“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” – Eckhart Tolle
The brain is much like a computer: It accepts programming via our attention to various ideas, and outputs this programming through our thoughts and behavior. As such, it can be programmed incorrectly; in a way that does not align with reality. The truth of our core nature, however, is singular and consistent. Our programming may align with this nature, or it may diverge. Let’s call this core nature “Spirit”.
(Understand that this is not an assertion of the supernatural, but a model of our innate psychology. You may substitute “Spirit” with “The Subconscious Mind”, if you prefer).
Spirit is who we are at the most fundamental level – our core consciousness. It is the same in every person (and perhaps every sentient being). This remains unaltered by anything we think, do, or experience. It is the observer; it bears witness to our lives from behind the scenes. It watches you be hungry, but it does not hunger. It sees you weep for the loss of a loved one, but it is not made sad. It knows only that you exist, and that existence is glorious.
Spirit cannot be fooled, despite any erroneous programming of the brain. It knows the truth of your glorious nature in every moment. The interaction between these two facets of ourselves leads to innumerable fascinating outcomes. Humanity is a single light passing through myriad prisms of varying shapes. Hearing people’s communications in this context is what allows us to really connect with them; to recognize our inherent unity. There is only one thing being communicated: “I am glorious Spirit, and I strive to revel in my glory.”
Marshall Rosenberg, proponent of “Non-Violent Communication”, reminds us that all statements are either saying “Please” or “Thank You”. These two statements refer to a single experience. Much like light and dark, or hot and cold, the polarity is not between two different things, but between the presence of a thing and the absence of it.
The “Thank You” expressions are a thumbs-up: I am successfully reveling in my nature; I appreciate how you've facilitated my alignment.
The “Please” expressions are a thumbs-down: My reveling is being blocked; I'm asking for your help in realigning.
Anything that anyone says ultimately refers to this alignment. Let's look at an example...
Man says:
”OMG, did you play the new Call of Duty? It’s frickin’ amazing, you have to play it!”
Spirit is saying:
”By propping up this marvelous expression of my genius as a mirror, I was able to revel in my creativity, my aptitude, my wonder, my excitement for being living consciousness. I would like to milk this experience by having it over and over again; through you, and millions of other individualized instances of myself.”
When we're in the "Thank You" mindset, we're showing appreciation for our alignment. Every positive experience is rooted in this self-awareness, even if we're appreciating something--or someone--ostensibly outside ourselves.
Now let's look at one where things aren't going so well...
Man says:
”Why didn’t you call me for my birthday? I thought we were friends.”
Spirit is saying:
”I am glorious, but my brain has been conditioned to require certain events to occur in the outer world in order to recognize that. One of these required events is having other individualized instances of myself exhibit that recognition in particular ritualistic ways on particular days of the calendar year. That did not happen, so my brain is blocking the recognition. The error of this thinking is causing an experience of misalignment with the truth of my glorious nature.”
Here the programming has put permission parameters in place that limit the experience of alignment. The programming requires that certain conditions be met before the alignment that's always available can be experienced. Oftentimes we will blame our discomfort on the person whose behavior did not meet our parameters, instead of blaming the true causal factor: the parameter programming itself. This causes us to enter the "Please" mindset, requesting that others meet the conditions of our parameter programming to facilitate our return to alignment.
Play around with this interpretation of communication and it will become apparent that there is only this one comment being cast through the prism at all times: Self-Love. Knowing this will help you unravel the knots of resistance and dissatisfaction in your own psychology; and keeping this in mind while communicating with others will help you to assist them in remembering who they are, and getting back to the reveling they so desperately seek.
We all want to be loved because Love is who we are on a core level. It's the nature of Spirit to simply be, and to love every minute of it! It’s what we all want to see expressed in the world, because the world is a reflection of ourselves. All man-made ills are caused by erroneous programming that contradicts the reality of our nature. Our work is to heal that discrepancy—first in ourselves, then by assisting others—and to bring our collective thoughts and actions back into alignment.
Thanks for checking in!
Brian Blackwell
Relevant articles supporting a full understanding of the ideas presented above may be found here:
