Thursday 29 March 2007

A Spiritual Dilemma.

Don says:
Hi Steve,
I am struggling to accept the the issue of vegiterianism and a non-alcohol existence. The Hare Krishna movement says that you must not eat meat or drink alcohol etc. Although I can go along with their philosophy, the above issues I find unacceptable. I am 72 years old, and for about 35/40 years have been seeking answers to questions regarding the reasons why I am on this planet etc. I drink socially which means that I drink maybe one or two pints of beer a week, sometimes this stretches to a pint in two weeks, so I am not an alcoholic by any stretch of the imagination! All my life I have eaten meat and fish, and at the ripe old age of 72 I don't want to change things. I am doing a Hare Krishna e-course at present but feel a bit of a fraud by reading the text each day, taking part by answering the set questions, but persisting to consume meat and alcohol, and omitting to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra before sunrise, or indeed any other time!
Please advise me on this issue and give me your views.
Sent with kindest regards, Don

Steve replies:
Dear Don,
You have presented an interesting dilemma. I guess my question would be why are you doing the Hare Krishna e-course in the first place? If you are after a spiritual practice there are many that do not demand that you become vegetarian or give up drinking. I am vegetarian and I do not drink, although that is my choice. If I was told to do it my heart probably would not be in it in the same way. Also you do not seem very motivated to chant 16 rounds mantra before sunrise. If you can work out what you are really after then you might find a better way to accomplish this. There are many choices available today in the UK that were not available say 25 years ago. You could always stop doing the course now! Sounds like you have anyway. There is always a better way. Hope this helps.
Blessings
Steve

Wednesday 28 March 2007

Much Good Chi..........

From Francis:

Hi Steve,
Now this will make you laugh I've never stood up for myself before always given in to what everyone else wants in life and I had a dishwasher and it nearly caught fire a few weeks ago - in the past I would just have shrugged my shoulders moaned a bit and bought a new one- so I decided to change tack I very quietly asked the universe that the manufacturers would replace my new machine not only have they done that with a better model but now are falling over themselves to compensate me for the inconveinience of not working on two days to sort the problem.

So lets see since I contacted you I've had my father give me £3,000 Ive been offered a job of a lifetime running a charity with someone who is as creative as me - I've also done some teaching as I love doing that....

Funny thing is its all given me quite a shock I was so used to thinking that the universe wouldnt give me what I needed -thats the bit that takes some adjusting to.

Much good chi.
Sally

A Cosmic Question......

From: Anand
Hi Steve,

Question for you. I am trying to reconcile coming into a recognition of I-am in moments of stillness and silence, even walking down the street and dawning on me that it really is ever present ... as all the worlds mystics maintain ...

and at the same time, it currently feels to me like all this work on abundance stuff flying around at the moment IS in a nutshell reduced to 'I'll be happy when' and always having to feel good about one's image of oneself as moving away from / or built on a base of 'there's something missing' which I have had moments of realising is the single thing that arises in awareness that seems to be the most compelling illusion that there is actually something wrong ??? I guess as Byron Katie would say ... Can you absolutely know etc. etc.

Anyway, not sure if that is even a question,

If there is a question, it's how do I integrate/reconcile these two seemingly (to me) oppositional view points? My mortgage advisor said having nothing is the happiest he's ever been, or as he put it "I've never been more wealthy than when I have absolutely nothing"

any thoughts are welcome, all the best,
Anand

From Steve:
Hi Anand,

A cosmic question indeed!

I will do my best to answer. In my experience mystical moments come to help us break through our everyday consciousness into a deeper and more expansive understanding and experience of reality. We may have been living a very ordinary life and then suddenly we are hit by a new awareness, perhaps through a meditation or silent retreat or some other extra-ordinary happening. Spirit breaks through and suddenly touches our consciousness. This is of course wonderful and blissful. Here we start to lose our concerns about mundane reality. This is something to be savored and integrated as much as possible. This is usually a matter of years rather than months. It is something that cannot be rushed. It is a precious and important time. This can be a time of shedding and letting go of material things that no longer feel important. We may feel like retreating from the world for a while.

