Can I help you?

Last week I was preoccupied with cleaning while a news program was on. He was a baby boomer, talking about baby boomers. The discussion was on the attitudes of the 1960's and 1970's, the me generation and how it brought our world to the place it is now. My ears perked up because I too after years of self involvement realized the value of stepping outside of myself to help others.

Churches have always understood the divine process around helping others, and being of service. One of my favorite examples was Mother Teresa, who left her life to be of service to those that the world rejected.  Her entire life was made of the divine dignity of being available for God’s creatures.

Years ago when I first got sober, it was suggested (code for strong advice), that to stay clean, I needed to give back to my community. I was unmoved. Didn’t my sponsor realize I needed time for me?  At the time I felt I had nothing to give. The truth was that I was more a poster child for what not to do with your life.  I did persist and find a task to do where I was contributing to my group. I was the coffee and clean up girl before the meeting.  I made coffee and made sure the cups, creamer and sugar were out for members. After the meeting I cleaned up left over styro foam cups, emptied ashtrays, and cleaned up the coffee pot.  In those early days, it did indeed make me feel like I was contributing member, that I belonged to the group and my own recovery. Later that same woman told me to do one nice thing a day and forget about it. Do not tell a single person, open a door, or smile.  That any little thing would count, it is all service.

The more I learn spiritually, the more I see how service work is about being trustworthy.  It is caring for one of God’s creatures, and I am one of them. It is also a part of building character.  Character, is what we build here on this plane and lasts with us well beyond this life. It is the true karma we aspire to. Service is an honor and a privilege.  The Urantia says to help another in any way is a divine dignity. It is part of the divine give and take.

The more you give, the more you receive. This is the spiritual principle of these simple charitable acts. I want you to really let that sink in. The more you give the more you receive. This does not require foolish giving that is not healthy, it is the mere action of respecting another of God’s creatures.  That is all. So when you are out and someone is carrying a bag that is too heavy, hold the door open and smile. 

Inspiration or Collaboration?

No one will argue with you when you say the last 200 years of human existence are some of our most progressive as far as civilization is concerned. Now we could argue that there have been other civilizations equally advanced technologically. Some say Atlantis was such a place. However for this blog I want to stay with this present incarnation. The ideas, the technological advances, the need for social reforms are moving forward faster and faster each day.

Teilhard De Chartin, a name obscure to a lot of us, wrote a book called The Phenomenon of Man.  He was a philosopher and Jesuit priest, he was also a paleontologist and geologist. He helped discover the Peking Man. He threw out his Catholic doctrine at times, which of course caused him nothing but problems with the Church. I loved that he believed human beings had evolved to such a degree we had come to the brink in our evolutionary process. That we were ready our for our psychic, spiritual "gifts".

I agree. I also believe it will come first to those of us who seek out a spiritual connection to the divine and work with our gifts.  We All Have Them!  They are gender inclusive and age inclusive. They come to all religions and ethnicity.  I say that especially because in parts of the world, women and children are held separately.  To the Divine, our creator, we all stand  naked spiritually. The psychic energy is available to all. What is most important is that we all cooperate together. Environmentalists know this on a level as do humanitarians. We need just raise our consciousness to our own highest level, with a pure heart to use this psychic/spiritual energy.

 

It is great energy that spurs you on.  The more dedicated to an idea, or a thing the more you are driven to succeed. It is psychic energy. It is also like a river, the more it is used, it creates channels in your psyche, which allows the ideas of the future to flow more freeing.  There is a principle I highly believe in, it is that the more you do or create, the more you can do or create. If you keep pushing your own boundaries, there is no end that can't be pushed back.  I was watching someone on TV playing football, he jumped high and made a touch down.  50 years ago, he would not have been able to do that as he was an amputee. Now prosthetics are so advanced, he jumped and landed, while running with a football.

There is an easy exercise I was taught to start the energy to flow;

• Breathe in to the count of 5
• Hold to the count of 10 and visual a bright white light above you, let it be yours, if it is 2 feet or 10 wide let it be yours see it shimmer and pay attention to what you think or see in your minds eye.
• Release your breath to the count of 5 imagine you are raising yourself higher into that light above you. Be in the center of that light.

It may relax you to the point of wanting a nap, but immediately use that energy, writing or whatever you want to create or accomplish. Do not be concerned if your immediate results are slow, as with most things, practice, practice, practice. Whether you are writing a novel or creating a screenplay, coming up with policy or working with others, the process is the same.


