To Have…. Or To Be…

In the past few days, I did not have much time to write.

Upon our return home, we found that our new smart furnace was apparently not smart enough…. And did not start itself again after a scheduled power outage in our area.

As a result when we entered our house, the temperature was just above freezing and our sewer line froze.
We embarked upon a few days of house maintenance and repairs.
We happened to hire some really good people to do the repairs, who called again and again to make sure that everything was working well again.

I also got into the studio, and started painting again…. Which always feels like bliss…

This morning I felt as if the fog of jet lag, combined with my reluctant refusal to adjust to the cold of winter, is finally lifting….

These are the thoughts I had this morning:

In the world we seem to live in, there is a distinction between having and being.

You could have patience, and lose it at times and get impatient…
You could have riches, and lose them.
You could be loving, and your love could cool off…. Etc.

But in Truth, there are no such distinctions.

It takes a great realization to recognize that we ARE what we yearn for most….
All the joy, freedom, happiness, Grace, and Bliss we yearn for….
We are already ARE all that….

There is a story in the New Testament, in which the Pharisees asked Jesus where was this Kingdom of God he was talking about…

And Jesus replied that it is HERE and NOW and that:
“The Kingdom of God is within you…”

In order to explain what it is I wish to expound about in this post, we need to just change one thing in that sentence…..

The Kingdom of God… IS YOU!

By simply eliminating the word “Within”, which implies “Having,” which implies the possibility of owning and losing something.

In the world of physical forms, in which we imagine ourselves to live in, to OWN something also means impermanence…..

In the temporal world, ownership holds the possibility of losing what you own, transferring ownership, or being able NOT to have it.

But words and language are limited and clumsy when attempting to describe God, and the Infinite Truth…..

The Kingdom of God IS YOU, means that you ARE LOVE.
You are Divine!
You are Holy!
You are Grace and Mercy!
You are Infinite, immortal and everlasting!
You are all riches!
You are Life!
You are all glory, and beauty and Joy!
You are pure Happiness…..

You only need ONE thing on this earth……. Which is to awaken, to remember and to recognize that what I said above……. is ALL True……

Everything you ARE, you automatically also have.

To phrase it differently…
You both have everything and you ARE everything.

When you say to yourself: “I am Happy,” it means that you recognize that you are happy now…. It also may mean that maybe you will be unhappy later.

But if you recognize that you ARE happiness, you suddenly recognize that everything you think or do that is not in alignment with pure happiness, is going to make you feel shitty.

This is because you ARE happiness and kindness and love….

When you criticize another, your ego may be joyful for a moment.

The ego loves to feel that it is better off than others, who are really screwed up, messed up, etc…
And so your ego tries to make you feel good about your own situation in life….

Your ego tells you that you are fine in COMPARISON to others….

Your ego will tell you that your situation is BETTER THAN…. And so you are fine, and SHOULD be happy!

But despite what your ego is telling you… You do not FEEL happier than….

And that is because you chose to listen to the voice of your ego, and not to your loving heart.
Your small personality ego……. which goes against your very large Nature…. Against who you TRULLY are… Which is Love and happiness.

The path of Self Realization, needs to be lived moment by moment… Until your mind becomes so full of Light….

When your ego mind points out the error in another, it is best to dig within your core being and heartfelt mind, and to recognize that each of us walks his/ her own path into the light.

For some, their fear of illumination is so great…. that they would rather hide in the dark.

You must recognize that they WOULD do better, if they could… And that the ONLY response that a mistake merits, is laughter, compassion, Mercy…… and if possible, Joyful correction.

The ego sees mistakes as sins, and is unwilling to forgive.

As a rule, I would suggest this:
Search your own feelings with honesty….
Whenever you are not fully happy, know that you have judged another sister or brother to be wrong (which the ego sees as sin)…. And you have rejoiced in what you
THOUGHT was there….

I Wish you a most wonderful week, filled with Light.

I also have a great week planned ahead.

I plan to go on a ski and gourmet dinner date with my husband, paint in the studio, make some yummy meals to finish our food before our trip to Italy, ship some art, read, and rest… And rejoice in being ALIVE….