Come join Aline Boundy and me for a FREE Telesummit on Monday, April 1st.
In her own words, here’s a special invitation from my friend Aline:
The focus of this series of interviews is “Real Lives.” I’ll be asking our special guests about their life path and their career path. We’ll hear where they started in their careers, and follow the path they took to become clear about their life purpose.
But how does this relate to you? And how do you go about
Aligning With Your Purpose?
Since I began looking into what is for me the BIG QUESTION OF LIFE, I’ve come across many different perceptions and definitions of Life Purpose. There are those who believe we each have a unique purpose to fulfill in our lifetime, and that it is our duty to find it and follow it.
Others are happy to stick to a simpler concept and follow the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” However you understand Life Purpose is just fine, but what if you’re not sure? How do you tell what your purpose is, how do you know? This is probably the most common question I hear about the subject!
Here are Some Clues That You ARE Aligned With Your Purpose:
You jump out of bed in the mornings!
You love your job or your business, you feel valued and appreciated!
You are “in the flow”, full of joy that you are making a significant contribution to life!
You face life’s challenges with calm and equanimity.
You feel grateful for everything you have in your life.
You have a sense of personal fulfillment.
You feel a deep sense of spiritual connection with the universe.
If this does NOT describe how you feel about your life, then I invite you to join us as we journey along the path to:
I’m a busy person. I’m sure you are too. It’s the bane of our existence in this modern world: so much to do and so little time to do it.
As I continue to settle into my new home, I’ve been noticing the powerful draw that “doing something” has on me. My “to-do” list seems never ending and the feeling of overwhelm is easily available. Projects needing doing are constantly making themselves known and niggling away at my awareness.
What is it about doing something that is so seductive and alluring? In this week’s blog let’s take a closer look at doing something and the mysterious power of doing nothing, to see if we can create a bit more freedom, peace and ease around this aspect of our lives.
Read on and enjoy!
The Mysterious Power of Doing Nothing
“On the path of spiritual evolution you do less and less achieving more and more until ultimately you do nothing and achieve everything.”
Deepak Chopra
Getting things done in life is a good thing. We are creative creatures and there is so much to experience in our relatively short lives. However, the drive for doing and accomplishing can be excessive. In the interest of finding a healthy, productive balance, I’d like to point out some of the less healthy (and likely unconscious) drivers of our never ending to-do lists: addiction, fear, and ignorance. Let’s take a look at these one by one.
ADDICTION: Getting things done is so satisfying, isn’t it? You see something needing done and you do it. Ah, the sweet victory of accomplishment. You get to check it off your list. From the very large to the very small, it all feels good, so good it seems we have become addicted.
It’s really no different than any other high; it’s a fleeting moment that must be repeated in order to regenerate the good feeling. The drug wears off and you need another fix. Hence, we’ve become a society of doers getting things done. Socially the behavior is highly encouraged, supported, and even applauded; a full schedule means you are important, you are worthy, you are somebody. While we may secretly yearn for luxuriously lazy days and an open, flexible schedule, we dare not go there. Why? Because we believe anyone with spare time on their hands must be a loser “with nothing to do.” So we are driven, we are addicted.
FEAR: Now let’s look at fear. Parker J. Palmer wrote a fabulous little book called Let Your Life Speak.He outlines a behavior he calls “Functional Atheism.” Palmer described this as a belief that ultimate responsibility for everything rests with us. As he says, “This is the unconscious, unexamined conviction that if anything decent is going to happen, we are the ones who must make it happen. This belief leads us to impose our will on others, stressing our relationships, sometimes to the point of breaking. It often eventuates in burnout, depression, and despair, as we learn that the world will not bend to our will and we become embittered about that fact. It drives collective frenzy as well and explains why the average group can tolerate no more than fifteen seconds of silence: if we are not making noise, we believe, nothing good is happening and something must be dying.”
This is the fear of bad things happening, and it goes something like this: “If we don’t get busy making things happen, then bad things will happen!” The unexamined, fear-based belief underlying and unconsciously driving this behavior is “doing nothing = bad things happening.”
Where did we learn this? That’s right, probably in childhood where if you didn’t clean your room, bad things happened. If you didn’t do your homework, bad things happened. If you didn’t eat all your vegetables, bad things happened. We learned we have to do something to keep bad things from happening. And we continue on with that belief and behavior today.
But is this true? Do we have to beat our hearts? Digest our food? Grow the grass? Make the sun rise each day? Make gravity so we don’t fly off the planet into space? Make the rain fall so we don’t die of thirst? All of these good things happen without our having to do anything. In other words, ladies and gentleman, it is possible that doing nothing = good things happening.
IGNORANCE: And this now leads us to our third driver of the human-doing: ignorance. This is a huge one! Because we are ignorant of the amazing life-force energy that is on our side wanting the best for us, we are all stressed out doing-doing-doing since we believe we are alone in our actions. We are ignorant of the “mysterious powers and secretly decisive influences of existence.” Consider this quote by Sri Aurobindo:
“There has been a great and ordered classification and mechanisation, a great discovery and practical result of increasing knowledge, but only on the physical surface of things. Vast abysses of Truth lie below in which are concealed the real springs, the mysterious powers and secretly decisive influences of existence.”Sri Aurobindo
Sri Aurobindo is basically saying that, yes, we have come a long way and lots of helpful knowledge has been developed and helpful things have been created. But all of this discovery and creation is NOTHING compared to the VAST ABYSSES OF TRUTH lying beneath in the metaphysical world. AND – very importantly – that in this vast abyss are the real causes and powers that are determining and creating our existence. It is these mysterious powers about which we know very little. We are ignorant.
