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A case of mistaken identity

It is almost universally assumed that every one of us is a separate entity engaged in real activities in a real world. This is an assumption that is hardly ever questioned or scrutinised by anyone, maybe because it seems so obvious that it must be so. After all, everybody behaves and speaks in a way that only reinforces this notion of separateness, so even though we may be at odds with each other in many ways and disagree on many issues, the idea of separate beings is implicitly accepted by almost everybody. In fact, this idea is so ingrained in us that most people would probably think you’re a bit strange, maybe even mad, if you suggest that this might not necessarily be the case.

We are used to defining ourselves and our identity in many different ways, such as in terms of gender, age, nationality, religion, race, political affiliation, social position, career, ethnic belonging and so on. Even one’s name is a kind of marker of identity. However, even the most cursory investigation into the matter of identity will soon reveal to anyone who’s just a little bit persistent that all such labels are quite irrelevant when it comes to discovering the true nature of one’s being. Anyone who sincerely asks themselves the simple question “Who am I?” will soon find out that true identity is not to be found in anything that has been accumulated through cultural influences, upbringing, religious or political conditioning and so on. Neither can true identity be found in the circumstances one was born into, such as nationality, gender or family.

A sincere and persistent quest to find out what you truly are will sooner or later lead you to the conclusion that you are nothing rather than something. There is obviously consciousness, awareness, being, but is this something that’s separate from existence itself? You are the formless expressing itself through form, using the body, mind and personality, which is what most people think of as their true identity. The formless consciousness that you are is not personal in the sense of being separate from anything else. It is quite simply the underlying reality of everything that appears on the level of form; in other words, it’s the foundation of everything we know as the world and the universe. Form and formless are not separate, in fact it would be more accurate to say that form is formless and formless is form. In one sense universal consciousness is separate from the manifest world in that it is completely unaffected or untouched by form, but in another sense it’s equally true to say that the manifest world is the expression of formless consciousness.

Once you realise that you are formless consciousness, you will start to relate to other people and to the circumstances of life in a different way. The reason for this is that you will realise that other people and the circumstances of life, the world, are not different from you. They are what you are. It is all the same universal consciousness expressing itself in an infinite variety of forms. This also means that it doesn’t really matter that much what happens on the level of form, because you know that all forms are destined to disappear, and that does of course include the forms you know as your body, your mind and your personality. Death no longer seems like a calamity. It’s just a natural process of life that is constantly going on, and whether or not a particular form lives or dies isn’t all that important any more.

You might think that this could give rise to cynicism, lack of empathy, even callousness, but in actual fact the exact opposite is likely to be the case. Somebody who has realised their true nature, which is conscious and formless unlimited emptiness, will also more than likely experience a heightened capacity for love, empathy, care and compassion for others and the world. When you know your true nature, you also know that you are all, so being in conflict with others or with the world is no longer a very attractive proposition, in fact it becomes quite impossible, because there are no others to be in conflict with. To put it simply, love is the fragrance of the flowering of spiritual realisation.

All of this might seem like a lot of theoretical talk about something that is of interest only to people interested in obscure philosophical matters. However, because the realisation of one’s true being has such far-reaching consequences, it is actually something that has the potential of changing the world beyond all recognition.

Virtually every single problem facing humanity today has as its main root cause the erroneous assumption that we are all separate beings. If you experience yourself as being separate, you will of necessity also feel a need to fight for your survival, more often than not at somebody else’s expense, which means that you will be in a state of conflict with others. A separate ego will necessarily be at odds with other separate egos and this is the seed of every single conflict and war we have ever known and experienced. Peace, harmony and unconditional love can only ever be a universally experienced reality once we see through the illusion of ego and separateness and start to live from a perspective of universal, awakened consciousness.

The Glastonbury Experience

The picture above is of Glastonbury Tor, which is a hill just outside the town of Glastonbury in Somerset, England. I was fortunate to spend some time there in July this year, and came to realise that Glastonbury Tor has qualities and powers that you wouldn't normally associate with any physical place on this Earth.

Glastonbury is a very special place, and has attracted spiritual seekers and pilgrims for thousands of years, right up to this day. I feel this is largely due to the energy that's focused in Glastonbury Tor. I cannot say what this power, this energy really is, only that it is there, pulling me like a magnet. There are many theories and beliefs surrounding the Tor, but I have no way of knowing if any of them really explains the mystery of the Tor.

What I do know is that there is a power at the Tor that can potentially affect anyone who spends time there. I have been to Glastonbury several times, and always feel that I need to spend at least a few days there to truly tune into the energy of the Tor. This time it was different though, because I felt completely captivated by the Tor straight away, and spent nearly all my time there and in the beautiful and magical Chalice Well Gardens at the foot of the Tor.

