Apr 20 2012

A Note About Transcribing

by Shawn Clark

Rather than go into the threads and search for the question about transcribing again (and risk my response never being seen), I figure I’ll just make a new post about it so we can coordinate it here.

Someone is currently working on transcribing the first interview with Lisa. Someone else is working on the first Blog Talk show and may also continue with those. Thanks to both of you.

That is all I know of at the moment.

So what we could use help with is the second and third Lisa interviews. There was a third person who asked about helping with transcribing, so this post is mostly to you, but also to anyone else who would like to do that kind of thing.

It’s immensely helpful, for various reasons, to also have the information in writing. Some people just prefer reading to listening. Also, the information comes across differently in writing. I’ve personally listened to certain audio books multiple times but when I first saw the book in writing I noticed things that never came across in the audio version. Plus, there may be mistakes in what was said that need to be clarified once we see it in writing. And I’m sure new questions will come up which allows for more answers.

Thank you ahead of time for your help.

August 1st UPDATE

Allfaaraa Live April 3rd, 2012 – COMPLETE (Thanks to Diana)

Allfaaraa Live April 17th, 2012 – COMPLETE (Thanks to Alanna)

Lisa Harrison #2 – COMPLETE (Thanks to Andrea)

Lisa Harrison #1 – COMPLETE (Thanks to Leigh and Fee)

Lisa Harrison #3 – COMPLETE (Thanks to Kimrey/River)

The Purple Shift (1st hour) – Dixie

Allfaaraa April 10th – (Diana)

Lisa Harrison Live Q&A #1 (March 12th/13th) – To be done by Leigh and Fee. Paused

Journeys With Rebecca May 11th – Leigh. Paused

Allfaaraa on Walk-Ins Part 1 – Fee (COMPLETE)

Allfaaraa on Walk-Ins Part 2 – Leigh (COMPLETE)

Allfaaraa on Walk-Ins Part 3 – Diane (COMPLETE)

Allfaaraa on Walk-Ins Part 4 – Adriana (COMPLETE)

Allfaaraa on Walk-Ins Part 5 – Leigh and Diane (COMPLETE)

By Shawn Clark • Articles •

Apr 18 2012

The Power of Acceptance

by Shawn Clark

“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.” – Eckhart Tolle

I had an experience with physical pain yesterday which reminded me about the power of acceptance. Which in many ways is also the power of courage. This is very important when dealing with the ego and with darkness in general. Both are good at manifesting fear and drama and at creating resistance within us.

Have you ever noticed your response to physical pain? We tend to respond with the classic “fight or flight” mechanism. If there is something hurting us we try to get away somehow. But what if the pain is coming from within? Then what? And what if the pain is not physical but emotional or mental? We still try to get away, but in vain. We mentally reject the pain, complain about the pain, become angry at the pain, deny the pain, try to cover the pain with drugs, etc.

“If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally.” – Eckhart Tolle

What if you were to face the pain directly without using any of the techniques I mentioned above for avoiding it? Have you ever tried it? Have you ever stopped and welcomed the pain? Accepted it fully? Thanked it even? Asked it why it is there…and then accepted the answer? Have you ever tried to increase the pain?

Try it. The next time you have physical pain of any sort, try placing your awareness on or in the pain and becoming fully aware of it. The location. The circumstances. Without avoidance and in full acceptance, as if there is nothing you can do about it. Then…as if by some crazy notion…try to make the pain double itself. See if you can make the pain worse. Then let me know what happens.

“Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult–once we truly understand and accept it–then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.” – M. Scott Peck

The same can be done with the ego. Instead of running from your ego/mind/body, or trying to deny them or resist them, what if you were to place your awareness on them in full acceptance? Your ego manifests as your thinking mind. Not your awareness, but your thinking mind. We struggle continuously with this aspect of ourselves. It is from our thoughts that we deal with things like worry, anticipation, guilt, shame, fear, anger, arrogance, etc. The ego also controls the five senses of the body. It is from bodily appetites that we deal with things like addiction and lust. Some of us choose to let these things run free. Some of us choose to repress them or deny them. But are either of those really what you want? What you are really meant to BE?

“What you resist persists.” – Carl Jung

Is there anything “wrong” with our mental and bodily needs? No. They are all Divine too. They are part of the experiences of the Creator and the universe as a whole. They are part of the fun and the beauty of being here. Even ugliness is part of the beauty of the Fullness of Creation. They are here for a reason. But should they dominate you? Should they make choices for you?

As long as you ignore the nature of the ego or repress it, you are allowing it to remain hidden behind your denial.  Bring it out into the light of your awareness. Don’t fight it or deny it. Don’t struggle with it. Don’t judge it as bad or wrong. Just observe it as it is. It’s already yours anyway. There is no escaping it. So watch it. See how it behaves. Allow it to teach you. Love and respect the fact that it is facilitating your experience here, even if it must occasionally use pain or confusion or fear to do so. Realize, in the most direct way possible for yourself, that it has certain needs and those needs will be met one way or another. Either consciously by choice or unconsciously without your choice. Choose the conscious way.

