He asked, "We all have expectations. How can I simply live by being?"

Greetings!

In a spiritual gathering, a young man said he had been trying to help a friend, but the outcome was disappointing.  He felt discouraged and frustrated.  He asked the facilitator / teacher, "We all have expectations.  How can I simply live by being?"

Indeed, most of us if not all of us had expectations.  With expectations, we felt happy when things unfolded as we had hoped, but, we were also bound to experience disappointment sometimes.  It was the nature of life that not everything could be foreseen or happened as we had wished (or planned). 

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Out of good intention, the young man wanted to help his friend.  

When the young man asked 'how can I simply live by being', I supposed he wanted to know how he could accept what 'is' (i.e. the outcome appeared to be at the time) without feeling discouraged and frustrated.  Or, he might have assumed that unwholesome feelings did not arise in those that could simply live by being.    

   

Many spiritual teachers had talked about living in the 'now', and had offered helpful advice in handling life situations.  People often felt inspired and got a renewed sense of hope for a joyful life afterward.  When dilemma showed up again, some found themselves going through similar emotions such as frustration, anger, and pain.  We could attend many lectures or read lots of books about life, but true transformation must come from within.  If we consistently applied / practiced / remembered that inspired us, we would gradually see a change in ourselves.  In time, we might be able to look at life situations and others with a new perspective.  (In my post Love! Love! Love!, my spirit guide's timely intervention stopped me from reacting with anger.  I did not change overnight.  In life, we did fall into the same old patterns again and again.  It helped to pay attention to our actions and reactions in situations where problems continued to exist.)

The young man's question reminded me of what the teacher of healing taught us during her workshop.  She told us to hold the pure intention of service, let go of our ego, and let the Divine guide us during healing sessions; we should not be concerned with the outcome and have faith that the Divine knew what was the best for the recipient.  I found truth in her guidance, and in fact, her words helped me in life situations (or relationships) too.  Occasionally, life dramas still got to me especially in total unexpected circumstances.  Luckily, I now knew to go through them with love and patience for myself as well as for others that were involved.  

The young man, a sincere seeker, would eventually know All Is Well.  He had tried his best to help his friend and that was what mattered the most.  He might have assumed those spiritual teachers that gave lectures or workshops lived in peace and were void of those emotions.  It might not necessary be true.  Many spiritual teachers had shared their stories.  They had gone through life as we had.  As my spirit guide said, "It is alright to react with a certain mood such as happy, surprise or even upset.  Face it, this is what life is all about.  But then, we discern ourselves from the feeling and observe it with tranquility."  (Re You don't necessary have to like or dislike someone )

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The young man might have assumed that by accepting what 'is', one might not have to deal with negative emotions.  Well, long time ago I had also made an assumption.  I thought only the awakened ones could simply live by being.  Since they were awakened, they intuitively knew why this or that happened as well as what would be / could be.  Therefore, they were at peace with whatever that happened.  I knew now my assumption was wrong too.

What does it mean to simply live by being?  

As most of you, I am a simple person living a physical life.  Indeed, the real beauty of life is what I do not know .  I shall continue to share with you what I learned about living by being.  (Next post In Faith and Trust, I AM )

Love and Peace,

Q of D     

                                            

Incredible! A golden yellow caterpillar on the mud below a tree!

Greetings!

Last night I published Caterpillars and A White BMW .  While I was writing that post, I thought the title could be 'She said she drove a white BMW'.  However, after I finished writing, I decided to include caterpillars in the title.

This morning I went for a walk.  

I used to walk a few rounds on the school field next to the apartments, and then I went to visit the big trees along the main road.  As I walked, I acknowledged the trees and nature for sharing with us their love, peace, beauty and healing energies.  I sent love to Mother Earth.  I paid attention to the birds, butterflies, bees, grasshoppers and etc. that happened to come across my path.  I had taken some beautiful pictures of insects (or pictures of beautiful insects) over the years.

I saw the school parking lot was filled with cars.  There were a lot of people playing in the school fields.  I decided to skip the school field, and went to walk along the main road instead.  Unexpectedly, I saw a big, golden yellow caterpillar on the mud below a tree!  I had been talking walks in the morning along the trees for years, yet this was the first time I saw a caterpillar.  How incredible it was that I saw this beautiful caterpillar after I published my post Caterpillars and A White BMW  !

