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The world is reflecting back to you the nature of your deepest beliefs. The physical universe is like a giant mirror provided to give you the opportunity to actually experience your beliefs, perceptions, and assumptions.

The physical world is not bad. It is a firm but neutral set of constraints engaged by consciousness for the purposes of self-realization and experience integration. The quality of your experience then contains precious clues as to whether or not you are utilizing that experience in a way that is in alignment with the more fundamental truth of love, or not.

How does your experience feel? What is life like for you? Where you feel negative emotions or fear, see if you can discover what negative self-perceptions or beliefs you have “bought into.” When consciousness has “bought into” a self-perception or a perception about the world that is not in alignment with the truth, negative emotions result. Do you perceive yourself as- and then feel- powerless? Do you perceive yourself as- and then feel- unlovable, harmable, or trapped?

While these experiences can feel quite real, ultimately, they are illusions. You are powerful, you are loved, you are immortal, and you are free.

We buy into negative perceptions because we feel the evidence vouches for them. Our conclusions about reality become assumptions about reality, and they become invisible. Our conclusions about ourselves become assumptions about ourselves, and they become invisible. But the mirror keeps reflecting the appropriate experience of those assumptions back to us. Our experience remains a faithful gauge of the assumptions and beliefs that we are holding onto.

Your negative emotions can serve as guideposts to re-discover your assumptions. Seek out: “why do I feel the way that I do?” When you find the belief that is giving rise to your feeling- do not assume it is true. Rather, use the discovery to help direct you towards the fear itself, without the story of the belief. Use the discovery to help direct you to the fear that you are- or, were- too afraid to face and feel. What are you afraid of? Sit with the feeling, no matter how strong it is. Be with the feeling, no matter how strong it is. You can face your fears, you will not be destroyed. You can feel all your feelings, you will not be destroyed.

In fact, you may be set free! For underneath all the pain, confusion, and hardship, the true and ever-present nature of the spirit is always, always one of complete love, joy, and freedom! Your bedrock is one of love, joy, and freedom. Your true nature is one of love, joy, and freedom: it is always down there within you, beneath all the negative beliefs that you assume the physical world has proven to you. So where you don’t feel love, joy, and freedom- allow the world to show back to you what you believe about yourself and the world that is causing you to no longer know it. That process of self-discovery, bravery, and feeling is exactly what the physical universe is meant for. And since the universe was built for it, it wants you to succeed, and will work with you when you are ready.

The present moment is all that there ever is.

The “now” exists beyond the mind. It is not an idea of the mind. The “now” is your alert presence in the current moment, the silent witness that beholds and experiences all of the form (all of the thoughts, all of the feelings, all of the objects, and all of the contexts). The ideas of the mind can be temporarily experienced in the now, but the now is not the ideas. The now supersedes all ideas. You do not need to live your life lost in the dream that is the ideas of the mind, in thoughts about the future or the past. You do not need to surrender yourself to anxieties about the past or future- they too only can exist as they are recalled into the present moment.

Your power is always in the now. It does not exist in the past, or in the future- it is always right now.

While you may have established great momentum in your life which may seem to bind you into a given circumstance-set or idea-set, you are not ever completely bound to the cumulative impacts of your past, because you always have the power in the now- right now- to change your momentum toward the direction that you choose. That direction can always be toward: brighter expectations for the future, new personal beliefs, greater awareness of your personal power and freedom, greater acceptance of the love that exists for you, increased prioritization of serving others over the self, or any other direction that you so choose. For as your consciousness moves in the present moment, so will your body- and even your reality itself- also move. Even if the effects may not always be immediately apparent, make no mistake that how you choose to use the present moment is always causing change. That which happens in consciousness space in the now always has an effect, even if you cannot see or understand it.

What momentum are you creating for yourself and your world today? If you are ready to do so, identify just one thing that has your attention, and choose to approach it with love, rather than fear. Even doing so with just one choice begins to move the momentum of your life in the direction of true freedom.

As we live in a world of duality, we often approach understanding all of reality with the assumptions we’ve learned in duality. As one example, we believe distance is a fundamental property of reality, so we assume someone can only be in one place at a time. As another example, we believe reality is this one big shared objective place (“the world”), and that we all are seeing the same thing. Neither of those assumptions are correct.

