July 24, 2011 – Even though most people seem to believe that Amy Winehouse died of an overdose Scotland Yard is saying, so far, her death is “unexplained.” 
July 23, 2011 – It’s sad to say that many saw this coming. According to reports Amy Winehouse was found dead in her home today. Sky News and BBC reported police sources as confirming the 27-year-old singer's death. 
- While in deep hypnosis I lifted her arm and with suggestion told her to go back to her most current past life. When her arm plopped down she found herself in a tent. 
As Raymond Charles Barker wrote in his classic book Treat Yourself To Life: (paraphrased) I have discovered that the rules laid down for the good of humanity and its progress work only when they are interpreted in terms of the inner person, not the outer person. 
- For many years now I’ve consciously, actively been on my spiritual journey. It’s been a twisty, curvy kind of off road track, meandering here and there, sloughing it up hills, careening out of control down hills. 
- Myth 1 - "Tarot cards can predict the future." Predicting the future is not difficult we can all do it. If for example you know someone who is consistently spending more than they earn and paying for it by building up a credit card debt then it's not hard to predict where that one is heading. 
- I’ve heard it said that holding on to unforgiveness is like taking poison while hoping the other person will die. The truth is, unforgiveness punishes you far worse than the person who did you harm. Chances are they have gone on about their life, clueless to the fact that you are still suffering and full of anger. 
- Grammy Award-winning vocalist Sade has announced her highly anticipated return to the live stage, and fans in North America will see her first. Her tour begins on June 16, 2011, in Baltimore, MD, at the 1st Mariner Arena. 
- As a teacher of how to use one's mind to manifest the things a person wants, I very often get the objection, "But what if what I want isn't what the Universe, my Higher Self, wants for me?" 
- The Sanskrit for Horoscope is “Kundali”. The birth chart or natal chart in Sanskrit is then called “Janma Kundali”. By definition a horoscope depicts the position of all the planets in heaven for given date, time and sun sign. This date and time is critical because planets are in constant motion and their positions are continuously changing. 
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Living Consciously October 6, 2010 Dear friends,
It is a mind change that essentially moves us forward not an outer behaviour, unless that behaviour is authentically arising from a mind change. Those who grasp the deeper meaning of change your thinking, change your life are the ones who make real progress in their lives. As we see the definite link between mind- sets and the action of the body, both internally and externally, we gain mastery over our experience. It is rather amazing that this simple equation is on the one hand, BIG NEWS and on the other, so readily dismissed as new age nonsense. What we are talking about is the Creative Process that is forever running the show and how we interact with it. How else except with our intelligence? Your mind and my mind are bubbles to the ocean of Mind which is saturating the universe with Intelligence. We individualize it when we think. Since most of us do not stay with an idea for very long, our focus dissipates and we “create” repetition. Energy responds to energy. Try using your mind very specifically without saying how your idea will unfold. Write it, sing it, dance it, repeat it, journal about it, act as if it were so. In this way you are disallowing the old idea which produced the limitation from repeating itself. Seriously, it is that simple. But like all simple things, it may seem too easy to us. We get nervous and stop the focus. We become impatient and decide it does not work. We tell someone who ridicules us. So used to struggle and poverty and disease and violence are we, that they have come to seem not only normal but inevitable. Not so. They are the effects of an ignorant use of Mind by generations of superstitious people. Let’s change how we see ourselves in relation to the natural laws of Creation and create a new world together, one by one. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously October 1, 2010 Dear friends,
With a mind capable of thinking both forwards and backwards, staying present in the dimension of time is a real challenge. Some might even say it is a cosmic trick Life is playing on itself just to keep things interesting. We tend to futurize everything, living for “someday” when in truth, only this present moment of awareness can accurately be called real. The other trap and impediment to personal happiness is to dwell in the past, as if it were so now, wishing it had been different or we had made a better choice. Of course there is a place for past and future; the one being to garner wisdom and knowledge from the experience; the other to set intentions and work to fulfill them. That is about it. The rest of our time is meant to be lived right here and right now with our full attention, bringing all of our love and joy, intelligence and personality to this moment. Think about how often you are not really here. Your mind is doing reconnaissance work, searching the terrain for danger, perceiving threat; or you are judging what is happening based on something you experienced 20 years ago. Hardly anyone is actually current in their way of being in the world. It is a real challenge but one worth taking up as a spiritual practice. Meditation supports this because it trains the mind to observe one’s own thoughts. It gives us the direct awareness that thoughts are flickering impulses and have little to do with who we are. You are not a cardboard cut-out advertizing some future role you will play. You are the real thing and this is the time of your life. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously September 29, 2010 Dear friends,
