“Fooled By Your Name”

The title of this article is borrowed from a line in The Book, by Alan Watts, who was a noted British author and expert on Buddhism, Taoism, and theology. The subtitle of his book, On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are, hints of a door to a dimension of Self that most may never be tempted to knock on, let alone open.

Our conceptual “person” can never know lasting peace and joy. It’s like asking an illusion to produce something that’s “real.” But beneath the world of name and form, in which we refer to things by words, there lies the most mysterious of mysteries. Our true Self is prior to the mind; therefore, beyond the scope of definition and comparison. It’s nature is peaceful, singular, and all-pervading; there’s, literally, nowhere that It is not. The key that unlocks the door to this dimension is stillness. When we turn away from sense objects and become still through meditation, it’s possible to “re-cognize” (know again) the very nature of our Being. We discover that we’re not our thoughts; nor our sensations, feelings, or perceptions. These, and everything else, are known by the real You, Awareness. Its nature is pointed at through the following quote from Chapter 25 of the Tao Te Ching:

There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born. It is serene. Empty. Solitary. Unchanging. Infinite. Eternally present. It is the mother of the universe.”

Even a little investigation can reveal invaluable insights. Think: For objects to be known, they must be known by something. True Self is not a thing in the common use of the word; nevertheless, it is present; or, more accurately, Presence. Wherever we are, Consciousness is. It’s impossible to think “I don’t exist” because the very thought requires Consciousness to think it. Our essential nature is That which registers impressions from an apparently external world. It is also Consciousness that registers the name and form of the body-mind that we erroneously believed to be our personal identity.

Why should we care, especially when life seems to be ticking along just fine? For that very reason. The hands of our body-mind’s clock are moving; but we need not wait for the “alarm” of its impending death to recognize true Self. There’s a multitude of benefits that can be realized now; not the least of which is that we are immortal Beings. Our true Self is immune to the human drama; thus, not tainted by suffering and fear. No event, circumstance, or situation can harm it. The Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Lord) points to our true nature through the following quotes:

Weapons cannot cut it, nor can fire burn it; water cannot wet it, nor can wind dry it.”

I am the Self, O Gudakesha [one who has conquered sleep or ignorance], seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle, and the end of all beings.”

Dear Readers: There’s a Source of Love within you that’s waiting to be rediscovered. Due to the veil of forgetfulness that’s required for a “human” journey, we forfeited knowledge of our true nature; but forgetting can never erase That which we truly are. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare summarized a deep truth about names, through a line spoken by Juliet: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The essential You is That sweet fragrance–not the name and form through which true Self expresses Its divine nature. (If you’re curious about learning more, I believe you would find the content of my YouTube video entitled “To The Point: I Am” helpful.)

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – 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 🙏🏻🧡

Awake In The Dream

Simon couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t loved to read. It seemed as though his passion for reading and books was woven into the strands of his DNA. When he was a young boy, the stories of Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island, and The Hardy Boys had transported him into fictional worlds in which he experienced great adventures and solved crimes that puzzled adults. Now, at fifty-two, Simon’s love of reading was as strong as ever. For the last twenty years, his focus had been directed to books about the law of attraction and our spiritual nature.

In the fall of 2017, Simon’s logical mind was not prepared for the revelation that occurred during an evening flight from Toronto to Vancouver. He was in a window seat, reading The Power of Awareness, by Neville Goddard, when a quote leapt like a lion of realization into his awareness. In the depths of his being, beyond the level of his personality, he understood it fully:

However much you seem to be living in a material world, you are actually living in a world of imagination. The outer, physical events of life are the fruit of forgotten blossom-times–results of previous and usually forgotten states of consciousness.”

Simon’s breathing had slowed, so much so that his body inhaled a deep breath to compensate. He had previously read the book at least twice, but the meaning of the words hadn’t registered. This time was different. Consciousness was awakening to Itself. For unknown seconds, he gripped the armrests tightly. When his attention returned to the book, the following quotes lighted up his awareness:

Nothing has existence for man save through the consciousness he has of it.”

