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MONDAY’S POEM: The Heart of Perfection
Following up on my musings of late last week I wrote this:
The Heart of Perfection
If all the little mistakes
Are lessons,
And all the little lessons
Add up to a whole
Are the mistakes
At the Heart of Perfection?
If there is a plan to the Universe,
And that Plan
Is a Plan of Perfection,
Then all the little mistakes
Add up to a whole
At the Heart of Perfection.
Let the Plan of Love and Light
Work out!
Every error, every mistake, every sin
Is a lesson;
Learned lessons add up
To the Heart of Perfection!
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
PS: Happy 30th Anniversary, Rosemary! I love you!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Love and Life Purpose
This message is from The Divine Feminine as they continue instructing us on our role in the evolution of human consciousness.
“Dear Ones,
The most important energy that can be activated on Planet Earth to counteract negativity is the opening of the heart centers of individuals. Each person who opens their heart to shine the light of Love energy into the Planet will have more power than anything else they can do.
Fear shuts down heart energy because the human response to fear is to erect an armor that protects the heart from harm. Even the fear of physical harm starts with protecting the heart. Allowing yourself to feel fear for long periods of time or allowing fear to grow and deepen moves your energy away from the heart energy of Love.
Love conquers fear. Love of self protects one from the negative effects of fear. Love for self engenders Love for others and protects one from fear.
Finding one’s tribe of like-minded loving individuals also protects one from the effects of fear, for there truly is strength in numbers. Around the world you are seeing groups of individuals coming together to rise up against fear by saying, ‘No more!’
Their choice, however, is often to express the energy of violence rather than the energy of Love. This does not advance the evolution of human consciousness.
Many who are stuck in old consciousness see violence as the only choice in response to fear. They also choose violence as the agent of change when they wish to enlist the support of groups who are susceptible to the power of fear. Spreading the concepts of ‘hatred’ and ‘otherness’ powerfully instills fears in those who resonate at the lower vibrational frequencies.
What you will see in coming days are deepening clashes between the powers of Love and the powers of Greed.
Political parties have devolved from representing the people to representing greed. There is little room for caring and Love in the politics of nations around the world. Even those nations that are grounded in deep spirituality are succumbing to the energies of Greed-Fear-Violence.
The work of the enlightened ones and all spiritual students who wish to support the evolution of human consciousness is to spread the high vibration energy of Love into the energy grid of the Planet. This energy attracts assistance from other realms to amplify the energy on Earth.
The energy of Love must first be felt for self. This is not abstract; it is very specific and demands that each person is to love all elements of self at this present moment, including any challenges or circumstances in life. From this Love can spread a love of others exactly as they are in this present moment. Then the Love energy can be sent into Earth’s energy grid.
Love of self includes love of and expression of each individual’s Soul Purpose for this incarnation, for that is how the Universe’s Plan for humanity can work out.
One problem at this time is the vast number of people who are not focusing their energy on living their purpose. This is the first step toward saving humanity from possible destruction. Each individual is responsible for discerning their Soul Purpose and manifesting that in the world.
Many people are waiting for some external force to ‘fix things’ in their life. This stagnant, waiting energy creates a void to fill that invites in those who would dominate with ‘power over’ energy. The protection from this ‘power over’ one is to become empowered within oneself.
Personal empowerment starts with self-love and acceptance that couples with a focusing of energy on living one’s Soul Purpose. As more humans embrace this and become empowered, the Light in the world will increase and will spread to counteract greed and violence.
Until the day when those who are sleeping wake up, however, each individual must take responsibility for their own life. When you are living your purpose, others will be inspired by your life to discover and to live their purpose.
And so it is.”
