Leo Tolstoy on God

LEO TOLSTOY ON GOD: "When you look inside yourself, you see what is called 'your own self' or your soul. You cannot touch it or see it or understand it, but you know it is there. And this part of yourself--that which you cannot understand--is what is called God. God is both around us and inside of us--in our souls.

The more you understand that you are at one with God, the more you will understand that you are at one with all His worldly manifestations."

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Connecting To Cosmic Consciousness: Honor Our "Humanity!"


Nijel BPT, created the Mother of Humanity(TM) monument
following the April 29, 1992 Los Angeles Rebellions. 

A Jewish dishwasher taught Sidney Poitier how to read.

They were both working in the same role at a restaurant in New York City, when
Sidney said his Jewish colleague discovered that he, Sidney, could not read.

"Day after day, week after week...for a very long time," Sidney Poitier recently said on OWN [Oprah Winfrey Network], "he spent time teaching me how to read."

Sidney realized that what inspired his Jewish friend was "his inner human...that something coming from inside him." After learning how to read, Poitier went on to become a great actor, and in 1963 won an Academy Award for Best Actor.  He became the first African-American actor to ever win this coveted title.


Yes. Poitier's Jewish friend followed his inner light! This "inner humanity" is indeed what gets us moving in the direction of reaching beyond ourselves to help others. Often, this is the power behind our kindness and when we carry through on those acts that directly stem from our conscience.

The nagging feeling, which like a parent guides us  to differentiate between doing right or wrong, is our conscience at work. This stems from our SOUL.

Of course, many will argue that our parents...our environment...teach us right from wrong. True. Yet, there are situations occurring all around us sometimes, where the only guidance we get is that coming from within.

Many choose to follow that guidance. Just as many choose to ignore it.

The latter is the subject of today's post.

  If you saw the movie, "Chimpanzee," released on April 20, for Earth Day, you would understand that there is an entire culture of activities, and emotions, operating in the world of these "lesser" animals. In this Disneynature documentary, we learn of  Oscar, a  baby chimpanzee, being nurtured, pampered, protected  and loved by his mother, Isha, for many years. Then, Isha dies, leaving Oscar to fend for himself. He was left out in the cold, trying to survive as best he could, as the other parents tended to their young, completely ignoring him and offering no assistance. Left with no other alternative,  Oscar decided to shadow their grouchy leader, Freddy. He did so day by day, until Freddy was touched by that "something" within himself. He decided to "adopt" Oscar...nurturing, pampering, protecting and loving this young "boy" chimpanzee, as if he were his own. Freddy was transformed by the love he gave, and Oscar's world was changed forever.


Chimpanzee is based on real events based in an African forest. Mostly, it's a documentation of love, caring and sharing of ourselves...even if...they're only "animals." 

We see via YouTube videos  numerous demonstrations of the guiding force within all dogs, who demonstrate loyalty and grief when their owners are away for a long time, are injured or died.
                          One dog, is pictured refusing to leave the casket of his owner, a Navy Seal, who was killed in a tour of duty.

One recent YouTube segment shows a dog, standing in the middle of a heavily trafficked street, refusing to leave the side of his owner who was struck; another other showed the excitement of a dog, whose owner had returned from a long period of absence in military service. The dog simply would not settle down, so excited was he/she by the owner's return home.

Animals are sensitive beings. Of that we can be sure.


Yet, so many of us who are "human," want to ignore this fact and treat them with so much indecency.  This should give us a reason for pause: Does the intelligence that is supposed to emanate from our minds as "human beings" really  put us above other animals?

We read of animals being mistreated. Dogs being trained to kill each other and so many atrocities .
We often are left wondering if our humanity deserves  intelligence as the sole trait supposedly separating us from other animals. Any wonder why in recent years there have been reports of a human head being found on a snake in Malaysia?[Pictured @ right ] 

Why do we, as humans, do what we do? We ignore the guidance from within that pure animal behavior is instilled only for survival purposes, not for entertainment? Any question as to why
a human head may, indeed, be showing up on a snake's body?[Closeup on left.] 

The question of why humans behave as they do is ages old and will continue for centuries more.  The answer possibly will come forth only when we, in our "humanity," elevate ourselves to a higher level of  "being" and grab hold of the truth in our SOUL! Only then will we see and know the truth of our "beingness."

This is truly where the separation from our very selves begins: If we cannot connect with the truth within ourselves...within our very Souls...how can we then ever hope to connect to Cosmic Consciousness...our "universal" Soul?


Most would say: Who cares?


Who cares, indeed?
Our life purpose...
Our reason for being...
Our essence...


Who cares...indeed!?


Perhaps, it simply is enough for us to respond like that Jewish dishwasher did to Sidney Poitier: respond one person at a time. 

