Today I had a breakthrough with a situation I have written about that has caused me to be out of work for two years now. If it wasn't for my faith I would be demoralized by the situation but I know from past experience that God has used me to reveal situations that would have continued to exists in the shadows. Tyrants are in powerful places and ruining the lives of good people. We have all seen it in various political arenas and now through this past election the tides are turning.
When you have a need, remember God and turn to Him for help. Our own power is filled with God and He will always support you in your time of need. I have been submitting prayers to the Shrine of St Jude lately. I used to visit St. Jude's Shrine in Baltimore, MD when I worked at Johns Hopkins Hospital which was a short distance away. I loved to light a candle in the alcove of the chapel and know that St. Jude would take care of my situation. He is the Patron Saint of impossible causes and I have found myself in an impossible situation with a state agency. Now that help is here I can sit back and let the process unfold.
As I underwent an investigation by an Attorney General in California I had to wait patiently to be cleared and then go through the Office of the Inspector General in DC. It took a year and a half of waiting and I now have to get things taken care of because the board just hadn't finished with ruining my good name and professional standing. Always use your resources as my teacher helped me to learn and I have found that there are resources out there - we just have to figure out a way of identifying and accessing them. This is where I have found meditation to be most beneficial because it is in the quiet and stillness of the soul that you can hear God. You will be guided to take certain steps through an inner knowing and ideas that will come to mind that make absolute sense. Learn to listen to your inner soul and reserve time in your daily schedule for the regular practice of meditation.
I enjoy social networking so much and find the most uplifting stories and photographs of nature and animals that I love to share with everyone. Some may not know their own self yet and not appreciate the connection with nature and the love for all yet. Don't ever feel like retreating from your own self expression because of the lack of soul awareness in others. Would the great teachers and Christ have stopped their work if they had been turned away? No that is the nature of mankind to be self absorbed and unloving of God's world of nature and creatures in the world. St. Francis of Assisi recognized the soul in animals and thought of them as his brothers and sisters. Be open to finding a teacher who can open your heart and third eye which is between the eyes that is the center of our spiritual awakening and journey. When in meditation you will be able to focus in this region and travel to the inner worlds that is filled with light and beauty. My spiritual Master says that we need to be initiated by a living Master in order to start and complete the spiritual journey.
Your days are precious and life is for us to find our purpose in serving God. A marine is a warrior who gives his/her heart and soul for country and today is the Marines birthday and I would ask that you say special prayers of thanks to them for their service to the United States of America. Don't let the words of some weaken your faith in our country's goodness or greatness. We have been blessed by God since the beginning and it is our duty as citizens to take our politicians back to a place of humility and understanding about our Founding Father's relationship with the Creator and how that is no different for us today. The tea party movement is a good thing and I encourage you to join and participate. Don't walk away from any challenge in life, let alone when your country is in need.
Work diligently in your work and if you feel burned out find ways to replenish yourself. One hour of meditation is worth a thousand hours of sleep as one teacher used to say. Find health through exercise, yoga, walking, swimming etc., and eat a vegetarian diet. Follow me on Twitter.com/Langata145 to find vegetarian groups to follow and get some recipes for great food for the holidays. Also have a new website for a natural antioxidant http://myrain.me/rita Support your body that is the vessel for the soul to complete the spiritual journey. Give up meat as soon as you can for moral and ethical reasons as well as for your health.
I work with people who wish to change and do something that is close and dear to their hearts with their lives. I teach meditation and vegetarianism and that is a requirement for my work. Please feel free to contact me at lawrencerita511@gmail.com
Nurses Transition Network Money is important & Small Business Start-ups 'kitchen table style' is the way to go!
Showing posts with label Teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teacher. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Will and determination
I wrote about having strong will and intention and from a Christian perspective I aroused speculation about the validity of having a strong will as part of a spiritual person. I have always had a strong will and since I have been on the spiritual path I can center inside when I need to stand firm in highly charge emotional situations. Having been brought up by a mother who was raised in a typical Victorian middle class manner in the early 1900's. My mother was a competitive athlete who in her twenties became the Thames Champion for rowing. Perhaps finding a way to mend bridges with me she described herself to me as "harsh" in the same way her mother had been. Although my mother was strong she always became frustrated with me when I was able to keep my cool when punished. Punishment could come in the form of scoldings which was an emotional abuse, to spanking and one time washing my mouth out with carbolic soap after she heard me repeat words that my brother was telling me to do, which was physical abuse. I would have become a fragmented person had I taken her intrusions into my personal space and attacks at my integrity to heart. I learned to resist and regroup emotionally and psychologically inside. The centering that I am talking about takes place from the throat clear down to the lower abdomen to describe the anatomy of our psyche or soul. No one ever taught me this directly but I had the natural instincts for survival early on in life.
Each trip to England to visit with my mother had the potential for abuse and I learned to cut short the visit and return to the US as an adult. My oldest brother was sentenced to prison for a year after he was arrested and convicted of storing a suit case full of Marijuana in the attic of our mother's home where they lived together. I returned to England to visit him in Wandsworth Prison which dates back to Dickens time and fits with the dark and miserable past rather than today. The visit started inside a small cottage outside the walls of the prison where I was able to get registered to visit then proceeded through a sequence of check points and waiting areas before we finally reached the designated communal meeting area.
After the visit my sister took my mother and I to her home in St. George's Hill where she and her husband lived in a mansion inside a gated community. It was a stark contrast to the sooty black old brick walls of Wandsworth Prison. My brother was the first of four children born to my parents who lived in a region in Uganda where my father had worked for an Italian mine after WWII. My mother lacked experience with infants and was visited by Catholic nun in their home to help her cope with the new baby. She was told by the nuns that he was "lazy." As a nurse I have heard the term used to describe an infant who lacks the necessary buccal muscle movements necessary to successfully feed from a nipple. She applied the label out of context to account for where my brother's life had taken him. I responded to her assertion by informing her about the real meaning of the term which triggered her rage toward me. She seethed anger and shouted at me before abruptly leaving, telling my sister that she didn't want to see me anymore. I recalled in that moment how I had felt as a child when I was shouted at and emotionally attacked by her. I recalled how it felt as a child, like a shattering of my psyche. Now as an adult I could immediately turn to a picture of my spiritual teacher that my sister had out in her living room and center my energy inside in one coherent and strong energetic mass. I stayed calm and didn't get pulled in by the situation and the hysteria that followed from my sister about my having caused the reaction in my mother. Even going so far as to accuse me of not being sensitive to her because as she went on to explain our mother felt that she had failed in her role with both our brothers as the younger brother had been murdered.
From a Christian perspective of will it is in context of applying God's will is in our lives. God's will is always for divine order. Even thought there is chaos in the universe and on this planet in terms of the destructive physical forces of nature there is also a reordering. No matter how much we misuse the earth's resources the earth will restore its balance. Someone said "We can be shaken off like a bunch of fleas!" It is a common experience that people have wondering what is the right thing to do in any given situation or with our purpose for life and choices we make. What you have to know is that God wants you to follow His moral commands and teachings. I read books by my own spiritual teacher and have read many throughout the years I was with my first teacher. You will learn how to develop your own good qualities and virtues. There is a quality of living from a space of love. My teacher emphasizes ethics in our lives and positive thinking and striving to become free from any negative thoughts or malintentions toward others. When you are doing the right thing in context of being within the framework of your religious and spiritual teachings added to the ethical principles that you can apply in life you will align with the will of God.
