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[lluc8]

Nope – we didn’t come with an instruction manual for how to live our lives! We just blunder along, making mistake after mistake, sometimes repeating the same mistake over and over just for the special effects, and we don’t quite ever seem to get to where we want to be!

It gets crazy and ridiculous at times. We lose our jobs, a loved one passes away too soon, children come along without thorough planning, we fail an exam, we get denied something that would have made a difference. No matter how hard we try we just can’t seem to get ahead financially. Or, we are always falling for the ones who break our hearts!

Life is full of treachery, deceit, loss, sorrow, sabotage, and mistrust. Just when all seems lost, there is a little joy, hope, love and laughter. Just enough to keep us going!

Wouldn’t it be so much easier to just know what you had to do and then just do it to plan?

Well, that’s not what we came here for. If it was, then we would already have that perfect, step-by-step plan, we would know what to do and how to do it each and every moment. There would be no big decisions or choices because we would just follow our master plan!

How boring would that be? And if life was laid out for you one step as a time, how could you learn and grow? Also if life was planned, Truman style, what does that say about the nature of the universe?

Something mapped out, with easy to follow instructions, removes all opportunity for freedom, for adventure, for mistakes. No happy accidents where things turn out better than you planned, no coincidences where there was a magical synchronicity of events, no chance meetings of people who have the power to change your life in wondrous ways you had never imagined.

You see, the very freedom that gifts us with all of the best things in life, are the same freedoms that encourage us to make mistakes and get things terribly wrong.

Is there an easier way to navigate the rocky road of life?

Yes, of course!

First – look at the significant events in your life (good and bad), in chronological order. Write them down and take special notice of how you felt about it then and how you feel about it now. Next really try to connect with the lesson life was giving you at that time. Write it down! Look for patterns and repeats. Observe the connections between events and lessons!

Now you understand how you got to where you are right now.

But wait, there’s more!

Lets look at life from a completely different viewpoint:

Whether you call something good or bad, right or wrong, a mistake or an opportunity, depends entirely on your viewpoint! That point of view determines how well you navigate your life! Totally!

A “plan” never goes to plan! Why? Because there are too many variables that we simply cannot consider. That does not mean that our desired outcome doesn’t transpire! It might even be totally different and even better!

You are writing your own instruction manual for life on a moment by moment basis. You have plans and goals and as each breath of universal wind pushes you off track, it is your job to notice what is going on and become involved in that, not without losing sight of your goals, but by immersing yourself in whatever is happening.

If you do this with consciousness, to become aware, to wonder why, to notice how things change because of whatever is happening, your growth will accelerate exponentially.

Really your only “task” while visiting this planet (or plane of existence) is to learn and grow. When you force a “plan” you miss the opportunity.

Let’s have a look at mistakes. Everyone makes them. What we think they are is just matter of perspective! Usually when a mistake is made we go “ohh, that was a mistake” and we stop, berate ourselves, feel bad for a while and miss out on lots of fun and learning! But what if we could go, “hey, that’s interesting, I’m going to run with that and see where it leads”. Do you know where it leads? No, I don’t either! That’s the point!

What we, as individuals, can possibly know, even if we know a lot, is minuscule in comparison to all knowledge in all the universe and everything that is more than the universe! When “mistakes” happen, it is the universe opening us up to even more than we currently know. Don’t block the universe, welcome it!

This IS your instruction manual for life – have a dream, a goal, a plan, then do whatever is happening, without resistance, and allowing the universe to show you more than you knew existed. This is more than just “going with the flow” – that idea has the feeling of being pushed around without direction. It is being (or becoming) aware of your mistakes, shortcomings, habits and unconscious responses and points of view that limit you, and, instead, opening up to greater potential by getting out of the way of yourself and observing where the “mistake” or the happy accident can lead you.

Your life is but a beautiful work in progress. Discover greater possibility, more of yourself, by allowing the instruction manual of the universe to be your guide. Achieve even more than you ever dreamed possible by doing what seems impossible to you. Remember, at the universal level all things are possible, and if its not possible there, then it certainly is in “everything that is greater than the universe”.

