HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW YOUR REAL SELF?

Most of us live from and out of our personality as opposed to our individuality. Only our individuality—as a person among persons—is authentically real, for it is our very ‘AM-ness’, the stuff of existence itself. Let me explain.

In the Bible we read that Moses, standing before the burning bush, asked God His name, so he could tell the Israelites who sent him. God replied:

I AM THAT I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'‘ God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. (Ex 3:14-15)

Did this incident really occur? Was there really a burning bush which was not consumed? Was there actually a Moses? I don't think so. I think the Biblical Moses is a figure of myth, not history. It doesn't matter at all. The story is about one man's encounter with 'ultimate reality'—a man who finds himself in the presence of pure Being and who comes to see things-as-they-really are. The symbolism of the story is palpable and obvious. The nature of ultimate reality can be 'discovered' in any flower or bush, whether burning or not. It can also be seen in people, in fact, in every thing and everywhere ... if you look deeply and mindfully enough.

Now, I simply cannot believe in a God who is some sort of all-powerful personal, super-personal or supra-personal Person, Being or Thing ‘up there’ or ‘out there’ who supposedly takes a personal interest in each one of us and knows everything about us (even knowing how many hairs are on our head). No, I do not believe God is a Person or Being of any kind. Actually, I neither believe nor disbelieve in any God at all, but that's another matter. What I'm talking about here is something that is not a matter of belief at all. On the contrary, it is a matter of knowing and understanding what truly is. The only understanding of God that makes any sense at all to me—other than the very Biblical understanding of God as love (cf 1 Jn 4:8)—is God as pure Be-ing, God as the Great ‘I AM’—timeless, spaceless, ageless, and without face, form or figure. This Be-ing, the metaphysical name of which is ‘I AM THAT I AM’, is forever becoming, entering into time and space as each and every living thing, taking shape and form in and as each and every thing. This Be-ing is what it becomes, hence, I AM THAT I AM. You know, the ancient Hebrews, for the most part, had a very tribal concept of God, one that is often quite unattractive, but at times we find in the Hebrew Bible something much more profound ... and we have it here ... namely, an understanding of the Divine as the Great I AM. 'I AM THAT I AM.'

In Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible, which is generally closer to the Hebrew than most of the other well-known English versions of the Bible, the phrase ‘I AM THAT I AM’ is rendered 'I AM THAT WHICH I AM'. Exactly. The Great I AM—Life itself—becomes in and out of Itself the ‘I AM-ness’ (‘AM ness’) of all that it becomes. Of course, in so doing, this Great I AM never exhausts Itself, for It is much, much more than that which It becomes. It is indeed all that It becomes, but that is not all that there is of It. In other words, this inexhaustible Be-ing of which I speak is the very Be-ing-ness or livingness—self-livingness, in fact—of life itself. It is the very ground of all being … and all beings.

Life manifests itself in each of us, as us. Each one of us is both an inlet and an outlet of life's self-livingness or self-expression. God—the Great I AM—is what some Christian metaphysicians refer to as your ‘Divine Self’, the 'Christ Self', or the 'Christ within'. Others, including some psychologists, refer to it as your ‘Real Self’ or ‘True Self’. It doesn’t really matter what we call it. The word or phrase is not the thing. I am talking about the 'I AM', or 'AM-ness', of you. This AM-ness animates your body and your mind, in fact, your whole life. It causes your heart to beat and it causes you to think.

When you say, ‘I am … [this or that]’, who or what is this ‘I’ which is speaking? ‘The person that I am, that’s who,’ I hear some of you answer. Yes, that’s true up to a point, for we usually employ the word ‘I’—a pronoun—to refer to the person speaking. In truth, the ‘I’ of us is something much, much deeper. Your AM-ness—the be-ing-ness of you—manifests in your mind as a focal point or centre of consciousness and calls itself ‘I’. In fact, your AM-ness manifests in your mind and resonates throughout your whole body as ‘I-consciousness’. This ‘I’ enables you, the person that you are, to say ‘I am …’.

