Monday, September 27, 2010

A Tribute to Albert Einstein

I enjoy looking at all things in terms of the Three Principles (Mind, Thought & Consciousness), because they are everywhere for us to observe.

Mr. Einstein is a favorite of mine, because he mastered the use of simotaneous Mind & intellectual Thought.  A true genious and scientifically before his time...quoted as saying:
"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and all science.  He (she) to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his (her) eyes are closed."

Again he meshes the worlds of the mystical with the scientific, saying: "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."

This wisdom..this joy for life, is what I'm pointing to when I experience life with an understanding of the Three Principles.  

There is something deeper to the psychological experience that has made Psychology a soft science thus far.  No theory could offer reliable, positive results.  No psychological laws existed.  Mind, Thought & Consciousness are the three scientific principles that change all that!  They explain all human behavior...behavior is, after all, just a reaction to our own thoughts and how seriously we take them at any given time.  These Three Principles offer mental health to all who listen.  

To understand the psyche...or psychology of the soul...we must first acknowledge that we are dealing with a scientific entity that is abstract, and thus, hard to articulate clearly.

Mind, Thought & Consciousness speak to that spiritual, soulful, center, core part of us that is our essence.  We all know of it...call it by whatever name you like...and we rarely speak of it.

The bridge between science and spiritual wisdom can be understood when one grasps the simplicity that when you choose your thoughts from a quiet mind, you automatically receive higher consciousness (aka a better experience), rather than the experience you have from your personal thought system...a place that may become insecure at any time.

Einstein reminds me to have faith in the mystical, cuz that's where the good stuff is...Don't miss it...Slow down!

Story Time: I walked on quickly last week in my neighborhood.  I saw an older woman ahead, slowly strolling up the street.  She walked leaning forward with hands clasped behind her back.  This instantly reminded me of my grandmother and how she stood in her last years.  This forward tilting, yet proper stance looked so wise, and I knew I must say hello.  We chatted, she's 80 and can't walk any faster...I'm 36 and always rushing to get everything done...can't walk fast enough.  We took a moment to smile and laugh.  The next thing I realized was that my day was seeming quite wonderful.  The experience of slowing down with her was all it took to help me arrive at my day rather than rush through it.

So simple, when you give yourself a chance to recalibrate, that's exactly what happens.  I could have chosen to ignore the idea to chat with her, but I didn't.  This little change in my plan set the mood for the rest of my day...Now you try!!!   

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Your Thoughts, Your Mind, Your Consciousness

Do you remember the last time you observed something that moved you?... 
Then you know we are all the same, except some of us are brave enough to live the truth...right out loud!

I have many memories of knowing that I had stepped away from speaking the truth...from utilizing my own wisdom.  Yet, I decided to not speak up.

None of this makes sense to me later.  Not after my justifications are stale.  I wasn't at my best.  I was overwhelmed...confused.  Excuses! 

The truth...I was thinking my way out of acting.  I was thinking instead of listening, as we all do...innocently squashing our own potential.

I'm sure this is why people love babies and animals.  They are simple, pure, at their naturally healthy state.  They operate from their mind...their mind, not their personal thought system.  They are present with you.

People...average people, find their way here.  Sometimes after life threatening or miraculous experiences.  Some people never loose sight of what is innate to them, as though they never loose their child-like ways.  Some people learn to rely on themselves through some state of awful experiences, and this serves them well...the old souls among us.  These are the people that move us...that stop us...in our tracks...in our thinking. 

But, they move us because we see something familiar.  We recognize ourselves in them.  We believe, if just for a second, that we too can be this conscious

I write about this, because I know this.  I know something about all of us that makes standing in awe of someone else not enough anymore (although it's always an honor to observe other people's power and beauty).  They have what I have AND I have what they have.  I know longer wish to fool myself or look for answers outside of myself. 