Sometime during this process may begin a period of integration and bridging between the spiritual and ordinary worlds. Here a new relationship with the material can be forged. The material no longer dominates the senses. There may be an inner impulse towards starting something meaningful, making a difference, or serving some higher purpose in a tangible and practical way. Inner and outer resources are awakened for this work. Here we engage with the world rather than retreat from the world.

These processes are not completely distinct but overlap.
Anyway that is how I have experienced it thus far.
Ask me next week and you might get a different answer.
Hope it helps.
Blessings
Steve

Tuesday 27 March 2007

Face it.....the Universe Loves You

Ahhh you're a sweetheart! These things are starting to work...
Thank you!
Yasmin

From: Prosperity Thoughts
Sent: 27 March 2007 06:00

Dear Yasmin,
If I had only one thing peice of advice I could give you about prosperity it would be to start affirming to yourself that you do indeed live in a safe, supportive and abundant universe. Might as well face it, the universe love's you! Well you might as well open to recieve it by saying thank you.

Friday 23 March 2007

What Did I Say???

Steve,
you are so lovely:) I love it when you say yes.
You don't need to respond, thats not what Im writing for, but my heart is just overflowing and you speak with the voice of a beautiful tempter into the ecstasy of joyfull life.... this is not a come on, by the way, I am in a very happy multiple relationship, and perhaps thats what makes my heart overflow and see beauty everywhere that I just really so want to appreciate.
Thank you for your Love filled messages that you are spreading around into people's hearts and opening us up to abundance, abundance, abundance..... You are doing a wondefull job!
xx Hana:))

Well, what did I say in my prosperity thoughts to make Hana so overflowing.....

"Well a friend of mine was unhappy with his office. His office was expensive, and in a noisy part of town. He wanted to move and began to listen into his intuition. Within a few weeks he felt an unusual impulse to explore a certain part of town. Yes, you guessed it, he then found a place that was quieter, nicer, with an office space three times as big, yet 40% cheaper than his existing office. Not only that it was closer to home and also near a large park. Just by trusting and following his intuition he saved thousands of pounds in the following couple of years. Want to give it a go?"

Rainbow of Light.....

Steve,
I just wanted to say thank you for these daily messages. Having just returned from London after another stressful week in work, reading these messages and particularly this one helps to inspire me and brings a smile to my face! I'll start manifesting a major dream in the morning...or may even start tonight! Thanks again. Carole.

Well dear Carole, I'm glad you liked your prosperity thought. Just in case you missed this one here it is again:

"Dear Carole, Well dear Carole it has been a pleasure having you along thus far on this prosperity journey. As a special treat how about joining me in a manifesting exercise? Yes, great....all you need do is spend a couple of minutes in the morning visualising a rainbow of light pouring down around you from above. In this light imagine you can let go of all your cares and worries. Now think of one dream you would like to happen. Not any old dream, one you feel really passionate about and one you are willing to manifest on the earth. Now take this dream and release it up to the rainbow. See it floating away up into the heavens on this rainbow of light.Let me tell you a secret You and hundreds of others have joined together in a glorious burst of rainbow light. Nothing like tuning into free energy!"

Some Miracles are Slower Than Others!!!

"Hi Steve, Sorry not to have been in touch for ages. I hope this finds you well. Thank you for ALL the help. You might remember that when I met you in London , I had just bought a little pink book to record my desires! On 10th January I wrote in it a detailed description of my ideal man. Well, I thought I must tell you that 3 weeks ago he appeared exactly, as I had asked, right down to the smallest detail – how about that? I am ecstatic about him, (and he about me). Must go now. Thank you again. Suzanne"

Well, this just shows that some miracles are just slower than others!

Tuesday 20 March 2007

Gratitude Goes a Long Way

Today spend some time being grateful for all the things you have manifested that you really like or love. Yes you can include that organsmic moment. And yes you can include that trip to the shops where you bought that gorgeous thing. How about being grateful for that moment when you first realised that the universe was a magical dimension. You know the time you stopped and understood that the universe was your friend and really did care about your dreams.

Saturday 17 March 2007

Show Me The Money!!!!