Your ‘I’ is your Real Self. When the Bible says that you are made in the image and likeness of God, it is saying that God, the Great I AM, becomes and is you, or at least your Real Self. The ‘I’ is the real individual made in the image and likeness of the Great I AM. Each of us is a spark of the Divine Fire. Of course, as I've said on innumerable occasions in the past, we are much, much more than those hundreds of little, false selves---all those waxing and waning ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’---with which we tend to identify—our many likes, dislikes, prejudices, predilections, habits and personality quirks--in the mistaken belief that those things, which pertain only to the personality of us, constitute the ‘real me,’ that is, the person each one of us is. Know this—those hundreds and thousands of false selves are not even a shadow of the ‘real you’. Only the latter—the mind-body complex that is the person—is ontologically real. All of the above mentioned false selves are illusory, and the challenge for each one of us as persons is to transmute our false, illusory selves into our Real Self. You see, from a metaphysical point of view, only the ‘I’, the Real Self of each one of us, is real, for it is the ‘stuff’ of pure consciousness itself, the very ‘I AM-ness’ of life’s self-existence and self-expression. Yes, your ‘I’ is your individuality, not your personality. The ‘I’ of you is an individualized inlet and outlet of consciousness which, in its impersonal, infinite, formless, essence is pure, unindividualized Be-ing-ness. Say this to yourself several times, until the ‘inner’ meaning of the words resonates and authenticates itself to you:

I AM me, my Real Self … that part of me who says ‘I AM’ and is I AM.

When you have reached the point where, when you say 'I AM ...', you are then and there aware of your very own awareness or consciousness—which is the essence of mindfulness, by the way—you have come to know, and live from, your Real Self. 

Now, here is something very important—we think, feel, and act out of that which, in essence, we are (the AM-ness in us) whenever we use our intellect, emotions, and will. All parts of us are one with the wholeness of our being. Whenever we affirm ‘I am …’ we are affirming our be-ing-ness, our very AM-ness, as well. When we say, ‘I am tired,’ we attach our AM-ness to tiredness. When say, ‘I am strong,’ we attach our AM-ness to strength. So, at the risk of sounding Pollyanish, it is imperative that we think, speak and act from a plane of consciousness that is wholesome, loving, uplifting and positive, for as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ‘We are what we think all day long.’ We must be careful what we attach our ‘I’ to. When we say, ‘I am weak’, we are attaching our ‘I’ to weakness. When we say, ‘I am angry’, we are attaching our ‘I’ to anger. Be careful what you do with your ‘I’, for it will make or break you!

The minister, lecturer and author Dr Harry Gaze [pictured right], in his book Life, Youth and Success, wrote of the importance of living from and out of one’s Real Self as opposed to any one or more of our false selves:

As we continue to speak from this plane of consciousness, the qualities of the real ‘I’ or individual are made more and more manifest in the personality.

Take care what you do with your 'I'. For your sake ... and for the sake of others.

RELATED POSTS

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THE MINDFUL ART OF KNOWING ONESELF

THE ILLUSORY MIND [Part 1]

THE ILLUSORY MIND [Part 2]

FROM A SENSE OF SELF TO A SENSE OF BEING

'Get your mind off yourself. ... There needs to be a shift

 in emphasis from self to non-self.' -- Dr Norman Vincent Peale.

So many of our problems arise out of self-centeredness, self-absorption, and self-obsession---in other words, selfishness and egocentricity. In many ways, this is the inevitable price we pay for the infinite, eternal, universal, and timeless spirit of life having descended into matter and flesh---which it forever does---and taking shape and form in time and space as the finite person each one of us is.

Not only that, but every moment of every day we generate literally hundreds of little ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’ (i.e. likes and dislikes, views and opinions, attachments and aversions, as well as the ego-self, the so-called 'witnessing [or 'transcendental'] self,' and numerous other selves) in our mind and we then proceed to identity with these false selves---false because they are not the real person that we are---and we even mistake these false selves for that real person. Such a mindset is a ‘sense of self,’ but in truth that ‘self’ has no separate, distinct, or independent existence from the person each one of us truly is.

