Like all my other Greyhound friends I was trying to catch that magical bunny of happiness.

As a greyhound pup I was taught the secret to happiness:

That everything  we want from life is in that magical, and elusive white rabbit.

So I chased it, and chased it, and chased it.

I stumbled many times.

But I got right back up, and chased, and chased it again.

I was one determined Greyhound.

It was great fun most of the time.

But sometimes it made me very angry because I couldn’t catch it.

And sometimes it made me very sad. But I kept chasing, because that’s what we greyhounds have been taught to do.

Because I was good at the game, and more determined, and faster than most greyhounds many times I actually got a piece of it.

Every time I got a piece of him it made me happy for a while, but then the need to catch it all came back and I went back on the track, the big circle of life they called it, and ran even harder after it.

But it was always the same; get close, but not get it.

Or get a piece, and be a little happy, but then get that drive to get it all.

Then one day I actually caught it. alleluia I was so happy.

It was so great to finally catch it.

And like the other greyhounds that finally got it I was boastful and told everyone that I was now one of the quickest and smartest greyhounds.

I actually started becoming a obnoxious greyhound.

I now see that sometimes when you finally catch the prize you kinda get all full of yourself. Kinda go Hollywood as the humans say.

Well for a while I savored that rabbit.

Then after a while it didn’t make me as happy.

So being an inquisitive greyhound I decided to really look at it.

I looked at it outside, and looked at it inside.

Then oh my, when I looked inside it I found out it was not a real rabbit !

It was just material and mechanical stuff. It wasnt the real rabbit I was chasing after all… it was a false material rabbit..it was maya, an illusion !.

That made me very sad.

And as sadness can do to greyhounds, it made me very sick.

I became so sick and disillusioned from chasing a false rabbit all my life that I almost died.

But fortunately I had many good loving greyhounds around me, and soon I got better.

When I got better and came to my senses, I knew that the rabbit game was over for me.

I knew it was not the real rabbit I was chasing.

I knew there was a real rabbit out there …but I wasn’t sure where it was.

So I prayed to the big greyhound in the sky and asked for his help.

I told him I would follow him, and travel wherever he wanted me to go to find the rabbit.

And lo and behold he came to me.

He told me just where that rabbit I was chasing after would be found.

I was excited, and ready to travel all around the globe, or the universe if necessary to finally get that magical white rabbit of happiness and fulfilment.

Amazingly what he told me however was not what I had expected.

What he told me was so astounding: almost a miracle.

He told me the beautiful mystical white rabbit I wanted was really me.

Yes me…not something outside of me, but me, and inside of me all along.

I saw as clear as day that  my chase was over.

The rabbit was not in the future out there. But here today; right inside of me.

Every day now I now live in joy and peace. The beautiful white rabbit is inside me.

And all I need to do to keep it is know it, and be grateful every moment that what I AM, and what I want is already in me.

This is part of my own personal development curriculum. I thought it may prove beneficial to others on the path as well.

The Fifty Miracle Principles of a Course in Miracles

Workshop opening. A month or two ago when Gloria and I were first talking about what we should do in this workshop, Gloria suggested the idea of our doing these miracle principles.

This is not my favorite part in the text, but then I was reminded of the statement in Alice in Wonderland where the King says that you begin at the beginning, and then you go until the end, and then you stop. Since this is the way A Course in Miracles begins, it seems like a logical place for us to begin, too.    Kenneth Wapnick

Introduction – Part 1

“A miracle is a correction. It does not create, nor really change at all. It merely looks on devastation, and reminds the mind that what it sees is false. It undoes error, but does not attempt to go beyond perception, nor exceed the function of forgiveness. Thus it stays within time’s limits. Yet it paves the way for the return of timelessness and love’s awakening, for fear must slip away under the gentle remedy it brings.

A miracle contains the gift of grace, for it is given and received as one. And thus it illustrates the law of truth the world does not obey, because it fails entirely to understand its ways. A miracle inverts perception which was upside down before, and thus it ends the strange distortions that were manifest. Now is perception open to the truth. Now is forgiveness seen as justified.

Forgiveness is the home of miracle. The eyes of Christ deliver them to all they look upon in mercy and in love, Perception stands corrected in His sight, and what was meant to curse has come to bless. Each lily of forgiveness offers all the world the silent miracle of love. And each is laid before the Word of God, upon the universal altar to Creator and creation in the light of perfect purity and endless joy.