Michael Bernard Beckwith puts it this way “Consciousness always precedes form.” Consciousness arises from the vast abyss, and then puts on clothing in the physical world for the duration of its existence, whatever that form may be. If we can really understand this creative process and come to KNOW it to be true, we would spend a lot more time cultivating our sixth sense. More time navigating the vast abysses of truth. More time surfing the winds and waves of those secretly decisive influences of existence.
Cultivating this sixth sense has many aspects to it; it is the essence of personal transformation and spiritual evolution. Becoming a clear channel where “doing nothing” produces results might require emotional healing work, a regular meditation practice, visualization, contemplation, deep reflection, or any number of other transformational practices and processes. In the external world this work of cultivation might look like doing nothing. However, as you walk the path you will come to know, trust and love this mysterious power of doing nothing, doing less and less while achieving more and more.
To develop your partnership with the secretly decisive influences of existence, I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.
Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:
Take five minutes and do nothing. Just sit and notice all the good things happening without you doing a thing. Notice that your body is being breathed, notice that your heart is being beaten, notice that your food is being digested, notice that the grass is being grown, notice that the sun is being shined, and notice that the breeze is being blown. What other good things happening do you notice while you are doing nothing?
Congratulations – you’re one step closer to Major Good Mojo!
Stuff. Most of us have a lot. We think we are blessed, and indeed we are. However, the more you have, the more you have to care for, think about, manage, maintain, move around, worry about, etc., etc. In other words, you can become possessed by your possessions!
For many, the holiday season can become a season of consumerism with too much focus going towards what is being given and gotten. If you’re like me, you already have enough stuff, and getting more is more a burden than a blessing! Too much stuff can create more stress than joy in your life.
Last week I moved to a new, larger home and was faced with the challenge of moving all my stuff. I’m sure you have encountered this challenge. For me, moving is always an opportunity to take stock of what I have and “clear out the crap.” At its core this is a letting go process that takes real courage; all kinds of feelings can come up when sorting through your stuff. Each and every item was purchased, received, or created at a particular time for a particular reason and purpose. To let something go you must suffer a little death of that thing dying – whatever it is – as you release it from your life. If you can navigate that little death, wonderful lightness and freedom is found on the other side.
In today’s world there are so many ways to enjoy the benefits of something without the burden of ownership. For example, I have always wanted to drive an expensive sports car. In this week’s Major Good Mojo Moment, you can take a ride with me in a $260,000, 480 horsepower red convertible Ferrari Spider! We’ll take three spins around a test track in the parking lot of San Francisco’s Candlestick Park (home of the San Francisco Forty Niners), at speeds up to 100 MPH! For a reasonable fee I was able to experience the essence of this exotic car and drive it really fast on a closed course with no worry of getting a speeding ticket. And I did not have to deal with any of its care and maintenance. This was a very high benefit to cost ratio and I wasn’t possessed by it at all!
What’s behind our drive to keep buying things? Why do so many people have so much stuff that they can’t even fit their cars into their two-car garage?
Read on and enjoy!
Do You Have Too Much Stuff?
So far, it appears our time here on this planet has been about getting things, controlling things, and having pleasurable experiences. Why? I propose it’s because we are empty inside and we are afraid. That may be a bold statement and perhaps a bitter pill to swallow, and yet, our commitment to full self-expression (and deep joy, peace, and satisfaction) demands we take a closer look. Accumulating stuff stems from our drive for survival, but leaves us exhausted and ultimately dissatisfied. We are constantly running on a treadmill.
And the truth is, getting things, controlling things, and having pleasurable experiences are all transient. All of these things come and go, and are outside of you: relationships, possessions, jobs, money, etc. And when things “go,” what are you left with? YOU! Eventually, like the 60 billion that have come and gone before you, all things will be gone, all control will be gone, and all experiences will be over.
Consider that many of us are living in fear afraid that if we don’t “stock up” and have everything under control, then bad things will happen. Certainly bad things do happen, and sometimes even to good people, right? And if we don’t watch out, we might be next. That’s fear talking – a fear that is at the core of the human experience right now. This fear drives a collective frenzy and sense of dissatisfaction. This is a life based on survival, speckled with moments of pleasure here and there, to make it more bearable.
Where does this fear come from and how is it so many of us are run by it? To be alive as a human being here in the 21st century is to be inundated with messages about how you should live, about what you should be/do/have/believe/and experience. We are constantly barraged by manipulative messages written and concocted by others interested in getting your time, attention, and money … by others living in fear trying to get things, control things, and have pleasurable experiences.
You may think you are thinking for yourself, but you’re actually only responding to a long-standing propaganda machine perpetuating a social hypnosis of the worst kind. It’s mostly fear-based and needs you to stay that way for its own survival. No other human being before us has suffered such a constant barrage of brainwashing messages. It’s practically impossible to avoid – have you ever caught yourself singing the jingle to some commercial selling a product you couldn’t give a damn about?! (Where I live it seems mattresses are ALWAYS on sale! – it seems I can’t escape the ads for Sleep Train, Mattress Discounters, and Mancini’s Sleep World!) It’s literally drilled into our heads, on both a conscious and subconscious level!
It’s important to note that it’s not the amount of nor the means by which information coming at us. No, it’s far more to do with the content of the messages. For the most part the media is either entertaining us with mind-numbing bullsh*t OR putting us into a state of fear: “Watch out” because “this might happen to you.” We ping-pong between states of distracted drama, the pursuit of pleasure, and the avoidance of fear-based worries. This is no way to live, yet this is the state our typical cultural conversation and our media will put you in, BECAUSE YOU PAY THEM FOR IT. You pay them with your time, your attention, your energy, and your money.
