 
## THE HIGHER WILL

A New Way to Think About God, Religion, and Your Life's Purpose

...

### WAYNE ROBERTS

CREATUS Publishing

United States of America
THE HIGHER WILL

A New Way to Think About God, Religion, and Your Life's Purpose

Copyright © 2020, Wayne Roberts

ISBN: 9780463110775

Publisher: Smashwords, Inc.

United States of America

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Third Edition, August 2020

Published in the United States of America

This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

### Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 - The Universe

A Grand Design

Your Essence

Becoming Habitable

Who am I?

Free Will

Suffering

The Evolution of Consciousness

The First Awakening

Breaking Free

Chapter 2 - The Self

Your Identity

Your Body

Your Mind

Your Reputation

Your Beliefs

Your Senses

Your Thoughts Define You

The Delusion of Self

The Religious Delusion

The Delusion of Success

The Knowledge Delusion

Dissatisfaction

The Artist

Addiction

The Spiritual Ego

Deny the Self

The Fear of Death

Chapter 3 - Unshakable Beliefs

Unconscious Interpretation

Faith

The Dark Side of Faith

Resistance

Certainty is Absurd

Religion

Religious Dissonance

Religion and Science

God

Chapter 4 - The Imagination

Light and Darkness

You are the Darkness

The Prison of the Mind

Surrender the Self

Surrender your Beliefs

Forced Surrender

Awakened Influence

Chapter 5 - The Seed of Life

DNA

Artificial Selection

Is there life out there?

Two Trees

Relationships

Giving and Receiving

Let There Be Light

Chapter 6 - The Awakening

Immature love: "I want."

Mature love: "I want what is best for you."

Affection

Experience Presence

The Fruit of Your Expression

The Return of the Higher Will

The Higher Will

Suggested Reading

Works Cited
INTRODUCTION

Of the billions of humans on this planet, many will never establish their own foundation of thought. As a result of ineffectual or downright harmful religious and political ideologies and traditions, a person may not develop the courage to explore how they honestly think or feel about their life's purpose. A person may not know that they are allowed to discover for themselves who they are and why they are here. A conditioned person lives fearful, confused, insecure, and ignorant of the true meaning of life. They are unprocessed, unconscious, and inhibited because their foundation of thought is aligned with religious, political, or cultural thoughts and behaviors. All people need to be loved and accepted; therefore, they frequently align themselves with any tradition, belief, thought, feeling, or behavior that will provide a sense of acceptance. Many institutions cleverly exploit the essential need to be loved, and many do so by offering a misleading solution to the numerous human fears. The deceptive answers offered by religion and government are for a doubt that they implant in an attempt to maintain power and control. If a person attempts to get love and acceptance by subscribing to the falsehoods of these institutions, they will inevitably become an amalgamation of deceptive beliefs. They become their own strong and unshakable delusion—an identity that is completely unaware of the meaning of life.

Your life as a spiritual being and as a living form flows from an uninterrupted stream of consciousness. You are physically, emotionally, and spiritually connected to your parents, your grandparents, and many great-grandparents. This magnificent relationship connects us to the origin of all life. The force that brought you here breathed life through the epoch with no gaps or pauses directly into the present moment where you exist right now. Despite nature's variations, trials, accidents, contradictions, and events that are disruptive to the process of life, you are here at this moment. You know that you exist, but you may not know why. At some point in your life, you may want to find out who you truly are and why you are here. Beyond any doubt, you are more than just another offspring of the stream of life.

In this book, we will explore the reality of life using the combined efforts and the incredible work of a multitude of individuals from the past three thousand years. Like many people, I want to understand why we think the way we do and how we can change the way we think so we can live a better life. Our planet is infected with delusional beliefs about who we are and why we are here, which often comes from ineffective and downright evil religious or political motivations. The way we view life affects our ability to be productive as a human and to live a complete life that is free of fear, worry, bitterness, and regret. We have an incredible purpose for being here, but we must give up the self-identity and align with a higher force of will in order to understand this possibility.

I know this book will be offensive to some people, especially those who are conditioned by doctrine, non-belief, politics, nationalism, or any other mind-set that does not understand life's meaning and purpose. For many readers, this book will be a tedious read, especially those who are severely conditioned by cultural or religious thought. Mental conditioning is the enemy of reality because it believes "I already know the truth." A conditioned person's beliefs cannot stand up to scrutiny; therefore, the resulting offense, which may be caused by this book, will demonstrate that their beliefs are incorrect. A belief, which is nothing more than an opinion, is sensitive to examination; therefore, it is ineffectual, lifeless, and often hurtful. Just look for defensiveness within a belief to uncover the evidence of its error.

This book cannot explain all the extraordinary mysteries of life. The message of The Higher Will is an attempt to provoke a new way of thinking, which will unleash the power of surrender, learning, understanding, and renewal in your life. Life's mysteries can only be revealed specifically for you and your unique intent. If you can suspend your conditioned beliefs for the duration of this book, I know it will change the way you view yourself and the world around you. Reality is under no obligation to make sense to you, but this should not cause you to cling to beliefs for comfort and safety. It is possible for you to courageously open your mind to new ideas, possibilities, and a better way of life. I urge you to work through each chapter as we explore a new way to think about God, religion, and your life's purpose.

### Chapter One

The Universe

In the beginning, a mysterious source of energy violently broke free from total darkness and emptiness. This event was the origin of all life as we know it. Although this cosmic awakening began billions of years ago, it is still active within you at this moment. Due to our unremitting stream of thoughts, we are separated from this higher source of life. You are capable of experiencing a pure state of consciousness, but you must awaken from a deep sleep in order to unleash this power. The source of life is trying to motivate your life into a higher state of being. Right now, you can harness this energy field and realize a version of life that is truly alive.

If you pause for a moment and look out into space on a clear night, you will be reminded that there is something much more magnificent and extraordinarily greater than you and your life. This sense of something higher in consciousness often influences you although you may not recognize it. While looking into deep space or deep within yourself, you will not realize the essence or intent of your life unless your mind is free of all agreements, beliefs, and opinions about what life is. If you want to understand life, especially the meaning of your life, you must be willing to challenge your conditioned mind.

Despite many compelling ideas, theories, and beliefs about the beginning of life, no one truly knows exactly how we came to be. Many religious and scientific institutions claim to know for certain, but this often exposes their righteous indignation for the other theories or beliefs. In the most straightforward explanation, leaving out all religious beliefs, superstition, and assumptions, we know something spectacular happened a long time ago which allowed us to be. For me, this is enough understanding about our origin to motivate my search for meaning. For others, more evidence may be required.

The best evidence of a beginning can be found in the astronomical phenomenon known as the Doppler Effect and Redshift. With a telescope, we can see that light coming from celestial objects is moving away from us because its light is shifted to red in the color spectrum. The redshift of the objects tells us they are moving outward and away from their source. Because objects in the Universe are moving away from a source, we can imagine a reversal of the events back to a single event. This original point of origin is responsible for the form-based reality in which we live. This orchestrated dispersal of matter created everything, including the amazing process of life. The energy of life is observable in the galaxies, stars, planets, and all matter down to the atomic level. This event, known as The Singularity, was responsible for an incomprehensible process that formed not only a galaxy but also the majestic rhythms of organic life. Throughout this period of expansion, life forms continue to be born, changed, and then destroyed. The process has never ceased producing more life.

The energy field responsible for life has flowed from a single event as if it is searching for something. The expansive energy of the Cosmos produced new creations, including the seemingly irrelevant, vulnerable, and powerless objects of life here on Earth. The vigor of life flows into the accumulation of cosmic expressions, such as the galaxies, stars, and planets, as if it is certain that it cannot fail at producing a single collision where all the majesty and beauty of life can take place. Human life seems so insignificant when contrasted against the backdrop of the Cosmos, but we will explore how all of this grandeur is connected to the development of our mind, body, spirit, and purpose.

Because recent technological advancements have provided an opportunity for civilizations to communicate and, therefore, share ideas (to express both their consciousness and their unconsciousness), there seems to be an acceleration of the awakening process. Although this book is about the individual's opportunities and responsibilities within an awakening process, we must also consider the possibility of a collective breakdown caused by the expansion and collapse of many of the unconscious institutions on the planet. We all live as a member of many unconscious collectives such as government, politics, and religious belief systems. Since the evolving process of life is motivated by human communication, any advancement in this ability will influence the collective conditioning. Since advancements in communication can cause a shift in consciousness within the groups, they may experience not only an awakening, but also the destruction that precedes it. Fortunately, when a kingdom falls, the surrendered can survive the collapse.

We could become overly concerned about the world and its unconscious condition. This is why there are so many religions on Earth. You should not worry about the expansion or the collapse of the foundations of the world. The state of the economy, the stock market, the value of your retirement account, or the strength of your relationships, or your collective associations could be leveraged as part of a necessary breakdown of your identity. Fortunately, if you surrender your relationship with the dark institutions of this planet, you will be insulated from the imaginations of a seething world. Without a doubt, disconnecting from the concerns of the world is prerequisite for your transcendence. The higher force of life is a seed of consciousness that wants to flower into something new. The awakening process is seeking the fertile soil—the hallowed ground, where all of its intentions can take place.

Much like the Earth, the human being symbolizes the fertile soil that must be made ready for life. Although this is a living foundation for an eternal life, you must first become habitable so a higher force of will can dwell in your space. Your conditioned thoughts isolate you from this eternal version of life. Until you give up your independent and separate identity, you will continue to represent a being that props up a life that can never be made whole—one that can never become fruitful.

Incredibly, the event that sparked the formation of the Universe is trying to repeat itself within all human beings; it is trying to break free within the darkness of the human mind. Although a Higher Will gives us an opportunity to awaken, this event is not assured. The door of the awakening process was placed at the intersection of an independent human identity and the deep desire to find the meaning of life. Your desire for consciousness is the beginning of another episode in the implementation of a Higher Will. With this desire, your primary concern is to align with something higher than you and allow it to demonstrate its intentions within your life.

A spark of energy gave birth to a Universe and its billions of stars and planets. Within this Universe, natural rhythms pulsate with an ebb and flow of light, darkness, life, and death. The particles of matter broke free then reconciled into new celestial bodies such as the Solar System and the planet Earth, where you exist right now as a semiconscious living organism. Once this original force of will expressed itself with your life, you became part of an entirely new Universe. This mysterious place exists right now within you.

### A Grand Design

From the first spark of the light of the Universe to the first spark of the human essence, there seems to be a Grand Design. Albert Einstein's dream was to discover the Grand Design of the Universe; a single theory that explains everything. The Grand Design is the eternal process of life. Whether you call this an intelligent design or the evolving process of nature, it is observable and magnificent! The splendor of the intertwined light and darkness of the Cosmos is the source of life. Limitations within the human experience are also part of this design. The human experience causes both consciousness and suffering, life and death. The desire of the process is to allow the kingdom of atoms to flourish into an illusion of reality. The higher force of will that motivates the atoms wants you to learn that the world of form cannot bring you satisfaction—the world of form is not a final result.

Your life flowed out of a Grand Design. The Grand Design is the living algorithm of the Cosmos and you are its offspring. You were born incomplete with an opportunity to become whole, but this requires a transformation to take place. Some people in the spiritual or self-help community often refer to this as an awakening. You cannot awaken until you recognize the subtle forces trying to guide you. For a better understanding of this guidance, one only needs to look to the Cosmos.

Although it is incredibly old, the Universe continues to create, change, and destroy. The Cosmos is not complete despite the eons of continuous change. As we well know, the human being is also subject to a process of change, advancement, and destruction. Your life is encapsulated within the very majestic force that created the Universes in which you live. You live in both an external and an internal world. The Universe is not out there; you are living inside it. The Universe of your life force is not within; you are living as its container. You may only need a change in perspective. Once you have relinquished control and are free of mental conditioning, indoctrination, self-identity, or addictions, you will begin to recognize an eternal version of life. The accumulated energy that flowed outward from a single event and created every galaxy, star, planet, and living being also intends to unfold the same creative process within you.

Here is Grand Design in a nutshell: You are a semiconscious being who can use life's energy for your own _Grand Design_ —a design created in the imagination. Fortunately, the imagination keeps you from being fully conscious. I say fortunately because, as we will discover in Chapter Four – The Imagination, this is the most powerful tool of a higher process. An imaginary world is your semiconscious disposition; it is an inherited conditioning. You initially exist in a dreamlike state and this causes you to harness the power of the majestic process for your own intentions. In other words, your life begins in a mental wilderness of perceived free will, where you are allowed to sow the seed of your own imagined reality—a dreamlike state of being. The seed that you sow produces a result, or offspring—a new life. Quite often, your creations (thoughts, ideas, beliefs, opinions, and actions) only cause more problems in your life or in the lives of others. Only after experiencing the suffering of your own creations will you learn how to sow a different seed.

Human spiritual development, which is our ability to rise above innate and primal influences, is an exercise of giving your present state of being and then reaping a consequence. It truly is a higher form of consciousness. Most often, the result of your choices is just more suffering; however, with your acceptance of suffering, your commitment to making new choices, and your determination to change your life, you can transform your thoughts and align with the source that allowed you to exist—to realize your intention. A seed of intent is already within you; it only needs to be allowed to spring forth. The most wonderful thing is that you do not need to join any group in order to participate in this process. Because you already exist within this higher process, you only need to surround yourself with that which will nurture your growth.

When the original force of life broke free in the void and vacuum of space, nothing could obscure, filter, or exploit it. It was the only energy field, and it was good. After the arrival of human beings, the Higher Will was split into many streams of life, much like the way a prism splits white light into its spectrum of colors. The conditioned mind is also a prism that separates life into many disconnected and tangled streams of reality. The amazing ability to dismantle a higher will to power is the foundation upon which we design our own version of life. Until your life is reconciled with an eternal version of life, you will be awash with a deep sense of incompleteness and distracted by the activities that you believe will satisfy this longing, such as relentlessly attempting to create your own reality. Again, your reality is never an eternal one. We will explore the proper definition of eternal throughout this book.

The outflow of energy at the beginning of life was not a final result; it was the beginning of a process. Flowing from this process is the potential for an eternal version of life—not an everlasting life for your body or identity, but a relationship with a force that is already eternal. Your light (essence) has the potential to rejoin the light that caused your life to be.

Many people believe that human consciousness is the mental faculty that allows us to be powerful beings who can accomplish anything; however, as we now understand, humans are not always conscious. As it turns out, the Cosmos has only created a space for semiconscious humans. Within this space, humans engage in happiness and sadness, peace and war, love and hate, joy and despair, and gluttony and charity. Without a doubt, the darkness in the human mind is separate from the light of the Higher Will. The human mind can never be completely enlightened.

In order to understand who you really are, you must awaken from the deep sleep of your life. This is the life that you call "my life." An awakening shows you that a self-made "my life" is inferior. Ultimately, you must align with a higher force of will in order to expose the true essence of who you are. Additionally, a pure state of being is not derived from your goals or achievements. You cannot create your life; you can only create or enhance the Self. The Self is a small, needy, seething, and confused part of a much more powerful version of you. Eventually, you will recognize the Self as a distraction. This new insight can empower you to let go of the Self and surrender to all that is, allowing all that arises to be exactly as it is.

Transcendence is not a formal process where one can simply adhere to contrived beliefs or laws in order to find the meaning of their life. Infinite laws, such as the laws of physics, probably do not influence your awakening process—a Higher Will must guide it and it may do so in extraordinary, dynamic, and mysterious ways. The perceived laws of physics could also be altered by a process (by way of the enlightenment that comes from discovering previously unknown laws). This limitation keeps you from formulating a self-assured (delusional) way of life. This also prevents a self-righteous attitude because you do not formalize your positions into yet another collection of beliefs. Although you recognize the strict laws of science and nature, your humble attitude about the variability of the laws of a higher process allows you to tap into this higher influence.

Evidently, the ability of the human mind to discover the greatest mysteries is mostly restricted. A common belief is that human thinking is the only way to find answers, but consider many of the unanswered questions: What existed before the formation of the Universe? Does anything exist beyond the Cosmos? What was the invisible force living in a dark void that broke free to form the Universe and all its matter? What was the force that caused amino acids to change into new structures that began vibrating with the energy of life? After millions of years of birth, growth, and permutation, we find ourselves highly aware of our world. Despite the potential of the human mind, why do people use it to worry, want, resist, hate, desire, possess, control, and inflict suffering on others? Why do people also have an urge to love, share, appreciate, nurture, create, empower, and surrender? Why does life seem to be out of balance for so many people? Why do some societies indulge themselves while others continue to have famine and struggle to survive? After thousands of years of human development, why do people still try to create Gods in their own image? What causes each generation to continue this behavior? Despite thousands of years of human thought, such questions remain mostly unanswered. Undoubtedly, the human condition is a gradually unfolding process; it is an incomplete part of a Grand Design.

### Your Essence

The force that created the Cosmos with its infinite light, energy, and life, is trying to flow through you right now. This energy field is already part of you. Ultimately, life does not have to be created; it simply needs to be allowed. Once you are ready, a new consciousness will be revealed. Your readiness is crucial, as you cannot force life to happen. If you try to force life, this means that you do not know that you _are_ life. Beware, an aggressive search to understand life could limit you. The message is clear, you must align with a Higher Will in order to reap your true life. This requires your surrender to all strongholds such as your false identity, addictions, personal history, grievances, and all strong and unshakable beliefs. You must relinquish your ego with its self-seeking behaviors. You must rein in your strong desire for success, wealth, fame, and any other endeavor that you believe will make you whole. Many ideas about success isolate you from the intentions of a Higher Will. You must first become nothing before you can experience the true essence of life.

The values of most societies can be difficult to achieve. Becoming successful requires unnecessary education, effort, skills, experience, social connections, money, and a bit of luck. Since many people are under the delusion of becoming successful, the road to success is very crowded. Ultimately, those who are trying to "make it" eventually fail. Those who think they are successful cannot maintain success without great frustration. If they seem to be happy, it is only because they have adapted to the delusion. Hidden under the cover of all delusions is severe unhappiness. The misery causes you to be preoccupied with the numerous expectations required to keep the delusion alive. The only expectation of your life is that you allow the present moment to be as it is. This state of being is the key that unlocks your essence. You do not need to be successful to understand the meaning of your life.

A person may seek purpose by strengthening their identity. Many experiences strengthen a sense of Self, such as the experience of power, wealth, and fame. The desire to find purpose emanates from the universal life force that is already part of you. Although life is trying to break free, this can only happen once you give up the futile attempt at finding it. Surrender is the exemplary expression of human purpose; however, the guidance must originate from a higher force of will. If you attempt this alone using only your thoughts, willpower, and the imagination, your sense of fulfillment will not last. Most people have an urge to do something extraordinary with their life. If they do not fail and end up in a bottomless pit of depression and self-pity, they may learn how to use this energy field and accomplish many marvelous things.

Pain and suffering are a message that something is wrong. The proper response to pain, one that will make you worthy of the suffering, is your decision to allow it. A common misconception about how you should prevent suffering, find purpose, or gain acceptance is to join a religious organization. Unfortunately, passionate religious studies will not satisfy the responsibility placed upon you. Humans have had thousands of years and thousands of religious doctrines, yet society continues to unravel. Many people still do not know who they are. One could conclude: As a result of unconscious religious behaviors, unhappiness thrives within the human experience. In the final analysis, you cannot find peace, purpose, or essence on your own. Life will find you after an honest commitment to relinquish control of your idealized version of life.

If you pay attention, you can sense the spirit of life emanating from another person's expressions, including when they are upset or angry. You were given an innate sense of right and wrong, life and death, and this natural awareness does not come from your obedience to facts, laws, beliefs, or opinions. A sense of moral direction is embedded in the thoughts of all people and it is this sense alone that evokes the process of a new human state of being. Becoming a watcher of life is key to understanding yourself. Wherever you go and whatever you do, try to just sit still and watch.

Right now, you have the ability to observe and then overcome your harmful thoughts. The Self was formed from an inherited unconsciousness made up of thoughts. Becoming aware of the unconscious mind will enable you to abandon the delusion of the Self. The intent is to show you the result of a world that you created in your mind. Despite its limited sensory abilities, the mind can manipulate the sense of free will and use this power to create an image. The information is interpreted in the mind and then presumed to be real. The consequence of this unremitting mental activity is a tired mind and body. You cannot think your way through this process. A precise timing exists for your awakening—this may not be your time. Only you know if you are ready to surrender, give up your perceived life, and relinquish control. You must first know yourself before you can deny the Self. Once you deny your identity, a higher will-to-power will rise up within you.

### Becoming Habitable

_The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others._

-Mahatma Ghandi

Of the billions of planets in the Cosmos, most or not habitable. If we find a habitable planet, we may discover that the inhabitants have already destroyed themselves. For those who survive, perhaps they did so because they surrendered, abandoned technology. We may never find evidence of their existence because they no longer emit signals. Like humans, an unconscious civilization may develop advanced technology in an attempt to define itself. They may end up destroying themselves using the advancements. They may have become frustrated with their inability to find the answers to such questions as "Who am I?" and "Why do I exist?" They may not have been able to work together for the greater good. They may have developed weapons to use against their own species because they refused to accept other cultures just the way they are. Perhaps they could not overcome their religious or political differences.

As we will explore in greater detail in Chapter 5 – The Seed of Life, Science has partially unraveled the mystery of life, known as deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA. The instructions written into the seed decide everything about the life form, such as its size, shape, and color as well as its ability to bear fruit. DNA also has flaws, such as the imperfections that make the life form vulnerable to disease. Consequently, life is required to struggle for existence.

When life begins from a seed on Earth, it is not a random occurrence. A harmony of forces influences the seed to grow. In other words, the conditions must be suitable for life. The effectiveness of the process that unfolds is determined by essential conditions such as temperature, humidity, the type of soil, the variety of seed, and the season in which it is planted. Once the conditions are suitable, the seed can germinate, grow, and generate new life. Love is integrated into the process that supports the offspring. The seed just lies there, surrendered, not expecting anything to happen. This is an example of a powerful ability called surrender. Something within the seed wants to break free; however, the seed is not actually pushing out life; it is drawn out by the interconnectedness of the Universe.

In our search for life, we must learn that we can only derive life by giving life. Before your seed can generate an offspring, you must allow it to fall to the ground and die. The original spark of your life came from a seed that was allowed to spring forth.

Every culture inherits changes from the success and failures of the preceding generations. Although the ego often feels separate, it is highly connected to all other life forms. A powerful force is at work; it guides everything about you especially the choices that you make as part of your free will. As a result, conflict often arises between the real you and your ego. The ego is the enemy of a seed that is attempting to spring forth. As a result, despite being formed from the essence of an original set of instructions, humans contribute to their own organic evolution. Our independent, self-seeking identity influences the original intent (essence) of our life.

The Higher Will gave you something extraordinary that it did not give other life forms; it gave you the opportunity for consciousness. Although you could have been formed like other living creatures, existing in a state of surrender and presence, you were made to feel as though you are independent. In this state, you seek to control life and its situations. Humans must live this way for a reason. In your early life, you are only slightly aware of your essence. This loving process of awakening requires your consciousness to be born, nurtured, and processed into a new cycle of life. Much like a seed, specific conditions must exist before you can spring forth, grow, and become fruitful. This force of life is within you; however, many layers of inherited, self-created, and collective mental patterns suppress its faint voice. You already contain the hallowed ground required to sow a seed, cultivate its growth, and bear fruit. You only need to be processed out of unconsciousness to realize your life-giving abilities.

The noise in your head suppresses an innermost direction that is trying to show you the next step in your awakening. You cannot determine, create, plan, or execute your own way since you are not in control of the process. The choice is not as difficult as you may believe as it can be guided by a Higher Will. You must be willing to change your thoughts and begin living in the present moment. The voice of guidance arises following your surrender. Once you surrender, you will cease the relentless enrichment, glorification, and pampering of the Self. The Higher Will is trying to weed out the part of you that causes your unhappiness and, most importantly, your inability to serve others. This approach is analogous to the act of Artificial Selection, where humans attempt to make something better by selecting out desirable or undesirable traits. We will discuss Artificial Selection in greater depth in Chapter 5 – The Seed of Life.

Undoubtedly, the urgency for your transcendence is not just for you. Your new consciousness is intended to influence those around you. Once you begin to serve others, you will strengthen your power to trigger life-giving responses in them. If humanity is at the cusp of a global awakening, it will arise from the influence of those who have already awakened. Once you become aware of your inner power to positively influence people, you will realize that your life never was about you; it was about others. The only way to serve is to understand who you really are, and this begins with learning about your separate self-identity. Who are you right now?

### Who am I?

_The characteristics of a happy person include being sociable, creative, flexible, loving, and forgiving - contrasted by the unhappy person's tendency to be withdrawn, self-absorbed, moody, and antagonistic. Seeking personal happiness does not have to equal being self-centered._

-The Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso)

Sadly, the semiconscious Self does not need a Higher force of Will. While living in this apathetic state of life, the self-identity exists predominantly unaware of a powerful influence. The Self gradually develops into the human condition, which frets over trivial concerns while thinking about, defending, and talking to the Self. I want to emphasize that we must live in this confused state of recognizing something deeper while wandering aimlessly in a wilderness of thought. Until you awaken, you can only be guided by the life that you think you are. Under those circumstances, you live unaware that you are not a predisposed stagnant being but a dynamic living process. With guidance, you can learn about the wondrous forces that brought you here. A Higher Will is awaiting your decision to find your real life.

During your brief time on Earth, you have an experience that you may refer to as "my life." Your life is influenced by the expectations of your culture. Although most cultures promote happiness as the fundamental expectation of life, many people find themselves trapped in a life filled with despair where they often worry, complain, want more, and live with many unconscious habits and behaviors. In reflection, you may realize that the early part of your life was mostly influenced by an unconscious family, church, community, state, or nation.

Until you awaken, you are predominantly unaware of the unconscious patterns that cause most of your suffering. A motivating force is trying to provoke your awakening; however, until you are present, you either insistently control your life or you wander aimlessly in a state of confusion. While in control you may find happiness, but it will not provide you with lasting peace. It is certainly possible to be happy but not peaceful—this is happiness with a sense of incompleteness. Now, let's move on to a discussion about how we got here.

### Free Will

Of the many qualities that make you human, the greatest is your sense of free will. This desire is the basis of the word "freedom'. By experimenting with free will, you learn about the things that satisfy you as well as those that cause more suffering. Eventually, you find yourself as a wanderer in the wilderness of the human experience. Simply observe those living in the "land of the free" to validate the great potential for suffering. Initially, you love the material world as it gives you an essential playground where you can experiment with free will. During this phase of your awakening, you drift in and out of a present moment reality while influenced by your beliefs, ego, and other delusions.

During childhood, you discovered that you could reach out and touch, move, create, enhance, manipulate, or destroy. You learned that you could control the world around you—not just objects, but also your relationship with objects. You increasingly developed this power as you learned of new ways to apply your free will. Most people develop an insatiable need for power, control, and destruction while others use free will to create an awakened, present moment state of being. Ultimately, you construct your identity with your beliefs, opinions, decisions, and actions.

A Higher Will understands that you will not recognize and accept responsibility for the darkness in your life unless you are the creator of the darkness. You help to create your own image and you perceive it as something good. Quite often, a person will conclude they are not good enough and will then cycle back into unconsciousness. We need to be able to create and then experience the result of our creations. If a person becomes trapped within the unconscious misery of the self-identity, this could lead to mistakes, addiction, mental disturbances, dependency, and criminal behavior.

The delusion of free will is active in the hearts and minds of people today. The unconscious human may only find meaning in the grandiose achievements in the world of form. Today, unconsciousness is creating more wealth and causing more despair; it is designing advanced weapons for a war that cannot be won; it is constructing taller skyscrapers to make a name for itself and building bigger jetliners to speed the transport of unconsciousness into a global economy.

You have spent most of your life filling your space with the things that you believe will give you fulfillment. The process of awakening wants you to use your sense of free will to perform one final act. You must choose to give back the free will. All along, your decisions have been in the service of the ego. By aligning with a Higher Will, you no longer require a conscious effort to push your life toward a state of completeness. Your life is formed by the failures that result from experimenting with free will. If you have allowed your misery to guide you, then you are already applying this powerful process. You are awakening to a Higher Will!

### Suffering

The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity—even under the most difficult circumstances—to add a deeper meaning to his life. He may remain brave, dignified and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation, he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man either to make use of or to forgo the opportunities of attaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not.

-Viktor Emil Frankl, MD, Ph.D. (1905 – 1997) - Austrian Neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor

Every human being is required to suffer in some way. Suffering can be observed in all societies, rich or poor. If the community is affluent, the suffering increases in the mind. If they are impoverished, the suffering could be mostly physical. Suffering cannot be pushed away by your resistance to the source of the suffering. Suffering is a perception that is often skewed by the unconscious mind. While living as a semiconscious person, you often misinterpret and, therefore, accuse or judge adverse circumstances. You are actually condemning a process that is trying to move you. Since all people are interconnected, you unknowingly judge yourself. Your own self-judgment causes you to constrain the Self into a small, dark, conceptualized space.

One of the most enlightening experiences in history was the global phenomenon known as The Great Depression. Unfortunately, when they learned that their wealth had disappeared, thousands of people decided to take their own life. Although they had only lost their money, the ego thought this was the loss of the entire identity of the person. They were not in touch with a deeper essence of life and, therefore, fell victim to the darkness of an agitated ego. For the most part, the hardship created by the failing economic conditions resulted in a change within the culture. Many people began working together for the greater good. The family unit, community, city, state, and ultimately the entire country, became stronger as people realized they needed each other. They could no longer rely on the government to survive. This experience exposed a previously concealed ability. Suffering became a source of guidance—many people were strengthened by the hardship of The Great Depression. You too can be strengthened by your own Great Depression.

Humans are here as a result of their mastery of survival; however, the cultural misinterpretation of suffering has created a world where basic survival instincts are seldom exercised. Many developed societies are so technologically advanced that little effort is required to procure food, water, and shelter. As a result, many people experience anxiety or depression because they do not exercise their basic survival instincts. Suffering is not just something you need; it is something you desire—the pain of suffering can be transformed into joy once you recognize it as a voice of love. If you make an enemy out of suffering you remove a potential for love. For example, although medical science has produced various medicines for the treatment of depression, simple physical exercise has shown equally positive results. The human condition was formed for movement, work, and survival. Due to modern conveniences, many people have lost the essential survival instinct. Consequently, many advanced societies now regard physical pain and suffering, or hard work, as something that is to be avoided. Among many other diseases, this has led to a significant treatment for depression, anxiety, and hypertension.

Clearly, the survival instinct is leveraged by the ego's need to survive; however, if you do not use the survival instinct, this may cause a mindset of expectation. You expect all your needs to be satisfied as a prerequisite for peace and tranquility. In this state, you are unaware of a Higher Will that can provide for you. You do not need anything beyond your basic needs. In the book The Art of Happiness, the Dalai Lama explains that you can still be humble while satisfying your basic physical needs for food, shelter, and clothing. He says that once these basic needs are met, you should be satisfied.

After thousands of years of attempting to make a better world, humanity is, for the most part, lost, confused, unhappy, and dissatisfied. Sadly, our civilization lives with a constant fear of its own demise. We may use our imagination to find our way out of this misery, but since human creations often fail, we must continually seek out new ways to resolve our unhappiness. This cycle of despair is the human experience. If you want to avoid such trappings, you must find out how to be conscious, present, and humble.

To be human is to experience the mental noise of a separate entity living inside your head. This separate life drowns out the subtle guidance that is trying to rise up inside you. As the voice of the inner motivation gets louder, you will begin to feel peace and presence. A renewed state of presence will show you who you truly are. The real you is just an uncomplicated life that is simply trying to spring forth in the midst of a highly complex, human-made world.

An awakening awaits every human being. Once you remove the mental filter of the Self, a higher force of will can guide you. You are here with an opportunity to break free just like the Universe at the beginning. We need a process that uses suffering as the teacher. Humans evolved to respond to suffering. When acceptance replaces a resistance to suffering, an awakened state of being will become permanently imprinted. You are formed with love following the same majestic force that made the Universe—you are not separate from it. Your life flowed out of the same source that exploded into the Cosmos. This ancient energy field beats in your heart and mind at this moment. You are its container.

### The Evolution of Consciousness

_Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results._

-Various attributions (Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, Alcoholics Anonymous)

In the first part of your life, you may have limited awareness of a deeper essence living within. When you are young, your life is primarily influenced by the imagination. In other words, you must begin life with only a slight understanding of who you truly are. The imagination purposely separates you from the influence of a Higher Will so you can experience power and control. While living in the imagination, under the delusion of having only a self-identity, a person may develop an insatiable desire for power. As human history has demonstrated time and again, the ego has an unquenchable appetite. A strong and unshakable belief in the self-identity beckons a higher force of will to begin the process of breaking down this self-delusion. The breakdown symbolizes the beginning of the evolution of human consciousness.

While commanding your own destiny, you learn that your ideas, opinions, beliefs, creations, possessions, and associations fail to provide you with a lasting sense of satisfaction. While living independently, many people exist in an insane cycle of self-seeking. Many people create, destroy, and suffer while trying to find meaning. They may also self-sabotage as a resentful response to the suffering they create. A person may improve on old ideas and traditions, but it is never going to be enough to cause a permanent sense of satisfaction. This can be observed in the material world where things are continually improved and then corrupted through desensitization, trends that fall out of fashion, increased cost, lost interest, age, or destruction. People relentlessly improve things to make them more efficient, affordable, faster, powerful, or exciting. Ultimately, we want to solve problems and create a better experience of life for ourselves and for others. Although it is often productive, this habit loop can break you. At first, you are pacified by the change; however, you eventually become completely numb. Through habitual behaviors, you learn that each cycle of improvement only results in a temporary enhancement.

Beyond any doubt, the process of life is trying to guide you to a higher state of being. You think of yourself as a human being, but you may not know how to be. You must experience life in order to inherit an everlasting and fruitful state of being. Your independent thoughts isolate you from the motivation of a Higher Will; they move you out of alignment with life. You may believe that you own your life; however, you will soon learn that this belief only leads to more suffering.

You may need to experience mental or physical pain before you will embrace a new state of being; therefore, you are granted the gift of suffering. As you know, suffering comes in all shapes and sizes. Suffering can surface as a subtle event or a sudden shock. The shock often comes from an event that a person does not want to happen, such as the loss of employment, divorce, incarceration, addiction, the diagnosis of an illness, or the death of a loved one. The intent of life's traumatic events is to help you change the unconscious way that you view your life—to allow your mind to evolve. Until you navigate your thoughts and intentions into the present moment, you will interpret your life experiences through the filter of unconsciousness. As a result of the misinterpretation of life, you may not know who you really are.

### The First Awakening

_Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can because the Cosmos is also within us. We're made of star-stuff. We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself._

-Carl Sagan

Humans did not come to form on Earth as a superior life-form, isolated from the Cosmos. The human species is dependent on the Earth. In fact, we are composed entirely of substances that exist on this planet. With this, we can conclude that life comes from a precise alignment of the Earth with a higher Cosmic force. Distinctly, this is a relationship with the entire Universe. As Carl Sagan described in his book Cosmos, we are formed from the Earth, which is made of "star-stuff"; therefore, we are created with the same materials that exist in the stars. Clearly, mortal life is the result of a precise alignment with a higher force that has sown a seed of life. Accordingly, this energy field is responsible for your essence, purpose, and the life that you inherit when you surrender to its will. With the motivation of a Higher Will, life becomes an incredible life-giving activity.

The origin of the human essence is the same as the origin of the stars in the heavens. The material outflow of the Cosmos is perfect as its creations flow with a nonresistant or naturally resistant motion. Yearnings, reactions, defenses, offenses, and destruction contribute to the harmony of the Cosmos. The laws of physics are the musical notes of the instrument of life—they only require a composer. The music of life is manifested throughout the material world; its song is an offspring—a new life. A Higher Will is using both consciousness and darkness to produce an eternal offspring. You are part of this process. Once you can distinguish the motivations of your self-identity from those of a higher process, you will begin to awaken. No one can say how you will change as you transcend the material world because this is the concern of the Higher Will. You may not appear to change at all. Real transcendence happens within; it is good for you and good for those around you.

After you surrender your self-identity, you will realize that your previous unrelenting search for a purpose was really just an attempt to magnify your identity. Or, should we say, your Self wanted to boost its identity? The Self wanted you to find yourself so you would need to be something more than you are, such as becoming famous or rich. Perhaps you want more out of life, to prove yourself, to accomplish extraordinary things, or you are just trying to feel complete as a human being.

When the option to surrender is presented to you, you may be at any phase of your life. You may be a student, parent, spouse, the leader of a large corporation, or a government official. You may be rich, poor, happy, or miserable. You could be going through a divorce, diagnosed with an illness, or have lost everything you own. After surrendering to the present moment, you sense that your purpose is to be the person that you are right now regardless of your current situation. You can have an illness consciously, lose your job consciously, have financial difficulties consciously, divorce consciously, be homeless consciously, grow older consciously, and die consciously. This does not mean that you should not take action to improve a terrible situation. Since you no longer perceive detrimental life events as something terrible, your awakened response to the event may help solve the problem or help the pain of the struggle to subside. If you are facing a difficult life event right now, your pure acceptance of the event will allow a Higher Will to rise up within you, guide you, and help you find peace.

### Breaking Free

The Earth has everything it needs to sustain biological life. Within this complex system, human beings thrive while also living in a world of the mind. This is a realm that is quite often diminished, seething, and at the cusp of self-annihilation. The human world is supported mostly by its own imagination. The imagination is lifted up by its creations. Eventually, you experience loss since nothing you create lasts forever. The mind then causes you to suffer by producing a false sense of loss. Once the conditions are right to reduce or eliminate your misery, the imagination seems to reinforce itself in an attempt to keep you trapped; it wants to drown out a subtle influence that is trying to guide you out of this hell.

Your life is not designed by your own initiative; it must be guided by a higher influence. Although you primarily live in the kingdom of the Self, you also live in the shadow of something greater than you. The Higher Will is your deep sense of a mysterious force that is attempting to guide your life. This force is often conceptualized with the words spirit, intuition, deity, God, supreme being, belief, opinion, faith, and feeling. Clearly, such a mysterious force cannot be conceptualized. You will recognize the true essence of this source once you learn to control your thoughts, if only for a few moments. By controlling your thoughts, you prevent the devastating influence they have on your life. For the most part, your thoughts restrict the light that is trying to shine from this source of life. Although it may only be a brief flash of awareness, you can strengthen your relationship with this higher influence by letting go of the old you.

Every life form exists in its own unique cycle of awakening. Additionally, all lifeforms contribute more life to all other life cycles. In other words, your life does not constitute an independent and separate individual life, but a relationship with all others. Other people prop you up, both internally and externally. You need the Self and you need others. They also need you to contribute to their life in some way. Breaking free comes from loving and helpful relationships. Quite often, loving and helpful acts are demonstrated as tough love.

How does breaking free affect those around you? If you are in the presence of others, you will be able to consciously observe them. This will happen without intrusive mind-made interference. You observe them without a reputation. When you live without the dark whispers of the mind, you see and hear differently. You can now feel what others are actually saying to you. Their words will take on a new meaning and this will provoke enlightened responses from you. The information and interpretation are now supported by a new way of thinking. Awakened consciousness is the real, pure, and true essence of who you really are—it is the source of all life. As a result of knowing who you really are, you become the beholder of this life force in others, which enables you to serve them. You become renewed each time you generously sow life into those around you.

Because you use your imagination to conduct thought experiments, you can envision realities that are beyond the human senses. From a present moment reality, you can project your intentions into a fabricated sense of future. Nothing eternal is a result of something that exists in the future; therefore, you must abandon all attempts to change your future. Your future is just an idea derived from your own thought experiments. In the next chapter, we will explore how these predictable experiences in your life will lead to an eternal relationship with a Higher Will.

### Chapter Two

The Self

In its widest possible sense, however, a man's Self is the sum total of all that he can call his, not only his body and his psychic powers, but his clothes and his house, his wife and children, his ancestors and friends, his reputation and works, his lands and horses, and yacht and bank-account. All these things give him the same emotions. If they wax and prosper, he feels triumphant; if they dwindle and die away, he feels cast down.

-William James (1842-1910)

In the beginning, nothing existed. Before the Cosmos was born, only a mysterious force of will was present. This force must have existed because, before the Cosmos came to be, nothing existed. Somehow, nothing became something. Of course, this exceptional change in reality required a motivating force or, as Friedrich Nietzsche called it, a "will to power." I call this a higher force of will because it does not come from human intention. As far as we know, before it was something, this Higher Will had not manifested itself into form. Of course, there are billions of galaxies and a tremendous number of mysteries causing conflicting ideas about the root of life. "Where did this force come from?" "How, when, or why did it come to be?" "What came before it?" "Is this all true and real?" These are just a few of the many questions that could provoke the ego to rationalize and then conceptualize such mysteries into all the traditions, superstitions, gods, and beliefs that are responsible for the human experience. The human ego cannot tolerate the unknown, uncertainty, or the mysterious and this is its greatest weakness.

The human experience plus your imagination establishes the thoughts that form your identity. You absorb your identity from your unique experience of life. The questions "Who am I?" "Where did I come from?" and "What happens to me when I die?" represents the fundamental concern of most human beings. As a result, beginning during childhood, your identity is forged into an almost unbreakable stream of thoughts called me, my, and I. Despite the influence of your first identity you gradually develop a desire to know who you truly are. Fortunately, throughout life's affliction, you have an opportunity to reach a heightened state of awareness, free of the Self. Although you may enhance your identity in a search for answers, you often find that, despite this effort, you still feel incomplete. We must learn that our true identity cannot be discovered with an intensive search. Searching for or experimenting with identity is the cause of most mental suffering. You try to find your life through self-seeking activities, but this only gives you a short-lived sense of Self. Self-seeking reinforces your imagined identity; therefore, you are not who you think you are. Regardless of the harmful consequence of your beliefs, actions, or life experiences, the influence of a Higher Will is always present.

Your awakening is the culmination of a patient and loving process; it is good for you. Just like the formation of the Universe, your life represents condensed energy that wants to break free from darkness. This flowering of human potential is motivated by the very force of will that created the Cosmos. Although you are the offspring of the original event, you cannot break free if your identity is entangled in a false sense of Self. This is the Self that believes it can answer the questions asked earlier in this chapter. The Self creates gods and believes it can explain all the great mysteries of life. If the Self does not understand something, it will often create an answer just to feel content and secure. The Self loves its opinions.

