Winter 2009 (Issue 36)    

Thriving Amidst Financial Crisis    |    Meditation: Attracting Resources    |    Spiritual Economy    |   Trickle-Up Economics

 
SPIRITUAL TECHNIQUES FOR THRIVING AMIDST FINANCIAL CRISIS

 © 2009 Corinne McLaughlin

Despite the worldwide financial crisis, you still can thrive if you transform your consciousness.  Why?  Because consciousness is causal and creates what you experience in life, according to new research by quantum physicists such as Dr. Amit Goswami. 

We live in a participative universe, where everything is interconnected, and everything is affecting everything else.  The upside of today’s crisis is that it’s revealing to everyone the interconnected effect of mass consciousness minute by minute—reflecting alternating fear and confidence (or greed) with each dramatic rise and fall of stock markets, currencies, precious metals, real estate, etc.  And most important, the crisis is uncovering  the previously hidden global market casino and financial shell game.  

Greater light is pouring into the planet today and revealing what’s been disguised for years—excessive exposure to bad loans, unregulated financial predators, trillions of dollars in worthless, unsecured derivatives, hidden credit/default swaps, fraudulent Ponzi schemes, etc.  

Now people everywhere are demanding that financial systems be carefully reregulated and restructured and that corruption be removed in financial regulation agencies.  Financial risk must become more transparent in order to rebuild trust between citizens and their institutions, as well as between institutions. All this will ultimately clear the way for a more enlightened, ethical and environmentally sustainable economy as money passes out of the hands of the greedy and dishonest into more worthy and productive hands.  

In the midst of the current crisis, how can you change your consciousness and weather the storm?  Here’s how to attract (or protect) financial resources and be prepared for future upheavals:

Deepen your trust in a Higher Power and in your own higher purpose.  Putting God or Spirit first is the best insurance policy—the ultimate safety net.  Prioritize what’s essential in your life, rather than trivial externalities. You’ll attract the resources you need to fulfill your soul’s purpose and make your contribution to a better world.

Meditate and invoke spiritual guidance.  This will help calm your subconscious fears, invoke creative solutions, and help you make wiser financial decisions.

Create community and networks of mutual support.  Good relationships help you get through all kinds of problems and bring you new, creative solutions.  Overcome isolation through connection with others, which will attract what you need.

Welcome change and embrace it.  Explore where you may be stuck in old habit patterns—physically, emotionally, mentally—especially in relation to money, and release old patterns through conscious awareness and choice.  Invoke your spiritual will to help release the old and strengthen more positive patterns.

Practice detachment from personal comfort and release the need to be in control at all times.  Be flexible and flowing so you can adapt to any personal or collective upheavals that might emerge. Let go of needing particular outcomes.

Focus on emerging opportunities.  Be alert to new doors opening as old ones close.  Crisis can sometimes bring wonderful surprises, and some much needed changes—blessings in disguise.

Invest some of your resources in the new world.  Find quality companies that are ahead of the curve in honoring the “triple bottom line”—people and planet, as well as profit—and keep a very diversified portfolio, so all your eggs aren’t in one basket.

Read More >>

---

Spiritual Practice MEDITATION TO ATTRACT FINANCIAL RESOURCES By Corinne McLaughlin Begin by relaxing and taking a few deep breaths to breathe in peace and stillness and exhale tensions and worries…Allow yourself to be fully present in this moment. Visualize a star above your head connecting you with your higher self or soul.  Take a few moments to reflect on your relationship to money and how you feel about it.  Explore any ambivalence, fears, or negative attitudes towards money or towards those who are wealthy. Also release any tendencies towards greed around money, and transform any dysfunctional attitudes into healthy, positive attitudes. See money as simply concretized energy or life force—neither good nor bad in itself, but in reality a neutral instrument for measuring exchange based on a community agreement. Align with your life purpose, your higher purpose—your unique contribution to the world.  Feel yourself in harmony with the abundance of the universe, supported by the nurturing energy of earth. Affirm your faith in this abundance as your soul’s natural birthright. Now visualize money being magnetically attracted to you to enable you to express your purpose effectively.  Embrace it as a useful tool, rather than an end in itself. Reflect on how money could become more of a spiritual asset in your life.  Ask yourself  what more could you do financially to assist your spiritual development as well as that of others. Then visualize money as a great stream of flowing golden substance, passing out of the control of materialistic forces and into the control of spiritual forces doing good work to aid human evolution. End by giving thanks for all the many wonderful things in your life, and bless money as you give it to others. Print Meditation

