Within This World

Within this world are all things wonderful and blissful, yet at the same time, there is horrendous evil and suffering. There are people on our planet who you would consider angels doing miraculous things. And, to the other extreme, we have humans who commit atrocities we don’t want to describe.

This is life on this planet. This is our dimension, our existence. Our perception is key: our personal realities and the world around us.

We all think differently and have our individual beliefs, yet we seem to want everyone to think like we do. The diversity in this world is meant to be enjoyed and appreciated. Don’t expect your brother-in-law or cousin to think like you do. They see (their) reality with different eyes; we can respect that.

If we took all the people railing against a position, a corporation, a government, or a political party and turned their angry energy into peace, the opposition would be nullified. The lack of peace within causes trouble without. It is the anger and hatred that keep the negative cycle alive.

Sometimes, the people who seem not to be suffering are the ones who are numb. Sometimes, the ones who feel deeply all the pain of humanity also realize with exaltation the profound, exquisite beauty life serves us on this planet. They are the poets, the creatives, those who can express the divine to us. They are courageous and open-hearted, choosing to see the beauty and describe it to us. I think this is a decision we need to focus on to heal our individual worlds so that they spread to others’ worlds and others’ experiences.

Statue of Gandhi in London

 

Once Again

Once again, a horrific school shooting and everyone in the media is clambering to blame ‘the others’, lamenting along with their positions, angering one side or the other. We, ultimately, are all at fault.

Our culture has a sickness to put it simply. It out-pictures in the vulnerable among us. Those lost souls with so much lack of meaning in their lives, that they act out in the worst ways to relieve their pain.

And we allow this to happen. It is a spiritual crisis.

Children are growing up in a sea of violence, meanness, incivility, and lack of respect. Problems are cast off as someone else’s responsibility. Every issue is torn into opposing camps throwing endless barbs.

The government cannot fix the sickness in our society.

We, the people have to mature, take responsibility, admit we have a crisis of meaning with no solutions. The next evolution of our species must be in our consciousness. And all of us need to work together and use all the solutions. It starts with kindness, care, and understanding.

 

We Aren’t Enemies, Let’s Stop Acting Like We Are!

 

Welcome to May everyone. Summer is just around the corner. You haven’t heard from me other than an occasional note since January! I hadn’t noticed how long it had been! For better or worse, my life has taken on more tasks, responsibilities, and focus and I have dearly missed this communication with all of you.

It is my intention this year to transform my life, (and yours if you’re game) to a brilliant expression full of prosperity, ease and wellbeing. Let’s all upgrade.

First, laying some ground rules below.

I was going to write about post pandemic PTSD, but frankly, those of you who have been following me for years know what I’d recommend, i.e. take care of yourself, limit news, meditate, eat well, get good sleep, get outside, move etc.

What is going on is so much deeper than COVID. We are in a major transition to something new. So many authors, teachers, and spiritual leaders have written about moving through these upheavals, attempting to explain how the state of chaos in the world came to be, how it is affecting all of us, and what will happen next.

We have been going through a unique period in our lifetime. Information and events have been exploding into our lives faster than we can adapt to it. Not only the health issues with the pandemic, the political storms, lack of consensus on facts (knowledge commons), and the economic issues from lock downs, but also the effects from the stress caused by it all; more divorces, eating disorders, depression, drinking, and anxiety among them.

The media chooses stories to dwell on, magnify, exaggerate and cover day after day after day, until we feel like the whole world is in some sort of hell. Depending on what source of information you tune into the stories vary widely.

In a true democratic system, there is knowledge commons and there is a base line of consensus for what we are, as a nation, attempting to create, what democracy means, and how the government works. Our disagreements have normally been on what government can do to protect that and how.

We’ve entered, over the last decades, a period where we act like those who have different ideas to solve problems are ignorant, enemies, or just plain evil. Groups, organizations, colleges, media sources, and social media, censor opinions they don’t want to hear; we have lost the ability to hear opposing views.  We have fractured pieces of ‘reality’ wherein extreme conspiracy theories gain millions of followers. There is an abundance of mistrust in the ‘others’. Author Charles Eisenstein noted, “How can we have a democracy if we are being incited to hate each other by the very media we depend on to tell us what is real, what is “news” and what the world is?”  The political party in power tries to repress and censor the opposing party’s views.

Our cultural blemishes have risen to the forefront and are being seized upon by different sides. We live in a story that there are good guys and bad guys, and everyone thinks they are the good guy.

