What Makes Your Life Holy?

 

Lessons from a Sweet Girl

Religions around the world celebrate holidays this time of year.  The Christians of our planet commorate the birth of Jesus, while other religions remember key moments or successes in their history or simply honor their gods in special ways.  In the so-called real world, meanwhile, we pretend that we have not been naughty over the past 11 and a half months so that Santa will bring us good stuff from those we love or pretend to love.

A developmentally-challenged 17 year-old to reminded me of how thoroughly we have allowed our religions and cultures to distract us from our destiny of loving harmony.

Yes, it is fine to be proud of ones' cultures contributions to the world.  No, there is nothing wrong with celebrating holidays honoring our dead leaders.  And we have taken that way over the top, living lives that reflect our sense of cultural superiority, religious elitism, judgment and foolish righteousness.

And collectively we have become so steeped in hypocrisy that we are getting closer and closer to the point at which the loving truth will soon no longer be deniable.

This girl is someone who "gets it."  She was not blessed with the ability to articulate what "it" is.  That is not her gift.  She speaks most fluently in the language of the heart, best expressed in her feelings and in what she presents to the world via her eyes, her radiance.

Let me introduce you to one of my greatest teachers.  This is my niece, Laura, a sweet 17 year-old who brings a lot of joy to the world.

The picture above was taken as she awaited her fathers' appearance as Santa Claus in a local theatrical production on Sunday.  Her Dad is my brother. I am seeing my brother and his children for the first time in three years.

Born with Downs Syndrome, she has special educational needs.  Many in our world label people like her "deficient" or as one who doesn't fit in with the rest of us.  While she is unable to do many of the things that most people take for granted, she is a master teacher of lifes' most important lesson and is an example of it.  She knows how to reflect her loving nature to the world.

She knows her nature is love and she shares this love with the world in a radiant way through her smile and her eyes.

Laura with her Dad.

Living in a world of vanity, insecurity and fear, she doesn't have time for any of these.  At an age when most girls her age are obsessed with their make-up, she doesn't use any.

Make up cannot give a radiance to one who feels unloving or unloved.  Buckets of color will not decieve.

While society seems caught up in the need to compare and judge, she is just herself, often oblivious to others' judgement of her, or at least willing to see how unimportant that judgment of her is to her.

While some so-called normal people hold grudges and refuse to forgive, Laura forgives easily.  And this is, of course, a gift to herself.tt

My sense of it is that while she may realize that she is different from most people in many ways, none of those ways are particularly important.  At some level, she recognizes that we are all equal and we all have our "stuff," but that doesn't make anyone any better or worse, or more or less worthy than anyone else.

Many make this season about giving better and more expensive gifts while they spend the rest of the year trying to manipulate or out-get others.

While many religions and cultures worship a harshly judging god and encourage us to judge others, we can take into our lives the knowing that it doesn't serve us to judge at all.

Society has conditioned many of us to condemn others.  This is a season that encourages us to love and bless even the "bad guys" who have tried to dominate and weaken us.

What can make this season more holy for us is remembering more and more and more easily that all that happens in our life is an opportunity to respond with love.  Whatever happens can be as either easy to love or as a chance to be loving.

Though Laura may not  able to express it in words, she understands it at a heart level. Our children are our teachers, and sometimes the lessons that pack the powerful messages come from the ones who many dismiss as lesser or deficient.

What can make this season more holy for any of us is to remember what Laura lives that goes far beyond mere words: the choice to feel and reflect her deep loving nature.  This may be the most God-like thing we can ever do.

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Please take some time with what follows. It is requested that you pause for as long as feels right whenever you see the purple pause icon. Don’t think about it; just be in the silence with it and notice how you feel.

This is the language of the heart: your feelings. We all have an internal bullshit detector and an integral love level revealer. As we trust our inner guidance---the wisdom of the heart---we can increasingly choose to allow ourselves to be guided by it. As we more and more make this choice, we find that we just know when we meet someone that will serve us to spend some time with. And we know when someones’ energy is such that it would be polluting to us, or distracting at least, to spend any more time with at all. Our bullshit detector is very powerful and sensitive. But it won’t work unless we trust it.

