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When I taught at the Federal Prison, I
encountered three different groups of men who
insisted that everything that happened,
occurred because it was Allah's will. The
reasoning was that Allah was all powerful and
that nothing could happen without it being
Allah's will.
My question was always, "So, you honestly
believe that it was Allah's will that you
ended up in prison?"
And the response was, "It could not have
happened without it being Allah's will?"
I usually could not resist and I had to ask
"So why do you think Allah would want you to
rob a bank (or whatever the specific crime
was) and spend ten years of your life away
from your family?"
The typical response was, "It is not ours to
understand the will of Allah."
When I inquired about free will they
basically stuck to the story that nothing
could happen that was not the will of Allah.
I have met many other people who, while of
another faith, held a very similar,
fatalistic view. If _____________ happened in
my life, it had to be the will of God.
I probably should not do this but I am going
to state this: I do not believe God has any
will other than my own for my life.
I can feel the resistance to these words as
many of us are invested in believing that God
will's all sorts of things for our lives.
Allow me to explain my logic.
If God is omnipresent, as I believe It to be,
God must exist in every cell, in every
neuron, in every quark, in every adamantine
particle, in every nanoparticle which
comprises my physical being, including my
mind.
While it is true that I can use my mind, and
most of us do, to create the thought of
separation from this everywhere-present
Divinity, I can never, in Truth, be separate
from this Allness. Therefore, every thought I
have springs from the great Nothingness
(Everything that Is) which is God. Everything
I choose is an exercise of my will.
Everything I will becomes the will of God,
because, in Truth, there is no separation
between this idea of me and this omnipresent
Being.
For there to be a God with a separate will
for my life, there has to be a God which is
at once All-there-Is and a God that is
separate from creation. It can not be both
ways.
So, does this destroy the comfort derived
from believing that there is a God out there
who is holding a will for a blessed life for
me?
It does not change for me, because I believe
this one force is Love. Not the love that we
humans think we know the definition of and
experience based on our stories; but Love
beyond words, Love that never chooses to
express itself to one aspect of creation and
withhold it from another. Love that simply
Is, and is always fully present, doing
everything it is ever capable of doing.
My life is filled with grace when I drop all
resistance to what is and flow with this One
Power of the Universe. How do I know if I am
resisting? In surrender there is complete
Peace. Resistance involves countless levels
of suffering.
Having said all of that, today I am
considering how peaceful it can be to believe
that everything which happens occurs because
it is my Higher Power's Will.
I am not comfortable with taking this to the
level of giving up all personal
responsibility (in fact I personally believe
the Secret to a life of total surrender is
one of 100% responsibility) but how peaceful
would I be if I honestly Loved God with all
of my heart and soul, and knew, beyond any
doubt, that everything that happened, was a
gift from this benevolent Creator?
The point I am trying to make is that the
Secret to life does not matter whether or not
there is an Allah out there directing every
event which occurs, in accordance to his
will, or if there is some non-personal
Creative Force from which every thought,
every being, every action arises. The Secret
to living in peace is found in complete and
total surrender to that Power; complete and
total faith that in giving up my resistance,
all will be well.
Does that make sense?
If I believe God has a plan for my life, my
work is to surrender to that plan. I do this
by loving God with all of my heart, loving my
neighbor, and loving myself as a creation of
this Divine Force.
If I believe there is no such God, keeping
score, and holding some vision for my life,
my goal is to love what is. I learn to do
this by loving Life with all my heart and
soul, loving myself so that I may love all
other things, because everything arises out
of this One Source.
So, I have come full circle. It does not
matter what I believe. How I handle that
belief is where the rubber meets the road.
Peace and joy are mine when I drop all
resistance to what is.
And living in Peace is living in alignment
with Divine Intelligence.
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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Today's Secret is very short.
As I sat at breakfast with a friend, this
morning, we were discussing Unconditional
Love. I wanted to share our consensus about
this topic, and leave you to think about
these words.
What I Am is unconditional Love; Love with no
boundaries, no restrictions, no beginning or
end.
Who I am, as long as an I is identified, can
never experience unconditional Love. The same
mind that identifies it's self cannot grasp
or experience the Love that is the Truth of
my being.
As long as I have a self-identity, which is
other than Divine, I, because of the very
nature of the human mind, am incapable of
expressing Love without Conditions.
The human mind is constructed to create
conditions, not work without them.
Unconditional Love cannot be experienced
intellectually.
Just food for thought.
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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As a student of my own life, I am often astounded by the things I learn.
