MERCY

God gave us time because we can't deal with eternality.

God gave us minds because we can't think for ourselves.

God made things appear real because we are ignorant of our own creativity.

God gave us evil people because otherwise we wouldn't know what to do with our hatred.

God gave us egos because we are terrified to think we are one with God.

God gave us past and future to worry about because the peace of pure presence is shattering.

God gave us desire because love is overwhelming.

 

THE EDEN OF ETERNALITY

 Who am I beyond my problems, concerns, interests and desires?  When my problem is solved, what is present in that sense of relief or peace that arises?  Might it not be the case that this Presence of peace is there all the time?  

I must be Present in order to be "present to" whatever it is that concerns me at the moment.  There is a difference between the Presence and what I am 'present to' in the moment.  If there were no difference or distinction between the "thing experienced" and the "experiencer", then there would be no experience as such. "I" would not be there at all; "I" would not be.  There would only be an 'experiencing' not known by anyone or anything.  

But when I can distinguish what I am as Presence that makes it possible for a thing to be experienced and therefore for me to have an experience, then I am closer to knowing myself as my true Self.  But when what I am as Presence is lost to experience as in a dream, then I have lost my true Self.  

In a dream, let us say a bad dream, my true Self which can choose and move itself in and out of an experience, is lost to the events of the dream.  Even though obviously I am the dreamer I am not aware of myself as dreamer being "present."  Even if I am a character in the dream, I do not notice that it is also my "self" which is dreaming about my self as a character in the dream.  I appear as the character at the mercy of the momentum of the dream.  There is only an "experiencing" in the dream without a real "thing experienced" or a real "experiencer."  In the dream, I in my true being am not really present.  That is, the Presence which enables the dream is lost to the "presence" of the dream.  I become the thing dreamed without reality or dreamer being present in their being.  

The dream takes place in my mind but I don't know that it's a function of my mind or at least that part of my mind which is not conscious.  So without a conscious Presence the "real" becomes a 'thing' of my mind collapsing things and thinker to the mental flux of the dream world.  Whether the dream is painful or pleasant, reality and the knower are still absent.  Only when I "wake up" can the unreality and the loss of self be realized and reflected upon.  

One might argue that still the pleasant dream is to be preferred over the painful dream.  There is some truth to this if in fact we want to live in a "dream world" in which we not only prefer the pleasant but in which we must either hope the pleasant remains or that we can continue to create a pleasant world. But good luck with that and how is that working out for you?  Is it not the case that in both the painful and pleasant dream, both the real and the Self are not there in their Presence.  I am not there in my Presence as experiencer but only as a pleasant object.

The latter, of course, is the basis of addiction.  I lose sight of my pure presence and become identified with pleasant experiences and the apparent things that "cause" them. I think that what I am and what I want or should want is a life of pleasure of one form or another.  And I live a life of pursuing it.  So both pleasure and pain are dreamlike.  In both I do not know myself as "experiencer." I am lost to experience and the reality of the thing experienced.

But just as the unconscious mind takes over in the dream, is it not the case that the unconscious mind has unbeknownst to us, taken over in the wakeful state of mind.  We believe we are 'awake' because we are not sleeping or dreaming.  But is not the wakeful, mind-created experience one which also works to leave out the real and the knower of the real.  Do I not in fact lose my Presence to 'being present to' what the mind has come to believe is real.  Do I in fact not lose my Presence to a mind-mediated reality in which the real and the self (the knower, the thinker) become lost in the momentum of "unconsciously" produced experience.  We may continue to think we are in the present of the real; we may think that we in our own reality are present.  But are we?

Could it not be the case that "wakefulness" is a higher order of "dream" only in that it is now "ordered" by the rational mind, giving names and forms, past and future to something which is not necessarily of the nature of that order. Whether pleasant or painful, wakefulness is not the "real" or the "realizer," the knower/thinker/creator.  Wakefulness is being lost to the rationalized or irrational momentum of mental order?

But is there any more freedom in the wakefulness than there is in the dream?  Is the chaotic order of the dream any more essentially real than the logically rational order of wakefulness?  Is there not a possible Presence of Self which transcends both "orders" and is the locus of living freedom, of true and real Self, of the peace that passeth all understanding?

Can we not wake up from the "dream" of wakefulness and become aware of the Presence in which living Consciousness abides as real, permanent and the embodiment of the I am that I am in Truth, beyiond names and forms?

