"You have here no place of long abiding, for wherever you have come you are but a stranger and a pilgrim, and never will find perfect rest until you are fully joined to God." - Thomas a Kempis
I've lived long enough to see the truth of that statement. It refers, of course, not just to your physical/geographic location, but also to the circumstances of your life.
And, well, it's true. I have lived in many places in my time here, and while some of them seemed like Shangri-la for a moment, like someplace that I would never want to leave, the truth of the matter is that they have all been not much than an "extended stay" hotel (although, admittedly, some of the stays were quite extended). I love the movie, "Lost Horizon", but the truth is that there is no place on Earth that is paradise - the Garden of Eden vanished a long, long time ago. Bermuda and Ireland are both unceasingly beautiful, but there's simply no place one can go that can still the restlessness in our hearts. Our search for Shangri-la is bound to be frustrating, as we are searching for something that simply does not exist in this life
The same is true of our life circumstances - relationships, work, etc. How unfathomably rich we would be if we just had a dime for every time that someone thought to themselves, "I would be completely happy forever is I just had..." - and finish the sentence with the name of a person, a job, whatever. Well, I've been fortunate enough to secure more than one "dream job", and even to marry my "dream girl" (of course, I subsequently managed to screw that up) - I even got my dream CAR!...but none of those things magically banished all pain and struggle from my existence.
The simple truth is that no matter how we labor to construct ourselves a "home" in this life, we will never truly feel completely at home and at ease in this world of shadows that we are merely passing through like passengers on a ship. If you have trouble believing this, take away the small, but significant, snippet of Truth that can be found in "entertainment news" - If movie stars, who can build their dream house, live anywhere they wish, who have their choice of companions more so than most people anyway, and who have their dream job...if they are unable to construct themselves an earthly castle strong enough to protect themselves from suicidal depression - then is it at all realistic to think that anyone can do such a thing? No. We are indeed pilgrims, and have here "no place of long abiding", for the very Earth upon which we tread is itself a thing passing away...
Friday, October 12, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Journaling The Way
Journaling is one of the (if not THE) most important tools for self-improvement and personal / spiritual growth. It's also one of the most rewarding practices you can engage in, one that "pays off" ten thousand times over the small investment of time and effort that it requires.
Let me point out just a few of the major benefits of journaling:
- Clarify your thoughts. Nothing clarifies and focuses your thinking like taking the time to put your thoughts into words and write them down. Journaling gathers our scattered thoughts of the day together, and allows us to record them in an organized fashion. A million different ideas may come to mind if someone poses the question to you, "What do you want to do with your life?", and if the question just comes and goes, they're all scattered to the wind again within minutes. But if you just take a few minutes to think about, and actually write down, an answer to that question, your goals and dreams take on a focus and clarity that most people usually lack in their lives - the kind of focus and clarity that enables us to actually achieve our dreams.
- Learn from your life experiences. I recommend re-reading your journal at least once every 3-6 months. The first time you do this, I guarantee that it will be an amazingly eye-opening experience. Changes in your thinking and attitude about certain things in your life will jump off the page at you - changes that occurred so gradually that you had no awareness of them at the time - but that your journal allows you to look back and see a time when you thought much differently. You'll recall ideas that you had, but have forgotten all about (and that might have been lost forever, except for your journaling). You'll be amused to re-read passages about something that, at the time, had you so upset that you could hardly think straight...but that now, just a couple of months later, is mere unimportant trivia to you.
- Motivation. Everybody loses track of their New Year's Resolutions. Everyone, that is, except people who journal regularly. Sure, you might not have gotten around to hopping on that exercise bike back in January, but in March, when you read about your fervent resolve to get back into shape, you'll be newly motivated to get going. If you don't start in March, well, you'll get reminded again in June or July. Finally, if nothing else, you'll be embarrassed into getting on that exercise bike, just so you can stop feeling silly every time you read that you once again "absolutely promise" to "start tomorrow morning".
- Document your growth and development. You know, sometimes we actually do some things right and accomplish some pretty important stuff. Unfortunately, we tend to minimize and forget our successes, and this becomes an obstacle in maintaining our self-esteem. Part of your journaling should definitely be recording your successes along the way. Often, it may feel like we're not making any real progress in our lives at all, not getting anywhere. But when you go back and re-read your journal 3-6 months down the road, your self-esteem will receive an instant boost when you're able to see that you really have gotten some things done. This will also freshly energize you to work on new accomplishments in the coming weeks.
Give journaling a try. It's something that takes only a small amount of time, and that can actually help you wind down and relax at the end of the day. I'm confident that you will find keeping a journal to be one of the most rewarding spiritual practices in your life.
