Love Thy Self

The following is something I shared with a friend. This friend emailed me with regard to certain things she was going through in regards to reading some of what is on this website. I replied as follows. I felt this reply might convey certain things that you or other could find of value. I've not edited it much from its original form so please excuse any typos or errors.

I hear what you are saying and I thank you for sharing.

I know for myself that the belief systems I have taken on as a being experiencing the human world can completely block out the experience of Truth and Love. These beliefs—which we have all been subjected to from birth and have been in the human mass consciousness for about the last 12,000 or more—can take quite some effort to undo. It is by no means easy. Yet I know for myself there was simply no other option. I was born knowing of other realities—knowing God (in some way), perceiving the Maya, and experiencing Love so deeply that it connected me with things that were real (yet I shut much of that away from the world by the time I was about 7)—that the illusion has never satisfied me. I am sure it must be this way for all people in some way. Somehow (thank God) I managed to maintain enough memory of the Truth that I always felt I was looking at nothing but an illusion for most of my life. Yet my human ego-mind was so dominant... Through it I doubted... Judged... Separated... And prevented myself from fully experiencing REALITY.

I spent many years exploring, exploring, exploring. Mostly within myself, yet that journey was strongly reflected through much travelling and experiencing and meeting various interesting people that provided me with the perfect mirrors at the perfect time.

But still I struggled and wrestled with myself. To put it in the words I would have used whilst in that place of struggle— "I fucking hated it". God knows how much I could not come to terms with knowing of what was real yet experiencing something other than that reality day in and day out. If ignorance is bliss then not being ignorant is a nightmare. The good news is that like all nightmares it is possible to wake up. It is of course possible to wake up from Dreams too... But most people are living in a nightmare yet are ignorant and experiencing it as a nice dream... So there is not a lot to motivate them to bring it to an end and wake up. Fully aware that this was more akin to a nightmare I have searched long and hard for the truth. Oh and I've been so hard on myself all through that. I judged, and judged some more, the apparent fact (bullshit actually) that I was somehow not whole and was separate from the truth.

The whole journey has been about letting go. Letting go. Letting go.

That is actually that only thing we have to do. To let go of that which is NOT REAL AND NOT EVEN THERE.

Yet the human ego-mind is so attached to the DREAM I have been hanging on to that letting go can at times appear to be the most difficult thing in the world... I would even get blinded to in such a way that I wouldn't appear to know even what it was I was hanging onto. Yet I know now that my fealings have been telling me all along. They are the connection to the truth as it manifest into the human experience...

Only in the last year or so has the Truth become increasingly part of my day-to-day experience and the Dream has taken a back-seat.

Of course the Dream will always be there so long as I am experiencing myself in this world... But the key is that we can become masters of the Dream... No longer does the movie have a script that we seem to simply follow... Rather we write the script from moment to moment... With the sole (soul) purpose being to facilitate the healing of all those within our dream... For what else is there to do? Of course enjoying life and being in Joy are all part of the picture... Why not... I mean being in joy (injoy-in[g] being) is all part of the dance here in this world.

Guilt and the self-judgement that arises from guilt is like a disease that is part and parcel with the human experience at this time. Liken it to the 'original sin'. It is this guilt that throws us into a world of separation and judgement. Smile... Breath... Trust that all is God... And if you forget now and then, or even most of the time, so what. The moment you remember then do nothing but smile, breath, remember, and trust that all is God. In that moment you have a choice. Whilst the ego-mind is running the show and you've apparently forgotten the Truth during that day... Well there's not much you can do about that... It's nothing personal.

Humanity has turned the lights off and everybody that steps into our world makes a point of constantly reaching for the light switch to turn them off. So when God turns them back on and you remember "Oh I forgot to remain Aware". Well in that moment you are aware so stay with it. Just breath and give be great-full that in that moment you are Aware. Don't let the ego-mind jump in there and pull you into the past. For in that moment there is no past. That moment has only just begun when that light of awareness went on. If guilt jumps in and judges the last 6 hours—or how ever long the lights APPEARED to be off (only appeared, because it's all MADE OF LIGHT so they can't go OFF in reality)—lovingly but firmly tell that voice to kindly piss off and leave you alone. Then come back to the stillness that is there in that moment. There can't not be stillness right there in that moment because as soon as the LIGHTS appear to go on (and we remember our intention to remain Aware) well then we are aware and we are in our natural state. Which has a quality of stillness about it.

I feel that you would greatly benefit from unveiling a much deeper experience of LOVE toward yourself. With that comes acceptance. Following that intuitive sense there are a few things I will share—

If this rings true for you, then here is an exercise that you might find to be of some benefit.

