Author: Don Butler

Perfect Time For A Trip

Winter. The time of the year for cold, snow, wind, ice and sleet. It’s the perfect time for a trip. A trip inside that is. Winter – time to go inside to the inner you. The you that longs to reside in the true reality of the Kingdom of God within. Forget Disneyworld, the Yucatan, Paris or Bora Bora. To take a trip within yourself is a trip you will never, ever forget. You will never want to forget it.

It is a trip that may initially trouble you but will subsequently astonish and amaze you. After taking this trip you will palm slap yourself and say “Why? Why did I not go here before this?” Perhaps best of all, it is a trip that will not cost you so much as one penny of your money. The only cost to you will be your time.

Free From Outside Distractions

Winter is a perfect time to go on your journey. During the cold and snow of winter, the distractions are removed that “good weather” throws at you. Hiking, picnics, barbeques, sports activities, swimming, boating, gardening, bicycling, etc., etc., etc. During the cold of winter, your desire is to stay within the warmth of the indoors. Rather than throw away this ultra valuable time watching tv or tik tok videos, you have the golden opportunity to move your life in the direction of greater fulfillment, joy and inner peace.

If you prefer to watch reruns of Gilligan’s Island, so be it. Say hi to the Skipper and Mr. and Mrs. Howell for me. It is always your choice. You are sovereign. The Light of creation that created you has gifted you with that choice. Choose wisely. Choose successfully.

Where Reality Begins

You may now say, “So what’s the big deal about going deep unto your inner self? Sounds like a bunch of baloney to me.” The big deal that you mention is really a big, big deal. For deep within, after you depart your surface consciousness, is the subconscious. The subconscious is where all the action is. It is your portal to manifesting your reality. It is where “reality” begins. Your subconscious is your connection to the Kingdom of God.

When you are able to leave your outer consciousness – with all its fears and doubts and bias and misbeliefs – and travel inside to your subconscious, you are in the glorious world of conscious manifesting. When your subconscious perceives that you believe that you already have the object of your desire, manifestation begins. Sometimes quickly. Sometimes slowly. As long as you maintain your faith however, your desired reality is in the process of being formed.

Go Beyond The Threshold

The threshold of your outer consciousness is what your senses are able to perceive. What you can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Your emotions. The memories that you carry within you from all of your life experiences. The laws of nature and science such as gravity and thermodynamics. The people with whom you interact throughout your lifetime. These all encompass your outer consciousness. They are the threshold of what your outer consciousness is able to process and perceive.

Winter is a good time to take that journey into the inner consciousness of you. This journey takes you beyond the threshold of your outer consciousness. In the beginning of your journey, you will get glimpses of the Kingdom of God within you, the Kingdom that has always been within you. The more that you journey there, the longer looks you will be able to get. It is a Kingdom from which emanates Eternal Light, Eternal Truth, Eternal Love, Eternal Peace. You will begin to feel the beautiful peace and the real power that inhabits this Kingdom. You will be able to “go beyond the threshold”.

You Can And You Should

So you may say, ” I’m not some illumined master from some cave in Tibet. How the hell am I supposed to journey within myself as you say. Kinda sounds like some sort of mumbo-jumbo”. The answer to that is simple yet hard. Ask, seek, knock. Keep on asking until you are answered. Continue seeking until you find. Persist in knocking until the door is opened. Simple because anyone, anywhere, under any conditions can do it. Hard because you are conditioned by the outer circumstances and societal pressures to look upon the outer and not the inner.

Going within to the Kingdom of God within you requires true desire, commitment and belief. The gospel of Thomas states, “That which you have will save you if you bring it forth from yourselves”. If you really want to, you can. You can and you should. In the Kingdom of God within is the knowledge that you have been searching for. Your eyes will be magically opened. You will see the folly of placing your trust in outer circumstances. You will be strong with the power and centered in the peace of the Kingdom of God.

How?

Find a quiet place free from distractions. Your bedroom. The bathroom. Up in the attic or down in the basement. Out in your car or out in the park. If you really want to, you will find such a place. Close your eyes. Stop thinking about everything under the sun. As you will probably find this difficult, just focus on one word over and over again until your mind calms down. I like to use the word “God” or the phrase “Jesus Christ is King”. When your mind finally calms down, just breathe. Then ask, seek, knock.

Ask for guidance and direction in your life. Seek the truth of your existence. Knock on the door of the Kingdom with resolute earnestness Be like that persistent, almost obnoxious door to door salesman who just won’t stop knocking on your door. If your intention is sincere, you will receive response to your asking. You will receive guidance. You however, are a sovereign being. You are the one to make the choice of acting on divine guidance or refusing to act on said guidance. The choice is always yours.

