Topic: Contemplation
A Spiritual Perspective on Same-Sex Marriage
A short while ago President Obama decided to publicly support same-sex marriage. It was refreshing to see a politician put principle and personal experience over polls.
And yet, as I read the announcement and the ensuing debate I can’t help but be drawn to express the Spiritual perspective. It has been said that there are many differences in the path but the destination is the same. There is an essential truth that experience has taught me that holds true. It does not matter about the differences in the path, for when you strip away the ego-mind’s tendency to preserve the status quo both the motivation and the destination is love.
I honour all faiths that power the steps that each takes on their path. We may have different dogmas, creeds or belief systems we travel by, but we are also all on a journey of awakening to knowing God through and as us. And every moment spent in a criticism or non-acceptance of another’s beliefs, or in debate about how the choices of others infringe on our rights, is a moment lost in slumber.
I consider myself fortunate to not have the distractions of politics and polls. And yet for all that I also believe that I have a fundamental responsibility to take spiritual responsibility for my choices. This means giving up blaming others, blaming the world around me, and thinking for one minute that I am here to change others. At the very most I am here to support others in convincing themselves what their truth is to them.
One day I will be a minister with the Centres for Spiritual Living. One day people will walk into the centre that I’ve been charged with leading. And regardless of sexual orientation, whether you are hetrosexual, bi-sexual, gay or lesbian you will be welcome to join me in serving the revealing of Eternal Presence. For you see, no matter what public opinion may be today it will change. What will remain is my choice to accept others as awakening in their own way, just as I awaken in mine.
Lesson In A Lesson
I recently completed teaching 10 weeks of the Spiritual Foundations course at the Centre for Spiritual Living, Edmonton. This course was a humbling experience.
The growth for the students over the time we spent together felt so right, and was a marvel to behold. Given the attitude with which they showed up it was clear that the students were ready to start a new chapter in their journey of awakening. And yet the opportunity to lead this group really brought home to me why I am entering into Ministry.
During the course I kept remembering the saying, “teach what you want to be.” Of all the elements, Minister as Teacher really is about supporting people over an extended period of time, and supporting them in a profound period of spiritual growth. Whilst the focus on the foundational teachings of Ernest Holmes and the Science of Mind really does ground me, seeing that combined with the awakening of spiritual magnificence in others really is inspiring.
I’m grateful to the Educational Ministry of the CSL, Edmonton for this opportunity, and for the return to the teaching role on April 16 to begin this 10 week course all over again with a new group of students. As I continue my Ministerial studies I know these experiences in teaching will help me to enhance a fantastic foundation within.
As I look forward to the future I’m mindful of a fantastic opportunity. Bringing these teachings to the Internet through various virtual mediums is relatively untapped. I can’t seem to shake the idea that the virtual and the real classrooms can be brought together. I shall hold a knowing for the right and perfect creative expression in this regard.
The Amazing (Meditation) Race
The past 10 days of meditation were most revealing. However, the journey to get there ended up being quite amazing.
When I saw fog on my drive to the airport a realization came to mind that perhaps things might not go as smoothly as I had planned. As I sat waiting for my flight the announcements of delays and cancellations were merely a crescendo that culminated in my flight being cancelled 30 minutes after we had been due to take off.
The situation I was in was an interesting one. I was at peace. I knew I was supposed to be at this meditation retreat. But it was now 12.30 pm and I had 4 hours to get to a place that would take at least 12 hours to drive to.
After collecting my baggage and seeing the monumental queue waiting to get tickets I had the idea to simply call the airline. Within a few minutes I had established that there was no way I would be flying out of Edmonton that day. There was ice at 4,000 feet and no plane had been able to land for hours. When that happens flight sequencing gets knocked off and planes simply are able to move in their normal movement patterns. I tried a different tact.
“Do I have any other options?” I asked.
“Can you get to Calgary?” The West Jet representative was very helpful, and I had the sense she was on my side.
As I looked around at the many unhappy people around me I felt a surge of gratitude that my harmonious awareness had brought me a possibility I had not considered. I can still see a family lamenting their lost vacation, and their sadness evoked compassion in my heart. I offered a momentary prayer that they would have what they needed through this experience.
After establishing that I could get a flight from Calgary at 4.45pm, and that if she checked me in I would have until 4pm I knew the race was on. With a smile and a happy heart I made the change and then phoned the people at the long term parking I had booked my car into.
