The Awakening

Stand

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

“We have been sitting down for so long, we have forgotten how to stand.”

Dawn of Possibility:

There is nothing more significant in our life than our commitment to make a stand. This is the most potent form of our self-expression.  It is in the authenticity of our integrity that we truly thrive.  Before we embrace the opportunity to seize the power of our stance we must first be willing to acknowledge it.  We then need to integrate it into our lives by who we are being.  Our society does not empower, encourage or support the genesis, ownership and application of our personal stand.  In order to claim it, we need to be open to and at cause with its possibility.  We must be willing to surrender all we know we are to become all we can truly be.

Cast in Society:

We are multi-dimensional beings existing in infinite experiences simultaneously in any given moment.  We must accept this cosmic truth before we are able to channel it into a focused expression of being.  Our perception is conditioned by society’s two-dimensional reality.  The multiplicity of our consciousness is condensed and suppressed into a narrow vision of the universe.  Our relations with others are regulated by the linear boundaries to which we abide.  Reality is based upon the laws and limitations of educational, religious and scientific institutions.  Our social evolution anesthetizes us to the truth of who we are.

Rose-Colored Glasses:

Reality is imprisonment.  In our inverted world, even the most alluring freedoms are still forms of slavery, for they exist within a paradigm of illusion.  It is simply the nature of the perception we adopt.  If we conform to experience life through the filters of education, religion and science, we automatically abandon the majority of what is and what is possible.  Eventually we will enable and resign ourselves to the rules and restrictions that keep us engaged in a bait-and-switch matrix of engineered and suspended animation.  Ever reaching for an elusive truth we frequently ignore and resist in the exact moment we become present to it.

Artificial Authority:

We have been giving away our personal power long before we were even aware it existed.  Most of us are oblivious to our personal empowerment and only experience it in accidental, fleeting moments of confrontation, difficulty, stress and survival.  The energetic quality of the power we emanate and exercise is chaotic and dense in vibration.  It begins as a genuine expression of the heart yet is ultimately distorted by perception and reality.  It is often transposed into an aggressive and explosive energy.  Instead of inspiring others with the presence of our authentic power we frequently allow it to be manipulated into a force of violence.

Existential Savior:

Many of us have been waiting for someone or something revolutionary in our lives to open the doors of opportunity and possibility.  Though there are numerous times when these prospects present themselves to us, we seldom choose to acknowledge and embrace them.  We opt for a lifestyle of fantasy, romance and suffering in our perpetual quest for an easier path.  Yet, the cost for artificial achievement, convenience, gratification and security is not just our life, possibility and truth.  It is our heart and soul.  We have been running away from ourselves for so long we have epitomized the divine comedy that is the “human race.”

Springtime of Truth:

Humanity is asleep, yet is beginning to awaken.  There is far too much evidence, movement and truth manifesting from the obscure confusion of contemporary social reality.  The vast super structure of cause and effect that was once our forebears’ captivity has now progressed into an emancipation of awareness, creativity, expression and community.  We are becoming present to the realization that possibility is the nature of the universe.  Its infinite opportunities empower our experience of life.  Possibility transforms our being with multi-dimensional consciousness using our intuition as a gateway to the universe.

Rise and Shine:

All of us have experiences that inspire us into enlightenment, action and being.  We are all motivated by circumstances and events that define the what, why and how we are empowered.  Our commitment to petition for it is the foundation of our expression.  Our focused intent manifests what becomes our vision, mission and purpose.  Who we are and how we express it in our lives determines the nature of our stand.  We are a vessel of possibility for the world.  It is our purpose to create and sustain this sacred space.  There is nothing as vital as the awareness we bring to our life.  Our stand is the compass of our consciousness.

In Our Power:

Identifying, embracing and conveying our personal power can be an awkward and terrifying experience.  The practical arenas of reality rarely if ever foster or endorse individual empowerment, let alone accept its mere possibility.  Personal power is the antithesis of the foundation upon which society is engineered.  This is the primary reason why it is exceptionally challenging to consistently and successfully apply it to our everyday lives.  Its extraordinary nature is essential to the manifestation of our transformation.  The only true expression of our being is sourced from our personal power.  It begins with our choice to be.

The Calling:

Our lives are ripe with opportunities to claim our truth and choose the nature of our stand.  Usually it is something that inspires us to step out of ourselves, professions and the structured reality we adopt.  Our perception expands, our heart pounds, our mind races and energy courses through every element of our being.  We are present to possibility, yet we are also conscious of something new.  In the epiphany of our realization, we are acquainted with our empowerment.  In these pivotal moments we have the choice to either ignore our calling or claim it and become all who we can only imagine.

Eternally Empowered:

No one else can bring into our lives and the world all we have been intended and gifted to give.  No one else can conduct the energy that the universe sources us to generate, express and share.  No one else can be inspired by our lives to the degree that we are empowered to stand for them.  No one else can live for us an extraordinary life that transcends the possibilities of our being.  No one else can experience our unique creativity, evolution, insights, transformation and destiny.  We are the only ones who can become, cause and emanate the greatest manifestation of our lives.  To this we are immortally called.  For this we need to stand eternally empowered.

“We must stand for something, or we live for nothing.”

http://www.zengardner.com/stand-3/

The Heart of it All

/ Iam Saums / 1 Comment

“We are nothing we think we are.”

The Mind Field:

Our reality is an extension of our thoughts.  Our society is an invention of the mind.  We live within a matrix of mentality that is equivalent to the neural pathways in our brain.  Millions of neurons connecting and firing cause the fundamental functions of our intelligence and the rudimentary dynamics of our awareness.  Though we may believe we interact with and consciously command this network of existence, to it we are inherently enslaved.  Our captivity is defined by the energy we sacrifice upon the altar of our ego’s insatiable appetites, selfish gratification and vain quests for artificial fulfillment.

Inheritance of Thought:

Before we are born, our mind is in a subconscious state of development.  In utero, we are intimately partial to the impressions and influences that our mothers experience during pregnancy.  We breathe their air, eat their food, drink their fluids, think their thoughts, feel their feelings and even dream their dreams.  Our symbiosis is not only in the semblance of our ability, behavior, emotionality, genetics, perception and temperament.  It is also prevalent in the neural activity and tendency of our thought.  We are frequently oblivious to the experience of our emotions and even less aware of the persuasive mechanics of our mind.

