Not only are we the 99%; we are truly the 100% – with every gorgeous soul included and loved by our Creator. Our healing rests upon the truth of our ONENESS.

A Course in Miracles says, “The present is forgiveness.” So as we stand for justice, let’s open to the miracle of the Holy Instant, the one blessed and alive moment that is NOW. It’s from here that change will come, and healing will pour over and into us.

In order to directly experience the Heaven we crave, we need to realize how connected we are. ALL of us…including those who’ve passed on and those who’ve yet to be born… including those you think you love and those you never want to see again…ALL of us make up the body of the Christ. None can be left out. This is the love of the present moment. It is the mercy given each one of us on the forgiveness path.

So let’s open wide the doors of our Heart and let ourselves FEEL how much we need each other. Know you are never isolated and alone, but always linked with your sisters and brothers everywhere. Strong, vital, united and free. With this salve and salvation, we’ll build our new world.

Happy day,
Ana

What are your changes? Seems like everyone is going through at least a few. Mine have been momentous: selling my dream temple-home, packing up, giving stuff away, cleaning cleaning cleaning, moving out, putting most everything in storage and…moving into a tent! Oh, and parenting and running a business, too. Recently, I’ve moved out of the tent (which was deliciously fantastic) into a small home that’s cozy, simple and close to everything so I can walk and bike everywhere.

It’s been really intense and also exciting.  I hope you are creating your own version of life that includes everything you love and enjoy.

While I’ve been a’changing, the need for forgiveness and its bounty has not gone away. I’m continuing to teach, write and counsel folks about the healing power of letting it ALL go – the pain, fear and sorrow of the past – so that new doors of divine communion can open.

Whatever the form or name, release is the only way, dear friend. We have to make room for the goodness of Life, and we need to choose it actively. No more waiting around until “something happens”.  Consciously choosing to release the past with humility and honesty brings healing. Why wait?

The only thing you’ll lose when you let go is your suffering. What you’ll gain defies description, because it is the blessing of your true nature, pure love. Experiences of peace come from here, once you’re at home inside the grace of the Divine. Think about it – you didn’t create yourself. Your Creator created you out of pure love, and that is what you are. But if you’re not feeling it, you need to release whatever’s in the way. This is the path of forgiveness, both for others, yourself, and the way of the world.

The Earth needs our sane, willing, open, honest participation, so we can work together to clean her up and live in the abundant garden she offers. We can’t do this until we’re clean enough within, listening to inner guidance and resolute upon our path. The path of forgiveness clears the way. I hope you will learn more about it, and rest deeply inside the way of joy and service that are yours for the asking.

TIPS for living on the path of peace and freedom:

1. Breathe! Breathe deeply and consciously. Your breath shows you your willingness to truly live.

2. Release immediately. Offer everything to the One Source. Give big and little pains and fears, and also give all great fortune, lessons learned and the simple happiness of your days and nights. Give it all. Surrender and be at peace.

3. Dedicate your day. Each morning, make time to enter consciously into the day, giving thanks and committing your awareness to whatever blessings you want to experience and share.

Always share the blessings!

In my forgiveness work, I speak about healing both the victim and the perpetrator archetypes. In reality, everyone with an ego has experienced both sides of this painful coin. One person might think of himself more as a “poor victim” and another might consider herself as basically “a bully,” but for most of us, both labels apply. And though they’re only labels, and both sides can be uplifted by the healing power of forgiveness, the violence still hurts before the healing begins.

The United Nations Charter of Rights for Children states, in part, that “every child has the right to an education and every child has the right to be safe”. One group that’s doing an incredible job helping kids find those rights is Challenge Day. I recently participated as an adult volunteer at a Challenge Day at my local high school. It was a day full of laughter, tears and miracles.

The Challenge Day trainers, youthful yet savvy Gina and Tony, enticed the students into deep honesty, openness and willingness during the 6 hour session. We all played games, made lots of noise, explored giving safe, non-sexual hugs, and shared support for our most difficult life lessons. At the end of the day, everyone (both students and adults alike) realized that there’s so much more that binds us than separates us. Roles like “cool kid” and “loser,” “jock” and “nerd” fell away once our common strengths and frailties were held with compassion and understanding. We learned about ourselves as a human family, and left with a profound sense of peace and excitement.

The challenge now is to enliven the lessons we learned during Challenge Day and make them a part of every day life at Mount Shasta High School, and at all high schools, middle schools, colleges, universities, families and throughout our entire social web.

Only this commitment to peace will prevent more kids from jumping off the George Washington Bridge, as 18 year old Tyler Clementi did this month. Maybe because I drove over that bridge every day for two years during high school, the latest suicide over a bullying incident holds symbolic meaning for me. I also love the symbol of a white bird, flying in freedom, to remind me of peace and serenity.

Whatever symbol for peace works for you, I hope you will hold it dear to your heart and make it grow. To find inspiration, contact www.challengeday.org. Be the change you want to see in the world!

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.

Allowing the possibility of a happy outcome to all things takes a lot of trust. How can there be a happy outcome when there is so much pain and suffering in the world…and in our hearts?

The only way to achieve any kind of real happiness is to offer all of our loneliness, fear and sadness to the Holy Spirit. Giving it to another person or idea doesn’t work. We’ve already tried to pawn it off on desires for possessions, prestige, sex, and drugs. We’ve attempted happiness through work, or sought relief through our spouses, children and therapists. None of that was successful, except for a minute or two, was it?

We are left with only one course of action that leads to healing. Pain and suffering can only be finally cleansed in one way. We must look in only one direction for support and guidance. Why? Because there is only one source of Love that is real. How can we find healing in anything that isn’t real? We can’t – it’s impossible.

