What is judgment?

This is a very important question to answer because it exposes the central thinking error that seems to hold this universe together and perpetuate illusion.

Judgment is a two-step process. First, you must observe something. Second, you must evaluate your observation.

Merely making an observation is NOT judgment; there must be a value assigned to the observation, too.

Example: I see a person shopping at Walmart wearing their slippers and jammies. So far, just observation. But then I add a value, such as, people who go out in public in their lounge wear are trashy low-lifes who have totally given up. Now my observation has crossed over into judgment. And often this process happens so quickly that we don't notice the TWO steps in our thinking.

Why is this important?

Because when we use our observations to justify adding value to another person or taking value away from another person we perpetuate the illusion that there is such a thing as 'another person.' In other words, we keep the myth of separation prominent in our minds. Never mind that there is only Oneness in God, and anything not created by God cannot exist. Separation CAN'T be real. But we want it to be.

And our continual judgments (big and small) keep the appearance going.

Is this stuff useful?

There is nothing more useful and practical than truth. Living a life surrounded by illusions and misconceptions clouds every issue and makes everything more complicated and confusing.

Of course, as I've already mentioned in other posts, there is no Truth in this world; only truth. Truth (capitalized) is absolute, non-dualistic Fact, while truth (non-capitalized) is the relative truth that we're used to in our human experience.

However, even a half-hearted commitment to relative truth will help. Even just committing to truth as you understand it will help.

Make TRUTH your top priority, your number one goal, your most-cherished prize. Just TRY it. In all situations, circumstances, just TRY getting to the truth of the matter. Don't get lost in social conventions, family expectations, religious dogma, or tradition.

Just try to find the truth. ASK yourself: "Is this true?" It's not perfect. It's messy. It won't garner you lots of approval and warm fuzzy feelings.

But as you gradually align your life to truth, you will catch glimpses of the Peace and Joy that I'm writing about in this blog. And as you see more and more of the Real, human life becomes easier and easier.

What can be more useful than that?

Will God help me with my problems?

The short answer is that God has already helped with our only problem. Now the question becomes: Will we accept that help?

(That was a short answer??)

This question is a great example of the way human ego phrases statements as questions. This is like a little kid asking how Santa gets down the chimney. Sounds like a question, but it's really a statement or three. (Santa exists. He's coming on Christmas Eve. He enters our house while we sleep. He comes in through the chimney and brings us presents.) When a kid asks how Santa gets down the chimney, the kid is just seeking to reinforce an illusion in his mind.

We do the same things when we ask God to help us with our problems.

Who defines the problem? Who decides what help would look like? Who decides that God has the power or willingness to help? Who decides that God even knows about our problems?

Have you noticed that everything we define as problematical is something that infringes on our self-concept in some way?

God doesn't care about your self. God doesn't even know about your self! That's the bad news.

The Good News is that God DOES know and care about your Self. And the only "problem" that Self ever had has already been solved.

Wanna know more?

Did God create us?

Don't try to blame this mess on God! And don't try to weasel out of it by saying God did all the good stuff and we did all the bad stuff.

Don't blame the Devil, either.

God, being Real, only creates Reality.

God, being Eternal, only creates Eternity.

God, being Perfect, only creates Perfection.

God, being Innocent, only creates Innocence.

God, being One, only creates Oneness.

Does any of that describe us?

What is Truth?

God.

Love.

Truth.

Reality.

Heaven.

Alpha.

Omega.

Eternity.

Perfection.

Creator.

Innocence.

Oneness.

Presence.

Different words all pointing to the same concept: That there exists Something that is First Cause and greater than human consciousness.

Truth has a worldly counterfeit: relative truth. Consensus reality. Reality made real (seemingly) by lots of separate individuals buying into it.

Kinda like Starbucks coffee. If enough people say something's good, it starts seeming good. If enough people say something's true, starts seeming true.

Seeming.

Appearance.

Surface.

Symbolism.

NOT real.

What is happiness? Joy? Peace?

