FREEING ONE’S “TRUE SELF”

There’s no consciousness without the material world
And there’s no part of that material world without at least some consciousness.

Also

There’s no physical entity that doesn’t include the potential for “life”
As an intrinsic and necessary part of its structure.

Because

Life is inherent in unlife –
And consciousness is innate in life –
So objective spiritual truth must be a fundamental element of the cosmos.

Eventually, over time,

God was born as a human being, bearing the name of Jesus,
And Jesus, in turn, matured into God while remaining wholly human.

In sum,

God created the universe by opening up an infinitesimally small gap into and through nothing –
Starting out with dust –
And is now partway on the path to re-creating God
In another time and space
Who, spiritually, is the ultimate perfect balanced combination
Of Love, Truth, Justice, and Beauty.

It’s like opening up one’s hand –
Discovering a trapped bird –
And allowing the freedom of an unborn self
To fly straight to its very own “true self.”

STEPPING AND LEAPING

There are multiple steps required to reach God –
Too many, actually –
So why not take a single leap –
Exclaim “God!” and, suddenly, be there.

God likes these kinds of surprises.

Of course, God counts all the steps you’ll actually need
In a single glance –
While you’re still reciting: “One Thousand Nineteen, One Thousand Twenty….”

Each step represents an increase in human consciousness –
That is, in the quality of soul, mind, and life experience –
And each takes a lot of work –
God appreciates that –
While whispering: “You know, there’s really a more direct way to achieve this.”

Counting may eventually get you there –
But leaping is daring and beautiful – reflecting the elegant thrill of dance.

God loves both daring and dance
Muttering: “Here, take my hand” –
“Watch this step” –
And sails through the overarching Universe –
Penetrating Time itself.

Suddenly, you’re there, that is, here!
Taking personal tea with God
In a long and intimate conversation
Between best of friends!

ALWAYS THE SAME PERSON

I’m always changing – adding and subtracting to and from my “self” –
Yet remain the same – from the first moment of my existence.

How is this possible – to remain, in essence,
A single soul –
While, over time, adding and subtracting worlds to myself –
Eventually even being changed by the love of my life into two
Yet still remaining one.

Is God like this?
From the first moment of creation – staying the same –
Carrying time, space, and energy inside an infinitesimally/infinitely small/large bright self?

Is it really necessary for a God to “die” in order to be “born again” as a newer, fresher God –
A “Springtime” God?

When, ultimately, I personally “flash off,” will I remain the same – just in another form?
Will, after my body dries up and blows away, the energy of my “life” continue existing
In a time and space beyond our present time and space?

All forms change and die –
Yet, perhaps, never really die –
Not even the “old” Gods
Or the newborn ones either!

INFINITE REGRESS

We’re told to be “self critical”
Which, I take it to mean, able to look at ourselves
Objectively
That is, being conscious of being conscious –
But that’s just the first step –
The next would be to look at ourselves
Looking at ourselves.

Such metacognition could spiral out to infinity through complex sets of mind mirrors
Reflecting back and forth to the end of vision and time –
Getting progressively smaller and more distant until, finally, disappearing.

So, what are some alternatives?
Perhaps, hitting the streets and looking out –
But never in –
Then, what happens, happens –
And you’re looking through time
Solely at your own personal history –
Adjusting each step by what just happened.

Then, there’s complete spontaneity –
A jump into the pool – Splash! –
You get wet –
We all get wet.
Lots of relief and enjoyment –

Especially, for the first one in!

GOD LOOKING AT GOD

Jesus did it –
So any of us can.

We need freedom, however, to accomplish it –
Because the “self” our parents and society provided us
Prohibits real freedom –
Yes, unfortunately, that “self” which we use to survive
And, hopefully, prosper in the world –
Partially blinds us to reality – as well as to God.

Very few individuals are able to drop their societal “self”
In order to glimpse God –
Zen Buddhist monks tell us that one should “Know nothing” –
And keep repeating it –
Because one’s “self,” and all its mental constructs, restricts our freedom.

This, however, is partially incorrect –
True, to the extent that when we accept any mental constructs
They tend to blind us to reality –
But false, in light of the millennia of human striving for greater understanding
That has led to acquiring tools that can test reality
For the presence of God –
That is, for “Love,” “Truth,” “Justice,” and “Beauty.”

Scientists of consciousness teach that we’re provided with approximately three seconds
To open ourselves to reality – that is, to God –
That we have a 100 trillion synapses available to accomplish this –
And that our mind has a capacity even larger than the entire known universe –
But also, of course, limited by the time available to take a look.

God, however, has no time limitations
(since “time” for God exists in an entirely different realm) –
Therefore, God is always looking at us –
And greatly pleased when we’re able to “feel” God’s presence
And, in response, turn in God’s direction.