After all, what is it that never changes and provides the background against which all changes may be known whether as mere psychological memory or even as history or science.  Is not the field of knowledge and the knower of the field always distinguishable while the knower yet remains unchanged.  If, however, the knower is defined or objectified as part of the field itself, then the Presence of the Freedom of Knowledge is reduced to the "dream" of objective knowledge.  

We may continue to "believe in" and thereby use objective knowledge; we may continue to be a player in the field and one may choose to characterize oneself as one of the objective forms.  Yet will I be Present to this created self or will I lose this Presence, this true Self, to this character that I choose and create in the field of play.  Can I be "realized" in the game; or can I only play the game, consciously, freely, knowing it is only a game.  The rules and players of the game may change.  But the being that I am need not ever change.  I am that I am which is the Presence making all things present to me whether in things in the world or things in my mind.  They are mine.  But whether they are mine in the dream or in the reality of the Presence of Self make all the difference between Truth and Illusion.

The world is a beautiful and horrific illusion whose power holds sway at all times.  The question becomes whether I remain enamored and/or horrified?  Or whether I see the Presence beyond beings and even beyond the being of beings?  Will I become a being or "thing" among other things?  Or, will I wake up from the dream of sleep and the dream of wakefulness to experience the Presence of True Self?

If I do awaken, will I then have the Peace I mentioned at the beginning of this writing as when we solve a problem or achieve a desire?  When  we are relieved of our burden?  Is there a Peace which passeth all understanding and within and as which we may abide, free from the suffered things of the mind and the dominating created world.  

There is such a peace but it is not one that we have.  It is the peace that we are when the dreamed and desired Self is transcended and we awaken to the absolute Presence, the permanent silent stillness of the Eternality of the Life source itself.  This is Satsangh, the living communion with Truth and Reality and the Bliss of Divine, Sacred Meditation.

Join me in Satsangh and be welcome to that place beyond judgement and condemnation.  Come home to your true Self, the Eden of Eternality.

REVELATION'S REVOLUTION

The spiritual path moves from belief to faith to experience to awakening to realization.  The realization happens on two levels the awakening of the Self to Eternal Life; and the awakening of one’s relation to the world as Sacrifice or being at play in the fields of the Lord as the Light of his Word.

The sacredness of Self is realized within as one’s own.  A sacred relation to the world is realized in the sacrifice of actionless action, or, the Love that brings the peace beyond reason and disruptive, violent action.

But the spiritual life today must recognize that “faith” must be taken back from belief and allowed to open to the experience of awakening to God within, to the reality of one’s divinity.  In doing so we can then truly “render unto Caesar” that which is his and to God that which is God’s.  We must show Caesar he belongs to God.

The question today is whether the effort to preserve, gratify, if not deify the body has enabled the loss of the flesh of the spirit and the eternal life of the self.  The attempt to ‘eternalize’ the body if not the world itself loses touch with the meaning of Sacrifice and the Love of the World.

The question today is whether the materialization of life has led to idolatry of body and nature and the loss of touch with the flesh of Life and the spirit of communion in the community.

There is here, now a calling of body and world back to the spirit and experiencing the body/world as spirit rather than the spirit as material body or factual belief.  What is in me as the Light of lights and the Life of living is Consciousness of Spirit knowing itself, seeing itself as reality here and now.  The Eternality of the Spirit transcends time and space and eternity itself.  No time remains when that which belongs to Caesar is understood as really belonging to God.  Space is without borders and wall, no within or without, but only the Kingdom of Heaven shining infinitely as one’s own true Self, one’s own true divinity.

Believing in God and the Avatars of God is not enough.  To become one of  them is our task in these times.  The world has peculiarly become conscious of itself as One but has not yet realized itself as One in that Consciousness, that Light of Lights and the Eternal Life of Peace, Joy and Freedom.  The Truth of God’s Spirit is speaking to us now to be brought into the world in order to sacralize the profane and end the reign of violence and hatred, greed and deceit. 

Why not Now?  Eternality of the Kingdom, of Heaven, is here and now, both as pure Presence as Eternality but also as a “present” from God, a gift given without cost or effort.  It need only be realized within and without.

