Do You Believe In Yourself? Don’t Ask Me

September 7, 2008 · Filed Under Spiritual Health · 7 Comments

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Advice and asking others for answers seems to be the theme of the week for me. I sometimes visit a forum called Our Ultimate Reality. The subjects on this forum get pretty wild and abstract sometimes. This week one discussion has been about the origin of the universe. The discussion got into the void and randomness and order from chaos, etc. As I was reading a reply I said to myself Do I need an answer? Then it went to, why do we humans always need answers? Why do we ask questions? Why do we seek others advice? Is it to satisfy the mind’s need to box and categorize thoughts and concepts? The thread then changed to the subject of why we are constantly asking questions.

In 2003, after devouring any book or channel on spiritual awakening and enlightenment that I could find, I decided that was enough. I didn’t need any more validation that this stuff was real for me. As I have said, the message was always the same, just said in different words. It felt like my questions were answered and I had no need for any more answers.

This was a reply I made to another on the forum who had given me a theory about the origin of the universe.

Thanks for the interesting perspective. The vacuum effect creating energy. Well?

Like you say questions?

You know, I was reading that and I said to myself why do I care about this? What difference can it make to me or my understanding of anything.

It might a fun mental exercise but that’s all it is. A mental game and mental games for me are just that, games. I guess that’s what the human brain loves to do. It’s like any verbal communication or discussion on any concept, we seem to feel the need to satisfying the mind’s need to categorize, label and “make sense” of things.

The human mind loves to have the answers. Is there really answers? Why do we feel the need for them? The mind begs for a time line and a “how to” process to be satisfied, which as the questions get more abstract, the harder it is to do.

Like your story of you, the enlightened child, who dared to ask the tough question of Who made God? and got brushed aside because there was no answer that the priest could give.

We keep asking. I guess we just love the game huh?

Will we get to the point where we quit asking or feeling the need to have the answers?

I say yes.
Seth

This was a response to my post from Darrell, a person who has a perspective that I enjoy. He hit my theme of the week perfectly.

Hello Sethg,

Yes, we reach the point that we say - enough already.

I do love to learn new things though. I revel in the new dimensions of science’s ability to see deeper into our biology and farther into the Universe. I spend many hours reading and watching video’s of all this.

But as for spiritual books and such, I have had my fill. Being brought to the realization that I was spending my life learning how to live it, and thus, not living it at all.

Like the observer - they miss the point of their own life in the observation of others.

A dear friend of mine just recently wrote a book on spirituality, and she was very happy - yet when I read it I was left with the feeling ” how many times can we keep writing the same things? ” I read all this over thirty years ago.

Yes - there comes a time when we just need to get out there and feel it all and not care how - why - or if it is correct or not.

WithIN Love
Darrell

I just watched this video and it fit my theme. Buddha had some interesting things to say about advice and who to believe.

The answers are within us but we lack the trust in our ability to know that they are right for us. We love to give our power away to doctors and lawyers and counselors and spiritual gurus that we believe “know” so much more than us. Then of course we also give up our personal responsibility for the outcome.

It’s our mind’s thirst for answers combined with our lack of confidence in our power to have them already that keeps us asking. Who knows what’s right for us other than us.

How can I give you advice? I haven’t lived your life. I can’t know your feelings. Only you can. You have the answers within. We just have to listen and trust. When we incorporate that trust in our being then the need to ask someone else for the answers.

This was my last reply.

“Living instead of learning” Yes Darrell, I think it is a natural progression when we harmonize the aspects of self, when the mind relinquishes it grip on constantly “needing” to have the answers, that it will bring the end to our incessant questioning and seeking answers outside our selves. Or the need to question at all.

And then the whole concept of need for every part of life just fades away.

Seth

It’s is time for me believe in myself instead of needing advice from others. Time to end the constant seeking for truths and answers and live the ones I already have.

Now it is on to the next theme. “What is a real man?”

Stay tuned …

Another post I read yesterday that added to my “theme of the week.”

