Happy New Year - Feel Good!

Happy New Year...seriously. Be happy in 2007. Why is it important to be happy? Is it just because it feels good?

From a metaphysical standpoint, emotions are vibrations of energy. You've probably heard or used the expression, "I got a weird vibe from that person." This is shorthand for talking about a feeling you got that you couldn't really wrap words around.

At our core, feelings are complexes of tens of thousands of thoughts. If your dominant thoughts are "negative" then you will get a bad feeling, if your dominant thoughts are happy - then you'll have a happy feeling. It really is that simple. And, when you let go of an unpleasant feeling, you are loosening the hold of thousands of thoughts over your mind.

Remember, your mind is your servant - it is there for you. You created it so you should be the one to tell it what to do.

Trying to hold conflicting thoughts or feelings creates an uncomfortable situation called cognitive dissonance. Eventually the dominant thought will win out. This is why people sometimes describe depression as a downward spiral. You can build emotional momentum, so let's move it in the right direction.

The law of attraction states that we create what we focus on. So, the emotional state is not just a barometer, but it is also a creative tool. Staying negative only creates those things you do not want. Positive emotions, leading to positive thoughts, can only create that which you want.

Find some tools to use to get yourself into a happy state and stay there. Beware of escapism, it only masks the underlying state. Self inquiry using tools like the Sedona Method, is one of the best ways to do this.

Does God Want You To Be Rich?

There's a lot being written right now about whether or not God wants you to be abundant. So far, everything I have read missed important points.

First, I believe that anthropomorphising God is unnecessarily limiting our idea of God. We are still laboring under the impression of a bearded man who lives in the sky and randomly acts in mysterious ways. God is the unlimited, omnipresent soul of the Universe, of which we are all a part. God wants us to be whatever we desire - rich or poor. Above that, God wants us to realize our unity with the Universe, and that we are the outprojections of God and not separate beings.

So, should we take a vow of poverty, or go for the gold? The answer is: whatever makes you happy and brings you closer to God. For most people that is abundance, for some it is not.

Some people use the manifestation of abundance as a spiritual practice. Money and things are just symbols of the energy they are learning to attune to at will. They build an unceasing awareness of God as the only source of everything. This is great.

Some people join monastic orders and take vows of simplicity and poverty, spending all day in meditation. They gain experience connecting consciousness with their inner God-mind. This is great too.

Problems ensue when people lose sight of God. When money becomes their God, or when they are overcome with pride and fundamentalist attitudes. It's great to be rich as long as you are using your inner God-consciousness to do so. It's great to live austerely as long as you are becoming more in tune with your God-mind.

Both paths can bring you to the realization that you are manifesting the Universe with your consciousness. There are many traps along the way, but they all come in two flavors - attachments and aversions. Attachments are those things we cling to, and aversions are those things we push away. God, the Universe, is a great teacher and has a way of taking away the things we are attached to, and giving us more of our aversions. Giving up our attachments and aversions, we manifest everything a will.

Seek what material things you will, but remember that God is the source.

What is Sin?

I know that this post may offend the sensibilities of some, and you're welcome. If hearing things that conflict with your beliefs offends you - then you need to be offended a lot. It is time to break down the walls you have built around insecurity.

Today I want to talk about sin since the entire planet seems to have this concept all wrong. This is funny, because the real definition of sin is wrong thinking, or ignorance.

Most people with a concept of sin believe that god has a rule book, and when you break his rules "HE" is offended. What an incredibly impoverished concept of a divine being. How could you possibly offend an infinite, omnipresent, and omnipotent entity that created the entire universe? That's just nonsense. God is way cooler than that.

The other HUGE problem with this idea is that nobody agrees on the rulebook, and everybody thinks their rulebook is the one true rulebook. We start wars and torture each other over who has the "real" rulebook. This is the ego in action, and is about as far removed from the true experience of God as we can get.

To understand this a little better we need a very brief history, civics, and sociology lesson. For thousands of years of human history, in order to survive, most people needed to be content with gathering or producing food. Before the industrial revolution, if everybody went to college to become doctors or philosophers we'd all have starved to death.

In order to keep people "in their place" and to ensure good social behavior, people were promised a reward at the end of your life. Suffer now, and you will go to heaven. Upset the rules and you will go to hell. It's the old carrot and the stick philosophy.

