PERSPECTIVES: "Opening to Healing" Released; Excerpt: "Balance and Healing"
Published: Mon, 01/05/15
http://tinyurl.com/GTJAmazon
It is very beautiful, high-vibration material.
For now, Kindle is the only format. If there's enough interest, I'll also do a print-on-demand version later. There are free Kindle apps that allow you to read Kindle books on any computer, phone, or tablet —you don't have to have a Kindle device.
I'd greatly appreciate reviews on Amazon of all my books. If you would ever like to suggest any edits, feel free to email me — the text can be updated. One more book in this series, "Being in the World," is in the works, and I'll have a draft available soon for those who wish to help with proofreading. You can write me at ShepherdHoodwin (at) gmail (dot) com. The first book in the series, "Loving from Your Soul," is also available on Kindle (the print edition is sold out, but there are used copies available), as is the second, "Opening to Healing."
You can read excerpts from an older version of GTJ here:
http://summerjoy.com/UpcomingBooksIndex.html#Growing
AMAZON BLURB (from the Preface):
The spiritual path is a journey into joy. In joy, life flows freely in us and we flow freely in life. We do not learn to live in joy overnight; it is a lifelong process. Joy is not found merely by smiling and thinking positive thoughts, but by releasing our blocks and opening, a step at a time, to our soul.
Pain is a message that something is wrong. We can grow by constructively dealing with it, but when we live with consciousness and skill, we minimize pain and increasingly grow through joyful means rather than the "school of hard knocks."
TESTIMONIALS
"I loved 'Growing Through Joy'! This profound book is a wonderful transformational tool."
— Carlos Rego, Davie, Florida
"With the wisdom and loving compassion characteristic of his work, Shepherd Hoodwin brings Michael through with clarity and power. 'Growing Through Joy' is a wonderful addition to any spiritual library for its practical instruction on experiencing joy even when enduring the inevitable pain of life, and methods for avoiding the suffering and self-judgment that contracts us and compounds the pain. Like all of his books, it is rich and dense with information that stimulates our own experience of inner truth. Using the tools provided herein is an excellent way to achieve more spiritual presence and balance through every challenge of life. And, as usual, the teachings of the Michael entity resonate with love, compassion, humor, patience, and a call to presence as who we really are. Shepherd expresses this consistently and powerfully through all his channeled works, and this latest offering is no exception."
— Susannah Redelfs, http://councilofone.org
"'Growing Through Joy' is beautiful, clear, full, and rich!"
— Susan McNeal Velasquez, author of "Beyond Intellect," http://susanvelasquez.com
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NEW YORK TRIP
After attending the East Coast Michael Gathering in Madison, Virginia (April 20-27), I'll be in New York for two weeks, doing two "An Evening with Michael" channeled lectures. Both are at 7 p.m. with a suggested donation of $30 (any amount is fine):
Tuesday, April 28, School for Young Artists, 31 Wittenberg Rd., Bearsville, NY 12409 (near Woodstock), (845) 679-9541, http://www.schoolforyoungartists.org/find-us
Monday, May 4, TRS Professional Suite, 40 Exchange Pl. 3rd Fl (Broad/Williams) (also known as 27 William), New York, NY 10005, (212) 685-2848 http://www.trsincprofessionalsuite.com
Please spread the word.
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Here is Chapter 20 from "Growing Through Joy":
TRANSCENDENCE AND SELF-KNOWLEDGE
Channeled from Michael
By Shepherd Hoodwin
It is good to take stock, to know where you are at any given time. People, like stores, often do a yearly inventory around the first of the year, making resolutions. This may be often enough for a store, but it is probably not enough for you.
There is a transcendent knowledge available to each person. What is transcendence? It could be defined as simply rising high enough to see what is going on.
Suppose that you are a mechanic repairing a part in a piece of equipment. You are focused on this aspect of the whole. When you are done, you test the equipment; you step back and look at its entire operation to see if the part is fixed. Similarly, if you are a sculptor working in stone, you stand far enough away to see the whole piece in perspective. After due deliberation you come up close and chisel a piece away. Then you step back again and see how it looks.
It is rare for people to do this with their lives. They tend to be occupied with details. Those in poverty are occupied with survival. People who are more affluent have other concerns that occupy them. There will always be plenty to occupy you but no matter what your situation is, you can take some time for reevaluation and seeing the overview.
Sometimes you become ill when you need time apart. It may be the only way that you will stop being so occupied with the details of your life. The problem with that is that you might then become occupied with being ill. But after a while, there is only so much that you can do: you have seen the doctor, slept, watched "Days of Our Lives," and eaten as much as you want. Finally, you might take time to look, and if you look, perhaps you will see and understand.
Transcendence does not remove you from the realities of the world; it enlightens them. Perhaps it is necessary to appear to move away from the world to find the distance that gives perspective vision, but the point in doing this is not to deny the world.
If you say, "My life is terrible in every way. I have ruined everything. Nothing is good. Everything is going from bad to worse," you are not yet seeing objectively. The same is true if you say, after a quick glance, "Oh, everything's all right." The common use of correctional lenses is a symbol of the widespread lack of spiritual vision. We are not criticizing the use of such lenses, but spiritually, many people do not want to see, especially themselves.
