Thursday, May 27, 2010

DailyOM: Fellowship with a Purpose

Today's DailyOM brought to you by:
 

 
May 27, 2010
Fellowship with a Purpose
Starting a Group

If you are feeling the need for community, why not start a group in your area with people of similar interests.


Human beings, by their very nature, love to gather. Yet as much as we crave community, the rigors of real life frequently interfere with our efforts to come together with likeminded individuals. For this reason, fellowship is crucial to humanity's wellbeing now more than ever. Most towns and cities play host to a variety of small groups that allow people to congregate purposefully, but that does not mean we should not consider founding our own. When people with similar interests, ideals, or aspirations come together as a group, a community is built that provides a new dimensionality to our earthly experiences.

The formation of a group is like an invitation welcoming all those desiring companionship and camaraderie into a circle of support. You may feel driven to found a group for women, healers, knitters, readers, writers, or political activists. Rules need only be a part of your communal experience if you find that level of organization appealing, and it matters little whether your group is large, goal-oriented, or structured. When you have a firm vision of the group you wish to bring into being, hang posters, reach out to acquaintances, and get in touch with similar groups to attract participants. Groups of likeminded individuals are to some extent inherently exclusionary, being that they serve as a supportive environment in which people who have something in common can gather. Yet such groups can also transcend the boundaries that might otherwise keep people apart, The group you create will likely attract people from many different ethnic, cultural, and spiritual backgrounds, a! nd if you make these individuals feel equally welcome, your group will grow and thrive as a result.

Try to ward off any discouragement you feel when those intrigued by your group's purpose are not ready to contribute actively. They are likely waiting to see how it evolves and whether you are truly committed to serving as its heart and soul. If the group you have founded is a positive influence in the life of even a single individual, it is well worth it. Your intention to bring people together will be the seed that develops into a source of nurturance and community that stays true to its purpose long after its initial inception.


Top 10 DailyOM Courses:

1. Reinventing The Body, Resurrecting the Soul
2. Find True Love in 27 Days
3. Heal Your Money Karma
4. Overcoming Self-Sabotage
5. Feng Shui Secrets
6. Permanent Weight Loss with Self-Hypnosis
7. Falling in Love with Yourself
8. Heal Yourself With Ayurveda
9. Heal Yourself with Writing
10. 21 Day Consciousness Cleanse

New Courses | All Courses


Click here for Summer's Path - the new book by DailyOM co-founder Scott Blum

What do you think?
Discuss this article and share your opinion

Want more DailyOM?
Register for your free email, or browse all articles

  Starting a Group

Share the OM:

Email this to a friend
Printable version
Save in My DailyOM
Discuss this article

Open Your Spritual Heart

From the Library:
The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity
by Edwene Gaines

More DailyOM:

  • On-line Courses
  • Soul Readings
  • Today's Horoscopes
  • Shop the Marketplace
  • Join the Community
  • Home | Gift Shop | My DailyOM | Marketplace | Community | Archives | Share The OM | Contact Us
    Subscribe | Change Email | User Settings | Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Gift Shop FAQ | Advertising Info
    Make DailyOM Your Homepage | Link To Us | Publish DailyOM On Your Website

    © 2004-2010 DailyOM - All Rights Reserved
    No portion of this site can be reprinted without express permission
    Artwork by Wang Chang-Ming

    Wednesday, May 26, 2010

    DailyOM: The Soundless Center

    Today's DailyOM brought to you by:
     

     
    May 26, 2010
    The Soundless Center
    Silence of the Heart

    It takes a sensitive ear to tune in to the silence of the heart, it can offer us profound experiences if we listen.


    We spend a lot of time attempting to put the feelings in our hearts into words, to communicate to others our passions, our emotions, and our love. Often we are so busy trying to translate our heart's roar into language that we miss the most profound experience the heart has to offer, which is silence. Every poem arises from this silence and returns to it. When all the songs have been sung, the soliloquies delivered, the emotions expressed, silence is what remains. As each wave of feeling rises and falls back into the silence, we have an opportunity to connect with the vast, open, powerfully healing wisdom at the soundless center of our hearts.

    Our hearts may seem noisy and tumultuous so much of the time that we do not even associate them with silence. It takes a sensitive ear to tune in to the silence of the heart, but it is there in each one of us, so close and so large that we do not even notice it. We can begin to become aware of it in the same way we become aware of the negative space in a still life, the background of a photograph, or the open sky that contains the sun, clouds, moon, and stars. We are accustomed to tuning in to objects and sounds that are one-pointed, solid, and three-dimensional. Seeing and hearing the apparently empty space that contains these sounds and objects takes a little practice.

    We can bring our awareness into our hearts by simply breathing into the general area of our heart. The first thing we may notice is feelings like joy or sadness and physical sensations like tightness or tenderness. We acknowledge these as we continue to breathe and focus, listening attentively. We surround these feelings and sensations with breath and recognize that they are contained and held in an immeasurable substance like water or air, intangible, ineffable, but utterly real. This is the silence of the heart, and the more we listen for it, return to it, and accept it, the more we bathe and purify ourselves in the soundless center of our being.


