The Nature of All

There is a knowing deep within. It's in all of us. It's in each of us. For most of us though, it's a little hard to see, to hear, to feel.

We've bought into the belief that our world will remain a world of fear, lack, sickness, sorrow, and pain. It's easy to see the world this way. We are constantly reminded by what we see in our corners of the world as well as what we are shown of the rest of the world. Our world is in turmoil. And it's hard to believe it can be otherwise.

But, as we quiet our thoughts or at least set them aside for a few moments, we can sense the deeper truths of love, oneness, and peace. This is not an easy thing, and anyone who says it is easy has forgotten what it's like to live in the real world.

When we are willing to open our minds and hearts, all that we seek is revealed, presented, provided to us.

If you have a little trouble believing this simple concept, that Providence is within, you're surely not alone. The resistance most of us feel is at the crux of this rising global change we're in the midst of. So, don't fret. Simply try and set aside the objections for a time and be open to a new set of truths.

There are many wonderful and effective methods and paths to clear the way for the Light to shine brightly and illuminate the truths we all so deeply want and need. Whether religious, spiritual, technical, philosophical, or practical, the aim is the same – tearing down the illusions so that we can see the truth.

As we reach higher states of awareness and understanding, we continually and progressively strip away the layers of illusion that we've acquired along the way. This requires both a willingness and a degree of faith or intent. We must become increasingly more clear and unburdened as we reach higher (or deeper) levels of knowing and understanding.

So having said all that, having laid a bit of groundwork, and with the recognition that for most us, it's a process, and that it's much more about the journey than it is about the destination, let's get a little more specific.

Life is an unfolding. It's about joyfulness, peace, love, kindness, and gladness, yes, but it's also about growth and change. There's a balance in the world, seen more clearly in nature than in the lives of most people, between giving and taking, ebbing and flowing, resting and growing, peace and passion. Waves arrive and they recede. Seasons change from winter to spring to summer to fall. The sun rises each day as does the moon.

Life insists on expanding. Everything in nature grows and multiplies. As we move from instinctual to sensual to aware to connected to complete, we expand in love, in ability, in consciousness, in life. Resistance only delays, never prevents, the inevitability of life's continued expansion.

As instinctual beings, we are aware of our base needs. To eat, to rest, to come in from the cold. We see the world and others only as how they can provide for us those base needs.

Moving to sensual, we begin to see, feel, touch, and experience the physical, and that experience begins to open us emotionally. We are moved by a sunset, simply for the beauty of the sunset, not because it fills a base instinctual need. We live and make choices based on what we perceive with our senses.

Life is bigger than any one individual. The illusion of separation is among the first that needs to be removed. This brings us to a state where we are aware, not just of ourselves, but of the connectedness we all have in common. The flawed and small belief that any one of us is not connected to the wholeness, the oneness, of humanity, indeed of the Universe, needs to be released. This is among the first steps to peace and knowing.

Life is bigger than oneness. Beyond the illusion of separation, beyond the knowledge of oneness, there is the realization that while we really and truly are one, joined, inseparable, quite literally, there is a higher realization of a cohesive and harmonious pluralism.

Life encompasses both one and many. Here we find completeness. There is a balance between the absolute knowledge and truth of a connected oneness and the seemingly competing truth of divine individuality. Each of us is connected – in a very real sense. An honest and searching look within or without will reveal this truth. But beyond and yet encompassing this truth of oneness, there is a plurality that when embraced flourishes.

We are here for many reasons, but when simplified, we are here but for a few. To give and receive love, to learn and teach, to grow and support the growth of others, and to create and enjoy – these are the reasons to be.

To receive is as great a gift as to give. Were there not others open to receiving the love and gifts we have to offer, we would not be able to express our hearts' songs. The River that underlies all, when allowed to flow, both by the giving and receiving, ensures the completeness and abundance of all. Those who are not in abundance are closed to the gifts of love. They exist still in the illusions of separation and lack.

Were there no students, there would be no need for teachers. And likewise, were there no teachers, the need for students would fade away. Life and the universe are about flow, flow of love, flow of knowledge, flow of creation. Flow is a two way process, from and to. Before oneness, there is flow; in oneness, all is still; after oneness, there is flow. So in oneness, there is no need for teacher nor student. But oneness is not the end of knowledge. It is but one level of understanding and truth.

Life expands. Life grows. We must be willing to grow or we die of atrophy, of stagnation, of stasis. Willingness and surrender are the foundation of this growth, of all growth. For a tree to grow, it most surrender part of its power to the soil. It must trust the ground it is planted in. Without that cooperative trust, the tree dies.

The same is true for us. None of us is separate. We are all connected to the shared divinity, the creative energy, underlying all. Humans need connection. We can't thrive without it. This connection requires a surrender of some of our power to the whole or to the pairing. It requires trust. Willingness leads to surrender; surrender creates a foundation of trust; trust allows connection, intimacy, a real and true oneness.

And together, in this true actualized connection with others, this is where co-creation occurs. The amazing power that is realized in the collaboration with another is achieved as the coupling is greater than the sum. A third consciousness is created in the merging of two minds, hearts, and souls. The time of competition, of fighting, of debate, is past. It's time to love and to collaborate.

Sure, it's risky. Allowing someone to get close enough to really share our deepest ideas, dreams, and feelings opens us to be hurt. It may take a little time to get used to this new approach. But it's necessary. And the risk yields benefit in direct proportion. Low risk of harm leads to a less close and less authentic partnering which leads to a holding back of some of the ideas and creative energy that might be used in the collaboration. Those taking the greatest risk of being harmed are those who are forging new pathways in this new and changing world.

Many of these ideas are not new. Perhaps none of them are new. But what is new is the scope at which many of us are being exposed to and living according to these ideas, these truths. As stated above, we move from instinctual to sensual to aware to creative to an actualization of completeness. The world, for a very long time, has operated, for the most part, in the first two states.

Driven by our lower and baser instinctual thoughts, and by our sensual or sensory perceptions and needs, the world we have created by our thoughts has been based on self-centeredness and therefore has been contentious, unkind, unpeaceful, and unloving.

Many of us have been moving to and through a place of awareness for some time now. We've learned and accepted that we are all connected, that we are one (or One), and that underlying all matter is a connective energy (or God). This understanding of Oneness and divine connection has led us to a place where we are ready for the next steps.

It's time to move to a place of loving and cooperative collaboration so that we can actualize and manifest what we know is true: that our thoughts create our world, that we are all connected, that the deepest truth is love, that love is the energy that not only connects, but creates, and that we are indeed co-creators of the universe in which we live.

Love is the answer, both as an ideal, and as an action. To love, respect, and cherish another allows the bridge where communication, collaboration, and creation can occur. So love is both the precursor, in terms of a loving and kind attitude, and the actual action of connecting with another and sharing. In the sharing, co-creation manifests. In the co-creation, all is possible. And when these concepts move from mere ideas and ideals to actual practice, the world is changed, two hearts, two souls, one mind, at a time.

When we lay down our swords and meet in love, in cooperation, in co-creation, there is no need for contention. And the absence of contention is the very meaning of peace.

World peace is on the horizon. As more and more of us live according to these simple principles of willingness, surrender, trust, love, cooperation, and co-creation, the world is changed. When enough of us have reached this state of peace, all the world will follow.

Peace is inside you. Shared, peace becomes realized by another. And as this dawning perfection moves and flows, student to teacher, teacher to student, co-worker to co-worker, collaborator to collaborator, from one person to the next, this peace that is indeed heaven is made manifest in our world.

The dawning of a world of peace has begun. A new age of love and perfection is here. Come. Surrender. Trust. Love.