My Hawaiian Aunty, my spiritual teacher says, “Everything is pono (perfect) until we think otherwise.” I know that to be true but when events like the shooting at Virginia Tech happen it is often difficult to see the perfection. Once again I watched the news and was struck by the confusion, pain and fear I saw in people’s faces. My mother was killed in a car accident so I know well the shock of sudden loss. I feel the same way when I watch the news and see a woman crying over the body of her child that was just blown apart by a car bomb. How do we make sense of human cruelty? How do we see murder and mayhem as perfect?

Those were some of my thoughts when I sat down to meditate this morning. What came to me were some thoughts about great spiritual teachers like Buddha and Jesus and how we focus our attention as a species. For many years I believed my mission was to help create a world that would be safe for children and animals. I figured if they were safe the rest of us would be golden, but then I began to realize the world was perfect just the way it is. I still wonder how we can be so cruel at times but I have come to realize that seeing something as cruel is my judgment. I have now found greater peace and the capacity to be more loving.

Let me explain. When I look at people like Buddha and Jesus I see people who have had a direct spiritual experience. They connected with God or their spiritual essence at a profound level and lived their lives from that loving and expansive place. They did whatever was necessary, on a daily basis to deepen and maintain that connection. They lived from a place of love, free of judgment and a sense of separation. They knew the only thing that is real is God and that the external world was an illusion. They knew that, “You are me, I am you and we are one.”

When I listen to the ramblings of the Virginia Tech gunman, the news and people in the grocery store, I hear a common theme – OUT THERE. We want to blame someone or seomthing. They treated me badly, the government needs to do something, they are the problem, and something out there is the problem. I do the same thing at times. I can make statements like, “That really upset me.”

Life is, then we tell ourselves a story, and then we have an experience based on the story. My hunch is Buddha and Jesus looked within, to their connection with spirit more often than they blamed out there for their experience.

Moment by moment we are either deepening our connection with our spirit or our beliefs agreements and assumptions. We are either deepening our connectedness or our sense of separation. We are either focusing within or allowing our attention to be hooked by out there.

In a society that focuses the majority of its attention on externals events, like the shooting at Virginia Tech unfortunately make sense. They are part of the paradigm that embraces blame and judgment rather than encouraging self-exploration and personal responsibility. Even most of our religions teach us to focus externally. God is out there. We get our message from God from someone or something outside of ourselves – the minister, rabbi, the Bible or Koran tell us what to believe and how to find God.

What do you suppose would happen if more people began focusing within? What would happen if each of us did as Jesus, Buddha, and Mohamed? What if each of us did whatever was necessary on a daily basis to have a direct and profound inner connection to God?

Would we be able to judge one another? Would we choose to physically assault one another? Or blame someone else for our internally generated emotions?

I think not. If each of us learned to love, really love and live as Buddha, Mohamed and Jesus, violence would be a rare occurrence rather than an everyday event. Perhaps Cho Seung-Hui would have been able to reach out for help rather than think violence was the solution.

As long as we persist in judging anything or anyone we can’t experience our oneness. It is our belief in separation that engenders violence. When I make myself see the perfection in everything my heart expands and I can love. By loving I can live life in a more loving fashion and my sense of oneness grows.

Love or fear are our only two options. We know what kind of a world fear has built isn’t it time to see what kind of a world love can build?

With lots of love and aloha,
Susan

http://Shortmeditations.com

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The quality of our life is directly related to the kind of questions we ask ourselves. If we ask ourselves, “why did this happen to my” or “why do bad things happen to good people?” we will have the opportunity to feel like a victim and recreate the same old results.

If we really want to make a difference in our lives than we ask ourselves questions like:

What belief, agreement or assumption is operating in my life?
How can I see this differently so I can feel happy, joyous and free right now?
What questions would assist me in connecting with my ability to consciously create my experience of reality?
What do I really want to experience?
What actions can I take to create that?

It isn’t a race to get from one question to the next. Take time to fully explore one question in depth. Butterflies are pretty as they dance from flower to flower but I am not sure how in touch with the nature of reality they are.

When I explore a question I find each exploration leads logically to the next and to deeper and deeper awareness of how my filter system works. If I really want to get different results in my life I focus my attention on seeing my filter system. As I do that I will see how one thought leads to another and how my thinking colors my choices. Once I see my filter system it is easier for me to modify my thinking.

Questions are meant to assist you in seeing the magnificence of your filter system – how perfectly it fits together and how it consistently creates the same results. It is seamless and invisible to the naked eye yet it automatically and with no effort on your part drives all of your choices and hence the results you get in your life.