And yet:

  • We are all one in the human family
  • We have all been the good guy and the bad guy
  • In our world there are opposing beliefs in which both are true
  • What we call ‘truth’ shifts with levels of consciousness

The likeliest explanation for the current state, upon the revelation of the destructive stories we’ve been hiding, covering up or ignoring, are hopefully, the last gasps of the most primitive of consciousness, as it raises its ugly head for all to see.

For example, there has always been a percentage of people who are drawn to law enforcement and military because of the sense of power and control it gives them over others. (There are ways to screen out these individuals in the application process with psych tests for social pathology.)

Yet we can’t fix what we aren’t aware of. Those of us in the spiritual community are painfully aware of all the world’s atrocities, from the horrors of war, famine, prisons, devastation of lands, all kinds of violence, to the insidious, subtle discriminations and everyday insults by all manner of journalists, bloggers and everyday people.

When I was young in the 60s and 70s, we were filled with energy and ideas for creating a new world: just, safe, environmentally healthy, with gender equality and healthier food. We saw women were treated unfairly and often as sex objects, minorities experienced deep discrimination from every level, senseless wars, and guns and violence exploded in the streets. We charged forward to change this.

We failed. There are more guns, still wars, more sexualization of young girls, still inequities, and we are less healthy.

We have to tell a new story. One not of good and evil, us versus them, but a culture of compassion, listening, patience, creative problem solving, and understanding. It is time for transformation. We know in our hearts that the way society has been isn’t working, and it’s making us sick. It’s making the Earth sick as well.

And not tell a story of what we’re against. The against position is already coming from behind, a weakened state that makes opposite forces strengthen more. Instead of pushing against opinions, beliefs or thoughts, manifest a powerful new vision that encompasses a beautiful story.

Seeing two young children fighting over a toy, rather than make one right and one wrong, an effective parent will work out a solution that reduces upsetting emotions, makes them feel understood, and invites them to help come up with a peaceful one. We are no different. If we are told we are wrong we dig in our heels, don’t we? We are more determined to prove we are right and they are wrong. What you push against grows stronger.

So, I challenge everyone to create a new story.

  • Make one up. Call it fiction. There are always truths in storytelling.
  • Think, talk, write, read, stories with beautiful answers.
  • Envision the world how you know it could be.
  • Be fierce in your determination.
  • Don’t stay silent when others try to drag someone or a group through the mud.

Ask the hard questions when they complain about the ‘other’. Ask why they think the other is that way, challenge them to go deeper.

  • Tell personal stories to exemplify your points.
  • Flood the internet with good stories.
  • You don’t need to defend or explain what your personal politics are, democrat or republican, independent or libertarian. It’s all fine. This isn’t a process for one political persuasion.

In my book, The Light of Grace, two of the characters lived in future time periods: one in mid-21st century, and one in the 26th-century. It was great fun working out how many of today’s problems were solved. So, inadvertently, I’ve already begun this process!

One of the efforts of the spiritual community is to encourage people to go inward more, study scriptures and develop practices that raise one’s consciousness and the desired effect will be the raising of mass consciousness. As the teachings go, when it reaches critical mass, this will change our culture, change society for the better. And we can see the emerging effect. You can find results all around.

But I think we need to do more. I hope you’re with me. Thank you.

Photo by Obie Fernandez on Unsplash

Resolving the Racial Divide and Racism

There are many terrific ideas being proposed to help our culture include more equality, from improving education, to assigning more mental health professionals to work with the police, and taking to the streets to bring awareness and express dissatisfaction. Most are old ideas. I’ve watched this struggle since I can remember; in the 1960s and 70s there was a similar upheaval for change and healing of the racial disparity. There was much talk and action to address it.  Yet here we are, circling back, realizing how our efforts have failed. Why?

One reason is our piecemeal approach, so many programs that affect only a few people. Or ideas like Head Start; an honest effort, but didn’t address the real problem. And equating throwing more money as a solution to problems. More food stamps, more welfare, more school lunches. While much of it is necessary, this still doesn’t address the cause. Legislating to stop discrimination is nice but doesn’t address the problem. Pulling down Confederate statues may help emotionally, but will never address the problem.

Just as a rising tide lifts all boats, lifting the entire society to become more aware, more conscious is the only real solution.

It is the only one that doesn’t continue to slap band aids on a cultural problem.  If we continue to be focused on the symptoms and not the cause, we will never get there. And it isn’t the easiest, but it is possible.