Three words that are often used synonymously. All three have worldly counterfeits. All three have meaning in the realm of Spirit. One is, perhaps, more useful than the other two.

We'll start with the easy one. Happiness. This word is thrown around more in American culture almost as much as the word "fun." (Almost.) We won't even bother with defining it in worldly parameters because, as with all things based on separation, it means different things to different people. In the truest sense, happiness would be defined as our true state. Joyfulness is our true state. Peacefulness is our true state.

If we are truly in a state of happiness/joy/peace, then the question becomes, "So why aren't we continually aware of it?"

The reason is that the happiness/joy/peace of the world all have worldly traits, such as opposites and limitation. The world will let you be "happy," but only within limits. Also, the worldly state of happiness is defined by its opposite, sadness. In the world, you can't experience one without experiencing the other. Happy is how we feel when we're not sad; sad is how we feel when we're not happy. This is the nature of the human mind.

This is not true happiness.

True happiness has no opposite. True joy never ends. True peace has no beginning. All three are eternal, limitless, and without counterpart in this world. Our human minds cannot comprehend them.

So why even talk or write about them?

Because they exist, they are fact, and they are our natural state. The human experience is not real, is not fact, and is not our natural state.

We can catch glimpses of real happiness and peace in this world, but the only ones who can hold it perpetually in their awareness don't stick around too long.

I guess the closest you can get to real joy in this world is to realize that this world isn't real.

How's life?

I have to break some news to you. Should I be gentle? No? You can handle it?

Are you sure?????

OK. . . Here goes.

If you feel that your life is going well, you're probably not making a lot of spiritual progress at this time.

Not to say that you're making NO spiritual progress. Just not a lot. It's going SLOWLY. Not as efficient as it could be.

See, Spirit is not coercive. It's can't force us into anything; that would go against the very nature of God. We can't progress until we ASK for progress. And, the sad fact is that most of us do not ASK for help when things are going well.

We wait until life turns to shit. THAT'S when we finally say, "Help! This is a nightmare."

And Spirit responds. "Here's your help: this IS a nightmare. Wake up, dear."

WHY am I doing this?

If you're interested in taking your spiritual life a little further, I can think of no better question to get you on your way.

"Why am I doing this?"

It's easy to remember, and it will get you to the heart of the matter quickly.

Don't give up. Keep ASKing it. Be brutally honest. Remember, we're searching for FACT here.

• Why am I working at this job?
• To earn money.
• Why do I need money?
• To buy stuff.
• Why do I need to buy stuff?
• Some stuff is to stay alive, some stuff is for comfort, some stuff is for fun, etc.
• Why do I need to stay alive? Be comfortable? Have fun?

You get the idea. Keep ASKing it. Even if it makes you feel a tad uneasy. Of course, you know where it's ending up, don't you?

I'm doing this to prove that I matter. To prove that I exist. To prove that I'm real.

Do you really have to prove a FACT?

Does humanity matter?

One possible definition of human existence: the attempt to matter.

Baby crying = I matter!

Child receiving a birthday gift = you matter!

Teen getting education = I matter!

Our jobs = we matter!

Our families = we matter!

Our pets = we matter!

Our hobbies = we matter!

And on, and on. We want SO very badly to matter. Maybe not to everyone, maybe not everytime or everyplace.

But we want it. We want to matter.

Why?

Because if we matter, it proves that we exist.

And we really want to exist. We want to be real.

Well, usually.

When BAD things happen, we don't want those to be real. (This can't be happening! This is a nightmare! This isn't real!)

Wouldn't it be cool if all the bad stuff didn't matter? What if the good stuff doesn't matter, either? What if your definition of which stuff is good and which stuff is bad doesn't matter?

Remember, only FACTS matter. Only REALITY matters.

My life matters only to the extent that I'm aligning it to FACT and to REALITY.

God is Beyond Belief

Think of some of your math facts. We apply the word FACT to indicate a concept that exists regardless our our beliefs about it.

It's interesting, as a grade school teacher, to watch the reaction of different young humans to math facts.

• Some kids instantly grasp the relevance and importance of the facts, and set about learning them.

