TheLeaderInside.com

“We need to teach the next generation of children from Day One that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.”

~~~ Elisabeth Kubler Ross

Last week the main topic was happiness and how to find it. We learned that you already are happy and that it’s your choice whether to be involved with the real you, the essence of you, the you that is happiness — or whether to choose the egoic you — the you that is attached to your thoughts of the past and the future.

===============================================
We’ve developed the routine of including a short meditative video with these posts on Meditation. For today, I’ve chosen this one for you. It’s called “Connecting With Nature”. It’s another guided meditation by Sally Morningstar. It will last about 9 minutes.

Take a couple of deep breaths and relax your body and your mind.

Here’s a direct link in case the embedded one doesn’t play for some reason.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lagIlhbjqUk

===============================================

It’s quite easy to see the choice here, isn’t it? It’s clear — one or the other. Making the choice is the hard part. Why? Because we love our stories, beliefs, opinions, judgments, memories, fantasies and other ideas. We love them so much that we find ourselves loving them more than we love the essence of us — the part of us where there is peace, compassion and love.

Why is it that we want to be who we think we are more than we want to put an end to our suffering and be who we truly are? More times than not, when faced with choosing between our ideas and love, we will choose ideas. Before you start berating yourself for this, keep in mind that there is no blame here. Since the day we were born, we’ve been programmed to make this choice. At every point in our lives we’ve been told, or we’ve been shown, or we’ve been advised to choose the direction our ego wishes for us.

However, at some point in the evolution of our souls we need to wake up — look at the way we’ve been programmed — examine how making that choice has worked for us — and make the conscious choice to begin choosing the truth. We’ll know when that time comes because the pull to make that choice will become stronger than the desire to follow our egos.

One of the reasons why you’ve been reading these articles is because you are at that point now. The urge to find another way to live your life will be guiding you to begin to ignore all that old programming. You’ll begin to make new discoveries. You’ll see that teachers will find their way into your life. Teachers like Eckhart Tolle. Teachers like Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Teachers like Dr. Wayne Dyer. You’ll discover new books and other articles. All these tools to discovering your true essence will begin showing up in your life. It’s quite miraculous, isn’t it?

You’ll learn that there is a way out of the suffering in your life. However, you will have to make the choice to follow the new way again and again. Your ego won’t give up on the role it has always played in your life. It will be there bugging you constantly even after you’ve begun making these new choices. It will continue to tempt you with the stories, the fantasies, the memories, the drama, the desires and the cravings.

Once you’ve begun to see these egoic thoughts for what they are, that part of you will begin to weaken more and more. Will it disappear eventually? Only you can know the answer to this. It will always be you who makes the choices. Your programming will always be there, but you can choose to change your relationship to it. How long you continue to jump back and forth between your programming and your true self is up to you. It will always be your choice.

Meditation is the best way to advance the training of your mind to let go of the egoic programming and rest in the peace of the present. In order to get beyond the ego we have to become comfortable with what it’s like to be in the power of the now. The more you practice turning off your thinking through meditation, the better your understanding of what that peace is — what it feels like to be in that place — thereby making it easier to choose the real you instead of the ego. Soon you will see that your desire for peace, love and compassion will become stronger than your desire for the old stories.

When that happens you will be on your way to freedom — and you will have found true happiness.

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”

~~~ Buddha

I’d love to hear your comments on this. At the very end of this post (after the commercials and the tags) you should see a place where you can leave your comment. It will be a link that says “No Comments” — or “Comments”. Let me hear from you. Thanks.
=====================

Those glimpses we get of peace, love, acceptance and happiness when we’re meditating will soon grow into more than glimpses if we keep practicing. Keep those feelings alive. A meditation can be as simple as one, deep, conscious breath. When something happens in one of your moments to cause you to suffer, just stop and take one of those breaths and remember, “This too shall pass!” Another thing that is wonderful, especially at this time of year, is to have a fresh flower where you work. Just stop from time-to-time and look at it — don’t label it — don’t judge it — just be with it for a couple of moments. It really does work. I’m looking at mine as I write this.

