Why Acceptance is Toxic

We're all familiar with the old saw from Alcoholics Anonymous: "Grant me the serenity to accept those things I cannot change"... The trouble is, it has a built in trap that most of us are not aware of.

When we accept something, we take it into our space and become it. We become what it is we accept. Somehow, someone got it into their furry little head that if we ACCEPT those things that cause us pain and discomfort, it magically leads to freedom from those sources of pain and discomfort. News flash... Nah. Been there, done that, doesn't work...

I've come to the awareness that what we really mean is ALLOW. Allowance and acceptance are two very different things. When we allow something, it means it is flowing past us and around us, like water flowing around a rock in a river. To accept something, we take it in, like a sponge.

To confuse these two concepts I believe is a serious error, especially when it comes to quantum living. To accept something means to entangle with it. Our photons, atoms and molecules are literally mixing in with that unwanted condition we've chosen not to experience. Like some sort of penance where we believe if we endure and suffer long enough, it will eventually lead to some form of divine grace and relieve us of our burden. So unnecessary...and inefficient!

Replace ACCEPT with ALLOW for those things you want to change: "Grant me the serenity to ALLOW those things I cannot change" puts you in a much more empowered position. Those "things you cannot change" simply flow around you and float on off and out of your universe.

Try this out on those things in your life causing you pain; those things causing you grief, suffering, disillusionment, disempowerment: Replace ACCEPT with ALLOW. Allow those things to float on by--wave at them as they saunter off into the distance. Then get busy choosing something different!

The Trouble With Answers

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the devotion to answers has prevented discovery, greatly hindered innovation, and basically kept the human race planetbound when for the last 300 years we could have been exploring the stars...

I know. Kind of a sweeping statement. Let me explain this point of view.

We've all been educated and socialized in the belief that to understand something, you "search for the answer". You look it up in the dictionary, you research the encyclopedia, you explore the Interwebs until you find the answer to your question, which usually turns out to be a conclusion or a judgment about a particular unwanted condition or personal conundrum.

You have to agree with the answer before you can "accept" it as "true". My question is, how can you agree with something you previously declared you needed an answer for? What are you agreeing with? Something you already knew, obviously.

That's the whole point. It's not about knowledge. It's about awareness. What causes awareness? A question. Awareness then leads to choice, and making a choice creates more awareness. When you are attempting to get an answer to a question, aren't you really asking for more awareness in a particular area?

There's a huge difference between awareness and an answer. With an answer, inquiry stops. The question has been answered, it's all settled, no need to look further. This effectively stops awareness. With awareness, you are always aware that there is more, that there is a greater, larger picture to gain awareness of. Awareness stops or freezes with an answer.

Consider how much further along science would be today if scientists would have made questions more important than answers? Research stops once an answer is obtained. And when answers become codified as "laws" and "theories" it effectively squelches further questioning.

We are in the habit of "coming to conclusions", as if that is the end all and be all of our inquiries. As if that's a good thing. Well, it's not wrong, it's just limited. What if you never came to any conclusions about anything? What if you stopped searching for answers, and just kept asking questions? What would your daily life be like?

For one thing, you would stop judging, because judgments and awarenesses cancel each other out. You can't get a new awareness with a judgment held in place. Conclusions are really just judgments with a justifying story. So you wouldn't have a story that leads to any sort of "conclusion"--you may have a story that demonstrates how you got to more awareness, but you wouldn't have a story that concluded: "therefore, I'm not suited for this job", or "that's why I don't like dogs". It would all just be an interesting point of view that could change at any moment with a new awareness.

This "changeableness" is actually quite threatening to many people because you then become "unpredictable" or "undependable". We have set up a social stigma against changing. This is part of being in judgment and coming to conclusions about others, in an attempt at predicting behavior, which is really just a control story. You would need to give all that up.

What if you woke up in the morning with the question, "What wonderful and amazing things could happen today?" or "What are the things I can do to make my day amazing?" And as your day progresses, you just keep asking these questions, and once something does happen that's amazing, you don't conclude that it was because you asked for it. You instead say, "How does it get any better than that?" or "What else is possible?" And a new awareness comes to you.

If we all could live in the question, it seems to me it would be only a short time before we have solved the world's problems and are vacationing across the Milky Way...

Your New Quantum World

I think I was probably 19 when I heard about quantum physics. They just barely skimmed over it in college chemistry, probably because the professors really didn't know how to teach it since it completely undermines Newtonian physics. The one thing that did get through to me, though, was that measurements at an atomic level are directly affected by the observer. Wait. What?? Atomic measurements change when observed by human consciousness. At the time, it sort of hit the top of my head and bounced on off into the Twilight Zone. But, I kept coming back to it over and over as my life sauntered on.