As A Mirror Reflects

You look in a mirror, maybe in your bedroom or in your bathroom. Maybe you like what you see. Maybe you don’t. Damn, another visible nose hair that you clip off. A long hair or a stain on your shirt or blouse. You need a haircut or you really like the haircut you just got. Whether you like what you see in the mirror or dislike it, either way it is not the doing of the mirror. The mirror simply reflects back to you what you are at that moment in time. That Now moment. Changing the mirror or the position of the mirror do absolutely nothing with regard to reflecting back to you what you are at that moment in time.

So it is with the circumstances of life. They are a mirror. They reflect back to you what is going on with regard to your inner self. If you manifest money or possessions or earthly direction over other humans ( a corporate or government leader) and you do not reside in the Kingdom of God, you are in poverty. If you manifest money or possessions or earthly direction over other humans and you experience the peace, the light, the love, the power of the Kingdom of God within you, you are rich beyond measure.

Thomas

From the gospel of Thomas again, “the kingdom is inside you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you will dwell in poverty and it will be you who are that poverty.”

The Foundation And The Structure

When the builder of a house commences with carrying out the house blueprints, before building the house, a foundation for the house must be put in place. A house foundation is a necessary part of any house. It serves to provide a secure base for the structural stability of the house. Without a solid foundation, the structure will collapse under its own weight.

Thus it is with manifesting your reality. First, you need to go within yourself, examine yourself honestly and drop your fears and doubts. Then receive guidance from the general contractor (God) and use the power of faith, feeling and imaginative belief. That is your foundation. Then, the actual prayer technique that you employ, is the building the structure of the house itself on top of the foundation.

Using a manifesting “recipe” or specific prayer technique, without having a solid and secure foundation in place, is using words without any real power. Whether you say the words of your prayer technique aloud or silently in your mind, without a foundation they are impotent.

Foundation and Structure. Male and Female. Yin and Yang. Foundation needs the structure and the structure needs the foundation.

Conscious Manifesting Begins Here

Manifesting your desired reality is not some hocus-pocus game. Just say the special words and presto, your desired reality appears. It is a way of life that leads to the Eternal Light. When you nurture and build your faith, your inner imaginative belief, that is where conscious manifesting begins. You are placing your very existence on a foundation of truth.

Ultimate Source created you, created all humans, with the ability to imagine and create. You are a child of God. When you go inside to your inner true self, the scales begin to fall from your eyes. You begin to actually see ultimate reality. It is similar to what occurred in the movie “They Live”. When the hero put on the special sunglasses, he was able to see the true reality of the world around him. Go within. Travel to the Kingdom of God within you. It is your true destiny.

Conceive. Believe. Receive.

Jesus Christ Is King

December 25 – Christmas. Christians throughout the planet celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

The message of Jesus Christ as King can be observed in several verses throughout the Bible. One verse is John 18:37 – “Therefor Pilate said to him, ‘ So you are a king?’Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I have been born, for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of truth hears my voice.” Another verse is located in Revelation 19:11 – “On his robe and on his thigh he had this name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords”.

Christ the King has been used as a name for churches, schools, seminaries, hospitals and religious institutions. In the liturgical calendar for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church there is celebrated a Feast of Christ the King. Lutheran, Anglican, Methodist, Nazarene, Reformed and United Protestant churches also celebrate the Feast of Christ the King.

I have always been grounded in the Christian faith. The phrase “Jesus Christ is King” is a phrase that I had been aware of but had never actually verbalized. That abruptly changed some twenty-seven years ago. At that time, those four words came out of my mouth without thinking. I was under extreme duress. Those four words turned out to be my protection against an approaching ominous spiritual entity.

The Dream Of All Dreams

I was sprawled out on the living room couch late at night. I was watching college basketball on television. As I found myself very drowsy, using the remote control, I remember turning off the tv. It was one of those situations where I was so damn tired that I did not even feel like getting up to go to bed. I just thought to myself, “I’m just going to rest my eyes here for ten minutes and then I’ll head to bed.” Of course, I promptly dozed off to a deep sleep.

I never remember my dreams. Even the remarkable dreams fade away shortly after awakening. I have tried keeping a dream journal a few times but gave up after a month or two. It was too much work. The dream that I had that night however, is something that is permanently etched into my memory. No need to write it down. I remember every second of it even now, twenty-seven years later. It was as real as anything that I have ever experienced during my seventy years of life.

