Author: richmatt48

God isn’t Santa Clause. Most people think of God as a person, a grey haired old man sitting up in Heaven somewhere dispensing gifts to those who have been good and withholding from those who have been bad. God is not a person, God is a Spirit, a force or energy if you like, the conscious creative force that underlies and indwells in all of Creation. God is a Spirit and we are Spiritual Beings, who must relate to God in Spirt, a Sprit to Spirit relationship. There is only One Spirit, and we are Spirit made into flesh, but we are not the flesh, we are not the body, we are the Spirit, the life force within the body. The body and the mind are separate from God and cannot relate to or have a relationship with God. Our mind was meant to relate to the material realm, an interface between the Spirt and the material realm. The egoic mind is located in the brain and is apart of the flesh or the body and relates to the material realm, not the Spiritual Realm. All of our prayers are related to the material realm, and therefore are unrecognizable to the Spirit. We pray about created things, things that are important to our egoic temporal mind. We identify with our mind and our body, we don’t identify with that which we really are which is Spirit. The Conscious Creative Force that underlies and indwells in all of Creation is a power, the source of all other powers, this power is everywhere and within everything and is experiential, but only to the Spirit within us, not to our egoic minds.

If we examine our unanswered prayers closely we will see that they are always about life and death, they are always about our basic animalistic instincts, which are the need for security and survival, power and control, affection and esteem. All of our prayers are about the flesh and never about the Spirit and this is why they go unanswered. God does not have the power to grant or deny our prayers, thank God otherwise we would be living under a dictatorship. Let’s set aside our unanswerable prayers for a moment. What is it we really want? How about, happiness, love, joy, peace of mind, security, and freedom from suffering and death.

Well here is the good news, all of those desires are built into the Conscious Creative Force that we call God, they are apart of the very nature of God, but they must be Spiritually ascertained. Love, joy, peace, freedom from suffering and death are the fruits of the Spirit and they are apart of our Spiritual nature. If we truly desire the fruits of the Spirit then we must search diligently within for them.

The only true form of prayer is silent prayer, the prayer that seeks in stillness and silence for Union with God. Silent Prayer does not happen in the mind, it originates from the Heart, the seat of Intuition. Let your prayers be silent and in the silence experience the presence of the Conscious Creative Force called God and abiding in the presence of God you will experience the fruits of the Spirit. Meditation is simply the art of being still, and when the mind and the body are perfectly still one intuitively becomes aware of a Presence abiding in the stillness, it is a feeling of a presence. The more one nurtures a relationship with that feeling presence through meditation, the more one experiences the Fruits of the Spirit. Meditation is so easy, it’s just sitting in a chair with your eyes closed, gazing into the darkness, listening to your breath, or the sound of a simple word, and ignoring all your thoughts and sensations. You don’t need to read anything, to study anything, or to believe anything nor do you need pay any money, the Fruits of the Spirit are within you, and they are freely accessible. God makes no demands upon you, you don’t even have to be good, you just have to be still.

Separation from Self is the source of all suffering.

All human activity arises out of our deep sense of separation and we are forced out into the material realm, and we are consumed by it, and we lose our sense of Self.

All the suffering we experience, and all the suffering we inflict upon one another and the world are born from this separation from our true nature, our authentic Self. If I cannot be faithful to my true Self how on earth can I be faithful to anyone or anything. I am lost to myself, and I am lost and alone in the world. It is this loneliness, this inner abandonment that is the source of all my fears and all of my worldly activity is driven by this fear. How can I love when I am full of this unacknowledged all pervasive fear. Being separated from my true nature, having abandoned my true Self how can I truly find belonging in the world. If I don’t belong to myself how can I belong to another. If I don’t love myself how can I love you. If I don’t belong to myself how can I give myself to you.

The truth is I am lost. I am a stranger to myself, alienated, lost in a foreign land, searching for belonging, acceptance, affection and approval, all because I have abandoned myself and taken on the role of an impostor. I have been seduced into believing I am this egoic mind and this mortal body. I fully identify with my false self and therefore I have become falsity itself. I am the imposter masquerading as me. Oh how lonely it can be, unless I keep myself busy and fully distracted from my inner state by pretending in the world of make believe.

