I have been in the throes of loss. Resistance to loss guarantees suffering. And I have suffered.

But Suffering can also serve to Awaken us to choose freedom from suffering. About this I want to speak.

As part of my Awakening, I have been asked to detach. I know this because I have experienced much loss. Through the Guiding Principles I am encouraged, however, to remember that all things, including the coming and goings in my life, are purposeful, on time, and in alignment with my highest and best good. SO that tells me that the losses I have experienced are in fact, a necessary part of my spiritual journey to maturity.

Many times I have felt remorseful, and wrong about these losses. I've asked myself, “What did I do wrong that I should lose so much? What does this mean about me? Am I being punished for careless, selfish, misled choices made? Have I ruined my life forever? Is my life ending?” These questions and others like them have been ones I have, in great consternation, pondered and abused myself with over and again during the last year and more.

Over and again, I have met these punishing thoughts with questions prompted by the Guiding Principles, that remind me that even these losses are FOR me – but HOW? I demanded to know. And there have been layers of break-through that have brought deeper understanding and an acceptance of the necessity of these losses. What remains today is a tremendous amount of awe and reverence for the perfection of the Universal Plan that is moving me steadily along the path of  my salvation.

For I see that I have been in the throes of what the Buddhists call, a process of  “renunciation.”  And it is no coincidence that the revelations about the  necessity of my losses have also prompted me to explore more deeply the teachings of Buddha. And so found myself drawn to attend recently the dharma talk of a Buddhist monk, Gen Kelsang Chokyan, who reminded me of the true meaning of the term “renunciation.”  (For the Universe always works to bring us the reminders and inspiration that will best support our spiritual journey now.)

Renunciation, the monk reminded us, is the pushing away of any thought that produces unhappiness. It is a mental state that allows us to “let go” of our “attachment” to things (people, places, conditions, etc) that we define as the cause of either our happiness or our unhappiness.

I realize that the things I have attributed to as being the cause for my emotional well-being (my Life-mate,  my Home, Financial Security, my Work, Spirituality, Dance, Health,etc)  are not the cause of my emotional well-being at all. NOTHING – NOBODY can make me happy – or unhappy EVER. Only me. I am the one who chooses happy thoughts or unhappy ones in response to what and who is in my life.

But my assigning to them the responsibility for causing my emotional state certainly DOES create suffering. Because that belief that something outside my own mind controls my feelings is a delusion; it is a lie and therefore cannot work.

Making the external world responsible for my happiness can only hold me prisoner to it. After years of effort to try and make external things bring me happiness, I have proven over and again that it will not work. Because it CAN NOT.

And that is a really GOOD thing! Because think about the slave we must become to that which we believe holds the key to our happiness!

For me it has required loss of many of the external things in my life to which I had attached and held responsible for my ok-ness before I could finally GET it!  It has taken all of these losses for me to finally appreciate the need for letting go. For how was I going to find the peace and inner happiness I seek MOST as long as I believed these things were the source of it?

As soon as I have the thought that a certain person, or circumstance, event, or thing, makes me happy, the suffering begins. At that moment, happiness is gone! And in its stead remains only the fear of losing that which I have attached to for my happiness. Because now the mind grows preoccupied with trying to figure out how to hold onto this thing I think will save me from unhappiness. My thoughts become dominated with the fear of what will happen if I lose it, and plots of how to keep it.

In the same way, the opposite is true; as soon as I think something makes me unhappy, I suffer. For now, I see myself at the mercy of an unhappiness that cannot be alleviated until or unless I remove, control or change this thing that causes my woe. I am enslaved by the things I attach to as that which is required for my happiness.

In such moments I wrap my present moment around an impossibility – and must therefore suffer, when I could be enjoying what the world is offering me right now, instead. Inner peace then requires an attitude of detachment.

Detachment is, very simply, the complete and total renunciation of unhappy thoughts, regardless of whether things, conditions, or people, are what we think they “should” be or not. Detachment comes from the realization that happiness occurs when we can accept this moment for what it offers, without needing to hold onto it, resist, or change it. For I cannot hold onto or change anything  – I can only respond to it and appreciate the opportunity it brings.

My personal walk has been to experience the loss of many of the things to which I have attached my happiness; I needed to have them taken from me to be able to see that I could be happy without them. I see the tremendous gift I have been given through these losses for it is only through them that I am finally able to make peace with the Reality of how much I have, rather than fixated on how much I have lost.

It is through appreciating the richness of this moment, including the losses incurred along the Way to NOW that allows us to see that those things we attach to and suffer over DO NOT determine our inner state of well being. Happiness is not dependent on what we have or who comes or goes in our life. Happiness is a choice we make to detach from the belief that external things have any power whatsoever to deliver or take away our peace of mind. That choice leaves us free to be here enjoying the NOW of Life, where every need is met.

Appreciation for the little things we have brings gifts of abundance to our door, and allows us to dance in celebration and awe at just how loved we truly are. For truly, are we not being led, step by step along the path of Liberation and Ultimate Freedom? I believe so with all of my heart.