“The weight of arrogance is such that no bird can fly carrying it. And the man who feels superior to others, that man cannot dance.” Think about how heavy arrogance is, holding its owner to one position, not allowing the feet to move in a new direction. Spiritual arrogance is the worst kind, thinking you have all the answers, are enlightened in some way that others are not, have a deeper experience of Spirit. This is the kind of thinking that can really mess you up! Not only will you lose friends but the evolutionary principle will have its way with you! No, it is not a personality, but like electricity it does what it does whether you know how to properly use it or not. Once we announce that we are on a spiritual path, that we want to grow, that we are seeking liberation from our limited perceptions, then we have engaged with a power so mighty it could run Hoover Dam if need be! Well, it runs the universe, you know. It is the power that makes all things new and it acts in us as the push to be free. If we have a sincere desire to fly, then erroneous mental states such as arrogance only serve as directions to the power to rid us of them because they are not conducive to flight. The Power does not know how to remain inert. It is the antithesis of stasis. Give it something to work on and watch it move through you like the wind. Circumstances will visit us that seem tailor made to knock us off our perch and get us flapping our wings again. It is truly amazing how personal a principle can feel. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously September 25, 2010 Dear friends,
There is so much noise in the world, even noise that makes no sound like the constant barrage of images from every direction and the rush of traffic. The greatest invention of recent years, the MP3 player, took those giant boom boxes off the streets, which is a truly wonderful development. Now fewer young people blast their music from their cars. They keep it to themselves, connected to ear buds. We are so used to airplanes flying overhead we do not even notice the rumble from above. We live in the marketplace, most of us, and we walk through it every day. The most incessant chatter, however, comes from our own inner mind. There is no order to it, one minute we are berating someone driving erratically and the next we are having an inner argument with our last romantic partner who has since moved on. Sometimes there is so much static in our head we cannot hear what is actually being said to us in the moment. We interpret the comment as if it were coming from one of the characters in our mind. Order is what is needed. We must find a way to slow down the thought processes so that we are in a better position to choose what to think! If our thoughts are crowding out our knowing intuitive awareness, we will be pushed around like game pieces on a board with no real direction. Whatever has the loudest voice will grab our attention and we will follow, whether it is the latest rumor, an advertisement, the news, a political opinion or some religious dogma. Taking care of the content of the mind begins with what we allow to enter that sacred space. It is a noisy world. Better to go out in it with clarity, order and inner stability. We have to take the quiet with us. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously September 17, 2010 Dear friends,
There is a mystic in all of us. We are born from a mystery and we carry its essence in us. Some days, when the meditation goes well, when a bird sits on our porch and cocks his eye in our direction, when we are near the ocean and she seems to be calling us, when a baby reaches out to us or when some words have pierced our ego armour and we fall into receptivity, then we may dance or sing or shout out “I love this life!” This is why the great mystics were seen as crazy people. Some were locked up, medicated, crucified or ridiculed. They had no place in the world of commerce and money grabbing and deception. They were like letting loose small children in the New York Stock Exchange. Most of us hide that inner mystic, afraid to whoop and holler for no reason at all. We make ourselves into caricatures of human beings. We will stop at nothing to get approval. Rumi said: “Start a huge foolish project, like Noah. It makes absolutely no difference what people think of you.” Our life is a huge foolish project. Love is a huge foolish project. So are Joy and Peace. In a world that seems so lost, trying to be of help seems a huge foolish project. Let’s do our part anyway. Let’s act as if we know how. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously August 20, 2010 Dear friends,
