exactly what our Soul Contract with the Universe is and that we agreed to come into this world at this time.
We forget that we are a Child of the Universe with a unique reason for being on Planet Earth in the 21st Century. We forget that Mother Earth asked for us to come to her at this very moment in her history. We forget that we have a Purpose and that there is a reason we were born.
Our only work is to remember.
Remember that you are the only YOU the Universe will ever need. Remember that you are the Light of the World that only you can shine. Remember that your Purpose cannot be accomplished by any other Soul.
Remember that the Universe and Mother Earth conspired to bring you into human form to accomplish that Purpose and that they pledged to support you, with all the resources that you need to do that.
And all that you need to do is to Remember Who You Are.
Remember that all the circumstances around you have been brought to you by your ego/personality so that your Soul can learn the lessons it needs to learn. Remember that you are NOT your circumstances.
Remember that all the people around you are present to assist you in learning your lessons. Some of them drew the short straw and agreed to come into being so that they could represent the ‘jerk’ energy that you need to encounter to help you learn your lessons. Some people are here to help you remember that, while they may act as if they have something to say about you, you are not defined or confined or identified by anything that they say or think.
Your Authentic Self is the You who is the Light in the World that vibrates to your own unique frequency. Your success depends only on the extent to which you express your unique self in the world.
Be authentic. Be the real you. There is no one and nothing to hide behind. No one can judge you. No one can hold you back. Who can fight against the Universe and Mother Earth who are united to support you?
Get to know your Authentic Self. Get help to recognize yourself if you forget who you are. Present ONLY your Authentic Self to the world and allow others to learn their own lessons while you focus on yours.
And all you have to do is Remember.
PS: You are invited to Satsang with Rosemary. Guidance is available from many dimensions. Rosemary is continuing a series of teaching and channeling experiences for everyone! If you have spiritual questions, if you want to hear messages from other dimensions, if you are curious about life beyond this physical, three-dimensional world, if you are curious about the energies of 2014, join us for a unique experience! Come with your questions; this opportunity is interactive. Rosemary will teach and channel for part of the time and answer your questions at the end of the evening. And for December 21, the Winter Solstice, Rosemary is offering Satsang for FREE! Join us online or in person; check out the details here. Enter FREEDECEMBER as the coupon code in the Shopping Cart.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Assess the Necessity
November 20, 2013 — RosemaryEach person has a different definition of what is necessary in their life. To some, a fancy car fits into that category. To others, it is private school. Some consider necessity to include only one pair of serviceable shoes and to others, a different pair for each outfit in the closet.
Ours is not to judge what another considers a necessity in their life. However, it is important to decide consciously what is a necessity in Your Life.
Have you been thinking that a partner is a necessity in your life? Maybe you are avoiding doing some personal growth work to reclaim disowned parts (often the powerful ones) of your own Self and you have been misled into believing that another person will bring you to wholeness.
Do you have an amount of money that is a necessity for you to feel safe and secure? Is money something that you chase because you feel you never have enough, or that you never are enough?
The word, necessary, itself can be reduced to air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat (and less than we in the Western world are used to!) and maybe shelter from storms. As I write this, many thousands of people have been tragically struck by nature’s ferocity and have reduced their definition of what they really need to these few things.
And, yet, we somehow feel that we need more, we need to BE more.
Look at your ‘necessities’ and decide if they are really necessary to your life and to your happiness. Look at your relationships and ask if you really need more from the other person. Look at your career or business or work. What is really necessary there?
Appreciate how much you have beyond the basic necessities of life. We live in a society where we have music wherever we go. We drive cars or travel on trains and buses and planes to move from place to place. If you are reading this you have a computer or a smartphone on which to read it. You will probably come into contact with at least one other human being in the next week, if you wish it, so you are not totally alone in the world.
In November in the US we celebrate Thanksgiving and everyone speaks of Gratitude as if it’s a once-a year concept. Of course, most of us remind ourselves to feel gratitude often but we sometimes forget that we have huge blessings every day about which we can feel gratitude. What are your blessings beyond the necessities?
And it’s important to think of yourself as more than enough! You have a mission, a purpose, in being on the Earth at this time. You have all the resources available to you to complete your mission, to fulfill your purpose. Are you aware of that? Have you done the personal work to identify your Soul Purpose so that you can arrange your life to focus your energies on living that Purpose? Have you cleared the blocks that hold you into thinking that you are not enough? that you don’t have enough?
