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A Spiritual Perspective on World Events As anyone who has been on the spiritual path for any length of time

can attest, each emergence into lighter and more expanded states of consciousness is preceded by a painful clearing of denser energies. These painful clearings, which come through great surrender of ones external attachments, are referred to as dark nights of the soul. They are a necessary part of the process of expansion and growth. One would not say that these dark nights, which appear depressing, chaotic and full of pain and despair, should be avoided any more than one would say that the joyful, expanded states that follow should be avoided. Both are a necessary part of the larger picture of the integration and balancing of the souls energy as it moves into higher states of being. With spiritual maturity comes the recognition and understanding of this pattern. This same pattern is repeated throughout all levels of consciousness. While the above example reflects the clearing of the individual consciousness, the current world events reflect the clearing of the planetary consciousness. The planetary consciousness is currently undergoing a radical shift in vibration, as the energies of each polarity attempt to come into balance. Just as with the dark night of the soul, the external appearance of this energetic shift can be chaotic, depressing and full of pain and despair. And, just as with the dark night of the soul, it is a necessary part of the integration and balancing process of the planet. As we access higher states of awareness and move beyond personal identification, spiritual insight reveals a greater understanding of the process by which balance is restored. The process of expansion and healing is a process of embodying more light. Before one can expand to embody more light, one must clear out the denser energies. This clearing happens through contraction, during which time the associated energetic is experienced as pain and fear, invoking a reaction of defensiveness from the externally created identification (ego), be that an individual, country or planet. The egos defensive and distressing reaction is what is seen on the surface, but energetically, it is the necessary contraction and repulsion of the opposing energetic which must occur prior to the expansion and acceptance of more light. Therefore, it is not appropriate to be for peace any more than it is appropriate to be for war. Both are just different aspects of the same thing and to focus on either one creates

separation within. To be for one only creates the appearance of its opposite within your consciousness. Such is the power of the mind. To transcend this reality of opposing polarities, one must accept what IS without judgment, knowing that nothing can happen that is not the will of God. What appears as death is a transition, a release from the circumstances and limitations of this physical realm. If you can find it within yourself to surrender your judgment and fear of external appearances, you will find peace within because, in this surrender, the wisdom of the soul can be revealed. Inner Peace in the Midst of Outer Conflict As the planet clears the negative energies on its way back to balance it can be very difficult to find inner peace. This is especially true if you allow your mind to rest in positionality. It does not matter if you agree or disagree with foreign policy or, if you agree or disagree with the way the energies of the planet are playing out. You will not have inner peace until you have full acceptance of external events, transcending judgment and fear and moving beyond the positionality of the mind. It is not helpful to say that love is all there is when those in contraction and fear are not able to perceive love. It is unknown to them. We fear the unknown and through that fear, we resist. This is not a human choice, no one would choose fear over love consciously. It is simply the interaction of the energetic polarities as they flow through the human consciousness. To accept in more light, we must first contract and allow the darkness to clear, only then will we be able to recognize it. On the surface, this appears as resistance, opposition and defensiveness. In reality, it is just the external appearance of the underlying energetic balancing process. To have inner peace in the midst of external conflict one must continually surrender their personal opinions, beliefs and fears (which are all manifestations of the ego) about what is being perceived externally and hold within oneself the Oneness that is God. This is a Oneness that can only exist when there is total acceptance for everything that is God, whether it appears as positive or negative. There is nothing that is not part of God and there is nothing that can happen within the body of God that is not part of the larger whole of creation. Everything that happens is part of this larger whole working in infinite ways to come into more perfect balance and harmony. The dualistic mind (ego) cannot see this because it sees only through its own filter. You must rise above the rhetoric, you must rise above the seeming separation and you must not separate yourself further by choosing sides. All

sides only serve to separate you from God. God does not, and never has, taken sides. Rather than trying to change or reconcile what is happening externally in the world, seek to cultivate understanding and acceptance internally. Ask God to give you a higher understanding for the Divine plan, surrender your fear of uncertainty and hold faith within your heart. Allow the external conflict to serve as a catalyst which sends you deeper into self-awareness and choose to experience love through transcendence and acceptance. Living With Uncertainty When we speak of surrender, we are speaking of the process of letting go of the effort to control the outcome of events in our lives. This includes not being concerned (upset) if events do not proceed as you envisioned they would. There is nothing that will block your connection with your inner guidance (Spirit) more completely than thinking that you already know what is best for you, or what you need for your growth. You are not here to achieve anything in the worldly sense, the trappings of a successful life mean nothing in the spiritual realms. You are not here to live up to any one elses expectations, whether they be your parents, your partner or societys. The Truth is that the illusional, physical realm does not reflect the Truth of the spiritual realms because the density of this level of consciousness blocks the perception of what lies beyond it. You are not expected to understand what you cannot yet perceive, nor are you expected to anticipate what is to be your next experience. That being the case, how can you expect to plan, alter or in any way control the events of your life? To do so brings conflict, pain, suffering and further separation. The key to accelerating your spiritual ascent is to learn to live with uncertainty. To allow life to unfold around you, observing it as a guide for your growth. When events happen in your life, observe your reaction to them, notice if you feel uneasy, or if you feel a fearful urge rise up in an attempt to control or hold on to something which is changing. All we need do is to simply allow Gods plan to unfold. If you lose your job, it was meant that you lose your job, all you need to do is accept this change and observe what follows. If your partner leaves you, it was meant that your partner leaves you, your job is to accept this change and observe what follows. If you find yourself in a destructive environment or relationship, this has occurred because of unresolved issues within you which kept you from acting in accordance with what is most

