Today’s message is one that reflects some of the private conversations that so many of us have had with God. Whether we pray on our knees, talk to ourselves while driving, or cry quietly and simply ask ‘Why?’, today’s message touches on many of the questions that we so often don’t know how to answer, but that seem to come up again and again as we experience humanity.

Some people try to explain that evil does not exist, or that it is merely a psychological factor. But this is not so. The evidence of evil is here in this world. We cannot deny it. If there is no evil, why would Jesus pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”? He is praying plainly that evil does exist.

So the truth is, we do find evil in this world. And where did it come from? God. Evil provides the opportunity for us to recognize and experience goodness. Evil had to be, if there was to be any creation. If you wrote a message with white chalk on a white board, no one would see it. So without the blackboard, the good things in this world wouldn’t be visible. For instance, Judas was Jesus’ best publicity agent. By his evil act, Judas made Christ eternally famous. Jesus knew the role he had to play, and all that was going to happen to him in order that he might demonstrate the love and greatness of God. A villain was necessary to this enactment.

Perfection is not to be found in this world

It’s hard to know where the dividing line is between good and evil. Certainly it is terrible that bacteria kills billions people every hundred years, but think of the chaos of overpopulation. And if everything here were good and perfect, no one would leave this Earth of his or her own accord; no one would want to go back to God. So in a sense, misery is your best friend, because it starts you seeking God. When you begin to see clearly the imperfection of the world, you will begin to seek the perfection of God. The truth is that God is using evil, not to destroy us, but to make us disillusioned with His toys, with the playthings of this world, so that we might see Him.

This is why the Lord Himself permits injustices and evil. But I have said to Him, “Lord, You have always been perfect. How do you know what suffering is? Yet you have put us through these tests; and you had no business doing it. We didn’t ask to be born as mortals and to suffer.” (He doesn’t mind that I argue with him. He is very patient.) The Lord answered, “You don’t have to go on suffering; I have given everyone the free will to choose good instead of evil.”

So evil is the test of God, to see if we will choose Him or His gifts. He created us in His image and gave us the power to choose for ourselves. But we so often don’t use that power consciously. At night, when we leave our bodies during sleep, we all return to our Godlike states. But in the daytime, we become devils – not all of us, but most of us – the unconscious among us. Why not live in tune with God in the daytime, for then we shall know no fear, we shall know no evil. It is easy to say this, but how easy is it to put into practice?

While evil in itself is something we don’t want, yet it is like a poisoned honey, it is palpable, it is tasty. At the table, we are tempted to eat too much, and to eat the wrong things. Then we begin to get fat here and there, just where we don’t want it. In response to our wrong actions, Nature takes revenge and seems to be poking fun at us all the time. It is indeed a funny world! But the results of our wrong actions don’t seem very funny to us! Believe me, I know! This is why many of us quarrel with God and scold Him, “Why have you created all of these terrible temptations that your children succumb to? Why have you made them so pleasurable?” Well, the lesson is simple: the Law of Cause and Effect.

So, since there is no perfection in this world, why continue to seek it here? You may find a little short-lived pleasure, but mostly you will find suffering and injustice. Pain was given to make you know when something is wrong with the body. But when the pain of cancer comes, there is no reason in it. The sufferer has no relief from his pain, and he doesn’t know why he has to suffer. And there are those who need money and can’t get it, and those who don’t need it who easily acquire more. Those who have much want still more; and those who have nothing want just a little, but can’t get even that. Isn’t this true? Why these injustices? Some people are as healthy as can be, and some are always sick. But health or disease doesn’t necessarily determine whether or not you are happy. St. Francis suffered much of the time, yet he was healing the sick and was filled with the joy of God. Suffering has a different meaning for you when you have attained the freedom of God. But you have to attain that freedom first.

We must learn to work without desire, and to live in this world without attachment. As soon as you are caught up in desires and attachments, you will have all the evil that is coming to you. That is why the Gita says “O Arjuna! No (compelling) duty have I to perform! There is naught that I have not acquired! Nothing in the three worlds remains for me to gain! Yet I am consciously present in the performance of all actions.” Those who want to be liberated must do likewise, engaging in service-ful, joyful, and non-attached activity. Most people willingly work hard for money, but they won’t make even a little effort for their salvation. We must work for God. The way to do this is to stop cooperating with evil and to behave as God would have us behave.

We must love one another. Sometimes it is not easy, but to love your enemy means to choose not to become another person’s enemy. By a thought, any one of us could destroy another, but why would we want to? Jesus had that power. When his enemies taunted him to save himself from the cross, he said, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” He conquered by love. If the ordinary man is slapped, the great desire is to slap back. Therefore, God does not give His divine power to those who are spiritually weak, because they would misuse it. The desire and the strength to forgive comes from attunement with God.

How few you find in this world who are sincere and who want to be your friend for your sake, and not for something they can take from you. Those sincere souls are most enjoyable. Greater than all riches is true friendship. If you can be a true friend to people, you will find God. If you sincerely love people, you can know them, just as when you look through a clear glass, you can see what is in the glass. But your perception of people is unclear unless you love God, and unless you love others with the love of God.

“I can give my life for a sincere soul”

In this world, we will all eventually learn that we must be fearless, sincere, and surround ourselves not only with those whom we can inspire, but with those who can inspire us as well. When we attain heightened levels of clarity, we can begin to help those who are ‘evil’, but trying to do this when we are not yet strong enough ourselves will weaken us. So many of those who try to reform others become infected with their evil.

If you have a mind that absorbs everything like blotting paper, you must keep that mind free from evil influences. Just as blotter paper that has become snaked with spilled oil will no longer absorb water, so must your mind first be saturated with good until it becomes impervious to evil.

Be strong in your own goodness, and try to be helpful to others. The man who only looks out for himself and his own family won’t find much happiness. If he doesn’t think of anyone else who might be suffering, he denies himself the joy of helping another, so his own cup of satisfaction will remain small.

The Cosmic Motion Picture

There is another angle to duality, or good and evil. If a movie producer made motion pictures only from select angles, and showed them in the film houses morning, noon and night every day, he would soon have to close-up business. He has to produce variety in order to attract people’s attention. The bad man makes the hero look so much better! And we like plots that are filled with action. We don’t mind looking at exciting movies about danger and disaster because we know that they are only movies. I remember one time when I was taken to see a movie in which the hero died; it was such a tragedy! So I stayed and watched the next showed until I saw the hero alive again, then I left the theater.

If you could see what is going on behind the screen of this life, you wouldn’t suffer at all. It is a cosmic motion picture show. This movie that God is projecting on the screen of this Earth has no value once you see what goes on behind the screens. Look at the beam of God’s light that is projecting these scenes onto the screen of life. See the pictures of the whole universe coming from this beam. See beyond the illusion.

Another time, I was sitting in a movie theater watching an exciting drama on the screen. At a certain point, I looked up into the projection booth and saw that the projectionist wasn’t interested in the picture, because he had seen it over and over again. Instead, he was reading a book. The projection machine was doing its job; there was the sound, and the beam of light was casting the realistic pictures onto the screen. And there was the audience, caught up in the drama. I thought, “Lord, You are like this man, sitting here in the booth, absorbed in your own nature of bliss and love and wisdom. Your machine of cosmic law is throwing on the screen of the universe scenes of jealousy, of love, of hatred, of wisdom, but you remain uninvolved in your plays.” From age to age, from civilization to civilization, the same old pictures are shown over and over again, only with different characters playing the parts.

