“Choosing to Live In Presence, Revealing Happiness”

Posted on April 8, 2023 by David Durand

Would you choose to live in presence today?

“Being present is a decision we make from moment to moment. Right now, while reading this, stop for just a few seconds and check yourself. Observe yourself as if you are outside your body looking at yourself. See if you look like you are present or not. We all can discern the mental states of others, so just do that for yourself. What do you look like in emotional terms?

If you see yourself as experiencing any emotion or energy that you’d consider negative like “I don’t care” energy, or “That was disappointing” energy, or “He/she shouldn’t have done that!” energy, or “Why is my (body part) giving me trouble?” energy, just sit with it and look at it.  Just allow yourself to be aware of the negative feeling you are feeling.  Presence is the antidote for all negativity, all resistance to what is happening in your life.

Happy Girl -Flker32695125196_9832b75061_c

Presence itself is the ultimate cure for all negative feelings, although there are further gentle methods of coaxing such energies away, including other methods I teach.

But for now, just look at that energy, notice that energy, and you will find that presence with it alone is enough to dislodge at least some of it quickly.  Sit and look at it some more, and more of it will vanish.  In this simplest of approaches I call the “Live In Presence Process™,” you don’t even have to say anything out loud or silently. Given time using this process, it will all disappear into nothingness, just as it came out of nothingness.

Were you always this angry? Were you always this sad? Were you always this apathetic? No. You were not born that way, so it’s simply a temporary state that your own mind decided to latch onto and run over and over again in your consciousness until you decided “I’m angry!” or “I’m sad.” or “I’m disappointed!”

Are you really those emotions, or are you just temporarily feeling a certain way? Hence, the expression, “This too shall pass.” But for “This” to “pass,” you will need to be present with the negative emotion, using the simple process above.

Make the choice to be present in your life and with your life, and decide to be happy. Happiness will chase you down if you do. There is a reason that happiness shows up.

Here’s the secret… Many people write in their dating profiles things like “I’ll love you if you can make me laugh!” Too many people are depending on their happiness from outside themselves and their life. “If you marry me, then I’ll finally be happy!” “If this investment works out, then I’ll finally be happy!” “When my (body part) stops causing me trouble, I’ll finally be happy!”

Having the goal to marry to the right person, having the goal to make a great investment, or having the goal to be healthy again is fine. It’s the feeling that our happiness is conditional on any of those that is off base.

“If, then” statements are conditional. If this, then that. But if NOT this, then I’m not playing, and I’ll be unhappy is what our egos say. But what God or Spirit or the Universe (use whatever term you prefer) wants from us is “unconditional love.”

The good news is that our happiness is within our own control. It comes from the decision to be free of all the negative emotions we have, by being present with them as I showed you earlier.

You will discover, if you strive to love your life unconditionally as it is, that it will then naturally heal itself.

Your natural state is happiness, which is why there is no one in the world, nothing in the world that can MAKE you happy. That would be like me saying “I’m going to MAKE this orange be an orange!” It’s very nature is being an orange, and your very nature is being happy.

Be present with your entire life as you imagine it in the past, present and future, and you will discover that fact – that your natural state is “Being Happy.” We’ve always had the capacity for happiness beneath the emotional mess we dreamed up in our lives.

Be present continually, and if you slip, return to presence, and you’ll find you are, in fact, happy! 😉

P.S I hope that was helpful to you, or reminded you of who you are more fully, and reminded you that happiness is your natural state. If you have any questions, please message me here or give me a call.  Whether you can afford to pay or not, contact me HERE…

(The above is an excerpt from the book I’m writing on my method of revealing happiness in life…)

Would you choose to live in presence today?

 Join us on Facebook: Like “Live In Presence” on Facebook Here and be sure to “follow me” there as well.

Thanks to Leonardo Samrani for photo above…

Copyright © 2023 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Posted in abundance, full realization, Happiness, Health, I am, presence, Unconditional love | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

If You Are Infected with the Virus That Causes COVID-19, How Do You Deal with Your Fears?

Posted on May 25, 2020 by David Durand

Would you choose to live in presence today?

What if the risk of death is supposedly higher for you for some reason? Maybe you have diabetes or some other compromised state of immunity. Should you then, if infected, give in to the fear of death? No! But let’s look at it from the point of view of a a man who had good reason to fear dying. He was in a Nazi camp during WWII.

What does a concentration camp victim and author have to tell us about facing off fear in the time of COVID-19’s visit to our planet?   The picture below is of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, where many faced a threat to their lives, including Viktor Frankl.  Many died, and only some lived, so it was a much greater threat to life than COVID-19 is to most.

Auschwitz-Concentration Camp (photo by Peter Olthof)

Viktor Frankl wrote in “Man’s Search for Meaning”… “We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation, when facing a fate that cannot be changed.

For what then matters is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.

