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/

In the Name of Life

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In The Name of Life

“We cannot truly live until we die.
Die to everything familiar, comfortable, secure and known.
We must be willing to live our every breath,
so we may be able to breathe through our death.”

The Illusion of Life:
We are eternal beings of energy with endless possibility that co-exist vicariously through the disillusionment of a three-dimensional, physical reality. The societal culture in which we “survive” programs, conditions, indoctrinates and frequently threatens us with the mere probability of fear. It isn’t even “our” fear we feel that is the source of our perpetual anxiety. It is the illusion of an imminent fear that poses the greatest peril to our well being. (Please refer to my article, “The Fear of Fear.”) The bait and switch of reality diverts our focus from life and replaces it with the imposition of death.

From the moment we claim our consciousness, we are inundated with the daunting undercurrents of our eventual, earthly demise. Whether or not we are present to it, a part of our awareness is always transfixed upon this physical certainty. It may begin as a reluctant acceptance, yet it ultimately becomes a silent, arresting force that can accelerate our destiny with it. The more we resist the ultimate truth we one day will pass from this world; the more we give our power over to it. This perception we unwillingly adopt leads to serving a sentence instead of creating a life.

In the multi-dimensional experience of the now we are constantly birthing and dying simultaneously. From our cells in our body to our thoughts in our minds and our emotions in our hearts, we are progressively and continuously evolving and expanding our being-ness. Yet, it is our chosen perspective of life that determines its quality, purpose and fulfillment. We do not live in a culture that promotes, expresses and sustains the energy of life. We exist in a society that imposes, controls and manipulates the belief in death. It is our conflict with our own consciousness that enables our mortal experience.

A Life of Death:
Everyday of our lives we are surrounded by death. Whether it is the casualties of accidents, addictions, crimes, diseases, famine, prejudice, religious conflicts or wars, our senses are assaulted with the graphic images of fatality. We have become desensitized by its frequent illustrations of horror and finality. The media uses depictions of death to hypnotize and terrorize its consumers into a perpetual state of apprehension. Even our perception of death has been manipulated by our authoritarian culture to reflect an ultimate fear instead of encourage an opportunity for transcendent experiences of being.

Our adopted perspective of life viewed through the common filter of death results in our expression of age. Those whom resist it or avoid its inevitability usually age more rapidly than those whom accept it as a part of the blessing of life. Living with an intention of evading death leads to a diminished quality of life, often resulting in illness, injury and terminal disease. When we allow our lives to be filled with the imposing presence of death, we sacrifice our life force to our subconscious self. We transmute our truth, potential, purpose and destiny into anxiety, apathy, dis-ease and fear.

Within and Without:
The natural world, the environment and our contemporary society are saturated with a violent toxicity this world has never seen. It is one of the greatest epidemics the human race has ever encountered, yet rarely acknowledges. It is chemicals and additives in our food and water supplies. It is chemtrails, fracking and the extraction and refining of fossil fuels. It is lethal energetic frequencies of Wi-Fi, “smart” products and cell phones and their towers. We are perpetually being irradiated by the very technology invented for our “benefit.” Modern convenience has made our lives a walking death.

Moment to moment, our consciousness is conceded to the “death” we adopt as “reality.” It is everywhere in everything. We have grown so accustomed to its presence and influence we have conditioned ourselves to accept it as truth. In our pursuit of status, recognition, success, and survival, we have sacrificed our connection with the eternal abundance of the universe for fleeting, material self-gratification. We are hopelessly and helplessly hypnotized by this mirage of human existence. Our entitlement to a decadent mortality ultimately becomes our eminent destruction.

The nature of our culture is contrary to the energy of life. Humanity’s critical mass has enabled a regression of existence by fixating on what it does instead of who it is being. Everyday we emulate death by how we choose, or rather don’t choose to live our life. The essence of life is determined by creating possibilities of who we are being with the power of our choices and how we express them. When we are unwilling to breathe intention into our life with our commitment to it, our existence is absolute. There is no room for inventing our life to be anything other than it is. Our life becomes our death.

The Measure of Life:
The natural progression of our spirit on Earth is illuminated by our intuition, expressed by our heart center, interpreted by our minds and manifested into our physical reality with our actions. As above, so below. However, the structure of our contemporary culture eventually eliminates the relationship we have with our heart and soul. It emphasizes institutionalized thought, belief and fear to stimulate an inferior, instinctual lifestyle steeped in a plethora of addictions, attractions, distractions, deceptions and impossibility. Our lives are dead long before we begin to truly experience them.

Our life shouldn’t be dictated by our eventual death, our death ought to be determined by our life. It isn’t about life and death at all. This is the two-dimensional trap of our three-dimensional experience on Earth. It prevents us from identifying and claiming our natural expression of being. In the temporal world, our being-ness is the only thing we are that is eternal. Everything else is an illusion. Death is a control pattern, a business, a competition and an egocentric endeavor. Life is a thriving experience of everlasting truth, growth, empowerment, inspiration and abundance.

