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Thursday, 28 August 2008

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Dogs Know Heart

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Written by Alan Cohen

The spirit’s
commitment to peace
is more powerful than
the ego’s
commitment
to war.

My dog loves to play in the morning. He jumps in my lap and wants to lick and wrestle, which I am entirely unable to resist. Yet when I am meditating, he simply lies down and waits for me to finish. Something in him understands meditation and respects it. The universal intelligence in him is connected to the universal intelligence meditating in and through me, and the two create a lovely respectful dance.

I like to think people are at least as smart as dogs, and something inside each of us recognizes and respects wisdom, beauty, and authentic love. When you are connected to higher power, doors open in miraculous ways. I saw a video of Mother Teresa on a mission to rescue a group of children from a children’s hospital in war-torn Beirut. Although factions were shooting at each other constantly, when Mother Teresa announced she was going into the city to remove these children, the parties declared a cease-fire. At the appointed time, Mother Teresa and a group of nuns drove two trucks into the quieted city and freed the children. The moment she and the kids were clear, the factions went back to fighting.

This noble example tells me two things: (1) War is a choice and can be stopped at will; and (2) The spirit’s commitment to peace is more powerful than the ego’s commitment to war. When authentic peace shows up in the face of conflict, peace ultimately prevails, because peace springs from love and war springs from fear, and love is always stronger than fear.

When Ram Dass visited India, he met a yogi, Hari Dass Baba, who had been silent for many years and taught Ram Dass a brief lesson each day by writing an aphorism on a small chalkboard. One day the lesson was: “Yogi in jungle need not fear. Snakes know heart.” When you are in harmony with life, you need not worry or struggle to protect yourself, for all of life bows in deference to the presence of the divine.

A Course in Miracles offers a profound image (Workbook Lesson 156) describing how loved and powerful you are, simply by virtue of who you are:

There is a light in you which cannot die; whose presence is so holy the world is sanctified because of you. All things bring gifts to you, and offer them in gratitude and gladness at your feet. The scent of flowers is their gift to you. The trees extend their arms to shield you from the heat, while the wind sinks to a whisper round your holy head.

This touching passage tells me life loves to love you, and as you love yourself, you are aligned with your purpose and the purpose of everything. It’s not egotistical to have rewarding, fulfilling relationships, and to expect things to go right.

Things are supposed to go right, and when we line our minds and hearts up with this vision, they do. Coaching clients often ask me about how to find a happy relationship. I tell them when you sincerely love yourself, you are in the perfect position to meet someone who agrees with you. So the path to finding a mate is not anxious searching and manipulating, but calm knowing who you are and what you deserve. Mother Teresa knew so surely that those children deserved to be safe from war, that even people steeped in fear and war were moved to agree with her and act on the truth she knew.

There is a scene in Star Wars where Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi are entering a city ruled by the evil Empire. As they approach, a guard asks to see their papers.

Obi-Wan, using a hypnotic suggestion, tells the guard, “We’re not the ones you are looking for.” As if on automatic, the guard tells the other soldiers, “They’re not the ones we’re looking for,” and the two pass. Jedi of the Force need not fear the evil empire. Yogi in jungle need not fear. Snakes know heart. Sincere meditator need not struggle. Dogs know peace.

ALAN COHEN, author of best-selling The Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Don’t Get Lucky--Get Smart. Join Alan for his life-changing Life Mastery Training in Hawaii, February 10-16, 2008. For more info or to receive Alan’s free daily inspirational quote and monthly newsletter, visit www.alancohen.com, email , or phone 1-800-568-3079.

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