When I was 21 years old, I lived in Hermosa Beach, California.  I lived alone in a small apartment on the strand and worked as a bookkeeper at a car dealership.  I loved living right there… on the beach front… close to the ocean and near all the action.  I loved watching the seagulls and sunsets and riding my bicycle to work along the strand.

But, my life was not always a bed of roses.  I struggled with inner conflicts and felt rather lost at times, not knowing where I wanted to steer the course of my life.

I read a lot and loved creating artwork.  I especially liked to read books about the lives of prophets, spiritual leaders and writers such as Yogananda and others.  Still, I could not really integrate the wisdom in the books with my own life’s path.  I still had personal issues that I could not figure out how to resolve.  Actually, I had issues that I did not even know I had!  But that was all about to change.  I was about to get a wonderful “wake up” call.

One day, after work, I rode my bike along the strand and when I was very near to my apartment, I noticed an elderly gentleman standing on the sand near the wall separating the strand and the sand.  He had maybe four or five young people gathered around him,  listening very intently to his words.  This was a man who I had seen a few times before, and had been very curious about, for he was “different”, in his manner and his speech.  I decided to find out more about him.  I hurriedly put my bike away and rushed back out to the beach to listen to him speak.

He spoke with “authority” and had a serious demeanor.  What struck me most about his appearance was his absolute glow of health and fitness.  He had not a wrinkle that was visible, not an ounce of fat to be seen and his eyes were very, very blue and clear.  He had a long white beard and close cut white hair, with no hair at all on the top of his head.  From his white hair and long beard, I would say he must have been 60 years old or more, yet he did not look like any other man I had ever seen at that age.  Later in my life I realized that he looked very similar to John Muir the famous naturalist, only more fit.

As I approached the group, I could hear him speaking about the nature of honesty.  He said that when a person lies, the lie has a way of spreading and affecting other people.  He gave an example.  I liked what he said.  I have always liked parables and he taught using parables.  In fact, he taught very much like Christ taught, out in the open, using parables. I decided to stay there in that spot, until every one of the listeners left.  Something within me wanted to talk with him.  I felt he had some truth to share with me, that I needed and wanted.

Eventually it was just he and I standing there.  He asked me my name and what I did for a living.  I told him.  I said “What is your name? What do you do?”  He said ” My name is George Teng.  I teach.”  I said “Where do you teach?”  He said “In my home mostly.”  I said “What do you teach?”  He said “I teach about life.”

I felt excitement when he said this.  I had always wanted to learn about life… really learn about it.  I sensed that he had some answers that would be very helpful to me and my “issues” regarding what direction to steer my life.

I asked him if he could teach me about life.  He replied “I don’t know.  I can’t teach everyone.”  We then proceeded to set an appointment for the next week, when I would come to his house to see if he could teach me.

On the day of the appointment, I went to his house, which turned out to be an apartment in the next beach town of Manhattan Beach.  The door to his apartment was ajar and I could see a young man sitting on the floor just inside the door, so I waited outside.  When he left in a few minutes, George came to the door and asked me to take off my leather shoes and leave my leather purse outside the door.  I stepped inside the apartment and was surprised to see a perfectly clean and empty apartment except for a rolled up mat and a candle in the corner and some posters of what looked like hindu goddesses to me, hung up near the ceiling on one wall.  There was also a table and two chairs in a dining area off the small kitchen.

George invited me to sit down on the floor and then he sat down facing me.  He asked me “So, How is your life going ?”   I told him it was going well and I was very happy living here etc.  He listened and then replied “Well, surely something brings you here.” I told him I didn’t really know what it was.  he said “It is my belief that we all know what is bothering us.”

There was something about the way he said it, the tone of it, or the thoughtfulness of his words that caused me to stop “chatting” with him… and reach down deep within me to find the answer, an answer that I did not know was in me, before that moment.  Yet I knew years later as I looked back, was the crux of all my “issues” in my life at that time.

I told him that I had problems with relationships.  I did not feel that I loved many of the men I dated, yet I did not know how to disconnect from them.  I was too nice to them.

