Maximus Freeman's Blog
December 14, 2016
Daily Prayer
Dear God...Thank you for this Divine experience. I fully surrender this life and this will to Thee O'Lord, and have faith that you shall continue to guide my way. It is my Spiritual Nature to be Love: kindness, appreciation, empathy and compassion. Love heals.
It is my Spiritual Nature to compassionately allow actuality to naturally run its course...Amen
It is my Spiritual Nature to compassionately allow actuality to naturally run its course...Amen
June 19, 2016
Intention
It has been said that intention dramatically influences our life experience. The following profoundly simple intention slogan has miraculously changed mine: be nice, feel good; be mean, feel pain. Having the intention to be unconditionally loving to all life, in all of its expressions is a game changer.
June 14, 2016
The agony of judgment
There seems to be a direct correlation between passing judgment and feeling badly.
As human beings, judging ourselves, other things or other people is a naturally occurring phenomena. When this judgment lingers, it is often accompanied by condemnation. And when condemnation lingers, it usually manifests into disdain. Each step along this vicious path exacerbates the angst of the person experiencing these phenomena. Notice the tinge of uneasiness that is experienced every time a judgment of right or wrong or good or bad is proclaimed. Notice a stronger wave of discomfort that arises when condemnation is activated. And lastly, notice the acute and chronic angst that persists when disdain takes over our conscious thoughts.
Negativity breeds more negativity. Love dissolves negativity. When judgmental thoughts arise, let them go; let them pass through us; allow them to be just passing thoughts. And when these negative feelings persist, surrender them to a Power greater than ourselves.
Resist nothing, allow everything and surrender that which persists....Maximus Freeman
As human beings, judging ourselves, other things or other people is a naturally occurring phenomena. When this judgment lingers, it is often accompanied by condemnation. And when condemnation lingers, it usually manifests into disdain. Each step along this vicious path exacerbates the angst of the person experiencing these phenomena. Notice the tinge of uneasiness that is experienced every time a judgment of right or wrong or good or bad is proclaimed. Notice a stronger wave of discomfort that arises when condemnation is activated. And lastly, notice the acute and chronic angst that persists when disdain takes over our conscious thoughts.
Negativity breeds more negativity. Love dissolves negativity. When judgmental thoughts arise, let them go; let them pass through us; allow them to be just passing thoughts. And when these negative feelings persist, surrender them to a Power greater than ourselves.
Resist nothing, allow everything and surrender that which persists....Maximus Freeman
June 8, 2016
Surrender
For me, non-resistance is the allowing of everyone and everything to be exactly as they are, without judgement. Non-resistance is often exemplified by non-emotional passing thoughts; thoughts about ourselves, another person or a thing arise and quickly pass by without much consideration. However, certain types of thoughts linger, and occasionally become energized by judgment and condemnation. Other times, lingering thoughts trigger the physiological sensations of anxiety. When anxiety lingers in my mind, it usually rolls over into depression. Judgement, condemnation, anxiety and depression somehow sneak by my shield of non-resistance, and when this happens, I usually fall into a funk, with no apparent mental means of moving beyond this disruption. This sensation can feel paralyzing and debilitating. What can we do to alleviate this discomfort? Dr. David R. Hawkins suggests the concept "Letting Go":
"Letting go involves being aware of a feeling, letting it come up, staying with it, and letting it run its course without wanting to make it different or doing anything about it. When letting go, ignore all thoughts. Focus on the feeling itself, not the thoughts. Have the feeling without resisting it, venting it, labeling it, fearing it, condemning it or moralizing about it. A feeling that is not resisted will disappear as the energy behind it dissipates."
This is a wonderful mental concept, but it doesn't always alleviate my discomfort. I sometimes practice letting go all day and still feel the physiological sensations of anxiety or depression. Is there anywhere else to turn when letting go doesn't feel like enough?
