SGM May 2018 Weekly Message One: “The Possibility of Miracles”
PART A: Introduction Audio
“The Possibility of Miracles”
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PART B: Guided Exercise Audio
"Opening to Miraculous Possibilities"
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Welcome to this week’s edition of Spiritual Growth Monthly. I’m Kevin Schoeninger. It’s great to have you with us here at SGM
This month at SGM, we’ll explore the book, “Holding a Butterfly: An Experiment in Miracle-Making,” by Lynn Woodland. “Woodland is an award-winning author, international teacher, and human potential expert with a 35-year career in transpersonal psychology, human motivation, spiritual healing, and mind-body psychology. Her particular expertise is in what gives rise to miracles and in teaching. . .people to live extraordinary lives so that miracles become not just possible, but natural.” (back cover, HaB)
There’s a somewhat common myth that miracles are for fairy tales, from biblical times, or somehow available only to an elite few who have some “special power.” Miracles are marginalized or sensationalized but rarely viewed as a part of our everyday reality. Woodland claims that to have miracles come into our lives may require a shift in perspective. We may need to expand our view of what is possible and experiment with miracle-making to cultivate receptivity.
What, then, is a miracle? Woodland defines a miracle as an event born of unconditional love that appears to defy natural laws of cause and effect. It is beyond our ability to explain or to “make happen” according to our normal everyday efforts. Miracles change us by connecting us with possibilities beyond what our mind can grasp. As Woodland says, miracles “take us beyond our needs, beyond our wants, and beyond the limitations of our thinking. They’re such a direct experience of God energy that they change us; they don’t simply produce a result on demand.” (p.3, HaB)
Miracles seem to come out of “nowhere” or spontaneously arise, though their way may be paved by years of preparation. To participate in this process we do best to let go of our preconceived ideas of time and space, linear cause and effect, and herculean effort, and enter into a “miraculous mindset.” Woodland’s book is about practical ways you can experiment with doing that.
The title image of “holding a butterfly” is about letting go of gripping too tightly to make things happen. To facilitate miracles in our lives, we do best to hold them gently, with an inspired and curious attention, let them go, and trust that the Intelligent Grace of the Universe and benevolent forces beyond our awareness take them up and bring them or even better things into our lives. Our task is mostly about surrendering to wonderful possibilities—yet this is no small task.
At SGM, we talk a lot about the need for daily practice on the spiritual path—which is vitally important. However, it can engender the feeling that “it is all up to you” and that, if you’re not getting the results you desire, you need to do more and try harder. Yet, as in meditation, miracles may come when we stop trying so hard and loosen our grip. They come from being present with “a simple lightness of being and love of life.” (p.4, HaB)
This month, we’ll explore the practice of letting go of preconceptions about what is real and possible, experimenting with ways to allow unexplainable good into our lives, and trusting in Life as the provider of everything that we need. We play our part, yet it’s not all up to us—there are bigger forces for good at work in our lives.
I’ve really enjoyed several aspects of this book. One is the notion of experimenting. Woodland asks us to approach miracle-making in an open, curious, “let’s see what happens” fashion. You don’t have to believe in miracles for them to happen in your life, you simply need to be open to experimenting with what is possible and pay attention enough to notice what you might ordinarily miss. The attitude of the book is to approach miracles from the point of view of “What if. . .”
Another aspect I appreciate in this book is the experiments themselves. Each chapter offers a different experiential exercise to shift you into a miracle-mindset. Going through this book start to finish is a real journey of consciousness. I will attempt to convey the key insights and some of the core exercises so you get a good taste of this. If you want to have the full experience, I highly recommend getting the book and going through it thoroughly.
Let’s begin with the underlying philosophy and scientific principles that are the foundation for these experiments. The basis of a miracle-mindset is to shift from a materialist, “particle” view of reality to a spiritual, energetic, “wave” view. This is supported by quantum physics, which has shown that reality can appear either as “material particles” or as “energy waves” depending on the viewpoint of the observer.
The intentional biases of the observer tend to “collapse” the multi-dimensional, energy-wave dimension into singular entities and events. In other words, we “create” specific possibilities by how we are relating to what is happening. Experience is an interpretive act determined by the intentions, thoughts, feelings, and actions of the one doing the experiencing.
If you can suspend your normal judgments about what is real and possible, reality may appear to you in altogether different ways. What may seem like a miracle to your normal materialist view, may become natural and commonplace from a miracle-mindset. To open your mind in that way, it can be helpful to understand some more findings from quantum physics.
At the level of the infinitesimally small, matter can be seen as atoms, which are made up of 99.9% space. By space we mean something that appears to be nothing at all according to our conventional methods of observation and measurement. When you get down to this tiny, tiny scale, forms of matter seem to exist more as a probabilities or possibilities. Things can appear “this way” or “that way” depending on how we measure them and relate to them.
