Easter means AWAKENING to me

Easter means AWAKENING to me

By Wafa Faith Hallam

March 27, 2016

As Easter approached I kept thinking of what it really meant.  I kept thinking that what Jesus really wanted his flocks to retain from it was quite different from what the religious doctrine named after him, which was stuck in ancient thinking, continued to preach.

Easter, the most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  But what is Resurrection, if not Rebirth?  What is it for us today if not AWAKENING to our Higher Self, our Pure Consciousness?

On television in the last few days, the constant depiction of Jesus’ suffering and the fixation on his crucifixion and sacrifice are the fundamental message:  Jesus accepted his horrific death because he wanted to show men the extent of God’s love.  His suffering was not only to establish a new Covenant between God and his people, but to absolve the whole of humanity and not just a select few from their sin. And their sin was their belief that they were separate from God and not one with him. That the bloodied Cross became the symbol of the faith is telling.  And yet, Jesus never once spoke of himself as being the Crucifixion.

His words were “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

Even though I am not a Christian, and not a scholar of the Holy Scriptures, I see Jesus as one of the greatest embodiments of God’s Love on Earth and the symbol of our awakening to our eternal and divine nature. His message was universal and unifying and never exclusive.  I believe that human evolution and its conscious expansion will inevitably lead us to that state.  Beyond the religious dogma, many of us Spiritual But Not Religious seekers (SBNR) wish to establish that true faith and the belief that pure consciousness is nothing but pure love. 

And Pure Love will save humanity from 

its long state of suffering.

I have great hope in the future of the Catholic Church in the hands of Pope Francis, an outstanding humanist, who on Holy Thursday performed the traditional ritual of washing and kissing the feet of twelve Catholic Men, who chose instead twelve Muslim, Hindu, and Christian refugees, eight men and four women.  In his words: “We are brothers, children of the same God, who want to live in Peace, integrated.”

 Amen and Happy Easter to all!

Copyright © 2016 by Wafa Faith Hallam

Consciousness…What is it?

Con·scious·ness…What is it?

By Wafa Faith Hallam

March 25, 2016

For the better part of my life, consciousness was a little more than awareness of the physical world around me.  I viewed the material as the only reliable “reality.” Until I crashed and burned and “reality” did not make any sense! My rational mind was of little help in finding answers and I turned to the “Now” as revealed by Eckhart Tolle.

But, what is Consciousness, and how and where does it come from?  This is the most fundamental question and greatest mystery of all. Until very recently, there were two opposing views that attempted to solve that mystery: Science, through reason and rationalization sees the brain as the creator of consciousness while Spirituality claims that the source of consciousness is non-material.  As this second hypothesis begins to gain credence in some scientific fringes, perhaps the time has come for Science and Spirituality to come together.  As we all must awaken to the wholeness of our existence and recognize the truth of our sublime nature, that we are more than bodies with brains.

The overwhelming consensus in conventional science today is that the brain -- with its 100 Billion neurons and other cells-- creates Consciousness. In other words, when all brain functions cease so does consciousness. Besides its rigid materialism and reductionism, this modern scientific belief has had very detrimental effects on our society. Because of its narrow focus on the brain as the Creator of our entire existence, our society has been breeding fragmented individuals obsessed with the material world. And most grievously, has resulted in the devastation of our natural environment and the dismissal of nature’s healing powers and teachings. It has also led to alienation and despair in a growing number of people.

Today a new perspective is slowly emerging among a handful of scientists called Post-Materialist Science. Post-Materialism stipulates that conventional science fails to prove that mind and emotions are caused by the brain and that the 3 common procedures relied upon to prove its hypothesis — Correlation, Stimulation and Ablation —  are also used to determine how a TV set works. But we know a TV set is only an antenna and cannot create content.  That in effect is what the brain is; it is a receiver, an antenna, not a creator of Consciousness.

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943) famously put it this way: "My brain is only a Receiver. In the Universe, there is a core from which we obtain knowledge, strength, and inspiration. I have not penetrated into the secrets of this core, but I know that it exists."

