Barbara's Blog

2 truths

The very first sentence of The Road to Power / Fast Food for the Soul is “We are what we think” and yes it is true that our experience of daily life is determined by our thoughts. For example, when you focus your attention on the Goodness of life, on how everything in reality supports you, this is what you experience. And this brings an experience of peace and love which has a positive effect on your emotions which has a positive effect on your speech and actions which makes you happier. When you are happier, your interactions with other people are better and this affects your work and your lifestyle and your physical well-being.

But it is equally true to say (as I do in Are You Happy Now / 10 Ways to Live a Happy Life ) that “we are not what we think”! It is equally to true to say that we are not our thoughts. Thoughts are something which just arise in mind – and such as they are, such is our experience of our life situations. But the truth is also that we are so much more than our thoughts! We are so much vaster than just our thinking. Our thinking mind is just a small part of who we really are. In truth, we are the infinite consciousness that is beyond thoughts and words. We are the infinite consciousness that was and is before and after thoughts and words. We are the Presence, the beingness, in which thoughts arise. The great shift in consciousness that is taking place on Earth today is that we are awakening from the dream that we are our thoughts. We are awakening from our total identification with our thinking and with our stories. We are starting to see that we are not our stories. And as we make this shift – and more and more of us are making this shift – we are able to experience (usually only in glimpses) what is beyond the realm of thought, beyond the realm of the mental, beyond the realm of thinking, and rest in the beingness and peace that is our true nature. This is the happiness we seek, the infinite consciousness that we are.

An answer to your question

Quite a few readers have asked me the same question - what's the connection between my book The Road to Power / Fast Food for the Soul  and my new book Are You Happy Now? 10 Ways to Live a Happy Life. So I tried to answer this question... to read my thoughts... click here http://www.beamteam.com/en/barbara/Barbara_answer.html

Lots of love to you today

Would it help to talk to me?

Are you in crisis and feeling really bad? Would it help to talk to me? If you think talking to me can help you and give you some comfort - I'd be happy to call you. Just send me an email to info@beamteam.com with your telephone number and I'll call you - no matter where you live in the world (but please let me know where you live so I can check out the time difference).

Quite a few people send me emails and I discovered that calling them is often a lovely experience for both of us. Though I'm always so surprised that people are surprised when I call them back. Somehow lots of you have the wrong impression of me - that I'm some kind of famous successful writer who has a huge organization of people working for me... when the reality is I'm just an ordinary woman who's got problems just like everyone else. And it's precisely because I have problems that I think about these things such a lot and spend a lot of time being quiet enough to let the wisdom voice within speak to me. And when this wisdom voice speaks to me, that's when my books happen.

So send me an email if you think talking to me can help...

A tough one to swallow

Here's a tough one to swallow - it's our problems and crises and pains and all the stuff that brings us to our knees that wakes us up! Oh shit... yeah I know... and if this is true, why does it have to be like this? I really don't know, but I've discovered that Life teaches us whatever we need to know... and usually we only learn when it's the hard way.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could learn compassion and kindness from success and fame and fortune? But the thing is, when everything's going our way we usually just get more and more arrogant. Unfortunately. Who wouldn't love to learn the great lessons of life when everything's going great for them? But it doesn't seem to work like this and this is a very tough one to swallow. It's first when the shit hits the fan and we're really in crisis that we slow down enough to start asking questions. It just seems that it's only when the first cracks of understanding break our hearts that we can open ourselves to the Light.

So if you are down and out at the moment, you might want to remember that this is the kindness of Life showing itself to you in all its glory. And you might want to ask yourself - what is the gift of this crisis. Try to find 3 reasons why your life is better because of it.... it might surprise you. At least that's my experience.

Lots of love to you today.

Everything supports you

Here's a cool mental exercise - especially if you think the universe isn't such a friendly place. Take a look around the room you're in and try to find one thing that doesn't support you! You'll discover that everything - every single thing - is supporting you! The floor is supporting you, the chair you're sitting in is supporting you, the light next to you is supporting you, your computer is supporting you, the telephone next to you is supporting you... every single thing in the room is made for you - made to make your life easier. Continue looking and see what you find - in your home or at your workplace. Everything is MADE for us! Or go outside - the earth, the air, the sky, it's all supporting us. Isn't it amazing.

