Archive
Perfection in the Imperfect
In yesterday’s post I told the story of my misplaced sunglasses and my frustration/anger/lesson/awareness/self-love/love development. I am still processing this as a real opportunity for insight and growth. The day after I found the glasses I wrote this in my pages:
It is a better day today because I found my sunglasses. I know, it’s silly to have spent so much emotional energy on this little thing. And when did they turn up? After I had let them go, let go of all that emotional energy, accepted the loss and the lesson and put a good face on the rest of the day. And there is even a deeper lesson in the outcome: accept the lessons as soon as they arise with their teachings! Don’t spend the emotional capital on these small things. Save it, store it. This is true awareness.
Practice Awareness! This leads to perfection. Above all stay in the energy of Love as much and as often as possible. This is the true perspective and the true path to the Tao.
Whether the sunglasses turned up or were gone forever is immaterial. The lesson is the true and best outcome here. The first priority is Practice->Love. This is the Ultimate Way. And the Penultimate is Awareness->Perfection. The first leads to the second. Of course there is a tight feedback loop through all of this. Practice goes to awareness and perfection and Love – the end of it all. But the persistence in the practice comes from Love too. And the awareness comes from Love and practice. It is all tightly woven and I have much to continue to learn and bring to Perfection.
This whole notion of Perfection is a sticky one, especially for an Enneagram Type 1! OK, the Universe is already perfect. It is a whirling mass of delightful energy with an incredible force of Consciousness driving it. Call it Qi, call it the Tao, the Collective Consciousness of the All, Source, God/Goddess. It is perfect in its creation and its evolution. This is a key understanding. This does not mean that I am perfect, that everything I do is perfect. It does mean that there is no imperfection in Creation. It means that all the imperfections somehow blend into a perfect set of lessons for us all and we learn them to lead to the Ultimate Perfection of the Plan for the Universe. Somehow our mistakes are correcting over the long haul. They are necessary to spur and guide the evolution of consciousness.
The secret here is acceptance. It’s one thing to realize this at some level, to write about it intellectually, to think it through and see the logic of it. It is quite another thing to live by the rule: All imperfections are necessary to form the Perfect Whole. There is an implicit acceptance here that is required to the fulfillment of the Perfection – Prajna Paramita!
This is the Heart of Perfection. Acceptance: acceptance of the form and formlessness, the empty limitlessness, the mistakes, illness, old age, death – all part of the Heart of Perfect Wisdom – Prajna Paramita!
Is this the Buddha’s real meaning in the Heart Sutra, that all the imperfections in the world, all the suffering, all the strife are all part of a greater Perfect Whole? Acceptance, surrender, is the pivot point of the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths. And how can there be anything left after that surrender but pure Love?
Peace and blessings!
Love and Life Purpose – Richard’s Commentary
The heart of the message from The Divine Feminine channeled by Rosemary for this week’s Mystic Message is:
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.
I would like to think I am a “spiritual student” and certainly wish to support the evolution of human consciousness. And yet I seem to fail so often in so many ways! Or do I? Here’s this week’s story:
I “lost” my sunglasses. They happen to be an expensive pair that I like; I’ve had them for several years and have taken very good care of them. My first reaction when I lose something is to begin a frantic search. Searching with no results leads to frustration. The longer the search the greater the frustration. And when the long search is fruitless, frustration turns easily to anger.
The anger is self-directed. I am at fault for misplacing/losing the sunglasses. I am further at fault for wasting all the energy in the search, then the frustration, then the anger. And though the anger is self-directed, it is not necessarily self-contained. It spills over through a bad mood. Everyone around me experiences my loss!
After much consternation a night passes without their appearance. My temper is vented in my “morning pages” and through writing out the story a perspective begins to emerge: this is a small loss, my frustration and anger are over-blown, there is a lesson here, the Mystic Message this week is about Love, beginning with self-love.