---

THE PAIN OF THE WORLD
By Bill Paulson

The pain of the world
Overwhelms all deceit.
The breaking heart is a canyon
With walls of glass.
The sails of this boat I ride
Are ripped by the winds of a truth
Too potent to be held –
That love will overcome,
That love will overcome.

---

Seven Design Principles for a Spiritual Economy

By Gordon Davidson

When confusion and illusion reign, the spiritual approach is to cut through the Gordian knot by enunciating clear principles that offer us torch lights on our pathway out of the swamp of fear, anger and confusion. Once this is fully understood by political and business leaders, and some principles for a new, spiritually based economy are widely enunciated, we will enter a period of re-designing our economic system, followed by a restructuring into a sustainable system.

The following are a draft set of Principles for a Spiritual Economics that can lead us in that direction:

1.      Sustaining, nurturing and protecting the living planet and all life within it, including humans, is the core principle for a new spiritual economic system.

2.      Everyone on the Earth has a right to a healthy existence. This means any economic system should be designed to provide everyone with the basics of food, shelter, clothing, education, and health care.

3.      Everyone has the right to earn their livelihood by contributing their gift to the whole. The spiritual and economic flourishing of any society is based on the true contributions of each individual being welcomed, rewarded and integrated into the whole.

4.      Those with greater gifts need to dedicate themselves to helping others develop their talents and gifts. The encouragement and support for developing the unique contributions of each individual is a central purpose of a spiritual economy.

5.      The health and well-being of the entire system is essential to the health and well-being of each individual. The individual and the whole are linked in a interdependent relationship of reciprocal mutuality. The whole provides a place in the web of living relationships that supports the well-being of the individual, and an individual's contribution enhances the whole.

6.      All systems will self-correct if the underlying Life is free to circulate and reorganize itself. Rigid systems blocking circulation for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many cannot be sustained. Once blockages are removed, life will self organize into new, more open and free-flowing systems, providing full circulation to all parts of the whole.

7.      Goods and services imbued with spiritual intent and quality will be in greater demand in a spiritual economy. With an increasing spiritual awakening, the spiritual essence within and around particular goods and services will be perceived and valued.

Print

---

Featured Visionary Leader Saving the U.S. Economy with "Trickle-up" Economics By Rinaldo S. Brutoco

STATUS:  The federal bail out plan (or “rescue plan” as it now is being called) did not solve any underlying fundamental weakness in the economy.  All it did was buy us time, band-aid the bleeding if you will, so that we can rapidly address what is really wrong.  Wrapping new layers of debt at the Federal level as additional leverage on the existing levels of private and public debt will only cause the economy greater permanent damage if we don’t use the time which has been purchased to change the fundamentals which created the meltdown in the first place.

The bad news: The economy as we have known it since World War II is so fundamentally broken that it cannot be fixed by fine tuning it in its present form no matter how much intervention the government engages in.  The good news: Once we develop a dramatically different approach to the economy, what we are calling "trickle- up" economics, we will create a level of wealth in the U.S. (and ultimately abroad) that will be at least 100 times greater than the level of economic wealth created since World War II under the old economic system.

THE FIX: An economic recovery will require the country to recognize that the financial crisis cannot be solved without changing the underlying culture of debt and replacing "trickle-down" economics with "trickle-up" economics." We need, among other things, to immediately fund infrastructure repair projects on a massive ($50-100bn/year) annual basis to create good paying jobs in the respective trades, radically slow down the rate of home foreclosures, freeze the Adjustable Rate Mortgage resets as well as freeze all increases in variable home owner equity lines of credit, and help the average American worker attain affordable comprehensive health care and an affordable college education for their children, as well as a secure retirement through an intact and adequately funded Social Security system.

The following is a punch list of steps necessary for economic recovery.

