2014 Postings - Download Different #Meditations from 2014

Wednesday Evening Connections, December 3, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, November 26, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, November 19, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, November 12, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, November 5, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, October 29, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, October 22, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, October 15, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, October 8, 2014
Click here for the recording

Sunday Morning Service Talk, Bodhi Spiritual Center, October 5, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, October 1, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, September 24, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, September 17, 2014
Click here for the recording

Sunday Morning Service Talk, Unity in Naperville, September 14, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, September 10, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, September 3, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, August 27, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, August 20, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, August 13, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, August 6, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, July 30, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, July 23, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, July 16, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, July 9, 2014
Click here for the recording

Wednesday Evening Connections, July 2, 2014
Click here for the recording

Community Prayer Call June 26, 2014
Click here for prayer

Saturday Morning Wake Up Call, June 21, 2014
Click here to download the meditation

Community Prayer Call June 19, 2014
Click here for prayer

Saturday Morning Wake Up Call
Click here to download and meditate!

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
Click here to download April 27th.

Meditate your weekend off right!  April 19, 2014
Click here to download and listen!

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 30 - December Meditations - Becoming

"Through Life Visioning, we become the living condition through which divine ideas express themselves...These ideas can be anything from solutions to problems to a new business model to direction in your spiritual development." ~ Michael Bernard Beckwith

Affirmation:  My vision pulls me into my becoming.  

I live to expand and become everyday!

Contrary to what most of society tells us, we are not here to perform and produce.  Of course it is necessary for us to perform...perform tasks, duties and skills...and often times to be a contributing member to our friends, family and work systems, we must be productive and produce and contribute to the whole.  Performing and producing can pull us away from our underlying purpose and becoming though if that is all that we focus on.  In consciousness work and spiritual practice, the question is less about "what" and more about "who".  Who are we becoming today, tomorrow and the next?  The what actually can be quite easy, the whats of our lives reveal everyday as things are needed and required, but who are we becoming in the midst of the details of our lives.  

This is what we focus on today in our meditation.  Join me in listening for the answer to the question "Who are we here to become in 2015?"

Day 26 - December Meditations - Unity

Today is the first day of Kwanzaa, a celebration of community, family and culture.  Each day of Kwanzaa a different quality is celebrated. Today's quality is Umoja or Unity.

Paul Ryan once said, "Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together."

In today's meditation we honor all the circles of community we live and participate in.  Download the guided meditation here and affirm with me....

Affirmation:  Today I embrace the gift of my community.  My living contributes to the whole, and the whole contributes to me.  We are one. 

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 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 18 - December Meditations - Releasing Inflammation

"After all it is those who have a deep an real inner life who are best able to deal with the irritating details of outer life." ~ Evelyn Underhill

One of the main reasons I meditate is to better "deal" or be in relationship with myself and my out world. I was reminded of this yesterday as I contemplated the idea of what thoughts and beliefs am I repeatedly saying to myself that is causing inflammation and irritation to my mind, heart, body & soul.  I quickly launched into an painful intellectual process and "figuring" out of things and remembered, I don't need to fully understand it to release the inflammation and irritation I may be experiencing.  I can simply move to practicing affirmations and welcome my breath to reduce the "swelling".  That is what I invite you to affirm today and join me in meditation here.

Affirmation: Today I release inflammatory thoughts.  I remember that I am whole.

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 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 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.

The Power of Hello

Thanks to the guy in the park this morning who said hello as I jogged by.  He was walking his dog, I was trying to get blood moving.  He said hello, but really made eye contact with me.  I immediately felt lighter, happier, excited even.  My jog which began as a dreaded necessity for health and longevity as a 40 something male, all of a sudden fell away (even though I was still jogging).  I felt excited for my day and optimistic even!  I found myself asking the question "Was I not optimistic before he said hello to me?"  I realized it wasn't so much about being optimistic or not, my mind prior to that was just caught in a loop of the things I have to do today.  I was using this precious time by myself to process lists in my mind, but all of those things were "to dos".

In the last couple days the turn of the phrase "human doing vs. human being" has come up a few times.  This morning I realized I "do" a lot, and that is partly just who I am, but in my doingness, who do I wish to be?  I don't think I can actually be anyone else other than who I am, Darrell, light, joyful, creative, lover of loving et cetera...however, in my constant cataloguing of all my doing, I forget to focus on who I am.

Thanks guy in the park for reminding me that regardless of what I am doing (jogging, typing a blog post, sitting in a meeting or ordering coffee), I am a connector.  I love to connect with people.  Thanks for making eye contact with me and reminding me how good it feels to be seen!

My intention today is to see...really see as many people as I can today, and be seen by the wonderful world that surrounds me.

Thanks for reading.  I hope you see something you needed in my sharing.

Love, Light & Laughter! - Darrell

Meditation Marathon Day 7 - What is this? and a specific way to meditate

So it has been a week since the meditation marathon has started and what a great week it has been!  I am truly inspired by all of the yes' on Facebook to practicing meditation and the face to face conversations that have taken place in the last 7 days.  Some of you have had questions on how to meditate and when or for how long.  There has been some discussion as to why call it a marathon.  Some want to know how I "plan" what I write and so on. 