When I spoke about my own will I mean that I am strong in my will be aligning my soul with God and closely following the teachings of my particular path and inner guide.
I am a Professional Life Coach and welcome comments from readers. I am available to work with individuals who wish to change their lives through first connecting with their spiritual self and following a chosen spiritual path.
I promote vegetarianism, meditation and introspection. The following links may be helpful to you.
www.rainnutrition.com
www.SweetestVegan.com
www.sos.org
Each trip to England to visit with my mother had the potential for abuse and I learned to cut short the visit and return to the US as an adult. My oldest brother was sentenced to prison for a year after he was arrested and convicted of storing a suit case full of Marijuana in the attic of our mother's home where they lived together. I returned to England to visit him in Wandsworth Prison which dates back to Dickens time and fits with the dark and miserable past rather than today. The visit started inside a small cottage outside the walls of the prison where I was able to get registered to visit then proceeded through a sequence of check points and waiting areas before we finally reached the designated communal meeting area.
After the visit my sister took my mother and I to her home in St. George's Hill where she and her husband lived in a mansion inside a gated community. It was a stark contrast to the sooty black old brick walls of Wandsworth Prison. My brother was the first of four children born to my parents who lived in a region in Uganda where my father had worked for an Italian mine after WWII. My mother lacked experience with infants and was visited by Catholic nun in their home to help her cope with the new baby. She was told by the nuns that he was "lazy." As a nurse I have heard the term used to describe an infant who lacks the necessary buccal muscle movements necessary to successfully feed from a nipple. She applied the label out of context to account for where my brother's life had taken him. I responded to her assertion by informing her about the real meaning of the term which triggered her rage toward me. She seethed anger and shouted at me before abruptly leaving, telling my sister that she didn't want to see me anymore. I recalled in that moment how I had felt as a child when I was shouted at and emotionally attacked by her. I recalled how it felt as a child, like a shattering of my psyche. Now as an adult I could immediately turn to a picture of my spiritual teacher that my sister had out in her living room and center my energy inside in one coherent and strong energetic mass. I stayed calm and didn't get pulled in by the situation and the hysteria that followed from my sister about my having caused the reaction in my mother. Even going so far as to accuse me of not being sensitive to her because as she went on to explain our mother felt that she had failed in her role with both our brothers as the younger brother had been murdered.
From a Christian perspective of will it is in context of applying God's will is in our lives. God's will is always for divine order. Even thought there is chaos in the universe and on this planet in terms of the destructive physical forces of nature there is also a reordering. No matter how much we misuse the earth's resources the earth will restore its balance. Someone said "We can be shaken off like a bunch of fleas!" It is a common experience that people have wondering what is the right thing to do in any given situation or with our purpose for life and choices we make. What you have to know is that God wants you to follow His moral commands and teachings. I read books by my own spiritual teacher and have read many throughout the years I was with my first teacher. You will learn how to develop your own good qualities and virtues. There is a quality of living from a space of love. My teacher emphasizes ethics in our lives and positive thinking and striving to become free from any negative thoughts or malintentions toward others. When you are doing the right thing in context of being within the framework of your religious and spiritual teachings added to the ethical principles that you can apply in life you will align with the will of God.
When I spoke about my own will I mean that I am strong in my will be aligning my soul with God and closely following the teachings of my particular path and inner guide.
I am a Professional Life Coach and welcome comments from readers. I am available to work with individuals who wish to change their lives through first connecting with their spiritual self and following a chosen spiritual path.
I promote vegetarianism, meditation and introspection. The following links may be helpful to you.
www.rainnutrition.com
www.SweetestVegan.com
www.sos.org
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Intrussiveness
We all have things that pluck our nerves! Culturally as an English person keeping my voice tone low enough to keep my conversations private is something that comes naturally. It disturbs me when I am in public and hear conversations that I would rather not. Being made into an unwilling participant by others behaviors that I object to the most. When challenged with intrusiveness I have to gauge my emotional reaction and try to refocus my thoughts onto something more constructive and positive. For instance I will read on listen to a tape so that my focus in on what interests me and then the loud voice tones of people who don't seem to mind pouring all of their personal experiences out in a public forum seem to fade into the distance.
Keeping strong boundaries is important for your own good and for the good of those around you. Etiquette is something that people seem to know less about these days now that cell phones for instance have become a normal way of communicating no matter where the person is when he/she answers. In fact I have found myself in the rest room and being a reluctant participant in a loud conversation about everything that is important to the person on the phone.
One of the things that you can do when calling someone is ask if it's a convenient time to call. They don't have to necessarily tell you "no" because they are on the john, but at least you can know before laying out your agenda that the person would prefer you to call back in 5 minutes. Keeping your conversations when meeting with someone as brief as possible is always a mark of common courtesy. Recently I attended a meeting where I was a reluctant participant to a long and exhaustive demonstration of how to make garbanzo beans into a puree. The man obviously liked to be the center of attention and put great emphasis on points so small that I almost went to sleep standing up. Where do people get their idea that they can have all your attention from? Again I found that the level of voice tone was high and it emphasized his need to lecture everyone about how easy it was for him to show us how to be cool!
I remind myself that I haven't done the spiritual work so far to waste it by slipping on a banana skin so to speak. What I do in these situations is realize that it's a test for me and I then repeat the mantra's that my Teacher has given. So in these moments of frustration can be turned in to spiritual tuning and focusing on God's name. Someone once told me that when people are problematic they are like angles that help us go deeper into our practices.
There are several things that can be intrusive in life and perhaps the thing I don't like is loud voice tones and bad manners generally. When people have difficulty expressing their emotions they can turn it into anger and when they are unable to deal with the anger it turn inward as depression. Anyone who has been around a person who is depressed will note that their mood can be said to be at least cranky. Recently a friend of mine who is depressed picked me up from the library and when I said that I had emailed a person she dramatically positioned her arm in an outstretched motion to introduce what I had done followed by an emphasis on AAANNNNDDDD! I was aghast with shock! Who did she think she was talking to and did she really know me? I have not allowed people to abuse me and refuse to at this stage in my life. When I responded by asking why she was angry she got even angrier and has since accused me of confronting her. I believe the two examples I have used are actually narcissistic people who are so wrapped up in themselves they don't care about how troubling their outrageous intrusion is.
Distancing is a natural response for me when I need to get some space and that is what I have done with my friend whom I am staying with unfortunately. I spend the day at the library where I can use wifi and then go back to her home after 6 pm. There is very little time to spend with her before I shower at 8pm and go to bed at 9pm. I recently responded to a t.v. program she was watching about Obama and his father by telling her that Ganish De Silva had written a book about his father when she said that Obama had seen his father only once in a very defensive manner. I said that he might have only seen him once but had written a book about him. With that she shouted about that wasn't all that I have said and that has meant that my conversations have been limited. Who wants to talk with someone who is a loose cannon?
