Inspiring the Altruistic Moment

Maybe you are striving to find a level of happiness and an experience of contentment that are both more intense and more lasting. Or maybe you are yearning to find "true love" or discover your "life purpose." Despite the efforts of psychologists, scientists, preachers and "self help gurus" over the last several centuries, billions of us are still searching for these elusive goals in vain ...

And yet, our lives can be more Meaning-filled. Despite the temptation to be superficially "productive", we can choose to appreciate those things with which we have already been blessed. Despite the yearning to worry about the future, we can choose to celebrate the joys and wonders of our present moments. Despite the desire to extend kindness only to our friends, we can choose to care for strangers and our enemies as well. The choice to live selflessly, while a challenging one, is available to us all in every moment of our lives. And it is the purpose of (i)am to help make that choice an easier one for you to make.

The expanded definitions of this web site's title serve to deepen its central themes. Webster's dictionary defines Inspiring as "awakening", "having an exalting effect upon" and "stimulating to creative activity."* ... Altruistic is explained to be "an uncalculated devotion to others' interests [often at the expense of one's own desires]"* ... Moment is clarified as "an instant in the present time", "the tendency to produce motion about an axis" and "a timeless point of decision when a person freely enacts his or her relationship to eternity." * Inspiring the Altruistic Moment intends to make all these definitions a reality for you and yours by offering a website that is filled with interactive possibilities for a personal reawakening of your True Self.

A sense of Inner Peace can be experienced by every one of us in every moment of our lives, and every page herein is dedicated to making such a personal transcendence both effective and immediate. In the Wisdoms page, there are interactive tools that enable you to re-member your own Way to Peace ... In the Writings page, there are downloadable publications that can deepen the comprehension of your own personal Truths ... In the Workshops page, there are postings of places and times where the author &/or co-facilitators of this site will be sharing (i)am material in presentations, seminars or workshops (always for free!) ... You can also keep up-to-date with the author's current musings in the site's Blog page ... Finally the Bio, Logo and FAQ's pages each serve to further clarify the principles that found this site; the same principles that can serve as a source of liberation for your own renewed sense of Joy & Peace as well!

Finally, as the primary purpose of (i)am is to foster a rebirth of Community, I would be honored if you were to contact me with any comments, questions or suggestions you might have. You have unique gifts to share with the Universe, and also a highly personal path to tread to re-awaken those gifts. It is my Soul-desire that you might cease striving to "find the meaning of life" and instead commence with the practical living of a Life that is Meaning-full -- and it is my sole intention that this web site be a powerful tool that enables you to do just that!

*Webster's New International Unabridged Dictionary (1986).

Calling your Calling

Traditionally, "inspiration" is understood to be a form of persuasion; a means used to get others to either do something particular or become a certain kind of person. As far as (i)am is concerned, there is no attempt to criticize, judge, suggest, advise or guide you in any way. Rather, this website is intended to inspire you to "awaken"* the innate knowledge of your own perfect way back to living as your True Self; to merely shine a light upon that road - a path that only you can tread.

Indeed, there is no "better way" to re-enliven your potential to live as a Human Being, and no one else can ever effectively tell you what to do or how to do it in order to re-actualize that potential. And yet, there are certain ideals and practices that others have used to attain Peace-full results; ideals that might bring you closer to experiencing true Inner Peace, and practices that might enable you to live more powerfully.

And this is why this website uses the term "inspiring" in its title; wishing not to lead you anywhere, but rather to "have an exalting effect upon"* the path you are already treading. I wish not to teach you anything new, but merely to remind you of what you already know; thereby "stimulating [you] to creative activity."* For it is only the self-sought Soul that is re-actualized, and it only is the self-chosen road that is truly traversed.

So, happy trails, my Friends ...

Happy trails in-deed!

*definition of "inspiring", from Webster's New International Unabridged Dictionary (1986)

Genuinely Generous Giving

Traditionally, "giving" refers to the act of transferring something from one person to another, where the giver "loses" the given item and the receiver "gains" the same. Believing this, many people spend enormous amounts of energy futilely striving to maintain a "balance" of give and take in their lives; to make sure they are not "unfairly used" by others; to obtain those things in life to which they feel entitled. Indeed, it is the blind adherence to this philosophy that forms the foundation of much of the world's suffering, and it is this philosophy that reflects the opposite of (i)am's understanding of "altruism". Where society in general focuses on both giving and receiving, (i)am centers its focus upon giving to others selflessly, with no thought of receiving anything at all in return.

While it is not for me to encourage you to practice giving in any certain manner, it is my intention to re-mind you how powerful your opportunities to give can become. The most potent generous act is the one that gives more than is expected, without a desire for reimbursement, in times of personal dis-ease and to those deemed "least deserving." Giving more than is expected assures that your generosity will not be tainted by others' hopes or feelings of entitlement. Giving without the desire for personal reward assures that your generosity will be witnessed as such. And giving in times of personal distress to those deemed "least deserving" radically enhances the effectiveness of that generosity - because the more difficult an act is to engage, the more powerful it becomes.

