tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45022727331271889362024-02-06T22:14:40.748-08:00Spirit TherapistMy name is Robert Cornell and I am a longtime meditator, spiritual guide, and spiritually based psychotherapist. I teach and lead Spiritual Growth groups as well as offer one on one therapy in the Pasadena area.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-67506390791921148612015-05-21T23:10:00.000-07:002015-05-21T23:10:44.827-07:00Love is the Answer<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i><span style="color: #010f18; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">"Love is patient and kind. Love knows neither envy nor jealousy. Love is not forward and self-assertive, nor boastful and conceited." St Paul</span></i></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">, 1<sup>st</sup>Corinthians 13:4</span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">Sunday before last, Susan Russel, one of our priests at All Saints, delivered a sermon on “What is most simple is the most difficult.” Meaning Jesus’s message is very simple, but not easy for us humans to consistently practice: Love one another as I have loved you and love your neighbor as yourself.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">One problem being that many of us don’t feel loved and don’t feel loving towards ourselves. So love of Self and allowing God to love us is actually one of the foundational spiritual practices. If we know that we often experience shame, guilt, depression, self rejection, and chronic fear, then the practice of Self Love would be highly beneficial for our souls.<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">Whenever one of these negative feelings arises within our consciousness, it would be good to go directly into Self Loving. We can do this by placing our hands over the places in our body where we feel these emotions, often the heart space and the gut. And as we connect to these hurting places in our body we send loving to them. This is simple spiritual first aide that is so simple, straight forward and provides great consolation and healing.<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.spirittherapist.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">WWW.SPIRITTHERAPIST.COM</a> </span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-31853767642394295392015-05-02T16:29:00.001-07:002015-05-02T16:29:00.698-07:00SOUL WORK FOR SOUL TENDERS<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Bernard MT Condensed'; font-size: 28pt;">SOUL WORK FOR SOUL TENDERS<u></u><u></u></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Black'; font-size: 16pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;">Have you longed for a small group where you could keep learning new ways to serve others as you continue your own spiritual and psychologically development? Do you wish you had a group of fellow practitioners with whom you could be totally real and work on your own personal growth with their support? Have you dreamed of the possibility of integrating spirituality with your professional healing work? Well, wait no longer! This is the future of our fields; come join us!</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 16pt;">Soul Work</span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;"> is accomplished in small groups. We gather together from many schools of healing and faith traditions to engage in deep spiritual practices such as Contemplation, Lectio Divina, Forgiveness, Loving Kindness Meditation, Enneagram Work and a combination of psychological processes such as Gestalt, Inquiry, Somatic Processing, Emotional Freedom Technique, etc. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><u><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 16pt;">ABOUT THE LEADERS:</span></u></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua; font-size: medium;"><b>Robert Cornell, Counselor & Spiritual Director </b>is a former Zen </span><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua;"><span style="font-size: 19px;">Buddhist</span></span><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua; font-size: medium;"> monk and<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;">has practiced and taught Buddhist and Christian meditation techniques for over forty-five years. He has a Masters degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist. His particular passion has been to create small groups that engage in Integral Practice.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;">Anthony Glenn Miller, Servant & Soul Friend </span></b><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 14pt;">is an Episcopal Priest in the Diocese of Los Angeles with over 20 years of experience in parish ministry. Anthony holds degrees from General Theological Seminary (M.Div.), Yale Divinity School (S.T.M.), and Harvard University (Ed.M.). Anthony has a passion for ministering to people on the margins as well as those looking to live a heart-centered life.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><u><span style="font-family: 'Book Antiqua'; font-size: 16pt;">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO CONTACT US:</span></u></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> <a href="http://www.robertbcornellspirit@gmail.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.robertbcornellspirit@<wbr></wbr>gmail.com</a> Phone: <a href="tel:626-398-5581" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+16263985581">626-398-5581</a>.</span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-3300442554078167222015-04-24T13:31:00.004-07:002015-04-24T13:31:48.328-07:00PRACTICING THE ISNESS OF THINGS<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<b style="font-size: 15px;"><i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Black';">The Perfect Way knows no difficulties except that it refuses to make preferences; Only when freed from hate and love, It reveals itself fully and without disguise. A tenth of an inch's difference, and heaven and earth are set apart; If you wish to see it before your own eyes, have no fixed thoughts either for or against it. To set up what you like against what you dislike, this is the disease of the mind: When the deep meaning [of the Way] is not understood, peace of mind is disturbed to no purpose.