Enlightenment
If we can awaken from the dream of separation from our true and noble nature, we can be healed, and the beauty, awe, and the mystery and magesty of life can predominate.
With our awakenings, the one true God witnesses life through our eyes, otherwise, our life remains dimmed, and we are relegated to a second–hand life experience.
So,
- Why do so many people suffer from poor self esteem?
- Why is there so much pain, suffering, loneliness, and disillusionment in America?
- Why is America enveloped in such divisive and hateful political discourse?
- Why is there so much disease, mental illness, alcoholism, addiction, suicide, and murder?
- Do you understand that we all have an innate capacity to make dramatic, positive change in our lives?
- Do you have an intense desire to help yourself, and your world?
- Do you know who you are, beyond what the family and culture thinks you are, and what you really came to this planet to do?
Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the living God? Don’t you know that you are the light of the world?—Jesus of Nazareth
Who does not want to be a light in their own world?
Do we even know what that question truly implies?
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The world of art has attempted to capture what an individual living in the light might look like. Over many centuries, we have seen artist’s renditions of saints and sages, with paintings often showing the blessed person as having a golden light about them, usually concentrating around the head.
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Is this “divine light” a real phenomenon, or only an artistic interpretation of that which may not be completely captured by art, science, religion, and philosophy?
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The physiological truth about humanity is that humans do have the capacity to emit light, through bioluminescence, yet that light is not readily witnessed by normal human eyesight. Humans do not innately embody luciferin, which would give us the capacity to glow like fireflies. Yet what about that inner glow, the glow that erupts within one’s heart and soul when finally touched by transcendent spiritual power?
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This book has been my presentation of my evidence for and experience of a power and a life greater than any limited, personal sense of self. I no longer look to the darkness for the light. I found my own light, a light that dispels the darkness of others, their religions and economic philosophies, and the darkness of my own historical self.
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To find the light of truth, there must be a release from the controls of the crowd, whether it is the crowd of old thoughts, or the crowd that blindly follows others. Strange, mystical, exotic, transcendent, and mysterious are a few of the terms used to describe phenomenon associated with the discovery of such light and freedom, a spiritual liberation that words struggle to define.
Set your course by the stars, and not by the fading lights of passing ships—-Omar N. Bradley, on QM2
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Theoretical physicists are now understanding that there are possibilities for alternate universes, yet they have not fully defined the possibilities for enhanced connections with the one we all currently reside within. As the 21st century moves rapidly forward, I am saddened that mankind is becoming increasingly dependent on its technology for communication, while not concurrently developing the sensitivity to connect with the “energy” that we all share in, and with which we communicate with each other continuously, albeit mostly unconsciously. Our technology, especially the hand-held media devices that we use to entertain and hypnotize ourselves with, only serves to continue the energy of the past, without offering alternatives to the present collection of corrupted choices that humanity has seemed eternally resigned to make.
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Science, though able to define relationships and the laws that dictate behavior between all observable, and quantum, phenomenon, are only now beginning to understand the ramifications of the real law of our existence, which is “all that we will ever see, unto eternity, is ourselves”. Science provides laws for what we see, yet, unlike enlightened spirituality, provides no laws predicting or supporting what is possible for humanity. Quantum mechanics will not be understood fully until the self-centered perspective towards infinity is replaced with the understanding that the collective, as well as the individual, is present in each of us, in each moment of existence. Ultimately, science and religion, and medicine and technology, will all be united as manifestations of mankind’s expression of true being, and then the miraculous potential of a healed collective consciousness will be evident to all.
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The impacts that we all have upon each other are not yet fully understood, yet prayer, meditation, and mindfulness prepare the mind for the unknown, where all true creation springs from. Because of the nature of consciousness itself, it is a much more collaborative effort being a human, and any other form of conscious life on this planet, than our minimally conscious minds understand at this time. .
It is amazing how much of the ego is devoted to it being recognized, when there was a shortage of that recognition very early in life. The ego is created from our desperate call for love, from a world that has not yet learned how to love. And our world is comprised of over eight billion human egos.
The most significant question remains: why care, or why bother? The sacredness and the sanctity of our universe is dependent upon our recognition of who we really are, and how we express our understanding of that connection. Therein lies the absolute necessity that members of the human race seek true enlightenment.
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If we can’t drill down to the foundation of our world’s and of our individual problems, and find and replace the foundation, there is little long term hope for any of us.