When we are no longer able to change a situation… we are challenged to change ourselves.”  (Ref. the book)

Many who end up with COVID-19 may be gripped by fear, particularly given all they have heard on the news, all of the horror stories.

But even those with shortness of breath while infected with COVID-19 can use what is happening to raise their consciousness rather than give in to the negativity and die.

The ultimate truth is: “I am.”  The sense of “I exist,” will never leave you.

Your body may or may not fall from COVID-19 (nearly everyone survives statistically despite the difficult period of illness some experience), but YOU cannot die.  Your body can die, true, but you cannot die.

You are not the body that your consciousness runs around a small portion of the planet. You HAVE a body you are running around a small portion of the planet!  Know that and be free of the fear of death…

Once you know that truth, the fear will leave you, and you’re ability to survive will vastly improve.  The WILL TO LIVE is one of the most powerful healing states of consciousness you can tap into.  We’ve all seen it with the passing of family members after they have felt “their life was complete.”

I challenged my mother to stay alive through Christmas of 2018 if she wanted to, because she dropped her oxygen level to the low 80’s (much too low) a few weeks before Christmas as we were leaving a local theater.  But she had to make the decision to stay herself in order to do so.

I asked her if she wanted to live through Christmas at least.  She said she’d stay through Christmas and then decide when she was ready to go.  (To be clear, I am not talking about assisted suicide.  She knew that when she was ready, she would pass.)

Her body started dying quickly the morning after the rest of her grandchildren showed up for our Christmas get-together on Dec. 26th and she passed in early January.  Coincidence?  No.  That was her plan, though some would say “It was God’s plan.”  That’s fine.  If you are one with God, what’s the difference between your plan and God’s?  😉  Nevertheless, she still had to “ask to receive.”

If humans can decide when they die, don’t you think they can decide to when to live?

My advice to those who those with COVID-19 is to…

  1. Know the truth of who you really are. You are NOT the body. You are that which is running a body around. Once you know that deeply, you will free yourself from all fear, in the sense that it will never stick to you again.  You can feel fear as a warning and spontaneously allow the fear to leave you.  Fearing death is holding it in mind.  YOU cannot be extinguished no matter what happens to your body.  Once you realize this, you can relax into your life and live it fully…
  2. Decide you will live by exerting your WILL TO LIVE.
  3. Take the actions needed to live that flow from steps 1 and 2.  You may need to take several actions or none at all. Just be open to what is needed…

P.S. If you or a loved one needs a bit more of a nudge back toward health and life, please contact me.  By the way, I am providing free assistance to as many as I can of those who cannot afford it during the COVID-19 health challenge… Whether you can afford to pay or not, contact me HERE…

Would you choose to live in presence today?

 Join us on Facebook: Like “Live In Presence” on Facebook Here

Thanks to Peter Olthof for the photo above…

Copyright © 2020 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Posted in full realization, Healing, Health, I am, presence | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are You Having a Happy New Year in Each Moment? How to Decide to Be Unconditionally Happy…

Posted on January 2, 2017 by David Durand

Would you choose to live in presence today?

If you are happy in each moment, it is the result of the decisions you are making, either consciously or subconsciously, to be happy. Our exact circumstances are clearly not always our direct and immediate choice, but they tend, generally, to fully reflect our consciousness. The human mind, as an extension of God’s infinite power, creates our world and many details of the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

Big Smile

Unconditional Happiness in Action

Is there blame or shame for our circumstances?  We may feel those emotions for sure, but it surely does not help.  It is a manifestation of what I call “the ego going in the back door” to undermine or test our presence. Decide not to cooperate with the ego in delivering the emotional beatings known as blame and shame.

If we focus on our current circumstances, then we’ll say “I don’t have enough” or “I am sick” or “I am disliked.”

Start where you are. If “I am sick” is your mantra, you will perpetuate sickness. This does not mean one should ignore a big health issue in one’s body and chant health mantras blindly, but if you change your thinking and your words, you are declaring your freedom from its impact on your happiness.

True spiritual freedom comes from declaring the unconditional nature of our happiness and our commitment to being our Beingness, being One with God’s presence DESPITE our circumstances.  That is done through the process I call “transcendence” in conjunction with the process of meditation (and prayer if you choose).

If you like, you can focus entirely on transcendence and that will very likely lead you to meditation and also to prayer at some point.  Start where you like.  There are other paths, but the one that involves BOTH transcendence and meditation is one of the simplest and fastest ones.  Prayer starts out as “talking to God” and becomes “talking with God” when we are further along on our path.

I consider prayer part of the transcendence process earlier on and part of simply Being later on.  I still believe we should consider prayer as a “third process” that will lead to realization no matter how you decide to pray.  Prayer before doing transcendence and meditation will not be as powerful as prayer after those two are done.  If you pray your way into silence, pray again AFTER you have entered silence.

