I was walking into my youngest son Jordan’s bedroom. He was sitting on his bed playing with his Trio building set. He looked up at me and said “I am making something.” I asked him, “what are you making?” Jordan replied. “I’m not sure yet.” I told him “Oh yeah, that means you are an artist. Do you know what an artist is?” He said no. I said “an artist is someone who draws or creates things. People often come to see their great work and get inspired. By working on something and not yet knowing what it is, you are doing what the artists do. Your just allowing it to happen through you, without having to know where it is going ahead of time, that is being creative and allowing the Universe to lead you.” Jordan answered, Yeah that’s what I was thinking.
As we had the exchange and afterward, I found myself thinking, “this is what I need to do in certain areas of my life. I can’t worry about having to know exactly where things are going or how things are going to turn out. I just have to move forward on my en-devours, keep up my meditations, and trust that God will show me the way as I move forward. This goes for my meditation teachings, positive movement, businesses, and relationships.” This also goes for all of us we must live and move like artists and be open to being led as we paint on the great canvas of life.
Craig: Not too long ago I did a post titled Miracle Yes or No. Your comment caught my attention and for some time I’ve been meaning to ask you to elaborate. You said you had just recently exorcised a reoccurring dream after admitting something to yourself and God that you previously were not willing to face. I wondered if you minded elaborating on the experience.
Mark: Sure, I had this reoccurring dream off and on for almost 20 years. In the dream, a witch was chasing me. I was literally running trying to get away. Every time I had the dream the witch would get closer to catching me. I felt like the witch was the devil coming for me. Finally the witch caught me, put in a boiling pot and was cooking me. I felt like I knew why it was happening, but I guess I never wanted to admit why. I felt that it had to do with some dirt, something I am not proud of that I did years ago when I was much younger. Eventually I talked to a friend, who is a very spiritual person, and my friend suggested that maybe I needed to ask God for forgiveness. I decided to do just that. I asked God for forgiveness and even forgave myself. I had the dream one more time. This time when the witch caught me and put me in the pot, it turned into meadow filled with beautiful flowers, and I knew I was forgiven. I never had the dream again.
Craig: That’s interesting. So you had been living with this nightmare plaguing you for years?
Mark: Yeah, and in the back of my head I knew what it was about, but on some level I didn’t, because I did not want to face what I had done.
Craig: This points to something I have felt for some time. I believe that these dreams we have are no accident and that they are connected to a lesson. Once we get the lesson we can move to a higher ground, both in our dreams and in our waking life. It sounds like your lesson was that you had to face up and repent. It also sounds like a part of you, and God, was not going to leave you alone until it you did ask for forgiveness.
In addition I noticed that you must have considered getting past the dream, and the dream becoming positive, a miracle. Is this the case?
Mark: Yes. You have to remember that I was dealing with this nightmare for about 20 years, and as soon as I faced up and repented, it changed. It felt like a miracle. It was not just the changing of the dream and me no longer having the dream that I consider to be a miracle. It was also God putting it on my mind for me to make the change that I considered to be a miracle also.
Craig: I agree. I also believe that this says, that on some level we actually play a part as to whether we experience a miracle or not, depending on how we approach our situations and whether we choose to bring in and trust God, or a higher power, in the midst of our situation or dilemma.
Mark: I agree. Maybe in some way we help bring about the miracles when they come. As a matter of fact, I think this is very significant. Miracles don’t just have to come about by accident. We can actually help them come about, and get from point A to Z, by doing our due diligence.
Craig: Thank you Mark. I really enjoyed this. I think it is important for us to see how everyday people like you and me can move past difficult situations into positive ones and even be active participants towards experiencing miracles in our own lives.
Mark: Thank you for having me. I agree, we have to focus on the positive and put in our work to receive our miracles. I look forward to reading this when it comes out.
The unexpected passing of Whitney Houston seems to have touched people everywhere. It has also seemed to remind many of us the nature of this realm. We come and we go in this life. Hopefully while we are here we find ourselves, and live from the places that are most important to us. If we are fortunate we connect with a higher power, whether you call you call it God, The Universe, The Force or some other name. Unfortunately, many of us go through our whole lives only living on the surface, not being true to ourselves and our feelings. We often ignore our signs and allow the world to dictate how we should live and what we should believe in. If we are not careful we tell ourselves that one day we will be true. One day we will really live the life that we want to, in our heart. We often convince ourselves that our deep connection with God and Heaven, that will come one day also, perhaps when we leave.
How do we move into a deeper life beyond all the one-days? How do we move into a life where we are truly alive today? How do we find out the answers to the mysteries here and now? We decide it is going to happen right here, right now, and make it our top priority. We spend our spare time devoting ourselves to the new life. We throw ourselves into an atmosphere that reminds us of higher possibilities. We become open to new information and ideas and trust that the higher power within will guide us if we are open. We pay attention to our dreams at night. We learn how to quiet our mind and meditate and we watch the results of our intent and actions. We find ourselves on a whole new journey. This is not a mere belief. This has been my experience. Don’t wait. Choose more life today.