Humanity is evolving and each of us must step into our power, our empowerment, our Purpose. YOU ARE ENOUGH, just as you are, today!
And you have enough. Assess the necessity of everything in your life. Does it serve your Purpose? You might be surprised at the answers you get when you ask this question!
PS: You too may experience channeled messages from Rosemary. In fact you can receive personal messages from Guides, Spirits, Angels and loved ones who have crossed over at the next event: a Conversation with The Other Side December 6 at 7:00 pm Eastern. Click for details
Love Energy + 3rd Eye Energy = Transformation – Richard’s Commentary
November 7, 2013 — RichardSeveral confirming and affirming events conspired last Friday to give me a boost on my journey. We all need boosts (kicks in the pants) from time to time. These are reminders of who we are and why we are here! They are what might be considered the “little transformations” in our day-to-day lives. And sometimes the little kicks build up to a big one, as we experienced on Sunday with the New Moon and Eclipse in Scorpio.
The events of Friday leading up to the New Moon were the publication of Rosemary’s Ezine in which her message of yesterday’s post here was first published. Then we hosted a Conversation with The Other Side that evening. Here are the key paragraphs from the Ezine that provided the first boost:
And, as every entrepreneur knows, working on yourself is working on your business. Everything boils down to personal transformation and the continuation of a path of personal growth.
Relationships depend on growth or they stagnate. Careers, businesses, parenting skills, partnerships, education – all require that there be learning and growth to succeed.
“Personal growth” is required for anything and everything to succeed. I cannot succeed in my purpose if I fail to keep growing, changing, transforming.
Then Friday evening during the Conversation a male bald eagle flew into the room to greet me and remind me to fly – to treat myself more lightly so I can fly – fly with him! I knew this eagle; I fly with him when I journey to the lower world. I took part of his message to mean I needed to return to visit him. I had not journeyed for a couple of months!
I do not ignore the call to my spirit guides! I journeyed and there I flew with Eagle surveying the lower world in all its splendor. And I also joined Mama Bear on this journey, another of my “familiars.” She took me deeper and into myself where energy rose up my spine through her powerful connection with the Earth. This tremendous power and Earth energy collected in my Heart. There it created a gravitational field that began to pull light and energy from the Heavens, Celestial Beings down to the Crown of my head, down through my 3rd Eye and Throat where this energy too collected in my Heart.
And there I sat, traveling with the drum, absorbing and absorbed in the powerful grip of Earth and Heaven energy, all while riding astride Mama Bear. And I realized the message was one of Love. Love is the force; Love is the glue; Love is the creative energy; Love is the power to propel this personal growth we are called to embrace. Love is the purpose. Love is the source. Love is the goal.
And here’s Rosemary’s question:
Are you committed to your own personal growth and transformation? Do you know how to do that? Are you willing to ask for help or start learning some new ways to grow?
I do not ignore the call of my spirit guides. And I do not ignore their message. Love yourself enough to accept your call and grow!
PS: Are you looking for messages about your personal growth? Every 3rd Saturday, at 7:00 pm Eastern time, Rosemary hosts Satsang for all who would join her in the exploration of evolving consciousness. It’s an excellent opportunity to ask questions. This event can be attended in person and online using video-conferencing services.
Get more information and sign up here The next Satsang with Rosemary is November 16 at 7:00 pm Eastern.
Use the Good China – Richard’s Commentary
October 17, 2013 — RichardTrue confession time: I am an inveterate procrastinator. I have been all my life. Maybe it’s my Leonine nature; with a birthday in August I definitely have some cat-like tendencies toward an independence from all those things waiting to be done.
And here’s another confession: when we unpacked the “good China” during our most recent move-in we tucked it away in a cupboard over the refrigerator – a rather difficult to get to area – because we don’t use the good China!
So, what’s this post of Rosemary’s about; and what do I take away that it might be good to consider?
The key paragraph that speaks to me is this one:
When you are connected to your inner wisdom and your spirit guides, you can check in to see what your next step is. Sometimes the message might be to capture the idea and then schedule it, even if it is not to be acted upon today. But often we challenge or question the energy of the guidance and step back to analyze until we have moved away from pursuing the action.