With my little Prius waiting and running for me upon my arrival I set myself to getting to Calgary in under 3 hours. In theory I could do it in two and a half hours. I didn’t need to race, but any big mishaps along the way would end this amazing race.
On the way I made some calls. One of them was to my wife who, bless her heart, had the presence to ask me if I had re-booked the return flight. She pointed out that if I landed in Edmonton with my car in Calgary I might be in a bit of a bind. Looking back on this I cannot help but realize how sometimes it is the total of our experience, not just our own mental horsepower and harmonious awareness, that makes the difference. And so with all the arrangements made I continued driving along the QEII highway to Calgary.
I made it to Calgary with time enough to stop off and grab some food. Feeling both peace and joy at how the day was progressing I found myself on an uneventful flight to Kelowna. Things were going beautifully. However, the amazing race had not come to end.
Now landed in Kelowna, and with a 49 lb suitcase in tow, I proceeded to pick up my car. I had phoned the car rental company and aware that I’d be late they had set aside the car I’d be borrowing. As I sat in my 2 wheel drive Hyundia Elantra little did I realize what the next phase of this race would become.
The mountain road between Kelowna and Meritt, BC, is new to me. I’d never driven this route before. But on February 29th at around 6pm, and a descending darkening sky, I started the long ascent into blowing snow. The sign warning me that I should have snow chains and snow tires during the winter partly registered. However, for the next 2 hours I spent my time practicing meditation, striving to remain harmonious, to be aware of the sensations in my body even as trucks roared past me leaving ploughed snow in their wake. I consider myself a capable driver. But even I knew that the 2-wheel drive tin can I was driving was far from fit for this particular road. And yet for all that, it turned out that I would arrive as expected to the retreat centre. Turning in past the gate and entering their acreage I smiled to myself as I prepared for this amazing race to end.
However, it was not quite done yet. As I began a climb up a steep hill I suddenly realized that the car neither had the horses nor the tires to complete the climb. Halfway up the hill the car stopped and entered in a sliding dance of spins. Quickly realizing that I’d not approached the slope with enough speed I tried to reverse back down. However, the car was not balanced, and as I slowly inched my way backwards the car started to veer sideways. A few efforts later the 45 degree angle that I now faced on the road convinced me that my race in this car was done.
I phoned ahead to the retreat centre. But given the timetable I knew that they would already have begun. The centre manager would likely be sitting in that meditation, and at best my call might be answered in an hour or two. With nothing better to do I had the idea to get out of the car and take a look at the situation.
The sheer ice beneath the recently fallen snow confirmed why I had not been able to proceed. With hiking boots on I was having some difficulty in walking. However, as I looked around I realized that it had stopped snowing, and the sounds of nature at night time in the mountains reminded me that the wind had also stopped. There was a quarter moon above and I could see far enough to realize I could not see a single artificial light. That said, I’d been in this area before before and knew that at most I would be 10 minutes walk away.
And then the idea came to me; I could simply walk the rest of the way. I felt peace at this and knew that this amazing race would be best finished on foot. Taking my luggage out of the trunk I then proceeded to complete the journey.
That walk was one of the most beautiful in recent memory. A few minutes into it I discovered a small creek. The sound of water cascading over ice and stone was crisp and clear. The scene was set with water and moonlight. With a momentary gasp of realization I stopped in awe to meditate for a short while. I later realized that if this were actually the Amazing Race that this moment of meditation was akin to the commercial break.
Yet in all seriousness, the pristine quality of this moment soothed me to the soul and I found myself realizing that this journey had been a series of barriers, of suggestions that I should turn back. From the first leg through to that moment I had had many reasons to turn back. And yet, at no point had my harmony been shaken. I had known that each condition would pass away. My purpose was clear. The steps I must take were nearly done. Thankfully, I was clear about my purpose. And when we have a clear purpose it is so much easier to be unshakable when on the path toward it.
A few minutes later I entered the centre and was greeted warmly. After relating the condition of the car and being assured that it would be taken care of I knew that my amazing race was finally done. I would now spend the next 10 days in deep meditation. It was the perfect start to a most revealing retreat. But I will share more about that another time…
Compassion in Transition
I was recently struck by a profound event in my life. Not only did it touch me, but also my daughter and wife. For those of you who have had a dog and experienced it’s making transition you will know what I mean.
