Month: December 2004

Hi Michael
It was really touching to receive that note from you. Karma theory I was taught since childhood is as simple as you reap as you sow. But you may not know your fruits right away. Maybe you goofed with the sowing now but you’ll know the results later. What we see now could be the results from this birth or even earlier births. The time frame is what is not known to us. Yet as Lord Krishna tells us about "Karma Phala Tyaga" meaning give up or sacrifice (tyaga) the fruits (phala) of your action (karma). Let not the fruit of the action be your motivation nor the unattachment to the fruit be the cause of inaction!
And all the events in our life do have their own time cycle, don’t they? We have our people predicting cycles of stocks; cant we take stock of our own lives?
It is really quite simple….but if most of the men did realize it, we wouldn’t be having all the unpleasant actions….war, terrorist attacks…..
What you have been seeing Michael is what each one of us do see in our lives sometime or the other. Years ago, when I lost my parents one after the other, the situation was somewhat like this. My father passed away, 2 weeks later my mother (who was on a pacemaker) was hospitalized. My brother had an attack of typhoid, his wife was unwell too. My two year old daughter was unwell and was suspected of having pneumonia. I had to leave her with my husband and parents-in-law while I attended to my mother. There was one particular instant when I wanted to talk to someone; I could not reach my husband (no mobile phones then) and finally found a pathologist friend. My mother passed away later and things have taken course and I have steadied myself. But the point is, while having bouts of bad karma, somewhere you do see light…keep that flame alive.

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Sounds like you have been through the mill lately, Radha. My hat’s off to you.

And indeed, Lord Khrishna’s words about not being attached to the fruit of action are one of my favorite in the Bhagavad Gita (and of all time). The entire meaning of those words to me speaks of Presence – being where you’re at now, doing what you have to do, and getting the most out of it all.

"Intention" is a wonderful word that puts it all into perspective for me – we indeed should have an "Intention" for the direction we want things to take, then just do what we have to do, and readjust our compasses later.

Here now, but forever Onward!

Hi Michael: As I had said previously, when bad things happen there is always a reason. The only thing is, that at the time we are going through so much pain/anxiety/frustration/anger or whatever, we can not always think positively. Later on, when things fall into place, we can see why. Had everything worked out as planned for you, you would surely have had great results, but look at what happened! Yes, it was a lot for you to go through, but WOW, what a reward – and I am sure that you have learned many lessons, are thankful for many things and have grown because of your trials. The realization of these gifts of growth and knowledge will carry you through for many years to come (I hope) until the next challenge presents itself. I know that for me, this is how it works. I must admit, though, I sometimes also ask, "Did my learning process have to be quite this challenging!!". Nothing is ever wasted if we learn from it and turn it into something good and positive. I enjoyed reading all the responses and my heart went out to many of the brave souls that wrote in. I send blessings to all of you and to you, Michael and hope that this upcoming festive season will be special for all. Love and Peace, Ilona

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Agreed, Ilona.  If everything always went the way we’d expect, and we had all the answers, perhaps we’d find ourselves in heaven rather than on earth.

But then heaven might be pretty boring, wouldn’t it?

Bad Karma…or just part of Living?? Everyone is subject to "nasty stuff" in one form or another….I really believe as I have been learning that how we percieve it ot think about it has a great impact on how we feel about those challenges we face….I’ve had my share and somehow I still manage to put a smile on my face and believe that it won’t always be like this…I’ve had good years and bad years….I could use a break….but each of these challenges has made me a stronger person….and more compassionate which is very important in this world…now more than ever…love each day and love yourself and others, even those that you want to scream at when they rub you the wrong way…because no one is perfect and we are all trying to figure this thing out called life!

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Indeed, Paula, we are all "trying to figure this thing out called life!" Quite a mystery, isn’t it?

One of the wisest things I ever heard said was to just learn to appreciate the questions without struggling to find all the answers.

Afterall, isn’t it the slight tension of being on the cusp of knowing . . . yet not quite knowing . . . that which makes life so exciting, mysterious and wonderful?

Bring on the mysteries!

read your newsletter and am posting rather than emailing per your request. good or bad karma? in terms of karma, you and your parents ‘owed’ a karmic debt to your sister and a similar debt was owed to your father. how you responded, from your heart, was up to you. i did read your book, so I know how you responded. you have created positive karma for yourself with your response and efforts to bring something positive to people. if life, the universe…god?…continues to give us a chance to repay a karmic debt, is it a bad thing? seems to be a matter of perspective whether something is good or bad, of course. nothing new there. many things can be explained in terms of other areas of knowledge, if done properly. for example, astrology…i’m not an astrologer by the way, universal energies can affect non-animate processes such as machines..technology..business processes in a person’s particular chart. so it’s entirely possible that your business problems and delays, things that went ‘seemingly’ wrong, were things affected by where your particular energy existed this past year. it’s nothing good or bad, but the most important thing is whether you responded in a positive or negative manner.

