We are all here wanting to experience different situations. We did not come to be alike, to think the same or to act identical. Even twins are not the same. Each one of us came into this incarnation with different agendas. We each have different lessons to learn and different circumstances to experience.
To begin to understand ourselves and the universe, we must have experienced it from all angles so that we emerge with a 360-degree viewpoint on life. This is done through reincarnations. Through trial and error of many lifetimes we will be and know all things.
Incarnations include many different roles, such as being famous, insignificant, rich, poor, victim, perpetrator, female, male, all races, religions, creeds, etc.
The old saying not to judge until you have walked a mile in someone’s shoes comes to life. People need to see life from every vantage point so they can come to a correct understanding of it. The more they can understand, the more they can see love in every situation and the closer they get to the Divine Source.
Reincarnation is truly a journey of diverse experiences to be with the heart of the Divine Source. At some point in our journey as a spirit, we ask ourselves “Why am I here?” For those of us who have asked that question many times and have a deeper understanding of reincarnation and spiritual evolution, this question changes into: “Why did I come back here?”
The answers to both questions are one and the same. You are here – you came back here – to grow in your ability to love and to evolve as a spirit.
What we learn through our wanderings in the universe via the numerous incarnations is simply this: Life is a choice whereby we learn to choose love in every moment. This is far easier said than done. Think about what it actually means to choose love in every moment. It means don’t cut that car off in traffic; don’t scream at your kids when you’ve had a rotten day; don’t gossip or pass judgment.
Lessons are taught a portion at a time. There are so many ways for us to be and learn in the universe, so it’s neither practical nor probable to experience them all in one lifetime. That is why reincarnation is necessary. It gives us a physical body through which to experience a manageable slice of lessons in each lifetime.
Although the progress of spiritual advancement may look like chaos through all the incarnations and the ups and downs in each one, there is always an overall upward trend. We are all constantly learning and growing, especially when we have the darkest or most painful times in our lives. Our spirituality is evolving.
It’s like the Boy Scouts with their motto, “Be prepared.” They aim to prepare for the future by earning various merit badges that symbolize character traits such as leadership and courage. It’s the same for our spiritual evolution: Through our various incarnations, we collect our merit badges by learning lessons, growing and evolving.
Many of my clients over the decades have expressed concern that their loved ones are not healing in spite of all the medical and holistic attention they have received. I strongly believe that they were not meant to heal their particular diseases. Instead, part of their agenda is to live through the trials of the ailments they have.
Furthermore, my clients are here to experience seeing and feeling their loved ones go through their pain. That is why some people do not heal, because what they are going through is part of their spiritual evolution. They are learning lessons on a deep level. To see our loved ones in pain is not pleasant; however, knowing that there is no better or fairer way to learn lessons than to experience the direct effects of the causes we have set in motion is very healing.
Another saying comes to mind when we note the diversity among us: It takes all kinds to make the world go around.
If we were all the same, it would be challenging to coexist. Can you imagine no one wanting to be a surgeon because they were opposed to seeing and touching blood? Or, no one having interest in singing or playing a musical instrument? We need each other to be different in order to survive this physical reality. It’s OK to be diverse. It’s awesome to be unique.
Recently, I was feeling frustrated with all the technology my son uses on a daily basis. I shared with him that when I was growing up in the 1960s, as soon as we came home from school we went outside to play. I elaborated on how all the kids on my block would do the same and that it we played a variety of outdoor games.
As these words were coming out of mouth I had an epiphany. My son did not come here to experience my good old days and years. He came into his own incarnation to experience his own set of lessons and experiences. As soon as I realized that we have different incarnations and life lessons to be learned, I felt peace in my heart. I knew that I needed to trust the universal process that is in our Creator’s hand. I need to trust his spirit.
We are all here wanting to experience different situations, all leading to unconditional love. In each incarnation, we learn unity and understanding while we embrace and celebrate the diversity among us. Most importantly, we learn to love ourselves and others unconditionally. Amen to that!

