Part 3 of 3 Making Sense of it all
In This Issue...
Notes from Neale
The CwG Reader
The Calendar
Notes from Neale...
My dear friends...
We conclude today our three-part series:
Making sense of it all
So many 'bad' things happen to good people. What's "up" here? What's this all about? How does the spiritual student make sense out of Life's gifts and Life's tragedies?
As it happens (there are no coincidences in the Universe) I am hard at work now on the biography of Barbara Marx Hubbard, a futurist and visionary of the first rank, and a woman who is changing the way we think it is to be human. In the chapter I am just finishing, I tell the story of how Barbara found out about the life-threatening (and, ultimately, life-ending) illness of her son, Wade. I should like to dip into a little of that writing here, because it is right on point....
Okay...from the book, then...which is titled THE MOTHER OF INVENTION: The Legacy of Barbara Marx Hubbard and the Future of You....
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OCTOBER 2005:
Barbara is being driven by a dear friend, Carolyn Anderson, to Palm Springs, where she is to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Global New Thought, and will deliver a major address in the form of her acceptance speech.
It's a beautiful day and Barbara is enjoying the drive and the good conversation with Carolyn. Their lively exchange is interrupted by Barbara's cell phone.
"Mom, it's Wade."
"Wade! How are you, darling? I'm just on my way to Palm Springs to-"
-"Mom, I've received some interesting news."
Barbara does not miss the concern in her child's voice. "About what, sweetheart?" There was the slightest pause. "About what?"
"I've just been diagnosed with a major tumor." Barbara caught her breath. "They say it's fatal, but I don't believe it."
"Oh, Wade...where is it?"
"It's a brain tumor, Mom. They call it glioblastoma."
Barbara did not know it then, but in the medical profession they describe this condition with three words: Death Upon Diagnosis. Untreated, the average patient lives three months. With treatment, one to two years. Wikipedia says that the single most prevalent symptom is a progressive memory, personality, or neurological deficit due to temporal and frontal lobe involvement. Shortly, Wade began exhibiting all three. At this point, though, none of that was happening. Wade sounded perfectly fine on the other end of the phone-and very determined.
"I want that tumor out," he said.
Barbara told him that of course she would support him, and do everything in her power to see him victorious in the battle that both knew lay ahead.
Wade hung up and Barbara told her friend at the wheel what she'd just heard. "Oh, dear," Carolyn continued her drive in a deeply pensive mood. Within hours Barbara was to speak on the potential of humanity, and now she would do it knowing that her own son was threatened with death. If he had been in any immediate danger she would have cancelled the appearance and raced to his side. But this was not the case, and they both knew it. So she pushed ahead and made the presentation-though what was anticipated as a light-hearted and thoroughly joyous occasion became for Barbara a very challenging evening.
She did not elaborate in her talk about Wade's circumstance, but she re-framed her remarks in the context of tragedies that are occurring in the lives of so many people in so many ways, at the same time that so many new possibilities are being born.
"Concurrent realities, I call them. They create the terrible dichotomies within which so many people now live," she told her audience. "The only way that anyone could hold a positive vision of the future would be to see our present-day circumstance in spiritual terms."
She paused for a moment, clearing emotion from her throat. "Many are dealing on this day with tragedy, pain, and suffering. And life invites us to call up the deepest faith, an inner `knowing,' that crisis precedes transformation, that problems are evolutionary drivers, and that there is nothing that happens that does not have a greater meaning."
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What Barbara told her audience that night has struck me ever since she shared it with me. It echoes for me the wisdom I found in Conversations with God. It can be very useful for us to see that we are "brightening" and "burning" at the same, as I wrote in my analogy here last week. In that previous installment I asked:
"Can a flame be said to be suffering because it is extinguishing itself even as it illumins? Each illumination of the flame is the result of its own `burning up.' Is the burning up, then, less perfect than the illumination?"
The truth is, we are living (just as Barbara says) "concurrent realities."
Even as our flame burns to extinction, we brighten everything around us. CwG says, "Pain is pain. `Suffering' is our thought about it." When we see the events of our lives as All leading to our own evolution and the evolution of our species, we begin to, as CwG says, "see the perfection."
This is another thing that it is important to remember. We are not only "evolving" our Selves, we are "evolving" the entire human race. What we are doing, we are doing not only for us, but for every other living member of our species. What we are going through, we are going through not only for us, but for all other people. We are creating "memes," we are producing data, we are sending information into the pool of collective consciousness from which every sentient being extracts its knowingness. I want to speak more about this next week, because this idea of us all working for the rest of humanity is not one that is widely discussed or explored, but I think it should be.