***

Your assumption of the wish fulfilled is the ship that carries you over the unknown seas to the fulfillment of your dream.”

***

The present moment is always the most opportune in which to eliminate all unlovely assumptions and to concentrate on only the good.”

***

Simon was staring out the window, at clouds that seemed mystically surreal, when he suddenly heard, “Can I get you anything, sir?” Shaken from thoughts that were vying for his attention, he turned and saw a flight attendant, with her hands on a service cart. “No, thank you,” he said with a faint smile. As he settled again, all of the information that he had read about spirituality and the law of attraction began to make sense. Consciousness, “I Am,” was our true nature; the body-mind, “person,” an appearance. It also explained why the teachings of the law of attraction stated that we could be, do, and have anything we desire. The Bible verse from Mark 11:24 called out to him: “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Soon after, the verse from Romans 12:2 crossed his mind: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

***

Dear Readers: I realize that it doesn’t take a sleuth with Hardy Boy credentials to conclude that Simon is playing the role of “Art.” Although the account is fictional, there are pointers to Truth in the quotes from Neville Goddard. In the case of Art’s story, as he continued to meditate and read books about the law of attraction and our spiritual nature, I, Awareness, awakened in the dream of life. This means that I knew my Self as the Self; the Dreamer at the foundation of all dreams. To state that this was a surprise is an immense understatement. My interpretation of reality gradually shifted from one based upon physical “matter” to that which is founded in Consciousness only.

For those who are earnest about self inquiry, I ask this: If space-time isn’t fundamental, where is there “room” for discrete persons and objects that stand apart from the mind that perceives them? Do the persons and objects within nighttime dreams truly “exist?” If you’re interested, you might find my YouTube video entitled To The Point: “I Am” helpful.

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – 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 🙏🏻🧡

To The Point: “I Am”

I offer you my latest YouTube video about our essential nature, beyond the name and form of the “person.” There’s a much deeper and richer dimension of True Self.

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – 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 🙏🏻🧡

Mining Gold

The gold referred to in this article isn’t found as shiny nuggets panned from streams; nor is it bound in ore within the Earth. It’s spiritual Gold, and It’s closer than your breath. It’s the most precious non-thing, never found via the senses.

In some spiritual traditions, gold is used as a metaphor for the Source of our Being. We, as humans of various shapes, sizes, and colours, are likened to articles of golden jewelry such as rings, bracelets, and necklaces. Through this analogy, we understand that all of the pieces of jewelry are, essentially, gold. This principle applies to humankind; since at our core, all of us are fashioned from, and known by, Consciousness. In spiritual terms, we refer to It as God (or other reverent names); in scientific terms, we refer to It as the Unified Field; and informally, we refer to It as “I Am.”

To understand our true Self more deeply, it’s important to realize that Consciousness is self aware and that Its nature is creative. Out of the One Spiritual Gold, all of the forms, including the world and our apparent body-minds, are made and known. Logically, therefore, “each” of us must intrinsically be a shining nugget of Gold. As we’re made of It, It’s the one non-thing that can never be stripped from us.

To mine spiritual Gold, no amount of data collecting or soil sampling about our essential nature (books, religious services, spiritual retreats, online presentations) can ever replace leaning into our shovels and digging into the nature of our Being. Daily meditation is the tool with which we recognize the Gold that we are. When the overburden is removed (that which is not our essential nature; i.e., name, form, title, status, nationality, race, etc), the Gold is directly revealed. Please contemplate the similar message that’s uniquely expressed through the following quotes:

"Be still and know that I God."
—Holy Bible, Psalm 46:10

"Surely, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest."
— Qur'an, 13:28

"When the mind, restrained by the practice of meditation, becomes still, one sees the Self through the Self and is satisfied in the Self."
—Bhagavad Gita, 6:20