When I took my gaze from the beam of light that was casting the scenes on the screen, I looked at the audience and I saw that they were going through all the emotions of the actors in the movie. They were suffering with the hero and reacting to the evil of the villain. To the audience, it was a tragic experience. To the operator in the projection booth, it was only a picture. And so it is with God. He has created pictures of light and shadows, the hero and the villain, good and evil, and we are the audience and the actors. It is only when we identify with the play that we get in trouble!

Without shadows existing alongside the light, there could be no picture. Evil is the shadow that converts the one beam of God’s light into pictures or forms. Therefore, evil is the shadow of God that makes this play possible. The dark shadows of evil are interspersed with the pure white beam of the virtues of God. He wants you not to take these pictures so seriously. The director of a movie sees the murders and the suffering and the comedy and the drama as a means to create interest for the audience. He stands apart from the play and directs and observes it. God wants us to behave with detachment, realizing we are only actors or observers in His cosmic show.

Though God has everything, it can still be said that he has some desire: He wants to see who will remain un-intimidated by this picture, and who will play his part well and come back to Him. You can’t run away from this universe, but if you act in this play with your thought fixed on God, you will be free.

If you feel like saying to God, “Lord, this is a motion picture to you, but it is terrible to us”, He may reply, “I make you realize it is a dream every night when you go to sleep. You simply forget this in the daytime.”

For him who realizes God, there is no evil

The way to supreme happiness will not be found by the scientists nor the material-minded people alone, but by those who follow the masters who say: “Go back to the booth of the Infinite from which you can see the projection of all these cosmic motion pictures. Then you won’t be troubled about God’s creation, God’s play…”

When you are part of the delusion, you suffer.
When you stand aside and watch it, you cannot suffer.
When you are an observer, you can enjoy this play.

And with that, a little story to end today’s message:

A king fell asleep and dreamed that he was poor. He was crying out in his sleep for just a penny for some food. Finally, the queen woke him and said, “What is the matter with you? Your treasury is full of gold, and yet you are crying for a penny.”

Then the king said, “Oh, how silly of me, I thought I was a beggar and was starving for lack of that penny.”

Such is the delusion of every soul that is dreaming it is a mortal, subject to the nightmarish evils of all kinds of disease, suffering, troubles, and heartbreaks. The only way to escape this nightmare is detaching from the dream images of this world. It is because you have your attention on the illusions that you suffer. If you give your heart to man, or to drink, or to greed, or to drugs, you will suffer. Your heart will be broken. The more you seek peace in God, the more peace will devour your worries and sufferings. Suffering comes when the evils of the world are let in. When we learn to be spiritually tough, we enable ourselves to be filled with joy, and thus, evil-free.

Some of you may know that many of the teachings that I offer you through this site come from a soul very dear to me. He was a man of great spiritual proportions (and as I write this, I hear him laughing that he was grand on the physical scale too!). He offered classes to those who were willing to make the effort to work on themselves. I attended one of these classes, and spent some time with him outside of the church meeting room, but mostly, my communion with him has been on an intuitive level. In any case, I have an email here, printed out in front of me, written by him to his students on what I can imagine was a beautiful evening on the 22nd of July 2002. One of his students had asked him to explain good and evil – why it exists and what the concepts are meant to teach us. I will copy below what he wrote, but before I do, I remind you to…

Treat these words as various dishes laid out on a buffet table. Pick and choose what looks and tastes good to you. It is for you to decide what food agrees with your digestive system. None of this is for your acceptance or rejection. None of us get brownie points for what we believe to be true; only for what we apply.

Dear family,

There is no good or evil except man’s mind makes it so. Meditation will help one overcome the dual expression of good, or evil. All is God!! If one believes this, then how can we believe in such a thing as evil? If we accept the concept of evil, then it must be of God also. My! What a paradox! For me, all there is, is God. The light that dwells in the center of every cell of our being is God. If one believes this to be true, then how can evil exist in anything? Light is all there is. Darkness can’t overcome Light. Light will always dispel darkness.

Why do we have such a need to live in the dual concept? Yes, we have many things that express in a dual nature, but they are an expression of God. Man is an expression of God walking on the face of the earth. Now, if one believes this to be true, then how can there be another expression of energy?

We must devotedly and passionately repeat this mantra to ourselves:

I am love and an expression of God walking on the face of the earth!
I am God, living with all that is my expression for the purpose of removing the need to express anything other than spirit in my life!

We should be repeating this several times a day, EVERY day. I know! Many of you are thinking, “How can I find time to memorize all that, and remember to say it every day?” Well, do it the same way you remember to take a breath. You plant the thought into your subconscious mind until it becomes another habit. Remember 21 days. We need to do what is necessary. You have been given all the tools needed, and you provide the God Power. Look for it, as it is burried deep within, and every day you put it off, it only goes deeper into your being. I know every one of you are capable of finding that power. You only need to want it bad enough. Do you?????

And so with that, let us meditate:

Mastering the Law of Manifestation is one of the most essential spiritual practices for a student on the path. Following are many principles that serve as the foundation for mastery of this important law.

1. The first part of the Law of Manifestation is that we must learn to manifest with all three of our minds – the conscious, subconscious and superconscious minds – using them in perfect harmony, balance and integration.
2. Awareness that we ARE the soul and NOT the personality is essential. If we manifest from the consciousness of personality, we will see ourselves as separate from our brothers and sisters – indeed, from creation itself. That is an illusion.
3. Do no be attached to what you are praying for or are trying to manifest, or you will end up repelling it from yourself. Make your choice for manifesting a preference, not an attachment.
4. Surrender your prayer request to God and leave it in God’s hands, accepting whatever comes your way. A very useful mantra that I use to assist me in the process of manifestation is: “In the name of God, I place … on the Alter of the Divine, and ask the Masters of Love and Light to take care of the situation in a way that benefits the Highest Good of All.” With these words, you express your preference, and then surrender to the outcome that is for the greatest good.
5. All that exists is perfection. God created us and we are perfect.
6. The thoughts and images that we hold in our mind create our reality. God’s universe is abundant and limitless. We attract either poverty or abundance, depending on the attitude we hold.
7. Have faith. After we pray, know that our prayer has been heard and that God’s laws have been invoked.
8. Everything in God’s universe is energy, and all energy is God. All we are really doing in working the Laws of Manifestation is changing or transferring energy from one form to another.
9. The Laws of Manifestation operate whether we are consciously aware of them or not. Whatever we give the subconscious, it will use.
10. Every moment of our lives, we are working the laws of manifestation, even when we are not praying, willing, visualizing or affirming. Every thought that we have in our mind as we go through our daily life as well as when we are sleeping is part of this process.
11. It is important to receive as well as to give.
12. Gratitude is of utmost importance. Be humble and thankful for the abundance that God has bestowed upon us, no matter what it is.
13. Failure is not a possibility. How can we fail with God, the soul and our personal power?
14. To have all, give all to all. We must keep our abundance in circulation. When we become selfish and stop giving, then the Universe becomes selfish and stops giving to us.
15. Words have power. Every word we speak is a decree of manifestation.
16. Positive affirmations produce positive results.
17. Love yourself through the entire process.
18. Avoid talking about what you are trying to manifest in your life. This can dissipate the energy.
19. Know that you possess all. Always!
20. Ask only for what you need.
21. Tell your subconscious mind what to do.
22. Be of service and focus your love on humanity.
23. KNOW that miracles happen…trust!
24. Be specific in your visualizations and affirmations.
25. After prayer, comes acceptance. This is essential. After praying, accept your prayer as answered. Don’t just believe that it is answered; rather, KNOW with every cell of your being that it has been answered. SO IT IS!

