For Sunday September, 29th,

Hello and welcome to official fall. We've all had experience with 'monkey mind' during meditation. It's typically seen as an interruption. But, what if there's something we can learn from it? The monkey mind comes from us. Observing it tells us about ourselves in a very accurate way, because it is us. It is of our mind.

So how do we make best use of monkey mind? We observe it – without comment. Our monkey mind is no more an interruption of us than our limbs are an interruption of our bodies. The trick is to simply observe. Watch it happen, then let it pass of it's own. That can be the difficult part.

We're so accustomed to commenting, judging, analyzing, toying with in a million ways, that to just observe has become the difficult part.

May we sit this evening just watching without comment. Observe what is. Be with whatever comes. If a larger perspective becomes apparent, observe that too.

Submitted with love,

Richard

For Sunday September 22nd, 2024

Hello beautiful people. It's always a treat for me when Sundays land on the 22nd. Tom Sawyer considered that to be an important vibration number. 

And, in keeping with the process of the transformation of the Earth and humanity, let's remember that changes can be difficult. We can each recall a time when we've personally rejected a change before embracing it. It looks like that's what's happening now.

 
There are 56 armed conflicts, involving 90 different countries, happening around the Big Blue Marble right now – more than at any other time since WWII. But, there are also more groups of people working toward peace.

We are promised a beautiful conclusion. We are not promised an easy path.

 
May we sit this evening giving energy to this ongoing process – in accordance with Divine will.

 
Reverently submitted,

Richard 

For Sunday September 14th, 2024

Hello gracious and good people. When we look at the world we typically view it from an individual standpoint, our personal past, and whatever happens which affects us now. Or, we see it as something which is happening 'over there' to other people.

However, if it's true that we are all One, then our individuated view of the world is incomplete.

May we sit Sunday evening with the awareness that nothing happens in separation. We are WE, all of One humanity. An injury to one person is an injury to the human race. The contentment and satisfaction of anyone is a positive for all. May we realize the flow of the human experience, and our place in it.

Blessings, and thank you for who you are,

Richard 

For Sunday September 8th, 2024

Hello and welcome once again. We have all been conditioned by our upbringing; our families, our religions, our politics, our financial positions, our biases and prejudices, even the shape and health of our bodies. And here we are, caught up in this huge, massive, ever flowing, and tremendously powerful river of life. Our conditioning is so small, narrow, and shallow in comparison to all that life is, yet our conditioning is what we respond to life from.

Can we drop all that? Are we capable of leaving all of our conditioning behind and seeing life anew? If not we will remain trapped within our familiar walls of conditioning, and miss the grand and beautiful expanse of what life truly is.

Let us sit this evening without blinders on our experiences. Let us be open to see all that is. Let us truly and simply BE.

With love for all,

Richard 

For Sunday September 1st, 2024

Gracious greetings to all. So far the spiritual transformation of humanity has not been simple. Those who cling to personal desires of lust and power are clinging tightly. Those who foresee a more spiritual, heart-centered vision may experience a sense of frustration because of that.

The fact is that the majority of humanity learns slowly, often by way of difficulties. This is their chosen path according to their free will. An integral part of living more spiritually is to honor the paths of others.

So, this Sunday evening, may we sit as observers. May our own personal frailties be like gusts of wind which rise up then pass on by, un-grasped at. May we find an inner peace which allows all to have their chosen paths.

Reverently submitted,

Richard

For Sunday August 25th, 2024

Hello again, life giving people. In general, it may be that the major problems in society today come from a lack of connection with each other. People all too easily go through check-out lines on auto-pilot, as does the cashier. We tend to stare at impersonal phones while collecting impersonal information. We often side-line our own creative expressions in favor of watching and sharing the work of others. The deep beauty of life is displaced by a search for empty activities.

Our lack of fulfilling, authentic, heart-felt connections leaves room for anxieties and fears to creep in, diluting the value of our days.

May we sit this evening aware of our human need for connection. May we find the inspiration to reach out in even the tiniest ways to those we encounter in life. May the simple basic beauty of our hearts show through our daily lives.