At one point maybe 20 years ago, I did an informal study of quantum physics--something on the order of "Quantum Physics for Dummies" (which is an actual book). Every time I would delve into the subject I would get my mind blown. Concepts such as "quantum entanglement", where atomic information ends up instantaneously (apparently, teleported) spread among several particles at once; or Einstein's "spooky action at a distance" when it's possible for a single particle to be in two places at once.

This is deeply subversive stuff, and I love it.

The real "juice", though, came from an entirely different direction, and when combined with quantum physics, it was like a metaphysical atomic bomb. You see, I also was a devoted spiritualist--I believed, from my own personal subjective observations, that I was a part of God, the Infinite Creator, and thus, was an infinite being myself, having this decidedly non-infinite human life.

Mix the knowing that you're an infinite being, with the scientific fact that you change the makeup of atoms just by observing them... Well, that's some heavy duty stuff there!

So, the only conclusion to come to is that I--we all--totally and completely create our lives from the ground up in every way, shape and form. It can be no other way.

The thing about this, however, is that we can create a very complete illusion that convinces us that we CANNOT BE creating everything in our life. We decide it's too much to take in. It's too much responsibility, or it's not possible because of these thousands of reasons. News flash: There ain't nobody else but you doing your life.

The big apparent confusion is that we are all down here on this lovely blue marble, operating what we have defined as finite physical bodies, and interacting with each other within a pretty strictly agreed-upon time continuum. Things get confusing since we observe other infinite beings creating things, and we're observing those things. We sometimes think we created them, which we use to convince ourselves that we are NOT creating what we think we are creating.

Add to this the scientific quantum fact that there are INFINITE POSSIBILITIES, and you can easily see why most of us just keep our heads down, nodding in agreement with "whatever"... It just seems overwhelming.

Well, the next news flash: It's only overwhelming because you decided it is. The only difference between feeling overwhelmed and not is basically, a choice. You can choose to observe how utterly overwhelming this physical life is in this time continuum; OR, you can see the utter simplicity of experiencing the infiniteness of you, and that you can choose what time continuum you live on, and all the conditions of your physical life.

By doing this one thing: CHOOSING, you'll find that the Universe (the infiniteness of you) really has nothing else better to do than reflect back to you your choices. Hence, by observing what is reflected back, you can change it to be something better, something greater, for no other reason than to more accurately reflect the infiniteness of you. So why not choose the highest and the best for your life? It's the most natural thing in the world...

Giving Up Utopia

Ah, Utopia... that magical and seemingly impossible paradise where everything is perfect and we all live happily ever after. Not to seem like a curmudgeon or anything, but, please. Get a grip.

The concept of an unattainable Utopia has been around for a long time, officially since the year 1516, when a Sir Thomas More wrote a book by that title. In it, he muses freely about the perfections of human imagination in a decidedly non-existent place. He uses this mystical Neverland as a vehicle to contrast with the "way things really are" in the world.

We all have our personal Utopias, where we can wistfully while away the minutes or hours longing for this personal paradise. The thing is, it's a trap. And a great one, too. Most of the great religions of the world promise some sort of paradise in the afterlife, or a code of conduct that if "everyone just followed this" the world would become perfected. So, it's a pretty transparent control mechanism.

The problem with Utopia is that it begins with a judgement, and ends with a conclusion. The judgement that my current circumstances are bad or untenable and if some magical thing would just happen, my life would be perfect. Well, perfection is a judgement in and of itself, too. Perfect in what way? Once perfection is attained, then what? That's the conclusion--the big conclusion that stops everything from becoming something else, something much greater.

The judgement and conclusion of perfection completely denies how creation actually works, because if your goal is the attainment of Utopian perfection, you're going to be working on that for eternity. Why? Because the Utopia you envision now is not the Utopia you'll envision later. Everything changes, including your idea of Utopia, your judgments about it, your conclusions about your own life, so it's completely an exercise in smoke and mirrors with nothing concrete that would ever show up, except for perhaps unhappiness and frustration.

In the existing quantum world, once something is observed, it changes. Thus, the artificial construct of Utopia, once viewed and desired, begins immediately to change. It does this, in fact, to the point where most of us give up on attaining our Utopia after childhood. We settle for what is easy and obvious, and what is comfortable, or what we're comfortable doing, or even what doesn't hurt.

We are infinitely powerful beings. We have the ability to create whatever life we want to create, and the way to do that is requesting of the universe (our creation) an awareness of our greater potentials, and of what else is possible. As infinite beings, we have a need to play big, make waves, make a big sound. What's the biggest game we can play, the biggest sound we can make? We don't know, so that's when we ask the question: What else is possible here? How does it get better, bigger, grander? The awarenesses revealed from those questions is what the universe is already set to deliver you. All you need do is follow the yellow brick road.

So stop dreaming of, or even working on that elusive and unreachable Utopia. Instead ask the Universe what amazing greatness it already has available to you right now!

