Birth Death and Becoming
Before you can really begin to appreciate the treasures of consciousness, before you can really being to utilize the tools and wisdom of consciousness in your life, you pretty much have to concede and admit to yourself that there is an Absolute, a God, if you must, something that is the source and origin of life. And this essence is the true reality of the realities of life on earth.
Now if you take a look at your life you can see three distinct (3) phases: you have birth, death, and, between those two parameters, you have the process of becoming, of you becoming.
Birth takes a moment.
Death takes a moment.
And becoming takes up most of your life but you have little understanding of that process, the science of engaging in that becoming process. You learned every other kind of science except the science of yourself. It is this lack of understanding and knowing that lies at the heart of all your pain and suffering. And that’s OK…that’s part of the becoming process. Is it required? No. Is it the typical path chosen by the typical person? Yes.
So, of course, there’s nothing you have to do but I would say that there is the need of acknowledging a greater reality, a reality that knows what it’s doing. So, the thing manifested at birth is you, the being. The process the being automatically initiates at birth is the becoming process and as you can around the world today, that process needs some definite improvement.
It is this lack of understanding and knowing that lies at the heart of all your pain and suffering.
Consistent with everything I teach, it is not the world that needs improvement but you, me. You can only see outside of yourself what you see inside of yourself. But this is what consciousness is for and this is what consciousness clarifies.
The truth of you comes with the manifestation of you, meaning that your birth contains the truth of you which is an image, a representation of the Divine itself, of God herself. The becoming process is about discovering that truth and having the courage to live that truth. Few there have been who have taken birth and in the becoming process realized and said to themselves, “I and the Father are One.”
The truth of your being, then, becomes corrupted and hidden in the becoming process through the workings of your mind but no matter how lost you become, no matter how unaware and unconscious you are of this truth, that truth remains a necessity of realization and manifestation.
In essence, until that inner image, that truth about you is known, you will struggle. That truth is not just an idea that you pick up in taking an assessment on career choices but is an innate part of your being that is the desire of your soul, an internal mandate that the soul seeks to fulfill.
Now consider this, that your soul, your true Self is inactive. Its mission, its very reason for taking birth in the first place is an urge but it makes no demands, pitches no tantrums, and wages no violence as it waits patiently for the becoming process to cause to be revealed to you your destiny and life path. It is your mind that is active.
But the Self, the soul, so assured of the eventual outcome whether in this lifetime or the next. The soul has the luxury of certainty and patiently waits for the great reckoning to take place.
So, to begin:
There’s the need to acknowledge that you don’t know anything but something does, and whatever name you give it is fine. Your reality is not the true reality but you acknowledge this and are aware that you are free to learn about it.
The next thing:
That you need to consider is that if the first principle is true, that there is a Divine reality, that there is a power that is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, that that reality is the source of your being, then your existence is of the same nature, the same reality and that that reality is composed of a sacred existence, a full consciousness and understanding of who it is and what it’s doing here, and the joy of that reality, of that existence, of the joy of the becoming process that isn’t just your right, but is who you are, the joy of being even in difficulty and pain and death. Admittedly, you are in unchartered waters when I suggest that joy is at the heart of the becoming process when all around you is struggle, prejudice, the suffering of unbearable proportions, and ignorance of incalculable levels. But it is.
Why would consciousness choose life if not for the wonder, for the joy and bliss of experiencing itself in physical form?
In this existence, in this great unfolding, your life is comprised of the same things as the great reality: existence, consciousness, and joy.
So, to repeat:
1. There is a greater reality than the one you know.
2. Your life is comprised of the same glue that makes up that greater reality.
And that leads us to the LAST and 3rd point:
That One reality allows and creates a becoming process by which it will know itself and in that becoming process, that One consciousness creates many forms of consciousness. The One creates the Many but the One is still the source of the Many even if the many look a little out of place and don’t seem to know what they’re doing or where they’re going.
The separation from the source of consciousness becomes the becoming process as you forget where you came from and what you’re doing here. Oblivious to any reality other than the one you have created from your own mind, and consequently, oblivious to any other person’s true nature, you are stranded in a house that is not a home, in a life that is an imprisonment and not a liberation.
What this means in understanding that one reality creates the many different versions of itself is that all others are just like you and that you are just like them. You are them…but of course, your mind doesn’t look at it that way. They are the ones who are different and you’re not…so says your mind. But the One creates the many and all is one.