He thought for a moment and said “Life is like a pond, with various life forms living at various depths.  I want you to speak from the deepest part of yourself now”.  I sat there and tried to speak.  But, I felt completely disconnected from my “will to speak”… and was unable to utter a sound.

George then said “I understand.”  And, he continued on… speaking about the various levels of life.  As he spoke, I watched him intently and I noticed that the sound of his voice became “rhythmatic”.  That is to say, his words began to take on a musical quality or rhythm, as though he was speaking in a sort of poetic rhythm.  Then, very quickly his voice faded and I could see his lips moving, but could only hear what seemed to be music.  Yet, it was not a kind of music that I could definitely call music.  It was more like a heavenly choir of voices making music, rather than singing words.  It was not like anything on this Earth, for it seemed to be coming from inside me, yet it filled every space in and around me.  It was a beautiful experience.

I then spoke to George and said “Excuse me George.  I do not understand your words in the normal sense.  I seem to hear music.”   He looked at me very seriously and said “Did you take any drugs before you came over here?”  I said “No”.  He said “Do you meditate?”  I said “No”.  He said “Are you afraid?”  As tears ran down my cheeks, I said “No… I feel full of joy.”

Then, his face and eyes slowly blossomed into a positively luminous smile and he told me… “This then, is what one feels when one meditates.”

I left Georges apartment a while later, still under the influence of the afterglow of that experience, which changed me in a profound way, and set my feet upon the path of my heart.  George continued to teach me for a few months more and then I left on an adventure which took me to Europe.  We wrote back and forth for a few more years and then I lost contact with him.  I have carried the lessons of that initial meeting with me for all the rest of my life.  I know now that there is more to me than a body.  I know that “joy” is the true state of being.  I have no doubt that I “remembered” for one brief moment in my life, where I came from and where I will return.  I have no doubt that God is love and I am made in God’s image.  I have no doubt that I heard the “music of the spheres” and was one with it… and it was good….

Most of us are encouraged by our parents and society to “think” things through”, “be reasonable” and do the “smart” thing.   Much emphasis is placed on “using our head” to make important choices.   When choosing our careers, we often consider salary first and then things like prestige, perks,  long term stability, and chances for advancement.   Yet, how often in our considerations do we factor in those things that make life worth living?  How often do we even consider what our heart is feeling… and saying?  Do we even know what path our heart wants to take?  Have we ever considered our heart at all?  Do we even take a moment to ask ourselves… if we would be happy to get up each day and do this particular type of work?   Do we consider how we will feel about being a part of what our employer is actually doing?   Do we ask: “What  are the chances that I will be  adversely affected by policies or politics within the company, or within the industry, that may demoralize, demean or stifle me?  Will I be able to grow in spiritual qualities, by taking on this job?  Does this job serve my heart’s purpose and passion?”

All around us we see numerous examples of people living lives disconnected from their hearts, because they have not learned how to consider these questions and honor their own heart in their choices, for jobs, for friends, for hobbies and yes… sometimes… even in their choice for a life partner.  It’s sad to behold, when this happens.   And, it’s further proof that the most intelligent choice… and the most lucrative choice, may prove to be a poor choice, in the end, if it disregards the needs of  one’s heart.

Don’t we all know someone who went ahead and made the “sensible” choice in their life and then later came to regret it?  I know I’ve known a few.   They often struggle with depression or regret.  Later on, they may even become bitter, without understanding why.  I believe it’s because they have lived a life where the heart suffers from a lack of expression.  I believe that we must find avenues for expressing both what is in our heart, and what are minds are capable of, if we are to be at our happiest.

If one does not know what their heart requires, it is because one has forgotten the joys of childhood.  This can be overcome with enough love and dedication.  One can become dedicated to reacquainting oneself with their heart’s joy, and thus live a happier more balanced life.

As you learn to listen to your heart, you will bring into every decision a sense of purpose and fulfillment.  Life will become satisfying again.  Eventually, in time, you will come to know the wisdom in voluntarily offering your mind in service to your heart.  When this happens, life becomes a sort of “continual and endless preparation”  to follow your heart, from one joy… to the next.   And you will know you have found the path of your heart, because there will be excitement.  There will be passion.