</span></i><i><span style="font-family: Times;"> </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Times;"> <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span> <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></i></b><b style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';">“On Believing in Mind” by the Third Chinese Patriarch of Zen </span><i><span style="font-family: Times;"> - </span></i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';">Translated by D. T. Suzuki</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';"><b>Much of the time we human beings are trying to make our experience “good” and not “bad.” There is perfect sense in this. For example, we should get out of the sun when we feel it is too hot so we don’t get sunburned or have heat stroke. Our body sends us messages constantly that this hurts, that tastes good, etc. and it does this for a very good reason: survival. But if our life only revolves around making ourselves feel good, we start shrinking from a spiritual standpoint.<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';"><b>One of the things that meditation as a non-dual practice helps us to do more skillfully is to learn to be with our experience AS IT IS, without the overlay of reactions of aversion, clinging or zoning out. Buddhism develops this practice in spades. A core teaching of Buddhism is that we experience unnecessary suffering because we resist “bad” experiences, hold onto “good” experiences and space out when experience is neutral (“boring”).<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';"><b>When we meditate, the “goal” is to have no goal. Not to set up anything (even great enlightenment) as the desired endpoint. Otherwise, we keep ourselves trapped in dualistic thinking where one thing is desirable (good) and another is undesirable (bad.) But this goes so counter to our usual way of relating to our life and, frankly, is a very hard sell in our culture of “every day getting better in every way.”<u></u><u></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Avenir Heavy;"><b>best wishes, Robert Cornell</b></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-23781457748568878992015-04-08T12:53:00.000-07:002015-04-08T12:53:54.276-07:00PRACTICING THE ISNESS OF THINGS<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" type="cite">
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">As I write this, I am experiencing a bad cold: sinus congestion, copious sneezing, sore throat, and an achy feeling running through my body. In practicing being with it, as it is, my sneezing subsides, and I am aware of the achiness from a </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">non -judgmental, non resisting place. Interestingly enough, from this place, the ache doesn’t seem “bad. ” Yes, it has a certain intensity, but the achy feeling has no hard edge produced by resistance to it. I could say from this vantage point I am not suffering - meaning I’m not adding any judgment or resistance to the normal experience of having a cold.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">When we are experiencing something painful, it is so common for us to complain, judge the experience as bad and to resist experiencing it by tensing up our body and trying to distract ourselves. Some of this is innocent enough: we watch TV, we listen to music, etc. so as to not be so aware of what we are feeing. And other attempts are more likely to do us harm - when we take heavy doses of pain killers or anti anxiety medications to not feel the pain or anxiety. In the long run, heavy medication and avoidance do not let us befriend our experience just as it is.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">I don’t mean that we should be masochists and not take medication when it is too much to bear. It’s learning to befriend our pain when it comes to us as it inevitably will as long as we have a body. It’s learning to tolerate the shaky, vulnerable feeling of being present with our experience in the moment, just as it is. If we are control freaks in some way, this is what we strive at all costs to avoid. So letting go means letting be – it’s as simple as that. Simple but not necessarily easy!</span></b></div>
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<b><a href="http://spirittherapist.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">SPIRITTHERAPIST.COM</a></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-88825886492666466852015-03-16T12:54:00.000-07:002015-03-16T12:54:34.872-07:00Listen<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" type="cite">
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black'; font-size: 16pt;">LISTEN<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">Stop. Listen.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">Your Soul is calling to you.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">But you are busy with the too many things<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">some bright and beautiful,<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">others heavy and dark.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">But go below this.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">Go deeper:<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">your Soul is calling to you.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">You are larger than you think<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">and your Soul knows.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">It knew before<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">you were even born.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">It knows that the world waits for you-<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">for the one precious thing<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">you were born to do.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">Listen to the silence<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">that is below the too many things.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">It too knows what<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">you were meant to be.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">Let go of fear, let go of shoulds<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">Your Soul is calling to you,<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">inviting you into the great world<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">that is waiting for YOU.<u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Cooper Black';">blessings, Robert Cornell</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-1730338776032149652015-03-16T12:53:00.000-07:002015-03-16T12:53:19.625-07:00The Beloved<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" type="cite">
