Kestrel's Nest: More Secrets of Life

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	More Secrets of Life
	"My Mama told me, son, forget what might have been. Give yourself a break whatever's happening. Don't let your spirit, son, come closin' in. You've got to give it room and let it sing."
	From Violet—A New Musical Music by Jeanine Tesori Lyrics by Brian Crawley
Remember the Book of Lists? I love lists. Top 10 lists, best blank of the century lists, etc. The spiritual world has its own contenders in the list world: Don Miguel Ruiz's The Four Agreements, Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, Steven Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and the nine insights of James Redfield's The Celestine Prophecy. Below I present some of my favorite spiritual lists. Send me yours. The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism In his first teaching, the Buddha expounded the basic doctrine of the Four Noble Truths. He first declared what he had learned the day he left the palace; namely, that suffering is universal and inevitable. In the Second Noble Truth, he explains that the immediate cause of suffering is desire. The ultimate cause of suffering, however, is ignorance concerning the true nature of reality. The Third Noble Truth encourages humanity, asserting that there is a way to dispel ignorance and relieve suffering. This path is detailed in the Fourth Noble Truth in the form of the Eightfold Path. The Eightfold Path According to the Buddha, the Eightfold path is the means to achieve liberation from suffering. Specifically, this path includes Right View, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. The Four Agreements These Four Agreements were distilled from the traditional wisdom of the Toltecs by Don Miguel Ruiz. BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love. DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering. DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life. ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret. Rules for Being Human From No Ordinary Moments by Dan Millman We only get one body. We may like it or not, but it's the only thing we are guaranteed to keep for a lifetime. We will learn lessons. Since Earth is a full-time school, every person or incident is our teacher. Lessons often appear as mistakes or failures. The only real mistake is not learning the lesson A lesson will be repeated until it is learned. It will appear in various forms until we learn it. If we are still here, we still have lessons to learn. If we don't learn the easy lessons, they get harder. Pain is the only way the universe gets our attention. We'll know we learned a lesson when our actions change. Only action turns knowledge into wisdom. We will tend to forget these rules. We can remember any time we wish. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey Be Proactive - Principles of Personal Vision Begin with the End in Mind - Principles of Personal Leadership Put First Things First - Principles of Personal Management Think Win/Win - Principles of Interpersonal Leadership Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood - Principles of Empathic Communication Synergize - Principles of Creative Cooperation Sharpen the Saw - Principles of Balanced Renewal The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous We admitted we were powerless over alcohol - that our lives had become unmanageable. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs. The Nine Principles of Manifestation by Wayne Dyer Live from Your Highest Self: "I have a divine ability to manifest and attract all that I need and desire." Learn to Trust Your Divine Inner Wisdom: "I trust in myself and in the wisdom that created me." Honor Your Worthiness to Receive: "I deserve to experience divine abundance, for I am a part of God." Realize that You Are Not Separate from Your Environment: "I am one with my surroundings, aware of the connective energy between me and my world." Attract to Yourself What You Desire: "The divine creative power within me brings to me all that I want with happiness, love, and peace." Connect to Your Divinity with Unconditional Love: "I express the energy of unconditional love to all people and all things in my life." Detach for the Outcome: "I trust in the universal intelligence that created me to bring my desires to me in just the right way at the perfect time." Acknowledge Your Results with Gratitude and Generosity: "I am deeply thankful for all I've received, and I enjoy giving to others in the spirit of love and service." Meditate to the Sound of Creation: "I meditate each day to increase my awareness of the divine power within me. Through meditation, I am able to realize the beauty, grace, and love that directs my life and fulfills my deepest desires." The Nine Insights of The Celestine Prophecy The Nine Insights, by James Redfield, summary by Alan Atkisson Feeling restless? You're not alone: Everybody's starting to look for more meaning in life. Start paying closer attention to those seemingly "Chance Coincidences" - strange occurrences that feel like they were meant to happen. They are actually synchronistic events, and following them will start you on your path to spiritual truth. Observe our culture within its proper historical context. The first half of the past millennium was spent under the thumb of the church; in the second half we became preoccupied with material comfort. Now, at the end of the twentieth century, we've exhausted that preoccupation. We're ready to discover life's ultimate purpose. Start to get acquainted with the subtle energy that infuses all things. With practice, you can learn to see the aura around any living being and to project your own energy around it to give it strength. An unconscious competition for energy underlies all conflicts. By dominating or manipulating others, we get the extra energy we think we need. Sure, it feels good - but both parties are damaged in the conflict. The key to overcoming conflict in the world is the mystical experience, which is available to everyone. To nurture the mystical and build your energy, allow yourself to be filled with a sense of love. Childhood traumas block our ability to fully experience the mystical. All humans, because of their upbringing, tend toward one