You Are The Universe

Bear in the 'Hood, just off the back deck

You have to accept the same fundamental characteristics of the Universe as yours. Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Creative Power Released – July, 2011)

This morning finds me feeling deeply into a sense of being a part of this vast, infinite Universe. The words ‘You are the Universe. The Universe is you.’ are in my head and felt in my heart, despite living a world that seems hell-bent on denying my true nature. Sometimes that world leaves me spinning as I try to make sense of it and its small, controlling, finite ways.

But then Bear, a teacher who brings forth the unconscious, visits.  Not in a dream, but in the flesh (or the fur) outside, just beyond the deck.  The world doesn't make sense in mystical terms. It can't. It won't. 

Bear helps me remember the vastness that extends infinitely, of free will regardless of circumstance, and of the qualities of this amazing Universe that we are. To define infinity is to make it finite. I am infinite. So are you.

Unlike our world which labels things ‘good’ or ‘bad’ as part of its effort to separate and control, the Universe simply IS. I am. So are you.

The Universe doesn’t compare. It doesn’t worry over whether what it does or experiences today is more/less, better/worse that yesterday, last year, or eons ago. It doesn’t compare you to me or a pine to an oak. It simply flows as ever present energy. I am that energetic flow. So are you.

The Universe IS qualities that are present as potential in each and every one of us: abundance, beauty, harmony, joy, peace, power, love, light (intelligence), and life.

I am abundance. So are you.

I am beauty. So are you.

I am harmony. So are you.

I am joy. So are you.

I am peace. So are you.

I am power. So are you.

I am love. So are you.

I am intelligence. So are you.

I am life. So are you.

Imagine a world where we have learned to step beyond our potential and more fully into who we truly are.  Imagine your world when you dare to journey on that path. From a speck of awareness that You are the Universe and the Universe is You, what’s possible? What step will I take today to live more fully into that potential?

Dream A Little Dream

Yes. That IS snow.

We are here to dream our part of the Original Dream. Gregge Tiffen (The Journey Continues: A Taste of Devotion - April, 2010)

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Mahatma Gandhi

What do you dream of that you know comes from deep inside? Do you notice when you are following that dream that you are Gandhi’s very definition of happiness – your thoughts, words, and deeds are in harmony? Isn’t that where happiness lives? Isn’t that how humanity thrives?

We are individual entities, each an integral part of the greater whole that unfolds moment to moment, day to day. We were granted free will as a part of our sojourn. Moment to moment we have the power to choose.  You and I and every human on the planet is included (those with whom we resonate AND those who see and experience things differently than we do).

The Dream knows none of the artificial barriers humankind has created. There are no walls or fences or boundaries of any kind. Ethnicity, wealth and other measures of man matter not in The Dream. Our access is limited only by our individual commitment and willingness to be aware. EveryONE is a thread in the fabric of The Dream.

The Dream is available to one and all that we might each discover our part, write the script, and play it with aplomb. Our part is our dream. Our part is that in which we experience our thoughts, words, and deeds to be in perfect alignment. Life is just that simple.  

We make it complex in our efforts to control that over which we have no control. One another and the future are prime examples. What others think, say, do is none of my business. Manipulating life’s events toward a guaranteed outcome is both exhausting and futile. 

I find comfort in remembering that The Dream exists. My curiosity is peaked and I want to expand my awareness of my dream as a part of it.  I imagine the hit song Dream a Little Dream of Me (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYek278jx2U) as a love song from the Universe calling us to The Dream and inviting us to (re)discover our part.   

What lies within – deep, yet within reach – that is ready to emerge and to play its part?

Green ... the promise of Spring!

Earth Day: Harmony For The Planet Every Day

Getting Ready for Earth Day at the Dragonfly House!