An assumption we bring to spirituality is: we tend to believe that some ideas from our world- for instance religious conclusions or scientific conclusions- are themselves fundamental statements about all of reality, and that others are not. We assume this in part because we personally discover that some ideas end up proving to be verifiable and true in our local world, while others do not. We naturally establish beliefs to explain our life experience and how the external world seems to work. We then almost automatically extrapolate those beliefs into the “Big Picture.”

Spirituality though is not fundamentally about a move towards one specific set of ideas, any more than it is about a person moving from one physical place to another. This is not to say that Earthly ideas do not have an important place in spirituality- of course, they do! We are having the meaningful experience of duality, so the ideas of duality are important, useful, and meaningful to us. They are the forms with which we work. I wouldn’t be writing these words, and you wouldn’t be reading them, if there weren’t some value in considering spiritual ideas.

But the spirit itself is something that fully transcends all the intellectual ideas and the many forms of Earth. The spirit in its actual nature transcends all the assumptions that we use to make intellectual judgments about reality. All intellectual judgments, and indeed all forms, occur within spirit.

Spirituality then is not just about ideas, but more fundamentally, about what actually is. Spirituality is about a “growth” of what actually is– an expansion in consciousness itself. That expansion transcends the forms with which we play, for it is not a growth strictly in the realm of ideas or actions, but it goes far deeper- to a growth in being. Spirituality is about the way in which we, as consciousness, meet our experience, and how What Is becomes more as a result. It is about experientially learning how to wield our fundamental power: our intent. Spirituality is about actually growing towards- and becoming- creativity and love. It is not fundamentally about selecting the correct ideas, though ideas are an important part of what is occurring.

If we truly wish to walk the spiritual walk, we must go far deeper than working with ideas. We must do something that is far more difficult than selecting an understanding or belief: we must face ourselves. We must face our actual experience, meet it with full presence, bravery, humility, and most importantly- Love! We must be willing to allow ourselves to change towards- and actually become- more present, brave, humble, and loving. We are what continues after the physical world ends- so what we are here to work on, is us.

Our physical reality is preceded by a non-physical one in which we, both individually and collectively, help to “drive” what is physically manifested. One of the great “forces” that moves that process forward is expectation and belief. Thus what you believe- the nature of your worldview- is actually important for how our local experience will actualize.

As we “play the game,” certain thoughts, ideas, and beliefs tend to gain or lose “momentum” within the collective consciousness. That momentum is a powerful force. It’s important to recognize however that the collective momentum always starts and ends with individual momentum. The individual is important. What YOU believe-  your worldview- is important!

You may not be consciously aware of it, but you are automatically communicating with all the many millions of other “players in the game” in consciousness space. Your beliefs, your expectations, and your intentions not only affect the “temperature of the water” in the collective consciousness, they also encourage others- and in a sense “give permission” to others if necessary- to consider those same beliefs, expectations, and intentions, too. One person who shines bright with truly loving intent is like a beacon giving permission to many thousands of others to shine their light as well!

Take time then to look within and discover what beliefs and intentions you are sponsoring within the collective consciousness. What are you inspiring in our world today within your own mind and heart? Do not be discouraged by the apparent scope of change that may seem to be required on the “surface” of the physical world, but rather, recognize your power- for one person who is fully present and acting from a place of responsibility and genuine love can make a huge difference, and inspire many others to do the same.

YOU are a part of the Light! You are an unspeakably valuable and amazing fragment of That Which Is. You are spirit, brave and immortal spirit, now having the experience of a body. You cannot be harmed, you cannot be forgotten, and you cannot be replaced. You are never alone. You are adored, held up, and celebrated by countless thousands upon thousands of those who know and cherish you. You are a spark of the divine flame which shines bright in all things. You are a fire in the illusion of darkness. You are the presence of love, uniquely expressed as only you can. You are a powerful force, a mighty consciousness who has set out upon one of the greatest adventures thus far conceived, fully participating and yet fully transcendent. Your every thought and intent speaks to the galaxies, as they are your brothers and sisters. You are connected to every single thing that exists. You are so wonderful that you are beyond description! You are a universe unto yourself, and yet an ever-shimmering drop in the unspeakably brilliant ocean of the Light. You are loved, and you are love!

