Tag: towson

The Magical Process of Becoming

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The total of our being (i.e., existence) is like the seed of a plant or a tree. Things that happen throughout the days are the rain of fertilizer that grows the twigs, leaves, flowers, and fruits. The fruits then bear seeds.

The most potent and remarkable fact is that even though we think about our being with the dichotomy thinking process (dividing one whole idea, thought, or concept into two separate and unrelated ideas), the actual happening is inseparable.

The process of becoming has no duality. In the fruits, there are seeds. Even though unseen, the seeds produce roots, stalks, and so on.

With particular and enough freedom, all of them grow plenty and lavishness. There is an abundance of continuity and discontinuity processes that is beyond discussion. It is abundant because the whole process is not void in time. The past and present together are welcoming and embracing the future. The total being is happening in one miraculous unfolding of life.

There is a reason why we need to just reflect on when the time has come. The total being manifests before us in real-time, causes and circumstances. All the happening always matters and has hidden and magical untold purpose and meaning.

DR. Rony Kusnadi, Ph.D., LCPC
Notable Life Counseling Services LLC

verified by Psychology Today

verified by GoodTherapy.org

Mantra for transformation

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Relax, close your eyes, and take a few deep breaths. Every breath helps you to sink more deeply into a quiet place inside yourself. This is the source of sacred tranquility. Now you can gently and passionately recite this mantra:

“I will discover a new image of myself that I have long longed for. My awareness tells me that I am indeed a part of this universe. I experience calm and healing. I trust myself more and more confident. I gently follow the inner guidance as I feel strong and courageous.

In a moment, I find out that I carry a sense of knowingness into the world. Amazingly, I can envision myself having more trust to be more focused within and surrender simultaneously. I begin to experience that my world is nourishing to myself and others.

I discover what I have created on the outside is much more beautiful and wonderful than I have ever thought because of this remarkable passion. My commitment to the universe is winsome.” Amen.

DR. Rony Kusnadi
Notable Life Counseling Services LLC

verified by Psychology Today

verified by GoodTherapy.org

The Power of Doubt & Distrust

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When the truth is told, you can experience trust, doubt, or distrust. The differences between doubt and distrust need to be explained.

Doubt and distrust are not the same. Many people get confused about them and think they are the same. No, they are not the same. Doubt is about uncertainty. It is unsure. It is about knowing something is happening but not knowing exactly what is happening. Distrust means condemning the whole thing. Worse, there is no willingness to open up or learn about such things. One has already made up his/her mind. There is a certainty or final decision in distrust.

Doubt could have multiple directions, such as toward positivity or negativity. One who has doubt with positive direction and being processed with positive belief systems will lead to the capability to see opportunities and grow—the possibility to experience a deep sense of wonder and awe that scents internal and external exploration.

Doubt with the support of the facts and the clarity of evidence will become reasonable doubt. Reasonable doubt powers the journey further, with confidence and a sense of purpose and responsibility.

Unreasonable doubt happens when doubt is processed by maladaptive thought processes, such as “All or Nothing Thinking,” “Overgeneralization,” and “Catastrophizing.” Through this negative processing, the doubt, now transforming into unreasonable doubt, becomes an existential distrust.

When one sees his/her life through this existential distrust lens, life could be a curse, a never-ending suffering, or a never-ending defeat and debacle—life is experienced as a continuous catastrophe, paralyzing and totally saddening. At this point, one has no way of stepping out of his/her discursive thoughts, no way of stepping out of his/her ego fixation and grasping because one is so caught up in that particular preoccupation.

The necessary intervention is needed when rendering doubt with lenses of maladaptive thought processing. Right then, with well-trained mindfulness practices, one can question the process of thinking, exploring the supporting and not supporting facts with rational evidence. Through this process, one needs to pause, stop, and breathe first while learning to let go of his/her preoccupied thoughts.

Furthermore, one needs to learn to take in his/her own pain and put his/her awareness into the rest of the world’s pain. Surprisingly, one will expand his/her knowledge and heart and further reinforce this noble gesture, leading him/her out from the preoccupation of negative thoughts and emotions.

What does this all mean? It is about how one can liberate his/herself from the potential of self-defeating thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.

