FINDING YOUR TRUTH

An Encounter with Reality

So what is ‘reality’ saying to you today?

To me reality is saying ‘spring is finally here and new life is popping up everywhere.’

But if I were in deep meditation, that ‘reality’ might appear quite differently.

This is one of the hardest concepts to consider: that what you perceive to be REALITY is simply that—it’s a PERCEPTION.

And although it may be hard to imagine that it is possible to ‘perceive’ in a completely different way, the act of doing so makes ‘reality’ a matter of your focus on frequency (sound and light waves) reception.

We are naturally beings with built-in multi-sense receivers that inform and awaken us to the various stimuli in our environment; BUT (and it’s a large gluteus maximus at that)—what we are often oblivious to is that we choose our ‘focal points’ around us—we choose what we recognize and acknowledge as ‘the composition of our world’; and we tend to choose that ‘reception input’ unconsciously, like when you’re driving the car after someone else has, you automatically tune that radio dial back to your favorite station because you like what it plays—because it feels comfortable to you.

So when you seriously practice meditation—when you go deeply into silence and serenity—when you go beyond the bells and whistles of this world’s many distractions and attention hijackings, then a new world (dimension) opens up to you for further exploration.

And as long as you are in deep meditation and resonating with exploring that ‘new world’, then your ‘reality’ may seem quite different. In fact it may be SO different that you begin to wonder WHICH reality is the one that you actually occupy, and which is the one that deludes you into believing that you live there?

“Meditation is not evasion. It is a serene encounter with reality.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

So then which reality is REAL; and is the whole point being that ‘REALITY is the entire frequency range of the tuning dial’ that you can adjust at will?

And even more importantly, …WHY IS THAT?

Miracles Everywhere

Ecological Consciousness

“Around us, life bursts forth with miracles—a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere.

Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are tired and feel discouraged by life’s daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there.”
~Thich Nhat Hanh,
Photo by Tri Setyo Widodo

Climbing the Mountain of Consciousness

From Resonance Science Foundation:

“Creating a new theory is not like destroying an old barn and erecting a skyscraper in its place. It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting points and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up.” – Albert Einstein

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This Einstein quote at Resonance Science Foundation is likely in celebration of the newest theories on states of energy/matter and atomic structure that are flooding the theoretical science communities at present—shifting attitudes and raising awareness on massive scales.

And considering that Einstein was at his peak in the early 20^th century—with his ‘Theory of Relativity’ being nearly 102 years old now; AND since we have just landed two additional Mars rovers (5 total so far) about a week ago, I doubt that even Einstein could predict the massive breakthroughs in physics, astrophysics, engineering, medicine, and most of all in technology; including Artificial Intelligence and robotics that we are currently enjoying.

So as we climb that unfathomable mountain of higher consciousness that looms before us, the world we once assumed that we knew so well becomes an entirely different place primarily because our perspectives have massively shifted to a higher plane of awareness, and we can now see through more enlightened eyes than the majority of us did 100 years ago during the last world-wide pandemic.

We as a species have evolved in knowledge and understanding of the world around us—we have advanced in technological leaps and bounds toward something we cannot even presently comprehend—OUR FUTURE as a human species.

“…It is rather like climbing a mountain, gaining new and wider views, discovering unexpected connections between our starting points and its rich environment. But the point from which we started out still exists and can be seen, although it appears smaller and forms a tiny part of our broad view gained by the mastery of the obstacles on our adventurous way up.”

Yes we have come SO far in a hundred years; and it is only from climbing higher to then peer further below to gain that necessary ‘broader perspective’ on what is happening to us, that we can even begin to comprehend the scope of this mystery called LIFE.

Now for me personally, I love being high in the air; from standing atop the tallest peak in the mountain range to peering out from the swaying gondola of a hot-air balloon sailing silently across the cloud-doted sky. Love it! It’s like walking on clouds (at least until the burner fan kicks in and destroys the silence).

