2012 is a year of extraordinary promise & prophecy, which nourish either our fear or our hopes. So many have written about it, talked about it and even made movies about it and at this point – the very opening of the year – we can still have no idea what it really will be like; doom and gloom or a brand new world. All I know at this point is that by my choice to live within a hopeful, life affirming focus, that is what I will get. 2011 was proof of that for me. So for 2012 I choose to believe in heaven, angels, faeries, beneficent aliens, good politics, banks of service, serendipity in business, good and supportive friends and all that is life affirming.

Looking back I find that 2011 was the year that I think I mostly settled in the now. Yes, now, and that is a huge achievement, something I have been working on for probably eons although I only realized this was my mission relatively recently. Living in the now is such a relief. It seems there is more time for everything, things get done in just the right time and in just the right way. There is far less angst about what happened in the past and what might happen in the future leaving me with the joy of savoring what is going on right now. Serendipity and miracles seem to find space within the now that they can never pry open in the future or in the past and yet there is something about living in the now that changes both the past and the future. 2012 is about living in the now.

Gregg Braden speaks eloquently about zero point and explains complex science of the shift of the ages and how we are moving into no time or now time, where linear time collapses into the now. All this is great but seemed nosense to me until I began to actually understand now time on a completely different level of consciousness. Discoveries in physics point out that time is an aberration. Ancient sages tell us that we live in a dream world and that our true nature is in all time. But this is so perplexing, it is almost the craziest koan out there and stops the brain short. In spite of that living in now time, now I have the faintest inkling that the sages are right and the we are eternal, it rings true and feels comfortable to me. The realer than real world of our spirit seems closer to me in now time.

It used to be that when I took on a project it was about accomplishing the task, finishing quickly, efficiently and producing a good product. More and more it has become about filling the moments with joy, reveling in now. So I am choosing projects that really pay off in the moment and the relevance of the end result is far less important to me. I guess this is “life as art”, there is no determined outcome but what really counts is the joy of exploring the process and stopping when the product feels finished. I am so much happier now than I used to be in my “work” mode. I suppose it should be called “fun” mode.

For New Year’s Eve we share a gift exchange with our friends. This year the gift was to be homemade. Of course everyone was a bit stressed about it even me and I can make so many kinds of things. Anyway I chose to make something not typical of my skill set – a lamp. My strengths lie in fabrics. I had such a great time making that lamp. It was so much fun creating something different and beautiful out of stuff that was around the house – a curtain rod, plate, some stones, a piece of veneer and some silver leaf. I do admit that I have some kind of unusual stuff kicking around, being a crafty person. The project was so satisfying and stretched my sense of what I can do. Also I was so impressed and delighted to see all the marvelous things my friends could make which ranged from baked goods, to plantings, pictures in frames, another lamp, artwork, jewelry, pottery, glass work, carpentry and more. I think everyone enjoyed their assignment. I know for me it was a beautiful affirmation of the great value in making something for the love of the making and the joy of giving all done in the very precious now.

So interestingly enough I am not feeling any of it. I have no idea what happened or how it happened but I am feeling a really smooth and joyful slide toward the holidays. My shopping is done, I started to bake yesterday, I am excited about hosting Christmas dinner and am planning some fun table decorations. Where did the time come from? Where did the ease come from? I’m not quite sure. I think I just dropped buying into the stress. I did do some online shopping which is very easy and saves so much time. Mostly I think I feel light about the whole thing even though I am in the middle of three art commissions right now which are also going smoothly and joyfully. So thank you mind for the best Christmas gift ever; ease, joyful engagement, and a general sense of “All is well”. Isn’t that what the great masters always tell us – “All is well”. So if we can tease that out of the chaos around us we have opened the most precious gift that the season can give us.

Blessings to all.

Thank you THANKSGIVING for the daily practice of gratitude, perhaps the most valuable and successful spiritual practice I know.

This is an extraordinarily beautiful picture from the Occupy Wall Street Facebook page of Christians protecting Muslims at prayer. I found this image so moving that I could not stop thinking about it. I take it as proof that we are on the right track toward the golden age that has been promised by so many prophets. It is our birthright.

I have seen in the last few days a significant transformation of the Occupy Wall Street movement that may be very good for the spreading of the overall message of OWS. Good because the protesters are now forced to spread out, to find alternative places to protest and to push the message outside the park thus including more people who actually couldn’t even get in there anymore or didn’t really want to go in. In addition the inhumane actions of Mayor Bloomberg in raiding the camp at 1:00am and disrespectfully treating the people, their stuff, their donations and their animals as trash has incensed a lot of people creating more sympathizers. However, we now see too many young people sleeping around the streets of downtown, like the homeless, without enough clothing for the cold nights we are getting into now. I am planning to step up to the people’s open mic and ask them to please take care of themselves first. No one can save others from drowning in the tsunami of problems we all face as a country if they are drowning themselves.