The miracle is taken first on faith, because to ask for it implies the mind has been made ready to conceive of what it cannot see and does not understand. Yet faith will bring its witnesses to show that what it rested on is really there. And thus the miracle will justify your faith in it, and show it rested on a world more real than what you saw before; a world redeemed from what you thought was there.

Miracles fall like drops of healing rain from Heaven on a dry and dusty world, where starved and thirsty creatures come to die. Now they have water. Now the world is green. And every. where the signs of life spring up, to show that what is born can never die, for what has life has immortality.” (workbook, p. 463; W-pII.13)

It talks about calling for the help of Jesus in a time of distress.

Have you reached the point where you are ready to let Jesus take the wheel for you in your life?

I mean not only take the wheel – but also drive you where he wants you to go. Not drive you where YOU want to go.

Are you asking him to be your chauffeur, or your pilot and Life’s leader as well?

I had coffee with a friend today. We always have good discussions on philosophy and spirituality.

He is younger than I so he is very much still tied to this world; raising teenagers, and running his professional career as a psychologist helping others.

While we were talking he made an interesting comment that set off a light.

We were talking about letting go and turning our lives over to God.

He said he had recently come to let go, and turn his life’s decisions over to God. But right after that he also said how he visioned his next five years; and listed a number of things he had a passion for and was going to achieve.

It struck me that he was doing what I used to do. Letting go BUT trying to control the outcome.

It’s like saying  …here Jesus you drive…BUT here is where I want you to drive me.

I mentioned to him that letting Jesus take the wheel is two parts. Not just letting him drive. But letting him drive us to where he feels is the best place for us to go to.

I mentioned to him that many times the past 5 years I made a conscious decision to let go , and turned my life over to God -  but for some reason, as much as I thought I had, and as much as I wanted to, I realize now I really never let go.

While in good faith I thought I had turned the wheel over to Jesus; I would later realize I was still absorbed in micro-managing my life.

I reflected this week on this and realized as much as I wanted to turn control over I was afraid of where he may take me.  Was it somewhere I didn’t want to go to?

Would I lose my self and just vanish. Would I have to become a pauper to serve him and others? I now realize  my biggest hold back was my unconscious fear of being absorbed into him in some way and loose my own identity. Our egos do not want to lose control. They tell us it’s either us or God. That we cannot have both.

But this month I finally did it… I let go…This time I was finally ready. I asked Jesus to take me wherever he felt it best for me, for him and the world.

It’s kind of funny when you think about it. What are we so afraid of?  Turning our future over to one who is all-knowing?  One who has only our best interest at heart? One who knows our past, present and future? One who knows how everything fits together in this amazing Universe? One who loves us without conditions? One who offers us eternal life!

Or do we prefer to continue down the same old road trusting solely in our own egos. Our egos that seem to get it right only half the time, and the other times lead us down a path of dead ends and unhappiness. An ego that offers us only death in the end.

So letting Jesus drive us, versus our flawed ego now seems pretty logical and simple if you want to think about it. Why was I fighting it for so long?

Where are you in your life? Have you really let go, and turned your life over to God, knowing he will take you where you need to be.

Or have you let go – but still trying to control the outcome, and select the destination your ego wants.

It’s pretty simple.  We either turn our life’s future to God, trusting in his Love and his plan, or we keep trying to muddle through on our own trusting our ego and its decisions for us.

We can’t have it both ways. Who’s it going to be… Jesus or your ego?

The more I give it away the more it comes back to me????

The answer is you are the creator of your world.

Everything you vision in your mind will be created.

Do not passively travel through life.

Every thought you have – and every belief you internalize will one day be your reality

You have power beyond your wildest dreams.

He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. – James Allen

Want to know what the true joy in life may be?

Consider this wonderful quote from George Bernard Shaw.

This is the true joy of life, the being used up for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live.

Life is no “brief candle” to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

–George Bernard Shaw

Join with us in a Celebration of the Spiritual force of woman

September 15, 2010

Join with us in a celebration of your destiny, and tap into your unique spiritual force as a woman…to bring new meaning, and restore balance to all of our lives, and of our planet.

You will discover through readings, and group discussions centered on the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching, who you really are, why you are really here, your connection to this historic point in time, and your special purpose
… and that of us all.

We have picked this date to tie into the this years
- Global New Thought World of Oneness -

From September 11 – The Unity World Day of Prayer -

 to September 21 The United Nations International Day of Peace –

In these 11 days, through workshops, inspirational talks, interfaith prayer ceremonies, concerts and special events, the world is invited to celebrate oneness and help heal our lives and our planet.