For now, let me end this three-part series with this observation: Everything "bad" that is occurring---from the earthquake in Chile to the terrible explosion in the mine in West Virginia---is part of a Larger Process by which All of Life evolves. I know that it is very difficult to see that "silver lining" when you are one of the people whose husband or wife or child died in one of those tragedies...and so I also want to talk next week or in future weeks just ahead about the process of grieving, and how that can be affected and facilitated by moving to higher and higher levels of spiritual awareness.
So we have much to discuss in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned. Until next we meet here, I would like to leave you with a bit of poetry from my wife, Em Claire...
It is your own life that you desire to cherish
like one brings the downy tuft of a Dandelion to the lips
blows softly
prays
to give everything away
keep
only what remains
of a life well lived
a life well loved
nourished and blessed
by the suns and by the soils
and by whatever it was
that
finally
Opened You.
`Whatever It Was' - Em Claire
(Copyright 2007 - All Rights Reserved)
Love and Hugs,
Neale.
A MARVELOUS OPPORTUNITY
For many years people have asked us, "Is there any way at all that I can talk with Neale? I just want to ask him some questions, is all. Is that possible?"Of course, as you can imagine, it is virtually impossible for this to happen for all the many thousands of people (7.5 million have read his books!) who ask us this. But we have told Neale that every once in a while we hear from individuals who really are serious students of the CwG material, and want more than anything to be able to explore its many life-changing concepts at a very deep level, with Neale to guide them.
And so...Neale has created DEEP STUDY CWG...a special program offering participants the opportunity to join Neale and just a handful of other folks (enrollment is limited to 30, and generally less than 20 attend) in a quiet room for three days and look at the most important messages of Conversations with God and how best to teach them to others, and talk about CwG with family and friends.
So many people around the world have had their lives touched in very important ways by this wonderful spiritual material, but few could dream of a chance to join Neale in such an up-close encounter around CwG until now. We are very excited about this special program, and while we know it will not be for everybody, at last the truly committed CwG student has the opportunity to dive into each chapter and book, with Neale sitting right there to answer whatever questions they have.
The CWG Deep Study program cost is $895. Participants will handle their own meals and lodging during their stay in beautiful Ashland, Oregon.
The next Deep Study Program is scheduled May 10 - 12, 2010. We expect a handful of people from around the world will participate and already have 17 registered. So you will be in a very small group. To hold your place contact Will Richardson, the director of educational programs for the Foundation, at 352-442-2244 or Will@cwg.org
Click here to register.
Following at least two of the DEEP STUDY classes, we will have a DEEP STUDY 2 (comprised of those who have completed DEEP STUDY) which consists of Neale deeply explaining the primary concepts from the List of Lists (the list from each book in the CwG cosmology of the major concepts) not only explaining the concepts but verbalizing how best to discuss them (such as "Hitler went to Heaven"). There will, of course, be some question time in DEEP STUDY 2 also.
The CwG Reader
Further explorations of the Conversations with God material from the author
Neale Donald Walsch through the years has given hundreds of talks and written scores of articles revolving around the messages he received in his Conversations with God. Now, every seven days, we will present in this space a transcript or reprint of those presentations. We invite you to Copy and Save each one of them, creating a personal a collection of contemporary and uplifting spiritual thought which you may reference at any time. We hope you will find this a constant source of insight and inspiration.
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This week's offering: A response written by Neale on March 17, 2003, following the release of a statement one week earlier, said to be from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, on the potential of War in Iraq, and humanity's possible responses.
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Subject: His Holiness the Dalai Lama's views on war and Iraq conflict
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003
The following is the English translation of His Holiness the Dalai
Lama's views on war and Iraq conflict shared with Buddhist devotees
and others on the first day of the Great Prayer Festival,
11 March 2003, in Dharamsala:
The Iraq issue is becoming very critical now. War, or the kind of
organized fighting, is something that came with the development of
human civilization. It seems to have become part and parcel of human
history or human temperament. At the same time, the world is changing
dramatically. We have seen that we cannot solve human problems by
fighting. Problems resulting from differences in opinion must be
resolved through the gradual process of dialogue. Undoubtedly, wars
produce victors and losers; but only temporarily. Victory or defeat
resulting from wars cannot be long-lasting. Secondly, our world has
become so interdependent that the defeat of one country must impact
the rest of the word, or cause all of us to suffer losses either
directly or indirectly.
Today, the world is so small and so interdependent that the concept
of war has become anachronistic, an outmoded approach. As a rule, we
always talk about reform and changes. Among the old traditions, there
are many aspects that are either ill-suited to our present reality or
are counterproductive due to their shortsightedness. These, we have
consigned to the dustbin of history. War too should be relegated to
the dustbin of history.