So if you're feeling low or discouraged - notice the support. Notice how life supports you, notice how the universe holds you. Notice... it's an amazing discovery. Everything is supporting us!

Do you ever sit with you?

When was the last time you sat down with yourself and had a really good chat with "you"? I know it might sound strange, but it's important - and it's something we probably didn't learn when we were kids. To just sit down with ourselves...

Do you ever do it? Sit down with you? Sit down and feel what's going on - what's really going on - inside you? We're all so busy, running around, being productive, being effective, striving after our goals (which is quite OK) that we often forget that all important "time out" when we sit down with ourselves and see what's going on with us.

I know when I was younger I didn't do it - it wasn't even a concept for me - but now that I've discovered the joy of sitting down with me, I can't live without it. I find that checking in with myself and feeling what is going on and tuning into the voice within is probably one of the very most important things I ever do. It's what keeps me on track with my life - it's what keeps me in touch with my soul - it's what connects me to the voice of God within me...

If you think you're too busy to have time for sitting down with you and going within, please think again. You are missing so much... you are missing you.

Lone said to me yesterday - "If you don't go within... you go without!" Brilliant.

Love you

Groundhog day!

Did you notice folks - it's Groundhog Day! It really is. Now of course I'm sure everyone of you has seen the movie - but if you haven't it's never too late. My son Mark once told me that it was one of the few movies they showed at Golden City in India when he went there to learn how to give "deeksha" because the high and holy out there said this was one of the truly greatest spiritual movies ever made. So if you haven't seen Groundhog Day - go for it. Anyway, the point here is - it really is Groundhog Day... and by that I mean... we just keep waking up to the same day, every single day of our lives. And we get to keep doing it over and over again, hopefully until we get it almost right - or as close to right as we can get. Because if and when you slow down enough to notice, nothing whatsoever is going on, except of course you! It's all about you, you, you, which is why it really is Groundhog Day! Enjoy every minute.

Whatever the challenges

My dear brother (in spirit) Eric Klein - the famous channel and author of The Crystal Stair - just said to me that his guru (Maharaji) once said that whatever challenges a person has in their life, the strength and resources needed to deal with those issues are built into them at the factory! Isn't that a beautiful and truly comforting thought! And just think if we really believed this was true and felt it deep in ourhearts - how differently we would feel in our lives when we are faced with challenges that really test us and frighten us. It's really a thought worth sitting with... try it and see what you discover.

iPod heaven

Since my son Robin gave me this mega-cool, tiny blue iPod nano with almost a 1000 of the grooviest high-energy songs on it I have been in iPod heaven. I know I might be 62 but biking around town with all this cool music helping me get in state is just the coolest thing. I found out it's just like saying affirmations! With the right music, you can keep yourself in the nicest high-energy state, even when standing in line at the post office or in the supermarket. What about you? Are you into the groove too?

Who did you talk to today?

Here's a cool thing to do - make it a habit to talk to someone new every day. And I mean really talk. By "really talking" I mean being present in the moment - being mindful and not just saying any old thing but really looking at the person and "talking" to them. It's a wonderful practice in mindfulness and in being here now. And surprising things happen when you decide to "have a word" with the woman next to you in line at the supermarket or the person behind the counter at the post office or someone sitting on a bench as you walk by. And why shouldn't we talk to our fellow human beings? Why shouldn't we look at them and notice them and see and feel what's going on with them too? I mean one day we are here and who knows - next day we might be gone. Why would we want to miss the joy of sharing with whoever crosses our paths... And I've discovered it's a joyful practice. Truly. If you are rushing around madly like a chicken without its head, you might want to take a deep breath and talk to whoever is right next to you. Really talk. God will surprise you with a gift you didn't expect. Love you!