Instructions on How to Meditate

A 9 year old explains her experience of meditation. It is so simple. Tia Nicole goes through the steps at 2:30 into the clip. Watch it here or double click on the image to watch it on YouTube site.

'Tell Them About the Dream, Martin'

Clarence B. Jones was interviewed by Tavis Smiley last week. Clarence is an attorney and was an advisor and a speechwriter for Martin Luther King. In this interview Jones talks about the March on Washington and the experience of being there during the famous speech on August 28, 1963. The Dream was not part of King's original speech. Mahalia Jackson, King's favorite gospel singer, called out to Martin that day, "Tell them about the dream, Martin" and he laid out the Dream for that audience of 250,000.  It was not the first time he had spoken about the dream but as Jones says in the Smiley interview, King had the ability adlib and cut and paste pieces of speeches together at the most appropriate time and he did that so well. Kings speeches (printed,  audio and some video) speeches are here.

We all have a dream that lives within us. It is our potential energy waiting to be unleashed into movement, action and kinetic energy.

The interview is 16 minutes. The main section about the dream is 0:45 to 7:00. You can find it on YouTube - search on "TAVIS SMILEY Clarence B. Jones PBS1142"

Prepped and Joyfully Done

After completing an event, a milestone or an activity, it is good to bask in the completion. Our Center has built a theme for 2011 modeled on a book, called 'The Happiness Project'. Our Ministers are presenting quarterly Sunday afternoon workshops where attendees construct their personal happiness project. We completed our first workshop with great success yesterday.
Preparing for my segment I began listening to the Black Eyed Peas song, 'I gotta feeling' and found that these words resonate for my project.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Friday, Saturday, Saturday and Sunday
We keep keep keep keep on going
We know what we say
Party everyday
Party everyday

The words are somewhat simplistic but they represent two things for me- First, being engaged in life happens seven days a week and second, I choose to live every day with the joy and activity of being at a party. And from that feeling I create and enjoy my life.

Did You Say Visualization or Visioning?

We know how to picture things based on our past experience. However if we want to expand our thinking into a new direction, there is a meditation, or quiet listening, process that allows new ideas to come forward. Having taught this for a number of years I find that many times it takes students some time to develop comfort in the practice of quiet listening. Here is a listing and brief comparison of the two activities. The two main similarities are a) they both are meditative (or thinking quietly with inward reflection) and b) they both begin with the letters 'Vis'.
Click on the picture to enlarge the comparison

A Changed Economy

Imagine an economy that supports the greater growth of people, families, our communities and the natural environment. This PBS documentary features David Brancacchio traveling across the US and discussing what a local based economy looks like when it is based on people and communities in accountable relationship to each other. The evidence is that the large, multi-national and impersonal business structure and economy swings from boom to bust. In the 60 minute film David interviews people on alternatives. Watch at 45:30 minutes into the film for the 'hour exchange'. In Portland, ME the hour exchange is a banking system of exchanged services. All services are valued by time, not a dollar amount. By giving an hour of service in your specialty field you receive an hour of service in exchange for receiving an hour in return.

Watch the full episode. See more NOW on PBS.

Roadmap to Prosperity- part 1

If I were living in the time of the Babylonians I might use cuneiform wedges to communicate meaning. If I were an ancient polynesian and had no written language I might scrape my communication as a petroglyph in the rocks left after Pele revealed herself in volcanic eruption. But I am neither of those so I continue the human tradition of communicating with graphics by using powerpoint.

Life is a series of activities linked together with meaning; successive present moments tied together with intention, activity and result. While teaching Spiritual Economics (SOM 205), I understand the process better now. We start with now (today) and learn to engage the world with a different point of view. Where we are today is based on our history and what we learned and believed up to this point. Where we go is based on our choices in thoughts and the resulting activities going forward. This class is an 8 week Roadmap to Prosperity as mapped in the diagram below.

This evolution of this process proceeds from left to right. Source, G-d, Spirit provides unlimited supply and our work is to allow that understanding to propagate throughout our thinking and our lives. When we align our thinking to see the abundance and release old ideas of lack, don't have, I-can't and limitation.
You can begin today with a T diagram and do a + / - analysis of where you see fullness and abundance in your thinking and (that's the plus) and identify the times where you see the limitation. As an example, I see the abundance when I walk in nature. It is a reminder of the many forms of expression possible and is visible in the different types of trees, roving animals, shapes of leaves and clouds...just to name a few An example of minus would be this statement, "I have two good friends. Whenever I try to have four or five friends my life fills with drama and I come back to two good friends" or "I make $ x. I can't imagine making two times that much money."
From the T diagram, the work begins in releasing the minus. Affirmations and affirmative prayer are good ways to plant the seeds for a new idea. Understanding your thoughts on faith is critical as well. In the Roadmap (at the top by the word Faith) the Universe and the individual are in the same circle. The dashed line signifies the openness and infiniteness of the Universe. Faith is the knowing that as an individual you are unfolding to recognize yourself as part of that infinite possibility. In faith you release ideas of lack and limitation and see your revealing of alignment to source.
We use imagination techniques to create a mental picture of the life of abundance and prosperity we desire. With visualization you can mentally picture the different elements of your expanded abundant life. What are you doing? Where do you live?  What are you doing for work and enjoyment? Who are you doing it with? By paying attention to what you desire and remembering the feelings of that experience you are painting a picture of what your new experience will be. The other imagination method for is to do a meditation on the question, 'What is my life of prosperity?' After that process make notes on the Vision and the Visualization and let them grow in your mind. Affirm them both for the seeds of prosperity continue to be planted.
In part 2 I will highlight the rest of the picture. It is a Roadmap to Prosperity and your New Spiritual Economy.

Hugh Prather III

In the later 80's I was in a search for meaning and found "Notes to Myself' on a bookstore shelf. Hugh Prather's writing provided insight and peace. He wrote about his thoughts, family and motivation in life, work and relationships. This was years before I had my own understanding so I was grateful for his writing. His book "How to Live in the World and Still be Happy" helped me realize that I am always in choice in what I think. In the early 90's I sent him a letter through his publisher. Three of four months later he called and wanted to know how he could help. We spoke about my topic and he provided suggestions. Today I still have ten of his books on my shelf; each one with pages dog earred as they were my most early resource and connection to the Universe as love, poetry, peace and meditation.
Hugh Prather made his transition on November 15 at age 72 while in his Hot Tub. Obituary and photo