Looking back at my entire life, I was reminded of my early life struggles and how I worked through them. When I was in drug rehab 33 years ago, I was introduced to a Power greater than myself. I was told that this Power could help restore me to sanity if I consistently turned my life and my will over to It. For 30 plus years, I utilized this practice, as a daily prayer, and benefited immensely. However, several years ago, I gradually moved away from prayer and basically attempted to control my life and my will once again. In my quest for enlightenment, I learned that Spirit was in each and every one of us, and once this was realized, I decided that I no longer needed to pray to any other source of Spirit outside of myself. Now, I feel like I have hit the wall again; it feels like my attempt to mentally control my life and my will has taken me as far as I can go. Help!
Yesterday, in response to my asking for help, a little voice in my head said: If you want judgment, anxiety and depression to lessen, go back to your old practice of turning your life and will over to this Power greater than yourself; give up control! Then the word surrender arose, and brought me a momentary wave of comfort.
My daily prayer is now once again part of this life: Thank you for this day. Please help me to surrender this life and this will to Thee O'Lord, and grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference...Amen
"Letting go involves being aware of a feeling, letting it come up, staying with it, and letting it run its course without wanting to make it different or doing anything about it. When letting go, ignore all thoughts. Focus on the feeling itself, not the thoughts. Have the feeling without resisting it, venting it, labeling it, fearing it, condemning it or moralizing about it. A feeling that is not resisted will disappear as the energy behind it dissipates."
This is a wonderful mental concept, but it doesn't always alleviate my discomfort. I sometimes practice letting go all day and still feel the physiological sensations of anxiety or depression. Is there anywhere else to turn when letting go doesn't feel like enough?
Looking back at my entire life, I was reminded of my early life struggles and how I worked through them. When I was in drug rehab 33 years ago, I was introduced to a Power greater than myself. I was told that this Power could help restore me to sanity if I consistently turned my life and my will over to It. For 30 plus years, I utilized this practice, as a daily prayer, and benefited immensely. However, several years ago, I gradually moved away from prayer and basically attempted to control my life and my will once again. In my quest for enlightenment, I learned that Spirit was in each and every one of us, and once this was realized, I decided that I no longer needed to pray to any other source of Spirit outside of myself. Now, I feel like I have hit the wall again; it feels like my attempt to mentally control my life and my will has taken me as far as I can go. Help!
Yesterday, in response to my asking for help, a little voice in my head said: If you want judgment, anxiety and depression to lessen, go back to your old practice of turning your life and will over to this Power greater than yourself; give up control! Then the word surrender arose, and brought me a momentary wave of comfort.
My daily prayer is now once again part of this life: Thank you for this day. Please help me to surrender this life and this will to Thee O'Lord, and grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference...Amen
March 4, 2016
The Pros and Cons of Booze
I drank two or three gin and tonics almost every night for the past five years. Booze was my medication; it took off the edge each night, and relieved the stresses of life, and helped me to relax and unwind. During this drinking stage of my life, I often asked myself questions about it's appropriateness: is this wrong, unhealthy, and could this pattern be developing into a terrible habit; am I slowly becoming an alcoholic, or is this just my addictive personality acting up again? I'd then tell myself that it's normal, that millions of people drank every night to unwind, and they aren't necessarily alcoholics, right? Regardless of my interpretations of these stories that I told myself, I continued my drinking habit, and once a month, I even got totally annihilated!
Occasionally, when I became extra concerned about this pattern, I'd take a several day or week long break. And then every time, I would re-justify that drinking was ok and resume my medicating pattern again.
Was this drinking pattern right or wrong? The truth is that it was neither right nor wrong; it was simply what I needed to experience until I didn't need to experience it any more.
On New Year's Day of this year, I woke up with a nasty hang-over and several regrets regarding my prior night's behavior. I also woke up with a strong sense, or "ah ha" moment, that I have experienced this particular drinking pattern long enough; it was finally time to try an alternative pattern.
Now, I'm experiencing a 63 day pattern of non-drinking, and it feels very healthy, but it's still not right or wrong; it's just what I need to be experiencing right now.