"Without meditation there is no wisdom; without wisdom there is no meditation. When meditation and wisdom are mutual, one is freed."
—Dhammapada, 372

"And after the fire came a gentle whisper."
—Tanakh, 1 Kings 19:12

"Empty yourself of desire, keep still inside, and the world will arrange itself."
—Tao Te Ching, 16

When God is raised from the depths of our Being to the surface of human interactions everyone’s life is enriched. Our experience is literally transformed. The ego’s selfishness is displaced by God’s selflessness. Base human traits are replaced with the genuine love of the Creator. We can, thus, know and appreciate the Gold that’s shining through the form of “others.” This type of Gold is worth mining, here and now. (If you’re eager to recognize your divine nature, you might find my YouTube video entitled “The Bedrock of Being” helpful.)

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – 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 🙏🏻🧡

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

Copyright © – 2026 – 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 🙏🏻🧡

Ready For A Secret?

When I was in my late teenage years, I was drawn to books such as Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill, and The Power of Your Subconscious Mind, by Joseph Murphy. In my innocence, I thought that the books might help me find my way. At the time, I couldn’t grasp the depth of their content; but I was right about one point: they did (eventually) help me find my way. If you’re seeking solutions, or a better way of living, the information within this article may help. It’s my sincere hope that it will be of service.

The following quotes are from You Too Can Be Prosperous, by Robert A. Russell. To understand their meaning, you must be willing to look at the nature of “reality” in a very different way. What’s Real is so much grander than what you may have previously assumed. I offer my own explanation following each quote:

If your mind is shouting, “No, this world is made of matter;” please know that I hear you. But I can no longer agree. The use of dream analogy makes this quote easier to understand: When you’re having a nighttime dream, all of the persons and objects seem very physical. They seem as real as real can be. But when you merge again with waking-state “reality” of your daily life, you realize that all of the seemingly “material” things were rendered by Consciousness. They only appeared physical within the framework of the dream. The same principle applies here and now. In the same way that your perspective awakens from a nighttime dream, our true Self (Awareness, or Consciousness), can awaken from the waking-state perspective related to our “person.” This isn’t an event that happens to the person, because the person’s perspective is transcended. Through this knowledge, we realize that our habitual thoughts are directly related to the nature of our Earthly experiences: They’re the mental blueprints of coming circumstances.

***

In this quote, Robert A. Russell explains more of what I shared about his first quote. He’s informing us that “things” are appearances within Consciousness, or God; in the same way that objects and people seem to “exist” within nighttime dreams. Our predominant thoughts, especially if imbued with emotion, become apparent things and circumstances. It will help to know that science has been unable to discover discrete independently-existing “matter.” Smaller and smaller bits of apparent “matter” always break down to energy. Atoms, in fact, are considered 99.999% empty space. Do “things” within a nighttime dream “exist” without a witness? Even with a witness? Or are they appearances?

***

This quote is easier to understand if you’ll consider the amazing effects that have been attributed to a placebo; which is basically an inert substance (commonly referred to as a sugar pill) or fake treatment. It is the power of our belief in the treatment that causes it to work; not the treatment, itself. This is what puzzled me as a young man. As I was consciously unaware that I was anything more than the body-mind, I couldn’t understand why changing the nature of my thoughts could possibly make a difference. I, thus, believed that the only avenue to success was education, luck, or hard work. The following quote from Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill will add to your understanding: “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. Riches come if they come at all, in response to definite demands, based upon the application of definite principles, and not by chance or luck.”

