A New Way of Being

Wendy's topic this week was a New Way of Being, again based on Deepak Chopra's The Third Jesus. In looking for quotes, I came across an author who is new to me - Daphne Rose Kingma. She has such a lovely way of expressing this new way of being - I definitely plan to check out some of her books.

~ Daphne Rose Kingma, The Future of Love
"Something wonderful is happening in all of this chaos but nobody knows what it is. ...
There is a grand transformation afoot. A mysterious energy seems to be taking quietly over, and things just aren't the way they used to be. A new world, a new way of being, is being born in our midst. We can feel it.
There's a new softness in our midst, a way of being with one another, that is gracious and gentle and kind. There is also a beautiful strangely infiltrating awareness, a mystic pulse of connection that seems to be gathering us together. Love is trying to find us."

Isn't that lovely? Like the wind change in Mary Poppins, it's a delicious feeling, anticipating grace.

~ Daphne Rose Kingma, The Future of Love
"I believe that we were all together once as a single, vast, pulsating, luminous consciousness that was divided bit by bit, person by person, into the tiny shining fragments that are our individual souls. Love is the river, each human being a droplet of water, and together, in spite of our fears and resistance, we are returning to love, melting and flowing toward home.
No one can escape the divine upheaval of love. I haven't; you won't; your neighbors and strangers and family won't either. Love is coming to find us. All of us. Because love is our essence. Love is who we are.”

Path to God Consciousness

Wendy's topic this week was Opening the Path to God Consciousness, based on Deepak Chopra's book, The Third Jesus. The first quote is from one of my favorite authors, Paul Ferrini. He often writes about the principles in A Course in Miracles, and from the perspective of Jesus.

"Right now, in this moment, you are either listening to the voice of God or you are needlessly enmeshed in your own psychodrama. Right now, you are either happy or you are finding fault with the circumstances of your life. Let yourself be present to your thoughts and ask, "am I aware of God's unconditional love for me right now." If the answer is yes, you will feel the warmth of the Divine Presence in your heart. And if the answer is no, your awareness will cause you to remember that Presence and draw it to you. This simple practice cannot fail." ~ Paul Ferrini, Love Without Conditions

Most of the time, I'd say I'm enmeshed in my own psychodrama, definitely! It helps to have that pointed out, since as he says, simply being aware of that is an invitation to a new realization.

"The second coming of Christ is not some historical event in the future. The second coming is an awareness - a person's recognition of the Christ presence within him or her. In other words, when the awareness of the Christ within "dawns" on a soul, the second coming has taken place. We say that the Christ is born in that individual. Rather than an incident to take place at some future time, the second coming is a possibility in each present moment - a possibility in each one of us. "

~ Richard and Mary Alice Jafolla, The Quest

This is one of the key points in Chopra's book. Jesus isn't somebody "out there" - some magical event in the future "out there" - he's a consciousness, always available within. No magic pills, no incantations, no secret codes needed. Cool.

The Power Within

This week's topic was Discovering the Power Within You, based quite a bit on the book by that name by Eric Butterworth.

"Christ is your God-essence or the Self, as it is sometimes called in the east. The only difference between Christ and presence is that Christ refers to your indwelling divinity regardless of whether you are conscious of it or not, whereas presence means your awakened divinity or God-essence.
Being can be felt as the ever-present I AM that is beyond name and form. To feel and thus to know that you are and to abide in that deeply rooted state is enlightenment, is the truth that Jesus says will make you free. "
~ Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

I think that's one of the most powerful teachings of New thought - that the light, the presence, is not "out there" somewhere, but within each of us. I am a golden Buddha, buried in a clay statue. I am divinity, imprisoned in a human body. Each time I choose to act on the thoughts that come from my Higher Self, I chip away a bit more of the gunk that hides the light within me, and take one more step toward freedom.

Namasté