In all we all have to deal with people in our personal or work lives who intrude and lack manners. In the work arena it is better to try to find ways of getting along with colleagues and if that doesn't work then you will have to face the problem through a superior. These are growing experiences for all of us who would naturally rather avoid confrontation. My first real experience with learning how to confront was when I worked with a nurse named Juanita who was very butch and had a moustache. She was abrupt and bullying because she thought that way she could be boss. My supervisor said that I would have to approach her at the beginning of the shift to check in with how she was feeling. It wasn't long before Juanita slammed the door in my face. I got through that and have been able to meet other challenges that haven't been quite that bad since.
Meditation is the one spiritual tool that helps me to unload all the negative feelings that can build up because of relationship issues. By sitting in meditation everyday you allow yourself the natural healing power to dissolve emotions that tie up your own energy or power. It is uplifting, doesn't cost a penny and will improve your emotional, mental and physical health.
My work is as a Life Coach and I will work with you on areas in your life that you want to manage and improve. You can achieve your goals no matter how far they seem from reality for you. You can do it!
Contact me at lawrencerita511@gmail.com
Keeping strong boundaries is important for your own good and for the good of those around you. Etiquette is something that people seem to know less about these days now that cell phones for instance have become a normal way of communicating no matter where the person is when he/she answers. In fact I have found myself in the rest room and being a reluctant participant in a loud conversation about everything that is important to the person on the phone.
One of the things that you can do when calling someone is ask if it's a convenient time to call. They don't have to necessarily tell you "no" because they are on the john, but at least you can know before laying out your agenda that the person would prefer you to call back in 5 minutes. Keeping your conversations when meeting with someone as brief as possible is always a mark of common courtesy. Recently I attended a meeting where I was a reluctant participant to a long and exhaustive demonstration of how to make garbanzo beans into a puree. The man obviously liked to be the center of attention and put great emphasis on points so small that I almost went to sleep standing up. Where do people get their idea that they can have all your attention from? Again I found that the level of voice tone was high and it emphasized his need to lecture everyone about how easy it was for him to show us how to be cool!
I remind myself that I haven't done the spiritual work so far to waste it by slipping on a banana skin so to speak. What I do in these situations is realize that it's a test for me and I then repeat the mantra's that my Teacher has given. So in these moments of frustration can be turned in to spiritual tuning and focusing on God's name. Someone once told me that when people are problematic they are like angles that help us go deeper into our practices.
There are several things that can be intrusive in life and perhaps the thing I don't like is loud voice tones and bad manners generally. When people have difficulty expressing their emotions they can turn it into anger and when they are unable to deal with the anger it turn inward as depression. Anyone who has been around a person who is depressed will note that their mood can be said to be at least cranky. Recently a friend of mine who is depressed picked me up from the library and when I said that I had emailed a person she dramatically positioned her arm in an outstretched motion to introduce what I had done followed by an emphasis on AAANNNNDDDD! I was aghast with shock! Who did she think she was talking to and did she really know me? I have not allowed people to abuse me and refuse to at this stage in my life. When I responded by asking why she was angry she got even angrier and has since accused me of confronting her. I believe the two examples I have used are actually narcissistic people who are so wrapped up in themselves they don't care about how troubling their outrageous intrusion is.
Distancing is a natural response for me when I need to get some space and that is what I have done with my friend whom I am staying with unfortunately. I spend the day at the library where I can use wifi and then go back to her home after 6 pm. There is very little time to spend with her before I shower at 8pm and go to bed at 9pm. I recently responded to a t.v. program she was watching about Obama and his father by telling her that Ganish De Silva had written a book about his father when she said that Obama had seen his father only once in a very defensive manner. I said that he might have only seen him once but had written a book about him. With that she shouted about that wasn't all that I have said and that has meant that my conversations have been limited. Who wants to talk with someone who is a loose cannon?
In all we all have to deal with people in our personal or work lives who intrude and lack manners. In the work arena it is better to try to find ways of getting along with colleagues and if that doesn't work then you will have to face the problem through a superior. These are growing experiences for all of us who would naturally rather avoid confrontation. My first real experience with learning how to confront was when I worked with a nurse named Juanita who was very butch and had a moustache. She was abrupt and bullying because she thought that way she could be boss. My supervisor said that I would have to approach her at the beginning of the shift to check in with how she was feeling. It wasn't long before Juanita slammed the door in my face. I got through that and have been able to meet other challenges that haven't been quite that bad since.
Meditation is the one spiritual tool that helps me to unload all the negative feelings that can build up because of relationship issues. By sitting in meditation everyday you allow yourself the natural healing power to dissolve emotions that tie up your own energy or power. It is uplifting, doesn't cost a penny and will improve your emotional, mental and physical health.
My work is as a Life Coach and I will work with you on areas in your life that you want to manage and improve. You can achieve your goals no matter how far they seem from reality for you. You can do it!
Contact me at lawrencerita511@gmail.com
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Nature, Friendships and Love of God and Yourself are the best things in life.
Having led most of my life already I am aware of the fast and constant pace that most people have to keep in order to pack in developmental goals and milestones. From adolescents forward the race is on! Hormones throw us into gear whether ready or not! Academics is a high priority because learning and knowledge are the keys to our future. As women we have a conscious awareness of our biological clock ticking. No time delay or snooze button to put off procreation and finding a suitable mate. Dating is a hot and heavy scene where we have to learn boundaries with the one's we are chemically on fire with and find a way to not hurt the feelings too much on the ones who don't turn us on.
When you feel overwhelmed as you will, don't fall apart or have a melt down as they say these days. Take some lessons from nature. Leonardo DiVinci invented the parachute after noticing how leaves fell from trees. Really you can look to nature to guide you for answers that you are searching for and become an independent thinker because of nature's link with the infinite intelligence that created this world, all that is in it, and the universe. God encourages us to explore and get to know Him through the very creatures and plants that he has created to be our friends and companions. Have you noticed how your mood can be uplifted when you look into the beautiful face of a flower? At my friend's house where I took care of her plants for her while she was on a trip to Africa, I was greeted every morning out on the deck by the pretty little faces of purple flowers not unlike miniature pansies. There were so many of them nodding their delicate heads in the breeze. Bees buzzed from plant to plant and I noticed that they particularly liked the purple colored plants. I had read in an article that described their attraction to purple flowers and that by planting lavender and other purple varieties of plants you are able to support bees whose numbers have been depleted due to the toxic chemicals people use on their gardens, yards and farmland . Another study has found that bees recognize human faces. Bees are in tune with us and we can be in tune with them if we open our hearts to the wonder of our bond with them through all that is scientific and our togetherness as part of the portrait of God's love and beauty. Studies of bees has shown that they can actually learn to recognize our individual faces.
