In Essence there is No Individuality

Spirit tells me that, in essence, there is no individuality.

However, He claims, the illusion of such serves us well.

 

Our purpose for living this human experience is

To enable us to share what we learn with others

And to accept that all others have something

Of value to share with us, whether or not

Any of us is aware of this reciprocity.

 

Simply living is not enough and is not possible.

Part of our mission on Earth is to become

Increasingly aware of how we are living and to

Choose to live a life that brings us satisfaction,

Pleasure, and a sense of purpose.

 

In time, perhaps over several lifetimes,

We will become increasingly aware that we

Share our life with others, whether we care to

Or not, and that others share their life with us,

Whether they know it or not.

 

We learn from each other. We are never alone in

Any real sense, for what we have become, in

Essence, has developed from interacting with

Others. Nobody is completely individual.

We are one.

However, a certain sense of individuality serves us all well, for it allows, and requires us to accept responsibility for choices we make for ourselves, and, unavoidable, for others.

Not a course in miracles

Spirit tells me that the lessons He

Will teach me will not result in

Miracles, and that my progress,

And that of everyone else is

Guaranteed. Its only a matter

Of enough experience to

Persuade us to adapt to

The realities of Life.

 

This is not a course in miracles,

He assures me, but a struggle

Toward enlightenment. First

Comes pain.

 

Stop. What kind of assurance

Is that? Who wants pain?

 

Not pain, alone, He tells me.

There are other stresses, too.

I protest. This is not the way

I remember learning in school.

 

Spirit questions my memory of

How I learned what I did, and

Suggests that everything

I have ever learned, is as

Taught in OUR primary school.

 

You (meaning me) and some others

Seem to forget that experience was

Always your best teacher. But,

That alone, was never enough.

We need to reflect on experience

Or suffer the pain of needing to

Repeat the lesson. It’s as

Simple as that.

 

What about compassion?

 

My compassion for you is

Genuine and deep, but

It does not replace experience.

Lessons need to be learned.

 

Whatever made me think that

Study with Spirit was a blessing.

It is, He tells me, and,

You know it.

 

The Soup of Life

Spirit tells me that repetition of

Similar experiences is not always

Enough to teach us the lessons

They might have taught us if

We had reflected or meditated on

Their cause and consequence, and

Considered how a different

Approach might have had

A different result.

 

Perhaps, He tells me, if we had

Put less salt into the soup, then,

A richer flavour of the soup’s

Contents could have been

Experienced.

 

Whether altering our approach,

Our response, can never be known,

For sure, until we try.

 

Experiment with your life,

He tells me, but in an

Intelligent way.

 

New Beginnings require endings

Spirit tells me that

New beginnings require endings.

We each must learn

Through experience, how far

We can go in making

Concessions to please others,

For whatever reasons.

 

There is a limit, He tells me,

That only experience can

Teach us.

 

When it becomes more painful

To hold onto than to let go, then

A chapter in our Life ends, and

A new one begins.

 

Even then, we may still be

Involved with whomever or

Whatever we have let go of, But

It will never again be as it

Once never was.

 

Compassion flows as a Pressure Gradient

Spirit tells me that compassion flows

When it does, as a pressure gradient,

In response to a recognition of

Suffering, as that suffering flows

Back to us, to be relieved by

The compassion that we send

To those for whom we care for,

When we recognize their pain.

 

We may pity the plight of whomever,

And be thankful that we do not share

Their pain. but, claims Spirit,

When we feel compassion, we

Not only recognize the pain,

We feel it as we would our own.

 

Rules can teach  us, or try to,

To feel pity for people or animals,

In distress, but, only personal

Experience can teach us

Compassion.  It is

A precious gift we give, and in

The giving, we share a common

Bond. Compassion expresses

Awareness of having suffered, and

We share that experience with those

For whom we feel compassion.

 

Why do we feel compassion? We

Know the pain and, perhaps we

Suffered more than the one for

Whom we feel compassion, because

Perhaps we suffered alone, and

Could not Wish that pain

On those we care for, whether

We know them or not.

 

The Rules of Life

Spirit tells me that the rules of Life are

Not nearly as simple as

Some would have us believe.

 

The Golden Rule that we learned

As children – to do unto others as

We would have them do unto us

Is too general to easily apply in

Most specific situations we

Experience as adults.

 

A wide range of responses

Need to be learned in order to

Appropriately respond to

The wide range of situations we

Experience in daily life.

 

I ask Spirit if there is

A mathematical formula to

Determine an ideal response

In any given situation.

 

Spirit tells me that

My personal response to any

Situation must necessarily

Express the quality of

My self-awareness.

 

I understand that to suggest

There is no ideal response.

Spirit’s response: Whatever works.

Energy flows or it does not.

And, it does.

 

 

Suffering

Spirit asks me, What is it that we want

More than anything else?

I don’t know.

Then you need more suffering.

As punishment for not knowing?

No. As experience.

Why would I want to experience

Suffering? I thought freedom from

Suffering was the highest goal.

Freedom from suffering is not a

Goal in itself but a means

to an end.

What end?

Compassion and love.

 

.

Every Relationship is a Learning Experience

Spirit tells me that

Every relationship is a learning experience

In which each participant is both

Teaching and learning something.

 

Deep or shallow, Long term or

Short term. how far will

Each particular relationship

Take us, if we allow or

Invite it, to?.

 

How does or will each relationship

Change us and how will we

Change the other or others?

 

Is it, or will it be worth the effort

If we are aware and intend

To change and/or be changed?

 

Any relationship either stimulates or

Drains our energy and

Other resources, precious or

Otherwise.

 

Where will each relationship

Take us, and how can we know

Until…..?

 

 

Religion and Spirituality

Spirit tells me that

Different religions and spiritual belief systems

Necessarily exist because of

Different knowledge needs among

Different groups of people.

 

No teacher replaces another

Spirit assures me,

Until the seeker, or believer,

Is attracted to another way of

Understanding Life than

What she or he is now learning from

A Present teacher or from

Personal experience alone.

 

We each possess and

We each are, a unique

perspective, attracted to

A similar or expanded

Version of our own way of

Learning, or our own way of

Knowing, and our own way of

Relating to our shared reality.

 

The Original Sin – Abuse of Privilege

How, I ask Spirit, can we, okay, I, possibly cope with abuse

If there seems to be no escaping from it?

To seek to escape if cowardly, He tells me.

But, Isn’t it possible, I suggest,

That some, okay, that I might sometimes

Take offence to something that someone

Might say or do, and feel

abused by them?

Sensitivity to criticism can only develop,

Spirit explains, from past experience

Of abuse, and we all have

Past experiences of abuse.

That may well be

The original sin.