What lies beyond the Law of Attraction

Posted: November 8, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Larry Dossey, law of attraction, The Lotus and The Lily | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment
 
How does The Lotus and The Lily process work? I know it does. I’ve lived it for two years. This coming January 1, I’ll create my third Intention Mandala and I know today without a doubt, that the result will be a 2012 I will love. And I’m not the only one. Hundreds of people who have gone through The Lotus and The Lily telecourse have shared their own miraculous results.
 
But knowing something works and understanding how it works are two different things.
 
 
 
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’ve struggled mightly with prosperity and attraction. Like everybody else, I was impacted by the popular literature on changing your thinking and asking for what you want. I listened, learned, and tried. But despite my best efforts, by November of 2009 I was bankrupt. It hurt, but I made an appointment to see a bankruptcy attorney the next February. In the meantime, I picked up a pen and demanded help. I received instructions on what to do during the four weeks of December.
 
There was one creepy caveat: I was to blog every day, letting the whole word peek into my spiritual pain and practice. I didn’t like that part. But I did it. Please understand that I did not clearly know what I was doing. The process did not come from anywhere inside my conscious mind. And I couldn’t find anything like it in the literature. And, I confess, I didn’t have any particular confidence that the whole thing would work. Bankruptcy was looking pretty final. But I couldn’t see any other option, so on December 1, 2009, I wrote my first blog.
 
A month later, after thirty days of often surprising spiritual exploration, I woke on January 1, 2010 ready to call in a new year. I felt truly ready. I had made amazing discoveries in my month of preparation. I had uncovered hidden gifts in my past, become a real friend of ritual and prayer, emptied myself of any vestige of anger or resentment, and become clear on what I wanted next in my life. That morning, I felt a deep sense of peace and knew I was in God’s hands and all was well.
 
But instead of starting my customary Soul Day process, I picked up a library book lying at my feet that was due the next day. Why in the world did I do that? Looking back I can only think it was an angel nudge.
 
Whatever the reason, I am forever grateful. Because buried in Thich Nhat Hanh’s beautiful book, You are Here, was a simple sentence explaining the Buddha’s teaching on the relationship of all things. That sentence changed my life, gave birth to The Lotus and The Lily course, and started a snowball rolling down a hill toward a greatly expanded writing and teaching career. The sentence is: “When conditions are sufficient, there is a manifestion.”
 
I lept out of my chair. My hand shot to my forehead. I raced in circles around the room gushing, “Oh my God! Oh my God! Everything we think we know about the Law of Attraction is 180 degrees off.” Every fiber of my being vibrated in recognition of Truth with a capital T. In the time it takes to read eight words, I knew why I hadn’t been able to create the life I wanted: Because it isn’t about asking for what you want! It’s about creating the fertile conditions that automatically and naturally produce all you want and more. There’s a BIG, BIG difference.
 
A few days later, I went hunting for what Jesus might have said on the same topic. I was pretty sure the two great spiritual masters wouldn’t teach two different things.
 
I was right. In English we read: “Seek first the kingdom, and all else shall be provided.” But in Aramaic, Jesus is so much more eloquent and precise: “When you pursue a right relationship with the Universal One, and allow that relationship to realign your life, you produce a condition of receptivity, in which everything you need to fulfill your purpose in life will be supplied by the universe.” (Neil Douglas-Klotz, Blessings of the Cosmos.)
 
In a word, it’s not about asking for anything; it’s about creating conditions.
 
In the two years since that morning, I have embraced Buddha and Jesus’s teachings on conditions. I’ve taught The Lotus and The Lily five times, and written the book proposal. But there was a part of me that still didn’t really grasp just how profound the differences are between the Law of Attraction and The Lotus and The Lily.
 
So the angels sent Jason Howard. Jason is a member of Your Soul Wants Five Things. We were talking on the phone and he asked what was happening with The Lotus and The Lily.I told him about Larry Dossey’s wonderful endorsement:”The Lotus and the Lily is a healthy corrective for the ego-driven, materialistic interpretation of spirituality that is epidemic in our culture. Spirituality is not about getting your stuff. It is about developing a closer relationship with the Transcendent, however named, as Janet Conner makes clear.””Of course,” Jason said, “The Lotus and The Lily is about  giving, not getting; allowing, not requesting.” In that moment, a whole cascade of differences came pouring down. I had to write them quickly lest I forget. Here are just a few:
 
Law of Attraction                            Lotus and Lily
 
human at the center                     divine at the center
how to ask                                         how to live
things                                                  conditions
effort                                                   effortless
goals                                                    intentions
conscious mind                              higher self/soul
ego                                                      will
manipulate                                      allow
personal desire                              universal service
personal power                              step aside
fill the cup yourself                      “cup runneth over”
 
 
That’s just a taste. The differences are endless. Now, this doesn’t mean the Law of Attraction is wrong. It simply means that we’ve been focused on only a tiny corner of its true power and capacity. Jesus said, “everything you need” will be supplied by the universe. So why ask for this or that when if you put your energy into creating the conditions of your life, the universe will send everything.
 