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';">We look for the Beloved, but <wbr></wbr> </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';">we look for Her in all the wrong places. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';">Until, at last, trusting in ourselves, <wbr></wbr> </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';"> far beyond the wiles of the World, <wbr></wbr> </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';">our Heart rests in its heart of hearts, </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';"> where true love is found. </span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: 'Avenir Heavy';"> </span></i></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">One of the most beneficial spiritual practices we humans can do is to give ourselves self love. For some of us , this may be easy but for others of us it is very challenging to practice because of childhood wounds and hurts where our very lovability was called into question. Also for men (and I’m talking specifically about straight men), because of our enculturation into being strong and invulnerable, this practice seems quite off putting, sissified, suspect. As straight men, we are often afraid of anything that would imply that we are anything less that virile and masculine.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14pt;">In any case though many of us have parts of ourselves that we reject and push underground. So in our meditations this week, we are going to be making friends with all of ourselves, even those parts – especially those parts - we don’t like. There is real courage in this; the root of the word “courage” is “cour,” the French word for heart. For indeed this is work of the heart.</span></b></div>
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<b>BLESSINGS, ROBERT CORNELL </b><b><a href="http://www.spirittherapist.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">WWW.SPIRITTHERAPIST.COM</a></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-20750873704761954982015-03-16T12:49:00.000-07:002015-03-16T12:49:37.275-07:00WHAT IS THE BEST MEDITATION PRACTICE FOR ME?<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">Because we are different people with different personalities, different issues, and different strengths the spiritual practices that will work best for us will be different as well. That is why I do not teach one style of meditation practice. Now that makes it hard for some people because they want someone to just tell them,” Here do it this way. This is the best way to meditate.” So that may relieve you from some uncertainty initially; the problem being that later on, you may find that another style of meditation works better for you and you have spent a lot of time struggling with a type of mediation practice that you find frustrating and which may cause you to give up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">I like to encourage newcomers right off the bat to try on different practices to find the one that fits them best. Some practices such as mindfulness are very helpful for developing a somewhat detached observer awareness that can see more clearly past the waves of emotion / thought. Other meditation practices such as Zen plunge the practitioner directly into the experience of formlessness. Still others like Christian contemplation bring you to a centering in the heart space.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;">All of these practices have their strengths and their weaknesses. What they have in common is a stilling and taming of our scattered and distracted monkey minds which keep us from seeing deeply into the nature of Life and Reality.still </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-20333093079811225972015-02-25T12:45:00.000-08:002015-02-25T12:45:51.135-08:00OPENING THE TREASURE BOX<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Within each one of us there is a treasure box full of the bliss bestowing jewels of paradise. But we don’t want to open this box. Why? </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As one of my teachers, Charlotte Joko Beck said we live in the “if onlys” If only I had _____ , I would be happy. If only my spouse would love me, if only I had a better job, etc, etc. We keep looking outside of ourselves for something only we (or God) can give us</span></b><span style="font-size: 19px;"><b>. </b></span><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">But the treasure box doesn’t lie outside of us. </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That is the mistake we continually make.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Each day I work with my therapy clients to help them open their treasure boxes which lie deep within them right down amongst their pain. </span></b><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, being with these difficult feelings is exactly what we </span><span style="font-size: 19px;">don’t</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> want to do.</span></b><b><span style="font-size: medium;"> But that is exactly where our treasure boxes often lie: right in the midst of our anger, sadness, longing, hurt, and loneliness. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"> And we open them with radical acceptance and loving awareness. These are the keys to our treasure boxes and with them we gradually open our hearts as wide as the world with all its joys and sorrows. Our open hearts ARE the treasure box!</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.spirittherapist.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">WWW.SPIRITTHERAPIST.COM</a><u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-32337771545492712062015-02-16T11:58:00.001-08:002015-02-16T11:58:34.377-08:00Free Sunday Evening Mindfulness Meditation in Pasadena 6-7:30PM<b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Dear friends and colleagues,</b><br />
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<b>I am now doing a regular free Sunday evening mindfulness meditation offering at East Village Yoga in NE Pasadena at East Village Yoga Pasadena </b></div>
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<b>1720 E. Washington Blvd. </b><b>Suite 204 </b><b>Pasadena, ca 91104. This occurs every third Sunday from 6-<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1006946633" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">7:30PM. </span></span>There is plenty of parking in the rear of the building off Sinaloa Ave. </b></div>
