In This Edition Of Mystical Scuttlebutt:
Upcoming Events
Practical Tip
Dilemma Of The Month
Clues For When You\'re Stressing Out
Testimonial

March 24, 2006 - Free Evening/Paradox Salon
Discover how we swim in an ocean of polarities without understanding the nature of this water and how it effects our decision making, and emotions. This will bring youcloser to finding that elusive happiness and calm in everyday life.
7 to 9 pm. Registration closes on March 15. click here to register

Dilemma of the Month: Demanding Vs. Grateful

As you move through your day, remember to take a look at your life through the lens of duality where there is joy, there is sorrow. Where there is peace, there is war. Where there is heaven, there is hell. Where there is love, there is hate. Where there is freedom, there is slavery. Where there is generosity, there is greed. Where there are truths, there are lies. Such is the fundamental nature of human experience.

The more your Marketplace Mystic perceives life's wholeness as it unfolds, the easier it is to come back to that sense of inner peace. Duality is the nature of human experience. Setting up what you like against what you dis-like is the nature of the human mind. Peace arises when you relax into these 'facticities' with the awareness that the moment  whether pleasurable or painful - is "what is.". And then  from this place of wisdom and clarity - take the paradoxical action required by your role, your passion, your heart, or your soul to right the wrong, fight the good fight, or save your own little corner of the world.

From the paradoxical perspective, failing to keep your resolve is actually due to a conditioned response to place one of a polar pair as better or more desirable than its opposite  i.e., wealth as better than poverty, skinny as better than fat, beautiful as better than ugly, young as better than old, toned as better than flabby, dedicated is better than complacent, and of course, successful is better than failure. Yet, as a Marketplace Mystic, you are coming to know that both will meet you in your journey again and again and again.

I asked many students about their success in keeping resolutions, or in different words, manifesting their desires. Universally, those who claimed success identified gratitude as the key to the achievement.

A long time student named Mary said, "I don?t think of it as manifestation or keeping my resolutions. I think of it as asking the Universe (or whatever name you choose to use) for what I want and then forgetting about it. Then when it comes, I have nothing to feel but grateful. I was given what I asked for." She went on to say, "When I look at how much I have, there is nothing I can feel but gratitude. If I look and see what I don't have, I can get very demanding because I'm looking at what everyone else has that I don't.

When this delicate balance between desire and expectation begins to falter, it shifts into a struggle. An inner war emerges between demanding what you want, over and over, due to a loss of faith that you will receive it, versus falling into a forced or contrived gratitude that is strained by doubt and this deep fear that you may not get what you want.

When you find yourself demanding, are you trying to fill up an emptiness? Are you feeling small? insecure? contracted? abandoned? trapped? even victimized? Is the demand taking a very specific shape with very specific details that must be met? Is cynicism driving the demand? Have you lost your belief in the magic of the impossible becoming possible? Is there a sense of anxiety or desperation?

When you are feeling this forced or contrived gratitude, are you really feeling such a fullness that you are ready to overflow with the abundance of the universe?expanded? blessed? held? Are you actually feeling wonder that so much is actually being given specifically to you? Do you truly feel amazement? awe? insignificant yet totally taken care of? Is there a willingness to open up to the unknown and receive the fulfillment of your request? in whatever way the Universe desires? Is there a sense of faith or trust?

Managing The Dilemma:
To manage the dilemma, begin by remembering that to set up what you like against what you dislike is the true dis-ease of the mind. Paradox Management advises a deeper inquiry that uncovers the hidden harmony flowing between being demanding and being grateful.

To choose this strained gratitude over being demanding, means you may forget to ask for what you want and thus, to play out your role and purpose. To choose being demanding over a forced graciousness, means you may forget that you are not alone in this journey but an integral part of the Whole held in the arms of the Mystery.

Take a breath, expand your sense of self to become as big as you can and hold the two seeming opposites as one organic unity. Oneness on this plane always appears as the organic unity of what you had thought were two separate things in opposition. The moment you can hold both extremes of your very human dilemma, your perception shifts and evokes the re-emergence of your true gratitude, awe, and a solid reaffirmation of your place in this Mystery.

In the presence of what is unfolding in your life, can you perceive this key to inner peace, resting there in the eyes of your own Marketplace Mystic? Can you discover how real gratitude feels different in your body from this forced graciousness? I invite you to take some time and lovingly explore for yourself.

1)When you find it difficult or challenging to hold any point of view other than your own.
2)When you get upset by the actions of the political party that is not of your choice.
3)When you are convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, you are right.

Remedy: Fundamental to Facticity Training is the understanding that all points of view are valid (not accurate) AND incomplete (by virtue of the fact that every point of view is simply a single view perceived from a single point). This way of relating to the diversity of human perception evokes the wonderful freedom from having to be disturbed by all that is around you. Contrary to popular thought, being disturbed is not the only avenue to action.

To take action and support the cause of your choice flows easily from a place of calm, centered, clarity. In our world, we believe we are not truly involved unless we are disturbed. We are even disturbed by the idea of not being disturbed because we equate it with indifference and inaction.? Remaining undisturbed is not complacence or denial. It is the result of the above understanding that all viewpoints are valid AND incomplete.?

A marketplace mystic understands that remaining undisturbed actually frees passionate action to arise a paradox that stretches the modern mind to its limits. How can both intense passion and utter calm exist simultaneously How can there be such a thing as Passionate Calm or Calm Passion? Only direct experience of this amazingly powerful and potent way of perceiving and living will satisfy your inquiry. The good news is this paradoxical reality is reachable and personally verifiable by you if you feel yourself pulled to this road less traveled.

"Ragini is a born teacher and a great positive influence on this world!? Her models, knowledge, and experience inspire trust, stimulate the mind, and bring hope to many of us lost in the complexities of modern life.? Facticity training is Illuminating, enlightening, and inspiring."

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