From Fear to Freedom

 

In the Beginning Everyone was born pure and perfect, a beautiful, wonderful, and innocent child. Perfect love, peace, joy, beauty, oneness, wholeness, and holiness resided within you at your deepest center and source, a great stillness and peace (and still does!). (The spectrum and extremes)

The Lucky Ones The lucky ones were able to scream and cry in stores, draw on walls, bite their siblings, and do all the things a normal kid does, and still receive 100% understanding, kindness, patience, and love from their parents. They felt loved, were fully functional, happy, balanced, healthy, and successful.

The Not So Lucky Ones – (Shit Happened/Dysfunction/The Squeeze/Storms) Perhaps our family were immigrants, poor, moved a lot, experienced divorce, sickness, loss, addiction, or death. Our parents or other family members may have responded to these pressures with neglect, abuse, trauma, and mental issues like autism, depression, or rage. Also, we were forced to conform and comply too early and too much to these pressures and our parent’s agendas. 

The heart froze, petrified, broke, shattered, clenched, went dark. We moved out of bodies into our head. We put on armor and masks (persona/painted on smile or dead face) and took up shield to defend ourselves - coping strategies, survival skills, defense mechanisms. We didn’t get the love I needed.

What caused the winds and waves of our lives to whip up such a fury?  A Wikipedia post on dysfunctional families lists nearly universal features of lack of empathy understanding and sensitivity in the family. Denial by refusing to acknowledge abuse, even believing it is normal or beneficial. Poor or no verbal, physical, emotional, or sexual boundaries. Extremes conflicts with either too much fighting or no peaceful arguing. The Wiki is an eye-opening description worth investigating.

The first 7 years we are in Theta brainwave state which is highly suggestive like hypnosis. Dr. Bruce Lipton says that 95% of life is subconscious programming.  It isn't interested in our conscious desires, so it sabotages them. The remaining 5% is creative. This is the realm of authenticity, agency, and true desires. "Give me a child for the first 7 years and I will show you the man" (Jesuits).  Unfortunately, Dr. Lipton also says 70% of the subconscious awareness is negative, disempowering, and self-defeating.  Even when we're simply in our heads thinking about past, future, or problems we go on auto pilot and the subconscious takes over. 

Fight/Flight/Persona Some fought, some ran, and some gave in, all at once or a little at a time. Sometimes it was obvious with anger and acting out, but often it was hidden inside, behind the masks, armor, and shields with isolation, depression, and addictions. These, and our survival techniques, coping skills, and defense mechanisms became so familiar and comfortable that we came to believe that that was how the world is and who we really are. 

The Middle Children Most folks are somewhere in the middle, as we have had our share of pain and suffering, as well as joy and well-being.

Life Happened Childhood, home life, school, adolescence, teen age years, young adulthood, work, dating, marriage, children, mortgages. Living the dream or maybe the nightmare and train wreck, or something in between with a lot of both. Maybe hit bottom or bottoms. We struggled to survive when we should have been thriving.

The Truth/Refuge And yet the deepest part of you is like the ocean when storms come and rage on the surface.  The wind and waves are the drama and dysfunction of life that rise and fall and come and go. Also like the winds and debris spinning around in a hurricane, destroying everything in their path, yet the eye of the storm is calm and quiet.  Your center, and source is still there, and accessible through prayer and meditation, healing communities, and wise guidance from counselors and loving friends and family.

Give up, give in, and rest in your center and source, so you can start to live, really live again, with love for yourself and others, from the inside out. It’s that simple, but it’s not going to be fast, easy, or painless, in fact it’s damn hard work, but you are worth it. You, as much as anybody in the universe, deserve love and affection. Your family, friends, all humanity, and life need you to be your true and wonderful self that is always waiting for you within.

Get Help Find and use wise and safe counselors, communities, family, and friends (fellow travelers). Use prayer and meditation to get out of your head and back into your body and heart and in touch with your wounded child, angry teen, critical parent to see how they were hurt and how to help them heal. Find and use your inner wonder child, joyous teen, and loving inner parent. And if you have a judgmental and condemning Higher Power, get in touch with your loving one.

Do the work Do the step study, as many times as it takes. Make the calls to your fellow traveler who are doing better than you to help you, and those doing worse than you to help them. Find the light, warmth, kindness, and compassion within yourself and in the world and share it with your family and friends, your fellow travelers. Let the love melt your frozen heart, soften your heart of stone, pick up the pieces of your shattered heart and put them back together again, relax and open the white knuckles of your clenched fist heart and let life and warmth flow back in. Find the light fellowship for your dark and lonely heart, and reach out to others who are hurting.

Plant the Seeds of a loving, fully functioning, and large life, pull the weeds of dysfunction, fertilize, water, and nurture the buds, blossoms, and blooms of unconditional self-love, in order to reap the full fruition and harvest of a flourishing and functional life.

Recovery Tools How can we access our calm, pure, and perfect center and source? Classical teachings tell us we can get out of our heads and the constant compulsive and habitual narrative going on in our heads to come back to our bodies, emotions, and feelings. A short and simple mantra or focus on a simple object can serve to ground and still us. Another good method for this is focus on the breath or a combination of these, such as “rest” on the in-breath, and “ing” on the out-breath. As we follow the rise and fall, we may note what other sensations and feelings are there. Not to judge or deny them, but to accept and embrace them with kindness and understanding. Good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, it is all part of us, so worthy of our attention and compassion.

Awakening/Enlightenment (gradual and sudden) Gradual awakening gets done by doing the hard work over and over until it becomes a subconscious habit. Sudden awakening is like falling in love at first sight. We feel like we were half now we're whole. Unfortunately, honeymoons don't last forever.  You could say there is an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other but it seems more like an unhappy robot than a demon. Are we victims, slaves, and prisoners of our subconscious, or can we be creators and masters? Override and rewrite your programming. Choose again and again and again and again. "I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to (be and) become". Carl Jung. 

The heart is the home of unconditional love. This allows us to trust our world, bodies, thoughts, feelings, and choices. Deep understanding and empathy are essential. This can create a foundation of trust, freedom, and creativity in which to be fully functional and thrive. Those raised in an environment of conditional love only feel worthy if they match conditions laid down for them by others. They are always on the defensive, deploy defense mechanisms, and forgo their genuine, authentic lives to meet with the approval of others, so they are not true to who they really are on the inside.

Rising Sun: We can change our minds and hearts to adjust our orientation, a fitting term as orient means looking east to a new and brilliant rising sun with optimism and positivity as we put setting sun mentality (negativity, dysfunction, selfishness, etc.) behind us. We are then free to move forward in the light of a higher, greater, and true awareness. The shadow is always there, but diminishes as we surround ourselves with goodness and light. This orientation affects us in many ways physically and psychologically (physiologically).

