The weather at our secret Sonoma County hideout tucked with the inland valleys of pacific rim of America is improving— a few decorator clouds hanging in the sky, 0% chance of rain, temperature in the 80's, with a slight whisper of a breeze — Spring is here all its glory. Our monthly bills are paid, there’s vegetables on the table, and healthy food in the fridge. We’re good. I’d almost be happy—goodness all around me—were it not for the shootings in high schools,  heathen totalitarian rulers murdering their nations’ people and the vicious and ubiquitous torment of drugs and smugglers and… let’s see... oh, the price of gas. Did I mention jobs and the economy? The corporately controlled administration? There is no denying that these are troubled times. Images of war invade our minds continuously from Hollywood movies and CNN newscasts, on the sporting field to the battlefield.

The above paragraph was a complementary public-awareness announcement. Its purpose is to remind those who choose to turn their attention inward—hello—to reduce stress, build character, structure life, develop discipline, seek fulfillment, enlist patience, manifest perseverance, eradicate hate, purge malice, rid discontent, eliminate rage, reduce fear, ensure health, endurance and energy and develop patience and tolerance.

And you assumed I was on another where-did-we-go-wrong as a society tirade. Hardly! Up, forward and onward is the only attitude and direction I choose to place my attention on.

Now is the time when every member of every team, from the person who determines the strategy to the person who changes the light bulbs embody the true Warrior Spirit.

The word "warrior" has become a mixed metaphor. We recoil from certain qualities of the word: aggression, insensitivity, brutality, bloodshed, pillage and plunder We resonate with others: discipline, integrity, courage, perseverance, loyalty, and teamwork. It is up to us to recast the modern day warrior to embrace those powers that have embodied the true warrior/leader tradition since ancient times: the power of center, the power of purpose, and  the power of communication. Then we can harness the immense energy of the Warrior Sprit to become exemplary leaders and achieve mastery of our lives and our professions.

Begin today by choosing center in times of trouble, in times of stress, in all those times when you must make a choice. Take a moment now and see yourself as a modern day warrior. Suspend your desire to react reflexively from your emotions, your judgments and your ego needs.

Visualize yourself moving strongly and purposefully, responding with mindfulness and presence. Acknowledge your ability to choose this state of being in times of need. Carry the Warrior Spirit with you for the rest of the day.

It's April, springtime in the Northern Hemisphere. The sun appears more frequently and hangs out longer. If you sit still and look close, you can see the forest grow; brown's down and green is everywhere, the birds are frisky and the squirrels are plump (at least in my backyard they are).

While that is quietly going on, day by day, information bombards us from every direction, attempting to capture our attention and distract us from what is really going on. It’s everywhere we look: the TV, the Internet, the shopping mall, billboards, etc. You name, it’s out there. Thousands of bits of odd-shaped thoughts, facts, figures and ideas collide randomly and consume consciousness in the vast, fertile fields of our minds. A righteous portion of this mental detritus is sought by us to educate and guide; much too much, however, is aimed at the cortex by external influences to sell, persuade, condition and tame. It's a jungle out there and one needs a machete, a strong arm and a sharp eye to cut through the overgrowth and make clear a path.

News, sports, entertainment and weather are fascinating subjects, the favorite pursuit of many human beings walking the planet today wide awake dreaming. These distractions, er, subjects are vast, stretch like the plains of Africa and are often intertwined and intriguing. How can we not be drawn to the daily mystery and allure? Yet, the calculation and regulation of the mass of information available and the reliance of such information as being pertinent to the purpose and intent of an incarnation is absurd and, as I have observed, a distraction from what some of us are here to do.

Funny thing though; here I am on the world wide web of all places potentially adding multitudinously to an already out-of-control catastrophe of data. Smart cookies we are, getting smarter stuffing our Wikipedia-like heads full of more and more, interesting, yet useless cocktail party information. Still, there is no better place to grow a discerning mind and gain sound footing than in the gleaning fields of this wild information. Call it an “opportunity.”

