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, May 4, 2014

In Defense of EGO: "The Power of Will"

Photo Credit: Breathtakingly Beautiful. Actor Blair Underwood helped this photo go viral. More than 600,000 people had liked and almost more than 425,000 had shared when Namaste' Wholistic found it on Facebook about a week ago. This is "POWER OF THE WILL" in man. Often, something greater is at work.
James Dillet Freeman, (1912-2003), one of my favorite Unity (http://unityworldhq.org) poets and authors, wrote once of finding fish he thought was dead at the bottom of his lily pond. When he found the fish, it had been beaten and battered by many "seasons" ... first, little or no water, then rain, and finally snow. Thinking the fish was dead when he found it, Freeman nonetheless picked it and took it home, placing it in a bowl. After seeing small sparks of life, Freeman continued to nurture the fish over many days; it finally bounced back to full life after about a week. Read the full story here:          
   "A Fish Not Even Gold." 

Simple and small as it may be, this "fish not even gold" can teach us much about the Power of Will within us: when we think all is gone, there's a momentum within that keeps us going.

"The Power of Will" is within us at all times, but we only exercise it, when we fail at everything else. Finally, exhausted and spent, we release everything and wait for death. Often, this release leads to our resurrection.
Stockpile of ammunition in a recent public fight.

The human will can be summed up in four words,"By any means necessary."  This often is our only way and walk in the world.

Look around you and see how many people fight, push and struggle to make things happen in their world. Sheer Will accomplishes many things for them, and the more they succeed, the more they continue on in this way, journeying through life, pushing and pulling, planning, even scheming and plotting, how to get their desires fulfilled. The means to many don't seem matter; the end is the only concern.

Truthfully, we need the Will of our humanity, albeit, EGO, to keep walking the sometimes troubling walk of life. Without this Will, when we have not yet awakened to Truth within us, we simply would give up and not even try to get to the next step.

In many cases, it is the human will, coupled with faith, that we urgently need "to get us home." We can look at this last statement literally, too, as we read the story of Elizabeth Smart, the 14-year-old kidnapped from her bedroom in Utah in the middle of the night. Smart recently shared in the media how she has managed to put her nine-month travail behind her and is now able to live a full life. (Elizabeth Smart Speaks Of What Keeps Her Strong.)

"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." James 2:17

Human will, in itself may allow us to survive. It is this will, coupled with Faith, that allows us to thrive.

The human will can lead us down paths we did not expect; often it comes from our thoughts and hidden desires to find more meaning out of life. Here's the story of how a BBC financial reporter became homeless and bankrupt. (BBC Financial Reporter Became Homeless And Bankrupt).  Although he never says it directly, Ed Mitchell in this pieces alluded to the fact that he wanted "to be free of it all."

Yet were we to get closer to the truth about The Power of Will within us, i.e. our Soul, we would find an even more excellent way of co-creating the life we truly want to live.
Photo Credit: Rosacruz Aurea
Life always leans towards simplicity and ease.

Although we may achieve tremendously successful results, fighting and plotting our way through is not the easiest...and best...way. Sometimes, too, even with all our plotting, scheming and fighting, we may eventually fail.

What then?

Credit for Graphic: Tantra
Like the fish, we may lay exhausted waiting for the end to come. With little spark of life within us, we dread and fear the days ahead. Yet we can come back to life by connecting to the Power of Will within us.

The Power of Will is like a plug waiting to be connected to the outlet. It can only send through its charge of power, when we plug it into the wall. But we keep walking around the plug lying on the floor, or tucked away, until we've exhausted ourselves.

Finally, one day, we may wonder why that plug seems to be calling us. We stop and to plug it into the wall. It's within that hour, when plugged in, we find the truth.

"The Answer"

When for a Purpose
I had Prayed and prayed and prayed
Until my words seemed worn and bare
With arduous use ,
And I had knocked and asked and
knocked and asked again ,
And all my fervor and persistence
brought no hope ,
I paused to give my weary brain a rest
And ceased my anxious human cry .
in that still moment ,
After self had tried and failed ,
There came a glorious vision of
God's power ,
And , lo , my prayer was answered in
that hour . ~ Lowell Fillmore
(For a complete list of Unity poems, go to: Unity poems) 

This is the Power of Will.

It asks not for great striving or struggling but simply to be connected to the within.
Photo Credit: Sociedad Argentina de Horticultura. All other things in nature, like a flower, do not plot and scheme to grow as humans do. They simply do it. This is "will" i.e. an openness to  receive the gifts of life.  
Gabrielle Giffords' congressional career may have been cut short by a malevolent force, yet she's  found new ways of operating in the world. Her *Strength keeps moving her forward into a new and just as meaningful life.
(Gabrielle Giffords Exemplifies A Person Utilizing Many of The 12 Powers Within Us.)

 The way to activate The Power of Will within us is simply to keep reaching in until we get a real connection.
Meditate... daily. Pray ...sincerely. Believe... faithfully. Don't give up!
Photo Credit: The Africa Shop

When The Power of Will within you, i.e. the power emanating from the Soul, begins to manifest, we must learn to act with humility. By then, though, we should have learned that whenever we accomplish most big things with ease, it is the
"... the father that dwelleth within me, he doeth the work." John 14:10 

Photo Credit: Angelo Alagon




Photo Credit: Lais Almeilda
Photo Credit: Nefes & Breath 
You will then understand that this Power of Will is at work at all times. It's at work, with the Power of Imagination (See January 2014), allowing people to create simple tools of joy. Above, you see "bicycles" made of wood, and a simple concrete home built  to house children who smile beautifully and feel joy with simple little items as their toys. You will understand that this Will is at work, allowing the poet to hear with different ears and the photographer to see from different lens. You will begin to understand and know...this Will is always at work, moving relentlessly to change and rectify conditions in the world, and to deliver to you all you need and want, in your life. 
Photo Credit: Francisca Najera


May you be blessed by the Power of Will in your life!

Namaste',
Che'
*NOTE: In June, we'll cover the "Power of Strength" in our lives.

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.