Once a man who lived with his grandson took the boy to market with him. They enjoyed themselves but it was a long journey, so the old man bought a donkey and set his grandson on it. Then they started their trip home. The talked and walked peacefully and joyfully. All went well until they met a man on the road who said, “I can’t believe that little boy would make you, an old man, walk while he, who is young and strong, rides the donkey. How shameful.”
So, the boy got off the donkey and the grandfather got on and rode. A few miles down the road they met a woman who said, “I can’t believe you, a grown man, is riding while you make that little boy walk.”
Then the grandfather and grandson both got on the donkey and rode. Not much farther down the road they met two men walking together. One of them said to the other, “Can you believe that? Those two people are riding on that poor little donkey.” Then he called out to the grandfather and grandson, “How shameful! You two are putting too much weight on that poor donkey.”
Both the man and the boy got off the donkey and instead of riding, they now led the donkey, but before they reached their home, they met a group of people on the road who laughed at them for leading a donkey. A woman called out, “How funny! You two have a perfectly good donkey and no one is riding it.”
Then the grandfather hung his head, exasperated. No matter what it did, someone said it wasn’t right and everyone had a different opinion, so he put the grandson back on the donkey as he had originally wanted to and led him home.
MORAL to the STORY: My friend, Al Carter, used to say that opinions are like anal openings—everybody’s got one and they often stink.
NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO—SOMEBODY WILL FIND FAULT WITH IT.
So, I again refer to a law of the spiritual universe: listen to your own heart. The old man’s true self was led to give his grandson a ride. It was only when he and the boy started listening to the opinions of others that things got wonky.
There is certainly an electrical current of some sort running through each of our bodies, but where does that current come from? What makes it enter a body and what makes it leave a body?
Erwin Schrödinger (a Nobel Prize winning Austrian-Irish physicist known for his work in the field of quantum physics) said, “Consciousness cannot be accounted for in physical terms. For consciousness is absolutely fundamental. It cannot be accounted for in terms of anything else.”At the close of his book “What is Life?” He expressed his conclusion concerning individual consciousness, presenting it as manifestation of an all-pervading universal consciousness. He wrote, “You can throw yourself flat on the ground, stretched out upon Mother Earth, with the certain conviction that you are one.”
WHERE DOES LIFE COME FROM?
I’d like to focus on the statement that consciousness is “absolutely fundamental.” As far back as we can go in human history, we find multitudes of people from a myriad of cultures who all believed in a spiritual dimension of some sort. I purpose that it is from this other dimension that the source of all life originates.
When I was a teenager, I attended a small Methodist church and I can remember to this day, a woman who would periodically stand up during the hymn singing phase of service and shout, “Glory! Glory! Glory!” She was so adamant that it would make the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Then the song leader, a man named Willard, would tear up and he would say, “This world is not my home. I’m just passing thru.”
Some people would say that they were just emotional, but I believe they had a glimpse of a higher reality, a place they called “Glory.” Jesus called it “Heaven.” Recently, I’ve heard some people refer to it as the “Vortex.” I think Vortex feels rather impersonal to me, but for someone who isn’t from such an organic background as I am, it might work best. I like Heaven, Glory, Spirit Realm/World/Universe/Dimension, Kingdom of God, all much better. Whatever floats your boat. The point is—there is a reality of infinite abundance, joy, peace, love, and supply that is far superior to this one and the only way to access that reality is to realize that it operates on a different set of principles, a different wavelength, a different frequency.
SECOND BIRTH
You could say that we are born into this physical world in a physical body and the longer we are here, the less we remember of our true origin, until we believe that we are the bodies we live in and that what we see here is reality. At that point, we are trapped and enslaved to the rules of this time-bound reality. But there is a passage in the Bible where Jesus tells Nicodemus that the only way to see the Kingdom of God is to be born-again. More on that in a few paragraphs.
In Tla Wilano, an Indigenous American language that I speak, we have term that speaks of all things being connected in a connective reality that surpasses the mere physical manifestation in this world around us. It is universal, but more than that, it is spiritual. All things we see in this reality first existed in that other reality, that spiritual reality.
All things, in this reality, when left to their own volitions, tend toward a state of chaos and entropy, but in the spiritual reality, nothing ever decays or ends. Time, beginnings, and endings are all physical manifestations, because this reality is temporal, but spirit is eternal. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It has no true beginning and no true ending. However, energy can be harnessed to create, and energy can destroy. Therefore, energy originates from the other reality and animates matter in this reality, bringing life.
