November issue 2015 by Maryam Morrison

T h e

EDEN MAGAZINE

SUE WONG PROTEAN DESIGNER

Transylvania by Aura Imborus PH.

REASON WHY YOU NEED A CUP OF LEMON JUICE by Phill Berlich November 2015 Volume 5 Issue 11

CONTENTS

SUE WONG

Photo Courtesy of Vincent Gotti

DON’T GIVE THOUGHTS A SECOND THOUGH by Dean Sluyter

CONSCIOUSLY MOVING THOUGHT.... by Sue Wang

THE SPIRIT OF QUESTING by Gregg Levoy

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF.... by Heike Stenzel

LAW OF ATTRACTIN.... by Roxana Jones

REASON WHY YOU NEED A CUP OF LEMON JUICE..... by Phill Berlich

AND THAN A MIRACLE OCCURS.... by Philip Comella

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE by Frank Daly

TRANSYLVANIA by Aura Imborus PH.

WHISPERS OF HEART by Jan Dianna

HOW NOW by Mitch Rosenzwieg

Photo by Artin Mardirosian

Spreading compassion to all sentient beings and Living in healing and peaceful world

Maryam Morrison Editor-in Chief maryammorrison@theedenmagazine.com WEBSITE www.theedenmagazine.com FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/TheEdenmagazine CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Sherri Cortland Jan Diana Roxana Jones & Arnaud Saint-Paul Ellen Angelica Pendergast Heike Stenzel Michael White Ryan PHOTOGRAPHY & GRAPHICS Artiphics

COVER Courtesy of ARTIPHICS Eden Magazine is an independent monthly online magazine. Our aim is to create a better environment where we live among other living being in peace and harmony. We support artists that their work match our criteria. If you would like to submit your artwork, article or/and your Photography For our future issues please contact Maryam Morrison at; maryammorrison@theedenmagazine.com or www.theedenmagazine.com 3 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM â&#x2122;Ľ November 2015

PROTEAN DESIGNER

SUE WONG LIVES FOR ONE THING: TO SPREAD GLAMOUR AND BEAUTY!

SUE WONG is a study in contrasts. She appears petite, yet possesses a commanding presence and grand energy that fills an entire room. While there is power and strength in her designs, there is a romantic fantasy and poetic lyricism that informs her work, which nonetheless remain rooted in undeniable pragmatic reality. The elegant economy of her gestures belies the strength and determination with which she has managed her business for over two decades. This collision of polar opposites creates the frisson that fuels Sue Wongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gorgeous designs and has established the Sue Wong signature style.

Photo courtesy by ARTIPHICS

Born into humble circumstances in a remote countryside in southern China, at the age of six, Sue was spirited away from Communist China by the courageous leap of her mother, who bribed a border guard with her wedding jewels in exchange for freedom into Hong Kong with her young daughter. Journeying to the United States a year later, mother and child reunited with Sue’s father in Los Angeles. As a child, her initial creative tendencies drew her to art. The daughter of struggling immigrants, there would be no budget in the spare family economy for toys; Sue would create her own paper dolls and their entire lavish wardrobe, practicing her nascent interest in Fashion Design. However, Sue started making her own clothes when she was nine years old. In High School she was chosen from over three hundred female classmates to be a member of the May Company Teen Board, and landed the opportunity to work in various capacities including modeling, assisting in window display and merchandising. While she was still trying to earn a fashion degree, she interned with the resource brand Arpeja, after winning first place in a scholarship sponsored by the company, apprenticing under the head designer.

Ironically, after two design stints with smaller companies, Sue returned back to Arpeja to claim the position of chief designer for the label’s Young Edwardian. She became an immediate stellar success, bringing the company’s sales from a mere 2 million dollars in revenues of over 52 million dollars within a three year period--a stunning, unprecedented success for the times. Her attempt at launching her own line at age 30 was ill timed. She was in the midst of an acrimonious divorce and raising two young sons. Undeterred, she relaunched her brand five years later, rolling out an initial collection of Sue Wong day dresses to critical acclaim in 1985. Eventually, she introduced more elaborate evening pieces in 1999, a move that would firmly establish her signature style of haute glamour, femininity and romantic vintage sensibilities

Sue Wong left Arpeja to open up a one-ofa-kind boutique shop in Bohemian Venice, California, and later, another upscale boutique in West Hollywood with a stunning Art Deco interior. It was during this period that her signature vintage style was born and solidified. Sue took details from vintage garments from the Twenties, Thirties and Forties, extracted the hand-made detailing such as beadwork and embroidery and redesigned an entire new garment, incorporating the detailing of the vintage embellishments into her new design. These elaborate creations were displayed and hung from wires suspended from the ceiling to create a gallery effect in her boutiques. She attracted a glamorous audience and following including Bianca Jagger and Goldie Hawn who were drawn to the beauty, magic and uniqueness of Photo courtesy her designs. of Sue Wong

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With each new collection, Sue Wong never fails to astonish, employing the revered ageold couture techniques implemented by the finest Couture houses in Europe, and evoking the allure and glamour of various eras such as Weimar Berlin, 1930s Shanghai, Precode Hollywood and Manhattanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gilded Jazz Age. While often adopting vintage style, every design belongs in the now and is decidedly very Sue Wong; exquisite fabrics shimmering with incandescent beads, unique embroideries and layered textures embellished with passementerie and soutache combined to create works of art that are graceful, elegant, unique and timelessly beautiful. Sue Wong truly captures and embodies through her work, her mantra of Beauty. Magic. Transformation. It is the Eternal Feminine Goddess energy that Sue Wong aspires to honor in every woman, creating beauty and sorcery that both enchants as it empowers, leaving a trail of wistful romantics speechless in its wake...

Photo courtesy of Angelo Palazzo

Photo courtesy of Jeff Linett

Photo courtesy of Collier Landry 9 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM â&#x2122;Ľ November 2015

SUE WONG’S IN-DEPTH DISCUSSION ON: SPIRITUALITY, SELFEMPOWERMENT, THE SUCCESS OF FAILURE & FAILURE OF SUCCESS AND BEING THE QUINTESSENTIAL EAST-WEST HYBRID VOICE & BRAND Q: Describe your personality and the characteristics that have made you successful in the business world. A: I grew up under very humble circumstances. In a bold attempt to escape Maoist China, my Mother took a blind leap of faith and bribed the border guard with her wedding jewelry – releasing us to our freedom into Hong Kong. A year later we were reunited with my Father in America. My parents were incredibly hard-working immigrants. It’s hard to reconcile this austerity with the opulence of my current lifestyle and all the accoutrements that accompany it. However, coming from a reduced, minimal background helps me appreciate the value of abundance, which I was fortunate enough to have channeled through my creativity and hard work in my adult life. Through hard work, unwavering commitment and seriousness-of-purpose, I witnessed how my immigrant parents made incredible sacrifices so that I could have better opportunities. I definitely followed their model of hard work and dogged determination. I am a strong personality; I wanted freedom and starting a business was a doorway to my freedom and being on my own-championing independence and selfsufficiency. My Father –given constraints through the cultural prejudice of his time– was very disappointed that I was born female, as he was expecting a Number One Son. For as long as I remember, this has driven me indefatigably to establish my own independent voice – devoid of being oppressed by any other individual. It gave me the focus and drive to prove my worthiness through

success and accomplishment. I consider myself a Warrior-Goddess. I have three patron goddesses to whom I pay metaphorical homage: Aphrodite, Artemis and Athena. APHRODITE: the Goddess of Beauty and Love: I worship at her temple every day in the creative work that I do in honoring the Eternal Feminine and in living and creating Beauty; ARTEMIS: Goddess of the Hunt: she propelled me towards the field of achievement and accomplishment--to be an active DOER and to be an active manifestor of all my dreams; ATHENA, Goddess of Wisdom: I perceive life as an on-going, wondrous odyssey of acquiring knowledge and wisdom, surviving and learning life lessons in an ever-evolving journey towards one’s higher self. Therefore, I am a creator of beauty, a fearless warrior, and what I strive for in life ultimately is wisdom as a compass to live by. Q: What is the origin of Creativity? A: I was born an artist and merely use the vehicle of Fashion as my chosen profession through which I can give form to my creative expression. However, as a Creative Intuitive, I apply my artistic sensibilities to everything that I do, therefore optimizing the higher gifts that I was blessed with-whether it be interior, furniture or garden design, architecture, graphics design, illustration, painting, drawing, writing, cooking, Ikebana, throwing a stylish soirée or art-directing a photoshoot or creating an experiential fashion show. It’s all creative energy to me, and all creativity comes from a Divine source. I consider my biggest blessing to have been born an artist, and I feel so very honored to have the privilege to share my art and creativity with the world. I love sharing insights into my design sensitivities, sensibilities and iconography; not to mention the infinite res-

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ervoir of arrestingly powerful designs that translate into iconic imagery. I infuse my design work with a very powerful universal yet esoteric spirituality. I strongly believe that pure art accesses truths that are a strong catalyst to healing. Artists heal themselves through the language of beauty as manifested through their art. When art evokes and elicits such a strong reaction, a communion unfolds between the artist and the audience. In that instant, a divine occurrence transpires, awakening a profound healing. My work is a healing ritual, not only to myself, but to the many women who wear SUE WONG. My designs heal through the power of beauty and connects women to their ultimate Feminine Divine: the Goddess who resides in every woman. Q: You have children, how did you raise them while building your empire? A: I did not allow my career to postpone having children, like so many female professionals chose to do. Success came to me at a very young age. I balanced my professional life by living a personal life with a focus on fulfillment and success in every area of my life. Children are our legacy. In the final analysis they are our voice that speaks for us, that continues our memory long after we transition into the next realm and our physical existence ends. I have been very blessed to have parents whom I could always depend on. My mother and father gladly and effortlessly stepped in when success came knocking on my door and became parents to my very own children. My first younger brother died tragically and I literally handed over my three month old baby and my one year old son to my parents who were inconsolably griefstricken. My babies became their replacement sons when I thrusted two babies into their arms. It was a priceless love and a merciful salvation for

them through a period of utter grief. They raised my two small sons after I went through an acrimonious divorce and I was free and unchained to pursue my career in the world. It was the biggest mutual blessing for all. Q: How do you maintain work-life balance: in the areas of health, family, relationships and your business. A: I strongly believe that all of one’s houses need to be in alignment and be in balance. One cannot be all play and no work…or no work and all play. One must be a balanced person to make it all work. I implement and focus on my masculine side at work while conducting business. In business, I implement the take-no-prisoners approach. There is no time for lack of focus nor lack of commitment. By comparison and juxtaposition, my feminine side (compassion, love and understanding) runs my personal life and informs the creative work that I do--my fashion design epitomizing the ultimate Feminine. I have the very best of both worlds and constantly strive to keep the balance. Q: What’s the smartest thing you’ve done to grow your fashion house into a global brand? A: I founded my SUE WONG Evening Collection five months before the new Millennium in 1999 and designed 25 evening gowns which I managed to market and ship two months before the dawn of the new Millennium. My designs flew out of the stores like hot cakes, and voila--a new business was born! Up to that point, I had never designed evening wear before; however, I taught myself how to become a designer of evening wear using couture touches and embellishment within one season. It was an instant, runaway success, and that is the business that I have today. Q: What advise do you have for young

designers starting out? A: Never take no for an answer. Never allow other people to limit your possibilities by accepting the projections of their very own limitations onto yourself. Never feel satisfied at any given moment in your journey. I am always reinventing myself--change keeps you out of stasis. Always believe in yourself, be fearless and take chances; be a warrior and GO FOR IT!! Otherwise stagnation is merely another form of paralysis or death. BE ALIVE!! Q: How do you deal with conflict and adversity? A: I don’t ever regress in the face of adversity. I am philosophical in my view of life and believe in a strong sense of Destiny. I understand that there is a divine purpose in everything that comes our way, and that adversity, pain, and loss is a part of our overall journey and part of the human experience which forges our destiny. Often times, great lessons come in the form of great loss and adversity--no pain; no gain! I lost everything that I built twice-and twice I rebuilt it and grew stronger than ever before. If there is a fire and I am the equivalent of a moth, then I plunge myself into the fire knowingly--even if it means I have to crash and burn, so that ultimately I resurrect myself into the Phoenix that I am truly meant to be, rising from the embers and the ashes--to soar the heavens ever higher again. This way I keep growing and evolving. I continue to build on my quantum potential by living and creating passionately, both personally and professionally. Q: What gives you the most headaches? A: Psychopaths, Narcissists, TOXIC people in general --LOL!! You only have headaches if you are not centered. I do not only perceive

my existence in terms of a balance between Body ~ Mind ~ Spirit, but I literally live it. If you’re solidly grounded from within, then very little can shake you to the point of having a headache, no matter how tectonic the grounds you might find yourself on. In the final analysis, you must realize that there is no such thing as a negative impact. Life lessons will come at you constantly. The test is how you deal with the slings and arrows that life points at you. There is no such thing as a negative experience; rather, it is about perceiving lessons as blessings in disguise. Headaches are therefore reminders that you are seeing things from an out-of - balanced perspective. I am very conscious about remaining grounded. I never compare myself to anyone else. Each and every one of us has his/her journey. I have created my very own unique look and voice. People constantly ask me who or which designer I follow or draw inspiration from and to be honest, I don’t follow anyone. My look is incomparable and indigenous to my own personal aesthetics because it uniquely belongs to me---my very own design philosophy mixed in with my own visual sensibilities, steeped in the mythology of the Goddess. Q: How do you perceive risk? What risk did you not take and you still regret? A: Seriously, my entire life and career feels like a single bungee jump. I took huge leaps of Faith and it paid off. The initial fall and then incredible pendulum swing rise continues, higher and higher. If you aren’t prepared to take risks, you’ll never know nor realize your quantum potential. I have my Mother to thank for that irrevocable life-lesson; echoing her leap of faith when she bribed the border guard with her wedding jewelry in a bid for our ultimate freedom and for her fervent desire to be reunited with my father.

