As a species, we become addicted to our victimhood and become frightened of what freedom might offer us. “What if when I release all the pain of my traumas, I find myself to be defective?” – this is the resistance to healing that follows us. The answer, should you risk moving beyond the familiar pain of your traumas, will pleasantly surprise you.   

Where is the beauty and innocence that is inherent to your “design”? Has anything or anyone repressed it?  

One of the greatest obstacles to healing is the assumption that “free will” is at the heart of most dysfunction. The actual source is non-moral:  it is the subconscious and automatic encoding of a trauma moment.  

Ancient man through his mythology tried to explain the trauma-driven behaviors of humankind. They, like the innocent, self-referencing child, assumed the source of the discord to be themselves. 

Forgiveness and healing are most readily achieved by the unloading of the subconscious mind. It is hard to truly forgive when the perpetration is continuous replayed within the subconscious mind. 

The desire to forgive another predisposes healing, but an act of the “rational mind” does not necessarily release an encoded trauma scene.   In such cases we may have done our best to forgive, but find ourselves unable to “forget.”

The goal of trauma resolution is not to “forget” our pain or repress it beyond our awareness, but to integrate its lesson into our journey. Such integration assists our primary goal of spiritual enlightenment.

We must attend more carefully to our self-talk. More often than not, a significant percentage of our self-talk is simply a mirroring of our earliest messages as children. Check to see if the voices within your self-talk are your own. 

Most of the pains in our bodies are the triggered memories of our past surfacing for healing and resolution. When discomfort arises do not assume dysfunction on the part of body, but, rather, assume the presence of a significant statement or declaration by the bodymind. 

The overstimulation of our senses so common to this day and time has resulted in many distractions. Let us learn again to attend to ourselves and our needs. 

Many of us have become so preoccupied with survival that we have forgotten that “play” and relaxation are important needs. When was the last time you stopped to play? 

When did your childhood end? Did it end prematurely? Do you remember having one?  As ACOA reminds us, “It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.”   Mitsubishi also borrowed the concept in their commercial. 

It would appear that the goal of trauma resolution is to lead us beyond the constraints of space and time. By healing our traumas, we are free to attend to the eternal present: being fully present to ourselves, and, consequently, to others as well.

Identify one way in which you can be more present to yourself and practice this today.

We do not realize the power we hold within ourselves. It is readily seen in the speed with which we are capable of both storing consciousness and releasing it, as in cases of trauma.

We do not yet know how to define “consciousness,” but we understand the issue of our “states of consciousness” to be the source of  our harmony or discontent.  

A trauma is an altered state of consciousness: altered by necessity due to the overwhelming nature of an emotional or physical experience. Even physical injuries are encoded as emotional trauma once they reach a certain pain level.   The physical body can mandate the attentions of the emotional body.   Ever see the pain of child go from physical to emotional after a fall? The pain becomes readily overwhelming to one with tender boundaries.

Trauma is also relative to “your” perceptions.   This is why those within our own families sometimes see the same event quite differently from how we perceived it. 

We are discovering that most diseases are the product of encoded trance states. Perhaps it is best if we check for memory first and biochemical problems second. 

Trauma causes a dense heavy energy to become encoded in the memory-related nerve centers of the body. Once we acquire enough of this overwhelming, dense energy, the depressed feeling moves into a trance state of its own, encoding the depressed condition as a trauma.   The “trance” containing the depressed feelings must also be addressed. 

The common source underlying most diseases is memory.   We are learning just how true this is. 

What is the potential of the human person?   Freed of the constraints of the past, of  the restrictions of space and time, our spirits will find unhindered creative expression.

Genius is our nature.  Learning is impaired through trauma.  Our parents were our first teachers, but most of their message wasn't even "theirs."

Prime Creator, Intelligent Infinity, the One Source of All ... which dwells in Perfect Balance ... contemplate.

Must we always seek the divine by first eliminating what it isn't

We are a civilized as the manner in which we treat the most lowly.

We are sleeping a creator awakening to our power.

There is not "boundary," no separation:  there is only the One light.  Contemplate.