You have a calling, get out there and “do” it, writing your instruction manual as you go, buy being observant of the universe and where she wants to take you. Do what is happening with love and passion, do it a well as you can. Enjoy!

[lluc8]

Forgiveness is a difficult subject for many people.

It is a complex thing, deeply metaphysical, and, once understood, highly enlightening!

Forgiveness.

A betrayal, a breakup, a failure, a loss, a hurt, a cheating partner, a divorce, a murder, a rape, a sexual abuse, a car accident…..

There is another person who is the root cause of your pain. The pain can be so real that it is crippling. As if there is someone slowly breaking each rib so that every breath you take becomes more and more painful. You cannot physically move, you cannot emotionally move and you cannot mentally move. Spirituality is so far away from you that you actually can’t see beyond your own pain. It is a trap, a coffin from which you can barely emerge from each day, a large and heavy weight hanging around your neck. It affects every part of your day and night.

The other person has caused this. The other person is to blame. You did not ask for this. It was done to you. The other person should be dealt with. You wish them to receive the full force of the karma they deserve, or the full force of the law if what they have done is also against common law. You need retribution before you can move on. Justice, once served, will surely ease your pain!

However, even if the perpetrator of the evil done to you goes to jail, receives the death sentence, or has a nasty accident, somehow you still feel the pain! Justice, retribution and karma, all served up, still haven’t allowed you to let go! You might feel satisfied that they got what was coming to them, but you are still in pain.

Not only that, but at that “we are all one” and “my universe is nothing more than a projection of myself” level, if you are still seeking suffering for the other person, guess what, not only can you NOT let go of your own suffering, but you are actively inviting more!

The reason is that you MUST forgive them! Truly forgive – much more than lip service, but forgive deep into your heart and soul. Forgive at such a deep and unconditional level, that it is as if there was nothing to forgive in the first place!

And this is where the problems start…..and end!

Let me explain a little – and, as usual, let me remind you that anything that I can explain cannot be the whole thing, because the whole thing is unexplainable! It is for you to connect with. No matter how good I am at explaining, it can never be “it” for you (or me).

However, you can take my words and try them on in various forms for yourself and find the model that connects with your expression of your journey in this life.

Many people on a spiritual quest are looking for healing. Healing past hurts, past transgressions, past thoughts and beliefs, past issues of all types and varieties. Healing is a BIG word in the world of those seeking spiritual enlightenment and personal development. And those in the healing practice can demand big bucks to help you! Psychology, NLP, Reiki, Kinesiology, and various metaphysical and esoteric practices all have their place, don’t get me wrong here.

For many people, the idea that they can be healed in one easy moment is too far removed from their reality so the process for them can be important. But if your “healing” lasts longer than a few sessions, move on to another practitioner or modality. Also, many people who do “heal” at one level, just find a new layer that also needs to be “healed”. Healers have a place. If you are ready for it, though, you can heal everything right now!

The method? Radical Forgiveness.

What is that? Understanding that there was nothing to forgive in the first place.

The psychology of forgiving facilitates the idea that the “other person” did something to you that hurt you, and no matter what you do you can’t move on until you forgive them.

This position reinforces the duality model of the universe where there is a “them” and a “you”. Enlightenment contains the condition of oneness – while the three dimensional illusion of our life has an up and down, when you see through the illusion, the up and down IS (the same thing). Let’s take that further. We have the concept of right and wrong. Good and bad (evil in the case of the person who did us wrong). Me and you. These concepts belong in the illusory world of physical existence. Certainly handy for choosing left or right at the traffic lights! But not particularly helpful when dealing with our thoughts, beliefs, consciousness and created reality.

Your thoughts do not exist in the physical world, they are not physical (yes, we can see the electrical patterns on machines, but the “map” is not the “territory” – that, too, is an illusion); they belong in the realm of the metaphysical, the esoteric and the spiritual. As such, we can apply the patterns of enlightenment and oneness and become aware that your thoughts, beliefs, ideals, decisions, etc, form your reality (not the other way around).

This is SO difficult when the perpetrator of evil has done so to a child. Maybe you were the child. Maybe you were the perpetrator. Maybe you were the innocent. Maybe you were the guilty. Either way, forgiveness of the other, and of the self, will be required for recovery. And radical forgiveness demands that you let go so completely that you know at every level there was never anything to forgive!