Every life experience contains a subtle message that something higher is in control of you; however, the act of relinquishing control can be the most challenging act of a conditioned mind that has spent most of its life practicing the art of control. Although you may try, you do not entirely control your reality. Your resistance to what is, or determination to change what is, often results in more suffering. Your surrender to a Higher Will is the only free will choice that will destroy your false Self. Your decision to relinquish control enables you to inherit a new identity. This may not be a single decision, but a series of choices that can change you. Your mind-made identity may only break down after a long period of living as a self-identity.

The most transformative human faculty is the ability to learn. Your life experiences influence how you think and feel. Your interpretation of light, sound, thoughts, pain, and the full range of human emotions help to form your idea about what it means to be a person. Unfortunately, many things you know to be true are only an assumption derived from an inherited belief. Your identity was initially created from many assumptions; however, your ultimate purpose does not come from those experiences, but from your response to the experience.

Developing a strong desire for knowledge will bring positive change to your life. The most valuable and useful source of knowledge is not from mental activity, but from a source that is already motivating you. By quieting the mind, you will discover the reason you are here and appreciate a life that you never knew existed. You will become a servant of a Higher Will when you can live in its state of presence. With presence, you serve the living essence of all people. You do not need to determine how to help others—you only need to commit to surrendering your life. You can commit to a Higher Will and then allow it to provide guidance. This decision results in the disintegration of the old you and the blossoming of your intent.

The Self often uses words such as me, my, and I to describe itself. These divisive words cause a sense of separation that enables a person to feel independent, separate, and special. Of course, this overly self-aware attitude prevents one from serving others. You already have the desire to help others, but another force must also be present before you can become a veritable source of encouragement for them. Living, thinking, and believing independently prevents the higher force of will from arising and guiding you. Ultimately, the mission of life is not your survival, but the survival of this higher force of will.

The Self is responsible for how you view the world; therefore, you may accuse it of being the source of all of your problems. Of course, this is futile. You do not have to be a victim of life; you only need to accept life exactly the way it is. This is your mission! You can even allow events that have not happened. If you allow a future that has yet to happen, you will prevent the imagination from worrying about it. You can also accept your life's past story just as it is—especially the bad stuff. This ability alone has the power to open the next door in your awakening. Never let darkness remind you of your past. Your light can shine through the darkness!

### Your Identity

_Overconfidence has been called the most "pervasive and potentially catastrophic" of all the cognitive biases to which human beings fall victim. It has been blamed for lawsuits, strikes, wars, and stock market bubbles and crashes._

-The Overconfidence Effect, Scott Plous

The formation of your identity began shortly after your birth. You eagerly absorbed the world in which you were exposed because it is part of your nature to be curious about the world. Undoubtedly, the person you believe you are is just a conditioned image. The resulting self-created suffering can help you surrender; however, if you do not learn from the suffering and then relinquish control, the cycle must repeat. Your unsurrendered life is much like the cycle of insanity (doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results), but this could lead to a sane life, where your actions provoke acceptable results.

Of course, a person's identity is complicated as it includes a combination of thoughts, emotions, ideas, experiences, and behaviors specific to a person. This is why we are unique as living beings. Your thoughts determine everything about you from your internal dialog to your facial expressions. The attributes that make up your identity are also known as the ego. The word ego is used in several ways and is often misunderstood. For example, the statement "a big ego" is sometimes used to describe a person's ostentatious view of himself. The word ego, as I use it in this book, is your superficial identity. In other words, you are who you think you are. Another word for this temporary identity is the Self.

Your self-identity is continually transformed not only by your thoughts but also by your assumptions about how others think of you. Your Self is merely an ever-changing picture in the mind. Many of the images in the movie of your life come from assumptions that you have made, which are mostly false. This form of mind-reading contributes to a noisy mind; it permeates the person who lives under the power of the ego. You reinforce a false identity when you speak to your old Self in your thoughts or when you allow another person's memory of your past to dredge up the old you.

As you can see, I am attempting to separate your two identities. If you do not know yourself beyond the old Self, you will spend an enormous amount of time trying to figure out who you are. We frequently use language to reinforce who we think we are. Listen closely to how much you talk about your Self when speaking to others. You want them to know how you are doing, where you have been, and what you are going to do next. You tell them how you believe, your opinions, and you share your thoughts, mostly aimed at reinforcing who you think you are or who you want to be. In the book Tao Te Ching, Lau Tzu wrote that "Those who speak do not know. Those who know do not speak." You often speak about who you believe you are to others eventually convincing them that it is who you are. There are now two false perceptions—yours and theirs. When you reinforce your reputation in conversations, this demonstrates that you need to develop a conscious awareness of life. You still believe that who you are is derived from what you say to others (or how successful you are at convincing them).

You move through life as both a mind and a body. Your mind consists of thinking, the imagination, and emotions. The mind is merely a byproduct of an electrochemical organ called the brain. Although the mind can be helpful, creative, loving, and caring, it can also be filled with despair, hatred, wickedness, fear, anger, and shame. Regardless of how much it may cause you to suffer, you should not make the mind your enemy—the mind is part of you; it is what makes you human. The failures of the mind and its thoughts are meant to transform you; to guide you to align with something higher (or deeper) than yourself.

Humans have used the power of identity to accomplish incredible things. As a result of countless human endeavors, which often inflate our pride and create a heightened sense of Self, our thoughts often produce an "Overconfidence Effect." The Overconfidence Effect contributes to your awakening; it results in necessary suffering, which teaches you how to avoid being inflated by the ego. Awakened confidence comes from the awareness of a higher force of will that is already in control of everything. The purpose of this new confidence is not for "Self" esteem, but the esteem of a Higher Will.

Life's purpose is imprinted inside of every human being; however, you need guidance during the process of awakening. Throughout your life, you have numerous opportunities to engage with those who can redirect your life, but you can only align with your intent and purpose once your mind is rooted in the present moment. Through presence, you nurture relationships with an openness that enables proper guidance and positive influence to flow toward you. From within a present state of being, you will arouse the intentions of a majestic process and its desire to produce an offspring. The first child of the mind structure is made of your agreements, disagreements, beliefs, and opinions. The first child is your "identity", but there is more to the story,

Until your life is renewed, your identity is a product of your experience of life, including your grievances, fears, desires, uncontrollable thoughts, and misguided notions about who you are. Although your first identity makes you feel alive, it was meant to bring you down. You are not who you think you are.

### Your Body

You do not own your body, and your body is not who you are. You identify with your mind and body since it is close to you and you carry it around as part of your life. The body's ability to producing both pleasure and pain, which is mostly outside your control, is a continuous reminder that you are a mortal being. The unfamiliarity of something higher than you prevents the Self from understanding anything beyond its experience of pain and suffering. As a result, the Self believes that its mortality is its only identity and, therefore, it unconsciously navigates a world of fear where it persistently attempts to find pleasure while avoiding pain.

The most harmful affliction that you can inherit is not pain or a physical imperfection; it is unconsciousness. All societies promote particular human physical qualities as desirable. As a result, people in such cultures may respond positively to such attributes. This is a distortion caused by ignorance, traditions, perversions, and beliefs. It is an attitude that reinforces the identification with form within the society. As a result, a person may develop a mental disorder involving the human form. For example, a person diagnosed with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is excessively concerned about their appearance, which may create a sense of incompleteness and, ultimately, unhappiness. A seed of despair is planted in an individual when their culture promotes specific physical attributes as desirable or undesirable. Having one or more desirable characteristics such as eye color, skin color, body shape, height, or weight may provoke a positive response from some people. As a result, you may be profiled as acceptable.

Undoubtedly, ignorance and fear are the sources of all prejudices. They are a recipe for unconscious, ingrained, and impulsive reactions. In its extreme state, it may influence a collective group and justify segregation, discrimination, bigotry, favoritism, profiling, or genocide. When you live as an awakened being, you are not capable of such cruel actions against others. You do not see the surface of a person, but their potential for consciousness.

Sadly, a person may become proud of their inherited traits, which amplifies their confidence. Francis Galton discovered in his research that "Nature and nurture both play a part, but nature is the determining factor in the traits we may develop." Although your traits may have either a positive or a negative influence on your life, your essence does not come from genetic characteristics. As you will discover, your spirit awakens when you live disconnected from your body and its form-based disposition. You can accept yourself exactly the way you are. Gender, race, religion, class, or appearances are not qualities of your essence. Your eternal identity is not created from inheritance or circumstance. A belief that you are separate from others does not divide you from them; it only separates you from your essence and your potential to align with an eternal version of life.

People inherit various behavior patterns during their early childhood development. Since delusions thrive in the collective unconsciousness of all societies, children are often exposed to such models. As a result, unconscious caregivers plant the seed of unconsciousness. Although they are not aware of it, parents often cultivate darkness within their children. The education system, the entertainment industry, political groups, religious organizations, and other collectives can be highly influential to the developing mind. Sadly, as a result of appearance, a person may be shunned by an unconscious person, family, community, group, or organization.

We can look at history to gain a better understanding of how we got here. During early civilization, painful experiences evolved into an unconscious collective mindset. For example, in ancient civilization, a person probably had only a slight sense of Self because they were highly dependent on the tribe for survival; therefore, the predominant attitude was that each tribal member felt as though they were part of a greater whole. Being part of a tribe must have been a wonderful feeling and this is why the "teamwork" attitude is still in use today. We are better when we work together! During this time, a rejection from the family or tribe was often a death sentence. If a person was pushed out of the group, they might not have been able to survive on their own. The loss of tribal identity may have also led to a painful, lonely, and desperate state of being. Before today's highly evolved social, agricultural, economic, and technological culture, where survival skills are seldom required, cooperation proved to be a valuable exercise as it allowed people to work together, support each other, and survive.

Understanding the value of suffering is critical since distress may cause you to lose focus on the present moment. Suffering occurs not only when you feel bodily pain, but also when you experience extraordinarily high and low moods such as mania, anxiety, or depression. Fortunately, when you exist in the present moment as a surrendered being, an external influence cannot tempt you back into its darkness. This is crucial because most humans inherit thousands of years of misaligned ideas about the importance of gender, race, appearance, physical abilities, and the meaning of pain and suffering. Your first identity is infected with many self-defeating thoughts and ideas designed to either strengthen or weaken you. Of course, this is necessary as it is was placed within you as an important test. You must be able to recognize invalid beliefs so you can choose to abandon them. This is the necessary step required to move you out of unconsciousness. Consciousness is not something you try to do, but a result of becoming either permanently disconnected from your stream of detrimental thoughts or empowered to control them.

You cannot cultivate consciousness by identifying the people or events responsible for your unconsciousness. The act of blaming is a form of unconsciousness. Since I just pointed out that your first unconscious identity is inherited, I must also bring attention to the danger of attempting to fix this state of being by forming a grievance with the cause. Quite often, a person will blame their neurosis on their parents. Temporary unconsciousness is a necessary part of the process of awakening. Your caregivers also inherited their unconsciousness. Maybe they never received the guidance required to remove the dark thoughts (beliefs) from their life. Perhaps you are the first person in a long stream of unconscious ancestors to raise yourself out of the darkness!

When you are suffering from an illness or just suffering from the everyday stresses of life, you can try a simple exercise. Find a place where you can be alone. Try to ignore any outside noise, then repeat the following: "This is not my body; it belongs to the force that caused me to be." "I am more than just an aging body—this body is not the real me." "I agree to move into the present moment—the only place where the essence of life exists." Bathe in the present moment reality of your life and try to maintain this awareness as long as you can. Try this exercise anytime your mind provokes you with fear, worry, pain, or when it attempts to reward you with grandiose thoughts or excessive emotions.

Most people who have experienced great physical suffering clearly understand the power of presence. As a result of an injury, they may develop a heightened sense of awareness. Through suffering, they learn that they are more than just a body or its disposition. This attitude is a challenge for a healthy person or for a person who has been treated as acceptable. Sadly, a person may have been taught to identify with their youth, intelligence, athletic abilities, or appearance. A person who does not have physical limitations or has never experienced severe suffering will suffer in a different way. A person or group's unconscious acceptance of an individual who does not have mental or physical ailments can become a disadvantage to the individual. At no fault of their own, they inherit the mental suffering that results when a person or group acknowledges the identification with a mind and body. In other words, a person or group may unknowingly reinforce the value of physical abilities, talents, skills, or attractiveness as if this attribute was the meaning of life. Since the mind and body are the primary components of human life, they may become a person's only sense of Self.

You strengthen your unconsciousness if you agree with your past story. Namely, this is your identity or reputation. If an undesirable response is not coming from someone who truly knows you, then you can conclude that it is coming from an assumption about your past mistakes, appearance, abilities, or disability. Your essence is not made of the human body and its thoughts or reputation. Thankfully, you possess great power over the unconscious state of your world. You can discard the unconsciousness of those around you. Allow them to be just the way they are while also refusing to allow them to draw you into their state of darkness.

You should not identify with your body as your only source of life because you are much more than a mortal being. The purpose of your life is to represent life consciously. You are not your body, identity, emotions, or thoughts, but that which remains once you surrender them to the present moment. Once you understand the desires of a Higher Will, you can align with its intent. Life begins once you can accept everything that arises in the present moment. That which remains after your surrender is the eternal essence of life.

You are the essence of something that is extraordinarily coupled with the Cosmos—something higher than rational human thought. A right and proper state of human _being_ is an understanding of the meaning of your life; it is present and timeless.

### Your Mind

It goes without saying that our mind is incredibly complex. The brain's one hundred trillion possible connections make it the most difficult scientific study. Within this organ, we find a complex nature that is beyond comprehension. Human thought is supported by a relationship with various mental and physical conditions. For example, as Cognitive Psychologist Gordon H. Bower discovered, memory retrieval is mood-dependent; therefore, your perception of reality is also influenced by your mood. Unfortunately, your mood can stimulate your imagination, and this could affect your life. As a result, many people cannot solve their own problems—because they don't believe there is a problem.

A powerful force is communicating with you using the power of suffering. It does so from within both your body and your mind. A Higher Will is asking you to find and accept the source of your misery. Suffering is not caused by a situation but by your interpretation of it. Your response determines the extent of the pain. An incorrect interpretation will cause you to resist the situation in some way. On the other hand, acceptance allows the situation to be just as it is. Acceptance is the most potent form of nonresistance. Of course, you will not let things be until you experience the result of a life that you control.

Beginning as a child, you gradually became aware of yourself. This is the reason you are human—you have self-awareness. You are intellectually and emotionally aware of your life, and this can create not only confusion and frustration but also pride and a desire for power and control. Most people have a close relationship with their mind and their thoughts, and they believe that they have control over themselves. They may become proud of their ability to think and will use this power to try to become successful at something. The amalgamation of self-awareness, ignorance, and the imagination allows you to explore your world in a search for completeness.

Your state of being is a product of your thoughts and emotions. The result is a new expression. You cannot hide who you are, what you care about, or how you view yourself as it is evident in your expressions. Thoughts create a nonverbal form of communication. Observe a person and you may notice many proud and confident statements that demonstrate their unconsciousness. Many people love themselves and especially their beliefs and opinions. We were taught to love ourselves before we know who or what we are. The result of this is reflected in most conversations. Many reactions are motivated by an impetuous attempt to promote or defend the Self and its beliefs.

A Higher Will seems to have harnessed the motivations of a primal instinct that was initially intended to protect you. On the other hand, the separate identity called the Self may use the fear of death against you. The Self believes it is part of a life that requires protection. Fear is a necessary component of the self-identity; it is a crucial part of self-preservation. Until you understand that you are two separate living entities, all the innate functions that protect your physical life are used in the service of the Self. This sort of ignorance is the origin of a powerful human emotion called fear. The ego needs to protect itself from an eternal version of your life. Once you become affectionate for the Self, you agree with a version of you that is mostly a lie; therefore, you ultimately strengthen your ego's desire to stay alive.

An underlying fear influences many human experiences. For the most part, ignorance causes you to experience fear and anxiety and this stimulates the imagination. Although you may not understand the source of the fear, it motivates and influences your thoughts, opinions, and beliefs. The result is a living reality called the human experience. You may formalize the understanding into new beliefs, which could lead to your unconscious state of being. You are formed from a living process; therefore, you are subject to its intention. It seems that a higher force of will wants you to experience a reality that is motivated by your sense of free will. When combined with ignorance, fear, and the imagination, free will can be either a creative or destructive force.

You cannot think, believe, imagine, create, study, or buy your way into an awakened state of being. You cannot discover, decipher, or understand your life by intensely studying ancient religious texts, attending regular church services, acting out religious traditions, or dressing yourself up with fancy language that sounds religious and righteous. Most people begin their process of awakening with only their active mind. The mind is made up of thoughts, memories, emotions, assumptions, and calculations, all combined on the creative workspace called the imagination. Thoughts can be constructive if they are rooted in the present moment; however, although essential advancements are possible, your progress in the world of thought may not be your ultimate purpose. When you read or study religious books, you will only perceive that which you are capable of comprehending. Unfortunately, the ego may feel that the intellectual discovery "is it", a final and absolute truth applicable to all people, but this is only the deception of a perception.

Humans have used the mind to go to the Moon, cure diseases, establish peace, build cities, and expand their knowledge for the good of people. They have also used the mind to build empires, increase wealth, design heinous weapons, commit genocide, and justify the imbalance of one elite standard of living over an impoverished one. Humans have created belief systems, which resulted in the murder of those who believe differently. The murder continues today by those who disown, denounce, and hate others just because they believe differently. For example, instead of loving Atheists and Nonbelievers, many self-righteous believers murder nonbelievers with their thoughts. Those involved cleverly justify their actions. Without a doubt, a so-called "believer" is much more difficult to influence than someone who is still seeking evidence. For this reason, there are thousands of strong and unshakable religions on Earth—they all embody the unconsciousness described in this book. If they truly understood the motivations of a higher force of will, they could not be "strong and unshakable." Humility and unconsciousness are indirectly correlated (as one increases, the other decreases).

Ultimately, all people are unified in the human experience, but many choose to live self-directed and, therefore, isolated from other people. Again, they become affectionate for the Self and its mind. They represent not only an independent identity but also a collective ego. A sense of separateness along with an independent attitude enables a person to deflect their responsibility. The evidence of this is in everything we see in the material world. We want to be part of a greater brotherhood of purpose while also being independent and separate. Unfortunately, this causes some people to exploit the energy of others for a self-serving purpose. They may even try to find fault with another person in order to release themselves from responsibility. Sadly, the danger and fear provoked by human collectives may result in a situation where one society thinks it needs to defend itself from another. The most devastating human conflicts arise from a simple difference in belief.

Although the comparatively insignificant human mind is as vast and mysterious as the seemingly infinite Cosmos, breaking free from your collective agreements and breakdown your false identity requires only a simple understanding of who you are. Simply put, you are not your mind, imagination, thoughts, emotions, or memories. Thoughts are just an instrument that can provoke a permanent renewal to take place. Although your thoughts are the most stimulating part of your life, you are not your mind.

### Your Reputation

Your reputation is analogous to the stars in the night's sky. While looking into the depths of deep space, you notice that it is not made up of light with areas of darkness. The night's sky is mostly perceived as darkness with many mysterious points of light. While looking at the sky, your imagination ignores the darkness. You are drawn to the light as it is highly contrasted against vast darkness. For some reason, we are attracted to light. Of course, we are not all the same. Some people may ignore the light and become overwhelmed with the darkness. Their fear of the least obvious (darkness) may empower the darkness to overshadow the light. Similarly, your reputation is made of many points of light, but the perception of the light (or darkness) is in the eye of the beholder.

Throughout your process of awakening, you engage in a battle of light and darkness, consciousness and unconsciousness. You contain light right now, although your thoughts may restrict it. Unfortunately, your thoughts often involve undesirable memories of the past. When you acknowledge those memories, you are reinforcing a reputation. A reputation is nothing more than the opinions of your personal history. Your reputation is also made up of the memories that others have about you (or the memories that you assume they have). This assumption of a reputation is a conceptual image; it is imagined. Since your reputation is propped up by a past story that is no longer real or true, you may allow the old story of you to bring more darkness into your life. In this state, you can only behold your own darkness between your many points of light.

You reinforce your darkness if you are reluctant to abandon the story in your head. This self-limiting behavior is meant to weaken you—to show you the futility of maintaining your past story. Although you can abandon your past, others may continue to see you in an old light. They may also think of you and treat you as if you were the same person from the past. Just smile and allow the new you to shine despite their unconscious reliance on a reputation. You now recognize that they are the person you used to be. They behold the darkness between your many points of light.

Until you surrender to a Higher Will, you often occupy a dark space. Your transcendence begins once you become receptive to change, willing to give up the Self, and ready to commit to the present moment without concern for how you will appear to others. A common cliché is "perception is reality." This statement is not true once you understand who you are in a present moment reality. The perception of you may be coming from an observer's darkness; they allow your reputation to overshadow the real you.

With its light shining in the night's sky, a distant celestial body is not indicating "I am here, right now." The light from the galaxy represents a past state of being. In the same way, your old light is nothing more than a memory of who you were. Unfortunately, if you believe in your reputation then you honor your old, dead light; therefore, you allow this reputation to create more darkness. Dead light is actually darkness because it does not represent a present reality. Sadly, a person may believe that their past story is their only life. They do not understand that the essence of life (their light) cannot shine when they allow memories to obscure it.

Your imagination is stimulated by the world in which you subconsciously subscribe. If you subscribe to a society whose primary concern is wealth, appearance, power, fame, or success, then your predominant influence will be either the temporary suffering or the triumph that results from this belief. This delusional state of being often results in an aggressive desire for even more success, which usually leads to a delusion of grandeur. In the scheme of things, it is all meant to be—the awakening process is trying to humble you by applying your self-created suffering.

Fortunately, you may be able to awaken to a pure state of consciousness several times throughout your life. This temporary opening in awareness is intended to show you that life wants more from you. Once you realize that your life is more than what you see, you will be able to harness its eternal qualities. Just like the light coming from a faraway star, an enlightened expression can shine long after physical death. Regardless of your state of being, you can learn how to honor the light that shines right now.

### Your Beliefs

Your beliefs are formed not only from the caregiver influence of your childhood but also from your own life experiences. During your childhood, you develop ideas and opinions based upon those experiences. The experiences have an undercurrent of emotions that make the experience seem important. Of course, around the world, there are many possibilities due to varying cultures, religions, traditions, nationalistic mindsets, and economic factors. Ultimately, your beliefs, ideas, perspectives, opinions, and assumptions contribute to a foundation from which you form yourself in your mind. As you can see, you designed yourself with your beliefs. You are who you believe you are!

Many religions or belief systems expect you to accept their beliefs and traditions without question. The organization may only be held together collectively by a strong and unshakable commitment to their interpretation of a so-called "truth." A collective expectation is one of the many indicators of a deception. Additionally, a strong and unshakable opinion contains a resistant attitude; it implies that all other opinions are untrue. The human condition provides for numerous perspectives; therefore, many truths are possible. The reluctance to accept different ideas, positions, or beliefs is an indicator of a person's (or organization's) misalignment with the intentions of a Higher Will. They do not understand that an effective and influential belief does not reinforce an absolute fact, but an acceptance of all things that are good. Sadly, they want to be right more than they want to be good. If rejected, most believers collapse within a seething state of defensiveness, anger, and resistance; therefore, I have concluded that beliefs, opinions, ideas, and perspectives that come to form within a state of consciousness will stand up to scrutiny while unconscious beliefs will collapse under the weight of anger, fear, resentment, and the intense desire to be right.

If you want to participate in the awakening process, you must question your beliefs. A belief that is good and produces love and kindness will stand up to scrutiny. Of course, you cannot examine every part of your consciousness, thoughts, intelligence, memory, and personality; furthermore, many of your beliefs are buried deep within your mind, out of reach of your ability to understand them. Despite this, you can try to identify and question the beliefs and traditions that were handed down to you. Your ability to examine your beliefs is a critical part of human intellect. Most groups who are supported by collective thought and agreements do not want you to question their laws, beliefs, or traditions; therefore, they are often very manipulative. Despite a belief system's fear-based tactics, which are meant to prevent you from examining their tradition of beliefs, you can take a courageous step within yourself. All beliefs must be questioned because they obstruct the guidance of a Higher Will. Thoughts that are real, true, and life-giving do not require faith, opinions, or beliefs. If you are surrendered, awake, and conscious, you will understand what is right and allow it to be.

### Your Senses

Mild autism can give you a genius like Einstein. If you have severe autism, you could remain nonverbal. You don't want people to be on the brutal end of the spectrum. Nonetheless, if you got rid of all the autism genetics, you wouldn't have science or art. All you would have is a bunch of social 'yak yaks.'

-Temple Grandin

The living reality that surrounds you is a sphere of influence. Initially, you are physically and spiritually connected to the material world through the human sensory system. The combination of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch prompts emotional responses that help you navigate life within the form-based dimension. A sensory stimulus is an essential tool for self-preservation; it is a weapon designed to help protect you while you traverse a mysterious, threatening, unconscious, and often dangerous world. If you do not possess all of your senses, then other senses will overcompensate. Astonishingly, a person who is impaired will experience heightened abilities. They are more conscious and alert than a person who must manage all five senses. In other words, a limitation can strengthen you. A person can achieve extraordinary things even when their sensory system is impaired.

Temple Grandin was born with Autism, but she learned how to manage it. She created "The Hug Machine" after noticing its calming effect on cattle. While visiting her Arizona cattle ranch, Temple observed cattle that were placed into a squeeze chute. She observed the way it helped to reduce their anxiety. From her keen observations, she adapted the squeeze chute for humans. While lying down inside the device, the physical pressure squeezed her body and helped her control the stimulation overload. She concluded, "Pressure is calming to the nervous system." Similarly, surrendering your life can have a calming effect. By relinquishing control of your identity, you can feel the comforting embrace of another force living within you.

True surrender enables you to relax and appreciate the peace of the present moment. The embrace of a Higher Will is attempting to relieve you of your destructive mind-made world.

Although sight and sound are powerful senses, your bright and loud imagination is much more intense. The thoughts produced by your imagination influence you more than any external stimuli. Despite a sphere of influence, the desire of the Higher Will is for you to find equilibrium with both the inner and outer world in which you live.

Your Thoughts Define You

You shall be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

-Romans 12:2

If we cannot find permanent happiness by striving for success, then why do our thoughts influence us to try to accomplish great things? Most mental patterns are inherited and usually result in an attempt to add more to the Self, all in a search for completeness. Thoughts give us a sense of free will, which enables us to design ourselves. The awakening process combines free will and determinism throughout the process of self-creation. Determinism means that your decisions are influenced by another source. Of course, inspiration is only possible if you are ready to be inspired. An unconscious person with a strong sense of free will may not be prepared to let go of the Self; therefore, he remains isolated from external influence. At this stage, a person is controlled solely by his own thoughts. The Higher Will is using this process to navigate a person into a state of surrender where a renewal can take place.

Renewing your mind begins with giving up, letting go, surrendering, and relinquishing control. Possessions, creations, ideas, opinions, relationships, and even your name will no longer influence your identity. Once you let go of the Self, you will no longer exist as a mental pattern that has a strong desire for success. You can sense true freedom because you are no longer at the mercy of the fleeting attributes that once defined you. You cannot predict the time or place for this event; it will only happen right now. The Higher Will must decide if you are ready.

Self-surrender is your duty; it is the most transformative decision that you can make. The abandonment of your sense of free will sparks the fire of an awakening process. If you attempt the difficult task of leaving your old Self behind, you will ultimately realize purpose, peace, and tranquility, but this is not just for you. A Higher Will wants to flow through you and into the world of form. You are a container from which a pure state of consciousness can flow outwards as an inspiration to those around you. This is the meaning of life, to cause your life to create something new inwardly and then to flow outwardly as a benefit to others.

As you surrender to all that is, your problems will begin to disappear. The issues that do not go away are no longer interpreted as a problem since you are not expecting anything from the situation. Most of your concerns are just the circumstances that you label as a problem. Unconsciousness guides the labeling; however, with a renewed mind, you will view life through a new lens of surrender. Surrender allows you to expect nothing and accept everything just as it is.

After all, thoughts are intended to guide you to the fertile ground where a new seed can be planted. Darkness was the fertile ground from which the Universe came to be. An incredible energy field was hidden in total darkness and wanted to break free. This was pure darkness, which is devoid of light, energy, or life. Similarly, you were also formed from nothing. Nothing was somehow fertile ground for something. The unprocessed and unconscious human space embodies the darkness of the Universe. This is darkness made of your own thoughts. Within the dark expanse of the Cosmos, a living organism with a semiconscious disposition came to form—the human being. This dark space is a canvas onto which a Higher Will is trying to create a magnificent work. Consciousness is its masterpiece, but it cannot be established until you break free from your own darkness of addictive thinking.

You must be able to recognize the source that controls your thoughts. As it turns out, most of your thoughts are the Self. Who is the thinker? Once you learn who it is, you will continue to have an ego, but you will understand that this identity is separate from you. Who is the real you?

Obviously, you cannot just tell the Self to go away, but you can manage it. You can check the Self by paying attention to its thoughts, concerns, and reactions. You will gain control over the Self with the simple word "no!" As a result of denying the Self, you become an observer of its unconscious actions. Reconciling the Self will lead to an incredibly empowering series of life-changing decisions followed by a substantial reward called peace. If thoughts can make you sick, then they can also heal you!

### The Delusion of Self

Your identity is formed by your thoughts. Many of your beliefs are inherited misinterpretations, assumptions, or reactions to life events. As a result, your life is predominantly just a mental image. Many of the undesirable attributes of your self-image originate from the assumptions you make about life including the experience of a traumatic life event such as bullying, abuse, illness, physical or mental trauma, the death of a loved one, or comparisons you make between yourself and another individual. You may also identify with the positive experiences in your life, such as success, achievement, or the youthful sense of longevity but you must also experience their fleeting nature.

Your thoughts about yourself cultivate a false identity. You may accept this version of you because you feel the aliveness of the identity; it provides you with a sense of safety and comfort; however, your identity is nothing more than a mental image made of habits, experiences, thoughts, emotions, and reflexive impulses. Most of your thoughts do not ask your permission to rise up within you; therefore, you must put up with them. You may even enjoy your thoughts and emotions, especially the negative ones. The Self is trying to stay alive and strengthen itself; it is using you. The Self does not recognize the existence of a force of will higher than itself; therefore, it is threatened by the notion of giving up its identity.

Throughout your life, you often identify with the emotions that give you a sense of being. Emotions fluctuate due to various factors, such as mental and physical health, diet and nutrition, education, social status, life experiences, and many other underlying factors. As a result, it can be difficult to predict when negative emotions will arise or how intensely. If the low feeling of depression gives you a sense of aliveness, you may subconsciously nurture the thoughts that cause this mood disorder. Natural urges are also entangled in the human experience. Sadly, many people view their life through a lens of confusing emotions. Because mood disorders are often the result of a struggle with identity, they often manifest themselves throughout the awakening process. Although you had no control over your genes, childhood education, life experiences, and a multitude of other influential factors, you can still influence many aspects of your life. You can make life-changing decisions that affect your physical and mental health, social welfare, and even your financial well-being (maybe you have too much money which has become a source of frustration and unhappiness). You can create an environment where something higher can guide you.

Evidently, you did not come to form on Earth to relentlessly pursue physical, intellectual, or emotional success. You are here as part of a process of awakening. The meaning of life includes the attempt to produce an offspring; to keep life going. As Charles Darwin explained, within the complex mechanics of mammalian reproduction, various conditions will "breed true." Darwin's theories were mostly about genes; however, this theory can also be applied to the way humans think and feel. As an example, most mental patterns are inherited. Your beliefs originate from your influence—you did not choose them. Consequently, your initial mental state is also inherited.

You can accept the shortcomings in your life by practicing a present state of being. As Darwin observed during his research, life is a "struggle for existence." The struggle of your awakening comes from your resistance to the delusion called "me." A proper state of _being_ comes from an awareness and the acceptance of the isness of your life. The result of acceptance is the awakening of a creative nature that lives within you. Once you abandon the lies you inherited about who you are and what makes you good or bad, you can enter a process of awakening that will take you beyond the deceptive notions about what it means to be you.

Human desires are often cultivated within an unconscious state. If you do not satisfy the want or need of the self-delusion, you may become depressed. Clearly, your awakening is not dependent on your financial success, education, or accomplishments. Of course, such enhancements could be beneficial if they are exercised within a present state of being. Nonetheless, neither an exceptional education nor a positive attitude will prevent the suffering that is required to lift you out of your self-delusion.

### The Religious Delusion

As a result of thousands of years of participating in the unconscious human condition, a suspicious quantity of religions now pervades the planet. Thousands of Gods, deities, idols, doctrines, and religions have been created by the human imagination. Many nonbelief, Skeptic, Atheist, Agnostic, and nonreligious movements have also been established. This behavior is expected because an unconscious person is not aware of their unconsciousness and, therefore, may assume they are qualified to interpret life. With good intentions, many people form cooperative groups through a leader-follower relationship. Religious followers often agree on a belief (an opinion), but this is usually based upon a perception instead of a tested reality. Beliefs are the source of their condemnation of those who do not agree with the interpretation. As a result, their beliefs isolate them from the influence of a Higher Will. Isolation brings dissonance for those who believe they are conscious. As intended, they are not allowed to hear or see life's meaning—a meaning that is hiding in plain sight!

As expected of semiconscious people, they often develop a strong and unshakable belief (or nonbelief) in an interpretation of religion, doctrine, or a God. They are resistant and often proclaim that they will "go to their grave believing this way." Their force of will supersedes that of a Higher Will. This is a strong and unshakable delusion. Their mind is closed to new ideas, which prevents the reality of the opinion they wish to be true. How powerful is a God if its will is determined by a collective agreement? After all, this is the original will to power that motivated the Cosmos—there were no humans to "agree" it into existence.

The greatest delusion of all is the notion that a person must believe in something. This delusion often says that "bad things will happen if you do not believe the way I believe," "you will go to hell for your sins," or "you require purgatory for purification." The punishments described by religion are unconscious interpretations meant to control or manipulate the masses. In another example, a person may feel compelled to pass on his beliefs if he feels you do not believe the same away. This is an arrogant and self-serving reaction to someone who may believe differently. This sort of person or group cannot standby and allow another to believe differently. They expose their defensive and aggressive ego that says, "I am right, and you are wrong." This collective behavior results in confusion, fear, and even more suffering for those who fall victim to the fallacy of belief. As a result, falsehoods result in nonbelievers. Because the "nonbeliever" is awake, conscious, and can see the error, they must oppose the beliefs that prop up the delusion. Again, that which is real and true does not require belief. One of the most prominent nonbelievers who ever existed was Jesus. Jesus opposed the Sadducees, Pharisees, and scribes, the Torah, the stringent interpretations of Jewish law, the systems of domination that oppressed the poor, every semblance of royal ambition, and Jewish nationalism. Jesus was a nonbeliever both then and now. He continues to reject the blatant misrepresentation of his message by today's arrogant religious leaders, bible thumpers, and theologians.

Fortunately, there is another way to align with life. You can respond to life's fear, pain, and suffering by relinquishing your beliefs, surrender, and begin accepting everything just as it is—right now! Without an educated or philosophical effort and without memorizing Scriptures or adhering to religious doctrine, you can rise from your lifeless identity—right now! You can find the meaning of your life and begin to sow a seed of life in others by allowing a Higher Will to motivate everything in _your_ life. The reality of your life has always been shining within—you only need to deny your delusional belief-based identity to see its light.

A humble person who is aligned with the present moment will neither insist that something is true, nor will they dictate that something is untrue. A humble person does not live life in a state of "worship", "knowing", or "believing." They understand and, therefore, trust that if a Higher Will was the motivation for life, then it will manifest itself without the need for beliefs. Additionally, a humble person does not resist the world of beliefs through futile arguments or disagreements. They recognize that they are not the governor of the meaning of life. As Eckhart Tolle explains in his book "A New Earth," people who live with presence in their lives could be called "The Frequency Holders." By aligning with the Higher Will, the humble and surrendered develop a new sense of Self, which allows their interactions to be guided by a pure state of consciousness. This is the peaceful state of being that you seek; it is fruitful, empowering, and allows a Higher Will to affect not only you but also those around you. Through surrender-derived presence, you become a frequency holder.

A delusion is an expected mental phenomenon that is caused by a group of people agreeing on an interpretation of a belief, tradition, Scripture, opinion, fact, or a law. A person's religious, scientific, or academic identity often contributes to his or her unconscious state of being. Many belief systems have good intentions; however, the higher process of awakening was not implemented for groups; it is meant for individuals. Although organizations can be powerfully influential forces, they cannot awaken to a higher consciousness. A religious organization can only endure its collective hallucination because its only purpose is to proliferate unconsciousness. In other words, the Higher Will does not exist in books, movies, music, churches, synagogues, tent revivals, mosques, or anywhere special on Earth. This force only lives within you—right now!

If an individual or group cannot observe the world through the conscious lens of acceptance, they will undoubtedly view it through the unconscious lens of expectation. As a result, most belief systems cultivate a sense of division with those outside the organization: "We are right, and the others are wrong." Indeed, collective thought can be a beneficial experience as it leads to an awakening; however, after thousands of years of devout religious practices, it is evident that many groups remain limited in their ability to give life to others.

### The Delusion of Success

_A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not._

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C. – AD 65)

A Higher Will wants you to experience success and failure in the world of form; however, keep in mind, anything that you discover, create, or achieve outside the present moment is only temporary. No matter what you achieve, it will never be enough. This is the nature of the Self; it wants to be in control and it always wants more. In seeking to be successful, you find that, once you reach your goal, the achievement no longer gives you a sense of satisfaction. One only needs to conduct a thought experiment to prove this. If you could get your way and solve all of your perceived problems, would you feel complete? Have any of your accomplishments provided you with a permanent sense of completeness and happiness? If not, then why pursue them?

If you are unhappy then, clearly, your actions (or decisions) in your present state of being are not beneficial. Repeating ineffective behaviors or beliefs is a form of insanity! Cynicism, skepticism, doubt, pessimism, distrust, and disbelief are all words that were created to explain a person who has been worn down and burned out by the insane cycle of seeking success. A person who exhibits such behaviors is a person who is a candidate for change—right now! Are you conscious enough to guide people or are you still stuck in your own cycle of insanity? Who are you right now?

The magnificence of modern society may offer enough satisfaction that many choose self-seeking as their way of life. This attitude cultivates the desire for success, fame, and fortune as a way to complete the Self. As a result, some people disapprove of those who do not desire success, wealth, or fame. "There must be something wrong with you!" Many societies are structured around an economic philosophy, which encourages you to participate in and honor the unconscious foundations of the economy. Economies are fragile; therefore, they may consume people with a persistent fear of the loss of money, power, or success. "You are nothing if you do not have a lot of money." They may suggest that you should want more, ask for more, and expect more. You should never be satisfied. This is the nature of the collective unconscious state; it is never satisfied. Unconscious societies proliferate this insanity.

A false sense of completeness can lock you up in a prison of the mind. Temporarily, you feel euphoria when you find what you have been looking for your entire life. The mental high begins to diminish and, eventually, you no longer feel complete. This happens shortly after being lifted up by others and told that you have "made it," or you are important, famous, rich, powerful, or a hero. On a smaller scale, this process frequently occurs with those promoted up a corporate ladder. Sadly, many people idolize those who appear to have "made it" and, ultimately, become responsible for the person's destruction. The delusion of success often leads to unhappiness, corruption, greed, disillusionment, mental health issues, addiction, or early death. If you do not allow it to destroy you, the experiences, achievements, and accomplishments that result in an unconscious state of being may be able to provoke the suffering needed to break down your unconsciousness.

Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy.

-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Humans have an intense desire to be loved and accepted. This desire may be an evolutionary trait that helps you survive; however, it often develops into an unhealthy behavior of unconscious self-improvement. If the improvement gives satisfaction, you risk the perceived positive response becoming a conditioned behavior or even an addiction. You may develop a sense of identity, purpose, and satisfaction with a dependency. Consequently, you have to maintain the behavior in order to feel yourself—to continue feeling loved and accepted.

Becoming successful, rich, or famous is a common desire of humankind. As a result, your occupation may be an attempt to find yourself instead of an activity that supports you and your family. When you are committed only to the Self, you will experience a seemingly powerful albeit false sense of reality. Your desire to be successful could enslave you. Sadly, you may expend so much energy trying to be loved and accepted that little remains for your spouse, family, or friends.

A passionate commitment to a career is the cause for a terrible condition called stress. As we know all too well, in modern western civilization, a person may try to escape the mental trauma caused by stress by using alcohol, drugs, gambling, food, and other depravities. An intense desire for acceptance can place a person in the most unacceptable situation.

Many corporations are clever. In an attempt to increase profits, they exploit the energy of human self-seeking. Job titles, roles, bonus plans, and corporate ladders exist to encourage upward momentum. Generally, it is unacceptable if an employee is content with their role or position in the company. An employee is especially unpopular if they resist the corporation's unconscious cycles—if they become disillusioned. Aging workers are not particularly popular with organizations because age plays a prominent role in becoming conscious and wise. Unconscious structures are threatened by wisdom. In this situation you have two options: You can remove your mental conditioning, become aware of who you really are, and eliminate the desire to improve your life using your career or you can just accept (allow) the current situation while focusing your life on remaining present. If you do not have the energy or tolerance for the unconsciousness of the job, then you must resign. You can pass or fail this test with either decision. The Higher will may want you to stay where you are and work on your tolerance, or maybe you are meant to turn the page in the chapter of life and change the situation (move on). Only through presence will you be guided to make the correct decision.

You can eliminate the insane cycle of finding purpose through your work performance, increasing your wealth, or climbing the corporate ladder. If you feel that you are no longer compatible with your occupation, you can try something different. The act of self-surrender is the facilitator of a new behavioral pattern—one that removes the cycle of self-absorption through work and hobbies. Of course, the decision to surrender may not be a simple choice or action. You must become receptive to guidance in order to defeat a stronghold. For example, as anyone who has overcome an addiction will corroborate, you cannot make a straightforward choice in order to resolve an addiction. A person must cultivate a relationship with something that is more conscious. They must align with something that is higher (or deeper) in order to resolve a serious dependency. A higher motivating force is the only source of guidance that leads to the proper decision to either fight to remain conscious and awake or move on.

