Hello OM!

I hope you are having a lovely day. I have tagged you in my blog! We're starting up the Friday Five questions (read more here) and I tagged you, inviting you to blog your answers for these questions about gratitude:

1) What are you thankful for today?
2) What do you appreciate about the Earth?
3) Who is the last person you said "thank you" to?
4) When was the last time someone thanked you?
5) What is your favorite way to say thank you?

I look forward to seeing your answers and hope you will take me up on the invitation :)

Hugs,
Jessica

The link goes to this information: (See I am making it easy for you !)

What is the Friday Five? Well, it's a community-wide blogging party featuring five themed questions each week. It is so much fun and gets everyone on Gaia introspecting and sharing. There is so much to learn from these little questions and your answers can be as long or short as you like.

This week is all about gratitude in celebration of Thanksgiving in the United States and appreciation everywhere. Just follow these easy steps:

Step 1) Write your blog on Friday answering the loverly questions below. You can copy and paste them into your blog and just type in answers.

Step 2) Make sure you've added "Friday Five" as a tag for the blog and in the title.

Step 3) If you wish, "Tag" up to five Gaia members and send a little note letting them know they're "it" and thus called upon to blog the Friday Five too. These members can be in your friends list or new people you'd just like to connect with. Then they answer the Friday Five and can tag more Gaians :)

So, come on and play! Won't you? Open up that blog and tell us...

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Here are my thoughts:

I am not clear whether we are committing to doing all 5 questions each Friday until death do us part, or doing just one set of questions. Check into next week's Team Blog, it might clarify. Or choose.            

Maybe not as much fun as the 7 Weird Things about Me tag game, but I'll definitely be up for playing with gratitude !! It's really the key !! (I call it rejoicing, which is more being-at-cause wording, IMO.)

1. Today I am thankful for every minute of breathing, and everything I experienced in each of those moments.

2. I appreciate about the Earth she is so mindblowingly beautiful !!!!!! In so many many ways, from so many viewpoints, from the inner center of a flower to the view from space.

3. The last person I said Thank you to was someone today who sought my ministerial services. I said Thank you for the opportunity to be a resource !!

4. The last time someone thanked me was a few minutes ago, arranging with a girlfriend who is finally divorcing AOL and taking up with gmail tomorrow and I am doing an in-person tutorial for her on that.

5. My favorite way to say Thank you -- hmmm. That's the toughest question of all. I say it in a variety of ways, being a Gemini and easily bored, haha. I think most often I say I AM SO GRATEFUL TO YOU.

I am tagging mascha, andrew, maxie, I P (Individual Person,) and Kris. Please be assured this game is optional, and if any of you don't want to participate, let me know and I will choose someone else !!

Blessings to all,
OM Bastet

Optimism Isn't Easy

So it's easy to see there's currently a wave of euphoria, optimism, hope, benevolence, enthusiasm in the world. The faces we saw in Chicago the night of November 4th, those were not just "Our team won." Those were new faces of optimism and hope, and a personal committment to Yes WE can! Those folks who are older might say "Been there, seen that. How long will it last?"

Here's the deeper question: Why doesn't it seem to last?

One psychobiological researcher  (Lionel Tiger, Optimism: The Biology of Hope) claims humans by nature are naturally more optimistic than pessimistic; they tend to underestimate dangers and overestimate potential success. (Of course, we all know exceptions to this!)

So why might we expect optimism and enthusiasm to fade? I'd like to ponder this question with you, and examine some things to consider. I plan to raise more questions than I answer.

Is it the hard work that follows? There is an unusual amount of realization, in the current wave, that "the work is just beginning, and the work is not someone else's to do, it's mine." Is it social pressures to go back to the old ways of thinking and acting? Those certainly abound. Is it not being willing to be unpopular, to perhaps lose some friends? Is it resistance to change, fear of the new and unknown?

Is it fear of failure, or fear of success? Are we afraid to try and be disappointed with the results? Is it because we can rarely agree on goals and methods? Is it because we believe it's dangerous to expect good, that our alertness to danger will be clouded by our optimism? Do we feel unsafe to feel safe? Will success set us up for failure because we won't be on our guard enough?

Are we afraid to stay optimismtic because then we won't have any excuses for not reaching our goals? Are we afraid we'll reach our goals and they won't be what we wanted, and then we'll not know what to do next, and have to start all over?

