Dov Baron – Mind Mastery

From the hallway I could hear the muffled sound of the TV in the other room. Curiosity pulled me into that room to find my mother watching our old black and white set. I glanced at the set where I saw a man I didn’t recognize speaking in a way that commanded my attention.  As compelling as this man was, there was something else going on in that room that had an even stronger pull… my mother.

Looking over at my mom I saw her dislodge her glasses upwards as she wiped a steady stream of tears from her eyes. I had seen my mother cry many times. To be honest at that point in our lives there seemed to be an abundance of reasons for my mom to be in tears, but this was different.

As a ten year old boy seeing my mother cry was something that always disturbed me. I walked over, put my hand on my mom’s shoulder and in an attempt to comfort her I asked what was wrong. Looking up at me, she tried to smile but it clearly wasn’t working. She stumbled for words and pointed at the TV saying: “He’s dead?” I looked back at the set and the powerful charismatic presence of Martin Luther King Jr. rang out like a bell in the fog.

I was a boy living in a ghetto environment of a dirty industrial town in England, I had no idea why my mother would be crying about a man I didn’t think I’d ever seen before. I didn’t recognize him as a movie star, a pop star or even a British politician. Why was she crying? In my boyish naivety I asked “who is he?” My mom said; “that’s Martin Luther King, someone shot him.” I was still puzzled. My mom continued through a flood of tears and said; “He was a great man, and now he’s dead”.

I became fascinated with finding out who this man had been. I asked my uncle who I considered to be the smartest person I knew and he told me of Martin Luther King’s fight for civil rights; how Dr. King had followed Gandhi’s model of peaceful demonstrations. He told me of all the people black and white people alike who had stood by Dr. King’s side for the civil rights of all people.

April 4^th 1968 was the day I not only became politically aware, it was the day something within my very soul was awakened. I began to grasp the difference this man had made, the impact he had left as a legacy, not just for black people but for all people. That day I began to understand that one person can make a massive positive difference. That day as a naive 10 year old I decided that I wanted to have the same kind of massively powerful impact on humanity that Dr. King had had on humanity, including my mother a Jewish woman living in a place that might have been a million miles away.

I of course, had no idea how I could make that difference; and to be honest, it seemed impossible based on the “facts” of who I was and the environment that surrounded me. I just knew that day that something within me had changed and it would never be the same.

Many people have seen Dr. King’s message as a message about freedom for black people. To me, his message was much deeper than color or creed. It was about the understanding that we are all the same, that at a soul level we are all on a journey, and it’s important to remove the blocks to our spiritual, mental, and emotional evolution. Although we may perceive those blocks as being outside ourselves, the truth is that they would all instantly disappear if we would commit to removing the ones on the inside.

40 plus years ago something tragic happened, a great man, a man who will remain a giant, died. I still see some of the injustices he fought against. However, that tragic event gave birth to a flood of awaking and opportunities that has changed the world.

Dr. King’s message is, I believe, even stronger today than it was in the 60’s. Today is Martin Luther King day, it’s a day we can be sad for the loss of a great man, or a day we can rejoice for the difference he made that we benefit from, no matter what our colour or creed is. Martin Luther King the man is gone.  However, I believe it is the strength of our heart’s desire to become the magnificent beings we were born to be that keeps taking this world, (despite what the media feeds us), to a place of knowing, what I believe Dr King was trying to teach us… we are all one. Nothing, and I mean nothing, can separate us from the truth of who we truly are, not racial profiling, not extremists of any colour or religious belief, not even war. Because who we truly are is… A gift!

Remember this always:

You are a gift from the universe, and when you are truly willing to know it, you will become the gift to THE world that you were born to be.

When you let yourself truly know this, then it that moment you are, I believe, keeping Martin Luther King’s Dream Alive

Happy Martin Luther King Day.

Long live Dr. Martin Luther King, in all our hearts, minds, and actions.

Please feel free to reblog and share this post.

I look forward to your feedback and comments.

With gratitude,

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Former President Bill Clinton brought two freed U.S. journalists out of North Korea back to the USA on Wednesday, August 5th, following rare talks with reclusive leader Kim Jong-il.

