The Signals of Life Part I

The year was 1972. I was driving home from a teacher's meeting. Traffic was unusually heavy for so late in the day. Apparently an accident had backed up traffic on the main route and on all the side streets as well.

I was very tired. I wanted to get home... to dinner and bed. With everyone else, I inched along, tasting in my mind the spaghetti I knew would be waiting for me.

Suddenly, from out of nowhere, an old green Pontiac cut right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes.

I wanted to tell the driver off, but then I noticed it was a young woman with two small children, and I thought of my two small children at home. And, besides, I didn't have the energy. Instead, I just gripped the wheel tighter and swore under my breath.

After another ten minutes in the snail parade, I began to move a bit faster. But not for long. The Pontiac lurched forward and stalled, and I could clearly see the kids fighting in the back seat and the mother yelling at them over her shoulder. She had more than she could handle.

"Great," I thought. "First she cuts me off and now she blocks me."

In a cloud of black exhaust, the old clunker finally started, so off we went.

To say I was frustrated, tired, and starving when I reached my turnoff would be an understatement.

Much to my horror, the Pontiac headed for the same exit.

I swallowed hard as I caught a glimpse of the green light at the bottom of the off-ramp. It was my first moment of hope in over an hour. I might get home before I died of old age!

As the Pontiac moved through the light, a red pickup careened through its red light, hit the Pontiac broadside, and bulldozed the twisted wreckage for nearly a hundred feet, stopped finally by a cement wall.

The mangled mass burst into flames instantly.

No one had a chance.

Suddenly, I wasn't hungry or tired or frustrated or angry.

I was frozen at the wheel.

I felt the blood drain from my face, when, at the very same moment, I felt a strange altered state consume me. I then realized I was rising out of my seat -- levitating, without any effort whatsoever... right through the car roof... into the night sky!

I was leaving the car, yet, strangely, I could see clearly that my physical self still sat, ashen and stunned, behind the wheel.

How could this be?

Talk about your disorienting moments!

I became vaguely aware of car horns in the distance as other drivers, too far back to know what had happened, took out their frustrations with more delay.

By now, the signal had changed from green to yellow to red and back to green a half dozen times, yet time seemed to stand still.

Drivers now were getting out of their cars and approaching the flaming debris that, several minutes earlier, had been a beat up old green Pontiac, a red pickup, and four people.

I hovered above the flames in my etheric body for what seemed like an eternity, feeling helpless and yet resigned to the reality of the flames.

In those few seconds of dismay, I distinctly heard a voice. It said, "There is nothing you can do here, but there is much you can do because you have been here." And then came the simple, profound statement, "Remember: Waste no experience!"

I accepted the statements matter-of-factly as if I experienced this sort of thing everyday!

It would be months before I would realize the profound impact.

By the time I fully returned to my white-knuckled hands, which were still gripping the steering wheel, sirens screamed in the distance.

Unconsciously, I started my car and drove away. It was obvious to me, even in that dazed state, that there was nothing I could do. Many witnesses to the accident were still on the scene.

I didn't tell my wife or anyone else about what had happened... not because I was still numb, but because I was not sure what really had happened!

It was not until several months later, after numerous meditations, that I began to realize the importance of the experience. I began to piece together the details, to re-trace the hours of the critical day; I even traced unrelated events back further in my life. I began to see the wreck and every event, for that matter, from a different perspective, in a different light. Everything began to take on a symbolic significance.

I followed the advice from the mysterious, mystical voice: I did not waste the traumatic experience or any other experience from that moment on.

Immediately, I realized that religion had lost its meaning. Formal education had lost its meaning. The rules I lived by lost their meaning, if they ever had any.

In short, I began unlearning all that I had assumed about surviving in a world that was confusing, competitive, and dangerous.

Surprisingly, perhaps, I never felt much sorrow for the innocent victims of the blazing inferno. The event became such a great lesson -- and moment of personal transformation -- even the people involved assumed a more important role than "poor victims."

The woman who drove up my blood pressure, the children who fought constantly in the back seat, even the drunk driver in the red pickup provided the basis for what was to become a whole new system of understanding life and making decisions: the Signal System.

As I monitored my life and other's, I realized that the Universe is always giving us signals related to safety and danger. Further, I realized that, through signals, the Universe tries to lead us towards happiness and fulfillment.

Reflecting on the Pontiac incident, not only did I see how I had been getting messages all day about being "off track," I also realized that the messages were getting stronger and stronger until I had to pay attention. I was stressed, hungry, and tired as a direct result of not listening to the mounting messages about rushing, ignoring feelings of hunger, and even staying later at school than I needed to. Then came the fatal crash! Why wasn't I the one killed?

I asked myself over and over why I was spared. Why was an innocent woman, two children, and another man killed? I came to understand that they, too, had been getting warning messages that day and perhaps for many days, weeks, even months before the crash. It was more their "wake-up call" than mine, but I could benefit from it. My signal was of much less intensity than theirs, and it was not too late for me.

I was then able to see the woman driver as a Messenger sent by Guidance to deliver one of the most powerful message of my life.

Further, I realized that the way a person sees something (perception) is all that separates a happy person from a miserable one. I had been miserable driving home, yet I had everything. Then after the tragedy, I was no longer tired or stressed and nothing in my life had changed... and I still had everything.

What could account for the change in my state of mind except for a change in perception? From that moment on, I saw everything differently and saw more and more clearly the secret suffering of humanity.