Dear Steve
Thanks for a great Prosperity Connection on Wednesday - I really enjoyed it! I'm the same Claire who wrote to you a few weeks back about feeling guilty around money / work / debt etc and who shared with the group my experience pursuing work though employment agencies when all the results are actually saying 'try something else', so the trying something else was telling the group that I'm looking for work! It felt very empowering!
Two people came up to me at the end to ask about doing some work for them, but both were worried about being able to pay me...so on reflection I wondered what was going off there and if they were mirroring my own worries back to me? Maybe so!
This morning I realised I also need to be more specific and say I want to earn good money / get paid well for my work etc.
I have some bills to pay very shortly and a family constellation workshop next weekend (similar to the Essence Foundation work you mentioned. It feels like an important opportunity to help clear some old family patterns around work/money/debt etc).
So I've put an intention out - to SHOW ME THE MONEY and have £100 by Monday and another £200 by Friday to pay for these things. I'm trying not to get hung up on the 'how's'.

I'm not sure why this has come up but it felt important to write to you and Davide about all this (I've just finished a message to him), and something else said to share with you the results from a "Strengthsfinder" exercise I did last year. My top 5 strengths came out as follows:

Individualization
: These people are intrigued with the unique qualities for each person. They have a gift for figuring out how people who are different can work together productively.

Maximizer:These people focus on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. They seek to transform something strong into something superb.

Connectedness: People strong in this theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Strategic: People with this theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues.

Input:These people have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

I love all these strengths - they are very "me"!!! I feel like things are starting to shift and new steps being taken towards finding & doing work I love, earning money and clearing my debt, but here's still a lot of fog and confusion around (I know confusion can be helpful though!), so if there's anything else that comes to you it would be great to hear about. Thank you! Claire

___________________________________________
Steve's response: Hi Claire, Good to meet you at the group.
How about getting some work that does pay you some money? Seems fair enough!
By the way these are certainly great strengths.
I would say how about getting a little clearer on what you want to show up in your life? You know intention works best when it is both specific and open. Specific in that you give the universe some information and direction on what you want, and open to how that is delivered to you.
I would also say try and avoid setting yourself up for failure by setting overly tight deadlines. I have seen this one compound a lot of upset. Rather see the outcome you want. See yourself completing the seminar for instance. Practice small wins. Remember small achievable steps are easier than larger leaps of faith. If the time is not right now, then the universe will bring it to you at another time.

Hope this is helpful.
Blessings
Steve

Wednesday 14 March 2007

Prosperity and Self-Hate Patterns

Prosperity Thought - "Prosperity is like a tree with strong roots in the ground and tall leafy
branches that reach up to the sun. First and foremost we need to know how to
nourish and take care of our physical needs. Then we will have a firm
foundation to address our emotional, mental and spiritual needs and wants."

Sho responded:
"Dear Steve,
I'm really enjoying your Prosperity Thoughts. However, this last one is one I feel the need to call you on. I am speaking here of personal experience, as someone who was severely abused as a child, emotionally, and sexually. ......this abuse, has caused in me a tremendous difficulty in being able to care for my physical needs, because the effects of the emotional and sexual abuse on me are causing a need to annihilate my own physical being. So I don't think that there can be a blanket, general statement over this. There are many people who have been so abused that they cannot attend to their physical needs until they learn to love themselves. As they learn to love themselves, so comes the caring for the physical body. I just felt the need to share this with you. Kindest regards - Sho"

My response:"Dear Sho,
Thank you for sharing something so deeply personal. The prosperity thoughts are intended to serve people at many levels, one of these is to help shake loose what is standing in the way of living a joyful and successful life. From what you have said it sounds like you did not get the nourishment and support you needed as a child, and worst you received abuse instead. This may have created self-hate patterns within you and therefore you are spot on in saying that self-love is the antidote.
People tend to internalise abuse and create the meaning that somehow all of these experiences were their fault. As children we naturally do this. We also create various parts to protect the wounded child. If you really want to work on these issues I can recommend Essence Seminars that have an amazing course for dealing with such issues in a safe and loving environment. They run courses in London. If you want to give them a call their number is 0208 883 2888. "
Steve

Sunday 4 March 2007

A Painting is Never Finished

" A painting is never finished, it simply stops in interesting places."
- Paul Gardner

When Jane heard this she emailed me saying:
"Dear Steve,
Thank you for your wonderful words of wisdom that up-lift and teach me something new each day. May you go from strength to strength creating happiness and giving hope around the world....thank you love Jane"