Month: November 2021

God At My Table

How fortunate I am to have been raised by loving parents. Although not perfect (for who in human form is?), my parents set many fine examples of how to be in this world. They encouraged–more importantly, practiced–honesty, caring, generosity, and industriousness. One of their powerful examples was that of saying grace before eating our meals. As a child, with head bowed and eyes closed, I most likely believed that they were uttering words to a non-existent God that was floating somewhere off in the clouds. I’m thankful that I now know better.

From the human perspective, which is most often conditioned by the “materialist” paradigm of reality and innocently ignorant of our deeper nature, saying grace to an invisible God may seem ludicrous. To may persons it does. When we glimpse life on a deeper level, however, we may at least be tempted to say “thank you” for the bounty before us. In stillness, we realize that something profound is occurring below the surface-level appearance of things. Let’s use that slice of bread in our hand, as an example:

Humankind may claim, “But ‘i’ make that bread; it is ‘i’ that do the work.” On the surface level of reality, that certainly appears so. It also appears that humans till the soil, plant the seeds, harvest the crops, own the bakeries, load the ovens, and ship the baked product to various stores owned by humans. But can even one of those humans actually grow wheat? Do we orchestrate that miracle–or any of the other countless miracles that occurs in the eternal NOW? To understand this more deeply, lets turn to the following verse from Acts 17:28:

“For in him we live, and move, and have our being;

as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

I now know that whether I realized it or not, God was always at my table, in all ways. God was, and IS, the very table itself. God is the bread, the butter, and all of the bounty–however simple in appearance–upon our table. God was my mother, my father, my sisters, and “i,” who were so fortunate to have food to eat. God was also the knowing of one another; for without God (Consciousness) how can anything be known? Grace? Yes, I still say it, although apparently living on my own. My grateful heart has so much for which to give thanks–the Greatest of which is God. God is always welcome and acknowledged at my table. After all, it’s His, and so am I.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2021 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers” 🙏🏻🧡

Recognizing The Light

Theodore Murphy was a religious man–or so he assumed. For more than twenty-five years, he had faithfully attended the non-denominational church in the nearby town. He liked to arrive early every Sunday, so that he could sit in his favourite pew. When the church had needed a new roof, he had even volunteered his services to help replace it. On a nightly basis, he faithfully read one page from his Bible. When a few of his friends suggested reading A Course In Miracles, by Helen Schuman, Theodore happily agreed. They would meet once each week. It would be another sign, he thought, that he was a good man of God.

One night, after his friends had departed after their weekly reading/discussion session, he turned to the next page in A Course In Miracles and began to scan the lines. The “Light” turned on within him when his eyes fell upon the following passage from paragraph 2, on page 182:

The revelation revealed within the passage was almost too much for Theodore to process, especially the last line. Repeatedly he read the paragraph, letting its profound message sink deep within him. Surely, Helen Schucman wasn’t suggesting that his human life, which seems so very real, was actually occurring within a dream. Or was she? Could this be the reason why passages in the Bible stating that miracles were possible could actually be true? What would be impossible within a dream…if only we believe?

Over the next few days, Theodore found himself pouring over more scripture, especially those that applied to miracles. The Truth from the following passages resonated strongly:

Mark 11:24:

“Therefore, I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

Job 22:28:

“Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee; and the light shall shine upon thy ways.”

Hebrews 11: 3:

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God,

so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

At night, when the light of Truth shone deeply within Theodore, he realized that if “this” apparently human experience truly was a dream, he couldn’t possibly be real flesh and bones. Logically, such could just not possibly be so; for where in a dream made of consciousness could there be room for a real person? He must, therefore, be something other. Spirit? Absolutely.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2021 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers” 🙏🏻🧡

Manifest: A Key Piece of Information

During my study of the teachings related to the Law of Attraction, I’ve read many wonderful books. Among them, I would highly recommend The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel; Creative Mind by Ernest Holmes; A Happy Pocket Full Of Money by David Cameron Gikandi, and several books by Neville Goddard, including The Power of Awareness, Your Faith Is Your Fortune, and Consciousness Is The Only Reality. My understanding has also increased by reading books that are purely spiritual in nature, such as I Am That, talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj; The Final Truth by Ramesh S. Balsekar; and several of Rupert Spira’s books, including The Nature of Consciousness, and The Intimacy of All Experience. In today’s article, however, I’m not going to focus on one specific book, but upon the following two sentences from a book entitled Neville Goddard’s Interpretation of Scripture:

“Things have no reality other than in consciousness.