In a world of death it is very difficult to truly live. As challenging as it may be to live in a society that is continually dying, it is by no means impossible. We must be willing to let go of the death we cause and allow in our lives. The measure of our life is best expressed in our commitment and intention to identify and transform the death we are living. This way of being requires our authenticity, integrity, inspiration and purpose.

It is our soul’s destiny to stand in the face of death and choose to live in the name of life.

http://www.zengardner.com/in-the-name-of-life/

Elemental Medicine

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

Air:
The primary blessing we are given when we are born is our breath. This is the first medicine without which we would not survive. Our ability to take and give our breath is also our initial expression of life. The awareness of our breath is the true measure of our consciousness. As present as we are to our breath is as present as we are to our life. Yet it is not just the breath we take that is vital. What has become essential in our contemporary world is the quality of air from which we draw. Our environment is more lethal than it has ever been. We are killing ourselves with our own chosen toxicity.

Our breath sets the tone of our lives. We all breathe, though it is so ordinary to us that we arent even sentient of our breath. It eventually becomes another automatic element of our existence. When our breath becomes habitual, we tend to breathe primarily through our mouths. We dont receive the full benefit of our breath. Only when we breathe deeply and rhythmically through our nostrils do we obtain the optimal filtration our lungs provide. The quality of our lives and how long they endure is dependent upon the commitment and consciousness we exercise while we are breathing.

Our breath is the heart of our human experience. The greater our intention to breathe an abundance of purified air, the greater our ability to cleanse ourselves of the toxicity that has grown within us. Our lives begin and end with our breath. Our conscious breath can instantaneously transform our vision, perception, mood, behavior and life. The measure to which we are aware of and exercise our breath is equivalent to the measure we draw from the essence of life that thrives within and around us. The quality of the breath we inhale and exhale most certainly impacts all with whom we are related.

Water:
Our body and the planet upon which we live consist primarily of water. Water is the second medicine. It is the most cleansing and purifying element of our existence. Yet it is also the most destructive and fatal. Water by its very nature is a perfect reflection of its environment. It is a force both mutable and powerful. Its relationship with air is unique in that it cannot exist without it. Water creates air by evaporation whereas air creates water through density. It is no coincidence that clouds are the children of air and water. The union between the two is the most sacred and vital synthesis.

Much like its predecessor air, water is a cornerstone in the foundation of all life. The more water we consume, the more we cleanse ourselves of the toxicity we may carry. However, the quality of the water we drink, cook with or bathe in determines the measure of our purification. Water is the most powerful healing agent available to living beings. It sustains our body’s natural ability to heal itself of most ailments and injuries. When we drink water we are not just being revitalized or hydrated, we are also oxidizing ourselves from the inside out. We are refreshing our blood, cells and organs.

Water is the most essential element. Purified water improves and transforms our health by assisting our immune system in protecting our body from the plethora of viruses present in our contemporary society. The extraordinary healing and purification properties of water create an environment within us that makes it very difficult for illnesses or infections to exist. Waters conductive purposes are as powerful as its natural ability to hydrate. It is not just the water itself that sustains our health; it is also the energy we put into the water that carries our intention.

Earth:
The third medicine is Earth. It grants us equilibrium, stability and relativity. It gives us the solidity upon which we may ground. Yet, it is not just the permanence it provides that allows us to exist upon its ever-evolving landscape. It is also the energy emanating from its core to its crust that enhances our consciousness, creativity, purpose and destiny. This energy sources our experience of life in ways that are beyond measure, meaning, worth and imagination. It empowers our body’s natural healing and regenerative powers. Earth is the foundation of our three dimensional being-ness.

Everything the earth provides is medicine. From the vitamins and minerals in rocks, stones and crystals, to the dirt, mud and sand, to the roots, plants and trees. Nature in all its expressions provides a surplus of elements to nourish, cleanse, heal and sustain us. Our only requirement for the ability to utilize these gifts is the appropriate knowledge and commitment to harvest, apply and replenish them. The synthesis of our relationship with these medicines determines the quality and fate of life for both the earth and our selves. Yet it is up to us to choose this extraordinary opportunity.

Fire:
Before the first ember was fanned into flame by our ancient ancestors, the darkness of the night reigned unchallenged. Fire brought with it warmth, light and comfort, yet also conversation, community and illumination. It offered confidence, courage and hope and eventually aspiration, passion and fortitude. Fire enhanced the experience of life for our earliest relatives. It gave them focus, insight, purpose and wisdom. The mysterious and fluid light and motion of fire alone has captivated generations. Fire is the heart of our society bringing us all together unlike any other element.

The fourth medicine offers a diverse and unique purification and healing. Its heat, light and intensity burns away our toxins, ailments, thoughts, concerns and fears. Fire instantaneously transforms our behavior, mood, environment and experience of life. Our body’s natural fire emerges as a fever to process our toxins, stabilize our imbalances and heal our illnesses. The human traits of creativity, insight, inspiration and empowerment are related with this element. Our inner fire manifests as our passion, desire and dedication to transcend all that prevents or prohibits our enlightenment.