As I’ve said many, many times on my blog, what we need to do, if we are to be happy and live authentically, that is, from and as the real person we are, is to move from a ‘sense of self’ to a ‘sense of Being.’ Now, what do I mean by ‘sense of Being’? Let’s start with life itself. Life is. That much is axiomatic. Yes, life is. And, what’s more, we are. Now, life is Be-ing, or perhaps more accurately Be-ing-ness, for is not life nothing other than living things---including you and me---living out their livingness, or be-ing-ness, from one moment to the next? I think so. In other words, Be-ing, or Be-ing-ness, is the very ground of our being (one’s ‘I Am-ness’), indeed, the ground of all Be-ing. It is the All-in-all. However, few of us seem to be aware of this truth, the reason being that we are so locked into a false sense of self. If only we could come to the realisation that self is illusory.

Many years ago I wrote out a short mediation with the hope of assisting the meditator to recognize and appreciate the true being of their ‘I Am-ness,’ so that the meditator can move from a ‘sense of self’ to a ‘sense of Being,’ and thus enter into a state of choiceless awareness of their ‘true Self.’ What follows is that meditation, which I’ve continued to change over the years, but not in any major way. (A shorter version of the meditation has already appeared in a post on this blog.) The meditation may also be useful whenever there is a need to get one’s mind off oneself---and isn’t that most of the time?

Now, here’s the meditation …

I have a body, but ‘I’ am not that body.

I have a brain, but ‘I’ am not that brain.

I think thoughts, but ‘I’ am not those thoughts.

I experience emotions, feelings and desires, but ‘I’ am not those emotions, feelings or desires.

I Am the ‘I’ of me, the reality of me---‘me’ being the real person that I am.

I Am not my sense of self, that is, the hundreds of little ‘I's’ and ‘me's’ generated in and by my mind from moment to moment. None of those little ‘selves’ are the real person that I am.

I Am that in me which lives and moves and has its Be-ing in me and as me.

I Am the person that I am---a person among persons.

I Am a centre of consciousness, awareness, and awareness of awareness----choiceless awareness, that is---from which all things are a matter of present observation.

I Am the impersonal. I Am the personal.

I Am the presence and power of pure Being---the very Be-ing-ness of the person that I am.

I Am my own Be-ing.  Life is Be-ing-ness.  Its Be-ing-ness is my very Be-ing-ness right now. That Be-ing-ness is my Real Self.

I Am, in truth, my Real Self.

My Real Self is the same Self in all persons and things.  That Self is not a thing of time or circumstance. It is the only presence and power active in the universe and in my life now. It is the omnipresence of life itself---the very living-ness and Self-expression of life---manifesting itself everywhere as the Eternal Now.

I know my Real Self as One with the Self in all.

I Am that which I Am. Life is---and I Am.

My ‘I Am-ness’ is what is, and that is what in truth I Am.

I Am not the I, I thought I was.

I Am pure Being. I am a person among persons.

This meditation is a ‘spoken meditation’---to be spoken either aloud or silently and interiorly to oneself, in whole or part. The meditation, in whole or part, can also be used in groups with the group leader saying aloud the words of the meditation.

What I suggest is that, when you’re ready so to do, you go to some quiet room or other place and proceed to say this meditation to yourself---either aloud or silently and interiorly---slowly, quietly, and meaningfully. The meditation is usually more effective if it is said many times over. Indeed, repeat the exercise as and when you feel it necessary. However, from time to time you may wish to ponder and reflect upon just one or a few of the lines of the meditation. Either way, let the words sink deep into your consciousness by a process of mental or spiritual osmosis.

Now, there is absolutely no ‘magic’ to any of this. This is not an exercise in so-called ‘magical thinking’---at least, that is not what I have in mind, as I am totally opposed to all such thinking. And there’s absolutely no point whatsoever in saying this meditation at all if you don’t understand the meaning of the various metaphysical concepts referred to in the meditation, or if you don’t agree with what I’ve said.

