tify an error. This psycho-spiritual approach acts as a dynamic element in releasing the negative effects of past and present actions in people's lives by cleansing spiritually, mentally and physically through a process of repentance, forgiveness and transmutation. The ho'oponopono is a truth-seeking, non-judging, solution-oriented process… ~ from http://www.healthsurvey.com/hoopono.htm

Feedback from my article written in the first week of September 2006 has been amazing. As promised to Mark Head (see his article, The Declaration of Interdependence, below on my site), one of the people who took time to contact me about that article, this is a follow-up and elaboration of my experience and insights gained from practicing this powerful technique. I would like to challenge anyone who would like to see healing take place in his or her own life, the lives of those they care about, and the life of humanity on Planet Earth to seriously consider implementing this process. In fact, I would boldly suggest that ALL people who see themselves as “spiritual” must connect and identify with the greater whole in order to facilitate peace on Earth.

We are here, I believe, as Lightworkers to help facilitate the transition from the Age of Pisces to the Aquarian Age. Many of us are facing significant battles in our personal lives: whether health, financial, legal, social, relationship issues or some other problem and apparent obstacle. Many I speak with indicate mounting pressure of some sort. My suggestion is that we are feeling a type of spiritual warfare that offers the opportunity for healing the deepest parts of our being.

This stress is not limited to those called Lightworkers either. The entire planet is caught up in a radical energy shift that I believe will forever change the paradigms that have formed our collective, human reality for eons. Some have said that astronomers indicate the outer planets in the solar system now actually have what appears to be a halo or aura around them. This is, we are told, the photon belt; and it is moving across our planetary system. It first showed up around Pluto about the time of the Harmonic Convergence (1989). It is now over Jupiter and seems to be accelerating as it begins its journey into the orbits of the central planets. In December, it will begin to encompass Earth; and by February to April, the entire solar system will be engulfed in this belt of Light particles that some metaphysicians say is Christ consciousness, or the energy of awakening and ascension.

If that is indeed what is happening, and I believe it is, everything on Earth is energetically rising. The very frequency of our bodies and the entire physical reality around us is increasing. Global magnetics, we are told, are decreasing towards zero point at the same time. (For a more detailed explanation on this, check out some of Gregg Braden’s excellent work on zero-point energy.) Besides this, our very DNA is being altered to allow reception and transmission of the new energies that facilitate ascension. What does all this mean? Massive change! Something new is on the horizon and it is coming our way...fast. Many already feel it.

Manifestation time is also accelerating. In other words, our thoughts and words are materializing more rapidly. This is both positive and negative. Those who see themselves as disconnected and isolated will, for the most part, be sending out fear vibrations. The same is true for those who live with the illusion that they have been in charge, as in leaders at government, corporate, and institutional levels. They, too, attempt to increase fear so that they can maintain their control over the population. These things are manifesting quickly.

So, what is the positive side? What action can we take to counterbalance the fear? My answer is ho’oponopono. In order for it to work, however, I believe we must see with the eyes of our hearts that all of life is interconnected. To me, there can be no healing without acknowledging the reality of oneness and unity. We must take personal responsibility for having helped create the manifestations that we witness in our world. That’s a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people; yet it is the truth. The reality we have created, the one most humans fear, is the apex of creating what we are not.

For eons, we have been fed a line of goods that insists we are evil. Our history only confirms this in most minds. However, intrinsically we know right living from wrong living. We all want peace and harmony. We all desire to love and be loved. We all want our children to be happy—happier than we have experienced in life for ourselves. We want to live and prosper. We want what is good; yet that is often illusive. Does that illusiveness prove that we really are evil? I think not.

While there are people who seem to delight in hurting others, not one of them, I am sure, really likes being hurt. Yes, I know there are supposed to be masochists who derive pleasure from pain; but this is certainly a rare exception, and likely a sick mind seeking and creating punishment for the guilt it feels. I cannot imagine even the masochistic individual wanting to be tortured for real, not knowing if they will actually survive; nor can I imagine someone enjoying loss of anything they deem precious. It just goes against our nature...though some can and often do rationalize and justify perverse and unreasonable thinking and behavior.

So, if it is against our nature, why then does it exist in our experience? Why do tyrants rise up and take pleasure being sadists who create pain and suffering for others? Ho’oponopono, to me, gives us an answer; and that answer lies in our perception of reality.

The human experience is based on separation. That is human consciousness, for it appears that we are separated. Yet, mystics and spiritual people throughout the ages have said it is not true: We are NOT separate, but one, they teach. Here comes the rub, the impasse.

If we continue to see only from the physical perspective of reality, which masters call illusion, we are doomed to continue creating what we have always created. The problem is, what we have always created seems, to the informed observer, to have grown so large, so ominous, that it threatens the planet and all life upon it. Are we willing to take that leap of faith that will bridge the gap and heal our world? Are we willing to really love as we have never loved before? Are we willing to accept the revelation that we really are one, that we really are connected?

Ho’oponopono requires just that. That hurt, angry human being we see, wherever he or she may be, is part of us. We can continue to deny it. We can try to avoid it. We can even conspire to eliminate the condition represented by the other person, or the person him or herself. All of these reactions circumvent the issue. The issue is: we don’t want to own and accept that they are part of us, even though that is the ONLY way we can love and heal. We cannot rectify the situation without this perspective. You can believe that, or not. If not, what is your solution?

When I look at a situation or person that I see as painful or threatening, I have a choice: to love or not to love. If I truly see “them” or “it” as part of me, as my creation, then I can say in all sincerity, “I’m sorry.” With humility, I can say, “I love you.” To whom am I giving love? To myself and all that is connected to me! My perspective of reality has shifted to allow me to love in a whole new way; and this rectifies the error that created the problem. Forgiveness and healing then flow. However, it’s not simply saying words as if they are the magic formula. It won’t work, if that is your perspective. It’s about taking responsibility for everything that is in your life. Everything! And the only way you can take responsibility is if you are willing to see wholeness and unity in all things. No separation!

Do you understand the subtlety and power of this shift? It’s so simple, yet so difficult. We have been locked into separation consciousness forever, it seems. Its invisible tentacles have wrapped around our minds to the point where it seems impossible to cut ourselves loose. Yet, if we are willing to keep on saying, “I’m sorry,” and mean it within the context I described, changes occur.