The Practice is then:

  1. Prayer (bringing desires and fears to the surface)
  2. Transcendence
  3. Meditation
  4. Prayer following silence (asking in faith)

Let’s get back to how we get past all the inevitable “bumps” or “tests.”  The tests that come in for us are accompanied by a question, which is “Will you remain in the presence of God despite what is happening?”  Will you?

God’s Presence is a given, but our connection to it is our choice, when we are conscious.  That is what constitutes our free will.

Happiness is a commitment that I recommend that you keep in EACH MOMENT of the New Year.  That is the only way to sustain it.  Saying it once is not enough.  It takes practice and dedication to presence to be happy on a continual basis.  That is the only way we can live in true freedom, the freedom to be what we are.

Decide you will be happy no matter what.  That does NOT mean being stupid and ignoring your circumstances, but rather, it means accepting them and moving on and up from them to a higher consciousness that won’t be bothered the next time.

If you are tired of feeling pushed and pulled by the world, your finances, people, or your state of health, call me at 424-234-6401 soon and I’d be happy to discuss your spiritual path with you and whether what I offer would be a good fit.  The call is free. You can reach me from 10 am- 6 pm ET.  If you don’t hear from me within one day, email me here: EMAIL

Presence requires tools designed to lead us to “unconditional happiness” as I call it.  Without the proper tools, the job is much harder and slower.

Make the decision to be happy in each moment of a Happy New Year, one in which you decide to be happy, and most importantly, unconditionally happy.

My personal commitment is to help you achieve that starting now…

Would you choose to live in presence today?

Join us on Facebook: Like “Live In Presence” on Facebook Here

Thanks to Mike Carter for the picture of the “A dotty smile.”

Copyright © 2017 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Posted in Family, forgiveness, full realization, presence, relationships, Unconditional love | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Thanksgiving Dinner is a Test of Our Ability to Maintain Presence: A Thanksgiving Survival Guide!

Posted on November 25, 2015 by David Durand

Would you choose to live in presence today?

Congratulations!  You are about to receive a great gift, a virtual initiation into higher consciousness!  You are about to have Thanksgiving Dinner! (Please save this and apply it to Christmas, New Years Eve, dot dot dot…; if you are outside the U.S. of course, apply this accordingly!)  That means you will have to mix with some people you don’t particularly like or even possibly respect at a human level.  But we are asked by God to go a bit higher than our superficial responses.  We are asked to raise our consciousness to the point of seeing the Christ (Highest) Consciousness in every being, even our closest relatives, despite all outward appearances!

Now the people depicted here at this Thanksgiving dinner seem very friendly, but some of our individual conversations this Thanksgiving may fall short of our expectations.

Thanksgiving Dinner: A Chance to Raise Our Consciousness

Thanksgiving Dinner: A Chance to Raise Our Consciousness

“But David, they are so annoying!”  That may be, but if we resign ourselves to the higher understanding that everything “out there” in our world is there for the purposes of either A) Raising our consciousness to the place of unconditional love or B) Being enjoyed, then we can realign our intentions for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Realize also that they as usual “Know not what they do!” in saying the dumb things they say.  Most of the crazy hurtful things that are said by human beings in any situation are coming from mental programs derived from their upbringing (brainwashing by their parents), or from their own unfortunate experiences that they then carry into the present moment.  They are defending themselves from past hurts by being on the offense with YOU, the unsuspecting bystander.  It’s a test of our consciousness.

Resolve this, if you are game:

I will see the Christ Consciousness in each person at Thanksgiving dinner despite any apparent limitations I may perceive at the human level.  I realize that they may not “know what they do.”

I will forgive each person at Thanksgiving Dinner their entire past and speak with each person from a renewed point of view – the view from my own center, my own Christ Consciousness.

I will speak only loving things to all those in attendance.  The expression is “fake it until you make it,” if that is the best you can do.  By holding our tongue even when irritated to the point of exploding at our dear relative, we will raise our own consciousness.  If you truly need to speak truth to them in response to a callous remark, let it come from a loving place.  Get a bit quiet inside first, and then speak.

There is a choice.  Will you let THEM win by dragging you DOWN into lower consciousness or will you just say something like, “I don’t agree with your point of view, but let’s leave it there?”  Then walk away for a bit.  They don’t have to be your conversation partner for the entire event, just so you can test yourself more!  Being respectful and seeing the Christ Consciousness in everyone at our Thanksgiving dinner is all we are called to do.  From our center, we will say more or less according to our intuitive guidance.

If you “get into it” with the less than fully pleasant relative of yours, you are falling for the trap set for you to help you raise your consciousness – if you side step that trap.  I’ve shared this before, but it’s worth repeating here.

Ask yourself “UP or DOWN?”  Up means you allow them to be who they are despite what they say or do (within limits of course), and you decide to stay “high in consciousness.”  DOWN means you play THEIR game and let them win in fact, because most irritating souls love it when you engage with them.  The lack of a fight is very disarming to them.  Try it.  Do the actual experiment and see which route requires more energy: 1. The fight OR 2. The decision to love their Christ Consciousness despite their obviously unkind outward speech or behavior.