Make a point of standing in front of the mirror for a few mintues daily for the next few weeks. For the first few days just stand there and look. Naked is best because clothes cover so much of us up—make sure the room is warm though. For the first few days just look and observe. Move your attention slowly over every part of your body in small increments. Don't intentionally think anything. Rather just observe what arises—the thoughts, emotions and feelings that arise. Write them down if you like. "Today I discovered that my ego thinks and feels the following with regard to my body... "

Then for the remaining days continue to pass your attention over your body. This time start with something you have no issues with. Some part of you that you feel quite okay about. It doesn't matter how small it is. You eye brow? Or a freckle you kinda like. Your hair. Whatever—just pick something you have no issues with—something you accept.

Let's say you picked your eyebrow. Well say to yourself "I deeply love, honour and accept my right eyebrow. My right eyebrow is sacred and it is beautiful". Now remain aware of your breath.
Again just observe the inner voice, the inner dialog. Observe if it has anything to say.
Then move on to the other eyebrow. Say the same thing. Observe and breath and see what the ego-voice has to say, if anything.

Work your way around your whole body in this way.

The key through all this is to become very aware of just how bloody degrading and horrible that ego-voice can be. Another key is to also allow whatever feelings come up to simply come up. Keep breathing.

Once you are aware of the sort of self-image that ego-mind-voice holds toward you start to really understand that IT HATES YOU AND WILL NEVER EVER HAVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS AT HEART. Once we stop kidding ourselves about what the ego-mind thinks of us then its that much easier to stop giving it power, attention and energy. To stop buying—literally—into the Lie with our energy, with our Soul.

This voice that we have in our head. We don't need it. It serves no purpose. The idea that we have to have all these incessant thoughts is a lie... A lie that the ego-mind will do everything it can to maintain. Because all the noise that this voice creates prevents us from ever really feeling the deep silence within. The ego-mind doesn't want us to feel that silence for it has no existence there.

Our body is the closest and most intimate experience we have of the illusion we are projecting into our perception. Hence to love and honour the body can release so much of the lies we live with every day. And by the way... Our body is NATURALLY sexual and alive. It needs food, water, shelter, warmth and sex. That is simply the nature of the body. Just how much it needs of each of these things really depends on the body in question. We, however, make all the body's needs OUR needs in the mind. The mind does not need any of these things. But humans take these needs up into the mind and then things get messy. We lose our perspective on what's what... And the mind exists in time... Therefore it holds on to things. The body does not hold onto anything. If there is food there then it eats if it is hungry and stops when it has had enough.

The mind, however, can cause us to keep stuffing our face long after the body has satisfied it's need. The same goes with sex — which I am specifically drawing your attention to because it is, within the human condition, something we harbour so much guilt and judgement and confusion around—which greatly impounds the illusion further and deeper into our experience of life and Self.

We see someone walk by and perhaps our body feel sexually attracted to that person. This is natural yet so often the first thing we do is judge that feeling. Now it becomes a thing of the mind. The body simply had a natural sexual response. The body was doing what the body does. If we study the dolphins we see something very interesting. They are very open and active and playful when it comes to sexual energy. They are one of the few other animals that have a body which doesn't just respond to sexual energies for the purpose of creating babies. As far as scientists can tell they do it for the share joy of it. Sexual expression between like sexes is also observed.

The point I am making with this is that the body does what it does. Energies move and express and come up naturally.

Now back to this person that walked through our world, and the body's response in terms of sexual arousal. Once that person has vanished from our view the body instantly lets it go and that sexual feeling is gone. This is normal and natural. Just like if we smell some nice cake baking the body starts to salivate and wants that cake. If we walk away the body forgets immediately. Yet the mind hangs on to it. The mind might even start to fantasise or obsess over that person (or that cake) and the sexual feelings we had. The body has long since forgotten. We then often judge ourselves for having these sexual thoughts and fantasies and this only makes them stronger. What was simply the body feeling one of it's basic needs has now become a need—even an obsession—within the mind.

Had we not confused the body's needs with the minds needs (and it doesn't have any needs) then we would have been okay—everything would have flowed naturally and healthily. Of course we are still 'okay' it just that there is now a disturbance that removes us from the Peace that is within us. Had we not judged the body then again we would have remained at Peace..

Does this all make sense?

I hope so... I am typing all this out rather quickly.

Love your body. For it is Holy Ground.
Enjoy your body (be in-joy in your body).
Make love to your body and with your body — in what ever creative ways you feel moved to. JUDGE NOT.

Once we are over judging out body image then we will stop judging the image of others.

Once we stop judging the image of others we will start to see what is behind that image.

Then we release judging that — in ourselves and in the apparent OTHER out there in the world.

When we cease all judgement whatsoever I know within my heart that we will start to see with God's Vision... We will see everything as it is — pure scintillating light. I have not experienced this (well not without the use of various psycotropic plants at various times) but I know that this is what will eventually happen. Very similar to what Neo saw in the third Matrix movie near the end when his eyes were burnt out. That I feel very closely depicted true vision — God's Vision... Chist's vision. For everything is made of Light. It is only the ego-mind that runs a film strip in front of the light and makes an image with it on the wall within our mind. The image of the world as we have come to know it.

With love,

Jonathan