The Ego Created God In Its Image

Posted on by Stephen Parato

God ego

The ego created god in its image…

The Judeo-Christian “god” is a judgmental, jealous, conditionally loving patriarch. Sounds a lot like the ego, right? Plus, even assigning a gender to God is just plain silly (and another egoic classification).

Recognizing that there is so much beyond its perception, the ego projected its own sense of self to create its limited idea of “God.” This “god” is an extreme distortion of the true “God”, which is Stillness, Source, All That Is, Oneness, Unconditional Love (because love is the ultimate unifying force), Infinite Possibility, I Am That I Am, Nothingness/Everythingness, Pure Consciousness Beingness…etc.

God isn’t A BEING, God IS BEING.

So being pure BEING, God is Unconditional Love. Unconditional Love inherently comes with free will, as control is conditional love. And with free will comes the choice to exist separately (at least on the surface/perceptual level) from God (Source) through the ego.

Everything is a manifestation of God (Infinite Possibility). This is how God “creates everything in its image.” Being an extension of God like everything else, the ego is a participating part of this eternal cycle of “creating in its image.” Yet because from the ego’s perspective, it is separate from All That Is (God), it creates “god” from its own limited perspective. This is how we get the distorted projection that is this judgmental, jealous, conditionally loving, patriarchal “god.”

And this false god (demiurge) is yet another aspect of God (Stillness, Source, All That Is, Oneness, Unconditional Love, Infinite Possibility, Nothingness/Everythingness, Pure Consciousness Beingness…etc.).

All is God. All is Self.

PS – Remember that God is beyond words, names and all classification. To say “Nothingness” is to make it some-thing. To even say “All That Is” or “Infinite” makes it finite. So don’t get hung up on the words that attempt to describe God. These labels just point towards what it is. As hinted at in the Tao Te Ching, the Tao that can be told is not the Eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the Eternal Name.

Westworld, The Bicameral Mind and The Nature Of Consciousness

Posted on by Stephen Parato

Westworld Bicameral Mind

Want to hear something crazy?

(By “normal standards” at least)

I’ve only watched one full season of a TV show in the last 10 years. Actually, I don’t even own a TV, which is another tangent to fill a book.

But I want to talk about the one show I did watch over the last 10 years: Westworld.

Westworld is a show based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crighton (same dude who wrote Jurassic Park).

Here’s the basic description from Wikipedia: “The story takes place in the fictional Westworld, a technologically advanced Wild West-themed amusement park populated by android hosts. Westworld caters to high-paying guests, who may indulge in whatever they wish within the park, without fear of retaliation from the hosts.”

The android hosts are built so that they look and feel exactly like humans. The only difference is that they’re programmed to operate in a certain loop (a predetermined pattern of behavior) and don’t have the ability to choose to act outside of their programmed loop.

This programmed loop behavior is what I want to explore in this article. Because this is how Westworld really gets you thinking about the nature of consciousness and what it means to be human.

And not only that, it ties into a mindblowing theory by a Princeton psychologist.

Voices In My Head

At some point in the series, some of the android hosts begin hearing a voice in their head. And “the voice” seems to be that of the person who created them and co-founded the park. The voice tells them actions to take and reveals prescient, almost prophetic information.

This becomes the catalyst for the hosts to deviate from their respective loops and act out on their own.

We’ll get back to this.

Free Will

Westworld forces you to contemplate the nature of consciousness and free will.

And 2 really big questions arise…

1. At what point do the android hosts become “conscious”?

What is consciousness? When does it arise? And how? These are all open-ended questions that Westworld leaves you to meditate on.

If they can make their own autonomous decisions, are they conscious? But… are any decisions truly autonomous?

And this leads to another big question…

2. Are we humans truly conscious?

Many of us humans are essentially caught up in our own loops.

If you think about it, very few (if any) people actually exercise free will. Most people are a programmed bundle of behaviors, habits and predictable reactions.

This is thanks to all of the control systems in place: Government, education, religion, the media. Even culture itself inherently requires standardized behaviors.