When you have those little breaks in the day disconnect yourself from the electric devises, the pressure of deadlines and watch with open wonder what nature is doing. How do butterflies go about their day? They love to sail in the breeze and circle around me when I am outside. Sometimes they will land on me. One sat on my great toe for the longest time the other day. These are delectable moments to see their delicate wings and sense how curious they are about us. You have to drop the rush and push of life to attract the still and tranquil. As soon as you invade their peaceful and loving vibrations with negative energy they will wing it out of there! I had that experience once when walking in a park in the Bay Area, California. I happened to be on my cell phone with a Middle Eastern male friend who had the tendency toward possessiveness that made him controlling. When I told him that a hummingbird was hovering inches away from me looking directly at my face, he said something derogatory and I could feel the negative force of his energy come through the phone. The bird flew off immediately. I asked him when would he ever learn? I say to people that I am happily single because it is too difficult to deal with other people's stuff.
I did have a close friend who was gay while I was in the Bay Area and helped him through the end stages of congestive heart failure. I believe he was enlightened although he used to show me by using his thumb and index finger squeezed together to show he had an eintzie wientze little bit to go. After he was discharged from ICU having hemorrhaged blood as a result of blood thinners he went home to be cared for by hospice which is what our Teacher had instructed him to do through her liason, a lawyer for the organization. Another young man who happened to live around the corner from my friend's apartment stayed through the night and I took the day shift. The gentleman lawyer called from time to time when I went home to rest telling me that our Teacher had asked him to support us as it is especially difficult physically for those who are present with beings who are spiritually elevated when they die. I felt exhausted for sure, my neck became stiff and I had a headache. In fact all I could do at the time was collapse on the bed and rest as best I could. It was not unusual for me to experience time warps during the time I spent with my Teacher and I felt the same sense then. I will love him forever and my love continues to grow and my gratitude is awakened with fresh thoughts of his presence, stories and just how wonderful he was. We volunteered together everyday in the office of a spiritual mission for prisoners. Before we began he sang prayers in Sanskrit which an ancient Indian language. His voice was robust and his whole countenance exduded an elegant style. I have always felt moved by his power and he taught me not to hold back when engaging in any type of service for the upliftment of other's lives. Our love for our Teacher was great because there is so much Grace in our lives when we aligned ourselves with our Teacher's power through selfless service.
A funny story was told at his memorial that was held in a quaint rose garden on the grounds of our Teachers compound in the Bay Area. The story was presented by the young man who stayed with my friend at night before he died. The audience laughed when they heard how he had been given the name Babu Rao, from our Teacher. As she approached him and spoken to him, giving him the name he responded to her with love and thanks. He then turned to the young man and asked "What did she say?" He wore bilateral hearing aids and they squeeked at times. His love for our teacher was so pure that he seemed to radiate light when I saw photos of him with our Teacher during one of her visits. My friend's mother also had this white light emanating from her being when she was greeted by our Teacher.
The stress in our lives can be neutralized and deflated and nature is a great stress reducer. Pressure can build like in the water hose, until it can cause the tube to rupture. In terms of our bodies that can manifest as serious illnesses that have great impact on our lives emotional and psychological wellbeing. Take care my friends and learn to take periods of rest. You may not be able to take naps because you may not be in a place where that is possible, but if it is they are very good for your health. You will feel recharged afterwards and if you keep to a schedule and avoid stimulants like caffeine your body will get used to being quietened and replenished through napping at the same time every day if possible or whenever you can. You can also use guided imagery to replenish your energy and recharge your enthusiasm and zest. Think of your body as a solar panel that is open to the pure energy of the sun and all the positive energy that is being sent for your good by the universe. Absorb that energy and soak it up into the core of your being. Fill your heart with gratitude for these precious moments to absorb the natural sources of God's power. Remember God or your higher power constantly and like a child with an imaginary friend keep God as your constant friend and companion.
The greatest practice for replenishing body and soul is through meditation. I was taught that one hour of meditation is worth a thousand hours of sleep. Like your mother used to tell you, sit still and be quiet, and that's as simple as it is to meditate. Breath easy and say God's name silently to yourself. Take the focus of your mind to the area of your heart. If your mind chatters let it think of your thought stream like clouds that drift through the sky. You don't put your hands up to stop them because you know that they will be carried away by air currents and winds. Similarly your thoughts will drift away. With practice your mind will still. With repeated meditation you will go into meditation more easily and love will grow as you enter your heart more often and enjoy your own great company.
Please feel free to contact me: lawrencerita511@gmail.com
When you feel overwhelmed as you will, don't fall apart or have a melt down as they say these days. Take some lessons from nature. Leonardo DiVinci invented the parachute after noticing how leaves fell from trees. Really you can look to nature to guide you for answers that you are searching for and become an independent thinker because of nature's link with the infinite intelligence that created this world, all that is in it, and the universe. God encourages us to explore and get to know Him through the very creatures and plants that he has created to be our friends and companions. Have you noticed how your mood can be uplifted when you look into the beautiful face of a flower? At my friend's house where I took care of her plants for her while she was on a trip to Africa, I was greeted every morning out on the deck by the pretty little faces of purple flowers not unlike miniature pansies. There were so many of them nodding their delicate heads in the breeze. Bees buzzed from plant to plant and I noticed that they particularly liked the purple colored plants. I had read in an article that described their attraction to purple flowers and that by planting lavender and other purple varieties of plants you are able to support bees whose numbers have been depleted due to the toxic chemicals people use on their gardens, yards and farmland . Another study has found that bees recognize human faces. Bees are in tune with us and we can be in tune with them if we open our hearts to the wonder of our bond with them through all that is scientific and our togetherness as part of the portrait of God's love and beauty. Studies of bees has shown that they can actually learn to recognize our individual faces.
When you have those little breaks in the day disconnect yourself from the electric devises, the pressure of deadlines and watch with open wonder what nature is doing. How do butterflies go about their day? They love to sail in the breeze and circle around me when I am outside. Sometimes they will land on me. One sat on my great toe for the longest time the other day. These are delectable moments to see their delicate wings and sense how curious they are about us. You have to drop the rush and push of life to attract the still and tranquil. As soon as you invade their peaceful and loving vibrations with negative energy they will wing it out of there! I had that experience once when walking in a park in the Bay Area, California. I happened to be on my cell phone with a Middle Eastern male friend who had the tendency toward possessiveness that made him controlling. When I told him that a hummingbird was hovering inches away from me looking directly at my face, he said something derogatory and I could feel the negative force of his energy come through the phone. The bird flew off immediately. I asked him when would he ever learn? I say to people that I am happily single because it is too difficult to deal with other people's stuff.