See its magnificence – see how your beliefs, agreements and assumptions fit together to create your experience of reality – once you really see the system, the entire system for what it is and what it creates change isn’t very far away.

My emphasis on coming from the perspective that there is ‘no out there’ came from a near death experience. Many years ago I had tried to kill myself by taking cyanide. I died and found myself swimming in eternity with all the emotions, thoughts and feelings I had run away from – talk about hell!! In that moment I realized there was no where, including death to get away from my filter system. At that moment I decided to do whatever it took to see my filter system and release myself from its bondage.

If you view life from a perspective that there is NO OUT THERE you will be able to see your filter system more clearly. As we clean out our filter system the ‘out there’ that we play in will change and life will become even more magical. Frame your questions so they will help you will see YOUR beliefs, YOUR assumptions and YOUR agreements. You can change them. If you focus on changing out there without taking responsibility for your creation you will doom yourself to creating more of the same old same old.

With love and aloha,
Susan
http://SusanGregg.com

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Aloha everyone,

This is one of my favorite stories from my book The Toltec Way. The two keys to applying the law of attraction to create pleasing results in your life is to give that which you want and to take actions consistent with what you want to create. You are always creating the trick is creating what you consciously like.

The Villagers Find Abundance

It had been a short, cold summer. The frost had come early and many were afraid that there wouldn’t be enough food for the winter. A heaviness settled over the village and people walked hurriedly, bent over, wrapped in their blankets, not even looking at each other. Fear filled their hearts and tempers were short. The Grandmother was saddened, her heart hurt as she saw the beautiful seeds of love dying.

The talk of war started gradually, first with the young braves. They complained about how their neighbors were killing their deer and picking their berries. At first the others laughed because everyone knew the deer and berries belonged to the Great Spirit. But the talk of war soon took on a life of its own. It was a way for many of the people to channel their fear.

The old women heard the talk and wept silently at night. They knew firsthand the pain of war. They had lost many sons and husbands over the years but war had not visited their village since the Grandmother had come to live with them. One by one they came and sat at the Grandmother’s fire; they talked about their fears, and asked the Grandmother what they could do.

“Forget your fear, walk in love. Look at the way others walk through the village. Walk not in fear. Share your love and your light as you move through the village; look at each person you pass and bless them. Share what you have, know that the Great Spirit will provide.”

The old women left muttering to themselves. It was easy for the Grandmother to say; they knew death waited for all of them this winter. Their hearts were too full of fear to heed her words.

The talk of war continued to spread. People no longer shared their meals and families built their fires alone.

The hunters went out and came back empty handed. They cursed their luck and muttered in anger about the neighboring villages. They knew the spirits of the land were against them and that many would starve during the long winter ahead. The grumbling spread throughout the village.
Finally the elders called a council meeting. The young warriors stood outside, their faces filled with anticipation and fear. War was the answer and they all knew it. They would raid their neighbors, kill them, and take the food that had been stolen from their lands.

The meeting had been going on for most of the evening. The energy of war filled the air and the crowd was thick around the gathering place. There was barely room to move, when suddenly the crowd began to part.
The Grandmother walked slowly and deliberately toward the meeting place. As always her eyes were filled with love but there was a sadness and a determination few had ever seen before.

A murmur went through the crowd of women and young warriors as she lifted the skin covering the meeting room door. Women weren’t allowed in the council meeting but no one dared stop her–she was, after all, the Grandmother.

The men fell silent as she entered. She looked around the room, meeting the eyes of everyone present, and she walked over to the Chief and stood in front of him. She looked deep into his eyes, then turned, and faced the fire as she raised her arms in prayer. The fire crackled, growing brighter by the moment, and the wind outside began to howl.

“I call upon the power of love. May only love be present here and may its light wash away any illusion of anger, hatred, or fear. I call upon the ancestors and all those who have gone before us or will come after us. May their wisdom and light be present here as well.”

The air began to shimmer and the people could feel the loving presence of the Great Spirit. The Grandmother stood in silence, her eyes closed, and her hands open facing the sky.

When she finally spoke her voice was filled with gentleness and power. “What is it you want to create? Why did you gather here tonight? Will war really solve your dilemma?”

Everyone started talking at once. The voices of fear were loud and raucous. The Chief stood up and everyone fell silent.

“Grandmother, you know we don’t have enough food for the winter and our neighbors kill our deer. We must protect our village. We must survive.”

The Grandmother slowly turned and looked at the Chief.
“At what price?”

The Chief began to speak and the Grandmother silenced him. No one silenced the Chief. When he again tried to speak she turned and looked at him. Her eyes were full of fire. His mouth continued to move but he couldn’t utter a single word.