Spirit:
There is nothing in this world more misunderstood, misrepresented, commercialized and exploited than the fifth medicine. All that is of spirit is primarily ridiculed, manipulated or discredited. Our society is structured in a way that separates us from our soul. This distorts our natural ability to experience many diverse dimensions of being. Our energy and focus is constantly disrupted by a multitude of artificial elements designed to distract us from our souls. When we chose to live a lifestyle as an expression of spirit, it can be revealing, challenging and overwhelming. Yet it is rewarding, illuminating and fulfilling.

Our four dimensional consciousness cannot be achieved until we create the necessary elemental alchemy. It requires the balance of the four medicines of our being, our body (earth), mind (air), heart (water) and soul (fire). When this equilibrium within us is established and maintained, we are able to become present to our intuition. This is the gateway to our soul allowing us to relate and commune with our spirit in the energetic frequency most commonly felt and experienced as love. This gives us access to an infinite resource of creativity, intention, healing and energy.

Spirit is the multi-dimensional essence that unites all the elements. It is the invisible presence that inspires and sustains all life. Our soul is what empowers our being to thrive to our greatest potential and possibility. It grants us the vision to see that we are accountable for, beholden to and interrelated with all living beings both on and beyond this world. This is the fullest expression of our multi-dimensional existence. We are the medicine for which we have yearned. Our souls are declared only by the integrity of our commitment to fulfill our natural purpose and become all that we are destined to be.

http://www.zengardner.com/elemental-medicine/

An Emanation of Truth

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

Under the Influence:

Our world, as we have been led to believe, is an illusion.  All of us live out our days performing the roles we have been conditioned to adopt with the belief it is for a greater cause.  Yet, this synthetic purpose serves only the few at the grave cost of the many.  Our perceptions have been manipulated over the span of our lives to hypnotize us into accepting a meager, ordinary, repressed, and selfish existence.  We measure the growth of our progression by our physical appeal, our programmed intellect and our social status, while we avoid, dismiss and discredit the essential expressions of our heart and soul.

Soul Sacrifice:

There is a massive gap between what we interpret as spirituality, religion or faith and its authentic and resourceful application into our daily lives. Many of us flock to our selected practice searching for sanctity, knowledge and the meaning of life.  We kneel in blind devotion to superficial entities feigned to exist far beyond our limited commitment, comprehension and willingness.  What we either don’t choose or don’t want to realize about our fidelity is that we are handing over our personal power to various beliefs sourced not by spirit, yet invented and exploited by man.

Global Exploitation:

Everything about the three dimensional reality in which we exist is manipulated.  From the seemingly most sacred to the utterly profane, everything we encounter in our daily occurrences has come under malevolent influence.  As atypical as genuine epiphanies are in our modern lives is as rare we discover pure and true experiences beyond the realm of mortal persuasion.  Our natures have become attuned to the energy of manipulation.  It has desensitized, diminished and destroyed our innate propensities for acceptance, compassion, understanding, wisdom and love.

Living the Lie:

The wool of our cynicism, denial, judgment, insecurity and fear has been pulled over our perceptions.  We enable exploitation to occur in our experiences simply because we are too terrified to claim and live our truth, purpose and destiny.  It isn’t just the social indoctrination we are all exposed to well before the time, if ever, we remember who we truly are.  It isn’t even the betrayal all of us suffer from those whom we believe are closest to us.  We are all eventually seduced by and compliant to the artificial belonging, meaning and principle of common reality.

“How we perceive is what we believe.”

An Affinity for Acquiescence:

Since the dawn of belief, history, legends, stories and traditions have been invented to distract us from our souls.  We have been attached to a blind faith in others more than we empower trust in ourselves.  Our dependency upon the external world has enabled an ever-expanding, internal vortex that has left us aimless, empty and unfulfilled.  We have been modified to a simulated lifestyle of attention, desire, status and survival.  It has become the very nature of our existence.  This has conditioned us to seek in others what we can only truly discover within ourselves.

Swimming Upstream:

Contemporary society is designed to function and exist against the flow of humanity.  This is why for most of the world; life is deemed as “difficult.”  The elements of apathy, challenge and distress are constantly and strategically infused into our everyday reality.  We enable this belief and lifestyle by deciding to perceive it as such instead of choosing to embrace it as a powerful opportunity to transform ourselves and make a difference.  The mere perception that life is excruciating and insurmountable provides the perfect circumstance and excuse to yield our personal power and become social slaves.

Elusive Epiphanies:

We are multi-dimensional beings with vision and potential that reaches well beyond our human experience of imagination.  We have the ability to create, express, exist and destroy.  Our potential for adaptation, endurance, relation and transformation far surpasses our inclinations to consume, think, reason or feel.  Our addictions to our personal dramas, judgments and opinions distort our discovery, focus and purpose.  We have the inherent ability to clarify, intend and manifest all that our heart and soul desires.  Yet we continue to sacrifice our opportunities at the zenith of their possibility.