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If the desire for liberation from the damaging and fatal illusions of our deteriorating society is great, we are ready for our own personal transformation. By letting go of the societal controls that keep us imprisoned in an outdated image of our self and the unrealistic and unhealthy expectations of others, we become ready to travel onto the new paths of consciousness, and to a new era of transcendence in our lives.
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Why create and nurture a belief in some unknown God or savior, which is only just another idea in an unawakened mind, when we can live a life immersed in the beauty, awe, and love available to a mind liberated from its bondage to selfish fantasies and unhealed sufferings?
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Are we ready to let go of the controls?
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What is the difference between the belief that we can fly, and actually spreading our wings and flying?
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BELIEF
God is our eternal path, and needs no belief in any concept of it. Yet, we must learn to cultivate and practice the actual presence of our own unique, innate connection to the mystery behind the name “God”, until our life blossoms into the divine flower that it truly is.
Live life fully and wholeheartedly, keeping ones eyes and ears open to the mystery of the moment, and listening deep within our hearts for our true mission.
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Religion is institutionalized ignorance of our true nature, only pointing to historical interpretations from others. As the experience of the Trump era shows, the collective racism, immorality and unethical behavior of America’s Christian understanding shows an institutionalized disease within its body of thought and its shared narratives..
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Our self image is quite similar, being our memory’s institutionalized historical ignorance of our own potential for freedom. Like our Christian understanding, our ethics and morals remain based upon past wounding, rather than upon the higher ideals than are attainable through enhanced self-awareness and healing.
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Therein lies the challenge, and the opportunity, for enlightenment.
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What would Jesus do?
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He worked out his own salvation.
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He would want you to do the same.
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The things that I do, you shall do, and even greater things—-Jesus of Nazareth (John 14:12)
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No teacher may bring to us our freedom, it is our own personal work that gets us there.
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What will we do?
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Our civilization has been created, maintained, and sustained by men for thousands of years. And, toxic masculinity with its most oppressive spawn, PATRIARCHY, has established most of the rules of engagement for all of us in the world during this epoch. Patriarchy establishes the rules for our religions, and for our economic systems.
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Trauma, immense trauma, has characterized man’s domination over nature, and over each other. Even our most innocent of beings are persecuted, both human and animal. Our families are now one of the greatest sources for the spread of trauma. The children now even try to traumatize their parents, once they become adults. It is all very sad. There is so much work to be done here.
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Concurrently, It is amazing to note the preponderance of teachings that continue to emanate from the male component of the human race. Toxic masculinity creates the oppressive reality, and then those who have a measure of healing from it attempt to offer to the rest of us solutions for our release.
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LIFE IN HELL. Spiritual freedom has never been about guns, money, or religion,Toxic men have their gun in one hand, their penis in the other hand, and no room for a bible, let alone understanding of its real message.
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We need more empowered women to stand up and be counted. Our world will never come back into balance, until the divine aspects of our feminine nature are embraced as being an integral part of our self..
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The human race is like a bird with two wings, male and female. If one is broken the bird can’t fly
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Will we just remain hypnotized by more “mans-plaining” from ministers, avatars, gurus, therapists, and religious texts?
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Should we remain a sheep in another shepherd’s flock?
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Should we become a shepherd of our own flock?
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Or should we become a liberated human being?
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It is our choice.
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For liberation, there must be the deepest of desires.
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The Far Side Wait, Wait, We don’t have to be just sheep
We must be ever vigilant in protecting our self from the oppressive forces of our economic philosophies. Capitalist economics has monetized the resources of our planet, as well as our human soul. And, in a most oppressive, distressing turn of events, Capitalism and American Politics has become married to Christianity, so that all of evil inherent within the unawakened elements of this triumvirate have created a world threatening menace. We all have witnessed its catastrophic effects upon the health of our planet, and each other.
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Lao Tzu has a brief commentary on these seemingly changeless forces, as indicated by the following story. Lao Tzu was walking with his disciples and they came to a forest where hundreds of carpenters were cutting trees, because a great palace was being built. So the whole forest had been almost cut, but only one tree was standing there, a big tree with thousands of branches.. Lao Tzu asked his disciples to go and inquire why this tree had not been cut yet when the whole forest had been cut and was deserted.
The disciples went and they asked the carpenters,
“Why have you not cut this tree?”
