Neighbour Blues & Good News

It was Gwen’s fourth night in her new apartment. At forty-six, she was starting over; her divorce papers had been signed only a month prior. The pace of unpacking had slowed; and now, with some favourite knick knacks in place, her living space was beginning to feel like home. A smile lit its way across her face as she surveyed her efforts. At quarter to midnight, she climbed into bed; eager for a good night’s sleep. She felt tired but content. All seemed right in her world until she heard of the strident voice of her neighbour Harriet (who she had met briefly the previous day) explode in an uncontrollable tirade. “Get the f#%k out!” Harriet screamed. “Get out, you f#u%ng loser–NOW!” She was a spigget of profanity turned on full force. A fearful thought spiked into Gwen’s mentality as she pulled the covers higher: “Oh, dear God, have I just traded one hell for another?”

For the next half hour, Gwen was tossed by fearful thoughts as Harriet subjected anyone within earshot to her continuing explosion of anger. Harriet was demanding that a woman who was visiting must leave; but the woman, who was also screaming profane replies, refused to leave. Admidst the turmoil, Gwen came very close to notifying the superintendent or the police. However, she finally found peace–even during the event–when the following thought entered her mind:

“Persons who appear most unlovable actually need our love the most.”

With that anchor of understanding, Gwen gradually found her own fearful thoughts being crowded out by feelings of loving compassion. “No one in their right mind would deliberately choose to live this way?” she said to herself silently. “What inner fears are driving this release of pent up energy? What kind of hellish environment must Harriet have been raised in, or exposed to, to give rise to such behaviour?” As the noise from the apartment beneath her lessened in intensity and frequency, Gwen was finally able to fall asleep.

***

Dear Readers: Attempting to ensure that home “without” always remains peaceful is a losing battle; for our outer environment is subject to ever-shifting circumstances. It’s only when we recognize home “within,” (that placeless place beyond name and form) that we realize the peace that passes all understanding.

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”

In Him We Live

The following verse from Acts 17:28 may leave many of us scratching our head; especially if we interpret it thorugh the materialism perspective of reality: “For in him we live and move and have our being.” The “Him” (God) referred to often seems missing in action, and our logic begs the question: “If God is real, where is He/She/It? That we are puzzled by the verse, or write it off as complete insanity, is due to ignorance of our essential nature. The situation is made worse because we are unaware that we’re unaware.

During our waking-state reality, we believe with absolute certainty that we are persons living in a world made of matter. Our challenges appear very real; as do our triumphs. We mourn the passing of a dear friend; and we are joyous to receive a promotion. Due to our conditioning, we assume that we are persons and, thus, the doers of actions. In time, this often leads to feelings of pride or guilt.

The verse is easier to understand when it’s contemplated in relation to dreams within the dream state. Such dreams (which may include people, events, and circumstances that seem absolutely real during the dream) are assumed to arise within the brain of the person; but this is erroneous. They occur within Consciousness. The evil person who chased us, and the lovely person who invited us for tea, were both made of Consciousness, by Consciousness. It becomes obvious that any apparent matter must have been rendered by the mind.

If we replace “Him” in the above passage with “Consciousness,” we realize that the dream characters did, in fact, live and move and have their being in Him. This is completely logical. When we apply that template of understanding toward our experience within the waking state, the light of greater awareness shines more brightly within us. Through direct experience, we may awaken from our delusional belief of being the person and realize that the experience of our body-mind within an apparent world is also occurring within Consciousness. As we stabilize in Truth, the sense of doership lessens; and we realize that Infinite Living Mind is the doer of all actions and events.

As shocking as this may be, our so-called human lives are being dreamed in their entirety—including the writing of this article! We are characters of Consciousness who live and move and have our being in Him—God. Our ego (which is only a repetitive thought related to a conceptual person) will strongly rebel against this information; for its psychic realness is based upon the assumption that it lives of its own accord. Such is a falsity that creates tremendous suffering within Consciousness. The good news is that when that which is false (the ego) is crucified, the Truth of our being is recognized as Life eternal. We are made of the very God that many deny.

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” 🙏🏻🧡

Eavesdropping on God

Not once upon a dead time in history, but continuously in the living here and now, I, God, create and recreate the apparent world and all objects, events, and persons contained therein. I Am the immanent and transcendent Mystery; the Creator of all that is, was, and ever will be. It is written in the Gospel of Thomas, “Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find me there.” As I am omnipresent; nowhere am I not. I Am the alpha and the omega; for everything known begins with Me and ends in Me. It could be no other way; for I Am all that IS.

