STRENGTHENING CHARACTER: FOLLOW YOUR INTUITION!

It is a fact that we all possess the power within ourselves to do what is right, to act with integrity in every situation we may find ourselves in. For those of us who believe this truth and are prepared to begin the work of consciously putting it into practice in our lives, it is essential that we start by becoming completely conscious of our behavior at every moment possible, by becoming aware of our thought processes and our emotional tendencies – only then can we begin to see real progress in the path of strengthening our character. We absolutely must practice our awareness as the basis of the rest of this work, we must take control of our minds instead of allowing our minds to control us. Manly P. Hall spoke of this more in depth in one of his many mind-expanding lectures, which you can listen to here on YouTube, and hopefully it will inspire you as much as it has me.

The concept is that the mind is a tool given to you from birth – to the real You, to your Spirit. Once you accept this and this becomes your reality then the whole idea of will-power becomes a bit silly. You realize that all you – the real You – need to do is to use the tool you have in your head instead of allowing it to use you. You would never consciously decide to sit and watch TV all day as you ignore ad forget about your family and friends and you get fired from your job, would you? No, you won’t do that because you are well aware that the TV is a tool, a tool which is useful for entertainment or information.

Similarly, our mind is a much more important tool to us which can also be used for entertainment or information, yet instead of using it to its maximum extent, we allow it to use us in any and every way possible, as if we were the tools which was created for our minds’ use. We spend hours and days and months and years stuck in our own minds and we allow them to create negative ideas, toxic ideas about ourselves and others, about the world. We allow our minds to separate us from those we love, and from the rest of the world, and we forget about the immortal Spirit we really are. Instead we begin to think of ourselves in terms of ideologies and labels. We must become fully conscious of this, always, in order to avoid falling into mental slavery, or slavery to the mind.

For those of us looking to develop our inner strength in order to delve deeper into universal truths – for the mystics, the philosophers, free-thinkers and the Rebels to the insanity of the world – we must understand that basic morality is always the first step before any progress can be made spiritually. This is mentioned by eminent philosopher and esotericist Rudolf Steiner in his book “How to Know Higher Worlds” and is the reason why the Hindu philosophical and spiritual system of Raja Yoga consists of all the basic elements of ethics and morality, the first step being self-control (Yama), followed by discipline (Niyama). This is the path that eventually leads one up to complete concentration, or realization, Samadhi. The full method is eloquently explained by Swami Vivekananda in his book, also titled “Raja Yoga”. No progress can be made if one does not strive for integrity and righteousness in every area of one’s life.

You may argue that I am no expert in any field, that I never got a university degree, and that for those reasons what I say is something baseless, without evidence, devoid of meaning – a merely personal opinion which can be accepted or rejected. After all, how can I possibly state such bold claims regarding morality and justice? You can definitely choose whether to accept or reject what I say about the real Self and the integrity within us all, and I am well aware that some argue that basic human nature is naturally evil. Many people have endured enormous amounts of severe and senseless pain which has been inflicted on them by other humans, often by people they deeply cared for and trusted, which makes them feel this way. I am aware of the excruciating pain that goes on in the world daily, and yet I am willing to state my belief in God. We must see and understand that pain is inevitable. It has been going on forever and will forever go on because we have decided to disconnect from our basic sense of righteousness, the simple topic of this whole post.

We claim to believe in integrity and justice, but we only enforce it when it benefits us or at least when it doesn’t harm us. Similarly, we employ injustice whenever we see it will be beneficial, and it will be possible to escape unperceived. This is the reason why there is, has always been, and will always be, pain on earth. This is unfortunate reason why Buddha taught us that life is suffering. So yes, I acknowledge that I never graduated from any university, only from high school. I still have time to do it and I just might in the near or distant future, but I sure don’t have any valid reason to delay my spiritual, moral or literary work for lack of a degree, especially if I can shed some light on the path for others in the process. We often judge ourselves and others based on degrees, on papers, on credentials, on status and power and money. I am definitely blessed to say that I have now trained my mind to the point where I don’t look for any of those things previously mentioned in people, and instead I love finding what is truly inside each person’s soul, as it is another manifestation of the Divine Spirit incarnated on Earth.

Like I stated a few moments ago, we all have the power within us to do what is right in each and every situation. We don’t need to study or learn, we just need to be. Books can only guide us so far, they remind us of the simple truth that is. Once we recognize and remember that simple truth, we must move forward by looking within, at our intuition, at that spiritual power which allows us to live for God, to live righteously with both meaning and purpose. Since the time I graduated from high school I have learned about many subjects for hours on my own time, as I had an idea a few years back of developing my own kind of school for myself, to learn about subjects which I am actually interested in in my free time. Spirituality and comparative religion is one of these subjects, one of the main ones, and upon studying various religious, philosophical and mystical systems and their core texts and ideas, I came to the conclusion that what they all teach is essentially the same, and it has been artistically wrapped in myth and metaphor in different ways by and for different people and cultures throughout history.

All of these systems teach that belief in God or Spirit comes from this intuition within, and that we all have God living within us, the Atman reflecting the Brahman, dwelling within the temple of God. Often times however, the God within has been ignored and corrupted as hateful agendas have been disguised behind costumes of spiritual values by people who were motivated by evils such as greed and lust, and when this happened things such as crusades, inquisitions, and more recently, suicide bomber and terrorist attacks were the eventual results. So, for me, what I speak of is just part of what I’ve come to realize during my time on this conscious journey of self-inquiry and self-improvement, as well as from observing and analyzing what is going on and has been going on around the world throughout history. All religious labels are meant to divide, and the mystics of all religions recognize that God is universal and can be known by all, regardless of religion or creed.

I don’t claim to be an expert here, teaching about some advanced occult knowledge, asking you to believe my theory of God or the universe. However, the way I see it, it is clear that if we believe in humanity’s natural and essential good then we must believe in God, and like Buddha, I am not aiming to argue about what God or which God the real God is, since God is only one, only God, and any name given to God is something created by human beings for division’s sake. God is all-pervading, the reason for our being, and our Spirit is God’s life in us. Somehow still, there are those who believe in morality without God, often using all the evil and pain in the world as justification for their belief. They say that morality is enforced by us if we wish to enforce it, and that there is no real force of good in the universe except that which we choose to create, only if we choose to do so. It is unfortunate that people cannot recognize where their own Spirit comes from, but as the physician, alchemist and astrologer Paracelsus stated:

“There is an earthly sun, which is the cause of all heat, and all who are able to see may see the sun; and those who are blind and cannot see him may feel his heat. There is an Eternal Sun, which is the source of all wisdom, and those whose spiritual senses have awakened to life will see that sun and be conscious of His existence; but those who have not attained spiritual consciousness may yet feel His power by an inner faculty which is called Intuition.” ~ Paracelsus (1493-1541)

I believe that you know in the deepest part of your soul, in fact I am certain that you know, that what I say is a simple truth that can be fathomed by all. If we put prideful intellect aside for just one second, if we take the mind off its pedestal for a mere moment of spiritual awareness, all of us can recognize something within us which is much realer than the petty pleasures and pains which we allow to enslave us on a daily basis, and we know that we have the power to be happy and fulfilled. We don’t need to be mystics or occultists, or monks or nuns to realize that within us is something much deeper. We can choose to ignore it for some time if we wish, but it will not go away no matter what we do. The very reason why and for which I live will never depart from me, lest there cease to be a me, and I do not mean that in a physical sense. My physical body will definitely come to its end, as do all earthly things. This is why Jesus taught us not to make treasures for ourselves in this world, and why Buddha preached non-attachment to the world, why devout followers of God might often retreat from the world for the most part in order to follow a life of piety as monks, as disciples of Divinity, dead to desire.

This truth about the real Self is a truth so true that it has been taken for granted by humanity for so long, and this has caused it to become invisible to us. We have become blind to this magic which is all around us and in fact within us, so we can’t help but fail to realize its full potential in our lives. Whether or not we can come back to a state of awareness in which we can perceive this magic once again all depends on how conscious and aware we are of our mental processes and behavior patterns on a moment-to-moment basis. Often when we make a grave mistake, we later come to realize that we did it following our immediate instinct, the immediate emotion or desire, the impulse which led us to act. We followed this impulse without any prior examination of the consequences, or more importantly, of whether this is truly an action of our real Self. Sometimes we lie, we steal, we cheat, and we even kill for personal convenience, and we do so because we have become trapped in a perpetual state of ignorance.