You can choose a new way to think, believe, and live. Unfortunately, for many people, the choice is only made after the prolonged experience of suffering or after a tragic event. The various forms of suffering are a message from a Higher Will. Suffering wants to show you that the only way out of the pain is to choose something different. Your identity could be invested in your career, but your occupation, skills, and talents are not who you are. Additionally, if your job is your source of suffering, you do not necessarily have to separate from it to solve your problems. You can separate from the negative thoughts that cause the suffering and you can do this right now.

In certain situations, cultivating consciousness may not be the solution—you may need to change the situation. In this example, if you do not make changes, your job-related suffering could result in self-sabotage. You may attempt to destroy the relationships that you cannot overcome. From within a state of presence, you can determine if the cause of your misery is the situation or just your thoughts. If your occupation causes you grief, you can let the career quit _you_ by remaining conscious. Your job may embrace you once you surrender your identity!

Living under the delusion of a false purpose is the root cause of all unhappiness. Your story may not be your purpose. Your life is often a dramatic, grandiose, or pessimistic story. The identification with your story will provoke the suffering that can show you who you really are. Once you regain control of the imagination and let presence take you over, you will find that your life is something that is happening right now. The Higher Will may not want you to have grandiose achievements such as fulfilling a vision that society promotes. Your purpose is not derived from wealth, fame, or success.

The human experience is an ever-changing process where each generation builds upon past mistakes and successes. For example, the desire for the safety and comfort provided by heat and light lead humans to find ways to harness fire. After many generations of tinkering with nature, humans discovered fire then electricity. This event was followed by the invention of motors that power machines, machines that build other machines, and machines that can think (Artificial Intelligence). The result was not only an industrial revolution but a knowledge revolution.

Human consciousness came about by a gradual process. Our brains developed, expanded, and improved far beyond the reptilian brain. Advanced technology is dependent upon prior invention, discovery, and development; therefore, the structure will fail if its dependencies fail. This is the human condition: primitive desires wrapped like an onion in layers of both conscious and unconscious thoughts.

The structure of the self-identity is supported mostly by knowledge. For the most part, this is the inherited knowledge of how to respond to fear and a sense of incompleteness. As a result, human advancement continues to be motivated by a desire to create, discover, and understand. Our primary concern, according to Freud, is to find pleasure while avoiding pain. This is known as The Pleasure Principle. This theory fits within the context of our struggle between the Self and a higher force of will. The id, ego, and superego are part of our design and the primary reason for this struggle. We will discuss more on the id, ego, and superego in Chapter Four — The Imagination and Surrender the Self later in this book.

The motivation of the human drive for success is often connected to the ego. For example, many inventors ended up fighting over patent rights, intellectual property, or copyrights. In another example, many artists have worked a lifetime trying to create the perfect artwork. Many people died penniless. Even worse, many died unfulfilled. If they had only discovered that it wasn't necessary to sacrifice their life to the ego's pursuit of fame or fortune in an attempt to find completeness. In their quest to find meaning, some people die alone, impoverished, and diminished believing they lost the battle for greatness. This sort of conflict was fostered in an attempt to distress the human condition in order to cause a breakdown of a person's relationship with the Self.

On the other hand, genuinely successful people seem to awaken toward the end of life's journey. They exhibit a sacred form of success when they choose to give their wealth, inventions, or works of art to the public domain. In the end, they surrendered. Of course, this all implies that a process had taken place. We are required to attempt success in the world of form just as we are required to suffer the consequences. The consequences are a tool used to guide us to a real and proper version of success.

When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and you argue about what to do about it only after you have had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.

-J. Robert Oppenheimer

An understanding always precedes the naming or labeling of a discovery; furthermore, a realization of a truth or fact is usually followed by a response from the human ego. In other words, we have a desire to learn, but as soon as we gain knowledge about something, we have a tendency to add the discovery to our identity. I am certain that the first humans to harness fire probably developed a proud look. Thousands of years later a new fire was discovered. In 1905, Albert Einstein's equation E = mc2 made the atomic bomb theoretically possible. This was followed, in 1945, by the development of atomic energy, which was concentrated on designing the first atomic bomb. Einstein and Oppenheimer both demonstrated their consequential humility following their discovery and the development of the atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer's many quotes clearly describe the human dilemma: the desire to fulfill a sense of fear and incompleteness is paramount. Only after we respond to our fears will we be given a space to justify our opinions, discoveries, actions, mistakes, and successes. Of course, at this stage of humanity, some events are inescapable, such as a country protecting itself and ending a war by dropping an atomic bomb. Interestingly, Albert Einstein regretted sending a letter to President Roosevelt where he encouraged the development of the atomic bomb. "I made one great mistake in my life—when I signed the letter to President Roosevelt recommending that atom bombs be made; but there was some justification—the danger that the Germans would make them." It is likely that I would not be here writing this book if it was not for the decision to drop the Atomic Bomb on Japan. During World War II my grandfather, U.S. Army Sgt. JW Roberts, was stranded on an island near Okinawa. American troops were contemplating their next move, the Japanese mainland. If American soldiers had been ordered to push forward to Japan, an incomprehensible number of service members would have perished. In the December 1946 issue of The Atlantic, Karl T. Compton described the situation in his article "If the Atomic Bomb Had Not Been Used."

If the atomic bomb had not been used, evidence like that I have cited points to the practical certainty that there would have been many more months of death and destruction on an enormous scale. Also, the early timing of its use was fortunate for a reason which could not have been anticipated. If the invasion plans had proceeded as scheduled, October 1945, would have seen Okinawa covered with airplanes and its harbors crowded with landing craft poised for the attack. The typhoon which struck Okinawa in that month would have wrecked the invasion plans with a military disaster comparable to Pearl Harbor.

A month after our occupation I heard General MacArthur say that even then, if the Japanese government lost control over its people and the millions of former Japanese soldiers took to guerrilla warfare in the mountains, it could take a million American troops ten years to master the situation.

We often believe that adding knowledge will make us whole; however, we must have the understanding and, most importantly, the wisdom to prescribe knowledge in a life-giving way. The Biblical Scripture, 1 Corinthians Chapter 8, explains that "Knowledge puffs up, but charity enlightens." Although you may not completely understand something, you may be able to see the essence of it if you are not inflated with pride—living under a knowledge delusion. Life's purpose cannot be captured by human thoughts and placed into the restraint of a label or expectation. To reiterate, _meaning_ can be captured by thought but it cannot be restrained. While engrossed in humility, your life's meaning will demonstrate its full potential. The understanding is real, right, and free so long as you allow your life to be. Until then, your thoughts about your life may be grandiose fantasies of achievement.

Every awakened being represents a spark in the process of a global awakening. You must pursue life with a surrendered and yielding approach. Before reacting to the world, you can first determine what is best for others and not the Self. You have tremendous power to draw people close to you but beware, the Self does not wish to share you with others.

Although there may be difficult situations, such as the decision to develop or drop an atomic weapon, it is the spirit of the decision that determines if it is justified. By cultivating consciousness, surrender, and presence within your life, if you discover a new fire, you will be able to remove your ego's desire to enhance itself to the detriment of humanity.

### The Knowledge Delusion

_Every person must view the world through their own lens._

-Randy Couchman, Life Coach

Your thoughts, memories, emotions, imagination, talents, skills, education, and the human body do not form your complete identity. Of course, if you identify with these characteristics, they will become the principles that prop up your life. Your first identity is a delusion of a knowledgeable, educated, motivated, experienced, self-directed, and success-seeking Self. Sadly, you may have been taught to seek out the things that make you feel complete. Fortunately, you do not need to waste your life pursuing knowledge or success in an attempt to feel whole. You will only end up looking back with regret at how meaningless it all was. Thankfully, you can give up the insane cycle of self-seeking and permit a deeper consciousness to surface. You do not control the process or timing of your awakening; however, the door may be allowed to open earlier in your life if you stop trying to define yourself. You really can change from an independent individual who believes he is separate from the world into a being who is truly alive. When you exist within the eternally present, you not only find a pure sense of completeness, but you subsequently contribute to the awakening of others. Possessing significant knowledge about this and that is not necessary.

What is it that motivates a person to interpret the meaning of life for others? Ask those who feel empowered to do so, and you will find all sorts of qualifying accomplishments. Of the approximately forty-two hundred religions on Earth, most were organized by those who believe they are qualified to interpret the meaning of life. They do not know that a person is required to decipher life in their own way. Every person must observe life through their own lens. Incidentally, a person may only understand life if it is supported by an image in their imagination. Therefore, if the image makes them feel good, their beliefs may become strong and unshakable. As a result, the person may attempt to recruit others into the belief—not because they need to, but because they believe they are right based upon the emotions produced by their own unique belief.

By their own nature, social beings possess an intense desire to share their good experiences. For example, a person who believes in financial success may experience the wonderful emotions of success, but the feelings (and success) are short-lived. Their unshakable belief causes them to become engulfed in the thoughts required to obtain and maintain that which will complement the perceived success.

Unquestionably, beliefs based on feel-good emotions fail if they are not aligned with the intent of a Higher Will. We are not here to be right; we are here to try to become happy, productive, loving, ethical, and moralistic lifeforms. The entanglement of our good deeds with an untethered sense of self often causes us to form groups around misaligned belief system and its well-intentioned thoughts and behaviors. The desire to form a collective (belief-based) group is the fundamental desire of the ego. The ego was designed to seek safety and comfort. The ego is your sense of reason that seeks pleasure while avoiding pain. Humans can avoid suffering if they work together, but this effort is futile unless it is guided by something higher than the group.

What is it that rises up within a person and causes them to think that their viewpoint is applicable to others as if it is a fact or law for all? You see, in an attempt to avoid pain, the collective ego must defend the belief structure that props up the group. In other words, the collective group has a life of its own; therefore, each individual member adopts an attitude of applicability towards those outside the group. The resulting unconscious state of being results in a strong and unshakable resistance to reality. A self-righteous attitude is the result of this sort of knowledge delusion, but there is an important reason for this. Ultimately, we must sow discord in order to reap the suffering that will humble us. There is no better way to reap suffering than to live life believing that you are right. Self-Righteous people are often very dissatisfied with the life they think they are so right about. This a knowledge delusion.

Incessantly, the human being anxiously attempts to fulfill the desires of the Self, but this does not necessarily result in a depressing, angry, confused, frustrated, or painful experience as one would expect. Interestingly, a person may experience considerable satisfaction during their knowledge delusion. The result of their delusion may have actually contributed to moving humans forward. Many people awaken during their journey as their thinking becomes rooted in the present moment. They learned how to create without self-seeking. When guided by a Higher Will, human creations always result in something good. General speaking (without getting into the modern problems associated with brain chemistry) we seem to develop anxiety when we are not living right. In other words, our apprehension to fulfill certain desires serves as an indicator. Anxiety could be a message that your relationships, diet, physical fitness, spirituality, work, hobbies, or motivations are out of alignment with the desire of a higher force of will. Anxiety is a message that you should take action, right now!

### Dissatisfaction

You will know that you are ready to awaken from a deep sleep once you reach a state of dissatisfaction with your life. Living with a persistent dissatisfaction is a horrid nightmare, where you are inclined to unconsciously and desperately run toward any corridor that could lead you out of the misery. Of course, the nightmare is happening while you are actually semiconscious—while you are awake.

Old thinking patterns, which are mostly established by your beliefs, help to form the person that you think you are. Eventually, your mind-made sense of Self no longer gives you satisfaction. Undeniably, old habits get in the way of your longing for peace and purpose. Dissatisfaction is your essence trying to break free. Despair is a message from a higher force of will that is living within you. Fortunately, you have an inherent ability to react to dissatisfaction by making changes in your life. Humans intuitively seek happiness; therefore, we try to eliminate the source of our discontent. Unfortunately, the tools we often use to eliminate suffering only lead to more suffering.

You represent a physical expression of life but only for a short time. Your time will be up soon! Humans are concerned about time because they are aware of a past and the possibility of a future. The quality and effectiveness of your time on Earth is determined by the meaning of your life. Initially, you derive the meaning of life from your experiences, assumptions, caregiver expectations, indoctrination, brainwashing, and so forth. Your first definition of life's purpose is constructed by a scared and confused self-identity. The Self cannot understand the true meaning of life; therefore, we must cultivate a new mindset.

You created your dissatisfied Self by agreeing with the beliefs, opinions, judgments, and criticism of others. As a result, you must give up the identity that has failed you. Your devotion to external influence only brings dissatisfaction with your inner voice. This experience is vital as suffering and unconsciousness are persuasive tools for change; therefore, it is crucial for you to nurture a relationship with a higher consciousness. This decision does not require religion, baptism, ceremony, dedication, ordainment, or public display whatsoever. Such attempts may actually avert the inner influence of a Higher Will. You only need to surrender who you _think_ you are, right now.

How do I surrender when I am unhappy? You surrender when you allow everything that arises in the present moment. Allow everything to be just as it is. You can deny the flow of all resistant thoughts about a situation. Your life is derived from your thoughts; therefore, life can quickly turn into a miserable state of being. Unavoidable events are transmuted into a problem when you resist them; however, they are tolerable when you accept them. Additionally, you can deny resistant thoughts without introducing yet another state of resistance. Just take a deep breath and allow the present moment to be as it is. Thoughts can harm the body, but they can also heal it.

Ideas about the past and future occur only in the present moment. Such thoughts remove you from a pure state of presence, where your essence exists. The past is brought back to life by your thoughts, your lack of awareness, or your inability to understand how to surrender. Thoughts may control and define you, but they do not represent who you truly are. The practice of nonresistance teaches you that you can change your perspective of life; you can accept everything that arises and transmute it into something good. This is the fundamental behavior pattern that leads to a new state of being.

You have an opportunity to participate in the event that created the Universe. Right now, the source of life is attempting to unleash all the power of the Universe within your space. Your life is trying to break free right now; however, the scared, dissatisfied, and unconscious mind does not recognize this—the Self isn't allowed to understand. Because of this confusion, your thoughts suppress the subtle guidance of a Higher Will. Most people sense that something extraordinary is alive deep within them; however, without knowledge or guidance, they cannot distinguish the true depth of their life from their self-identity. As a result, many people live as incomplete beings. The profound sense of an eternal essence may be filtered by the self-identity simply because the Self cannot understand the eternal or the unseen. Initially, your essence is only a blur, but it can come into focus. In order to prevent confusion, a healthy mind will often discard thoughts or experiences that it cannot understand. As a result, the subtle sense of your interconnected life is often muddled by an unconscious mind.

Your life, the one that you are aware of right now, is mostly a product of your thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. As a result, this mindset often causes dissatisfaction within your life. Opinions are the most dangerous positions. Most religious ideas are strong and unshakable beliefs formed without evidence—they are opinions. Within a person who entertains unconscious thoughts, opinions become facts or laws that are unchangeable; they apply to all. Sadly, as a result of the ego's urge for fullness and purpose, the Self may cause your thoughts to misinterpret life. Of course, your imagination cannot know the desires of a Higher force of Will. We discard the things that we do not understand, or we use the imagination to try to understand them. The ego wants answers right now; therefore, it is often dissatisfied.

### The Artist

_A good artist copies, a great artist steals it from another._

-Pablo Picasso

Your concerns about your life often result in the use of creative thoughts and the resulting activities that attempt to bring the creation into reality. In other words, humans spend a lot of time trying to create themselves. Your sense of reality is a fundamental awareness of both an internal and an external world. This world consists of your memories, experiences, expectations, and assumptions which are either filtered or augmented by your thoughts. Your perception of life includes your inherited disposition, grievances, and discontentment—a negative energy field that engulfs your creative urges. Clearly, you were meant to experience life in this confusing way. The Higher Will wants you to struggle to find the meaning of your life. The human experience seems to agree with Picasso's theory, that good artists copy. The Self attempts to steal its identity using its perceptions of greatness (the deception of a perception); however, a higher force of will is satisfied if you are just a good artist, one that copies an identity that already exists. This is analogous to aligning yourself with the original work of art—the higher force of will.

Many people have a strong desire to create or complete something. This restless urge may cause them to take what they feel on the inside and move it into the world of form. The result is never-ending creations originating from within the imagination where the new creation is lifelessly drawn out from the material world. In other words, the creative urge often produces various tangible forms of art. Art represents a concrete expression of human desires, but it usually involves a bit of insanity. Creativity and madness are interrelated.

The longing of the artist is a search for the gratification of the creative process. He experiences a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction when the creation is complicated, expressive, impressive, or unique. This is also seen in the collective drive of humanity. Human creations may be interesting; however, they are just a temporary conception. The artwork, invention, or idea may provide some satisfaction, but it immediately begins to dissolve as nothing in the world of form is eternal.

Dissatisfied artists often create the most incredible works of art. Some artists are only temporarily satisfied and often work themselves to their grave in their search for something that will satisfy an unresolved desire to feel complete. They are leveraging the world of form along with their imagination in an attempt to complete themselves. If they never awaken from this insane cycle, it is because they never awakened to a higher source of guidance. All human creations are inspired by an intrinsic motivation of a Higher Will.

An incomplete person who is only aware of the world of form may develop a keen eye for visual aesthetics. In other words, they may seek perfection using only the human senses. They may attempt to define or complete themselves with the things they see, hear, and touch. Such behaviors may cause numerous mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, body dysmorphic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Most perversions are a result of this vitiated "keen eye." A powerful force is active in people who feel incomplete; therefore, they often exercise a powerful drive to complete themselves by perfecting themselves in the material world. This corrupted influential force can be seen in art, business, music, philosophy, science, government, and especially religion. Quite often, those who experience the work may admire it and bestow immense value on the work. Unfortunately, the creation is just a byproduct of the human creative process acting in the service of the self-identity. The Higher Will is trying to show you that nothing you create will satisfy the intense feeling of being half-finished. The ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Chinese, Ottoman, Russian, and many other Empires, with their splendid works of art, are a superb example of this. While living collectively as an unfinished work, they struggled to bring enlightenment to the world. Intriguingly, many were still enhancing their empire at the time of their collapse. At this moment, despite thousands of years of improvements, all societies around the globe are still attempting to strengthen and perfect their empires. Ultimately, the higher process is about you and your commitment to separating from such collective drives. Your creative urges are meant to guide you to the present moment.

The imagination can cultivate magnificent ideas; however, specific conditions must align at a precise moment to make the idea a reality. For instance, five thousand years ago, electricity could have been discovered since it has always been possible for humans to use this power. The precise set of circumstances had not aligned for someone to exploit electrons into a usable form of energy. Although early inventors happened onto the reality of electrical current, they did not understand how electricity actually works. We now understand that electricity is made possible by an individual atom seeking to be made whole by obtaining a missing valence electron. This causes a reaction. The atom is physically aware that it is missing something. An atom obtains the electron particle from another atom that has an abundance of electrons. Atoms freely accept electrons from those willing to share their abundance. The process of flowing electrons from the giver to the receiver creates a synergistic flow—we call this electricity. The process of giving and receiving, sowing and reaping, and cause and effect, is an activity of the same design.

In another example, notice how you can imagine a beautiful work of art without having been the artist. For example, it is possible to replay a song, such as Beethoven's 5th symphony, in your mind without ever having written or performed the music. You can visualize the beauty of the Mona Lisa without knowing a thing about pigments or brush strokes. We can use thought experiments to visualize a better place when things aren't going so well. Quite often, the "better place" is an experience of something we encountered in nature, such as a walk on the beach, a beautiful sunset, a songbird, or a stunning waterfall. We have the ability to understand and visualize the magnificence of creations without having been the creator. This could be your most powerful tool of change,

The nagging desire to align our life with something higher in consciousness is the real source of motivation for all creations; however, your awakening will not arise based solely on your wishes, wants, or needs. The desires of a higher force of will must arise before this music can be played. In other words, you cannot find peace, happiness, and completeness by simply thinking about it. This method is known as "positive thinking," but this practice alone may not provoke the guidance of a Higher Will. Positive thinking techniques can be helpful; however, the results are often a fleeting sensation. We must first visualize what we feel will solve the nagging desire so we can take the next step toward that which we believe will lead to completeness. If the result is something _you_ created, such as a work of art, then the result will be fleeting, and the cycle must repeat.

The Higher Will uses many forms of suffering to communicate with you, but the suffering is not meant to harm you. Surrendering the urge to create the meaning of your life will allow you to awaken from the depressing sense of being incomplete. If you can avoid the entrapment of suffering avoidance, suffering will become your primary instrument of creation. Suffering will become something you embrace as you recognize it as one of the beautiful instruments of a great symphony.

### Addiction

_We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them._

-Albert Einstein.

We cannot discuss the metastasized behavior called addiction unless we first discuss its seemingly benign seedling called the habit. A small bad habit is eager to grow into a strong and unshakable addiction. A habit exists as an instrument to strengthen, empower, or protect you by transmuting mundane responses to stimuli into unconscious behaviors. Most habits are necessary, valuable, and good for you, such as the habit of eating right, exercising, or filtering how you feel before you hurt someone with your words. Of course, nothing in nature is without its side effects. The mechanics of a habit can also drag you below normal human functioning as a way to control you. The most harmful habit is the addiction to thinking. All other addictions are caused by an attempt to resolve the addiction to thinking. Addictive thinking consists of thoughts that consume you with worry, fear, confusion, or unattainable expectations of life. Addictive thinking is a painfully resistant state of being that often leads to a more destructive addiction.

Substances like alcohol, drugs, and food, or behavioral issues such as compulsive gambling, shopping, sex addiction, video games, internet addiction, cosmetic surgery, and other risky behaviors can give one temporary relief. The substance or behavior is effective because it calms the noisy mind and makes you feel whole and complete. The relief is not permanent; therefore, the activity must happen again. With each cycle, the response weakens; therefore, you must repeat the exercise, raise the dosage, or raise the level of risk. The brain's design, which is to seek pleasure and resist suffering along with its inability to control thoughts, is the root cause of dependency and addiction. Anyone can be lured into this cycle of insanity if they are guided only by the brain.

While living unconsciously, a person may find relief or a temporary sense of purpose with risky behaviors. They may inadvertently reinforce their identity with experiences that mask pain. The gambling industry has cleverly planned casinos designed to accommodate the desperate attempt to find relief from mental suffering. Gambling uses the excitement of risk wrapped in an embracing environment made up of stimulating lights, music, alcohol, and an occasional perceived win. The activity gives one temporary relief through a false sense of acceptance. Slot machines often provide the desired feedback in the form of flashing lights and sounds despite the winning amount being less than the wager. Casinos provide the sufferer with an exciting environment that temporarily isolates a person from the pain of mental noise. Once a compulsive gambler hits the jackpot, they continue to play the game because the excitement of winning does not provide permanent relief. They must repeat the past good experience; therefore, they eventually give all the money back to the game. Human nature evolved to benefit from its highly developed memory by repeating beneficial experiences.

As demonstrated by past attempts, criminalizing vices will not prevent addiction. The Prohibition Act of 1920, also known as the Volstead Act, proved that you cannot regulate a vice, such as alcohol, to prevent people from using it. No law has ever prevented a person from engaging in the substances, behaviors, or experiences that they thought could make them whole. The criminalization of a vice may actually intensify the desire to participate. Of course, many people use alcohol in a responsible way. For others, the suffering created by addiction is a necessary experience. For many people, the grip cannot be loosened, and it takes their money, relationships, health, or even their life or the lives of others. Sadly, they did not have a connection with another source that could have guided them out of this tragic situation. They were attempting to find themselves using the world of substance and form.

If you are struggling with addiction, you should seek guidance, which will undoubtedly open the door to new supportive relationships and, hopefully, a way out. All dependencies must first be resolved before you can move deeper into the awakening process. If you feel smothered by an unhealthy relationship or ineffectual belief system, you can peacefully walk away right now. Your strongholds can be destroyed, and this will allow you to become receptive to something new. A commitment to a transformation will remove the negative energy field that is the undercurrent of your life. Your renewal becomes invigorating as you can now clearly see and hear—not with your eyes and ears, but with your heart and mind. A Higher Will wants to open your heart and mind so you will recognize your true interconnectedness with everything around you. This is the only relationship that can permanently relieve you of suffering.

Although we are meant to be givers and receivers, some people are not capable of giving just as some are not ready to receive. The human being's struggle to serve others is a result of a tight bond it has with the Self. A person could be charitable, but this could be an attempt to reduce guilt or appear generous. Quite often, our charity is just an attempt to portray ourselves as a good person despite having done bad things. Proper charity happens when you give all of your life expecting nothing in return. The offspring of an awakened state of being is a new being that is free of the Self. Reaching this state of inner awareness will allow you to weaken addictive behaviors. Addictions subside once you become fertile ground for the seed of life that is living within you; however, your seed can only be nurtured once you become aware of and then embrace everything that arises right now at this moment, especially your addictive tendencies. You begin your journey out of addiction by accepting everything that arises in your life without a reaction or judgment. Your transcendence can only happen once you discover that the Self is the resistant force that is keeping you from understanding the true meaning of your life. With your commitment, you can surrender the outmoded, inherited, and mind-made version of you. You can end your addictions by surrendering the Self and embracing something higher.

Many addictive behaviors are a cry for help while others may be a way for the ego to get attention. The unconsciousness of addiction wants to drag others down during. In a very unconscious state, a person may actually enjoy the effects of the addiction—they crave the attention that results when their life spirals out of control. During the addiction cycle, the Self wants to remain unconscious; therefore, it pretends to be receptive to change. The conditioned person ultimately rejects the guidance that can end the complex entanglement of emotions that are responsible for the addiction. This vicious cycle can expose the only remaining option, which is your life's surrender to the present moment. For most addicts, surrendering an addiction is complicated and probably requires treatment from a professional.

The human condition is seeking equilibrium. We crave a sense of balance within our life because we fear losing control. In all conflicts, the higher intent is not a victory but an equalization. Unfortunately, the human condition wants to win a battle; it does not understand that victory can only come from a relationship with something deeper. Your life's purpose is to become one with this higher force of will. This relationship is formed by your simple agreement to allow your false identity to die. As a result of giving up all that you think you are, you bolster your ability to choose a new path for your life and to make other beneficial choices. Once you free yourself as a slave of the world of form, you will begin to represent an awakened and affectionate state of being, one that is capable of giving life to others. As a result, your life's essence shines through as it is no longer entangled in a battle of identities and spiraling out of control in the struggle to be made whole.

The message is clear: you can only be fruitful if you live consciously; therefore, your essential step toward uncovering your life's purpose is to destroy your bad habits, dependencies, and addictions. First, you must accept the addiction just as it is. Look it directly in the eye and admit that it is real. This will empower you to seek the help needed to loosen its grip on your life.

### The Spiritual Ego

_We are not human beings in search of a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings immersed in a human experience._

-Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Cultural conditioning establishes the belief that you are an individual made up of a body with a name and a history. As a result, you may spend your entire day trying to maintain this identity. You may be proud of your identity and; therefore, you must maintain control of this false perception of who you are. You may feel that you already understand the meaning of your life; however, life experiences, the human condition, and the intent of a deeper force, will eventually show you that you only have a slight understanding of who you are. You need guidance to understand the real meaning of your life. There is no spiritual exercise, religious book, tradition, or belief that will provide you with a complete answer.

People often seek out a mental state of being in a search for meaning but often fail because their ego is in charge of the process. They feel they are "spiritual" or "religious" and, therefore, capable of finding all the answers to great mysteries on their own. They have a spiritual ego, a human identity that feels that it is good because it is "spiritual." This is an individual who is playing with spirituality the same way he plays with the world of form. Let's examine the reason that those who label themselves as "spiritual beings" will most likely experience a spiritual ego.

Your ego plays a significant role in the awakening process because it causes you to suffer. Suffering is a necessary teacher. Ego-derived suffering is an important tool because it forces you to gain a deeper understanding of an experience. In my humble estimation, this is how it works: At the precise moment of a new understanding, your awakening increases. The understanding is no longer a thought experiment (an opinion), but a powerfully transformative emotion based on tested reality (a "truth"). An emotion designed by experience is my definition of the often-misused word "truth". Now you understand why people with a spiritual ego are so quick to prescribe their "truth" to others. They do not understand that a truth (reality) is specific to an individual and his unique journey. Because the prescriber of the so-called "truth" is not yet guided by a higher force of will, he will often use the understanding to strengthen his self-identity. He may even accuse or judge those who do not agree with the belief (opinion). You see, people who have a spiritual ego really do not care about you—they need you to care about them.

The belief that knowledge is an absolute truth is an example of this special kind of spiritual ego. A person fails an important test if their ego believes it is in possession of the "absolute truth," especially when this belief results in discord with other people. The _real_ truth needs no imagination, defense, promotion, fear, commitment, or belief whatsoever. People with a strong spiritual ego often feel that the problems of the world would be solved if others "would just believe" in their version of a truth. Clearly, the purpose of the spiritual ego is to help induce _consciousness_ and gradually show a person the meaning of their life. A person will not advance in their spiritual journey until they move through a process that humbles their sense of self.

Sadly, many people are conditioned by a culture that promotes the enhancement of a person's identity through talents, financial and business success, and religious or spiritual pledges. For many people, the pursuit of life is a selfish endeavor, which only delays an awakening. A person may believe that life's meaning is something that can be added to the Self; however, your awakened life is actually the result of the breakdown of your identity—by demoting success, possessions, identity, wealth, and accomplishments in your life. This challenges the notion that one must add to the Self to feel whole and complete. In other words, your potential for consciousness is not dependent on a resume of philosophical or spiritual achievements. The spiritual ego is a pride-filled individual (or institution) with a long history of virtuous accomplishments. Of the multitude of problems on Earth, most were created by educated, talented, wealthy, or religious people.

Many religious people struggle their entire life predominantly ignoring the present moment. They have a spiritual ego that believes it can be made whole if it pursues the "truth." The ego is seeking something that will make it whole. Like mad scientists, some people study various holy texts with an intensity that is inappropriate and could be detrimental to their relationships, health, and, most importantly, their ability to find the meaning of their life. This is known as hyperreligiosity. This sort of religiously conditioned person has a personality type that may be geared for left-brain logic. They are missing the proper balance of head and heart. They are logical thinkers who have a difficult time finding empathy with those who violate the religious facts surrounding their new knowledge discovery. Hyperreligiosity has been defined as "A psychiatric disturbance in which a person experiences intense religious beliefs or experiences that interfere with normal functioning. Hyperreligiosity generally includes abnormal beliefs and a focus on religious content or even Atheistic content, which interferes with work and social functioning." This condition is also known as a "Religious Psychosis", which, again, may also apply to Atheists and non-believers. A Religious Psychosis is defined as "Individuals experiencing religious delusions are preoccupied with religious subjects that are not within the expected beliefs for an individual's background, including culture, education, and known experiences of religion. These preoccupations are incongruous with the mood of the subject."

If you know this sort of individual, stand back and examine that person's life from a broad viewpoint. Quite often you will find that, despite a person's many years of studying scriptures and despite their belief that they are in possession of some great knowledge, they are miserable, accusatory of "the world", have high expectations of those they are connected to, judgmental, and are mostly unhappy and unproductive. The evidence of this fallacy can be found in the detrimental consequence of their hyperreligious, lifelong study of scripture. This sort of person struggles with, although they are not incapable of, being loving, accepting, flexible, and kind. They are a seething mind filled with lifeless thoughts about "the truth" and how "the world" is out of balance. Their spiritual ego often believes that their purpose is to find the meaning of life for everyone else. As a result of this observation, I must conclude that the delusion of self-importance is the most demonstrable behavior of nonbelief that a human can possess.

You will not find the meaning of your life by overburdening yourself with intense studies of religious texts. Memorizing Scriptures or reading holy texts multiple times will not help you awaken. The only valuable result is if the intense study causes you to realize that memorizing scriptures is unnecessary. In other words, plans, actions, or goals probably have little impact on the motivation of a Higher Will. Beyond the fallacy of memorizing holy texts, and in the same way, an inappropriate commitment to a belief system could cause you to neglect the needs of your family, friends, and those around you. Again, simply observe those who behave (or believe) this way. They tell a story about the validity of their beliefs with their resulting defensiveness, frustration, lack of loving relationships, anger, anxiety, physical health issues, inability to produce positive energy, lack of helpful solutions, lack of empathy for others, expectations of others, and so on. Their intense study of religious scripture has made them sick. Consequentially, their unconsciousness is attempting to bleed over into the lives of others so it can drag them down.

Undoubtedly, the search for a "truth" can be addictive. Because a person may believe that the pursuit of truth will eventually satisfy their longing for completeness, they experience the excitement of having a mission and, therefore, a purpose. This behavior is much more addicting if it is joined to a collective belief or movement such as a religion or a political party. Numerous examples of this have been observed in history. Addictively unconscious and purpose-filled beliefs built the pyramids of Egypt, Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China, the Aztec and Mayan temples, all the powerful nations and empires, and all the religions on Earth. Hundreds of Gods have been created by collective drives and spiritual egos. Ultimately, the beliefs of the members of those movements caused enormous human suffering including war, famine, human sacrifice, murder, and genocide. The spiritual ego starts with just one person, but eventually, with the power of the collective, it can wreak havoc on the world. Every day the spiritual ego wreaks havoc on families when the hyperreligious believer resists, rejects, accuses, judges, and often disowns or even violently rejects his own family members who don't believe the same way. If you are this person, this is your opportunity to change your fruitless way of thinking and believing. I want you to move forward right now without labeling yourself with the aforementioned labels "hyperreligious" or "Religious Psychosis." These are just behavior patterns that we all exhibit at some point throughout this process. Many people die this way, but this is your chance to take a new step forward!

A commitment to understanding life could eventually expose a real truth of life; however, your purpose cannot be discovered by improving the Self with knowledge alone. Proper self-improvement is a result of your surrender and your commitment to an ego-free state of being. This is possible through the powerful act of surrendering your beliefs, especially those that are part of your personal story. Numerous inherited beliefs are the source of your suffering; therefore, you must surrender those ideas. There is a period within your journey through life where you will begin to examine your beliefs. During this stage, you agree to give up your ego. Your surrender will expose a reality that has been buried deep within the mental noise of your inherited conditioning.

Unshakable beliefs are a result of a closed mind. Clearly, beliefs, especially belief systems, restrain people. The label "believer" limits a person because they observe themselves as part of an established collective mindset based mostly on thinking—thinking about the beliefs. Sadly, institutions with a strong foundation of unshakable beliefs may only be guided by their religious or political mental conditioning instead of a higher spiritual/emotional guidance. Believing implies something one must do. "I believe; therefore, I am good." This is similar to Rene Descartes' quote, "I Think Therefore I Am." He said "I thence concluded that I was a substance whose whole essence or nature consists only in thinking, and which, that it may exist, has need of no place, nor is dependent on any material thing; so that "I," that is to say, the mind by which I am what I am, is wholly distinct from the body, and is even more easily known than the latter." He recognized that the "I" was separate from the body. The perception of "I," "me," or "my," come from the various capacities mangled within human perception. When part of this perception includes truths, beliefs, and opinions, you have an individual who exhibits a spiritual ego: "I believe therefore I am good."

A self-righteous attitude often accuses others: " _They_ are wrong because _they_ do not believe." Undoubtedly, no human being has ever believed their way into consciousness. Sadly, most well-intentioned believers are unconscious; therefore, they are unable to be guided by the Higher Will. Clearly, a person with a spiritual ego may avert the voice of a Higher Will because their beliefs are not changeable. Their attitude is a strong and unshakable opinion that their "truth" applies to all. They believe that only their beliefs, truths, Scriptures, Bible, and methods of redemption or forgiveness are valid—all others are wrong. Sadly, during their pursuit, a moral person may be distracted by the steadfast mission of being right and finding a truth. Although they end up being incorrect, this could be a valuable experience if they recognize the error. In believing you are veracious, you become iniquitous!

There are good Christians, good Muslims, good Buddhists, good Jews, good Scientists, good Agnostics, and good Atheists. Although some are unwavering, those who try to be good exemplify their beliefs as productive and valid. While attempting to be right, those who intensely study religious texts often slip into the delusion that life's problems are solved with rightness. If being right all the time were possible, this would mean that a human being could be infallible. As a result of this sort of thinking, many well-intentioned people develop a spiritual ego, where they believe they are good or believe they are better than others because they hold some special key to the meaning of life through their beliefs, religious or spiritual practices, membership with a religion or church, or special relationship with a God.

Unquestionably, the inherent desire to be good is often used in the service of the ego. Quite often, people who study religious texts are just trying to be good, they want to be accepted and to appear good. They are trying to solve the part of their life they loathe—the part that is not right. Perhaps they think that "If I can find the answer to some riddle, connect the dots of cryptic Scriptures, or understand signs and symbols, then maybe I will find the answer to the meaning of my life." Unfortunately, an intense search for truth is not the meaning of life; furthermore, the answers resulting from the investigation will not come from the effort itself. I have to be careful so as not to demonize the act of gaining knowledge through studying ancient Biblical Scriptures. The Bible nurtures us with valuable insight, but it can also be corrupted by improper, unconscious, premature, or manipulative translation or interpretation. Knowledge produces understanding; therefore, the effort to find knowledge is a valuable part of an awakening process. Theological studies are only detrimental to the spiritual journey if one becomes impeded by the ego during the study. The spiritual ego is identifiable in those who brand themselves as ordained, bishop, deacon, pastor, preacher, pope, priest, prophet, minister, or saint.

A productive and moral life probably requires some education, especially by those who are indoctrinated at a young age; however, an intense effort may only be valuable if it is directed at reversing the conditioning. For the most part, the best knowledge one acquires for their life is through experience and not an intense theological study. Some of the most loving, compassionate, and charitable people on this planet are the uneducated and the least religiously indoctrinated. The belief in holy scripture is the greatest mistake of religiosity; it implies that all other humans are "lost" if they cannot read or understand the cryptic messages within their sacred texts. What a sad and depressing thought that you were lucky enough to be born into the only culture that has possession of an ancient key to the meaning of life—through your religious delusion, your holy book is the only gateway and your understanding of the sacred text is the only key to open that gate.

A person who is incapable of surrendering their identity is desperately waiting for someone to guide them. This could be you; however, a servant cannot serve if they are trapped in their own thoughts and serving their addiction to thinking and the mental arousal of their imagination and spiritual ego. By surrendering your spiritual ego, you develop a subservient state of being which allows you to receive your answers from a Higher Will. You do not have to be right—you just have to try to be good!

### Deny the Self

_Through others, we become ourselves._

-Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

What is the Self? The Self is the identity that you have known all of your life; it is the person that you identify with and the entity that is helping you interpret this book right now. The Self believes that it is responsible for its life, must control every situation, and must create its own destiny. If this entity is threatened, it will defend its life, especially when its existence is supported by strong beliefs. The Self rejects and resists anything that does not support its structure, especially its strong and unshakable belief. The inability to consider new ideas demonstrates the Self's fear of losing itself. The Self is a structure that is held together by identity, a past story, self-knowledge, Scriptures, laws, traditions, and strong and unshakable beliefs. It often justifies this intense identification with its "faith" in its beliefs. Sadly, as a result, the Self may die without reaching a higher state of consciousness, purpose, or meaning. You must first know the Self before you can deny the Self.

If a person moves through life as a proud, self-centered, or independent person, they eventually wreak havoc on those around them. As a result of this, Jesus asked that you "deny the Self." What is it that you should deny? If it is your Self, then who is the owner of this insufficient identity? Jesus did not mean that your life is despicable, undesirable, or wicked. Your separate self-identity is just not capable of finding the meaning of your life. This is not a message that one must destroy the Self. You should surrender this proud being and allow something new to surface in the space that was previously occupied by this inadequate identity.

The denial of the Self is a daily effort that is strengthened by the guidance of a Higher Will. Just as you trust your reflexes to breathe oxygen into your body, you can also allow a higher force of will to breathe meaning into your life. The Self wants to live forever; therefore, it intends to clutter your mind with thoughts and concerns of death. When you attempt to surrender the Self, it may use your imagination to convince you that you are going to die. "This is who I am!" "Who am I if I don't have a Self?" We call this behavior "talking to yourself." Who is this other entity that you are talking to? This is an expected reaction of the self-identity; it only understands its own ego-based life so it will react and try to persuade you that you will die if you abandon it.

While living as an unconscious person, your mind oftentimes asserts involuntary reminders of your life. Your mind combines memories of both real and imagined experiences that construct an emotional narrative. These excerpts may consist of thoughts, images, sounds, and complex emotions. You may not even remember the conversations, experiences, events, or situations, but you experience them as an emotional undercurrent that influences your thoughts. As Wilhelm Wundt, a German physician, physiologist, philosopher, and professor, once pointed out, "We often remember the general meaning of what a person has said long after we've forgotten the specific words that were used." The "general meaning" of what you think of yourself is related to your upbringing. Powerful emotional building blocks developed during childhood can range from complete worthlessness to elevated self-esteem. You may not remember what caused you to believe the way you do about yourself, but you feel that it is real and true.

To better understand the Self, we should consider how memories influence our thoughts. Thoughts provoked by your mind are often uninvited. They influence you when you are awake and disturb you while you sleep. The emotions produced by specific thoughts could become a negative undercurrent in your life. The thoughts are made up of the emotional fragments of an experience where the original words, ideas, images, and sounds have faded from your memory. The thoughts mature into lingering negative emotions resulting in a background of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, and depression. You may no longer remember with great detail the original experience; however, with repetition, the memories have become a low energy field consistently influencing your thoughts. You carry this negative energy around as a perpetual melancholic or anxious mood. This is an emotionally reflexive unconscious state that keeps the real you trapped inside and out of reach. As a result of this seemingly unavoidable condition, you may believe that you cannot change. You may even enjoy this defiantly unchangeable version of yourself because it empowers you, gives you a sense of purpose, and makes you feel alive.

If the Self must be denied, then how do you do that? The Self is quite confused by this because it does not want to be rejected. The Self will say "That is me you are talking about. I don't want to go away!" As you may have experienced, your own thoughts often convince you that you must be in control. As a result of the manipulative actions of the self-identity, many people do not honestly know themselves. Clearly, the ego thinks that denying the Self is the same as destroying itself; therefore, the Self can only be gradually denied.

You must be alert because when you begin to question the Self and its unconscious thoughts, it may respond defensively. The Self may stomp its feet in defiance if you attempt to deny it! The ego may cause what is known as a panic attack because it is like a child; it wants to have its way. Sadly, a reluctance to abandon the Self causes many people to live with uncontrollable fear and panic. They are unaware of how to prevent this suffering and may believe that it is a normal part of life. Anxiety is produced by the imagination, the place where all fears are constructed. If this happens to you, you can allow the same loving force that broke free at the beginning of the Universe to flow into your life. Just relax your mind, sense the aliveness of your body, focus on your breathing, and accept the present moment just the way it is. If you notice the dissolution of the pain and suffering, then you will experience the power you have over the Self when its thoughts are denied.