I left Glastonbury in a different internal space from when I arrived, as if I had gone through a death and rebirth process. Outwardly, in my dealings with people and the world, everything seems the same; I do much the same things, act in much the same ways, but inside I no longer feel the same kind of attachment to any of it as before. I no longer feel that what is happening and what I am doing is something that truly belongs to me. I do stuff and things are happening, but I don't tend to take any of it too seriously anymore.

None of this is easy to explain and probably won't mean much if you haven't been through something like this yourself. My feeling is that the power of Glastonbury Tor acts like a trigger for whatever is potentially ready to flower in whoever comes within its energy field.

If you feel drawn to visit Glastonbury I recommend spending at least a few days there. The town of Glastonbury itself is a very nice place with lots of wonderful people and interesting things going on, but to me the main focus will always be the Tor. I don't have to do anything in particular, don't have to practice any particular kind of meditation or engage in prayers, special rituals or anything like that while I'm there. For others it might be different, but for me the presence of Glastonbury Tor is enough in itself.

For first class accommodation at the base of the Tor:
http://www.hillsideglastonbury.co.uk/

For top quality aromatherapy and healing in Glastonbury:
http://www.butterflytherapies.co.uk/

The Great Nothing

The most fundamental question you can ever ask yourself is:

"What am I?"

This is not a question that can be answered on the level of mind and thought. Whatever answer the mind is capable of coming up with can at best only be a pointer to truth, but more often than not any answer we can give to this question will be a distraction more than anything else. Even if that might be the case, it is still an undeniable fact that experiences and sense impressions come and go, thoughts and feelings come and go, wakefulness, sleep, birth and death come and go, but throughout all of this there is one constant that never ever changes:

I am.

The bare fact of my existence is indisputable, self-evident and unshakable. All sorts of thoughts, theories, explanations and feelings about this can appear in consciousness, but none of that can ever change the fact that I am. Whatever is happening, whether it's internally or externally - I am always there as the awareness that embraces it all. This awareness that I am is completely non-judgmental and completely accepting. This awareness cannot be defined, as it is not an object that can be externalised. It is the formless dimension in which all phenomena come and go, and has no form or attributes. It just is, and without it nothing on the level of form would ever exist. Just as the empty endlessness of the sky cannot be touched or affected by the clouds drifting by, what I am is completely untouched and unaffected by anything that drifts past on this journey we call life. This is really all that can be said about who I am, and even this is quite possibly too much......

......on the other hand, it might be of some relevance to mention that realising the truth of your being is not a result of anything you can ever do. There is no technique, method or system that will ever lead to self-realisation. The various methods and systems of self-development and meditation that have been devised throughout history might be good enough for their own purpose, whatever that might be, but they are all irrelevant when it comes to truly knowing yourself. What you are is already the case; nothing can be added to it and nothing can be taken away from it. It is the formless reality that underlies all external reality, the one consciousness that is nothing and everything at the same time.

What is it that is aware of these words and their meaning?

The Greatest Mystery

Life itself is the greatest mystery. Life is all, so it truly is the only mystery there is. It really is a miracle that anything exists at all. Is this something that anyone can ever understand? How come life exists at all? How come anything exists? What is existence? What if nothing existed at all, not even non-existence or pure emptiness? Even trying to imagine it seems impossible. How did all of this life, existence, universe come into being? We can't even imagine it. Nobody truly knows what life is and the only thing anyone can ever say with certainty is: I am. That's all. I can't doubt existence, because in order to doubt or question anything, existence must be there in the first place. I might not understand what existence is, but it is a fact that can't be disputed.

So existence is, but we have no way of knowing or understanding what it is or what it is for, if it is for anything at all. We might think we do, and we might have all sorts of theories and explanations for it, but the truth of the matter is that on the level of mind and thought we are perfectly ignorant. We might talk about the big bang, or about God having created it all and come up with all sorts of fanciful ideas, but that's all just theory and speculation. We usually take life for granted, and live our life as best we can, but that doesn't mean we understand what life is. There is a fallacy right there in how we think about "my life", because that seems to imply that one has a "life", which really is quite meaningless. We don't have a "life"; we are LIFE. There is no difference between what I am and what life is. It is all one. It is all one being, all one consciousness, all one existence.

If the word God is to have any kind of meaning at all, it must be as a synonym for being, for all-inclusive and unlimited creative conscious intelligence. God in this sense is greater, more magnificent, more omnipotent and more multi-dimensional than anyone could ever know. It is also something that is completely and utterly beyond any kind of human understanding or comprehension.

It is the only true intelligence, and it is of such magnitude that even the greatest human endeavour is utterly trivial in comparison, yet all human endeavour is obviously part of it, or an expression of it. It's just that the human mind is too small and limited to truly grasp the totality of it. This becomes obvious just by observing nature in all its expression. Just look at what immense creativity is at play in nature. How incredibly sophisticated it all is; just thinking about the magnificent miracle of it is enough to make you feel dizzy. The human mind can't even begin to understand it, and how it all works so perfectly. It is obvious that there is conscious, creative intelligence at work here that's truly miraculous and utterly mindboggling.

