Place a small, round stone in the palm of your left hand; then blanket it with the warmth of your right palm. Now, breathe deeply and focus your mind’s eye on the living stone. The smooth surface, the weight and feel, the solid sleepiness inherent in the form. Soon, you will begin to sense the quiet, steady pulse of Divinity from deep within the stone.
Take a stroll into any lush garden, field of wildflowers, or woodland area; and listen intently. Shortly, you will begin to hear the humming lyrical notes of the dancing dreams within the flowers, bushes, grasses, and stately trees beyond.
Observe a gaggle of geese on a sunlit pond, a family of deer moving effortlessly through the forest, or a group of seagulls taking flight along the shoreline. Slowly, you will become aware of the hazy outline of soft-lit emanations of consciousness which permeate the entire animal kingdom.
Walk any busy city street; pay particular attention to the frenetic pace of passersby. You are bearing witness to the acutely self-absorbed awareness of humankind. In the world of form, this is the highest level of consciousness thus far attained by the majority of human beings.
Over two thousand-six hundred years ago (2600), an Ionian Greek philosopher, known as Pythagoras of Samos, spoke these words: “Consciousness sleeps in the stone, dreams in the plant, awakes in the animal, and slowly becomes aware of itself in Man.”
To understand the true potency of these words, consider that their remarkable insight, into the temporal reality of physical form, was gifted to humanity five hundred (500) years before the celebrated birth of Christ; and they aptly illustrate the immensely slow-evolving curve of consciousness within all forms containing irrepressible living sparks of Divinity.
Think of consciousness as the free-flow of circular energy within the subtle interior head-heart archetype, a uniquely sublime design intended to receive emanations of Divinity’s living eternal flame. Emanations demanding manifestation, in time and space, through the karmic constraints of the physical form.
These emanations, from the One Source, animate forms on different planes of Livingness: from the abstract to the subtle to the gross. If we openly embrace the notion of multiplicity as being the cherished child of Universality, then the higher Ideal of Unity through Synthesis becomes a clear picture of Infinite Intent.
As our individual consciousness steadily grapples with lower, man-made concepts of retribution, reconciliation, and redemption, we learn through our humanness the vital, enduring lessons of pure pain and sublime pleasure. The many intoxicating possibilities of a richly material world in time and space beckon, and often capture our attention, for long periods of time. Until, perhaps unexpectedly, dissatisfaction takes hold; and simmering discontent is born.
Then, the questions become more targeted and carry greater urgency: how to live and promote peace in a world of chaos? How to create safe harbor through roiling, stormy waters? How to plant seeds of group awareness through sharing? How to celebrate group consciousness on a wholly different plane of beingness? How to love with transparency; how to laugh at self with abandon; and to how to listen with a wider embrace?
One word begins to haunt all dreams and dominate all thoughts. Life’s truthful answer to all these many questions, and more, is: relationships. Life is all about relationships; from birth to passing, entry to exit, we exist in relation to all other life-forms, including the very planet we inhabit. Abruptly, consciousness shifts and there are no longer any separated life-forms, anywhere.
All Life is One. A vision of freedom takes hold, an empowering, unifying spiritual lens of pure reflection opens wide. “I am That, and That am I” flows seamlessly through stages of emotional maturation; then evolves into a cognitive juggernaut. Until, one fine day, a new perception awakens and “Water of Life am I, poured forth for thirsty men” becomes both an aspirational future goal and a comforting daily measure of protection and guidance.
This Herculean journey of living consciousness, moving through time and space, while learning to accept the frailties of humanness, unfolds over long Aeon’s of evolutionary changes and wildly misunderstood transmutations.
We, Humanity, are ever so slowly being transformed through living consciousness from an “I” to a “We” and someday into the “One”.
Learning to reconcile diversity with Universality simply means to fully accept the unlimitedness of creation. In the eyes of Creation, different does not mean divided. It translates into the infinite artistry of Divinity.
Try an experiment. Each morning, stand before a polished mirror and repeat: “I am living soul.” A tired, confused, and perplexed human being stares back. Try again. Dig deeper; and reach higher. “I am Living Soul. I am Living Soul. I am Living Soul” Can you feel the clean strength coursing throughout your body? Does the sense of an eternal lightness of being bring a smile to your face? You’re ready.
When you leave your home, and join the larger world of Life and Humanity, repeat silently in sing-song fashion as your eyes rest upon the other: “He is Living Soul; She is Living Soul; They are all Living Soul. The trees, the rocks, the flowers, the birds, mammals and all oceans are all Living Soul.”
Do this for seven consecutive days and then evaluate for yourself the deep changes in consciousness which have profoundly shifted your plane of living beingness. You will discover that your perceptions, emotions, and attitudes about all life have been forever and supremely altered. The exquisite dance of living relationships, all relationships, will dominate your daily thoughts and energies. For you, Life and all of its wonderment, beauty, joys, and sorrows have become One Dance.