A Different Perspective on What Will Happen in The Next 10 Days Before Solstice

We all have unique wiring, sensitivities, receptivities, inclinations, a huge mix of challenge sets to deal with as part of life.

And we have varying truths. Some may equate truth with what is universally right, and this way of thinking does not serve us. There are a variety of ways of expressing truth that are, in practice, correct.

Some are inclined to use many words to explain lifes’ quest, its’ meaning, its’ purpose.

Some can ramble on and on with predictions, shortcuts and tricks to manage it all.

And others, such as I, prefer to simplify.

My truth is that the heart likes it simple. Life is complicated enough as it is. We can respond to it in ways that tap into the beauty of simplicity.

So coming up here, I am going to offer you a short set of ideas about what we are being faced with now and will be particiularly important during the time between the 12th and the 21st of this month.

The first four—briefly addressed below---tend to be a drain on collective consciousness. Adherents to these positions weaken humanity and make the road to awakening more mountainous and potholed for everyone by at least leaning towards either fear or baseless hope.

There are other nuances in the way that people are experiencing now and will be amplifying in the next two weeks leading up to December 21.

1) Some will cling to the fear that we are all going to hell in a handbasket. These people are convinced that God is so pissed off at us that “He” is going to smite us with fire and destruction of catastrophic proportions. Those who have this kind of belief tend to think that they are righteous enough to be saved from this massive destruction because the God they fear will reward their loyalty. These people cling to a schizophrenic God that is somehow both all-loving and willing to damn the unfaithful to eternal torture. This is a twisted, punishing, mythical God that was invented for the purpose of instilling fear in mankind.

Sick and stupid religions---basically all of the big ones---have been very successful in feeding us that pile of crap.(I do not consider Buddhism a religion.)

And, interestingly, those who believe in a judging God tend to be very judgmental themselves. To the ego-identified among us, it is much more convenient to judge others than to face their own shit...or to uncover their loving Self.

In order to preserve and build our collective energy, it is important that you let these these so-called “religious fundamentalists” and fatalists follow their own path. It is not up to us to control others. It is never our place to serve those who ask us not to do so unless they are mentally ill or otherwise incapacitated.

Trust your heart to tell you when it it time to walk away and when it is time to directly be of service.

2) Others will maintain that life will stay as it has been for them, that it will remain as it has been perceived: brutally unfair, sadly hopeless or stuck in purgatory mode. Their bywords: “That’s always how it’s been so it is always going to be that way.” This group does not understand that part of what defines life is change.

3) Another set will be filled with uncertainty and fear. Many things will occur very soon that we have never before been experienced on this planet.  The egoic mind fears what it does not know.  As long as one is aligned (identified) with the egoic mind, then crashing markets, the rumbles of a cleansing Earth or a few days of extended light or darkness will be seen as reasons for fear.

It is important that you share your truth about spiritual matters and your perceptions about what is really happening in our world only with those who are receptive to what you are saying. It is a collective drain to be attached to convincing anyone of anything. Let others be.  In sharing your truth about the Big Picture, the moment you understand that the other is either disrespecting you or is combative in any way, this is your signal to withdraw from the interaction.

The reason I ask you to consider those responses above is that it is your primary responsibility to tend to yourself, to express your loving nature, to grow yourself. Until one is fully awakened, prioritizing the service of others ahead of your own evolution is largely wasteful and ineffective, a drain of the collective consciousness and power.

The intent of compassionate service is wonderful. It becomes destructive when it is used as a tool for avoiding yourself.

I express that as one who for decades avoided my loving power and prohibited myself from understanding that truth.

Those who crave increasing power in this world have made it a part of their earthly mission to fill us with as much doubt and fear as possible. Like the ego, they prioritize the maintaining of control while fearing its’ loss.

Through government edicts, popular news media, almost all religious organizations and many different kinds of entertainment, society has fed us a multitude of lies about who we are, why we are here and where we are going. As long as we are fighting each other, fearing punishment by our institutions or their imaginary gods, or feeling unworthy or impotent, we are divided and cannot stand.

