Opening and Allowing – The Book

Most of us have times when we feel like there is an energy or a force insisting that something is wrong, and this makes it difficult to think thoughts of truth because the mind immediately runs to what is wrong.  Our body will not relax; our mind will not stop.  This is survival mode.  It is our physical body preparing for emergency.  When there is a threat to our lives this is an appropriate response.  But what has evoked it in this moment?  We may be conscious of what we perceive as a threat:  financial issues, health issues or relationship issues.  But in reality, are they a threat to our survival?  It is more likely that the emergency our physical body is responding to is within us.  Our natural desire for freedom of expression – to be free and to live fully, to express ourselves with liberty – that natural desire is triggering the state of emergency.

Our mind and our unconscious processes have become conditioned to perceive our free expression as a threat – as indeed they seemed in our younger years, when events or circumstances seemed to be placing extreme limits on us.  It is natural that a desire to break through those limits – to break through any limits to our freedom – will arise within us, causing our minds to create a state of fear and from that look to the outside world for the source of this fear.  So we must find a way to soothe the fears, to move out of the state of emergency, to recognize the reality of the moment, so that we can become creative again.

We must acknowledge our fear: a conditioned response to the presence of life within us, of expressing ourselves in whatever way we choose in any given moment.

We must become the soothing and nurturing parent to the frustrated and frightened child.  For we have been in the role of the controlling and judgmental parent which has been our most automatic response to this free child.  As we acknowledge the fear, we can then bring the compassion and empathy that changes our energy completely.  For then we are available to this moment, to what is truly real.  And then we can see there is no emergency.

The energy and presence of life is still alive within us.  We can remember that that energy, that force, is the living expression of the one universal source.  Our journey is one of unfolding.  We are not trapped.  We are not stuck.  We are not blocked.  Below all the stories, ideas and fears is the truth, unchanged and unchanging, always true, always the source of our being, always giving us life, always seeking expansion and expression, never missing, never compromised, giving us life right now.

Now is the time to drop all illusions –the idea that there are any problems, that there is anything wrong – anything at all. There is a state of being within you right now that knows only perfection, peace, joy, and love.  That is the truly authentic state of being.  The only thing stopping you from experiencing that state of being right now is your insistence that there is something wrong, there is something not good enough, there is something to be afraid of, something to worry about – whatever kinds of thoughts fill your mind in this moment to obscure your experience of the truth.  Just as clouds do not actually stop the sun from shining, our thoughts do not stop the light within us.  Our mind simply clouds the view and makes it seem like there is darkness.  But the light is already there right now.  You cannot find it with your mind.  You cannot think it into existence – it already exists.  It’s already burning brightly.  It’s already the source of your existence, the very basis of your being.

You are in charge of your thoughts, what fills your mind, what you pay attention to.  Now is the time to align your mind with the truth and remember that thoughts – paying attention to the mind – is like seeing only the clouds even if the light is shining on you.   For the light is shining all the time.  Thoughts are one kind of experience and the truth is another kind.  They are not the same.  Experience of the truth is revealed when we become quiet, when we soothe the mind, soothe ourselves, allow ourselves to know that everything is okay.  There is nothing wrong in this moment.  Nothing needs the attention of our mind.  We can relax – that’s all there is to do.  It is time to leave behind the distractions of the mind.  Allow the light to rush in, allow what is already real to come into your consciousness.  Simply let go and say yes to the undeniable, unchangeable, unavoidable truth, the only reality.  Wake up from the dream of separation, from the dream of struggle.  The full, creative, loving presence is in us right now.  There is nothing missing.

When we see evil as a power, we feel like we are fighting to remember the truth but are being opposed.  We feel that a force overtakes us.  We have become victims and we are identified with our egos, our thoughts, and our identity.  We are trying to reestablish control because we feel threatened.  We believe there is something wrong, that something needs to change, or something needs to be fixed.  What is wrong with us in this moment?  What is imperfect?  Our mind tells us that we are not surrendered enough, we are not this or that.  It produces a list of things that need to be fixed so we can surrender.  But the answer is not to work with what is wrong to overcome resistance.  The answer is to remember what is true in this moment and to deny the reality of any appearance of anything other than God.