To be continued...
Occasionally, when I became extra concerned about this pattern, I'd take a several day or week long break. And then every time, I would re-justify that drinking was ok and resume my medicating pattern again.
Was this drinking pattern right or wrong? The truth is that it was neither right nor wrong; it was simply what I needed to experience until I didn't need to experience it any more.
On New Year's Day of this year, I woke up with a nasty hang-over and several regrets regarding my prior night's behavior. I also woke up with a strong sense, or "ah ha" moment, that I have experienced this particular drinking pattern long enough; it was finally time to try an alternative pattern.
Now, I'm experiencing a 63 day pattern of non-drinking, and it feels very healthy, but it's still not right or wrong; it's just what I need to be experiencing right now.
To be continued...
February 28, 2016
Flow
How could belieflessness enhance our earth-life experience?
As your beliefs decrease, your wisdom naturally increases.
Interesting, how does that process manifest?
I will use the following analogy to help explain this phenomenon: In this story, the young red salmon represent beliefs, opinions, conditioned thoughts and preconceived notions. These illusions are exemplified by arrogance and narrow or closed-mindedness. The old purple salmon represent intuition, which is exemplified by open-mindfulness and the embodiment of and receptivity to Divine wisdom.
Now, imagine in your mind a river that these old purple salmon use to travel from the sea back to their birthplace. In the early stages of this arduous journey they run into significant resistance. In addition to swimming against the powerful current, ninety percent or more of the river is filled with young red salmon, aggressively barreling their way to the sea. Fortunately, the purple salmon are very patient and perseverant, and as the concentration of red salmon decreases, channels open up for them to move closer to home. Eventually, the red salmon disappear completely, and with all of this resistance gone the purple salmon are able to finally complete their journey home.
Human beings on their journey home have similar struggles. The underlying current of conditioned thoughts and preconceived notions running through your society significantly limits their forward progress. Fortunately, through open-mindfulness, these beliefs can be recognized and acknowledged as the illusions that they are. This letting go process naturally lowers the concentration of beliefs, and conversely increases awareness as intuition now has a wider channel of access to their conscious awareness....Maximus Freeman
As your beliefs decrease, your wisdom naturally increases.
Interesting, how does that process manifest?
I will use the following analogy to help explain this phenomenon: In this story, the young red salmon represent beliefs, opinions, conditioned thoughts and preconceived notions. These illusions are exemplified by arrogance and narrow or closed-mindedness. The old purple salmon represent intuition, which is exemplified by open-mindfulness and the embodiment of and receptivity to Divine wisdom.
Now, imagine in your mind a river that these old purple salmon use to travel from the sea back to their birthplace. In the early stages of this arduous journey they run into significant resistance. In addition to swimming against the powerful current, ninety percent or more of the river is filled with young red salmon, aggressively barreling their way to the sea. Fortunately, the purple salmon are very patient and perseverant, and as the concentration of red salmon decreases, channels open up for them to move closer to home. Eventually, the red salmon disappear completely, and with all of this resistance gone the purple salmon are able to finally complete their journey home.
Human beings on their journey home have similar struggles. The underlying current of conditioned thoughts and preconceived notions running through your society significantly limits their forward progress. Fortunately, through open-mindfulness, these beliefs can be recognized and acknowledged as the illusions that they are. This letting go process naturally lowers the concentration of beliefs, and conversely increases awareness as intuition now has a wider channel of access to their conscious awareness....Maximus Freeman
February 26, 2016
Emotionless Joy
Once the storm moves on, emotionless Joy is naturally uncovered; nothing is wrong or right, nothing is anything, as assessing and judging are no longer possible. Wisdom naturally flows through me like a beam of light; nonsense now makes sense; I've lost my mind and found my soul.
February 5, 2016
The Pathless Path
On the pathless path, I simply experience life as it unfolds, with no preconceived direction of what I should or shouldn't be doing.