You cannot embrace something higher than you until you experience the Self that you helped to create. Without surrender, your unconscious thoughts are often engrossed in a persistent state of dissatisfaction. Clinging to your past story, grievances, and fears could result in life's situations defining who you are. Surrender is the pathway to the present moment and out of this terrible state of being. The detrimental thoughts responsible for addiction, relationship issues, health problems, or anything that pulls you out of the present moment, can be surrendered right now. You can stop resisting and allow the situation to be just as it is.

You can commit to change without making it into a goal. People often set goals in a search for meaning. The opportunity to find your life's purpose is right before you. As Eckhart Tolle explains in his book "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose," you do not have to make your surrender into a goal or urgent task because you are already in the present moment. A sincere commitment is sufficient to give you a glimpse of this reality. You can place yourself in the present moment right now. Just slow down your thoughts, turn off the noise in your head, breathe deeply, and notice that you are real and alive right now. Pay attention to your thoughts and take notice when they make you feel anxious, depressed, angry, or sad. An awareness practice will lead you to hand over the reins of your life to the Higher Will. Not only will your sense of purpose arise out of this practice, but the wonderful experience will intensify your determination to remain present. Remind yourself that you did not ask to be here, and you had no influence on your birth; furthermore, you are also not entitled to life. Your existence is a miracle because you are here, now!

### The Fear of Death

Cynicism is part of a defensive posture we take to protect ourselves. It's typically triggered when we feel hurt by or angry at something, and instead of dealing with those emotions directly, we allow them to fester and skew our outlook. When we grow cynical toward one thing in our lives, we may slowly start to turn on everything.

-Dr. Lisa Firestone, Ph.D.

You have probably noticed that death constitutes one of the greatest concerns of the human experience. As a result, many religious teachings provide a solution for your fear of death. The promise of eternal physical life is a deceptive technique used to relieve fear and, ultimately, make the belief system attractive. Numerous religions offer eternal life as a solution to avert the fear of death as this is a common concern of an unprocessed and unconscious person. The guarantee of an afterlife is appealing to an unconscious person because the underlying fear of life is the notion of death. This is a clever trick used to recruit others. Clearly, the fear emotion is crucial as it helps to protect life. We are here and we continue to exist because of fear. While living as an unconscious, independent being, the fear of death may cause the imagination to solve the problem of death with the fantasy of eternal life. It feels good to imagine a solution to death, such as more life in another place like the concept of heaven. Simply stated, the ego does not want to die and will go to great lengths to protect the only life it knows—a physical existence.

Death is part of the design of life as nothing on Earth lives forever. Death only becomes a part of your life if you make it a concern. Your mind is crafty; it often inserts thoughts of death in order to keep a subtle fear running through your life. Death comes into your life disguised as any threat to your identity, a painful reminder of your past, black and white thinking, assumptions, or just raw fear unattached to any meaning or reasoning whatsoever. The fear of death is an integral part of survival; therefore, we must find ways to overcome this deep-rooted fear. Humans inherit an exaggerated fear of death that is often represented as something you should be afraid of. Most people inherit this belief. As expected, an unconscious person or group will pass this deception on to others including their own children. This is the result of the identification with unconscious thoughts; you allow its resulting fear to control you. The self-identity cannot live without the body; therefore, it uses fear to keep its host alive.

After thousands of years of philosophy, science, religion, and the human experience, people continue to struggle with the idea of death. Evidently, the death experience can influence your thoughts, agreements, and decisions in your life. Many people just do not appreciate the fact that their life will end; it is just too grim to contemplate. So long as you are connected to your form-based identity, you will be concerned about the events leading up to and following your physical death. Interestingly, conversations about death are often regarded as morbid and unacceptable. News stories often portray death as a tragedy and use the fear it provokes to generate revenue. Death gets your attention because it provokes your deepest fears. Exploiting human fear is powerful and profitable. Fear is beneficial for television ratings, selling products, promoting a belief system, and enlisting supporters of a political movement.

Ignorance is the source of the fear of death. Human thoughts are inundated with a relentless search for a solution to imagined worries. By joining a collective group, such as a religious or political group, you may find temporary relief and a sense of belonging, but this often leads to disillusionment. As Niccolò Machiavelli alerted us in 1533 with his groundbreaking book The Prince, leaders have learned to use manipulative and downright evil methods to control people. The fear of death is often leveraged by religion and politics to control and manipulate the masses. Every religious or political movement on this planet was formed out of fear. They often react out of the fear of losing something valuable, such as their own life. No person has ever been able to circumvent the passing of life in the world of form; therefore, the solution is for _you_ to overcome this fear. You cannot discover the meaning of your life until you develop the courage required to free yourself of cynicism.

Most belief systems provide an explanation for death. Many describe a soul, spirit, heaven, reincarnation, an afterlife, and other explanations that set one at ease. These are interesting ideas, and some may be valid; nevertheless, only when you look deep within yourself will you will understand how death affects your view of life. Without a doubt, you must first understand who you are in this world before you will understand the concept of death. Are you a body or something more profound that is temporarily wearing that body? The fact is, your body does not belong to you; it is impermanent and will eventually dissolve back to the Earth. The experience of the world of form, including the aging human body, is by design—an incredible design that has come about after millions of years of progressive improvements. Despite eons of human design, we still must die.

Although the imagination is usually acting as a guardian to protect you, it can also be used against you. Because you are aware that you are living in a vulnerable human body that will one day go away, your imagination will try to solve this dilemma by protecting the only life it knows; it protects its life with fear (either self-created fear or the fear caused by the mental conditioning of religion and politics). The human experience is predominantly a story of fear that is passed down from thousands of years of suffering. You see, when you were a child and mostly ignorant of the unconscious world, you inherited fear. Fear stimulates the imagination, which then tries to protect you by adding more fear. The imagination will try to fill the void of ignorance with the thoughts that it believes will help you survive a perceived threat. Most of the explanations you have ever heard about life or death were probably created by the imagination. Clearly, the imagination has a purpose—the imagination's reactions can save your life when it bypasses the filter of unconscious human thoughts. This can cause a quick reaction that may save your life. Interestingly, most responses to real threats are usually stimulated by a rush of adrenaline and not by rational thoughts.

The mistaken identity (the Self) that is connected to your body must experience overwhelming fear from time to time. The anxiety is caused by the thought that, with death, the Self could lose its identity. Your ego instinctively fears its own death; therefore, just about every thought is tainted with the concern of the body and its demise. As observed throughout the natural world, nature often instills fear as a way to protect life. Obviously, you are part of an intricate dance with many natural and transcendent processes. An internal process is following the same pattern, which is to break you and then strengthen you so you can contribute to and enjoy an _eternal_ version of life. The demise of the human form does not threaten the higher version of life.

Interestingly, although a person may be afraid of the concept of death, they often resent or abuse themselves in some way. Instead of taking care of their life by making good decisions for their mind and body, they often harm themselves with an unhealthy lifestyle, risky behaviors, and harmful habits. A person may adorn, flaunt, promote, or even worship their life. Due to a strong self-focus, a person may try to define themselves, but they can only do this within the world of form. They unconsciously boast about themselves, including their (or other people's) appearance, wealth, activities, health, or youth. Many people go to great lengths to appear youthful, healthy, or attractive—not for the sake of trying to be a good person, but as a response to their fear of losing those tenets. Unconscious people are turned inside out; they show on the outside everything that is happening on the inside. Their fears and desires are easily identified since fear often influences the words they speak. In the end, your body will fade away, but this does not mean you are forever gone. With a proper understanding of death, you are given an opportunity to come to life. Your life's mission is not to focus on the meaning of death, but to learn about the true meaning of life!

Everything in the world of form begins to disintegrate at the precise moment that it is created. That which is surrendered remains forever. Although your body must pass away, your essence may be everlastingly reborn. Because you are joined to an eternal version of life that cannot disintegrate. This eternal form of life is the reason humans exist today—we are here to sow a seed of love and bring forth new life. Ultimately, you are not a self-identity, but an energy field that is eager to fill your space with peace and tranquility. This space includes the essence of every person that you have ever known. You will rejoin the origins of the Universe when you give up the old, imagined version of you and allow this new life to spring forth. You will continue to exist as a living form; however, you no longer seek meaning or completeness from a fictitious identity. This ability will allow a new understanding of life to replace your fear of death. Your death can be an acceptable event. This event must be acceptable because your first death is not your body; it is the death of your self-identity.

By living in the present moment, you eventually become aware of the meaning of your life. You can experience the present moment once you weaken your stream of destructive thoughts. They are mostly thoughts about your assumptions and expectations of life. If you are awake, present, and conscious, when thoughts about death arise, you can accept them. You can say "I accept that my purpose may be to live for a short time, and I accept that I may live forever. I accept the version of life that a higher force of will provides." This powerful state of acceptance will replace your resistant approach to life. A resistant mindset says, "I am aware that I am alive, I fear death, and, therefore, I do not want to die." "I am a Self, and I have needs." "I want what I want." "My only awareness is my body, my past story, my fears, and my imagination." Obviously, this is a mindset infected with a cynical interpretation of life. The imagination is the author of such thoughts.

Thankfully, a different state of mind can prevent confusion, apathy, and the suffering that results when you live with fear. If you challenge your fear of death, the fear will disintegrate. You must stop worrying about or even discussing the future of life or death. The underlying fear of death is not just a fear of what happens after death; it is a fear of missing the opportunity to become a complete individual. Fear and worry destroy life by taking up its space. Fear corrodes you from the inside out. Of course, destructive thoughts will arise from time to time, but changing your beliefs can prevent situations where such primal fears rob you of presence. In other words, when the fear of death arises, you will have the insight to notice it and stop it in its tracks.

Most beliefs about death are not helpful to the process of awakening. You must courageously challenge all opinions about the end of your life. You only need to commit to the present moment to realize the true meaning of life, which is only here and now. As American spiritual teacher, psychologist, and author Ram Daas famously said, "Be here now." By living here and now, you can easily discard your beliefs and opinions in unimportant matters. By spending life in the present moment, you remove the space for fear. Life can only happen in the present moment; however, a preoccupation with death has the power to take over your space. If a person could live their entire life unaware of the concept of death, they would not suffer from the fear of death. You miss the opportunities provided by a Higher Will if you allow death to play a role in your life. The recurrent contemplation of death actually causes life to become a slow death. Indisputably, if we removed our awareness of death, every day would be an everlasting space for life!

For the most part, your identity is a temporary creation of your own making. Although the result is often self-created suffering, this can lead to a new state of being. A new life is waiting to be born; it is the real you, but with a clearly understood meaning and purpose. You were born into this world, but your life is not complete. A Higher Will is responsible for the moment of your awakening; therefore, you do not have to seek it out. Human transcendence is triggered by your unconditional surrender to the present moment and not by your fears, intense studies, rituals, or relationship with a religious or political group. The purpose of life's struggle is to provide pointers that guide you toward your commitment to something higher than yourself.

Old mental patterns distort your experiences. They move you into the space of the Self and onto the playground of the imagination. The subsequent failure of the imagination is meant to weaken your self-identity. Only from this experience will you recognize that your own actions are the cause of your misery. Giving up on the old you and losing faith in its ability to solve your problems allows another source to step in and guide you. Realizing the value of no action, no imagination, and no thinking enables you to practice a thoughtless state of being. By becoming thoughtless, you develop mindfulness.

Have you reached a point in your life where you are ready to grow a deeper understanding of life? You begin your journey by not thinking about death. You can fight the thoughts when death tries to drag you out of presence and back into the deep abyss of the mind. Like the cyclical process of nature, life does not have to result in your death; the death of your self-identity can create a new life!

### Chapter Three

Unshakable Beliefs

Beliefs are an essential part of human consciousness and the human experience. Most beliefs provide a short-term benefit or gain—that's why we have beliefs. Opinions prop up an independent attitude and a sense of free-will. Free-will beliefs allow us to wander with freedom in a wilderness of life attempting to understand meaning while also protecting ourselves from perceived threats. For example, many beliefs solve the problem called the fear of death. Unfortunately, or should I say as intended, strong beliefs cause a person to guide their own life because they assume that they are in possession of all the information about life. With maturity, you learn that you cannot find your life's purpose through your beliefs because ideas about life's meaning often conflict with the desire or intent of a Higher Will.

Interestingly, of the more than forty-two hundred religions on Earth, most include a belief in an afterlife. As discussed in the previous chapter, a belief can circumvent fear; however, the belief hinders your spiritual growth because, instead of demonstrating the truth of life, you live life in a delusional state of being—running from fear in a perpetual state of cynicism. This is the foundation of unconsciousness; your strong beliefs put you to sleep. On the other hand, turning your life over to the guidance and motivation of a higher process can break down your beliefs and create a space for a new life—an eternal version of life.

Strong, unshakable beliefs are often a form of resistance; therefore, you must surrender them. How do you abandon your beliefs? The act of self-surrender removes the delusion of believing something into existence. As a result, a deeper understanding of your life's purpose can surface. The Higher Will is always ready to ascend in your life, but your beliefs often prevent this. Many people feel that their beliefs reinforce or complement a Higher Will, but how will they know if their aspirations actually align with the desires of the Higher Will? How do you know if they are right? If the beliefs are correct, how do you know if they will enable you to be a good person? With beliefs, too much rationality can interfere with intuitive functions. In other words, too much head and not enough heart.

Unconscious Interpretation

A person cannot transcend a delusion if they are not able to let go of it. Unfortunately, you may believe the material world is the only place you can live. You may even love that world. Sadly, people who live life completely unaware of a Higher Will actually contribute to the unconsciousness that dominates the world today. They are an involuntary member of an unconscious collective group. Although you could observe this as a problem, their ignorance of the meaning of life could be a purposed part of a higher process. Initially, we need to interpret our world through the lens of unconsciousness so we can learn that the interpretation does not satisfy our inherent craving for life.

With every generation, there is a select group of people who find a way to rise above the insanity of their world. Of the billions of human beings that have ever lived, most were capable of questioning the false God or Gods they inherited. The select few who accepted this challenge may have removed themselves from the collective insanity that has plagued the planet with so much suffering. They may have been able to align themselves with the intent of a real higher force of will and reap an eternal version of life.

Interestingly, most religious belief systems do not encourage their members to question their established beliefs, especially their description of God. Others barely discuss God at all. Do you believe that it is your responsibility to change the minds of other people and encourage them to believe in your God? Can you allow others to have differing beliefs? Your response to people and situations determines your next step in your process of awakening. Beware, your aggressive resistance to people and their beliefs may provoke a different response from a Higher Will!

All life experiences are intended to guide you toward an awakening. Although some people decide to close the door, it is possible to reopen it. Those who reject another person's beliefs only help to reinforce that person's beliefs. Reinforcing your opinions by dismissing another person's beliefs only impedes your own awakening process. By permitting others to navigate their own unique process, you strengthen their ability to move forward, because you are no longer standing in their way with an accusatory or judgmental stance. Acceptance is the force that helps you spring forth into your intended, conscious state of being. In other words, you will not move forward in the higher process by resisting the faults or mistakes of others. You cannot argue or debate your way toward surrender.

Clearly, your life requires a process of growth and maturity where you are strengthened by the love of a real force of will. You inherit the meaning of life when you can let things be, including another person's beliefs. You will not be able to give the gift of love if the recipient of your love is expected to agree with your beliefs. Acceptance is the formidable life-giving ability of your life. In other words, the Higher Will can affect all people regardless of their beliefs or opinions. The greatest gift you can give is a conscious and accepting you.

Acceptance and resistance are the key contrasting behaviors of the human condition. Resistance can only strengthen or defend the position of that which is untrue. This position is not reality, as reality does not need to be forced (believed) into existence. I do not believe in the Sun or Moon because they are just there. They do not require a conscious effort on my part to understand them. I sense them. What if I were blind? I would then need to trust those who tell me that the Sun and Moon are so, but would I ever get the essence of the Sun and Moon's existence in the same way as a person who perceived them with sight? Despite the inability to see, am I not also affected by their gravitational influence? Does their light not also reflect off of my skin? Can't I also love and appreciate the existence of the Sun and Moon and its essential relationship with life? In the same way, the Higher Will is a living energy field that has permeated your body since birth. This can be explained by the laws of physics. The Higher Will works like magnetism where one magnetic pole acts as the male principle and the other as a feminine principle. The action of the two working together is a mighty force. Once you surrender your ego (the male principle or resistant force) and open yourself up to a more profound force of will (the female principle or receptive force), the two forces will spin in a timeless, harmonious cycle of opposing then attracting fields, much like the forces that drive an electric motor. A surrendered life along with the influence of a higher force can create a new, eternal version of life. If the center is out of balance, it will spin out of control until it destroys itself. In other words, until the two fundamental contrasting behaviors within you are reconciled, you will live out of balance and predominantly shielded from the loving influence of a Higher Will.

Once you are aligned with the present moment, you find that it is not your purpose to prove, describe, or promote a God through words. Your source of life is trying to flow through you and occupy your space; it does not need you to prove its existence. You cannot find life by merely aligning yourself with the beliefs of other people. At a particular moment within your awakening, you will learn that you must silently represent life—through the life-balance described earlier. You will no longer promote or defend a God since you accept everything just as it is. This prevents you from humanizing a higher force of will into something that it is not—the mistake made by just about every religion that man has ever created. The ability to accept a force in its pure state is the feminine principle, which is open, receptive, supportive, and nurturing of all things. Let there be light means to let consciousness be (in your life).

The ego often attempts to resolve its sense of incompleteness by joining a group, adopting an ideology, or establishing a movement. Your membership in a belief system is an honorable attempt to find yourself; however, you cannot be permanently fulfilled with a collective association. An awakening requires patience, but the ego wants satisfaction right now. As a result, this may frustrate a person and cause them to expose their inner struggle. As expected, a person may begin to question their inherited beliefs. On the other hand, a believer may unintentionally distort holy texts to forge their perceptions into reality; they often call this "the truth." Distortions are often used to either recruit or destroy another with the assumptions about the "word" or "truth." Again, beliefs are only opinions that a person believes are facts. Beliefs neither contribute to nor provide the meaning of your life. The Higher Will is not a belief-created entity.

Throughout human history, unconscious interpretation has resulted in immeasurable vicious acts by religious and political groups. A collective delusion results in a sadistic religious conspiracy. The groups demonstrate, through their unconscious and aggressive actions, that their beliefs are not derived from love. Their beliefs did not inspire a life-giving spirit but the control of people. The groups are trying to force others into submission for their own selfish gain. Historically, this has resulted in the excommunication, persecution, and the death of millions of people. Many innocent people died during the Spanish Inquisition due to unconscious interpretation. Thousands of women were murdered in the Salem Witch Hunts from 1560 through 1670 because of the misinterpretation of the Christian Bible. Sadly, millions of innocent people have been killed due to ideological conflicts.

Since the beginning of human consciousness, there has been discord around the world due to differing beliefs. The weapon is tainted words—the words of darkness. Although the words are often factual and may have a scientific or scriptural basis, they may be missing the spirit of love. The words are dispensed in the wrong spirit. This is particularly noticeable when a person attempts to promote or defend their beliefs. A person may even resort to verbal or physical violence in order to preserve their delusion. Some people will fight you to be right! Those who decide they are already whole and make it their purpose to prove or disprove a God will eventually expose the fallacy of their beliefs. You should think of them as children and treat them with compassion. The force of will that required you to suffer in order to find meaning is the very force that is attempting to correct others. The word "attempting" has to be used here because, oftentimes, a self-righteous believer, religion, or political ideology is standing in the way of the Higher Will's intent. There are no guarantees. In other words, we play a role in when and how we are corrected by a higher process. Despite the arrogant believer's assumption of a profound spiritual understanding, you will embody a silent awareness of a Higher Will. Your knowledge of your own ability to accept the magnificence of a Higher Will is enormously empowering for both yourself and others!

As you have experienced, your imagination can be highly influential. At the beginning of your awakening process, you need to experience the results of unconscious interpretation. During this time of your life, you may act on a desire to find, explain, or worship a God or Gods. False Gods always diminish as they are unable to deliver on the promises of their creator, the human being.

### Faith

Faith is generally defined as a strong and unshakable belief in something without proof. Sometimes, a person will develop an unshakable belief after a crisis; therefore, faith often results in a tragic consequence. The tragic experience becomes a part of the person's past story where it is relived over and over again. As a result, the person's faith may strengthen their opinions such as their expectations of life events. Clearly, faith will not give people what they need. Faith can bring hope and calm a fearful mind, but it may not be the necessary component that guides your surrender. Ultimately, every human being must, over a period of time, develop a relationship with something higher (or deeper). As a result of the new relationship, a person will not need to defend their deep trust in the unseen; therefore, they will reap the pure essence of the unknown. Defensiveness, expectations, self-hate, sabotage, resistance, war, and terroristic acts are a distorted interpretation of faith.

Consequently, the faith in religious rituals such as prayer followed by a tragic event often causes a believer to turn against their God. They may say "How could God allow this to happen? "I pray every day!" In another example, Child abuse and neglect often result in the strong and unshakable belief (in something without proof) that "I am worthless, unacceptable, tarnished, or unworthy." A conditioned religious believer may decide that the loss of their child must be a consequence of their inadequate commitment to doctrine. On the other hand, the tragic event could cause the believer to turn against the belief system, and this is good.

As you can see, faith can create a powerful delusion that prevents the guidance of something higher than the Self. Until you are aligned with a Higher Will, you are not qualified to determine what is real and true; therefore, you should not develop strong and unshakable beliefs without proof or substantial evidence. You should allow strong evidence to strengthen your faith so a higher force of will can guide you. You can forge life's purpose out of a strong and unshakable belief, but only if the belief involves living a life filled with presence. Conscious faith is free of a Self and its thoughts. Proper faith is nurtured and guided by a different force of will.

Through indoctrination or life experiences a person could turn an incorrect or corrupt perspective into a strong and unshakable belief. Sadly, faith often results in an unconscious adherence to a belief system. Quite often, the beliefs are motivated by familial forces where one accepts their family's religion without question or out of a fear of being rejected. This is the evil of subconscious cultural conditioning. This sort of conditioning is caused not only by religion but also by government and political movements. Their leaders imply that you should have faith in their ability to "save the world," "deliver you from evil," or "bring you prosperity!" Faith has been responsible for countless tragic events which resulted in the loss of millions of lives. The beliefs that supported the Spanish Inquisition, Thirty Years' War, the Crusades, the Salem Witch hunts, the Holocaust, the Killing Fields in Cambodia, the genocide in Rwanda, and the events of September 11, 2001, were executed with strong faith.

A search for the meaning of life often turns into defiant opinions, disagreements, and accusations instead of the intended life-giving acceptance of others. Ultimately, many religious structures are formed from misguided collective agreements and not from a desire to learn what is real or true. The aggressive promotion of beliefs is a common mistake made by a person or group who does not know themselves. Their identity is an inherited or crafted structure of beliefs. If you are asked to accept a person's opinions or beliefs as a prerequisite to their friendship or membership in their group then the views are not aligned with a Higher Will—you will never realize personal growth from this sort of relationship (other than the strengthening of your own acceptance and tolerance of their ignorance).

Of course, if something is guiding a person toward an awakening, but that person is not ready for the understanding, the guidance will not make much sense. If a person must defend or even fight to reinforce the validity of their beliefs, then the belief is undoubtedly false, lifeless, and ineffective. The fact is, the truth needs no defense because it is not a human creation. For example, the laws of physics are real and true without the need for humans to believe in them. The result of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom should be empowerment—it should not cause an expectation of others, where you forcefully and judgmentally apply the newfound understanding as a belief, fact, or law.

You have an opportunity to rejoin the force that created you; however, before you can develop a relationship with this higher force of will, you must first learn about the relationship that you have with your ego. Most of your painful experiences only take place in your thoughts. This could be attributable to your strong relationship with the Self. Furthermore, a person may only enter the awakening process after experiencing intense mental suffering. The attitude in which you apply your beliefs through faith demonstrates whether you are worthy of the suffering and if you will benefit from the experience. For example, the belief that a prayer ritual will solve your problems produces a very different result than the belief that something higher is in control and it understands the reason for the suffering. A person may attempt to pray their way out of the suffering, or they may transcend the difficulty by accepting it just as it is.

Most people experience the success or failure of a belief system at some point in their life. I believe the purpose of your experiences, actions, mistakes, or accomplishments, is to cause your ego to either expand or collapse. Your awakening is determined by your reaction to the suffering that arises in your life. A typical response is to repeat the past as poor decisions or repetitive pessimistic thoughts about a situation. This is a habit loop that must be broken through new choices and positive action. As a result, a person may not reach the next step as their journey becomes hampered by their inability to make a different choice. The wind must struggle to move a ship that is anchored to the sea.

Sadly, many people never move beyond the ideas or traditions of their inherited beliefs. They may occasionally feel content with their traditions and beliefs; however, they continue to experience dissatisfaction. This can be frustrating because their belief system may have implied that "faith" was the only tool that could solve problems. For some people, faith is a mental exercise where they think about the word faith and then attach it to their wishes in an attempt to miraculously change reality. The miracle of human intuition is a powerful force that can guide us, but these notions may also be an attempt to believe something into reality. Through a lifetime of observing believers, I have noticed how quietly they move past the failure of attempting to change reality through faith. They rejoice at the slightest notion that any desired result was caused by their _faith_ in the event. "Thank God, my prayers were answered: I just won the lottery!" I suppose God made everyone else lose. "We created a prayer circle and now my daughter is in remission!" I suppose the two years of chemotherapy treatment for leukemia had nothing to do with it. The thousands of children who die every year from leukemia must have been left out of the prayer circle.

If your beliefs no longer provide a sense of fulfillment or if they cause you frustration or confusion, then they probably originated from the imagination. As discussed in Chapter Two, your beliefs may be tainted with unconsciousness; therefore, the beliefs expose themselves as nothing more than a byproduct of a spiritual ego. Your guiding light is within; it does not originate from an exact interpretation of the Scriptures or an adherence to faith, traditions, or laws. You cannot harness the light if you agree with everything that your family, community, education system, political party, or church tells you. Belief systems are threatened by the interrogation of their established traditions, beliefs, and laws; therefore, they teach that you should not question the beliefs. "You just have to believe this way." "This is how we have always believed." As a result of this unconscious way of thinking, many people eventually find themselves trapped by life—hopelessly rowing their boat against the current of life.

Collective beliefs result in unconsciousness. This darkness is made of thoughts, opinions, and ideas entangled in a seething world of unhappiness. The beliefs are thoughts that are used to try to become whole and complete, but they are missing the guidance of a higher force of will. Faith is just a thought experiment with a placebo effect; it is often used as a shortcut around a powerful and necessary process of awakening. Fortunately, the Higher Will knows that your faith will eventually fail you. It expects that, as you awaken, you will begin to question why your beliefs do not resolve your perceived problems. The Higher Will wants you to _lose_ faith in unconscious and invalid beliefs.

For most religious practices, Faith is implemented like a wish where you ask for something or expect something to happen. Without the proper understanding of the word faith, a person may ask for things they should not ask for or expect things they should not expect. Proper faith is the confidence that everything is as it should be. This is not asking for something to change but accepting the way things are. This prevents you from taking a firm stance against change. You have no substantial evidence that things are, in fact, supposed to be this way, but the belief in the unknowable is the attitude that empowers you to be guided. If you were stranded in the ocean, it would be futile to row against the current. Again, human intuition is a powerful force that often guides us, but this should not be confused with a person who attempts to believe something into reality.

The series of life events that guide your awakening is unique to you—the events are the business of a Higher Will. The essence of life is governed by a deeper motivation and not by the desires of culture, religion, science, or the lessons of humankind. Although the motivation of a Higher Will is buried inside you, you must practice surrender and acceptance before it will surface. For the most part, an intense effort is not necessary. Seeking with an urgency could be a message to the Higher Will. Your aggressive search for answers may be the ego's attempt to find satisfaction by adding to your identity. If your search for meaning is not just an attempt to add something new to the Self, then the truth will embrace you. While lost in the sea of your life, if you trust in the motivating force of the current, the sea will take you to where you are intended to be. You only need to relax and trust that a deeper force is guiding your life.

The realization that a higher consciousness is responsible for your life is the foundation of humility. Humility comes from a trust that something higher is guiding your life. This is a proper, more effective version of faith without evidence. No other state of being is more peaceful yet empowering than the ability to just let go, be still, and trust that something wonderful can happen within the space of your life. All good things originate from stillness. Faith that has roots in the present moment will always produce something good.

You have been given an opportunity to align with a higher force of will. This requires your willingness to commit to a new state of being with no expectation of the final outcome. From within this state of being, you will inherit the life-changing power of awakened consciousness. Your life will arise once you accept everything just as it is. This attitude leads to the joyful state of a present-moment reality where you are no longer inundated with the destructive thought-noise that has consumed your life. When you abandon your inherited version of faith (expecting something to change), you develop a new state of being, one that is peaceful and life-giving. Proper faith comes from this thought: "Life was established by a higher force of will; therefore, I accept all things just as they are, without question or resistance. Everything is as it should be."

### The Dark Side of Faith

During the early development of humanity, humans needed each other to survive. Because cooperation was necessary for survival, a person had to align their beliefs, superstitions, and behaviors with the traditions in order to stay connected to the family, tribe, or community. If a person did not agree with the tribal beliefs, he would pretend to believe because the relationship with the group was essential for survival. Behavior patterns that help one survive are part of the human experience. In other words, many people align with a belief system in order to prevent the loss of the acceptance of their friends, family, or community.

In many religious groups, faith is often interpreted as an act that one can perform to solve a problem—like a magic genie who grants wishes if you rub the lamp. You just have to "have faith" to work the magic. A common religious interpretation of the word faith results in a wish, expectation, or demand. This sort of faith seems to be an attempt to control the intent of a Higher Will. As a result, an unprocessed or unconscious person may unknowingly set an expectation for the present moment. Their faith asks God to provide a solution to a problem. They want something done about it and they expect something to happen. They reduce their God to a conceptualized deity that grants a wish in order to resolve a person's problems.

Understandably, you must look deep within yourself to understand faith as it has been misused and misunderstood. People often unknowingly apply faith outwardly in an attempt to circumvent suffering. We call this hope. Of course, no one wants to rob a person of hope. Hope has a placebo effect that can help alleviate pain; however, the purpose of this book is to discuss the difficult subject of reality. Reality is an uncomfortable study that does not make much room for hope. For the most part, faith is used as an instrument for hope, and this can be a good thing. Although the idea of hope can be helpful for the unconscious person, it implies a future event. Human behavior is mostly a search for comfort; however, improper faith never produces a lasting effect. Reality cannot be permanently influenced by the hopes and subsequent actions of an unconscious person.

Proper faith is not an expectation (to hope for something to change); it is an expression that complements a Higher Will. Faith must be in the best interest of others and—not the desires of the Self. Many religions teach that faith is a request for a miracle such as curing an illness or preventing a person from dying. The failure of faith is often distorted into causal factors that explain faith's lack of potency. "It happened because you did not have faith." or "Your faith was not strong enough." or "You need to attend church services more often." Faith has been used to encourage followers to "Sow a larger seed of faith," which is meant to be interpreted as "You need to give more money in the offering plate." This subtle but powerful fear tactic is also used by politicians to encourage a voter. The politician may imply that bad things can be prevented if you vote for him. They are asking you to apply faith through your support of their election campaign. Ultimately, they cannot keep their promises of eliminating the fabricated or exaggerated fear.

In your narrow visual space, you have only a slight view of a much larger reality; however, through the process of surrendering your identity, a new reality of life will become obvious. The things that you see are often motivated by your affection, influenced by the things that are important to you. Your transcendence takes you out of your world where you try to believe something into existence. If your affection is for the concerns of your conditioned reality, such as wishing to be young again, wanting to extend your life, attempting to avoid pain, or running from death, then you may attempt to apply your faith in support of those desires. Who would not want to see people cured of afflictions utilizing the traditional idea of faith? Because life's problems do not represent who you truly are, you will not find the meaning of your life by solving those problems. You should not acknowledge a bodily disposition as part of your identity. You must remind yourself "I accept pain, suffering, and death as a natural part of life." "I accept that I may die today as I am not entitled to life." "I accept every situation exactly the way it is." The Self detests this notion because it feels it is entitled to life.

Millions of ailing humans have turned to faith in an attempt to solve a problem. Although many mysterious and magnificent breakthroughs could cause one to credit faith, this is not the meaning of your life—to ask for the things that will solve your problems. If you have applied the act of faith in one instance and it solved a problem, was it effective on all occasions? Does it always work for all your problems? Do you just have to execute the ritual of faith every time you have a problem? Why would it work for one problem and not for others? If faith worked this way, a person should apply this power to children dying of cancer instead of solving their trivial personal problems. The problems of an entire planet would be solved if this form of faith was legitimate.

Faith has great potential; however, it requires a more profound understanding to realize its true meaning. Asking for a miracle shows that you are looking for a future event that will fix a problem. The misinterpretation of faith explains why many people have afflictions, are born with disabilities, or struggle with severe medical conditions. Clearly, they are decent people who do not deserve to live in misery. Religious institutions that dispense a faith-based cure for physical disorders frequently expose their limitations.

Consequently, many evangelists have given up on dispensing miracles to their followers. They have replaced miracles with "financial blessings"—the prosperity doctrine. Of course, faith healers are aware of faith's limited abilities and, therefore, exclude afflictions they know they cannot cure. Their purported miracles are difficult to examine or validate especially when they are deliberately only presented in front of a large audience. Miracles that have validity, such as healing a blind, deaf, or a paralyzed person, are not put on display for the audience. Humanity would not need hospitals, doctors, medicine, or medical research if such miracles could be performed. Those who believe in this sort of faith would not require medical insurance which, interestingly, most of them have and use quite frequently. I would be ecstatic if this sort of delusion could be true, but there is not a shred of legitimate, verifiable, or rational evidence for the evangelical view of miracles. Despite this, people still want to believe because it provides them with hope, and this is good. No one wants to take away a person's hope, but this book is about examining reality.

If the traditional definition of faith is untrue, unfounded, or ineffective, then how can a person deal with their problems in a spiritual way? The greatest miracle of the human condition is the ability to detach from the ego and its form-based identity. This ability alone will help you overcome a disability, pain, financial problems, divorce, addiction, or any sense of loss. You can solve many problems by simply turning off your thoughts. Once you remove the mind-made sense of loss or pain you decrease suffering. Of course, it is natural to temporarily feel physical pain or to temporarily experience sadness when you lose a loved one. Your complete acceptance of an injury, illness, or sudden loss is a real source of healing power. The use of modern medicine, therapy, and other forms of treatment combined with the power of acceptance is the real miracle.

Biblical metaphors and symbolism such as faith and miracles may have a meaning that is deeper than the conventional interpretation. Throughout the ages, an explanation of great importance is typically accepted as fact then enhanced or distorted each time it is passed down to the next generation. Humans will use anything within their grasp to reinforce themselves; therefore, they twist and stretch their identity around the explanation or opinion that provides the greatest benefit. Oftentimes, they are simply agreeing with the local beliefs for acceptance or even for survival.

The ego is responsible for the expansion and collapse of religious doctrine and the numerous religious conflicts. The ego may enhance or alter religious beliefs to make them more appealing. For example, several scholars believe that many of the Scriptures in the Holy Bible were enhanced, erased, or mistranslated. Thomas Jefferson concluded that many of the teachings of Jesus were augmented. In a letter he wrote to John Adams on October 13, 1813, he said, "In extracting the pure principles which Jesus taught, we should have to strip off the artificial vestments in which they have been muffled by priests, who have travestied them into various forms, as instruments of riches and power to themselves."

The most controversial acts of the Bible which are thought to be a misinterpretation are the Holy Spirit, angels, Noah's Ark and the Great Flood, the Tribulation, the Second Coming, the resurrection of the dead, a future Kingdom, eternal life, heaven, hell, punishment in everlasting fire, and the devil. It is possible they were meant to be taken literally, added to the teachings of Jesus, amplified, or misunderstood. A person may need to experience the result of their own misinterpretation. The lesson may be that the meaning of your life is not derived from your opinions, knowledge, or faith. Ultimately, your beliefs are just your own internalized religion. I wonder if the intention is to have us experience the doctrine of the Self before we can awaken to a Higher Will.

The ego must promote its interpretation of life. It has faith in its opinions and often believes that everyone should have the same beliefs. When two or more people agree on the same views, a relationship is formed. The members are strengthened by a collective agreement. It is comforting to find someone who has similar religious, philosophical, or political beliefs. Notwithstanding, the opinions may be incorrect. If the consciousness of a member of a collective belief awakens to the truth and attempts to educate the others within the group, they risk being ostracized. The ego cannot feel the presence of a Higher Will; therefore, it must try to convince others of its passionate beliefs in order to feel secure. Tribalism is a collective nature used as a tool of awakening within the process of a spiritual journey.

The aggressive attempt to promote beliefs has caused many people to avoid those who have this attitude. An unconscious person or group often accuses, judges, and condemns others. Their beliefs are reduced to bits of information they may think of as facts or laws for everyone. Undoubtedly, knowledge is not the only ingredient that is required to develop a relationship with a higher source. Knowledge must be coupled with another component; it must arise from an affectionate state of being—a love for all people.

If the heart and mind are out of alignment, a person may point out a discrepancy in another person's beliefs. You believe you see something clearly, but another person may not believe the same way; therefore, you are compelled to point out their deficiency. Your version of life's purpose needs to be defended; therefore, you end up invalidating your own beliefs (opinions). If your opinion is factual, it becomes invalid and lifeless because it is missing a life-giving spirit.

Let's further explore this behavior by examining one of the many errors that exist within Christian theology. Many denominations of Christianity include a powerful idea called "Sowing and Reaping". This powerful lesson is derived from the three Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:4-15. The majority of self-proclaimed Christians I have ever met seem to misunderstand sowing and reaping and, therefore, apply it improperly. The idea that we provoke consequences with our actions is a tested, Universal reality. The biblical interpretation is just a variation of this phenomenon. Causal reactions are part of Universal law and were real and true long before the Bible was written. "Reaping" what you sow is an understanding meant to be applied to you; however, I regularly encounter Christians who believe it is everyone else who is reaping. They may say "They are reaping what they have sown!" They are actually expressing "Look how special I am—I recognize the sin in others." Anytime you notice this sort of outward application of this parable, understand that, at that moment, you have encountered someone who is the actual source of a reaping (consequence). This person or group will certainly provoke suffering as a result of their attitude of being separate or free of the iniquity in which they observe and are so compelled to point out in others. The greatest test of this observation is how the misunderstanding results in only pointing out all the bad stuff. Sowing and reaping is a consequential process of all our actions, not just the mistakes.

An accusatory or judgmental attitude is the secret weapon of the Higher Will. Until you reconcile the self-identity, you may use your strong faith (opinions) to accuse others. This alerts the Higher Will that you are not ready for the next step in your journey. The Higher Will does not need to accuse you because you are already accused by the nature of your own unconsciousness. As a result, the motivation of a Higher Will must fight its way through layers of distortion and confusion; it patiently waits for the distortion and confusion to be relinquished. This is the role we play in the process—to destroy unconsciousness through surrender. Your commitment to surrendering your life to a higher force of will results in a powerful and positive transformative consequence.

You can exemplify the true essence of life if your identity and its opinions no longer overshadow the truth of your being. The faith that you must apply to move a mountain is that which will give you everlasting life. The mountain that can be moved is not the obstacles of your form-based life, but the barriers that prevent your awakening. The barriers are your unconscious and conditioned thoughts. Many self-proclaimed Bible thumpers, theologians, gurus, pastors, prophets, preachers, and priests, are obstructed by their assumption that their relationship with such a title, effort, or commitment, is the only qualification required to interpret truth and life. Their beliefs are strong opinions that they feel are absolute; therefore, they often struggle to live in a present state of being. As a result of their unconscious belief in being right, many feel unfulfilled, unhappy, and incomplete. Absolute rightness equates to unfulfillment and unhappiness.

Undoubtedly, the belief in faith, rituals, sacrifices, miracles, and prayer evolved throughout the hundreds of thousands of years of the human experience. Although an opinion may be valid, a force exists that can guide you to an answer that was fashioned just for you. You will know the genuine meaning of faith once you surrender all strong and unshakable beliefs and allow the truth to be revealed as the Higher Will intends. Proper faith is not a request; it is an acceptance of the present moment. Accepting life just as it is causes you to recognize a force that is higher than you. Acceptance is all that is required to allow a higher force of will to surface and guide you. Until you surrender, you think you know and understand; therefore, you try to believe in things in an attempt to make them so. Your strong beliefs are actually just resistance disguised in a righteous and proud look. Observe anyone with strong and unshakable beliefs, and you will find a determination to change the world with a "truth". As a result, humans have established over forty-two hundred resistant belief systems, all based upon absolute facts. Unquestionably, their version of the "truth" is invalid due to the fact that they do not feel satisfied—they are seldom at ease with their understanding. They need others to approve so they accuse those who do not agree. Clearly, attempting to force a belief upon others is the highest form of human resistance. Resistance blinds you to the truth that is trying to set you free. Of course, in making this statement, I could be accused of trying to apply my own interpretation; however, I do not write this as a rebuke.

### Resistance

Rockets are launched into space using the force of resistance. The explosive rocket propellant thrusts the rocket against Earth's gravity. Lifting ourselves into space is an interesting (and expensive) human desire considering that space does not want us, and the Earth does not want to let us go. Earth's strong gravitational force embraces us while the vacuum of space isolates itself from us with its uninhabitable void. Despite enormous complications, humans have managed to lift themselves off the Earth and build a habitation in this most hostile and unfriendly environment. Although the combined cooperation, creativity, and intelligence of thousands of individuals made this possible, it was a space race between two opposing forces on Earth that helped propel humans into the Cosmos. Through the collaboration of many nations, significant discoveries were made, economies were expanded, and vast improvements were made to the human condition. Despite the success, breakthroughs, and discoveries, civilization is still attempting to find that which will make it whole. It appears that humankind is seeking meaning through a process of understanding where meaning is derived only from intellectual enlightenment. Quite often, it is just basic knowledge and a simple understanding that will reveal the truth.

During the early part of life, we are often imprisoned by our thoughts. This experience is necessary to strengthen your desire to find peace. Until you are exposed to another version of life, you are required to be a prisoner of the forces that control you. This experience is also meant to help you understand another person's struggles. The people that you may judge and accuse are also imprisoned. The prison bars are fashioned by the thoughts of the unconscious mind. Mind-made resistance extends the term of confinement. When your thoughts are restricted with darkness, you will believe that you are a victim of something or someone and this leads to even more resistance.