There will also be some people for whom this rather metaphysical meditation will appear dry and hollow or perhaps mechanical. I respect those who feel that way. That is the way they are, and it is no weakness on their part to feel that way—forgive me if I sound patronizing (that is not my intention)---for we are all different. This type of meditation ‘works’ for me because I have been trained as both a lawyer and a minister of religion to think in these rather abstract, metaphysical thought-forms.

Ultimately, it’s what works for you, but the all-important thing is for each and every one of us to … get our minds off ourselves. That’s the only thing that truly matters.

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MINDFULNESS, THE 'SELF’ AND SERENITY

FAITH IN A POWER-NOT-ONESELF IS THERAPEUTIC

YOUR MIND IS ITS OWN PRISON

SLAVES OF THE 'I'---EVEN UNTO DEATH

THE MINDFUL ART OF KNOWING ONESELF

MEDITATION---LIFE IS OMNIPRESENT

‘My presence will go with you … and give you rest’ (Ex 33:14).

‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while’ (Mk 6:31).

Let’s get still now---and relax. There is only life, and there is life everywhere. Life just is. That much we know to be true. It is more than enough. Life---that is, living things living out their livingness from moment to moment. There is only life---and one spirit of life … in all, over all, through all, and all in all. There is only this one self-existent presence and one power expressing itself, and manifesting itself, in all things, as all things. One presence. One power. One order or level of reality. One way of being. We are an integral part of that life---each one of us--for whatever life is, we are living it, embodying it, and expressing it.

Life, truth, reality---God, some people call it. The word does not matter. Life, truth, reality, God is expressing itself right now---in us, as us, and also in all other people and things. This self-existent life is birthless, deathless, ageless, timeless, boundless, formless, and invisible, even though it is constantly taking shape and form, and putting on visibility, in individual things. Those things wax and wane, they come and go---but life itself, the very life of our own life, forever remains, fills all space, and moves unceasingly ever onward, and it 'doth not yet appear what we shall be.'

Let us enter the silence of this moment---the silence that knows no storms. This silence is a peace that passes all understanding. It abides in the hearts of those who live in the eternal now. This silence is a power---a power for good---the very power of life itself. This silence is a presence---the very omnipresence of life itself as it evidences itself as the all and only presence, as it unfolds itself from one moment to the next … ever onwards. This presence---this omnipresence---of life is all there is, and in this omnipresence we are immersed, and in this omnipresence we live and move and have our being. 

One presence. One power. One life. This omnipresence and stream of life fills all, is all, animates all, and empowers all. Every thing, every person, is an individualised expression of the wellspring of this one life, this omnipresence. One All-in-all. This great stream of life is flowing through each of us right now, and we are one with the abundant life all around us. This life activates our every thought, word and deed---and it unifies, sustains, and gives meaning to all things.

Life, which never was born nor caused, cannot other than be. We cannot be less than life. This omnipresence of life is closer to us than our breathing. It is nearer to us than our hands and feet. It is most fully and personally experienced in the silence---as peace, calmness, rest, tranquillity, equanimity, wisdom … and love---indeed, all things we ordinarily associate with the sacred, the holy, the divine. This omnipresence is holy, and wherever we are, we are always in its sacred centre. This omnipresence always was, is, and is to be---and all we know of it is the practice of its presence.

'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.' This house is not a house made with human hands. It is nothing material or physical. It is a spiritual edifice, and we are building it in our mind, both by the thoughts we habitually think as well as in the silence. 'Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!' In this sacred moment, be still and know that ‘I AM-ness’ that is expressing itself in you and as you. Be still and know that ‘I AM-ness’. Be still and know. Be still.

There is only one self-existent life which flows through all creation. That life is our very life---right now! We can never be less than life, for there is no place where life is not. There is only the eternal now, and in that now-ness there is neither past nor future. ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’ ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.’ 

Know this---you express life in and with every part of your being, indeed, with every atom of your being. You are one with all life---with all that is---yes, one with all that has ever been or will ever be. Feel the pulsating, animating, vivifying and stirring reality of that omnipresence in every part of your being---now! Thrill to it! Give thanks for it, and for the truth which makes you free! And so it is.

