Experiencing our Eternal Reality True intimacy, peace, and freedom transcend the physical, for these are characteristics of God. As you outgrow the linear, physical concepts and definitions you begin to understand that following the Spirit is the way to constant intimacy, peace, and freedom. Learning of the Purpose for the world from the One Whose function it is to teach this Purpose is how these qualities are returned to awareness and consistently retained. By learning how to extend the qualities the mind learns how to keep them in awareness, for extension is an attribute of what they are. Initially this Purpose may seem to be ambiguous and difficult to grasp for It is very abstract and unified and the deceived mind is conditioned to specifics and levels. Holding to such a Purpose, it seems, requires a tremendous discipline of the mind and lots of willingness and practice. It also requires the relinquishment of all other goals and purposes. To the untrained mind this can seem very difficult because the untrained mind believes in the reality of the physical as surely as it believes that separate purposes are necessary to meet different levels of need. Perceiving separate levels of need is a very basic error, and it leads to searching for solutions within these separate levels (ie., physical/mental/ emotional). The sincere seeker of Truth is drawn to the idea of holding to a "single, unified purpose." Yet when it comes to moment by moment application, the idea can seem like an elusive ideal. Problems, issues, and concerns seem to exist on so many levels (ie., internal mental and emotional struggles, parent/child conflicts, adult relationship difficulties, sickness and bodily concerns, financial and work restrictions, community/regional/national/ and global issues, and the list goes on and on...). Solutions attempted at these varying levels may seem to work for a time, but not ALL times and in ALL cases. Eventually the false belief in levels of need must be questioned for the mind to recognize its natural state of Wholeness, the state in which it was created and in which it changelessly remains. A Still Mind recognizes Its Eternal Wholeness. The present moment is the focal point. It is the point of decision. Truth can be found only in the present. Why is it so difficult to relax completely and surrender to the Silence where truth abides? The deceived mind is untrained and unwilling to keep attentive to the present because it is afraid of the present. All the mind chatter, drama, busy distractions, and outlets are the ego's defenses against the Stillness and the Voice for God, which reminds the mind of its Real Home in Heaven. The deceived mind is afraid of the Holy Spirit because it believes the ego (and thus separation from God) is real and is attached to a tiny, imposter concept of self that God did not create. In the Stillness the Holy Spirit speaks for God, and thus appears to be a "threat" since this reveals the falsity of the make-believe self-concept. The fear, then, comes from the mind's attachment to the fictitious, make-believe self-concept and of losing something that is "real" to the Light of Truth. Peace and joy come when the ego belief system has been questioned, and investment in it has been withdrawn. The withdrawal of faith in the ego must be total for trancendence to occur. The nature of attachment is ego thoughts or attack thoughts, and therefore true nonattachment is the release of all attack thoughts. Discernment is necessary, for the Holy Spirit's function is to distinguish between the true and the false, accepting only what is true and rejecting what is false. In this way the Holy Spirit is the bridge to Reality and Truth, and the means of reaching Enlightenment. Enlightenment is constant Intimacy, Peace, and Freedom!!!
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