About 8 years ago we got an American Eskimo dog. As we drove back from the kennel I remember sitting with a little white, fluffy ball in my lap and thinking how fluffy she looked. I also remembered a certain three-headed dog called fluffy in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. For a reason that I will never be able to rationally explain I turned to my wife and said, “Why don’t we call her Fluffy.”
And so with Fluffy in tow we became dog owners. I had never owned a dog before, and Fluffy was my first experience at getting to know a canine. I had no idea how they can make their way deep within your soul and heart. I also had no idea at what was to come.
At first all was well. Fluffy was a boystrous puppy, with lots of energy, love and attentiveness. She was very clever, and had begun to master some wonderful tricks. Our favourite was pointing our finger, saying “BANG” and watching her roll over to play dead.
However, just before she reached the age of two she started exhibiting some strange symptoms. At first, we found that everytime we took her for a run at the dog park she would invariably tear a claw off. This made little sense. My wife, being an experienced dog-owner couldn’t understand it. A few trips to the vet later we realized that we would have to be very careful about how we exercised her.
However, not long after the losing the third claw on a fateful Saturday morning I walked in on my dog suffering greatly. I will never forget her trembling on the ground, shaking violently, unable to drink or eat. I thought she was dying.
After a phone call with my wife I took her to the emergency vet and we began a series of visits that, after 3 months, would ultimately result in a diagnosis of Addison’s Disease. It turns out that both dogs and humans can suffer from this disease. Here is the definition for Addison’s Disease at Wikipedia:
“Addison’s disease (also chronic adrenal insufficiency, hypocortisolism, and hypoadrenalism) is a rare, chronic endocrine disorder in which the adrenal glands do not produce sufficient steroid hormones (glucocorticoids and often mineralocorticoids). It is characterised by a number of relatively nonspecific symptoms, such as abdominal pain and weakness, but under certain circumstances these may progress to Addisonian crisis, a severe illness in which there may be very low blood pressure and coma.”
In short, Fluffy would require monthly injections to provide her with the adrenaline she needed to survive, and a daily pill to balance and complete the treatment. We had saved her life but had begun what would become a 6 year journey of having borrowed time with her. We also discovered that dogs with Addison’s Disease would generally be expected to live to about 8 years old. The strain on the organs of artificial adrenaline being introduced eventually leads to organs wearing out and the body shutting down.
And so 6 years later it turned out that Fluffy proved the science to be correct. Over the past few months her health had been slowly getting worse. Her appetite had declined. On some days she did not climb the stairs to join us. But last Friday her condition took a turn for the worse.
After getting my daughter ready for school I realized that I needed to give Fluffy her pill. However, I also realized she was not downstairs. After finding her upstairs I carried her down with me. She refused her pill (which we placed into her favourite food, cheese). She would not eat and lost control of her bodily function by her water bowl.
Having to take my daughter to school I then promptly returned instead of going to my clients’ office. Fluffy had managed to make it downstairs to the backdoor. I spent the next 30 minutes sitting with her and texting my wife (who was away).
It was around the point that Fluffy, who had been getting lots of loving attention from me, decided that she would rather slink off to be in a cupboard with the cat litter than be with me. At this point both my wife and I suspected the worst.
After a tear-filled trip to the vet I remembered that we had always agreed that should Fluffy, who had had so many years of borrowed time, come to be seriously ill again we would put her down. And here I was comforting a dog who was suffering greatly. By the time we got to the vet her body was making strange squeaking noises and she had started to tremble. After a heartwrenching conversation with the vet we agreed to put her down.
I cannot recall being so sad and yet so convinced that with this choice I could ensure that her last thoughts in this lifetime would be happy ones, with her owner lovingly staring into her eyes. Out of a sense of love and compassion I spent the next 20 minutes staring into her eyes, stroking her, and thanking her for having been such a wonderful dog.
For you see, not only had she taught my daughter the lesson of gentleness and love, but she had also helped me to remember a daily childhood experience where I would be terrorized by a neighbours’ terrier surprising me with vicious barking.
I am not able to tell you whether this was the right decision according to science. But I will say that my heart moved me to compassion. As a human being with a dog in my care, I made the decision to ensure her last thoughts would be happy ones, surrounded by love, and that the last moments of her experience would be pain-free.
