Religious Recovery

You’ve suffered at the hands of clergy who you’ve entrusted with the keeping of your very soul. You’ve pledged your allegiance to a religious order, given of yourself in service, sacrificed for the benefit of the organization, then found out it was not what you thought it was. Now, you’re in religious recovery.

Religious recovery is not to be confused with AA, which assumes that you’ve failed if you ever take a snort of alcohol again. No need to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

There is hope for you.

You have had a relationship with God, and you can keep your relationship with your higher power without having to submit to your previous religion. God is not the God of any particular religious organization. Individual religious organizations are stepping stones to a greater relationship with the source of all life.

Had you not had this experience, you might not have been aware of the existence of a higher power. Now that you have been introduced to God and started to develop a relationship, you can keep growing and expanding as you keep pursuing a greater relationship with the creator of all life on your own.

You’ve taken the first step. You’ve exited the influence of an organization whose intent it was to control you, which has held you back from moving forward and beyond the capabilities of the faction you had associated with in the past.

The will attempt to deploy all the fear-based intimidations they can to make you feel like you are unworthy, unwanted, and may even threaten your survivability, tell you you’re going to hell, or decrease your own will to live, and you may occasionally feel like you can’t go on another day.

Your initial reaction might be to rebel, and judge the organization for treating you badly, deciding,

If that’s the way God is, I want nothing to do with it.

But remember, your problem is not with God. It is with the organization run by the people who are doing the best they can to serve God in the only way they know how. They have been programmed by the generations that went before and they live within the confines of a religion based on fear. Fear of doing it wrong, fear of punishment, fear of eternal damnation.

God is not a God of fear. God is a God of love. And you know it.
Now that you’ve taken a step toward your own religious recovery, you have the wherewithal to start your own relationship with your higher power without having to succumb to the heavy-handed mechanisms of religion.

You are empowered to follow your own path to enlightenment in any way that you see fit, sort of like a modern-day shaman. The traditional path of a shaman is more structured, not unlike an organized religion, but the modern-day shaman is widely expanding and evolving along with the rest of the human race.

The times are changing, and the whole planet is evolving from a fear-based system (which is not sustainable) to a love-based system which is heart-centered and seeks peace and harmony for all.

God is loving you, so excited about your finding your own way, and waiting for your awakening.

See you at the Recovery from Religious Trauma Event in Olympia, September 21st

Have We Met Somewhere Before?

There are times when you meet up with someone in this life who at the outset seems so familiar, even though he or she is a perfect stranger, and you might even ask, “Have we met somewhere before?” What is going when you feel so strongly that you know this person?

have we met somewhere before?

Logically, you know you have never crossed paths with this person, but still, there is the strange and undeniable familiarity or connection.

On one side of it, this phenomenon is the idea that this person reminds you of someone with whom you’ve shared a connection in the past and you can project those very same feelings on a perfect stranger who is similar enough to trigger your latent emotional feelings.

This is common when we’ve loved someone who is not present in our life at the moment. A friend, a family member, a teacher, mentor, or someone we admired from afar. Maybe they moved away, or you just ended up on different journeys and drifted apart, or they may have passed on. It may have been long ago enough that you may not even remember them consciously.

Still, there’s a part of you that misses them, and your subconscious triggers all that connection and projects it on someone. And, Bam! There you are. This is a blessing because it honors the original person, the effect he or she had on your life, you go right back into that state and it feels very good, but it’s a little socially awkward.

Then, there’s the “other side” of the have-we-met-before phenomenon.

I don’t know how you feel about all this, but buckle-up buttercup because we’re goin’ for a ride…

There are a great many “other reasons” you feel like you may have met this person before, and the likelihood that you may know this person deeply and/or intimately from beyond your present experience.

“Oh, no, not the, ‘I know you from a past-life,’ thing!”

Yes, it sounds so romantically trite, nonetheless, this is a real thing. The higher part of you, remembers experiences from lives you’ve lived before, and it recognizes those with whom you’ve shared these experiences with.

Just like this life, past lives have had both good and bad experiences, so the feelings that you feel for this person might not be good. This person may have been connected to a highly-charged tragic event in a past life and those negative feelings are breaking through in this reality.

If you have met before in a previous life, there’s a good chance that you may have unfinished business to tend to in this go-round.

How do you know if you know someone from a past life?

First, there is the knowingness of recognition, with deep emotional impact, followed by an initial (albeit you might think of it as silly) idea that pops into your head, indicating you must have known them in a past life. If you’ve been well-socially-programmed, you quickly discard the idea of having a past-life connection because that would be ridiculous.

