One of Nanci’s readers wrote to her: “I’m aware that this world is an illusion…however, the fact that you can’t literally kill people doesn’t change the fact that you can inflict enormous suffering. Dying might be an illusion but the suffering is not.”

Nanci’s response is: “Accepting that the manifested world is illusory means you have achieved a spiritual perspective on life. The next step is to understand how that truth affects how we experience this world.

The entire human existence is manifested and “illusory,” not just the physical appearances of it. I learned in the afterlife that the suffering isn’t “real” either. The emotional experience IS real at the human level, but it is vicarious at our spiritual level. Let me explain. When you watch a particularly important football game, do you get angry with bad calls by the refs, excited by touchdowns, and annoyed by commercial breaks? Are you really angry, excited or annoyed with respect to your own life? No. You are reacting to the game and the emotions fade when the game is over. Similarly, when a woman cries through the ending of a “chick flick,” is she actually suffering in her own life? No. She empathized with the fictional characters and forgets all about the crying after the movie ends. In much the same way, we parts of Source inside humans empathize with the lives of our human hosts. We suffer what they suffer-but only while we are in their bodies (and during the short time of the life review). My own experience in the afterlife was that all the pain and suffering I endured in Nanci’s body was gone. In fact, Nanci’s entire lifetime was revealed to be a vicarious experience, such as we might analogize to having a dream or being in a virtual reality game.

As for suffering with death-that is optional. We Light Being souls can choose to endure it or to get out of the body while it dies. Many near-death experience reports come from people who got out of their bodies to avoid the pain of dying or resuscitation.

The most important point here is that much human suffering could end tomorrow–if we would choose to do it. We Light Being souls have the power to stop our host bodies’ hurtful behaviors. Why don’t we? Because most people are not aware they even have this option. Most people truly believe they are human and cannot escape human emotions and motivations. That is why it is so important that we awaken each other to our true nature as parts of Source. Once you know that you are a powerful spiritual being, and not a human animal, you can believe you have the power to control your host body’s behavior. Expressing more of our spiritual nature through our behavior would increase the amount of unconditional love in our human lives and decrease the violence and abuse.” — Nanci Danison, Afterlife Experiencer and Author of BACKWARDS: Returning to Our Source for Answers, BACKWARDS Guidebook, and the Light Answers to Tough Questions series of CDs and DVDs. www.BackwardsBooks.com.

As Nanci writes so eloquently, the suffering here on Earth looks and feels real, even though in the biggest picture, it’s illusory. That’s why it is so important to be compassionate with ourselves and others when we feel lost, hurt, fearful or confused. All of us are awakening together. How fast we do it, however, is up to us individually.

Once I heard a voice in my head. It said, “Ana, you are not obliged to suffer.” That truth stopped my mind and I got a journey directly to Heaven. Release your suffering to the Holy Spirit, to the One Source that gives you breath. You’ll find joy waiting for you every time.

full text is here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/russell-simmons/the-sacred-ground-of-deep_b_691001.html

“Even though the American White supremacy movement was founded in Christian fundamentalism, and even though George W. Bush claimed to have “visions” from his Christian God to go to Iraq and kill over 100,000 innocent Iraqis, even though Timothy McVeigh was born into the Christian faith, we would never think for a millisecond that Jesus Christ or any verses of the bible were the cause of these horrendous, stupid acts of men. Therefore it is un-American and against everything that we believe in as a country to associate the 1.6 billion Muslims or 23% of the world’s population with the acts of a few, very evil men. I pray that all of the Muslims who might hate Christians because of George Bush’s actions, or the blacks or Jews or non-Whites who might hate Christians because of the historical genocide of their people, or the Christians who might hate Muslims for the acts of Osama bin Laden and his culprits, I hope they know that the overriding theme of Jesus Christ, Muhammad, Abraham and Lord Buddha was to love all people of all races and all religions.

I conclude with this story. Recently the organization of which I am the Chairman of, The Foundation For Ethnic Understanding, held a twinning program where we had European Imams and Rabbis visit the United States and hold meetings at the White House, New York City Hall and the United Nations. At the UN in my speech, I mentioned a passage from the Bhagavad Gita, when Krishna tells Arjuna whether he knows him by the name Krishna or not, it is unimportant, as all he needs to do is follow certain principles and he will come to him. When I got off the stage the Imam from Geneva gave me his prayer beads, told me that he loved the verse from the yogic scripture and reminded me that the same sentiment about God loving all people, from all faiths, exists in the Quran.

