Teacher: The SUMERIAN

Today, dear students, in continuation of our study of the Elements of Development, I would like for you to participate in an exercise of the mind. I would like for you to slow down; forget about the world around you for a moment; forget about your worries for the future; forget about your regrets of the past, and take a look deep inside yourself in this moment. Bring yourself onto the hallowed grounds of the true essence of your being. Explore the living, conscious awareness of the self and think deeply about what life actually is—that you are a living, breathing, thinking, self-aware entity—a beautiful and marvelous being of complexity and sovereignty—with volition and power to think and choose as you will. See your life as if looking at a movie in rapid forward motion from your birth into this world until the present. Think about all the thoughts you have ever had up until this moment and think about the thoughts and questions you have asked as you have had each new experience in this life—as a child, as adolescence, and as an adult. Ask the question: “Why am I here?”

That thinking part of you—your consciousness, is not physical, but of spirit, yet you have a physical body that allows you to interact with your environment in this time-space dimension. That thinking part of you is the driver of this physical body. Now, if you sit and really think about it, can you even imagine that this thinking part of you will ever cease to exist? Think about this thought for a moment—see yourself on your deathbed and imagine your very last breath. Try to imagine your identity, your personality, your consciousness—all that you are and have become—the thinking part of you, that it will someday vanish with the physical death of the vehicle you occupy. Can you honesty imagine this? I challenge even the atheist, if he or she is true to themselves, that they cannot grasp a state of absolute nothingness—it is not possible. Why is it that you cannot grasp this concept?

Take this concept of nothingness into meditation and clear all chatter, thoughts, and human language from your mind. If you can truly achieve this state of mind, you will find that within the silence, there is an expansion of mind—not a diminution. You sense that you are a part of something bigger than yourself and that you are connected to a life force of infinite magnitude. There is a paradox here. How can you be “here” in this world—in this dimension of time with your sovereign consciousness and also be a part of something expansive? Now, think about the paradox of the concept of eternity—to live without end—to be a part of something that is expansive and connected—that continues to explore and experience new ideas. Is this not a “state” of being that runs through you at every moment of your life? Think about this with great wonder and sincerity. Do you not think that your consciousness is eternal? If you cannot grasp the concept of absolute nothingness, then what “state” remains?

Now think about the concept: “Within you is contained the presence of the Whole.” That expansion of mind you feel in the suspension of thought and in the silence of mind is a glimpse of the Whole. Again, ask yourself with sincere wonder: “Why am I here?” As you consider this exercise and approach it again and again, you will begin to sense and experience instances of enormous realization—a kind of “super self-awareness.” This experience is the paradox of infinity. You cannot express this in words, but you will understand it in the pit of your soul because you “live.” To “live” is to “be” and to “be” is a state of eternal “now”—an unending adventure. If therefore you can understand this paradox in the pit of the soul, which is beyond human language, can you believe it with the conscious mind? This “belief” is the seed of expansion and the catalyst for your ever widening view and understanding of the paradox of the Whole within the part—the God within.

Be well, Be open, Be willing,

The SUMERIAN