Here's a thought experiment: Imagine a playing field, such as a soccer or football field. Now, at one end the playing field is a beautiful countryside with rainbows, beautiful flowers, amazing villages, children laughing, super-high-vibes--your happiest place. At the other end of the field are your worst nightmares--darkness, sadness, terror, injury, drama and dysfuntion. Now, go down onto the field. Which end are you closer to?
We all live somewhere on this dualistic spectrum--some days closer to the light end than the dark, and other days closer to the dark than the light. Within this dualistic mindset, is an aversion to the dark, and a longing for the light, and therein lies a trap of sorts.
By resisting the dark end of the spectrum, we expand it, and by longing for the light, we demonstrate how the light end of the spectrum is not what we are having, doing, or being. It is a sort of double jeopardy, where one end seems unattainable while the other seems to be continually biting at our heels. As Princess Leia of Star Wars said to the Imperial General, "The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."
We have been acculturated to deny and run from the darkness within ourselves, and like so many societal "solutions" to undesirable states and conditions, the more intensely we resist and deny the darkness, the more solid it becomes.
"Greener Pastures" are always "over there" somewhere away from where and what we are being right now. That "Silver Lining" is always behind those dark clouds, seemingly out of reach, representing a day of divine blessing that never seems to come.
What is easily forgotten, or overlooked, is that the "dark end" of the field could not exist without the light end. And if we find ourselves at the dark end of the field, it means there must be an opposing light end. The other unacknowledged truth is that within each moment at the dark end there exists a gateway to the light. We have only to make that choice to go there.
By getting hung up about "how dark it all seems", we expand it, make it greater than we are. We lose hope of ever getting to the light, and tumble further and further into that Dark End Zone. We stop looking at the light end, throwing away personal power in favor of "fate" or a rescuing "savior" that will make it all go away.
News flash: We are all our own saviors, and we save ourselves by choosing and committing to that light end of the field.
When there is pain, we must acknowledge that relief co-exists with that pain. We choose relief and thus begin the hero's journey out of pain. When there is the loss of a loved one, we must acknowledge that connection, oneness and love is co-existing with that sense of loss. When there are financial setbacks and poverty, there can only be such things because prosperity and abundance exist within those conditions. Just as with any problem, the solution exists within it.
I was sent a very special video by a friend that got me going on this--a talk by Miranda MacPherson. She speaks about the practice of non-duality being a frontal assault on everything we've decided we cannot be. Everything convinces us that we are not good enough, strong enough, smart enough or conscious enough to experience joy, grace and unconditional love in our lives. By fully embracing the entire spectrum of dark to light, and truly accepting and allowing both ends as eligible for unconditional love, we rise to the awareness that all is good, all is joy, and all is love. There are no excuses for our perceived weaknesses, as those are a denial of our strength. There are no excuses for our stupidity, as that points directly at our innate intelligence--how we learn and grow to appreciate our choices.
As we become inclusive of ALL of who and what we are--the entire spectrum of densities from that carbonized black goo to the glorius effulgent light of infinite being, we gain a mastery over our choices. We gain a truly deep appreciation for everything we've gone through across the entire spectrum of experience, for it has brought us to this place of true understanding.
We become free to run and jump and roll around anywhere we please on that Field, in the full knowing that no matter where we go, we are loved, we are cherished, and we are infinitely free.
Last issue I wrote about letting go of your personal Utopia. I got some flack about that statement, being accused of dashing any hope for living, and dealing an existential blow to dreams and goals.
A couple of years after the passing of my partner and founder of this company, Shay Arave, I started entertaining thoughts about being in a new long-term relationship. Nowadays, it's logical to jump on the various dating sites and see what pops up. One of my preferences is that the person be spiritually oriented, and preferably well versed in metaphysical matters.
