YOUR mantra for the week:  “Good things happen when I expect them.”

WHATEVER the nature of God is, it is also your nature. The I AM, which is unconditional beingness, is also the I AM that you use every day in your thoughts, your feelings, the things that you do. Everything you attach to this nature of yours, which is the I AM, is brought to manifestation on the physical level.

When Jesus said, “I AM the way,” he meant: Follow me, for when you follow me, you become me. You become the Christ, for that Christ is your higher self, so you become the anointed one.

We were taught in the beginning of our lives that there was such a thing as the devil, but now we understand that the devil is merely a state of mind. It is, in truth, our lower selves— that is all the devil is.

When we think, feel and behave from our lower selves, we are often bedeviled, so to speak, and we create situations in our lives that make us suffer, that bring pain, lack and limitation. That is why many times, when you behave in a manner that you regret after, you say, I was possessed. I was bedeviled.

You were merely letting your lower self make the decision. The lower self is the one that leads you to temptation. That is why it is said that it is the devil that moves you to temptation.

There is no devil but the human self that looks at life from the lower level of consciousness. Here it begins to judge, to condemn, to blame and to ultimately produce self-guilt. Remember, the devil is your lower self, and your higher self is the Christ, your savior. This higher self saves you from lack, limitation, suffering, hunger, pain. Your higher self, the Christ in you, the God in you, is your Savior.

And thus, your I AM, when used negatively, creates disease, poverty, feelings of unlovingness, loneliness and disharmony. And when you turn to your higher self, your Christ Self, you are raised above all limitations.  You are lifted to a universe of peace, harmony, joy and plenty.

PBT’s ‘The Great Classics’: A review

Last week, I talked about the history of Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT), and today I would like to give a little review of the July 30 performance of “The Great Classics.”

With the combined talents of the founders and the superlative executive abilities of its heads, it was no surprise that the performances of July 30 were outstanding. Act I opened with “Swan Lake (White)” composed by Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Petipa, and led by Kim Abrogena as Odette, Ian Ocampo as Siegfried and Mark Pineda as Rothbart. In “Black Swan,” Loby Pimentel was Odile and Jared Tan was Siegfried.

Loby has been invited to dance with the London Ballet this coming September and will stay there until December, and is scheduled for an audition in January for a permanent engagement with the company. What an honor for the Philippines.

Act 2 featured excerpts from ballet classics like “Flames of Paris,” composed by Asafaweb and choreographed by Ratmansky, with soloists Regine Magbitang and Joseph Phillips; “Romeo and Juliet” by Prokofiev and Pazik, danced by Joni Galeste and Jimmy Lumba; “Diana and Actaeon” by Pugni and Pugni, performed by Nica Ilagan and Jared Tan; “Paquita (Wedding Scene: Grand Pas de Deux)” by Minkus and Deldevez, choreographed by Mazilier and danced once again by Regine and Joseph.

It is amazing that when Joseph Phillips and Jared Tan, both guest artists for the PBT’s “The Great Classics,” are on stage dancing with the company’s female soloists, their performances hit a different high. Joseph’s talents have been described by critics as “controlled intensity, youthful athleticism, technical refinement and the ability to deftly translate emotion into kinetic artistic expression…”

Atlanta Ballet’s Jared Tan is now a member of the faculty of Atlanta’s Ballet School. He, too,  has achieved technical refinement and leaves you in awe as he dances like a steed with wings.

I am now a member of PBT’s board of trustees, together with ambassador Isabel Wilson, Bal Endriga and Gemma Cruz-Araneta, among others.

My interest in ballet started with my escorting good friend Amelita Reysio-Cruz, who was a ballet fan and enthusiast, to numerous ballet performances. She would first get peeved, and burst out in laughter whenever I would tease her that the only difference between ballet and basketball is the footwork.

All these wonderful performances of PBT were accompanied by the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of maestro Herminigildo Ranera, and were sponsored by the generosity of San Miguel Corp., Petron, and Meralco, which allows the use of the Meralco Theater for the ballet company’s rehearsals.

Fashion and harmony

Last Wednesday, the Consular Corps of the Philippines presented a fund-raising fashion show, “Fashion Harmony,” at the New World Hotel, which was one of the main sponsors of the evening, headed by its general manager Farid Schoucair.

The gracious gentleman was also celebrating his birthday, and likeswise walked the ramp for the benefit of abandoned and abused children, the elderly, victims of calamities and deserving scholars.

It was a prestigious evening for chair Fortune Ledesma and cochair Agnes Huibonhoa, honorary consuls of Monaco and Gambia, respectively.

Guest of honor was Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., accompanied by his charming wife Cecile.

Members of the consular corps proudly traipsed on the ramp wearing clothes from SM’s Kultura, including six ambassadors, with one of my favorites, Ambassador Effie Ben Matityaw, whose lovely wife Lizia Lu is back in Panama for a vacation. There were also three senators, the most applauded being Migs Zubiri, who waved happily at the audience.

Add to this three top executives of sponsoring companies: Philippine Airlines’ COO Jaime Bautista; Philippine Star’s Kevin Belmonte; and Megaworld’s Kevin Tan. Another sponsor, Joseph Calata, top honcho of Calata Corp., was in the audience with expectant beautiful wife Nel.

It was such a pleasure to meet the Greek ambassador, Nikolaos Kaimenakis, whose wit stood out when asked how Greece was doing: “Whatever is happening in Greece, we try to take it with a grain of salt… You can say that in our country, we were all born philosophers.”

It was also nice seeing construction lady and now hotelier Graciela Eleazar, who is always aglow with enthusiasm, and the ever glamorous Lolita Mirpuri, who celebrated a birthday recently.

Emcee was vice honorary consul of Monaco RJ Ledesma. Oh my God! Even in the consular world, there are dynasties.

E-mail the columnist at [email protected]; visit www.GeorgeSison.com and www.iamism.org; listen to his “Positive Session” radio program on DWIZ 882 AM every Saturday, 9-10 p.m.