The “out” you have is that there is never a time where you need to stay in a situation where you are being abused at a level that is unacceptable to you.  Try to raise that threshold a bit if you can, but love does not mean being run over by people without boundaries of any kind.  Set verbal boundaries if needed, but initially you may want to try the internal approach mentioned above.  Leaving the event is of course a defensible option, but do it with love in your heart as best you can manage that.  

For most of us, the challenges at these dinners are much more subtle.  Practice loving those attending the event from the inside out and see how that feels compared to the long and loud debates you may have experienced during prior Thanksgivings!

Expect the very best from ALL of those at the event!  Setting that strong intention will tend to bring the best out of everyone.  Knowing how you intend to behave IF a response is required is what we’ve discussed.  Go in ALLOWING that everything will go well.

May you also enjoy the meal in gratitude for the loving hands who prepared it, derived from the loving source of all things, including sustenance, abundance, loving relationships, and health.

Finally, the road to higher consciousness is greatly helped by having a mentor.  If you’ve never spoken to me before, please pick up the phone and call me at the number posted on my home page.  We will speak about the best path for your work toward higher consciousness. Simply click: HERE

Would you choose to live in presence today?

Join us on Facebook: Like “Live In Presence” on Facebook Here

Thanks for the picture of Thanksgiving Dinner go to CarlosLG2007

Copyright © 2015 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Posted in Family, forgiveness, full realization, presence, relationships, Unconditional love | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“What Am I?” and “What Is God?” Answer the First Question and You’ll Answer the Second.

Posted on February 15, 2015 by David Durand
Ramana Maharshi by CarlosG2007

Ramana Marharshi instructed us to ask the question:
“Who Am I?”

Would you choose to live in presence today?

“What Am I?” and “What is God?” are related questions.  The Indian sage, Ramana Maharshi, pictured above, instructed us to ask the question “Who am I?”  I prefer to ask “What Am I?” because it is less personal.  The mind likes to stay wrapped up in the personal, so asking “What Am I?” takes us into the quiet much more quickly in my direct experience.

God is just a word that points.  It is the direct experience of God as in the direct tasting of a peach that allows us to know God and to know what we are.

If you want to “know God,” do this exercise with a partner.

1. Ask your partner “What are you?”
2. Allow the other person to answer.  They may say things like their name, what they do, that they are spirit, etc.  It does not matter.  Keep going.
3. Ask “If you are not limited to being that, what are you?”
4. Allow the other person to answer
5. Repeat step 3 by asking “And if you are not limited to being that, what are you?”
6. If the person fails to go wordlessly quiet, after about 8-12 word descriptions of what they are, ask them this: “If you are more than words, what are you?”  Repeat this question if the words continue.
7. Keep asking question 3, even after they have gone silent. Slowly and quietly. It deepens the experience of what we are.

You will be astounded how quiet and transcendent your mind becomes if you do this sincerely.  You will have the direct experience of what you are in the quiet.  If your mind never quiets, it’s OK.  Keep asking, whenever you have some time to sit quietly, “What am I?”  Eventually the direct experience of what you are will come to you.

If you’d like to share, please report your experience with this on Facebook using the link below.  ; )

Would you choose to live in presence today?

Join us on Facebook: Like “Live In Presence” on Facebook Here

The picture of Ramana Maharshi is from CarlosLG2007

Copyright © 2015 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Posted in I am, presence | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Do You Feel Like You Have Enough Money? The Secret to Receiving All the Money You Were Meant to Have

Posted on May 6, 2014 by David Durand
Got Loaves?

Loaves (and fishes!) are a symbol of abundance and in order to manifest it, we must first connect to God, the Source of everything, including money.

Would you choose to live in presence today?

Having more than enough money without getting stuck at a level that feels like it’s “not enough” requires that we know without a shadow of a doubt, as best we can get there, that “God provides” for all our needs.  If we don’t get this in our “gut,” we will never receive the money we were meant to have.

The catch is this: We cannot receive the amount money we were meant to have, unless we FEEL ABUNDANT.  Feeling abundant means that we know down deep and without question that we are always well provided for.  This must be true, regardless of our current money level.  This core is missed by many who study the workings of the mind and subconscious and the so-called “science of getting rich,” because that is all mind, and we are more than mind.

Before we will receive our greatest good, including all the money we were meant to have, we must know this: “God Provides.”  This is part of what I now call “Christ Consciousness Abundance™.”  Even Jesus, before manifesting the fishes and the loaves, got quiet and communed with God.  THEN he asked and received.  If it was a required step for someone in as high a consciousness as Jesus (and in my opinion, he was in the highest consciousness achievable), connecting to God, the source of all, is also a necessary step for us to achieve abundance regardless of religious background.