So where does our inspiration or energy come from? Simplistically we could say our Creator, whom I call God.  I believe that to be true. I believe in a creator. However I believe there is more to it.  We are all connected to each other and are actually a part of each other. On the higher level, there are many pictures, ideas, technologies, philosophies and solutions to problems that are available to us all. I believe that we can collaborate with each other, that we can mentally attune ourselves to our companions when working  to produce solutions, create works of beauty, social reform and anything that is wanted or needed. I think one great example of this is Orville and Wilbur Wright, and the fantastic flying machine. Our own United States is an example of a bunch of rag-tag soldiers with papers shoved in their worn out boots persevering onward for a better life. When I read today about Ambassador Christopher Stevens, I was greatly saddened.  I was moved again by the need for we humans to create a world where we live in peace.

Is Karma a Punishment?

I was speaking with a client yesterday. She had been unceremoniously dumped by a boyfriend.  Justifiably, she was hurt.  Then she said something to me, "Will he get his Karma soon, I hope he does."  Now I have heard this line and variations many times. This time it hit something in me, so I thought I would explain my understanding of the principal of Karma.

First lets talk about what Karma is not:

• Karma is not an excuse for why you can not better your position, ie. "I was just born this way, it is my Karma", or "It's just my Karma". 
• Karma is not fate 
• It is not a punishment

Having said this I want to tell you what Karma is, at least in my understanding of the complex term.  Karma has to do with action and reaction.  There is a scientific premise that says for every action there is a equal reaction. Ok I paraphrased that, but that is the general premise.  Karma has to do with the moral fiber of the universe. It says generally similar actions will lead to similar results.  Also that each action we perform affects the world around us.

I want to veer off for a minute and discuss Karma in the terms of humanity.  Karma can explain much better the condition of the world and its people than any other theory I have come across. If you believe we live many lives, and I do, this will make great sense.  On this planet we all are at different levels. Some are born into poverty, some into wealth. Some are righteous people, some dysfunctional. Some people are kind, some mean, and you get where I am going with this.

The Law of Karma says something we did or wanted to do helped us get where we are.  It seemed to me in regard to suffering that some people just never get a break, a good chance to have a different experience. Africa in general is a great example. There are other places in the world also but, when I was young and would see these pictures of tall thin women with their starving babies, with bloated bellies and flies buzzing around them, it broke my heart.  I wanted to know how God could do this.

As I understand Karma more, maybe they contracted before they came here, to help us improve our humanity and compassion. Maybe they had lessons that it would teach them. Is the Karma for them or for us who view them and can help?  The honest truth is that while we are here we don't know for sure.  I tend to not think of Karma negatively, because we don't know.

I want you know the older I get I realize that spirituality is very simple, and the most complex thing I have ever been exposed to. It is simple in that prayer and meditation are the bedrock, that we do not have to be perfect to be loved by the creator, or people, and that more effort we expend the more we get. That giving almost magically works to bring in abundance.  Those are simple principles.  I say this because understanding Karma is sometimes complicated.

I read that Karma can be good or bad. How do we know what the effects will be? I read that Buddha said, the good or bad effect of the action must be looked at from the point of view of the long term effects. Again I poorly paraphrase. He goes on to say that bad or unwholesome acts have 3 doors or parts. They have body, mind and speech. How many times have you said something that you wish you could take back?   The 3 acts of the body are killing, stealing and sexual misconduct.  The 4 acts of the speech are lying, slander, malicious gossip and harsh speech.  The 3 acts of the mind are delusion, greed and anger.  I want to tell you the conditions on which these occur  make a difference in their Karmic effect.

The weight of the Karma can be affected by several things; persistence, repeat the action, do the action with intention and determination and action is done without regret. If this done, it is like using a highlighter on the action and then circling it. It stands out. These determine the weight of the Karma. Sometimes you can see it in your own life.  I have noticed that things done to me as a small child, I have had the chance to change to another as I have aged.  There times I have done something in my life and as I have aged, it has happened to me. As a youth I was sure of my ideals, and judged, sometimes harshly. I aged, I have been judged and sometimes harshly.  Sometimes Karma takes more than one lifetime.  Sometimes it is a pattern over and over. Can we change it?

I want to say this clearly. With every thought and interaction we can make a dent in our Karma.  It is with  living beings that we can practice each and everyday. In our hearts and in our minds, and in our actions.  So you can effect Karma, and it is not a sentence, but a process by which you grow more spiritual and closer to our creator.