OVERVIEW
You are being called to calm the ego, embrace your inner light, and trust that your well being is not only for you, it is in service to everyone. Matt Kahn encourages using intentional breathwork to open the heart, quiet the ego, and step into who you were born to be. This service explores the power of breath as a signal to the universe that you’re prepared to embody your full potential.
TRANSCRIPTION
Thank you so much. We are so blessed by that music team. One more round of applause and appreciation, and I just wanna acknowledge we have a lot of folks in the room from, uh, the Parliament of World Religions, and I would love to offer you and ask you to stand up so we can just appreciate you for a moment. Acknowledge, yes, woo. We’re so glad you’re here and I look forward to connecting with you more later in the week. So before I jump into our August theme of letting go, I’m just gonna acknowledge that I just came back from SR. And maybe some of you folks did that too. Um, we had our C SS L retreat there in Pacific Grove, right at the waterfront. And, um, since I like to manage people’s expectations, I just wanna tell you, I haven’t had a lot of sleep the last couple of days, <laugh>. So anyway, being there, I couldn’t be struck. I couldn’t help but be struck by the fact that Earnest Holmes, the founder of religious science, and the author of Science of Mind held gatherings there. Two, they would come together there for lectures, discussions, meditations to explore and apply the concepts and practices, the same things we do here, right?
And through the study of these various ancient wisdom teachings, Christianity, Eastern philosophies, new thought, he developed these concepts. Mind you, he didn’t invent principles because principle just is. But as he gathered these principles and studied them and wrote about them, um, he, he made them more available to all of us. And I know most people sitting in this room would say that this teaching has changed their life, right? The teachings are based on the power of the mind and the potential for people to transform their lives. So standing on that sacred ground where Ernest Holmes spoke, we had the opportunity to listen to current day inspiration centered around the same principles. And this week there was also a lot of talk about our current time space experience, right? This strange time that we’re living in this post pandemic world that we don’t quite yet know how to be with, or I at least I don’t. And the idea came up more than once, that as both individuals and as a collective, that we’re in this sort of in-between this liminal space. You know, things aren’t how it was before, but we haven’t quite gotten to something new and we’re in this icky place, as you always hear the analogy of the caterpillar in the goo before the transportation. And that was, that was mentioned a few times as well.
And there was a lot of exploration. I’m looking at my notes and I can’t read them. I was tired when I wrote those too. So <laugh>, there was a lot of exploration and discussion about taking responsibility for taking this teaching into the future to be relevant. In today’s world, if you’ve read signs of mind, you know, the older writing style can feel hard to move through the, the masculine gendering various ways that it might not appeal to everyone. But the message is still there. The message is still relevant. But the question is, how do we present these teachings in a way that excite people and interest people and keep us moving forward?
And I just wanna say again, it’s not that we’re changing the principles, because the principle is the principle, right? And the principles are as relevant today as they will be 50 years from now as they were 50 years ago, and as they will be into the future. So we’re just being called into curiosity in ways that are sustainable and relevant. What will attract more people to sit in this room with us, if that’s what they want, or for us to find out what they do want us to be doing? And we already know it’s this teaching is everywhere. It’s in movies, it’s in tv, it’s in music, so it’s not going anywhere. And it makes sense to me when we think of Ken Wilbur and the theory of everything that different disciplines just use different language or different words to say the same things.
So we have our science of mind concepts sprinkled throughout, and I often share that one of the key concepts that hooked me in the beginning was Ernest Holmes’ idea of remaining open at the top. Otherwise we become a closed set of dogma, right? But to keep bringing in the new. And I believe that if Ernest Holmes were here today, he would be writing about and talking about the, the current situations and bringing in new ideas and new ways of talking about it that would support us still using affirmative spiritual psychology, intersecting spirituality and science, drawing on ancient wisdom and new thought. One of my teachers said that the, the, the saying we often use is, change your thinking, change your life. And he says it should be transform the thinker that was Dr. Tom Sanner. Instead of change your thinking, change your life, transform the thinker. And I do think that’s what we want when we walk into a center for spiritual living. Or when we look up a center for spiritual living online, we’re looking for something to be transformed in our lives.