Due to confusion and innocent ignorance about your essential nature, humans continue to assume that they are the source of their own being. This mental story has spread like wildfire and burned its falsity into the human psyche. This erroneous perspective is based upon illusion and gives rise to suffering. Only through I do you live; for I Am Life, Itself. That humans live is the very proof that I Am.

Distracted by the apparently outer world, the majority of humans spend their life struggling against challenges which, they, themselves are creating. Like spiders, they unwittingly spin thought-webs that promise happiness for a false self in a future that doesn’t exist. Feeling lost and alone, they’re unaware of My divine inner Kingdom, which may be discovered by turning their attention within. There, I, the Light of their very Being, lie waiting to be recognized. We are One in quality and nature, varying only in degree. It’s true that I will never leave you; for I Am in you, and you are in Me.

Please hear this: Your soul reason for living is to come to recognize your true origin and, thus, experience life more abundantly. This cannot possibly occur until you realize That which you truly are. It’s time to cast aside your identification with the false self and recognize the eternal dimension of “I Am” within. The Truth will, indeed, set your free. To know this is to live in peace and harmony.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Yogananda’s Diving Board

Paramahansa Yoganda was a famous yogi who brought knowledge about meditation and Kriya Yoga to the west. He also wrote many fine books about our essential nature; including Autobiography of a Yogi and Man’s Eternal Quest. Please stand with me, if you will, on the following quote from the latter. We’re going to springboard from it into deeper spiritual water:

Sssplaasshh! Please just catch your breath and tread water alongside me as we contemplate the meaning of his quote. If what Paramahansa Yogananda expressed is true (and it “is“), that would mean:

About the contents of “my” life:

Yes, it’s all occurring within a dream.

***

About the belief that I’m the body-mind:

Yes, it means that I can’t possibly “be” the person.

***

About the nature of the world:

Yes, that it’s only relatively real; an appearance within Consciousness.

***

About being the apparent doer of actions:

Yes, such is impossible. We’re also certain that we’re the doer during nighttime dreams.

***

About all of our worries and cares:

Yes, they relate to an illusory “self” that’s known by “our” name and form.

***

About the nature of space-time:

Yes, it’s not fundamental. It’s rendered via the mind; as is everything else.

***

About my belief that death of the body-mind means the death of “me.”

Yes, it’s totally bogus. We never “were” the body-mind. It’s an appearance within a dream.

***

About God (Consciousness/Awareness) being illusory:

Yes, that God is All there actually is.

***

Now that we’re at the edge of the pool: “Would you like to dive from another quote from Paramahansa Yoganda, or should we grab our towels and call it a day?

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Jean and Jebediah’s B & B

Jean and Jebediah, who had been married for more than half a century, had operated their B & B in the Smokey Hills outside a town named Nowhereyou’dknow for the previous ten years. On this particular night, their only guest (a city slicker by the look of him, named Arthur) had arrived late that afternoon. It was now ten p.m.

Suddenly, Jean whisked into their bedroom and closed the door. “You are never–ever–going to believe what I just accidentally heard our new overnighter say on his cell phone when I was dusting outside his door for a minute or two!”

“Let me get this straight,” said Jebediah, who was propped up in bed, “you were dusting outside his room at this time of night?”

Jean’s face flushed. “My mother always taught me not to put off until tomorrow what you could do today.”

“I see,” said Jeb, with a nod and slow roll of his eyes. “So…spill the beans.”

“Well,” said Jean, as she climbed into bed, “Mr. Russell said that all the world really needs is love and more love. I mean–really! As though that’s going to fix everything!”

A moment passed before Jeb replied. “You know,” he said, “he might have a point.”

“You men–you’re always sticking up for one another!” exclaimed Jean. Exasperated, she pulled up the bedspread and looked idly at the ceiling.

“Speaking of love, “said Jedediah, glancing sideways at Jean, “you know, I’ve always found you very fetching in that plaid flannel nightgown.”

“With a lift of her eyebrows, Jean turned toward him and said, “I think you might be confusing lust with love, right about now.”

“Could be,” said Jebediah, “yes ma’am, could be.” And with that, they turned off the light.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Wisdom of The Ages

Oh, how our ego loves to prattle about its supposed IMPORTANCE. It might be considered a mental faucet without an off position. When it isn’t squawking out loud, it’s most likely still chattering within. Given just a moment of our attention, it will unabashedly steal countless years. The majority of Beings may, in fact, sleepwalk through the mist of Maya for lifetimes before awakening to Truth. Such was certainly the case for “me.”