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<b>I am concentrating on somatic connection (body awareness) right now as this is critical for our physical, mental, and spiritual healing and growth. Below is a description of the class for this Sunday. Please drop in and check it out. Also, Jenny Buchanan who runs the yoga studio is a personal long time friend and colleague.</b></div>
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<b>More info: robertbcornellspirit@gmail.com</b></div>
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<b>Best Wishes, Robert Cornell LMFT</b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">SPIRITUAL FIRST AID<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">There is a wonderful way to stay centered and connected with our inner divinity even when we are upset. When we are triggered into some difficult emotion, we are tempted to pull back from our experience, to try to avoid or to control our emotion. This puts us into conflict with our experience and often makes our suffering worse. And it does not to lead to healing.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">When we encounter a difficult emotion, one excellent way to engage with and heal it is to put one of our hands on our heart space and the other on our belly. Our hands have the most nerve endings of any part of our body. When we put our hands on our heart and gut, we are connecting directly with our bodily experience. And by doing so it is if to say to our vulnerable hurting selves, “ I am here for you.”</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">This practice of loving presence brings healing to our inner hurting selves. This practice can be one of the most effective and loving things we can do for ourselves.</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 16pt;">As we do this practice we are re connecting with ourselves. And this connection is the healing.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.spirittherapist.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">WWW.SPIRITTHERAPIST.COM</a></span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com01720 East Washington Boulevard #204, Pasadena, CA 91104, USA34.1691004 -118.115009333.958934899999996 -118.43773279999999 34.3792659 -117.7922858tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-3321002639339717292015-02-09T13:08:00.003-08:002015-02-09T13:08:53.612-08:00WORKING WITH OUR ANGER<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Very often when someone triggers our anger, there is a strong impulse for us to say something hurtful or spiteful in return. This is practically a reflex action and if we do this, we are acting on automatic pilot. It might feel good at first, letting it all hang out, telling them what we think of them, but often we regret it later for the damage it causes to our relationship with the other person.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What would be the alternative? We work with our anger like any other challenging emotion. First we hold it compassionately in our awareness (not suppressing it), watching for and refraining from any impulses to act out. This is one of the reasons why some kind of contemplative practice is so valuable for daily living. Mindfulness practice in particular gives us the ability to have this perspective on our strong emotions.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is important that we not judge ourselves or blame others for our anger. Instead when we are away from the triggering event we can start to inquire as to what the anger is about.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> We can listen compassionately to our inner dialogue of anger and ask ourselves: does it seem familiar, like an old story we have experienced over and over? Does it require us to do something that might be different than the way we have usually reacted before? Gradually as we work with our anger the patterns and meaning becomes clearer to us and we can act with more intelligence.</span></b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-49316101505545503912015-01-29T14:09:00.000-08:002015-01-29T14:09:15.400-08:00THE UPSIDE OF ANGER<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Anger is o</span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">ften </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">seen </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">in spiritual practice </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">as undesirable and to be let go of as soon as possible. And in a general sense it</span><span style="font-size: 19px;">’s true; w</span><span style="font-size: medium;">e have </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">all </span></b><b style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">seen people who hold onto their grievances and resentments and carry them around like valuable possessions, bringing toxicity into their own lives as well as those around them. However, while it’s good general advice to release our anger quickly, it does not always help us in the nitty gritty of our own daily lives.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Anger is a signal like any other emotion. Often anger signifies that an important personal boundary has been crossed and we need to listen carefully to the message contained in the angry emotion to discern what is to be done. And it might mean an old hurt has surfaced that needs further healing. So it is important that we investigate what our anger is about before we either attempt to let it go or act in some way to defend ourselves. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Often there is an intermingling of a past hurt and a current situation that we are facing. For example we have a difficult relationship with a boss at work that lines up with old issues with a parent. This takes particular care to sort out as to what part of the situation may be our own issue and what part we have a legitimate cause for wanting to confront the other person, while not acting out and undermining our position.</span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-31756601718539698292015-01-26T12:22:00.001-08:002015-01-26T12:22:14.438-08:00HOW DO WE MEDITATE?<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There are two basic paths in meditation practice: one is about detachment from thought and emotion and is typified by Buddhist meditation practices to develop insight into the empty nature of reality ( more about what emptiness means another time. ) And then there is the heart centered meditation practiced by mystical Christianity and Sufism.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In my own practice I lean more and more to heart centered meditation and I am going to be teaching more about that in our group. In heart centered meditation, you bring your awareness t</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">o your heart center and let yourself open to the source of loving which Christians and other theistic faiths call “God.” When we bring our consciousness to the heart, we feel deeply connected to our very selves and deeply connected to others and the world around us. </span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-87594631554153237552015-01-08T12:42:00.000-08:002015-01-08T12:42:22.874-08:00GRACE<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While we seek
