About Author Richard F Holmes

I was born in London in 1955 and have lived a very topsy turvey life. I left school at 15 with no qualifications, and had I not left voluntarily, I would have been asked to leave. I always felt that I didn't fit in anywhere, and as a result, by the time I reached the age of 17 I'd had 24 jobs. I joined the army in 1976 hoping that it would give me a purpose in life but instead I became even more disillusioned and turned to alcohol. I hated the army because I found it to be such a hypocritical organisation and as soon as I was eligible to do so, I bought myself out. Whilst in the military however, I did enjoy my experiences in Germany and in 1980 went back there to work, staying for six years. My heavy drinking continued during my time in Germany and by the time I returned to the UK in 1986 I was heading down into a deep depression. I managed to haul myself out of it in the mid-to-late 1990's but my life hit an all time low in 2000. In early 2001 I found my spiritual pathway and started to turn my life around. I now live in Gloucestershire in the UK and I'm a successful medium and healer. I'm also the author of ten spiritual publications and have produced five meditation and three chanting CDs. I'm a workshop facilitator in various spiritual topics and I also give profound interpretations of dreams. There are plans in 2014 for another book, provisionally entitled "An Idiots Guide To Spiritual Law" and a series of audio books in CD form. Connect with me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/authorrichardfholmes

Miracles Do Happen – Part Two

Posted on April 17, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

Continued from Part One. If you have not read part one or want a refresher, please click on the link below.

https://richardfholmes.org/2014/03/31/miracles-do-happen-part-one/

“Quite remarkably, within a few days things started to change”

The first thing I noticed was that even though my actual situation had not changed, my perception of it had. As you can imagine, I was still feeling quite frustrated at not being able to get about, but I was no longer worried. I could tangibly feel myself growing out of the situation; I could feel myself moving away from it. I could also feel the expansion of my soul beyond my physical body, although this is quite commonplace after the whole business of 2012. It also turned out that while all this was going on I only had to cancel one booking relating to my work as a medium. A couple of friends ferried me around to engagements and flatly refused to take any petrol money from me. Then, what I consider to be a miracle happened.

Out of the blue, someone just gave me £1000, yes it’s true; I was given £1000 and told I did not have to pay it back. So, with the bit of money I already had, I now had enough to buy a car that would be a bit better than just a runaround. Then something else happened that was more than just a coincidence.

I was now in a position where I had the means to buy a semi-decent car, but I still had no semi-decent car, and there was the little matter of my income. At this point I should add that for the previous two years I had been working as a volunteer complimentary therapist for a few hours here and there at a day services hospice not far from where I live. I decided at the outset that I wanted a job on the permanent staff and I was prepared to do any job that was going; it’s such a wonderful place, I just wanted to be more involved. The hospice closes over Christmas and New Year, and even though I had made it known that I wanted a permanent job there, it was not expected that there would be any vacancies until we were well into 2014, after an evaluation had been carried out.

So, I had a half-hearted look on the hospice website just prior to Christmas and sure enough there was no vacancies, except for a couple of jobs in the charity shops. By now it was Wednesday, January 10, and my first volunteer day of the new year was on Friday, 12 January. The journey is only a little over six miles, so with a bit of care I could use my car to get me there. On the Wednesday night I had another half-hearted look on the website and to my amazement, not only was there was a vacancy, but the vacancy was in the department where I worked as a volunteer; however, the closing date was Friday. I suddenly became frustrated; I’m not the greatest lover of application forms and decided that I was not going bother. It was too short notice and I was not going to rush the application. The next day though, something inside me told me to print off the application form and get it filled out. So with my new-found lease of life, I printed off the form and got most of it filled in. I completed it on Friday morning and handed it in when I went to do my volunteer work. I did not even expect to be called for an interview because I have no healthcare qualifications and I knew that fully qualified healthcare professionals would be applying.

About four days later I got a letter saying “come for an interview”. So, I thought to myself that I would go for the interview, but I would have no chance of getting the job. The interview date was also my next volunteer day. I had the interview after doing a therapy and left the building believing I’d made a complete hash of it. I was told that it would probably take 3-4 days to let me know the result as there was more applicants to interview. So I went home.

Two hours later I got a phone call; “we would like to offer you the job”. I was so surprised, the lady on the line had to ask me twice if I was going to accept; I just couldn’t believe it. Within a few days I got a letter of confirmation giving me a start date of 26 February; all I needed now was a car!

Just under two weeks before I was due to start work, my friend’s son took me to Bristol to look at some cars. The cars we went to look at were not suitable, but whilst we were there we “accidentally” saw a sign on a car parked on the side of the road as we were driving by. On the way back we stopped on the off-chance and rang the number displayed in the car window. Enter Marcus. He turned out to be a decent sort and we returned the next day to look over a selection of cars that Marcus was selling. I chose one (see Gladys below) and it was a case of alls well that ends well!

