Good Day!
I hope you are finding Great Spirit in and around you everywhere you are.
Thank you all for your lovely comments on my blogs! It’s easier to create time in my schedule to write blogs when I feel they are helping others.
As I’ve aged and matured, life has shown me what is ultimately valuable. What I’ve determined is ultimately valuable in my life of studying and practicing a variety of spiritual teachings are the teachings that help me better understand myself as an integral part of life.
Because my experiences have truly taught me what life is and why it is, I’m much more able to find peace inside of myself when in the midst of challenging times.
I’ve also learned from a myriad of experiences, that when things seem to be going wrong or sideways, I’m being offered an opportunity to practice being more aware; resistance is a guiding force.
Generally, when people are challenging us, threatening us, criticizing us, or simply not participating with us, we become hyper-polarized or aware of them. This is because whenever we feel stressed inside, we become sympathetic.
“Sympathetic” is a strange word to describe the fight or flight mechanism inherent in our body-mind construct. Sympathy generally means to feel for. It is a strange descriptor because when we are sympathetically activated, we tend to be everything but sympathetic.
What the word actually implies is that we become “sensitive to our environmental circumstances”, which is essential to survival when a real threat presents itself. The key words here are “real threat”.
WITNESS, WATCHER, ENTANGLEMENT
The trinity of Spirit, Consciousness and Matter
Today, I’d like to take a moment to describe the essentials of what is generally referred to in theological studies as the holy trinity.
Most major religions have their own version of a holy trinity. This is because the more evolved people become in their spiritual development, the less difference there is in their perceptions of what love, good, beauty and truth are.
A study of world religion will soon show you that the greatest seers, wise men, sages, saints, masters/gurus and Avatars all tend to make statements and offer teachings that can’t be bound to any religious dogma when looked at individually. In other words, you can look at the writings of (or attributed to) Buddha, Krishna, Jesus, Mohammad, Lao Tzu, Chang Tzu, etc! and seen individually, they offer parallel messages.
In fact, OSHO use to prove this point.
OSHO was highly skilled in the teachings of all world religions. He found it frustrating and disappointing that so-called “religious people” were so willing to inflict harm to others as a means of protecting their teachings.
To prove the point of the unity of all religions, when OSHO was asked to give lectures to various religious factions, he would often purposefully create a speech, lecture or sermon for them out of the teachings of another religion!
After the presentation, in typical form, many would come to him with laudatory comments. They would often ask him questions like, “Which Bible passages were you referencing?”, or “Which verses from the Koran were you referencing”, or “Which passage from the Torah did that come from?”, depending on which group he was lecturing to.
When he told them what he had shared with them and they found out that the sermon they so loved came from another religion, OSHO described how they typically became very despondent.
Not surprisingly, he noted that the higher the ranking in the organization the individual questioning him was, the angrier they became at him. Some threatened that if he ever did that again, they would never invite him back.
As you can imagine, that didn’t phase OSHO at all! He was quick to point out that just a few minutes ago, they were singing his praises and that everyone was happy with the lecture until they found out it came from a different book than the one they worship!
Rumi stated in his teachings that you cannot find God until you become a heretic!
What he means is that as long as you are worshiping words on paper, you will never come to know what the word “GOD” means, or what God is. Rumi highlighted over and over again that God can be experienced, but cannot be conveyed by words or dogmatic practices.
(As a side note, I’ve produced audios summarizing the deep, powerful teachings of both OSHO and Rumi, which are available to you in the audio section of the product and services page at www.ppssuccess.com)
By understanding the essential offering of a holy trinity, we can choose to move past any dogma into legitimate spiritual practice.
If you look at my diagram, you see my version of a holy trinity. At the top in the green circle, you see the letters “ICF”, which stands for Intelligent Creative Force. In this regard, ICF stands for The Witness. The Witness is often referred to as The Unmoved Mover.
When we witness, we are not entangled with the event we are witnessing. We simply witness.
Witnessing is the essential nature of consciousness. When we take the witness position in events in our lives, we are taking the role of an unbiased observer, which is the actual function or purpose of meditation.
To be in this position requires that you have no attachment to the outcome; whenever you are attached to the outcome, by definition, you are entangled. For example, when sodium meets chloride, they become entangled with each other, producing sodium chloride.
When you make an agreement to follow 10 commandments, to fast or perform specific religious practices on specified days of the year, or any such confined practice, you are entangled. You are entangled with a belief and a practice that may so opinionated you that you have a hard time being empathetic or compassionate to others that don’t share the same beliefs or practices.
This common practice by god people, sadly, highlights a complete misunderstanding of what the word GOD actually means; anyone that understands what the word “GOD” means will not harbor segregating beliefs toward others, but is likely to be empathetic to the fact that they are still exploring and learning the Truth.
For example, when I walk into a gym, therapy clinic or hospital, I see all sorts of things going on that I know are not only ineffective, but very likely to cause more pain, not less. Even if I’m correct in my opinion, as I well know from experience, informing people that there are safer, more effective options frequently doesn’t come with warm reception at all.
Therefore, I’ve learned from experience, it is better to let each person have their chance to explore knowing that when they are ready to upgrade their skills, they will naturally find a teacher that they can trust. This attitude toward such situations exemplifies a “witness position”.
If I were to let it irritate me and impose upon them, even for what I believe to be their benefit, by definition, I have become entangled with them and their beliefs. The nature of protesting (abortion, destruction of nature, religious wars, etc..) is paradoxically one in which you add energy to the event.