healing and spiritual growth for ourselves, there is another loving force
operating from the other side. We could call this “Grace.” Unlike other things,
Grace is unearned, unconditional love; it is given to us simply for being human
beings. This is not the normal economy of the world where everything has to be
bought and is also usually bargained for with others: you give me this and I
will give you that.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> For most of us,
even those who have had so called normal lives, we cannot imagine something
that is given free of charge, so to speak. “So what is the catch?” the cynical
or doubting part of you might ask. There is no catch; we simply have to open
ourselves to receiving this grace. Of course this is just too good to be true
for us with our experiences of being hurt by others, of being made to feel
small and unworthy. It is very hard to imagine living in the economy of
unearned Grace where no demands are made of us, no conditions are put on our
being accepted, and there is no hidden agenda that could be turned against us.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So the work we
are invited to do in spiritual practice is really an undoing, a letting go of
all the old limiting beliefs that we harbor deep inside of us of being
unworthy, of suspecting the motives of others – even God or our higher power,
of holding on to the belief that nothing is for free… And giving up the old
agendas of our ego self that has thought to buy this love and protect itself by
trying to be successful, being a good or bad boy/girl, etc., etc. So there is a
price after all: letting go of everything that gets in the way of receiving
this love. This deep incredulousness about the gift of Grace is the fundamental
wound of us human beings. It is everyone’s spiritual wound, without exception.
And we heal it by gradually opening ourselves to this gift.</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Peace, Robert</span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-77051642380352508212014-12-22T06:24:00.002-08:002014-12-22T06:24:40.686-08:00EFFORTLESS EFFORT<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<b><span style="font-size: medium;">"Don</span><span style="font-size: 19px;">’</span><span style="font-size: medium;">t just do something, sit there!"<u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One of the things we learn to do in meditation is to “just sit there.” </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">In Japanese Zen, they call this Shikan Taza – just sitting. To our Western culture this seems to be tantamount to just sitting on your butt, doing nothing – a highly dubious activity - seen as lazy and unproductive even self centered navel gazing. But something happens when we “just sit.” Our awareness begins to open up, we begin to pull back from our impulses, our feelings and our stories about ourselves and the world and to be able to see what is going on both inside of us and outside of us with new clarity. We are less and less run by our original programming. We experience increased freedom and clarity and we bang into other people less often because we are not so wrapped up in the fog of our own preoccupations.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One way that we can help this process along is to notice when we begin to effort in our sitting. By this I mean any effort to bat a thought or feeling away rather than to just see it and let it go. Or a stiffening of the body as we resist some experience we are having. Or the thoughts that seem to have a life of their own which we either get entranced with or start to fight. All of this puts us back in the realm of doing and fixing and unneeded suffering.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I used to be a champion efforter. I didn’t know how to do any kind of concentrative activity without tensing up my shoulders and pursing my mouth. Yoga has been such a good additional practice for me because it works with the body and releasing tension in it.</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">When you adopt a pose in yoga the instructor will often remind you to release your jaw, your shoulders, etc. Ooops! As I was writing this I noticed I was tensing up my shoulders! But I noticed. And that is what it takes. Patient moment by moment noticing and letting go. This is what meditation is: no big deal, no big plans for great enlightenment. Just moment after moment being with what is rather than resisting what we fear and hanging on to what we want.</span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-65175298816404234782014-11-23T10:28:00.000-08:002014-11-23T10:28:23.859-08:00AWAKENING FROM THE TRANCE<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It is common for us to be triggered by outer circumstances into one of our old ways of being in the world. We can frame these ways of being in the world as our subpersonalities – parts of ourselves that may become dominant at times. In my last message, I listed a few of these subpersonalities that we can become over-identified with: the Inner Critic, the Judge, the People Pleaser, etc.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The issue for integral psycho-spiritual practice is, how can we free ourselves from the trance of over-identification with our subpersonalities when our consciousness becomes hijacked by one? This depends on the specific subpersonality that we are dealing with, but in general, there are some practices that help. The key one is the ongoing practice of mindfulness: developing through ongoing practice the mirror awareness that allows us to step back from and become less identified with our thoughts and emotions. As I shared with the group last time, it can be very helpful to be able to sense and identify these complexes or subpersonalities when they surface.