In short, make your ego your friend, not your enemy. Or at the very least, make it your noble competitor in this game of life. Realize that it has a job to do and so do You. Jesus said, “Forgive your enemies and in so doing you heap burning coals on their head.” If you have made your ego/mind/body your enemy, then why not try forgiving it/them? Transform your ego through forgiveness and acceptance. There is no fighting what is such an intimate part of your existence here. Use awareness to expose the ego. Awareness is light. Shine the light of your awareness on your own darkness. The more you illuminate your own darkness the more power you will have to shine that light into the darkness of the world around you. Or, as Jesus said, “Remove the log from your own eye first and then you will be able to see clearly to help your neighbor with the speck in his.”

Don’t believe this is true? Don’t take my word for it. Observe it for yourself, in your own experience.

Before I met ALF this manifested as a realization that we need to live balanced lives. Allowing our mental and physical appetites to satisfy themselves in a conscious way. In a way we choose and take responsibility for. Neither repression nor allowing them to run free made sense to me. In fact I found out many years ago what repression can do to the energy pathways in the body. And we can all see what allowing the ego to run free has done in the world. Balance in all things.

Acceptance is key because it allows us to maximize our awareness. Without acceptance we are in the process of rejecting or denying. To deny something is do argue with what already is. Arguing with what already is comes from the ego and also drives us further into the darkness. Acknowledge and accept who and what you are here. This includes the ego/mind/body combination that you inhabit…that the Earth Consciousness provides to you. It will feed itself one way or another. Choose the conscious way, starting with the power of acceptance.

By Shawn Clark • Articles •

Apr 14 2012

Lyrics to “King Without A Crown” by Matisyahu

Allfaaraa asked me to post this for you.

King Without A Crown – Matisyahu

You’re all that I have and you’re all that I need
Each and every day I pray to get to know you please
I want to be close to you, yes I’m so hungry
You’re like water for my soul when it gets thirsty
Without you there’s no me
You’re the air that I breathe
Say sometimes the world is dark and I just can’t see
With these, demons surround all around to bring me down to negativity
But I believe, yes I believe, I said I believe
I’ll stand on my own two feet
Won’t be brought down on one knee
Fight with all of my might and get these demons to flee
Hashem’s rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Hashem’s rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Out of darkness comes light, twilight unto the heights
Crown Heights burnin’ up all through till twilight
Said, thank you to my God, now I finally got it right
And I’ll fight with all of my heart, and all a’ my soul, and all a’ my might

What’s this feeling?
My love will rip a hole in the ceiling
Givin’ myself to you now from the essence of my being
And I sing to my God, songs of love and healing
I want Moshiach now, time it starts revealing
What’s this feeling?
My love will rip a hole in the ceiling
Givin’ myself to you now from the essence of my being
And I sing to my God, songs of love and healing
I want Moshiach now. ya

Strip away the layers and reveal your soul
Got to give yourself up and then you become whole
You’re a slave to yourself and you don’t even know
Want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow
If you’re trying to stay high then you’re bound to stay low
You want God but you couldn’t deflate your ego
If you’re already there then there’s nowhere to go
If you’re cup’s already full then its bound to overflow
If you’re drowning in the water’s and you can’t stay afloat
Ask Hashem for mercy and he’ll throw you a rope
Looking for help from God you say he couldn’t be found
Searching up to the sky and looking beneath the ground
Like a King without his Crown
Yes, you keep fallin’ down
You really want to live but can’t get rid of your frown
You try to reach unto the heights and wound bound down on the ground
Given up your pride and the you heard a sound
Out of night comes day and out of day comes light
Said nullified to the One like sunlight in a ray,
Make room for his love and a fire gone blaze
Make room for his love and a fire gone blaze

Yah yah, yah yah yo yah yah…

And see, I lift up my eyes where my help come from
And I seen it circling around from the mountain
Thunder!
You feel it in your chest
You keep my mind at ease and my soul at rest
You’re not vexed

When I look to the sky where my help come from
And I’ve seen it circling around from the mountain
Thunder!
You feel it in your chest

Ziggy-yiggy-yo viggy-yiggy-yo
Said Thunder!
You feel it in your, I feel it in your,
Thunder!
You feel it in your, I feel it in your,
Thunder!
You feel it in your, I feel it in your,
Yo ho ho..ah!
…
Woo!

What’s this feeling?
My love will rip a hole in the ceiling
Givin’ myself to you from the essence of my being
Sing to my God (wah, ha ha..)

Zee wah yo
Zee wah yo ho..
Ho yo..
Zyeh yo ho ho
Yah!

By Shawn Clark • Articles •