THE UPSIDE OF THE SHUTDOWN

There was and is an opportunity to be discovered in the societal shutdown due to the declared pandemic.  Aside from all politics, we were provided with a time when time could be suspended.  Away from work, from associates, away from patterns of behavior, one could be left with oneself—to be with oneself and as oneself and for oneself. 

What happened to many was irrelevant to what could be learned from the consequences of the shutdown.  What happened to many was apparently distressing and often destructive.  What is there yet to be learned for the distressed and distraught is that there was a Self that exists independent of the world.  One might well have discovered that one is not one’s role, nor worldly pattern of behavior.  Even though the momentum of habit was found to be great and for some overwhelming, it was an opportunity to learn just how much our essential Self has been commandeered by the forces of the world.

Expropriation by the world manifests in us as identity, personality, ego and projected or externalized desire.  But the shutdown gave us the opportunity to see this surrogate self be denied its props and imposed purposes.  It gave us the opportunity to uncover the root of the self and allow it to germinate above the surface of superficial actions of living life in the world.  As the imperatives of time were taken away and the space of daily actions removed and the cues of expected behaviors were absent, one was left present to the Presence, the Power of “being here now,” which is always there—but harnessed and harassed by the world and thereby hidden from your consciousness of self and the “cave” of the Heart of Consciousness where the freedom, happiness, peace and love of eternality resides and abides.

But this opportunity for self-discovery and Realization, though possibly missed in the fear and confusion of the “shutdown,” this opportunity is always available.  For some the actual “shutdown” was like a spiritual retreat, a meditation retreat, an awakening to the tenuousness of time, space and causality, that is, the forces of the world.  The stillness and Life Force of pure Presence arose in Consciousness as the silence and serenity and solace of the spiritual Self.  The hidden beauty of the Absolute was given chance to appear universally.  Despite the pain and adversity caused for many in the world, we saw its healing power for many, even the world environment itself as the air cleared of pollution over the earth.  Many saw that their way of daily life in the world was distressful, toxic, damaging to body and mind.  In the time of contemplation, clarity was reached that the future is in our own hands and in many cases must be in our own hands when the guarantees of the normal world were taken away.  We discovered that the Nature is not necessarily our enemy even when seemingly destructive.

While the “shutdown” still partly lingers the opportunity to see and feel the autonomy of Self also remains in this altered state of affairs.  But the ultimate revelation was that we can ‘shutdown’ by ourselves at any time or even all the time and be open to the revelation of Self and the simple certainty that although everything can change in the world in a moment of decision, political, economic or otherwise, in the Consciousness of the Spirit of Truth nothing really changes and the beauty of Eternality and Divinity shines through.  

FEELING AND EMOTIONALITY

My take on the mind-body duality has to be understood from the standpoint of 'feeling." For me, feeling is the experience of knowing from the standpoint of Consciousness. "Emotion" is mind-exacerbated feeling that further adversely affects one's relation to body. What does the experience of consciousness "feel" like? It feels like love, peace, truth, happiness, freedom, oneness (without antagonism,) beauty.

A GRIP ON REALITY

Losing our grip on reality may well ultimately be a matter of not loosening our grip.  Loosening our grip begins when we can see that our ideas about reality are constraining its power to enter our lives.  Imagine being separate from reality and believing we have a grip on it or really know what it is.  

The question, then, may well become not whether I might lose or choose to loosen my grip but whether I can let go my grip on reality.  Can I let it grip me or not, in all its power over me that has manifested all my life long--if I have eyes to see and ears to hear.  The truth is I can't really grasp or grip or let go.

I've heard it referred to as the way of the "Open Hand."  I can grip what lands in my hand.  Or, I can behold its gifts and its beauty as it chooses to stay with me.  I can let it be and let it go--even as soon as it lands and makes itself known.  I let it go only in enjoying its truth as its truth.

Or is there more? Is the illusion not that I believe I have a choice at all, to grasp at the real or not, to think that I can free myself by "letting go?"   After all, who is or who am I when I think that I can 'let go,' that I am in charge of this freedom.  Can I be more free than Freedom itself?

Or am I always there in and as the Freedom, in the space and 'place' of the Reality of the empty hand, being the 'letting be,' the letting go, the invitation to all that is and ever could be.

And when I step outside, over the doorsill, into the world, then I choose and do as I will--as if it were actually my will.  Oddly enough.