Most of us instinctively know this to be true. Therefore, until scientists agree to expand the field of their research accordingly, allow me to offer a Spiritual perspective — devoid of religious dogma — which deeply resonates with me.

‘Who We Are’— the “I AM”— consist of 3 parts: 1 part matter (The Brain) + 2 parts non-matter (The Mind and Consciousness): Together, the Receiver, Perceiver and Conceiver makeup our human Beingness.

1- The physical brain is only a Receiver:  It receives an energetic vibration or frequency which fires through its neurons. The kind of information it receives depends on the frequency it is tuned to. That information is then picked up by the Mind. 

2- The second part of ‘Who We Are’, the Mind, is the Perceiver.  It is also known as the “personality” mind or “rational” mind. Because it interprets the meaning of the impulse and information received by the brain. The Mind’s perception is of course invaluable, but it is based on past experience, conditioning, beliefs and value systems.  That is why the mind is not of much help when we are faced with the unknown and trying to make sense of the world.

Everything the mind knows is past experience.  It does not know HOW things are going to happen only what has happened.  Its field of vision is so limited, it panics when events get out of its control and resorts to thinking. It can turn into a blabber box creating enormous stress and fear.  And most unfortunately, it has made us believe that we are alone and only have IT to help us navigate the challenges of our lives.

3-  The third component, of ‘Who We Are’, is Higher Consciousness. This is the Conceiver, the most important aspect of who we are, the “core” that Tesla refers to. It is known by many names: the “Intuitive” mind, the Higher Self, the Soul, Spirit, etc.  It is Pure Consciousness, Pure Potentiality. It is the field of all possibilities. It is the infinitely creative part of us because it conceives the idea. It taps into a Universal Core Consciousness or energetic field that knows all THAT IS, the sum total of all experiences and knowledge. 

The Higher Self is the part of US that is the most mysterious and most ignored.  It has all the answers and knows exactly when to deliver them to our brain. And while the personality rational Mind is in the valley, IT is on the mountain top and sees the whole picture.

We have forgotten the existence of our Higher Consciousness and in so doing have estranged ourselves from its guidance and wisdom.  

As Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, wrote: "The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift."

HOW DO WE ACCESS the ‘gift’ of our Pure Consciousness, our HIGHER SELF?

·        *We must limit our excessive reliance on our intellect and rational Mind by quieting the chatter box. Stop the incessant thoughts and access the Now. That is our only point of attraction and connection.

·        * We must acknowledge our hearts and get in touch with our Divine Feminine, our feelings and emotions.  Particularly the negative ones, which are caused by our limiting beliefs and old value systems.  As we allow them to be felt, they dissipate and the thoughts they generate also disappear. 

·         * Stillness speaks though not in words.  Its language is INTUITION and INSPIRATION.  In stillness, we are more adept at perceiving the messages and guidance of our Higher Self.  At first, it feels like the flutter of a butterfly’s wings, a slight intuition, an ever so subtle knowing that comes in the form of a sudden inspiration and pops up in our mind seemingly from nowhere. Though it can also be a very persistent knowing, an idea that won’t go away, a dream that keeps haunting us, or a deep desire that makes our heart sing for no reason. 

In the final analysis, as so many of us follow road-maps drawn by others and try to live up to our and others’ expectations, it may be comforting to learn of alternative existential paradigms.  I believe it is high time to accept our exquisite individuality and get out of the box of conformity.  If not, our innate sense of exploration, creativity and wonder may be lost forever leading to our growing alienation.

Let us remember that we are not simply a brain with a rational mind!  We are also Pure Consciousness and we must reclaim the Truth and Wholeness of our existence by acknowledging that precious third part of our Beingness that makes us fully human, our Higher Self.  

In doing so, we reclaim our power and our belonging to the whole universe, which is so very critical to the survival of our species and our planet.

Our Higher Self is PURE LOVE. It is the part of us that is God-Like. To be reminded will change our world. 