Tina Sacchi is a Master in Holistic Alternative Arts, including Hypnotherapy, Energy Healing (Reiki/Shamanic), Mysticism, Chakra Balancing, Soul Path Guidance, Past Lives Resolve, Future Life Progression, Raw Food Coaching and Life Event Ceremonies. She is certified in Clinical Hypnotherapy through the Arizona Society for Professional Hypnosis as well as the National Guild of Hypnotists. Visit www.TinaSacchi.com for upcoming events and information on her international radio show.

Tina Sacchi will be a presenter at The Journey Expo in Pittsburgh, May 2012 and Cleveland, September 2012. You can register for her workshop, “2012: Why We Are Here! And Harmonizing Ceremony”, at Pittsburgh Ticket Order Page. She will also facilitate a free meditation, “Connecting with Our Ascended Masters, Guides, Angels and Light Beings.”

This time it just felt like too much to stay. The two of us sit on the couch, loving each other in a way that is too deep to describe. It seems impossible to explain what it feels like to love in a way that can make your body feel as though it’s in excruciating pain. Ironic. The only way to know it is to directly experience it.
We have had this same conversation so many times and still, even after all of the years, we cannot see each other’s point of view about something so simple. We cannot agree on how to meet each other’s needs. We cannot figure out how to compromise. We just get angry. We just get frustrated.
And so at this point it seems easier to walk away then to understand each other in a deeper more loving way. We no longer feel connected because we have different perspectives. We stop making love. I don’t want to touch him. He avoids me. He barely comes home anymore. He doesn’t want to deal with me.
I spend days that turn into weeks that turn into months thinking about how to make him understand what it is that I want. I feel my body tense up when he is near, out of fear of my own judgment toward him – not to mention his judgment of me.
I stop listening to him. As a matter of fact, I never listened to him. I want to be far away from this house. I distract myself with a hundred different things. I want to hide from this love. It keeps making me look at myself and right now I am not ready to put these freaking galoshes on and trek through this heavy mud. It’s cold out there and the rain of this relationship has me in such a vulnerable place that I don’t want anyone to see me. I decide to leave.
I spend days packing up my memories of our life. I cry all over the dishes as I place them in the box to be moved. I make countless trips back and forth from our home to my new studio.
I can barely hold it together when people ask me how everything is going. So instead of having to have that conversation, I stay in my house as much as possible. I like to think of myself as a conscious person and I feel shame that I refuse to understand his perspective. So I cry underneath my skin and pretend to be strong outside of these clothes that are clearly not hiding my sadness anymore.

I remember my mom lying on the floor with her hands around her belly after she held her ground on something that wasn’t even worth wasting energy on. Her husband left for the third time. She is really stubborn. I get that from her.
I am watching myself walk that same path. I always knew her to be strong but never wanted to be anything like her. “Mom’s way or the highway”. She always used to say that.
And now I watch as her own loneliness brings her to tears. Her eyes are sad and foggy. It makes me sick to my stomach sometimes thinking about her. She pours vodka in her morning tea thinking no one will know but I can smell it on her afternoon breath. I want her to feel love. I want her to stop fighting and allow someone to really see her. That type of vulnerability is not weakness; it’s strength. As I think this to myself I recognize that I am out of alignment here.
I lay in my new bed, alone on a Friday night thinking about my mom and how she always chose to fight. That’s all she ever knew so she lived that way.
There are two ways to live: separate or connected. We create the reality of both. When we can experience vulnerability, compassion and empathy we experience more love. Love is anything that we are relating to at any given moment.
Diversity is defined as a way in which things differ. But the most essential nugget of diversity includes being open and accepting to the possibilities that others’ perspectives may be different and that it’s OK. If we cannot allow ourselves to see this then no relationship will ever work.
It’s Sunday now. We used to spend this day together week after week. I am in bed again crying. I take a breath. I remind myself of who I am. I remind myself that I am committed to growing. I remind myself that I have run from every relationship, whether it was with friends, family or lovers, the moment the terrain got risky. I don’t want to be like this anymore. I have spent a hundred lifetimes fighting.
This thought brings me to a hurl of tears and shakes me fierce with shame. I feel disconnected from the person I love the most (besides myself and my relationship with God) because of my own inability to be open and understanding to a differing perspective. I separated myself from love because I wanted to be right. I was becoming my mom.
By the time I realize what is happening, it’s midnight and I am standing at the back door to my old house. It’s his house now. I am shaking. There is makeup smeared down my right cheek. I stand there for 10 minutes. It feels like someone is punching me from beneath the fleshy part of my stomach. I don’t even remember what I am fighting for anymore. I put out my hand to knock on the door. I put out my hand as if to ask for help.
As a matter of fact, I am desperately crying for it. I always have been but I felt like I was in a tug-o-war: me v. my ego. I kept letting my ego win.