I crave that panoramic view seen from far above the earth’s floor—where mile after mile of rugged territory is revealed in a single awe-inspiring 360-degree head-turn.

Not sure how I came by this trait—that desire for the ‘omniscient perspective’ obtained from extreme height, but it’s very much a part of me. And that’s also how I view this LIFE experience as well. You can’t really see what’s happening to you and to those around you from the ground-level where you are living it. You have to distance yourself from the situation, from the emotional/tumultuous interactions, and see the entire picture of ALL interactions to give LIFE itself proper context.

To do this you have to gain the high-above overview perspective on LIFE to see the entire valley stretched out below you—to see how the multicolored folds of the earth and the twisting, winding rivers that run through her, work together—to see how the gorgeous blue sky embraces the blinding sun by day and at night the sparkling stars; and to suddenly fully realize how the entirety of this magnificent view shows you—reminds you—how truly small you are to the total picture that you are blessedly witnessing.

You are the ant at your feet—the individual grain of sand on the vast white beach of similar bleached silica particles.

You are but a tiny speck of dust in the whirlwind of eternity spinning ever outward toward infinity and beyond.

And even from this enlightened view of how insignificant you truly are, you are indeed VIEWING IT, which makes you SIGNIFICANT. You are witnessing LIFE as it unfolds in all its complexity and enormity—even if you can’t presently comprehend what you are actually seeing.

My main problem is that I want to know why LIFE is this way, and WHY we are the way that we are—incomplete, evolving, and continually tested in the fires of a master steel forger—where we are indiscriminately heated to a more pliable consistency and then pounded out into a new shape for some future use.

Are we to be ‘future plow shears’ or are we to be ‘future swords’?

I guess we’ll know in time.

You Are the Focal Point

“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us Universe… He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ~Albert Einstein

“I seem, like everything else, to be a center, a sort of vortex, at which the whole energy of the universe realizes itself. Each one of us, not only human beings but every leaf, every weed, exists in the way it does, only because everything else around it does. The individual and the universe are inseparable.” ~Alan Watts

“People normally cut reality into compartments, and so are unable to see the interdependence of all phenomena. To see one in all and all in one is to break through the great barrier which narrows one’s perception of reality.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

“Though I am often in the depths of misery, there is still calmness, pure harmony and music inside me. I see paintings or drawings in the poorest cottages, in the dirtiest corners. Poetry surrounds us everywhere, but putting it on paper is, alas, not so easy as looking at it… To believe in God for me is to feel that there is a God, not a dead one, or a stuffed one, but a living one… When I have a terrible need of — shall I say the word — religion, then I go out and paint the stars.” ~Vincent Van Gogh

“Practice until you see yourself in the cruelest person on Earth, in the child starving, in the political prisoner. Continue until you recognize yourself in everyone in the supermarket, on the street corner, in a concentration camp, on a leaf, in a dewdrop. Meditate until you see yourself in a speck of dust in a distant galaxy. See and listen with the whole of your being. If you are fully present, the rain of Dharma will water the deepest seeds in your consciousness, and tomorrow, while you are washing the dishes or looking at the blue sky, that seed will spring forth, and love and understanding will appear as a beautiful flower.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

“I like to experience the universe as one harmonious whole. Every cell has life. Matter, too, has life; it is energy solidified. The tree outside is life… The whole of nature is life… The basic laws of the universe are simple, but because our senses are limited, we can’t grasp them. There is a pattern in creation.” ~ Albert Einstein

“Learn how to see, realize that everything connects to everything else.”
~Leonardo Da Vinci~

“Stop acting so small. You are the Universe in ecstatic motion.”
~Rumi~

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Above quotes collected from this original posting: Glimpses of a Creative Living Universe, December 14, 2014 by Christopher Chase

The Human Energy Body

Just to complete my own limited assessment of the human body’s systems of operation, I will show and explain (as best I can) the Human Body Energy System that was absent from the previous body systems posting.

And once again it’s hard to find one image that shows everything. But this Alex Grey image composite comes close.