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Photo courtesy of Vincent Gotti

Q: Any other advice to share with upcoming designers? A: Have a vision! Hold that vision! Be true to that vision! As one of my favorite teachers, Joseph Campbell taught: FOLLOW YOUR BLISS! Q: What is success? What is failure? How do you define each? A: My perception of success in ONE word: FREEDOM! I can go wherever I want and whenever I want, and with whomever I want. I don’t answer to anyone else except to myself. However, nothing comes free. You have to work for everything that comes your way. It’s not all about money and the power that it can bring. Money can certainly buy you luxuries and can make things easier, but the crucial success is the internal one that lies within the recesses of your inner landscape. The great Buddha said that the root of all suffering is Ignorance. Knowledge is Power precisely because SelfKnowledge is ULTIMATE Freedom. Wisdom is knowledge from within. THINK, ACT BECOME--these are the three words that create destiny. We become what we think, what we speak, and what we act upon. In the words of the great Albert Einstein: ‘“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.” In manifesting one’s destiny and improving on one’s life quality, destiny starts from within the internal landscape of our minds. “You are a living magnet. What you attract into your life is in harmony with your dominant thoughts.” - Brian Tracy. This is the secret to selfempowerment. External forces can wage wars to liberate a people, but the real liberation lies solely within the individual. True freedom and

self-empowerment lies in the ultimate knowledge that we are always the masters of our own destiny. Therefore, be careful for that which you ask-you just might get it! That is the secret to Alchemy and Magic. Your psychology affects anything and everything that manifests itself onto your external landscape. Freedom is something that perhaps money can buy, although--on its own, money is incapable of leaving you complete and fulfilled. Professional and financial success is wonderful but certainly no human is whole and fulfilled with a full sense of completion without finding a true conscious love that can share be shared with another simpatico soul. Love is the ultimate reason of what we all came here to experience. In the final analysis, to love and to be loved is the greatest gift and truth of all. Lastly, we take so many things for granted in life. We are all blessed with a physical temple--our bodies, through which we can function and appreciate this beautiful gift of life. Without good health we cannot function. Without good physical and psychic health, we cannot live up to our utmost potential. I think His Holiness, the Dalai Lama said it best: “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; The result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” I regard true success in terms of conscious awareness, honest selfperception, and true self-knowledge. To understand and to quiet the inner storm which rages within each

one of us is to vanquish and to slay the Bête Noire--that which is darkly Unconscious that dwells within, allowing Conscious Light to shine in. If one can attain this balance in life, then success, prosperity, love and happiness can surely follow. We are all here for a definitive purpose…We have a karmic reunion with everyone who touches our lives. Live every single second to its quantum potential. I quantify my personal success in being radiantly alive--of being conscious in the radiance of Cosmic Light which informs all Beauty and Truth. Q: What’s one favorite book you recommend that will help one grow personally and professionally? A: THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS by Deepak Chopra – It looks at business with a far greater conscious aspect. It’s about spiritual psychology and it’s very aligned with my very own business implementation…without any rituals and religious doctrines. It is all-inclusive and applicable to everything. There are laws of cause and consequence and these seven spiritual laws offer excellent guidance in attaining that balance I was referring to earlier. The other books which have inspired me greatly are the writings of Joseph Campbell. THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES is a seminal read; it speaks of our own individual heroic journey-the call to LIVE life and the coming into Consciousness, which is the real divine purpose of being here on Planet Earth. Q: If you were a superhero/superheroine, who would you be and why? A: People have often equated me to being an incarnation of White Tara, or the Goddess Kwan Yin as she is called in the Far East--the Goddess of Love, Beauty and Compassion. Her

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symbol is the Lotus flower and ironically, Lotus is my Chinese namesake; the sacred Lotus flower rises from the mud--to be the Flower of Illumination. Q: Your mantra is Beauty, Magic and Transformation. Please explain the meaning behind this mantra. A: Beauty has the power to transform because it is the manifestation of our creative essence, a signature from our higher selves. In such a pure and honest form it is alchemic and this alchemy procures Magic, which in turn creates Transformation. My clothing is transformative and healing. It encourages the woman who wears a SUE WONG to evolve into the very best that she can be. When a woman wears a SUE WONG gown, she experiences the living mantra that I embed in all my gowns: BEAUTY. MAGIC. TRANSFORMATION. I am all about seductive, poetic, lush, romantic textures and contours – all of which contribute towards the anthem of pure femininity. Q: You are referred to as the “quintessential hybrid or bridge between the East and the West”. Do you see your designs as bringing cultural understanding and unity between the two worlds? A: I think there is a powerful DNA memory that courses through our veins. Whether we are aware of it or not, it certainly translates into our art, our creations. I think we’re living in a time when Globalization is creating revolutionary progress in all aspects covilization: literature, philosophy, art, architecture, fashion. I am the quintessential hybrid. I have made my career in the West, but certainly carry the voice of my ancient heritage and ancestors. I don’t merely design clothing. My gowns offer a powerful Transformational experience. Awakenings and epiph-

anies are occur when two former oppositions are juxtaposed and subsequently perceived as being complimentary of one another. Therein lies a profound understanding of the Human Condition. The future has a way of creeping up on us much faster than expected. It’s no longer about the East vs the West (and viceversa). The Human race can no longer afford perceiving things in oppositions, but rather in symbiosis. Not too long ago, world economists predicted that the only future paradigm that would guarantee world economies would be the concept of “Chimerica”. That is no longer a theory. It is in the Here and Now. My designs do carry this hybridized message – a bridge between the East and the West, because that is who I am. Q: Your Collections explore the dual nature of the Feminine. How is this reflected in your designs? A: I have a deep philosophical side and have always been very interested in great thinkers like Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell. This sub-textual exploration into the Human Condition lead me to creating my FAIRIES & SIRENS, MYTHOS & GODDESSES and my most recent Spring 2016 ALCHEMY & MASQUERADE fashion show extravaganzas. I examine contrasts between the light and dark aspects of feminine nature and human nature. Dark is the Unconscious, the unrealized parts of our own femininity and humanity; Light is the ultimate realized Conscious beauty and humanity that each and every one of us yearns for. I love exploring this dance of the Chiaroscuro. Q: Fashion design tells a story. How do your designs tell a story? A: Excellent art is an entire odyssey – an enticing mythology that arrests our innermost sensitivities. I design with this in mind. It’s a story of external

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as well as internal Transformation-empowering women along the way. It’s the epitome of a fairytale expressed through color, fabric, texture and beautiful composition. ALCHEMY & MASQUERADE was a powerful, experiential platform that was not only designed to showcase my Collection, but to also entice the audience to embark on the visual and sensual journey of exploring ALCHEMY-the process of healing and growing into the very best of one’s potential; MASQUERADE being the dark and the Unconscious -- and while they seem juxtaposed, they are not, they co-define each other but are mutually symbiotic. Q:

Which

writers

inspire

you?

A: I’m constantly learning and evolving. I believe that everything in life happens for a higher reason towards the growth and evolution of our souls. Everyone whom I meet along my spiritual path is a karmic reunion. There are no accidents in life--we create and manifest the reality that we live. This applies to all writers whose work I have read. Good writing is equally a transformational experience. I have immersed myself in Jungian teachings and practice for the past 15 years. Sub-texts expose revealing confessions and teachings about the Human Condition. I love all things passionate and engaging and never limit myself to a specific writer nor style nor movement. However, I do gravitate towards the Existential thinkers – the school of Sartre, Camus, de Beauvoir, and the introspective and feminine voice of Anaïs Nin; as well as modern-day teachers of profound scale such as Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. Passion, Heart and Soul--these are the prerequisites which I seek in every aspect of Life and Art, including writing.

Photo courtesy by ARTIPHICS Make-up by Edward Hakopian

Q: Does Chinese literature, culture influence you? Do you see yourself belonging to a particular movement? A: Nearly 6000 years of DNA memory cannot be erased, and I think the aspect of Chinese culture and the philosophy of the East that inspires me is the profound consciousness and awareness of cause and consequence, or the basic law of Karma. Everything and everyone is cosmically inter-connected. Existence is a form of ‘Cloud Atlas’. You can’t expect to execute something in one given space and not expect its ripple effects to result in consequences in another. I was brought up in the way of the Tao. However, I see myself as being beyond borders, beyond culture, beyond politics, beyond any given categorization. Yet, I feel the way of the Tao is the most balanced paradigm I have encountered. I align myself and practice spirituality in a universal, nondenominational manner. In some ways I have reverted back to my roots. Perhaps this age-old wisdom from the East is part of the legacy and indelible memory that serves as a gift for the Art of Living from my ancient ancestors. Q: Cubism, Dadaism, Surrealism, are each art movements and literary movements. Discuss your eclectic design between vintage and modern. A: I’m never linear in my creative process. The creative process itself is a powerful experience, pulling from references and inspiration within subterranean sub-texts and this circles back to my passion with Jungian teachings. I invest in all my gowns a Transformational experience made possible through the juxtaposition of Vintage and Modern--Yesterday meets Today to deliver wisdom and teachings. I have been a passionate art collector for the past thirty years. I love Mod-

ern Art as well as all the great period and sensibilities. I have three homes Art Movements. In particular, I love and each is a complementing and early 20th Century Art: the Russian co-defining third of the whole--my Avant-Garde, Cubism and German Being, my internal landscape reflectExpressionism. Additionally, I collect ing the balance between Body ~ Mind many of my contemporaries--artists ~ Spirit. My three homes represent who are also dear personal friends each paradigm and existence level of mine. My love for Art echoes the and they exemplify the SUE WONG vast, pervasive pendulum swing of lifestyle brand. my tastes and appreciation: from the origins of DNA memory, antiquity to ◆ THE CEDARS (Body): a famous being catapulted into the Here and 1920’s historical Hollywood landmark Now and embracing the ultra-futur- estate steeped in legendary lore and istic. I don’t believe in polar oppo- history and featured in publications sites, but rather one all-encompassing, such as ANTIQUES & FINE ART, INbalancing and evolutionary con- STYLE HOME, HELLO , HOLA and tinuum. This dichotomy of being a LOS ANGELES TIMES. Romantic Idealist juxtaposed with being an unsentimental Modernist is a ◆ MALIBU (Mind): My artistic ARmap reflecting the wide range of my THAUS is an oceanfront, open, modbeing. My diverse and expansive Art ern loft-gallery style residence with a Collection is indeed a window into my spectacular 180 degree view overlookworld and soul. ing the Pacific Ocean, housing my extensive collection of Modern Art. Q: What will the title be of your auto◆ HAWAII (Spirit): is my spiritual biography one day? sanctuary located on 43 oceanfront A: I think that an appropriate title acres in a lush, mystical rainforest of for my autobiography would be spectacular tropical flower gardens, FROM MAO TO TAO--which speaks tropical fruit orchards, organic vegof my physical as well as my spiritual etable/herb gardens and lush banana journey. I have had such a powerful, forests in the remote Kipahulu Valley magnificent journey thus so far, full of East Maui, a magical, spectacular of meaning from the richness that setting of the Hawaiian Islands. life has offered me, including all the peaks and valleys that have been the pattern of my life. The intensity of my experiences often feels as though I have lived three lifetimes in one. The essence of my message is to simply embrace life with full fervor and passion. Embrace your inner voice and live your quantum potential and heed your inner calling to follow your own Bliss--whatever that bliss might be. Q: What are your personal living environments like? A: My homes are my temples, my Sacred Spaces and personal sanctuaries as diverse as my design sensitivities