So, let’s not let our mind frustrate the choices of our heart by dissecting and criticizing, or bringing up fears around it.  Let’s teach our minds to “serve” the heart’s passion, to find the way forward, to keep vigil, and focus upon the goal of the heart and not falter in the face of fear.  It is the minds highest purpose to be at the ready to aid and to prepare itself to help the heart move forward, towards it’s passion.

Loving, joyful actions (and reactions) spring from the heart centered life and emit vibrations  that attract that which is required for each successive step forward towards your heart’s greatest joy.    That is to say… Where the mind is used as a servant to the highest heartfelt purposes, all is well and life unfolds as a flower does, bringing forth the nectar.  Hardships will be endured, if necessary because they are not experienced in the same way as a hardships which are unattached to the heart’s ideal.

Too many of us are living life with the mind in the driver’s seat, cognizant only of material benefits and considerations.  And thus life itself becomes more and more a reflection of materiality.  It become ever more concerned with bottom lines and indulgence of the ego and the senses.

But, the chains of illusion, built by the mind, are starting to fall away now, as we turn inward and consider the heart’s eternal flame.  Circumstances begin to force us to take a look at our lives and ask:  “Is there is some other way to live that honors my heart?  Is there some path that is more authentic and sustainable”?   How do we build a life that is rooted in “stability”, that does not crumble along with the rising and falling of the stock market and the financial health of the Federal Reserve?  How do we take care of ourselves and our families when it appears that our world is so unstable and fraught with lies and half-truths?

The answer is to take care of your heart first and become a keeper of the flame that always abides within you.  In all that you do, in every decision that you make, first consult your heart, then employ your mind as a helper to the purpose and ideal which your heart holds dear.  Then, the life you live will always be worth living, and every consequence that comes as a result of living life from your heart, will be acceptable, will even be worth struggling for, if that should be the case.

It is the life that is lived strictly and predominately from the mind, which blocks out the considerable and very necessary “joy” factor in your life and leaves you feeling “defeated”, depressed, lost and unmotivated.  One does not suffer hardship well, when it is for the sake of untruth.  And it is untruth that mind alone can ever lead us to a happy life.  The mind and the heart (our reason and passion) were meant to enhance one another – not frustrate one another.

May I suggest that we all take a little time to sit outside, under the trees,  and let our personal musings come forward.  Let’s invite our heart to come out and play.  Then, let’s honor it, by putting it in the driver’s seat.

Here is how I see it:  We are in a time of profound and unprecedented change.  Our planet and everyone on it is increasing in vibration.  Earthquakes and extreme weather continues.  And the chaos we see pervading our financial, political, religious and environmental areas are all related to this change.  We are evolving in consciousness.  We can no longer continue to live on this planet without regard for life.   Our collective consciousness (of which Earth is part) is therefore ascending.  We are beginning to remember that we are all connected together and we are of one consciousness. We are beginning to realize that when we disregard life, we pay the consequences. When we hurt one, we affect the whole.

There is no such thing as “profiting” when we do so by devaluing life. And so, that which does not value life, now begins to crumble before our collective eyes. It is crumbling because it is not sustainable in the ordering of reality that pervades the higher vibrations. Not valuing all life, is not “real”, just as poverty and pain is not real to the banker who has come to believe that he deserves 20 million dollar bonus while others suffer great losses because of his greed.

We are moving towards a more sustainable consciousness, individually and collectively. The old self-serving and greedy ways will no longer work. Only that which values life will survive. The untruths, the hidden and secret lies are being exposed and will continue to come into the light, as the vibrations of this planet continue to increase and move all closer to the vibration of truth, light… and love.

We move now from an “intellect” centered society to a “heart” centered one. And we slowly realize that the mind was never meant to lead – it was meant to serve… the heart. Heart centered politicians, businesses, religious organizations and leaders, now start to come forward into the mass consciousness, as the old ways begin to crumble. Watch! … and observe the mighty hand of love transform our world.