• Other kids seem to already have the math facts internalized, more like an instinct rather than something they've learned.

• Yet others seem to not believe that facts are important. They act like the facts aren't there, or they actively resist learning them.

And yet, the facts continue to be facts. Doesn't matter how an individual kid feels about them, they're still facts. Doesn't matter if an individual uses them or not, still facts. Doesn't matter how quickly they are learned, still facts.

This is one example of the Fact of God. We might define God as Ultimate Fact. That which exists regardless of human involvement. Whether we view God a relevant or not, still God exists. Useful or not? Doesn't matter. Learned or instinct? Doesn't matter. Nothing in human consciousness matters a bit to the Fact of God.

Some might say that by defining God this way, that I'm making God sound more like a Concept and less like a Being. To those I respond: "Yeah. Let's do that."

What's wrong with a concept?

What is God? Who is God?

Big Question! Perhaps even THE Big Question!

The tricky part is that as soon as I start using words to describe or define God, I've already imposed symbolism and limitation. (One possible definition of God is "The Unlimited that cannot be symbolized.")

For example: what pronouns do I use? If I use masculine pronouns, then I'm implying that God is NOT female. If I use gender-neutral pronouns, I'm putting God into the category of THING rather than Being.

Hmm..... I guess that the best I can do is say a few things ABOUT God?

• God is a word that we humans have made up.
• God is a concept that we humans have made up.
• But God is also the word that points to something BEYOND human concepts.
• We want to believe in God.
• We don't want to believe in God.
• Our feelings about God are conflicted.
• Do our feelings about God even matter? Do our feelings about ANY fact matter?
• God is a word that we use to symbolize Something that is the Source of everything.
• God is the concept of the Eternal, the Unlimited, the Unchangeable.
• God is the concept of perfect Oneness.
• God is the concept of all True Power.
• God is non-coercive, belonging to the realm of Will, not that of choice.
• God is eternal, meaning always in existence: no beginning, no end. Just Presence.
• If the human mind believes it comprehends God, it is deceived.
• A perfect Creator is defined by a perfect creation.
• We might even say that God is a word that symbolized our HOPE that there is Something More than humanity, Something More than the universe, Something More than our limited perception.

Guess what! There IS!!!!

How do you explain the impossible?

Once, I saw a flying car.

I was in Las Vegas attending a show put on by a master magician. His finale involved a white Corvette that was driven out onto the stage. He and his beautiful assistant got into the car, started it up, and drove it off the stage and out into the air above the heads of the audience.

How do we handle it when we see the impossible?

There are really only two responses. One is that we revise our definition of 'possible.' Such thinking would be exemplified by this line of reasoning: "I used to think that cars couldn't fly. But after that experience with the white Corvette, I know I'm wrong. I saw it with my own eyes. Now I know that at least in some cases, some cars can fly."

Another response is to remain faithful to reality by labeling the event an illusion. "It certainly looked like that car was flying. However, I know that the reality is that cars cannot fly, so what I was seeing (and paying good money to see!) had to be a trick, an illusion.

Of course, in the case of magic shows the choice of which line of reasoning to use is obvious.

But what about in life? Human life presents a great many "impossibilities." Sickness, death, sin, evil, limitation, scarcity, separation, frailty, are just a few of the things that we cannot attribute to God, yet seem to be very prominent in our perception here.

The curious thing is that we apply the FIRST type of reasoning to these things! They must be real because we see and experience them. And furthermore, God must either allow them to exist or even have created them.

Insanity! A more sane approach would be to stay faithful to Reality. There is no sin in God, therefore sin is not real. There is no limitation in God, therefore limitation isn't real. God doesn't die, therefore nothing dies.

So why do we perceive the unreal?

Well, that is a whole different question!

Future Topics

* God

* Christ

* Holy Spirit

* Human life is illusion

* Nature of human thought

* The body

* Sickness

* Miracles

* Relationships

* Ownership

* Confession

* Sin

* Guilt

* Fear

* Ego

* Separation

* Atonement