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May 15, 2002

May 2001
INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to The Salon. My purpose in creating this on-line program is to share with you thoughts, ideas, feedback from you to others, inspiration, and direction to help enrich your life. Over the past sixteen years, I have had the pleasure of reading numerous letters, working with thousands of people both individually and in workshops, and finally I have reached the point at which I feel that I can make a contribution to your lives through sharing my observations as regards the more common concerns people have and continue to express to me.

Because we will be working together monthly and because The Salon is meant to be an on-going resource for personal growth, please consider keeping a journal. Change is an "always" in life, as the Buddha noted. And unattended change occurring from within you, particularly when triggered by spiritual questions and inner work, can wander into every which direction. Sometimes an unprocessed or unexamined thought can implode into a depression. You must attend to the profound, powerful truths, thoughts, and interpersonal exchanges that you introduce into your life. Never be spiritually careless. A spiritual inspiration has to be reviewed within the self as a gift of guidance and grace and made note of in some way. Spiritual thoughts are those inner energy pauses that occur independently of your own efforts to generate them. Often they engage feelings of hope and imaginations that cause you to rethink the direction of your life. These are not ordinary thoughts or musings -- they are a part of your soul's dialog with your unconscious that has managed to come to the surface of your conscious mind.

FORMAT

One Universal Truth will be examined in each issue and applied in a way that can make a difference in your life;

I will address the issues and questions that are the most common in life so that all can benefit;

Spiritual guidance will be discussed with an emphasis on spiritual direction.

THE FIRST TRUTH:
LIFE IS A JOURNEY OF BECOMING CONSCIOUS -- NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS

What made you pursue the path of becoming a "conscious" person and living a more spiritual life? You have probably always lived your life believing in some form of the Divine or God, only now you are most likely seeking more, and while that more can be defined in many ways, suffice to say that you are in search of a God through which you can find spiritual empowerment. You no longer want to observe God from afar; you want to feel God from within. We have all downloaded a passion that is rapidly reshaping us spiritually and awakening in us a desire to do more than practice a religion. We want to channel the energy of the heavens right through our psyches and souls and into the physical dimension of our lives.

People in my workshops or in letters to me often describe themselves as healers, but I do not necessarily accept that as their line of occupation. True healers are a rare breed (we'll examine what makes a healer in a later Salon). What these individuals are recognizing, however, is that some new current of energy is running through their systems and they are being inspired to find an alternative means of expressing this divine electricity. The most obvious means is healing, but that is not always the right choice. Work in the healing field does serve the purpose of giving a person a target, an outlet through which they can verify and validate the fact that something is being channeled through their systems that was not there yesterday. And this something is making them want to live a different life, eat different foods, share in global and spiritual concerns on this planet -- in short, to become a more conscious person. At the very least, realization that a significant shift in energy has taken place automatically makes a person want to heal. It's a natural response to becoming what I refer to as "spiritually animated." You become compelled to begin a psyche and soul cleansing -- the effortless effort.

If you are going through something like this, it would be helpful to be given the right words to describe what you are experiencing so that you can embrace its purpose and recognize that your life cannot remain the same once a process of revelation has begun. That life is a journey of becoming conscious might once have meant nothing more to you than any other sentence on a page. Now it determines the course of each day of your life and has become the scale against which you measure every action. So how, exactly, should you explore that truth, and how is that truth exploring you?

ATTENDING TO YOUR CONTRADICTIONS:

I can tell you that a force greater than yourself has directed you to actively pursue your spiritual development, but I am sure you already believe that. But have you actually given thought to why the heavens pursued you? What are you doing that is so essential to the spiritual evolution of the human soul that you should be taken off the ordinary path of life -- the one you thought you were on -- and redirected? (You are not allowed to think this, however: "I wonder what I am supposed to be doing in this life?" You are doing/being exactly what and how you should.) Begin with the assumption that you have been called into a Mystery School -- a process that takes over the direction of your life and leads you through a spiritual, alchemical transformation that will alter the manner in which you relate to life. You would probably agree with me that thought comes before form and that spirit determines matter. This is basic physics and metaphysics.