I put a short explanation of the meditation marathon on the Facebook event page, but maybe I will expand more here.  Basically, earlier this year I did my own meditation marathon as I came to the realization that for the last 3 - 4 months of my schooling and ministerial licensing that I needed a constant, steady and focused spiritual practice to keep me grounded as I approached the end of schooling and moved closer to the question "Now what?".  I finished school successfully and passed my panels for licensing with ease and grace.  I have landed a wonderful new job and continue to explore how my life as a minister, spiritual counselor and teacher can continue to expand.  However in the past month, I noticed myself feeling a bit unsettled, anxious and grumpy.  I then came to the realization that I needed another constant, steady and focused spiritual practice full of intention to ground me again.  So I decided to do another meditation marathon.  I intentionally call it a marathon because I am committing to this practice not for a week or a month even but until the end of the year.  The practice will for sure go on longer than that, but when I got the idea to ask friends and family to join me in this I thought it would be a good idea to give it some sort of book end and the end of the year felt right.  I like the word marathon because it implies distance and endurance. 

I don't think meditation needs to be hard, however, to continue to meditate everyday regardless of what is going on in our lives, to me, mimics the focus and determination required in training and the actual running of a race (no I haven't done a full marathon, but I did run a half marathon and trust me...it is no joke! grin).  So I don't want to scare or intimidate anyone from joining this practice, but I also want folks to know that this is a powerful journey to commit to.  There is no wrong way to do it, there is no one watching and counting how many days you do or don't meditate.  The reason I invited folks to do this with me, was it is always easier to do things in groups I have found.  AND one of the things I absolutely love is community and I thought "you know there really is a powerful community of folks on Facebook, wouldn't it be fun to see how many people would want to do this and share this experience?"  And low and behold there is a resounding yes, literally friends all over the country and world are meditating and joining in this collective meditation marathon...so wherever you are know you aren't alone, if you feel alone simply post something on the event page and I guarantee you will feel the connection.

As for "how" to meditate or for how long, that is strictly up to you.  Obviously there is no actual place for us to meet and do this together, so the practice is on your own, at work, home, on the bus wherever, however I highly recommend a space that is special to you.  You can meditate for 5 minutes or 50 minutes, the length right now is not important, rather the daily practice is.  So as for length, do what feels comfortable and that which allows you to be successful everyday.  As for how, I will sprinkle different techniques throughout the marathon, for now simply sit in the silence or with some light music. 

The "type" of meditation I suggest for this week is called contemplative meditation.  This generally means taking some sort of short inspirational/thought provoking reading and sitting with it, reading it over a few times and then closing your eyes and asking yourself, "what does this reading have to say to me today?" and let your heart, mind and soul take it from there.

Let this quote from Joel S. Goldsmith's Practicing the Presence inspire what you might read:  "Every person who has known dissatisfaction, incompleteness, and frustration will some day learn that there is only on missing link in his entire plan of harmonious living.  That is the practice of the presence of God(use another word if God pushes a button, try Spirit, Love, Wisdom, Wholeness or Grace)--consciously, daily and hourly, abiding in some great spiritual truth of scripture, and it makes no difference which scripture: Christian, Hebrew, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist or Muslim.  The Word of God, given to man through inspired saints, sages, seers, or revelators--this is what we need, in any language, from any country, just as long as it is a universal truth".

Have a great week all.  Meditate and contemplate well!

Love, Light & Laughter,

Darrell
darrelljonesspirit@gmail.com
773-450-3865

Faith makes you whole!

"If you limit your choices only to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise." - Robert Fritz

I am humbled by this quote, for it brings me to the realization how many times I have limited myself by what seems possible or reasonable.  It brings to mind the idea of faith.

Here is Ernest Holmes' definition of faith in the glossary of The Science of Mind:
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  Faith is a mental attitude, so inwardly embodied that the mind can no longer deny it.  Faith is complete when it is both a conscious and subjective acceptance.  Faith may be consciously generated.  In spiritual terminology, faith means a belief in the presence of an invisible principle and law which directly and specifically responds to us.  "Thy faith has made thee whole."

Our faith makes us whole, when we breathe and even consider beyond that which we know is possible or reasonable we are made whole and full.  All of a sudden we are in alignment with the full possibility of life.  Regardless of how I have chosen in the past, I choose today to consider beyond what I think is possible.

One of my favorite philosophers Heraclitus said "Unless you expect the unexpected you will never find [truth], for it is hard to discover and hard to attain."

Are you willing to expect the unexpected?  I am, but I realize I have to reconnect with this intention everyday.

Let us expect the unexpected and see what reveals through our lives yes?

I would love to hear any testimonies of any unexpected realization and revelations as a result.

Share at darrelljonesspirit@gmail.com or reply to this post!

Love, Light & Laughter,

Darrell