Blame

It's one of the most popular pastimes among humans of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds.  A couple wants to go to dinner, but someone forgot to call the sitter.  Now they can't go.  He feels guilty for forgetting, they both feel disappointed that they must stay home now.  Then, someone has to point out who's fault it is that this less than optimum situation has come to pass...

We all find ourselves at this place, whether it is in our personal relationships, our workplace, or just about any other area of our lives where things can go wrong, and there are more people present than just ourself.  Now here's a challenge: the next time you feel tempted to place blame, ask yourself, "Has blaming someone ever actually benefitted me in any way, ever?"

More often than not, blame leads to conflict and an escalation of anger.  It drives people apart, and undermines the happiness that we work so hard to cultivate together when we are not upset.  It is a source of suffering, and of negative karma (see chapter 1).

When faced with a moment where blame becomes a temptation, try to imagine how you would feel if you were in the position of the recipient of said blame.  My guess is, if you were that person, you would already be blaming yourself and wouldn't need group consensus to reinforce that feeling.  You would also probably be the one person in the situation who wished most that whatever went wrong had not.

So put aside blame, and try compassion instead.  Whatever the problem is, it will not be solved any slower, but after it has passed, and been forgotten, your relationship will be the stronger (more trusting) for it.

Jim

This is It

The monitor in front of you, the temperature in the room, the fit of your clothes, the action you are currently taking, the thought in your mind...  This is your whole life.  There's nothing more to it.  The rest is just an idea you are having in this moment.  Here and Now, that is all there is.

In chapter 2, I discuss these ideas in detail.  The constants of your experiential reality.  And it's important to hold these ideas close if one wishes to maintain a solid relationship with what is, as opposed to what one believes reality to be.

Here's a great example from my own life, to illustrate what I mean:  I procrastinate, profligately.  I can put things off for months.  Important things, like filing my taxes or paying my bills.  And the thing of it is, it's not because the tasks are inherently difficult.  In fact, they're just actions to take, one after the other; no different than anything else in my life, fun or tedious.  It's the IDEAS that I have about the tasks ahead that encourage me to put them off.  For example, when I consider everything I've put off, I feel overwhelmed.  To avoid that uncomfortable feeling, I think about something else, and the task continues to go undone.  In other words, the task suddenly seems like a painful burden because it is saddled with the emotion of feeling overwhelmed.  However, when I stop and remind myself that "This is It", I realize that my whole life is very simple, and there is really only one thing to be done at a time, and each choice can be made in its turn.

Many things in life are like this, and I feel that the source of most of our fear and anger about things in our lives stems from forgetting what is really going on.  We get caught up in our thoughts and worries to the point that they become a part of the reality in which we live, when in fact, they are just mental abstractions, clouding the utter simplicity that is our true reality (as we are actually experiencing it)

I encourage you to stop from time to time, especially in moments of stress or worry, and remember what you are experiencing, and how.  What is thought, and what isn't, and what is the situation with which you are actually presented.  To do so will greatly simplify your ongoing task of living, and will make problems which appear large (maybe too large?) much easier to manage.

I know this has helped with my procrastination; I am writing this right now, after all.  LOL.

Jim

Science Saved My Soul.

This is quite a beautiful expression of the wonder of creation all by itself. I would only add that, in light of the fact that there is only one consciousness (Chapter 3), yours, yours are the eyes of the very God that created it, the very eyes that have brought it into existence with your observation (Chapter 2). As our narrator put it, science offers compelling reasons to believe in something tremendous, as opposed to religion, which offers only the compulsion of supernatural punishment. It is my ardent desire to offer you the same compelling reason to believe in your own ultimate divinity.

Jim

Under Construction

Welcome to my blog, "You Are God"

It's currently under construction, but I plan to start adding content in the next week or so.

Also, the free PDF download link is coming, as is the Cafepress store to purchase it, should you desire an actual bound copy.

I'm putting all this together in the hope of promoting what I believe to be a very exciting new view of spirituality, where faith is no longer necessary, and one's connection to all things is immediately understandable.  My book provides a number of logical philosophical arguments proving one of the oldest tenets of eastern spirituality: that we are all one.  What this means is that there is but a single consciousness, and this consciousness is immediately percievable as the one you're using to read these words right now.

The implications of this idea are many, and in my book I discuss them all in a theoretical way.  This blog will allow me to apply those concepts to real world matters in the hope of making them easier to understand, and to apply to your life with the purpose of gaining greater insight, and greater peace of mind, in your spiritual journey through life.

Thanks,

Jim