Read More>>

---

Letters to the Editor...

After reading one of your articles on your website I'm inspired to do my own subtle activism tonight. The City of Boston is holding a community meeting to discuss a proposed BioSafety/BioTerror research lab (depending on which side of the issue one is on).  It's been a divisive issue in this town for some years, with lots of anger and frustration on both sides. I'm going to the meeting where I'll be meditating and praying for the highest outcome.  Thanks so much for the inspiration and all that you do! --Elizabeth Tobin, Boston, MA

I enjoyed your email piece on the spiritual meaning of  President Obama.  I'm also hearing he is being compared to the Eqyptian King Akhenaten and his transformation of Egypt…. Obama will certainly lead us into 2012 and awakening consciousness and Light.  --Suni Nelson, Petaluma, CA

This certainly has been a very inspiring and beautiful article. I would like to put it in our newsletter in Bolivia.  I am sure that we are entering into a new rhythm in the planet, and it will probably influence other countries where there are human rights problems, lack of liberty and so forth.  Obama brings us all hope for better days.  Keep on with your good work! –Nila Tadic de Ossio, Bolivia

I read with great interest your lead article on President-elect Barak Obama and his leadership qualities.  While I share your optimism and delight at the results of the election, and I agree that Barak Obama seems to have all the makings of an inspired visionary leader, I believe it’s a bit too early to assert this as a FACT, rather than a hope or an intuition.  We need to keep in mind that Obama has had a very limited political career to date (three years ago he was still in the Illinois state legislature); 46% of the American public voted for the other guy (and as Obama said in his election night victory speech, “to those who did not vote for me, I know I have yet to earn your trust”); and he has yet to be inaugurated President.  In addition, despite his many talents, Obama is only one man.  We cannot make the mistake of collectively projecting all our hopes and dreams onto the shoulders of this one, albeit very gifted, man.   The American People have done that many times before.  If we are to really bring much-needed change to our country and its policies, it also will take the committed efforts of the new Congress and of us all as citizens to do it.  So let’s not get ahead of ourselves—which is why the last section (“How We Can Help Obama”)--is to my mind the most important part of this article.  That said, I certainly agree that all the early signs are very promising.  President-elect Obama has assembled an outstanding and diverse cabinet of many gifted and talented people.  And his pronouncements about the economic crisis we face have all sounded very measured and thoughtful—indeed, presidential.   Let’s all hold him in the Light, in our meditations and prayers in the coming days leading up to the inauguration, and throughout his term as President. --John P. Bellassai, JD, Washington, DC

I have just returned from the US where I felt drawn to be part of the election process and was able to hear Obama speak in person. I felt that there was a vortex of energy like a funnel feeding into his physical presence that was growing by the day and bringing American citizens into it, into an ever sharper focus and into an unprecedented unity - on a spiritual level. I felt that he was drawing the best of America out of a dark cloud into the presence of the light, renewing the innate qualities in the nation. -- Rosita (Robin) Gaston, Findhorn, Scotland

Your newsletter is recommended reading for my current MBA class.  I love the articles!  Thank you! – Cindy Meyer, Waite Park, MN

Thanks for the important article you wrote on Obama.  I am asking an English professor to translate to Portuguese. I intend to include it on our site and perhaps print it. Every day we have news and articles about Obama in major newspapers of São Paulo and Rio but nothing about the spiritual dimensions. --Tânia Araújo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

I clicked on the link to your article from a blog post in the 'Huffington Post' and believe you articulated beautifully the forces I believe are at work with the outcome of this recent election.  The day I cast my vote for Barack Obama felt like a day of vast importance to the history of this country, and when I walked out of that booth, I felt better than I ever had about one solitary vote.  I felt the earth shake and my heart leap.  I felt like I played one small part in shaping destiny…He has begun to build his cabinet the way he's run his campaign -- with painstaking detail and with a lot of inclusion.  The news media has harped on the concept of a 'team of rivals' ..(but) people are stunned that this is happening, especially -- especially Democrats.  Sometimes I wonder if any of them heard a thing he said in the campaign.  He was talking about the excessive partisanship going on in Congress and in the public.  I mean, he's doing exactly what he said he would do -- and the carpers are going after him like ravenous wolves. --D.A. Arthur

