Breaking the Veil of Illusion

Interesting it is how labels and accusations are so carelessly strewn about by some against others without understanding the truth.  You see, your observations can only ever be filtered through your own biases, experience and other psychological filters. These observations form a perception of a thing or a person, and your perception, no matter how much you think is the definitive truth, is nothing but what you want to believe projected outward from within.  This is done commonly and frequently with little understanding in the absence of understanding these projections upon others in the form of labels and names. The labels created are not really representative of "the other" that is the object of your observation but is rather more descriptive of something much more familiar to you.  Namely, what things lay hidden deep within you that you unknowingly project outward onto "the other."  The question those labelled often think in desperation is, "Why"?  Why would this person or that person label me in such a hurtful way? Conversely, people can label you in what you think is a helpful way and still they are no closer to the truth of you.  No person outside of you can truthfully determine your greatness or inadequacies properly without understanding the paradigm of The Whole.  And I'll tell you, there are few who truly understand the paradigm of The Whole.

Imagine, if you will, the internet of all things.  There are those who study it as if it is an organism in and of itself.  It may be a confusing concept, but come along with me a moment as it might help you better understand one of the many metaphors of our existence here in this frame in the way we project ourselves.  So, across the entirety of the globe (well in most places it seems these days), there are computer servers that are connected one to another through a vast physical network that creates the world wide web.  The world wide web is a mass connectivity vehicle for our ability to "tune in" to others in the physical world.  Now, each individual with a lap top, computer or smart phone taps into that source to connect and most definitely, individually project themselves into the whole of the world wide web.  We are not the world wide web but the computers we use are a part of it by virtue of an internet connection.  Does that make sense at least at a high-level?  Okay, so stick with me another moment and I'll take you down a curve in the road to a much broader application of this concept which is not new at all but very old and understood by the Ancients, the Mystery Schools and even some great religious/spiritual teachers dating much further back than our history documents.  There is a cosmic consciousness, a single Source that was the impetus for creation.  We each are like a tiny thought emanating outward from that Source but always and ever connected to that Source.  Through acknowledging connectivity with that Source we realize the connectivity we all hold similarly with each other.  In this way, we are all one in that we are all the same thing in a way, thoughts projected from a Source.  Now, this Source is infinitely powerful and creative and as you know from your own mind, your thoughts come from within you and once you create them, you send them "out there" and they become a thing unto themselves...energy, magnetic, emotion producing things we don't understand deeply enough.  We are very much like those individual computers that plug into the world wide web.  The thing is, we are never not connected to our Source and need nothing physical to connect to it other than understanding.  As we connect to Source, we too are connected to each other.

Coming back to labels now for a moment, as well as observations. If you observe with your thoughts another part of the connected Whole and ascribe labels to other parts of the Whole, in a way you are labeling yourself.  What you perceive is not necessarily the truth and doesn't necessarily stand up to the rigor of testing because your perception can be skewed by assumption taken as fact or truth when there is not a single thing underpinning solidly the formation of your assumption or perception.  But, because it seems to come from inside of your own head and maybe those thoughts generate some emotion or conviction behind it, it seems real enough and true enough. Given the limited set of facts within which most live and consciously operate, there is no reason to question the validity of your own assumptions, observations or perceptions.  Truth, however, cannot be readily understood without facts and understanding.  For ages people believed the world was flat and you could sail right off of the edge into oblivion.  That was the common perception and agreement at a certain point in our history.  That is, until some brave souls sought the truth beyond belief and sailed to the edge of the horizon and learned that the Earth was not limited in nature by being a flat 2 dimensional organism but in fact, it went on and on and around.  These souls came back and shared their truth in the form of findings and then it became readily acceptable that the world was, in fact, round.  Then there was the idea that the sun and the planets revolved around the Earth.  This was held as the only truth in the absence of facts.  Even when the facts began to surface, they were outright rejected and labelled blasphemous in fear due to many factors but primarily a complete lack in understanding.  But then, times progressed, scientific study progressed and new understanding dawned.  We learned that the Earth revolves around the sun, and the sun is just the center of one universe and that there were more universes with suns spiraling through space by some impetus and force (Source, if you ask me).  We then learned to go deeper within and study matter, energy and force and the things we took for granted or falsely held as belief were disproved by science. New windows and doors to the mind were flung open wide with new data and new horizons to explore and discover.