The quantum living approach? "This is my relationship life. How does it get better than that?" As I embraced living in this question, new possibilities almost immediately came to me--and some very intriguing ones I hadn't even considered. The choices began to mount, and my awareness increased, especially about my judgements, conclusions and preferences. I realized I didn't really want a "long-term" anything. I just wanted to share my life with someone who respects me and what I do and allows me complete freedom in the creation of my life. I'd be happy if that was for just 20 minutes or 20 years. I'd successfully deconstructed the "long term relationship" myth for myself.
As I watch wind-driven snow billowing up into phantasms of white, enigmatic shapes, I sit considering my situation. Two weeks ago I made a life-shaking decision to return to the town of my birth. I was stalled out and rumaging around in a life I was not enjoying, except for the few minutes of respite as I lay in bed at night. So, it was time for a change!


I'm tempted every year at this time to go on a rant about "New Year's Resolutions", and this year I think it's time to burst the bubble of control many of us believe we have that would make us believe we can "keep" those resolutions made.
First, it's not about "control". There is no such thing as "controlling your life". We believe we have control because we can make some predictions about what is going to happen based on specific actions we take: I'm controlling my life by getting up every day at 7AM, doing my workout, then driving to work. I'm in control. This is an illusion. What is happening here is that you are simply following along a certain pattern of energy that you chose in the past.
You hear it floating around in memes and discussion groups on the Internet--and you may have even said it yourself: "Happiness is a choice". I'm always needing to correct the oversimplified grammar by insisting: "Well, choice itself is not happiness. You choose to be happy, and then proceed from there." Much better.
Choice creates new awarenesses, and these new awarenesses make possible more choices, until literally all the possibilities of life are available. So, the trick is to first, spot where you've made a conclusion about a situation, condition, or predicament, and just ask, What can change here? Sit with that question until you begin to get a download of quantum particles and waves drawn to you because of the question. These quantum intelligences are all about change, so when you start asking about it, they're right there with you all ready to give you that vital information.
One of the most basic realities about being a spiritual being is that we are infinite. We have all the power, all the awareness, all the knowledge we need to create anything we desire. In fact--a hard fact--is that we have created, in great detail, everything we are experiencing in our lives.
"When I argue with my wife, I'm always wrong." -- And an infinite being would create that for what reason?
By using Bashar's three sentences, we can unravel how it is we ended up here, and it allows us (or forces us) to ask the right question. "How or why is this serving me, and why the hell do I think it's a good thing?"
I love those moments when "out of the blue" you get an insight on how you've been living your life--and they seem to come when I'm doing something mundane, like walking the dog, driving the car, or grocery shopping (must be some neurological circumstance of some sort)... Anyway, today a big existential question came crashing in: "Do I really know what's going to happen, or am I choosing it?"
Perhaps a more "quantum" way to live would be to--instead of predicting what's going to happen--we just float in the question: "What amazing things await me at any moment?"
Abraham Hicks has a famous saying: "Hold a thought for just 17 seconds, and the Law of Attraction kicks in. Hold a thought for 68 seconds and things move; manifestation has begun."
Our most powerful tool, choice, is also our most abused and unused. This basic mechanism of consciousness is the direct demonstration to ourselves of our power and powerlessness. Are we choosing the best life? Are we choosing to destroy it? Are we not making choices because we're afraid? Are we afraid of any choices at all?
There are a couple of "choosing hacks" I like to use to keep me mindful of the choices I'm making moment to moment. One is, "light or heavy". Say you've narrowed your choices down to two. Ask the question, "is this light or heavy"? One of the choices will seem lighter than the other one, or if they both seem heavy, there is another unacknowledged possibility you aren't considering. If they are both feeling light, well, then, have fun! Always favor lightness. It will serve as your North Star for navigating through your day.
I somewhat cynically used to say in my youth that unconscious meditation--the kind we all do when we are obediently serving The Matrix--is the single most untenable problem in human history.
I said that it was a matter of choice, whether or not to be racist. And if there were racist thoughts and feelings coming up for her, that she could practice mindfulness meditation--a type of meditation that allows undesirable thoughts and feelings to simply float on by like clouds in the sky, and from this, infinite options show up to choose something different.