This meditation, and others very similar to it,
are used by me at many of the services I conduct,
and at workshops and training sessions I facilitate. 
The photos were taken by me on my various trips to Japan.

GO MINDFULLY TO THE SOURCE AND PRESENCE OF POWER

‘… Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.’

John 7:33 (KJV).

‘Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said
unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you.’

John 13:33 (KJV).

The words above, from the New Testament, are said to be those of Jesus, and the traditional interpretation of these Bible verses is that Jesus is saying that he will soon ascend to the Father (that is, God) in heaven. Now, there is another interpretation of these verses that points to a most important metaphysical or spiritual principle---a principle that you can apply in your daily life, especially when you are confronted with negative emotions such as fear and anxiety.

When we experience an emotional problem such as fear or anxiety we tend to focus far too much on the problem rather than seek out and apply the appropriate solution. Often we are so transfixed by the apparent magnitude of the problem—the negative emotional state---that we become locked in and seemingly unable to lift ourselves out of the emotional quagmire. The result? Our negative emotional state deepens, making it ever so much harder to be dislodged.

The important principle contained in these verses is this---spend only a little time living in the problem, and then ‘ascend’ in consciousness to the solution to the problem. Now, I don’t mean ascend literally. As always, we are dealing with figurative and symbolical language here. Indeed, the solution to any problem is always to be found on the same plane or level of consciousness as the problem itself. Just as there is only one way of being, one order or level of reality, so it is that there is only one plane or level of consciousness. Thus, you do not need to ‘expand’ your consciousness or anything like that.

The reference to ‘a little while’ means that we need to get a clear understanding of the emotional problem, and that requires that we spend at least a little time identifying the situation, but we are not to dwell in that state or magnify the thoughts and emotions felt (that is, the ‘little children’ in us). Instead, we are to ‘go’ unto the ‘Father’ within, that is, the source and indwelling presence of all power, life, and healing. So, if, for example, the emotion be that of fear or anxiety, we ‘ascend’ to a mindset of confidence, security and courage, reminding ourselves that we need never feel overwhelmed by thoughts of fear, lack, or limitation.

The regular practice of mindfulness helps us to dis-identify and disassociate our little selves from negative thoughts, feelings, and emotional states.

Now, there is very important. We do not necessarily have to substitute an altogether different state of mind whenever a negative thought or emotion arises in consciousness. More often than not it is sufficient to simply observe and note the thought or emotion, but give it no further thought or attention than that. In its own way, simply doing that is going unto the Father within. For me, the ‘Father within’ is the presence of a nonjudgmental, choiceless awareness of life flowing through me and as me and as my life experience from one moment to the next.

When we live in and from that state of awareness the ‘little children’ (that is, the negative thoughts or emotions) ‘cannot come,’ in the sense that the thoughts and emotions are simply left behind. You simply do not allow them to travel with you. So, wherever you go in consciousness, they ‘cannot come’---and that is wonderful news indeed.

WATCH WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR ‘I’

‘I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace,
and evil; I, the Lord, do all these things.’ (Isaiah 45:7)

This verse from the Bible has troubled many people over the centuries. ‘Is God, the God of love and light, responsible for darkness and evil as well?’ they ask.

I am not a Bible-believing Christian, although I was brought up as one. Some 30 years ago I was introduced to Christian metaphysics in the form of New Thought---and my whole understanding of the Bible---and God---changed forever. Some would see that as a bad thing---as a fall from grace, backsliding, even total apostasy---but I see it otherwise. I see it as a positive and life-affirming thing. Now, one thing I learned from my study of metaphysics was that the words ‘the Lord’ refer, not to God directly, but to one’s understanding or concept of God, which, for better or for worse, will have a great bearing on what happens to us and how we view it. Take, for example, the verse that says that ‘the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart’ (Ex 9:12). Now, God did not really harden Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh hardened his own heart, by attaching his ‘I’ to hard-heartedness, obstinacy, and stubbornness.