What we need to stop doing:

  • Stop ostracizing and punishing those who are acting out for or against changes. For using trigger words, for using hateful speech from all views. If they are acting out of ignorance and reflexive fear, they may not learn anything by being disregarded as human beings and not heard. This helps no one.
  • Stop mindlessly spending money on our problems. The lack of effectiveness and waste in government spending is disgraceful. We have a multitude of programs at every level of government with little to no progress to show.
  • Stop talking and look for positive actions.

 

What we need to start doing:

  • Send good communicators out into the communities. Mental health experts, compassionate conflict resolution experts, educators, and elected officials with the objective of listening, problem solving, and coming up with creative and thoughtful ideas to discover our commonalities and working on our communities together.
  • Develop a program that will be taught in all schools that includes conflict resolution, problem solving, stress management, and some type of mindful practice that allows inner reflection and growth in awareness. There are schools across the country doing this now, but they are few and far between.
  • Have everyone brainstorm to come up with a better plan to help the lowest socioeconomic sectors and finally stop the perpetuation of poverty generation to generation.
  • Prison reform. A thoughtful plan to bring the non-violent offenders into programs that increase their success in life through education, problem solving etc.

By raising awareness, or consciousness, in a significant number of people in society, systemic problems like racism will wane naturally because we grow in self-reflection, empathy, and broader perspectives. We will develop an ability to listen to diverse opinions without reacting negatively. With compassion and care for everyone, we will all rise.

Photo by Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona on Unsplash

We Are All Brainwashed

Why are we so surprised when someone acts badly, horribly? There have always been people who do so. Why do we expect others to change and behave because we tell them to or think they should?

     When people we like say unfortunate things we excuse them, when people we disapprove of say unfortunate things we say, “See, see how awful that person is?”

     Our whole law and order system is based on the premise that we have no control over ourselves and will purposely do bad things if we are allowed to, but not if there is a law against it. Huh?

     We keep expecting military, police and others in the line of danger to control themselves, even after teaching them how to harm and kill others. Are we giving them skills to increase their insight, judgment, and self-control?

     Why do we hoard toilet paper? Why do selfless acts, people doing the ‘right’ thing, bring so much attention?

     There is so much going on, originating from our primitive past and evolution, to our states of awareness or consciousness. The great majority of us don’t get up and plan to do harmful things one day. We expect people to behave because most of us tend to follow the rules, use care and make decisions not to harm without even thinking about it.

     But we are emotional beings, and when we are tripped emotionally by fear, real or imagined, our primitive part of our brain, the reptilian brain, hijacks our rational, more evolved brain. When fear sets in and takes hold, our basic survival reflexes take over, and our thoughts go from reasonable to “I won’t have any toilet paper!”.  More seriously, when fearing our existence could be extinguished, the root of all fear.

     And we have the media and social sites stoking the flames over and over and over causing more brains to go into survival mode. It is like an inflammation of society. It is the old adage, what you pay attention to grows.

     What is the answer? What I have always maintained; enough of us having the intention to raise our consciousness, our awareness. We can learn how to subdue the primitive brain and not allow this knee-jerk reaction of fear.  There is a profound amount of research now to support the myriad benefits of conditioning our minds with meditation, yoga and other mindful practices, and understanding how to attain wellbeing, which includes health, happiness and prosperity. If enough of us do this it will raise the mass consciousness perhaps to the point where we will begin to see clearly the causes of these outbursts we see on the news, like the woman in the park who called the police on a black man just telling her to leash her dog, or more dire acts of violence such as the policeman who killed a black man in custody. It is more than prejudice, it is low consciousness, which doesn’t suppress a primitive response such as fear, apathy and other ignorant reactions that can lead to cruelty. (Noted, a black person seeing what happens to other black people when confronted by a bad policeman, will feel fear. To ask someone in this situation to not feel that way in this present day is ridiculous.)

     We are all brainwashed in that we all are prejudice. We grow up with our family of origin’s beliefs, our communities, our culture’s and the beliefs of those who we chose to be around, right or wrong. Then, we have layers added from the media, internet and Hollywood images. We seek out validation of our own opinions and surely, we find them. It is mostly unconscious.

     We think we are right and others who disagree with us are wrong. That is prejudice. All sides of an issue have varying degrees of validity. It takes maturity to see another’s viewpoint. To see their hurt behind their harmful words and actions. To see their fear in the violent acts. To see their desperation in their hateful speech or destructive actions. It isn’t easy.