Illusion Investment:

Our senses are the avenues of our mental enslavement.  All we see, hear, smell, taste and feel is gradually distorted by the mass manipulation we enable with our engagement.  The influence of our subliminal thought patterns cons us into a relentless web of ego, desire, want, worry and fear.  When we succumb to these stimuli, we invest in the illusion of reality and exchange our creativity, freedom, spirituality, truth and vision with our confusion, drama, dysfunction, fantasy and politics.  Our truth becomes a lie and a lie becomes our truth.  It is this self-deception that costs us our life.

Intelligence Dependence:

At some point in our maturation, our intellect becomes the measure of our worth.  We are processed though institutional conditioning to gain acceptance and qualification for positions of merit in the grand racket of the professional marketplace.  Once indoctrinated and initiated into its diabolical mainframe, we willingly acquiesce our health, heart and soul to the omnipresent, intelligence-driven program of advancement and survival.  It is our understanding and utilization of the system in which we exist that determines the watermark of our success.  Where the ultimate conquests come not from great achievements, yet by mastery through manipulation.

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our mind.”

-Bob Marley

Mass Collusion:

We are under a global spell of social hypnosis.  This paradigm hinders our ability to truly see ourselves and the world.  It is a dream from which most of us never awaken.  A widespread epidemic of cooperative confusion and distortion we enable with our apathy, denial, drama, self-righteousness and fear.  No matter how much we attempt to influence the people, circumstances, perceptions and outcomes in our lives, we rarely escape the revelation of our self-imposed fate.  It will always be the illusions of our mind that seek to complicate, discredit, falsify and usurp the eternal expressions of our heart.

Distortion by Design:

The heart has no place in the mental matrix.  Within it, emotions are a foreign language.  Empathy and kindness have become criminal and our compass of conscience and insight has been surrendered to the ruthless nuances of our ego’s adversarial influence.  Intellectuality has become the mandatory currency of reality; without which we cannot function or survive.  The frequency of our heart center is disrupted and distorted by the neural labyrinth of material life.  Our multi-dimensionality is compromised and our focus, purpose and vision is distorted beyond our pre-programmed abilities.

In Shadow:

We have all been asleep.  We are lulled into an instinctual slumber with the gravity of reality, the artificial burden of society, the vortex of consumption, the captivity of our perception and the severity of our fear.  We have been wined and dined into a dreaming death by society’s many attachments, impressions, influences, opinions and vices.  The human race has been and is on virtual life support.  Its collective pulse dives dangerously below the measure of its lifeline.  We exist within the twilight of life as wayward spectators watching from the grandstands and rarely daring to take the field.  Yet, now more than ever, only the field remains.

“The journey from the head to the heart is much longer than from the heart to the head.”

Transcen-dance:

There are random occasions in our lives when we are blessed with an epiphany of truth, purpose and understanding.  More frequently than we may choose to acknowledge, we are stirred from our walking slumber and become present to something distinct from the ordinary.  We tend to deny and discard these experiences of opportunity as fleeting flights of fancy and roll over in our adopted reality.  Yet, these are the keys to freeing ourselves from our mortal captivity.  These are the events in our lives that further entrench us into the neural matrix of intellectuality or offer us a powerful choice to transform our experience.

The Force Awakens:

A critical mass of awareness has grown over the past few decades.  It is not a new force of sentience.  It has always existed well before the dawning of humanity.  Yet the primary distinction in our contemporary age is our realization of and synergy with the eternal essence of consciousness and the fulfillment it inspires.  Our relatedness with this experience has been defined by our commitment and willingness to become its universal expression.  It simply requires us to transcend all that inhibits the natural expansion and presence of our soul in life.  This is our true human destiny.

The Center of Being:

Our heart center is the most powerful expression of our being.  It sources and radiates an electromagnetic force so powerful, even the most authoritative protocols of intellectual reality cannot alter or extinguish its emanation.  It is the gateway to our intuition, the medium of our creativity and the seat of our soul.  Our heart center is the nexus of our being that connects our body and mind with our spirit and the universe.  This vital multi-dimensional alchemy allows us to become our greatest potential.  Our enlightenment is made manifest when our heart center resonates with our soul.

Heart Star:

Our heart is our greatest expression of vision, truth and possibility.  It guides us through our challenges, conveys our experiences, composes our creativity and unites us all.  Its presence expands and transcends beyond the measure our mind can only fathom with our imagination.  We are not intended to acquire this energy solely for our personal benefit.  We are destined to receive this energy for the sake of sharing its infinite abundance with all.  It is our soul purpose to empower, inspire and sustain each other. This is the universal tapestry of being we express and experience as love.

“All that we give is all that we live.  All that we love is all that we are.”

Soul Purpose:

Being conscious in an oblivious society is no longer sufficient to transform the world.  Conversations and actions are mere stepping stones in becoming and being all that we envision.  Not just as human beings having a spiritual experience or spiritual beings having a human experience, but as energetic beings conveying the extraordinary expressions of our creativity.  The resonance of our enlightened being and its unique signature is essential in transforming three dimensional reality into four dimensional consciousness.  Imagine our experience of life if all humanity chose to be an emanation of their soul…

http://www.zengardner.com/the-heart-of-it-all/

Authenticity

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

False Personality:
An oppression has grown stronger with the passage of each generation in human existence. It has claimed not just the health, well-being, sense of belonging, consciousness, purpose and destiny of its victims, yet also their very lives. A tyrant so clever and efficient it need not exert any of its own effort or energy to fulfill upon its devious plan. It simply relies on the apathy, denial, unconsciousness, self-righteousness and cognitive dissonance of its subject. What is spawned from this malevolent blend of self-oblivion is what every human being possesses, the false personality.

The false personality is a vortex that consumes anything that does not enable or supplement its control and manipulation over a human being. The most dangerous element of the false personality is that it remains virtually unknown and impervious to its unconscious and distracted host. It is analogous to cancer clusters growing in the human body, undetected until the tumors have established residency in the organs or tissues of the unsuspected. And when it has been discovered, the first obstacle to overcome is the greatest, the denial of its very existence.

