A Walk in the Physical

Awareness is inherently joyful! It can only experience pain as a temporary illusory experience. Resisting that experience tends to perpetuate it, because it is not allowing “what is” to be. True happiness and freedom is available in completely allowing “what is” to be, exactly as it is, without the judgments of the ego-mind. This is because by releasing the forms of the ego-mind, the consciousness naturally takes a step back towards its native state which always fully transcends the forms that it is beholding. In relinquishing all resistance and simply being present with “what is,” awareness naturally “sees past” the forms that were distracting it, and it is once again known that joy is always there!

Awareness is formless and unlimited! When awareness gets lost within the illusion of form and believes form is what it is, it temporarily believes something contrary to its true nature: it believes it is limited and separate when in fact it is unlimited and connected to everything. In so doing, it naturally experiences suffering. Suffering is a sign that awareness has bought into something that is not fundamentally true. Suffering is a sign that awareness has bought into an illusion, and thus temporarily forgotten its true nature. When awareness knows its true nature, which is beyond form and totally free, suffering is not possible.

Creation is very, very vast. It is so incredibly huge, so unbelievably complex, and so amazingly diverse that it is not even possible for you to even remotely imagine its scope with the human mind. Our reality alone has over 100,000,000,000 galaxies (some now say twice that), each with an average of approximately 100,000,000,000 stars. That’s more than 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 star systems. The universe is so big that it would take light more than 13,800,000,000 years to cross it- while in that time, it would “expand” even further! And yet, all of this scope is our universe only: our entire physical reality is in fact just one of many. Within that unimaginably vast context, how can any of us humans on Earth expect or believe that we truly grasp the nature of reality?

And yet many on Earth ascribe to simple human ideas passed down to them, enshrine those ideas as belief, and swiftly conclude that they more-or-less “have things figured out.” Most humans believe they generally have a pretty accurate view of the world at any given time. We commonly claim knowledge where there is actually ignorance. Our basic assumptions about reality fade into the background, invisible to us, even though they color everything we are doing and experiencing in our daily lives.

One of those assumptions is that physical matter is what is most real. Many ponderers among us assume that materialism must be sound because we have been able to achieve certain physical accomplishments with our (currently) materialistic science. Many believe that our physical universe is “all there is.”

And yet, a true investigation yields a much, much vaster “big picture” reality than the cold basic experience of matter conveys. In fact, the experience of other reality systems can be more rich, more wonderful, more vibrant, and more absolutely astounding than any physical experience available to us! How can this be, when we remember nothing but the physical world in which we were raised? How can such an investigation be pursued?

In order to have the physical experience, you had to adopt a sort of “amnesia” for a while so that you could completely focus on being differentiated as a human. The entire you is so great, so vast, so connected to everything else, that functioning as a seemingly separate human would be quite impossible if it were not for the “amnesia.” Never-the-less, you are still what you truly are: you are still spirit. You can’t not be what you truly are. And thus if you truly wish to investigate reality, you need to be willing to fully look into what you are beyond the human mind. You need to spend time and focus with your awareness itself– because that does always transcend the physical experience. Consciousness is the common denominator to every experience, so if you want to truly explore Creation, start by looking there! For indeed within the realms of Creation, there are realities far more immense and far more real than this illusory physical universe that we are so focused in- and your spirit is fundamentally connected to all of it!

For a long time humans have relied on belief to explain that which was unexplainable. Humans have generously extrapolated that which they perceive and understand into that which they do not perceive or understand. This is a common practice of the ego: we draw conclusions about that which we actually do not understand and proclaim our conclusions as truth.

Yet it would not be accurate to categorize religion strictly as a phenomenon of ego and belief, because in fact religious phenomena also arises from the individual’s very real personal experience with the greater reality and with the divine. God is real (whatever you call God or don’t call God), the spirit is real- in fact, whether they are recognized or not, they are more real than the objects that appear to be around us. And as the individual processes experience, including the very common and natural personal interaction with the spirit, the physically oriented portion of one’s awareness seeks to intellectually and emotionally secure form for that experience. The form that one seeks to secure then is sought within the context and history of what one has experienced in the physical, including what one has learned or been taught, which can include a religious context.

We might say then that our physical religion has two parts to it: first, the human-derived mythology (comprised of ideas, which are a type of form experienced within the physical universe); and second, the individual’s interaction with the transcendent loving substance of the spirit (the divine in and through all of us which transcends the physical universe). (In fact these two elements are intertwined and not ultimately separate, but to the human intellect which seeks to understand reality through dualistic ideas, the distinction may be helpful.) Differentiating the former from the latter has proven to be very challenging for humanity! This is understandable considering that the divine can seem invisible, unless we personally equate it to one or more forms (words, ideas, beliefs, etc.). In truth, the spirit transcends all of the forms of this universe, including our many objects, words, and ideas.

