Stars are born from giant clouds of gas and dust lying in the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy. Such a cloud is called a nebula. Viewing the Milky Way galaxy on its rim from outside, it looks like a fairly flat disk with a thick cloud of stars about its centre. Seen at right angles, it looks like a huge Catherine wheel in which two main arms spiral out from the centre. The Sun lies in one of these arms. The myriad of stars forming the centre of the galaxy are hidden from earth by vast formations of cosmic dust and are not directly visible.

One nebula that is visible to the naked eye is in the Orion star constellation. It appears just below the belt of Orion as a hazy patch. Photographs taken of the cloud with specialist equipment show a kaleidoscope of colors from gasses illuminated by stars that have already formed within the cloud. Behind the visible cloud, astronomers have detected an even larger dark cloud in which stars are still being born. These vast fields of gas come together under a gravitational force and compact into small dense globes, or embryo stars.

As gravity tightens them further, the embryo stars begin to glow. Friction heats them at first, as particles of gas and dust rub together. To become a star like the Sun, it takes about ten million years as the temperature and pressure at the heart of the young star become sufficiently extreme to activate nuclear reactions that power the star for the remainder of its life. There are many other glowing gas clouds in space similar to the Orion nebula, proving that the birth of stars is a continuing process. As stars grow old and die, new ones are being born elsewhere.

Now compare this process to procreation in humanity, as humans grow old and die, new ones are being born elsewhere. Are we mirroring star formation? Could this solar system be a nebula, and is the earth the mother that gives birth to new stars? This brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘Mother Earth’.

There are two strands of thought when seeking answers to the origins of the universe, one is spiritual and the other is scientific. Spiritual thought comes through intuition and reflection. Scientific thought comes from reason and logic. This is universal power meeting universal intelligence on the physical plane.

The latter comes from looking outside, and the former comes from looking within. Inner vision is activated by universal power, and outer vision is activated by universal intelligence.

Harmonizing both strands of thought leads to a Singularity and the Intelligence that gave birth to the universe. As spiritual and mental energy harmonize, so too does masculine and feminine energy. Humans are here to experience first-hand what it feels like to be a child of the universe.

~ Collette O’Mahony

In childhood and adolescence, we are full of possibilities for our future. Our minds are open and receptive to ideas. Our innocence allows us to believe that anything is possible. Children are like sponges, they soak up the environment around them. They also soak up beliefs and emotions from those responsible for their care and wellbeing. A sensitive child is particularly vulnerable to the feelings of others. The child unconsciously absorbs fears, beliefs and objectives of others as their own. As the child progresses to adulthood, this way of thinking is embedded as their belief system. Suppressed feelings, stemming from fear seriously inhibit emotional development. There are many adult children craving love and security that was not available to them in their formative years. Many try to meet emotional needs in a co‑dependent relationship. Relationships are formed out of dependency rather than love.

Through constant affirmations of self‑acceptance, your subconscious receives a clear message and dissolves negative thoughts that clog the mind. Loving messages come into your awareness through your connection to the universal field of awareness.

Initially you may try to hold onto conditioned beliefs preventing your growth and expansion. The conditioned mind clings to old beliefs as a security blanket because it fears change. As you align with the universal field through intention and affirmations, love clears any fear or negativity blocking its path. This can be a difficult phase, but it only worsens if you identify deeply with arising thought patterns. Old mental habits are conditioned beliefs absorbed in your formative years from the world around you. Knowing this allows you to detach from the old mind patterns and see that it is not personal to you.

We come into this world with the ability to create our own life experiences. Depending on your upbringing, you can quickly lose the innocence that allows you to believe anything is possible. You lose your creative purpose and get lost in mental noise and limited thinking. External circumstances in the world around you absorb your attention and set a mould of limitation. The more negative the mind‑set, the more prominent the fear of failure and the need to stick to familiar routines, even if these routines cause stress, unease and unhappiness.

When you liberate your mind, and open your heart to love, you can regain the feeling that anything is possible. Inspiration flows freely to a nature open to receive it. You must lay the ground work to allow the seeds of inspiration to grow and flourish. Conditioned beliefs and limited behaviour patterns choke the progress of inspiring ideas. The world you experience is rooted in your principles and beliefs. Your true nature springs forth from your connection to universal source energy. An open nature and clear mind are fertile ground for inspiration. When feelings of enthusiasm are added to an inspiring idea, the resulting action benefits all. Benefit is the fruit of nature.