For instance, beneficial bodily chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin are called the "cuddle drugs" or "happy hormones" that serve to increase bonding, generosity, and empathy. These also help relieve depression, aid sleep, and create trust. Relaxation, mental stability, and anxiety relief are also benefits. They regulate emotions, memory, learning, thinking, reasoning, problem solving. Add to that decision making, attention span, energy, appetite, cravings, sensitivity to pain, and sleep patterns and their value is obvious. The impact on our beliefs, behaviors, and bodies is also powerfully influenced chemically, especially when triggered negatively.

Setting Sun: On the other side of the coin are potentially problematic chemicals such as cortisol, adrenaline, and others that work together to cause a burst of alertness, energy, and attention by cranking out glucose and speeding up the heart to deal with threats real or imagined. Frequent stress, depression, and anxiety sensitize us and conspire to hardwire our brains towards these stressors, making it harder to recognize and reduce the effects.

Over time this causes restlessness, headaches, sleep deprivation, fatigue, obesity. They can also cause depression, immune system weakness, and many types of illness and disease. No surprise ancient eastern philosophy labels emotions such as anger, hostility, hatred, blame, shame, negativity, aggression, violence, anxiety, fear, and depression as poisons. The good news is they are also known as the seeds of enlightenment, as they can teach us much about ourselves and others.

Sitting With It The next step may be to simply sit with it all and let it be. To hold ourselves and our experience tenderly and patiently like a tired, ill, frightened, or anxious child. Time is a healer, so this is time well spent. As the mind cools and gets bored with our worries and concerns, it moves on to show us things may not be so serious or bad as we think. The key is to sit at our calm center, our heart, and let the mind dissipate its energy and judgement naturally. This calm center is our True Self, and sits in communion with the true center of all creation and life, including what we might call God, “The Great Spirit”, so our most wonderful and worthy place to dwell.

Basic Goodness Another option for calming the storm is to come into the present moment and be aware of the basic goodness of life all around us. The blue sky, white, clouds, and green living earth are there to comfort and calm us. Simple wonders like a spoon, cup, and chair surround us as well. Our own bodies are a wonder as well, our heart beating 100,000 times a day, our eyes can see up to ten million brilliant colors, our ears can hear a symphony, a rainfall, and joyful laughter. The sun comes up each morning, the rains fall each winter and spring, and life does it’s glorious dance across the world and across time. So many blessings we could never count them all.

Go For It Start today, start now, and keep going, practicing, until this calm center, your True Self, your divine Higher Power, and the miracle and magic of creation, life, and humanity becomes your lived reality, and shines brightly in your own life, out to all others, and for the rest of your days

Welcome to Cowboy Dharma!

For those on mobile devices it is best to scroll down and click on "view web version" so you can see and choose from the Sanity Files in the green box to the right because the posts here are listed from newest to oldest and honestly many of the oldest are the best. You also have the benefit of picking the Sanity File that interests you and focusing on that rather be lost in a sea of posts. 

What's it all about? In short, the "Cowboy" (western side) celebrates the best of contemporary western thought: Twelve Step Recovery, psychology, Eckhart Tolle, Brene Brown, Joseph Campbell, Erik Erikson, and others. Dharma is often defined as "the right way of living." This side celebrates thousands of years of ancient, mostly eastern wisdom through various spiritual and philosophical paths. Some European influences and middle eastern sages are honored as well, pretty much worldwide, from the far east to the wild wild west.

Roads to Recovery

These paths are where we find true help, hope, healing, and happiness in an often sad, sick, and insane life and world. Our suffering is not only of a physical nature, but on a mental and spiritual level as well, and sometimes severe or horrific. Heart and mind, body and soul may feel broken, torn, and shattered, as we face our personal and collective trauma, abandonment, and loss. We may take on a myriad of distractions and addictions in an attempt to deaden the pain, bind up the brokenness and wounds, and soldier on as best we can. 

It's Simple

Yet as we recover, we go from having bad years, months, or weeks to perhaps just bad days, hours, or moments. It is actually simple. We simply need to stop blindly running around in the same old circles. It's time to open up our eyes and ears, hearts and minds, and look up to the light of a new day and new way of living in awareness of our habitual thinking and behaving learned long ago in dysfunctional families, societies, and cultures. Like exercise and learning, even small efforts over time can result in major life changing (and saving) growth and enjoyment. 

Regaining Your Super Powers

In the Super Powers Sanity File you will discover how on our own we are powerless, but with the aid of our Higher Power we have all the power, presence, and wisdom of the universe at our disposal. Like a lamp, vacuum, or Tesla, we have to get plugged into a power source (the ultimate power source; our Higher Power), get turned on, and do the work. Our powers of love, peace, joy, beauty, and all others are supercharged exponentially as we access our divine and potent source through simple awareness, as well as prayer and meditation. 

What is Recovery? 

Recovery is defined as regaining what was lost our stolen and returning to a full state of health. For many of us what was lost or stolen was a joyful, fulfilling, and loving upbringing. This often led to "lives of quiet desperation", as we searched and bargained for love and meaning. Wonderful child-like traits of enthusiasm, curiosity, adventure, and many others were missed or stamped out, but can be recovered now and for the rest of our lives. This is a full state of health both mental and physical we strive to recover. 

Becoming Your Own Loving Parent

Besides a caring, kind, and loving environment, we needed to learn many things growing up such as relationships, self-care, cooking, cleaning, and helping others. Many other important things could be learned as well, such as singing, dancing, and music, doing art, sports, and exercise. Did we learn a passion for history, math, and nature? How about politics, economics, morals, and spirituality? What we didn't learn as a child, or things we are interested in as adults can be explored now with all the wonder and eagerness of a child (more on these in the inner child and loving inner parent sections). 

Let's Get to Work!

It may be simple, but healing won't be fast, easy, or painless, as it will take time, hard work, and suffering to overcome a lifetime of conditioning and possibly, trauma, neglect, and abuse, but you are worth it! This process is sometimes like cleaning and treating a deep, infected, and festering wound, as it may hurt like hell, much more than ignoring it and soldiering on, but necessary to effect real and long term health and healing. Yet have no doubt, if you look and listen deeply and do the work, you and your life will heal, grow, and transform. 

From Hurting to Healing to Helping

It is all too easy to deny, delay, and avoid problems, but as we face our problems and clean up our messes our whole world will improve and we are more able to help and inspire others to find help and healing. Some folks simply don't feel worthy of healing, or willing to do the hard work it entails, but your family and friends need you, the world needs you, to be your bold, and most bright, brilliant, and beautiful True Self here and now.