When reuniting with someone from a past-life, you feel this deep connection which goes beyond any logical explanation because you feel as if you’ve met a long-lost friend, someone, you cared deeply for but haven’t seen in years. This overwhelming flood of emotion could come accompanied by tears, extreme joy, and/or a compulsion to embrace because it has been a long time, at least one lifetime since you’ve been together.

They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, and you are likely to understand the meaning of this when you look into the eyes of someone you’ve shared adventures with in a past life. There is an uncanny instant knowingness and trust that you have shared experiences and you get a feeling, if not a glimpse, of this feeling of shared experiences. This shared trust allows you to drop human pretenses and feel like you can be open and honest with this person because you share this vast history with him or her.

As you reconnect with this person, you may find that you both have particular fascinations about geographic locations around the world and specific time periods. It’s likely that you have shared experiences in these locations in a past life. Your souls remember, even if you’re unable to consciously remember in this life.

As you get to know your fellow traveler (which happens very rapidly, if you’ve traveled together before) you realize that you understand, trust, and know each other more deeply than other people you have met in just this present life.

When you interact and spend time in each other’s presence time seems not to exists, you can share and chat with each other for what seems like minutes when hours may have slipped by because you’re more deeply connected outside the timeline of this life.

Even though you may be miles apart, the connection persists without any degradation due to time and space, and when you are able to reconnect again, it is as no time has passed and you just pick up right where you left off.

And who knows, you may even be a part of the same Cosmic Speakeasy, where you and a number of other soul mates, rendezvous and commiserate in between lives.

Just saying.

What is the Best Spiritual Journey?

As a spiritual coach, people often ask me, “What is the best spiritual journey?” Compassionately translated, it might read, What religion, brand-of-thought, or style of living might be the best path to follow?

If you’ve asked that question, you have a way to go, yet.

Think about your spiritual journey just as you would any other trip you might take. Let’s say you’re in Seattle and you want to go to New York. There are so many roads which can be travelled between those two locations, the question is how do you want to get there?

Many people want the fast-track, so they stay to the highways and get there as quickly as possible, maybe staying the night in one or two locations along the way, some driving straight through, while others take an RV and as many side roads as possible, enjoying the scenic route.

Of course, you can plan and execute your own spiritual journey any way that is the best for you. We’re all different and we all experience our lives in unique and different ways (at least we should). So, to ask anyone what is the best path to take doesn’t really make any sense.

You can ask me about the path that I took, or you could study the path that someone else took, but you must take your own path, even risk creating a new trail through terrain which may not have been travelled before (or lately).

Your spiritual journey is not a race, nor a competition, and you never reach a finish line. There will be monumental moments when you feel like you’ve reached the pinnacle, and these moments are to be savored and celebrated. After a moment of settling into this new, expanded energy, you will see another peak in the horizon.

Or, you can find a comfortable place and settle in for the remainder of your years, if that is what is best for you.

There is no right way. There is no wrong way. There is only your way, and your way will be unlike anyone else’s way.

Sure, you can receive input from others, query them, and see what piques your interest, dabble in a particular thought pattern or belief system for a while to see how it resonates with you. There is no harm in that. Who knows, it may lead to a major unexpected leg of your journey.

And don’t be afraid of changing your destination, or taking trips along the way that may seem like they’re taking you in a different direction. All your trips along your journey add to the quality of this life.

There may be treacherous terrain to be crossed, you may meet challenge, drama, and pain along the way. You are likely to encounter situations and circumstances which you could not have anticipated or prepared for. Not to worry. No mistakes can be made, as long as you keep moving.

There is no judgment for you here.

You might find yourself in Orlando, when you originally thought you were headed to New York, but your journey will have been rich and full of life, and you will have tales to tell. Tales which will have eager eyes trained on you as you tell of your travels around the campfire, eager to hear each and every detail.

Most people don’t get to live a life like the life you are living.

What is the best spiritual journey?

You are a spiritual being, on a spiritual journey and your journey is the best spiritual journey for you.

You are your spiritual journey.

(And there is no way you can do it wrong.)

 

Enjoy the Seventh Wave

You’re having a great day, you’re growing, changing and loving every minute of it. Know that your spiritual growth will come in waves and these waves come in cycles. Cycles of waves generally come in groups of fourteen, with a particularly long-lasting big wave halfway through the cycle. So, if everything seems to be optimal in your growth and performance, enjoy the seventh wave.

enjoy the seventh wave it's the biggest wave
Enjoy the seventh wave

The seventh wave is always the biggest one, and when you first emerge on your spiritual journey, you have no idea which wave you are on when you start, so you ride the wave which presents itself to you. When you’re riding the biggest wave, you know it. Some people are lucky to catch the biggest wave their first time out.

Once you’ve experienced the big wave, you know the water will go out and another wave will come, it will not be as big as the last one, but another one is coming, and every so often (roughly every seventh wave) a big one comes; and when it does, enjoy the seventh wave.

