GOD IS a Verb. GOD IS…I AM

   There is a Catch-22 in asking for anything we want to receive through prayer.  On one hand, we need clarity as to what it is we enjoy experiencing, but on the other hand, asking a God outside ourselves to give us anything is declaring God’s insufficiency.  Dilemma?  Not really.

Joel Goldsmith, in his book, The Infinite Way, writes:

     True prayer is never addressed to a Being outside ourselves, nor does true prayer expect anything from outside our own being.  “The kingdom of God is within you,” and all good must be sought there.  Recognizing God to be the reality of our being, we know that all good is inherent in the Being, your being and mine.  God is the substance of our being; and, therefore, we are eternal and harmonious.

In other words, we need look no further than ourselves.  Everything–all potential–is there.   It comes with the package of All.  There can never be lack because the words eternal and infinite leave nothing out.  If God is both eternal and infinite, there is no place nor time where All does not exist.  That includes within our own being.

Goldsmith goes on to say:

     Rightly speaking, there is not God and you, but God is ever manifest as you, and this is the oneness which assures you of infinite good. 

Radical idea?  At first glance, many people think this is blasphemy; but it isn’t.  Ask those people where God is.  They will tell you “everywhere.”  Then clarify by saying, “Except in the space you are in, right?”  They will quickly be lost to defend this idea, because everywhere does not exclude any space.  Indeed, they, too, are within the Allness of God.  Everything is!

Those who declare God to be a “Being” outside themselves are the ones feeling separate from All That Is.  Those who understand our shared Being know if God is All, we already have everything we need.  It is pointless to ask God to give us more than all.  There can never be a moment when we are without because we are intrinsically woven within.

Goldsmith adds:

     Prayer, when based on the belief that there is a need unfilled or a desire unsatisfied, is never in accord with true scientific prayer.  A prayer for God to do something, send something, provide, or heal is equally without power.

A cup overflowing cannot add anything to it.  Such prayers to add anything else to our lives are asking God to do what has already been done.  We can never really ask God to give us what we don’t already have.  It is not God who is lacking…it is the limited awareness we, as humans, are holding.  We are the ones who have work to do to align us with the abundance of All That Is.  Once we correct the delusional thinking that gives the appearance of lack, our prayers are answered.  All along, it was God’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom.  We experienced lack because we resisted the offer.

The next thing we have to consider is whether or not God needs us to explain how we want our desires to manifest.  We tend to get involved in the “how” of getting whatever it is we want.  We look outside ourselves for supply…to other people, circumstances, conditions, healers, teachers, etc.  But supply is just as infinite and eternal as God is.  All supply comes from within.  Don’t fall victim to outside appearances that will attempt to tell you it cannot be as you wish.  Of course it can.  You are the only one who can prevent everything from coming into your own experience.  That which we want can only come into expresssion through our own awareness of it.  And because God is woven into one, Being, there is nothing for us to tell God that is not already known.  Our mantra should always be, “This and something more!”  To limit God’s grace would be such a shame.  Let the answers come through God, as you, in ways you never could have imagined.  It is so much more fun that way! 

So, how exactly do we ask for anything from God.  We don’t.  We claim the things we want manifested as already ours.  We hold the feeling it brings to us “as if it were already done.”  We feel enormously appreciative of being in the midst of All.  We leave no room for doubt as we fill our essence with deep love and awe.  Our powerful feelings are what move the unseen into form.  No words are needed…just the positive emotions of love and gratitude.

I conclude with a beautiful description of true prayer, written by Goldsmith:

      The recognition of the divinity of our individual being, embracing and including the allness of God, is true prayer ever answered.  The correction of the belief that we are ever separate or apart from our good is the essence of true prayer.  That which I am seeking, I AM.  Whatever it is of good that I have believed to be separate from me is, in fact, a constituted part of my being.  I include, embody, and embrace within the self within my consciousness, the reality of God which forms the infinity of the health, wealth, and harmony of my being.  The conscious awareness of this truth is true prayer. 

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog

   We don’t like to feel bad.  Just take sorrow, for example.  Do you realize people spend billions of dollars, every year, to avoid feeling it?  We read self-help books, go to counselors of all types, and take legal and illegal drugs and medications just to avoid it.

Think back to the last time you felt deep sorrow about something.  As you were experiencing that pain, you probably made an agreement with yourself to never feel that way again.  Can you remember exactly what it was you told yourself?  Maybe you, like me, went through a particularly painful divorce.  If so, I’d be willing to bet, at some point, you promised yourself you would never let anyone treat you that way again.  Maybe you swore you would never marry again or perhaps you decided the next time you suspected another person’s intentions were bad, you’d be the first to land the blow.  You might not realize it, but that was an agreement to either repress or project any pain you feel today.  The problem is, when we don’t allow ourselves to process emotions, they tend to create blocks in our energy systems.  Those blocks can eventually show up as major problems or illnesses in our lives.  They can also prevent us from ever attracting good back into our lives! 