So we’re sharing these universal principles, standing on the shoulders of those who came before and remaining open being called to simply practice the presence, opening our minds and our hearts to spirit, cultivating our relationship with spirit. God embodying these concepts for transformation. So perhaps moving beyond some of the intellectualizing and moving into the embodiment, working with the breath, moving energy. Some of the things people are looking for when they search for us are that mindfulness, dress reduction relationships, money, and how we really practice that. And as I consider Ernest Holmes and the Science of Mind teaching, and I heard the, the speaker’s call to keep it relevant. I, it was really heartened to think at Cityside we are doing that. We’re already doing it. We’re already looking at new ways to share these ideas. Just last week we had the gathering here in the room with Fulton Street Collective.
They’re an artist community, and we did a painting party exploring, uh, really the divine in creativity. We’ve included, um, some d e I and B work recently, not just for leadership, but for the community. So we really are looking at being relevant and keeping this teaching moving forward. So I thank you for co-creating cityside with me and keeping this relevant as we do our work individually, we impact the collective, right? And so now the book we’re working with, the universe always has a plan. The 10 Golden Rules of Letting Go by Matt Kahn. So generally speaking, this book is an invitation to be present, to trust what is part what of our, um, what is on our path as our healing journey, not a new idea. Another way of saying it, we are being invited to operate from a heart-centered approach rather than the protective mask of the ego. And he describes the 10 rules of letting go as a way of returning to who we really are for emotional freedom. And emotional freedom doesn’t mean that we don’t have painful emotions.
It’s when you’re aligned with your soul and connected with your heart, and so rooted in who you are, that no matter what occurs, and no matter what it brings up in you, you are able to be with it and be transformed by it and allow it to be part of your awakening rather than coming from your triggered response. When we lean in to the emotions and develop a relationship with the feelings and opening occurs, we’re able to notice when we’re in drama. And he offers mantras and exercises for every golden rule. It’s kind of fun. Amy covered the golden rule one, you have done nothing wrong. It’s about self-compassion, compassion for others, bringing forgiveness into every experience. When you offer forgiveness to yourself, you can be more forgiving and accepting of others. The golden rule number two that she covered, and you can always go back to the recording, anyone who blames you isn’t happy. So when I’m operating in ego or unconsciousness, the ego thinks that you are the reason for my unhappiness.
This is just codependency, folks, <laugh>. So especially when someone’s lashing out at you, they’re the ones who need forgiveness the most. This is when it serves us to be in our work to be grounded in noticing what’s happening here in me so that I can offer that compassion to you and I can be the space for you to have your awakening just like I’m having mine. And golden number, golden rule number three, that Amy shared hardships can be fast tracked through thankfulness. And he uses thank you for this gift as a mantra suggesting that everything we encounter is here to move us forward and we can just be move into gratitude for it.
He says, change and loss are some of the deepest ways that life evolves us out of ego and into alignment. Anybody experience that? A dark night of the soul was when you had your biggest opening. I’ve gotten to the point now when something challenging is coming, I’m just like, okay, bring it on <laugh>, I’m looking for the good stuff. And he says, as you experience the nature of change and loss from the soul’s sense of excitement, instead of the ego’s perception of judgment, you’re able to let go with authenticity and ease. So today we’re going to explore golden Rule four, five and six. If I get to them, <laugh> golden rule four is about, um, feeling better helps everyone heal. So my feeling better is for everyone’s good. And the mantra he offers for Golden Rule four is, and I’m gonna say it and I’m gonna ask you to say it with me. My happiness is a service to all my happiness is a service to all. Another way he addresses this is to say, my light is a service to all try that one. My light is a service to all. We have to develop trust that my light, your light is what everyone around us needs.
Con says, when you’re a conscious being, anything you encounter has been created to make you more conscious. And if you’re unconscious, anything you encounter is likely to create more unconscious responses until you’re ready to wake up. So I’m gonna go off track here a second. Just feel into this. You know, I’ve been calling in this idea of being more in flow. I’ve shared many times, any of you who know me or have heard me speak before, I talk a lot about the part of me that feels like I have to do a good job. It’s, it’s the thing that runs in the background. It’s, it’s what what I am wanting to heal and to, to bring healing to that. I love that. I accept that that’s the work, right? To trust that it’s here for me. Well, this feeling of of wanting to do a good job, what’s underneath that really is just wanting to be loved, right?
