We seek pleasure not just as a biological impulse, but also because spiritually we always seek Source. We yearn for the unity with Source and each other- the unity which is native to our true spiritual state. As humans in a universe of form, we tend to constantly look for that unity and joy in form- in objects, people, ideas, beliefs, sights, sounds, substances, sensations- and while we may temporarily enjoy such unique form experiences, they never fully satisfy, because they are not what we are looking for. They are not what makes us complete. Our true joy is in our true nature- not in the stimulating illusion of separate things. One of the reasons we come to be human is to discover that experientially.

Eventually when the allure of form has failed us enough times, we have little choice but to turn inward. When we finally drop our frantic search and surrender, we find- spontaneously- that the wholeness we seek never left us at all! The wholeness is what we are! We only experience separation because we are focused on, believe in, and (seem to) depend on the form. So when we finally fully let go of form, wholeness naturally rises back to us, all on its own.

This surrender can be very difficult, however, because the truth of our being seems to get “wrapped up” in the forms of our lives, and as that happens, our true nature seems to become invisible. We really believe we are human! We really believe we are our occupations, our relationships, our affiliations, our ideas, and our bodies.

Letting go of the form is not an act of pitting yourself against the form. Rather, letting go of the form is a process of allowing “What Is” to be. All the form exists within you; it is not that you exist within form (like a spirit inhabiting a body in a material universe, for instance). Your awareness is always present for all aspects of your reality to exist. As you move towards that awareness itself, exactly as it is in the present moment, you automatically then open the door for the wholeness that you seek to rise back up to you!

When we finally re-sense that, we discover that the wholeness is always there! Indeed, our unified true nature is always present, and despite the rich and convincing experience of separation, our Being through which the experience of form occurs cannot ever truly be anything other than free, blissful, and whole.

People are good! Or more accurately, the spirit is good, but when engaged in very real constraint sets, each spirit is only “so adept” at optimally expressing its true loving nature in its local context. Each spirit is only “so good” at operating from love-based intent rather than fear-based intent- and the journey to actually grow from the latter to the former can be a painful one. Regardless of how “well” the spirit executes choice making, it is still fundamentally good. Some individuals are more adept than others at operating lovingly within a given physical and biological context- but at their core, all spirits are fundamentally spirits of love and joy. This is true from the best to the worst of us.

Our society does not currently teach this: we habitually wish to identify enemies. Just as the wind has no enemies, even as a wall set before it is not the wind’s enemy, you also do not have any enemies. Those labelled as “enemies” are other loving spirits playing other roles in our limited local system, making imperfect choices while in a rigorous state of artificial separation, just like us. It is beneficial to see them for the love and joy that they really are, even as they, like us, may be befuddled by the rigors of being human.

We live in a world that appears to be a shared objective reality. In our world, if someone goes to some place and sees something, they can report that something to you and you can gain knowledge about it second hand. We often assume that the same is true for the larger reality.

Reality is ultimately consciousness based, not objective material world based. So the nature of the experience of any one given individual can be significantly different than that of another- in fact they are two different experiences entirely. This is true even in our local world, where two people experience the same physical event in their own unique way, and often quite differently. But that truth is even more apparent in other reality systems, many of which are instantaneously responsive to the personal nature and intent of the individual. The “objects” reported from those environments then are often more of a reflection of the individual and their beliefs than they are of the “reality itself.”

In order to pursue understanding of the larger reality then, we need to be willing to let go of many of the physical assumptions that we hold so dear. One of those assumptions is the belief in an objective material world. The world of matter is a consistent shared experience, not a fundamental place. What is truly present is not the matter, but consciousness itself which is having the deep dream of matter. While the veil of the dream remains thick for many on Earth, the spirit is not fundamentally constrained by distance, or matter, or certain methods of perception, or even linear time. Thus as we seek to understand the big picture from the human perspective, it behooves us to release those assumptions. For even though we naturally associate with the context of the physical dream, our true nature is far more wonderful and unlimited than any part of the dream’s structure.

The name of the game is even the simplest actions performed from kindness, compassion, or love! We do not necessarily need to aspire to achieve some great physical accomplishment. We only need to meet any given moment or any given interaction with a right state of being.

From the perspective of the spirit, success is when kindness, compassion, or love is genuinely brought forth in even the smallest way. Even the whisper in the quiet of your own heart is important. Success is not measured in moving mountains, because the mountains of Earth are not fundamentally real anyway. What is real is you- your consciousness itself- and when that you chooses to meet any given moment with love, the heavens themselves rejoice!

