Affording Grace

One night, Timothy Cares-Andwoes fell asleep. In the dream that followed, he found himself standing in the presence of the Lord of his Being, his true Self. He couldn’t see the Lord, but he sensed that he was amidst tremendous Power; the kind that creates galaxies and bumblebees with equal ease.

“Dear Lord,” he asked, “I have a question I’d like to ask, if you don’t mind.”

“Certainly,” came the reply. “Go ahead.”

“As you know, I have lived less than a perfect life. There have been mistakes, errors in judgment, and times when I acted without thinking.”

“And your question?” asked the calm voice.

Timothy shifted back and forth, searching for words. Finally, he said, “What must I do to receive Your grace?”

“You mean as a pardon?” asked the Lord, with a puzzled sounding voice.

“Yes, my Lord. How can I make it right with You?”

“Oh, my dear, dear child,” replied the Lord. “There’s nothing to forgive. When I look upon you, I look with my heart. How could I wish anything for you but joy?”

“You mean that I don’t have to pay a penance?”

“No,” said the Lord. “My system is rigged. Because I never condemn you, there’s never anything to forgive. All that I Am “is” Love; thus, all that I have for you is Love. When you, yourself, stop carrying your cares and woes about a non-existent past and an imaginary future, you’ll find that you’re standing in the glory of the Holy Now. Resist nothing, my child. It’s only because you resist what is that you create suffering.”

Timothy was struck dumb with the Lord’s revelation. Tears of welcome relief were welling in his eyes when he heard the Lord speak to him again.

“Do you mind if I ask you a question?” said the Lord.

“Uh, uh,” said Timothy, wiping a tear from his eye, “please, go ahead.”

“Where on Earth did you get that surname?”

“Oh, that,” said Timothy. “I never did like it. This guy named Art Russell gave it to me.”

“You might want to see about changing it,” said the Lord; and with that Timothy wakened from his dream.

***

Dear Readers: Prior to the mind’s interpretation, life just is what it “is.” It’s the ego (which is only the idea of yourself, not the real YOU) that creates the narrative related to suffering. I offer that we should strive to hold high ideals and live by the Golden Rule; but avoid the voice of the ego, as it can lead us astray. If your mind is attempting to kick you around like a damned soccer ball, it’s worth remembering that your essential nature is Love, Itself. As you descend from Love, how can the real “You” be anything else? (For those seeking a deeper dimension of Self, you may find my short YouTube video entitled “Finding Your Way Home” interesting.)

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

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” 🙏🏻🧡

The Whole Enchilada

The expression that serves as the title of this article implies wholeness and integrity. Nothing is lacking. I’m using the expression to refer to the “knowing” that we experience when we recognize the Truth of our essential nature. To “become” a knower of true Self is unmistakable because it’s incomparable. Anything less is just spice and sauce–a poor imitation.

Why, though, is knowing it so important? Because at some point, most persons will become dissatisfied with life as it is. I’m not being negative or pessimistic; it’s just an inherent part of the shifting sands of the human experience. The historical Buddha called it Dukkha. In spite of having good health, great relationships, and adequate wealth, many feel that something (not a thing) seems missing. No matter how great our efforts, the results that we achieve give rise to only temporary happiness. This is when many individuals embark upon a spiritual journey of discovery.

When we begin our spiritual investigation we may initially feel fulfilled by visiting distant ashrams, temples, or cathedrals. We may enjoy studying scriptures or listening to gurus, rabbis, ministers, or priests share their knowledge. The practice of meditation or daily prayers may also seem new and exciting. For a while, the disruptive narrative of the ego may decrease or briefly stop; but seekers often discover that even this new spiritual activity also loses its thrill. Still, something seems to be lacking.

The solution may arise in an unexpected way. In deep sleep, we have intimate experience of the peace that’s inherent with Being our essential Self; for in that placeless place, we know nothing of a world, space-time, or the challenges that are associated with the perspective of the false self. When we merge again with the waking state (erroneously assumed to be daily reality), we may find ourselves in the same happiness quandary. Perhaps the following content from Who Am I?, by Sri Ramana Maharshi (who awakened suddenly to his true self at the age of sixteen) will be helpful:

5. [Seeker] Will there not be realization of the Self even while the world is there (taken to be real)?

[SRM] There will not be.