Extract from ‘In Quest of Love’ by Collette O’Mahony

Here is a 2 minute video to watch which offers guidance towards self discovery, and harmony in relationships.

You can shape your life as you choose, this is the gift of free will. Humans are the only species on earth that have this opportunity. This is a major gift to be grateful for. Go deeper than lip service when giving thanks, let it penetrate deep in your heart and flow into all your words and actions. Gratitude helps accentuate the positive in your life and attract even more reasons to be grateful. When it appears that life is going against you and nothing goes as planned, it can be difficult to find a reason to be grateful. If you are in this situation, simplify things by just watching your breath as it moves in and out of your lungs. Feel the gratitude for this life force that keeps you alive in the human body.

 It is easy to take for granted essential things you need for survival such as air, water, food, clothing and shelter. We have moved a long way from our hunter gatherer forbearers and our focus in the modern world is on the accumulation of material comforts and emotional security. Material forms are just objects and hold no real value unless you have an emotional attachment to them. This is the reason you find yourself holding onto old items that have no practical use but are of sentimental value. Material forms in themselves do not bring joy and fulfilment. It is their association with certain people or events that places value on them.

 Perhaps you think you need some object to bring you contentment but it is out of your reach. Not having the object of your desire arises out of resentment, annoyance and unhappiness. It could be a house, a car or perhaps attention from a certain person. You believe if you could acquire the object of your desire, you would be happy. This way of thinking puts terms and conditions on happiness and emotional wellbeing. You are associating objects and certain people with feelings of happiness. This erroneous belief has you constantly chasing a person or material things to find happiness. Everything starts from within. First, connect to your feeling of joy and it attracts more reasons to be joyful. Joy cannot be bought because it is an intrinsic part of your being, stemming from the universal field of awareness.

 You cannot put a price or condition on wellbeing. Set your intention to feel joy, to feel love, and to feel free. When you invoke these positive feelings within, you attract more reasons to be joyful. When you are aligned with vibrations of joy, gratitude is natural. It exudes from the core of your being for this phenomenal experience we call life. Your intention to be grateful allows universal power to infuse you with gratitude. Feelings of gratitude are reflected in the world around you. You behold joy in simple things and gratitude emanates from you. You begin to realise feeling good is what is most important and not the things you possess. What you have is relative to how you feel but it is not the cause. The cause is your connection to joy and gratitude.

From ‘In Quest of Love’ by Collette O’Mahony

Link to Books page

I began writing the original manuscript for In Quest of Love eight years ago. I wrote it as a personal manifesto for change. At that time, I was very unhappy and I was questioning my life choices. I believed, like many, I needed a relationship to feel loved and fulfilled.  Within six weeks of writing the manuscript I left my job and moved to another country. While I experienced feelings of fear and moments of terrible anxiety, the feeling of freedom was incredible. I felt like I had been given a new opportunity to live the life I wanted to live, rather than a life set out for me through my early conditioning and societal beliefs.

Once I set my intention for healing and growth, I noticed subtle changes within me. I felt love emanating from the core of my being as a radiant energy, whereas before it was a romantic idea. The bliss of simply being expanded love within me. I realised I had found love when there was no need for someone to complete me. The need for something or someone to make me complete was the root of my unhappiness.

The misperception I held about love was I needed someone to give it to me. Through writing this book, and then putting it into practise, I discovered that love is expressed in relating, but the source of love was not a relationship. The source of love is within me.

Love takes me to the places I want to go, whereas fear kept me imprisoned in dull routine. I am now living in India, in the foothills of the Himalayas. I came on a visit two years ago and found I had much more to learn from the people, philosophy and religions. The new edition of In Quest of Love stems from new perspectives derived from living in a culture that contrasts my own. It has challenged any lingering preconceptions I had, while giving me new insights into relationship with others and with the universal field of awareness. 

Writing this book eight years ago, set me on an odyssey of inner transformation. By setting this personal manifesto, it was then up to me to live it. My life became a canvas to experiment with the truth.

The best way to find out who I am, and who I am not, is through my relationships with others. I am deeply grateful to all the wonderful people I have met on this journey of self-discovery for being my guides and teachers.

 Collette O’Mahony (May 2017)

Available on

Amazon

Kobo

Lulu