How close are you to recognizing the "divine" in every face you encounter?  Our estrangement reveals our unfinished business.

Find the face of infinite beauty before you.  It is ever nearer than you think.

It is so easy to become lost in the creation of our minds.  Learn to pause and step back to see the impact of your creativity on yourself and those around your.  Meditate.

We are creators.  The difficulty is that we create both consciously and subconsciously.  We can observe our subconscious creativity in the daily patterns of our lives.  Once awakened to the presence of these hidden influences, the imprints of our traumas, we can begin to change our reality.  Awareness is the staring point.  Today, I will be more aware.

At moments of trauma, our breathing freezes.  Attend to your breathing.  For a few moments, center your attention on your breath alone.  Allow all thoughts to pass you by.  Clear your mind.  Expand your breath - expand your existence.  Begin to move beyond the obstacles that keep you from fully inhaling life.

More and more as I see the effects of trauma and the remarkable empowerment that comes from its resolution, I think that we have been gravely misled into believing that we are intended for less than joy in life.

The innocence of the soul cannot be lost.  But it can be masked by the realities of others which imprint so profoundly in our consciousness at moments of trauma.  We internalize their realities at moments of overwhelm and, later, come to identify with the feelings of deficiency.  Return to the essential you.

Each day is a mirror, offering us reflections of our own internal realities. You create far more than your realize.  Where do you derive your creative guidance if not from the images you hold within?

Look into the face of those you encounter this day.  There are lessons in every relationship.  Find the message of each meeting.  It is the nature of our sojourn?  We are here to grow and expand.  We do not grow well in a vacuum.

We are light; all is light.  All is One.  Anything that suggests other is an "illusion of separation."

Most dis-ease in our life is simply the manifestation of our memories surfacing for healing.  We have grown accustomed to assessing pain materially rather than psycho-spiritually and have failed to recognize the creative power of mind.  We medicate and prolong the pain of our traumas rather than recognize the suffering voice of our "healer within"  asking our assistance.

All spiritual encounter occurs within my consciousness.  If there is love, I know it from within this realm.  Others, God, etc. all are perceived and known from one locus alone.  I am that place; it all begins, resonates and ends here.

There is only the eternal present.  Time and space are illusions of our minds - minds at play in a universe designed for exploration, empowerment, and joy.  Have we, perhaps, become lost in our own illusions?

If the holographic principle is correct, as the physicists are finding, then every fragment of the universe contains a picture of the whole.  The universe itself becomes a fragment of a much greater reality.  We become fragments of a "higher mind."  And contained in the smallest fragment is the picture of the whole.  In my theological training, they called it the "iconic character of creation."  The smallest aspect of your being holds the fullness of Divinity.  Look within.

Emotions are bridges which transcend space and time.  You need only recall the emotion of an unresolved experience to be drawn back into it within seconds.  How many relationships do we simultaneously sustain through the unresolved emotions we store in our subconscious?  Consequently, the resolution of these emotions frees us to commit our energies to living fully in the present.

Researchers tell us that the conscious mind is seven percent, while our subconscious mind constitutes ninety-three percent.  All that we have ever experienced is contained somewhere within.  We do possess an expert healer within.  We converge with the "God" who possesses one hundred percent around us; in this matter, there are few degrees of separation.

Most of us spend a great deal of time eliminating what "God" isn't before we discover what God is.  It's OK.  We often appreciate Truth more when we have worked hard and personally invested ourselves to arrive there.

There is an inherent system of checks and balances that continuously directs us toward our spiritual path and purpose.  Our pain can serve as a guidepost to hasten our journey toward higher awareness.

To love oneself is the foundation for spirituality, relationality, and intimacy.  Neglect yourself and observe the impact on your relationship to others, yourself, and "Higher Power."  Are you taking adequate care of yourself?  Speak to yourself in words and tones of love.  Try it aloud.

Most people will define their most "spiritual" experience as a profoundly emotional moment; the birth of a child, a death, nature, love another ... our emotional health, therefore, profoundly influences our sense of spiritual connectedness.  Anything impacting us emotionally leaves spiritual resonance as well.

