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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!

When pain shows up at your door, let it in. You do not need to fear it. It is not necessary to open your door and go looking for pain to let in, nor is it necessary to be excited that pain has showed up at your door. But when it shows up- open the door, let it walk in, and be with it. Let it be your guest. Listen to the story it wants to tell you. Be a good non-judgmental listener. When pain has splurged all that it meant to express, being empty of anything else to say it will leave happily, often to never return.

When you are thinking, you are lost in a dream of form. When you are being, you just “are”: no distinctions are necessary, and all possibilities actually exist.

The intent to dwell “in the now” is often referred to as being “present.” Being “present” is like looking at a sunset and fully experiencing its beauty in the present moment: you simply are being present with the experience, rather than quantifying or judging the experience with thought. The sunset admirer does not begin to think “the sunset should be more pink,” for as soon as she does, she is no longer experiencing the sunset, but is instead judging it. God often speaks to us far more clearly in the former (presence) than in the latter (thought judgment).

If you slow down the momentum of your thoughts and go far enough into the present moment and allow yourself to completely surrender to it without judgment, you will find rather than nothing being there, everything is there. You will find your awareness exists beyond the boundaries of your body, and that you can experience your being that transcends your entire physical identity and all of its thoughts and judgments. The only thing that separates you from that native transcendence are the thoughts, judgments, and beliefs that you have decided to cling to and formalize over a lifetime.

This present moment, this very moment right now, the great depths of your own being are available to you. While the momentum of your thoughts and judgments may be great, and that may seem to keep you far from being fully aware, recognize that at any time you can take one step away from the thoughts and toward awareness of the present moment itself.

Who you really are is much bigger than who you may think you are right now, and it is completely OK to explore that!

In the context of your belief system, especially a religious one, if you are feeling doubt it is a sign that your Reason is compelling you to explore. It is OK to follow your Reason. “Big Truth” is not make believe and does not require your belief to exist. (Only your ego requires things to be a certain way.)

If you genuinely seek truth, you will look fearlessly into your own history and experience, and your own reaction to it all. If you look close enough you will see that your beliefs have deeply colored and created your experience. In addition, if you consistently take the time to explore deeply into the present moment beyond your thoughts and judgments, into your awareness itself, you will find that your awareness is fundamental to every experience you have had, while the intellectual justifications and beliefs are not. “You” have (your awareness has) persisted and endured, while the thoughts and forms that you have entertained have come and gone.

Faith then is not about simply finding an idea and holding on to it with tenacity. Faith is setting your deepest intent in the “right direction”- which is toward Love and God (no matter what you call it or don’t call it). Those two words attempt to encompass many aspects of truth which vastly transcend all human language, but we might say they include actually setting your intention toward: fearlessness, personal responsibility, active relationship with your Source, peace, acceptance, humility, surrender, joy, creativity, being fully present in the current moment, and always striving to put the needs of others before yourself. Genuinely pursuing all of that is both much more challenging and much more rewarding than tenaciously holding on to any human intellectual dogma, creed, book, name, or idea. God vastly transcends the forms you may identify Her by anyway, so your selection of the form itself is not critical. That being said, admittedly we are physical beings living in dualism- so the form or belief pursued can in fact be extremely meaningful and important! Religion often serves this extremely meaningful purpose. But when you are ready it can also be liberating to realize that the form or belief itself is not the “active ingredient.” Spirit- which we might also call “life” or “awareness”- is the thing that is real; and the “active ingredient” is the mobilization of that spirit- including your spirit- by intent! Intent transcends the forms of your mind, even as it must work through those forms.

You can at any moment let your faith transcend belief!

When you glance upon truth, there is no doubt: you know it in a way that resonates perfectly with the true goodness in your soul, because at their deepest root all things- including you- always exist within harmony, love, and perfect beingness. If you feel conflict, resistance, pressure, or fear, in that moment you are not operating from a place of higher truth. And that’s OK! You, as a part of the Creative process, utilize your experience of duality and contrast to expand and create. None-the-less, YOUR personal decision in any and every given moment to choose loving intent versus fearful intent is truly, truly important! It is the very reason this reality exists- to give you that opportunity! Faith then is always striving for the divine however you may personally identify it. Faith is choosing to embody pure loving selfless intent. Faith is allowing the greater truth and mighty river of Source’s ever-present love to flow through you in whatever your circumstances, regardless of the forms involved!

The primary thing we are accomplishing is not anything external, like production, consumption, amassing wealth, or creating something physical. The primary thing we are accomplishing is in consciousness space: the development of the quality of our intent toward love, the addition to creativity and to ideas, the broadening of awareness that occurs as one has experiences and makes choices. WE are the substance of what is happening in reality; the things we see around us are not. We can turn materials into finished goods, build a thousand cities, direct resources by spending money for decades and centuries: none of that has any meaning except through the experience of, and resulting beingness of, those doing it and those affected by it. When the Earth has passed- and pass it will- the objects we moved around effortfully will matter very little. However, our experience, our love- that will be incredibly precious and eternally enduring!

You and I will exist past the death of our bodies. We will exist after the roads have crumbled to dust, the skyscrapers have fallen low, and the languages of the Earth are no longer spoken. Someday, eventually, all the things we have built will be gone- but you will remain.

Should we then while we are here spend our energies primarily on physical production and acquisition? Or should we instead work towards building up that which will never pass? Are not the treasures of the spirit worth far more than any possession? For wisdom endures! Joy lifts up all of Creation! Creativity adds to What Is in an eternal way! The growth of the spirit cannot ever be lost, and love never, ever dies or diminishes.