Please consider here the likelihood that over the next ten days you will see our mass media and religious groups making more frequent and harsh criticism of those espousing the loving way of being. You are likely to see more intentional fanning of the flames of fear, doubt, division, hatred, self-righteousness and judgment. This is a mirror for the infinitely more important-to-deal-with inner.

If you are aware of what is happening, no matter what it is, you can choose to respond with love. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do in a situation is to remove your attention and support from that which is abusive or disrespectful.

4) Some are convinced that either God or a federation of aliens are going to descend from the clouds and save us.  These folks figure that with a little divine intervention or some cosmic rays from the aliens, life for all of us will be a Garden of Eden by the end of the month.  These are the ones who do not take responsibility for themselves. They live on the vanity of hope,  a "virtue" promoted by religions that is, in truth, simply an anemic substitute for trust.  Hope has a built-in element of potential vanity.

Hope is for suckers.

Trust empowers.*

To those of you who have moved---or are ready to move--beyond subscription to any of the 4 mindsets above, I offer another perspective.  This is the one I embrace. When asked the question, “What’s going to happen on December 21, 2012?” my answer is simple and short: I do not know, but whatever it is, I will handle it.

The net effect of anything beyond brief, unattached speculation is an energy drain.

While I may sense that our collective consciousness will be greatly accelerated, that we will be more tending to respond to life with love, and that we will soon be living more harmoniously with each other, I also realize that if I take much time in playing around with different potential scenarios, I am just feeding ego. The ego-dominated mind wants to dive into worst case scenarios, and then scrambles for information to justify the scary possibilities.

Ego wants all the mysteries explained.  And even if these mysteries were somehow suddenly and fully explained, it wouldn't be enough for ego. For when the lifting of the veil occurs (and that is the meaning of the word "apocalypse") then each of us may be faced with having to make a crucial and lasting choice between love and fear.

So my request for your consideration:

Rather than trying to figure out how we all got into this strangely messy life, rather than trying to predict the future, we are served to be present and trust that whatever is coming we will be able to handle it: the right thing will occur for our evolution.

It is my truth that we are destined for harmony on this planet. I also know that fearing the demise of body or mind prevents one from truly living. It is kind of a living death—a purgatory---to be spending more than fleeting moments in the past or future.**

Consider, please, the possibility that all of Us are connected and divine in a way that the mind simply refuses to understand. Because to understand it would mean the death of ego. It is the death of this imaginary “being” that is the doorway to our loving, harmonious destiny.  It is to die in the same way our corrupt and ignorant institutions are to die, by the removal of our attention and support from them.

If we are, indeed, much more than body or mind, if we are all divine in nature, that means we do not die. We live on after the body and mind are gone. So while we are served to honor and nourish the body, we are also served to realize that it is not who we are.

Whether a monumental shift happens on December 21 or some other date soon to come…..or whether this time marks a shift in the tipping of the scales between loving consciousness and ignorance does not matter.

It is your response to life as it is that matters.

An ending seed thought for your hearts’ consideration: “I love where I am and I trust where I am going.”

* Note: for this segment, my computer refused to unbold, unitalic and align to the left.  So I guess this is how it is.

* * For some, the tricky part in this is that some planning for intended outcomes makes sense.  Heart sense.  The key is to envision the intended result without being attached to it.  See it as already accomplished.  Trust that no matter what does happen, that you will powerfully deal with it in a loving way.

Now available for free: An 11 day series to prepare for the time of solstice. Simple daily ideas for you to run through your heart.  Please start at the beginning.  The suggestion from here is to allow your heart to guide you in how fast you move through the ideas.  The general suggestion: no more frequently than one days' prescriptions per day. Here is the link for the first set of Awakening Preparation Prescriptions.  Follow your heart guidance.

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For more awakening tools, see the thumbnail list of the Awakening Series of books I have been working on over the last 14 years for this moment in time. It's here.

Between now and December 20, the price of all full-length digital Awakening Series books has been reduced to $2.

The 36-page eBook, What To Do When It Hits The Fan, is $1.  I did not create these books to get rich, but to serve.