Another often difficult part of recovery is accepting help. It is said that troubles shared are halved, and joys shared are doubled, and we find this to be very true. We can't heal or enjoy much in isolation, we must talk things out with safe and wise counselors, family, friends, or support groups to restore or create the interpersonal bonds lost in the past. If you can find truly helpful family, friends, and counselors great, but we at Cowboy Dharma find Twelve Step programs like Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families (ACA) to be of incredible support, community, and healing (at no cost), so please see the Sanity File link.

No Mud, No Lotus

It seems there are very few simple, tried, and true formulas to live by. We have a few. For one "The Twelve Steps" mentioned and found above. Another worth sharing is from renowned meditation master Thich Nhat Hanh in his book No Mud, No Lotus (for a brief overview click here). His formula is that focus and concentration lead to clarity, insight, and understanding, and then wisdom and transformation. It sounds so simple, but in practice it is very effective and useful for any problem or concern, so worth noting and trying often. 

From Surviving to Thriving

The purpose of Cowboy Dharma is to acknowledge the pain and suffering as necessary, even vital to a full life and experience, as we learn to heal, grow, and prosper from that very same pain and suffering. "We shall draw from the heart of suffering itself the means for inspiration and survival" (Sir Winston Churchill). We seek and utilize any and all skillful means to enable our healing, recovery, and renewal with our Higher Power, ourselves, and others. We leave toxic persons and situations behind to find positive and life affirming relationships are not only possible, but deeply satisfying.

All Roads Lead to Home

The Sanity Files help us make sense of this crazy world. They start with the basics of a Higher Power, Nature, The Inner Child, and Adult States. Other Sanity Files are also included because so many things  affect us deeply in life such as music, art and beauty, prayer and meditation, wise masters, and others.  The main question to keep in mind through-out this journey is what areas make sense of your world, give you peace and joy, and help you find happiness. 

Sanity in a Crazy World

After many years, books, recovery meetings, discussions, retreats, workshops, and much soul searching, we gathered clarity, wisdom, and peace we want to share with you here. We sorted what we have learned into categories that have evolved and expanded over the years. We find these paths to be not only powerful, but truly life changing, and more than able to transcend the rush and craziness of modern life. These are the "Sanity Files" listed to the right. The posts are often from first person viewpoint as we believe that "What is most personal is most universal" (Carl Rogers). 

Your Beautiful Adventure Awaits You

Whatever your past and the pain and suffering you have faced, the problems of the past can't compare to the adventures and healing ahead if you are willing become aware of difficult and dysfunctional thinking and behaviors and work to understand them completely. You will then gain the wisdom to transcend and transform them and find the freedom, joy, and happiness you deserve. We have found this truth to be self evident, as we have seen thousands of everyday folks turn their lives around in great and meaningful ways. 

An Attitude of Gratitude

Our lives have improved so much that we believe we are outrageously blessed despite the troubles we have in our personal lives and see in the world everyday. In fact practicing gratitude is so beneficial and worthy that it is one of the Sanity Files you will see further on. Just looking at the big picture of the abundance, beauty, diversity, and intelligence of life across the world and time is enough to steady the soul amidst the trouble of life. Add in the wonderful endeavors of humanity such as symphonies, dance, music, and all the other arts and sciences and thankfulness becomes very natural and true. 

Achieving Greatness

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Arnold Glasow noted "Success isn't spontaneous combustion, you must set yourself on fire! Similarly, John Wesley said "Set yourself on fire with passion, and people will come from miles around to watch you burn!" When you see first hand the life changing and life saving changes that people can make when they have the right support persons and tools it is truly exciting and inspiring. The problems of the past are small in comparison to the big, bold, bright, and beautiful  adventures ahead, so don't be afraid to get enthusiastic and fired up about your recovery and future. 

Filling Your Toolbox 

The Sanity Files are like a toolbox for us, and these are our front line most important and valuable tools. Like auto repair we use these tools to "stay tuned up" to deal with daily life, as well as for repairs when life gets difficult, especially if we have a breakdown. The really important thing for you is to set up your own set of tools to deal with your daily life and challenging situations. This can be modified over time as various tools become more useful and others less. 

Also, there is a lot of tools and content here, and if you find ours helpful great, but again it is what works for you that is important. Hopefully some of our suggestions resonate for you and find their way into your "toolbox", but don't hesitate to add plenty of your own. You can and should add or delete content anytime as you find what has value, meaning, and usefulness for you.

                 

Exponential Synergy

All of these work together in what we call exponential synergy. Synergistic as they work together to achieve much more than they could alone, and exponentially as the power of each is multiplied by the others. Try one or all to see what resonates and works for you. We sincerely hope you find peace, love, joy, and beauty for yourself and your world, if not here, then elsewhere.

Easy Does It

The scope of the offerings may seem a bit large and intimidating. Please try not to be overwhelmed. Take small bites and baby steps if need be. The point is to find something, anything of value that works for you. Also it may be best to focus on the first seven Sanity Files (after introduction) in the beginning, as we find these are the most important, and where the most healing occurs, but as the welcome says, start wherever you like. It is your healing and happiness that count, so follow your heart.
 

The "I" of the Storm

It seems many, if not most of us are suffering from a case of mistaken identity, as we mistake ourselves for the problems, negativity, and brokenness of our families, societies, cultures, and the world. We may have been shattered and lost key parts of our essential self. In response to this we have been living through a false self for years, perhaps decades. Cowboy Dharma is a response to this identity crisis, as we try to mend and heal our brokenness to return to our whole and True Self to rise again in the health, wholeness, and happiness that is our birthright.

Embracing the Light and Dark Parts

Love and fear, life and death, light and dark, light and heavy, embrace it all! It's all life, it's all you, and it's all Higher Power, but it still gives us power.  Like a judgmental and condemning Higher Power or inner parent or wounded inner child these powers are often difficult and demanding, but they are actually trying to help us however sick and twisted they become. 

It is like the image of a devil (demon or dragon) on one shoulder, and an angel (guardian or protector) on the other. Yet the dark parts are us too, and have a lot to teach us. The question is who is in the driver’s seat, who are you going to follow, and what energies are you going to feed? Odd as it seems, it is only when we accept, welcome, and embrace the dark, negative, and difficult parts of ourselves that they relax their grip on us and become willing to help. "One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious" Carl Jung

Heart First

Similarly, we have been living from our heads, letting thoughts, ideas, opinions, and beliefs run our world while matters of the heart take a backseat. We seek to turn this orientation upside down and lead with the heart whenever possible. Reasoning definitely is necessary and has it's place, but we love, kindness, and compassion should be first and foremost. For instance, if you head tells you one thing, but your heart and body says another, it’s almost always better to go with your gut. Our heads too often take precedence over our hearts, yet we find it wiser to live heart first. The most powerful and effective results come when head and heart are in alignment, and the "heart-mind" takes the lead.