PS: Soul Purpose – a key to living a life of conscious evolution and empowerment! Do you know your Soul Purpose? That information is encoded in your hands, specifically your fingerprints. Through Scientific Hand Analysis your Purpose and many other “blueprints” for your life can be revealed! Learn More Here
ROSEMARY’S INSPIRATION: Two Key Components to Life
Rosemary’s “Two-Minute” video for the week: Two Key Components to Life
PS: Soul Purpose – a key to living a life of conscious evolution! Do you know your Soul Purpose? That information is encoded in your hands, specifically your fingerprints. Through Scientific Hand Analysis your Purpose and many other “blueprints” for your life can be revealed! Learn More Here
How Are You Hiding? – Richard’s Commentary
True confession time! Frankly and in all authenticity I have been hiding at least since I retired from the corporate world at the end of 2007. Of course I have many excuses for this. But Rosemary’s question is not about “why” I’ve been hiding, good reasons or excuses, but rather about “how” I’ve been hiding. So, here’s the story:
I’ve been staying in the background, in a sense hiding behind Rosemary these past five plus years. I retired so we could start a business together. If you have been reading her blog or my blog, subscribing to her newsletter or know her in any way you realize the incredible talent she has on many levels, including the ability to communicate with The Other Side! She is a powerhouse and it’s easy to hide behind her.
Our business partnership was at least in part organized around this talent. She is the front-person for the business and I am the “operator.” She does all the outside work with clients and I run the back-office, the technology for the internet-based program, the financials, legal stuff, etc. This doesn’t sound too much like hiding out, does it? And it was certainly a plate-full for both of us as we started up our business in early 2008.
We did a lot of work, heavy lifting, to launch this business. We attended seminars and workshops, we did the research, we built websites and wrestled with emailers and auto-responders, Rosemary went to coaching events to help “jump-start” the business and I sometimes attended as a “free” guest at these events. We worked hard at this.
At these events I often felt awkward. Was I attending to understand better how to build her business, improve her internet presence, help market her talents? Sometimes I had the feeling I should be taking in the coaching, suggestions, technology patterns and marketing ideas for myself; in exercises during the events I would be half thinking about Rosemary’s business and half thinking about how I could apply the material to something I could offer.
And often I sensed the implicit and sometimes explicit motivation from the leaders and speakers at these events to apply what they were teaching to my own practice! (Whatever that might be.)
But I had too much to do to develop any kind of practice for me. What did it matter that I am an ordained minister in an Interfaith Tradition? What did it matter that I too have talents, sometimes even in parallel with Rosemary’s? Did it matter that I am this unusual male being, so often operating in this wonderful world of feminine energy I constantly find myself in? Rosemary’s coaches, mostly women, did seem to think it mattered!
I continued to hide through the upheaval of our down-sizing exercise, sale of our house in Colorado and move to Maryland (three separate truckloads of our stuff!) to hang out with daughter for a while as we catch our breath. We continue to work on the business and I continue to hide out in the back-office. But all of this is changing! I am not only processing Rosemary’sMuseLetters, shooting the videos, handling the blogs, keeping the website updated and running the business end of the business; I am also reading Rosemary’s prodigious volume of material and taking it all to heart.
I am done with hiding. The excuses for doing so are empty. There is more to me than “Chief Operating Officer.” And I have launched; I have begun to shine a brighter light out into our community! My first Qigong Class this past Monday evening was great: well attended for a first time offering, smoothly delivered and positive feedback received.
This time, 2013 and beyond, as we’ve written many times in these blogs, is a time of transformation. It is not a time to hide. We can no longer hide from ourselves or behind anyone else.
Answer the question for yourself: “How are you hiding?” Then look for ways to break down the barriers, open the doorways of opportunity and step through!
PS: There are beings you can’t hide from: your angels, guides, spirit guides and loved ones who have crossed over! Oh, you can ignore them; pretend they are only part of your imagination. But they won’t go away because they are here to help you! On June 14, at 7:00 pm, either online (internet or phone) or in person in Annapolis, you can join Rosemary for a Conversation with The Other Side to hear what those beings have to offer you. You can’t hide; you may as well listen! Get more information here.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: How Are You Hiding?
There is a Light inside of you that is the Light of the Universe. Are you shining that Light outward or are you keeping it hidden?
Most of us live our lives keeping the lantern of our Inner Light on the dim setting, afraid to shine too brightly because we worry about how others will react if we do. We play it safe. We don’t want to make waves. Or, if we do make waves, we tend to be cautious about how big they are.
The time has come for each of us to claim our power and to reach out into the world to share our Light. There is nothing to be gained from playing small, from staying dim. We have fooled ourselves into believing that we keep the peace around us by hiding, by staying quiet, by simply existing.
Have you asked yourself recently if you are hiding a part of you from the rest of us?