The human race exists almost solely from false personality. Its mission is to keep us preoccupied from our true selves with our own indifference, confusion, drama, and feelings of failure. As our human conditions amass, we eventually begin to sacrifice our personal power both unconsciously and unconditionally. We are become hopeless, anxious and disempowered, fatalities of our own circumstances, environments and lives.

The false personality survives mostly on reaction. It is astonishing to discover how much of our society is reactive in nature. It would seem that there are very few genuine actions expressed in our common reality. If “cause” is the requirement of our freedom, “effect” in our society is in great supply. The human race is constantly responding to stimuli being broadcasted from an authoritarian structure based on belief, intelligence, entertainment and a hierarchical class rule. Yet, it is certainly not the external impulses that influence us the most. It is our false personality that renders us prisoners to our selves.

Our false personality is sustained by our desire, our self-gratification, our uncertainty, our upsets, competitiveness, envy and ill will. It thrives on our unwillingness to transform and our inclinations toward control and manipulation. We tend to put more stock into the disempowerment of others, and ourselves, believing this is our “real” power rather than accepting the truth of ourselves. We are our own inspiration.

True Personality:
The first step in reclaiming our personal power and shifting toward our true personality is in the realization that we ALL have a false one. In order for us to transcend its intricate matrix, we need to become our own observer. Only then may we behold the great degree of influence and impact our false personality imposes upon us. We must step outside of our beliefs, perceptions, expectations and entitlements to awaken and sustain our connection with our true personality.

Our true personality is who we were before we were taught, conditioned and assimilated into the common reality of contemporary society. It is our inherent virtue we tend to hide, inhibit or diminish. It is the part of our selves that most of us have surrendered to our adulthood. The qualities of ourselves we free when we are at our most genuine and vulnerable. It is the intuitive wisdom of ourselves we experience when we need to remember who we were before our conversion into society. Our true personality is our innocence, kindness, acceptance, potential, inspiration and universal need to relate and belong.

The false personality is dense in energetic quality, immutable and fixed. The true personality transcends the very nature and existence of reality. Its mere presence transforms the realism and dynamic of the environment in which it inhabits. Its expression is engaging, intimidating, exhilarating and revolutionary. Our true personality thrives upon the potential to explore, discover and express higher levels of consciousness and infinite energy. It is the emblem of eternal creativity and possibility. When we are living from our true personality, our false personality ceases to exist. A gateway to higher realms of being is opened. Our true personality is the key to the greatest expression of our being in this reality, our authenticity.

Authenticity:
It may be challenging to draw distinctions between our “true personality” and our “authenticity.” After all, they seem to be the same thing, yet they are not. Our true personality is a facet of our existence as a human being. Our authenticity is how we express and share our true personality with society. Authenticity is not just a choice; it is an expression, a way of being. It begins and ends with fulfilling upon what we say we are going to do and who we are being while we are in action. It is our integrity, our commitment and all for which we stand in our lives. That which inspires us sources our energy, our focus, our intention and leads to the fulfillment of our destiny.

Our authenticity is not just a measurement of our accomplishments or even our being-ness. It is the expression of our willingness and dedication to transform not just our own lives, yet the lives of others. It isn’t about succeeding and surviving; it is about thriving and empowering others to flourish as well. It is the philosophy that when one person creates powerful insights for themselves, the community to whom they belong stands to benefit. How can we discover and experience this quality of realization if it is not a shared endeavor? Authenticity is lived for the advantage of the many at the cost of the false personality.

Being authentic is the greatest work to which we will ever commit. We can never be authentic with others until we are first authentic with ourselves. Being authentic with ourselves is choosing to accept our self for who we are and who we aren’t. If our consciousness relates us with our true personality, then authenticity unites us with our soul. When we choose to free ourselves from our false personality by being authentic, we are making an investment in the vision of who we truly are. We are living it as only we are meant, to the best of our possibility. Authenticity is the cornerstone of transforming ourselves and ultimately the world. When we commit to living an authentic life, we are devoting ourselves to making a difference. We are the source of our creative expression, benevolence, relatedness and love. This is the truest realization of life.

“LIVING IN A WAY, NOW, MOMENT TO MOMENT, THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO LIFE. WE DISCOVER THAT AS HUMAN BEINGS WE CAN LIVE IN A POSSIBILITY INSTEAD OF IN WHAT WE HAVE INHERITED, THAT INSTEAD OF JUST BEING A HUMAN BEING BECAUSE WE WERE BORN THAT WAY, WE CAN DECLARE THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING FOR HUMAN BEINGS. THIS IS THE WORK OF TRANSFORMATION: BRINGING FORTH A BREAKTHROUGH IN THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING HUMAN. WHAT WE CREATE TOGETHER IS A RELATIONSHIP IN WHICH OUR WORK CAN SHOW UP AS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE’S LIVES. I WELCOME THE UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO WORK GLOBALLY ON THAT WHICH CONCERNS US ALL AS HUMAN BEINGS.” – Werner Erhard

http://www.zengardner.com/authenticity/

Freedom

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

When we are born, we enter this world, this reality innocent, pure, open, amazed and spellbound by the endless wonders that this life offers us.  We are passengers upon a ride filled with thrills, chills, highs, lows, birth, growth, age, death and everything in between.  Of course, this is before the honeymoon wears off and everything offered is gradually taken from us in very unique, cunning and seemingly elusive ways.

We are observant witnesses until we are old “enough” to participate, or better stated, to unconsciously contribute and enable a societal system that, more so than ever before, benefits the few at the cost of the many, and the many grows with every breath we take.  This structure of secrecy really doesn’t sink into our understanding, if it ever does, until well after we have consistently and mercilessly been conditioned to “accept” it as the “norm” of society.  By then, we may never see it for the injustice that it is, even if it is right before our eyes.

This happens at a very young age.  In school, we are bombarded with intensely left-brain information that creates an overload and imbalance in our minds.  For 7-8 hours a day, 5 days a week, 9 months a year, we are “taught” (programmed) with language, mathematics, history (mostly revisionist) with a light, very light these days, sprinkling of music and art.  Most of us were set on this path of “education” long before we developed our personality, comprehension, distinction, beliefs, morals, ethics, interest, listening and discernment. To me it seems quite scary to consider the reality that most of these characteristic traits we all possess were so potently influenced by an institutionalized educational system.