To be truly conscious, and exercise free will, is to be SPONTANEOUS. Spontaneous comes from the words “Sua Sponte” in Latin, which means…
– Of one’s own accord
– Occurring without external stimulus
– Willing, of one’s free will

Spontaneity and free will are inextricably connected. And spontaneity makes for a great barometer of free will.

So ask yourself this… When was the last time you did something purely spontaneous?

If you’re honest, it’s been a while. Maybe even as far back as childhood. This means that most people are in fact operating in programmed loops, and not even exercising free will. So how much different are we than the android hosts of Westworld?

The Bicameral Mind Theory by Julian Jaynes

Bicameral Mind

It’s no coincidence than an episode of Westworld is entitled, “The Bicameral Mind.”

This is an obvious nod to The Bicameral Mind Theory, which is detailed in the 1976 book “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind” by Julian Jaynes.

I’m actually reading this book right now, which is partly what sparked the idea for this article. And I highly recommend it if you want to fully explore all of this.

Julian Jaynes was a psychologist and a professor at Princeton. And his Bicameral Mind Theory is one of the most mindblowing theories regarding consciousness.

Here’s a great description of The Bicameral Mind as it relates to consciousness. (via Wikipedia)

“Jaynes’ definition of consciousness is synonymous with what philosophers call “meta-consciousness” or “meta-awareness”, i.e., awareness of awareness, thoughts about thinking, desires about desires, beliefs about beliefs. This form of reflection is also distinct from the kinds of “deliberations” seen in other higher animals such as crows insofar as it is dependent on linguistic cognition.

Jaynes wrote that ancient humans before roughly 1000 BC were not reflectively meta-conscious and operated by means of automatic, nonconscious habit-schemas. Instead of having meta-consciousness, these humans were constituted by what Jaynes calls the “bicameral mind”.

For bicameral humans, when habit did not suffice to handle novel stimuli and stress rose at the moment of decision, neural activity in the “dominant” (left) hemisphere was modulated by auditory verbal hallucinations originating in the so-called “silent” (right) hemisphere (particularly the right temporal cortex), which were heard as the voice of a chieftain or god and immediately obeyed.”

Fascinating, right?

Jaynes also has a phenomenal metaphor for what it would be like to not have our “meta-consciousness.”

He describes the consciousness of pre-conscious people as akin to the unconscious, automatic, reactionary mode of driving a car. While driving we have this unconscious part of us that automatically presses the breaks, turns, steers the wheel…etc. Simultaneously, our meta-consciousness is involved in conversation, listening to music or just thinking about random things. Jaynes postulates that the consciousness of pre-conscious people is like the unconscious part of us while driving, without the meta-conscious though. It’s purely reactionary and automatic.

Now guess what Jaynes hypothesized to cause the breakdown of the bicameral mind…

LANGUAGE

Yes, Jaynes believed that the evolution of language is what created our meta-consciousness.

And, even though I’m not completely sold on this, it does make sense.

Think about it… As humans began to live in larger and larger groups, language became more and more important.

Once you have language, you have words that represent things. This means that people could now think about things that weren’t in their immediate reality.

So if I had a name for a fellow tribe member and he walked away, I could still talk about him even though he wasn’t there! This creates the realm of imagination, and also the concept of time (past and future).

And this gradually lead to the meta-consciousness that we have today.

Is This What’s Happening To Us?

So by now, you may be questioning how “conscious” you really are.

Are we so different from the hosts in Westworld? Honestly, most of humanity isn’t. With most people, you can generally predict their daily lives, as well as their reactions to various situations and stimuli.

And on an even bigger scale, we have the wheel of reincarnation. The wheel of samsara, as Buddhists call it. In this concept, humans live millions of lives entrenched in the same loop of patterns, until they awaken. If this is true, it sounds eerily similar to what the Westworld hosts do, lifetime after lifetime, until they too awaken.

This “awakening” is an awakening to the power of choice. It’s the transcending of the split mind, finding wholeness and God within, then exercising one’s free will.

If you think about it, choice is a superpower. And we have the power of choice in every moment.