The Quantum Reality Gap

As kids we were all educated with the underlying premise that solid things acting upon solid things is the only way a solid thing changes. This, in fact, is still the prevailing worldview held by the majority. However, with the advent of quantum physics--that snarly and deeply subversive science that claims NOTHING is solid, has, well, created a whole new level of cognitive dissonance. That is, if you're tuned in.

The problem, in my view, stems from a deeply ingrained over-dependence on our almighty tool-using perceptions. If you can hold it in your hand, bang it on something, it's, well, real. This could not be argued with for thousands or hundreds of thousands of years of human evolution here on planet rock. But now, it can.

I don't think people get the full impact of this extreme change in reality. It's like your postman came by with that blimp you ordered, and just put it in your curbside mailbox. You went out to retrieve it, realizing it was quite impossible that it was there at all, but then, you pulled it out--all 100 yards of length--and scratched your head, loaded the kids in the blimp and went off for ice cream.

That's cognitive dissonance, my friends. And that's basically the world we live in now, but we don't really get that it is.

Anyone who knows me, has heard of my current fascination with Access Consciousness. I love this modality because it requires you to "live in the question" as opposed to always seeking answers. This flies in the furry face of all us monkeys trying to "figure out" what "tool" to use to find the next answer. Because if you have the Answer, you can solve that problem, and by solving that problem with that answer, you think you'll be happier or at least understand why that problem is going on. Well, this is all bullshit, actually. With Access they push to stay in the question, ignoring answers, and simply being content with what awarenesses show up as a result of being in the question. By using this approach, you create a far greater range of potentials and possibilities--or quantum entanglements--from which you can choose your preferences.

The challenge with this mode of thinking and knowing is that it is pretty much the opposite of what we try to do, so we're much less willing or even able to accept that a question can create so much change. It's a reality gap--a quantum thinking gap. You mean we are actually creating every single moment that is happening to us? Yep. Even if you buy that--even a little bit--it is a bitch to wrap your head around it. In fact, the more you buy into the self-as-creator paradigm the more cognitively dissonant things become because you realize that because nothing is actually solid anymore (which was an illusion in the first place), a mere passing thought or intention can completely change your life. Of course, this was always true before, but then we attributed big life changes to "fate", "karma", "coincidence" or "synchronicity" without realizing that all those "escape terms" are actually code for You-Create-Everything.

The trick, I think, is to acknowledge that the way we think and how we feel about it, are fundamental drivers even more than that hammer on that nail. In fact, that hammer and nail were created by our thoughts, intentions and feelings. It's confusing and a little or a lot scarey, but it makes the world a completely magical place!

Being Home

Every once in a while, many of us experience a "lifting of the veil," where for a moment we experience the world as One. We feel ourselves as the world, and for an instant get a glimpse of the Grand Creation and our indispensible part in it.

These moments have been coming on more frequently as I move along the timeline of my life, tantalizing me to investigate just what it is that causes me to suddenly and unexpectedly end up fully in the Now. I know certain practices that encourage this, and perhaps because I am doing them more, then that explains it. But, to put words to it, I'd say it's about duality vs. oneness.

We live in a dualistic world, a world of polarities: dark-light, good-bad, good-evil, virtuousness-sinfulness, fear-love, etc., etc., etc. Yet, in those those "oneness" episodes there is no "other" out there that is opposite or even different than me, and because this state feels so much like home, it really points up how illusionary this duality certainly must be.

We are all exploring the edges of this Creation we are participating in. Some of us are "dark workers"--who inflict pain and suffering on others, or experience extreme emotional states, or some physical malady or malformation. These dark workers are showing us where we do not have to go--they are already there. They are pioneers at the edges of reality, showing us how vast the possibilities and potentials of this world can be.

The "light workers" on the other hand, explore and demonstrate the realms of contentment, ecstasy and love, and yet, these states cannot be truly known or appreciated without their opposites.

It all gets down to the Grand Experiment of Separation. By separating ourselves from the Creator God Self in order to see who we are, we created a dualistic world: a world where we are, and are not. And the extreme sense of disconnection had us losing our way, as we felt along the edges of this new dualistic world in an attempt to get back Home.

And that's what my occasional bouts of oneness feel like: coming home. All my experience sensually, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually is showing me the Way back Home. If it weren't for the darkness, I could not see the light, and in darkness the light shows us the way. It is only judgment that cements us into the polarities of this dualistic world. We judge something to be not a part of us, and that solidifies our disconnectedness, adding yet another barrier to our journey Home. We fear the dark, and death the most because we mistakenly judge those things to be disconnections. But it is not the darkness or death that is the disconnection, it is our act of judgment that disconnects us.

Acceptance of this world and an embracing of both sides of the duality is the only way Home. Let me meet you There.