How to know? That is the easy part. We can observe how we react to the situations in the moment. Be honest. Do we behave like a petulant kid who wants his dessert before dinner? Are we overly dramatizing how others seem to treat us, in the manner of an emotionally charged teen? In the privacy of our own mind do we talk about how “they” won’t let us, “they” betrayed us, “he or she” took advantage? Are we plotting and planning how to get our good rather than engaging and trusting the creative aspect of our mind? What is our goal here if not to be present and comfortable in our own skin; and as Aurelius wrote “not showing off our obedience to logos (God) but resting in it.” There is no need to take a stance as a warrior, a damsel in distress, a needy child, a superior intellect or the star in the great drama of life. We simply need to look within, call up the natural self, acknowledge our safety in the atmosphere of this spiritual universe and be ourselves. Life knows how to take us forward from that place. There is a way of being in the world that opens the whole field of possibility to us. We cannot fail at anything when we are a success at being real. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously August 17, 2010 Dear friends,
An important aspect of modern spirituality is the assertion of mind power over materiality. It is the daily practice of introducing wholeness affirmations into our thought processes. It is a kind of declarative stance that all is well, that life is good, that we are greater than we may seem to be, that there is One Power underlying all diversity, that we are capable of creating a world of love and beauty, peace and prosperity. More important than any doctrine or dogma is how we behave in the world. We may not always be perceived rightly by others, but if our intention is to authentically express ourselves without artifice or agenda, then we will ultimately be seen correctly. If we seriously attempt to be more compassionate today than yesterday, if we circulate our good with greater ease and trust in the process of replenishment, if we give our time, talent, and treasure to support what is helping the world become a better place, if we are happy now without anything changing first, we can be assured that our spiritual beliefs are having their desired affect. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously August 16, 2010 Dear friends,
It is the constant noticing of what we think is missing that is the culprit. Rather than enjoying what is, right now, we tinker with the alternatives in our mind. This or that could be more or less of what it appears to be. It sounds like complaining, but in some instances it is merely the mind mulling over possibilities. We simply have to be careful that this tendency does not rob us of immediate enjoyment and possible discovery. Underneath what we judge as less, there might be more of something real and valuable which we would miss if we are overly focused on the judgment. A shy person may seem to be difficult to hold a conversation with, but if we accept them as is, they might open up and prove to be an expert in some area of interest to us. Making something immediately wrong, if it is a person, the weather or a circumstance is to negate the many opportunities inherent in every moment for self discovery. Who am I in unpleasant weather? How do I feel when the other seems to have nothing to say? What is the level of my comfort when my friend cannot attend my party? Why am I so bored at work and blaming the job? These are the real questions to be answered. If something is missing, it is because we are not bringing it with us. The irony is, there is always more of us to give. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously August 12, 2010 Dear friends,
There were many foreign visitors at the Chateau, which is a destination point for people from around the world. We share the same awe and wonder at the natural beauty and diversity of our planet. No matter that we do not speak the same language, we understand what the other is feeling. Everyone knows what “ahh” means. It should be spelled “awe.” I have lived in several places that are considered tourist spots, usually because of their proximity to beaches or mountains or desert. . But wherever we live, there is natural beauty and there are awe-inspiring sights. The people of New York flock like birds to Central Park and marvel at the hawks nesting under the eaves of tall buildings. In Chicago, sail boats on Lake Michigan balance the sounds of the traffic close by. A few steps in one direction transports us into another world. This is so true of our inner life as well. Behind the chatter and worry and busy-ness of our ordinary thoughts, there is quiet and a neutral stillness. A shift in the right direction takes us from solving problems to drifting down the river of inner peace and into a natural resting place that is the true destination of our mind. This is where the “awe” in us originates. It is not the outer beauty that does it. That is merely a reminder of the perfect world of being that we all share. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously August 10, 2010 Dear friends,
This is not so difficult to accept. The challenge is allowing it to be so for others. When we see someone we love and care about going down a destructive path, we want to jump in and set them straight. Helpful suggestions for how they could better live are not usually heard in the same way they are intended. There is a way, however, to be of real service to those we love. It is to be certain that at some level they know exactly what they are doing. It is to affirm that the wholeness of their being, the intact spiritual soul, is the driving force within them and must assert itself and set them on a new path. It is not for us to know or judge what that path may look like, but to trust that whatever it may be is the right one for them and leads to a greater measure of the good they seek. What to do while our loved ones “flounder around” trying to find their way? Mind our own personal growth business and stay in the awareness that we all have the same Source, the identical potential for releasing our higher wisdom, a common ground of being upon which we all stand and from which we all arise anew every moment. Is that not what you want others to know about you? Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positivliving.org
Living Consciously August 9,2010 Dear friends,
Knowing that we are ever ascending to new heights of self expression and are always becoming more of our potential surely lifts our perception and charges our emotions with hope and cheerful expectation. In times of real challenge, that awareness keeps us open to creative solution for we deeply know that an answer is always at hand; furthermore, whatever the problem, we are nonetheless, moving forward. This is spirituality, not mind control. It is an easy, constant observance of how nature builds upon her destruction; how life insists on growth even in the most challenging circumstances. It is looking at one’s own life and seeing how one everything has contributed to where we are today. It is in knowing that our experience is more about our reaction than the events themselves. Joy is not a special occasion emotion. It is a state of mind which accepts the inevitable changes that come with living but never forgets the impression every life makes. It is the noticing of the smallest details while meeting the large moments with equal fascination. It begins with authentic self-expressions and continues as awe and wonder at how personally the Creative Intelligence is involved in every life. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously August 6, 2010 Dear friends,
I just read that four of the world’s most famous billionaires have pledged to give away half of their fortunes to eradicate disease, to educate children, to bring clean water and food to blighted villages around the globe. Some of us who are far from rich, sponsor a child in another country. For pennies a day we help with school fees, dental and medical care, food and clothing. The most important gift is the connection made between us and that child. They become aware that the world “out there” knows they exist and cares about their welfare. Our discontent is of the spiritual kind. We know the world can be a place of equality, beauty, celebration, joy and healthy living. There has always been enough of everything for everybody. We sense the need in us to help, to make a difference, to do something! There are opportunities in every town and city, village and hamlet. There is no “they” preventing our humanity from asserting itself. There is no evil force creating the lack and ugliness in the world; it is ignorance alone that perpetuates it. Think today of how fortunate you are. Find a way to extend the gifts you have received. Be the change you wish to see. Peace is ours now, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org |
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Living Consciously with Carol Carnes All of nature lives in an evolutionary mode. We out-live our childhoods. We gain wisdom beyond our teen years. We become so adept at our professions that promotions and raises follow. We are constantly making progress, but in the short intervals there are sometimes reversals or downtimes. It may seem as if all is lost or that all our efforts are in vain. However, all systems, whether they be of thought or politics or family, must by necessity serve the soul or we will find new ways to broaden our scope of experience. Emerson used the analogy of a crab shedding its beautiful shell when it becomes too small for his body and then slowly growing another. Change is a requirement of life and of health, love, prosperity and creative self expression. If we are constantly looking over our shoulders, bemoaning the loss of a past that is gone forever, we miss the beauty of our own soul which is forever moving forward. More
Living Consciously with Carol Carnes Yes, there is that Real Self that all spiritual traditions speak about; the One that is our core being which lies undisturbed within our own field of awareness; yet, if it isn’t expressed in some particular way it is incomplete, or let’s say it remains in the potential or wave state. However, in our culture we have misunderstood desire. The impulse to express comes from our Spirit Self but we often interpret it as not having which quickly becomes wanting, which turns into longing, which depletes us of energy and joy. We will then focus almost entirely on something outside of ourselves and our Self is left in the unexpressed state. It is like denying God its experience of being you. The desire for love is an indication that Love in us wants out. If we do not have a relationship with our Core Self, we will feel it as a need and the cycle of chasing after what we already have begins again. More |
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Living Consciously with Carol Carnes
Our linear view of things tends to fix us in time and space and make us into objects that are acted upon rather than beings who are acting upon the field of experience via the avenue of awareness. So, when we feel sick we feel attacked or that we have been invaded. We expect the sickness to run its course guided by its own intelligence and not receptive to ours. A relationship falls apart and we blame the other person for not loving us properly. We believe we have been robbed of our ability to love. We think we have been rejected. We expect to hurt and feel alone. It never occurs to us that we are the source of love whether it appears in an outer form or as a feeling in us. Our money life is thought to be the result of the machinations of strangers on a street in New York City. We “buy into” the stock belief that wealth is the result of corruption, good luck or fanatical dedication to work that destroys other aspects of our lives. None of this is true. It is all perception and it is a warped view distorted by superstitious religious notions about the universe. It is time to stop looking to the world for help, answers, love, substance or health. Those are the basic attributes of being and we already hold them in the inner kingdom of wholeness. 2010, if not now, when? Peace and Blessings, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org click on XLeratdYour Spirit for an online message
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Living Consciously with Carol Carnes
It may be that science will at last reveal to us the true nature of Being, yet our own senses are attuned to this higher awareness. We know that we exist; we think; we feel; we imagine; we invent and discover what was already there in the invisible realm, like electricity and gravity. We make art and music out of nothing more than our intention. Our religions were met to prepare us to awaken to the living presence of the Infinite in everyday life. The problem was that religions became trapped in the mechanistic view of reality and therefore humans were seen as nothing but particles occupying space attempting to find their way back to some place in the universe where the Source lives. The Source itself was described as stern and judgmental, allowing only some into its presence. As science helps us evolve our awareness of the immediacy of the Originating Power, we will cease to fight over territory or worldviews and begin to realize the how intimately connected we are to everything we could possibly desire in this life. But why wait? The spiritual practices of meditation, service, compassion, affirmation, study, conscious giving and celebration give us a first hand experience of our place in the universe. Peace and Blessings, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
Living Consciously with Carol Carnes
It is understandable that we have trouble believing this basic truth. We are feeling beings, emotional memory systems and our bodies seem to be the real self. The physical realm is seductive and convinces us of our fallibility. Well, yes, these bodies are only temporary. This brain is a vehicle for consciousness. But the Consciousness of Being is the leader and the eternality of us and it is the only way that we make changes, progress and create newness. The body doesn’t do it by itself. The brain does not think new thoughts. It is the Self Awareness that directs the creative process by means of us. Assume this is true, even if your experience seems to indicate otherwise. Now think of what you truly would like to think and feel and experience this year. Begin today to frame that vision in words and thoughts and mental pictures. Begin today to say “I am this vision in action”.See it, feel it, act as though it were so. What belongs to the nucleus of that image will form around it and become something in your human experience. It will begin, as everything does, on the inside. The outer reflection of it will unfold in the time/space manner that is perfect for you. The only way to know God is to be available to It. Peace and Blessings, Rev Carol Carnes www.positiveliving.org
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Living Consciously - by Carol Carnes
Living Consciously There is a way to think that allows the Creative Intelligence to bring about exactly what we want to manifest. How would the power that gave form to the universe think if it wanted to create prosperity? It seems obvious that it would have no thought of lack! It would begin its announcement with “I Am.” It would see prosperity flowing from its own center! The same would be true of vitality and Love and Joy and Peace. More
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As Raymond Charles Barker wrote in his classic book Treat Yourself To Life: (paraphrased) I have discovered that the rules laid down for the good of humanity and its progress work only when they are interpreted in terms of the inner person, not the outer person.
At the movie theatres there are life-size images of actors in their newest roles. They are standing there under the banner of “coming attractions.” Many of us live our lives as if we were waiting for our own opening night.