One must learn to glean and sample, confer and intuit, risk yet listen to one’s own wisdom, intuition, and that small, still voice inside. Alas, where and under what conditions does one find an atmosphere to practice such behavior? How does one discover understanding? The process of doing so, however, undertaken single-handedly, can be dangerous. With no one to juggle the suggestions and directions and possibilities tossed our way, a predictable tangle will result, time lost wandering in the company of spiritual vagabonds.

So, let me just cut to the chase: thus far on my life’s journey I have learned this: keep it simple, stick to the basics, be consistent, live with enthusiasm and integrity, use logic, yet be creative and intuitive, love yourself, be happy and give your troubles up to God. Be real. Stop fussing. There are absolutely no secrets. Nothing's new. Collect the necessary information and get to work. The clutter of intelligence, the waste of words describing a simple thing, the superior heaps of decaying mental rubbish surrounding the notion of being rich or famous is maddening. Why, there are some people who have read so much they think they actually know something. Here’s a quick tip: the learning's not in the reading, it's in the doing. Walking the walk, and talking the talk.

However, there is fine print. If you're anything like me the "walking the walk, and talking the talk" thing is harder than it looks.

Happy trails on your journey from one traveler to another.

Most of us have heard the chatter about the 1% and the 99%, referring to the 1% as "the wealthy elite or super-rich—bankers, hedge fund managers, and so forth—and the 99% as the "rest of us." Spend 15 minutes researching the topic on Google and it reveals quite a different story.

We in the developed world forget how wealthy we are: from a global perspective, anyone who earns more than $34,000 a year is part of the 1%. Even if you're currently unemployed—even if you've experienced economic setbacks or hardship—you're probably not scrabbling in barren soil, trying to grow a few crops, or searching for drinkable water, or searching for a few bites of food for yourself or your family. You're not likely among that half of the world's population making less than $1.25 a day. You probably have shelter, clothing, and enough to eat. Even if you're going through a rough patch, you have reason to hope for, and work, for a better life and improved conditions.

Also, in the United States a certain political party supports the passage of laws concerning "illegal immigrants" who, unable to gain entry through the established process, risk their lives to enter this country to make a better life for themselves and their families. Many of us are the children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of immigrants who came when entry was far easier. Have you heard the buzz about the great new film called A Better Life?  It offers a heart-wrenching reminder—the story of an illegal immigrant striving to work hard and raise his son to be a good citizen. I do not advocate breaking laws, yet I can understand the courage of any and all immigrants striving to build a better life for their children.

I give thanks to my brave grandfather who at 17 came sailed from Crete, Greece, entered my country, the United States of America, learned a new language, worked his way into a new culture, met his future wife and had a family of eight children. In so doing the he paved the way for his children, making a better life possible for me and for future generations.

Here's wishing all of us, the 100%, a better life as well — more open, compassionate, kind, strong, and courageous.

At opportune times my wife Shelly will kindly remind me of the power and influence of the words that sometimes thoughtlessly tumble out of my mouth. When she does, it makes me think of what the Rastafarian’s called "word power." For those not versed in Jamaican patios, word power involves integrating references to Rasta beliefs into everyday language. For example, to underscore the unity of all things, a Rasta might say "I and I" instead of "we."

Which propels me to this thought: as many of our friends know, Shelly and I are big fans of Ziggy Marley. He has positively influenced us on our mutual spiritual path, and we align with him almost exclusively. While raised Rastafarian, through his personal evolution Ziggy has incorporated a variety of spiritual paths, including Buddhism and Islam, into his belief system. "From the time I was a youth, seeking knowledge was a part of my life. Reading books, seeking spirituality, trying to find the truth. I read everything because the almighty reveal itself differently to different people. So it's not who you say you believe in but how you live. I don't care what religion you say you are if you're living right, living according to the natural laws of life."

When Ziggy talks about his faith, he recalls the Chinese concept of the Tao—that we all have a natural path in life, and the goal is to know who you are and be who you are. He recalls the Buddhist idea that all beings are born with Buddha nature, an innate wisdom and goodness. "Jah creates human beings and we are naturally peaceful, are naturally loving. But through society and the system, things change. When you find that natural state of yourself, which is more than flesh, which is spiritual, then just be who you are. I and I deal with conscious living, because actions speak louder than words. Prayer is important also, but your livity is the key‒your living, your lifestyle. You can't just pray and live bad. Live good first.”

