GAINING ENOUGH SUBSTANCE TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT GOD

The common and usual “self” expands by sticking “things” onto its body –
As well as manipulating other people into its lower orbit –
While rolling and trolling around in egoistic sweet desires.

This kind of “self,” however, sometimes disconnects from itself –
Like a space capsule unlocking from a mother ship
Into a self open to enjoying everybody and everything
With the freedom to be objective and to tell “the whole truth” –
Because there’s no longer any false self remaining.

A self that’s left its false self behind becomes a “true self” –
Free to think God’s thoughts,
Love like God,
And tell the truth like God –

That’s not to say, however, that these experiences can’t end up being a bit “shallow.”

The first step, however, is to gain spiritual freedom –
The second requires a lot of hard work – (because God is not a lightweight) –
Even 10 years of sustained and persistent work
Might only get us as far as being a decent human being –
Even after exercising the freedom of God.

People courageous enough to look God straight in the face
Sometimes still come to realize that working spiritually for most of their lives
Might not add enough weight
To gain the attention of a single person
Desiring to know something about the “real” God.

WHEN MEN ARE FREE TO BE BEAUTIFUL

When men are free to be beautiful
And women become inspired by the bravery of Alexander –

When men start reflecting on the beauty of their surroundings
And women train night and day for competitive contests –

When men write poetry about their love of the natural world
And women burn with desire for stellar accomplishments –

Is the time when men and women will start switching roles –
And, then, switching back again –
Especially since such roles will no longer exist –
Nor the traditional hierarchies either –
And people’s historically stubborn egos will disappear forever.

When everyone becomes free enough to be their “true self”
They’ll also be free to ask what God would do – and then, actually, do it!

This is the spiritual space Jesus embodied himself,
Then perfected, and, subsequently, died for!

Now, two millennia later, it’s become somewhat easier to achieve –
Not, of course, a “gimme” –
But, certainly, more possible
Now than then!

ONCE ALL THE PRESENTS ARE OPENED

It’s good to be humble
Yet, sometimes, it’s good to recognize that the universe
Has been patiently waiting just for you.

It’s good to be modest
But, sometimes, you might imagine becoming a rock star
Singing to people shouting out your name.

Personally, I’m a nobody – and completely unknown –
But what a luxury to be so free –
Since no one’s been expecting anything from me!

I have a secret, though, that God’s whispering:

“One day, many people may be thankful
For writing down what’s needed.”

Fortunately, however, by then I’ll no longer be here
And that’s, in fact, what God has wanted –
No envy –
Knowing I’d be long gone
Once all the presents are being opened!

“A TRUE HUMAN BEING IS NOT HUMAN!”

From “A Surprise of Roses” by Rumi

Rumi is talking here about the “true self” –
While “humans” are egos with no idea who they really are –
So, the day a human can remove “herself” from herself –
Is like throwing a key away that no longer fits the lock
Like being surprised by a kiss that touches only air
Or a play marriage that children solemnly enact.

After one stops claiming their human ego –
What’s left is God – and nothing but God.
Perhaps it may take you a long while to accept this –
Perhaps you’ll hear friends and neighbors muttering, “How dare you!”
And yet, there’s no going back – given what little’s left behind.

It’s true that, at this point, one has no alternative
But to continue going forward and claim God for oneself!
Especially, given that God is free, you might well decide – why not you too?
Why not escape your narrow ego commitments and become free yourself?

God freely fills the night sky with bright and pulsing stars –
Also, God’s always free to laugh – any time and any place –
And, God as a child, one day, became Jesus
Willing to die “ugly” on a cross.

Since no one has ever been able to kill God however –
Whenever they have tried, the result has only been infinitely more God!

 

 

FREEDOM IS A PRE-CONDITION

Freedom is a pre-condition to experiencing God –
Or love, truth, justice, or beauty, for that matter.

Without freedom, and the courage it takes, “you” are nowhere
Because outside ideas, powers, and institutions
Have the ability to take you away from yourself.

Without freedom you’ll have no true life
No true being
No true existence.

Before you “do” anything
Before you say “yes” or “no” –
First, become free.

There’s really nothing else worth having
Spiritually, politically, or economically
Than to be a free “true self.”

Actually, the definition of “human”
Is “freedom.”

TODAY

Christianity is a big city religion
Because Jesus, Peter, and Paul all went into capitol cities to die.

Cities are a domain of control –
The opposite of nature or God.

As a consequence, Christianity decided to place its God into an unchangeable canon –
And then closed it for good –
Whereas “spirit” is like an invisible ball
Children enjoy playing with.

Starting quite early, however, Christianity’s most serious games
Involved war –
Taught, derivatively, by its self-designated “13th Apostle” –
Constantine.

On the other hand,
Each individual could be like Jesus
Deciding to become a child of God –
And live as God would live
If God were human –
That is, completely “free.”

Anyone could do this – it’s what Jesus, Buddha
And Mohammed all taught –

But isn’t that the opposite of what the world religions are teaching us
Today?

HOW TO BE “LIKE” GOD

It’s certainly not about being powerful –
A few spiritual masters have said that, after death,
Each of us will be able to create our own universe –
But that’s just silly.

We’re not ever going to be God –
Even though it is possible for us to be “like” God
By getting “free” of all the “not-God” surrounding us.

After all, God is absolutely free – and doesn’t have to ask before acting –
We can be just as free – and in the same sense.