It’s amazing how life can take you down one day and lift you up again the next. It must be awful for people who do not have a spiritual understanding; I find life’s shenanigans stressful enough, so what must it be like for those who have no understanding of how creation functions? A couple of months previous I had finished reading the book When Everything Changes Change Everything by Neale Donald Walsch. It speaks of how the universe is in a constant state of flux and that by our very nature we are beings of change, because all is energy and in constant motion. So, having read that book I knew I had to simply accept that situation as being part of the latest phase of change in my life, in the knowledge that it was impossible for it to stay the same and would eventually be resolved. Compared to what others have to endure my situation was nothing, but in context to the way my life is at the moment it was potentially a huge problem; indeed, the old me would probably have had a breakdown.

Remember that we are always in control of our lives and it is not the situations we encounter that determine whether we are happy or not; it’s our perception of them!

Universal Law: An Idiot’s Guide – Update

Posted on April 11, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

I’m proud to announce that Universal Law: An Idiot’s Guide is already available as a paperback in the US. It should also show up on Amazon UK within the next couple of days. I have not formatted for Kindle yet; and the official launch date remains 22 April, but the Kindle-ready cover can be seen below.

An Idiot’s Guide is a short book of only around 60 pages, hence the low price, but the aim of the book is to provide an insight, by way of a simple and concise guide, into how creation and the universe functions. It does in no way claim to be definitive, but it will be a valuable tool in helping you to attract more abundance into your life.

Buy in the US https://www.createspace.com/4327851

Universal Law: An Idiot’s Guide – Extract #3 And Cover

Posted on April 8, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

My latest book Universal Law: An Idiot’s Guide is moving along very quickly and very near completion. So, I’m really pleased to be able to post this short extract AND, at the same time, provisionally reveal the cover to you. I have already tweaked it slightly and there may be one or two further tweaks before I publish. But for now, here it is!

The Law of Perspective

This law really is simplicity personified. We are all always right from our own perspective, whatever the situation. What we believe becomes our reality. However, our perceived reality may not always be in line with our soul purpose; and this is where things can get tricky.

We have already stated a number of times that all the laws are interlinked in one way or another. So, if for example, our perceived perspective is quite bigoted then we are responsible for the vibration these views create and will one day have to deal with the consequences.

Things are never as they seem; always look beyond the surface for a truer picture.

Nothing exists except atoms and empty space; everything else is opinion – Democritus

Miracles Do Happen – Part One

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

I’m going to share an experience with you that proved to me (as if I needed any proof) that miracles most certainly do happen. Over Christmas 2013 I found myself in a situation that seemed impossible; in fact I just didn’t know what I was going to do. There were similarities with situations from years gone by, and I really couldn’t believe that I now found myself seemingly trapped in a scenario of pain and despair, having turned my life around (or so I thought) many years ago. What I couldn’t understand was, that I was no longer the angry and resentful person I was back in the day; so why was I now faced with this situation? I’ve made no secret of the fact that the way I lived my life when I was younger has made things quite difficult for me at times during this stage of my life. I’ve also made no secret of the fact that I choose to live my life in a certain way that can at times produce hardships. But by and large, my needs have always been met so I just tend to plod along and take things as they come.

Throughout December I had not had much work; very little really, and there was not much on the horizon for the new year so I had very little money coming in. It was difficult enough already with the cost of living spiraling out of control, when all of a sudden my car died on me. The mechanic I use managed to get it going but the outcome was that it was going to cost such a lot of money to get it repaired that I would be better off scrapping it and buying a new one. The only problem was, how? I had just about enough money to buy an old runaround, but I know nothing about cars and I’m easy pickings for unscrupulous car salesmen. Also, how would I get out and about in order to buy one? The car I had was still driveable, but only over short distances; it was too dangerous to contemplate journeys of more than 6-8 miles because the engine kept overheating. My mind went into overdrive…

I had a serious case of “what am I going to do” syndrome. I told myself that I would have to register as unemployed, but that I would not be able to look for a job because I would have no way of getting anywhere. Tetbury is not exactly remote, but the bus service is very limited and very expensive. I told myself that within a few months I would be a sad case sitting in my little bungalow in the depths of despair and that my gas, electric and phone would be cut off because I had no means of paying my bills. I didn’t sleep very well for two nights; and then I came to my senses!

I knew that by constantly churning out all those negative thoughts I was only going to create more misery further on down the road; I told myself that it was about time I started to put into practice the principles that I speak about so often during the course of my spiritual work. I started by reminding myself of a few things. In no particular order I reminded myself that I am not a body; I am Divine Consciousness and the world I find myself in is only an illusion; therefore, at worst, my situation is only a part of that illusion. I reminded myself that I, and no one else, am the creator of my reality within this illusion and that it is impossible to die. I reminded myself that if I am responsible for creating my situation, albeit an illusionary one, then I also have the power within me to create circumstances in my life that are more favourable. Finally, I reminded myself that if I am Divine Consciousness at my deepest level, and if Divine Consciousness is the only reality, then if, to the best of my ability, I am able to experience myself as who I really am, then my problem would go away; after all, it was only a problem because my mind said so!