On the other hand, if we give ourselves permission to feel strong emotions, but we do so in a negative manner (unworthiness, self-blame, pity), we are also doing ourselves a great disservice.  Absorbing negative energy to punish ourselves can do nothing but cause us tremendous suffering…short term and long term.  This type of behavior is common to those who feel a need to harm themselves in some manner.  Generally, it is not done in awareness, but is more a pattern of behavior they acquired during youth.  Long ago, something happened to make them feel like they deserved to have a bad life.  They believed they didn’t do what was needed to earn happiness, and they promised to do all they could to honor that agreement to reprimand themselves, constantly.  Who would have thought that 6-year-old child who agreed he would never amount to anything would fulfill that destiny until he died?

The only emotions that don’t harm us are those that freely flow in and out of the system…positive feelings.  Negative emotions felt as nothing more than a hiccup can also be quickly dissolved, but any strong negative emotion is still there, unless we do something to remove it.  The ironic thing about the agreements we made to feel bad is that we made most of them in order to protect ourselves.

Ray Dodd, author of BeliefWorks and The Power of Belief writes:

Agreements based in fear are designed to keep us safe. When we are hurting, we make an agreement with ourselves to get the pain to stop.

Suppose you are seven years-old,  you fall down and begin to cry. Your father says, “Stop crying! Don’t be such a baby!” You feel ashamed and hurt by his words. If this happens repeatedly you might decide, “It’s not safe to show my emotions. I can’t let people know how I feel.” That’s a personal agreement based in fear.

Having an agreement like that might serve a purpose in the moment, but long after the danger of being hurt has passed, those agreements sink below the surface of conscious awareness and begin to run our lives. They color the opinions we have about everything. They define the point-of-view of our beliefs.

Past agreements we made with ourselves may no longer serve us well, but if we don’t do something to change them, they are the operating systems running our lives.  We may think we’ve moved past all that, but I can promise you this, if you didn’t do something to remove the energy of a strong emotional pact, it is still in charge of your life! 

That painful divorce is still running the show.  You may be thinking, consciously, how much you want a wonderful new relationship, but the bigger part of you (your subconscious) is not going to let you hurt yourself again.  

“But wait a minute,” you might say.  “That was 10 years ago, and things have changed a lot since then.  I no longer feel that way.”  That’s not what the subconscious mind believes.  It is acting as if it is still happening and since you made a strong emotional agreement to protect yourself from pain, it is simply running the program you designed around safety.

Add to that the fact that the subconscious program is ONE MILLION times more powerful than what you are currently saying you believe, and let’s face it, your conscious mind looks like a toddler trying to knock down The Hulk.

Who’s really determining the course of your life?  You may believe it is the person you are today, but more than likely, it is the child of your youth.  Most all of the programs you’ve installed were taken in through the emotional immaturity of a pre-school kid.  Those who lived in healthy, supportive environments cannot exclude themselves, either.  They, too, had moments where they felt strong negative emotions.  It came as a package deal.

Take a good long look at the agreements you’ve made with yourself, over the years.  Are they still serving you well?  If not, what is your plan to dismantle them and put in new ones that offer you a better life?  Talking about it won’t work!  If it did, you would have the life of your dreams.  To replace the old programs with new ones, you are going to have to go straight to the source of the problem…the subconscious mind. 

Emotions.  Powerful stuff!  What tapes did you create with strong feelings?  Do you remember moments filled with deep sorrow, tremendous fear, intense anger, powerful guilt, unspeakable shame or painful remorse?  In those moments, what did you agree to?  What have you done to reprogram those beliefs that are holding you back today? 

Today, you have the option to change your beliefs.  I mean really change them in ways that finally allow you to live the life you’ve always wanted.  Who’s going to take control…the 6-year-old version of yourself or the adult who now knows better?  You have the ability to remove the past so you can accept the gifts of today.  Ask me how!

Or…just let those old tapes play the same old song.

What’s it gonna be?

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog

   I was listening to an interview with Dr. Deepak Chopra, earlier this morning.  If you haven’t heard…he is talking about his book, The Third Jesus, in a six-part series that is posted as webcasts on the Unity Church website.  You can register to listen to them at www.unityonline.org.  Be sure to do this soon, however, because once all the interviews are posted, they won’t be available for free any longer. 

One of the things that struck me, during the third interview, was Dr. Chopra’s discussion about eternity.  He mentioned that most people think of the creation of our universe as something done in a time that has passed–as if it  had a starting point and a completion date.  I think of eternity as something that will continue to unfold just ahead of me, but I’ll admit that I sometimes forget that evolution, in this experience, is not finished.  Most of us have lived with the belief that our universe was created, as Chopra states, “once upon a time.”  We tend to forget it is an ongoing process of unfoldment of all potential that has always existed…and is happening in the moment of now.  Eternity and infinity can only be identified in the present moment.

In this moment…the now…all possibilities exist.  Our limitations prevent us from experiencing the grandeur of the All-in-All, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t offered.  As we claim these gifts in pure expectation, they move from the invisible to the visible realm.  One by one, we experience potential as form, delighting in the power to do so.