Yes, there are certainly times when I do “step back to analyze” and then the opportunity slips away and the guidance for the “next step” is ignored. This is the downside of procrastination. But here’s the thing: I do receive and hear a lot of guidance. And yes, often what I do with that guidance is put a task on my to-do list. In a sense this is putting it off; however, I do use my task list to get things done.
Lists really work for me. I learned yeas ago that if I can get a task listed and scheduled it will get done. It may not even get done on the day I first schedule it (the procrastination habit is tenacious!); but it does get done. This is my solution to my “Leonine procrastination” trait.
So, then I look at Rosemary’s comment on “Universal Flow” – When you follow the energy of the idea you receive then you are staying in the flow of the creative energy that comes to you from your connection to Universal Flow. She actually implies that when we are in this flow perhaps we are not procrastinating at all! She also implies that it’s OK to put off, even ignore the “shoulds” our egos present to us!
I often do have the sense that I am in a kind of flow, a rhythm in my life. And when the list of tasks obtained from guidance is used to channel the flow of my days I feel good, accomplished and content. And I have long since given up the idea that my task list for any given day will be exhausted. I have accepted that it’s OK to slide a task to another day; and sometimes tasks even drop off the list when they are overtaken by other tasks or they lose their importance within the flow. Perhaps those dropped tasks were in the “shoulds” category!
When I am in flow, in the rhythm of life I tend to feel productive; tasks get checked off, others get moved, some even dropped. An “old tape” may start up in my head accusing me of procrastination. But, if I really examine my life and accomplishments, maybe I’m not such a bad procrastinator after all!
What drives your life? Do you let your ego over-schedule you with shoulds then beat yourself up with labels like “procrastination”? Go inside for guidance. Listen for direction and list the tasks you can undertake to move in that direction. This moves you into flow and purpose!
Meanwhile, maybe I’ll get that good China out this weekend—for just the two of us!
Mystic Messages 
Still in School? – Richard’s Commentary
February 20, 2014 — RichardI’ve been in school my whole life. How about you? As I think about this I am continuously upgrading my skills with blogs, WordPress, graphic design, HTML, etc. I began my technical career in computer programming in 1971 and have never stopped learning new skills as the technology advances and honing old skills as the basic approach continues to stay pretty much the same when it comes to instructing computers.
Then there is my spiritual study which has also come a long way from learning Transcendental Meditation from students of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1969 to my current work with Kalachakra Tantra Yoga, refining this practice and learning everything about it in preparation for the Kalachakra Initiation offered by His Holiness the Dalai Lama later this year. Along the way I was ordained as an Interfaith Minister in 2000 after an intense two-year seminary experience and I spent a couple of years in Martín Prechtel’s Bolad’s Kitchen.
But my real school is documented in my fingerprints; and they tell me I’m in the school of LOVE. The fact is I have so many loops in my fingerprints (10) that I’m not only in the school of Love but my lesson is Love and my Life Purpose is – yep – Love! And since our fingerprints don’t change through life I will always be in the school of Love.
And we are all always in the School of Life. This is what Rosemary’s post yesterday is really about; that school of life lessons that seems always in session! Here’s what she says about that:
We are always facing circumstances over which we have no control. We do, however, have control over how we respond to those circumstances. That is what we do when we accept what is going on around us and seek the lesson.
“Seek the lesson.” This can be the hardest test; when in the midst of a life crisis, the last thing I want to hear is “what is the lesson in this?”! “I don’t care what the lesson is; I just want to get through this!”
Sound familiar? Then you probably don’t want to hear Rosemary’s next advice:
No matter what your circumstances are there is something for you to learn from those circumstances. No matter what you feel you lack, you have everything you need right now, in this moment, to learn the lesson that is there in front of you. Still can’t see the lesson? Then go inside and seek the answer there.
Sometimes the answer is to learn how to wait for guidance. Sometimes the lesson is to learn patience. Sound familiar?
Ah, “patience.” I’ve mentioned here before that my word for 2014 is “patience.” Yes, I am finally going to embrace this lesson and, if not fully learn it, at least make some gains on it!
I have a difficult time learning my lessons in the moment. But I do find myself going inside later and examining the circumstances, asking the questions about lessons, examining reactions and how they could have been managed better. I use the “nightly review” for this: before going to sleep I review the day in reverse and consider the big events, how I handled them, what could have been handled better, what there was to learn. And this is working for me; it’s like doing my homework; honing skills in life.