We can choose our actions. We can choose our reactions. And, when fully conscious, we become the captains of our fate.

Thank you for reading.

One Love.

– Stevie P!

PS – Break out of your own loops with my free ebook “20 Questions to Reveal Your Life Purpose“

How Aligned Is Your Life? (Try This 2 Minute Exercise)

Posted on by Stephen Parato

aligned life

 

How aligned is your life?

Are you living in alignment with your values?

Most people would say “yes” automatically.

But here’s a simple exercise that reveals just how aligned your life is.

The Aligned Life Exercise

(Grab a pen and paper and do this right now.)

1. Write down the 5-10 things that are most important to you in life.
Examples: Relationships, family, travel, learning, exercise, a meditation practice, running my own business…etc.

2. Write down everything you actually do on an average day.
Examples: Wake up and drink coffee, commute, work tasks, going to the gym, eating dinner at home, watching TV…etc.

Make sure you do this simple exercise right now, before moving forward.

Now here’s the million dollar question: How aligned is what you’re doing every day with what’s most important to you in life?

If there’s a big discrepancy between the two lists, this is a wake up call. Start incorporating more things that are truly important to you, and letting go of the unimportant things.

If your two lists are similar, then that means you’re living in alignment with your values.

aligned life

Why Is This Important?

It should be obvious why this is important. If you’re living each day according to what you really value in life it means…

  • Each day is fulfilling
  • You’re living your truth
  • You’re truly happy
  • You’re creating the life of your dreams

If not, it means…

  • There’s some kind of disconnect between what you know and what you actually do
  • You might feel stuck
  • Your energy is being drained
  • You’re lying to yourself to some degree
  • You probably don’t trust yourself (because you’re consistently doing things you don’t really want to do)

Always remember that you have a choice.

You can design your life any way you want, starting NOW.

Start small. Add something simple that you value as important. Let go of something that doesn’t serve your highest good.

I hope this exercise shed some light for you.

One love.

– Stevie P!

The Impact Of Stress On Your Body (And How You Can Prevent It)

Posted on by Stephen Parato

Note: This is a guest post by Sophia Smith. She submitted this brilliant article to me and I had to share it. Hope you enjoy.
– Stevie P

stress

More often than not, the modern tempo of life makes us feel drained and exhausted despite our best efforts.

No matter how much you try to schedule your sleep, you wake up more tired than you fall asleep, and no matter how hard you try to work out, the belly fat won’t go away.

However, it’s never too late to start noticing the early signs of too much stress in your life and taking steps to mitigate those effects.

Battling Immune Imbalances

stress

Even when we’re inherently healthy, tackling everyday stress can cause regular headaches, sleep issues, or an upset stomach.

However, prolonged exposure to stress can affect how well your body protects itself from intruders such as viruses and bacteria.

Stress wreaks havoc on our hormones, our gut flora, and ultimately leads to a lowered ability to prevent intestinal troubles such as diarrhea, constipation, or even the common cold.

If you’re getting sick too often, it’s time to introduce some immunity-boosting strategies to help keep your body as strong and resilient as possible through all the hardships.

Ditch those habits that tend to exasperate your cortisol production, such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and too much sugar in your diet. Instead, opt for herbs such as echinacea or ginseng and herbal teas instead of too much caffeine.

Hindering Weight Management

diet

Stress affects both the way we make everyday choices and how our metabolism processes fats and sugars.

The two effects combined ensure that your weight-loss efforts will be futile when you are under too much stress, as you will be much more likely to go on a food binge and your body will have trouble metabolizing carbs to burn off the belly flab.

In addition to building a strong support system to help you through the rough patches, you can try the no carb diet plan. With this plan, you will reduce your caloric intake and enhance fat loss by opting for healthier macronutrients.

Much More Than Skin-Deep Issues

stress

Another side-effect of your hormonal imbalances due to stress is linked to poor skin health.

For some, that might mean experiencing random rashes, eczema or psoriasis symptoms getting worse, or a case of flared up acne. With your immune system compromised, this also makes you more prone to infections that affect the skin, as well.