When life feels good, I breathe deeply and cherish the amazing. When life feels routine, I breathe deeply and relax and appreciate the mundane. When life feels horrible, I breathe deeply and hang on through the awful.
And when I feel like I am resisting something, I breathe deeply and remember the importance of acceptance: respectful receptiveness and non-judgmental, non-resistance of all aspects of humanness.
When life feels good, I breathe deeply and cherish the amazing. When life feels routine, I breathe deeply and relax and appreciate the mundane. When life feels horrible, I breathe deeply and hang on through the awful.
And when I feel like I am resisting something, I breathe deeply and remember the importance of acceptance: respectful receptiveness and non-judgmental, non-resistance of all aspects of humanness.
December 19, 2015
Virtue and Vice
Many years ago I was a self-centered, egotistical, judgmental know-it-all. Needless to say, I was not very well-liked or respected. I chalked this behavior off to: “This is just who I am; take it or leave it. It's not as if I can change or anything!”
It wasn't until I started reading self-improvement books in the mid-90s that I discovered that change is possible(see Inner-Genius post for details). I also realized that if I was just a little bit nicer, less arrogant, egotistical and judgmental, people would start to like and respect me a little bit more.
These realizations led to a relentless 10-year reading frenzy. During this time, I created a list of all the positive attributes that each author consistently mentioned, and then went through years of my notes and tabulated which ones showed up most often. Twelve of these attributes stood out head and shoulders above the rest, and I sensed that the term virtue was the best way to classify these sacred words. These virtues are understanding, honesty, humility, forgiveness, acceptance, patience, tolerance, gratitude, graciousness, benevolence, compassion and integrity.
Intentionally moving toward the light starts with the intention to practice and embody these virtues. When our behavior is virtuous, we are moving toward the light, and when our behavior is vice-centered, we are moving toward the dark. Virtues and vices exemplify either fear (dark) or love (light). It's important to recognize and acknowledge the physical sensations we experience when either the light or the dark present themselves. Notice that whenever love arises, the Soul feels nourished and the person feels light and at ease, and whenever fear arises, the Soul feels malnourished and the person feels dark and diseased.
The virtues and vices listed below are guideposts along the path. May we have the intention to embrace the virtues and the inner-joy that arises, but also give attention to the sorrow that ensues when we exhibit the vices.
Understanding: Wisdom, awareness, perspective and intuition; mindfulness; the ability to comprehend one's own and other's feelings, attitude and points of view; empathy.
-Obliviousness, Apathy
The embodiment of understanding develops through awareness and intuition. The evolution of consciousness starts with the understanding that spiritual maturity is possible. Understanding resides at the core of mindfulness. Attempting to evolve without understanding is like trying to drive a car without gas. Understanding enables us to shift from the emotional participant or experiencer of life to the emotionless witness-observer. And most importantly, understanding leads us back to the Divine realization that we are not a transitory person and that we are the eternal Soul.
Honesty: Truthfulness, sincerity and self-knowledge; communicating and acting authentically with oneself and others.
-Dishonesty, Inauthenticity
The practice of self-honesty is to fearlessly face our perceived inadequacies by tenaciously digging through our own rubble to uncover our innate perfection and completeness. Self-honesty reveals all of the obstacles that are obscuring our true worth, and these opinions, beliefs, preconceived notions and conditioned thoughts limit our spiritual maturity.
Humility: Freedom from false pride or arrogance; having an awareness of one's own shortcomings and others' strengths; exhibiting a modest, humble aura; belieflessness.
-Arrogance, False pride, Entitlement
The practice of humility is to intentionally travel down the path of belieflessness by surrendering all opinions, beliefs, preconceived notions and conditioned thoughts and starting with a blank slate. On this humble path of belieflessness, aversions and attractions no longer exist. Declarations of should have, must be, definitely, obviously, incontestably and certainly won’t be found here. Alternatively, speculations like seems to, might be, could have and possibly, depict the communication style of its travelers.