Within weeks of beginning the practice myself, situations that seemed unsolvable suddenly resolved themselves without much effort on my part. Relationships that were severed suddenly were healed through forgiveness. Even the lawsuit that has plagued me and threatened my life in many ways for over a year seems close to settlement. Little things, it may seem, but they are huge to me. They reveal a power at work that is beyond coincidence.

I continue to work on the bigger issues, world issues, including the criminal government of the USA that I helped co-create. As much as it hurts to acknowledge, “they” are an extension of me. This brings me to a sticky subject.

I do not and cannot feel connected to something I judge as horrendous and a complete distortion of everything I know myself to be. All of my self-descriptions fall apart when I try to see “them” as “my” mirrors. I feel pain; and I am taught that pain is resistance to what is. I am taught that love has no resistance—that love merely accepts what is. I am taught that I must love the negative feelings that arise in my mind, body, and consciousness. I am taught—and have taught it myself—that this is our shadow crying out for love.

Ok, suppose this is true. What is it then that I am resisting? Am I resisting what really is; or am I resisting the caricature and the distortion of what is? Can an illusion be resisted? I don’t think so; at least it does not make sense to me. If the illusion is not real, neither can any resistance to it be real. I can only resist what is real. Separation—and all of the thoughts, feelings and creations made by believing myself to be separate—is not real, regardless of appearances. These creations are really the fruit of my resistance to what I really am: part of God and, as such, a powerful co-creator. What, then, is my shadow?

For years I have taught about embracing the shadow. Many have resisted that teaching; and many others have embraced it in theory, if not in practice. It’s good psychology. Is it the truth though?

I have been working on this article for nearly two weeks. Though I have sat down with it several times, it was not coming together for me. There was a missing piece that I simply could not find. I feel as if it is coming to me now as I further explore, with you, what may be the root of our problem: coming to grips with the false “reality” we created.

Over this time, I have had some emotional lows as well as some truly mountaintop experiences. The latter, in looking back analytically, were those times I was seeing myself as connected to the whole, receiving grace from higher dimensions, and loving life. I was the priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. I was the son of the Most High God. I was the servant of humanity. I was whole and powerful, commanding peace on earth and healing for all.

Then I would talk to my friend who would mirror back to me the illusions of separateness. Because I saw him as an inspired teacher, I took to heart his assessment that I still wasn’t getting it. I felt my doubt, my insecurity, my alienation, and my separateness rise up. I felt badly. Guilt resurfaced, along with a subtle hint of shame. I questioned the powerful feelings I had been experiencing only a short while before. Was I merely deluding myself? Was this friend serious, or merely playing devil’s advocate to help me break through deeper levels of emotion trapped in my body?

Here’s what is coming to me now. It may not be the final answer; but it feels right in this moment. See if you can relate.

Which self do I choose? Do I choose the sense of self that I created by the illusion of separation; or do I choose the Self that sometimes feels like an illusion, but is based on the perspective of oneness and unity? This seems like the right question. A Voice inside yells, “It is!”

When I make the second choice, to see the interconnectedness of all that is, the other self, the ego, protests. I feel the protest as it tries to protect me from losing my sense of identity and purpose as defined by the ego. All bad feelings follow, one after another, as I listen to and entertain its concerns. It’s a gift; and I can love the fact that it is showing me the error of perception that creates the false reality that I naturally resist because it is not who I really am. However, I don’t like the feelings for the feelings themselves. I am not a masochist. I take no pleasure in feeling badly. Nor am I a sadist who takes pleasure in trying to make someone else feel bad. These things are against the nature of who and what I really am. It is totally out of character for me to love evil, because evil is the result of incorrect self-identification. It is a lie, a delusion, and a deception, which has no eternal reality. It is not how I choose to live! The Wisdom of my heart gives me better choices.

I am a Son of God. When that is my identity, my realization, I love naturally, for Love is my true, divine nature. When I see that Truth, I know that Sons of God do not do evil, they do not manipulate or coerce, and they are not violent. Sons of God are Princes of Peace and Master Physicians. Sons of God take upon themselves the sins of the world by identifying with everyone (as in ho’oponopono). They exude healing and forgiveness for they always come from a place of unity and oneness. “I and my Father are one; and you are one in us.”

Now (sorry this is so long, but I must go on), Sons of God choose, from their place in eternity, to become sons of men. Upon physical birth, memory is erased. This is on purpose, by design. There is a role to be played. Sometimes that role seems evil; but the evil can only be created because the role player forgot his or her true identity. Conscious beings, knowing who they are, cannot commit evil; only unconscious beings can. From the eternal perspective, God not only allows this, but also ordains it. Why do I say that?

Humans have become trapped in physical reality, stuck on the wheel of karma, going round and round again, ever returning without remembering who they are while in physical form. Some insist that God does not care, that He is only impersonal energy or a genie in a bottle that always gives us what we want. I don’t see it that way at all. God is Love. Love is never, nor can it be disinterested. That is a New Age deception of massive proportions and, to me, a lie channeled from deceptive spirits. I fully accept the Christian position that God is personal, and feels every pain and joy. God knows everyone of us intimately, for we are all part of IT, of HIM, of HER. We are sons and daughters of the Living God. That’s why God ordains and allows some to come and play major shadow roles. (Actually all of us play shadow roles to some extent, the extent of our unconsciousness.) That’s why there is a devil in our reality. It’s as much a part of God as everything else; and though it has no eternal reality, it has a role to play. Why? Because we embarked on a journey into separation and got lost! Perhaps, so did the devil. The shadow is our teacher, always present to remind us that something remains out of harmony and balance.

Until we come to our senses and remember who we are, evil, the teacher, will be allowed to exist somewhere in the cosmos. This is true until every soul returns, in my opinion.

Earth, however, stands at the door of great opportunity. Light of Truth, the photon belt, is shining as has not happened here for a very long time in the drama. To me, it is coming from the very heart of God. Yes, we could destroy Earth again; and yes, it has happened before on this planet, which geological records show. That’s not our destiny though. This time, many of us are recognizing the higher truth of our reality. As we do, as we say, “I’m sorry; I love you,” we shift the energy from the deceived ego to the authentic Self. That Self is a Master of Love and, as said before, a Prince of Peace. What we have termed “miracles” become commonplace; and the things Jesus Christ and others did by the power of God, we shall do also, and greater things than these shall we do as we change the world and transmute negative energies into positive results.

