Dios esta en el aire que respiro

"On the Other Side, love is the constant state, the air we breathe."  Concetta Bertoldi.  "Inside The Other Side"
When I was ministering to the Spanish-speaking community in Hendersonville, NC, I came across a hymn, which I put in the title of this post. It translates to: God is in the very air that I breathe. I fell in love with the hymn because of its message - it is the insight of a mystic, of an old soul who has learned to see God in everyTHING and in everyONE. And here, Concetta uses the same concept - serendipity.

A clear understanding

"God has given each and every one of us gifts; He has given us all we need to love and be loved, to be happy and succeed both in spiritual terms and in earthly terms. We might resist believing this because on this side of the veil everything we do meets opposition. Expressing our love can be scary; using our gifts and getting to that happiness can require tough decisions and actions from us. In heaven [the Other Side-dimension] we have complete fulfillment, but here we need to work with[in] the constraints of the physical world. We have things to push against and overcome. Be we can do or be anything that is within our nature, and our guardian angels [and advanced souls], as emissaries of God, will be there to help us with our endeavors."

from "Inside The Other Side" by Concetta Bertoldi
Note: [ ] = my additions

The Perfect Attitude

"The end and sum total of all mysticism, philosophy, and meditation, of everything one learns and develops, is to be a better servant to humanity."
"If there were two people before me, one with great power of wonder-working, who could perform miracles, and another humble and kind and gentle and willing to do anything he could for his fellow men, I would prefer the last. ...The first is wonderful, but the other is a sage."
Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Art of Being and Becoming.

On the seashore of endless worlds, children play...

Have you spent any time listening to or reading Deepak Chopra? I hope you have. He is an avatar for our generation. His books are inspiring, his insights are enlightening, his words are clear and full of wisdom. Deepak has begun a new project -- Choprawell on YouTube. But here is a link to get you started -- https://www.deepakchopra.com/
The video clips are short and to the point - so one can log in and listen to a short exposition of a variety of subjects. On one video he speaks of sexual and spiritual energy - are they different or the same? Over the years I have reflected on the same subject. I agree with Chopra, they are the same. Their source is the same - All energy is from One source to begin with - the Source of Being! Most people equate sexuality with the physical, and so it is. But the experience of sexual orgasm is much more, if you can recall ;). It is an experience which is timeless, exquisite, joyful, intimate, an experience of ecstasy which mirrors the ecstasy of saints and mystics, though THEIR ecstasy does not involve the genitals per se. That experience can be had even without the physical effort of sex. Why? Because it springs from the same source. Bliss is bliss. How? Meditation on a daily basis opens the heart and mind to the reality of the soul, pure energy, which flows into our being from the Source of all Being. Another term for ecstasy is "spiritual orgasm."
On Deepak's website, you can learn to meditate, and even follow videos for short trips into the inner dimensions of the spirit.
Check out Deepak.

Truth in Advertising?

I LOVE Toyota's commercial with the song: "Life is all about the ride."  FABULOUS! Life IS all about the ride - it is all about experience - experiencing material life through all the senses, whether they are acute or not, fully active or damaged. Life IS all about the ride!! Take in everything you look at, everything you listen to, everything you taste, everything you touch, everything you feel. Go where your heart draws you - experience as much as you can - find joy in everything you do, because Life is all about the ride!! 
What a waste of life is war and hatred, prejudice, intolerance and apathy. How much of Life is missed because of negativity. Every life is a life of God - should we not encourage one another to trip the light fantastic - for the glory of God? Every moment is a moment of joy in the heart of the Beloved. Reach deeply into the well of Life, and drink deeply of the Spirit which energizes all that is.

Holy Quotes!

"We should not try to become a flower in order to feel superior to a thorn, but only for the benefit of others. ....It is easy to say, 'You have hurt me, insulted me, disturbed me, troubled me.' ...one does better to ask oneself if one has not harmed or disturbed someone else."

"...vanity is the power which can lead man either to good or bad. It is the living spark of the ego: the soberness of the ego is divine vanity,* and the intoxication of the ego is the conceit of man."

"Worrying comes from self-pity and fear, and fear is made of the clouds of ignorance; the light will dissolve it. Humor is the sign of light: when the light from above touches the mind it tickles the mind, and it is the tickling of the mind which produces humor."