Most of us may have been subjected to participating in another “congregational” life event, religion.  We may have resented the fact that our parents woke us up early on a Sunday morning to clean ourselves up, dress up and sit in a pew for an hour or more to participate in a ritual of singing religious songs, reading passages from the Bible, and listening to the minister, preacher, priest, etc. drone on through a sermon about the duality of saints and sinners and how if we were good, we would go to heaven, and if we were bad, well, we wouldn’t, all the while pretending to be happy and friendly that we were there.

Eventually, when we are old “enough” to either understand or develop a “conditioned” interest, we start watching the news to become “informed” with what is going on in the world.  And yet another system of programming begins, a system of “dis”-information, or rather the “mis”-representation of information.  It is the “spin” of the story, the context in which it is broadcast that carries the strongest message and the most powerful impact upon the society it targets.  The networks make us feel better about ourselves in giving us a superficial notion and ideal of intelligence by swindling us into being informed of the current events, though the majority of the content being broadcast is of a negative and tragic nature.

Last but certainly not least, we are manipulated by something much more powerful and omnipresent, our own egos, incessant thoughts and the very perceptions, conceptions, viewpoints and lifestyles we ourselves fashion on the path toward “growing up.”  As we “grow” into these “fixed” characteristics, we gradually annihilate our youth, our truth, our openness, our possibility, our purpose, our power, our destiny and most importantly our freedom on our way to “adulthood.”

You see, when we were children, everything was possible.  We could do anything.  We could be anything.  We woke up in the morning with a burst of energy, excited to experience the newness of the day and the adventures it would bring.  We ran around barefoot in the grass and woods.  We played until dark with our friends from the neighborhood.  Every night, we fought the inevitable of surrendering to our parent’s nightly sentence of going to sleep.  We were the personification of life, as though every cell in our being, every hair on our head and every limb of our body was infused with an everlasting energy that ran at 100 miles per hour most of the day.  Now, as we have grown older, we have “conditioned” ourselves to stay awake for just as long as we need in order to “participate” in a commonly accepted “reality” just to survive and endure until the great inevitable occurs.  We have sacrificed our youthful lifeforce to emulate the focus of our teenage angst, we have become “adults.”

Though this may be a shocking revelation for most of us, it is even more sinister than this.  Since the days of our youth, through education, religion, information, society and the common “reality” we have all adopted as relevant and absolute, we have become slaves.  Though it may “seem” so, we are not enslaved by our school, our church, the news, social ebbs and flows, the marketplace, the banking institutions, governments, corporations, the oil and gas industry, the medical industry, etc.  We are imprisoned by ourselves.  More specifically, we are incarcerated by our minds.  It is these same “fixed,” incessant thoughts, perceptions, conceptions, viewpoints, beliefs and lifestyles we incorporate into our lives that form the links to the chains we burden ourselves with every day of our lives.  We become so accustomed to our enslavement, we eventually forget who we are, why we were born to this earth, what was our purpose, what was our destiny and the true meaning of our life.

“What is it?”
“…it is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That you are a slave born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch, a prison for your mind.”

Though it may appear to be excruciatingly daunting just simply to recognize and accept our mind-imposed slavery, this is the beginning of transitioning into freedom.  Once we have broken through the spell of our denial, disinterest, disbelief, disillusionment, cognitive dissonance, societal programming, familial conditioning and our personal “stories,” we begin to become present to how tethered we are to this “reality.”  We begin to see how dependent and almost addicted we are to the chaos and drama of society.  For many of us, the very thought of living without this man-made “reality” we enable has become more terrifying than most things we may encounter.  To the extent we ultimately succumb to the fear that without this machination of society, we would not survive.

“We don’t need to free our minds, we need to free ourselves from our minds.” – David Icke

Freedom isn’t in “believing” we are free, or accepting that we are because a collection of politicians, news anchors, entertainers, sports figures, military officials, friends and family members repeatedly (program) tell us we are.  Freedom isn’t found in fighting a war, outwitting a business adversary, winning an argument, earning millions of dollars, possessing things or expanding our intelligence.

Freedom is first found in recognizing we are all slaves in the social system of “reality.”  Freedom is found when we realize how often we are lying to ourselves when we “think” we are free.  Freedom is understanding that “true” freedom is possible.  Freedom is found in our willingness to break the chains of our enslavement by choosing not to continue to enable this “reality” with our personal power, our attention, our energy, our money, our acquiescence, our fear, our apathy and our disbelief.

Freedom is found in claiming, with everything we can muster, our vision, our power, our purpose, our destiny and our birthright to an extraordinary and fulfilled life, and living it with the same youthful, everlasting energy we expressed when we were children.  Freedom is found in our willingness and dedication to stand for our transformation, and in so being, standing for the ability of others to see for themselves the possibility of their own.

Perhaps the greatest freedom is acknowledging that none of us are alone in this.
We are all in this life together.
In many more ways than we may imagine, we are all one.
It will take ALL of us to create this freedom.
When one of us fails at freedom, we all fail.
When one of us becomes free, we are all free.
First, we must choose to stand for our own.

http://www.zengardner.com/freedom/

The Fear of Fear

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

It is in our thoughts, in our hearts and in our bodies.  In fact, it is in every cell of our being.  It is instinctual and in many ways, it has wound its way around the very roots of our human nature.  It may be the first thing we awaken to in the morning and the last thing we ponder before drifting off to sleep.  It has even compromised and devoured the health and well being of our breath and our lives.

It is in the air, the water, the fire and the earth.  It is projected and broadcasted on radio waves, in television signals, in municipal sirens, upon the printed page, on advertisement billboards, at our workplace, our family reunions, temples, churches, our bedrooms and even in the arms of our significant others.

It is everywhere.       

You may believe that I am writing about fear, and it would be relevant.  However, I am not referring to “fear” as the general reaction we have been conditioned to “believe” it is, or even feel.  I am choosing to see it for what it really is, and that is simply energy.

Everything is energy.  From the food we eat, the water we drink, the voice we project to eachother in conversation, when we are walking, running, driving, speaking, listening, exercising, reading, working, making love and even when we are sleeping, energy is being emitted from and to us at all times.  A constant cycle of mutual exchange as vital and present as our breath of life.  Everything that is is an expression of energy, for if it didn’t convey energy, it simply would’t exist.