In these past two years, I can certainly attest to things and people and opportunities coming my way that I didn’t ask for. It appears that a greater consciousness than mine knew I needed them and sent them effortlessly to me. My job, as I see it, is to say thank you and use everything that comes to me to fulfill my purpose.
 
So I say thank you to Jason and the angel that sent him. Thank you to Thich Nhat Hanh and the angel that nudged me to read his book. Thank you to Neil Douglas-Klotz for a lifetime of research into Jesus in Aramaic. And I say thank you to the hundreds who have joined me in this great adventure.
 
If you’ve been wondering what lies BEYOND the Law of Attraction, please come join me on November 21 for the only presentation of The Lotus and The Lily before the book comes out next year.  
 
I cannot wait to stand beside you as you too discover just how rich and delightful life can be beyond the Law of Attraction.
  
 

You soul has a HOW and a WHY. Guess which comes first?

Posted: May 20, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: how, soul purpose, soul values, Soul Vows, What does my soul want, why, your soul wants five things | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment
Have you ever heard or read something so important, it felt like the words were alive and grabbing you? I have this experience all the time. I sit upand take notice because that is my soul recognizing something and nudging me to pay attention.
 
I wasn’t always this aware. For most of my life, I was sleep-walking under a powerful material spell. Lots of great ideas were undoubtedly whizzing past my ears and eyes, but I was so focused on making money that I missed them all.
 
Until one fall evening sitting on the floor in Charlotte Starfire’s living room. It was opening night of her 1992 Women’s Spiritual Empowerment course. I had no idea why I was there. Looking back, I think my soul was so weary of the life we were living that it gave me a hard  crack in the ribs and at long last I responded.
 
Suddenly a sentence flew from Charlotte’s mouth, landing on my chest so hard, I almost fell over. She said: “According to Theilard de Chardin, ‘We are not human beings trying to have a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.'”
 
Now that may not sound all that stunning to you, but to me this was a major revelation. Growing up Catholic, I learned that we are sinful human beings stuck in a “veil of tears,” struggling mightily to have a spiritual life. And if we don’t succeed? Well, the results aren’t going to be pretty.
 
In one sentence, Theilard de Chardin set me free. Free to enjoy life in all its dimensions–physical, spiritual, mental, emotional. No wonder I almost fell over. My soul, I’m sure, was singing hallelujah! She finally heard! She finally got it! Once my soul had my attention, she wouldn’t let go. She wouldn’t go back to silently watching me be miserable.
 
Mind you, I still got up the next morning and dragged myself to a job I did not love but felt I had to do. I still went through the motions. But the relentless drive to meet goals and post profits no longer felt important or necessary. Sales contests felt ugly. And when someone in the office told a creepy joke or made fun of someone, my heart hurt. I think it was my soul weeping, “Dear, this is not how we want to live.”
 
It took me a long time and a wrenching divorce to finally stop serving the wrong master and begin to create the life my soul and I want to live. It began with long daily rants wtih the Voice on the page. There, I found guidance and comfort. I discovered that I could ask for anything and receive it, sometimes within moments of placing the request. At first, I asked for money and protection. But once those core needs were met, my soul started pushing for something more.
 
It would not let me rest until I had a  moral code, a way of living, a personal creed. With my seven soul values etched in my heart and on my wall, life began to move rapidly. 
 
UPI gave me a column. Conari asked me to write Writing Down Your Soul. Invitations to speak poured in. One telecourse begot more telecourses, culminating in Your Soul Wants Five Things.  (You can read my Soul Vows on page 22 in Writing Down Your Soul. or on the Soul Vows page on my site.)
 
Having personal values completely changed my life. As it will yours. Having a personal honor code is like giving your soul bones. With those bones, your soul has a way to walk in this world, upright, firm, eyes forward, knowing exactly how it wants to live.
 
But where is it going? What is it walking toward? Isn’t that the great question everyone wants to know: Why am I here? What’s my purpose?
 
Margo Mastromarchi, the lovely angel guidance reader who provides angel readings for members of Soul Vows, says the first thing people want to ask the angels is, “What’s my purpose?” Lauralyn Bunn, the magnificent Akashic Record reader, reports the same thing. It’s the number one question burning in people’s minds. We know the materialistic spell doesn’t satisfy. We sense there must be something more, but what it is?
 