***

Every Law of Attraction book that’s worth its purchase price mentions this one main point: We must first have what we desire in Consciousness before it can ever manifest in our apparent “reality.” Can you see why knowing the nature of our “world” is so important? Contrary to common belief, we’re not dealing with a static world that “exists” of its own accord. We’re dealing with God’s Living World, here and now. If God was not, we would not be. In Mark 11:24, the great master Jesus is attributed with sharing the same message:

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

The teachings of the Law of Attraction become quite logical when we know the nature of reality and our true Self. Contrary to what we’ve been conditioned to believe, this world and our apparent Earthly body-mind, are moment-to-moment experiences within Consciousness. I believe my YouTube video entitled “Knowledge About The Law of Attraction” will also be helpful.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – 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 🙏🏻🧡

The Big “Oh”

In the movie entitled When Harry Met Sally, starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal, there’s a famous scene in which Harry and Sally are having a discussion about relationships while sitting at a table in a busy diner. Sally is telling Harry that at one time or another most women have faked an orgasm. Harry doubts that such has ever happened to him—he would know. Sally then goes to great length to demonstrate a fake orgasm that includes tossing hair, hand pounding the table, and cries of “Oh, God, ohhh, God–yes, yess, yesss!” After Sally finishes making her point, Rob Reiner’s mother, Estelle, who plays a character sitting at nearby table, nonchalantly tells her waiter, “I’ll have what she’s having.”

***

Most adults are probably familiar with the type of big “O” referred to by Harry and Sally; but for the purposes of this article I’m going to relate some information about a very different type. It’s the big “Oh” related to our spiritual nature; which by and large goes unrecognized by the masses for a human lifetime.

Since infancy, all of us have programmed to believe that “our” consciousness is personal and arises due to neuronal processes of the brain. This belief is so deeply ingrained within us that the majority never question its validity. We assume that our identity is a combination of sensations, images, feelings, thoughts, and memories related to name, age, gender, race, and nationality, etc. Due to this, we conclude that “we” begin at conception or birth and will, thus, end at death of our body-mind. Upon this common shaky assumption we base our entire life.

What if, however, that such isn’t true? The big “Oh” related to spiritual awakening turns this paradigm of reality on its head. Through enlightenment, we realize that our essential nature is Consciousness, Itself; in which the world and our body-mind arise. For those who claim that such is impossible, it’s worth contemplating the fact that space-time and all of the apparent “material” objects and scenarios within nighttime dreams are rendered by Consciousness. During a dream, situations seem as real as real can be. A brick building within a dream seems to be made of “real” bricks and mortar; but when we, Awareness, merge once again with waking-state “reality,” we realize that the brick building and everything else within the dream were created by mind, which is Consciousness in motion. At that point, we assume that “Earth” is made of matter, not Consciousness. But, is it?

To support the information I’m sharing, I offer Saying 2 (of 114 Sayings attributed to Jesus) from The Gospel of Thomas:

Jesus says: “Let him who seeks cease not to seek until he finds: when he finds he will be astonished; and when he is astonished he will wonder, and will reign over the universe!”

I humbly suggest that the “astonishment” to which Jesus referred isn’t that we’re a person in a material world; but that we, in fact, are the Universal Consciousness, or Spirit, in which our “person” and the world arise. The false self, our person, is nothing but a repetitive “I-thought” that we assume to independently “exist.” Please contemplate the following quote 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.”

This is supported in this quote, from “Why Lazarus Laughed,” by Wei Wu Wei:

Reality alone exists–and that we are. All the rest is only a dream, a dream of the One mind, which is our mind without the “our.”

Our understanding can also deepen through the following quote from The Book of Secrets, by Deepak Chopra:

This embarrassing problem–that there is no way to prove the existence of an outside world–undermines the entire basis of materialism. Thus we arrive at the second spiritual secret: You are not in the world; the world is in you.”

If you would like to experience the big “Oh,” I highly recommend the practice of meditation. Make “time” to sideslip the world of the senses and enter the transcendent Now. In the stillness of Being, it’s possible to realize that you are Spirit, here and now, dreaming a human life. Recognition of true Self is the biggest “Oh” you’ll ever experience. If you’re eager to recognize your essential nature, I offer more information through my following YouTube video entitled “Unchained Love, Our True Nature.” When you knowingly “meet” your true Self, you’ll experience a sense of glory beyond compare.