If “Art” were permitted to tell the story of his life, it’s a sure bet that he would inform us of his apparent birth in 1958 and that he was raised with two lovely sisters by loving parents. There’s a high probability, that he would then sprinkle his history with several “i-did-this” accounts of special events; followed by a pinch here about his status, achievements, travels, and education (which would, of course, be quite impressive) and a dash there about his failures (which most egos prefer to downplay). The remaining hours of Art’s dissertation about himself would be filled with a whole lot of yada yada about nothing. We can be grateful that free packets of anti-nausea tablets, bowls of sedatives, and (for those experiencing more severe reactions) hang nooses would be available upon a nearby table.

To help us gain clarity about our essential nature (which is Spirit, aka Consciousness), I offer the following passage from a book entitled The Lankavatara Sutra. It reveals wisdom that was shared by the historical Buddha about the very nature of so-called “reality:”

“All that is seen in the world is devoid of effort and action because all things in the world are like a dream, or like an image miraculously projected. This is not comprehended by the philosophers and the ignorant, but those who thus see things see them truthfully.”

To understand the full meaning of this passage requires that our ego be transcended by the knowing recognition of the Truth of our essential nature. No apparent “thing” (including our body-mind, aka the person) has existence independent of the mind that perceives it. What this means is that our body-mind and the apparent “world” arise together. From the spiritual classic entitled I Am That, I also offer the following wisdom as expressed by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj:

“Realisation is but the opposite of ignorance. To take the world as real and one’s Self as unreal is ignorance, the cause of sorrow. To know the Self as the only reality and all else as temporal and transient is freedom, peace and joy. “

We are given another valuable pointer through the verse from John 10:30, attributed to Jesus:

“I and my Father are one.”

How can this be the case? Because the Consciousness that knows the finite experience of the “person” is actually Universal Consciousness (God)–not a limited consciousness, which is assumed to arise from neuronal processes of the body-mind.

Ramesh S. Balsekar also possessed a profound understanding of our essential nature and the apparent world. In The Final Truth, he stated the following:

“The universe is a mere appearance and the ego-sense is a mere concept.”

Here’s the bottom line of this article: Our body-mind and the apparent world arise together, in much the same manner as the contents of dreams arise in the dream state. Most Beings have been conditioned to believe that they are the ego, which is actually non-existent. It is, in fact, only a repetitive “i”-thought. I prefer to be as I Am, eternally here and now. One way liberates; the other way leads straight to a whole lot of yada, yada, yada.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Trading Beans

The Grade One lunch break was extra special for Harry and Harriet because they liked to inspect each other’s lunch pail and trade food items–or not. A glance was usually enough to tell. To be considered a fair deal, the swap had to be mutually beneficial. Harriet’s parents often packed her a bun with turkey and cheese, which was Harry’s favourite; and Harry’s parents often packed him a clementine, which was Harriet’s favourite. Most of their trades involved base metal commodities such as cheese wedges, fruit and nut bars, and carrot or celery sticks; but a small bag of chips or a piece of chocolate was as good as gold on the lunch market. On this particular day, they were dining at a small plastic picnic table in the corner of the cafeteria.

“Do you want to try a different type of trade today?” asked Harriet.

“May…be,” said Harry, with a tentative roll of his eyes. “What kind of trade?”

“Instead of trading fruit or sandwiches, today let’s trade our Being.”

“But my parent’s didn’t pack me any beans!” exclaimed Harry.

“Uh, uh,” said Harriet, with a smile. “I said Being.”

“What’s our Being?” asked Harry.

“It’s what we really are,” said Harriet, expressing intuitive wisdom. It’s beyond who we think we are, and beyond how we appear.”

“Okay,” said Harry, with a shrug of his shoulders, “but how do we do it?”

“Here’s my plan,” said Harriet. “We sit facing each other; then we hold out a hand, almost touching the other’s. We close our eyes and go deep inside; and when we feel ready, I send my Being to you, and you send your Being to me.” We touch hands to signal when we’re done, and then we open our eyes.”

A few minutes later, the magical trade was done. When their palms touched, Harry and Harriet opened their eyes and looked at each other with wide-eyed curiosity. “Do you feel any different?” asked Harriet.

“Nope,” said Harry, exploratively patting his chest, “I feel the same.”

A bright smile lighted Harriet’s face. “It’s just like I thought!” she exclaimed. “At our Being we’re One!”

“Does this mean that now I’m going to be as great at soccer as you are, and you’re going to be as good a speller as I am?” asked Harry.

“Uh, uh,” said Harriet, with a toss of her hair, “that’s only surface stuff anyway.”

