PAINTING A WAY

ABOUT THESE SESSIONS

2009-07-20T10:07:00.001-04:00

It is increasingly clear to me that inside all of us is a vibrant inner life - one that we can tap, one that we can rely on to guide us, to help us find our bearings in a world where we often feel lost, disconnected from meaning.

If we let go enough, it goes from being personal to something more universal.

I believe that's where these sessions come from, and I offer them to any of you who wish to share in this universal wisdom.

I. THE BIRTH OF SELF Session 1

2009-02-25T08:53:00.002-05:00

THE HIGHER SELF. What better place to start! It is only in this context that anything makes sense. Without this we are lost - and to be lost is the worst kind of suffering. We can accept terrible pain and face all sorts of threats as long as we are not lost. But we cannot bear being lost, even if we have no pain and no fears - because without a center, Life has no meaning. And this is the worst kind of suffering.

Therefore, when we feel lost, it is crucial that we center ourselves. The first step is to recognize that there is a Higher Self. In this way, we begin to find ourselves.

I. THE BIRTH OF SELF Session 2

2009-02-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

The Higher Self belongs to nobody. This is the first step of the first step. Only a fool would try to claim it. It would serve no use to try. Therefore, let it go. Simply that. Let it go.

Decide, then, how to use it if it’s not “yours”. It is there to help. It helps because it knows what you need. What you need is why you come to the Higher Self, i.e. Need always directs your life, your actions, your end-result - so that if you come to the Higher Self for guidance, the end-result will be help in finding your needs.

Don’t let it keep you from your journey. Let it guide you without claiming any of it. The end-result is you finding yourself. It is as easy as this.

I. THE BIRTH OF SELF Session 3

2009-02-21T08:57:00.000-05:00

It holds for everyone that what is needed comes through a birthing process. Birth and Life are the same thing. One leads into the other. And in the center of it all is need. If you can hold onto that in a true way, i.e. allowing it to be born – then it holds you during your life. If you don’t hold onto it, you remain lost. The connection is in the need and the need will carry you. For you to know your need is the same thing as you knowing who you are in this life. When you know who you are in this life, you can say you are born.

I. THE BIRTH OF SELF Session 4

2009-02-19T06:12:00.000-05:00

The birth of “you” is inside Life. However you can be knows itself thoroughly inside of you. It is this knowing that makes your life “your life”. Therefore, nothing has to be done. The knowing takes care of everything – at least, as the start of your self.

Live your being by knowing this inner start. (We talked about need before. The need grows into a self that is you.)

I. THE BIRTH OF SELF Session 5

2009-02-17T21:40:00.000-05:00

The Self begins to form when the feeling of knowing takes root. It forms along the “held” elements that were already there. It’s not a complicated process. It’s there and it forms as such – this “you” that is born into the world, into Life.

The important point of growth (i.e. where you can find relief) is in the knowing that started it all. Ask yourself this: “What in me knows ME?”

There you are – simple as that!

I. THE BIRTH OF SELF Session 6

2009-02-15T11:04:00.000-05:00

A time comes when the first feeling of Life swells. Try not to fear it because nothing can do you harm. Yes, outer things can, of course, but not to the true inner being that is “it”. Because of this, the fear can only run so deep, after which true being holds steady. Why is this important? Because without knowing this, you can only go so far in knowing truth.

The “it” will be there always, no matter what else happens above it, so to speak. You can relax more, then, in face of fear. When this is understood, true living happens with joy and fullness. The self grows this way.

I. THE BIRTH OF SELF Session 7

2009-02-13T11:33:00.000-05:00

All creation requires the natural elements to come together in the right way – held by forces that originate in the first of the triptych: light, radiance, Divine emanation.

The second element in the triptych is fire, heat, the soul of creation. And the third is growth itself. Combined, they let you know where you come from. If you are a self looking for your home, these elements provide the answers to your search – each one holding your creation (or should I say – the creation that is you) together. Held together, you grow in the light, fueled by your soul. Love comes into the equation when you stand in the middle of these elements as “you”.

I. THE BIRTH OF SELF Session 8

2009-02-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

A thought forms like a cloud once the self knows how to “be”. It knows what can be formed by understanding nothing, i.e. the knowledge forms automatically from deep inside where no things exist in form. The “thought” and the self that thinks it, grow in exactly the same way. You are, yourself, a thought.

