Italo Calvino said: The more
enlightened our houses are, the more their walls ooze ghosts.” So what
enables us to become enlightened and why, or does this, create an oozing of
ghosts? To become enlightened is to
develop the ability to give spiritual or
intellectual insight to self, and some would say to others. Being
enlightened is about being present. it is about developing the spiritual
practice of releasing our attachment to the material world and all things which
seek to cling to us or to which we seek to cling. It is about becoming in tune
with all human experience, which enables one to understand our connection to
all of life and humanity.
Perhaps
that is why this image was selected to go with this quote. One can look at this
house and see it as empty and free of anything which might challenge us to
become attached materialistically. At the same time, one can look at this house
and see life being restored, an air conditioner, fresh air circulating through,
rugs to be laid out. Whichever way we choose to look at this house and experience
it is about us. We are free to determine our own lives and our own reality. This
image is nothing more then an image. What we see in it and how we experience it
can affect our understanding of reality. Like with anything else in life, we
can experience things in a way that cause our understanding of reality to
expand and contract. It is like breathing, our lungs expand and contract as we
inhale and exhale.
Read moreFor some this may be easier then others, but can you remember a time when you were young and free enough to think you could do anything. Take a moment and remember that time when you could imagine yourself as whatever you chose to be, you could travel to far off places and accomplish amazing things in the world. One of my favorite films is the movie UP! In part because it captures the imaginary and liberating creativity experienced by Elie and Carl as they formed a secret club and fantasized about traveling to Paradise Falls, somewhere in South America, as part of their fantasy of finding the once famous explorer Charles Muntz and his blimp The Spirit of Adventure.
Read moreAre you ready to activate your DNA? When I ask about activating your DNA, I am not asking about your genetic DNA, but your spiritual DNA. We are far more then our genetic coding. Our genetic coding also contains spiritual coding from the Divine buried within us, like a treasure in a clay jar. It has always been there waiting for us to choose to connect with it, cultivate it, activate it, and express it in our lives. While our genetic DNA makes us candidates for all kinds of traits in our lives, our spiritual DNA makes a perfect candidate for enlightenment and transformation. Those qualities and traits will lay dormant in us until we choose to activate them. We are the ones who have to choose to engage in a spiritual journey. Until we do, our spiritual DNA lies dormant.
Read moreThe other day, I found myself led to an ancient writing by Plato known as the Allegory Of The Cave. I have to say that I can’t remember the last time I read anything by Plato. To be completely honest, I am not sure I have ever read anything by Plato. Had it not been for a reference to it in a book I am currently reading, Spiritual Partnership by Gary Zukav, I probably would never have been inspired to read it.
Plato wrote it as a way of explaining to others what philosophers do. However, for me, it spoke to me about the process of liberation and enlightenment.
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