UNCONSCIOUSLY CONSCIOUS
We know that energy, semantically speaking, is the capacity for doing work and that work is done when any type of movement happens. When there is no energy in a body and the body no longer moves of its own volition in any way, we say that there is death, or the absence of life, the absence of that inexplicable force that animates. Beyond the mere animation of a lifeform, there is also consciousness. Some life-forms have a more advanced form than others. Consciousness is beyond mere animating energy; it is the awareness of one’s own existence. A conscious being is sentient. Consciousness does not end when the animating energy leaves our bodies. How do we know this? There are literally thousands upon thousands of near-death experience recounts where people talk about being out of their bodies, floating above their bodies, etc. Many of these people were verifiably dead before they were resuscitated and even though you can’t scientifically measure or do an experiment to prove or disprove their statements, reason dictates that thousands of people over the past several hundred years, coming forward with very similar stories, relating uncanny events that they couldn’t have known about naturally, can’t ALL be making it up!
So, I proceed under the premises that there are at least two realities existing side-by-side, and each reality operates on its own set of principles.
WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD
How then, do we who awaken to the fact that we are eternal, spirit beings, live in this world while being true to the principles of the Spirit World?
Everything in this reality is designed to trap you in this reality. Our spirits, the real us, are not originally from this reality, so our spirits see the bigger picture. We know that one day a shift is coming (think Biblical account of Millennial Reign and other accounts of such a time from several cultures) that will merge the two realities, but that is for another blog post on another day. Many people believe that here and now is all that’s real. They believe only what they can document, quantify, study, and measure, only what the five senses tell them, what the news tells them, what other people tell them. They have believed it for so long now that they don’t know who they really are. Once you hear the truth, really hear it, not just with your ears, but with your core essence, you awaken to the knowledge that you are a powerful being emanating from an eternal reality.
Remember that whole born-again thing? A born-again person is one who has awakened to this truth of who we are and where we are from, and once we awaken to that truth, it frees us from fear, from guilt, from shame, from all of those things. Jesus also said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.” That freedom sometimes gives you a perspective that is not of this world and oftentimes puts you at odds with the authorities of this world, who frequently live by the principles of controlling others. Remember how Jesus told people things that caused them to think freely and that free thinking was a threat to those in power, so they wanted to be rid of him, to cancel him, so they killed him. They thought they were rid of him, but you can’t kill a spirit. That spirit remains and it will infect others and they will awaken and the spirit of Love, which always seeks to liberate, not control, manipulate, or capture, will go on. You cannot imprison spirit energy. You can only deceive people and try to keep them from coming in contact with it, from waking up.
Finally, here are some basic principles of the Spiritual Universe that we start to live by when we are Born-Again (Spiritually Awakened) live by.
Learn the Rule of Heavenly Currency: The currency of the universe is attention: so, whatever you focus on, you draw to yourself. As you think, so you are.
Practice the Golden Rule: Treat others as you want to be treated. Want more for them than you do for yourself. Whatever you want for yourself, make it a point to want it even more for others. If you want peace, pray for someone else to have it. If you want wealth, wish for your friend, or your neighbor or someone else to have it. No matter what it is, if you want it in your life, wish it for someone else even more so.
Live by Faith: Emotionally respond to the things you want, that you wish for, as if they are already here. In so doing, you literally call those things that are not as though they were. You create their manifestation. Whatever is not of faith is off the pathway to the Kingdom of Heaven. If it’s not faith, it’s not God’s way. Simple as that.
Praise Your Way to Victory: Have a thankful heart, an attitude of gratitude, being thankful every day for all good things in your life. Make it a point every day to thank God and if a thing is lovely, if it is trustworthy, if it is positive and joyful and loving and kind. If it is peaceful and beautiful—give it your full attention.
Seek Out Opportunities to be Kind: Show random acts of kindness. You never know when one kind act from you might start a chain reaction in someone else’s life. As a teacher, I can think of numerous times when a teacher did a tiny thing that she forgot which a child remembered into adulthood and was so influenced that it sparked a career or a positive life-path. Look for every opportunity to be kind. Will Rogers once said that the best way to get rid of an enemy was to make him your friend. Seek peace and as much as possible, live at peace with everyone.
Let Your Light Shine: Light a candle instead of cursing the darkness. Wayne Dyer said that you can never solve a problem by condemning it. When you use shame, name calling, put-downs, and blame, you are in opposition to the laws of the Spiritual Universe. If you want to shed light on deeds of darkness and expose them for what they are, then do so without stooping to their tactics. So, no mudslinging.