So, what does energy have to do with fear?  Everything!

What we call “fear” is just a raw, unrefined force that has yet to be proactively transformed by us into a useful, beneficial and eternal energy.  As all energy is, this form of it is very powerful and often misinterpreted.  It only becomes what we term as “fear” when we choose to perceive it as distinct from what it really is, energy.  When we do identify with it as “fear,” we automatically give our power over to it, thus we succumb to the “fear of fear.”  More often than not, when we find ourselves influenced by feelings of trepidation, anxiety, panic or fright, it is not the energy itself by which we are impacted, it is merely our perception, response or reaction to this energy that brings us to this state of being.  We are not afraid of a person, experience, situation or circumstance, we are fearful by our perspective, and ultimately our way of being, that we adopt about those people, things or events in our lives.  We are triggered mentally, emotionally and instinctually into what we acknowledge as “fear” by our perception of it, not the energy itself.

In fact, it is impossible for us as human beings to inherit or embrace this “fear.”  It simply doesn’t work that way within the natural dynamics of being human.  We first have to “believe” that the “fear” exists, is threatening and is influential, then allow it to impact us.  In essence, we are not afraid of the “fear,” we are frightened by the “shadow” of a “fear” we ourselves create with our own perception (self-deception).  Fear cannot exist without being empowered by our belief.

Believe it or not, we as human beings are so powerful and have such amazing potential beyond even imagination, that “we” create our reality, when we choose to, and we also create our “fear.”  Whether we are empowered, inspired, afraid, angry, frustrated, tired, hungry, sick, excited, related or lonely, we are causing the experience of our life based upon how we choose to perceive it.  This all begins and ends with the expression of our energy.  When we embrace an experience of passion, we may feel a surge of energy within us that allows us to transcend the mundane of daily life and make a difference in the lives of others.  When we adopt an experience of loneliness, we allow our energy to be released from us as a “fear” that may overwhelm us with sadness or depression, leaving us feeling depleted and discouraged.  What is most important is realizing that it is up to us how we choose to experience this powerful force of energy often misinterpreted and misrepresented as “fear.”

As the famous monniker goes, “(F)alse (E)vidence (A)ppearing (R)eal.”

“Fear” is an illusion.  Fear is a lie that at some point, during our history of evolution, has been accepted and adopted into the human experience of life.  In many ways, we have been brainwashed and programmed into believing that “fear” is a “real” experience.  Something to be admonished, revered, respected and regarded.  Something as “real,” and greater, then life and death themselves.  It is not.  Complying to fear is like believing that the “echo” is actually the “sound.”  Fear is a shadow often cast upon us in such a way that renders us, in most cases, incapacitated, shocked, overwhelmed, anxious, disempowered, hopeless, helpless and docile.  This energy is simply a “frequency,” a discordant and chaotic “disturbance in the force,” indeed.  It is a waveform pattern of energy that passes through us on a cellular level (this is why we feel it in “waves”).  And because none of us have a “cellular consciousness,” (way of being) it is inevitable we will succumb to our inaccurate interpretations of this raw energy’s presence.  However, the important word in the last sentence is “passes.”  It can only linger within us only as long as we allow it to persist.  When we refuse to hold space for our “fear,” it dissipates into oblivion.

How do we manage our fear?

When the waves of fear rise and impact us, we have a choice.  We can “believe” that our “fear” is real and accept it as an unfortunate element of our human experience.  Or we can choose to see it for what it really is, an empty, misguided perception and an unconscious expression of our lives.  At the heart of it, “fear” can become a “cop-out,” a “free pass,” an excuse for us not to fulfill upon our destiny.  “Fear” is something we have given our power over to that we have allowed to grow greater than our visions, passions and intentions.

For a moment, ponder how this human misperception has impacted and influenced our society.

There is nothing more powerful or omnipresent in this universe than energy.  There is nothing more powerful within us as human beings than to choose to transpose this raw energy known as “fear” into an expression of love.

If we can create fear in our lives, we can certainly transform it into a key to open many doors of possibility.
For the “real” reality behind the fear we may create in our lives is the acknowledgement that we weren’t courageous, inspired or bold enough to overcome all that may rush up to challenge us in the pursuit of our truth, our faith, our creative expression and our love.

http://www.zengardner.com/fear-fear/

Guise of Divinity

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

“God is a concept, by which we measure our pain.” – John Lennon

Manufactured Divinity

We are all powerful, all potential and all possibility.  We are organic beings that produce energy rivaled only by the Sun and artificial invention.  We are descendents of the light of all creation.  Our hearts are electromagnetic energy generators that not only emit life force, yet connect us to everyone and everything that expresses life.  We are made from the same chemical compounds that are found throughout the galaxy and beyond.  We have the potential to transform any behavior pattern, thought and hereditary trait we may experience.  We have the capacity to create life and we possess the ability to take it away.

Yet, with all of the possibility we express, we have a tendency to become spellbound by our own belief.  With our reverence, we tend to hand over our personal power to a human invented supreme being presented as greater than ourselves.  Gradually we succumb to this “conditioning of the soul” and fall in line with common faith, otherwise known as religion.  We become dependent upon this invisible and imaginary force that, in some form or other, assumes the commonly accepted countenance of God.

We see this representation of divinity in so many people, in so many things and in so many ways within the numerous cultures across the world.  We not only begin to accept these rituals of belief, we take them, for lack of a better word, as Gospel.  We believe to the extent that we have trust in the doctrines and practices more so than we have confidence in ourselves or our family and friends.  The focus of our devotion toward our selected deity grows as our investment in our lives and in ourselves wanes.  We are diverted from our souls and into the arms of a social myth endorsed as “God.”

Edging God Out

The terminology and definition of “God” is a human invention to prevent us from connecting with and expressing our own spirituality.  When we explore this concept further, we find that the common interpretation humanity has adopted of God is only its perception.  At one point in history, a group of men had the idea to devise something that would allow them to be the “middle men” between God as they presented “Him” and the people.  They witnessed the blind and rapturous devotion the people expressed in their exaltation of the almighty focus of their faith.  They monopolized on it in the name of finance, politics, control, power and spiritual supremacy and segregation.