We can heal. We will heal. It’s a small shift for man, and a huge shift for mankind. Let the miracles continue! Now! Namaste

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YES, I AM STILL A CHRISTIAN…

© By Ron Van Dyke, written October 4, 2006

And the Eternal Christ is the very essence of and purpose for my life! However, Christ does not equal a religion for me, not even Christianity! The ministry of Jesus Christ IS the ministry of reconciliation. Walls come down!

What is my background? I was raised in the Assembly of God. My mother’s family was mostly staunch Baptists. I come from a family with several ministers, missionaries, and nearly everyone was an active church worker. I preached my first sermon at age fourteen in the largest Assembly of God Church in New Jersey. Many said I would become another Billy Graham or Oral Roberts. At seventeen, my parents informed me that they had cut a deal with God before I was born. Instead of going to the mission field—deepest, darkest, Africa or other such place lacking more modern conveniences—they would give their first born to God. That’s me. From earliest childhood, I cultivated a personal relationship with God, as I understood the Divine. I carried my Bible to school, read it from cover to cover most years in my teenage and early adult life, and memorized many verses of scripture. I have dedicated and committed my life to God so many times I have lost count. This is my heritage and training.

The Holy Spirit had other plans for me—other than staying inside the walls of organized religion. In fact, I no longer see most Christian churches as having anything to do with the liberating and challenging message of Jesus of Nazareth. Still, my heart goes out to people of faith, and not only Christians. So many today are lost in holy books about God that are claimed to be written by God through Divinely inspired and infallible humans. Yeah, right! So many have God in a box, carefully hedged in by their private interpretation of the tenets of their particular deified book. Nevertheless, God and His Eternal Son, the Cosmic Christ, cannot be contained in a religion, a book, or any structure or form. The Divine reality is both beyond and within all things great and small; and Christ (or any other name for this reality) is the true Light that lights ever human ever born. In Him (or Her) we live and move and have our being. Of Him, all things consist.

So what about today’s religions that call themselves Christian? I have watched videos of youth being trained right here in America, instructed to be part of God’s army with many being willing to even kill for their concept of God, their religion. I’m not talking about Muslim communities here either. See Jesus Camp: http://www.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/jesuscamp/trailer/. Something’s terribly wrong with this picture. Where is the love of God?

Oh, it’s very human ego-centered to want to eliminate those who are different. Even the disciples of Jesus, James and John, wanted to rain fire down from heaven on those Samaritans who did not respond the their Master’s message and receive them. Jesus responded, in essence, “You do not know what spirit you are manifesting here. (It wasn’t the Holy Spirit!) I did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (See Luke 9:51-56)

Why is it this way? Even the Bible itself provides the answer. Jesus said to the most scripture oriented religionists in his day, the Pharisees, “You search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; but you do not come unto me that you might actually experience Life.” Even Paul wrote, “The letter (of scripture) KILLS; but the Spirit gives Life.” (See 2 Corinthians 3:6) What is the clear message? Scripture does not liberate; it holds one in bondage to their limited ideas!

Among Christians, many are modern day Pharisees wearing masks, hypocrites. Now we call them fundamentalists. It’s not limited to Christianity either. We have Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and even Buddhists who separate from others based on letter-oriented interpretations of their scriptures or traditions. Yes, they can find supporting passages for their behavior and attitude. Again, it does not liberate the soul of man; and it certainly does not demonstrate the Love of God.

If we modern humans are going to fulfill what the prophets and seers from every major religious tradition tried to teach, we need some serious attitude adjustments. We need, as Paul wrote to the Romans (chapter 12), to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And what mind did he hold up as the example? “Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be EQUAL with God…” (See Philippians 2:5-8) And how do we know whose minds have been transformed? Jesus said, “By their fruits you shall know them.” John added in his epistle, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and everyone that loves is born of God, and knows God. He that does not love does not know God, for God IS LOVE!”

What do we see from these scriptures? Do those who claim to be followers of Jesus bear the fruit of Love, which it the primary fruit of the Holy Spirit according to Paul? Did Jesus teach that we are to only love those who agree with us? Or did He teach that we are to love even our enemies, to do good to those who despitefully use us and say all manner of evil against us falsely? Everyone whose heart is awakening to Godliness knows the answers. They are within us—whatever religious tradition or scripture we claim as our own. It would be self-evident, were it not that we purposely deceive ourselves by the vain attempts to prove ourselves right in the sight of others and gain the approval of men. Don’t look so pious. We all have done it, and every one of us still has that tendency no matter how spiritual we see ourselves—even me. The questions are: Can we grow up and actually become like Master Jesus or other saints? Can we do the “even greater things” Jesus said we would be able to do because He went to the Father? Can our lives embody the UNCONDITIONAL love of God for everyone?

You notice I threw in that word: unconditional! Who is my neighbor that I am commanded to love as I love myself? Everyone you meet, whether in the grocery store, your church or house of worship, and even on the ones on the TV screen who live on the other side of the world! You have approximately six and a half billion neighbors on this planet alone—and that’s only the ones we can see with our physical eyes. There are billions more just beyond the scope of our natural sight: angels, ET’s, and beings from other dimensions of reality. It’s a big universe; and we are not alone here.

But, Ron, what about the devil? How can we handle evil? How can we protect ourselves and keep from being hurt?

Do you not see? Have you not read that Love covers a multitude of sins? Is it any wonder Jesus told us to love our enemies? What if we simply l-i-v-e-d life instead of being so concerned with the d-e-v-i-l behind every imagined bush? When we get it backwards, there is a devil and evil of our own creation and perception. When we get it backwards, we do not love others, and not even ourselves. We cannot. All we can do is produce evidence to confirm our reasons to be afraid. We are supporting fear, not love. And what did the angels and Jesus have to say about fear? Simple. FEAR NOT!