Dare to dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2026 – 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 🙏🏻🧡

Haanel’s Gift to Us

One of the finest, yet most challenging, books that I discovered during my study of the Law of Attraction is entitled The Master Key System, by Charles F. Haanel. Initially created as a correspondence course in 1912, it was published as a complete book in 1916. It took several readings before I began to understand its content at a deeper level. To spare you some time and effort, I’ll share a few of its golden-nugget quotes:

***

The world without is a reflection of the world within. What appears without is what has been found within.”

***

There is but one consciousness in the universe able to think, and when it thinks, its thoughts become objective things to it.”

***

We live in a fathomles sea of plastic mind substance. This substance is ever alive and active. It is sensitive to the highest degree. It takes form according to the mental demand. Thought forms the mold or matrix from which the substance expresses.”

***

The world within is the cause, the world without the effect; to change the effect you must change the cause.”

***

The law is that thought will manifest itself in form.”

***

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

***

It is the few who know that the things which they see are only effects, and understand the causes by which these things were brought into existence.”

***

As you can tell by the qutoes, the “world” that Haanel was describing isn’t “material” in nature. It’s a world that’s made of, and rendered by, Consciousness. This can be known through enlightenment, which means to awaken from the dream of personhood. Such explains why changing the nature of our feeling-imbued thoughts can alter our personal “reality.” It’s the “key” to which he referred. If that seems puzzling to you, reading more of my articles or The Master Key System in full will help to make it clear.

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 🙏🏻🧡

Theo McFacts

Theo McFacts was forty-four going on ninety four, with a spirit so mired in body-mind debris that he seemed more dead than alive. His perspective was almost always buried in the dank grave of his current circumstances and personal life story. If asked to tell of the last time he really felt joy, he would have been hard-pressed to offer an answer.

The point of sharing this information about Theo isn’t to ridicule him. The point is that without being aware of it, Theo had developed the unconscious habit of arguing for his “I-can’t” attitude. If he had been a defense lawyer, he would have won every case! The reason why he couldn’t fall in love again was that he had experienced a painful divorce ten years prior. The reason why he couldn’t start a successful business was that he had started three that failed in the past. The reason why he was destined to carry the excess weight was that he had already tried every diet in the books. He would love to date a lovely woman, BUT, it could just never work out. He would love to dream big, BUT, that just isn’t practical. He was allowing the wake (story) of his boat (person) to determine the destiny of his life.

All there is, is NOW. The past doesn’t exist if we stop carrying it forward, through our attention to it. If you know someone like Theo, perhaps the following quotations will help him/her break free:

What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.”

(Plutarch)

***

There is but one consciousness in the universe able to think; and when it thinks, its thoughts become objective things to it.”

(The Master Key System, by Charles F. Haanel)

***

In the great universal mind man [woman] is a center of intelligence, and every time he thinks he sets mind into action.”

(Creative Mind,” by Ernest Holmes)

***

No thought of form can be impressed upon the original substance without causing the creation of that form. A human being is a thinking center and can originate thought.”

(The Science of Getting Rich,” by Wallace D. Wattles)

***

Certainty, Faith, Belief, is a necessary part of creating wealth–or anything else for that matter. It is that which gives the universe a go-ahead to do as you wish it to do.”

(A Happy Pocketful of Money, by David Cameron Gikandi)

***

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men [women], for they act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”

(T. E. Lawrence)

***

Dear readers: Life is far more magical than you may have assumed. The ideas, thoughts, and beliefs that we habitually entertain make a tremendous difference in the apparent circumstances that manifest in our life. When we awaken to our essential nature (Spirit), we realize that daily reality is occurring within a D-R-E-A-M. That’s why the quality of our thoughts are so important. Are you imagining your best life?