In another portion of the interview, Chopra talks about the importance of manifesting that which is best for the universe, as a whole.  I have learned this to be the best way to manifest “things” I would like to experience.  If I am wanting something, I am coming from a state of insufficiency.  Also, by their very definition, all things mortal are transitory in nature, so I remind myself I’m just borrowing the experience for a while.  I don’t want to become too attached to anything mortal, because “things” are finite and temporal.  Therefore, I don’t focus on wanting or needing things, but I look at the feeling behind it.  If it is a new home I would like to have, I ask myself, “What is the feeling I will experience when I live in a new home?”  I might answer that it is joy.  Now I know…it is not a new home, rather, it is joy I will claim for myself.  Joy comes in all sizes!  I don’t have to create vision boards with objects and things I want included in my life, I need only stay in the feeling of joy and the things added unto my life will match the feeling of joy.  The best part is…I’m not excluding those things which I might not have included had I focused solely on one thing.  Focusing on the qualities of Love I want manifest in my life–abundance, bliss, love, peace, joy, purity, and fun, just to name a few–I am leaving all possibilities open.  My mortal mind is not limiting myself to only the known, because, coming from open awareness, I am allowing the unknown to move into manifestation to surprise and dazzle me!  It is much more fun to use the Law of Attraction in this manner, because I am constantly awed at what shows up that I would never have manifested left to my own limited thinking.

The best way I know to live life is coming from a sense of unbridled joy and expectation.  I want to have my being in the experience of bliss as much as possible, because simply doing that, I fulfill my destiny.  I don’t need to know where the road leads or which detours led me astray.  I just sit here, in this moment, appreciating every experience as a precious gift of Love.  In awe, I accept all the gifts added unto me…with deep gratitude!

I have nothing to add to All.  Moment to moment, I pluck experiences from the formless and I manifest them into the life of Being Jodi.  In time, I will tire of the game, and step out of her body, but until I do, I intend to surround her with every good thing Love has to offer.  Does it get any better than that?

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog

   Success.  Lots of people are in pursuit of it, these days.  Many turn to various kinds of coaches, while others read the books or go to workshops.  All that is great, except for one problem.  Most of the time, it doesn’t work.  How do I know?  I did all those things myself.  For a few days, things seemed to improve, but it wasn’t long until I was right back where I started.  Why?

The problem is the subconscious mind is in charge…not your conscious intentions.  If you look at how the brain processes information, you will discover that less than 5% of the information absorbed is in the conscious mind.  Between 95-99% of the operation of your day is coming from the subconscious mind.  In other words, the subconscious mind is a million times more powerful than the conscious mind!  Are you getting the picture?  It is the subconscious mind that has to be reprogrammed. 

The other part of this problem is that you cannot change the functioning of the subconscious mind by talking to it.  No one is in there.  You’re wasting your time.  In fact, rehashing old problems may just make things worse, because now both the subconscious and the conscious mind are focusing on negative issues!  While endless repetition of affirmations, prayers and guided meditations may help, in time, if you are looking for immediate results, you are going to be disappointed for the most part.  If one part of the brain wants success, but the other part is screaming how you don’t deserve it, the two ideas are in conflict. Until the larger part of you is congruent with a single focused idea, nothing is going to happen.  You are going to be repeatedly disappointed, adding to your already overloaded bank of negativity.

So, how do you reprogram the subconscious mind?  I’ve discovered three ways that seem to work. 

Hypnosis (using programs like Neuro Linguistic Programming/NLP) has a significant impact, because this method removes the old memory and replaces it with a better-serving version or story.  It does not address the conscious mind.  It works with the subconscious storage bin through a mind-altering process.  In other words…it is far more than just talking.  The only problem with this one is that it generally requires a trained professional to walk you through this process.

Holosync meditation–not guided meditation–also works.  This particular method of meditation works best because it does more than just put you in a peaceful state of mind.  It stimulates different areas of the brain, and targets subconscious beliefs through sounds and vibrations.  Holosync meditation takes about 30 minutes of your day, and does require you to sit where you can close your eyes.  You don’t have to worry about what you are thinking–the sounds do the work for you–but you do have to keep your eyes closed so that visual distractions aren’t interfering with the reprogramming process.

And, finally, energy psychology medicine, such as Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) also works, because the subconscious mind is reprogrammed through manipulation of energy blocks in the psychology and physiology of the human system.  I love this one, because it takes only a few minutes of your time, and it can be immediately applied as the emotions are triggered.

Which do I use?  I’ve used all three!  Each one of them served me well, but I found EFT to be the fastest and most direct way to collapse all kinds of issues in only a single session.  EFT works with energy…and thoughts and beliefs are made of energy, just like your body.  All those programs running your life from the subconscious mind?  Yep.  Energy.

Funny thing is, with EFT, I’ve often started by tapping on a particular problem, but soon discovered the tapping process cleared issues I had not even thought about in years.  For example, if I’m collapsing a problem that is making me angry, I might remove blocks not only around the memory I am recalling, but also around countless other  angry memories my subconscious mind has stored.  I don’t have to remember every moment I’ve been angry, because my subconscious mind knows where those blocks are located and the tapping finds and disrupts the negative blocks by traveling through the meridians of the body tied to each of the tapping points.  How simple is that?

EFT is for real.  It works, and if you look into how and why it works, it makes perfect sense.  Join the millions who are already using it…people like Jack Canfield, Cheryl Richardson, Dr. Joe Vitale, Dr. Bruce Lipton and Deepak Chopra.  Impressed yet?  Hey, if these icons publically acknowledge using EFT, there must be a reason.  There is… because they use it on themselves and they know it works! 