I finally knock. It takes a few minutes. He opens. He looks so soft. He smiles and opens his arms. I tell him I am sorry and for what feels like the first time I let him see me. “I love you no matter what,” he says. In this statement from him, I recognize true diversity for the very first time.
Lauren Duke is the founder of Green Flash Yoga in Cardiff by the Sea, California. Her Web site is http://www.greenflashyoga.com/.

I have just returned from a month in India. It was one of the most profound experiences I have ever had. As I was preparing to come home I realized that it had allowed me to open up and free my authentic self. All that I am and have been was honored and respected and received with open hearts and open arms.It is a very spiritual land. The energy could be felt everywhere.
Writing about India has been a most difficult task. It is so hard to put into words what I felt so deeply while I was there for that month; so many things overlapping, interacting, coming together, opening up. All I can say right now is that India went deep into my soul and I will never again be the same.
I was able to go to India because of Rotary International. They have a group study exchange program and I was chosen as the leader for a team of four young business professionals. My purpose for going – in addition to being the team leader for the group – was for a spiritual journey, a personal pilgrimage to touch the spiritual energy of India and learn more about it.
All of our goals were accomplished. The business members of the team were able to visit like businesses in India and learn from them and give back to them.
There were many Rotary projects going on in the cities that we visited. They covered every aspect of life from birth to death: providing schools for the children; homes for the differently-abled, as they refer to them; homes for the blind; and homes for the aged. The Rotary fund hospitals, and own and operate one that works with leprosy patients. It not only takes care of the patients in the leprosy hospital, they also take care of their families, educating their children all the way through college. Finally, they own and operate crematoriums to provide for those who have died.
I was honored to be able to visit many Indian Temples, two of which were over 2000 years old. I was able to deeply feel the energy they offered. Their deep spiritual connection to the god/source – whatever it is called for them – is what really runs Indian lives. They don’t just talk about oneness knowing that we are all one; they live it in their everyday life.
Their spiritual life can be seen everywhere you go, with many Temples of all religious backgrounds including Hindu, Muslim, Christian and others. Temples are visible on every street. Many have personal Temples in their own homes and workplaces. So their spirituality is not separate from them; it is part of them.
The people were amazing. They are the heartbeat of India. For me, they were the most important part of my trip. We stayed in homes with families and got to know them personally. This was the deepest and most fulfilling part of the journey.
I felt particularly touched by one family. It was a husband, wife and their 10-year-old daughter. We seemed to connect immediately. Nikita, the young girl, noticed the angel pendant that I always wear. She loved it and I told her it was my favorite.
After our visit and sharing such special time with them, when it came time for me to leave, I told Nikita that I had a talk with my angel and that she wanted to stay with Nikita in India. Her face lit up, she was so excited she said, “But she is your favorite.” I told her that is why the angel wanted to stay. Nikita was so happy.
The next morning when I was ready to leave, I found Nikita’s mom and dad waiting for me in front of the personal altar in their home. Sheena, the mother, reached into the altar and pulled out the statue of Ganesha, the elephant god, who is Shiva’s son. They wanted me to have that statue. Sheena said that Ganesha removes all obstacles in our way. It was all so wonderful.
After I got home I wrote them an email confirming my safe arrival, and telling them that I had placed Ganesha on my personal altar in my bedroom. Sheena responded to my email telling me that Nikita had surgery the day after I left – an appendectomy.
She then went on to say, “You are one among us and you are ‘OUR FAMILY.’ When I write this email I don’t feel like I am communicating with a person whom I have known only for three days. It seems like I have known you forever.” How strange but true!
“Nikita is fine now,” the message continued. “Started going to school again. She is still wearing the angel chain you gave her. It is permanently on her now. At the time of her surgery she was asked to remove it but as soon as she got back to the room, she asked for it back and put it on again. There is definitely some power in that, and also I personally have come to believe that the angel will protect my child throughout her life. So you see, we can feel your presence with us through the angel.”
My world has expanded inside of me and outside of me. I have felt the freedom of my own authentic self and also now have four new families halfway around the world. What a special gift I was given.
Carol Dombrose has been a psychological counselor for over 30 years, providing group and individual counseling. She is dedicated to helping people use their creativity to move through life’s changes. She is Executive Director of Angel House: Life Enrichment Center for Art and Creative Life Change, in Strongsville, Ohio, where she offers classes in the creative and healing arts. www.angelhousestrongsville.com