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These three homes exemplify my three distinctive styles: THE CEDARS – decorated in classic opulence, where French Deco meets Baroque and 1920’s Spanish. MALIBU ARTHAUS– celebrating the arty, ultra-modern and avant-garde. HAWAII POPONUI – an holistic expression of Asian exoticism, decorated in ancient Kymer/Indonesian/Chinese style sensibilities. These three categories lend themselves to a most versatile array in aesthetics and offer many opportunities/modalities in Home-wear and Lifestyle. In summary: SUE WONG: BEAUTY ~ MAGIC ~ TRANSFORMATION

Photo courtesy of Sue Wong

Photo courtesy of Carlos Barboza

Photo courtesy of Sue Wong

Photo courtesy of Sue Wong 17 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

LA FASHION

with SUE WONG’S ALCHEMY & MASQUERADE RUNWAY

On Monday, October 5th, A semi-annual event, Art Hearts Fashion featuring Spring/ Summer 2016 Collections from fashion designers including Sue Wong, Betsey Johnson, Nicolle Miller, Isabella Couture took a place in Taglyan Complex banquet hall. The shows was produced by founder of Art Hearts Fashion and Mister Triple Xdesigner Erik Rosete in collaboration with Sarah and Erin Whitaker from Parker Whitaker Productions amongst other designers. Sue Wong the L.A. Based Fashion Designer once again captured all the audiance with her beautiful, magical Haute Couture Spring and Summer 2016 Alchemy and Masquerade collection. Over one thousand guests, from all over the world came to experience the splendor, and elegance design from Sue Wong whose known as a Protean Designer. Celebrities such as: Rockers Chris Pitman (Guns N’ Roses), Carolyn Hennesy (True Blood), Heisha Castle-Hughes (Game of Thrones), Alice Amter (Big Bang Theory), Shelley Regner (Pitch Perfect, Pitch Perfect 2) Barbie Blank (E!, WAGS), Ariane Andrew (E! Total Divas), Jasmine Dustin (Being Mary Jane), Briana Evigan (Lead actress in Step Up 2), Vanessa Evigan (Whatever It Takes, Sand Sharks), Claire Buitendorp (E! Total Divas, VH1Twinning), Sawn Buitendorp (E! Total Divas, VH1 Twinning) and many others. As well as special guest, German Prince H.H. Prince Waldemar SchaumburgLippe. The Alchemy & Masquerade Spring Summer 2016 Collection started with a presentation from actor Max Ryan known for his role in Sex & The City 2. Sue Wong was honored by a plaque and proclamation from the Califor18 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

nia State Assembly member Miguel Santiago. Another honorable award was given to an iconic LA-based designer for displayed excellence for her compelling designs and congratulating her latest collection from His Royal Highness Prince Waldemar Schaumburg-Lippe (great-grandson of Denmark’s King Frederick VIII), his wife Princess Antonia Schaumburg-Lippe and their son Prince Mario-Max Schaumburg-Lippe. All the headpieces for Sue Wong design was provided by Betty Long for that night. What A Betty was founded on the premise of taking Old Hollywood fashion and marrying our modern day aesthetic with timeless headpiece designs. From high fashion runway and editorials, to hit TV shows such as ABCs Revenge, What A Betty is becoming recognized all over the world for their designs and ability to mold with the times while creating fashion forward trends that rock the red carpet and fit every day embellishing. What A Betty has evolved into a household name in bridal, kids couture fashions, lifestyle brand, red carpet, set design and isnt stopping there. Taking the world by an embellishing storm, will leave you wanting more and more of What A Betty. Be a Betty Beauty and become The New Vintage.

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Don’t Give Thoughts a Second Thought By Dean Sluyter

I hated high school dances. I didn’t know the cool moves. I envied the guys with older sisters who would play records and make them dance with them — they looked so slick and confident out on the floor, while I lurked on the sidelines, trying to figure out how they did it. Figure out. That, of course, was the problem — I was trying to process it through the thinking mind. When I did work up the courage to get out on the floor with a (gulp!) girl, I spent the whole time listening to my mind as it tried to 20 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

break down what the other kids were doing, get my body to imitate them, evaluate how I was doing, and monitor the degree of contempt with which the other kids were surely watching my dorky moves. It was miserable. It took some pretty serious weed-smoking to break out of that trap. Under the influence, I made a great discovery: Listen to the music, not the thoughts. And listen with the whole body. I could let the music bypass the mind and go straight to my stomach, my spine, my pelvis, my arms and legs, and move them.

There was one disappointment, at first. I thought pot was supposed to blow my mind, blow away all my thoughts. They were still there. But I could ignore them. Thoughts? Performance anxiety? Social insecurity? And, for that matter, paranoia about getting busted by the school authorities? Sure, they were all there, but I was busy listening to, and moving with, the music. I could ignore the thoughts. Screw ’em. Soon after this epiphany, my earnest intoxicant usage came to an end. It had served its purpose. It turned out that the option of ignoring thoughts had always been available. Of course I could still act on the few that that were useful, but the rest of that static? I could just let that sizzle in the background. Meditation became my consciousness optimizer of choice. I explored a number of methods and traditions, and eventually my teachers encouraged me to teach others. Soon I discovered the number one challenge of teaching meditation: convincing people that thoughts don’t matter. There’s such a strong and prevalent preconception that meditation means forcibly suppressing your thoughts or making your mind a blank that it can take some skill to pull the rug out from under those expectations and guide (or trick) the student into tasting the ease of peaceful coexistence with thoughts. Whether you meditate with a mantra, breath, noting of sensations, or anything else, the key is that our attention is naturally drawn to the silent boundlessness that is our own essential nature. Like a feather floating out of the sky, it may take its sweet time drifting left and right, but in the end gravity is irresistible. All this time, we thought we’d achieve tranquility by quieting the mind, but that turns out to be backwards. We settle naturally into tranquility, and, as a side effect, the mind tends to become less active. But even if it doesn’t — if there’s still dust floating in the air after the feather settles — it doesn’t matter, because we’re tranquil. In meditation as in life (on the dance floor and everywhere else), our feverish preoccupation with thoughts is misplaced — and can be dropped at any moment. It doesn’t matter what you think. It doesn’t matter how little or how much you think. It doesn’t matter whether your thoughts are momentous or

trivial, clever or dumb. Just don’t engage with them. Listening to your thoughts — buying into them, taking them seriously — is engaging with them. Trying to push your thoughts away is engaging with them. Trying to think your mantra louder or bear down on your breath harder to keep new thoughts from coming is engaging with them. Trying to resolve your thoughts is engaging with them. Whether you’re wrestling with the meaning of life or trying to remember who played The Professor on “Gilligan’s Island,” the feeling is usually, “If I just get this one thing resolved, then I can settle down.” What was your one must-resolve-now question ten minutes ago? Anything you try to do with regard to thoughts is engaging with them. And that makes meditation supremely simple. You don’t have to work out which kinds of engagement are helpful and which aren’t. Just drop the whole thing. Fuhgeddabouddit. It’s fine. It takes care of itself. It turns out that, back in high school, no one really cared how cool or dorky your dance moves were … except you. Now, no one cares how thought-filled or silent your meditation is … except you. You can just ignore those thoughts and dance your way through meditation — and life. Dean Sluyter (pronounced slighter) has taught natural meditation throughout the United States since 1970 and is the author of several books and audio programs, including Cinema Nirvana, The Zen Commandments, and the forthcoming Natural Meditation: A Guide to Effortless Meditative Practice (Tarcher/Penguin ISBN 978-0-399-171413, March 2015) www.deansluyter.com

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Consciously Moving through Stress By Sue Wang

I make my life’s work advocating self-care and finding peace within. Recently, an interesting event took place that made me question my efficacy: My first book launch. I pulled 20-hour days for a week to get MESSAGES from the Black Recliner: A Memoir of Healing Body and Spirit to the public. Four days into this marathon I suddenly noticed my right jaw was in excruciating pain. I am a clench Queen. Sitting in front of the computer working on graphic design, proofreading, and chasing proofs almost did me in. A friend said I bit off more than I could chew—hence the hurting jaw. As a Reiki Master, I help others relax. Soothing energy flows out of my palms, tingles clients, and they fall asleep during a session. Couldn’t I do that for my jaw? Couldn’t I just chill out? Nothing was coming out of my hands when I put them on my head. No. I had a deadline. The stress actually roused me to stay awake, getting me out of bed before dawn, and making me stay out of it after midnight. Sadly, I needed it. My to-do list mushroomed as I hit each task, and Mercury retrograde did not help. My book proof was lost and found two days later. I can go on. This reminds me of the time I set a sandwich on fire.

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2015

I watched the dancing orange and blue flames rise in our small toaster oven one afternoon. Panic rushed from the pit of my stomach as I unplugged the hot, bright box and while the wax paper bag that houses the ham and cheese burned. I had wanted to warm it up for my son.

We were in the midst of packing for my sister’s shotgun wedding in New York City. It involved my boy and me sleeping in three different places in three nights. We had to pack light. And right after we returned from that event, he would leave for a nineday camping trip—we needed to pack for that too. I was up late thinking about a toast for my sister. What should I say? That growing up she was a pain to share a room with and now I was ecstatic she is marrying a sweet man? I wondered why I thought wax paper was oven-safe. Oh. I didn’t think at all. I just popped the sandwich, wrapping and all, into the toaster over like I was using the microwave. The burnt smell of paper permeated our kitchen then. I thought of my childhood in Asia, where Taoist priests were hired to “collect the scare” from crying children. Short ceremonies were performed with incense and prayers, and the priest burned a piece a paper he had scribbled on and mixed it in water. We drank the mixture and calmed down. The adults went back to their preoccupations. We were trouble-free again. With my book launch, I told myself, pay attention to the body, this is going to be stressful. I had been working on the production for a month. There were many unknowns for a first-time indie author. I did somewhat better than burning a sandwich this time. I kept myself flexible by stretching every day, since sitting for hours was deadly to a sensitive back. The body, the densest part of our being, manifests pain and other physical symptoms to let us know the balance is off. I asked the body to hang on and it complied awkwardly. When I went to bed, I invoked Reiki and asked Archangel Raphael for healing. I took magnesium powder and herbal extracts for muscle relaxation. I supported the body knowing I put it under a lot of strain. I told my inner child that play time is near and she is off the hook soon. I had ordered a treat for myself months ago and it arrived yesterday. I would visit my magical osteopath soon to baby my jaw. I gathered that the Taoist priest from childhood was transforming the energy of fright and stress by burning and releasing it. Like now I perceive angst, and explode it to release it when I work with others. So for me, I envisioned two filled-to-the-max balloons on the hinges of my jaw, symbolizing my stress.

Popped they went. I also considered why I locked my jaw, the fifth chakra of self-expression. When my memoir, my self-expression, was not moving smoothly toward publishing, I clenched harder. This was in addition to “biting off ” or taking on too much work. Sometimes we can’t turn off stress—things happen. I would avoid setting up bad situations, but for a once in a life time event like publishing my life story, I felt I needed to flex a bit. Post-launch, I improve everyday with more rest, greener diet, and less computer time. Consciously choosing to work with stress by acknowledging what we put the body through and supporting it while withstanding the task is a reasonable, temporary solution. If one really has to take on a big challenge, do it with awareness and care. Otherwise we can be trapped in an unending loop of old patterns, of reacting, non-thinking, and setting things on fire ways of coping. I also learned that moving through the stress is better than bypassing it. It would have shown up somewhere else in my life, like my relationships, sense of groundedness, and sleep. The body always wins by showing us that it can’t go any further. I have been there, as I described in my memoir. It is not a good place to be. The body is forgiving when we work with it, but do not take it for granted, especially when under stress.