It takes a conscious, proactive decision to shift your time, attention, energy and your money, and focus it solely on what you truly desire to create and experience.
Commercials are constantly selling you messages that your life could be better and that others are enjoying life more than you; this can drive you to buy those things in hope of achieving some promised fulfillment. However, the joy is short lived, the purchase soon becomes a burden, and off we go looking for the next holy grail of happiness and fulfillment.
A major evolutionary opportunity of our time is the realization that material acquisition and consumption does not result in deep joy, peace, and satisfaction. When you look closely, you’ll see that these intangibles are what we are trying to find – what we are trying to buy. What we’re missing isn’t “out there,” it is inside. As a society we’ve thoroughly tested (and disproved!) the “happiness can be bought” hypothesis, and yet we keep on trying, and buying, and buying, and buying. Consumerism is just another form of addiction with the drug being stuff we think we need. We all know the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. But it appears that won’t stop us from trying!
It’s time to wake up and break out of this cycle of insanity. It’s time to move on and evolve! It’s time to trust something larger and come to know that deep inside each and every one of us is a “Divinely Inspired Being” whose capacity for fulfillment goes far beyond simple happiness to deep joy, peace, and total life satisfaction. In partnership with our unique essence of the Divine, the pursuit of happiness becomes the actual experience of happiness. This is the journey of a lifetime. This is the journey of our time.
To establish your connection to your deepest source, and to create your own authentic practice for maintaining that connection, I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.
Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:
To what extent has your life been about getting things, controlling things, and having pleasurable experiences?
Pick an area of your life that could use some cleaning up and clearing out. Where have you accumulated too much stuff that is now more a burden than a blessing? Go into that area of your life and pick up into your hands the various objects, materials, and items in question.
As you pick up each item ask yourself “Do I love this item? Does it bring me joy, inspiration, and good energy? Or does it feel more like a burden, a drag, or like something I “should” keep around? You will almost always immediately know which camp an item falls into.
If you love an item and it does bring you joy, inspiration and good energy then keep it. If not, then choose to sell it, give it away /donate it, recycle it, or trash it. Watch out though, for your mind may speak up after you’ve decided an item is a burden and is ready for release. It may chime in with all kinds of reasons why you should continue to keep it (even though you haven’t touched it for years!). Just notice that these “reasons” are usually based in fears, worries, and concerns. Just thank your mind for sharing and move into the good energy that is waiting for you as you release these burdens that are truly ready to go!
Congratulations – you’re one step closer to Major Good Mojo!
Not every day is blue sky and sunshine. Clouds move in, sometimes really dark ones. Life is dynamic and we’re all in practice. Are you afraid of dark clouds? Do you pretend they’re not there? Do you look away? Do you go out of your way to avoid them – maybe staying inside, closing all the doors and windows, and turning on all the lights? Life is to be lived, not avoided, and lived well you will engage some dark clouds.
I once had the feeling my life was like a big jet liner slowly losing altitude on a crash course with the mountains. There I was on this jet that was “going down” and I was doing all I could to relax, to feel good, to go with the flow, to release, etc. I was doing everything I knew to transform my experience, I knew all the tricks in the book, but nothing was working. The jet was on a crash course and there was nothing I could do about it.
What was I really afraid of? What was I trying to avoid?
In this blog we’ll explore how what we think we are afraid of really isn’t what we are afraid of. It’s something else.
Read on and enjoy!
Your Biggest Fear is Not What You Think
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself but to your own estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” Marcus Aurelius
It was a terrifying feeling, that my life was a jet liner on a crash course deep in the mountains. It was made worse by the fact I am supposed to be an inspiring teacher with my life “all together.” However, as this jet was dropping, I realized I am not the teacher that denies life can be difficult and pretends that challenging moments and times don’t exist. What I do teach is allowing and trusting, being there and being present. Being strong in your weakest moments by being weak, by being scared, by not knowing, and by just allowing.
Striving to escape the terrifying experience and feelings of impending doom is just old fear-based need for control. When we are afraid, we hate it, so we try to escape by gaining control. The fact we are afraid is a RED FLAG indicating an opportunity for transformation. The extent to which you can ALLOW and BE WITH the fear in the challenging times of your life is the extent to which you will powerfully move through these times. In a paradoxical kind of way, this is being weak in a powerful way.
If you are up to creating anything in your life that is truly challenging, for example your true life’s purpose and mission, you will face ups AND downs. There will be numerous challenges and some dark clouds on the path. Your ability to ALLOW and BE WITH yourself in the midst of these challenges, or down times, just may be THE most important and powerful life skill you can develop.
Here’s the key: It’s not the “thing out there” you are afraid of, you are actually afraid of YOUR RESPONSE TO THAT THING. This is important. You are afraid that you won’t be able to handle YOUR EXPERIENCE of that thing happening. The good news is that while you may not have control over what happens “out there” to you, YOU DEFINITELY HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR RESPONSE AND HOW YOU EXPERIENCE IT.
The bottom line is: You will have times of weakness and fear, but don’t let them have YOU. Empower yourself and instead of fighting, resisting, or avoiding, choose to let them TOTALLY HAVE YOU. Choose to let them pass on through. It’s still scary, it’s still challenging, you will still want to escape it and change it, but there is a part of you that lives on a higher plane of awareness (especially after having read this!), that knows “this too shall pass.” The river of life is always flowing, the scenery constantly changing, whether you’re paddling or not! It’s a practice that gets easier each time; you become aware of those challenging moments of fear, and you can recognize and allow them.
