Love is my Religion

LOVE IS MY RELIGION
By: Nicole Petroff

Yes I declared myself a worshiper of LOVE. Love is my religion.

When thinking about the concept of having love as a religion, I realized it shouldn’t be like any other organized religion. This religion has no rules, no specific places to worship, no specific god or people involved. It encompasses everyone, every being, every god, every faith, every practice, every action, every thought and energy.

The goal is simply to become self realized of what Love truly is and to become LOVE.

How does one do such a thing? Below is the wisdom I have developed through experiences, reading and self reflection.

There are many practices to choose from that you can use on this learning process and a combination of them is very helpful. I chose the practice of yoga or to yoke meaning union connection and relationship to our true self, Love.

Why do we need such practices to help us to know what love truly is and who we
truly are?

The senses, mind and intellect, and the vacillating nature of the mind creates a constant distraction and identification of exterior self prevents us from seeing. Also the lower emotions (such as anger, hatred, greed, lust, jealousy, envy, fear etc ) prevent us from shining our true nature and seeing what Love truly is. This is sometimes called veil, ego or mya or illusion. Practices such as yoga tai chi, qi gong, zen and many other practices and faiths etc help to purify the mind, emotions so the veil can be lifted.

When the veil is over our eyes, we may see LOVE as a cause of pain, and may discriminate who we love which creates dualism and more suffering. What we call "falling in love" sometimes can be an intensification of the veil and has intense wanting, needing and attachment. The word attachment means a tie or a bond but it can have deep emotional roots and cause scars on our soul or core issues to come to surface for a chance to heal. The feeling of “falling in love” can also be a great lesson looking back at us in the mirror the other is holding. It can be a lesson of seeing true self divine love in the mirror or of ego/veil the other is holding. What is to be seen in the mirror seems to be dependent on, if you are at peace within yourself. The more the ego/veil has been lifted the more at peace and your true nature you become. When we have attachments we create resistance of abundance instead allowing divine energy, abundance, manifestations, happiness, joy, bliss and true love to come into our lives.

This illusion of what Love is, seems to be the result of having that veil covering our eyes and also projecting your thoughts and energy into the future by having expectations or attachments to certain outcomes, which seems to be causes all sorts of suffering. We sometimes do this in relationships by labeling the relationship and putting it into a box of what society or culture says how that relationship with that label should be. When the relationship is in a box, it is confined to those certain behaviors expectations of that label, which bring attachments, and a lot of emotional suffering because you unconsciously placed conditions on how to Love eachother. If we detach from the label or not have any labels we are letting the relationship be free to be whatever it needs to be, with ease, and un-conditional Love.

Attachments and expectations seem to cause suffering and are hard to avoid and is all part of the learning process of awakening to who you truly are. Realizing attachment when it occurs and coming back into the present moment we can let go of it, and see its changes in energy, vibration or dimension as just what it is, a changed in energy and vibration. Learning to detach from those vibrational energy shifts by letting go of control, having faith that everything is happening for a reason/lesson we can avoid and overcome suffering.

When the veil is lifted it is easier to not allow those expectations, detach and love un-conditionally and are accepting the person or thing for what they really are, no matter what the do. They are Love, Vibration, Energy, and a reflection of yourself.

When the veil is lifted we can see and feel love as this beautiful feeling of warmth in everyone, everything, everywhere, it cannot be gained or lost, it is found within, and we begin to vibrate this love to the world, you become LOVE. The feeling of becoming Love that is so great, it is totally beyond words, beyond all capacity of the ego mind to describe it or to evaluate, but rather, it is like great waves of ecstasy and feeling and the absolute certainty that Love, True Love, Devine Love is the truth of it all.


Once the veil is lifted the work is not over. It takes constant practice, learning about self, and consistency with connecting to your higher self and the present moment. The more you do, the more love you will feel from everyone and everything. Then, you become more aware of what things disconnect you, like things that you consume or the people you associate with. Right diet and right association that will sustain your peace of mind is and your connection to Divine Love. If you don't have consistent practice or continue to look externally for answers chances are the veil will go back on covering your eyes and suffering will continue.

Therefore if you practice Love as a religion, by lifting the veil, loving all beings un-conditionally, you start to love yourself and become more self realized and you start BEING LOVE

LOVE is a state of being. Love is not outside, it is deep within. We can never lose it and it cannot leave. It is not dependent on some other person or external form.


WE ARE LOVE! YOU ARE LOVE!
AND I LOVE YOU!

Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening

Possible Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening
by Karen Bishop


1. Changing sleep patterns: restlessness, hot feet, waking up two or three times a night. Feeling tired after you wake up and sleepy off and on during the day. There is something called the Triad Sleep Pattern that occurs for many: you sleep for about 2-3 hours, wake up, go back to sleep for another couple of hours, wake again, and go back to sleep again. For others, the sleep requirements have changed. You can get by on less sleep. Lately I have been experiencing huge waves of energy running into my body from the crown. It feels good, but it keeps me awake for a long time, then subsides.

Advice: Get used to it. Make peace with it and don’t worry about getting enough sleep (which often causes more insomnia). You will be able to make it through the day if you hold thoughts of getting just what you need. You can also request your Higher Power to give you a break now and then and give you a good, deep night’s sleep. If you can’t go back to sleep right away, use the waking moments to meditate, read poetry, write in your journal or look at the moon. Your body will adjust to the new pattern.