Ah ha; there can be no love without first loving one’s self. And self-directed anger over small errors is the antithesis of self-love. Directing this anger-energy into the grid of the planet is the antithesis of what a “spiritual student” needs to strive for; and it likely “attracts assistance from other realms” that I would rather not attract!
The trouble is I’m an Enneagram type 1, “The Perfectionist.” And I really struggle with this pervasive characteristic, or motivation in myself. Sometimes it is a harsh, unforgiving task-master riding on my shoulders. I want things, events and people to be correct, to go the right way, to be smooth and cooperative, to follow rules…to be perfect. And when things, events, people go awry, I too easily move to anger. And where is the love in that?
There are many lessons in this story. The main one I choose to take away today is one of “awareness.” And I am practicing this lesson, it seems, on a moment-to-moment basis (and maybe that’s the point!). It is time to become fully aware, moment-to-moment!
A few days ago I offered the story of Tenno and his umbrella. Did he get angry with himself when he failed to answer Master Nan-in’s question about placement of his umbrella? No. He simply surrendered to his need for more study and practice – 10 years more!
After writing these thoughts down in my “morning pages” the day after my loss, I felt better. I accepted the lesson and my imperfection. I realized my anger-energy was pointless and wasted, maybe even damaging! I let go of the sunglasses. They had served me well; it was time to move on. It was time to practice love!
That evening I found the sunglasses, buried in a chair I had been using. My relief tangled with my realization that I had learned another (again) lesson on love. If I had started with love, even self-love for attracting a valuable lesson, I would have saved myself a lot of time and dark energy, and maybe I would have found my sunglasses earlier in the day!
I remain a “spiritual student.”
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
MONDAY’S POEM: Heart-Mind
On June 13 Rosemary held a Conversation with The Other Side. I have the honor of attending most of these conversations and the privilege of receiving one or more messages whenever I am present. The June Conversation was no different; and the messages were powerful! One message was from a poet of the future. This poet, a muse for me, suggested I write “poetry of the heart.” And he said he would guide me in this effort.
As you can imagine, I usually work to follow this “other worldly” guidance I receive. Today’s poem is one such effort, from the heart! And if you want to hear my messages from The Other Side they are posted on Rosemary’s Website: Click Here to View
Heart-Mind
Open your center, this vital
New Mind.
It is in your chest,
Between heart and throat.
Speak from here.
Write from here.
Be right from here.
Here is where you must dwell!
Heart-Mind:
Brain cells, neural nets
In the heart
Connecting thought and Love.
This is the future:
Think in your heart,
Love in your mind;
Dwell in the present.
And lose yourself in All Time!
Find your Self now…
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
PS: Rosemary’s next Conversation with The Other Side is scheduled for this Saturday, July 13. It promises to be another great evening. For a sample of the depth and detail of the messages you can expect to hear, she has posted some samples on her website: Sample Messages. Go to the link to hear and see how this works and how you can benefit with messages from The Other Side! Attendance is easy from any where in the world! Get the details here
A FRIDAY POEM FOR THIS 4TH OF JULY WEEKEND: Love and Freedom
I normally post poems on Mondays. But this is a special Friday following our celebration of the 4th yesterday. And my somewhat dark and challenging post here on the 4th needs a bit of light for the end of the week. So, I am posting a poem to celebrate our freedom; it’s my opportunity to “speak” to recent events and certain rulings by the Supreme Court!
So, take this opportunity to enjoy your freedom and “love the one you’re with!”
Love and Freedom
Freedom to Love is everything.
When we love we are free.
When we are free we can love.
Choice is everything.
Love is not always a choice.
Some are not free to choose.
Freedom is a matter of mind.
Love is a matter of heart.
Others believe they control minds.
There is no control of hearts.
When we are free in our hearts
No one controls Love in our minds.
