God said:

When you go to the gas station, you have a choice of which grade of gas you buy to fill up your tank with.

Do you not have the same choice as to what to fill your heart with? You have the freedom of choice. You have your own Will and your own Self-determination. Always, you have a choice before you.

A mood comes over you? What is a mood next to your freedom? I mean, really, do you think a dark mood is more powerful than you? Empty the mood from your heart, and refill it with joy.

I imagine that you would choose joy. Perhaps I'm wrong, and you would just as soon have a dark mood than a joyful one. Perhaps you enjoy sinking into a mood and crying out, "Uncle. I give up." At the same time, I want to state strongly that surrender does not – I repeat – does not mean defeat.

In any case, you have choice. You may think you are helpless. Ahem, this is your first misconception. You have Will, and you have Freedom of Will. Your sense of helplessness may be your preferred mood, so to speak, your preferred platform to come from. You may want to be taken care of rather than venture forth yourself. Helplessness may be your modus operandi. It can work. And, so, you may make yourself a beggar of life. You take on a posture that says poor you, how badly you need hand-outs. My Will for you has ever been independence and joy, arm in arm.

Pick yourself up and get on with it. You do not crawl. You do not grovel. No longer do you ever think or say to yourself: "Alas, poor me."

It makes no difference where you are in your journey.  With pure intent and pure love, you can accomplish anything. ~ Creator

https://thecreatorwritings.wordpress.com/2016/04/11/where/

by Rajie Kabli, Collective Evolution

In case you haven’t heard, the recent leak of more than 11 million documents from offshore Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca has revealed how many powerful people, including world leaders, athletes, and celebrities — basically the 1% of this world — have kept, circulated, and hidden away huge sums of money using tax havens. The leak proves what we’ve all known and thought about for years, which is that the middle class is getting screwed, and the scope of corruption and greed far exceeds world leaders. But all hope is not lost, as other leaders are championing the way.

by Julian Rose

Contributor, ZenGardner.com

…leading to the rise of the Crypto Male

One of the things that might have given sex a bad name here on planet Earth, was the supposed arrival of highly realized beings whose conception (we are informed) did not come about via an act of conjugation between a man and a woman. Nor, one presumes, via an act of in-vitro fertilization.

But by some other means. Something which, as in the case of The Virgin Mary, the bible calls ‘Immaculate Conception’.

Now the word ‘immaculate’ suggests something without a flaw; something pure and perfect. And if the pure and the perfect are directly associated with being ‘sex free’ then – right from the outset – the sexual act is somehow denigrated. Denigrated as being less than pure.

So, does this mean that making progress in spiritual development has been linked, directly or indirectly, with the notion of somehow needing to rise above and beyond the act of sexual union? Beyond the expression of the duality inherent in male and female? In Yin and Yang? And in the process, has duality, as the source of sexual attraction, itself been reduced to that which needs to be ‘overcome’ rather than celebrated?

These are big questions indeed, but vital one’s to get a handle on. Not to turn away from lest they should reveal the existence of some long lost truths capable of turning our accepted views up side down.

Do you have a deep need of labels in order to feel secure? We often see this in relationships but it can occur in many other areas of life, as well. Most people use labels as a way of controlling things, as a way of constraining energy and looking for predictability. But the more you identify with a label, the more you might be limiting yourself, instead.

You see this often in couples. They quickly cycle through labels, from dating, to being exclusive, to being engaged, to being married. And have you ever noticed that many people, once they make it to the promised land of marriage seem to fall into a rut? They see marriage as the pinnacle, and think there is nowhere else to go from there.

Energy cannot be restrained. If you can see yourselves as energetic beings that are on the planet to grow and evolve, you can see how harmful and uncomfortable it would be to try to constrain it. Ironically, if you reach a point where the growth and expansion has stopped, there will be no energetic support to the activity. So the label that you have sought to secure a relationship, should it start to stall the growth of one or both people in the union, will be the very thing that will make your relationship fall apart.

by Alexa Erickson, Collective Evolution

Depression is a very personal, intense, and confusing feeling. You can feel like the world is out of your control, and there is no person, place, or thing that can bring you back to a place of peace. While we live in a day and age where pharmaceutical pills seem to reign supreme, there is much controversy regarding how this form of medicine works against our bodies in other ways.

Holistic healers continue to break the silence on ways to heal, mentally and physically, by using natural resources over synthetic ones. Many plant materials, for instance, are being researched for their ability to positively impact our mental health.

Here is a list of 15 natural substances that may be able to benefit our biochemistry and neurotransmitters, and amend nutrient deficiencies.

1. Kava

Kava is a root found on the South Pacific islands that is traditionally prepared as a tea. It has been found to be a safe and effective treatment for anxiety disorders and depression.

by Luke Miller Truth Theory 

Zen Flesh Zen Bones is my go to book for decluttering the mind, the first part is a transcription of 101 Zen stories. The second part is called the gateless gate- which is a series of koans, which are short paradoxical statements, stories or questions that can be used to help aid in meditation or to give a student something to intensely focus on, which can help in the attainment of enlightenment.

The last section is called 10 Bulls and is about finding your purpose. Each of the 10 bulls is a metaphor for a step on your journey and can really help you to find where you are on your path and what you need to do to go further or in fact what you should not be doing.

Below are 7 stories which are taken from the 101 zen stories, which will make you stop and think about how you view the world.

A CUP OF TEA