The Parable of the Little Fish

Once upon a time, in a place called Ocean Paradise, there lived a little fish. The little fish swam within Ocean Paradise as happy as can be, for the Lord of the Ocean had given him everything that he could ever want.

One day, a long, skinny friend swam up to him and said, “Did the Lord of the Ocean really give us everything we could ever want?”

And the little fish said, “Of course! What more could we want than this Ocean Paradise?”

The long, skinny friend asked, “Do you know what water is?”

And the little fish said, “Water? Never heard of it.”

The long, skinny friend said, “Only the Lord of the Ocean knows. It must be something very precious for him to keep it a secret from us.”

The little fish thought for a moment and said, “But the Lord of the Ocean promised us everything. Why would he keep something so precious a secret from us?”

The long, skinny friend said, “Perhaps the Lord of the Ocean has deceived us! Perhaps he hasn’t really given us everything, and he’s keeping the precious water for himself!"

Suddenly, the happy little fish was no longer happy.  

So he said, “It’s not fair! I want water too!”

The long, skinny friend said, “I will help you find it, but we have to hide from the Lord of the Ocean. If he finds out what we’re up to, he will become very jealous and angry. He will destroy us!”

Terrified, the little fish swam and he swam and he swam as fast and as far as his little fins could carry him – so fast and so far that he swam right out of Ocean Paradise.

Marooned on dry land, he couldn’t breathe, and he couldn’t move. Suffering terribly, he thought, “The Lord of the Ocean must have found out my plan! He is angry with me, and he is trying to destroy me!”

The little fish flipped and flopped and wiggled, desperately trying to save himself, until he was completely exhausted. Finally, he cried out, “Lord of the Ocean, please have mercy on me and save me!”

Just then, a great wave engulfed the little fish, lifting him up, and carrying him home.  

At that moment, the little fish learned the secret of the water. He learned that he had always had this precious thing all around him. It was the breath of his life – the very thing in which he lived and moved – he just never knew it – until now.

And that’s how the little fish became the wisest and the happiest and most serene fish in Ocean Paradise.

The End.

Author:  Joan Kistler,  ISIS Class of 2013

This work is copyright protected by MyFreeCopyright.com

Karmic Momentum

Karma is a term that is often overused, misused or misunderstood in our culture.  At our recent interfaith seminary retreat, we had a lengthy discussion about karma and fatalism, and we came to some optimistic conclusions.  I won't exhaustively define karma here, because my goal is rather to share the refreshing ideas some of us are using to frame karma in the work we are doing.  

As an introductory suggestion, I will simply point out that there are two types of karma we deal with throughout our lives: 1. Karma we are born with coming into this life (this concept is found in most every religion, eg. original sin), and 2. Karma we create and manipulate through our present experiences.

I like to think of karma as a sort of momentum, an invisible undercurrent we ride along from year to year, from day to day, from moment to moment and experience to experience.  Sometimes we are completely unaware of it, and other times it hits us in the face, and we may exclaim, "This is karma!" 

Another overused and sometimes poorly understood term in spiritual and New Age parlance is "energy."  Most of us don't have an in-depth understanding of quantum physics; be that as it may, we need a word to describe the effect and unique presence we each have, and our way of existing in the world, individually and collectively.  For lack of a better word, energy suffices, even for non-physicists.

In our concrete day-to-day experience, we regularly harness and manipulate energetic currents; you don't need to be an electrician or a physicist to understand this.  In our psychological, spiritual and interpersonal spaces, we can also tap into and adjust the currents that connect and move us.  We can consciously trace, discern and direct our mental, physical and spiritual course.  

I define karma as energetic momentum.  It is your own way of being in the world, interacting with your environment and the natural course you take as you are moving along.  By the way, you are always moving along.  Sitting motionless in a chair in a silent, empty room, you are still moving through your life, and you are riding the wake of a specific energetic momentum of which you may or may not be aware.  Karma is mutable and malleable.  It takes awareness and effort, but you can adjust your energetic momentum, and this part is fun: you can step out of it as an observer and watch it.  This isn't easy, snap your fingers, overnight stuff, but instead it's a gradual process that takes many lifetimes according to some people, and many years according to others.  