A Chill Shot Down My Spine

In my dream, I was laying down on the living room couch in precisely the manner that I had fallen asleep after turning off the tv. Everything in the house was quiet. Light from the street lamp outside shined dimly through the living room picture window, In my dream I was awake, just laying on the sofa.

Suddenly, a cold chill went down my spine I looked diagonally over to my right to the stairs that led to the second level of the house. My eyes saw a grey luminous mist. It had a general outline of a human being but without any real definition or features of any kind. You can call it an entity or a presence or a spirit or any one of dozen different things. Call it whatever the hell you want but it was there and the evil essence it gave off was unmistakable. It was midway down the stairs and heading in my direction. While it had no features, I sensed that it was looking directly at me. I likewise sensed the thought that it sent out telepathically – “There is no escape from me”.

Dire Danger

Whatever this thing was, I intuitively knew it was malevolent in nature. It wasn’t coming to kiss me good night. As soon as I saw it on the steps, I felt that I was in dire danger. I felt the essence of its complete contempt for me and my ability to resist it. My entire body was literally frozen in fear. I couldn’t move. I felt its cold hatred directed at me. It was coming toward me and whatever its intent was, it was bad. It was the type of off-the-charts terror that can cause a heart attack.

No Escape

I was paralyzed and powerless to fend off this malevolent presence. It was the mother of all nightmares. I have had nightmares where when I was about to be killed or captured, I just woke up. Aliens or some other type of bad guys would be chasing me. I would have one close call escape after another ( a la Indiana Jones). Then at some point in the nightmare I would actually have the thought, “Alright, enough of this bullshit. I’m waking up now” and I would wake up. Not this time however. In this dream, there was no escape.

The Four Words

In this dream I was screwed. The malevolent entity was at the bottom of the stairs. At that point, from the innermost part of my being, came the words out of my mouth, “Jesus Christ Is King”. I had no thought beforehand of saying it. I did not think “What am I going to do?” The words just came out of me without thinking. Since my vocal cords were partially paralyzed as well, I was barely able to get the words out. I spoke them slowly “Jesus…..Christ….Is…..King” somewhat in the manner that a stroke victim would struggle to speak.

As soon as those four words came out of my mouth, the evil presence stopped in its tracks. Then, immediately, in a more pronounced manner, I spoke those four words “Jesus Christ is King”. This caused the entity to shrink backward and begin to lose presence. Without thinking, I followed up with a third more forceful, almost shouting, “Jesus Christ is King”. Intuitively, I now knew that I was in possession of the sword and shield that it was not able to resist. So it left. After the third pronouncement, it vacated the scene and was gone.

We Live Within An Invisible World

As soon as the malevolent force departed, I opened my eyes and woke up. It hit me immediately that I was in the exact same position on the couch now that I was awake as I was in the dream. I was wearing the exact same clothes. Everything in the living room was exactly the same as in the dream. Even the light from the street light shining through the picture window was the same. My immediate thought was “WTF was that”?! Was I in the Twilight Zone or something? I was somewhat shaken by the experience. I turned on a living room lamp and walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

As I passed the stairs, I just stopped for a moment and stared for a moment at the spot where “it” was. I sat on the couch for a short while in the quiet of the night pondering over what I had just experienced. The thought came into my mind at that time – “We live within an invisible world”. I prayed a succinct “Thank You” before going to bed. My conclusion was simple yet profound – the dream was no dream. It was real.

The Return – Twenty Years Later

Flash forward twenty years later to the year 2016. I was now living in another house It was a one story house. I slept in one bedroom. My oldest son, who lives with me, was sleeping in the other bedroom. I had the habit of keeping a forty watt lamp on in the living room at night. I slept with my bedroom door open. This was for easier access to the bathroom as my BPH was inevitably going to be sending me there at least a few times during the night. In those intervening twenty years, I never for a moment forgot my encounter with the evil entity. I even kept a crucifix on the wall above my bed that had been in my mother’s room when she was alive.

Anyway, it is the middle of the night and I am in bed sound asleep. All of a sudden, in my dream, I am awake, laying in bed. I look at my open bedroom doorway. Standing there in the hallway, just outside the bedroom is “you know who”. It is the same evil entity that I encountered twenty years prior. The exact same grey luminescence. You might wonder how I could possibly know that since the spirit had no discernable features. I can only respond that I just knew. It was totally an intuitive knowing, no logic, just a knowing.

