Sign of Christ comes through the Sun

I woke up this morning and went outside to be with the sun. As I was doing my daily ritual; prayers of gratitude & physical exercises, I noticed this image.

A perfect shape of the sign of Christ or Christianity as depicted by the symbol of the fish, reflected right in front of me on the concrete. The lines were the openings between the fence boards.

Why this is all so interesting to me is that the woman I am staying with Ayrin Fante, asked me to help grow her business. Each morning we sit and discuss the plan of action for the day. By taking 20-30 minutes to center and focus with a prayer and intention setting, we have seen how the tasks at hand are flowing so much smoother and faster.

---------------

I wrote a post on the Intuitive Observer site the other day about How to Live in Balance as a Self-Employed Entrepreneur. (www.theintuitiveobserver.com/achieving-a-balanced-life-as-an-entrepreneur) One of the points that I mentioned, is that if you follow a daily spiritual practice, the time you actually need to spend 'working' is lessened to a quarter of what we used to do. Remember when people had to work 8 hours a day? Well you can get that down to 2 hours a day if you commit to a spiritual life of balance.

I would just like to add to this statement that unfortunately many people have gone in the opposite direction and are now working 10-16 hours a day. I know about this because I used to do it. The reason they are doing this is that they are unconsciously or consciously coming from fear and worry. If you are conscious that you are being pulled into repeating patterns of worry, then you are moving in the right direction to getting your life and your sanity back...! Join the "2 to 3 Hours a day of work Club" and enjoy the good life.

-----------

Back to the miracle image apparition -Two days ago I wrote this message on our fridge white board: "I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES."

There is great power in intention setting. The image above shows a rain shower of financial abundance, love and joy falling from the sky.... and it is happening.

For 12 years Ayrin has sustained her business at the same level every month through word of mouth. She has been quite happy with that while enjoying her marriage to the love of her life and raising her now 12 year old son. Last year at this time her husband Dan passed away and this took a real toll as he was always supporting her and encouraging her to grow her business.

Dan was an accomplished author and what I have come to know about him is that he was and still is an incredibly spiritual man; having a strong relationship with God grounded in his Catholic Faith. Now that he is in spirit form, he is still sending her the message that it is time to expand what she does through the image of the fish.

The fish symbol appearing on her outdoor balcony is symbolic of her and her husband's faith and also is representative of the story of Christ feeding the hungry people with the fish of plenty. Jesus believed God would help him and God did by taking few and through miracle turning it into thousands to be fed.

It is such a reminder that we too must pass over our fears and worries when there is only little that we see, and trust that the resources will come just as the story of Christ. All is possible when you place God in the drivers seat of your life. Pray for guidance and let the miracles unfold.

It is always a joy for me to see how our loved ones who have transformed out of the body continue to drop little hints and visual messages to help us along our destined path. It is definitely time for Ayrin's business SACRED SCENTS to increase its visibility in the world, exposing more people to the power of natural healing. There are too many people still suffering from mental and physical illness that could easily be remedied by essential oil blends.

Well here is to another story of how the power of Intention and deep prayer helps guide our path and keep us connected to those who have gone on to spirit form. We are all going there one day and in fact when you break us down into tiny rapidly moving molecules we are in some respect already there. The mind keeps us in illusion that there is a distance but in truth there is no separation, there is only oneness. I know I have felt spirits brush my shoulder and definitely leave me a message even after they so to speak passed on.

Keep smiling and keep your eyes open for the miracles of life!

Inner Peace begins in the Silence of Meditation

In 2009 I did a Vipassana 10 day Silent Retreat Meditation.  (https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/about/vipassana)  When you first arrive they ask that you let go of all other spiritual practices and embrace this one.  I agreed.  They went on to take away any objects of worship, crystals, pen, paper and my car keys.  Then I got a little nervous.  Why? I had to ask myself why is it so hard to let go of all my possessions?

Perhaps a fear of having to totally see oneself naked, meaning no story just pure soul.  I thought this 10 day silent retreat would be fairly easy because I had already done lots of meditation in my life. I found that 10 hours a day of sitting can pose a challenge for even the elite meditators.  