II. THE GROWTH OF SELF Session 9

2009-02-09T07:11:00.000-05:00

The joy of growth is in the circular strokes. It stems from the circular energy always. Cycles. At the core of all growth is a motion in cycle – one core orchestrating the rest, orchestrating all that comes under its field, which is all things, including you.

II. THE GROWTH OF SELF Session 10

2009-02-07T07:54:00.000-05:00

Inside growth is the sun – in one way or another – not just as a light-filled energy but as a tendency to pull upwards towards itself, i.e. as a piece of it at the core of all growth – no matter in what form – reaching towards that from which the piece came. Here is the connection – right there – you in relation to your growth in Life. Stay connected by knowing that both ends of the connection, as it were, are related. There is no separation, and there can be no separation between the beginning of your growth and the completion of it. A full life knows this and lives fully.

II. THE GROWTH OF SELF Session 11

2009-02-05T10:03:00.000-05:00

The way into Life is held by a purity that holds you through every kind of agitation – good and bad. It’s there. To grow without it i.e. without knowing it, is growth out of control. If it holds true, the truth will shine through. For it to hold true, then, you must hold it through every kind of agitation – good and bad.

II. THE GROWTH OF SELF Session 12

2009-02-05T08:12:00.000-05:00

Balance is essential to growth. How are you balanced? It’s a feeling. You sense your way through growth. When you are unsettled, therefore, you achieve growth by finding that sense of balance. Settle yourself by growing from one point to the next and then you settle into yourself as a “thing”, good and right. You know it by that sense of balance. A dot holds you in place.

III. THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE Session 13

2009-02-03T09:17:00.000-05:00

What do you make of fire and water? How can this be?
And yet, the flame rises out of the water. It exists. It is not extinguished.
In fact, the flame came first.

Therefore, this can be said of fire and water:

One rises with Life out of the water – the flame.
Without it, water is Death.
But since the flame can’t be extinguished, there is no Death.
Life will always arise.

III. THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE Session 14

2009-02-01T07:34:00.000-05:00

The nature of existence can be replaced with the nature of differentiation. When a “thing” comes into existence it starts out un-differentiated. The more of a thing it becomes, the more it differentiates into something specific, unto itself – and hence, your existence takes shape through a clear path of differentiation. When you trust in the process and let go to it, you follow your growth in a natural way. The point is, after all, natural growth – that is, who you are differentiating into. If you miss the point, you miss your growth.

III. THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE Session 15

2009-01-30T08:57:00.000-05:00

Transcending form – What does this mean? The thing that you are cannot exist separately. For you to exist, therefore, you must never stop.

III. THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE Session 16

2009-01-28T08:19:00.000-05:00

The light that comes through is always connected to something alive. For you to exist means the light is shining through – otherwise you would not exist. Always know this, even in the darkness – you would not exist if the light was not coming through somewhere. What does this mean about your Life? Somewhere you are fully alive.

III. THE NATURE OF EXISTENCE Session 17

2009-01-26T07:35:00.000-05:00

The notion of existence comes into the mind as a well-sensed exertion, i.e. there is a flash of being that is you. Like a flame, it holds energy that scintillates as something to behold. This is you. There is nothing solid about it. Behold yourself – like a flame

IV. SPIRIT Session 18

2009-01-24T07:13:00.000-05:00

Imagine the depth of existence. Spirit has to take over at some point. Where is the end of existence? Where is the end of your existence? Your existence ends in existence. And existence ends in Spirit.

IV. SPIRIT Session 19

2009-01-22T09:43:00.000-05:00

The Spirit of something is held in the thing, itself. And Spirit holds the thing. But it’s not enough to say Spirit holds Spirit, because the thing, itself, lives and grows as a thing unto itself. So where is Spirit when you know a thing? Everywhere.

IV SPIRT Session 20

2009-01-20T06:55:00.000-05:00

The Spirit explodes like a star so that the spark of creation is literally a burst of energy that begins in Spirit. And like a star it shines with the light of Spirit. How are you different than a star? When you understand what “it” is, you know what shines. It is light. Again, how are you different than a star? When you know what light is, you will know your true self. It is Spirit.