WE ARE GOD, AND WE ARE ONE WITH GOD. HOW CAN OUR PRAYERS NOT BE MADE MANIFEST?

The Filing System

The subconscious mind can be understood as the non-reasoning mind. Rather than using reasoning power as the conscious mind does, the subconscious mind operates at a more basic, instinctive level and also serves as the memory bank that files every thought, feeling, memory, habit pattern, desire and instinct that we posses. Since it works 24 hours a day, storing all that we think and feel, it is a very powerful source of either ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ usage, depending on what we have filed in it. Sometimes when we think we’re using our intuition, we’re actually accessing information already stored in our subconscious mind that we acquired in a previous experience, but intuition actually comes from other sources, one of which is the superconscious mind.

Beginning at our infancy, we have been programmed by our parents, grandparents, peers, teachers and the media. All of these exchanges of information have been stored in our subconscious minds. Little children are all in a sense victims…meaning that their reasoning minds have not developed enough to be able to discriminate and protect them from negative programming. As small children, we were totally open. As a result, our subconscious minds may be filled with mental poisons, faulty thinking and damaging beliefs. Just as the body can be filled with physical toxins from poor eating, the subconscious mind can be filled with mental toxins from both improper programming and education.

The subconscious mind functions according to the Law of Attraction in that it will draw toward it all that resonates at the same level of vibration. Unfortunately, most people are not aware of what their subconscious mind is actually doing. These people are asleep. Most people…are sleep. By using our subconscious mind as a tool of manifestation in our lives, we are in alignment with the saying “As within, so without” or “As above, so below”. That is, what we think and imagine in our subconscious mind will manifest its mirror likeness in our external circumstances and experiences. We must remember, our outer world is simply a reflection of our inner world, for better or worse, because the subconscious mind does whatever it is programmed to do.

The subconscious mind is an amazing paradox. It has no powers of reason on its own, yet it has an incredible number of abilities and intelligence factors. A great illustration for understanding this is the computer analogy. A computer is an astonishing piece of equipment, capable of performing millions of computations per second, yet it doesn’t care whether it is programmed to solve the problem of world hunger or to create a nuclear war. It has the capability to do either job efficiently, but it doesn’t have the reasoning power not to want to create nuclear war. It is this difference between intelligence and reason that we are primarily concerned with. The subconscious mind does whatever it is programmed to do, no matter what! Therefore, is it possible to SEE why our subconscious mind is SO important??!

To manifest effectively, we must learn to be in control of what is fed into our mind at all times. Many times, the subconscious mind runs us instead of the other way around. Ideally, the subconscious is our servant and will supply us with whatever we need as long as we program it correctly.

Mind and Body

The subconscious mind completely operates the physical body. Hypnosis offers some insight into how this works; for example, some post-hypnotic therapy suggestions are being used to control a person’s physiological craving for nicotine and to help change their internal programming for craving cigarettes. Unfortunately, our subconscious mind is as happy damaging the body with harmful toxins as it is creating good health with the proper foods and nutrients. The subconscious mind has the intelligence to create perfect health or create cancer, but it will create whatever it has been programmed to do, there again depending on what we feed it. Certainly no one consciously programs himself to develop cancer, but many people unconsciously program disease into their bodies through self-hatred, victim consciousness, revenge, giving up, or holding on to pain and feelings of unforgiveness. The key, then, is to constantly program the subconscious mind for perfect, radiant health through good thoughts and intentions.

Mindful Dreams

The subconscious mind also helps to create our dreams every night. There are occasions when the superconscious mind creates dreams; however, most dreams originate in the subconscious. A dream is basically a mirror of the way we think, feel and act during our consicous daily life. A dream is like a newspaper we receive every day, depicting the organization and dynamics of our internal energies. Dreams are in the unviersal language of symbols. To understand our dreams, we must first accept that every part of every dream is, in reality, a part of us. By examining the relationship among the symbols, we can gain insight into ourselves and understand how our thought patterns are manifesting themselves in our lives through our actions. It is very beneficial to have a dream journal to record the many messages and stories being told to us through our subconscious minds.

Mind Over Matter

The subconscious mind can also be termed as our ‘habit’ mind, for it stores all of our habits, both the ones we like as well as the ones were fighting to get rid of! A lot of people think habits are bad, but this is not necessarily true. Generally we want to get rid of our bad habits, however ideally we should be creating good habits insead! It is much more productive to work at creating new positive habits than it is to focus our energies on our negative ones. There again, via Spirituality Class 101, what we focus on, grows and persists! Therefore, let’s focus our light and love and energies on creating new, positive, loving statements of who we are!

Mind as Memory

If you and I did not have a subconscious mind to store our developed abilities, every activity that we chose to perform would always take great amounts of focus and concentration. The subconscious mind’s ability to store personal abilities allows us to grow continually and develop new abilities without worrying about managing old ones. For example, remember the time you learned how to drive a car? For many of us, it was in the high school parking lot with our friends, working SO hard at coordinating our senses. Our reputations were at stake as our friends were watching us with eagle eyes, hoping in a way that we could not do it. However, after many attempts, we became conformable drivers. This is an example of how we can learn a procedure and that knowledge is then stored in our subconscious mind.

When we first learn how to do something, it may take a lot of conscious effort and willpower to master. However, after we learn how to deal with the situation, little conscious thought or effort is required after that point. If we didn’t have a subconscious mind to store our developed abilities, every activity would always take great focus and concentration. The subconscious mind’s ability to store habits allows us to grow continually and develop new abilities without worrying about old ones. We can learn something in a day, but there is a basic psychological or metaphysical law that states that it takes 21 days to cement a new habit into the subconscious mind.

Laws and Abilities of the Mind

The subconscious mind is where the Law of Magnetism and the Law of Attraction operate as well. The subconscious mind continually attracts and repels things according to what has been programmed into it. A Master is someone who uses these laws to his own conscious benefit. Let’s take the example of money and prosperity. If we have the subconscious belief that we will never have money, we won’t!! If, on the other hand, we think that we will, the subconscious mind will attract those opportunities and possibilities to us. Whatever we want in life, we have to affirm or visualize this into the subconscious mind, and the subconscious mind will attract it to us!! It must be strssed here that the power of affirmations – when we focus our energies and thoughts and repeatedly declare what and who we are – we are making incredible advances in our evolutionary process.