If we want peace, we’ll need to offer up our pride and surrender on bended knee. We must acknowledge with a grateful heart this source that gives us life, minute by minute, moment by moment, breath by breath. Let’s finally understand that this source is pure love…so we can find the soft strength that’s necessary to lay down our burdens. Breathing out our sadness and confusion, we’ll make room for clarity, joy, and new direction. We’ve got to make some space, to clear out. Only the Holy Spirit, God’s grace in action, can help us here.

We will walk off the battlefield as many times as we need to. Over and over…or just once and for all. It doesn’t matter. What matters is directly experiencing relief from the illusions of bitterness, revenge and hatred. They are not real…we just made them up. We can let them go and find sanity…peace…heaven on earth.

This is the way that a happy outcome to all things is sure. Aaaahhhhhh, so good to know. 

A peaceful day to you.

A few days ago, I lost the coin. I couldn’t find it anywhere, though I did all the sensible things -checked my pants pockets, retraced my steps, etc. I began to feel sad that it had disappeared, and angry with myself for losing it. Damn!  I liked that coin!  I saw my attachment, my assumption about what it meant to me, my annoyance with my irresponsibility. And the little thing is worth about $200, on top of it all.

Anyway, the next day I taught my first Uncovering Your Inner Rumi devotional poetry workshop. A wonderful group gathered in Mount Shasta, CA, to explore writing devotional poetry together. Since I was thinking about the gold coin, I wrote about a poem about it during the workshop.  Here it is:

O Beloved

give me back my gold!

I lost it…yet could I ever lose it?

Jesus, your golden grace

coalesced in my hand

Lakshmi, I prayed for your help

Gone now

poof! it flew into the Mystery

Here is the teaching

if I dare:

never lost,never taken

this golden glow of mine.

Well, I really prayed that the coin would reappear, since I’d now gotten the lesson. A friend helped me search once more, and lo and behold – I found it!  Where, you might ask?  On my altar, where I’d placed it for safe-keeping, beside an image of the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi, goddess of grace, beauty and abundance.I had to laugh. Lakshmi had me covered – the whole time!  Another life lesson:  Divine Love holds my golden grace, even when I’ve forgotten it, and forgotten where I’ve put it.  So good to know.

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

The deeper I go into forgiveness…in the ecstatic, radical sense of the word…the more I see that its invitation is surrender. Forgiveness is the golden door, the way past all fear and grief, and an entry into life beyond dictatorship of the ego.

What is radical about radical forgiveness? What is ecstatic about it? Using a spiritual philosophy grounded in the teachings of A Course in Miracles and other holy books, we go beyond the traditional usage of the word “forgiveness”.  Rather than “letting bygones be bygones” (somehow), we agree to let our spiritual intelligence teach us. We humbly learn about the gifts that were hidden or obscured – in even the most terrible events in our lives. We surrender to the wisdom that lives beyond what our intellects can decipher. Allowing the healing blessings in, we also let pain and sorrow out of our hearts.

When we choose to let go of blame and grievances, and the corresponding thoughts and emotions buried deep within, we can refill ourselves on a cellular level with healing grace. We then find out that there is no spiritual need for forgiveness, after all, because we are not helpless, solitary victims of our circumstances. The world is not out to get us — in fact, God wants our perfect happiness.

Divine Love beckons us, welcoming us to release the pain of this material world, while supporting us to remain present in the world in order to guide others to the door. Divine Grace, sometimes known as the Holy Spirit, is the healer, and our part is to surrender to the healing…constantly flowing…the River of Love.

Recently, I found two plays on words that gave me a chuckle.  I share them here for your enjoyment and inspiration.

One of the hardest parts about being human is the tendency toward feeling abandoned. Abandoned by loved ones, by the death of loved ones, by the “betrayal” of others, and by God as well.  Especially by God. Hence all of the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness that muck up our innate happiness.  Well, I found that there is a great use for abandonment.  Turning around, there is the possibility to abandon ourselves to God. That’s the juicy sort of abandonment that brings sublime joy, health, and happiness. This is the abandonment that Sufi poets describe so well. So next time you are feeling sadness or pain over thinking you’ve been abandoned by someone, abandon yourself to God instead. Freedom will be yours, every time.

Meditating upon “turning around”, I remembered the analogy that Colin Tipping likes to use in his explanation of Radical Forgiveness.  He describes our lives as being tapestries. They are beautiful, but usually we look at the backside of them. (“Ass backward,” as we used to say in New Jersey.) From that viewpoint, there are knots and hanging strings, and the image is messy and blurred. Turn it over, he suggests, and we see the divine perfection of our life plan, including everything that has ever happened for us. Not to us, but for us. It’s a turn-over!  Delectable!  I can remember that….apple turn-over, yum…let’s go get one right now.

When life seems unmanageable, try abandoning yourself to God. This surrender will put you on the path of forgiveness. And when circumstances are distasteful, turn it around…give yourself a tasty turn-over. Witnessing the perfection of each moment will make your life delicious again.

We can share a smile, a wink, a sunset, a poem, a rainbow….

Envisioning a world in which we all live this way comes from our own desire. We do it simply because it’s natural. There is no neediness, and no feeling of being drained or exhausted. Instead, there’s a playfulness to it, so that when we travel away from home across the street or across the world, we’re recognizing equality in all beings. We feel safe to stop and chat, to look people in the eye, to share love and art and beauty with them.

Lay forgiveness on your mind

and let all fear be gently laid aside

that love may find its rightful place in you.

— A Course in Miracles (T198)