Paradise Perspective

The universe is filled with light. And while we perceive that there is darkness, and that night is dark or that there is a source of darkness (evil), this is erroneous. There is not a source of darkness. It is the absence of light. Wanting there to be a source of darkness is the result of the duality inherent in this, the third dimension. While our side of the earth is turned away from the sun, it seems dark here. But the sun still shines. All the suns still shine.

Likewise, the universe is filled with Love, and fear is its absence. There is no source of fear—how could there be?

Let’s talk about fear a minute. When referring to this concept, most people will be defensive: “I’m not afraid” they say. It’s not about being “afraid” (of, like snakes, spiders, small confined spaces, abandonment, or even disaster and destruction), although it manifests in that manner occasionally. Fear is the bottom line in any negativity whatsoever. Where there is anger, envy, vindictiveness, frustration, even confusion, fear is the underlying factor. Because fear is the absence of love, and no negative emotion can be sustained (or exist at all) in Love’s presence. God is love, and God is omnipresent which means there is no place where Love isn’t.

So, it turns out, fear (and any of its many manifestations) is the meaning that we give to things, people and circumstances that we don’t prefer. Could it be that our preferences cause our fear? Could an elimination of preference also eliminate fear? Maybe so. Love, after all, does not have preference (“God is no respecter of persons”), and when I’m not in classification mode, I’m so much more relaxed.

Looking in the mirror, I find the one and only source of evil, darkness, fear. It’s not real.

We are moving toward a transcendent consciousness. The “end of the world” we learned about in grade school (catholic school in the ‘50’s) is imminent. But it does not have to be the material destruction that the nuns led us to believe. It can be, and will be perceived as such by many. But what will be destroyed will be unimportant in light of the new perspective.

Once we can get past the idea that God is a separate being, and understand that all of creation is God getting to know herself, and that we are not separate from this process (not only not separate, but active participants), we can relax completely and be open to the amazing changes afoot. The concept of “oneness” is a golden thread that is woven through every single dissertation concerning new thought. (Or old thought reinterpreted).

Integrating the concept of connectedness with the whole universe seems like a daunting task, but all that is required to accomplish this is relaxation. It is tension—mental, physical, and emotional—that is the biggest obstacle to experiencing this connection. Worrying about getting there will keep us from getting there.

When I’m attempting to relax into my daily meditation, my biggest tension is mental. I have difficulty keeping thoughts of all my current grievances at bay. I am consumed with the necessity of finding solutions to all my important problems. Here’s the solution: They’re NOT important.

Forgiveness is a productive dance, but it is also possible to see the situation as non-offensive, in which case neither judgment nor forgiveness are needed. If I can remember that nothing has meaning except that which I assign to it, I may reassign meaning at any time. Or not assign meaning and let it all go more quickly.

There is one assignment of meaning that I am looking at: Love. God is Love, and God/Love is all-present, all-power and all-wisdom. In our current perspective, love can be subject, object or verb. See how we minimize something as profound and comprehensive as Love with our perception of separateness. It is the perception of separateness that has resulted in the creation of fear, which cannot (really) exist in the presence of Love, which is everywhere.

My assignment of meaning is just for fun. Now, that’s relaxing.

Taking stock of the profound power of the subconscious mind is important. All of our vital mechanisms are covered by the subconscious. The processes of heartbeat, breathing, blinking, digestion, elimination, and recollection of memory are all the realm of the subconscious mind and have evolved over history in direct proportion to our conscious development. Once a habit is established, it is then relegated to the subconscious, which takes it over and automatically perpetuates it.

Any habit can be changed. Most of the regular dances we do are not life supporting. Here is where the conscious mind becomes recognized as the “keeper of the gate.”

The powerful subconscious mind depends on the conscious mind for direction. It responds to attract whatever predominant thoughts (coupled with emotion) are offered through the conscious mind. Each and every thought is an asking which the subconscious takes as a direction. If I can recognize the responsibility of this gatekeeper, and begin to be mindful of my prominent thoughts, I can begin to consciously direct the subconscious to attract the changes I desire, rather than perpetuating the very things that I wish to change.

So our thoughts are the gate to the subconscious mind. It then takes the frequency of each thought vibration and multiplies it by attracting matching vibrations. Our conscious minds are the “keepers of the gate” in that we are capable of monitoring the thoughts to be allowed passage into the subconscious (universal) mind.

Mindful meditation is helpful here.

Usually, during any discussion about the interconnectedness of All Than Is, someone will inevitably want to point out some gross and horrifying injustice in which God could not possibly be present. This makes sense from the perspective that God is a guy who has the same moral and ethical judgments as we think man should have. But coming from the within the confines of the “knowledge of good and evil” it will always be necessary to separate out and classify things and situations to their respective positions on the spectrum. There is scripture that clearly addresses this: “Turn the other cheek”. While we agree that this is a nonviolent response to an undesired circumstance, I submit that there is another not-so-hidden meaning that has been overlooked.

Jesus understood our linear perceptions with good at one end of the spectrum and evil at the other. While perceiving the existence of evil being one way to look, then by turning the other cheek, we would find ourselves looking the other way—in the opposite direction. Thereby giving our energy and attention to something completely different and opposite (something good). In other words, if I find myself observing myself or someone else in a negative vibration, and I readjust my attention to vibrate in a positive way, I will not be attracting to myself more negative generating thoughts and situations.

This is huge. While establishing a process by which I can align my habitual way of thinking (and responding to things and situations) to a new and more constructive creativity, it is helpful to discover more and more ways to interpret the things that I already know in ways that support this change. The old interpretation was that by turning the other cheek, you’d be letting the guy hit that one, too, which only makes sense in a way that further diminishes one’s self esteem. By turning away altogether, and removing any attention given to the undesired circumstance, I am empowering myself to a positive, and more constructive vibrational rate.

To add more to this power, I could even look at what was originally perceived as bad or evil, and feel actual gratitude for the opportunity to readjust to a positive vibration when (without the opportunity) I may have been in a vibration of neutrality and non-creation.

Are we having fun yet?

Last night we attended a concert. Sweet Honey in the Rock is the name of the group. They are an a capella quintet (with a very expressive interpreter for the deaf), of African American women. It was wonderful, and they sang a wide variety of uplifting songs, some of which they wrote, some their own arrangements of gospel stuff, and a couple of Bob Marley songs thrown in. The single most awesome arrangement was of “In the Upper Room”. Aside from enjoying the amazing dancing and harmonies, I got to thinking about how one of my favorite authors, Neville Goddard, perceived inspiration as the subconscious connection to Source (God). The “Upper Room”, then, would be your mind. All of our spiritual work is done there.

This would totally explain how “God” speaks such different things to different people. Although the guidance and communication from Source is universal, our individual guidance/communication is actually fashioned and colored by our own individuality. So, Source communicates to each of us in a way that makes sense to ourselves. When Jesus told us, “The kingdom is within” he was telling us to go within for guidance, since someone else’s guidance will be different from our own. This is not to say that we are not privy to the wisdom of the guidance that others receive, but that someone else’s guidance should not be the final word for me (us). We must all “Seek…” and not settle for someone else’s path. Righteousness is personal even though God isn’t.

This is where the Art of Allowing comes into play. For some reason (political, probably), we are conditioned to be unsure and insecure about our intuitional tendencies unless they are shared and/or supported by a large body of institution. If what we get from Source is individualized, then what is shared (by the body) is a watered-down version of everyone’s combined guidance. Without waiting for the rest of the body to come abreast, think of the combined spiritual ground we could cover if, as individuals, we were confident in our own relationship with Source, and let our own guidance suffice. Those depending on outside support for their faith might be “left behind”. Wouldn’t THAT be different?!!

OK, enough about those problems. Let’s focus on the fact that inherent within each and every one of us resides the solution to every single dilemma. All Mind is present in every mind. Every mind is an extension of All Mind. Mind is potential (static) energy, and thought is dynamic (active) energy. It gets the ball rolling. Everything that has ever been done or made began with a single thought. Before we can come to terms with the power inherent in our thoughts, we need to understand and be mindful of the powerful ways in which we have already affected creation with our thinking.

Once we have established that we have, in fact, created our every experience to date, we can begin to direct our thoughts toward conscious creation. Conscious participation has now become the main objective. This process is really simple in its facility, but because we have spent many years practicing our habitual ways of thinking, there will be an initial struggle to adjust those habits.

The first and most important step is to just pay attention to what we are thinking, especially in regards to what it is we want to change. Say, for instance, I’m fat. I don’t want to be fat, but I’m always thinking “fat thoughts”: “If I eat this it will make me fat” “If I sit all day and don’t move, I will be fat” “As I get older, I will get fatter unless I work my butt off”. Having thoughts such as these perpetuates not only the outcome, but also my activity. I’m eating what I think will make me fat, I’m knitting and spinning and believing it will keep me fat, and subscribing to the idea that getting older automatically puts on more pounds.

So, I pay attention to these thoughts, and begin to adjust them: “These chips (chocolate, donuts, fries, whatever) contain exactly the nutrients that my body needs right now, and will serve to fuel every cell and make it strong and healthy.” “While I’m knitting (spinning, weaving, whatever) I am using the nutrients I have given myself in the most astoundingly efficient way” “Age isn’t even an issue”. Just bear with me, because this goes to a place that makes complete sense.

While I am asserting completely different thoughts, and *feeling the difference* that those new ideas feel like (this is the pivotal point), the universe is moving and changing, also, to facilitate a new direction. While I tell myself that what I’m eating is serving my optimum health and well being, lo and behold, I’m eating an APPLE!! While I sit and knit, and think that it’s not sloth, my posture is different, I find that I’m flexing my abs repeatedly, and sometime in the late afternoon, I WANT to run. The age thing has still to manifest itself, but I have no doubt that it is also different, now. Be thin and healthy.

M’s comment, though focused on a minor point, is an important one and I believe the root of many codependent relationships. Needing to wield control (over anything or anybody) indicates an attitude of lack within, or some unperceived void that one is (maybe unconsciously) expecting another to fill. Each of us is completely self-sufficient and has direct access to the Stream of Well Being at all times. By depending on another to fill a perceived void, one expresses a belief in a limited amount of Well Being. And since it is a limited commodity, then take it away from the one you love. Yeah.

Sadly, this is not an uncommon perception. And the essence of it is fear, which is the primary block of God’s love. Before one can have a truly meaningful relationship with anyone, one must be complete alone. Think about it: You’re not happy in just your own company, but you want me to be.

There is widespread misconception on this subject. The idea that attraction to another person must resolve itself into some need or lack that can only be satisfied by the presence of that person is common. You can see where this is going. Nobody can make anyone else happy (fulfilled, complete, etc). I would venture to say that most marital problems are the result of unfulfilled expectations. The best and most successful relationships are ones where both individuals realize their own completeness and willingly share themselves.

Even more amazing: when a relationship starts out dysfunctional, and graduates. Changes and growth are the bomb. Be a complete partner.