God is the great mysterious motivator of what we call nature, and it has been said often by philosophers, that nature is the will of God. And, I prefer to say that nature is the only body of God that we shall ever see.  Frank Lloyd Wright (quoted in Life In The World Hereafter: The Journey Continues)

Nature is intimately partnered with us in this physical experience, and that is perhaps the greatest boon of our incarnate existence, as nature is directly connected to and informed by the Universe.  Gregge Tiffen (Life In The World Hereafter: The Journey Continues, 2006)

You can knock me over, but I'll still grow up.

I’m profoundly blessed and deeply grateful to live surrounded by nature’s beauty and bounty. I step outside my door into a veritable feast for my senses. Seeing the flow of Cottonwood Creek bringing the snowmelt from the peaks reminds me of the natural flow of life. The smell of freshness in the pines tells me that experiences in life are always new. The distinctive buzz of the season’s first hummingbird signals the joy of spring awakening. The warm touch of the sun says that coats and hats and gloves can soon be put away. With a bit of awareness and imagination, I can taste the freshness of spring.

'Scout', first hummer of the season, making sure everything is in order before the charm arrives here at their summer home.

Daily I hold the intention to live in greater harmony with nature and to hear and understand her messages more clearly.  I almost never leave home without my little camera and I never know what visual treat the flora or fauna or rocks will provide.  Sometimes I simply enjoy the beauty of what is offered. Other times I wonder and reflect on what message nature is sending. What can I learn from what I see?

Yesterday, feeling a bit of a funk and choosing not to force myself into putting energy into one of several projects on my list, Luke and I set out to wander through the woods out back. No trails to stay on. Luke followed his nose. Mom set out to let visual wonders lead the way. Our paths rarely drifted far from one another despite the denseness of the woods and our different interests.

Two Trees ... growing together, growing apart amidst the curves and tangles of life.

Our wandering reminded me that the Universe is designed in harmony and our dominion over the Earth is to maintain and restore that harmony. With every thought, every word, every deed we are making a contribution of harmony that supports nature on the planet or of disharmony that puts nature in the position of taking action to rebalance.  Our thoughts matter. Our words matter. How we maintain our bodies, our homes and care for our pets and our plants matter.  Even how we sleep matters.  

Accepting death as a part of the natural cycle helps us harmonize with nature and ourselves.

Harmony matters. This earth day, I’m rededicating myself to my own personal harmony, within and without. What about you?

Simple Beauty ... my version of eye candy and found in every direction.

Matter Matters

Last Icicles of The Season??? I wonder ...

Uncovering a learning point within ourselves is the fuel that fans the flame for moment-by-moment discoveries.  View your whole day as a fantastic learning opportunity.  Gregge Tiffen (Fanned Fire and Forced Love Never Did Well – February, 2008)

Yikes! I needed that reminder this week as I navigated several breakdowns here at the Dragonfly House.  As the first round wound down, I reminded myself that this a planet where our greatest learning opportunities may be simply learning about matter – the physical world and how to navigate  physical circumstances such as our health, nutrition, movement, as well as building and maintaining such things as our homes, our cars, our ‘stuff’.

That’s not to minimize our spiritual growth or expanding our mental capacity, but what if, on this planet, a key pathway to that growth is through dealing with physical matter, i.e. learning to navigate the physical?

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find myself feeling burdened and annoyed by the demands of the physical world. I race through attending to the needs (sometimes demands) of my body, my home, my ‘stuff’ so that I can move on to the important business of life like my ‘spiritual’ growth or even thinking about how to creatively grow my business.

That’s where I planned my attention to be this week. Life had other plans requiring that I put attention on my home and, a few days later, on office equipment.   To ignore the demands would be ignorant, so as the first day of events ended I took myself to a place of reflection and curiosity.  The botched delivery of a washer and dryer was not a world crisis, though it added inconvenience and cost to the process. And, if it wasn’t corrected soon, it would impact my ability to host guests in the B&B; and, thus my income, a potential stressor.