The subconscious mind is also the seat of our psychic abilities. The subconscious has five inner senses that are the subtler counterparts of our five external senses: inner sight (clairvoyance), inner hearing (clairaudience), inner smell, inner taste and inner touch. Have you ever noticed what when you dream your senses are available to you? How can this be if you are sleeping? This is because you are utilizing your five inner senses of the subconscious mind. All people have psychic abilities and can develop them further. It is just a matter of practice and proper training, as with any external ability.

Remember…

The subconscious mind was never meant to direct our life. It will run us into oblivion if we let it, not because it is bad, but because it has no reasoning powers. For example, our car has a number of computer systems that help to run it more efficiently. However, just because these computer chips can perform these many functions, that doesn’t mean they are capable of diving our cars. In and of itself, the subconscious mind is divine; however why would anyone let a non-reasoing mind run his or her life? Strangely enough though, this is what most people do.

The Importance of Healthy Bodies

Each of us understands the importance of feeding our physical bodies with healthy food choices, vitamins and herbs, along with getting daily physical exercise of some type. We are constantly being bombarded with articles in our newspapers, advertisements on television and in magazines, advice from our doctors and our parents, etc. about what we need to do to keep our physical body strong and healthy. So much emphasis is put on needing to continually be aware of how we take care of our physical bodies. But, how often do we get reminded about the importance of taking time during our busy days to feed, nurture and expand our spiritual bodies?

Many of us have also been provided with numerous suggestions and ideas from various sources on ways to consciously grow into more loving, balanced, forgiving and accepting human beings through many different spiritual practices, the main one being through daily meditation – that time for conscious stillness when we open ourselves to higher energies. Yet how many of us listen to these repeated suggestions and truly attempt to implement the practices into our daily routines? This is not a judgment…simply a question to ask ourselves to determine if we are taking a consciously active part in our spiritual growth.

Mantras

Many of us know that meditation can be a powerful way to cleanse, clear and center, but how many of us have experienced the power of mantras and prayers? These are also tools that represent very powerful spiritual practices that can help us attune to our pure states of spiritual being. Even by simply repeating the names of God and other powerful words that resonate deeply with us, we can create transformational shifts in our realities that will very likely ripple into the realities of many around us as well.

There is not a single spiritual teacher or Master of any path or religion who has not recommended this practice in some form. The benefits of this practice are unbelievable. Gandhi chanted the name of God as Rama constantly throughout his life, and he said it was one of the absolute keys to his success. Sai Baba said repeating the name of God and visualizing His form is one of the main keys to spiritual success. The idea is to not just do it in meditation but to did it throughout your day, while doing laundry, showering, driving in the car or taking a walk. During the day, it is so simple and so beneficial to repeat the name of God or the word ‘love’ in any project that you are doing, dedicating it to the Highest Good. We can take any simple task and turn it into a dedication to that highest part of ourselves that is grateful for the gift of life.

Power of the Mind

The law of the mind is that thoughts create reality. Energy follows thought. When we chant the name of God, we eventually become that which we are chanting! If we repeat the name of God enough times, it has the effect of cleansing our physical, emotional, mental and etheric bodies to the point that they reflect only God. One of the greatest difficulties that people on the path experience is a wandering mind. I experience this myself, still more times then I notice. But when I do catch thoughts float by that are dark, or that represent a reality that I do not wish to experience, I immediately chant ‘DELETE, DELETE, DELETE’. Sometimes 3 times is enough to bring peace, and other times it takes more than 30 repetitions to erase the thought and its energetic imprint on me. But then it’s gone. This is an example of the power of self-observation, and a power it certainly is!

The chanting of the names of God can also keep our minds focused on higher vibrations. It is not that important whether you focus on visualizing God’s imagine in your mind’s eye, or on connecting to a feeling of peace or love that you create. This process of simply repeating words of such high frequency is enough. It is all that is needed to activate an automatic elevation in your vibration, and in turn, in the vibration of the world around you.

If our mind isn’t on God (whether consciously or unconsciously), then it is likely to float back to the lower self and the many needs of the personality of the little ‘i’. We must learn to focus our attention on the true part of the Self. The mind creates bondage, yet it also has the power to create liberation. This is equally true of the spoken word. Words can harm but words can also heal. Reflect on this…

Any time you feel negative emotions coming on or if you are feeling depressed or angry, try chanting the name of God. If you allow yourself, you will be lifted up faster than you can imagine into a place of greater peace and tranquility. You see, it is not that the process does not work for everyone. It is that we struggle so much, often viewing the world as a cold and difficult place full of obstacles and opposition, that we have come to believe that this is our natural state. So because this has become the color through which so many of us automatically perceive our experiences, it no longer feels natural to be in a state of peace and calm. Sometimes I rise into this wonderful state very quickly when chanting my personal mantras, and if I am far enough detached from the ‘little ‘i’’s’, I notice that my first response is a very subtle sense of relief and relaxation, BUT this is very quickly followed by a fear that I have to be on guard and immediately my instinct is to get back into a protective stance. Or sometimes, I get the feeling that this peace is too good to be true and I should get back to a reality of pain. Watch yourself. If you catch yourself creating this same pattern, see it from a detached place of understanding and compassion, and then simply guide yourself back into that place of peace. When I have this interaction with my many facets, I sometimes feel like I’m trying to calm my inner child into coming back into the sun where the light is warm and nurturing. At first, I can understand that the light is overwhelming and if I’m not used to being in it, it can seem very bright. So why punish and judge our reactions? Instead, watch them as they happen from a place of higher knowing, and act accordingly from a place of greater understanding.

Names of God

A few suggestions of powerful words to chant are:

“I Am That I Am”

“I Am God”

“I Love”

“Be Still and Know I Am God”

“Elohim” (Meaning: ‘All That God Is’)

“Adonai” (Meaning: ‘Lord’ in the Kabbalah)

“El Shaddai” (Meaning: ‘God Almighty’)

“Jesus Christ”

“Krishna”

“Buddha”

“Holy Spirit”

The list can go on and on. The key is to use a powerful mantra or a name of God or of a Master that means something special to you; an entity to which you feel yourself drawn or a powerful expression which you find comforting.

As well as the names of God, there are also sacred sounds such as Aum and Om which are the mother of all mantras. These sounds can have a tremendously soothing effect if you are attuned to the range of their frequency. They can help guide your mind and your emotions to a place of quietude. I listen to my Om cd very often when I am facing an experience that frightens me or that makes me uneasy and what happens is that the sound organically brings me out of a place of fear and into a state of peaceful calm which in turn equips me with an improved mind-frame to be able to make clearer decisions. Much power is in this particular sound for it attunes the chanter or the listener to the sound of life intself, or in other words, to God. It brings both invigoration and calm. I believe that the invigoration comes from a state of greater awareness and this broadened consciousness is easily interpreted as a more ‘alert’ or ‘invigorated’ state. The amazing thing about mantras is that many of them exist in the highest dimensions and have been brought forth to humanity by the ancient Indian seers who hve actually heard these mantras clairaudiently.

