roger

The "search/dream of a power that doesn't exist" is the attempt to alter truth, to change ultimate reality. We can change our experience, but never absolute truth. A person may think they want eternal hell to exist, so their enemies can go there. I've known of such people. Fortunately, their desire for others to spend eternity in agony won't make it so.

Spinoza is one of the philosophers who taught that our will arises out of our understanding, and therefore isn't truly "free." In other words, we MUST do what our understanding points to, therefore there is no free will. The problem with this teaching is that it doesn't see that our WILL CREATES OUR UNDERSTANDING, not vice versa. In other words, will PRECEDES understanding; it doesn't FOLLOW it. New Age understanding is that there is only ONE "will"- and all beings share that will. Everyone always does that will- in thought, belief, and behavior- BECAUSE it's their own will. Therefore, we have free will, but NOT choice. Everything is in "divine order" because all of life shares the Universal will.

Here's the thing. There's the relative and the absolute. You might say that "relatively speaking," people can be guilty, and to varying degrees. In the absolute sense, we're all innocent and perfect. Everything is happening perfectly, and lack of love is an illusion. In the relative, "bad" exists, and there are consequenses to our choices. The distinction between the relative and the absolute is the factor that makes many of the replies to my OP make sense.

Something very meaningful to me, and that I feel is of utmost importance these days, is the relationship between self-love and love for others. The "self-love movement" is a good thing imo, but many people still haven't resolved the basic conflict because of a simple misunderstanding. Here's the thing: An act of love is either loving towards yourself AND others, or NEITHER. You can't love yourself at the expense of others- that's not self-love. And you can't love others at the expense of yourself- that's not love for others. To attack another is to attack yourself. To bless another is to bless yourself. Consider the justice of this, not as a "punishment" of any kind, but as love. If it were true that an act could be best for oneself but not for others, truth itself would be an absurdity. Love would then be attack. Loving oneself would be attacking others. How insane God and truth would be! This is the essence of divine justice and what ACIM calls the "law of love" (karma). You either love yourself AND others, or NEITHER.

Thanks for sharing this amazing teaching, C T. It echoes my own thinking that "there's no real problem, and no separate self to have the problem." That approach to spirituality and awakening has been a large part of my path. A quote from ACIM is, "The world has invented many remedies to its problems, but the one thing it hasn't done is questioned the reality of the problem." It's nice to read something that reflects and confirms this teaching for me. Thanks again!

MH, the thing is that, in terms of experience, it's not so that you either love a person, or you don't. Everyone loves everyone to some extent. You, personally, are very loving imo, and that love for others is a reflection of your self-love. z00se, the point I was making is that a specific action, choice, or thought, is either loving towards oneself and others, or towards neither. For example, when a person feels hatred, that feeling isn't loving towards themselves, or others. It's not really SELF-loving to not love one's enemies.

People fear enlightenment, even those who passionately seek and desire it. What nearly everyone fears is their divine nature, their innocence, their love, and, particularly, their self-love. Enlightenment is the realization of those things, which everyone ALREADY has. Everyone really DOES want those things, and profoundly so. We long utterly for them. So basically, what we fear and what we truly want are the SAME. The journey is about letting go of the fear and manifesting the desire.

Your "divine nature" makes the choice. That's why everything is in "divine order." All is as God wills it. You have no choice but to do the will of your divine nature, it's YOUR will.

Believe that it can be fun, and that it doesn't have to be extremely difficult. When you believe that, it will be your experience. Also, be clear that you really and truly want to do it. For many people, it's more of a fantasy than something they truly want. If you're not clear that you really want to undertake the practice, ask God or whatever you think of as a higher power to help you get clear. It may very well be that the lifelong undertaking of mindfulness isn't for you, and that's OKAY if that's the case. Do what gives you joy. Finally, experiment with the affirmation, "I am aware." Saying that to yourself can immediately help you become more aware. A variation of that affirmation is, "I am aware that I am aware." That's very helpful too. Enjoy the journey- that matters more than reaching the destination. Btw, I'm currently reading "Mindfulness for Beginners" by Jon Kabat-Zinn and it's really good.

My opinion is that the person wasn't exactly successful in their path, and so chose something they found easier and less threatening- in this case, Christianity. Involvement with occult practices and witchcraft can definitely be dangerous. Probably what happened in this case was that the person's spiritual path wasn't truly grounded in LOVE, but in pride and ego, and when they finally had enough nonsense, embraced Christianity in a loving way. ANY form of spirituality- Christian, New Age, Buddhist, Daoist, atheistic- can be harmful if one's heart isn't in the right place. This person seems to have blamed the practices, rather than themselves, for their failure. Of course, I don't know the exact details of their situation, but based on the quote, those are my conclusions.

This is what I was thinking as I was reading the OP. Soaren, You said you want to understand your shadow, and making things complicated and difficult is actually exactly what your shadow might attempt to do. The shadow self wants to AVOID truth, love, and peace. It wants to keep them "at bay," keep them at a safe distance. It seeks distraction and entertainment (I'm not implying that entertainment is always bad). One of the great teachings of Taoism is the emphasis on simplicity. Find simple answers to complex questions- that's a Taoist approach to problem solving.

What I see here is that there's a deep curiosity in you about something very specific, which basically everyone has, whether they're conscious of it or not. What it is is the need to recognize GUILT as it is, to see that the fundamental problem, the block that keeps us from knowing oneness, and the basic illusion that causes suffering, is the false idea that we are guilty. Hurt feelings, anger, and fear, arise out of guilt. The truth is that we're all innocent- no one is guilty. I just want to recommend something very powerful, that can help tremendously. For a few days or so, a few times each day, say to yourself, "I am guilty of nothing. Mark is guilty of nothing. Sara is guilty of nothing." Use whoever comes to mind, for a minute or so. What you'll be doing is training yourself to see yourself and everyone as innocent. I hope this helps.

Daimai, What everyone really needs and wants is oneness. You seem to have realized, as few have, the futility of seeking oneness socially. No one ever finds it that way. The only way, ultimately, to have it is to realize that you ALREADY DO! We're all the SAME life, the same consciousness, the same love. I am a FORM of you. It's just that we're only consciously aware of being in our bodies. The deep understanding that everything is the same universal consciousness may be the solution for you.

I received an incredible sign today. I feel that things like this help people to have faith in the fact that there really is some kind of higher spiritual reality and "divine order" to things. Many things I've experienced throughout my life have helped me in that way, as I find it impossible to see them as coincidence. I was thinking today about the subject of power, and how I seem to have had a certain sense of powerlessness in my experience with others, and that many have abused their power in their relationships with me. I seem to have been too willing to put up with subtle abuse and respond kindly to mistreatment. V-Origin (I've referred to her as V) made a post about meeting people with supernatural power, and I was thinking about that, and also about the fact that the number 8 in numerology represents power. The first sign was that a truck parked next to my car, and I looked at it and read on the side, "Power Stroke V8." The second sign was that I was driving down the street and saw a billboard that said, "Cut EAO loose." My older sister's maiden name is Elizabeth Ashley O'Neill- initials EAO. I've always felt that my childhood relationship with her (she's 6 years older) was where my tendency to give away my power originated. She definitely abused her power and I innocently allowed that. People tend to repeat patterns learned in childhood in their adult life, and I took the sign as meaning that I needed to let go of (cut loose) my childhood view of her and our relationship with each other. I thought these were two really amazing signs that spoke to me personally. I feel that I've long since gone from merely thinking or suspecting that this kind of thing is valid and is evidence of the divine, to true certainty in it. It becomes immpossible to deny when you've experienced enough of it first hand.

Something I consider of utmost significance is how, with every choice we make, we're teaching, learning, and reinforcing the beliefs out of which those choices arise. There was a girl at a restaurant last night who was somewhat unkind to me, and it was apparent that she had a deep-seated sense of shame and unworthiness. So, by choosing to interact with others in that way, she was reinforcing and giving power to the belief that she doesn't feel good about herself, that fear is justified, that she needs to have her guard up, and that that's the kind of person she is. Another girl, today, was very kind to me. By making the choice to be kind, she was learning and reinforcing the idea that it's safe to love, that she feels good about herself, and many other postive and ultimately true ideas. I walked pass a beautiful woman today, and I turned around to look at her. I felt that I had to. It was compulsive. Unfortunately, I reinforced and learned the underlying false ideas- that I'm not really free, that women's beauty has power over me, that I'm not in total control of myself, and so on. You're FREE whether you ACT like it or not. But if you don't act like it, you're giving power to the illusion that you're NOT free. I feel that our choices are very important and powerfully reinforce the beliefs that sponsor them.

You know V, in "Lord of the Rings," the problem with the ring of power was that everybody misused its power. You see, you might do bad things with such a ring, and you'd suffer utterly for it- you'd pay a great price for misusing your power. If you want power, call upon God. Give your life to God. Invite God into your life and heart. Then you'll have as your provider and protector a Being infinitely more powerful than any ring. But never ask God to do anything wrong for you, that's not a good idea. Just pray, "God, I give you my life. Please bless and protect me. Help me to live wisely and to find happiness." God WILL answer your prayer. And don't think God will ask you to change or give up anything, such as having sex or anything that gives you pleasure. God wouldn't do that. He loves you.

Wisdom and justice dawned on my mind today. I "saw the light." I've been very at peace since this happened. I feel strongly that if anyone reading this is honest, open, and willing (how), they too can grasp the essence of the point I'm making. It's very, very simple. It's inconceivably (to a human mind) wise to choose love. It's profoundly unwise to choose lack of love. Think for a while about that, and it could very easily change your life.

Inconceivably. And that's a wonderful thing. Peace.

Jack Kornfield said recently on twitter that the spiritual path is mostly self-acceptance. I think part of the whole problem people have is this deep seated sense of being at odds with themselves. And that comes from feeling that one isn't really okay, that there's something wrong with them, something "bad" about them. I find that the more I grow and heal, there's an increasing sense of feeling okay about myself. It's a process of coming to terms, coming to grips, with oneself. The truth is that everyone really is okay, and no one is "guilty".

That's my new moral perspective. I want to add that I'm not talking about being a so-called doormat, sacrificing yourself, engaging in false moral standards like not drinking alcohol or not masturbating (unless that's your desire), or "trying" so hard to be good that it makes you miserable. None of those things would be TRULY loving. I'm talking about being as truly loving and good as you can be, to the best of your ability. And here's something crazy and infinitely wonderful: Ultimately, everyone is ALREADY doing this. Everyone is doing their best.

There's a bliss, an ecstasy, in life, including in suffering, that need simply be recognized as such. In fact, it really need not even be recognized, because it's already there. Some people enjoy being miserable. Look deeply at your own suffering. Try to see the bliss, the "deliciousness," of it. There was a young man who said he was only happy when he was angry. His anger gave him a sense of vital being, a sense of self-worth, of justice. It's like the fact that it can feel GOOD to cry. There's a pleasure in crying. And it's crazy, but often, the deeper the pain you feel when you cry, the deeper the release, the catharsis. It's like the more your tears hurt, the greater the pleasure. Just try to see that there's ALREADY a pleasure in your suffering. You just need to recognize it.

It may sound crazy, but I tend to view people as two beings simultaneously, a person and a soul. (a third would be universal spirit- all that is) So from my pov, your soul knows everyone is doing their best, you just haven't "remembered" that consciously. Your universal spirit IS me, and is everyone, and therefore knows literally everything. Spirit is the "soul's soul."

First let me say that I make no claim whatsoever that I KNOW that what I'm saying is correct. I just believe it is. I feel that I "received" this information, in the same way that Esther Hicks receives messages from Abraham. Again, I acknowledge that I could be mistaken. The reason I'm sharing this is because I feel guided to, and because I think these are very helpful ideas. Basically, there are 8 different paths one can take, based on any combination of 6 options. The primary focus of one's path is on one of each of the two possibilities for each of the three catagories of Love, Truth, and Joy. After one has completed their path, they begin the opposite path of the other options. There are three main aspects to the spiritual path: Love, Truth, and Joy. Of these three, there are two possibilities for each one. I put what I think of as a good example of each possibility in parenthesis. Love: 1. self-love (having very healthy boundaries) 2. love for others (giving abundantly) Truth: 1. wisdom (let go) 2. understanding (all is in divine order) Joy: 1. peace through detachment (just be) 2. pleasure through indulgence (going out to eat frequently) I feel that the main focus of everyone's path is on one of the eight combinations of the six possibilities above. If you can discover which of those eight types you are, it can help you tremendously, imo.

I wanted to share this with everybody, because I feel that these are very powerful meditations, but the first of these isn't right for me, although it may be for some people. The affirmation is: "I am aware." The problem I had with this affirmation, is quite simply, I became overly aware. All the negativity in my unconscious mind bombarded me. I started feeling angry and afraid. Problems that should come up naturally when I'm READY to deal with them, came up PREMATURELY. I feel that sometimes it's best to let the unconscious mind just BE, without trying to tap into it, or prematurely look into everything hidden there. So, practice at your own risk! The second is: "I rest in God." Or, instead of "God," you can say, "peace," "my divine nature," "my true being," or whatever. I really like this meditation, and I feel a deep sense of rest and relaxation when I use it. Try it!

I started Tae Kwon Do when I was 7, got a black belt when I was 11, and quit when I was 18. I'm 41 now. I was very poor at sparing (fighting), but I really loved doing forms, or what some call kata, which is like a meditation. That was really my first experience with meditation. You weren't supposed to think when you did forms, and your body was supposed to remain still in between moves. I really loved it, and have occasionally thought about doing the forms I learned as meditations. I haven't done a form since I quit Tae Kwon Do, but now that you bring it up, Prince, I might try doing them again.