It is said that the second Dalai Lama had repeated dreams and visions of a mystic lake and a monastery that he would build near it. He later built Chokhor Gyal Monastery near the Lhamoi Latso Lake also known as the Lake of Visions. His building this structure and his great work he did at the monastery was prophesied by many great masters of the past.
My teacher Mr. Ambrister saw a beautiful church in a vision many years ago. He gave me a great picture of this place. He explained how when the people dined, the food came out on conveyor belts with gold plates and silverware. He felt that he had to build this place. Unfortunately, life got complicated and he never got around to it. Some years later, he traveled to Chicago and saw that someone had just recently built the same place he saw in his vision, years before it’s creation.
With my gutter cleaning business, I could see it before it came about. The funny thing is, there was no such thing at the time. The work was done by gutter installation companies or painters. There was no businesses devoted primarily to cleaning out gutters, at least not in Metro Detroit. I used to say as I rode through the more affluent areas, that I would have customers on every street I pass one day. The idea sounded a bit off, but years later it came to pass.
When I closed my bookstore and meditation center, my teacher told me that my next place would be on the internet. At first I could not see it. I began to look for a place to teach again, but was having trouble finding a place that suited my needs. After a while I began to have dreams and visions of such a place on the internet, like my teacher prophesied. A year later, I built a website. To my surprise, the following year, I taught thousands of people in over 39 countries how to meditate.
I personally have some more recent dreams and visions that I know I need to move on. Sometimes I wonder what am I waiting on? As I think about this, I am reminded that these dreams, visions, and ideas, are sent to us by God and The Universe. They are meant to come about and will not wait on us for their arrival. If we feel we want to be a part of the vision and adventure, we must get busy and move. If we don’t know what direction to take, we must be open, meditate, pray, and ask for more direction. Then we have to take the risk and move. One more note. We are all lamas, mystics and visionaries in the making. We all have an intelligence within that will reveal our next move if we can trust and remain open.
Now how about you? Do you have any dreams and visions you need to move on? Do you feel you need one to come your way? What is your next vision to move on? Feel free to comment below.
Last night, into this morning, I was beginning to slip. I was getting down and loosing my enthusiasm. I was not excited about life. This happens from time to time, and for me it is an agonizing thing. I am the type of person who always has to be excited with something I am looking forward to. I must have a quest or adventure. For me, it also helps if I can see part of the mystery of The Universe along the way. Along with my adventure. I need to feel my connection and oneness with the Universe. A few hours or a day of not having this will tear me apart. As I said. I was beginning to slip. I went to bed early, feeling like something was missing.
This morning I awakened to my 5-year-old son Jordan coming in the room. As I walked him back to his room he told me “I had a dream it was my sister’s birthday.” I asked him which sister, because he has two, Mylan and Taylor. He said “my sister Taylor.” I was surprised. This was the first time Jordan has shared a dream with me that was not a rare nightmare, him being 5 and all. I proceeded to ask him a question or two, but all I got was it was her birthday and she had a party.
I walked away thinking, once again, that “here lately everybody seems to be telling me about their dreams. Now, even people in my life who don’t know that I interpret dreams are talking to me about them.” Then I began to think about my book I am writing on dreams. My next thought was “what time is it? I really want to go back to bed.” I looked at the clock. It was 5:40 A.M. Then I went to the bathroom. I thought “man would it be cool if I got a miracle and the time changed to 4:40 giving me another hour before my early morning reflection time.” Then I thought “that would be a super miracle, to happen again.” When I went into the other room it was 5:43. No super miracle for me. Now I was debating once again “do I go back to sleep or get up, meditate, write and reflect?” I chose to sleep until 6:30 and still have 30 minutes of free time before getting Jordan ready for school. When I laid down, all I could think about was Jordan’s dream. “Why did he tell me about it?” It felt like it was meant to be for a reason. There was not much to interpret. Then a thought hit me “what if it was not about interpreting his dream for him? What if it was about how it related to me getting up and writing more in my book about dreams? What if his dream came into my world, my waking dream, as a sign for me? What if it came in my life to remind me that” “this is what you are supposed to be doing Dad? It’s already past 5:30.” As I thought about all of this, my life felt very dreamlike and connected. I opened up my manuscript to another book I am working on that I open up randomly every morning to get my message for the day. It was relating a story about how my sister’s cat woke me up at the exact time I needed years ago. I elaborated on the story and then thought “this is the same thing that happened with Jordan this morning. I didn’t need an alarm clock to get me up. My 5-year-old son came and got me, practically saying “Dad it’s time to get up. You know I had a dream last night. Aren’t you supposed to be writing about such things at this moment?” As I thought about all of this, I felt so alive. I knew it was because I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, meditating, writing and reflecting first thing in the morning. I was back in my place. Later this morning, I was reminded about the principal message in the movie Hugo, which I happened to see yesterday. That message is, we must do what we are meant to do with our lives. If I try to stop even for half a day, I feel like I am dying. Think about it. What gives you life?