Now, considering all of this, what if I were to tell you that what we perceive as real here, is still just an observation based on the limited or incomplete "facts" we hold as our beliefs about reality and what reality is?  There is so much more than what meets the eye.  There is a world of consciousness we are not yet conscious of and the energy in the universe is connected and connected by the same Source that created all of it.  That means we are all an integral and important part of the Source, a collective of existence with individualized points of focus in an agreed upon reality.  The illusion of reality (life) as we perceive it is called Maya by the Hindus. (Check out the Rigveda for more understanding of the meaning of Maya).  Life as we know it is a grand illusion and to a great extent we are all delusional in our thoughts that what we see is real or that what we see, assume and perceive is representative of the truth of a thing or a person, is the truth.  If you look back at all the explorations into the various aspects of life, existence and conscious understanding, you will see that the truth is not easy to discern by relying on our projected senses, our projected ideals, our projected morals and representations of belief we hold as truth.  Our beliefs dissolve in the light of understanding.  Why?  Because we are growing and beginning to leave behind us the time of small-minded thinking.  Some of the Whole is aware of its delusion and thus seeks the freedom from it through understanding.  Some of the Whole is unaware of its delusions and strive all the harder for the security of making their worlds more than real without understanding how that undermines their own limited perceptions of and about existence.

Coming full circle, realize that to perceive or label a thing does not define its truth.  There is only one truth upon which we can rely and that truth cannot be defined by me for you.  You must learn to understand the truth for yourselves.  However, you will not find the truth of you in labeling your brothers and sisters who walk this Earth with you.  In either positive or negative labeling, by raising others up higher than you or lowering them beneath you, you actually cage yourself in a prison of your own mind.  The All is Mind, the Universe is Mental (Hermetic principal from the Kybalion).  This "physical life" is a construct of our making, collectively creating as we have been created.  Sometimes trying to wrap your physical and limited mind around this concept makes you feel "mental" in a whole different way. 

However, through patience, perseverance, allowing resonance, congruence, love, forgiveness, gratitude and an intent to understand, you can free your mind, body and soul from limited thoughts and embrace the whole of existence in a more liberating manner. The truth then is much better understood and the lesser acts of limited labeling or trapping yourselves in the veil of the ego would seem entirely insane.  Our assumptions and the need to label to begin with comes from illusion. The illusion of whatever it is the ego wants only seems real but it isn't.  The ego cannot tell the difference between a fact or an assumption and will line up emotions with either.  But, there is a deeper knowing part of your being whether you are in touch with it or not (your spirit) and it is the only thing that can guide you to the truth.  The truth is more intuitively felt than understood with limited human words.  We are by far above the limits of labeling even if we sometimes refuse to act like it.  Attempting to become greater at the expense of another (which is a colossal illusion with quite fleeting benefits for the greedy ego) is meaningless and doesn't support you or secure your stature in a meaningful way that is everlasting. 

If you tire of the victim-villain struggle for power, the only way to freedom is to understand you can't know what you don't know, so go and seek to understand the truth.  Learn that what you give out to this world becomes you.  Question the beliefs you assume or hold as truth.  Offer this world forgiveness and love, offer this world peace and understanding and refuse to play into old programs that don't seem to get you anywhere. You end up chasing your tail for an ego feed that will never truly fulfill your deepest needs.  Your deepest need is understanding, to belong (and you belong to a very big Oneness in Source alone) and for love.  You are love.  Let that come to your mind first before labels, before negative self or other judgments.  Seek understanding and it will come and if you embrace it, you will be free.