These issues can only become worse with poor dietary choices, so it’s essential to pay more attention to your nutrition and use skincare products that mitigate the symptoms. Much like all other stress-related problems, these can only create a vicious cycle that causes you to feel even more stressed, making it important to help your body heal inside and out.

Chronic Pain

chronic pain

Studies have shown that chronic stress often leads to painful manifestations that have a tendency to also become chronic – which is precisely why we so often hear people say that they are in more pain when they are under more stress.

Our bodies tend to manifest psychological angst in the form of back or neck pain, among other forms, and they tend to develop into more severe muscular and skeletal imbalances.

Much like with many other stress-caused issues, tackling the symptom itself often means tackling the underlying source of stress. Instead of “muscling through” the pain, it’s best to find techniques such as massage, myofascial release or self-massaging, as well as exercises such as yoga that target those tense spots in order to help your body heal.

Cardiovascular Resilience

stress

The immediate response to stress is increased in a faster heart rate and higher blood pressure, which makes us more alert in situations of danger.

However, prolonged exposure and too much stress on your heart and blood vessels can lead to chronic heart conditions, hypertension, and abnormal heartbeat among so many cardiovascular diseases linked to stress.

Certain techniques that are often underestimated in managing your heart health include getting enough sleep every night and doing your best to lead an active life.

That means that you should opt for walking instead of taking the bus, and stand instead of sit in meetings, in addition to your regular cardiovascular workout routine.

Striking The Right Balance

stress

When stress is the underlying issue of your health troubles, no matter how hard you try to keep your health in check, you also need to go straight to the source.

Just like with any health issue, prevention is the best healing method for your stress, hence the need to adjust your entire lifestyle to reduce your exposure to stress and cultivate your resilience to it.

Since all of us are different, you can try several methods before you find the one that suits you best.

Whether it’s learning how to meditate, joining a dance class, learning how to do origami, or scheduling an appointment with your psychologist, you should listen to your body and reshape your life to make more time for stress-reducing techniques.

Sophia Smith is beauty and style blogger, an eco-lifestyle lover and a food enthusiast. She is very passionate about natural skincare, minimalist wardrobe, yoga and mindful living. Sophia writes mostly about beauty-related topics in her blogs and articles. She has contributed to a number of publications including: Eco Warrior Princess, Viva Glam Magazine, Just Haves, How to Simplify and Carousel.

You can find out more about her writing by following her on: Facebook, Twitter and Google +

Ode To My Parents

Posted on by Stephen Parato

parents

To my parents
Thank you
You have honestly been the best parents
I could have ever asked for

And I feel
Like I chose you
Exactly what I needed
To grow into my full potential this lifetime

You both
Set your problems and your self-interest aside
To provide space
The space for me, Elizabeth and Thomas
To flourish

We’re all human
So of course you both
Had your struggles, weaknesses and challenges
Yet I’ve always known
In the depths of my soul
That you’ve been there for me

Even your imperfections
I’m now realizing
Were exactly what I needed
For my journey

Dad
Your inner strength is mindblowing
Your determination is inspiring
Your sharpness is so impressive
Your lightheartedness brings joy and laughter
Your generosity brings tears to my eyes
And your divine masculinity
Has built a garden
Where we all
Have the means to sprout, grow and bloom
Thank you
I love you

Mom
Your compassion is boundless
Your love is unconditional
Your openness is incredible
Your emotional intelligence is brilliant
And your divine femininity
Has allowed our spiritual gifts to blossom
Thank you
I love you

What more can I say?
We are blessed
Thank you
I love you

Why All Belief Systems Are Wrong

Posted on by Stephen Parato

belief systems

Any system or belief is a fixed model.

And the Universe is never fixed. It is in perpetual change (flux).

So any system or belief cannot be a totally accurate representation of reality, because once it is formed reality has already changed.

Try describing a café in all of its details, for example…

By the time you’ve described it, it’s changed, even if the change was ever so slight. People have come and gone, objects are in different places, the way the light is coming through the windows has changed.