And guess what? Somehow the jet magically got fixed, right in mid air. I took my seat in first class, knowing with confidence once again that all was well and I was right on course.
As human beings we love the excitement of varied and challenging experiences; few of us would be satisfied with a boring, simple life that involves none of the pain involved in growing. We may think that what we want is to avoid challenges, pain, and suffering, but what we actually want is the POWER TO BE WITH whatever may come, including great challenge, pain, and suffering.
Take a look for yourself right now. What do you REALLY want—no pain, suffering, or challenge? Or the power to be with whatever may come? Connect with your heart and look deeply. Which position resonates as the more powerful place to be? What resonates as a life well lived? What resonates more as the truth of the path rather than a hopeful fantasy?
I think if you allow yourself to look deeply, what you’ll discover is that what we want is to be the container within which these experiences can be held, to be big enough to allow and experience them, without shrinking away. The larger opportunity – and dare I say it, the reality of the path – is to embrace and allow, so that when they do show up (and they will), you can have the experience, rather than it having you. This is true freedom, and with true freedom comes true power.
To build your muscles to be with ALL the feelings and experiences of your life, no matter what, I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.
Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:
Look into your life and make a list of the things you are afraid of. You can look at anything you may be putting off or procrastinating doing. These are signs of fear lurking in the background. Why are you putting off this something? What are you afraid of? Make your list.
Once you have your list, look at each item and ask yourself “Am I really afraid of this bad thing happening? Or am I more afraid that I can’t and won’t be able to handle it if it does happen? If I knew that I could handle this bad thing if it happened, would that decrease my fear of it happening?
Notice what you notice.
Congratulations – you’re one step closer to Major Good Mojo!
The above picture of me was taken IN THE FIELD of the Teotihuacan pyramid complex one hour north of Mexico City. On this pilgrimage to the site, our objective was to steep ourselves in the energetic fields of the complex. We were to sense into this place of great history and feel its messages for us. The guidance was not to “look at” the place, but rather to “be in” the place.
We were challenged to set aside our familiar tourist tendencies of snapping photos, reading signs, buying souvenirs, and listening to the nearby tour guides. Instead the goal was to remain totally focused in each moment, fully present, open and aware to the more subtle aspects available at this sacred and profound site.
Thanks to excellent group facilitation and each individual’s commitment to the process, over the course of a week we explored our depths and allowed the energy of Teotihuacan to have its way with us. We laughed, cried, walked, ran, jumped, crawled, danced, and hugged – indeed we may have been the weird “new-agers” doing some crazy things. However, through all of this there flowed an amazing energy and presence, working its magic on all of us, bestowing its gifts, answering our questions, and showing us the way.
This “field” of energy we experience at magical places like Teotihuacan is actually all around us, everywhere, all the time. What is it? How does it work? How can you tap in? In this blog we’ll dive into those questions and explore some answers!
Read on and enjoy!
“Human beings and all living things are a coalescence of energy in a field of energy connected to every other thing in the world.” Lynn McTaggart – The Field.
Read that quote again. Do you believe it? Does it feel true to you? If so how do you know? What is your experience of this energetic field? These are important questions if we are to move into a conscious relationship with this energetic field. Even though it is in and through all things, including us, without our tangible, conscious experience of it, what difference will it make for us?
We look at the world and see a world of separate objects. “I am here, and everything else is over there, separate from me.” It sure looks this way, doesn’t it? However, what scientists have been discovering is that this separation between things is an illusion. Everything is actually connected at a very deep and profound level. As Lynn states, “There is no me and not-me duality to our bodies in relation to the universe, but one underlying field. This field is responsible for our mind’s highest functions, the information source guiding the growth of our bodies. It is our brain, our heart, our memory – indeed, a blueprint of the world for all time.”
An emerging theory is that consciousness is not something that arises from inside us, but rather from OUTSIDE us – it is the field we are swimming in. In research labs with magnetic resonance imaging technology scientists can correlate various brain functions with various reported emotional or physical experiences. In the scientific, materialist model, a researcher would conclude that brain states are causing the emotional/physical states and that the brain is the source of the person’s experience. However, we don’t actually know that to be true. All we can say is there is a correlation between areas of the brain that “light up” and the reported experiences of the research subjects.
Another possible model holds that the brain operates more like a filter, with a much broader range of possible energies and input. In other words, the brain is not the source of input; it is simply a filter. Think of your television set. If you were to look only at the TV you’d see a bunch of images being projected on the screen and you could naturally conclude that the TV itself is the source of these images. We know that is not the case! The TV set is simply a filter of the myriad signals coming from outside and beyond it. Imagine if this is in fact how our brains and bodies work; that we are simply tuning devices, or channels, for a far larger energy and information field. Whoa! What channel are you tuned in to?
On a path of personal evolution and spiritual transformation, you may come to know and experience this universal truth: you are an integral part of an infinitely larger field of energy and information. This is a HUGE paradigm shift not only for you as an individual, but for humanity as a whole. As we come to realize we are all connected, the health of every single one of us becomes personally relevant to us all.
This energetic field is the source of life. It is the same field that is beating your heart, digesting your food, growing your hair, breathing your body, and doing all the other billions of things needed for you to exist as the human being that you are. This is an absolute miracle!
To get more connected to your energetic field of life I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.
Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:
This life force energy is on your side; it wants you to live and thrive. You can know this is true by the fact your heart continues beating. Take this deep trust you have in your heartbeat, and move it out further into your world. Start to relax a bit more and settle into this field and you will begin to connect with it. The more you hear and follow its guidance, the more magical your life will become!