In reflecting on my observations of the day, in particular my reactions, I gave myself mixed reviews. But, more importantly, I realized in a new way what a gift matter, the physical, offers up in terms of learning. So rather than a burden or a distraction from ‘important’ things, I’ve embraced the events as opportunities to learn. I see that being inventive and proactive on my behalf in the domain of the physical contributes to my spiritual and mental capabilities as well.

I’m discovering riches in acknowledging how much I know about responding when things break down. There’s a wealth of opportunity in identifying gaps in my knowledge and skills to develop.  I’m experimenting with how to hold my ground with grace in the face of a corporation whose recorded messages tell me how important my customer feedback is while I wait for a ‘customer service’ representative who is not empowered to serve, but only to give rote responses that don’t address the concern I’m presenting.  It’s a curious dance to explore maintaining a centered presence while making demands.

So matter matters. Yes, in its physical form for the safety and comfort it provides.  And, navigating the matter of physical matter, rather than being a burden or distraction to rush through is a point of learning which makes it easier to embrace each day as a fantastic learning opportunity.  Onward!  And, stay tuned for updates...

Cottonwood Creek this week ... always my place of sweet peace.

Cheerful Journey Inward

Snowy Trail on the Journey

Let us look to Nature for guidance as our code book for everything we need to know or to understand. Gregge Tiffen (Tax Time: Are You Taxing Yourself? – April, 2007)

I saw my first meadowlark of the season (a Western Meadowlark for those birders among you) on April 1st (no joke!) and heard its song the following morning, a snowy one, on a hike to the Ziggurat. The cheerful song accompanied beautiful views in all directions: the Great Sand Dunes and Blanca Peak to the south, San Juan Mountains to the west, the Collegiate Peaks to the north, and, our home, the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the east.  The beautiful, vast San Luis Valley floor surrounded us on three sides.  Ah, nature.

The Great Sand Dunes and the vast San Luis Valley

This vastness is in contrast to the woods that surround us here at the Dragonfly House.  Except for a few glimpses of Crestone and Kit Carson Peaks, there’s little indication of the vastness to be seen a short walk away.  Here I see each tree, up close and personal.  I see the unique form each has taken on its journey of life. I see how shape is formed by how much light, space and moisture are available and by storms that have broken or redirected limbs.  I can gaze with contentment on a tree for a very long time, imagining its stories.

Nature speaks deeply and wisely. I wonder how deeply and wisely I’m listening.  Meadowlark reminds me to let the journey inward be a cheerful one (Ted Andrews – Animal Speak).  Much like me, meadowlark lives and stays close to the ground, home, the self.  I’m reminded to not stray too far from that which is my responsibility.

Nature reminds me that in life there is no purpose for complaint, for blame, for competition or comparison. These distractions are created by man. They separate us from our true nature and from nature herself.

I smile knowing that in my humanness I engage in such acts, even though I know that they contribute nothing to my growth or to happiness and joy. They hold no beauty, harmony or love. The smile acknowledges nature’s wisdom so much deeper than my own.  In nature I see acceptance, cooperation, and the unfolding of its blueprint as each seed falls on fertile ground.  Nature has much to teach me.

Again, I wonder how deeply and wisely I’m listening. 

Before my walk this crisp, clear morning, that was the last sentence of this week’s post. But nature held a different plan. She gently reminded me of another attribute: there is no death, no end.  Snow melts or evaporates. That’s a simple change of form. A tree ceases to add new growth and slowly rots, providing housing for many creatures before it crumbles and returns into soil. 

And, so it is with you and with me.  At some point the body ceases to function, and it changes form.  Consciousness, the soul, moves onward as well, just as it has for eons of time, if only we remembered just how long our true journey has been.

Beauty Without End. Amen!

What The World Needs Now

A few of my favorite things -- Cool Hand Luke, Cottonwood Creek, and a beautiful crisp morning!