In order to acheive lasting success, you are going to have to reprogram the subconscious mind that is running the show.  Just talking to it won’t work, because you are (as Dr. Lipton says in his book The Biology of Belief), in essence, talking to a tape player.  If you want anything to change, you are going to have to find a method that can push the record button and replace the habitual, destructive programs that are telling you it isn’t possible for you to be successful. 

If you are ready to start living a successful life, you can spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on coaching and workshops, or you can take control of your own life by learning how to use EFT.  As Dr. Patricia Carrington states, EFT is “the people’s method.”  Anyone can do it!  Try it for yourself or schedule a session with an EFT practitioner.  The great thing about working with a practitioner is that you can do this over the phone.  In fact, 80% of  EFT clients work with practitioners over the phone.  Do you know what that means?  It means you can use the services of these extraordinary healers no matter where you or they live. 

Are you ready to join the millions who are waking up to successful lives today? 

Go to an NLP session, listen to a Holosync meditation CD, or visit www.tryitoneverything.com to learn more about EFT.  Don’t spend another dime on programs that only focus on talking to your mind.  Reprogram it instead!  Do something that will change your life.  Success can be yours, but you’ll have to take inspired action to live the life of your dreams.

You can visit my website–www.godisaverb.com–to learn more about EFT or to schedule a private session with me today.  If you are local, you can attend my Second Saturday Borrowing Benefits classes for nothing more than a love offering donation.  What are you waiting for?  Success is calling your name.  Your subconscious mind is begging you to take out the old tapes and put in new ones!  Will you finally answer?  

I AM…Jodi (EFT-CC Level 2 Practitioner and participant in the movie, Try It On Everything)
www.godisaverb.com/blog

   Here’s some food for thought.  Which came first–the chicken or the egg? 

In looking at that riddle, it reminds me about the origin of our universe.  In both cases, there had to be a moment when something was created from what would appear to be nothing.  Before physical, energetic being, what was? 

Scientists and theologans offer ideas on the origin of our universe…but whether the Big Bang exploded from a singular pea-sized ball of burning energy that arose from the collapse of a former universe, or a string form that ties one to the next, or whether Adam was formed of the dust of the earth isn’t even the most interesting question.  The bigger question is where did the particles of form first come from…what was it that made any form take shape, regardless of whether it was string, a singular mass of energy or the dust of the earth?  Is it possible to locate the original Source of all Being?

Looking at the tiniest units of energy, we discover light.  We are closer, at that point, to locating the Source, but we still have to determine what it was that gave us light.  In the Bible, it tells us it was “the word.”  It goes on to explain, “and the Word was God.”  But what exactly does that mean?  Is it possible that science and spiritual philosophy can merge to give us that all important answer?  I believe it is.

Today, we understand that all physical form first comes from thought.  Thoughts create things.  It follows then, that form began as a thought…or “the word.”  But who or what did the thinking?  Religious thinkers will call it God.  Scientists will say it is potentiality.  I say it is both, because they are the same thing merely described in different languaging. 

All this gets even more intriguing when we realize the physical forms we experience as solid, separate units really aren’t.  Objects we identify as humans, animals, trees, tables, chairs, etc. are nothing more than images of light the brain converts into the experience of form.  There is a tiny, peanut-sized group of cells in the left brain that causes us to see things as separate objects.  If those cells were removed, however, we would experience the world as a unified vibrational field of energy.  Which is reality?  It depends on who is looking and which side of the brain they are looking with.  But the brain, itself, doesn’t contain the Consciousness that is observing.  Lay a brain on a table and just see if it can think!  Matter isn’t self-existent nor is it the image and likeness of anything as grand as infinity and eternity.  We must wonder, then, who the Being behind all being is.

Who or what is doing this observing?  I’m not referring to the “voice in your head.”  We know the location of that mind.  It is found in the left brain.  Many call it ego.  But ego can be removed from our experience.  In the absence of that voice–when we come from awareness only, who or what is it that observes, without judgment?  Before “it” was, what was?  Scientific minds as well as spiritual believers would agree.  It is Principle.  Material form and Consciousness itself originate from Principle.

In absolute stillness, we exist as ideas.  Those ideas are born from the formless Principle that has always existed, and will always exist.  Just like the principle of mathematics that states 1 + 1 = 2 (base 10) existed before we were made aware of it, the Principle of creation was always in existence.  At some point, these principles were realized and took form, but just because we weren’t aware of them prior to that time didn’t mean they weren’t always there.  They were.  The Principle of creation existed before time and space.  Like an undiscovered star sitting in an unknown universe, it was always there.  We simply had not yet located it. 

The Source of all is the Principle of Being.  The application of Principle gave rise to potential.  Potential moved into infinite possibilities.  Infinite possibilities merged into singular thought.  Thought became waves of light.  Light took particle form.  Form evolved into all that is experienced.  In every case, all creation can be traced back to Principle…and that Principle needs no recognition to exist.  It simply “is.”  In awareness of it, we find the beginning of All That Is.

So which came first, the chicken or the egg?  Both.  They always existed in Principle.

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog

   After listening to Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor’s interviews on Oprah’s Soul Series, I came away with a new awareness of left and right brain functions.  I was elated to have a scientific understanding of what I had previously thought was merely a mystical experience.

