Meditation Passage

Some of you know I have been practicing the Blue Mountain, Eknath Easwaran Passages Meditatoin. I have received enormous benefit from this meditation practice.

Here's the passage I'm using this week, from the Bhakti school of Indian mysticism:

Of what avail this restless, hurrying activity?

This heavy weight of earthly duties?

God's purposes stand firm,

And thou, his little one,

Needs one thing alone:

Trust in his power, and will, to meet thy need.

Thy burden rests safe on him

And thou, his little one,

May play securely at this side

This is the sum and substance of it all:

God IS, God LOVETH thee, God bears all thy care.

Giving and Receiving

Giving is a principle I am committed to in my life and I give on many levels. When I created Dynamic Transitioning, I included Giving Back as a pillar in the 7 Point Program. There is Power in Giving, and you should have both formal and informal ways of giving. By the way, a smile or encouraging comment to a friend, co-worker, or family member is a wonderful way to give informally.

I've read that there are three kinds of giving:
1. Give to the Source. You must acknowledge a greater divinity to be on the road to Enlightenment.
2. Give to yourself. You must improve yourself before you can help others.
3. Give something to someone else. This can be charity, good works, formal and/or informal.

What about receiving?

Did you know it is just as spiritual to receive gracefully and with dignity as it is to give? This surprises some people. Have you ever had this experience: You want to do something for a friend and they resist your 'gift'? Let's say you've offered to cook dinner for a busy friend and she keeps saying, "No, you don't have to do that. Don't worry about me....I'll be just fine". You then may feel rejected and a little hurt because your friend wouldn't RECEIVE what you wanted to GIVE.

There is an art to Receiving.
We assume that to receive should be a normal process, and yet a surprising number of people feel unworthy or guilty about receiving and succeeding. Some people actually have trouble accepting their good fortune. Others push away and reject their good, like the example of the friends above. Turns out, you may be missing out on the good the Universe wants you to have by not being open to receiving. You need to prepare yourself to receive. You may be asking in prayer or meditation for something to happen. You now need to follow through by preparing to receive that answer.

People are in your life for a reason.
Our giving and receiving is done by, for, and through people. The Universe uses people as the channels of giving to you. Think about the people in your life. Think about how they have given advice, help, money, experience, time, prayer, love, affection, caring, education, and more that has greatly contributed to your growth, your home, your prosperity, you serenity, your family, your happiness, etc. Doors open through people. Opportunities come through people.

Now ask yourself this, "Am I cutting off the channels of receiving by not appreciating the people that are in my life? Or by not being open to new people?"

And what about the "problem" people - those we just don't like - a co-worker you can't stand, a family member you dread seeing at the holiday table, people who just irk you in some way or another. Why are these people in your life...if the Universe uses people for giving? What can they possibly be GIVING you?

Problem people are in our lives by divine appointment. They are in our lives to learn something from us and receive our approval, or so that we may learn something from them. Instead of resenting and criticizing the problem people in your life, you will want to send them energy that acknowledges they are in your life by divine appointment. Your job is to be open to receiving the gift they have for you and send them on their way with your approval. Just thinking this way takes the sting out of problem relationships and begins to set them right.

Practice giving and receiving today.

Your conscious participation in these activities and mental states - giving in a more natural way, and receiving in a gracious way - will give you a sense of hope and freedom, and your relationships will become more harmonious.

Write out your affirmations

Many of you are familiar with the power of affirmations and use them regularly. If not, try Creative Visualization as a thought starter.

Write out your affirmations. It's a very powerful tool. Writing out affirmations helps fix firm in your mind how you wish things to be. And understanding the law of attraction helps you know that you attract what you think most about.

You can write one statement hundreds of times, or you can write your affirmations in list fashion. Here are some favorite topics for affirmations:

• financial prosperity
  
• abundance
• new relationships
• bringing positive people and opportunity into your life
  
• forgiveness
• attracting business, new employment, etc.
• health and well being

Try it today. Pick something you wish to happen in your life and write it down. Start with the words "I am....." and put your statement in the present tense.

Have fun with it and be prepared for change because with affirmations things can manifest quickly.