Now that we have politicized Park51 and the world is watching, there can be no wavering of our support of the First Amendment and, in turn, the proposed community center. Build it.”

I got into a subway car with my son and sister. The doors were still open and the place was fairly crowded with sweaty New Yorkers of all colors and shapes. All of a sudden, a black man arrived at the doorway and began yelling at a white man who was sitting in the subway car. “What you did was wrong! I’m gonna make you pay, white man! I’ll see you tomorra! You can’t beat me! You can’t beat me!” he bellowed.  The white guy, who had a fresh black eye, began yelling back, matching the energy and contributing his own equally violent threats to the mix. Finally, the doors closed and the black guy slammed his fist onto our car BOOM! as it sped away into the bowels of Manhattan.

After a split second of stunned silence, a couple of people laughed, either because they thought it was funny, or because they were actually nervous and needed to break the tension. Everyone looked around and realized that we were fine, no big deal. A young black man looked over toward my white, 13 year old son and rolled his eyes with a smile.  Aron smiled back; so did I.

A few years ago, this incident could have sparked a race riot. In the heat, anything can happen. But this time, what I noticed was all the people (black-eyed white guy excepted) telling each other in subtle ways, “No thanks. We’re not going on that ride to racism, anger and violence. We’re done, and we’re not interested. We aren’t taking the bait and we won’t get hooked. There’s a lot more to life than macho posturing and slugging it out, no matter who’s involved or what their racial background. Let’s all get along and have some fun, instead!”

I got off that subway car inspired by how far we’ve come, and how great New Yorkers are. Some might say that New Yorkers are cynical, they’ve seen it all, and that’s why they let the incident slide into oblivion. But I don’t agree. People reached out to each other to make a better, richer fabric of community together.  Now that’s something to celebrate!

“Heaven is the decision I must make.” — ACIM

This is one of my favorite quotes. There’s no room for dithering or hesitation. Moment by moment, we decide.

Heaven is here in this moment. Not outside. Inside. Here – in your heart of hearts.

Namaste.

The River of Love is the healing experience of Divine contact. It’s sometimes called the Holy Spirit, the Divine Mother, Father God, or the “peace that passeth all understanding.” It was the only thing that kept me sane and whole enough to raise my children well, despite my mother’s illness and its effect on me. It helped me learn that I am a lot stronger than anything that shows up in my life, even the shock and pain of my mother’s suicide.

It took years to receive all of the lessons this experience gave to me. I needed to learn that the Grace of God offers a more powerful love than what my human mother could give me. It’s a love that never leaves, never gives up, and always heals when we allow it into our hearts.

Through this life journey, I feel humbled and in awe of the great mystery. I wonder where my mother is now, and how she is doing with the lessons that she learned. I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I feel the movement of my soul in holding them. I am open-hearted and open-minded, calling for more wisdom.

Life gave me this experience to show me that NO MATTER WHAT, the River of Love will float me home to a deep inner sense of security and serenity. This river taught me to release my sadness, and find gratitude for the lessons I’d learned. It gave me the joy and freedom of knowing I am never isolated or without a friend. The River of Love showed me that the edges to all things are friendly…if I relax into the safety I share with the Divine.

In the past, I rarely spoke or wrote about what happened with my mother. Even now, I feel reticent to discuss it. But I also feel that we need to share our life experiences – not to wallow in the pain of them, but to transform difficulties that seemed impossible to overcome.When really tough things happen, using our minds to figure out what to do doesn’t help very much.  We need more space, more breath, deep intuition and a lot of prayer and true forgiveness to feel whole again.

I give swimming lessons in the River of Love. It’s OK to get your feet wet – or plunge right in with a full, naked leap! See you on the river…..

NEXT YEAR IN A JERUSALEM REDEEMED THROUGH JUSTICE AND THOSE RETURNING TO HER THROUGH RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Four Children at the Seder Table:  Which Child Am I?

As we celebrate this Holiday of Freedom, the ending of slavery, we ask, “Who am I, when I hear of human rights abuses? Who will I choose to be when I know that others are suffering?”