loving for yourself and therefore, what is in balance and harmony with the universe. When you become aware of this, the situation itself will be the catalyst for you to make a more loving choice, thus changing your situation, bringing balance, clarity and resolve. In the above examples the commonality is that there is always uncertainty. There is uncertainty when we lose a job. There is uncertainty when we lose a partner. There is uncertainty when we experience the fear of leaving a destructive environment or relationship. There is always uncertainty whenever we face change of any kind, especially when we perceive that we did not initiate the change, thus, we feel we have no control to prevent our experience of pain, suffering or fear. There is a wonderful paradox that becomes apparent as you journey on the spiritual path. This is that the more uncertainty you have and the more you allow everything to be as it is, the faster your progress and in that, the less pain, suffering and fear you experience. One would think that the opposite would be true, that the more you let go of control over the events of your life, the more pain and suffering you will encounter. That is, after all, the motivation for all this effort to control, is it not? The effort to control is an effort to alleviate pain and suffering in an attempt to experience pleasure and happiness. It is through the attempt to avoid pain and suffering that we draw the same to ourselves. Feelings of uncertainty or insecurity are the result of losing continuity with the physical world. The more you try and control events around you, the more you become attached to the physical, external world. Before you can step through the door to the next level, you must close the previous door, this means letting go of the external, physical reality and your separate self. The more you let go of needing to control anything, the more continuity you discover with the higher planes of consciousness. When surrendering the personal, you are automatically propelled to the impersonal, unconditional experience of the Divine realms of consciousness where you experience everything as a flow of impersonal love and Divine Grace. You lose the smaller self, but discover the larger Self. This is why learning to live with uncertainty is the key to surrender and is the core of the spiritual journey. It is perfect if you do not know what it is you are to do, then true service can happen, allowing Truth to be revealed in each moment. Let it be ok if you do not know what to do next. Let it be ok if you do not understand what is happening around you. Let it be ok if you feel afraid of the changes happening in your life. Release all effort to

control the external events and focus only on observing your reaction to these events. This observance will teach you about yourself, about your true nature and what is meant by true surrender. If you are willing to do this, your trust in God will grow as you observe the perfect way Grace flows through all of creation, your life included! Measuring Spiritual Advancement Our society is very result oriented. This is no accident, it is the way the linear mind works. We set a goal, and as we work toward completing that goal, there is an ongoing assessment within our mind of how much farther we have to go to reach the goal. Since our progress is usually not fast enough to live up to our expectations and desires, there is judgment and comparison, which we impose on ourselves, creating stress and unhappiness, which completely blocks us from reaching our goal of spiritual enlightenment. Those who embark on the spiritual path and set a goal of enlightenment or liberation tend to follow this same pattern. I cannot count the times I have been asked, How far along am I? or, Where am I in the process? or, How much further do I have to go?. I have even seen websites with spiritual assessment tests! Just the asking of these questions indicates one is still very identified with the linear mind and is still holding themselves up to some external criteria. True knowing can only come from within. There comes a point when you must cease looking for external validation and begin to BE what you are. It is a leap, to cease mind identification and to cease measuring oneself in this way. The only criteria one need use as a guidepost on the spiritual path is that of ones own experience of life. If you are becoming less identified with your mind and ego you will notice you feel more peaceful in the course of the days events. You will not be as easily pulled into the dramas of those around you nor taken into their emotional upheavals. You will experience a greater degree of non-attachment as you interact with the world. It will be easier for you to give and receive love and you will not be as interested in world events. You will not be self-conscious or endlessly think about how you are doing or how you appear to others. You will find yourself unable to gossip or speak unkindly or judgmentally about anyone and there will be an acceptance of everyone and everything, just as they areincluding yourself. These are examples of how your experience of life will change as you evolve spiritually. In all these examples, the one commonality is less emphasis on the personal and more emphasis

on the impersonal. To worry and wonder, Where am I at? reflects a preoccupation with the personal and also reflects an investment of the ego in reaching the goal. If you experience yourself comparing your progress and trying to live up to some external standard, immediately stop and surrender this self-judgment to God. There is no reason for it and there certainly is no place for it on the spiritual path. To be spiritually aware is to have an awareness of the totality of life, fully aware of the paradoxal differences within the whole, yet transcending them through an allowance of the totality of which you are a part, rather than a focus on the specific detail of each form. Put in simpler termsdo not reduce yourself to an external measure of some imagined criteriainstead, grow in awareness of yourself as the totality of creation. You cannot measure spiritual growth by individual criteria because the journey itself is the discovery of the impersonal Truth of creation.

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