It is natural that we seek answers within the form, for we are indeed immersed in an experience of form. The experience of dualistic form is the very nature of the physical experience. And as experiencers of form, form is often very important to us- sometimes it even seems necessary- as we reach for the divine. For instance, revering a name, book, idea, or any set thereof can in fact be deeply meaningful and genuinely important to the individual along his or her spiritual walk. Yet eventually it can sometimes also benefit one to recognize that the form itself does not hold the answer, because form only exists within and is completely transcended by the realm of the spirit. Put another way: conscious awareness itself exists, and the forms it entertains are secondary, so the forms will never truly hold the answer.

Regardless of the forms (or lack of forms) we utilize to pursue the divine, the spiritual walk of the individual is indeed very important and very real. Your relationship with the divine is real. YOU are real! You are more real than the forms that you are lost within. And that which stirs your soul, your truest self of selves, also dwells and exists beyond the ideas that you have temporarily adopted.

So how can we who are so bound to the experience of duality differentiate between the mythology of form, and the true substance of spirit?

It is important to recognize that the realm of the spirit is not far away. In fact distance itself is not fundamental and exists as an experience only! Spirit is the most real thing you know: your awareness is spirit. YOU are spirit. The awareness of being here now, reading this blog with your intellectual mind of form, is an exercise ultimately being undertaken by spirit (your awareness). You may have gone very deeply into the dream of form, so deep that you don’t remember how you got here- but you still have the ability right now to exercise your most inalienable spiritual power: your power to intend, your power to choose.

What can you intend or choose to help you separate the substance from the illusion? While the answer is complex and cannot truly be articulated with words, and while the path for every individual will most certainly be special and unique, we might say the following: be willing. Your intent is your most fundamental inalienable power. Point it towards LOVE!

Humble yourself. Face your fears. Let go of your power, and choose love. Rather than listening primarily to your rehearsed beliefs, admit to yourself all that which you actually do not know. Intend to open yourself up to what the spirit is saying to you. Intend to let everything fall away that may wish to fall away, even if it causes you fear, even if it be your very life. Listen humbly to your intuition. Be willing to be wrong. Encounter what you feel. Feel what you feel. Feel what you are! Be willing to challenge anything, yet be gentle with yourself, for nothing can ever truly be wrong.

Humanity is ready to grow. We are ready to move away from fear-based dogma, self-righteousness, competition, anger, and the “survival of the fittest” mindset that has dominated much of our collective past for so long. We are ready for a more loving future!

It is time to stop fearing. In order to stop fearing, we need to be individually willing to actually face our pain, and process it. We need to take individual responsibility for all aspects of ourselves. We need to be willing to challenge and change our beliefs as our personal experience, reason, and intuition actually guide us. That path is a very personal path for each individual: it is sacred, and no one can walk it for us. But as you walk your unique path today, please know this: you are LOVED! You are full of light! You are free, and powerful, and good! And the power of our incomprehensibly loving Source is always with you, no matter what metaphor set you may use to seek or serve it.

You exist. If you explore that sincerely enough, past all of your beliefs, you will become aware that your fundamental nature is pure, worthy, and good. You just are something that is, unto itself, wondrous!

When you as a conscious awareness decided to come into this experience of limitation, it did not fundamentally change what you are. You committed to being seemingly bound to having the human experience. Meanwhile then, within that experience, it was fully understood that you would make choices. It was known that you would have to make very difficult choices, and often those choices would be made under ignorance, fear, or duress. It was known that you might act out of selfishness or cause others pain. Even now then, everything you’ve ever done is understood. “All That Is” fully understands everything, and so the reasons for your making imperfect choices are always fully understood.

Does that mean you should be selfish or cause others pain? No, of course it doesn’t, not at all. You’ve come here to experientially grow so that in fact you can be more effectively loving, more selfless, more fearless, more powerful for the good. You’ve come here to actually experientially learn not just how to perform loving actions, but how to be more loving within a rich context. Selfish or fearful choices do not fulfill that purpose, are not in alignment with your true nature, and often lead to one eventually having to experience certain challenges so as to grow past that selfishness or fear.

