Posts Tagged ‘Evolution’
This world is one of paradox. It is a world in which two dualistic and seemingly opposing viewpoints often battle it out for the title of being RIGHT. (Insert heroic trumpet fanfare here!)
In fact, being right is the one thing that people(‘s egos) will sacrifice most anything for, including their own happiness, health, wealth, and even their very lives. Never underestimate the human ego’s desire to be right!!
The irony is that from a higher perspective, from the level of non-dualistic consciousness, it becomes clear that NEITHER are right AND BOTH are right! Say what!? How can this be??
It’s not this OR that, but this AND that.
Perhaps you’ve seen two people who are arguing about something, only to realize that they’re both right. The thing is that they’re both looking at the same thing, but simply seeing it from different perspectives.
When you can stand in the center and realize how both seemingly opposing viewpoints are actually both valid, are really the same truth viewed from different perspectives, then you can say you are centered in your being.
The most natural way to get to that integrated space is to let the mind be quiet. Paradox can be conceptualized in the mind, but there’s truly nothing to understand. Simply be still and know. The paradoxes will be revealed to you.
It seems that reality is centered right between the paradoxes. Life finally “clicks” when you sit between the paradoxes.
A few quick examples…
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Question:
Hi Ariel,
The biggest difficulty that I have had so far has been trying to reconcile a fully conscious lifestyle with the brain’s automatic conditioned responses. It seems like our brains have evolved to compel us to behave in an evolutionarily advantageous way. For example, if I hold my breath for as long as I can, eventually my desire for air will increase to the point that it overwhelms everything else.
How does the idea of enlightenment deal with these automatic responses? No matter how spiritually enlightened we are, we are still human. I think that the root of my difficulties is coming from the fact that I am hoping to see true reality, yet I also believe that our minds are hardwired to experience reality in certain ways that are beneficial to our survival.
Thanks,
B.
My Response:
Hey B,
Great question.
You’re absolutely right. No matter how enlightened “you” are, “you” are still just as human.
All awakening boils down to is realizing your true nature. Sure, Jesus still ate food. The Buddha’s heart still beat. Ramana Maharshi still talked with people. Nisargadatta Maharaj still breathed naturally. Adyashanti still has the capacity to think. David Hawkins still has the ability to hold an intention in mind and see it come into manifestation.
You see, it’s not about overriding your body’s natural evolutionary patterns, but recognizing that they are not you. It’s not about trying to force the mind to go quiet, but recognizing the mind is not you. It’s not about perceiving an alternate reality beyond the mind, but recognizing that the mind’s perception of what is is not actually reality. What is is just what is, not what you think it is.
It is possible to look, to simply look at something without mentally creating a whole story about what’s being witnessed. Witness what is without engaging the mind.
Upon awakening it is still possible to discern the difference between a snake and a bed, for example. One is safe for the body to lie down on. The other is not. 
It’s not like that capacity is lost.
What changes is the idea that “external” objects are in any way separate from that which I am. We are all recognized to be an expression of Divinity.
The mind is not capable of truly coming to this realization. It can only adopt this, or something else, as a belief system.
You’re right that the mind is designed to ensure our own physical survival, for the most part. However, the mind can only discern appearance. Is this food healthy or not? Does this situation look dangerous or not? It uses logic, reasoning, and past experiences as its reference, but very often what’s happening now is very different from what happened in the past. The mind is only designed to perceive what happened. It’s not designed to understand what will happen. This is an inherent limitation of the mind. Read More …
There is this theory floating around our world today, the theory of LACK.
It says that there are finite resources on this planet. There is not enough for everyone and thus we must struggle with one another and compete for what there is not enough of.
Who gets the resources? Why, the strongest of course! It’s survival of the fittest, a natural by product of evolution. “It’s how things work!”
This is the way things work when people are cut off from their true source within and are trapped in pure egoic consciousness.
The mind of the ego can be likened to an animalistic mind, just purely survival and reproduction based. It can not see beyond itself, beyond physicality. Thus it sees only what it has and recognizes that sometimes what it wants is here, but other times it’s not.
So what it wants is limited and since other people are also trying to take what it wants, it must compete with others for what it wants.
This is the current state of many people in this planet, particularly where we see the strong elite dominating the majority of people who live in poverty and lack.
The reason this mentality is able to thrive is because people have cut themselves off from the inherent source of creation which allows them to create MORE of that which they want.
Grow more food, create more money, share with people more freely, give what you have extra of, even give what seems to be lacking because you KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that you abide in abundance and there is ALWAYS more where that came from.
There is always more where that came from.
You see, as more people start raising their consciousness by connecting to the Source of All That Is (and thus entering the kingdom of God), they will begin to realize, both intellectually and experientially, their own inherent powers of Creation.