We continuously ignore such basic universal laws which have been taught to us by the facts of history as well as by the greatest philosophers, artists and mystics of the past. For those of us on the path of awakening and living life the way it is meant to be lived, let us remember at all times that, although facing life realistically as well as positively can be an extremely difficult challenge, we always have the ability to train our consciousness in order to fixate it on the present moment in order to know what is right and wrong in the current situation. We all possess the Spirit of intuition, which is not instinct but quite the opposite. Instinct is the acquired nature of the mind, while intuition is the knowledge that shines through from beyond our mind. If we don’t follow our intuition of what is right and wrong, soon we will become desensitized to evil completely, and at that point we are steady on the road to perdition. On the other hand, the more we practice listening to our intuition in our daily lives, the more integrity and strength of character we will cultivate.

We must also believe that we have this power within us, since it is true that faith can move mountains. I for one believe that it would not be undoubtedly impossible for us to be able to physically move mountains with faith, were it not for the fact that even a most pious person who claims to have faith that he will move a mountain will at the same time have a thought cross his feeble mind made of matter, a thought that tells him that he obviously cannot move a mountain with his mind, that tells him he’s going crazy. We all must have some doubt to begin with, since we don’t know exactly why or how we came to be on this earth as a species. Our mind is not a flawless thing, it is a product of duality, and it has a left and right brain. The price for sin is confusion according to the Bible, and I’m sure no one is willing to disagree that we live in a world of total confusion these days.

Eckhart Tolle says in his wonderful book ‘A New Earth’ that “sin” really means missing the mark of our purpose on this planet, and that the word’s terrifying connotations must be removed so that we may work on our pains as a people. Eckhart claims that the word was translated wrongly from the Greek Biblical text. I for one have not investigated this myself, although I know that many mistranslations of the Bible are indeed real. Regardless, one thing that cannot be denied is that we have definitely missed the mark as a species. We have missed the purpose for which we came to be on this planet. The clearest idea of our life purpose that we can all conceive is love. Love contains within many attributes which are discussed by various religions. All can agree on the nature of love, and we all know it as the greatest good.

The Beatles sang to the world during a time in which young people began to open their minds and break socially engineered mentalities, began fighting for peace and prosperity for the world as a whole. What was their advice? “All you need is Love. Love is all you need.” My dear brothers and sisters, let us not pretend that we do not know what is right. Let us not feel entitled to cuss and complain about our brothers, friends or co-workers because they did something we didn’t like, or about strangers because they cut in front of us at the parking lot. We all know that things are as they must be, and we all know that complaining achieves nothing but misery, a melancholic misery which can quickly turn into a life-consuming sense of constant crisis, a label to identify with. Leave aside all that you know to be harmful to your inner Being. Remove all the nonsense, and you will find the wisdom which is already within you, all the strength of character you will ever need.

~ REBEL SPIRIT

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Learning From the Past: Mistakes are Meant to be Made.

Take a moment to think back to the past – how incredible it is: the subtlety with which time passes. Take any given memory, any scenario, and follow its consequences as far as you can into the present. Think of any direct consequences as well as indirect, abstract ones. The law of cause and effect is active in our world, and all actions have an infinite amount of effects which we cannot perceive or even begin to imagine. Vibrations are emitted and received by us all, even at the subconscious level. New ideas which we hear and see are constantly merging within our minds, forming pathways to endless possibilities, slowly taking shape, to be manifested at some point, somehow, somewhere. As a person, you can think back on major events in your life as well as small ones, and you can follow their effects to see where they have brought you. Like Bob Marley inquired of us through his powerful music, let us ask ourselves if we love the life we live, let’s really begin to sincerely question our life satisfaction. If we are not where we would like to be and we cannot figure out why, then the answer lies in our past. The answer lies in the habits and behaviors we’ve allowed to be built into us by the past we have lived. If we examine the past and everything that brought us to this point, we can learn from our mistakes and our achievements, and as this becomes a habit we can begin to create change in ways we never imagined we could before – or perhaps we imagined but we dared not believe. Once we have mastered this practice of self-evaluation, we can do the same with major events which have taken place in the world.

Now, although the outcome of this practice is all for the good, we cannot underestimate the power of inquiring into the worst moments of our past, both individually and collectively. We can study many inspiring moments – independence days, liberation days, revolutions, but we can also study and reflect on many unfortunate events which have taken place in our planet, such as catastrophes, war, massacres, inquisitions, holocausts, genocide, natural disasters. We can and must – all of us – learn from the past, not only our own, but the collective past that makes up what is known as human history, of every culture and civilization – how it rose and how it fell. The goal is to examine the past from a present point of view, from your current, more evolved standpoint, after having fully recognized and understood the position of the people of the past, of course. If what we are examining is a past evil, then it must be a perfect example to us of how not to behave in the present and future. We cannot however, under any circumstances, allow past memories to drag us through the feelings we felt during those times in our own lives, during times when we felt insecurity and fear, or shame or guilt, or anger or hate, or unbearable attachment to someone or something. And we certainly cannot carry around resentment for something terrible that was done to our ancestors, whether it happened hundreds or thousands of years ago. We simply cannot get emotionally involved with the past if we wish to sincerely examine it and learn for our own benefit and improvement as well as that of the world and the universe as a whole.

We need to look at our past selves as the ego’s identity at that moment, and we cannot begin to beat ourselves up for what we have done. We have to examine without emotion, frozen cold, as if we were observing someone else’s life – it is always easier to see what others are doing wrong than what we ourselves are doing wrong, quite simply because we are attached to our “life”, meaning our past. We fail to realize that the past is not alive, it is not real. All we have now are memories, stored in our brains – imperfect, fleeting memories. These memories allow us to evolve, to renew ourselves, to never make the same mistake again. We need not look too far into history to see how the various situations of the past, both good and bad, can be applied to the present in some form. Any culture’s history teaches us a lesson we can apply in our own lives, every philosophical and spiritual text is a glimpse into the wisdom of past cultures and civilizations, of devoted and inspired men and women. Like them, if we look carefully and calmly into the past we will probably find that there has been a lot pain. Pain is necessary to toughen us up, and pleasure is necessary so we can appreciate life. Too much of either will end in evil, and this is something we can all find if we look at our past or the past of the human species. The endless desire, the passion and the hunger for more – more land, more wealth, more people to control – is what has caused such calamities as those that still go on today – the conquest of land at the expense and death of innocent women and children, the killing of millions of people because of a disagreement in ideas and ideals, the manipulation of the mind for monetary gain. It all connects us back to now.

Take a look at society and see how the system still embraces evil at its core. In Venezuela the people currently starve and there are simply no basic supplies such as toilet paper. People are leaving and abandoning their children. Protesters have been killed in peaceful marches against armed government forces. People recently stopped rioting in my home country of Honduras, when the protesting created no change at all, except for destruction of public property, businesses and banks. The corrupt government in Nicaragua, Honduras’ neighbor, which has basically been in power for over thirty years is on the brink of being overthrown. Lula, the former president of Brazil has been sentenced to prison for twelve years for money laundering and corruption. Once they had pleasure, fancy cars and clothes, money stacked to the ceiling. Now they sit in jail. Big drug lords and their families are murdered every day. Yet the musicians promote drug dealing and consuming. The pharmaceutical industry promotes the use of antidepressants and pain pills, sleeping pills. While they get rich, we now have more school shootings than ever before, as well as opiate addiction and overdose. Many people get drunk to the point of having no control over themselves and end up killing innocent people when they get behind the wheel. Actions have reactions, consequences. Pleasure leads to pain quite often, and not all pleasure is the same. Neither is all pain equal. Some is inevitable such as the death of a parent, but some we create for ourselves since we refuse to let go of our attachments to things or people. Study the links, the connections, the works that have brought you to your now, the ideas which you have embraced and have led you to this moment, examine the ideas that contributed to the concertizing of those bigger ideas. Examine what you felt or thought about a certain situation or person at any given moment, but do not allow yourself to fall in the feeling again.