Living by this creed, however, is another "matter" entirely. You are on a path of spiritual training -- an apprentice in the science of spiritual alchemy -- and the goal is for you to become someone who lives by this creed rather than simply knows it. True healing is spiritual alchemy. Intuitive science is an aspect of spiritual alchemy. These are the subjects that you and I are going to study, because this is why the heavens have pulled you out of ordinary life and set you on a course leading into the world behind your eyes, demanding that you release the world you see in front of your eyes.

Your spirit must now script a new discipline that requires you to pay attention to your thoughts, actions, words, and private agendas. You are a student once again, an apprentice in the science of spiritual alchemy. You must learn about the untapped potential you carry within you in order that this potential can be released. You cannot be given a power, even if it is your own internal power, unless you can handle it consciously. That you may not be able to see the grace you channel into life or appreciate the power of what you are doing is more to your benefit. Your concern should be on attending to your inner contradictions, to why you are incongruent, why your mind acts separately from your heart. This is your work right now, and while you are doing this work consciously and with an inner commitment, everything and everyone else around you benefits. Keep your eyes on your inner work and nowhere else. When a struggle or difficulty arises, then attend to that consciously. Identify your contradictions: "I know I should forgive, but I can't." This is your work.

QUESTIONS FOR SELF-EXAMINATION

1. What are you seeking in this journey of becoming conscious?
Most people have been motivated to begin living what they describe as a more spiritual life because something tragic, traumatic, or illness-related has occurred in their lives. Few people I know got out of bed in the morning and announced that today was the day they intended to work on becoming a conscious person. A spiritual awakening simply does not happen that way. It explodes into your life because you are meant to notice it. You have experienced a trauma or the painful arrival of spirit into your conscious mind so that you will establish a connection and rapport with your spirit, for which your spirit needs to survive some crisis. I can tell you that you hold the potential to become spiritually empowered beyond your wildest imaginings, but that would mean nothing to you. True power must be experienced. You cannot become empowered or courageous through books. You must live it; you must earn it.

"What is your idea of becoming conscious? What are you looking to attain on your journey of consciousness?" When I used to ask people this question, they often got a baffled look on their faces, as if I had asked them to recall every Beatles hit in three minutes. But what struck me as even more curious than their not having considered these questions before was what they answered. Here are some examples, all taken from my notes: Peace. Inner tranquility. Happiness. Joy. Financial abundance. No more worries. I won't have to be alone. No more pain. Retirement. Wisdom. To be all-knowing. Light. Love. Few people have ever said, "I am on this personal journey because I need to cope with the fact that I am obsessed with envy. I lose my power every time I am around people who appear to have more self-confidence, money, or power than I do. I hate them because they can live more independent lives. I am controlled by so many illusions, and I must confront them because they tormented me. I know I should forgive people, but I don't want to. I am a living mass of contradictions. I am incongruent, and my spiritual goal is to become a congruent and spiritually empowered individual."

Too bad, because then I could have said, "Great answer!" But whether you offer such an answer to yourself or not, once you begin this journey the need to become congruent takes charge of your growth. The particulars of your theme versus anyone else's are just a matter of earth-school paperwork. But the goal of becoming spiritually congruent is why you are on the path of becoming a more conscious person.

2. How are you spiritually incongruent? What are your contradictions?
Spiritual congruency refers to living a life in which your mind, will power, and heart operate as one harmonious unit. What you think reflects what you feel, and what you choose in life honors both. When you are congruent, you don't lose your spirit to another person or negotiate your power.

3. Why are you here?
Somewhere along the line you have doubtless asked the Universe, "For what reason have I been born?" Most of us are seeking a response that would include the perfect job. "Perfect" means that we do not work for anyone else; we make enough money to work only when we want; we get to have our mythic cabin in the woods so we can commune with nature; the job has a spiritual purpose and we get to hang around with interesting people; money will no longer be an issue and neither will romance. Ugh.

Asking for the reason why you have been given life is not actually a question at all; it is an invocation for a higher level of knowledge to filter into your psyche. That kind of knowledge about the self cannot be absorbed just by living a certain idealized lifestyle. You must earn the answer to this question; you must become the answer.