Be Led by the Spirit: Does it line up with your inner being? Does it match up with what you know to be true about God? To do this, you kind of have to be in tune spiritually. You must be born-again. Otherwise, you’re not in-tune spiritually.
Seek First the Kingdom of God (Glory, Heaven, Vortex) and its righteousness (right way of being) and all of these things that people strive for will just come to you by default. Exalt the principles of mercy, kindness, compassion, empathy, appreciation, humility, patience, forgiveness and joy above status, recognition, and power.
Learn the One Big Rule: love (value, honor, adore, accept, and appreciate) your God with your emotions, your intellect, and spirit and love (adore, value, honor, accept, and appreciate) your fellow human being in the same way and in the midst of loving yourself.
P&R: Pray and Rest: prayer is asking, so do it and then be still and watch the manifestation travel from Spirit Realm to this reality. Take time to breathe, to smell the flowers, to feel the sun on your face and just be.
POEM
by Darlene Franklin-Campbell, 2016
People wander through this life
Not knowing who they are
They push and pull to get ahead
Leave a lifetime full of scars
I hear a voice; it’s calling me
Come, wake out of the dark,
Give yourself to the reign of Love
Make an eternal mark.
Let the Great Awakening
Start right here in me
Open up my heart
Open up my mind
That I might really see
Let me pour this love
Onto every soul I meet
Let the Great Awakening
Start right here in me.
Sources:
“General Scientific and Popular Papers.” In Collected Papers, Vol. 4. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences. Braunschweig/Wiesbaden: Vieweg & Sohn. p. 334.
Schrödinger, Erwin. My View of the World, chapter iv, and What Is life?
Many people are empathetic. A friend who listens to you is empathetic. A person who lends you money might be empathetic. A stranger who lets you out in heavy traffic is empathetic but being empathetic is not the same as being an empath.
Empaths Can Shake the World
Empaths are people who experience what others feel. They don’t just feel “sorry” for others or “happy” for others. They literally feel the other person’s sadness right along with them and they feel the other person’s joy right along with them. They truly rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Empaths come in all genders, shapes, shades, sizes, and ethnicities. They are not weak or sissy. They are healers. They are teachers. They are creators. They, as Gandhi said, “shake the world in a gentle way.” They are spiritual revolutionists. A strong empath, one who comes to understand who and what he or she is, becomes a beacon of light in this world, a creative force without limits. Jesus (the one in the Bible) is a prime example of a strong empath and it is my sincerest desire to become more like him.
I thought about what it is like being an empath and came up with my top “17” signs. Here they are.
YOU MIGHT BE AN EMPATH IF:
You love people, but you need solitude to restore your energy and separate your thoughts and feelings from theirs.
You are drawn to a field of helping others such as: teaching, medicine, psychology, nursing, counseling, writing, coaching, pastor, etc.
You are more forgiving than most people and feel for others, even when they’ve hurt you.
You rarely make statements that are harsh, unkind, abrasive, crude, critical, or prickly.
You avoid crowds where there is lots of noise and emotions run high, like concerts, ballgames, crowded malls, etc.
Little kids and animals are drawn to you more than to most other adults around you and you have a natural rapport with them.
Music speaks to your spirit.
You tend to see things from multiple points of view and feel how each decision is impacting the emotional and psychological well-being of others.
You MUST go by your intuition even when it’s not logical, scientific, popular, modern, or accepted. You have an inner voice and if you ignore it long enough, you get physically sick, i.e., headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure, IBS, and autoimmune disorders.
You’re a massive creator–Writer-Painter-Poet-Musician-Or all of the above
You are big-hearted, generous, altruistic–not because it “looks good,” but because it brings you pain to be any other way. Hurting others makes you hurt.
You feel what others feel, sometimes even over long distances, often deeper than they feel it and for longer periods of time. (You literally intercede spiritually on behalf of others, and you don’t stop until you feel peace about their situation.)
You sense things in people and animals that others don’t see, things that you can’t explain. Call it spiritual insight. You have moments (or dreams) where you know things without any earthly idea as to how you know them.
You often say “yes” to things that you really don’t want to do, just because you feel so strongly for that person in the moment, and sometimes, you let people with more forceful, dominant personalities and opinions override and drown out your own inner guidance system.
You had rather be punished yourself than see another endure punishment and feel their pain, because that is twice as hard as simply feeling the pain yourself.
You are your happiest in nature.
You know you that you are connected to the Source of the Universe, I Am, Creator, God, and when you allow anything to short circuit that connection, you spiral into unspeakable pain and sadness.