And my focus on all this has been such that I much appreciate donations to help with basic food and shelter.  Your support is appreciated.

 

 

 

Hello, friends.

As we move closer to the shifting 2012 Winter Solstice, so much will be changing in our world. My intent is to do whatever I can to spread the word of love as effectively and quickly as I can in preparation.  The more who "get it" now, the fewer who will suffer---and the less fear there will be in the world---as the shift occurs. From my perspective, this has to do with our learning how to trust our inner guidance in facing what the Universe----or God, if you prefer---asks to us to face.

I have been guided to create a simple series of short awakening ideas designed to help make our transition into harmonious times more calm, happy and trusting.  While there are a myriad of methods and practices out there that promise to awaken us, what I have created does not require you to rely on anything outside of yourself. There are no weekend seminars, no long books to read, no motivational speakers to listen to for hours.  I offer these simple ideas humbly, and without cost.

I call the series Chosen Knowings: the point being that we do not have to rely on any external sources to discover our own knowings and our own true power.  What is required is to do something that most people simply refuse to do: face themselves and their world with trust.

The first 5 Chosen Knowings have been introduced slowly on Facebook, along with other inspirational spiritual content included there since July.  There are 14 more to come, all given to me by internal guidance.

The suggestion: spend at least a day taking each one into your experience and notice the opportunities you will find to either use the idea as it is or to edit it to make it more powerful for you as you move through your life.

I do not ask that you simply believe any of them.  I do ask that you consider taking these brief and simple ideas into your heart and allow your heart to guide you in either accepting the idea or changing it to fit your own truth.

Here are the first five, with summary story boxes and full text.  As you see this icon   you are invited to pause in silence as you allow the feelings of your heart to be felt.

Chosen Knowing 1

Society has been dominated by systems designed to keep our natural power from being realized by Us.

Expanded over millennia, these systems have been maintained by a tiny percentage of the population to control the vastly larger world.

Will I choose to know these puny forces as simply reflections of ego? Will I choose to know my power to step away from the inner battle ego wages against the heart?

 

Chosen Knowing 2

We have been falsely taught to look fully to the external for sources of wisdom, calm and happiness. Part of what we have come into this life to learn: how to trust ourselves as our best resource for all of these.

Chosen Knowing 3

The path to living hell is to respond to life with fear, guilt, doubt, regret or a sense of separation from the Divine. Society, a reflection of the collective attachment to imaginary ego, has led us down this trail of ig

 

Chosen Knowing 4

Maybe the greatest spiritual/emotional cancer epidemic in our world has been “justifiable resentment.” The term is recklessly oxymoronic. In clinging to resentment, one acts in a masochistic way, draining their own capacity to reflect or integrate loving energy.

I choose to know and to trust my power to empty myself of resentment. I fully let it go as a service to myself.

I forgive everything.

Chosen Knowing 5

I know that the mind is a wonderful slave but a terrible master.  I trust my heart as my master, knowing that my experience is my best teacher.

Every thought or experience of the senses is most effectively seen as a chance to respond with love.  

I release the egoic inclination of avoiding the lesson of the present teacher.

The primary lesson is always to respond with calm, trusting, empowered  love.

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If you are fed up with how your life is working and can see the value in this last Chosen Knowing idea, then I ask you to join me in spreading the word.  Each of the last 14 Chosen Knowings in this series carries  a simple and brief idea for your heart to consider.

If you try to figure this out with your head, it will not work to serve you.  Please choose from the heart.

I have little in the way of internet technical expertise or financial reources.  So that  this set of messages reaches the world effectively,  I am connecting with allies, collaborators and supporters to form a unified team.

There are specific areas in which I am open to assistance.  For a more complete picture of what I am looking for in the way of help, please see this link.

Feel free to write me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

There are over 70 free and short inspirational videos on the Your Pause Button website.  Play with them, and remember to use your pause button as you view them, taking time for the silence.  The wise man OSHO said that silence is the greatest prayer. I agree.

Each one of The Awakening Series of digital books was created with a different starting point in mind, from crisis orientation to being on the edge of fully awakening.