It’s from NAB - Oprah Was Wrong

Tags: advice, empowerment, enlightenment, gurus, questioning, trusting ourselves

Transition Of The Soul - A Death Story

August 29, 2008 · Filed Under Spiritual Health · 9 Comments

There are two transitions a soul goes through in a lifetime. Birth and death. When someone is dying we can really get a glimpse of the soul that we all have within us. The spirit that I call our true self. Looking at death from a different perspective than the usual sadness and grief will allow both you and the person dying some proof of the existence of the true self and what happens to our soul after our body dies. I had an experience yesterday that I wanted to share. It adds more validation that the soul is more than just pretty words.

Geriatric ward doctors and nurses probably have many of these types of stories. There have been lots of books written about near-death experiences and anyone who has had a loved one die can also tell their own stories about witnessing “different” behavior of a loved one close to death.

I got on the bus yesterday and the driver, Kathleen, was there. I had not seen her for a couple of months so I asked her how she was. The last time I had seen her she told me that she visiting her brother in the hospital a lot but never discussed his condition and I didn’t ask. I asked her how her brother was. I don’t usually talk much to any drivers other than hi, bye but Kathleen speaks English so I have spoken to her more. I hit the “on button” when I asked about her brother.

She proceeded to tell me that he had died and then poured out her heart describing the last few days of his life. She loved him very much and would visit him daily, often staying over night to be with him. She told me that a few days before he died he would point his finger to the ceiling and ask if she could see Mama or Uncle Gilles or whoever. All the people he talked about were dead. Kathleen would just calmly tell him that she did not see them.

One morning she got to the hospital and he told her that he had spent the whole night with his cat, Mimille, who he loved dearly and was also not living. He said she slept on his bed with him and he petted her and she purred all night.

Her brother was unable to walk because of his advanced condition or even raise himself out of bed. She described to me that a few hours before he died he started to get very agitated and was trying to get up from the bed. He was very upset with Kathleen saying to her, while pointing up to the ceiling,

Our soul is formless. Our soul is energy and energy can’t die. Having this knowledge sure makes living each day a lot sweeter and easier. We can all live each day with the knowledge that the story never ends.

“Don’t you see them. They are waiting for me. I have to go. Help me up. There standing there in the light.”

Kathleen and the nurse kept trying to settle him down and were holding him in bed as he was struggling to get up. They gave him shots of sedatives that had no effect on him. Finally they gave him enough that he stopped struggling and died 20 minutes later.

A pretty familiar story for anyone who had experience with watching a person die.

With Overlight there is a segment that works with people who are dying. Helping them with the fear that many experience surrounding this transition. I also know that there is one person that we designate before we come into a lifetime that agrees to be there when we pass. They also agree to give us “permission” to leave. It is a sacred contract that we have all made. It can be anyone. A nurse, a son or daughter, or in Kathleen’s case, a sister. Many will fight death until they do receive that “permission.” Permission may sound like weird word to use but that is in essence what happens, even though it may not be spoken that way.

I asked Kathleen if she gave him permission to leave? She stopped talking, looked at me straight in the eye and said,

“Yes, I did.”

She was the only one present when he died. His wife and other family members lived in a nearby town and Kathleen could feel his death was coming but was unable to reach them before he died.

Now that, for me, was very cool stuff. Not only that she opened up to me like that but that her description of her brother’s behavior was another example of us being eternal beings. He knew he had to go. He knew where he was going. Her brother’s soul was fully present for her to connect with and I know she did.

Why do I keep talking about our real self? Like this post or this one about Paul Potts. Because I want to give you some real life examples. Not just flowery words and concepts that sound nice but are too abstract to relate to.

Plus, I love to connect to another’s real self. Heart to heart. Soul to soul. Kathleen gave me that feeling. That connection. I knew that she had also experienced it with her brother. That kind of stuff juices me up.(weird huh? bet you thought it was girls)

I am not sure how anyone can believe that we’re born, we die, end of story. Anyone who has been present during a person’s death and who really opens their eyes to observe what happens can take away from that experience, if they didn’t know already, a belief that there has to be more to the story. Often witnessing the death of a loved one can be a life altering event that opens us up to a wider perspective on life and on who we truly are.

Death is not an end. We are eternal. We are just changing form. We’re leaving our bodies behind and returning to our true state. If we eliminate our ingrained fear of death and know that we are not our bodies but our true self is our soul, then the transition of the soul can be a glorious event. It can be a celebration of our return to home.

Image credit sylph @ Deviat Art