2. Activity at the crown of the head: Tingling, itching, prickly, crawling sensations along the scalp and/or down the spine. A sense of energy vibrating on top of the head, as if energy is erupting from the head in a shower. Also the sensation of energy pouring in through the crown, described as “sprinkles”. This may also be experienced as pressure on the crown, as if someone is pushing his/her finger into the center of your head. As I mentioned in #1, I have been experiencing huge downloads of energy through the crown. In the past, I have felt more generalized pressure, as if my head is in a gentle vise. One man related that his hair stood on end and his body was covered with goosebumps.

Advice: This is nothing to be alarmed about. What you are experiencing is an opening of the crown chakra. The sensations mean that you are opening up to receive divine energy.

3. Sudden waves of emotion. Crying at the drop of a hat. Feeling suddenly angry or sad with little provocation. Or inexplicably depressed. Then very happy. Emotional roller coaster. There is often a pressure or sense of emotions congested in the heart chakra (the middle of the chest). This is not to be confused with the heart, which is located to the left of the heart chakra.

Advice: Accept your feelings as they come up and let them go. Go directly to your heart chakra and feel the emotion. Expand it outward to your all your fields and breathe deeply from the belly all the way up to your upper chest. Just feel the feeling and let it evaporate on its own. Don’t direct the emotions at anyone. You are cleaning out your past. If you want some help with this, say out loud that you intend to release all these old issues and ask your Higher Power to help you. You can also ask Grace Elohim to help you release with ease and gentleness. Be grateful that your body is releasing these emotions and not holding onto them inside where they can do harm. One source suggests that depression is linked to letting go of relationships to people, work, etc. that no longer match us and our frequencies. When we feel guilty about letting go of these relationships, depression helps us medicate that pain.

4. Old “stuff” seems to be coming up, as described above, and the people with whom you need to work it out (or their clones) appear in your life. Completion issues. Or perhaps you need to work through issues of self-worth, abundance, creativity, addictions, etc. The resources or people you need to help you move through these issues start to appear.

Advice: Same as #3. Additionally, don’t get too involved in analyzing these issues. Examining them too much will simply cycle you back through them over and over again at deeper and deeper levels. Get professional help if you need to and walk through it. Do not try to avoid them or disassociate yourself from them. Embrace whatever comes up and thank it for helping you move ahead. Thank your Higher Power for giving you the opportunity to release these issues. Remember, you don’t want these issues to stay stuck in your body.

5. Changes in weight. The weight gain in the US population is phenomenal. Other people may be losing weight. We often gain weight because many fears we have suppressed are now coming up to the surface to be healed. We react by building up a defense. We also attempt to ground ourselves or provide bulk against increasing frequencies in our bodies.

Advice: Don’t freak out, but just accept it as a symptom of where you are right now. You will release/gain the weight when all your fears have been integrated. Release your anxiety about this. Then you might find it easier to lose/gain the weight eventually. Exercise. Before eating, try this: Sit at the table with an attractive place setting. Light a candle. Enjoy how the food looks. Place your dominant hand over your heart and bless the food. Tell your body that you are going to use the food to richly nourish it, but that you are not going to use the food to fulfill your emotional hungers. Then pass your hand from left to right over the food and bless it. You may notice that the food feels warm to your hand even if the food is cold– I like to think that the food is good for me when it feels warm and nourishing to my hand. I have also noticed that when I practice blessing the food, I don’t eat as much. It is important not to let yourself off the hook when you forget to bless the food before you eat. If I’ve forgotten and I’ve nearly finished eating, I bless the food anyway. That way I don’t slip out of the habit. Another thing you can do is to stay present while eating — don’t watch TV or read. Heartily enjoy what blessings are before you.

6. Changes in eating habits: Strange cravings and odd food choices. Some find they are not as hungry as they used to be. Or hungrier.

Advice: Don’t deny what your body tells you it needs. If you are not sure, you might try muscle-testing before you chose a food to see if it’s what your body wants. Also try blessing the food as described in #5.

7. Food intolerances, allergies you never had before: As you grow more spiritual, you are more sensitive to everything around you. Your body will tell you what it can no longer tolerate, as if it, too, is sloughing off what doesn’t serve it anymore. You might be cleansing yourself of toxins.
Some people find they often have a white residue in their mouth, much like that of runners at the end of a race.

Advice: An acupuncturist told me that this film can be removed by sloshing 2 tablespoons of cold-pressed olive oil in your mouth for 10-15 minutes (don’t swallow, whatever you do), then spitting it out into the toilet — not the sink, for you just removed toxins from your body and don’t want them in the sink. Brush your teeth and do the same. Then clean your brush.
(Sorry this is yukky, but it works.)

8. Amplification of the senses. Increased sensitivity.

8a. Sight: Blurry vision, shimmering objects, seeing glittery particles, auras around people, plants, animals, and objects. Some report seeing formerly opaque objects as transparent. When you close your eyes, you no longer see darkness, but a redness. You may also see geometric shapes or brilliant colors and pictures when eyes are closed. Colors appear more vivid — the sky might look teal or the grass an amazing green. Often I see grids running across the ground. As you become more sensitive, you may see shapes or outlines in the air, especially when the room is almost dark. When your eyes are open or closed, you may see white shapes in your peripheral vision (these are your guides).

Advice: Your vision is changing in many ways — you are experiencing new ways of seeing. Be patient. Whatever you do, do not be afraid. Hazy vision may be relieved by yawning.

8b. Hearing: Increased or decreased hearing. I once thought I would have to pull off the road because of the painfully amplified sound of my tires on the freeway. Other symptoms are hearing white noise in the head, beeps, tones, music or electronic patterns. Some hear water rushing, bees buzzing, whooshing, roaring or ringing. Others have what is called audio dyslexia– you can’t always make out what people are saying, as if you can no longer translate your own language. Some hear strange voices in their dreams, as if someone is hovering near them. You can either ask the presence(s) to leave or ask Archangel Michael to take care of the situation. Again, there is nothing to fear.