Names of God can be chanted out loud, whispered, said silently in your mind or written down. Each has its own unique effect. The idea is to not become too mechanical in their recitation. Saying each word with worship and devotion to God empowers it to purify, cleanse and heal all of our bodies. When you chant the name of God, you are programming perfection into your subconscious mind, which then creates perfection in your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.

It is extremely important to build a strong subconscious mind because what we feed it is what we will manifest in our lives! It takes 21 days to create a new habit, so once we begin using loving visualizations and words of power each day, they will become part of the normal, natural way that we live. Thus, whenever we find ourselves in a stressful situation, it will become much easier to act positively and calmly rather than ‘reacting’ with out-of-control emotions and fear.

An Extra Boost

However, saying all of this to you,  I can also very much appreciate that life can become extremely complicated and sometimes we may want an extra boost of support from the heavens in order to get through the experiences without too many cuts and bruises. Sometimes, when life has drained a significant amount of our force and we have not been actively replenishing to keep up,  we may even get to a point where we feel that we can make it through the experiences, but at a cost to our bodies. Although I know that we are given only that which we can handle and not a drop more, it can sometimes feel that one thing after another is coming at us with growing intensity with no breaks in between to even catch our breath. In these situations, the power of mantras is invaluable because it is a way for us to refuel before the next battle and manifest a state of centeredness that will carry us even in the most fluctuating of times. I have been through some of these challenging cycles, and in the process, I have learned to use another tool that I would like to share with you now. When you feel spiritually tired and perhaps not quite sure if you can handle any more of what this life has to offer, take a breath, and begin to repeat the following:

“God, please heal my soul.”

The power of this mantra can even put you to sleep as you become enveloped by a feeling of mercy. It is as though you are being carried up on wings of divinity more beautiful than the mind can imagine. When we ask for this holy healing, we are actually asking for a healing that each and every one of us receives as we reenter our spiritual home once we leave our physical bodies. There is a process that follows the physical death in which the soul is placed in something similar to what we would call an incubator, and here the soul is supported through a mending process that helps it regenerate back to its fully recharged state. By asking for this process to take place while still in the physical vehicle, you are asking for a healing that incorporates so many levels of your essence that, in turn, you may wish to leave the body through the sleeping state in order to support this process.

What happens…

Chanting mantras helps to build our Light Body which is the body we will use in our ascended state. The more we chant words and sounds of high frequency, the more the energies of the words become the center of our consciousness and protect us from lower vibrations. The mantra is like the seed that will eventually grow into a beautiful tree – the tree being symbolic of God-realization. The ultimate purpose of reciting the names of God is to blend our individual consciousness with God consciousness, thus becoming aware of our true nature as the eternal self. By praying or chanting, we are using ‘the word’ as a co-creator with God, thereby intoning the highest possible vibrational frequencies. Everything is energy, and these spiritual practices assist us in raising our frequencies to a higher state of Light and Love.

For example, if you chant the divine word of ‘Elohim’, which means ‘All That God Is’, then you are attracting to yourself all that which is God. Chant God’s name as you are falling asleep and you will float in your soul body to the dimension and consciousness of the name you are reciting, since where you go when you fall asleep depends on the last thought in your mind. The constant practice of this most holy spiritual discipline builds enormous spiritual force and power in your aura which can then be used as a blessing upon every person you meet…thus we can literally change the world around us!

Can you imagine how you would feel if you could harness the tremendous force of your mind and channel it into a spiritual focus only? Imagine if you used your mind constantly, 24 hours a day, to focus on loving thoughts, words of power and caring emotions…your every thought, word and deed would be of divine origin! This is the ideal – to let your entire life on Earth be an affirmation of God, which is who you really are!

There are so many spiritual disciplines available for each of us to become more balanced and loving and to help us ascend and evolve into higher beings of Light. We can use our meditations, our prayers, spiritual reading, daily positive affirmations, journal writing and physical fitness to help us achieve that inner knowingness and peace. It is also beneficial for us to enjoy spiritual music that soothes our soul and to sing to our heart’s content as this also creates a feeling of joy and bliss for our soul. It is important to create variety in our spiritual disciplines for we need to make the journey interesting and joyful. Just as we are good to our physical bodies, we need to feed good spiritual food to our minds and to our spirits.

A final note…

One of the keys to spiritual and wordly success is understanding the importance of where we put our attention. Where our attention lies is literally where we live…so why not keep our focus on training our minds and bodies to seek inner peace and joy through the various spiritual practices available to us that have been proven to change the world!? This is OUR journey and we have the responsibility to ourselves to be the best that we can be! These many ideas can help us have fun along the way. Let’s stop making excuses that we are too busy or do not have enough time for these practices. We can make these a priority and change our lives…NOW!

All of the above serve as healing balms, not only to us, but to the world itself, as these sounds, words, mantras and prayers move through us and out into the etheric, astral and mental atmospheres. The choice lies with us whether we are going to use words and thoughts to hurt or to heal. It is my fervent prayer that each of us chooses to use the power of thought, word and deed in order to cause as much healing as possible within ourselves and upon the planet. Because whether we recognize it or not, we all really need it!

From the very beginning of time, there was a master plan set down by the Creator which established, within a given time frame, certain progressive steps through which humanity was to move in order to rise to a certain level of spiritual purification. Many of life’s experiences could mesh with wisdom and knowingness so that each soul could emerge with a complete sense of Oneness with the Creator. As we progress through our life experiences, we begin to discover a profound purpose, a logic and glory of a spiritual expression, that which transcends the basic needs of the physical form and the persistent ego that tries to control who we are. We begin to develop a compelling urgency that reaches beyond the mundane to a much richer, fuller existence.

Each lifetime offers us the possibilities of utilizing all of those many qualities that we have accrued from lifetime to lifetime. Our ultimate goal is to strive to release the constrains of the ego and to act in Oneness with all of creation…where everyone is truly equal and where individual gain or distinction is no longer our primary focus.

Is it possible to look at life where it truly doesn’t matter which profession someone chooses, which country one lives in, what the color of ones’ skin is or what religion one practices? What matters are the simple, day-to-day interactions with our fellow man and learning forgiveness and compassion in every human encounter.

There are many avenues in our lives that we can walk on that help us practice unity, sharing, and experience a unifying in spirit for the evolution of our planet. These avenues can be walked along, but remember that they can also be walked as a part of a group consciousness. Most of us in this world are working independently on our spiritual growth and that, of course, is very important. However, another process that assists us in becoming more loving, compassionate souls is through utilizing group energies by working together in groups with a unified focus.

Our ultimate goal as preached from the Heavens, spoken through our souls and known by our entire being is to truly learn to love…to love ourselves, to love our neighbors as ourselves and to love every creature on Earth as a piece of God and of ourselves. Is it possible to love if you are not in relationship with another human, animal or other form of energy? It has been said that “He travels fastest who travels alone.” This may be true in many fields of human endeavor; however when the goal is learning how to love, it follows that such can be done only in relationship with others. When we want a closer relationship with God and are searching for Him in our own way, we are in a relationship with Him during the process. To search for God actually means to “learn how to love.” Even when we love ourselves, we are in a relationship with ourselves and are learning acceptance within ourselves…if we love a beautiful sunset, we are sharing an experience with another form of nature…if we love our homes, we are sharing a relationship with all that the home represents (security, comfort, peace, etc.).

