Author Archives for Gregory Toole

About Gregory Toole

Author: A Simple Guide to Planetary Transformation www.gregorytoole.com

Looking for Trouble: Helping Those In Need

by Gregory Toole

As we travel this path of life, there are so many opportunities to be a beneficial presence. Recently, I had the thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice if sometimes we all went looking for trouble?” It was about looking for people in need and doing what we can to help them. Sometimes I find myself in that space, not necessarily looking, but highly attuned to when someone might need something.

A few weeks ago I went to the Public Library to donate some books that I was ready to release. When I arrived there was a man at the counter who was attempting to check out a couple videos, but he was hindered because there was an outstanding fine on his account and he didn’t have the money to pay it. The amount was just over $3 and my immediate thought was “Here’s someone I can help. It will make a big difference to him, and I’ll never miss the money.” I paid his fine and he was very grateful. The library workers I could see also took note and were moved by this small gesture.

It is those types of opportunities that we might be on the lookout for. So often we are in a position to help and make a major impact without even extending ourselves very much. This is especially important during this holiday time when so many are in pain and are challenged in various ways. Here are some other simple examples of how we can help:

  • A simple smile will go a long way.
  • Stopping to help someone clean up a small spill.
  • Buying coffee for the person in front of you in line who forgot their wallet.
  • Opening the door for someone who has their hands full or is otherwise challenged.
  • Standing with someone who has just had a fender bender to see if they need anything.

If we pay attention, opportunities are all around us to share love, and it does make a big difference. The ripple effect just might change the world.

Thanks for all you do and all you are.

Holiday blessings of love,
Gregory
blog dec 15, 2014

Surrender: Where The Real Power Is

by Gregory Toole

In our upbringing, most of us have probably known “surrender” to be a negative action, something we surely only do as a last resort. The common definition equates surrender to giving up.

In spiritual terms, the only thing we give up with surrender is our need to be in control of everything. And since we don’t actually control nearly as much as we sometimes think, ultimately we are not giving up much at all when we surrender.

However, we gain much–greater ease, peace of mind, and expanded possibilities for our life that are beyond anything we could ever imagine when we needed to be fully in control.

A big question is, “What are we surrendering to?” What we surrender to is our divine nature, our higher nature. In short, we surrender to God, or whatever we call our higher power.

Another question is, “How do I do it?” The answer to this question is a bit more involved, but the simplest response is that we begin to let go, little by little, of our attachment to specific outcomes and how and when those outcomes come to pass.

In letting go, we get out of the way of our higher nature, making room for grace to come into our lives. Grace can only occur when we get our human ego-centered selves out of the way.

As brilliant as the human brain is, it really is finite in terms of its ability to coordinate the infinite range of activities that need to take place for our lives to be full and, at the same time, for us to be at peace and at ease with life. Our divine, or higher, self is infinite, capable of coordinating an infinite array of simultaneous synchronistic activities on our behalf, all at once.

“How is this possible?” you may say. It is possible due to the infinite intelligence embedded in our divine nature, combined with the reality of oneness, that all of life is one and connected. Surrender aligns us with the flow of this one life and infinite intelligence. In that flow, synchronicities become commonplace and we find that our effort is only a small part of what takes place to get our needs met.

Five Steps

Here are five initial steps to support you in your desire to practice surrender:

  1. Let go of the notion that you’re fully in control.
  2. Spend some time in meditation daily, even if it’s just one minute a day. Use this time to listen for divine wisdom and inspiration, but don’t be attached to getting a result.
  3. When you feel stressed, pause for a moment and get in touch with your breath. Your breath is your connection to life, and thus the flow of life.
  4. Don’t schedule yourself so tightly. Leave at least a little room for divine opportunities (those that match what you want, but not your human timing).
  5. Develop strategies in advance for how you will capture your divine inspirations and insights (e.g., keep a recording device handy). These insights are a gift to you and often provide clarity and solutions that would have required far more human effort to develop if you had waited until you felt you had time to think about them.