Sometimes, we can “see” a flicker of God’s robes passing by –
In and out of our psychological reality –
Out there, on the edge of consciousness –

Not only “see,” but also have the ability to think about what we’ve just seen –
Using those spiritual tools of love, truth, justice, and beauty,
To reflect upon it.

This is what Jesus did, and why he was able to say the things he said,
And why the people who looked into his face could see God.

So, yes, Jesus is God
But so are you if you truly want it.

You just have to give up everything – so as to gain sufficient freedom
To “see” –
And then, have faith in what you are seeing,
Using those “spiritual tools” handed down to you
Over millennia of human experience.

We should be talking with one another about all this –
About God – and about our selves –

What could be more important?

TIME PUSHES THROUGH THE BODY LIKE A BABY

God isn’t found in any scientific theory
Because God’s alive in hearts – not unraveled in the mind.

God lives totally in, and actually is, the Spirit
And won’t be uncovered by computer algorithms.

God is simply a dance.

Also, God is Beauty, as to the presence of which
There’s simply nothing more to say.

God hums and we start humming along with her
So, when we picture any external threats,
We understand they’re going to  be met by the drawn sword
Of a gentle young girl.

God arrives right before the “second birth” of every human being –
First there is raw attraction,
Then, an amiable and patient waiting,
Consummated by intense pleasure/pain
Opening up one’s body, soul, and spirit
As God bursts through the doors of our being.

It’s unceasing, this pounding on the doors of life,
When time pushes through the body like a baby –
Or even the birth of God herself!

WHO WOULD HAVE GUESSED!

“You must die before you die.”
                                    Rumi

It’s a race against time –
Like a river filling up,
Drowning you, and then leaving you behind.

We begin life swimming upstream –
Towards birth, towards an unfolding life, and, then, towards death –
Which comes like a wave –
Or an unfinished song.

There is physical life
And spiritual life –
But they don’t start at the same time
Or travel in the same direction.

The physical life starts out strong but over time winds down
Spiritual life may also get old quickly –
However, “dying” to discover the next life
Sometimes can be useful –
Getting born a second time before dying the first time –
Entering a spiritual world –
Eyes wide open –
Prepared for a birth into love and joy.

Life is such a surprise –
So unexpected –

Who would have guessed!

REALITY AT ALL LEVELS

How can we see like Jesus could see –
As fully human and fully God?

He saw with two eyes – one a human’s and one God’s.

A real human eye is found only in a “true self” –
Like the eye of an infant – where everything is fresh and new –
And, as the scientists say,
Pure uninterrupted experience is limited to three seconds,
But is never found in the head of a wooden puppet – like Pinocchio
As an “ego” or a “false self.”  

God’s eye is different –
It sees through time (eternity) and space (infinity) –
Set within the four cardinal points of love, truth, justice, and beauty –
With the lines meeting at the top of a spiritual pyramid –
Love meeting truth, truth meeting justice, justice meeting beauty,
And beauty resting on love –
All conjoined at the tip – where God lives.

Two eyes – one a human being’s and one God’s.

Jesus could see through a child’s eyes
Balanced by those four spiritual attributes of God.

When those two eyes exist in a single head
They see reality – and at all levels.

GOD HAD AN IDEA

God had an idea –
It was so beautiful
God decided to release it out into the void
Where it took flight
And became everything.

It would take eternity
To appreciate everything in detail
So why not take a single thing – or person –
Taking as much time as you need
And, after a while, some more time –
Waiting for the surprise about what you, at first, hadn’t glimpsed.

Yes, it’s time that makes things (and people) more beautiful –
Just when you’re starting to get impatient – not seeing anything new –
It comes down like glory – drenching you.

Where did this surprising beauty come from?
Was it hiding inside ourselves all along – just waiting for a touch –
Or a light of love
To cleave one’s heart like a gentle sword?

Oh, God, give us a lot more beauty
Than we’re able to, at first, see –
And then give us time to wait for this unknown beauty to open –
Time to discover the “pearl”
That is us!

BOOKS ARE MY FRIENDS (For Laurel)

Books are my friends –
Accompanied by them I’ll never get bored
And if at times I get a bit “down,” a passing title will soon pick me up.

Books surround me with the most thoughtful people who ever lived –
Crowding around in my study
Their intrinsic seriousness and brilliance lifts my room sky high
Ready for long-distance visits to a future “me.”

If a book is empty and brings me down – I quickly put it down
And pick up another.

People without books remind me of deserts without water –
A mechanical kind of survival –
“Clank, clank, clank.”

Books are the sea we swim in
So as to relax by distant shores.

Books are magic pills we swallow
In order to change into someone else.

Books are dreams we can make real
By spending time inside them.

Books will make you an entirely new and different person
If you’re open to opening them.