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SEASIDE CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING |
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Well gooood morning, Seaside!!! What a joy it is to be with you on this wonderful summer day in Encinitas. This month's message is going to be about 'Reflection'. So, what I'll be doing all month long is saying, "Are you taking the time? Are you taking the time to reflect? Do you see the presence of God, there in your life? Have you slowed down enough to remember what it's about?" It's not about the doing. It is about that Spirit that moves through you. And today, the message is actually going to be about, "Living from the Center" ... living from that God place. So, no matter what's going on in your world can you come from the centered-ness, that connected-ness, that sense of Spirit. This week I had the opportunity to do a TV show up in Burbank. It was a morning shoot, so I jumped in the car early, with Kalli, before six o'clock in the morning. I like the morning, so that's not the big deal. It's beating the LA traffic that was. We were getting up into the area and things were going pretty smoothly and it dawned on me ... directions. I just rushed out the door and I knew we were going to Burbank, but that's all I knew. I left the directions at home. Now, here was an opportunity to live from center; to know that God is right there; to take the time. Right? Now, I'm going to keep saying that. "Take the time to know God." ...To take the time, in the midst of this energy that began to rise in my being of, "OH, NO", that maybe my neighbor would home and I could find their number in information... and all these calming thoughts. Kalli said, "Heh, remember the last time when we had front row seats at the Schubert and you forgot the tickets? Or what about the time we went to see Sunset Boulevard and you forgot the tickets? Do you think there might be a pattern emerging here?" And, I said, "I don't want to deal with that right now. That's not the lesson I want ." That's not the lesson this week. The lesson this week is 'Living from Center', taking the time to notice God. And I notice there's God here. As it turned out the neighbor was home and I was able to get the directions to the studio. It was a wonderful show. It doesn't come this far south. It goes north. It goes to Chicago and New York, but it stops in Orange County. What was fun about it was that it was an exercise show with Metaphysicians, or one Metaphysician and one Mr. Universe -- a Frank Zane. I guess body-builders know that person. They had me on the treadmill, asking me these metaphysical questions. And, I'd never done a treadmill. The first question was, 'What do you do to work out?' I don't. I surf. I ski. I scuba-dive. I garden. But, I don't do anything per se. But, I learned to walk and talk and it went on just fine. What I came to recognize, or realize was how important it is, really, to connect the Spirit with one's activities. Sometimes we just live in the world and we forget to incorporate the Spirit into what we do. When we are 'living from center' we are able to remember that it is the mind and it is the body; that it is consciousness in all things. Because, what happens so often with Metaphysicians or New Age folks is that we get so far off in the spiritual realm that we're living in that 'airy fairy place' and we run out the door without directions on how to do our day. It is that balance that matters. It is being able to be centered. It's being able to stand on solid ground in our life. And that comes from taking time in our life, in the midst of confusion and breathing, and remembering God is here, even in the midst of the catastrophe or the challenge, because there is and answer there. You get to a juncture where you get to choose. Now, are you going to come from a place of centered-ness? Are you going to take the time and know that there is an answer? Or, are you going to buy into energy that can arise? When wounds from the past come forward in your life, do you feel angered by them, or do you choose to be kind to yourself? Childhood memories that used to bring forth anger... do you allow that anger to come up, or do you choose to accept, to forgive? How about times in which you have been violated in your life? Do you choose shame? Or, do you choose to let go and move on with your life, to accept who you are? In times of fear and isolation, do you choose courage and strength in your life? See, the choice comes down to you and your consciousness in which you choose to make the decision in your life. It's not the situations in life, they're bringing forth the lessons, and you can take the time to look and see if there's a pattern emerging here. But, you also can choose to be at choice at how you're going to deal with your life. And that is the degree of consciousness that emerges, because the thing is... God is fully present. 