JBM
Self Development for One Dollar - CLICK HERE - Limited Time Offer!
Let me point out just a few of the major benefits of journaling:
- Clarify your thoughts. Nothing clarifies and focuses your thinking like taking the time to put your thoughts into words and write them down. Journaling gathers our scattered thoughts of the day together, and allows us to record them in an organized fashion. A million different ideas may come to mind if someone poses the question to you, "What do you want to do with your life?", and if the question just comes and goes, they're all scattered to the wind again within minutes. But if you just take a few minutes to think about, and actually write down, an answer to that question, your goals and dreams take on a focus and clarity that most people usually lack in their lives - the kind of focus and clarity that enables us to actually achieve our dreams.
- Learn from your life experiences. I recommend re-reading your journal at least once every 3-6 months. The first time you do this, I guarantee that it will be an amazingly eye-opening experience. Changes in your thinking and attitude about certain things in your life will jump off the page at you - changes that occurred so gradually that you had no awareness of them at the time - but that your journal allows you to look back and see a time when you thought much differently. You'll recall ideas that you had, but have forgotten all about (and that might have been lost forever, except for your journaling). You'll be amused to re-read passages about something that, at the time, had you so upset that you could hardly think straight...but that now, just a couple of months later, is mere unimportant trivia to you.
- Motivation. Everybody loses track of their New Year's Resolutions. Everyone, that is, except people who journal regularly. Sure, you might not have gotten around to hopping on that exercise bike back in January, but in March, when you read about your fervent resolve to get back into shape, you'll be newly motivated to get going. If you don't start in March, well, you'll get reminded again in June or July. Finally, if nothing else, you'll be embarrassed into getting on that exercise bike, just so you can stop feeling silly every time you read that you once again "absolutely promise" to "start tomorrow morning".
- Document your growth and development. You know, sometimes we actually do some things right and accomplish some pretty important stuff. Unfortunately, we tend to minimize and forget our successes, and this becomes an obstacle in maintaining our self-esteem. Part of your journaling should definitely be recording your successes along the way. Often, it may feel like we're not making any real progress in our lives at all, not getting anywhere. But when you go back and re-read your journal 3-6 months down the road, your self-esteem will receive an instant boost when you're able to see that you really have gotten some things done. This will also freshly energize you to work on new accomplishments in the coming weeks.
Give journaling a try. It's something that takes only a small amount of time, and that can actually help you wind down and relax at the end of the day. I'm confident that you will find keeping a journal to be one of the most rewarding spiritual practices in your life.
JBM
Self Development for One Dollar - CLICK HERE - Limited Time Offer!
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
"Quintessential Guide to Conscious Creation"
"The Quintessential Guide to Conscious Creation" (QGCC) Course is one of a number of self-development courses/sites now available online that have been spawned by the popularity of the "Law of Attraction" doctrine put forth in the immensely successful book and movie, "The Secret". Some of the courses concentrate more on career/wealth creation, some more on personal development/happiness. QGCC does a good job of splitting the difference and covering both.
The QGCC Course consists mainly of 10 Lessons (but they're BIG lessons!), that:
- arrive by email, at the rate of about one per week
- are available online at the web site
- are also available in audio format, so that you can either listen to them online, or download them to an MP3 player
QGCC is far from being the only course available that provides detailed instruction in the principles of the Law of Attraction and Quantum Physics. Two other popular sites offering similar courses are Dr. Robert Anthony's "The Secret of Deliberate Creation", and the more money-minded site that is the joint venture of Bob Proctor, Jack Canfield (creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series), and Michael Beckwith - "The Science of Getting Rich".
QGCC, which is managed through The Universe of Power web site, stands out from the others because of the massive amount of additional support provided beyond just the course itself, and because it's a bargain, price-wise, compared to the other two. I'll list just a few of the main free extras given to course members:
- A COURSE DISCUSSION FORUM, where students can ask any questions they have as they work their way through the material. For this type of study, I believe that access to ongoing consultation and "mentoring" is absolutely essential for someone to get the maximum benefit from the course - in other words, this just isn't the kind of thing where you can just read a book and "get it". In fact, that's exactly why these courses have sprung up, because books like "The Secret" simply can't provide the detailed, step-by-step instruction and help necessary for someone to truly master principles like the Law of Attraction, Creative Visualization, Goal Setting and Integration, etc. The forum at the Universe of Power web site (there are actually two - a public one, and one for course members) is exceptional, due to the fact that it is attended virtually 24 hours a day by one or more of the actual designers and authors of the course.
