THE BEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING
Perhaps some of you are already familiar with the movie and book, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.”
To me “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” means that some of us find it difficult to maintain a positive outlook on life. They find it hard to acknowledge that life should continue smoothly. They say to themselves, “This cannot last.” Subconsciously they believe they do not deserve happiness.
Dr. Sandra Adler of the Peace Community Church International (www.pcciworld.org) adds:
To me it means that we think it is hard to just BE. We have been taught to search for happiness instead of just BEING - which is natural happiness. Living in one's feelings in the present moment is happiness. It's hard to fight one's feelings; it's easy to just BE.
Dr. Adler further defines feelings and distinguishes them from emotions as follows:
The confusion between the difference between feelings and emotions is the basis for all our problems in society. Our feelings are love, caring, understanding, sharing and a feeling of being one with all things. All the rest are emotions. Emotions are not our true feelings. Emotions are what we have been taught to feel by our parents and society. Emotions are in our intellect as is everything else we have been taught. We were not born with emotions. They have all been taught to us. We were born with true feelings.
For some time now those five words, “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” kept coming to me, and much of my website, www.davidhakim.com, is devoted to replying to them. With this material, I will refute those five words and/or show that by changing his focus, one may be able to overcome negativity and regain his lightness of being.
What keeps one positive has been defined by Francisco Coll, founder of the Americana Leadership College (www.alcworld.com), as his pivot point. I define being on my pivot point which maintains my lightness of being as follows:
WHEN I AM ON MY PIVOT POINT
I truly express my love and appreciation of myself and others;
I am empathetic and open my heart to others;
My creativity flows joyously into the present moment;
I am forgiving;
The positive, caring, good, kind, loving, confident part of my soul manifests itself;
I trust that the universe is attending to my wants and needs and unfolding as it should; and
I listen to my guidance (written in 2006).
Another way of saying that one is on his pivot point is saying that a secure buffer zone surrounds him.
The major tool to keep me on my pivot point is the following:
SPIRITUAL CLEANSING
This technique assists me in maintaining a positive attitude and/or eliminating a negative one (I credit and thank the Americana Leadership College (www.alcworld.com) for this technique):
Think of a pleasant thought: a place of happiness or something you enjoy doing. Some meditate or pray briefly. Then charge your hands by rubbing them together about three seconds. Then rub your third eye area in the middle of your forehead with the fingertips of your predominant hand for three seconds and bring your hands together and down the side of your face. Shake your hands one time strongly to recharge your energy. Again place your fingertips on your third eye area to the top and down the back of your head, around your neck and together in front of your throat. Repeat several times. You may get chills from your spiritual guides or just feel better.
I get more satisfaction if I am actually touching my body when I am cleansing.
Until the technique is accepted universally, it is recommended that you cleanse in private or in a group. Or you can teach yourself to cleanse spiritually without any hand movements.
Another important tool I use to maintain my lightness of being is also on my website (written in 2003):
UNIVERSAL CLEANSING AND HEALING
I have worked with spiritual guidance, the Americana Leadership College and affiliated movements such as the Inner Peace Movement and the Astrosoul Movement (see www.alcworld.com and www.IPMers.org) for years to develop the following healing, which can be made silently, orally, or with chanting:
Cleansing and healing of all the universes.
Let the love light shine,
The love boats fly,
The personages appear,
Our will be done…
Lights, boats, angels!
Do you see any lights?
Go to them.
Let them come close to you.
Get visions, past, present and future.
I will count to three and clap my hands [or snap my fingers].
All of you follow the lights.
One, two, three [clap].
Follow the lights.
God is always with you.
God loves you.
You are beautiful…
Thank you…
Praise God.
Then go around the earth imagining your hands to be large enough to embrace it gently. First go counterclockwise and then clockwise, depending upon which hemisphere you are in, until it feels right. For example, if you are in the western hemisphere, you would first go counterclockwise. Finally scoop away any negative energy you still detect.
* * *
A few days ago while working on this essay, MSN provided the following horoscope:
TaurusApril 20 - May 20
Things may be moving faster than you feel comfortable with right now, dear Taurus, and you may feel as if your own needs and agenda are getting lost in the fury that is bubbling up around you. The secret key you must add to your toolbox is the ability to go with the flow. It is crucial that you take an adaptive approach that lets you roll with the punches instead of becoming victimized by them. Use the lightning-quick energy at hand to mobilize your own efforts.
Yet, the use of the words “rolling with the punches” still implies that life may be tough. Francisco Coll, the founder of the Americana Leadership College (www.alcworld.com) stated many times that one should not look at what life gives you as a duty or a challenge but as an opportunity to grow. To assist us further in living our life more fully, he also stated that there are no mistakes, just learning experiences as further signs that we are growing. He also stated that many of us welcome learning experiences because we know we are thereby growing in spirituality.
* * *
I went through much of my life with little or no confidence in myself, because my father frequently belittled me. I went through much agony overcoming my lack of confidence, and to this day I question whether my performance is adequate.