Are we just used to our pessimism? Certainly the current world situation comes crashing in many times a day, with news that's a downer. And our personal lives, lots of downers there. Is optimism unrealistic? What does it mean, the saying that "If at first you don't succeed, failure might be more your style."

It's scary to entertain new possibilities that did not seem possible before. So many "What if's?" in the way....

There's optimism about stuff "out there," and there's the hard reality of assuming some responsibility for that, "in here." There's an uneasy balancing act, always between working as an individual and working as a team or group; we don't always know how to work together, especially with folks different from us. "Yes I can" doesn't easily morph into "Yes We Can." How shall we learn to combine those synergistically? Who can teach us that?

Optimism. What is it? Not the "Pollyanna" denial of anything except one's desired outcomes. Nothing fades faster than optimism that denies what is. Not superficial looking, either. Nothing fades faster than optimism which doesn't look deeply into causes.

Fear comes up. About what?

Does it take more effort to be optimistic than pessimistic?

What are the advantages of optimism? Helps you persevere. Helps you be creative in your efforts. Helps you be willing to expand. What are some other advantages?

What are the disadvantages to optimism? Can blind you to current reality. Can switch to discouragement really fast if expectations exist and are not met. What are some other disadvantages?

What did we have before this wave of optimism? Apathy. Hopelessness. Withdrawal. Pessimism. Cynicism. Skepticism. What's different now?

Optimism ABOUT WHAT?

The Bigger Picture as I see it: The world is more conducive now. Something in the energy of the planet has shifted, and our optimism is not just a response to events; the events are a response to the energy shift. Now the wind is at our backs. Now we can get supported when we're down. Now we can learn.

Who we are has shifted. The context in which we view our lives has shifted. What is REAL to us, has shifted. That's the process and foundation of transformation. That's how new realities are created and co-created.

Why these shifts? How these shifts? That's less important than the fact that I am optimistic about OUR optimism.

Bottom line: The optimism will last to the extent that we are WILLING for things to be different. For ourselves to be different. Don't underestimate how challenging it is to be truly WILLING for things, and us, to be different !!!

It's the willingness that opens new possibilities. Their actualization is a downstream. It flows, when there is true willingness.

What do you think?

Do we really need to control and avoid our negative thoughts, out of fear they will manifest? If we believe our thoughts create our reality, then we get into becoming "thought police" on our minds. This is not comfortable. In fact I believe it's counterproductive. I have a heretical view of "Our thoughts create our reality."

I've been wanting to blog about this for a long time, and just wrote a post I shall use for this blog. It'll be a quick pass through the subject. I could have more to say in the comments.

First, the usual preamble for my blogs

Rev.  O.M. Bastet, Ph.D.

Head Minister

This article is presented and provided to you by

"Amplifying Divine Light in All" Church

Our main religious purpose and mission is to amplify the Divine Light in everyone. When you read this article, you will agree or disagree with its various points, and then you will know more about what is true for you. Knowing more of your own Truth amplifies your Divine Light. Thus providing/presenting this article is one way for us to accomplish our purpose and mission.
This article and our providing/presenting it are therefore an integral part of our exercise and practice of our religion.
None of the contents herein are claimed as absolute truth. They represent one possible perspective which might prove useful for you.

All rights reserved under the Common Law. This means please respect our creatorship.

We invite your comments and responses!   adliac@gaia.com

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Here is the link to the source of this image which I got via a Google Image search:   www.crystalinks.com/medmusichakras.html


BRIGHT AND DIM LEVELS OF CHAKRAS

Rev.  O.M. Bastet, Ph.D.

Head Minister

This article is presented and provided to you by

"Amplifying Divine Light in All" Church

Our main religious purpose and mission is to amplify the Divine Light in everyone. When you read this article, you will agree or disagree with its various points, and then you will know more about what is true for you. Knowing more of your own Truth amplifies your Divine Light. Thus providing/presenting this article is one way for us to accomplish our purpose and mission.
This article and our providing/presenting it are therefore an integral part of our exercise and practice of our religion.
None of the contents herein are claimed as absolute truth. They represent one possible perspective which might prove useful for you.

All rights reserved under the Common Law. This means please respect our creatorship.

We invite your comments and responses!   adliac@gaia.com

I believe it is dangerous and handicapping to say -- as many in the New Age movement do --  "We must learn to COME FROM our upper chakras, and no longer come from our lower chakras." That arises from a mind-body split worldview.