The carpenters said,
“You cannot make anything out of it because every branch has so many knots in it. Nothing is straight. You cannot make pillars out of it. You cannot make furniture out of it. You cannot use it as fuel because the smoke is so dangerous to the eyes – you almost go blind. This tree is absolutely useless. That’s why.”
They came back to tell Lao Tzu, who then laughed and said:
“Be like this tree. If you want to survive in this world be like this tree – absolutely useless. Then nobody will harm you. If you are straight you will be cut, you will become furniture in somebody’s house. If you are beautiful you will be sold in the market, you will become a commodity. Be like this tree, absolutely useless. Then nobody can harm you. And you will grow big and vast, and thousands of people can find shade under you.”
Lao Tzu has a logic altogether different from the conditioned mind. :
Be the last. Move in the world as if you are not. Remain unknown. Don’t try to be the first, otherwise you will be competed against. Don’t try to prove your worth. There is no need. Remain useless and enjoy.
To understand him is to find that he is the most practical on a deeper layer of understanding than most people can recognize. Life is to enjoy and celebrate, and not to become solely a servant to the needs of others. Life is more like a song or poetry than like a commodity in the market; it should be like a flower by the side of the road, flowering for nobody in particular, sending its fragrance to the winds, just enjoying itself, just being itself.
If we succeed in being very clever and useful, we will be used. If we try to be very practical, somewhere or other we will be harnessed, because the world needs our functionality, needing us to become just another “somebody”.
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What is more problematic and traumatizing than a nobody being forced to become a somebody, a somebody that we really don’t want to be?
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Drop all these ideas. If we want to be a poem, a song, a flower, or any other manifestation of our creative spirit, then forget about how others see us, and what value we may have to them. Do not despair about embracing the energy of a nobody. Some of the most powerful people in our world are “nobodies” who have been assigned the role of a “somebody” by our culture. Those who remember to internally remain a “nobody”, and remain humble, are the greatest collaborators, and healers.
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While civilization encourages all of us to travel on its competitive superhighway to its image of a “somebody’, our neglected spiritual nature silently attempts to create a path back to where we can become a humble “nobody” again.
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Who, or what, will we listen to?
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The ultimate trauma to the human spirit is to be somebody that we aren’t.
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We die of a fatigue created through the endless parading around of our new, self deceptive image, an image easily discounted by the innocent child within us, should we become quiet enough to listen to our essence..
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No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anyone but our self.—Virginia Woolf
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Self deception takes on added importance, and danger, in the mirror of relationships. Only crazy making communication can result from exchanges between our illusions of self.
As Jesus stated:
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My kingdom is not of this world.
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Remain true to our self.
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Be our self.
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We will find what we are looking for, if we are sincerely seeking for the truth of who we really are..
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When we find our real self, the trauma and suffering of our human condition is seen for what it is.
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And, we can finally consciously make a decision as to what, or who, we shall serve:
Somebody, or
NOBODY.
Serving somebody else’s agenda keeps us on the same historical path.
Serving NOBODY places us squarely on the path back to the Garden of Eden, and we begin our Hero’s Journey back to our true nature.
Accepting that the world can do fine without us allows us to put down the burden of being corrective heroes and simply concentrate on absorbing the journey of being alive.—Mark Nepo.
What is the essence of enlightenment? If might be considered similar to the process of metamorphosis, which brings forth the butterfly from the caterpillar. If the butterfly could talk, I would assume that it would much rather talk about its new freedom,and the ability to fly, rather than its previous form of life sliding over the dirt Yet, the only life that the butterfly arose from was with ground dwellers, and that is where all of its past stories were created. Could you imagine that butterfly going back and telling his caterpillar friends about the potential for a new life, and what the “ground dwellers” might say in response? How about
“get lost, you were never one of us, anyway?”
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“well, it must be nice for you to fly, but it is just not for me right now?”
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“have you heard about the great tasty leaves that parsley plant has?”
are three potential responses from those who think that change is threatening, unnecessary, irrelevant, or impossible, for themselves. Enlightenment is not for everybody, it is for nobody.
There is new life available to all, yet I won’t devote too many words on that one. The word will forever remain a shadow, cast by the light built into the divine heart of mankind, as it tries to define the “undefinable”. Yet, if the heart is in the right place, the words formed and delivered will become more attuned to and resonant with the energies pointing to the healing of self and of the other.
“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”
― William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
All that we now see, or will ever see, unto eternity, is our version of our Self.
