Be careful what you wish for...you might get it

"Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


I believe that prayers are answered. I also believe that Universe indulges us exactly with what we ask – if we are not clear when we formulate our request, the result will be just as ambiguous as the petition. Among a list of situations I have personally experienced, I think three of them really drive the point home.

As I explain the first situation, I need to backtrack a bit to the time when I first finished writing my novel. After many rejections, it was suggested to me that I should hire a professional editor to clean the story and make it appealing to major publishers. I had no clue how to find an editor, but I knew exactly what I wanted in one and told a couple of friends about it. Just a few days later – and a lot of prayers detailing exactly what I was looking for – a friend called me. She told me that another friend of hers had gotten back in touch with her after years they hadn’t talked, and she thought of me the moment she reconnected with the old friend, since this lady was a freelance editor and my friend knew I was looking for one. We hit it off immediately and an amazing professional relationship was born; if I went around the world twice with a flashlight I could not find another jewel like her.

The second situation involves my oldest son. In first grade he had a teacher from hell. The poor kid cried every morning at the thought of being in her class, and no matter how many times I talked to the school, little changed. One night, I went over a friend and we decided to meditate together. In my spiritual tradition, I was taught to “act out” prayers to send out stronger vibes into the Universe. A Barbie doll was the closest thing I could think of which reminded me of the type of person I wanted as my son’s teacher - young, always smiling and kind. I threw the doll into the fire we had built outside and mentally asked for Stephen to find a teacher who could be just as sweet as I picture Barbie to be. A couple of months went by, and Stephen got a new teacher; a young lady who had just started her teaching career, with long blond hair, blue eyes, and the sweetest smile ever. Needless to say, we had a wonderful year; the new teacher was everything I had hoped for, and she was just as beautiful inside as she was outside.

The third and final situation is funny, if one thinks of it. After my novel was sold, my mind started moving to the next goal, and I began to fantasize about getting my writing into movies. I think I phrased my wish just like that, and that’s exactly what I got. My novel didn’t become a movie –which is what I meant – but I was contacted by someone who read my blog to see if I could help with a few scenes in an independent film. Still in reference to the novel, I tried to broadcast good energy out to the Universe, and I visualized selling a whole lot of copies. In my fantasy, I saw the publisher write down a number – 100,000 – and just about a week after that, I dug out an old money clip from the sandbox at the nearby playground; it was gold-plated, and on the top it had the design of a 100,000 banknote!

So, before we send out a prayer or a wish of any kind, let’s remember to be clear in what we are asking, as we just might get what Universe thought we meant.

The Power of Being

“I cannot tell you any spiritual truth that deep within you don't know already. All I can do is remind you of what you have forgotten.” ~ Eckhart Tolle


Since the early days in the history of our world, mankind has been on an endless search of the self and God. Going back to ancient times, our need to connect to someone or something higher than ourselves has inspired individuals to create complicated rituals aimed at reaching a higher consciousness. In many cases, the universal need of establishing a connection has been exploited by institutions to exercise control over the masses and serve the personal agendas of a few. This process has been made possible by a far-spreading propaganda which has painted God as an inaccessible entity one must seek without, even if the Bible itself (Luke 17:21) teaches us that the kingdom of God is within us.

Our first step to finding God within is through acceptance – not necessarily acceptance of situations but of the way we feel about them. We spend a great portion of our lives fighting the wave, and rejecting the simple truth of just being. Once we overcome our obsession of controlling how everything should be, we allow our experiences to manifest directly from the mind of the Creator, pure and unspoiled by human assumptions.

If we can get to the point of looking at another form of life and just feel love toward it before our mind has the chance to add labels and shelve what’s in front of us within the compartments of an illusionary life hierarchy, what we experience in that moment is God’s love – unconditional, all-serving and powerful. Labels are created by the ego because of its desperate need to quantify something which cannot be quantified. An absence of labels robs the moment of illusion and leaves only the pure essence of it.

According to the Flower Sermon, toward the end of his life the Buddha took his disciples to a quiet pond for instruction. As they had done in the past, the followers sat in a small circle around him, and waited for the teaching. But this time the Buddha had no words. He reached into the muck, pulled up a lotus flower and he held it silently before them, its roots dripping mud and water. The disciples were greatly confused. Buddha quietly displayed the lotus to each of them, and in turn the disciples did their best to understand the meaning of the flower, without much success. When at last the Buddha came to his follower Mahakasyapa, the disciple suddenly understood. He smiled and began to laugh. Buddha handed the lotus to Mahakasyapa and began to speak. “What can be said I have said to you,” smiled the Buddha, “and what cannot be said, I have given to Mahakashyapa.” Mahakashyapa became Buddha’s successor from that day forward.

There are no labels to describe the energy of God, or Its power, just as there are no labels to properly describe who or what anything is. Simply being sets us free from the chains of illusion and the kingdom of ego.