Advice: Surrender to it. Let it come through. Listen. Your ears are adjusting to new frequencies.

8c. Enhanced senses of smell, touch, and/or taste. I notice I can now smell and taste chemical additives in some foods in a rather unpleasant manner. Other food may taste absolutely wonderful. For some people, these enhancements are both delightful and distracting. You might even smell the fragrance of flowers now and then. Many of the mystics did. Enjoy it.

9. Skin eruptions: Rashes, bumps, acne, hives, and shingles. Anger produces outbreaks around the mouth and chin. I had a dermatitis on my extremities for several months that accompanied healing an episode from my past. When I had worked through most of the issue, the condition was released.

Advice: You may be sloughing off toxins and bringing emotions to the surface. When there is an issue to be released and you are trying to repress it, your skin will express the issue for you until you process the emotions. Work through your “stuff”.

10. Episodes of intense energy which make you want to leap out of bed and into action. Followed by periods of lethargy and fatigue. The fatigue usually follows great shifts. This is a time of integration, so give into it.

Advice: Roll with the nature of the energy. Don’t fight it. Be gentle with yourself. Take naps if you are tired. Write your novel if you are too energized to sleep. Take advantage of the type of energy.

11. Changes in prayer or meditation. Not feeling the same sensations as before. Not having the same experience of being in contact with Spirit. Difficulty in focusing.

Advice: You may be in more instant and constant communion with Spirit now and the sensation may therefore be altered. You will adapt to this new feeling. You are actually thinking acting in partnership with Spirit most of the time now. You may find your meditation periods shorter.

12. Power surges: All of a sudden you are heated from head to toe. It is a momentary sensation, but uncomfortable. In contrast, some people have felt inexplicably cold. I have experienced both. More recently I experience waves or currents of energy rolling through me. Sometimes the energy seems so intense when it first comes into my body that I feel a little nauseated. But if I think of the energy as divine and let go of fear, I feel wonderful and enjoy the sensation. If you are an energy worker, you may have noticed that the heat running through your hands has increased tremendously. This is good.


13. A range of physical manifestations: Headaches, backaches, neck pains, flu-like symptoms (this is called vibrational flu), digestive problems, muscular spasms or cramps, racing heartbeat, chest pains, changes in sexual desire, numbness or pain in the limbs, and involuntary vocalizations or bodily movements. Some of us have even had old conditions from childhood reappear briefly for healing.

Advice: Remember what I said about seeking medical help if you need it! If you have determined that this is not a medical condition, relax in the realization that it is only temporary.

14. Looking younger. Yippee! As you clear emotional issues and release limiting beliefs and heavy baggage from the past, you are actually lighter. Your frequency is higher. You love yourself and life more. You begin to resemble the perfect you that you really are.

15. Vivid dreams. Sometimes the dreams are so real that you wake up confused. You may even have lucid dreams in which you are in control. Many dreams may be mystical or carry messages for you. And in some dreams, you just know that you are not “dreaming” — that what is happening is somehow real.

Advice: You will remember what is important for you to remember. Don’t force anything. Above all, stay out of fear.

16. Events that completely alter your life: death, divorce, change in job status, loss of home, illness, and/or other catastrophes — sometimes several at once! Forces that cause you to slow down, simplify, change, re-examine who you are and what your life means to you. Forces that you cannot ignore. Forces that cause you release your attachments. Forces that awaken your sense of love and compassion for all.

17. A desire to break free from restrictive patterns, life-draining jobs consumptive lifestyles, and toxic people or situations. You feel a compelling need to “find yourself” and your life purpose — now! You want to be creative and free to be who you really are. You might find yourself drawn to the arts and nature. You want to unclutter yourself from things and people that no longer serve you.

Advice: Do it!

18. Emotional and mental confusion: A feeling that you need to get your life straightened out–it feels like a mess. But at the same time you feel chaotic and unable to focus. See #45.

Advice: Put your ear to your heart and your own discernment will follow.

19. Introspection, solitude and loss of interest in more extraverted activities: This stage has come as a surprise to many extraverts who formerly saw themselves as outgoing and involved. They say, “I don’t know why, but I don’t like to go out as much as before.”

20. Creativity bursts: Receiving images, ideas, music, and other creative inspirations at an often overwhelming rate.

Advice: At least record these inspirations, for Spirit is speaking to you about how you might fulfill your purpose and contribute to the healing of the planet.

21. A perception that time is accelerating. It seems that way because you have had so many changes introduced into your life at an unprecedented rate. The number of changes seems to be growing.

Advice: Breaking your day up into appointments and time segments increases the sense of acceleration .You can slow time down by relaxing into the present moment and paying attention to what’s at hand, not anticipating what’s ahead. Slow down and tell yourself that you have plenty of time. Ask your Higher Power to help you. Keep your focus on the present. Try to flow from one activity to the next. Stay tuned to your inner guidance… You can also warp time by asking for it. Next time you feel rushed, say, “Time warp, please. I need some more time to —–.” Then relax.

22. A sense of impendingness. There is a feeling that something is about to happen. This can create anxiety.

Advice: There is nothing to worry about. Things are definitely happening, but anxiety only creates more problems for you. All your thoughts — positive or negative– are prayers. There is nothing to fear.

23. Impatience. You know better, but sometimes you can’t help it. You want to get on with what seems to be coming your way. Uncertainty is not comfortable.