Plus, it would take an eternity to describe every minute detail in its entirety. By then there would be no café, and no you.

Think of a picture. Once the picture is taken, the reality is different. A belief system is a picture of reality, a frozen model. We recognize this with pictures, yet most fail to recognize it with belief systems.

The more people that adopt a system, the less accurate it is. It has to adapt to be accurate. And the larger the group, the slower the rate of adaptation. And the slower the rate of adaptation, the bigger the gap between the system and ever-changing reality.

By the time you’ve read this, you’re a different being than you were when you started.

Now…

Is there anything that is unchanging?

Only that which precedes manifestation.

To put it another way, the stillness that underlies everything is unchanging. And stillness is not only unchanging, it’s beyond the label “unchanging.” Because once it’s described, you’ve lost it. How can you describe nothingness?

The music is change, yet the silence between musical notes, and between songs, remains. Thoughts come and go, yet stillness remains. Physical objects come and go, yet space remains.

I invite you to go within.

Relax and just observe. Observe all phenomena.

And soon enough, you will directly experience this nothingness.

Out of pure beingness, pure nothingness, everything arises.

So how do we integrate this?

By being, simply being, unobstructed by predetermined beliefs and projections.

And from that beingness, or stillness, directly experiencing reality and acting spontaneously.

This is alignment with the Universe. And it is a great joy to be in this state.

We’ve all tasted it; maybe it was playing as a child, dancing spontaneously, meditating, making love or creating art.

There is nothing in the way, just the moment flowing through you. You are the moment, yet nothingness at the same time.

Welcome home.

7 Surprising Tips to Increase Your Motivation Immediately

Posted on by Stephen Parato

Note: This is a guest post by Marcus Clarke

motivation

Many people find they lack the motivation to accomplish various important tasks in their day-to-day lives.

Motivation is necessary if your want to maintain high productivity and achieve your life and career goals. Keeping high levels of self-motivation is not an easy task and will take effort.

Here are some tips on the routines and practices you can adopt to ensure you are at the top of your game.

1. Set small, measurable goals

Having dreams and goals is ok, but be realistic. Having smaller goals that can be achieved quickly is a wonderful way to stay motivated.

The goal is always in sight and the reward comes quickly. When this happens, pursue the next goal with the same zeal.

On the other hand, trying for unachievable goals may be very demoralising if you don’t succeed.

2. Create a routine and stick to it

It is helpful to develop daily routines that keep you moving forward and focused on your goals. Everyone has their rituals, and it is important to establish what works for you.

For example, some people like jogging while others prefer to read before they sleep. You should pick a daily ritual that makes you feel relaxed, happy, or rejuvenated. This will ensure you remain motivated to pursue your goals.

3. Face your fears and work on overcoming them

Fear is a major contributor to people giving up their goals. Many people would rather avoid trying something if they think they are going to fail.

Fear contributes to negative thoughts and decreases your motivation. Identify your fears and work on overcoming them. If you do not succeed the first time you try something, you should persevere. Overcoming something you once feared will give you a big boost.

4. Talk to others about your goals

When you keep your goals to yourself, it is easy to lose motivation and find justifications for giving up on them.

However, telling people close to you about your goals will help you feel more able to achieve them. It also creates a support system for you to keep you going when you are losing motivation.

5. Create an action plan

This represents what you have to do to accomplish the goals you have set. It is a step-by-step path towards achieving your goals and will act as guidance for you.

An action plan will help you to stay on course even when you lack motivation. Planning is also a great way to avoid problems.

6. Celebrate success and reward yourself

When you accomplish milestones or goals, it is good to take time to celebrate and even reward yourself for the achievement.

You need to feel good about the good work you put in as this will motivate you to aim for more.

7. Keep a positive attitude despite failure

It is important to keep a positive attitude even in the face of failure.

Reframe failure as a learning experience. Identify the mistakes you made and ensure you do not repeat them next time. According to a study by Gist and Mitchell (1992), people who think positively about a task actually do better than those who think negatively.

Keeping yourself motivated all the time may not be an easy task, but it is possible if you work on it.