"We are imperfect creatures," Poitier said in the OWN segment, "but we should try reaching for the better you...the better me."

Maybe...just maybe...that's all we're called to do in our daily walk. 


That is the privilege of our humanity: We get to CHOOSE!

In honoring our humanity, sometimes, the choice is as simple as choosing to smile vs. frown at another person. Often, it is to get outside our own "bubble" that we call our LIFE and *connect in a very real way with others.


Namaste',

Che'



*NOTE: We'll conclude this series on "Connecting to Cosmic Consciousness" with the final post on "See the ONE in ALL." We will look at how we get outside  of our "little bubble of life" and connect to the *ONENESS that exists everywhere: in nature, in others and, yes, even in "things."

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Connecting To Cosmic Consciousness: Taking A Quantum Leap in Awareness

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one post in a series of three consecutive posts about "Connecting to Cosmic Consciousness."


On April 10,  2012, IBM gave Jeff Jonas, (pictured below), the distinguished honor of being named an IBM Fellow. Here's an EXCERPT from a blog written by Steve Hamm in "A Smarter Planet," about what Jonas' work will entail:  

 "Every entity in the universe, whether it’s a person or an asteroid or a building, has a set of identifying characteristics that help us differentiate that entity from every other one. Entities are in motion, physically, and they’re changing in other ways. Their relationships to each other are shifting, as well. Every day, individuals and organizations are bombarded with many bits of disconnected information about entities.
"For the past 3 ½ years, Jonas and a small team at IBM  have been developing a new software program, code-named G2, with a goal of making sense of all of this information, as it flows in, so we can act on it."
[Jonas was featured for his eclectic background, before joining IBM. Full story @ http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2012  /04/16633.html]


Context.


It's all  about CONTEXT!

When you're outdoors, look up at the vastness of the sky.

When you're in an open field, look at the vastness of the life around you.

See the trees. See the flowers. See the life!

After you've done that...look down at yourself.

See how "tiny" you are in the vastness of life all around you.

We all feel so much that "life" begins and ends with us.

But does it?

Does life begin and end with you and your joys or sorrows, hopes and dreams?

Are you "LIFE?" Or are you a manifestation of LIFE!?

Yes. Your troubles and sorrows start and end with you. So do your hopes and dreams.

But in the scheme of things...in the vastness of the world...do they matter to the
continuity of LIFE?

I know you already know the answer to that question.

So, then why is it that you let disappointments  and sorrow affect your very life? Many wise people suggest that whether good or bad things are happening around you and in your "life," you remain steadfast in your "beingness!" You shouldn't be vacillating between euphoria and depression, based on the circumstances surrounding your life.


That is the TRUTH!

The issues in our lives should not become our very lives! We need to rise about the issues and challenges that confront us on a daily basis. We've got the power within us to swat those bugs right out of our lives.

We do so by rising above them and seeing them for the little "pests" that they represent and feel no troubles or emotions about them.

Of course, I'm aware that in our "tiny" little world, which is the size of an ant in relativity to the world, then the issues that consume us become our LIFE.

But I suggest to you that when we're tempted to get so enamored with these issues, then it's time to
get beyond our little "borders" that we see as "life."

We need to get beyond the circumference of our bodies...
Go beyond the sphere of our homes or workplaces or friends or families...
And begin to understand that LIFE is much bigger than in our little sphere.

Some of you can remember the movie, "What the Bleep Do We Know: Down the Rabbit Hole" that came out in 2004, followed with an expanded DVD version in 2006. We looked...we listened...and we learned...

Then, after a day or so, we went back to our own little "sphere" of living.

On a daily basis, we have got to take a leap ...albeit a QUANTUM LEAP...to keep jumping outside of ourselves and our tiny little lives!

We have got to get a context of where we fit into this great scheme of this mighty big country...then the world...then the universe.

As big and influential as these United States are the issues we are encountering here are tiny matters, compared to the vastness of the world, much less the universe.

This year, it's gonna be a contest between the Black guy and Mormon guy. We'll hear all types of mudslinging, and I'm trying to keep my perspective as I gear up for all that's ahead of us before November 2012.

I love Mormons: some because I personally know them, and all,  because they are part of the Universe and are manifestations of the ONENESS we all represent. But I know that I am ready to defend as loudly and boldly as I can, the rights of  all people against that Mormon guy running for President of the United States. Without question or hesitation, I will vote for Barack Obama. I will do so not because he is "the Black guy," as so many people will believe, but because he and the Democratic Party represent so many of the values I share. Democrats are for ALL of the people ALL of the time, not some of the people, some of the time!