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How will we see our Self today?
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That vision, our own vision, limited or limitless, determines the quality of our life experience.
And if we are on life’s healing path, that vision directly impacts the world, in wondrous and sometimes miraculous ways.
There is no greater joy in the universe, than finding our real self.
We will find what we are looking for.
What have you found, so far?
Are you your real self? Are we ourselves?
Liberation is not an idea, it is a living reality for those who have found what their heart was truly looking for.
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It is time to make our waves really MATTER! (Quantum physicists will love this pun!
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More than once, certain members of our human race have had mountain top Z, where true insight has been gained into understanding life, love, and both the ephemeral, and eternal, natures or aspects of reality, or That One. That One becomes the source for all future understanding and engagement with the world.
- That One saw the unity of all creation, and how all systems of thought tend to separate us from each other, rather than unite.
- That One saw how the limits of love shared was typically tribal in nature, and rarely extended beyond the imaginary boundaries of their perceived communities.
- That One saw how organized religion had become a tool for the political powers of the day, and no longer existed to serve the needs of the spirit, but instead to follow the dictates of those male power figures who inaccurately, and sometimes falsely, interpret the scriptures to control people, and arrange selfish outcomes.
- That One saw how the rich and powerful within the religion used its truth to dominate and control others.
- That One saw these religious power figures actually monetize their brethren, to see how their “flock” could bring them wealth through their superstitious tithing, or offerings to their “God”.
- That One saw that the poorest in spirit occupied the most fertile ground for healing, yet were the most separated from any benefits of their religion.
- That One saw that the religious power of the day was corrupt beyond repair.
- That One saw that all sense of religion needed to be “born again”.
That One came down from the mountain top to bring the good news to the people, that they did not need their religion anymore to keep them philosophically imprisoned.
That One then advised the world:
If their “religion” does not allow for them to love another as themself, then discard those dark aspects of their religion, honor the underlying spirit of love, and affirm the dignity and value of the human being through the healed human heart (which is the source of all true religion).
That just might mean removing the log from our own eyes (even if the log is our very own religion), before attempting to remove the splinter from another.
- It means stop monetizing humanity for business purposes.
- It also means separating the Church from the State.
- It means taking personal inventory, and when wrong, promptly admit it!
- It means lying, cheating, stealing, destroying, murder, greed, selfishness, destroying the animal and plant kingdom and the like are antithetical to the spirit of love which has created this universe, therefore they are unacceptable patterns of behavior only reserved for those who have chosen to stay asleep..
You know who That One is, because That One lives today, and it has never been just the Buddha, or Jesus.
- That One has existed since the beginnings of the illusion of self, and other, and the illusions created by competing philosophies.
- That One has the voice for God, for Truth, for Love, and Life, bubbling up inside of their hearts, just waiting to be listened to, and obeyed.
- That One understands the difficulties in bringing Truth and Love to the masses, because in the masses is where corruption of thought gets institutionalized and normalized, instead opting to bring it to humanity one person at a time.
Please listen within yourself.
Tune out all others, no matter how well intentioned they may appear to be.
Be yourself!
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When we touch our Self with deep awareness, we touch everything
In honor of all of the innocent oppressed, bullied, victimized, traumatized, gassed, misogynized, persecuted, marginalized, neglected, abused, murdered, alienated, and institutionalized human beings overrun by the principles of toxic masculinity in it’s almost infinite varieties of forms..Toxic masculinity, toxic fatherhood, and toxic religion are cultural and historical impediments to achieving and maintaining happiness and gooSet out, pilgrim. Set out into the freedom and the wandering. Find your people. God is much bigger, wilder, more generous, and more wonderful than you imagined. – Sarah Bessey
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I have attempted to “capture lightning in a bottle” by articulating this message. May each of us never despair of our faltering attempts to reach towards this infinite energy and to express its love and wisdom. To have a better life, we have to access new parts of our infinite self, and travel on new paths of understanding. A primary law of consciousness is that “we find what we are looking for”, so make sure to look for what we really want, and not fall victim to the suggestions of others that don’t always have our best interests at heart.
Do you have your best interests at heart?
Does your “creator” have your best interests at heart?
Do you understand that you, and your creator, are ONE?
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Do you understand how absolutely immense of a being that you truly are
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Once we understand the Truth that the closer we get to life’s meaning, the disturbing revelation that we have just been dreaming becomes our healed understanding.
