Tag Archive | compassion

Is your Ego your friend? Part 3

DSCN2500I grew up thinking that developing a strong ego was a good thing.  What my spiritual journey has revealed is that it is really about how I protect myself from what I fear.  All of the many ego identifications are often about what we like or what we dislike.  Whatever we identify with will always create fences that define our limitations and block others out.  We all have oodles and bundles of self definitions.  We just do not recognize them as that.

The ego takes sides and expresses the color, shape and size of the conditions or boundaries that we feel that we need or choose.  It might not be very obvious that we are doing our best to be safe from whoever or whatever is in control.  It is what sets us apart from the other souls on the planet who have more or less than we do.  They might live in other countries, cultures or economic realities.  We create fences with so many of our thoughts, beliefs and current comforts.

We construct brick fences, or thick concrete fences, or high barbed wire fences, or electric fences, and even glass or clear transparent ones.  What they all do is say “do not enter” or “stay away.”  They are all constructed to block others out.  They are all how we limit ourselves and convince ourselves in believing we are “safe”.  It is what we imagine or think will keep us safe.  It is our fear that is actually triggering us.

The fences can be economic, social, cultural, racial and they often translate into divisions.  They invoke feelings that mask the Soul.  In our souls we are one.  In the heart of God we are one.

When the hurricanes head into an area of the world – they come to everyone regardless of the economic or social circumstances.  It blows its ravaging winds upon everyone in its path. The rich might be able to escape more quickly if they have the means available to them, and sadly the poor and sick are not as easily served.

Only Spirit within us can set us free.  When we identify with God and choose that energy that lifts us toward our higher self, we have an opening to possibilities

The great Spiritual Master – Paramhansa Yogananda said that limitations are like putting on a heavy coat on a extremely hot summer day.

All of these fences are “agitations of the heart.”  This kind of thinking can only mislead ourselves.  It does not help and only disturbs the mind and body with the conditions and beliefs that we fool ourselves into believing.

Lets keep working on healthy thoughts, beliefs and actions.  It takes more work when we are caught in fear but the outcome is so much better in the long run.  Do not give up.  You are doing so much better than before you realized what was blocking your higher good.

Know that you are Loved,   Rev. Barb Walley

 

 

 

 

What is your Ego telling you? Part 2

life coach**, spiritual counseling, spiritual counseling, life coach nevada city, spiritual counselor nevada city, wellness coach , christian counseling, spiritual therapist, online counselingIs your ego talking to you?  Are you noticing that you or others around you are defensive? What are you feeling defensive about?   I have observed that the defenses often show up when the stresses of life ignite the our desire to feel safe in our lives.

Lately the world seems to be in the midst of so many conflicting energies that it is hard to keep up with it, even if you want to.  I can max out – what about you- what do you do with the over-stimulated energies of life?   It can be very confusing and  upsetting if we do not have some healthy spiritual tools to work through our thoughts and feelings with.

What are the fences you have erected?

I was listening to the Sunday service yesterday and the minister and speaker, Guandev from the Ananda community, was addressing the topic of Ego- Friend or Foe.  His talk was inspiring and later I found myself thinking about writing this blog.

Parmahansa Yogananda said that “when we are enslaved by the ego, it is the Soul that is identified with the body.”  We are caught up in our likes and dislikes and it is like a ferris wheel that keeps going around in endless circles.

Our souls are stuck in this kind of limited awareness, it is caught up in bundles of self-definitions.  That is an absolute guarantee and ticket to the ferris wheel of life that will always separate you from your loved one, anyone who is different than we are, and all others including our true spiritual selves.

There are so many fences that we erect with the ego.  I am observing how many different kinds of obstacles we have in the way of unity and cooperation.

One is the “chicken wire fence,”  it pokes at the heart and soul of the others in our lives.  It also pokes at and injures us the most.  It creates distance and the experience of rejection because it immediately hurts and feels so badly that no one wants to be around it.  Who wants to feel poked at and hurt by just being around that kind of energy and personality.  It is a dangerous fence and certainly is a tool for distancing and a kind of personalized defense.  It works.  You will be left alone, often angry and stuck in the defensive self.  Does that leave you pointing a finger at someone else?  The answer is to look within.

When I see any fence going up between me and another person I do my best to take mine down unless it is actually unsafe to do so.  That is ours to determine.  Personally I use prayer, affirmation, meditation, chanting, yoga, exercise, and many tools of sacred practice that I have been using for over 30 years of dedicated practice.

Know that you are Loved!   Rev. Barb Walley

Free To Grow

DSCN2500Hello Beloved Friends:

Let’s take a look at how free we are to grow and change perceptions.

A man was standing on the side of a “swiftly moving” river.  He sees someone on the other side.  He shouts across the river to the man.  “How Do you get to the other side?

The man shouts… You are already on the other side

Dr. Michael Beckwith says we are either pushed by pain or pulled by vision. I would rather be pulled by vision and yet I have clearly experienced many times when I am resistant and the universe brings forth another approach.

Sometimes life breaks our hearts open and life delivers a deeper healing. Heart Break pushes us with pain and the end result is that we heal on much deeper levels.

The mind simply cannot figure things like this out.  The healing that is emerging from the tragedy in Charleston is still being revealed. I was deeply touched by some of the compassionate actions that I witnessed.

Many stories of forgiveness and compassion are surfacing.  I saw a YouTube clip of a man paying the grocery bills of many black strangers in his community simply because he wanted to express love, kindness and something meaningful to people in his community.   We can all do something to make a difference. 

Affirm with Me:

Right now, in the very instant I tune into a higher awareness.  I consciously and deliberately tune into the Infinite Indwelling Spirit.  My attunement allows me to utilize the tools of conscious awareness to enable me to be an observer.   I watch my thoughts and reactions and I let them float on by.  I allow whatever they are to move on by without any evaluation, judgment, or concern.  Whether they are good or not so, if they are empowering or not so.  I simply let them go without the need to place any value on them at all.  If they are negative I lift my thoughts to the spiritual eye and gently correct them without any judgment or reprimanding attitudes.

I accept who I really am and let any and all temporary thoughts drift into the native nothingness from which it came. I give greatly appreciate that I am free to choose over and over again.  I choose love and release fear.   I am deliberately lifting my awareness to Spirit within me where I know that all is loving, empowering and accepting of the I Am within me.  I tune into the Masters and call forth the strength of our Oneness.  I step on the invisible transforming bridge of divine love and I am lifted out of limitation and effects and I return to the Source of Ever Expanding Life.

I am deeply grateful for Loves Presence in my life and give thanks that I am Free to Grow into ever greater awareness of God within me.  Thank you for shining the light upon the shadows and bringing forth the light.  And So It Is.

Know that You Are Loved!    Rev. Barb