“It is only as real as we believe it to be.”

Towing the Line:

For centuries, the human race has born witness to the tragic consequences of a society ruled by the wants of the few at the cost of the needs of the many.  Each of us bears the burden of this “reality.”  Most of us are not willing to be present to or engaged in the human catastrophes of global inequality, injustice and impunity.  It has become contemptible, impractical and political to identify or entertain the vital issues of our contemporary time.  Consciousness transcends the current trends of our society, though its presence and expression garners great animosity and resistance.

Turning the Tide:

Those of us committed to and empowered by truth realize standing for it always requires great sacrifice, dedication and ridicule.  When we are inspired to choose to embark on our journey for authenticity, integrity, purpose and the fulfillment of our true destiny, the whole world appears to descend upon us.  The more we live against the popular currents of present day society, not with defiance but intention; we realize that even the strongest tides shift.  The affirmations we receive when our actions, thoughts, feelings and insights make a difference are the foundation upon which our transformation is possible.

A Call to Destiny:

We each have a vital contribution in the evolution and transcendence of the human race.  Our intuitive vision, personal power and creative expression make an extraordinary difference in the way we perceive, interact and exist in society.  The composition of our reality is created in the wake of our focus, truth, purpose and love.  The extent of our expansion and transformation is defined by our commitment to express, share and sustain its presence in our daily lives.  No matter how often we have opted to defer our personal responsibility, we are entitled only to fulfill our destiny.

An Emanation of Truth:

The world will always be exploited to the degree we enable with our amusement, drama, egotism, indifference and oblivion.  The power and possibility to transcend the present condition of society has always been within us.  It is up to all of us to offer our personal contribution for its manifestation.  Each one of our unique expressions is essential and significant to the multi-dimensional experience of global transformation.  This is the fundamental dynamic of enlightenment.  It is the only choice we will ever have to make.  If we don’t choose to be a universal emanation of truth, who will?

http://www.zengardner.com/an-emanation-of-truth-2/

Eye of the Beholder

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

“The way we see the world is not how it is.
Who we choose to be in the world is what it becomes.”

Shades of Perception:

The bell is tolling in the broken down, forgotten cathedral of truth.  Its ring echoes down the streets and corridors through the cities, suburbs, projects and underbellies of the world.  We have become disinterested, desensitized and dismissive to its crucial, earnest and awakening call.  Once there was a time in the not so distant past when its chime would gather together all who were in earshot of its sincere signal.  Now, its beckon has droned off into the white noise of our insatiable desires for amusement, competition, intelligence, profit, vanity, self-righteousness and inauthentic security.

Our society has invented a disposable marketplace of compliance, censure, conquest, distraction, disassociation, disease, hatred and fear.  This has engineered such a distortion of reality and its perception that confusion, collusion and illusion reign.  Education, religion, politics, media sources and entertainment manipulate perspective into opinion further deluding common understanding.  The eyes and minds of the world are blinded by agenda, arrogance, belief, pride and judgment.  All that we have conceded to be our contemporary experience of life is simply a dream within a dream, within a dream…

What we have been led to believe is true are all lies.  Common and popular points of view have gradually alienated us from the truth.  The imposition of an artificial reality shapes, influences, overwhelms and ultimately annihilates any possibility of divergence.  Our perceptions are altered and distorted in our everyday lives.  Yet, they are even more so in our minds.  We are besieged by the onslaught of visual and audible stimulus and the energetic impacts of lethal, electromagnetic emissions.  As many thoughts we have are as many instances our perceptions of life are hijacked.

A Slight of View:

We surrender the potential and power of our perception as easily and frequently as we give our life force over to people, things and circumstances that are of little to no benefit.  We are shadows of the human beings we were born, inspired and empowered to be.  Instead of creating our lives as the expression of our truth, we predominantly emulate fantasies that prevent us from achieving our intentions.  We adopt layers upon layers of perceptual filters that inevitably obstruct our ability to see the world as it is, let alone ourselves as we truly could become.

We do not establish our own true perception.  We accept, adapt and adopt our point of view based on our external attractions, influences, relations and situations.  Creating our own perspective requires us to claim the power of our choice, purpose, life and destiny.  Our society does not support this lifestyle.  It discourages, punishes and condemns creativity and diversity.  It is counterproductive to the network of control the few enforce upon the many.  We all choose, or rather don’t choose to claim our true vision.  We resign ourselves to be enslaved by our own fear.

Our lives unfurl beneath a vast umbrella of human deception.  The world enables this grand swindle with its apprehension, attention, energy and unconscious consumerism.  Eventually, we all become vital components in this insatiable and insidious machine.  Our apathy, cynicism, indifference and resignation are the building blocks of our simulated perspectives.  Our perception doesn’t produce or influence reality.  Reality invents our perception.  It enforces an interpretive barrier in our observation of and interaction with how we understand reality and ultimately how we create our truth.

“We cannot see nor do we choose to perceive the world as it is because we deny our active role in its current dilemma.”

