His substance is not here.
For what you see is but the smallest part
And least proportion of humanity;
But were the whole frame here,
It is of such a spacious, lofty pitch,
Your roof were not sufficient to contain it.
That is from Shakespeare’s play Henry VI written around 1588. The play is centers around an internal English dispute known as the War of the Roses. Shakespeare’s words above are interesting because they describe the nature of the human species and the veil of forgetfulness that covers the minds of men. When I begin to remember other aspects of my consciousness, I realize how this focus, traveling through this time period, is just a part of the whole that I call myself. It is a whole part of the whole, but nonetheless there is much more to me than what I call me, within this moment.
That idea has been known and written about for thousand of years but it still is not a concept that is easily accepted by the collective consciousness. Certainly everyone believes in some sort of higher power, but that is the extent of their spiritual knowledge. Many don’t understand that as consciousness I have many selves that experience life simultaneously in order to expand in awareness. Many believe in the simple fact that I am a human connected to a source and that’s that. That belief will do just fine, because whatever I believe creates what I experience and I live physically and expand in that awareness. There are no set rules on what to believe, I can believe whatever I want to believe and that’s okay for I will at some point begin to understand my substance and the nature of my reality.
The events that are being experience by our collective consciousness are an awakening, not a problem. The feared filled drama that surrounds me is created by my thoughts. I can look at the same scenario and see something completely different if I choose to change my thoughts about it. My beliefs create my fear as well as my happiness. My free will allows me to experience each moment and choose how I want to feel about it.
Human craving is one of the roots of fear. For thousands of years the Hindu religion identified cravings as the issue that hinders us from knowing who we are. The Hindu sage Sharikara said the solution was the realization of one’s true self.
Gandhi saw the cravings that infect us and said:
The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.
One of the Sufi’s favorite characters is Nasrudin who appears as a complete idiot and trickster, but is actually a wise and cunning man whose tricks contain brilliant lessons about life.
One day Nasrudin was out walking and found a man sitting on the side of the road crying.
“What is the matter my friend?” asked Nasrudin. “Why are you crying?” “I’m crying because I am so poor,” wailed the man. “I have no money and everything I own is in this little bag.”
“Ah-ha!” said Nasrudin, who immediately grabbed the bag and ran as fast as he could until he was out of sight.
“Now I have nothing at all,” cried the poor man, weeping still harder as he trudged along the road in the direction Nasrudin had gone. A mile away he found his bag sitting in the middle of the road and he immediately became ecstatic. “Thank God,” he cried out. “I have all my possessions back. Thank you, thank you.”
“How curious!” exclaimed Nasrudin, appearing out of the bushes by the side of the road.” How curious that the same bag that made you weep now makes you ecstatic.”
Happiness is not adding to my attachments but reducing and relinquishing them. Shakespeare’s words about the nature of my true self and the realization that there is so much more to me than material possessions and worldly cravings are a catalyst for me to change my beliefs about my self and the world I experience daily. I don’t need things to make me happy, all I need is to understand the nature of my true reality. By looking within and knowing I have everything I will ever need to function physically, I can move from a fear based thought system to a love filled experience and abundance will follow me. Peace will surround me and joy will embrace me.
The message that I create what I call reality has been written about in every culture, and in every religion for centuries. The events that are becoming realities now are products of my beliefs and they are lessons to awaken another aspect of my self. I can accept them as tools for expansion or chains of destruction. Either way I will be the one who learns from each thought and changes from each choice. Physical life is for the experience and it is the playground of my multidimensional self or a prison for my one directional unattached ego that lives to battle a never ending War of the Roses.
www.shortsleeves.net
http://halmanogue.blogspot.com/
Tags: Shakespeare Sharikara GandhiNasrudin Short Sleeves Insights