Simply examine and see if you were not acting based on your ego, if you were not doing or saying something in order to promote yourself or to brag, or to drag someone else down, or to feel better about yourself, or to belittle someone else for who they are. All of that is ego action, the fake self at work. The ego is the idea that we are alone in a hostile world, and we must compete to survive. It makes us attack, enslave and torture people who don’t believe what we believe. It makes us look down and laugh at those who have less material wealth than us. Only if we remove ourselves from our ego, as well as any bias that might make us agree with any evil committed in the past, or any internal pain that might make us extremely angry or frustrated with the past, can we study the individual and collective past with the Spirit, and recognize exactly how we can apply it to the now.

Inspired people, the people who have in turn inspired nations, were fueled by the powerful ideas put forth to them by their predecessors, ideas of the past. They mixed them with their own ideas. One example of a notable work of literature which has inspired me personally to pursue my idea of the Rebel Movement is Henry David Thoreau’s classic essay “Civil Disobedience.” This short book has inspired many more people apart from myself, one of the most well-known being Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, who read “Civil Disobedience” and through it gained a deep confidence and inspiration which compelled him to continue his own movement, his campaign of non-violent civil disobedience in India, decades later after Thoreau’s work was published. India’s independence probably would have come about just the same if “Civil Disobedience” had never been written, but one can never underestimate the power of a noble idea, especially if it is backed by a deep conviction that can be proved. Such was definitely the case with Thoreau. He was a strong-willed individual who chose to sit in jail for tax evasion, on the grounds that it was immoral to pay taxes in support of a government which was involved and funding the Mexican War which was going on at the time. A martyr, he preferred to sacrifice his own freedom than to support an ideal he did not believe in. He was eventually freed when, much to his dismay, a relative who had had just about enough of his nonsense paid the taxes he had refused to pay. What a great example of determination – a past act, a simple yet defiant, a ridiculous and brave act, which can inspire generations forever.

Choose any past event, be it a personal memory or a fact that you know happened. Take any given memory, any scenario, and follow its consequences as far as you can into the present. Think of any direct consequences as well as indirect, abstract ones. The law of cause and effect is active in our world, and all actions have an infinite amount of effects which we cannot perceive or even begin to imagine. If you can’t get too far with the memory or event you have chosen, choose a different one and follow its consequences up until you can’t follow them any longer or until you reach the present moment, whichever comes first. This will depend on the amount of time that has passed since the memory you chose to investigate. Try to connect the dots, so to speak, in order to form the bigger picture of your life. It’s there, just waiting for you to complete it, to find the way. It’s simpler than we often think.
We just need to be ourselves. Think about it. All we know is that we were born on this planet, and for the most part, most of us have no idea why or from where we came to be here. However, the fact is, or seems to be, that we were born on this planet, Planet Earth. We feel a certain way about certain things, and we are bound to act upon those thoughts if we follow through with them from the realm of thought into the realm of action. Many of us, however, confuse thoughts of desire and lust for our true desires, our true goals, those which we were born to achieve. We were all created in a special way, in God’s divine image.
As long as we are truly ourselves, and we follow the highest ideals within us, the thoughts and actions that deep within we know to be correct, then nothing can take us away from our true path of ascension. Learning happens from mistakes, so mistakes are a great help on your life journey, as they provide plenty of insight, if you take a moment to contemplate and discover it. We must learn to learn from the past and yet not to dwell on it emotionally or critically as we do so.

In conclusion, if we make a mistake which at the moment we did not know was a mistake, and we had no ill intention, then there is no real harm done. Yes, we will still have to face consequences of our mistake on the physical plane, but as the true seeker knows, these consequences form part of our learning, and are not to be resented or avoided. If we had no ill will when we committed a mistake, and we learn our lesson and incorporate our new knowledge or wisdom into our lives, then we will not make the same mistake. Our original mistake has therefore turned into a valuable experience to us, as it has provided the fuel needed in order to create change, which arises from true learning, hands-on learning, making mistakes. If you find yourself feeling down at the moment, feeling defeated by life and its stresses, just know that it all passes, and life provides its fair share of pleasure and pain, and all are meant to teach us lessons we must learn. But we must make the conscious choice of constantly analyzing and learning and applying to life. Take a second to breathe, and realize that, if you have learned from your mistake, then you are always right where you need to be, perhaps at a fresh opportunity to try again, and to defeat the devil that has haunted you and kept you chained.
~ REBEL SPIRIT

LIVE IN LOVE. TRUST IN GOD.

I was never too organized. Actually, just earlier today I realized I posted something on my blog the other day which it turns out I had already posted months ago! Needless to say I’ve now removed the double post. I remember the countless times my mother complained about my clothes scattered all over the floor of my messy room before I left for school, or about my unmade bed. “What’s the hurry? It will only take you two minutes to make your bed!” she complained in Spanish, in her gentle yet pressing voice. Little did she know I was in a hurry since I had a fat joint of some fine BC bud waiting for me, and since I needed to blaze before class I didn’t have two more minutes to waste. I already knew I would be late, it was the norm for me, but I didn’t want to be extremely late either, or rush to finish the jay. I’ve never been too fond of rules or routines, especially of being on time to events I didn’t want to attend, or places I didn’t want to go. In my high school mind, arriving late to class was a rebellious statement of my discontent with being there, since high school seemed to me as a long, tedious and pointless task, a daily routine which I had to endure on an almost daily basis for no real reason. I had no interest whatsoever in growing up to be a practicing mathematician, scientist or historian, and this narrative in my head made me hate every minute of those classes. Looking back at those times from the perspective I hold today, I am inclined to think I should have rather focused in class and learned what I needed to learn in an efficient manner, and with a positive attitude. Instead, I spent almost half of each schoolyear either skipping class or suspended. You might agree with me. I consider myself to be more mature these days, and yet… there is this one idea that gets to me.

It is true that in general, one must always hold a positive attitude towards all forms of learning, and that school is an essential contributor to a young mind’s development in some areas more than others, so I’m not discrediting school or defending my foolish behavior growing up (although school doesn’t necessarily use its time with students as efficiently or wisely as it could). Neither am I attempting to inspire young kids to do the same, in any way, shape or form. However, if I shift the perspective to a personal one and study my specific situation, I wonder: can I ever have a single regret if I like the moment I am currently living? Not just for myself, but the same goes for anyone else. If we like the situation we are currently in then how can we complain about or regret the past that brought us here, to this present moment? For example, if I had done things differently, and things had turned out differently, would I have met the beautiful and amazing wife I have now grown to love so much? After all, the present moment is always a conclusion of all past moments, including all uncomfortable moments, painful moments in which we were victims of our own ignorance. It is true that I do not condone what I did, the times I lied to my parents, the times I made my family suffer, the times I wasted and the troubles I went through during those crazy times. But if I regret a number of events which took place in the past, am I not also regretting, for example, my relationship and marriage with my wife, or anything else that is good in the present, for that matter? After all, I probably wouldn’t have traveled back to Honduras where I met my wife, had it not been for all the trouble I got myself into up in Canada. It’s a curious thought that I believe deserves mention, especially since this extended trip, along with finally living with my beautiful wife, has really helped me to change for the better in tremendous ways.

The mentioned thought shows me that, although each wrong action comes with its own painful effects, there comes a point for the faithful follower of the truth in which everything aligns once again, the soul is back on track, and it becomes evident that all that bad has been used to create good – it was a sacrifice in way, something we had to endure in order to have a clearer perspective Now, a perspective that will probably spare us plenty of trouble in the future, assuming we get one. What we have witnessed is the alchemical process of the universal transmutation taking place in our lives, and it reminds us, without a doubt, that no matter how disorganized we may be, if we seek the truth sincerely, if we seek to reconnect with our spirit, then our path will be realigned by a divine force, since we are all born and destined to shine. This is the reason why I now try to learn from my mistakes, to analyze them without emotion, – without guilt, regret or anxiety – in order to do better in the future. Regret is just a product of desire and guilt, a mixture which is bound to cause extreme anxiety and stress to its vessel since it makes one feel completely powerless against it. There is nothing we can ever do to change the past because the past no longer exists as we do, in the Now, in the present moment. Sometimes we look at the past and reflect, and we wish we would have done a certain thing in a different way, because in retrospect, it would have been perfect that way! Right? Wrong. The present is perfect just the way it is, and so was the past that led up to it. If the past no longer exists, and the future has not yet existed, then it only makes sense to live in the present, to fully immerse oneself in the happenings of life, the constant energetic interplay behind it all. As you live, try not to identify with the ‘you’ from ten minutes ago, with the ‘you’ from a week ago, from five years ago, or from when you were a kid! – that ‘you’ is now dead. Cut the connection! There is only Now, and you can choose to be the best version of yourself right now, without letting any past baggage block your way to the truth that is today! Reconnect with your spirit, with the divine within.

