What do you believe?

Do people understand that their beliefs shape the world around them? Most don’t, I think. If you are from India, and you believe that the cow is a sacred animal, would you not be appalled at the cattle farms that treat cows inhumanely and slaughter them for food? Does that not shape your feelings toward the owner of the farm? Is it possible that the owner of the farm doesn’t look at a cow as a living creature with a soul? In his mind he isn’t doing anything wrong, it is just a cow to after all.

We often place so much judgement on others for the things that they do, but we fail to understand that everyone is just a product of their belief system. The true tragedy is when we are unbending in that belief system and unwilling to see things from another perspective.

At one point in my life I believed that God was a bearded man who sat in the clouds and cast judgement down on those of us who were not worthy. We are all sinners and not worthy of God’s love. If I didn’t believe that God sent His son to Earth to die for our sins, I would be cast into a lake of fire for all of eternity. That sounds like a loving God to me and not a way to control and convert people into a more pliable state. Yes, that is sarcasm.

Now I believe that God is everything. I call Him Source now. I believe that we are first spiritual beings and this body is just a temporary shell we inhabit to experience this human life. We cannot truly die, the soul – your higher self – lives on. When we “die” we actually transition back to Source. It’s where we all came from, to it we all return. We transition, we cannot – ever – die.

Knowing that to be true for me, I now look at everything differently. Instead of seeing hatred and danger around every corner, I now see the beauty in everything. I am in awe of the way that flowers bloom because the same force opening those petals is the same force that makes my heart beat or causes me to take a breath. 

I believe that we are all connected, we are all from the same Source, you see. Instead of being frustrated in traffic during my 500 mile weekly commute, I now imagine myself expanding out and touching the people in other cars. I am calmer and I try to project that calm to other people.

Does me believing that there is no man in the sky also mean that people who believe in Allah or Shiva or those who worship nature are all freaks who have it all wrong? No. I see them for what they are. A product of their belief system.

I’ve often been told by Christians that it’s not required for me to believe in God for Him to be real. I now will ask you to listen to your own wisdom. I don’t expect people to read my blog and instantly convert to my way of thinking. That would be horrible! What would you have to build on as a foundation? We need experience to make us change.

7000 people meditating together on love can change the crime rate in the city they are meditating in by very drastic proportions. Scientists have measured the effect of mass meditations around the world and discovered it on a global scale. 

If we could learn to focus our attention on love, peace and helping each other, there would be no need for days like today. There would be no more need for war. There would be no more hunger or people living in the street. We have the resources to feed, clothe and house every single human on this planet. Why then do we allow the suffering?

Because we believe the people “in charge” have it right. Because it’s “just the way of the world” or “it’s just how the system works.”

The system is broken, the people in charge are wrong, and as long as we allow the status quo to remain the same, nothing will change.

Luckily, there is a shift happening in humanity. People are starting to wake up. There is far more spirituality and love in the world than we are allowing ourselves to notice, because we have been trained to focus on the distractions like football, all the hate and violence on the news, etc. Look at your Facebook feed. Is it full of recipes, media crap and complaining about things? What do you read about when you open the paper? How many feel good stories do you hear about from the media anymore? They are distractions causing you to focus on negative or meaningless things.

Today I challenge you to open your eyes to the world around you. I challenge you to move on to something that makes you feel good when you come across a negative post on Facebook. Don’t give it energy. Is it any wonder that they call it a "news feed?" They are feeding you the fuel to keep the ball rolling. When you start to pay attention to what is fed to you, it starts to leave a bitter taste in your mouth. What most of us fail to realize is that the system is an illusion. The only thing keeping you down is yourself.

Look at the things that are introduced to you. Choose to either acknowledge it or don’t. But understand that the choice is yours. 

Happy Veteran’s Day everyone. My wish is that every Veteran, past or present, finds peace this day and that we no longer have a need to honor our Veterans. I may not see it in my lifetime, but I hope to. A world that comes together in peace to elevate each other will have no need for war, thus, no need for the Veteran.

Namaste.