It involves doing the right things that keep you firmly focused on achieving your goals despite the inevitable setbacks that will occur along the way.

Marcus has a degree in psychology, a masters degree in health psychology and has worked within the NHS as well as private organisations. Marcus started psysci a psychology and science blog in order to disseminate research into bitesize, meaningful and helpful resources.

Introducing A New Cryptocurrency: Do Good Coin

Posted on by Stephen Parato

do good coin

Introduction

Do Good Coin is a cryptocurrency which incentivizes positive change in the real world.

While Do Good Coin has every utility of a cryptocurrency, it’s more about what it inspires you to do. This is an intention-based coin – meaning that those who use it will be reminded to “pay it forward.”

Do Good Coin is a coin with intention. The biggest value isn’t in the coin, but what it inspires people to actually do.

We seek to merge technical utility with human utility.

Problems Do Good Coin Solves

If a coin doesn’t solve a problem, there is no reason to use it.

A coin must solve a problem (or problems) in order to be used and adopted by any number of people.

Do Good Coin solves several problems in unique ways..

Bridging Between Worlds

Do Good Coin bridges the gap between the digital and physical world.

Every time someone sees the name Do Good Coin, it’s a reminder to “do good” in the real world. This might be inspiring an idea for a world changing non-profit organization, or as simple as holding the door for someone.

Antidote To Greed

Money is a medium of exchange. It’s a means of getting something.

Do Good Coin creates awareness around the use of wealth.

It invites users to answer the question, “What am I going to do with my wealth?”

So instead of focusing solely on monetary value, Do Good Coin stimulates awareness around purpose, service and helping others.

A Crypto For Non-Techies

Do Good Coin is simple to use.

The goal isn’t to be the most technologically sophisticated, but to facilitate real world change and spread love.

That’s a concept that anyone can understand and get behind.

Rewards “Human Utility”

Do Good Coin incentivized and rewards human utility. It incentivizes the spread of positivity. It incentivizes being of service to others.

The ability to transform the lives of others, even through simple acts of kindness, is “human utility.”

Potential Coin Uses

The potential use cases of Do Good Coin are vast.

Some of the potential use cases of Do Good Coin include:

  • Tipping
  • Donations
  • A lighthearted way to get into the crypto world
  • Value exchange – Do Good Coin has all of the basic utilities of any other cryptocurrency. So it can potentially support any kind of value exchange.
  • Speculation – Although this is not the goal, value speculation will bring more awareness to the mission of incentivizing positive change in the real world.
  • Funding – Helping to fund other creators in creating their world-changing projects

    • Technical Details

    Parameters

  • Ticker symbol = DOGOOD
  • Total number of coins = 7,777,777
  • Underlying platform = BitShares

    • Do Good Coin is a meta-token created on the BitShares platform.

    Benefits Of Building On The BitShares Platform

    Do Good Coin enjoys all of the benefits of being built on the BitShares platform.

    The BitShares blockchain has the highest transaction capacity in the world. Therefore, the underlying technology of Do Good Coin is incredibly robust.

    Below is an excerpt from the BitShares website, found here.

    Transferable Named Accounts – Easy and secure transactions

    Named accounts enable users to easily remember and communicate their account information. We don’t use IP addresses to browse the internet or numbers to identify our email, so why shouldn’t we have human-friendly account names for our financial transactions?

    Delegated Proof-of-Stake Consensus – A robust and flexible consensus protocol

    Delegated Proof of Stake (DPOS) is the fastest, most efficient, most decentralized, and most flexible consensus model available. DPOS leverages the power of stakeholder approval voting to resolve consensus issues in a fair and democratic way. All network parameters, from fee schedules to block intervals and transaction sizes, can be tuned via elected delegates. Deterministic selection of block producers allows transactions to be confirmed in an average of just 1 second. Perhaps most importantly, the consensus protocol is designed to protect all participants against unwanted regulatory interference.

    Read the full BitShares Whitepaper here for a detailed breakdown of the underlying blockchain technology Do Good Coin is built upon.