Reverently submitted,

Richard

For Sunday August 18th, 2024

Hello beautiful people. The thing is, during meditation, to become aware of what our brain is doing. We all know what 'monkey mind' is and often chide ourselves about it, or become frustrated about it, or waste our energy in any other variation of struggle and worry over it. But, when we look at the human condition we may realize that chiding and frustration are a dangerous waste of time and effort.

There's too much at stake and there is so much available to us when we drop it.

May we sit this evening with the awareness of what our minds are doing. May we see what is needed. May we drop the wasted efforts and plunge in.

Bless you all for all you do,

Richard

For Sunday August 11th, 2024

Hello and gracious greetings to all. As we know, no one Is promised a perfect life. We come into this Earthly form with a willingness to accept the many whims of nature and the chaos of life – in order to love and be loved in return.

We don't know how long we've got, nor how long our loved ones will have. So, we just have to 'go for it', knowing the love we create will far outlast our Earthly forms.

 
May we sit this evening aware of the love we've already created, and knowing there's more to come from our willing hearts.

Thank you and bless you all,

Richard 

For Sunday August 4th, 2024

Greetings good people. J. Krishnamurti and Rudolf Steiner both encourage people to go beyond themselves in meditation. They ask that we manage to not avoid our emotions but to identify them, to not stop ourselves from thinking but to notice the process of thinking. This requires open ended observance, no judgements, no engagement, just simply observing as you would watch a boat pass by on the water.

 
The reason? Because we are not our emotions nor our thoughts. They come from us, but we are not them, we are something deeper yet.

May we sit this evening in 'search' of that something deeper. Emotions and thinking are easier to set aside once identified. Perhaps, just perhaps, we'll find that place of pure observance.

Bless you all,

Richard 

For Sunday July 28th, 2024

Hello to one and all. Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs' is depicted as a triangle with five levels through which a person progresses to the top; biological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation. But it is incomplete. In reality there is another mirror-image triangle balanced atop of it. The five stages in the bottom triangle depict psychological development and are inwardly focused, for personal growth. Upon reaching self-actualisation the person becomes more outwardly focused, striving to create those same levels of personal growth for others.

It looks like a balancing act, but the results are magic.

May we sit this evening being aware of the responsibilities of loving outwardly, and of the beauty waiting to be created therein.

 
Bless you all in all you do,

Richard

PS Please excuse my rough computer graphic skills.

For Sunday July 21st, 2024

Hello beautiful people. Like the scent of a flower, our loving intentions are to be given out free to all. We sometimes apply limitations on our outward loving due to personal biases or individual situations.

Flowers give out their scent because that is their nature. We give out our love because that is our nature, as in 'made in the image of'.

 
May we sit this evening knowing we're made in the image of Love. May we love ourselves. May we share our love with others. May our hearts connect.

With blessings for all,

Richard 

For Sunday July 14th, 2024

Hello, good people. As we become more and more aware of the many ways in which we can be of service to others, from the simplicity of calling a cashier by name to devotedly listening to a loved one's difficulties, we not only get better at it but we are also entrusted with more.

So just as we think, "Ah, I got this now," we are offered an increased challenge to be of loving service.

May we sit Sunday evening to be accepting of this constant 'new challenge' scenario. May we willingly step from our comfort zone of loving service into whatever unfamiliar newness may be offered to us, and do so while trusting the 'powers that be' to have our backs.

For the future of humanity,

Richard

 
PS I'll be undergoing an ablation to try and control my atrial fibrillation early on Monday morning. If it works it'll be a huge reset and recovery of my daily energy. If you choose to send me a kind vibe it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks once again for all you do.

For Sunday July 7th, 2024

Hello beautiful people. We are told that if we need to go through a hellish experience in order to learn to not put ourselves through hellish experiences, that it will be provided for us. And, of course, doing so affects those around us as well.

For those who needed cleansing this is a straight forward lesson. For those who did not need the cleansing but were affected by it, the opportunity is very different. For those people the lesson is about acceptance of the paths of others and reaching out to them, if possible. For those who can be reached the lesson is how to do so. For those who refuse help, the lesson is in respecting their paths.

May we sit this evening knowing that each path is always available to all, hellish selfishness or the grace of loving outwardly. May we be present for others and may we choose well ourselves.

With reverence,

Richard