The mind insists on control.  It wants to be in charge.  It wants to limit and contain our experience.  It wants us to behave.  Our spirit forever seeks expansion, expression, evolution, and freedom.  Our mind opposes this.  It frightens us.  It tells us that this urge within us is dangerous and we must shut it down.  So the battle rages in our body.  The natural impulse of life is seeking full expression and freedom to be, but the mind is instilling fear, demanding control, and insisting that there is something wrong that can only can be taken care of by the mind.  But we are not victims of our minds.  We are the choosers of what to fill our minds with.  We have the power to affirm and assert the truth, to remember that all is well.

Our mind is not the source of truth.  Our mind is a tool.  Our mind is not power.  Our thoughts are not real.  What will you proclaim in this moment: that there is something wrong or that God is real?  What will you live in this moment: the truth or the fear?  This is your choice right now.  If there is fear in you it will be replaced by love if you will stop and trust.  You, as your identity, as your ego, cannot control anything.  You are simply distracting yourself from the truth.  Your idea that there is something wrong that you can fix is a distraction.  Everything is already perfect.  There is nothing you can do except to choose to know it.  There is an intelligence and wisdom, a love, and a power within you that is infinite, enduring, and not overcome in any way by anything.  But if you choose the path of your mind, the path of your thoughts, then you cannot experience this truth.  You are then locked in the jail of your own identity.

The door is open.  Surrendering is a choice.  What you pay attention to is a choice.  What we fill our minds with is a choice.  We do not need to do anything to make the world perfect.  It already is.  We do not need to do anything to make ourselves perfect.  We already are.  It is only our insistence that there is something wrong that makes it seem so.  But it is false.  It is illusion.  It is imagination.  When you refuse to go along with the mind’s fear and denial of beauty, the love and light is here right now.  There is nothing that you have to do to create this power, this light.  It is alive within you this very moment.  It has never been extinguished.  It cannot be.  There can be no other truth about you.  What will you choose in this moment: the truth or darkness, love or fear?  You really do have that choice right now.

When circumstances in our life are presenting challenges that clearly require us to grow and expand, our first response is often to try to deal with these challenges in ways that are already familiar and comfortable; to do things that we already know how to do.  But when we are committed to growth and open to the idea of surrender, the challenges we encounter are not easily dealt with in our old ways.  In truth, we search our minds and our customary beliefs and ideas for a way to make sense of what is happening, but we cannot make it fit.  A state of confusion arises.  We feel we are out of our depth and feel all kinds of feelings: inadequacy, failure, or despair.

The underlying cause of this confusion is that we are looking in the wrong place for the answers.  The answer does not lie in our old forms of control, our learned behaviors, our conditioning; these are what we are trying to give up.  The answer lies in surrender – giving in – to the true intelligence and power, and being guided that way.  Our journey demands that we trust more and more.  It is a journey of unfolding, of becoming.  Doing things the same old way becomes an impediment, becomes uncomfortable and brings constant challenge to that way of being.

And so we must remind ourselves, on a moment–to-moment basis, of the truth.  We cannot let our mind be occupied by thoughts of duality, of inadequacy, of failure, of any belief that there is anything wrong or bad.  When we do not know the answer we have to trust.  We must give the question to the intelligence and power within us that is infinite – that is the only truth in every moment.  That is our way; that is our path.  Though it may be difficult in the midst of confusion to remember the truth, that is our task in this moment – right now: to align our thoughts and mind with ideas of the truth, with our understanding of the one power, the unity of existence, the eternal and infinite presence of God and love, the substance of life, the source of all existence.  We do not exist outside of love, or beside it, or in opposition to it – there is no such thing.  It is up to us to bring our minds into harmony and alignment with the truth.  Then our path is clear, our journey is peaceful, our hearts will open and we will experience the beauty and the love that is here right now.  That is the only reality.

Just now, were you knowing and believing that everything is perfect?  Most of us are so accustomed to the thoughts that something is wrong or something isn’t perfect that we don’t even challenge or question them.  Our goal is to become acclimatized to the knowledge, thoughts, and ideas of perfection so that the negative thought stands out.  Miracles, positive rewards and responses, and creative expression should be normal.  Our meditation is a practice.  We are practicing knowing the truth.  We are practicing challenging the habitual thoughts, ideas, and beliefs that lead us into ideas of separation, doubt, and lack as if they were real.

We have had traumas and experiences that convinced us that there was evil, that there was imperfection or something wrong.  We have become physically conditioned to trust and put our faith in our mind and our thoughts or our identity.  There is no shame, no failure or fault in this – there is nothing to regret.  We are simply relearning what is true.  We have all had experiences where we found that things we had believed were true for most of our life actually were not true.  It is difficult sometimes to make the adjustment to remember which is true and which isn’t.  Imagine how hard it would be to learn the alphabet if the letters were reversed or mixed up.

