Freedom is Just Another Word Unless It Is Real

I sit here during a full moon listening to the sounds of the crickets and thinking how lucky I am to not be in a war torn war with poverty and starvation right outside the door. Things are not perfect, but they could be worse. That is a case, I think, that everyone can make no matter what their circumstance. Things could always be worse. And so we find ourselves in the midst of pain and discomfort on one side and bliss and happiness on the other drifting back and forth. People often wonder how to remain on the side of bliss and happiness. There is only one way. One stays in a place of bliss and happiness when one realizes that they are, in the greater sense, the same thing.

In the greater sense bliss and discomfort are here for the same purpose. That purpose is to help one grow and to become what he or she has always been meant to be. It is to burn away all falsity and illusion until one is left with only oneself and what one considers to be God, Creator, or the Core of all reality. If one is fortunate one realizes that that God, Creator, or Core of reality is not what we think. We realize that we see the Divine through eyes that have been socially conditioned. Eventually, as we become mature, we begin to see the Divine not as we think it is, but as it actually is.

We see the divine in every tree, in every smile, in every flower, and in every person, because we realize that the God that we seek is the one in which we move and live and have our being. And when we are willing and ready to let go of all of the falsity and illusion we will recognize that this God lives in us and moves in us. We will take control of ourselves and the world and begin to use our creative nature, the spark of God, not only to benefit ourselves and our families, but to heal the world.

“How can this be done?” You may ask. I may be homeless any second. I am suffering. I don't have enough food. I have been raped. Drug addicts are outside and holding the whole community hostage. The racists have hurt me so bad that I am afraid to do anything. Do all of these things sound like the valid complaints of the day? I would dare say that they are very valid complaints. Suffering is happening all over the world, but it need not.

There is a difference between pain and suffering. One can feel pain and discomfort without suffering. Suffering comes from imagining a better world and better future and projecting our attention into that future, thinking that the projection will provide us comfort and help us escape the pain. In reality it only projects the pain into the future and causes more pain in our minds, instead of our bodies. It creates the type of hopelessness that tears us apart and separates us from friends, family, and community. But if we live in the now and we dare to feel the pain, not trying to avoid it something different happens. If we live from moment to moment in the present we will discover that the pain has no power over us. We will begin to learn that in the now, in this moment, there is not pain. The pain only exists in past and present, but not in the immediate now. We can make the decisions and exude the behaviors that will make us strong and help us be choice-makers even in the midst of the fire when this happens and we will be free.

We will be an asset to friends and family members. We will be able to bring comfort to others as we dwell in the deep abiding love of the universe. As soon as we do this the whole world will change from the inside out. Circumstances will change as we realize that we are free, unchained beings. This freedom, one that is not based on external circumstances, is the gift of humanity. It is offered freely to those who seek it and receive it. It is the gift of creation; the mighty power that can change the most broken person into a powerful human being who can climb high withstanding the winds of adversity. We all have the power to be a bright shinning light. We have the power to find joy and hope in all circumstances. The first step is knowing that it is possible. The second step is deciding to do it. The third step is to be dedicated to seeing the world not as we would like it to be, but as it is. The last step is living in the real world—not the world created by the harshness and greed of men, but the world that we will be able to create ourselves through the power of love. We are truly the creators of the world when we let go of fear and illusion and realize that we are the hands of God.