6. [Seeker] Why?

[SRM] The seer and the object seen are like the rope and the snake. Just as the knowledge of the rope which is the substratum will not arise unless the false knowledge of the illusory serpent goes, so the realization of the Self which is the substratum will not be gained unless the belief that the world is real is removed. Note: The reference to the rope and snake is related to a story in which a monk was once greatly frightened because he erroneously believed a rope to be a snake. It’s an allegory for the human condition. When we erroneously believe ourselves to be the “person,” we suffer.

Enlightenment means to be freed “from” the tyranny of the conceptual “person” who’s dissatisfied with the human experience, not “as” the person. An illusory character can’t possibly become enlightened because it doesn’t actually “exist.” If we’re still carrying the burdensome perspective of our personal John or Jane Doe, we haven’t yet knowingly experienced The Whole Enchilada. (If you doubt that this can be true, I believe that you’ll find the information within my YouTube video entitled “Pointers to Self & Power” interesting.)

With heartfelt regards,

Art

This Is My Father’s World

Please note: (In this article, I’m using the title of a well-known hymn to share some information that I hope will be helpful. The term “Father” isn’t intended to be gender biased. Both masculine and feminine qualities arise within the Creator or we wouldn’t have them to express.)

***

According to online sources, the hymn referred to in the title was written by Maltbie Davenport Babcock, who was a minister in Lockport, New York. It’s been reported that when he was leaving for scenic walks which he enjoyed, he would tell his wife, “I’m going out to see the Father’s world.” I offer the first stanza of his famous hymn, which was published several years after his death:

This is my Father’s world,
And to my list’ning ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

What I’m suggesting is that Mr. Babcock’s claim about this being “the Father’s” world is neither a belief system to be adopted, nor a sentimental perspective; it’s literally true. We’ve been conditioned to believe that objects, including the world, have discrete independent “existence” in space-time. To experience this as being God’s world requires a shift in the way that we interpret information from our senses. Regarding the nature of the reality in which we find ourselves, I offer that this “world” is a moment-to-moment process within God’s Infinite Living Mind, rather than a static “thing.” Let’s deepen our investigation:

When we fall asleep at night, our mind merges with one of an infinite number of dream states. For this example, let’s imagine that we’re sailing over a vast ocean. We can see the surrounding water, feel the surging waves, and smell the salty sea air. In the dream, we travel for three weeks, through a variety of sailing conditions. It feels as real as real can be. When we awaken in the morning, however, we realize that the sailboat, ocean, entirety of the three-week trip, and our character’s viewpoint were all made of Consciousness. No one would ever claim that they existed as “material” things.

Back in waking-state (daily life) “reality,” we assume that we exist as persons in a world made of “matter.” For the purposes of this article (which is to help Beings recognize their true Self), it’s worth knowing that in 1911, Ernest Rutherford discovered that atoms, which were previously thought to be the foundation of “matter” and thus, a material world, were mostly empty space. His results were published in a paper that’s informally referred to as “The Nuclear Model of the Atom.” Science would later discover that atoms are actually 99.999% empty space.

To support this, please contemplate the following spiritual information from Acts 17:28: “For in him we live, and move, and have our being.” What, though, is the “him,” to which the verse refers? I suggest that “him” refers to God, or Infinite Consciousness. It explains why the “world” and everything we experience within it, including our own body-mind, belongs to Him. This is the point at which a shift in perception and perspective allows us to shake hands, so to speak, with Mr. Babcock and his view of the world; of “going out to see the Father’s world.” Through enlightenment, or awakening to our true Self, we realize that the “world” in which we rise and shine is made of Consciousness. Such means that we, in fact, are God’s spiritual children.

“But wait a second,” you might be thinking, “that would require me to accept that I (in human form) am living within God’s dream.” Yes. In Genesis 1:3, it’s stated: “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” God’s living dream of humankind on Earth began (in Mind) and continues; with G-O-D smack dab in the Center “as” the Center. We’re of that very nature. How could we not “Be” that from which we descended? Such also means that everyone, and everything, with whom we interact is holy and divine; whether we have realized such or not. (In addition: I believe that you’ll find even the first five minutes of this video about Schopenhauer’s view of the world helpful.)