So, from this perspective we know that we are on a journey to train our minds to remember the truth, to remember that in this moment there is nothing wrong, there is no lack, there is no danger, there is no shame, and there is no unworthiness.  We are not bad, we are not wrong, and we are not weak.  The spirit and the energy of God is just as powerful within us as anyone and anything.  No one can deny the presence of God as the fundamental source of who we are.  To do so is to deny the true nature of God and life.  The truth is that we are the only ones who can deny that presence by turning away from it through our fear of trusting, our fear of letting go, and our faith in our ego and identity.  In this moment there is no need for judgment, no need for doubt.  We simply accept this moment exactly as it is.  We accept ourselves exactly as we are.  Our only task is to move into that receptive, open, compassionate state of being and allow the presence of God to be revealed in our quietness, in our stillness.  God’s love is here right now and always.

When those around us that we know and care about encounter challenges and struggle, are having difficulties in their lives, we may find ourselves feeling hopelessness and despair and other feelings that make us feel trapped in some kind of negative space.  It is particularly difficult with members of our family, those that we have put much energy into, given much of our lives to,  to feel like somehow we must have failed them.  We cannot see the truth, we cannot find the perfection, we cannot help believing something is wrong or bad.  It is painful and overwhelming.  It is tempting to believe that something needs to be done to fix their problems, to somehow intervene.  And it’s very possible that they may need extra support.  But in truth, the answer lies with us, for the helplessness, hopelessness and despair are the result of our inability to believe in our ability to overcome our own struggles and difficulties.

Despite all that we want to believe, the world is simply a mirror.  The pain we believe we see is our own pain.  The struggles and difficulties we perceive are our own.  We have forgotten that struggle, challenge, pain, and difficulty are completely normal aspects of life and do not indicate that something is wrong or bad.  But the end result is always growth.  We have forgotten that the human spirit is capable of miracles, of magnificence, of amazing feats.  What has surfaced in us is our own unhealed belief that somehow we are inadequate or unworthy to overcome the challenges of our own lives – that we have been broken by our experiences, we are not enough, not adequate, or not worthy.

We know that deep within us is an absolute truth, that when we change our mind the world changes around us.  This has been proven over and over.  So we see that events of a distressing nature are not sent to punish us or try us but are more in the nature of our spirit presenting us a healing opportunity: to gather the spiritual strength to remember the truth, to act from the truth and to live the truth, and to allow healing of the wound that caused us to doubt.  We are not being punished for our failures.  We are given and gifted an opportunity to heal, evolve and expand and to become the loving, accepting, compassionate and open being that we truly are, and to release all the old ideas of our failure, inadequacy, and our unworthiness.

It is hard at times to accept this pain that is in us, this awful judgment of ourselves, but we can heal it.  Pain is not bad.  It is an indication of healing.  There is grief for the way we have suffered at our loss of freedom, our loss of love for ourselves.  It is painful to acknowledge.  But we will heal and then we will remember that nothing, no event, or no circumstance has ever harmed us.  We were never damaged; we were never broken.  Our understanding has grown bigger with every challenge.

So we remember in this moment, right now, that despite all appearance, all feelings, all the effects around us, that God is here – love is here.  The one power continues to be the only truth despite all appearances, for there is only good.  We have come to see pain and struggle as bad and wrong and yet, no living thing was born without pain or struggle.  No new life begins without pain or struggle.  We are born again many times.  And so in this moment we acknowledge that the only real possibility is perfection.  That we cannot claim that God is wrong, that God is missing, or that there is no love.  There is nothing without love.  There is nothing without God.  There is only God and only love.  Miracles are nothing to God.  The evolution of life is inevitable.  Allow yourself in this moment to acknowledge and accept this truth.  You cannot change it.  You cannot be outside it.  It can only be true.  It can only be the only truth.  Your life is a perfect expression of the one power in this moment – God in form, love in action.  There is nothing else.  Hold your mind steadfast to the truth and accept with compassion and understanding the difficulties and struggles that we encounter so that new life may emerge.  You cannot fight the truth; you cannot make it untrue.  All you can do is accept and give in to it.  The light of compassion and love burns bright within you.  This is your guide.