All religions formed sets of rules to keep social order. No killing, no stealing, no coveting, no sex for pleasure. Some religions also created dietary restrictions to keep their people from getting foodborne illnesses. In order to enforce the rules, fear and the promise of future reward were used - after all the rules came directly from God (wink wink).

The rule-makers became very powerful and wealthy, and those they ruled over very poor and humble. Remember the dark ages?

Since God is omnipresent, you are not separate from God ever. It would be impossible to be separate from God. You are a very direct extension of God, an integral part of God. How could you do something that offends God when you are part of God?

Heaven and hell are not planes you get to after you die, they are right here. Correct thinking creates your heaven on Earth - right now. Incorrect thinking brings hell on Earth.

My wise Granny once told me her concept of heaven and hell: "When I do nice things for people, I am happy inside and I am in heaven. When I am angry I am tortured and in hell." What a wonderful idea. The control rests with us, as God intended.

Creating negativity in your thoughts and emotions puts you in a hell-state. The good news is that the opposite is also true - you can create the heaven state as well. Our thoughts are things, and they create the Universe around us. What kind of Universe do you want to live in? Think it so.

Cultivate The Attitude of Gratitude

One of the most important lessons in the metaphysics of abundance and manifestation is being gracious and showing gratitude. By being genuinely grateful for the things you have, you send a signal to the Universe to send you more wonderful things and experiences. Spend time daily thinking of those things you are thankful for.

You may also try this experiment. Think of something you'd like to manifest in your life. Close your eyes and imagine, as vividly as possible, what life will be like when you have manifested it. Put yourself into a moving scene, feel the sensations, smell the smells, hear the sounds. Now, simply allow yourself to become as grateful as you can be to the Universe for producing Exactly what you desired. Be grateful now as if you already have the thing that you are now manifesting.

This is the essence of conscious creation, and you will amaze yourself the first few times your dreams become reality. Keep the gratitude and all good things will be yours.

Another great practice is to remember to say thank you. My twin girls were born prematurely and wound up spending a few weeks in Intensive Care. Every day I thanked the Universe for our little gifts and how well they were doing. The nurses were simply amazed at how well our girls were doing, and how quickly they grew.

Every day, when we visited the hospital, we thanked the nurses for taking such good care of our children. Even though many of them said, "it's our job," every one's face would light up. Over time, the nurses became a second family to us. Many of them would try to switch assignments to be able to work with our girls. The nurses would even afford us special 'perks' - letting us stay past designated visiting times.

When you thank people and the Universe (same thing really), you must be genuine and mean it. An off the cuff "thanks" when a waitress brings you a glass of water has little energy behind it. "Thank you, I can see how busy you are," goes so much farther.

Be specific, be genuine. Everything in the Universe is rightfully yours for the asking, as long as you play by its rules.

Intention is Everything

We create our universe, you and I. Whether conscious or unconscious, our thoughts become things. Everything that is would not exist to us without our thinking about it. It's a powerful idea, and one of the most important tenets of metaphysics.

My personal practice of metaphysics revolves around becoming more conscious of the way I create the universe, and do so with more alignment between my conscious and unconscious.

Ester Hicks, in her Abraham books, puts forth a wonderful practice she has called segment Intending. This is, having a set intention for just about everything you do. Notice I did not say "goal". An intention is more resolute than a goal.

So you might wake up and set the intention that you are going to have a day where you feel great and learn something new. Then, before you brush your teeth, you set the intention that you are going to have a healthy mouth. And keep setting intentions throughout your day.

A couple of important things happen then:

1. Instead of living robotically, you begin to wake up and live life more consciously.
2. You actually start to shape your experiences to be what you want.
3. You realize that you and God are inseparable partners in the creation of the universe

Life is the ultimate self-fulfilling prophecy. Have you ever known someone who, during cold season, constantly says - "I just know I'm going to get sick"? What happens? They get sick. I once drank water that turned out to make over 300 people seriously ill and had no ill effect. I simply told myself - I have things to do and I will stay healthy. I BELIEVED it too.

I can tell you that I have used the metaphysical power of intention to buy the exact house I wanted (when it wasn't on the market yet). When my wife and I wanted to have kids I told her exactly when and where we would conceive and that we would have twin daughters - it happened. I have manufactured the life I want perfectly, and so can you.

First, set an intention. Then, you must believe to the depths of your soul that what you intend is already true. Lastly, let go and let god. Don't try to manage how your intention comes to fruition. God does not need to be micromanaged, and frankly - we'd mess it all up. You do not need or even want to control the process of manifesting your intention.