The practice of surrender is possible for you. It starts with willingness, and being open to divine guidance. Little by little, you can loosen your grip, and as you do, the ease and peace you’ve been wanting start to become real, and yet your life is even fuller.

Enjoy the journey!

17 Practices to Transcend Fear

by Gregory Toole

Fear remains a prevalent part of the human experience, inhibiting or derailing the fulfillment of many heart-felt dreams and intentions. What can we do to transcend fear? Here are some practices that may support you in transcending fear.

  1. Recognize that the feeling of fear is natural when you’re trying something new or on the edge of your comfort zone.
  2. Be aware that fear is primarily a feeling or sensation in the body and that you still have choice about your actions.
  3. Journal about what specifically you are afraid of and ask yourself, objectively, whether there’s anything to actually fear? (If the answer is yes, take steps to address those concerns.)
  4. Put your attention and energy on what you want to happen rather than what you fear will happen. (What we put our
    attention on expands).
  5. Take steps every day (no matter how small) that move you toward your desired outcome. With every step you take,
    the feeling of fear will subside, even if only little by little. Fear breeds in the imagination; bringing reality to it diminishes
    it.
  6. Let go of any idea that you are doing it all yourself. You are the vehicle for an infinite intelligence, power, and creativity.
  7. Let go of responsibility for outcomes. Your role is to take the divinely guided actions and you ultimately have little control over how others receive or respond to them.
  8. Let go of the idea that you need to get it right the first time. Allow yourself to enjoy the creative process.
  9. Spend time in meditation daily, listening for divine inspiration, and follow it in faith and trust.
  10. Stay centered in love and gratitude. It is impossible for fear to live there.
  11. Let everything you do be guided by love. If it’s not from an intention of love and offering love to the world, don’t do it.
  12. Let go of the need to personally accomplish anything. Let your only goal and intention be to fulfill the vision of your higher self, your divine destiny, or your soul’s highest calling.
  13. When fear comes up, don’t push it down. Keep breathing, fully feel it, and let it be your teacher. What is it telling you
    about how you look at life?
  14. Be on divine timing, not your own human timing. When divine inspiration or perfect opportunities show up, know that
    it’s the right time for them, even if it’s inconvenient personally.
  15. Treat each day as a new day. What you couldn’t do yesterday you may be able to do today. What was confusing
    yesterday may be clear today.
  16. When feeling overwhelmed, take baby steps. Any step that moves you in the direction of your vision is progress.
    Every time you do something you were previously afraid to do you dissipate the illusions of fear.
  17. Be in it for the long haul. Don’t give up at the first setback.

Letting Go Into Your Greater Possibility

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by Gregory Toole

So often it seems as human beings we are waiting for the right moment or the right opportunity in order to step into something greater. Yet, metaphysically we know that we co-create our own experience.

Creating that great new opportunity is as much about letting go as it is about accepting the new. In order to create the new, we must let go of the old. The Christian scripture guides us not to pour new wine into old wine skins.

Right now, for the third time in my career, I am releasing a position without a clearly defined next position in sight. Many people look very surprised when I tell them that. Some even look like they are about to administer me a sanity test.

In my experience, however, I find that sometimes I need to let go of what is, before I can discover the new, that it’s a challenge to hold on to the old, while at the same time bringing forth the new. As I write this, I am imagining an interesting visual of someone carrying around a big sack called “the past” on his back, laboring under its weight, while at the same time attempting to be nimble in navigating the newness that is calling him. It’s not a very graceful picture.

In holding onto what is, we get to feel safer and more comfortable, but perhaps that is a false sense of comfort since nothing in the outer world represents our security and all temporal experiences can change. What if we put our sense of security and comfort in our inner power and creativity, our ability to co-create our experience?

Then we’d be able to move as Spirit moves us, rather than as human comfort dictates. Then we wouldn’t be holding so tightly to things and experiences of the world. Grace would be our experience. Change would not concern us very much at all because we’d be in the flow of change, welcoming it, trusting it, knowing it is always a movement toward greater good in our lives.

I would suggest this way of being is what we are being called to. It is a more natural way for us to live in alignment with our spiritual nature.