Check them out at this link.

To donate, please see the link at the bottom of this page.

In these times of great change, when so much of the

world seems to be in chaos, overwhelm and fear, we

often have the opportunity of connecting with our

inner guidance as we intend to move more gracefully

through our challenges.

There is an event tomorrow that I suggest that you

consider from the heart. You don't have to go

anywhere. It doesn't cost anything. And you might

find that taking the time for it is a wise

investment in propelling your evolution. If you

debate this in your head, it is certain that you

will throw it away. The egoic mind does not want

to evolve. This imaginary "it" thrives on the

inner battle that we are all here to release.

What is happening tomorrow, according to my Kahuna

friend, Reynolds Kamakawiwoole and his partner,

Linda Hostalek, is a major amping up of energies

coming to Earth to help us unfold our loving

nature.

Linda Hostalek

Reynolds Kamakawiwoole

The simple suggested protocol, shown in full below,

is to be receptive to these energies in a

non-attached way at around 7 pm your local time

wherever you are. You might spend just 10 minutes

with this tune in time, or you may find that you

are inspired to do so for a longer period of time.

Linda and Reynolds' experiences leading up to this

read like a fantasy--a rainbow bridge, pearly gates,

and three-headed birds. Sometimes when I hear those

kinds of stories, my rather fine-tuned BS detector

starts beeping big time. Not with this. My sense of

it is that there is much potential in what is

happening tomorrow for those willing to be open and

without expectation.

I met Reynolds two years ago on the Big Island of

Hawaii when I spent nearly a year there and took part in

three ceremonies he led.

He and I are alike in many ways. We are not afraid

of being different. It does not bother us if some folks

think we are a little crazy.

These are radical and shifting times in our world, and

we have proven over and over that the old solutions

simply do not work.

It's time to shift the way we look at our world, time to

change the mind "solutions" that never have worked.

Just as I do with all my written and audio awakening

words, I do not ask you to just take my word for it

that this could be very worth your time. I ask that

you tune in to your inner guidance and be aware of your

feelings. You really can let your heart be your guide.

It does not serve you to be attached to the foolish

guidance of ego.

For more information on the protocol, see below. Or

go to the Facebook page with running commentary on

what is happening:

https://www.facebook.com/events/184387585030332/

I would love to hear about how it goes from those of

you who decide to participate.

all love,

Carlo

All below is from the Star Friends link shown above.

Wednesday

6:00pm in UTC-10

all over the multi-universe at 6pm your local time

(Peak energiesafter 7 pm)

The Divine Light of Consciousness will be present on

October 10th to shift all to the next level. This is

the Christ Consciousness, the Divine is here! We are

now allowed access to the next dimensional layer of

the multiverse, where the Christ light is omni-present.

This is why the previous two events were necessary to

prepare. If you are just coming on board, you have

already gone through the first two contacts (although

you may not call it that or have been aware of it).

This will activate the Divine Light of Christ and

transport one through the rainbow bridge. As one who

has had the privilege of helping souls through the

rainbow bridge at the time of the physical body's

death, it was an honor and a privilege to be in the

presence of where that bridge goes. This October 10th

-all have the opportunity to go in the rainbow bridge

to the place of purity, white light and love. Please

see the description that was seen when we went on Sept

22nd. It was the most awesome of places and we invite

you to come with us as we embrace the next level of

awareness to bring in the Divine Light of the Christ

Consciousness. Please share this message with all that

you love, so they, too can consciously attend to the

contact with the Divine on this October 10th.

 

September 22nd Contact Report:

Linda Hostalek

Reports are coming in from all over the world. Ships

seen in China, Egypt, Hawaii, Europe and the mainland,

heart contact throughout. We were blessed with a

profound revelation regarding the next event. It will

be October 10, 2012, and is about the Christ

consciousness. Zu-Whar allowed us to pass through to

the next dimension past where the council was held

the other night. We then went on the rainbow bridge

and arrived at a place which resembled the 'pearly'

gates of heaven. They truly look like pearls, glowing

in luminescent white. These gates are guarded by animal

beings, one was a three headed bird like creature, one

resembled a lion with wings and a pointed tail. There

was more on the other side, but was not permitted to

see that. There were also more animal chimera guardians.