Humility is also the understanding that our Souls are no better or worse than any other Souls. We all possess a mosaic of attributes that make us different from one another, but not greater or less than.
Forgiveness: A letting go or releasing of resentments; the willingness to move beyond past events, perhaps to reconcile and restore.
-Accusation, Blame, Resentment
The practice of self-forgiveness helps to create the blank slate by lessening the burdens of guilt and remorse and dissolving self-inflicted grudges and harsh criticisms. Self-forgiveness unlocks the door and allows the essence of our wonderful Soul to shine forth. Once our goodness is brought into the light, the darkness of our negative energy is overshadowed. To forgive ourselves is the greatest gift that we can ever bestow.
Acceptance: Acknowledgement of the truth regarding a situation or condition; appreciation and validation of one's own and others' human personalities (even traits we may wish to change); letting go of resistance and denial; absolute cooperation with the inevitable.
-Denial, Resistance, Rejection
The embodiment of self-acceptance enables us to have a complete absence of resistance to our person’s human traits including the personality and the characteristics of the body.
Patience: Calm endurance of hardship, pain or delay; demonstrating perseverance, restraint and determination.
-Impatience, Agitation, Striving, Frustration
The embodiment of patience is restraint and determination; a calm endurance of the delay required for spiritual maturity to gradually unfold. Patience is at the heart of our ability to pause and gives us the opportunity to practice The Letting Go Mechanism each time an uncomfortable feeling arises. Patience helps us to build and save relationships, become great partners, parents, sons or daughters, friends and co-workers.
Tolerance: Open-mindedness to ideas, opinions and practices that differ from one's own; the absence of prejudice and a live-and-let-live attitude; the embracing and celebrating of diversity by recognizing, acknowledging and honoring the innate brilliance, vibrancy and radiance in others; reverence.
-Intolerance, Narrow-mindedness, Prejudice
The embodiment of tolerance is reverence and the honoring of diversity in others. Tolerance reminds us that we are all on this journey together, to individually and collectively evolve. Everything that we do or say has profound implications on all humanity. As we evolve, all of the people in the world evolve simultaneously. We truly are one human race. We are humans being…together.
Gratitude: Thankful appreciation for what one has received; showing gratefulness and recognition to others.
-Ingratitude, Desire
The embodiment of gratitude is seeing the beauty in everything, and thoroughly appreciating the simple things in life. Gratitude is not possible until self-forgiveness is practiced and self-acceptance is embodied. The inclination to be gracious, benevolent and compassionate originates as a result of the embodiment of gratitude. Gratitude truly does unlock the fullness of life!
Graciousness: The attribute of being kind to all; politeness, cordiality and good-natured disposition.
-Impoliteness, Pompousness
The practice of graciousness is going out of our way to show our kindness to everyone. Graciousness is the acknowledgement that everybody is perfect and complete and worthy and deserving of our kindness and generosity.
Benevolence: Friendliness, kindness, selflessness and the inclination to be generous; having a love of humankind accompanied by a desire to encourage the happiness of others.
-Selfishness, Greediness, Unkindness
The practice of benevolence is the quiet expression of our generosity, and the greatest gift that we can give others is ourselves, our time and undivided attention and appreciation. Benevolence specifically directed toward those who are suffering could be viewed as compassion.
Compassion: A deep empathy that gives rise to an active desire to alleviate the suffering of others by wrapping them in a safe, nurturing blanket of unconditional love; the fostering of an environment that is conducive for self-validation of others’ innate beauty, perfection and worthiness.
-Cruelty, Hatred, Indifference
The practice of compassion involves actively seeking out those in need and promptly and gently reaching out to them in an effort to lessen their burdens. We know that we have reached a different level of spiritual maturity once we notice our sense of compassion. Through understanding, patience, forgiveness and graciousness, we became the loving people that we always aspired to be. This leads to our new found ability to benevolently reach out to others. Compassion takes benevolence to a whole new level.
Integrity: Moral consistency of actions, values and principles; honesty in regard to the motivations of one’s actions.