“Each flower is a soul blossoming out to nature”

~~~ Gerard de Nerva

—————————-
If you’re new to us here, be sure read the entire series about meditation. If you look on the upper left of the sidebar, you’ll see a list of the categories. Click the one called “Meditation” and you’ll be able to read the articles you missed. They start with the January 24, 2008 post. The video meditations that I included with the earlier articles may no longer function. I’m sorry about that, but those are out of my control. Hopefully, they’ll all still be working.

Do include meditation in your daily life. If you’re just starting out, make it a 10 minute meditation. If you’ve been doing this for a while, try to do a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes. The longer you can maintain your focus on just your breath, the better. And, remember, anytime you take a deep, conscious breath — that’s a breath where you’re putting your focus on that breath — that’s a meditation. Do it often every day — especially when you’re feeling stressed. I guarantee, you’ll find more peace and happiness in your life if you’ll do this.

“Those who really seek the path to Enlightenment dictate terms to their mind. Then they proceed with strong determination.”

~~~ Buddha

Namaste!

And, as I always say in closing — remember these words …

You are the most precious gift you can give yourself. Every day look in the mirror and say, “I’m available to more good than I have experienced, realized or imagined ever before in my life!” Do this every day while you look into your own eyes.

You are special — and you are loved. You are the greatest gift you can be.

Shanti … (A sanscrit word meaning, “Let there be Peace. Peace, beautiful Peace. Peace within, Peace without. Peace in this world. Peace for all beings.”)

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

~~~ Buddha

~~~ Ron
http://www.theleaderinside.com
http://www.wecould2.com

P.S. Remember, that if you have one of the “readers” — like My Yahoo, My MSN, or the Google Reader, or any of the others, you can get our blog sent to you automatically, whenever I post to it. Just click one of the buttons over on the left side to add it to your reader.
================================================================
Even though the live webcasts of the Eckhart Tolle New Earth classes are now concluded, you can still download the entire course. It’s being called “The Best Summer School Course Ever!” I highly recommend it. It’s completely free. All you really have to do is get the book, “A New Earth — Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose” by Eckhart Tolle. You can access the course online at:

http://www.oprah.com/obc_classic/webcast/archive/archive_download.jsp.

You’ll find everything you need there — all 10 classes. If you happen to have iTunes on your computer, you can also access the course by subscribing to it through the podcast link in iTunes. Check it out. Several million people around the globe took part in this amazing spiritual teaching. I hope you’ll soon be one of them. This is how we can create a new consciousness on the New Earth.

“Feeling will get you closer to the truth of who you are than thinking. ”

~~~ Eckhardt Tolle —

Also, Oprah now has her Soul Series of Webcasts started. There is a series with Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and more from Eckhart Tolle. You can get these from this site for downloading:

http://www2.oprah.com/spiritself/oss/ss_oss_archive.jhtml

I’ve listened/watched all of these so far, and I highly recommend them. If you have iTunes, you can subscribe to them.
================================================================
In my meditation I often use what I believe is a powerful aide to deep meditation. It’s the The Holosync Solution. I knew that meditation was a vital element to nurturing my soul — to opening myself to the universe — and this tool has allowed me to achieve and receive the benefits of deep, long-term meditation — and to achieve it much more quickly. If you’re having trouble “getting meditation to work for you” – then the The Holosync Solution is what you’re looking for.

Regular, daily meditation can give you …

(1) Increased intelligence and creativity.
(2) Lower stress levels — and with that — increased ability to handle whatever the world tosses your way.
(3) New levels of self-awareness and inner peace.
(4) The healing of emotional issues at the deepest levels.
(5) It is the proven path to finding the peace, love and compassion within all of us –

— it’s definitely worth taking the time for this powerful practice every day.

With a One-Year 100% Iron-Clad Guarantee, you can now do so with no risk whatsoever — just click any of the links that say … The Holosync Solution

— The Holosync Solution
================================================================

====================================================================
[tags]peace, inner self, inner peace, Buddhism, Buddhist, The Secret, Law of Attraction, dreams, spiritual energy, action, value, inner balance, enlightenment, destiny, manifestation, meditation, patience, gratitude, tolerance, acceptance, body balance, life cycle, beginnings, endings, positive thinking, ego, silence, consciousness, staying grounded, cycle of life[/tags]