Yes, Ron Van Dyke is still a Christian, more so now than when I was actively attending the evangelical, charismatic and fundamentalist churches in which I was raised and spent most of my life. By the grace of God, however, I was led outside the camp. That’s what the writer of Hebrews admonished us to do: “Let us go forth unto Him (Christ) outside the camp…” (See Hebrews 13:13) I went outside my safe, cloistered community of belief and discovered Christ as All and in all. I learned to see Him as Lord of all…not only my group, not only those who use the same words I was taught to use, and certainly not only those I agree with on the meaning of life. To me, everyone is a Christed being, a son and daughter of the Living God. Most have forgotten. My job is simply to love them as they are. No judgment! No prayers to bring fire down on them from heaven! No attempts to try to prove that they are wrong so that I can be confirmed in my sense of rightness! Why? Because I have come to know God and Christ on a personal level! I have learned that Love (agape or divine love) does not have conditions. I have learned that when I love myself as I am with whatever I am choosing to experience, I can allow others the freedom to also choose their own experiences…in others words, to actually love them as they are. What a concept!

What happens when you learn to love like this? Love heals! It heals my heart, my soul, and my life. It heals my perceptions of reality. It heals my vision of the future. What else? It connects me with all of life, breaking down the artificial barriers erected by my ego to keep me separate and distinguishable from others. It allows me to see just how powerful and creative Love is. It is truly God: omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. In fact, Love is the most creative Power in the entire Cosmos: universes without end. It is love that removes the need for Armageddon and brings down principalities and powers created, not to set us free, but to enslave us. And who created this evil in high places? We did, all of us together by forgetting that we are all eternal, divine beings. And God gave us the freedom to forget, to create the experience of what we are not. Why? Because God loves freedom and His grace is abundant enough to allow us our personal journeys of discovery. Nevertheless, His objective as He allowed us to embark on our long voyages has always been for us to remember who we are: that we are all cut from the same cosmic cloth of life, all brothers and sisters on the journey home. As I’ve written before, it’s the age-old drama called prodigal son/daughter. Remember, the party for the returned son was exuberant, for he that was dead is alive again and he that was blind now sees. He that is forgiven much loves much. The question is, can we forgive ourselves? We are the judges of our own experiences, not God. Guilt is virtually useless. Can we let it go? Love does!

As I begin to wrap up, it is important to make it as clear as I can. I am not against the Bible or other sacred books. God has spoken to mankind in all ages to all peoples. Much can be learned from all these revelations and stories. However, the Word of God is Living and incarnate (made flesh). It cannot be fixed in any book. It is always now. While reflection on where we have been is profitable for understanding where we are, it is but a prison to attach meaning to anything from the past that is used to define our future. As Jesus told us, many have come in His name…deceiving many. That’s past and present. When we learn to let go (as Paul wrote: “Letting go of the past…”) of our preconceived doctrines, choosing Love instead, we will co-create, with God, the future envisioned by prophets of all religions from time immemorial. And a glorious future it is! However, God will not do it for us, only with us. That’s the nature of reality.

Now is the day of salvation. Our redemption is at hand. The enemy is we, ourselves, as we try to maintain the status quo. That’s impossible. The move of the Holy, Great Spirit that created all things is transforming the world. That Spirit is being poured out upon ALL flesh. Everyone, small and great, is affected. The words of the prophet quoting the Voice of Him who sat upon the throne ring out: BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW!

I set before you Life and death. Death is an illusion. It’s not real. Which will you choose? I set before you Love and fear. Fear is not real either. Which will you choose? I set before you Self and ego. Ego is but a fleeting experience, a drama we created in time. Self is eternal. Self is Christ the Divine in you. Which do you see as most important?

Yes, I am still a Christian, learning what is means to be Ronald Christ. Jesus of Nazareth is my elder brother, the Wayshower, the Truthteller, and the Lifegiver. I am in Him and He is in me. We are One. I have chosen to put on Christ, which is newness of life more abundant. It is the transforming Love of God.

I close with a Hindu word: Namaste. Christ in me recognizes and honors Christ in you. Thank you for choosing to honor Christ in all. Together we create the new Heaven and the new Earth. Hooray!

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LIBERATING LOVE BY SEEING OUR REFLECTION IN THE MIRRORS

© by Ron Van Dyke, September 17-21, 2006

Six and a half BILLION mirrors! … And that’s just “other” human beings and human news reflecting the issues that have faced us from the beginning of our journey. Other issues are reflected in the environment, nature, and the Earth itself.

“What are those issues?” you ask.

How deep would you like to explore it? It’s like peeling the layers of an onion. Each level reveals deeper truths.

I have some personal history in such exploration, having, it seems, been on a lifelong spiritual quest. From my background as a fundamentalist-charismatic Christian to the exploration of many other spiritual traditions, I became a local leader/servant in the metaphysical community. For five years, from 1996-2001, I published Paradox Magazine. These words were on every cover, “ A Purposely Provocative Publication…A Catalyst for Growing People. Like God, humans are enigmatic beings. Scaling our heights and plumbing our depths is the final and most important frontier. Our awesome task is to explore and make peace with the paradox.” I often referred to myself as “An equal-opportunity sacred cow kicker” in those pages.

That task, kicking cows, is morphing into something more: Liberating Love. Unfortunately, since we are so stubborn and so stuck as humans, we often need some serious prodding to release the delusions that block the Love deep inside of every one of us. Plus, we need to be freed from the conditioning that limits us in our journey towards wholeness.

Superficially, the issues are things that appear on the News, of which I have little expertise since I don’t waste my time watching it. The Internet is my news source. However, I can guess from what I have seen in the past and know about our culture that the news is mostly bad, mostly fear-based, and mostly controlled. It’s in your face, or at least the face of those who look in that mirror. The current buzzword seems to be TERRORISM; because our so-called leaders want us to be afraid, very afraid.

What will we see when we look into that mirror? Those who do not see fear are likely deluding themselves or are simply out of touch with their feelings. Of course it is fearful from the human perspective, and from human experience. Who, after all, likes war and killing and destroying and deception? Only those who profit from it! That leaves most of us out. Still, we can also profit by looking into the mirror. The reflection we see reveals the truth, our truth, if we are willing to admit it.

The human experience has been a fear-based series of events and lifetimes. Everyone ends up dying. When we do not know who we are, that is very frightening…and we have all forgotten. Some have called it collective unconsciousness or created amnesia. That’s why the leaders can hold up the mirror of terror and generate the fear they desire. It’s easy—except among those who are starting to remember, a number that is increasing exponentially, by the way.

