Monday, August 27, 2012

Yogi Bhajan's Birthday


 
Yesterday was Yogi Bhajan’s birthday.  We woke up after a couple hours of sleep, if that, and trekked to our various 3HO communities and gathered to chant what we call Long Ek Ong Kaurs for 2 ½ hours.  “There is only one God, Truth is God’s name, Oh My God, wow, that is extreme!” is a loose translation.  I was in total chant mode for the first half, then layed down on my side and napped for a bit, regathering strength, lying in bliss, absorbing the Naad, which is the spiritual sound current that heals and transforms.  Others napped as well, and at 6am, as we were gathering our belongings to leave, a few people mentioned that they were not able to keep up perfectly for the whole 2 ½ hours.  Oh, but you did, I replied, you showed up, for Yogi Bhajan, for God, and for yourself. Yogi Bhajan, was known to be a tough teacher.  He wanted his students, each of us, to excel, and we did, and we are, and we do. He knew in his heart that we are all keeping up, no matter where we are at with our practice, because it is just that, practice, not perfection.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Dance

Always learning, always changing, always  growing; in all ways.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Manifestation


Aug. 10, 2012

The first 3 steps are a formula for manifestation.  In the first step we are asking.  We are asking for help. In being honest with ourselves, and admitting that we have a problem that is seemingly insurmountable, we are asking Someone, Something, Somewhere, for help.  Anytime that we want to manifest anything, we must be clear about what it is that we want; and then we ask for it.  Now the second step is very important, because we must believe that Someone, Something, Somewhere will be able to help us manifest what it is that we want, especially if we know in our heart that it is what is best for us.  Is the Universe benevolent? Does Source really want to provide for you?  Of course She does.  Then let Her! The third step is crucial.  One reason that our desires often do not come to fruition is because we have not worked a proper third step, turning it over…letting go.  When we let it go, let go of the attachment to the outcome, we put it in the hands of our higher power to make it happen.  If we are not doing this, we are muddling the affair by getting in the way, and delaying the manifestation.  All that we truly desire is waiting for us, all we have to do is ask, believe, and let go (and let God).

gregorysgardner.com


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Spirit Within


In the midst of self will, we are searching for healing.  We are looking for relief.  We think we know best how to fix ourselves.  Or we ask “others”, those authorities that we can put in charge of us.  There has got to be something out there that can fix us.  Then, when we realize what it is that we are doing, we can go back in.  We can give our will, and our lives, over to the care of God, Spirit, Source, to awaken within us that which we know will provide the healing that we seek.  We know what is best for us, and what is worst.
gregorysgardner.com

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Retrograde


Mercury promises to go direct tonight, this feels like the relief that I have been waiting for.  I am a Leo, and Mercury has been retreating in Leo, taking a rake over my mind, my behavior, my outlook, and my centeredness.  Still out of synch and out of sorts. Guru Singh likes to point out that this is an ideal time to reboot our systems, or to get the most out of the reboot as it happens.  It is never easy, unless perhaps one is born during a retrograde, and then it may seem natural and comforting.  So what have I learned?  That I can regress, and that sometimes it feels like one step forward, two steps back.  That knowledge can be comforting at times, but will not get the job done.  That we are never done, yet we have forever to do it.  That mass murder can feel very close to home, and that white clothes are going to stain.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Japji First Step


The First Step is described in Japji Sahib in the 33rd stanza:

No power to speak, or silence to keep.

No power to beg, no power to give,

No power to die, no power to live.

No power to rule

Or enlighten the mind,

No power to awaken my soul to Thee,

No power to find the way to be free.

By one’s own will, O Nanak, none can be good or bad.

