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Simple words that are expressions of authentic spiritual truths have enormous power. They have the power to illuminate our true nature when we are open to receive them. Such words are gifts of grace, cutting through the layers of cultural conditioning and ego self-absorption in an instant, opening us to the direct experience of our Oneness with the Source of All, and the infinite, loving nature of our Being.
In the early evening of December 31st of last year, I opened former President Jimmy Carter's latest book, Our Endangered Values, with the intention to read a few chapters.. On page 23, I read the following quote by Eloy Cruz:
"You only need two loves in your life:
In the presence of the simple clarity and power of Cruz's statement, I experienced an internal, instant "Yes!" of recognition of its truth.
I read the quote over again. Here was the simple guidance system that Reverend Cruz said he lived by. I examined each phrase, asking myself if what it said was accurate. Were there any exceptions, any circumstances, where what he said would not fit? Were there any situations where his words would have no practical value, and would simply devolve into some vacuous platitude? Could this simple, clear statement actually be a complete guidance system for living in all circumstances?
The first thing I noticed was that the statement was a down-to-earth way of stating the two central principles for living found in many spiritual traditions. The last phrase can be found in the many variations of the Golden Rule that occur in almost every religious tradition. But Cruz's statement has a gentle, yet in-your-face practicality about it. There's nothing abstract about it. You can tell immediately whether you are acting from it or you're not in any particular moment..
'You only need two love's in your life; .."
This is a powerful, radical statement. "How can we only need two loves?" the grasping, striving, conditioned mind asks. "How will these two loves cover the love of everything and everyone else that I think I need?"
Let's check it out.
"for God, ..."
The ancient Hebrews were on to something when they wouldn't allow people to pronounce the name of God, or allow any images to be made of the Holy One. They understood that the best that the human mind could do was to project its own finite, limited and flawed image onto the infinite Source of All. "God" is one of hundreds of names that human beings have come up with over the centuries to refer to the infinite, creative life force that expresses itself through each and every human being and what we call "universe." Yet, its true nature is beyond all names, forms, and human understanding.
The word "God" itself can be a "deal breaker" for many people. It can be a reactivating word, because it has been so misused and misunderstood by so many! History is filled with past and current examples of people using their projections of God to justify killing, torture, and domination of all those who do not agree with their particular projection, and then explaining self-righteously how they have the inside track on what God wants.
Just as the word "love" does not give us the experience of love, but at best can only point to the experience that it represents, whatever word we use to define or describe "God" is merely a verbal representation of what we are trying to capture with the word. How do you accurately describe the Infinite Ground of Being for all of life?. Call IT what you will --- God, YHVH, Spirit, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Buddha, Christ, the Source of ALL, Infinite Intelligence, Unconditional Love, the Light, the Way, the Tao, the Creative Power, the Originating Life Principle, the Force, or life energy--- the mind can never understand what it calls "God" because the finite mind cannot hold the Infinite in its grasp.
So, for the moment, let's use the mathematical term of "X" for the infinite creative Presence that is beyond all names.
Though the finite mind can never know X, the Heart of our true nature can do so instantly. We can experience X (God, Spirit, etc.) as the Source and Guide of our lives. We can directly know X with love, awe, gratitude, wonder, appreciation, and joy, as the poet, Rumi, did, whose name for X was "The Beloved."
To directly know and experience X, requires us to drop all the inherited conditioning and beliefs that have been pounded into us from birth. All those images that are variations of a very powerful, big, infinitely old guy on a cloud, who we better fear and not cross, who tries to control human beings either by offering them future rewards in this life or in the hereafter if they listen to and do what they are told by the theological "authorities," or, when folks on planet earth don't follow orders or are missing the proper amount of respect for the big guy, throwing a version of a cosmic fit and threatening punishment such as never ending torture and eternal damnation with an infinite stay in the Hellfire Hilton thrown in. "God is Love" this is not!
The "finite me" that we identify ourselves to be maintains its illusion of control by keeping the infinite 'I" that we really are asleep to its true nature. It makes sure that we forget that every authentic mystic, regardless of what culture or tradition they came from, has said some version of "the Kingdom of Heaven is within you" when describing the location and home of X. But the conditioned false way of being knows that the successful continuance of its life as an imposter depends on maintaining the belief that we are separate from X, and falsely locating X as far away from us as possible. The false "I" is committed to only one thing, its own survival and persistence. It fears and hates X, for it perceives accurately that to directly experience X would mean the reawakening of the true "I" that we are, and the recognition that the separate "finite me" is merely smoke and mirrors, an illusion of the conditioned mind, with no real power.
When you let go of the lie that you are separate from X, the Heart is open, and the infinite Being that you are can know X directly and intimately. In that instant, you experience the infinite and Unconditional Love, Compassion, Grace and Creative Power that underlies all of what you call "reality." In that moment beyond time, you know yourself to be an expression of X in human form, and recognize X in every human being.
To love X with all your Heart, with all your Mind, and with all your Soul...what would arise from that kind of unconditional relationship? What if X already has that unconditional loving relationship with you, and is just waiting for you to wake up and recognize your true nature? What would your purpose in life be then?
What if your true purpose is to be a servant and expression of X ---to live with understanding and compassion for others, to be harmless, to make a contribution, to celebrate the miracle that life is? In the Light of that purpose, the world of illusion --- of separation and opposites, of past and future --- dissolves into the eternal NOW, and you trust your inner, core wisdom to be your compass and guide.