The agenda and strategy most religious organizations impose within their doctrines is becoming more apparent in our contemporary society.  Through the conditioning of the sacrament in many forms of faith, what seems to be missing is the connection that the devotee has with their chosen almighty.  It is interesting to witness the superiority of the “testimony” of those who are in a position of faith when they express it to their fellowships.  It would seem that the lessons being shared with their congregations dictate more of a principle for following belief rather than learning how to establish and maintain a union with their own spirit.

Our dependence upon a power distinct from our own has altered us to the roots of our being.  This reliance has built a barrier between our souls and us.  It has isolated us from our potential, possibility and personal power.  Our denial, unwillingness and fear have separated us from our relatedness with the natural flow of the universe.  We have enabled the publicity of God with our blind faith and hope instead of experiencing its fulfillment by establishing our own connection with our spirit and living our truth.  We subscribe to follow the ministers of belief and sacrifice our choice to lead our own way.  Where we once stood with consciousness, we now kneel at the altar of acquiescence.

The Voice and The Echo

If God is beyond our understanding, how could we ever recognize let alone understand the truth of its existence?  How could we ever hope to relate with something so superior to our consciousness?  Why are we expected to believe in one perception yet condone another?  How can we distinguish between that which is God and that which is merely a reflection proselytized by a representative of faith?  Why are we so hungry to believe in hope and faith yet eventually dismiss it to the peer pressures of our society’s “reality?”

There is a vast difference between God as we may experience it and its perceptual depiction.  There is no one in the world that has the authority, let alone the ability to accurately quantify, identify and articulate what God is, or what it is not.  Beyond all the meaning that humanity has attached to God, it is simply a word consisting of three letters.  It could be said that our own belief, energy, devotion and loyalty are the very elements that have given the concept of God its power.  It is our denial, fear and unwillingness to acknowledge, adopt and accept our potential for spirituality that has made the assumed existence of God all-powerful.

It is not God that has reaped the harvest of the critical mass of human belief.  It is those who have placed themselves between us and our connection with our souls.  It is human kind.  It could be said that God doesn’t need belief.  If God created everything, why would he need our faith or reverence?  Why would he need anything of us at all?  If the purpose of life as we learn in living it is to honor, keep and share it, why would we choose to dedicate a great deal of it looking outside of ourselves for what can only be found within?

Guide Of Divinity

We sense only a fraction of all that exists in the universe.  We experience life and the world through our own perceptual filter we have established in our lives.   We can begin to acknowledge that everything we have ever experienced of God is only that which we have learned or can relate to within ourselves.  It could be said that there is little difference between God and a human being.  We can create.  We can destroy.  We can express righteousness.  We can cast judgment.  We can bless others with our love and we can curse then with our hate (fear).

Who we are going to be and how we benefit others as well as ourselves is what makes us divine.  We are only human when we believe that is all we are.  As powerful as we believe God to be, we are as well.  When we let go of the stigmata of being human, we can accept the ultimate truth.  We are the guides of our own spirituality.  We are all of which we look to God.  We are the manifestation of God.

We are the emanation of life.

http://www.zengardner.com/guise-divinity/

Who We Are

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

The Fallacy of Physicality:

We are born into what most perceive a physical world.  We burst through the vaginal cavities of our mothers into a cold, cruel, complex and cutthroat reality.  When we are delivered, we possess everything we require to adapt, develop, excel, achieve, transform and thrive in life.  The moment we draw our first breath outside of the womb, we have attached ourselves to the material experience.  It is that expression of our will to live that determines our purpose, commitment and destiny.

The first twenty or more years of our lives we are processed through a vast labyrinth of information, rules, disciplines, social structures, evaluations and tests.  We experience few successes, many failures and parental, peer and authority persuasion.  With every day that passes, we yield more of who we were born to be and become more of a product of that which society conditions us to be.  We are so distracted by what is going on around us we are oblivious to the gradual death that occurs within.  We sacrifice our heart and soul in a needless pursuit for inauthentic belonging.

It is easy to be drawn into the fear, drama and reality of physical life.  The potential of pain, illness, punishment, disease and death is an ample antagonist to ensure our compliance.  Yet, no matter how “real,” dire or shocking it may be, the physical world is an illusion.  We have allowed ourselves to believe that all we see is all that is real.  We have turned our backs on the essence of the universe and ourselves by being seduced, stimulated, entertained and enslaved by our sensuality.

The House of Mirrors:

The greatest enigma in the existence of humanity is the mind.  There is nothing in our being-ness more active, complex, spellbinding, intriguing and bewildering.  From an early age we are confronted with millions of ideas, thoughts and judgments that bombard us and shape the course of our values, opinions and perceptions.  As our intelligence develops, our innocence, sense of wonder, intuition and creativity fades.  Decades of exposure to institutional information deprive us the development of our true wisdom.

There is a schism that matures in our minds during the process of our education, belief and social influence.  Our societal structures are engineered in a way to prevent and even prohibit us from connecting with others beyond our instinct and intellect.  These systems focus on the growth and programming of our left-brain so we eventually resign ourselves to a linear existence.  These methods gradually segregate us from our right brain and our natural desire and necessity to create and express.

As we mature into adulthood, we find it more difficult to experience life beyond the boundaries of our mind and body.  Our ability to feel and intuit with our heart and soul is distorted by the rigid guidelines of the common reality.  When we transcend this two-dimensional lifestyle, we relate emotionally and spiritually with others and we experience vital life epiphanies and insights.  These encounters are the breadcrumbs on our path of illumination, when we choose to acknowledge and apply them to our lives.

The Heart of the Heart:

Society has taught us that matters of the heart are a sign of weakness and a minor priority in life.  Emotionality has been attributed more to women than men.  Like the schism in our mind, this popular perception has caused a division between the sexes that has separated us not only from our relatives and significant others, yet also with ourselves.  The human race has become a de-compartmentalized species afraid of its own shadow.  Our fear of feeling has alienated us from our soul.

Our heart is the forgotten warrior of our being.  Amidst the constant demands of our body and the continual drone of our mind, its enduring and omnipotent presence centers and grounds us into a multi-dimensional existence.  Our instincts may deceive us and our intelligence may outwit us, yet our heart is our truest human quality.  Its very expression offers clarity, guidance, insight and enlightenment.  In the moments of our anger, upset, drama, confusion and fear, it reminds us who we are.

