The people who attain

Imam el-Ghazali relates a tradition from the life of Isa, ibn Maryam.

Isa one day saw some people sitting miserably on a wall, by the roadside.

He asked, "What is your affliction?"

They said, "We have become like this through our fear of hell."

He went on his way, and saw a number of people grouped disconsolately in various postures by the wayside.  He said, "What is your affliction?"

They said, "Desire for Paradise has made us like this."

He went on his way until he came to a third group of people.  They looked like people who had endured much, but their faces shone with joy.

Isa asked them, "What made you like this?"

They answered, "The Spirit of Truth.  We have seen Reality, and this has made us oblivious to lesser goals.

Isa said, "These are the people who attain.  On the Day of Accounting, these are they who will be in the Presence of God."

~Taken from Idries Shah, Tales of Dervishes, p. 181

Explore infinity and beyond

To journey into the soul is to discover how truly broad the experience is. Many people wonder if they settle for a limited sense of who they are.  What do you expect? Its common for  life events to diverge from what you had originally planned.  What then?

To explore consciousness is to reflect about the limits of your understanding of yourself and the world around you.  Its brings up issues of courage, of imagination and the moral convictions that you have adopted to define you. Isn't there more? You would think so.

What if those concerns you have highly-valued were illusions? What if the forms of beliefs and limitations you have constructed actually conceal your senses from what realities lie underneath? What if its time to rethink everything you know and who you really are?  

Let's say that Divinity lives in everyday experiences many of us overlook.  We would benefit from re-discovering new kinds of awareness.  What can you learn from your surroundings? Are you listening closely? A sense of the infinite encompasses ordinary experience.  Do you sense we are all connected? How are your senses evolving right now? 

Why am I falling and expanding?

Analysis on dream submitted by Anonymous in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Dream- It was weird. I was falling into this dark hole and yet, had the sense that I was swelling up like a balloon.  I wasn't sure where I was headed or why.  Was it good for me?

Predominant Emotions- fear, anxiety, doubt, surprise, anticipation, and courage.

Interpretation- The physical interpretation of largeness or swelling up actually reveals an increasing psychic ability and unconscious acknowledgement of this kind of self-growth.  The sensation of falling is a classic physical interpretation of your consciousness returning to your physical body after temporary separation.  You turn away from what you want.  Apply the lessons you have learned to deepen your conscious awareness.

When each of us is awake, we experience similar states of unconscious growth, but the ego often purposely conceals them from conscious experience.  Intuitively, you realize you aren't keeping tabs on everything you learn or the implications on your multi-dimensional existence.  Experience is not always understood in time as humans know it.

You are gradually gaining insight about the answers inside yourself.  This is where you discover real love, unconditional support, strength, and security.  You are also learning that seeking what you think you want from the outside world is part of the process of growing up.  The more you turn inside for what you sense you need, the more happiness and fulfillment you will experience.  When you're ready, rise above the self-created fear.  

Experience "the real thing"

Some people believe they sense everything in one of three ways;  in terms of how they endure perceived voids, in terms of how they act to fill those voids or, in terms of how they choose to experience a real thing that was lost.  Can you observe without judging? 

Self-growth is grounded in the idea that you have been cut off from some part of yourself, and would benefit from rediscovering and reconnecting with that.  Its meaningful to ask yourself whether you discern voids in your life, and if so, how you choose to fill them.

Its common to fill voids with false feelings, lies and, beliefs adopted to fit in with an environment.  Have you learned to see yourself through what is missing?  Your personality isn't who you really are.  Retrace your steps.  Return to your authentic self.  Get back to your essence.  Memories of situations form your voids.  Will you dissolve them?  

Take several forms at one time

In a book called Seth Speaks, Jane Roberts channels what Seth explains as inherent characteristics of any consciousness.  That is to say, this book suggests any human being is capable of taking on many forms at one time.  Do you underestimate your potential?

For example, your physical body can lie on a bed while your consciousness journeys in a dream form to very different locations.  You can explore astral and lucid dream states.  You can devise thought forms of yourself which could materialize in another place without your conscious awareness.  Are you beginning to discern your hidden strength?

As you evolve to realize your consciousness isn't limited, you also begin to realize that you aren't limited in terms of the forms you can create and project at a given time. The better you get-to-know yourself, the more conscious you will become about what you are doing, what you have the potential to do, and what forms you can control into being.

What would you say if you were able to learn to travel through emotions rather than permit them to control you?  What would you say if you felt much more freedom to explore an experience in ways that used to seem unnatural or inconceivable? What would you do?

Imagine what it will feel like when you no longer wish to hide your emotions, when you no longer fear the truth.  Imagine how your life will change from the moment you know your feelings are discerned through senses you forgot you had.  Choices will make more sense.