Therefore, get the consciousness first and the thing is compelled to appear.”

Please re-read those lines slowly, giving yourself time to absorb their import. To assimilate the content of these sentences, we’re going to have to unlearn most–if not all–of what we’ve been told about the very nature of “reality.” This doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a process, during which we realize that the materialist paradigm of reality is false. As Paramahansa Yogananda shared in The Law of Success: “Mind is the creator of everything.” The only non-thing that’s required to have an apparent experience is CONSCIOUSNESS. That is, in fact, our essential nature.

The True “YOU” is not made of flesh and bones. Your “person” is created by the mind. Due to confusion and conditioning, the vast majority of beings believe they’re the “person” that awakens to reality when they rise in the morning. What actually occurs is that we enter the waking-state dream. Our essential nature is consciousness, (aka Spirit); we are dreaming our human experience right now. This means that we must BE whatever we desire first before it can manifest in our apparent “reality.” I’ll add a little weight to this article by sharing the following quote from Plutarch, who was a Greek Platonist, philosopher, biographer, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi:

“What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”

Our society has conditioned us to believe that we are the “person.” It has also programmed us to believe that hard work and sacrifice is the secret to the generation of wealth. That is a fallacy; we “are” wealth, itself, due to our divine heritage. To truly know this changes everything. Perhaps now you can understand why Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill includes the following quote:

“If you are one of those people who believe that hard work and honesty alone will bring riches–perish the thought; because it’s not true. Riches, when they come in huge quantities, are never the result of hard work.”

***

This, my dear friends, is the key to deeper understanding; a key that will help you manifest more of your goals with greater ease and effectiveness. Your way toward manifesting your dream life will also go more smoothly when you select a goal that not only serves your best interests but also the betterment of humanity.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2021 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones), press here. My YouTube videos can be found at Think2wice@I-Am-Aware. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. “Thank You” & “Note to Publishers” 🙏🏻🧡

Whispers of “I Am”

Joe Burton’s awakening to true Self came suddenly, as did Eckhart Tolle’s at the age of twenty-nine. One day, while he was sitting upon a bench at a local park, he heard The Voice silently state the following words:

***

“Come back,” whispered The Voice, “you’ve strayed too far. Given the programming that bombards you in the earthly realm, your ignorance of true Self is understandable; but when you remain asleep to your essential nature, you suffer such a steep price. When you’re searching for Truth, trust neither the appearance of things nor the egoic voice that blares its bombastic messages of self interest. Neither are YOU. Turn back; come home. I Am patiently awaiting your return.

“You see, dear child, you have been dreaming; but you’ve been unaware that such is the case. Contrary to what you’ve been conditioned to believe, it is impossible to actually be the body-mind. Although you and My world appear physical, they are purely mental. You and your circumstances are a projection of mind. When you arise in the morning, you assume that you walk, talk, and perform actions autonomously; but this is due to the power of Maya (illusion). In Truth, it is only through I that you live and move and have your being.

“That which is your true Self is changeless and eternal. The same cannot be stated of your body or mind, for they are ever changeful. If you contemplate the subject even briefly, you will understand that you cannot possibly be the same person you believed yourself to be at five, twenty-five, or fifty? Has not your personality and body changed dramatically through time? It is only here, as the gloriously abundant Here and Now of I Am That I Am, that you are stable; all else is a fleeting and unstable fabrication of the mind.

“When you are knowingly unaware of your true nature, you believe yourself to be the name and form that appears before you, as you. When you awaken to true Self, you realize you are I Am and, thus, knowingly become the Christ. You realize, as did Jesus, that the Father and I are One. Expressed in your modern-day language, you realize that everything, including your body-mind, is created via, and known by, Consciousness. You might also call It the Unified Field of Being. Be not caught up in the meaning of the words. What is important is this: In the begining there was only One; logically, therefore, all that descends from One must be of Oneness. How could it ever be other? In Truth, there is no other. My nature is your nature; your nature is mine. We are One, and we are eternal. As I am the Alpha and Omega of all that ever was, is, and will be, so, therefore, are you.”

***

Have you, dear readers, had enough of existing in the shadow land of your true nature? Do you have an intuitive feeling that there is so much more to YOU? If so, you might begin earnest investigation by asking “Who Am I–really?”

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2021 – R. Arthur Russell

P.S. Please share this article if you enjoyed it. If you’d like to view my latest book (This Taste of Flesh and Bones–released September 8, 2020), press here. May it help you in your spiritual journey. 🙏🤍

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”