So I set about hatching a master plan!

I decided that I would meditate before going to bed. My thinking behind this was, that if I could experience myself as pure consciousness before retiring for the night, it would be like giving my mind a shower and I would be able to sleep better. Now, I always try to be thankful on a daily basis for all my blessings, but in my current situation I felt that an extra strong “attitude of gratitude” would go a long way towards helping me. In other words, instead of whining and moaning because my car is terminally sick and my whole world is doom and gloom, it would be much better to be consciously grateful for the abundance I already have. So, I made a point of thanking God for the bed that I sleep in, the roof over my head, my food, my clothes, my fresh drinking water and for things that are taken for granted, such as being able to look up into the night sky and gaze at the stars. Quite remarkably, within a few days things started to change.

Part Two coming shortly.

Universal Law – An Idiot’s Guide Extract #2

Posted on March 26, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

Here are a couple of extracts from my up and coming book Universal Law – An Idiot’s Guide, which as I type, is still on schedule to be published by the end of April. Hope you enjoy!

An Overview of Universal Law – What Exactly Is It?

Universal Law is the means by which the universe functions. Also referred to as Spiritual Law, The Laws of the Universe, Natural Law or the Laws of Nature. It is a very precise and finely balanced mechanism that appears on the surface to be extremely complicated, but is in fact very simple.

The laws themselves can be split into three categories, each one a mirror image of the other; but unique nonetheless in its own way.

The first category of Universal Law is the laws that govern how we go about constructing the life we will lead once we take on the physical form. These laws are known as the Foundation Laws, and in the same way that foundations on Earth must be laid before a structure can be erected, so must we lay the Laws of Foundation before we incarnate.

The second category of Universal Law is the Redemption Laws that enable one to resolve outstanding issues from previous births and purify the spirit en route to Self- Realisation.

Finally, the third category of Universal Law is the Progression Laws. These are relevant to the level of progress one makes during each incarnation and ultimately determine if one attains liberation or remains within the cycle of birth and death.

The Law of Miracles

In our humanness we perceive a miracle to be the occurrence of a seemingly impossible event; for example, someone who is paralysed as the result of a terrible accident or debilitating illness, and who has been told they will never walk again, defying all the odds and doing just that. Of course, this is true; however, miracles are all this and much more.

Since the whole 2012 business (see my book Wisdom Bytes ISBN 978-1493614226) millions of people all over the planet are tangibly experiencing their own spiritual awakening, and it is only when we start to awaken that we understand that literally everything is a miracle. Simply being able to breathe or look up into the night sky and gaze upon the stars is truly miraculous. The more spiritually aware we become, the more we realise how the whole of creation is one huge miracle. We realise more and more that all is indeed God, and there is an almighty power beyond the scope of our human minds that is pulling the strings.

But the miracle of miracles is that there is nothing in the universe that is impossible. We only think in terms of the impossible because in our humanness we are unable to detach from the ego (duality) and embrace our Divinity. At the core of the Law of Miracles is the truth, that with an understanding of how creation works, all of us have the power to manifest our own miracles into our lives.

An Extract From My Up-Coming Book

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

Here is an extract from my up-coming book Universal Law – An Idiot’s Guide

The purpose of the book is to explain how the universe functions and how this functionality affects the day-to-day lives of human beings. Of course, in line with all my other publications, it is my intention to make it as simple as possible to understand. Hope you enjoy this extract.

The Law of Karma

Another very, very simple law to understand; “karma” is a Sanskrit* word, meaning action. The action in this case is the action of cause and effect. Of course, the age-old adages of “what goes around comes around” and, “you reap what you sow” are other ways to explain the Law of Karma. However, the trouble with those sayings is they imply that karma means punishment; and nothing could be further from the truth.

A more correct way to explain this law is that we are responsible for all our actions in accordance with cause and effect. Because creation moves in cycles it stands to reason that whatever we create through our actions, be it negative or positive, will at some point return to us and we will have to deal with it.

The universe functions in a very non-judgemental way, in the same way that a tree will give shade and bear fruit for anyone, regardless of race or social status, therefore karma is simply the action of cause and effect as applied to humans.

*Sanskrit – The ancient language of India

Ricky’s Raw Recipes #12

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

Hello raw food slurpers! It’s been a few weeks since my last recipe so I thought it was about time to raid my fridge again and see what I could knock up. This recipe really is a concoction because, as things stand, the cupboards (and fridge) are a bit bare.