The Tao of Now:

Whosoever controls perception controls the world.  Much of society is ruled by opinion.  The facts, realities and truth of humanity are most often abandoned in the global, sacrificial ceremony we call “life.”  Perception is exploited into a vortex of greed, vanity and status.  This distortion of perspective separates us from each other and ourselves.  It inspires us to doubt our relatives, condemn the accused, hate our opponents and fear all who are distinct from the contrived norm.  It is this common fear that has become the superficial belonging we all cling to for importance, worth, orientation and relativity.

We are multi-dimensional beings with a four-dimensional consciousness existing in a three-dimensional reality having a predominantly two-dimensional experience.  This is our true nature when we are born into this world.  As we “grow up,” we are programmed by and conditioned to the three-dimensional reality and imprisoned in the two-dimensional experience.  We eventually surrender the eclecticism of our essence.  The piranha of contemporary culture maniacally and methodically takes it from us.  Yet, it is not simply a conditioning of the mind.  It is a manipulation of perception.

Linear time is the greatest weapon used in three-dimensional reality.  Our perception is consistently and relentlessly attuned to an ominous, possible future, yet most often focused on an incomplete and regrettable past.  Our lives are restricted by the uncertainty of what may be and the discontent of what was.  This is the mirage of common reality. The only experience that is true in our lives is this moment.  Everything else is an illusion.  Even the future is a fantasy in relation to the now.  Who we are being in the present is the only practice that will transform our life.

Eye of the Observer:

All of us are enamored within our personal hypnosis.  We invent fantasies to present our lives to others as being of great value, meaning and purpose.  We become so attached to what happens around us that we are not present to the extraordinary within.  Most of us live from our peripheral.  We rely upon external sources for direction, influence and motivation to make our choices, accomplish our routine tasks and endure.  This is the three-dimensional perception of our two-dimensional experience.  Yet, we rarely identify, consult and apply our own clarity, leadership, strength and wisdom.

The most overlooked and undervalued facet of our being is our “observing eye.”  This is our “third eye.”  It sources our epiphanies, insights, consciousness, transformation, creativity and enlightenment.  With this unique perception we are able to live from our intuition.  Our inner observer is not a locality within us.  It is an essential expression of our being.  This is our true personality.  It was who we were as children and who we are destined to be.  Our commitment to stand in and experience ourselves with the eye of the observer grants us the freedom to transform ourselves and ultimately reality.

We are not our perceptions.  No matter how much power we may give to them, they are merely echoes of our intellect.  We are almost entirely run by our positions due to our lack of commitment to consciousness.  Awareness for most is merely optional.  The less we create for ourselves, the more likely we become victims of our perceptions.  It may seem extremely daunting to reclaim our power from the imposition of this virtual reality.  Yet, our choice to transcend the tides of social influence and obligation is the distinction between simply surviving reality and truly thriving in our truth.

“The true power of experience is not in how it is seen, it is in how it is felt.”

http://www.zengardner.com/eye-of-the-beholder-2/

Trump This and Bern That!

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

Elective Bargaining:

It is a presidential election year and the masses are emerging from their political slumber.  Every four years the nation becomes encumbered and ensnared within the duality that is the American voting process.  Like a college sports rivalry, politics divides couples, families, friends, business associates and communities.  As always, the powers that be are ratcheting up the politico machine to amuse, deceive, distract, enrage, hypnotize, intrigue and stupefy society.  The establishment plays us all like a maestro their instrument.  Every time, we take the bait, note for dissonant note.

Elusive Leadership:

We are all born leaders, yet we are not educated, empowered, encouraged, raised or supported in our leadership.  For most of us, this lifestyle is not an option.  Not because we don’t choose this path or aren’t adept in its practice.  It is mostly because we are discouraged, distracted and suppressed by the arrogant and bold sociopathic few that were born into the right family.  We are bewildered, enchanted, envious and ultimately subservient to politicians because of their charisma, celebrity and popularity.  We acquiesce to their inauthentic guidance and importance for fear or lack of our own.

Slight of View:  

Education, media, religion and parental influence prepare us for our inevitable servitude.  Numerous distractions are invented everyday by political authorities, news networks, social media, editorial commentary, advertising, sports events and entertainment outlets.  We are bombarded by a plethora of drama that triggers our contempt, outrage, upset and eventually our resignation.  While we are preoccupied by the multitude of diversions, our freedoms and rights are gradually and systematically distorted and taken away from us.  The spell is cast, the trick is set and the illusion is performed.

Bait and Switch:

Every time it begins with a new collection of president-elects who roll out of their respective parties like a cluster of clowns from a compact car in the traveling circus.  They talk the talk, show up at appearances, kiss babies and invent new rhetoric to be noticed more than the next person in line.  At first, the public isn’t interested, nor is it prepared for the measure of their eventual exaltation or fanaticism of the candidate-elects.  A sequence of events, statements, propaganda or posturing occurs that whips their voter base’s adrenalin and ire into a fever pitch.  Game on.