Try this short visual exercise: Sit quietly in front of a favorite flower, such as a rose or a lily, in a vase, just before you on a table. Get quiet, still and center yourself. Study the flower quietly. Take in its lovely shape, its color, its perfect beauty. Feel its essence, its energy of peace and joy. Now feel that energy filling your body; let it flow through you from the top of your head to the bottoms of your feet, filling you and overflowing. See if you can feel at one with the flower. The more you do this, the more you will feel the connection.
Congratulations – you’re one step closer to Major Good Mojo!
The picture above is a Samadhi brand Floatation Tank, also known as a sensory deprivation tank. While I have been meditating for many years, I have just begun exploring this world of “floating” as it’s called. My first two floats have been amazing!
In the tank there is 10 inches of water with 800 lbs. (yes, that’s right 800 pounds!) of Epsom salt dissolved in it. When you lie back you float like a cork. The sensation, or lack of it I should say, is surprising and very unique; you lose track of where your body ends and the water begins. You float in total darkness, and noise from the outside does not reach you. The outside world is gone, and amazing things happen.
The idea behind floating is to remove the stresses our mind and body must deal with each and every moment: sights, sounds, pressures on the body, and even the effect of gravity. The mind is kept very busy constantly processing and managing all of this input and stress. When you remove all of this, the mind and body are more free to do other things, for example, thinking clearly and deeply, without distraction, about high priority, important things. Or not thinking at all, and moving into a blissfully quiet, other-worldly state. During the experience, the brain pumps out dopamine and endorphins, and your body gets to rest, de-stress, and heal. It literally is the most relaxing thing I’ve ever experienced.
In this week’s blog, we explore the importance of “Having Deep Roots.” Deep roots into the source of your being, into the source of life, into the core of your nature. In each and every moment you are sustained by a life force energy that is beating your heart and breathing your body. With conscious intention and practice, we can create a powerful partnership with this loving, generous, life force. We can move and create with this life force in our lives in ways unimaginable without that connection.
Read on and enjoy!
All spiritual practices have at their core one purpose: to connect you with the Divine. In fact, the original definition, or root of the word religion, is to re-ligament, or re-connect. This is what a “religious experience” is, an experience of reconnecting to the one and all, the source of life. However, because these profound and life-changing religious experiences are relatively infrequent, we have “practices” we can engage which help connect us, or re-ligament us, to our Divine Nature. Floating in a Samadhi tank is one such practice.
Everything you experience while floating comes from within yourself; it’s the perfect time to reflect on your life. Reports of creative and personal insights abound. In fact, while floating, I crafted the majority of this blog! It was quite easy to get clear about what was going to be in, and what was definitely out. Up until that point, I was not sure. This kind of clarity and clear insight comes from having deep roots. Deep roots into the Infinite Intelligence which KNOWS your next Divine Right Action. It’s just a matter of quieting down all the distractions, opening up, and deeply listening.
One could say this is an aspect of intuition, and I would agree. One definition of intuition is:the appearance in the mind of accurate information about the external world, which can be shown to have come not through the five senses, nor through a rearrangement of stored memory contents. When in a SENSORY deprivation tank, the clarity, knowing, and insights are not coming from “the external world.”
Another aspect of having deep roots is synchronicity. The deeper your roots, the more synchronicity you will experience. Synchronicity is the occurrence of two or more independent events having no apparent causal connection, but which seem to form a meaningful pattern. For example, I have recently been reading more and more writings of Buckminster Fuller. When I went to the floatation tank center, sitting there in the waiting room on the coffee table with only three other books – the same three that were there the week before when I was there – was a new book, Buckminster Fuller’s Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth, as if to say, “Here, you need to read this book too!” I got the message, and smiled knowingly.
In his book, Critical Path, written only a few years before his death and therefore representing his lifetime of knowledge and experience, Buckminster Fuller said, “…human continuance now depends entirely upon the intuitive wisdom of each and every individual.” It was this book, out of hundreds and hundreds, which came off the shelf and into my awareness last June while on my Spirit Quest. Another synchronicity. I nod and say, “Thank you.”
Life is far too complex to think it all out on your own. Everything, literally everything, is interconnected. You cannot isolate anything. As soon as you draw a boundary around something so you can focus on it and learn something, you have disconnected it from everything else. You are therefore no longer studying and learning about that thing, whatever it may be, as it actually exists in the world – connected to everything else! The key is to get connected yourself, to establish your own deep roots into the ONENESS and interconnection of ALL things. Only from that place can you truly operate freely and with that sense of knowing that does not come through the five senses nor through a rearrangement of stored memory contents.
Just as everything in nature has a built-in, inherent blueprint deep within itself guiding its unfolding, so do you! So does each and every human being, and humanity as a whole. It is from this energetic Source, or Divine Blueprint, deep within you, that you can access, express, and live the best that you have to offer. It is from this deep energetic Source that your highest levels of Integrity, Inspiration, Courage, Love, Peace, Compassion, and Wisdom flow – effortlessly! When you are truly tapped into your unique aspect of this Divine Energy, into your own Divine Blueprint, there is a Divine Right Knowing that emerges for you. It inspires and guides your own Divine Right Action that results in Divine Right Outcomes (the highest and best outcomes for all concerned).
It is to this Divine Connection, Divine Blueprint, and Divine Knowing, Actions, and Outcomes that I am committed to realizing for myself, for you, and for all of humanity. I invite your commitment to this also. Our future just may depend upon it.
If you want support and a clear path to become Divinely Connected and a channel for Source Energy, I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.
Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:
Ask yourself “How deeply connected am I? How deep are my roots? How free and independently am I operating?” Then look to see what some next steps might be for you to become more deeply connected. Maybe you’ll want to find a floatation tank center near you, or meditate more, or increase your time for reflective writing, or engage the Major Good Mojo System to really take your connection to whole new levels! Whatever it may be, do it now, you and the world will be better for it.
Congratulations you’re one step closer to Major Good Mojo!
We have two winners! Laura Young and Maria Franconi, are the winners in our survey, “What are your next steps to align with your purpose?” We are sending them out a free signed copy of my book NexGen Human – A Modern Age Path to Fulfillment.
Laura wrote: “I have been listening to speakers online, trying new better ways of “being” and working at putting them into practice. I am gaining new perspectives, clearing blocks, and sorting out what is true for me. I am getting out of fear from the doom and gloom of the old paradigm and into my heart living more in love and joy. Spreading the word God is love and will provide, and sharing my new ways.. I am serving others, many of which are needy, despite being between 2 houses in 2 states trying to get moved.”
Nice, Laura! You are very much on the path, doing your work (both internal and external) and serving others. To acknowledge and further support the great work you are doing I am honored to send you a free signed copy of my book “NexGen Human – A Modern Age Path to Fulfillment.”
Maria wrote: “My next step in aligning with my purpose is actually asking people to work with me. It is so essential to moving forward, the dang ASK. How much more aligned can you be? Yes, always more, but ya gatta ask people if they would like your help, if your purpose is to help them. I’m doing a workshop tomorrow night and I’m going to ask to people to work with me. Programs I had in place ages ago are rusty, because I haven’t asked people to work with me. I’m going for it anyway. As uncomfortable as it may be, I’m aligned and asking. Yah!”
I love how you are being more bold and courageous in getting your gifts out into the world. Reminds me of the saying “You already have the no, therefore you have nothing to lose by asking!”
Congratulations to you both, and thanks to everyone who responded!
This past Monday I played Golf in the Kingdom. The picture above is PGA Champions Tour players Bobbie Clampett (in purple) and Steve Pate (in orange) leading an Impact Zone golf clinic prior to our hitting the links. This was the second annual fund raiser for Integral Transformative Practice International (ITPI). ITPI is the organization stewarding and bringing alive the work that Michael Murphy and George Leonard put forth in their book The Life We Are Given.
ITP is cross training for the body, mind, heart, and soul. It is a physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual practice. ITP is unique in the world since many practices usually only develop one, or maybe two of those. ITP is truly integral.
I have been practicing ITP for more than 8 years now, am a Senior Teacher of the practice, and it is a cornerstone of my daily life. One of the biggest benefits I receive from my ITP practice is a strengthened connection with my deepest self, the Source of my life, of Life itself. If you’re not deeply connected to this aspect of yourself, you’re like a ship without a rudder getting tossed about on the sea of life.
This is what Golf in the Kingdom is all about: playing golf as much in the metaphysical world as in the physical world. One could say it’s the “inner game” of golf – but it’s much, much more than that.
When I wrote my book NexGen Human there was one MAJOR message I wanted to get out to the world. I knew as a human race we needed to develop a new skill to successfully navigate the nature of our time. We need to do a lot more than golf in the Kingdom, we need to live in the Kingdom. In this blog we’ll explore further just what that means.
Read on and enjoy!
Time to get into the Kingdom
As a global society we are well into a major transition as the industrial age gives way to the information age. This transition involves a major change in both our strengths and our values as the emphasis shifts from the tangible to the intangible. Our sense of value in the information age is based more on what we know than on what we have. We are moving out of an industrial-physical-tangible focus and into an information-nonphysical-intangible focus. As we make this transition, the need for a new skill is emerging.
Historically, certain advanced and trailblazing human beings have accessed and developed this crucial skill. So, in one sense, this is not a new development. However, for the grand majority of us, it is absolutely new. The early pioneers came from all parts of the world and from many different disciplines; they were some of the most influential and satisfied human beings to ever live. We are able to study them, celebrate their successes, and stand on their shoulders.
We are part of the evolution; what was once impossible or undreamed of becomes possible, real, and ever more available to those of us who follow the path blazed by these pioneers. Climbing Mt. Everest was once out of the question, just as visiting the moon was humanly impossible. Even ice cream, automobiles, and electricity were once luxuries available to only a privileged few, and yet they are now widely available to all. In the same manner, this critical new skill is becoming available to more and more people, including you, if you choose it. Evolutionary energy and intelligence itself is on the move—in, around, and through you and me.
So what is this critical skill? It is the ability to consciously and consistently partner with the power of the Universe. It’s time for us, both collectively and individually, to develop the skill of joining forces with the Ultimate, most valuable, intangible element in our Universe – the intelligent energy of the Universe itself.
This is a skill you can learn, and develop, to bring the power of this amazing Universal Intelligence alive in your life.
Fundamentally what this means is to shift our idea and experience of God, Universal Intelligence, Great Spirit, Source, from an external concept, to an internal reality. No longer is God something outside of us whose existence we must take on the word of others and just have faith and believe in. It’s a little like someone describing to you their experience of falling in love – you don’t feel it. You must experience it for yourself to truly get it. In the same way, the old way of relating to God was one step removed. When you don’t have the direct experience of God the relationship must be based on faith and belief. You need direct experience of Greater Power.
Universal Life Force is already in you and is always available, but it’s up to you to heed the call and maximize your partnership with this force, this intelligence, this energy.