DR. Rony Kusnadi
Notable Life Counseling Services LLC

verified by Psychology Today

verified by GoodTherapy.org

The mastery process to liberate

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The seeds of mindfulness can flourish when one has devoted time tirelessly and happily to prepare his/her internal rich soil. One needs to have the confidence to mastery that through certain attitudes and mental qualities, happy life will prevail. The acts of cultivating and nurturing, along with the rhythm of life, are necessary.

In this process, one purposefully is tilling the soil of his/her own mind to shape character. In this mastery process, one perfects clarity and certainty every day. The process becomes the source of compassion and the right actions, replacing the confusion and maligned thoughts. Endurance then becomes the key here to liberate. As the old saying said, “when you learn or/and practice to love your life, life will love you all the way.”
DR. Rony Kusnadi
Notable Life Counseling Services LLC

verified by Psychology Today

verified by GoodTherapy.org

Understanding the negative internal process

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The thoughts manifesting from the unsafe and unstable sense of self that yearns to be protected produce a deep affliction feeling. This affliction feeling has great tendencies to repeat the irrational fear, sadness, and anxiety — with repetition and compulsions, internal dynamics become a psychological and emotional disorder.

At that stage, one will try hard to defend him/herself against unwanted events and feelings. Furthermore, there will be a strong tendency to hold on to a certain fondness, which is maladaptive. Automatically the mind filters in only to the favorite ones. These conditions easily lead to overwhelming experiences of despair, anxiety, sadness, compulsions, and addictions.
DR. Rony Kusnadi
Notable Life Counseling Services LLC

verified by Psychology Today

verified by GoodTherapy.org

Bells and Robes

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Zen Master Unmon said: “The world is vast and wide. Why do you put on your robes at the sound of a bell?”

An old saying is that whatever comes in through the gates is foreign. The gates are the senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. We obey foreign commands if we decide, move, and act by the senses. In response to our environment, we feel pressured, are easily upset, and become nervous. This is one of the characteristics of modern life. But if one settles down firmly in one’s inner life, all actions, feelings, and deeds come from deep within. The unenlightened one does things because he must do them; the enlightened acts because he wants to. Freedom lies in the center of life — Zen Master Unmon points to the center.
[Zen Koans by Venerable Gyomay M. Kubose]

Vigil Mass The Nativity of the Lord 2020

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Vigil Mass—The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 89:4-5, 16-17, 27, 29; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:18-25

Totally Keeping Christ Within

Christmas EVE!
How magical it is!
Lights – Candles – Christmas songs/Melodies – Gifts – Families Gathering – Real Happiness! Passion!

Do you aware of the simplest meaning of Christmas!

It is to keep Christ in your heart!
It is to make your heart merciful and merry Christ-mas!

How sad we are if we only see the candles, the lights, hear the music, the songs from the carols, all the prayers and celebrations we have, if we cannot bring Christ into our hearts! If we cannot experience the story of salvation as the reality to change, to transform our lives!

I believe you are not part of people who are “taking “Christ” out of Christmas!”

Christmas is a time to refresh our minds and heart to re-experience God’s intervention into the history of mankind, the history of ours; to restore to the consciousness of life that we have true peace and joy in the forgiveness of sin and freedom from its bondage; to renew in the mind and memory, that Christ as our Savior, is always BE WITH us. Emmanuel. He will never abandon us, especially the ones who welcome HIS LORDSHIP in our lives.

Keep your Christ in your heart, totally!

The message of the angel: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife, into your home” is a free invitation to bravely open the heart’s door to cooperate with God’s plan. Joseph here became a key to letting human history be reversed by the only One who can reverse it. He did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary and the unborn baby into his home.

Remember, the Gospel has described Joseph as: “He was a just man.”
He was an ordinary person. He was just like Mary. Ordinary!

He was the one who was thinking to spare Mary; he betroths, and yet, was anxious about his reputation of hers. He was looking for the meaning of love and of justice. He was a man who had lots of compassion, forgiveness, and mercy in his heart, a real, genuine, and true gentleman who did not wish to embarrass or punish Mary when he discovered that she was pregnant. He was not hasty to judge or to react with hurt and anger. He totally expressed his love for Mary.

Joseph is an ordinary person. He is just like Mary. Ordinary, who kept his God in his heart totally! Which enabled him to let God penetrate his heart through his dream.

Now, the ordinary person received extraordinary messages!

Only by his total faith was he able to respond to it totally!

Remember: He was a just man! Like Mary, Joseph is a model of faith for us.

Today is Christmas EVE!
How magical it is!

