Jennifer Ariel Page Table of Contents

• Spiritual Autobiography
• Spiritual Bibliography
• Holistic Web Links

Do you feel the energy from this picture?
Just kidding, this is just me eating a bagel!

A Spiritual Autobiography

I was born into a Reform Jewish family. My mother lit the Shabbat candles every Friday, I had peanut butter jelly on matzo for Passover, received presents for 8 nights on Hanukah, and always had to wear my uncomfortable shoes to temple for the High Holy Days. I didn't understand much more about the Jewish religion, even after my Bat-Mitzvah and subsequent confirmation. However, of what I did know, I objected.

In school, I learned about the Holocaust, the Crusades, pogroms and the Inquisition. I was convinced that organized religion was to blame. I spoke to the spirit above my head when I lay down at night. It felt consoling and personal. I called it God and I felt it was the silent witness to my life and understood my deepest self. I knew God existed and I didn't need someone to tell me all his rules. I had an instinctive sense that God loved me and that I didn't need to jump through hoops to be loved; only be a good person. That sense prevailed throughout my life. I devoted my life to making this world a better place. I know the value of a smile, a greeting, of seeing beauty in people and helping them see it themselves. When I'm feeling scared that I'm not connecting, I ask God to be with me and I find myself more lucid and calm.

I had a turbulent childhood and I remember praying everyday that I would be imbued with magical powers, or that I could meet a friendly ghost, like Casper, who would watch-over and protect me. I became fascinated with stories of poltergeist and hauntings. Later on, my readings led me to study past-life regression, like The Search for Bridey Murphy and mystic spiritual books like The Sorcerer's Crossing, written by a female "colleague" of Carlos Castaneda.

I had an uncle, with more liberal spiritual views than my parents. He introduced me to Zen Buddhism when I was a teenager. This led the groundwork for my studying Eastern religions in college, and later meditating at a local zendo. This path soon led me to a Japanese woman who practiced a type of Buddhism in which one repeatedly chants the law of karma, in order to actualize one's life potential.

My Buddhist friend was very spiritually eclectic, and introduced me to flower essences, crystals, and Reiki. Reiki resonated with me immediately. With Reiki, I could viscerally feel God. When I received Reiki, I felt life force energy coarse through my physical and spiritual bodies. When I give Reiki, my hands become hot, I feel warm and flushed, and when I'm done, I feel as if my client and I are momentarily existing in a spiritual dimension that is about a half-step above physical reality.

I believe that God is life force energy, and that we are all connected to this and can tap into the source with clear intention. I define "clear intention" as making a statement to the universe of one's desires, with a mind that is free from judgment, expectations, anger, fear, or general chaos. I don't believe one has to be purely clear to manifest one's desires, but that the more clear one is, the more likely one's message will be received as transmitted.

One of my current struggles is that my husband is an atheist. Paradoxically, he's one of the most spiritual people I know. Even though he calls himself an atheist, I argue that he simply has the wrong connotations about God, because of his hypocritical religious upbringing. His behaviors consistently satisfy my most important spiritual criteria; he loves and respects nature and animals, he's kind to strangers, empathic and compassionate.

He delights in nature, is an environmental activist, and always tries to convince me to camp without a tent (he himself slept outside three whole years). He loves my animals (although slightly allergic), and will walk my dog unsolicited. He greets strangers passing in the park, approaches anyone holding a map in New York City and asks if they need help with directions, and gives a percentage of his small salary to charity. He is so attuned to energy, that he knows I'm upset before I do. He cries freely when sad, laughs loudly when delighted and strives for greater emotional clarity.

The reason why this point is so important to me is that there are so many people that proclaim their piety and are actually selfish and cruel. I feel sorrow that the name of God has become sullied by daily blasphemy and betrayal.

For the moment, I am content to know that energy is real and anyone can feel it. I believe people instinctively know the difference between someone motivated by love, versus power. I feel that my task as a social worker, will be to help people to clear their psychic cupboards enough to find the God glowing within themselves. I believe that this light will intrinsically attract others who are shining with this light themselves. The more people who are turned on to the connectedness between themselves and God, themselves and other people, with animal, and with nature, the closer we will come to heaven on earth.