'God is at the center, whose center is everywhere and circumference nowhere'.. good old Augustine said that and probably took it from a Buddhist Monk, whose name I forgot. So, for the saint or the sinner, they're both dealing in this field of consciousness. They're both dealing in the realm of Spirit. It's just that the saint has chosen to have a greater degree of awareness of God, or the Father, or the Presence, or that Life Force. And, the sinner, the one who's missing the mark, or whatever you want, has chosen, at that juncture in their life, to buy into their human-ness, that human-ness that senses separation. But, the truth is that we're never really separated from God. It is only a sense of separation that allows us to operate in this realm of human-ness. It's like a gold ring. Can you take from this gold ring, the gold and still have the ring? Oh... this is a great one for you to think about. Think about that. If you have a gold ring, can you remove the gold from the ring and still have the ring? Of course you can't!!! I can see the heads going, 'NO.' That's not logical. Well, can you extrapolate God from our being-ness and still be? Of course we can't! See, right at the very center is Spirit. Right at the very heart of ourselves is God. It's not as if we can remove God. But, what can have is a sense of separation. And, with this sense of separation, when we forget to include Spirit, what happens is that we our ourselves to be vulnerable to the ways of this world. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to the ways of this world, we can set up situations when all of sudden somebody can come into our world and 'turn the card over', mess us up emotionally in relationships; or have somebody come in and pull fraud and take all your money or all your things, because you're in this world forgetting that realization of the God presence. It's as we come to realize the God presence, if something does come up in our world, when we lose that which we were holding onto, or that which we valued, or that which we had saved away for that rainy day, or what-have-you. What comes to us is an opportunity to realize that God has not left us; that Spirit that created it in the first place, hasn't gone anywhere. What it is an opportunity for us to know God, because we are not those things. We are not that savings and we are not dependent upon another person. And, when we are able to come from a centered-ness, solid ground, connected with that flow, we cannot be knocked off of it. I don't care what the situation is; or how horrific it is, and I have heard some biggies (from my perspective, not God's) and I have watched people come back with their heads up. At that junction, not choosing shame, but choosing forgiven-ness; not choosing the anger, but reflecting upon the presence of God showing up, right there. And, it's when we come to the realization, because God isn't something we attain; the good is not something we go out there and attain... It's God who gave us the power to create it in the first place. It is of this life-flow, we can never hold nor hoard. When we move into that place of realization, because we're working on connecting with the realization, what happens is the unfoldment of that which we need begins to happen; not because we're trying to get it, but because that is the natural unfoldment. We are lead to the people that are able to assist us; the information that will bring the insights, because we are coming from a place of enjoying Spirit. It's like the flower, when it opens up, the fragrance is released. When we are connecting with our Source and coming to a more conscious state, the success, the fulfillment, the attainment comes; not because that's what we're after, but because we're coming from centered-ness. Rummey said, "Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do." So, if you're going through life just working on trying to make the ends meet; or trying to acquire; or whatever that motivation is, and you're going to that work or that job, or those situations and you're stressing out, this doesn't sound like 'the beauty of that which you love' does it? I mean think about it. I want you to take this phrase home and think about 'the beauty of that which you love...' That's beautiful!!! 'The beauty of that which you love -- let that be what you do.' You see, in life we make a living by what we get. That's how we make a living, by what we get. But, we make a life by what we give. Another good one to write down. 