    Planned Methods of Distribution

    Below is a list of the planned methods of distribution for Do Good Coin…

  • Gifting
  • Partnerships
  • Random Acts Of Kindness Mining

    • Gifting

    Do Good Coin is positioned to embody the spirit of gifting.

    Because of this, coins will be gifted to people as a method of distribution.

    We call this an ICG, or Initial Coin Gifting.

    Partnerships

    Do Good Coin will also be distributed via partnerships.

    These will be organizations and individuals who are making a positive impact on the world. Our partners will receive Do Good Coin, so that they can then pay it forward on a larger scale.

    Current Partners:

  • The Conscious Creative Tribe Podcast
  • Let’s Imagine
  • FeelinGoodFeelinGreat.com
  • CKMJ Group
  • The Living Lighthouses Project

    • Random Acts Of Kindness Mining

    Instead of a traditional mining model, Do Good Coin will be able to be mined in a unique, lighthearted manner, called “Random Acts Of Kindness Mining.”

    Essentially, people can share a random act of kindness, or a story about a random act of kindness, on social media. And by using specific hashtags and submitting their posts, they will in turn “earn” Do Good Coins.

    The purpose of this method of distribution is to embody the main purpose of Do Good Coin – incentivizing positive change in the real world.
    Conclusion

    Do Good Coin is a revolution of consciousness around wealth.

    It incentivizes positive change in the real world.

    The platform it is built upon – BitShares – is the most optimal platform to build on top of. And the distribution methods will facilitate a widespread usage of Do Good Coin and the intentionality behind it.

    Get Do Good Coins For Free

    As stated above, Do Good Coin is being given away for free!

    Here is where to get Do Good Coins: https://www.feelingoodfeelingreat.com/dogood/

    Now, we’ll leave you with a question…

    How will you do good?

    Unfold Your Own Myth (A Poem by Rumi)

    Posted on by Stephen Parato

    poem rumi

    Too many of us feel like victims…

    Irrelevant bystanders to what’s going on in the world.

    That couldn’t be further from the truth.

    You are the star of your own movie. You are your own superhero. Take back your life. Engage in your life fully! Meet each moment with totality! Even the simple moments are infinite reservoirs of wonder!

    And in the spirit of that, here’s a beautiful, poetic reminder from none other than Rumi…

    Unfold Your Own Myth by Rumi

    Who gets up early
    to discover the moment light begins?
    Who finds us here circling, bewildered, like atoms?
    Who comes to a spring thirsty
    and sees the moon reflected in it?
    Who, like Jacob blind with grief and age,
    smells the shirt of his lost son
    and can see again?
    Who lets a bucket down and brings up
    a flowing prophet?
    Or like Moses goes for fire
    and finds what burns inside the sunrise?

    Jesus slips into a house to escape enemies,
    and opens a door to the other world.
    Soloman cuts open a fish, and there’s a gold ring.
    Omar storms in to kill the prophet
    and leaves with blessings.
    Chase a deer and end up everywhere!
    An oyster opens his mouth to swallow on drop.
    Now there’s a pearl.
    A vagrant wanders empty ruins.
    Suddenly he’s wealthy.

    But don’t be satisfied with stories, how things
    have gone with others. Unfold
    your own myth, without complicated explanation,
    so everyone will understand the passage,
    We have opened you.

    Start walking toward Shams. Your legs will get heavy
    and tired. Then comes a moment
    of feeling the wings you’ve grown,
    lifting.

    Want to start unfolding your own myth? Get my “20 Questions To Reveal Your Life’s Purpose” ebook for FREE here: 20 Questions To Reveal Your Life’s Purpose

    This Poem by Rumi is the Best Thing Ever

    Posted on by Stephen Parato

    rumi poem

    I’ve been reading one of Rumi’s poems every morning as a part of my morning routine.

    And when I read this one, it completely blew my mind. Here it is…

    The Long String by Rumi

    The mouse asks the beloved frog,
    “Do you know what you are to me? During the day,
    you’re my energy for working. At night, you’re my deepest sleep.
    But could we be together outside of time as well as inside?

