IT IS DONE UNTO YOU AS YOU BELIEVE
“To find out the meaning of a thing you must ask its maker. I am telling you: You are the maker of the world in which you live -- you alone can change it, or unmake it.” Nisagadatta Maharaj
The ways of the Universe are mysterious and magical. If we get out of the way it will take care of us in the most magical of ways. We have been given a choice, one most are not aware of; the choice is: are we going to try and control the flow of our lives or jump in the river of Divine love. Most believe life is to be controlled and often it becomes out of control to wake us up to the need to jump in the river. Things are most definitely out of control now.
As much as we might think we are in control of our lives many are unaware of the nature of creation and our participation in creating our reality. We are in the process of creating our lives right now. For most this is a completely unconscious process. I don’t pretend to understand the ways of the Mystery but from my experiences and my witnessing and studies I have come to see that this dream we are living is created by our personal and collective thoughts, feelings and actions and is reflective of where our consciousness is at. Our consciousness is our intermediary between our worldly experience and our God Self. It is very powerful and it creates what we experience, in that it ‘informs’ the God Self, the creator. So with our thoughts, beliefs, feelings we beat the ritual drums that drum up what we will experience. Of course, the more we repeat the thought, the feeling and/or action the more powerful the intention is stated. Thinking or feeling something every once in a while doesn’t usually have the power to create, if it did we truly would live in chaos. The deeper something has penetrated our being, the more powerful it is of course. For example I grew up in paradise, in the San Francisco Bay Area at its prime. As a result being in a place that is beautiful and is some way in its prime is a deep part of my psyche and I naturally manifest this in my life. I also witnessed the world’s discovery of the Bay Area and what that meant and that has also been a theme in my life. I have challenges in my psyche that are creating realities I am not fond of but I am going to keep them to myself because, God knows, I don’t need to reinforce those beliefs by broadcasting them for others to add to their perception of me. Neither should you broadcast your challenges. Shared perceptions multiply the power to create. In fact, collective beliefs and feelings are the most powerful. At this point I only like to talk about my challenges with people who are as committed to transformation of the self as I am. These people are rare in my life. Reversing the tide of your life is challenging work and the process needs protecting like a seedling just breaking through the soil. Newness wants to emerge, but it can’t if it keeps being stepped on by the past.
Maybe I should back up here and explain what I mean by our God Self. God is Omnipresent. Everywhere present, every molecule of everything is God. Actually every molecule is only an experience and the truth is that matter is an illusion that this dream playground we exist in is made up of. So if God is everywhere how do we find God? God is pure Awareness and is the awareness we experience by, but pay very little, if any, attention to. Putting attention on Awareness is my act of devotion to God. It is through being aware of being aware that I had my mystical experience of Godness, of Love. So the process of creation goes something like this: Awareness, the Creator, receives information from consciousness regarding what to create and consciousness gets information from our thoughts, feelings, actions and general focus and beliefs. Awareness has no judgement of the experiences we conjure, ‘it’ just responds to the ‘altars’ we worship at, the altars being where our strong focus lies. When I am challenged by breaking through to a new reality I go to the practice of being aware of being aware. Given that consciousness is giving Awareness/ God the instructions it really helps to go straight to the source with desired intentions.
The more powerful the feelings, the more repetitive the story of woe, the louder the complaints, the longer it goes on and the more the investment in the suffering the more powerful the instructions. The louder the drums are pounded, the bigger the power that is being ritualized. Wait, did I just say investment in suffering? Yep. It helps to ask what the payoff is. For example, victims can be very used to getting love or attention through being rescued so there is a weird payoff to continuing the victim story. Release the stories, it is amazing how attached we can be to our sad stories. I am not saying push them away for then they will get louder. Stories need to be explored to be released. By being present for the story and finding its roots in the past it can be healed and thus released. In this way one can release being beholden to the past.
The probability of a more fulfilling experience will be greatly enhanced by pounding the drums of possibility and gratitude for what God can accomplish for us. If consciousness starts experiencing a stream of gratitude it gives the instructions of that energy. When I say this, I do not mean being positive all of the time, just catch the old stories about life and pivot to possibility. At first it may feel contrived but practice makes that muscle stronger.
In the realm of consciousness there is no time so if one starts comparing what life is now to what it was and how much better it is, the old is being dragged into the new and there it is, back again. There is only now. In reality the past and the future do not exist. They are just figments of our imagination. We must be conscious with our relationship to what was and give the magic that is unfolding power with the quality and strength of our focus. The answer to any prayer is in the now. The paradox is that the unfolding of the new can necessitate a good amount of patience. Think of it this way; you are driving down a road at 60 miles an hour and you realize you made a wrong turn miles back. In order to right this wrong you must slow the car way down so you can make a U-turn and then you must go back many miles to make the correct turn and, even then, you are not at your destination. Changing one’s life experience sometimes entails a similar process. A lot of momentum went into the creating our current experience. When we start changing the way we think and respond things must change for us but we can’t know what change in us needs to take place for us to align with the river of love. For me it took 5 years of resting and surrender to feel whole for the first time in my life. My deepest intention my whole life has been to feel whole, healthy and spiritually awake. The river is a mystery and it knows your deepest needs and will answer that call.
I have a great little story as an example of how my life works now that I have jumped into the river. This is not unusual but it is joyful. I had bought 2 cords of split firewood. It was delivered in the dark. When I went outside in the morning I discovered mostly huge pieces that were twisted which makes them very difficult to split. I did a little bit of stomping and cursing, but I know better. That wasn’t going to improve anything. So I went back to my studio. I handed the issue over to God/Awareness and then I started to paint. All the while I was being aware of being aware. Eventually I heard an inner prompting and was instructed to go outside and split a little wood, that someone was coming that could help. So I did that and sure enough a neighbor came by and came over to chat. I was telling him my issue and he said he knew someone with a splitter that might be able to help. So he calls me that evening and said they would be over the next day. Being a Mormon, he of course called his church. Around 6 young men and the owner of the splitter showed up and split and stacked and in no time it was all done. I was elated. The only participation I had in creating this experience was catching myself from going into a pity party about the twisted wood and handing it over to God and being grateful for the response ahead of time because I knew it was coming. God did the rest. That fact alone was thrilling. I love witnessing Divine magic. Whenever I feel overwhelmed by what I have to handle alone I have to laugh at myself. Surrender to the magic that is the Divine’s gift to you. If you feel incapable of making that U-turn or of being grateful, of changing to an attitude of possibility, hand it all over to God and ask for help. It will come. You will be placed in the river.
‘Take me To The River’, Art by Katherine Treffinger