Thank God there is a solution to my dilemma I just have to learn to be still and listen to the sound of silence. In stillness and silence I am being true to my true Self and it’s presence appears. The more I nourish my true Self with stillness and silence the more it grows, and all one has to do is sit in a chair gazing out at whatever is before you, noticing the stillness in the background, and listening to the silence beyond the sound. Just attend to this moment, that’s all there is. Just rest and ignore your mind, just attend to the stillness and the silence, that’s all there is. You, your true Self is present in the stillness and after some practice you will become aware of it. When you feel the presence just attend to it, ever so gently, welcome it, you are coming home.

Finding Stillness in the Storm

The words I write appear out of Stillness

The words I speak arise out of silence

Sitting comfortably, in a chair, feet resting gently on the floor, your back resting lightly against the back of the chair, let you gaze come to rest upon whatever is before you, let your ears attend to the sound that surrounds you, and as you exhale whisper to yourself the word “calm”, and attend to the sound created within you. Whatever the thoughts that disturb you just let them go and focus your attention on the sound of the word calm. Repeat the sound “calm” every time you exhale. Whisper it ever so gently within your mind.

You are just sitting being Still, observing whatever is in front of you, without thinking, just observing, attending to the Stillness. If there is movement before you just notice the movement occurs against a backdrop of Stillness and be present to that which is still. Your ears are relaxed, just taking in the sounds, just listening to the silence behind the sound, while the sound of “calm” resonates in your mind.

If thoughts arise do not attend, just let them pass by like clouds in the sky and shift your attention back to the Stillness and the Silence that is here now. Stillness, and Silence that’s all there is, here and now, and you are present to its presence. Stillness and Silence, here and now. Allow yourself to become fully aware, that movement appears out of stillness and sound arises out of silence. Stillness and Silence are always there with you. Whenever you are upset or disturbed return the the Stillness and The Silence and eventually they will become apart of you. Breath the Stillness in through your nose, absorb the silence in through your ears and you will find peace in the storm.

If you practice this for awhile you may even begin to notice there is a Presence in the Stillness, it’s just there. The Presence is the Stillness and the Silence, and the Presence is with you. Be Present to the Presence, attend to it and it will attend to you. You are not alone in the Stillness and the Silence speaks to you silently.

“Be Still and Know that I Am God”

“My Peace I bring unto you, my Peace I leave with you”

“Rest in Peace”

Be Still, Be the Stillness

If we are going to save the planet we must first change ourselves.

The only thing that will save the planet is a complete transformation of human consciousness. If we are going to save the planet we must first save ourselves. We must give up our mood altering, pathological relationship with consumption, consumerism and capitalism. We must abandon our addiction to sensory driven, materialistic, external pleasures before it kills us.

Fundamentally we are Spiritual Beings who have become intoxicated by consumerism and living in the realm of illusion we can no longer tell the true from the false. The crisis we are facing like all crises truly is first and foremost a Spiritual crisis (Jung). The joy, happiness, contentment, peace and security we are destroying the world to find can truly only be found within.

The first step in our recovery is to admit we are addicted to materialistic consumption and we are destroying ourselves and the planet.

The second step is to admit that our Spiritual dis-ease drives our addiction, that we are Spiritually sick and in need of a Spiritual awakening.

The third step is to recognize that we are Spiritual beings, and that there is a greater power deep down within us that can overcome our egocentric desires, and restore us to sanity.

The fourth step is to become conscious of this indwelling power through prayer and meditation. To become conscious of the Intuitive Wisdom that dwells within us and has the Power and the Wisdom to solve all of our problems if we let it.