As you take your walk in the physical, set aside time to listen with your deepest being rather than your mind, and allow yourself to remember what you are.

Awareness (here synonymous with “consciousness”) is not a thing that has an opposite. It just is. All opposites exist within awareness.

Have you ever had an experience that wasn’t your awareness of it? Have you ever had a thought that wasn’t your own awareness of it? Even the experience of waking and sleeping (“gaining or losing consciousness”), or the experience of considering dualistic ideas like existence and non-existence, are only known as you behold their forms and assign meaning to them. All of the content of your physical life, while deeply convincing in its apparent individuation and duality, has only ever taken place in your awareness of it.

Your awareness doesn’t actually need a context to exist. It is That Which Is. It is that which has done those things, and had the experience of being these other things- but it always remains.

As such, you will always remain. All that your local personality is will not be lost when your body dies. You will not be lost. Rather, you will simply awaken to all that you truly are! And the walk in the physical that you just took will be recognized as yet another adventure that you have taken, another “form that you have been,” in the great context of Creation.

Many who seek truth in knowledge believe that there is “some universe out there” and that our job as truth seekers is to go and figure out that universe. Ironically, the one who is looking at the external forms (sense data) and internal forms (ideas and dualistic understandings) to find the answers is often missing a constantly available clue: the forms one is evaluating only exist within one’s own awareness of them.

All forms are contained within awareness; it is not that awareness only exists within form. That distinction is exactly what “the veil” allows the spirit to experience on Earth: it “clouds” the individual’s awareness of his or her deeper transcendent nature so he or she can get lost in the world of form. The individual then, having “forgotten” (lost sight of) what he or she really is, goes out and seeks the answers to beingness within the form itself, since form appears to be reality.

But looking in the world of form for the “Big Picture” answers is like the video game character looking for the answer to everything within the video game itself. There is not a single thing within the video game environment that will explain the nature of the physical computer server, or the building that server resides in, or the motivations behind the people that built the server building. In fact, as the video game character can only understand reality using video-game-world assumptions and concepts, it is not even possible for the video game character to understand the nature of the larger reality with his local video-game-knowledge-based intellectual mind alone.

You and I are similarly bound. None of the metaphors, ideas, or relationships of Earth can explain “The Answer.” If one wishes to find truth, he or she must do so beyond knowledge.

How? There are no words that can truly communicate this deep process, as it occurs beneath form and action itself, but for the action-oriented mind we can say the following. One can seek truth beyond knowledge by consistently and genuinely moving one’s focus towards that which does transcend the boundaries of realities: awareness itself! Or, if “awareness itself” is too vague and an object of attention is needed, we can say instead: “awareness of the present moment itself!”

In order to do so, one must be willing to consistently and genuinely direct one’s attention away from the thought and the form, towards what one actually is. One must be ready to surrender, to completely let go of all the stories and understandings of the mind, and meet the present moment fully. This can take considerable patience and persistence, as we tend to build up a huge amount of “thought and idea momentum” over the course of a lifetime. In fact, one should be willing to let go even of the need to find the answer!

The benefits of such a practice may initially seem invisible to the mind. Yet despite the challenge and hidden benefit, such a pursuit is incredibly worthwhile. For indeed our greater nature never leaves us, and beneath all the illusion we have become so tied up within, the greater truth of our powerful formless being always remains available to us. The answers that are there far exceed the answers of the local human mind.

Most of us are sensitive in ways that our ego won’t admit. That sensitivity often leads toward the real us.

The ego is not a separate entity- it is the part of us that wishes to protect us. We wish to protect ourselves. And one of the most common ways to do so is to avoid feeling pain- especially the pain of negative emotions that result from the limiting perspectives we buy into and the negative beliefs we hold about ourselves and our world. We play all sorts of games with ourselves to avoid facing that which we do not want to face, and to avoid feeling that which we do not want to feel. We effectively close ourselves off from our own actual experience.

But in so doing, we temporarily segregate ourselves from our own true nature, which is unified and completely present with “what is.” The ego creates a cage of ideas and beliefs to protect us, but in so doing, we are no longer free. We accept the illusion of the cage to avoid fear and pain, rather than being present with exactly “what is” and feeling exactly “what we feel.”