RETIREMENT

That word, retirement, can sound a little ominous now that I think of it.  I prefer, "riding off into the sunset,"  

But when I made my decision to retire from teaching philosophy after 30 years I felt a freedom from the world like I have not felt in a long time.

My sense of spiritual freedom has not wavered and allowed me to feel the pain of moving on from one life to another, the letting go and the embracing of new experience.

It is wonderful scary, like being "born again" into a new life in the world.

See you all on the other side of the sunset.

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

A Post from Facebook I'm reproducing here by Matt Kahn...

From Corona Virus to Consciousness:

 
With the widespread panic of pandemic flu in the air, whether creating the anticipated perception of illness in your mind to fight, track, and avoid, or experiencing symptoms that have you more sincerely worried for your well-being than ever before, there is always an equal opportunity to allow any form of collective hysteria to act as wake up calls to greater consciousness — within you and the planet.

Although perhaps not visible to most, this outbreak is evidence of how quickly consciousness is already waking up worldwide. I am not suggesting that due to consciousness awakening, a dormant virus known as Corona has manifested in many lives. What I can point out is how clearly the narrative of this global news story has put a lot of people into a constant state of fear. When steeped in fear, you enter survival mode where you must rely on the impulses and demands of your ego versus the instincts of your evolving soul’s wisdom. While I affirm the 'fear of pandemic' is more of a pandemic than perhaps any virus could be, there is no doubt that an outbreak of fear has entered our local and collective atmospheres. Thankfully, it will be unable to slow the progress of an awakening consciousness that cannot be opposed or denied. The faster consciousness wakes up, the more it speeds up the fabric of time. The faster the fabric of time speeds up, the less opportunity there is for fear to operate with any degree of influence over our awakening consciousness.

Using this notion of time distortion, the unconscious patterning of fear stays in power when the fabric of time slows. As the fabric of time slows, progress halts. The only way the fabric of time slows is when the evolution of consciousness is paused in some way. And, of course, the only means through which this occurs is when human beings align with fear.

I am not saying there isn’t a corona virus. I’m just very clear on its highest purpose. The fabric of time is a constant ticking mechanism of measurement, and yet, within each passing moment is a field of infinite spaciousness that can be molded to match the whim of intention. This means a clock never stops ticking, but you can either slow or speed up the ticking of time to allow days to pass as seconds or seconds to span the dawn of days. And yet, this slowing of time can only occur, if humanity is more aligned with fearing the worst, than utilizing this climate of uncertainty as a space through which the consciousness of all continues to unite and awaken as One. So how do you use this pandemic of fear as a catalyst for greater conscious awareness? Just as many are using herbal remedies to address the onset of any symptom, from a vibrational perspective, our first line of defense is gratitude. First, I’ll explain why this is such an effective tool and then provide an interactive mantra to help you anchor its frequency throughout your field.

In order for gratitude to be a remedy for fear, it has to be opposite of fear in some way. Since fear is the withholding of your light, gratitude is the willingness to share your light for the benefit of yourself and well-being of others. Such a shift occurs through the cultivation of courage. Just as courage is the feeling of owning the beauty of your own inherent power, fear is a sensation felt when your power has been given to something artificial or outside of the effect of your will. Because gratitude contains a felt sense of celebration, through the expression of gratefulness, you are, in fact, stripping anything of the power you unknowingly gave away and reclaiming it as the embodied courageous presence of your soul.

In order to anchor the vibration of gratitude, it must be authentic in its expression. The only reason fear plays such a powerful role in anyone’s life is due to how authentically afraid anyone is capable of being. Here are some real world examples of how you can authentically choose gratitude, even during uncertain times like these: Now more than ever, people are covering their mouths when coughing and washing their hands on a regular basis. Without needing fear as a motivator, we can be grateful that such a virus has inspired a greater mindfulness in cleansing ourselves and being mindful of the purity of other people’s space of experience. While many schools have temporarily closed, it gives families opportunities to come together and receive the emotional support that allows such a pivotal moment in Earth’s Ascension to highlight the importance of cultivating each relationship to its highest frequency of resonance. Even for those who can’t afford childcare, there have been many teenagers in Washington state who have organized to offer free babysitting while parents go to work in support of their families.