At our Ideas-Institute Special Symposium on Sept. 15^th we will all discover through readings, and group discussions, centered on the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching who you really are, why you are here, your connection to this historic point in time, and your special purpose… and that of us all.

p.s. we will share with you our choice for the Butterfly as our symbol.
This will be a Free event: Donations accepted

  Date: September 15, 2010

Location: Meditating Mantis

Downtown Historic Roswell, Georgia

Time:  9:30 am – 11:00 am

Brought to you by Meditating Mantis & IDEAS-Institute www.IDEAS-Institute.org

For additional info see our Facebook Event page …or contact Steve Monahan at Steve@IDEAS-Institute.org

He was a Franciscan Friar; friars are an order of the Catholic Church, and a Franciscan, founded in the early 1200s by Saint Francis of Assisi,  was one of the four “great orders”.

As a friar, Ockham lived in service to his community rather than cloistered away like a monk. He was a theologian and logician, a thinker and a theorist. Mostly, Ockham thought about people, the Church and his life around him. He is perhaps best known, at least to me, for a principle that bears his name, Ockham’s (sometimes spelled Occam’s) Razor…”Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate”, or “entities need not be multiplied beyond necessity.” In plainer English, when you have two courses of action or competing theories that achieve the same prediction, objective or outcome, you should prioritize your research and energies first on the simpler of the two.

I have reduced the Razor a bit more…simpler is better.

How many of us needlessly complicate our own lives?  Does this complexity really enhance our time on earth or improve our daily living?

We are born pre-wired with inquisitiveness and then trained to think and innovate. Too many of us have come to equate thought and innovation with depth and complexity instead of better and simpler. 

Our built-in competitive spirit spurs us on to progressively complex strategies designed to eke out just that little bit more, that slight edge over the competition, to prove to someone else or ourselves just how damn smart we are.

But so often, our innovativeness gets us in trouble…there is always the misunderstanding, the unintended consequence, the unexpected event, the blind side, someone with a different agenda roiling your design and spoiling your fun.

When designing a strategy for your life, keep it simple and understand your priorities. For the most part, if we can avoid doing dumb…and dumb usually comes from trying to be too clever, we will be fine.

Practice choosing the simpler first, practice Ockham’s razor, and witness your life improve.

Towards that end, I have come up with a short and easy to remember list of undeniable truths to help keep me on tract and avoid dumb:

Life is not fair

People are not rational

Change and the unexpected cease when you’re dead

Be grateful for what is

And,  Simpler is better

Our Guest blogger today is Mike Sena, CEO of White Street Advisors, a Financial Planning and Advisory Practice in Canton, GA. Mike can be reached at http://www.whitestreetadvisors.com

“Am I a man dreaming I was a butterfly,

or am I now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man”

Chuang Tzu

Mid life Crisis or Mid Life Transformation?

I read wonderful words the other day from a fellow Tao teacher.

It was about both men and women going through a mid-life crisis.… mid-life awakening, as I prefer to view it

It seems we see it only from the ugly side… the hot sports car, broken marriages, and ugly self-centered behaviors.

There is however a positive, creative and more life affirming side to these changes.

Especially if we consider them from the spiritual change, not the ego change.

From the spiritual side they should be viewed as transformations.

If we can shift our thought from mid-life crisis – to mid-life transformation, or mid-life awakenings we open up a whole new positive and enlightened vista to view these happenings.

Rather than one single event I feel my whole life has been one of transformation.

Some years the transformations were easy, sometimes hard…but positive transformations none the less.

I like to vision that we are all our own Michelangelo’s sculpting our own personal David’s. We start out mostly un formed and each year we sculpt, cut and refine.

The past 10 years my own transformation and sculpting was severe.

A few times the cuts were deep, but now on reflection they were needed to reveal my inner soul, character and pur[pose in life.

If you are going thru some deep sculpting right now,  don’t loose hope…please keep my personal experiences in mind. The deepest cuts unveil the most beautiful and meaningful changes.

It dawned on me that from a spiritual perspective the ad for Nike – “just do it” – may be more profound than most people realize. When they say “just do it” they are talking to the ancient philosophy from the Tao Te Ching and it’s concept of “Wu Wei”. 

The Tao Te Ching is the ancient Oriental book of philosophy and wisdom, written by Lao Tzu, over 500 years before the birth of Christ.