Moses, standing before the burning bush, asked God His name, so he could tell the Israelites who sent him. God replied:

I AM THAT I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'‘ God also said to Moses, ‘Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation. (Ex 3:14-15)

God is the Great ‘I AM’---pure Be-ing, timeless, spaceless, ageless, and without face, form or figure---but which is forever entering into time and space as each living thing, taking form in and as that very thing. Life manifests itself in each of us, as us. Each one of us is both an 'inlet' and an 'outlet' of life's self-livingness (or self-expression). The ‘us’ in us---the ‘am-ness’---is not separate from life, rather it is life, or being-ness, itself unfolding from one moment to the next. Now, here is something very important---we think, feel, and act out of that which, in essence, we are (the ‘I am’ in us) whenever we use our intellect, emotions, and will. All parts of us are one with the wholeness of our being. Whenever we affirm ‘I am …’ we are affirming our being-ness, our I am-ness, as well. When we say, ‘I am tired,’ we attach our I am-ness to tiredness. When say, ‘I am strong,’ we attach our ‘I am-ness’ to strength. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, ‘We are what we think all day long.’

So, ‘the Lord’ is nothing more nor less than the activity of your ‘I am-ness’ in you, from one moment to the next. Thus, you need to be very careful what you do with your ‘I am-ness.’ If you attach it to the thought of weakness or tiredness, don’t be surprised if you feel weak or tired, or weaker or more tired than you were before. Metaphysically, ‘the Lord’ is the creative power of life and thought operating within us, and as we understand it. So, this is what we must do if we want to ‘elevate’ our state of consciousness:

Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. (Jn 4:35)

We are told to lift up our eyes---to look up. Notice the reference to the ‘fields’? The fields---that's the 'place' where things grow, where new life takes root and flourishes. It is a metaphorical reference to what is called in metaphysics the plane of manifestation---a fancy way of referring to your mind, and your state of consciousness, the 'place' where things ‘grow,’ or ‘decay.’ so to speak. In order to ‘lift up’ one’s eyes, we must make a conscious, directed, impulse toward self-expression, that is, identifying our ‘I am-ness’ with what we seek to have expressed through us. Here’s another Bible verse that is pertinent:

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all persons unto me. (Jn 12:32)

Metaphysically speaking, the ‘I’ referred to in the above verse is you, or, more specifically, your ‘I am,’ or ‘I am-ness.’ It is a reference to the core part of you, and to your centre or focus of consciousness. The ‘earth’ refers to one’s present state of consciousness which is more-or-less uninspired and uninspiring. However, if you make a decision to lift up---that means, exalt---your ‘I am’ (or ‘I’) by your thoughts, you will climb, so to speak, upon a new vision of yourself, and you will draw ‘all persons’ (that is, all the various thoughts and feelings pertaining to your mental conception) unto you. A veritable ‘ascension’ in consciousness! Divine Science minister and author Dr Joseph Murphy (pictured right) used to say, ‘We go where our vision is.’ So, lift up your eyes, and lift up your I am. I used the word ‘exalt’ above. The Greek word for the phrase ‘lift up’ in Jn 12:32 is translated ‘exalt’ some 14 times and ‘lift up’ some 6 times in the New Testament. We ‘lift up’ (exalt) the ‘I’ in us when we say ‘yes’ to life, or, more particularly, to all that is positive, noble and good. We ‘lift up’ (exalt) the ‘I’ in us when we are open to the possibility of growth, positive change, and psychological mutation:

… whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Phil 4:8)

It is always the case that certain things have to ‘die’ in us in order for the ‘I’ in us to be lifted up or exalted. Elsewhere in the Bible we are told to ‘magnify’ the Lord. That means more-or-less the same thing as to ‘exalt.’ Metaphysically speaking, it means that we are to hold fast to our vision, and to whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable.

Lift up your 'I' from the earth. Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields.

THE PRACTICE OF NON-RESISTANCE

Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead, let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come? - Rumi.

There are, as I see it, a number of important metaphysical laws that govern not only our lives but all of reality. All these laws can be seen to be corollaries of the one, great ‘law of mind’ (also known as the ‘law of life’ and ‘law of being’) that postulates that whatever comes or happens to you will be in accordance with your consciousness. Another way of saying that is, ‘Like Attracts Like.’ Birds of a feather flock together. As you sow, so shall you reap (cf Gal 6:7).