We all have need of the divine presence: through meditation, to spend some moments each day in perfect balance.

The goal is not merely to live pain-free, but to become spiritually enlightened.

There is only one "locus," place where love is found, net, known; it is the self.  All obstacles to knowing such love may, therefore, be resolved within the self.

The resolution of trauma leads to the liberation from all the "attachments" which bound us to the realities of others.  Traumas are moments when we internalized the consciousness of another.  As we hold such traumas, we remain in relationship to those individuals.  Even anger connects us to the psyche of another.  How might we better spend our energies?

Beneath the face of all trauma and pain is the radiant countenance of the Divine.  The "via negativa" has, from ancient times, been recognized as a valid path to enlightenment.

The judgments we hold are usually the product of our own pain - our own painfully encoded traumas.  As we make peace with ourselves, we relinquish our judgments of others.

The fact remains that each and every individual is an expression of the divine light.  Though often cloaked in darkness as a result of trauma, the soul, nevertheless, comes to know itself more fully as a result of its immersion in the obscurity and density of trauma.

Finding security in life is, ultimately, a matter of recognizing oneself as the perfect resting place of spirit.  Knowing that we can heal and transform our internalized negativity brings hope of finding serenity within, regardless of external circumstances.

The darkest of our experiences serves as Teacher, forcing us to learn to utilize our ability to alter, shape our consciousness itself - to mold the light we hold within.

Our capacity to find happiness is directly related to our openness to our emotions.  We cannot restrict our emotional channels and expect to reach a sense of wholeness.

Compassion is the ability to recognize the other as a mirror of the journeying divinity that you yourself equally share within.

There is a pure and radiant child within every individual, regardless of the degree of trauma that has obscured this vision.  Faith in the Divine most especially demands this ability to pierce the veil.

"Advent" means "coming" and, indeed, coming we are … into our power as the creators of our universe. Enough subconscious trauma-based creativity! We awaken to the voice of the creator within, urgently seeking our cooperation with ourselves and others.

Let us not go around barking at others about their power to create and manifest beauty when we see them mired in their trauma histories and do not offer them the tools of liberation.

You are only and wholly light! Notice the "lights" around you trying simply to remind you of this all-encompassing truth.

Now attend to colors. The colors we wear even reflect our subconscious states of mind. Study your colors: those with which you clothe yourself, those you project in you voice, the color of the thoughts you send others … I assure you, they’re real, they’re just not always so prominent to our "sight."

Let us celebrate the consciousness that we have agreed to reintegrate, for beyond the illusions, there is no "you" or "I", but only the One Consciousness experiencing itself in varied and countless expressions. That is community.

So, if you are, indeed, an incarnation of the Divine, how well have you succeeded in being the love you are this day?

There is only one gift: presence. But how "present" are we to our (true) selves, and, likewise, to others around us?

The notion of "Christmas" (Candle-mas) and "Hanukkah" both relate to the birth/rededication of the temple within us. It is the re-membering of the luminosity that has been dimmed by our struggles with the "shadow" aspects of ourselves. Allow this time to rekindle the light you are.

How rapidly events transpire: time itself seeming to accelerate as our histories "grow," but, in reality, time appears faster when we are actually slowing down to watch (and enjoy) it’s passing. We become lost in the countless visions and awaken from our trance to find ourselves on the verge of a new horizon.

 The gift of the Divine light to the tiny soul that dwelt amidst all the other bright lights of the heavens was the privilege to descend into the abject darkness of the universe of free will. There this little soul could experience it’s radiance in all its fullness as it had requested: "I desire only to know love more fully." Be careful what you ask for. Sometimes we forget the blissful state from which we first made the request of our divinity.

 "I am the light. The light is within me. The light moves throughout me. The light surrounds me. The light protects me. I am the light." (unknown source)

Remember the Invocation: (picturing a spiral of light descending) "The atmosphere around me is being purified by the Divine presence. The atmosphere around me is purified by the Divine. The Divine energy descends upon me and enters my body and soul. I am purified, blessed and healed. I am protected by this force and from (through) the source in my activities, day and night, in all places. I am one with all that is. I am one with the Divine mind." (Yogiraj Vethathiri Maharishi/Tony Farano)

Do we not see glimpses of eternity surrounding us … from the magnificent reliability of the tiniest atom to the continuous reminders in the finitude of material nature, affirming for us that there are only cycles, conversions … no real death!