I appreciated your article having been supporting Obama for quite awhile and, of course voting for him. However, I must say that I have been dismayed by the choices he's making around the people to fill out his administrative team. It sure looks like the same people who got us into wars, support torture, secret flights and wire tapping, and the same folks who led the country into it's economic woes in the first place…I'm open to the possibility that all of these people that he is surrounding himself with have been "touched" by the increasing Light on the planet and have therefore had significant changes of heart, but if I am honest with myself I must admit that I am not THAT optimistic. You are much closer to the political scene than I am here in Kauai so I'm hoping that your perspective, as expressed in your message today, will prevail.  Right now it feels like a key point of your writing was that we can support Obama' inititiatives "when they are moving in the right direction".  --Michael Shooltz, Hawaii

I have read your stuff for years. This is the all time peak experience of your wisdom--incredible multi-dimensional distillation of Obama and YOU!  I loved it. So clear and consciousness expanding. And all true! I actually "see" his Soul as a massive Archangel, and the night of his acceptance speech I "saw" a band of Angels trailing behind him in his aura. That night, I knew to my bones Light was prevailing on Earth once again.  What a relief. So much work to be done though.  I have sent it out far and wide. --Carista Luminaire, CA

I thank you for the beautiful paper on Obama, I found it very helpful for a deeper connection with what is happening in the US and in the world. --Marina Bernardi, Citta de la Pieve, Italy

When a name is spoken with reverence and love it imbues the bearer  of the name with these vibrations.  There is much significance in  the name of Barack Obama… As his name is spoken  the vibrations of peace and oneness, honor and integrity merges  with minds and hearts and a cosmic union is created….But the air  has grown sweet through the symbol of peace and unity, that which  he has brought through the blossoming of hope.  This display of strength of character, strengthens all who look upon him and hear  his name. For hope has emerged from  hopelessness and love has transcended fear.  The loving works and  preparations of those of you who have sustained a great light  through such trials and tribulations have birthed this new day…  It is not over, there is much more to be done.  But the fruits of your labor now manifest before you. For the intention of a people have brought forward this light and this light has now manifested in the hope of a nation.  --Gail Swanson, Englewood, FL 

Your splendid article on the Spiritual Dimension of Obama's Leadership and it was just the reflection and synthesis from a spiritual perspective that I have been longing to hear. Thank you! Are we not all experiencing rejoicing, tempered by the practical necessity of continuing support, continuing prayerful awareness and vigilence?  What a time!  Halleluia!  --Molly Scott, MA

Thanks for a superb article. We will immediately translate it into Danish.  --Søren Hauge, Aarhus, Denmark

You are doing great work in the world and I commend you.  Just wanted you to know that I sent your article out to my extended list--and an Arkansas friend with a huge listserv of over 3000 just sent it on, too.  I am sure others on my list who have extensive lists will be passing it on.  Thus the excitement and importance of the internet! -- Jan Coleman, San Rafael, CA

Thank you for this moving essay.  I had a lump in my throat for much of it. --Eve Bachrach, Washington, D.C.

I run an online spiritual magazine from Hong Kong and would like to have your permission to reprint your piece on Barak Obama in it. I love the depth and tone of what you wrote about and I hope it would give others a chance to reflect deeper on evolutionary patterns that  govern our lives. --Peter Lloyd, Hong Kong

MISSION The Center for Visionary Leadership was founded by Corinne McLaughlin and Gordon Davidson in 1996 as a non-denominational educational center to help people develop the inner, spiritual resources to be effective leaders and respond creatively to change. Our purpose is to develop and support values-based visionary leadership in all fields of human endeavor, especially business and politics. We offer educational programs on spiritual development and social change, and a free regular electronic newsletter with articles, spiritual practices, and featured visionary leaders. Our approach is based on the Ageless Wisdom, the golden thread that connects the deeper, inner teachings of the world's spiritual traditions. We are non-partisan, transcending old categories of left and right and creating a new, practical synthesis. MORE INFO DONATE TO CVL --a tax-exempt non-profit  We appreciate your support of this e-newsletter.