Wouldn’t it be thrilling to be as free as God –
To start thinking and acting, as a human being,
The same as God would if God were in our place?

What’s the main impediment for doing this?
It’s the ego, which we have mistakenly identified as our “self”
But the ego is not our “true self,” it’s only one of our own creations –
And being “man-made” – is not part of what God originally gifted us with.

We feel as if we’d disappear without our ego –
That we’d be a no-body, a no-thing –

And that would be right!

Because we aren’t an ego, a body, or a thing,
We are spirit – potentially, totally free –
If we accept being our “true self” –

Free as God, if we choose to be.

In such case,
What we’d lose is our artificial “self” – our ego –
And what we would gain is our “true self” –

Jesus called it “the pearl.”

A FEMALE HERO

Women are becoming steadily more free –
And this is a good thing –
Yet, there’s still no female world hero
To model ourselves upon.

No female avatar.
Or messiah.

Women will only become completely free
When we can see a woman act as God would act –
Talk as God would talk –
And look as God would look –
If God were a human being.

Jesus did this, so did Buddha and Mohammed –
But, now, it’s a woman’s turn.

For humanity, as a whole, to become fully human
Women have to start becoming so “like God”
That we can actually see them living this in real life.

Recently, there’s been an increasing desire for women to achieve this –
Just look at all the movies filling up with female action heroes
Reflecting this long-repressed human desire.

It’s important, though, for the first one to actually arrive –
It might be “the purest-hearted girl in the world” from the Southern Hemisphere –
Who’ll teach us everything we need to know –
Who’ll embody God so we can see
What’s been lacking that can save us

Now.

WHAT’S REALLY “REAL”?

Is only what’s visible – “real”?

But, what if the invisible’s just hiding –
For our own good?

After all, what would happen if God, even once, showed up “plain as day” –
Wouldn’t we need to quickly become invisible in order to protect ourselves?

And what would God “see” when God “looks” at us?

A bright dusting of subatomic particles –
Flowering in kaleidoscopic dimensions –
Struggling for some priority of “appearance”?

On the other hand, when we “look” at God, we aren’t able to “see” anything
Because God isn’t a “thing”
Which proves the secularists correct – (at least to the extent they’re willing to go) –
Since, logically, without “thingness,” no “thing” can possibly exist!

So, by establishing “Gods” and their respective civilizations,
People projected giant spiritual puppets up and away from themselves –
Placing them on distant heavenly thrones.

However, recently, we’ve been in a process of losing our belief in such “Gods” –
So, mightn’t there be some danger that our “socially-constructed selves”
Might also get blown to pieces in the ensuing chaos?

Don’t we understand anything
Do we really have to take all the churches, mosques, and synagogues apart, stone by stone,
Along with all the traditional religious rhetoric – phrase be phrase,
In order to get free enough to encounter a “real” God
Face to face –

That is, for us, finally, to become fully conscious and fully alive?

BORN AGAIN

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” John 3:3

Christianity teaches that Jesus was referring to salvation based upon a belief in him.

But Jesus was actually talking about being born “into the Spirit” – not about a commitment to himself.

So, what does it mean for one to be born “into the Spirit”?

I think, first, this requires a determination of the meaning of one’s “self.”

Each of us is born as a “true self” – but, at this moment in history, a “true self” probably wouldn’t be able to survive past his or her childhood. That’s why a person, while still young, accepts the substitution of an “ego” or false self in place of their true self – so that they can successfully integrate their “self” into the world – i.e., with their parents, community, and surrounding culture, including their nation and religion. This successor “self,” in most cases, takes the form of the strong and healthy ego that Freud described.

But what are the costs of living through an “ego” self, no matter how successful it may be in the world?

Think about consciousness as an open circle. Then picture the part accessible to the ego as a very thin slice – maybe 10% – 20%. From early childhood on, that’s the part of ourselves we choose to live within – with all our experiences needing to fit within that narrow slice or be excluded. Excluded how? The ego self requires, as the price of an effective existence, that each and every experience outside the scope of its chosen roles be methodically and ruthlessly pushed back into the unconscious – sealing those experiences off from our consciousness.

So, what happens when we’re “born again”? Upon being born again, we gain access to all our consciousness – all 360 degrees of it – and are able to experience full reality. We become completely “free” and totally open to all our experiences – just like when we first came into the world as a newborn baby – but we also retain all the experience and knowledge of the person we had become by the time we were “reborn.” This rebirth, however, doesn’t happen to an ego – it only happens when we’re able to break free of the ego we had earlier accepted – and start living outside it. That’s what Zen training, for example, prepares us for – to get “outside yourself” in order to become “free of your ego.” This is essentially the same path which Jesus taught – that we need to be “born again” in order to become our “true self” – the self God originally provided us with.

Once you become your true self, you’ll enter “Heaven” – and no longer be creating karmic problems in this world. That’s because you’ll be experiencing everything clearly – by being able to see yourself at the same time as you’re participating in the world – by an ability to stand “outside” yourself. This makes it possible for you to see what God wants you to do in any given situation – just like Jesus was able to – allowing you to act the same as God would act if God were a human being like yourself.

Let me say this as simply as possible – once you find your “true self,” you won’t be Jesus, but you’ll have become someone like Jesus – because you’ll have done what he recommended – spiritually, you’ll be “born again.”

All the “Angels in Heaven” start singing when this happens –

or perhaps,

You’ll simply be able to hear the angels who’re always singing – once you’ve gained the “ears to hear” that everyone receives upon being “born again.”