Same Entity – Different Response

This time however, I had a different reaction than my first encounter twenty years prior. Just as before, it was standing there, observing me with contempt and hatred. This time my memory banks kicked in immediately. I was not frozen in fear as before. I simply said out loud, “Oh, it’s you again”. Then I followed up with the very same phrase of protection that I had used before – “Jesus Christ is King”. At the sound of those words, it froze. I followed up with a second “Jesus Christ is King”. After that second salvo, it started backing away. I felt it was losing energy. One more time I repeated loudly “Jesus Christ is King”. With that third pronouncement, the malevolent entity departed – poof – gone. This time I knew from the start that the power of Jesus Christ would protect me.

Freedom From Fear

I was aware of the malevolent essence of the being. This time however, I had freedom from fear. In fact, in this second vivid “dream”, after the departure of the entity, I said aloud to myself, “And that takes care of that”. In my dream, I turned to my side, my back to the hallway and went back to sleep. And then I opened my eyes and woke up. Everything in my bedroom was exactly the same as in the dream. The bed, my position in the bed, the bedsheet, my bed clothes, the bureau, the wall hangings, the quiet of the house, even the light from the living room lamp. This time I understood that my shield of protection was something that the evil presence could not overcome. I then said, “Thank you Lord, now I’m going back to sleep” and proceeded to close my eyes and do just that.

Merry Christmas to you and have a very happy new year of manifesting.

Conceive. Believe. Receive.

Just A Second There Professor

One of the funniest movies of all time is the 1999 classic, “Office Space”. It is packed solid with laughs. In one scene, two consultants, both named Bob, are explaining to the head honcho and his lackey about a glitch they discovered. Apparently, an employee named Milton Waddams was laid off five years ago. Through a payroll glitch however nobody ever told him about it and he continues to work there and receive a regular paycheck. The consultants state that they went ahead and fixed the glitch. At this, the lackey says, “So Milton has been let go.” One of the Bobs responds, “Just a second there Professor. We fixed the glitch so he won’t be receiving a paycheck any more. We like to avoid confrontation wherever possible. Problem solved from your end.”

Whenever I am in conversation with one of my two sons about something and one of us makes a statement that requires further clarification, the other usually comes back with “Just a second there Professor”. Both of us never fail to start laughing.

With regard to the holiday of Thanksgiving, you may have moved on into December in anticipation of what is next. Before putting Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror however, allow me to say to you, “Just a second there Professor”. There is something underneath Thanksgiving that bears closer examination.

If You Look Underneath

Everyone knows about Thanksgiving Day. The last Thursday in November. Off from work. Family gatherings. Turkey or ham with all the assorted fixings and trimmings. Thanksgiving prayer at the table. Warm dinner conversation. Football on television. Maybe the day off from work on Friday as well. A beautiful day all around. Then, after it is over, it is business as usual. If you take the time and effort to “look underneath” Thanksgiving Day, you will discover something. Something that can put your entire remaining life on a higher level of peace, joy and fulfilling manifestations (if indeed that is what you really desire).

Are You Crazy?!

In the Bible, in the book of First Thessalonians, it states the following – “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (NIV). Yeah, it really says that – in all circumstances.

Now a response to that from many reasonable people might be as follows: “That’s total bullshit. Why should I be thankful about the shit hitting the fan in my life or the life of someone I love? Are you crazy or what?! Fair enough. Who the hell wants to be thankful about bad things happening? Part of the widespread error in belief about thanksgiving however, is how the process is misperceived. Read on.

Dance Minions, Dance

As you grew up, you were primarily told by your parents to say thank you when someone gives you something or does something for you. This may have been reinforced by religious leaders, teachers, uncles, aunts, grandparents, friends, neighbors, Joe Butinski down the street, etc. You were told and observed how people like it when they are thanked. So as time goes on you angle your thank you’s in keeping with society’s system.

You may have been told it is good manners to say thank you. You may have been told by Uncle Charlie that if you don’t get your ass over there and thank Aunt Gertrude for that incredibly ugly sweater, Aunt Gertrude will be pissed and take it out on Uncle Charlie when they get home.

A member of the clergy of your particular religion may imperiously state, ” It is the will of God for you to be thankful so make sure to do it”. The unspoken rest of the statement is “or else”. It tends to present an image of an old guy with a long white beard wearing a flowing robe. The imposing geezer has a stern look on his face as he looks over his entourage issuing the command, “Dance, my minions, dance”. Then if he sees someone not being thankful, he frowns and reaches for his divine taser. Then next thing that you hear from the crowd is “Yeowww! That hurt!”

