Dr. Rosie Kuhn

“If God is such a loving God, how can he allow war, poverty and disease?”

I hear this question a lot, and it inspired me to sit and write down my perspective, since I, too, wonder why things are the way they are, especially for me, on a personal level.

Bad things happen to all of us, personally, professionally, to our communities, countries and on a global scale. Who’s responsible for it all? Who’s to blame? Is the right response to be angry, hateful and shaming? Is the right response to get even – you know, an eye for an eye? Who do we point our finger at? Well, More often than not, we point the finger at God as the perpetrator of our challenges. He’s the one that’s responsible for the way it all is, isn’t he?

I believe many of us do use God as a scapegoat. A scapegoat is someone or something upon which we project our worst qualities. That way, we can remain in denial that they exist within us. Interestingly, we also scapegoat others with positive qualities that, again, we feel we need to deny exist within us (More about that in my next blog.). Through this amazingly sophisticated practice of denial we remain unconscious of our individual contributions ...

Life of Pi is an extraordinary movie. It takes you on a phenomenal adventure, which includes a tiger. At the end of that story, Pi provides a second adventure to consider, one that is more realistic, rational and logical – the way his father wanted him to think. Then Pi asks his audience: “Which story do you prefer.” The listener responds with “I like the story about the tiger best. And, Pi, confident in his knowing and truth, responds “That’s how God Works!”

When the movie was over, I was saddened that we were brought to possibility that perhaps Pi was delusional, due to the traumatic events he survived, so he constructed a story about the tiger, and that none of it happened. And, the audience is left to decide for themselves which story they believe to be real. I didn’t want to have to think!

Each of us, who watched the movie, have to answer the question for ourselves. Which story do we prefer – the fantastical one that is out of this world or the logical, rational explanation?

I’ve been studying David Hawkins’ work. He provides an extraordinary description of life in the state of presence and the reality that is beyond logical/rational, dual ...

It’s a magnificent, sunny and warm day on the Island today. Daffodils are blooming as a result of my first attempt at planting them in the cold wetness of November. I had no idea that so many would bloom and hadn’t imagined the intense beauty that blossoms in each one.

After sharing some time on Skype with my daughter Elissa, grandson Andrew, son-in-law Jason and my sister Patrice, who is visiting them in Scotland, I consider what I may be missing. I think about what kind of mother I am and the choices I make that have me here on Orcas and not in Scotland, being a Grannie-on-the-spot. I wonder if I need be different.

Over years, I’ve come to share myself in a transparent way, sharing aspects of my humanness that make people ask “Why would you share that? Aren’t you afraid people will judge you?” These questions make me wonder if I need be different.

I bought a new desktop computer, the new software for Office 2013. I spent $10.00 on new fish for my aquarium and my outdoor ponds. As a solo-preneur, I rely solely on myself to make things work. Financially, I often feel over committed and resourced to the max. Need I be different?
...

When is an act of love not an act of love? Its when that act is attached to personal gain.

I love my friend Harry. In this moment, I want to stop him from doing something very foolish and could be life-threatening. Yet, what I’m experiencing isn’t founded on love. It’s found on a need to gain control and to experience self-righteousness regarding my assumption that Harry doesn’t know better than to choose what he’s about to choose, and that I know better than him. I question my motives in this moment and find myself wanting. The question is: What am I wanting?

Telling Harry to do it differently would alleviate my frustration, which arises from, literally, being powerless and helpless in the face of his decisions. My choosing to choose to intervene is founded on a need to correct the experience within me. And, if that is so, how is this an expression of love? I’m discovering that what I am wanting is to gain an absence of discomfort – a restless, irritable discontent. This has nothing to do with love.

In this moment, I’m exploring the contents of this restless, irritable, discontent, and what I uncover is anger, grief and powerlessness. ...

Consider, for a moment, engaging in an act of kindness. I word this request in this particular way in order for you to get how huge an endeavor it is. It is not just a matter of doing. An act of kindness, or any act, for that matter, comes from a state of being. So, to consider, brings you into the moment where you begin to mindfully engage in cultivating awareness of the state of being, which allows an act kindness can unfold.

Where does an act of kindness begin? Maybe it would be helpful to begin by looking at where acts of revenge come from. Revenge is as intentional and kindness, don’t you think? You have to consider how you want to employ your energies in service to fulfilling revenge. We say we want to get revenge, or get even. What’s the quality of being that generates or inspires revenge? The thought might be something like “they got what I wanted; that was supposed to be mine; they hurt me, so I’m going to hurt them.”