Using new words to describe this energy, this experience, this “entity,” is part of our evolution.
Note that I am deliberately using multiple words to point to this thing we have historically called “God.” God, as a word, is a good word, however it has picked up a lot of baggage over the years. It has many meanings and forms, and you never know how someone will interpret it. Using new words to describe this energy, this experience, this “entity,” is part of our evolution. NexGen Humans evolve beyond these limitations by connecting personally and directly with Source. In this manner they become free of preconceived notions and open up to the actual experience, beyond all words, thoughts, and concepts.
Now while grace is forever and always available to everyone (the Kingdom of Heaven is within), it tends to favor those looking for it. As one spiritual teacher of mine put it “Roger, if you want your spiritual cup filled, you have to turn it upright and hold it out.” This is the nature and power of practice; it’s a conscious and intentional turning of our cups upright and holding them out. You can’t force or make grace happen, but you can prepare and make yourself more “grace prone.”
If you are interested in learning how to make yourself more “grace prone” I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.
Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:
Reflect on the following questions:
What’s your current relationship with God, Universal Intelligence, Great Spirit, Source? How strong is it, how clear is it, how free and empowered are you in that relationship?
Is there an opportunity for you to strengthen this relationship?
To what extent do you allow peer pressure and/or fear of change keep you from growing and exploring more of who and what you are?
Just asking yourself these questions and listening to your answers is a courageous act of evolution that will move you closer to Major Good Mojo!
As you can see in the picture, when you are Aligned With Your Purpose, you are literally in the flow! If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times, the most fulfilling life is the life lived on purpose. This is the second key – Get Connected to Your Purpose and Passions – of the 3 keys to Major Good Mojo.
The path of discovering and following your true purpose is all about hearing and trusting your joy and inspiration, which always guides you to the next step on your journey. What feels joyful to you when you think about doing it? What really inspires you? These are the questions to answer, to discover, to follow and align with your purpose.
To help you Align With Your Purpose my friend Aline Boundy created an amazing new telesummit series called, guess what, “Align With Your Purpose.” She invited me to speak in this brand new online event to help people get clarity about their life purpose. I’m so looking forward to it.
I highly encourage you to register for this free series. The speaker list is impressive – Natalie Ledwell, Dr. Joe Rubino, Christie Marie Sheldon, and yours truly, to name just a few. You can register at this link:Free Telesummit: Align With Your Purpose. Please join us.
When you register you’ll get free access to all the calls (from July 30th to August 16th) and some amazing bonus gifts and healing tools.
Some key reasons to register:
- This event has 12 FREE interviews with big names from the personal development world and beyond (including me!) - This is an online event so there is no need to book hotels or travel - The main event is 100% FREE to attend. You get the choice of two broadcast times each day. - You can listen via the web or call in by phone
Get ready to be inspired on Tuesday, August 7th when I am interviewed as part of the Align With Your Purpose Telesummit Series.
As a teaser, here’s what you’ll hear in my interview:
In 1993, Roger had come to a point in his life where he had done everything he was supposed to do and was very “successful” from a societal perspective. However, something terribly important was missing, and he had no idea what it was. What he did know was that it wasn’t going to be found in “more of the same.” It wasn’t going to be found in more money, more stuff, or even more time or more relationships. He had it all, and it wasn’t enough. That feeling, that gnawing sense of anxiety, that suffering, sent Roger on a journey.
Perhaps you are at this point in your life, too. You’re no longer satisfied with the status quo, and you’re hoping there is another away. Some call this a mid-life crisis. Roger had his at age 25, more than 20 years ago, and he’s glad! Breakdowns lead to breakthroughs, and there is truly opportunity in every crisis.
In this interview, you will learn:
The most important thing you must do in order to find and align with your purpose
The biggest challenge when it comes to following your purpose
How to pursue your purpose even though you feel you have to stay in your current job to make money
The biggest myth when it comes to finding and following your purpose
The most profound thing Roger has ever heard when it comes to finding your purpose
Why it’s important for you to find and follow your purpose – especially now
Tuesday, August 7th 12noon Pacific; 3pm Eastern; 8pm UK; 10pm Europe and 5pm Pacific; 8pm Eastern; 1am UK.
This picture was taken on my recent trip to Arizona for my Spirit Walk and Vision Quest. The mountains in the background are The Superstitions, east of Phoenix. The giant cactus is the famous saguaro, which can grow to over 70 feet in height! Speaking of superstition; you don’t need superstition when you have access to true wisdom. Again, however, the question is “How do you access true wisdom?”
When you’re on a vision quest you’re all alone. It’s a school like no other; there are no classrooms, no books, and no teachers at the front of the room leading the lessons. It’s just you and nature. But there is still plenty of teaching going on. How can that be? Where is the teaching coming from and how are the lessons learned?
A vision quest takes you out of your normal environment, removing you from all normal responsibilities and habitual cues (aka “distractions”). Very often you’re fasting, so even the distractions of eating and digesting are removed. In nature, in silence, with no distractions for an extended period of time, your senses become heightened. This helps facilitate an altered state of awareness that isn’t normally accessed. In this state of awareness a space is made where you experience thoughts you don’t normally have; these types of thoughts we typically call insights, wisdom, and guidance.
In this blog we’ll explore the challenges associated with accessing deep wisdom, insights, and guidance. We’ll come to understand why this level of “truth” is so uncommon in our world and why it might take fasting and isolation in nature to access it.
Read on and enjoy!
Wisdom is rare and cherished because it comes from a place not normally accessed by most people in day-to-day living. We all typically know it when we hear it, but we’re not always able to produce it for ourselves. Why is that? What stops the average person from being a truly wise and insightful person? What is it about wisdom that makes it so hard to come by?
