A Heart at Peace in Minnesota

Despite trying hard to blame the victim, the government has backed down a little and began shifting the energy of its immigration work in Minneapolis over the last week.

Here’s why:

The latest murder victim at the hands of the government was so obviously acting from a Heart at Peace.

Whether towards others, towards ourselves, or towards the world, we always have a choice: 

Come from a Heart at Peace or come from a Heart at War.

Especially in emotional situations, over 90% of what we communicate is non-verbal. People hear our being louder than they can hear our words.

When we come from a Heart at Peace, patience, kindness, and love are present. Understanding is present. Generosity is present. Intentionality is present.

Here's a crazy thing about the Heart at Peace vs. Heart at War distinction: we can even engage in war from a Heart at Peace.

That's what Gandhi did. That's what Nelson Mandela did.

More people than ever are aware of social and environmental injustice and exploitation than ever before. We can resolve these crises much more effectively and completely from a Heart at Peace rather than a Heart at War.

Sometimes we may choose to fight, but even fighting from a Heart at Peace is a much more grounded and intentional place to engage from than fighting from a Heart at War.

Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal agents last week in Minnesota, gave his life fighting for the humane treatment of people. He did it from a Heart at Peace, and it's made a much greater impact than if he had been coming from a Heart at War.

In your relationships with your government, neighbors, kids, colleagues, spouse, and even with yourself...

Choose: Heart at War or Heart at Peace.

If you don't make this a conscious choice right now, then someone or something else in your past will be making it for you.

Much Love. ❤️

Simple, Not Easy: How to Live the Truth

Truth is easy to know. 

It’s easy to repeat to somebody else.

It’s easy to put into a social media post. 

But it can be challenging to live.

Why is it tough to live the truths we “know”? Because we mostly just know it in the conscious mind, but truth doesn’t make a difference until we embed it in the subconscious.

Here’s an example of a simple-but-hard truth that is a literal life-changer to most people I’ve worked with:

Be kind to yourself.

So easy to say. So obvious to recognize. But doing it? That’s much tougher. 

There are threads within us of self-judgment - they're woven through our unconscious/subconscious mind and heart. 

Judgment, attack, condemnation.

"What you cannot accept, you will judge. And every judgment is an attempt to murder what you have decided has no right to be."

- The Way of Mastery

So how can we take an obvious, powerful, and profound truth that’s easy to know intellectually, and embed it into our unconscious?

Practice. Intentionality. Investing time, thought, and care. And sometimes investing money.

Be kind to yourself - here are some simple ways to practice it - simple to say, but challenging to master:

Compassionate self-forgiveness. 

• I forgive myself for saying that.

• I forgive myself for doing that.

• I forgive myself for being that way.

• I forgive myself for thinking that.

• I forgive myself for judging myself for…

Blessing.

• I bless myself.

• I wish for myself clarity, peace, and intentionality.

• I wish for myself integrity, consistency, and growth.

Gratitude.

• Thank you for the gift of this experience. I may not see it yet, and I’m grateful.

• Thank you for the wisdom to see this.

• Thank you for showing me how I truly wish to be.

Lovingkindness.

• To the parts of myself asking for attention and healing, I love you.

• To the people I’ve hurt, including myself, I love you.

• To the people and experiences in my past that hurt me, I forgive you and I love you.

On my rough days, I forgive myself well over a hundred times, no exaggeration. On my clear days, I still forgive myself a dozen or so times.

Forgiveness and gratitude are two of the most direct pathways to love - towards the self and towards others. 

"Judgment lives on the side of the fence with fear. Forgiveness lives on the side of the fence with Love, and only Love can heal this world."

- The Way of Mastery

Blessing you and me on our path to living the Truth, as simple as it sounds and as tough as it can be sometimes. 

Much Love. ❤️

Human Beings, Not Human Feelings

We’re human beings, not human feelings. 

This means we can be loving without feeling love. We can be grateful without feeling gratitude. We can be brave while feeling afraid.

Our being is omni-directional. If I’m being hateful in one direction (toward one person, one idea, one political party, etc.), I’m simply being hateful. If I’m being loving in any one direction, well, then I’m being loving. 

I find beauty and power in this idea. I’m committed to being unconditionally in love with being alive. This means, to me, unconditionally loving myself, loving everyone else, loving my life, loving the universe.

Simply turning with love in any direction cultivates love in my being.

You don't get apples by planting plum seeds, and you don't get love by planting judgment. I like to call this intentionally planting seeds in the garden of the soul.

This is agency.

Deep down, beneath the judgments about yourself, others, and life, and beneath the feeling you have about yourself, others, and life, are you…

Kind? Practice being kind toward ALL life.

Loving? Practice being loving toward ALL of it - not just the feelings, people, and circumstances you prefer.

Honest? Practice being truthful to yourself and others. Not selectively truthful.

Committed to excellence? Practice bringing excellence to everything you do.

So how do we do this? Well, here's a relevant quote from a simple, beautiful, and highly practical spiritual text, The Gentle Art of Blessing:

“There are no neutral thoughts. Every single thought is charged with a certain quality of energy. And when charged with Love, every thought can contribute to the healing of the planet and the transformation of the world.”

But the path to consciously creating being is a tough one to navigate on our own. If you'd like help from someone on the path to mastering it, reach out and let's talk.

Much Love. ❤️