Tag Archives: spirituality

Inspiration

What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do

PHOTO BY PETER SPEROAs the years pass what I want to be has become clearer to me.  I want to be consciousness, love, peace, joy, and utterly present.  What continues to elude me is what I want to do.  Not knowing my outer purpose has caused me to engage in a lot of efforting to “figure it out,” which comes along with the residual anxiety from thinking I should know what I want to do when I don’t yet know.  This mental non-acceptance of what is, not only causes suffering, but is also a sure ticket to becoming out of alignment with the present moment.

The other night I received a profound message from a colleague who wasn’t even trying to offer advice.  She told me that all through her twenties she kept trying to do what she thought she was supposed to do; she tried to “make it happen.”  But eventually everything came together, her outer purpose became clear as day and was not what she initially worked for all those years.  For her, this new understanding would have come one way or another, and the years spent thinking she was supposed to have it all figured out would have been much better spent just enjoying herself.  Not only would her purpose have presented itself eventually anyway, she said it probably would have become apparent much sooner had she not been attempting to “make it happen” the way she thought it was supposed to.

In the gift of her story I heard echoes of Tolle, “Don’t let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment.”  Enjoy the “right now”, no matter how messy that “right now” appears, and how elusive future security may seem to the thinking mind. A seed of joy now will be realized in even greater abundance in the future.  A seed of presence now, will grow into your life’s outer purpose.

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Life

The Good In The Extreme

High and LowExperiencing extremely high highs in life, along with very low lows, is exhausting.  There are some who enjoy that way of living, and there are also many wisdom teachings detailing how to escape such a precarious existence.  But just as in meditation, where you constantly are bringing your attention back from a wild train of thought to the present moment, experiencing going from very unconscious states to extremely aware states of being within the span of a day, an hour, or a minute is essential in the practice of living.

Some days I experience extreme fear, worry, and distress.  It can happen, when overcome with negative emotions or powerful thought patters, that I will bring a little bit of present moment awareness into my field of attention and take a step away from the crazy.  This type of experience is helpful in building up what Tolle calls “presence power,” that when accessed more and more easily, will eventually kick in before the thought patterns and emotions have a chance to take over.  But it is okay to go even further than a small glimpse of awareness.

I am now experiencing that when I fall into unconscious suffering, and bring that spark of present moment awareness into the situation, that I don’t need to stop there.  I can remind myself of the true depths of joy and peace available in the present moment, remember all that I have learned in the power of the reality of the here and now.  Not only can I shed light on the dysfunction that had caused fear to become all important in my field of attention, I can dissipate that fear with radical acceptance, and allow myself to feel peace, allow a smile, allow joy in the midst of anxious thought patterns.

This “allowing” is not passive.  It takes the same power required when the energy of residual pain makes peace and happiness seem like the last thing in the world you’d want to feel, but you “allow” yourself to disidentify from that loud voice of pain and smile anyway.

Extreme happiness and extreme sadness lead to a weary existence.  But moments of extreme unconsciousness that transform into moments of all encompassing present moment awareness can lead to the empowerment of your ability to dissipate the pain created by identification with the thoughts and emotions.  Judging a moment of pain, fear, or sorrow will lead to more of the like, but accepting it and entering fully into the present moment strengthens the light of your consciousness that can dissolve the deepest darkness.

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Ego

The Problem With Being Right

Dr. Wayne DyerHave you ever been in a situation where you were absolutely in the right, but were unable to convince someone else who had a differing viewpoint?  When you are right, and someone else is wrong, especially about basic facts (e.g. when water is frozen it becomes ice), it can be frustrating to say the least.

When I’m in the middle of an argument I can feel the infuriation rise the more I try to convince the other person of my side.  The other day when I was attempting to explain how to read a piece of sheet music to my friend, who disagreed with my interpretation, it became clear to me that the more I tried to convince him of my understanding, the more frustrated I became.  In the midst of the argument I asked myself, “why?”  When it isn’t a matter of life or death, is convincing another of your “rightness” really worth it?

The need to be right, even when you are, can erode relationships and prevent us from seeing each other as the complex, mysterious human beings we truly are.  The need to be right is also the perfect doorway for the ego to take over your life.  Identifying with a mental position and fighting for the life of that position is ego.