©2013 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Be on the Lookout – A Special 4th of July Commentary
My Thursday posts are normally my commentary on the Mystic Message of the week, Rosemary’s Exploration topic. This week’s is “Be on the Lookout” (posted yesterday). But this is a special day, so I am taking an opportunity to speak about the meaning of today’s holiday. And as an aside, I had drafted a rather scathing rant about the state of our Nation. Then I got an email yesterday from a dear friend with a new perspective. So I significantly edited my rant. I kept the first paragraph, however, to be sure the larger picture is not lost.
The 4th of July, 2013
The significance of this holiday diminishes for me as the American experiment in representative democracy fades in importance and effectiveness. Money seems to be winning. The economic system has overwhelmed the political process drowning it in cash and graft. All politicians, left, right and center, seem to have been bought. Greed seems to be the rule of the day. Is American democracy dead, buried in a golden sarcophagus?
If so, what is left? Is there anything to celebrate?
It’s here where my friend’s email and quote kicks in (and maybe gives me a kick in the pants). Here’s what he wrote:
I want to wish you a wonderful July 4th!
Here’s hoping this Independence Day brings you the best of summer – free time with friends and family, fun and games, memories and leisure. This really is a special occasion.
In a way, Independence Day might be the most under appreciated of our holidays. While serving as America’s ambassador to France in 1785, Thomas Jefferson wrote to the future fifth President, James Monroe: “How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!”
Jefferson’s point is not lost; in our affluence and relative comfort, we sometimes lose sight of the remarkable degree of freedom we have. Independence Day reminds us of how great our nation is, and how fortunate we are.
Happy Independence Day!
From my gloomy place of wonder what is left to celebrate I got this reminder. And then I thought about my other 4th celebrations and some of the corresponding expressions: “Is the corn knee high?” “Will everyone keep all their fingers?” “Will the potato salad stay cold enough?” “How ’bout them Os?”
Life goes on. Another holiday comes and goes with a blink, a tear, a fading memory of the laughter of children having fun at a parade or gasping at the fireworks!
To a large extent we are free to live our lives and love as we choose; our choices are many. In the end this is what we celebrate!
The Heart of Humanity – Richard’s Commentary
Yesterday’s post was a message, as channeled by Rosemary, from The Divine Feminine. There is little I can say that will enhance their powerful message. But I do want to offer some thoughts and examples, perhaps in my way to amplify the message.
My first thought in encountering the words of The Divine Feminine comes from my training and work in indigenous cultures and their understanding of this “Heart” especially as it relates to ancestors. We, as living humans, stand on the bones of our ancestors; but their hearts beat right beside our own. Many of you know Rosemary as a medium who can speak directly to our ancestors, those who have transitioned in the near past and even ancestors from generations past. They are right here with us! So, when The Divine Feminine speak of The Heart of Humanity and say: “This is not about the individual heart of a single person but, rather, the collective heart of the humans both alive and in spirit” they include our ancestors in this Heart. Why is this important? They are right here with us, watching us, cheering us on. So often their messages through Rosemary are words of pride in our achievements, words of encouragement to continue to learn the lessons and evolve, words of comfort that they are with us! Their hearts beat within The Heart of Humanity just as ours do. Live and love within this energy!
My second reaction to the message is a recall of a divination card I often receive from the Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards by Doreen Virtue, PhD. Maat is a Goddess in the deck that 
carries the message of “fairness.” (I’ve pictured the card here.) The key to understanding the message of this card is in the definition Dr. Virtue offers for fairness: “It’s when all parties involved surrender their personal agendas in favor of the greater good for the entirety of the group. This requires trust in the wisdom of the group.” And I add this requires trust in The Heart of Humanity.
I like this definition of fairness a lot. And it is little wonder that I receive this card a lot! What if our justice system were based on fairness: what’s good for everyone, the common good? How did The Divine Feminine put it? – “For the good of all.” With no qualifiers. We are all in this together. Sometimes we may not like this inclusive approach to “all.” But we are all members of The Heart of Humanity!