What is it that WE are remembering? As we peer more deeply into our own fear of mortality, images fade in and out of view. These recollected images reveal something beyond the fear, or perhaps even hidden deep within it. They are images of immortality, images indicating that we are more than mere finite beings having a human experience. We are Spirit. However, unless you are able to sense those images in some manner and accept that they are revealing deeper reality, you won’t get it. You’re stuck in the surface layers, which offer little hope. That hope comes in the deeper layers, which everyone who is willing can access. In fact, Life keeps on presenting us with mirrors until we become willing. That’s called Love, believe it or not. Life Loves life! That’s its job. It loves us so much that it never quits; it never gives up on us. We are all Children of Life whose destiny is to rediscover that we are all Masters of Love, too.

In that discovery, the world will be transformed. It will not be done, however, because of wishful thinking or because we wave some magic wand. It can only be accomplished by looking in the mirrors and recognizing that we have some parts of us that we not only have been unwilling to love, but have actually despised and hated. The biggest reflection must be our own ignorance. Oh, it’s so easy to see ignorance in others, and judge them for it. How difficult it is to see that every one of us, even the most pridefully aware, sees only a fraction of what needs to be seen. Though it is increasing for many, we still use less than a quarter of our capacity (some say ten percent). Why? I contend it is because, despite all scientific evidence to the contrary, we still hang onto our separation consciousness for dear life. We still insist in polarizing our day-to-day reality. I find that I do it myself. So, what’s my reaction?

In the past, whenever I would see myself falling short of some ideal, I would judge myself…often harshly. This would never make it better though, only worse. It would actually strengthen my sense of separation and alienation. That’s not liberating love. It’s not healing my woundedness. It is, however, my natural tendency, natural because of constant repetition…habitual describes it even better.

So, how can I break the habit? Do I not need to get to the root? When I change the premise upon which I base my assumptions and judgments, will not my new reality produce a corresponding change? I think it will; it must.

God knows how much I’ve fought for my individuality; yet the message Spirit keeps on giving to me is that there is only one of us here. Six-and-half billion pieces of ONE! Am I willing to believe that? What are the consequences if I do? Am I willing to surrender my ego-created separateness in favor of making my interconnectedness and interdependence dominant? This is perhaps even more of a challenge for Americans and others in the western world where we seem to place a high premium on independence, which is a lie. Every one of us is dependent. That’s reality. Think for a moment. How would your life be if you were truly not dependent on anyone else for anything? A virtually impossible construct, would you not agree?

Suppose I gave my stomach independence, or one of my bones, or even my heart. Nonsense, right? Of course, but is it not equal nonsense to believe that as an individual I do not need anyone else? Yet many of us act exactly that way. If that happened in our body, we’d call it disease. What’s the difference? Does not our attempt to create separation in our life also produce disease? Are we not seeing a dis-eased culture all around us?

I think that, instead of making a declaration of independence, I need to make a declaration of interdependence. I need to look at every mirror around me and be thankful for my judgments of the reflections, knowing that they ARE reflections. What am I seeing? ME! Another part and expression of me, or perhaps of God!

I see the homeless man with his sign: WILL WORK FOR FOOD. Much stirs inside. I identify with feeling homeless in a world system that has alienated me. I identify with feeling hunger, hunger for recognition: SEE ME, HEAR ME, TOUCH ME, KNOW ME, HEAL ME. I identify with the need to work, to create, and recognize the need for direction: TELL ME WHAT TO DO. Feelings come up to consciousness: sadness, inadequacy, desperation, resentment, anger, and fear that I could end up experiencing that or worse. God forbid! Spiritually, I know the answers are inside of me, or so I’ve been told. Humanly, I have been trained to look outside of myself for affirmation that I am valuable—that I am worth something. I also feel compassion that is overruled by my own sense of lack and limitation. Then guilt sets in. How unenlightened of me to say NO to my brother because I lack trust in my own ability to produce what I may need in the future, fearful that the system may prevent me from creating the reality I really, really want to experience.

Then, I see the young mother in the grocery store with a child that is demanding something. She is frustrated and embarrassed at the public tantrum, and does her best to control the child. She reinforces what she has learned: YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT! She continues the same control factors that limit all of us to some degree or other. Again, I am saddened, knowing that even as an adult I cannot always get what I want. This depravation angers the child. I accept the limitation as the way it is. I have learned to rationalize; the child has not. Then, I recognize that the child in me has not learned it either; and never will. Why should I, or anyone, desire what we cannot have? Something screams, a silent scream for sure, yet audible if I listen closely: IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY!

Someone sends me an email railing on the Muslims, blaming them for the world’s ills. This really pisses me off as I see self-righteous ignorance at work. How many times have I been just as arrogant, scapegoating another individual or group and projecting my disdain? How often have I transferred my own negative feelings about myself onto someone else, as if they are responsible for my defectiveness and shortcomings? How often have I covered up my own negative feelings by creating a façade of propriety and piousness that was acceptable in our culture? How often have I hidden behind the hypocrisy of others so that I would not have to face and admit my own? It’s so easy be spiritual…much more difficult to be real. Yet I ask myself, is my spirituality just another façade? Oh, how well trained we have become in masking our deepest feelings. No wonder we do not heal. No wonder we are terrorized.

Illustrations could go on indefinitely. Each mirror reflects weakness, not strength. The ego, of course, denies those negative images. That’s its job. It projects only positive things, the gold and the glitter. It does not fulfill us. It cannot. It’s an empty shell.

From that emptiness, that void, comes another voice. It is the voice of Love. “It’s ok,” it reassures us, “you are not really broken. You chose these experiences. Embrace them. Accept them. Love them.”

The mind argues, “What do you mean? I want to get away from these things. I don’t like feeling bad. I…I…I…I…”

No one listens to the mental chatter. The mirrors keep popping up. Over and over we are shown reflections of what is going on inside of us. We try to hide from the images, to silence the screams. Faster and faster they appear. The cacophony reaches crescendo. We sink under the sheer weight of our own rejection of that which we have created. Knowing we are about to die, we surrender. “Ok, I admit it. This is my creation; and it really does not feel good. Help me. I am willing to learn. Make me receptive to Truth.”