'We make a life by what it is we give.' See, when we are doing that which we love, we're giving of ourselves, we're sharing of ourselves. What we're finding is the satisfaction. What we're getting are the rewards, not because they're coming from things in life, but because they are rich inside. When we are doing the things we love, what is happening in our lives is that we are coming from a place of center, we are coming from a clear avenue, a stream of spirituality that is moving through us with power. And, you will have what it takes to meet whatever situation comes into your life. It's not you against the world. It is the Source moving through you, taking you through this thing called life. Shakespeare said, "We know what we are, but know not what we may be." We know what we are... we're that sharp, we're opening our eyes and reflecting, we know what we are; we know what we're doing... but we know not what we may be, because it is infinite. It's only when you are willing to push the envelope; it's only when you're willing to push the edge that you begin to recognize more of what you are. The more of what you are is Spirit. The more of what you are is God. The abundance of life supports that. But, the choice is yours whether you're going to buy into the human-ness or going to be in balance and realize you are Spirit doing this human experience. There was this young Rabbi in a small village. He felt he was very wise. People didn't quite recognize that in him, but he felt he was. He was clever, that's one of the things he was. And, one day one of the old wise Rabbis was touring through and he was coming to the town. This young guy wanted to prove himself. So what he did was that he thought, "Maybe I'll try to trick this old Rabbi. What I will do is to grab a little bird. I will hold the bird in my hand and I will go up to this Rabbi and say, 'Oh wise one, the bird I hold in my hand, is it alive or is it dead?' If he says it's alive, it will be easy enough to squish it and show him that it's dead. But, if he says it's dead, I will just open up my hand and let it fly away.' So, the next day when they were at their seminar or whatever they were doing, the crowd of people was around and at the appropriate time, this young, aspiring young Rabbi got up and walked up to the middle of the crowd and held up his hand and said, "Oh wise teacher, is the bird in my hand alive or dead?" The crowd 'ooohed, I wonder what's going on?' The Rabbi just paused for a moment and said, 'It's up to you...' And, that's what Spirit says to us about our life. 'It's up to you. You can destroy it. You can squish it. You can kill it. Or, you can live. You can fly.' The wise, loving presence of Spirit says the way in which you choose to respond to those things that go on in your life... you can come from a place of centered-ness and connected-ness and reflection, knowing that there is Spirit here, because just like that gold ring, it can't be without It, or you can buy into the human-ness; you can buy into the fear; you can buy into the anger, you're at that junction. Always within your life, you are at that junction in which you get to choose. Now, are you going to choose Spirit? I'll tell you, I hear people say to me, often, 'Of course I'm going to choose Spirit , but I just have to get rid of this pain in my life first. If my body just didn't ache, then I would be more comfortable and I would have time to pursue Spirit. You know Christian, as soon as I'm able to pay my rent, then I'm not worried and I can be at a greater level of peace and at a greater level of peace, then I am able to find Spirit. If I could have this money or this relationship, then I will be... as if Spirit is dependent upon some physical proof. We cannot change some human disorder for human harmony, because what we are doing is that we are just dealing in the physical realm. But, if we choose to go to God, if we tend to take the time to reflect upon the Presence in our life, we're going to find it unfolding like that flower that releases the fragrance. Our world will begin to release greater beauty, greater love, greater well-being. You'll say, 'Christian, are there short cuts?' Yah, there are. I mean it's not always easy... but, the short cut is just to pull out of one's thinking consciousness, those fears and put your heart and your soul on looking at Spirit; on realizing the Presence in all things, not on the attainment, but on the Divine realization. That's the short cut -- you drop all the garbage and allow your heart and soul to reflect upon Spirit. Simple!!! That's the short cut. That's the way to it. When you work with your life. So often when people get a little bit of a hit, a little bit of understanding, a little bit of insight, you know, kind of see how it works, they say, 'Well let me go over here and help these people, now. Let me tell them how to better their world, now.' Notice how people always try to help other people by the degrees that hang on their wall. That's the method of healing. A well used story about an industrialist from the north, vacationing down in the south. You on one of the islands down there. There was a fisherman sleeping in a hammock, sucking on the straw in a Mai Tai and the industrialist said, 'Why aren't you fishing?' And, the fisherman said, 'Well, I caught all the fish I wanted, today.' He said, 'Well, why don't you catch more fish. If you catch more fish, you can make more money. If you make more money, you could buy a motor for your boat. If you bought a motor for your boat, you could go out farther. If you go out farther, you could catch more fish and then you could get a nylon net and catch a lot more fish. And, if you catch a lot more fish you could make a lot more money and maybe you could buy a whole fleet of ships to