A long time ago I was reading a book (not sure if it was a Stuart Wilde or a Wayne Dyer book, but the two of them come to mind) in which the narrator was traveling by plane and carrying a vial of water from the Pacific Ocean in his pocket. He explained that the entire embodiment of the Pacific Ocean was in that half-ounce vial. I had to stop and think about it for a minute, but then I started to grasp the concept.
The Pacific Ocean contains 707.6 million cubic kilometers of water, which broken down is 13,421,545,478,019,865,252,176,147 drops of water. Each and every one of those drops of water is different and unique. Yet each is part of the whole of the Pacific Ocean, which is how the author could carry a piece of the Pacific Ocean – which covers over a third of our planet – in his pocket.
Now let’s look at the human race. There are more than 7 billion people on this planet right now, and the number is ever-growing. Each and every one of us is different (diverse). There are no two people alike anywhere in the world. We have different sexes, races, religions, cultures, beliefs, foods, entertainment, books, clothing…need I go on?
But, like the drops of water in the ocean we are all part of the same cosmos, the Universe. Like it or not, you might as well resign yourself to the fact that you are a part of Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot (it is reported that his leadership was responsible for the death of more than 2 million Cambodians); and let’s not leave the women out: Myra Hindley (abuse, torture, murder of children) and Katherine Knight (murder and mutilation of male relationships) to name a few. Yes, ponder that the next time you judge.
On the other hand, we are also connected to Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, Socrates, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and yes, Jesus Christ, to name a few.
I’m sure some of you don’t want to hear about how all are one; that we are connected. But slice or dice it any way you want – it’s the truth.
There is no getting around the fact that all 7 billion of us no matter how diverse we are, come from the same mold.What we need to understand is that the grudges we harbor in our lives only hold us like super glue to those people we can’t stand to even think about, let alone be around.
As humans we canand willonly live to our fullest potential when we remember from whence we came, which God, the Divine Universal Intelligence, the Cosmos, the Spiritual Womb, Mother Nature, call it what you will. We need to reclaim our power, take full responsibility for who we are and who we can become.
Which translates to: Stop blaming God, the government, your neighbor or the Man in the Moon for your lives and this country’s state of affairs. The sooner you can understand and digest this, the sooner we can all start living in peace and harmony.
Let me put it to you another way: There is no good or bad – just is. You and I may eat different foods, (I happen to love anchovies and caviar), we may speak a different language, and my spiritual beliefs are probably light years away from those of Michael Evans (Christian fundamentalist). But that does not give me the right to say, “I’m right and he’s wrong.” or, “You’re going to Hell.” Or even give us the right to say that someone needs to be executed.
When God stands in His kitchen doing dishes (yes, God does dishes) and looks out His backyard window, He doesn’t see the rapist, the serial killer or the mass murderer. He sees through the Divine eyes of God. He sees through the eyes of compassion. He sees through the heart.
It takes all the colors in the crayola crayon box to make a rainbow, try doing it alone. It takes more than one instrument to complete an orchestra.
Let me ask you this: How many hands, do you think it took to make that veggie pizza you’re eating? The farmer, the truck driver, the sailor on the oil tanker, the mechanic and the store clerk all had a part in it.
We need to start loving ourselves, release our fears and love our neighbors. The more we eliminate our own darkness, the less power it has on the world and us.
Do you get what I’m saying? Slaying our own negative dragons will in turn cause the darkness in the world to diminish. It’s no longer Darth Vader against Obi Wan Kenobi; it’s allof us. Please ponder this; your life depends on it…and my life, and your daughter’s life, and the Popes life, and your lover’s life. Are you starting to get the connection? If you try to look at the world through God’s eyes, you’ll see He’s colorblind and a