-Hypocrisy, Immorality, Inconsistency
The practice of integrity is the consistent expression and embodiment of all virtues.
These 12 virtues methodically woven together form the Divine fabric of unconditional love. Furthermore, they facilitate the evolution of consciousness and the recognition and acknowledgment of our Inner-Genius.
It wasn't until I started reading self-improvement books in the mid-90s that I discovered that change is possible(see Inner-Genius post for details). I also realized that if I was just a little bit nicer, less arrogant, egotistical and judgmental, people would start to like and respect me a little bit more.
These realizations led to a relentless 10-year reading frenzy. During this time, I created a list of all the positive attributes that each author consistently mentioned, and then went through years of my notes and tabulated which ones showed up most often. Twelve of these attributes stood out head and shoulders above the rest, and I sensed that the term virtue was the best way to classify these sacred words. These virtues are understanding, honesty, humility, forgiveness, acceptance, patience, tolerance, gratitude, graciousness, benevolence, compassion and integrity.
Intentionally moving toward the light starts with the intention to practice and embody these virtues. When our behavior is virtuous, we are moving toward the light, and when our behavior is vice-centered, we are moving toward the dark. Virtues and vices exemplify either fear (dark) or love (light). It's important to recognize and acknowledge the physical sensations we experience when either the light or the dark present themselves. Notice that whenever love arises, the Soul feels nourished and the person feels light and at ease, and whenever fear arises, the Soul feels malnourished and the person feels dark and diseased.
The virtues and vices listed below are guideposts along the path. May we have the intention to embrace the virtues and the inner-joy that arises, but also give attention to the sorrow that ensues when we exhibit the vices.
Understanding: Wisdom, awareness, perspective and intuition; mindfulness; the ability to comprehend one's own and other's feelings, attitude and points of view; empathy.
-Obliviousness, Apathy
The embodiment of understanding develops through awareness and intuition. The evolution of consciousness starts with the understanding that spiritual maturity is possible. Understanding resides at the core of mindfulness. Attempting to evolve without understanding is like trying to drive a car without gas. Understanding enables us to shift from the emotional participant or experiencer of life to the emotionless witness-observer. And most importantly, understanding leads us back to the Divine realization that we are not a transitory person and that we are the eternal Soul.
Honesty: Truthfulness, sincerity and self-knowledge; communicating and acting authentically with oneself and others.
-Dishonesty, Inauthenticity
The practice of self-honesty is to fearlessly face our perceived inadequacies by tenaciously digging through our own rubble to uncover our innate perfection and completeness. Self-honesty reveals all of the obstacles that are obscuring our true worth, and these opinions, beliefs, preconceived notions and conditioned thoughts limit our spiritual maturity.
Humility: Freedom from false pride or arrogance; having an awareness of one's own shortcomings and others' strengths; exhibiting a modest, humble aura; belieflessness.
-Arrogance, False pride, Entitlement
The practice of humility is to intentionally travel down the path of belieflessness by surrendering all opinions, beliefs, preconceived notions and conditioned thoughts and starting with a blank slate. On this humble path of belieflessness, aversions and attractions no longer exist. Declarations of should have, must be, definitely, obviously, incontestably and certainly won’t be found here. Alternatively, speculations like seems to, might be, could have and possibly, depict the communication style of its travelers.
Humility is also the understanding that our Souls are no better or worse than any other Souls. We all possess a mosaic of attributes that make us different from one another, but not greater or less than.
Forgiveness: A letting go or releasing of resentments; the willingness to move beyond past events, perhaps to reconcile and restore.
-Accusation, Blame, Resentment
The practice of self-forgiveness helps to create the blank slate by lessening the burdens of guilt and remorse and dissolving self-inflicted grudges and harsh criticisms. Self-forgiveness unlocks the door and allows the essence of our wonderful Soul to shine forth. Once our goodness is brought into the light, the darkness of our negative energy is overshadowed. To forgive ourselves is the greatest gift that we can ever bestow.