    Top 10 DailyOM Courses:

    1. Reinventing The Body, Resurrecting the Soul
    2. Find True Love in 27 Days
    3. Heal Your Money Karma
    4. Overcoming Self-Sabotage
    5. Feng Shui Secrets
    6. Permanent Weight Loss with Self-Hypnosis
    7. Falling in Love with Yourself
    8. Heal Yourself With Ayurveda
    9. Heal Yourself with Writing
    10. 21 Day Consciousness Cleanse

    New Courses | All Courses


    Click here for Summer's Path - the new book by DailyOM co-founder Scott Blum

    What do you think?
    Discuss this article and share your opinion

    Want more DailyOM?
    Register for your free email, or browse all articles

      Silence of the Heart

    Share the OM:

    Email this to a friend
    Printable version
    Save in My DailyOM
    Discuss this article

    Heal Your Money Karma

    From the Library:
    Your Invisible Power
    by Genevieve Behrend

    More DailyOM:

  • On-line Courses
  • Soul Readings
  • Today's Horoscopes
  • Shop the Marketplace
  • Join the Community
  • Home | Gift Shop | My DailyOM | Marketplace | Community | Archives | Share The OM | Contact Us
    Subscribe | Change Email | User Settings | Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Gift Shop FAQ | Advertising Info
    Make DailyOM Your Homepage | Link To Us | Publish DailyOM On Your Website

    © 2004-2010 DailyOM - All Rights Reserved
    No portion of this site can be reprinted without express permission
    Artwork by Wang Chang-Ming

    Tuesday, May 25, 2010

    DailyOM: Information and Inspiration

    Today's DailyOM brought to you by:
     

     
    May 25, 2010
    Information and Inspiration
    Roadmaps of Life

    We are the only true experts on our journey to enlightenment. Filter all information through your own heart.


    All the major spiritual traditions serve the purpose of offering us a roadmap to guide us on our individual journeys to enlightenment. These roadmaps are made up of moral codes, parables, and, in some cases, detailed descriptions of mystical states. We often study the fine points of a particular ascended master's narrative in order to better understand our own and to seek inspiration and guidance on our path. In the same way, when we plan a road trip, we carry maps and guidebooks in an effort to understand where we are going. In both cases, though, the journey has a life of its own and maps, while helpful, can only take us so far. There is just no comparison between looking at a line on a piece of paper and driving your own car down the road that line represents.

    Some people seem well-suited to following maps, while others are always looking for new ways to get where they're going. In the end, the only reliable compass is within, as every great spiritual guide will tell you. The maps and travelogues left behind by others are great blessings, full of useful information and inspiration, but they cannot take the journey for us. When it is time to merge onto the highway or pull up anchor, we are ostensibly on our own. Strange weather patterns, closed roads, and traffic jams arise in the moment, out of nowhere, and our maps cannot tell us what to do. Whether we take refuge in a motel by the side of the road, persevere and continue forward, or turn back altogether is entirely up to us.

    Maps are based on observations from the past and we are living in the present, so we are the only true experts on our journey to enlightenment. We may find that the road traveled by our predecessors is now closed. We may feel called to change direction entirely so that the maps we have been carrying really no longer apply. These are the moments when we learn to attune ourselves to our inner compass, following a map that only we can see, as we make our way into the unknown territory of our own enlightenment.



    Top 10 DailyOM Courses:

    1. Reinventing The Body, Resurrecting the Soul
    2. Find True Love in 27 Days
    3. Heal Your Money Karma
    4. Overcoming Self-Sabotage
    5. Feng Shui Secrets
    6. Permanent Weight Loss with Self-Hypnosis
    7. Falling in Love with Yourself
    8. Heal Yourself With Ayurveda
    9. Heal Yourself with Writing
    10. 21 Day Consciousness Cleanse

    New Courses | All Courses


    Click here for Summer's Path - the new book by DailyOM co-founder Scott Blum

    What do you think?
    Discuss this article and share your opinion

    Want more DailyOM?
    Register for your free email, or browse all articles

      Roadmaps of Life

    Share the OM:

    Email this to a friend
    Printable version
    Save in My DailyOM
    Discuss this article

    Reinventing the Body

    From the Library:
    The Infinite Way
    by Joel S. Goldsmith

    More DailyOM:

  • On-line Courses
  • Soul Readings
  • Today's Horoscopes
  • Shop the Marketplace
  • Join the Community
  • Home | Gift Shop | My DailyOM | Marketplace | Community | Archives | Share The OM | Contact Us
    Subscribe | Change Email | User Settings | Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | Gift Shop FAQ | Advertising Info
    Make DailyOM Your Homepage | Link To Us | Publish DailyOM On Your Website

    © 2004-2010 DailyOM - All Rights Reserved
    No portion of this site can be reprinted without express permission
    Artwork by Wang Chang-Ming