Philosophy

I believe that we all are expressions of the Divine -- that is, spiritual beings.

But, in our human form and consciousness, we have largely lost the awareness of our spiritual nature. Consequently, we have lived our lives feeling very powerless and believing that love, security, happiness, and financial prosperity were found in people and "things" outside of us. We also have believed that we are victims and that suffering is inevitable. Finally, we have believed that most of what we need and want is in short supply, so that it is necessary to compete and to manipulate people and circumstances to ensure that our needs are met.

I believe that these common beliefs are in error and that this journey we call Life involves a challenging -- but fulfilling and empowering -- process of gradually awakening to the awareness of who we really are.

In a world steeped in the beliefs of human consciousness, this journey is often misunderstood. Yet, once we have heard the call of Spirit to open our hearts and minds to a greater understanding of God and ourselves, we will have no peace until we answer. So, alone or with the support of others, we go forth on the hero's journey to realizing that, as expressions of God--

•  we are connected to each other and to all life
•  we are infinite love, wisdom, creativity, compassion, joy, and peace;
•  we cannot suffer except as we decide to do so; and
•  we create our daily experiences and, potentially, the lives of our dreams.

What stands in our way is ourselves -- our "shadow" or our core limiting thoughts and beliefs. Yet once we become aware of what they are and can more clearly see their emergence in our daily experience, we can turn away from them and choose more empowering beliefs instead.

The journey is not easy. At times, we may feel scared, overwhelmed, angry, frustrated, and confused. That's to be expected, and it's okay. We just keep affirming the truth of who we are. We also practice learning to listen to the divine within us through quiet contemplation, meditation, and our intuition. The better we become at listening, the more serenity and clarity we will have in the midst of our noisy and challenging daily lives.

As our conscious contact with God improves, as we become more adept at dealing with our shadow, and as we invest less heavily in particular outcomes, we awaken to a delightful new experience of life.

We focus less on "getting" and more on "giving." We stop trying to make things right, and instead learn to see things rightly. Our moments and days develop a flow and momentum that feels wonderfully graceful. Our dreams no longer feel impossible and it is as Henry David Thoreau said:

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws will be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.