As I had spoken at church years ago, our experiences with the Loving Divine IS personal.  No matter how incredible we felt about a certain experience, others might not feel that way at all.  Some might say it happened by chance.  Others might say what happened was nothing special or they might secretly think we saw too much into nothing.  There was nothing wrong with whatever others might think of our experience.  Each one of us is going through our own unique journey on earth.  We are from the same Source or of the same nature.  We should have faith in the Divine, and trust that his / her Creator within is forever guiding.  We do not necessary have to convince / argue with others of what we believe in.  Of course, at the right time, we may share some of our experiences or what we have learned.  On the journey of life, we are all students, teachers, and inspiration unto one another.  So it is.

Many blessings,

Q of D

   

Caterpillars and A White BMW

Greetings!

Two days after seeing four BMW s, we went shopping again.  On our way to a store, I did not think about BMW cars at all.  To me, what happened that day was simply a coincidence or one of those strange days.

We arrived at the store.  My husband pulled into a parking space.  I got out of the car.  Immediately, I noticed a BMW was parked next to the car opposite to ours!  I thought, "What!  Are there that many people that drive BMW s?"  I did not say anything to my husband for he would not see it as a coincidence.  As we walked toward the entrance of the store, I could not help but looked at some of the cars that I walked past.  I did not see anymore BMW.

We finished shopping.  Before we got into our car, I saw a BMW moved into a parking space across (not opposite) from where we parked!  If we came out of the store a minute or two early, we could have left the parking lot before that BMW arrived.  

In the weeks (or months?) that followed, I would see BMW s in such a way that really drew my attention.  The following incident is another example.

We stopped at a red light.  Our car was the third car behind the red light.  While waiting for the traffic light to turn green, the car in front of us (i.e. the second car behind the red light) suddenly moved over to the next lane / right lane.  Right away, I saw the first car was a BMW.  I let out a joyful laugh.  I said to my husband, "The second car moved to the other lane so that I can see the first car is a BMW!"  My husband said, "No, that car moves to the right lane because it is about to make a right turn."  When the light turned green, the BMW stayed in front of us for only a short while.  Soon it turned left to get into a shop on the other side of the road.  Meanwhile, the second car remained on the right lane for some more miles and did not turn right as my husband had assumed.  When we made a left turn into a shopping center, the car was still in the right lane.

Did I see BMW s all the time?  No.  Most of the days I did not see any BMW.  I also did not hold the intention of seeing a BMW.

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In early July, I got an email from the assistant of the lecturer.  A woman who attended the 8-week lecture series wanted to get in contact with me.  After hearing what the lecturer said of me, the woman wanted me to give her a healing session.  (Re my post Sometimes I never know how a day is going to be )

After a few email exchange, we decided to meet in a park, a park that both of us had not been to.  I arrived early.  I parked my car in the middle of the parking lot.  I saw two cars at the farther end of the parking lot, and no one seemed to be inside.  My phone rang.  She said she had arrived and asked where I parked.  To put a long story short, I almost did not believe my ears when she said, "I drive a white BMW."

She had brought two chairs for us to sit in the center of some trees.  We wore masks and sat some feet apart as per the governor's order.  Soon more and more people came to play in the park.

While we were talking, she saw a big caterpillar fell on my shirt.  She picked up a leaf and gently used it to remove the caterpillar from my shirt.  Later, a couple of caterpillars climbed onto my pants and another one (or two) fell on my shirt.  Other than giving her a healing session, we talked for almost two hours.  When we were about to leave, I saw a small caterpillar fell on her.  She was happy because caterpillar symbolized transformation.  

During the June online lecture, I wrote I did not like attention.  She took it as I was shy.  She said she had helped a friend to get rid of her shyness.  She volunteered to help me too.  Personally, I did not regard myself as shy, but many of my American friends thought that I was.  I thanked her for wanting to help me because I always appreciated other's good intention.

Before we parted ways, both of us hoped to meet again when the pandemic was over.

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The weather has been nice.  Most mornings I go out for a walk.  I hope you are enjoying the summer too.

Love and Peace,

Q of D