Month: September 2016

The process of attempting to establish an intellectual framework to understand one’s reality is, in itself, natural and healthy. However, as we seek to intellectually gain control so as to allay our fears, in our clamoring for answers we often collectively or individually institute assumptions and beliefs as if they were knowledge. Since the dawn of our history, ignorant man has ever concocted ideas about how reality works, and then declared those ideas to be truth.

As we evolve, we will need to be humble enough to recognize how very little we truly understand. The old stories we’ve been telling ourselves- even the old stories about physical matter being what is “most real”- will need to be deeply examined and then put aside as necessary in the honest pursuit of truth. We will need to recognize the limitations of our materialist science, which will not be able to answer the Big Picture questions from within the physical. We will need to be bold, humble, and brave enough to confront what is within us, so that we may truly grow our understanding of both the “internal” and “external” worlds, and more consistently bring the truer nature of love into this reality.

That can’t be done, however, until human ignorance is recognized for what it is. Being ignorant is not a vice. But claiming knowledge where there is none is a hindrance. Human knowledge currently is extremely limited. Sure, we understand a lot more about the physical rule-set of this reality than we did a few hundred years ago. But our understanding about reality itself, about our place in not only the cosmos but within the greater dimensions in which we exist- in that regard, as Tom Campbell once so eloquently put it, we barely have even one foot out of the cave!

All forms of darkness are temporary manifestations that occur as a result of experiencing lack of love. Love is our native state: complete, perfect, and whole. When we agree to become physical, we do so knowing that we are agreeing to participate within a set of constraints wherein the native love that exists for us will temporarily be obscured. We do this, in part, because how else could “What Is” know what it is, other than to actually experience what it is not?

The constraint-set that we have adopted permits us to actually experience the ability to make hard and meaningful choices, even under duress, within a context. Physical life is the context.

The very natural result of making choices in obscurity, however, is what we often call “negative” experience. We experience the effects of selfishness and greed. We experience misunderstanding, judgment, and violence. We experience pain as we are misunderstood, as we are mistreated, and as we even buy into mis-perceptions about what we really are! We are hurt ourselves, and we often retain that hurt and then pass it to others: person to person, parent to child, we perpetuate the pain that is in us by operating out of our pain. All of that pain is rooted in fear-based choice making- choice making that naturally occurs within the context of being obscured from the complete and total love, power, joy, and acceptance that is our native state.

So then how do we heal this cycle? LOVE! The solution is to love the individual who is experiencing obscurity- in effect, to seek to remove the obscurity by reminding the individual of the greater truth that always exists beneath the surface: that he or she is wonderful, accepted, taken-care-of, adored, powerful, free, and worthy! For ultimately we are accepted and loved, and God’s love is always, always available to us- it’s just that we have undertaken an experience wherein we have forgotten it.

Love is the ultimate healing power in the universe. It is the expression of the wholeness and unity that is native to what we truly are. It is what we yearn for, and what others here so desperately need. We are called to be beacons of love while in this place, to personally express the divine love that exists for us to each other. That is our mission while we are on our walk in the physical.

Know that regardless of the fact that you are having an experience in a place where love often appears to be obscured, you can never truly be separated from the incredible love that exists specifically for you. Be assured that one day, you will return to the loving foundation of your existence, and you will be healed fully by that love. However, we do not need to wait until the end of our time in the physical to experience healing! In fact, we are here in this place to take a shot at seeing how we can do under these challenging constraints in the name of love for each other! Since the love of God is often not immediately apparent here- can we choose to shine that love in to each other?

True spirituality is the dwelling in what is real. It is not primarily adherence to ideas in the mind. This is an important distinction because as beings living in dualism we commonly feel that truth is to be found within certain ideas, and not others. Yet all ideas and all form exist within the One Thing That Is, or what we sometimes call “God” or “Source.” Source transcends all the ideas and forms. And at the most fundamental level, Source is the most real thing there is. Spiritual truth then ultimately does not need to be taken on faith: we are talking about something that is actually real. In fact it is far more real than that which we commonly experience day-to-day. Because it is real, we have absolutely nothing to fear in honestly searching for what is real and in exploring what we feel is real.

Many people find it terrifying, however, to explore what they feel is real, because they believe that the world is a terrible place or that life is terrible. Indeed, they have much evidence to convince them of this “fact.” In fact, this reality will always give us evidence to support what we believe. This occurs because what is fundamentally true is not our beliefs themselves, but our awareness itself. Nothing is ever believed, conceived, or experienced without our own awareness of it. And thus in order to actually discover what is real, we must be willing to truly and deeply explore the most challenging thing there is to explore: ourselves.

Spiritual growth can occur when one commits to the honest pursuit of what is real in one’s self. Doing so, however, takes considerable personal courage, because it means one must be willing to feel what one actually feels, and face what one actually is. It is far, far easier to place the blame on certain ideas, or to cling to long-held beliefs for safety, than it is to drop the charade of the ego and allow one’s self to actually experience everything- including the experience of uncertainty about what is real.

But the whole charade of the ego is ultimately an illusion. It is not real, except that we have made it to be.

Truth, on the other hand, will stand up to scrutiny, because It Is. But since the truth transcends the human mind, the human mind alone cannot fully discern it! Because consciousness transcends the objects of the mind that it beholds, the window to true discernment is a deep familiarity with that which is more real than one’s mind: one’s awareness itself. This is why meditation is such a valuable tool: it is simply exploring “what actually is” by dwelling fully in the present moment, instead of being lost in the many thoughts of the illusory mind.

Your goal for being here is not to survive. In fact, your body won’t. Your goal is to shine joyfully as your true self, to bring the light of love into this experience, to grow toward genuine love, to process your fears, and to add to creation by being the real you. You are here to be genuine and to exercise true loving intent in common moments wherever you are, not to protect yourself at the cost of others.

In this context, it is not enough to financially succeed. It is not enough to fit in and to be comfortable. It is not enough to achieve stability in a world where the normal way of doing so is by primarily thinking of yourself and not those around you.

It is enough to simply be. It is enough to put another before yourself in whatever small way is available to you in the present moment. It is enough to create something, even if no one else will see it. It is enough to have fun. It is enough to follow the calling of your spirit, even if you abandon comfort.

The universe is built in a spirit of playfulness, joy, and pure creativity. Thus, while your body here won’t last, you might as well enjoy the rigorous environment of this physical universe and use it in a way that satisfies your soul!