Let your Rebel Spirit resist and remove any remaining baggage that’s holding you back. Any doubt or insecurity you may be experiencing? Recognize it as a toxic element created by you, molded from your past experiences of self-induced trauma. I say self-induced because, although it may be true that someone else wronged you, it is ultimately you who has internalized the pain and fostered it in your soul, nurtured it with your thoughts and emotions, allowed it to inhabit your mind, turned it into the so-called ‘trauma’. Accept that you have been letting anger and resentment run and ruin you. Take the necessary steps to start building yourself back up at once! To be honest, I have always loved the idea of going wherever life takes me, of enduring obstacles and rising victorious, of becoming someone who is truly spontaneous, getting lost in an adventure everywhere I go, surrounded by beautiful scenery, mountains or valleys with endless trails, blissfully heading nowhere, with no worries and no fears about what may come. I guess then that the reason why I’ve never been too organized is because I’ve never placed too much value on living an organized life with everything planned and mapped out. I am amused by the idea of life suddenly changing in a moment, with one experience or one encounter, one adventure – suddenly, a new door opens up, a new opportunity, a new country, a new people, a new culture. From as far back as I can remember I have had this fantasy in my head, and the perfect image of peace to go along with it. Before I realized that all that we have is Now, and began to live in the present moment, I often expressed this fantasy of mine as a desire to have been born in the sixties, in a more revolutionary time, growing up as a part of the hippie generation. My frustration bubbled up into an aggressive rebellion against authority and established rules, and it got me in a lot of senseless trouble as a sense of rage at modern society grew within me.

I’m glad that I can now see that every person is born in his or her right time and place, and we all have our time to awaken. Just like there is a ton of ignorance in the world today, the same was true for back in the sixties and even further back. In fact, the ignorance of war is what sparked the hippie movement and caused it to unite in the first place. It is our duty to get rid of ignorance little by little, each of us doing our part, no matter what moment in history we might be reading this in (assuming my blog posts will survive the test of time and will inspire millions throughout history in the future)! Each of us is a spirit incarnated with a divine purpose to achieve, a purpose which is linked to the specific period of time in history we are living in. I now know why I have always felt the way I’ve felt, compelled to reveal and never to conceal. The truth shall really set you free. The time to wake up is always now, no matter where we may find ourselves. Any pain, any suffering, any perceived evil can be turned into blessing, it can be transmuted and turned to life. Not only can it, but it should, be transformed. That is our purpose on this planet. We are all alchemists. This truth is now readily available to all like never before in history. Take advantage, learn and teach, be the change you wish to see. Let your inner light shine. Don’t live up to the labels and expectations but surpass them in new and creative, innovative ways. Don’t live to fulfill a mission assigned to you by humanity before you were born, don’t live to please every person on your path – instead live to upset everyone with the truth. Live against the rules but live from the divine spirit. Don’t use being a Rebel as an excuse to be a Devil. Get in touch with your inner spirit, let it guide you. At times you may not understand the decision – but run with it regardless! You will understand the vision soon enough. Live according to your intuition, to the Spirit of God dwelling within. If you do this sincerely, I guarantee you cannot go wrong. You are walking in light, and your path will be realigned no matter what mistakes you may make.

So, I encourage you all to live truthfully, sincerely, with integrity. Just as I am currently being inspired to be, I encourage you to be a reformer, a Rebel, a hero – a person with morals and values in this sick society so devoid of spirituality, a person with enough courage and trust in the world and the universe that you can be open and honest with any of your fellow human beings, with no fear of persecution, with no fear of death, with no hostility and no shame – a person whose highest ideal is the search for the truth and the goodness of life, behind the illusion of evil. To all the spiritual seekers, be true to yourself above all, be true to the truth you know is true, to the Absolute Truth – Love, God. Don’t live to look like you have it all planned out or figured out. Be disorganized, let God organize your life instead. Put it all in God’s hands, put frequencies of love out into the atmosphere, appreciate the blessings and allow them to come alive in your life and all around you. Live in Love and learn from Love. Walk with God, trust in God.

~ REBEL SPIRIT ~

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.”

~ Isaiah 37:23

“RUBBER SOUL” (1965) by THE BEATLES.

Album: Rubber Soul
Artist: The Beatles
Released: December 3, 1965
Length: 34:55

“Baby, you can drive my car!

Yes, I’m gonna be a star!”

~ The Beatles, ‘Drive My Car’

So begins this timeless classic of a Beatles studio album – their sixth to be precise: ‘Rubber Soul’, released in 1965 – upbeat and lively, melodic and serene, all in one yet all the while staying true to one vibrant, beautiful vibe all throughout without failing on one track! The opening song ‘Drive My Car’ quickly excites me from the very beginning about the direction this album is headed, and yet by the time this song finishes the direction switches completely to a soft, nostalgic kind of melody: ‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown).’ Surprisingly, it doesn’t seem the tone has changed much in a way,

‘Norwegian Wood’ is one of my favorite songs on this album, and I’m sure many can agree emphatically! The melody emanating from the acoustic guitar and sitar string combination really carries one away into a reverie of magical, musical bliss, to say the least. The lyrics create vivid imagery in one’s mind, accompanied by Lennon’s amazing voice, suited perfectly to the instrumental. This track progresses perfectly into the next: ‘You Won’t See Me’, a little more melodic than ‘Drive My Car’ with a beautiful beat and chorus, yet a bit more upbeat than ‘Norwegian Wood’ – a good mix for sure.

‘Nowhere Man’ is up next, and this song is deep and powerful – it could very well have become society’s anthem! This song as about a “nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans for nobody”. He doesn’t worry, he takes his time; but he always looks for a hand out, he is passive, he doesn’t know where he is or where he’s headed. Following this description, the song then asks us to analyze the possibility that, after all, “isn’t he a bit like you and me?” Really makes you think. We all waste too much time doing things we don’t know why we’re doing, since we don’t really want to be doing them! Let’s take control of our lives and let our inner light shine!

‘Nowhere Man’ properly leads us up to ‘Think For Yourself’. “Do what you want to do. And go where you’re going to. Think for yourself ‘cause I won’t be there with you.” So, we see the prescription here is to do the opposite of what Mr. Nowhere Man does; to take control, to know very clearly where we are going and what we are doing and why! This great message is delivered upon a lively guitar track with a grave and mildly aggressive tone to it – never diminishing the overall chill tone of the album, of course.

“The aim of human life is to know thyself. Think for yourself. Question authority. Think with your friends. Create, create new realities. Philosophy is a team sport. Philosophy is the ultimate, the ultimate aphrodisiac pleasure. Learning how to operate your brain, learning how to operate your mind, learning how to redesign chaos.”

~ Timothy Leary

‘The Word’ is a quirky song about the magical Word which is “LOVE.” Not my favorite song on the album, but not a bad song in any way at all. The message is marvelous: “Spread the word I’m thinking of, have you heard the word is love?” The singing of the hook has an epic tone to it and is bound to be stuck in your head for a few days. “It’s so fine, it’s sunshine! It’s the woooord, LOVE!”

“Now that I know what I feel must be right, I’m here to show everybody the light!”

~ The Bealtes, ‘The Word’

The next song, ‘Michelle’ is a dreamy love song about a French girl named Michelle, in which Paul McCartney even sings a bit of French directed at her over a dreamy melody, singing softly over an acoustic guitar and serene strings – a wonderful song to relax or reflect to. It is probably the most relaxed, romantic, soothing and calm song on this album, followed in all these aspects by ‘Girl.’ Before we reach that song however, we come to ‘What Goes On’, a song about a girl who is breaking the Beatles’ hearts, and they wonder how they can get in her brain to find out how to change her mind. This song has a catchy, jumpy, lively rhythm with a fast drum beat and cool guitar.