Resistance makes you feel alive, and this seems to satisfy a desire for purpose. The energy generated by engaging in an insane cycle of cynicism gives you a false sense of purpose. You feel alive when you battle; it becomes your purpose once you learn to feed on its energy. In Sun Tzu's book "The Art of War," resistance is clearly explained as being similar to a few simple forces that exist in nature. A few fields of energy, when combined, can create new abilities beyond your imagination. This is the power of a delusion. Your inherited misconceptions are responsible for the magnificent world and dreamlike state of your life. Although it feels real and you feel alive when you participate, it is only a futile battle within the human experience. Finding peace through presence and nonresistance is the practice that eventually strengthens you. Nonresistance allows your essence to emerge. You can now bring harmony into the world of form. Your battles have already been won; you just need to allow the victory.

Resistance prevents you from finding purpose. Although it can propel you to just about any place you want to go (through the power of reaction), resistance may also impede your awakening. Although it may protect you or help you reinforce a position (such as being right), resistance forces you into isolation. On the other hand, with acceptance, the bars of your self-made prison can be removed. Once this happens, you will realize the delusional relationship you have had with the resistant mind. As you will find throughout the awakening process, the Self is only an obstacle in the dream of reality. The obstacles placed before you serve an important purpose but only if you can see them. Once they are apparent, you can accept them just the way they are. Mind-made obstacles are formed by mind-made resistance.

You were born with an essence, but its guidance is concealed within a dreaming mind. Fortunately, nonresistance can reveal your essence. Whether you are lonely, angry, depressed, or facing a difficult situation such as divorce, addiction, legal troubles, health issues, or financial problems, you can eliminate the suffering right now. Everything happening in your life at this moment is part of a higher process. Although you may respond to the situation with anger, accusations, criticism, or hatred, you will learn that your improper reactions are a necessary step within a process of surrender. Resistance teaches you that you must surrender; any other action will just create more suffering. You may not get your health back, repair the broken marriage, or recover from financial failure, but your acceptance of the event will bring you something much more significant, acceptance will bring you peace.

Right now, you can align with the present moment and provoke a state of peace and solitude. You can alleviate most forms of suffering by relaxing your body and mind just below the threshold of pain or suffering—you can do this right now! Try to clear everything out of your mind, especially your beliefs. Beliefs are just thoughts. If the things you believe are true or real, then they will stand up to the scrutiny during this exercise. You don't have to give up your beliefs right now, all at once—just try to calm your overactive mind and breathe slowly and deeply and feel the presence of life emanating from your body. You can do this in any situation, but it is especially powerful during times of great suffering. Calming your mind will give you a sense of relief. Once you are relaxed, try to concentrate on the thought, belief, pain, or fear, and tell yourself, "I accept this situation exactly as it is. I do not expect it to change." "I will not resist it because suffering is not who I am, and it is not the reason I am here." "I accept this situation just the way it is." If you can resist your stream of thoughts, you will experience the healing power of this exercise. A simple act of acceptance will weaken the pain, fear, sadness, depression, or addiction. This exercise strengthens your ability to control your thoughts and bring consciousness to the situation. You raise your level of consciousness every time you relax the mind into a state of presence. This practice gives you the strength to accept everything just as it is. Acceptance is the most powerfully transformative human ability. From within this nonresistant state of being, a Higher Will can flow through you and show you what is real and true.

### Certainty is Absurd

_Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd._

-Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

The most dangerous conclusion drawn by unconscious faith is the belief that your opinions are an absolute fact. You see, a truly conscious person will not make an absolute and final determination about something before they are awakened. But, how will you know when you are fully awake? By understanding that you are in a process, that you do not know everything about life, and by realizing that you do not need to know all of life's mysteries, you will begin to exist in a state of presence. In other words, the meaning of life is not derived from knowing a lot of facts but from living in presence. This is a state of not knowing (or not needing to know). Presence is not something you know; it is something you are. This is humility. With humility, you become empowered to abandon the desire to align yourself with opinions, beliefs, and traditions. Living in the present moment will keep you from concluding that the conditions of life are absolute. Since you do not form a defiant or defensive position, the truth can flow through and guide you (guide your thoughts and emotions). The only absolute is there are no absolutes. An awareness and acceptance of our own deficiencies may be the highest form of consciousness.

We cannot discuss a righteous attitude without also discussing the ego. The ego is woven together like a fine rug—the threads are a stronghold of unchangeable beliefs. Much like the ego, the rug only keeps its form if the threads remain constant, bound, and intertwined, holding hands in agreement with their collective counterparts. If we begin our awakening process as an incomplete being (an ego), then how can we determine with certainty what is truth or lies, good or evil, right or wrong? The word "truth" is often misused and confused with the word fact. Reality is life-giving and is always derived from a truth that is beyond human thinking. Although you may believe that your beliefs are factual and absolute, all beliefs must be deemed as changeable to prevent them from defining you. If you cannot allow the changeability of beliefs then you are marked and, therefore, strangled by their conceptualized identity. Humility, courage, and determination are the driving forces of self-discovery and not strong and unshakable beliefs. You cannot awaken to a higher force of will if your identity is fashioned together with an unyielding structure of beliefs. You can describe who you are to others or you can just be who you are. Being trumps knowing.

Religious institutions are comprised of people who agree on a common set of beliefs. This produces a comfortable environment for the members of the organization. Their beliefs are based upon scriptural interpretations, opinions, ideas, and behavioral expectations. The desire of most belief systems is to help people; however, if the wisdom is forced upon those who are not ready, the message will be distorted. There is no harm in aligning yourself with a religious organization so long as you remain open to the guidance of a Higher Will. If the collection of beliefs causes you to reject other sources of knowledge, you will isolate yourself from a deeper source of guidance. Sadly, many belief systems are convinced of their beliefs and, therefore, discard other sources of knowledge. An attitude of certainty about knowledge may cause an incorrect interpretation and destroy the intent of the knowledge.

You may agree that ideas or laws are unchangeable; therefore, it may be difficult for you to believe that the most obvious could change right before you or just for you. Allowing uncertainty and being flexible is crucial. Humility allows the present moment to be as it is. The result is a rise in conscious awareness. You can expand your present state of being by allowing the most obvious fact to be changeable.

Your life's journey is not an intellectual venture—you cannot just think or believe your away into an understanding of the meaning of life. Instead of trying to believe something into existence, you should allow life to be just as it is. Life is not absolute but a vibrant process; it does not need you to help create it. You only need to accept life's challenges regardless of the form they take. Although you can "create your own reality'; it is just your reality. Your constructed life may contradict the intent of a Higher Will.

Strong and unshakable beliefs are the foundation of most organized belief systems. The groups may feel so strongly about their beliefs that they apply them to others as a judgment. They impose their opinions (beliefs) in an attempt to control a person or group. In doing so, they often enforce a will, belief, or law unnecessarily. For example, you do not need a law to prevent you from murdering another person; your essence does not want to harm anyone. Although all people contain a primitive and reactive nature that may cause the death of another person, your higher intent is to give life, not take it.

For thousands of years, innocent humans have been conditioned by religious institutions to fear the consequences of terrible deeds that they would have never committed in the first place. The incessant suggestion of how bad you could be may actually cause people to commit the proposed "sin". Additionally, many religions establish a person as a "sinner" before they had ever "sinned" against a belief. This behavior is the basis for the fallacy "Everyone is a sinner." The belief in sin also created another fallacy called "forgiveness." In its genuine definition, forgiveness is an act of acceptance. Genuine forgiveness is an essential ability that comes only from living in the present moment; however, when exercised by an unconscious believer, one who feels he is free of transgression, forgiveness becomes a pride-filled act of judgment. In order to "forgive," the forgiver must first identify an absolute law (sin) that has been violated. Once sin is identified in another person or group, the ego becomes inflated with pride. As a result, the act of forgiveness is often executed with an attitude that implies that the forgiver is free of the so-called "sin." In reality, we all mistakes and must suffer the consequences with the hope that, during the process, lessons are learned, and a better world is created through redemption. There is no need for the manipulative tactic of confining a person to labels through the self-righteous act of forgiveness.

As a result of the failure of the ego's attempt to force its opinions into reality through a spirit of righteousness, you must relinquish your beliefs. If you sacrifice your opinions, the Higher Will can show you a new way to experience life. As a result, you will no longer contribute to the suffering of the chaotic world of religious or political laws and beliefs. You are no longer required to identify sin that must then be forgiven. Isn't your time better spent identifying your own weaknesses so you can strive for improvement in your own life? After all, aren't people already forgiven? Many Christians rely on a statement made by Christ, which is often quoted as "forgive them, for they know not what they do." By leaving out some of the words of Christ's statement, they end up adopting a condemnatory attitude. Armed with this tidbit of enlightenment, many believers take it upon themselves to be the judge and the forgiver. The complete statement was "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The message says nothing about judging the situation or taking forgiveness upon yourself as a way to righteously strengthen your identity. Without resistance, you can peacefully allow transgressions because they will be dealt with.

Beliefs are just a fleeting perception. A Higher Will may want you to see reality in your own unique way. Within the implementation of life, you begin your journey as your own interpreter, which helps design your reality. This is precisely the reason that an expectation or judgmental form of forgiveness of another person hardly instigates a behavior change (in them). We do not adequately serve others when we expect them to act or believe in a different way. The cognitive bias of assuming the likelihood of another person's thoughts or intent is derived from an attitude of absolute certainty about one's own religious beliefs. Feeling absolutely certain about an opinion creates the fragile foundation that props up all religious belief systems.

### Religion

_A member of a tribe of cannibals accepts cannibalism as altogether fitting and proper._

-Solomon Asch

Your life needs a fertile ground in order to nurture the seed of life. Religion is a common deception where members feel that their alignment with their traditions and beliefs is the fertile ground. They believe religion will give them what they need to become complete. Beware, religion offers many deceptive products and solutions disguised as fertile soil.

After thousands of years of experimenting with ideologies, we are beginning to understand that no collective structure can influence the force of will that caused us to be. Remarkably, most religions believe they hold the key to the meaning of life. They may believe that actions, traditions, and the size of the congregation somehow influences the Higher Will. Some may believe that their beliefs are the foundation of morality. Many religious institutions believe "we are the one true religion ... our God is the one true God." They are not aware that they are trying to explain God with their beliefs; therefore, they confine this force. Indeed, if any brand of religion or description of God could solve human problems, we would have already experienced a proliferation of its success around the world. Instead, we have thousands of belief systems and millions of dissatisfied members living predominantly under a delusion. Although many belief-based organizations mean well and often help to improve the human condition, they are restricted from understanding the complete process of awakening. This is not to say that you should not be part of a religious organization. Belief systems are an indispensable part of the process of renewal so long as you engage with them consciously. A conscious person is able to engage with any belief system without being duped and dragged into its state of unconsciousness. By living consciously, you will realize the value or meaning of all life experiences. You will be able to influence the various unconscious activities that emanate from those around you. In other words, through a state of being, you become a teacher of a higher force of will.

As expected with any misaligned institution, the members end up contradicting their own beliefs. As a result, there are over forty-two hundred religions on Earth. Why do we have so many religions? For one thing, they are typically fashioned around the traditions of the local culture. If the members are unconscious, which most people are, the structure must evolve around human discord and disfunction. The transformation of the belief system comes from a response to it **s** mistakes or failures. In other words, religions are derivatives of each other formed unconsciously by people who feel they are qualified to interpret the meaning of life. While asleep, we continue to create.

When unconscious people create a new religion, it is a noble attempt to improve the last one; however, it almost always ends up accusatory, divisive, and judgmental. Let's face it, people change, cultures change, the world is ever-changing, and for this reason, the dynamic nature of life may cause a belief system to become a dead language. I suspect that many of the religions on Earth today are dead languages propped up by unconscious traditions. Since everything is always changing, religion eventually loses its effectiveness. Religious traditions cause it to be static and incapable of following the dynamic nature of a higher force. One would expect a world of peace after thousands of years of experimenting and applying religious values, beliefs, and laws. Regardless of the eventual success or failure of an organized belief system, be it religious or political, a Higher Will has always been active and applying itself following its own desires. After all, the beauty, might, and wonder of the Cosmos came about without our involvement, long before we were here with our organized religious institutions.

So, how did the invention of religion arise within the human condition? While it may seem counterintuitive due to its various misconceptions, religion is actually an essential part of the process of awakening. An unconscious person lives predominantly in his mind, separate from life. The consequence of creating a sense of separateness from life is a proliferation of fear, laws, superstitions, rituals, and traditions. Quite often, this behavior results in the formation of a new religion. Clearly, this false sense of independence was imprinted on the human mind at birth; it was meant to suppress a person's ability to awaken. We now understand that there is an important reason for this. In the early stage of spiritual development, a person may assume they are empowered to interpret life. They must learn through the results of their own actions that they are not in control. The attitude of independence drives the belief that one is qualified to interpret everything.

What is the root cause of religious behavior? The structure of religion probably came from our need to survive as part of a group, tribe, or community. In other words, religion has its roots in human acceptance and, in some cases, our own survival! If a believer becomes conscious and realizes the fallacy of the beliefs and then begins to publicly disagree or speak out against the religion, they could be rejected from the family, community, church or, as we often observe with the many radical religions that continue to pervade the planet, a person could be ostracized or they could even be murdered by the delusional believers.

Clearly, the awakening process was implemented in a way so that it could not be exploited, accredited, manipulated, or traded. The Higher Will is motivated by its own will and not by the desires of people. An attempt by an individual or group to promote or defend an interpretation of this majestic force immediately activates a process that will break down the delusion. The truth needs no defense; therefore, when someone defends it, they instantly transmute it into something that is not the "truth." This is the cycle of religion. While trapped in this cycle, a believer feels they know the truth before they are allowed to know.

I want to be careful so as not to completely denounce religion because it is not the enemy of the awakening process; it is part of this higher process. The evidence that religion is not the portal into your awakening process must come from your own observations and experience. Despite the struggles of religious groups, you can credit them for a predominantly stable and peaceful world. In other words, they mean well. Unfortunately, some people view the world as out of control, sinful, and on the verge of self-destruction. They mistakenly focus their affection on the world of form instead of an eternal version of life. They care about the world and its processes and want it to be made whole. The world will never be made whole—only you can be made whole.

The meaning of your life is to awaken in the midst of unconsciousness. You do not have to abandon your religion, disconnect from your family, reject the teachings entirely, or pick a fight with other members of the belief system. Merely rise above them, silently. Your own conscious state of being could be the spark of life that will motivate others.

Despite religion's shortcomings, it plays a significant role in the process of awakening. Religion is a valuable tool that can help serve as a guide—a steppingstone on the journey to a present state of being and a realization of your purpose for being here. By experiencing religion's inability to make you whole, it becomes a great teacher. All along, religion may have been the essential experience needed to raise you out of your deep sleep into presence. Through consciousness, you become a portal for the Higher Will to manifest its intentions.

Various obstacles are placed before you on your journey through life. Religious, cultural, political, and philosophical beliefs can be both empowering and an obstacle. Overcoming barriers is part of your awakening! Beliefs can guide you out of one state of mind and into another. Although your beliefs may have provided you with essential guidance, fulfillment cannot be achieved solely through your bold agreements. Your religious or philosophical beliefs are crucial for your awakening, but a Higher Will must guide you in its own specific way.

For the most part, religious institutions are groups of people agreeing to believe, worship, and apply mostly positive values. They often help establish a sense of hope within society. Although religion may be an indispensable part of human civilization, it cannot guarantee your transcendence. Beliefs are not the end of your process, but a corridor to the next step in your awakening. With this understanding, you can place all of your beliefs up for examination, question them, and align with a reality that was designed just for you. You can do this without blaming or accusing the belief system from which you came—they were never capable of completing your life.

Expanding your personal identity by following traditions or by becoming a follower of a religion is an essential experience in your awakening, but you will not find completeness by merely joining the group. Those who require public acceptance or display of their beliefs will only temporarily find that which will make them whole. Observe anyone who has strong, unshakable beliefs, and you will find unhappiness in their life.

Through your experiences, you are being guided to accept people and situations just as they are. Beliefs, opinions, and traditions pull you out of alignment with an affectionate and accepting state of being. Acceptance is the fruit of the tree of life, which is trying to spring forth within you right now. Acceptance causes you to inherit the good fruit of suffering. Beliefs are a vital tool on your journey; however, your opinions may change many times throughout your awakening process. Once your beliefs change, you must reconcile with all the people you inappropriately accused while prescribing your beliefs.

Conscious human expressions are supported by humility, affection, and acceptance—they are always provoked by others and never forced upon people. Many belief systems unknowingly pressure their beliefs onto others both directly and indirectly. Evidently, many religious institutions want you to give to them, but most are unable to give anything back. True giving and receiving occur when your thoughts are rooted in the present moment. The spirit of giving will draw people together. Wherever you find people brought together in a caring, loving, and accepting way, there is charity!

Does your sense of purpose come from believing in something? How would you fit into the world if you did not believe in something? Clearly, a person cannot say, "I do not believe in believing." since that is also a belief. If you must believe in something, you could choose to believe that everything already is as it was meant to be, including the bad stuff. You see, the human semiconscious condition causes not only an assumption that one is qualified to interpret life, but also a delusion of being right. Ultimately, consciousness can only arise outside the constraints of your beliefs.

Religion is one of humankind's greatest inventions. Although it can distract you from the intent of a Higher Will, your beliefs are a valuable part of the awakening process. Religion assists in establishing moral societies, it joins people together, and it introduces people to a Higher Will. Religion is essential for humankind to navigate the difficult road of finding meaning and purpose. If there are sentient beings on other planets, they will have certainly discovered the power, fallacies, and benefits of religion.

Religious Dissonance

Religious trauma syndrome (RTS) is a set of symptoms and characteristics that tend to go together and which are related to harmful experiences with religion. They are the result of two things: immersion in a controlling religion and the secondary impact of leaving a religious group. The RTS label provides a name and description that affected people often recognize immediately. Many other people are surprised by the idea of RTS because in our culture it is generally assumed that religion is benign or good for you. Just like telling kids about Santa Claus and letting them work out their beliefs later, people see no harm in teaching religion to children.

-Dr. Marlene Winell

A common desire of people who live under the delusion of having possession of a so-called "truth" is that others should conform to the understanding. Their version of a "truth" is often prescribed out of an attitude of expectation. Consequently, many collective belief systems expect you to adopt their beliefs before you will be accepted into their organization. Those outside the group are despised because "they just do not understand the truth." Quite often the outsiders are labeled "nonbelievers," "sinners," "or "deceived." "They are going to hell." The individuals outside the group are actually normal; however, the truly "deceived" (conditioned) believers will not accept them and may label them as a "sinners" who need to be "saved" and, in extreme cases, they may decide they are an enemy who must be destroyed. This is an example of how religious conditioning can prevent a person from accepting and loving others; it is the greatest evidence of religion's fallacy. While living free of the deep sleep of religious restraint, you understand that you cannot consciously influence a person unless you first accept them just the way they are. This is the true meaning of unconditional love.

Of the thousands of religions on Earth, many of them make a common mistake. Their determination to be right causes them to suggest that their way is the only way, and this can become condemnatory, hostile, immoral, and malicious. So long as you adhere to the beliefs, you are accepted, promised an afterlife, will go to heaven, avoid purgatory, or will not burn in hell. Some traditions are valuable as the fear they invoke helps to create a somewhat functioning, lawful, just, and less chaotic world. One could argue that humans could realize the same world without religion. After all, the deep care we have for each other was not caused by religion. Sadly, many religious beliefs contradict the powerful forces of love, compassion, empathy, peace, tranquility, and consciousness.

How did we get here? Initially, your true identity is cloaked within the unrest of the ego. This causes a deeper version of you to cause conflict with your ego. The experience of being an individual wrapped in unconsciousness is a process that is meant to guide you to a deeper understanding of your life. The conflict erupts from the awareness of two realities. This is reflected in the resistant believer who honors the external world but senses a deeper reason for the purpose of their life. Initially, your innate sense of a Higher Will causes not only confusion but also curiosity. You sense this force as subtle background noise in your life—a deep subconscious influence. The strange emotions coming from within this state are often incomprehensible. As a result, you are required to interpret your life through the veil of unconsciousness or through the lens of your religious conditioning. This is a necessary delusion. While unconscious, a person believes they understand life, but they really only have a slight sense of a moral directive. This is often referred to as a "sense of morality", "moral compass," or "conscience." The innate desire for understanding is one of the greatest gifts of our design. You already contain the emotional intelligence for right and wrong; therefore, with maturity, this instinct can protect you when false doctrines approach.

Your beliefs are motivated by your childhood influence. Because you crave personal relationships, you agree to follow social rules to improve your social well-being. Everyone wants and needs to be loved; therefore, it is essential for humans to develop strong, loving, and conscious relationships. Some people may oppose the standards, traditions, or beliefs that were implanted during childhood. Consequently, they may be disowned, disinherited, or excommunicated by a hardened and unconscious parent who believes they have power over their family. This is a spiritual ego where a person feels they are in a position of knowledge. A person may have the knowledge, but they may not know how to dispense it. As a result, conflicts, disagreements, and feuds may result from the beliefs of an unconscious person or group. The person rejected may react by joining (or creating) a different religion, or they may decide to explore agnosticism or atheism. Unconsciousness is the result of misaligned beliefs; it is an integral part of an awakening process, and this is good. The hope is that they will eventually mature to the point of not requiring any labels, not joining any group, not needing recognition, and not requiring acceptance. They become a watcher, a frequency holder, and a catalyst for something higher that can use them throughout the implementation of a higher force of will.

The history of civilization has given us many examples of the power of mental conditioning. Undoubtedly, most people do not choose their beliefs. As discussed earlier, a person will usually adhere to the beliefs that were introduced by their caregivers. Caregivers also inherited their religion. As an example, over twenty-five hundred years ago, many children were born into the Kingdom of the Ancient Britons. This civilization developed a system of worship centered around specially placed rocks known as Stonehenge. According to many scientists, the arrangement of the stones is a calculated alignment with the Sun or other celestial objects. Without scientific evidence, and by following an innate desire, the tribes acted on their sense of interconnectedness with the strange lights coming from the heavens. They created structures to express their thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. Intriguingly, numerous cultures around the world made the same observations around the same time in history. The ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Europeans, Mayans, Chinese, and the Indigenous people of North and South America also demonstrated their sense of belonging by glorifying the cycles of the Earth and Sun with stone structures. The children within these groups absorbed the traditions, myths, and beliefs without choice. In many of these cultures, the patterns developed into something more than just the knowledge of alignments, stars, and seasons; they made Gods out of the events. As part of the gradual process of human awakening, the ancient civilizations eventually learned that they could not satisfy the urge to find purpose by building stone calendars, pyramids, or objects that map the cycles of the Sun or the trajectory of the planets.

We can further explore religious dissonance by examining parental behaviors. Around the world, millions of children live in comfortable homes with both parents supporting them. They have plenty of food, clothes, and toys, but many have been emotionally abandoned. The costly living standards may cause a parent to become lost in the unconscious and conditioned concerns of living a prosperous life. Many overachieving parents overschedule their children in after school programs in an attempt to prepare them for success (to make their child better than other children). Some parents deliberately hold their children back from the first year of school because they believe this will give the child an advantage; they will be more developed, smarter, taller, or stronger than the other students. Sadly, children are often placed in child-care facilities because the parents must work in order to maintain a higher standard of living. On top of this, parents may add additional pressures to their child's developing mind through religious indoctrination. Caregivers often implant selfishness, greed, racism, sexism, and other prejudices in an attempt to convince the child that they are better than other children. "We are going to heaven and they are going to hell." This delusion is baked into a recipe of success which includes justified religious beliefs. In their view, it all seems proper so long as they believe that God is on their side.

Unconscious caregivers such as parents, teachers, and church leaders may not recognize the internal struggle they have caused solely by their beliefs. The light of their life is darkened by their determination to force an ideology to be true. A parent's insecurities about the validity of their beliefs cause them to teach their children the standards they think should be universal. They do not understand that no child is actually a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist, or a member of any political party. They are only the child of a parent who identifies with such beliefs.

Emotional and mental treatment in authoritarian religious groups also can be damaging because of 1) toxic teachings like eternal damnation or original sin 2) religious practices or mindset, such as punishment, black and white thinking, or sexual guilt, and 3) neglect that prevents a person from having the information or opportunities to develop normally.

-Dr. Marlene Winell

Around the world, millions of children live in extreme poverty without food, clothes, health care, or education; however, their spirit is strong because consciousness increases when there is suffering. Suffering can force you into a present state of being. If the caregivers teach their children that an economic disadvantage is unacceptable, they may inadvertently foster a desire for money, success, fame, and power in their children. This often results in an immigration crisis where impoverished people seek their fortune in the countries that promote prosperity as part of the meaning of life. In the final analysis, economically disadvantaged (or religiously conditioned) children have a better opportunity for success in life, especially when their suffering leads to consciousness and the abandonment of ineffective beliefs or traditions.

Of the thousands of religions on Earth, most are established after the failure of another belief system. Generally speaking, a person or group of people will leave one religion then modify or completely replace it with a different system. This explains the similarities in many religions—they are variants of each other, which is expected with anything that is motivated by the human creative process. As with the previous system of beliefs, the new permutated belief system is expanded through recruitment. Any group that must rely on the recruitment of others to maintain its structure will eventually fail. Collectives are often burdened with grievances, unhappiness, conflict, and resistance because they attempt to force something to be true using the power of mental conditioning. Ultimately, the members of the Ancient Briton tribes abandoned their beliefs (in Stonehenge). They may have thought "This stone calendar no longer satisfies me; I want to try something different." or maybe another group killed them all because they believed "our God is the one true God."

The ideas and rules of most belief systems are a result of an honest attempt to do right and to be good. Clearly, the members are acting on a desire to understand their life's purpose. Although many religions provide temporary satisfaction, many are eventually corrupted by the unconscious (uneducated) mind from which they originated. The current state of the human condition continues to struggle with faith. One of the most compelling observations is the global distribution of religion. For example, Christianity has been popular in the West although many other religions flourish there. This is the outcome of the promotion of desirable qualities such as success, prosperity, liberty, and freedom.

In recent years, many governments have loosened their constraints—they allow their citizens some religious freedom. They understand that you cannot stop a person's desire to explore their spiritual nature. A government that does not tolerate religion cannot inhibit those who want to find the true meaning of their life. As history has demonstrated, anyone who stands in the way of a person's awakening process is eventually destroyed. An institution that attempts to prevent people from exploring their spirituality will ultimately increase such desires and will subsequently awaken the destructive forces that lead to the organization or government's own destruction.

Many people have experienced the lies, distortions, misinterpretations, and discord created by religion. As a result, some people give up and conclude that the doctrine is incorrect or "God is not real." As expected, an intelligent person will understand and often react to religious deceptions. If humans were incapable of recognizing falsehoods could we actually call ourselves intelligent beings? People would continue to believe in the Sun God, unicorns, Sasquatch, witches, and other myths.

### Religion and Science

_A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty - it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man._

-Albert Einstein

Many of humankind's greatest thinkers acknowledged the evidence of a higher force of will. Many were genuinely humbled by the understanding of the grandeur, radiance, and magnitude of a perplexing force. Humankind has made incredible discoveries in its quest to understand the Cosmos. Many scientists, philosophers, cosmologists, and theoretical physicists have concluded that a mysterious, untouchable force is responsible for life. Many scientists believe that there are limits and boundaries to humankind's pursuit of this knowledge. As we now understand, you cannot merely think, calculate, or imagine the intent of the Higher Will—you require humility. Charles Darwin, his wife, and their contemporaries struggled deeply with the role of science and faith. You cannot have one without the other. In the history of humankind, many people devoted themselves to understanding how life came to be. Unfortunately, they were persecuted because their discoveries infringed on traditional thought or religious beliefs. Although many people were oppressed or killed it was impossible to extinguish their burning desire to understand life.

Despite thousands of years of humans pondering their place in the world, the most difficult questions remain unanswered. It seems that the harder you pull for some answers, the stronger they resist being discovered. This behavior is similar to the Strong Nuclear Force that binds quarks together. The more you try to pull the trio of quarks apart, the more they resist. The laws of nature and physics and the laws of your spiritual nature are the same. You cannot force something to be true using only your thoughts. The "existence of something we cannot penetrate," as described by Albert Einstein, explains the restriction placed on the abilities of human thinking. The wonders of life are accessible, but only if a higher force of will allows you to understand. The knowledge may not be necessary for the intent of your life, which is to surrender and live in a present state of being.

As Einstein discovered, science alone cannot provide answers to the deepest mysteries of life. Humans rely on the discipline of science because it has resulted in many beneficial discoveries and solutions. Psychiatry is the best science we have to help us understand the mind, yet it is unable to unravel human purpose by examining behaviors, personality, or neurochemistry. If you ask philosophers, they will provide answers using a philosophical approach. An evolutionary biologist can discuss the origins of life by describing DNA. Clearly, the intentions of the Higher Will are dynamic. In other words, you cannot conceptualize the intent of a higher force of will since it is unknowable. The only solution to this dilemma is to forego the intellect and just let the Higher Will be as it intends to be. Cultivating a meek attitude will enable a higher version of life to surface within you. This cultivation of a new attitude can come about in surprisingly simple ways.

Humility allowed Albert Einstein to discover many extraordinary things. Einstein's meekness and his deep contemplation of a multitude of disciplines occurred while riding a bicycle. We always have the power to access a deeper influence by interacting with nature or by engaging in physical activity such as walking, hiking, jogging, biking, or climbing. So long as the effort is not an attempt to define the Self, exercise can activate your dormant powers. One thing is clear, exercise plays an important role in becoming humble and present. Einstein once said, "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." He also used surrender and introspection to find answers. Within several of his biographies or quotes, you will find numerous examples of his attitude of surrendering to something higher in order to find answers. Einstein developed an extraordinary sense of humility during his pursuit of understanding life. He must have learned that a complete understanding of anything only exists within the vast space of a present moment reality. As a result of this analysis, I have concluded that you just have to be unsophisticated, free, open, surrendered, accepting, and humble to allow the original intelligence of life to fill your space.

A complete understanding of life in the Cosmos may require many intellectual disciplines; furthermore, a person may discover they do not require a complete understanding. Instead of pursuing meaning, maybe we are being guided to allow the meaning of life—to align with it. This approach does not require extensive academic studies, the memorization of religious Scriptures, or reciting mantras. Since the human lifespan does not afford us the possibility of being an Isaac Newton, Confucius, Charles Darwin, Steven W. Hawking, Sigmund Freud, Aristotle, Albert Einstein, and millions of other great thinkers throughout history, we must conclude that understanding life does not come from knowledge alone—the meaning of life is not derived from an intellectual pursuit. An awakening is possible for all people, including the unsophisticated or uneducated person. When _meaning_ surfaces in your present moment reality it is always with profound clarity and simplicity. This newfound clarity causes you to have an unquenchable desire to express love. The meaning of life cannot be acquired from a soulless search for the knowledge of the mechanisms of life. We require something else.

The works of Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, Einstein, Darwin, and many other prominent thinkers throughout the ages have challenged some of society's deepest held beliefs about their place in the Universe. Life appears to be a conscious process; it comes from something that is already enlightened, already awake. Friedrich Nietzsche described this source as "A will to power." Christian beliefs include the six days of creation (God rested on the seventh day). A common Atheist view is that the Universe came from nothing, "something from nothing." Of course, the various conclusions do not explain how or why the Universe, and ultimately humans, came to be. Evidently, a boundary has been set for our thoughts about our origins. By pushing too hard on this boundary, people often provoke their imagination. As a result, they may reach an incorrect conclusion. The penalty for this overconfident urgency is a new delusion. The delusion is a consequence of using the imagination to decipher the force of life. You will only find the answers to complex questions when you allow life to be as it is. In your pursuit, if you experience confusion or frustration, then you may have reached a boundary! Ignorance is a type of truth where no answer is the actual answer. You reap the reward of the understanding when you allow the non-answer. The human condition wants all knowledge, but it is not allowed to have it. Developing strong, unshakable beliefs without evidence is the result of this frustration—a person may actually choose to believe in something despite not having proof. A person can believe in anything if they are only attempting to satisfy an urgency to understand.

The discoveries of passionate and dedicated people are astounding and contribute to the expansion of human understanding. We have always been an interconnected family made up of the conscious and the unconscious. Human discoveries can be beneficial, but only if they originate from meekness. The "knowledge" of something does not necessarily produce a life-giving "spirit of truth'—it must be inspired. Although the meaning of life cannot be wholly unraveled through human intellect, the process of awakening can reveal your answers for you. The Higher Will wants to give you something that is deeper than just knowledge; it wants to bestow understanding. Surrender, humility, peace, presence, and affection are the highest levels of understanding.

Science and faith can coexist, but only when a person's thoughts are rooted in the present moment. The discipline of science helps humanity make sense of life; it has done this quite well. An example can be found in the application of the Scientific Method. By using empirical or measurable evidence Scientists allow reality to speak to them versus forming a desirable outcome using only the imagination. On the other hand, untethered thinking may increase unconsciousness, especially when it does not adhere to the policies of good Science, which is accessible, cooperative, and an eagerness for scrutiny.

### God

_The God that can be spoken of is not the eternal God._

-from The Dao De Jing

When asked if they believe in God, a person may respond with "which God?" They want to bring your attention to the thousands of ideas about who or what God is. Because there are many religions with different versions of God, how could a person answer such a question? After all, a belief is just an opinion. Quite often, when a person asks about your beliefs, they are just trying to determine if you have the same opinion. They need to know if you are acceptable—if you are part of _their_ delusion.

Undoubtedly, you must develop your own relationship with a higher force of will, but you cannot do this unless you scrutinize the beliefs you inherited. Of course, the best place to find an answer is through a state of presence. Instead of using your mind to conjure up an answer, you can find a solution with mental silence. Through silence, you will find purpose and meaning. The ultimate purpose of your life is to produce a new life. This is not merely the creation of a physical child, but a new life that flows from your alignment with a Higher Will. Your ability to live in a peaceful state of acceptance exemplifies a Higher Will. This conditioned acceptance exposes the essence of a real God, and it is without scientific evidence, names, labels, or any words whatsoever.

Your experience of a misrepresented God is essential for your awakening process. Most Gods are created in the imagination, and this leads to disillusionment. As expected, a person may feel qualified to describe God to others. This is usually part of doctrine where members are encouraged to "spread the word of God." Well-intentioned, frustrated, confused, or delusional people think they know God; therefore, they often dispense their version of God to others. They unknowingly impose their ideas with a spirit of expectation, accusation, or judgment. Clearly, a higher force of will has already made its presence known with your life. Does this powerful source require unprocessed human beings to convince the world of its existence? Many religious collectives denounce those who ask such questions and label them as nonbelievers, sinners, or other condemnatory terms like "antichrist." They judge those who question their own strong and unshakable (delusional) beliefs. By judging others, they judge themselves. Religious self-righteousness results in judges and accusers, and this reinforces the position of nonbelievers, Agnostics, and Atheists. Many so-called "Nonbelievers" are actually rejecting a belief that is, in fact, untrue. With the proper meaning of the concept of Christ, those who call others "antichrist" are actually demonstrating a true antichrist behavior.

The Greek definition of anointed is "to be covered in oil", which is a metaphor for being covered in life. A person who is genuinely aligned with a higher force of will (anointed) will not label another person or group. Labeling is akin to judging, which demonstrates their immaturity in the higher process that is taking place. Awakened, mature, and anointed people understand that every living being has the potential for life and will go to great lengths to encourage the growth and development of that person or group. Unfortunately, while immature, believers aggressively apply their opinions as facts or laws that are unchangeable and applicable to all. Through their faith, they represent a cynical spirit of opposition. This spirit alone raises the suspicion of the very people they are trying to convert.

Quite often, Christians create Atheists. Many Nonbelievers are merely reacting to an incorrect description of God either incorrect factually or in spirit. Some Atheists respond not only with scientific evidence but also from a deep sense that the concept presented to them is not valid. This rejection is often caused by the amplified descriptions of a false God—one that was created by the imagination. As a result, "believers" often darken the light of the truth with their determination to force their version of God to be true. Many people are lured into believing things that satisfy them short-term; therefore, the exaggerated descriptions of God are attractive. The attempt to promote or defend a God with words usually fails or eventually helps to expose the fallacy. I will further explore the true meaning of the word Christ in Chapter Six, "The Return of the Higher Will."

Believing in God is like believing in the wind; although the wind is invisible, you trust that it is real because it moves you. I can't think of a better description of a force that is often misunderstood, incomprehensible, invisible, omnipotent, and a range of other attributes and human qualities. Humans must create a description of a God or Gods because rational thoughts require a clear explanation before they can be examined, understood, discussed, or reliable. Of course, the wind isn't actually nothing just because it is invisible. Through the application of the seven steps of the Scientific Method, humans discovered that the wind is made of molecules that contain atoms; it is measurable and can be explained as a combination of many gasses influenced by atmospheric pressures. The wind is a natural movement of air.

I find it remarkable that, in the absence of rational, factual, and tested knowledge, a person or group may prematurely formulate an explanation for thoughts, ideas, and experiences. Of course, humans were affected by and, therefore, believed in the wind long before it was so easily explained. Clearly, one must recognize their own ignorance before they will apply a formula that will bring understanding. Appreciating your own intellectual deficiency lays the groundwork for implementing a plan that will guide you to the truth.

As you would expect, when ignorance stimulates the imagination, Gods are often created. In ancient Greece, the winds were believed to be Gods who were ruled over by a higher God. Aeolus was the God of wind. The four wind Gods were known as Boreaus, the north wind, Notos, the south wind, Zephryos, the west wind, and Euros, the east wind. The Greeks went so far as to assign Gods to the northwest, southwest, northeast, and southeast winds. Such assumptions are entirely understandable since the winds dramatically influence the human condition. It is clear that the unconscious (ignorant) human thought process has a tendency to apply or assign a God or Gods to the things it does not understand.

Deep within, every human being has the potential to connect with a mysterious force of life. We sense that this force is somehow responsible for all the majestic processes that have allowed us to be. The occasional provocation of this elusive sense of something powerful explains the reason humans demonstrate a strong desire to create and then devote themselves to deities, religions, and gods.

How many descriptions have you ever heard of God? Do you agree with all the descriptions? Are they consistent? Do you believe in a loving God, a vengeful God, or both? Have you noticed the numerous and varied stories about God? Did you make a decision to believe in God or were your beliefs influenced by your familial or cultural conditioning? Who is qualified to explain God to others? Wouldn't a human need to be as powerful as a God to explain such an entity beyond an intuitive sense that it exists? Another way to explore the belief in God is to bring attention to your own emotions about a higher power. Are you offended when you find that someone you know believes differently or is a member of a different religion, ideology, or belief system? This question assumes you are ready to recognize the things that offend you. Do you despise other religions, nonbelievers, Agnostics, or Atheists? If you are an Atheist, do you dislike religious people? Are you an aggressive Atheist, Christian, or Muslim?

Although the idea of God is mostly beyond human thinking, many people can sense a more profound meaning than what has been presented by family, society, religion, or government. This sense of human purpose has been given various names throughout human history. Regardless of the labels used to conceptualize this force, the actual perception of a higher force of will is the actual source. The realization itself is the connection you have with this source of life. Unfortunately, in their lack of understanding, many people humanize this force—they form an idea using the human template. They conceptualize God before they are educated, awake, conscious, or humble. Moreover, must initially sense that a higher force of will is something separate from us. For example, if a person was taught that "God is a father," then she may relate paternal experiences to this force. A person may conclude "God cannot be a part of me because I am already a complete individual." For many people, their God exists only "above," "out there," or "watching over me." This is an attitude of separation. You are initially separated from the source of life within your thoughts, but there is an important reason for this misperception.

A person may believe in the conceptualized unseen (imagination), but is a gut feeling enough to make the unseen real? Don't you want to believe only in that which is real and true? If you cannot determine what is real and true, the acknowledgment of your own ignorance is much more valuable than the decision to form or align with an unfounded opinion. Doesn't your short time here on Earth deserve to be aligned with that which is real and true? As psychologist and author Elizabeth Loftus once said, "What we believe with all our hearts is not necessarily the truth." If intuition is not grounded in a present moment reality, then why would you trust it? Intuition is just a wistful sense; however, its provocation comes from many sources—mostly your own semiconscious thoughts. As a result, the imagination forms an image of something despite having no physical evidence. Faith is a word that represents this behavior. Irrespective of your affection for the word faith, which most often comes from religious conditioning, most faith-based beliefs are just an opinion formed in the imagination. The misuse of faith has also created ghosts, demons, monsters, unicorns, leprechauns, and all the Gods of history. Many people believe in myths because they have "faith" in the ideas, and it is for this reason that you will often fail at trying to set them straight. Faith has the power to confine a person to a strong and unshakable position—an opinion of being right.

Let's face it, reality or "truth" does not necessarily need to be understood. Despite your education, some things may never be understood—some things are not allowed to be understood. I have not been educated as a chemist; therefore, I don't know how to put together or pull apart chemical compounds. Notwithstanding, I am part of the chemical world in everything I do. I am made of chemicals. Clearly, the truth of life does not need to make sense to be true. As astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson once said, "The Universe (truth) is under no obligation to make sense to you!"

Within all monotheistic religions, where members believe in a single God, there are countless variations in the follower's descriptions of God. Interestingly, most religious groups feel that their version of God is the "one true God." Although you may believe that your God is the one true God, you actually inherited this as a form of deity pride. This deception is useful for survival in more ways than one—just ask the so-called heretics during the struggle for Christendom. Many good people were killed because they did not agree with the haughty opinions of the Catholic church or Henry VIII's new Church of England.

Interestingly, those who resolutely believe that the Christian God is the one true God often demonstrate that money, success, fame, power, or the need to be right are indeed their god. They are stubbornly defended their conceptualized god, but their behavior tells a different story. Their god is actually a form of vanity. Many people live a life of fear due to their confused ideas about both the Old Testament and the New Testament God. The fact is, the belief in most God or Gods comes from caregiver influence; it is not derived from education, experience, or choice. If you had been born in an ancient pagan society, you would have most likely worshiped Thor or Odin. If you were born in ancient Greece, Zeus would have been your God. If you had been born in ancient China, you would have worshiped the many gods of Chinese Mythology. In ancient Egypt, you would have worshiped Amun-Ra, Mut, Anubis, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Thoth, Hathor, Sekhmet, Geb, or Ra, the Sun God.