If your Soul Vows are your how, your soul’s purpose is your why.
 
We’ll explore your why in the new telecourse, Check the Box: how to discover and live your soul’s purpose. But if the number one question everyone wants to ask heaven is “What’s my purpose?” wouldn’t you think that your soul would want to clarifty the WHY before it selects its HOW? I would have.
 
That is, until I experienced how lost a why is without the fertile strength of the how. Let me explain.
 
I was given my soul’s purpose statement way back in 1996. At the time, I was focused on building a career as a human resource consultant. So when my purpose statement, “I use words to connect people to the light,” came through, I just stared at it. Huh! What does THAT mean? It made no sense to me, so I put it away. I didn’t have the “soul bones” to walk my purpose.
 
But when I declared my Soul Vows four years later, and started to really live my personal values, my soul bones got big and strong. I had grown the how for my why. I had the skeleton to walk upright into my soul’s divine purpose. And today what do I do? Why I use words to connect people to the light! And love every minute of it.  
 
So even though you are humanly itching to know your soul’s purpose, my hope for you is that you first find your how. And then, standing upright with powerful soul bones, you will walk firmly and clearly into your soul’s purpose–your why–and bring it to life!
 
Isn’t the adventure of being a spiritual being having a human experience amazing!
  

6 tips to feed your soul

Posted: May 17, 2011 | Author: | Filed under: Fear, feed your soul | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Yesterday I was interviewed on the Change Thrivers radio show with Afsaneh Noori. We talked about how deep soul writing can be a loving helpful tool for anyone experiencing change. (In other words, everyone!)

At the end, Afsaneh asked me to share a few tips for listeners. Here they are. I thought they might be helpful for everyone, not just the Change Thriver audience.  Because we all experience change. Change is life. And we all want to and deserve to not just survive change, but find the music of our souls within it.

Six Soul-Feeding Tips

  1. Give yourself the gift of STOP. The one gift we can all give ourselves is the gift of time. It can be just a few minutes, but for those five or ten minutes, get off the go-go train we ride all day and just be still. Deep soul write or meditate or just sit and breathe. Allow. Allow your inner knowing, that wise loving Voice, to speak to you. In the silence, you will find your way.
  2. Pick up a pen. Don’t wait until you’ve finished reading Writing Down Your Soul. Take a breath, set your intention, address the Voice by name and begin. (The seven steps to get into theta are at the front of My Soul Pages, the companion journal to Writing Down Your Soul.) It’s a life-long conversation. You can start it today whether you know all the ins and outs or not. Release any expectations of what it “ought” to be like. Just begin. You’ll find the Voice is a loving, gentle presence and is oh so happy you’ve come to talk. (You can find lots of tools to help you build a deep soul writing practice at my website, including the Thirty-Day Guide to Writing Down Your Souland a 45 minute teaching video on the Seven Steps to Get Into Theta and more)
  3. Ask for guidance. Ask for guidance on the page in your deep soul writing, in your mind, in your prayers, as you’re falling asleep. All day and night long, ask for help. Help will come. It may come in forms you didn’t expect, but it will come.
  4. Pay attention. Everyone has innate spiritual intelligence, we just don’t use it. By starting to become aware of your spiritual intelligence, you strengthen and expand it, just like a muscle used in exercise. How do you exercise your spiritual intelligence? Pay attention to your intuition, your gut feelings, your emotions, synchronicities, books and messages that come your way, invitations, dreams…. There is no end to the ways guidance works with us once we begin to pay attention.
  5. Maximize your natural time in theta. As we awaken from sleep each and every one of us moves through the theta brain wave state—the only state in which we have access to break through thinking and true creativity. So use it. In the morning, lie perfectly still, don’t open your eyes. Just lie there and allow information and ideas to flow to you. Train yourself to lie still for longer and longer periods of time. Any question can be solved just resting in theta.
  6. Go on a media diet. Especially if you are in a fearful state right now or prone to pick up other people’s fear. The media and our political systems are designed to keep us afraid so we’ll turn to them to tell us how to stay safe. Fear is the absolute worst thing for your soul. Your soul is not naturally fearful. It is not afraid of life; it chose life. So help yourself by stepping away from the waves of things to be afraid of coming over the TV and internet and radio. If you can’t limit all TV, at least don’t watch any news before bed. (And keep in mind this is from someone who worked for and loved CNN!)
  7. Eat lots of “soul food.” In place of your media diet, feed your soul with lots of rich spiritual books and practices. Listen to loving uplifting messages. Read mystical poetry. Write down your soul. Pray. Sit in nature. Be still and know that you are loved.

There are undoubtedly more things you can do to feed your soul, but these will get you started.  Please share your favorite “soul foods.”