“Girl” comes next, a sad, almost mournful song about a girl who is worth every single second of the misery the song portrays. Not my favorite song either, and in fact it makes me a bit sleepy. However, it has a great melody and is relaxing and doesn’t interrupt the album flow. ‘I’m Looking Through You’ is a song that makes me reminisce on the past few years whenever I hear it. It focuses on people who don’t physically change much but yet change in amazing ways throughout the years. Time flies, people change, things change, and love arguably changes too – An overall amazing song.

‘In My Life’ is, without a doubt, the classic of the album. This is an emotional song about old friends and lovers. I agree with the message that they always live on in our hearts and minds and are never forgotten or truly dead or gone away. The instrumental work on this is impeccable, the melody is magical, the tone of voice and melody produces goosebumps. “In myyy life, I’ve loved them all!” If only one could show melody by extending the letters of a word (haha). This is one of the few songs which make me grateful for its very existence, making life that much better.

‘Wait’ and ‘Run For Your Life’ are both upbeat, cool songs with a lively atmosphere, both about girls who are presumably attempting to leave the singer. Either way, they are good songs and keep up the cool atmosphere of the album, melodic for sure. In between these two songs is a gem however, ‘If I Needed Someone’, a cool song with great lyrics, carefully written and set up over the instruments – with rich percussion and a melody that perfectly matches that of the band.

To conclude, I want to state that ‘Rubber Soul’ definitely paved the way for later masterpieces like ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ and ‘Revolver’, where the psychedelic, soothing sound of the sitar continued to be incorporated into their music, influenced by Bengali Indian musician Ravi Shankar. It was the first Beatles album recorded over a continuous time period, without touring times in the middle, and this may have contributed to the album’s outcome and finalized sound. According to critics, this album represented a major increase in maturity within the Beatles’ subject matter and lyrics. It was greeted with mostly positive reviews. Definitely one of the best Beatles albums in my own opinion.

~ REBEL SPIRIT ~

OVERCOMING WRITER’S BLOCK!

As an artist, there exists a possibility of words simply flowing from your spirit like water from a fountain – as if they were writing themselves, as if an inner force were pushing them out of you one by one, barely allowing you a moment to get your ideas down on paper. You worry and stress about what you will write, how and when, not realizing that if you were to just take that first leap of faith and you actually sat down with a pen and paper and a determination to write no matter what, you would write without a doubt. If we can move mountains with true faith, then how can you not simply write, am I right? Especially if you love to write as much as you claim you do. Do not move, do not eat, do not drink, do not think, do not worry, just write. Concentrate and write. Writer’s block is a mental excuse. So, am I suggesting that you should write gibberish, utter nonsense?

Not necessarily, but just remember that your best-selling book will not contain all the parts you will eventually edit out later, so just go ahead and write the first sentence that comes to your mind. Yes, the first sentence that comes to your mind, insignificant or uninspiring as you may label it to be. Remember you will not be obliged to show your work to anyone other than yourself once you’re done. If you can’t write for the sake of simply writing, without a commercial aim, at some point then you probably don’t love writing too much. Write without the notion that anyone will read what you write. Make it random and boring if that’s how you’re feeling. Drop any and all mental pressure, let go of insecurities completely, be present with yourself in the moment. Write about anything that comes to mind, think aloud on the page – your job is only to make sure your hand can keep up with the subconscious stream.

Life is a gift given to you, and the same goes for any natural talents. Go ahead and write it even if it is nonsense! After that first sentence write another. Don’t make it too logical, just randomly write another sentence, the sentence that logically follows in your mind, whatever seems to automatically fit. Since these sentences were written in a flash without much use of thought, these sentences come from your subconscious mind, and therefore express ideas or feelings which you are wanting or even needing desperately to get across but just don’t know how because of their abstract and complicated nature. Follow this subconscious stream of creativity, keep writing words, make sure your pen keeps hitting that paper, or your fingers keep on pressing at those keys. You will see that another sentence will naturally follow, as the sentences will have something in common, both having come from your subconscious, which is dwelling upon the same subjects. This similarity is usually the same poetic vibe and maybe theme. After the second sentence, then follows another, and another, and another, and before you know it you find yourself quickly typing away since the words are coming so fast that you struggle to write them all down. A rush of realization runs through you suddenly as you reach a point where you need to stop for a moment just to review what you’ve done in order to clarify to yourself what exactly you were writing about, and what specific point you were trying to get across, since you realize that your ideas have transported you over to a distant land!

Again, all it takes is one sentence to make the difference and get you started. As long as you don’t write anything down, you are overthinking about what to write for your audience. The problem is that you do not know your audience, since no audience exists at this moment. In the present, when your work is being created, all that exists is you and your writing, so embrace this. No matter who your audience is, if you were meant to write, then just write, and the right audience will be reached in due time. I have found this to be quite an effective tool for overcoming writer’s block. Simply write one sentence that comes to your mind. Then, without giving importance to what anyone will think about your work, follow that sentence up with another. The sentence that comes to mind, and thereby to the paper, might be about an idea you’ve been thinking about lately, or maybe about someone you’ve been missing, maybe about the annoying headache you feel, maybe about how grateful you are it’s the weekend! Just write about that! So what if (you think) no one will read it? Write to write. Write to develop your writing. Save a file, and later you can read it and add more details, it may grow to be something big.

Don’t worry too much about staying on topic or dividing up paragraphs – Just write! Remember that this big chunk of disorganized writing will not to be read by anyone else before you finalize the official copy of whatever it is you are writing. All that other secondary stuff ceases to exist now and you are finally free of worries. I repeat for the sake of importance, write for the sake of writing. Write for you. Write for the glory of God, by being thankful that you can live and write and express yourself. All the organizing, the making sure everything is in its right place, the countless reading and re-reading, the editing, that can all wait – it all means nothing if you have nothing written, so spill your soul onto the page! Be the real You, and ignore your mind when it asks you “Will people like what I am writing right now? Why write if I’m not a famous author? Will I be paid for my work? Why am I writing for free, and for no good reason at that?”. Ignore these thoughts of doubt that the mind hits you with. It wants you to agree, to identify with it. The real self however, knows that engaging in one’s passion and creativity and producing inspiring work are blessings far superior, and therefore incomparable to, a mere paycheck, or any sort of recognition. The mind doubts because it is a finite thing, a physical part of your body. It is part of material existence and therefore will surely die one day, and all these ideas of doubt which are the product of social and cultural engineering, will die along with it – rest assured! However, the real You, which experiences and evaluates the thoughts of the mind, and the feelings and sensations of the body, is true, eternal awareness, or being.

This being is of spiritual nature, meaning it is immortal and complete. It is a reflection of the spirit of God in us. For this reason, the real Self cannot experience doubt, or lack of self-worth, because the real Self knows that it has something of immense value to offer this hurting world. If you didn’t know this then why would you be thinking of writing in the first place? The real You not only believes that you can achieve great things – it knows so! The fake you, the image of yourself inside your brain, is a product of what you have learned and experienced on this planet during your time as an individual. What happens is that, since most people spend endless amounts of time satisfying the carnal desires of their mind and body, they become completely identified with the idea the mind creates of itself. As we grow from youth into adulthood, that pure sense of being, and of connection with a wise spirit, or conscience, that knows what is good and bad and advises us of such righteous judgements is lost, and we begin to listen to our mind, therefore giving up all control to a tool which we are actually meant to control. Being only a tool, this mind feels inferior, like it can be discarded for any superior tool that comes around. It must survive and prove its supreme status! Quite a lot of pressure, huh? Spirit, on the other hand – Spirit flows, Spirit is authentic, pure, real, revolutionary, raw!

If only we could enter into that pure state of thoughtlessness, quieting the mind’s incessant chatter, and if we can remain in that state, then we could certainly reconnect with that part of ourselves which truly creates art, the divine spark that dwells within us all and provides us with our spiritual energy at all times; the being behind the mind – immune to writer’s block! If we could radically shift our current perspective on life and begin to get in touch with the goodness of our spirit, which is a reflection of God – with our intuition – then quite possibly the thoughts that circle round and round in our skulls, and the abstract feelings that are bottled up inside all of us, will finally be granted with an outlet to be expressed in a beautiful, poetic and effortless manner in this soulless society that subjects its citizens to such profound pressure, mediocrity and marginalization. We must make a conscious decision to ignore every temptation, every distraction, every insecurity, every feeling of inadequacy which holds us back from trying, from taking the first step and trusting the power of God present in the forces of the universe. We must subdue the mind with the spirit, we cannot, and will not, allow our minds to enslave us. Be FREE! Let your Spirit spill your soul out on the page and let it flow like the endless sea.