At least with this image, on the left you can see the chakra locations and the energy meridians running throughout the body.

Then the center shot shows torus flow lines as cosmic energy at large enters through the crown and out through our connection into the earth’s energy field at our feet. The energy then cycles back up to the crown and down again making a toroidal (donut-shaped) path.

And the far right image shows a bit of the overall flow of energy that radiates and pulses out from our physical body through our chakras and main torus flow to encase us in a luminous egg-shaped, energy cocoon.

While this isn’t a perfect depiction, it’s the best I can presently find to demonstrate the “nearly invisible to most eyes” energy field that flows through and around all of us—as long as we are alive.

When we die our energy field consolidates into one cohesive unit (what we often call ‘our spirit’) and leaves the physical body to return to its energy source-point, which can be interpreted by many names depending on the religion, but I prefer to say that the energy body with the ‘consciousness’ that it has experienced/collected in this dimension of existence, moves back to the dimension from where it originated (I personally call it Spirit Home) where it rejoins the greater database of all collected LIFE consciousnesses for our particular Soul Unit called our Higher Self.

Think of the Higher Self as “The Cloud” of collected data storage located in a giant server system “somewhere” out beyond your personal sphere of awareness; except this “Cloud” storage continually interacts with us and supplies us with our key energy connection to Higher Consciousness.

Our Higher Self is a conglomeration of “all lives lived” energetically where consciousness was enhanced or raised in frequency—where awareness was purified and distilled in essence so that the vibrational frequency of our Soul’s collected consciousness over all “lifetimes” grows higher and higher.

And similar to the many previously-mentioned physical human body systems, the function of the Energy Body System is complex, sophisticated, and purposeful.

So back to the chakras and my previously mentioning how they seem to correspond directly to the location of the endocrine glands, as well as to the main body organs.

Those particular colors often associated with the chakras are specific frequencies of electromagnetic light waves that are most beneficial to those particular glands and organs. These chakra sites are energy transducers (filters and distillers) of white light energy in general, that both input and output energy.

They also correspond to the energy “layers” that are projected outward from the physical body, much like the layers of an onion. The 1^st chakra (root) mainly projects the 1^st energy layer out from the skin, while the 7^th chakra (crown) projects the farthest out from the central body in this dimension.

Our energy fields can extend outward quite far from us depending on our ability to “hold” certain higher frequencies of energy, but most of us can extend our arms outward to their limits around and above us, and that would easily depict the outer cocoon limits of most people’s energy fields. So it’s not hard to see that when you are near other people or in a crowd closer than arm’s length with others, you are actually moving around in each other’s energy field.

And as I tell my REIKI classes, it’s important to keep your own energy field as clear and well-functioning as possible to provide the best energy protection for yourself—especially when you are around negative-focused people, because otherwise you will be like ‘polyester pants in a room full of cats’—before long, you are wearing their hair like it was your own. That’s how we tend to pick up a ‘bad mood’ from hanging with others even if we can see no reason for it.

Finally in closing I’ll say that it is hard to make this energy-body subject digestible for folks who have never considered it, but by condensing it into bite-size portions for consumption I hope others can at least begin to realize how amazingly complex and well-designed we human beings actually are.

We are like little miracles unto ourselves—with all systems interconnected and functioning in total coordination with each other—just to experience the physical world for as long as we are ordained to exist here in this dimension.

And when you think about it, that’s pretty amazing.

The Body’s Many Systems

It is SO hard to find ONE picture that covers such an extensive subject as the body’s systems of operation, so this will have to suffice at present.

At first I was only going to describe the Endocrine System and how that related to ‘energy work’ (like REIKI) in general; and then the more I searched for just the right image (since I’m limited to only one in this blog) I quickly realized that I couldn’t limit this topic to only one human body system while ignoring all the other interrelated systems that comprise human body operation.