Just as we have relationships with our spouse, our children, our family and friends, we also share a strong relationship with others of like mind. Whether it be sharing a day on the golf course with a golfing buddy, walking through a mall with a friend who is also a shopping fanatic or walking the beach with a special someone, hand-in-hand enjoying the beauty and sounds of the ocean, sharing an experience and common interest with another person can expand the enjoyment of the experience. This is the same as the joys of sharing a spiritual relationship with someone very special. When we are seeking truth and understanding within our lives, it is more profound when it is shared with others on the spiritual path.  Being a part of a focused spiritual group is an incredible opportunity for expanding who we are and how we think and live our lives. We each have a “calling” that has brought us to this world: to share a relationship with those other seekers, by maximizing relationships to achieve a much greater understanding of who we are.

How does a group help us develop a greater understanding of who we are? There are a number of excellent reasons for the effectiveness of work in small groups. They are:

1. Motivational
   All of us may discover when we start on a new activity that our consistency, persistence and interest are strengthened and enhanced by the encouragement, support and interest of others involved in the same activity. When our focus seems to wane or when we get emotionally or mentally out of balance, their encouragement can spur us on; and in turn, when their motivation is low, we can encourage them.
2. Stability & Balance
   We may, at times, become emotional or frustrated about a situation that we are experiencing. When we are dealing with a very complex area of study, in sharing with others we may see the wisdom of a more moderate and balanced attitude. As we begin to study and reflect upon the difficult concepts involved in spiritual unfoldment, we may find that our own way of reading or thinking is quite different. If we share our reflections with others, we discover that there are ways to view certain issues other than our own initial response. As we listen to another person’s perspective, we grow in the ability not only to appreciate the point of view of others but also to establish a more modest evaluation of our own ideas. We gain both as we listen and also as we give of ourselves to others. In sharing the burdens we carry, they grow lighter and we find ourselves strengthened by the response and encouragement of the group, some of whom may have dealt effectively with similar situations.
3. Sense of Humor
   A third way in which a group can assist us on our path is to help us with a “sense of humor” about ourselves. In work as serious as soul development, we need to learn not to take ourselves too seriously. The group may help us see that some experiences that may appear so great or so tragic can be occasions to laugh at ourselves when we view them from a different perspective.
4. Prayer Support
   A most important way in which the group enhances growth is through mutual “prayer support”. In groups that pray for each other, there is given an energy, support and protection that cannot even be properly evaluated in ordinary terms.

It is very important to understand that we all learn not only through self-introspection but also through comparison. This process is especially enhanced in the sharing of viewpoints and experiences in a group. As we listen to another, it is not that we should agree or disagree or try to discover who is “right”, but rather, that as we genuinely permit ourselves a different perspective as offered by another person, there may be a quickening of growth within ourselves. Therefore, it can be said that personal growth may be more enhanced by the dynamics of interaction in a peer group rather than solely in self-study.

Group gatherings may be called study groups, spiritual groups or a school that teaches students how to discover their own deep, personal beliefs. Whatever terms we use, they might better be called groups for the study, meditation and application of learning how to love. It is through this process that we are able to truly understand who we are and what we value and what we believe as truth in our lives. Group discussion, the group energy and the comparison learning can be a tremendous tool in our spiritual growth. We must remember…the spirit of the group is learning how to love…

Some seekers who attend spiritual classes may be disappointed when they find the group failing to be in full agreement with their own viewpoints. Or, they find the group failing to measure up to their expectations in terms of some criterion of social or intellectual status. Such a response misses the point of the group because these criteria fail to reflect the essential purpose of the group which owes its oneness to a shared IDEAL, not necessarily similar IDEAS.

Along the same line, sometimes in a group there is one difficult, challenging individual who you find yourself judging. (On the flip side, you may possibly BE that challenging person to someone else!!) Rather than being a weakness to the group work, this gets us close to the very heart of the purpose of such groups. As we seek to grow personally in all of the dimensions with which the lessons deal, we come in time truly to love and appreciate that person with whom we initially were having the most difficulty. In the process of learning how to love this difficult person in the group, we find the group has been a laboratory in which we have experimented and learned about relationships. We then discover these lessons have generalized into our lives in such a way that we are now dealing more effectively with other “difficult” people, in our families, in our jobs and in other relationships.

The major theme of interest which draws people together in such groups may be the realization that there is more to us and to the meaning of life than we see in our present physical manifestations and circumstances. In our growth in a group setting, we find that we have a new, broader hope in the meaningfulness of life. This, in turn, leads to renewed motivation and the consequent energy that accompanies motivation, a new sense of direction in one’s life and a purpose guided by a clear commitment to ideals. As we seek to grow, we discover that that which stands in the way is generally ourselves. As we come to a growing awareness of the many dimensions of our own being, we gain both a deeper acceptance of our weaknesses and a more humble and thankful appreciation of our strengths. We find that the weaknesses and shortcomings that we have may be, with the thrust of a new spirit, turned into strengths!

As we come to understand our individual beliefs through our study of lessons, grow in attunement to the spirit through meditation, and experience improved relationships with others through daily application, we come to see that beyond all of this is the living force, the Spirit, acting in our lives and bringing about a transformation which no ego-oriented self-improvement program could ever even begin to offer.

We must approach with dignity and with compassion this task of becoming whole in every aspect of our lives. Even though the timing or experiences may differ from individual to individual, the end result is consistent…we must use this external support system to emerge through this process with the strength and understanding that we are not separate from God or one another but are in relationship with Him and all the rest of creation.

One more time…

OUR EGOS ARE IN CONTROL OF OUR MINDS AND ARE CAUSING OUR OUT-OF-BALANCE THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS TO RULE WHO WE ARE!

How many times do we need to hear this before it really sinks in? Sometimes we may have to hear it over and over again to finally learn how to release the ego’s power over who we are!

Next…

WE ARE LOSING OUR PRECIOUS MOMENTS OF NOW BY FOCUSING OUR THOUGHTS ON PAST GARBAGE LIKE FEAR, ANGER, RESENTMENT AND OUR INABILITY TO FORGIVE AND MOVE ON!!

Why??? When are we going to get it? Another thing…we are living for tomorrow with the assumption that our current problems will be gone and our lives, we assume, will be happier. If so, what is happening to the present? Are we missing it? Is it being overshadowed by anxiety or the illusive hopes that our lives will be happier when such times as our kids are out of the house, or when we don’t have to go to this unsatisfying job any more, or when our mortgage is paid off? Whatever it is that we are anticipating that will bring us more contentment than we are presently experiencing, if we do not change our thinking NOW then these “whens” will simply be replaced with other “whens”. We will continually believe that we will be happier later on. Wherever it is that our thoughts are taking us, we are missing the present!

Are you getting fed up with the restlessness, the anxieties and the constant dreaming for better times? If so, then CHANGE YOUR THINKING!!! CHANGE IT NOW! The present time is the only time that is available to us, and it is for this moment that we need to be grateful!