In 2005, when I had what I have now started calling an ananda, I had no scientific language to describe what had happened.  All I knew was that the “voice in my head” stopped chattering, and I was in this experience of infinity and bliss like nothing else I’d ever known.  For the first time in my life, I was egoless and unified with everything that is.  It was an incredible experience, and is hard to describe to those who have not “been there.”

After listening to Dr. Taylor talk about how her left-brain went silent, as the result of a stroke, I now understand what I was experiencing was quite similar.  I somehow temporarily shut down the left-brain function (where ego and the voice in your head lives), and I was fully in right-brain consciousness.  In right-brain awareness, we experience this world as unified, blended, infinite, peaceful, outside of time and space.  It is an enormously magnificent viewpoint of All That Is, and it sees nothing outside of nirvana.

In combining this understanding with some of what I’ve come to learn from Dr. Bruce Lipton, I can clearly see how important it is for us to really start to pay attention to what we think, each day.  For centuries, we have allowed our minds to operate from this primitive subconscious mind…one that is reflexive and automated.  Dr. Lipton explains that our conscious mind is so minimal in comparison to the subconscious mind (subconscious controls 95-99% of brain function) because our physical evolution is slow and methodical.  But do we have the ability to speed things up?  Yes!  We can intentionally train our minds to operate more from a focused and deliberate state by practicing staying in the present moment.  If we perceive this life in new ways, we retrain the way the brain works.  In other words, we need to become more aware.  The longer we allow our minds to do nothing but regurgitate old information, the longer it will be before we can control our destiny. 

I still believe one of the best ways to moderate thoughts is to pay attention to the signals from the body.  As Dr. Taylor said, if we don’t act from anger, the physiological chemicals triggered will dissipate within 90 seconds.  However, if we allow the brain to replay old tapes, again and again, we will keep pouring stress chemicals into the body.  At any point, during the day, we can call up where the brain has been taking us by noticing what we are feeling in the body.  Negative thinking and emotions make us feel bad!  If we catch ourselves feeling tense, stressed, angry, sad, or resistant, we must pull away from that state through reprogramming methods.  For me, EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) is the best method, because it doesn’t just try to control the subconscious by thinking positive thoughts, it actually presses the “record” button and replaces old tapes with new ones.  (In my upcoming Borrowing Benefits classes, I’ll be demonstrating how this works).  Another great reprogramming device is using Holosync meditation.  Again…this is not just guided meditation or getting quiet, it is a process that stimulates particular areas of the brain which cause changes in how you think.

I love the idea of combining science and spirituality, because I believe both are pieces of a bigger puzzle.  Putting them together, we enjoy a greater benefit than if we accept one or the other.  Every time I find a scientific reasoning for a spiritual effect, I celebrate, because now there is a process that can take me to a higher place in an easier way.

Find the method that works best for you, but above all else, don’t neglect the part of your day that allows you to expand your awareness.  Regardless of what is happening in the outer world, the inner world is the one in control.  I know how tempting it is to get caught up in the appearance of negativity that is swirling around us, but it is nothing more than the projection of what your projector is playing. 

If we don’t like the movie that’s playing, we have the option of putting on a new “real.”

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog

   What is Consciousness and where is it found?  More, what is my relationship with it?

I listened to Deepak Chopra’s interview with Wendy Craig-Purcell last night on the Unity Online program, and I thoroughly enjoyed his answers to these questions.  His gentle words and compassionate respect for differing ideas is key to the mainstream population hearing his message about The Third Jesus.  I applaud his adept communication skills and his desire to illuminate new thoughts about old ideas.

With eloquence, he explained how this world we believe we live in is the projection of Consciousness.  In an experience of space-time, we see things as separate forms, apart from ourselves.  The seem to have limitations and boundaries.  They change and they die.  But is that all there is to this world we are living in?  No!

When broken down into quantum physics, we understand how the things we are experiencing as objects (chairs, trees, animals, humans, mountains, etc.) are much more than what our nervous system tells us.  Everything is comprised of tiny units of light, flashing in and out of “reality,” always moving in vibration.  The goings-on of what we experience as reality affect photons through the act of observation–moving waves of possibility into physical particles of form.  Our eyes, ears, skin, noses and tongues are the receptors of information from our environment.  This information is taken into the body, filtered by our perceptions, and then experienced in our biology as real.  Our perceptions are what limit our experiences.  Nothing else!  In order to be human, it is necessary to experience it that way, but we are on the brink of moving into a new dimension of reality, because we are beginning to understand if we change our perceptions, we can change our reality.  The time has come for us to move into a new way of seeing things…by viewing everything as connected, eternal and infinite.  All of “this” is coming from the same Source, and we are within that Source.  More…we are that Source.  How can it be any other way?

In this interview, Chopra defines Consciousness as the intelligence behind our thoughts.  If we think of our world as the projection, and our nervous system as the projector, then Consciousness is the operator.  Forward thinkers are willing to embrace the idea that we are not merely creations of Consciousness, we are Consciousness.  It feels like we are humans, being, because our human brain is still largely functioning from a primitive mindset.  We are viewing this experience from a primal brain rather than one of conscious perception.  Those who have been lucky enough to have had that experience of seeing through the eyes of God Consciousness, however, are jumping up and down with the good news that yes, indeed, this is true–we are Consciousness.  Knowing this, all barriers and limitations fall away.  We are free to participate fully in the expression of unlimited potential.  Why the world is not popping champagne and toasting this news is shocking to me, because this knowledge is powerful!  I think it is not yet understood by the masses, but once more people start to understand, it is going to rock this world!