However, I don't believe God desires heaven on earth; there's enough heaven when we die. I believe that we are all willing participants in this mortal diorama, so that we as aspects of God, may experience the pain of duality that aids us in our spiritual evolution. I believe that the other world is a place of pure consciousness, where one's beliefs are instantly manifested into reality (thus the belief that we create our own hell).

Earth is the playing field where spiritual beings may experience pain, in order to feel pleasure and sadness in order to truly understand joy. These are God's gifts to the universe. In a state of pure connectedness to God, we would not know anything but love -- therefore, we would not know what love was. A simple metaphor I can think of to explain this phenomenon is waking up after a good night's sleep and feeling refreshed. It's a lovely feeling when the sun is shining, it's a new day, and one feels energized and ready to meet the morning. Conversely, this event would mean nothing, if one were never tired, or if night never fell.

At this point in my life, I thank God I am more integrated with my spiritual self and have the opportunity to turn my gifts into tools to assist other souls on their evolution.

Peace, Namaste, Shalom.

Spiritual Bibliography

Book / Author

11:11 Inside the Doorway / Solara
Amazing Real Life Coincidences / Douglas Colligan
Be Here Now / Ram Dass
Being-In Dreaming / Florinda Donner
Celestine Prophesy / James Redfield
Conversations with God / Neale Donald Walsh
Creative Visualization / Shakti Gawain
Dreams / Carl Jung
Kryon / Lee Carroll
Living Your Dreams / Gail Delaney
Long Quiet Highway / Natalie Goldberg
Many Lives, Many Masters / Brain Weiss
Reiki Fire / Frank Arjava Petter
A Return to Love / Marianne Williamson
Revolution from Within / Gloria Steinem
Sources of Indian Tradition / Ainslie T. Embre
Talking with Nature / Michael J. Roads
The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries / Z. Budapest
The Kirlian Aura / Stanely Krippner and Daniel Rubin
The People of the Lie / M. Scott Peck
The Road Less Traveled / M. Scott Peck
The Sorcerer's Crossing / Taisha Abelar
The Work of this Moment / Toni Packer
What Tom Sawyer Learned From Dying / Sidney Saylor Farr
You Can Heal You Life / Louise Hay

Holistic Links:

Analysis and Solutions Company
I highly recommend the Analysis and Solutions Company for their creative and efficient web design. Ask for Daniel Convissor. His explanations were clear and concise. Daniel was helpful and very patient, and just a super nice guy. I also commend Dan for his commitment to community and environmental activism. Check out his home page too for great articles and links. He's a very interesting man and his website is a wealth of good information. Check it out especially if you're interested in biking! Daniel Convissor's Home Page

Barefoot Boogie
I can't say enough about the Barefoot Boogie. If you love to dance, but think cigarette smoke on the dance floor is sacrilegious, you need to check out the Barefoot Boogie. They are a smoke-free, alcohol-free, drug-free dance collective and part of the non-profit organization, Dance New England. This is such an incredible place to go and reconnect with your essential self. Nobody judges, stares, or scams on you. It can be just you and your body, and your energy moving and expanding. If you want to be social, there's the opportunity to connect with some really wonderful, open-minded people. This dance is for all ages, sexual orientations, and races. It's a great way to meet good, healthy people and build community in the city.

Bloodroot
Bloodroot is an awesome feminist bookstore and vegetarian restaurant right by the Long Island Sound in Bridgeport, CT. You can travel there via MetroNorth's New Haven line. It's about 3 miles from the Bridgeport MTA station. When I went, my husband and I rode our bikes from the station to Bloodroot. On the way back, we stopped to watch the waves, the seagulls bomb the rocks with clams, and collect beach glass and smooth rocks. The delicious brunch, friendly service, interesting bookstore and ecclectic ambiance where topped only by the natural beauty of Bridgeport's waterfront.

