The November Newsletter

Hello Dear Friends and Family,

It has been an incredibly busy time for me. When I was in Sedona and in Australia both being with friends and teaching some new directions opened for my creative expression. I also experienced living in loving spiritual communities; just what I need in my life as well as more creative and expressive time; the peace and support of two different Reiki communities both in Sedona, Arizona and in Canberra, Australia was outstanding. The time spent in both places reinforced and nourished me. I came back a new woman.

Since I have been home I have put new plans into action. In a few weeks you will receive a very special e-mail from me letting you know all about this new phase in my life. I am so excited about this.

I am pleased to let you know that Reiki for the Soul will be published as a 2nd edition very soon. It has an additional chapter on Radical Change and is the 11th doorway to inner harmony and peace. I will also be offering online Reiki for the Soul mentoring courses in the New Year. Times are rich and exciting!

The Usui 21 day online Reiki retreat will start on December 21st. Please let your friends know about this excellent opportunity to refocus and set goals for 2006.

I have enclosed two articles for you. I know you will enjoy them. Enjoy the fall weather and for those of you in the USA have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Love and Blessings,

Mari



FLYING IN THE FACE OF FEAR

Look at what you are afraid of only the anticipation will frighten you
• A Course in Miracles

Through my work as a healer and spiritual guide, I have found that there are several common themes that unite us all as human beings. One of these is Fear; it is the single most powerful paralyzing force in our lives. It is something that can, and for most of us does, dictates absolutely how we relate with ourselves and everyone, everything else and, most importantly - how we live our lives.
When we are in fear – that is, most of us, most of the time and some of us, all of the time, almost none of us none of the time – we can no longer make clear and conscious choices on what we would wish to experience – our behaviors become knee-jerk reactions based on what we are afraid what might happen if we don't do, or be, something in a certain way.

The fear of Fear is something that is created in the Mind – existential fear, that is, fear that motivates survival, comes from the kidneys – it does not exist outside of what we perceive it to be. This means that we create fear based on some illusion or need, and then act out and live our lives as if what we think is, or might be , real . Then, we behave in ways that will magnetize that about which we are afraid.
Many of us live our entire lives in fear of one thing or another, both consciously and unconsciously. We fear not only for ourselves, we fear for other people in our lives, whether family or friends and we fear that what we desire for certain, desired required outcomes will not happen.

Many of us fear failure, and even more of us fear success. This fear leads us to live lives of relative mediocrity, compared to fulfilled lives of wonder and joy that, ironically, are within reach of us all.

Nearly everyone fears death, always our own, often too that of family members – children, spouses, parents. Yet, as one of my spiritual guides told me recently, we are all very good at dying. We have all died hundreds, thousands of times. In fact, some of us are dead people walking around pretending to be alive (my teachers nearly all have pretty fun senses of humor, especially when what they are suggesting is so true). In fact, many of us go through the motions of existence every day, yet with our minds far away, or in some deep pain at some thing, anything, that keeps us from being fully present. Our greatest fear is to be truly Alive, to embrace the best that this world has to offer and, in return, to give the best of ourselves – to ourselves, to those nearest and dearest to us, to those within our communities, and to the world.

There are other, more easily recognized and admitted fears than the fear of death. These include fear of assorted insects, reptiles and animals, fears of flying, heights, and fears of intimacy, aging, and poverty and so on.

Here in Cyprus we don't have many of the typical fears that many parents, in the United Kingdom, for instance, have for the physical safety of our children, since this is a relatively safe environment to grow up in. Yet in addition to our fears about ourselves and how we ‘should' live our lives, we also have many fears about and for our children - how they live their lives and more particularly, how they should live their lives, mostly in order to ‘fit in' with and ‘do well in' society. In this way, by our own behaviors, do we teach our children to fear, also? This is how fear perpetuates itself, like some malignant growth within humanity or, more benignly, like a habit.

Many people cope with their fears - whatever these may be – by using various substances. Alcohol is one that is easily and legally available – and in Cyprus relatively cheap - and is widely abused in many cultures and environments. Prescription drugs are another.

A problem with these is, okay, we might not feel fearful, or depressed, or whatever it is that we think you are being ‘treated' for, but when under the influence of mind-altering substances, we usually can't feel anything at all, nothing, including peace, joy and wellbeing. So, what happens is that whatever fear or emotion we think we need treatment for is recycled around the mind and the body, rather than faced, resolved and let go, with conscious intent. It is not as difficult to do as people fear; it does, though, require courage to be totally honest about our fears, with ourselves to ourselves. Being honest about this with no-one else matters because, at the end of the day, the most important honesty we can ever have is that we have with ourselves.