I recently heard of a doctor named Jill Bolte Taylor (I ordered her book called A Stroke of Insight) who was “blessed” enough to have a stroke that changed her entire world experience.  After suffering a stroke, the part of the brain that controls a lot of her physical functioning was damaged.  It put her in a place of euphoria and intuition…coming from the perception part of the mind.  What she experienced is beautiful and life-changing.  From her insight we can see a different perspective on the interrelatedness of this human condition.  I don’t want to spoil the story for those who want to read it, but just know that reading her words or listening to her interviews (they can be heard on Oprah’s Soul Series site) will leave you reeling in awe.

We are powerful beyond measure.  No one has to just take my word for it.  Millions are coming to that same realization.  More and more people are starting to understand who and what we are.  In a very short time, this information will become so public, it will shift the entire dimension of reality.  Are you ready?  Yea…me, too!

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog

   Have you ever found yourself in a place of being falsely blamed for something, but not being able to defend yourself?  It’s such a powerful learning experience because it immediately pits the ego against your higher self. 

Recently, I had to endure just such an experience.  It was one of the most difficult times of my life.  I was being accused of doing something, but the best way to respond was to do and say nothing.  If I spoke up in defense, I was going to have to explain how the situation evolved, and the finger would point in places I didn’t want it to go.  I would also have to say things that would hurt those I loved most.  Instead, I decided I would absorb the negativity and know it’s the right thing to do.  But I’m not going to lie to you…my ego fought me all the way!

If I provided unknown details, I could justify my actions.  In fact, I could be the hero…the savior of the day.  But at what cost?  Releasing the truth meant that others would suffer…people that meant a great deal to me.  Caught in a delicate quandary, I had to make a quick decision.  “Let it be,” I thought to myself.  “It isn’t worth the pain it will inflict on others.”  Just in the midst of opening my mouth to project the blame onto someone else, I fell back into my chair.  Silent.  “Let it be,” I said to myself.

Those who understood my position sympathized; and yet, it was agreed the only other option was not even thinkable.  I had done the right thing, but would pay an undeserved and unwelcome price.  For days thereafter, I longed to pick up the phone to explain.  I scolded my ego and reminded myself everything would be okay.  What was this need to demonstrate the other person’s injustice towards me?  I wanted to explain my position…to have her understand my motives had only come from love.  I wanted her to recognize how I had done the right thing and how painful all of it was to me, also.  I knew if she were in my place she would have acted exactly as I had.  I felt the urge to let her know how many hours I had cried and how torn I was in making my choice.  I wanted her to know the truth.  No.  Let it be. 

And then came the next realization.  The idea that I knew I was right but was protecting others with silence was also an act of ego.  In my own withholding of the truth, I was feeding my ego.  “See how wonderful you are in your generous sacrifice?”  my ego praised.  I gasped at how ego had found a back door into my mind.  It was not going down so easily.

Isn’t it interesting to watch how the ego insists on its “rightness?”  I suppose its very survival depends on rising above others.  The powerful urge to correct others and defend oneself comes from an ego whose very life is feeling threatened. 

Eckhart Tolle, in his book, A New Earth, says:

     Ego takes everything personally.  Emotion arises, defensiveness, perhaps even aggression.  Are you defending the truth?  No, the truth, in any case, needs no defense.  The light or sound does not care about what you or anybody else thinks.  You are defending yourself, or rather the illusion of yourself, the mind-made substitute.  It would be even more accurate to say the the illusion is defending itself.  If even the simple and straightforward realm of facts can lend itself to egoic distortion and illusion, how much more so the less tangible realm of opinions, viewpoints, and judgments, all of them thought forms that can easily become infused with a sense of “I.”

This all reminded me of a movie I watched a couple of weeks ago.  It was called “The Hurricane.”  The movie was about an upcoming African-American boxer victimized by racial politics which landed him in prison for over 20 years for a crime he did not commit.  Twenty years!  That’s hard to imagine. I’ll bet his ego was furious with all that injustice. 

Rare are those moments when we do what is best rather than what is right.  The ego panics at the idea of being submerged for the sake of someone else.  It calls for us to be self-centered, regardless of the consequences.  But there will be moments in our lives when we stand down for our loved ones.  We sometimes choose to give up the spotlight for no other reason except it seems like the best thing to do for someone else.  Doing so, we must then guard against pride–just another form of unconsciousness.  We need no special recognition or honors for acting in the best interest of others.  That is the kind of behavior expected of Divine reflection.  In the end, ego will dissolve not by heroic acts of mankind, but by simple recognition of reality as Consciousness.

Tolle writes:

     When you recognize the unconsciousness in you, that which makes the recognition possible is the arising consciousness, is awakening.  You cannot fight against the ego and win, just as you cannot fight against darkness.  The light of consciousness is all that is necessary.  You are that light.