Working with your karma requires becoming aware of the patterns that drive your experience.  People do this through all sorts of means, psychotherapy being prominent among them.  All forms of work on the self take you through identifying your individual and familial patterns.  First, you take an inventory of your situational and relationship histories: What types of people keep coming into my life? What are the relationships I tend to repeat? What stories have played out repeatedly in my experience, in family, friendships, in work and training contexts?  Then, on a more internal level, you identify patterns in your internal experience: What stories do I tell myself?  What kinds of opinions do I consistently form?  What occupies my thoughts?  What are the thought patterns stuck on repeat in the Ipod of my mind? What's playing through my shuffle?

When you are working on consciously directing your karmic conditions, it's possible to focus on several patterns at once, but that can be a lot to juggle.  I am personally finding that my karmic issues are better addressed one at a time, with focus and precision.  It is hard work, and it helps to take a little rest from time to time by stepping back and watching.  I do this through spiritual practice, i.e. yoga or meditation, which allow me to disconnect from the emotion inherent in experiences.  I get myself to a place where I can sit with my eyes open and look at what's happening (or what happened) and say, "Oh! That's so interesting." This brings some objectivity into the picture. We can step out of the dream to watch it, then wake up from it.  

The best way to illustrate karmic work is through a concrete example, so I'm going to give you a current one for me, a repeating pattern that is playing out in my life now and can be traced back to early experience.  Now that I am working this way, when this one came up for me to work on, I was actually very excited!  In this story you will notice the importance of language and key words--we can heal our karma and powerfully impact the quality of our experience through the power of words.  Certain words we hear, say or think can alert us to patterns.  

Here's the example: a couple of days ago a friend was relating a painful experience to me and she said this phrase, "You can't squeeze blood from a turnip."  She was talking about a stressful financial situation in her family that mirrored something similar I experienced in my family of origin as a teenager.  I had a visceral reaction to what she was saying.  This alerted me to a karmic pattern.  I have a specifically close sort of relationship with this person and her family, which I have known to be of karmic significance to me.  So since that conversation, I have stepped outside of my visceral experience and gone back and pinpointed the time in my life when I first heard those words, "You can't squeeze blood from a turnip."  It turns out that there is a whole set of thoughts and circumstances attached to that phrase, and they carry a specific energetic charge.  I am working on neutralizing that charge in my life and hoping that both of our families can be aware of healing that particular karma.  I hope we can forgive where we need to forgive, love ourselves and the other people impacted by stressful finances, and believe in our hearts and minds that these are worn out patterns that no longer serve us.  The specific ways we can identify old beliefs and identify with new beliefs would take too long to cover in a blog post, but the basic idea is conveyed here. 

"As you think, so you are," is a quote attributed to Buddha.  In Proverbs 23:7 we read, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he."  The spiritual masters teach us that our being and our becoming is shaped in great part by our thoughts and words, our energetic currency.  Recent research shows that our bodies respond to words, down to the level of our DNA.  In addition, there are many who believe that DNA is linked to karma (not in a fatalistic, judgmental sort of way, but in a healing way, such that as we heal our karma, we can impact our own DNA).  This DNA link is more recent, but for quite some time we have known that healing occurs on a cellular level and as we heal our hearts and minds, we heal our cells.  What I am getting at here is that the way we frame our experience through thoughts and words, and through internal and external reactions, can shift our energetic momentum.  We can consciously heal and redirect our karma, and as we do, the impact is felt as deep as our cells and as far as our ancestry and community can reach.  

Our origins, current coordinates and as of yet unknown destinations are all tied in with our karma.  Our collective energetic momentum is a river, carrying us along, and just as it is nearly impossible to change the course of a river, as one person we're not going to alter the whole fate of human history, but we can make more of a significant impact on our own experience than we might think.  By awakening more and more to the character and substance of our unique experience and using conscious means to alter it, we can heal ourselves and our world, by extension.  

Author: Michelle Garrison Hough, ISIS Class of 2013

Michelle Garrison Hough completed yoga teacher training in February, 2013, with Living Yoga in Cold Spring, NY, in addition to working through the second year of interfaith ministry training with ISIS.  She teaches yoga, tutors French, and previously worked as a teacher, translator and a lawyer prior to moving to the Hudson Valley with her husband and two sons.