While there is obviously a strong vibration of mass hysteria, many are stopping to ask deeper existential questions that wake each of us up out of the narrative of a dying matrix, swiftly moving us over into parallel timelines of rapid growth, acceleration, and expansion. While the matrix of an outdated paradigm was created as 'patterns of doing' to such an unconscious degree, this made it nearly impossible for any sentient being to pause throughout the day and realign with Source in moments of restorative being, our daily rhythm of ‘do, do, do’ has been interrupted by an opportunity to dive headfirst into an inner dimension of being, where there is nowhere to go, no one to be, and nothing to do but connect, align, grow, and expand during this pivotal time of rebirth. When you or someone you know is not so mesmerized by the changes taking place, these important times can be used as opportunities to get to know who you are emotionally and vibrationally, which helps align the subtle bodies of your energy field into greater harmonic concordance.

Lastly, when you express gratitude, you are acknowledging the presence of something as inherently containing value. Beyond each perception of how something contains value in the outer world, the prime value in anything, including the corona virus is the consciousness dwelling within it. When you react fearfully to any form, you are subconsciously asking that form to stay informed, so you can continually respond fearfully towards it. If not wishing to react fearfully to any particular form, we implement the vibration of gratitude to courageously acknowledge the value of consciousness within it, which creates a deeper relationship between you and the form in view. When aligning with the consciousness of any form, through moments of gratitude, as co-creators of our reality, you are commanding the form in view to become its highest consciousness, which in this example, would invoke the coronavirus to dissolve back into its original form of pure eternal light.

To support your strongest immune system, wake up out of the matrix of fear, and reclaim the glory of your long-awaited courage, clarity, consciousness, and power, please repeat the following words:

“Thank you corona virus for being the wake up call this world has needed. Even just the fact that I am saying thank you and corona virus in the same sentence is already helping me dissolve spiritual superstitions that claim I’ll manifest what I speak out loud. Of course, such fanciful thinking could only be the inner workings of fear disguised as spiritual concept, and if I needed this type of pandemic environment to fully wake up, then so be it.

Thank you corona virus for the mindfulness being instilled in so many beings. As we wash our hands, may we cleanse our realities from broken paradigms of corruption. As we explore more time for 'being' than lifetimes of endless 'doing', may the world take pause from unhealthy habits of survival mode to explore life from a deeper state of peace, harmony, and oneness. As friends and families come together, may this bring neighbors and communities together in intended peaceful assembly as our new 5G earth continues to be birthed in the glory of my awareness and presence. 

Thank you gratitude for showing me how to create relationships with the consciousness in all forms, so not to be hypnotized by the power I unknowingly give to things outside of me. Thank you gratitude for showing me that the power of my perception is stronger than any pandemic of fear. In knowing it is so, I allow all patterns, characters, and agendas of scarcity, victimization, fear, abuse, survival mode, greed, and corruption to be cleared out of my energy field, returned to the Source of its origin, transmuted completely, and healed to completion now. From this moment forward, as the co-creator of my reality, I command all power I unknowingly gave away to be swiftly returned to my energy field, I strengthen my immune system with higher frequencies of embodied integrated light, as I transmute the echo of unconscious form by acknowledging and praising the consciousness within it.

Because the consciousness of all is the consciousness I AM, I allow each moment of gratitude to return each form in view to the purity, holiness, and perfection of eternal light, now that I am ready, willing, and able to step forward as the truth and transmission of Source in form. May this intention heal my being, uplift each circumstance, and transform reality for myself, my family, my relationships, my friends and neighbors, for humanity at large and beyond.

Thank you gratitude for transforming corona virus back into light. Thank you for reminding me the power that is always within me. And so I’m healed, transformed, and reborn as the light of consciousness I AM now.”

As we remember the word, ‘Corona’ means crown, we are undergoing a radical process to en-sure the fabric of time remains accelerated to restore balance and consciousness in every heart. As each of us reclaim the power of our crowns, we are taking back the throne of Heaven’s kingdom from a patterns of imbalance and unconscious addictive cycling that was only designed by the highest consciousness to be the very catalyst of awakening waking up within you. It doesn’t have to be done with aggression or fear, but with the courage of your highest truth that relates to the consciousness in things, no matter how anything seems or appears.

This is what it means to wake up from the matrix. If you are reading these words, I can confirm your waking up is well underway. Instead of fearfully interacting with uncomfortable feelings, physical symptoms, or scary news headlines, let's us employ the power of gratitude to unite with the consciousness in each form, so to transform it back into light by honoring the value it offers.