President Obama, had a “friendly/thoughtful” conversation over beer at the White House with prominent Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, who is black, and police Sergeant James Crowley, who is white. Crowley had arrested Gates in his own home for disorderly conduct. President Obama inflamed the situation by saying he thought police “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates.  Obama’s approval rating is said to have fallen from 61 percent in mid-June to 54 percent now, in part due to his handling of the Gates-Crowley situation.

Paula Abdul dropped her online bombshell on Tuesday evening, August 4, 2009, right before season-nine auditions began in Denver. After seven years as a judge, Abdul announced that she’s quitting “American Idol”…And she did it over ‘Twitter.’

Now you may be asking: What do these things have in common and why should you even give a flying pizza slice anyway? While the first two issues involve political world leaders and the third a singing competition judge, you might be surprised to discover not only what they have in common but how these stories relate to you. So, come to the edge of your seat and put on your thinking cap.

Bill Clinton’s involvement in the release of those journalists to some may have seemed like political pandering to an out of control dictator. The Gates-Crowley-Obama situation may have seemed, (if you were just going by the photos) like three mates, who were somewhat over-dressed getting together for a pint of the cold stuff on a hot day.  And Paula Abdul leaving American Idol could easily seem like more of that flaky tinsel town drama.  Even so, let’s take a little deeper look…
Once again, let me be absolutely clear; I do not personally know any of these people and anything I say is completely judgmental, and I am doing nothing more than sharing a psychological/mind mastery perspective.

Let’s start with “Kim”: When you take the time to watch this man, to observe the footage that is available, what I think you will see is simply a child, an emotionally wounded boy screaming for attention.  He has become the bully in order to not get bullied. And to be honest, as off kilter as I think this guy might be, I like that he doesn’t give in to the big boys. He’s not the first to stand up to the big boys and say’ ‘back off, get your own sandwich.’ Sadly, Kim’s methodology is less than Gandhiesk.

So why send in Bill? Anyone who has ever seen the Clintonator in action has seen a man who commands the environment, Bill Clinton has a presence! As a somewhat side-bar: Have you ever seen that show ‘Super Nanny’? It’s one of those reality shows where they bring in an English nanny, Jo Frost, to handle out of control toddlers. Well, my guess is that they sent in Bill to be ‘super nanny.’

Now let’s go back to the ‘beer summit’ for a moment. Why would the Pres be hanging out in the White House garden having beers with a cop, a Prof and his VP, Joe Biden?  I don’t think any of us, even for a moment, believes that this was a beers and Bulls chat.  Obama could have called another press conference or called in a bunch of spin doctors that could pull a David Copperfield and make it all disappear.

Why did Paula announce she was quitting via some 140 character social media outlet? Wasn’t that rather rude? Well, when I tell you what these things have in common it will all make sense.

Each one of these seemingly unrelated announcements/events is connected through specific common bonds. Let me ask you: What do you have in common with everyone on the planet besides the obvious like; ‘we’re all humans?’ The answer is the same as to what bonded the three stories above…

Relationships!  Human beings are relational by nature.

In fact, when someone behaves in a way that seems ‘anti social’ we become concerned about them.

Relationships and how we do them, are in many ways the foundation on which we build every aspect of our lives.

When President Clinton went to speak with Kim Jong-il, it was because of the potential for something to change in the relationship between the US and North Korea. Yes, the journalists were freed, but the bottom line is that happened because of the level of communication skills produced by Clinton. It doesn’t matter whether we are Bill Clinton fans or not; the guy has a set of skills for delivering a message. Think about it, and this is not an anti Bush statement, just a note on communication and relationship building skills, can you imagine sending George into that situation? Well, you can fill in your own gaps on that.

The ‘beer summit’ was not about the relationship between Gates and Crowley or even Obama and Gates. No, this communication was about a relationship that is its romantic phase, the one between Obama and the American people. As with all romantic relationships, even as idealized as they appear, they are still tenuous…at any moment one of the lovers can be dropped like a hot potato. Obama is, I believe, smart enough to know that…

if you push an issue under the rug eventually the rug will fill the entire room with what’s not being dealt with.