The Children's Storefront School
Looking for a great, independent elementary-middle school in Harlem to give your donations of money and/or school supplies to? If so, please check out The Children's Storefront. The school was created by the vision and guidance of poet Ned O'Gorman. Ned O'Gorman left the Storefront in 1999 and begin a Montessori- type pre-school in another storefront in Harlem. Since then, the school's refined its mission to include attention to academic excellence and have strived to interweave this with their perennial goal of creating and maintaining a nurturing school environment where parents, teachers, children and adminsitration grow together as individuals, families, and as a community.

Clean Sweep
The ultimate non-Staples source for office supplies! I love them because they have an intensive supply of recycled paper products, and offer free shipping for orders over $40. I get all my recycled composition books from them.

Clearwater
Come and check out how Clearwater is helping to clean up the Hudson River. Help them out and maybe one day you can sail on the sloop!

Directory of Reiki Practitioners / Therapists.
A resource list of Reiki trainers, educators, health professionals, therapists and counselors.

Dr. Goodpet
Homeopathic remedies for your furry loved ones.

Good Vibrations
Talking about sex...oh, we weren't were we? Alas, when you think sex, think Good Vibrations! This female founded and run business add a personal touch to the "adult industry".

Greyston Zen Foundation
I couldn't do this organization justice with a few line description on its merits. Please click their link and see how Bernie Glassman and friends have brought an oasis of peace and healing to downtown Yonkers.

International Center for Reiki Training. This is William Rand's official Reiki site. They are a great resource to see Reiki news in mainstream sources, obtain Reiki related products, and find comprehensive reports done on Reiki around the world.

The Kryon Message Board
Lee Carroll channels an entity called Kryon. Kryon has fascinating insights about the state of the world, humanity, and the universe. This message board is devoted to sharing messages from different people throughout the globe, who are interested in manifesting peace and healing. Ask a thoughtful question; get many a thoughtful response.

The Kushi Institute
Learn more about how healthy eating can change your mind, body, spirit and the world.

MetroNorth Railroad
Leave your car at home and take the train! You can chill and read instead of stress and get stuck in traffic. You can be one less polluter on the highway. You can save our natural resources by not wasting fossil fuels. Any other reasons? Check here for schedule information and have a safe trip.

The Omega Institute
Omega is a wonderful center for a summer retreat. I highly recommend going up there for some serious R&R, to take a course, or attend a workshop. Topics they cover include holistic health, psychological development, spiritual practice, the arts, relationships, work/culture/society, and sports. Their food is delicious it's hard to believe it's healthy. There's a lovely lake to sit by and swim in, and great grounds to stroll through. You'll have ample opportunity to meditate, and release the worries of our everyday world. The chill vibe there is palpable.

New York Open Center
The New York Open Center is a center for holistic studies in the heart of Manhattan. This is an oasis and you should definitely check it out if you haven't already.

Positive Press
Get positive news and a new inspiring quotation everyday.

Real Goods For every eco-conscious home and green gift idea, see them first!

Wainwright House
The Wainwright House is the oldest, non-profit, nonsectarian holistic educational center in the United States. The Wainwright House, a gorgeous old mansion, modeled directly after a French chateau, is right on the Long Island Sound, in Rye, New York. It's a great place to take a class, attend a workshop, yoga class, or discussion group. Or just go to enjoy the serenity of impressive natural environment and enjoy the peace of this sacred place.

WFUV Radio Station
WFUV is a member supported radio station. Therefore there are no commercials and they actually play quality music and not what their corporate sponsors tell them to play. They rock.

Dar Williams' Web Site
I love Dar Williams for her poetic and political lyrics. She can express something deep and complex in a line. That combined with her expressive guitar and other orchestration, her music is incredibly moving. Catch her live if you can. She has a very youthful, fun energy and is very down to earth. One quotation that exemplifies her style: "Way back where I come from/we never mean to bother/ we don't like to make our problems other people's concern/ so we walk in the world of safe people/ and at night we walk into our houses and burn." ("Iowa" from Mortal City)

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