The Law Is The Law

Universal Law is divinely impartial. It always works regardless of who employs it. Your life reality merely reflects back to you your awareness of being in the same manner that a mirror merely reflects back to you what you look like. You are energy. If you are truly feeling (and not just faking) thanksgiving, you are in active transmission mode. You are transmitting neural electro-magnetic impulses to the universe. In turn, the universe responds accordingly to your transmission. This sets off a fateful chain reaction for something good to happen in your reality. It is a scientific certainty. It is equivalent to a television signal sent out from a broadcasting tower.

A specific wave frequency dials you into the television channel that you have chosen to watch. Change the chosen frequency, you get a different channel. Universal Law responds in kind to whatever frequency you choose to transmit. The Law is the Law. That is the hidden secret underneath Thanksgiving. Lift up he top of Thanksgiving and you will see Universal Law in play. Even in the midst of adverse circumstances, scripture counsels you to be thankful in all circumstances. Find something, anything, for which to be thankful. It is your way out of the maze. It is your way out of your trouble.

700 Years Apart

Two mystics, seven hundred years apart, were on the same wavelength when it comes to the critical nature of giving thanks.

The thirteenth century mystic, Meister Eckhart, summed it up concisely. He wrote, “If the only prayer that you ever uttered during your entire life was “thank you”, it would be enough.”

Some seven hundred years later, the latter day mystic, Neville Goddard, wrote ” a way of praying is simply to feel thankful. If I want something, either for myself or another, I immobilize the physical body, then I produce the state akin to sleep and in that drowsy state, just feel happy, feel thankful, which thankfulness implies realization of what I want.

The Cha-Ching

And there it is. Therein lies the hidden secret underneath Thanksgiving. The Law is the Law. That is the precise reason for being thankful in all circumstances. Not so some Zeus up on Mount Olympus won’t zap you. Not to please this one or that one. It is for your benefit. It is to bring you something good. If your circumstances are good, you desire to keep them that way. Thanksgiving. If your circumstances are stuck in neutral, you want to kickstart things in your desired direction. Thanksgiving. If the circumstances are bad, you want to turn things around to the good side somehow. Thanksgiving. The Law is the Law. It does not change. And therein lies the cha-ching of Thanksgiving. You may ask – why does the universe act in this manner. What do you think, that I know everything? It is how it is.

If you feel thankful, you will then have a desire to do something to express that gratitude. This empowers you. You are stepping up your game. You are walking the divine path. The divine path of creating. That divine gift of creating something good that did not exist before. Yes, it is hard to be thankful for anything when things are not going good. Very hard. Underneath Thanksgiving however is the secret. Feeling thankful for something, anything, sets the wheels in motion to turn things around to the good. Yes, it is hard but you do it for you. And in doing it for yourself, at some subsequent point, someone else will benefit in some way. Win-win. You exercise and demonstrate your true power as a child of Divine Source – God.

Eternal And Magical

Thanksgiving is eternal. Thanksgiving is magical. As best as you can, choose to set your mind and your heart on giving thanks on a daily basis over the next twelve months. You will reap what you sow – the golden harvest.

Conceive. Believe. Receive.

Meister Eckhart

“There exists only the present instant…..a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday nor any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago and as it will be a thousand years hence.”

This statement was made over 700 years ago by Eckhart von Hochheim, commonly known as Meister Eckhart. He was a German Catholic theologian, lecturer, preacher, philosopher and mystic.

The above statement of fact can be boiled down to this — the only “real” is right now. To live in the past cannot be done. The past is just a memory. To anticipate a future is mere speculation. The future is only an array of potentialities. Both past and future are illusionary. To attempt to be in the past or the future is self-defeating. If, you really and truly desire to live a life of inner peace, joy and successful manifestations, the only permanent avenue is to be fully present in your current moment.

Right Now Is Literally….. Everything

What is “being fully present in your current moment?” It means no rehashing past grievances. It means not putting your life on hold until something that you anticipate happens in the future.

Stop and understand the full import of this statement – Now is all you really and truly ever have over the course of your entire life. What is. The Now moment is the whole deal, the total enchilada. Accept what is. Do whatever you need to do to manifest something or remediate some situation, but right now, what is, is.

Observe the Now moment, from outside your mind, while residing in the Kingdom of God within. Refrain from ranting and railing against what is. Make the choice to keep yourself from going over and over past injustices. Refrain from waiting until some expected event takes place before being fully conscious. Either option only serves to keep you trapped and imprisoned. The above statement of truth was put forth by Meister Eckhart over seven centuries ago. And as Jesus Christ said, “the truth will set you free.”