The center of our inner universe is our heart.  It is the eternal, electromagnetic core of our being, the gateway to our soul and the lightning rod of our intuition.  It is of course the most vital organ that pumps and distributes blood throughout the body.  Yet it is also what provides our body and energy field with essential life force.  It balances, sustains and expands our being.  The quality of our experience of life is dependent upon how conscious of, present to and expressive we are with this energy.

The Song of the Soul:

When we choose to transcend the trappings of the mortal world, there is a place within us all that reflects a brilliance, beauty and majesty greater than any beheld on earth.  It cannot be seen, heard, touched, tasted and barely can be felt.  It is only experienced beyond our sensory expression.  It is a feeling, yet much more.  It is in the moments when all of our senses work in concert with each other we are able to capture a mere glimpse of the absolute splendor of our soul.

Every time we close our eyes, ears and mouths we become present to our purest potential.  Our truth can only be found beyond the intimidating silence within us all.  We are related with our bodies, minds and hearts, though we are so much more than we could possibly imagine.  We may never experience the infinite heights and profound depths of our spirit until we transcend the physical world.  The influence and impact of our body’s desires, our mind’s reason and our heart’s empathy are our greatest distractions.  As inevitable and inescapable as they may seem, they are not insurmountable.

Who we are is a conduit of energy that channels the essential elements of free will, creativity, life force and love.  We are an expression of focused being with the purpose of sharing our essence with the world.  Who we are is the manifestation of everything that has ever been, is and will ever be.  We are only as powerful as we choose to be.  Who we are is the missing piece to a magnificent mystery only our true destiny may fulfill.  We are everything we have ever sought to find outside of ourselves.  Who we are is the measure of our passion to live life, affirmed by our birth and freed in our transcendence.  We are the expression of the source of all creation.

Who we are is the vision of pure being come true.

http://www.zengardner.com/who-we-are/

The Frequency of Being

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

Wake:

Our lives are defined and cultivated by how present to, interactive and expressive we are with them.  The nature of our consciousness is the exact manifestation of our experience.  Yet, before we may be able to reap the benefits that awareness brings, we must first wake up to all of which we are not cognizant.  We must be willing to identify with all that we don’t know.  In fact, we need to reveal all that we don’t know we don’t know about our lives and ourselves.  We must transcend the imposition of contemporary reality and our conditioned selves to accept, embrace and live our truth.

This requires radical, unconventional thinking and instincts.  It also necessitates an enlightened emotional and intuitive way of being.  It isn’t for us to simply wake up, discover and contemplate the war, chaos, drama, injustice, competition and violence in the world.  There is little if anything we can do about this.  It is for us to acknowledge, manage and transform these characteristics within each of us that contribute to these common maladies, diseases and atrocities rampant in our society.  None of these things existed until the human race outsmarted itself with its own “intelligence.”

One of the most potent and destructive vicious cycles ever invented by humanity is its relentless tendency to expand its intelligence at the cost of its consciousness.  Our ordinary, two-dimensional life sentence of self-righteousness, condemnation, proving our intelligence, belief, wisdom and importance are all just expressions of our living slumber.  In the presence of awareness, compassion, kindness, cooperation and love, none of these things matter.  They are only traps of the mind that lead us to our self-induced prison.

Awaken:

Once we have chosen to wake up from the dream of reality, it is our human destiny to kindle the fire of our consciousness.  How we tend it and who we are being expresses the quality and fruition of our life.  We need to acknowledge and understand that being “awake” requires a true and continual intention to relate with and expand our consciousness.  Our awakening isn’t an event at one point in our lives.  It is a frequent, multi-dimensional experience that constantly inspires and empowers us beyond the limits of our social conditioning and fear.

One of the greatest obstacles and distractions on our path toward awakening is our ego.  Its militant aspects relentlessly seek to take the spotlight from our soul.  It captures us in its elaborate tapestry of thought, perception, analysis, judgment and narcissism.  Yet, its intention is not one of supremacy or maliciousness.  It is simply exercising its nature in the only way it can.  It becomes dominant when we allow it to be an unbridled force of havoc and harm.  Without appropriate observation and regulation, it becomes a multi-faceted personal weapon.

In our pursuit of comfort, security and escape from reality, we allow ourselves to become idle, complacent and ordinary.  We commit the ultimate self-crime by giving our personal power away and allowing society’s artificial authority and conditioning to lull us to sleep.  Life is not defined by our material successes, possessions or footprint.  It is lived in our awareness, willingness and purpose.  Anything that lives is always in a state of movement.  The power of our life is equivalent to the measure of its expression.  So it is with our awakening.  Our awareness is ever progressing and expanding with our intention, commitment, empowerment and love.

Rise:

There are many times in our lives when a door of opportunity is opened before us.  Yet, rarely do we see it.  When we do, we psych ourselves out using a number of reasons, excuses, obligations and fears.  These are the possibilities that create the life we have always yearned to live.  Though they may seem bold, outlandish, far-fetched and terrifying, they are glimpses of the extraordinary in a reality steeped in the ordinary.  Our opportunities are frightening because they present themselves only to us for our experience.  It simply requires us to choose, to live and to be them.  This is how we express our power.

As human beings, we rarely, if ever, rise to the occasion of our destiny.  Many of us don’t know our true purpose in life.  We are forced through a process of education, indoctrination, conditioning, parental and authoritative guidance/discipline and constant peer pressure.  These influences keep us in a continuous state of anxiety, bewilderment and fear.  We become the effect of an elusive and hidden cause.  One we witness many chasing yet only few achieving.  We are lost in the maze of reality’s distractions till we are inevitably severed from ourselves.

Every moment we live is an opportunity to be in the present.  This is not merely a religious, dogmatic or spiritual principle.  It is our only possibility to be the fullest expression of our being.  Any other way of living is a distraction from this simple yet insightful revelation.  The sooner we acknowledge, accept and apply who we are to how and why we live, the sooner we will fulfill on our destiny and become whom we were born to be.