In February 2002 I was at an ashram in India, sitting on a white plastic chair in a dark hall, fanning away bloated, insatiable mosquitoes. Along with 40 other people, I was participating in a staff training program where we were being invited to consider one simple question.
The question was being posed by an American Swami, who, so the story goes, landed in India at the tender age of 18 and never left. Now in his early 40s, he was eagerly leading our unlikely troupe.
Representing diverse ethnicities, backgrounds and age groups, we had traveled from all parts of the globe, drawn together with one goal in mind. With serious and determined intent, we were on a quest, searching for nirvana and the heady promise of enlightenment.
In support of our seeking and in order to shake loose what we firmly believed we did not already have, we were being asked:
“What spiritual beliefs were you taught when you were growing up?”
For me, this required little consideration. Standing firmly, I told the group: “I was raised a Catholic and repeatedly told, ‘You are a sinner. You were born in sin.’”
Other westerners nodded in agreement and went on to share more elaborate versions of the same sad descriptors. Eventually Krishna, a young Indian man raised his hand and took the floor.
Barely out of his teens, Krishna was so rail thin his black pants were pulled up to his ribs, pleated in place and secured with a thick leather belt. Against pale saffron skin, his dark hair glistened, having been tamed by sweet scented oil which filled the air each time he moved his delicate frame.
Taking a deep breath and with a wide, generous smile, Krishna carefully annunciated,
“I was taught: ‘I Am Pu-re. I Am Per-fect. I Am the Su-preme Self.’”
Other Indian staff members nodded in agreement saying what sounded like, “Haan, Haan, – Yes, Yes, of course!”
Stunned by this revelation, my head began swimming with visions of what my life might have been like had I been offered these powerful affirmations as a child. Accompanying these visions was a profound sense of sadness, as if I had missed out on a monumental opportunity for self-discovery – which I mused could have been made available at birth rather than as a consequence of prolonged suffering.
However, across the years since that unforgettable day, I have slowly come to appreciate the benefits of having been labelled a sinner. Now with a more expanded perspective I can see that something inside me rebelled against that dark definition –and it was in fact that very pronouncement that propelled me on a search for truth.
The broad sweep of people I met during my time at the ashram was also a gift, reinforcing that, at heart, we all arrive on the spiritual path with similar feelings of brokenness. Whether we are initially told we are sinners or the polar opposite – that we are pure and perfect – in fact we all have the same longing to be healed from an indefinable pain. We crave the possibility of living with courage, authenticity and purpose. Above all, we desperately want to be at peace with who we are.
Any inner journey is so uniquely personal and by extension so different, it is inevitable we will be taken down many unusual paths. We can’t help ourselves. When we have suffered for long enough, we instinctively go off in search of someone or something that can point us back to what the Yogic Masters refer to as “the path of return,” – the path back to the core of who we really are.
On this path of return, we suddenly begin to realize that in order to wake up and expand in consciousness, we really do not have to go very far. What we have been yearning for – even when we cannot quite put it into words – is right where we are, right here in this moment.
Once we discover this doorway, in the thick of our relationship and work challenges and amidst the steady grind of daily responsibilities, we are able – with effort – to remain centered. We become like the still point in the eye of a hurricane.
Here, in this inner sanctum of the heart, we find the Beloved and we come to appreciate and realize that He/She has been with us all along as a guiding, defining and palpable presence.
Then we laugh with delight and wonder. An all-pervading awareness arises, complete and whole with the undeniable message that the enlightened state is our fundamental and natural home. In truth it has been here with us all along. It is who and what we are and no matter how hard we might try, we can never detach or separate from it. Separation is and has always been an illusion.
The search is also an illusion, yet it has a valuable purpose. Like a pestle and mortar it creates longing, serving to wear the ego down so thoroughly that in a moment of despair we let go. Then in that precious moment, we finally wake up to what the Enlightened Masters from all faiths, paths and traditions have been telling us since the beginning of time:
“I am you and you are me in another alluring disguise. We are One.”