The differences that you see and condemn in others are all part of the becoming process, too. Granted, there are murderers and there are redeemers, but each playing its role and evolving in the becoming process. I’m not saying you have to have dinner with them but it brings to light the last principle which is the fact that unity of consciousness, unity of purpose is not diminished by the existence of the many for how many different parts are there of you, your Self?
It is a defining characteristic of an enlightened consciousness, an enlightened being who sees the world through a unified perception of all things and all beings and in admitting to oneself the realization of a unified existence, admits the existence of a greater existence, of a greater wisdom, a greater knowing. Like I said, you don’t have to have dinner with the ones you don’t like but the withdrawal of judgment and projection frees your mind up to consider greater Truths.
So, to summarize once again:
There’s the need to acknowledge there’s a greater Truth about life, a truth to which you have not been exposed.
Second, your very existence is made of those same qualities, of those same Truths.
Third, the becoming process is the creation of that greater knowing by which it comes to realize itself and experience itself in a physical body but in doing so, creates an unimaginable number of images of itself.
The mind, residing in separation from those many other forms, remains separated not only from its true Self but from the one reality that created it in the first place. And then you can see an almost circular process.
The very thing that the soul seeks to experience in a physical body, which is that Truth of itself and consequently, becoming a master of the becoming process is thwarted by the creations of the mind that is bent on suffering and self-destruction. This is why the becoming process takes so long and this is why transformation and the movement from the physical to the spiritual is the only mechanism that can release you from that ignorance and separation.
Without the movement into a higher and greater knowledge that has nothing to do with belief systems or dogma which are by-products of the mind, you essentially don’t have a chance. Yes, there will be good times and sometimes even long periods of time of ease and comfort but those times will see-saw and morph into chaos and despair and confusion.
I have learned through my own experiences that not everyone wants to get out of the cage.
Many are addicted to the drama of their lives and everything is predicated around the notion that the only reality they can see is the reality that they see.
Did you get that? Do you understand?
Reality isn’t something you create. Reality is what you are. Truth isn’t something you create. Truth is what you are. Joy isn’t something you finally have when all of the pain finally disappears. Joy is what you are.
The question is whether or not you want to know and now you can that this path isn’t for everybody because not everybody wants to know and the reason many don’t want to know is that they know that if they do know, they will know that what they know is a lie, an illusion, and that can be a lot for the mind to swallow.
Reality isn’t something you create. Reality is what you are.
Truth isn’t something you create. Truth is what you are.
Joy isn’t something you finally have when all of the pain finally disappears. Joy is what you are.
But you can swallow it now or you can choke on it later. But that moment will come. Many are unprepared. Many are oppositional and defiant in the face of truth. And some are humbled by Truth, courageous enough to look in the mirror and see the lie they created, the illusion they have lived…and it’s difficult…but that’s the becoming process.
Sooner or later, the soul will make its Self known…and the rest is up to you. There’s an insightful passage in the wonderful 2008 film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Benjamin, played by Brad Pitt, is born old and grows young. It’s an incredible movie whose basis was a short story published by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1922.
Benjamin takes the time in this movie to highlight the fact that you don’t have any control of things and he says this:
“Sometimes we're on a collision course, and we just don't know it. Whether it's by accident or by design, there's not a thing we can do about it. A woman in Paris was on her way to go shopping, but she had forgotten her coat - went back to get it. When she had gotten her coat, the phone had rung, so she'd stopped to answer it; talked for a couple of minutes.
While the woman was on the phone, Daisy was rehearsing for a performance at the Paris Opera House. And while she was rehearsing, the woman, off the phone now, had gone outside to get a taxi. Now a taxi driver had dropped off a fare earlier and had stopped to get a cup of coffee. And all the while, Daisy was rehearsing. And this cab driver, who dropped off the earlier fare; who'd stopped to get the cup of coffee, had picked up the lady who was going shopping and had missed getting an earlier cab.
The taxi had to stop for a man crossing the street, who had left for work five minutes later than he normally did because he forgot to set off his alarm. While that man, late for work, was crossing the street, Daisy had finished rehearsing and was taking a shower. And while Daisy was showering, the taxi was waiting outside a boutique for the woman to pick up a package, which hadn't been wrapped yet, because the girl who was supposed to wrap it had broken up with her boyfriend the night before, and forgot.