I did have a close friend who was gay while I was in the Bay Area and helped him through the end stages of congestive heart failure. I believe he was enlightened although he used to show me by using his thumb and index finger squeezed together to show he had an eintzie wientze little bit to go. After he was discharged from ICU having hemorrhaged blood as a result of blood thinners he went home to be cared for by hospice which is what our Teacher had instructed him to do through her liason, a lawyer for the organization. Another young man who happened to live around the corner from my friend's apartment stayed through the night and I took the day shift. The gentleman lawyer called from time to time when I went home to rest telling me that our Teacher had asked him to support us as it is especially difficult physically for those who are present with beings who are spiritually elevated when they die. I felt exhausted for sure, my neck became stiff and I had a headache. In fact all I could do at the time was collapse on the bed and rest as best I could. It was not unusual for me to experience time warps during the time I spent with my Teacher and I felt the same sense then. I will love him forever and my love continues to grow and my gratitude is awakened with fresh thoughts of his presence, stories and just how wonderful he was. We volunteered together everyday in the office of a spiritual mission for prisoners. Before we began he sang prayers in Sanskrit which an ancient Indian language. His voice was robust and his whole countenance exduded an elegant style. I have always felt moved by his power and he taught me not to hold back when engaging in any type of service for the upliftment of other's lives. Our love for our Teacher was great because there is so much Grace in our lives when we aligned ourselves with our Teacher's power through selfless service.
A funny story was told at his memorial that was held in a quaint rose garden on the grounds of our Teachers compound in the Bay Area. The story was presented by the young man who stayed with my friend at night before he died. The audience laughed when they heard how he had been given the name Babu Rao, from our Teacher. As she approached him and spoken to him, giving him the name he responded to her with love and thanks. He then turned to the young man and asked "What did she say?" He wore bilateral hearing aids and they squeeked at times. His love for our teacher was so pure that he seemed to radiate light when I saw photos of him with our Teacher during one of her visits. My friend's mother also had this white light emanating from her being when she was greeted by our Teacher.
The stress in our lives can be neutralized and deflated and nature is a great stress reducer. Pressure can build like in the water hose, until it can cause the tube to rupture. In terms of our bodies that can manifest as serious illnesses that have great impact on our lives emotional and psychological wellbeing. Take care my friends and learn to take periods of rest. You may not be able to take naps because you may not be in a place where that is possible, but if it is they are very good for your health. You will feel recharged afterwards and if you keep to a schedule and avoid stimulants like caffeine your body will get used to being quietened and replenished through napping at the same time every day if possible or whenever you can. You can also use guided imagery to replenish your energy and recharge your enthusiasm and zest. Think of your body as a solar panel that is open to the pure energy of the sun and all the positive energy that is being sent for your good by the universe. Absorb that energy and soak it up into the core of your being. Fill your heart with gratitude for these precious moments to absorb the natural sources of God's power. Remember God or your higher power constantly and like a child with an imaginary friend keep God as your constant friend and companion.
The greatest practice for replenishing body and soul is through meditation. I was taught that one hour of meditation is worth a thousand hours of sleep. Like your mother used to tell you, sit still and be quiet, and that's as simple as it is to meditate. Breath easy and say God's name silently to yourself. Take the focus of your mind to the area of your heart. If your mind chatters let it think of your thought stream like clouds that drift through the sky. You don't put your hands up to stop them because you know that they will be carried away by air currents and winds. Similarly your thoughts will drift away. With practice your mind will still. With repeated meditation you will go into meditation more easily and love will grow as you enter your heart more often and enjoy your own great company.
Please feel free to contact me: lawrencerita511@gmail.com
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Core beliefs are our own attitudes about ourselves.
We engage with the world from our own perspective and so we have differences of opinions to outright conflict due to our beliefs. Core beliefs that are held by youth can differ depending on the cultural context and our conditioning. In Kansas City where I am living we have a lovely and swanky area called the Plaza. It used to have a supermarket that was more upscale than price chopper for sure but it went out of business several years ago and not has been replaced. A core belief that I have is that there are disparities based on race and culture and that the ones who have had the good fortune to earn the most money are ones with the cultural connections and families who inherited wealth.
We saw a rebellion in the Plaza earlier this year when a thousand young African American youths descended on the area to hang out and create conflict due to their mere presence. A core belief held by people who are mostly white is that they have the right to shop in peace and enjoy spending their wealth on goods that are for the elite minority. I believe that we have the right to earn money and I am all for it. I don't like poverty and don't like it when you have to exist in a society where there are barriers to becoming wealthy. It's called the old boy's club where depending on who you family is or who you know carries more weight than your talents.
Each generation has some distinguishing characteristics that make a statement about their core beliefs. Generally I believe due to peer pressure individual thinking is not as common among youth as being part of a wave of new thoughts and the resulting expression of those thoughts via their behaviors. When I was a youth just by following the Rolling Stones and The Beatles meant that you were counter culture to the older generation. I adapted the same core beliefs as my peers that sexual freedom was a way of opening up and relating to the world of taboo and ending a systemic cultural conditioning that sex was reserved for marriage. I for one didn't want to get married and when the time came when I felt the pressure to get married I had an opportunity to move to the Midwest, USA.
A core belief of the young people who invaded the sanctity of the Plaza where it can be viewed as sacred ground for the wealth of the area is that they deserve to be respected. They are looking to enjoy the same freedoms as others but haven't got the doe (money) and pedigree to go along with their ideas of being free to enjoy the fruits of the good life. They are pushing back in much the same way that I see the everyday French people who are pushing back at those who have taken over streets in Paris to kneel down and pray. Here again we have conflict resulting from opposing sets of core beliefs and it's territorial in much the same way that the African American youth choose a territory to exhibit how they felt about the rich in Kansas City.
The Indian Spiritual Masters whom I have studied with help transform us individually through their talks which are based on philosophy and science to help us to realign our thinking and become better people. We have all been conditioned by our families and culture and loose touch with our true identity and our inner home of the heart which we share with God. Through meditation and other spiritual practices such as jappa which is the repetition of a mantra, or God's name. You can use whatever name that God is known to you and that is pure, holy and dear. My Teacher has given a Sirnam which is a set of different names of God that are repeated silently. The Master gives the names to the student and it is something which is kept as a sacred and significant bond and tool for the spiritual journey to sound and light meditation. Meditation is not merely a method of using silence and stillness to feel calm and increase concentration. It is a vehicle whereby you are enabled to connect with God and experience your own greatness.
One of the core beliefs that most of us are taught and conditioned by our culture, is that to think of one self as great is not good and anyone who would share that personal core belief may find themselves ostracised by others. We even have labels for people. Big head, self centered and so on and so on. The truth is that we are all great in God's eyes and the Bible even says that we are created in God's image. My Teacher said during a New Year's talk that we should learn to put ourselves first because we can have all the zero's in the world, but unless there is a one first they don't amount to anything! My Teacher's Master who came to the United States in the seventies said that we should honor, respect and love ourselves because God dwells within us as us. A core belief that we are taught in the West is that God exists some where up in the heavens. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is within. Another Saint whom I love so much said that we should go into our hearts and roam because there is no other place that is as sacred.
I believe that youths today are seeking to find happiness in much the same way that most of us start to at least, through external sources. True joy and happiness happens on the inside and it's not necessary to have luxuries and money to feel blissful. I personally would rather not be poor and that is the way my personality is. I am not comfortable going to fancy places because I am more likely to align my attention and concern for those who are working in such places and I never feel comfortable being on beaches where other's can enjoy because they are isolated in some ghetto like part of the town. I noticed a parallel town in Naples, Florida where I used to visit my sister with my daughter when she was young. It wasn't until we went to a store in a part of town that her husband was looking for bathroom fixtures or something that I realized that there were duplexes that housed a poor African American community.