Truth:

Most of us live our lives in the wake of our reactionary instincts, thoughts and the drama of our unconscious emotions.  This takes us out of the present moment and separates us from our consciousness.  Few are aware of the severity this inner violence has upon us and how it devastates the evolution of our lives.  Who, why and how we are being in our life inspires our awakening.  Our frequency of being is the avenue for our heart and soul’s expression.  Its energetic signature and regularity deepens and expands our vision, truth, intention, creativity, relatedness and love.

There is no textbook, course, lecture, seminar, retreat, guru, shaman, preacher, teacher, friend or family member that can guide us to or establish our personal truth.  Our truth is not offered best with our overconfidence, over-zealousness, self-righteousness, arrogance and competitiveness.  In its truest nature, it is rarely spoken.  It is best shared silently within us for the purpose of personal acceptance, growth and transformation.  Our truth is the one thing our communities and the world needs most.  Only when it becomes our way of being will it reach its fullest potential.

From the moment we are born we have millions of opportunities to wake from our reality, awaken from our perceptions and judgments, rise above our limitations and fears and establish our personal truth.  For most, the expression and frequency of being in life is optional.  This is the slavery of our soul.  It is not some external person or elusive force that prevents us from being.  It is we and we alone.  There is no one else who can lead us.  There is no one else who can free us.  Every moment is our opportunity to free our souls.  Every moment is our opportunity to be.

http://www.zengardner.com/frequency/

Being Present in the Present

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

Living History:
We are surrounded, enamored and consumed by our past. It is in everything, everywhere and everyone we know. It is our comfort zone, our personal security blanket to protect us from the world. Our past does not haunt or stalk us. It is in us. It lingers in the shadows of our minds like infinite echoes eternally bouncing off of each other. When we choose to view our lives through our antiquated filters we are living in our past. Most of us avoid releasing our past from our perception. Eventually, we fail to see how much of our past is in our present and inevitably our future.

It isn’t that the past is particularly safe, comfortable, enriching or illuminating. The past is relative. It is only beneficial to us when we may overlook something advantageous in our present. Its greatest value is in the expression of our awareness in the moment. Consciousness is the true measurement of our experience. The more conscious we are in our present, the more we will harvest from it when it has become our past. Who we were and who we may become ultimately creates who we are.

Our society is living in the past. We are constantly conditioned, influenced, entertained and frightened into its familiarity, certainty, docility and false security. It is an illusion we consciously and unconsciously construct and sustain for the sake of our selective remembrances, possession accumulations and professional achievements. Our past is a fragile and diverse fantasy we enable to escape the severity of society’s present reality. This survival strategy we adopt disconnects us from our lives and imprisons us with our own apathy, pride, cynicism and fear. We become enslaved by our experience with the artificial safety and finality of our relativity.

Over the Horizon:
As human beings we have an extraordinary power to focus our attention, project our energy and connect with anything we choose. Whether it is a healthy or unhealthy expression, the ability to do so is inexplicably misunderstood, disregarded, invalidated and unemployed. We live in a social structure that has gradually diminished and destroyed the necessity and importance of being the pioneers of our true path. It scatters us into various directions leading us away from our lives and ourselves. We have been persistently distracted, traumatized and emasculated into our soul’s sacrifice.

Whereas our past may dictate, alter or consume our present, the probable future can be equally as ominous and influential. When we fantasize about what may be, we inevitably compromise the awareness, quality and possibility of our present. We become a perpetual pendulum swinging between what was and what may be. In so doing, we rarely occupy our present long enough to give ourselves the opportunity to identify, cultivate and manifest our truth, mission and life. Our present is annihilated by the existence of our archaic memories, empty dreams and unconscious fears.

Our future is dependent upon our insights, thoughts, choices and actions in our present. It is in a continual flux until the moment we manifest it into our present reality. When we have produced an outcome in our lives, it becomes a fixed experience that instantaneously becomes our past. Even when we alter the dynamic of its existence, it is simply a variation of an obsolete life experience. More often than not, we are kicking the proverbial can of our future further in front of us just before it is actualized. Even our ideal perception and desire of what we would like our future to be can alter its creation and existence.

The Present of the Present:
At any time in our life we may find ourselves a split second ahead or behind expressing our purpose and creating our destiny. Unbeknownst to us, the achievement and success of our intended fate is often earned or lost within the slightest degree of experience. This slim measure is the distinction between living in the past, the present or the future. We neglect to generate and maintain a functional consciousness that would allow us to acknowledge and distinguish this minute diversity. We are rarely effective in our ability to keep our lives, let alone ourselves in the moment.

However difficult it may be to ground and center ourselves into the present, it is vital to our evolution. It is only in the present when we are able to connect with our intuition. It is only in the present when we find the sacred balance and harmony within that allows us to obtain and express our vision, purpose and destiny. It is only in the present we can fully become who we were meant to be. It is only in the present when we are creating our life. It is only in the present when we can fully experience love. The past and the future may appear real. Yet, the present is all that is true.

Beyond Now:
There is an infinite emanation of life occurring in the present that is beyond our senses, comprehension, competence and imagination. Before we are able to acknowledge, understand and interact with the multiplicity of the present, we are inundated with social diversions. Our three dimensional reality, social conditioning, common sense and beliefs compromise our consciousness, creativity, possibility and intuition. This temporal battle rages within us. It sources our insecurity, uncertainty, indifference, cognitive dissonance and fear. We become that to which we concede.

The present is a proactive, powerful, creative and extraordinary life expression. When we are in and aware of the present to the best of our ability, we live everything as we were intended. What once appeared to be linear in dimension, perception and experience transforms. We become aware of the multi-faceted existence of being. This is not something that is initiated simply by our shift in consciousness. It is the natural dynamic of universal experience. The present is an eternal gateway that allows us to exist in concert with numerous realms of being.

The present is not the destination of our journey. It is simply the foundation upon which we choose to live. The present is as unpredictable as the future. It is a multi-dimensional experience of being. Infinite possibilities are expressed from the womb of its presence. When we seek to control, inhibit and manipulate its outcome, it results in only what we individually think or believe. The present isn’t intended to satisfy the ego, desire and will of the few. It exists to transform, inspire and empower all. When we are conscious and related in our lives we truly experience it. Only then are we able to be an infinite expression of the present. Only then are we able to create, share and be the fulfilled nature of its possibilities.

http://www.zengardner.com/present-present/