Life as we know it didn't happen by chance, there is clearly intelligent design at work, but not in the sense that most people think of it, not in the sense of a "God" somewhere that for some inexplicable reason decided to create something or other. That is a very primitive and childish view of creation. Creation didn't happen in the past; creation is now. It is all now. Past and future are concepts created by the human mind, and have no kind of objective reality. Creation is constantly unfolding, and it is synonymous with the all-inclusive conscious intelligence that is life itself.

And yet, in spite of all of the above, which all seems reasonable enough, I have nothing to declare but my ignorance.

Spirituality and social action

"The world is mad" – we’ve all heard or even said that more times than we can remember, but if that’s the case, how did this sorry state of affairs come about and why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? Everybody seems to find it very easy to complain about the state of the world and everything that’s wrong in society, but isn’t the world our own creation? After all, the world is nothing more than the people inhabiting it and their relationships with one another. It’s also all too easy to become depressed about the state of the world and the horror and insanity of it all, but what is that insanity and horror other than a reflection of the current state of human consciousness?

It’s no exaggeration to say that we live in a world that is predominantly run by fear and greed – it’s run by the ego in other words. It’s easy enough to point one’s finger at politicians and people in power, and designate them as culprits of our planet's miseries, and while many of them are obviously guilty of very serious crimes against the people they are supposed to be serving, blaming them doesn’t solve the problem. It has been said that we get the political leaders we deserve, and there is some truth in that. The presidents, prime ministers and whoever else we think it is that decide things aren’t that much different from all the rest of us. They might have a position in society that’s very different from anything most of us will ever know, but their quality of consciousness is more or less the same as that of most everybody else.

The vast majority of people still live in the grip of ego, of seeing themselves as separate entities engaged in a life and death struggle for survival. Living in this way, we all want to grab as much as we can for ourselves, without much consideration for the whole. Why would our leaders and other influential people be any different?

A lot of people are still buying into the illusion that new political leadership will bring about “change”, but history has shown us time and again that this hardly ever happens. All politicians the world over throughout history have promised “change” once they get into power, but the fact is that nothing much ever changes in this way. If we want more enlightened and compassionate politicians and leaders we ourselves are going to have to be more enlightened and compassionate. Somebody once said that we have to be the change that we want to see in the world, and this is absolutely true. A world without fear, conflict, oppression and war can only come about through each individual manifesting the qualities of love, harmony, freedom and peace in his or her own life.

It is therefore obvious that it will take a shift in consciousness for anything “out there” to change at all. At the present time, it is all too obvious that there are only a handful people living a life free of fear and greed, and the world reflects this perfectly. However, if and when a radical revolution in consciousness does take place, the world will be transformed accordingly. This is what it takes. It is not going to make much difference trying to instigate change on the outer level as long as nothing changes within.

Does this mean that there is no place for social and political action in the world? No, it doesn’t mean that. An individual who has reached spiritual maturity may well be moved to instigate and carry out social and political action, but without an inner foundation of peace, love and freedom any social and political action will only perpetuate the current state of affairs and bring about more misery. This is not the same as to say that we might as well not bother trying to correct what’s wrong in the world. Whenever we feel moved to help others in need, disseminate information or campaign for causes we feel strongly about, we can honour that impulse and still do a lot of good in the world as long as the motivation arises from a space of compassion and wisdom, and not from one of vanity and selfishness.

What’s more important than anything else, though, is to realise the urgent need for a fundamental transformation of human consciousness. In the long run, this is the only solution to humanity’s problems, and the only thing that can bring about real change in the world. Spiritual transformation is not an abstract idea or a fancy notion dreamt up by some philosopher or guru somewhere. It is quite simply the transmutation of fear into love, greed into generosity and war into peace. This needs to happen on an individual level, and therefore we are all directly and personally responsible for the creation of a new world built on the foundation of peace, love, harmony and freedom.

The urgency of spiritual transformation

It is fairly obvious that we live in a time of great upheaval and change, and I also think it is clear that a new kind of world now needs to come into existence. It is not an exaggeration to say that humanity is in big trouble, in all areas of life and society. There are wars, conflict, poverty, destruction of the environment, all sorts of physical hardships and psychological suffering etc, seemingly without end.