What the world needs now is love, sweet love… (lyrics by Hal David, music by Burt Bacharach)

Without our faith in the unseen, the reality becomes too overwhelming, too horrible to bear. It is from the unseen that we draw the courage to deal with the reality that confronts us. (Gregge Tiffen – It’s Springtime: Flow With The Power of Nature – March, 2007)

What the world needs now IS love, the vibration of love from every being on the planet.  Love is a characteristic of the Universe. With love come the other Universal characteristics: abundance, beauty, harmony, joy, light (intelligence), life, peace, and power. The world needs these as its foundation.  We need them in order to navigate that world.

This week I’m struck by the level of despair that I’ve heard in listening to the world: to news reports, to Facebook posts, to conversations with others.  With all my heart, I beg you: DENY DESPAIR.  Yes, I know that in the view of many, the world as we know it is falling apart. Change is upon us. Our opportunity is to be the love on which a new foundation can be built.

Allowing despair and any other members of the family of fear to take hold of your being is just what the world would like. Despair, you see, leads to abdication. And, that is how the world controls. As contemporary author and activist Rivera Sun says in The Dandelion Insurrection, “When fear is used to control us, love is how we rebel.”

I want change to be grounded in love, not in fear. And, since I have no control over others, it seems that my job is to muster all the love, the harmony, the light that I can in my own walk through this world.  I notice that it’s easy for me to get caught up in the drama that seems to be the world today. Yet I want to stay informed.

In reflecting on how to do so, I was reminded by something my coach wrote this week that we have two eyes – one to focus on the world, the other to focus on the Universe. I have two ears as well. Perhaps the same applies. Listen to the world with one. Listen to the Universe with the other.

For certain I need an antidote to what I see and hear when I look at/listen to the world. For me, the Universe offers just that in the form of nature and, perhaps more important, quiet time to listen to the small, still voice inside.  I also find inspired places in the world to explore: art, inspirational writing, and music to name a few. Then, I can see and hear the world from a different perspective. This I know. And this I am learning to apply and to practice.

What about you? Are your ‘sources’ of input only from the world’s chaos? Or are you giving equal time to the Universe so that you can find and contribute the love that our world so needs?  

May we have the clarity and flow of a mountain stream.

Joy: A Doorway to Power

From Melt to Freeze ... Spring Inches Closer

However, the joy of consciousness is not a sense of euphoric feelings of laughter about things that are occurring. It is the joy of knowing that you exist and that you are in harmony enjoying yourself. It is a sense of knowing above and beyond what the body may be involved in doing.  Gregge Tiffen (Echoing: Expectations – September, 2016)

A couple weeks back I shared Gregge Tiffen’s list of the nine characteristics of the Universe (http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/an-atmosphere-of-well-being). They are abundance, harmony, beauty, joy, love, light (intelligence), life, peace, and power. I explored beauty in that post, discovering (as Gregge shared) that where beauty was present, so too were the other characteristics. My discovery was reinforced this week as I explored the characteristic of joy.

We tend to think of joy as something we experience infrequently. You know, when you experience something terrific, you ‘jump for joy’. And, that joy passes. It’s joy triggered by something in the world. It’s an experience of the body and our emotions.

Those experiences are a part of life. While they bring a time of pleasantness and fun, this joy doesn’t represent the journey of the soul. It’s not consciousness.

In exploring joy this week, I discovered that difference. I found joy not it observing events of the world (although there are some amazing people, doing amazing things these days!), but rather in going back to basics: self-observation, quiet reflection, awareness, then, action.

I’d been stuck in a recurring physical health experience that I couldn’t get beyond. It’s lingered for months in varying degrees and discomforts, and my efforts to address it mostly with outside support weren’t having the lasting impact I desired.  And so, finally, I got quiet. I asked for guidance. And, I listened. I heard “You’ve been here before. You know what to do. That’s all.” Say what? I wanted explicit directions.

And, then I remembered. I’d experienced very similar symptoms, recurring over several months, 15 or more years ago. Instantly, I knew what to do (and I still had the book from that earlier experience to guide me). I went into action with clarity and sense of confidence. I knew.