Even if you are feeling as if you are showing up in a big way, I invite you to turn up the Light and shine EVEN MORE BRIGHTLY.
I see clients who want to express their creativity but feel they have to focus on their job or their business. It’s not ‘either-or’ – it can be ‘and’! Other clients have given away so much power to others in their life that they don’t believe they are strong enough to step out in a big way. You are strong!
This isn’t just about doing your work in the world in a big way. It’s about living life LARGE!
Are you showing yourself to your family as a whole person or are you hiding a part of yourself? Are you helping your kids to grow by being human, with the full spectrum of human emotions, strengths and weaknesses?
I sometimes wonder about the wisdom of letting our kids think that everything has to be perfect, that we are perfect. Now, I’m not into baring every little flaw but it might just be our power that we’re hiding along with our flaws. I posted a picture on facebook recently that addressed perfection and imperfection. “I saw that you were perfect and I loved you. I saw that you were not perfect and I loved you more.” I don’t know who came up with those words but they speak volumes.
It is our so-called imperfections that make us human. We tend to want to hide our flaws and yet those who can love unconditionally will love us more if we are human, like them, because we give them permission to be human, too. This is called ‘emotional authenticity’ and, if you would live a conscious life, this is what you are striving to achieve.
It is also our strengths, our power, our Light that sometimes frighten us because they carry responsibility with them. And our greatest fear is often that others will abandon us, will not love us, will feel intimidated by us because we appear to be stronger or more powerful than they are. No one wants to be abandoned but when strength and power come from the Divine Light that is at our core, then we are not intimidating anyone else unless they choose to shrink from our Light rather than to shine their own Light more brightly.
This is the point. Every time we increase the amount of Light that we shine into the world, we invite others to increase the Light that they shine from their own Inner Light. We are only responsible for shining our own Light. We cannot accept responsibility for what others choose to do.
We do, however, dispel more darkness when we shine more Light. Are you willing to come out of hiding to do this?
PS: There are beings you can’t hide from: your angels, guides, spirit guides and loved ones who have crossed over! Oh, you can ignore them; pretend they are only part of your imagination. But they won’t go away because they are here to help you! On June 14, at 7:00 pm, either online (internet or phone) or in person in Annapolis, you can join Rosemary for a Conversation with The Other Side to hear what those beings have to offer you. You can’t hide; you may as well listen! Get more information here.
INSPIRATION FROM ROSEMARY: How Are You Hiding?
Rosemary’s video for the week: How Are You Hiding?
PS: There are beings you can’t hide from: your angels, guides, spirit guides and loved ones who have crossed over! Oh, you can ignore them; pretend they are only part of your imagination. But they won’t go away because they are here to help you! On June 14, at 7:00 pm, either online (internet or phone) or in person in Annapolis, you can join Rosemary for a Conversation with The Other Side to hear what those beings have to offer you. You can’t hide; you may as well listen! Get more information here.
The Fever Story; 2nd and Final Chapter (and only the beginning!)
Both Rosemary and I have been writing for some time about the importance of the times we are in; these times of great change, transformation. We are not alone in our sense and our gathering information and exploring the energies, vibrations, influences and characteristics of these times. If you are reading this blog and you are breathing then you know what we are talking and writing about. There is both a sense of great elation, of a coming freedom we have not yet known, and a sense of impending doom. I’ve heard many people speak of these “dire” times we have entered.
With this sense of great change afoot, I return to my story about my fever last week and what it means to me. My friends, the “Floating Heads” (ref: this post) had more to tell me about the meanings behind the illness:
QRS: Listen to the music: you are opening to love. Your chest is cracking open. Your body is the chrysalis that is splitting to reveal your inner splendor. This is a very vulnerable time for you. Feel it. Go with it. There is no putting it back together now. The butterfly in all her sensitivity and delicate style is emerging. Treat yourself very gently now. Watch and feel this process.
Be very careful with your emotions. Cry if that’s what you need. Don’t forget to laugh. Examine every moment as a new learning experience. Your “What is this?” question applies to every moment. Don’t waste a single one; examine everything as a curious child. No anger, no judgment, no second guessing. It all just is. Trust it all as perfection and part of the growth experience. Remember when you emerged from your first experience of a sweat lodge ceremony? It’s like that. You are birthing yourself out of the heart of the fever and gradually appearing as new creature. Learn all there is for you to gain in these next weeks and months. Receive. Don’t over-analyze. Accept. Breathe it all in as a wondrous New Being.