And yet I will never forget that as I sat there consoling her, it was all she could do to feebly try and lick the tears streaming down my face. Even in the midst of her suffering it was all she could do to console one of her loved ones.
I leave you with the last picture of Fluffy. She was a happy dog inspite of the chronic disease she spent her lifetime with.
Relationships and Impermanence
Relationships are like anything in the world of forms and effects. The arise, they change, and they are bound to pass away. Some relationships arise when we are children, last through our lives and pass away when we make transition. Some arise briefly, exists as short meetings and then are done. And many relationships exist on the continuum between these extremes.
Relationships are a very personal experience. We form deep and intimate partnerships with others for deep purpose of growth and evolution. We share our journey with beautiful souls to reflect Truth, and have it reflected to us. Our deepest relationships offer us some of our deepest opportunities for our spiritual evolution.
And yet, just because relationships are so personal, can be so deep, and offer us so much opportunity for growth, does not invalidate truth.
I recently heard it said that to the Buddhist life is suffering. I would like to refine what I believe is meant by this. Our craving, aversions, likes, dislikes and attachments are what cause suffering. Life is filled with many overwhelming opportunities to lose awareness of this, get drawn into the intoxicating world of form and effects, and in turn suffer. There is wisdom to be gained through experience. But again, just because experience offers us the potential for wisdom does not invalidate truth.
If a relationship is bound to pass away our attachment to it being unchanging, or our desire to believe that the stable relationships of others is a source of inspiration, is going to trip us up. In short, if we take inspiration from the relationships of others we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment. But more importantly, we’re assuming that God doesn’t have a perfect plan unfolding.
I have heard it said that people can be inspired by the knowing of others in a long-term stable relationship. But the challenge with that belief system is that it assumes that God doesn’t have perfection unfolding through the change (which is the ego getting in the way), and since the relationship is bound to pass away our attachment to the perception of stability is going to lead us to suffering.
I am preparing for my first 20 minute talk in a few weeks in Ministerial training. In that talk I introduce something I call, “The Law of Impermanence.” Our life is the intersection between the impermanent (the world of forms and effects) and the permanent (that part of us that is Spirit). The world of forms and effects is overwhelming. It requires practice and skill to overcome. Intimate relationships such as marriage and long-term partnerships carry the opportunity to remember Spirit or to forget Spirit. Invariably, we’re drawn into partnership at a level of soul-agreement to evolve with our partner. However, relationships exist in the impermanent world of forms and effects. If you’re going to be inspired by anything, be inspired by the permanence and perfection and Spirit.
Adversity In Awakening
How many Buddhists does it take to change a lightbulb?
Three.
One to change the bulb, one to not change the bulb, and one to neither change nor not change the bulb.
If you’ve engaged in spiritual practice you may have noticed that in spite of your very best intentions that you…slip. Over the years I’ve had meditations where I felt perfect, only to find myself in a fluster within a few hours. I’ve had moments of sublime expansiveness only to find myself feeling frustrated later on as someone cut me off in traffic. Or better yet, I’ve had moments where I thought I was really getting things worked out in my life, only to go home for the holidays to spend time with my family.
And yet what I do know is that every moment that I’ve forgotten my practice is a moment that will inevitably pass away, just as each night will end with the sun. If you consider the joke above, one of the truths it is teaching is that the clearer we can become about the changing, impermanent nature of every event and thing, the more we will be able to release attachment to them. I don’t care whether or not the lightbulb gets changed; I just want to have a harmonious awareness of love and gratitude as I change the lightbulb.
I remember hearing a buddhist teacher talk about the idea that the best time to do your work is when you are immersed in the work itself. If you’re working on anger, the best time to do your work on anger is whilst you’re angry. If you can find peace from within your anger the wisdom you’ll gain will far surpass what you gain from talking about anger whilst relaxing in the bath. If you’re working on self-worth and esteem, you’ll likely get more from remembering your worth right in the middle of a moment where you question yourself. If you’ve started a spiritual practice and find yourself struggling to find the time (to meditate or journal), the very best thing you can do is to stop in the next available moment to meditate or journal.
Buddha walks up to a (veggie) hot dog vendor in New York City. He says to the guy, “Make me one with everything”, and gives him some money.
The vendor makes a veggie hot dog, hands it to Buddha, and says,”Here you go.”
Buddha says, “Where’s my change?”