For example, there is the law, ‘What We Think Upon Grows.’ If we continually dwell upon negative thoughts and images, we should not be surprised to find ourselves becoming more and more unhappy, and negative, as time goes by. The maxim, ‘as within, so without’ (that is, ‘the inner determines the outer’), is closely allied to this law. We tend to become more-or-less what we habitually imagine, or ‘image,’ ourselves to be, for ‘as we think so we are’ (Prov 23:7).

Then there’s the metaphysical law that says, ‘Don’t Try, Let.’ That sounds counter-intuitive because we all know that if we want to achieve something that requires hard work, study, and perseverance, we need to try, at the very least. However, when it comes to psycho-spiritual reality---for example, when one desires to be rid of some addiction over which one has no personal or conscious control---the ‘secret’ for success is to … let go … hand over … surrender. There’s a related law here, ‘Effort Defeats Itself.’ Both laws only apply to the psycho-spiritual realm.

Another metaphysical law is, ‘Self Cannot Change Self.’ Readers of my blog know this is to a very familiar theme of mine. ‘Self’ is simply image in a person, and has no separate, independent, permanent reality of its own. Images of self come and go, wax and wane. They are not the real person that you are. Obsession with the ‘self’ is a terrible problem, and we need to find and use a ‘power-not-oneself’ to overcome self-obsession, self-centredness, and self-absorption. There are two reasons why we need the assistance of a ‘power-not-oneself.’ I’ve already referred to the first reason, namely, that self has no separate, independent, permanent reality of its own. It is ‘illusory’ in that sense, and has no power except that which we give it by our attention to it. The second reason why we need the assistance of a ‘power-not-oneself’ is that no effort of the self can ever remove the self … because self is the problem.

Here’s another important metaphysical law, ‘What We Resist Persists.’ This law is sometimes referred to as the ‘law of non-resistance.’ Now, we’ve all had this experience. We are lying in bed at night, trying ever so hard to fall asleep. We hear a tap (faucet) dripping in the bathroom. Drip. Drip. Drip. The more annoyed we get at the dripping noise, the louder---so it seems---the dripping becomes. Of course, the sound of the dripping has not really got any louder, but it certainly seems and sounds like it has---all because we failed to exercise non-resistance. Whatever we resist mentally, we endow with more power---power that the thing or person would not otherwise have, but for the attention we are giving it. Don't give your power away. You need all of it.

True inner mastery---not to mention happiness and peace of mind---occurs only when we let things unfold as they will, that is, when we resist not, cling not, and linger not---when we go with the flow. And while I’m on the subject of water flowing and dripping, have you ever noticed that water always flows according to the line of least resistance? It’s true, you know. New Thought writer Florence Scovel Shinn (pictured left), in her book The Game of Life (and How to Play It), writes: ‘The Chinese say that water is the most powerful element, because it is perfectly non-resistant. It can wear away a rock, and sweep all before it.’ I think there’s an important lesson in that for us as well. Each one of us is a ‘river of life,’ both an inlet and an outlet of the flow and livingness of life. So, the way to live according to our true nature is to go with the flow---the flow of life, that is. I’m not advising you to go with the crowd. That’s not the way to go.

Aristotle (pictured below right) wrote, ‘Resistance is the cause of every monstrosity.’ What did he mean by ‘monstrosity’? Well, it might be an illness, a heartache, a failure in business, a breakdown in a relationship. Resistance is a refusal to change, and as truth is dynamic and never static---it changes from moment to moment---we have only two choices. We either adjust to what is, or we stay as we are---maladjusted. The choice is ours.

The Indian spiritual philosopher J. Krishnamurti uttered these immortal words: ‘In the acknowledgement of what is, there is the cessation of all conflict.’ It is not what happens to us that makes or breaks us, it is how we react---or rather respond---to what happens to us that determines who and what we are and will become. There’s more to it, still. If we can ‘acknowledge’---that is, observe, note, notice, but not judge, analyze, criticize or condemn---what happens in and as our life experience from one moment to the next, that is, if we can accept what is as what is, there will be no resistance, conflict or inner turmoil. Then, and only then, can we know peace and have serenity.

