SPIRITUAL ANSWERS
             

Who am I ?

It is a question that cannot be answered because it is fatally flawed. There is an assumption of a core “I” who is running the show. Sorry, there is no core “I”. But keep searching. Just keep asking, “Who am I”, over and over and over again. Each time you will get a different answer. If you keep asking forever, you will keep getting a different answer forever. The reason for this is that there can be no final answer because the one asking the question is imagined and therefore so are the answers. There can be no end to “Who am I” because the true answer transcends the question. The true answer defies language. It defies concepts. It defies any relationship to any other thing. The answer is experiential, not mental. The question is experiential, not mental. So the question and the answer are appropriate only if it is already one’s experience. 


You say that our thoughts are not our thoughts, our mind is not our mind and we have no core personality. Can you explain this to our listeners?

We all commonly experience that, “these are my thoughts. They came from my mind. This body, that I am in, is mine as opposed to yours. And my personality is the unique expression of me. I oversee and am the core of these thoughts, the core of this mind, body and personality. They occur within me and they are under my conscious control”.

But the truth is that there is nobody here. I am not here. You are not here. The readers are not here and this planet is completely devoid of individuals. This mind is not your mind. It is a universal mind which pipes an endless stream of thoughts whose source could be anything, anywhere. Your body is not your body. You are not conscious of repairing your cells or digesting your food or building a baby. The body has its own intelligence. This body is part of the body of the universe. Your personality is not fixed. Your point of view is in constant motion. There is no core you. Or, as I stated in the beginning, there is nobody here.

What is Grace and why do you feel that it is so important to spiritual growth?

Grace enlightens. Grace is that which transforms ignorance into eternal bliss. There are many spiritual technologies in this world. There are many paths but just one goal. Grace is that Divine quality which shifts us into the goal. This shift corresponds to an actual shift in the functioning of our brain chemistry, that is, Grace produces a measurable change in the brain.

How do we obtain Grace? Are there some useful techniques to obtain it?

Grace descends upon us. We cannot climb to it. There are ways to obtain Grace. Prayer is a wonderful way. Receiving the blessings of the holy is another time honored method.

You speak about miracles? Exactly what is a miracle? How is Grace related to miracles?

A miracle is a non-logical, unexplainable event which can’t possibly happen but does. Grace provides the fuel for miracles.

Are miracles related to Enlightenment?

Enlightenment is the ultimate miracle. I sometimes define Enlightenment as an unbroken string of miracles.

Is Enlightenment a kind of controlled thinking?

Enlightenment is out of the control of thinking. In Enlightenment, the mind becomes 
disengaged from the process of experience.

Is Enlightenment is a physical process?

Chemistry and consciousness are one. We experience through the chemical soup floating in the synaptic cleft between each nerve cell in our brain. Enlightenment is a soup with perfect ingredients. Only Grace can provide the secret recipe.

You often speak of the worm’s eye view and the bird’s eye view of a problem. Would explain their importance to our viewers?

In Enlightenment, there are actually two points of views; the worm’s eye view and the bird’s eye view. In our normal consciousness, we are usually working only from the worm’s eye view. In the worms eye view we are constantly taking a position on an issue.  Conversely, in the bird’s eye view, we experience the same issue but in a larger context. In the birds eye view, all positions are seen as co-created, co-existing expressions of the same experience. In the Enlightened, the opposing positions of the worm and the coexisting positions of the bird exist as one.

Is the materialistic life in the west opposed to the spiritual paths of the east?

Absolutely not! The eastern philosophic traditions were primarily interested in an internal path and they put tremendous emphasis on mapping out the internal landscape of Consciouness. And they did a great job. These traditions mapped out what I refer to as the territory of Self Realization. To me, Self Realization is personal Enlightenment. In Self Realization, one is Enlightened inside but the external world remains untouched by the experience. But I wish to distinguish Self Realization from God Realization. God Realization is an advanced version of Self Realization. In God Realization, ones personal Enlightenment extends out into the physical world. Most eastern traditions stop short of God Realization. They are content with the pursuit of a personal fulfillment. I mean, who wouldn’t be. But I am here to say that the world needs help and God Realization is an essential step that must be taken by all traditions, both east and west to relieve the suffering of mankind. 

Finally, what is your prediction for the future of mankind?

I see our present way of existing changing radically over time. The values of society will shift to a more compassionate mode. People will begin to experience life on a deeper level and they will become quiet inside. Fewer thoughts will result in a marked decrease in wasted personal energy.  Following this shift in mental activity, the population of the earth will spontaneously begin to experience that there is no separation between the
mselves and their environment. This singular experience will heal mankind. It will mark the beginning of the end of suffering. I am purposely hedging on a specific timeline for this. All I know for sure is that it will happen.