At the energetic level, reality has some other fascinating properties as well. Everything appears to be connected in a Universal Field. This Field has some miraculous properties, such that what happens to anything in the Field affects everything else. This has come to be known as “The Butterfly Effect.” The idea being that a butterfly flapping its wings in China affects the weather in Seattle, for instance.
This is also known as “quantum entanglement”: any particle that has been in close contact with another particle at some point in time will always display a relationship to that other particle. It’s like identical twins who feel what each other feels no matter what distance separates them.
Now, if it’s true that our current Universe began with a “Big Bang,” in which a small quantity of energy exploded and expanded into our known Universe, then every atom in our Universe was once closely connected with every other atom and hence is “entangled” with it. Therefore, everything is in continuous relationship with everything else throughout space and time. What happens with anyone, or anything, anywhere affects everyone, and everything, everywhere.
Going even further, the relationship is not simply linear, in space and time, but transcends time, so that everything in “all times” is related to everything else. Not only does what happens now affect what is happening now and in the future, but it also affects what happened in the past. Does that mean that you can enter the past and the future from the present? At a certain level of reality, this is certainly possible.
Does this make your mind feel like it is about to explode? Can you comprehend it logically? Apparently the top physicists can and do. They write equations proving these things, run experiments that have verified them, and create technologies based on their findings right here in the material world.
For us normal mortals, or at least for me, I have a hard time getting my mind around all of that. I need an experience, an experiment in which I can relate to these ideas. We’re going to get right to that in a moment. First, let’s discover one more interesting finding from the new physics.
The underlying reality that physics has discovered looks a lot like some of our notions of a Higher Power. Underneath our normal space-time, hard particle reality, and giving birth to it, is a Universal Field of energy/love/light/consciousness. No longer is this just the speculation of mystics, but it is the province of deep science. It is also directly accessible through our own inner experience.
Let’s enter into that experience right now with a little experiment. You don’t have to believe in this experiment to do it. Simply approach it “as if” it were possible and see what happens. Remember miracles take place from a mental space of open possibility, from an attitude of “What if. . .”
So, if you’d like to, please join me in the following experiment. It’s best to do this in a quiet, private environment where you have a few uninterrupted minutes to journey inside.
You can read this exercise below or practice along with Part B of the guided audio above.
Part B: Guided Exercise
“Opening to Miraculous Possibilities”
You can enter a space of open possibility right now by sitting upright, relaxing your shoulders down, smiling, and allowing that life may be different than what it appears to be. Take a few slow deep breaths to focus your attention and bring yourself into the present moment.
Now, instead of being by yourself reading or listening to this exercise, imagine that you are joined with every other person—past, present, and future—who is taking in these words and being affected by them in the most positive way. Imagine that your mind is entering a fluid space in which we are all present together joining in a higher group consciousness. As each of us opens up to this experience, it enables all of us to move a little deeper into it.
As we join in pure positive intention, we lift each other into a higher experience of connection and wisdom. We amplify each other’s positive intent by consciously joining together. Each of us adds our own energy, love, light, and understanding to the process, so that we all expand, learn, and grow. Imagine yourself supported in this network of light, receiving exactly what you need at this moment and giving exactly what you have to offer right now. We are now joined in a positive, loving, collective space.
You may feel a little wave of relaxation as you join this experience. You may notice an energetic tingling or an inner knowing awakening. You may breathe a little easier. It may be subtle. It may be happening beneath your conscious awareness. Whatever you feel or don’t feel is fine. Simply imagine what it would be like to be joined in benevolent energetic unity. Imagine what it would be like to feel certain of this.
Now, briefly hold the intention that each participant—past, present, and future—receives exactly what they need by reading or listening to this exercise and joining this positive intention. Imagine that you do as well. Be open to receiving small or large gifts of unexpected good fortune, unforeseen benevolence, or something positive that seems to appear out of nowhere. Be open to seeing an opportunity that you might normally pass by. Be open to receiving something that feels miraculous.
Be open for whatever form that may take and trust that Life is always for your highest good. Hold this positive intention lightly, like holding a butterfly, and, then, gently let it go. Trust that whatever is best for each one of us comes into being at the right time, in the right way, and that we are able to perceive and receive it.
As you do that, an image or symbol may come into your mind, or you may feel a sensation that will remind you of this experience. If it does, you can take that with you as a reminder. If nothing specific comes into your mind and body, know that you are joined with benevolent forces, larger than yourself, and that something good awaits you.
Life is working in your favor at all times, even when you least suspect it. Be open to receiving something unexpectedly beautiful. Let go of any ideas about what that might be and see what happens. You do not need to stay focused on a specific desire or will it into being. Simply be open, smile, love life, and see what appears.
Take a moment to write down anything that is important for you to remember from this experience.
---End of Practice---
In next Week’s Message, we’ll rejoin this deeper Unity experience and see what further miracles are possible. In the coming week, I would love to hear about your experiences with the exercise above.
Until next time,
Stay tuned to miraculous possibilities,
Kevin