©2012. Julie Hoyle is a spiritual teacher, author and trans-personal hypnotherapist who lives on Grand Bahama Island. Her life-changing spiritual awakening is detailed in her best-selling book, An Awakened Life: A Journey of Transformation. She works internationally offering spiritual counseling, soul purpose readings and online courses at: www.truealignment.org.

It was September of 1977, the beginning of my second year in medical school. The summer had been had been a soggy one for Kansas City as yet another intense storm front headed our way. In less than twenty-four hours, it dumped 12 inches of rain on the soaked city.

Within hours, Brush Creek, normally a mere trickle of a stream, rose twenty-one feet. Flash flooding produced a torrent of raging water smashing into everything in its path. In an instant, underground-parking garages became submerged in the murky, debris-filled water; store front window imploded from the pressure of the waves crashing into them. Chaos abounded!

I was perched on the peak of a stone bridge that arched over the creek, a passive witness to this awesome expression of Mother Nature’s unleashed power. I watched as large trees were easily uprooted. Tossed downstream like matchsticks, I was intrigued at how we tend to underestimate the power of such natural forces. The raging river engulfed everything in its wake. Nineteen people lost their lives in those few minutes of that fateful day, including a young family of four whose car had been swept away like a flimsy particle of dust into the roaring, wild wall of water.

Many times since I have found myself reflecting on that frightening and deadly rampage. I have often contemplated the important metaphor offered to me that day back in the 70’s.

A bridge over troubled waters…this is what is offered to us.

We consider ourselves fortunate as we lollygag along savoring life, accruing pleasurable experiences here and there. There is no question that smooth sailing can be a marvelous experience. Its enjoyment should be appreciated to the fullest. But at some point, the calm waters of life will become tumultuous and unsettled, occasionally they may rage out of control. Setbacks and obstacles will be encountered. Deep and wide crevasses might appear before us on our previously smooth path. They will threaten safe passage to the other side of the canyon where we think the sun must surely be shining.

As we apprehensively peer over the edge of the precipice, perilously looking down at the rapids slicing into the floodwaters, we might find ourselves fearful, hoping against all odds that we don’t lose our footing. We pray that we won’t fall into the abyss of the turbulence below. As the pressure surges, the waves begin lapping up against us and steadily rise higher and higher grabbing at us, threatening to engulf us. If we can’t escape their clutches, the waves will surely carry us away in the fierce fury, dragging us into the deep darkness of the frigid undercurrent.

It would be nice if we could avoid such turmoil and the suffering and fear generated by it. But sorrow, sadness, disease and loss are all part of life, as we know it in the material world. None of us is immune. The challenge is to find the way to navigate through these seemingly difficult experiences. The question becomes how to bridge the divide over such troubled waters. How does one learn from these apparent negative experiences? And are they really negative experiences?