    Physically, we meet only at breakfast.
    Your absence during the rest of the day enters all of my cravings!
    I drink five hundred times too much.
    I eat like a bulimic trying to die.
    Help me!
    I know I’m not worth it,
    but your generosity is so vast!

    Let your sunlight shine on this piece of dung,
    and dry it out, so I can be used for fuel
    to warm and light up a bathhouse.

    Look on the terrible and stupid things I’ve done,
    and cause herbs and eglantine to grow out of them.

    The sun does this with the ground.
    Think what glories God can make
    from the fertilizer of sinning!”

    The mouse continues to beg, “My friend,
    I know I’m ugly to you.
    I’m ugly to me!
    I’m perfectly ugly!
    But look, you’ll be sad
    when I die, won’t you? You’ll sit by my grave
    and weep a little?
    All I’m asking is,
    be with me that little bit of time
    while I’m still alive!
    Now. I want you now!”

    A certain rich man was accustomed to honor a sufi
    by giving him pieces of silver.

    “Would you like one piece of silver now,
    O Lord of my Spirit, or three at breakfast
    tomorrow morning?”

    The sufi answered,
    “I love the half a coin that I already have in my hand
    from yesterday more than the promise of a whole one today,
    or the promise of a hundred tomorrow.
    A sufi is the child of this moment.”

    Back to the mouse, who says,
    “The slap of Now has cash in its hand. Give me slaps,
    on the neck, anywhere!”

    Soul of my soul of the soul of a hundred universes,
    be water in this now-river, so jasmine flowers
    will lift on the brim, and someone far off
    can notice the flower-colors and know
    there’s water here

    “The sign is in the face.” You can look at an orchard
    and tell if it rained last night. That freshness
    is the sign.

    Again, the mouse,
    “Friend, I’m made from the ground,
    and for the ground. You’re of the water.

    I’m always standing on the bank calling to you.
    Have mercy. I can’t follow you into the water.
    Isn’t there some way we can be in touch?
    A messenger? Some reminder?”

    The two friends decided that the answer
    was a long, a longing!, string, with one end tied
    to the mouse’s foot and the other to the frog’s,
    so that by pulling on it their secret connection
    might be remembered and the two could meet,
    as the soul does with the body.

    The froglike soul often escapes from the body
    and soars in the happy water. Then the mouse body
    pulls on the string, and the soul thinks,

    Damn, I have to go back on that riverbank and talk
    with that scatterbrained mouse!

    You’ll hear more about this
    when you really wake up, on Resurrection Day!

    So the mouse and the frog tied the string,
    even though the frog had a hunch some tangling was to come.

    Never ignore those intuitions.
    When you feel some slight repugnance about doing something,
    listen to it. These premonitions come from God.

    Remember the story of the military elephant
    who would not move toward the Kaaba. Paralyzed
    in that direction, yet swift if pointed toward Yemen.
    It had some in-knowing from the unseen.

    So the prophet Jacob, when his other sons wanted
    to take Joseph out in the country for two days,
    had a heart-sickness about their going, and it was true,
    though divine destiny prevailed, despite his foreboding,
    as it will.

    It’s not always a blind man who falls in a pit.
    Sometimes it’s one who can see.

    A holy one does sometimes fall,
    but by that tribulation, he or she ascends,
    escapes many illusions, escapes
    conventional religion, escapes
    being so bound to phenomena

    Think of how PHENOMENA come trooping
    out of the desert of non-existence
    into this materiality.

    Morning and night,
    they arrive in a long line and take over from each other,
    “It’s my turn now. Get out!”

    A son comes of age, and the father packs up.
    This place of phenomena are sliding through us
    like ideas through curtain.

    They go to the well
    of deep love inside each of us.
    They fill their jars there, and they leave.

    There is a source they come from,
    and a fountain inside here.

    Be generous.
    Be grateful. Confess when you’re not.

    We can’t know
    what the divine intelligence
    has in mind!

    Who am I,
    standing in the midst of this
    thought-traffic?