Underneath the cloudy portion of the gates were what

appeared to be wheels of fire, wheels within wheels.

There is much more to this, and I will post tomorrow,

I am still in awe of the experience, and need to

integrate this more. Thank you to all who have sent

their love and light to all galactic beings everywhere.

May tonight's experience have enriched your soul's path

and given you a sense of peace and love with your Star

family and all that is. Mahalo. bless

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As we get closer, some have asked for clarification.

First the energy will be at it's strongest from 6pm to

4am with the most strong being 7pm - in your LOCAL time

zone. 7 is the holy number and as such, 7 was the code

that was given to Reynolds to share as the access code

for this event. So at 7pm (your time, if possible - if

not then any other time between 6pm and 4am your time)

go outside, connect with the sky - you will know where

to look - trust what calls and pulls your heart - and

say the code. the code is 7 7's - so connect and speak

audibly 7-7-7-7-7-7-7- as you connect the stars to your

heart then again speak 7-7-7-7-7-7-7- as you connect that

energy into the earth to ground you. This is a very

intense energy of the masterhood of light. The Divine

light of consciousness. When, on Sept 22nd (second

event) we went through the rainbow bridge, the pearl gate

on the bright cloud guarded by chimeric beings with the

most awe-inspiring love I have ever beheld, we were shown

that is the energy that is coming for this event on October

10th. This is the holy one, and all of you participating

are masters, who are called here to help others ascend as

well. You have a divine appointment, this is not about us,

it is about your connection to what is holy, our star

family of the highest caliber. We are honored to be the

vessel that transmits this information, but the information

and access is for all, and we honor each and every one of

you. Thank you for sharing this event with those you love

and for what you will also do afterwards in sharing your

experience, and love with others for the ascension of all.

This is the third in a series of six events as told to us

by our star family. This process has been so intense, I have

not been on here much, as my preparation is ongoing. Thank

you for you love and support. Also, please during these next

couple of days as we prepare for this contact, please refrain

from eating at least red meat (all meat is better), no

artificial foods, and drink plenty of water. Spend more time

in nature, and especially around plants, and if you are

around the ocean, connect there as well. Our human bodies

require water and salt, in the same ratio as ocean water,

for our cellular processing's. Our cellular memory is being

changed and altered from traumatic and dysfunctional to

vibrant health, light and love. Breathe in the love of the

plant kingdom, and take some time to ponder the stars as

well. Do what feels right to you for bringing the light in

to your sacred space. Dance, chant, tone, drum in

preparation for this holy day. And on the day of the event,

keep that mindset of sacredness as you approach this contact

with the divine. In groups or alone, feel the connection -

the Divine is reaching out to you - the contact is very near.

bless

 

***************************

 

Linda Hostalek

The past 24 hours has seen an increase in the energy

surrounding this StarFamily contact. Last night, Archangel

Metatron came to me and I was shown the energies that are

flowing now to connect all beings to the divine. We were

then told to go outside at 3:33am where the Pleiades made

contact along with Andromeda. This morning, the flow was

so strong it was difficult to move - there were clear

instructions given for now until tomorrow. Eat NO meat,

drink more water, clear and cleanse (we are taking half

lemon half raw honey with turmeric, ginger, alaea, and

kava). If you are near the ocean, go in and cleanse, if

not, take a salt bath to prepare you. This is an intense

meeting with the Divine. Be in prayer and meditation as

the time approaches. You must be clear - you must have

clarity of mind and spirit. You will know how to create

your sacred space according to your own traditions. If

you do not know how to create sacred space, light a candle

or burn some sage or incense and chant, drum, dance or tone.

Feel the energy shift and then notice the change that occurs.

The code is to be spoken out loud 7 7s up and 7 7s down. For

today, notice the synchronicities in your life and what is

showing up for you to be at your full potential. You are

masters, that is why you are here, you have an appointment

you made long ago to keep. Prepare with integrity, purity and

love, cleanse your body, mind and soul. The rainbow bridge is

calling, it is soon. Be mindful and be present, and always,

in the Divine Love. bless.