He alone has the power to reveal the way.

gregorysgardner.com

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

MonkeyMind


I have been leading from the head these past few days, way too much self-indulgent thinking followed by self-indulgent behavior, as we approach this full moon in Aquarius. My monkey mind is at work, distracting me from my Self.  Perhaps something is troubling me; which triggers distraction rather than self-care and in depth analysis.  I did some writing, perhaps I will do more, but today I want to lead from the heart.  I want to hear the joy that speaks to me in that still, small voice.  I want to let go of these fears and anxieties and lead my mind astray.  I want to relax in the love of the moment.  Oh, that’s right, just do it.

gregorysgardner.com

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Breath


Just be grateful for this breath, for this breath is a gift.  Each of us has asked in times of abandonment and sorrow, “Why was I born?”  Each of us has asked in times of wonder and amazement “Why was I born?”  Slowly take in this next breath, though your nose, filling your lungs, allowing your stomach to swell.  What is this life?  It is a gift from the breath.  What is this breath?  It is sustenance, it is spirit, it is love.

gregorysgardner.com

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Ego


The ego thinks it is god, Spirit knows that We are God.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

More


If you are not grateful for what you have, why would you want more?

Monday, July 23, 2012

No Holes In This Donut


It all comes down to this.  We all have this longing inside of us that calls out for fulfillment, and we are continually sidetracked with the belief that there is something missing in our lives.  The mind reaches out for that which we believe that we do not presently have.  Whether it is that relationship, that financial gain, that mind altering “medicine”, that thing, that place, or that donut; but we cannot put a band aid on our heart  and expect it to fix that hole, or the whole.  When the mind says “Donut”! the soul is crying “God!”

gregorysgardner.com

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Faith


Have faith in faith.  Trust trust. Love love.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

New Moon


May today’s new moon warm your belly as you breathe a sigh of relief, as you realize that you are going to be ok, that you are not alone in your thoughts, feelings and dreams. May She nurture you and protect you, love and adore you, wrap you in a warm blanket of divine light, feed you with her bounty and encouragement. May She speak softly in your ear, reminding you that it is not too late to learn what love can truly be. Reaching out to those that you love and care for, whether you are male or female, with children by birth or circumstance, be a Mother to all.  We are all God’s children, so reflect that love, as the moon reflects the life of the sun, unto all.

gregorysgardner.com

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Seek


What is this insistent longing in my soul that cries out for you, when, yet, it is but You that satisfies my soul.  I look for another, and yet, there is no other but You.  Alone in a desert there is You.  Each face in the crowd, every phrase uttered aloud, longing for You.  And here You are, and here You are, and here You are, You are here.  Am I sleeping?  Am I blind?  I am lost when not chanting your name.  I am in fear when I forget.  I face false realities.  Let them fall from me, until You is all that I see.  For You is all I can be.
gregorysgardner.com

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Saint


You don’t have to be canonized to become a saint.  I know many saints, some of whom were born saints; others were sinners who have turned it around.  Christ came to work with those that were troubled and in need of healing.  When you have been healed by Christ, sainthood is probably just a matter of time.  Being a saint is not something meant for a select few, it is our destiny.  Each and everyone one of us will become a saint.  It may not happen in this lifetime, I grant you… but why not.  Why shouldn’t we devote our lives to sainthood?  It would mean putting God first, at the forefront of our existence.  It would mean being of selfless service to others, by seeing God in every set of eyes and devoting ourselves to uplift all so that they may see God in themselves. It would mean loving unconditionally.  It would mean setting asides prejudices and judgments.  It would mean being grateful and content.  I may not be quite there, but this is my prayer.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Fear


Last evening at the men’s meeting the theme of the discussion turned to the nature of good and evil.  As several people mentioned that evil was a very real force in this world, I noticed fear creeping into the ambiance of the room. Subjects ranging from Hitler, predators and exorcisms became the topics for discussion.  We all know stories to this effect.  We know people, or people who know people, who have had horrible tragedies in their lives that can only be explained as the result of pure evil.  If we turn the word around what do we find?  If we live in fear, who, or what wins?  It is in our courage, it is in our faith and our trust, that we must live each day.  If life is a manifestation of our thoughts, feelings and beliefs, it is our responsibility to focus on what is good, loving and supportive.  When we bring fear into the room, into our hearts, we may be setting the stage for a nightmare.  God will give us nothing that we are not able to learn from, grow through, and conquer; even our greatest fears.