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As a specific example, I will share about the “Pusher,” one of my subpersonalities. The Pusher complex shows up when I am doing something where I am afraid that another person is going to be displeased with my performance. When this happens, I tend to go into hyperdrive and try to make something happen ASAP! Underneath is the fear of displeasing, but sometimes I lose touch with this and go into efforting and worrying accompanied by a diffuse anxiety.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The way that I free myself is by: 1) catching myself going into this hyperdrive and 2) consciously pulling back, slowing down, 3) allowing myself to feel the anxiety and 4) giving myself love and compassion. 5) I gradually undermine the core belief that I am in trouble. 6) I meditate to let go of the thought/emotion/energy pattern that is this Pusher complex. Also, 7) I find Yoga practice a great boon to my being able to let down and relax from the grip of anxiety and inner tension that is the signature energetic pattern of the Pusher. So I use somatic (body) awareness, breath, cognitive, emotional and spiritual processes to become aware of, work through, and release the Pusher complex, when it threatens to take over my consciousness.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">As we discussed in group, the subpersonalities to watch out for are the ones that are fear based. That means they are triggered by the emotion of fear and fear based thinking, worry, etc. What are the fear based subpersonalities that operate in your consciousness? Try listing some and getting to know them better. You might very well gain some freedom by doing this work! Here are some of the cast of characters to be on the lookout for that are usually fear based: the Perfectionist, Inner Critic, Pusher, Workaholic, Rageaholic, People Pleaser, Control Freak, Rescuer, Worry Wart, Planner, Avoiders of all kinds, including the Procrastinator, etc.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Namaste, Robert Cornell LMFT, <a href="http://www.spirittherapist/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.spirittherapist</a>.com</span></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-2798677840957030372014-11-01T14:01:00.001-07:002014-11-01T14:01:46.039-07:00WHO AM I?<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>WHO AM I?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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We typically consider ourselves to be of one piece, and when
we don’t behave like we usually think that we do, we say,” I wasn’t myself when
I did that.” Well if we were not ourselves, then who were we? Did someone slip
into our body and take over? One way to
look at this is to imagine that we are formed of a committee of different
selves that each of which may show up as “us” in different times and
circumstances. For instance, when we are interacting with our children, it
brings forth our parent self. When we are reacting to criticism from someone,
it may bring out our own Inner Critic or some kind of defender. Depending upon
the situation, one or another of our inner cast of characters will be drawn
upon to respond. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Looked at from this
perspective, what constitutes mental health is 1) that we are aware of our
inner bit part actors, 2) we can have some influence over them, and 3) they can
work together harmoniously. So in this model, when we feel conflicted we have a
conflict going on between two or more of our inner parts. We are going to
continue to discuss this way of looking at our personality for some time now
and see what insights we might draw from this model to understand and work with
ourselves more skillfully. For those who find this idea fascinating you might
want to read some of Dr. Richard Schwartz’s books on Inner Family Systems.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b> Some of the bit parts
I will be introducing in subsequent talks are:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b> AWAKENED ONE:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One who
can step back from the drama and make clear
choices as to what to do<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>DEFENDERS:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Angry
One, Placator, Nice Girl, Nice Boy<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>CONTROLLERS:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Inner
Critic, Perfectionist, Pusher, Control Freak<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>SPACE CADETS:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Procrastinators, Addicts, Avoiders<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
-Robert Cornell</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.spirittherapist.com/" target="_blank">Spirit Therapist Website</a></div>
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<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-58932213265990616172014-10-26T21:50:00.003-07:002014-10-26T21:55:35.871-07:00Richard Rohr Passage<div class="post_title small" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #343434; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b>“</b><span class="quote" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b>Dear friends,</b></div>
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<b>I couldn’t keep from sending you this thought from Richard Rohr. It expresses our spiritual dilemma so well as we start out on the spiritual journey only to find ourselves highjacked!</b></div>
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<b>love, Robert Cornell</b></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