I have noticed a strange coincidence, over the last dozen years or so: whenever I am having a wonderful day, the rest of the world seems to join in.
I know you have experienced this. You are moving through your day with a bounce in your step and a song in your heart. Everything you see has a certain "newness", a brightness,which you have noticed, maybe a time or two, but overlook most of the time.
The people you encounter, on these days, are happier than usual. Even the ones, caught up in their own drama, seem to forget their sad story, for a minute when you are interacting with them.
The world is a most remarkable place, when I am in a loving, joyous state.
I laugh about this because I often wonder why I would ever choose to have any other type of day.
Yesterday, at the suggestion of a fried, I read this in Tricycle magazine: a moment of enlightenment is a moment when we realize"the blessings that are always pouring forth."
I know this is absolutely the Truth. Divine blessings are omnipresent just waiting for me to wake up and allow them in. It is proven to me each and every time I walk through my day In-Love.
I also loved this reminder in the article: The "blessings that are always pouring forth" include the love that has permeated our lives, peeking at us through many eyes."
When I am open and receptive, when I am free of the presence-stealing, droning of my story, I notice that everyone is just like me. Everyone wants to feel loved, even if only for a brief moment, even if only through a quick smile or an unexpected courtesy.
The whole world becomes more enlightened, each moment I allow myself to be the Love I Am.
It is remarkable how much more beautiful everything becomes, when the eyes I look through, are the eyes of Love.
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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"Elliott why, if this is a Secret to
Peace, would you write and tell us about your
Twitter experience?"
I think one of my ongoing challenges is fear
of rejection. When I remember who I Am, I
have absolutely no need for the approval of
others. I do what my inner guidance directs
and I float "merrily" down the stream.
When, however, I drift back into the illusion
that you and I are separate, and that my
self-worth is somehow dependent upon your
acceptance and validation, I can feel hurt
when you question my motives, when you
question the love I am attempting to share.
My confession is that even though I spend
most of my time, in remembrance of whom and
what I am, I still find myself adrift in the
"I'm only human" mindset from time to time.
At 55 I have spent more years unconscious
than I have striving to be conscious and to
stay aware.
Despite many years on a spiritual path, I
still slip back into moments where I find
myself caught in the whirlpool of illusion. I
find myself needing confirmation from others
that what I think is valuable; that "who I
am" matters.
In the flow of Truth, I have nothing to
defend, no separate self to believe his own
story. In this state there is no me who
believes his thoughts are the one truth.
Unfortunately, after 26 years on my quest I
still have moments when I try to squeeze back
into my old illusions, even though I know
they do not fit any longer.
Self-questioning of my motives is a habit
that my ego perpetuates to try and remain in
charge. Overcoming these critical voices has
been a lifelong challenge for me.
I suppose I wrote of my twitter experience so
that I could cite an example of where I
follow my bliss and need to let go of what
others think, in order to stay in my joy.
"To thine own self be true", is not just some
lofty objective for me. It is a mantra that I
must follow if I am to live authentically.
Thanks for the question. I know it was a
different sort of Secret. These writings may
be changing. There is some kind of shift
taking place in me. I will talk more about
that later.
Today I will surrender to the direction my
soul wants to flow. At the very least, peace
will be mine, with this commitment.
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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On Twitter I have been having great fun,
finding new friends and learning about them.
I look for friends, in basically two ways:
1) By recommendations of others. For example:
A current
friend sends out a tweet with four or five
names of other Tweeters. I open their pages
and click on follow, if they have similar
interests to mine. Primarily I am only
interested in following people, of any
religion, who are examining the spiritual
nature of life.
2) By recommendations of others, on their
lists. On Twitter, now, individuals can
create lists and classify the people on up to
ten lists. When I see someone I resonate with
listed under the heading of spiritual,
loving, or anything similar, I go into that
list and look for like-minded people.
I do not only look for like minded people. I
also search for people who are interesting in
any other way. I seldom follow marketers,
unless they write inspiring tweets or are
dedicated to making a positive difference in
the world.
I do not believe I have ever sent out a tweet
which said anything ugly or negative. I
strive to be the Love I Am in each and every
tweet I send out. Yet, there are still a
handful of people who have blocked me, and
most people I follow do not follow me back.
Seldom do I receive a reason, they just
usually do not respond at all.
For those of you, not on Twitter, my short
bio says that I am a student of Love seeking
to always remember who he is and why he is
here. I strive to send all of my tweets in
alignment with what I discover and am
currently investigating, in answer to those
two questions.