V. EARTH Session 21

2009-01-18T07:25:00.000-05:00

A landscape forms like words. They both speak of life.

V. EARTH Session 22

2009-01-16T07:02:00.000-05:00

What happens on Earth is a play of energy very specifically held as inside out and outside in. The “out” holds more visually in the sense of appearances and the “in” more spiritually in the sense of blind energy. Light is needed for both, which means there is an intervision inside out and outside in.

V. EARTH Session 23

2009-01-14T07:24:00.000-05:00

From the center comes everything. Everything on Earth is a distillation of all things out of the center. They mix and merge where they meet. First distillation, then blending. The blending is what makes Life interesting. Life on Earth is interesting.

V. EARTH Session 24

2009-01-12T07:44:00.000-05:00

What flowers, can’t be held back. This is the saving Grace of Nature. It makes its way because the dynamics of its growth are already pre-determined. Rooted in Earth (Life on Earth) allows every single thing to dynamically grow in a pre-determined pattern. Earth determines growth as a base, therefore, for what has been pre-determined in Spirit. The seed of a thing has this future growth in it and Earth allows the unfoldment. This applies to psychological, mental and emotional patterns as well as physical.

VI. CONSCIOUSNESS Session 25

2009-01-09T08:12:00.000-05:00

The blue dot represents a point – consciousness. By noting it as such it becomes conscious. This “noting” is consciousness. Where are “you” in it all? A good question – because you are conscious as a point in time, here on Earth. Love comes into the equation as a prayer of the heart, held by consciousness.

VI. CONSCIOUSNESS Session 26

2009-01-07T08:33:00.000-05:00

The way to knowing your Self is through letting Life live you – Decide to do so. If a blue dot represents your consciousness, this represents what comes after – letting Life live you.

Know this and tie your consciousness to you living your life.

VI. CONSCIOUSNESS Session 27

2009-01-05T10:22:00.000-05:00

The feeling of Life emerges as a feeling of growth. There is ease and calmness. At the core of consciousness is serenity.

VI. CONSCIOUSNESS Session 28

2009-01-03T06:59:00.000-05:00

The egg is a symbol for all creation. It goes beyond consciousness, but it is linked to consciousness by its potential - i.e. what forms, comes forth through a channel of consciousness that precedes it and, therefore, knows it. This is important because the link carries your life. So to be conscious is to be linked to the formation of your being.

VII. THE HUMAN FORM Session 29

2009-01-01T07:47:00.000-05:00

“We” as a species – What does that mean? Consciousness in human flesh. It forms like everything else. We are a species communicating flesh to flesh, spirit to spirit. The recognition is “hello” – a pure form of consciousness aware of itself in different forms. The greeting is the first step of awareness.

VII. THE HUMAN FORM Session 30

2008-12-30T06:37:00.000-05:00

The scope of being human includes a clear view of pure consciousness. Never forget this, no matter who you look at.

VII. THE HUMAN FORM Session 31

2008-12-28T09:10:00.000-05:00

Light comes through every human being. Because of this no human being is just skin and bones. Whatever forms, traces back to light – but not only traces back to it – becomes it again. You lose what you become. So don’t worry because you also become what you lose.

VIII. SUFFERING Session 32

2008-12-26T08:12:00.000-05:00

Submerged in consciousness is pain – glimmers that need to be seen and felt. This is hard for humans – Pain is felt when consciousness is held back. But it is felt more when allowed. Pain cannot be avoided, therefore, but it can be overcome when felt more, which means more consciousness.

VIII. SUFFERING Session 33

2008-12-25T07:25:00.000-05:00

What fear comes out, is rooted in the same elements that sustain you. To exist is fearful. Fear, what is this? Suffering is at the bottom rung. To climb out of fear is to KNOW your suffering as the first step.

VIII. SUFFERING Session 34

2008-12-24T08:43:00.000-05:00

Raw Suffering (A poem)
__________________

What bothers you about suffering is

imperfection.

What bothers you about imperfection is

fear.

What bothers you about fear is

suffering.

IX. TRUST Session 35

2008-12-22T09:01:00.001-05:00

(Painted with my right hand - I'm left-handed)

Decide how to engage Life.
Is it fully – or is it “less than”?
The more you hold to the point of holding, the more you can trust.
Without trust, Life can only be less than what it is. (Left or right makes no difference. It is always the trust that carries the direction). The point holds you and the direction can be trusted.