Faith and Your Triumphant Nature

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by Gregory Toole

Faith is not blind, nor is it merely hoping things will work out. True faith involves knowing. What we know is that there is a power within us and all around us that is for us. It is really knowing that life itself is for us. If we can let go of our need to control and our need for specific outcomes, then let go of our opinions and judgments, we find that all things truly are working together for good.

Yes, there are plenty of things that show up in all of our lives that look anything but good, some even appearing horrendous. Yet, if we take a larger view of life, of its eternal and infinite nature, we can actually feel, see, and know the inherent goodness of all that is unfolding.

A favorite story of mine in the Christian Bible is that of Joseph whose brothers sell him into slavery. Joseph recognized that no one could interfere with his divine destiny and as he rose to the highest levels of influence and power in Egypt, he eventually said to his brothers, “you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

If we can know with the Buddhists that everything can be used toward our enlightenment, then we can know that nothing comes into our lives except for the reason of our soul’s unfoldment on its eternal journey. If we can let go of any sense of victimization or righteousness about the various situations that we have experienced in life, we have the opportunity to see a bigger picture of what Life if unfolding for us.

I am reminded of the scene in the 1970s movie “Jaws” where two characters compare scars. If we get into this type of comparison we will always find someone with a life story similar or more difficult than ours who has used their experiences toward good.

I always encourage people to tell their story from a place of love, triumph, and power. Everyone has overcome much to be where they are today. Mistakes have been made along the way and we have fallen short more than once, and yet we are still here, still showing up, and still aspiring to something greater. And we’ve all had our successes and high moments along the way.

Claim victory today. It is the divine truth of your being, and it is more real than any story of victimhood or lowliness. Claim your divine destiny of eternally unfolding into the greater and greater. It is yours and I stand with you in the powerful unfolding of your life.

Do Mytics Age?

by Gregory Toole

As I am now unquestionably a part of what the world refers to as “middle-aged,” I come to the place where changes in my physical body meet the principles of New Thought metaphysical teachings. In my 20s and 30s, one of my mantras had been “mind over matter.” Later, that mantra changed to reflect a more holistic view of spirit, mind, and body as an integral wholeness reflecting the degree to which I aligned with a vibration of well-being.

All of my favorite professional athletes, in every sport I follow, eventually retire, realizing they are no longer able to perform at the highest levels in comparison to younger athletes. Most of the top athletes in all major sports are now young enough for me to be their parent. In fact, now I am older than a good many of the coaches. All of this does lead me to reflect on my personal status as an athlete, or even as one whose body is still optimally healthy.

A couple years ago, I played basketball with some teenagers and one of them said to his teammate, referring to me, “You cover the old guy.” Of course, given the age difference, I couldn’t really be offended, yet it was a reminder that my status as an athlete had changed over the years.

In 2007, I went to a book launch in San Francisco for the great yoga master, BKS Iyengar, one of my spiritual teachers (by way of his writings). At 89 years old, the benefits of his yoga practice were evident in how well he looked physically, and yet, as we might expect, he did look different than he did in photos of him in yoga poses at a much younger age.

It is true that the body does change with age, and it is also true that the principles of metaphysics still apply at every age. Alignment of spirit, mind and body has tremendous healing power. My alignment of body, mind, and spirit is still serving me quite well. The state of each of these aspects of our being really do affect each other. This is not a sequential proposition. It is in taking care of each of these aspects of our being that we take care of all three of these aspects of our being. Neglecting any one of them is neglecting the others.

We take care of our spirit by living our lives in the vibration of love, wholeness, and harmony. We take care of our mind by keeping it engaged and active. We take care of our bodies through movement, stretching, eating well, and getting proper rest. Through mindful (aware/awake/conscious) engagement, we may find ways to take care of all three at the same time, such as through the practice of yoga or through otherwise mindfully engaging our spirit, mind, and body simultaneously.

