Journeying Within, Message from May 17th @ the Bodhi Spiritual Center

It is my pleasure to share the talk I was honored to give this past Sunday at the Bodhi Spiritual Center
https://soundcloud.com/bodhichicago/may-17-2015-journeying-within-by-rev-darrell-jones

2014 Postings - Download Different #Meditations from 2014

Wednesday Evening Connections, December 3, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, November 26, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, November 19, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, November 12, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, November 5, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, October 29, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, October 22, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, October 15, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, October 8, 2014
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Sunday Morning Service Talk, Bodhi Spiritual Center, October 5, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, October 1, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, September 24, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, September 17, 2014
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Sunday Morning Service Talk, Unity in Naperville, September 14, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, September 10, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, September 3, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, August 27, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, August 20, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, August 13, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, August 6, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, July 30, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, July 23, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, July 16, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, July 9, 2014
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Wednesday Evening Connections, July 2, 2014
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Community Prayer Call June 26, 2014
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Saturday Morning Wake Up Call, June 21, 2014
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Community Prayer Call June 19, 2014
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Saturday Morning Wake Up Call
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Talk given May 18, 2014 @ Abundant Life Spiritual Center
Awakening the Wisdom of God in You! Activating your spiritual tools.

Sunday Evening Meditation & Sharing April 27, 2014
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Meditate your weekend off right!  April 19, 2014
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Here is a recent talk from March 2014 @ Abundant Life Spiritual  in Deerfield, IL
Click the link below
Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing

Day 25 - December Meditations - The Greatest Gift

"Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self."  

~ Francsis of Assisi

Ernest Holmes wrote the greatest gift life could have given us is our self....A bit of a paradox, but in between these two statements, I believe, dwells the greatest wisdom gift that can set us free into the fullness of life.  We have been given the great of our lives AND the ability to overcome or transcend it, to remember our Self that is greater than any situation, yet if we pause and listen we can discover in every situation.

In the Christian tradition today is the celebration of Jesus the Christ.  The physical or human embodiment of the Christ Consciousness or God Consciousness.  Let today be a celebration less of a a particular person or religion, but a celebration of the consciousness and teaching that come out of it, "I and the father are one."

Let us meditate together then on this simple yet powerful affirmation.....download a guided meditation here.

Affirmation:  I am one with all that is.

Day 24 - December Meditations - Excitement

"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.  Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning." ~ Gloria Steinem

I woke up this morning getting ready to go visit family and sensed a familiar yet distant energy.  It was the excitement energy of my childhood around the holidays.  This is something that feels so good and energizes me.  It gave me pause to realize that this energy doesn't need to be distant or reserved for one time a year, this excitement can be cultivated into my daily living and practice.  

So let us begin today by diving deep into a meditation of excitement!  Click here to download.

Affirmation:  Today I welcome the excitement of my inner-child to dream and wonder of the possibility that is my life.

Day 23 - December Meditations - Listening

How often do we listen to actually learn something new or discover something about ourselves or another?  Challenge yourself today to listen for something new as opposed to listening for what you want to hear or what you think will or should be said.  There IS more to our daily living than what we already know.  Are you ready to listen for it?

"I remind myself every morning:  Nothing I say this day will teach me anything.  So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening." ~Larry King

Affirmation:  Today I listen to my life and make myself available to the wisdom it seeks to speak to me.

Download today's meditation and join me in a powerful listening session.

Day 22 - December Meditations - Giving

"If you want to be unhappy think of yourself.  If you want to be happy, think of others." ~Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

Affirmation:  Today I give and think of others.  I cherish my friends and family.

As I prepare to move into celebrating Christmas with my family, I found myself a bit frustrated about the gifts I hadn't bought yet.  I was upset that I waited so late, but I still have time today and tomorrow to prepare, however, I found myself even more upset due to the fact that I want more money to spend on presents right now.  I didn't enjoy feeling so frustrated, but then was drawn to the quote above preparing to meditate and discovered I wasn't thinking of others really, I was thinking of myself with the gift giving.  As I shifted my attention to the connection I have with my friends and family, the frustration lifted.  I once again am feeling excited about shopping and know whatever I can give and afford is enough.

Join me in a meditation on giving to anchor in the love of the season instead of the pricetag.