Next time an argument starts to go off the rails, take back control from the ego by letting go of the need to convince another person of your position.  But be careful that the ego doesn’t sneak back in through judgment of the other person based upon their thoughts.  When I let go of a mental position and feel satisfied because I am the “bigger person” I have let the ego take control in the most opportune moment for its demise.  On the other side of identification with thought is true communication, greater understanding, and better relationships.

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Inspiration

How To Accomplish Everything In 1 Minute

PHOTO BY PETER SPEROToday’s post is dedicated to my incredible grandmother, Mimi, or this her 82nd birthday.  I love you Mimi, thank you for your guidance, wisdom, and love!

What is the background static of your life?  When I’m really paying attention I can sense the background static of my life as a multitude of unfinished tasks.  My background static is the thought that I will be at peace when I have completed my goals.

This morning as I was getting dressed I heard the voice in my head going over the things that I still needed to do.  I also realized that along with that thought was the physical feeling of being tense and uneasy.  Part of this background static was the unexamined assumption that feeling tense and uneasy until “everything was finished” would help me to meet those demands.

I then decided to take a minute for everything to be completed.  Meaning, that for a minute I decided to suspend my disbelief and truly feel as if everything I had been going over in my mind was finished, and there was absolutely nothing more to do.  The feeling associated with this thought was complete peace.  That experience helped me to remember the true benefit of paying attention to the actual experience of the present moment, without making it a means to an end but rather an end in itself.

As long as we are alive there will be things to do, goals to be accomplished, tasks that need tending to.  To wait to be at peace until “everything is finished” is to avoid that peace, and life itself, until your journey here on earth has already come to an end.

That there is always more to do is not a problem.  The problem is the psychological feeling that there is always more to do.

In order to leave behind this unhelpful perception take one minute every hour to consciously be still and imagine everything you have ever needed to do, or will ever need to do, has already been done.  Take that one minute to experience being on the other side of the endless “to-do” list. That one minute can easily become two minutes, and eventually you end up solely in the perfect present and witness life as it unfolds before your watchful eyes.

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consciousness

This Includes You

PHOTO BY PETER SPERO

While I never read Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist in high school, on a whim I began listening to the audiobook version this morning as I went through my daily routines.  I could barely bring myself to stop listening when I arrived at work. 

The narrative is thrilling, but the wonderment of Coelho’s tale is in its bare, purposeful wisdom regarding the nature of existence.

The quote in the picture above is not merely a kind sentiment, meant to bolster self-confidence.  It is a universal principle operating inexorably through all of us, through all of life.  When you live with the felt and realized understanding of your true worth and role in creation, you not only take responsibility for the power of your life, but you also align yourself with your purpose for being.

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Inspiration

Humanity’s 5 Biggest Virus Thoughts And The 5 Best Antidotes

Photo By Peter SperoMy friend, and wonderful artist, Greg Turiya Liotta shared this incredibly simple and lucid piece by Nithya Shanti via social media recently.  The moment I read it I knew I had to pass it on.  The understanding demonstrated in the following piece has the power to transform individual lives, as well as our human community.  May it bring you the peace and clarity that it did me.

“Five Biggest Virus Thoughts of Humanity:

1) I am not good enough yet
(I am imperfect and behind schedule)

2) We are all separate
(Races, religions, cultures, beliefs and species, divide and separate us)

3) There is not enough for everyone
(People are greedy and resources are limited)

4) There is so much more to be done
(Our to-do list is endless and seems to never get done)

5) I am here to work hard and survive
(Life is a serious, dangerous place)

Notice how each of these thoughts feel in your being. If it tightens, stiffens and contracts you at any level, it indicates that your inner being is telling you not to believe these lies!

Five Powerful Antidotes to these Thoughts:

1) I am enough
(I am perfect and endlessly improving)

2) We are all one
(Like fingers in a hand and waves on an ocean, we may appear different, but we are all made of the same one substance and are throughly interconnected and interdependent)

3) There is plenty for everyone
(There is enough for everyone’s needs, deep down everyone just wants contentment and our creativity and resourcefulness is unlimited)

4) There is nothing to be done
(Our ‘to-be’ list is always complete and everything in nature happens spontaneously, by itself, at the right time)

5) I am here to play, thrive and have fun!
(I don’t take life so-o seriously, for I know I’ll never get out alive! When I am having fun, everything easily gets done)

Now notice how each of these thoughts feel in your being. If it calms, relaxes and expands you at any level, it indicates that your inner being is telling you that this is closer to the truth.