When the package was wrapped, the woman, who was back in the cab, was blocked by a delivery truck, all the while Daisy was getting dressed. The delivery truck pulled away and the taxi was able to move, while Daisy, the last to be dressed, waited for one of her friends, who had broken a shoelace.
While the taxi was stopped, waiting for a traffic light, Daisy and her friend came out the back of the theater. And if only one thing had happened differently: if that shoelace hadn't broken; or that delivery truck had moved moments earlier, or that package had been wrapped and ready because the girl hadn't broken up with her boyfriend, or that man had set his alarm and got up five minutes earlier, or that taxi driver hadn't stopped for a cup of coffee, or that woman had remembered her coat and got into an earlier cab, Daisy and her friend would've crossed the street, and the taxi would've driven by.
But life being what it is - a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone's control - that taxi did not go by, and that driver was momentarily distracted, and that taxi hit Daisy, and her leg was crushed.”
My point in sharing Benjamin’s comments with you is to highlight the substance of my first thoughts with you in which is this (and I am deliberately repeating myself):
Once again, there’s the need to acknowledge there’s a greater Truth about life, a truth to which you have not been exposed.
Second, your very existence is made of those same qualities, of those same Truths. In fact, you are that Truth.
Third, the becoming process is the creation of that Truth by which it comes to realize itself and experience itself in a physical body but in doing so, creates an unimaginable number of images of itself. The mind, residing in separation from those many other forms, remains separated not only from its true Self but from the one reality that created it in the first place. And then you can see an almost circular process.
The very thing that the soul seeks to experience in a physical body, which is that Truth of itself and consequently, becoming a master of the becoming process is thwarted by the creations of the mind that is bent on suffering and self-destruction. This is why the becoming process takes so long and this is why transformation and the movement from the physical to the spiritual is the only mechanism that can release you from that ignorance and separation.
The sensory world, otherwise known as your experience of the world, as magical as it is, cannot provide the fulfillment and meaning that you seek. That can only come through the movement from the horizontal, the physical, to the vertical, the spiritual.
I know that word spiritual carries a lot of different interpretations, depending on your background and your experience. To me, the entire process, from birth to death, from death to birth, is a spiritual process. The seasons of the year are a spiritual process. The becoming process is a spiritual process but it doesn’t matter what you call it. What matters most is the movement from the horizontal to the vertical in order to get out of out of your mental and emotional prison of addiction, habituation of all kinds, and the control that your mind has over you.
Remember, the mind is not capable of creating Truth.
Its true purpose is to organize Truth which exists outside of itself and then, of course, the question is where am I supposed to go, what am I supposed to do in order to find out about that Truth.
Sometimes, all I want to say is, OK…here’s what you need to do and tell you what to do but I am aware that there are as many ways to get there as there are souls in existence, so I choose to refrain.
What I can say with great conviction and with a pointed edge of advice is this:
You must want to get out of the suffering. You must want to get off the drama and pain of your circumstances.
When you begin an earnest, honest and committed goal of living a different life, you immediately activate the forces outside of you to respond, without even knowing how it’s going to happen, without any guarantee of success or change, you must choose as best you can, as consciously as you can to live a different life.
I promise you…with a little time, a little pressure, and a little pain, life will respond. In the horizontal, you have to know what. It is the vertical that provides the how.
I often share with others that I have lived a life of grace for some time. Not only do I know why, I know how and I know how to teach it to others.
I learned that, in order to live, you have to die.
Because I did not have the ability or wisdom to do that on my own, life created a mechanism for my death. But what I realized as the process was underway was that I had chosen this, I had wanted this, to figure out how to escape the drama of my circumstances at the time. The science of living which is anchored around consciousness is not about getting what you want but learning to want what you get, understanding that you are the one who chose these circumstances, you are the one who drew those circumstances to yourself. And that’s a tough one. I’ll speak more about that in the next message when I speak about the fact, not the opinion, that all suffering is self-imposed.
Nonetheless, it can very helpful to understand that there is a greater reality that is more real than your own. The truth that makes up that reality is the Truth of who you are. The becoming process is the Truth of who you are working its way through your own personal illusions. No matter screwed up your own personal reality may be, you are free to change because contained in the becoming process is the innate desire of your soul to realize itself in physical form. And that’s what you’re doing here.
In going back to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I will share one last quote. Benjamin says in one of his letters to his daughter, “I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.”
That is the Truth of who you are and that is the power that you have inside of you.
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