Freedom

The Holy Spirit teaches you the difference between pain and joy. This is the same as saying He teaches you the difference between imprisonment and freedom.

(A Course in Miracles)

God in Neale Walsch's "Conversations with God", often said that there is no "wrong" or "right", there is is only useful and less so, judged from the perspective of what you want to achieve. Some want status and power, while others want love and freedom. Freedom was Buddha's stated goal and he was uncompromising in his approach to get there. I remember a scene in Deepak Chopra's "Buddha", where Lord Krishna visited Buddha after a long meditation session. Buddha said to Lord Krishna, "You have no idea how much I have longed Thee!", to which Lord Krishna responded, "I know!". But then Buddha closed his eyes again and said, "Please leave now I have work to do." That is indeed the mindset of someone who is on a mission. You keep on going until your goal reached. In Buddha's case it was a mission to be completely free from all mind-driven illusions.

It is in fact possible to be "free". Not in the way that you can cut yourself completely off from the subconscious processes that run below the surface, but in the way that you can really live your life completely detached from the longings of the ego. There is a Way that somehow always knows best and all you have to do is to follow Her. Sometimes it is external signs that guide you, while sometimes it is your intuition. There always will be a few missed steps but mostly you can be connected every step of the Way. You can see and feel the Way just as a scientist would and you learn as much from your mistakes as you do from your blissful moments. Along the Way, the longings of the "I" simply melt into nothingness and in those moments you get a taste for true freedom, just as the Course in Miracles claims.

It is pretty meaningless to strive for enlightenment just because this gift a higher authority has to grant you. What you can do though, you can cut out interferences to the best of your abilities by just holding on to the Way. Joy and freedom follow you where you go. Never mind if there are still a couple of dimensions in your life where people or positions seemingly still hold you back. This just means that you aren't quite ready for the big jump. Serve willingly as a free master and true freedom will be yours before you know it.

Just Do It

At the beginning, mankind and the obligation of selfless service were created together. Through selfless service you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires. This is the promise of your Creator.
Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita

Ever wonder where all the stress and annoyance comes from?  Most of time it comes from our own resistance. We don't want to do something though deep down inside we know that it is probably good for us and others.  This resistance creates the stress and conflict in us. So instead of wasting our energy fighting what we have to do, why don't we just accept it and just do it!  Observe how your energy level changes accordingly.

When you accept that you need to work to support your family, when you accept all these chores that are necessary to nurture your family and provide them with a comfortable environment. When you know you need to spend that time with your children to nurture their souls and calm them down. When you understand that you need to be there for your friends and family, suddenly all the annoyance disappears, suddenly, your light shines through every trivial thing that you have to do.  It is almost like wherever you walk and whatever you do, it is the most important activity in the world and the most important
moment of your life.  You basically experience meditation while you do whatever you do.
Divine energy springs forth from your activity and from you.  There is nothing more important than this moment!

Feel the joy of everything you do. The Tao has prepared this task especially for you to make you whole. You can sense that divine connection every moment. Happiness and peace of mind is nor defined by money, nor is it measured by social status. Only one thing matters, you, your divine activity and your connection with your soul siblings. Your presence and your participation makes you one with the Tao.  Can you feel this joy while being at work? Do you share the excitement of simply spotting a wild rabbit in your yard?  Can you experience that silence and joy that is radiating from you? You are the Tao's gem. This world would be incomplete without having you here now.

Leave the rewards of our actions up to a higher authority. These too will come our way. Let's enjoy our life moment by moment by fulling engaging with whatever comes our Way. Let's do it!

By Christian and Su Zhen

Let the Tao Help You Find the Job You Were Born to Do

At the beginning, mankind and the obligation of selfless service were created together."Through selfless service you will always be fruitful and find the fulfillment of your desires", this is the promise of your Creator.
Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita

How do you feel about your work?  Why do you work?  Do you work to make a living, or do work to express yourself? Do you work to prove yourself or do you work to join the world and share your unique gift with others?

