December 15 – Space-Cleansing: Gather all the used catalogs, magazines and newspapers in your home and take them to be recycled.

Bonus Activity: Cancel your subscriptions to all paper-based periodicals.

For a Peace Pilgrim who neither regularly reads nor subscribes to any such periodicals, I had to get a bit creative here. And yet it wasn’t that difficult for me to look in my little closet and see those “to read at some point” stacks of articles and books that folks have given me over the past few months.

Whenever someone gives or lends me a book or an article, it has been a personal practice of mine to humbly assume that there is at least one teaching therein that will benefit my service to humanity. So when I happen to be given something to read, I always accept it with the intention of – at least at some point – discovering its enlightenments that pertain to me. Of course, as many of you might appreciate, these items tend to find their way into an ever-growing “to read” pile wherever I might be residing.

So today proved to be the perfect day to “whittle down” this collection of materials.

And here is what I received from what I read …

*Last summer, a friend in Germany gave me a book by Richard Dawkins entitled Unweaving the Rainbow. In it, the author goes to great lengths to show “how an understanding of science in fact inspires the human imagination and enhances the wonder of our world” (back cover). And yet, though he does indeed inspire wonderment with his tellings, Dawkins’ almost religious adherence to “practical scientific truths” seems to miss one of the most important (if not the most important) issues: that of the role of consciousness in all sentient interactions – that many conscious beings are self-aware and, as such, have the ability to purposefully act in ways that happen to conflict with instinctual self-interest (such as voluntary organ donations for strangers & similar acts of self-sacrificial heroism).

And yet the true amazingness of such acts of selflessness can be seen when we examine the practical effects of such choices. Indeed, such selfless acts allow the conscious beings who are actualizing them to experience a very real sense of Bliss – not only “bathing” in a wash of profound Peace (the experience of Oneness), but also a physiological uplifting that comes from tapping into a quantum energy source that exists independently of traditional wellsprings of sustenance. I myself have repeatedly proven that my well-being is not only determined by my intake of food, water & rest — but that I also, in all the moments I choose to willingly act in a self-sacrificial manner, am sustained and energized even more effectively by the “Quantum Oneness Field” that permeates all matter.

*During the same trip to Germany, I was also given a book entitled High Insights on Marijuana (written by my friend, Sebastian Marincolo). In this work, Sebastian makes the scientifically documented claim that marijuana can be purposefully used to heighten not only one’s creative abilities, but also one’s sense of empathy with other beings. After reading it, I wrote Sebastian the following email:

“While I was reading through it, I had a thought I’d like to share: It relates to that famous story about Dr. Richard Alpert (now Ram Dass), who apparently traveled to India in order to interview mystics there about their opinions on the “spiritual” & psychological effects of ingesting psilocybin. One such guru, after ingesting a large dose of this hallucinogen, showed no external behavioral side effects for 24 hours — whereupon he calmly commented: “It’s good — but not nearly as good as meditation”. Anyway, when I think back on the very real enhancements of in-Sight & empathy that marijuana did indeed enable me to experience (primarily from 1987-92), I would these days offer the following: It’s good — but not nearly as good as self-sacrificial service.”

*I have also been given quite a few “Science of Mind” journals. As I skimmed through them all today, I made the following observations:

Divine Connection is not healing, but realizing that – even in states of dis-ease, we are always completely Whole. Divine Connection is not praying in order to access the miraculous, but realizing that the miraculous has already been given to us, whether we pray for it or not.

Earnest Homes noted that, “We are fed from the table of the Universe”, and this limitless well of energy is re-tapped in every moment we selflessly extend kindness to others.

The belief in one Universal Mind has no bearing on one’s realization of his/her Oneness until that person experiences the Truth that this Universal Mind is his/her own.

Co-creation comes not when we can manipulate our surroundings, but when we learn to humbly harmonize with them. It is not accomplished solely via “the Power of Now”. Mastering your thinking will not bring Peace unless your thoughts become Peace-full and your actions reflect those thoughts.

Fear is only a part of consciousness when we choose to focus upon things fear-full. Consciousness itself is an agent of Oneness, an interconnected field of energy that does not comprehend fear (which requires an active belief in dualistic separation).

Love plants seeds even in the unwilling, and yet no such “seed” can grow without being watered from within via an actualized intention of courageous kindness.

The only way to be true to one’s True Self is to be true to another’s (True Self) … We might indeed all be unique “individualized centers of God-Consciousness” (E. Holmes), and yet we cannot realize this pure Essence by “taking care of ourselves”. An experience of the Truth of Oneness with the Divine comes only after we set aside our perceived uniqueness to reach out caringly to those we fear.

Life is permanently impermanent. As such, we are in every moment saying our “goodbyes” to that which we are perceiving. Do so steeped in joyous gratitude.

*Finally, I have been in possession of a book entitled Hope in the Dark, written by Rebecca Solnit, for some time now. I went through it today, and made the following observation:

“In her book, the author mentions that, “Hope and action feed each other.” Actually, I have found that hope effectively neuters the very actions it inspires. Choices only become truly potent when they remain completely detached from their outcome (and thereby completely free of hope, a second-cousin to the ultra-disabling “fear”). Hope requires submitting to a belief that change will come “someday, somehow”. In actuality, at least with regards to Love, I have found that acts of raw kindness are effective immediately in their immediate surroundings. The consequences of such instantaneous quantum interconnections might take time to be perceived, and yet they do exist in the very moments that such radical acts of kindness are engaged.”

Just remember, enlightenment does not come vie humble “learning”, calm “meditation” or even intellectual “openness”.

Enlightenment comes to every being who has the courage to apply what is learned, and thereby experience his/her Truths therein.

See You when I see you …

… and until then, Be Now!

Scaughdt

Filed under: 366 Days of Kindness by Scaughdt