Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Giving Thanks and Being Grateful

I am thankful for so many things.

Often times I forget this.

Isn't that weird?

Often times, I notice that I notice what I'm not thankful for.

Why do we send so much negative energy out into the world? Just the mere act of thinking about something we don't like, of judging and place a valuation on a thing that exists is a damnation, a blasphemy of existence, yes, a sin.

I've been studying the Science of Mind with Amy Aspell and two other amazing women. In this workshop, I'm re-learning about the fact that our thoughts create reality.

It's true.

Long ago, while sitting on the rocky shores of Baker Beach in San Francisco, alone, in the fog and wind and cold mists, as I spied the tips of the Golden Gate Bridge, peaking out from the moody depths of grey, I scrawled in the sand with some driftwood:

THE POWER OF THOUGHT
THINK IT - MAKE IT
THINK IT - BREAK IT
THE POWER OF THOUGHT
CONCENTRATE - CREATE

I was 17 at the time that I wrote this.
I hadn't read it anywhere.
I was staring at nature's majesty and heard this message come in with the crashing waves.
It felt so powerful. It was so novel to me, that I had to write it in the sand.
I then sat there and watched as the tide slowly came in and the water rushed up and washed away my message.
But I never forgot the words.
What I forgot, and remember, and forget, and remember is the truth of them...
We do have the power to create reality with our thoughts... And time and time again I hear affirmations and reminders of this all around me...

In this workshop I'm reminded about the power of the Law of Attraction, which has been popularized in the book, The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne.

The most important message that I am receiving in my life at this time is that I have the power to create my own experience of life.
This makes me think of Aristotle's line that you can judge the character of a person, not by what happens to the person, but by how the person deal with what happens to him or her...
I've always been struck by this. I first read that line long ago while studying Philosophy at Berkeley and other universities around the world. I read the Nicomachean Ethics and Aristotle's ideas about happiness and the meaning of life.
I had a fantastic professor who advised that anyone interested in this should read Heidegger, who is "a long series of footnotes on Aristotle."


I highly recommend reading Heidegger's Being and Time and Aristotles Nicomachean Ethics.. It's good bedtime reading.. something to chomp off and digest in your subconscious while sleeping...

But now... as we are experiencing a Holiday in the United States that seems to have been founded on genocide and acculturation, I find that I'm keenly aware of experiencing gratitude.

I'm thankful for the fact that I'm not living in a war zone, that I don't have AIDS, that I'm able to hear Beethoven's illustrious 9th Symphony and watch movies and sunsets and crashing waves on jagged shorelines.

I'm thankful that I have a loving husband who is gentle and funny and oh so kind.

I'm thankful that I have a roof over my head, a warm bed, a computer with internet connection and fingers to type with.

I'm thankful that Jesus Christ died for my sins... that he came to show us the secret of RESURRECTION and eternal life....

I'm thankful for all the mystics and sages who have pulled back the curtain on life's secrets to help us all become more conscious.

I'm thankful for all the people in the world who are doing what they can do end suffering, raise consciousness, and create a better reality for all of us.

May we be part of this good.
May we be inspired to recognize the beauty in the world and reflect that beauty in all we do.
May we act from wisdom and compassion, like the great Bodhisatvas.
May we align ourselves with Right Action, Right Mind, Right Thought, Right Feeling.
May we be peaceful, kind, loving, and aware.

At this time, may we all realize how connected we are to one another. May we all participate together in dreaming the most amazingly beautiful and peaceful reality into being.
At this time, may we all join in prayer for the GOOD OF ALL.

I am grateful for you reading this.
I am grateful for this.
I am grateful.
I AM.

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