This step is the core of the command: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” If you are in communion with God, you know that you are well provided for.  In God communion, your mind is totally aligned with God’s, so his abundance is yours as well.  God’s money is our money.  We are One.  Not aligned with God, then there are “no fish or loaves or money for you” to paraphrase Seinfeld!  Align with God, and fish, loaves and money show up to nourish your life.

Think about it.  It’s why we pray BEFORE we eat, not after.  We give thanks before we are fully sure that the food will actually go down our throats.  Admittedly, it doesn’t take a whole lot of faith to believe that we’ll be eating what is in front of us, but it’s still true that faith is required.  The dog could jump up and run off with our meal our mind may say.  ; )

If we ask for money by visualizing it, or if we ask or pray for things or changes in our conditions before we have either understanding or faith, then all the visualization and prayer in the world won’t work.  This was the assertion of  Charles Fillmore, co-founder of Unity in his book “Prosperity” published shortly after the Great Depression.

Another key step is Transcendence, which prepares us to receive the good including money that is just waiting for us.  It can be used as a tool to reach a point of oneness, understanding and faith.  Transcendence will lead you to the complete knowing of the truth of your Being, knowing who you are, the result of which is knowing that “God provides,” which is the translation of “Jehovah-jireh.”

Whether we like the statement below or not, if we don’t understand it at a deep level, we may never feel satisfied with the abundance and level of money we achieve.  That is why I’m sharing it with you.  We don’t have to be good to create money.  We don’t have to be very conscious at all either, just a little conscious and a little focused in our attention. 

Manifesting money is not the test of presence.  It’s having abundance in a way that supports the greatest good of all without creating negative karma that counts.  Whatever you create, you must be aligned with the greatest good while you create it, otherwise there is negative karma from that creation.  Create wealth while in transcendence (in communion with God), and you’ll create only good karma.

Feel each part of this.  It’s important to do more than just read these sentences.  Connect with them at the feeling level:

Money flows to me from God and is unlimited in amount. In my individual expression, I manifest and use money as God would, as I continually align myself with the greatest good, including my own.

or you may like:

Money is created from God Substance which is unlimited in amount. In my individual expression, I manifest and use money as God would, as I continually align myself with the greatest good, including my own.

You can come up with a very specific money or other abundance goal to add to that, but that is the place where abundance starts in my view.  If we think “WE” are our supply and there is no spiritual support for us, the energy we’ll need to manifest money will be monumental.

And after we’ve asked for “what we want” in our written goals, and after doing the transcendence work I mentioned, we give thanks to God for providing that which we are about to receive.  Just like we do before a meal.  Try doing that as a spiritual practice again if you have not been doing it.  It carries over into your whole life.  Use the words that feel right to you, not the vain repetition that Jesus explicitly warned against.

If you would like me to witness your “claiming” the above as a truth you intend to work with over the next month, send me a message to that effect, and I would be happy to hold sacred space with you as your good unfolds. Send your goal if you like as well through the website:

Click Here if You Wish to be Supported in Your Belief in Your Abundance 

Remember…”where two or more are gathered…” Sharing your intentions is VERY powerful, but share them ONLY with those who are in as high a state of consciousness as you are, or higher, so they can and will support your spiritual growth.

Remember to allow yourself to create money and all other forms of abundance in communion with God.  Doing it on our own is nearly impossible.  The more energy it takes us to create something, the more we’ve been creating in ego rather than in communion with God.  Been there, done that.  No need to repeat it.

With all due respect, it’s not actually “the Law of Attraction.”  It’s the Law of Creation.  God does not attract; God creates.  So do you as an expression of the living God.  Man is a vehicle of God expression.

Create as God would and live an abundant and joyous life.  Complete, continuous, unfailing abundance including money will follow.

Would you choose to live in presence today?

P.S.  If you don’t know how to “be transcendent” and “in communion with God,” I can show you how.  Yes, you can learn how to connect first to God and then to your greatest good and receive all you were ever mean to have.  Unfortunately, many of us grew up with traditional religions that did not teach us how to have a direct, profound and continuing experience of God.  Some were able to, but many never truly and profoundly connected with God in a manner far beyond the intellectual plane.  If you feel that is you, or if you feel you are stuck at a level of money that does not feel comfortable to you, contact me for a private no-cost discussion of your spiritual path and your experience with the laws of creation and abundance using the link above.

Join us on Facebook: Like “Live In Presence” on Facebook Here

P.S. S.  A note on wording… Some like to say “God/Universe,” instead of “God,” and I admit using that term in the past as a means of communication, but I find it limiting at this point. As far as we know, God has created numerous Universes. To think that is not possible would be limited thinking. And “Universe” implies the physical.

If you get hung up on picturing a big guy with a white beard when you use the word “God,” ask yourself what God is and see what answer you get back. Jesus called God “Father,” but he understood that as something way beyond the “Dad” or “Dad with a supercomputer” concepts. “Feel” what God is. Just thinking about God is not likely to help. You can start there, but you will need to experience your communion with God to finish.