March 2013 Newsletter

March 1, 2013 - In This Issue:

Quotes of the Month
Correction
A Message From Dean Deb
ISIS March Elective
ISIS Fall 2013 Registration
ISIS Bridge Program
An Amazing Journey
Staff Changes
ISIS Open Houses
ICI Student Worship Services
Spring Electives

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Click Here to visit the Isis Website
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Greeting to the Spring Equinox
"Glad Bringer of Brightness, hail!
Maiden of Grace, Lad of Laughter.
Gifts of vigor are returning,
Spring's surprise, rainbow's embrace.
Quickened be the heart within us,
Opened be our souls to grace,
May the blessing be abiding,
Welcome sit in every face."
~~~~~~~~~~
"I encircle myself with the
nine powers of the gifting ones:
ecstasy of energy,
pattern of destiny,
protection of learning,
inspiration of initiation,
challenge of adversary,
liberation of love,
transformation of weaving,
stability of guardianship,
empowerment of wisdom,
Nine encircling breaths
of nine gifting maidens
be my protection this Spring day."
From Celtic Devotional Daily Prayers & Blessings by Caitlin Matthews

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OOPS!
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Thank you to everyone who responded to the newsletter with comments.  I assure you
Dean Deb is alive and well and that we would never make an announcement like that.
We are laughing out loud with embarrassment at the typo. We hope you all got a chuckle
with us.
Please note that dates and locations of the worship service and the electives have
been corrected. We look forward to seeing you at our worship service on March 24
and please bring your friends.
You can be confident that I will be much more careful in proofreading in the future!
Sincerely,
Kim Kotary
Administrative Assistant

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A Message from Dean Deb
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Ah, Spring...

What does this time of year make you think of?
Throwing off winter's trappings of cold, darkness and snow.
Turning our face towards the warming, brightening sun again and the warm rain that
nourishes the plants and trees and flowers.
Spring, time to wake up and cast aside the cloak of "I can't", "I'm too tired" "I
don't feel like it" etc. and look around at all the new growth, new beginnings,
and become excited by  new ideas, new ways of achieving your goals, new viewpoints
and ways of doing things.
Spring is my favorite time of year. It holds for me, a myriad of colors, sounds,
 scents, new life and new ideas.  It is exciting, expanding and  life affirming.
So what does Spring mean to you? Where is the power and the life for you this season?
What turns you on?
What plans did you begin last fall that needed nurturance  over the winter and are
now ready to be examined again, the root structure deep and sound, the stems moving
upward towards the light?
And for our Down Under friends, your  season turns to fall right now; the contracting
spiral, the quiet time. What does this time mean for you? Are there ideas that you
wish to nurture deep in the earth of Winter, that will spring up next Equinox?
For all of us who live with the power of the Mother Earth and the seasons, I wish
you  blessings and joy beyond measure. To Rabbi Roger, Rev. Nettie Spiwak and all
the pilgrims on the Three Faiths Pilgrimage, We wish them joy, safety and mazel
on their journeys.
Happy St. Patricks Day, Good Equinox , Happy Passover and Happy and Blessed Easter
to all.
Warmly,
Dean Deb

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ISIS March Elective
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THE INTERFAITH WEDDING
From the First Phone Call to the "I Do"
Saturday and Sunday,
March 16-17, 2013,
10:00 AM-4:00 PM

Fee: $150
For Second Year Students and Graduates Only
230 Riverside Drive, Apt. 4D, New York, NY 10025
This course will demonstrate how to organize and work with Interfaith couples to
 create the perfect marriage ceremony for
each couple, no matter what their religious beliefs. We begin with how to talk to
prospective couples (and their parents if
necessary), and how to close the deal, make contracts, and then how to create the
ceremony. We will also cover advertising,
what to do the day of the wedding, how to fill out wedding licenses and much more.
Rabbi Ross and Rev. Ross often perform interfaith weddings together and have created
a method of working with couples and
creating the perfect ceremony for each occasion: www.lovingheartsceremonies.com

Presenters: Rabbi Roger Ross & Reverend Deborah Steen Ross

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ISIS Fall 2013 Registration
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Apply Today for the Fall 2013 Semester

Are you an extraordinary person with the potential to lead and guide the spiritual
lives of others? Do you have a strong spiritual practice with the ability to compassionately
council others? Every religion has energy that can be accessed to help people and
