Celebrating Difference and Recognizing Oneness
I love diversity and the richness of different perspectives. I also love looking in the direction of the essence who we all are. It seems to me that whenever I look in that direction life gets simpler and lighter. I have noticed recently different conversations about the right way to look and point in this direction. They have the feeling for me of: “I know better than you. This way is better than that way. You can’t say this. You should do that.”
So many rules. And for what? None of us have it right. What is being pointed to cannot be expressed in words. How can there be a right way and a wrong way? Instead, I celebrate and encourage anyone who is sharing their experience of looking in the direction of their true nature in service to love and understanding. Whatever that looks like.
What matters to me is the feeling and intention from where I come. I know I am not going to get the words right. I am going to make mistakes. There are pretty much always typos in my blogs, and I am so grateful to those who help me by pointing them out. I don’t really think too much about the words because I know they aren’t it. I know it doesn’t really matter what I use to point to the source of who we all are. I am not important and what I am using to point is not important. You are it. I am it. So we can’t really go wrong.
The words are always going to be a poor substitute for the essence of who you are. But they might point you in that direction, and you might look. Not because the words are right, but because you want to look. You want to feel all of who you are, both the form and formless. They are one and the same.
I don’t really care if someone points in the direction of true nature using the teachings of Jesus, Buddha, Mohamed, Advaita Vedanta, the Torah, Great Spirit or using another spiritual tradition, even secular ways such as Existential Philosophy, Physics, Astrology, Music, Psychology are fine with me. I don’t care about the form of what is being used to point with even if it doesn’t resonate with me. I just love that there are an infinite number of ways to point in the direction of truth eventhough none of them are truth.
Garret Kramer asked recently in a FB post, “Are we 7.5 billion separate selves who possess consciousness, or are we 7.5 billion agencies of a single Consciousness?”
I am in the camp of us being 7.5 billion agencies of a single Consciousness. I don’t ever expect all 7.5 billion expressions to share and see things in the same way. But what I do hope for is there can be love and understanding between as many of those transitory agencies as possible for as long as possible. We are all expressions of the same source. How can any of us be wrong?
That does not mean I agree with all expressions. The love of our true nature can appear to me to be refracted beyond measure when it comes to violence, bigotry, and other atrocities, but even though I don’t agree, who am I to judge? Would I not do the same if I was in those same circumstances with the same understanding? All of us are doing the best we can with what we understand in the moment.
The unfolding of my understanding is not in my control. I do not choose what I see or my resulting ability to express love into the world. All I can do is be and do from there.
I will be the first to admit that my way is flawed and misses the mark when it comes to truth. But I love that I have the willingness to share it anyway, and I celebrate everyone who speaks their personal truth no matter whether I agree or not. I hope I am an example of how you don’t have to have it figured out and you don’t have to be perfect to move forward.
My encouragement to you is to not hold back. Even though our true nature cannot be understood by our personal minds or explained in words — you know it. You can share what you see and put it out there. Let your voice join the chorus and let us experience your view. Let it be messy. Let it be imperfect. Let it be half-baked. Just go for it. These are only assessments — not truth.
Don’t hold back! Your unique view is valuable. You are valuable. I want to hear from you and witness your expression. My life is better for that. Share with the world what lights you up!
It doesn’t matter if people judge you. People judge me as a fool. Tell me I am wrong. Shame me for my limitations. Cast me aside as an idiot. The beautiful thing is that none of this matters unless I make it matter. And even when I make it matter that is only temporary and not a problem.
As Rumi’s poem says, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there”.
Let’s play there!
If you would like to look in the direction of your Authentic Self with a delightful group of people and explore an understanding that leads to greater inner freedom and effortless access to your potential join Barb Patterson and me for this two-day workshop New Year. Fresh Start. in January. Click here to learn more. And if you are a Solopreneur and would like to be part of a dynamic group as you take your business to the next level here is the link for our upcoming Mastermind. If you sign up for the Mastermind by December 15th, the New Year. Fresh Start workshop is included for FREE.
Rohini Ross is excited to present The Soul-Centered Series: Psychology, Spirituality, and the Teachings of Sydney Banks with the original students of Sydney Banks in Santa Monica, CA. She is passionate about helping people wake up to their true nature. She is a transformative coach and trainer, and author of Marriage (The Soul-Centered Series Book 1). She has an international coaching practice helping individuals, couples, and professionals embrace all of who they are so they can experience greater levels of well-being, resiliency, and success. You can follow Rohini on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, watch her Vlogs with her husband, Angus Ross, and subscribe to her weekly blog on her website, rohiniross.com.