So, I started as usual by adding a large glass of water to my blender. I then added an apple, a stick of celery, half a green pepper, a piece of cucumber and a good quantity of spinach. I topped this off with the juice of half a lime. The end result was just about palatable, however, I’m including this recipe for a good reason. Had I not been out of fresh root ginger and been able to add a large chunk to the mix, I’m sure it would have been a great raw food concoction. It didn’t make me grimace when I was drinking but there was definitely something lacking. Try it yourself, but make sure you add the ginger, and if the taste doesn’t transport you immediately to juice heaven I’ll eat my blender! Laterz…

Love Expressed In Words

Quote

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

I recently came across a beautiful piece of poetry by the wonderful Rabindranath Tagore. It is too long to share in its entirety, but this is the opening verse from his work entitled “Gitanjali”; so utterly profound in its beauty that I could not but share it with my blog followers. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

“Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.
The little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loves its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill”.

Rabindranath Tagore

The Dance Of A Thousand Friendships

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

It seems like only yesterday when one of my favourite pastimes was to mock social media and the aficionados thereof; after all, why on earth would anybody want to take a photo of their breakfast and post it online? To me, social media was the virtual playground where fools would vent their anger and abuse others, whilst hiding behind a computer screen hundreds, or even thousands, of miles away. It was the vehicle used by unscrupulous people to groom and exploit their victims; it was how people with more time on their hands than sense whiled away their days.

One day, somehow, I opened a facebook account; and for the best part of two years it lay dormant. I had no more than a handful of “friends” and I didn’t even have a pic on display. One evening whilst visiting a friend, we somehow got on the subject of facebook and her son decided that I needed a profile pic and proceeded to use the webcam on his laptop to snap me. Then in the very early part of 2011 another friend’s son told me of the importance of global networking and made me realise that social media could be used for things other than announcing to the world that you are munching on a piece of cake or nursing a stonking hangover; and so it began, “The Dance of A Thousand Friendships”.

At the time I decided to use social media to connect with like-minded people all I had was an unused facebook account with around 15 friends (not one single post I tell you) and as for twitter, well, that was another universe entirely. Now three years have passed since I gingerly put my toe in the water, and what an incredible bunch of people I’ve connected with. I have found that spirituality works in its own way, independently of us humans, and will do whatever is necessary to connect people.

For me, what has been the outstanding factor of social media and what has had the biggest impact on me is how it has taught me to examine myself, my thoughts about myself and my thoughts about any particular situation I find myself in. When I’m having one of those days when I’m thinking along the lines of “doom and gloom” my online friends help me to put things into perspective.

I have been privileged to connect with, and even meet in the flesh, some incredible people. Social media has taught me that there are some amazing people in the world; survivors, entrepreneurs and inspirational people from all walks of life. I’ve met various cancer survivors (one particular lady is a five-times stage four survivor), I’ve met people who have made great sacrifices for the love of their families, I’ve met people who have made great successes of their lives and who rub shoulders with the rich and famous, but who remain firmly grounded and mindful of where they came from. I’ve even met a man who was on hunger strike outside 10 Downing Street and who was prepared to lay down his physical life for the cause he believed in.

Yes, most certainly, there is a link between spirituality and social media.

My incredible friends, you all know who you are; and I salute you!

Why The Quality Of Our Food Is So Important

Posted on February 6, 2014 by Author Richard F Holmes

Food, like everything else in our universe, is three-dimensional. We have the seed from which it takes form, we have the form itself and we have the subtle energy of Divine Spirit that flows through it. But how many of us have ever pondered what happens to our food once it is consumed? The ancient spiritual texts of the East, and the sages that introduced them to the world, told us thousands of years ago of the importance of what we put into our bodies.

The physical body may itself be nothing more than an aspect of the illusion of duality. However, if we have created for ourselves a temporary reality that requires that we dwell within this illusionary form for a period of imaginary time, then we ourselves are responsible for its maintenance; the body being “The House of God”.

The ancient Vedic texts informed us that our food maintains its three-dimensional status once consumed. Its gross form consisting of waste products, its middle form merging with the body as flesh and blood and its subtle form consisting of the mind. What this tells us is that we most certainly are what we eat with regard to our physical and mental self. Therefore it stands to reason that if we are not mindful of the food we consume we are very much inviting trouble into our lives. We think it’s fine to consume the meat from animals that have been reared in appalling conditions, fed on artificial diets, pumped with steroids and then slaughtered in terror; oblivious to the fact that the terror of these animals has its own energy that remains within the meat. We think it’s fine to consume processed food products that have been laced with chemical additives, and then we wonder why our kids are going crazy and sickness is rife.

This article is not a platform for vegetarian moral high ground, but more of a simple reminder that we owe it to ourselves and all our fellow creatures to be more sensible about what we consume as food.