If you are not accustomed to taking a hard look in the mirror, it may be daunting, even traumatic, because you will probably see many things you would like to change. But the purpose of looking is not to judge, not to make up a report card to take home to mommy and daddy; it is to give you information — that is all. If you see something that you do not like and this distresses you, remember that it was there yesterday, too, when you did not know about it, and perhaps you were perfectly happy at that time. Now that you see it, you do not need to plunge into depression over this new knowledge. If you are to be an artist "sculpting" your life, you have to be able to see where your sculpture is now so you can decide where to put the chisel next and how deep to go. The goal is to create something of beauty.
You might assume that you know all about yourself because you went to someone with a couch who explained it to you. This can be helpful, but what do *you* see? Someone else looked and told you what he saw; this may give you starting points, but what do you see? No matter how accurate the other person's appraisal is, if you do not see it, it does not do you any good. And what if he is wrong? You will never know for sure unless you self-validate.
You constantly receive other people's appraisals of you and what you do. You receive them from those with whom you work, members of your family, and so forth. Some "reviews" are good, some are mixed, and some are poor. Look at what is said and see if you see it. If you do not, at least at this time, allow the other person to see what she sees, and leave it behind.
Those who are overly influenced by the criticisms of others are usually those who have not looked at themselves, so they lack firsthand knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses. From your earliest days, you were evaluated by others. Your parents told you when you were good and when you were not, in their opinion. All throughout your schooling you were evaluated by your teachers, principals, and other students. Children are especially vulnerable to the evaluations of others because they are not yet fully capable of forming their own. But as an adult, you can look and see for yourself.
On the other hand, if you do not have an excessive attachment to being "right," you can receive criticisms from others with grace, learning from those you find valid. On your own, you might not have thought of them, so you can be thankful, even if the criticisms are judgmental rather than loving.
Q. Anybody can set up a metaphysical program: "For enlightenment, drink this Kool-Aid." Are there guidelines for knowing when somebody is saying something valid, and when you are being sold a load of organically grown … — well, you know?
You have to look and see, and then validate it for yourself, if it seems worth pursuing. If there were simple guidelines, or if there were somehow a truthful source of evaluation for every belief system being purveyed, they would still not be that useful to you. To discover what approaches are right for you, which might be different than for another person, you need to work your eyes and brain, and then see what your own experience is.
Q. What happens when you disagree with your teacher? Sometimes I wonder if I'm resisting a truth that could serve me. I don't want to judge him, but I don't want to deny myself either. I'm not certain whether this relationship is still valuable for me.
If you disagree, you disagree. Part of your agreement with your teachers should be the right to disagree. A true teacher will have no problem with that. Someone who cannot tolerate sincere disagreement usually does not have that much to offer. A mature teacher/student relationship is one of equals. It is not like a parent/child relationship, in which the student is helpless and dependent on his teacher for knowledge and insight. Your teacher has as much to gain from your relationship as you do. If you withhold your perceptions from him, you may be doing him a disservice, depriving him of an opportunity to learn. He may be incorrect or incomplete in his views, or unclear in his communication with you. So do not passively accept what does not seem right for you.
If you speak with him about it and undergo honest self-examination, and do not see resistance in yourself, all you can do is stay open. It is unwise to assume that disagreement is resistance, although it can be.
To discern whether he has more to offer you as a teacher, step back a little and look. Take your time. You could try having less involvement with him for a while and see if you feel drawn back into more, or if life brings you another teacher. However, sometimes you need to teach others in order to better internalize what you received before you are ready for your next teacher.
Q. I've looked at my life and, although there are nice parts to it, even those parts have negative undertones.
You are perceiving the mixed nature of human experience. Let's give a simple example: Perhaps you basically like your house. You're especially thankful for the low rent and the convenient location, but it has high utility bills, and the neighborhood is a little noisy, so you are having a mixed experience. You probably cannot do much about the neighborhood, but perhaps you can have the house better insulated, reducing your utility bills and raising your satisfaction with it.
It is not necessary to have everything in your life exactly the way you want it to be; that is virtually impossible, anyway. But by identifying the things that you would like to change and beginning to take whatever steps you can to change them, you move in the direction of increased satisfaction. That movement is satisfying in and of itself.
You are in an in-between state. You are becoming aware of your feelings of dissatisfaction, but you have not yet completed identifying them. There can be immense release in just identifying them. Sometimes that requires you to see some unpleasant things about yourself, which may be why you have not yet done it. That is all right, too. When you are ready, you will.
You move a step at a time, as you are able, toward clarity in your life. Each person is on a journey toward greater clarity. If you are stuck in one area, work on another area where you can have some movement. When you come back to the first area, you might find greater ease in working with it.
Q. How do you come to a place of transcendence when you're in the midst of a fury?
Take your time in responding. If you are not yet ready to say something that feels right to you, be silent. Stay as calm as you can. It is a wonderful opportunity to become more awake to the moment. Most people go on automatic pilot at this time and regurgitate what has been present with them in the past. If it is inappropriate, it sets up a negative pattern for the future.
It is easier to be transcendent in difficult circumstances if you practice in the less intense ones. You can also prepare for potentially difficult circumstances by being as clear about them as possible before going into them. If you do not find transcendence in a particular situation but learn from your experience, you will be better equipped to find transcendence in future situations.