As far as I can see, the present crisis, clearly the most serious and far-reaching humanity has ever faced, is not primarily a political, social, economic or cultural crisis. It is fundamentally a crisis of consciousness, as we have now reached the stage in the evolution of human consciousness where the old mind, with its egoistic, self-centred way of life, is no longer sustainable. Whether we like it or not, and whether we are aware of it or not; the fact is that we are left with the option to evolve into a higher state of consciousness or become extinct. All the upheaval on the outer level, whether it's economic, social or political, is but a reflection of the inner turmoil of the human mind. We currently have all sorts of conflicts going on in the world, but that is only a result of our inner state of conflict. It might actually be more accurate to say that the outer is an extension of the inner, because this split into inner and outer truly is very arbitrary, and should perhaps be seen as a figure of speech and not a description of actual reality. In any case, peace on earth can only come about through each and every one of us creating or finding a state of lasting inner peace.

When we look at the world around us, it might be easy to despair, because it all looks so difficult and so full of conflict, pain and misery. At the present time, virtually everything we are doing in all areas of life is life-denying, negative and based on selfishness. We can see this clearly displayed everywhere; just look at what's happening in politics, law, health care, education, religion etc. I'm reminded now of a quote by Michael Ellner which I think sums it up nicely:

“Just look at us! Everything is backwards, everything is upside down. Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy knowledge, governments destroy freedom, major media destroy information and religions destroy spirituality.”

Well, it doesn't have to be like this of course, and I think it's obvious that things are changing. It's as if a new consciousness is in the process of being born; one that is free of ego, selfishness, greed, fear and all the rest of it. The new consciousness that we need to embody, and that can only be born through each individual, is one rooted in peace, wisdom, stillness, creativity and love. Nothing less will do now.

Most people might still be unaware of the awakening that is unfolding at this time, and might be too busy worrying about the state of the economy etc, but we are all at least potentially ready for a quantum leap in consciousness, which would create a new earth and a new world, and is the only thing that can save us from ourselves and our current destructive and negative way of life.

It would appear that we are presently engaged in some kind of monumental, epic battle between good and evil forces, darkness and light, love and fear, or however one might want to describe it. Yes, it is true that there are very dark and powerful forces at play in the world at this time, and in many cases they reach right to the heart of politics, corporations, the major media etc. Some of the people embodying this kind of darkness and evil are well known public figures who might put on masks of altruism and humanitarianism, but it's often not that difficult to see through this and see them for what they are. Others again work behind the scenes, as it were, and are not known to the general public.

However, it is also equally true that very powerful beings of light, love and compassion have incarnated on earth at this time. Some of them will be quite well known, others totally unknown to the vast majority of us. Hardly any of these people seem to be in positions of great power in society at the present time, but that may not be of any importance anyway. Beings of true love and wisdom do not need influence on the outer level, and their work is equally successful regardless of what position they hold in society or how people in general perceive them.

Nothing is ever totally black and white, and there are of course a great many different energies and forces operating on this planet and beyond in these times. What is true though is that we are now faced with a very stark choice (if at all it can be seen as being on the level of "choice"): We either evolve into a new level of consciousness or we die. It's that simple, and although this might seem like an extreme statement for some people, or maybe even like a rather scary prospect, there really is no question that this is the challenge we are facing.

It has been obvious for a very long time that because of the way we live and interact with each other and nature, humanity will face exceedingly difficult times at some point in the future, most probably in the form of a global crisis of unimaginable proportions. On the other hand, I have no doubt whatsoever that the power of love, peace and wisdom will eventually save the day. Unconditional love is the greatest power there is and will dispel the darkness of fear and greed just like the sun chases the night away and brings light in the morning. After all, what is darkness but an absence of light, and what is fear but an absence of love?

The transformation of human consciousness in no longer a luxury; it is an urgent need. We don't have much time left to make this a manifest reality in our world, and it might seem like it's next to impossible, especially if we look at what is going on in the world today and the insanity of the human mind, but the fact is that it is happening. It is as if this urge for a complete inner mutation is coming from a place far beyond the human mind and what we presently think of as "ourselves". The more we let it happen and welcome it, rather than resist or fight it (which in part is what the forces of darkness are doing), the easier it will be for this transformation to happen, both in the life of the individual, and for the planet as a whole. We are very fortunate to be here at this time, because the changes we are witnessing to a greater and greater extent are of a magnitude that is unprecedented in human history. It is our responsibility, good fortune and great privilege to be the channels through which the new consciousness will manifest on this planet, and it is something that should be celebrated rather than thought of as a burden or a problem. God only knows what lies ahead for us, but peace, love and freedom will ultimately prevail. That's the only prediction we can make with any degree of certainty.

Spiritual transformation used to be something that happened only to the exceptional individual who went their own way, either by necessity or choice. It has always been an exceedingly rare occurrence for somebody to reach full spiritual maturity, but we might live to see this happen on such a scale that it's the rule rather than the rare exception. It's of no use to speculate on what "critical mass" might be in this respect, or when that point will be reached, but if and when we do get there, the world will be transformed in ways we presently cannot even begin to imagine.