Searching for Consciousness, Jesus and My Apple Pencil
Where is Consciousness? Where is Spirit? Where is my Apple Pencil? (Hint: “Right in front of your face, dumbass.”)
Lots of things are right in front of our face and we can’t seem to find them. Spirit? Consciousness? Where the heck are they? In this video, I explore a new way to think of these essential life essences. Try it if you want.
A Piece of Me
There is a risk when using religious terms such as “The Father” or “The Christ” when thinking of or referring to God. It encourages one to imagine God as being simply a part of the whole “me.” “There is ‘me’ and then there is that part of ‘me’ I experience as God, which I call “Christ” or “The Father within.” This makes “me” the main character and “Christ” a secondary character inside of “me.” The reality is, there is only omnipresent God and this pretend character I know of as “me,” an individual expression of omnipresent God.
I’m A Guest on “Take A Sip”
A big thanks to Michael Poole for having me as a guest on his podcast “Taking A Sip.” We discuss spirituality, podcasting, kilts, drum corps, ASMR, the arts and tons of other things. Give it a watch!
The Name That Unlocks
The human life is a life of duality. It is what makes us distinctly human. Our spiritual history of “tasting the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” establishes us firmly within that foundation of a life of mental opposites. While it is most likely impossible to escape the dual life, we can, through spiritual vision and intuition, rise above it to sense true Oneness. That is our essential nature after all, and it is only available for us to experience through transcending the human mind and experiencing the spiritual.
Personally, I find the name “God” problematic. Not only is it a “loaded” name (everyone has their own image of their own God and how do you know who means what or what means who??), but it also works to firmly establish us in dual experience. One only needs a name for something to distinguish it from something else and how can there ever be God and something else? If God is infinite, omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient, there can literally be no “something else.”
Nonetheless, as human beings, it seems we can utilize our dualistic thought as a bridge to Oneness. In fact, outside of pure inspiration or intuition, it is the only method we have of experiencing that Oneness. In other words, it is indeed possible for thought to lead us to the point of no thought. Or the ego leading us to the moment of ego death. I have personally found that meditating on the word “God” can sometimes take me to an experience of Being beyond the word God. In that case, the name has proved to be a useful pointer.
Sometimes I discover that a particular name for the same “Being” will enhance my own understanding/experience of that Being, more so than another word. For instance, here is a list of words and names I consider to be synonymous:
God
Life
Consciousness
Awareness
Being
Is-ness
Energy
Truth
Tao
Knowing
Experiencing
Christ
Now
I Am
Infinite Invisible
There are other names that can belong on this list and you may have some of your own. Jesus was fond of using “Father” but that isn’t quite ambiguous enough for me so I’ve never been able to use it much. Still, it might work for you. The point is, when thinking about Truth and Being, sometimes it will actually give a greater meaning to what you are meditating on if you switch one name for another. For example, a person who is not particularly religious may find the statement “I am one with God” problematic. However, that person may respond quite well to the statement “I am one with Life” or even “I am one with Energy.” Same meaning, but just by exchanging the name, we might open our individual consciousness more to Truth.
I suggest keeping a “mental storage folder” of synonymous names you can try out when you are having a difficulty connecting with a specific thought about “Being” or “Reality.” You may discover a different combination may be the very key to unlock the door to your understanding.
Morning Coffee Ramble Part 2 – The NOW – Nonduality – Metaphysics
This is a sequel to my last metaphysical ramble video. I had some new insights about the NOW and thought I would share. DO NOT watch this video unless you watch the previous video. It’ll mess you up forever and I don’t want to be responsible for that. You’ve been warned, dude.
If you find this in any way interesting check out my podcast, Apocaleptic. It isn’t really like this but you still might enjoy it.
Morning Coffee Ramble with Rick: Past, Future, the NOW and the Nature of Experience
If you love, crazy, incoherent ramblings, man, this video is for you!
It’s 7am. I’m having coffee. I’ve been pondering these ideas about the past and future, the NOW and the nature of existence and experience. It’s stuff I’ve been thinking about and I wanted to make a recording of it and I’m putting it here. All filmed at an extremely unflattering angle. I’m not sure if it will make sense to anyone but me.
Let me know.
2023
As we welcome in a new year, may we keep this principle in mind:
If you are observing others committing error or sin, any healing must be that of yourself.
The Peace of Christmas
Image by Brigitte Werner from Pixabay
In the Silence of Being, our true nature is revealed. That Silence is the substance of all appearances; all that can be seen, heard, felt and perceived. In that Silence contains no labels, descriptions or concepts and in it, you are not the names you call yourself or the thoughts you think about yourself. Like the Silence itself, you are boundless, limitless, ageless, timeless.
To celebrate a solitary birth at Christmas time is to completely miss the point. The Christmas season points more to discovery than birth. That which we discover may seem to be born within us but, in reality, its nature is eternal. It has never been born and can never die. It has always been with us, indeed, always been us. We cannot be separated from it because it is the substance of our very being. This is the true message of Christmas.
At this Christmas season, the greatest gift we can give ourselves is the reminder that peace is not something we must wait for, Peace is who we are right now, The greatest gift we can give others is the realization this is the truth about them as well. Over and over, the symbols of Christmas point to the joy of discovering our true nature of Peace. May each of us fully awaken to this truth.
To Know
Ultimately, it is impossible for anyone to know anything other than themself. Therefore, the only way to ever know God, is if God is that.
Backward
God does not come into your heart. God comes out of your heart.