Picketing abortion clinics and getting violent with doctors that perform abortions (even shooting them!) only creates more energy around the issue, increasing the likelihood that people will get hurt, loose their freedom, and greater and greater problems will occur.
One who witnesses such acts can only do so from a position of empathy and compassion. Such people share their opinions by living their truth, which is the practice of allowing. They fully realize that each such event is an opportunity to cultivate wisdom. They fully realize that any idea that is in conflict with other ideas is going through the natural process of synthesis.
The result of which is generally a more refined, more universally adaptable outcome that allows us to find the essence or essential offering in any such challenging experience.
SPIRIT is represented in the bottom left of my trinity. Spirit is the word that means transformation.
When we revisit the fact that life is movement (past becoming future NOW), observation shows us that all that is born is also beginning its march toward death; all that is dead is on the way to birth. All that is solid will again become liquid. All that is less eventually becomes more and all that is more eventually becomes less.
Said another way, all that is yin becomes yang and vice versa. It is because of Spirit that we live; live is a verb.
THE ICF itself – The Unmoved Mover – is not in a transitional state.
ICF is ABSOLUTE, conscious of ALL that IS. Just as you don’t have to move to be conscious of your body, ICF doesn’t have to move to be conscious of what it IS.
Existence IS because SPIRIT IS. Spirit then, isn’t a “thing”, it is a process; life is a process.
MATTER is seen at the bottom right of my trinity.
Matter represents “yin” in the Taoist sense. Matter draws light into itself. Once matter is saturated (like a sponge), it oozes energy or spirit. If this weren’t true, you would gain nothing by eating, by being around healthy, vital, and or wise people.
Matter offers embodiment. If there were no matter to embody, we would have nothing to be conscious of. It is because that consciousness (ICF) can’t become aware of itself without embodiment in matter that matter exists. If you had no body, what would it mean to have a name? How would anyone know when you were present?
WATCHER
Between SPIRIT and MATTER in my trinity diagram, you see a girl walking her dog with nature in the background.
If you notice she is walking her dog and we can safely assume that she is conscious that she is walking her dog.
Being conscious assures us that THE ICF is present. That she is walking her dog and experiencing life exemplifies that she is Spiritualized. Alive! That she has a body, her dog has a body, and there is nature in the background – which she is part of, exemplifies embodiment. To walk her dog, both she and the dog must be watching. She is holding a leash, which exemplifies that she is entangled with the dog.
When we put a leash on anyone, be it a lover, child, co-worker, etc, we are inducing a measure of control. Any attempt to control a person, place or thing exemplifies entanglement. To be entangled means to become part of.
If you are a Christian that despises Muslims, or vice versa, paradoxically, you are entangled with them; you are part of a specific experience.
If you were not watching them, but witnessing them, you would not be entangled. A lifeguard on the beach must witness everyone on the beach. If the lifeguard becomes entangled with a couple hot chicks with gorgeous T & A, his entanglement with such bodies distracts them from being present with all events on their beach.
To the degree that they are entangled with a piece of ass so-to-speak, they are not likely to be aware that someone is drowning on the other side of the beach!
When you go to a movie and find yourself sweating, nervous, sad, crying or laughing, it is because you are entangled with the plot. You are watching.
THE OFFERING
One who truly understands what GOD or TAO is exemplifies their truth by allowing. They inherently understand that if GOD is GOD, then ultimately, there can be nothing wrong in or with the world.
Any imbalance you perceive can only come by way of your opinion or judgment – entanglement!
Once one has tasted the bliss of TAO, their actions are more likely to be in accord with TAO; this is called doing not doing. Every “thing” is in a process of unfolding, just as a rose bud unfolds itself in the morning sunlight.
Yin (matter) in-folds or embodies. Yang (light) un-folds; in-folding becoming un-folding and un-folding becoming in-folding is the process we call life.
If one studies the history of the world and human development, one soon finds that as long as there has been written record of events on earth, there have been wars, disasters, and an ongoing stream of seemingly painful events.
This is what it means when a sage says, “there is nothing new under the sun.”
One who is grounded in TAO, or one who is God-Realized has passed through all the stages of body-mind development to reach the point of being at peace witnessing TAO.
Life is akin to The Movie that contains All movies. Once one has watched and participated in enough movies (stories!), they become hip to all the themes, plots, games and stories, and therefore, are also hip to the typical outcomes of such stories. Once a previously entangled person has found themselves, they no longer feel a motive to contribute to more Hollywood smoke and mirrors.
We are entertained by witnessing it ALL. We have matured to see it all as temporary, illusory, and paradoxically, beautiful – perfect as it IS.
This is the home of true inner-peace, bliss and happiness. Accepting what IS as the perfect offering of TAO or THE DIVINE, the INTELLIGENT CREATIVE FORCE is the way.
If the show gets a little to violent or hectic for us, we don’t fret over it. We just go find a quiet seat and continue enjoying the show. That’s how empathy and compassion look at the Grand Theater.
Today, when you see movies and plots unfolding all around you, or even “in you”, would you be willing to pause for 10 seconds and witness yourself and others?
Once you practice witnessing you can connect to the event at hand with empathy and compassion. This practice makes it easier to see the way to peaceful resolution.
The more one practices the way, the easier it is to feel safe and loved and the more frequent they feel safe and loved.
Soon life becomes an offering where everyone is getting exactly what they want.
Soldiers need a battle. Cops need a criminal. Teachers need students and students need teachers. Doctors need illness and illness wants doctors.
It’s all perfect!
Love and chi,
Paul Chek