The beautiful experience about this particular retreat is that it broke down my mind -- you know the one that is always talking, thinking, analyzing, judging, criticizing.

On the fourth day I had my big breakdown.  In each sitting we were instructed to observe our breath.  In three of the nine daily sittings we were asked to not move a muscle, if an itch happened to move through it with breath.  I have a strong will and so I took these challenges  on with great conviction. 

In the mid afternoon of Day 4 I had my first breakdown or shall I say breakthrough. I was sitting so perfectly, cross-legged on the floor, and all of a sudden my left hip area started giving me a sensation that something wasn't right.  I tried to maintain my focus on the breath, feeling and sensing it move through my nostrils as the method was taught.  But the ache pursued.  Again I tried to move my awareness back to the breath, which began a game of thoughts racing from breath to ache - back and forth it went until the pain was so great I felt my left upper leg was surely breaking in half.  I couldn't take it anymore and a tear came pouring down my cheek.  My mind had crossed a threshold and as the tear was released the perceived pain lifted.  It was all an illusion.  Pain was only real when I gave it attention.  I moved my body slowly and all was released.

Meditation does not just break you down, it frees you.  By the end of the 10th day and completion of the course, I found myself being the last one to leave the meditation hall.  I had found so much inner peace, I didn't want to leave that space.  I knew that going back into the world was going to be different and it was.  I was in a bubble of bliss for 2 months, and 'worry' was not even part of my vocabulary.  I am so grateful that I had the courage and the time to do this retreat for myself because it changed my life in so many miraculous ways.

Years later I am still meditating, not with quite the same intensity as that retreat, but still seeing the effects each time I go into the silence.  I am also quite aware at how life can come in and pull you away to other activities.  Once you ground yourself into a good practice it is always there for you - you will always find your way back home to OM.

Being in the big city of Los Angeles with lots of commotion and traffic it is an even greater test for me.  I have spent many years in small towns and there is definitely a quieter feel when you live close to nature that is less populated. 

That is why this past Sunday I decided I needed to be bathed in silence and so I shut off my phone and internet for 40 hours.  When I do this I ceremonially place it in a box on the first Sunday of the month at 12:01am and don't turn it back on until sometime on Monday morning.  

I always feel amazing after doing this.  Actually the monk at SRF Lake Shrine service this weekend spoke about this.  He said that we are all losing our conscience when we are inundated with external stimulus.  His advice was that when you had to make a decision in life the first step may be to talk to a trusted friend or counselor to get some feedback on your thoughts, than it was so important to go into the silence of oneself to see what comes, ultimately in the end you decide the path to take of your life.  Do you want to make life choices based on what the media or your friends say is right for you or do you want to live your life based on your own inner truth that only you really know.  

Meditation works....I have seen and experienced the benefits so many times.  I highly encourage everyone to start a practice that works for you.

lots of love,

Sedonah Sunn

p.s. Here is a funny story.  I was talking with a friend the other day and I was telling her that I had been worrying about money and that I had realized it was not really about money it was the act of WORRYING that had taken over my life.

So she shared a story from her friend who said she knew that fear, worry, doubt would always be a part of her life yet she decided that she didn't want them in the driver's seat of her life so she let them sit in the back seat of her car.

I thought about this vignette and while sitting in my car the other day in a very stern voice I looked in the back seat of my car and said, "OK fear, worry and doubt - GET OUT of my car!"  And they left.  

ULTIMATE FREEDOM: Meditation Leads to the End of the Death-Rebirth Cycle

The other day I sat in meditation for a long time.  My morning rituals have been 45 minutes of yoga & pranayama followed by a very short 3-5 minute meditation.  I see now how much more you can receive when you sit for a longer time in the silence... like 20 - 30 minutes.