gregorysgardner.com

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Infinite


We are infinite, you and I.  We are boundless beings brought forth to love and serve one another until we realize that we are loving and serving ourselves in doing so, all the while, loving and serving God, which is all that we are, one in God.  Living in the delusion of duality and separation, the ego will not grasp this concept, as it has no bearing on its needs, which is to survive and conquer.  Pay it no mind. Through your daily spiritual practice, develop the instincts of Universal Consciousness.  Meditate on So Hung as you inhale and exhale. Infinity, I am Thou.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Journeys


The fireworks were too much for Sandi, my elderly German Shepard, last night.  When I returned home and the garage door opened, she walked out, as she generally does, to sniff around the alley; but last night she just continued to hobble down the alley and didn’t stop.  She just kept on going She was medicated and disoriented; was she was just fed up?  Maybe she needed to see what the racket was all about.  Ariel, my son, went looking for her, and finally found her in front of the house; maybe just needed a walk around the block, maybe she wanted an adventure. I am glad that she decided to find her way back home. I missed her. Yesterday I said goodbye to Amar Rattan and Amrit Preet. Sigh…

gregorysgardner.com

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Mind the Heart


The mind cannot fix the mind; that is the job of the heart.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Recourse


I no longer want what God does not want for me.  I have been coerced, fed lies and slander; I have bought into tragedy, sickness, dishonesty, all of my own doing. I have hurt all those that I love. I claimed the higher moral ground while digging my grave. I looked into the eyes of someone that I hurt terribly.  I have cried in pain and in fear. I no longer want what God does not want for me.  I have been crippled and cursed.  I have been a criminal.  I have coveted, coerced and worse.  I have had expectations.  I have been disappointed. I no longer want what God does not want for me.  I have loved and lost, repeatedly.  I have given while taking.  I have begged while breaking.  I have stood at the seashore and wanted more. I no longer want what God does not want for me. 

Friday, June 29, 2012

Lessons from Solstice



So what did I learn from Solstice this year?  I found that there is an overwhelming presence of love and peace that pervades the planet when we are aligned and tapped in to it.  This presence is not something that belongs to me, it is an energy that radiates and is shared.  It nurtures, it cleanses, and it challenges; yet ever so gently. It wants us to succeed.  It wraps its arms around us and cares for us, it is the Mother.  It gets us up at 3am, puts us to work, and disciplines us; it is the Father.  It encourages us.  It transforms us.  We are no longer who we thought that we were. We are who we are, a global tribe on the front lines of the Aquarian Age, warriors of the spirit, devoted and determined.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Dust in the Wind


This morning I contemplate Your being, Your essence. Though we may speak thousands upon thousands of words in regards to You, You are the Word, and You are that which speaks each word.  It is in You that we dwell, for it is You that dwells, yet You dwell not.  Like the wind, Your presence is felt;  You are not seen by some, only dust blowing about.  Yet I see You, in each flower, in each smile, in each song that is sung to You, in each of You.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Out of the Desert


Sat nam.  Having returned from the Summer Solstice celebration at Guru Ram Das Puri, I am finding adjustment to be a slow process.  There is so much to process, and these feelings that I am dealing with are feelings that I have never felt before.  When I got sober, for the first year or so, I wandered around saying “I don’t know who I am” aloud, to anyone that would listen.  Today, I am wondering around saying something even stranger, and more foreign, “I know who I am”.  At least when I didn’t feel as if I knew who I was, I had people that could relate.  Please let me know that you know who you are, so I am not feeling so alone. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Into the desert


Venus retrograde came in with a bang.  She danced across the Sun as if to say, You are going to miss me as I back away from you.  And She did, and I do. The next morning I was rear ended on the 405 N.  My lane had stopped.  I glanced into the rear view mirror and saw the SUV.  He wasn’t stopping.  I started honking but it was too late. It has been a struggle since that moment. Concussion and whiplash bring on a variety of symptoms that leave one feeling tired, sore and displaced, as if my 10 bodies have been scattered about.  I have been moody, and there has been difficulty staying centered and grounded, even engaging in conversation.  While I am not playing the victim and looking for sympathy, prayers would be lovely.  We pray for each other, that is one very special way that we love and serve one another.  Tomorrow we leave for the 3HO Summer Solstice Retreat in New Mexico;  my intention it to show up and smile.  We begin with Peace Prayer day to heal the Planet.  Let us start by healing ourselves, and each other.  Sat Nam and have a blessed Solstice.