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Your Mission: Found

Back by popular demand (okay, that might be stretching the truth just a little), I offer you my rendition of Mission I Am Possible. Press here to play it. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to re-cognize (know again) That which you are. With that in mind, I offer the following:

Maxwell Planck, the German theoretical physicist, is attributed with this quote: “I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.” This is easier to understand through the analogy of our nighttime dreams. All of the objects, events, and persons are made of Mind, which is Consciousness in motion. No one would claim that they exist beyond the mind that perceives them.

In Why Materialism Is Baloney, by Bernardo Kastrup, who’s a noted philosopher, author, and computer scientist, he wrote: “Experience is all there is. The world, as we know it, is a representation in consciousness.”

In John 1:3, it’s stated: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” In this verse, “him” refers to God. I suggest that God is Consciousness, or Awareness of Being.

In Acts 17:28, it’s stated: “‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” All of the characters and events within a nighttime dream “exist” only within Consciousness.

In John 8:58, it’s stated: “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” I humbly suggest that He wasn’t saying that “I, Jesus” was before Abraham. He meant that “I Am” is the substratum from which everything arises.

In Isaiah 45:5: it’s stated: “I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me.” I offer that to “not acknowledge me” refers to being ignorant (unaware) of the Source of our Being.

***

In Ego-land, aka Earth, most “persons” see things very differently. When asked who they are, most will likely reply that “I am…name, age, form, gender, race, nationality, status, etcetera.” But words are merely terms, or conceptual structures, that refer to something else. Thus, we realize that all of the words with which we define or describe ourselves can’t possibly “BE” what we are. The question–“Who, or What, are we?”–then begs to be asked.

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which illustrates the story of a son (child of God) who requests his inheritance early and goes to a foreign land where he spends it wastefully, it’s told that the son finally becomes weary of his struggle in the world and returns to his Father. In Luke 15:24, the following is shared: “For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” Consciousness, which forfeits knowledge of Itself to take an apparently human journey, celebrates when It awakens to Its essential nature.

Could it be that we are Consciousness, the ground of all Being, masquerading as form in the dream of human life? Could it also be that we’re “found” when we know our essential nature as Spirit? That’s for you to question and only You to know.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Shaking The Maya Tree

If we shook a tree that was full of ripe oranges, we would–quite logically–expect to see oranges fall to the ground. Likewise, if we shook a tree that was loaded with ripe apples, we would see apples fall. To expect something other than the fruit of each tree (perhaps, coffee cups or lollipops) would be insane. With regard to the title of this article, I’m going out on a limb by stating that all that falls when the Maya (Sanskrit, loosely translated as illusion) Tree shakes is illusory in nature. The fruit of Maya is transient, changeful, and only relatively “real.” It could appropriately be called dreaming.

To transition from the view (subscribed to by the masses) that “reality” is only defined by what appears via our senses is not an easy task; and to be honest, only those rare Beings who are, indeed, ripe with curiosity for Truth will be willing to earnestly investigate their deeper nature. Until the dream of life turns challenging or outright nightmarish, it’s highly unlikely that individuals will question their blind assumptions about the nature of their identity. To take a figurative step in the direction of Truth, it will help if you know the following:

When Sri Ramana Maharshi (a realized sage) was questioned about the difference between Dream State and the Waking State (referred to as “reality” by the masses), he replied, “Waking is long and dream short; other than this there is no difference. Just as waking happenings seem real while awake, so do those in a dream while dreaming.”
From The Law of Success by Paramahansa Yogananda: “Mind is the creator of everything.” You might think of this as the shaking of the Maya Tree. Please note that he stated that “everything” is created by mind.
From The Wish Fulfilled, by Neville Goddard: “This world, which seems so real, is as much a dream as the dreams we encounter while sleeping.”
From The Final Truth, by Ramesh S. Balsekar: “All that appears is mind-stuff of which all dreams are made.”
From Man’s Eternal Quest, by Paramahansa Yogananda: “Live in the consciousness of Spirit, in that oneness with God wherein you know that life is a dream.”
From Before I Am, by Mooji: “World is not. You, me, and all else that you see within and without are unreal; they do not exist independent of yourself. The world you inhabit is created inside your own mind. It is all a dreaming.”
From my blog, more proof is offered through this article, entitled “Notes from Beyond.”
From William Blake: “As man is, so he sees.”
And finally, a photo passage from Open Secret, by Wei Wu Wei:

What’s the benefit of knowing this information? If your “life story” is ticking along fine, you’re most likely not reading this article. You’ll be apparently slaying dragons in the business world, or flying to your island home in your personal jet. However, if you’re finding that your story has run full speed into a brick wall, it may help to know that what you have previously assumed to be material “reality” isn’t, indeed, real in the way you’ve assumed. It’s the fruit of the Maya tree; which appears when the mind’s ability to perceive via the senses is functioning. The so-called real world recedes from waking state to dream state (a more ephemeral dream world), and is totally absent in deep sleep, which is without objects, time, and space.

The real Self is That by which the apparent world is co-created and known. So what of “us” is real–for it certainly seems that we exist? Consciousness–independent of form. Please contemplate this: Can anything be known in the absence of Consciousness? If you believe this possible, how could such ever be proven? Is that not like trying to know if the refrigerator light remains “on” when the door is closed? A tree in the forest that supposedly falls unwitnessed, neither exists, falls, or makes a sound; for such requires an observer to co-create the event and report its occurrence.

We are Divine Spirit, dreaming our character’s role of personhood. To know this now, while living, means that one is jivanmukta. If you’re tired of suffering the world of form, please join me on the other side of the bridge. The view is beautiful and eternal. You’re not who you think you are–never have been. You can only be what you are in reality—Spirit.

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Invitation to Play

Please join me, if you will, on a journey of remembering the feeling of days when our spirit sang with freedom; when we were happily unaware of mind chores that claim they must be done; when the words yesterday and tomorrow held no meaning. “Such” is still alive within us.

During the next few hours, you’re invited to:

Withdraw from all news media; in spite of being fearful of being struck ignorant or uncaring.
Write a list of 12.279 things that must be absolutely right before you will enjoy life. Prove the list wrong by literally or figuratively burning it.
Drop the seeming importance of your medals, trophies, formal education, resumé, and achievements. Ask, “Are they?” Ask the same of your so-called failures.
Imagine how a child feels upon meeting a new friend.
Listen carefully to children playing. As you overhear them rant and complain, make a list of their sorrowful woes about the economy or state of the world.
Glance at your “To-Do” list of chores demanding attention; then just as quickly turn away.
Drop all of your mind stories related to “I did this” and “He/she did that.”
Close your eyes and follow your breath into an inner world of wonder. Return as awareness, carrying the sense of wonder with you.
Remove the stain related to “life will be better when” by asking if “when” ever arrives.
Take off your ego’s muddy galoshes, and run bare foot.
Acknowledge the Divine Power that’s beating your heart. Bow your head and whisper “Thank you.”
Pack a picnic (however meager) and dine at a new location, in the glorious fullness of Now.
Look upon everyone (the young and the seeming old) as a child of the Creator. They are.
For sixty seconds, feel your heart’s warm unity of Oneness with All. Repeat.
Count your “haves,” instead of your “wants.”
Be with your hands as they slowly open and close. Can you feel the miracle?
Through awareness, Be peace, here and now. Silently say “hush” if the mind attempts to intrude.
Give.
Love.
Be grateful.

Through awareness, we may reignite so much of the joy that we felt as children. This world, Life, needn’t seem like such a bothersome chore. We don’t have to manage it, change it, or define it according to the mind’s perspective. Wonder, amusement, and excitement are waiting to be born into experience through Presence.

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

The Fraud Called “Death”

The title of this article isn’t intended as click bait, nor am I attempting to instill a belief system about death. I’m employing the title because it relates to my direct experience of life, itself. Let’s begin with the following stanza from The Psalm of Life, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

So, Mr. Russell, “How can you possibly claim that death is a fraud, especially when we see evidence of it on a daily basis?” If that’s what you’re thinking, please know that I “hear” and respect you. Out of love, I humbly offer the following: I’m not denying that bodies die–obviously, they do. Anything that has an apparent beginning will also have an apparent end. To make sense of the information I’m sharing, it requires that we investigate the essential nature of our “Being”…beyond the superficial assumptions that we’ve been conditioned to accept as true. If we believe (as the majority do) that the sum of all that we are is contained within the body-mind, this article may not only seem insensitive, but also the product of a delusional mind.

Our investigation of our “I”-ness (that sense of “me” which knows our experience) requires that we challenge a collective set of beliefs to which the masses currently subscribe. You may or may not realize that Science can’t explain how biological processes give rise to consciousness. Why? Because Consciousness doesn’t arise from them. Science also states that matter, as conceived by humankind, has no independent existence–it’s actually rendered by the mind. In 1911, Ernest Rutherford proved that atoms, which were once believed to be the foundational “stuff” from which things were made, are actually 99.999% empty space. The following quote from Max Planck, a great theoretical physicist, adds to this understanding:

“I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.”

The key to understanding more about the nature of death is by knowing more about the “reality” in which we apparently live. We never perceive a discrete “world.” We perceive perception–in a similar way that we perceive a “world” in our nighttime dreams. Could it also be, therefore, that the waking-state “world” is made of the same dream stuff? In Who Am I?, the following question was asked of Sri Ramana Maharshi (a realized sage who awakened to his true nature at sixteen):

Are you daring enough to challenge the current interpretation of “reality?” Could Consciousness, indeed, be fundamental and Universal? Is it not true that before you can have any experience that Consciousness must be present? To lend credibility to the information I’m sharing, I offer the following five quotes, which I’ve collected during years of reading:

(From I Am That, Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj):

(From Open Secret, by Wei Wu Wei):

(From The Abundance Book, by John Randolph Price):

(From The Physics of Consciousness, by Ivan Antic):

(From A Course in Miracles, by Helen Schucman):

Several years ago, I remember reading the following: “We’re not human beings having an occasional spiritual experience; we’re spiritual beings having occasional human experiences.” I actually scoffed at the idea; but such only revealed my own lack of understanding. Could this explain why ancient Grecians inscribed “Know Thyself” on the frontispiece of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi? Yes, most certainly.

To have any experience–of a world, a cup of coffee, or our body-mind–awareness must be present. How else could anything be known? The linchpin of our Being is Awareness. We are That in which the body and the mind appear. Yes, the body dies; but we never were what appeared. We are That which can’t be known via the senses. Buddha referred to It as emptiness. This dramatic change in the way of interpreting reality is often referred to as The Shift.

The body-mind arises out of Consciousness. Through misidentification (which is still being preached by those who believe in a materialist model of the world), we–Spirit–are relentlessly conditioned to believe that we are nothing more than name and form. We are so much more! We are Awareness, having an apparently human experience. It’s impossible to be separated from That which we actually are. It’s why Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj stated:

“You can only be what you are in reality. You can only appear to be what you are not.”

I support this through the following verses from the Bible:

(Psalm 46:10):

“Be still, and know that I am God:

I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

(Isaiah 45:5):

“I am the Lord, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God.”

Consciousness is the only reality. There’s only one “I Am.”

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

I Am That I Am

The following quote from I Am That is attributed to Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:

“We do not wake up into a really waking state. In the waking state, the world emerges due to ignorance and takes one into a waking-state dream. Both sleep and waking are misnomers. We are only dreaming. True waking and true sleeping only the gnani [realized one, sage] knows. We dream that we are awake, we dream that we are asleep. The three states are only varieties of the dream state. Treating everything as a dream liberates. As long as you give reality to dreams, you are their slave.”

***

The Bible advises us not to judge by appearances. Now, science is confirming what saints, sages, and ancient spiritual masters have known about the nature of “matter.” As a way of demonstrating a deeper level of reality, I offer this short video, filmed on November 6, 2025:

If you’d like to learn more about cloud bursting, I explain more in this related video.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Choices from “I Am” Now

Hello Everyone,

Please step out of time and join me–here and now–in the glorious beauty of our true nature. We are so much more than the person we “think” we are. I offer you my latest video:

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

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. My YouTube videos may be found through this link. May the content of either or both help you along your spiritual journey. 🙏🏻🧡

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

We Needn’t Suffer Our “Person”

Hello Everyone,

In an effort to lessen suffering related to confusion about our true nature, I offer my latest YouTube video.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Think2wice

CONSCIOUSNESS, SPIRITUALITY, & LAW OF ATTRACTION

Category: God

Affording Grace

The Whole Enchilada

This Is My Father’s World

Your Mission: Found

Shaking The Maya Tree

Invitation to Play

The Fraud Called “Death”

I Am That I Am

Choices from “I Am” Now

We Needn’t Suffer Our “Person”

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