“Hope Springs Eternal…”

glowing fountain

Here are the first ten links I found [9:22 pm edt, 2Aug08] using the word “hope” in Google’s News Search:

HOPE FOR A CURE
Leading article: Enjoy the Olympics, and hope
Vice-president hope fades for Hillary Clinton
One Million Homes Lost and Counting: How to End the Foreclosure …
Pat Nevin: Hope is in the air before the pressure really kicks in …
Jobless Rate Hits a High, Dims Hope For Recovery
New Hope For Answers In Anthrax Case
Petition offers hope for schools
Zimbabwe has to figure out its future – the West can only hope it …
McCain tells Urban League that Obama talks about hope, but isn’t …

All of them are about very Earthly hopes.

I don’t expect today’s news to carry items about Spiritual Hopes (unless they’re buried under all the hopes of our materialistic cultures).

I’m now a Baha’i but was raised a Christian (I honor all Faiths…) and in their scripture is this Hope: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

This, to me, says that heavenly things should happen here; that, on planet earth, our wills should be directed by spiritual concerns.

By the way, to those who cringe at their will being oriented toward spirituality because it sounds like their earthly life is unimportant and their dearly loved material relationships should stop [like I used to think], my experience says:

Material concerns will never satisfy or bring profit if they have no spiritual core. Spirit drives the body, gives sight, allows dreams to soar…

I decided to include a poem from Poet Seers—Poem of The Day. For those disinclined to read poetry, please try this one. I’ve found that most good poetry needs more than one reading to have its full flavor develop; like a relationship . . .

The Instinct of Hope

Is there another world for this frail dust
To warm with life and be itself again?
Something about me daily speaks there must,
And why should instinct nourish hopes in vain?
‘Tis nature’s prophesy that such will be,
And everything seems struggling to explain
The close sealed volume of its mystery.
Time wandering onward keeps its usual pace
As seeming anxious of eternity,
To meet that calm and find a resting place.
E’en the small violet feels a future power
And waits each year renewing blooms to bring,
And surely man is no inferior flower
To die unworthy of a second spring?

John Clare

One final spiritual quote:

“My hope is that through the zeal and ardour of the pure of heart, the darkness of hatred and difference will be entirely abolished, and the light of love and unity shall shine; this world shall become a new world; things material shall become the mirror of the divine; human hearts shall meet and embrace each other; the whole world become as a man’s native country and the different races be counted as one race.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in London, p. 38

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Interview with Liara Covert

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“Thank thou God for that thou hast had such a revelation in the world of dreams.”
Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v2, p. 244

Liara, would you tell us about the images on your blog—the woman at the table and the fish?

The painting is an oil on canvas called “The Sorceress” (1911) by John William Waterhouse.  Upon closer look, it juxtaposes diverse symbols, including a jaguar, leopard, elixirs, books, floating spirits in a hazy setting framed with arches. In my own way, I relate to each symbol.  I’m a jaguar woman, leopard woman, alternative chemist, and spiritual counsellor of sorts who values the mysteries of human existence and beyond.

Fish remind human beings that deeper insights are always available through exploring the unconscious mind.  Each person has inner power to bring profound ideas to the surface.  As a dream analyst, I encourage clients to explore their true selves which includes uncovering thoughts, beliefs, feelings and behaviors and why they have become part of their identity.

Your blog, Dream Builders, shows a very wide range of topics. Would you comment on the top three by count of posts—Success Principles, Self Improvement, and Consciousness? Tell us why you write about them and what you hope to impart to your readers.

Each human being has his or her own ideas about success.  As each person has constant opportunities to learn, views of success may change or limit self-growth.  Many people don’t recognize the origin of their beliefs or source of external influence.   I invite readers to raise their own consciousness about how and why they judge, create values, and perpetuate patterns that may not serve them. I encourage people to step back and be more open to thinking and perceiving differently.

What  they used to think may lose importance.   Its part of the process of getting-to-know oneself.

Through a process of raising self-awareness, I have come to discern versions of success and self-improvement are measurable, while others are also immeasurable.  I detach from comparison and judgment to evolve into the roles of an observer.

Your first two categories, Astral Dreaming and Business Strategies, are, to most folk, worlds apart. Would you comment on this?

Everything is connected, although links may not seem obvious. Writing itself is a tool in the process of self-discovery.  Since the birth of this blog, I’ve progressively eliminated articles and topics which no longer serve my purpose.  I will continue to do this based on what makes sense and what doesn’t.  I’ve learned certain perceptions must be dissolved in order to awaken the power that lies dormant inside your being.  You know what I mean inside yourself, when a thing just feels right.

Your blog’s structure (like your writing) veers from the road of conformity. You have categories displayed, but not the usual lead article. Tell us why you decided on this format.

Inner guidance orients my action.  I don’t think of my choices as “conforming” or “not conforming” but rather, as intuitive choices.  I don’t model myself or my blog on other people, but I’m inspired by traits I discern in the energy of others.  One need not always know, explain or understand why one acts.  I sense what I do and have done is worthwhile for what it is, period. To offer lessons learned is a resource that enables people to move ahead ‘their way’ in their own sense of time.  Positive feelings grow inside me and my reader audience grows as I take initiatives to get closer to my chosen destiny.

Please relate a bit about your education [which is also elaborated on her site]:

As ‘a woman of the world,’ I have come to value unconventional training because in my view, traditional education alone doesn’t prepare students for the truth of reality. To ‘learn on your feet’ means to adjust and adapt without a map or a rulebook. It means learning the value of listening to your instincts and developing resourcefulness. I have learned more about myself and human nature from real-life conditions than I ever did in a class.  Even dramatisations don’t equate to issues of survival.

Would you elucidate this statement from your blog?
“Her  perspectives have been enriched and expanded by her experiences in more than 55 countries.”

I have studied, worked and/ or travelled though parts of more than 60 countries. You might say I have actively sought ways to develop myself while I also assisted or interviewed people for research purposes.  Travel has enabled me to explore foreign languages and cultures, to challenge myself and come to expect the unexpected.  Astral dreaming and other experiences stretch or expand my sense of time and space.  Experience continues to teach me there is far more to life than I ever imagined.

Thank you, Liara !

~~~~~~~~~

While preparing for this post, our email included me asking Liara if the lead quote was suitable.

She didn’t just say yes:

“Thank thou God for that thou hast had such a revelation in the world of dreams.”
Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu’l-Baha v2, p. 244

Liara’s Interpretation

Human beings have infinite opportunities to trigger their own revelations in the world of dreams. Some people believe they dream throughout life and look forward to awakening when death comes to the physical body. Other people explore different notions of dreams, from those they consider conscious and unconscious goals, to nighttime reveries, to the magical places they envision with the mind as doorways to infinite dimensions of time and space.

Its up to you to forge your own paths, to rethink sensing and existing.  You define your own dreams.  What you think and believe transform into your life. You get out of it what you’re ready and willing to experience.  You limit yourself or expand your possibilities based on your energy vibration.  The more you explore dreams,  the more you will learn about your authentic self.  As you learn to lift up your thoughts and feelings to higher vibrations, you will discover your inner power extends into physical, mental, spiritual and other planes. Your current observations are conditioned. Dreams permit you to move beyond what you thought you knew.  Dreams enable you to better understand your own mental states and those of other people.  This enables you to shed light on your moods, ego and many areas of your life.

Love & Light,

Liara

Dream Builders