May you too experience such joy. Blessings,

I so empathize wth those who struggle with how to make peace with watching our loved ones struggle with Dementia or Alzheimers. There is no easy answer … although the route to peace is simple in terms of how to get there, it still requires a complete shift in the way we see our life situations to accomplish. There are some simple (not easy) consciousness tools we can use that provide us with a direction to head when we seek relief.

But only with this reminder: it is a practice. Acceptance of Reality requires that we be gentle with ourselves and don’t expect perfection or miracles. We must first deal with the part of our mind that believes it “should not be happening.” But it is happening! How do we make peace with THAT Reality, is the question. Of course we will struggle as we attempt to consciously intervene on painful patterns of thought in us that are as old as we are!

The Guiding Principles of Reality®️ first of all remind us that there are NO coincidences… no mistakes … We are vibrational beings that experience what we do on our life journey for a reason – even if we can’t figure out what that reason is. Reality says it is impossible to experience anything that is not a vibrational match for our own inner design and path. We believe thoughts that send out vibrations that call into our lives a fleshed out version of that belief. This is how the world mirrors to us what it is we believe for the purpose of observing our thoughts.

How does this apply to a situation of dementia or Alzheimer’s, we may ask … For me, these principles help me to understand that as much as I may think “they should not be experiencing this,” they still are. And so it must be a vibrational match for something their soul needs to experience. It MUST be that because they ARE experiencing that … and if I don't need to make that “bad” or “wrong” or “sad” etc, I can even align to support them in seeing that possibility as well! 

Our Soul Self has attracted to us the experiences and life challenges we encounter FOR our evolving nature. NO better way to learn something than through life experienee. Our illnesses, our conditions, and traumas we go through ALL offer learning value – if we are awake enough to SEE it even if how that can be is not obvious to us.

Remember we are eternal beings. We know this because we are energy in motion – and energy never dies … it simply changes form.

With that said, I can think of several possible ways to see dementia rather than only though the “its-a-problem” viewpoint. For instance, what if dementia is the only way your loved one can let go of some beliefs that needs to be released for purposes of forgiveness or to move forward to an “empty slate?”

What if it's the only way they can allow themselves to quieten the mind enough to be in present time? What if they are in a process of learning to  turn their focus inward in preparation for a coming life transition? What if their soul is learning to focus on inner time and space rather than being so caught up in outer concerns?

What would be different if you were to see that person's illness as an initiation of sorts designed to help them to let go of worries they have not been able to release any other way. What if they are being given an opportunity to say things out loud or express emotions that they have held within to their own detriment and that don't necessarily make sense to anyone else?

Perhaps they forget who they are or where they have been or who you are … and what if when those things happen, you were able to simply tell them that they are perhaps letting go of an old identity by forgetting …  on their way into becoming a higher better expression of themselves? OR what if you simply bring their attention back to the present moment when they get agitated? Again, simply thinking about ways to support their “practice” of being in the here and now. 

And what if part of your own awakening is in witnessing that loved one's state of mental confusion? What are you learning from observing your process around their process? Perhaps they are in your life as your teacher right now. Your choice, and theirs, is to make peace with the Reality of our situation and look for the boons, the gifts and life learnings found there – or we can choose to collapse into sorrow and depression because Reality is what it is. 

My mother began to have lapses in remembering before she died – she would get confused on who I was, for instance, “are you my daughter or am I yours?” she wondered out loud once. And I laughed and said, “Well I call YOU “mom” if that helps … “ and then we both got the giggles. 

She maintained her sense of humor about losing her memory to the last – what a model of acceptance and grace she was for me! 

May your loved one serve your Awakening in similar ways! 

Remember, it’s a PRACTICE – not a place you arrive.

Blessings, Lynne  

Real Magic occurs when we consciously project an  assigned thought with intention and focus into the world where it becomes a visible person, place, or thing. Seen this way, we realize we are ALL magicians because we turn thoughts into things.  

With that in mind, wouldn’t it mean then that we are practicing an unconscious form of black magic (meaning done in the darkness of ignorance of unconsciousness) when we believe our fearful, pain-filled thoughts which we then project into being that which we encounter and experience In the world? 

When we consciously align ourselves with Higher Thought, we become true alchemists (magicians), transforming the darkness of fear and unconscious doing into the Gold of Source and Higher Consciousness.

The practice of Alchemy is to access the Conscious Observer Function and question any thought that vibrates at a fear frequency -not to eradicate it – but to simply hold it at arm's length as something you are choosing not to focus concentrated effort into believing.  Simply by holding a question between ourselves and the worse-case scenario we hold as a negative possibility, for instance, we interfere in the process of manifesting it into reality.

The Alchemical formula for manifestation is what we call the Reality Formula®️ that says: “When we believe what we think (we marry it mentally), we automatically feel as if it is true, (we marry it emotionally), and we react as if it is true (physically align with it) – and in so doing we project that energy into the world where we will meet in the flesh that which we believe. We will act in ways that invite the world to prove us right.