Sue Wang is a Reiki Master, psychological astrologer, and author of MESSAGES from the Black Recliner: A Memoir of Healing Body and Spirit. As an energy intuitive, Sue helps fellow light seekers reclaim the essence and power within via the mind-bodyspirit connection. A graduate of Wellesley College and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Sue worked as a career counselor and administrator until moving from Massachusetts to Boulder, Colorado in 2009. Visit her at www.Connect2Self.com. 23 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

The Spirit of Questing by Gregg Levoy

Scheherazade was the queen whose stories make up the Arabian Nights, and I believe we all share her fate. Scheherazade became the wife of the Sultan of Persia, who had a decree that every woman he married would be killed on the morning after the wedding---a man with a serious intimacy problem. She wanted to put a stop to this, so on the day of their wedding, she began telling the Sultan a story, but stopped just short of the finish. The Sultan agreed to let her live one more day to see how the story turned out. The next day she finished the story and immediately started another, stopping, once again, just short of the climax. Again the Sultan let her live one more day to see how that story unfolded. After 1001 nights and 1001 stories, the Sultan fell in love with Scheherazade and the killing stopped. Scheherazade reminds us that the commitment to forward momentum is a lifesaving virtue, and that it’s critical not to fall too far out of sync with life, which moves. The world, too, owes its forward-leaning impulses, its progress and its passion, to the spirit of questing---even restlessness---within us. To the part of each one of us that eventually grows weary of the

status quo and hungry for a challenge, and that feels born to run---to move, explore, experiment, travel, climb, create, investigate, invent, pioneer, and discover. To grow. The philosopher Blaise Pascal once said that all our miseries derive from not being able to sit quietly in a room alone, but surely some of our miseries derive from too much time sitting alone in a room, legs pulsating under the desk, running in place. Our orbits can so easily narrow down to the use of a few beaten paths, a handful of faculties, the company of the same people and the same ideas, a small wedge of experience that excludes whole universes of pleasure and whole continents of people, while the larger life that’s always out there accuses us of mere contentment. In her book New, Winifred Gallagher refers to “neophilia”---the enthusiasm for novelty that’s at the heart of the exploratory urge---as the quintessential human survival skill, whether we’re adapting to climate change on the primordial African savannah or coping with the computerization of modern life and our desk-tethered world; whether we’re exploring uncharted terrain, investigating new artistic techniques, poking around at the further reaches of a scientific theory, or probing the endless possibilities of intimacy and spirituality. 25 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

Some of us are neophiliacs and some neophobes--people who shy away from novelty, if not outright fear it---but neophilia’s grand design is to help us learn and create, as well as adapt to the moving target that is the world. Researchers looking for the traits that characterize people who tend to flourish over the years, have found that such people tend to score high in novelty-seeking, though you can seek it for the sake of encounter or escape, of moving toward something---freedom, adventure, discovery, transcendence---or away from something. The most common accusation leveled against the restless is that there’s something they don’t want to face or don’t want to feel, but sometimes restlessness is avoidance, a kind of motion sickness in which they use activities like travel, job hopping, relocation, promiscuity and upward mobility as distractions from deeper explorations and commitments--the emotional equivalent of channel surfing. The restlessness that’s at the heart of questing can encompass anything from garden-variety hyperactivity to the kind of headlong busyness that characterizes such a large swath of human activity, from travel fever to the kind of passionate intensity typical of creative and exploratory types who are seldom satisfied with the status quo. But history tells us that we all come from nomadic stock. Mobility is the rule in human history. Sedentary life is the exception. In the brainstem of every human being is a revolt against what’s fixed, and a deep migratory urge.

We have genes selected for curiosity and novelty, limbs made for walking, long childhoods during which to practice exploration, and brains designed to think imaginatively. It’s no surprise that we’re often beleaguered with sudden shouts of wanting that order us to our feet. The call of the road doesn’t go away. If it isn’t answered or even acknowledged, if it isn’t given some rein---physically or psychologically---it can shape-shift into disquietude, busy-mind and outburst. In the movie The Great New Wonderful, a couple lives in a mind-numbingly stale routine in a highrise apartment outside of New York City. Every

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evening, while he watches TV, she sits at the kitchen table and creates elaborate collages of all the places she yearns to travel to, and then puts the finished collage in a hall closet along with what appear to be dozens more of them all stacked up, 40 years’ worth. One day, while he’s out smoking his after-dinner cigarette on the patio, she snaps. Bursting out the balcony door, she charges at him and tries to push him over the railing. The habit of literally settling for less is also bad for our health. The sedentary life contributes to a host of maladies---cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, stroke, hypertension, depression, obesity---that together account for up to 75% of the deaths in industrialized countries. The urge to journey works against the urge to stay put and sink roots, even settle down and raise a family. We don’t just crave security and certainty. We also crave their opposite---passion, spontaneity, novelty, discovery, an adrenaline rush, a push to the limits, the bedlam of love and creativity, the full range of emotions, a locker at the bus station. We like the world to occasionally be unpredictable and full of surprises, despite our sensible lifestyles. We like to feel alive. We like to grow. Thus it’s vital to cultivate a feel for what wants to emerge in our lives, what’s trying to happen at any given turning point, in any given moment or situation or relationship. Movement, however, is not only critical to growth, it’s one of the essential vehicles of spiritual transport---used by shaking Shakers, quaking Quakers, whirling Dervishes, walking meditators, holy rollers, trance dancers, labyrinth walkers, and 7th and 8th-century Celtic seafaring friars known as peregrini, from which we get the word peregrination, as in journeying. On behalf of the homeless Christ, they would set themselves adrift in rudderless and oarless skin-boats, with no particular destination, believing that God would guide them safely to their “place of resurrection.” If restlessness is only about running away from something, is only distraction and avoidance, then how to explain the psychology of pilgrimage, the search for godself precisely through walkabout?

Also, among the most common symptoms of spiritual awakening, as in ecstatic trance or dance, is physical activity including vibrating, shaking and contractions. The encounter with the sacred always seems to involve shuddering. In fact, spirituality itself, which Robert Solomon in Spirituality for the Skeptic describes as “the thoughtful love of life,” requires an active emotional life (e-mote meaning to move out), as well as impassioned engagements and quests. These, of course, can sometimes tip over into instability and insatiability, a kind of possessiveness that has us flailing around in life, whacking at pinatas, but spirituality isn’t only about peace of mind. “It’s a passion, the passion for life and for the world. It’s a movement, not a state.” The ancient Greeks spoke of “pothos,” meaning a longing for the unattainable and incomprehensible, a word into which is rolled both desire and regret. On a vase in the British Museum, Pothos is shown as the chariot driver for Aphrodite, goddess of love. Literally love’s driving force. Pothos drives all impossible dreamers, wanderers and seekers. But he also tells us that the objects of our desires, whether person place or thing, are ultimately just stand-ins for the Unattainable, for an experience of perfect union, or self-transcendence, that keeps drawing us on and on through life, only dimly aware that no perfect place, no romantic love, no earthly paradise, no Olympic gold medal, no controlled substance---no It in Making It---will fill The Void. This isn’t to say it isn’t filled for brief and rapturous moments when we fall in love or gain the promotion or land in the new world. Then, for moments or hours or even months, the walls come tumbling down, the angel sheathes his flaming sword, and we’re back in the Garden. For a visit. Paradise a just breather between quandaries, happiness an interval between the problem solved and the problem to come. The painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome captures the dilemma of our reach exceeding our grasp: God and Adam are always reaching for one another, but never touching. Restlessnss and questing are the passions at the core of spiritual life, creative life, scientific life, and faith, but they

can’t be resolved once and for all. Longing is a human proclivity; quenching it is not. The secret of life, the sculptor Henry Moore once said, is “to have a task, something you devote your entire life to, something you bring everything to. And the most important thing is, it must be something you cannot possibly do.” So we go in search of the Garden. We leave the sheltered cove and set coordinates for the Unattainable. We try to change the world, though weeks can go by and nothing happens. Heaven is there to help us keep our chins up. And if we’re lucky, our questing brings us back to what may be the great work after all: falling in love with an ordinary life, lived on ordinary holy ground.

Gregg Levoy is the author of Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life (Random House) and the Vital Signs: The Nature and Nurture of Passion (Penguin), from which this piece is adapted. His website is www.gregglevoy.com

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What Would Your Life Be Like If You Had No Fear? by Tama Kieves

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I’d love you to step beyond the hypnotism of what you think you can and cannot do. Here ‘s what true: You are loved. You have everything you need. You are more powerful than you know. But fear or unquestioned negative beliefs, old stories, the voices of the media, or maybe those around you keep you from your boldest possibilities. Well, that’s about to change. I doubt you want a “mediocre” life. I doubt you want to just pay your bills or settle for a sort of loving relationship and call it good. I think you want to cry with gratitude when it’s all said and done. I’d like you to cry before then.

Forget about striving only for what you think you can have. I want coach you into this extraordinary life that’s calling you now. Through five-minute mind-set shifts, I want to help you uncover your astonishing potential, your own authentic steps or shifts, and the uncanny progress that develops from a radically loving relationship with yourself, others, and your life. The inspired power within you can accomplish anything at any time. Let this be your time. Welcome to a year without fear.

This is your life. This is your chance. This is your time on earth. I want you to write the screenplay that moans in your bloodstream. I want you to love your child like no child has ever been loved before. I want you to run for office or run from your office or whatever nudges you in the sanctum of your heart. I want you to know the peace of the Dalai Lama , more freeing than a nice big bucket of Xanax, and a mainline of gratitude sweetener than any Starbucks Frappuccino. And I want to laugh so freely your stomach hurts, just like it did when you were a kid. I want you to forgive yourself. I want you to fall madly in love with your husband or meet the love of your life and go skinny- dipping in the olive green lake of your childhood. I want you to leave behind the situation that squats on your spirit like a sumo wrestler. I want you to eat better, drink less, or whatever nourishes and respects your precious body. I want you to take that vacation in Italy, take your company public, or sprawl out in your own backyard paradise in Poughkeepsie, drinking lemonade and watching blue jays on a Thursday. I want you to hit the note you came to sing because life is set up for you to do that. I want you to know the Presence of a strength not of this world.

Tama Kieves, is an honors graduate of Harvard Law School who left her practice to help others find their calling. She is the bestselling author of This Time I Dance! and also Inspired & Unstoppable: Wildly Succeeding in Your Life’s Work! Her newest book is A Year Without Fear: 365 Days of Magnificence. Featured in USA Today and on Oprah Radio, she is a sought-after speaker and career/success coach, who has helped thousands world-wide to discover, launch, and thrive in the life, calling and businesses of their dreams. Visit her at TamaKieves.com and download her FREE Inspired Power Toolkit.

I want you to drop your predictable goals and drop your jaw in awe-as you discover what you can really have this year. 29 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

How to protect yourself from harsh energies and continue to let your light Shine! by Heike Stenzel

www.AngelBeyond.com

Archangel Michael a higher dimensional guardian enters the life of all beings on earth and beyond. Do you want to find out, how to stay authentic in your True Self? Than this feature may is a page turner for you yet! With the love God and his messengers have for the all of us; we are very well protected and never again, need to step back into fear or anxiety of former experiences. Remember the connection and know it never will fade away! Only the ego creates the illusion and “fall into trap beliefs” that has no profound truth to itself as it only is the whisper of the ego´s voice trying to hold you low. With Archangel Michael presence you will learn to feel safe at all times and even when harsh situations occur you claim your true identity in the creation of divine source that is filled with so much love and light for you because it is your birth right. Archangel Michael is probably one of the most famous Archangels and with his feminine counterpart, called Faith, truly a powerful source to invoke on daily basis. His name presents “Who is like God” armed with his flaming sword and rules the attributes of divine truth; encouraging us to hold our strength and empowerment. Archangel Michael vibrates on the blue ray and establishes a connection between Sunday and the Sun, ruled by Leo as zodiac sign. With this, he inspires us to become seekers of higher truth. His direction is the South and Archangel Michael and Faith retreat are located in the etheric plane connected to Lake Louise at Banff in Canada.

In speaking our truth we are authentic and our throat Chakra can radiate in its completeness. It becomes clear that the associated Chakra of Archangel Michael is the fifth Chakra, vibrating in it´s beautiful light of blue which attributes are truth seeking by clear communication from the Heart and Soul. Whenever you feel in need don’t hesitate to call upon Archangel Michael and immediately you will feel a shift in energy, feeling more empowered and safe to speak your truth. You simple ask and it is done! At any time and moment when you feel insecure, experience an unpleasant situation; such as legal matters, or where justice and truth is needed? Being exposed in conflicts and confrontations where you feel helpless and not being heard? Or you feel unsafe and disempowered by others, your low self-esteem and insecurity steps in; and again in times where you need confidence the most to stand your ground? Then the timing is right! Kindly invoke Archangel Michael and his beautiful strong light of blue will envelope you immediately so that you feel protected and guarded. Influenced and filled by his presence the attributes of courage, strengh and power to stand up for your-self will return. You can pray to god and ask him to bring Archangel Michael in or simple do the short cut in either way - call upon Archangel Michael for different circumstances. His beautiful royal blue light will be there in an instant.