Advice: Learn to live with the uncertainty, knowing that nothing comes to you until you are ready. Impatience is really a lack of trust, especially trust in your Higher Power. When you focus on the present, you will experience miracles — yes, even in traffic.

24. A deep yearning for meaning, purpose, spiritual connection, and revelation. Perhaps an interest in the spiritual for the first time in your life. “Constant craving”, as k.d. lang says. The material world cannot fulfill this longing.

Advice: Follow your heart and the way will open up for you.

25. A feeling that you are somehow different. A disquieting sense that everything in your life feels new and altered, that you have left your old self behind. You have. You are much greater than you can possibly imagine. There is more to come.

26. “Teachers” appear everywhere with perfect timing to help you on your spiritual journey: people, books, movies, events, Mother Nature, etc. Teachers may appear to be negative or positive when you are trapped in polarity thinking, but, from a transcendent perspective, they are always perfect. Just what you need to learn from and move on. By the way, we never get more than we are ready to master. Each challenge presents us with an opportunity to show our mastery in passing through it.

27. You find a spiritual track that makes sense to you and “speaks to you” at the most profound levels. Suddenly you are gaining a perspective that you would never have considered before. You hunger to know more. You read, share with others, ask questions, and go inside to discover more about who you are and why you are here.

28. You are moving through learning and personal issues at a rapid pace. You sense that you are “getting it” quite readily.

Advice: Keep remembering that things will come to you when they are ready to be healed. Not sooner. Deal with whatever comes up with courage and you will move through the issues rapidly.

29. Invisible presences. Here is the woo-woo stuff. Some people report feeling surrounded by beings at night or having the sensation of being touched or talked to. Often they will wake with a start. Some also feel their body or bed vibrate. The vibrations are caused by energetic changes after emotional clearing has taken place.

Advice: This is a sensitive topic, but you may feel better blessing your bed and space around it before you sleep. I rest assured that I am surrounded only by the most magnificent spiritual entities and am always safe in God’s care. Sometimes, however, the fear gets to me, and I call in Archangel Michael and/or Archangel Uriel. I don’t beat myself up for being afraid sometimes. I forgive myself for not always sovereign at 3:00 a.m.

30. Portents, visions, “illusions”, numbers, and symbols: Seeing things that have spiritual importance for you. Noticing how numbers appear synchronistically in your awareness. Everything has a message if you take the time to look. I enjoy the experience of “getting the messages.” What fun!

31. Increased integrity: You realize that it is time for you to seek and speak your truth. It suddenly seems important for you to become more authentic, more yourself. You may have to say “no” to people whom you have tried to please in the past. You may find it intolerable to stay in a marriage or job or place that doesn’t support who you are. You may also find there is nowhere to hide, no secrets to keep anymore. Honesty becomes important in all your relationships.

Advice: Listen to your heart. If your guidance tells you not to do something, speak up and take action. Say “no”. Likewise, you must also say “yes” to that which compels you. You must risk displeasing others without guilt in order to attain spiritual sovereignty.

32. Harmony with seasons and cycles: You are becoming more tuned to the seasons, the phases of the moon and natural cycles. More awareness of your place in the natural world. A stronger connection to the earth.

33. Electrical and mechanical malfunctions: When you are around, light bulbs flicker, the computer locks up, or the radio goes haywire.

Advice: Call on your angels, guides, or Grace Elohim to fix it or put up a field of protection of light around the machine. Surround your car with blue light. Laugh.

34. Increased synchronicity and many small miracles. Look for more of these.

Advice: Synchronistic events tell you if you are heading in the right direction or making the correct choices. Honor these clues and you cannot go astray. Spirit uses synchronicity to communicate to you. That’s when you begin to experience daily miracles. See #30.

35. Increased intuitive abilities and altered states of consciousness:
Thinking of someone and immediately hearing from them. More synchronicities. Having sudden insights about patterns or events from the past. Clairvoyance, out-of-body experiences, and other psychic phenomena. Intensified sensitivity and knowing. Awareness of one’s essence and that of others. Channeling angelic and Christ-consciousness energies.

36. Communication with Spirit. Contact with angels, spirit guides, and other divine entities. Channeling. More and more people seem to be given this opportunity. Feeling inspiration and downloading information that takes form as writing, painting, ideas, communications, dance, etc.

37. A sense of Oneness with all. A direct experience of this Wholeness. Transcendent awareness. Being flooded with compassion and love for all life. Compassionate detachment or unconditional love for all is what lifts us up to higher levels of consciousness and joy.

38. Moments of joy and bliss. A deep abiding sense of peace and knowing that you are never alone.

39. Integration: You become emotionally, psychologically, physically, and spiritually stronger and clearer. You feel as if you are in alignment with your Higher Self.

40. Living your purpose: You know you are finally doing what you came to earth for. New skills and gifts are emerging, especially healing ones. Your life/work experiences are now converging and starting to make sense. You are finally going to use them all.

Advice: Listen to your heart. Your passion leads you to where you must go. Go within and ask your Higher Power, “What is it you would have me do?” Watch for synchronicities. Listen.

41. Feeling closer to animals and plants. To some people, animals now seem to be more “human” in their behavior. Wild animals are less afraid. Plants respond to your love and attention more than ever. Some may even have messages for you.

42. Seeing beings of other dimensions. The veil between dimensions is thinner, so it is not surprising. Just stay in your sovereignty. You are more powerful than you can ever imagine, so do not entertain fear. Ask your guides for help if you slip into fear.

43. Seeing a person’s true form or seeing loved ones with a different face — past life or parallel life.

44. Physically manifesting thoughts and desires more quickly and efficiently.

Advice: Monitor your thoughts. All thoughts are prayers. Be careful what you ask for.