It is even more dangerous to try to LIVE that way, thinking it is "the spiritual way to live." If you are a spiritually-aware person and your life is not working well on the practical level, read and you might discover you have some illusions.

The chakras are like the engines of human-embodiment life, transformers stepping down the voltage of higher-vibrational energies into the lower-vibrational energies we need to live our embodied human lives. Like a prism, they break the white light of Divine Light/Life Energy into the colors of the most basic aspects of our functioning. We need every single one to be fully operational, for us to fully function in this life in this world as humans. Spiritual energies are not just located in the heart and higher chakras; spiritual energies are the actual energies of each and every chakra.

Thus, in this perspective, there is no directionality or progression FROM the lower TO the upper chakras. That fallacy of evolution or directionality underlies most of Tantric sexuality practices as well as lots of Eastern religious thought. Each chakra has its own purpose and its own energy that it translates from higher dimensions to our dimension, and all are equally "spiritual."

However, each chakra has its own higher/Light Side/Bright Level and lower/Dark Side/Dim Level vibrational levels of functioning. The bright level has more of the Light of life and existence functioning in us, through us, as us. We glow more with life. Our lives are more vivid, more alive; our lives work better. That's what "brighter" chakra levels do.

What has happened in the mind-body split is that the lower chakras are characterized as ONLY their dim/dark aspects or levels, and the upper chakras are characterized as ONLY their bright/light aspects or levels. This error, of course, wreaks havoc with our everyday lives and with our spiritual development.

So to say we "must come from our upper chakras and not our lower" opens the door for a life filled with terror, disempowerment, lack of will--a life that doesn't work in this world--and also opens the door for some "very bad" folks who are "coming from" the DARK levels of their upper chakras! Even to say "We must come from the heart" needs specification. Lots of people's hearts are not in a condition or vibrational level we would want THEM to be coming from!

Also, as long as one is alive, all chakras are indeed functioning, though perhaps not very brightly, and perhaps not in their highest vibrational expressions. It is incorrect to assume that people who are functioning with dim lower chakras have no functional upper chakras. Those are just dim, as well!!

There is a widespread nonacceptance of the true purpose, role, and power of the lower chakras. This results in many people not being fully embodied in this body, not fully accepting embodiment, their soul not fully occupying and operating the lower chakras, due to a falsity, an illusion, in the understanding of the nature of these chakras. This is quite handicapping to a good life, a full life.

Because for so long on this plane, the functioning of the lower chakras in humankind in general was even dimmer than the functioning of the heart and upper chakras, there is a widespread illusion now that this difference is intrinsic, that the upper and lower are inevitably incompatible, that there is no Bright or heart-full kind of functioning of the lower chakras nor is there any Dim functioning of the upper chakras.

Nothing could be further from the Truth as I see it. In fact, human embodiments are evolving toward One Chakra, in which all chakras merge and function together as One, not just compatible, not just integrated! It's time to end the illusion of separation and embrace a life that includes the full functioning in full harmony, in full integration, of each and every chakra.

All this is an oversimplification of a complex subject. Below is almost the standard over-simplified list of chakras. There are many more chakras, smaller ones, located at various points all over the body, which I shall not discuss. Also I am not going to discuss how or why chakras get to be bright or dim, and I am not going to discuss the dimness being not only less amount of light but also distortions of light.

Three important aspects of our functioning are not mentioned above because they are combinations:

Passion (sexual or as extreme enthusiasm/commitment) is probably a combination of perineal, navel, solar plexus, heart, and throat chakras.

Empathy is a combination of heart and forehead as well as probably navel (second) chakras. It is more than the ability to see through others' eyes, because it involves feeling through their hearts and bodies as well.

Compassion is also a combination of heart and forehead chakras. Compassion involves empathetic feeling combined with perspective. Possibly the crown chakra is also a necessary component of true compassion.

I would like to add that sexuality as an expression of multi-dimensional Beingness, when actually integrated with "spirituality," is an all-chakra experience, not just one chakra, not even just the perineal chakra and/or second chakra combined with the heart chakra. Much more could be said about this. Contact us for further information.

I would also like to say a few more words about the One Chakra mentioned briefly above: as the veils of forgetfulness and illusion are removed from our consciousness and we move back into our natural state of God-realization, the various chakras begin to merge and blend, so that every function is performed all over the body, and cannot be distinctly associated with any particular body part or location. This is a very different experience, which each of us adapts to as part of our individual spiritual evolution.