Besides that I’m pretty limited in my knowledge of any of them, and not surprisingly, the human body “Energy System” of which I am more familiar, isn’t showing in this image. So then I began thinking that it would be wrong of me to isolate any one system from the total interworking mass of them because we cannot function by eliminating a single body system; and it is only through the complete coordination of ALL body systems that we can even exist.

And maybe that is the entire point of what I’m struggling to convey.

Hence this is who we actually are: a collection of independent and yet interdependent “systems” that work in conjunction with each other to provide the substance and mobility of our daily lives. If one of those systems above has a problem, then the entire body suffers to some degree; and that initial single-system problem can cascade throughout other systems until the body fails.

How many actual body systems do we have?

Well that might be a matter of focus and specialty, but overall: “The human body comprises 12 distinct human body systems, and their functions reflect their names: cardiovascular (circulatory), digestive, endocrine, immune, integumentary, lymphatic, muscular, nervous, reproductive, respiratory, skeletal and urinary.” (from Sciencing.com)

Again I’m limited in knowledge here, but I assume that the brain serves as the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the human body and runs/administers the entire system conglomeration. Think of the brain similar to how your personal computer functions. There is a central operating system that is programmed to control how input is assessed and redirected, and then it ultimately sends orders (electrical stimuli, nerve synapses) to the various interdependent body systems to act or react pertaining to the situation encountered.

Now what I was originally going to say had to do with how interconnected we are energetically to the endocrine system, and that is why energy workers focus on Chakra locations because that’s where the endocrine glands are that secrete the gland-specific chemicals into the blood stream (circulatory system).

Except that I just hit two systems there, endocrine and circulatory; but that doesn’t account for the nervous system that I know is also directly affected by the benefits of energy work because I’ve seen it for myself when I worked on Multiple Sclerosis clients—seen how they benefited from my reestablishing an energy network that allowed their nerve impulses to reach muscles and body parts that were long ago disconnected from their central nervous system routes.

I’ve also seen for myself how when I applied energy directly to the base of the head—the central spinal nerve center, how cancer clients who had lost peripheral feeling in hands and feet due to the side-effects of chemotherapy, suddenly regained feeling for awhile in fingers and toes.

So I can’t just say that the energy work (in this case REIKI) only affects one system or even two systems of the body when I’ve already shown four systems directly affected by energy work: nervous, endocrine, circulatory, and muscular systems.

Oh yes, and add the digestive system’s positive affect also because the MS guy often said how much better his eating and elimination systems were functioning after I had worked on him.

Which finally leads me to my long-labored point: We think of ourselves as this mass of flesh on bone (muscular on skeletal system), but we are an interconnected, interrelated, interdependent conglomeration of separate operating systems that miraculously function together in some unbelievably complex way.

And you think we aren’t intentionally “designed” to function in that manner?

I think we definitely are.

The Fractal Spiral

This image is a 2-D depiction of a 3-D fractal spiral—portrayed like a transparent conch shell. For some reason in nature certain living species use this geometric pattern of growth for creating solid shell-like objects, as well as for flower petal or seed distribution, besides other natural examples.

I’m looking at this design and thinking initial growth must be limited on one side of the forming cell structure, and then amplified on the opposite side of the cell so that the creation can only spiral around itself rather than moving in a straight forward or upward progression.

The effect would be like riding a zero-turn lawnmower when you fast-forward one wheel while nearly stopping the other wheel’s forward motion so that the mower is cutting in continually spiraling but in ever expanding circles. The effect can make for an unusual growth pattern in one of nature’s more fascinating creations, or for a very strange lawn trimming where your neighbors may question your sanity.

But to accomplish this spiraling pattern in general, the forward expansion must be limited on one side of the pivot point and magnified on the other side, which creates this spiral effect.

And then the next question is WHY? WHY would nature do this? What is the advantage of doing this?

For a mollusk, the point might be to grow a secreted, protective shell around the very vulnerable flesh; but for a flower? Why would a plant do that with its flowers? What would the flower be protecting at its center other than its seed pods?

