THE TRUTH (an Enlightenment Primer)

The moment we die in this life we are instantly transported back to our true basic nature which is that we are God.  And yes, there is only one God in the Universe, that part is true.  The crazy part is, we are it.  We just conveniently (and purposefully) forgot that while we are alive so we can immerse ourselves completely in this life and enjoy (and suffer) all that life has to offer.

Why is that not as cool as it seems?

Well, let’s just say that it is and it isn’t - depending on the perspective you take.  From the perspective of a human being, it is pretty darn cool.  Because we have nothing to worry about in terms of “judgement” or “end of days” or heaven and hell.  All that stuff is just a collection of allegories and metaphors that some enlightened human beings who were alive caught glimpses of and shared with the rest of humanity in hopes of getting people to be more compassionate and less cruel to one another.  There is no actual “morality” that exists at the level of God.  Everything that is done at that level is good overall and whether we tiny powerless humans are fully on board and behaving according to His plan is not a problem with God.  He loves each one of us (i.e. each tiny version of ourselves) exactly the same.  That is, He loves us completely and totally (i.e. “Love they neighbor as thyself.” – get it?)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, each human being is a tiny little offshoot of God.  Sort of like the cells of our body.  Independent, in a way, but totally connected to the greater self and infused with the same consciousness.  The only thing is, some of us are more aware of this cosmic connection than others.

So what is the catch?  The catch is the opposite of what we would expect. The catch is that when we die and go back to being “God” the fun part is over – at least for quite a while.  Why?  Because being God basically sucks.  Yes, from the perspective of human beings, tiny insignificant entities that are always struggling to survive and grasping for power and trying to find our own significance in an alternately brutal and beautiful universe, the thought of being God is incredible. We get to have complete and total control over everything, to intercede where we want and to create new worlds, new galaxies, new life, or to destroy it in an instant at our whim.  That seems like it would be awesome, right?  It is not. 

In exchange for that power comes complete and total responsibility for all life and all joy and suffering that exists, and the challenge of trying to guarantee that everything goes perfectly for each individual (because of the dynamic interplay between “free will” and the laws of the physical universe which we, as God, created and can alter as well, but which have implications in terms of cause and effect because that is the way we designed it).  Of course, we can erase it all and start over again but eventually we’d be right back where we are right now, since the beauty and perfection of it are always balancing themselves out.  That is what we have learned.  Yes, life and the Universe are beautiful and perfect, but only from the perspective of God, not from the individual perspective of tiny humans and other life forms that are living inside it.

So instead, as God, we choose another option: we send out tiny independent little energy forms of ourselves and like little seeds they grow and develop as entities within the Universe until they eventually develop “self-awareness” and in some cases even become “enlightened” and remember THE TRUTH about who they are and how they got here and what this is all about. And then those enlightened little versions of ourselves try to explain THE TRUTH to the rest of humanity.  But ultimately the explanation doesn’t make that big of a difference.  Because all the little life forms and humans are progressing and learning and becoming enlightened at their own individual rate.  And even when enlightened they won’t necessarily be any happier – they just suffer a bit less.  Happiness, like life itself, is a choice.  Most life forms enjoy the struggle.  They believe it gives meaning to their lives.  So they accept it.  But God knows THE TRUTH: the simple feeling of being alive and not being responsible for the entire universe, only having to worry about one tiny little insignificant corner of it, is what is really awesome. That part rocks!

And that is about it.

Eventually, even the “enlightened” versions of ourselves die and are absorbed right back into the great cosmic self which is God – and at that moment they look back and think: “Wow, that was a brutal, exhausting, beautiful, frustrating, joyful, magnificent, ultimately heartbreaking experience.  I can’t wait to do it again!”

At that same instant, we also realize that we are God and we have a job to do.  We are reabsorbed into our cosmic splendor and we buckle down and get back to the business of running the universe (which is incredibly difficult and challenging, takes a great deal of focus and concentration, and at times can be sort of hell really).  

God rarely gets to fully enjoy any of the physical manifestations of His greatness that we human beings get to enjoy. But he does love us like crazy and that makes it worthwhile.  In the meantime, he just holds it all together and continuously creates everything that is good and hopes that maybe, just maybe, he’ll get another break at some point when the next enlightened human version of himself shows up to take over.  Then he can dive back in and have some good clean fun.

At least that is how it was revealed to me. By you… and me.  By us.

-        JC