I spoke to an incredible senior citizen a while back about to what she attributes her positive attitude, her optimistic outlook on life, and her brilliant smile. She shared with me her secret: She stated that she wakes up each morning and makes the conscious decision and verbal affirmation, “Today I choose happiness.” How profound is that?! How can so simple a statement contain so much wisdom, power and love? How many of us can have the courage to proclaim such a statement to ourselves and then truly live by it? Can you? Is happiness a conscious choice? I believe it is! This courageous person shared with me that she has experienced several difficult experiences throughout her life; yet through each challenge, she chose happiness. I walked away from my time with this special lady a changed person. She is a living example of how our attitude and outlook on life are our own individual choices to make, and how they can make our lives positive, loving and worth living or, conversely, a cross to bear.

So, does a statement such as this: “I choose happiness” seem possible in your life? Can you say it now? Can you step aside from your current problems and challenges and look at yourself in the mirror and say that you choose happiness? All that we truly have is the present moment, and we can choose to see happiness in this moment or we can look at life as one continuous problem after another that we have to overcome. No one can do it for us! We must make the continuous effort to see our current problems as situations that we need to learn from, lessons that our souls CHOSE to experience in order for us to remember who we are. These situations were not forced on us…they are gifts offered to us to grow more loving, more patient, more understanding individuals.

Our families need us, our friends need us, our planet needs us! Are we up for the challenge? Can we use our precious life energy in a focused, loving way that can help create peace in our lives and peace in our world? I think we can!

CHAPTER 5: Realisation In Love

Link to chapter: click here
Length of chapter reading: 42:28 minutes

Duality is not an expression of separation. It is an invitation to embody unconditional love and acceptance for all, no matter whether our minds can make sense of it, no matter whether our beliefs are in line with it, no matter whether our desires are fulfilled by it. Duality is the ultimate union of opposites representing the possibility of wholeness disguised in contradiction. When there is little evidence, where we do not believe that there is enough proof, we can ask ourselves what we do have. This is when we open ourselves to the realisation that through free will, we have the power to choose to see things differently.

“In learning a language, when from mere words we reach the laws of words, we have gained a great deal. But if we stop at that point and concern ourselves only with the marvels of the formation of a language, seeking the hidden reason of all its apparent caprices, we do not reach that end, for grammar is not literature; prosity is not a poem. When we come to literature, we find that, though it conforms to the rules of grammar, it is yet a thing of joy; it is freedom itself. The beauty of a poem is bound by strict laws, yet it transcends them. The laws are its wings. They do not keep it weighed down. They carry it to freedom. Its form is in law, but its spirit is in beauty. Law is the first step toward freedom, and beauty is the complete liberation which stands on the pedestal of law. Beauty harmonises in itself the limit and the beyond – the law and the liberty.”

Why is it that so often, we reach ‘a’ point and conclude that we have reached the final step in our journey?

“I have found love! My search is over.”
“I have completed a degree. I no longer have to be a student.”

As with the learning of a language, there are many facets to our understanding. We eventually discover that the more we know, the less we understand. The complexity of the universal truth is so intricate and vast that we can easily become entangled in its details. The human mind was not made to grasp all the facts, calculate all the figures and make sense of all the outcomes. It is in the simplicity where we can truly make sense of all in our lives. It is in the silence where we can truly find clarity. If we relate this to the learning of a language, it is when we transcend the words of a poem and feel the essence of the poet that we have come to a point of greater understanding.

“If we happen to be awake then, we question him.”

If we happen to be awake…

“The question is, in what manner do we accept this world, which is a perfect gift of joy? Have we been able to receive it in our heart, where we keep enshrined things that are of deathless value to us? We are frantically busy making use of the forces of the Universe to gain more and more power. We feed and we cloth ourselves from its stores. We scramble for its riches and it becomes for us a field of fierce competition. But were we born for this?
To extend our proprietary rights over this world and make of it a marketable commodity? When our whole mind is spent only upon making use of this world, it looses for us its true value. We make is cheap by our sordid desires, and thus, to the end of our days, we only try to feed upon it, and miss its truth. Just like the greedy child who tears the leaves from a precious book and tries to swallow them.”

Where do you see yourself fitting in the picture Tagore paints in the words above? I used to be one of the frantic. There was a time when I was watching others trying to swallow the leaves and wondering if I should join in. But for some reason, I don’t see a place to fit in anymore. I am disconnected from the traffic, unplugged from much of the noise, and find myself wondering…where do I fit in? Do I try to change the world? Do I try to remind people what they seem to have forgotten? Or do I disconnect even further and ignore the pain and the chaos?

I don’t mean to sound self-righteous at all here. I am sorry if I appear to be. In truth, I feel like an alien, living amongst a people with whom I don’t know how to relate. When I am in the company of others, I often seem to say things that silence the room, but I don’t know what that means. When I am physically alone, I find myself able to reach such heights of mental expansion and seem to be able to best translate and share those moments through technology. I heard somewhere recently that the longer we spend disassociated with the rest, the more others seem unrecognisable. Is my experience a product of the times or a consequence of something else?

“…we can never have a true view of man unless we have a love for him… Man foolishly tries to prove his superiority by imagining his radical separateness from what he calls his physical world, which in his blind fanaticism, he sometimes goes to the extent of ignoring all together, holding it as his direst enemy. Yet the more his knowledge progresses, the more it becomes difficult for man to establish this separateness and all the imaginary boundaries he had setup around himself vanish, one after the other. Every time we loose some of our badges of absolute distinction by which we conferred upon humanity the right to hold itself apart from its surroundings, it gives us a shock of humiliation. But we have to submit to this if we setup our pride on the path of self-realisation to create divisions and disunion, then it must sooner or later come under the wheels of truth and be ground to dust.”

But what if I understand a tree better then I understand man? Or perhaps I should ask why I feel more comfortable with it. And then I’m reminded that when we ask ‘why’, we do not truly see the picture in front of us. So I try to step back to see a bit more of this picture, and then I meet the hermit that resides within. The part of me that identifies more with that which is unseen, with that which is unspoken by most.

In all my wondering and trying to relate, I have realised that this physical world inevitably requires action. Building up the courage to act is a process of facing ones fears, seeing them for the self-imposed illusions that they are, and detaching from that which sells the sense of separateness. “…we can never have a true view of man unless we have a love for him…” And here I am drawn back to myself. Do I love myself? How can I realise the true view of man if I do not see it in myself first?

CHAPTER 4: The Problem of Self

Link to chapter: click here
Length of chapter reading: 38:34 minutes

The Problem of Self is really about the relationship we have with ourselves. Every other relationship we have in any given life is but a reflection of our connection with our true Self. That which you enjoy in others is what you enjoy about yourself. The things that bother you and bring you discomfort are those aspects of yourself that you have not learned how to love unconditionally yet. Listening to this fourth chapter can help to remind us of what is real and what is maya (illusion). The confusion of relation – relating to ourselves, to the world around us, trying to find identity in our experiences – all of these are simply manifestations of the little ‘i’s’ that we pick up on the side of the road as we make our journey. What we must remember though, is that we started our journey with empty pockets, and this is also the way it must end. You are free to collect as many i’s along the path as you like, but remember, one day, you will be asked to shed your pockets, and return to the essence that is the true You.