45. Left -brain fogginess. Your psychic abilities, your intuitive knowing, your feeling and compassion, your ability to experience your body, your visioning, your expressiveness all emanate from the right brain. In order for this side of the brain to develop more fully, the left brain must shut down a little bit. Normally the left-hemisphere’s capacity for order, organization, structure, linear sequencing, analysis, evaluation, precision, focus, problem-solving, and mathematics dominate our often less-valued right brain.

What results are memory lapses, placing words in the wrong sequence, inability or no desire to read for very long, inability to focus; forgetting what you are just about to say; impatience with linear forms of communication (audio or written formats); a feeling of spaciness, being scattered; losing interest in research or complex information; feeling bombarded with words and talk and information; and a reluctance to write. Sometimes you feel dull and have no interest in analysis, lively intellectual discussion, or investigation.

On the other hand, you might find yourself drawn to the sensate: videos, magazines with photos, beautiful artwork, movies, music, sculpting, painting, being with people, dancing, gardening, walking, and other kinesthetic forms of expression. You may search for spiritual content, even science fiction.

Advice: You may discover that if you allow your heart and your right brain to lead you, the left will then be activated appropriately to support you. And someday we will be well-balanced, using both hemispheres with mastery.

46. Dizziness. This occurs when you are ungrounded. Perhaps you have just cleared a big emotional issue and your body is adjusting to your “lighter” state.

Advice: Ground yourself by eating protein. Sometimes “comfort food” feels right. Don’t make any food right or wrong for you. Use your guidance to know what you need at any given moment. Take your shoes off and put your feet in the grass for a couple of minutes.

47. Falling, having accidents, breaking bones. Your body is not grounded or perhaps your life is out of balance. Or your body may be telling you to slow down, examine certain aspects of your life, or heal certain issues. There is always a message. When I recently broke my ankle, I understand that my ankle was taking on what I myself refused to deal with. And that was all of the above.

Advice: Stay grounded by taking your shoes off and putting your feet in the grass; even better, lie down on the grass without a blanket under you. Feel the earth beneath you. Get out in nature. Slow down and pay attention. Be mindful about what you are doing. Feel your feelings when they come up. Stay in the present. Surround yourself with blue light when you are feeling shaky.

49. Heart palpitations. A racing heart usually accompanies a heart opening. It only lasts for a few moments and means that the heart is re-balancing itself after an emotional release. I had one episode that terrified me: I woke up in the middle of the night, my heart pounding.
I thought it was going to come right out of my chest. It only happened once and was, I understand, a huge heart-chakra opening. But I did check it out. There is nothing wrong with my heart.

Advice: Remember what I said about getting medical attention when needed. Consult your doctor about any conditions you are not comfortable with.

50. Faster hair and nail growth. More protein is being used in the body. Too bad we can’t tell the body where to grow the hair and where not to grow it. (Or can we? Hmmm.)

51. A desire to find your soulmate or twin flame. More than ever before, the idea that we can have a relationship that matches who we are seems more desirable.

Advice: The truth is, we have to be the kind of person we want to attract.
We have to love ourselves and where we are right now before we can attract a more “perfect” mate. The work begins at home. Here is how I think it works: Hold the desire for this person in your heart, but without attachment. Expect that someday you will meet someone who is more suited to you, but let go of any expectations as to who this will be and how it will happen. Focus instead on cleaning up your own life and being the kind of person you want to be. Be happy now. Enjoy your life. Then you may see…..

52. Memories surface. Body memories, suppressed memories, images of past lives and/or parallel lives. We are healing and integrating all our “selves”, so expect to have some of these experiences.

Advice. Keep in mind that it is best to recall what only what comes to mind, leave the rest alone, don’t analyze everything to death (because you will be stuck in the tape loop of infinite issues to process), and feel your feelings as they come up. Ask for help from your guides.

– written by Karen Bishop
Please visit her website for more information!
http://www.whatsuponplanetearth.com/

Attachments & School of Life

Attachments & the School of Life
by Lura Genz
ourinnersource. com
____________________________________
Life can be compared to an enormous multileveled structure – a school-house filled with countless classrooms. Each classroom represents an intention - either acted upon or not acted upon. Some of the life lessons taught, and often re-taught, are mind-numbingly repetitive in nature. It seems we are slow to catch on to the lesson at hand. A larger classroom, if you will, awaits us when we acknowledge that ‘enough is enough’ and we determine to cease putting attention on non life-affirming situations. A willingness to move on: mentally, emotionally, spiritually; to surrender to the Divine within us whatever it is that keeps us bound to restrictive lessons that fetter spiritual freedom and growth.

One of the reasons we hold ourselves bound in such a non-advancing state is undue attachment: to a spiritual belief system that no longer inspires; continuing relationships with persons or places that cease to comfort and warm the heart; a job that holds us tethered for security reasons, although it is a daily grind and limits all creative flow. Or we can be stuck in resentments, blaming parents, siblings, others, for all the ills heaped upon us – looking back. back. back instead of accepting that life isn’t necessarily fair (as we see it) and letting go of passé negative restraints. By moving forward, we open ourselves to new vistas and opportunities. It’s never easy – saying goodbye to our attachments, even when they no longer honor us. This lifetime is precious; it must serve us well in all facets of our life.

Fear of change also keeps us bound to limiting parameters. The But what ifs… that paralyze our incentive to think outside the box of our own creation. We need to make a stand in the sand and face the fear.What’s truly at the heart of our concern?

So many self-imposed restrictions: feelings of inadequacy; fear of rejection; others disapproval of our decisions; feeling bound by an indebtedness to another that keeps us hostage to their wants and wishes, overriding our own hopes, interests, and desires.