I know three things, and they're all related.  Three becomes one:

1. Thought: My thoughts are mine.  I make them.  I make them real.  I also dismiss them.  This happens constantly...(story time)...I once thought daily about how easy my life would be if I could just rob a bank without getting caught or hurting anyone.  I would conjure up this thought most days when I drove by the bank and this happened for about three years.  Yet, I never once took this thought seriously...never once.  It stayed a thought with no power and no livelihood.
2. Mind: I have wisdom..instinct...intuition (fill in whatever word you appreciate) at my access at all times.  I've worked hard with my thinking to muffle it, at times...the true definition of suffering and mental illness.  Yet, it is there for me endlessly, and it is always 100% right on.  Always bringing the best feelings with it.  Always powerful, yet graceful.
3. Consciousness: I know that I am capable of different levels of awareness...my level of consciousness fluctuates.  My mood changes despite a lack of change in my outside world.  I've been the same place many times and experienced it differently, more vividly sometimes.  Other times, I 'm only aware of myself.  This affects my whole experience of life.  This is really an indicator of how I'm using thinking and mind...not an indicator of how my life is going in my outside world.

Knowing these three things changes all things.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Reassurance

The beginning...
It's hard to pinpoint in words.
I know the truth of it, know the timing of it.
Childhood.
Early on, I was full of wisdom and faith.
Weren't we all?
I remember knowing - not thinking - but knowing with total assurance that I was good. It would all be okay. I didn't need to know the plan or how it would all play out. I just believed in me.
Simple.
Then, life happened.
I believed I needed, or should listen to, others. I felt the strain of not listening to myself, but thought I could trust others to know. To know for me.

A lot of pain. Agony. Misunderstandings. Good intentions. A focus on other people's perceptions. Never feeling a fit.

Then there were the moments - times when you knew you were in the zone. You got it right. You followed your instinct and were, of course, rewarded. But you could never consciously replicate this, never understand how you found yourself in harmony. Never truly SEE.
These were beautiful times. Times you felt proud. But in the low times you also could never guide yourself back.
This wasn't good enough!
"Someone must know how to help me."
Circular...looking outside of yourself for answers...again...again.

On my journey, I remember my few years as a teacher. I loved, and hated, my job. The kids, I loved. Their families, I loved. My fellow educators, I loved. The bureaucracy, and all that pulled me away from my students, I hated. (I worked in a very elite public school). One thing I know is that I impacted each child that I taught. They meant a lot to me and I paid close attention. They taught me and I taught them. We all supported each other and took risks together. They felt that I loved them, and their families felt it too!
The results:
Astonishing growth for each child in both academic and social benchmarks.
But that's not the important detail. That kept my principal happy; a natural consequence. 
The important thing is that I was able to listen to my own wisdom while I also listened carefully to each child. This was the magic. I listened to each child with full belief in their huge potential...they did not disappoint. I did not falter.

I know now, with my understanding of The Principles (mind, thought, and consciousness), just what kind of magic was taking place. I know that by putting all personal thinking and insecurities aside, and by trusting in the wisdom that they were all perfect and exceptional already, I was able to be at a very high level of consciousness with them. This was powerful, and remains among my favorite memories.

But still, I left teaching. I felt unhappy with the profession. I didn't understand how to translate my positive feelings in the classroom over to the meeting room, or to my endless hours of prep work. Again, the positive experience felt like a fluke. Undercurrents of hopelessness and helplessness crept in.

Fast-forward 10+ years, and I've learned so much about how my thinking creates my total experience. I realize now that it's not necessarily knowledge that helps you navigate with peace of mind, but it's the knowledge that You Are Navigating!
You are deciding which thoughts to pursue and which to dismiss. 
You are either helping yourself hear your own wisdom and intuition, or you're working hard to muffle it.
You are deciding, in all of this, what you will be aware of, and this changes your path...or at least how it looks.

I don't know if it's nicer to know that we all have this innately healthy guidance system within us, or if I'm more thrilled that I can understand it all now thanks to my understanding of Mind, Thought & Consciousness.

Reassurance.