When Nike says “just do it” they are saying, get out of your mind and into your spirit.

Wu Wei is “accomplishing much by inaction. We ask how we can perform action by inaction. 

We see it many times in great athletes. They soar through the air, hit a golf ball, or move beautifully with almost no effort, no forced struggle. We say they are in the “zone”.

I say they that these athletes have learned to live the ancient philosophy of Wu Wei.

All of us can master the concept of Wu Wei as well. We see it in everyday life.

Have you noticed how some people struggle through life, while others seem to effortlessly advance. Have you noticed or wondered why some have to work very hard for little; while others seem to achieve so much with seemingly little effort. I am not talking about people who lie or cheat to get things, but good people who seem happy and relaxed, while achieving much with little struggle. While they may not know it, they are practicing Wu Wei.

The 8^th Verse of the Tao Te Ching talks about Wu Wei:

“The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying.

Live in accordance with the nature of things.

Be timely in choosing the right moment.

One who lives in accordance with nature does not go against the way of things.

He moves in harmony with the present moment, always knowing the truth of just what to do.”

Do you practice Wu Wei, or do you push and try to force things to happen.

Do you struggle hard and receive little. If so then perhaps you should practice Wu Wei.

Remember that a tree does not struggle to be a tree. It knows its essence, it trusts in its nature, and without effort matures to a stately tree.

In the same way our greatest athletes, like Michael Jordan, or Tiger Wood practice and work, but do not force. They let their true essence unfold, and trust that their skill will shine through when needed. They then play the game with abandon and trust.

They do not “try” they simply do.

 So think of Wu Wei as you go through life. The fundamental tenets of Wu Wei are “non action, or “effortless action”, or”natural doing”. Again, this sounds like a paradox, but it is not. 

Think of nature or of the planets revolving in the Universe. They do this action without willful action. Without struggle or difficult action they just do it. So as I said in the beginning, perhaps the ad for Nike is more profound than we realize…”just do it”

Steve Monahan – The Tao Te Ching Blog.com – Ideas-Institute.org

 In spite of its years, and obscurity in the western world, the Tao survives as one of the five most read books across the globe.

The Tao is a book of wisdom and is translated in many ways including…Tao “The Way”, Te virtue”, and Ching “Book or Cannon”.  It is usually simply referred to as “The Tao”…The Way To Virtue and Wisdom 

The highly esteemed philosopher Dr Lin Yutang has stated that “if their is any one book in all of Oriental literature which should be read above all others it is Lao Tzu’s book of Tao.

To me the Tao is both a mystical and practical course on how to live a life of peace and happiness.
It is every bit as needed now…perhaps more so… as when it was written by consciousness through Lao Tzu 2,500 years ago.

In each blog post we will take you through the paradox of living the Tao.

We will also explain the paradox of how one can come to be at the same time both a Man of Peace and a Warrior.

I have found reading, meditating upon and living daily the Tao to be a remarkable journey.

The Tao is a life inspiring and changing book.

 If you are ready it will take you deep into the core of your being …and if you are prepared answer for you the meaning of life, and the life below heaven in the world of the 10,000 Things.
 
Read and practice the tao daily and walk the path in peace on this magical journey we call life.

As Lao Tzu stated

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step”.

At IDEAS-Institute we believe that we are all students and teachers in life, whose mutual purpose is to help one another learn how to live in peace, happiness and love.

Our blogs and courses are drawn from our life experiences, and the wisdom found in the teachings of the Tao Te Ching, Upanishads, Buddha,Veda Texts, the Bible, Emerson, Thoreau, Napoleon Hill and so many others who travel the path contemplating the mysteries and opportunities of life.

We deliver to all better thoughts to feed our minds, better nutrition to feed our bodies, and better ideas to feed our souls. 

Mankind has crossed the threshold into the most amazing future; propelled by Quantum Science, Photonics, Biometrics, Nano-biotech, Genomics, and Neuro Science.  

While we have been going about our daily routines a seismic shift has taken place.  Few are aware, and most are not ready for the amazing quantum changes ahead for us all in the 21st century.  

 The past 50 years more was invented and discovered than the previous 2,500 years.

In the coming 50 years that progress will pale in comparison.

A more enlightened and better future awaits us and our children. 

 Join with us  as we cross the threshold into an amazing future.

For information on IDEAS Institute email Steve Monahan, Director at Steve@Ideas-Institute.org