Copyright © 2016 by Wafa Faith Hallam

Peace, Love and Happiness are Means not Goals

Copyright © 2016 by Wafa Faith Hallam

The Pursuit of Happiness

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS

By Wafa Faith Hallam

Published March 20, 2016

Do you know that unhappiness builds up over time and can become so toxic that it can kill you?  I should know, my mother passed away because of too much unhappiness. When she was about my age she began complaining of lack even though she had more than most.  Her unhappiness led to severe clinical depression and soon she was so sick her immune system completely collapsed. She was never diagnosed with any particular life-threatening disease. She was just always complaining and unhappy. My mother’s death is the reason why understanding happiness and being happy became paramount questions for me.

For most people, unhappiness begins with wanting what they do not have. And the reasons are unmet expectations, a flawed belief system, and a deep misunderstanding of what Happiness is.

What if I told you that the whole premise behind the cherished Jeffersonian concept of the “Pursuit of Happiness” is misleading to begin with; that the traditional formula is broken, that it is the other way around? Happiness is not a pursuit; it is not the result of chasing and achieving our goals but the pre-requisite for them. It is not because of our unmet expectations that we are unhappy.  It is because we are unhappy that we have unmet expectations.

The problem is each desire is only a goalpost; as such it only brings temporary pleasure, and pushes farther away true lasting happiness. Hence, Happiness becomes a mirage, an illusion! It doesn’t matter how hard we work and how much material success we achieve, that’s no guarantee we will be happy. Therefore happiness becomes more and more elusive and hard to pin down, doesn’t it? 

So if success, things and people cannot make us happy how can we ever hope for happiness? 

We need to understand what Happiness is:

Happiness is a STATE of MIND, and as such it cannot be found OUTSIDE the MIND.  So when we outsource our happiness, when we look to sources outside of ourselves, like people, things and careers we are bound to fail. Material things and other people cannot make us happy for long.

Happiness is a CHOICE. What we focus on, we strengthen!

In his bestselling book, The Happiness Advantage, Harvard researcher in the field of Positive Psychology Shawn Achor writes: “What we spend more time and mental energy focusing on can indeed become our reality.”  And because our beliefs affect our perceptions, what we choose to see will directly affect our state of mind.

Happiness must be cultivated within: We are born happy. It is our birthright. Circumstances and people cannot cause our unhappiness. It is not WHAT we are responding to but HOW we are responding to circumstances and people.

There are 7 ways to cultivate happiness:

1-    PRESENCE: Quieting the mind and being present.  Living one moment at a time, one day at a time. Our minds are often chatter boxes fixated on the past and the future and negating the only thing that’s real, this moment. Stillness or meditation is a great place to start. Begin by taking 2 or 3 deep breaths throughout the day.

2-    ACCEPTANCE: Which also means: Allowance and Surrender to what is! Everything in the world is based on duality, positive and negative, day and night, male and female, Yin and Yang and together they form wholeness. We must accept that love and hate, light and darkness, good and evil, cannot exist one without the other. Which do you choose to focus on? If the glass appears half full pick a smaller container.

                   

3-    GRATITUDE: Every day when you awake, be thankful and appreciative of your blessings and all that you have, the small things and the large ones: Your life, health, family, your home, a warm shower.

4-    KINDNESS: Random acts of kindness towards strangers and loved ones are proven to help our state of mind. But also volunteering and giving back.

5-    LANGUAGE: Words have power, use positive language. Mind your words when you speak of yourself or others. Do not complain. Complaining makes things worse.

6-    NATURE: Exercise and spend more time in Nature. Nature helps us reconnect with our source.  Exercise flushes out toxins from the body and the mind and helps quiet the mind.

7-    SOCIAL NETWORKS and FUN TIME: Cherish your family and friends and spend more time with them and have Fun, Laugh, Smile whenever you can. Laughter is very healing. Avoid the news. Everything passes and nothing is that important in the end.

In conclusion, true lasting happiness can be had when we understand what it is.

REMEMBER that the formula is backward.

HAPPINESS MUST COME FIRST! -- Happiness is not the Goal but the Means.

Because when we are happy, we are more creative, more productive, more energetic, more resilient and healthier, and far more likely to be successful in all areas of life. 

