1 - "Oaky Budding" by Nina
“Be And Become What You Aspire To” "This being and thing we call the divine, or refer to by any number of names, sexes and indefinable singularities, is a part of us. It’s not out there somewhere, apart from us in some kind of a distant heaven. It’s not separate from us. It’s not something other than
us. It composes and animates everything and is (contradiction alert) also apart from us
in a certain sense. Its power and presence make up everything and there is never a time in the cosmic order when there is more power manifest than there is in reserve. This is always the case." The material sun is the source of all physical life on Earth and symbolizes the internal spiritual sun that is the true source of everything, including the manifest sun, which
obtains all its power and virtue from it. Those who have worshipped the material sun over the centuries are also afflicted with that same sense of separation, confusion, desperation and despair that I’ve alluded to. The true sun is within and that is the
being we need to come into the presence of. We are already in that presence but our awareness of this is not activated. It’s the awareness of the indwelling that has to be
ignited, as if it were a candle, or something lit that grants illumination in the darkness of the mind. You become what you identify with. The key to unity is merging. If the mind defines itself as separated from something then the perception is of distance and separation. One would be greatly informed by reading the works of yogis and mystics, concerning
their relationship to the divine. So long as you see yourself at a distance from the thing you seek then you are at a distance, at least in the way you understand it.
The idea is to go about all of your actions as if it were the divine who was engaged in them. When you eat, you eat as if it were the divine who was engaged in it. When you commit any action you carry it out as if the divine were doing it. The divine actually does everything since there is no power to act outside of the divine. Whatever you
interact with, you interact with it as if it were the divine. You encapsulate the whole of your existence as if it were an interplay with and as the divine. This is how you overcome the sense of separation. You recognize that there is none. If you are reading these words from outside that construct then the sensation is that their meaning is something apart from you. If the mind insists on continuing that
perception then it will continue. We can only experience fully that which we fully embrace. Success (as stated in the Bhagavad-Gita) comes quickly for the energetic.
This does not mean only operating at extreme capacity for union. It also means
consistency and determination of purpose. Extreme capacity can only be maintained with consistency and determination. As has been stated at other times, it may take trauma to bring us to a place of
acceptance and understanding. Sometimes this is accomplished by weltzschmerz, or a loss of interest in all of the promises and attractions of the world. Sometimes it is accomplished by the growth of divine love, which possesses all of the attributes of the exercise within it. Sometimes it is accomplished through selfless service. There are a
number of ways to come into the fullness of what is being discussed here. You have to find one of them. You have to go about your days as if you were already a resident of
Heaven and already in possession of the company and qualities of the divine. Sooner or later it will become true in fact. There is no other effort worthy of our time and interest. Everything else is a waste of time and we discover the truth of that sooner or later. There is a hunger within that can only be satisfied by the presence of the divine. It will trouble us until we have attained to it. People may deny the existence of this presence and they may war against the recognition of it but that is about as effective as shooting arrows at the sun. May you arrive sooner than later and awaken by the streamside at Cold Mountain and be warmed by the internal sun.
- Les Visible Excerpt from “Be And Become What You Aspire To�
Painting by Nina - http://deepintoartlifewest.blogspot.com