Hazrat Inayat Khan, "The Art of Being and Becoming"

* divine vanity: God's satisfaction in the manifestation created = the joy of accomplishment.

Afterlife

You are not your body. The material entity you think of as your SELF, is a temporary vehicle  through which you experience this material world. Your REAL SELF is really anchored in another dimension, from which you came into material life, to which you are still connected while in the body, and to which you will return when the body no longer functions (death-material). No one dies - you are energy (spirit), and even a scientist will tell you that energy cannot be destroyed.
How many times has any one soul come back into material life?  Only the real self knows.

Afterlife Forums

All righty then --- check THIS out:

http://afterlifeforums.com/content.php/121-other-useful-afterlife-sites

The Death of Death? It's about time!!

It is exciting to see and hear that the subject of death and the afterlife are being discussed in the general media. Barbara Walters' special on Heaven, and this radio program on the Afterlife, are just the beginning of a real discussion and ultimate discovery of  the reality of death and interdimensional life. I believe the "places" of heaven (St. Paul counts seven heavens, other cultures count more) and "hell" are, in modern parlance, other dimensions. Science is exploring the "possibilities" of dimensions, but I would rather postulate they are attempting to validate the idea of multiple dimensions. It would be a concrete confirmation of beliefs which have been taught in religious texts in all cultures for thousands of years - only the terminology will change. "Heaven" is a dimension of life, and we are told there are many "heavens" or dimensions.

For those who do not need scientific confirmation, such a validation would still be terribly comforting. The less we fear, the more we live. When we are no longer fearful of the death of the body (which Jesus tried to teach us to be), we can join the English bard with surety -- O, death, where is thy sting? A Christian fearful of death has not embraced the full teaching of Jesus - Love one another as I have loved you - Compassion, Trust in God, Believing Jesus' act of sacrifice truly teaches us not to dwell on our mistakes (sins) against one another, but to trust that God loves us as we are, and will help us to overcome our inadequacies by instilling in us Divine Love, of which we are made. By His wounds we are healed. Let it go, and let God.

Reach deeply into your heart and soul, and drink from the Spring of Life within you - All that is is there - All that is is you. 

Catch Radiolab on the radio. This week: After Life

http://www.radiolab.org/

A 2012 Perspective

We must take commentary from all sides in order to learn the truth of what is.  It is only by taking every thought of every being in every quadrant of the universe that we can know the whole truth. We are only at a tiny -.% of understanding it at all.


Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-schiffman/will-the-world-end-in-2012_b_1172297.html

Deo Gratias

Well then -- there is no real answer for why bad things happen to good people - but first - what we judge "bad" could sometimes be an op for learning and personal growth. What we judge "good" isn't always the best. We take things too personally in this material life - we are not VICTIMS of life -  every "happening" is an op for learning "SOMEthing", which helps the entire universe to grow. Jesus told us: "Judge not." 

We can only do so much to "control" our little world of influence - the rest is a crapshoot. And the best we can do is respond: "OK, now what can I do with THIS?" (That's why I love those emails re: Redneck inventions!!)

The future first question when two people meet will be: "What's your DNA?"  It used to be "What's your sign? "  The next will be - what's your family history? If we try to "figure out" why things happen, if we try to understand and control the WHOLE process of our lives, we will miss experiencing the beauty all around us. That's the purpose of Life - to experience........ and ain't it amazing!? There is SO MUCH happening at any given moment!! I tear up just thinking about the complexity of Life, the myriad forms of material life. Then I get a kind of feeling like a belly laugh - if God had a face, it would be laughing, the kind of laugh that contains wonder, joy, compassion and understanding - whew!! It's enough to make one faint with joy!!

Can we "understand" the whys of life? Perhaps a little bit here to some extent, perhaps a bit more in the next dimension. Sometimes the best we can do is to be grateful for the NOW. My mom always murmured: "Thank you, God" every so often.  She had no easy life, and her body was not always in the best of health. But still, she could say, "Thank you, God." That taught me everything I need to know to be a success in life.

Bloody

My feet are green with the blood of grass.

Look UP!

Sorrow looks back,

Worry looks around,

But faith looks up!

Live simply,

love generously,

care deeply,

speak kindly, and

trust in our Creator,

who loves us.   

-- Anonymous