At the heart of the issue is our unwillingness to face our experience for exactly what it is because doing so may be terrifying or painful. The way to healing then is to choose to fully allow our own experience, no matter what it may be, without the protective beliefs, judgments, and stories of the mind. Leaving behind the cage can be absolutely terrifying, and can even feel like personal destruction! But in fact, reality itself is there to support you, because despite its appearances, reality is ultimately built upon love, not pain. In fact, the universe itself wants you to succeed in integrating your life experience and conquering your fear!

But such a journey is not one that can be taken abruptly: it is the small movements towards the courage to genuinely feel that help bring us closer to who we really are.

So when you are ready, make the choice to actually feel what you feel, no matter what you intellectually think it may mean about you. Feel your experience in your body, rather than listening to the age-old learned stories of your mind. Beneath all the scars, you are still sensitive- and when you find that genuine sensitivity, allow it, feel it, and embrace it, you will re-discover a piece of your true and ever-powerful self.

You are not fundamentally human. You are your “higher self” – the greater portion of you that transcends the physical experience and is ever connected to the Light. That higher self knows that it is powerful, and unharmable, and connected, and loved.

And yet the human experience gives us the opportunity to actually experience something else. At times we believe- or even assume- that we are powerless, vulnerable, disconnected, or unloved. And when we do, we suffer. For some of us, much of our lives seem to be filled with these feelings.

We suffer precisely because these self-perceptions (perceiving one’s self to be powerless, vulnerable, disconnected, or unloved) are not in alignment with the more fundamental truths of our greater nature. We suffer when we buy into a perception that is not in alignment with the greater truth. The higher self can’t be (isn’t) powerless, it is a powerful part of God- so when we adopt a self-perception of powerlessness, we suffer. The higher self can’t be (isn’t) vulnerable, it is unharmable and eternal- so when we adopt a self-perception of vulnerability, we suffer. The higher self can’t be (isn’t) disconnected- so when we adopt a self-perception of loneliness or distance, we suffer. The higher self can’t be (isn’t) unloved, it is profoundly celebrated and adored- so when we adopt a self-perception of shame or worthlessness, we suffer.

Discontentedness or suffering is a signpost to point towards the inaccurate self-perception we believe our circumstances are proving to us.

Yet the circumstances themselves do not automatically convey anything! No matter how rigorous or painful they may seem, they are neutral- they only give the experiencer the opportunity to place a meaning upon them, including one that is not in alignment with the more enduring truth.

When you suffer then, follow the signpost! What negative self-perception are you buying into? What circumstance of your life is “proving” to you that negative self-perception is true? What fear are you avoiding? See if you can allow yourself to completely let go of all your stories, completely let go of all the meaning you are placing on the circumstance or sensation, and completely let go of even all the self-perception “buy-ins” you are entertaining. Beneath all of that, you are still YOU- the real you- and you are powerful, unharmable, connected, and always deeply and overwhelmingly loved!

Descartes, with his famous conclusion “I think, therefore I am,” had it backwards. Thought does not precede being, being precedes thought. Thinking a thought does not create beingness: existing beingness thinks a thought. Or perhaps more accurately, existing unlimited beingness “becomes” the experience of being a perspective that thinks a thought.

While we are here in the physical though, we often deeply “lose” ourselves in “enticing” yet shallow thought. We become almost completely wrapped up in the ideas of our minds: ideas of identity, ideas of responsibility, and beliefs. We think we are our identity, we think we are our responsibilities, and we think reality is just as we believe. None of that is fundamental.

That idea can sound frightening, because we are so wrapped up in the illusory identity, that when it is threatened we feel (incorrectly) that our very being is threatened. Ironically, it is only through being wrapped up in what is not ultimately real that we can even feel threatened! What we really are- that which we call spirit, or consciousness, or beingness- that can never be threatened. Beingness is that which gives rise to all the ideas of the mind, and to the entire physical experience. This allows it to engage in precious creation-expanding perspectives.

So next time you think that your thoughts or your beliefs make you you, or you feel fear or hopelessness as a result of them, remind yourself: your thoughts exist within you, you do not exist within your thoughts!