Christine Heath & Judy Sedgeman – Spirituality and Resilience
When you no longer give authority to the fear-based thoughts in your consciousness, all you are left with is happiness. Through the teachings of Sydney Banks, you can see how your psychological functioning works, which makes you less compelled to follow those thoughts that do not serve you. Becoming more aware of the wholeness and integration of both your human and spiritual natures helps to ground you in the unchanging essence of who you are, and ride out the ups and downs of your emotional experience more gracefully. Accepting the normalcy of your humanness will naturally reduce your anxiety and fear and enhance your joy and happiness in each moment. By placing less pressure on yourself to feel a certain way or be hung up on self-improvement, you may find that low moods do not derail or debilitate you; instead, you will become much more attuned to your innate wellbeing and peace of mind and experience more happiness as a result.
Greater psychological freedom is the gift that keeps on giving. How grateful would you feel if you no longer had to listen to your negative, self-punishing and painful inner narrative, day in and day out? Understanding the role of thought and recognizing how it creates your feelings of insecurity and self-doubt is truly liberating! You will be better able to hear and heed your inner wisdom and become less driven by the noisy thoughts of fear and constriction. As an ongoing practice, this allows you to more fully experience your resilience and reach a greater sense of clarity about how you want to move forward in your life. As a result, you can live in a way that feels authentic and true in every area, including your career, family, home, creative expression, play, relationships and overall well-being.
Your ability to enjoy life comes from being present in the moment rather than caught up in habitual, negative thoughts that take you out of the Now. Sydney Banks’ wisdom supports you in becoming aware of how you get seduced by your limited personal thinking and thus, create a painful reality of misunderstanding, fear and restriction. When you recognize how and why this happens, you can step free of the pattern. This understanding assists you to dismiss unhelpful thoughts and not take them seriously. Unlike traditional self-help or therapy, experiencing more psychological freedom and enjoyment does not rely on techniques. There are no magic bullets on the path of well-being. All you need to do is follow an internal compass that points to the truth of who you really are—beyond transient thoughts to your unchanging, formless essence.
In our culture, success is often associated with hard work and narrowly defined as material gain. However, authentic success, as shared by Sydney Banks, includes such intangibles as happiness, well-being, love, joy, compassion, and peace of mind that are innate in each one of us, along with outward goals and achievements. It honors the whole person in all walks of life, whether you are a professional, leader, executive, solopreneur, employee, mother, teacher or student. From this knowing and experience, you can access the infinite wellspring of love that is your essence, then share your gifts with the world from a place of fulfillment and meaning, through a profound understanding of the interaction between your psychological and spiritual natures. While conventional success can deplete you, authentic success only fills you up.
Are you self-critical, hard on yourself, and constantly trying to “fix” whatever you think is wrong with you? Perhaps you have tried all kinds of different personal growth techniques and spiritual practices in the hope of solving all your problems. This cycle can be exhausting and never-ending, because there will always be something to improve about yourself, from that mindset. Sydney Banks’ teachings can help you to see how your humanness is normal and not something that needs fixing: as a spiritual person, you don’t need to change or eradicate your humanness! Seeing yourself as normal allows you to love and accept yourself exactly as you are—warts and all. Adopting this perspective naturally brings out the best in you and helps to find peace with your personality. Self-love and self-acceptance is your natural state, and any disconnection from your true nature is only temporary. What a relief!
One of the first areas people often experience profound transformation from the teachings of Sydney Banks is in their relationships, both personal and professional. While it often seems like another person’s irritation, anger, indifference, insensitivity, rudeness, etc., directly affects your experience, in reality your disturbance is a product of your own individual thinking. By making someone else responsible for how you feel, that person automatically becomes the cause of your suffering. Once you understand that you always have a place of well-being inside, independent of another’s behavior, it is easier to maintain equanimity through their changing moods and behaviors. Romantically, you may experience deeper love and intimacy with your partner, but the teachings benefit all relationships. This awareness supports more authentic connection and expression, while facilitating greater understanding, improved communication, reduced reactivity, more acceptance of self and others, and improved ability to work out differences and find common ground. Best of all, just one person shifting in a relationship is enough to transform it.
Barbara Patterson
Scott Kelly
Barbara Patterson
Clare Dimond
Michael Neill
Rohini Ross
Elsie Spittle – The Soul of the Principles
Spiritual Facts 
Chip Chipman – The Simplicity of Syd’s Teachings
Dicken Bettinger – The Spiritual Nature of the teachings of Sydney Banks
No Comments