Even for mystics and practitioners of metaphysical spiritual principles, the body still changes. However, the difference is that when we align spirit, mind, and body, through regular practice, we are attentive to what each aspect – spirit, mind, and body – needs at each stage of life so that we may continue to be healthy and vibrant, while not necessarily the same as we were at previous ages.

Lasting Relationships – Part Two: Is It Over or Time to Grow?

by Gregory Toole

In last week’s blog, I wrote, “The requirement of growth comes from the very nature of relationship. Relationship shines the light on all the dark places of fear, insecurity, unworthiness, and those places we’d just rather not go at all…Then, relationship, by its very nature takes us right to the doorstep of those places.”

As I finished writing that blog, I imagined someone asking the question, “How do I know if I need to grow, or if the relationship is really over?” The question became the inspiration for this week’s blog.

The answer to this question is not an easy one, and surely does not break into any rote formula. However, it is a great question that we can take into our heart and into our contemplation.

When is a relationship over? Well, the simple answer is that it’s over when we say it’s over, and not a minute sooner. We ultimately determine for ourselves if the relationship continues to serve us. Ultimately, it is about serving our soul’s path.

One way to see if the relationship serves our soul’s path is to let go of our human will and surrender to our soul’s highest calling. We could use this affirmation: “I am willing to stay, if that is for the highest, and I am willing to go, if that is for the highest.” To surrender it to our soul’s highest calling is to let go of all the worldly reasons for staying or going such as:

  • I’m really comfortable in this relationship.
  • It would be too hard to find someone else.
  • We’ve been together so long.
  • I don’t know how it will affect my financial situation.

The list could go on and on, and the main point is to clear the way for us to hear what the intuition of our heart wants to whisper to us.

Here are examples of how a relationship that serves our soul’s highest calling might feel:

  • I feel the relationship is contributing to my growth.
  • I feel valued by my partner.
  • I feel really seen by my partner in a way that expands me.
  • I feel the relationship calls me to be my best.
  • My main reasons for being in the relationship feel clean, healthy, and affirming of what’s important to me.

When the relationship is not serving our soul’s highest calling, the growth we are called to involves letting go – releasing the current form of the relationship. When the relationship is serving our soul’s highest calling, the challenges that come forth are the opportunities for growth.

May all of your relationships call you into the highest expression of your soul.

Namasté,
Gregory

Lasting Relationships – Part One: The Willingness to Grow

by Gregory Toole

Lasting relationships, particularly those of the romantic type, seem quite elusive for many. Even short-term relationships may be elusive for many. Relationships, if they are to be truly meaningful, require a degree of vulnerability, risk, and growth.

Being hurt in a former relationship can greatly diminish our possibilities for future relationships, depending on what we internalize from the previous experience. For example, in my early thirties I began to wonder why it had been about ten years since I had been in a meaningful relationship. As I peeled back the proverbial layers of the onion, looking deeply into what was the underlying cause, I remembered an experience I had ten years before, while I was in college. I had fallen in love and found myself heartbroken when the relationship ended. The pain seemed too great to bear at the time, and I vowed never to be hurt like that again. What I really had set in motion, unbeknownst to me, was to never get into a meaningful relationship again.

Once I saw this clearly in my early thirties, I realized I was stronger than I had been in my twenties, and the decision I made in my twenties to protect myself no longer served me. As I began to allow myself to be open and vulnerable again, willing to fall in love, accepting there was a risk I could get hurt emotionally, I opened the possibility for meaningful relationship, which occurred for me.

Then I learned there is something more than just being vulnerable and willing to take a risk. Once the fear of being hurt was gone, there was awareness that in order to move forward, to have the relationship last, one must be willing to grow. While one could probably maintain a fairly shallow relationship without being required to grow very much, anything meaningful would require growth every step of the way.

The requirement of growth comes from the very nature of relationship. Relationship shines the light on all the dark places of fear, insecurity, unworthiness, and those places we’d just rather not go at all. The latter are those places within us that we’ve built a wall around, or more like a fortress, for the very purpose of making sure no one or nothing would take us there. Then, relationship, by its very nature takes us right to the doorstep of that place and says, “This is the doorway to that meaningful relationship you want.” At this moment we might be tempted to begin bargaining, saying, “No, I’m willing to go anywhere but there. I’ll do anything else, but not that.”