Or in the case of sunflowers, every seed is displayed outwardly in complex Fibonacci patterns ready for quick consumption and dispersal by birds to other locations.

I think there is something important here in examining nature’s spiral designs that I’m not fully comprehending about this natural growth behavior, and I think it has to do with the original growth pattern intention; but I certainly don’t know what that was, other than there have been mathematicians of the past who have plotted out the various equations to actually replicate those natural, spiral growth patterns, and they have found some pretty interesting data in the process.

If this mystery interests you further, check out Fractal spirals, Fibonacci spirals, Archimedean spirals, Golden spirals, galactic spiral, conical spirals, spherical spirals, and the differing mathematical equations and geometric properties of all of them. I think there is a hidden clue to the intentional Grand Design of LIFE here, but unfortunately I’m not capable of deciphering it.

Perhaps you can.

Anthropomorphizing the World That We See

Interesting photo above from Amazing Nature site.

Besides my Graphic Arts training recognizing that the photo is likely an enhanced composition, my reactive mind immediately attributed human-like actions to the mantis spreading its forearms wide in a kind of Tai Chi pose; and then my logical mind recognized what was happening in my thought processes, and said, “NO. You are seeing what you want to see, rather than what truly is.”

Not sure who actually said it prior to Stephen Covey, but what is that quote? “We see the world, NOT as it IS, but as WE ARE…” This image and my reaction to it reminded me of that, because for a brief moment I saw what I wanted to see: a Tai Chi dancing mantis.

As humans we have a natural tendency to relate and compare new experiences to previous ones—new images to recognized similar objects or situations, and basically all ‘unknowns’ to that ‘which is known to us’ for our assessment of its safety and threat potential to our existence. We do this through genetically-programmed species survival tactics—we and our ancestors before us have learned from our near misses with death in the past to not trust deadly creatures or hazardous situations a second time. Caution and wariness keeps you alive to fight another day.

But even with that being said, we also have this innate tendency to anthropomorphize all aspects of the world around us, because as humans we are basically a self-aware but extremely self-focused species. Why else would we assume that our GOD—the all-knowing—all-seeing—all-being Omniscient One looks like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling rendition of an old bearded man, supported in the air by cherubs, who is extending a lackadaisical finger to his “new creation” –also male—awaiting animation only at HIS touch?

And why is that? Why do we even think of GOD like that? Because “We see the world, NOT as it is, but as we are…” Sometimes quite literally.

We see the world around us as human-designed and human-purposed, therefore GOD or gods must have human attributes or forms, which often includes having human proclivities and weaknesses like emotional extremes. So of course our GOD is human shaped. Of course our GOD is male because who first scribed the Torah and the Bible at their inceptions? Who was allowed education and training way back then to transcribe and spread HOLY texts and philosophies? Hmm, let me guess: Males. Therefore no-brainer, God in all his wisdom and magnificence must be not only HUMAN depicted, but must be also MALE and should be depicted as the ‘perfect specimen’ of manliness.

In the broadest consideration, I’m fairly sure that GOD, or Grand Consciousness as I prefer to call it, is both genderless and nonhuman-shaped unless it is housing a minute portion of Itself in a human form for the duration of that person’s LIFE. But the assessment of human-relatedness to anything is called anthropomorphism—assigning human characteristics to animate and inanimate everything.

“Anthropomorphism–Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces, such as seasons and weather.” (Wiki)

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Now in one sense, this whole subject matter is truly no big deal. So what if that Praying Mantis is doing his Tai Chi dance on that twig under a blazing sun overhead? Who really cares?

But in a broader sense, if we can’t disrupt our own ingrained perceptual patterns to perceiving the world around us solely within “socially and culturally acceptable” limits, then how will we ever know TRUTH if we actually do see it or hear it?

Perceptual patterns define our lives—it’s how we interpret the world around us; and we have developed and solidified in our minds those patterns of thinking and perceiving—of filtering our awareness of the world that we encounter in a certain way—from a very early age onwards.

