THE GREATEST GIFT IS LOVE

July 25, 2016

                                                            THE GREATEST GIFT IS LOVE

In the words of Master Jesus: “Greater love hath no man than this; that a man lay down his life for his friends”. John 15:13 (King James Version).This is the ultimate portrayal of unconditional love as was preached during Jesus’ life on earth. Think about how awesome this statement is. 

I am not saying that we should start giving our lives for our enemies or for our friends. On the contrary, I am saying if we can find it in our hearts to love unconditionally, especially those who cause us pain, grief, loss of trust, and whatever discomforts we are experiencing and all the myriad of things that anger us for which we are unable to let go, there will be no need to sacrifice our lives because LOVE IS THE ANSWER to all our grief, and sufferings.

To open our hearts to unconditional love is easier said than done –I know from experience. I am still working on it daily. This change does not take place overnight, it is constant work but the reward is so freeing and exhilarating.  To send unconditional love to someone who has wounded you so deeply is the best antidote you will ever find. It frees and releases you from the anger, pain and mistrust that have been eating away your very soul.

When we are filled with love, the unconditional type, we become emissaries of the Creator of All That IS.  We do not expect anything in return for being our god-given selves.  The universe opens up to us and pours out abundance.  We experience wealth – in health, companionship, friends, and families who surround us with that umbrella of love. Stress is no longer part of our daily life hence no disease, pain and worry – all because there’s no lack of anything. We no longer see our fellow being as being different from us regardless of their ethnicity. We are all one.

Whatever the circumstances we are confronted with when we are filled with unconditional love, we get clarity of thought and a different perspective of the situation and are able to overcome it while being steadfast in our love vibration. In the face of hatred, love conquers all the time – in the face of adversity love strengthens. In the face of disaster love comes to the rescue.  How many times have we seen this manifest?  Think about the global reaction to Hurricane Katrina, the earthquake in Haiti, or the terrorist attacks in Paris. The outpouring of love from all over the country and the world – were examples of unconditional that were allowed to come to the surface.

Where there is love hate cannot thrive, where there is love evil cannot abide. Love is the beacon that shines its light into our hearts magnifying the eternal stream of unconditional love that flows endlessly into the inner and outer realms of our physical, spiritual, emotional and mental bodies. Unconditional love is the unseen glue that binds humanity together in the image and likeness of our Creator. Let us pull out our garden tools and start planting the seeds of love and see how the world around us changes. We are the instrument of change so let’s continue the love revolution.

                                                LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

July 19, 2016

The Master Jesus, when asked by His Disciples which was the great commandment in the law He replied that the first was to Love God with all your heart……and the second commandment was to LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF. These are the two greatest commandments of the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:36-4 (King James Version).

Let’s continue spreading Love. We often think about the love connection as the love between a man and woman, or the love between children/family and friends. But love is an expansion of all these things although in different dimensions.

Think about your neighbor, the family that lives next to you on your right and left. They are your physical neighbors, yes. But take it one step further. Anywhere at any given time, the person or persons that is (are) in close proximity to you is (are) considered your neighbor(s). In the spiritual sense your neighbor is the one who occupies the space next to you at any given time, whether it is in the church or temple you worship, the theatre, the movie, or the shopping mall.  And regardless for how long or when, they are all your spiritual neighbors.

Think of how you interact with your neighbors. A simple Good Morning, a genuine smile that comes from the heart, helping an elderly person to cross the street, giving alms to the poor and those in need, feeding the poor and homeless, saying Thank You to the person who serves you in whatever capacity – all these are acts of love that can be shared with our fellow human being and who are our spiritual neighbors. When these acts of kindness are displayed, however random, they cause a ripple effect. 

“Love should be a force that helps you expand your life and bring forth your innate potential with fresh and dynamic vitality,” wrote President Daisaku Ikeda of the Soka Gakkai International Buddhism. (Excerpted from Discussions on Youth Vol. 1 (SGI-USA, 1998). So when we give unconditional love we are in essence expanding our life force as well as the life force of the receiver of that love.

We have forgotten how to be kind and loving to ourselves and others – but there is no rule or law that says we cannot try to recapture the pure essence of love that is imbedded in our DNA. So keep spreading love. GIVE MORE LOVE until it becomes the only epidemic worth catching.

All Things Spiritual

                                                            ALL THINGS SPIRITUAL

July 10, 2016

This is my first blog and I must say that I have resisted using the social media since its inception but today I was inspired to write about how we, the human race, can help to foster peace, through LOVE AND COMPASSION for each other. While thinking on what I would say, I got the above title “All Things Spiritual” and wondered what I can add to the existing conversation that has not been already said to make a difference.  But as the spirit moves through me – here I am penning these few words. 

As I sat down to write the Scripture of Matthew 7:12 came to me and it says “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets”. In other words do unto others as you would like others do to you.  Let’s pause and ponder the above. We all wanted to be treated fairly at the least but if we think about it - how many times have we treated each other unkindly yet expecting the opposite for ourselves? 

As I watched the tragedy unfolds over the last week-- the shootings of unarmed black men and that of the Dallas policemen I watched the various pundits/politicians pontificating and blaming everyone that they have grievances with from the President down to the men who were actually killed instead of going inward to see how our actions or inactions have created the present environment.  Minorities have been marginalized to such an extent that it is no longer safe to be within the land of their birth. As John Donne, the English Poet wrote in his poem “No Man is an Island”: “Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”. So no matter the race,  every  death robs society-- not to mention the families left behind --of a worthwhile being.

So this brings me back to the Scripture of Matthew. We can start this love and compassion revolution by being kind to each other, show love and spread joy wherever we go and have a unification of our souls by sharing peace, love and compassion, just as we would like to be treated. We will be amazed at the power we share in unity to make the necessary change and turn things turn around.

Here are three steps you can start with now:

(1)        Invite the Divine Pink Flame of Love into your heart chambers let it vibrate into your      heart filling your entire being with love then send the love vibration to your fellow being and into the universe. To do this envision a bright Pink Light coming from the universe entering into your heart chamber then see this light spreads throughout the heart chambers filling your heart and your entire body with unconditional love and then release. Always ground and center yourself before bringing the light.

(2)        Invite the Divine Emerald Flame of Healing into your heart chambers, let it reverberate

 within the very soul of your being healing your entire body of all pent-up emotions and freeing yourself from all negative thinking and send this healing vibration to all humanity. Repeat the visualization process in (1) substituting Emerald Light.

(3)        Invite the Divine Purple Flame of Compassion into your heart chambers, filling the heart          chambers with compassion for you and then releasing it to all living beings on this earth as well as the universe. Repeat the visualization process in (1) substituting Purple Light.

We are all Divine Souls who came to this earth for a purpose: to share love, healing and compassion among other things. But until we love, heal and be compassionate with ourselves we cannot make the changes in others. Think about this statement. When we change ourselves we change others so if everyone is changing then the world is changing.  Powerful Imagery. So let us reach into the inner fountain of wisdom that is imbedded deep within us and bring it to the forefront of our outer being to save ourselves and humanity from completely destroying the beautiful temple of ourselves.

As I am closing I also got this message from Ecclesiastes 3:8 which states: “A time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace”.  We have been through the times of hate and war with a vengeance and are still going through it so now is the time to use the higher vibration of Love, Peace, Healing and Compassion to complete our mission.

Whether you believe in spirituality or not it can be done by just saying a few kind words to each other as we go through our daily lives. Each word of kindness, love, healing and compassion, can be passed on to the next person. LOVE IS CONTAGIOUS LETS START AN EPIDEMIC.

With Love, Light and Gratitude, I thank you for listening.