Slave Master Or Useful Tool

Your mind is either a relentless slave master or an incredibly useful tool. It can keep you imprisoned without mercy. Or it can help you to bring about wonderful manifestations all throughout your life.

There never was a time when your life was not Now. There will never be a time in your life other than right Now. Everything that happened in your past happened in the Now and everything that will ever happen in your future, will happen in the Now. The Kingdom of God within you operates only in the Now. Living in the Now is truth. The truth sets you free from being a prisoner of time and mind.

There is a place for time and mind. Time and mind allow you to meet the practical requirements of functioning in everyday society. Use your mind for a specific purpose, then put it away. Much of the relentless thinking that you do just repeats itself and is detrimental to you. When you cannot stop thinking of stuff, your mind is master and you are its slave. Going back to Meister Eckhart — ” time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time.”

Maynard G. Krebs

There was a television show that I used to watch in the late fifties, early sixties called “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”. It was a situation comedy with an ensemble cast. The main character, Dobie Gillis, had a “beatnik” sidekick named Maynard G. Krebs. Maynard was played by Bob Denver.

Maynard G. Krebs was a stereotypical beatnik with a goatee and a bohemian appearance. One of his ongoing comical reactions was whenever he heard the word “work”. When he heard the word “work”, in any context, he would yelp “Work?!” and would jump in fear.

Maynard’s reaction to the thought of work is actually a common reaction in varying degrees to many people (including myself). To live fully in the Now will bring you a life of inner peace, joy and true fulfillment but you must actively work at it. Many are too comfortable with the old familiar way of linear living. People tend to shy away from things out of their comfort zone. That which you “know” is safer and more comfortable than the unknown. So, you shuffle along to the end of your time here in the world in an unconscious trance wondering about that vague, almost imperceptible feeling that something is missing. Something very important.

Commit yourself to the daily work. This is the work of your centered intention to do whatever you have to do to live your life in Now consciousness. Do this and sooner or later, the scales will begin to fall off your eyes. And my friend, you will see truth and the truth will set you free.

Why Are You Here?

You are here in the world to allow God, the I Am That I Am, to be brought into experience. Your very existence is to facilitate the overall Divine Purpose of the universe to come forth. When you unclench your mind and just let go of mental and emotional resistance to what is, right Now, you open the portal. This portal connects you to Divine Source, Ultimate Love and Intelligence. Through that portal comes inner guidance direct from the Kingdom of God within you.

True Salvation

True salvation is a state of freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from suffering. Freedom from needing, from grasping, from clinging. Freedom from waiting for this or that before experiencing power, peace and joy. True salvation is living fully in this moment, then the next, then the next, right up to your last breath.

Once you decide once and for all to do what you must do to live as a fully conscious soul in the Now only, you are on the road to true salvation. Power, peace, joy, fulfillment that you never felt before will be your due reward.

State Of Being

Circumstances do not matter. Only state of being matters.

Circumstances do not matter. Only state of being matters.

Circumstances do not matter. Only state of being matters.

Here And Now

Whenever you feel any type of negativity rising up in you, take immediate action. Take it as a signal telling you to live fully in your current Now.

The author, Aldous Huxley, wrote a novel near the end of his life titled “Island”. The book was about a South Pacific island called Pala. An English adventurer was shipwrecked on Pala. On this island was a very unique society of people. They treasured the concept of continuously staying in the present moment. What amazed the shipwrecked man was that the myna birds on the island seemed to be voicing the words “Attention. Here and Now. Attention. Here and Now”. He later learned that the islanders had taught the birds to sound those words as a continual reminder for them to live in the Now.

With Every Breath

With every breath you take, you possess an opportunity. You possess an opportunity to reside in peace, power and fulfillment in the Kingdom of God within you in every Now moment.

You have everything you ever wanted. You have nothing unless you reside in the Kingdom of God within.

Pain and suffering afflicts you. You are healed, where healing is most essential, when you reside in the Kingdom of God within.

Poverty and bills hound you like demons. You are rich beyond measure when you reside in the Kingdom of God within.

Be fully conscious of each Now moment. You will feel power and peace that you never felt before. You will feel right. Once you begin to live fully in the Now moment, you will never go back to the walk of the unconscious trance. Inner peace will flow through you as blood flows through your physical body. You will be free.

Dominus vobiscum.

Conceive. Believe. Receive.