This is why lives change so dramatically when you set foot on a spiritual journey. Every relationship and every expression of your life is reshaped to accommodate the shift in your priorities. The only problem is that you did not realize that the answer to these profound invocations could result in dramatic life changes. And the reason is simple. Once a classroom has served its purpose, you and your classmates need to move on. You cannot go on to college and take your high school classroom with you. Similarly, once a relationship has assisted you on your journey, you have completed that Contract with that person. You may or may not part as friends, but you will certainly notice a change in the dynamics of your relationship. Anyone who stifles your growth will eventually create a situation you will have to confront.

For all that, a sense of liberation fills you on this journey in a way nothing else ever has. There is something about becoming empowered that cannot be compared with anything else. A woman in my workshop told me that she was too hurt to forgive her ex-husband. I suggested that she instead acknowledge the truth. "You are full of vengeance and you have no intention of forgiving him," I said, "because that would let him off the guilt hook. Becoming congruent means acknowledging, if only to yourself, the contents of your heart and mind, and noting why you make the choices you do.

QUESTIONS: What are the spiritual questions you asked at the beginning of your journey? What answers did you expect or hope to receive? What are your spiritual disappointments? (And don't tell yourself you don't have any because you do. Maybe you thought life would be easier somehow or that God would "tell" you what to do with your life, as if what you are doing now has no value.

PERSONAL GUIDANCE AND INSTRUCTION: On Becoming Congruent

You can begin your commitment to becoming congruent by agreeing to keep up with your journal. Even if you make only the slightest entry, write something each day. One day you will read your journal and see how far you have come. Title this first section of your journal: Becoming Congruent. Note those characteristics and behavioral patterns in you that are not congruent. You will not accomplish this in one sitting. This is a question for self-examination that should become a lens through which you continually review your actions, thoughts, and words. Choose one characteristic that you will give conscious intention to all month. This could be your tendency to say one thing but mean another. Or to think one way and feel another, so that you never say what you are really thinking. Or to make a decision about something without consulting your heart. I each case, observe your struggle. As you become familiar with your particular pattern of being incongruent, create one commitment for yourself that demands consistency and congruency. For the sake of change, I recommend that you do this part of the exercise immediately. You have one month to work on yourself and the sooner you begin, the better. Make note of all the excuses you give yourself to break your commitment. Note your reasons in as much detail as you can; they are archetypal codes and we will be dealing with archetypal language in a later Salon. Finally, make note of all personal changes, and determine whether your external life is witness to even the slightest shift in your own being.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS: Please feel free to submit questions during the month, as I intend to add sections to the Salon as we continue each month, and Q & A will be one of them.

EVERY THOUGHT IS A PRAYER

Telling you to "imagine" this and "imagine" is so frustrating. Why don't we just get to the point and accept the fact that angels are guardians in our lives and that every thought is a prayer? Just as we imagine our prayers going out into the universe and taking effect in some way, we should consider the possibility that all thoughts are also heard. Thoughts don't stray around in the Universe without their owner's name on them, so practice the discipline and observe all your thoughts.

Remember your Angel Guardian, keep your journal, and be consistent. And bless your life and the lives of those you love.

Speaking of which, with love,
Caroline

June's Salon Topic: Spiritual Alchemy and Personal Transformation: Revealing Your Journey

MAY I SUGGEST AN HONOR CODE? I have planned The Salon to be a Mystery School and we will be sharing a wide spectrum of information, some of which will be new research and other information might come from the personal lives of many of you in the school. I would like to ask that we maintain an honor code in which we do not email The Salon to any personal friends or associates.
To register for the Salon

Caroline Myss Events
Sounds True is seeking a small studio audience for a new audio recording with Caroline Myss on "Self-Esteem: Your Core Power." Attendance is free, and limited to 30 people. The recording will take place at the Chicago Recording Company (232 E. Ohio St) in downtown Chicago on May 20th and 21st from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. Please sign up only if you can attend both days and if you can arrive by 8:30 am. To be part of the studio audience, please email Travis Susannah at: TravisS@SoundsTrue.com
The Power of Choice: Initiating Change in you life
The Conference Works
Atlanta GA.
May 31 June 1
317 329 8445

Caroline Myss - Wayne Dyer
For Details:
Nov. 23/02
Transitions Bookplace
1000 W. North Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
phone: 312.951.READ(7323) or 800.979.READ(7323)
fax: 312.951.5595