Month: March 2016

God does not require you to believe anything. He/She/It is All That Is- the profoundly loving conscious foundation of reality that has given you the opportunity to make choices, including the choices about what you believe. You are not punished for making the wrong choices or for believing this thing or the other. Countless reports from the other side (NDEs) reiterate this.

Love, on the other hand, is paramount to our reason for being here. We do always inevitably experience the results of our choices- whether they be loving, or unloving. The true nature of our intent is never hidden from God. We often tell ourselves that we have loving reasons for doing things, but often our motivation is rooted in fear rather than love.

Being able to successfully navigate this phenomenon sometimes requires taking a hard look at what one believes. This is because belief often rises out of the need of the ego to protect the individual (or group) from their fears: fear of the unknown, fear of powerlessness, fear of worthlessness, fear of death. This is not always the case, as often beliefs can be used to root and motivate a person in loving action as well. Beliefs can be profoundly valuable- and oftentimes necessary- to many who seek to rise above the brutal nature of our world, to grow spiritually, and to seek God. But the beliefs themselves are not the “active ingredient.” The active ingredient is the quality and direction of one’s intent: whether it be motivated out of genuine love, or selfish fear; whether it is pointed toward God, or to self. When one seeks God truly, God always responds, regardless of the physical metaphor or form used by the individual. The consciousness is primary; the symbols used by it are secondary.

It is very important to recognize that many are not ready to question their beliefs to their foundations. That is totally acceptable! Re-establishing a lifetime’s worldview can be an incredibly personally destructive process, and many simply do not need such a radical belief-overhaul to successfully pursue their relationship with God (whatever they call it). Do not try to push over someone’s apple cart with new ideas when they are not ready- rather, respect and uphold each person’s place and beliefs. The spirit will always work with each individual as they are ready, and the individual will always eventually utilize their actual experience to grow in their own way.

Others, however, can benefit greatly by permitting themselves to examine the nature of their beliefs so as to throw out what does not serve love and so as to better understand their own “next steps” on their genuine spiritual walk. Oftentimes the individual is greatly benefited by releasing old fear-based ideas such as the ideas of condemnation, group favoritism, shame, and sin. Such ideas are, in fact, OK to release when the individual is ready- because in the larger consciousness system, belief itself is not fundamental. Genuine Love, however- that is the stuff universes are made of!

For much of my life, I justified my worth to myself partially by establishing intellectual capability. I learned facts and skills. I grew my knowledge of various subjects, and learned a foreign language. I earned a high GPA in college, worked hard to excel in my career, and became “the best” I could be at various activities. Eventually I had a long list of intellectual accomplishments to present to myself to prove my worth to myself. It worked for a while.

A few years ago in my spiritual walk, I made a profound personal discovery: in the Big Picture, my intellectual accomplishments are largely unimportant! Sure they have some effect in the physical- and of course there is in fact certain spiritual value to my having achieved them. But in the Big Picture, from the view of larger Reality which supersedes this entire physical reality, my knowledge, skills, and abilities actually mean very little. They are not the reason why I am here.

Metaphorically, I realized that my skills are like a video game character’s skills: they have value where assigned, and perform functions within the video game, but are in fact almost meaningless in the larger reality, where I already transcend that paltry knowledge and crude physical functionality.

I found that what is important, in fact, is intent: striving to have the truest quality of intent- that means genuinely loving intent- in all the choices that I make. Put crudely but succinctly: love is more important than knowledge.

Metaphorically speaking, you and I are living in a video game. (See Tom Campbell’s work.) This is a “virtual” reality: an experience constructed within consciousness. When we die, we don’t take our character’s video game skills with us. The character’s body dies. That’s OK because fundamentally we don’t need the skills, or the body.

What we do take with us, rather than the character’s skills, is our own ability to actually play the game with higher quality intent (intent that is more loving and less fearful). We learn how to actually be more loving and less fearful. Every time we play, we get a little better at seeing past the illusions and making loving choices. Every time we play, we conquer some fear.

Our knowledge does not survive in its current limited form, nor does it need to. However our wisdom, our genuine love- that survives forever!

Creation is a phenomenon rooted in joy!

However, sometimes we do not experience physical life that way.