But never-the-less, there is nothing you can truly do wrong. All of your choices, even the “sub-optimal” ones, are understood completely for what they are. Your fundamental nature cannot be less than wondrous, no matter what may happen in the play of life. And God always, always loves and completely accepts you with a profundity that is beyond imagining.

In Neale Donald Walsch’s “Conversations With God,” Neale is told this too. He responds by asking, “if there is no punishment, then what prevents people from doing bad things to each other?” And the response came, “do you need punishment to not do bad things to each other?” Perhaps many of us on Earth do currently need to believe in consequences to prevent us from harming others, because that is “where we actually are” in our own development.

And yet when we are ready, it can be profoundly meaningful to relinquish the fear of judgment and to embrace the unimaginably deep and forgiving love that exists for us! For when we know that love, we can act out of gratefulness, out of true deepest desire to do good, rather than out of fear of punishment. We can drop guilt and shame, and allow ourselves to shine bright, knowing that we are always completely loved and accepted- no matter what!

True personal growth is not done in the intellect, or through action itself. True personal growth is a change in one’s very being. While “right” ideas and actions do emerge from that, they are not growth in themselves.

It is the quality of our intent that must grow, not the correctness of our ideas. Like dream settings, ideas and environments change. What remains is us– the consciousness that experiences those things, and the quality of its ability to make choices from love rather than fear.

Too often we believe that we are growing when our ideas change, or when we do certain things, or when our circumstances change- when in fact what matters is when we change. The forms that we play with (ideas, sensations, objects, circumstances, beliefs, and even bodies) are temporary; but improving the quality of our intent itself is growth that endures beyond all of the form.

Thus rather than finding new ideas or simply performing some specific actions, we must strive to actually BE more loving! We must strive in every choice to accept personal responsibility, to face our fears, to allow ourselves to be vulnerable, and to put others before ourselves. If we truly pursue that every day, we will fulfill our purpose for being physical.

Imagine for a moment that you are absolutely free and absolutely powerful. Imagine that nothing can limit you, nothing is impossible, and nothing can thwart your every desire. Imagine you are everything, you and those that are of you are all that is. How would one, in such a state, truly create and expand? How would one in such a state be able to choose something even greater, be something even greater? If absolute freedom were already yours, how tantalizing would it be to have the choice to experience a true challenge, so that you could fully personally know unique contrast, deepen your experience, and in so doing, become even more? How exciting would it be to be able to experience a new level of limitation, that you could once again see how well you could exert your incredible powers of choice?

What would it be like to be so free, that you could choose to be constrained?

This is what we really are. We are really limitless, absolutely free beings. In absolute freedom, we have chosen to participate in a truly incredible experiment to push the very boundaries of freedom and expansion: we have chosen to forget what we truly are for a while, and be mortal beings on Earth.

From the perspective of man, the choice to be frail, challenged, powerless, and decaying can seem almost impossible to comprehend. But from the perspective of spirit, having the opportunity to actually experience those things, and actually impact others while they are on their own rich journeys, is an incredibly profound gift. How much greater of a gift could be given by the Creator to spirits who are already absolutely free than the ability to fully experience contrast, that they may in fact exercise their freedom even more, actually be more than they once were, and learn to express the LOVE that they really are in new and very real ways?

“Us versus them” thinking currently prevails in our society. Because of the physical rule-set of our reality, life on this planet evolved in a “kill or be killed” environment, and it was physically beneficial to ensure that one’s self and one’s group succeeded even at the expense of other individuals or groups. Our cultures enshrine the importance of supporting one’s group, whether it be a tribe, a sports team, a nation, or- especially- one’s family.

And yet, where we truly come from, we are all family. We are intrinsically connected to one another. That statement is not just a nice sounding platitude- it is a statement of actual fact. The spirit is fundamental. Spiritually, all of us are a part of one incredible whole. We are all not only connected- we are a part of one another!

This is true no matter what role we temporarily come and play on Earth. This is true of every single person we meet. The cashier behind the register at the grocery store, our best friend, the person collecting our trash, the worker in China who made our clothes, even the next door neighbor’s dog – we are a part of one another.

Thus we do not need to differentiate between “our people” and “other people.” It may have been natural to do so in the context of our long history on Earth, but it is not fundamental to what we are. Our true nature is one of love! In fact, we have come here to this place partly so that we can explore what that means and to learn to truly love everyone more fully, even within a rich and challenging context. That means learning to genuinely love and accept others even when they are not a part of our immediate group.