gregorysgardner.com


Friday, June 8, 2012

Psalm


Life’s adventure is upon me today.  Though I am tired and weary I greet it with a smile and full knowledge that all is well.  We look for certainties where none exist, for they can only be found within.  Life’s broad spectrum is a gateway to freedom; everlasting, abundant.  How can I dwell on this injured frame, this trick of gravity, when love calls to me from Four Corners?  Grant me the grace to go from here into Thy will.  Allow me the patience to slip through this moment in time.  Find me courage in the face of false fear.  In chanting Thy Name is Truth, I am set free.

gregorysgardner.com

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Perspective


How do I view the world?  This is really about perspective.  If I see the world as harsh, difficult, unforgiving, filled with sorrow and pain, what will my experience be?  If I truly believe that everyone is out to get me, how will people react to me?  Einstein said that the most important question that we can ask is, “Is the universe benevolent?” Some will argue that it is, that the Universe loves and sustains us, or love would not exist.  How can anything exist without love may be the bigger question?  Others will say that the Universe is cruel, uncaring at best, or that is ridiculous even to personify; perhaps, because the secret lies in the person personifying.  If I desire love, I must be love. I am creating my reality based upon my belief.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Awake


To be awake is to realize that you are embodying All that Is.  God is nearer than your hands. Yet even to imply the nearness of the Divine is to imply separation, where none exists. We are Divine, and We are One.

gregorysgardner.com

Friday, June 1, 2012

Strangers


A theme that resonated with me in class last night was talking to strangers.  Who is stranger, me, or the stranger?  Me, of course, because I love to begin conversations with people who are not expecting them, saying things that they don’t expect anyone to say to them at that moment, especially a stranger like myself.  I have been doing this since I began to converse, I believe.  Friends and family members, much to their embarrassment at the time, may attest to this. I don’t find this behavior strange at all.  Am I looking for attention?  Perhaps, I am a Leo after all.  Am I looking for connection? Absolutely. I don’t see anyone as a stranger; no one is strange to me.  You are all my friends and family.  Not only you that may glance at this blog, but all of you, especially those who I may take gently by the ears and explain, “I am gorgeous, and you are equal to me.”  Don’t be a stranger, say hello to just about everyone that you can.  We can make the whole world our neighborhood.

gregorysgardner.com

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Training


Having finished a forty day Nabhi Kriya, I was feeling fortified.  This is a kriya with a lot of leg lifts.  It is intense, but completely do-able.  Nabhi Kriya works on the third chakra, the upper chakra in the lower triangle.  The next kriya that I chose for myself was Transforming the Lower Triangle to the Upper Triangle, feeling as if it were time to raise the energy.  It was also time to raise the bar.  This set is full of positions that are very difficult for me, most of which I can’t actually do perfectly, if at all.  Camel pose poses a great amount of difficulty.  Fish pose in celibate pose is almost impossible, for I am neither.  Plow pose?  Can’t do it, my feet dangle over my head and won’t get near the floor.  What kind of yogi am I?  And I call myself a teacher?  I practiced Kundalini Yoga for over 20 years (off and on) before I committed to becoming a teacher.  Why?  Because I could not do it perfectly.  One night, during a tumultuous time in my life (weren’t they all?), my teacher, Guru Singh, came to me in a dream.  In the dream I was in his class and he came up to me and asked me if I was going to take teacher training.  I told him honestly that I could not do much of what I would have to teach.  I felt as if I needed to be double jointed to be a yoga teacher.  He pointed out that my thumb was double jointed. True, said I.  He said that was a good place to start.  The next day, remembering the visitation in my dream, I committed to take teacher training, and my life began to change immediately.  Teacher training has given me a sense of value, of expression, and of purpose.  I honor those Level One trainees that are graduating from Yoga West this weekend, I am so proud of them all, and I pray that their lives become as blessed and beloved as mine has become.  It is not easy.  Transformation is never easy, yet always rewarding, even if it’s just transforming from the lower triangle to the upper triangle.  As Guru Singh says, we are not here to prove anything, we are here to improve everything.  Sat Nam.