Last night at the people’s mic – Soap Box there were a lot of complaints, injustice stories, inspiring encouragements and some crazy dudes but one woman who got us to sing with her was great. She pointed out in song that this is an awakening, this is an opening, this is love. She get’s it and I agree with her. However, we cannot recognize the blessings in anything when we feel completely unsupported and often grabbing support is necessary. Help will not necessarily just fall all over us.

As community, which was a very big point made many times last night at the people’s mic, we must be responsible for ourself first so that we can then be of great support to that community. From strength we can assist others to be strong.

Here are some more pictures from Zuccotti Park just as the 99% was permitted back into the park on Wednesday night. At the bottom are a few pictures of what Wall Street occupation looked like on Thursday when the protesters marched toward it. They never really got there it was already occupied by the police. There are many pictures of police because I was amazed to see lower Manhattan transformed into a police state. The protesters do not disturb me but the response to them definitely does. I am sorry that I didn’t take any pictures of the crowds of protestors pressing toward Wall Street from all corners a couple of blocks away. There were thousands. I did take pics of the tree people but for some reason only one of the pictures that I took came out.

Any way my principle message for the day is to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of each other. That is how we will know that Heaven is Here.

]]> http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/18/take-care-of-yourself/feed/ 0 murielanyc earlyCompliance.org http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/divine-practice/ http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/divine-practice/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:07:52 +0000 murielanyc http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/?p=405 ]]> Crazy stuff is going on downtown here today for the 2 month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, helicopters woke us up and have circled all day. Streets are closed. Riot police, mounted police and more police ring Wall Street which is completed barricaded. The chant from Occupy Wall Street is,” Tell me what a police state looks like, This is what a police state looks like.” 60 people were arrested for blocking traffic.

Now we have some choices; engage, disengage or engage with equanimity and grace. The most important thing though is to not get overwhelmed by fear no matter what is going on and no matter what we think about it. In spite of the drama and the police people were engaging in fun. About a dozen people were dressed as trees and carrying signs saying: “Less banks – more Trees”. The drummers were joined by dancers. Occupiers were singing, “Happy Anniversary to you, etc”.

So let’s keep it light, in love, joyful, remember we are all ONE and 100% abundant. Things are shifting and will shift a lot more but we are versatile when light, open and loving.

]]> http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/17/divine-practice/feed/ 1 murielanyc Smiling Riot Cop http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/out-of-sync/ http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/out-of-sync/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:16:34 +0000 murielanyc http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/?p=415 ]]> This is why I need this blog because one day I’m in the groove and then I’m right out of sync in no time later. Why did the ouster of the Zuccotti Park occupiers drag me down so? I feel a general malaise that fogs my mind and makes me really wonder what kind of state we live in. It looks like a police state out there now, the park is ringed shoulder to shoulder with riot police and multiple barricades. But it is my job only to manage my inner state and not that state out there that is wild and crazy with people pushing and shoving, grasping, arguing, complaining and insisting that they are each right. How can we ever succeed in resolving this duality out there? I personally do not think that we can. So I’m not going out there to try, I instead am going to focus all my attention in here and look very carefully to see where it is in my own mind that I support that duality of discord.

I am blessed, we are all blessed with great teachers to help us in these “interesting” times. Today I finished a lovely book, “Angels in My Hair” by Lorna Byrne and I was reminded to employ my angels to resolve any problem that drags on me or anyone I wish to pray for. Excellent advice. In times when the problem seems insurmountable this is a great time to employ our angels and pray. That focused and yet surrendered practice creates abundance of inner space for our consciousness to shift thus allowing our reality to shift with it.

Again I was emailing my niece, Gillian and she reminded me of the Bhagavad Gita, a book I have read three times and love. It is perhaps the best guide to dealing with and understanding duality and conflict ever written. I am ready to read it again. The most valuable advice I remember from the book is to, “perform inaction in action and not action in inaction”. Which I take to mean do everything with a clear mind devoid of noisy thought, judgement and justification and don’t get so tangled on thinking that you can’t do anything. This is how the whole book started with Arjuna collapsed in a puddle of fear when he perceives the battle is about to begin.

Finally, because this is a heavy day and I need a lot of support to lift my state I am going to practice my mastering alchemy lessons and do some exercises to contemplate my own attachment to the drama outside as well as some exercises to sever the tendrils of those attachments.

I keep thinking about that quote by Einstein I referred to a couple of posts back: “You cannot solve a problem from the same consciousness that created it. You must learn to see the world anew.” I am working on that and have been for my entire life and it is working for me. Byron Katie said something a couple of weeks ago when I saw her at a talk. She said that she had an epiphany where she saw that we are all one mind, that we share one mind, that our thoughts may not be ours but are all floating around in one mind and we get washed with them and then think they are ours or something like that. It struck me how amazing and true that is. So if I change my mind then the whole of one mind is now changed.