My core belief that got me to this country was that I would be free to choose the type of lifestyle that I wanted. I worked hard and completed my education at The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, graduating with a Master of Science Degree in nursing. Being an entrepreneur I opened a business and then closed it due to issues with the state board of nursing. A core belief of mine is that it is both good for your own personal development as well as helps others through volunteering. I volunteered in prisons where I helped inmates manage their own spiritual programs and support each other as they served out their time. Since I returned to Kansas City after working in the Bay Area, California I cleared up the issues had come up with the state boards in my absence and have found once again that the board posted something untrue about my standing on their web.
A core belief that I may have in common with the African American youths is that they have the right to have the support and use of resources. I think that the event caused enough of a stir that leadership has been putting their heads together to come up with some solutions. I hope that one of the solutions is to educate everyone about respect. I don't think that my spiritual Master's would condone behaviors that are disorderly. However, I do note that they pay an immense amount of time and attention toward the youth and developing programs to support leadership among them. I think that it is time that people learned to grow and expand their thinking to incorporate the whole community.
At my grandson's Christening I was moved when the Priest asked the congregation to open up to the African American community who lived just blocks away across the boulevard that seperates one section of town from the other. I hope that their community embraces this idea and welcomes African Americans especially their youth. It begins with each one of us to take the responsibility to stand up one by one when we experience things in our lives that aren't just and spread kindness wherever it occurs. Just yesterday someone wrote on my facebook wall in a nasty way about children from a certain minority. I am thinking of finding a way to keep a statement posted on my wall to the effect that I do not believe in being unkind no matter what the political issues might be. I personally am quite conservative but I again responded to the chatter that had been going on over a picture of The First Lady taken from behind that they needed to "drop,"the thread.
I would like you to start with yourself and write a list of what your own core beliefs about yourself are. Negative ones that typically drive peoples self critical inner dialogue are ones such as (I'm ugly, stupid, not good at...., not likable ect.)
Once you learn to identify what they are you can then challenge your thinking that is driven by these sets of beliefs like an inner engine.
Meditation is the key to the engine so that you can turn off this useless nonsense that goes around inside peoples heads. Meditate daily and eat a vegetarian diet. Think good thoughts about yourself.
Please contact me at:
We saw a rebellion in the Plaza earlier this year when a thousand young African American youths descended on the area to hang out and create conflict due to their mere presence. A core belief held by people who are mostly white is that they have the right to shop in peace and enjoy spending their wealth on goods that are for the elite minority. I believe that we have the right to earn money and I am all for it. I don't like poverty and don't like it when you have to exist in a society where there are barriers to becoming wealthy. It's called the old boy's club where depending on who you family is or who you know carries more weight than your talents.
Each generation has some distinguishing characteristics that make a statement about their core beliefs. Generally I believe due to peer pressure individual thinking is not as common among youth as being part of a wave of new thoughts and the resulting expression of those thoughts via their behaviors. When I was a youth just by following the Rolling Stones and The Beatles meant that you were counter culture to the older generation. I adapted the same core beliefs as my peers that sexual freedom was a way of opening up and relating to the world of taboo and ending a systemic cultural conditioning that sex was reserved for marriage. I for one didn't want to get married and when the time came when I felt the pressure to get married I had an opportunity to move to the Midwest, USA.
A core belief of the young people who invaded the sanctity of the Plaza where it can be viewed as sacred ground for the wealth of the area is that they deserve to be respected. They are looking to enjoy the same freedoms as others but haven't got the doe (money) and pedigree to go along with their ideas of being free to enjoy the fruits of the good life. They are pushing back in much the same way that I see the everyday French people who are pushing back at those who have taken over streets in Paris to kneel down and pray. Here again we have conflict resulting from opposing sets of core beliefs and it's territorial in much the same way that the African American youth choose a territory to exhibit how they felt about the rich in Kansas City.
The Indian Spiritual Masters whom I have studied with help transform us individually through their talks which are based on philosophy and science to help us to realign our thinking and become better people. We have all been conditioned by our families and culture and loose touch with our true identity and our inner home of the heart which we share with God. Through meditation and other spiritual practices such as jappa which is the repetition of a mantra, or God's name. You can use whatever name that God is known to you and that is pure, holy and dear. My Teacher has given a Sirnam which is a set of different names of God that are repeated silently. The Master gives the names to the student and it is something which is kept as a sacred and significant bond and tool for the spiritual journey to sound and light meditation. Meditation is not merely a method of using silence and stillness to feel calm and increase concentration. It is a vehicle whereby you are enabled to connect with God and experience your own greatness.
One of the core beliefs that most of us are taught and conditioned by our culture, is that to think of one self as great is not good and anyone who would share that personal core belief may find themselves ostracised by others. We even have labels for people. Big head, self centered and so on and so on. The truth is that we are all great in God's eyes and the Bible even says that we are created in God's image. My Teacher said during a New Year's talk that we should learn to put ourselves first because we can have all the zero's in the world, but unless there is a one first they don't amount to anything! My Teacher's Master who came to the United States in the seventies said that we should honor, respect and love ourselves because God dwells within us as us. A core belief that we are taught in the West is that God exists some where up in the heavens. Jesus proclaimed that the Kingdom of God is within. Another Saint whom I love so much said that we should go into our hearts and roam because there is no other place that is as sacred.
I believe that youths today are seeking to find happiness in much the same way that most of us start to at least, through external sources. True joy and happiness happens on the inside and it's not necessary to have luxuries and money to feel blissful. I personally would rather not be poor and that is the way my personality is. I am not comfortable going to fancy places because I am more likely to align my attention and concern for those who are working in such places and I never feel comfortable being on beaches where other's can enjoy because they are isolated in some ghetto like part of the town. I noticed a parallel town in Naples, Florida where I used to visit my sister with my daughter when she was young. It wasn't until we went to a store in a part of town that her husband was looking for bathroom fixtures or something that I realized that there were duplexes that housed a poor African American community.
My core belief that got me to this country was that I would be free to choose the type of lifestyle that I wanted. I worked hard and completed my education at The Catholic University of America, Washington DC, graduating with a Master of Science Degree in nursing. Being an entrepreneur I opened a business and then closed it due to issues with the state board of nursing. A core belief of mine is that it is both good for your own personal development as well as helps others through volunteering. I volunteered in prisons where I helped inmates manage their own spiritual programs and support each other as they served out their time. Since I returned to Kansas City after working in the Bay Area, California I cleared up the issues had come up with the state boards in my absence and have found once again that the board posted something untrue about my standing on their web.
A core belief that I may have in common with the African American youths is that they have the right to have the support and use of resources. I think that the event caused enough of a stir that leadership has been putting their heads together to come up with some solutions. I hope that one of the solutions is to educate everyone about respect. I don't think that my spiritual Master's would condone behaviors that are disorderly. However, I do note that they pay an immense amount of time and attention toward the youth and developing programs to support leadership among them. I think that it is time that people learned to grow and expand their thinking to incorporate the whole community.