do the fishing.' The fisherman said, 'And, what for?' The industrialist said, 'So you could enjoy life.' The fisherman said, 'But, I am.' I am. Everybody is walking this walk through life at their own level of being-ness. And, those who work on the Divine realization, coming to know God, at some point there's a shift and they begin to be initiated into those higher degrees of awareness by an inner voice. I mean, reading is good. It take you to a place. Sunday mornings are inspirational. Classes are fine. But still, there is that point in the initiates world where they contact the higher consciousness of a teacher, that begins to allow the doings of life to bring forth the spiritual message and a knowing-ness that allows people to understand. But, we must take the time to listen. We must take the time to reflect. People say, 'I'm too busy. When I have the time, I'll meditate.' NO!!! You meditate now! 'When I get more money.' NO!!! Now, you come to know the Presence and the other things unfold in your life. And that comes from marveling at life. It comes from stopping and reflecting and seeing God in all things. That's 'living from the center'; living from that Source, that substance, that goal. Ernest Holmes, founder of Religious Science, wrote in his very last book, 'The Voice Celestial', which I'm going to be performing at Asilomar this year. He said, "It is thy self, my friend, thy self alone, in whom the answer lies. All that there is of wisdom, truth or light is found in tack within each human soul." So, how do you get that -- wisdom, that light? You meditate. And meditation isn't this deep, acrobatic, have-to kind of experience. So often people will get this concept that you have to sit a certain way; listen to certain music; do a certain chant. Meditation is just creating that space for Divine Grace to enter in. When the Divine Grace enters in, and are able to allow It to direct our life, we will find success; we will find peace; we will find fulfillment; we will find that perfect place to live; we will find resolutions of the challenges that present themselves in our experience. But, this isn't why you meditate. This is the paradox here. A lot of times people say, 'I'm going to go meditate so I can find peace. I'm going to go attain it.' You've heard me, all morning, say that it's not about attaining. It is the result of reflecting upon Spirit, but it's not the purpose of doing that. Have you got the difference? Do you feel that? If we go to the Divine realization, the God realization what happens is that our world shows that. It reflects that. It doesn't always happen instantly. In our hurry-up society we like instant gratification. That's why we've got microwaves and those kind of things... faxes, e-mail, right now. But, meditation doesn't give us those instant results in such a clear way. Although, it can. You can feel peaceful when you're done meditating. What happens is that if you get into judging that 'I was supposed to have this kind of experience.' -- that's the attachment to outcome. Well, it's not about attachment to outcome. It's about coming to know God. It's coming to know that Life Force. It's coming to know that Presence, that goal, that substance of your being. If you are saying, 'Well, I've been doing this now for a week. Actually, I've been doing this now for a month and if my life has transformed.' It's tough to sit there in judgment and say, 'Heh, I don't see these kind of results.' We're used to seeing those results. But, what is happening is a deepening of consciousness. What is happening is a greater movement of the Divine Grace. What is going on is a greater recognition of that peace, so when a situation does present itself; when a trauma does happen; when a childhood wound does come to the surface, it is met with grace; it is met with forgiveness; the situation is dealt with from a place of peace. When you are driving in to do a show and you realize that the directions aren't there, you don't go ballistic. But, rather you are able to remain at peace. When you do your work, what happens is that the situations that used to push those buttons, push and the old energy is no longer at home. It's no longer responding. You know I close my eyes in order to see. I close my reactionary responses to the ways of this world and allow that Divine Grace that comes from the center that I've come to know and I take time to reflect to house my world; to materialize in my world; to direct my ways to guide me, to fill me with understanding. And, I will tell you that it is a lot easier to live in this world from that kind of place of love, as opposed to anger; as opposed to resentment; as opposed to frustration. If you choose to live in a sense of trust; in a sense of faith; a sense of connected-ness, you will find your walk in this world is rich; it is fulfilling; it is exciting; it is stimulating; it is alive; it is passionate with that which is real. Because it is God you are seeing in all things. God Bless Us All Rev. Christian Sorensen |
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