Acceptance: Acknowledgement of the truth regarding a situation or condition; appreciation and validation of one's own and others' human personalities (even traits we may wish to change); letting go of resistance and denial; absolute cooperation with the inevitable.
-Denial, Resistance, Rejection
The embodiment of self-acceptance enables us to have a complete absence of resistance to our person’s human traits including the personality and the characteristics of the body.
Patience: Calm endurance of hardship, pain or delay; demonstrating perseverance, restraint and determination.
-Impatience, Agitation, Striving, Frustration
The embodiment of patience is restraint and determination; a calm endurance of the delay required for spiritual maturity to gradually unfold. Patience is at the heart of our ability to pause and gives us the opportunity to practice The Letting Go Mechanism each time an uncomfortable feeling arises. Patience helps us to build and save relationships, become great partners, parents, sons or daughters, friends and co-workers.
Tolerance: Open-mindedness to ideas, opinions and practices that differ from one's own; the absence of prejudice and a live-and-let-live attitude; the embracing and celebrating of diversity by recognizing, acknowledging and honoring the innate brilliance, vibrancy and radiance in others; reverence.
-Intolerance, Narrow-mindedness, Prejudice
The embodiment of tolerance is reverence and the honoring of diversity in others. Tolerance reminds us that we are all on this journey together, to individually and collectively evolve. Everything that we do or say has profound implications on all humanity. As we evolve, all of the people in the world evolve simultaneously. We truly are one human race. We are humans being…together.
Gratitude: Thankful appreciation for what one has received; showing gratefulness and recognition to others.
-Ingratitude, Desire
The embodiment of gratitude is seeing the beauty in everything, and thoroughly appreciating the simple things in life. Gratitude is not possible until self-forgiveness is practiced and self-acceptance is embodied. The inclination to be gracious, benevolent and compassionate originates as a result of the embodiment of gratitude. Gratitude truly does unlock the fullness of life!
Graciousness: The attribute of being kind to all; politeness, cordiality and good-natured disposition.
-Impoliteness, Pompousness
The practice of graciousness is going out of our way to show our kindness to everyone. Graciousness is the acknowledgement that everybody is perfect and complete and worthy and deserving of our kindness and generosity.
Benevolence: Friendliness, kindness, selflessness and the inclination to be generous; having a love of humankind accompanied by a desire to encourage the happiness of others.
-Selfishness, Greediness, Unkindness
The practice of benevolence is the quiet expression of our generosity, and the greatest gift that we can give others is ourselves, our time and undivided attention and appreciation. Benevolence specifically directed toward those who are suffering could be viewed as compassion.
Compassion: A deep empathy that gives rise to an active desire to alleviate the suffering of others by wrapping them in a safe, nurturing blanket of unconditional love; the fostering of an environment that is conducive for self-validation of others’ innate beauty, perfection and worthiness.
-Cruelty, Hatred, Indifference
The practice of compassion involves actively seeking out those in need and promptly and gently reaching out to them in an effort to lessen their burdens. We know that we have reached a different level of spiritual maturity once we notice our sense of compassion. Through understanding, patience, forgiveness and graciousness, we became the loving people that we always aspired to be. This leads to our new found ability to benevolently reach out to others. Compassion takes benevolence to a whole new level.
Integrity: Moral consistency of actions, values and principles; honesty in regard to the motivations of one’s actions.
-Hypocrisy, Immorality, Inconsistency
The practice of integrity is the consistent expression and embodiment of all virtues.
These 12 virtues methodically woven together form the Divine fabric of unconditional love. Furthermore, they facilitate the evolution of consciousness and the recognition and acknowledgment of our Inner-Genius.
Caveat Emptor
There is only one thing that I absolutely know for certain and that is that I know absolutely nothing for certain. Everything that I have written is nothing more than speculation -- nothing more than my current views of what calibrated as true to me in those moments. As I continue to evolve, so will my views…