These thoughts arise from a place within – a place that is experiencing some sort of violation. Most likely it arises from a felt-sense of a violation of trust. We feel it in our bodies. Trust is based on a belief or a perception ...

You have a desire – a calling. Something is telling you that there’s more, but the way is unclear. Uncertainty and self-doubt encourage you to stay on the well-worn path. Academics is a well-worn path. However, is it the right path?

I came across this Rumi poem, translated by Coleman Barks.

Moving Water

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river
moving in you, a joy.

When actions come from another section, the feeling
disappears. Don't let others lead you. They may be blind or, worse, vultures.

Reach for the rope of God. And what is that? Putting aside self-will.
Because of willfulness people sit in jail, the trapped bird's wings are tied,
fish sizzle in the skillet.

The anger of police is willfulness. You've seen a magistrate
inflict visible punishment. Now see the invisible. If you could leave your selfishness, you
would see how you've been torturing your soul.

We are born and live inside black water in a well. How could we know what an open field of sunlight is?

Don't insist on going where you think

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I’ve been working on bookkeeping for taxes, cleaning up errors in my books, creating the content of my current coach training – in summary, attending to nit-picky stuff. I hate attending to anything where a high degree of attention to detail is required. I’d rather hire someone else to do it for me – pay them thousands of dollars so that I can avoid the angst and vulnerability that arise through doing what’s required as a solo-preneur.

When working with clients and students, I love attending to details; otherwise I HATE IT!

There are a lot of things I hate doing, but given my current circumstances, its come down to me doing what needs to get done, whether I like it or not. And, its curious to me that I can actually allow myself to experience fulfillment just by doing what needs to be done. This is after decades of avoiding, resisting and procrastination.

The initial intention of doing what I hate was to save money. Of course, interesting insights revealed themselves. In doing what I hate to do I’ve had to get over myself and be accountable and responsible for everything I’ve created and continue to create in my life. The outcome of this ...

As a teacher, facilitator and coach, I encourage my students to immerse themselves in a self-study program that allows them to fully realize who they are – that their security, stability and function in the world has nothing to do with what they believe to be true – only what they know to be true. The only way to know who you are is to dismantle your current belief system, to individuate and to differentiate yourself from everything you think yourself to be, do and have. You have to experience the truth to realize the truth. And, you have to experience it personally before you can live it, teach it or coach others to experience it.

As daunting as this sounds, to immerse yourself in a self-study program in spirituality, there is a way to see this that perhaps could have it seem more engaging than overwhelming. I was thinking the other day about language immersion courses, where if you want to learn a language – let’s say Chinese, you go to China and expose yourself to the language, the people and the culture. By doing so you free yourself from referring incessantly to the limited perceptions that tether you to what you believe about language, based on what you learned ...

Andrew is my two year old grandson. His reality is fueled by exuberance in discovering himself through the world that surrounds him. He is oblivious to the multidimensional reality that allows him all the freedom and expansion required for a Child of the Universe to thrive and blossom into his full potentiality, while all of the this’s and that’s of the grownup world is out of his realm of consciousness.

In the age of innocence, Andrew doesn’t think about or worry about things that scare him. If something bad happens, he looks to his mom and dad for comfort and support. He isn’t cognizant that he even needs to trust or have faith, so as not to worry because, in his reality he doesn’t need to trust or have faith. He knows that all is right in the world. These are concepts he will grasp once he forgets that he knows.

Andrew’s mom and dad are the kind of parents that delight in his innocence. They do what they do in order for Andrew to experience a safe and stable environment within which to play, with abandon. They know that this is how he will cultivate awareness of who he is while learning new skills, developing language, and ...

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Michael, a COO of a growing startup in Austin, Texas, is a great guy and a brilliant thinker. He’s been hired by a particular company to bring about a turnaround in management and inevitably the bottom line. The company has experienced a significant loss in revenue over the past few months and it’s now Michael’s job to turn things around. If he fails, the company will fold – end of story.

Michael is about to take the company in a direction that will transform its vision, culture and business structure. There’s no doubt he has what it takes to create this turnaround. However, he’s challenged and stopped with every step he takes. For instance, yesterday he received a memo from his CEO that states all unnecessary expenditures will be cut. There goes any actualization of executive team off-sites to thoroughly discuss and implement what’s required to make this company work.

Michael is stymied and feels like his hands are tied! He is out to rescue the company. That’s what he’s been hired to do. Since joining four months ago, he’s been exploring the underlying foundation upon which to rebuild. He doesn’t want to push too hard for change as the company and executive ...