When fear is prevalent in our lives, we create concepts, labels, images, words, judgments and definitions that block all our relationships, particularly the one we have with ourselves. They block our ability to feel anything at all or to experience anything else, because when we are busy in our minds playing ‘what-if' scenarios and scripts, we are out-of-body and in some dreamland.

Let's take a little bit more in-depth look at judgments, because they can often impact relationships. Can you remember how you felt the last time you realized that someone was judging you? I do. What about the last time you judged someone else? How were you feeling when you did that? Having experienced both - being judged and judging, and being relatively conscious now, I have noticed this and wonder to myself why I, and we, choose to do this. When my daughter comes home and wonders with me why some children in her school are behaving in this way toward her and toward each other, I say to her that often the most judgmental people are the most fearful or insecure as well. And I remind her that it is best for us both to look beyond the what of people's behaviors into the whys. As this applies to children, so it applies equally to adults.

This was shown to me by a guide some years ago and I continue to find it helpful to remember that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say, consciously or unconsciously, and that everything is not always about me.
The next most common fear, after the fear of death is, I believe, the fear of boredom.

Many of us fear having ‘nothing to do'. We fear the silence within. So, we create ‘issues' in our lives that we ‘need' to deal with, in order to keep busy. Yet there is a great difference between busy-ness with purpose, and busy-ness just to keep busy. I am sure we have all experienced boredom at some time, or we have had to deal with people within our environment who are bored. In fact, many of us have very low boredom thresholds mostly because we don't have much of a relationship with ourselves. Can you remember the last time you were bored or had to manage yourself with someone who was in the same state? How did you feel? And what did you do about it?

For some reason, we fear Silence. In truth, Silence is the space within which we can find peace and a connection with our true selves. Yet we fear it because on some unconscious level we think (there's that busy Mind again!) that in the silence within, we will experience our own deaths. Yet in my recent experience when I have been able to stay peaceful and silent within for extended periods of time, I have found the opposite is true. When I am silent, I can be truly present, to watch and listen to thoughts that might arise, without judgment. To just be. It is in this way that we are able to touch the stillness within, to touch that part of us that is Who-We-Really-Are. And when we are truly there, without fear, without judgment, without anything at all, we need no longer fear death – or anything at all - because we are at peace; at peace with ourselves, with everyone and everything around us. This is our birthright and our gift to the world.

When we are peaceful, the only thing that will matter to us is the joy of being able to experience and express the best of ourselves, individually and together, because in the grand scheme of things, we only have a short time on this planet – several decades at the most – to so do. So, why spend our time being afraid of anything - at all?

by Anna of Cyprus
http://www.anolividi.com/contact.htm



Getting On Track

Trains Are Like People. The rails that crisscross the countryside and cut through cities have long captured people's imaginations. Just the idea of taking a ride on a luxury train, an express commuter line, or a cargo train can evoke a sense of freedom, adventure, or romance. Trains are like people in that they must inevitably arrive at their destinations. They make scheduled and unscheduled stops along the way and move at their different speeds. Some trains can travel for hours and are mindful of only a single destination; other trains meander from busy stop to busy stop. The route and purpose of any train may change as the years go by.

Our lives stretch out in front and behind us like train tracks, and we are the train, its passengers, and the engineer. The way you choose to live your life and the goals you are working toward are the route and destinations you have chosen. Like a passenger riding a train, you have the choice to get on and off, find new routes, pick new places to visit, or just stop and enjoy the view for awhile. Perhaps you like to move quickly through life as if you were an express train. Or maybe, like a commuter passenger, you like taking the same routes over and over again. You may even want to stop just riding along and choose a different direction you'd like your life to take.

If you have examined the tracks of your life and are feeling unsatisfied, you may want to explore the changes you can make to find a more fulfilling path to follow. Perhaps you'd like to slow down a little bit more and take a windier path rather than just traveling down the straight and narrow. Or maybe, you'd like to experience your life more as an adventure rather than just a ride that gets you where you need to go. Changing your route can sometimes give you a chance to "get on the right track." You may even discover that the something new you've been waiting for is just around the bend.

From the Daily OM