- FREE RESOURCES. The site offers a nearly endless supply of free articles, ebooks (one of these is Wallace Wattles', "The Science of Getting Rich", the 19th century text which originally put forth many of the principles that have been "rediscovered" in books like "The Secret" - lots of web sites sell this book, QGCC gives it away), videos, and seminars that support and expand upon the principles found in the course. It's obvious that the course designers have gone to a lot of trouble to provide as extensive a self-development program as they possibly can.
- THE PEOPLE. I don't know that this actually qualifies as an "extra", but the fact is that the designers of this course, Jessica LaRock, her husband Ron, "Aunt Margie", and Sid, the computer guy, are all intelligent, sincere people, with an obvious desire to be genuinely helpful to their site members. Since I first joined the site, Jessica has taken the time to send me countless emails helping me not just work my way through the course, but providing personal assistance to me in achieving my specific personal goals (up to and including sending me job opportunities).
- A DOWNLOADABLE/PRINTABLE JOURNAL, which I've found to be an invaluable aid in putting the course instructions into practical action.
- FREE WEB SITE SPACE. Course members can publish up to 40 pages of material on their own personal "mini-sites", provided for them completely free of charge, within the Universe of Power site itself.
Again, that's just a sampling - I didn't mention the auxilliary lessons, the "magnetizers" that come with each lesson, or any of a dozen other things. "The Science of Getting Rich" is the only other site like this that I know of that offers comparable extensive, ongoing support - however, that course sells for approximately ten times more than the price of the QGCC course.
Jessica is offering a special at the time of this writing - you can try the whole course out for just $1 (one dollar) - see all of the material, and begin working your way through it, before deciding whether or not to purchase it - Read more here about this special offer for "The Quintessential Guide to Conscious Creation". (Personally, having some experience with internet marketing, I think the course authors will soon realize this offer is perhaps a bit too generous, and therefore I don't expect it to be offered for very long.)
Oh, just in case you were wondering...Yes, the principles taught in the course really do work - and believe me, I'm the ultimate skeptic when it comes to things like this.
JBM
The QGCC Course consists mainly of 10 Lessons (but they're BIG lessons!), that:
- arrive by email, at the rate of about one per week
- are available online at the web site
- are also available in audio format, so that you can either listen to them online, or download them to an MP3 player
QGCC is far from being the only course available that provides detailed instruction in the principles of the Law of Attraction and Quantum Physics. Two other popular sites offering similar courses are Dr. Robert Anthony's "The Secret of Deliberate Creation", and the more money-minded site that is the joint venture of Bob Proctor, Jack Canfield (creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series), and Michael Beckwith - "The Science of Getting Rich".
QGCC, which is managed through The Universe of Power web site, stands out from the others because of the massive amount of additional support provided beyond just the course itself, and because it's a bargain, price-wise, compared to the other two. I'll list just a few of the main free extras given to course members:
- A COURSE DISCUSSION FORUM, where students can ask any questions they have as they work their way through the material. For this type of study, I believe that access to ongoing consultation and "mentoring" is absolutely essential for someone to get the maximum benefit from the course - in other words, this just isn't the kind of thing where you can just read a book and "get it". In fact, that's exactly why these courses have sprung up, because books like "The Secret" simply can't provide the detailed, step-by-step instruction and help necessary for someone to truly master principles like the Law of Attraction, Creative Visualization, Goal Setting and Integration, etc. The forum at the Universe of Power web site (there are actually two - a public one, and one for course members) is exceptional, due to the fact that it is attended virtually 24 hours a day by one or more of the actual designers and authors of the course.
- FREE RESOURCES. The site offers a nearly endless supply of free articles, ebooks (one of these is Wallace Wattles', "The Science of Getting Rich", the 19th century text which originally put forth many of the principles that have been "rediscovered" in books like "The Secret" - lots of web sites sell this book, QGCC gives it away), videos, and seminars that support and expand upon the principles found in the course. It's obvious that the course designers have gone to a lot of trouble to provide as extensive a self-development program as they possibly can.
- THE PEOPLE. I don't know that this actually qualifies as an "extra", but the fact is that the designers of this course, Jessica LaRock, her husband Ron, "Aunt Margie", and Sid, the computer guy, are all intelligent, sincere people, with an obvious desire to be genuinely helpful to their site members. Since I first joined the site, Jessica has taken the time to send me countless emails helping me not just work my way through the course, but providing personal assistance to me in achieving my specific personal goals (up to and including sending me job opportunities).
- A DOWNLOADABLE/PRINTABLE JOURNAL, which I've found to be an invaluable aid in putting the course instructions into practical action.
- FREE WEB SITE SPACE. Course members can publish up to 40 pages of material on their own personal "mini-sites", provided for them completely free of charge, within the Universe of Power site itself.