We don’t have to ‘like’ what happens to us in order for there to be an ‘acknowledgement.’ That will often not be possible or appropriate. More importantly, forming a ‘liking,’ or a ‘disliking’ for that matter, is an act of judgment, and once we judge something, we are attached to it. The result? Conflict. Resistance. Positive or negative. Just look, observe, note, and notice. But don’t judge or analyze. That is so important.

The law of non-resistance can be found in almost all sacred scriptures. Take the Bible, for instance. We are told to 'judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment' (Jn 7:24), and to 'resist not evil' (Mt 5:39). Then, there’s this wonderful advice: ‘Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison’ (Mt 5:25). The Biblical advice to 'love your enemy' (Mt 5:44) is also directed at what we should do when confronted by internal enemies, for example, negative thoughts in our own mind. They, too, are 'adversaries,' that need to be dealt with properly. And when it comes to external adversaries, the New Thought minister and writer Dr Emmet Fox used to say, ‘God is on both sides of the bargaining table.’ What good advice when it comes to negotiations and bargaining! A consensus-oriented approach and solution is so much better than having some third party dictate the outcome. Here’s some more wisdom, this time from Leo Tolstoy: ‘Do not resist the evil-doer and take no part in doing so … and no one in the world will be able to enslave you.’

There is a deeper meaning to that last mentioned verse. Your ‘adversary,’ spiritually speaking, is your own negative thought or mindset of resistance. You ‘agree’ with your resistance when you cease to resist, and if you do that ‘quickly’ you will not sow the seeds for an adverse judgment (unpleasant manifestation) in your life. In that regard, the American spiritual teacher Vernon Howard, whose writings and lectures have had a big impact on my life, said this: 'Resistance to the disturbance is the disturbance.' Get the picture?

Now, this may come as a shock to some of you. Much resistance takes the form of resentment. Indeed, they all too often go hand-in-hand. We resist something because we would rather feel negative about that thing than positive. The latter---feeling positive---is harder to do, so we take the view, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously, that if we can’t have things exactly as we would like them to be, well, at least we have our anger and resentment to nurture. The English word resentment comes from two Latin words, re and sentire, meaning to re-feel. When you nurture a hurt, and refuse to let it go, you re-feel it over and over again. In the process, you continually re-infect the wound. Resentment is bad news. Nothing blocks psycho-spiritual power more than resentment. It’s the number one offender.

Although it is not always readily discernible, there is a certain ‘rhythm’ to life, and we need to be attuned to it. One of all-time favourite books is In Tune with the Infinite, by the New Thought writer Ralph Waldo Trine (pictured left). The title alone says it all. Here’s some good advice from that book: ‘To be at one with God is to be at peace ... peace is to be found only within, and unless one finds it there he will never find it at all. Peace lies not in the external world. It lies within one's own soul.’

Here are four practical implications that flow from the law of non-resistance. First, the only person each of us can change is ourself, and the only way to change is to change the content of one’s consciousness. When we change our thoughts, we change our attitudes about life, and then our whole outlook upon life will change for the better. Trite but ever so true. Secondly, the more we fight against what is, the unhappier and less successful we will be. Resistance always results in a lack of psycho-spiritual power. Thirdly, it’s not so much what happens to us in life that makes or breaks us, it’s our response to what happens that is truly determinative of happiness and success. Fourthly, live mindfully---as opposed to mindlessly---from one moment to the next, keeping your attention focused on the present moment, where your body is now, lest trouble befall you.

The Bible says, ‘Acquaint now thyself with [the Divine], and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto you’ (Job 22: 21). What that verse is saying is---get in touch right now with the proper rhythm or flow of life, and be ‘at-one’ with that in your consciousness, then things will turn out good for you (‘good’ meaning a state of affairs that satisfies all your real needs). Why? Because you will have established yourself in the true nature and character of life itself. Angels can do no better.

So, resist not---and stay in tune with the infinite.