Feelings First

As the the industrial and scientific revolutions, and the age of reason spread across the world it seems the feeling and passions of the renaissance had given way to colder, rational, and heartless human viewpoint, yet “I think, therefore I am” leaves tends to leave us empty and bitter. In response, romanticism arose in Europe, but it seems as if it didn't have as much effect here in the "wild" west. The woman's rights, civil rights, and peace movements got us going in the right direction, but it looks like there is much more work to do, this is part of it, and hopefully you are too. 

Feel It to Heal It

Ask yourself now, do you really feel the love of your Higher Power, inner child and teen, and other internal personas deeply? If not, why not!? Life isn't meant to be an intellectual exercise, rather and experience. How could you further the feeling and experience of kindness, caring, and compassion for yourself and others? That’s your job now, to find the ways to really feel the love - of God, inner child, teen, inner parent, teacher, leader, as well as nature, music, science, art, and so forth with all of your heart and mind, body and soul.

From Me to We

Another, and perhaps our most dysfunctional orientation is I, me. mine. The infant sees rightly, as one with it's mother (WE), it's eyes focus perfectly suited from breast to mothers face, and what adoring gazes pass between! But soon enough come the terrible twos with "no ,no, no", and "me, me, me", and the often lifelong journey of self-absorption and self-serving. "WE" became "ME". But turn the word ME upside down and it returns, as we should, to WE. 

Living Inside Out

Unfortunately, we have also been living backwards in many ways by focusing all of our energies and worthiness on the outside world. Eastern philosophy has a very accurate concept of this dynamic with the "Eight Worldly Winds" of loss/gain, praise/blame, fame/shame, and pleasure/pain (all same, just game!). Here we can now learn to live "inside out" as we look deeply into ourselves as our primary reality through our internal and intentional orientations of Higher Power, inner child, teen, and adult states. From this viewpoint we can now live as actors rather than reactors. 

Freedom is at Hand

Back in the nineteen seventies Morris Massey said "What you are is where you were when", and this is still true, as early life experiences and relationships leave deep and often unconscious patterns in our psyches that can cause habitual thinking and behaviors through-out our lives - IF we don't seek awareness and understanding. Yet focus and work on our deeply rooted beliefs can allow an understanding that brings wisdom, freedom, and transformation. We are not doomed to reliving a dysfunctional past if we so choose (again, and again, and again). 

We believe it is true that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" George Santayana. Therefore we find it worthwhile to go to great lengths to discover, work through, and let go of our upbringing and later struggles. We are determined to "face it, feel it, and heal it". As a Mary-Mary world-wide hit song of 2000 says; "Take the shackles off my feet so I can dance!, you broke the chains so I can lift my hands!  

Whatever it Takes!

We are willing to, and recommend to; talk, cry, laugh,  play, share, walk, do art, or  dance to get in touch with what's bothering you, and inspiring you. Whatever it takes to melt a frozen heart, shatter a heart of stone, and break free from the log jam and dam of fear, bitterness, resentment, anger, rage, jealousy, depression, anxiety, regret, loneliness, addiction, isolation, or whatever the hell it is to be open, honest, authentic, and alive for ourselves and others. 

All this may sound revolutionary because it is, and perhaps a little crazy, but many, perhaps most people need a revolution right now, as well as the hope, help, healing, and happiness this sea change provides. Are you ready to stop living backwards, and turn yourself upside down and  inside out to start living the full, authentic, and meaningful life you deserve? Then read on, as the greatest heroic and revolutionary adventure ever awaits you; recovering your True Self!  

What Do You Think and Feel?

 

Feel free to email us at dharmacowboy@gmail.com with things you have found helpful. All of us at Cowboy Dharma want to thank you very much for stopping by, and wish you all the best on your hero's journey to True Self!

True Self/False Self

True Self Development

It seems the best explanation why we have difficulties in life is because of our beginnings. As a child we needed to be free to be willful and difficult, demanding and aggressive, and intolerant and selfish. If this was allowed, we could develop a strong sense of self before we had to comply to others wants and needs. Donald Winnicott, an English pediatrician and child psychiatrist was one of the first to fully understand that we needed this time to be wholly and fully ourselves to develop our True Self before conforming to others wishes.

The True Self of the infant eats, sleeps, cries, and laughs when it wants to, not to bargain for love or in the service of others schedules. Gradually and willingly, we could then learn to submit to the demands of others and the world. Thus, the false or dutiful self that evolved in submission to others and the world was not a problem if the child had a time when it could break all the rules and do exactly as it pleased for a time.

False Self Development

But what if our father was a raging alcoholic, mother was anxious and depressed, or another child was sickly and demanded all the attention? Rather than our caregivers and families adapting to our needs, we had to adapt to theirs in order to be loved and cared for, or to avoid criticism, condemnation, or abuse. Unfortunately, many, perhaps most of us have had to conform to others too early and too much. We felt we had to sacrifice our authenticity to maintain a connection with parents, siblings, and others.

We become co-dependent and deferred to others all too often. It is as if we put on a mask and armor and took up shields to defend ourselves from the drama and trauma around us. Some ran or hid from problems in youth (flight), others fought back in the only ways they knew how (fight), and some froze in place hoping to be spared or waiting for the storms and battles to pass (freeze). More about these coping skills further on.

Hope, Help, and Healing

The problematic behaviors of the maladapted child was simply a cry for help, and for the sense of security, safety, and love missing from the family environment that was inadequate or ruptured. Fortunately, good therapy, support groups, and sometimes family or friends can replace the accepting and unconditionally loving environment we may have missed as child to now build a strong and resilient True Self. When we find safe places and people we can be vulnerable and share our dark, disturbing, and difficult thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors, and still be loved. We can express all our grief, depression, and dysfunction in a safe and secure way to rediscover all the joy, happiness, and well-being buried underneath.

True Self or False Self

The playful environment such as when we are engaged in art, sports, and hobbies lets us feel spontaneous, creative, and genuinely alive. This is important throughout life as seen in adult games, roles, and institutions. Winnicott also believed therapy should be a playful environment of kindness, freedom, and cheer to be effective. The healthy child brings its spontaneous True Self to others, unless they find it unsafe or frightening to do so. In that case the child lives from the false self, pretending to be what others want them to be. This can become so entrenched that the True Self gets buried deeply under fear, shame, or abuse so the child and everyone around them comes to think of the false self they present and the masks they wear as who they really are.

The ”I” of the Storm

We call the selfish “me” and false self ego, a word with a negative feel to it, as if it is a problem to be rid of, yet it actually takes a good sense of self to let the false self go. There is a dark side however, when the ego becomes a control freak willing to do anything to get its way (egomaniac). The deeply selfish part of us is unfortunately incorrigible, and every effort to overcome it only strengthens its grip. It is impossible to improve, defeat, correct, or perfect it, but we can transcend it. What is beyond? A higher and profoundly compassionate and wise orientation and values accessed through a Higher Power, order, law, and truth that we can choose to work in us and through us, yet impossible for us to create or control.