© 2014, Jaie Hart (photo and words)

There is No Sin But Illusion

I love the cooler temperatures of late.  The much cooler November skies always seem to hold the richest colors in deepest cerulean blue, the brightest golden orange and pink sunsets and the most beautiful clouds I've ever seen.  At night, the coolness creates a depth to my view of the stars and sends me right back to childhood.  I was always a lover of the sky and especially the stars at night.  I'm not sure why other than maybe, perhaps, it is the powerful energies of silence and stillness that always seem to be in abundance this time of year.  With all the worries and cares of this world, there is nothing more beautiful and serene than standing still and just sky gazing.  Life here on Earth can seem frenetic and chaotic with the masses running about working out their life lessons not realizing its all about shaping our psychology away from the ego and back to a place deep within the soul that always remains at peace.  Tapping into that amidst the chaotic swirl of our normal human activity finds you retrieving your own well of love and peace that truly is in a never ending supply.  But, there is a catch or well, rather, a trick to fully comprehending its beautiful existence.  That is, simply, adjusting your thoughts and setting your intent to be open to it.

There are those souls in this world so twisted, torn and damaged from pain and assumptions on the inside that they seem to go on and on for hours and days and years even with no clue that the love they seek and the peace they most desire is right inside of them.  Instead they flock to anything light with the sole intent of possession, obsession which ultimately serves only to destroy - no, not the object of their misguided affection but themselves.  We hold the tools, the keys and the power to heal if only we would understand it is a choice.  In every moment and in every design of human interaction we may choose the darkness or the light.  If you see nothing but victims and villains and a terrifying and terrible world that you are charged or so-punished to live within, it will be hard for you to see but you have chosen fear and darkness.  It is understandable.  It happens to the best of us a time or two or even three.  However, no one can save us but ourselves.  The Source of the Universe is there generating and emanating pure love and light we need only turn our attention to in order to begin to feel, engage the freedom of healing and wielding love instead of hatred or psychological projection and transference.  No matter which side of that line that you stand on, know that you have the power always to choose the darkness or the light.  If you see only darkness and shadows, shift your gaze -  make some positive changes so that the energy that gathers behind your emotion magnetizes more loving light, energy and positivity to you.  For those standing in the light, be not deterred by your brothers and sisters who have either intentionally or unwittingly chosen the darkness and fear.  Instead, understand.

A Course In Miracles describes the evidenced choices of victims and villains and all the subsequent and seemingly hurtful actions of such souls as a cry for help and a cry for love.  Incredulous as this might make you to feel...you might be the one called to give assistance to someone who attempts to steal your light through attempting to wage emotional battle with you.  Know that this does not mean that you are called to stand there and subject yourself to emotional and physical punishment from the mortally emotionally wounded.  There is a simple approach that you may take as you then remove yourself to a brighter proximity until the soul can make his or her choice or you can stand strong enough yourself to know the truth therefore being unaffected by the dark choices of others - remind them they have not sinned and any grievance they seemed to engage you with was born only of illusion.  Based on this fact, you can then issue forgiveness knowing the seeming transgression against you and any resulting pain was truly born of only illusion - this seeming war the souls who need help engage in.  You may let them know, in some way - you have not sinned - it was only an illusion and you are forgiven and loved.  Such actions and thoughts will issue forth a reminder that will provide by far more assistance than engaging in battle with them. It may not be physically safe to engage in this discussion face to face and so the same affect can be felt if you set aside quiet time and direct these thoughts instead of angry and hurtful feelings at a wounded soul.  A soul in pain will see threats where none exists and they will act as if the nearest thing or person to them is the cause of their discomfort despite a life time of taking on unhealed pain up to that point their paths crossed yours.  Understand and hold compassion...understand and hold forgiveness and realize yourself the choices you are making and have made.  There is no sin, there is only action and consequence born from an ego either healthy or not healthy within a mind that is either whole or seemingly made through pain to be not whole at all.  Battling the mortally emotionally wounded makes no sense, nor does standing continually in harm's way.  Find the love within to bless and forgive them and go about your business in love and light.  For those making dark choices you have always hope.  There is no sin that you have engaged in that takes you away from the loving light of Source.  It's only your jaded minds that have brought you these thoughts.  Every soul is connected to the One, therefore, every soul is love and light.  The only difference is the choices we make, the thoughts we hold and the perceptions we consider truth based on the experiences we have.  If you think yourself for a moment unworthy, again, you have not sinned.  If you believe yourself unworthy - it is you who will create things and situations to reflect your thoughts and feelings of unworthiness.  You are never unworthy so stop those thoughts at once.  Let go of the past pain that jades you - seek assistance to do this if you must but do not stand in the darkness wishing for the light or attempting to possess it from outside of yourself.  The light is within you the moment you find you are worthy to stand within it and allow healing to come and then shift all of your actions towards loving light.  Know that it is only your thoughts that need adjusting, your hearts and souls need mending and then you too can return to the light of love and seemingly sin no more.