Feel the Fear:

Politics is a sport of fear.  It has nothing to do with leadership.  If it truly did, politicians would be inspiring the people to lead themselves.  Instead, they find new and clever ways to discourage the voting populous by preying upon their anxieties, distress and ignorance with the implication of defeat, veiled threats and dire consequences.  The worst is not in what we know about what is going on, it is in what we don’t know and don’t witness.  Everything that is repressed from the populous is used against it for the purpose of furthering a concealed agenda that most often is to the detriment of the general public.

Contest of Conquest:

One of the greatest spectacles of political theater during an election year is personified in the debate.  It is the age-old practice of attempting to prove to the constituency the validity of one’s candidacy.  It begins with the initial intention of commitment, goodwill, honesty, information and the declaration of oaths.  Yet, it usually devolves into an exchange that can be seen on any elementary playground during recess.  The aim is no longer a presentation of the candidate’s character, experience and purpose.  It becomes an opportunity to debunk, discredit and defrock the opponent.

Ways and Means:

Politics is an elite club from which the people are excluded.  Their only participation is how much money they can donate to their candidate, how much tax they pay and the casting of their vote.  There is no other requirement of the public.  It is a systemic convenience that has cost us our economy, freedom, rights, future and citizenry.  There is an implied expectation of entitlement from candidates and incumbents that the people simply hand over their personal power.  A pledge millions in this country are more than willing to give for the sake of an artificial belonging, security, happiness and peace.

Heads or Tails:

We believe that we have a choice as to who is elected.  We don’t.  Since the dawn of democracy, the people never had a choice and perhaps never will.  Our “choice” is based upon the decision of a few influential individuals whom select the candidates they believe will best further their agenda.  When these candidate-elects are chosen, they are then funded, initiated, lobbied, promoted and programmed by political officials on what to say, how to act and react and motivate their voter base to the polls.  If given the choice, most if not all of us would choose a candidate not listed on the ballot.

Pyramid Scheme:

Our world is run by a small collection of elite wealthy families perpetuating a bloodline that has existed since before history was recorded.  They thrive in the shadows of our apathy, compliance, cynicism, ignorance and fear.  Their network maintains and manipulates a system of international central banks that fund national central banks.  These national banking institutions in turn administrate commercial banks that finance corporations.  This “Corporatocracy” exploits, lobbies and utilizes governments to draft legislation and pass laws to protect their investments, profits, power and status.

Return on Investment:

Millions of dollars are spent by corporations, donors, lobbyists and financial institutions to ensure the election outcome that benefits their interests most.  Yet, billions of dollars are generated, secured and disseminated through covert legislation, corporate tax cuts, no-bid contracts, “defense” spending and subjective scientific research.  In other words, the value we believe our vote has is merely a raindrop in an ocean of financial and corporate exploitation.  As has been stated before, if our vote really made a difference, the banks and corporations would never grant us this liberty.

Seasonal Selection:

As an electorate, we often tend to engage in the political process once every four years, cast our vote and then return to the “reality” of our standard and subliminal servitude.  Our vote is merely an inauthentic expression of artificial power.  By no means do I intend to discourage anyone from fulfilling upon their civic rights.  True freedoms in this world must be claimed and exercised.  We as citizens need be present to where our attention, energy and money flow.  These are the essentials of our lives that determine the prevalence of our liberty or the degree of our captivity.

Power to the People:

We are at the bottom of the pyramid.  We are no longer identified as citizens.  The elite perceives us as consumers.  We enable our enslavement by unconsciously purchasing their products and services and denying and refuting their existence.  We the many significantly outnumber the influential few.  We the people can transform the maniacal network of centralized banks and trans-national corporations.  We can choose to become aware of where our money is going by simply exploring where it leads.  All it requires of us is our dedicated focus, inquiry, practice, purpose and willingness.

Evening the Odds:

We have an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference in our lives and in the world.  It begins everyday with our choice of who we want to be, how and why we want to live and what we want to manifest.  Our destiny does not live and die when we cast our vote.  It is declared in our intention and action to be an expression and stand for all that enlightens and inspires us.  We need to vote first for ourselves and claim our leadership then encourage others to do the same.  Only then will we truly be the consciousness, love, possibility and transformation we yearn to see in the world.

http://www.zengardner.com/trump-this-bern-that/

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/

From Assimilation to Transformation…In a Single Breath

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

A Prison Without Walls:

I am a slave.  You are a slave.  We are all of us slaves.  We have no idea the extent of our bondage.  When we are born, we are born into a life of servitude.  As we grow and mature into adults we are conditioned to become servants in a societal system that benefits the few at the cost of the many.  It could be said that most of humanity died as slaves without ever knowing they were.

We do not possess the time, patience, energy, interest, will power or dedication to transform this engineered society in which we exist, let alone simply identify it.  We are tethered to its intricate design.  It is a lifestyle of lunacy we are force-fed relentlessly until we accept it as “reality.”  When we do, our slavery is complete.