At my grandson's Christening I was moved when the Priest asked the congregation to open up to the African American community who lived just blocks away across the boulevard that seperates one section of town from the other. I hope that their community embraces this idea and welcomes African Americans especially their youth. It begins with each one of us to take the responsibility to stand up one by one when we experience things in our lives that aren't just and spread kindness wherever it occurs. Just yesterday someone wrote on my facebook wall in a nasty way about children from a certain minority. I am thinking of finding a way to keep a statement posted on my wall to the effect that I do not believe in being unkind no matter what the political issues might be. I personally am quite conservative but I again responded to the chatter that had been going on over a picture of The First Lady taken from behind that they needed to "drop,"the thread.
I would like you to start with yourself and write a list of what your own core beliefs about yourself are. Negative ones that typically drive peoples self critical inner dialogue are ones such as (I'm ugly, stupid, not good at...., not likable ect.)
Once you learn to identify what they are you can then challenge your thinking that is driven by these sets of beliefs like an inner engine.
Meditation is the key to the engine so that you can turn off this useless nonsense that goes around inside peoples heads. Meditate daily and eat a vegetarian diet. Think good thoughts about yourself.
Please contact me at:
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Family Spiritual Responsibility
Your first spiritual responsibility is to know God and know yourself. If you are dense on the inside due to the accumulation of emotional baggage that we all manage to pack inside ourselves as a result of outside pressures and projections on us from family, society, mentors, educational institutions etc. We have to begin with Meditation and spiritual initiation when we want to know our own selves. That means incorporating a discipline into your life that allows to schedule time to meditate. I recently heard that one Spiritual Master instructed his followers to meditate for at least two and a half hours daily. Once we are clear of all the past debris we are able to hear and see God on the inside. My Teacher teaches us Light and Sound Meditation. The clearer you become the more you will experience God. The density could be represented in the Beatitudes when Christ said that with out Love we are but a langing bell! That is what happens with our own light and sound vibrations when God's power enters it doesn't resonate at the highest freqencies with our own vibrations which makes it a clang rather that a heavenly bell. Learn to give love and listen to God in Meditation.
I recommend that you start in small increments and be patient with yourselves. Don’t think all is lost because you slip from your daily practice from time to time. Being part of a group that is practicing is a good thing and this can be done via web. I emphasize that you need to be initiated by a Spiritual Master to begin the real work of Spiritual Enlightenment. The initiate is then under the Divine guidance of the Master to enable their spiritual advancement to be tailored to their individual needs. I will make certain that you understand that I am not here to recruit anyone to follow my path or the way I have approached spirituality. I encourage all to find their own path. Spiritual Masters do not recommend that people leave their religion. In fact you will find the true meaning of your religion once you become spiritually awakened and love your God with all your heart.
Many people of different cultures and nationalities come to the United States because we have been a nation that has given all equal opportunity. The first step and sign of enculturation into the dominant culture is English language acquisition. It is vital that parents of children coming to the US speak English in the home so that the children will naturally identify with the dominant culture. I realize now why children of immigrants from Europe quite often didn’t speak their native language because their parents and grandparents realized that being assimilated into the culture was more important for their personal, educational and career success. I am English so I didn’t have a language barrier coming to the US however there were cultural barriers. Things were done in a different way that made me feel uncomfortable. I used to belong to one English group but always thought that it is the individual whom I am interested in knowing and I don’t seek friendships purely because of a common English heritage.
Religion and spirituality are taught in the home and children learn certain behaviors that are influenced by the dominant culture. One such behavior is meat eating. I never liked meat as a child and once I was on the spiritual path I had an experience of one of the Masters speaking to me inside during Meditation in an intensive, giving me fatherly instructions on what I was to wear and the food I was to avoid and that left vegetarianism as the path for my health. It has been a proactive measure on my part because my father died of cancer of the colon at age forty-eight and this has a high correlation with genes that are passed down. I have never eaten meat or fish since. It wasn't something I struggled with because I didn't have the desire for meat eating anyway. Now I rarely eat eggs but have always eaten free-range eggs. With the options for soy products on the market it makes it easier to choose. My first Teacher did not emphasize vegetarianism directly that I can recall however vegetarian meals where always served in her spiritual home/retreat. A close friend and reliable source once said that she had witnessed our Teacher telling a woman that she should eat red meat for her particular body type and needs. With the higher ethical standards and behavioral expectations toward others and creatures the spiritual path would ask you whether you to find a source that doesn’t involve violence toward the animals that are slaughtered and their lives before that should be as free as possible. These are considerations for your development and only for your to decide. You will know inside how it feels without meat. My Teacher asks people, “Why make your body into a grave-yard?”
Meat eating is a part of American culture and I live in the Midwest that has a big cattle industry. It wasn’t until 2005 that I identified the trailer trucks that ship animals on our highways. During a break as a rest area on the way to Wichita to open a Meditation program at a state prison, I happened to notice the nose and mouth of a cow trying to catch some air and discern where she was in the outside summer air. I realized that I could not just go up to the back of the trailer and open the door and let them loose as my first impulse was to do. I could only pray and repeat the Mantra my Teacher had given us to use to invoke the power of the Teacher and God. I still feel the same struggle when I pass these evil entities on the highways and feel for the animals who are being taken to slaughter houses. In France a few years ago the press followed two pigs who had escaped from being taken into the slaughter house they had been delivered to by one such vehicle. The pigs ran around in the country side and everyone followed the story hoping that they wouldn’t get caught and taken back. I follow animal rescue mission work on http://www.Twitter.com/Langata145 if you would like to join me and link with them too. The work is important and the more people who spread the word and find homes for these animals who are great characters and individuals just like our house pets. I taught at a junior college in Kansas and was called “Wacco” by a faculty member because she knew about my spiritual beliefs and by another I was told in a very abrasive way, “You are in the Midwest and we eat meat!” I found other work and have found that people who work in the medical field are sometimes the most rigid and in the box thinkers.
Children who are from homes where meat is not part of their diet should have vegetarian meals in schools. They can be role models for their peers on humane practices and healthy lifestyles. They will feel the difference during the afternoon activities when they are not trying to digest meats but rather have proteins in the form of i.e. soy dog as a substitute for hotdogs. My daughter used to say that she didn’t feel good after her father used to encourage her to eat steak as opposed to how she felt when she ate vegetarian meals with me. Sometimes children will just have to experiment and it’s not the undermining of the system or a particular parent who will win but the child’s innate intelligence and body feedback. Spirituality means empowerment. Can you imagine a world without Mahatma Gandhi? He worked on changing things that were corrupt and unjust in his society while focusing on God and being a Spiritual Leader to many. As a parent you know that you have a responsibility to speak up for your children’s needs. Meet with parent groups and school officials. Send letters to the school district administrative offices and send a carbon copy to the School Dietician. Nothing changes by itself and your children’s health and spiritual wellness is at risk due to the ignorance of others. It’s up to you as parents to take responsibility for the lives of your children.
