A Brief Reflection (6) The Opportunity of Fear

Know that if you’re afraid to fail, you will never succeed. In the pursuit of happiness, fear should not be looked upon as that thing that turns you around and keeps you boxed in. Fear should be valued as the doorway to a fantastic adventure. Why? Because the only way to realize that you have no limitations is to step outside of your comfort zone and experience how open life truly is to you.

Where is God in All This Suffering?

Not to long ago I noticed something about myself which, after I relented and submitted to honoring it, I actually found kind of amusing. It occurred to me that whenever I start to feel stressed about anything in my life, in those moments, in the midst of my anxiety (always when I’m not looking), something remarkably comforting never fails to come over me. An emotional hug of sorts, like somebody, somewhere, suddenly turns on the lights and makes the darkness I’d been wandering aimlessly in disappear. It’s a peaceful feeling that saturates my entire being and for a moment I am at ease with not only the understanding, but also an absolute knowing that despite whatever plight may appear before me, everything is going to be (and indeed truly already is) alright.

Of course after a second or two of allowing myself the pleasurable experience of this “unfounded” assurance, I would immediately set out to then discredit the incident as nothing more than fanciful thinking. After all, all the information within the bounds of my awareness says that I’m really in some stuff here and that this stuff is only going to get thicker. And who am I to argue with the facts of the actual tangible evidence which lies before me? So after enjoying my moment of groundless serenity for a brief instant, I tell myself that it’s now time to come back to reality. I tell myself that every moment spent in the comfort of baseless feelings (baseless because they aren’t based on anything materially evident) is a moment spent in denial; and that I cannot get to work on solving the problem before me if I insist on walking around with my head in the clouds. It’s an argument that never fails to send me crashing back into the chaos of my troubled circumstance where I once again return to a state of feeling riddle with anxiety and grow so mentally scattered that it becomes difficult for me to tell where any one thing connects to any other. And this is the environment in which I have chosen to devise a rational response to whatever has sent my world into a tailspin. You’re beginning to pick up on the funny too now, aren’t you?

I have elected to be “sensible,” and in so doing not only have I traded paradise for the slums, the greater tragedy is that I’ve also robbed myself of the big picture experience (I had been having) which not only contained within it the storm of this moment, but also possessed the moment of clarity which is to follow. In choosing to dismiss the comfort of my unfounded assurance, the blissfulness of the grand picture of my life soon becomes lost in the minutia of its gritty details. It’s a pitiful trade I’ve made and a sorry prize I’ve won, all in the name of being realistic. Yet time and time again I allowed myself to be duped into believing that this time, this trade, this choice is going to be a winning strategy. Of course it never turns out this way and in retrospect I always come to realize that I’ve put myself through more pain than I actually need have in moving through a trying time.

Every single time, during every trying experience in my life, I have experienced this opening. And every single time I have been the one who has been responsible for the closing of this opening – it has never been yanked away from me. I have always been the one to voluntarily shut it because for a very long time my traditional response to suddenly finding myself in this alien space of absolute comfort and assurance was, I can’t stay here. I need to get back to reality. Little did I realize then that it actually was this space of absolute comfort and assurance that is Reality! And that the place I was insisting on getting back to was a place of chaos which I wouldn’t be fit to go back to unless and until I fully drank in the experience that everything is okay.

Such blissful experiences are not unique to me. I’m convinced that they happen to us all; however, not all of us are given to paying attention to them. We sometimes like to play the victim in life and are prone to ask ourselves, where is God in all this suffering? For me, I have realized that the answer to this question is that God is right here, within me, all the time. He makes me most aware of His presence in those inexplicable moments of consolation that I have so often chosen to push away in favor of dealing with the dirty “facts” of life.

I am reminded of that poem, first written by Mary Stevenson in 1936 (revised by Carolyn Carty in 1963, and later on by Margaret Fishback Powers in 1964) entitled Footprints in the Sand.

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand. Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there was one only.

This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints, so I said to the Lord,

“You promised me Lord,that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there has only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, have you not been there for me?”

The Lord replied, “The years when you have seen only one set of footprints, my child, is when I carried you.”

The message:
Never doubt that a Higher Power walks with you. And never doubt that it’s when you need Him most that He most strikingly reveals His presence. Don’t be so quick to dismiss that inner voice you hear that tries to assure you that you’re okay, life’s is good and everything is truly alright.