The other day I saw an incredible movie, A Dangerous Method. It was about Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung’s mistress. As I watched the movie so many insights about work came out it was fascinating. First of all I had no idea that the two renowned psychologists were contemporaries on the scene at the same time. Freud was older than Jung and became like a father figure to him. As time went on the friendship between the two men became strained partially due to Carl Jung’s secret affair with his mistress and her working for both men, but more so because of differing opinions on their work and psychology in general. Sigmund Freud related all dreams, all problems, all psychosis, to sexuality. Although Carl Jung looked up to Freud, he saw things quite differently. He believed that we all have a potential man or woman of a very high order within and the closer we move to the experience this potential, the more happy we become. Freud thought that Jung was moving too closely to the realm of metaphysics and that it had no place in psychology. Sigmund Freud became very disappointed with Carl Jung because of this and Carl Jung was very hurt by Sigmund Freud’s seeming need to be superior. Now that you know the background I will tell you come of the insights I noticed in the film.
1. Carl Jung always looked up to the great Sigmund Freud and after meeting him and sometimes disagreeing with certain ideas, he seemed afraid to express his thoughts and somewhat doubted his own gut feelings and observations about psychology. Even though we look up to experts and heroes in our fields, at some point we must test things for ourselves and ultimately be our own authority.
2. Carl Jung had to go against the grain and ultimately against the most revered man in his field to pursue his endeavors . In life and in our work, we have to be who we truly are and let go of the results in the process. This is not always an easy task.
3. Sigmund Freud was somewhat Jealous when he found out that Carl Jung could research all he wanted and did not have to worry about money because his wife was wealthy. In the meantime Carl Jung was envious of Freud due to his fame and notoriety. Often we don’t realize just how good we have it and find ourselves still wanting something else even when we have it made.
4. When Carl Jung fell out with his colleague and mentor he became very unhappy and was no longer himself. He ended up having a nervous breakdown. We cannot focus on things that make us unhappy and worry about things and people
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we have no control over. Once again when it comes to our work and other situations in life we must do what we have to do and let go of the results and surrounding circumstances.
5. Years later Carl Jung reemerged on the scene and went on to produce what was considered to be his best work. Carl Jung is known for his theory of us all moving toward self actualized man. We cannot let naysayers hold us back from our expression. We fall down, but we get up. Don’t be afraid to get back in the game and be who you truly are, truly express yourself.
6. Both men, like all the greats, were very much wrapped up in their work. They were truly working in the field that fascinated them. You want to be great and truly give something to the world? Find something that captures your attention and pour yourself into it. Then share it with the world.
7. Carl Jung’s patient Sabina Spielrein, who became his mistress, went on to become a psychotherapist despite her past illness. Once again we fall down but we get up. We cannot let anything keep us from our dream.
8. It’s also important to note that although Jung parted ways with his mentor, Sigmund Freud, having a mentor to help one find their way is invaluable.
9. Being a part of the community is important too. The men in this field had meetings and associations with one another, published papers and shared their findings. If you want to be a great artist you must hang out with other great artists in your field. Birds of a feather flock together. We become a part of the atmosphere we place ourselves in.
Recently I was thinking about healing and wondered about both physical and mental healing. My question was just how far can our focus on the higher things take us? When I speak of the higher things I mean, God, The Universe, The Om vibration, good thoughts and spiritual truths. Can a heavy focus on such things bring about healing in almost all situations? I am reminded of three quotes. The first quote is from the Mathew 6:33
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
The second quote is in my book Wise Words. I got this particular saying from my teacher Mr. Ambrister.
“This science adds years to your life, life to your years.”
The third comes from the Bhagavad-Gita.
“Abandon all dharma (duties), and follow me and only me.”
Now I will share with you a story that applies to all three. When I was about 20 years I had terrible back pain. It was so bad I could barely get out of bed some mornings. I seemed to always have neck pain and many days I would get in the house and lay down hoping the pain would go away. I began seeing a chiropractor. He showed me where the injury was and told me that the slightest stress would collect and cause pain in the two areas on the x-ray. The chiropractic visits would help some for a few hours or a day and then the pain would come right back. I stopped going for insurance reasons.
Years later I took my first wife to the same chiropractor. When I saw him he asked me about my back. I told him I didn’t have any back or neck pain at all. He was shocked. He asked if I had gotten treatment somewhere else. I told him no. Then he asked if anything in my life had changed. At first I told him no, but as we talked more it came out that I was into meditation. He said that had to be it. As I thought back, when I first began to meditate I had terrible reoccurring nightmares and back and neck problems. I originally hoped that the meditation would help. When I got into it, it became this big fascinating spiritual quest. I was so into discovering as much as I could about The Universe and meditating, that it dominated most of my thoughts. During this process, the problems left and I did not even remember I had them. As my teacher would say “this science adds years to your life, life to your years.” My health got better and I was totally enthused about life. I also look at my being so caught up in meditation and the things of the spirit, as seeking the kingdom first. I didn’t even have time for anything else, not even my reoccurring nightmares. So they left. Once again miraculously so did my pains. This also speaks to abandoning all duties and following God. I let go of needing a cure and just got into what I was into. I don’t know if it always works but it has for me time and time again.