Violet Beauregarde

There is a wonderful movie made in 1971 titled “Willie Wonka And The Chocolate Factory”. It is a classic film that I have enjoyed watching many times. The plot involves five children winning a lifetime supply of Wonka chocolate bars. The children are also given a personal tour of the entire factory by Willie Wonka himself, played masterfully by Gene Wilder. One of the children, Charlie, is a kind and loving soul. The other four children are odious to varying degrees. Charlie is accompanied on the tour by his Grandpa Joe.

Ultimately, during the tour, temporary mild disasters befall the four odious children. One of these is a gum-chewing girl named Violet Beauregarde. She is accompanied on the tour by her father, Sam Beauregarde, a sleazy used car salesman.

At one point during the tour, Willie Wonka shows everyone his new invention of a very special type of chewing gum that is actually a three course meal. He cautions all that he still has to iron out a few kinks. Violet grabs the gum from his hand and pops it into her mouth. Wonka tells her to stop and do not chew the gum. She completely ignores him and proceeds to chew the gum.

The first course is delicious tomato soup. The second course is an equally tasty course of roast beef and baked potato. The third course is a delightful piece of blueberry pie and cream. At this point however, Violet starts turning blue and becomes round like a large blueberry. Wonka explains that she is filled with blueberry juice and has to be rolled to the squeezing room. A very unpleasant experience which could have been avoided if she had only listened. How many of us have had “Violet Beauregarde” moments where we heard but didn’t listen. In case you can’t see, that is me raising my hand.

The Mighty 81st

Scripture is clear. The Kingdom of God lives within you. You can choose to listen to guidance from the Kingdom of God or you can ignore it and go your own way just as Violet did. If you earnestly ask for guidance, you will assuredly receive it. At times, you may find the guidance to be distasteful so you will refuse to follow it. It all comes down to just how real is your faith in Divine Guidance. Is your faith made of titanium or paper mache.

Listen to this from the mighty 81st chapter of the book of Psalms:

I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.

1313 Mockingbird Lane

Do you remember that television comedy show from the 60’s called “The Munsters”. It featured Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster ( a comedic Frankenstein). It also starred Al Lewis as Grandpa Munster (a comedic Dracula). The show ran for two seasons. It is still watched to this day in reruns.

I mention this because the Munster family lived in an old spooky house located at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. When I want to remember where the specific verse is located where Jesus talks about listening, I think of 1313 Mockingbird Lane and that leads me to Matthew 13:13.

In chapter 13 of the book of Matthew, the disciples ask Jesus why he speaks to the crowds of people using stories or parables. Jesus responds in Matthew 13:13 – “The reason I speak to them in parables is that seeing, they do not perceive and hearing, they do not listen, nor do they understand.”

A planet full of human beings walking around in a trance-like state of sleep, hearing but not listening.

Hearing Versus Listening

OK, you are in a conversation with another person. Or perhaps you are with a group of others and you are hearing a speaker talk about some topic. Maybe you are by yourself but you are able to hear a nearby conversation. You can even be totally alone and are hearing your own thoughts continually rolling through your mind. What is actually happening in these situations? Are you hearing or are you listening? There is a huge difference.

Many times when you are in conversation with another, their ears hear your words but they are not listening. If you focus on them, you will be able to perceive this. They are thinking of what they want to say when you shut up and are waiting for the first chance to jump in. Perhaps they are glancing at their phone or a nearby activity. Maybe they are thirsty or hungry or sleepy or horny but actually fully listening to you, they are definitely not. Their paramount thought may even be “how the hell do I escape this boring conversation”.

Most people speak at a rate of around 125 words a minute. We have the capacity to understand someone speaking at 400 words a minute. Thus, we are only using about a third of our mental capacity. We still have two thirds remaining to do something else so our mind wanders and loses focus.

Listening is not to be confused with hearing. We hear with our ears. Listening involves every part of our being. Paying attention to their words, the inflections, the body language, sensing the energy coming forth from them and their eyes, especially the eyes. Lastly, it involves opening up to your intuition.

Yeah, But What’s In It For You?

Have you ever watched some of those old film noir detective movies? At some point in the film, the primary detective character is talking to a potential informant. The detective tells the guy that he needs information about someone or something. The potential informant usually says something along the lines of ” OK, suppose I remember what you’re lookin’ for. What’s in in for me? My memory is all foggy.” That is when the detective pulls out some money and says, “Does this clear up the fog?” or something like that.

If you have read this far into this blog article, you are likely to be thinking the same thing. What’s in it for you. What do you get out of it by developing listening skills. The answer to that valid question, dear reader, is this — much more than you can imagine. Read on.

Your Payday

Here is the payday that is direct deposited to you when you engage in deep listening:

Information. You learn something that you did not know that will help you in some way with your own needs and wants. Information is indeed, power.