There are other mind passions that also curb forward movement. Anger is one, and it is never pleasant, and it is never righteous. Anger separates and destroys and, if vehement enough – kills. It kills love, and all that has meaning in our lives. Another negative trait is vanity: a certain smugness and preoccupation with self that puts others last. There’s also greed: the insatiable ones who never have enough, who always need more. And lust: let’s not forget those whose lust for power, money, love, is so excessive it smothers all forward thrust.How can one move forward when he is forever stuck staking claim to his consuming desires?

When we can visualize a better tomorrow for ourselves by slowly, but surely, releasing the negatives that are holding us in place, we can then move on to the next plateau – the larger classroom - that is filled with more light and more love. It awaits us. It is already in place.

What is Ascension

Definition: Ascension
excerpt 'The Official Guide to Enlightenment'
by Suzanna Kennedy

Ascension is about humans clearing, healing and evolving our energies into a higher form...ascending to a higher vibrational level. The Angels, Light Beings and the Ascended Masters are flooding this plane with guidance, wisdom, information, and techniques. It is up to each one of us to embrace the gifts they offer.

In your personal physical ascension, you must begin where you are. If you have a worn-out, unhealthy body, it is necessary to bring it into greater balance for ascension. Energy imprints and patterns must be cleared. The physical, spiritual and emotional bodies must be healed. Many people don’t realize that ascension means transforming the body they have into a body that will take in more light and higher vibrations of energy. If you are like us, when you realize that ascension means working and healing the body you have, and clearing your patterns/energy imprints, it can be a little overwhelming. You slowly begin to realize how important healing the physical, emotional and spiritual bodies are. I know, until recently, our physical bodies had not been a priority. When it became clear that we would not be able to use the higher velocity of healing energy to help others, we finally got what the angels were trying to say……… take care of yourselves! We both knew we would doing Ascension work with others, but we had no idea how our own lives would change, including how we took care of our bodies. For us it has been a wonderful journey, one that is still unfolding.

We know we are not alone on this journey. We also know that each person will experience ascension and the life changes in their unique way.

We have personally experienced many “ascension/light body symptoms”. They include joint and muscle pain, persistent fatigue, headaches, stiff necks and shoulders, weight gain, difficulties with sleep and concentration (foggy headedness), sore throat, transformational flu, body aches and pains, hearing changes, irritable bowels and bladder, low-grade fevers and depression. We were often at a loss as to what to do to find relief from these symptoms. By trial and error, we found that the list below is what is needed. We have organized what we feel are important ways you can actively support your personal ascension process. This list can serve as an outline to assist you along your transformational journey. It is a list in process.

One of the first things each of us must do is take responsibility for our body and auric field. Remember, you are not a body with a part of you being spirit. You are a spiritual being who has incarnated in a physical body. This body is your temple. Others can help, but you are ultimately responsible for your spiritual, emotional and physical health.

11 Practical Practices

1. You are a spiritual Being, a being of light. It is important to partake of the universal life force energy that is freely available. Before getting out of bed, take deep breaths of life force energy into your body and say, “I AM a creation of Light. The light of God flows through me, in me, and around me.” Throughout the day, take deep breaths and say, “I AM a creation of light. The light of God flows through me, in me and around me.”

2. Take full responsibility and release all energy imprints and patterns that no longer serve your highest good. Many of these imprints and patterns are also are held within the auric field as well as the DNA. These imprints and patterns actually block light from coming into your physical, spiritual and emotional bodies. Light is what you are. Light is where you will return

3. Practice spiritual non-attachment. Archangel Metatron tells us not to become distracted by drama.

4. Strengthen your energy circuits: As more light comes into your physical body, your muscles must be strong enough to hold the light. Regular exercise that strengthens and tones is important, also subtle body exercises, like Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, etc. are important.

5. Keep your chakras - your spiritual energy centers – clear: Meditation, regular healing sessions

6. Attune to your higher guidance: Take time to connect with your Soul. Learn to communicate with Ascended Masters, Angels and teachers for insight, encouragement & guidance. They are always available to you.

7. Making changes that support and promote optimal physical health: Clearing/detoxing of the physical body and releasing attachments to food. We have found that the alkaline food plan is a wonderful way to aid the light body. Be open to your body's wisdom, regarding what you eat.

8. Etheric clearing of the chakras and subtle bodies: We are Spiritual Beings. We are not just a physical body. We must begin a daily routine that includes taking care of our chakras and etheric bodies. This includes, chakra meditations, sea salt baths…meditations such as Raphael’s Gift.

9. Activities to help raise your vibration: Forgiveness, gratitude

10. Meditation and prayer.

11. Daily acts of service: Remember, service to self is important. You must take care of your spiritual, physical and emotional needs

Spiritual Shifts & Relationships

by Neva J Howell

Relationship Struggles in the Acceleration Process - It is an interesting phenomenon in spiritual acceleration....when we shift consciousness, it affects everything and everyone around us. Since spiritual awakening can sometimes be a sudden shift in consciousness and perspective, we may not understand how completely and irrevocably the old paradigm is gone nor how that fact may change our closest relationships.

In fact, we often do not realize just how comfortable we have become with existing belief systems, until those belief systems can no longer be sustained. Depending on the level of the consciousness shift, it can feel like learning to think and feel again.

Spiritual Shifts Don't Just Affect You - At first, after a paradigm shift or energetic acceleration experience, it may just feel as if we have changed in some way but the world around us is still the same.

Then, we look around us and see that everyone close to us is reacting differently. Sometimes this change is positive but many times, it is perceived as painful, some kind of loss, or chaotic.