All of this bargaining is to no avail because love is designed to transform us; to bring those dark places into the light and free us from the fortress we have built that ultimately has limited us. Love is here to tell us we are bigger than our fears, insecurities, and beliefs of unworthiness. Love is here to invite us into that greater experience of life that is beyond even our own imagination.

If we are willing to breathe into our deepest shadows, face them with the love of a partner, and bravely walk through them, we invite the deep healing and freedom that love offers us. Then, not only does our relationship last, it also frees us to experience the fullest possibility for our lives.

See next week’s blog for Part Two:

            Lasting Relationships – Part Two: Is It Over or Time to Grow?

Namasté,
Gregory

The World is Ready for All of You

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by Gregory Toole

I gave a talk this past Sunday in Oakland, California that was about the power and freedom of fully being who we are. Often we are so busy trying to conform, fit in, or not stand out too much that we forget the gift of our uniqueness.

We know intuitively that we are each a completely unique manifestation of Spirit, and yet sometimes we still find ourselves comparing what we do or who we are to what we see in others.

When I traveled to Ukraine in 2009 to be a keynote speaker at a spiritual conference, despite the fact that I had literally given several hundred similar talks in the past, I found myself wondering if I needed to somehow be different, or more, in Ukraine. I began to ask myself whether my style of delivering a talk would go over well in another culture. I finally remembered that all I have is me, who I am. So I decided to just go for it and be myself.

I had fretted so much over whether I would be acceptable that I forgot there would be an interpreter, since most people at the conference only spoke Russian. I got two sentences into my talk and I was stopped by the interpreter so that she could speak my words into Russian. It was a funny moment and I let go of all my angst. Then I told a joke and there was complete silence…until 30 seconds later when everyone broke into laughter. Ah yes, even the joke had to be interpreted into Russian first.

Even though my words needed to be translated into Russian, who I am needed no translation. Much to my delight, the crowd loved me. It was a reminder to me that who we are is the gift. When we don’t give all of who we are, we are literally cheating the universe, our fellow beings, and most importantly, ourselves.

Here are three affirmations I shared in my talk on Sunday:
The world is ready for all of me.
The world needs all of me.
The world’s going to get all of me.

And so it is.

Namaste,
Gregory

Comedy or Tragedy? (Or Sermon?)

by Gregory Toole

It seems that everything I experience in life either engenders within me the wisdom of some deep and profound spiritual truth, fit for a sermon, or something outrageously funny enough to develop a comedy routine.

Is this how everyone experiences life, or is it just me? During the years that I led a spiritual center in California, I always had plenty of material for my talks, such as when I ran out of gas in a small town and suddenly, out of nowhere, appeared a whole set of minions to push my car to safety. As I think about it, that one turned into both sermon and comedy material, and I mixed the two the Sunday that followed the event.

It seems that the more absurd and challenging the situation, the more material there is for a sermon and/or a comedy routine, such as the time many years ago when I was just getting my entrepreneurial wings. I was without a car, so I took a bus to the destination of a client, or so I thought. This was before the days of Google Maps and other such apps, and the bus ride left me with quite a long walk to the client’s location. It was also quite a hot day, so as I began to walk, I also began to perspire. By the time I arrived at my destination, I was quite late (and sweaty), which curtailed the amount of work I could do for the client based on his schedule. As I left the client at the end of our time together, walking back toward the bus, a bit humiliated, I began to calculate how much I had earned for all of my efforts. It amounted to $12.50.

Suddenly, a big smile came over my face and I had a good laugh. It was too absurd for me to be upset. It was certainly material worthy of a comedy routine or a sermon, but surely not material for a tragedy. It was too funny for that.

We really do get to choose whether the events in our lives represent a comedy or a tragedy, or perhaps a sermon. For me, they ultimately end up in a sermon, mixed with some comedy.

May lightness fill your heart and experience.

Namasté,

Gregory

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