The other day I received an interesting
response from some Twitter-er I had followed.
He or she wrote to me: "I do not believe
there is love in the world that man dreams
of. Why did you follow me? Are you trying to
change me? No, thanks!"
What an interesting response to my bio.
There is a link to my blog, where I post
these Daily Secrets, also in my bio, but I
doubt this person went to all the trouble to
investigate my blog.
This response has me questioning why I really
do spend an average of 40 minutes a day
working on my Twitter account. What is my
real motive?
At first, I admit, I did this to try and
build traffic to my blog. I do not think that
I write to try and change people. I think I
just enjoy writing and especially enjoy
engaging in dialogue with those readers who
return comments.
Now, I love Twitter because of the beautiful
people I meet. I have made friends with some
very kind, very loving people and my life is
richer as a result.
Twitter time is play time for me. It is like
a game. I search for and follow people I
think I might like to learn more about, and I
see which ones follow me back. I keep track
of every minute I spend on Twitter, just to
keep myself from losing track of the time I
spend, and I have great fun exchanging
thoughts with people all over the world.
I can honestly say that I do not think I have
tried to change anyone. If offering a daily
blog post is an effort to bring people around
to my way of thinking, then I am guilty. I do
not see it that way, however.
I have learned, over the years, that I can
drive myself batty examining each and every
motive I have for what I choose to do. I do
not engage in that activity much, any more.
For now, for me, if I enjoy what I am doing,
and I am doing it as the best expression of
Love that I am capable of being, I just go
on, having fun.
Some will like what I do, some will not. It
is a form of insanity to think that everyone
will be pleased with my thoughts, my quotes,
my writing, or me, in general.
I will love you, regardless of how you feel
about me; not as a gift to you, but as a gift
to myself.
The only love we ever keep is the love we
give away.
I am thankful for each of you who choose to
show up as the Love you are!
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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Love is omnipresent. There is no place where
this One Power of the Universe is not.
As such Love, and I am speaking of Divine
Love, is the basis for all of Life. It is the
power behind every choice I make. If I choose
love, it is a manifestation of Love. If I
choose to hate, it is still a manifestation
of the One Love.
Choosing to love brings me into greater
alignment with Divine Love. It allows me to experience the
Love, which is the One Power of life, flowing
through me, as me.
Choosing to reject love, or to hate, blocks
my awareness of being in this Divine Flow.
I can never, not be in the flow of Life. Life
supports hatred just as it supports human
love. This concept causes a lot of confusion.
Love does not choose, it simply Is.
Hatred can be exceptionally powerful
because it draws its power from this One
Force just the same as love does. The
difference is in my experience of being in
the Flow.
How do I know if I am in the flow or
resisting it?
When I am able to allow everyone and
everything to be just as they are with no
need or desire for them to be anything else,
I am experiencing the flow.
When I
accept all things, just as they are, without
any longing for them to be something else, I
have surrendered.
The result of such surrender is peace.
Resistance always leads to suffering.
Life still supports the sufferer, but seldom
is the sufferer aware of this support or they
would most likely make other choices.
The beauty about allowing everything to be
just what it is, without any hope or demand
that it be something else, is that my ability
to do so is a great hallmark for the level of
serenity I am choosing for my life.
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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This morning I spent a few minutes in the
book Love Without Conditions by
Paul Ferrini and I read these words: "Life
is either resistance or surrender. These are
the only choices. Resistance leads to
suffering. Surrender leads to bliss.
Rsistance is the decision to act alone.
Surrender is the decision to act with God."
When I am surrendered to God it is impossible
for me to perceive myself as being under
attack. If the separate "me" is completely
dissolved into the oneness of Source, what
could possibly attack me?
When my self-identity is replaced by a
knowing of Self, I cannot feel attacked
because I know there is no "other" to attack
me. It is only on the level of ego where I
feel I have anything to defend.
What I feel, in any given situation is always
a good indication of whether I am living in
fear or in surrender. Fully surrendered, what
could there possibly be to fear?
I will close with one other quote from
Ferrini: "All experience happens for one
reason only: to expand your awareness. Any
other meaning in your life experience is a
meaning you made up."
When I am in remembrance of who I am and I
surrender to that Truth, it is impossible to
be afraid. Fear resides only in an ego mind
which believes separation is possible; which
thinks there is a separate someone capable of
hurting me.
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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Today I am keenly aware of how quickly and habitually I allow my mind to make judgments.