Work, then, for love! Work to conquer your fear, to fully face whatever your experience may be. Work to create. Work to add to the experience of those around you. Work to serve, to humble yourself, to make the world better for someone else. Work to expand your understanding, your perspective, your willingness. Work to surrender. Work to face yourself and be the best you can be. Work to allow the love of the divine to flow through you. And know that your “work” is not work at all- it is the gentle calling of your spirit to be the loving being that you are at your core, wherever you are. Let go of all concern, follow the quiet asking of your spirit, and know that “all is well.” For you are the brave one who has decided to come here, not to accomplish the transient ends of the physical, but to add to yourself, to love, and to Creation!

Judgment pervades our society. We constantly label, categorize, and place blame. When something that we deem as “bad” happens, we quickly seek to identify who is at fault. We are deeply attached to the idea that there are enemies somewhere out in the world.

But in truth, there is no enemy. There is never an enemy.

All of us are integrally spiritually connected to one another. We may be currently entertaining the deep illusion of separation, but never-the-less fundamentally we are all individuated facets of the same Great Spirit. How can there ever be an enemy when the other is always a part of us?

Those among us who are acting hurtfully are simply doing so out of the ignorance caused by being on this side of the veil: ignorance to their own undiminishable power; ignorance to their inherent worthiness; ignorance to the unspeakable love that exists for them- especially this last one. Everyone who acts hurtfully is suffering themselves, for lack of love has prompted them to act out of fear. Can you forgive your brother and sister who is suffering, like you have? Can you forgive them for being afraid?

Relinquish your need to place blame or be on the “side of right.” For the sense of empowerment one may gain in doing so is only a false illusion set up by the ego. It is fake security. The ego may proclaim, “I now have power over the situation because I have identified the cause of my duress” or “I now affirm that I am good and justified because of which group I belong to-” but such proclamations are illusions.  Like all illusions of the ego, they are created to give us a false sense of comfort, which we often embrace wholeheartedly rather than facing our fears and feeling our discomforts.

You do not need the securities of the ego, including that of judgment. The truth stands firm and strong, always: you are loved, you are cherished, you are divine- and so is the person next to you. That truth when experienced is far more comforting than the comfort that any egoic judgment can provide!

The wonder of “That Which Is” is far beyond any description. The creative power of God is beyond imagining. The beauty of Creation is vastly beyond that which can be quantified. The Love of God is more beautiful and desirable and perfect than anything we have ever articulated in any form in this entire universe!

All things, everything we’ve ever considered or felt or experienced as humans in the sum of human history, is but an infinitesimal speck in the grandeur that is God. God’s nature is totally ineffable, undefinable, and sublime!

How then, as humans of such limited intellects, can we believe that we can quantify “All That Is” in our petty tongues? How can we announce that we have grasped the truth while we are here? How can our rituals, our metaphors, our forms and understandings, our symbols, books, names, identities, beliefs, or stories ever capture the truth? How can our fleshy brains, our failing bodies, our limited minds, our imperfect organizations and systems ever profess to have the truth?

No word, song, voice, symbol, person, place, story, or any other form in all of Creation will ever be able to quantify the great, awesome, awe-inspiring, limitless, boundless, perfect truth of God!

Your experience is what it is for a reason. You cannot escape the nature of your experience- because what you are experiencing is always exactly what you should be experiencing in any given moment, based on the many natural laws that Source in Its incredibly loving wisdom has laid out. Thus the nature of your experience itself contains precious keys to your own development and your own life. This includes “negative” experience, which actually contains rich messages for us, if we are willing to listen.

In order to properly excavate the gold mine of your experience, you need to surrender to it. Surrender to your experience itself, not to your ideas about it. You have to be willing to actually feel whatever arises, to fully dwell in the present moment with whatever it is presently offering you, and to do so without any intellectual judgment whatsoever. The more you do that, the more you will be able to see the contents of your intellectual mind- and the resultant emotions- for what they are.

In the context of the larger reality around us, our society currently has a lot of things wrong:

• We are taught that possessions will make us happy, when in truth they will not
• We believe that matter is the most real thing there is, when in truth it is not
• We believe that the Earth and the outer space that we can see is all there is, when in truth they are not
• We believe that God is judgmental and “angerable,” when in truth He is not; or alternatively we believe God doesn’t exist, when in truth that which we crudely call “God” is more real than everything we know
• We are taught that we are harshly judged for our mistakes, when in truth all things are understood
• We are taught that we are only worthy if we do or achieve certain things, when in truth we are fundamentally worthy
• We believe that we are unloved, when in truth we are profoundly loved, cherished, and adored
• We are taught that humans are the only beings “with a soul,” when in truth we are not
• We are taught to fear the dangers of the world, when in truth there is nothing to fear
• We are taught that we have no power to change the world, when in fact we are incredibly powerful
• We fear that death is the end, when in truth it is a fantastic beginning

With so much misunderstanding “out there,” it is no wonder that clarity often eludes us. And yet, your greatest source for knowing is not external: your own experience, your own intuition, your own knowing, your own inner connection to Spirit will whisper answers to you when society’s constant messages fail you. God is always speaking to you in one way or another, if you are humble enough to listen. Listen within openly, and with pure loving intention, and you will find that a light is always available to lead you through the ubiquitous misunderstanding of this seemingly physical world!