I wish no soul on this planet had ever been harmed by another soul mired in dark choices.  I wish all could immediately return to the light but, you see, that IS the journey - to return to the light and the choices you make will bring you there or block you from it.  You hold the tools and the power.  You really do.  Blessings of great love and light all souls.  May you find the light within, feel the love freely flowing there, find the healing for all of your life's wounds and walk in the light for the rest of your days here.

(c) 2012 Jaie Hart (photo, random and yet so beautiful internet find)

Ghosts

If you treat people in your lives like ghosts, it is entirely likely that they'll disappear like ghosts. Now, what I mean by ghosts in this context is that you do not see people for who they truly are but you see through your interactions with them the themes of pain from the past and you superimpose a past persona over them through which you intend to exercise your pain. In so doing you have cast them in a role (sometimes a psycho-drama) whether or not they applied for the part. Focus on your reactions from painful triggers instead of fighting a ghost from your past with an entirely different soul in your present and allow yourself to heal.  Refrain from projecting and transfering the actions of one onto another. 

Adjust your vision appropriately and then treat each soul based upon their own merits and soon you will come to understand how it is you create ghosts out of the one's that you love. They too, maybe projecting ghosts upon you and you do get to decide if you wish to play that part or if you wish to call upon an understudy to take over!  This is no easy lesson and often times we begin projecting with little to no realization were doing it.  It can be tricky to discern but there are clues.  Are you continually judging and accusing your partner and are they continually expressing they haven't a clue what you are talking about?  Look carefully at the themes and the occurrences that trigger you.  How much of your judgment is based on assumption and resulting emotion versus fact?  In this honest research into your own soul/self, you can learn to uncover the ghosts you create.  The ghosts speaking to you very likely do not even exist in your current reality but only you can truly decide.  If you prefer the company of ghosts - continue status quo.  However, if you do not prefer the company of ghosts you must entertain the concept that healing may relieve you of this kind of malady and you will learn to see who is really standing before you and rest your need to fight with ghosts.  When you can come to this place you can free yourself to hold the love that is right there before you.

Learning this lesson has been hard for me.  I have formed a new mantra for myself - I may be your dream come true but I shall never be your ghost!  Whether you have been cast in the role of the ghost or you are the one carrying the ghosts within you, I pray that you find deeper love and great healing for your journey...both aspects are deserving of great love and compassion.  Know that you can improve your human interactions if you'll only look for the clues within the conflicts you encounter.  From there, anything is possible - healing can be yours freeing you from long-standing unpleasant lessons.  That is what all of this conflict is for - to learn - to grow and transcend our limitations.  Life is amazing like that.  ~Blessings of peace!


(c) Jaie Hart (photo - artist unknown).