Thoughts From A Mystic

. The 'goal' of being human, is in actualizing awareness (consciousness). It's important to continually be AWARE of what's going on, and not be tempted to live in the 'past' or the 'future'. No matter what's going on inside and outside 'you', you're living your life! It makes no difference what's happening, your job, thoughts, feelings, health... etc. LIVE. Luke 12:15 Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed (distraction in general); a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 14:33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Matthew

. Society teaches us to play by it's rules. From birth we're trained to think, feel, and act according to it's guidelines; yet we're almost always told we're not good enough! In society's attempts to control our life situations, it totally destroys our ability to find wholeness within Reality. The satisfaction and peace that come from wholeness is lost. Society is certainly an anxiety 'machine'! As beings within Reality, we're never judged. No matter what we think, feel or do we're ALWAYS acceptable!! Refreshing, peaceful and satisfying. Each moment is complete and whole-some. Once you recognize society's programming, how it 'manipulates' you, you can start becoming free from it; and discover who you really are. Matthew

. Spiritual education is an odd thing. Many people believe without proper education people will be 'worse'. Without knowing 'the right way to think', or believe, we are no better than animals. Unfortunately it's education that creates angry, alienated people (most would call it 'bad' education, but it's education, nonetheless.) Education, as we normally find it, tends towards a dead-end path. It starts from a desire to get an end result, and ends with frustrated failings, and desperate searches for 'better' ways to get what you want out of life. Tools and technologies develop out of this path and they make the process of finding one's true nature more difficult, by adding complexity and diversions to the process. It's not education that 'makes' someone loving, or more spiritual (good). Education can help one learn tolerance, but tolerance isn't love. Jesus would say 'stop judging', which is what a tolerant perso...

I recently heard a recording of a sermon, which alluded to 'the sacred contract', a built in contract between a person and God. It was interesting to hear some of the points made, and I wonder if the terminology (non-traditional) might be adding more confusion to the search for truth, than it helped clarify. It's seeing clearly, that's the issue. The terminology isn't really important. During the sermon a comment was made about our need to get 'whopped up side the head', in order to live up to our end of the contract. This 'whopping' was necessary, because of the 'built in structure of the contract'. The pastor continued with a chuckle, then said, "You'll never be provided everything that you need to get it within you. This is God's little joke on you." From my experience it's fairly easy to discover that everything IS provided, without the need for a 'whopping'. The problem lies in how we see Reality, not ...

. Reality (Being) is all around and permeates 'us'. So, why don't people recognize this connection? Desire and habit (reacting) biases people. It keeps us from seeing clearly. Common belief assumes thoughts and feelings somehow bridge the gap between 'me' and 'the rest of reality'. But is this true, and how reliably do thoughts and feelings tell us about 'what IS;? (See Byron Katie's 'The Work'. Her 4 questions help a person recognize their identification with thoughts and desired outcomes.) Seeing Reality is very simple. First, break the bond of belief in thoughts and feelings. Thoughts are thoughts, and feelings are simply feelings. Don't add any other meaning to them. It's easy to understand, but hard to realize! Jesus had a nice statement about the challenge- Mt. 7.13 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ...

Here's a simple way to discern if you're living in Reality, or in a fantasy world of your own creation- If you believe you lack anything, you're not seeing Reality. Matthew

What's the point? What can be done, that hasn't already been done, or will be done again? Are people going to make the world a 'better' place? Or will we make things 'worse' in the process of trying to make things better? Perhaps people don't need to do anything this new year, except BE. And in being we can find love, which transforms all things. As 2008 begins, how does it look to you? Has all the effort in previous years, spent 'to make things better', done the job? Does it look as if we can finally stop trying to change the world, and simply enjoy the peace and prosperity we've worked so hard to create? The more we try to change 'the way things are', the more we find we've somehow gotten off track and created new problems. Don't procrastinate and spend time feeling nostalgic for previous years, or try to reclaim an 'age' when people cared more...care more now! This moment. It's the only one that matters, and...