Ah, the epiphany! As we surrender to the truth about our own creation, as we accept responsibility for everything we see in the mirrors, we liberate the Love that was there inside of us all along. Love then performs its magic, accomplishing the miracle of transformation. We see our creation that we thought was bringing us down, was actually lifting us higher. That, which we had always cursed, was actually a camouflaged blessing. By simply loving all that is as it is, everything changes. By resisting what we see and experience, nothing changes. What radical thinking!

Six and a half BILLION mirrors! Every one of them reflects the reality of the human drama. Every one of them echoes the same inner cry, “Love me!” Every one of them reveals the deep-seated resistance. Every one of them IS LOVE awaiting liberation.

Wait no more. It’s here now. The changes for which our hearts have longed are on the threshold today. As we look back on our human experience we say a genuine, “Thank you. I’m sorry. I love you.” As we look forward on our human transformation, words become inadequate. There is only joy! Oh, the marvelous power of Love that comes to us with such amazing grace. So be it now and forevermore. Namaste.

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AN UNLIKELY HERO: GEORGE W. BUSH

© by Ron Van Dyke, Tuesday, September 12, 2006

One of my favorite books of all time was The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. It’s a book about mythology and archetypes. The Hero is an archetype that depicts one who brings a boon to humanity, among other things. He or she is a blessing. G.W. is just such a hero.

“You’re telling us that Georgie Boy is a blessing to humanity? Ron, give us a break. That’s quite a stretch.”

I hear you; and if it were not for Spirit’s prodding and Serendipity’s revelations, it would be a stretch for me as well. Let me do my best to explain.

We live in a world of Divine experimentation where polarities can become polarized and warlike, which they have. The purpose of the experiment, simply, is to see if individuals with free will are able to choose their highest good, having forgotten who they really are. Therefore, WE were allowed to experience what it is like to be what we are NOT. Yes, we can act in a drama that is so real we do not even realize it is acting. Most humans are clueless, in fact, all of us to some degree. Even with the quantum awakening that is occurring, the human experience is one that leaves us mostly in the dark…but we don’t know it as darkness. We actually pretend that we see; and as long as our lives go smoothly, we have no reason to doubt or suspect anything different. It’s called complacency, or the comfort zone.

God’s intention, I believe, is for each of us to come to our senses, to actually wake up from the dream and remember that this is just a play, the long-running performance called: The Prodigal Son/Daughter. The only problem is, most egos continue the drama never realizing that there is more, much more, and never realizing their Divine heritage as Living Souls that are powerful creators.

So, God needed a hero, one who would be so ignorant of who he was that he would actually commit heinous crimes and think it was God’s will—that he was doing God a favor in trying to bring Armageddon to pass; and in a warped sort of way, he would be correct. However, being able to see just how correct it is depends on this: from which side of the paradox do you view events? If you are on the side of the paradox that thinks polarities must always be at war, that one must win over the other, then you will see “W” as either a hero or a goat. In the world of paradox, both are correct; yet there is another way to see it, a synthesis that creates a win-win result.

If you could perceive unity in diversity and know that the opposites only exist to show contrast, and nothing more, your definitions just might change a bit. Suppose God, or whatever you choose to call First Cause, contained all sets of opposites in balance and harmony? Suppose the ability to do that, to embrace the polarities without polarizing them, was actually LOVE? Suppose the inability to reconcile the opposites and ignorance of how to allow them to simply show contrast was actually fear? Finally, suppose the collective fear became so great that our apparent incapacity to resolve the conflict was leading towards global destruction, wiping out virtually all life on the planet? What would LOVE do?

Bear in mind that LOVE holds all polarities in peace; and that it is impossible for LOVE to choose one opposite over the other without totally destroying LIFE itself. Can you imagine—from the merely physical and scientific perspective of what we “know” to be true—eliminating all electrons because they carry a negative charge? What would happen to the world as we know it? Could it exist? Could the invisible forces of electricity and magnetism work? Could any life force or form remain?

I trust that your answer is the same as mine, although there are people who imagine just such a cosmos, one without polarity. If you think that can be a reality, you are more of a mystic than I am. Polarities are, to me, the “stuff” of everything and nothing: visible and invisible. Now, I can understand and even empathize with those who have struggled their entire lives to find that elusive peace, who say, “If only I could eliminate ‘that’ condition, or circumstance, or person, I would finally be able to get it together.” No, you wouldn’t! That’s a lie you are telling yourself, a lie we have all told ourselves. “They” or “it” is not the problem. The problem is yours and my reaction to whatever we sense as undesirable and see as outside of us. Polarization does not come from polarities; it comes from resistance, personal judgment that if we were creating the universe, we would do it differently.

Why did I write that last sentence? Instantly, thought after thought came to mind from the storehouse of my memory in which I resisted what I was experiencing, judging it, and blaming God. I’ll bet I’m not alone either. Even among the most pious in our midst, that judgment comes to mind again and again. We have a hard time, finding it virtually impossible to simply accept what is without an emotional charge and reaction.

Now, let’s turn our attention back to George. He IS President of the United States of America at this time. It doesn’t matter if he stole the elections, which he likely did. It doesn’t matter if he was involved in the 9-11 plot, which he likely was. It doesn’t matter if he has lied to the American people and the world repeatedly, which nearly everyone would admit he has. Regardless of our many self-justified opinions about his character or his actions in office, he holds that office and occupies that place in current affairs. Period, end of argument! What is—IS.

Think. Of all the people who have lived in history, who, while living, has been the most hated? I believe it is George W. Bush. I do not believe he makes all or even most of the decisions made by his administration; but I do believe he is the focal point for all that is done in the name of the government of the USA. As such, with the population of the world higher than we have ever had before, with instantaneous communication through media and the Internet, and with the rage being stirred up around the world, I have no trouble believing that over half the world’s population holds him in utter contempt. Many millions would, if given the chance, kill him.

What do you think it would do to you energetically to have that much rage focused on you? Even if you do not believe that thoughts are things that have a real effect, you had to have experienced negative energy in your life, energy you could feel even if you could not understand it. Keep thinking. How do you think George feels?

