Gazing in the Mirror

October 27 - Where Is God Found ?

... we are our own creators
made, or making ourselves,
in the image and similitude of
the one Creator. Indeed,
since in a hologram the part
contains the whole, we are
the one Creator. By learning
this truly transformative lesson,
we return to unity consciousness
while mastering physicality.
~ Sol Luckman, the Regenetics Method

.... no two of us are exactly
alike. But we all are immersed in
the collective thought of the whole
human race. .... we should never
forget that back of all this is
the Divine Mind or Intelligence
itself in which there is no bondage,
no fear, and no evil.
~ Ernest Holmes

Recently, a friend of mine's use of a particular word – immanent – caused me to look more specifically at the definition of that word to understand why he used it in that context. The definition I found was this – existing or remaining within; inherent; believed in a God immanent in humans, restricted entirely to the mind; subjective. ALL of these definitions do work for me and they point to where I find God and why I can now use the "word" God though there was a time when I found that difficult to do.

Because being human is the easiest intelligent concept we are able to identify with, many people do tend to anthropomorphize god and I have been no exception. I actually deeply enjoy having a seriously "personal" relationship with the Divine, even if my spiritual understandings have progressed far away from the old man with a beard up in heaven on a cloud concept. This concept of "god" does bring up all kinds of difficult connotations. That is how God became angry, judgmental, vindictive, punishing, a being to be placated in order to obtain the favor of. And in those very human qualities came much of what has made religion a poor substitute for a clearer, purer understanding of spirituality and regarding what actually does go on in the world in which we find ourselves. It can be painful to look at how this concept of god has been used to justify all manner of ugly behavior by human beings – for control, in wars, through cruelty, for exploitation, to justify bigotry, etc. The "my God is better than your God" that has long been a basis of convincing "good" people to pick up weapons and kill other "good" people or treat them inhumanely.

When I finally reached the place in my own contemplations where I was willing to "meet" what might be truly Divine within my own self – that is when I realized the incorruptible beauty of God being located within me. Having experienced a bit of external intrusion by disincarnate "spirits" – whatever these things are or wherever they actually exist, I had to consciously, intentionally, close the door to any communication with those mischievous-at-best/malicious-at-worst entities. When I met the Divine within my own self, I realized how utterly trustworthy that small, quiet voice is. It does not push or force or coerce us into any kind of action. It can give us wisdom and insight but It does not suggest that we even believe that It exists nor does it require us to act upon Its insights but it IS precisely due to Its passive nature that we are actually able to trust It completely.

And so I was finally able to comprehend those differences – this still, quiet voice within as something different from the chatter of the Mind or its various cultural, religious and familial programmings. I was then ready to name this "aspect" of my inner world – that I had come to recognize as something unique, special and precious. So during a time when I could not utter the word "god", I asked It one day "what should I call you ?" and It answered my question with a short, single word – "ME". This delivered to me a clear understanding of All That IT Is, all at once; and the beauty of this understanding is that it comes in such complete understandings instantaneously. I sensed that capitalization fully within my mind without actually "seeing" it visually, even with my inner eye. As I began to absorb what this actually meant, comparisons came into my understandings that sorted things out for me in regard to where my understandings already were at that point in time – Higher Self/lower self, Soul/ego, ME/me. I understood. I AM that I am. I had found for myself a marvelous companion that is always there even when I am utterly alone with some circumstance or sadness. Jean Houston calls it The Friend and that "works" for the "feeling" tone of my understandings as well.

Ernest Holmes calls this concept "subjectivity" and that is appropriate. He notes that "The Mind of God is the only Mind there is and we all use this Mind. But in the use of it, we create a mental atmosphere which surrounds us, which is often thought of as the unconscious or the subconscious. This is not a separate mind; it is merely a reaction of the One Mind-Principle to the use we have made of it. You and I could no more have an individual mind than we could have an individual ownership of the principle of mathematics or of harmony or of beauty. Each of us IS creating in an individual way; we are individualizations in this One Mind, and no two of us are exactly alike."

As we attempt to reach into our own core Essence to determine what is truly who and how and what we each are, we find layer upon layer that we can NOT truly claim as original to us personally. I believe that it is this truth about the nature of the content within our constructed mind structure and which is what I personally understand Ego to be that Holmes is also recognizing. Even in discovering the most basic core essence of who we are, we do not find anything totally unique to our own self – "I am of Love" – but so is everyone else. This then throws some contemplative individuals into a painful void of nothing in an attempt to find that self they have always believed themselves to be. Yet, it is unmistakable that we think and live and breathe while we are yet incarnated and some of us believe that our consciousness continues, even when we no longer do breathe.

~ perspective

I do not find Heaven to be a
place "up there" but a place
in consciousness where my soul
may find itself merged into
when it has left this physical
body.
I do not find God anywhere
external to my own self.
I find God, I find the Creative
Source of my Beingness, deep
within as I contemplate what
my life and self truly are.
Finding this Source is like coming
home to a deep truth embedded
in my Soul.
I know within my own awareness
there is a Divine Spark of the
creative Spirit which animates
my personality, my mind and my
physical experiences in this body.

#behavior #communication #companionship #cruelty #Divine #God #immanent #love #mind #spirituality