So this is how I will deal with the seemingly insurmountable problem of the injustices of today – I will change my mind by introspection, self-examination, diligent practice to recognize and root out self-destructive thought patterns and I will be HAPPY even when I am feeling low. Because the truth of it is that legions of angels support us all, our God (whatever you call THAT) loves us unconditionally and gives us the gift of absolute free will, we are made of star stuff and we live in God’s back garden so what is the problem.

]]> http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/out-of-sync/feed/ 0 murielanyc Italian angels http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/in-the-groove/ http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/in-the-groove/#comments Sun, 13 Nov 2011 17:43:20 +0000 murielanyc http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/?p=406 ]]>
Yesterday I was riding in a bus. There was a little girl, six or seven years old sitting across the aisle. For the duration of our short trip she was complaining to her mother about the girls she knew at school. In precise points; 1 – 2 – and so on up to 5, 7 and even 9 reasons she listed why she didn’t like or even hated those other little girls. I have to admit I heard one point which I thought was quite valid; her ‘friend’ would deliberately distract someone she was talking to away from her. That is a very astute observation indicative of a keen, sensitive and somewhat introspective mind. Her mother was patient, listening and giving tips to her daughter but I was saddened that she didn’t ask the girl to list as many things about her friends that she LIKED as well.

Complaining is an insidious affliction. It is distressing to see it take hold of someone so young. I know this from personal experience; complaining is a personal problem that has taken me years to overcome and I know I still do it entirely too much.

Complaining wears a groove in our brains, it creates an addiction of complaining and shifts our perception of the world and of our relationships in it. When you complain a lot you don’t notice the damage that it does to you or feel the way it drags on your energy field and your relationships.

The first time I had to acknowledge my own addiction I was riding an elevator with some work colleagues. Within a three floor trip I had complained about the weather, the heat in the elevator and a missed opportunity. One of my colleagues said, “Wow, you do complain a lot don’t you?” suddenly I heard myself every time I complained. It was a deeply entrenched habit, a habit that caused me to see just about everything from the point of view of – “What is wrong here?”

But I am blessed with great teachers and a sincere desire to break out of lifetimes of entrapment so I chose a very simple and effective cure for the disease; gratitude. Every time I caught a complaint working it’s way through the complain groove of my thoughts I would try to stop as quickly as possible and turn it into a thank you. Even if my complaint seemed justified and worthy I would insist on finding some thing about the situation to be grateful for. Sometimes it was just – how lucky and blessed I am to be here in this wonderful world and offered this unique opportunity to examine my own consciousness of this great world.

For me the proof is in the pudding, years of awareness and deliberate management of my attitude have bourn the fruit of contentment and a greater awareness of the power of gratitude not only to shift my state but even to shift my good fortune. Blessings abound for those who can see them and an attitude of gratitude instead of complaining creates the space to see and then seize those blessings.

]]> http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/in-the-groove/feed/ 1 murielanyc Ganesh http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/11-11-11/ http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/11-11-11/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 15:46:49 +0000 murielanyc http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/?p=401 ]]> This is it, all of us standing side by side – tall, free, in love and ready to create the harmonious heaven that is our birthright. Here is the hope for the future from my niece, Gillian, in Manchester, England. She emailed this just this morning.

“It was amazing.  I thought about the responsibility we have of peace, that we have a responsibility to those who have died because of ignorance, who have lost their loved ones lost in war, to heal ourselves.  This better world won’t happen until we accept the mantle of responsibility to be better people to each other and ourselves, to share what we know and show others how to heal – not in hidden yoga studios, congratulating ourselves on our secret achievements out of secret fear that nobody will accept us or an egotistical need to be ‘special’ – but in public; in front of the bums and working people who don’t know anything about this, who need it most.  It’s time to share and show how this stuff works.”

So she stood in the square and chanted 108 Gayatri mantras, attempting to be heard over the construction sounds behind her.

Here is one interpretation from the mantras:

• The Robert Fox interpretation:

“O Effulgent Light of creation! Let the Sun of Truth illuminate my divinity. And meditation allow my thoughts to be inspired by Thee.”

I have had the experience of the power of mantra and hope that one day all may feel that power, sound is the foundation of the universe, it forms our reality as we know it and mantra is our opportunity to be in co-creation with that power of creation and sustenance. Mantra is the vehicle of miracles and with focused dedication to that we will all experience heaven here.

Bravo, thank you, and bless you Gillian.

]]> http://murielanyc.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/11-11-11/feed/ 1 murielanyc Gillian