IX. TRUST Session 36

2008-12-20T07:49:00.001-05:00

The Power of Something can always be held squarely in front of you like this picture – If you forget about the picture and feel the pure sense of energy, it holds. Whenever “holding” is referred to, it is this energy field focused from a point of execution. The source of execution is the mystery – the Great Mystery. Mystery and Power when focused is good when the mystery is not held. If you tamper with the mystery you break its force. You fix it by holding to it without holding.

IX. TRUST Session 37

2008-12-18T08:38:00.001-05:00

The juxtaposition of colour is only meaningful when the 2 elements combine strategically – i.e. with a reasonable sense of merging – not taking from one another but enhancing one another. It is the same with suffering. When the pain is juxtaposed with the light – it transforms into a reasonable merging with meaning. It’s this meaning that heals – including all the reasons for the pain.

X. GOD Session 38

2008-12-16T08:24:00.001-05:00

Distinguish the core from the space around it. You can’t.

All of the same substance.

What is core then? Everything.

What is the space around it? Aspects of it.

The atmosphere is space around the core and, therefore, aspects of it indistinguishable from the core.

This is mentioned, because suffering has a core and the space around it can heal it when it is indistinguishable from God.

God is everything and in everything.

There is no suffering that can’t be healed.

If you are confused it is because you are trying to distinguish
the suffering from the healing,
the core from the atmosphere around it
and God from you.

X. GOD Session 39

2008-12-14T08:51:00.001-05:00

The matching of elements can be seen in 2 ways:

Within a universal context
and within a personal context.

Why is this important?

Because one without the other is “un-Godly”.

God is in the person.
The person is in God.

The big question: WHAT IS MEANT BY GOD?

The answer is in the person.

XI. JUDGMENT Session 40

2008-12-12T08:39:00.004-05:00

The antithesis of God is judgment.

Which side do you like better?

XI. JUDGMENT Session 41

2008-12-10T20:23:00.009-05:00

SACRED ACORN

How can you judge the growth of something?

That is not meant to be answered

because as soon as you do, you lose it.

The whole nature of Life is inside this acorn.

Judge it away and nothing grows.

The simplest thing is to stop judging.

Simply that. Let Life live and nothing is lost

- as simple as an acorn growing into a tree.

Don't miss how simple it is.

XII. BALANCE Session 42

2008-12-08T10:17:00.000-05:00

FLESH IN BALANCE

Flesh has to be in balance to know its value.

It is an equation –
held by trust.

That means there is no interference
from distractions which subtract
or additions which detract.

The equation holds you in place
held by trust.

XIII. FOCUS Session 43

2008-12-06T06:49:00.001-05:00

The red dot marks your essence
when chaos is a concern.

It's red to mark your strength.
The red keeps you strong.

The repetition is to double the strength
of this message.

XIV. FEAR Session 44

2008-12-04T14:22:00.001-05:00

Note: When I worked on this painting, I mistakenly got some oil pastel inside the diamond-shape and tried to wipe it clean with paint thinner (see lower left bottom of diamond).

Below is how the painting looked after the paint thinner dried, leaving only a trace marking in that spot.

The Life Force holds a position of power.
You decide to obey or not.
Fear gets in the way -
A little blemish in the end
when the attitude is fearless.
Fear dissolves when the Life Force holds.

XV. SELF-REALIZATION Session 45

2008-12-02T13:36:00.003-05:00

Meditation must be part of any realization.

The process realizes the self practicing,
before and after this life.

During meditation the self comes forth,
realized now.

Meditation holds the self for this purpose.

XV. SELF-REALIZATION Session 46

2008-11-30T12:50:00.000-05:00

The real self is born out of the Life Force.
It is real because there are no other interferences from unreal fears.
The reason fear comes in here is exactly because you believe the real can't be true.
"True" and "real" are the same thing.
Therefore, you say the real can't be real.
Do you see how fear, then, is exactly the opposite of real (i.e. unreal).

Consider truth.
That is the key to self-realization.