Personal Separation Bias

It is easy to think of “me” as a single entity, but when we look closely, we find a multitude of pieces and parts mentally and physically. The body has arms, legs, torso, and head. Similarly, we have a multitude of perceptions, emotions, feelings, and thoughts to contend with so it is only natural for us to see a multiplicity in most everything. Therefore, it seems our nature is to separate things into a vast variety of subjects and objects, yet our true and deepest nature looks beyond and finds all things in a solemn and sacred communion.

Ego and false self constantly and very intelligently seek to convince us of a “me versus them” duality and reality. Our bodies also conspire to separate us from others and the world as our eyes, ears, nose, and hands work to locate things “out there.” We end up defending “our things” and “our body” from seemingly hostile outer forces. This orientation is both exhausting and anxiety provoking. No wonder we are stressed out! Our hope and work is to turn things around and merge the diversity and dualities of ourselves and our world back into a loving community and “The Eternal ONE” of our Higher Power.

Many Cognitive and Emotional Biases

Not only do we identify with compulsive and often negative thinking, but the mind plays tricks on us in many ways. Cognitive biases are a very real example. This site shows fifty common cognitive biases, a Wikipedia site lists perhaps two hundred in many categories. This is also true of emotions, as the stronger they are, the more power they have over us. 

When we take a step back and observe the voice in our heads and feelings in our bodies (as in prayer and meditation), their power over us is diminished and a higher level of consciousness is realized. The mind and emotions are an excellent tool if used properly, but too often we don't use them, they use us in service of often ancient and unconscious imprinting. This is mind and emotions as master, yet the key is not to master them, but to put them in service to higher good, law, and order.

Healing Self and Others

We bring our wounded, lonely, abused, and neglected self, and work to find our compassionate caring and kind self, and give ourselves space and time for healing. Further on, as we become stronger, wiser, and healthier in body and mind, we find connection and unity with our fellows, life, creation, and Higher Power that allow us to touch all the love, peace, joy, and beauty the world has to offer. We must get to the root of the matter, and work to discover, explore, clean out, and treat our psychic wounds with caring, love, and compassion to reach healing and wholeness. This is rarely a "one and done", rather a life-long process and practice.

I am multitudes

Another aspect of this welcome and wonderful transformation is finding that as our world expands, the small scared, and sorrowful self expands as well, until it takes in everything. “I am multitudes” (Walt Whitman). Our solid, solitary, and static sense of self melts into the dynamic flow of spiritual, physical, and energetic flux. Just as a part of each of us is a child, a teen, and an adult, part of us can be laughing, playing, dancing like a child, another part can be anxious, rebellious, and wild like a teen, while another part is caring, kind, courageous, and confident as a healthy adult. Likewise, a part of us can be reaching out in gratitude, joy, and love. Unfortunately, part of us has our face in our hands, sobbing with overwhelming sorrow for all the suffering in life across the world and across the ages.

Isolation and Relationships

Alternately, being self-absorbed in mindless, worrisome mental movies leads to many mental and physical illnesses as we become plagued by anxiety and fear, depression, and hopelessness. The bottom line is we can't be in relationship all by ourselves. Why are relationships important? Because they are what give our lives purpose and meaning. This is not to say alone time isn’t important, it is, but everything in moderation.

Relationships Help and Heal

Science is now proving this ancient truth as an ongoing study since 1938 by Harvard University of adult development found supportive relationships are a life saver and affect health, happiness, and longevity even more than smoking and alcoholism. Other studies also find they are as healing as diet and exercise. One Harvard study director likes to say there are three things that make all the difference, relationships, relationships, relationships. When the researchers asked what people were most proud of, the most common response was caring for others and causes bigger than themselves. This welcome finding points to the power of service in expanding the small self to encompass others.

One Buddhist story tells how a follower asks the Buddha If fellowship is an important part of the path of enlightenment. He answers that fellowship is the whole of the path. So how can we move from the small self to the large and in fact infinite self? Many use meditations focus on the present moment to soften and dissolve the solid and separate self. The skillful means and benefits have been expanded and refined over thousands of years so are definitely worth investigating and trying.

Others find kind and caring family, friends, therapists, and supportive communities most helpful. These safe and loving people and places allow the interpersonal bonds that were broken long ago to be mended that we may at long last discover and resolve the trauma, neglect, and abuses of the past. We are wise to make the time and effort to seek out and utilize the tools and techniques that help us feel the deep heartfelt connection and affinity with others, life, and creation to counteract the cultural and societal calls for more, more, more, and me, myself, and mine.

Home of True Self in Higher Power

This “Home” is the ground of being from which we came and will one day return, yet the True Self never moves from this place beyond the illusion, dream, and play of dualities in the world, and can be realized in moments of stillness and repose such as in prayer and meditation. The outside world is certainly important and must be dealt with on a daily basis, but we are severely limited if we live as if the external world is the only reality available to us. We can describe the physical outer world as the relative, finite, and historical dimension, but there is another realm always accessible to us of primary importance and reality, that of an ultimate, absolute, and infinite spiritual reality.

Hard Work Ahead

How can we reach our nature of infinite power, presence, and wisdom, as well as love, peace, joy, and beauty? We work to bring love and healing to all the dark and desperate places in us that gave rise to and sustain our false self. It won't be fast, easy, or painless, but you are worth it! It may take a lifetime of working through our problems with safe, wise, and loving people to build or restore the interpersonal bonds lost in youth and beyond so that we have a strong and solid enough sense of self to truly let it our hurts go and bask in the light and love of our Higher Power and True Self.

The Best of Both Worlds

This is the awesome and incredible paradox of life. We are flesh and blood, skin and bone, heart and mind, body and soul, while our ultimate, absolute, and infinite nature is pure energy or spirit and we can live in both worlds at the same time. The "worldliness" of daily life with all it's joys and sorrows, thoughts, emotions, and feelings can co-exist with the infinite, energetic spiritual world through awe and wonder, imagination and curiosity, as well as prayer and meditation (living prayer and moving meditation). It is possible to stand with both feet firmly grounded on our dear Mother Earth with our hearts in loving communion with all persons and life while our minds acknowledge and enjoy our spiritual reality.

This is our wondrous place in the universe, feet on the ground and heads in the stars and heavens above. This is also "The Great Armor" that helps us recognize that from the ultimate perspective life can easily be seen as an illusion, dream, or construct so that we can see pain, problems, and suffering as clouds or obscurations blocking our view of an absolute reality. Should a loved one die or other great calamity befall us, it is all too real on the relative level, but we can always take solace that another pure, perfect, and painless dimension is available to us any time or anywhere. The story goes that the Christians in Rome went singing as they were sent to the lions in the coliseum, this is likely why.