The vendor says, “Change comes from within.”
Both the change and the resistance to it comes from within. Many of you who commit to a daily spiritual practice will meet adversity. When you’re doing it right you can expect resistance. One common observation (or confession) within spiritual community comes when someone shares that they are striving to practice their meditation. And then they talk about how they are struggling to find the time. My contribution to such conversations tends to include two ideas.
The first idea is that within every moment of forgetfulness is an opportunity. The moment I realize I forgot is the moment I can gently and patiently remind myself that I should get back into my practice. When I guide others in meditation I offer the same advice. The moment we realize our mind has wandered from the object of our focus is the moment in which we can re-sharpen our focus again. If we beat ourselves up about a moment (or two) of forgetfulness we are missing the opportunity. It’s not that you forgot, but that you now have a powerful opportunity for awakening in this moment of remembering. With this realization you can celebrate the fact you forgot as an opportunity for your growth. Without forgetting how could you remember?
The second thought I share is to get comfortable with being uncomfortable. We may find ourselves apologizing or explaining why we are not practicing. This is not surprising when you think about it. After all, there is a part of you that knows that stillness filled with a focus on harmony, love and gratitude is the best time one can spend. And yet, the ego wants to focus on the past, the future, the other and mine. However, if you can see past that you forgot, you will come to realize that it was the moments of being awake that made it all worthwhile in the first place. And besides, if you didn’t know what it was to sleep, how could you possibly value and treasure the joy of awakening?
Did you hear about the Buddhist who ignored his dentists’ advice to take Novocaine?
He wanted to transcend dental medication.
If you’re experiencing adversity in your awakening then revel in it. Every path to awakening is littered with stories of challenges, discomfort and forgetfulness. Celebrate the resistance and recognize it for what it is. You’re aren’t the first, nor will you be the last, to experience adversity in awakening.
Reprogramming Water Memory
The student asked the teacher, “You say God is everywhere, an all-pervading consciousness. How can you see That and I do not?”
The teacher said, “Bring a glass of water and some salt.” He told the student to put the salt into the water and mix it. When it was dissolved the teacher asked the student, “Where is the salt?”
“I don’t see it.” The student said.
“Because you do not see it does that mean it is not there?” The Teacher replied. “Taste the water at the top. How is it?”
“Salty.” The student replied.
“Taste the water in the middle. How is it?”
“Salty.”
“Taste the water at the bottom. How is it?”
“Salty.”
“And so the water is salty everywhere, but you do not see the salt?”
Let us consider this idea from another perspective. In the 1970’s an amazing hypothesis was put forward that water has memory. Over the years many experiments have shown that water receives and makes an imprint of any outside influence. The central idea is that water memory can actually remember everything that occurs in the space that surrounds it. Any substance coming into contact with water has an impact on its memory.
And yet as far as science can tell the idea of water memory has nothing to do with the chemicals that go into or cleansed from it. What appears to be central to the idea of water memory is how the water itself is structured. One school of thought is that the way in which water molecules are organized is central to understanding how water memory is possible.
What scientists have observed is that water molecules form together into groups, called clusters. These clusters work as memory cells in which water records the whole history of its relationship with the world around it. Modern measurement techniques have been able to record that within each of these clusters are some 44,000 information panels, each of which is responsible for its own type of interaction with the environment. From what we can tell water may be the most malleable information recording and computing device known to mankind.
You may be familiar with Dr. Masaru Emoto. In 1995 he was the first to record musical impressions on water. The process involves exposing water with different types of music and then swiftly freezing it in a cryogenic chamber. The ice crystals formed by Bach, Mozart and Beethoven are beautiful in their symmetry and formation, and quite different to the distorted and broken images of water crystals exposed to heavy rock.
Dr. Emoto has built upon these initial experiments with numerous efforts to find the word that cleanses water most powerfully. So far results have shown that it is not just one word but a combination of two: Love and Gratitude.
Yet any love or gratitude that you feel is because God is everywhere. Just like the salt in the water, you don’t actually see the essence of love or gratitude. Certainly, you will see the surface of them in the words or actions of others, just as you taste the salt in water. But, when you think, “This person makes me happy, this person makes me sad,” you are seeing only the surface.
But at some point you will realize this. You do not need a laboratory; you can experiment within. Just because you cannot see the salt in the water does not mean that the salt is not there. And just because you do not understand how water can have memory does not mean that God is not the intelligence behind water memory.
