“If we have the ability to feel, we have the potential to feel anything that exists.”
Betsy Otter Thompson
As explained by the 20th-century mystic Joel Goldsmith and my experience as well, the word mystic is generally universally misunderstood. He goes on to say that at best becoming one is a goal that, except for the select few, is unattainable; or at worse is shrouded in mystery that comes with evil connotations and should be avoided altogether. Neither is true and the only mystery, if there is one, is that the message of the mystics speaks to our inner world. The irony is that, as evidenced by sayings such as the kingdom of heaven is within, the idea of an internal world is not new. As mentioned in previous discussions, this is a message that mystics have attempted to convey to the masses, with little success, for well over 2000 years, and let us not forget the crucifixion of Jesus for attempting to spread such outlandish propaganda. Yet here we are, in the 21st Century again presented with that same message, but this time we are in the position to use it to our advantage, and here is why.
We mentioned in the previous blogs that while Jesus’ message does fall into the category of Absolute Truth, during the time in history that he walked the earth, he did not have the language to get this idea across to his followers. He did not have the language to explain or even know about, Einstein’s discovery that at our essence, we are expressions of One Energy that through our thoughts is coalesced into matter. Alternatively, the insights of Neville Goddard who understood that not only are our feelings THE secret to happiness, because they are the same as Spirit, they constitute the greater part of who we are, but here is the difference. That said, we are about to discover that living as the mystic does is no more complicated than shifting our focus from the outer world of form to our inner world of feelings. In other words, and consistent with the focal point of this discussion, it is about living from within and this time we have the language to explain what that means, however, before I delve into this explanation I believe a caveat is in order.
Living from within is an experience, which inherently makes it difficult to describe with word Eckhart
Tolle says it is like describing the taste of honey to someone who has never tasted it, and such is the case for living from within. While I will do my best with the following words, I know that you will find the practice to be far more beneficial, and for three reasons I strongly encourage you to take that route. First, it simply makes sense. Second, there is no other way. Without the understanding that, without exception, our world is an out-picturing of our thoughts and feelings, happiness as a permanent dispensation will forever elude us, and finally, there is no waiting. In the same Holy Instant that we change our thoughts to include the freedom that we came here to experience, the image that accompanies that thought appears in our outer world as form, so let us get started.
At its core living from within simply means to first, become aware of our feelings and second, to live out from that space, as a way of life. While neither is complicated, through the practice of meditation (discussed later) a quieting of the thinking mind is required. As the thoughts begin to flow in one direction and become still, the gentle Spirit that resides in each of us emerges automatically. Further, since it is all happening NOW, this will be an opportune; as well as the first time for many, to become aware of the serenity received from the ebb and flow of the breath, which is typically an integral part of the meditation practice. Once we become relaxed in this space, some interesting things begin to happen, and this is the best way that I can explain it. First, because we are now in alignment with the rhythm of life, everything just flows, easily and effortlessly. Lights are green, we arrive at our destination in plenty of time, people are friendly and willing to play, the person ahead of us pays for our groceries and the flow of life continues to unfold in an orderly manner. At first, you will probably think, as was the case with me that these were mere coincident, but it did not take me long to realize that this experience of inner peace was, and continues to be, the out-picturing of my thoughts and feelings. We should also notice that, because the only way to experience any aspect of our life is through our feelings, it becomes obvious that everything good in our lives comes from within, and because of the Law of Attraction, the better we feel, the better we feel.
Finally, we will not be able to rise to the above level of awareness without the help of the many wonderful Spiritual teachers who have gone through the dark night of the soul, so to speak, and are willing to facilitate the growth of others through the insights they gained. Further, while it is not my intent to minimize the depth and breadth of their work,
the following (just to name a few, and in no particular order) were the most instrumental in the clear realization that I am who I think I am, as well as to reap the benefits of that knowledge.
Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Michael Singer, Joel Goldsmith, Eckhart Tolle, Neal Donald Walsh, Neville Goddard, Deepak Chopra, The Teachings of Abraham, Michael Beckwith, Derek Rydall, and Harrison Klein. Further, I recommend the numerous videos that were so useful to my meditation practice. That is because, even though I have learned to meditate, others are far better at teaching it than I am. For that reason, I strongly encourage the reader to take advantage of the above option. You might also enjoy some of the meditations on stillness, and quieting the mind that YouTube has to offer. If we truly want to embrace the joyful life that we came here to experience, the opportunities for growth into the conscious awareness of our identity are unlimited, and finally, refuse to let life pass us by while we are doing other things.
The next discussion will focus on how we concluded that attempting to fix the illusionary outer world is more valuable than living from within. We can also look forward to an email campaign that is coming soon, and in the meantime feel free to leave comments on the website. Finally, in a later discussion, we will address an issue that is consistent with living from within, that affects millions of women but nobody wants to talk about it, so stay tuned.