God is also more than a simple “Source” of things, as a simple source is mindless and God is not mindless, but rather includes the totality of all Mind, including mine and yours. There are spiritual laws, which are changeless, and to which the source is subject. So there is something beyond the source of all things that is God.

We’ll leave it there for today. ; ) In the meantime, substitute your word for “God” whatever that is, because you know what the word means to you, and even “God/Universe or Source” is fine if it works for you. I am simply sharing my own understanding at this time to encourage your personal understanding of what God is.

Would you choose to live in presence today?

The photo of the loaves is courtesy of the photographer:         Glenn Dettwiler

Tithing As a Practice to Create Wealth (click and scroll down)

Copyright © 2014 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

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“Lead Us Not Into Temptation”: Why am I Being Tempted and How Can I Face It and Win?

Posted on February 7, 2014 by David Durand
We are all being tempted by something. Whether we give in makes the difference.

We are all being tempted by something. Whether we give in makes the difference.

Would you choose to live in presence today?

Another way to say what the sign says is that we all face temptations from small, like addiction to worrying or being angry, to big, like physical addictions, from time to time, which reveal our addictions, meaning what we cannot do without.  What is the definition of temptation?  Temptation is the Universe*  revealing our addictions, small or big, and testing us to see if we’ll go up or down in consciousness as a result of the test.  If we were never tempted, we would not know we were conscious and loving.  Everyone would be an angel and there would be no free will.  In order for free will to exist, there must be a choice to move down in consciousness as well as up.  So the purpose of temptation is to test us to see if we choose to go down or choose to go up when offered that choice in a conscious moment.

Why do I say “in a conscious moment”?  That is because when we are tempted in an unconscious moment, our only response can be in accordance with our mental programming which comes from all our prior experience and from cultural programming.  So if we’re drunk or stoned, we won’t be using our free will much.  We will be as helpless as a robot operating on a previously written program, helpless to say no to temptation.  That is why so many dumb things happen to drunken people.  Happen to see the movie “Hangover”?  Drunken people are not present and are unavailable to make a conscious choice, so they go with their programmed choice.

Let’s look at a common temptation, the sex temptation.  If we are programmed to be promiscuous because “it feels really good,” then we’ll give into the temptation of a one night stand when we’re drunk.  There is no choice there.  We’re still responsible, but we did not choose – our program chose for us.  And afterward it looks like a bad choice when the STD shows up.  I use the example of sex, because sex drive has been recognized by several masters of consciousness as being a problem for most human beings.  Jesus pointed out to the men who wanted to stone a prostitute that they were no less programmed to fall into temptation than she was.  They dropped their rocks.  They knew they had fallen into temptation and were just like her in that way.

So how to you deal with temptation, which is commonly called “resisting temptation”?  I prefer asking, “How do you stop falling into it?”  You stop it at the door, and that means the door of the mind, not the body.  When you have a lustful thought, as both Judeo-Christian and Hindu doctrines teach, you have committed the sin until proven otherwise.  The mind creates exactly what it holds in consciousness.  So Jimmy Carter was right when he told Playboy back in the late 1970’s that he had lusted after his neighbor’s wife and that it was wrong.  It’s a thought of temptation, because he had made a commitment to Rosalynn Carter to be with her alone.  His mind was considering an alternative, which was the temptation to pursue his neighbor’s wife.  So if you consciously continue to hold in mind “what you don’t want,” you have given into temptation, and the actual act of cheating is simply the punctuation mark.  The standard of dealing with temptation at the level of mind rather than just body was a big step up from the initial Old Testament 10 Commandment standard of not committing adultery which is simply committing the act itself.

What is “sin” really? It’s simply separation from God, the All, Source.  And it feels lousy to separate from that.  It happens each time we choose to go down instead of up when facing a temptation.

So we’ll start with the more serious, but sometimes subtle addictions.  What if you have a lustful thought about sex, drugs, or money (or about something less dramatic, as we’ll get to next…be patient. ; ))?  It’s OK.  It’s just a test.  But stay vigilant and present.  It’s the beginning of sin, the seed of sin, but when it becomes the end of the sin, there is absolution.  That is a victory.  The seed of sin dies when a temptation is transcended. 

Many of us have no intense physical addiction.   So what about being tempted to worry when the stock market goes down by 50% as it did recently or just a correction of a few percent as it did last week?  Or being tempted to worry about our kids?  Or to worry that the weather will be bad or that the roads are slick?  Yes, it’s a temptation, because whenever we depart from the feeling that we are connected and One with God/Universe, we have succumbed to the temptation to be the ego instead. 

Use common sense of course with the investing, kids, weather preparations, and driving in a hard rain or snowfall, but certainly don’t be tempted to worry about any of it.  Falling into the temptation of fear never helped anyone.  Being afraid a bit never stopped anyone, but the residual fear is NOT what improves performance.  You’ll only know this if you try the same task without the fear of course.  When we are tempted to fear, that sends a message to God/Universe/Source that we do not trust God/Universe/Source to guide us and provide for us as we are.  Really?  Ask if that is true.