Loving X as the Source of your life, you are no longer seduced to bow down and worship idols, be they made of wood, stone, or are the charismatic, flesh and blood kind that ask you to give your life to them instead of to X. Loving X as the Source of your life, you are no longer hooked by the "finite me's" insatiable urges for security, approval, attention, looking good, control, power, riches and fame. All of those "needs" are fear-driven survival urges of the conditioned self. When you experience yourself as connected to X, any approval, riches, and fame that may accrue in your life is worn lightly, and experienced as expressions of Grace, tools you may use in fulfilling your real purpose, which is...
Love "...for the person in front of you at any particular time."
I love the way this phrase is worded, because its practical application can't be avoided. We are either acting from this or we're not.
The love spoken of here is what the ancient Greeks called, agape, the unconditional love of X for its own expression in human form. Agape cannot be forced or faked. It can only be experienced. It is what is natural when we have dropped all of our ideals of the way he, she, they, it, or I "ought to be." It begins with acceptance, with embracing "what is."
To experience the natural state of agape requires letting go of all of our internal accounts against others we have built up over the years. The things that we determined that they did or didn't do to or for us that violated our ideals. This list of "accounts receivable" includes what we have decided they still "owe" us before we are willing to cancel the account against them. This collection of unforgiven "wrongs" is stored like a rotting, toxic landfill in our mind, filled with the stored energy of long-ago hidden resentments, anger, hate, grief, shame, greed, vanity, pride, betrayal, broken promises, thwarted intentions, unfulfilled expectations, missed opportunities, shocking loss, guilt, and still festering desires for revenge. Carrying around these unforgiven accounts is the biggest disintegrating factor in human beings. These internal accounts against others and ourselves destroy our well being, and corrupt our very soul. To cancel these internal accounts is to rid oneself of an enormous burden of darkness and suffering, and to be open again to the infinite Light of Love that is your birthright in your relationship with all humanity.
Agape requires the surrender of all our judgments and evaluations about how others and ourselves "ought to be." It recognizes that most people are asleep to their own true nature, and in this state of "waking sleep" they view the world through unexamined, inherited beliefs and behavior. Agape replaces judgment with compassion; the understanding that when a person is asleep to their true nature, the nature of their actions is mechanical conditioning driven by fear, greed, vanity, pride and survival, and all that they do, no matter how anti-life it may be, is seen by them in that moment to be right, proper, or justifiable.
As I continued my inquiry into what it meant to have love "..for the person in front of you at any particular time," I realized that it really did cover everybody. It didn't just refer to a person who is standing in front of me physically.
Anytime I have a thought of anyone, they are standing before me in my mind's eye, and it is the opportunity to love "the person in front of you at any particular time." I saw that it also includes my relationship with what I call "myself." The moment I look in the mirror, I have the opportunity to love "the person in front of you at any particular time." Even without a mirror, when I have a thought about "myself", a mental self-image arises. This, again, is the opportunity to love "the person in front of you at any particular time."
To love "the person in front of you at any particular time" is not some wimpy platitude or ideal about how to act with others. It is a clear and rigorous template upon which we can discern and illuminate the blocks to our natural ability to BE LOVE. When we are aware that we have these blocks, we can dissolve them. This capacity to dissolve is one of the fundamental operating principles of Core Wisdom.
The practical gift of Cruz's "guidance system" is that it let's you know exactly where you are. A guidance system is not a solution. It is not an ideal of how a "good" person "should" behave. It is a simple and powerful way of knowing whether you are on track or not in living from your true nature, in living the gift of this life to the fullest. It is not about putting on some phony "I love people" act that reeks with inauthenticity.
This guidance system illuminates what two loves will allow us to experience in our daily lives the joy and "peace that passes all understanding" rather than being the effect of fear-driven behavior, constantly striving for some guarantee of survival, security, and control.
Read these words again:
"You only need two loves in your life:
Viewing your daily actions and inner states through this guidance system will let you know immediately what your actual state of being is at any moment, devoid of the conditioned mind's justifications and excuses. It gives you an opportunity to be aware of the unconscious blocks to love as they arise --- all of the negative feelings and thoughts which generate the sense of separation from X, from others, and from the world, and the fear-driven need to be in a constant state of vigilance in order to avoid physical, emotional, mental and spiritual pain, disaster or betrayal in the future.
The "two loves" guidance system allows you to be aware of the futile strategies the conditioned mind has concocted to deal with this constant inner stress --- attempting to avoid pain and gain pleasure through avoidance of the world with sleep, or through incessant work in order to succeed, win or dominate, or through TV, sex, shopping, drugs, alcohol, and other substances that either numb or stimulate us, or through retreating into a world of internal fantasies of victimhood, heroics, or revenge.
With the "two loves" guidance system in place, you can become aware immediately when you are not experiencing your natural state of inner peace and love. You can ask yourself, "what is present that is displacing love?" Whatever it is --- an emotion, thought, belief, body sensation, past image, or an ideal that you have for yourself or others ---- by bringing it to awareness, you can dissolve it, using the methods you have learned in Core Wisdom.
If you are not familiar with the Core Wisdom methodology, then use whatever methods you have used successfully to dissolve mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual blocks to total freedom and Being.
I invite you to use the "two loves" guidance system to make 2006 a turning point in your life; a turning point toward mastery.
Put the quote in a place where you can see it and use it everyday. Use it as a centering tool when you Create The Day in the morning, and as a tool for self-observation and dissolving when you Complete The Day in the evening.
May 2006 be the year in which the "two loves" become the constant, living, and abiding Presence in your life!
-- Hal Isen
From Core Wisdom On-Line Number 60 - February 2, 2006
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