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Embodying the Golden Age

(Part 3)

This is my third talk on the Golden Age. All three are posted on my Serendipity Website so you can read what I intended to say. So you can catch up on what you missed. Hopefully you will find information that will help you on your journey.

 

Often speakers repeat a theme. Why? Perhaps because it is important, and because they have learned more. Maybe it is what is up in their lives or a result of heightened awareness (remember my looking for a Ford Truck?). Perhaps it is because there is too much information for one talk. Or an intuitive answer to “What should I talk about.” Or maybe it is because they are not very creative. My answer is all of the above, except the last one.

 

I will not take time to review parts 1 and 2. As I mentioned, you can read them on web. What I would like to revisit is the basic words that I used to describe each part: Happy, Inside, Connect, Aware, and Commit.

 

Our part of what is happening is to be Happy. How many of you have consciously done something to be Happy as a result of the first two talks? Does anyone want to share what they did?

 

It seems to me that there are at least three ways to be Happy.

1. Doing something new that you have not done before.

2. Doing something you have done before but now you appreciate that it makes you Happy.

3. Experiencing something that is unplanned: a Serendipity experience.

I have had all three recently. For something new, I started making presentations with the didgeridoo at three Kitsap Library branches. (The last will be on Saturday, Nov. 4 at the Poulsbo Branch.)

For something old, I have been sitting on our deck in the sunshine and realizing how Happy I feel. And for the unplanned, Kay and I have started spending more time in Kingston, where we lived for almost 39 years. This has resulted in several Happy Serendipity experiences meeting old friends and remembering good times.

 

What we seek is Inside – what I like to call our Soul Essence. Our Soul Essence contains Peace, Joy, Love, Creativity, Life Energy, and more. How can I tell when we are in touch with these? One way is that when I feel them, my mind gets busy trying to figure out “Why?” Why do I feel Joy? I would like to explore the experiences that I feel that I describe by the words Joy and Happy. One quote I like is, “Words point us to the Truth, but they are not the Truth.” I use the word Joy for the feeling that I have Inside, as part of my Soul Essence. How do I know that it is part of my Soul Essence? Because my mind gets busy trying to figure out why I feel it. I call what I feel from external sources Happy. You may want to use different words but I think that it is important to consistently use the same words, because it reminds us of the difference between what is outside and what is inside. What I believe is Inside is what I was created to be.

 

Previously I used the word Connect to remind us to connect to Spirit. But now I want to drop that and use the next word, Aware. This time I want to use it to remind us that we are not just connected to Spirit, but that we are immersed in Spirit. So Aware can remind us that we are part of Spirit. One reliable source says that we are already in the Golden Age. We are simply not aware of it.

 

What keeps us from this awareness? Separation. How can we end the illusion of Separation? Last Sunday, in her "Changing our Paradigm" talk and meditation, Rev. Karen provided some answers and led us through a meditation. She pointed out that a major cause of our illusion is ego. Karen’s demonstration of the sea sponges in water, with water representing Spirit and a sponge representing us, was a vivid visual image of how everything is Spirit.

 

My experience is that Separation is a very powerful illusion. To help us find ways to get past this illusion, lets examine ways that may cause us to feel that we are separate.

 

Certainly there is ego, which I like to think of as our Awareness of Self. Then there is the Physical dimension. All of us are here in the Physical dimension - the dimension of the 5 senses. In this dimension, we are separate. This is a very powerful reinforcement. Since few of us have direct access to the thinking of others, we also tend to see ourselves as separate in the Mental dimension. Since these are the two dimensions we are most aware of, of course we feel separate. Emotions can also reinforce the illusion of Separation. When we are caught in emotions, it is sometimes difficult to be aware of anything else. Distractions can also keep us from feeling oneness and thus reinforce the illusion of Separation. We live in a culture of ultimate distractions. Technology tends to compound distraction, often while seeming to offer more connection. Watch people walking down the street while talking on a cell phone or using their smart phone while sitting and waiting. While seemingly more in touch with the greater World, they are far less in touch with the World around them. And most importantly, with the teachings and lessons that are right for them in the moment.

 

Our frequency can keep us feeling separated. As an example, think of a film motion picture where a succession of still images creates the illusion of motion. Now imagine two different movies on the same length of film, each stored on an alternate frame. This film passes through a projector. However, if one person is only synchronized to see the first image, and a second person is only synchronized to see, the second image, they could be watching the same film, but be seeing an entirely different movie. In this way, our frequency may show us a different reality and really reinforce a sense of separation. To help get past the illusion of Separation, it is important to spend time with people who have a shared reality. Church is one way to do that.

 

There is a story that illustrates how we can experience the same thing, but have a different reality. Two hunters are out in a boat on a pond with a bird dog and as some ducks fly over, one shoots and a duck falls into the water. The dog leaps out of the boat and walks on the water to where the duck is, picks it up in his mouth, and walks back to the boat. The hunter is absolutely amazed, but doesn’t say anything. Then more ducks fly over, more shots, and another duck falls into the water. The dog retrieves the duck, again walking both ways on the water. The hunter can’t stand it. He says, “Have you noticed anything unusual about your dog?” And the second hunter says, “Yes. He can’t swim.”

 

And my last thought is our concept of the GOD, which I like to call Spirit. To illustrate this, I will use the example of my aspects. As most of you know, I am an engineer, a husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, mystic, didgeridoo player, neighbor, etc. So which am I? Of course the answer is all of these and more. So in a similar way, we might think of GOD as Spirit, Father, Mother, the great Mystery, Allah, Jehovah, the 99 names of the Sufis, etc. So which is GOD? it is a case of the finite trying to describe the infinite. Perhaps this is the ultimate example of words pointing us toward the Truth but not being the Truth.

 

With all of these things and more reinforcing the illusion of Separation, no wonder it is difficult to get beyond it and be Aware that we are not separate.

 

So how can we do it? I think anyway I can get through the illusion of Separation and become aware of Oneness. If I get through the illusion of Separation, I can also be Aware of the Golden Age.

 

Here is an example: suppose that I separated from the food in the other room by a wall. In my family, we often associate food with comfort and fellowship. So if I can find the doorway, I can find food and with it comfort and fellowship. In a similar way, I think that if we can get past the illusion of Separation, we can become aware of Oneness and the Golden Age.

 

So to Embody the Golden Age, be aware of ways that help you get past Separation to an awareness of Oneness

 

Today I will present a meditation using the didgeridoo that may be a doorway to help us experience Oneness.

 

My ongoing theory of another doorway is to Raise our Vibrations. As we raise our vibrations I believe we can experience oneness. We will do that in a Workshop today after our social time. Because there was not a room available in the Church, we will have the workshop at Carole Glenn’s house from 12:30 to 2. Carole’s house is a short distance from here on Geneva Street. If you would like to join us, and have no idea where Carole’s house is, please pair up during the social time with someone who knows the way.

 

Commit

 

This word reminds me to spend time on what counts. To commit to my spiritual path. Do things that remind me of Oneness. And I also hope that it will remind some of you to commit to becoming aware of the Golden Age. I believe that awareness can lead us to live longer, happier, and healthier lives.

 

Isn’t that one function of a Church family? To help each other discover and follow our spiritual paths.

 

In Review: Happy (in what you do), Inside (our Soul Essence is who we really are), Aware – of Oneness, Commit – Spend time on what counts.

 

Meditation: Losing awareness of Self - using the fundamental sound of the didgeridoo to focus on the unchanging. The doorway is getting past the distraction of changing overtones and find the tone that does not change. (I play for a continuous sound without rhythm or melody)

 

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