the earth.  Are you ready to learn how to access that energy from a deeper perspective?

The International Seminary for Interfaith Studies - ISIS -  offers a two year and
an accelerated one year program for attending or corresponding students, live-streamed
every month. International students are encouraged to consider the correspondence
program, no residency or visa restrictions apply.

The Fall 2013 enrollment has started and will be continuing through September 2013.
The first semester for the Class of 2015 will begin in September, 2013. For further
information please contact Rev. Deb Ross at 212-864-2243  or email isisinterfaith@gmail.com

Click Here to download an application

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ISIS Bridge Program
at AWAIC Conference
(A World Alliance of Interfaith Clergy)
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Learn to Shift the Consciousness of Our World

AWAIC Pre-Conference
Special Presentation
Bridge Program
April 18-19, 2013 in Baltimore, MD

LAST CHANCE !

FINAL Registration Deadline: Monday, March 11

If you are planning on going to the conference, please get your registration in
immediately!

The ISIS Bridge Program is designed for all Interfaith Ministers who wish to experience
the movement toward Oneness, toward what it means to become a Universal Human, to
step into their Higher Essence, and who are ready to take their ministry into the
next level and phase of this new energy.
The Earth and everything on Her is changing at a very rapid rate. Are you feeling
this change? Are you ready to change with it? How can you minister to others, and
to the Earth herself, from this new perspective? How can you stay grounded and steady
as everything shifts around you? What tools will you need?
The ISIS Bridge Program will teach you the basics of the new format we are using
with our first, second and accelerated students in the ISIS program of study. Learn
how to work with the energies of the world's religions, contact and minister to
the earth and all her people, and create a new energetic community that expands
our world view as ministers and Universal Humans. This course will give you new
tools and concepts to add to your ministerial toolbox.
Join Rev. Deborah Steen Ross, Director of ISIS, for a powerful and experiential
two day workshop that will add to your ministerial skills and give you the information
you will need to "Minister into the Shift..."
Upon completion of this class, we will offer an optional Co-Ordination into ISIS,
and/or reassignment to the ICI (Interfaith Community International), our Ordaining
body, for all students previously taught by Rev. Deborah Steen Ross and Rabbi Roger
Ross. Ministers from other organizations will receive a Certificate of Completion.
ISIS Ordainees are eligible to join the ISIS Alumni Yahoo Group and may also order
an ISIS Photo ID card.
PLEASE NOTE:

The text for the workshop is Emergence-From Ego to Essence by Barbara Marx Hubbard. Please have read Emergence before class begins, and bring the book with you to the workshop.

If you would like a Bridge Program class in your area and there is enough interest
(five or more people), please contact the ISIS office.

World Alliance of Interfaith Clergy (AWAIC) Conference Info

Download Bridge Program Application

ISIS Bridge Program Information

FEES: Bridge Program $350

Optional: ISIS Co-Ordination OR Re-Assignment to ICI (Interfaith Community International)
for no additional fee.

There will be a $25 fee for preparation of Ordination or re-assignment papers.

For further information contact : Rev. Deb Ross 
212-864-2243 or email isisinterfaith@gmail.com

Registration for the Bridge Program closes on Monday, March 11.

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Holy Land Trip
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An Amazing Journey with Rabbi Roger Ross

Dear Ones,
I am writing to share my excitement with you as I am about to leave on a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land with an interfaith group of pilgrims and clergy. Making this journey
has been a long-cherished dream of mine, and of course, I wish I could put you all
in my suitcase and bring you with me!
But there IS a way to come with me spiritually-and at the same time, to make a real
impact on the lives of talented and courageous young people crossing the cultural
Jewish/Arab divide to make beautiful music together in the city of Nazareth in Israel.
You can be, literally, "An Instrument of Peace"!

Become a Heart of Faith Virtual Pilgrim!

You will be supporting harmony on three levels:

* You will be joining your goodwill and prayer energies to ours, expanding our field
of intention and influence. Those of you in the second year of the ISIS program
will have an opportunity to practice the PrayerFields Energy Circle technique that
Dean Deb taught in class. All the notes about it are posted on the website for our
ISIS students.

* You will have your name placed in the Western (Wailing) Wall in Jerusalem for
special blessing