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a Note From Carlo: I appreciate your donations. As I have done this work mostly in hermit mode with minimal financial means, your generosity helps me keep a roof over my head and food on the table while we all wake up more fully. Thank you.

 

Mitt Romney with his parents after father George announced his candidacy for Michigan Governor in 1962

 

Having somehow managed to miss it for the last three decades, today I stumbled upon a story that mirrors for us how insanely afraid and unaware we have become as a culture, how misguided and mistrusting we have become.  We're being asked to wake up to what is happening, to quit incessantly slamming the snooze button.

It's been in the news lately, a story from 30 odd (hypen or not there) years ago when Mitt Romney and his wife piled the kids into the family car for a 12-hour trip from Massachusetts to Ontario, Canada. For the drive up, their Irish Setter was in a kennel strapped to the roof of the car.

Sometime during the trip, they noticed a "brown liquid" had streamed down the back window of the car. No need for further explanation. You get it. The dog must have been petrified. Rather than clean up the dog and let it into the car, Romney decided to hose it down and put it back on the roof for the rest of the trip.

Irish Setters are nervous breed, a little paranoid. How would any of us two-leggeds handle being in a box on top of a fast-moving car for twelve hours, with breaks only at the gas station?

Asked about the incident recently, Romney called the kennel "completely air-tight" and said the dog loved it in there. This had to be some kind of special kennel: Seems to me that if it was attached to the roof of a car and was air-tight, it would pose something of a challenge in terms of air supply for the dog between gas stops. And if it was air-tight, how was it not "brown liquid"-tight?

It's easy to cut the guy some slack for putting Seamus up there to begin with. I've sure done my share of thoughtless things in my life and I can forgive myself for them. But once the dog let loose the brown stuff, common sense and compassion might have allowed for the dog to be let into the car, rather than be put back into the kennel up top for the rest of the trip.  Let's forgive him for that, too, and let's not pretend that just because it happened a long time ago that it does not matter.

Most of our elected officials in this country are ignorant or crooks or both.  Most people refuse to face this even when presented with massive evidence.  This article is not intended to be a personal attack on Romney.  Actually, he's another of those whom we can thank for waking us up to what a great teacher the world is for us. I'll get to why in a minute.

Many people seem to have great concern over Romneys' religion. Where he goes to church means little compared to how consciously he lives his life, the small things that can be so telling. I knew a very smart woman years ago who told me that when she was dating a new guy, she could always get major insight into whether her date might be husband material by the way he treated the waiter the first time her date took her to dinner. She figured that, sooner or later, he would treat her as he did the waitperson.

We get similar insights from people into their character when we see them interacting with their children, store clerks and pets.

Many years ago, I had a friend who told me that, decades ago, in order to keep his job, he had to obey his boss' request to take several young puppies recently borne by the family dog down to a lake and drown them. As he told the story, a certain limit was put in the trust I would ever have with him. I knew that if I ever was blessed to have a dog or puppies to give away, he would not be on my list of potential recipients.

And this is certainly not intended to equate what my friend did with Romneys' mistake.

Let's say I was a father of a mature woman who was dating a very smooth-talking man. And let's say I discovered that he had a history that included a rape conviction. I would not be particularly encouraging of her getting cozier with him.

History matters.  We are being challenged now to wake up to its' lessons.

As a culture, we can act very stupidly about some things. We seem to put more emphasis on what a politician has said in the last week than we do on what they have actually done over the years.

A politician can side step sensitive questions, can have quick answers that push all of your right buttons, know just the right things to say. Whether that person is fit to run a country has little to do with how glib they are or how well they know how to hold their chin for a photo op. Show me how he treats his dog, respects the waitress, or responds to his wife when she is upset about something. I want to know if he has heart.

Whether he would lead our country with heart is what is important. It does not matter if he can come up with quick answers that satisfy multiple factions of his political party or not.