Secret Suffering

The vast majority of people in "civilized" societies live lives of "quiet desperation." They live each day out of their egos in great stress, hoping for some kind of results, afraid of not getting results,... and afraid of getting them; controlling, manipulating, and ending each day in anger and frustration.

Most people struggle through each day fearing the unknown, fearing failure, fearing success, fearing not being perfect in the eyes of others, feeling guilt and shame, rehearsing conversations, reviewing and re- reviewing conversations... over and over and over. No wonder so few have ever experienced Peace of Mind in the Now Moment.

Childhood abuse and nurturing deprivation, along with the taboo against self-love and the pressure to succeed -- to get ahead and win at all costs -- combine to create adults who go through their whole lives feeling sad, mad, and bad!

The messages from virtually every direction in society blind most individuals to a saner, easier way of living... a way that replaces black and white thinking, over-reaction, and poverty consciousness.

Everyday we are bombarded with the results of this reality: rising crime rates, fascination with violence, depression, addictions, negativity, judgment, anxiety, and self-abuse.

We find a clue to a better way, a saner way, of living in a simple children's instructional poem about crossing the street. Through it, children are taught to use their eyes and ears to assess safety. They are told to look and listen before proceeding.

The aware person -- the Master -- knows that the advice is not limited to crossing the street. The meaning extends into every aspect of life.

The rhyme does not say "Be preoccupied with what others think about you crossing the street," or "Worry about what you will do after you cross the street," or "Beat the other kids to the other side of the street."

No.

It tells us all how to be in the Informational Now.

The poem also carries a metaphysical message to all of us as we cross the "streets of life." A street, after all, is an energy flow within specific boundaries. We sometimes move with the energy and sometimes we cross it. Moving with or crossing energy flows such as traffic, requires caution through observation in the Now.

One way, according to the poem, that we can be observant and safe is to use our eyes and ears -- our senses. Our full perceptual range (intuition, sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell) informs us of danger and safety on literal and figurative levels.

When we travel with, across, or against traffic, traffic signals provide the vital information that we depend on to survive.

Ignoring red lights or running red lights is willful, reckless, and dangerous!

How do we run red lights? By ignoring a gut feeling that says, "NO!" By justifying or rationalizing something we see or hear about a person we are spending time with.

How do we miss red lights? By being preoccupied with thoughts... by thinking life instead of living life.

Missing green lights is just as dangerous as missing red lights. Standing still at a green light blocks the flow of traffic and misses favorable options.

Interestingly, traffic studies show that drivers speed up when they approach yellow lights, rather than slowing down and proceeding with extreme caution.

The individual playing "Beat the Clock" speeds up at yellow lights.

A billboard on the Pennsylvania Turnpike says, "STAY AWAKE, STAY ALIVE." The meaning extends far beyond the highway. Like red, green, and yellow lights, the meaning applies to life itself.

When we ignore the signals that are meant to guide and protect us, delivered by our Guides / Angels, we take our chances with whatever is coming at us or crossing our path. And we risk losing our Guides since they tolerate ignorance and willfulness only so long.

Staying awake means using all senses all the time. This is, in effect, a practical sensuality. It means being alert to all signals at all times in all situations under all circumstances and conditions. It means fully participating in each now-moment of life; letting everything be a full experience for the information, learning, and aliveness it provides. Thus, living in the Now is guaranteed. It is part of "showing up" and forms the basis of a creative action plan.

Divine Healing Action is automatically always at work in the Now. This is the energy that many call "God." This means that every being who is in the Now, is automatically moving towards healing. This Cosmic Energy works ceaselessly in establishing, reestablishing, and maintaining balance and wellness.

For the scientifically minded, this also means that healing is the highest probability unless blocked by on- going negative emotions, negative thoughts, shallow breathing, poor nutrition, etc.

On the physical level, we see evidence of this tendency in two of the five major functions of the human brain: balance, healing, survival, simplification, and creation.

Life is a biofeedback system.

Guides speak to us through signals; this includes hunches, intuitions, "gut" feelings, etc.

The natural tendency of Mother Nature is wellness, balance, homeostasis, healing, ease, and happiness.

Mother Nature sends us Guides to lead us towards wellness, balance, homeostasis, healing, ease, happiness.

Success in life can be seen as doing more of what works and less of what doesn't.

Successful people simply follow the signals to success.

Success is based on clear observation of signals.

A goal of humanity is sensuality. To be sensual is to use all six senses fully at all times.

Our senses give us contact with the world and with our Guidance. Sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell and intuition all contribute important information, vital to our safe passage through life.

At all times, people, places, events, situations, and circumstances are giving us signals that we must heed to live sanely, simply, and successfully.

Decision-making can be as simple as recognizing needs and getting back signals: Needs + Signals = Decisions.

The Law of Conservation dictates that we find the most efficient way to live.

The "Four R's" establish a foothold for disease: Rushing, Resisting, Resenting, Regretting.

The "Four R's" cause us to miss signals

Living -- as opposed to merely surviving -- requires understanding of self and others.

Everyone needs to trust him or her self to be happy and free of distress.

Most people reach adulthood with distrust at the core of their unhappiness.

Most are raised with little demonstration of trust or lessons in it.

Religions are meant to provide a bridge to self-trust but fail this responsibility miserably.

The Signal System has proved that it can take a person from confusion, worry and distrust, to Trust of Self through a practical and provable partnership with the Universe.

continue to Signals Part II

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