Around 60% of body weight can be attributed to water, and approximately 20% of our daily water intake comes from food. It turns out that our every word, our every thought, can reprogram water memory. Imagine what would happen to the water in the world around us if we focused on the purest feelings of Love and Gratitude?
I believe science is finally catching up to what has been intuitively known for a very long time. People have been uttering a prayer before coming together to eat and drink for years. The next time you are drinking water, or eating food, remember that thoughts of love and gratitude have finally been proven to cleanse what you consume.
The Symptoms of Enlightenment
My best friend sent me a quote earlier today that artfully captured an important message.
“According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don’t bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous.” -Carol Lynn Pearson
When I think of my own journey I have observed these two symptoms again and again. If anything these symptoms have become more and more intense over time.
As I contemplated this quote I realized that I am either aware of more than two symptoms, or that these suggested symptoms are, like many mystical expressions, very broad categories with lots of room for interpretation. But before I explain what I mean by this I will explain what enlightenment means to me.
Enlightenment, in my experience, is about the giving up of separation between that idea I have of self, and that part of me that is Eternal Presence, or God. It is about setting aside the need for mine or I, and embracing One. This ascendance is a profoundly simple and subtle event that is not about destination, and all about the journey. When I am enlightened I see Eternal Presence in everything and everyone, in each and every moment, through all reactions and every thought. I see life as a co-creative expression of Eternal Presence.
I have also come to realize that I can have moments of enlightenment, and that as my spiritual practice has deepened so has the frequency and duration of such moments. In short, one who is enlightened is awake to Eternal Presence.
But this journey is, in my experience at least, signified by a gradual growth and realization. I am not the guru that suddenly awoke with light streaming through the clouds and trumpets harkening from on high. I chose to wake up very slowly. And if truth be told, I believe I’ve only just started the early morning yawn. It is like I have rubbed my eyes and have just put on my glasses.
How different the world looks this morning.
As we awaken though, the time between a reaction triggered by a false belief and a response of love dimishes. The awareness of the world around us, the apparent reality, shifts. I have become physically and emotionally aware of the connectedness of everything. Perhaps what I am trying to say is that, where the Vedanta suggests there as an increased experience of encountering more synchronicities, I have experienced this within the physical, emotional and mental bodies.
Over time I have come to find myself physically aware of the connectedness, or diminished awareness of others about me. My empathetic awareness of the emotional state of others has shifted. This has translated into a greater empathy. With increased empathy is a bittersweet cocktail of compassion for pain and a knowingness of Eternal Presence unfolding perfectly through that moment. I might be able to see the the love in it all, but I am motivated to serve others in seeing the love for themselves. And some days my capacity at the mental level really does leave me in awe. Not because I have a huge head and ego, but simply because I know that what is flowing through me is a product of Infinite Intelligence. What I take credit for is getting out of the way.
Things do not bother me in the way they used to. I would say that I feel compassion for those who are bound so tightly around the apparent reality. I feel inspired and called to serve the revealing of Eternal Presence. And all the while I know that those that are ready to wake up will wake up in their own sweet time. In this way, I am striving to be like the Bodhisatva; the one who has begun the process of englightenment that also has the skills to support others in their journey of awakening to their potential.
As you begin the process of awakening you will begin to sense discomfort. The discomfort intensifies as we begin to realize that there is more to this than the self, I and mine. We realize how much time we’ve wasted, and have to learn that no time is wasted; we have experienced exactly what we needed to wake up. We become aware of those places where we are imperfect, and take spiritual responsibility for them. We begin to ask what was in events for us.
Yet, with patience and persistence, and perhaps some guidance in the form of the spoken or written word from a teacher, we come to realize that our imperfections have everything to do with wounds from the past. It does not matter what caused those wounds. What matters is the self-empowerment that accompanies the revelation that we have everything we need to heal those wounds, and reveal Eternal Presence through every aspect of our lives.
Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. And remember, fear is like a bullet loaded into a gun that you hold. It can wound you, but only you can pull the trigger.
Ministerial Studies: Minister As Writer
My vision is to inspire and serve the revealing of Eternal Presence, and a part of my mission to accomplish this is to be Reverend Carmien Owen in a few years. To that end I have started three years of Ministerial studies.
