Sunday, May 18, 2008

Bay to Breakers, Oprah and the Cosmos -- Now what do they have to do with each other?



Here's a video showing photos and footage from today's San Francisco Bay to Breaker's race. This is an annual event which draws thousands of participants, many in costume. I dressed up in a hawaiian hula outfit and Art dressed up as the devil. It's become an annual mecca for those who love the free atmosphere of San Francisco where many can express their joyous freedom and feel part of a larger community.

The race is 12 kilometers, which is about 7.46 miles. A few years ago, I would've thought this was a feat I could never accomplish or even enjoy. Running wasn't in my fitness routine. In fact, I wondered how anyone could enjoy running because it seemed so boring -- where was the competition, the intense contact? what was the goal?

But in 2003, I made the decision to run a marathon. Da'Mon had signed up to train for the Honolulu Marathon through the AIDS Marathon training program. If he could do it, so could I. Six months later, I ran 26.2 miles in the New Orleans Mardi Gras Marathon and raised over $2,500 in support of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. Since then, I've run races in San Francisco, Honolulu, Dublin Ireland, and Florence Italy, and personally raised over $25,000 with the generous support of family and friends.

Even though I've trained countless hours and disciplined myself to be able to run these races, I recognize that what made each of these races a done deal was the moment I decided to do it. In my mind, once I made the commitment, everything came together and I simply had to just go with the flow.

It's like that with anything in life. If you really, really, really, really want something, whether that's doing something or having something, you have to commit to be the kind of person that would do or have that. If you want to have your book as part of Oprah's Book Club, what kind of person would you have to be in order to unleash the creative forces and to draw together the team that would make your book an international best-seller? If you want to be a successful multimillionaire, what kind of person would you have to be in order to attract that level of wealth and to be a good steward of that money? For each instance, what habit or idea about yourself would you have to let go, and what idea or habit would you have to embrace?

It usually means stepping beyond who you are in this moment in order to become the person you want to be. It means letting go of self-imposed limitations and allowing yourself to be open to the greater possibility. The Universe then aligns with this higher vision and it becomes a seemingly miraculous event as people, things and ideas show up to manifest this higher good. When you achieve what you consider success or personal greatness, recognize that it simply is a process of a greater becoming of who you really are. This is what I call the Cosmic Unfolding, which is the title of one of my books to watch out for in the future.

Look at each moment as an opportunity for a fresh start. As Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu said over 2,500 years ago, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Thank God today's race was only 12 kilometers!
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Thursday, May 15, 2008

The Spirit of Gay Marriage

As I was driving Art to work at the San Francisco International Airport this morning, we were listening to the gay banter of Fernando & Greg on energy 92.7 FM when we heard the incredible news. Today the California Supreme Court ruled that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry. I almost started to cry!

When Mayor Gavin Newsom allowed gays and lesbians to marry over 4 years ago, Art and I jumped at the historic opportunity. On February 16, 2004, we went to City Hall at 6 am and waited over 7 hours in line to get married. This picture was taken by our best friend Da'Mon Vann on the steps of City Hall right after we got married. It was a pivotal moment in my life. We were one of over 4,000 couples to make history those few days. I never thought the day would come when I would be able to get legally married!

There are five countries today that allow gays and lesbians to legally marry: the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada and South Africa. Massachusetts is the only other state in the United States to allow this. When I heard the news today, I thought, this is just like Canadians having universal access to health care. No one gets denied at the hospital counter if they need health care. Now, Art and I won't get denied at City Hall for wanting to be married. It gives me hope that, maybe, universal health care may not be that far off in this country.

It's a grand shift in world consciousness when we uplift and embrace the principle of inclusion. We heal perceptions of division and separation. We reaffirm our Oneness.

Today is also Art's birthday, and tonight we're going to celebrate. We'll toast to his parents for birthing the incredible love presence known as Art into the world. And we'll toast to the Divine Love Presence that reveals itself as all of the gay and lesbian couples throughout California who will be getting married in the next few months. Cheers to Love!
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Sunday, May 11, 2008

Why do I call myself the 1/3 Enlightened Spiritual Teacher?

Three reasons.

One, I believe that the path to enlightenment is continuous. There's always different kinds of crap (also known as opportunities) that show up no matter how enlightened I think I am! The journey doesn't really go anywhere anyways except deeper within. It's a continual process of unfolding of the divine nature of who and what we are. Because we are truly infinite, spiritual beings having a human incarnation, our purpose is to awaken to our true nature and to live the enlightenment.

Two, I recently met David Hawkins at the Agape Revelations Conference in Los Angeles in April 2008. He came up with a method to calibrate the level of truth on a scale of 0 to 1000. Jesus and Buddha calibrated at the 1000 level. Apparently Abraham Lincoln calibrated pretty high at around 500. I tried this method on myself and found I was calibrating in the mid to upper 300s. Not bad but I definitely want to get that number higher! So I figured it was close to 1/3 of where I intend to be, and so I am for the most part enjoying life at the level of 1/3 enlightenment. It's just like Kathy Griffin and how she lives her life on the D-List.


Three, I realized many years ago that I have a gift as a teacher, though I've never held a formal job as a teacher. But I found myself incorporating this gift of teaching into my regular jobs and in everyday interactions. Profound spiritual insights came through me and I loved to share these with others. I found it was my calling. So in January 2008, I decided to leave my 8-5 life on the hamster wheel to pursue the path of the 24 hour Spiritual Teacher.

So that, in a nutshell, is why I'm the 1/3 Enlightened Spiritual Teacher.

I invite you to join me on this journey of learnings, heart openings and fun.

Like Forrest Gump says, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." Time to take the next bite!
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