To aid me in developing my self-confidence, spirit gave me the following insight, which I added to my website in 2006:
SPIRITUAL GROWTH MEDITATION
My central purpose of being is to grow in love and service. I obtained this desire by observing and communicating with others more advanced than me. I am happy knowing I will achieve these qualities at my own timing and rejoice when I do.
One may question the value of such a statement when situations occur at a rate faster than he thinks he can handle. I believe we set up such situations subconsciously to test ourselves. If I get overburdened with melancholy, I review “Dealing with Melancholy,” also on my website, which contains three magnificent versions of “Someday Over the Rainbow.”
* * *
In 2004 I received the word “Happiness” from spirit and was given the following:
AN EXPLANATION OF HAPPINESS
I would like to state what to me happiness is and is not: It is not life forever filled with joy and peace, but one which includes growth experiences through which we learn to control our emotions, sometimes with help. It is when we trust guidance to assist us with our needs and wants, and to inspire us toward the greater good, or to just sing to us songs such as "On [with] the Wings of Eagles," "Cruising Down the River on a Sunday Afternoon" and "I Will Row My Boat Merrily Along." It is the ability to overcome the fear created by situations in life affecting ourselves and/or others over which we have little control. It is the knowledge that no matter what happens to us, God and His angels are by our side, and we know that we can handle any situation that life gives us. It is not the belief that someone else holds the key to determining what is in our best interest, but our ability to know from our inner guidance what is. It is not having wealth and power to control our lives and others, but having enough abundance to meet the needs of ourselves and those for whom we are responsible. And if we temporarily do not have such abundance, either financial or otherwise, it is having the fortitude with no false pride to ask for what we need. And if we do have extra abundance, we have the willingness to assist those who don't (the preceding was originally part of “Happiness,” written in 2004).
* * *
In 2006 spirit also gave me the word “Enthusiasm” to write about (in “Enthusiasm Overcoming Misery”), and upon obtaining its definition, I received the following:
THE GOD WITHIN
Let the breath of God, the spirit of the living God, fill my whole
being;
My desires be the desires of the Almighty;
My strength be the strength of the Almighty;
My every moment be focused on doing His will;
May His will be the same as mine;
May I rejoice in seeing my accomplishments as the accomplishments
of the
Almighty and live in eternal peace.
Once, when I really felt a lightness of being, spirit gave me the following:
LIFE IS A DREAM COME TRUE
Life is a dream come
true, full of love and virtue,
I listen to the tune and
rejoice in my being,
For God and His angels
are present and loving,
Showing me the way to
truth and happiness.
(written in 2006)
* * *
When I find myself hassled, I go back to one of the earliest messages I received from spirit:
PERFECTIONISM
Where does the overwhelming tendency toward perfectionism come from? Is it fear of being less than the best? Or is it because we lack pride and gratitude and fail to say to ourselves that whatever the outcome of our labor, we have done our best?
We let others or our own perfectionism overwhelm us. If we but relax, we can easily bring our plans to completion. We have sufficient vision and energy to accomplish most anything, if we give ourselves the time and patience to accomplish goals. We lose trust in ourselves or others if we listen to our fears. Fear snowballs fear, and a person overwhelmed with fear may find it difficult to be enthusiastic about anything!
When we are fearful, a chain reaction where we criticize ourselves and others may result. We may then berate ourselves or others for making mistakes, instead of acknowledging that mistakes are merely learning experiences, often unavoidable, when any individual or organization is growing.
Many of us neglect to love, accept and approve of ourselves exactly as we are. Without self-love we feel inadequate and are not grateful. Without self-love we have trouble loving or caring about others and recognizing their creativity, intelligence and ability to make and implement decisions.
Without faith in oneself and others, one may exhibit dictatorial and controlling behavior toward oneself and others. We may then desire to escape or be preoccupied with fear, inadequacy, self-loathing and disgust. We must recognize that everyone, ourselves included, is gifted in some way. If we do not judge ourselves and others harshly, we create a healthy environment where we become happy and productive and pass this attitude to others.
It is easy to blame others when something fails. Yet we must recognize that the answer lies within ourselves.
(written in 1993)
* * *
Many of my daily impressions are fleeting and tend to run together. Yet, events in my life are more serendipitous [positive outcomes more easily occur] than fortuitous [things just happen, being neither exclusively positive nor negative] when I make an effort to incorporate the steps of “The Secret” (also in this website) into my everyday living. This helps me, especially when I am trying to remember the process of doing almost anything.
Also, although some negative images permeate my consciousness, I am not superstitious in believing that they will affect me.
I cannot say my life is immaculate [without fault or error] or impeccable [synonym: perfect: excellent and delightful in all respects] or changing at the same rate. At least I am clarifying everything better and believe the positive part of me overcomes any negativity so I can more easily maintain my lightness of being.
David C. Hakim
Rochester, Michigan
January 7-14, 2009