In this informative interview from May 2009 Ziggy describes where he falls on the political and spiritual spectrum. Ziggy's words and position articulate for me exactly where I am find myself on the path as well. Viewing this video reminds me why it is easy to be a big fan of the man and his music. It also reminds me of Shelly's gentle reminders about the power and influence of the words I use.

329 days and counting till 2013 (and it seems like we just got here). Oh, how time flies! Everything is quick in today’s high-tech digital world—the internet, texting, communication, information, online shopping. Not resistant to the essence of time, my thoughts and various time-consuming activities have taken flight at the speed of light as well. However, to the contrary, I am late in posting this blog entry (self-imposed, bi-monthly) on SpirituallyConscious.com.

Unless we're talking about a handful of bugs or a fistful of burning thistle, letting go is very hard to do. Ask the shop owner whose front door bears the sign "Out of Business," or the Mom and Dad dropping their child off at school on the first day of Kindergarten, or a young lady whose sweetheart is no longer interested in her.

Eckhart Tolle asserts that we create and maintain problems or cling to issues because they give us a sense of identity. Perhaps this explains why we often hold onto our pain far beyond its ability to serve us.

Many of us replay the past over and over again in our head, hold on to frustration and try to control the future, as if the act of fixation somehow gives us power. We hold stress in our minds and bodies, potentially creating health issues, and accept that state of tension and distress as the norm.

Letting go involves releasing the past and starting fresh in the present moment. It means trusting that you are more than your roles, beliefs and stories. Many people are reluctant to let go because they fear they will have nothing left. They cling to problems, unhealthy situations, and outworn roles and relationships because it feels safe in its familiarity. We get trapped in a cycle of anger and hurt, and miss out on the beauty of life as it happens. We need to learn to let go. We need to be able to forgive, so we can move on and be happy. Following the murder of my brother many years ago I learned this lesson the hard way. Letting go (better known as forgiveness) can truly change your life.

Letting go does not mean you erase the past, or forget what has happened. It doesn’t even mean the other person will change his behavior — you cannot control that. All it means is that you are letting go of the anger and pain, and moving on to a better place. It’s not easy. But you can learn to do it.

More recently the opportunity for forgiveness, reconciliation and healing presented itself and has played out inside a circle of close friends over the course of the past year. Interestingly, even among a group of people that I have great respect for and consider to be “conscious,” most have a difficult time letting go of their roles, beliefs and stories, or even remembering accurately how the entire crazy episode got started.

There will probably never be a time in when life when everything is plain, simple and easy to understand (you’ve gotta love the contrast we create through law of attraction, huh?). However, if you are not living your life at light speed, every moment is a chance to let go and choose to feel peaceful.  As I write these words I am reminding myself first and foremost.

Here are some more quotes about letting go that have served me well through the years:

“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”  - Paul Boese

“Letting go doesn’t mean giving up. It means moving on.”  - Anonymous

 “Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.”  - Herman Hesse

“One problem with gazing too frequently into the past is that we may turn around to find the future has run out on us.”  - Michael Cibenko.

“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”  - Oprah Winfrey

“Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions.”  - Gerald Jampolsky

“Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love?”  - Leo Buscaglia

“Suffering is not holding you. You are holding suffering. When you become good at the art of letting sufferings go, then you’ll come to realize how unnecessary it was for you to drag those burdens around with you. You’ll see that no one else other than you was responsible. The truth is that existence wants your life to become a festival.”  - Osho

Though it may sound simple, I think the ever-smiling venerable Buddhist monk, Ajahn Chah’s advice sums it up best: “If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.”

“It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.” ― REM

January is a blank page, or, if words are written, nothing is said; it's a time between forgetting and nothing to remember, and a place with no cross-streets or sidewalks or inhabitants or thoughts; somewhere, sometime not yet on the map, not on the calendar. Everything's behind you and everything's ahead, but what’s in January? Breakable resolutions, winter cold, thick skin white beneath your sweatshirt (or is that light gray, like the sky). The chill will come, the chill will go, and the golden summer will follow. But who can be sure... it came last year, but that was last year. Here we are in 2012.