Some of you have come alone tonight; others are with large families. Some of you made plans to be here, and some decided to come on a last-minute impulse. Some of you have had arguments with other family members about something. Some of you have been dragged here against your will. Some of you are mourning the loss of loved ones in the past… many, many of whom you and I remember well and miss very, very much tonight.

For those of you young, tonight is full of hope and anticipation; most of your Christmases are still in front of you. Older people are filled with memories of the Christmases past that will never come again. Some of you look forward to going home to heart, presents, and tree; others dread going home.

Remember, this is a magical night for whoever and whatever condition you are in.
This is learning to keep your re-born Christ in your heart totally! Don’t ever lose him again! Keep him in the most depth of your heart. Let your Christ incarnate tonight in your lives totally! Even when you are in a deep sleep this night.

Let us all celebrate this Christmas, not in a sentimental way. We are visiting Joseph and Mary and their newborn and becoming a part of their family. We do not sing a song or two but join the choir. We do not say a prayer or two but become persons of prayer. We do not exchange gifts, we more than share the gifts with the poor, but we advocate for the poor. We courageously enter the messy, painful, and dangerous, totally absorbing.

Today is Christmas EVE!
How magical it is!

Yeah, when our God enters human history, “in the flesh.”
And we keep our Christ totally in our hearts.

Merry Christ-mas!

Amen

DR. Kusnadi

Choices to view the passage of time

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Today probably will be great to be mindful of letting the time flow rather than wrestle with time. Actually, there are always choices to view the passage of time:

(1) It can be understood as critical. That will activate the amygdala brain dominated by fear and anxiety toward uncertainty and threats. This critical dynamic leads to evolving the maladaptive thought process (i.e., All or Nothing Thinking, Overgeneralization, Magnifying, Catastrophe, etc.). As a result, time is seen and experienced as a struggle against life. Life is frozen or trapped by these kinds of thoughts processing. The mind will race and spiral down into a depressed and anxious mood.

(2) It can be experienced as a gift to enjoy, create memorable moments, and recreate its meaning and purpose. It can be experienced as a hopeful imagination. Through these lenses, living in the present is enjoyable and full of passion. Moving forward to journey more and more, as to experience more absolutely blessed heart’s desire. Of course, a certain time frame needs to be followed, which leads to more trust and stronger faith. It is like seeing the fall season as a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can be.

This meditation leads to a new awareness of how the perspective toward the passage of time matters to creating the life we want.

DR. Kusnadi

verified by Psychology Today

verified by GoodTherapy.org

Attention & Intention

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There are countless ways to take shortcuts to accomplish things, leading to shame. Actually, there is an honorable way to accomplish things without following those shortcuts. By applying these two magical words in life, accomplishing becomes noble.

The first word is “attention.”

When the mind starts paying attention to something, the rest of the soul will direct the creative energy. The passion then will grow stronger miraculously. This is the moment when paying attention to the right things will empower and incredibly savor the experiences. In this time, one must be mindful to pay attention to the right heart’s desire.

The second word is “intention.”

The intention is born when the heart desires to act and start developing a SMART plan (i.e., Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timable).

This is the reason at the time the intention starts, wishful thinking no longer exists. Instead of being passive, vague, and diffused, intention makes creative movements. Intention holds commitment dearly to do the heart’s desire, and magically will always find amazing ways to make a dream come true. Through the process, life becomes alive affectionately, devotedly, and happy. It is a Notable life.

DR. Kusnadi

verified by Psychology Today

verified by GoodTherapy.org

The yearning and the transforming desire

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This is the key to understanding the healing path:

The heart’s aching measures how much the soul has strayed away from its calling. In other words, there is an existential yearning within. That yearning is necessary because it helps to measure the distance one has traveled (i.e., physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually). Then that will be the moment to understand profoundly the meaning of that yearning.

The questions are, what to do when things seem to fall apart or break down? How to see the healing path when the soul cannot see the possibilities?

Those questions lead to a new understanding of starting the standstill condition.

It is time to imagine being surprised by something better than things that seem impossible. Remember to honor your wishes. Let the imagination invites the Devine Spirit to bring back the existential dreams with all their necessary support. Let things flow and let the Universe works on it too. Feel the desire and fascination with images that excite and motivate. The most significant is to allow the awakening moment to transform daily and be thankful. Amen.

DR. Kusnadi

verified by Psychology Today

verified by GoodTherapy.org