I understand, at this moment you are not able to see the connection between the reality that you are creating moment by moment, the evil person who hurt you, and how forgiveness was never required! Bear with me!

Let’s look at it from the spiritual aspect. Take the concept of a spirit or soul, that is our true nature. (If we are spiritual beings having a physical experience). In the book, channeled by Lee Caroll, The Journey Home, a Kryon Parable, we are lead on an adventure that explains the contracts that we have made with each other solely for our spiritual growth. If you haven’t read it, please do so.

It makes the death of a person seem so amazingly beautiful that you will never spend more than a few moments recognising your own loss and missing their physical presence. All sadness melts away. That person fulfilled their contract with you and all the other people (other forms of “you”) they touched, and are now released from duty to get on with their own spiritual path at another level. You can only feel love and joy from what they brought to you on your spiritual journey!

The same contracts apply to the apparent evil person who appears to have hurt you. Of course no one asks for pain in their life at the conscious (illusory) level, however pain is a gift from spirit. It is for us to endure, to pierce through, to appreciate and to transcend. We DID ask for the pain so we could learn these invaluable gifts! It is difficult to accept. But only from your human perspective of separation. The “perpetrator”, then, took on a role that is not comfortable for their higher spiritual nature, in order to serve you!

From this perspective there was never anything to forgive in the first place, so therefore, radical forgiveness becomes easy, instantaneous, and you are left with just gratitude and love!

To accept these ideas you do need to be in a place in your life where you can accept that this illusion we call life is only the reality we create in this moment, for the sake of this moment. Past and future do not exist. As soon as we become aware of this moment, it is the immediate past. Everything in our past is nothing more than a story we have made up. We make it up in this moment, and we call it our “experience”. All of our made up experiences, apparently, make us who we are today! But only if you believe that!

As humans we are very good at believing ourselves. If someone, say your older brother, tells you the story of how you were lost in the mall when you were five years old, and tells it convincingly enough, that story will become part of your memory, your personal history, even if it never happened. If we can do this, then we can also forget just as easily!

We all accept our hurts and pains and past (with all it’s nice and nasty experiences) as being real! However, the past is not real, it does not exist, it is something we create with the story we make up on a moment by moment basis. No matter what has happened in the past, if it is not happening now, it never did happen – UNLESS you believe it, and tell it, and create it in the now!

There was never anything that you had to heal from, there was never anything you had to forgive someone for, there was never anything that caused you pain.

There was only a spiritual journey that you wrote into being. To transcend the human condition of our fabricated reality IS the task at hand. Don’t waste another precious moment on anything less than joy! Thank deeply everyone (every you) that has ever been in your story and let the energy go.

If this resonates, and you still need some guidance to be completely free, you can book in for a session with me personally, or online if your are not local.

[lluc8]

“Don’t use your own thinking – it is very dangerous for you” – Grandmaster of the Bujinkan Ninjutsu Dr Masaaki Hatsumi Sensei

Hang on! Of course I have to use MY thinking, how else will I get through my day? I think about what to eat, trying to make it everywhere in time, what I have to do at work, how to do various things in my job, what to wear when I go out tonight, and what will I do about so-and-so who is being a bit odd lately…….in fact, I am quite intelligent and my own thinking has got me quite a long way in life!

The second part of the quote is “use universal power” – the translation of his Japanese words can also mean, nature’s power, god’s power, or the power of the gods, natural power…..

Which is greater – YOU or the UNIVERSE?

To begin exploring this idea – let’s first ask – “who are you”?

Most people answer with their name, some answer with their job or role in life. Those things are what you identify with so you can define some labels to attach to, so you can understand. Our minds work with language and labels. If I say “chair” you immediately know what a chair is. You can imagine one, and you can apply the label to many kinds of chair. This is a very handy skill. If you see a weird looking chair that you have never seen before, you still know it’s a chair. This automatic association is both important to your survival, AND the very thing that stops you from getting anything, or everything, you ever wanted in life!