When we adopt the “veil” and become physical, we become bound to this reality’s rule-set. That rule-set includes having a body. The body needs to physically survive. The body can be harmed. The body deteriorates. We need things to protect us, shelter us, feed us. Since the location of objects remain consistent, “possession becomes nine-tenths of the law” and control of resources by force is encouraged. The jungle evolves then to be a “kill or be killed” environment. And there isn’t a day that we don’t forget it, for we are constantly involved in a struggle for control of resources (often in the form of money), and sometimes even survival itself.

That entire experience can lead us to take things very seriously. Indeed, just the concept of one’s own body dying alone can seem like a very somber problem indeed!

From the perspective of immortal invincible spirit, the opportunity to experience such a messy, tough environment is a treasure. The decision to engage in such an experience is not done out of any seriousness, but rather out of incredible excitement and joy! Every one of us knew the challenge we signed up for before we came. We knew that we were coming to a place where we would one day die. What joy we felt at the opportunity!

That may sound confusing, or perhaps even masochistic- but in fact as creators it is we that have interpreted our experience here in that way. We have created this world and its perceptions. It can be very liberating to be reminded- if we dare- that none of it needs to be feared or taken too seriously.

In fact, there is nothing you are “supposed” to be doing. There is nothing you absolutely “have” to do! If you feel there is, it is because you have chosen to buy into that belief for one reason or another. You may have bought into various beliefs and interpretations that lead you to feel that you “must” do this or that- and that is a great experience to have- but none of it is fundamental. Fundamentally you are free, joyful awareness. Fundamentally you, and the person next to you, cannot be harmed. Fundamentally you are more than all of the things in your mind, your life, and even your imagination.

So kick back, relax, and enjoy the ride! Play the game of life with the carefree joy that is still you down in there. What’s the worst that could happen?

All the experiences of individual perspective, and in fact all experiences of duality (duality meaning experiences of contrast like “up versus down,” “hot versus cold,” etc.), exist “within” the larger reality of consciousness that “contains” everything. We call that larger reality of consciousness “God.” All individual perspectives and all cause-and-effect events and choices that led to them are all “accounted for” within that great awareness. Absolutely everything is known and accounted for. And yet that great awareness is not simply a sum-total of individual perspectives, but is a potent living consciousness that far exceeds the sum of its parts.

From an individualized perspective within a dualistic universe such as ours, we simply cannot grasp what that means. God as the Author of duality is beyond it- so we cannot define all of Him from within it.

Stated differently, it is impossible to describe God with the Earthly dualistic intellect, such as the one you are using right now. Since form cannot describe the formless, God- the author of form- is beyond description.

Fortunately, however, the spirit of which we are primarily comprised does exist beyond duality. It is a part of God. Your earthly personality, steeped high in the experience of duality, may not remember it- but because your spirit is irrevocably a part of God, you do fundamentally transcend the dualism, just like God does.

It is OK then, when you wish, to let every single thing in your life go: to relinquish your death-grip on forms, responsibilities, and ideas, and simply allow yourself to be fully present, exposed, and surrendered to the current moment. God, the great Author, is always there.

Love is what you seek. You may not even consciously remember the love that you seek, but as it is native to your being, you seek it every day. God’s love- however you may or may not identify it- is your substance, your life blood, your desire and drive. It is the place from which you’ve come and to which you will return. It is what you yearn for. It is your ultimate strength and your motivation. It is the purity of being that rests beneath all your interpretations. Love is the fountain of life from which you spring.

It is OK to acknowledge your deep, deep longing to truly be loved and accepted. Yet doing so may mean acknowledging to yourself how very much you have NOT received the love that you have yearned for: in other words, facing your deepest wounds and mistreatments. But that is OK! You do need love, and it is OK to turn into a sobbing wreck and surrender to “daddy God” (or however else you may conceptualize our Source)! It is even OK to be angry about it. If you are truly open, you will find that the spirit is always there for you, and can take any “vent” that you might dish out. The love that exists specifically for YOU is very real, and it transcends all the pain you have suffered.

You may feel abandoned and unloved at times, but in truth, you never are.

Just as you need love, recognize that it is also the thing that everyone around you needs. We all need love! Yet we are so tangled by a lifetime of thoughts that we have become lost in the deep illusion of separation that is physical life. We turn to forms around us to fill the void- to substances, to entertainment, to possessions, to ideas. We have forgotten that we are searching for love. Those who are around you have forgotten.

You are here for a purpose. That purpose is to love! Be the reminder. The being who is next to you right now needs what you have to give. Shine God’s love back into the world! For as you need it, give it!