Will I be one who does not ask? Will I close the newspaper or turn off the television so that I do not hear? Will I turn my head and heart away?

Will I ask only simple questions? “What is this?”  Will I ask what, but never why?

Will I let the evil impulse, my yetzer hara ask: “What has this to do with me?” Will I let the problem belong only to the victims and the do-gooders? Will I distance myself from those in need?

Or will I strive to act in wisdom, to ask: “What are the underlying causes of the problem and what needs to be done to stop the abuse and free the oppressed? What are the laws and what does Gd expect of me?”

May Gd open the eyes of those who do not see, the mouths of those who do not ask, and the hearts of those who do not care, and grant us the wisdom to open our hands to our fellow humans when they are in need  – the hand of generosity, the hand of support, the hand of peace and friendship.
— From Passover: Ridding ourselves of the khametz of arrogance, by Rabbi Arik W. Ascherman, Rabbis for Human Rights, Israel

That is what I receive from his message, anyway.  What do you receive?

This Holy Day season, let’s remember that it is a season of peace.

This means that we can be peaceful about the season! We don’t need to create anxiety about buying stuff, or whether or not we’ve given “enough” to our kids or family members.  Even children who are used to getting a lot of presents can be re-trained to value gratitude, service to others, and simple (maybe handmade) gifts instead of the mountains of plastic they expect. Re-training ourselves and our children is going to take some work and inner fortitude. I know we can do it – if we commit to it.

This isn’t simply a stress management issue. In addition to our emotional health, we need to safeguard the resources of our beautiful planet. So cutting back on Christmas consumerism is an essential environmental issue as well.

Peace is our birthright. It is our very nature. We’ve lost track of that, and Christmas stress is a great barometer for how far we can lose ourselves in the expectations and habits of consumer society. But we can divorce ourselves from the madness, and claim the simplicity of true Christ consciousness.  It is within us, every moment of every day. Let’s find it together.

Merry Christmas!

I don’t know about you, but the past week has been a time when all of my *&#! came up. Any place where I wasn’t trusting my connection to the One came to greet me with a devilish grin. Yikes!  What an unpleasant crash into a hell world of my own creation. I notice that I get really bent out of shape if I get worried about the future. In reality, in this moment I’m fine…doing my thing, healthy, with a roof over my head and all the blessings of my beautiful life…

In my imagined future, I can create all sorts of scary possibilities. And it sucks. Reeling my mind back to this moment NOW has taken all of my patience, strength and self-love. I know I am not alone. Everyone I work with and play with is also feeling this deep inner challenge of remaining present in the Presence…or losing our way and coming back…So if you are feeling slightly or majorly insane these days, go into your heart and reach out to all of your teammates…the incredible souls around the world (and beyond) who are committed to the awakening of Love and Peace and Health and Justice on Earth.  There are millions of us, and we are strong. Tap into the group determination that we yield, especially if you’ve temporarily lost your way.

Together, we awaken. Together, we support each other and learn to love Life. God is perfect love.  And so are we.

I received this email from Randall Butisingh, a wonderful, wise man I met through the Internet.  Randall is an elder to almost all of us, since he is in his 90’s. I share his words to inspire you:

“We are all, when we choose, 100% saints and also 100% sinners. That is the challenge in our lives. In the present we are faced with our greatest challenges; a diminishing environment, economic deficiency, attack by terrorists, the proliferation of the Aids virus and other dreadful diseases; all caused by man’s greed, his excesses, his selfishness and recalcitrance.  But this should not affect those who love and have the inner peace.  Bear in mind, the darker the night, the brighter and more brilliant the stars. So it is with evil – the greater the evil, love and mercy and forgiveness manifest to a greater degree. This we can see in the work of selfless individuals, charitable organizations and benevolent governments.  What happens outside of us is of very little consequence and is transitory, but what takes place inside of us is what greatly matters; like the continuous ticking of the clock in the most violent storm.

Here is a stanza from a hymn that bears me out:

“A faith that shines more bright and clear

When tempests rage without;

That when in danger knows no fear,

In darkness feels no doubt.”

Thank you, Randall, for your long life of service, faith and love. You are a blessing to this Earth.