gregorysgardner.com

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Let Love Grow



Breathe into that wonderful thought that abides in tranquility and kindness.  Allow the visions of confusion, distraught and despair to pass.  Become lost in Love.  This is God’s love. Creator force unchanging, uplifting and transforming.  Allow Her grace to hold you, to mold you into this being of light that abides in you already, waiting to shine.  Release the nagging fear that all is not well.  Abide in Her with patience and mindfulness. Allow your heart to step outside.  Surround yourself in the promise of Love; let love live in you, and breathe through you, to become you, to be You, who you are.

gregorysgardner.com

Friday, May 25, 2012

Hiccups



Hiccups along the way are opportunities to grow, at the very least.  Today I move forward, I walk through loneliness, pain and fear oftentimes; it is set aside and replaced by the oneness of the heart, soul and mind that is given as a gift through the Prana in the work of yoga and meditation, by the Eternal God with and in Whom I am one.  I realize that the child inside of me becomes frightened, but it is the parent, centered in God consciousness, that is able to take the child’s hand and guide him, through the dark, and into the light.     

gregorysgardner.com

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Pools


As I pray, meditate and practice the yoga, I slowly release the ties that bind me to certain thoughts, feelings and attitudes. Belief systems and constructs of the mind slowly dissolve, freeing me from wastefulness and want. I have more time to breathe.  I have more time to be.  To be still.  To be still knowing that all is theater, and that God and I are one.

gregorysgardner.com

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Space


In meditation I am not stopping my thoughts; I am watching them drift in and out.  When they arise I will label them, and they then dissipate. I try to keep the categories simple.  What is the core desire behind each thought?  Basic needs usually come up: food, sex, companionship, entertainment (distractions). When I place a label on them they know they have been found out and move on.  It is at that point that I have a moment of no thought, before the next one passes by in the parade.  It is these periods of no thought that is feeding me. Like the space between the words, it says more than anything that I can say.
gregorysgardner.com

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Shuniya


All my mind seems to understand is the past. Each thought is related to some past thought, action, feeling or desire. Embracing the present, the true present, takes me to a place of non-thought, an emptiness.  This is what the yogis call shuniya, that place of stillness.  Shuniya feeds no desire.  It awakens my consciousness.  I am able to arrive at this place of suspension through pranayama, controlling the movement of my breath.  The answer to the riddle of the mind is in the breath.  Sat Nam.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Blame

How can I blame you, when it is I who feels the way that I do? How often have I blamed someone for how I feel? It really is a shame to blame. It makes me powerless over me, when I am actually powerless over you. I cannot control you; the way that you act, the way that you look, what you are thinking, saying, what you are doing. You are not me. I can only control me, and only then, when I can learn how to be.
 

Friday, May 11, 2012

Mistakes

It's not easy being human, we make mistakes. Animals seem to make fewer mistakes. If an animal makes a mistake, it may cost it its life. Maybe that is why animals don't try as hard as humans. We try so hard. Life can be trying and hard. Animals seem to be enjoying life. We humans need to finish what they are doing before they can do that. I really believe that that is my only mistake. I have to enjoy what I am doing before I can really finish it.
gregorysgardner.com

Thursday, May 10, 2012

glory

In All That You Do, Do It For The Glory Of God!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Fear


May 9, 2012

The problem with fear is that it steals focus.  Fear often does not last for a minute or two and then dissipate, it likes to linger, and force our energy into uncomfortable realms. Most of the time that which we fear most does not even come to pass; yet there we sit, focused on the unnecessary.  The side effects to fear are stress; our breathing becomes shallow, the heart races, and worry captures our soul.  Fear, of course, can be very real, or quite imagined; and the more that we focus on the fear, the more likely it will be that we will need cause to worry, as it draws more unbalance into our life.  Perhaps we can change our thought patterns with forced thinking, but the mind will go back to where the emotion lies, and emotional patterns are more difficult to resist.  But we have the tools to change all of that.  Begin breathing, eight strokes of breath in, through the nose, then one long exhale.  Notice the stress, fear and anxiety begin to dissipate.  Continue this practice for 11 minutes.  Understand that you are in control of your thoughts and your feelings.  Know that the change within creates a change without. Your circumstances will eventually change, you are taking control of your breath and your life, you are no longer a victim.  There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

gregorysgardner.com

Friday, May 4, 2012

Goddess Moon


Blessed be the Goddess, Mother of all Creation.  Her beauty, light and life shining brightly, reflected in the full moon this Saturday night.  All who come together to honor her nurturance are sent forth in love and guidance.  Bring with You Her wisdom, that You may know Her truth, that You may seek Her light. May You offer forth all that You are, in return for all that You can be.