Once a month I fly to the Center for Spiritual Living’s regional training centre in Kelowna. This past weekend was my second such trip, during which we worked through a module titled, Minister As Writer. There were a number of highlights this weekend, but the two that I want to highlight are the guest instructor, Karin Wilson, and my dear fellow students.
Karin Wilson is a professional writer and Minister with the Kelowna Centre for Spiritual Living. In the three hours we had with her she offered many thoughts and tips on writing. I was really impressed, particularly with how much I learned. I felt like a prospector sifting the river for nuggets of communicative goodness.
This process of growth has reminded me that everything leads us to the moment we are in now. I’ve been writing this blog for nearly three years. It started like a sandstorm, suddenly whipping up content without any real purpose or direction. It was simply a way of getting myself journalling as a habit. However, it has become so much more. I’ve gotten to directly experience that writing is a craft, a skill that you hone over time. Over the past few years the practice this blog has afforded me has been invaluable. Writing is a powerful tool for a Minister. And having experts like Karin help me refine my craft really is a sign of abundance for me. This experience really has that divinely-inspired feel to it.
And the reader will get to benefit as well. I can already sense that elements like grammar and structure are improving.
I don’t think I was alone in being amazed by Karin and what she had to share, particularly given the reaction of the 19 students in the room. That said, I get the feeling that this group would find a way to see the opportunity of a flood.
This thought brings to mind the second thing I wanted to share. It really is humbling being in a room with so many people who have committed to giving their life in service to others. However, I’ve been instructed to say that on some matters the following is sacrosanct; what happens in Kelowna, stays in Kelowna. Karin might even approve of that semi-colon too.
Know the Flow and be happy.
Reflections Of A Friend
With the recent release of the new Know The Flow website I asked those I know to give me feedback. A good friend of mine sent me this today. Regardless of the challenge of squeezing this volume of text in the right frame of the home page I intend to use it.
It occurred to me that Ron’s message contained a powerful teaching. Sometimes we may see less in ourselves than others see in us. Being over-humble is a form of aversion. Every so often we receive an objective reflection of ourselves to counter the lessened value we might consciously, or subconsciously, view ourselves with. This particular teaching highlighted for me that now is the time, and that we can claim only what we believe to be ours.
And so with that in mind I felt compelled to share this with you. Thank you, Ron. I am deeply humbled by your words, and inspired by your teaching.
About Carmien Owen
“I am a Licenced Practitioner.” “I have been wandering the metaphysical path for some 15 years now.” Those words were the extent of the profile I found on this site. I then went to the Centre for Spiritual Living site where Carmien Owen serves as a Licensed Practitioner, and there was a name and a contact number. Nothing more. A controlled ego may be good, but I thought the world needed to learn more about this amazing man and I asked him if I could re-write his “biography.” You see, when he does it, he somehow makes it about Spirit and us. This is about him.
Carmien was born in the UK, and grew up in a challenging environment where his family and many of his associates succumbed to a life of drugs, alcohol, and chaos. After a period of deep crisis in his mid-twenties he came to realize that life could offer more, and began a 15 year search that took him through a move to Canada. Carmien married, had a daughter, as well as worked in senior positions working to improve Quality at organizations such as Ceridian and TELUS. He currently serves as CEO of Collaboration Consulting Inc. where he facilitates improved communication and productivity through collaboration. His clients include the Government of Alberta, the University of Alberta, small non-profit organizations like the College of Physicians and Surgeons Alberta, and large corporations such as General Motors North America.
Carmien’s other passion is the pursuit of spirituality, and he does that through extensive study, writing, developing the spiritual vehicle you are currently visiting (Know The Flow), and working rigorously toward receiving his Ministerial designation with the Centres for Spiritual Living. He is a Licensed Practitioner (a designation as a spiritual coach) with the Centres for Spiritual Living. He teaches meditation and other Spiritual topics both at the Edmonton Centre and online through Second Life and Skype. In my opinion this man is a “shining light” and holds amazing promise as the future Reverend Carmien Owen. He is an articulate communicator, physically disciplined, environmentally sensitive and spiritually one of the most conscious people I have ever met. Carmien is not “wandering” a metaphysical path at all. He is constructing a major route in the provision of service to those searching for meaning in life.
Ronald A. LaJeunesse
Board of Trustees
Centre for Spiritual Living, Edmonton