***

Dear Readers: What the innocent children in this account didn’t realize at the time of the trade is that Harriet’s body-mind is white, and that Harry’s body-mind is dark. They had to be taught the difference. Perhaps we can learn from their example; and more importantly, express their unconditional love.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Song of The Soul

The conditioning that’s prevalent in the majority of western-type societies has created a mythological version of happiness which is very conditional. It’s based upon ignorance of our essential nature and offers an empty promise that’s dependent on the concept related to one simple word–“when.”

Led by the relentless desires of our ego, we conclude that life will be dandy: when I find the love of my life; when we move into our new home; when all of our bills are paid; when the dishes are done; when I complete my first marathon; when we have financed our children’s education; when I receive a pay raise; when I summit another mountain; when my book is published; when I buy another fifty pair of shoes; when I buy another motorcycle/boat/thing; when the economy improves; when so-and-so is elected; when our neighbours behave; when I receive an apology for what he/she did twenty-two years, three months, and two days ago; when it’s Friday; when the weather is just right; when the waiter arrives; when I lose/gain twenty pounds; when I’ve had another three (ten?) beers; when I’m living on the west coast (east coast); when he/she/ loves me; when my bank account has a certain amount of numbers; when my talent is appreciated; when I can bench press a Buick; and last, but not least, when I’m p-e-r-f-e-c-t.

The voice of the ego temptingly proclaims that we will be happy when our desires are fulfilled; but here’s the catch: it’s LYING! The overlooked fact is that Now is all there ever IS. When we attempt to be happy by fulfilling the desires of the time-bound phantom “self,” we ignore the very non-thing whose nature is happiness Itself. Our BEing isn’t dependent on anything to be happy. It rejoices in Life, as Life. It revels in Is-ness. Can you become still here and now and hear the delightful song of your soul?

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Based On Assumption

The quality of our experience within so-called “reality” depends upon one assumption that’s rarely, if everr, questioned. The assumption is this: That apparent “things” have existence apart from the mind in which they are seen. Because of this, we exhibit great confusion about our essential nature (which is Spirit) and the actual substance of the “world” in which we live. Believing our little “i” to be made of flesh and bones, we must assume that it requires a physical world made of “matter” in which to live. To this, I offer the following quote from a law of attraction book entitled The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel:

“All things have their origin in mind, and appearances are the result of thought. So we see that things in themselves have no origin, permanency, or reality. Since they are produced by thought, they can be erased by thought.”

Our instinctive reaction to this will most likely be as follows: “But, I can see myself; I can feel myself; I know that I am real as the body-mind.” At one time, I would have definitely agreed; but I can no longer. Having recognized true Self, I now realize that my body-mind is an appearance within Consciousness only. In spiritual terms, this is sometimes referred to as waking from the delusional belief of personhood. Let’s stoke this spiritual fire through the following quote from Neville Goddard and one of his wonderful books 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.”

Let me be clear: This is not to say that things are not real; only that they are not absolutely real in the way that most readers may currently believe. An apparent person crossing the street who’s struck by a car will still experience an injury and feel pain. The example of a desert mirage is often related; for although we know the mirage is not real (in the absolute sense), it still has an apparent reality within consciousness.

This glorious incarnation is an unparalleled opportunity to truly KNOW THYSELF. To awaken to true Self is to realize that our apparent human life is being lived within the waking state; which the majority of Beings erroneously assume to be foundational reality. Through comparative contemplation, we can realize that apparent matter, buildings, and persons are also experienced within the dream state. It’s obvious, however, that they must be rendered only by the activity of the mind; for there’s nothing other than mind from which they could be made.

With this knowledge, does the well-known placebo effect (in which an inactive ingredient within a pill yields a positive effect) now make more sense? Our beliefs (whether good or bad) that are habitually impressed upon the subconscious mind will be expressed as our apparent circumstances. By understanding more about ourselves, and the way that manifestation, occurs, we can deliberately choose our focus wisely and, thereby, attract the best outcomes possible.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Home in The Heart

Home in The Heart

How lovely

To look upon

You, and you, and you

And recognize true Self shining

Resplendent through all.

Suddenly, the question—“Where do I end

And you begin?—is realized as being absurd;

For the illusion of separateness is shattered

When we see everyone and every thing

As Holiness expressed.

Here, now,

There exist no fences or boundaries between us.

In the stillness of the heart,

Everyone is back home,

Cradled in Love.

– R. Arthur Russell

***

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

“Thank You” & “Note to Publishers”

Think2wice

CONSCIOUSNESS, SPIRITUALITY, & LAW OF ATTRACTION

Category: Non Duality

Neighbour Blues & Good News

In Him We Live

Eavesdropping on God

Yogananda’s Diving Board

Jean and Jebediah’s B & B

Wisdom of The Ages

Trading Beans

Song of The Soul

Based On Assumption

Home in The Heart

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