For some time now during my meditations I am transported into this visual experience where I see myself walking on a beach with my Guru.  He is a man clothed in a deep orange monk's robe.  It is the most peaceful experience and without words he invites me to walk with him.  I am so comforted by his presence and we walk and walk until my mind strays to some current life event and I am no longer on the beach with him.

---------------

In my day to day worldly life, I have committed to living moment to moment on as a spiritual pilgrimage.  Which to me simply means that each day is an opportunity to grow closer to God.  God, being the wonderful being that he is, has given us the gift of free will and so we can choose to walk daily with him or we can attempt to take control of our own lives.... and you know how that goes; we suffer the consequences of wrong actions and end up in a continuous repeating pattern.

I will preface that even though I have made the conscious choice to walk the spiritual path moving towards self-realization, every so often I stumble.  It became apparent to me the other day that although I have great courage to face anything, I was still being pulled into this incessant trap of worrying about money... which is quite ridiculous, because at the very moment I have everything I need -- food, shelter, good company, friends and renewed family connections.

I discovered through my meditations and through the transmissions my guru sends to me when I am in a state of peace, that worry is a form of 'drama.'  And drama pulls us away from God.

A few years back I began looking into the Buddhist faith as well as Hindi culture.  In both religions there is a discussion around karma and rebirth.  It seems to be that if we don't learn our lessons we must come back after death again and again to overcome these trials.  What interested me the most about what I was beginning to understand was that the dramas of life are actually the cause of the death-rebirth cycle or the repeating patterns.

Google Images - In the Footsteps of Buddha

During my lengthy meditation the other day as I walked with my guru on the beach I was given a birds eye view of seeing the scene from a much higher level.  I could see the two of us walking as well as witnessing a variety of colors and scenes flashing like a movie in the nearby ocean.  It was so beautiful it looked like the dancing northern lights.  I also had the view of being inside my body standing next to my guru.  Out of the corner of my eye I could see a glimpse of the flashing lights, yet I was not lured in by them, I kept my gaze wholeheartedly connected to my guru.

Google Images

At the end of our walk he commended me for my devoted focus.  He went on to explain that the flashing scenes in the ocean were of all my life actions.  The whole experience appeared to be a foreshadowing of the actual death or out-of-body experience that comes when we finally leave our human bodies.  He shared with me that what ends the death-rebirth cycle is when you can stand beside God or your Guru and keep your gaze solely and loyally on the Divine.  It only takes one moment to glance at a passing past-life scene and you are immediately pulled back into the wheel of repeating patterns, back into the world, to live and suffer all over again.

He shared with me that the purpose of meditation while you are still in body is actually a training for your eventual death. I never really understood why I meditated I just knew that when I did, I felt good during and after.  Now that I know meditation is a training for our departure, I am much more interested in this process of human evolution.  

How often have you been meditating and the phone rings and you are tempted to answer it, or you get a thought about an email you want to send or just even the smallest thing like an itch overwhelms you and you are torn out from your inner peace.  

The ability to be still in the mind does not just happen in meditation - a master works on this in all aspects of his/her life.  To not be pulled into the dramas of gossiping about others or slip into self-deprecating thoughts of doom is a huge victory. 

I have a friend who sometimes shares things with me about his life.  Often times he will preface his story by saying he has not told anyone else what he is about to share with me.   I suppose because it feels so big and there is fear that most people would judge him.  I didn't realize I was doing this but he said to me my responses are always without reaction and carry no expression of shock.  When you can be a witness for another staying neutral in your own thoughts this is another form of not going into drama - and not entering the wheel of death-rebirth.

--------------

I reflected that my recent writings talk alot about death and to some that may sound morbid or depressing - to me it is wonderful.  As I continue to master the practice of meditation it is actually freeing me up to living more fully in this life without attachment to emotional chaos or worry which can be incredibly heavy and debilitating.

On that thought I am going to go meditate now.  And since I am writing this on Saturday evening, November 5th I am actually taking Sunday (the next 30 hours) off of technology - keeping with the idea that on the 1st Sunday of the month I am encouraging people to shut off their phone, internet and TV and do something else like go outside and enjoy nature.

Good night.