As I sat here for several minutes doing what I am asking you to do, heaviness came over me. I feel as if I could cry. Why? Because I know that George Bush is just as much God’s child as I am, and he is playing a role I could not imagine myself playing…even knowing it’s just a role. Somebody had to bring the darkness of human ignorance and lift it so high that everyone could see it, everyone would be forced to act or react. Choices would have to be made; and George Bush, at the Soul level, chose to be that most needed, most hated villain. That’s more love than I can imagine; yet, in this moment, I can feel it.

I can see how I have clung to my own ignorance. I can see how thinking I was so smart was nothing other than self-deception. From that deceived part of me, that role of arrogance I chose, I can see how I created the need for George Bush and those Luciferian light workers to conspire against humanity, bringing the world to brink of annihilation in order that we remember what LOVE really is. It’s what I really am…and you, and you, and you, and you, too…even George. In the beginning, when all that existed was God, God created polarities so that Life could be experienced and known by each individual soul according their own desire. Such Freedom! Such Love!

And what is love? Is it not seeing our most feared enemy as our greatest teacher? Is it not honoring those whose souls have been willing to create the horrendous caricatures of rebellion so that we could finally see ourselves lost and blind and dead while sleepwalking through our dramas? Is it not being thankful for the birth pain that precedes the joy of new creation? Is it not realizing that without darkness, light would have no meaning? Is it not the wisdom of coming to know that the gift of opposites was made so that we would have partners with which to dance…you and I?

This piece has been working on me for several days now. I resisted writing it. I struggled at the start. Then it grabbed me, and pulled me in. It brought me to the place where I can’t hate anymore…not even George Bush. More than that, it transformed something deep inside that enables me to see him as the real hero he is. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

However, the deed and the person are not identical. He and his cohorts will not succeed in destroying America and creating a New World Order based on greed, secrecy, terror, intimidation, violence, fear, war and a host of other “tools” used in the Great Awakening. (Those tools do not reflect the essence of what humans truly are; they reflect what we are not.) I would hope the reason they will not succeed is obvious by this point. The failure of their imagined goals will not be because we rose up and tried to eliminate the enemy, but because we expanded our consciousness enough to remember how to love again, to remember that we ARE LOVE in all of its Divine Perfection and Wisdom. We now choose, many, many, many of us, to let the ripples of LOVE encompass everyone, everywhere; and in so choosing, the world is transformed, because LOVE heals. LOVE restores balance and harmony. LOVE unifies the soul…and the SOUL. And we ARE like GOD, for we are finally seeing GOD as GOD really is: LOVE without condition. We allow that LOVE to encompass us, individually and collectively.

So, what happens to the dark heroes? Eventually, in God’s good graces, they come home. We all do. That’s the Divine Drama; and there’s no place else to go. And when “they” decide to come to themselves: and return again, we will go out to meet them, throw our arms around them, and say the biggest THANK YOU possible. Then we party. That’s the LOVE of GOD! It reverberates to the edges of the Circle of Reality, touching the center of God in every one of us, our deep heart in which we are each connected to ALL THAT IS.

Come home. Let your tears of joy flow. Let’s wipe them from each other’s eyes…and dance!

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WHAT YOU FOCUS ON EXPANDS

WHAT YOU DENY REMAINS UNHEALED

© By Ron Van Dyke, Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Virtually every metaphysician and every student of spiritual and esoteric “truth” has heard the first dictum. It has been declared repeatedly in many well-circulated books, movies, and channelings. The second one is less well known; in fact, I never heard it at all until my meditation this morning. Its truth resonates within me. Hopefully, it will find resonance in you as well.

It is my belief that the more we understand this principle, and embrace the realities implied therein, the faster we will be able to move forward with healing the less-than-desirable conditions we—collectively—have created, i.e., the human experience of fear-based emotions with all of their ramifications. These “conditions” are those we try to avoid and deny. They are the “negative” energies and creations we are not supposed to focus upon for “fear” of expansion. Too late! They’ve already expanded; and they stare every one of us in the face daily: demanding our choice and action.

As Librans are wont to do, I have always looked for balance. When I viewed the movie, The Secret, that everyone raved so much about, I was troubled. To me, it was unbalanced; and the people who seemed to rave about it most sometimes give the impression of being in denial to me. Those who know me know that I have never been an advocate of head-in-the-sand mentality. Often I have written about the importance of being aware of as much as possible, because not only is knowledge power, without it there can be no intelligent choice. Without that conscious choice, personal and global maladies remain unhealed.

Too often, the tendency in human behavior is avoidance and denial of those things in our lives that we would rather not deal with at all. We stuff these “negatives” into our subconscious, attempting to lock them into the closet or basement where all of our dirty laundry and less-than-beautiful demons hide out. Yes, Jung called this part of ourselves: “The Shadow.”

“Ron, when are you going to stop talking about the shadow? When are you going to accept the fact that many of us do not want to deal with those things? We are creating a positive world!”

Yeah, right. My head isn’t in the sand; and I see the world WE have created together. I choose to heal, and to face things I don’t like very much either. I am Spirit having human experience; and I am convinced in my heart of hearts that the human experience has great value. The purpose of that familiarity with contrast is ultimate reconciliation of all things—marrying the polarities within us and creating a synthesis between opposites that allows them to dance the dance of Life itself in beauty and harmony. This, I believe, is an internal choice and action that literally transforms the world by transmuting the enemy and making it a friend. (Are our demons really friends who teach us by showing where we need to heal?)

Speaking of friends, one recently gave me a photocopy of an article from Horizons Magazine about Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. He is the president and administrator of Ho'oponopono (which means "to make right," or "to rectify an error"), a foundation created by Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona, a native Hawaiian kahuna to discover self-identity and become the divine self. Together with Morrnah, Haleakala has worked with thousands of people over the years, including groups at the United Nations, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), International Human Unity Conference on World Peace, World Peace Conference, Traditional Indian Medicine Conference, Healers for Peace in Europe, and the Hawaii State Teachers Association. He also has extensive experience working with developmentally disabled people and with the criminally, mentally ill and their families. In all his work as an educator, the Ho'oponopono process supports and permeates every breath of his efforts.