When faced with adversity, it is how we respond to the difficulty that determines who we are. Our life experiences will become calamitous only if we make the conscious decision to make tragedies out of them. We might just as easily choose to view them as opportunities for personal growth. The search for discovering the way across the deep canyons of our journey with all of its inherent difficulties and dangers can become the driving force of change. The more daunting the challenge and the greater the apparent obstacle, the more potential there is for enlightenment.

Rather than lamenting the troubled waters we encounter, we can choose to be grateful for them, as these obstacles in life can be the source of strength that empowers us to rise above the very adversity that appears to obstruct our way. We can embrace these tumultuous times and challenges, accepting them as gifts from the Divine. By being grateful for the raging river that blocks our way, we can use the experience to bridge the gap from turmoil, disappointment, and suffering to a place of understanding, wisdom and insight.

“To see through the eyes of the mountain eagle…is to look down on a landscape in which the boundaries that we imagined existed between life and death, shade into each other and dissolve.”

~Sogyal Rinpoche

Dr. Terry Gordon, a retired cardiologist is known as The Wounded Healer. His book No Storm Lasts Forever,published by Hay House will be available July 17, 2012. To pre-order or to receive his daily affirmations, visit his website www.drterrygordon.com.

When we opened Shizen in November 2010, we set out to do something a little different.  As spiritually-minded travelers, we wanted to share with our neighbors some of the boundless creativity and imagination we’ve been blessed to witness around the world.  Over the past year, we’ve begun working more exclusively with wholesalers who are fair-trade accredited, as well as with local and regional artists and craftspeople.  Our ultimate goal is to know that every item in the store was created by someone who was paid a living wage, and treated respectfully.

Our space features bamboo-lined walls, a beautiful reclaimed barn-wood floor, low VOC paint, and other eco-friendly touches.  We are currently featuring mango wood bowls and vases from Thailand, beautiful natural leaf and bamboo lamps from Eangee Home Designs, handmade jewelry from a woman-owned company out of New York State, hand-made soy candles, sterling and semi-precious stone pendants from Nepal, and a variety of beautiful house plants.

We are located at 252 South Highland Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15206. Our phone number is 412.362.1075.  Please stop by and say hello during our Winter/Spring hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