of four "control dramas": Intimidators steal energy from others by threat. Interrogators steal it by judging and questioning. Aloof people attract attention (and energy) to themselves by playing coy. And Poor me's make us feel guilty and responsible for them. Become aware of the family dynamics that created your control drama and you can focus on your essential question, which is how to make of your life a higher- level synthesis of your parents' lives. Once cleared of traumas, you can build energy through contemplation and meditation, focus on you basic life question, and start riding a steady stream of intuitions, dreams, and synchronistic coincidences, all guiding you in the direction of your own evolution and transformation. That evolution can't be done alone, so begin to practice the new "Interpersonal Ethic" by uplifting those who cross your path. Talk to people who make spontaneous eye contact with you. Avoid codependent relationships. Be there for people. Call attention to other people's control dramas. In groups, speak when the spirit (instead of the ego) moves you. Our purpose here is to evolve beyond this plane. Fewer people (a result of reproductive abstinence) and more old-growth forests will help us to sustain our energy and accelerate our evolution. Technology will do most of our work for us. As we begin to value spiritual insight more and more, we will pay those who bring it to us, and this will eventually replace the market economy and our need for paid employment. We can connect to God's energy in such a way that we will eventually become beings of light, and walk straight into heaven." The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success Based on Creating Affluence by Deepak Chopra The Law of Pure Potentiality The Law of Giving The Law of "Karma" or Cause and Effect The Law of Least Effort The Law of Intention and Desire The Law of Detachment The Law of "Dharma" or Purpose in Life The Law of Pure Potentiality This law is based on the fact that we are, in our essential state, pure consciousness. Pure consciousness is pure potentiality; it is the field of all possibilities and infinite creativity. When you discover your essential nature and know who you really are, in that knowing itself is the ability to fulfill any dream you have, because you are the eternal possibility, the immeasurable potential of all that was, is and will be. This law could also be called the Law of Unity, because underlying the infinite diversity of life is the unity of one all-pervasive spirit. There is no separation between you and this field of energy. One way to access the field is through the daily practice of silence, meditation and non-judgment. Spending time in nature will also give you access to the qualities inherent in the field: infinite creativity, freedom and bliss. The Law of Giving This law could also be called the Law of Giving and Receiving, because the universe operates through dynamic exchange. The flow of life is nothing other than the harmonious interaction of all the elements and forces that structure the field of existence. Because your body and your mind and the universe are in constant and dynamic change, stopping the circulation of energy is like stopping the flow of blood. Whenever blood stops flowing, it begins to clot, to stagnate. That is why you must give and receive in order to keep wealth and affluence--or anything you want--circulating in your life. If our only intention is to hold on to our money and hoard it--since it's life energy, we will stop its circulation back into our lives as well. In order to keep that energy coming to us, we have to keep the energy circulating. Thus, the more you give, the more you will receive. The best way to put The Law of Giving into operation is to make a decision that any time you come into contact with anyone, you will give them something. It doesn't have to be in the form of material things; it could be a flower, a compliment or a prayer. In fact, the most powerful forms of giving are non-material. The gifts of caring, attention, affection, appreciation and love are some of the most precious gifts you can give, and they don't cost you anything. The Law of Karma (or Cause and Effect) "Karma" is both action and the consequence of that action; it is cause and effect simultaneously, because every action generates a force of energy that returns to us in kind. There is nothing unfamiliar about the Law of Karma. Everyone had heard the expression, "What you sow is what you reap." Obviously, if we want to create happiness in our lives, we must learn to sow the seeds of happiness. Therefore, karma implies the action of conscious choice-making. Whether you like it or not, everything that is happening at this moment is a result of the choices you've made in the past. Unfortunately, a lot of us make choices unconsciously, and therefore we don't think they are choices--and yet, they are. If you step back for a moment and witness the choices you are making as you make those choices, then in just this act of witnessing, you take the whole process from the unconscious realm into the conscious realm. This procedure of conscious choice-making and witnessing is very empowering.You can use the Law of Karma to create money and affluence, and the flow of all good things to you, any time you want. But first, you must become consciously aware that your future is generated by the choices you are making in every moment of your life. If you do this on a regular basis, then you are making full use of this law. The more you bring your choices into the level of your conscious awareness, the more you will make those choices which are spontaneously correct--both for you and those around you. The Law of Least Effort This law is based on the fact that nature's intelligence functions with effortless ease and abandoned carefreeness. This is the principle of least action, of no resistance. This is, therefore, the principle of harmony and love. When we learn this lesson from nature, we easily fulfill our desires. In Vedic Science, the age-old philosophy of India, this principle is known as the principle of economy of effort, or "do less and accomplish more." Ultimately, you come to the state where you do nothing and accomplish everything. This means that there is just a faint idea, and