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So what does Archangel Michael powerful energy can be used for? • Protecting your home, car and personal belongings • Invite him to protect you while you drive a vehicle • Protects your rights and opinions • Shielding off harsh energies from negative people, situations and places • Ask him to help to find your way to your life purpose • Legal matters • Justice • Faith • Strength • Courage • Speaking your truth and having faith you are being heard • Protecting your auric and subtle bodies • While sitting in meditation • Cutting ties on matters that binds to destructive behavior patterns • Ask him in while using the violet Flame of Saint Germain (as featured in October Issue) • Removing fear or anxiety and replacing it faith and trust And last but not least a beautiful prayer, an invocation to invite Archangel Michael “Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Michael the Archangel, Saint Michael the Archangel, I call upon you to stand guard. Remove any toxic frequencies from my auric field, subtle bodies and chakra systems. Protect me from any harsh or toxic energies that might dim down my light in situations, places or people who are not in favor of my true beingness and the way God created me. Give me strengh and courage to walk my path and to let my light Shine!” Thank you and it is done. Amen! Get creative and adjust the invocation of calling in Archangel Michael to your own needs and circumstances. Feel more empowered and new courage from now on instead of giving your power to others! It is so precise and important in this time to see you move forward with much more faith in your abilities and confidence in your life purpose. Knowing that you are pristine and filled with the love of the

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creator to bring change to planet Earth at this time we are living in. So much has been done and so many doors are opening up, so much new opportunities are given that you shall not resist and procrastinate but move forward with courage and strengh - and know that you deserve! Boost your confidence, self esteem and empowerment to shine your true self authentically at the utmost and for ever more to come. Heike Stenzel is an Angel intuitive Therapy Practitioner & Stress Management Coach who helps clients from around the world. She has a warm, intuitive and creative personality where clients feel safe and relaxed by messages perceived from the Spiritual world and the angelic realm. Heike combines a mix of certified healing modalities that will leave you empowered, uplifted and encouraged. She is a host of Angel & Beyond and Yoga classes to direct students and clients to release stress, tension and anxiety through movements, healing guided meditations and affirmations techniques! She enjoys writing articles about Angels, Ascended Masters and Intuitive messages in an inspirational way to give the reader the drive for personal self-development in an “easy-to-do” attitude to open the path for Joy and Peace in the Heart! Heike Stenzel from Angel & Beyond hosts a One Day Angel Workshop called “Let your Light Shine!” , Sweden Vasteras on 3rd October 2015. For more information you can visit her Webpage www.AngelBeyond.com or check out Facebook, Twitter “Angel & Beyond” for announcements in regards to upcoming workshops and classes in your city. On request there may the possibility to run “Let your light Shine” in your city.

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Law of Attraction and God: An Inseparable Duo by Roxana Jones http://roxanajones.com 34 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM â&#x2122;Ľ November 2015

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What does the Law of Attraction has to do with God? I’m sure you’ve all read about the Law of Attraction or perhaps are even using it right now intentionally as part of your thought processes. For those who are not familiar, the Law of Attraction states that we attract whatever we think about, and that by focusing on positive or negative thoughts, we can bring about positive or negative results.

be alive? How could our hearts keep beating if the only force that keeps it pumping is not in us? Goodness, if God wouldn’t live within us, we would all be… dead!

When I think about it, I connect with the thousands if not millions of people who have acquired a course, book, program, or workshop having to do with this law in the hopes that it will bring them what they wish for but most importantly…that it brings it fast.

I don’t have anything against religions. The God I write about is an encompassing one that embraces all beliefs and creeds. The God I believe in is a nonreligious one that goes beyond all human interpretations (including mine.) It welcomes all different creations that his creations – that is us – have created and keep creating (religions are created by humans not by God.)

The problem comes when the Law of Attraction doesn’t do what it was supposed to. I’ve heard so many cases of people who feel “cheated” by the famous law. Many have chosen to stop believing in a natural law, mainly because they don’t know about the first step we all need to understand, accept and practice BEFORE this law can be seen in action – actually, it is acting all the time, but a non-believer cannot see it due to the state of doubt he or she has decided to be in. Now I must introduce God into the formula I’m trying to explain. You see, if you don’t believe you’re worthy of having God within you, acting through you and acting AS you, you won’t be able to believe you are worthy of having what the law of attraction is trying to bring to you. In other words, your subconscious or conscious unworthiness is what blocks the law of attraction from manifesting what you want. Many religions have done a great disservice to humanity by suggesting we should love a God that lives supposedly outside of us. The majority in this planet don’t feel worthy of having God inside of them. How so? How could they have God inside if they’ve been taught all along that they’re tiny and “sinful” human beings who must fear a punishing God that only lives in heaven from where “He” observes all human right or wrong doings? This belief about and “external” God is what has the world in the state of separation it is right now. Religions – intentionally or unintentionally, it doesn’t matter – have disempowered their followers to the point where many still believe without a doubt, that the eternal and infinite source of all life lives outside of them. If the source of life is not in us, how could we

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So how can someone attract the life of their dreams if they don’t believe the energy that can make that possible is inside of them?

When you open your mind to the possibility of a God that lives within, of course the Law of Attraction will work for you, and of course you can have the life of your dreams! That is what God wants for you and that is what you are worthy of having! All you have to do is replace the old beliefs that keep convincing you about how unworthy you are of having God within. God loves you. This benevolent energy only wants the best for you. It wants you to open to the possibility of believing that it is flowing constantly through you and as you. It’s vital for you to recover your inner power before Law of Attraction can work in your life as intended. This can only be achieved once you ALIGN to your inner divine flow. It’s my wish that you’re able to acknowledge the fact that you’re living in this very precise turning point in history because of your readiness to awaken to who you truly are and to the eternal source that runs through your veins. This eternal source is constantly creating and recreating your world, that same one you keep distorting thanks to old beliefs you must release so you can tune into the life of your dreams. God waits within to share it with you… Until next time and don’t forget to be love,

“Jesus answered them: Is it not written in your Law: I have said you are gods” ~John 10:34

Roxana Jones and Arnaud Saint-Paul devote themselves to their life purpose: To open as many hearts as possible and to help shifting the consciousness of the planet. As spiritual healers and teachers, life and business partners, their intent is to “help millions around the world to embrace change and start living the type of love, happiness and abundance both of them now know exists for everyone once they are healed.” Together, they work enthusiastically in bringing to their audience the best of themselves so that everyone can connect to their own Truth and unveil who they truly are: divine beings enlightening the world in their own unique ways, even when darkness makes it hard to believe it is so.

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Reasons Why You Need a Cup of Lemon Juice Every Morning By Phill Berlich

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Lemon is attributed with many elements such as vitamin C, folate, magnesium, flavonoids, antioxidants and many more. The citric fruit is really blessed providing you with the nutrients your body need which will make you live healthy and free of disease. If you are still not convinced, below are reasons why you should consider taking a cup of lemon juice every morning. Lemon Juice Eliminate Kidney Stones The American Urological Association carried out studies proving that lemon juice can help eliminate kidney stones by forming urinary citrate and reducing urine acidity, which prevents the formation of crystals. Therefore a cup of lemon juice daily or taking lemonade is a better and cheaper way to deal with kidney stones and save your body from being operated on. It Purifies Your System Make a juice of lemon and mix it with a glass of warm water and take it every morning. It detoxifies your system by eliminating all the waste products from your body. The juice act as a blood purifier and cleansing agent. Lemon juice is diuretic, meaning it increases the rate of urination. Therefore toxins, bacteria and unwanted materials in your body are removed at a faster rate thus keeping your body system clean and keeps your urinary tract active and healthy. Aids in Digestion Lemon juice aids in digestion by encouraging the production of bile. It is also good for relieving stomach problems such as constipation, indigestion and gastric troubles due to its digestive qualities. Lemon contains pectin fiber which is beneficial for the proper functioning of the colon (large intestine) and also works as a powerful antibacterial. It Enhances Your Skin The antioxidant and vitamin C components of lemon helps reduce wrinkles, scars, acne and act as an anti-aging remedy. The vitamin C help revitalize the skin thus enhancing your outer beauty. This is the reason why lemon is commonly used in cleansing lotions, soaps, shampoos and many cosmetic products.

A cup of lemon juice daily also boost your immune system. Its antiseptic and anti-coagulant qualities help stop internal bleeding. It fights ailments such as cold, flu fever, control intestinal worms and promotes healing. Additionally, lemon balances your system by regulating pH levels in the body and its antioxidant properties help fight free radicals which cause damages in your body. Weight loss Now, one significant health benefit of lemon is its ability to reduce weight in an individual. Obesity or being overweight have become a canker in our modern society. Thank God lemons are proving to be one of the best natural ways to lose weight. Lemon juice mixed with lukewarm water and honey (if available) is ideal for you every morning if you want to lose weight. Studies have shown that people who are more on alkaline diets tend to lose weight faster and lemon have quite high alkaline composition when in the body. Dental Care Lemon juice also help freshens your breath by eliminating bad odors. It is said to treat toothaches and bleeding gums due to its vitamin C component. These are some few health benefits of lemon. Research scientists are still investigating other health benefits. Note: Taking lemon juice should be moderate as too much of it can be harmful. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Too much of everything is bad.â&#x20AC;? For more health tips and information, please visit http://www.explicithealth.com

Boosts Your Immune System

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CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE LEADERSHIP FENG SHUI

by Michael White Ryan

www.languageofspace.com

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Hierarchy be gone, will this be the rocky road of leadership for 2016. Who is driving the bus on Monday, Tuesday and after, do we even want to know, now becomes the big question?? Ponder this, the coffee maker in the company gets to make the final decision? Finally, equality has hit the market place and the pressure is on for each and every individual to evolve their unconditional acceptance into some form of realness!!! But but but, echos in the mindset corridors? The world has moved on and the personal revolution between the old status quo ways of life is ending while the new cry rings out “free me from freedom”. How interesting to see and hear the next big thing is to leap from one cultural frypan into a new shiny promising cultural frypan. Boy have we been trained well! Evolution of a two legged species had to happen at some stage while drowning in stagnation, it’s the very

nature at the core of who we are. But who is leading the chargeeee??? Where are these leaders to be found? Why hiding lurking on the fringes of the social invention, hoping they won’t notice… its them! Finally they have been put on notice. Fortunately it largely went un-noticed by the masses. Long live tomorrow’s leaders for they are of mother’s breed, lost in self evaluations never understanding their inability to fit, for they were birthed alone into a forest of confines. Notice I said fortunately. For you who are reading this may recognize this feeling, this concept, that has haunted you your whole life but never understood why. Your different, your abilities are across the board, your abilities are many-fold. In survival you chose to shut down and do as others do, you may have even forgotten you. Know there is a place for you, tomorrow leader.

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The world has finally come to its senses. Each and every single individual has a special profile born on the wings in universal time, this makes us all unique. Know that you are one of a kind, individual in birth, individual in death. We have been prodded, conformed, adjusted to our surrounding environments. No more, no more, for each one us has the ability to lead ourselves and others have the abilities, respect and courage to show us the way. Are you allowing your decision making to be a followup of some preconceived idea from a book, expectation, lecture or person who you think may have it together??? Firstly, when did leadership and Feng Shui come together, why always, it has never been separated except in the Western world of thinking. Leadership and personal power is in constant need of fuel to be affective and lasting. When a positive commitment towards a goal, project or desire is cemented within purpose, energy flows through you from the realms of POTENTIAL and fuels all that is necessary to reach an outcome. Potential in the past unfortunately hasn’t had the attention it deserves as a motivator in the successes already accomplished. Time does not exist according to misinformed knowit-alls. This pool of energy we constantly swim in has hit the accelerator and we are leaving the past behind. Everything is connected, but we are waiting to be informed by someone or book to give us the definition!!! No matter who we are leading into tomorrow, it will take courage and focus. Machete in hand forging a new path through the man made forest rekindles our innate pioneering spirit, for human essence has not forsaken us. Blessed are we, birthed in time and given life anew by time once more, a living breathing physical consciousness named incorrectly, denounced by many so we would forget our universal relationship connection. Leaders of tomorrow are a special breed, having no agenda other than to fill their given purpose without rhyme or reason. Find that person in you and you will find riches beyond imagination. In order to find a new pool of inspiration one must be willing to analyze and examine the how and why our reasoning determines the resulting experience which govern “the who am I” the leader must awaken!!!