And finally, Happiness is a State of Mind to be cultivated inside.

As John Milton wrote in his Paradise Lost, 350 years ago:

                 “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.”

Copyright © 2016 by Wafa Faith Hallam

WELCOME To My New Blog!

Wafa Faith Hallam, Author of The Road From Morocco

Welcome To my blog -

The Road From Morocco is a personal memoir, which recounts the extraordinary life of Saadia and her daughter Wafa. It transports readers back in time to a Middle Eastern society far removed from modern American sensibilities — to Morocco, where Saadia was born and wed against her will at thirteen. Based on recorded history and family memories, the book chronicles Saadia’s arranged marriage and hardships as a young mother to Wafa, a French-educated, sexually liberated Muslim woman, who traveled to Europe and then to America, reaching a top position on Wall Street — in theory, the fulfillment of her American dream but in reality an overwhelming experience that threatens everything she believes in. Like the best of fiction, this is an intensely personal emotional rollercoaster tale full of twists and turns, which make it hard to put down. In the words of a reader: “It's beautiful even in the heartbreaking moments and utterly exquisite in the pleasant ones.”

Now Available in Audiobook - Narrated by Kalisha Fleischmann
- Here is a Sample -

Editorial Review: “The more I read into Wafa Faith Hallam’s The Road from Morocco, the more I realized I was holding a book that—if all literary lights are not dimmed by convention—should become an instant classic. I honestly cannot recall a time when an autobiographical account has spoken to me as forcefully as Hallam’s memoir. In fact, I never ever read anything remotely comparable to it. Hallam’s trailblazing book shatters literary and social conventions with such force that it is bound to provoke strong reactions. The book contains precious lessons about why freedom and equal rights matter, why the male oppression of women in Arab and Muslim societies is a sad farce, why rich life experiences are still the only reliable ingredient for a soaring story, and why identity is a complex construct that is nearly impossible to tease apart.”  Professor A. Majid, University of New England, Portland, Maine. Full Review at: (Caution the full review contains many spoilers!)

https://www.tingismagazine.com/editorials/faith-abundant/

Author’s Welcome: 

Hello friends,

Some of you will remember that this blog first saw the light of day under the title “TheRoadFromMorocco.com”, which was pretty much put on the back burner for the last three years as I ran a gallery in my village and deepened my knowledge of spirituality and practice of the Conscious life.

At the beginning of this year, I decided it was high time for me to follow my bliss and devote 100% of my time and talent in what I am passionate about, spiritual awareness devoid of religious dogma.  Hence I am happy to say that I am now officially a full time author and writer, an inspirational teacher, a spiritual coach and a motivational speaker. My areas of expertise are Spiritual Expansion and Emotional Growth with a focus on how to master the Art of Happiness.  

I am also committed to Peace and Conflict Resolution questions as well as Women’s issues. My perspective is one of being the change we so desperately want to see in the world by becoming pioneers in Positive Change Without Struggle (PCWS).

I invite you to browse through my writings and submit your comments.  Dialogue is essential for progress.

Thank you and welcome,

Wafa

Re-Inventing Myself

Photo by Victor Rugg

Re-Inventing Myself 

by Wafa Faith Hallam

March 10, 2016

How is it that some people know what they want early on and happily stick with it all their lives while others, like me, keep jumping ship looking for something else? Throughout my life, I searched for more prompted to move on by an irrepressible need that was largely unconscious. Until now! This time, the year of a special birthday, I am once again reinventing myself.  Only now, I’m following my passion, grateful that my journey led to my awakening.

 
I was born and raised in Morocco. My mother was married at 13 against her will to my father who was 20 years older and a devout Muslim. I was the oldest of 4 children. Despite her traditional upbringing and marriage, my mother enrolled me and my siblings in French schools and raised us in a Western lifestyle.

I was barely 18, when I dropped out of my senior year of High School, and left Morocco with my boyfriend to travel the world while selling French books. My voyage of discovery lasted 4 years and took me to dozens of countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. I made good money and helped both my parents, but soon I realized I wanted more. I wanted to go to university.  So I returned to Morocco just long enough to graduate High School and decided, on a whim, to learn English in London for 6 months, not knowing then that America will be my next destination.