XV. SELF-REALIZATION Session 47

2008-11-28T00:16:00.001-05:00

A meditation on love:
Fear creates negativity.
Will holds it.
The comfortable and the uncomfortable both create the formation, the forming, the form to be healed.
Why is this part of self-realization?
Because the form is you
and the light is love,
meaning you (the real you) can't feel or express love unless the negative, fearful, uncomfortable you is part of the formation, the forming, the form.

Then will can change.
Then fear can be resolved
and negativity dissolved.

XVI. LIFE FORCE Session 48

2008-11-26T11:51:00.000-05:00

There is no Life Force that is not somehow centralized -

through the center

out of the center

living out of the center.

This is you.

Self-realization, the Real Self that is you, rises out of the center.

The force of Life that is you

rises out of the center.

XVI. LIFE FORCE Session 49

2008-11-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

Blessings - the true nature of the Life Force.

XVI. LIFE FORCE Session 50

2008-11-22T08:25:00.000-05:00

The whole expression of Life Force means everything - a process.

IT NEVER STOPS.

The murkiness you worry about is the same as the joy you want to express.

NO DIFFERENCE.

The dynamism is the Life Force.

The murkiness dissolves as soon as you let go to the process that includes it.

Therefore joy includes the murkiness and the Life Force includes both.

In other words, there is no worry necessary when it comes to whole-ness.

XVII. INTENTION Session 51

2008-11-20T09:13:00.000-05:00

Something has to pierce through.

Why does it come?

It wants something.

Who sends it?

To know this answer means Life.

There is no life without a "who".

Life is a question.

The answer is the intention.

XVII. INTENTION Session 52

2008-11-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

Without the light shining through there is nothing.

Taken in reverse, there is something only when light shines through.

What is the connection between light and intention?

When light is blocked there is a dimming of life.

No matter how much you intend something it will be blocked.

The question becomes, therefore,

HOW DO I KEEP THE LIGHT SHINING THROUGH SO THAT I CAN LIVE FULLY?

An unfulfilled Life is one where intentions are dimmed.

XVIII. TRUST AND WORK Session 53

2008-11-16T20:50:00.000-05:00

Trust is an opening

like curtains parting

so that the light comes through.

To part the curtains you must ask only 1 question:

How can I expose the light?

If there is no answer

the work continues.

When the light is exposed

the work starts.

XVIII. TRUST AND LOVE Session 54

2008-11-14T15:50:00.000-05:00

The emotional value of the blue indicates the spirit.

The light is the spirit.

When emotion shines through it is love only when trust is involved.

Therefore, to indicate love, start with spirit and turn to trust.

XIX. CONFUSION Session 55

2008-11-12T21:08:00.001-05:00

You are off-center for a reason -

Because there is no discernible center.

Confusion holds the life force.

This holding clouds the center.

Therefore a simple correction is

letting go when confusion holds.

A natural re-centering takes place.

From off to on.
From confusion to clarity.

It's a simple matter.

Try it.

XX. IN TRANSITION Session 56

2008-11-10T06:43:00.000-05:00

"I pray to know my Yes."

A simple prayer for natural Life.

Everything un-natural is "No".

The only time No is natural

is when it is planting a seed in the prayer.

Then No can become Yes

and Life can grow naturally.

XXI. GREATNESS Session 57

2008-11-08T08:24:00.000-05:00

The magnitude of internal energy is self-sustaining.

Why remember this?

Because once you know this, Life sustains you.

External energy clouds this inner force
only when there is no self to sustain

i.e. the magnitude has nowhere to be lived.

How can you sustain something that isn't there?

"Self" is the key here.

Remember and know this when it comes to greatness.

XXII. SUSTAINING SELF Session 58

2008-11-06T12:39:00.000-05:00

In a world of wills
the only saving grace
is a single flame.
Not mine. Not others'.
How do we reach that flame?
You don't reach it -
You acquire it -
by loving the truth.

It's simple.
It comes to you
by loving the truth.

XXIII. KNOWING NATURE

2008-11-04T22:11:00.000-05:00

The Leaf

Why a leaf?

It is Fall and they are all around.

Why a leaf?

Orange and yellow and veins of red.

Why a leaf?

Once green.

Why a leaf?

Seasonal.

To know the answer is to understand the seasons.

To understand the seasons is to know a leaf.