Unfortunately, although we are in the 21st century, we still have not
been able to get rid of the habit of our older generations. I am
talking about the belief or confidence that we can solve our problems
with arms. It is because of this notion that the world continues to
be dogged by all kinds of problems.
But what can we do? What can we do when big powers have already made
up their minds? All we can do is to pray for a gradual end to the
tradition of wars. Of course, the militaristic tradition may not end
easily. But, let us think of this. If there were bloodshed, people in
positions of power, or those who are responsible, will find safe
places; they will escape the consequent hardship. They will find
safety for themselves, one way or the other. But what about the poor
people, the defenseless people, the children, the old and infirm.
They are the ones who will have to bear the brunt of devastation.
When weapons are fired, the result will be death and destruction.
Weapons will not discriminate between the innocent and guilty. A
missile, once fired, will show no respect to the innocent, poor,
defenseless, or those worthy of compassion. Therefore, the real
losers will be the poor and defenseless, ones who are completely
innocent, and those who lead a hand-to-mouth existence.
On the positive side, we now have people volunteer medical care, aid,
and other humanitarian assistance in war-torn regions. This is a
heart-winning development of the modern age.
Okay, now, let us pray that there be no war at all, if possible.
However, if a war does break out, let us pray that there be a minimum
bloodshed and hardship. I don't know whether our prayers will be of
any practical help. But this is all we can do for the moment.
Translated and issued by:
The Department of Information and International Relations
Central Tibetan Administration
Dharamsala INDIA
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This is Neale here...and I want to say that while I respect enormously the work and teachings of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, I must with gentleness say that I surely do not agree with this portion of his statement...
"I am talking about the belief or confidence that we can solve our problems with arms. It is because of this notion that the world continues to be dogged by all kinds of problems. But what can we do? What can we do when big powers have already made up their minds? All we can do is to pray for a gradual end to the tradition of wars."
Nor do I agree with this portion of his statement...
"I don't know whether our prayers will be of any practical help. But this is all we can do for the moment."
It is my experience that while prayer is a wonderful suggestion and can bring enormous spiritual energy and power to any circumstance or situation---and is therefore always highly encouraged---it is by no means "all we can do for the moment."
In addition to praying "for the gradual end to the tradition of wars," as His Holiness wisely advises, I believe we can also deeply examine the root cause of humanity's behaviors of conflict, and begin now the process of addressing that cause in a healing way.
Those in charge of our world simply do not know how to put an end to the killing. That is because they either don't understand the causes of our conflicts or they refuse to acknowledge them.
Human beings are continually in a state of conflict with each other (as opposed to a state of disagreement, which is something else altogether) because conflict has always been an acceptable aspect of human culture. That is, humanity itself has legitimized the experience, mainly by allowing it to continue virtually unabated for thousands of years.
How and why have conflict and violence been so legitimized?
It has been legitimized by humans themselves, because humans have been taught that conflict and violence are acceptable behaviors. And who has taught them that? I believe that religions have done so.
"Differences" and "conflicts" are, of course, not the same thing. Our differences do not have to produce divisions, our contrasts do not have to produce conflicts, and the variations in our beliefs do not have to bring violence to our lives.
It will always be natural for human beings to have differences, because human beings are different from each other. Indeed, differences can be celebrated, for they make us all who we are. The differences between all living things are the "individuations of God." And those differences---in our beliefs, in our understandings, in our expressions of what it means to be human---do not have to lead to war and massive deaths.
Yet conflicts continue to be a huge part of the human experience, and for good reason. Humans say that God Himself is the First Source of this experience, for God has told humanity, through the sacred scriptures of virtually all the world's great religions, of His own anger, His own conflicts, and His own violence.
All of those scriptures---the Bible, the Qu'ran, the Bhagavad-gita, the Book of Mormon, and virtually every other text which has been devised by humanity's major religions---contain countless passages in which it is announced that God has vented His anger at human beings by killing them, or causing sickness and pestilence, or placing some other disaster in their path.
As recently as ten years ago, apologists for God were proclaiming that the AIDS epidemic was a scourge sent by God to humanity to pay for its sins of sexual misbehavior.
This widespread belief in a God who condones and uses violence as a means of conflict resolution, and of a God who can even experience conflict itself, is what has informed human teachings about not only God, but humanity as well.
Many people believe it is "only human" to experience conflict, and that it is quite natural to use violence as a means of resolving those conflicts. Because it is so natural, we find it acceptable, if deplorable. And so, our religions have taught us that deplorable behavior is acceptable. This is exactly the opposite of what religions purport to want us to understand, but that has seemed to make little difference.