Day 20 - December Meditations - Allowing

"Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are." ~Malcom S. Forbes

What if you actually allowed yourself to be you today?  Valuing and allowing more time, energy and attention to land on who you are as opposed to what you are not."

Join me today in meditating and affirming your "enoughness".  

Download the meditation here.

Affirmation:  I value who I am today and let that be enough.

Day 17 - December Meditations - Perfection & Imperfection

"If you look closely at a tree you'll notice it's knots and dead branches, just like our bodies.  What we learn is beauty and imperfection go together wonderfully." ~Matthew Fox

For a good chunk of my childhood into my early adult years, perfection was a killer of joy, spontaneity and creativity in my life.  In fact this is something I struggle with weekly if not daily.  There is, I dare say, a crazy notion that our world embraces and celebrates that in order for something to be "so" or really legit, it has to be perfect, and if it is not, then it is some sort of less than throw away.  This may seem a big dark or harsh, but think of a time where you have wanted to discard yourself from something, a project, relationship, a diet, a work-out plan...whatever, you either stopped or wanted to stop because something in you or your creation wasn't perfect.

Perfection is actually like heaven.  It is always available, but it is not a static state, rather it is a subjective state of mind or consciousness that is cultivated and not something that magically descends upon our living.  Perfection is something we partner with in any given moment.

Partner with me in a meditation on perfection by downloading this 12 minute meditations.

Affirmation:  I embrace the inherent perfection of my life.  It is perfectly imperfect!

Day 16 - December Meditations - Living our Intentions

I was drawn to a quote this morning that really stopped me in my tracks and made me think.

"We either live with intention or exist by default." ~ Kristin Armstrong

Download this meditation to tap into your meditation today.  Live by it and return and remember it again, and again, and again, and again, and again...and, and, and.....

Affirmation:  Today I practice the power of returning to my intentions again and again.

And so it is!

Day 15 - December Meditations - Honesty Unlocks Wisdom

"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." 

~Thomas Jefferson

I often describe the work I am here to do on this planet as awakening wisdom.  However, I can't magically make anyone awaken to anything.  All I do is invite the awakening through spiritual practice and mindfulness.  To awaken to the wisdom of the universe written in our hearts and minds we must read the first chapter of honesty.  Although it may be a slow, challenging read, once we have read that chapter in our book of life, the rest of the stories and the wisdom contained within are much more accessible.  Join me in a brief 10 minute meditation of honest to unlock the wisdom within.  Download it here and anchor this affirmation with me:

Affirmation:  I open the book of my life today an see what is and isn't true.  All the wisdom I seek is already within.

Day 14 - December Meditations - The Light of Love

Love is the willingness to accept and embrace another or ourselves beyond a specific action or word even.  In the Christian tradition, today is the third Sunday of Advent, the holy time leading up to the celebration of Jesus' birth.  Every Sunday during Advent a candle is lit, remembering a specific quality of the spirit of Jesus and God, today's candle is love.

Let us be willing to embrace ourselves or another in meditation, regardless of what happened or didn't happen.  "Hate the sin an not the sinner:" Ghandi wrote in his auto-biography.  Lets put our attention on simply loving the sinner or the one who made a mistake.  Whether that person be yourself or another, simply move your attention to the light of love they  are and love that light.

Click here to download todays' brief guided meditation.

Affirmation: Today I love the light of love in all life, no strings attached.

Day 12 - December Meditations - Self Acceptance

I woke up this morning with a story about myself that wasn't very positive.  I quickly dove into a place of spinning self judgement.  In meditation I quickly became aware of the story I was making up.  That story was basically "I'm not a good person."  Is this true I asked myself?  No, it isn't true, I am a good person, I simply wasn't pleased with a choice I made yesterday, that is all.  Self acceptance is the practice of self love and it requires great courage, however, all we have to do is be willing to accept ourselves and the experience of loving and connecting begins.

Affirmation:  I am open to love and accept all of me today.  Regardless if I celebrate it or judge it I accept it.

Download today's loving acceptance meditation here.

"The truth is: Belonging starts with self-acceptance. Your level of belonging, in fact, can never be greater than your level of self-acceptance, because believing that you're enough is what gives you the courage to be authentic, vulnerable and imperfect."