“I said silence. I have enjoyed your loving hospitality for many moons. I have never interfered with tribal matters, but you have gone too far. Do you remember nothing I taught you? Do you so easily throw away the gifts of love? This village has grown and prospered because of the love you so freely shared. Do you love only when you feel safe? Do you turn your back on love as soon as fear starts whispering in your ear? Do you believe your eyes instead of your heart? Everything in your life is a gift freely given. If you try to hold on in fear it dissolves and you are left with nothing but your fear. Is that what you want?”

She looked around and stood before Gray Wolf. He had fear in his eyes and war in his heart.

“What is it you want to create with this war of yours? What is your intent, Gray Wolf?”
“I want to feed my family and take back what is rightly ours.”
“Why do you want to feed your family Gray Wolf?”
“That is a silly question old woman; because I love them.”
“So your intent is to show your love to your family by killing other families?”

She looked deeply into his eyes and touched his heart with her love. For a moment he had seen through her eyes and he saw what was really in his heart. He looked away in shame.

She looked around the circle and the men all lowered their eyes. They too had seen what was in their hearts and they were ashamed they had so easily surrendered to fear.

“If your intent is to love your families, love. Love everyone–especially your neighbors. If you let love be your guide you will always have enough. Fear causes starvation. Love never will. Give thanks for your blessings, bless your neighbor, share your bounty, and live in love.

“Your intent to love must be followed by loving actions. Love expands, fear contracts. If your intent is to love, be fearless in all you do, both in thought and in deed.

“Have you ever seen me want for anything? Have you ever seen me do anything but love? Would love deny you anything? My food barrels are full and yours will be too as soon as you open up your hearts and share. Give in love, without fear, and you will always have enough. As soon as fear infects your thinking you can be sure that scarcity will begin to rule your life.”

The Grandmother turned and walked out of the room. The young warriors were surprised when the Chief emerged a little later and ordered everyone to begin preparations for a great feast. All the villagers returned to their homes and took stock of what they could contribute.

The next day the neighboring villages were all summoned to share in their bounty. Laughter filled the village again, there was plenty of food for everyone, and the Grandmother smiled as the Chief said the blessing. He talked about love and sharing. He talked about always having enough as long as your intent was to walk in love.

The village shared their food with many starving people that winter. Their storerooms were always full. Anyone who came to their village was offered a place by their hearths and given all they could eat. They were sent away with a full stomach, a heart full of love, and all the food they could carry to take back to their families. Many learned the lesson of love and intent that winter.

Enjoy!

With love,
Susan

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Internationally acclaimed author and lecturer Susan Gregg once again helps her readers explore the world from a very practical, life changing, and powerful spiritual perspective. She shows you how to create joy, inner peace and ease even in the midst of emotional chaos. These short meditations will really change your life.

When you go to http://shortmeditations.com/ and

buy this book on April 11th you will get:

1. Mastering Life – a six week downloadable teleclass – value $125
2. Meditation Made Easy – a 2 week downloadable teleclass – value $75
3. Access to a website where you can listen to the meditations – this page will be updated periodically – priceless
4. A Free Month of Susan’s Sunday Classes (month of May only) – value $95 you’ll learn all about the 3 Toltec Masteries and the Hawaiian concept of living aloha
5. A Bliss Trip – a wonderful downloadable meditation called Tropical Island from Kirsten Sjoquist – value $12

Her latest book is part of the well know and comprehensive Complete Idiot’s Guide series. In the book Short Meditations you will learn how to quiet your mind and soothe your soul. The feedback on this book is incredible.

“What book on spirituality can give the flashes of insight that often help to liberate us from our own self deceptions and simultaneously elevate and enrich our understanding of existence and a meaningful path in life?

“Only one that I know of.

“Susan’s book on Short Meditations delivers a richness of awareness, growth potential and love, and the author does so with simplicity, style and grace.”

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Short Meditations helps you see life differently, move beyond any limitations, touches your mind and your heart while teaching you how to apply universal spiritual principles to even your most daunting everyday dilemmas.

Here’s what the publisher says about the book:

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Short Meditations offers you a variety of simple – yet powerful—mediations designed to improve quality of life by quieting the mind. This book shows you how to feel like you have more time, how to enjoy life more deeply and passionately, and how to handle everyday life without stress.

• There are step-by-step exercises ease readers into meditation techniques.
• It includes short meditations that can be done anywhere, anytime
• Meditations progressively build, gradually leading toward a deeper connection with the self while working at the reader’s own pace

So, on Wednesday April 11th go to http://shortmeditations.com/ and buy your copy of this wonderful book, follow a few simple directions and get all these wonderful gifts.

With love and aloha,
Susan

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