"Amplifying Divine Light in All" is a completely independent church fostering empowerment of people to co-create loving, thriving God-realized lives, and wellbeing for everyone, on a clean, peaceful Earth.

                                version 5/16/07

Reprinted by permission from author Michael J. Lincoln, Ph.D., psychologist and Cosmic Guide. Slight editing for clarity [and a few comments] by a friend of his. 
 

These are indeed paradigm-shifting times! There is a new wave of children coming in since about 2000. They are very different from the Human Soul Pool, and they are almost as different from the Indigo Soul Pool.

There is not a great deal known about them as yet because they are still very young children. But what we have discerned thus far indicates that they are a remarkably profound development in the story of human evolution and destiny.
 
These "crystal" children are the next step in human evolution. Their function is to teach us about our inner potency and divinity. They live in the "Law of One in Unity"- consciousness, and they are a profound force of love and peace, as they are in effect "human angels." Instead, they could also be called the "Christ-al" children, They are the Heart Chakra of the Cosmos, like He (Jesus) was.

The most notable thing about them is their eyes, which are large, penetrating, hypnotic and telepathic. Their aura is opalescent, like pastel mother-of-pearl. Their speech development is often delayed until about age 3 or 4. In the interim, they combine mind-to-mind communication, self-developed sign language, and various sounds, including music, in their interactions with others.

Unfortunately, like the ADD and ADHD mis-diagnosis of some normal characteristics of the Indigos, this normal delayed-onset-of-speaking characteristic of Crystal children tends to lead to a disastrous mis-diagnosis of who they are and what their way of operating means about them. They tend to be mis-diagnosed as autistic, for Pete's sake!!

Now, autistic children are on the increase of late, there is no question about that. The trouble is, we don't understand autism enough to even know what might be occurring to bring this about. [Friend's note: Check out research re Hepatitis B vaccine given to newborns.]

But one thing is crystal clear (no pun intended). And that is that autistics are intensely socially and emotionally deflecting, and they are immensely control-avoidant and uresponsive to other people. These are critical diagnostic cues that need to be very carefully assessed when considering autism as a diagnosis.

Crystal children are extremely different: intensely caring, communicative and cuddly, and at the same time they are quite philosophical and spiritually gifted in a kind and sensitive manner. They have the effect of teaching us how to walk the Walk, to be Love in action via eliciting love wherever they go. You could say they are "Love Blossoms."

They come from the sixth dimension of consciousness, with the ability to develop to the Christ consciousness level and beyond. They can not only read our minds, they can know us in our hearts. And they are profoundly people-cherishing.

They are intensely sensitive to all vibrational input such as magnetic, electromagnetic, environmental, electrical, aromatic, sound, color and all other vibrational frequencies, and they will tend to have real difficulty dealing with things and people that are not at their higher vibrational and dimensional sensitivity level. [Friend's note Thus some similarity to true autism which is possibly a hyper-sensitivity to stimuli.] They will also tend to blow out electric and electronic equipment as they adjust to being on this plane. {Friend's note: this is not unique to crystal children, many high-vibration people do the same.]

They are highly potent and creative, and they have no time for fear and victim dramas. They are very aware of the importance of being well-grounded in material reality, and of not getting lost in some vaguely ethereal paradisical state.

Nevertheless, they do have multi-dimensional awareness, and they play with spiritual development in a magical and blessed manner as they prepare to fully take their role in being an amazing resource for the planet, along with millions of spiritually advanced folks and with the Indigos.

Incidentally, there is at this point a world-famous crystal child. Her name is Marla Olmstead. She is an abstract artist of amazing profundity -- and she started at age three. Her paintings sell for tens of thousands. There is a DVD out on her called my kid could paint that. She is a classic crystal child. (She is now 7 years old in 2008.) [Friend's comment: Here is the Wikipedia entry on her. She is controversial, but then what non-ordinary person isn't the target of would-be-debunkers? The existence of crystal children doesn't depend on her story being true. If you are alert you can spot them.]

We are presently carbon-based beings, but we are transitioning into the only other four-pointed atom, silicon, in the crystalline form, like diamonds. The crystal children are here to take us all into continuous awareness of the interconnectedness of everything and into the higher dimensions as we leave biologic form and as we enter our Light Bodies, only wearing our physical bodies as "uniforms," whether they be biologic or electronic.