A Progressive's Lament

I'm not by nature a political person. The closest I've come to being classified pretty accurately by someone it was by a channeled entity, Anttarr, through the late Levi Longfellow. Anttarr delivered a long diatribe about how I was a "Psycho-Social Naturalist."

I've mulled that over for years, and have finally come to a definition that relaxes me. Although I consider myself pretty much a social hermit, when I am out "in the world," I enjoy just letting people be who and what they are. I've never felt it was my place to judge or want to change someone. I may have a response to a person's behavior, but I would much rather have them continue to be themselves, despite my responses.

It's because of this view, I think some political analyst somewhere would say I was a "progressive"; perhaps interpreting my "liberal social tolerance" as such. Of course, metaphysically speaking, everyone is really a projection of my own mind, so to judge or criticize somebody else, is just me talking to myself. And that is what becomes what I call the Progressive's Lament. Isn't it just human nature to have a helpful, caring, loving society?

I'm a fan of John Perkins, a lecturer and activist shaman, who now and then presents workshops and seminars. His banner is "Shapeshifting Strategies for Positive Change." Anyone familiar with shamanistic practicies is familiar with shapeshifting. It's where you simply change your shape to change the world. This can mean anything from changing a thought form, to literally changing the body's appearance.

One of Perkin's associates is a fellow named David Korten, who has a very interesting take on global politics. His book list reveals some of his ideology: Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, and When Corporations Rule the World.

Korten's whole approach is presenting a worldview where shamanic wisdom of ancient cultures is applied to economics. What he comes to is a world where wealth is shared, and where values of increased awareness, shared consciousness, and earth rituals have trumped corporate acquisition and individual power mongering. In a cooperative village setting, no one owns more than anyone else, and everyone's needs are met.

Obviously, this is an old Utopian idea shared by such ignominious visionaries as Marx or Mao, and by the way, by most children. It isn't until direct attempts to manifest these high ideals that modern societal programming ultimately leads to Utopian failure.

This isn't to say it can't be done, it's just that, as Korten would say, because corporations own most of the humanity's resources (including mass media, the educational system and health care), there can be no such thing as "sharing everything with everybody." And it's why I believe corporations were invented in the first place.

No one human being could betray their own natures as completely as a corporation can. A corporation can only expand, otherwise it ceases to exist since the stockholders would no longer be getting returns on their "investments." Corporations are a way of dodging social responsibility under the "moral" banner of "shared profits" for the stockholders.

And this is where it all goes off track. Sure corporations share, but only amongst their stockholders, which is why governments have to intervene on behalf of the rest of us. Of course, the people in government are stockholders, too, so that neutralizes much of the "push back" from the government.

What Perkins, Korten, and crowds of others are saying, basically, is that because earth is made up of finite resources, there can be no such thing as an "ever-expanding" corporation. And, by allowing human nature to re-express itself without corporations will ultimately lead to a cooperative, sharing society.

In her book, The Bond, Lynne McTaggart proves that "hard-wired" into the DNA of all humans is the impulse to share, the impulse to help (without reward), and the impulse to take turns. These are not learned behaviors. These are behaviors we are born with. Exhaustive studies over many decades have proven this, and dis-proven the long-held belief that the best life strategy is a self-serving one--that competition is good for society in general, and that progress would never happen otherwise. This sounds like a corporation talking, doesn't it? The truth is, the corporate premise is diametrically opposed to basic human nature.

This is not only true of humans. Many species from chimpanzees to elephants to birds exhibit similar cooperative social behaviors. I see it in my cat, Ralph, and dog, Wookie. Ralph never eats all his food, because he wants to share it with Wookie. After Wookie eats, Ralph is back at it, schmoozing me for more food for him.

When political Progressives talk about change, what they are basically wanting to change is the fundamental economic basis of society--corporate power. This is a futile exercise, because it doesn't get to the true root of social problems. I would venture to guess that society exists at all only because of caring, helpful people, and despite the greed and inherent corruption of inhuman corporations, or as Korten calls it, The Empire. Because The Empire is not a person, it doesn't care about people, only itself. Sure, people own parts of it, and run most of it, but they are operating on only one premise: monetary profit--a narrow and dangerous premise indeed.

What is it within ourselves that disconnects us from our family, our community, our nation, our world--the earth itself? That disconnected thing within us is what allows all manner of behaviors and outcomes betraying our basic natures. This betrayal is where we lose our faith, where we begin to fear life, harbor suspicions of our fellow humans, and maintain that tried and truly cynical "dog-eat-dog" world view.

When in fact, we are hard-wired to be selfless, to share, even to experience others as ourselves. We all fundamentally embrace the Golden Rule, and automatically want to help others. What if The Empire did that? What a different world that would be!

The next time you hear that old cynic's saw, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," just remember to re-connect to your true nature, and through that re-connection, the world can become one again.