The goal then is not to achieve a given physical configuration in how the contents of Earth look. The playing field is the moving of your own spirit, the wielding of your own precious intent. And the wielding of intent is done within all scale of physical activity, whether it be large or small, and whether it be thought, word, or deed. All choices then, no matter their scope, are grounds for the real opportunity- which is how we bring our being to bear within the physical context. Our simplest and most noble power is in how we choose to meet our experience.

And when genuine love is the motivation behind even the small choices, the contents of Earth work themselves out on their own!

Let us focus then not on the scope and size, not on the forms and systems- but on who we really are, and on how we may be there for each other. Let our choice be a kind gesture, a supportive smile, a gentle hand on the bark of an old tree. For though those choices may appear small, when motivated by genuine love, the smallest choice is the greatest accomplishment.

You are a powerful creative being! You are capable of creating realities. You do so individually, and you also do so collectively. Source is immeasurably creative- and you are a part of Source.

Our world is a place where we learn how to manage the contents of our own nature. We experientially learn how to wield our intent. We experientially learn to actualize our deeper creative and loving Beingness within a rigorous context. We experientially master the power of contrast! As we do that here, we are better able to do so in contexts that are beyond our human comprehension. No matter the type of experience we entertain, no matter how deep and dark it may seem, we are always beings of love and creative power. Indeed, as immortal spirits we are bold in the depths to which we are willing to go in the name of creativity and love.

Compared to other reality systems, ours is dense and firm. But even here, our creative nature always operates. Even here, we alter the contents of our personal experience, our collective experience, and our apparently shared external material world, by the nature of our own thoughts, beliefs, and intentions.

So be reminded of your power today! Reality is listening to you. What are you saying to it?

We commonly turn to beliefs for answers when the world “does things” to us that cause us to feel personal fears. Beliefs give the illusion of control, which makes us feel better. Thousands of times over a lifetime we turn to our beliefs for comfort. We justify, bury, or avoid certain pains or fears by buying into the stories of our beliefs. If and when we eventually want to truly question our beliefs someday, we often find then that we cannot, because questioning them would mean tearing down the wall we had built to protect ourselves from what we didn’t want to feel in the first place. It can be difficult- and even completely terrifying- to finally face the fear that we originally needed the help of beliefs to avoid fully feeling.

As two brief examples: if you are afraid of being (feeling) worthless, perhaps you have adopted a belief that your actions or affiliations give you worth. If you are afraid of dying, perhaps you have embraced a belief in a prescribed afterlife. Typically, we each have many examples of such beliefs that we have erected over a lifetime. In fact, over time our core beliefs end up becoming so deeply rooted that they do not appear to us to be beliefs anymore, but rather they appear to be fundamental characteristics of reality itself!

Yet in fact, the “Big Picture” reality exists firmly beyond personal beliefs. As stark and unforgiving as this current constraint-set of physical reality may seem at times, truly it is subordinate to the greater reality of love, peace, and bliss! That is true even if we don’t see it in our current level of awareness. Thus, if we are willing to leave the comfort of our beliefs and walk through the opaque hellfire of our fears to experience exactly “What Is,” we have the opportunity to reach true relief and joy. It may take incredible personal courage and humility to do so, but such are some of the most exciting and rewarding challenges to the spirit!

So be brave, and be hopeful, and when you feel you are ready, know that you are free to tear down those walls where you find them. For you exist firmly beyond the concepts of your local identity, and ultimately you have nothing to fear by challenging them.

Reality is efficient. All things occur within “divine laws” that have been established from inconceivable wisdom and love! That includes experiences of hardship and pain. As difficult as it can be for us to understand, pain too is meaningful, and ultimately has an important role that serves lasting love and joy.

How can this be? How can terrible pain and misery exist within love? What purpose can it possibly serve? While this is very difficult to speak to from the human perspective, there are three important points we may consider.

First, the experience of contrast creates a distance into which the fullness of the Joy of Being may expand. Everything “negative” serves as a point of contrast to help establish the experientially known depths of what is “positive.” In other words, love can be better known, forever, when the spirit has actually known and understood separation from love.

Second, “negative” experience, even when unanticipated, offers a “counter-pressure opportunity” for the spirit to exercise loving or brave choice-making through. Put as a very crude metaphor, if you can play the video game on a harder difficulty level, you develop mastery very quickly and can then later apply that mastery in other games (other realities) in other ways. The counter-pressure of challenge enables us to expand our capacity for expressing and actualizing love.

Third, by experiencing challenge, the whole system ends up “discovering novelty” within itself and adding potential. Creative manifestation begets more creative manifestation. Put another way, even in apparent destruction, more things become possible than may otherwise have been possible.

All three of these ultimately serve lasting love and joy! Indeed, in the perfect balance of What Is, not one ounce of pain is wasted- for even when we cannot see it, every element of our experience, including our pain, is a precious and meaningful part of the great love-threaded tapestry of Creation.