Contradictions on the Spiritual Path

Life is a spiritual journey;
Humanity as a whole is on a path,
As is each individual.
The Bible, along with many other books,
Records humanity’s collective journey.
Biblical contradictions are road markers,
Where significant transformations
Of consciousness have occurred.
An eye for an eye, to turn the other cheek,
A judging and punishing to a loving God,
A local to a universal Deity,
A God without to a Spirit within.
Individuals may use these travel logs
To facilitate their own spiritual development.
They are only guides, however, not your journey.
Humanity as a whole is on a slow track.
The individual may choose his/her own pace.
Using the record of collective consciousness,
The individual may personally surge ahead
Or lag behind until roused from slumber.
Biblical contradictions are milestones,
Marking humanity’s progress.
Recognize your own individual contradictions
As opportunities for personal, spiritual transformation.

Meditation

At first, the mantra “Ever AM”
Seemed to mean I live forever.
Later, “Ever Am” was identified
As an all-powerful, external God.
Then, “Ever Am” became the God within.
Now it seems to be the suchness
Of awareness: the eternal now.
The knower separate from I,
Yet somehow the Me
That is not me.
That same witness
There as a child,
Present now,
Unchanging “Ever Am.”


Only Love Extends

Some people think that fear is real;
Believing makes it true for them.
But love is all there really is
And has no opposite at all.

Fear of being rebuffed or rejected,
Forgetting that only love extends,
Makes defensiveness our state,
Separating us from them.

If love is all we see,
Then reaching out’s a joy,
Confirming in each relationship
The love we knew we’d find.

The world forever changed
By each simple act of love.
No different than it ever was,
Just relearned and taught anew.


Asleep, Awake, Enlightened

Most of humanity sleeps,
Some are awake,
Very few enlightened.
Thinking leads to understanding,
The rational, the thinking mind.
Awareness of the thinking
Begins the awareness of being.
Who is aware of the thinking?
Non-thinking, naked awareness,
Reveals pure Being.
The known and knower one.
Meditation the bridge
From awake to enlightened.