No matter what happens, life ends up using it for the good. There is no loss that is not eventually followed by the victory of life which becomes more through that loss. No matter the loss, failure, or destruction, there is always some good that comes into being afterward as a result. This is the nature of permanent life versus impermanent change.

Everything that happens within Beingness occurs for Beingness’ sake. There is no circumstance that can overcome Beingness, nor escape use in its evolution.

So while the churning of changing circumstance may seem to burn us, we can never be lost, and we can never truly fail. This means that we do not ever have to surrender to the feeling of defeat.

Near Death Experiencers often describe that they sense everything being in perfect order. One may ask, how can this be, given all the apparent destruction and suffering in the world?

“Everything being in perfect order” does not mean that we are expressing love in the most optimal way, yet. We knowingly came into a very difficult constraint-set (the physical universe) to refine our ability to make love-based (rather than fear-based) choices within a challenging environment. We have a long way to go: each of us still often make choices based out of fear rather than love. But, because of the “divine law” that Source has in place, whether quickly or slowly (depending on our choices), we will get there. The process is unfolding successfully! But it’s a real system- real beings are making real free will choices- and that can get “apparently messy.” That messiness is a price that we were all willing to pay to participate in such an amazing endeavor of creative expansion!

To put it in religious terms: God’s plan cannot fail. We all choose every day how readily we will work with it, or not- but it cannot fail. The spiritual systems that are in place do, over time, encourage each of us to actually grow up towards love, to integrate our fears, and to fully express ourselves in a huge variety of conditions. As we do that, the plan of God is fulfilled. And, despite how circumstances may appear on the surface, we are doing that right now!

So take heart, have hope, and be encouraged! There is great opportunity and power in any given moment to choose love and compassion, even in the simplest of ways. As you do so, as a part of the One yourself, you actually facilitate the successful fulfillment of the great plan for this universe!

Our walk in the physical is a journey of experiential growth. A fundamental part of that growth is improving what Tom Campbell calls our “quality of intent”: that is, evolving our deepest “why” towards love, and past fear. This movement does not occur on one axis. We are multidimensional beings, so our expansion towards love is also multidimensional.

Yet since all we remember is our experience in a universe of duality, as we explore how best to respond to questions of spirituality or morality, we sometimes assume that we should be “moving in one direction and not the other.” We sometimes imagine that there is one “axis” for any given spiritual or moral choice, and as spiritual people, we wonder if we should be moving in “one direction” along that axis. As just a few possible examples, we ask: should we always be peaceful, or is it sometimes acceptable to harm others? Should we strive and exert will to accomplish things, or relinquish effort and surrender? Should we always give when another has need, or cut them off if we feel it is best for them? We might even include: should we believe in religious teachings, or let them go?

In all these deliberations, the paramount question we should be asking ourselves is: why are we making the choice that we are? Are we truly motivated by the best interest of the other and of the whole, or are we actually motivated to protect or serve ourselves?

As we genuinely explore that question, we find that even in love, different circumstances may demand different answers.

It may be meaningful then to recognize that as we refine the quality of our intent towards love, when it comes to making spiritual or moral choices, there are two important ways that we spiritually grow:

The first is that we grow strong in being able to perform in any given direction. Put another way: we strengthen a given virtue. We see “how far” and “how deep” we can go in making any given choice, even when the circumstance is difficult. So in response to the above examples: we learn how to be peaceful, even in the face of conflict; and we learn how to be courageous and to intervene when necessary, even in the face of danger. We learn how to strive and exert great effort; and we learn how to release control and surrender. We learn how to be selfless and give all that we can, even at the expense of the self; and we learn when and how to refuse. We learn when and how deeply to put our faith in the ideas of our world; and when to go one’s own way. Any one of these or many thousands of other aspects of experiential learning can be its own lesson: sometimes we can spend an entire lifetime or more just “learning” one type of strength. But each of these qualities, and a great many more, have their meaningful place in consciousness-based Creation.

The second is that we refine our ability to best discern which choice- which “force”- to employ in any given circumstance. We grow in wisdom. As we learn from our experiences and repeatedly live the results of our own intentions, we experientially develop discernment which is unobscured by ego. We develop clarity of awareness when appraising both external and internal environments such that we can appropriately identify and acknowledge what will best serve the whole. We grow in our ability to make the best choice for the betterment of the other, and we refine our ability to identify and select that choice even when the circumstances are complex and even when the personal costs may be great.

Both of these types of growth are precious to the spirit! The spirit seeks to mightily develop both as it journeys through lifetimes.

Both of these types of growth contribute towards the expansion of Love! Love is not on one axis- it encompasses them all! Love encompasses many virtues: peace, and bravery; will, and release; charity, and discipline; faith, and self-reliance; rest, and service; self-love, and love for others; confidence, and humility; prudence, and sacrifice; and many, many more.

In truth, the two listed above are not separate, and these dualistic ideas are very crude representations of the complex evolution of intent. But for us rooted in duality, it can be helpful to recognize that there is not one teaching or behavior that can fully communicate what it means to grow spiritually. Rather, each of us should do our best to meet our experience fully, genuinely, and selflessly, wherever we are, without necessarily leaning on a given belief or axis. This open approach helps us to use the human experience for all it is meant to be and facilitates growth towards love in all the many ways possible.