Dream on, or strive for awakening, it is our choice..
The Buddha was asked:
What is your religion?
He then stated:
I AM AWAKE.
The salvation of the world, and of our self, depends upon our decision to be either the dreaming, walking dead, or the awake.
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I am no longer running in packs of “wannabees” or “somebodies”.
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I am no longer walking, and dreaming, in my sleep
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I am not Jesus, I am not the Buddha, I am not Mohammed
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Like millions of other human beings,
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I AM AWAKENING
I AM ( world tour version)
I am all waters, the rivers and the bays
I am the infinite ocean, from which all my children are birthed, live, love, and play.
I am the dolphin and whale, I am the mangrove and sand lined shores,
I am the waves crashing against rocks that photographers adore.
I am the wind and the sun, and all warm soothing breezes,
I am even our allergy inspired most raucous cleansing sneeze!
I am the blue sky, the weather changes, and gathering of clouds,
I am all lightning storms appearing so dangerous and loud
I am the bird’s call, its flight and the wind beneath its wings,
I am all music and its spirit that makes our heart soar and sing.
I am the brightest of all mornings, yet I am also the cloudiest of all days,
I am also that altar within, upon which mankind prays, and PREYS.
I am the grief, the pain, and the sorrow,
I am the deepest well of hope from which all eternally borrow.
I am the covid, bronchitis and pneumonia, I am the movement towards health
I am the healing balm that works mysteriously in stealth.
I am our lifetimes, I am our bodies and our breaths,
I am all of the suffering, and the blessed last moment of our deaths.
I am the death of the false self that leads to the only true heaven,
Our denial of this truth leads to channel two news reports at eleven.
I am the Biden’s and the Harris’s, I am the Desantis’s and the Trumps,
I am love’s warriors, and I am also hate’s chumps!
I am the boisterous protests, and I am the crowd made quiet,
I can even be found witnessing the white supremacists riots!
I am the wealthy, the hurt, oppressed and the poor,
I am your past, present, and future until we all are no more!
I am the Cretians, Egyptians, and Africans, of times old, recent, and new,
I am all civilizations ruins, and the ever-evolving life that regrew.
I am the mind, and the end to its lonely thoughts,
I am the hearts loving web in which we are miraculously caught.
I am the Christian, the Hindu, the Muslim, and the Jew,
I am the Atheist, and the Buddhist, you never thought that you knew.
I am the sacred, the mediocre, and even the profane,
I am the source of spiritual treasure, resisting me only adds to life’s pain.
I am not the movement of our thoughts, while clinging to concepts of time,
I am emergence from all shadows as we reach for the sublime.
What is my name, and where is my home’s place?
Being ONE is to see me on every suffering and smiling beings face.
Awakening
The slowly shifting desert sands of time
Once created ever taller dunes for this lost soul to climb
Until within my selfish, ignorant world of limited reason and rhyme
I sought the way of truth, and its love, Sublime.
As a seeker of truth, on God’s High Mount I am now allowed to climb
And no longer just stumble through the valley’s shifting sands of time.
I stopped confusing myself with our culture’s worn out rhyme and reason
Finding that they are eternally charged by truth with treason.
Once only a marathoner on only a treadmill could I run or stand
Because second-hand knowledge made me just another of life’s also-rans
While I endlessly chased love’s all-knowing voice
But when I became still I finally found the true cause to rejoice.
As another marionette on the stage of our corrupted world’s mind
Dangling on its strings of mind control, so there was no freedom I could find
Until I found release from its mind controlling and heart numbing strings
Which prepared me for a new wisdom that Liberated intelligence brings.
As a shadow boxer of this world’s incessant evil, I was always tired
Becoming champion of a disfigured dream world is nothing to aspire to
I stopped resuscitating dead illusions with those constant mental pugilist blows
And a peaceful mind came to rule, with the intelligence that love knows.
I finally woke up to love’s voice, though once only a somnambulator
And realized a transformative truth that love’s reason is greater
Than any capitalist or religious image I could ever form or learn
And now my world reflects back to me the One for whom I yearned
To be in realization of timeless truth, is to find God’s High Mount just another illusion to climb
Continuously created by overly fearful, desirous minds caught on the merry-go-round of tine
The unillumined, restless mind is forever bereft of love’s rhyme and truth’s reason
Endlessly chasing the latest popular mirage, until it sees the mental movements that are guilty of treason.