For all the good you do today, know this:  That is how it should be.  Expect no words of praise, no raise in your salary, no plaques of recognition nor monuments to testify to your rightness.  No public approval is needed.  Being God-like, after all, is your natural state of Being.

As for the ones who don’t know the truth…that’s just an illusion.  Divine Mind knows all.  Shine on!

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog 

   For most of my life, I believed man is either material or spiritual.  It all fit neatly into my idea of Heaven and Earth.  I had always thought of myself as a being who journeyed between the two worlds, and I loved reading books that described The Other Side as a place of learning and helping.  It made such perfect sense to think of myself, my family, my friends and even my so-called enemies all reuniting in a wonderful place of spirit after leaving this lifetime.  I would imagine we greeted one another with open arms, excitedly sharing all the lessons we had learned.  Just as quickly, however, we would scurry away to our groups to delve into the life review.  Shortly afterward, we would begin devising plans for a return trip…or maybe we would just decide to stay in that space for a while, helping others as they, too, graduated from the school of physical existence.  Ah…it was so cleverly designed in my mind, allowing me to face death not as a final bow, but as the opening of Act 2.  And then, one day, that idea stopped working for me.  In a moment of realization, I understood…there is more!

In every description I read about those who journeyed to The Other Side, but then returned, I noticed the same thing.  The people who advanced to Heaven were still themselves.  Wait a minute!  That can’t be right.  If Heaven is the place where we shed our physical bodies, why do we still have spiritual ones?  Heaven cannot be the highest Consciousness, because to become One with God, we have to sacrifice being separate.  In God Consciousness, there are not many forms…it is One in the same…and it is formless.

These days, I imagine 3 layers in the experience of Being.  On Earth, we reside in the physical as humans, Being.  In Heaven, we move into spiritual form, as Spirits, Being.  At the level of Soul, we are one with the formless Consciousness of Being.

In my book, God IS I AM, I ask people to consider whether or not they would be willing to give up being themselves in order to experience at-one-ment.  Most stutter and stumble.  It’s not that easy, is it?  We like being individual expressions and we cannot imagine that it could get any better than Heaven.  But it does.

I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to move into Consciousness for a short period of time.  It was indescribably delicious.  Just as it is impossible to describe the succulent taste of a ripe red strawberry to someone who has never seen one…it is even more absurd to attempt to describe the experience of Consciousness.  It’s one of those “you had to be there” moments of my life.  Know this.  It will take your breath away and leave you hungering for more.

In the form of energy, whatever or wherever that is, we are a three-fold being–body, mind, and spirit.  But just as surely as you are reading these words, I promise the day will come when you will decide to shed the trinity and awaken into unity as the All-in-All.  Only then will you know the magnificence of infinite Being.  But the Creator seeks expression, so once again, when you will feel the restless desire to experience the form of being.  From out of the darkness will come the light.  You emerge into the ocean of possibility.

There was a moment when All of This came into Being.  As life evolved into the world you see before you now, it held the seed of who you are today.  Imagine that!   You’ve always been here, albeit in a different form.  When the dinosaurs shook the ground, you were here.  When early man discovered fire, you were here.  When Christ Jesus healed the sick, you were here.  When our Native American brothers and sisters honored the four corners, you were here. 

Before Abraham was, I AM.

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog

   I had an interesting discussion with a lovely lady a few days ago about the nature of God.  As we worked on an issue of uncertainty, I spoke in terms of God offering love and goodness.  She winced.  I asked what her discomfort was about, and she told me she believes God doesn’t always offer only good things.  Her understanding is that sometimes bad things happen to us because God is simply trying to teach us lessons.  I acknowledged her beliefs, and shared that I understood, because many people have said this same thing to me many times.  I, too, was once a believer in the idea of learning lessons in life through our trials and errors.  However, I asked, I wondered if she could be open to another concept where God is nothing but Love.  She agreed to listen, although we accepted her beliefs and mine were both valid for ourselves.

Unanswered prayers or prayers that result in a less-than-desirable outcome are two of the most common reasons people see God as a Being that sometimes denies love.  Add to that, Biblical interpretations of Old Testament stories, and it is easy to understand why some people think God often punishes or withholds good to either the undeserving or the naive.  However, if you are a believer in Christ Jesus, you have some contradictory evidence that suggests the Creator comes only from a place of goodness.  In the New Testament, Christ offers a new idea of who/what our Source is.  He states, “God is Love.”  (1 John 4:8).  A loving Father/Mother would never want us to suffer in any way.  And yet, we do.  Either God is turning a blind eye to allow us to suffer consequences which are often very painful or God is offering us only good things and something else is causing us to fall.  So which one is it?

First of all, let us define what love and fear are.  To me, all the qualities that feel good (vibrate in resonance with our inner self) are qualities of Love.  Joy, abundance, appreciation, openness, growth, confidence, acceptance, peace, fulfillment, health, excitement and compassion are all words I associate with someone who is acting out of love.  In other words, when I am in the energy of Love, I act lovingly and I feel loved.  It is unencumbered and free-flowing.  Basically, it feels effortless and good.  On the other hand, if I am in the energy of resistance/fear (refusing or pushing away things that make me feel loved), I experience things like anger, sorrow, frustration, limitation, defeat, lack, closed-mindedness, disease, uncertainty and struggle.  Coming from a place of fear, it feels like there is an inner pushing and pulling or sometimes it feels like I am running into a wall…stuck.  It is exhausting and it feels bad.  Which of these qualities best describes the God you’ve been told is real?