My third thought goes to our “community supported agriculture” (CSA) farm. As I write this, today is pick-up day. Each week we get a box of organic produce fresh from the fields. During this past winter we purchased a family share in the farm. Now we are getting our return on that investment. We paid our local organic farmer in advance and now receive a share. This share means we are part of a community, part of the common good; and we are sharing now in the results, good harvest or poor harvest (and so far it’s been very good!); we share the benefit as well as the risk. Our community farm is part of The Heart of Humanity.
The Heart of Humanity is about our Ancestors and what they worked hard for, it’s about fairness, and it’s about sharing in the common good. I hope you are enjoying your share in this Heart!
PS: Come speak with your ancestors! They are alive in The Heart of Humanity. Your next opportunity to participate in a Conversation with The Other Side is July 13 at 7:00 pm Eastern. You can join the Conversation online via a video internet connection, or voice/phone; and if you can come to Annapolis, join Rosemary live! Get the details here.
ROSEMARY’S EXPLORATION: The Heart of Humanity
A message for you today from The Divine Feminine:
“Dear Ones,
We are here today to speak of the Heart of Humanity. This is not about the individual heart of a single person but, rather, the collective heart of the humans both alive and in spirit.
The Heart of Humanity is an energy of immense, unselfish, unconditional Love. This love for all humanity is the impetus behind humanitarian efforts of all kinds. Great spiritual teachers of all traditions have cared very deeply for the well-being of the people around them and for humanity at large. In fact, ‘humanitarian’ implies that the caring is only for human beings but this kind of caring and love extends to all Life, to all Beings, including animals and even plants.
Think of the teachings attributed to Jesus and Buddha about compassion and love for all. They were teaching about the Heart of Humanity. The Dalai Lama and other holy people of contemporary times teach the same message of caring for all.
Now notice how many preach a different story of separateness, of difference that allows one to feel ‘better than’ others, of deservedness vs. undeserving. There are those who are preaching the concepts of ‘mine vs. theirs’ with no concern for the common good. This does not come from the Heart of Humanity but from the source of greed that depends on fear of lack. This has no heart energy in it at all.
Some who claim to be religious people have embraced the teachings of separation and greed but have couched their preaching in a language that they think speaks to a common good. They have either deluded themselves into this belief or have chosen to mislead others by consciously using language to cover up the energy of greed and separation.
Great spiritual teachers offer their teachings to those who are ready to hear. They share from a place that they realize is greater than their own ego. They do not attempt to coerce or to impose their beliefs on others. They have too much respect for the free will of humans to try to convert someone to their way of thinking. They merely offer and allow the hearers to decide for themselves what they will accept.
This attitude for sharing spiritual teaching comes from the Heart of Humanity. The energy of ‘allowing’ is a more loving energy than that of ‘coercing’ or ‘converting.’ The Heart of Humanity is a gentle energy.
But this same energy can become fierce in the face of threats to the common good. When energy is needed for the preservation and protection of a group of people the Heart of Humanity spurs human helpers into action. This is the response you see in outpourings of help after disasters on Planet Earth.
The Heart of Humanity also compels people to work for the evolution of consciousness on the Planet. Teaching about the connectedness of all, that what is good for one is good for the group, that each individual has a responsibility to all others – these teachings stem from the Love and Compassion in the Heart of Humanity.
‘For the good of all.’ This does not have qualifying factors as some would propose when they separate people into groups who deserve and those who do not. When one makes a choice that seems good for an individual or small group at the expense of or that harms others, then one is not operating from within the Heart of Humanity.
‘For the good of all.’
Let this become your mantra. You cannot separate yourself from the matrix of all humanity. You can only choose how you will make your choices as one node in that matrix connected to all other nodes.
When you choose to work for the highest good of all humanity, you light up your node and add light to the entire web that connects all humans on Planet Earth. Your choices for yourself become clear as this light shines upon the possibilities. And YOU benefit from these choices as well.