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Michael White Ryan is a co-founder with his wife Pamela Edwards of Language of Space. They are leaders in sustainable business growth via Performance Design and Performance Code. Sustainable design encompasses both Western and Eastern philosophies including advanced Feng Shui principles, Environmental Design, Buildings, Alternative Health, Business Advisory Consultants and 20 plus years as entrepreneurs. Recognized in the top 100 globally and are Americas Leading Feng Shui Business Consultants. They are on faculty at CEO Space International one of the oldest business organizations in America today, currently operate in 7 countries and reside in Henderson NV.

http://www.languageofspace.com/casestudies.html

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Excerpt in English language from the © “The pirogue of the Golden Eternity/Η πιρόγα της Χρυσής Αιωνιότητας”, 1 of the 7 stories of Cosmic Love and Light in © “Cosmic Romances/ Συμπαντικά Ειδύλλια”, © Visionary Author Katerina Kostaki. Original published in Greek language ACADEMY OF INNER LIGHT Published with “Alloste Publications”, Athens-Greece, 2015 Front cover design by Maryam Morrison

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The Land of Blissfulness. The energies herewith are implemented within the heart. They are cardio-centric (heart-centered). I have found myself here led by my heart. Always my heart was my navigator, although it is a crime in the world of false reality. Those who follow their hearts are entrapped in people’s jealousy and hater. Convicted for their love are considered outsiders or outlaws. Most often considered mentally disordered or unbalanced. For they do not follow the way of thinking or other people’s personal agenda … How could I even live in such a world? Maybe I will be staying a little longer in the Dreaming World of Love. The world of falsity might go on for a while without my absence... I have much to learn, to live, to acknowledge. My whole life is only but an absolute learning course. In the school of my human incarnation all is but a Learning Course. My ancient teachers, immigrants of my soul, are journeying into alternative universes. It will take years for me to return back to my primary source, in my homeland that I ‘ ve been carrying like the carapace of the turtle. My Patrice, My homeland resides within me. “My home is where my heart is” . My homeland abides whereas I’ve been loved, loved passionately without fear, without crisis and criticism. Where seed of true love blossoms, the Universe of Unconditional Love. We learn to love, learn to experience Love in all its forms. We all learn. We learn to love. If the original epicenter is missed we carry love within us as spiritual food. Like souls fed by it to expand and develop from Chrysalis to Butterfly. Two Cosmic Butterflies. We travel to the eternal Source like two butterflies, and no one can stop us, because Love is the vehicle, the fuel, the connection. Light will not deprive us this unique moment. The sacred moment of Union. He hugged me with a unique emotion, kissed me with a passion unusual that no one had provided me with before. We became intimate with each other under the sunlight of an alternative world and all poignant voices of despair turned into cries of passion. With you I live the dreamiest and captivating moments. A Dream within the Dream. A Hope emerged up from nowhere. A Love begot from the Unknown. Both of us exceeded Time, defeated darkness and above all, we live in the Love of Knowledge. 46 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November

2015

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And then a Miracle Occurs……. By Philip Comella

Modern science tells a story of how the world came to be. It goes something like this: Big Bang to stars to planets to life to mind. Or, in simpler terms, from matter to mind. Because this story has the imprimatur of science, we tend not to criticize it, believing that the job of explaining the world belongs to learned professors, not to us.

grows when it is recognized that the “something” in question is the entire universe, consisting of roughly 100 billion galaxies each containing 100 billion stars. How this something came from nothing, under any account of creation, must qualify as a high-order miracle. The First Law of Thermodynamics states that matter or energy can neither be created nor destroyed, making the Big Bang the greatest imaginable violation of this law of nature.

This article throws caution to the wind and looks critically at the scientific account of creation currently in vogue. This brief examination will show that although science has been successful at explaining events within stages of cosmic development, it relies on miracles to bridge the distance between the stages. For the definition of a “miracle” I will use the one given by the 18th century philosopher, David Hume, who defined a miracle as a violation of the laws of nature.

Miracle 2: The Big Bang Leads to an Ordered Universe

Looking closely at the scientific creation story, we find a number of miracles hidden between the stages, like codes in a computer program:

If this law held true, we would expect the Big Bang to have raced toward further chaos, not toward a universe of spiral galaxies, precise nuclear reactions, and the DNA molecule. Science itself is the study of the harmonies of nature, and would not be possible without them. When we look up at the stars, and the constellations that sketch a primitive story in the sky, it becomes evident that the Big Bang led to order not disorder. So this violation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics is another miracle.

(Miracle 1) to Big Bang (Miracle 2) to stars (Miracle 3) to planets (Miracle 4) to life (Miracle 5) to mind. Miracle 1: Something from Nothing How something came from nothing remains a deep – and usually ignored – mystery under our current scientific worldview. The mystery

The Second Law of Thermodynamics holds that disorder in a closed system always increases. Left to itself, with no outside force helping, a system of energy will seek equilibrium; it will spread out, not coalesce into organized forms. Dust scatters in the wind; it does not assemble itself into statutes.

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Miracle 3: The Laws of Nature Scientists believe all they need to create a universe is matter and the laws of nature. But where in the debris of the Big Bang will we find a source for laws that dictate the movements of the world? We will need another miracle. A related problem concerns how the laws of nature seem finely tuned to allow life to exist on Earth, as if life came first and determined the conditions it needed to thrive. The peculiar fit between the laws of nature and humans has led some scientists to postulate that an infinity of universes really exists, and one of them just happened to come equipped with laws finely tuned for life. But this approach simply uses one miracle (the multiverse) to explain another one (laws of nature), and nothing is gained. Miracle 4: The Origin of Life How life managed to arise spontaneously from the dust is a deep and still unsolved mystery. Biologists comfort themselves with the thought that they only have to show it happened once, but this same approach can be applied to any claimed miracle, and does not answer the question of how the miracle is possible in the first place. Miracle 5: The Emergence of Mind from Matter Mind is the source of thought and creativity; it is the wellspring of inspiration, hope, love, imagination, and dreams. Theorizing how these ephemeral inner states arise from mindless particles always seems futile and unsatisfying, as if we know we are not using the right piece to finish the puzzle. Science says at some point mind emerges from the brain. Through this approach, science hopes to plaster over a miracle with a term – emergence – that no one really understands. The question remains, how did mind emerge from matter? There is no answer. Although science holds up its reliance on testing and measurement as hallmarks of its superiority over other means at finding truth, science carries out these methods within each stage of cosmic development, not between the stages. Between the stages –before the Big Bang, at the birth of life, the emergence of mind from matter – we see something more akin to hand-waving, as scien49 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

tists believe that their success in explaining what happens within the stages will earn them the credibility to bridge the distances between the stages. So what choice do we have? Here is another approach: Suppose that instead of mind coming from matter, matter came from mind. Suppose that matter is actually an appearance of matter, a dream image; and then further suppose that both our bodies and the physical world – Mother Nature – are part of the same dream, so they are real to each other. In other words, suppose that we actually dwell in a great dream in the mind of a being some call God. This places the source of energy and order deep within us, not out in the cosmos. This approach allows us to reduce the necessary miracles to one: this is the miracle of how it is possible for a mind to project a real-seeming image of a three-dimensional world from itself, or how it is possible to dream. This is truly a miracle, but it has a distinct advantage over the miracles relied upon by modern science. In our world, we know dreams are possible.

PHILIP COMELLA is a lawyer, visionary futurist, and host of the popular radio show Conversations Beyond Science and Religion, podcast at www.webtalkradio.net. His book, The Collapse of Materialism: Visions of Science, Dreams of God, is a culmination of decades of work committed to developing a new and credible scientific paradigm to unify the physical world of science with the metaphysics of religion. He lives with his wife and daughter in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. The Collapse of Materialism: Visions of Science, Dreams of God, Published by Rainbow Ridge Books, ISBN 978-1937907211, and is available on Amazon.com, BN.com, and bookstores everywhere.

CATS AT STUDIOS, INC.

http://www.catsatthestudios.com/about.php

Cats at the Studios, Inc. (“CATS, INC.”) is a non-profit rescue organization comprised entirely of volunteers. We are dedicated to nurturing, neutering & spaying, and finding homes for abandoned cats and kittens. 45 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015 2015 63 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ September 21 ♥♥ July 2015 29THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM July 2015 50 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ September 2015

Co-creating a World of Hope and Personal Empowerment By Rasha

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An Excerpt from A Journey to Oneness

In A Journey to Oneness—the long-awaited sequel to the underground spiritual classic, Oneness—Divine Messenger, Rasha, takes us along on a seven-year odyssey through the labyrinths of consciousness, as she shares the incredible story of her own spiritual journey. With the profound wisdom of Oneness (the Divine Presence often referred to as “God”) to light the way, A Journey to Oneness takes us for an authentic ride on the roller-coaster of spiritual transformation, and gives us the tools to radically change our lives—and transform our world. This vivid, literary tapestry chronicles a mind’s probing questions about what is actually happening as it slowly unravels and shifts into a higher octave of perception—documents the astounding answers as they emerge from within—and weaves it all seamlessly with the poetry and rapture of Divine Union. As Oneness helps Rasha circumnavigate the potholes along the road to “freedom,” the reader is given a vibrant new vision of the nature of humanness, and in-depth guide to discovering the Divinity within. Here’s a selection from A Journey to Oneness that reveals what’s really at the core of the upheaval in so many of our lives these days—energy that’s mirrored right back to us in the form of the world we share. As Oneness guides us in recognizing the clues offered by our own emotions, we learn to source and align with a deeper place within us that empowers us to begin to shift it. Here is an excerpt from A Journey to Oneness: “Oneness speaks: The vibrational foundation for the inevitability of change in these times The catalyst for the momentum of change is all around you. It is in the very air you breathe and in the cells that imbibe it. The vibrational acceleration that accompa-

nies the changes that have been scripted is calculated to stimulate to the surface all the residual evidence of the outmoded structure. The depths of the emotional body harbors eons of repressed experience, vibrationally, that the dictates of culture and propriety forced into the inner recesses of your being. Those energies, buried within your own depths, seek to be released now. The energies flooding your planet call forth the vibrational density hidden within you all. And outbursts on an interpersonal level— and within the macrocosm of the world around you that reflects it—are to be expected. The intensity of what you may be feeling will seem exaggerated in proportion to the events that may have triggered them. And yet, the authenticity of these expressions will compel you to transcend the reticence instilled by propriety and to cull forth from within your inner depths the emotional density you carry and the release of it that serves as the catalyst for change. Who you are becoming defies the explanations of the logical frames of reference with which you have been programmed in this lifetime. Those standards of expectation were structured for a world that has long since been left behind. And one finds oneself establishing one’s own precedents, and blazing a trail of one’s own design that has little relation to what may have been anticipated. You have come to this moment in your journey to set the roadmaps down for a time, and to trust in the compass within to guide you in a direction you can sense at a level that cannot be explained—and which you feel compelled to honor—despite what others may have to say about it. You have come to the point of cutting loose from the constraints of obsolete obligations and allowing yourself the Grace of aligning yourself with your own inner truth, at all costs.

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One’s priorities come up for scrutiny yet again in the course of this process of metamorphosis. And there is the inclination to trade in sets of circumstances that focus on the amassment of material gain in deference to ones which offer the priceless gift of freedom. You have come to this moment to begin to learn to fly and to relinquish the idea that you are required to keep two feet on the ground in the ways you have been programmed to do throughout this lifetime. There are no limits to what you are capable of experiencing and creating in this lifetime. There are no limits to the perception of this world of wonder and your place within it, beyond those you yourself embrace, through your choices. The mirror of your own inner reflection is all around you now. And the nuances of that imagery begins to shift before your very eyes, as you continue to align with the resonance of a sense of self, birthing itself anew from within. That self will continue to emerge throughout this lifetime and well beyond, as you continue to harmonize with the resonance of change that characterizes your world and all within it. The allegiance one now feels compelled to pledge becomes an affirmation of all that one now recognizes that one has become—and a reflection of all that one now is not. For, that allegiance is to one’s own inner truth, and cuts one loose from the affiliations and ties once required by cultural conditioning. One cannot hope to fly to the heights of human experience and simultaneously remain bound to the expectations set down by a world fast becoming engulfed in the mists of a distant dream. You are transcending that place in time by the minute. And where you now find yourself to be has only a passing resemblance to what was once recognizable reality. The political structures and spiritual heirarchies that held the hearts of human consciousness in place have begun to lose their grasp now. The world as you know it is shaking itself loose from these constraints. And, in so doing, the consciousness present is freeing itself up to co-create this world anew as a reflection of hope and personal empowerment. You have chosen to be part of this momentum,

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simply by being present. You have chosen to participate in a wave of transformation experienced collectively. For, the catalyst for these very changes is you—each of you. Together, you have co-created these conditions vibrationally, with the vote cast by each of you upon the ethers of the collective. And together you have begun to experience the limitlessness of possibility that is Oneness—in the guise of humanness—that is your birthright.”

Author of the spiritual classic, Oneness, Rasha has worked as Divine Messenger for over 25 years. In 1998, she began a profound dialogue with the universal Presence, “Oneness”—the Divinity we all share and many refer to as “God.” Word for word, she transcribed the principles that give us a new level of understanding of the mystery we call “life”— and empower us to transform our lives and our world. Her teachings are universal and focus on the personal experience of the Divinity within each of us. An incurable world traveler, Rasha now lives at the foot of the mystical mountain, Arunachala, in South India. www.onenesswebsite.com

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Unanswered Prayers by Ellen Angelica Pendergast

The devil fools with the best laid plans...’ How many times have we thought, we had it all going our way, but something happened and it didn’t work out as planned? The ‘devil fools with the best laid plans,’ is an old quotation for that which represents the thought of when things don’t work out, and we just cannot figure out why; hence, some blame something ‘sinister,’ such as a ‘devil,’ for messing things up when we planned so carefully. This concept not only stops us from taking responsibility for ourselves, but worst yet, it keeps us powerless, supporting a feeling that there is just nothing we can do about it, because it’s someone else’s fault, and we cannot control them or that situation! In truth, there is ‘no devil,’ except in our thoughts that something outside of us is causing a problem for us.