Your spiritual journey works in waves. There will be times of great growth and expansion followed by a recession (the water going out, building for the next wave) and the diligent expansion explorer is preparing for the next wave during the lull.

Some people catch every wave, some try only to catch the biggest ones because they’re just more fun, and there’s other stuff you could be doing (like making out with an adorable sun-tanned god/goddess on the beach, or some other worthwhile distraction).

You have enjoyed the seventh wave, you feel like King Midas, everything you touch turns to gold, then the wave goes out… All of a sudden, you’re feeling more like King Dung. Get to know the cycles of life and energy, and realize that it comes in waves.

Jim Rohn said he can always predict the economic future, that

There Will be Expansion

Everyone gets excited about the thought that something good is coming; but he’s not finished with his economic prediction, he continues with

Followed by Recession

Everybody sinks and imagines losing all the money they’ve imagined making during the expansion. But Rohn has one more thing to add,

Savvy Investors Will Profit Wildly in Both

There was never a more accurate prognosticator of the economic landscape and your spiritual journey will follow the same rhythm. It is the rhythm of life.

The savvy expansion explorer understands this universal ebb and flow, rests, regroups, continues to learn, grow, and change during the lull (recession) while staying diligently aware and in a state of preparation for the next incoming wave.

In between the waves, this is the time to review and evaluate where you are on your spiritual journey. Take the time to look and survey the beach all around you. Are you on the right part of the beach, or is it time to move up or down the beach to find a better spot?

Maybe it’s time to take time out for planning, the maintenance of your equipment, restock supplies, or wax your board. If you’re tending to your camp or nest, it’s okay to miss a few waves in preparing for maximizing your next one.

Every hour of planning saves three hours of execution. That’s a 300% return on your investment. Strategizing between waves is not only prudent, it’s mandatory for the savvy expansion explorer.

No matter where you are, or what you’re doing right now, that seventh wave is out there waiting for you. So, don’t lose faith when you’re not surfing, or maybe nowhere near the beach. The beach and the waves will still be there. They are waiting for you.

The seventh wave, when you catch it, you are on top of the world, everything seems precious and priceless. You are empowered, strong, intuitive, purposeful, fearless and you wish this wave could last forever.

Know that the wave will subside and the surf will retract. Get out of the water and get ready by strategically planning your interaction and maximization of your next wave. Don’t get caught in the undertow.

Up Your Enlightened Expansion

You’re on the path… You’re beginning to see that things are not as they appear… You are on a path of enlightenment… and you’re looking around for clues…

This is where you’re potentially get thrown off-track.

Once you see that things are not the way you’ve been taught and programmed to think and believe, it is impossible to go backward. Oh, sure, you could (and it feels more safe to) return to the same old life routine that you’ve lived your whole life prior to this realization, but there will always be the notion that it’s all just rote motion.

If you’re brave enough, you continue to consider inviting other thought patterns and in your search for further enlightenment.

You could potentially be waylaid by looming information, a persuasive guru, or someone else’s journey.

And what you could miss is the most important piece: You. Your journey is not about anyone else’s journey. To fully experience your own enlightenment, you must find your own way. No two persons’ enlightenment will be the same. So, if you find yourself following someone else’s journey, you’re not doing it right.

Certainly, when you’re venturing into uncharted territory, allowing the flow of new information could be invaluable in your search for truth or expansion, but by all means, make your own way.

There are so many aspects of your expansion that could distract you from your expansion if you get stuck in a particular system or methodology. Any of these things (in themselves) is not it at all, only a particular rung on the ladder. Don’t get stuck there.

Sure, when you’ve gotten there (Law of Attraction, Quantum Mechanics, etc…), wherever you might be or have been, it is only a step. There is another step beyond, waiting for your arrival, and no one can tell you what that is. It awaits you uniquely.

You can spend as much time as necessary on a particular step, but know there is another one waiting. You are breaking free from the herd, while it is exciting to hand with like-minded folks, don’t allow yourself to become a member of another (smaller) herd.

I see my path as being a spiritual journey because that is a common vibration as far back as I can remember, though thought and form has continued to expand daily, some days more than others. As forwardly mobile as I am, I, too, can get in a rut but once I’ve acclimated, I am looking for my next step.

Some people get hung up on the term “spiritual.” Well, get over it. What it means, is that you start considering concepts that are so beyond anything you’ve been programmed to think, that it boggles the mind of modern man and when you realize that there is so much more going on, even when you think nothing else could be happening… You are only scratching the surface. It’s so far out there, we only refer to it using the term “spiritual” because there really is no other word for it.

Plus, what do you care?

You should be focused on your individual journey, and allow others to find their own way (we call that tolerance), realizing they’re going to end up somewhere else. And that’s true enlightened expansion.