Just wanting people to think I’m okay. And for whatever reason, my ego parts, my personality parts developed this coping strategy of doing a good job as a way to get people to think I’m okay. Well, I had an experience in a Sylmar where I saw my mentor from a distance. Now my mentor is someone that I’ve spent the last couple of years speaking to on the phone every four weeks. And we have profound, loving, deep conversations. I’ve only met her in person a handful of times, and it was probably eight, nine years ago. And now working with her by phone the last couple of years. And I saw her from a distance. I was excited. I’m like, oh, I’m gonna see my mentor. And I woke up to her and she didn’t have any idea who I was.
<laugh>,
Ah,
Because I do this work, I had the opportunity to notice that feeling, to notice what I was feeling, and then to notice what was the story that I was making up about it. Hmm. I’m, I guess I’m not as important to her as she is to me, right? But I breathed and I could see that she was, um, you know, struggling and embarrassed because she realized who, who it was and that she had not recognized me. And I was like, oh no, it’s okay. But I had the opportunity to really feel into that. And, and what occurred to me next was how many people here have I not recognized? Does it mean anything about how I feel about them?
No.
So I don’t have to make up a story about that. And later there was an opportunity for us to chat, and of course it was apologetic. And I’m like, no, please, no, it was an opportunity for me to do some work, really. And there’s always more, there’s always more, there’s always more work to do.
And Kahan says that since you’re already waking up, all life can do is wake you up further. So the cast and characters and situations are all perfectly aligned for you to have the experience you need to have so that your light can shine. And he says, feeling bad for someone else is not gonna make them feel any better. And he talks a lot about how we as empaths tend to diminish our light and bring ourselves down so that we can make the people around us feel okay. And he’s inviting us to trust that our happiness is a service to others. That your wellbeing is an agent of change and a catalyst of growth that helps everyone, that supports everyone on their healing path.
Khan says, the one who is having the most intense sensation, or is the most committed to their emotional experience, is the one who dominates. What he means by that is if they’re more committed to their victimhood than you are to your light, then you’re gonna meet them at their victimhood. And if you are more committed to light than someone identifying as a victim, your frequency of light invites their subconscious to match your vibration. We are being called to lift our vibration, to not feel that we have to meet someone in their suffering in order to help them. The greatest support we can offer is to see their wholeness, to see their perfection, to be in our light, to stand in our power. And that light can shine so brightly that it can raise their vibration.
He says, light realms often feel more passive while shadow realms feel more aggressive. And that’s why we tend to lower, because we are more passive. If we’re in light and I am calling us to become more assertive with our light, right? And not to dimm our lights in any way, shining less helps no one. And one of the first steps to becoming the light is allowing yourself to shine no matter what the circumstances are. And I love this idea. He shares that the ego would rather see itself as imperfect because it’s understandable to the ego. It gives the ego something to manage, because imperfection, the ego has nothing to do. So the ego settles for that lesser, more understandable version of itself.
And your light is going to trigger people, and it’s okay, <laugh>, it’s perfect for them. It brings up their work for them to do. And we have to develop this trust that what you bring forth within you, the light of divinity in you for yourself, for your family, for the world, for everyone you meet. It profound provides profound opportunities for everyone around you. You don’t have to manage other people’s experience like I try to do. So I’m speaking to myself just as much as I’m speaking to you. How am I doing here? Wow. So wellbeing is a signal. This is golden. Rule number five, that you are ready to embody your potential.
He says, my breath is the living presence of wellbeing. The more mindfully I breathe, the more alive I feel. Breath has the power to return us to our center, aligned with ourselves, anchored in spirit. And from the reading, whether you’re aware of it or not, you’re always breathing this light in. So why don’t you always feel wellbeing? Because your breath is only giving you the experience of it that matches what you think it is. So he invites us to intentionally breathe light as presence, light as love, light as wholeness, not just walking around clenched, barely breathing.