It is not solely an incarceration imposed by a covetous, authoritarian society.  It is an environ”mental” hypnosis that lulls us into a self-imposed separation and disassociation with not just others and ourselves, yet also with reality and life itself.  Our confinement exists only in the neural pathways of our mind.  In spirit, we are all free.  We are energetic beings that are connected to everything and everyone all the time.  Yet in reality, we are sentenced to a prison we have accepted as everyday human life.

Assimilation:

As children, we are continually bombarded by sensory stimulation.  It is violence in all forms of media that desensitizes us to its impacts on others and ourselves.  It is advertisements (“hypnotize-ments”) promoting GMO-laden, high-sugar, chemical-filled foods, sodas and sweets that eventually lead to the conditions of our demise.  It is the chemical-manufactured, electromagnetic-emitting plastic devices we all possess which inevitably possess us through our infatuation with and dependence upon them.

When we become adults we are processed through the meat-market of social programming with dogmatic religion, left-brained dominant education, candy-coated, sex-infused entertainment, dualistic politics and manufactured news broadcasts that relentlessly attack our senses with perpetual fear.  Yet, we are conditioned most through peer pressure by the opinions and expectations of our friends and relatives.   In the vain of keeping up appearances we repress and imprison our vulnerabilities, the beautiful qualities we exhibit as human beings.  We sacrifice the best of ourselves in the pursuit of our social survival and acceptance.  Our assimilation is complete.

Breaking the Spell:

Everyday we are shackled to an artificial lifestyle that diverts our visions, passions, dreams and personal power away from us, far more often than we can possibly imagine.  We are not educated, mentored or empowered to establish and maintain our personal truth, energy, consciousness, power, health and relatedness with others.  Without exercising these basic fundamentals of conscious living, we wallow in the simulated sea we perceive as “reality.”  In essence, we exist within the paradigm of an elaborate and fantastic dream.  It is a dream from which most of us never awaken.  The cost of “living the dream” is never living the life we were destined to live.

Our freedom is choice in a world of indecision.  Do we decide to exist as a “human doing,” playing out a role that was imposed upon us to echo?  Or do we choose to live an extraordinary life of love, fulfillment, health, awareness and creative expression?  It is easy for us not to choose when we aren’t even aware that we have one, or that it matters.  It may seem even easier for us to surrender our choice due to the responsibility it may entail and the outcome with which we will have to live.  It is the easiest to choose “not” to choose when we witness the dire consequences of the choices others make.  When we do not make choices in our lives, we are choosing not to live.

Transformation…in a single breath:

Most people may believe that transformation is an excruciating process.  That it requires us to drag ourselves through the muck of our undesirable behaviors and qualities in the pursuit of releasing what it is that no longer benefits our lives.  This is true.  However, transformation is the most magnificent experience we may have.  It is a gateway that reunites us with our possibility.  It draws us out of our mind and body and connects us with our heart and soul.  Transformation reminds us who we truly are.

The beginning of transformation is breathing.  When we were born, our initial expression of life is taking our first breath.  When we die, our last expression of life is our final breath.  As we live, we overlook the blessing and disconnect from the life force that breathing provides.  We breathe only as much as we need for our survival.  It is interesting how we breathe with more depth and awareness when we are sleeping than when we are awake.  We seldom fully express this most vital element of our existence.

Conscious Breath:          

When we are confronted daily with drama, injustice and exposure to violence, we have a choice.  We can react with the energy of upset, anger, disappointment and judgment.  Or we can do what we need to do to live, breathe.  When we choose to breathe, we disengage from the chaos.   Our fear that provokes our reaction disappears in the expression of our conscious breath.  This may seem like a very elementary and radical strategy for living, yet it is as essential as the quality of the breath we take.  The quality of our breath is the measure of the quality of our life.  The more consciously we breathe our breath, the more consciously we live our life.

Our conscious breath is created in its awareness and expression.  Maintaining this quality of breath may seem unattainable.  It is not.  It only appears impossible because we have not fully established and developed our conscious breath.  All it requires of us is to dedicate a few moments of our time to breathe.  When we commit to conscious breathing, something extraordinary happens.  A shift occurs within us and our experience of life transforms right before our eyes.  When we express our conscious breath, it is not our environment that transforms, it is us.

Everything in our life is born from our breath.  Only with our conscious breath will we restore our senses, balance, truth and love.  Only with our conscious breath will we realize our purpose and manifest our destiny.  Only with our conscious breath will we create a pathway to our transformation.  The possibility of transformation inspires us to breathe our breath as though it is our first, or our last.  Only with our conscious breath are we truly alive.

http://www.zengardner.com/assimilation-transformationin-single-breath/

A Universal Instrument of Energy

/ Iam Saums / Leave a comment

The Tide and The Undertow:

Our society has strayed further away from the natural world. In many ways, we have attempted to distort and destroy nature for the sustenance of our modern day conveniences, comfort zones, innovations and pocketbooks.  We wonder why we starve for the basic necessities of clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, clean food to eat and clean environments in which to live.  It is more difficult to ensure the purity of our needs in a world that sacrifices them willingly for power, position and profit.  It is insane to believe that there is a viable justification for what we are doing, how we are enabling, and why it is deemed socially sensible to be biting the hand that feeds us.

