Quiet Moments

It is said 2011 is a year of consciousness. Taking time for quiet moments raises inner awareness.

 In the LA Times Sunday Conversation, Deepak Chopra was asked how people can make their New Year’s resolution stick.

He replied, “Take five or ten minutes of quiet time and ask yourself simple questions:
*  Who am I?
*  What do I want?
*  What is my life’s purpose?
*   Is there a contribution I can make to my community or to society?
*  What kind of relationships do I want to have?

*  What is my idea of well being, and how can I achieve it?

I don’t ask that you even know the answers, but if you start to do this kind of reflection, it has a very interesting way of not only moving you to the answers but of changing your behavior. Reflective self-inquiry spontaneously leads to change.”

It is easy to be pulled into the multi-tasking, fast-paced world we live in. Make a point of claiming time just for you. Sit comfortably. Be aware of your body and surrounding. Quiet your mind. Feel your breath.

Quiet moments enrich our lives, our relationships, and our world.

1111 - The New Year

The time 11:11 intrigues me. I looked it up one day and learned it was a sign from angels, to let us know they are with us.   I didn’t think about the significance of this year, until I woke up New Year’s Day and realized it was 1/1/11!

Jan 2nd was a rainy day, so we lounged by the fireside watching TV.   The shows were motivating and correlated spirituality of the New Year.   Oprah’s exciting new network is devoted to inspiration, self discovery, and connection to the world. One show called Miracle Detectives investigates sightings of angels. Hospital staff discovered light images of angels recorded on security cameras.  The next day, a near-death infant recovered miraculously. 

We watched Iconoclasts on Sundance which pairs two celebrities, who appear an unlikely duo.  This episode featured Deepak Chopra and Mike Meyers discussing the connection between comedy and consciousness.  They noted how one measure of enlightenment is your comfort with paradox, or contradiction or ambiguity.  A sign of expanding consciousness is a loss of self-importance, which means you can laugh at yourself.   Mike said, “Pain plus time is humor.”  Deepak explained, “When you can look back at your suffering and pain with experience, you can transcend it.   Humor is humanity’s device to escape suffering.”    It's funny, Mike's latest movie is: The Love Guru and Deepak's recent book is: Why is God Laughing?

Another topic of theirs and joint experience was synchronicity. According to Carl Jung it is, “the coming together of inner and outer events in a way that cannot be explained by cause and effect and that is meaningful to the observer.” 

Today, I looked up 11:11 and read “finding 11:11 frequently creates synchronicities in your life. 2011 will have great significance and consciousness will evolve in full swing January 1, 2011.” 

1111, Angels, Synchronicity … Divine confirmation we are all connected, gaining inner consciousness and concern for the world.