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For discussions purpose, let us for this moment look at this quotation in a different context: why not perceive the notion that when things don’t go according to plan it is representative of our own Higher Self protecting us from what really wouldn’t be the Highest and Best outcome for us. Eventually we may ‘see’ why it was not good for us; that whatever we had originally planned didn’t workout for a good reason; and that is usually when we THEN say, instead of ‘the devil fools with the best laid plans, we will say, “God was taking good care of me for THAT not to have happened! This could come in the form of not marrying that person, not investing money into a certain company, etc; sort of like, “thank God for unanswered prayers...” That quote is the same thing, in that what we feel is the best plan, or pray for something we wish would make us happy, many times really doesn’t. And when we do not get it, we blame the ‘devil,’ for messing it all up, or we blame God, for not answering our prayers; that is at first, until we see the ‘big picture,’ and we then realize that it was a blessing it didn’t happen at all! That is where the term, ‘thank God for Unanswered Prayers,’ originated! What if it is all just a matter of our own personal Guidance System, (Our Higher Self, God, Universe, The Great I Am, etc.) taking good care of us, instead? When we thank God/Universe/All That Is for taking good care of us, isn’t that all the gratitude we really need to express? Doesn’t every Master know this? Isn’t that why a Master is always calm and happy no matter what is happening? It is because they know that whatever happens is the Highest and Best for their own personal evolution and the evolution of All, and that it is all sent to them, by THEM (their Higher Self) for only GOOD. With this realization, can there really be a ‘devil’ ever fooling with the best laid plan? No, of course not! There is only Good; and if something doesn’t happen that we think we

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have the perfect plan for, it really means it’s not really ‘the best laid plan!’ What is really happening, is that there is something better that we must decide (yes, that is, to CHOOSE) to trust that we are being given opportunities endlessly; to evolve into the Highest, Grandest, Greatest Version and Vision we ever had of ourselves; (for more information on this subject, please read ‘Conversations with God, Book 1,’ by Neale Donald Walsch) and that no one can neither destroy our ‘best laid plan,’ nor can prayers ever go unanswered...not when God is on our side; for truly God is on everyone’s side, always, in all ways; for there is only God/Universe...Love. Blessings!

Ellen Angelica Pendergast received a B.A. in Education in 1978; four major fields of study: English, Art, Social Studies, and Psychology. Received her M.S. in Clinical Psychology in 1997. Has treated patients in a locked psych ward, held a two office private practice, and currently is starting a private practice in Arizona. Taught Psychology classes at a University in the Chicago area, and has just completed a children’s book. She is currently writing another book for young adults and the general public. Contact Ellen; spiritmindedblog@gmail.com

Meet our Wellness Coaches: E. Angelica Pendergast, Frank Daly, Jade Inspiration

No issue is unimportant or not acceptable to discuss; we respect confidentiality and are only required by law to report if you are a danger to yourself or another. Other than that, all issues can be addressed in these coaching sessions with any of our Wellness Coaches, including, but not limited to: substance abuse, relationships, self-esteem issues, grief, divorce, marriage, child rearing, family, physical illness; emotional traumas, stress, post traumatic stress, work-related problems, etc. Why Skype? Well, first of all, it’s easy. Skype makes meeting from home simple. It’s easy to connect with a click rather than get ready for an appointment, transportation expense, etc. AND it is as if we are together in the same room. But, of course, I’m in my studio, while I can also ‘be’ anywhere in the world with a Wi-Fi connection! Time is also a rare commodity these days and one that sees too many people put their health on the back burner. All it takes is a few clicks, and any concerns are addressed, instead of the usual call, make appointment, and then wait for that day to get ourselves to that office. No inclement weather to deal with, no traffic to contend with either. When all you need is a computer, free Skype service, and Wi-Fi, the decision to take control of life and to feel good is always available, right from your own residence. We at Perfect Balance Wellness Center, meet you online with the intention of bringing that healing power you already own, back to your full Awareness. Come view our web site below and call us for a Free 15 minute Consultation with a Wellness Counselor of your choice.

www.PerfectBalanceWellnessCenter.com

Anything is Possible By Frank Daly

There is one question that comes up repeatedly when I am talking to someone about how to manifest their desires. We have all heard the statement, “Anything is possible,” or “Whatever you can conceive you can create,” and yet so many people ask me, “If this is true, why don’t I see my desired outcome in my physical world?” When asking this question there are two sides to consider. On one side there is a feeling of lack due to the absence of that which you de59 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

sire. When you experience a sense of lack, you generate a negative vibration and because like always attracts like, you will continue to witness this absence in your external world. On the other side, if you feel excited about the possibility of possessing that which you desire, this positive vibration will move you in the direction of your goal and you will be ready to act on each bit of information that crosses your path, eventually reaching your destination. Remember, is it not only about the goal, but enjoying each step along the way.

If you are striving for an outcome in order to feel good, ask yourself if it is possible to feel good even without the object or situation you desire. You must first become what you want to attract, or as Abraham Hicks states, “That which is like unto itself is drawn.” This is one of the fundamental principles of the Law of Attraction. If you look closely at the world around you, and all you have experienced, you will find the universe works reverse of the conditioned way most have you been taught. You have become accustomed to think that the happiness you seek is at the end of the rainbow so to speak, however, it is your happiness that creates the rainbow in the first place. It is not reaching the goal that causes happiness, but happiness that allows you to reach the goal. The true causation of everything is the imagination. If you imagine a particular outcome or desire and you believe you can achieve it you will generate a feeling of excitement, and through this excitement the bits of information needed will be revealed. If you simply act on them with enthusiasm the next bit of information will present itself and so on. Therefore, the steps cannot be replicated by another person and the same outcome achieved, because it is not the steps, it is your attitude and imagination that leads you in the right direction. Look at a desire as a target, a place to move toward. This in itself will generate joy if you believe it is possible to reach the destination. Consequently, you will consciously and unconsciously take large and small actions directed by the impulse of this excitement. Keep in mind, you might not even realize how an action is directly related to reaching your destination, but if you trust the feeling of excitement and follow it, each impulse will lead you to the next exciting impulse and before long you gain momentum. It is at this point that you will start to the greater whole and your journey will become one of ease.

To further understand this concept consider how a GPS works. You place a desired destination into the GPS and as you take action by driving the car, the system will present step-by-step each bit of information exactly when you need it. If you simply relax and act on each direction as it comes, you will easily find yourself on your way to your destination. This only works if you trust that the information is sound. If you do not and you move away from the direction that is being given you will be told to make a correction, and if you insist to on taking the matter into your own hands, the sound of the GPS will come to be very irritating. When you tire of hearing the commands to revise your path, you will allow yourself to move as instructed. It does not matter how far off course you have gone, the system will still get you to your location from where you are every single time, without fail. Just like a GPS, your inner guidance system works flawlessly. You must trust the process in order to reach your destination successfully. Let go. Breathe. Be patient. Know that all is working as it should, all you have to do is enjoy the ride.

Frank Daly is a wellness coach and author who has transformed lives for over 15 years with his ability to enable his clients to see beyond the immediate drama of life and connect to the greater whole. His recent publication, Enjoy the Ride is a simple explanation of how to use your inner guidance system to reach your goals and live a life of joy. Frank lives in Arizona with his wife and son and is currently working on his second book.

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Transylvania

Down the Memory Lane

by Aura Imbarus, PhD

My mind’s tempo down the memory lane slowed down to admire and take in the untamed Liar’s Bridge, the first iron-cast bridge in Romania, built in 1859 over the street that connected the uppertown to the lower-town, which, as the legend said no one was able to stand on it and tell a lie without the structure collapsing. Well, without lying, I could truly sense the “crude” beauty of this town, unfolding itself while Turnul Sfatului (The Council Tower) appeared magically in front of me and so did memories of a long forgotten past: my first kiss, the ditching of my French classes, the crazy dancing under the summer sky on the Liar’s Bridge, barefoot runs in the rain and finding cover inside the pitch dark Council Tower.

After my high heels released an echo sound on the narrow, cobblestone streets of the medieval city of Sibiu or Hermannstadt, first mentioned in 1191 - in a document of the Vatican, under the name “Cibinium” due to the river Cibin that flows through the city, memories of my childhood had invaded me by like white pigeons returning home to their nest. My brisk morning walk ended at Cafe Wien, which not only bears the name but is truly a piece of Vienna through the ambient, yummy food, and the Austrian music broadcasted on-line inside the Café.

In a blink of an eye, the facade of the Bruckenthal Museum, housed in the palace of Samuel von Bruckenthal, former governor of Transylvania, shined through. The soft morning gust was whispering into my ears its secrets of all the paintings belonging to the main European schools, from the 15th to the 18th century. I needed to hold my breath for there were so many architectural styles, from Gothic to Baroque and Reainassance, coming together like the petals of a daisy at the crack of dawn. Everything was pristine while being filled with hundreds of years of history.

I ordered my morning deadly sinful apple strudel with cappuccino and the rattling of my mind came to a stop; images of my street were appearing one by one. I could clearly see the chestnuts of my adolescence that were still there, stronger and branchier; I could sense through the mild breeze, the fragrance of the roses from my Grandma’s garden all the way to the railways where the long siren of the trains was still reverberating in my head like it was yesterday. I felt my Mother’s soft hand holding mine, the way she used to when she was taking me to the German kindergarten, or, for eight continuous years, to ballet to learn poise, posture, and aesthetics.

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In 2007, Sibiu was named Cultural Capital of Europe and was ranked by Forbes as the 8th most idyllic place to live in Europe. Sibiu, “the medieval charm of Transylvania” is perceived as a city of art and culture and there are so many reasons why. Astra Museum of Traditional Folk is the most beautiful open-air museum in Europe, The Big, Small and Huet Squares similar to the Italian piazettas, the medieval towers: the Arquebusiers, the Potters, the Carpenters, the Thick, the Stairs, the Gate, the Gunpowder and the Leather Dressers’ Tower, stand still and high.

While my mind was dancing in my childhood’s foot tracks, my eyes were taking in, like under hypnosis, the vividness of the colors of the three level brick buildings’ facades cracked open by the mystical eyes -lens-shaped skylights -of the slanted roofs. That “sense of constant scrutiny that pervaded us like a ghost of old Vlad the Impaler, whose castle still stood on the other side of the Carpathian Mountains from my home in Sibiu,” (Out of the Transylvania Night), was not there anymore, for the country has been enjoying a democratic regime since Dec 25, 1997. One piece after another, tasting the cinnamon combined with powder sugar, divinely sprinkled on top of my apple pie, was bringing in the cozy atmosphere of a time, long forgotten from the physical reality but still so much present in each and every cell of my body. Years might have passed by, but the memories of those places and their overwhelming emotions are present and vivid now as they were then, ages ago. Thanksgiving is around the corner, and some members of our families might be around while others might have crossed over to the other side. All you have is NOW – live and treasure it; all you had yesterday – remember and treasure it as well. Nothing last forever except the love that was given and is given at this present moment.

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My Transylvania is still inside of me; memories of my family while growing up there will never be forgotten, and the more I think of them, now for Thanksgiving, the happier and grateful I am that I was given the chance to experience those moments once in my lifetime.

“Aura Imbarus, Ph.D. is an awarded educator, freelance journalist, and author of “Out of the Transylvania Night,” a memoir detailing her life in Romania during the communist regime. Her latest work, “Returning Home: A Journey of Finding Oneself ” is due out in early 2016. She has a BA in Foreign Languages; MA in American and British Literature; PhD in World Humanities. She has been teaching high school and college level classes in So Cal since 1998. Aura was featured on NBC, ABC, CNBC, Good Morning San Diego, Forbes Romania, etc. She is the President and Co-Founder of RAPNRomanian American Professional Network and President of EuroCircles in LA. She is involved with Scott J. Schwartz Foundation helping children with disabilities.” She writes for The Global Woman Magazine in London, Beverly Hills Times Magazine, The Immigrant, Hermannstader Zeitung in Transylvania and she also works as a freelance journalist for Entertainment and Sports Today! http://www.auraimbarus.com/

The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection. ~Michelangelo

Art by Maryam Morrison

https://www.facebook.com/maryammarts 64 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM â&#x2122;Ľ October 2015

Message from the Goddess Mother

WHISPERS OF THE HEART By Jan Diana

THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

Greetings My Beloved Ones, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Today I wish to share with you a truth that will bring you comfort and peace as you journey through your life experiences. It is a gift from my heart, given to all my children. From the very beginning in the early moments of your life as you began your experience living here on this blessed world, this gift was active. You were receiving constant communication from my heart to yours. Even as a newborn babe, in your little body, adjusting to being in a new environment, experiencing yourself in new way, you were comforted with this heart communication. You understood and knew on very deep levels who you were, what you were about and that you were not alone. As you began to become more accustomed to being in this world, you found ways of communicating to those around you, with what means they were able to understand, such as crying when you were hungry, tired or just wanted a cuddle. And yet always we were in a constant communication through our hearts. The first few years of your life you remembered our communication. As you grew a bit older, you began to forget more and more of this sacred language of our hearts, and yet on very deep levels you always knew who you were and that you were never alone. Now as you are reading these words, your heart is witnessing to you of their truth for it is time for you to begin the process of remembering this sacred language, how to speak and utilize it in your lives. This is the grand time of awakening. This is the time that your heart has been longing for. The truth I share with you today is like drinking sweet nectar bringing your heart great joy. To know that my love is always with you, that I am singing to you of your sweetness, and that I am lovingly supporting you as you live the many dreams you have desired to experience. This truth offers peace to you. Your heart longs for you to remember our conversations, to feel that connection consciously in

your daily life. You long for this even now more than ever before. It is time to celebrate the truth of my words as today I will share with you how you can begin to consciously remember and recognize this sacred communication of hearts. For you to make this connection of awareness is an important choice. Every step in your journey of developing your mastery begins with a choice. As you decide to move forward with this quest of remembering, begin to hold a vision of a continuous circle, a golden circle that connects our hearts. Our messages are living in a constant flowing motion, just like your breathing is flowing in and out. As you hold this vision, focus your mind on your heart and imagine this golden stream of light flowing from your heart to mine and back again. Begin to feel this flowing energy as you hold the vision. This will develop and become a constant as you allow your mind to flow within this golden energy between our hearts. Now imagine that it is like a dance back and forth, which is uninterrupted. This dance is within a beautiful song within a forever loop of loving. This song is sung in the notes of the heart. The language of the heart is the language of love. The sweetness of this heart language sings a song understood on many levels by you even now. With your choice to know this connection, you are focusing with your thoughts the desire and intention to remember this beautiful language of heart. The language of the heart is transmitted telepathically in frequencies and vibrations, coming to you in sweet whispers of the heart. These whispers bring to your mind messages in many different ways. Perhaps in pictures, sounds, thoughts, ideas which can inspire you to make light choices supporting the desires of your authentic self, the self that remembers all truth and your purpose you chose for this life. To hear these sweet whispers, first you have the awareness that this is a true reality. With acceptance of this truth, you will be able open your mind to allow the receiving in a conscious way.