I am that I AM. Not I am who I am, or what I am, or how I am. I am THAT I AM.

“…man is never literal in the expression of his ideas except in matters most trivial. Very often, man’s words are not a language at all but merely a vocal gesture of the dumb. They may indicate, but do not express his thoughts. The more vital his thoughts, the more have his words to be explained by the context of his life.”

To assume that what we hear is what is meant to be heard is to create within our own minds a reality disconnected from the rest. Even if the meanings of all the words in the dictionary were implanted in our minds, we would not be able to ensure clear communication because the interpretation of each sentiment is dependent upon the place from which it is experienced. This is why the eyes, the smile, the act of radiating light from within are all so important. The messages that come through us from our Higher Selves cannot be mistaken. They may perhaps not be consciously observed, but the soul knows, and that is more than enough.

“We can look at our Self in its two different aspects. The self which displays itself, and the Self which transcends itself and thereby reveals its own meaning. To display itself, it tries to be big, to stand upon the pedestal of its accumulations and to retain everything to itself. To reveal itself, it gives up everything it has, thus becoming perfect, like a flower is blossomed out from the bud pouring from its chalice of beauty all its sweetness.”

In a world that displays proof in its physicality and evidence, it is easy to loose site of the Self. Turning on the television, entering into a store or simply watching people on the street, we see ‘things’ – things we want, things we like and dislike, things we’ve had but now have better. The illusion of the material world is where the little ‘i’ dwells. It is where the ego likes to bask in its glory. To look past the material and to see the essence present in all things, we transcend identification with the little ‘i’ and move into the realisation of the Self. We can only know who we truly are, why we are here, and what gifts we have brought with us to share with the world if we take the journey within. The big ‘I’ is the actor on the stage. The little ‘i’s’ are the roles you play.

“…love is an end unto itself. Everything else raises the question ‘why?’ in our mind, and we require a reason for it. But when we say, ‘I love’, then there is no room for the ‘why?’. It is the final answer in itself.”

The moment you find yourself asking, ‘why?’ – why is this happening to me?, why does it have to be like this? – you miss the whole point of the experience. In these moments of questioning, step back – even though it will feel difficult and unnatural at first to separate yourself from something you’ve identified yourself with so closely – and say a prayer of thanks. Be thankful for the experience you have been given, express gratitude for the opportunity to grow your understanding. It is during the moments when we ask ‘why?’ that we have the most to learn. Gratitude for these moments enables transcendence into places of greater connection with the Self.

“Whenever the part, spurning the whole, tries to run a separate course of its own, the great pull of the All gives it a violent wrench, stops it suddenly, and brings it to the dust. Whenever the individual tries to damn the every-flowing current of the world force, and imprison it within the area of his particular use, it brings on disaster. However powerful a king may be, he cannot raise his standard or rebellion against the infinite source of strength, which is unity, and yet remain powerful.

“It has been said that by righteous men prosper, gain what they desire, and triumph over their enemies, but at the end, they are cut off at the root, and suffer extinction.”

Observing the state of the world today, is it not the perfect time to take inventory, dig into our pockets, and let go of some of the little ‘i’s’?

CHAPTER 3: The Problem of Evil

Link to chapter: click here
Length of chapter reading: 33:11 minutes

Evil is a concept that epitomizes fear. Fear is a lack of wholeness. Wholeness comes from connection to our Selves. We are all One, affecting each other with every choice we make. When we see our Selves in others, and are able to honor each facet of our brilliance with unconditional love, evil becomes but a part of the Universal Whole.

“The river has its boundaries, its banks, but is a river all banks, or are the banks the final facts about the river? Do not these obstructions themselves give its water and onward motion? The towing rope binds a boat, but is the bondage its meaning? Does it not, at the same time, draw the boat forward? The current of the world has its boundaries, otherwise it could have no existence, but its purpose is not shown in the boundaries that restrain it, but in its movement, which is towards perfection.”

Evil is but the perception of the short-sighted. It is not empowered in the mind that sees beyond the current scene on the stage. How far beyond the scene we choose to see depends on one thing and on everything…

It depends on the seer – who has the choice, the free will to choose whether to see from a point of love, or of one of fear.

It depends on all of us – for we are all interconnected Oneness. All that he does impacts on all of us. The ripples of her actions reverberate upon the surface of the sea of Oneness which we all connect to form.

For now, in this form, the sea has a shore that defines it, that delineates it from what is beyond. This allows us to see in concepts and ideas. This is the imperfection of our perfection. Evil is a concept. It is a tool that is meant to help us move beyond the stage. It is but a theme, a plot twist, a part of the drama. Watch the show. Enjoy the drama. See it for what it is.

“Just as a man who has an ear for music realises the perfection of a song, while in fact he is only listening to a succession of notes, man has found out the great paradox that what is limited is not imprisoned within its limits. … infinity revealed within bounds.”

How is it that we can be so profoundly yet unconsciously connected to the wisdom of the All, yet get so caught up in the drama? Think of the magnificence of our inherent capabilities and then look at what so many of us choose to do with each life. I am not saying that we all don’t do our best and proceed upon our paths at our divine paces, but what if we chose to express more of our true Self to the world? What would the world look like then?

Yesterday I met someone new. At a certain point he was talking about his perception of his work-week and how, by the time 3pm on Friday comes along, the seconds seems to tick by excruciatingly slowly. I saw this divine being in front of me, with gifts and talents that only he can offer to the world, and wondered what the world would be like if he shared those gifts with us. What do you think the world would look like then?

“When we select for observation a limited area of our activities, our individual failures and mysteries loom large in our minds, but our life leads us instinctively to take a wider view.”

Perception.

“Pessimism is a form of mental dipsomania. It disdains healthy nourishment, indulges in the strong drink of denunciation and creates an artificial dejection which thirsts for a stronger draught.”

Do you see the optimist as trustworthy or delusional? Do you see the pessimist as realistic or hopeless? I don’t tend to distinguish between optimist and pessimism. I don’t think in those terms. When someone calls me an optimist, it is usually said in a wistful manner indicating to me that there is a part of him or her that would like to believe, but it’s too difficult to run the risk of being deluded…again. In place of optimism and pessimism, I see imagination and trepidation. To see life through child-like eyes does not mean to be ignorant and senseless. On the contrary, innocence brings with it wonder, delight and joy.

“…knowledge is nothing but the continually burning up of error to set free the light of truth.”

How would our children view school if this was the ideal of our teachers? Would the definition of education change?

“[Man] is more in truth then he is in fact. He truly belongs to individuals who are not included in his own individuality and whom he is never even likely to know.”

How many times have I wondered where the rest of the souls in my Monad are at any given time?! Have I met all of them in this life? Will I? Would I recognise them if I did meet them? Are they scattered all over the cosmos, or are we all sharing in life on this planet at this time of its evolution?
When I am out in the world – in a car at a red light, at the airport standing in line, walking down a cosmopolitan street – and I lock eyes with a stranger and feel, in that instant, that time stands still and a message is being exchanged, I wonder – do I know you?