Embracing Spiritual Abundance

March 21, 2013 | By admin | 3 Replies

Trinity Bourne, Openhand ContributorWaking Times

In the many years of awakened life, I have witnessedabundance spoken about in a myriad of different ways. I’ve noticed that in all its different guises, there are two main ways in which it is interpreted:

1. Having lots of what we desire

or

2. Seeing the divine in all things

Having lots of what we desire

The first way is dictated by our wants and desires. Being abundant in this sense means having ‘a lot of’ stuff, resources, money, property, land, people or anything tangible for that matter.

It’s the type of abundance that seeks gratification and a sense of happiness from the outside world. Of course, everything is energy, so there is nothing wrong with having ‘stuff’ if we are meant to; if it serves/assists our journey of self realisation or if we are not depending on it for our sense of abundance and personal self worth.

The possession trade off

Acquiring sense of personal achievement (or abundance) by having lots of stuff always has a trade off. Eventually, possession based satisfaction leads to a ‘lack of’ feeling. How ironic! If it is not abruptly taken away from you (which often happens), then it’s as if there is something missing that you can’t quite put your finger on. A soulful searching, reaching, yearning, bubbles away, growing in intensity until we either break down, suppress with something else (drugs, alcohol, comfort foods, TV etc) or surrender to it. The longing of the soul towards its own liberation and expansiveness will eventually have its way – maybe not today, maybe not even soon, but inevitably in some lifetime or other. The soul is like a river flowing back to the ocean. It will either keep evolving to ever higher levels of consciousness, or it will simply dissolve back into the source.

Deep inner peace and spiritual liberation can never be fully attained by the attachment to stuff. This is an illusionary abundance, that is always doomed to fail.

I imagine this is why so many spiritual people give up all or a lot of their possessions when they really start walking the spiritual path. It stems from an authentic urge, to lighten the burdensome attachment to the load.

Seeing the divine in all things

The second type of abundance is what I would term true spiritual abundance. I mean ‘true’ in the sense that it transcends the matrix of mass conditioning, whilst embracing that which is beyond the veil of illusion.

True abundance is shown by an authentic, omnipresent gratitude for the divinity in all things.

This is typically prolific for those who have awakened spiritually to unity consciousness.

The experience of true abundance is rarely an intellectual one. The experience exudes a deep gratitude for the moment, for breath, for existence, for experience. Those who have truly touched unity consciousness see the divine in all things.

When you are blessed enough to see the divine in all things, you can connect to the flow. They go hand in hand. Everything is divinely given. Everything is an opportunity to BE. We want for nothing, because we embody the knowing that we already have everything. Our true nature expands through the entire universe; through and beyond all things. We become both everything and nothing. You can only really know this once unity consciousness has been fully embodied and you’ve expanded into presence.

When we see the divine in all things, we might not have two pennies to rub together; we might lack a home or a family. Yet we are filled with the very divine energy that we see in all things. We are truly abundant!

Less is more

It’s no coincidence that the less people have, the happier they tend to be. Of course not everyone is like this, but I have definitely noticed a general trend. People with less learn to make the most of what they have. They learn to be more creative and resourceful. They learn to make stuff, repair stuff, to find joy in the littlest of things. They learn to work together, pool resources, play games, laugh more, understand one another more and entertain each other through dancing, singing and creative arts. It’s a fact that those with the least money will typically be more charitable to others who are less fortunate than themselves. They don’t tend to hoard or protect what they have, but rather trust that they have enough. They understand how they have been blessed with what they have and gain more inner abundance by sharing that. I have seen this time and time again. I have seen people possessing very little in monetary value, who are infinitely more abundant than their wealthy cousins.

The measure of true spiritual abundance

A great measurement of our level of abundance is the amount of unhindered peace we feel within.

The more aligned we are with the flow of higher consciousness, the more we allow the divine to flow freelythrough us. The more the divine flows freely through us, the more we feel profound peace at the core of our being. I have found this to be the most effective gauge of abundance.

If we have profound inner peace – what more would we want anyway?

I’ve met some of the most amazing people who are a divine embodiment of true spiritual abundance. You know when you see them, because they exude a pulsating energy of clear light. If they are open (and not jealous or threatened by another) then this pulse makes others around them touch true spiritual abundance within aswell. It’s contagious. It’s a free flowing wealth, available to all who trust in it.

Leaving matrix based conditioning

Most awakened people initially dance between ‘possession based abundance’ and ‘true spiritual abundance’. Once the spiritual path appears fully on the horizon, an increasing dissatisfaction with anything that is not divinely inspired becomes noticeably prevalent.

It is inevitable, that as a person becomes more and more aligned with the divine flow, they will become an increasing embodiment of true spiritual abundance.

True spiritual abundance is your destiny!

So, if you need some encouragement to fully embody true spiritual abundance – take inspiration from anything that resonates in this sharing and let it flow. Embrace the divine within you until it starts to bubble over and flood into the world!

Soul to soul
Trinity

This article originally appeared at Openhandweb.org, a project to elevate the consciousness of human beings and provide healing to those in need.