It does matter if he is willing to take our country into another senseless war. All but one of the leading Republican candidates for Americas' highest elected office want to impress us with how our country can bully the rest of the world.  That is just about as stupid as the bumper stickers that tell us, "My son can kick your honor students' butt."

How often and dramatically a political candidates' position on an issue changes matters. What he does when in a position of directing others matters, whether he is is talking with an employee or ordering food at a restaurant.

Collectively, we are ignorant enough still to make things that are generally unimportant important: "Does he say he likes dogs? I have to find out if he likes cats, too."

"What church does he say he goes to?"

"Did he look a little flustered? If so, he must be hiding something."

"I don't like the way he salutes the flag."

And all this is just a set of mirrors for us reflecting how we deal with ourselves and our world. We might talk a good game. We know how to deflect criticism. Others can be conveniently blamed for our shortcomings. When someone challenges something we say, we can "clarify" it by contradicting what we just said.

When looking at ourselves in the mirror, we can deflect things about ourselves, pretend that we do not see them.

Our willingness to accept as truth what our favorite politicians deceptively tell us is directly proportional to the extent to which we con our own selves.

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Footnote: Another mirror for us in seeing how we treat ourselves and our world: After recently attacking Mitt Romney for the dog incident, Newt Gingrich announced that he will be putting up a new website featuring his love for pets: "Newt Loves Pets," featuring pictures of cute animals alone and sitting on an adoring Newts' lap. Manipulation does not get more transparent than that.

Our choices of political favorites--at least the ones we tell our friends and family about---tend to be made for the most ignorant of reasons. We do it based on what will bring us the most acceptance from those we love, what will rock the boat the least, what will preserve the most valued relationships. And sometimes we want our choice to be for the one we think will win rather than the the one most suited to the office. And we revel at the opportunity to judge harshly the "other guy."

We still tend to tell people that we are voting for the same candidate that is being heralded by our favorite television and radio political show host: "I'm a ditto head. If that guy's good enough for Rush, he's good enough for me." That kind of thing makes you friends down at the corner bar, but if Rush is the only reason you are going to vote for that candidate, you are selling out yourself.

Just as the politicians political pundits play their games on us, we play a game of deception on our own selves.

So thinking about all this, I am provoked to wonder: How stupid and shallow can people be?  Do most people really want to wake up?

And maybe the real question we are challenged to ask of ourselves is this: "How stupid and shallow am I willing to pretend I am?"

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Footnote Two: Back in the sixties, when Mitt Romneys' father was running for the office of President of the United States, his candidacy came to a grinding halt when he said that he had been "brainwashed" by the military about what was going on in Vietnam, that he had been falsely led to believe that we had good reason to be fighting over there.

The fact is that much of our voting public had been brainwashed to believe the lies that started and prolonged that war. While some of the public would gradually come to admit to having been brainwashed, in the heat of political battle for our nations' highest office, we would not accept someone who could be vulnerable to being brainwashed. Just when he had built great momentum in his run for the Presidency, George Romneys' campaign crashed.

We all make mistakes.  And we don't like to fess up.  George Romney had the guts to admit that he'd been deceived.  The people of this country---with major support from our corrupt media---nailed him to a cross for it.

What else do we demand from our elected leaders that we, ourselves, will not muster?

The most powerful institutions in the ways of our world do not want us to trust ourselves.  Their game is a complete deception and domination.  Just like the game of the imaginary, egoic mind that we are being pushed let go.

Who do you trust?

What in yourself will you choose to trust? 

Ego and corrupt institutions are disolved in the exact same way.  We simply withdraw our attention and support from them.  They do not exist except as we feed them. No resistance necessary.  No fighting.  This is maybe the best kept secret of all time.

Click on your pause button and ponder that one, please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second series video focusing on who we are, and whati we are being called upon to do and be.

Background meditative music in this video provided courtesy of John Epperson.  Check out the free mp3s and other fine work of his here: http://tunes.higher-music.com/album/solfeggio-suite

Please consider the suggested protocol, explained here in full, if you have not seen it.  Starting with video one is highly recommended after reading the linked page.  This is Video 2.