     To be open-minded doesn’t come naturally; it takes intention and effort, it takes introspection.

     The miracle is how our society functions as good as it does most of the time. The great majority of police and military act with honor and conscientiousness. Most of the protests are peaceful and productive. Most drivers are driving carefully. Most people, given the opportunity, will not steal. Most people show kindness daily. And this isn’t because of our man-made laws, it is because of consciousness.

     When I saw a white policeman kneel beside the protesters, and another wrapping his arms around one, a lump formed in my throat. Then, I saw more police talking of the great need for real conversation between the black community and police departments. And I now see a small light emerging. Growth. Will it be fanned instead of more of the grief and anger? Will we now listen to each other and move to the next level of awareness with love and kindness?

Let’s Do This!

Dear Friends,

This is more and more feeling like hurricane prepping and aftermath for me. Not only are we physically limited as to where we can go and the closures of most businesses, but now my home electricity is out! The Universe, Divine guidance, God, is throwing some big blocks in my normal path!

Fortunately, I have a second place to go, our closed to the public office. Here I am sitting with a/c, internet, and a refrigerator. Therefore, don’t feel sorry for me.

I now have time to sit down and write to all of you. And there is a lot on my mind! I’d like to share all the great information coming in to my inbox, the informative articles I’ve gathered, but frankly, we are all overwhelmed with more to read than we ever could. So, let’s not do that.

What a beautiful time to re-evaluate where we are in our life. We have this time for inner reflection. We can engineer a sort of reset; we have an opportunity to make changes-some of us will have to by necessity-in more than one area of our lives. Career, personal growth, relationships, healthy practices, financial health, and spiritual growth.

I am going to pull out and dust off some tried and true exercises to help me envision where I want to be 6 months from now, or a year from now. What will that look like? How will that feel? What will I be experiencing? More health? More peace? More joy?

When I began a serious meditation practice 18 years ago, I routinely filled out the Goals Worksheet. I had to rewrite them every few months because old goals were attained and I set new ones!! Let’s do this together!

It is best to read your goals daily, especially before meditation, then put them aside and don’t think about them. Your higher-self, inner-being, soul, consciousness, (your term) will take it from there.

Here is the worksheet you can print out. It is on the  Resources page on my website as well. There is also a recommended reading list on this page.

My Goals Worksheet

Let’s all meet in the spiritual realm, where our consciousness merges with mass consciousness, where life energy itself comes from. And we don’t need to set a time when all are meditating, because in the unmanifest, the spiritual realm, there is no time. When we touch upon this dimension, it is always the present. When you make the intention to connect, we’ll be there. See you then!

Oh, and I just found out the electric is back on. Bless the utility people.

Peace, Love and Wellbeing,

Kasey Claytor

 

 

Imagine a World Without Mirrors

What would that be like? Some things would surely change. Like:

  • Getting ready to go out for the day, your judgement on how you look would vastly change
  • If you like a garment and it feels good on you, you would just wear it. No worry what it looks like in a full-length mirror.
  • You may evaluate your readiness to go out into the world more by how you feel.
  • You may judge how you’re doing physically by your feelings of vitality, energy, nimbleness, comfort and wellbeing.

We may want to challenge ourselves to go a weekend without looking in a mirror. Would be interesting for many. Cover those mirrors with material.

But your REAL mirror is your LIFE—in truth your life is revealed not by a mirror reflection, but by what you see reflected back as you move through your days, weeks and months. How you react to what you see and hear; what you notice among a myriad of stimuli, what you are attracted to or repelled by, is all mirroring your inner state. We all experience the same events differently. Our memories change over time, and we feel different emotions from the same stimuli. That is because our perception is forming our experience and our perception is a manifestation of our consciousness.

By observing your life, stepping back and witnessing from your inner-self or inner-guidance, you can learn how to change what is reflecting back to you. For instance:

  • Are you getting caught up in other’s dramas?
  • Are your thoughts about another causing you to suffer?
  • Are you judging yourself without compassion?
  • Are you mentally fusing over things you have no control over?

By questioning our thoughts, we become aware of what we notice, what we out-picture, and how it is affecting us and thus change our lives.

A happy person lives in a pleasant world. An unhappy person lives in a world of struggle.

The world becomes the mirror of our internal conversation.

Photo on Unsplash by Taylor Smith