While it is not required that you perfectly embody (i)am's definition of giving to experience its benefits, the more perfectly your actions reflect this standard, the more effective your giving will become -- and the more Inner Peace you will experience as a result. This is the embodiment of (i)am's pure altruism; an "uncalculated devotion to others' interests"* available to you in every instant of your life.

*definition of "altruistic", from Webster's New International Unabridged Dictionary (1986)

Being Here, Now

Initially, while your lifetime may seem to be a linear stream of time composed of a certain number of years (or months, or days, or minutes, or seconds), in actuality it is composed of millions upon millions of separate moments; each interrelated and yet completely independent from one another. Each second of our lives is viable in and of itself; "an instant in the present time"*, and as such does not need to be compared to the consequences of your past choices or the worries over your future ones.

Focusing on your past leads to either regret over what should have happened or hope for a repeat of what did; both of which dis-empower the choices available to you in your present moment. Similarly, focusing on your future leads either to worry over pain that might come or an eventual disappointment over the joys that arrive differently than those hoped for. And both of these sap the power from your present time as well. On the other hand, if you engage each moment as an independent blessing (while acting for the betterment of others), your life becomes powerful and you "tend to produce motion about an axis"*-- the axis that is your Soul.

Your conscience only truly "lives" when actualized in the Here&Now. Joy only exists when actualized in the Here&Now. Peace only thrives when embodied in the Here&Now. And the Here&Now can only be purely enlivened when regret, fear, nostalgia, yearning, hope and expectation are replaced by acts of courageous kindness. It is then and only then that your life's moments become "timeless points of choice where [you] freely enact [your] relationship to eternity,"* and thereby Joy-fully experience the Inner Peace that comes when you are acting selflessly for others without care or worry.

Fortunately, to experience such Bliss, it is not required that you continually choose this level of awareness. It is only necessary that you do so for one instant at a time; repeating that choice as often as you wish.

*these definitions of "moment", from Webster's New International Unabridged Dictionary (1986)

A Deeper Sense of Calm

Traditionally, "inner peace" is commonly related to the search for "true happiness." It is also used to describe a state of pure contentment, absolute calm or lasting comfort. Of course, like so many of the terms conventionally associated with "attaining enlightenment", (i)am has quite a different appreciation for the "heaven" of Inner Peace.

Initially, (i)am's Inner Peace exists only in the present moment - in every present moment. Secondly, though it has little to do with our mundane experiences of physical and mental pleasure, the experience of pure Inner Peace is an ecstasy beyond ecstasy; contentment and bliss rolled into one. While difficult to verbally explain (and almost impossible to mentally comprehend), it remains a Truth that is very simple to experience. And it is one of the primary missions of (i)am to make this experience a more readily accessible one.

It is important to note that (i)am's Inner Peace is not a place to go or a shift in personality to attain. Rather, it is a moment-to-moment State of Being that must be perpetually renewed by the choices made in any given instant. Just as important, if the attainment of Inner Peace for yourself is your goal, then that Peace cannot ever come to you in any potent form. True contentment is not a self-centered experience of pleasure, true calm is not an inactive state of being, true Self-Knowledge is not an intellectual pursuit, and true comfort has little to do with the experience of physical ease. While there is nothing wrong with pleasure, calm, self-knowledge or comfort, none of these self-centered goals can bring you the raw bliss that comes from the experience of true Inner Peace - a Contentment that comes only in those moments when you choose to act selflessly for the betterment of others (especially in those moments when you least desire to do so).

Inner peace is commonly defined as "a mental condition marked by a freedom from disquieting thoughts*" ... Some equate it to living in harmony with our surroundings, while others feel that it reflects the times when we have little or no negative stress (a.k.a. fear) in our lives. Regardless of your personal definition thereof, inner peace is hardly a "norm" in these turbulent times. Nations are at war, members of different religions are condemning each other, companies are competing viciously for profits, we are seemingly surrounded by people who annoy or criticize us, and even our own minds are constantly temtping us to fulfill selfish desires and/or avoid self-centered worries ...

And yet, it has been my personal experience over the last five+ years that there is another way to Be; that even though this discordance is "normal" in our everyday lives, it is anything but natural. And this is the ultimate purpose of this website: to provide you with tools you can use to realign your life with a more peace-full, natural state of Being. Indeed, there seem to be no other words that so perfectly identify the ultimate intention of this website: to bring you "Inner Peace" - to bring you back into a state of internal calm; a harmonious state of awareness that will allow you to re-member your true nature as a selflessly compassionate being.

And the term "re-member" is truly key to comprehending what is meant here, as it is not enough to simply intellectually "understand" the (i)am material. The "Inner Peace" to which I refer does not come from logical thought or emotional prayer or intense visualization (though these are beneficial practices on the path towards Inner Peace). Rather, in my personal experience, true Inner Peace comes only when one has the courage to actually apply these principles to everyday life with acts of selfless service and/or radical kindness ... In each moment of life that we choose to practice selfless kindness, we create a powerful force for Peace in the world, and thereby experience a deep-seated Inner Peace ourselves.

"There is no way to Peace... Peace is the Way." ~ M. Gandhi

*Webster's 3rd New International Unabridged Dictionary (1986)