Enjoyment. You may experience the enjoyment of something humorous or of particular interest to you.

Protection. You will be able to perceive when people have malevolent intent and thus take steps to protect yourself.

Compassion. You get the honor of demonstrating the divine attribute of compassion. When a person displays a need to have someone listen to them, you impart worth and value to them. In turn, in some manner or form, the universe will see to it that you receive value in return.

Better Decisions. Deep listening allows you to “read between the lines” of a person’s conversation. It allows you to discern hidden meanings. Sharper perception on your part means better decisions on your part. Better decisions means your life becomes better. We all want that.

Money In The Bank

If you can listen, perceive and understand what the speaker is imparting to you, you become a valuable commodity. People in society reciprocate when offered something valuable to them. Food. Clothes. Lodging. Transportation. Experiences. People reciprocate by giving someone money for these things of value.

Money is energy. When you focus on actually listening to what a person has to say, it will be felt by most people. They will reciprocate. It’s like “money in the bank”. It may not be with actual money, but positive reciprocation will occur. And thus, your very powerful skill of deep listening will continually bring you good things.

Deep Listening

Deep listening is much more than hearing with your ears. It is hearing with your heart. Feeling. Sensing. Perceiving. Deep listening engages your sixth sense — intuition. When you actively use your intuition, you are connecting with the Divine. This connection always leads you to truth. Truth is power.

Deep listening creates. It creates a positive connection with another person through silent energy waves of attention. The deeper the listening, the faster the energy vibration and the higher the frequency. Nikola Tesla said that the secrets of the universe can be summed up in three words – energy, vibration, frequency. When you engage in deep listening, you are creating beauty. When you create beauty, you are in communion with God.

Through deep listening you actually attract people and the opportunities that people bring to you. You will discover with delight that in due course, all manner of opportunities will come your way. Through deep listening, you will be able to clearly recognize them when they come.

Oh, Those Rabbit Ears

Deep listening does require fine tuning from time to time. Back in the “olden days” of television, you needed some sort of antenna to get proper clarity and reception. Some people had rooftop antennas. Many others had small antennas on top of the television set. They were called “rabbit ears”. Back then, the tv was a large piece of furniture unlike today’s sleek televisions.

I can still hear my father cussing because he could not get the antenna in the proper position to get clear reception. He would increase the intensity of the cussing in direct proportion to his growing frustration.

The first phase, when initial attempts to adjust the antenna failed, was a loud “godammit” with emphasis on the dam. The second phase, after continued adjustments of the antenna still failed to get clear reception, was “goddamsonofabitchandbastard” with the emphasis on bastard. The third phase of frustration was “goddamsonofabitchandbastard”, pause, “goddamit” with total emphasis on the second dam. Everyone in the house breathed a sigh of relief when the antenna finally brought good reception.

Be persistent but by all means, please be patient with yourself if you find that your deep listening skills need fine tuning. It happens. It’s a learning process. Refuse to allow yourself to get frustrated. Just keep at it. You will continually improve if you really want to. And every level of improvement will be good for you.

Power That Benefits Everybody………Wow

Unfortunately, throughout the history of our species, right up to the present day, a segment of human beings love controlling others. They have twisted their positions of power to their own perverted ends. It seems like humans just can’t help themselves in attempting to control the lives of other human beings.

This is definitely against the way things are supposed to be. You were created by Ultimate Intelligence to live free. Your life was meant to exult in the freedom of the Kingdom of God within you. The human parasites who use their accumulated power to relentlessly control others are demon-people. If you build up your listening skills, you will be able to perceive them and their agenda. Your perception will help to protect you and assist you in avoiding their insidious spider webs.

The exquisite beauty of deep listening is that it creates and brings forth a power that distributes benefit to everyone involved. It is a power that benefits the “listened to” as well as the “one who listens”. That is what power is for — to benefit everybody.

The Choice Is Yours

“They see, but do not perceive. Hearing, they do not listen, nor do they understand”. The words of Jesus. Too often throughout my lifetime, I have chosen to be in the mass of humanity who hear, but do not listen. My life now is nearly spent and I will be dead soon. With whatever breath of life that remains, I desire to go beyond hearing. I desire to listen.

I still have a few things to do here before I depart. Practicing deep listening helps me and will continue to help me in that regard. I am 100% sure that it will help you also.

You have two choices. Listen and understand or continue in a trance-like sleep. The choice is yours. Choose wisely. The quality of your remaining life completely depends on it.

Dominus Vobiscum.

Conceive. Believe. Receive.