66 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM â&#x2122;Ľ November 2015

As you are open to this truth and have the desire to develop your ability to recognize these messages, you can begin to direct your thoughts consciously to pay attention and notice what and when you are receiving. This gift is like other innate abilities which you possess. With practice and focused purpose, you will strengthen and develop your ability until it becomes second nature for you. To know and recognize the sweet whispers of the heart is a gift that will lead you to remembering more of your authentic self. The sacred messages will guide, direct, and lift you into planes of greater awareness, making it possible for you to see the many pathways of light that are available for you to choose. A simple practice that you may use to assist you in developing your connection is to spend a few moments each day connecting to your heart. Place your hand on your heart and breathe gently focusing on the flowing in and flowing out of your breath. Feel yourself moving into your heart, this place of peace and joy. Imagine the golden circle of light, our connection of communication from my heart to yours. As you focus, relax into this flowing energy, feeling yourself dancing within the golden streams of light. Allow your mind to let go of the cares of life and just be with this for a few minutes. You are developing your conscious awareness to our connection. As you go through your day, you will begin to notice thoughts coming to mind. Whispers of the heart are inspiring and uplifting. They bring messages of lightness and joy, for the heart speaks in the language of love and unity. My Beloveds, I rejoice in this time of awakening, for you are remembering the sweetness of your divine truth. I celebrate with you as each step brings you closer to your destiny of greatness. May you listen to the sweet whispers of the heart; feeling my love, for I am with you always.â&#x20AC;? With great love, Your Beloved Mother

67 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM â&#x2122;Ľ November 2015

Jan Diana is an intuitive healer, spiritual teacher, and master practitioner. Her mission is to assist clients and students in creating harmony, balance, heightened levels of clarity, develop innate gifts and abilities, empowering them on their personal evolution to create the dreams of their heart. She utilizes several modalities including SVH L3M, Animal healing, GHM, Language of love, Reiki Master, and more. Sessions and Classes by phone. If you have questions or would like to set up a session, you can reach her at website www.sunshineinyourheart.com or by email sunsinyourheart@aol.com SPECIAL offer 20% discount for new clients. Free meditation journeys, articles, & classes. http://www.sunshineinyourheart.com/free_ telecasts.html

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CHANGING PERSPECTIVES IN MINDFULNESS

by Joseph Emet

Like consciousness itself, mindfulness has a wide scope. Through the years as I progressed in my own practice, I have also seen its focus change on the bookshelves, on the Internet, and most importantly, in the focus of practitioners themselves. In the first wave, there was Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. Many people trained with Jon Kabat Zinn, and then trained with those who trained under him. You could find a course in just about every town in North America—you still can. These days however, the emphasis seems to be shifting towards observing the brain and its constant chatter with a certain detachment. In the bookstores I see books such as “You Are Not Your Brain” by Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Rebecca Gladding, and “Get Out Of Your Mind And Into Your Life” by Steven C. Hayes. Steven Hayes started out as a young psychology professor who suffered from panic attacks—he could not ride the elevator and could not talk in front of groups. These are huge handicaps for a professor of psychology. Yet, Hayes found a way to let his values and goals define his life, and not his fears. Mindfulness is a big part of this way. His “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy,” ACT for short, is now a widely used therapeutic tool—an example of its widespread use is the fact that it is now the primary means of intervention at the Veterans’ Hospital near where I live in Canada. Getting to listen to your brain objectively is the starting point of ACT. It is a healing skill. When a person comes to me for meditation coaching, she brings 69 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

her mind over, and lets it talk. Usually this is a kind of talk that does not bring happiness. I listen objectively, and with much empathy—I have been there. Will she learn to listen to her own mind the way I listen to it, objectively, and with acceptance? Some people learn this skill within three or four sessions. However, one client, Mark, is still struggling with it after a year of weekly meetings. His mind is still full of generalized negativity. He seems to get it by the end of each session, but comes in the week after, totally identified again with the voice of his brain. For him, it is a familiar voice, a voice he hears as “my voice” and trusts unquestioningly. Mark’s main problem is lack of practice. He identifies awakening with intellectual understanding. He “gets it” mentally during each session, but does not practice during the week, and soon reverts back to his old mental habits. He has been doing this dance of “one step forward, two steps back” for a year now. In changing entrenched mental habits, insight and practice need to go together. Insight alone is not enough— the force of habit wins when there is a tussle. It is by practice that new habits are formed and old ones extinguished. By the way, practice alone is not enough either. Many people sit in the meditation pose and practice—their old mental habits. They ruminate instead of meditating; as a result, instead of changing in the direction they desire, they become even more entrenched in their old ways. In this case it is insight that is missing.

What I admire most in ACT is the C that stands for commitment—commitment to one’s values. When you are crippled by chronic stress, stress reduction certainly feels like a goal in itself, but once stress is under control, the important question of what you want to do with your life still remains. Do you want to be a less stressed bully, a relaxed thief, or a chilled out crook? The inherent contradiction in each of these prospects arises because the question of values is left out. Clarifying values, and living according to them is an important part of a life well lived, and of the tradition that gave birth to the practice of mindfulness. I was introduced to this tradition by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen master. His emphasis on being present here and now resonated deeply with me. Like most people, I had many years of training in not being mentally present. I had received this training in High School where I was required to be physically present, but when the classes were boring to the point of torture as they were most of the time, I was mentally out the window hobnobbing with the birds and the butterflies. A harmless diversion, you may think. Not so. Not paying attention slowly becomes a habit, until you lose touch with yourself, with what you think, and with what you feel. Doing something and knowing that you are doing it get separated. Did you ever wonder where you put your keys? You were the one who put them wherever they are, not someone else, yet without knowing that you did it. Feeling something and knowing what you are feeling can also get separated. Some people are angry without knowing it. When others point it out to them, they may even deny it. Similarly, stress often sneaks up on us without our awareness. Thich Nhat Hanh has been tirelessly pointing out to all comers that breathing, and knowing that one is breathing do not necessarily go together. He urges us to bring these together. This is not a trivial matter, for awareness of breathing is also awareness of being alive—a miracle in itself. When we live without knowing that we are alive and participating in the most awe-inspiring miracle in the universe, we live like zombies. As he once said, we are like a person who has a handful of precious pearls, and just throws them away. This teaching is basic, and is one of the sources that fostered the current interest in mindfulness. Each

current version of mindfulness also has its own different focus. This variety in emphasis in turn enriches and widens our understanding of what mindfulness means. And the journey continues.

Joseph Emet is the author of Sleep Better With Mindfulness Meditation (Penguin), Buddha’s Book of Stress Reduction (Penguin), and A Basket of Plums, Songs for the Practice of Mindfulness Meditation (Parallax Press). These three books all have forewords by Thich Nhat Hanh. His newest book is Buddha’s Book of Meditation: Mindfulness Practices for a Quieter Mind, Self-Awareness, and Healthy Living, also published by Penguin/ Tarcher (March 2015). His book on sleep has won an award as the best self-help book of the year in 2012, and has been translated into 9 languages. The French version is entitled En pyjama avec Bouddha, and is published by Les Éditions de l’Homme. Joseph started the Mindfulness Meditation Centre in 1997, because he had found the practice of mindfulness very helpful in his own life, and wanted to share it with others. On January 14, 2003, he was invited by Thich Nhat Hanh to receive the Lamp Transmission as a Dharma teacher. His Dharma name is Dwelling in Peaceful Concentration. He has been trying to live up to that name ever since. Joseph has trained several thousand people in mindfulness practices in large and small groups, for organizations, and in private sessions. Joseph holds a Doctorate in Music from Boston University. He has been certified in Reality Therapy Counselling with Dr. William Glasser, and has been a Fulbright scholar. He has been a long time T’ai Chi practitioner with Master Lee Shiu Pak, one of the original Yang school students. 70 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

How Now

by Mitch Rosenzweig

71 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November

2015

What came first? We know the question, but the answer? Not so much. Chickens and eggs are not important unless you’re the Colonel or Easter Bunny. Of course, we know What’s on second ‘cause Who is on first, and we all want to be on first. Not only is it the prime goal of every Little Leaguer, it is the fantasy of every hormoneladen adolescent boy. We wax poetically over our first love, our first kiss, but not so much over our first wife or husband. But it is important to do first things first, right? I wonder if the first people know they were first, or were they just only? The First Lady knows she’s first, but she doesn’t even have to earn that. She just gets it by being hooked up with whatever knucklehead is currently in whatever first office. But when two of those knuckleheads are together, one is no longer first, just former. People get so intense about being first. No one ever cheers “We’re number 2, we’re number 2!”, ‘cause we all know it’s about the gold medal, being the best among the best, standing on that podium in front of the adoring crowds. One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. Who was the second guy on the moon? Oh wait, Who was still on first? Of course, being first isn’t always a good thing. Although my first computer was fun, now it’s barely a good boat anchor. Or the first electronic anything, for that matter. What about your first flat tire... we probably all remember it but would rather forget it. I remember jostling to be first in line to see an attraction with the family. Got real close to the door, right under the eaves, to be blessed by a pigeon expressing his opinion with the remains of his breakfast. Of course we all know about what happened to the first mouse... Snap... and the second one deftly avoiding the body to get the cheese.

And even though we will all remember Lance and A-Rod, now that we know they cheated, their being first is forgotten. And yet even though we can’t remember Buzz Aldrin’s second step, the mission would not have been completed without the entire team on the ground and in the capsule. Silvers and Bronzes are incredible achievements, and heck, just being in the top 12 at the Olympics is incredible. But What is always going to be on second, because we don’t remember What. So what is the point. Notice, no question mark at the end of the last sentence. What is, not what is? Depends on where you put the emphasis. If it isn’t a question, it is an answer. “What is” is what we do to live our lives to the best of our ability. It’s not about being first or even last, it is about how you live your life. Who may care about what others have, but just having anything is an amazing gift. There are so many without hope or happiness that would be grateful for whatever. So stop comparing the whozies and whatzies. Give up the first spot and be happy with what you can do. Really, there can be only one first and one last and the rest of us are in the middle anyway. Be grateful for who you are—you’re amazing. It not as important what you have but how you use it. So my new goal is not to be first or last. It’s to be brown cow-like—how unsexy is that? But how now is how we should be. Moo’ve on over, let’s get on with living. www.reachingforinsights.com

Somehow we confuse being the best with being first. We always want to compare and contrast our achievements with the Jones’s across the way. We think about how lucky and rich some people are, like Steve Jobs or Neil Armstrong. But if we stop to think, there are so many things that had to happen for these guys to be the first. Lots of shoulders to stand on and people that helped. The “how” is just as important as the “who” and “what.” 72 THEEDENMAGAZINE.COM ♥ November 2015

Were it not, for my utter humanness, I, a tiny little dot, in this infinitely vast universe, could think like God. In unbounded creation, I could drop the facade, and in deep meditation upon realityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s stone, strike the rod of imagination right into utter formation.

A TINY LITTLE DOT

http://about.me/rich.okun www.thesunthemoonthestarsandmaya.com 73 THEDENMAGAZINE.COM â&#x2122;Ľ September 2015

by Rich Okun

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