So when we are preprogrammed to perceive the world around us by the perceptual restrictions that we unconsciously set for ourselves, then it becomes very hard to breakthrough those old programs and patterns of perception to actually see and hear LIFE as it IS, not as WE ARE, because our current perceptions are being tainted by our past associations and by our prior reactions to previous similar situations.

To see things as they actually ARE without our ingrained or learned bias, is to energetically expand our personal awareness outward to resonate with the world that we explore, but it also requires the ability for us to perceive that new world view without biased pre-judgment or expectation. Let it be simply what it IS.

And that’s pretty hard to do when you aren’t even aware that you are constantly filtering/comparing/judging all aspects of the world that you perceive as each input source hits your multiple senses.

That makes it even more difficult for us to take that “AS IS” world view and see it more as an objective witness might, rather than as a biased receiver who sensors the exploration input into ‘acceptable’ or ‘unacceptable’ categories for instant consideration or rejection of that situation’s importance to us.

So maybe we should just let that mantis do his or her thing on that branch without us assigning our biased meaning to it—whatever that thing IS that he or she is doing.

Myopic Creatures

“Humans are myopic creatures full of hubris to a degree that is laughable.” –Daniel

Amen to that, brother. Myself included.

This quote was from an email by “Daniel” from Awakentheworld.com about the new film “Samadhi: Part 3”; and it’s a short bit revisited from his encounter with the Seraphim—highest order of angels—next to God. (If you want to hear it, here’s the site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mfS7V5d_AE&feature=youtu.be )

It’s interesting and worth a listen—and whether you are skeptical or not, that is your choice—but it is his account of what was said during his extremely high-frequency meditation session—where he wakes up to the ‘dimension of BEING’—which is Primordial Awareness (I’ve called it Grand Consciousness).

I was originally going to write a bit on hearing/watching this video, but once I got past my OWN truckload of hubris, I decided it might be best to give you the option of hearing it for yourself and then making your own interpretations of what he is describing.

I also really enjoyed his explanations in the text below the video, including the statement that we can’t call the Seraphim to us—we can only rise to meet them if we “match their level of resonance.”

Again, that is what we do when we raise our own vibrational frequency—we “resonate” with higher vibrational situations, beings, events, dimensions, etc. The higher the energetic vibration that we can hold, the higher in dimensions that we can rise.

Anyway, it’s worth a listen if you are into this subject of transcending our limits of humanness.

Blessings.

Consulting ‘Doctor ME’

I’m still reviewing the Cope Yoga book, and remembering now how substantive this book could be since Stephen Cope was a practicing psychotherapist applying the Yoga Sutra principles to his working-group associations. Lots to ponder here. Very deep read.

But as I review the book, I think one of the most prevalent thoughts for me personally is that not only is there great value in contemplative thought itself, but there is also great value in having a more ‘learned mentor’ to guide that thought in previously unexplored directions; which is likely why many ashrams and retreat centers have a resident ‘guru’ as ‘living example of higher spiritual attainment’ and to be a ‘new-thought steerer’ in general—as exploring ‘new thoughts’ breaks old set patterns of thinking and interrupts undesirable behaviors.

I think this was part of the appeal of Eastern philosophies when they first became so popular—they were SO different from the known Western set—far deeper in psychological approach and human behavior understanding.

However, not all of us have that luxury to have a personal guru as a reflective surface allowing us to gently witness our own hidden cracks and imperfections without judgment or condemnation—a guide who can steer us in an unexpected direction that provides us the greatest learning potential, if we open our eyes and our minds to allow it.

Cope’s group had three people: himself, his Kripalu guru in residence, and a veteran student named Rudi who provided the group’s steering of contemplative/self-revealing subject matter; and more importantly, Rudi asked the most penetrating questions for all to honestly consider while the group setting prevented occasional spurts of self-delusion to less-than-honest personal reflections.