This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

What Happens to Our Qi When We Eat Processed Foods?

March 11, 2013 | By admin | Reply

Beth Quist, Guest Writer
Waking Times

What happens to our Qi if we eat a lot of processed foods?  Processed foods usually includes more preservatives, chemicals, fats, fillers, and sugars than other foods.  As a result, our body has to spend a lot of its energy and effort, not only to digest the food, but to break it down and get rid of what the body doesn’t need.  Most of this additional work is done in the liver and the liver can’t process all of it. The result is Qi getting stuck and stagnant in the liver.  In Chinese Medicine this is known as  “Liver Qi Stagnation”.  Liver Qi Stagnation is a prolific problem in the United States and is often the root cause of many health problems, such as:

• Anger disorders
• Moodiness
• Depression
• Menstrual disorders – PMS, pain, endometriosis, almost all menstrual disorders have a liver component
• High Blood Pressure
• Headaches – all kinds
• Muscle weakness and problems
• Eye and vision problems

What is challenging about Liver Qi Stagnation is how these same health issues will contribute to even more Qi stagnation which then leads to even more health problems.

But we can reverse Liver Qi Stagnation, and with it, reverse many of the health problems associated with it. We have the ability to purge the stagnant Qi from our liver and then get our liver Qi to flow.  The result is improved health. Here are some techniques all of us can use to help keep our Qi flowing and reverse the effects of Liver Qi Stagnation.

First – Purge the Stagnant Qi and Get Our Qi Flowing
We can use sound and its vibration to help purge the stagnant Qi and get it moving.  Couple the use of sound with some Qigong exercises and this will help get Qi to flow.  The sound of “Shoooo” is the sound for the liver.  Here are some links to get more information on sound meditation.

• How to Do a Sound Meditation (Do the sound exercises several times a day).
• What Sounds to Use for Which Organs

For some, herbs may also help resolve purge and move liver Qi stagnation, such as milk thistle or the chinese herb Xiao Yao Wan.

Second, Get Our Qi Moving and Keep it Flowing
Doing daily Qigong or Tai Chi exercises helps make sure the Qi keeps moving. Here are some Qigong exercises that can help get the Qi flowing and keep it moving.

• Introduction to Qigong Exercises
• The Wuji Position
• Warm-Up Exercises
• Exercise to Nourish Your Organs

Third, Change the Major Problem Source – Our Diet
To improve the flow of Qin in our liver and reduce Qi stagnation, we need to eliminate processed foods from our eating habits.  We need to eat more veggies and fruits. Here’s the list what to reduce or eliminate in our diet to improve the Qi in our liver:

• Reduce or eliminate sugar and corn syrup
• Reduce or eliminate soda pop
• Reduce or eliminate dairy
• Don’t eat meats where hormones and chemicals are used on the animal
• Reduce or eliminate chemicals and preservatives (processed and fast foods)

Eat more of these foods. These foods move liver Qi:

• Vegies – especially beans, beets, collards, garlic, kohlrabi, leeks, onions, radishes, turnips, watercress
• Fruits – especially grapefruit, lemon, lime, kumquat, plum, tangerine
• Spices – especially anise, basil, bay, cardamom, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves, cilantro, curry, fennel, ginger, mint, mustard, nutmeg, oregano, parsley, vanilla

Fourth, Improve Our Sleep Habits
Sleep helps our body’s processes continue to work smoothly.  A good nights sleep is imperative to having good health. To improve our sleep, we need to make sure we sleep in a pitch black dark environment.  For those of us who can’t do this, we may want to explore using dark satin eye patches.

Also, we need to make sure we don’t eat before going to bed. Eating before bed affects our dream state and also puts a heavier burden on our liver as well as all organs used in food digestion and processing.

In addition, we should keep a consistent sleep schedule, as this also helps improve our ability to sleep and go into a deep sleep.

Finally, Reduce Other Toxins and Increase Exposure to Clean Vibrant Qi
We need to be aware of what chemicals are in our environment. This will help us to take corrective actions to reduce or eliminate unnecessary exposure to chemicals. Besides knowing what we are eating, drinking, and breathing, we should take a look at the ingredients we place on our skin, hair, and nails. There may be deodorants and skin products we are introducing into our body and hence, our liver, through our skin. This may be contributing to Qi stagnation.

We already know teflon causes cancer, so we should remove teflon pans from the tool we cook with. We also know plastics have a way of getting into our body, too, so reducing how we use plastics needs to be assessed, too.

Also, it will help if we spend more time in nature.  Nature is a wonderful source of natural and vibrant Qi Allowing more opportunities to be in the outdoors can help nourish our body, mind, and spirit and help with healing.

Will We Need Additional Help?
If we continue to have symptoms from liver Qi stagnation (such as depression, anger issues, mood disorders, headaches, high blood pressure, or menstrual problems) and these symptoms are not getting resolved, the problems may progress to even more serious health concerns. The more serious health problems from liver Qi stagnation may develop into muscle weakness, pain, migraines, chronic fatigued, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, tumors, as well as eye issues. If this happens, in addition to the usual treatments we receive via Western Medicine, we also need to more acutely pay attention to our liver Qi. For example, we can supplement our health and wellness journey withAcupuncture and/or Qigong medical treatments from a practitioner. A practitioner, in many cases, can partner with us to help us reach and maintain an improved state of health and wellness we may not be able to achieve on your own.