It Works if You Work It

Of course, we would prefer to avoid the pain suffering and work this requires, but these wounds will never heal until we do. They will in fact haunt us and unconsciously poison and pollute many other areas of life if we deny and ignore them. We must face the facts and feelings. Face them and feel them to heal them. And not in isolation, as that's what got us here. We shut down and closed-up long ago, and it is only by opening up to safe and wise people and sharing our deepest suffering and pain and we can move past it. We must heal our relative, finite, and limited self to access our absolute, infinite, and unlimited self.

Embrace the Paradox

Embracing the paradox of life helps keep us humble. Our 80 or 90 years is everything to us, but almost nothing on scale of the universe. It's like the earth with its vast lands, seas, and sky. Then there's life with its vast diversity, abundance, intelligence, tenacity, and beauty. But when the sun goes down and we look up to the night sky we see our whole world is little more than a dust mode in a hurricane. This can make us feel like a drop in the ocean, but please remember we are also the ocean in a drop, and so heirs to all the power, presence, and wisdom of the universe through a Higher Power of our own understanding.

Dismantling Me, Myself, and I

What is this big deal “me” that we get so upset about anyways? Classical Eastern philosophy sees us as the five skandas (heaps), the five mental and physical aggregates of craving and clinging. They start with the gross material forms such as our body and all things, our things in particular. As you know, we can get quite upset when somebody messes with our things. Next are our perceptions or sensations which we receive from our senses. Perceptions lead to our basic intuitive and instinctive emotions, which can be conscious or unconscious, and unconscious particularly if we have been through traumatic experiences that force them to be repressed.

On the same level, emotions lead to a wide range of feelings that are also affected by the next level, that of mental activities and forms; thinking. Thoughts include beliefs, opinions, and ideas. The fifth and final level is that of consciousness itself and all that entails. Suppressing or denying any of these is like swimming upstream, as it leaves you tired and stressed, and eventually we may drown in them. Now that we have dismantled the self, how do we get put back together again? In service of Higher Power, truth, law, and good.

Compulsive Thinking Creates False Self

In his book Practicing the Power of Now author Eckart Tolle states "Our innermost invisible and indestructible essence, our true nature, is being." Being can also be seen as the “Supreme Being” (Higher Power), but without the religious overtones. He goes on to say; "The inability to feel this gives rise to illusions of separation. Fear arises and conflicts become the norm. The greatest obstacle to the reality of your connectedness is identification with mind and compulsive thinking. It creates a false mind made self that casts a shadow of fear and suffering, an opaque screen of concepts, labels, word, judgments, and definitions that block all true relationships between you and yourself, your fellow man, nature, and God."

No Self, No Suffering

Much of ancient Eastern philosophy works to achieve self-lessness or ego-lessness. This is stated simply as “No self, no suffering”. The hope is that by dismantling and leaving personal concerns behind, we may enter into a sacred communion with all others, life, and creation. The four noble truths acknowledge how first, life has suffering. Second, that clinging to the self is the cause of our pain. Third, as we come to “know thyself” and care for it, it loosens its grip on us as our wise and True Self emerges. Last, living in line with greater good is a possible, doable, and highly satisfying way of life (see Noble Eight-Fold Path). This is another of life’s paradoxes, and although it may seem simple, it is often not fast or easy finding and keeping balance amidst life’s difficulties.

Emptying the Mind

Another primary and useful Classical Eastern teaching is shunyata, or emptiness. This is seen two ways. First, we seek to empty the mind of obsessive and compulsive thinking by focus and meditation on simple sensations like the breath, or mantras (key words) to coax the mind to rest and relax. Here we can also find a deep, calm, and pervasive communion with the Infinite that shows us we are not bound by the dramas and traumas of the physical external world, and experience a profound oneness and peace beyond and within that is always present, peaceful, and accessible.

Empty of Personal or Permanent self

The other aspect of shunyata is that we are “empty” of any solid, singular, or permanent personal reality, as all things are contingent on all other things, so that in truth we are all completely interdependent beings. Thich Nhat Hanh taught that a piece of paper contains not only the tree it was made from, but the rain, soil, and sunshine that made the tree, as well as the logger, his family, and the breakfast he ate the day he took the tree. So too, and so true for each of us. This shows that we too are a necessary part of all that is, but completely interdependent with all life and creation.

Taming, Training, and Transforming False Self

A powerful and moving image is Manjusri the Buddha (enlightened one) of wisdom and insight that uses a flaming sword to cut through ignorance and false beliefs of ego to realize transcendent wisdom free of the entanglements of self-created obstacles. He is often depicted riding a ferocious blue lion representing the wild and untamed mind. We can manifest the spirit of Manjusri as we do our best to cut through illusions and egotism to tame, train, and transform ourselves.

The Ancient Paths of Wisdom and Loving Service

It is worth mentioning that of the two main schools of eastern enlightenment, Mahayana and Vipassana), the first seeks personal freedom through egolessness based on self-discipline and meditation. The second path finds devotees vowing to stay engaged in the world of sorrows in order to help others toward their own freedom and enlightenment. These persons become a “Bodhisattva,” meaning one with an awakened heart and/or mind. Both are worthy pursuits, yet the hope is that all of us will eventually find peace and wisdom as well as heed the call of compassion and engage in loving service to help those in need.

Caring for Pain and Suffering

Just as “We are multitudes” of archetypes, personalities, and energies we must care for, we are also wise to acknowledge the difficult parts such as pain, suffering, anger, and sadness as necessary parts of us in this whole, so that we may accept and embrace them rather than trying to deny, diminish, or destroy them. They need to be heard and held like a sick, tired, or cranky child until they can relax and rest. Even the negative, difficult, dirty, smelly, and embarrassing parts of us deserve to be loved and cared for as much as any other part, perhaps more! They will likely be less troublesome for us if we do honor them in this way.

Upside Down and Backwards

Consider the concept that we are not a physical beings having a spiritual experience, rather spiritual beings having a physical experience. This might seem upside down and backwards, but the truth is that is how we have been living all along, so it's high time to turn things around. Just as we actually receive an upside down and backwards image from the lenses of our eyes that the brain turns upside right, we are wise to also flip our own view and experience of the world from a purely physical and self-involved one to one of interdependence and spiritual connection. This is true freedom, and one of the keys to finding our True Self.

