What Lies Behind The Clouds?

When things are going well there is a natural tendency to slack off a touch in our spiritual work. The sun is shining, the clouds decorating a peaceful sky, perfect for watching lying on a soft bed of grass, peace immanent. Life is good. We enjoy these times but must remain wary of complacency. Like the athlete who trains daily for the occasional competitions, we pray and meditate daily to keep our connection to the Divine fresh and open for the inevitable storms that visit every life. Living on the Spiritual Basis we now understand the rain falls on the just and the unjust equally, it is not punishment, it is just life. Living on the new basis today when a storm comes we gently step back into the shadow and shelter of the Almighty, out of the wind and rain, continuing to pray and meditate until the storm passes and the sun returns. Having embraced eternity we understand the truth of being, that behind every cloud, the sun still shines. 

ACIM, Alanon, Baba Ram Dass, Zen, Wayne Dyer, The Secret, Serenity Prayer, Road Less Traveled, 

The Golden Rule And Children Of Eternity

  “Treating all in the same manner we wish to be treated in.” If, for any reason, we can justify treating anyone in a manner we would find objectionable if that same treatment were visited upon us, we are wrong and have placed ourselves in conflict with the Spiritual Basis of Living. Period, 100% of the time.

Living on the Spiritual Basis our consciousness has risen. Today we look upon all as children of the Creator, possessing the spark of the divine, equal in his love and sight. So what separates us in demonstration is this: The Golden Rule, that we all reap as we sow so when we are denigrating or objectifying anyone for any reason the reward is clear, the consequences spiritually assured. Living at levels of raised consciousness we recognize this so we salute the divine in all with prayer, recognizing that pain is the only instrument sharp enough to cut away the excess of self. To be clear: on the surface, many appear to skirt this truth, living seemingly at odds with Divine truth and prospering. Death is the great equalizer, no one immune. At the moment of translation whom would you rather be, the individual who caused suffering and pain for pleasure and/or profit or the person who stood firm in faith and lived by the Golden Rule? Consider the words of Victor Frankl "We have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips."

The Golden Rule entreats us to demonstrate the same love, tolerance, kindness and patience we wish to know to all, regardless of circumstance, for we are all truly children of eternity.

ACIM, Alanon, Bible, Emmet Fox, Zen, The Secret, 

Reincarnation Or One And Done?

Reincarnation, this topic can be a room clearer and one I have spent a great many hours wrestling. For many years I struggled in contemplation with the “inviolate” concept held by some religions of "once and done." My struggles centered on our eternal consciousness versus the finite nature of flesh. Why would our Heavenly Father, who exists beyond the constraints of time, space and flesh, limit his children in this way? And if we are indeed children of the Most High, doesn't like beget like? How can we possibly learn all the lessons of living in a mere 70, 80 or 90 years? In the Old Testament life spans of hundreds of years are noted, but that was some time ago and even if we did live hundreds of years there are many lessons requiring a fresh clean perspective.

Consider: How can one person, even if diligent from day one, learn the lessons of having lived a lifetime as a king and a beggar, of the courageous and the coward, to live as a criminal and a righteous man in the same life, and what of the reverse? Live a life devoted to self-indulgence and hedonism and one of asceticism and denial? To know the joy, and heartbreak of children and a life lived chaste? Handicapped from birth or born healthy, to learn all this and so much more, additionally from the perspectives of male and female, in one lifetime? Any man who says he understands childbirth is a fool and any woman who stands in judgment of the bond between warriors is unwise. Today I know from bitter experience that until I walk a mile in someone’s shoes, I truly cannot know their lessons and to think otherwise is rank hubris. Eternity is a long time, what sense would it make to limit our schooling to a single life since we are children of the Infinite, of “Our Father, who art in Heaven….”

 ACIM, Alanon, Bible, Emmet Fox, metaphysics, Zen, 

Getting Back To Basics

   Ever hear someone say they were “getting back to basics or fundamentals”? In sports or cooking this may be applicable but spiritually it is nonsense. You are either on the path or not, no middle ground. Additionally, to believe that since we have been on the path for a time that conditions or requirements of continued spiritual growth change leads inexorably to spiritual pride, a sense of entitlement and destructive self-righteousness in demonstration, guaranteeing suffering for anyone who falls into this trap. The “fundamentals” are eternal, only the form of expression changes.

      In God’s eyes all are equal, regardless of their earthly crimes, circumstances or demonstration. God does not play favorites or met out punishment, we set the table, the demonstration is ours; We always reap as we sow. Those who choose to live a life bereft of spiritual principles are loved by God in equal measure as those who have dedicated their lives to the path. The difference is the individual’s connection to source, not the sources connection to the individual. Living on the new basis, the Spiritual Basis, we do the footwork, put in our time “working out”, exercising our spiritual muscles through prayer, meditation and service, so when (not if) trouble or a difficulty arises we are prepared.

     When faced with any of the life changing moments that are part of living those who have eschewed the path are faced with the question they can no longer postpone or evade: God is either everything or else He is nothing. When an individual reaches this turning point, a jumping off place, they will either start up the mountain of enlightenment or bury their head in the sand (drugs, alcohol, blame, rationalization, denial, etc) attempting to blot out the truth.

      When we place our feet on the base of a mountain for the first time it doesn’t mean we have the needed experience or are prepared to attempt greater heights. It requires time and consistent dedication to become an experienced mountain climber and just as in mountain climbing, spiritually if we lose sight of the fundamentals, thinking we are beyond them, great is the fall.

        This existence is a moment in parentheses. ETERNITY (birth-life-death) ETERNITY. Having embraced Living on the Spiritual Basis we know the truth: we are not this body, we are divine, eternal beings experiencing the human condition, we existed before this body was born and will exist long after it has returned to the dust from which it rose. We grow, progress in this life, by our willingness to share, to teach the spiritual principles, the fundamentals we practice daily with those just starting in earnest on their journey, remembering always that all are equal in Our Father‘s eyes.