The more you become aware of breath as the living of evidence of light within you, the more breath becomes the wellbeing that contributes to your expansion. The mantra, again, my breath is the living presence of wellbeing. My breath is the living presence of wellbeing. The more mindfully I breathe, the more alive I feel, the more alive I feel. Sorry, I didn’t give very demonstrative instructions that time <laugh>. So when you’re aware of your breath as this infinite light of source energy, every breath begins to be in service to your healing. And we know that healing just means God being revealed. Right? When you’re aligned with breath, your thoughts become aligned with your breath, your ideas and your perceptions become harmonious, clear, positive. It, it is filled with the same light. Then your actions take on that lightness and that harmony.
So breathing is not just a a hip trend, it’s a transformative tool. And he also explains how the breath, uh, unifies the right and left hemispheres of the brain so that they’re working interdependently instead of independently in conflict of one another. And this supports integrating that ego. So when I met my mentor and she didn’t recognize me as I stood in my breath, it supported me to remember, oh, this is that part of me that’s reacting. This is that ego part that’s feeling something. As I breathe, I remember to be present to remember the truth and get out of the story.
And he goes on in. Um, golden rule number six, to tell more about how the universe always has a plan. And I’m gonna just, um, abbreviate this and trust that one of the other speakers will pick it up a little further. Um, he’s really talking about the idea of, um, the law of attraction and the sort of old way of thinking of law of attraction is that we put it out there and draw it into us. And he’s encouraging us to let go of, um, this because it, it, it sort of sticks us or keeps us feeling stuck in this illusion of time and disappointed thinking things should show up in a certain timeframe and instead of trusting, the universe has to deliver your desires, but it’s going to deliver them at the perfect time for your optimal growth. So when we live in that knowing, we can let go of that striving and that and that struggling toward a different experience. And he says, what if the reason you can’t envision what you want or why you don’t have what you want is because everything that’s coming your way is beyond your wildest imagination. And that is the art of letting go. Trusting the universe has a plan, trusting that your light is for everyone’s good, trusting others. Light is for everyone’s good.
And trusting you will receive everything you desire at exactly the moment it is meant to arrive. And so in support of this cultivating your wellbeing and shining your light and letting go, I’m going to take us into, um, the mantra and the exercise he offers for golden rule number five and invite you into some spiritual practice. His exercise is called anchoring to your breath. And I’m gonna invite you once again, I’ll repeat, I’ll say the affirmation and have you repeat it after me. And there are two lines. So the first line, my breath is the living presence of wellbeing. The more mindfully I breathe, the more alive I feel. All right. So I invite you to turn your attention within if you’re comfortable closing your eyes or taking a downward gaze. And as I read through this, I’ll pause and give you time to perhaps repeat it to yourself internally or at least take a moment to sit in the vibration of those words. My mind is a manifestation of breath. The more aligned with breath I am clearer. My mind becomes keep breathing. My body is a manifestation of breath. The more aligned with breath I am,
The more vibrant and open my body becomes. Make sure you’re taking nice deep breaths in and out. My emotions are a manifestation of breath. The more aligned with breath I am, the more harmonious my emotions shall be. My world is a manifestation of breath. The more aligned with breath I am, the more fulfilling my relationships will be. Every aspect of reality is a manifestation of breath. The more aligned with breath I am, the more real I shall be. Instead of living in the reality of my ego’s fantasy, I dwell in the reality of my soul’s eternal light. I can simply abide with my breath as an announcer of wellbeing, becoming aware that in within me as my breath, wellbeing, and perfection always exist. And to signal to the universe that in recognizing my breath as evidence of perfection, I am ready, willing, and able receive perfection In my experience. I receive it with worthiness and joy as a gift for myself and for those who don’t know the worthiness of their own eternal light, allowing my happiness to be a service to all. And so I’m free and I just invite you to breathe in that for a few more moments.
And I just affirm that spirit has already spoken through that meditation. You are aligned with the wholeness and perfection that is at the center of your being. Your very breath that breathes you is a demonstration of your perfection, demonstration of your light, and that you are stepping into the fullness of who you are here to be. Knowing that your light is in service to everyone you meet, that each of us is yes to be in the highest idea of God expressing in as and through each of us as light for the highest good of all. What is good for one is truly good for all. It can be no other way. And I’m just grateful for this time together. I’m grateful for this remembering of truth. I’m grateful for the light within each of us rippling out to the world. I bless it all. I let it go. I call it good. And so it is.