Obviously, beliefs are inherited from well-meaning but unconscious caregivers. For many years, I believed that the indoctrination of children was the most despicable of all the tragedies of the human condition. As we will discuss in Chapter Four - The Imagination, there is an essential reason for our original conditioning. The Higher Will uses all sorts of methods to strengthen us. Just as Darwin showed us that life is much more powerful when it must "struggle for existence," your spiritual journey must also struggle in its advancement toward a meaningful life. Darwin did not create the struggle for existence, he merely observed life. Evidently, throughout life, obstacles are placed before us as something that we can and should strive to overcome. Think about another religion that you feel is not valid, not aligned with reality, or whose God or Gods you believe to be false. Right now, that religion has power because its members have faith in it!

The next essential questions that I must ask are, why do people want to believe in a God and why do so many cultures act out the same behavior pattern of worshiping an unseen force? We often use thought experiments and self-examination to better our understanding of difficult questions, but the information used in the experiment is entirely based upon your familial influence, culture, experience, mood, education, assumptions, and memory retrieval abilities. In other words, we often only allow our thoughts to guide our beliefs. We stand firm with the final result without noticing that we usually drift back into confusion or a sense of dissatisfaction. If faith is the catalyst to the truth, then why do so many believers and defenders of the word faith demonstrate incessant discontentment?

Apparently, humans are incomplete spiritual lifeforms who continuously seek an answer to their longing to be whole. This is obvious in our intense creative energy. It seems that the human spirit initially sets out to design, make, build, or perfect something. We can't help it! The creative urge motivates our thoughts into actions. The fundamental role of the human thought process is to gather information, place the information into the imagination, and then use the results in a meaningful way. With this holistic view of the world, the mind can focus on the sense, feeling, urge, or desire and form an image. This is often followed by the formation of a new idea, desire, and action. This ability helps the human being understand and navigate a complicated world. Of course, until a human learns how to live in a present moment reality, many of his beliefs (creations) are assumptions about that which will satisfy the creative urge.

An unprocessed, unconscious, or misguided person has a narrow perception of his world. The individual uses the attributes of the Self, attaches them to thoughts, then hands the result over to the imagination. The imagination takes the resulting thought-based product and does its best to formulate a belief that is beneficial to the raw desires of the individual. It may form an action based upon the conclusion. If the action provides some sense of satisfaction, the person will begin to believe in the idea. In other words, people are inclined to glorify their conceptions, experiences, opinions, perceptions, and beliefs, especially those that provide some sort of pleasure, acceptance, comfort, or safety. Distinctly, humans are initially required to experience a conceptualized and imagined reality so they will learn that an eternal version of life cannot be imagined.

The obvious intrinsic danger of maligned beliefs is in the way they affect human behavior. As explained earlier, the Greeks and many other civilizations believed that the winds were Gods. In an attempt to control these Gods, human sacrifices were often made. Countless humans have martyred themselves while living under a delusion. In history, millions of innocent people have been murdered in an attempt to appease a God.

Although history continues to repeat itself within human behavior, you can avoid many of the tragedies of the human experience. You can develop a relationship with a real force of life, and this does not require you to acknowledge it or give it a name. In the simplest explanation, a Higher Will is a mysterious force that every human becomes aware of in some way. Additionally, life's eternal force does not come from the imagination and its effort or actions, no matter how wonderful they may feel. The existence of a higher force of will does not come from belief. How powerful or real could a God be if it only exists as a result of collective human acknowledgment? The attempt to "believe" something into existence is the beginning of a delusion. All that is real and true does not require human belief; it comes from acceptance.

As a result of man-made delusions, many people end up skeptical. A person or group may (should) reject the spirit, tone, or attitude expressed by the efforts of a religious collective. Sometimes, religion will attempt to explain God, but this only exposes their unconscious attempt to make a determination about a matter that confounds. As the evolutionary biologist, author, and noted Atheist Richard Dawkins once explained: "I cannot say there is a God and I cannot say there isn't!" I think this is an excellent explanation coming from a leading author and lecturer on Atheism. How beneficial it would be if a religious group had the humility to raise the possibility of a Higher Will without the need to force it to be so with their often aggressive and arrogant "Ours is the one true God!" approach.

The Higher Will can surface in your life once you isolate your self-identity. Specifically, you must abandon any behavior that reinforces a Self, such as the bad habit of trying to make things true by insisting that they are true. Just ask a person who discovered Atheism during their struggle to believe only to be excommunicated, shunned, or disowned by the self-proclaimed God-fearing father or mother who is "right" and everyone else is "wrong." Because of their experimentation with the label "Atheist", this sort of person is much farther along in the awakening process—they are much more capable of understanding the meaning of life than the delusional, self-righteous believer. The experimentation, seeking, and testing phase of the awakening process provides a person with valuable evidence for the truth or the fallacy of the beliefs they are testing. During this phase, the aggressive actions of those who think they are "right" will expose their religious beliefs as genuinely invalid, improper, fruitless, and lifeless creations of the imagination. In the final analysis, Atheists, Agnostics, and nonbelievers are actually created by unconscious religious believers.

Descriptions of God are often tainted with opinions resulting in aggressive religious brainwashing. You do not need to be an intellectual, philosopher, scientist, scholar, or have superior intelligence to understand the Higher Will. You only need to be humble within your life to allow all that is real and true to surface within you. With surrender, you will begin to see life for what it is right now. Fortunately, you can experience the might and power of a higher force of will without having to name it, explain it, promote it, or force it to be so.

Unconscious beings humanize their sense of a higher force of will. This is the only way they understand this force. In other words, they turn the awareness of an inner reverberating force of life into a God with many colorful descriptions of how it thinks, what it wants, and how it speaks to them. They may even go so far as to give their God a race and gender. In the final analysis, that which you seek and describe as "God" is not something that is separate from you; it is a part of you. You are a way for it to manifest itself in the world of form. A higher force of will is extremely influential when you are not trying to believe it into existence. In other words, the Higher Will surfaces in your life when you are present and no longer lost within the thoughts of your imagination and adhering to doctrine or religious expectation. When your heart and mind are open and free, a space is created for the Higher Will to arise. This "space" embodies the resurrection of your eternal being.

Your life came to form without your permission. You had no control over your birth, you are not entitled to life, and you cannot predict when your life will end. You are here for a reason; however, you will not realize your purpose using only your mind, blind faith, or adherence to the beliefs of your culture. Your awakening requires the surrender of your old identity including all your beliefs. You have to get rid of _you._ You are not who you think you are. You can only discover your true identity once you let go of your affection for your old Self and its beliefs. This may require you to question your God or Gods and all your beliefs. This is not a denial of God but a courageous attempt to nurture a more in-depth understanding. You will only begin to understand God if you can let this entity be as it truly is. Since you cannot create your own light, you must simply "Let there be light."

### Chapter Four

The Imagination

The Zeigarnik Effect is the tendency to experience intrusive thoughts about an objective that was once pursued and left incomplete. The automatic system signals the conscious mind, which may be focused on new goals, that a previous activity was left unfinished. It seems to be human nature to finish what we start and, if it is not finished, we experience dissonance.

\- Bluma Zeigarnik, The Zeigarnik Effect

Your eternal life originates from a process that was set in motion at the beginning of all life; however, while living as an independent being, you may only be aware of your finite life. Because you solely rely on your own experiences, education, conditioning, and imagination to interpret the world, you live as the director of your life. This confines you to only a temporary, semiconscious existence.

We are quite good at using our imagination and have made tremendous advancements with this gift; however, beyond any doubt, the force of will that is responsible for your life wants you to become conscious in unimaginable ways. While we often believe we are fully awake, we are just moving through our day in a dreamlike state supported only by our imagination. On the journey toward an awakened life, you are required to experience the entrapment of your imagination and its role in designing your reality. You see, a higher force of will wants you to live in your imagination so you can experience a powerful and creative force called free will. Because you exercise your own force of will, your initial experience of life is troubled with assumptions, miscalculations, misinterpretations, fear, confusion, and quite a bit of unnecessary suffering. In the end, the imagination causes a person to create their own reality—to create their own suffering.

Russian Psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik discovered that your memory and, therefore, your imagination are closely linked to a feeling of incompleteness. This is the result of allowing your memories (the past) to influence your self-seeking thoughts about an objective left incomplete. This also explains the cycles of moods that are observable in most people where we observe a strengthening of the human mind followed by an increase in mental disorders. Because your mood provokes your memories, many of your repetitive memories cause you to feel incomplete. A feeling of incompleteness develops into a pessimistic attitude, which prolongs the cycle of negative memory retrieval.

Of course, the imagination is not the enemy; it is a crucial part of the human experience. Your imagination empowers you to create, explore, discover, and experience life. While the imagination defines you, it may also keep you from finding the meaning of life. While living unconsciously entombed in our thoughts, the present moment becomes constricted. The numbing effect of the present moment reality of your life is observable when the imagination has taken charge of you. Your intrusive thoughts about a past objective occur in the imagination; therefore, your imagined reality of life hides a reality that is in plain sight. That is, the imagination entraps you in a cycle of despair and hopelessness (about incomplete expectations of life). Once you understand that the imagined completion of the objective could never make you feel complete, you will inherit a new understanding of life. The origin of intrusive thoughts is a true sense of incompleteness. Most thoughts are laced with a subtle awareness of something greater that is trying to break free within you.

As intended, instead of causing positive changes in your life, the untethered imagination usually results in a strengthening of the self-identity. The perceived success in an objective that was completed, such as becoming successful, finding the perfect partner, making large sums of money, or developing the perfect human body, quickly begins to fade back into a sense of incompleteness. As a result, we now live in a world with an enormous amount of possibilities to try in an attempt to feel satisfied. This reminds me of a quote by Albert Einstein. He said, "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." One kind of thinking he was referring to is a corrupted, imagination-guided stream of thoughts. This is a stream of thoughts that is not productively focused on hypothesizing a problem in order to find an answer. This is not a mind that is using thought-experiments to develop an understanding or an imagination that is open and receptive to the present moment by which an external reality could fill in the blanks. Sadly, it is a mind preoccupied with the Zegarnick Effect ("intrusive thoughts of an objective let incomplete ... we experience dissonance").

To further understand the imagination, we should also examine our ability to make comparisons. This cognitive ability is usually motivated by the ego's desire to define or defend itself. The imagination helps to strengthen your ego by making comparisons between yourself and others. Within this unconscious state, you contrast yourself against the standards of the world. Social conditioning that promotes false ideals as being right and proper is the source of this mistaken identity. As a result, instead of recognizing a life-giving reality, you experience life as a conditioned identity. Fortunately, through the power of surrender, you can discover another version of life that is genuinely awake and represents an eternal version of life. Although the awakening process is anticipating this discovery, you must first be able to accept the uncomfortable truth of who you are at this moment. Your next step in the process is to abandon your self-seeking imagination. Through surrender, you avoid the intrusive, mind-made sense of Self.

Humans have been seeking a remedy for suffering since they were first tainted with unconsciousness; however, after centuries of trial and error experimentation, some people are beginning to understand that the solution to this darkness is not a future event that one should seek out. Although the imagination only understands the past and the future, your awakening will only happen right now. The sense of completeness that you seek can only be fulfilled in the present moment. The unconscious human world is a world of the mind. The only way out of this chaos is to disrupt your continuous stream of thoughts. Evidently, the imagination is capable of creating a world within a world. While living within the constraint of such imagined places, we often provoke the forces of destruction. Ultimately, this becomes the destruction of the Self and this is good.

You often adjust your thinking and behavior in an attempt to handle your confused state of being, but this reaction is usually just an intense orientation to the world of form. As a result, you may add unachievable qualities to your idea who you are in an attempt to enhance your life. This is the result of an imagination-derived life. The desire of the Higher Will is for a person to use their imagination with the hope that they will create, react, learn, fail, understand, and develop a desire to awaken, become conscious, find purpose, and align with something higher than their own thoughts and intentions. Maybe this is you at this moment? As a result of the failures of your imagination, which caused you to accept that most of your problems were a result of _you_ being in control of all aspects of your life, you may be ready for a new message and are now approachable by a deeper influence. Perhaps you are just tired of being under the control of the Self and the influence of the world around you. Perhaps the life you inherited or helped to create is no longer effective because it does not provide you with a sense of completeness.

From deep within, an influential force is trying to move you. This force is a higher consciousness; therefore, you may require substantial suffering before you will open up enough to allow it to spring forth. Just as an energy field in the depth of total darkness began to move, vibrate, expand, and break free to form the Universe, something inside you is also trying to unfold into something wonderful. Although it is elusive, you know that you want to understand the meaning of your life. Undoubtedly, some people sense this force more than others. For most people, it is subtle but too noticeable to ignore. Sadly, a person may never understand the higher forces that are guiding them due to their imagined state of being. Their ego blocks out the voice of something higher. For this reason, you must awaken—not just for your own peace and tranquility but also for those around you.

As a necessary part of the human condition, the imagination is an essential tool in the development of an individual. You already contain the guidance needed to become aware of something higher (or deeper) than you; however, you must be attentive as the imagination is always present. The imagination often tries to infiltrate your stream of thoughts in an attempt to protect you. Imagined thoughts are the primary source of information when you lack understanding; therefore, you often trust the words that it whispers to you—the imagination gets its strength and power from your ignorance. Your imagination often dispenses a positive emotional response in an attempt to bring sanity, confidence, safety, or comfort to a challenging situation. Beware, your imagination-derived fear-based thoughts also tell you lies in order to protect the self-identity.

Humans are required to experience a semiconscious state of being; therefore, we must struggle to find ourselves because unconscious thoughts and beliefs isolate us from the true meaning of life. Since we do not begin life as conscious beings, we require several cognitive tools to helps us navigate a strange, scary, confusing, and aggressively influential world. This is mostly a world of the mind. With the imagination, we fashion together a stage on which we act out our assumptions about the meaning of life. As a result, we allow the imagination to govern our life. The imagination exploits its liberties to cause your expectation for the present moment. This play of expectations ultimately isolates you from the peace and tranquility you are seeking. Thankfully, your mind evolved with an innate sense of a higher consciousness living deep within you. Once the Self is recognized as a harmful entity—when you recognize that the scene you have been repeatedly acting out no longer impresses the audience, you can take steps to end the show. You can start anew right now.

### Light and Darkness

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

_-Plato_

When we look out into space, we see infinite darkness with specks of visible light. After hundreds of years of studying the Cosmos with telescopes and other scientific instruments, we now have a better understanding of the electromagnetic radiation that radiates from the depths of the deep waters of space. Despite the limitations of distance and time and despite our own human limitations, we are capable of observing and studying the massive bodies of energy moving through the Cosmos. All autonomous entities, like the galaxies, expand, gyrate, and collapse while moving toward something greater. Throughout the human experiment, we are continually reminded that life is a cyclical process where each new generation is meant to improve upon the last. New life is influenced by the life that preceded it. A higher process harmoniously cycling through life and death without resistance is our greatest observation. The Cosmos speaks to us through such observations. It is telling us that we cannot discuss darkness without also discussing light. The light cannot shine without darkness, as the two are inseparable.

A galaxy contains a central core of energy that produces stars of all sizes. This beautiful and loving process allows planets to form around the stars. Orchestrated processes then form the planet's character, including the extraordinary possibility of water, air, and the nutrients required for life. Despite the bewildering number of precise circumstances required to cause life to happen, we know by our own existence that this mysterious motivation and influence of molecules resulted in organic life forms here on Earth. Life can take many forms ranging from an incredibly massive entity such as a galaxy down to the incredibly minuscule forms, such as a human, animal, plant, or microbe. Interestingly, the collection of inorganic molecules and gases that form a galaxy are also part of life since life could not exist without this orchestrated dance. Everything is interrelated. Incredibly, the offspring of many cycles of improved lifeforms resulted in a planet that hosts human consciousness including desires, emotions, fear, despair, love, and joy.

Life transpires because of an innate desire to survive, produce an offspring, avoid death, and continue the cycle. Along the way, life understands that it is vulnerable, threatened, and has only limited time to demonstrate itself to the point of producing a new life; therefore, it becomes obsessed with its survival. All patterns of life fit this model, such as a galaxy, a planet, an animal, a human, and the human condition called spirituality. In fact, the smallest of all lifeforms is not a bacterium or a virus, it is the human spiritual nature. Your spirit cannot be identified as a molecular collection like a body or a brain. Your essence is an intangible product of a human body and brain and its consequential thoughts, mind, self-identity, ego, personality, and beliefs.

Initially, you are your own interpreter of life. Life gave you the substance, predisposition, and intuition required to live and thrive in a form-based world. Once you begin to awaken to the power contained within you, you will understand how to be sustained by the things provided to you. This new understanding of your great potential will give you the ability to find and accept guidance from previously unknown (or unseen) sources. In other words, light must become apparent before you can see it as light. In the early part of your life, your individualistic perspective shrouds your light; however, it will begin to shine as you begin to arise within the awakening process. Because the light cannot guide you until you can see it, you must initially live in darkness, perceiving the darkness as light—perceiving it as something good, moral, or acceptable.

Despite living predominantly unaware of a higher force of will, all living things have a strong desire to keep life going. A fundamental constituent of life is the innate desire to produce life. Obviously, this desire supersedes a higher force of will. Sentient beings evolved to contribute to the process of life—they are inherently motivated to reproduce life. Interestingly, the result of the reproductive process is often a temporary sense of completeness. Having a child is often described as one of the greatest experiences of a person's life. It seems we are rewarded with temporary consciousness when we contribute to life's highest desire. Without this ability, our unconsciousness would stymie the reproductive process. Many healthy individuals who do not participate in reproducing life demonstrate the influence of their deep unconsciousness. This is not to say that all people should have children. A person who is not able to give birth to a child for medical reasons is just as capable of becoming spiritually conscious and fruitful. The fact that we bear children during our most unconscious phase of life indicates that physical reproduction is not a prerequisite for our transcendence. Reproduction is an instinctive human act. Approximately every eight seconds on Earth, a new child is born to unconscious parents. The ultimate seed we are to sow and the final fruit we are to bear occurs within a higher state of being.

Although we must begin our life as immature, lost, conditioned, and confused spiritual children, with maturity, we can understand our purpose in life. The strength of your desire to understand life's meaning is determined solely by your response to the suffering in your life. Your proper response makes you worthy of the suffering which signals the Higher Will to rise up show you the meaning of your life. Until then, the self-identity keeps you from understanding meaning and purpose. Your ego forms a fog that hides the path toward a present moment reality. Presence is hiding in plain sight! If you cannot see the path to your awakening, you become constrained to the mind-made world in which you live. Until you are capable of aligning your life with the intentions of a Higher Will, you cannot be who you are meant to be—you cannot represent a pure and eternal version of life.

The Sun never sleeps and while it shines, it motivates the intricate process of life. While the Sun shines, darkness is also in constant motion as it gravitates toward the light, seeking to absorb or replace the energy with its own void. While darkness is perpetual, light requires specific conditions. Due to its persistent influence on our imagination, we are inclined to mimic darkness. All external cultural stimuli, such as the news, social media, political movements, and belief systems, contribute to this influence. The Self (darkness) experiments with the world of form where it continuously creates and destroys. The attempt to define yourself while under the influence of unconsciousness is a crucial tool intended to show you the result of _you_ creating your own reality. Much like a Universe that was formed from darkness, you must also experience a transformation derived from suffering. You must awaken to your darkness before you can understand the light that can shine.

You are the Darkness

Darkness is the space that exists between the lights in the Cosmos. For you, a dark space exists between the self-identity (who you think you are) and the true meaning of your life. Darkness symbolizes the emptiness caused by a deficiency. As a result, you may not know who you really are and why you are here. This sense of incompleteness is projected into your imagination as a temporary identity. The result is more suffering added to your life. Fortunately, your darkness has limited control over you. Your first identity is a necessary delusion that causes the suffering required to help you awaken to your real life.

Until the darkness within you (the Self) is recognized as darkness you cannot experience the true essence of your life. After you appropriately respond to the pain, grief, or desolation caused by the ego, the blinding fog over your life's essence will begin to lift. The fog is created by the distractions of your false identity, an identity that believes it is in control. The Self is the part of a person that believes it knows itself; therefore, it resists anything that threatens it. The Self believes it is in complete control of its life; furthermore, it believes in its version of the meaning of life. As a result of this delusion, the Higher Will wants to eradicate your self-identity in order to expose the true essence of your being. Let's not forget that this process was fashioned by the motivation of a higher force of will; it expects the darkness of an independent self-identity. Since darkness is necessary for light, everlasting life can manifest itself within all forms of darkness.

Darkness came to form as a container for light because light cannot shine without darkness. Human ignorance is a form of darkness; furthermore, darkness is a consequence of our immoral, ignorant, arrogant, or conditioned actions or reactions. Without a doubt, this incredibly humbling process is simply trying to prepare you for a new state of being using the power of suffering. The experience of pain and suffering is a loving way to create conscious beings so they can flower into the original intent of a higher force of will. As we reconcile with our former identity, we begin to understand that all along we have been living mostly as darkness.

You represent darkness when you accuse your family, neighbors, community, government, church, or any other entity that has failed to respond to your expectations. You are the darkness when you feel that you are a complete person who is qualified to interpret life, not only for yourself but also for others. You are the darkness when you define yourself as higher or better than others, especially if this is a result of your intense religious commitment, studies of religious doctrine, or self-promoting contributions to any cause. The belief in the self-identity will become a distraction in your experience of life. Beliefs are a necessary enemy of the Self, which is being shaken up, broken down, and exposed.

You must become aware of and then detach from the self-identity before you can awaken to the influence of something higher than yourself. Self-awareness is not a final result; it is only a stepping-stone on the journey toward a surrendered, affectionate, nonresistant, and conscious state of being. Once you recognize the Self as the dark matter in your life, your awakening will begin. The Higher Will is anticipating this moment in your life.

Many religious beliefs and traditions are a form of darkness. Notice the many conversations about the latest news story, coming event, possible war, conspiracy, religious opinion, or political conflict. "Wars and rumors of wars." Closely observe the expressions of those who express that "Things should not be this way." Buried deep within their disposition is a message about who they are. A person may assume that "If other people would change, their problems would be solved.", or "If others would just embrace my beliefs then I can accept them." They may believe that if an opposing viewpoint is resisted, the world would be a better place, because "We are right, and they are wrong." They desire a solution to the current state of affairs. Human desire is a form of resistance entangled in a web of darkness. This attitude is the driving force of all human conflicts. Unconscious humans only understand the material world and the world of human perception; therefore, all human creations, problems, and solutions occur within this dark space.

Your transcendence is crucial, as you must become the guiding force that can help others. Ultimately, being awake, conscious, and aware of the voice of a higher force of will empowers you as a teacher. You teach through a state of presence and acceptance. In the final analysis, life's purpose is for you to personify a conscious state of being that is aligned with the intentions of a Higher Will. Consciousness is any space in the Cosmos where a higher force of will can flow. Through you, God, Christ, the Dao, heaven, enlightenment, peace, karma, love, light, and eternal life can shine in the darkness. Through you, eternal life can be discernible and influential.

### The Prison of the Mind

Quite often, a person will reach the end of their life only to look back with regret at how much time they wasted. They came to realize that the achievements, the value of the estate, and the power gained on Earth have no real or lasting value. A person could look back on their life and observe all their accomplishments that resulted in something good, but the achievements may not result in an eternal version of life. You have a destiny, but it is probably not based upon the traditions or standards of humankind. With patience and a commitment to surrender, you may be able to realize a deeper meaning of your life.

Human beings are not guaranteed a life of surrender, peace, and purpose. It seems that some people easily awaken while others tirelessly search for meaning. Sadly, many people remain resistant and miserable throughout their life. A notable example of resistance is often demonstrated in the legal system. The courts are filled with people who have not surrendered. They do not know how to relinquish control. They turn every threat to the Self into a war of the mind, which often leads to criminal acts, lawsuits, victims, and prosecutions. Many people view themselves as the ultimate victim despite being the assailant. Instead of pursuing peace, some people often try to find a sense of completeness by winning a battle. The parties involved have no concern for the human devastation left in the wake of their disputes. They are unable to do so because they were asleep during the battle. Their only concern is to win a fight, make money, or make a name for themselves. Sadly, many legal counselors make matters worse in their relentless pursuit of personal success or financial gain. Because they only exist in an unconscious state, more suffering is created.

In another example, many people in prison may represent a new version of the person who originally committed a crime. At the time of the offense, they were influenced by their unconscious identity. Their unconsciousness caused an action or reaction that violated the law. It is clear to me that unconscious people are just a victim of their mind and may wake up one day incarcerated. They must then try to understand "how all of this could have happened." Every day, decent, moral, and caring individuals commit crimes as a result of their own unconsciousness. Even within a person who commits a heinous act is the essence of a good human being. They were only victims of the Self at the time of their offense. Of course, societies need a way of responding to a person's unconscious behavior. I feel that society would be better served if the prison system was a place of discipline and reconditioning instead of a place of punishment. Of course, society is not allowed to be conscious as this ability is reserved only for the individual; therefore, collective groups can only respond to an offense with anger, punishment, retribution, control, oppression, torture, and war.

While unconscious, a person's life essence is concealed by their inflated sense of Self. This alignment of dark forces creates the monsters that wreak havoc on this planet. The Self is not actually alive; therefore, it must be propped up by lifeless forces. In its untethered attempt to understand itself, the unconscious mind seethes with frustration, anger, envy, jealousy, powerlessness, unhappiness, and greed. This behavior can also be seen in collective bodies such as governments, corporations, and religious institutions. Due to their unconscious state, collective responses result in the prosecution, suppression, or death of innocent people. All kingdoms eventually fall because the unconscious structure is held together by its inherent resistance to change and its inability to respond in a conscious way.

Once your self-identity is understood to be separate from you, the essence of the real you will surface. You will realize that you are not the image that has been portrayed in your thoughts. You are not your gender, age, race, beliefs, opinions, self-image, past story, victimization, or any other attribute with which you may identify. A powerful transformation begins when you realize that you are nothing, you are nobody. Wanting to be someone prevents your awakening and may even lock you up in the prison of your mind. This is the detrimental attitude of a person who attempts to find himself by making a name for himself. This is the individual who props up the fruitless collective institutions who cannot respond in a conscious way.

Although a human being is deliberately corrupted with self-doubt, acceptance can help you overcome this. Acceptance helps to separate the Self from your essence, and this will weaken this false identity. Finding yourself worn out by mental noise is the beginning of the end of the self-identity. Whether you are incarcerated in a real prison or in the prison of your mind, you must decide to let go of the illusion of control. Courageously wandering into the unknown abyss of a present moment reality enables you to find the real you. Courageous wandering is your newfound ability to acknowledge the presence of fear along with your determination to overcome it.

The self-identity is the space for a real heaven and hell. The mind-made identity called the Self was not made part of your life by accident; it is a crucial experience that can result in a permanent renewal of your life. Once you understand that the Self is not who you are, you will begin to feel an exhilarating sense of guidance coming from within. Your newfound confidence and determination will help you engage with this source of life. Your life begins once you commit to denying the Self by choosing to remove the old version of you and its past story from your stream of thoughts.

### Surrender the Self

_When three men are walking together, there is one who can be my teacher. I pick out people's good and follow it. When I see their bad points, I correct them in myself._

-Confucius

Surrender means to lay down your arms (weapons). The arms of your surrender are your resistant thoughts. Once you can do so, your submission to a present moment reality will guide you to an appreciation and acceptance of the painful truth of a situation or event. Surrender is an energy field that provides a space for your awakened state of being. Since you are not resisting a situation, you can now understand its intent. Although the act of surrender is necessary, you cannot force it to happen. This powerful state of being must be nurtured much like a seed planted in the ground. In challenging situations, you can take a deep breath and let it all go—just let the situation be just as it is.

The ability to surrender is a beautiful act that occurs throughout the natural world. Of course, an animal is not capable of watching its behaviors and changing itself. It is clear that most animals have limited awareness; therefore, they impulsively exist only in the present moment. Animals represent an awakened state of being. Although they do not have a highly developed brain, an animal demonstrates incredible behaviors such as care, cooperation, and maybe even love. The so-called intelligent human being struggles with such emotions. An animal does not have a Self; therefore, it appreciates a timeless sense of life. All non-human life on Earth lives as a surrendered life; however, a human requires a process of suffering-derived transformation before he can realize a higher state of being.

The most significant human experience is the emotion called love. You either attract love or you give love, and this empowers your surrender. Humans need love's empowerment because the act of surrender is not easy. A real state of surrender occurs when your heart and mind come together to create an emotion called desire. All living things were created by the agency of intelligence along with affection coming together to produce something new. Your transcendence is the alignment of these two motivating forces. When you exist in the present moment, the two forces come together to create something new.

Your imagination, along with your cultural, political, and religious conditioning, may cause you to participate in an unconscious cycle of self-creation. Many people live in an addictive cycle of self-reinforcement. The joy is temporary; therefore, they must look for the next thing that will make them happy. Self-reinforcement is the incessant behavior of adding something new to oneself in an attempt to feel whole and complete. It is also the cycle of insanity "doing things over and over again, expecting different results." Clearly, the result of human activities is fleeting. We continually engage in new relationships, new experiences, more acquisitions, achievements, creations, self-promotion, and anything that we think will improve the self-image. This behavior will repeat until we have experienced enough of the resulting suffering to surrender to the present moment.

At this point in this book, I hope I have adequately established that your life has been betrothed to the intent of a Higher Will. In the early stage of life, you were concerned with your self-identity—as if you were an independent individual. You may be a moral person, charitable, and compassionate, but your primary focus has been _you._ You have been standing in the center of your world with everything (and everyone) moving around you. Sadly, this is a common viewpoint of most unconscious people. You can observe this in people who love to talk about themselves. Their view of life consists of yesterday's problems, the things they need to do today, and all of the issues that tomorrow may bring. They live entirely outside of the present moment in a prison of the mind. Their life is like a self-directed movie with a monotonous scene where they continue seeking that which will satisfy them.

You must initially explore your small world while living in the center looking outward. During your awakening process, the Higher Will often tries to pull you out of the center using the voice of suffering. Sadly, many people remain self-centered their entire life never realizing that they were the cause of their own misery. This is the result of a blame-shifting thought "This is someone else's fault." All people are inherently good people, but they may not have responded properly to their suffering. The message is clear; you must become worthy of your suffering in order to align with your intent. If you begin listening to the frustration, pain, or misery in your life, you will notice the voice of the Higher Will trying to guide you.

Until you reach a state of surrender, your thoughts are entangled in the unconscious Self. After all, the entity that you are closest to and feel the most is your own body, mind, and emotions. When combined, these elements create the only life that you know, which is a range of emotions as complex as the visible light spectrum. You experience emotions that range from severe pain to extreme joy with no understanding of the source or validity of those feelings. You are bound to an internalized, form-based existence until you are empowered to let go. This unconscious existence validates Freud's pleasure principle where we continually seek immediate gratification of all our needs.

Thankfully, you can experience life without the constant adding to and removing from the Self with its cycle of improvements and self-sabotage. A higher process was designed to help weaken and finally destroy the false you—the Self. There was a clear indicator of this process when Jesus asked, "Will you be made whole?" The option to represent a conscious human being has been made available to every person that has ever lived on this planet. The only decision needed is your surrender to the world in which you live. Just allow your life to be just as it is, right now. Once you eliminate resistance, you can be made whole.

Jesus asked that we "deny the Self." The Self does not like this idea because it only recognizes itself as a separate individual made up of its body, thoughts, and emotions. Any threat to this structure incites resistance. By asking us to deny the Self, Jesus is demonstrating his understanding of the human condition. He understood that we are several conflicting entities living in one body. Approximately two thousand years later, Sigmund Freud contributed valuable insights to this idea when he published the "Structural Model of the Psyche." Freud concluded that conscious humans are forged from three structures, which he called the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is your inherited biological attributes such as your gender, personality, your unconscious motivations, and the death instinct. The ego is your sense of reason that seeks pleasure while avoiding pain. Freud said, "The ego is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse (the id)." The superego consists of your caregiver values and morals including your inherited ideas about sex, violence, social behaviors, and your ability to interpret right and wrong. The superego is your idealized version of who you want to be. You often portray your superego to those around you even though your id and ego have a different idea about who you are. Religious conditioning only affects the superego, which explains the frequent conflict within a believer—he cannot always live up to the ideals of the conditioning due to the unrelenting power of the id and the ego. The fear of the pain of the ego and the moralistic concerns of the superego are a result of your inner beast requiring frequent attention.

A Higher Will is not trying to motivate or empower you to create a perfect life on Earth. You are being raised up so you can align with this higher source. Until you awaken, you live within the structures similar to those described by Freud's Structural Model. You live as an incomplete life that is supported by your self-created superego—an idealized version of who you want to be. As you awaken and transcend the selfish material world, you will reap the life that comes from a denied Self.

You are not here to perfect the Earth or the human world—you are here to overcome it. Many problems can be solved with a simple act of acceptance. Life's problems, whether real, anticipated, or made-up, can be managed when you accept them just the way they are. Acceptance prevents personal difficulties from destroying your process of growth. Acceptance also brings consciousness into the present moment. If you observe a problem in others, correct it in yourself.

A separate life is living within you, but the only way to strengthen it is to give up the old you. Your form-based identity may live and die on Earth, but this is not the complete meaning of your life. Once you surrender the old you, you will begin to nurture a version of life that is eternal.

Surrender your Beliefs

Nothing matters absolutely; the truth is: it only matters relatively.

-Eckhart Tolle

The most challenging part of human awareness is the ability to determine if the information is factual. You have a fantastic imagination that enables you to explore the world introspectively. While active and unrestrained, the imagination may weaken your cognitive abilities. The fragility of the human mind is part of your design. As a result, you can never be sure when something is true. The purpose of this powerfully transformative ability of independent thought is to nurture a sense of free will, and this sense alone is the cause of vital self-created suffering. The purpose of free will is to enable you to experience your creations in the hope that such failures will motivate you to surrender _your_ beliefs.

Belief systems influence how you live your life. Unfortunately, many beliefs are just conditioned, self-defeating thoughts. Of course, many thoughts and behaviors are influenced by life experience. There are also collective beliefs, which are mostly formed by individualistic experiences that result in your association with a collective group. As a result, you may have experienced one or more belief systems (cultural, business, religious, or political) and may have concluded that they failed you. If the social structure of the church or organization was initially satisfying, maybe you wanted to move a little deeper into your understanding. Quite often, collective agreements leave you feeling empty or confused, especially after terrible things happen. People often seek out religion because, like most sentient beings, we want to feel accepted, need hope, or seek redemption.

You cannot determine if something is right based only on information, facts, or experiences. This would mean that the human mind alone could find an answer to all the great mysteries of life. Since the mind cannot solve the most significant problems, many belief systems eventually fail. They get their strength by dispensing acceptance only to those who agree to accept their beliefs, laws, and traditions. They give less love to those who disagree. Some go so far as to dispense hate to those who do not agree.

The only absolute is there are no absolutes. The absolute truth is that absolute truth exists, but it reveals itself rather than being subject to interrogation. An implied absolute certainty underlies the beliefs of most belief systems, especially the belief in the Self. Many religions are made up of collective opinions, where the believers feel the beliefs should apply to everyone. The fallacy of absoluteness only results in disagreements with the semantics of religious Scriptures. Differing scriptural interpretations often create dissension within personal relationships, families, marriages, and religious organizations. They do not understand that enlightenment brings people together, it never divides. Unfortunately, while living unconsciously, many people attempt to interpret a kingdom where they do not yet live. The result is often a contentious and righteous attitude, which can turn a life-giving awareness of meaning into an expectation of others. They unknowingly suggest that the act of believing is the sole source of knowledge, truth, and righteousness. While the act of believing is compelling, the result of the beliefs will determine its validity. Asking someone to "just believe" is a feeble and cowardly expectation.

We are allowed to understand the true meaning of life, but this can only happen once we are made ready. You cannot petition the Higher Will for this vast knowledge. Your mastery of religion, history, science, physics, mathematics, or any other discipline, cannot wholly uncover or explain the entire process of life; it is just too much information for a human to grasp. A higher process will unfold from within you following predestined events that are written into your life; furthermore, your transcendence is not exclusively motivated by your education, life experiences, or wisdom gained from the aging process.

Despite what many self-righteous and so-called "educated" church leaders, theologians, clerics, deacons, prophets, ordained ministers, and so on, would like you to believe, a "higher education" is not necessary for your awakening. You cannot motivate or influence the intent of a higher force of will through institutional study, intellectual achievements, or hierarchical titles. The attempt to use these methods may distance your relationship with a Higher Will because, which these achievements, you are adding to the Self. The intent of the Higher Will is to cause you to remove such glorifications from your Self. An example of this can be found in music. Remarkably, many people can sing or play a musical instrument despite not having an education in music theory and never having taken formal lessons. You see, you already contain all the knowledge, understanding, and wisdom required to transcend the fleeting world of the Self. The musical notes of your life's purpose are already written within. You only need to adjust your life so the music can flow through you. The adjustment I speak of is the aforementioned detrimental elements of your identity—the labels, achievements, past story, and anything else that props up your identity.

You are not life itself; you are an instrument of life. You are not here to live; you are here to awaken. Since you are not life itself, then you are not here to die. You are here today to awaken and rejoin a Universal flow of life. The message of your purpose has always been a part of you. Heaven and Hell have always been within you. Your life's purpose will be revealed once you let go of your beliefs, accept everything just as it is, and begin to live in a state of presence. The Higher Will wants to show you the extraordinary power that can flow from you, but it cannot do so when your essence is clouded with ineffectual beliefs. If you abandon your strong and unshakable beliefs, you will find that the valid beliefs will remain.

Within the human experience, a vast space exists for a higher form of consciousness. You can courageously wander into this space by surrendering the Self and its beliefs. You do not need to determine the next event in your life because the Higher Will is in control. You can raise yourself into a state of consciousness right now. Allow everything to be just as it is without resistance. The message is clear, you can practice surrender, or you will continue to resist. Let's hope you do not use up all your time here on earth resisting your higher intent.

### Forced Surrender

You have always had the meaning of your life written within you despite your multiple confused identities. We live as though we are an individual, but we are made up of many identities, such as our past story, our conditioned way of thinking and believing, and our assumptions, hopes, and fears about the future. We need to live as a complex individual in order to understand the importance of living life in a present state of being. We need to experience the results of living unconsciously. Living an unyielding life leaves one with a persistent sense of being incomplete, and this leads to something good. You may occasionally feel complete; however, you always end up feeling that something is missing. You may feel incomplete because you are still in the process of growth and change while expecting to be a finished work. Undoubtedly, our surrender to a Higher Will is not by our own hands; we may need to be forced to surrender.

Your biological transformation began when you entered this world, and it does not cease until you dissolve back to the earth. So long as you identify with your form-based life, you are subject to its demise. If you lose your identification with your form-based life, you will be able to engage with a beautiful process of awakening—one that can show you an eternal version of life. As you mature in the process, you will recognize that you are not the same individual now that you were when you were a child. You are not the same now as when you were two years old. You have greatly changed since you were twenty years old and you will be much different at forty and sixty. Letting go of the former you will allow the new you to rise up in a precious new state of conscious awareness. With conscious awareness, you have the potential to transform yourself despite your age, disabilities, or any other perceived restriction.

Depending on your conditioning, you may have grown to love your identity and its sense of independence. Of course, the deceptions that you represent with self-love are a vital part of the process of your awakening. Many of the unhealthy beliefs that bolster your stream of thoughts are fashioned by a seething, self-seeking, power-hungry, and unconscious world. The resulting suffering is caused by this delusion. Fortunately, you can escape your biological, mind-made, conditioned, and separate life. The Higher Will is trying to weaken your individuality to show you how to rejoin the source of life. While intense suffering is not necessary for this process to take place, for many people, it is the only way.

The predictable state of human discontent is crucial for the development of consciousness; it should be embraced, nurtured, and allowed. This is why Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." He did not say accuse them because you recognize what they are doing wrong. His approach contains a life-giving spirit as it flows out of consciousness and allows others to move through a process within their own cycle of time. We cannot know the timing for others since the Self is mostly restricted from completely understanding another person's state of being. The possibility of a person's transcendence is a spiritual matter that a self-identity cannot understand. This human weakness (expecting others to change) is the cause of accusations and denunciations. Most often, we unconsciously point out a person's faults based upon self-righteous beliefs. Strong beliefs create an attitude of expectation, which does not serve a person; it does not nurture the seed of life that is trying to sprout within them.

Unfortunately, some people never advance past the isolation of the mind. Many people die unfulfilled, lost, confused, or miserable. Sadly, a person may take their own life if they become betrayed by the perception that a problem is unresolvable. In observing the decisions that keep a person trapped in the torturous trap of a self-identity, we always find that they did not surrender. Maybe they did not know how to respond properly to life's difficulty. The guidance for how a person is to respond to life's situations is available even for those in a severely unconscious state. If a person's own self-induced suffering did not wake them up to the meaning of the suffering, then the guidance may need to come from those who understand the meaning. In other words, maybe part of _your_ meaning is to guide others to _their_ meaning. The Higher Will probably does not want us to control the entire process; therefore, we are expected to conduct ourselves in a way that our meaning influences others without expectation. Through your relationship with this deeper source, you may be the one to implement a higher intent and prevent suffering, guide others, and contribute to an eternal version of life. In a way, your life becomes connected to this eternal life through your own surrender.

Clearly, human reactions to suffering initiate the next event in the higher process. Some people experiment with life, make changes, repeat mistakes, learn from the mistakes, and advance themselves. Ultimately, as you toil with life, you will either choose to take another step on the path to consciousness or create more suffering for yourself or others. As you know from friends and family members who have passed on, some seem to have left this earth seemingly unfulfilled and incomplete. You should not concern yourself with their passing because you do not know the true impact that the person may have had during their life. Regardless of another person's disposition at the time of death, you must commit to your own surrender.

Until you surrender, protecting your identity seems to motivate every thought. You may want something better. Maybe you crave more from life, you desire new relationships, or you need newer and bigger things. This pattern is much like the energy of a galaxy spiraling round and round while being influenced by a Universal law. Just like the galaxy that is obeying the laws of physics, your life is nothing less than a cyclical existence that is trying to find equilibrium. Within this cycle of change and self-seeking, there may be numerous gradual and beneficial changes. For some people, there can be an explosion of change; however, the change that guides your awakening cannot come from self-seeking activities. You will only awaken through the slow wearing down and tearing down of your ego, followed by your desire to embrace the inner motivation of a higher force of will. In the Cosmos, if two galaxies collide, one is forced to surrender to the influence of the greater.

