Choose the True You

It is good to speak of Real things and how - using what is real - we may each work to realize Real Life. Through these explorations we can shed light on the real circumstances of our life here on earth. Then, with these truths firmly in hand it becomes possible to awaken to ourselves and consciously enter into Higher Life.

When William Shakespeare wrote the now famous words of Hamlet, "To be, or not to be, that is the question," his words touched upon something very deep in the human psyche. The proof of their stirring sentiment should be self-evident: for this same self-inquiry causes one who hears these words today to pause and ponder his own being as surely as did those who heard them spoken centuries ago.

Perhaps the true staying power in this idea, "To be, or not to be," is not so much found in what it "says" to us in words, but in what is hidden in its spiritual implication, audible only to those with ears to hear it. What this passage doesn't say, but nevertheless states, is that to be, or not to be, is not our choice. We are conscious creatures - whether we choose to be or not!

In other words, to be or not to be conscious is not up to us. Consciousness comes with just being a living, organic creature on this planet. To be conscious implies awareness of the environment and response to it. We can see how everything - from sea bass to bugs - expresses its level of consciousness. Even flowers have some level of consciousness as evidenced by their phototropic activity.

So the question at hand isn't whether we will or won't "be." The real question is what we will be. And this is the question of the spiritual ages. Think about this important idea and its insight for a moment.

The fact is "I am" whether or not I like what I am. Only, unlike the beast that doesn't know its own beast-like nature - and what this nature necessarily attracts to it - as human beings we are each somewhat aware of the essence of our nature, whatever its level. It is our experience of this nature that provides us with our sensations of life and of ourselves.

We cannot escape being. But, unlike lower- or lesser-level creatures, we do have a choice concerning the nature of our Being. So, while we cannot escape the awareness of what we are, we can choose to change what we spend our time being aware of. This choice of consciousness is in our "power." And here is what this power grants to those who will learn to use it:

Changing what we attend to in life transforms us, for in the act of consciously changing what we give our attention to we actually change both the content and quality of our consciousness. When we give our attention to angry thoughts, they not only grow in us, but we soon see life through their eyes. Once this happens, we only can see the good reasons we have for being on fire!

To expand this idea slightly, A rolling thought gathers mass! Can you see the truth of this spiritual law? Now, connect to this truth the further spiritual law that nothing in the universe increases without something decreasing, and here is what should now be in plain sight: Dark, negative states can only expand their influence in us in proportion to the diminishing of the Light in us.

What these discoveries all point to - the lesson within them - should be evident. We must not only do the individual work needed to learn more about the nature of Truth - about the essence of Inner Light, of Love, of God - call it what you will - but we must also do the inner Work to manifest these Celestial Spiritual Forces within and between ourselves.

The beauty of such individual Work - brought into life-at-large by one another - is that as we are willing and able to remember the Light and give to it our attention, the darkness that had been our former guide must decrease. And the converse holds equally true: As the darkness in us decreases we soon begin to see the Light of our own True and Eternal Nature.