You cannot know your world, except by your five senses (plus the sixth sense – which is connected to universal power). If you had no capacity for any of the five senses – (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch or feeling) – would you know you are alive, and would you know anything of the world outside of you?

YOUR OWN neurology is HOW you know the outside world. Here’s where it gets really interesting. Your five senses are bombarded with millions of bits of information every second. But your conscious mind can only handle a little bit of that – around 5 bits of information per second. So HOW do you decide which bits to pay attention to? By what you already know! We filter that information by our values, decisions about things, and our beliefs! Everything we “know”. Remember, we have lost all but the tiniest percent of what is happening outside of us.

Put in straight forwards terms – we can only perceive what we have already decided to project (create) – “perception is projection”. We literally create our lives based on what we already “know”. This is not just your “front end” conscious knowledge, it is also unconscious, AND it is what drives your everyday decisions. In other words, you respond to everything you perceive from a set of already laid out rules, values, ideas and beliefs about things. You can’t help it, everybody does it. that is what makes us “human”. (You CAN transcend this human-ness, though……)

Not only that, but you notice only that which aligns to these unconscious drivers! Your “reality”, then, becomes a reality of your own making! (in fact, “reality” is in reality, just YOU!) Most people are unaware of how this is working in them each day! Whatever you have in life right now, is as a result of these drivers. It has nothing to do with your parents, your upbringing, your genetics or any other excuse you want to use. Certainly all of those things helped to lay down your beliefs, however, YOU are re-creating them moment by moment based on YOUR OWN THINKING!

Dr Masaaki Hatsumi Sensei, the Grandmaster of the Bujinkan Ninjutsu, says that he is grateful he doesn’t have to know anymore! He is able to move freely with the universe and still have/achieve everything he needs to without using his own thinking. Everything he needs just comes to him and gets done for him.

When we decide, we are deciding from a very limited place – just what we know – that is ridiculously smaller than universal power, or natural power. Yet people go around making decisions all the time – they decide this or that, based on their own limited thinking, wondering why things don’t go as they had planned, and why they don’t have everything they ever dreamed of! They are unaware there is a greater power they can utilise that will  work for them without their own thinking!

The dojo is one space where you can practice not doing your own thing. You need to train with us here at the Bujinkan Ninjutsu Gold Coast Dojo, or Bujinkan Ninjutsu Adelaide Dojo, or Bujinkan Ninjutsu Melbourne Dojo to be able to hear this teaching and be able to practice it. We “drop out” from doing anything ourselves, and use the uke’s (the person attacking) movement to gently steer them so we are safe and they are safe. If “I” do anything, the uke understands it and can counter it. This is just one small example!

Meditation helps many people connect with an expanded level of thinking. Beware though – if you just think about your new expanded thinking you are actually just doing your own thinking again! To practice you need to be free enough to experiment with your life. Nothing will change unless you do, and you cannot know the way to change unless you experiment! If you KNOW what you should do, then you had better duck, because, as the Grandmaster just said, it is very dangerous for you to use your own thinking!

In combination with this universal and ancient wisdom from Ninjutsu, I pair NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) tools to help loosen the bonds of your unconscious way of perceiving your world. It can be difficult to just think about all these great ideas and to let them make a change in you, sometimes you need some kind of tool that will open up options, possibilities and new wiring!

Again, you cannot talk, think or plan your way out of where you are! YOU have to change, not because you force a change for a while, like trying to install a new habit – most people fail at this because forcing will power is just you going against our own nature – it rarely works for anyone! – you need to change your nature. This can be done with physical training, or using tools like NLP that make physical changes to your neurology.

If you would like to know more, I can be booked for appointments in person on the Gold Coast, or via phone or skype from anywhere in the world!

[lluc8]

You Can turn Your Life Around Today!

Are you unhappy about where your life is at right now?

Most people would say they are not 100% happy. In fact a recent survey in the USA showed that newarly 73% of people said they were not happy! It is, sadly, it is a more prevalent state of being than it should be!

We have all had some missed opportunities that we believe would never come our way again. There are some things we will always regret doing or not doing. Most of the time lots of people feel like they are a failure in life.