Speaking of 2012, the social media frenzy has turned into a forum for postulating end-of-the-world scenarios, rather than examining its potential as a catalyst for shifting the direction of human evolution and spiritual consciousness.

It’s difficult to ignore the impact of the internet, and all the various forms of social media, has had on the collective human consciousness. With the recent uprisings in the Middle East, as an example, it seems that people are awakening to the truth that every man and woman is a star―capable and deserving of choosing their own destinies rather than having their futures chosen for them by dictators.

So what about the world ending? As Abraham Hicks says, “Your world is barely beginning. All we have to do is listen for the call of Source and come toward it.  Don’t let others discourage you.  Their discouragement is about their relationship with their vibrational stream.  It’s about the gap between who they really are and who they’re letting themselves be. We promise you it has nothing to do with the longevity of this planet.”

I don't for a moment believe that somehow we'll magically wake up on December 21, 2012 and find the world has miraculous changed. Nor do I think it'll necessarily be the point of the singularity. Realistically, I think it will mark a turning point where we start seeing much more rapid, radical changes in the evolution of our species. It could be as simple as the individual and collective realization that one’s future reality is shaped by the thoughts we are thinking. That’s because we have the ability to change the way we think, and as such the future is constantly changing. And to me, knowing that, believing that and practicing that is a good thing.

It is now the last week of December, in the last month of the year 2011. There are some people who live as though they have nothing to live for and there are also those who live every day as if it were their last.

Steve Jobs was one of the people in the second category. These are some of the words he gave at the 2005 Stanford University commencement address:

"I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life."

In a study done to figure out what kinds of people have the least regrets, the results were that it is the people who live every day as if it were their last.

I hope that this last week of the year is special time in which you plant the seeds of new hope for the coming new year.

The legendary Christian Christmas story about the birth of Jesus in a manger—with Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, angels, Herod, the Star in the East, and the wise men and their three gifts—provides a spiritual dimension full of rich metaphysical insight.

This insight involves the birth in our awareness of our latent spiritual potential that occurs when we realize that Christmas is true story that applies to each and every one of us. It all happens in consciousness in which each component of the story has a role in the transformative experience of our inner Christmas.

The universal symbolism, the birth of a savior, can also be found in other cultures, religions, and metaphysical traditions throughout the world, and they all share some similarities with the Christian legend.

These similarities clearly indicate that sages from ancient cultures were aware of the fact that we, spiritual beings experiencing a human incarnation, are all walking along this same path of constant birth, death and re-birth on our own personal growth journey.

The story of the savior, the sons and daughters of God, applies to all of us, independently of race or creed, and was represented in different forms throughout history. Ancient Secret Societies also have initiation ceremonies which represent the death and the new birth of the neophyte.

When I mention death and rebirth, I am referring to the concept of “reincarnation”, in other words the “death” of an old state of being and the rebirth into a new one. This can happen on a moment to moment basis, and it must happen if we are moving towards evolution and personal transformation.

In the first movie of the Matrix series we see that legend being played out again. Neo, the fictitious representation of a futuristic savior, goes through a re-birth experience at the beginning of the movie, when his body is rescued from the cocoon (womb?) where he was being kept alive artificially, along with millions of other enslaved humans.

As Neo is released, all the feeding tubes connected to his body are detached (a metaphorical representation of breaking or cutting the umbilical cord), and he goes down through a tunnel that can remind us of a baby moving out of the mother’s womb, into the new life.

Following his liberation, or new birth, Neo’s adventure starts and he learns that there’s much more to this world than he was being led to believe. More than what his five-sense perceptions imposed on him when he was enslaved within the construct of the Matrix.

This beautiful metaphor applies to all of us, as we are our own saviors. But we can’t expect to experience a new state of being if we do not constantly die to an old one and are reborn with a clean slate. Unfortunately there are way too many grownups that have not cut their energetic umbilical cords yet. They live their lives firmly tied to concepts, ideas and beliefs that binds them to an illusion of enslavement.