Mitt Romney and the Republican Party simply do not represent those values. And when it comes to Romney's being a Mormon and trying to take away poor women's rights to birth control, then I would ask him this:"Why in the world...in the Universe...would you want to place your 'tiny-little' religious values onto the rest of us in these United States... in the world?"

I'll remember often to repeat, Psalm 46:10: "Be still, and know that I am God."

I know I'll need to do so.

That's what we all need to do moment by moment...day in and day out...as
we let issues and challenges and "things" begin to consume us.

Rise above the situation and repeat, "Peace, Be Still." (Matthew 8:23-34 for this interpretation).

In the vastness of the universe, what is troubling us has absolutely no bearing on the overall scheme of things in the Universe.

Why are we here?


What is our purpose in being here at this time...in this place...in this universe?


What is our role in the universe?

Those are the questions we should be asking ourselves in the moments and times when we believe our world is crashing in on us.

What does it matter if a narrow-minded Republican is going against an open-minded, broad-minded Democrat?

Yes. It will affect our day-to-day living. It will affect the lives of millions of people in the United States, if by some miracle that narrow-minded Republican prevails in his ways.

Thing is, though, that there is a reason and a season for everything; there's a reason and a season that this Republican will be running against the Democratic President in November.

The race may be between the two of them, but the lessons we learn will be lessons for all of us.

I'm hopeful that we can all expand our minds to see beyond these two guys running for President of the United States.

I'm hopeful that as we find our ire expand against one candidate or his representative, as we hear all the trash talking on television... we can detach and look beyond the nonsense of what is being said to see that this is just one tiny moment in time. (I'll really, really try this too!)

Yes. History will be made...in our "tiny, little" world. I know many Mormons may believe this is the fight of their lives.  Well...I'm here to tell you: IT ISN'T! 

Many people's histories have been written over the many, many centuries we, as mankind, have walked the Earth.

Thing is...we, as mankind, still have not caught up with the Universe...the Cosmic Consciousness... that is unrelentingly moving us forward to will and do whatever it wants us to do.

We all have a role to play, that's why we are here and that's why we are here NOW.

Since you're reading this blog,  I know you know very clearly that the role you're supposed to play has little to do with going out to vote in November. 


Go outside and look again at the sky.

Go outside and look at the empty fields...the swaying trees.

Go outside and look up.

Then...come back inside and look within.

Go deep...deep...within.


Does life begin and end with you?


So, if it doesn't:  then, why do you act as if the next "bad" or the next "big" thing will end or begin your LIFE?


In the vastness of the Universe, does it matter when "shit" happens to you?

Can you then...not try to look at the "shit"...even as it's happening and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that you can rise above it...and look down on it with a new perspective?

This is what is called "transcendence."
This is the automatic response of those who are practiced to be able to go beyond the obvious and to gain a new perspective, i.e. context.  
By rising above a situation, we are able to shift our consciousness to a higher level and see the situation for what it is...just a "situation" that needs to be addressed or fixed.

With this shift in consciousness, we are able to see that our lives do not begin or end with whatever troubles or delights the day may bring. Sad or happy as we may be, the relentless movement of the Cosmos continues in our world.

By taking that quantum leap, we are able to connect to this higher consciousness...yes...this Cosmic Consciousness...and begin to see the truth of our "beingness."

 Can you step out and step up*?

Namaste',
Che'
NOTE: I strongly recommend  Deepak Chopra's latest book, "Spiritual Solutions: Answers to Life's Greatest Challenges." Check out my review on amazon.com sometime on this awe-inspiring book! Love that man, Deepak Chopra!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Connecting With Soul: Make a FULL Commitment And Surrender All!

This is the third of three blog posts on the Soul. Do not be misled by the beginning. Read this blog through to the end for its TRUTH. 


 Matthew 6:22 :"The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."

Someone sent a text message to me:
"Jesus is Lord."
I texted back: "Jesus is our Lord AND Savior!"
Alleuia! 
Amen! 


It is absolutely pointless to me to get into a debate about why Jesus is not "the Lord" of our lives.

For those who need to believe in religious teachings, seeing Jesus as the "religion," instead of as the person who tried to empower us to do what things he did and "the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my father," John 14:12, no argument would be sufficient.

Those people need to believe in Jesus.

We all need to believe in Jesus.
I especially believe in Jesus.
I especially believe in the example Jesus, the Christ, set for us all!

As often as I can, I quietly recite the rosary.
Mother Mary has become my best friend.

IF I WISHED TO DO SO: This Holy Week, Id be saying so many  "Holy Mary's," it would make an auctioneer blush in shame...so often...so quickly...so frequently would I be saying them to celebrate this most holy of weeks in the Christian religion.

Yes. I'm glad there is a religion called Christianity.
We all need a religion, whether Christianity or something else.
 