Why do those we love the most resist what is for our highest spiritual good? Wouldn't those who love us most want this for us? Why would our spiritual acceleration throw loved ones into fear, resistance and personality challenge?

One reason we meet resistance when we break away from longterm or lifelong patterns of interaction with those closest to us is that this change can be construed as destructive to the family member it affects. It can feel as if the relationship is breaking apart. Our shift changes everything and takes everyone outside their comfort zone, sometimes in a pretty drastic way. We may be changing but those we love may want to stay the same and they can only stay the same if we do not change.


Changing Relationships as Symptoms of Spiritual Awakening - Whenever we make the decision to clear our negative thinking, behaviors and beliefs, to release our limiting thought paradigms and to embrace more Universal Truth, that decision shifts everyone around us.


When we decide to let go of unhealthy habits, fears and ego distractions, it can set in motion a ripple effect across every aspect of our life because those with whom we have partnered in fear, unhealthy habits and ego distractions are losing a partner.


It may surprise us, at that point, to find that our immediate circle of friends begins to change. If those around us resist spiritual acceleration in their own lives, then our spiritual advancement becomes a threat to their desired reality. Those who don't wish to advance may suddenly resent or dislike us. Those who vibrate at a slower vibrational frequency than the one from which we have just shifted, may seem draining to us and not desirable to be around anymore.


Most likely, there will be those of our spiritual circle who want us back the way we were, so they can interact with us the same habitual, familiar and comfortable ways. There may even be unconcious sabotage, designed to help us question our new consciousness and drop back into the old patterns with them.


Flux and Flow - If we are fully committed to spiritual awakening, we will not allow this and will take action to end relationships that do not grow with us. The more compassionately we can end them, the better we become at letting the flux and flow of people around us be ok.


Relationship shifts and changes are a normal part of the spiritual acceleration process. We can learn to allow these changes to occur in a loving way by remembering that each soul is a sovereign master, perfectly capable of fulfilling their own unique destiny, with or without us.


Honoring Others Sovereignty - Sometimes, our vibration will be welcomed and we will be joined in breaking free of old patterns and behaviors. However, if this does not occur and we have those in our lives who choose to remain at slower vibrational frequency, we can honor that and trust that they will begin to be drawn to others of their own level. We are not really leaving anyone behind as much as we are honoring the sovereignty of each soul to choose their own rate of acceleration. As those of slower, more dense vibration begin to clear from our field, there will be new opportunities for connection revealed, evidenced by different kinds of people being attracted to us.


As we begin to meet these potential friends, some of which will seem to be vibrating at a slightly higher vibrational frequency than us, it is important to be alert to any suggestions from our logical mind that we have nothing in common with them. This is an illusion based on the past.


Sometimes, we fail to recognize that we really have moved beyond an old structure of relating. During these transitional relationship times, trust that higher vibration beings would not be coming to you, unless there was a similarity of frequency to attract them. Decide now to welcome new experiences with others, as part of your acceleration experience .

Poetry

>Love By Nicole Petroff

Love Hurts
Not True
Love Heals
Love is all there is
Love is everywhere
I love you and you love her and she loves him but doesn’t like you
Why that’s discrimination, I say
True love doesn’t have discrimination of anyone
True love doesn’t have dualism, like love or hate
True love doesn’t have suffering
True love doesn’t have wanting or needing
True love can’t be lost
True love can’t be gained
True love is always there
True love is everywhere
Open your eyes and heart
Let’s give and receive true love
You are loved

From Thief of Sleep by Shahram Shiva

When your chest is free of your limiting ego,
Then you will see the ageless Beloved.
You can not see yourself without a mirror;
Look at the Beloved, He is the brightest mirror

The Agony and Ecstasy of Divine Discontent- Rumi


In the orchard and rose garden
I long to see your face.
In the taste of Sweetness
I long to kiss your lips.
In the shadows of passion
I long for your love.

Oh! Supreme Lover!
Let me leave aside my worries.
The flowers are blooming
with the exultation of your Spirit.

By Allah!
I long to escape the prison of my ego
and lose myself
in the mountains and the desert.

These sad and lonely people tire me.
I long to revel in the drunken frenzy of your love
and feel the strength of Rustam in my hands.

I’m sick of mortal kings.
I long to see your light.
With lamps in hand
the sheiks and mullahs roam
the dark alleys of these towns
not finding what they seek.

You are the Essence of the Essence,
The intoxication of Love.
I long to sing your praises
but stand mute
with the agony of wishing in my heart.

Ode 314 by Rumi

Those who don't feel this Love
pulling them like a river,
those who don't drink dawn
like a cup of spring water
or take in sunset like supper,
those who don't want to change,
Let them sleep.

This Love is beyond the study of theology,
that old trickery and hypocrisy.
I you want to improve your mind that way,
Sleep on.

I've given up on my brain.
I've torn the cloth to shreds
and thrown it away.
If you're not completely naked,
wrap your beautiful robe of words
around you

Oh Beloved-Rumi

Oh Beloved,
take me.
Liberate my soul.
Fill me with your love and
release me from the two worlds.
If I set my heart on anything but you
let fire burn me from inside.

Oh Beloved,
take away what I want.
Take away what I do.
Take away what I need.
Take away everything
that takes me from you.

AFTER BEING IN LOVE, THE NEXT RESPONSIBILITY- Rumi

Turn me like a waterwheel turning a millstone.
Plenty of water, a Living River.
Keep me in one place and scatter the love.
Leaf-moves in wind, straw drawn toward amber,
all parts of the world are in love,
but they do not tell their secrets. Cows grazing
on a sacramental table, ants whispering in Solomon's ear.
Mountains mumbling an echo. Sky, calm.
If the sun were not in love, he would have no brightness,
the side of the hill no grass on it.
The ocean would come to rest somewhere.