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2025 – 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 🙏🏻🧡

Because of Your Belief

To the best of my memory, it was late July of 2012 when I arrived in Hope, British Columbia on one of my long solo motorcycle trips. I would be staying there for two nights before heading to Vancouver Island. The next morning, I decided to take a day trip to Kelowna. It was there, in a Chapter’s Bookstore, that I purchased The Kybalion; a book about the Hermetic philosophy of ancient Egypt and Greece. When I was back at my motel and beginning to read, the The First Principle of Truth soon caught my eye:

THE ALL IS MIND; The Universe is Mental.”

Can you imagine my reaction? This very real guy named Art Russell had just read that he, his motorcycle, the highways, the motel, the province, etcetera, were all mental. You guessed correctly, I thought the book was mental! But, wait; let’s be willing to investigate deeper knowledge. As I continued reading, parts of the book began to make sense. The book explained that the All in All, which is the Substantial Reality, or Spirit, was all there was and, still, is. If the All in All was the Divine Foundation, that meant that It (God, Source, Consciousness) had no-“thing” other than Itself out of which to create objects. A “material” world didn’t “exist” until the All in All imagined it. The Kybalion was describing an event that’s similar to the account found in Genesis 1:3: “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” During the coming years, as Awareness of my true Self began to shine more brightly, I found the following in other books:

What you are seeing and hearing right now is nothing but a dream.”

(The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz)

***

Consciousness is the one and only reality. All phenomena are formed of the same substance vibrating at different rates. Out of consciousness I as man came, and to consciousness I as man return.”

(Prayer, The Art of Believing, by Neville Goddard)

***

You are what you think; you attract what you think; your life is a product of your thought and beliefs; and nothing in the world can change this fact. To alter your life the only single course open is to alter your thinking.”

(Three Magic Words, by U. S. Andersen)

***

There is but one consciousness in the universe able to think; and when it thinks, its thoughts become objective things to it.”

(The Master Key System, by Charles F. Haanel)

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People can gain control of themselves and their environment because they have the power to influence their own subconscious minds, and through it gain cooperation of Infinite Intelligence.”

(Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill)

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As you think about the world, so will you see it. According to Pure Knowledge, the universe does not exist at all. This worldly manifestation is the doing of the Self. This is all imagination.”

(From Amrut Laya, The Stateless State, by Shri Sadguru Siddharameshwar Maharaj)

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For human beings, world and self seem to be solid objects, time and space seem to be a rigid always-existing platform. This occurs for enlightened people and for unenlightened people. However in the case of the enlightened person, a paradigm shift, a shift of interpretation, has occurred.”

(The Science of Enlightenment, by Shinzen Young)

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The Self is the witness. It is all-pervading, complete, singular, free, non-choosing, non-doing, unattached, desireless, completely peaceful. The world is an illusion, a projection.”

(Ashtavakra Gita, translated by Janki Parikh)

This content won’t be understood as long as we insist on believing that you’re the “person.” That’s part of story time. When we cast aside our assumptions about identity, we discover Truth; and it will, indeed, set us free. We are Consciousness dreaming a human experience. The great master Jesus knew his true identity (“I and the Father are one.” – John 10:30) and so, too, may we:

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

(John 14:12)

The use of the dream-state analogy makes this article much easier to comprehend. When you fall asleep at night and merge with a dream, perhaps of sailing over a vast ocean, it seems to have very real objective existence. You see the spray of the waves, hear the seagulls cry, and feel your sailboat list with the force of the wind. But, when you merge again with waking-state “reality,” you realize that the waves, the gulls, the sailboat, and the wind were all rendered by Consciousness. The same principle applies here and now. So I ask you, “What “works” would you like to dream possible?”

Dare to Dream (and care for one another).

With heartfelt regards,

Art

Copyright © – 2025 – 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 🙏🏻🧡