So when you are conscious and are tempted to worry or tempted to be angry, or tempted physically, you have two choices: “Yes” or “No.”  “Yes” we’ll call moving up in consciousness, and “No” we’ll call moving down in consciousness.  So when tempted, remain present and affirm what it is that you actually want in your life.  If you want a spouse who is monogamous, say yes to the thought of a wonderful monogamous relationship with your spouse.  Saying “No” is not as effective as saying yes, because when you negate something, it still sits in your mind, as in “don’t think of an elephant” as the classic example.

When Faced with a Temptation How Do You Overcome It?

The Temptation Transcendence Process™

1. NOTICE you are being tested by temptation.  Remain conscious.  Take a breath for example and deliberately center yourself.
2. DECIDE what you do not want and then decide what good you actually want to manifest in your life (set your intention for good).
3. SAY “YES” to the good you want to manifest.
4. GIVE THANKS that you are back on track and in alignment with God/Universe.

An example using the common sex drive theme that plagues most humans including our Presidents:

1. NOTICE that you had the thought.  “Hmmm, I’m being tempted.” For example, you are in a committed relationship and had a thought of lust when you see an attractive person in public.
2. DECIDE that if you are lustful toward another person and act on it (which you will do eventually if the programming gets stronger and stronger), you will manifest consequences you don’t want in your life.  Decide what you want is a monogamous relationship in which you make love and connect on all levels, not to have sex with strangers.
3. SAY YES: “I say yes to having a wonderful loving relationship with my significant other/spouse.”
4. GIVE THANKS: “Thank you that I am in fidelity in mind once again, in a loving relationship with my significant other/spouse (insert their name).”

Now an example of being “tempted to worry about not having enough for retirement”:

1. NOTICE that you had the thought.  “Hmmm, I notice I’m being tempted to worry about my retirement.”
2. DECIDE that if you continue to worry that it won’t actually help you create more abundance, because the message to God/Universe when you worry is that you don’t trust it as the Source of your good.  Worrying is not “asking,” it’s holding in mind that the abundance is not coming.  When you don’t ask, you don’t receive.  Decide that what you want is to have an abundance both now and in retirement.
3. SAY YES: “I say YES to having an overflowing abundance now and in retirement as I know deeply that I am well taken care of.”
4. GIVE THANKS: “Thank you that I am now receiving this great flow of abundance.”

A shorthand approach when faced with a temptation is to simply ask:
“Yes or no?”  (Yes means I’m choosing good.  No means I’m choosing to go with the temptation.)
“Yes!”

OR alternatively use:

“Up or down?”  (Up meaning choosing to move up in consciousness and down meaning choosing to move down in consciousness.)
“Up!”

Done.  You are not being “led into temptation.”  You are being led to the doorstep of falling into temptation, just as Jesus was tempted when he faced the “Last Temptation.”  You are being tested just as he was tested.  Being tempted is simply being tested, and it’s not a problem; giving into temptation when tested is the problem.  Face it.  Say YES to moving UP in consciousness and you will pass test after test, just as Jesus did.  We are not beyond temptation until we are fully realized, so don’t be shocked that temptations show up to help us raise our consciousness, which is their purpose. “Yes” or “No”?

A final note.  It’s really simple, but as you know, it is not easy.  This will work on many temptations.  If this discriminative process is not enough for you, you are likely more deeply programmed, and I would recommend that you take the opportunity to work with me and learn how to be transcendent and present.  I have helped many people drop major life programs very quickly.  It’s harder to suffer in constant temptation than it is to drop a program.  Freedom is a great thing.  If you would like to speak to me (no charge for us to see if it would be a good fit for you), simply pick 2 times/days that would be good for you and contact me here:

Would you choose to live in presence today?

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The photo above is from: Bixentro

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* FOOTNOTE: Some call the force behind temptation “Satan,” but Satan, if you prefer to call it that, is a God creation that exists for testing purposes as described above, in my opinion.  I’m more interested here in the phenomenon of temptation and how to respond to it on a practical level, so we’ll leave it at that.

Copyright © 2014 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

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“Having a Job” Should be Considered a “Near Death Experience”

Posted on October 11, 2013 by David Durand

Would you choose to live in presence today?

The point being that unless we define what our purpose is in our job or business in terms of our true sacred mission, we just “have a job” or “have a business” with no life in it.  We’re just drawing a check, which is pretty close to being “dead” on the job or in our business.

Dead On the Job

By Defining Your Sacred Missions, You’ll Come Alive!