End of the story!
Now it’s up to me to do the work. And it’s all about awareness. It is about living in the moment and being inquisitive. “What is this?” It is living with this great mantra/koan/question: “What is this?” Awaken to curiosity – the curiosity of a child! With this curiosity comes delight. Lightness and laughter abound. This is the awakening I am called to and long for. This is it!
Why do I write all of this? Why am I telling you this personal story?
We are all in this together. I am not alone in my awakening journey. You are here with me. We are in the great transformation. Live it with me. Are you curious about what comes next? Join me in this curious, exciting, maybe dangerous, certainly delightful exploration of what comes next!
You are not alone!
I Ching Cast for the New Moon in Taurus; May 9, 2013
Yes, it’s Monday, but since I published a “Sunday Poem” for Mothers’ Day yesterday, I am publishing my “moonthly” I Ching reading for the Taurus New Moon (and solar eclipse) that occurred last Thursday evening (8:29 pm EDT).
As I enjoy doing on, or shortly after the New Moon, I cast a Gua, a hexagram, for the I Ching to see what the yarrow stalks had to tell me about the energies for the up-coming moonth. For me this helps put me in a frame of anticipation as I calmly manipulate the yarrow stalks to generate the 6 Yao, or lines, of the Gua. And, after the power of this New Moon, which included a solar eclipse, I really needed both calming and anticipation!
The hexagram I cast was Fu which means “Turning Back” in The Complete I Ching translated by Taoist Master Alfred Huang.
Note that the third line is a six, a greater yin line which means it’s a moving line. The energy of the moonth may begin with Fu, but the moving line generates a new Gua when the third line moves to a yang line. The new Gua and therefore the new energy coming in during the moonth is symbolized by the hexagram Ming Yi which means “Brilliance Injured.”
“Turning Back” is about the cycles of life. Everything turns and returns. Dawn follows the night. The Decision for this Gua is positive and ends with “Favorable to have somewhere to go.”
As I look at this in the greater context of the New Moon/Solar Eclipse I can see positive change coming as the result; the expected transformation is in its early stages of unfolding. The “turning back” is part of a cycle that may be repeating but the cycle is more like a spiral that rises with each dawn. There is a direction to the cycle: favorable to have somewhere to go!
There is a concern expressed here in the third yao, the changing line: the Yao Text for the third six (greater yin) is “Repeatedly turning back. Adversity. No fault. This “turning back” feels like spinning wheels. No progress can be made this way. And while this sense of being stuck may be excusable (no fault) I am glad to receive this warning that there could be some “wheel-spinning” energy the early part of this moonth.
There is a Chinese saying that helps with my understanding of “Brilliance Injured”: “tao guang yang hui” which means “hide one’s light and abide one’s time.” Here too is a message about the energy of the moonth: it might be wise to keep one’s head down and exercise patience. Yes, change is coming; the lower trigram is Li or Fire. But fire is under the upper trigram, Kun or Earth. This is like sunset; the light is hidden under the darkness, below the earth’s horizon. There may be some darkness, some shadow energy hidden in the change energy this moonth.
The advice I have taken from this divination is “don’t let the darkness extinguish the light; just turn your light down a notch and remain steadfast and upright. Remember the “turning back” – the sun will rise again.
There is one more piece of good news in this accomplished gua, Ming Yi: its mutual gua is Jie, Relief. Biding one’s time does lead to relief!
Have a good moonth and keep your head down!
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: Change, the Brain, and Life Force Energy
Breathe into the base of your spine and allow the breath to move all the way up your spine into your brain. If there is any constriction along the spine the breath cannot move energy all the way into the brain and thoughts die.
All thoughts in the brain need the energy of Life Force to be maintained but this energy does not just come from conscious thought. The unconscious mind can also energize thought by repeatedly visiting that thought and giving it power. This is how ‘old tapes’ can remain powerful in one’s life, even at the unconscious level.
What thoughts are gaining power by being revisited at the unconscious level? What do you believe about yourself that you are not changing because you keep reinforcing the old belief?