Some of us don’t have those learned questioners (like therapists or gurus) in our lives, so we have to plod onwards ourselves in whatever manner that we can.

My internal ‘therapist’ seems to ask me the toughest questions right as I’m trying to fall asleep. I sure wish she’d change her office hours, but ‘Dr. ME’ can ask some pretty stinging zingers right as the world around me starts drifting away.

Dr. Me’s clarity and pointed inquiry is equally astounding and annoying because while I’d love to consider my deepest faults and most flagrant emotional weaknesses in the light of day, I’d truly prefer to actually sleep at night rather than tossing around old memories and slights in my head until my eyes leak with tears.

But I guess Dr. ME knows best how to penetrate my more formidable day-time defenses by inquiring at night with NO distractions; so who needs sleep, I guess, when further self-discovery and enhancing self-awareness are the ultimate goals?

I’m not sure how valuable Dr. Me’s consultation can be in the long run, but for now she’s fairly cheap by the hour, and the other night when she asked me the standard, “Why are you here?”

I said, “Damned if I know. I don’t usually have to pay others to listen to me—since they usually pay me to talk to them.”

Dr. ME distinctly frowned at that statement, …followed by extensive note-taking in the book on her lap.

Hmm, I wondered, …did I just state something quotable? 🙂

LIFE Itself IS the Path

“LIFE itself IS the path”

This post’s title is not a new thought or slogan; but while reading a book review, seeing it stated again today struck me as timely for consolidating my own meandering thoughts.

Because what are we ALL experiencing in some way right now? LIFE.

This ‘whatever–it-is’ that we are currently enduring or struggling through, is LIFE itself. It’s the very reason WHY we came here to this dimension of collective turmoil and personal character building. We came to explore the tests and soul-strengthening challenges that this experience called LIFE provides raw ‘Consciousness-Expansion Trainees’—CET’s—that’s YOU and me.

LIFE is like a Boot-Camp for newer souls just learning how to explore and to expand their meager morsels of consciousness provided them at birth for participation in this elaborately-designed testing ground.

“If LIFE is one big test” you might ask, “then can we ever conquer LIFE?”

Well maybe, in a sense. You can conquer your personal fears and learn the daily discipline that LIFE requires for you to succeed (stay alive as long as possible) here in the collective arena.

Although I think more folks are likely asking the opposite question: Can we ever conquer DEATH? Because that question is foremost in nearly everyone’s mind and drives much of humanity’s most egregious behavior. And to that I would also say ‘Well maybe, in a sense,’ but that ‘battle won’ designation may not be quite like you perceive it to be at present.

Your physical body may not survive its deadly duel with DEATH, but as energy-beings, you are allowed to keep the consciousness that you have gained here when you move on to other challenges and further training in higher dimensions of existence; because there are other dimensions far higher than this lower-frequency battlefield through which we currently stumble.

Our situation here is similar to what I told those struggling students in my JC Technical Writing class—this is not a ‘one-and-done’ training situation. You must keep learning and retraining for other more advanced work in the future.

For ALL of us, your current training efforts in this dimension of existence are merely the prerequisite requirements to advancing to more sophisticated consciousness-building challenges that you will eventually face in a higher-consciousness plane.

But WHY is that?

Because ‘LIFE itself IS the path’ leading into your current exploration of ‘Grand Consciousness’ itself. (If I’ve confused you with this reference, see my previous post on Deepak Chopra’s “Are We Our Stories?” from Nov 12^th, 2020).

So how do you actually ‘find your own truth’?

You follow your own LIFE Path with an open mind and a closed mouth (to actually ‘hear’ what LIFE has to say to you, when you are willing to listen to it).

Not easily done on either count, I might add, but necessary.

Only Be In Silence

Quote shared from Mystic Path to Cosmic Consciousness

“You need not go to heaven to see God;
nor need you speak loud, as if God were far away;
nor need you cry for wings like a dove to fly to Him.
Only be in silence, and you will come upon God within yourself.”