I arrived in Florida that same year in September 1980 to attend college. I was 24. Within a year I met my future husband and I got a BA with Honors from the University of Florida in less than 3 years. I was then awarded a generous Fellowship to attend NYU Grad School where I earned a Master’s and completed the PhD course work, exams and research for a doctoral dissertation on Terrorism; which I never finished because I became a mother and my marriage was falling apart; but mostly because I suffered from academic burnout and had to move on.

After the birth of my only child, Sophia, and before my divorce was finalized, I was hired by Merrill Lynch as a financial advisor. I started at the bottom, passed the licensing exams and survived the grueling task of building a client base. I was lucky to arrive on Wall Street at a time when women had started to fight back against its notoriously male-dominated culture and the ongoing discrimination and sexual harassment they had endured for decades. Thanks to their courage, my personal experience was mostly positive and within 5 years I had over 200 Million Dollars of clients’ assets under management and made a quarter of a million dollars a year.

 

This Arab-Muslim girl had achieved the American Dream!

Only the dream came to an end abruptly! My mother who had come to America soon after I moved to New York City became very ill. That was followed by the spectacular collapse of the Tech Bubble, the 9/11 attack and the war in Iraq; all of which affected me deeply.  Within two years, I went from being on top of the world to crashing emotionally and physically.  I struggled with anxiety and depression and I had to quit my high paying job. When my mother passed away in the spring of 2004, I was reduced to rubbles. The only thing that kept me going was Sophia, now a teenager.  

When I began writing my memoir, a couple of years later, I was still in the grip of emotional misery and utter confusion. I knew what I did not want but I simply had no clue about what I wanted. All my life I had believed I could control events and conditions around me with hard work and the power of my intellect and reason.  I ignored my intuition, my feelings and deepest soul longings because they were not deemed ingredients for success. I jumped into situations because I had to make a living and support my family, not because I was inspired. I approached crises from a place of fear and experienced relentless stress. It almost killed me.

That’s when I was introduced to a book that shifted my perception of myself and the world around me. That book —“The New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle — and the many spiritual works that I devoured after that, marked the beginning of my Awakening. When Sophia started college in 2009, I moved on again. Only this time I saw it as the beginning of a new dawn; I was conscious of my motives and mindful of my feelings.

My move to the East End was a great blessing. The closeness to the Ocean and the Bays and the seasonal rhythms of nature were a powerful healing force, as was the cathartic effect of completing my book “The Road from Morocco”.  By the time, it was published, I was fully immersed in the process of un-learning and de-programming my hard drive from everything I had based my life on, the ego traps that left me always empty, and the belief systems that kept me always wanting. That inner journey I also found was not a smooth path. It’s fraught with many setbacks and triumphs, it is a lifelong practice.

For the last three years I ran a gallery in my village and at the beginning of the year, I knew I had to move on. I surrendered more fear and when the opportunity presented itself, I walked away from that job because this time I knew it was a roadblock and would not lead me in the direction of my heart’s desire, which is now clear to me to BE a full time author, inspirational coach and motivational speaker.

Does that mean I reached my goal? Of course not! 

Mine is forever a voyage of expansion without a destination!

Let me leave you with this: Have FUN. Learn to enjoy the journey, embrace the unknown, expect new opportunities, and choose to be happy NOW regardless of your circumstances.

Finally, BELIEVE that everything you want comes to you when you are fulfilled within.

In that respect, I have truly re-invented myself.  

Wafa Faith Hallam is the author of The Road from Morocco, a highly personal memoir available in print, ebook and Audiobook on Amazon, Audible & iTunes.  Wafa is a writer, spiritual coach and motivational speaker. Her upcoming book focuses on the importance of emotional growth and spiritual expansion as a basis for lasting happiness and peace. She has a Masters Degree in Middle Eastern Studies from New York University. Wafa lives in Sag Harbor, NY