Spiritual Transformation Begins Within

Yesterday, one of my dear friends talked about the importance of the New Thought movement where the goal of humanity is to realize its oneness. It is our purpose as teachers to help others manifest this idea in their personal lives.  Together, we observed the numerous people who diligently work to move themselves into higher levels of conscious awareness. They travel worldwide to attend spiritual programs that help forward their own growth, and then come home to show people the way of oneness by offering support and nurturing.

Accepting the responsibility of such spiritual leadership means we become an example. To reach out and uplift another means we offer encouragement to a person who meets resistance in their challenging experiences. Often helping someone move forward is more powerful than getting that individual to attend a workshop or a class, which we may think shifts a person to a new point of view or gives them a push in the “right” direction. As an inter-faith, inter-cultural community, who are we to say what will forward their spiritual growth? If we raise ourselves, doesn’t that mean we transform collective humanity?

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Giving the Oneness Blessing or Deeksha

When I give a blessing, or deeksha, I feel the receiver’s emotional state. I can feel that person’s pain instantly because I am already tuned into my own ability to generate compassion. I listen to a person’s heart, feel it, drop any preoccupation I have with my own stories or dramas. Then I can extend my awareness to that person’s experience. A blessing-giver is most effective when he or she is both passionate about God and compassionate toward humanity, when he or she allows the Divine to heal in any way it sees fit. When a blessing is delivered through my hands, I feel the energy, but I know I am only a conduit. When my heart opens before I give a blessing, compassion emerges from a place that is not entirely my own but part of the Presence.

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Experiencing Energetic Shifts and Spiritual Awareness with Deeksha

Deeksha (a Sanskrit word meaning “benediction” or “initiation”) is delivered when a giver, who has the intention of being a conduit for God’s healing grace and is in a state of divine union, becomes a channel for cosmic energy. The deeksha giver places his or her hands on the recipient’s head for a few minutes and the energy is transferred. Deeksha can be used to bless a person and pull grace into their body for healing purposes.

A deeksha giver’s healing potential is directly proportionate to the power of their will. Great spiritual masters have control of their will and can project healing rays though their hands, feet, and eyes. A healer can lay their hands upon another person (each hand represents either a positive or negative pole), and the hands produce some exchange of magnetism from the energy within. But this alone is not sufficient in healing power. Healing is consciously generated and directed through a person’s hands. It is intelligent life-force energy and is most effectively directed by will. It is an alignment of a person’s will with Divine will. Grace comes through the healer who serves as a conduit. It is impossible to be healed by a person who thinks he or she is doing this type of healing. A deeksha giver is merely a vehicle for grace to come through and be transferred to another. The most skillful healers are ones who know they are big pipelines for grace and do not let their egos interfere. They always understand the source of the healing which is the “I Am” presence. They attribute the healing to the Divine through which all good works are accomplished.

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What is Oneness?

What is Oneness? Many people are apprehensive about oneness. They think it’s just another doctrine, a clever way to relinquish our rugged, Western-style individuality. But nothing could be further from the truth. Oneness is a congruent, timeless teaching that already has a long shelf life. No matter where it originated, the practice of spiritual peacemaking and embodiment of pure love leads to awakening. Remember, true spiritual messages always support one another. I’ve rejoiced over the sheer intellectual beauty of Jesus’ message, but my contemporary teachers have brought this material to life. I’ve hugged Mata Amritanandamayi, meditated with Sai Maa Lakshmi Devi, and laughed with the guides of the Oneness University. Any one of them will explain that everyone on this planet is worthy of everlasting and unconditional love from our Source. Last time I looked, this was Jesus’ message to the masses. From a Hindu perspective, realizing self-divinity and being a fully illuminated human being is completely doable today, not tomorrow in a galaxy far, far away, or in the next lifetime. When we merge the best ideas from the East and the West, therefore, we can find many ways to understand and move toward unity consciousness. Since the essence of God inhabits everyone, we are all traveling to the same place anyway.

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The Heart to Lead: Women Who Make a Difference

As a ‘New Thoughter’ I am interested in healing. Healing is facilitated by spiritual awareness and the mind and heart-space working in conjunction. As long as we are working to uplift consciousness, we can heal negative circumstances and facilitate planetary healing.  We heal others through our own self-realization, so our personal and spiritual growth is vitally important. And everyone has a wonderful, unique way of healing!

 Not long ago, my dear friend Bonnie Kelley of Evolutionary Women, an organization dedicated to raising awareness of women and their intimate connection to the Divine, helped make a film about the dynamic awakening to one’s own personal development. The Heart to Lead explores the emerging paradigm of feminine leadership. Women have built-in homing devices to return to who they deeply are and to where they belong! I highly recommend this film’s positive message! It is empowering to see a variety of women like Dr. Barbara Marx Hubbard, Rev. Wendy Craig-Purcell, and Dr. Barbara Fields attune to their strengths. They show us how to be catalysts for social action and personal growth.

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Heaven on Earth

The Pitons are mountains that are covered with tropical greenery. They are located near the towns of Soufrière and Choiseul on the southwestern coast of the island of St. Lucia. These peaks protrude from the sea, and are stunning and magical. One of the loveliest places on earth is anywhere you can see these luminous peaks.

At Anse Chastenet, nobody watches TV, only the daily panoramic sunsets that coax you to sleep. This special place, which seems more like a place the Swiss Family Robinson lived than a hotel, is built into a flower-decked cliff that takes advantage of the view of the Pitons. The fourth wall of every room is completely open to both the Piti and Gros Piton mountains, but still completely private. There are hundreds of stairs to climb to navigate between the beach and your room, and not for the easily-winded (no elevator because it is all outside!) To eat dinner, one must climb hundreds of stairs to the top of the hotel deck to see a 360-view of a lush tropical forest bordered by two small sandy beaches. St. Lucia diving is excellent, as there is a protected marine reserve with tons of fish and coral reef galore.

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