~ REBEL SPIRIT ~

A UNIVERSE OF WONDER

I feel humbled whenever I take a moment to acknowledge that this world is only a small part of the universe. The planet we inhabit forms part of a solar system, which is part of a galaxy – one of many billions that exist according to science. The most recent findings of Stephen Hawking before his death even suggest the possibility of our universe being only one among many. Now, personally I don’t know how this could be possible at all, since I’ve always thought of the universe as infinite, as all there is, as ever-expanding – space, the home of all the galaxies and planets that exist. Although a lot of people who haven’t studied too deep into the topic and into physics in general, such as myself to be honest, don’t fully understand what is being implied by Hawking’s theory, I mention it simply to bring to awareness how little we know about our world and universe, how complicated things actually are when it comes to science, to physics, to the planets, to the essence of existence. We all have our opinions and theories. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has even suggested we might be living in some kind of computer simulation created by some other beings, while others might argue that this is basically the same thing as the belief in God and the Devil, angels and demons, supernatural beings, all watching over us as we live, unaware of their presence, maybe even able to directly influence human affairs. The point is that, no matter how sure we are about what we believe, none of us can ever be fully certain as to how we came to be here, on this particular planet, or why we’re here. The mystery of the universe is magical to ponder, and it can turn one into a hungry seeker of truth. If we learn to stop complaining, to see light in everything rather than darkness and death, we will naturally begin to feel humbler and more grateful for having been blessed to be born into this world which provides the perfect conditions for us, conditions that are essential for human life to thrive, or to even be possible.

Now, despite having cleared up how much there is for us yet to discover and having stressed the fact that we don’t know much of what we think we know, I definitely must defend the notion that there is a real reason why we are here, even if it is just my personal belief. Although our planet is such a small part of the universe, there is definitely a reason for us being born here, even if we don’t know what that reason is. This reason goes beyond money or status, financial progress. Many of us can feel this deep within. Even though we don’t know anything one hundred percent that statement is something I feel very confident about and I’m just being honest when I open up to you all and express it in such an assertive way. Apart from the earth’s fertile condition, most of us are born into the arms of loving, kind parents who raise us and help us to grow, who take pride in our accomplishments and nourish us with positive influence, whether it is mentally, emotionally, physically or spiritually. Those of us who are born into broken homes often find that our troubles, if approached correctly, have a way of leading us to the truth. Whether we are born into a good family or not, we are all born into the family we need to be born into, for whatever reason it may be. We all come from a union between two people, procreation being a divine union which ideally involves trust and companionship and love, the union of both dualistic forces of the yin and yang which merge into oneness, into life – pure magic. There normally tend to be some problems in relationships and marriages as the mind-created egos want to dominate, they feel offended, and they seek to offend. However, behind the scenes of all this mind drama, there is a spiritual union between these two people, an unseen communion, and if they allow this to shine this union will gradually defeat the drama, something I always embrace and cherish in my own marriage. If this union is constantly cherished and expressed – strengthened on a daily basis, with due diligence and discipline, its light is likely to be imparted onto their children, since children (and in fact all humans) learn mostly by example. This is just the way it is, and it blows my mind the way everything is so perfectly structured when it comes to reproduction and the creation of life. How do we know that this is union between man and woman is something spiritual? If you ask two partners to have a baby with certain traits or characteristics, they will not be able to create that specific baby. They only know the physical motions they need to make in order to ignite the behind-the-scenes process which creates the baby. We do not know the exact details of how our bodies grow inside of the human body, how sperm and egg unite to form human thought. On top of this, we have absolutely no clue how exactly consciousness and life come into this body, neither do we know at what point this happens. The fact is there is too much we don’t know, so for something so perfect as life to arise, there has to be something that does know how to create life.

Two connect to make one. One will once again connect with one, then the two will merge and create one once again. It is an obvious message that connection is essential for life. Coincidental messages like this make me sure of the synchronicity of the universe, the incessant flow of life. It’s a sad reality that the sacred nature of sex has been crudely corrupted in the name of consumerism. Unfortunately, as with the subject of sex, too often we limit ourselves to the ideas which are seen as normal by society when it comes to certain topics, or even when it comes to ourselves and our place in the world and the universe. We forget that life is set up for our own good, we forget the miracle that life is, and we become weak and weary, tired of life’s trials and tribulations, seeing nothing good in the bad, and nothing bad in the good. But if you look at the yin yang sign you will notice there is good in all bad and bad in all good, as everything is one in truth. When we begin to forget about the magic of life, about the miracle it really is, we start acting based on our fears and we adopt certain labels or identities for ourselves in order to fit in and to feel safe, to feel that we belong in society, that we are part of the crowd. This allows us to avoid our dreaded fear of rejection and ridicule. When we fear the opinions of others, when we fear failure and rejection, we fear disappointment. When we fear the mere possibility of being ridiculed, of feeling disappointed, we never bother to take the first step towards any new project we might have in mind, since we are terrified that we might make a mistake and ultimately drown in our misery. We become our own harshest critics, killing our ideas at the mental level before they even have a chance to be fully developed. We avoid commitments and challenges because we would rather have it the easy way. We unconsciously reject opportunities because we are afraid to look for them, or to accept them when they come our way. We have become trapped in a fake idea of ourselves, an idea made up of likes and dislikes, of preferences, of judgments, of beliefs, an idea that “I am part of this class of society, of this movement, of this religion, of this race, of this gender, of this nationality, so I must conduct myself and see the world in this specific way.” The result of this is that we begin to identify this earthly body and personality as ourselves, we make our hardships into our identities, we minimize our vision of life and the universe. We begin to imitate others, to live petty, worthless lives that have little soul.

We must remember once again that the universe is marvelous and mysterious, and that our spirit IS the universe. We must remember that we have within us much greater blessings than we can ever gain by reaching material or social success in the world. We have let our ego take control, and it is not allowing us to appreciate the flow of the universe, it is not allowing us to let go of resistance and to simply be. We have to stop, to take a moment to realize that the world is in constant motion, and the forces of nature drive the world towards its proper state at every moment, the courageous force of change is always creating the situations we need. We are not just a label, we do not need to conform to traditions and rituals which serve no purpose to us, which do not build us up, especially those which fill our heads with negative thoughts and ideas, with fear and hate. In this world, a lot of people want to play God and portray their ideas as absolute truth, and this has always been the case. Such a mentality has led to violence and war and unimaginable suffering an innumerable amount of times, something we can all agree on if we study some basic history. Why should we give merit to just anybody’s ideas of us, their ideas about how we should live, about who we should be? The rules they impose, the stereotypes, the labeling, the generalization, the treatment of people as property, just less obvious than a few hundred years back. We need to be bold about being humble, we need to confront injustice and arrogance and avarice and evil, and we need to be reformers, standing up for things we believe to be right and fighting the obvious evils that plague our planet. We need to realize that we are Spirit, we are the reflection of God on this particular planet, and we are alive for a reason that goes way beyond paying bills, watching TV, eating, drinking, sleeping, working.

Society’s expectations of you are collective ideas of how the world should work, but these ideas are thought up by people who are fully focused on financial gain and population control, they are not necessarily, or usually, set up for our own good. We need to live life according to our intuition, and through it our integrity, realizing that this world, these governments, the people who take pride in oppressing others, these people are small in the grand scheme of things, and we should not lower ourselves to their level, but rather we should try to help them to grow spiritually in love, remaining true to our divine nature.

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

~ Matthew 5:2-11 (KJV)

16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

~ Matthew 20:16 (KJV)

When we nurture an attitude of fear, a belief of inadequacy, when we make ourselves believe that we are not enough, that we cannot do such and such thing because we are of such and such nature we are sure to fail, as we will never attempt to begin in the first place. Take a risk! Realize you are not a label, you are not who your parent or teacher or preacher wants you to be. You are not who society wants you to be. You are not even who YOU think you are or want to be. Within you is a magic that can move mountains, a faith in God and the universe, a faith that you can achieve what is truly believed, a profound faith which lies at your core, the eternal essence of your being. Learn to trust that the reason for your being here will manifest itself if you stop interfering with it, then stop interfering. Let the blessings come.