Brene Brown

Day 11 - December Meditations - Remembering our loving nature

Love is so often said to be a verb and not a noun.  However, how often do we try to understand love as opposed to engaging in love or practicing love.  Today let us not attempt to understand how we can love someone who challenges us or attempt to figure out how we can love that aspect of ourselves that drives us crazy.  Rather, let us simply affirm our love for ourselves or another simply because we love as opposed to loving because of something.

Affirmation:  I am a loving being.  My nature is to love.  Today I remember my true nature.

"Tell me and I forget, teach me an I may remember, involve me an I learn." ~Benjamin Franklin

Involve yourself in loving right now, download todays meditation on love here.

Day 10 - December Meditations - I return to peace

Concern, worry, fear and anxiousness are all natural experiences for us, and happen most likely on a daily basis, however, in the midst of that concern, worry and anxiety peace may be realized.  The peace I speak of is not a transient peace we attain based on the state of conditions of our outer lives, rather this is a peace that always sits within us that we must practice returning to.

Affirmation:  Today I am willing to return to my peace within.

"A smile is the beginning of peace." ~ Mother Theresa

Return to peace with me in this brief meditation.

Day 9 - December Meditations - Awareness of ever present Universal Intelligence

"Meditation is an invitation for God to speak to us or to make Himself known to us; it is not an attempt to reach God, since God is omnipresent.  The Presence already is.  The Presence always is, in sickness or in health, in lack or in abundance, in sin or in purity; the presence of God always and already is.  We are not seeking to reach God, but rather to achieve such a state of stillness that the awareness of God's presence permeates us."  ~Joel Goldsmith, Practice the Presence

Affirmation:  Today I am open and available to hear and see something I haven't before.  The ever present voice of God, the Universe, Source & Intelligence guides me now.

Take this affirmation into mediation, download this 10 minute meditation for free!

Day 8 - December Meditations - Expecting our desires to manifest

"The one who can control his thinking is he to whom time and place makes no difference." 

~ Ernest Holmes

The outcome of our lives follow our expectancy.  We may not know all the details of how all things will come to pass, but in any given moment we can become aware of our attention.  In all moments let us commit to bringing our attention back to the expectancy and possibility of our lives regardless of the route.  Download today's meditation here and affirm today's affirmation with me.

Affirmation:  Today I affirm that the sum total of my thoughts land on my good.  I expect my desires shall tome to pass.

Day 7 - December Meditations - Shine your light!

"Each one of us is an outlet to God and an inlet to God." - E. Holmes

You are the light this world needs.  Don't ever stop remembering that!  Whatever the world may say about you or to you....heck, whatever you may say to yourself, don't ever stop remembering you are the light this world needs!

We come together in our living and today to remember this truth. 

Click here to download today's free meditation.

Affirmation:  All that I am is right for this moment.  I allow myself to be enough today and know I will be enough tomorrow.

Day 6 - December Meditations - Moving from the invisible to the visible...

Ernest Holmes wrote, "All manifestation of life is from an invisible to a visible plane, through a silent, effortless process of spiritual realization."  Embracing this statement then...Let life stir from within us.  Although life around us at work, home, in the country and world will continue to stir around us, let us connect to and welcome the invisible power within each of us to be the real cause of our good.  Let us let the world off the hook today and embrace our responsibility to make ourselves available to the loving power of life that simply seeks to move through us and out into the world.  Join me in today's meditation and practice of acknowledging the invisible power that stirs within seeking to move through you and out into the world.

Affirmation:  I am a unique space where the power of the universe becomes manifest.  Today the divine effortlessly expresses as my living.

Day 4 - December Meditations - Hope, Expectancy & Possibility

Hope, expectancy &  possibility are not waiting for anything to happen around you.  They are simply waiting for you to welcome them into you.  Into your mind, heart, soul, job, work, health, relationships and even your finances!  Let us welcome hope, expectancy & possibility into our living today.  Here is a meditation to get that started.

Affirmation:  I am a living expression of possibility.  I am the hope I seek.  Today, I expect good beyond my understanding.

"There is a power for good in the universe available to anyone and you can use this power for good in your life." ~Ernest Holmes

Day 3 - December Meditations - Our Heart's Desires

Affirmation:  I welcome into my experience right now, the expression of my heart's desire!

Choosing and saying yes to our heart's desires without condition....Putting conditions on our living is like expressing conditional love.  How willing are we to truly embrace our hearts desires in the midst of the conditions of our lives?  Download today's meditation and affirm your heart's desire now!