gregorysgardner.com

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Listen


It was suggested at my men’s meeting last night that we all take time to sit quietly for a few minutes every day and listen.  It is so important just to listen.  Just to sit still and be present.  Not listening to anything or anyone, just hearing the quiet, or the sounds.  I try not to associate, but I do.  The cars driving down my busy street are reminding me of the ocean waves. The birds have an occasional song, yet when I listen, they are singing all of the time.  The dogs have not been barking as much lately, but they are barking now; and I don’t know where the guy that goes down the street a few times a day yelling “Tamales, tamales!” has gone off to.  I am not listening for these things, I am hearing them.  There is a difference.  If I am listening for them then I am actively doing something, and that dog can start to irritate me.  If I am just sitting still, and hearing what there is to be heard, I am calm, I am passive, I am in acceptance. One in being, I learn to just be.  To become. The best time to sit quietly is between breaths. A perfect time to listen to Spirit.

gregorysgardner.com

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Cleanse


The nine day yogic cleanse begins next Monday.  This year I want to be prepared.  In previous years I would continue the pattern of coffee, sugar and white flour up until the day of the cleanse, then quit and cleanse, and spend the next three days in a coma with a headache.  This year I decided to cut out the coffee, sugar and processed white flour a week early. I am allowing myself tea, but it’s not the same.  A beautiful cup of green tea is no substitute for 40 oz of French Roast.  I find when my system is cleaned out, I feel better, my thoughts are clearer, and more productive. I have more energy.  So the plan, after the cleanse, is to stay off of those fun foods through June, so that when I am being fed onion soup for breakfast everyday (unless I can steal a bowl of oatmeal from a child) at the Summer Solstice retreat in Espanola, NM, my mind won’t drag my ass down the hill into town to the local Starbucks. What is it those Boy Scouts used to say?  Who knows what July will look like.

gregorysgardner.com

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Prayer


In the Women’s jail last night several women approached me following our panel discussion and asked me to pray for them.  This is the greatest honor.  To be able to pray for someone that needs your prayer.  I don’t like to wait; I begin praying for you the very moment that you ask, in case I forget.  It is difficult for me sometimes to remember names, faces, situations; but the prayer is there.  It is in my heart.  I see the soul surrounded in a shroud of God’s light.  I feel healing within their being. I send comfort to those that love them.  I honor their request.  I have had to remember to pray for others.  So often I go to God with my own needs, fears and desires. There is nothing wrong with that, because it always comes back to asking God what Her will is for me, and how might I carry that out?  It is when I take my prayers for you before God that I am rewarded with the beauty of caring, compassion and kindness.  When I honor these feelings, my troubles dissolve, and my problem is solved.

gregorysgardner.com

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Suffering


I have suffered because I believed that suffering was necessary.  Now, when I am in pain, I either sit with the pain or find a remedy, but I no longer suffer.  Suffering is not a physical fact; it is a state of mind.  As Ziggy once said, I’ve had my share; I’ll help you with the pain.  You’re not alone.