The only way to change is to change. Change the thought pattern that generated the behavior that resulted in an action. Trying to change without addressing underlying beliefs and thoughts is doomed to failure. ‘Trying’ to change is just that – ‘trying.’ Changing takes real change. Anyone who wishes to change must start by changing something, even one little thing, to signal the brain to embrace the coming change.
If you wish to change your eating patterns and diet, then change something about how you eat. Don’t sit in the same chair, eat at the same time or table, buy at the same grocery store.
If you wish to change how you exercise or move, change the clothes or shoes you wear. Choose a different location, partner or time of day.
If you wish to change work habits then rearrange your work space.
If you want to change the energy at home then redecorate, change lighting, play different music, open different windows, use different doors.
Change something first, then change the brain. Change the brain and you can change everything else.
Your Life Force Energy is within you as a fire burning brightly but sometimes your perception of it is dimmed by the blinders of your thoughts. Ramp up the fire, the flames of Life Force Energy, and burn away the blinders. Shine that Light upon the world around you.
All of this energy relies on an open spinal column through which the energy can flow, from root to crown through the brain. You have the power to open this energy channel through a combination of visualization, physical exercise and energy work with light and color.
The focus is on the column of Light that is YOU, the individual. Use color and light to set the vibratory frequency level that opens you to your own greatness.
Then Be that Unique Greatness – YOU!!!
PS: Do you want some help with the changes you are inviting into your life? Apply for a Discovery Session with Rosemary; it’s easy! Do it here
Are You the Rose or the Thorn? – Richard’s Commentary
I write this on a nasty, stormy day here in the East – blame storm “Saturn” for it. In Annapolis we were fortunate enough to get nothing but rain and a little wind, nothing too damaging. Oh, there was an overturned semi-tractor-trailer on the Bay Bridge which shut down both spans in both directions. This is a major headache for traffic in this area and it ties up roadways for miles and hours. I’m sure a few thorns came out for people today!
I felt a bit prickly myself. It is a very busy week for me working to get class material finalized and assembled for Rosemary, helping to set up presentations and making sure I am ready to video record the whole class, working on my own practices including preparation for Qigong Instructor Certification this Saturday, and keeping up with the normal routine.
And with the storm shutting down schools and work for the anticipated snow the house was full of people today with many pulls on attention and energy. The energy, in fact, swirled at times beyond the normal boundaries and out of control. My Qi was disturbed.
I am working hard to keep my calm, to smooth out my Qi, to remain in flow and let go of all the little things that can too often ruffle my feathers. And yet my thorns came out! In some sense these thorns were for protection, not necessarily of my beautiful inner rose, but of my time, my priorities, my space, my practice, my, my, my…
But is this why the rose has thorns, to hide her flower. I don’t think so. The rose displays her beauty for all to see. Her light shines on everyone. She opens her softness to reveal that light and inner beauty. All she asks in return is a small amount of space. Her thorns protect that space. Yes, they are sharp but they only stick in a little bit, only as a warning not to come any closer.
Too often my thorns stab too deep. I only need a little space and too often create cold distance. I need time to breathe but don’t want to breathe alone. I struggle with balance here between protection and open sharing of my light.
The advice I hear is to “be the Rose that you are and shed the thorns.” I am working on this, working on the openness. Is it always safe to do this?
Wednesday evening Rosemary and I were part of a Spiritual Exploration Group. It is a group that comes together by invitation to share deeply. It is a safe place; and many of us share very deeply about personal experiences. Everything shared stays in the room. It is easy to shed my thorns in this group. I have no fear of my space there. Can I take this feeling of safety into the outer world and share my light? Can I shed all my defenses and open my lamp-shade to let out the light?
It is time. We have moved beyond 2012 and well into the 21st Century. It is time for all of us to come into our true selves, to shine our light and to be open to the flow of the Universe. It begins inside, where the light originates. We first let go of the thorns that prick us from the inside; some call them our “demons.” Egos have thorns that keep us in line! These are good for survival, just as the rose uses her thorns to protect her space for survival. But maybe we need to move beyond basic survival needs and into the light.
We cannot transform the world with thorns. We can work toward a better world through open acceptance of our light and to shine that light through fulfilling our purpose, what Rosemary calls our “soul commitment.”
Maybe that commitment needs to be stronger than our need for protection!
Men and The Goddess 