His open communication style has to be seen to be consistent whether it’s between himself and the congress, he, Gates, and Crowley, or more importantly, between Obama and the American people.

Meanwhile, Paula Abdul has been the American Idol judge that many people love and probably just as many love to hate. Paula has always seemed to have an equally love-hate relationship with fellow judge Simon Cowell. Cowell’s style of communication is direct, confrontive, and often cutting.   Abdul’s is indirect, somewhat sugar coated, and she appears to dread conflict like the plague. How wonderfully non confrontational it must have been for Paula to be able to bow out of her position in 140 characters.

What all this comes down to is this; whether your name is Obama, Clinton, or Abdul: 

Your life is run by how well you run your relationships and your relationships will only run as well as your skills are at communicating. In order to have great communication skills you have got to know with absolute certainty what you are looking for in any given relationship.

I believe Obama knew exactly what he wanted as a consequence of the beer summit communication.  Clinton, and my guess Jong-il, would have known exactly what they wanted from their communication.   And although what Paula may have wanted was likely different than what the Presidents wanted, at some level she will have gotten what she needed.

What we all need to consider is that our lives are run by our relationships and the communication skills we use inside those relationships. If you don’t consciously choose what you want from any given interaction, it can and often will give you a result you may have preferred not to have gotten.

If you want to understand more of how the ego-mind is filtering and possibly limiting your communication skills, you can get a hold of my new book: “Don’t Read This…Your Ego Won’t Like It” at http://www.dovbaron.com/product.  However, if it’s relationship that you really want to understand take a look at QuantumSoulMates.com

I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Until next time, live with courage, Dov…

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Can We Honestly Judge the Judge?

President Obama nominated federal Appeals Court Judge, Sonia Sotomayor, to the U.S. Supreme Court, citing her “inspiring life story” and “distinguished career” in his decision.   Judge Sotomayor, 54, is now confirmed as the first Hispanic on the high court.  Congratulations to her. However, her ethnicity or anything else seems to me to be beside the point.

Whether we personally think she is right for the job or not, clearly this woman seems to know her stuff:  In 1997 Bill Clinton nominated Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  George H. W. Bush nominated her as a federal judge in 1991, a position that made Sotomayor the youngest judge in the Southern District of New York.

In the long and drawn out senate hearings, it seems like most of the controversy as to whether Judge Sotomayor was fit for the position was due to the fact that during a speech at the University of California at Berkeley, she said:

“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

Think about it: We tell ourselves not to judge, yet evaluation is a basic survival process.

To think that we can see things without the influence of our experience is nothing more than a ‘new age’ fantasy.

However, we can choose to evaluate each given moment on an individual basis.  Nonetheless, what we choose to see or do will be judged by others, (especially those who claim to be nonjudgmental) as judgmental.

To be clear:  I understand that the law is the law. I get that, or at least I would, if it were true… We are all aware of the high-powered individuals who have walked away from prosecution with little more than a slap on the wrist in comparison to the man or woman on the street who would have, for the same crime, ended up bunking with hardcore criminals.

Again, I understand that the senate wants to make sure a high court judge is without bias.  However, that is not and cannot be possible.

You see, we human beings, no matter how educated and objective we like to think we are, have a mind that records everything we experience. We have whatever experiences we have, and the ‘ego-mind’ then creates a set of filters, (beliefs) based on that experience and all too often the ego-mind will then distort all incoming information so that you see life as a reflection of that belief.

What I’m saying here is that yes, even judges ‘judge’ based on their experience, and although they must be guided and directed by the law, to expect even a high court judge to create a ‘personal experiential amnesia’ is ludicrous.  No mater what her ethnicity or life experience…  I’m not here to judge the judge, although I know I am like all the rest of us…judgmental.

If you want to understand more of how the ego-mind is filtering and possibly limiting your reality, you can get a hold of my new book: “Don’t Read This…Your Ego Won’t Like It” at http://www.dovbaron.com/product

I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Until next time, live with courage, Dov…

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