So how do we move toward being fully alive in a job or in our business?  Define your sacred mission in the job/business.  Whom are you serving, for what reasons are you serving them, and why is that important?  Ultimately anyone can define the sacred nature of their work.  And if you are not working, you still need sacred missions, or you are pretending to be dead.  ; )

The exercise is simple, but it must go much deeper than an intellectual business mission statement.  Sit comfortably and quietly and simply ask “What is the sacred mission of my work?”  You can expand that to “my life” if you want or make it specific to “my mission in raising my children.”  Dictate the answers into your smart phone or jot them down and refer back to them and update them regularly.  Your missions may change.

If at the end of this exercise you are not inspired by your life’s work, you did not go deep enough.  Or maybe you will change what you do, but do your best to find your mission where you are as the starting point for that exploration. Find the sacred purpose of being right where you are, no matter what you aspire to doing.

We are here to serve our sacred missions.  We are here to get up in the morning and serve again.  It’s not about us, a job or a paycheck as much as we may think we need it.  We’ve got our missions to accomplish.

Would you choose to live in presence today?

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The humorous photo above is from: Tobe Fonseca

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Copyright © 2013 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

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How to Achieve Goals: Expand, Refreshen and Review

Posted on August 22, 2013 by David Durand

Would you choose to live in presence today?

I want to keep this goal setting theory article short, so it will provide immediate and enduring benefit to all who read it.  Ready?

Expand your goal list:  Write ALL Your Goals Down, not just some of them.  Most of us have incomplete and stale goal lists.  Even those of us who insist we’ve written our goals have not written them down for every important area of our life.  So our relationships suffer while we make lots of money, or our health goes south, because we neglect our body, while taking care of family or work or both.

Goal List

Achieve your goals by expanding, refreshening, and reviewing your written goal list.

Refreshen Your List: Take goals off your list that you are not doing and renew your commitment to the goals you still want to achieve.  You are creating negative energy by having goals you do not actually complete on your list.  End that today.  Admit “I have no intention to write that book this year.”  Then decide when you’ll review that decision.  You’ll feel better and be more authentic with yourself.  Refreshening the list also means adding new goals, including the mushy thoughts you are actually working on as new goals without committing them to paper.   If you have not committed a goal to paper (or computer), you have not committed to the goal.  Our minds need that anchoring in physical reality to make the thing we seek a physical reality.

Review Your List Often: If you have in fact written out your goals, but haven’t looked at them in more than a week, take a look at them again.  Review them at least once a week.  Review your goals for TODAY by the end of the day or by the beginning of the next day.  Your consciousness can only create that which you provide focus to and writing goals down and reviewing them frequently provides that focus.

Expand, Refreshen and Review.  Implement these steps with your goals and let me know how it’s going publicly on the Facebook page or privately via the contact box on the website, Fullyrealized.com.  Now go get ’em!  In presence of course.  ; )

Would you choose to live in presence today?

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Copyright © 2013 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Write Down Your Goals and Keep the List FRESH

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Forgiving Our Enemies: For They Knew Not What They Were Doing

Posted on April 21, 2013 by David Durand

Would you choose to live in presence today?

Stones-in-Hand-Hugo-Photography

Are you without any anger? Then throw the first stone…

Now, after the killing/capture of the two suspects in the Boston Marathon Massacre, there is a need for understanding and forgiveness.  The two unconscious young men from Chechnya were heavily programmed by someone.  Most likely the eldest was mentally programmed back in his homeland where terrorism was an accepted form of expression of one’s displeasure.  Then the elder, it is suggested, programmed the younger brother when he returned to the United States.

Their actions are not forgivable in that no circumstance in their lives warranted their behavior, but they are forgivable by us whether or not they seek their own forgiveness.  Let those among us who are not ever reactive to anything or anyone condemn them and throw the first stone.  If we have one shred of anger left in us, we drink from the same pool of hatred that caused these two to harm others.  We are equally guilty in consciousness until we are ourselves clean and non-reactive.  Anger in us is the false belief that we are at risk in our lives and that we need to protect ourselves from another by striking out before we ourselves are hurt.

What is a person who has “temporarily lost it”?  How different are they from those who in a programmed state plan their attacks for days?  Both types are out of control, non-present, and angered in a state which ultimately is fear, seeking to protect themselves.

Let’s seek to end the terrorism we bring to others in our own lives through the expression of our anger and forgive these two boys who clearly knew not what they were doing either.  We are just like them until we are not.  No, certainly not to the same extreme.  But is a little bit of poisonous anger in our hearts OK?  Does it serve us or is there another decision we can make?  It’s a decision to live without anger, at least in a moment that we are conscious.  If one of those moments is available to us here and now, what do we now decide?  Let’s decide to live without the illusion that anger protects us.  Let’s seek loving justice, yes, but without the anger inside.

If you’d like to learn how to live in a more present way, please read about my course here: FullyRealized™ Course. 

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Would you choose to live in presence today?

The photo above is by Hugo-Photography

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Copyright © 2013 by Universal Ideas, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Posted in fear, forgiveness, judgement, judgment, presence, Unconditional love | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments