The Nomads Guide

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    The Nomads Guide

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    Chapter 1:M A P T O W A R D S H I D D E N T R E A S U R E :

    A guide for my fellow nomads

    Chapter 2:T H E N O M A D S J O U R N E Y T O G O D Learning to surrender to the divine and accepting the unknown

    Chapter 3:H O W T H E N O M A D S E E S G O D

    Gazing into the eyes of infinity

    Chapter 4:U N E A R T H E D T R E A S U R E SRubies of truth found and shared

    Chapter 4: F I R S T R U B Y

    God is ONE:And we were meant to be one with him

    Chapter 5:S E C O N D R U B Y

    God is LOVE

    Chapter 6:T H I R D R U B Y

    God is NONE

    Chapter 7:A S I N C E R E H E A R T

    The best protection and guide

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    Finding inner peace

    The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the spirit.

    God is spirit

    Inside and outside of us exist whirling currents of Spirit. Elusive and invisible, theessence of original being indirectly reveals its movements through swaying trees,rustling leaves, waves of grass in open fields. Its presence stirs us in the smile ofa friend, the hug of a loved one, or the empathy felt for a stranger. And all ofexistence flows in beautiful symmetry, like tides and waves of a vast ocean.

    Existence patiently waits, and fervently seeks our attention.Divine beauty and ultimate truth surround us. Wherever we look, inside or out,we are showered by a luminous radiance, perfection, power and benevolence emanations of our Creator. But rarely, if ever, do we notice.

    The unseen presence moves and animates us, sways and sustains us, nudgesand inspires us toward our dreams.

    Yet an inner struggle drives us to become more than we are now. And anunquenchable desire burns within us to know That which inspires our spirit andsustains our life in every breath and heart beat. We are all compelled to find,possess and be changed by this hidden mystery that many call God. WithoutGod we wait for life like soil in a drought waiting for rain, or like a parched travelercraving the water that not only quenches thirst, but gives life.

    Most direct this spiritual thirst into mortal craving and desire, endeavoring toquench it in pursuit of wealth, status, love, possessions, fame, or mere pleasure.But these transient earthly treasures have no ultimate value in mans destiny.They rot and crumble in our hands, or dissolve like vapor, revealing andamplifying our restlessness, our desperation.

    A heavenly treasure exists within ourselves! A treasure that never decays, and alife that never dies! Supreme harmony and happiness are found when we loseourselves in God; within the complexity of its divinely coordinated movements,permutations, coalescing patterns and forms integrating every aspect and everyindividual into the congruence and harmony of the whole. Allowing this unseenpresence to move us, to express itself through us, completes a divine plan that isour greatest purpose, our highest destiny. In this surrender we attain thewholeness we so ardently seek.

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    Map Towards inner treasure

    We are spiritual nomads searching for our home, a place of pristine and ineffablebeauty within. We trek through life, guided and nudged towards greater and more

    productive paths. But where we end up at any point along the way, or during ourlast few breaths of life, is ultimately our choice. We may be absolutely contentand at peace with our lives, surrounded by smiling faces of the people we love.Or we may find ourselves alone, or surrounded by vacant, or remorseful, oraccusing eyes, reflecting on choices we regret.

    A map to clarify the diversions and fallacy in frequent signs which you willinevitably cross; stating This is the way!, No this is the way! Go here or you willgo to hell! neither of them are the way. The way does not exclude, it is open forall.

    Our journey may be long and arduous. Yet it is made of choices. And any choicewe make at any point of our journey can make all the difference; it can cast usdown, lift us up, or do the same for others. Our journey, made of enough rightchoices, can be our crowning achievement. But enough wrong choices and wesquander our destiny and our divine inheritance. And it is tailor made for each ofus to refine our inner selves, to develop wisdom, and the ultimate realization ofall Love!

    I dedicate this book to my fellow nomads seeking the hidden treasure lost andforgotten amidst the worlds distractions. I offer it as a map revealed to methrough contemplation, inner inquisitions and moments of insight and grace.

    Which Religion?

    The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They have not entered nor have they allowed those who want to

    enter to do so. -Gospel of Thomas: 39

    Truth is congruent. It inspires and liberates us from bondage to the world. Thefabrications of men that masquerade as truth seek power and control in theworld, and leave us in spiritual bondage. But Truth is One, God is One, theuniverse is One, and all are united by the same principles which we can discoverand begin to apply in our lives.

    But it often takes pain and suffering, spiritual emptiness, and even loss of faithand doubt of our own religion to humble us and open our eyes to the truth. Thenan entirely new approach to spirituality becomes possible and increasinglynecessary. Tantalizing and tormenting questions of enormous relevance begin to

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    surface: If Im not receiving fulfillment from my religion, could there be apossibility that mine is wrong? Which religion is right God?

    A very gentle gust of wind begins to replenish our minds and spirits when weallow ourselves to delve deeper into this territory. Yet fear, anxiety and despair

    often hover in our minds like ominous clouds, obscuring our vision and blockingthe sunlight of liberation. It took me two years of anxiety, tears and fear of hellflame to release myself from the intense fear-based dogmatic shekels offundamentalist Christianity. No true, pure and undefiled religion would do such athing to any soul. I remember lying in my bed, enduring darkness and confusion,thinking to myself What God would send a soul to hell for simply seeking andwanting to know the truth? Words I would have never verbalized consciously,quickly expressed themselves in my mind despite my efforts to hold them back;If God would do such a thing, then I hate him! I shuddered at the thought, butthis was how I truly felt.

    Fortunately God has revealed himself to be the opposite of an angry, jealous, judgmental God. He has counseled and nourished me, sent people to reassureme of his immense love, patience and mercy, guided me towards valuable truth,and unequivocally validated my deepest intuitions and understandings.Amazingly, he has often done this by inspiring my pastors almost every Sundayto preach on themes relevant to what I was reading and grappling with!

    Exploring beyond the limits of todays prevailing dogmas is not heresy. It doesnot nullify or disprove our creeds. It enhances our discernment and illuminatestheir greater depths. And it reveals which teachings are true, and which are false.I have heard many times from others that the Bible, read with such discernmentand sincere intent, has become more alive than ever before.

    We are called by God. The Bible tells us to search for heaven like a lost coin. Wewere given minds to know the Truth, hearts to feel it, and an eternity to enjoy it.God has even created this vast expanse of creation and life as a stage for us tofind it! When we finally step out in faith to find God and ourselves, God willsupport us every step of the way.

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    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T H E N O M A D S J O U R N E Y T O G O D

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    "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should

    come, he answered them and said the kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

    - Luke 17:20&21

    Jesus said, if your leaders say to you "Look! The Kingdom is in the sky then the birds will be there before you are. If they say that the kingdom is in the sea, then the fish will be there before you are. Rather, the kingdom is within you and it is

    outside of you. -Gospel of Thomas

    Journey to God starts from the inside out

    Spiritual nomads keep an ever-watchful eye on the horizon, knowing the path ofthe sun across the sky ends in a final descent that plunges all into the darknessof night. In faith, they enter the darkness and endure their own confusion, trustingin God to guide them.

    Only by experiencing darkness and confusion do we come to doubt, questionand relinquish those un-inspected beliefs and conceptual structures that inhibitour growth and block the way to greater light and understanding. Like the threewise men, we can then follow in faith a guiding star that leads us out of thedarkness of the world into to the divine light. This path is a sacrifice for a greaterreward. In return for our sacrifice we are lead to an eternal land beyond the worldand within ourselves that Jesus called the Kingdom of Heaven.

    To fight this journey is to resist the universal pattern of growth and awakeningevident in all things! The sun rises and sets; winter is followed by spring; cellsgrow, die and are replaced. We are constantly changing, undergoing growth inevery action and experience.

    As we grow from childhood into adolescence, life experiences change us. Andwe awaken from the childish concern with self and begin to comprehend, valueand nurture others, friends and family. The child experiences terrible loss andindignation over trivial things, like dropping an ice cream cone or having a toytaken from our hands. But life continually challenges our childishness to refineour personality and make us better people.

    To grow spiritually, we must outgrow the childish mentality that focuses on selfand self-interest in trivial ways; that clings to small, petty things, imagining they

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    are big because they are our own. This childish mentality distorts our perception,dims our spiritual vision and eclipses the divine. When our childish will isthwarted by the challenges of life, we may grow to hate God or loath life. Butchallenge and adversity humble and mature us, bring us to our knees, and openus to the guidance and grace of a higher power. When we are ready and willing,

    Gods love and wisdom guide us beyond our pains and wounds into a life ofacceptance and happiness. Then we recognize each experience as a seed sowninto our lives that develops our character and deepens our soul.

    Times of struggle, confusion, loneliness and suffering keep us humble andgrowing. Through suffering comes empathy. Out of confusion knowledgeblossoms. And from loneliness, love is born. In this way God fills our emptinessand give us new life.

    As the moon reflects the light of the sun, so we may come to reflect the light ofGod. And the quality of our light, revealed in our attitudes, beliefs and actions,

    reflects the amount of God we are able to receive in any moment.The truth must dazzle graduallyor all the world be blind.

    Emily Dickinson

    Accepting the unknown

    First let us acknowledge how vast and mysterious God is! Yet religion and manhave colored this word and concept a particular shade, when it includes allpossible shades. God is prior to light and creation; is the transcendent unseensource of both. The words for Day and Night written in Genesis refer to the orderseen in daylight, and undefined disorder concealed in the darkness of night. Yetday and night, light and darkness, only exist relative to each other, and only existin God, the undivided One who is the source of all. God, who is absolute, canonly be partially known by man, whose soul is eternal yet whose nature andconsciousness are limited. The forms and aspects of God that we may grasp arefragments of infinity.

    http://images.spaceref.com/news/2006/2006-17-c-large_web.jpg

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    Our Dogmas and our science, compared to our ignorance of ultimate reality, arelike the speck that is the earth in comparison to the universe with its hundreds ofbillions of galaxies. They are an infinitesimal fraction of an inconceivable whole.This universe is more elegant and baffling than we can imagine. Moderntelescopes reveal both an unending blackness of space, and a cosmic blizzard of

    zooming particles, star systems, galaxies and probable dimensions.We are not to be confined to the limits of this speck forever, just as we are not tobe forever confined to our present scientific and religious conceptions. Spiritualand scientific paradigms have changed and will continue to change, as will ourconcept of God as we evolve. We shall all venture outwards through time and

    space, into greater realms of knowledge, understanding and spiritual evolution.Facing the transient and incomplete nature of our religion can feel threatening, asif all we have held to be sacred may collapse in a heap of ruin. But leaving ourplaces of comfort and refuge by rigorously examining and challenging our long-held traditions and beliefs, is necessary for our spiritual development. Our beliefs

    will be threatened and challenged in any case in the course of our spiritual life. InDark night of the soul, St. John of the Cross says a crucial point comes in ourspiritual journey when doubt sets in, seizing and exposing the heart of all wehave held dear, leaving us helpless and afraid and without certainty of any kind.He writes, In the night of spirit, all ideas of God fall away.

    In discussing such things with others Ive been met at times with fierceresistence. I remember how hard it was for me to even begin to challenge myown religious beliefs and conceptions. One man tried to silence my questioningby putting me into a metaphorical box of supposed certainty. He drew a box on apiece of paper and said the box outlined the limits of mans knowledge. He saidthat through study and effort we can only jostle the box and sift through the bitsof truth it already contains by the grace of God. He portrayed the box, with itssupposed limits, as more of a guide than a limitation. And the truths he said wereput there by God were absolute, infallible, and contained in the bible. But I wasnot convinced, nor deterred from questioning by his box theory. Not too longago men believed the earth to be the center of the universe, with the biblesupposedly proving it. And today many believe the earth to be only six thousandyears old, with the bible supposedly proving that as well. Using scripture tooppose science and the investigation of the truths of reality is a misuse ofscripture. It fails to take into account our frequent misinterpretations of scripture.

    Religions are kingdoms of incessant movement, dialog, remodeling andexpansion. Minds are directed through a maze of movement, turns and deadends and at times these corridors break off and lead to the construction of rivalkingdoms. When you reach a moment of clarity, the walls become transparent.The walls are only mental walls, levels of learning.

    According to Jewish belief the Old Testament (also known as the Torah) is notonly a text but the literal written form of the nature of God; concealing in its every

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    word/letter deep and hidden secrets regarding the cosmos, God and our relationto him. They acknowledge growth as a process of stages; the God conceptrevealed and taught by Moses, was not an ultimate revelation of the ultimatenature of God. It was a revelation for its time that matched the needs and level ofunderstanding of the people he was called to lead.

    Yet according to esoteric Jewish tradition, deeper secrets were incorporated inthe Torah behind the surface text, the exoteric story, for sincere seekers to find.Jewish belief furthermore, teaches that one can unveil the meanings in eachverse in the Old Testament through four approaches. One can approach theTorah by analyzing its literal meanings, its metaphorical meanings, itsallegorical meanings, and its esoteric meanings. In a fourteenth century writingcalled Tikkunei Zohar (amendments of brilliance), the first three words ofGenesis alone are revealed to hold an astonishing seventy differentinterpretations and facets of meaning!

    A prayer is often recited in the synagogue; May it be the will of God thatHeshall give us our share in his Torah What they are asking for is furtherrevelation, another level of learning provided by God through his Torah to bringthem into more comprehensive and profound understandings of His word andnature. Collectively these deeper insights hidden in the surface text of the Torah,known as Kabbalah, are regarded as the true life and soul of the Torah:

    Woe to the man who regards that outer garb as the Torah itselfThey who lack understanding, when they look at the man, are apt not to see more in him than these clothesSo it is with the TorahPeople without understanding see only the narrations, the garment;But the truly wisepierce all the way through to the soul,which is the root principal of all.

    Truth without words

    In one famous Jewish story, a man asked a highly respected Rabbi to reveal tohim all the secrets and principles held within the Torah that he needed to know inthe time he could stand on one leg. The Rabbi replied Love your neighbor asyou would love yourself; all the rest is commentary.

    God allows us to freely move about in our confusion as long as we choose. Yetall the different paths and mazes we may explore, and all the conceptualblueprints of theory, scripture, and revelation may believe, are revealed in theend to be a unified and harmonious tapestry of infinite complexity, color andbeauty. And all our searching finally discovers a self-evident truth so simple iteluded our attention: Our minds have been seeking in the wrong places, creatingour own separation, in our own heads. The final moment of clarity reveals nounequivocal answer to all our questions; it penetrates the essence of the answer,leading us into the heart of love. Just as all the learning provided in the Torahcan be distilled to loving your neighbor as yourself, all our learning and seeking

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    finally lead us out of complication and isolation into utter simplicity and directrelationship with ourselves, others and life.

    The peak of our ascent in our understanding of God presents us with anincredible view. All defining boundaries separating Kingdoms and territories

    dissolve and reveal a single unity. The grand sight penetrates with a powerbeyond words. Grasping the sands of the ground watching falling streams formand pour through the spaces between our fingers; And we realize God cannot becontained or grasped like a thought in the mind or an object in our hands. Godhas always been within us, around us, everywhere, in everything, watching,waiting, being.

    Here is broad space we call home Theres no where for you to go other than hereSo stop trying so hard

    Like awaking from the captivating haze of a dream, those who finally recognize

    God hear him beckoning in every cry for help, see him gazing out of every eye,and behold his beauty in all things!

    The random whispers of God coaxing and guiding us to right paths and actionsbecome a living stream of inner clarity and revelation. And all the whispers oftruth in all the languages of the earth are seen to revolve around one centralidea, as an orchestra plays a harmony of variations on a central melodic theme,led by one conductor. And the central idea is this:

    God is not separate and out there!He is within us!

    God is the life sustaining us,beating in our hearts.God is closer to us than we could imagine!

    To know this is to come home

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------H O W T H E N O M A D S E E S GOD

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    When the time is right, unexpected inspiration and insight may come in the midstof life, crystallizing an inner urgency and catalyzing a shift in our consciousness.That shift releases in us love and understanding, clarity and peace. It brings anew order to our previously overactive minds, liberating us from the confines ofour limited perspectives, thoughts and feelings.

    When Truth awakens the mind, I temporarily dissolves in the unity of all life, andissues that once seemed important are revealed to be cosmically irrelevant. Insuch moments, what someone said that upset us, and all the complaints andinconveniences of the little self are seen in true perspective, in light of the gloryand perfection of the grand scheme of things. Like mountain climbers at thesummit peak, we stand exhilarated, restored to our true selves by an allencompassing view.

    A traditional Buddhist meditation is to walk mindfully through nature meditation,fully present to each moment of experience, each sensation, sight, smell and

    sound. Observing with awareness, we may notice, as if for the first time, thingswe knew intellectually, yet took for granted and never grasped experientially. Aflower opens and blooms in the warmth of the sun. A bee lights upon the flowersipping its nectar, and moves onto other flowers, pollinating each in turn. So thesun that warms us, grows the flower, which feeds the bee, which serves theflowers. So all of nature flows into everything else in unity.

    Through this practice of being with awareness, one may awaken into the realm ofendless Bliss and unity that lives in the eternal present. Observing, gazing withcrystal clarity and innocence, fully accepting this moment of experience, webehold the vibrant life in everything, from waterfalls and clear skies to the

    intricacies of a spider web and the delicate veins in a leaf. In this state,everything is an open window to eternity, and all reflects a glorious vibrating webof interdependence.

    "When we look into the heart of a flower, we see clouds, sunshine, minerals,time, the earth, and everything else in the cosmos in it. Without clouds, there could be no rain, and there would be no flower. Without time the flower could not bloom. In fact the flower is made entirely of non-flower elements; it has no independent, individual existence." -Thich Nhat Hanh, Living Buddha, Living Christ, 1995, Ch.1: Be Still and Know

    "All things are connected, like the blood which unites one family, all things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons and daughters of the

    Earth. We did not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web we do to ourselves."

    - Chief Seattle, North American Suqwamish/Duwamish People

    Buddhists say all teachers are like fingers pointing to the moon. They warn us notto worship the finger and miss the moon; and that once the moon is seen, the

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    finger is no longer needed. Buddha likened his teaching to a raft that, once it hascarried us across the great water, must be left behind. A year before his death,St. Thomas Acquinas, the Catholic Churchs greatest writer and theologian, hada vision of Christ. In his vision he understood things never revealed to himbefore. Afterwards, he said I can write no more, and he never wrote again.

    When asked why, he said, After what I have seen, all that I have written is of nomore value than straw.

    Once God is tasted and known, words, religion, beliefs the rafts by which wehave crossed the sea of samsara now separate us from, rather than lead us toGod. In our separation from God, we grasp at fingers and cling to rafts, and misshis essence and spirit all around us. We confine heaven in finite forms,worshipping the letter and missing the spirit. We obscure simple truths, obstructthe flow of life, and fail to discern the unity of life all around us.

    Unfortunately these revelations, written by contemplatives, prophets and mystics

    saturated in the mysteries of God, are often mitigated and controlled by religiousinstitutions and authorities, and often ridiculed and negated by secular culture.They barely seep through to the public.

    Jim Marion, a former Christian monk, explains in What Is Enlightenmentmagazine, the need for every person to find God intimately in themselves, andfor this lifestyle to move beyond the monasteries into the world:

    a lot of priests and ministers were taught that it was useless to try to teach theperson in the pew about mysticism or about the higher levels of the spiritual pathbecause they just wouldnt get it. Most of them were too busy running their

    parish and all the activities that go with running a parish even to do muchmeditation themselves. So it was basically left to the monastic orders to do themeditations, so if you really wanted to grow on the spiritual path the only placeyou could go was into the monastery. These ideas have to reach the person inthe pew. I think thats what were all trying to do these daysYou have to go outand reach your average educated layperson. Thats where the action is now.You cant just depend on the monasteries to turn out a few saints here andthere. It has to be thousands and thousands of people, regular people in theireveryday lives.

    Most people believe heaven to be separate and above. Yet heaven, according tomystics and saints, is to be realized here on earth, right where we are. Jesussaid The Kingdom of Heaven is within you. God is the life in each inhaledbreath. Our every step, thought and action are part of a heavenly harmony thatunifies the cosmos. The Self that loses its self in God is not lost, but found. Insuch a state, the false forms of God dissolve, and the beauty that has alwaysbeen in front of us and all around us, is revealed.

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    Where could I go to escape your spirit? Where could I flee from your presence?If I climb the heavens, you are there, there too, if I lie in Sheol. If I flew to the

    point of sunrise, or westward across the sea, your hand would still be guiding me,your right hand holding me.

    Ps . 139.7-10God in a cup of coffee

    Every moment carries a kiss from God, a nudge from infinity intended to wake usfrom our sleep and open our eyes to a God dazzled world. Heaven, infinity, theendless presence and bliss of God, are always present, right here, right now.

    Imagine: You wake in the morning, stagger into the kitchen, make your cup ofcoffee. You pour in milk, dip your spoon in and stir. A mundane process unfoldsbefore your eyes as milky brown swirls mix two opposite liquids. It is a

    deceptively complex process no mathematical genius using the worlds mostadvanced computer could predict. The spoon moves through the liquid, theresistance producing swirls and waves at the level of matter; and the frictionproduces millions of interactions at the level of subatomic particles, of atoms andmolecules.

    Some suggest that we try to be conscious of every detail in every action in ourlives. But is that necessary, or even possible? Would we be able to function, or tosimply relax, be present and enjoy life? Maybe its enough just to wake up, smellthe coffee, savor the flavor, appreciate whatever is revealed, and not strain formore than is given. Maybe we should savor our experience in God rather than

    intellectualize about God, who is beyond human understanding.Let us drink! Enjoy the infinite One Who Is! Taste him!

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    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------U N E A R T H E D T R E A S U R E S

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    Rubies of truth

    As I study, contemplate and aspire to fully experience every angle, depth andperspective of the varied world religions, the hidden subtle patterns underlyingtheir teachings become more clear and pronounced. You may think, Well I haveoverviewed other religions, but I have yet to find one exactly like mine.

    I agree that each religion is unique and complex, appearing on the surface to bedramatically different from all others. Each has its own prophets and teachers, itsown historical origins and point of view. Each has undergone centuries of growth,

    elaboration, change and development. Yet all share three fundamental truths thatmake them more similar than different.

    God is OneGod is Love

    God is All and Nothing

    These three timeless, shining rubies of truth are often buried beneath the clutterof religious dogma, metaphysical speculation and the misunderstandings of menthat cause all religions to stray from their original teachings. Some religionsregress to the point where these rubies seem obscured or forgotten! But thespirit that illumines these rubies, that inspired these teachings, is the same spiritthat illumines, inspires and gives life fo all of creation.

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    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------T H E F I R S T R U B Y O F T R U T H

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    God is ONE

    We Are Called to be ONE with him

    God spoke light into the void and Creation began. The first stellar sparkspenetrated the cold emptiness of space, heralding new life. A beautiful cascadeof pulsating light-energy set matter in motion. Like ripples on a pond's surface acosmic dance of new life spread across the universe.

    Life-forms began with individual cells gathering into communities of thousands,millions and trillions, to form increasingly complex organisms. Living organismsevolved over time, becoming conscious and intelligent enough to know andexamine themselves and the world around them. Eventually they sought tounderstand the universe, to know and commune with the ultimate Source of life.

    The desire for God is reflected in the life-force driving our biology. The call togreater awareness and communion with the source of life is perhaps divinelyetched in our DNA. The inner urgency we have all felt at times, the yearning inour mind and heart for something missing that, at first, we cant quite put ourfinger on, is a spiritual calling. We may call it the pursuit of happiness, or thesearch for meaning, without really knowing ultimately what these are. When wefall to our knees in worship, eyes closed, arms extended towards the heavens,crying out for more of God's presence, we are reflecting the divinely implantedimpetus that generated life in the first place, and enacting lifes ultimate purpose,to know and commune with our Creator.

    We humans intuitively feel a call to greater happiness, peace, meaning, or love all spiritual qualities that come from God. We were made to search, find and return to God! We long to unite with something greater than our own individuallife, to discover a reality that transcends the material world. We long for intimatecommunion with something divine that will awaken and transform us, that willsolve the painful questions of life and set us free. Every religion addresses thisspiritual yearning, this cosmic imperative of returning to, and becoming one withour Source. This longing is part of a process unfolding in every dimension ofmankinds growth, inexorably leading to the final encounter when we each return,like the prodigal son, to the loving embrace of God.

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    One in many, many in one

    You are more than you think you are. You are a living spirit that transcends yourbody, that cant be seen with your eyes or touched with your hands. The physicalbody in which you seem to be trapped contains a magnificent soul. Fortunately,

    and often painfully, life strips away over time the calluses that cover your soul toreveal the divinity of your true nature.

    Our every breath is a testament to the inner unity of which our bodies arecomposed, and the greater unity of which we are a part. That inner unity involvescountless molecular, biochemical and physical processes and interactions allhappening simultaneously and beyond our conscious awareness or control. Whyhave so many atoms, molecules, cells and neurons joined together to form ourbodies? Why have they gathered to form the suns, planets and galaxies in ouruniverse? What divine intelligence and power inspires, animates and sustainsthese ongoing creations?

    When looking at the stars we may feel insignificant in the grand scheme ofthings. The universe is vast and we may be tiny, but we are not insignificant.Gods divine will guides the development of galaxies and directs the path ofevery particle in the universe. Now God is bringing us to a point in our evolutionwhere He can live consciously through us, and we can live consciously in Him.Any form of life, and any person who is able to allow God to shine through in thisway, is very significant.

    We are on our way home. We are rising above our fallen natures and humanlimitations to finally claim our divine inheritance and our true spiritual identity as

    Sons of God!The Bible is very explicit about creation and its unity with God, and the destinedrise of man towards his divinity.

    As we open to a greater reality, our limiting beliefs are challenged. This mayproduce painful feelings, bewildering confusion, and a fearful resistance thatdelays our expansion. But when we give up and let go, our awareness expandsbeyond the confines of our limited understanding. And we find ourselves awakein the mystery of Creation. We are born again in spirit, with the universe reflectedin our eyes.

    This spiritual rebirth in the experience of unity and love is the primary purpose ofall religions. The articulation and application of what was known in such momentsof spiritual ecstasy and awakened consciousness form the essence of mostreligious teachings, which serve to guide others into the same experience andawakening. Sadly, religions tend to devolve over time into dogma and doctrinethat convey messages of exclusion and separation. These divisive doctrinesoften separate people from each other, and sever their direct connection with

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    God. Yet the varied errors and atrocities committed in the name of "religion" donot negate the authentic spiritual truths on which they were founded. The Sourceof all remains ever pure.

    We are like drops in a vast and eternal ocean of shared being. As we awaken to

    our inherent unity with God, the paradox of separation within unity is resolved inour consciousness. We know ourselves to be simultaneously one with, and afragment of God. As we realize our oneness with all, we become whole.

    Jesus realized this paradoxical wholeness that reconciled his oneness with Godand the otherness of the Father. He declared his oneness with the Father onwhom he utterly depended, and from whom he drew his life and power. In hisoneness with God, Gods will was his will. And as it was for him, so it is for us.This was his teaching. We are all sons of God whose living spirit runs through allbeings like a thread through beads in a necklace, uniting all souls.

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    T H E S E C O N D R U B Y O F T R U T H--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    God is love:

    Love is the Glue of the universe. It connects all in a vast web of interrelations thatserves the ultimate balance and good of the whole. Because the universal web oflife is transcendental and interconnected, a simple smile or act kindness cansend waves of loving energy coursing through it, touching countless lives. In thesame way, a harsh word or unkind act sends negative waves coursing throughthe web of life, with negative effect.

    Everything is distributed. Every action produces an effect, and makes adifference. No matter how cynical you are, the universe depends on you, and isaffected by you. YOU MATTER! Loving people instinctually know this. The morelove we have, the more selflessly we live, the more love we give and receive.Love unifies and awakens. The more loving we are, the more oneness we willfeel with others, and with God.

    One day, after a time of intense contemplation and questioning in my life, I fell tothe floor in sincere submission to God. Filled with Gratitude, love and deeplonging for his presence, I declared my thankfulness for everything I had. After allmy digging, I felt I had finally hit bedrock; some significant truth was dawning inme. I waited for its integration in my consciousness. And then it became clear. Irealized that this sincere desire for God, this humble worship, this love andgratitude with no expectations, this feeling of melting in his presence and givingall of my heart, mind and self to him completely, was the pure essence ofreligion; a path open to all.

    Religion is an action, a verb, not a noun. The Greek word for Religion isReligar, meaning to tie firmly. Similarly, the Eastern word Yoga meansunion or to yoke. Both words convey the same thing; union, connection,oneness, with the Source. In life we enact this union or connection with others bypracticing kindness, compassion and unconditional love with all. Love is the onlyway to escape our separation and re-unite with God. As we give of ourselvesthrough a life of altruism or agape, the love of God flows through us in greater

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    measure. Our expression of love from the Source connects us to the Source.Eventually our life and actions are in perfect harmony with God; our spirit isyoked to Gods spirit; our will is one with Gods will. This is our purpose here.

    Love is religion. Love is God. Love is the same in substance whether it flows

    through Hindu, Buddhist, Moslem, Christian or athiest. There is only one love,only one Source of love, only one true religion love.

    ***

    When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, theygathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him."Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "Youshall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and withall your mind.' This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is likeit: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' On these two commandments hang

    all the law and the prophets."

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    God is All and Nothing:

    The first line in the Hebrew bible reads "Barasheet bara Elohim or, "In thebeginning God created the heavens and the earth This line implies a time orstate before the beginning, when God was, and nothing was. Take a moment tocontemplate the mystery of existence emptied of all we conceive to be reality;minus the one hundred plus billion galaxies with their trillions of shining suns,shimmering stars, black holes, planets, life, matter, atoms and more. How do weconceptualize such a stark reality? If creation is the face of God, then what isGods original face, before creation was born? What could its features be? Couldthey be discerned in the literal absence of everything?

    Buddhism and Taoism emphasize this aspect of reality emptiness as themost simple, and the most profound. The light emanating from this emptinesspenetrates the dark chasm of the void from which existence is born. God is All,light and darkness, fullness and emptiness, creation and void. Before existence,before time and space, before light, before love, before anything, God is.

    Pure Being, Being only itself

    To investigate further, what was before creation, before time and space? Whatkind of existence, or non-existence, did time and space emerge from? Thisancient esoteric question, now the province of modern physics, may be insolubleby both approaches. Spiritual and scientific theories are perhaps the best we cando.

    Scientific observations suggest an expanding universe originating from aninfinitely dense point of compressed matter the latent substance of all futurecreation. Prior to this origin point there is no space and time; and science, havingback-tracked to this cosmic dead-end, is at a loss for words.

    In the very beginning there was a void a curious form of vacuum a nothingness containing no space, no time, no matter, no light, no sound. Yet the

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    laws of nature were in place, and this curious vacuum held potential. Like a giant boulder perched at the edge of a towering cliffWait a minute. Before the boulder falls, I should explain that I really dont know what Im talking about. Astory logically begins at the beginning. But this story is about the universe and unfortunately there are no data for that beginning. None, zero.- Leon Lederman,

    The God particle: If the universe is the answer, what is the question? Science is handicapped in its pursuit of the answer to this ultimate mysterybecause it has tied one hand behind its back it refuses to include, even intheory, the possibility of the existence of God. But what science cannot include,contemplate or grasp, mystics have been experiencing firsthand for millennia.Gods nature is stillness and movement, creativity and development, complexityand harmony, emptiness and fullness. The currents of his spirit illumine brilliantminds and inspire genius. Man, a fragment of the whole, can never comprehendthe Absolute. Yet he must take it into account in his ongoing exploration ofreality.

    Before space, time, matter, light and sound, or the Big Bang, God was. Thescientific communitys collective refusal to even consider the possible existenceof God, goes against the very spirit and premise of open-minded scientificinquiry. But is science resisting the actual reality of God, or the incomplete, oftenchildish concepts of God popularized by conventional religion? Indeed, God asan old man with a beard sitting on a throne in heaven, separate from creation,does not exist, and could never explain the pre-Big Bang conundrum. But God asa transcendental reality that includes all light and darkness, existence and non-existence, Creation and Void could and does explain and contain this ultimateconundrum.

    The nature of this primal existence before creation has been elaborated on anddescribed in various texts such as the Tao Te Ching and The secret book ofJohn found in the Gnostic Gospels. We can discern its nature by observing itindirectly through creation and its movements, as we can discern the wind by thefluttering leaves in a tree. Yet this emptiness can never be fully comprehended,for it transcends all forms and all notions of existence and non-existence. For thisreason, emptiness is also fullness.

    The Secret book of John in the Gnostic Gospels emphasizes this absolute,elusive, transcendent nature of God that even transcends all concepts of whatGod is or could be. God is beyond any comparison, any label or definition. God iseternal, without beginning or end. God is prior to creation, one with creation, andtranscends creation. God is an eternal and divine mystery to man, and perhapseven to God himself. John calls this God The One and writes of it,

    Nothing is above it. Nothing rules it. Since everything exists within it, it does not exist within anything. It is absolutely complete and so needs nothing.The one is without boundariesThe one cannot be investigated, nothing exists

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    apart from it to investigate it, the one cannot be measuredThe one cannot be seen

    Compare this with the Tao-Te-Ching:

    The Tao is like a well: used but never used up. It is like the eternal void,filled with endless possibilities. It is hidden but always present. I dont know what gave birth to it. It is older than our concept of God.

    Both writer point to the absolute reality of unified primal being, prior to andtranscending creation and all human conceptions of God. These two descriptionsof ultimate reality reveal the limitations of conventional descriptions and beliefsabout God. The ultimate reality that is God is beyond any God that humanbeings can ever know or conceive.

    In Cabbala, the Tree of life is said to have manifested from a limitless realm of

    eternal light and negative existence. This eternal light of God, which blankets allof space, is referred to as Ein Sof Aur, translated in English as NegativeLimitless light. The word negative implies a profound and tantalizing realityutterly unlike ours; literally our realitys mirror opposite, the negative, formless,non-material counterpart to our positive world of matter and form. This nebulousreality of all-permeating light described by Cabbalists is remarkably similar to LaoTzus descriptions of the Tao, and Johns descriptions of The One in the Gnosticgospel. Clearly these mystics from three different cultures and traditions are alldescribing the same ultimate reality.

    The I AM

    The empty space on a blank canvas anticipates the light of an inventive mind tofill its absence with color and form. In the same way, the infinite void, prior tocreation, was a cosmic dreamscape, still and silent, latent yet fertile, awaitingimpregnation by the mind of God. Then, mysteriously, a divine creativity surgedin the void, and its latent potential awakened...

    Taoists believe the Tao precedes all thought, movement and expression. As itslowly stirs beyond No thought, No action, No creation, it becomes self-aware, contemplating its identity as all of existence. The apocrypha of Johnindicates that Gods primal essence awakened into full sentience, beginning by

    apprehending himself, essentially evolving from infinite undifferentiatedconsciousness, to cosmic self awareness. By this transition, described by variousmodern and ancient sources, something new was birthed in ultimate reality.

    Gods cosmic self-realization, I AM, indicates the reflective nature inherentwithin consciousness. Primeval nothingness coalesced into focus andencountered itself for the first time. In this ecstatic, overwhelming event,undifferentiated potential awoke in the birth of self-awareness. And the face of

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    nothingness was revealed in the void, and recognized, like the face of Narcissusappearing in the pond.

    What was your original face before you were born? The first time I read thiskoan I thought it was intended to elicit past life memories. I thought long and

    hard, trying to uncover the hidden message behind this question, to no avail. Ayear later, I contemplated it again, and it hit me like a ton of bricks! I saw it as areference to the cosmic event of nothingness seeing its face, and knowing itsexistence, for the first time.

    Self-reference is a natural, inherent movement within the mind of God. Self-reference was preceded by the phenomena of awareness, and gave birth to themanifest world. Interactions are only possible between two variables. Thus Godsevolution or awakening from the infinite unconsciousness of the Void, to self-awareness, or self-realization, made Creation possible. It resulted in a worldentirely composed and sustained by the dynamic interplay and interaction of

    opposing forces. The fascinating question then becomes, what was before Godawoke?

    Cabalists believe that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are not just letters, butrepresentations for universal forces and principals. The letters Aleph, Mem andSheen, also called the mother letters, are considered to be the three elementsimperative for creation, existence and consciousness. According to Cabala, theall-permeating unified essence of Aleph extracted and separated the potentialwithin itself to project a cloud that hovered above it. This cloud naturally becamea cosmic mirror, resisting and reflecting all that Aleph breathed back to itself.Through this reflection Aleph was made aware and conscious. In his book The

    Spiritual Universe, author Fred Alan Wolf collaborated with Biblical Scholar,Carlo Suares, to explain the scientific implications of the three mother letters, andthe Divine life-giving interaction between them. The author writes:

    When I met with Biblical scholar Carlo Suares, he explained that the universe isspirit projecting itself, tending to become aware of itself, by emanating a cloud ofconsciousness upon which it can self-reflect.

    Fred Alan Wolf and Carlo Suares recognized the paradoxical nature of a non-sentient force acting purposefully to create ideal conditions for the furtherdevelopment of awareness and existence. Carlo hypothesizes that what mayexist is an inner volition, a primal impetus.

    I dont know how it happens, but it does happen. It is not aware; it senses aninner necessity. A cloud of consciousness appears which is not aware. Graduallytwo energies appear. One is the energy that comes from consciousness. Theother emanates from the cloud, the projection, as a reflection of itself.

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    This is a profound and unique discovery, for it seems to reconcile the differencesbetween the understandings of God in Eastern and Western religions.

    In Hinduism and Buddhism, God/Reality is explicitly described as impersonal, allpervading, and ultimately unknowable. Hinduisms ultimate God, Brahma, is the

    quintessence of this enigmatic presence, which existed prior to personality andself-awareness. Since it is ultimately beyond all conception and comprehension,it can only be described by that which it is not; nirguna (without aspects orqualities), nirakara (without form), nirvishesha (without particularity) andnirupadhika (without limitations). These defining attributes are paradoxical sincethey point to that which transcends all qualities, forms, particularities, limits anddefinitions; that which always was, is and will be.

    This eternal is-ness is what Buddhists consider the pure land of ultimateperfection, the Dharmakaya, which could be translated as the Body of Being.It is revered as the highest reality and state one could attain. But it is not

    worshiped, not considered to be a god, or God as we conceive God to be. Itabides in non-differentiation. Because of its detachment, it is not that whichwould appreciate or respond to a prayer from an earnest and sincere worshiper.It remains un-involved in the affairs of man or life in general, which are temporalillusions, or cosmic dreams without ultimate reality or substance. A way tounderstand this ultimate indifference is to ask, would the ocean move to help adrop of water within itself? The idea is absurd in a context of ultimate oneness.All ideas of moving and helping are relative, and only arise in a context offragmentation and separation.

    So how can we comprehend the paradox of formless sentience prior to existenceand the universe? First we must understand what consciousness is and how itworks in our universe of form. Buddha explains that consciousness is only abyproduct of a system of conditions and interactions. He says:

    Consciousness always carries a label. In and of itself, it has no object. It isnamed according to how it arises. Because we have eyes, we see visual objectsand we have visual consciousness; because we have ears, we hear audiblesounds and we have aural consciousness; because we have noses we smellaromatic objects and we have olfactory consciousness, because we havetongues we taste foods and the like and we have gustatory consciousness; andbecause we have minds, we think mind-objects (ideas and thoughts) and wehave mental consciousness.

    Buddha explains very clearly that the primary method of experience is reflectionwithin interaction resulting in cognition. Our biological receptors functionaccording to the above pattern. Our ears receive and replicate the air pressureas a series of neural impulses for the brain to decode and reconstruct. It is notthe actual sound we hear, but a reconstruction; in other words, a reflection! Inand of itself, air pressure is mere force. I must interact with the ear and be

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    reflected by the brain to be cognized as sound. Without experience, context andreflection, the beautiful songs of famous composers such as Beethoven orMozart are mere noise, no more relevant or unique than the chirping of crickets,the patter of rain, or the banging of trash cans. Through reflection, we are able torecognize, experience and enjoy the sounds we call music.

    If experience and self-awareness (individuality/identity) originate from reflectionand interaction, then prior to this, God, Brahma, the Dharmakaya, the Void, wasnot asleep. It was already sentient, pure awareness or is-ness, non-attached,non-reflected awareness, transcending all phenomena, form and individuality.

    What we call I is just a swinging door which moves when we inhale and whenwe exhaleWhen your mind is pure and calm enough to follow this movementthere is nothing: No I, no world, no mind nor body, just a swinging door.-Shunryu Roshi.

    That was how it was before God came to know itself. God, in essence was like

    a sound wave un-experienced, existing as pure objective potential, completelyvoid of experience, self-reflection, or thought. A man named Mellen-ThomasBenedict had an incredible experience with the void during his near deathexperience. He had the privilege to temporarily become the void, to see throughthe "eyes of God" and simultaneously view all of eternity and every universebeing created and destroyed:

    As I passed into the second light, the awareness came to me that I had just transcended the truth. Those are the best words I have for it, but I will try to explain. As I passed into the second light, I expanded beyond the first light. I found myself in a profound stillness, beyond all silence. I could see or perceive FOREVER, beyond infinity. I was in the void. I was in pre-creation, before the Big Bang. I had crossed over the beginning of time - the first word - the first vibration.I was in the eye of creation. I felt as if I was touching the face of God. It was not a religious feeling. Simply I was at one with absolute life and consciousness

    What mystics call the void is not a void. It is so full of energy, a different kind of energy that has created everything that we are. Everything since the Big Bang is vibration, from the first word, which is the first vibration.

    Creation is God exploring God's Self through every way imaginable, in an ongoing, infinite exploration through every one of us. Through every piece of hair on your head, through every leaf on every tree, through every atom, God is exploring God's Self, the great "I am". I began to see that everything that is, is the Self, literally, your Self, my Self. Everything is the great Self. That is why God knows even when a leaf falls. That is possible because wherever you are is the center of the universe. Wherever any atom is, that is the center of the universe.There is God in that, and God in the void.

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    As I was exploring the void and all the yugas or creations, I was completely out of time and space as we know it. In this expanded state, I discovered that creation is about absolute pure consciousness, or God, coming into the experience of life as we know it. The void itself is devoid of experience. It is pre- life, before the first vibration. Godhead is about more than life and death.

    Therefore there is even more than life and death to experience in the universe! Many people ask the ultimate questions; Why are we here? Why did Godcreate? Perhaps God created us to ask that very question! Before creation andthe world of form, God existed in a timeless state of pure nothingness/is-ness,existing without thought, activity or reflection. In this primal state, God did notknow who he was or what he had to offer. One of the revelations Mellen-ThomasBenedict had during his near-death experience was that; The void itself isdevoid of experience. As many others have stated before; God created toexperience the infinite potential inherent within himself. He created to experience,period! As God reflected himself, he realized himself as I AM; a realization of

    individuality/identity. Thus, God came to know himself, became localized andacquired an individual personality by virtue of self-awareness.

    Western religion teaches that God is separate, a leading intelligence in a vasthierarchical empire populated by beings (angels, archangels, etc.) of differentranks, positions, and specializations. Whats most incompatible with Easternreligions portrayal of God as an ultimately indifferent and undifferentiatedSupreme Being, is Western (specifically Christian) religions portrayal of God asa divine and loving father who cares for each individual. It is hard to reconcileboth aspects, but God REALLY is both. Hinduism teaches that God has twoaspects: the Nirguna Brahman and the Saguna Brahman. Meaning the God

    without qualities and the God with qualities; God is simultaneously bothpersonal and impersonal at once. The Eastern God is the primal nothingnesspreceding creation, God the undifferentiated one/none. And the Western God isthe God of self-discovery, self-awareness, the I AM, the king of our universe.

    Tying it all together

    For true understanding of any object, one needs to know the intimate workingsand relationships of its varied parts. Sunlight passing through a prism emergeson the other side as a spectrum of seven visible bands of color. Seeing lightbroken down into its essential components gives us a fuller understanding oflight. Mans ceaselessly inquiring mind has attained extraordinary knowledge of,and thus conquered vast portions of nature. It has done this by essentially findingbetter and better ways to break down wholes into parts, see how they fit together,and understand their inter-relationships. This process of acquiring knowledgeand power epitomizes the cosmic process of evolution as it applies to man, andperhaps to God.

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    Collectively, all my cells make the experience of ME. But imagine the world ofdifference between my experience of ME, and the experience of one of my cells,a part of me, as itself. In the same way, every soul is a conscious cell, a uniquelycontributing life-form, in the ultimate body of God.

    We are here to live and move through the world as self-aware individuals whoare also conscious of our unity with God and the universe. Through the existenceof life in all its forms, God the white light, the Whole comes to know himselfmore fully through the entire spectrum of Creation with all its varied colors andparts. Through this greater self-knowledge, a greater unity is established thanexisted before God awoke from the undifferentiated, non-reflective sentience ofthe void. This is a greater unity of an infinitely differentiated many, cosmicfragments fitting together, each one self-aware and conscious, through love,knowledge and surrender, of its transcendental unity with the whole.

    This final process of each part returning or awakening into the unity of God (who

    is the whole) is referred to in Kabbalah as the Tikkun Ha Olam, the healing ofeach individual, and thus the world. The first word, Tikkun, means repair,alluding to the previous cosmic process of breaking. To find this process oneneed look no further than the creation story of Genesis in the bible:

    First day : Light divided from darknessSecond day : Waters divided from waters

    Third day : Dry land divided from seasFourth day : Day divided from night

    Fifth day : Birds of the air and creatures of the watersSixth day : Man as male and female

    On the seventh day God rests and the process of division stops. The eighthcommandment of not working on the Sabbath is not merely about refraining fromphysical work and taking physical rest. It is about spiritual rest and rejuvenation,introspection and silence, penetrating the apparent reality of separate parts,beings and things, awakening into the true reality of unity, and knowing ouressential place in this unity. This is true spiritual rest.

    According to Kabbalah, God brought together all that he divided on the spiritualrealm, but allowed the divisions of our world and universe that constituteCreation, to persist. To respect our free will, and perhaps provide us with our owntask of creation, the job of repairing or restoring to wholeness our broken world,was left to us. One can only imagine such a restored world, healed of its divisionsand resurrected from its spiritual fall. With each person living for God in unity, thelight of God would irradiate the earth, drying all tears, healing all wounds andsatisfying all hunger. But such a reality wont come to those who merely hopeand idly wait. How soon this happens is up to us. Our healing and awakening willemerge naturally out of our loving kindness and our service to others.

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    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A S I N C E R E H E A R T

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    Letting go, and letting God

    Its amazing how the simple remembrance of God and creation as I go about myday can reveal a hidden significance in the most mundane things. Almost everyblock Ive encountered during the writing of this book was overcome, simply byreturning, as a serene observer, to the awareness of the beauty all around me.Turning my mind to the awareness of God as the sovereign and the center of mybeing, I am always rewarded with insight and deep peace that melt every doubtand address every problem. When I find myself confused and lost, I seek torecover a pure heart by renewing my commitment to God above all else. Thissimple practice is the remedy for the confusion and conflict that naturally arise inlife, and for the confusion resulting from the Babel of religious dogmas, doctrines

    and human agendas that complicate and divide the world today. Stripped of all human complications and religious Dogma, God is simple. Weneed not exhaust ourselves in religious study to find spiritual clarity and peace.God may transcend us in our individuality, but he is closer and easier to graspthan the stars in the heavens. God is accessible because God is here, there,everywhere. God is at church meeting his people who gather to worship him onSundays. God is in your heart when you sit in silent prayer or meditation in yourroom. The greatest freedom we can have is found in a relationship of surrenderwith God that allows God full freedom to be who he really is in our lives.

    In everything, our submission to God gives us the safety and confidence toexplore the life hes given us, and discover the unknown that always lies justbeyond our present level of consciousness. Taking time each day to surrender toGod bring Gods power, healing, insight and inspiration into our lives. Divingcompletely into God through surrender calms us and heals the pain of ourspiritual separation from him. A sincere heart invites God into our lives fortransformation and liberation. We can do things our way, but the fastest way toenlightenment is letting go, and letting God.

    In this book Ive referenced teachings of different religions, and while I admirethe teachings other faiths it is not my intent to assert the unity or ultimate truth ofall religions. The fullness of truth and God cannot be contained in any religion,church or doctrine. Access to truth and God cannot be mediated or controlled byany religion, church or doctrine. The three rubies of truth point a way to directexperience of truth and God by individuals hungry for them. Our search for Godis personal and experiential, and as we look within and sort things out privatelywith God, rather than relying on external sources, our spiritual life become morereal and meaningful.

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    We dont spiritually awaken by merely believing and obeying the institutionalizedtruths and rules of any religion. Such obedience ultimately hinders our growth. Itis following the letter and missing the spirit; mistaking the finger for the moon.Only love of God awakens pure hearted spirituality. Only trust in God allows us tosurrender wholeheartedly, to step out in faith, and let God carry us forward in his

    ways, which are not the ways of man. When we surrender what and how wethink life and God should be, and allow God to lead us in every aspect of our life,he will bless every part - love, career, finance, spirit, etc. with an abundanceand wisdom only God can provide. Such surrender is wisdom, because nothingis really ours. It all belongs to God. And to those who love and abandon all forhim, he freely gives blessings beyond measure.

    In the book Power of Myth, a Shinto priest, asked about his religion, says: Ithink we dont have ideologyWe dont have theology. We dance.

    In life, with all its changes, the surest path is surrender in faith to the unknown,

    trusting that we are guided by an order in which all the seen and unseenvariables our history, our world, the sun and stars, and their infinite source will lead us into the unimaginably beauty of one grand and perfect purpose.

    In the meantime, we can dance!

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