### Awakened Influence

Every human being is connected to a higher force of will just as we all experience gravity, the weather, the Sun, and other natural forces. We exist in a predominantly harmonious relationship with the Cosmos. Although a galaxy may spin uninterrupted for billions of years, external forces often influence this heavenly body. For instance, many galaxies are not geometrically perfect since other galaxies have collided with them. At our extreme distance, we observe this as the beautiful works of cosmic magnificence with vast light, shapes, and colors.

All cycles of life are exposed to necessary influence at some point during the lifecycle. Unfortunately, unconscious people do not exist harmoniously with all other natural cycles; therefore, the human condition often creates a resistant, misaligned, and disruptive world. Fortunately, you can rise above a world of resistance and unhappiness. You can allow another influence to change your course in life. Once you surrender your life, you may find that your ultimate purpose is to serve others. Once you are aligned with a higher force of will, you could become the influencer!

An innate influence has been with you since birth. In an attempt to mold you into a new being, this subtle force may have brought you many challenges. You may have resisted only to cause more suffering for yourself and for others. Clearly, a Higher Will is trying to break you down so it can break free within you. In other words, the Higher Will is attempting to break the Self so it can shine through you. This is like the secondary force that influences the harmonious cycles of a galaxy. You too can be the secondary force that disrupts the cyclical flow of this process. Once this force of will is released, your life will be fulfilled into its higher intent.

A person may join a belief system expecting fulfillment. They may be seeking a solution to death, reincarnation, a desire for prosperity on Earth, or a place in heaven. They are attempting to be the primary and secondary force of their own life. In other words, they want to control the shape of their universe. As discussed earlier, the breakdown of the Self is not guided by your desires but by the influence of a Higher Will. You cannot expect any particular outcome since you do not know what is intended for you.

You are subject to the physical reality of cause and effect. This is also known as the process of giving and receiving or sowing and reaping. The rhythm of this powerful process greatly influences your growth. Consequences may be the most significant motivator of change. The suffering we reap is intended to help us make changes. The most transformative decision we can make during difficult times is the choice to surrender to the situation. Of course, we often resist and provoke another consequence, which causes more suffering. A person may only let go once they find themselves broken down and exhausted. If a galaxy could resist a collision with another galaxy, it would eventually collapse under its own resistance, and this is good. Once you learn that the proper response to suffering is the act of acceptance, you will begin to inherit a new life. Your transcendence from a close-minded and resistant being into a watchful state of surrender and acceptance will activate your process of awakening in unimaginable ways.

The erosion of the Self does not result in your death as the conditioned imagination may try to convince you. During your awakening, you will continue to experience life, but you will do so without the need to attach life's ups and downs to the Self. Transcendence brings an openness to your life, which removes the weight and pressures of your imagined fears. With this, you now realize that another entity has been trying to guide you. All along, you have been at war with the Self because you somehow knew that it was the source of suffering. A higher guidance is closely connected to your practice of surrender.

Within a battle, the act of surrender is often beheld as the ultimate tragedy. A conditioned soldier may choose to end his life rather than surrender to an enemy. Surrender is an enemy of the Self because the Self is sustained by pride. Hiroo Onoda, a World War II Japanese soldier, refused to surrender when Imperial Japan surrendered to the United States in 1945. He held out in the Philippines until 1974 when he was personally issued orders relieving him from duty. Sadly, many Japanese people committed suicide when Japan surrendered to the United States.

A person who commits suicide represents a temporary identity that, at the time of the decision, was unaware of the full potential and the great possibilities of their life. The resistant self-identity is the actual perpetrator. Without proper relationships, guidance, and affection from others, and under certain conditions, the Self may become confused and cause this terrible event. The true essence of a person can never take the life of the body in which it lives. Again, this is like a galaxy that resists a collision with another galaxy. If it resists, it will collapse. Of course, we do not observe resistance when we view this spectacular event. Gracefully, two galaxies may come together to produce something new—a new life! At first, there is a natural resistance followed by a surrender to the greater. At the moment of the distress, suicide could be prevented with a single act of acceptance. Accept the troubling situation just as it is without resistance.

The most difficult relationship you have is not between you and another person, but between you and yourself. At its worst, this entanglement of identities can be devastating. An example can be seen with any act of self-destruction. Interestingly, when a person kills another person, it is called murder. When a person kills himself, it is called suicide. I do not think the essence of a person is capable of killing a person including itself; therefore, suicide is really murder. Since only the unconscious can kill another person, suicide is the result of the self-identity (darkness) taking hold of a person. Suicide is the unconscious mind destroying its enemy—consciousness; furthermore, suicide is not a "sin" as the essence of the person did not commit the act in the first place. Who is the sinner? The person was murdered by darkness, which is an unpunishable, unchangeable condition of reality. Most beliefs about suicide, sin, and eternal damnation are a fallacy born out of ignorance.

When the creative energy of the Universe broke free, it was not trying to generate chaos; it was expecting the reality that we know today. As you awaken, you will begin to notice the weakening of the darkness hovering over your life. You will realize that, all along, your self-identity was the resistant darkness that was causing your life to collapse. You may have been very successful at "creating your own reality"; however, at some point in your life, you must recognize that your self-created reality has not satisfied your longing to understand life's meaning.

The choice to surrender has always been available to you; however, you may not be ready to let it go. You may not be able to abandon the only life you know. This is the life you call me, my, and I. In the end, your life and a Higher force of Will must unite gracefully. With this understanding, it is essential that you practice surrender and patience.

### Chapter Five

The Seed of Life

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

-John 12:24

The instructions for your life's intent are written into a seed. All that is required to understand your life's intent is the planting, nurturing, and harvesting of this source of life. Life would not be possible if a seed refused to fall into the ground and die. If we clutch our identity tightly, refusing to let go, we will not provoke the process of life—the seed will not sprout and grow.

Obviously, humans did not create themselves. A majestic process is responsible for the beautiful reality of biological life. From within the physical world and from within your spiritual nature, a gradually unfolding process is trying to complete its original intent. The original intent was placed inside you much like the planting of a seed. Although you are restricted from harnessing all of its power on your own, you contain a seed of intention right now!

A higher force, the very force that exists throughout the Universe, has already incorporated its intent within you. You are here now, and you became you who are because of the preexistent instructions for life. Your state of being must align with a higher force of will before you can understand the meaning of your life. In other words, your seed must be nurtured before it can sprout. You must awaken before you can be guided toward a fruitful purpose.

I want to be clear. The seed, or source of life, I speak of does not comprise a static set of laws, but many dynamic and influential conditions that motivate the mysterious process of life. Natural laws that appear to be absolute are actually changeable. The instructions can only be slightly harnessed or manipulated by mankind. The ego's desire to make nature's laws absolute comes from its fear of the unknown. The ego does not like ambiguity because its identity is made up of finite (explainable) conditions; therefore, it refuses to fall to the ground and die. Letting go is just too risky. Any person or group who implies an absolute certainty about anything makes a critical error that unequivocally denies itself access to reality.

You begin life as a self-contained individual, but this was not for your independence. Your seed is dependent on other connections with life. For this reason, most people do not prefer to live independently. Healthy people are social beings. We know this to be true because problems arise if we do not nurture close relationships with other people, nature, the Cosmos, or the intrinsic motivating forces attempting to guide us. We need relationships because we are highly effective when we live as part of families, tribes, groups, and communities. Finding meaning will only come from relationships, not from individualistic or instinctive behaviors.

We must examine the essential functions of the brain in order to understand human instincts. The human brain is composed of many layers of biological complexity. This living superstructure came to form after an incredible period of mammalian evolution. Significant evidence of pre-mammalian biology can be found deep within the human brain. For example, a small portion of the human brain is the same shape as that of a reptile's brain. This is referred to as the reptilian complex, R-complex, or reptilian brain. Neuroscientist Paul D. MacLean explains in his book, The Triune Brain in Evolution, that the forebrains of reptiles and birds are dominated by the same structures found deep inside the evolving human brain. This ancient part of the brain contains the behaviors that are responsible for cravings, aggression, dominance, territoriality, and ritual displays. Of course, these qualities are also exhibited in humans.

The gradual advancement through mutations and environmental influences is only a recent discovery. Charles Darwin called this process "Evolution by means of natural selection." Clearly, this is a powerful process of transformation. Unknowingly, Darwin's research exposed many indicators of a majestic process of life. Sadly, many people condemn Darwin's research out of ignorance, fear, or religious conditioning. While intellectually deficient on the topic of evolution, a person may make a determination using nothing more than their unconscious ignorance. Religious conditioning is threatened by and, therefore, rejects scientific evidence. Understandably, some people are not capable of understanding complex scientific studies because they are developmentally delayed, uneducated, or mentally challenged. Regrettably, an otherwise intelligent person may choose to fill their void of ignorance with a strong and unshakable belief. Indeed, a meek spirit does not entirely accept any idea, fact, or a law; furthermore, it also does not adamantly refuse it. A meek spirit cultivates an open mind while an open mind sustains the meek spirit. This attitude is crucial because your state of acceptance or resistance determines whether you are allowed to understand and embrace reality and manage the aggressive, impulsive, and ignorant primitive part of the brain.

Another beneficial understanding comes from examining human reflexes. Most of our behaviors do not come from thought, logic, or a decision, but are a result of automatic responses. Among the various instincts embedded in you are impulses for survival. Fortunately, you have essential reflexes for blinking, breathing, and cravings that keep you alive and healthy. Your cravings and urges help you survive, especially when you are engaged with the unconscious mind. Involuntary thoughts and actions ensure that you crave food and water. In most situations, our physical needs may cause the mind to insert thoughts into our stream of unconscious thinking. As a result of this automatic response, we are protected by our innate alarms and responses. For example, the mind can instantly refocus your thoughts when you need a reaction to defend yourself. Without healthy reflexive behaviors, you could become sick or be killed while distracted by your thoughts. Even a person trapped in a deep unconscious state can be temporarily awakened if you throw a snake at them.

Your awakened state of being, or spirit, is its own life form. It wants to breathe, but unlike your physical body, it does not have an automatic mechanism. Because you are often unconscious and under complete control of the mind, the design of the human body will breathe for you. The breath of your spirit initially requires your conscious attention. In other words, you have a responsibility within your awakening process. You cannot rely on a passive or reflexive nature to guide you. Only your determination will create a space for your awakening. As with many difficult human struggles, the process to resolve the problem only begins once you are ready for the message and determined to take the next step.

Your surrender helps to prepare the seed of your life within the fertile ground. Fertile Ground is the life-giving process of death. In other words, when you abandon your identity and its past story (fall into the ground and die) and permit all the suffering and persecution that may follow, you will create a space for your seed of life to grow. Your inner essence will then sprout and spring forth as a life-giving force of will. Your life embodies the space for the "resurrection" of this force of will.

A significant part of the meaning of your life is derived from your commitment to helping others. This has to come from a conscious desire to truly help others and not an activity that is used to strengthen the Self. You have to try to be good—not try to appear as though you are good. An awakened state of being will allow you to see others, understand them, and serve them in a way that is good for them. Surrender will also open you up so you can benefit from the life others have to give. If you are awake enough to serve others, then you will also be able to identify those who are receptive. You are not a proper servant if you are trying to serve a person who is not ready to be served. A preacher standing on a platform with his open Bible assumes he understands the needs of the congregation. Of course, he does not know them in the same way that a deeper source knows them; therefore, he can only dispense a homogenized sermon that insistently reinforces the opinions of the doctrine. Although a person can provide helpful advice to a large group, prescribing a deeper guidance is mostly restricted.

Intelligent life exists because of millions of subtle changes resulting in a progressive improvement for the next generation. A variation occurs when the environment affects the process where the seed was planted. A seed must germinate but may only do so in a specific type of soil. Strict rules are required for sowing a seed. For instance, a seed will not put forth shoots unless the conditions are right. The requirements are specific to the intent of the seed. We know that a seed will not germinate without precise amounts of water, the right temperature, the proper soil chemistry, and adequate light. Many of the required elements of life are a result of the season, the position of the Earth around the Sun, or the position of the Earth within an Epoch. When the conditions are right, life springs forth! As a result of the majestic living process, there are many species and astounding biodiversity.

Unfortunately, a seed can also be corrupted. For example, while a belief system tries to spread goodwill, it may unknowingly sow a seed of discord. The resulting division within the group results in a loss of trust, but this is expected since no human collective can manipulate the deeper truths of life. The perspective is often just a homogenized version of a skewed perception of reality. In other words, although their beliefs are flawed, they try to force them to be good. Because their seed is corrupt, it will not spring forth; it will not produce the fruit of life. Fortunately, strongholds dissolve once you surrender them—let them be just as they are without resistance. The proper soil for your new seed is made of the broken-down residue of your surrendered life. Your self-identity and its conditioned beliefs, imagination, and past story represent the compacted soil that must be broken down.

DNA

One of humankind's most significant advancements is the discovery of the instructions responsible for biological life. We now understand that the attributes of physical life are written with a chemical code of instructions encapsulated in a protective shell. This living seed, called deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA, is a majestic double-helix structure that exists in all living things; it contains the living and dynamic instructions for life. DNA is the fruit of the evolving, mutating, living, and dying process of life. The force that motivates this living structure uses only love and presence to pull life out of nothing. Amazingly, we all originate from this unending stream of life. The discovery of DNA singlehandedly rebuked centuries of ignorant, deceptive, and deceitful religious teachings.

You were born into this world and you became the being you are today largely because of the laws written into your DNA. A living form will not flower into life without these influential instructions. No lifeform has ever just magically appeared on this (or any other) planet. Although humans manipulate the process, the birth of a child made possible by medical practices, such as In Vitro Fertilization, follows the natural instructions and processes built into DNA. Although humans influence nature's processes, often for the good of humankind, they may also interfere with nature for depraved and selfish reasons. Undoubtedly, the ability to tamper with a biological process is not intended to provide humans with the ultimate control. If you interact with the forces of nature appropriately, you will realize a reward such as producing abundant and higher quality food, the discovery of vaccines that prevent suffering or death, or the development of a healthier environment. Beware, interaction with natural law by a person or group who does not align themselves with the intentions of a higher force of will may realize a detrimental consequence.

With DNA, each order of a new lifeform also becomes a slight enhancement of the previous code of instructions from which it came. Life is always consequential—it must come from another life. Although the instructions are explicit, environmental influences may also determine how the DNA expresses itself. For example, the expression of DNA is evident in identical twins. Although their DNA originates from the same source, the two are not unique. In fact, identical twin DNA is really just 99.999% identical. That number may seem pretty close to identical, but the remainder his huge considering the amount of information stored in such a small package. According to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History genetics program, all humans on Earth only differ by 0.1% on average. A study of the same aspects of the chimpanzee genome indicates a difference of about 1.2%." As the father of identical twins, I can confirm the many differences that surface in the minuscule 0.001% in human twins. As a life-form develops, the DNA expresses itself according to many environmental factors. As an example, a person reared by non-biological parents may contain the DNA of their birth parents; however, their DNA has expressed itself based upon the experience they had with their adopted parents—the caregivers who affectionately raised and cared for them.

Much like a seed, which produces a new life from the instructions in its DNA, your life has expressed itself into your current semiconscious state of being. Let's be clear, a seed is not life itself but the instructions for life. A seed must be planted in soil that is receptive to the seed; however, some types of soil are not suitable. Certain types of soil are not properly prepared. For example, soil represents all that has previously died; therefore, we can conclude that life is formed from death—the broken-down remnants of the life that came before. The process of dying results in the nutrients required for more life. At this moment, the circumstances in your life may not be suitable for growing a _new_ life. You can produce a child, but you may not be ready to contribute to a higher process of life. In other words, your self-identity represents a hardened clay that must be broken up before it will be receptive to sowing a new seed of intent. The human spiritual nature is not derived solely from DNA, there must be another source of influence.

The essence of your life, both physical and spiritual, begins with the planting of a seed. Ultimately, the seed contains the instructions for love—love is merely trying to break free. The condition that inhibits a seed's growth is its state of nonresistance. In other words, the seed that is planted within you must be allowed to sprout and grow: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." You must first become an agency for life—a soil that is prepared and willing to receive the nurturing of your seed of intent. In other words, you are responsible for preparing your own soil. The suffering in your life may be the voice of a higher motivation alerting you that it is time to break up the soil so you may spring forth. Your life, the human experience, and the expected surrender of your self-identity is the foundation from which the seed of a Higher Will can spring forth within you.

Another example comes from the book of Genesis, where God said, "Let there be light." If something can be allowed, then it means that it can also be restricted. Something is restricting you from "letting" the light shine. At every difficult moment in your life, you are standing in your own soil. If you were standing in the quicksand of debt, you would pull yourself out. If you are trapped in the tarpit of addiction, you would seek rehabilitation. If you were bogged down by the mud of a bad relationship, you would separate. Only _you_ can enable your seed to sprout and spring forth. The first step is to prepare the soil for planting. This is a decision that only you can make right now!

The natural and spiritual world is a beautiful, interconnected, and intuitive desire with an ensuing action or response. For example. a baby bird must sense that it can fly before it has left the nest. On the first jump, it may not fly, but its instinctive reaction is to try to fly. It is willing to take the first step to activate an innate ability. To resuscitate your life, you only need to surrender to all that is without resistance, fear, or expectation. Within this space, a Higher Will can surface and show you the meaning of your life; it can show you that you can fly. Like a baby bird, you cannot fly unless you let yourself fall.

If a Higher Will is responsible for the incredible might and wonder that created the Cosmos, then we can be assured that the human process is derived from the same force of will. After all, humans did not create the first human—the human was formed following a majestic biological process.

Is there life out there?

Carl Sagan once said, "We cannot look out into space without looking back in time." The light that reaches your eye may have traveled for billions of years before it reached the Earth. Consequently, many of the stars that you see in the sky are no longer there. They may have moved, changed, or burned out while its light was traveling to our planet. The light of the star that you are viewing is, in a sense, still alive. Although the light's energy source has diminished, its essence continues to move through the Universe. Although the star no longer exists, it continues to have an essence, and this denotes the eternal life of the star. This understanding is a valuable insight into the short time you have in the form-based world as well as the miraculous potential to become conscious. Much like a star, your life energy continues long after your physical death; it may continue to flow forever—through others. When you look out into space you are looking back in time, but the life of the star is a present-moment reality; it affects you right now!

After many years of examining the Solar System, we know that most planets are uninhabitable. They may not have the essential environment for the biological processes of life to take place. While looking at the planets, we may observe an imbalance in the planet's natural systems, such as an abundance of certain physical elements or a deficiency of others. The distant world may be too hot, too cold, or lack water or other factors required for life. Although the human ability to transfer life to another planet is possible, we may not be able to travel to the planet due to its enormous distance from Earth. In addition to this troubling truth, although we understand that life may have existed a billion years ago in a faraway galaxy, we may never receive the information needed to confirm its existence. The laws of physics are the same throughout the Universe; therefore, intelligible information will be delayed. In a faraway galaxy, life may have run its course or, according to Carl Sagan, "the remote civilization may have already extinguished itself."

Consider this; if our civilization can reach the level of consciousness required to prevent its own demise, we may become the first teachers of being. If we self-destruct as a civilization, we may only influence future intelligent life forms. The likelihood that the human race will one day destroy itself has caused the imagination to find a solution to this dilemma. The fear of the demise of humanity has caused some people to worry about how humans can leave Earth and establish a new home on another planet. Unfortunately, this is an expensive and futile attempt to preserve life in the world of form. If we cannot find happiness, contentment, and peace on our planet, we certainly will not find it out there. When you get right down to it, most humans only slightly understand, accept, and appreciate the people of the many cultures on their own planet.

Discoveries from countless scientific missions have given humans incredible insight. The result of these endeavors, such as the images delivered by the Voyager spacecraft when its camera was turned toward Earth, was humbling. A seemingly insignificant and pale blue dot in a photograph led to a new understanding of where we live in the Cosmos. In Carl Sagan's book "Pale Blue Dot," he reminded us that everyone we ever knew "lived out his or her life on this mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." Your life and everything you regard as important is just a piece of dust. Your past story, wealth, relationships, titles, roles, success, failures, opinions, beliefs, memories, grievances, and triumphs aren't really that important. Human concerns are just a fleeting speck of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

There are endless curiosities about the existence of extraterrestrial life in the Cosmos; however, this possibility should not be a concern during your journey through life. Although you may be curious, a search for life in the Cosmos is not necessary for you to find the meaning of life. A curiosity about alien life or the end of life on Earth only stimulates the imagination into a much deeper and darker place. A conscious search for meaning probably does not result in the evidence of life in the Cosmos—we already know life exists on at least one planet!

When we ponder our place in the Cosmos, we can develop a deeper understanding without concerning ourselves with the intent of the Higher Will. The imagination provides us with many possible outcomes, including our self-destruction. Is the result of the unconscious material world a cataclysmic event that extinguishes humanity? If we learn that we are alone in the Cosmos will this change the intent of a higher process that is unfolding before us? History has taught us that everything we create eventually dissolves back to the Earth anyway. If we found evidence of life in the Cosmos, the vast distance from Earth would probably keep us from communicating with it—we may only be able to receive its ancient evidence. We would quickly succumb to fear and regard alien life as an enemy. Ultimately, we may be the first form-based intelligent expression in the Universe. Regardless of the outcome, we are here, right now. If there is life out there, hopefully, the first encounter will be between two conscious beings. Regrettably, if humanity can migrate to another planet like Mars, it may only carry its unconscious tendencies. As Confucius said, "Wherever you go, there you are."

### Artificial Selection

_When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one, which has been opened for us._

-Helen Keller

Beginning when you were a developing child, you may have learned from your parents and other caregivers, through observing their comments, reactions, and behaviors, that desirable physical attributes are, in some way, relevant. As a result, you may have concluded that you may be either normal, attractive, healthy, highly desirable, or unattractive, awkward, or not as desirable as others. Sadly, a person or group may dispense a considerable amount of love and acceptance for a person if they possess specific physical qualities. A person may be treated differently as a consequence of their appearance, intelligence, gender, race, or age. An unconscious person or group may favor specific human qualities and castoff those perceived as undesirable. The rejection could be an opinion about a person, an action against them, or by alienation. All languages contain many words that demonstrate a person's abhorrent rejection of another person.

Naturally, those who possess the _desirable_ physical attributes may use them to manipulate people. After all, having possession of a desirable quality can better your chances for success in the unconscious material world. Fortunately, you can part from the unconsciousness of the world. A spiritually conscious person does not identify with the attributes of a physical nature; therefore, he will not suffer the consequences of such identification.

Sadly, the unconscious practice called Artificial Selection, where humans choose desirable traits and throw away the undesired, has caused significant conflict on the planet. The desire to perfect an idealized world sets the stage for its destruction. If a person adheres to the ideals of the world, they eventually develop a depressing sense of an unresolvable problem—they believe they cannot live up to the standards imposed. Since human senses are easily desensitized, the desirable attributes become progressively perverse and corrupt. I call this the Desensitization Evolution Effect. This effect along with the development of social technology has advanced the transmission of this sort of unconsciousness around the world. This may explain the global intensification of conflicts, narcissism, addiction, violence, and suicide. Sadly, a person's belief that he cannot be made whole if he does not achieve the desires imposed by an unconscious culture could cause him to take his own life or the lives of others.

During an episode of anxiety or depression, which is often caused by a negative self-image, a person may conclude that the problem has no solution; therefore, they believe the only resolution is to end their life. Most suicidal thoughts begin with the assumption that a problem is unresolvable. Sadly, a person who concludes that their situation is unresolvable is overlooking the loving and nurturing guidance that can be provided by another conscious being. On the other hand, if a person is surrounded by unconscious people, he may not receive the guidance needed to prevent this terrible act. In incomprehensible situations, such as relationship breakups, a person may even encourage another person to take his or her own life.

If you feel that you are undesirable, unworthy, useless, or have no purpose, you can rise above this deceptive thought. Your identification with a society that promotes this mental conditioning may be the cause of your anxiety or depression. Your spouse, family, tribe, community, church, business, or government is often the source of such ineffectual conditioning. Collective groups often reinforce unconscious thought and behavior in order to satisfy their own dark desires. Your awakening requires you to abandon your association with all collective mindsets. While collective groups are trying to select you out of a pure state of consciousness and into their conditioned mindset, a Higher Will is trying to select you out of the collective conditioning and into a pure state of eternal consciousness. If Helen Keller can do it, anyone can. With the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, Helene Keller raised herself above the disposition of both blindness and deafness by learning the manual alphabet. She went on to publish twelve books and several articles.

Throughout your life, you have accumulated your sense of Self from the reactions, comments, comparisons, and conclusions of unconscious people. Due to the incessant promotion by a conditioned society, you may have sought to achieve an appearance, talent, financial success, or other quality in an attempt to be accepted, loved, and appreciated. Countless human problems are related to an unquenchable desire for acceptance. In an attempt to get them to accept you, your dependence on the perceptions of other people often leads to unhappiness. You trust their opinions, but they are probably not capable of accepting you. They are indeed in no position to tell you who you should be.

Consequently, you may have to experience the suffering caused by the _need_ to have others accept you. The Self wants to be validated, but you will never find happiness by _expecting_ people to love and accept you. You want acceptance, but another person may not be conscious enough to accept others. Most importantly, they may also be seeking approval. This may be an invitation for you to accept them!

Those who are considered acceptable, for whatever reason, also experience an internal struggle. Undoubtedly, they experience greater suffering since they identify with their admired physical attributes much more than those who are shunned. This is especially true when they lose physical qualities through injuries or age. It is plain to see that the Self victimizes itself when it adheres to unconscious beliefs. If you are living as a Self that agrees with the ideals of your culture, your agreement with these deceptions will eventually lead to your own painful rejection. Ultimately, by agreeing with these models, you contribute to the pain, suffering, and death of others because you subliminally promote and, therefore, reinforce the ideals within your expressions. Your unconsciousness is evident not only in your attitude about the purpose and meaning of life, but also in your opinions, beliefs, the clothes you wear, the car you drive, your home, and your career choice.

When a lifeless spiritual ego encounters another person or group that does not believe the same way, they tend to shun them. This behavior alone demonstrates that whatever the person believes must be false. Regardless of how factual, scientific, or convincing the opinion may be, it is false because it is without essence. Consciousness has, and therefore gives life. The "truth" becomes a lie and, therefore, lifeless when the believer feels that the differences in opinion are worthy of separation. This pattern of behavior demonstrates that the person is using belief, doctrine, or religion to define themselves. They are attempting to appear good, but they are not good.

The careful observance of another person's inner resistance can be a valuable tool for determining how you should interact with them. If another person is easily offended by those who do not have similar beliefs or opinions, then you will recognize that you are limited in how you can engage with them. Because they are not surrendered, you may have to let them be. Unconscious people are being dragged through the early stages of a process and will shun you if you are not careful. You do not want to exhibit an attitude of expectation as this will only reinforce their reluctance to engage with you and, ultimately, any idea of a higher force of will. Most conflict is probably caused by individuals who do not carefully observe another person's inner resistance.

The door of consciousness must be opened by either your suffering, your resulting surrender, or by another source. With the influence of another surrendered person or a higher force of will, you can awaken. The human world consists of the conscious state of being of the natural world wrapped with the unconscious state of a noisy mind. Consciousness is all around you, but it must fight to get through the darkness. The darkness is the human ego fighting to be right; it will fight you if you challenge its state of being; therefore, the battle must be won using another method.

### Experience Presence

God doesn't require us to succeed, he only requires that you try.

-Mother Teresa

If you would like to experience presence right now, find a quiet place, lie down, try to relax your mind and body, then focus on your breathing. Try to clear all thought noise from your mind. Most of your thoughts are involuntary, but they can be controlled with relaxation. Slowly breathe in and out, then close your eyes and concentrate on the present moment. Within this space, your thoughts can be ignored. Thoughts are often just the unceasing influence coming from your rehearsed story. Within the space of presence, deeply breathe in and out with your eyes closed. Surrender your thoughts until you have reclaimed control of your mind. If you can remove your stream of thoughts, an optimistic vibration of life will begin to occupy your space. Allow yourself to rise above your thoughts. During this exercise, you may fall below thinking and feel drowsy. Just try to focus on the present moment and feel the rhythm of your beating heart and your life force within.

Interestingly, while in this state of presence with your eyes closed, you may notice your eyes trying to blink. You can feel the tiny muscles controlled by the nerves in the brain. The corneal reflex, also called the blink reflex, is an involuntary response designed to protect your eyes. This reflex helps to keep your eyes moist and protect them from dust. As you know, you do not need to think about or focus on blinking during your normal activities. Human reflexes are vital because mentally distracted humans cannot be given the responsibility to blink, drink, or eat. You would fail if you were had to implement your natural urges and reflexes while also trapped within your thoughts. While you are relaxed, pay attention to your blinking, breathing, and thinking reflexes. As part of this exercise, allow yourself to rise above them even if for only a few seconds.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. With your eyes closed, you will notice that your blink reflex activates your eye muscles once you start thinking. This happens because the moment your stream of thoughts resurfaces, the impulses of your innate functions also awaken. Unconscious thoughts seem to cause your subconscious mind to assume that you are awake. Your stream of thoughts arouses impulses from your primitive reflexes as well as the influence of inherited addictive thinking patterns. As a result, your reflex system will activate and cause you to blink for eyes that are not open. In other words, the instinctive nature of the Self provokes the inherent nature of the physical body. We are continually reminded that a part of us is a vulnerable animal that has desires, fears, wants, and needs. The brain says, "You seem to be awake, so I am going to blink for you."

Reflexes are an indispensable part of the human design, a design that includes efficiencies that contribute to its survival. These instincts are not for survival and convenience alone as the desire is for you to live with an active imagination while also living in a wilderness of perceived free will. By experiencing your imagination, you learn that it cannot complete you. The lessons in life are fundamental to this process. Before human consciousness matures, it exists in a realm just above a form-based reality—energized by a dreamlike state. As this presence exercise (or any other prayer or meditation ritual) demonstrates, it can be difficult to force a permanent state of presence; it must be gradually developed.

With practice, you can control your reflexes. You can consciously interact with your blinking, breathing, or thinking. You can force yourself to eat when not hungry or drink when not thirsty. You can hold your breath or starve yourself. Nature mirrors your spiritual process; therefore, you can discover new detrimental habits that stand in the way of your growth. With guidance, they can be controlled, changed, enhanced, accepted, or altogether removed. Indeed, your impulsive identity often stands in your way. Although the Self affects your ability to wake up from a deep sleep, you must experience this independent, lifeless identity.

While you sleep, the self-identity is active, and this is reflected in your dreams and your Rapid Eye Movement, or REM stage of sleep. Eye movement occurs while dreaming and this can be seen in unborn children and in the visually impaired. While sleeping, with their eyes closed, you can see a person's eyes moving as if the brain is accessing visual information. The Self fears death; therefore, the imagination's reflexes are triggered. Even while in an unconscious state, the imagination craves information about the unknown.

While dreaming, the Self believes it is awake. There can be several hours during a sleep cycle where the activity of the brain is much like the activity when you are awake. The Self can wake up while you sleep. Most dreams happen during this stage and, as you have experienced, strange experiences may occur during the dream cycle. Emotions can surface despite your fantasy of being in complete control. Deep-rooted memories suddenly arise, subconscious desires make their way into your sleeping thoughts, and physical and emotional pain occurs in a highly realistic experience. What a relief it is to wake up from a nightmare—or a great disappointment to learn you did not actually win the lottery.

Although you can take a break from life during the sleep cycle, the world continues to go about its business. As you sleep, the Earth continues to revolve and evolve. The human experience on Earth is a never-ending cycle of buying, consuming, preserving, selling, surviving, changing, destroying, living, and dying. It is the story of life and death, good and evil, working itself out in the world of form. Every human life represents one of the billions of beings that support this reality.

Your first identity belongs to a separate collective body called the external world of form. You inherit your first identity from thousands of years of conditioned behaviors, both mental and physical. You are aware of the Self when you are awake, and the Self remains awake when you sleep. The cycle of this creative action has not paused since the beginning of human consciousness. When half of the planet sleeps, unconsciousness thrives where people are awake. The collective unconsciousness of the Earth never ceases expressing itself. The Earth inhales and exhales life as it revolves around darkness and light.

### Two Trees

_But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eat thereof, thou shalt surely die._

Genesis 2:17

The message in the Genesis that you "should not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will surely die" is a clear message which applies to each day of your life; it is a suggestion that you are required to and will, in fact, eat from that tree. In other words, you must reach a point where you want to understand the truth and meaning of your life. Acquiring a "knowledge of good and evil" is a fundamental step in your awakening process.

Understanding what is truly right and wrong is one of the greatest desires. The fact that "you will surely die" is good news and not something that should be interpreted as an end to your life. It is an end of the Self and the beginning of something new. The Scripture is implying the death of your ego or Self; the primary source of your misery. The "knowledge" of right and wrong is an awareness or perception. Since we now understand that knowledge is filtered through a lens of the Self, anything the unconscious Self interprets as right and wrong will always result in something that takes life instead of giving it. As a result, a person who prematurely forces the intent of the Higher Will by assuming they are right, whole, or complete as a result of their knowledge, will most likely dispense it inappropriately. The entity that desires the knowledge of good and evil, be it a person, religion, government, or corporation, will surely die.

We can think about the tree that represents the knowledge of good and evil in order to explore the meaning behind the metaphor of the "Garden of Eden." Humans can acquire extensive knowledge of their world; however, if the knowledge is not examined from within a present state of being, it will be distorted, lifeless, and will not produce abundant life. Isn't that what knowledge is for, to produce something good? What value is a knowledge of right and wrong if it is only used to reinforce your identity, accuse a person, or make a judgment about a situation? The Self often uses morsels of knowledge to enhance itself; therefore, it will often formalize its beliefs into absolute laws with a spirit of expectation. While unconscious, a person may prescribe their slight understanding of life. This is especially dangerous if they decide they are qualified to determine what is good or evil. When you use what you know to accuse others, you demonstrate that you are not present in the situation you are observing and, therefore, cannot serve it in a helpful way. In this way, you give life to the lifeless.

Your life experiences can help you gain a better understanding of who you are; however, you cannot apply the lessons learned out of your unique struggle. The results of your battles often form new opinions, which become just an expectation of others. This sort of person may believe that "people need to be re-educated," "their beliefs are incorrect," "they should believe the way I do," or "they just don't understand the truth." Beyond any doubt, your belief-motivated behaviors and the resulting consequences are meant for _your_ growth. You may try to teach others, but it may be without regard to whether they are ready for the message. Knowledge without presence often results in a spirit of expectation. With a knowledge of good and evil, you may judge a situation, but does your final judgment result in a loving, nurturing, and empathetic longing to raise the person or situation out of its lifeless state? If not, then it is coming out of unconsciousness—out of your ego. With pride, you use your perceived "knowledge of good and evil" to feel good about yourself and promote your identity.

The ego is always looking for opportunities to enhance its identity with "knowledge" and "truth." A person may believe they possess "the truth" for others; however, only a Higher Will can determine who is qualified to understand life's purpose and; furthermore, who can dispense it. Most often, this attitude comes from an individual's religious beliefs, opinions, scriptural interpretations, or convictions. Much like a tree capable of bearing fruit, we are also capable of producing life, but like a tree, we do not determine when the fruit is ripe. A person may possess a proper understanding, but a higher influence must decide when it can be harvested. The human behaviors that complement the intent of a Higher Will are not a conscious act, but something that flows out of a desire to love others. Of course, you have a desire to give to others, but you may not understand when or how to give. When you are living consciously, if the opportunity arises, you will not be able to help yourself. Without a doubt, your charity will be a subconscious act, one that is motivated by your alignment with the Higher Will. The action will be a life-giving, reflexive, automatic response. Consider this, if a tree could define itself by its aggressive attempt to push out the biggest, sweetest, healthiest, and most righteous and valuable fruit, the strong and unshakable belief that it will be made whole by such actions would certainly cause its fruit to be the most toxic. You must "give expecting nothing in return"; however, something higher than you must guide the effort. Your life is made whole by an unconscious impulse and not by a direct conscious act.

The meaning of your life is not made of opinions, facts, behaviors, or laws; it comes from a higher, deeper, and life-giving understanding. Life's meaning is not something that you possess, but something that possesses you. This is like a tree (the tree of life) that produces ripened fruit. The fruit can be taken by those who are hungry, can see the fruit, and understand that it will provide them with nourishment. As you move through the awakening process, you are lovingly exposed to the right fruit. Much like in the natural world, some ripe fruit is not edible. Many people are lured into the institutions of society with a deception that first appears as ripened fruit. Sadly, many organizations are dressed up to be appealing to those seeking hope, prosperity, or purpose. Once you can view life through a conscious lens, you will recognize the suitable, nourishing fruit.

Undoubtedly, you are not who you _think_ you are. You are initially a false identity called "me." You agree with this identity and may have gone so far as to have developed an affection for it. You are a stream of thoughts entangled in impulsive emotions. The roots of your tree of life are buried within the layers of your conditioning; however, the true essence of who you are is trying to fight its way out! Your life is trapped within your unshakable belief in the Self, which is often made up of the thoughts that support the tree of knowledge of good and evil—an ego that that thinks it can be made whole if it raises itself above others by way of its understanding of what is right and wrong.

Undoubtedly, we must transcend a fruitless state of being into one that is fruitful; however, this will not happen as a simple choice. Transcendence must come about by first eating from the wrong tree—by subscribing to the material world and its deceptive model for life followed by reaping the life-changing consequences.

Let There Be Light

The Higher Will is not waiting for you to ask for that which you believe will make you whole. The source of life is not a genie that grants wishes when you perform a ritual, like rubbing a magic lamp. Mediation, praying, going on a pilgrimage, or giving money to a church are noble deeds; however, such actions will only temporarily humble a person. "Wailing loudly and bitterly" may get the attention of those around you, but this behavior probably does very little to root a person in the present moment. Life's desire is your complete surrender and acceptance of the true meaning of life without fear, judgment, or expectation and certainly without a public demonstration. In other words, you cannot just believe in a higher force of will to make it real—you must let that which already exists to be as it already is. Presence is the unconditional acceptance that allows your light to shine. The highest form of prayer is that which reorients you toward the present moment.

We must learn (mostly the hard way) that we need a way of living that is humble and peaceful. Indeed, a new state of being is a possibility for all people. Thankfully, right now, you have the power to remove the thought barriers that restrict the light of life's higher motivation. Although your spiritual growth may be currently hindered or confused, your life at this moment is as it was intended to be. Perhaps your identity is just too busy for a higher process to guide you. Are you spending your limited mental energy frustrated about "the world" and its problems? Are you frequently reliving an experience, wishing you were young again, longing to be cured of an illness, or regretful of a missed opportunity? Is your life defined by trying to be successful, trying to get from where you are now to a better place? If your life has been productive and successful, it is not because you are special. If your life has been filled with suffering and failure, it is not because you are unworthy. Initially, we are dual-minded individuals filled with both acceptance and resistance (consciousness and unconsciousness). Life is trying to teach us that resistance creates suffering while acceptance brings joy, peace, and contentment. Although your ego thrives on resistance for its survival, the acceptance of your imperfections is much easier and requires far less energy.

With an attitude of acceptance, the needs and desires of the Self are replaced by the motivation and original intent of a Higher Will. This is called grace. Thankfully, your former, unhappy, seething, and temporary identity can dissolve back to the unconscious world from which it came. Although the Self may resurface in your life from time to time, the practice of self-acceptance will keep you grounded within the process—you accept your weaknesses so something higher can dwell in your space.

Your experience of pain, suffering, fear, and confusion symbolizes the birth pains of your awakening. Beyond any doubt, your mind, imagination, and self-identity imprison you. As a result of this incarceration, you have not been breathing the essence of who you are. Just as each breath you take contains life-giving oxygen, each breath of surrender results in a life-giving, present state of being. The end of this process is not a new attribute of your identity such as "my spirit" or "my tranquility," but a new life that is in alliance with the force that created everything. A Higher Will is the force responsible for your life; it is trying to break free within you right now. You just have to "Let there be light."

### Relationships

_We are by nature social beings - Love and belonging are among our greatest non-survival needs. When our close interpersonal relationships are troubled, we become unhappy. Extreme unhappiness can result in symptoms associated with mental illness. We can treat psychological problems by repairing interpersonal relationships - psychiatric drugs are unnecessary._

-William Glasser

Deep human relationships provide the inspiration needed to lift you out of the common hallucination called "my life." A trustworthy, respectful, positive, and giving friendship is the enemy of the unconscious mind. Friendships can drag you out of the deep dark abyss of the mind, especially when the person is living in the present moment. Open and honest relationships are crucial; therefore, you should seek them out. Throughout your journey to the present moment, a flowering essence in others will guide you; moreover _,_ your flowering essence will eventually guide others who are also suffering. Without personal relationships or the struggle to develop them, a person may never receive the jolt of suffering required to cause them to align with the higher source that is waiting to guide them. Loneliness is a message that something is wrong.

The road to the present moment is paved with your surrender. As a result of letting go of the old you, you may experience the breakdown of some of your past relationships. As you surrender, you will find that difficult people will quietly disappear from your life—you do not need to push them away. Your associations will change, but seldom as a conscious decision to resist them. A conscious person does not have to end relationships to strengthen their awakening. Subsequently, those who favor your former identity may refuse to accept the new version of you (which is not really a new you, but they don't understand this). They recognize that you can no longer feed the needs of their identity; therefore, they move on to those who can. The dissolution of toxic relationships will happen quietly and peacefully. Sometimes a person's ego notices your surrender, which may cause them to accuse you of offending them and other accusations that expose their reluctance to accept you. Their state of being is trying to drag you back into the unconscious state in which they are struggling. Quite often, this is a result of their inability to challenge their own conditioning. If you get offended by others during this process, then you are that other person who is resisting!

All the circumstances that you encounter in life can be valuable to your process of awakening. Your relationship with conscious and unconscious people will help to move you toward the source of life. Fortunately, along with the subtle dismantling of some of your relationships, you also find that new people suddenly appear in your life. Living in a state of presence changes what you see and hear, which influences your expressions. In other words, presence makes you attractive! Ultimately, all sorts of conscious and unconscious relationships contribute to your awakening. In the beginning, you may not recognize those who were chosen to help guide you. The Higher Will influences you to nurture the relationships that weaken your ego. This may cause the Self to react and create more necessary suffering. Beware, the Self may cause you to avoid those who can guide you toward consciousness because it believes they are a threat to its existence.