In my own life, for example, I have always wanted to travel. I have often wished I could travel the world freely with no money worries, with no complicated visa application processes. However, I soon realized that that idea isn’t very realistic, and I just had to find a way to make money while travelling abroad and making my art. For now, that’s still a work in progress, but what I’m getting at is that how much money we stack up during this lifetime is not what’s most important at all. Too many people put off travel or whatever other great goals or gifts they might have in order to save up money for something else, maybe some new car or new clothes, or to pay for college or a mortgage. So many people live 30 or 40 years of their lives, repeating the same daily routine, the same tedious tasks, day in and day out, in the same cold and crowded city, in the same country, with the same people. If this is not a life wasted then I don’t know a better example. Life consists of constant change, and the world is here for us to explore it, to constantly change the way we live. The whole concept of selling our time for money, what we call a job, a 9-to-5, is a little ridiculous to me. Let’s not mention selling 3 or 4 decades of our lives, years filled with dreams, with energy and health, for some faint recognition and a good pension plan when we retire. This is modern day slavery, and it prevents us from following our true dreams, it keeps us under, consuming products and services for those who designed this cycle (a cycle which can only continue if we maintain our feelings of inadequacy). I was afraid for quite some time, of travelling the world indefinitely, of living as an artist, as a nomad even. I have this thought sometimes, that once you have tried to remove yourself from the system, and have tried your hardest but failed, it will be impossible to reintegrate back into the system. I see now that this is a thought of weakness, a thought created by fear and insecurity, a thought brought into my conditioned mind by years of fear and manipulation. I have let go of this thought, and I’ve chosen to finally live free and to be completely myself, ready to face whatever consequences await me since they are only the consequences of the actions I took while being truly myself – true to my authentic self, to the spirit of life within. To remind me of my decision I got “Live Free” tattooed on my wrist, so I can look at it every day.

In my case, living free meant leaving behind a comfortable life in Canada, and the possibility of building a great career in one of the most developed nations on the Planet, in order to travel the world and immerse myself in other cultures, languages, ideas, religions, philosophies, activities, and customs. What could be better and more therapeutic for a person than to admire the vastness and beauty of the natural world, the masterpiece of all works of art, created by the Great Architect, God, the force behind all that is? What could be more fulfilling for a righteous man, than seeing goodness wherever in the world he may go, seeing children smiling, families enjoying time together, animals relaxing, everywhere in different ways, speaking softly to each other in different languages, yet all speaking the universal language of love. Everything is connected in perfect harmony if perceived correctly, everything is alive by the divine unity behind all the beautiful forms of life, the diversity of the planet and of the universe as a whole. Money comes and goes, an insignificant and feeble piece of paper which we can rip apart with our own two hands, fame and status are even more unreal, complete illusion which serve to trap the human mind in a vain sense of glory, a petty and pathetic sense of achievement, and a lot of arrogance to go along with it. We alone give money or fame their value. In other words, they are worthless if we can see them in that way. Nature, oceans, trees, valleys, mountains, however… the world, the world is divine, created by the hand of God. Music, art, expression, love, kindness, compassion, inspiration – all things which bring us closer to our life purpose. We can all stand in awe wherever we are and admire life’s beauty, in every country, in every continent, in every animal, in every plant, and in every single person. For this reason, I have the goal to travel and to live in various countries, to fully experience the world and its wide variety of cultures! The adventure had already begun, and from now on I plan to focus on continuing it. Until the day we can travel to other planets, there is enough magic and beauty on this planet for a lifetime. Open your mind, open your world. Don’t create labels and boxes for yourself. Don’t stress about petty things of this world, keep your spirit moving towards a higher state, discover the wonder which is dormant within.

~ REBEL SPIRIT ~

“There is a vast world for us, a boundless space beyond and between the fences and the rules. We will travel it freely. We will be okay.”
~ Lauren Oliver, “Pandemonium”

“Perhaps these ancient observatories like Stonehenge perennially impress modern people because modern people have no idea how the Sun, Moon, or stars move. We are too busy watching evening television to care what’s going on in the sky.”
~ Neil deGrasse Tyson

INTERCONNECTEDNESS & INFLUENCE.

If we begin to pay close attention to the events which take place in our daily lives, and we begin to see them not as random happenings, but as opportunities for us to learn the lessons we must learn and to practice what we have already learned, it then becomes clear to us how everything that exists is interconnected, and how every moment of our lives is actually filled with deep significance. Everything influences everything else in ways which are completely mysterious and unknown to us, and God is said to work in mysterious ways precisely because we are unaware of the complete system God operates in the universe. In other words, we refer to the ways of God as mysterious due to our extremely limited perceptions of the incredible and indescribable manner in which his radiant, continuously emanating energy unfolds throughout all dimensions of existence, balancing everything out perfectly. This is not meant to imply, however, that life is predestined.

My belief is that free will is real, but so is fate. Human beings have been granted with the amazing capacity for free will, which we can exercise in a negative or positive manner, or most often, in a combination of both throughout a lifetime. What is predestined is the consequence which follows after each action, which flows from the first in accordance with the principle of cause and effect. We can choose our actions, but we cannot choose their consequences, meaning that every action has at least one, but perhaps various, effects to balance it out. Every act of kindness, every smile, every word of encouragement, can radically alter someone’s perspective and worldview, and in turn their life; and the same can be said about any harmful word or destructive action we choose to engage in. We can choose good or evil actions, but since the laws of the universe function accordingly with the Divine wisdom of the Creator, everything will always balance itself out in a karmic manner by way of the effects of any given action.

Even though everything balances itself out eventually, a wise person strives to promote wisdom wherever possible in order to prevent evil, selfish actions, for they are aware that evil actions lead to degradation of the spirit, and cause suffering when their consequences arrive. A wise man knows that if he possesses the knowledge or wisdom, and he has found himself in a situation in which he can be of great service or inspiration by sharing it, it is his duty to share. Therefore, a wise man practices courage, self-sacrifice and self-control and works to discipline each aspect of himself, physical, emotional and spiritual, in order to be a virtuous example to others. The power we all possess to influence others should be regarded as a great responsibility and a privilege and utilized only for righteous purposes. Even when we are not attempting to influence anyone, but simply minding our own business, going about our day, our demeanor or our expressions are enough to give subtle hints to those around us regarding what we are feeling, what is motivating us or demotivating us, what life situation we are currently facing, and how we are reacting to that situation, whether with confidence and courage or with insecurity and fear. If we are always walking around with a miserable attitude and a frown, worrying about how we will pay the rent tomorrow, too fed up with life to enjoy the simple blessings which have been bestowed upon us, then we are bound to influence our children to act in the same way once they are faced with the challenges of their own lives, gradually becoming ungrateful, constantly unsatisfied adults.

As human beings, it is natural for us to imitate behavior which we observe in influential figures, especially when our brains are still developing. Since our parents are our primary example of how life ought to be lived, we tend to connect various ideas inside our minds to create preconceived notions about certain things or concepts. This process is inevitable and it is happening in the minds of all people we encounter. Realizing this can be a great tool for self-development since, once accepting the fact that our negative self-destructive behaviors are so strongly influencing our loved ones to act in the same ways and develop the same negative patterns as us, we feel as if though we must refrain from such actions, out of a sense of duty to their well-being. This not only motivates us to break negative habits and patterns in our own lives, but it also prevents our loved ones from being negatively influence by us, and our sudden change in behavior might even convince them to of how powerful the practices of self-analysis and self-realization really are, leading them to evaluate their own behaviors which might be holding them back. Win-win situation for all!

It is amazing to contemplate the notion that we have within us everything that we require to act as the spark which ignites a passion for self-realization in people’s lives that could last a lifetime, or perhaps even many. This will, in turn, affect everyone who each one of those people will encounter in their lives, especially their children. They will then influence their children who will teach their own children to influence their children and so on, and the cycle will continue long after we are gone from this planet. Our negative or positive ideas will be spread out through the whole world and through the cosmos for decades and centuries, along with every generation, filled with thinkers, philosophers, writers, teachers, travelers who will incorporate them into their own concepts of the mysteries of life, creating new breeds of spirituality, philosophy, psychology, theology, music and art which will inspire millions. Our ideas will be physically taken to the extremes of the earth, and metaphysically they will keep on echoing as endless vibrations of the spiritual energies enclosed within every word, thought or action.