In the winter of 2005 I discovered something very powerful. As I sat on my surf board and contemplated the interconnectedness of my existence, I came to a realization that all the words to describe anyone/thing in my awareness field could be used to describe me. The world around me does in fact reflect parts of me. I have played with that concept quite a bit since the summer of 2005.
For years I have carried a note card in my pocket so I can jot down keyword phrases about the people and events in my life.  I make time weekly to review what I’ve written to look for those qualities in myself.  I can’t recall a time when the traits I’ve used to describe other people were not traits I possess.
When I’ve adored and admired a certain person, I’ve searched myself to see if I embody those same qualities.  I have over the years written down the same words over and over. The qualities I admire are on a list that I contemplate daily, and use as part of my vision board experience. I have gone as far as typing in the 38 qualities of “HER” into thesaurus.com so I could make sure I knew exactly what each word contained.
But, the real magic of this exercise has been found in the negative traits and experiences. When I become annoyed with people, I do the same.  I contemplate each word and ask myself “Am I that?” I have grown much as a man in doing so, and I know better which “good” qualities I can cultivate further as a result.
My first glimpse of finding my own annoying traits through the observation of others happened while I was tending bar in Laguna Beach, California. On any given night, “regulars” made up about ninety percent of the clientele. Rarely did I have to ask “What can I get you?” I knew all of their drinks, their drinking habits, and most of their dirty little secrets.
Most of us live our lives in a manner to which you can set a clock. It seems that we are most comfortable with routine. The patrons at Woody’s at the Beach were no different in that aspect. Happy hour was often filled with familiar faces, each day hosted different cliques. Most of the patrons were there to have a good time and relax, but some seemed to be there just piss on my Cheerios.  As I began to play with this newly discovered concept that all people represent something about me, apparently my interactions with people began to noticeably change.
One evening during happy hour a friend of mine/regular sat at the window service area smoking cigarettes and enjoying the evening air on the patio. The pace of the evening was steady as usual, and the clients were familiar. At one point in the evening the man in the window yells out through the smoke “What the f&%k was that?”
Startled, I engaged his question. He said part of the fun at happy hour on Thursday nights was watching the exchange between me and the Cheerios pissing guy.  He said for months now he would chuckle as the guy came in and got in line to get a drink.  He really enjoyed watching the two of us angrily exchange words.
Every time this cereal bandit came into the bar, my skin crawled. He knew the buttons to push with me and did so without fail. Each time I served him we almost came to blows (I wasn’t a pacifist back then). I may have if I didn’t feel so indebted to the owners of the restaurant for helping me out through my first days of sobriety.
That particular night however, I was merely observing and trying to see what about him was in me. I saw his pain. I saw how uncomfortable he really was with himself, and how it was easy for him to feel good if he could find a way to feel “better than” me. I saw how entitled he was, and how impatient. Then I saw all of this in me, and much more.
I knew that I did not care for that in him. Matter of fact I wanted to “pimp” slap it all out of him when it was projected at me. In seeing all of this I actually realized I wanted it “pimp” slapped out of me. My anger towards him was merely a reflection of the anger I hold towards myself.  I knew deep down the pain I’ve caused.  I knew the amount of anger, resentment, entitlement I felt.
When I observed this about our relationship I smiled and nothing he said affected me. I actually appreciated him more than any other person in the bar at that moment. He was my Guru.
I described this as quickly as I could to the patron in the window. I told him how Carl Jung talked about the synchronicity of life, and the meaning we each hold for one another. I further went to describe the interconnectedness of humanity, and the connection we feel with spirit; how when that is broken we feel lower emotions in our present moment. I told him I am beginning to see everyone as me and me as everyone.
“Tat Tvam Asi” he said. “That’s Hindi guru stuff Tim. You came up with all of that surfing?” We talked for a bit, and he later brought me books by Joseph Campbell, and some Hindi scripture to read.  That’s when I began to search for a connected theory of spirituality. Aldous Huxley’s book “Perennial Philosophy” helped quite a bit.
During the years between 2005 and 2010 I found yoga, discovered chanting and practiced with different sects of Buddhists and Tao Practitioners.  I attended a few churches, and listened to talks from people ranging from HH the Dalai Llama to Dr. Michael Beckwith.  I spend most of my YouTube time split between watching scientific explanations of consciousness and listening to inspirational speakers give sermons. Yet, I have discovered the most enlightenment from this exercise; I’ve coined “My Real Guru is a Douche.”

— Tim McAuley takes us on his journey of learning to ride the metaphoric waves of life in his debut book It’s All About Me!  He shares the tools and techniques he discovered to find his way and vividly illustrates that we each have the power within to become live a life aligned with harmony, happiness and love. You can improve your own happiness by looking within and realizing that, It’s All About Me.

 “The seed cannot know what is going to happen, the seed has never known the flower. And the seed cannot even believe that he has the potentiality to become a beautiful flower. Long is the journey, and it is always safer not to go on that journey because unknown is the path, nothing is guaranteed. Nothing can be guaranteed. Thousand and one are the hazards of the journey, many are the pitfalls – and the seed is secure, hidden inside a hard core. But the seed tries, it makes an effort; it drops the hard shell which is its security, it starts moving. Immediately the fight starts: the struggle with the soil, with the stones, with the rocks. And the seed was very hard and the
sprout will be very, very soft and dangers will be many. There was no danger for the seed, the seed could have survived for millennia, but for
the sprout many are the dangers. But the sprout starts towards the unknown,
towards the sun, towards the source of light, not knowing where, not knowing why. Great is the cross to be carried, but a dream possesses the seed and the seed moves. The same is the path for man. It is arduous. Much courage will be needed.” ~ Osho ~