Be a lover as they are, that you come to know
you Beloved. Be faithful that you may know
Faith. The other parts of the universe did not accept
the next responsibility of love as you can.
They were afraid they might make a mistake
with it, the inspired knowing
that springs from being in love

I Swear- Rumi

I swear, since seeing Your face,

the whole world is fraud and fantasy

The garden is bewildered as to what is leaf

or blossom. The distracted birds

can't distinguish the birdseed from the snare.

A house of love with no limits,

a presence more beautiful than venus or the moon,

a beauty whose image fills the mirror of the heart.

Let Go of Your Worries- Rumi

Let go of your worries

and be completely clear-hearted,

like the face of a mirror

that contains no images.

If you want a clear mirror,

behold yourself

and see the shameless truth,

which the mirror reflects.

If metal can be polished

to a mirror-like finish,

what polishing might the mirror

of the heart require?

Between the mirror and the heart

is this single difference:

the heart conceals secrets,

while the mirror does not.

Bittersweet

written by Rumi, edited by Deepak Chopra, reading by Madonna

----------
In my hallucination
I saw my beloved's flower garden
In my vertigo, in my dizziness
In my drunken haze
Whirling and dancing like a spinning wheel

I saw myself as the source of existence
I was there in the beginning
And I was the spirit of love
Now I am sober
There is only the hangover
And the memory of love
And only the sorrow

I yearn for happiness
I ask for help
I want mercy
And my love says:

Look at me and hear me
Because I am here
Just for that

I am your moon and your moonlight too
I am your flower garden and your water too
I have come all this way, eager for you
Without shoes or shawl

I want you to laugh
To kill all your worries
To love you
To nourish you

Oh sweet bitterness
I will soothe you and heal you
I will bring you roses
I, too, have been covered with thorns

Desire-Feat- Rumi

A lover knows only humility, he has no choice.
He steals into your alley at night, he has no choice.
He longs to kiss every lock of your hair, don't fret,
he has no choice.
In his frenzied love for you, he longs to break the chains of his imprisonment,
he has no choice.

A lover asked his beloved:
- Do you love yourself more than you love me?
Beloved replied: I have died to myself and I live for you.
I've disappeared from myself and my attributes,
I am present only for you.
I've forgotten all my learnings,
but from knowing you I've become a scholar.
I've lost all my strength, but from your power I am able.

I love myself...I love you.
I love you...I love myself.

I am your lover, come to my side,
I will open the gate to your love.
Come settle with me, let us be neighbors to the stars.
You have been hiding so long, endlessly drifting in the sea of my love.
Even so, you have always been connected to me.
Concealed, revealed, in the unknown, in the un-manifest.
I am life itself.

You have been a prisoner of a little pond,
I am the ocean and its turbulent flood.
Come merge with me,
leave this world of ignorance.
Be with me, I will open the gate to your love.

I desire you more than food or drink
My body my senses my mind hunger for your taste
I can sense your presence in my heart
although you belong to all the world
I wait with silent passion for one gesture one glance
from you

Clarity

The clarity that you have attained thus far on your journey has served to bring you to this moment. Here, at this crossroads in time and space that you regard as "today," the consciousness of humanity stands poised, an in-breath of life, awaiting the inevitable out-breath to follow. And just as the rhythm of the breath is anticipated and experienced in harmony with the rest of your life functions as a fact of your physical existence, so too is the rhythm of your awareness -- the flow of the tides of your emerging consciousness-- in harmony with the in-breath and the out-breath of Creation.

The moments of clarity intensify, and then wane, over and over again. You experiences a spark of crystalline awareness and, in that exquisite moment, you are convinced that clarity is there to stay. Yet, as you reach to hold onto it, the illumination slips elusively past. And you are left to wonder whether you have actually awakened or are still wandering the back roads of the dream. In all likelihood, as the process of transformation intensifies, you are experiencing both states of being simultaneously. The process of awakening is not one in which a definitive threshold is crossed and you are then enlightened, transformed, or ascended. There is much backsliding to be expected on this journey. And it is not unlikely to find yourself quite suddenly back at the beginning--in your own mind's eye. That is very much the nature of the experience.

When you cease looking for the sense of connectedness and cease seeking answers outside of your own inner Source, the interim periods of separation, when your gravest doubts resurface, become fewer and father between. Ultimately, you embody that knowingness. For, you are in Oneness--in essence. And you have been so ALL along.


When you make the transition from believing to knowing that basic truth, you are on your way to stabilizing the process of embodying that truth, such that you are fully aware of your interconnectedness with All Life at all times. Know that the truth you seek is within you. The answers are there before you before the question has been fully formulated.

You have manifested everything needed to have everything your heart desires right now. And there is nothing standing between you and the realization of your deepest longing to reunite in Oneness with All Creation. For, you are already there. Everything that is to happen has already happened. It Is--and continues to Be--eternally. When your perception of the illusion of time/space you know as REALITY, is in harmony, energetically, with the momentum of the eternal NOW, you experience what IS.

When the energies wane, you experience the illusion, once more, of the elusive state of enlightenment just out of reach. Like the rhythms of the tides, this state of awareness washes up on the shores of your consciousness, nudging you into recognition of the knowingness harbored deep within. This knowingness does not wane with the rhythms of the transformation process, but is there within the depths of your being, eternally.

Clarity, enlightenment, liberation, and awareness is a state of mind and the state of being in that state of mind.