People will begin to further develop their skills of manifestation, of being able to create something out of thin air!
Isn’t that what growing food is all about? You nourish plants and animals, give them food, water, sunlight, a healthy atmosphere, and food is created from the loving ingredients of Source.
Same thing with everything else. When we nourish certain mindsets, beliefs, and understandings in the right way, we allow them to flourish.
We welcome views of abundance and act upon these states of being and thus make them real here on earth.
Evolution is not just about the strongest surviving. Evolution also entails continual expansion, growth, becoming MORE! That’s what Creation is all about. It’s about becoming more, about experiencing more, about having more, about appreciating more, about loving more, about sharing more.
Not because you’re trying to gain more in order have more and hopefully fill a void within.
Quite the opposite. It’s because you BECOME more that you then experiencing HAVING more, more abundance, more love, more unity, more peace.
So it truly comes down to us becoming more as people and raising our levels of consciousness to being open to abundance, open to all having enough to survive, and open to building the underlying foundation which allows each and every one of us to not only survive, but to THRIVE!
Abundance, Abundance, Abundance. That’s what it’s all about.
We must choose it for ourselves. It is totally up to us. Your abundance is totally up to you.
As you begin to acknowledge the Source of Creation within you, call it God, Existence, Christ, Allah, Spirit, Consciousness, whatever you wish… as you acknowledge that all Creation flows through us and ultimately IS us, you’ll find that you truly ARE the source of All Creation.
It’s interesting to see how much people resist death. Fear of death is actually the ego’s biggest fear, its core fear.
Death is seen as basically the worst possible thing that could ever happen. Doctors in our (American) society today are often taught to consider death of a patient a failure while the prolonging or prevention of their death, even if it creates a state of suffering, a success.
This is not a judgment one way or another, but simply an observation of this intense fear of death and man’s attempted avoidance of it.
We see this fear reflected in the way man generally treats nature.
There’s so many conservation projects in action trying to save this or that species. This also seems linked to this inherent fear of death built into all our egos as well as its resistance to allowing change.
Now, I’m not necessarily saying that we should promote killing off all species in the name of change without a second thought. Afterall, it’s pretty clear that humans are creating some pretty serious damage to this planet in terms of pollution, overfarming soil, destroying rainforests, and all these other topics we’ve heard about time and time again.
People also seem to get upset when they find out that a fire (whether sparked by man or by nature) is going to wipe out an entire species of plant or animal. They will become extinct just like the dodo bird (pictured here) did. Bye bye birdie.
Death is an inevitable part of life, an integral part of the process.
Death is not, however, the opposite of Life. Life has no opposite. Life is.
The “opposite” of death is birth. (It’s not truly its opposite, but actually the same thing seen differently. That’s another topic entirely, however. Read Home with God for more information.)
What we call Life is a continuous cyclical process that depends on both what we call birth and what we call death. If we were to experience only birth, we would effectively be seeing a cancerous growth. In this day and age, death is just as much a part of Life as birth for our mortal bodies.
People welcome birth and celebrate it, yet they fear death and mourn it. Both parts are equal parts of a cyclical whole.
So why all this fear about the extinction of a particular species of plant or animal? New species are being created. Older species die off. It’s just part of the constant process of creation we call evolution.
What’s your take on it?
Is the extinction of a particular species really something to rally against and get worked up over?
Is it something to simply something to accept as a natural part of the cycle of birth and death?
Should we do all we can to prevent a species from being wiped out?
Is it simply a symptom of a larger problem: that we feel separate from each other, from mother nature, and from all of Life?
What do you think?
We live in a society today which is dominated by self-help books and self-improvement guides promising to increase the quality of your life in such-and-such way, or your money back!
What’s going on? It seems everyone feels perpetually imperfect and is constantly seeking something new and better “out there” to satisfy a craving to feel better “in here.”
As usual, this stems from the ego’s distorted perception of reality.
In reality, Life is in a state of complete perfection. You are perfect, just as you are. There is nothing to improve and nothing that could possibly be improved, only changed.
From the perspective of the ego, everything is inherently imperfect. Life needs to be improved and changed in order to achieve happiness. You need to DO something in order to BE happy.
Interestingly, even once the goals are met and the ego should theoretically be satisfied, the feeling of satisfaction turns out to be short-lived. It seems that the ego’s hunger for improvement is insatiable. It ALWAYS wants more! MORE!
So people wind up getting caught up in this game of cat-and-mouse, trying to do something to achieve happiness, and creating new goals to reach the next level as soon as the current goal is met.
What happens it that people are unhappy NOW while trying to get to the ever-elusive THEN which is ironic because the Now is the only moment there is. Read More …