About the Author

Beth Quist is an RN and a Medical Qigong Therapist trained in both Western and Eastern Medicine. You can read more about using Qigong to improve your health and empower yourself with wellness at http://QigongbyQuist.com, or “Like” on Facebook, or follow on Twitter, https://twitter.com/qigongbyquist.

This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.

3 TED Talks the Establishment Would Prefer You To Miss

March 19, 2013 | By admin | 22 Replies

Waking Times

What do economic inequality, scientific materialism, and human consciousness have in common?

All 3 of them represent important pillars of our current economic and social arrangements, and, all 3 are topics of TED presentations surrounded by controversy, with many people claiming censorship by the revered idea broker.

TED, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ‘Ideas Worth Spreading’ has inspired the world many times over with the quality and variety of their conferences, speakers and topics. They, of course, reserve the right to choose their content accordingly, however, a common thread in these 3 talks, intellectual revolt against mainstream thought, does makes them suspiciously ripe for suppression by a larger media establishment already guilty of enforcing our status quo with a heavy regimen of triviality, propaganda and fantasy.

None of these ideas are violent, none are offensive nor profane, and all are reasoned and intelligent. And, although they may not appeal to everyone, there is certainly no physical harm to be done from sharing these ideas.

Take a look at these worthwhile presentations, 3 TED talks the establishment would prefer you to miss.

Graham Hancock – The War on Consciousness

The works of author and explorer Graham Hancock regarding our ancient history, the nature of consciousness, Ayahuasca, and altered states of consciousness, offer an essential examination of our culture.

Recently, his captivating TED Talk, “The War on Consciousness,” a sober and intelligent argument for the liberation of the human mind, was deliberately removed from You Tube by TED curator Chris Anderson.

“Graham Hancock’s talk, again, shares a compelling and unorthodox worldview, but one that strays well beyond the realm of reasonable science. While attempting to critique the scientific worldview, he misrepresents what scientists actually think…” Chris Anderson, [TED]

After some debate between Hancock and Anderson, this presentation was not fully re-posted to TED’s site, but rather subjugated to a new, unseen basement corner on TED’s site, canceling it’s record of views and limiting it’s future visibility.

Is Hancock sharing ideas worth censoring? Decide for yourself…

Rupert Sheldrake – The Science of Delusion

Along with Graham Hancock’s, TED also removed the recent talk by author and bio-chemist Rupert Sheldrake.

In the bold debate about the nature of human consciousness, Rupert Sheldrakestands out for questioning the standing dogmas of modern science and for bringing us his fascinating theory of Morphic Resonance regarding the collective memory and the habits of nature.

In the following TED presentation, he discusses 10 scientific dogmas that should be questioned to support our evolution. After TED published this, they then reviewed it and moved to hide it.

Do you find Sheldrake’s TED presentation to be of value, or should it’s visibility be limited so that the public isn’t subjected to ideas that some people feel should not be heard?

The continuing story of the censorship of these two presentations can be followed at Graham Hancock’s Facebook page, here.

Rick Hanauer – Rich People Don’t Create Jobs

This third presentation, by entrepreneur Rick Hanauer, is surrounded by controversy because after it was recorded, it was passed over for publication by TED. Stating that allegations of censorship are false, and that TED merely favored better presentations over Hanauer’s when deciding what to publish to their hugely popular website, TED publicly released the talk after suspicions were raised.

Discussing the idea of income equality and the forces behind job creation, Hanauer challenges the advantages the wealthy are given in society, and points out the social class system we have. His ideas are simple and clear, yet many people feel that this talk was intentionally censored by TED because of the threat these notions put to the existing pecking order in our world.

It seems unlikely that TED could possibly have anything to gain by shelving this 5 minute discourse, but, either way, the controversy exists, and Hanauer’s presentation certainly does challenge one of the establishment’s sacred cows of the economy. That the middle class is dependent on the wealthy for job creation.

Should Rick Hanauer’s non-partisan talk about the merits of taxing/not-taxing the rich be given equal weight in the arena of popular ideas?

While popular with the public, these 3 talks do challenge fundamental aspects of the status quo, and in outstanding, thought-provoking style. The controversy surrounding them is about who in the public should be arbiter of ideas and about who should get to define the box we collectively think within.

So, decide for yourself. Should these ideas be pushed to the backbins of our collective human conversation? Would the establishment indeed have something to fear if these ideas were to become mainstream? Are we, as a culture, brave enough to freely entertain ideas?

Either way, the present established world order does indeed have plenty to gain by keeping the people of the planet in the dark about ideas that can lead to a revolution in human thought and behavior.

You decide, and let us know your thoughts. Please share this article and support it on Reddit, here.

This article is offered under Creative Commons license. It’s okay to republish it anywhere as long as attribution bio is included and all links remain intact.