The next time you interact with someone that seems like a stranger to you, take a moment to be present with them, and try to peer into what they really are. Can you drop all of your preconceptions, all of your identity labels, and truly see them? Can you sense that you are indeed connected to them? Can you feel the wonderfulness of their unique presence? If you look close enough, past all the ideas of your human mind, you just may sense their brightness, and it will speak to something in you too. For none of us are truly separate from each other- we are all family!

You are unconditionally loved by God. You can never lose that love. Source accepts you entirely. You have nothing to prove, nothing to do, nothing to fear. You are loved! Nothing can take that away from you.

That is true even considering the fact that you will make sub-optimal choices while you are on Earth. It is understood that you will. All things are understood- so how could your “mistakes” not be?

In fact, the act of being human, even in all of its messiness, is recognized as a profound and meaningful contribution. Why? Because as the soul expands, so does the ocean of which it is forever a part.

The soul “strives.” It has everything available to it, and yet (on a post-fundamental level) it is not flawless or perfect, but can in fact grow in love toward the perfection of God. To participate in that process, the soul cloaks itself in a context so it can have the opportunity to make choices.

The soul can always “be more.” That “growth” is very meaningful to the soul. It permits it to be and express itself in new ways. The soul can develop by being something within a context and striving to forever improve the quality of its intent toward love by playing that context. It can conquer fears. It can better understand duality: it can better know the light if it first knows the darkness. The experience of unique contrast is useful. Other realities are affected by the soul’s decision to become physical, too. Incarnation is an absolutely amazing and precious opportunity for the soul! We are so unconditionally loved that we are permitted to choose to have the experience of not being unconditionally loved. For in so doing, love- the nature of God itself- is that much better understood. Indeed, every detail of our lives is a unique setup within duality that helps the soul better know itself, and helps All That Is gain new meaning and insight- and that adds to Creation. You are participating in that very valuable activity right now!

Thus you did not come to Earth to prove yourself, or to earn the love that is already given to you. In fact, you are the brave one who has embarked on the great journey of being human so as to participate in the expansion of Creation itself! That is not only forgivable- it is admirable.

 “You are not just a drop in the ocean, you are the mighty ocean in the drop.” -Rumi

We are “what is.” We are the experiencers and the interpreters of our experience. We are the creators of our experience. Every single element of our world, every single experience that any being ever has here, is ultimately our collective responsibility.

Collective experience is rooted in individual experience. As an individual experiencer, you are a fundamental and key part of the play that is occurring. Never overlook the importance and the power of individual responsibility- it is the root of all responsibility.

There is never anyone other than “I, the experiencer” who is making the choices that affect others.

And thus the responsibility for everything is yours, mine- ours. There is no other group out there, no other individual, or government, or idea, or location, or force that can be blamed. We are the only ones that can be blamed. And the “we” is rooted in you the individual, and in me the individual.

Some may say, “But I cannot change other people” or “I cannot change the entire world.” There are two important responses to that. First, you are not responsible for every other soul’s choices- but you are responsible for your own. Very importantly: from the spiritual perspective, taking personal responsibility is enough! Second, you are far more powerful than you imagine! You are intrinsically connected to every single other thing in existence, everywhere. You are connected to every single other person, animal, and rock on the planet, and every star in the sky. When you change, reality changes. When you grow toward genuine love and conquer your fear, the world is positively affected. That is true even if you do not see the effects visibly. A change in consciousness space always precedes a change in physical space. Thus the state of the world is not one of gloom, but one of hope- for you do personally have the power to bring about meaningful positive change.

So take responsibility! Take responsibility for your intent. Notice your thoughts, your actions, your reasons. Why in fact are you doing what you are doing? What can you do to make things better? What personal fears can you take ownership for and confront? What one single step can you take to help make the world a better place for someone else- today? You will find that as you accept responsibility, rather than being burdened, you are in fact FREED- for acting from love always moves us closer to our true Source of freedom and joy!

When deciding whether something is true, especially when it comes to philosophical or spiritual topics, we tend to immediately consult the intellect. We think: “Does this information jive with my own understanding?” or, “How does this information fit with my existing beliefs?” We tend to seek and interpret truth through intellectual understanding, or through intellectually held beliefs.

And yet genuine spiritual truth fully transcends the human intellect. Truth transcends form.

Thus, if we wish to seek out what is true, we need to do so with more than just our minds- we need to do so with all of our being. Our being lasts. Our being is actually connected to All Things. But our human intellect is only a narrow specialized sub-set of what we truly are, the portion of us focused to processing the seemingly dualistic nature of our physical world. We are much more than that.

Because the physical universe is not fundamental, it will not do to try to understand all of reality with the physical mind. Consciousness is fundamental, so to explore reality, look there.