I am tempted, sometimes, to use the phrase, “Believe me,” because I know a certain thing to be true. But, really? Any truth I speak is only true for me, in the moment the words escape my lips. If you (or anyone else) finds anything of value in the words I’ve uttered, great. If not, excellent.

How often does my truth change? I’ve recited a heartfelt monologue of truth, only to stop (sometimes before completing the sentence), squint my eyes, tilt my head, and interrupt myself with, “Wait a minute… That might not be true…”

It matters not. Don’t believe me, or anyone else. You have to figure this out and allow it to unfold uniquely for you… and if you dare, be bold enough not to believe yourself. That is to say, be open to the idea that what you believe – right now – may not be true. At least be willing to consider there is more… and more will appear…

Spiritual Awakening

It’s happening all around us, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, people are waking up from a spiritual slumber that has plagued our planet and stunted our evolution for thousands of years.

And guess what? God doesn’t care who you are, what stature you occupy in society, how educated you are, where you’ve come from or where you think you’re going, and He’s got your back one hundred percent.

spiritual awakening god holy spirit spiritual gifts spirit science enlightenment

What do you have to do to be part of this spiritual enlightenment?

A hundred different spiritual leaders will tell you 100 different answers to “What is spirituality? or how to grow spiritually breaking through to the next level of spiritual growth.

The truth of the matter is this:

It’s not that complicated.

All you have to do is to embrace the spiritual science that surrounds each and every one of us, acknowledging the spiritual energy that flows through every cell of our body and every living (and non-living, if there is such a thing) thing on this planet and throughout our universe. This includes the space (that we think is empty) is completely populated with this spiritual energy.

Spiritual Energy

If God is energy, then all you have to do is to plug in to the energy. Once you’ve established a spiritual connection with God, the source of everything, you immediately have access and can begin your personal spiritual journey.

Spiritual Journey

Your spiritual journey will look much different from the journey that you had previously found yourself on. As your spiritual awareness begins to become more adept at piquing your interest and ramping up your spiritual intuition, you will begin to notice the things of this world begin to appear very different to you. As your awareness of the spirit world continues to increase your sense of truth, as you peel back the layers of ambiguity that surrounds those lost in the darkness, a calm sense of spiritual intelligence begins to emerge.

Once you have decided to travel your own individual path to your unique spiritual enlightenment, you will begin to attract spiritual leaders, with their own individual spiritual systems that have helped them get to where they are along their spiritual journey.

Spiritual Guidance

Your spiritual calling is not to follow some other spiritual leader’s footsteps. Your spiritual journey has not mirrored anyone else’s journey step-for-step, why should you start now. No, God has placed these individuals to give you clues. Clues about where you are going, and understand how someone else on their path has achieved their own individual spiritual empowerment can be very helpful in your navigating your own spiritual journey.

Your spiritual guidance system is a part of you, who you are. You are hardwired to be a part of the spiritual evolution that is visiting the peoples of our planet and you are perfectly on track, in the right place at the right time as you find peace in the realization that everything is perfect and connected.

Spiritual Power

Your new spiritual life will not be without conflict. As you begin your spiritual metamorphosis, you will attract both earthly and spiritual forces intent on thwarting your spiritual progress. This is a challenge of spiritual warfare that faces each and every spiritual traveler, paving their own way.

This process includes imbuing your personal nervous system, mind, body and soul with an unparalleled spiritual power to assist you as you embark upon your new spiritual journey.

You may encounter various and sundry forms of spiritual attack and you will find that God has already provided you with ample resources back by His holy spirit gifting you with spiritual gifts and weapons far superior than any man, principality or power can devise to prevent your spiritual development. If called to engage in spiritual battle, you will win, victorious as a testament to your individual spiritual beliefs.

Spiritual Science

As you are further spiritually awakened you discover your enlightenment is constant and never-ending and your spiritual consciousness reveals the secrets of the science of spirituality which far exceeds the science of man. Yet there exists a correlation between science and spirituality that the less enlightened cannot understand.

Spiritual Tolerance

And you find your new spiritual self okay with that, allowing every individual to embrace their own journey in their own way. You are respectful of those who have not awakened, or are only newly awakening spiritually, never judging or measuring anyone, nor comparing to your spiritual experience or spiritual practices for you allow everyone to be their own individual spiritual person.

You respect other’s right to express their spirituality and applaud them as they exercise their rights in any way they choose, as long as it does not impinge on the rights of another spiritual being. You do not hold any judgment, nor differentiate between religion and spirituality, because everyone is a spiritual being on their own spiritual journey, and they are all doing the best they can with what they have.

Your journey is one of growth and spiritual balance as you evolve spiritually moment by moment and continue your awakening spiritually.

God bless your continued evolution.