How we breathe and live is much like the crashing and receding of the waves and the ebb and flow of the tides. There is a universal blueprint in the majesty of this often-overlooked expression of nature.  Yet, below the surface of the sea, something equally unseen and significant is happening.  There is an undercurrent that draws upon us; much like the opposing force of a magnet.  It pulls at our bodies, our minds, our hearts and even our souls.  It is the force of life we cultivate with our willingness and it is the force of death we enable with our resistance.  It is that which remains unnoticed that makes the strongest impression and passes the greatest influence.  It is only the circumstances we feel that allows us to sense beyond the diversion of reality and express our truth.

As conscious human beings we see the undertow everywhere in everything. It is in the extreme swings of the financial markets, the shifting power of the political arenas and the misguided strategy of the established medical industry.  It is in the contrived broadcasts of the media outlets, the romanticizing of spirituality, the false heroism of the sports industry and the sensationalized fantasy of the entertainment industry.  It is in the marketing of thousands of unhealthy products that lead to millions of deaths a year.  It is the declining undercurrent of our society.  It is a global vortex that exists solely for the sake of consuming.  It is the ugly face of humanity’s collective ego that devours with an appetite never to be fulfilled.

Transcending the Currents:

We live in a social structure we identify, interact with and to which we are tethered that we commonly accept as “reality.” Within this formation of existence, we are constantly influenced and conditioned by continual social undercurrents.  Some of these currents are very constructive and life giving such as love, creativity, healthy relations, community building and childbirth.  Even if we are not particularly conscious to the presence of energy currents in our daily lives, those of a higher frequency are undeniable.  They usually result in the release of natural endorphins that elevate our perceptions, vitality, mood, motivation and experience of life.

However, most of the currents in our contemporary society are very destructive and deadly. These artificial tides shower us through news broadcasts, entertainment, sporting events, religious propaganda, advertisements, misinformation and even personal and family dramas.  When we are caught in the undertow of these lower frequency currents, we are left tired, drained, depressed, hopeless and powerless.  As human beings, we often struggle to establish a healthy awareness of them.  These denser energy frequencies push and pull us to and fro, overwhelming our vision, senses, purpose and life.  They possess authority over us when we allow their energetic exploitation.  It is only when we concede our intention of consciousness we surrender our power.  When we do, we separate ourselves from the eternal spring of energy that the universe provides.

We are in the midst of an energetic conflict and its impact and impression is as constant and relentless as the ominous fate looming within and around us. Whether or not we are conscious of this secret battle does not take away from its potency and the burden of its probable outcome.  We are confronted by an energetic conundrum every year, day and breath of our lives.  We feel it when we wake up till the time we retire to our sleep.  Its presence permeates every facet of our being, most often without our awareness and understanding.  Our ability to thrive amid these social currents is dependent upon our willingness to differentiate and choose which energy we will adopt and represent based upon the nature of the expression of our lives.

In The Flow:

There are numerous sources in our world that radiate energy. Whether it is the Sun, the Earth, the winds, the rivers, the tides or even people, we are provided an endless supply.  Yet, the energy source that is most available to us is ourselves.  We are a biological system of life that generates and expresses an immeasurable amount of vitality.  Our body is constantly producing energy through breathing, digestion and hydration.  Our mind continuously fires neural activity as it sends commands to our body and relates us with our intuition.  Our hearts emanate life force through the circulation of the blood as well as the boundless electromagnetic energy that connects our heart with our soul.  Our soul is our direct connection with the source of all life in the universe.

We are eternal energy. All that exists is within us.  It is not an external entity that limits our capacity or takes our power from us.  It is our personal denial, self-righteousness, judgment and acquiescence that causes our diminished existence.  It is we who give our power away when we decline to become all who we are.  It is only we who can recover the energy we surrender to the chaotic undercurrents of our society’s turbulent, energetic tides.  It is in our nature to become multi-dimensional expressions of life in this world.  After all, we already are.  It is our living inheritance to claim our common destiny by fulfilling ourselves with the life force of all creation.  Everything that we need to thrive in our life is already within us.  We need only identify, accept and radiate our universal expression.

We are an instrument for the universe. The nature of instrument we will be is dependent upon the expression of our energetic birthright.  We have the potential to conduct the energetic currents that flow into this world.  We have the choice to be in flow with the universal energy and the collective stream of consciousness.  We have an obligation as living beings to stand strong amidst the social currents as they ebb and flow to challenge the bearings of our destiny.  We have the right to transform the fractured tides and undertows in our lives and in the world toward a convergence of energetic evolution.  Our lives are opportunities to express and share energy.  All it requires of us is to be the truth of our existence.  All it requires of us is to be what we are, a universal instrument of energy.

http://www.zengardner.com/universal-instrument-energy/