~ Saint Teresa of Avila

I had just spouted my doubt on the historical accuracy of the Bible, and here I am quoting a Catholic Nun who was born in 1515 and died in 1582. But it’s appropriate, because Saint Teresa was controversial in her day for many reasons (many of which I mentioned in my previous post); and I likely first heard of her from one of Caroline Myss’ books because Myss was very into the Catholic mystic known as Saint Teresa of Avila, and I’ve read nearly everything written by Caroline Myss.

Here is Caroline’s take of Saint Teresa’s influence on her own personal life.

(From Myss’ website on Saint Teresa of Avila): “I believe that the divine is everywhere and exists within even the most intimate details of our lives. All that we experience today has its purpose in tomorrow’s events; sometimes, the purpose is not evident for years of tomorrows. Yet, God prepares you for your spiritual journey, no matter how complicated, painful, or demanding it might become. For this reason, patience, trust, and faith must become constants for you; you cannot, and indeed you must not, even attempt to believe you know what is best for you. The divine will reveal its plan for you; you have to be open to receive it. With this bit of advice, let me now share why and how I came to fall in love with Teresa of Avila, whose life’s work with the soul is the foundation of ‘Entering the Castle,’ as well as my personal spiritual journey and practice.” – Caroline Myss

Myss’ book on this subject is officially called Entering the Castle: Finding the Inner Path to God and Your Soul’s Purpose– (January 1, 2008)

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Some general background on Saint Teresa of Avila (from Wiki):

“Teresa of Ávila, born Teresa Sánchez de Cepeda y Ahumada, also called Saint Teresa of Jesus (28 March 1515 – 4 or 15 October 1582)^[a], was a Spanish noblewoman who felt called to convent life in the Catholic Church. A Carmelite nun, prominent Spanish mystic, religious reformer, author, theologian of the contemplative life and of mental prayer, she earned the rare distinction of being declared a Doctor of the Church, but not until over four centuries after her death.^[b] Active during the Catholic Reformation, she reformed the Carmelite Orders of both women and men.^[4] …

…Teresa, who had been a social celebrity in her home province, was dogged by early family losses and ill health. In her mature years, she became the central figure of a movement of spiritual and monastic renewal borne out of an inner conviction and honed by ascetic practice. She was also at the center of deep ecclesiastical controversy as she took on the pervasive laxity in her order against the background of the Protestant reformation sweeping over Europe and the Spanish Inquisition asserting church discipline in her home country. The consequences were to last well beyond her life. One papal legate described her as a ‘restless wanderer, disobedient, and stubborn femina who, under the title of devotion, invented bad doctrines, moving outside the cloister against the rules of the Council of Trent and her prelates; teaching as a master against Saint Paul‘s orders that women should not teach.’^[6] … (Special note: St. Paul was actually Saul of Tarsus, the tax collector, a Jewish Pharisee who never met Jesus in person except for his instant conversion on the road to Damascus when Saul said that the spirit of Jesus suddenly appeared before him and ‘showed him the Light’–by temporarily blinding him. Saul did not meet the original disciples of Jesus until after that conversion, although he was present for the martyrdom–the stoning– of St. Stephen–a fancy way of saying that he had attended the killing of St. Stephen and that he had also been a major persecutor of all followers of Jesus prior to his “conversion”. )
…Her written contributions, which include her autobiography, The Life of Teresa of Jesus and her seminal work The Interior Castle, are today an integral part of Spanish Renaissance literature. Together with The Way of Perfection, her works form part of the literary canon of Christian mysticism and Christian meditation practice, and continue to attract interest from people both within and outside the Catholic Church….”

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So again, I can say that spiritual inspiration comes in many forms from many places. And after a recent ‘discussion’ with someone dear to me who was questioning my personal beliefs with: ‘What are they? …I know you aren’t Christian. So what is it DO you believe in?’

I can easily point to the Saint Teresa of Avila quote above and say… “THAT! I believe in THAT.” — heartfelt words spoken by a Catholic Saint.