Today, I feel a sense of joy far beyond the elation of disappearing symptoms.  I see clearly that where the pure joy of being exists, so to do abundance, beauty, harmony, love, light, life, peace and power. In particular I see that each is a doorway to the others and that joy was the door to unlock my personal power. I love the unity of these qualities and that we only need engage one to experience the others! How cool is that?

I’m grateful and deeply aware that we are each imbued with power that no one, no system, no thing can take away. But that’s a story for another day. Meanwhile, I invite to go back to basics with something that’s dogging you and won’t let go. Observe, reflect, listen, then, act. Notice the joy and power in that!

Heart on Ice!

Conspiracy Theories

Beauty in the Broken

You cannot separate yourself from the Universe, period! You just cannot do that and nothing can. That is the Law, and that is how the Law operates. The premise is that you are not different from the Universe from which you are drawn. Gregge Tiffen (The Language of a Mystic: Polarities – February, 2009)

So there. That’s that. You are the Universe. You are all its qualities. I am too, along with 7.125 billion humans scattered over the planet. In Universal terms none is greater or lesser than another. Oh to see one another through the eyes of the Universe, and then live from that perspective. I aspire, but I’m no saint. Yet my aspiration has offered up new insights this week.

The world constantly yaps that we are separate and, thus, should live in fear of one another. Some of those messages are overt and obvious. We hear them and recognize that we have a choice about whether to accept or reject. Others are more subtle and insidious. We may not even be aware that messages suggesting “that’s just the way things are” are swirling about. Hence, we don’t clearly see that we have a choice. We go along to get along. Both are messages of a system that puts power in the mundane, fame, fortune and seeks to control based on fear. And, both are erroneous.

In my quest to discover beauty in every thing last week (http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/an-atmosphere-of-well-being), I found myself going beyond the five senses to find beauty in those ways of the world that I abhor. Yet, beauty I found.

I discovered beauty in the vast learning opportunities our chaotic world is offering moment to moment, day by day, 24/7. Perhaps the greatest learning of all is to remember that we are at the very core of our being all of the qualities of the Universe from which we can and of which we are a vital part.

•         We are beauty. Learn to BE that beauty.
•         We are harmony. Learn to BE that harmony.
•         We are abundance. Learn to BE that abundance.
•         We are peace. Learn to BE that peace.
•         We are power. Learn to BE that power.
•         We are joy. Learn to BE that joy.
•         We are light. Learn to BE that intelligence.
•         We are life. Learn to BE that life.
•         We are love. Learn to be that love.

I found beauty in unexpected places because I was making the choice to see beauty in those places. I was reminded to remember my Source and to choose THAT as my expression in the world.

Love on the Road!

And, I discovered that the qualities of Source (or the Universe, if you prefer) are inseparable from one another. Where I found beauty I found each of the others.  No matter which is the focus or the lead, when I found beauty, love, peace, joy and the others easily followed. Then, just beyond I found the gift of gratitude.

So, while some conspire to conquer and control others, the loving Universe seems to have a conspiracy of its own: granting us the opportunity and privilege to learn along with the power to make that choice.

While our individual choices may separate us from the pack, choosing to learn offers something the pack can never offer: strengthening awareness of our connection to the Source from which we came and of which we are forever a part. That learning becomes wisdom to carry with us into the great beyond. 

Last week I conspired with beauty to take the lead. This week, I’m choosing joy. What about you?

Elephant in the Woods (can you find it?)

Auld Lang Syne

White Christmas was NOT a dream!

“Give up the last year. Get rid of all those things of the mundane world. Make room for the awareness of a whole new spiritual understanding that will carry you throughout the next year.” Gregge Tiffen (The Winter Solstice: Giving To Yourself, December 2007)

“… and when you have the willingness to accept who you are, you become aware of an internal flame that burns with a fire that is unquenchable. It’s your acceptance that dispels fears and inadequacies.”  Gregge Tiffen (Open Secrets: Sacred Passageways, December 2011)

As the year winds to a close, we tend to look back on that year, its joys, its sorrows, what we accomplished, where we may have fallen short. Hopefully our review list includes acknowledging all that we learned from the opportunities and events that life presented.