____________________

MN:

Thanks for the kind and uplifting words, Ken. Indeed, I find that it’s the people who have been through a lot who have the most depth and meaning in their life. Often those who have led a relatively easy life are struggling with the question "What’s it all about?"

To discover all the Gifts and Wealth and Beauty of life by transforming our greatest challenges is the entire foundation of becoming . . . a Wealthy Soul.

Having read your interesting newsletter (and awaiting the books I

ordered), I am compelled to ask if you operate out of a big glass

cathedral like my friend in California……Proverb 17:22

____________________

Michael Norwood:

To quote the Dalai Lama, "My religion is simple. My religion is kindness."

And I try my best to make my life my Cathedral.

God bless.

In my youth, I would have thought being confined to a wheelchair for 14 years was as bad as I could imagine.  Last Feb when I put my back out and dealt with constant pain for months on end, I realized that the previous 13 years had been fairly comfortable, compared to where I now was.  But, and I’ve heard similar stories from others, the pain led me to finally surrender and give up trying to be in control of my life, instead now I follow the Creator’s lead, which really takes all the worries out of life.  I have come to love my wierd life.  Friends have lamented,"Why you?"  I say, "I’m in The University of Life and I’m going for a PHD this time around", doing all the stuff that is hardest for me.  If it’s bad karma I’m dealing with, I know it’s going to be a lot better karma ahead!
Connie

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Beautiful, Connie, just beautiful. Some thing’s have to be conquered, and other thing’s have to be surrendered.

And knowing the difference (and "living" the difference) is what makes the greatest Wealthy Souls.

Kindly take your much deserved place at the front of the line.

When I think I can, I can.  When I think I can’t, I can’t.  It can be as simple as that.  For instance, If I doubt I can be successful at achieving a goal, chances are I won’t.  I have to believe with all my might that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Sometimes, it can be fear of success or fear of failure.  Or both,  In any event, thinking right thoughts produces right actions.  Thinking bad thoughts, produces bad actions.  What I have to do is constantly be aware of what I am doing so that I am not hurting anyone or causing any problems.  I am here to help people, and to make this world a better place.  Wouldn’t you agree?

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Sounds like a Wealthy Soul life to me, Diane!

Just remember, if we allow ourselves to be pulled in too many directions, there may be nothing left for ourselves. Our first duty is always toward our own balance – and onward from there!

Wonderful responses. Couldn’t help but laugh.  No…not bad Karma just as there are no "bad" children…just naughty children or good children with bad behavior. 

However, there is some substance to "bad moon rising" which would dispel ANY Lunar calandar, eh?

Blessings,
Kate

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Good point, Kate. There are periods when the "bad moon rising" happens more than "once in a blue moon."

I thank God for those "Harvest Moons"!

After reading all the comments on Karma – good or bad it all boils down to one thing, "We are all exactly where we are supposed to be at this given point in time".  The only thing that is certain in life is "change", and just when you get used to that change (or become complacent) you get more change.
The universe has a way to keep us on our toe’s.  Love for one another is the driving force, if we as humans forget to love unconditionally.  This is the nature of some of us, to get wraped up in ourselves. The universe has a way to bring us to our knees, some people learn to be grateful, other’s never do.  Life is a mystery, if we knew the end of our story, would we read the book? I think not.  In our society of instant gratification we often want the end of the story before we have had a chance to learn and grow (which is the story). What would we have learned then? Not very much, I think.   Our great learning experiences are often associated with pain and hurt, that is unfortunate but, most do not learn from the "good times" it takes a force knocking us to our knees to make some pay attention.  A lot of things that are necessary "life" things, such as death are
often misunderstood as a bad thing or bad karma, hey! it will happen to us all, no matter what good or bad we have been delt.
We need to "get over it". So we can get on with the gratutide of being able to have a life such as ours here in a free country.
So many are not so blessed.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, minds like yours are special Michael,  as you have the ability to make other people   "think" which is at a premium now days.
Leo

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Thanks for the kind words, Leo.

Love your line, "if we knew the end of our story, would we read the book?"

Same goes sometimes for writing a book . . . !

It seems that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong beginning the first of December.
While I could get depressed, I decided that it is just spirit cleaning up the old trash to make room for some wonderful new stuff.
Some of that new stuff is that both my daughter and my son are expecting in the coming year.
Yahoo!!!!!

____________________

MN:

I admire your PMA (Positive Mental Attitude), Terri. What I personally find works the best for me when things don’t work out right is another form of PMA – Positive Meaningful ACTION.

Positive Mental Attitude is a difficult thing to maintain without Positive Meaningful Action. I personally will bet on the success of someone who is grumpy but who takes on Positive Meaningful Action over someone who just has a Positive Mental Attitude and is just hoping for the best.

Let your Positive Meaningful Action create your Positive Mental Attitude, and see how much easier it will be to keep a Positive Mental Attitude over the long haul!

(Blessings on the birth of your grandchild, which makes us forget almost all of our challenges!!!)