The energy blockages, unprocessed emotions, and coping strategies that we are enslaved to must go before we can experience the so-called new birth and start living a totally different life. This process may not be easy, but it is necessary if we want to expedite our evolution process and live in the symbolic “Kingdom of God” mentioned by Jesus the Christ.

The blockages that hold our lives back are in reality being kept in place only by ourselves. There’s nobody forcing us to feel miserable or live in the past, right? And it is our task to liberate these blockages and, consequently, free our energy systems.

To initiate the re-birth process we must, first of all, stop the “blame-game” immediately. We must forgive all those who we now hold accountable for our troubles, and realize that the past has no power over us, no more than the power we give to it.

If you keep on blaming, you keep on giving your power away to those people and circumstances. Are they worth it? Are they worth a large amount of your energy? An energy that could be better used to create the things that you truly want in life?

Yes, that is how serious it is; you are constantly misdirecting your energy by holding on to past dramas. No wonder why sometimes you may feel drained, other times heavy and overwhelmed.

We can and must re-enact the birth of the savior within ourselves, constantly, and Christmas is an opportune time to remind ourselves of this important practice. Enjoy the Christmas time with your loved ones, share love and exchange gifts, and reflect on the concept of a new birth, even if you’re not a Metaphysician. This lesson is universal and applies to all of us.

As you liberate the things that hold your life back, you will eventually feel as a new being in a renewed world. So along with the more ways you celebrate Christmas this year, set aside some quality time of prayer and contemplation devoted to the inner metaphysical drama of the Christmas story and let it quicken within you the awareness of your True Nature waiting to be born. It will add a new and profound spiritual dimension to your Christmas experience.

My Christmas wish for myself in the days ahead: a deep and abiding awareness that God is all there is, a commitment to prayer and meditation, and a trusting surrender of the lesser in my life for the greater—a higher consciousness.

Autumn has come and gone like a muzzled field mouse ― hardly a squeak. The days of my life, also sometimes bear a resemblance to the timid little creature, are often inconsistent and insufficient. Alas, I press on in the hope that one day I will realize the journey is the destination.

Due to time and space restrictions I will not discuss my miseries this week. I know this comes as a disappointment to most of you, as some of us do love to wallow in pain and suffering. But there are other things in life (the illusive phantoms of joy and happiness), which deserve a fair share of our attention.

Here's an observation I had the other day when I slowed down and perceived the moment to be mine and not the possession of the ogre of urgency, the tyrant of time or the demons of delays, deadlines and daily doubts.

Have you ever heard of a species of bird called the Titmouse?  It is a small bird about 4”- 5” inches in length. Outside our kitchen window we have a bird feeder where many local species of birds gather. As of late we have had a certain Titmouse knocking on our kitchen window all day long. The Titmouse is a bird that is territorial, and is very strong and aggressive for its size. I did a bit of research and discovered that they have a unique method of winter survival. Bears hibernate and migratory birds fly south for the winter. The Titmouse is not a migratory bird, but they do have their own special way of withstanding the chill of Northern California. First of all, they build their nests in a way that helps keep out cold air. At night, they huddle together to make collective body heat. During the day, they are always on the move searching for food, which also helps maintain body heat. The Titmouse is also are so active in the day, it seems that they also seem to have an unrelenting ability to go on because of a passion for life―even if that takes the form of unknowingly attacking its own reflection if the window.

This begs the question: what are you passionate about in your life? What makes you eat right, exercise and go to bed at a decent hour, remain balanced and disciplined in your life? What wakes you up in the morning before the alarm goes off? What keeps you grounded in your heart, yet beckons you to dream of more? What pushes you to overcome a perceived weakness or shortcoming and birth a greater yet to be? What causes you to want to lose weight or change an addictive behavior? A simple desire to feel better? The Titmouse clearly has that passion, desire and zest for life. Where do you find yours? Where does it come from? Where does it go when you don’t have it.

Do the field mouse and the Titmouse know something we don’t? I’ll bet you a dollar they do. Here’s to living a passionate life.