As 2016 ends, many will breathe a sigh of relief that it is finally over and a breath of hope for better days in year ahead.  Some look ahead with dread.  These are what draw our attention when we focus on the world outside of us, the world we live IN but the world we are not OF.

The world we live in seems chaotic and uncertain. It is. But within each of us is a seed of understanding who we truly are. Nurturing that seed grows our faith in our capacity to be resilient in the face of the world’s chaos.  Perhaps we need it now more than ever.

The seed of faith is within us all. It is faith not in something outside of us. Rather it is faith in who we are, each as an individual, integral part of an intelligent Universe. It is a reminder that life is so much more than we experience and observe each and every day.

As you ring in 2017, I invite you to join me in nourishing your seed of faith in the 365 days that lie ahead.

Perhaps this prayer, one of my favorites of Gregge’s writing, will support you to deepen your faith in you and in understanding just how important you are in the Universal scheme of things.

Let me never forget how important I am to the Universal Picture. Without me there would be a blank space where there should be color.

Let me understand that the challenges of life are just that and not battles. I am not out there to win or to loose, only to develop my skills as an on-going student in an omnipotent school. 

Let me understand that the difference between people is one of the wondrous realities of an infinite Universe. Giving those differences space to be is far more important than comparing them to my set of beliefs. 

Let me be proud of what I do. To whatever my hand touches, let me remind myself that it was my effort that added to the result. Perfection is not my goal. Creativity is.

Let me remind myself that most of what I take seriously about myself also qualifies for a good laugh. Let me remember to be kind to myself. Loving companions are one of life’s treats, but they are not responsible for my care. Self-kindness can heal almost any hurt. 

Let me take responsibility as a gift and not a burden. Within that effort is the grandest sense of accomplishment I could achieve. 

Let me be patient with life. Nature does not produce the flower before the roots have taken hold. If I recognize that the place I am in is the right place at the right time, it will always be the right place at the right time.  Gregge Tiffen (The Significance of Beginning, January 2007)

Add Snowy to Cordial and Cheerful.

Emptiness At Solstice

Magical, Mystical, Pre-dawn Moon

What I would exhort you to, what I would give as a gift to you, what I would lay down a soul for, would be for your awareness to recognize that this is a personal event for your life. It is the time that has been set up on this planet for you and Heaven to be with each other without interference. Gregge Tiffen (The Winter Solstice: Giving To Yourself – December, 2007)*

Emptiness seems like a strange word to ascribe to the season of winter holidays with their bright lights, joyful sounds, and festivities to match.  And, yet, giving yourself the gift of emptying is an important part of being prepared to receive the new that is sure to come as the sun begins her journey back to the north.  After all, the full glass cannot receive more wine.

In the Christmas Story, we are told that the inn was full. And, yet a receptive place for the birth was found. So it is for each of us.

We too need to empty and make ourselves receptive to the new.  Solstice is a time to declare one cycle complete, making way for another to begin. It is a time to embrace the realm of spirit and turn our backs on the material world, if only for a brief time. It is a time to bless and release all who have crossed your path in this cycle, knowing that those who are meant to return will be there in the new one.

And, perhaps most important of all, it is time to let go of who we were in the cycle that is completing.  The ‘you’ of that cycle is complete as well. And a new you of your design and making awaits.

As our planet prepares to celebrate her birthday, let us honor her by taking time to reflect this gift of the time when heaven and nature sing as one. May we each sing along in our own unique and harmonious way.

* The Winter Solstice has become my personal spiritual holiday over the years. You can read more about that here - http://cindyreinhardt.com/blog/the-gift-of-solstice

Magical, Mystical Moon at Sunrise