I hear on the news that some tragedy has happened to a family. I am immediately in a place of thinking that is bad.
I read of some kindness and I find my self thinking that person is good.
I do not do this consciously, it just seems to happen. It typically happens before I even become conscious of the process.
I receive a piece of data, and the processing of this data begins before I seem to be aware that I am in this cycle.
Today I will watch how many times I do this.As quickly as I notice myself judging, I will shift my energy, back to a neutral state, and change "that is bad" or "that is good" to simply "that is".
I wonder how I will ever make my default position "that is" instead of filtering everything I see through the parameters of my story; my ideas of what is good or bad, right or wrong.
How do I expect to see everything, that is, as a blessing when I am challenged to get past the conditioned response I have to the event?
I am not sure yet, but I know it starts by becoming aware of how often my thoughts are autonomic. I shall pay extra attention to those thoughts as they arise today.
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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Yesterday I saw a tweet, I had seen before,
which read, "God is great because he still
loves human beings."
I spent much of my life trying to please
other people, convinced that if others loved
me, I had worth. A part of that period, in my
life, also included an attempt to live so
that my idea of God (at the time) would be
pleased with me.
I suppose, as a tool for making decisions, I
could have done worse than attempting to
choose that which would be pleasing to God.
Of course the problem with trying to please
another or in trying to please a God is that
I am always only guessing what behavior or
choice might make the other happy.
But wait Elliott, you have the bible to tell
you how to live a life which pleases God, so
that should not be too hard. And you have
history, in your human relationships, to
remind you of which choices were rewarded and
which were punished or ignored in the past.
This is all well and good, but am I being
authentic to my True Self, if I look first to
pleasing something outside of myself and only
consider my inner guidance later?
I am astounded, when I look around the world,
at the different "truths" we have invented
about the nature of God. In some cases we
have made God the benevolent Father. In
others we have made this Power the Divine
Mother. In some we have made the Almighty a
fierce warrior, doing battle against its
rivals. In each case, we are creating God in
the image we decide is the truth. This is
quite a different concept than that of
surrendering to the Power from which we have
been created.
In the example, I cited above, the individual
believes that God exists outside himself and
that this God has the choice to love or not
to love human beings.
In the story I carry about God, this One
Power is Love. It does not choose to love or
not to love, it is Love itself.
But this too is just a story, because no
matter how I define God, I limit this
All-ness by the very nature of the thought
that creates the definition.
So, I come back to my original point, "How
can I possibly hope to please someone or
something when I only have my own ideas about
what pleases them?" The whole effort leads to
madness. It feels good when the rewards match
the intention for the action. It feels very
sad when the intention does not result in the
desired outcome.
At some point we must decide that in order to
best serve, whatever our concept of God is,
we must become the greatest expression of our
authentic selves, we are capable of becoming.
To do this we must listen to the song which
plays as us, within us.
As I write this I am reminded of the words
from one of my favorite Cat Stevens songs. I
recall them going something like this:
I listen to the wind
To the wind of my soul.
Where I'll end up
Well I think only God really knows.
I listen to my words
But they fall far below.
I let my music take me
Where my heart wants to go.
When I live from my heart,
When I march to the rhythm
I have been given
People will be pleased,
or they will not
be.
The choice is theirs.
I am fulfilled by living my life, constantly
saying "Yes" to the Truth I have found, in my
heart of hearts.
Whether others choose to condemn or condone,
belittle or applaud, my decisions, has no
power over my life. In living an authentic
life, I choose to surrender to the authority
of the small still voice which never fails
me.
This connection to Source never judges me. It
always patiently waits for me to discover who
I am; this connection, my true Identity.
I think a better way to rephrase the concept
of God being great because he still loves
humans, would be "I become a more authentic
expression of the Source of all life, when I
learn to Love all that is."
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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In the present, I Am.
It is an interesting paradox that in order to fully "Be," all self identity must vanish.
All self identity is story. It is an accumulation of thoughts, beliefs, and "truths" which inform my idea of self.
Fully in this now moment, when this historical data is not defining this instant, I Am.
The minute I start to think again. The minute I pay notice to the fact that I just spent an instant without carrying around my fear or my incomplete self-identity, I am back in my story.
Unfortunately, my story only utilizes "what it has known" as its data base for determining who and what I am.
My story limits me, no matter how expansive I think my story to be.
It is the "I Think" part which limits me,which has me defining truth instead of experiencing Truth.
Everything I define is limited by the truth from which I draw my definition, including me.
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| Posted by Elliott Teters at | | | |
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