Another area of contention for parents, particularly from cultures where sexuality and dating are taboo until the person is married. So an Indian family may have children who are in an American school system who is exposed to the same mores as the rest of the kids that includes sexually revealing school clothes and make up for girls and rap music and jeans that are worn below the hips for boys. It is just not socially acceptable. American children may not have spiritual or religious guidance in the home because some families have been led to believe that there is no God. Now we have a dummying of America in the school with lower standards of morality and educational expectations. Be aware that this movement has been alive for many years and the more people who move away from God the faster and greater the influence and power they hold over our society and culture. There are organizations and studies that support teaching high school children about sexual abstinence. Go to the following below link for more information. Take a stance and you will find that the power that you have been given will support and guide your words. Take a stand for what is right for your children.
http://www.heritage.org/Issues/Sex-Education-and-Abstinence
This is a White Paper On Sex Education and Abstinence
Teenage Sexual Abstinence and Academic Achievement
Published on October 27, 2005 by Robert Rector and Kirk Johnson, Ph.D.
I will discuss more about rearing children in a cross-cultural context and the importance of US citizenship in my next blog.
Please feel free to contact me with questions: lawrencerita511@gmail.com
http://www.Facebook.com/SpiritualLife
http://www.Twitter.com/Langata145
I recommend that you start in small increments and be patient with yourselves. Don’t think all is lost because you slip from your daily practice from time to time. Being part of a group that is practicing is a good thing and this can be done via web. I emphasize that you need to be initiated by a Spiritual Master to begin the real work of Spiritual Enlightenment. The initiate is then under the Divine guidance of the Master to enable their spiritual advancement to be tailored to their individual needs. I will make certain that you understand that I am not here to recruit anyone to follow my path or the way I have approached spirituality. I encourage all to find their own path. Spiritual Masters do not recommend that people leave their religion. In fact you will find the true meaning of your religion once you become spiritually awakened and love your God with all your heart.
Many people of different cultures and nationalities come to the United States because we have been a nation that has given all equal opportunity. The first step and sign of enculturation into the dominant culture is English language acquisition. It is vital that parents of children coming to the US speak English in the home so that the children will naturally identify with the dominant culture. I realize now why children of immigrants from Europe quite often didn’t speak their native language because their parents and grandparents realized that being assimilated into the culture was more important for their personal, educational and career success. I am English so I didn’t have a language barrier coming to the US however there were cultural barriers. Things were done in a different way that made me feel uncomfortable. I used to belong to one English group but always thought that it is the individual whom I am interested in knowing and I don’t seek friendships purely because of a common English heritage.
Religion and spirituality are taught in the home and children learn certain behaviors that are influenced by the dominant culture. One such behavior is meat eating. I never liked meat as a child and once I was on the spiritual path I had an experience of one of the Masters speaking to me inside during Meditation in an intensive, giving me fatherly instructions on what I was to wear and the food I was to avoid and that left vegetarianism as the path for my health. It has been a proactive measure on my part because my father died of cancer of the colon at age forty-eight and this has a high correlation with genes that are passed down. I have never eaten meat or fish since. It wasn't something I struggled with because I didn't have the desire for meat eating anyway. Now I rarely eat eggs but have always eaten free-range eggs. With the options for soy products on the market it makes it easier to choose. My first Teacher did not emphasize vegetarianism directly that I can recall however vegetarian meals where always served in her spiritual home/retreat. A close friend and reliable source once said that she had witnessed our Teacher telling a woman that she should eat red meat for her particular body type and needs. With the higher ethical standards and behavioral expectations toward others and creatures the spiritual path would ask you whether you to find a source that doesn’t involve violence toward the animals that are slaughtered and their lives before that should be as free as possible. These are considerations for your development and only for your to decide. You will know inside how it feels without meat. My Teacher asks people, “Why make your body into a grave-yard?”
Meat eating is a part of American culture and I live in the Midwest that has a big cattle industry. It wasn’t until 2005 that I identified the trailer trucks that ship animals on our highways. During a break as a rest area on the way to Wichita to open a Meditation program at a state prison, I happened to notice the nose and mouth of a cow trying to catch some air and discern where she was in the outside summer air. I realized that I could not just go up to the back of the trailer and open the door and let them loose as my first impulse was to do. I could only pray and repeat the Mantra my Teacher had given us to use to invoke the power of the Teacher and God. I still feel the same struggle when I pass these evil entities on the highways and feel for the animals who are being taken to slaughter houses. In France a few years ago the press followed two pigs who had escaped from being taken into the slaughter house they had been delivered to by one such vehicle. The pigs ran around in the country side and everyone followed the story hoping that they wouldn’t get caught and taken back. I follow animal rescue mission work on http://www.Twitter.com/Langata145 if you would like to join me and link with them too. The work is important and the more people who spread the word and find homes for these animals who are great characters and individuals just like our house pets. I taught at a junior college in Kansas and was called “Wacco” by a faculty member because she knew about my spiritual beliefs and by another I was told in a very abrasive way, “You are in the Midwest and we eat meat!” I found other work and have found that people who work in the medical field are sometimes the most rigid and in the box thinkers.
Children who are from homes where meat is not part of their diet should have vegetarian meals in schools. They can be role models for their peers on humane practices and healthy lifestyles. They will feel the difference during the afternoon activities when they are not trying to digest meats but rather have proteins in the form of i.e. soy dog as a substitute for hotdogs. My daughter used to say that she didn’t feel good after her father used to encourage her to eat steak as opposed to how she felt when she ate vegetarian meals with me. Sometimes children will just have to experiment and it’s not the undermining of the system or a particular parent who will win but the child’s innate intelligence and body feedback. Spirituality means empowerment. Can you imagine a world without Mahatma Gandhi? He worked on changing things that were corrupt and unjust in his society while focusing on God and being a Spiritual Leader to many. As a parent you know that you have a responsibility to speak up for your children’s needs. Meet with parent groups and school officials. Send letters to the school district administrative offices and send a carbon copy to the School Dietician. Nothing changes by itself and your children’s health and spiritual wellness is at risk due to the ignorance of others. It’s up to you as parents to take responsibility for the lives of your children.
Another area of contention for parents, particularly from cultures where sexuality and dating are taboo until the person is married. So an Indian family may have children who are in an American school system who is exposed to the same mores as the rest of the kids that includes sexually revealing school clothes and make up for girls and rap music and jeans that are worn below the hips for boys. It is just not socially acceptable. American children may not have spiritual or religious guidance in the home because some families have been led to believe that there is no God. Now we have a dummying of America in the school with lower standards of morality and educational expectations. Be aware that this movement has been alive for many years and the more people who move away from God the faster and greater the influence and power they hold over our society and culture. There are organizations and studies that support teaching high school children about sexual abstinence. Go to the following below link for more information. Take a stance and you will find that the power that you have been given will support and guide your words. Take a stand for what is right for your children.
http://www.heritage.org/Issues/Sex-Education-and-Abstinence
This is a White Paper On Sex Education and Abstinence
Teenage Sexual Abstinence and Academic Achievement
Published on October 27, 2005 by Robert Rector and Kirk Johnson, Ph.D.
I will discuss more about rearing children in a cross-cultural context and the importance of US citizenship in my next blog.
Please feel free to contact me with questions: lawrencerita511@gmail.com
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