I wonder if the only way that conversion, enlightenment, and transformation ever happen is by a kind of divine ambush. We have to be caught off guard. As long as you are in control, you are going to keep trying to steer the ship by your previous experience of being in charge. The only way you will let yourself be ambushed is by trusting the “Ambusher,” and learning to trust that the darkness of intimacy will lead to depth, safety, freedom, and love.<br style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none 0px;" />Any use of fear techniques or trying to shame people into the spiritual journey is inherently counter- productive. It simply makes you more defensive and protective of your boundaries, but now at an unconscious level (I am afraid this is true of a high percentage of Christians, who were largely raised on fear of “hell” and social pressure). We need spiritual teachers like John of the Cross to help us see the patterns of the spiritual journey that actually work, so we can be a bit less defended, a bit less boundaried, with ourselves and with God. Only then can God do the soul forming work of seduction and union.<br style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none 0px;" />God needs to catch us by surprise because our very limited preexisting notions keep us and our understanding of God small. We are still trying to remain in control and we still want to “look good”! God tries to bring us into a bigger world where by definition we are not in control and no longer need to look good. A terrible lust for certitude and social order has characterized the last 500 years of Western Christianity, and it has simply not served the soul well at all. Once we lost a spirituality of darkness as its own kind of light, there just wasn’t much room for growth in faith, hope, and love.<br style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none 0px;" />So God has to come indirectly, catching us off guard and out of control, when we are empty instead of full of ourselves. That is why the saints talk about suffering so much. They are not masochistic, sadistic, negative, morbid, or oppositional. The mystics have seen the pattern and, as Teresa of Ávila says in one place, it is not that you are happy for the suffering—who would be, who could be?—you are happy for the new level of intimacy that the suffering brought you to. You only know this after the fact, perhaps days or weeks or even years later. One day you realize, “God is so real to me now. How did I get here?” All you know is that you did not engineer or even imagine this. You were taken there when you were off guard. John’s word for that is darkness.</div>
</span>”</div>
<div class="post_body" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 19.6000003814697px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 2px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 500px;">
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<tr style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td class="quote_source_mdash" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: text-top;">— </td><td class="quote_source" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: text-top;">Richard Rohr</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-13017970784774914532014-10-19T23:21:00.003-07:002014-10-19T23:21:31.324-07:00Soul Repair Group in Pasadena, California<div class="post_title" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 10px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="post_body" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; float: left; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 19.6000003814697px; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 2px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 500px;">
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">SOUL REPAIR</strong></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A small group for those who have suffered abuse, abandonment, and neglect as children and want to move on with their lives.</strong></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<strong style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom” - Anaïs Nin</strong></div>
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This small group program provides support to participants for the healing of old psycho-spiritual issues and developing better life skills for attaining their personal goals:</div>
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<b>COMMUNITY: </b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">a safe and supportive small group to share with others who have experienced similar challenges from their childhoods.</span></div>
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<b>SPIRITUALITY:</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> a loving space to heal painful childhood memories and to find greater inner peace, connection with others and one’s higher power.</span></div>
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<b>EDUCATION:</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> learning healthy ways to self regulate and reduce emotional distress through mindfulness practices, somatic processing and more.</span></div>
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<b>PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALING: </b><span style="font-weight: inherit;">sharing one’s stories, psychodrama, Emotional Freedom Technique (Tapping) forgiveness of self and others, self compassion and other practices for healing and moving beyond old issues.</span></div>
<div style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin-bottom: 10px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<b>PERSONAL GROWTH:</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> support and accountability for setting and attaining healthy goals for one’s life that align with one’s values, interests and skills.</span></div>
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<b>GROUP LEADER</b><span style="font-weight: inherit;"> is Robert Cornell, licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. A former Zen Buddhist monk, Robert has decades of experience leading small groups on the themes of psychological and spiritual healing and growth and vocational issues. He has thirty years of experience running his own award winning landscape design firm (see <a href="http://www.robertcornell.com/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.298039); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><a href="http://www.robertcornell.com/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.298039); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">www.robertcornell.com</a>.) He is currently finishing writing his first book, Fifty Ways of Letting Go on psychological and spiritual growth. For further information about his experience and the different groups he leads, go to: <a href="http://www.spirittherapist.com/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.298039); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><a href="http://www.spirittherapist.com/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.298039); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">www.spirittherapist.com</a> and <a href="http://www.journeyonward.com/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.298039); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><a href="http://www.journeyonward.com/" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.298039); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">www.journeyonward.com</a>. You can contact Robert through these websites.</span></div>