We need religion, if only to help us focus on a starting point to begin...truly begin...to recognize
the source of our lives.

The problem is that most people refuse to grow up from their childhood days! They still need a "savior," a "father figure" in their lives to protect them from the big, bad world.

In truth, we do need to have a father and a savior.
But I'm here to tell you: there is no place to go to find it but inside your own SOUL! 

The truth is...that YOUR SOUL...is your "savior...and your father."

Without getting to know the "father within" you, who doeth the work, you will search the ends of the earth...you will search through all the alcoholic beverages on the shelf...yes, even pay $650 a bottle for a fine bottle of 1992 Dom Perignon Oenotheque Rose' and you won't find your father.

Yes...you may feel bliss for a day or two...as you sip slowly that pure, liquid "gold;" you may feel that "you can fly and touch the sky," as you snort into your nostrils that substance that looks like snow.

Search. Yes...keep on sipping...keep on snorting...keep on looking! 

You will never stop paying...and paying..and paying...and looking..and looking for that "savior."

The only way to make your way through is by connecting with your self.

The only "father" you've got is within you. 
The only "Lord" of your life is within you...in your Soul!
Yep. The only "savior" you've got... say it...is "my soul!" 

Even your own birth "father" can't help you there, unless he's found "him" within himself.
Even your own birth "mother," who may be called, Mary, cannot help you there, unless she has found "her" within herself.

Sometimes...I get angry that the truth is lost to so many.

I wonder why it is so difficult for the world to see the truth of Jesus and all he tried to teach us.

Yes, Jesus did  try to SAVE us... he is our "savior."
He tried to save us from ourselves and our blind ignorance.

Jesus, at a tender age of 33, truly discovered the CHRIST of his being when he died on the cross.

At an early age (unknown), he discovered the truth within him, and spent the rest of his life trying to teach us this truth about ourselves, too. Jesus went to his death, trying to tell us the truth...

But the truth he tried to tell us was not about HIM, it was about US!

Yes...Jesus is Lord and Savior!

Yes...Jesus is our master and our god!

Yes...yes...yes...

I say to ALL that...

Because if we can master the truth of what he taught ...
If we can find "salvation" from looking at the world with
the wrong eyes, he should be revered and honored and deified.

Yes...I love Jesus. Yes...Jesus is my savior...Yes...Jesus is my lord...
...OF TRUTH!


I say, "Alleulia...Thank you, Jesus."
I say, "The Lord and Savior of MY LIFE is Jesus."

Alleulia and Amen.

When I'm done from bowing down in gratitude to Jesus, the Christ,
for showing me the way...

Then, I rise up...
and wake up the SPIRIT OF THE LORD within me!

As a member of the *Rosicrucian Order, I know the LORD of my being is my 
Soul...I know the Lord of my Life IS MY SOUL!



The only "cross" I have to bear is that of forgetfulness and
separation!

The times I've forgotten THAT...
The times I've walked blindly through life not acknowledging its existence...
even though it couldn't help showing up...
The times I've tried to ignore it...are the times that it has shown me
who is MASTER...who is LORD ...who is the CHRIST within me! 


I thank you, master. I thank you, the Lord of my life...my consciousness...my
breath...my beingness.

I thank you for your PRESENCE in my life, especially at those moments when I've
reached the lowest points of my being!

I reached those low points by looking  to the world for its salvation.
I reached those low points by looking OUTSIDE of my Soul
for answers.
I reached those low points by answering the world in the ways
of the world.

I lost connection with MY SOUL!

The only way...the only way...to stay connected...is
to shut out "the sights" of the world from becoming
a part of who and what you are in this world.

Do not look for answers "without."
Seek the truth within. Always.

Look inside you ...ALWAYS...AND IN ALL WAYS...
for the answer.

Yes, the road is lonely.
Yes, the road gets thorny.
Yes, the road is filled with potholes.
Yes, you will want to turn back many...many times.

But keep your heart centered in the TRUTH of your beingness.
Keep your mind focused on the center of your being...
Your core...

Therein lies your TRUTH.

Keep focused...make a full commitment...and surrender ALL to your Soul!

Like Jesus, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." --John 8:32



Thank you, Jesus. 

Alleuia and Amen!

Happy Easter:  May the Spirit of the Christ rise within you, as well!

Let the egg that hatches be within YOU!
Until it hatches become "single-eyed" about it too!

Namaste',

Che'
*NOTE: This blog does not in any way attempt to recruit for the Rosicrucian Order. AMORC is mentioned here in the spirit of "full disclosure." 

Personal Authenticity: "To Thine Own Self Be True"...

"To Thine Own Self Be True and it must follow as the night, the day, Thou canst not then be false to ANY man."
William Shakespeare.