gregorysgardner.com

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Dark Shadows

When I saw the trailer for Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows for the first time I was chagrined to see that he had turned my childhood gothic horror soap into a campy dumbed down comedy.  How could he do such a thing?  Wasn’t he saying that he, like Johnny Depp, like myself, were one of those kids, millions of kids, that would run home from school each day to catch the next creepy episode?  We were dying to see this tale of a family living in a haunted house, beset with vampires, werewolves and alcoholism; dysfunction of the highest order.  The children in Dark Shadows were lonely, frightened, and had closer relationships with malevolent ghosts than with their own parents.  We loved it because we could identify with it.  Perhaps the show darkened our already maladjusted psyche even more! We watched this stuff not once a week, 13 episodes a season, but every day.  I believe that I have seen all 1225 episodes during the original run and in reruns.  Granted it was shot without retakes, they were reading the scripts, and the effects were totally cheap, but overall the acting and the writing was fascinating for what they had to pull off each and every day.  The source material was more than Dracula and Frankenstein, but Jane Eyre and Turn of the Screw; it was some dark, dark stuff.  Perhaps Mr. Burton has found the need to lighten up this story, to go back into his childhood and realize that perhaps he does not have to take it all so seriously, to shine some comedic light and let his inner child laugh and smile.  What genre is your life?  Drama?  Tragedy? Comedy?  Perhaps it is time to rewrite the script.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Second Step

What is the power greater than myself, which is able to restore me to sanity?  It is me, but it is more than that.  It is you. I could not have been restored without you.  It is me plus you. Me plus you equals we.  We came to believe.  We believed that it was possible.  You showed me the way.  I was lost, you found me and brought me home.  I would be lost without you.  I was us.  All of us.  We did this together.  I did it because you showed me how.  You did it because someone showed you.  We did it because we finally could.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Third Step

April 20, 2012

The Third Step is a way of life; it is the way of acceptance and surrender.  I surrender to no man, I surrender to God.  My emotions are a gauge, my mind is a tool, my body is a uniform, my spirit is in God.  In the Third Step I make a decision to turn my will and my life over to the care of God as I understand Him, or in my case Her, because that is how I understand God, being neither Him nor Her, of course.  In acceptance I am able to live in the moment, the glorious now of existence, and be alright with that. In the Third Step I make a decision to allow God to decide what is best for me, and I accept what that is.  I certainly have my preferences; but I come to understand that my preferences are not always what is best for me.  If I get out of my way, and allow my Higher Power to let me know what is best for me, She does, and Her guardian angels arrive to comfort and assist.  Today I will let go and let God.

gregorysgardner.com

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Bramble

We come into this world and often wonder why.  Until we are able to answer this question with assurance we drift in and out of reason.  Many of us want to make a contribution; but others are resentful that we have been brought in, seemingly without love and guidance, and are looking for a way to get through and numb the pain.  Our journey is a spiritual undertaking, beset with the illusion of hardship and misery.  When we begin to wake up and realize that Truth is nothing more than the acceptance of love, life can become quite interesting.  Certainly there is karma to be burned, and lessons to be learned, so find a path and take it.  Step out of the briars and thickets and join the fabulous journey.  There is love in Truth.

gregorysgardner.com

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Acceptance

The process of letting go can be a grueling one, there is so much to hold on to, so much to look back on.  Have I really forgiven myself, and if so, how much?  Each time I look back on it and feel that sharp pain I know that I have more forgiveness to give forward.  It involves acceptance, not just of the situation, but of the feelings surrounding it.  The quieter my mind becomes, the less I am tormented by the “facts” of the situation.  There are no facts, there is only now, where I sit, how I breathe.  That is the only fact.  Everything else is a supposition.

gregorysgardner.com

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Birth

Let us give birth to ourselves, and finally, after living in the warmth of darkness, face the light of day.  I was gestated within the fears, longings and stresses of another, then set loose to learn how to release these preset anxieties.  Let us meet this challenge with courage and truth, with mercy and love, with compassion and atonement.  Who I was is no longer who I am, for I am free, and I have set out to do great things.  I leave burden and sorrow behind, for they are not mine.  They belong not to me, for I am free.

gregorysgardner.com

Monday, April 16, 2012

By Thy Grace

God’s grace shines upon me like the colors on the rainbow that set itself in the clouds of the sky; like the Madonna rays raining from the sun.  Like the choir singing Gods’ praises back to heaven.  I am in a blissful state upon my return from Sat Nam Fest in the Joshua Tree desert. My shoulders are sore, my mind is clear.  A sense of radiance covers my body and shines from my soul.  Ask, and it shall be given.  I ask only for God’s grace, nothing more is needed to sustain me.

gregorysgardner.com