Fluid and Dynamic Self

Another way we distort reality is to see things as solid and unchanging. We like to think our bodies and health will stay good through-out our lives, but old age catches up with us all eventually. Same with our possessions and even our beliefs and opinions, yet if they never changed, how boring would that be? So, we find that life and everything in it is actually fluid and dynamic, and that makes life a lot more fun, interesting, and precious. The key is to acknowledge, accept, and embrace change rather than try and hold on to things as they are with a death grip. We will find life to be ever juicier and more alive.

Perception Creates Reality

One way to realize this is to recognize that we each create our own reality as we process sensory input in our minds. The world seems so real to us with all its colors, textures, sounds, smells, and flavors to enjoy, but it’s really all taking place in our heads. Image how a bat or dolphin uses sonar to “see” in the dark, or a tree that feels it’s way through life. The point is to stretch our imagination occasionally so as not to be stuck in our own ways of thinking and feeling so that new doors will open in our minds and hearts. Knowing our experience is a fabrication and construct can make all the difference and give us great peace through adversity and change.

Step Back and Find Freedom

Taking a step back to simply observe not only our world, but ourselves, all our actions, thinking, beliefs, and opinions also has a very freeing effect. Normally we feel caught up in the drama and storylines going on in and around us, yet simply observing non-judgmentally is liberation. The outside world and other people seem to “make us” angry, frustrated, depressed, etc., yet from the viewpoint of observer we can see it all as child’s play, very energetic and dramatic, but we can choose how we will react.

In Conclusion

How can we then reconcile “no self” of “no self, no suffering”? Also, where is the “spiritual self” in communion with Higher Power? And where is the soul, what we consider the best part of our human self that loves children, flowers, and sunsets, and feels compassion, caring, and kindness for people, animals, all life, and creation? It’s all True Self, and it’s a mystery. Even the mean, angry, and evil side of us, it’s all in there. Even more mysterious, awesome, wonderful, amazing, and beautiful, but isn’t that how life should be? That’s the True-True. A beautiful mystery. Enjoy it!

Higher Power, The Force, God Part 2

The Super Powers (From Higher Power)

True Higher Power, presence, and wisdom also entails unconditional love, as from a loving parent or friend; totally unselfish, a true servant, leader, and protector. This love can be considered a super power, and more than able to overcome crippling anger, hate, jealousy, and other problems in the world. We believe there are many of these “super powers” available to us, such as peace, joy, beauty, one-ness, wholeness, and holiness. These can aid us on the intimate and ultimate level as we focus and meditate on them in the realm of their absolute, pure, and perfect nature on the spiritual level, but also on the relative level as we seek out, embrace, and enjoy the these and other “super” blessings in or lives and world.

This is where we may come into communion with them through communion with our Higher Power, Oversoul, and Great Spirit. We can also embrace and enact them on the relative level as we see them at large and in action through-out the world and in our daily lives. Nature is a good example, as peace, love, joy, beauty, and so on are self-evident in the workings and wonders of mother/father nature. For more on accessing and utilizing Higher Powered super powers in your life please see the Super Powers Sanity File.

Prayer and Meditation

Too often love and goodness can seem far, far away, but there is no blessing 2.0, we are all equally and outrageously blessed at all times and in all places. It is when we take time in prayer and meditation, we hear a still small voice calling us from deep within. This is the voice of our True Self, True Home, and Higher Power. Prayer and meditation are a key to this all-important connection and very helpful ways to experience true grace. To learn more please look to the Sanity Files on prayer and meditation.

Self Forgiveness and Love

It is very easy for us to feel bad about ourselves because we haven’t got it all figured out by now and gotten it all together. The fact is the modern world is so complicated, difficult, and crowded that most people are struggling and suffer from anxiety, loneliness, inadequacy, and depression. Brene Brown tells us ours is the most in debt, depressed, medicated, and obese society ever. This is another reason a good relationship with our Higher Power is so important. Through prayer, meditation, journaling, and other paths we can come to see and feel our Higher Power as a loving friend that created, sustains, and supports us despite any worldly conditions, and knows everything about us in intimate detail.

Building Your Sanity Files

All these paths to our Higher Power allow us access to all the power, presence, wisdom, beauty, and other aspects of The Infinite. It’s like a computer, as nothing is going to happen until it gets plugged into a power source, gets turned on, and boots up to a good application. Prayer, meditation, journaling, nature, and other paths are how we can get plugged in, turned on, and working. Unfortunately, all too often the negativity and dysfunction of life corrupt us like computer files, so building your own “Sanity Files” and finding your own Higher Power (source) is all important and necessary to deal with the problems and difficulties of life.

A Power Greater

For those that have a real problem with the idea of God, or Higher Power, some find "A Power Greater" works for them. For many, that "Power Greater" is their recovery or support group, or a loving family member or friend who exemplifies God's infinite power, presence, and wisdom in tangible ways. We often find these people are our angels and God's eyes and ears, hands, and feet. For a short post click here.

Inner Child

Since our view of our Higher Power good or bad was created and cemented as a child by the example our parents set, our childhood is another very important place to slowly work to understand and transform ourselves and our situation. For help in this endeavor, we recommend the Inner Child Sanity File. Here we can recapture the creative, authentic, joyful, playful, imaginative, and loving child often hidden deep inside.

As wonderful an idea as this seems, we must be cautious, as the inner child may be holding onto intense anger, fear, grief, and sadness that can overwhelm us if we aren't ready. This is good reason to have a Loving Higher Power and Inner Parent to hold our hand and help us face the difficulties of our past. It also helps to recognize that our transgressors were most often also wounded as children and longing for love and closure. This is not to condone their behavior, but to allow a measure of forgiveness to lessen our burden.

Inner Parent

Another amazing source of kindness, caring, and love for us is our own Inner Parent. Just like our concept of a Higher Power, the inner voice and opinion of ourselves was inherited from our parents and other authority figures, so healing this internal entity is also of the great importance as many parents were highly critical, neglectful, or abusive in response to their upbringing or difficult life situations. For help in this essential endeavor we recommend the Inner Parent Sanity File.

Once this also crucial relationship is recovered, it is as if a loving Higher Power takes our hand on one side and a Loving Inner Parent can takes our other hand to guide us on to discover, tend, and recover from our dis-ease, disorders, and dysfunction to enjoy a fully functioning, loving, and satisfying life. This journey will not be fast, easy, or painless, but you are worth it! As we build a loving relationship with our Higher Power, Inner Parent, and Inner Child, we find places we can go to rest and recover our mental, physical, and spiritual joy, vitality, and vigor.

