Consciousness and the Spirit of God

On one hand, we are the person. We are Jeff or Susan or Sarah, and the history, the storyline, the thinking mind. And on the other hand, we are the essence. The essence is the source, the light, or consciousness itself. This consciousness is home, but I suspect it would look very strange to us. We are stuck in our thoughts almost perpetually, and don’t know how to slow down. What I call Zen meditation is also called zazen meditation in the east. It is silence, stillness, and breath. Of course God can reveal himself at any time. However, the loving kindness of God seems to be awakened by silence. This loving kindness is the essence that I am pointing to. The spirit of loving kindness is the first discovery on the path. When you start to notice it in nature it will appear almost magical, but you will know it’s always been that way, you just hadn’t noticed. 

Mindfulness meditation, or zazen can really help us find this essence, this loving kindness. It really is a great discovery to know that we’ve never really been alone. The spirit of God, or the spirit of loving kindness, however we like to name it, is for everyone with a sincere heart. Though It does not seem that he will reveal himself until we’re ready to be still. Just breathe and be aware. Be still and be comfortable with it. It seems so simple. How can this be the path? The mind complicates everything, so don’t try to figure anything out. Just sit and breathe for 20 minutes everyday and see where it takes you. 

The spirit of God is like a kindly king. It can do whatever it wants, but chooses only to do what is good. That means love, peacemaking and encouragement. of course mercy is a big one, but God never intends damnation for anyone anyway. We just have to keep learning from our mistakes, one lifetime after another, until we can fully awaken from the dream of our separateness. The great ego that rules us in our illusion of separateness will not let us go without a fight, so we must be vigilant in controlling our reactionism. This is the essence of right action: we do not do to others what was done to us. Somewhere in the Bible, it says, “vengeance is the Lord’s,” so let’s leave the karma up to him. All we control is our own actions (and reactions). We don’t need to crush every sinner that crosses our path, and we don’t need to tell them how we feel either. Be a peacemaker not a warmonger.