* Through your sponsorship of these inspiring young people, the student musicians
of the Polyphony Foundation, you will be actively making a difference. Don't you
 wish there was something you could do to help bring peace to a region whose hot
 spots affect the entire world? Click here to donate!

I invite you to go to our Heart of Faith Pilgrimages page, watch the inspiring video on Polyphony
Foundation, and follow the instructions for joining us as a Heart of Faith Virtual Pilgrim. (Yes, you get to be a VP!) And, if you will, please share this with everyone you know who might want to support the work we are doing, please spread this announcement. All donations to the Polyphony Foundation are tax deductible. Just as people sponsor walk-a-thons and bike rides for causes, it would mean so much to me to have you join me in this journey. I will carry you in my heart, and in this way, you will be carrying me, as well as others you've never met. I would
love to have you be a meaningful part of this special pilgrimage in this way.

"This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully,
more devotedly than ever before." --Leonard Bernstein

Thank you!

Rabbi Roger

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Staff Changes
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Debra J. (DJ) Lott has been an asset to the ISIS community almost since its founding.
She created the structure and set up the computer network for the efficient administration
of the seminary.  DJ designed the ISIS library and made sure all the class materials
were available to every student. She was a stabilizing and calming force as she
supported Dean Deb in creating the new entity we know as ISIS.  We wish her lots
 of luck as she moves on to her new full time IT position.

Kim Kotary is joyfully taking up the reins from DJ to keep the seminary running
smoothly. With her added expertise in grant writing, fundraising and development,
we are looking forward to the the next phase in the growth of ISIS.

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ISIS Open Houses
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Join Rev. Deborah Steen Ross

for an

Introductory Evening

on Thursday, March 14, 2013

7:00 - 9:00 pm at

The Meta Center New York
214 West 29th Street
(between 7th and 8th Avenues)
16th Floor
New York, NY 10001

ISIS Introductory Evening 2013 Schedule

Thursday, March 14, 2013 7:00-9:00 PM

Tuesday, April 23, 2013 7:00-9:00 PM

Wednesday, May 15, 2013 7:00-9:00 PM

Thursday, June 13, 2013 7:00-9:00 PM

Wednesday, July 17, 2013 7:00-9:00 PM

Thursday, August 15, 2013 7:00-9:00 PM

Tuesday, September 10, 2013, 7:00-9:00 PM

Wednesday, October 16, 2013, 7:00-9:00 PM

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ICI Student Worship Services
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Join us in Sacred Celebration and Worship

Sunday March 24th 11:00 AM

at

Hope Martin Studios

39 West 14th Street, 5th Fl

New York, NY10016

ICI Student Worship Service Schedule

April 21, 2013, 11:00 AM

May 19, 2013, 11:00 AM

Please Note: ICI Worship Team services are on hiatus through May. Regularly scheduled
ICI services will begin again in June.

Stay tuned for more information in the coming months.

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Spring Electives
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Pre-Marital Counseling
Sunday April 7, 2013, 10:00-4:00
For Second Year Students, Ministers and Therapists Only
Location: 230 Riverside Drive, Apt. 4D, New York, NY 10025
*  *  *  *
Performing Christian Ritual as an Interfaith Minister
Friday April 26, 2013, 6:30-9:30 PM
Disaster Ministry
Friday May 17, 2013, 6:30-9:30 PM
For Ministers or Ministerial Students Only
Location: Meta Center New York, 214 West 29th Street, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001


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Please Join Us . . .

We invite you to join us in any of our offerings.

May the returning light shine brightly upon you and be filled with blessings for you and your loved ones.

Warmly,
Rev. Deb Ross and Rabbi Roger Ross

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Phone 212-864-2243                                                     DONATE TODAY
Fax 212-864-8018
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ISIS IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION, INCORPORATED UNDER THE GUIDELINES OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,ON BEHALF OF THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

All content © 2013 International Seminary for Interfaith Studies

Changing the Past

            It’s funny how my perspective on things can change so much, especially on things I was once absolutely convinced about. If only I can remember that when I become so convinced about an opinion or perspective that I make someone else wrong!

For instance, I used to ridicule the idea of changing the past. In fact, whenever I taught a workshop or class on forgiveness, I’d invariably say something like, “When we choose not to forgive someone, what we’re really doing is attempting to change our past.” The idea was, since the past couldn't be changed, it was important to forgive so we could move on in the present. That’s a good idea, yet what I didn't realize then was that not only is it possible to change the past, but also that it is almost impossible to forgive until I do.

Before I talk about how, wouldn't it be nice if it was possible and it really did make forgiveness easier? I realize that the wounds I carry from the past are probably the major impediment to my enjoyment of life and my spiritual unfolding right now. That’s probably why forgiveness is recommended so highly in every faith tradition I've studied. Somehow I continue to not only carry those wounds, but also to replay them over and over in my mind. In a book I’m currently reading, A Spiritual Renegade’s Guide to the Good Life, the author Lama Marut, a Buddhist monk (motorcycle enthusiast and surfer), equates this behavior with running with scissors. We know it’s not a good idea, it hurts, and yet not only do we refuse to drop the scissors, we stab ourselves with them again and again.

In no way am I intending to minimize or negate the horrible things that happened in your life and mine. When I work to change my past, I endeavor to start with the “small stuff.” I run with scissors of every conceivable size and sharpness, and it makes sense to start working with the smaller and duller ones. As I practice and my forgiveness muscles get stronger, I can work more and more with the gnarlier ones. But before I can do any of that, it’s important that I actually believe it is possible to change the past.

Certainly it isn't possible to change the events, the circumstances or the hard data from the past. But it is equally certain that I can change my perspective on what happened, the meaning I assign to it, and my understanding of it. When I do these things, in a very real way I am indeed changing the past, because the past only exists in the form of what I think about it now. The past isn't really “what happened”, but rather “what I think happened” in this moment. I tend to think of my memories as solid and etched in stone, but that’s just what I tend to think!

Hey, history books change the past all the time. Hollywood, too. When was the last time you saw or read about Native Americans being ignorant God-less savages, who only served to provide target practice for John Wayne? Did the events from that era change, or did our perspective and understanding change? History books even have a name for this—they call it “revisionist history.” What I’m suggesting is that we wrote our own history book, and have every right to revise it.

Have you even been absolutely convinced of something, only to find out you were wrong? This happens to me quite often. I wonder how many times I was wrong and didn't find out! A perspective is simply a perspective, and it doesn't necessarily reflect reality. Can you and I look at the same thing and have a different perspective? Can I look at the same thing I looked at yesterday and have a different perspective? Of course. So, can I look at something in the past and have a perspective that’s different than the one I've always held? Of course. And when I do, the past is revised.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not the same person I was in the past. I've grown. I've evolved. I have more tools, more faith in the Divine, more gratitude, more understanding, more awareness, a greater capacity for love and compassion. When I look at the past from my current viewpoint, it looks different. And that’s my major tool for changing the past and forgiving—looking at it from my current viewpoint. So I’m not talking about turning my back on the past, rather, I’m working on “turning the other cheek” to it, meaning I can look at it more and more as the spiritual being I am. I can look at it more and more from a place of wholeness, of love, of my innate divinity. When I do that, it changes.

Forgiving isn't forgetting. It isn't condoning or losing and it isn't a sign of weakness. It has nothing to do with whether or not the person I’m working to forgive deserves it. I choose to change the past and forgive for ME, because as soon as I change the past I've improved my present. As soon as I stop running with any of the scissors I've carried around, I experience less pain. I am freer to unfold my deepest desires and intentions. I am freer to suffer less. I am freer to experience joy, and freer to know God. It’s as simple as that.

Author: Stew Bittman,  M.I.T. ISIS Class of 2013

With his wife Hillary, Stew is the Spiritual Leader at Unity at The Lake in South Lake Tahoe, CA. Their blog and full bios can be found here: http://bittmanbliss.com/wordpress/

The One Who Will Never Leave You

Last week when I was assisting and observing a yoga class, a palpable sense of peace and security enveloped the room.  It was such a gift to be able to witness the integrated and quiet practice of other yogis set to inspiring music with sunlight pouring through the windows.  One song really drew me in and focused my thoughts on the deeper meaning of the practice.  The song became popular in the 80's and it's one we all know, by Cyndi Lauper, Time after Time. The version played in class was the slower, acoustic cover by Eva Cassidy. The refrain is, "If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me, time after time.  If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting...time after time." 

I thought about how we come to yoga to find our true selves, to connect to our essence.  When we come to class, or when we come to our mats at home, or really in any moment of the day when we come back to ourselves and make a connection, then in that act we are showing up for ourselves.  We are leaving everything else to the side and reconnecting with that part of ourselves which never changes: our light, our essence, the true self.  This is a great comfort and source of strength, knowing first of all that we have an immovable, eternal part of our being, and secondly that we have a way to connect to that part anytime, and whenever we need it most.  "If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me. If you fall, I will catch you, I will be waiting."  I saw people looking deeply, and finding the true self, balancing in a posture and catching themselves if they fell out of it, coming back home to themselves, eyes closed, during savasana.  And they have done this before, and they will do it again, time after time.  

I thought about yoga, and the meaning of the word: union.  Generally we think of the union of mind, body and spirit, and the unity we seek with one another and sometimes with a higher power.  But on this particular day, right before Valentine's Day, when I heard this love song I thought about union within the Self.  I thought about the wholeness we experience when we connect the parts of the fragmented Self and experience the essence of our being.  For me, that is yoga.  

We read and speak often of mistaking the false self for the true self, the ignorance that is referred to in Sanskrit as Avidya.  Through our practice we are confronting this ignorance: we are moving from the false self to the true self, from the gross to the subtle, from darkness to light.  Sometimes this feels like a struggle, and it can also look that way from the outside.  Other times it feels sweet, it feels like peace, it feels like coming home.  However it may feel for you today when you practice, try to find that sense of connecting with your true self, with your essence, and take comfort in being there for yourself...time after time. 

Author: Michelle Garrison Hough, ISIS Class of 2013

Michelle Garrison Hough is currently completing her yoga teacher training with Living Yoga in Cold Spring, NY, in addition to working through the second year of interfaith ministry training with ISIS.  She worked as a teacher and a lawyer prior to moving to the Hudson Valley with her husband and two sons.

Namaste

As an ordained interfaith minister I believe that there is one truth and that truth is that we are never separate from Spirit – or separate from each other. The truth that I believe is that our nature is DIVINE and that we are more than this body – more than this time and space –that we are one with All that Is! – I believe that I am a spiritual being having a human experience.

Coming home refers to a knowing of who I really am – that which is connected to the One Source.  In knowing this truth – I also recognize that we are all connected to one another.  When we say Namaste we are saying that the Divine in me recognizes and honors the Divine in you.  The Cherokee Morning Song, Wen day Aho, affirms “I am of the Great Spirit.” If I really believe that I am of the Great Spirit and so are you– then in serving and loving you I am serving and loving the Divine in myself. It is a transformative concept.  The alchemy of love and service is really what this life –this lifetime is all about.  It’s actually why we’ve come to this earth.  It’s our mission – to love – to serve and remember who we really are.  I recognize that there is this APPARENT reality – here on earth – this “life” - our Practical Reality -our day to day existence –and then ……..there is ABSOLUTE REALITY. That which is DIVINE. 

This Absolute Reality is known by so many names. Hindus call it Brahman, In Judaism it is known as the Shechinah (Divine Presence). It is called the Tao in Taoism and Muslims recognize that there is only one Absolute Reality. Jesus spoke of this Absolute reality when he said "My kingdom is not of this world,” and when asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display – It can’t be seen by the human eye –the Kingdom of Heaven is within you!"

But how do I live or should I live in this PRACTICAL REALITY?  I know that my nature is DIVINE but my body and my mind are still human and I get caught up in all that is visible. So how can I get more connected to ABSOLUTE REALITY? How do I get more in touch with the Kingdom of Heaven within me? How do I access it?  

Recently I was  watching a show on the sci-fi channel about the static on a radio which is actually reverberations from the “big bang”. Isn’t that amazing?  That made me think about the process of accessing a particular radio station in order to hear music and how we have to “tune in” to a particular frequency otherwise we will get static.  On a spiritual level I believe that we are being called to tune in and access Absolute Reality.

In order to get the right spiritual frequency and connection to the Absolute Reality I have to turn the dial. I know that Divine Grace helps me get there – but I have to make the decision to access it. You know when you're flowing in that connection with the Divine – there’s no static!  And interestingly – it’s all Divine!  Even the “static!" When we are acting according to our true nature – which is spiritual - we access Divine Grace and we move and breathe and have our being in Absolute Reality.

When we are thinking, speaking and acting according to our Divine nature, when we are pure of heart – we are on the right frequency!  

At the Sermon on the Mount – in the Beatitudes – Jesus said “Blessed are the Pure of heart for they shall see God.”  Divine Grace can penetrate when we are thinking speaking and acting with a pure heart – manifested in our thoughts, words and deeds. Hindus describe a Satwic nature as acting with a pure heart to be good and do good – at all times! 

In purifying our thoughts, words and deeds we become clear channels for Divine Grace and then we are propelled to a Higher Frequency. 

So how do I live this Satwic way of being? I think it starts with the word.  The words that we are thinking, the words that we are hearing, and the words that we are speaking.  We don’t even realize how much we are exposed to negative impressions and negative vibrations on a daily basis – from the words we hear in our head – to the words that we hear from others.  Over and over again words – which have energy – are filled with vibrations that fill our minds and send us powerful messages about how we think about ourselves and others. If these words hold positive vibrations we will manifest that which is good. And the opposite of this is so dangerous because if the words hold vibrations that are negative – that will be what manifests as well.  And there you have the STATIC.  Limited to no connection – limited to no access to Absolute Reality.  It starts with our words. “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God” (Johns gospel). In Don Miguel Ruiz’s four agreements we are reminded of the importance of being impeccable with our word.  That our word is the power we have to create – the gift that comes from God and is God. 

In the Buddhist eight fold path the precept of “right speech” is a path to enlightenment. It consists of refusing to lie, refusing to talk meanly, refusing to gossip, refusing to command everyone’s attention – yes - interrupting people.  Right speech should be wise, kind and minimal.  Buddhists believe that you should talk only when necessary. The Shinto believe that the origin of all trouble lies within a single word spoken in haste. 

And the Sufi Gates remind us that our words should first pass the criteria of; is it true? is it kind? and is it necessary?  Mindful speech as blessings rather than curses – words that are heartful rather than hurtful - allow us access to a higher frequency of ABSOLUTE REALITY and that Satwic nature provides a clear channel to Divine Grace.  So let our words be our prayers and our deep listening serve as our meditation.  In this moment by moment awareness of the sacred – regardless of what we are doing, we can be vessels and instruments in the hands of the Divine. 

We can remain in a state of surrender to God – in the spirit of gratitude – recognizing that Spirit is flowing through us in our thoughts, in our words and in our actions.  Then Divine Grace is able to operate at our highest frequency – because we are accessing ABSOLUTE REALITY! 

 Author: Rev. Dr. Grace Telesco

Rev. Dr. Grace A. Telesco, Ph.D., B.C.E.T.S., is an ordained Interfaith Minister and on the faculty of the International Seminary for Interfaith Studies (ISIS). Rev. Grace is an Associate Minister at Interfaith Community International in New York and The Oneness Temple in Hallandale, Florida and serves as a regular Guest Minister at The Shepherd's Bridge in Davie, Florida and the Metaphysical Chapel in Wilton Manors.

Rev. Dr. Grace Telesco is also a Professor of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice in South Florida and a graduate of The New Seminary for Interfaith Studies in New York. She has also been initiated in the Sanyassi Order in the lineage of her Guru, H.H. Sri Swami Jyotirmayanda in Miami, Florida.

To contact Rev. Grace for information on ceremonies/rituals (weddings - including same-sex weddings, unions, funerals, memorials, pet crossings/transitioning rituals, pet memorials), speaking engagements, or spiritual counseling and direction sessions please call 917-579-3750 -or- DrTelesco@gmail.com