Note the beauty to be found in the touch of a hand this day. Reach out and share the beauty with another today.

The fabric of our daily lives abounds with opportunities to access our unresolved past and heal the imprints from those experiences that overwhelmed us.  This path leads to empowerment and is the key to spiritual clarity and wholeness. 

 We wander through many “trances” in a given day – largely the product of our past experiences. To learn the mastery and focus of our altered states of consciousness is the challenge we face.

Practice exercises that focus your attention and allow you to grasp the underlying interconnectedness of all things.

Given the interconnectedness of all things, to harm another is to harm ourselves.  To be dishonest with another is to be dishonest with ourselves. To neglect another is to neglect ourselves.

There are many who live within the illusions of separation: seeing themselves as isolated towers within a threatening and violent world. But the reality remains that true security is found within the self and not as an “outside” accomplishment.  To make oneself “safe” within means that we are safe on the “outside” as well, for it is absolutely true that we can only attract those patterns we carry within.

Holiday seasons are prime opportunities to access our unresolved states of consciousness. We simply get near “family” and can regress to younger stages of development – finding ourselves stuck in old patterns. Prepare yourself to recognize these states as they arise in yourself and your family members. To see and observe them will allow you to act and make decisions from a different place. 

We cannot change or realistically expect others to change. But we can heal our own wounds and patterns, creating the invitation for them to do likewise. The radiance of your own healing process will beckon their interest. 

There is a perfection to our design. We are capable of storing pain indefinitely until we are strong enough to release or heal it. Unfortunately, we have done so many times that we have forgotten to return to complete the original sequence.  Take time to heal yourself.  All else that you seek will follow. 

Finding security in life is, ultimately, a matter of recognizing oneself as the perfect resting place of spirit. Knowing that we can heal and transform our internalized negativity brings hope of finding serenity within, regardless of external circumstances.

There is a Higher Plan which is manifesting itself  through our evolution. It is the advent of a Divine Light that promises healing and transformation beyond what our minds can currently grasp. We do not even know the potential of our natures, born into the millennia-old patterns of our forebears. Comfort ye.

Unto you is born this day, within your own nature, the promise of the Divine Mind: that you will know yourself as creator, healer, shaman, intuitive,  and mystic.  Return to the vision of the pure, unblemished child. You will know your ability to dispel the darkness of the world by first knowing the light borne within you.  There is no Christmas, Hanukah or Rebirth but through the lens of your own soul. Be blessed in the radiance you bear.

We are embarking upon a great transformation of consciousness. Practice seeing the mystical connnectedness of all things. Honor the synchronicity you manifest. Learn to manifest consciously. 

There is a pure and radiant child within every individual, regardless of the degree of trauma that has obscured this vision.   Faith in the Divine most especially demands this ability to pierce the veil. 

Our parents were the perfect vehicles chosen for their capacity to foster our spiritual evolution and enlightenment.  Our resistance to this notion reveals to us the degree of unresolved memory regarding their service to us.

We are embarking on the opening of consciousness – for the first time in human history.  Primitive man was quickly traumatized due to his/her limited skills and abilities. The ongoing traumatization led to the split between the conscious and subconscious minds. We are now healing the split within ourselves.

Every overwhelming experience we have had resulted in a mini-split within our psyche. This is necessarily true due to the fact that we were not yet ready to master our ability to alter our states of consciousness. We are now approaching the time when we can demonstrate such mastery. The resulting integration of the conscious and subconscious minds will change reality as we know it. For we have been limited in our perception of Truth by our own fragmentation and internal division. Just as we were alienated from our internal truth, we have been unable to grasp certain higher realities which can only be perceived from an “integrated consciousness.” We take the approach of the new millennium to herald this next step.