Remember:

“What the thinker thinks the prover proves.” This means any thought we repeatedly think will start to appear self evident and true to us. Our outer world always matches our inner perceptions.

So if you have been habituated to any of the virus thoughts, these antidotes may not appear very convincing. However if you say them to yourself until you begin to feel them in your heart and do so everyday for a month, you will certainly experience a beautiful shift and your outer experiences will mirror these improved perceptions.

The Practice:

So put your hands on your heart, look at yourself in the mirror and say this aloud everyday:

‘I am enough’
‘We are all one’
‘There is plenty for everyone’
‘There is nothing to be done’
‘I am here to play, thrive and have fun!'” (Nithya Shanti)

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consciousness

Step 1 To Positive Change

Photo by Peter SperoWhen there is something you want to change about your life there is one vital first step. Whether it be a situation, a relationship, a feeling, or a lifestyle that needs to change, the necessary first step is always the same.

What is this important precursor to positive change? Simply put: acceptance.

Before change, before action, before decisions, accept what is. Your mind won’t want you to, because non-acceptance is its lifeblood.  But here is what the ever-present stream of thinking doesn’t know: when you are at peace with what is, whatever follows will be in alignment with that peace and create more of the like.

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Inspiration

How To Calm A Turbulent Mind

Photo by Peter SperoIt is common to tell someone to, “take a deep breath,”  when they’re on the verge of becoming distraught.  This next advice goes far beyond well wishing and explains how the breath can actually work for you in times of trial:

“The wonderful way of charging yourself with nectar is just by breathing. Breath is our life. Breath not only builds up the body, it also builds up the mind. If you regulate the breath, you have regulated the mind. To give an example: Suppose somebody looks at you and uses a very bad word. The person used nothing but a sound, but you got really disturbed. You become angry. Just a little agitation of the mind agitated your whole body. And what happened to your breath? That is the secret. The agitation of the mind brings agitation of the breath. So take the clue and say, ‘To calm the mind, calm the breath.'” (Swami Satchidananda)

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Inspiration

“Suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary.” – Tolle

Good Morning Today I slept extremely late. Having a day free from work and obligations is a beautiful thing and I usually relish it.  But today, instead of enjoying the time off, I decided to make a big “to-do” list to keep unsettlingly at the forefront of my mind, while feeling completely unmotivated to accomplish any of my tasks.  I kept wishing I had the motivation to get things done while I actually had the spare time.  At the same time I felt nervous knowing that if I didn’t complete my “to-do” list today, I would be in a panic later on when I would be busier.

Does this sound at all familiar? Have you ever woken up in a funk?  Have you ever wished you could just feel better or feel more motivated?

This morning, in my day-off funk, I decided the least I could do was watch some videos on YouTube in the hopes that something inspirational would pop up.  If you’ve ever watched an Eckhart Tolle video, and if you read this blog regularly you most certainly have, you will know that each video starts with the sound of a bell, a high-pitched “ping,” which is coincidentally now the iPhone alert for a text message.

The second I heard the “ping” I realized what I had been doing all morning.  I was hoping that at some point the feeling of motivation would overtake me, and I’d get up and take action.  I was waiting for this feeling to happen.  But feelings don’t just fly through the ether and enter in through your ears.  They are created and experienced from within your very self.

All morning I was waiting for an emotion to happen to me, when the only way to feel that emotion was to create it myself.  Waiting to feel motivated is a trick.  It won’t happen.  You have to make the decision to invite that feeling forth within yourself.  The good news is that this is not as big of a task as it may seem.

Feeling the way you want to feel only takes one small step in this one moment you are experiencing.  That small step may be washing your face and brushing your hair, or going to a cafe to get some tea or coffee, or searching YouTube for an inspirational video.

With that being said, I now relinquish my big “to-do” list, and am finding my motivation right here with this one task of typing words on a keyboard.  The next step will take care of itself; the next task will happen in the moment that it happens.  Until then, I will work on creating the way I want to feel in each small act.

Understanding that emotions are created within, and choosing which emotions you want to feel, are the first steps to getting out of a funk.  I invite you to make that choice with me.  What inner feeling do you want to cultivate today?

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