Social Housing: Debating the facts, while ignoring the feelings.
It is with sadness that I have watched the debate about the Rain City Project, proposed for the old RCMP property on School Road further divide our town, and further erode any sense of community. Debate is about oration and not about listening. We will not build a compassionate society through debate, we will not resolve this issue by debating it, we must fall back on the first principles of Compassion. We must develop understanding and empathy and then make compassion based decisions collectively.
To resolve this issue both sides must be willing to set aside their cherished ideals, beliefs and opinions in order to truly hear what the “other” is saying, through the art of empathic listening. Listening to the feelings, because the feelings are the facts. Until we can truly empathize with the feelings of another we cannot truly understand them. We must never invalidate or minimize another persons feelings, but instead we must feel what they are feeling by creating a sacred space that they can speak into without fear. We create the sacred space by lowering our defenses and opening our hearts, no longer listening from our head.
Empathic listening is listening from the heart, there is no judging, no analyzing, no attempt to invalidate or correct the feelings of another, we just want to feel what they feel so we can accurately reflect their feelings back to them, and they feel heard and understood. Accurately reflecting back the feelings of another is called mirroring and is a valuable healing tool. Mirroring creates reflection and having been heard we can reflect on our feelings, and this is the pathway to healing, which our traumatized society so desperately needs, to create a supportive environment for everyone.
Despite my feelings of sadness around the hurtfulness of the debate I do see two healing pathways forward. The first is that we are united by our fears, one side is fearful that the Rain City Project will be rejected and that those suffering from addiction will not get the support they so desperately need. The other side is fearful that the location may have a negative impact on the children attending the school nearby. So our fears can become a unifying principle if addressed compassionately. The second unifying principle is that both sides seem to be in support of supportive housing and addiction treatment. We do have common ground and starting here he can through empathy and compassion find our way forward without inflicting further trauma on our already traumatized society. We must be willing to set aside our differences and focus on our neighbors fears and our common interest in supportive housing. We must open our hearts and empathically listen to one another so that we create understanding and relationship. Compassion generates wisdom and wisdom is the only meaningful way forward.

Over the past five years many issues have divided our town, The George Hotel complex, the Gospel Rock development and the most recent issue social housing and the old RCMP building. These issues have deeply divided our town to such an extent that we have lost our community. There seems to be a lack of common interest, a common shared consensus, instead our town seems to be becoming more polarized as difficult issues confront us. Our community seems to have become hollowed out and fallen back into a tribal level of consciousness of “us versus them”. This situation is not unique to our town, it is a western phenomena driven by corporate capitalism that truly only benefits the 1%.

Community is about mutual concern and mutual interests, inclusive of the concept of mutual aid, a general concern for the welfare of the members of the community based upon the recognition of our inter-dependence. A healthy community creates a sense of security for all, there is a genuine sense of belongingness, regardless of ones socio/economic status.

In a healthy community the individuals place a higher value on the interests of the community than on their own self interest, recognizing that what is best for the community is best for them in the long run. A healthy community has a common purpose, that creates meaning for its members, who are all working together united by common values and beliefs, that benefit everyone. We feel safe and secure, enjoying the benefits of a caring and compassionate community. Imagine the sense of security that develops when the community cares about you as much as you care about it. Imagine the sense of belonging, with the only requirement being that you care.

We have a duty to care for our community and all of its members, without distinction. A healthy community has a heartfelt desire to ensure that none of its members are suffering. It is called compassion, and all that is required to develop compassion is the setting aside of our self-interest for a moment and asking ourselves the most important question of our lives, “What is it about me, that prevents me caring about this person or group of people?” What is it about me that causes this hardness of heart? Perhaps I am wounded to, perhaps I am feeling insecure and threatened just like them, perhaps I feel uncared for and alone, maybe I share with them a sense of alienation and not belonging, why doesn’t anyone ever listen to me?

Loneliness is an epidemic in our society, that can be overcome through compassion and care.

Adequate housing is a right in any caring community. If you fall on hard times, we will care for you, you will be housed, you will be fed. That is our guarantee, don’t we want to be known as a strong caring, safe and secure community?

Self-interest leads to isolation and loneliness and creates insecurity and fear. Compassion creates meaning and purpose, a sense of interconnectedness and is the pathway to peace and true happiness. A community built on compassion creates a deep sense of safety and security for all its members and truly is a joyful place to be.