As students of spirituality we are on the path to personal freedom, peace and moving through life with fearlessness. One of the biggest challenges to our freedom is our need to cling to our perceptions and believe that they’re truth. But before I continue with our dialogue, let’s agree for the purpose of our conversation, that freedom is a state of being where we experience lack of restraints, confinement or controls of any kind. So why would I bring up the idea of freedom in reference to perception - what's the connection?

From a scientific point of view, we can say we are beings of perception. We exist to take in light from our surroundings and interpret it according to the limits and possibilities of the machine that is translating that information. On the other hand, we become trapped when we believe that the machine’s conclusions are definitive truth. If we do not have the awareness of this process, we will automatically be subject to the restrains and restrictions of the machine rather than moving past them to the freedom of absolute consciousness.

Certainly there are many people who get excited about the holiday season, the opportunities to see family and dear friends, and to share love and creativity. On the other hand, there are those that feel stressed, resentful and apprehensive about the upcoming holidays and the impending interactions with their family.

So what’s the difference between these two groups of people? Why such diverse reactions to the holidays and our families? It’s simple! It’s all in the way we choose to see our lives and the situations therein. If you have a belief that holiday time is great, then that is exactly how your holiday season will be. If you have a belief that this is a difficult time and that your family is challenging to be with, then that is exactly how it will be.

The Creator and all creation need and love every piece of Itself with passionate intensity.

The Cosmic Christ lives in each of us as our own true self.

Timothy Layden painted the Cosmic Sacred Heart in May 2003 in Madrid Spain near the Lava Pies, the Foot Washing Plaza.

by Tara Lakshmi Kale

The focus of our energies is an important factor to consider at all times. Are we focusing on positive changes, self-empowerment, being responsible for our actions, thoughts and feelings? There are so many victims in this world; victims of time and space, the environment, our interactions with others. Few people want to take responsibility for the events that they draw into their lives. It feels safer and better to "blame" everything we don't like on our neighbor our partner our boss our children, parents...anyone but ourselves. Of course, blaming ourselves is also not the answer.

By Masaru Emoto

Why do people go through life looking for happiness? Dogs and cats look for food and comfort, but they certainly don't go to all the trouble that people do in their continual search for happiness. I suppose the reason is that we are the only ones who can align ourselves with the hado of happiness.

Many years ago, I had a discussion with Dr. Ravi Batra, a well-known international economist, and he said something that has stuck with me:

Why do you think people continually search for happiness? The reason is because we people have a link to unlimited existence. But many of us make a serious mistake. We set up conditions for happiness based on riches and fame, momentary pleasures, and things that are limited and always changing.

By Dr. Sheri Rosenthal

Don Miguel Ruiz, author of “The Four Agreements” and my personal mentor, spoke on more than one occasion about living one’s life in a totally different way than we had been taught to live; what he called ”living the will of God.” He asked us to imagine what living the will of God might look like. At that time, my highly educated and analytical brain had a field day tearing apart his lecture. I could not begin to imagine what the heck he was talking about, it sounded vague and religious. Past experience taught me that my teacher was normally correct about things and I was the confused one! So I took the lecture in and filed it away into the recesses of my mind for exploration at a later date.

By Dr. Sheri Rosenthal

Years ago I was blessed with the opportunity of traveling around the country with don Miguel Ruiz, author of “The Four Agreements,” while I was running his organization, Sixth Sun Foundation. Since then I have been traveling and lecturing on my own, and one of my most cherished benefits of teaching has been listening to the questions and concerns that so many of you have voiced over the years.

The most frequently asked question that I hear is, “How do I quiet my mind?” So many of us are tired of being abused by the constant noise within our heads. Try as we may, we cannot stop the mind from its constant chatter, conversations with non-existent people, arguments with people who are not present, tirades of self-importance, replaying of past conversations, fantasy situations, laundry lists of things to do, and just plain nonsense.

By Dr. Sheri Rosenthal

In looking back at my process over the years I have noticed an interesting phenomenon that I refer to as “using my path to go against myself.” This behavior may be a surprise to many of you….but as programmed ego minds we have been trained to use our life situations to go against ourselves since we were small. We have learned from those around us to use other people to raise our blood pressure, prove that we are not good enough, affirm that we will never be loved or that life is unfair. Unfortunately, the list of way we use others to hurt ourselves is endless.

Around holiday times we’re presented with a most wonderful gift – and that’s the opportunity to look at ourselves though the eyes of our family dynamics. Our siblings and parents act as mirrors for us to see ourselves and our emotional reactions more clearly, and observe where we have wounds, judgments, opinions, and emotions.

The holidays can be delightful no matter what personalities your family contains! The only thing that can make your holidays traumatic is your reaction to your family based on what you believe about them and your unrealistic expectations about what a holiday should look like.

What is purpose? Doesn't purpose suggest some greater goal? An outcome guiding us in our daily actions? But who decides our purpose? Many believe God has a purpose for them; others would say their purpose is driven by their own personal goals.

Each individual’s purpose may fit into a greater purpose, which can be so large and complicated that it can never be known or comprehend. Like an artist in Guatemala, making beautiful tiles for a great big home in Peru, the plans of which he will never see.

But can our purpose be self defined? If we have a preordained purpose, can we have freewill to choose any path? And if our self-chosen path is fundamentally a good direction, but it is not this preordained purpose, how are we affecting a bigger purpose given to us by God?