THIS INCARNATION 1

p.88-89

The diagram to the left is an attempt to illustrate a truth that is often times elusive. Because we are trained to identify more and more with our personality selves, when we are introduced to the idea of spirituality and especially the idea that we are made in the image and likeness of God, that we have within ourselves a Divine self, and that each one of us is a unique expression of the Divine, what happens is that we attempt to reach that divinity, that perfection, through our personality selves. What we have done then is to set up an impossible situation that continually leads to frustration and sometimes despair. (My human nature will never become my Divine Nature--however, as my evolution continues, my human nature will become a more and more perfect instrument through which my Divine self will express itself).

My personality self does not evolve into my divine nature. What happens more than anything else, is that my Divine Nature becomes who I am. In other words, it becomes my identity. Now the work that is done here is done through willingness, intention, awareness, surrender, and imagination. And all five of these elements are continually contributing to our grows and evolution.

The mind would like to think that there is a place or a space I am getting to, and then I will be done, but, you see, our growth and evolution are continuing processes. In a way, they are never done. (that would be like saying, “Well, I think I have loved you enough,” or “I’ve experienced enough love; you can stop now.” Thinking that something is done or finished is the result of living in the illusion of time; in the Eternal now there just is.

We had a question that this morning I cannot recall exactly how it was worded but I do know the concept of “should” came up. Whenever I am working with could or should or have to’s I can be assured that I am working with material produced by my ego., my personality consciousness.

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“Now we would like you to know this: What is in your authority is what you can imagine. If it is in your imagination, it may be possible. If it is possible, it may be created. If it is created, it may be held in accord with your own vibration.”

Thought to explore--A concept that is emphasized in this work is that of “possibility.” Use of the imagination opens us up to the possibility (that I can live without fear or judgment; that I can Be my Divine Self).

Opening to possibility is as far as my material self (my thinking, mortal  mind) can take me, BUT once that possibility is established, then my Being, my Divine Self takes over in ways that I cannot fully understand, and manifests Itself through my body, mind and Spirit.

We have been taught to look at ourselves as being limited. Now let us realize at the personality self, the ego, the intellect are limited by their very nature, but we are reminded again and again that is not who you are. Eventually we will realize that our body, mind and Spirit are part of this unique vehicle that is the expression of the Divine, and, in a way that I cannot explain, this unique expression that we are is not a limitation, it is simply a reflection of the Perfection we have reached in our Consciousness at this particular moment.

“Now, how you’ve been lied to by your lives is by being told that if you want something, you must go out and get it. And you must do, and you must be active, and you must create in action. This is true on the physical plane. On a spiritual plane, on a thought plane, it is not so. What you do is call to you these things that would create the circumstances for your lives to unfold in the ways that you would claim. You like to put the cart before the horse. You like to think that if you are not running after something, you are not doing. In fact, when you are knowing yourself in your true worth—“I know who I am, I know what I am, I know how I serve”—you claim dominion, and what you call to you in your authority is in accordance with the worth that you hold.”

No one lied to us on purpose. They were simply communicating those supposed limitations that they had taken on themselves. My buddy Ram Dass put it wonderfully when he said, “From the moment we are born, we go into “people training.” People start telling us who we are. The difficulty is that everyone who is telling us who we are who we are don't know who they are.” They think they know and they wind up passing on this false information from one generation to the next. Well, guess what? The buck stops here. We are the generation that is conscious and aware enough to work through the illusion of separateness and limitation. It is a challenge, yes, but in many ways a very freeing one.

There was one other point that came up in our class this morning and in looking back, I did not explain it very well, probably because it was not very clear to me. With the help of all those around me I will attempt to express these ideas with more clarity.

One of our classmates gave the example of asking, “Is it okay to binge watch a bunch of movies. In this case, a whole bunch of Marvel superheroes-- actually I could relate to that because my grandson and I did that over Christmas vacation. But I think the real question here is, where the real reflection here is, Her is my mind saying of thinking, “You know it seems that this work we are doing is difficult, is hard. It takes a lot of energy. I seem to be swimming upstream more than floating down the river. Can I take a break; can I rest for a while; can I breathe?”

Again we have a set of conundrums, either consciously or unconsciously, created by our personality selves. My limited ego-self says, “Well if you really want to be spiritual, here is what you should do and here's what you should not do. Here is what is good for you and here is what is not, and if you don't obey those rules you're not being spiritual and there's something wrong with you.” I don't know about you, but do you get a sense of how that kind of thinking can simply tie us up into knots?

When I am all knotted up with these conflicting ideas and become afraid to eat a bowl of ice cream or reread my Harry Potter books or get lost in one of my fantasy novels, I have to stop for a moment and ask myself, first of all, “what or who am I identifying with,” and even more importantly, “How can I make whatever it is that I am doing into an act of love-- whether it is sitting in quiet meditation or changing a child's diaper or shopping for groceries or having a warm cup of coffee, and yes even escaping for a while?”

One of the reasons I became somewhat flummoxed this morning was that I got a little bit lost in my personality self that was looking for a set of rules about The Game of Life. I wanted a formula that I could follow no matter what the external situation might be and you know what? There isn't any. When I am conscious, when I am aware, every moment, no matter what I happen to be involved in, can be an act of love, a moment of grace.  Perhaps an oversimplification but I think not.

Remember these? “Is what I am thinking or planning on acting upon, does it open my heart or does it close my heart; does it raise my vibration or lower my vibration; is it an act of love or cry for help or an active fearfulness.

What would it be like if I could simply lovingly accept and embrace myself at this moment wherever and however I perceive myself to be?