The connectedness is a fact. There are those who know this fact and there are others who misguidedly believe that they are isolated from others and that they can make choices for themselves without regard for others or even at the expense of others. Sadly for them, they cannot choose to be isolated from the connection. Thus, the energy of harm stays in the energy grid and seeks to attach to like energy. It will be enhanced by similar nodes and will come back to them magnified.
This is what the traditions teach about karma. The energy you put into this grid seeks like energy and returns to your node magnified.
Choose to energize the Love and Compassion of the Heart of Humanity!
And So It Is.”
PS: Your next opportunity to participate in a Conversation with The Other Side is July 13 at 7:00 pm Eastern. You can join the Conversation online via a video internet connection, or voice/phone; and if you can come to Annapolis, join me live! Get the details here.
The Cycles of Life
This week’s theme in Rosemary’s blog was Cycles beginning with her video message on Tuesday. Yesterday I wrote about the primary cycle in human life, human consciousness: Death. And as we move now into the energy of the Summer Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere I am once again reminded of all the cycles that occur in our lives, from the most minute, the life and death of a single cell (we lose more than 50 billion a day to apoptosis!) to the solar cycle through solstices and equinoxes and all the solar holidays in-between, to human death.
As I thought about Glenn Smith, his early-in-life transition (he was only 55) I drew two divination cards (a daily practice, usually with the intention of divining the energy for the day); I wanted to tap in and see if Glenn had any messages for me through the cards.
First I drew Butterfly Maiden from the Doreen Virtue Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards. No surprise as this card is all about “transformation.” This is what I wrote about the card, pictured here:
Death is the big transformation for humans, only rivaled in grandeur and trauma by birth. And in a sense these largest of events in our experience of consciousness are one and the same. They are each part of the human cycle, a circle which has no end nor beginning. Birth, Life, Death, around we go always becoming, renewing, rejoicing in the knowing! And not knowing!
The second card I drew was from the Aleister Crowley Thoth Tarot Deck; it was the 10 of Disks, “wealth.” This is what I wrote about the 10, pictured here:
Wealth. Fulfillment. The completion of human goals. Another “end-vibration” card showing me that endings are not only OK but need to be expected. We can never be sure when a life is fulfilled. Too often endings are abrupt and unexpected. A greater cycle, beyond human consciousness and understanding – the mystery – is playing out. We are but cycles within cycles adding our ounce of Oneness to the tidal ocean of consciousness. Rest, Glenn. We hold your ounce as precious!
We can measure so many cycles: the cycle of a cell’s life, the cycle of the sun as it appears to spin around the earth. But how do we measure the cycle of a man’s life? The span of time from birth to death, to fulfillment of one life, remains in the mystery. Yet there is so much to learn from each precious life.
I learned many things from Glenn in our too short friendship. He was such a gentle man and yet so deeply conscious. Read about him in the blog we wrote together: powerfulsensitivemen.com. And here’s something he wrote for Rosemary I want to share:
Having always thought I was a bit odd and different from the regular crowd, I was overjoyed to receive a message passed to me through Rosemary Bredeson that I was indeed ‘different’, during a group session I attended. In fact every message she passed to the twelve people gathered had some impact on me. The message I received could not have been more relevant for me even though I have had many readings by many different psychics over many years. Her joyful way of expressing heartfelt messages from The Other Side was a delight to witness.
This is how Glenn was in life; he always seemed overjoyed and delighted!
I went to my Svaroopa Yoga class tonight energized as I often am to take respite in my body, to bring my consciousness to my physical being rooted as I am in this life for now on the planet. For the evening’s contemplation my teacher used a quote from Aristotle:
Happiness is the meaning and purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.
Glenn was a happy man, passing to another phase of consciousness having fulfilled his purpose in this cycle on Planet Earth.
Men and The Goddess 