We’re All in Different Places, And That’s Okay

Sometimes it can be difficult to resist the impulse not to put people in a box. For most of us, sizing people up and then applying the labels we feel best characterizes them is such an ingrain habit that parting from this tendency requires an extraordinary amount of diligence and attention from us. For my efforts, along this line, I try to stay mindful of the truth that not only do people have the capacity to change, that people actually do change and are in fact constantly changing all the time. Nothing in the universe stays the same from one moment to the next. Everything is in perpetual motion. All souls are in growth. Still I find it wise not to expect more from another person than what past experience has shown me to be typical for them. My reason for this, however, is not cynicism. My reasoning is I’d rather set myself up to be pleasantly surprised when and if expectations are exceeded, than set myself up to be grossly disappointed, annoyed, aggravated or whatever have you, if expectations fall short. Because while I recognize that it is indeed true that all souls are in growth, I can also appreciate that the rate at which that growth is developing may, perhaps, be exceedingly slow.

We’re all in different places. And over time I have come to realize that it is not my job to try to make others conform to the life outlook I would have for them. It is a modern truism that people are going to do, what people are going to do; and I, in my experience, have had to come to terms with the fact that I have absolutely no control over another person. I have come to realize that the only person I do in fact have control over, and this control is absolute, is me. So while I may and most certainly do influence other people, I’ve learned from experience that it is best not to use this influence in an effort to intentionally manipulate another. The job of changing other people is not my place. People must be inspired to change out of the lessons learned from their own experience. Everybody has their own lesson plan in life. And God, that All imbuing, All wise, All loving, indelible presence within each of us is both the beginning and the end realization of all these plans. Everything emerges from a single Source. And in the end, All things resolve back to this Source. Nothing, truly, goes off course. Nothing is ever really lost to love and goodness. Even those things which, from our limited point of view, seem to have gone astray, are actually exactly where they need to be in the Grand scheme of things.

God, being infinite, demonstrates His limitlessness through the diversity we see playing out in the universe. So even though goodness, and love, and wisdom, etc. is the ultimate Truth, demonstrations of every degree of even ultimate qualities must be played out in life. If this were not so, infiniteness would in fact be limited. In other words, not only must goodness have expression in life, but evil (which is merely a lesser degree of goodness) must be expressed as well. The same is true of love and hate, wisdom and ignorance, power and impotence, and on and on. It is part and parcel of the principle of polarity. Everything has its opposite. And all opposites are identical in nature, varying only in degree. Like and unlike are essentially the same. And even though all qualities are not absolute, all qualities are valid expressions of The One (infinite God).

So my advice to myself has been: be supportive of those who reach out for a hand from you, but recognize that it is not part of your life’s work to go on a crusade to change those who choose to follow a path which is not in agreement with yours. Live and let be. Know that it will all come to good in the end. We are all in different places in life, and that’s exactly as it should be because we, in our infinite diversity, reflect the infiniteness of The One (God).

What is the Meaning Behind Let Each Shine By Their Own Light

All is One. This is not merely a metaphysical axiom; it is indeed the underlying Truth of Reality. Despite the appearance of life being divided (as in you have a separate identity from me, or this exists independent from that), nothing and no one in the universe truly exists apart from anything else. Unity is the foundation of Reality. All is One.

Everything in the universe is an expression of one underlying thing - Life. And as Life is a thing of infiniteness, Life may and does express Itself in infinite ways. But even while Life’s expressions are many, there is only One Life. You, me, him, her, that and this are all different expressions of the same identity. We are all expressions of One Life / One Spirit / One Being. The diversity you perceive about you is not evidence of life’s miscellaneousness, but is in fact a testament to the One Life’s boundlessness. Life is magnificent! You are the unique embodiment of one form and practice of a Life expression; just as I am another unique embodiment of one form and practice of a Life expression. This screen you are now reading these words on is yet another unique embodiment of one form and practice of a Life expression; and that tree outside your window (and yes even the window and everything in between too, including the “empty space”) are also unique embodiments of one or another form and practice of a Life expression. Life is everywhere and Life’s expressions are limitless. And while you may embody a different expression of Life than the expression of Life I embody, the essence of both of us is exactly the same. The entire universe emanates from a single source. All of what we perceive in life is immanent in One Being.

I, as a unique expression of The One, state the above view of Reality as fact because I know and understand this idea to be an absolute Truth. But you, being another unique expression of The One, are free to reach your own conclusions. Each (expression of Life) is free to choose its own understanding; this is the basis of freewill. Since we all share the same identity, and this identity is boundless, there can be nothing else in existence but this One thing (which some call Spirit, some call God, some call the Absolute… and here I have mainly termed Life). By whatever name It is called, this underlying principle, which is the essence of All that exists, enjoys absolute freedom because there is nothing else in existence but It. Therefore, there is nothing else in existence which may counter It. And we, being different expressions of this thing which enjoys absolute freedom (the children of It, so to speak), by extension enjoy something which we call freewill. And it is by your respecting the freewill of All of Life’s expressions that you honor the infiniteness of Life, that you honor the infiniteness of your true and fundamental nature.

The honoring of freewill is the basic inspiration behind the title of this blog. Let each shine by their own light. It’s a paraphrase of a quote which I like coined by an early twentieth century mystic who went by the pseudonym Yogi Ramacharaka, “Permit each man to think according to his own light.” Each expression of Life will ultimately arrive at a clear and absolute understanding of Its Real nature, but in our honoring of the boundlessness of this Real nature, it is not up to you or I to dictate the course another expression of Life is to follow in reaching its Self realization. To do so would be to impinge upon another’s freewill. And in this violation, the thing honored is not the limitlessness of Reality, but rather the limitations of illusion. No one and nothing has the power to impose limits on that which has no bounds. And there are definite consequences which will play out in the experience of those who try to subvert this law. This is not a consequence in terms of a punishment, but rather a consequence which is merely an effect that follows a cause. In other words, it’s not personal, it’s simply spiritual law. Each must shine by his own light. And each must follow his own path to realize the presence of this light within him. Because this is the only way the grandness of Life (in all of infiniteness) may truly be reflected.

Labels: The Root of Delusion

Whenever you label, characterize or attempt to define anything what you are really doing is deciding what something is. It is inevitable however that any definition you come up with will be in error because whenever you attempt to define anything you are effectively endeavoring to put something which is infinite into a finite box. In this you are deciding not to appreciate the fullness of what the thing of your observation is.

Labeling is what prevents you from seeing the universe around you as but an extension of yourself. You are instead pigeonholing, distorting and dismissing the universe around you as something unconnected to you even though the Reality is, It is You and You are It. When you say this thing over here is this (laundry list of qualities) and that thing over there is that (laundry list of qualities), and as you compare these lists of attributes against each other as well as to the qualities you ascribe to yourself, when these lists don’t exactly match up you learn to see this and that as not only different from each other but different and separate from yourself as well. The failure to recognize the likeness of this and that to yourself is what leads to the delusion of division where rather than having an understanding of diversity as evidence of the One Life’s infiniteness; you mistake diversity to be proof of life’s variance.

All is One. This is the understanding, as it becomes better comprehended and accepted by you, which serves to further your spiritual awakening, increase your spiritual enlightenment, develop your self realization and all other like phrases used to express the idea of seeing Reality as It (truly) Is.

“(The All) appears to us in manifold aspects, and according to the aspects under which it appears, we may give it different names.” – Clara Jessup Bloomfield-Moore. But a name should not be a label. No assumptions or preconception should accompany what a thing is called. To come to see things as they truly are you must make it a practice to view all things as if you never seen them before.

Poverty and Wealth (from a metaphysical standpoint)

What is wealth?

Is wealth a circumstance determined by how much money one has?

What is the value of money?

Essentially money is nothing more than a piece of paper with ink printed on it – not much different than the thing this writing is printed on (if you actually decided to print this article). Not withstanding the fanciness of the design on money, money is actually remarkably unextraordinary. And save for the value we assign to it, money is empty of any real worth. It is only because we have decided to give money a quantitative value that money has become a valuable resource. We work to acquire it and then turn around and trade it in for the privilege of owning or possessing certain things for a time. The “money game” is a game of skill which most of us expend great effort to fare well in. In a metaphysical sense, however, what we are actually doing is going to great effort to bargain for things which are (literally) already ours. Think of it… We place an arbitrary number of values on the material things which are representative of our desire, then drive ourselves to fever endeavoring to feel like we’ve acquired the value we have set, when all the while these numbers are actually meaningless. We, being the creators of numbers, the creators of values, can claim for ourselves any of that which we have created. Every one of us is priceless. It is one of the greatest ignorances one can have about their self… to assign value to something and then deem yourself beneath the value or worth of your own setting. This is what the state of poverty really is – the undervaluing of self worth. This underestimation of self worth can only come about when you don’t have a clear and distinct understanding of who you really are (as Spirit).

Above Judgment

Diversity doesn’t prove we are many, it proves the One Life is infinite.

The same inner witness within you is the same inner witness within All. There is only One Truth, One Reality, One (infinite) Being who really exists. And we are different expressions of this same single identity.

No harm can ever truly befall you. You are at odds with nothing because the fundamental Truth of it all is there is nothing else. Separation is an illusion. All (in Reality) is One. We are One. With this realization comes many rewards. One such treasure is an immunity to feeling judged by others because with the realization of oneness comes the understanding that in the truest sense of Reality, there are no others. There is only One (infinite) Being, One (infinite) Awareness experiencing Itself from infinite perspectives. And the truth of this infiniteness demands that All points of view be accounted for, including the points of view which may seem harsh or judgmental to you. Once you stop identifying yourself with your personality, however, and embrace your identity as one of many expressions of a single unbounded Awareness, you will no longer feel the sting which comes with the perception of being looked down on, criticized, judged and the like. You will instead find joy in the magnificence of what unlimited Awareness is all about. Here you will know unshakable self-confidence.

A Brief Reflection (5) Rich Abundance

How can you lack for anything, when you are literally connected to All things (through God)...

Mediation Part Two (The Secret of Meditation)

Do you want to become more spiritually enlightened; feel more connected to the people and things around you; or even relieve yourself of mental and physical stress? One of the top recommendations for all of the above aspirations is meditate. But what does this mean exactly? What is meditation? Images of some tranquil faced person, donned in relaxed attire, sitting in the lotus position is a commonly conjured impression when thinking of the idea of meditation. And while such an image may indeed be apt, it unfortunately does very little to actually convey an understanding about what meditation really is. Pictures may only hint at meditative techniques (or rather strategies which might make your mind more conducive towards meditation). And while a lot can be said for the benefits of any number of different meditative techniques, meditation is strictly an internal activity. Which means pictures have very little to offer as far as offering an explanation as to what takes place in meditation. Never confuse technique with intent; for though there may be numerous methods of meditation, the intent of meditation is always the same. Be present. Of all the many definitions of meditation (and yes there are plenty of them), the intent that underscores them all is actually one. Be present.

For example, let’s look at the following definitions of meditation:

Meditation means “consciously directing your attention to alter your state of consciousness.”
Question: What is this state of consciousness to be realized?
Answer: To be present.

“Meditation is a discipline in which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned, ‘thinking’ mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.”
Question: What is this deeper state of relaxation and / or awareness?
Answer: Being present.

Meditation means “continuous thought and reflection” or “intent observance.” Question: Continuous thought and reflection or intent observance to what end?
Answer: To being present.

Be present. Be present Be present. That truly is all there really is to meditation. Simply be present. But how does one go about being present? Now this I cannot really explain to you. I’m actually of the opinion that trying to teach someone how to meditate by telling them what to do is like trying to teach someone how to swallow or inhale by employing the same approach. Words are inadequate to the task. Being present is just one of those somethings that you will only understand by getting a natural feel for it. What’s more, it is only by recognizing the experience of what being present is that you grow in your ability to induce the meditative state at will. And even though words may be inadequate to the task of explaining how to be present, words are extremely valuable in describing what it is to be present.

Being present is just as natural a tendency as swallowing or inhaling. You fall into and out of this state of consciousness all the time while washing the dishes, drifting off to sleep, walking in the park, riding a roller coaster, using the bathroom... You do not need to be taught how to be present. You merely need to learn to recognize what being present is in order to become a proficient meditator. And to that end, consider this…

Think of a time in your experience when you felt wholly engrossed in the moment. When you felt completely engaged in whatever event was before you for no other motive than you loved just being. You didn’t care about how things were going, you weren’t trying to make anything happen, you had no agenda, you were worried about nothing, expecting nothing, regretting nothing, you weren’t dwelling wistfully over times gone by or trying to distract yourself from the experience of an unpleasant feeling. You were quite simply and unconditionally enraptured with the moment; emotionally engaged in what was going on before you yet mentally impartial about the outcome. You were just content to be.

Can you recall such a moment in your experience? True these moments may be fleeting, they often whisk by us unappreciated, but I assure you we do all experience these flashes. They occur everyday. The thing is to get in the habit of noticing of them, acknowledging them. These are the moments which show us what it is to be present. Meditation is about deliberately producing these moments. How do you do this? The answer may seem vague, but it’s the one that’s most proper. You just do it.

When you meditate you are making a conscious commitment to think in terms which will evoke the experience of being present. Again, I cannot tell you how to do this, but I can assure you that in your learning to recognize these moments as they involuntarily occur, you will instinctually become aware of what you need to do to voluntarily make these experiences occur.

There is definitely no shortage of ideas on meditative techniques “out there.” I say go ahead and experiment with them to your heart’s content. If you need to feel grounded in a process of focusing on your breath or on chanting or whatever have you, that’s quite okay. Ritual is a good way to get yourself in the mood for meditation. Ritual is good practice for meditation because practice is a precursor to actually living out a desired experience. But in all your experimentation with these different meditative techniques, might I suggest that you always remain mindful of the underlying intent of what meditation is. Always be mindful that the objective is to be present. Also, as you are going about your day, from this moment forward might I also suggest that you resolve to be diligent about consciously acknowledging those moments in your experience where you have unconsciously slipped into a period of being present. These acknowledgements will go a long way towards teaching you the secret to meditation. They will do more to this end than any amount of words could ever do. That’s what makes it such a good secret.

Meditation

How can I become more spiritually aware? Is there anything that I can do to facilitate my spiritual growth? The time-honored advice in answer to these questions is meditate. But what exactly does this mean, I used to wonder. What is meditation? I was bothered by this question for a long time before I finally decided to devote the time to realize a deeper answer than what I then understood. I had had some vague notion of meditation involving setting aside some time each day to be still and quiet my mind but I had always felt unsatisfied with this shallow understanding. I’m a person who likes depth. And for me, this idea of meditation was too broad and too thin to be meaningful to me. It seemed only to give way to more questions such as well what does it mean to quiet the mind? And does quieting the mind mean I’m supposed to try not to think? And how would not thinking even be possible? And even if not thinking was possible, where was I supposed to find the massive amount of inspiration that I was sure would be necessary to motivate me to repeatedly subject myself to (even temporarily) live in such a state? Life without thought sounded mind-numbingly dull and uninteresting to me. If this was what meditation involved, I saw no hope for my taking a serious interest in it no matter how time-honored the advice was. To my relief, however, I eventually came to realize that “being still and quieting the mind” actually has nothing to do with a cessation of thought.

In meditation the objective is to take your focus off of any thought which is colored by memory (past experience) or tainted by expectation (future speculation) and simply be present. Meditation is not about ridding the mind of all thought, but rather about ridding the mind of all destructive thoughts (thoughts polluted by the consideration of past and future as true features of reality). Meditation is about changing the terms of your thinking as opposed to trying to suspend all thinking. When you commit yourself to not bringing along, but instead setting aside, limitation, this is meditation. And it is by abandoning your preconceived notions, that you set aside limitation. It is by abandoning your expectations, that you set aside limitation. It is by abandoning your labels and suppositions and simply observing reality without bias and without attempting to usurp control over whatever is before you, that you set aside limitation. And it is only when you do set aside limitation that you then enter into the meditative state. This state effectively creates an unbound, uncluttered space where You (the Spirit) may consciously commune and communicate with you (the personality). It provides the space for a meeting of yourselves (so to speak). The only thing that is required of you in meditation is that you give yourself over to freethinking. In meditation you must assume nothing, lay aside all memory and drink in your present experience as if everything is completely brand new to you. In short, you must be present. You must, for a moment at least, stop dragging around your baggage of past hurts, past regrets and present moment measuring sticks based on past experiences; you must, for a moment at least, stop formulating your laundry list of worries about the future, hopes about the future and present moment measuring sticks based on future expectations; you must, for a moment at least, simply let be and allow whatever may be to be. This is meditation.

It doesn’t matter what the subject of your meditation is, the objective is always the same. Whether you choose to meditate on your breath, on an idea, on an object, on a sound, on whatever, all subjects of meditation invariably lead to the same unbound, uncluttered space where You (the Spirit) may consciously commune and communicate with you (the personality). The subject of your meditation is merely a starting focal point, one of countless currents that flow into the same infinite expanse. When meditation is the method used to reach this expanse, the objective is to be present with your chosen idea, or to be present with your chosen object, or to be present with your breath or to be present with whatever have you. Just be present. This is meditation. Just be present.

A Brief Reflection (4) Patience - Contentment - Acceptance

Patience is the practice of finding contentment exactly where you are
Contentment arises from the application of acceptance

(in being where you’re at)

Acceptance antecedes any manner of tempered change

Faith and Intuition

Two years ago actress Gabrielle Union, in an interview with Oprah, spoke about the day she had been raped. She was 19 years old at the time and was working at a shoe store. One evening, around closing time, a man came into the store. “Within seconds, Gabrielle says she knew something was wrong…but she stayed silent. ‘As women, we're raised to be polite and you don't want anybody to feel bad…but my body, my instinct, everything in my being was saying, 'Run. Just run out of the store,' she says. Moments later, the man had her co-worker at gunpoint.” He later raped Gabrielle.

“In her well research and documented book, Psi Trek, sociologist Laile Bartlett gives a number of examples of how intuition has saved lives. She tells the story, for example, of a nineteen year old girl, Elaine, getting ready to board a bus for an important trip. Suddenly Elaine had an overwhelming urge to visit her mother instead. She switched buses and headed in the opposite direction, toward her parents’ furniture store. All the way on the trip she found herself anxious to get there. When she arrived, she found her parents sitting in some chairs near the store’s front window. She felt silly about her bizarre feeling of apprehension. Yet she managed to convince her surprised parents to leave the store to get some lunch with her. As they left through the back of the store, a car crashed through the front window, demolishing the chairs where her parents had been sitting.”
-An excerpt from Henry Reed’s book entitled Edgar Cayce on Channeling Your Higher Self

Jennifer Baltz writes in an article about intuition of a woman she met while on board a flight to Phoenix. She was having a conversation with this woman who was a former flight attendant. This woman told her that, “she had been on an international run for many months, traveling from San Francisco in a loop with overnight stopovers in several destinations, then back to San Francisco again. One night at one of the stopovers, she became sick to her stomach and decided that she wasn't up to continuing on the flight the next morning. In fact, she decided that she was going to quit flying, period--which she had been thinking about doing for some months. Her crewmates continued on without her, and the plane crashed--killing everyone on board.”

What do all of these stories have in common? All of the people in these stories experienced an intense feeling that was urging them to act in a way which, at the moment of their having the feeling, probably seemed to defy reason. The flight attendant in Jennifer’s story had felt the sensation so acutely that she literally became sick to her stomach which resulted in her not boarding the flight of a fatal plane crash. The woman Laile Bartlett spoke of felt so unnerved by the intensity of the feeling she felt that she was willing to overlook both her embarrassment and logical assessment of the situation that was probably telling her that she was simply letting her imagination run away with her. And because this woman was willing to set logic aside and follow her intuition, she saved the lives of her parents. Gabrielle Union chose to dismiss the intense feeling she felt in favor of heeding to a value that she had been taught since childhood – that it’s not polite for young ladies to be rude. The result was a personal tragedy.

Many of us, all too often, make the same mistake Gabrielle did. Most of the time this failure to act on a feeling (which at the time seems in opposition to reason) doesn’t lead to such dramatically tragic ends, but some degree of adversity is always the result. We too often choose to be led, first and foremost, by reason. In doing this we effectively deny the value of faith - faith being knowing without reason. “For faith is not a product of reason; faith is the (very) foundation of reason (faith transcends reason)…Reason always falls into place behind faith,” - Divine Heritage. With faith, the why always comes after the what. And if we didn’t so frequently insist on knowing the why of everything first we could probably prevent ourselves from introducing an enormous amount of unnecessary complication into our lives. If we didn’t so concern ourselves with how foolish our actions might appear in the eyes of others if it does indeed turn out that our feeling is in err, then we would probably act on our faith all the time. If you learn not to stress yourself about how you might appear in the eyes of others and choose to act on faith you will find that “miracles” do occur everyday (not just in the world in general, but directly to you specifically). If you learn not to rely on reason to substantiate your feelings, you will come to know that there is indeed a wise Something that is not only watching over you, but is constantly offering you guidance (if you would only choose to heed it).

Things don’t have to make immediate sense. This is faith. It’s okay if the wisdom of an action follows the actual action. This too is faith. Be careful, however, not to confound the idea of faith with the notion of wishful thinking. There is a world of difference in pursuing a certain course of action (even though it may fly in the face of any reasonable justification which you may be presently aware of) because you are desperately wanting something to be true; and pursuing a certain course of action (even though it may fly in the face of any reasonable justification which you may be presently aware of) just because… When you have a vested interest in the outcome of your actions, you are not acting out of faith; you are acting out of hope. Not that there is anything wrong with hope (without hope we would be all incurable pessimists) – but hope and faith are not synonymous expressions.

Learn to have confidence in this light that guides you and you will be a follower of faith.

Seeing for Oneself

"People don’t always believe the boastful things they profess about themselves. Many times such an attitude is indicative of a person who is trying to convince themselves of the truth of the words they say. Their grandiosity then is merely evidence of their longing to have other persons validate for them that which they don’t even believe in themselves. But faith does not come this way. Faith must come from within. No one else can give to you that which you deny yourself. "
- An excerpt from the ebook Divine Heritage .

There's a quote that I like which I think goes nicely with aforementioned thought. It is taken from the channeled material of The Abraham Teachers found in the Ester and Jerry Hicks book The Law of Attraction.

The quote is this: "The greatest gift that you could ever give another is the expectation of their success. "

The overall thought then is this... While no person can ever give to another person self assurance, self esteem, self confidence and the like - any person may inspire another to find such treasures within themselves. (We cannot serve as the light for another, but we can and do serve as a mirror for them).

A Brief Reflection (3) - Momentary Offerings

Every moment is precious and contains within it an opportunity for enlightenment. What you offer in each moment will either hinder you, or lift you.

The Freedom of Understanding

Each must be free to choose his own understanding. This is the origin of freewill. It is the freedom to perceive reality, the freedom to interpret Truth in any manner you please. This is what makes Truth both constant and limitless; both Absolute and relative. If a thousand people were to look at the same light each from a different angle, each person would have a different perspective of the one thing being viewed by all. Truth is like this light.

Truth is everlasting, omnipresent, Absolute. Truth, Itself, does not ever change. However, our understanding of Truth is constantly evolving. It is through this understanding that we fashion our unique points of view. It is through this understanding that we create the realities we experience. For our experiences in life are born directly from our expectations of life. In other words, whatever you suppose life to be; whatever you suppose life to involve is exactly what your life experience reflects. This is what the Law of Attraction (which we have been hearing and reading so much about lately) is all about. There is no limit to the possibilities of creation because there is no limit to the number of ways Truth may be understood. And this openness towards different perspectives should be honored without fear because this is what makes Truth, though changeless, also boundless. Each one’s understanding offers a different expression of the One thing endeavored to be understood because each one creates in his or her experience the effects commiserate with their degree of awareness or ignorance of Absolute Truth. With this understanding comes the realization that there is no need to ever feel threaten by points of views which are different from your own. Because with this understanding you will come to appreciate that you can only (and will only), regardless of what anyone else is experiencing in life, invite into your own personal experience of life your own personal expectations of life. And this is a magnificent thing.

To truly celebrate the limitless brilliance of the One Creator (the One who resides within all of creation as the single Inner Witness of All); to truly glorify His infinite magnificence we must, as Yogi Ramacharaka puts it, “permit each man to shine by his own light.” To this end, each must be free to choose his own understanding. To attempt to manipulate another person (through fear, dishonesty or any other mechanism) in order to try to make them view the world through the same lens from which you view the world violates this inherent attribute of life’s boundlessness. To attempt to manipulate another person in order to try to make them view the world through the same lens from which you view the world invites instability into your own life experience as a consequence of this violation.

Again, each must be free to choose his own understanding. This is the basis of freewill. No matter how dim the luminance of Self Awareness appears in another person, have the faith to let each one shine by their own light. Have faith in the certainty that all apparent displays of dimness will ultimately evolve to brilliance over time. And have the wisdom to appreciate that it does not ever aid another person, whose light may seem less evident than yours, to be led by the light that radiates through you. Have the wisdom to appreciate that it is only by recognizing the brilliant light perceived in others, within one’s own self that enlightenment may be realized. Have faith... To each must always be his own.

The Best Teacher

The best teacher is also the student. And you are your own best teacher.

We are, every one of us, teachers. We teach everyone we touch. Not by our instruction, however, but by our presence and by our example. We are all, every one of us, also the student for we all have experiences. And these experiences constantly push us to think about life in new and more evolved ways. We are constantly learning. We are constantly studying. You are both the teacher and the student. The teacher is the object from which something may be learned. The student is the one who is open to this learning. And you are both of these things. For by your mere presence, by your mere example, you cannot help but to function as a demonstration of some lesson to someone else. And by your mere being you cannot help but to experience life. And from these experiences you cannot help but to be inspired to reflect on life.

The best teacher is also the one who empowers you (not to follow the light of another, but to recognize the same light you see around you within your own self). And you are your own best teacher for only you have the power to impart this kind of power to you.

True empowerment never comes from an outside source. True empowerment always comes from within. The whole world may be singing the praises of your beauty, of your wit, of the value of your presence and your contributions to the community at large. But until this praise is affirmed within yourself, you will carry no real authority from it.

The best teacher always tailors every lesson to meet you at your personal level of understanding.

And you are your own best teacher for not only are you the one that chooses your own understanding, you are the only one who is constantly framing every little thing in your experience to appeal to your own interest.

In this consideration, the best teacher for you is always you. Have confidence in yourself. Trust that the higher power which you see operating through those you admire also resides within yourself and that it is there to guide you on the path that is not merely best for, but uniquely suited to you. Therefore, look not to others to guide you. Look to others to inspire you (and absolutely resolve to be open to that inspiration when it comes). Look to others to serve as teaching aids, not superintendents of wisdom. Seek all guidance within yourself. Measure all reason within yourself. This form of inquiry truly, and ultimately, can never err.

Each must shine by their own light.

A Brief Reflection (2) - All is One

How can you truly lack for anything, when you are literally connected to all things (through God).

A Brief Reflection (1) - Greatness

We are not defined by our successes

anymore than we are defined by our failures.

We are as great, or as limited,

as our willingness to engage what challenges us,

and our resolve to learn from our experiences.

It Must Come From Within

Reflect on this and see if whether or not you think it’s true:

The thing that has the biggest effect on you and your life experience is you. I say this because no matter what situation is presented to you, you have the power to look at said situation in any manner you please. This is the power of freewill. It is the power to choose your own understanding, the power to choose your own vantage point.

From your particular vantage point of life you see only that which you want to see (and in so doing choose to be oblivious to all else). It is this moment to moment choice which determines the tides of your emotions, which moreover determines the condition of your life experience. And while external factors do inspire you to look at things in creative ways, you are the one who chooses precisely what is created.

Everything comes from within. All external things are colored by internal conditions. Every apparent vantage of reality is fabricated by the particular set of parameters of one’s personal mindset. This is not only true of our observations of life; it is also true of our understanding of life.

All the answers to the questions you seek about life and life’s great “unknowns” must ultimately come from within because nothing you learn from any outside source will ever truly have meaning to you until it is confirmed within yourself. Example: anyone who has ever cared for a child knows that you can tell a child, “Do not touch the stove because it’s hot and it might burn you,” a thousand times or more, but in a moment when your attention is diverted that same child whom you had repeatedly warned about the dangers of touching a hot stove will still proceed to touch the stove to see for himself if what you say is true. No amount of warning or promises of punishment from you will discourage a child from touching a stove (if this is his determination) until that child begins to tell himself that perhaps going around touching hot stoves is not the wisest thing to do.

And we are no different than that child. Nothing we read, nothing we see, nothing anyone tells us will ever have as much impact on us as the stuff we tell ourselves. So in seeking self realization, in searching for answers to satisfy a soulful longing, the answers must come from within. Books may inspire you, people may inspire you, situations may inspire you (for a moment) to think and look at things in ways which are new and exciting to you. But ultimately these inspirations will not last unless the thoughts initially inspired by the book, person or situation are thoughts that begin to come from you, to you, and are steadily affirmed by you through your actions. This is what affects the condition of your life experience. This is what opens the door to true revelation. Self awareness, self esteem, self contentment… must come from within. It never comes from without because no one else, and nothing else, can give you that which you deny yourself. So while you may look to people and you may look to things for inspiration, for actual realization you must always look within.

To “look within for that which thou needest,” is one of the marks of spiritual maturity. Therefore, it is wise to be open to schools of thought which you may not be accustomed to. Not for the purpose of filtering these unfamiliar schools of thought through your personal biases in order to give yourself a rational reason to denounce such ways of thinking, but for the purpose of impartially trying said thoughts within your heart (intuitively), within your gut (instinctively) as well as within logic. And it is only when you can truly say that you have no preference for the outcome of such a trial that you are truly impartial.