Interestingly, that was my third encounter with Dr. Hew Len’s work. I first heard him on News for the Soul with Nicole Whitley. Then another friend forwarded a piece to me about him. Finally, I was handed the aforementioned article. All this was in the space of two weeks. To me, that has all the markings of a message of importance.

What is very different about Dr. Hew Len’s approach is that he takes personal responsibility for everything in his life. If he encounters a problem, it is HIS problem (even if it appears to be in another person). He is the one who needs to do healing work…on himself. Amazingly, as he repeats, “I’m sorry. I love you,” circumstances in the lives of those he works with change; but the change began in him. That’s taking personal responsibility to a whole new level of consciousness. If “others” are pushing my buttons, the problem I perceive in “them” is actually in me. It is MY problem presenting ME with MY opportunity to heal it.

What happens if I chose to ignore the problem altogether? What happens if I focus only on what I like, the things that I do not perceive as pushing my buttons? Have you figured it out yet? My answer, should you choose to accept it, is that nothing changes. Nothing happens. Everything remains the same; and we are what we are till the day that we die. No growth! Succeeding generations stay stuck in the same old morass of polarized reality; and of the polarities it can be said, “Never the twain shall meet.”

As difficult as it is to take responsibility for things I do not like, things I believe are the result of someone else’s choice, I have to realize something vital. While I am an individual, I am also part of a much larger collective; and whatever I choose to think, say or do, does effect the whole. The collective called “the human race” has been on a journey into a “far country” to experience separation. Yes, we are the prodigal son and daughter. We embarked together on this journey, creating an entire system of illusions to support the separation perception we had chosen. That system contained everything we needed to “prove” that we were not one, that we’re not connected. Every negative emotion that can be named or felt is the direct result of our trip into this fantasyland we created.

What rules this dream, this world of illusion? FEAR! Even though it is not based in truth, we are such powerful creators that separation appears real. We think about it; we feel it; and we act upon it. Perceiving the disconnect as real, we suffer the painful, fear-based emotions of not good enough, unloved, shamed, angry, lonely, abandoned, neglected, guilty, deprived, sad, weak, lost, limited, and so many more. Because we feel these things and believe them to be real; and because we cannot see the reality of the interconnectedness that still exists as fact, we think those with separate bodies are somehow different than we are. We project OUR guilt onto “them”…the other person. After all, we do not even like the problems we see; and as long as we can stay out of the gutter, we can justify our judgment of those in the gutter. We rationalize that “they” made bad choices. It’s “their” fault.

Yes, and we do not want to even look at “those bad people” in prison, or up there in Washington, or over in the Middle East, or in Communist China, or anywhere else in the world where we think the problems originate. Oh, yes, I’m as guilty of doing this as the next person. I have done the “avoid-dance” myself. It’s the Illuminati’s fault, the Zionists, the Bush regime, the Masons, or whatever scapegoat my investigation can uncover that allows me to transfer the blame for what I have created with the rest of humanity to any small segment of the whole. Therefore, I can avoid personal responsibility for MY creation.

But can I really? Does anything change, either within or without? Emphatically, NO!

I am suggesting to you that some of our most cherished “truisms” may, in fact, be very misleading. The one we began with—what you focus on expands—may be the exact opposite of reality. The truth, as I see it, is that we are actually focusing on avoidance and denial of what we want to go away; and it is the very thought of ignorance (ignoring what we do not like) that CAUSES the problem to remain and grow. Have you noticed that the problems seem to keep getting larger; or have you chosen to look elsewhere? Do you think you can make these situations diminish or disappear by simply denying their existence in this “reality of illusions” WE have created? I think not!

Hear me, I am NOT suggesting that we must fight and wage war against any perceived enemy that appears to be outside of us. On the contrary, that kind of focus is certain to bring more of the same; i.e., terrorism and war. What I am saying, is that we must see from an entirely different perspective, and create a more holistic paradigm in which each of us is responsible for healing and correcting our valued misconceptions, beginning with our own self-righteousness that is nothing other than a defense mechanism created to avoid and shift blame.

To do this, we must focus intently on the problems WE (holding ourselves accountable) created. What I have been doing since having Dr. Hew Len’s work hit me squarely in the face is to look at the things I do not like, think to myself, “I created this,” and then say, “I’m sorry. I love you.” I haven’t had a long enough time as yet to ascertain the results, but I deeply feel that this is both new and powerful. At some level, I already know it is working. I can feel it.

In closing, I am learning to become grateful for everything in my life. I am finding that I am actually able to be thankful for those things I have hated. I love my body. I love my physical existence. I love my illusions. I love having the opportunity to heal myself by remembering that I am more than any of this human experience. When I choose to give up my body, I still go on and on and on. I am eternal, connected, loved, and graced with the chance to learn more about my amazing being by going through things that teach me what I am not. Do you have any idea how expansive this is, how liberating? I tell you, my friends, this is LOVE. But until you are able to see beyond your fear, you will only be able to see it afar off.

I am sorry. I do love you. Aloha

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THE PARADOXMAN SPEAKS: THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST!

© by Ron Van Dyke, August 30, 2006

We live in interesting times. That’s an understatement. The dramas being played out on the world stage are mind-boggling. Two worlds are colliding in a virtually invisible confrontation. You won’t see it on the six-o’clock news or even on the 24-hour news channels. You won’t read about it the daily newspaper or in most mainstream journals and magazines. For the most part, the government is mum. The sermons from most pulpits are devoid of acknowledging, let alone articulating the awakening that is happening before our very eyes—at least those eyes opened to see beyond, behind, and beneath the surface of approved news and commentary. For all those who do not see, especially those who refuse to see and say, I have a word: “The first shall be last!” Those who have ruled by deception, by secrecy, by conspiracy, by greed, by force, by intimidation, by violence, by treason, by cover-up, by scapegoating, by smearing, by perverting justice, and by the sheer arrogance of egocentric pride: your day is passing quickly into history. The last shall soon be first; and the shift will be obvious.

Like most others in the last brigade of this era, I have been up and down, excited and depressed, eager and frightened, thankful and worried, confident and anxious, along with a host of other contradictions. Sometimes, I’ve almost wanted to give up; but as one person reminded me, “almost is a big word.” As with others, the first-string team has managed to pull the rug out from under me more than once. I have had my ego bruised and battered. I have listened to the old progr