Nature Sanity File

Nature is also saving grace for us as we so much cherish time spent in nature. Everything in the wild feels blessed, sacred, and holy. Wherever we look we see great beauty, love, and peace. Often when we share this aspect of our recovery, people tell us how much nature means to them too. Nature is a symphony, a work of art, and a feast all at once, and for all the senses. For more "natural" healing see the Mother/Father Nature Sanity File

Healing Community

If the concepts of Inner Child and Inner Parent are foreign to you or a bit confusing, check out the Twelve Step Recovery Sanity File for clarity and inspiration. Alone we are on some level deeply flawed, broken corrupt, tainted, fallen, and tarnished. Yet on an even deeper level infinitely blessed, divine, and perfect. Twelve Step is a great way to find and build a loving and supportive community, a new family of choice (rather than chance) that is willing to help us find, nurture, and welcome our True Self. We find this path incredibly healing and healthy, so urge you to take a good look.

If we can come to a place where we see Higher Power as the benevolent presence behind creation, we can find forgiveness for our anxious worries and look past the chaos, sorrows, and ugliness of the world to rest in the immense love, peace, joy, and beauty that is always there for us. Trying to go it alone is very common, and often why we feel so much loneliness and strife. Spending time with wise and loving family, friends, and therapists can be very helpful in building friendships and interpersonal bonds that help and heal us in many ways.

Your Inner Hero

Another "personae" we also recognize as a part of our human nature is the courageous, powerful, and perhaps best part of us that we recommend you explore in the Hero's Journey Sanity File. This aspect of our True Self stands up for us, gives unconditionally, and bravely fights for what is right. This inner hero has many super powers such as love, kindness, and compassion. Again, these powers are not self-powered, but "higher powered" through an intimate and reverent relationship with our Higher Power.

Your True Self

These relationships are pivotal keys to having a safe, welcoming, and nurturing place to move forward in our lives with joy, purpose, and passion. We find we can alternate back and forth between Mother Nature, Higher Power, our Inner Wonder Child, Adult, Loving Inner Parent, and Inner Hero as needed to live a full and complete life. We have many wonderful parts as Walt Whitman stated in his poem Song of Myself, "I am large, I contain multitudes".

Taken together, all of these aspects of our basic nature constitute what can be seen as the True Self, the whole and complete self that can relate to life in any possible way. For more on this exciting and fulfilling way of looking at the ourselves, please check out the True Self Sanity File. You may find other aspects of your True Self you wish to add, and we say go for it! This model is one that works for us, but what is most important is what works for you.

Perhaps the best part of us is on our knees praying for God's will for us and the power to carry it out. God's will, God's power, not ours. We strive to become a better person by being vigilant, by staying awake to our True Self in alignment with Higher Power. It can be hard in the beginning like changing any habit or strengthening muscles, but once we learn to really get into the flow of grace, we can rest, rest in God, and learn on god's strength, power, compassion, and wisdom.

Conversations with God

Another super tool for getting in touch with Higher Power is Journaling (Sanity File). We write out all our doings, issues, and struggles good and bad. We find it takes the weight off our shoulders, hearts, and minds to leave it on the pages. This can also be true of prayer, meditation, and all our "conversations" with God. All journaling takes is a simple spiral bound notebook from most any store. Some prefer fancy leather bound and engraved journals, but this can feel intimidating, so might hold back the flow.

As we journal, we imagine speaking with a best friend. An incredible friend who created, sustains, and supports us year to year, day to day, and moment to moment on every level from the amazing functioning of body and mind, to the laws and seasons of nature. Some have written dozens of journals, and so created an excellent relationship with their maker they feel deeply. Just a few lines a day or week can lead to great inner peace.

Some might find it silly to "talk" to God in this way, but we don't have to imagine Higher Power as understanding our words specifically, yet can still believe there is an understanding of the intention, and meaning. It's like when we talk to our babies, pets, plants, and other things. There is an energy and spirit there we feel they get on some level. Not by the words, but from a deeper pre-verbal place. Even if our plants, pets, or Higher Power don't get the good energy, we do!

Ancient Eastern Wisdom

The Eastern Wisdom Sanity File explores how our minds create and control our reality. For this reason, we are wise to understand how our minds function so that we can master our minds rather than have our minds be our master. This is also covered in the prayer and meditation files, but Eastern wisdom adds the benefit of thousands of years of insight, learning, and practice.

This path teaches that us that we must first tame our minds to then train and transform it with the ultimate goal of acquiring a "Sacred Outlook". This is real transformation, to see the hand and spirit of God in everyone and everything. To look into every face and see the face of God, and to gaze back into God's eyes with confidence that the greatest good and highest law is at work at all times, in all places, and in all things, however screwed up and awful things may appear.

Middle Eastern Wisdom

The Middle Eastern Sanity File looks the the positive attributes of Christ consciousness and celebrates the ecstatic beauty and liberation of the poetry of the Sufi philosopher and Muslim scholar Rumi (Jalal ad-Din Mohammed Rumi). We hope to expand this file soon.

Western Wisdom

Of the course the west has added much wisdom, insight, and healing from Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, on to modern thinkers such as Erick Erickson, Joseph Campbell, and Abraham Maslow, to living legends of Matthew Fox, Eckhart Tolle, and Brene Brown. To access these and other westerners, please check out the Western Wisdom Sanity File.

Sacred Science

God's fingerprints are all over creation, and we so much enjoy sharing ways that we have seen the "evidence". A great way to see how God has woven infinite intelligence, beauty, and wonder into the natural world is to check out Sacred Geometry. Science has unraveled this mystery for us, all the way back to the beginning of creation, Artists and musicians have also been engaging mind and heart to inspire us to embrace and cherish our dear mother earth and our wild and beautiful individual natures.

It's All About Love

Seeing how beautiful and hospitable the universe is for life and humans, we see our Higher Power as loving also. A flight of imagination took our focus and emphasis on love to the extreme, considering Love Force as the fundamental and unifying theory of the universe. It may be a stretch of the imagination, but a fun and interesting one we hope you find enjoyable and inspiring.

Music - More Than a Feeling

The Music Sanity File has a section just for Higher Power and Love with many wonderful songs to share and enjoy. It is one of the most beautiful, touching, and powerful ways we can stir our passions to really feel the love, peace, joy and other emotions that help us be happy. We highly recommend making your own music files and adding to them regularly as new songs come out and classics are rediscovered. Ours are sorted into files of love, Higher Power, every day, rock, relaxing, inspire, blues, dance, joyous, and best songs to fit our mood and need.

Super Sayings and Slogans

Sayings and slogans are short pithy statements that can say a lot in just a few words. This is another great tool to have so, we highly recommend jotting down your favorites and building your own super sayings and slogans file today. The Super Sayings and Slogans Sanity File has our favorites and has parts dedicated to Higher Power listed just after the LOVE and FIRE (passion) sections. Many of the other Sanity Files and posts also have aspects of Higher Power in them as all are connected and interrelated in many ways.

"Today my birth is fruitful. My human life is justified. Today I am born into the family of the enlightened ones." Shantideva