then the manifestation of the idea comes about effortlessly. What is commonly called a "miracle" is actually an expression of the Law of Least Effort. Least effort is expended when your actions are motivated by love, because nature is held together by the energy of love. When you seek power and control over other people, you waste energy. When you seek money or power for the sake of the ego, you spend energy chasing the illusion of happiness instead of enjoying happiness in the moment. When your actions are motivated by love, your energy multiplies and accumulates--and the surplus energy you gather and enjoy can be channeled to create anything that you want, including unlimited wealth. There are three components to the Law of Least Effort--three things you can do to put this principle of "do less and accomplish more" into action. The first component is acceptance. Acceptance simply means that you make a commitment: "Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances and events as they occur." This means I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. The second component is responsibility. This means not blaming anyone or anything for your situation, including yourself. This allows you the ability to have a creative response to the situation as it is now. All problems contain the seeds of opportunity, and this awareness allows you to take the moment and transform it to a better situation or thing. The third component to the Law of Least Effort is defenselessness. This means that you have relinquished the need to convince or persuade others of your point of view. If you relinquish this need you will in that relinquishment gain access to enormous amounts of energy that have been previously wasted. The Law of Intention and Desire This law is based on the fact that energy and information exist everywhere in nature. A flower, a rainbow, a tree, a human body, when broken down to their essential components are energy and information. The whole universe, in its essential nature, is the movement of energy and information. The only difference between you and a tree is the informational and energy content of your respective bodies. You can consciously change the energy and informational content of your own quantum mechanical body, and therefore influence the energy and informational content of your extended body--your environment, your world--and cause things to manifest in it. The quality of intention on the object of attention will orchestrate an infinity of space-time events to bring about the outcome intended, provided one follows the other spiritual laws of success. Intention lays the groundwork for the effortless, spontaneous, frictionless flow of pure potentiality. The only caution is that you use your intent for the benefit of mankind. The Law of Detachment This law says that in order to acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it. This doesn't mean you give up the intention to create your desire. You give up your attachment to the result. This is a very powerful thing to do. The moment you relinquish your attachment to the result, combining one-pointed intention with detachment at the same time, you will have that which you desire. Anything you want can be acquired through detachment, because detachment is based on the unquestioning belief in the power of your true Self. Attachment comes from poverty consciousness, because attachment is always to symbols. Detachment is synonymous with wealth consciousness, because with detachment there is freedom to create. True wealth consciousness is the ability to have anything you want, anytime you want, and with least effort. To be grounded in this experience you have to be grounded in the wisdom of uncertainty. In this uncertainty you will find the freedom to create anything you want. The Law of "Dharma" or Purpose in Life The seventh spiritual law of success is the Law of Dharma. (Dharma is a Sanskrit word that means "purpose in life.") This law says that we have taken manifestation in physical form to fulfill a purpose. You have a unique talent and a unique way of expressing it. There is something that you can do better than anyone else in the whole world--and for every unique talent and unique expression of that talent, there are also unique needs. When these needs are matched with the creative expression of your talent, that is the spark that creates affluence. Expressing your talents to fulfill needs creates unlimited wealth and abundance. There are three components to the Law of Dharma. The first says that each of us is here to discover our true Self. The second component is to express our unique talents; the expression of that talent takes you into timeless awareness. The third component is service to humanity. When you combine the ability to express your unique talent with service to humanity, then you make full use of the Law of Dharma. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success are powerful principles that will enable you to attain self-mastery. If you put your attention on these laws and practice the steps outlined above, you will see that you can manifest anything you want--all the affluence, money and success you desire. You will also see that your life becomes more joyful and abundant in every way, for these laws are also the spiritual laws of life that make living worthwhile. The Ten Gifts by Robin L. Silverman The Gift of Faith The Gift of Love The Gift of Dreams The Gift of Courage The Gift of Unity The Gift of Joy The Gift of Trust The Gift of Character The Gift of Thanks The Gift of Intention The Ten Commandments of Self-Esteem by Catherine Cardinal, Ph.D. Thou shalt not consort with people who make theee feel bad about thyself. Thou shalt cease trying to make sense of crazy behavior. Thou shalt not keep company with those more dysfunctional than thyself. Trust thy body all the days of thy life (thy mind doth fornicate with thee.) Thou hast permission at all times to say "No," to change thy mind, and to express thy true feelings. What is not right for thee is not right for thy brethren. Thou shalt not give beyond thine own capacity. What thy brethren think of thee mattereth naught. Wherever thou art, therein also is the party. Thou shalt sing thine own praises all the days of thy life. Back to Spirituality home