After all it is quite true that “what we do now, echoes in eternity.” What an authentic statement that is indeed, even as the words quoted echo through my mind, onto the paper and onto your eyes and then mind as you read. Realize that there are no coincidences and you are where you are wherever you are and whenever you’re there because you actually need to be there – you, specifically! There is a purpose for every situation in your life. Don’t overthink, just let your intuition and goodness guide you and your divine purpose for the moment will reveal itself. Remove all mental blockages and let your true life flow – experience the connection of life.

~ REBEL SPIRIT ~

THE DANCE OF CONSTANCE CHANGE.

Don’t be fooled by the apparent stillness of things, or the apparent feeling of being stuck in a specific life situation. Everything eventually passes, nothing is static. Even the globe that we live on is constantly spinning around the scorching sun turning day to night and night back to day, yet we walk about and even sleep soundly without perceiving this unceasingly swift motion which is at work providing life for our planet and people, this background process bestowing us with blessings. Everything changes, and with every new breath life is renewed, and we celebrate the arrival of a new Now. Life, after all, is no more the present moment. Nothing exists for more than a mere moment. As Marcus Aurelius pointed out in ‘Meditations’, that classic book on life from the perspective of (mostly Stoic) philosophy, death robs us of nothing more than the present moment, since all past is mere memory, stored in the brain for practical purposes. I like to think of it as the way in which our progress gets stored in a memory card, allowing us to wake up every day and begin the game of life from where we left off. The future is even less real since what we call the future is in fact illusion, it is a vain hope, a longing for something we have never known, it is nothing that is real in the Now. According to Marcus, “in the life of a man, his time is but a moment, his being an incessant flux, his sense a dim rushlight.” We are only a point in the universe, a point where consciousness has met itself in divine awe and wonder in order to witness this time in history, to be present during this moment in awareness. The essential teaching is that reality is only Now, and when death comes for life it only robs its victim of one moment; it is the same for all who die, no matter whether one or one hundred years have passed in that lifetime, or whether another hundred years would have followed. They wouldn’t have followed anyway, since death always comes at its time, just like life does.

Even the most stable of things is constantly moving at the molecular level, rearranging itself in ways unimaginable to the mind and unseen by the naked eye. Nothing stays the same for more than a moment, just as every seven years we ourselves become completely new creatures, at least physically as our cells regenerate and we shed our skin like snakes. Death and life are one powerful and prominent example of the yin and yang, and they are forces to be reckoned and respected. All moments in life are special, and they all arrive at their time. The now is all that exists and we are experiencing it. Don’t let traumatic thoughts of past and future get to you or bring you down. Time is an illusion. If you don’t know what I mean by that then it’s likely you haven’t given much though to the Now and what it entails in its entirety, in its essence. All your past experiences, thoughts, feelings, ideas, all are now memories, and all have brought you to one reality, to the Now, to right Now. You are here for a reason, Now. What is that reason? Find out or it will find you. It may change depending on whether you set out to find it or not. If not, once fate finds you it might be a different one that it originally was. But that’s getting too far away from the topic. Tomorrow will never come, as tomorrow will also be “Now” when we experience it. The transitory nature of life is precisely what allows everything to be a tremendous treasure, as every moment is a whole new life, a whole new experience, a whole new lesson, a brand-new blessing. As the calendar counts, every day and week and month and year is a new chance to set a goal, to appreciate the power and the energy within, to be grateful for the fuel provided by failure, to begin paving the way towards a better day. This is the beauty of life amidst the apparently overwhelming conflict and chaos.

If everything that matters is the Now, and the Now always comes at its time, then that really redefines life in an extremely radical way, an exciting way. Finally, life can be lived with a deep sense of peace and wonder, a state of mind in which we see an opportunity in every obstacle, a clue in every challenge, leading up to our life purpose. Every situation we encounter can be embraced with a sense of gratitude, and self-realization can arise within a mindset which is determined to keep on learning constantly. Realize that change is the natural way of life, and everything changes no matter what we do, whether we like it or not. All we need to do as human beings is to ensure that we change positively, regardless of negative circumstances, – especially in negative circumstances! – something I like to term as mental or spiritual alchemy, respectively as we work with the mind and we administer with our spirit. This allows us to stop anticipating and longing for future events or painfully reviewing and regretting past failures. We can also stop dreading the future and resisting every type of change we are presented with, in the same way that we can now stop taking refuge in past glories in order to feed our damaged ego. We no longer need that, and what a relief it is to realize it. Once we perceive life as the amazing miracle which exists Now, we can stop procrastinating and start living life as if each second was our last, appreciating every act of kindness, every piece of advice, every strange coincidence, and every pure moment of joy without wasting half a second. If we live in the Now, then all that really matters is that we have what it takes to be happy Now, and we all have enough to be happy. We will be fine as long as we have what we need within ourselves, and I wholeheartedly believe all of us do.

We need to express our ideas without fear of ridicule and persecution, and live our lives evaluating every experience, emotion, thought or feeling, from a higher level of awareness, and allowing to flower only what our godly intuition deems fit for us. This does not give us an excuse to abuse others and forget about those who love us simply because we choose to ignore them and disappear into our own inner world of presence in which we function fully immersed in ourselves. Being fully immersed in and conscious of the Now involves being aware of all the blessings which have been granted to us individually, accepting and being grateful for them, but also acknowledging the fact that that the Now of other people who are alive is realer than the past in your memory, or the future in anyone’s imagination. We must feel who we are in the moment, as one with humanity, as a whole collective consciousness, as one people, regardless of differences, and be aware of why we are who we are. Feeling the deep bliss of being should fill us with joy and appreciation in everyday life, and an attitude of love towards anyone who has been involved in the miracle of our being. For example, let’s think of our parents. It is thanks to them that each and every one of us can even feel this deep sense of our being and appreciate it. The miracle of life is definitely something to be thankful for, as our parents give life to us and then grow old and we give life to their grandchildren. We see the change, over time, over generations – inevitable change. It is also thanks to any close siblings or great friends that a lot of us have received the proper encouragement we have needed along the way in order to carry on through difficult times, which have eventually led us up to today. Being aware of, and immersed in the now means acknowledging and expressing, truly experiencing the interconnectedness of life, not only on this planet, but in space, in the stars, in the sun and the moon, and even extending to the spiritual worlds and dimensions. You and I have the ability to be fully immersed in the present moment, whether it be filled with great pleasure or with great pain, and to accept it and transmute it into strength, by being thankful for it and digging deep for the lesson contained within. Digging deep consists of being in the Now. Even the great reformers of the past lived in the Now, and that is why their achievements have inspired millions of people up until today, thousands of years after their physical presence departed.

Once we are able to grasp this state of being which is always within ourselves, we will feel compelled to spread love and awareness to our loved ones and beyond, in order to free humanity from the chains of fear and anxiety which we have so willingly trapped ourselves in. The greatest of (inevitable) challenges can (and is meant to) be mentally re-framed by the mind and perceived in such a way that it motivates and inspires action. When I refer to action I refer to true action; action done without regard for the outcome, even action consecrated to God. This type of action is infused with a deep kind of concentration which ensures one’s consciousness, or real self, is fully experiencing the present moment and providing his or her full energy to it. It is what is referred to as Karma Yoga in the Hindu scriptures, and it involves taking full control over our minds, focusing on the present moment above all else, driven by a deep conviction that the Now is truly all that ever is to us. Even the Bible mentions working for God and offering your action as a sacrifice to the Most High, suggesting in Colossians 3:23: “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” Be fully immersed in the moment, in other words, walking in faith, trusting in eternal progress. Next time you are sitting at work, hating every second, watching the clock wishing it would speed up so you can leave, just remember this lesson, and try to accept the now and immerse yourself in it somehow. Find something to do. Take action! There is a reason why time seems to disappear when we are in meditation for a while, when we are enjoying a great evening with friends, when one embarks on a visionary trip, when one indulges in creative passion.

If you would like to read more regarding this philosophy about living in the Now, about the constant change of the universe, about the perfection and the plan of life, consider reading ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle, an awesome book which I will soon write a summary on, and ‘Meditations’ by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

~ REBEL SPIRIT ~

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”

~ Alan Watts

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