| Ascended Masters Highly evolved souls or beings that have walked on earth at one time. They have ascended from the burdensome lessons of life on earth and continue to serve man as teachers, providing guidance from the spiritual realm. These beings of pure love do not judge us in any way, but support our learning effort with whole love with complete understanding. |
| Angels Many or most religions in the world hold some belief of Angels. Angels have been credited with protection, resolving problematic issues, saving lives, and impersonation. Angel stories are written in many, many languages, found in many, many cultures. |
| Ascended Masters, Angels & Deities |
| Gautama Buddha The historic founder of Buddhism is Siddhartha Gautama, est. 563 to 483 B.C. His father was a king of an ancient tribe in Nepal After his birth, a hermit sage descended from his mountain home, and, upon examining Siddhartha, announced he would either become a great king or a great holy man. Determined to keep his destiny within his kingdom, Gautama's father kept his son completely sheltered from the suffering outside the walls of the castle. Gautama grew up in a perfect, princely world, having three castles built for him to allow most comfort during the three seasons. He married his cousin in an arranged marriage, had a son, but still felt all his wealth was not the purpose of life. At the age of 29, he left the palace to meet his subjects and, despite his fathers efforts to shield him, saw the results of old age and disease for the first time. He renounced his life as a prince and escaped the castle at night to begin his life as an ascetic to solve the problems of age, disease, and death. He used intense meditation and, after sitting under a Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya for 49 days, he revealed the Middle Way- a philosophy rejecting both self-mortification and self-indulgence. The Middle Way is a way of moderation of both the extremes of too much and too little, in an attempt to reach ultimate wisdom, mental cultivation, and enlightenment. Gautama reached enlightenment at age 35. The remainder of his life was spent teaching what he had learned. His teachings, called sutras, include the Four Noble Truths: The nature of Dukkah/suffering The origin of Dukkah/suffering The cessation of Dukkah/suffering The way leading to cessation of Dukkah/suffering The fourth Noble Truth is the Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. It has been said, the movement of Buddhism to the West may be the most important factor of the 20th century. Buddhism can be practiced harmoniously with any other religion. Here in the West, teachings of Buddhism are becoming more commonly known and practiced. New Tibetan lamas (reincarnations) are more often being found in Europe and America. |
| St. Francis of Assisi |
| Paramahansa Yogananda Born into a prosperous family, Paramahansa was a well-educated young man, who found an infinity for meditation and religious studies at an early age. With a devout nature, he ultimately found good in all religions and toured India, Europe, and America, teaching important philosophies of India's ancient science of yoga. He taught the age-old importance of meditation, and stimulated a desire for enlightenment and samadhi. He formed the Self-Realization Fellowship which still exists, and is the author of the classic, "Autobiography of a Yogi." Upon his death, his body remained in state without any form of decomposition for twenty days. His ecumenical approach to prayer and speaking, and his teachings of Kriya yoga make him a permanent figure in theology. |
| Archangel Gabriel *God is my Strength*
Resonates with White |
| Archangel Chamuel *He who sees God*
Resonates with Pink |
| Archangel Ariel *Lioness of God*
Resonates with Dark Green |
| Archangel Raphael *God cures*
Resonates with Green |
| Archangel Uriel *God's Light*
Resonates with Gold or Red |
| Archangel Michael *He who is like God*
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| Cultures the world wide have been captivated by what they have seen as the power of beings greater than their fellow man. Angels & archangels, gods & goddesses, deities, totem spirits, ascended masters, avatars, even our higher self... no shortage appears to exist when it comes to guidance we receive from realms beyond our physical world. Also, much energy is used for protection from demons, Satan, evil spirits, evil spells, and so on. So what is the real story? I have a firm belief that truth, as viewed from our earthly perspective, tends to vary. The Real Truth, connection to Spirit, is invariable. If a resonance exists when you pray to angels, ascended masters, and the like, you are creating connection to Spirit. Therefore, the experience is real, as long as this experience promotes complete love without judgement of others and a sense of requirement that everyone else should believe in your truth. Allow others their own sense of truth, and the opportunity to learn from their experiences. Explore your ability to connect with higher spiritual guides, even if they eventually prove to be simply a higher form of YOU. Namaste |
| St. Francis of Assisi 1182-1226 Born the son of a wealthy business man, Francis was named Giovanni di Bernardone by his mother, in honor of St. John the Baptist. She saw in him hopes of a great leader in the Church. His father, upon return from France on business, was furious since he did not want his son to be a part of the Church, so took to calling him Francis. Francis, as a boy, rebelled against his father's wealth and, in time, pursued a life of poverty. One night when out with friends, a beggar came to them, asking for alms. Only Francis responded with kindness, emptying his pockets for the beggar. His father flew into a rage when discovering his son's tendencies. He began avoiding the past times of his friends, and spending more time helping lepers and praying for enlightenment. His first mystical experience happened in a church outside of Assisi, where a statue of the crucified Jesus came to life and asked him, "Francis, Francis, go and repair My house which, as you can see, is falling into ruins." He sold everything he had, including cloth from his father's store, to literally repair the church in which he received the vision. After his father again became belligerent, Francis renounced his belongings, his father, his patrimony, beginning his life as a renunciant. After hearing the sermon of Matthew 10:9, he set out barefoot, wearing a lone, rough garment, preaching repentance. Within a year he had 11 followers, and, having not chosen priesthood, they formed a community of fratres, fiars, or brothers. When attempting to be heard by Pope Innocent III, to form a new religious order, they were turned away, but that night, the pope had a dream. In the dream, the church was crumbling, but a poor man was holding it up. He recognized the man as Francis, from the day before. He allowed the order to be formed. Ironically, due to his ability to communicate with people of all cultures, he was protected by a Muslim sultan from sure death by Christian crusaders. They claimed he was a heretic, due to his communing with people of Muslim origin. When one of the brothers of the order died, countless miracles began happening, causing people to flock the once quiet Porziuncola, disturbing the quiet way of the brothers. Francis prayed to the deceased brother, asking him to follow his command and stop the miracles. They ceased immediately. During a forty day fast for lent, Francis received the first known case of stigmata. He was canonized two years after his death, becoming St. Francis of Assisi. |
| St. Francis had a strong connection to nature, and was known to preach to the birds without any flying away. He stopped a town from killing a wolf that had attacked their sheep, by fearlessly communicating with the wolf to let them be. At his deathbed, he thanked his donkey for all his years of service. The donkey was seen to weep. |
| Ganesha Probably the most worshipped deity in all of India, Ganesha is the remover of obstacles. This Hindu god is linked to prosperity, and has command over obstacles- to put them in one's way if needed, or to remove them when lessons are learned. Ganesha is the first deity idol put in new homes. He is a god of intellect and wisdom. He is used before any writing endeavor. |
| Deities Different faces of God/Spirit that are called upon for various needs, challenges, and words of appreciation. Every religion around the world has its own version God, Goddess, and/or gods. Even with the expected variety, there exists common stories among completely unrelated religious cultures. |
| Angulimala & the Buddha One of my favorite stories about the historical Buddha is the story of Angulimala. It begins with a young man named Ahimsaka who became his teacher's favorite student, being the most intelligent and most capable of learning from this seemingly wise "guru." His fellow students quickly became jealous of the favoritism and poisoned the teacher's mind with lies, alluding that Ahimsaka claimed to be wiser than the teacher and had also seduced his wife. The teacher wanted to murder his prized student, but knew he could not as it would be rather bad for business. So he told Ahimsaka that he had learned all he needed to know, but to be released from his guru, it was tradition that the student bring a present to his teacher... no matter what the teacher requested. Ahimsaka agreed. He would bring his beloved teacher whatever he requested. The teacher asked for one finger from the right hand of 1,000 people. He assumed Ahimsaka would assuredly be killed by someone as he made this attempt. But Ahimsaka had the strength of 10 elephants, and soon became feared as a possessed highwayman who ruthlessly killed anyone in his path in order to collect the desirable fingers he desperately needed. Initially, he hung the fingers on a string high up on a tree branch to keep animals from reaching it, but birds pecked at the flesh. So he soon wore the string or garland of fingers around his neck, making his appearance even more ominous. His mission of killing soon possessed him so much, he may have even forgotten why he was collecting the fingers in the first place. Villagers begged the king to send out men to kill this murderous bandit, now only known as Angulimala (anguli=finger; mala=garland). No one knew his identity, but Angulimala's mother suspected it was her son. Upon hearing of the king's plans to kill her son, she, still being a loving mother, soon took off for the forest where Angulimala resided to warn him and save his life if she could. At this time, Angulimala only needed one more finger to complete his garland of 1,000 fingers. The Buddha, fully capable of mentally seeing what was going to happen, knew that Angulimala was so possessed by his killing desires, that he would murder his own mother to acquire this final finger. So Buddha intercepted and steered Angulimala away from his mother and led him to chase the Buddha instead. Angulimala was the strongest and most agile human specimen in the world, but, although he used all his strength and speed to catch the Buddha in order to kill him, the Buddha, walking a slow gentle pace, simply avoided capture, always seeming to slip out of reach. This baffled and frustrated Angulimala. As he became more and more exhausted and angry, he finally yelled, "Stop! Stop now! Why can I not catch you?" The Buddha replied, "I have stopped, Angulimala. Why don't you stop." "You have not stopped! No matter how hard I try to catch you, you continue to be just out of reach. Just stop!" "Angulimala, I have stopped. I have stopped hurting any sentient being. Why don't you stopped." And with that, Angulimala ended his reign of terror, and became a humble monk and student of the Blessed One- a symbol of the human potential for change and redemption, of the ability to awaken, no matter what your life's journey has been. |
| Angulimala |
| Loretto Chapel Staircase This is such a delightful story of a double-spiral staircase built over 100 years ago by a mysterious carpenter as an answer to the prayers of the nuns living there. The chapel is available to visitors still, located in Santa Fe, NM. Loretto Chapel Staircase |
| The Gayatri Mantra This sacred Hindu mantra, found in all four Vedas, uses the Sanskrit language to invoke a vibrational shift in the user, awakening the individual's soul to its Higher existence. Om Bhur, Om Bhuvaha Om Swaha, Om Maha Om Janaha, Om Tapaha Om Satyam Om Tat Savitur Varenyam Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodyat Short Version of Gayatri Mantra: Om Bhur Bhuvaha Swaha Om Tat Savitur Varenyam Bhargo Devasya Dhimahi Dhiyo Yonaha Prachodayat Using this mantra daily can create amazing energetic, spiritual changes within your body, creating awareness with your universal purpose. The ancient yoga rishis who created the truths found in the 5000 year old Vedas arranged the sounds of this mantra to vibrationally awaken the righteous intelligence of the user, stimulating the primary chakras for this purpose. |
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