Attributes aren’t fundamental, Spirit is fundamental. Attributes occur within and by and through Spirit. Said another way: forms and objects aren’t fundamental, life itself is fundamental. Forms and objects occur within and by and through life.

So it is not correct to ask, “what form is God? What attributes belong to Him, and which do not?” That question incorrectly imposes attributes with the fundamental quality. That which is fundamental has form; it is not that form has fundamental existence. As Rupert Spira says, “Objects do not have existence, existence has objects.”

Does this mean that God is not kind, or compassionate, or loving? No, it does not mean that. It is quite accurate to say that God is absolutely and unconditionally loving, understanding, and compassionate. And indeed, the sojourn of the Spirit into duality ultimately expands the real depths of kindness, compassion, and love. What it means though is that we cannot successfully impose local qualities on that which gives rise to them. As we ponder the nature of God then, we are wise to turn from the thinking mind to the depths of being within us, which itself transcends the distinctions that abound in our physical experience, and itself already knows the truth that cannot be named.

Our experience here is born in the spirit of play! Our true nature is one that is completely free, unlimited, creative, and powerful. It is from that true state that we decide to ultimately express ourselves here in the physical experience.

And yet, here on Earth we often go through experiences that seem far from playful. We are engaged by what seems to be the “hard constraints” or “hard rules” of our world: a knife will always cut, resources will always be finite, and the body will always die. Indeed, there is profound growth opportunity available to the spirit when it is “forced” (apparently forced) to face these “hard constraints.” Such experiences help us experientially “learn”: we learn how to deal with circumstance, we learn how to make choices, we even learn more about who we are. Even through and beyond our local reality, there are “spiritual laws” in place that help guide us through growth that is beneficial for us- and sometimes that process can be extremely painful.

So is life more like a playground, or a classroom?

The following two statements are both true and do not contradict:

1. Nothing is required of us. The universe is born out of a desire to play, to exercise our great creative natures in a unique way, just for the sake of it.
2. There is meaning and value in integrating challenging experiences and adding to Creation. Sometimes the “spiritual laws” in place end up guiding us through what seem to be very difficult experiences for the sake of growth.

The classroom is in the playground.

Even when you are in class, you can play! No matter what circumstance you find yourself in, your true nature remains unharmed and shining and joyful! And when you can fully let go of the burden you have assigned to your assignment, and get in touch with and express that ever-abiding true nature, often the lesson is ended- and you can now be full of even more joy than you were before you playfully went to class.

Some say we are here in the physical to learn and grow, and others say we are already complete and whole. Which one is it?

Both are true, and there is no contradiction.

Our true being is always complete and whole. Even as our completeness and wholeness is maintained, we choose to express our incredibly creative nature by participating in reality systems like our own. As we integrate specific experience, we grow in our capacity to know and actualize our true being. Adopting unique and well defined perspectives- for instance, the human perspective that feels separate from everyone else- allows for a great deal of experiential growth.

The only way to adopt the highly specialized human perspective is to forget all of what we really are. If we remembered all of what we really are, we would constantly know that there is nothing ever to fear. But, the capacity for challenge is commensurate to the opportunity for experiential growth: it is precisely the “apparent distance” from our true nature that is the “frontier” of new perspective creation. We love to see “what we can do with” that highly specialized perspective! We rejoice at the opportunity to see how well we can express love even through the challenging constraints of the human experience, and even through forgetting!

While we are already whole, that which is already whole “increases” as we grow experientially towards love. The Possibilities grow when consciousness- life itself- deeply engages in and integrates specific experiences, including experiences of incompleteness.

Fear is a reflection of the space in “experience space” that Beingness is expanding into. It reflects a “distance” that has not yet been experientially integrated. Fear is a sign that “That Which Is” is engaged in something (a form or perception) that challenges it and is giving it room- within itself- to expand into.

In part, our physical reality is what happens when unharmable consciousness decides to create a challenge for the purposes of actual experiential growth. Fear is not something that was created, it is simply what happens when existing consciousness engages a new constraint-set that it is not yet optimally developed to handle, and buys into perspectives that are not in alignment with one’s true nature. Fear is only possible when the spirit is engaged in challenge, which means it is working with a yet un-integrated experience. That is, fear is only possible when the spirit is engaging sense data or form that it does not yet recognize for what it truly is, or, when spirit is buying into a belief that is not in alignment with the truth. Fear is a growing pain that happens when “That Which Already Is” engages in a real process of perspective integration to expand and become even more! In that sense, fear ultimately serves love’s purpose of joy and expansion.

Ultimately there is nothing at all to fear! Fear is completely subservient to the greater and perfectly enduring truth of love. When the “game” of growth and expansion is won or departed, there can be no fear. Fear is an illusion- an artifact of “perceived distance” from true love and unity, where no distance can actually occur. Fear is not native to the soul. For our native being is one of total power, freedom, and love- and in the brightness of that Light, every shadow of fear is completely dissolved.