Many people don’t know this, but your physical body also distinguishes between love and fear, and because it does, that is why you not only know, intellectually, whether something feels good or bad, but you also know it physiologically.  When the body is offered things that foster growth, the cells rush to drink it in.  When toxins are introduced, the cells retreat.  And how do our cells know which is which?  Our perceptions!  In every level of our environment, we see this same response.  Thus, that is why I point out that we are always either in the energy of acceptance or in the energy of resistance.

At this point, and without too much discussion on the validity of the argument, let’s assume most of us agree that the Source or God we understand as the Creator of All That Is is eternal and infinite.  If so, God is everywhere, always.  That being true, it means there is nothing outside of God.  If God is good (as we are told in the Bible) and if God is love (as we are told in the Bible), and if God is infinite and eternal (as we are told in the Bible), then where do “bad” things come from?  Resistance!  There really is not an energy of “bad.”  What you feel is the resistance of Love.

The second part of the question is where does it come from.  Who is it that is causing suffering?  Does God bring us suffering to punish or teach us?  I would argue that God only offers us Love.  If we resist it, that is the Self choosing to experience something less than good.  In other words, God offers us happiness.  However, some days we refuse to accept it.  We step away and say, “No thank you.  I don’t want happiness today.  I prefer to be sad.”  You see, it is we who choose to resist the good.  That is never what a loving Creator would choose for us.  If we are learning lessons through hardships, it is because we chose to learn in that manner.  Easier ways to learn lessons are available, but we have to accept responsibility for our beliefs and change the ones that do not serve us well.

I’ve always known God to be only good…only Love.  I’ve always accepted my role in the participation of being human…never believing God to be outside of all.  Because God is, I am, and because I am, God is.  God is not infinite, except in the space where I am.  God is not eternal, except in various moments of my lifetime on Earth.  Using terms like eternal and infinite leave room only for all or nothing–not all and nothing.  I believe Divinity resides in the recognition of the All-in-All.  We’ve already been given everything…there is nothing to ask for.  Because all good is eternally being offered, if we are not receiving, it is because we are asking amiss.  The truth is…we always receive what we ask for.  It can be no other way.  What are we asking for?

As Bob Doyle, from Wealth Beyond Reason so eloquently writes:

     The fact is, it’s not God who says “No”. In fact, God – the infinite source of “All that Is”, ONLY says “Yes”! God is the ultimate “creation” mechanism. God responds PRECISELY to YOUR creative catalyst.    

     So you say, “Well, I’ve been asking God for money, but he hasn’t given it to me.”. The answer lies in HOW you are asking! Remember that God – the Universe – responds in a very precise way! It’s a matter of Quantum Physics! If your prayer goes something like, “Dear God. I’m in trouble. I have no money. I can’t pay any of the bills. I need money!”, then THAT is what will be real for you. You WILL be in trouble. You WILL have no money! You WON’T be able to pay the bills, and you WILL NEED MONEY.    

     The Universe feeds back to you what you give it – and in fact, amplifies it!     

     If who you are “being” is a person with what we’ll call “lack consciousness”, then LACK will be your reality! Every thought you have about “not having” will be mirrored in your experience of reality.     

     Do you desire wealth? Then BE wealthy first, and the Universe will respond.

We are the ones manifesting our experience of life.  Sometimes we choose to dine at the buffet of Love.  Sometimes we push away from the table and refuse to partake.  Either way, it is us doing the choosing.  We can only be fed what we accept.  God is not a part-time presence.  God cannot be removed from All That Is–not for a few moments, and not in any space.

Doyle goes on to say:     

     Your current experience is the PERFECT manifestation of your current belief system. It is the EFFECT, not the cause. YOU are the cause your experience. When you can integrate that, you can begin to create consciously from the inside out (which is the only way you CAN create). You can break out of the “loop” which has you believing that your external circumstances are causing your experience.    

     You must understand that whatever your experience is right now, it is God (the Universe, All that Is) saying “YES” to whoever it is you are being, thinking, speaking, and acting.

I have replaced my former way of thinking about “lessons we learn.”  I can no longer reconcile that idea with the God of Love.  The outer world experience (without) comes from the inner essence of who I am being (within).  Everything that appears outside me is a reflection of my inner beliefs.  To me, the undesirable experiences of my life can only be attributed to times when I chose to resist the God (good) within me.  I was the one who said NO!  Doing so, I placed myself in a state of resistance and I suffered through my own consequences.  I am responsible for those experiences, not some distant God outside myself.  When I remembered who I am and placed my experience back in the flow of Love, my experience changed and only good could be expressed in my outer world.  In the end, I could no longer hold a vision of God as “a being.”  In that moment, I clearly understood, God “is being.”  When I show up in resonance with Love, God is being Jodi and Jodi is being God.  When I experience anything other than Being God, I am experiencing the effects of resistance.

Perhaps one of the greatest lessons I’ve taught myself is “as within, so without.”  How is God showing up in your life?

I AM…Jodi
www.godisaverb.com/blog