You see, you are not alone in the process of awakening. Your awakening is connected to everyone around you. This includes your family, friends, coworkers, church family, and anyone who is capable of serving you. If they are not able to support your awakening, then you may be the one who influences them. Undoubtedly, you must surrender the beliefs that define you in order to receive guidance from a higher source. Your surrender involves relinquishing your political, cultural, and religious beliefs, codependent relationships, and your past story. After all, your opinions about yourself are nothing more than who you think you are. Once you give up the beliefs that define you, you will begin to reap an eternal version of life.

Until you live life consciously, you move about with a deceptive expression. The mask is composed of words, which tell a story about who you think you are. Those who put on a mask often expose themselves to those who can see. Listen carefully when a person speaks, and you will notice that they often reinforce their life story, grievances, fears, desires, and expectations. People often divulge the source of their struggles veiled in words, moods, body language, and facial expressions. A person's suffering is evident to those who are awake, and this empowers them as someone who can help. By remaining awake, a person creates a space for the Higher Will to motivate the person to respond in a way that compliments the intent of the Higher Will. Often times this is no response at all. Silence is much more valuable to a sufferer than the righteous and detrimental advice given by the unconscious "believer."

An awakening is a slow process with many steps. Initially, you believe that you are an independent being. While living independently, you may have achievements and success. At first, there must be a lifting up, followed by a destruction of your sense of Self. Next, your fully developed ego causes conflict, which leads to a perceived loss (of identity). Finally, the Higher Will attempts to help you reconcile the Self with your inner essence. This series of events represents a means of spiritual expansion. You may initially perceive the event as suffering or loss; however, the experience is an act of love that is trying to break your self-governing nature.

The most significant power of the unconscious mind is its ability to lure the conscious back into a state of unconsciousness. When you experience darkness pulling on you, do not resist it. Your acceptance of unconsciousness (suffering, darkness, depression, anxiety, anger) prevents unconsciousness from taking hold of you. Stay conscious and look darkness directly in the eye and let it know that you have power over it! Consciousness is the enemy of unconsciousness—the light cannot shine without the darkness.

You strengthen your awakening once you understand that you are not who you _think_ you are. The Self only exists in your mind as a self-directed entity; therefore, you should never assume you are conscious! This assumption demonstrates the relationship you have with your stream of thoughts. In other words, your perceived consciousness may be a thought formed by the Self. The Self believes it is completely awake. As a result, you are susceptible to unconsciousness at all times. Real consciousness is something you are; not something you believe you are. Consciousness is a state of being, not a state of thought.

An awakened person has an acute sense of a present moment reality. As a result, they reap the reward of being in connection with a higher source of consciousness. Pure awareness allows them to observe their surroundings without the filter of the mind, the lens of conditioning, or the veil of fear. This state of being is life-giving, effectual, exhilarating, and humbling; furthermore, humility prevents you from trying to move the experience into the world of form. You do not feel compelled to use this state of being to solve the problems of the world because you know a higher force of will has already addressed them. You are finally able to be still because you know that a process of awakening is already taking place within all people. You recognize that, through humility and surrender, you can influence the world of form through your own surrendered, peaceful, and interconnected relationships. As you awaken, you realize that all along, you were not placed here to change yourself then attempt to change others. Your ultimate purpose is to develop a relationship with the eternal source of life. Through this relationship, you create a space where this higher motivation can flow through you.

Giving and Receiving

Your life is part of a gradually unfolding progression toward an awakened state of being. Your life's purpose is to awaken. Of course, humans need something to motivate this process. We cannot awaken on our own. The Bible describes this process as "sowing and reaping." The Buddhist faith includes a variation called Karma. The principle of causation known as cause and effect is part of the beliefs of Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and many other religions around the world. Human beings have been familiar with, participated in, and experienced the results of causation since the beginning of human consciousness. The essential awareness that your actions have consequences is the impetus to elevating your consciousness. Ultimately, the process of sowing and reaping is meant to teach you and help guide you back to the present moment. All that is, was, or ever will be can manifest itself once you awaken.

An awakening is gradual and requires life experiences, a response to the experience, and the ability to comprehend the response, which is similar to nature's organic process of sowing and reaping. In agriculture, the harvest of a crop requires the execution of a precise series of events. To produce ripened fruit, seeds must be planted, nurtured, and allowed to mature. Humans harness nature's deliberate chain of events in order to produce food; however, a fruitful harvest only comes after the loving cultivation of good seeds.

In the same way, a human being is just a seed that has sprouted and is eager for nurturing and growth. Initially, as part of human spiritual development, a hardened ground seals you into the earth. This could be the result of the tight bond you have with your self-identity. The Self causes not only a struggle for survival but also a strong desire to become life itself. The Self is the hard ground that restricts your access to the life-giving light that is always shining. By surrendering to a higher force of will, you can provoke the nurturing that is needed to allow you to spring forth from the hard ground, to accept the nurturing that is all around you, and to absorb the light of consciousness.

All people must experience the cycle of action and reaction. Without a doubt, the sequence of giving and receiving are the driving forces of life. The reaping experience guides you to the next step in the path to purpose, but only if the result is understood to be good and is not resisted. If it is opposed, you will provoke more of what is required to make you humble, present, and conscious.

Your life is defined by the seed you sow, not by the things you want or think you deserve. Your attitude influences your growth so beware, you may get what you demand. You cannot receive that which the Higher Will intends if you are expecting something. Your expectations are formed in the imagination, often guided only by the intentions of the Self. Undoubtedly, you cannot force open the next door. Many seek for answers and study religious Scriptures with intensity, but this effort may not produce the intended result. Quite often, this activity puffs up a person's identity. You cannot pray your way into consciousness. Albeit beneficial, mediation is a fleeting result.

When you support a collective identity, you become subject to its reaping. Of course, the result can be either good or bad for you. You may attempt to align yourself with a group, movement, or ideology in an attempt to feel complete; however, true completeness can only be realized when a higher force of will influences your life. As with most collective beliefs, if your motivation is for success and prosperity, you may find success, but you will eventually be pulled down with the belief-based structure when it collapses. Historically, all collective bodies eventually dissolve.

The only practical association is that which will lead you back to consciousness. The awakening process was designed, with love, to break you down. Of course, the Higher Will may want you to experience the result of giving yourself to an ideology. When it fails, you can choose another ideology and begin the cycle again, or you can surrender; just let go of trying to control your reality. As expected, a person may give up on human-made institutions as a source for deriving identity and purpose. Your decision to give yourself to something higher provokes the higher force of will to begin guiding you. Regardless of your source of encouragement or the methods used, your open mind is the only space where a higher (deeper) source can inspire you.

Right now, the best gift you can give your life is the space for life itself. Unfortunately, the space for your life is often occupied by your conditioned self-identity and its unrelenting attempt to make itself whole and complete. A desire to be whole is no different than wanting to be the old you but with a purpose. This is an attempt to add to the Self instead of removing from that temporary identity. With this attitude, you continue to sow a seed of the Self, which chokes out a deeper influence. Undoubtedly, you cannot create a space for life until you let go of your old identity. The reluctance to let go demonstrates the love you have for yourself. Beware, the Self does not want to be replaced; therefore, it will reject this idea.

One thing is assured, you cannot perfect your Self—you can only surrender this identity. Surrender is the most influential decision that you can make using your sense of free will. Sowing a seed of surrender is a powerful choice that you can make right now. Tell yourself that you will no longer attempt to make yourself into a complete individual. A higher force of will is anticipating this decision. The Higher Will is patiently waiting for you to sow a seed of surrender so it can spring forth within the space of your life!

Once you understand how to interpret suffering, you will realize the opportunity to awaken and align with a Higher Will. From your new relationship with the present moment, you will learn how to be. We have been takers and givers for most of our life, but we may not know how to receive. Sowing and Reaping is a life-changing experience that supports the development of a deeper essence of life. This experience allows the hardened soil of the Self to be broken up and made ready for receiving that which will nurture the life within. Your eternal life is a process. Your process is not complete.

### Chapter Six

The Awakening

Of all the experiences that may cause you to suffer, the most excruciating are your thoughts. Anger, depression, anxiety, sadness, delusions, and mania are common disorders that arise when you know yourself primarily through your thoughts and emotions. As a result, you could become a victim of your own mind. You perceive the victim as you, but it is unquestionably the false identity called the human ego. Experiencing _You_ is a crucial part of the awakening process. Ultimately, your perceived victimization causes you to give more attention to a grieving Self and thus shields you from the guidance of a Higher Will.

So, where did we really begin? I think the first occurrence of human consciousness was the moment that all the faculties of a biological being were brought into alignment with the motivation of a Higher Will. This perspective allows for "Evolution by means of natural selection." while preserving the view that something separated humans from his primitive predecessors. We slightly woke up and became semiconscious. As humans progressed through the development of the brain and all its might and wonder, he also misinterpreted his purpose and meaning.

Until you understand that your life is immersed in an awakening process, you must struggle with the consequences of your actions. Many of your activities are an ineffective attempt to avoid pain and suffering along with an intense desire to improve the Self. If your identity consists only of your beliefs, opinions, grievances, and past story, you will develop a determination to perfect your self-image. Despite such efforts, you will continue to ache with the desire to become a complete being. Seeking happiness while trapped within this cycle is futile. In this state, your identity is at war with itself and slowly dying. Ultimately, the first day of _your_ transcendent life begins the moment you stop resisting life.

Many of your problems are created by the close bond you have with the Self and its thoughts. This constricted relationship conceals your essence—the eternal you. As a result, your mind may convince you that a thought-based and form-based identity is all that you are. The consequence of this identification is a delay in your awakening. While living unaware of your real life, your ego will arise with a sense of power and control. Your self-identity senses the essence of a deeper, eternal life; therefore, it must distract you. With this, you now understand the defensive nature of the Self; it fears losing its life; therefore, it must distract you with physical and emotional pain in an attempt to keep itself alive. The Self uses pain and suffering to control you.

Of all the human beings who have ever lived, most lived with many physical hardships such as hunger, disease, war, natural devastation, suppression, slavery, ignorance, and persecution. Throughout history, millions of people experienced immense physical and emotional suffering and an early death. Millions of people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs or political views. They did not have the safety, security, comfort, liberty, or freedom that are enjoyed by so many people today. They may not have had a safe home, a comfortable bed, nutritious food, a good job, health care, or the luxury of modern existence. Fortunately, there have been many improvements to the human condition because every generation attempts to build a better world than the one before. As a result, human advancements are tethered to those who previously suffered. Despite the good deeds resulting from religious and political endeavors, a higher process is always in control. Despite generations of improvements made from the experiences that caused people to suffer, we now live in a world where human advancements seem to only intensify the problems with the human condition. I feel that the message of this book is greatly supported by the fact that after thousands of years and billions of sufferers, humans continue to rely on religious or political groups for the solutions to its problems. Humankind must continue the search for meaning because this is not a collective process—the Higher Will only influences the individual. Humankind's institutions are only something for the individual to pass through on their journey toward something higher.

For thousands of years, belief systems have been established. Although the believers may experience a formidable sense of belonging, they eventually disband back to an independent sense of apathy. Due to the organization's inability to live up to its own imposed standards, it may eventually destroy itself. Because believers often apply their beliefs to the world of form, many belief systems result in discord. They unknowingly develop an expectation for the present moment. This happens because, when you are granted new sight, your pride often becomes inflated. You are proud of the knowledge or discovery. You are proud of your membership in the church or political movement. You feel empowered because the institution distracts you from the problems in your life. The experience of collective pride is intended to measure the relationship between your essence, the self-identity, and a higher force of will. In other words, if your Earthly associations are not maintained within a state of presence, the Self will attempt to use them to strengthen its own identity.

Throughout history, the human experience has imagined, designed, created, and experienced thousands of belief systems. Eventually, they all fail. Collective belief fails when the members of the group believe they must convince others that their way is the only way. Out of fear of losing power, organizations often reinforce their unconsciousness by recruiting others. Enlisting people into a group is an attempt to strengthen its validity using the power of collective thought. The group's belief structure leverages the human desire for acceptance; it can be comforting to connect with those with similar beliefs. Of course, comfortable knowledge isn't always the truth. Historically, an organization that is only strengthened by the support of its members eventually self-destructs. The structure is fashioned together with an inherent belief in the power of the collective. They fail when they use manipulative tactics to fortify their own definition of the meaning of life.

Collective beliefs often conflict with the intent of your life. The conflict is a necessary synergistic dance with life. By experimenting with a collective identity, we experience the effects of aligning ourselves with something outside of our own identity. We are allowed to do it because this is a part of free will. By testing the power of making individualistic choices, we learn how powerful or how dangerous this can be. The intent is to guide us in giving up our strong and unshakable belief in our opinions and choices. Eventually, through our growing distrust of our decisions in life, we become aware of the option to align with something higher. It is essentially the same choice. The hope is that you will decide to associate with a higher force of will once that option is made available.

The desired result of your failed associations is your decision to relinquish control and allow a transcendence to take place. You must reach a point in your life where you begin to release yourself from the trap of collective agreements. Keep in mind, as you develop your relationship with the Higher Will, you do not necessarily lose your identity, beliefs, friendships, or associations. You simply awaken and become influenced by something higher than yourself. You may remain in the church, but you will be conscious and influential. You may continue to lead an organization, but your decisions will be rooted in the present moment allowing them to result in something good. Your body will continue to grow old and you will someday pass on, but when you die, you will know that you lived your life in alignment with an eternal version of life.

### Immature Love: "I want."

_Immature love says, "I love you because I need you." Mature love says, "I need you because I love you."_

-Erich Fromm

Immature love means _I want, and I need; therefore, I love what I want and need. I get angry if I am denied._ A crude, primal physical nature imparts this form of love into your thoughts. It is an ignorant sort of love. Of course, human biology is responsible for many of the emotions that you experience. Although the brain uses chemicals to induce thoughts and desires in an attempt to motivate, restrict, or control your thoughts and behavior, a Higher Will also influences you. You have always been under the control of other forces. Undoubtedly, natural forces play a vital role in your renewal process. Initially, you must identify with and experience your natural mind and body. Intriguingly, all human conflict, corruption, and perversion are the consequence of combining the human imagination with the natural forces that influence thoughts. If the two unite, they create an offspring—similar to the biological process of reproduction. This fragile new identity is an imagined state of being—one who lives at the center of the Universe as the sole recipient of love. This sort of person believes love is just a tool used to reinforce the self-identity. When you live under the spell of immature love, you express love primarily to the people who meet your needs.

An innate human trait is to repeat satisfying experiences; however, the experiences that give a person gratification could turn into a craving, or worse, an addiction. Cravings may be caused by the short-term satisfaction of fulfilling your wants and needs, and this is a kind of love. Although this is a necessary part of the experience of life, the resulting satisfaction is just another attempt to prop up your identity. If you constantly nurture an experience in the world of form, you can become dependent. The short-lived satisfaction that follows this form of love always results in more suffering. As an example, food may help distract a person from their problems, but the price is obesity. Drugs and alcohol can numb physical and mental pain; however, the result is temporary, and the consequence can be sickness or death. Addiction is a common outcome for a person who lives trapped in the cycle of wanting and needing to be loved. The manipulative behaviors of immature love often result in addiction because the cycle requires incessant repetition in order to satisfy the desire. A person loves the source of their addiction (or codependency) because they need it. This is the only kind of love understood by the human ego, the immature love of needing to be loved, which is mostly needing to feel good.

Desire is a powerful natural force. Once the imagination experiences desire, its complex process of self-seeking will attempt to influence you. During this unconscious state, the ego may experience a false sense of empowerment using food pleasure, risk-taking, collecting and hoarding, sexual experiences, the urge for fame and adoration, or the need for money, power, and control. The ego may strengthen dangerous passions such as envy and jealousy and develop a strong desire for contention. The imagination is crafty and can combine one or more of these components to produce a different response. All forces, whether alone or combined, are categorically the same force. They are the darkness of your internal Universe. From within this world, many people live entirely unaware of the darkness they represent. This is the dissatisfied employee, the stressed executive, the power-hungry politician, the frustrated church leader, the unappreciated child, mother, or father, or the unhappy spouse. Darkness can also demonstrate itself on a grand scale. Unconsciousness is the unconscious dictator inflicting immense suffering on a country, the greedy business executive who wants more, a corrupt church leader who offers prosperity for a price, or a political figure who uses fear to manipulate people in order to acquire perks, power, and prestige.

Another way to examine immature love is to think about how you feel about your life. Your ability to reconcile your grievances determines the amount of joy you have in your life. In other words, you may be happy where you are because you recognize where you used to be. For example, if a person isolated to a small prison cell is then given a larger cell with a nice bed to sleep on, they may report being much happier. They feel lucky because the situation is so much better than before. An unconscious person would conclude that the prisoner should _not_ be satisfied, "You should be unhappy since you are still in prison!" The prisoner's state of being is aligned with life because they appreciate the present situation just as it is.

The message is clear; you should be content wherever you find yourself. The secret weapon of living a fulfilled life is the ability to appreciate and accept life precisely the way it presents itself at this moment. This is not to say that you should not try to improve a terrible situation, but you can accept everything just as it is regardless of how difficult it may be. You must contrast your situation with where you have been and not with an imagined idea of where you believe you should be. Imagined future events are not real and, therefore, should not be utilized to judge your current situation. (The grass is always greener on the other side.) If you are only happy when you get what you want, then you will continue to experience unhappiness. Contentment is difficult because it must happen in the midst of adverse situations.

The immature form of love is often invested only in the Self. Immature love is a person corrupted by their unhappiness, desires, and the determination to get what they want. Immature love cannot give a person what they need; it can produce children, financial success, and power, but it cannot create consciousness. Immature love's offspring is a new form that can only deteriorate and die. Eternal life can be found only in another kind of live, mature love.

### Mature love: "I want what is best for you."

_Love is an activity, not a passive effect; it is a "standing in", not a "falling for." In the most general way, the active character of love can be described by stating that love is primarily giving, not receiving._

-Erich Fromm

Mature love is expressed as "I am not awake enough to determine what is best for you or me; therefore, I must seek the guidance of something deeper." This type of love is only derived from the pure understanding that a Higher Will motivates your life.

The forces that push you toward an awakening are much more powerful than your desire to get love from others. Your purpose in life cannot be realized from collective agreement, beliefs, or relationships. Joining with others can have a desirable effect on your sense of purpose; however, as history has demonstrated, collective relationships always dissolve. The Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Mayan, Persian, and countless other civilizations eventually self-destructed. Their immature love used fear in an attempt to control people (give us love or bad things could happen). The leaders had to learn that the organization could not live up to the expectations of the unconscious people who put them in power. Many of the follower's expectations were for a solution to a fear created by the leaders in order to get power.

The human desire to form alliances often leads to conflict and eventually dissolution. For instance, divorce is often viewed as a problem that should be solved. This is an absurd conclusion since marriages are made up of all sorts of unprocessed and unconscious people. Marriages often begin with the immature version of love. Evidently, human relationships are fleeting. Cultural and religious beliefs often misrepresent marriage as being necessary for completeness or happiness. If there is joy in the marriage, it could be short-lived unless another entity exists within the relationship. The fleeting nature of contentment is evident in all sorts of relationships, not just marriage commitments. On the other hand, a relationship that is built upon a foundation of humility can withstand a storm. Without mature love, those in the relationship may view the hardships that arise as a failure. The experience often results in a necessary separation.

Every person is traversing his or her own unique journey and timing within an awakening process; however, it can be difficult for a person in a close relationship to allow the other to traverse this process. If a person cannot accept the temporary state of another person, they may decide to exit the relationship and seek the next thing that will make them happy. Understandably, relationship difficulties are necessary for the growth of those involved. If both people want what is best for each other, they will be able to maintain the relationship while traversing their own unique journey. The relationship will strengthen if both people cultivate acceptance.

Your daily practice can help you develop your affection for others. You must allow everything that arises including life's frustrations, pain, and suffering. When you respond to life's events from within a present state of being, it will always be in the best interest of those around you. You will be free of opinions, reactions, or interpretations of the event; it is mostly a silent expression. If you observe an unconscious reaction and a conscious response, you will find that the unconscious reaction is never productive while an awakened response is always peaceful, helpful, and in the best interest of the situation. Ultimately, we do not have to determine what is best for others because a conscious state of being embodies this understanding. Your response, action, or reaction will be influenced by a higher force of will which now occupies your space.

While you live in a present state of being, you are safeguarded from unconscious distractions. In this state, you do not observe yourself as a victim of another person's resistance or hatred. You now see unconscious people as children playing in the world of form. Reactions, resistance, or expressed hatred toward you can be transmuted into love by merely remaining awake. You can now see the innocence in their reactions. In Don Miguel Ruiz's book The Four Agreements, this is his second agreement: "Don't take anything personally. Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream." Unfortunately, another person may have their process of surrender delayed. If you do not live in a state of presence, you will resist their resistance. Opposing their resistance forces both you and them into a state of unconsciousness; it puts you to sleep. Resistance leads to divisive grievances, which strengthens the self-identity. The resulting narrative as a victim props up the identity of an individual, tribe, community, organization, institution, or even an entire nation.

Ultimately, unconsciousness is a crucial part of your awakening. By recognizing not only the destruction of your former identity but also the resurrection of a new life, you will become an influential observer. You can now fulfill your duty as one of the select few who were chosen to exit an ego-based world and allow the Higher Will to flow through you in a loving way. This is mature love – I want what is best for you.

When you live in the present moment, you will recognize the difficult situations that previously caused you to engage in a battle with the ego. Because you can now see clearly, you can allow unconsciousness in others. Present, surrendered, and humble servants are the chosen ones. They radiate a powerful influence. The chosen are those who understand that the forces that previously held them back can now empower them as teachers. The ability to teach results in a new space for being. Within this space, you will begin to influence others affectionately.

### Affection

A true friend is one soul in two bodies.

-Aristotle (322 B.C.E.)

Humans experience a potent emotion called desire. Because your natural desires influence you, your physical needs may become entangled in the manipulative needs of the ego. If the demands are not satisfied, you become unhappy. Since human beings evolved to repeat good experiences, they often become affectionate for the activity that made them feel complete. In other words, some behaviors may intensify the desire for the activities that satisfy your needs. Fortunately, a numbing effect prevents humans from being satisfied consistently with the same behavior. Desensitization ensures that you try different experiences until you fulfill the needs of the human condition.

All mammals have natural desires that help reproduce, provide for, and protect the next generation. Although humans have a strong desire to become a complete individual, no free will action will bring a permanent sense of completeness. Early adulthood is a struggle to find that which will provide fulfillment. Nature harnesses this desire with the reproductive process. In intimate relationships, this can cause fear, anger, and hatred, which could lead to a breakdown of the relationship. How could two people so in love suddenly develop such a hatred for each other? When affection is primarily focused on the Self, a perceived threat can quickly incite a conflict. The struggle with self-love may transform the relationship from something that made you feel happy and complete into one that now causes anger, resentment, and jealousy. Of course, many relationships flower during a search for happiness. Every human being yearns to feel happy, safe, content, and complete. A Higher Will may use the failures of your desires in order to persuade you to participate in a different process of life.

Until you are surrendered and conscious, you move through life under the delusion of possessing free will, freedom, and liberty. When you exercise free will, you stimulate the critical component of consciousness called the imagination. You see, your intelligence and affection are joined in the imagination. From this relationship, a new child is born. The child is the ego, which is enveloped in the delusion of fear, desire, identity, and power while continuously fretting to understand itself. This child is not permitted to mature, and this is why Jesus requested: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Unconscious people are forgiven because they are unprocessed beings struggling to find meaning. They are just children who are trying to survive in a wilderness of self-seeking. Until we traverse the awakening process in a way that is laid out by the Higher Will, we must remain childlike. Sadly, religiously righteous people often accuse, judge, and denounce children (the unprocessed), which stumps both the child's and the organization's progress within a higher process.

The human being is an incomplete creation—a temporary identity moving through a complicated process of awakening. Although your identity may feel permanent, it is only a temporary state of being. Sadly, many people grow old with their original identity intact. They did not seem to have surrendered before they died. Ultimately, you should not be concerned about them. Regardless of what you observe in your family and friends, your prerequisite is to yield to the present moment then follow the higher guidance that arises in your space. Allow all mysteries to remain as they are. The Self detests the unknown, as it needs conclusive answers in order to reinforce itself as a complete entity. Acceptance is crucial because all beings are connected. Your acceptance is an agreement to allow life's difficulties to be as they are without forming an opinion about them. The world does not need to change; only you need to change!

Humans have often attributed love and affection to the physical heart, but this is not where it exists. Thinking back to the presence practice described in the chapter "Experience Presence," notice when you are calm, relaxed, and lying still, you can feel your own beating heart. This is a fascinating experience as the beating heart is part of your life force. The heart increases your innermost attentiveness, especially when you focus on the sensation of its rhythmic beating. This awareness also brings attention to your mortality. You are alive, conscious, vulnerable, and may die at any moment. Life's enemy is death; therefore, you may try to avoid situations that expose the vulnerability of life. You may be uncomfortable sensing your own beating heart, but this is just the ego's fear of death. By developing an awareness of your weaknesses, you can begin to nurture life instead of resisting it. The beginning of your transformation is the moment you discover a higher source of life. This will allow you to gracefully accept that your body will soon pass away.

Once again, we can look at the stars to further explore love and affection. The planet Earth is rotating with a strong gravitational force. This force is moving through your body right now. The Earth is moving around the Sun. The solar system is moving within an arm of the spiral galaxy that we call The Milky Way. These forces are a part of your life right now. On Earth, you feel the limitless effects of physical law such as the warmth of the Sun, the weather, and the result of gravity and its impact on an aging body. You can also feel the rhythm of your beating heart. The heart is necessary for life; therefore, it is influential to our sense of mortality. You also sense your mental energy emanating from your stream of thoughts. Life's expansion and contraction are also evident in your breathing patterns. While practicing presence, try to visualize inhaling the acceptance of everything around you then imagine exhaling a humble and affectionate appreciation of the present moment—much like the way we inhale life-giving oxygen then expel the poisonous carbon dioxide gas. In any stressful situation, accept the situation unconditionally. Resistance intensifies suffering while acceptance destroys it. Resistance is like attempting to inhale carbon dioxide while exhaling the life-giving oxygen.

Although your body lives in a natural world, your life is not there. All of nature's forces work together to make you who you are; however, those forces are not the only influencers. Nature only represents a version of your life in a temporary world of form. Everything about your life in the world of form is demonstrated in your expressions. Right now, what meaning does your life demonstrate in the game of life?

### The Fruit of Your Expression

_People are just as wonderful as sunsets if I can let them be... When I look at a sunset, I don't find myself saying, "Soften the orange a bit on the right-hand corner"... I don't try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds._

-Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

You will discover an eternal version of life once you live in alignment with the intent of a higher force of will. Your new affectionate state of being no longer needs to experiment with its sense of free will. You no longer insanely cycle in and out of your imagination pressured with the daily concerns of life. You no longer agree with the assumptions of collective groups, such as religion, culture, or a political system. The moment your life begins to complement a higher influence, you will cease to be a part of a deep collective sleep. As a result, your newfound state of being contributes to life. You see, life does not push or force its offspring. Life happens because of many natural events aligning harmoniously. For example, fruit is pulled out of a tree when the genetic laws placed within the seed matures and finds harmony with external influences. In other words, the laws of nature determine when the fruit is mature, attractive, nutritious, ripe, and ready to give its love. The potential for life to reproduce itself is inherent in all lifeforms; therefore, life emerges from preexisting instructions. Hereditary traits also influence the giving and receiving ability of each new occurrence of life. The traits determine the way love is expressed. This can be observed as a nourishing sweet fruit, the fragrance of an orange blossom, the beauty of a colorful flower, the sound of a songbird, or the unconditional love of a human being for all other lifeforms.

Although life seems to erupt spontaneously, it is indeed motivated by an interconnected relationship with the Cosmos. We know that a cosmic clock guides the proliferation of life and the unfolding of humankind. In the same way, your purpose, essence, and intent are also governed by something higher. Your expression is a result of the life that you represent at this moment, but are you aware of how you affect others? Do you know if your life complements a higher force of will, or does it detract from life's intent? Until you awaken from the mental condition that keeps you from springing forth, your expressions are tainted—they are not life-giving. Your life may actually _take_ life from others. You may be the darkness that is keeping others from awakening. The fruit of your life may be toxic!

We collaborate with the world of form through a complex language called expression; it is mostly silent. For example, your mental story affects your verbal tone, which may expose an inner struggle. Your struggle alerts another person that you are the weaker member—you do not represent life but a person who needs to be supported. Undoubtedly, your attitude and mood are observable in your facial expressions and in your body language. As a result of this vulnerability, the ego has learned to cleverly camouflage itself. The way you appear outwardly does not always reflect how you truly feel. Simply stated, you often feel incomplete because you are actually incomplete. By using a form of camouflage, the awakening process protects you.

Camouflage is an evolutionary response to a threat; it is intended to protect you the same way your reflexes attempt to protect you. Although most animals have incredible abilities to conceal their body, they often expose themselves for various reasons such as protection, reproductive instincts, or letting down their defenses once they accept their pending demise. In the final analysis, a person or group cannot disguise the ineffectiveness of their beliefs. Through their actions, they demonstrate who they really are (to those who can see).

Do you feel that you are already a complete person? The ego often believes that it is a fulfilled individual and, therefore, qualified to prescribe its beliefs and opinions to others. What do your expressions say about you? What is the fruit of your expression? After thousands of years of searching for meaning using art, culture, government, religion, and science, humanity seems to be, once again, looking for a new source of meaning and purpose. For this reason, it is crucial for your heart and mind to be open and receptive to change in order to avoid the trappings of continually and unproductively searching for meaning. Sometimes, we cannot find our own meaning—the meaning must come to us.

### The Return of the Higher Will

Many religious belief systems describe a return of their deity. Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and thousands of tribes and native cultures believe that their leader, deity, or enlightened person will someday return. Belief systems often conceptualize the mysterious impulses they sense deep within because it is human nature to do so. A religion's strong and unshakable belief in their profound description of a deity will prevent its return because it is only a conceptualized entity created by the imagination. With all the highly varied, unique, divine, omnipotent, magical, mystical, and confusingly described deities that are represented by the numerous religions on the planet, where most describing their deity as "ours is the one true", one must conclude that they cannot all be right. Of course, this is the reason that humans were given the semiconscious state called free will—to create gods. They must learn through their own free will actions that God cannot be created in their image. As a result of the misunderstanding of a higher force of will, many people eagerly await a physical reincarnation of something they unknowingly have the potential to represent. Millions of humans have passed on without the fulfillment of their fantasy of a returning deity.

The problem with deities created in the image of man, is they are formed out of the imagination. The image is not real; it is a lifeless fabrication. If a source of power is real, it must contain life; it must be consciousness. Although the Biblical references to the words "anointing" or "Christ" are often described with a literal translation, the words are actually describing a conscious state of being. In Eastern religions, this awakened state is called Enlightenment or the Dao (Tao). Consciousness has many names in many religions. Those who develop a relationship with a Higher Will understand that this source really cannot be given a name. A name or label only conceptualizes the force into something that it cannot (or will not) be. You must have an open mind that is free of preconceived ideas before you can understand this higher motivation. This unknowable source cannot surface in your life if you forge it into something that it isn't. If you create your creator, you will not be able to recognize the real source of your life.

The original Greek definition of the word Christ means anointed. The word anointed means to be covered in oil—covered in life. Since early civilization, plant oil has been understood to be the essence of life. For instance, if you press plant seeds, you can extract oil. In ancient times, it was apparent that seeds were, in some way, a container for life. Because it was understood that plants grow from seeds, the oil within a seed was often used to describe the substance of life. Christ was said to have been anointed because he was covered in (represented) the essence of life (oil). The return of Christ is the moment that _you_ become the untainted spirit of life. Your life is not anointed so long as you represent, defend, and promote a fleeting, free will, independent, and form-based identity who is self-assured in his beliefs and opinions. An anointing requires you to become nothing. Like the "Christlike" metaphor in the Bible, once you agree to die as a Self, you also reap everlasting life; you become "anointed'—covered in life!

### The Higher Will

As far as humanity comprehends and in the most rational explanation that I can articulate, free of the fear of retribution, and free of the myths, misrepresentations, fairytales, and traditions of the many religions in Earth, and while humbly allowing the mysteries that prevent a detailed explanation of our origins, purpose, and intent, I have come to this conclusion. In the beginning, in total darkness and emptiness, a mighty force broke free. A spark of energy exploded into a majestic outflow of light, energy, matter, life, and the potential for consciousness. For reasons that continue to beset humans, life began to unfurl from a mysterious source. A precise alignment of forces was the origin of our biological beginnings as well as the potential for a new state of human consciousness. Within recent history, energy, matter, and a mysterious will-to-power have coalesced into incomplete, semiconscious human beings who incessantly pursue purpose and meaning.

It is evident that humanity has a strong desire to understand its origins. Where did I come from? Why am I here? What is my purpose? For the most part, the human experience is a search for purpose tightly bound in a fear of death. All people feel incomplete in some way. This dreadful sense of uncertainty has caused many people to spend a tremendous amount of energy trying to find the meaning of their life. For example, a belief system may attempt to describe how a higher power thinks, how it behaves, and the fear and might of its intentions. Undoubtedly, a human being is not capable of completely describing a God, so this attempt usually leads to more fear and confusion. The narrow band of human perception is restricted, which prevents a person from understanding this majestic force. As a result, the determination to find meaning often results in a struggle to believe. The struggle is caused by religious conditioning with its incomprehensible opinions, beliefs, laws, rules, traditions, as well as its descriptions of a deity. Gods have been created in many images, mostly for the purpose of acquiring power and control; however, the act of creating a God in man's image is part of an important process. Beware, you must be cautious about any intuitive sense that you have of the existence of God. An intuitive sense is not adequate to determine who or what God is.

Civilization is made of many different forces fashioned within human thought. The unconscious forces living within people are motivated by an insatiable desire to be right or to gain power over people. For example, church leaders are eager to convince their followers that they "know God," they have "spoken to God," or that "God speaks to me!" Throughout history, numerous religious leaders have offered their special relationship with God for a price. Regrettably, in a determination to be right, a person or group may aggressively promote the existence of their version of God through fear or even violence. Without a doubt, a formidable force that motivated the energy of the Cosmos does not need a champion for its existence. The force of will responsible for life is existence—it does not require semiconscious humans to describe, promote, or defend it. Its living expression can arise within you through the very current of energy that formed the Cosmos. The Higher Will is a genuine life-giving force because it is flowing out of consciousness.

Since the beginning, civilization has tried to advance itself to make life better. For example, Science and technology have improved life with inventions, solutions, tools, medicine, products, and services. Although the effort has moved humanity forward, sometimes Science obstructs the process of spiritual awakening. Consequently, we must maintain advancements once they become an expected part of life. In recent history, we have seen a progressive expansion around the world. As a result, modern life is becoming complicated and very difficult to maintain. Dissatisfaction eventually replaces anything that provides satisfaction in the material world. In an attempt to create a better world, human beings now seem to have a tough time trying to be.

Civilization is an insane cycle of expansion followed by destruction. Humanity now has thousands of years of improvements, yet unhappiness prevails. If you examine the history of religion, culture, economies, business, and politics, you will find a consistent pattern of attempting to maintain or improve an original structure. The institutions are seldom satisfied because their structure must be frequently amended in order to keep up with everchanging expectations. Although we stand on the shoulders of geniuses, build on the lessons from the past, and continue to make incredible advancements, humans always end up wanting more. Quite often, the result of unconscious human control is devastation.

As part of your awakening, you will learn that you should not detach yourself from the world and its collective identity. You cannot escape the intent of a Higher Will—you must awaken within this wilderness and become a servant to those who cannot see. The powerful force of will that binds together the fragility of the world may be the surrendered beings. The surrendered influence others on their journey toward consciousness. Indeed, people need each other while they move through this delicate process. The world and its methods are here for you to rise above—to overcome!

A person's determination to substantiate an opinion often arises out of their own inherent struggle to believe. An ideological contention is a form of suffering that is meant to show you that something is incorrect. Misunderstanding life leads to disillusionment, which results in a search for a different answer. This sort of confusion is responsible for the thousands of religions around the world, the numerous philosophies, and the incredible number of groups, movements, institutions, and organizations. Every cooperative relationship is merely an attempt to improve or define life by adding something new. The affiliations are attractive because they help people develop a sense of belonging—a temporary sense of purpose. Eventually, the activity no longer solves the identity crisis.

The suffering that you experience throughout life exists primarily in your stream of thoughts. Thoughts are necessary and powerful but can only be helpful if the ideas are rooted in the present moment. Undoubtedly, your inner peace can only be found through a state of presence, which is mostly absent of thought. You were not given a mind and imagination to create an answer. The mind is nothing more than an instrument that assists you on your journey through a process. The ultimate purpose of rational thought is to help you make a final commitment, which is to surrender the Self. The solution to suffering is to surrender and allow a higher force of will to flow through you. That force is within you at this moment.

You are unconscious when you cannot contrast the light against the darkness; however, you only need to reconcile your former identity in order to solve this dilemma. The ego may puff up at times, but this is just a reminder of who you were. This contrast is needed before you can understand the power of surrender. You need to be continually reminded of your old Self. The Self is harmful because its only goal is to keep you helplessly trapped in a perpetual identification with form. The Self leverages repetitive mental whispers to remind you of your past, so it can control you with pain and suffering. Feed the whispers with the stimulus offered by the world and the whispers temporarily go away. Fortunately, throughout the gradual awakening process, the Self can be renounced. Keep in mind that the Self may be the person that you think you are at this moment. If you love your Self and want to keep your identity intact then you will continue to repeat your mistakes—you will continue to respond to its whispers, you will continue to suffer.

Since the Self is responsible for your turmoil then how can it be entrusted to show you life? When you exist as the Self, you are part of a group made up of other unconscious people. As you know, human collectives create most of the pain and misery that exist in the world. Political, religious, cultural, and intellectual organizations are made up of predominantly unconscious people; therefore, your first decisive decision is to detach from them. They were only attributes of a confident ego.

Life tells us that permanent happiness cannot be found in any human creation. Initially, we do not know where to look in our search for purpose and meaning. You were given free will so you could attempt to find a state of completeness on your own. The Higher Will wants you to experience the fleeting results of your decisions, which is often just more frustration. Of course, many of our decisions are influenced by our caregivers, society, associations, or culture. Institutions are a place that we are meant to pass through on our journey to enlightenment. Their miscarriage of the truth provides us with necessary confusion, pain, and suffering.

Transformative change is possible but only after being caught in the vortex of mental and physical pain. The opportunity to let go of your ego is presented to you following the experience of immense suffering. Human suffering is often a result of the desire to control life. A sense of free will was given to you as a gift so you can experience the result of being in control of your destiny. Although painful experiences may be required to wake a person up, they may not be necessary. Only a Higher Will knows what it will take to loosen your grip on your life.

Suffering is part of a higher plan of renewal; it is a necessary tool to help you surrender. Your first experience of the higher process comes from the suffering that you create when you attempt to avoid suffering. Although pain and sorrow are often observed as unfavorable or something to resist, they are actually a powerful force trying to jolt you onto a different path. You need the motivation that comes from suffering so you can make improvements in your life. Sorrow, pain, and suffering can strengthen your awareness of the collective unconscious nature, which motivates you to make changes in your life. The act of acceptance is the most instrumental change we make to our assessment of life's situations.

In your attempt to find meaning and purpose, you cannot just imagine a better place and then try to get there on your own. The steps taken on your journey to a present state of being must be motivated by thoughts that are rooted in the present moment. From within the solitude of the present moment, the voice of a Higher Will can influence your thoughts. For the most part, this is the removal of harmful thoughts. The Higher Will is a present moment reality. It is not something derived from thoughts.

This is the beginning of your relationship with an eternal presence. Your purpose can be fulfilled right now! From within a state of presence, a light will shine through. As a result, your new life will spring forth as a new relationship with the force that caused you to be. From within your new state of presence, you will realize the meaning of life. At that moment, you will recognize that it never was _your_ life. With a new consciousness, you can transcend the unconscious stream of thoughts that say to you "I am my thoughts; therefore, I can think my way into being." You can live in the present moment where you consciously give life to others. When you genuinely desire only what is best for others, you embody an eternal version of life that is connected to something deeper. The result of being awake is a life-giving acceptance of everything that arises. You become real, right, and eternal because you are anointed with the life-giving motivation of a higher force of will.

The Cosmos continues to produce new life because nothing can prevent the Higher Will from arising within the human space. The human condition belongs to this force of will. You were brought to life with an opportunity to reach a peaceful, humble, content, and present state of being. The meaning of your life can only be understood once you align your life with this will-to-power. The Higher Will wants to help you complete your life. Ultimately, you are not a creation, but a person that is being created right now.

You have been chosen to relinquish your unconscious identity and find the meaning of your life. A Higher Will is waiting to guide you, but it wants you to question everything especially the person you think you are at this moment. Right now, you can allow the Higher Will to flow through you and "Let there be light." You can effortlessly live a meaningful life regardless of any circumstance. Once you surrender your life, your heart and mind will unite to create a new life. Right now, you can abandon your self-seeking identity and spring forth as a selfless spark of the light of consciousness.

...

### Suggested Reading

Albert Einstein - The World As I See It, an Essay by Albert Einstein

Carl Sagan - Cosmos, Pale Blue Dot

C.C. Baskin, J.M. Baskin, - Seeds: Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Dormancy and Germination.

Charles Darwin - The Origin of Species

Confucius - The Way of Confucius

Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso), Howard C Cutler - The Art of Happiness

Don Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements

Eckhart Tolle - The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, A New Earth - Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

Janet Heimlich - Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment

Lao Tzu - A new translation by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English - Tao Te Ching

Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince (Il Principe)

Marlene Winell - Leaving the fold.

Robert Wright - The Moral Animal - Why we are the way we are - The new Science of Evolutionary Psychology

Sigmund Freud - The Ego and the Id

Steven W Hawking - A Brief History of Time, The Grand Design

Steven Pinker - How the Mind Works

Sun Tzu - The Art of War

Temple Grandin - The Autistic Brain

Viktor E. Frankl – Man's Search for Meaning

Wayne Dyer - The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way

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