The answer: Three Dragons. To access true wisdom, insight, and guidance you must navigate past three dragons on your journey. Each of these dragons is unique and formidable and each has won more battles than it’s lost. These block your entrance into the realms of wisdom inherent in your mind, heart, and soul.
In his book Theory U – Leading from the Future as it Emerges, author Otto Scharmer distinguishes these dragons as the Voice of Judgment (VOJ), Voice of Cynicism (VOC), and the Voice of Fear (VOF). To access true wisdom you must do battle with each of these three dragons, or voices, and emerge victorious.
To access the creativity and wisdom available in your mind you must overcome the Voice of Judgment. This is that voice most of us are very familiar with. You know the one, the one that says “That’s a stupid idea.” Or, “Who do you think you are?” Or, “Play it safe and keep your head down beneath the mow line.” These voices of judgment are most often automatic and largely subconscious, habitual, response patterns to anything outside the norm. Therefore, to access anything OUTSIDE the norm (like wisdom) we must be aware of this dragon and be prepared to do battle.
To access the rich depth of wisdom and joy-filled love and connectivity available in your heart, you must overcome the Voice of Cynicism. This is the voice that keeps you “safely” separate from others and the world, putting everything and everyone at arm’s length. This voice is afraid to be vulnerable and sees vulnerability as a direct threat to survival. This voice says “Oh no, we already tried that before and we got hurt, remember? We ain’t going there again.” Or worse, “You can’t trust anyone,” “It’s better to hurt others before they hurt you,” and the infamous “It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there.” This voice, this dragon, will keep you separate, alone, and bitter.
And finally, to access your deepest wisdom and guidance, the wisdom and guidance of your soul, you must overcome the Voice of Fear. While the voices of judgment and cynicism are formidable, they can’t hold a candle to the voice of fear. This is the ultimate dragon at the gate that goes right to your core animalistic instincts for survival. This voice strives to maintain the status quo and holds onto what you already have and know. Doing battle with this voice, this dragon, can feel like death itself. All of your deepest fears can become activated: “I’ll be broke and homeless,” “I’ll be rejected and ridiculed,” “I’ll be all alone.” Because some of your most powerful wisdom and insights reside in your soul, it of course has the biggest dragon to slay.
I bet you can recognize each of these voices and dragons in you. I’m sure you’ve done battle with each of them at some point in your life. Did you win? Or did they win? The truth is, we win some and we lose some. But the most wise, authentic, inspired and fulfilling life is marked by simply being aware and being willing to engage these battles. Whether you win or lose is not so much the point. But did you engage whole-heartedly and honorably?
These “battles” are only with ourselves. As one of my favorite trainers, T. Harv Eker has said “A warrior is one who conquers oneself.” Your best “weapons” for these types of “battles” are awareness, courage, and compassion. First, be aware that these dragons, these voices will be on your path. Just being aware is half the battle itself! Second, have the courage to face them and engage them. Don’t back down; know that HOW you engage is more important than winning. And third, have compassion for not only yourself, but have compassion for these aspects of yourself; have compassion for these dragons and voices. Ultimately they are far more afraid than you are – you need to step up and show them the way out of their suffering and smallness.
All this is not to say that sometimes these voices SHOULD be listened to. They really are there to protect us. From their limited perspective they think they are helping and protecting us. However, more often than not, they are way overprotective. Knowing when to listen and when to ignore is part of a discernment you can develop over time. As you get to know your voices and dragons they become more and more familiar, making them a lot easier to sort out and move on through and beyond.
If you are interested in learning how to slay the dragons on your path to wisdom, I invite you to engage The Major Good Mojo System.
Your Major Good Mojo Assignment:
As I said above, awareness is the first step to winning the battle with the dragons at your gate. Take out a piece of paper, divide it into three sections and label the first section Voice of Judgment, the second section Voice of Cynicism, and the third section Voice of Fear.
Take a deep breath and ask yourself “What are some automatic judgments I often make that keep me safe and small?” And write down whatever comes up. Keep asking yourself that question until the answers stop coming. Then do the same process asking, “In what ways am I cynical and keeping everyone and everything at arms distance, staying separate and alone?” And finally ask yourself, “What are my biggest fears stopping me from truly being who I am and doing what I came here to do?”
Just asking yourself these questions and listening to yourself is an act of wisdom that will move you closer to Major Good Mojo!
I was depressed. I was going through the motions of my life, but I was living in a haze. I knew deep down life had so much more to offer, but I could not connect with the inspiration, the pathway, or the tools I needed to wake up! Books, CDs, and seminars were no longer enough to make the changes I wanted – I knew I needed a personalized, 1-on-1 relationship that would provide me a solid structure to engage over time.
But not with just anybody, I needed a unique kind of coaching, support, and tools – someone that could develop both my metaphysical connections, while at the same time keeping me grounded and focused in the here and now. I saw this unique combination in Roger and his Major Good Mojo System.
Working with Roger, I am taking on disempowering beliefs, I have let go of a twenty year detrimental habit, I have reconnected with my true home, my heart, my Source-Energy, and perhaps most importantly, I have created a personalized daily practice that is changing my life for the better every day. Not to mention I am actively and successfully pursuing some long held, long term goals for my life. For the first time in a long time, I am feeling fulfilled and my life is on track.
I would love to help you make a decision if you are considering working with Roger. I know you will reap the rewards of your investment over and over again. Please feel free to contact me.
dusty @thenilesco.com — Dusty Niles, Sonoma, CA