People forget that as long as you are alive you can always turn your life around. You can discover a method to reverse any failure. You can still go for your dream. Here are some helpful insights on how you can turn your life around today.

Stop Recalling

The past and future do not exist. And yet most people live each day looking behind them, as if anything that occurred in the past can actually have an influence on them in this moment. I can hear the screams of protest now! Of course my past exists, AND it affects my every waking moment, you cry out!

There is no physical place called the past – it all exists purely in our memory – or mind! – sure, you had experiences that may have been pleasant, wonderful, not so good or downright dreadful! But that time is gone. It no longer exists! It is not here now.

For many people, letting go of past hurts seems impossible. And, indeed, you may require professional help to do so. However, the first step is to acknowledge that your past only exists in your mind! How it affects you from day to day IS a choice. It can seem like your past controls you, but let me assure you, it is your present moment that determines who you are, what you do, and how you choose what you choose!

So, stop looking back to past hurts, injustices, battles and scars. Whatever has happened to has happened, nothing can change it except for the way you are thinking about it now, and how you choose this moment in time, and this moment, and this moment.

Also stop any therapy or discussion that involves delving deeply into past injustices – these practices only strengthen the hold that these old demons have on you! Recognise it, accept any lessons that were yours to learn from that time, notice how you are responding to that idea now, then leave it behind.

Stop Complaining

This idea has to do with the stories we tell. Stop telling your story! Stop telling, stop talking, stop all chatter!

Humans have an interesting ability to fool themselves quite well! We all have a concept about ourselves that is usually far different to how other people see us. We tell ourselves such wonderful stories! And we believe them, why wouldn’t we, since we made them up!

But it is this continual story telling that blocks our ability to live in this moment and do what is happening in this moment free from all the blocks and parries we tend to make on ourselves!

Complaining about your situation, to yourself or to others, is one of humanities greatest foibles! How dare you actually express your garbage story! It is not true, whatever it is you are complaining about! If you are alive and awake in this moment you will find all the tools, options and opportunities you need!

Today is A Brand New Day

Today is a brand new day. This moment is a brand new moment. At every beat of your heart you have the opportunity to create the next moment exactly as it should be, free of self doubts, free of self sabotage and free of self.

Take your blinkers off, wake up and treat each moment with the respect and joy it deserves, Celebrate the fact that the experience of this moment is yours to enjoy. It is yours to cherish (but just for this moment, as to live by this guide, as soon as its gone you need to let it go!).

Learn How to Value

People who are not living the life of their dreams tend to not value what they have, who they are, or where they have come from! They are also low on the appreciation of the good things they already have. Expressing gratitude for the people in their lives who support them and teach them is also low on their list of things to do!

A very important step in changing your life in one day, this day, is to appreciate, value and be grateful for everything that you have!

Fear Is The Enemy

If you can live in the moment you will never fear! Why? Because fear is not real! (Of course I am not talking about our flight or fight mechanism which can save our lives when confronted with something dangerous). Fear is worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet!

The type of fear we are talking about (the one that holds you back from living the life you want) can only exist as a future thought. And the future doesn’t exist! It is, once again, all in your imagination! Perhaps you imagine negative outcomes because you experienced some in the past (remember the past doesn’t exist either). You’ll notice that this is all happening in your head!

To enjoy the fruitful, rewarding and abundant life that you deserve, fear is something that you must stop indulging in right now!

It’s Never Too Late

How can it be too late, when nothing exists except right now. If you are alive you can live a wonderful life right now, starting today, no matter your age, physical capacity or health! If you focus on what you don’t have you will suffer a life that is not one you want to be in! Starting immediately you will focus on this moment and the real treasure that this moment brings.

When you get out of your head, you will notice that the loud screaming kids playing in the back yard are joyful sounds to be celebrated, rather than annoying noise that is giving you a headache – you can add in here any of the things you usually don’t enjoy – begin to look at them without your story, without your garbage, without you r fantasy fears, without your “self” being there, and find the joy in that moment!

You life will change today simply by beginning to practice the small hints in this little guide!

If you need professional help to help stop the negative feelings from your past dominate your life, or to change the story you tell, please get in touch with Lynda here.