We have found that your attitude towards your work already decides the outcome. If you work just to make a living, your attitude is more like work is something you need to tolerate so naturally you won’t enjoy it so much. As a matter of fact, you won't expect much and consequently will find little enjoyment in your occupation. You probably will not invest much of yourself into it and into the relationships at work and will quickly run out of patience when things don't work your way.

 If your attitude is to express yourself at work instead and use this opportunity to join the world and connect with people, you will transform your work and you find that your work and the people you connect with transform you in return. You are willing to learn, you devote yourself to your environment and the people, so you will open up to the whole process and your work will literally become a special place that way. That's how energy works, where your attention and your energy flows, magic happens.  You will succeed because your attitude manifests success. Your energy creates reality.

 Many people work just to make money.  They use money to measure how successful they are.  That is fine too if it is meaningful to you. Money is a proxy of success and status in our society and it helps you explore what exactly it is that you want to get out of life. But in the end understand that this stage in your life is just there to help you guide to the occupation that is truly meaningful to you. When you have truly found yourself, when you have finally embraced that occupation that shares your unique gift with the world, money will be the last thing you think about. It will flow naturally to you and just as your presence enriches the lives of others, you will have everything that matters to you in your life.

If you want to work to express yourself, you must know who you are and what you want. When you are split in your actions and your cravings - the stuff that you want to get out of your job and others - your effort and attention will only be half-hearted. It is ok to accept that stage but keep on realigning yourself and exploring what you can do differently. Know that the Tao works hard in the background to align your unique gift with your underlying desires. When you are on the top of your game, you get exactly the recognition you want just as your customers and your colleagues get exactly the service from you that they need. Align yourself completely with your environment and find that suddenly " work" becomes your life instead.  You express yourself through your work.

Getting to this point is not easy. Unfortunately our expectations, our conflicts with money, our conjectures of what others might think of us often come in the way. Sometimes we also don't trust that we have a gift that is special. The trick is to understand that the Tao has a plan for you already. Everything you do right now is a stepping stone towards sharing your gift with the world. Even if you have to work on something that you do not love wholeheartedly in the beginning stay with it until you find that open door for the occupation of your dreams. Colleagues and customers who annoy you may in fact have a learning opportunity in store for you that brings the gem out of hiding. "No master has ever fallen from the sky", a German proverb says. Step after step everything will become  clear to you. The love of your life is waiting for you patiently and when you have finally connected, you will feel fulfilled just as all the people are who are helped by you. Let the Tao help you find the job you were born to do.

By Christian and Su Zhen

Spirituality as a Service

Have you ever thought about your relationship with money? Typically money is not appreciated in our spiritual community. Many see it as an ego symbol, which it certainly is. Still, your daily activities do involve money, so you have to deal with it one way or another.

When you look down on money, there is still ego involved too. Your ego wants you to be "holier" than other people. Yet, we are all equal, even if we are spiritual path travelers while some others aren't, we are all children of God. We all have different presents to share with the world. We share our presents with each other and get rewards in return. There always is a balance between giving and receiving. By getting your reward you will allow the people who use your service to show their appreciation. Everyone stands on the equal ground after the transaction. If you only want to give and refuse to take, you in fact refuse to stand on equal ground with others and will feel superior consciously or subconsciously.

Your client also has the desire to pay for the service he receives. It might as well be that the customer also feels better about the service if it is priced adequately. We know this sounds weird, but more often than not it holds true. A number of spiritual coaches reported that after they had charged a higher price, the quality and the interest of their audience improved significantly. So please put aside your ego for the benefit of all parties involved; charge your clients with good intentions at heart.

The spiritual community needs a lesson plan in limiting beliefs as well. Living in abundance is not evil; God doesn't mind if you are rich. Envision how you want to live your life and let the Tao show you how to get there. There always is a way.

By Christian and Su Zhen