You haven't heard from me for awhile as I have been debating this post with myself!  I watched a YouTube by my dear friend Mark Anthony Lord recently (which I share with you below underneath the photos)  and was inspired into reflection and contemplation. The topic is quite esoteric so I have not been sure if it is proper for this venue. It has to do with whether the world is real or has a reality separate from what we think it is has? Is there anything separate and apart from our unique perception and interpretation?  Can we ever really know what real real is? 

I am pretty sure that there may be a world out there, but our interpretation of the world, which seems to be the only meaningful reality, is within us. Based on our upbringing, education, and life experiences, each one of us sees differently. The world you experience, is not the world I experience. There may be some static reality but will we ever know what that is. I think it is possible since some humans have seemed to achieve the clarity to see beyond the illusion -  Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Dali Lama to name a few.

Humans predominantly view the world as solid and real and live our lives inside a story that is pretty fixed. This belief usually leaves us in a position of feeling like victims of circumstance, luck, money, war, poverty, hunger, government. It is not uncommon for us to feel as if we have very little influence or power over conditions and circumstances - personally and globally.

The $100 bill you hold in your hand does have some physical reality.  If you put that $100 bill into the hands of 50 people - the meaning each person brings to it creates their reality concerning money.  The meaning given is the source of how we work, save, spend and in general, how we feel about having or not having money.  If I say, “money is the root of all evil”, is that true?  If I say,“money is the source of all happiness”, is that true? You cannot separate yourself from your experience of life. Your experience of life is your life.   It doesn’t really matter what the "truth"  is.  You go to a party, have a great time and decide that it was a great party.  I go the same party, have a terrible time, and decide it was a terrible party.  Which one of us is right?  Which reality has to do with the party itself? (Hint: Neither)

I have often said that the world is neutral. This means that there is no inherent meaning in anything. All the meaning is in us.  All of it. The  source of so much mischief in the world is that we each believe our perceptions and interpretations to be the right, good and true one. We all know that people do all kinds of ridiculous and stupid  things in order to prove it.

Whether the world is "out there" or "in here" is not really a reasonable question which has an answer. Our physical senses are too ‘real’ for us to deny the physical existence of the material world.  We smell, touch, taste, hear and see. Some people love the taste of papaya and some hate it. Does delicious or distasteful exist in the papaya?  . The way we perceive everything arises from a phenomenon distinct from physical existence.  Our perception of the world arises out of what has happened, is happening or will happen with little to do with what actually is!

People, places, conditions, circumstances and things are neutral.  You and I are not. New Thought philosophies and quantum physics have begun to discover and explain our relationship to the manifested universe which essentially says that there is no unique "I" which exists apart from all that is. The observer and that which is being observed are intimately connected in a dance of co-creation - the observer and the observed change each other. This translates into personal power and choice.

Such an important thing to ponder. The understanding and living in this awareness will help to restore the world to its rightful place of love and cooperation.  The horrible things we read about will dissolve into some metaphysical relaxation.  More importantly, we might be emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually healthier people.  Think of all the money we can save on therapy! Wrap your heart around it so that you can laugh at how hard you have made your life.    What you and I believe to be the source of our suffering, frustration, limitations – all of it – may just be one big  illusion.

This misunderstanding is a human condition. We are all living inside an interpretation of an interpretation that has been being created through consciousness since the beginning of time.  Our family history, our cultural histories – religious histories.  People decided they knew reality, decided what it meant, drew an imaginary line in the sand and the games began.

We do not need to unravel the past or try to fix the world.  We can simply start from where we are and begin to practice neutrality.  When something occurs, or a memory pops up, notice what arises in you.  Remember that whatever it is, that in and of itself is neutral and that you just added your individualized story to it.

It is from this space that an incredible lightness of being can arise.  Spiritual liberation is the releasing of the world to be as it is.  Once you know that you are the maker of meaning, you can then choose to make meanings that please you.  If you know that you are the meaning maker you can choose to make up meanings that you like!

So, this is what I have been wanting to think and talk about.  But I decided that it might be too much so decided against it. 

I will physically be back in Florida in 20 days.  And very excited to be in the same time zone with you.  Donna and Susan are arriving from the US this Saturday and we have a whole lot of South Africa to experience so stay tuned for just a bit more wild!

Love, love and more love,
Denise

PS. Don't let this boggle your brain