Again, that's just a sampling - I didn't mention the auxilliary lessons, the "magnetizers" that come with each lesson, or any of a dozen other things. "The Science of Getting Rich" is the only other site like this that I know of that offers comparable extensive, ongoing support - however, that course sells for approximately ten times more than the price of the QGCC course.
Jessica is offering a special at the time of this writing - you can try the whole course out for just $1 (one dollar) - see all of the material, and begin working your way through it, before deciding whether or not to purchase it - Read more here about this special offer for "The Quintessential Guide to Conscious Creation". (Personally, having some experience with internet marketing, I think the course authors will soon realize this offer is perhaps a bit too generous, and therefore I don't expect it to be offered for very long.)
Oh, just in case you were wondering...Yes, the principles taught in the course really do work - and believe me, I'm the ultimate skeptic when it comes to things like this.
JBM
Monday, October 8, 2007
DREAMS - Stop Wasting Your Life!
We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping. Put another way - If you live to be 100, you'll have spent roughly 33 years asleep...so, if you're less than 33 years old right now, that's more than the entirety of your life.
Dreams are God's attempt to communicate with us during basically the only part of the day when He can get us to shut up long enough to listen to Him. Of course, the problem is that God, being the sneaky, mysterious guy that He is, talks in a sort of surreal code language - the language of dreams.
If we fail to pay attention to our dreams, we're missing, well, some pretty important stuff, to put it mildly.
I recently stumbled across a great piece of software - "The Lucid Dreaming Kit". It's far and away the best resource I've ever seen for learning how to tap into the power of your dreams. It easily teaches you to be aware of your dreams, interpret them, and utilize them for your maximum benefit (also teaches you the trick to turning nightmares into wonderful dream experiences). You can use this helpful tool (developed by Bradley Thompson, the designer of the "Subliminal Power" program) to tap into your subconscious, overcome fears and phobias, enhance your relationships, and deepen your spiritual communion with God.
Extras include - the name of a simple drink, available at any store, that will boost your dreaming power.
BONUS - There's a free bonus tool included, called "Chat with Einstein", that helps develop your creative skills (especially good for artists, writers, musicians, etc.), and maximize all your talents (yes, it will improve your golf game!).
Anyway, if you have ANY interest at all at tapping into your dream life, I highly recommend The Lucid Dreaming Kit . Check it out. It's not only a genuinely helpful tool for personal development - it's also just a lot of fun to play with.
If you just hate software programs for some reason, I know of a couple of good books on dreamwork that I'd be happy to give you the details on (just email me directly at jbmaverick@gmail.com), but honestly, The Lucid Dreaming Kit is much, much better than any book I've ever read on the subject.
cheers,
Jack
Dreams are God's attempt to communicate with us during basically the only part of the day when He can get us to shut up long enough to listen to Him. Of course, the problem is that God, being the sneaky, mysterious guy that He is, talks in a sort of surreal code language - the language of dreams.
If we fail to pay attention to our dreams, we're missing, well, some pretty important stuff, to put it mildly.
I recently stumbled across a great piece of software - "The Lucid Dreaming Kit". It's far and away the best resource I've ever seen for learning how to tap into the power of your dreams. It easily teaches you to be aware of your dreams, interpret them, and utilize them for your maximum benefit (also teaches you the trick to turning nightmares into wonderful dream experiences). You can use this helpful tool (developed by Bradley Thompson, the designer of the "Subliminal Power" program) to tap into your subconscious, overcome fears and phobias, enhance your relationships, and deepen your spiritual communion with God.
Extras include - the name of a simple drink, available at any store, that will boost your dreaming power.
BONUS - There's a free bonus tool included, called "Chat with Einstein", that helps develop your creative skills (especially good for artists, writers, musicians, etc.), and maximize all your talents (yes, it will improve your golf game!).
Anyway, if you have ANY interest at all at tapping into your dream life, I highly recommend The Lucid Dreaming Kit . Check it out. It's not only a genuinely helpful tool for personal development - it's also just a lot of fun to play with.
If you just hate software programs for some reason, I know of a couple of good books on dreamwork that I'd be happy to give you the details on (just email me directly at jbmaverick@gmail.com), but honestly, The Lucid Dreaming Kit is much, much better than any book I've ever read on the subject.
cheers,
Jack
This Blog
This blog contains my running notes, day to day, and therefore sometimes more sane than others, on self-development and personal growth.
I used to teach Zen meditation and do Christian spiritual retreats, and have been studying, and working on my own personal journey, for over 20 years.
Feel free to send me questions.
Let's fire it up....
I used to teach Zen meditation and do Christian spiritual retreats, and have been studying, and working on my own personal journey, for over 20 years.
Feel free to send me questions.
Let's fire it up....
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