Unless and until we change these most basic understandings of human beings about life itself, and about the living of it with each other, and about the causes of conflict and the ways that civilized societies can deal with disagreement, we will never see an end to the kinds of tragedies we are now seeing in Iraq.
For many years we have been trying to put a band-aid on this problem. We have been trying to treat it as if conflict was a political, economic, or military phenomenon. It is none of these.
The central problem facing the human race today is a spiritual problem. And now we must undertake to provide a spiritual solution.
Putting this kind of solution into place will not be done easily, nor will it be done quickly. I wish that there were some fast way, some rapid way, to change human behavior. But I know of no quick way to do this. Behaviors are created by beliefs, and beliefs are not changed overnight. Yet, they can be changed over time.
Martin Luther King, Jr. proved this, and demonstrated it. Mahatma Gandhi proved this, and demonstrated it. Gloria Steinem proved this, and demonstrated it. So have many other individuals and groups throughout history. Now it is time for us to prove it once again.
I am asking humanity, and every human being reading these words now, to join with us in a gargantuan effort to alter human beliefs at their most basic level. This is the work of Humanity's Team, and it is a new movement that is sweeping across the planet, calling people to co-create a higher outcome, a different result, and a new way of life for human beings everywhere.
I am inviting everyone to now dream the impossible dream, and join with us in taking ACTIONS that will begin the process of reeducating humanity about the reality of God and Life.
There IS something we can do "in the moment" in addition to praying.
We can work to change the most basic ideas that human beings hold about themselves. We can work to change the most basic ideas that they hold about God. We can work to change their ideas of what is acceptable behavior.
This can be done. But it will not be accomplished in one hundred days, nor will it be accomplished in one thousand days. Yet, let us begin.
Those words were uttered by U. S. President John F. Kennedy many years ago when he undertook to place courage and conviction into the hearts of humanity. I use those words again today, and for precisely the same reason, hoping for precisely the same outcome, and knowing that precisely the same adventure is now being undertaken by humanity itself.
This is the adventure of our own creation. It is the last great adventure for human beings. It is the Final Frontier. It is the unexplored territory. Not outer space, but inner space. The space in which is held our most sacred beliefs, and from which emerges our most significant behaviors.
If we have objection to the way humanity is behaving today, it is because of what we have all been taught about the way humanity should, ought, and can behave. It is time now for a new teaching. It is time now for a new message. It is time now for a New Spirituality.
A spirituality that will sweep the earth with the fresh air of freedom. A new kind of freedom. Not a freedom that gives us civil liberties. Not a freedom that gives us liberation at last from dictators and oppressive governments. But freedom from an oppressive God. Freedom for the human soul.
Humanity's Team is embarking upon a mission larger than almost any other ever undertaken by a single group on this planet. This is the "civil rights movement for the soul." It is time to liberate ourselves from our belief in an oppressive, angry, violent, punishing, killing God, replacing it at last with an understanding of who and what Divinity really is.
We can do this. We can accomplish this. But only if we seek to accomplish it together. That is why, at this time when the world stands once again on the brink of its own self destruction, I urgently plead, urge, ask, invite, and encourage everyone reading these words to become part of this massive new grass-roots movement to change humanity's collective reality.
For the soul cries out today, who will be on humanity's team?
Go today, go right now, to www.HumanitysTeam.com. Do what you can do. The world, and the future, await the choices you make at this hour.
May I depend on you to pass this on to everyone you know? Thank you!
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The Calendar
A look at events at which Neale Donald Walsch will share the message of Conversations with God in the weeks ahead. You can learn more about the work of the ReCreation Foundation at these events...and on its official website, www.cwg.org, as well.
NOTE: Not all events are sponsored by the ReCreation Foundation, but because all of the events move forward the message of Conversations with God, which is the mission of the Foundation, the Foundation is pleased to inform you of them.
Click on each event for more information:
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A 3 Day Intensive Medford, Oregon Contact: 352-442-2244 - ndwsupport@gmail.com |
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Three days of intense study of the major points of CwG Ashland Oregon Contact: Will at 352-442-2244 - will@cwg.org |
Foundation |
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Tokyo, Japan Contact: +81 3 5272 3113 - naoki@sunmark.co.jp |
Publishers |
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Post-Conference Workshop Chicago, IL |
Productions |
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3 Day Intensive - July 29th -Aug 1st 2010 Southern Oregon Contact: 352-442-2244 - support@nealedonaldwalsch.com |
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London, England |
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Amsterdam, The Netherlands Contact: +31 653 294 701 - Thom.Schouten@heartmedia.nl |
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Scottsdale, AZ Contact: 877-300-7352 |
Productions |
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