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<b>PRACTICAL MATTERS:</b></div>
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<b>There are two groups that meet every other week: Monday nights from 7-9PM and Wednesday nights from 7-9PM. Fee is on a sliding scale based on income.</b></div>
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<b>Meetings are held at Westminster Counseling Center at 867 E. Atchison Street, Pasadena. The Counseling Center is right next to the Westminster Presbyterian Church on North Lake Avenue just south of New York Drive.</b></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-16652758489433552492014-10-19T23:05:00.000-07:002014-10-19T23:05:06.360-07:00THE PRACTICE OF PRESENCE<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
One of the fundamental spiritual practices is being present to our experience, in the moment and in our bodies. As we allow ourselves to contact our bodily experience, it is often the case that we feel a certain uneasiness, a sense of vulnerability. This frequently happens when we first start to meditate; when we begin to experience this direct contact with our moment-by-moment experience it feels a little scary. “This can’t be right.” we say to ourselves, “I must be doing something wrong.” But what we are encountering is just how unfamiliar it feels for us to not live from the conning tower of our mind, trying to be in control of everything.</div>
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When we take our seat to meditate, it is as if we are saying to God, to the universe, “I don’t want to be in charge anymore. I want to learn to trust the flow of life to carry me to where I am supposed to be.” But this feels so unnatural and unfamiliar to us control freaks who have tried for many years to fix ourselves and to fix our families. So the root practice in meditation is letting go of this need for control and dealing with the underlying trust issues that arise when we attempt to let go. Our ego has spent so many years devising strategies to keep us feeling in control and safe, so it is not going to give up its role easily!</div>
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The problem is that the ego is a false God to which we have sacrificed much of our essential freedom and goodness. We have bought into the strategy, “If I keep doing X, then the world will be safe for me.” The problem with this modus operandi is that it usually is based upon what happened to us in childhood and we are acting as if the world were still just as it was when we were children. So if we had an abusive parent and we learned to please them to stay safe, we still operate out of the scenario that the world is not a safe place and we have to appease others to stay safe. Sad to say though, when we are the good girl or good boy who always tries to please, we might be safe, but we have lost much of our authenticity.</div>
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In meditation we let go of all of the efforting to do this or that thing that we believe keeps us safe. The workaholic sitting with themselves and not working begins to become acutely aware of their sense of unworthiness seeping up from their unconscious where it has been repressed by compulsive accomplishment. The people pleaser sees their fear of being unsafe when they aren’t in a frenetic dance of meeting other people’s needs. And as we are wiling to sit with ourselves and see the internal drama pass by our awareness without acting out, we gradually let go of our core beliefs about who we are and what the world is all about. And as we let go of these stories that we have lived by, we come to abide in the present, to experience PRESENCE, pure being itself. And this is the Pearl of Great Price.</div>
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<a href="http://www.spirittherapist.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">WWW.SPIRITTHERAPIST.COM</a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08807418618314436205noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4502272733127188936.post-22473287780249307392014-10-19T22:27:00.000-07:002014-10-19T22:27:02.933-07:00Working With the Inner Critic<div style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 16px;">
<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Some of us have very intense Inner critics that sit on our shoulders and comment on every mistake we ever make. For others of us, our Inner Critic only shows up when we are feeling low and vulnerable.</strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">In any case, an Inner Critic can be an incredible pain in the neck! </strong><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">In meditation we can find ways to decrease the intensity of our over active inner critics. For one thing Inner Critics function on the mental level mostly and they are (oddly enough) usually trying in their own way to protect us from harm by trying to make us act perfectly so that we will not be attacked by others.</strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">One way to take some of the energy away from your Inner Critic is to go to your heart center and direct compassion to yourself. Often the Inner Critic is trying to protect your wounded Inner Child and has been triggered by something it perceives as potentially threatening to the Inner Child. So realizing this, instead of fighting with our Inner Critic, we go directly to our Inner Child and comfort it and surround it with love. This deflects the harsh criticism of the Inner Critic and reduces any fear that the Inner Child might be feeling.</strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Friday night, we will be learning how to give first aide to our Inner Child when our Inner Critic is set off. This is a great tool to have in your emotional management toolbox!</strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Best wishes,</strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">Robert Cornell LMFT</strong></div>
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<strong style="box-sizing: border-box;">For More Information:</strong></div>
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