Clifford Mikkelson's Blog, page 3

Question 190: About Turning the Other Cheek

Question 190: What is the Gospel of Oneness view on “turning the other cheek?”

The advice given by Jesus to turn the other cheek if someone slaps you on the cheek has been the subject of debate probably ever since he uttered those words. Did he mean that we should take abuse and not do anything about it? And what if someone slaps your wife, husband, or friend? We might be able to walk away without a counterstrike if it only concerns ourselves, but isn’t it our duty to defend a loved one?

Was this advice by Jesus just some idealistic and impractical idea that only a fool would follow? It’s too bad that Jesus didn’t get a chance to explain what he meant in more detail. Maybe he did, but not all or even most of his words were recorded.

Since Jesus believed in the oneness of all life, this is what he could have meant. If we return evil with evil we will get caught up in the endless struggle of good vs. evil. If someone hurts you or someone you love, and that person has to be stopped or restrained, the first option is to stop that person in a nonviolent way. If violence must be used it should be done without hatred.

Our inner consciousness is what matters most. If we have cultivated an inner consciousness of love for all life, then we can take action to stop violent people without invoking hatred. But who has that high consciousness? Jesus was giving the ideal advice, but I don’t think he expected many people to follow it. Nevertheless, he was giving non-dualistic advice for the ages; don’t be dragged into the endless cycles of duality.

In that same Bible passage, Jesus also said to walk an extra mile with someone and give them your coat if they need it. He was saying make a connection, be a friend, and realize that we are all part of the Infinite Spirit. That is the way to help end the cycles of violence.

Getting revenge against the villains has been the idea behind many fiction books and movies. We like to know that justice has been done and the villain has paid the price for his evil deeds. However, to follow the advice of Jesus means to trust in the ultimate justice of the Infinite Spirit. Every evil deed will be compensated for. Everything will balance out in the end. It has to because we are all part of the One Infinite Spirit.

Peace requires something far more difficult than revenge or merely turning the other cheek; it requires empathizing with the fears and unmet needs that provide the impetus for people to attack each other. Being aware of these feelings and needs, people lose their desire to attack back because they can see the human ignorance leading to these attacks; instead, their goal becomes providing the empathic connection and education that will enable them to transcend their violence and engage in cooperative relationships.

Marshall B. Rosenberg

Not only our eternal salvation depends upon our willingness and capacity to forgive wrongs committed against us. Our joy and satisfaction in this life, and our true freedom, depend upon our doing so. When Christ bade us turn the other cheek, walk the second mile, give our cloak to him who takes our coat, was it to be chiefly out of consideration for the bully, the brute, the thief? Or was it to relieve the one aggrieved of the destructive burden that resentment and anger lay upon us?

Marion D. Hanks

Question 189: About Scandals in Religions

Question 189: Why are there no scandals in the Gospel of Oneness?

The Gospel of Oneness is not an organized religion. It has no clergy, no buildings, no money, and no people with power over others. The Gospel of Oneness goes for a direct connection with the intelligent, creative Spirit in and behind the universe.

It doesn’t need paid teachers or representatives. It doesn’t need to own buildings or property. It doesn’t need a school system with paid teachers and administrators who might be tempted to do a job for pay. It doesn’t need theological seminaries to train representatives.

What does it have? It has people all over the world who believe in the Infinite Spirit of life and who do their sincere best to live up to the Golden Rule of behavior. These people may or may not be a part of an external religion, but internally they seek the Kingdom of God within their own consciousness. If they don’t live up to the Golden Rule, they don’t bring shame on the eternal Gospel of Oneness. A person does not have to be a perfect example all the time. We all make mistakes.

If we profess to believe in the oneness of all life, and yet fall back into the habit of thinking or feeling in terms of separation, we can correct ourselves. The illusion of duality is quite strong. Living in oneness with all life is an ideal to reach for. If people form small groups to reinforce and encourage one another, that is a good thing to do. However, we need to be aware of the problems with declaring official rules and regulations about the Gospel of Oneness. Anyone who thinks he has the absolute truth is already in a false position.

The Gospel of Oneness has no official doctrines or set of rituals. It is open to the flow of Spirit. The cream will rise to the top. The ones who live in the Spirit of Oneness are the ones who know within their own consciousness.

“We all are so deeply interconnected; we have no option but to love all. Be kind and do good for anyone and that will be reflected. The ripples of the kind heart are the highest blessings of the Universe.”
― Amit Ray

“You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.”
―   Alan Watts

“There is only one all-pervading God. It has only one message – Love all, encompass all and transcend the limits of the selfish gene.”
―   Amit Ray

“It’s important that meditation is not seen as something that only happens when you are seated in a quiet place. Otherwise, spirituality and our daily life become two separate things. That’s the primary illusion—that there is something called “my spiritual life,” and something called “my daily life.” When we wake up to reality, we find they are all one thing. It’s all one seamless expression of spirit.”
― Adyashanti, 

Question 190: About Scandals in Religions

Question 189: Why are there no scandals in the Gospel of Oneness?

The Gospel of Oneness is not an organized religion. It has no clergy, no buildings, no money, and no people with power over others. The Gospel of Oneness goes for a direct connection with the intelligent, creative Spirit in and behind the universe.

It doesn’t need paid teachers or representatives. It doesn’t need to own buildings or property. It doesn’t need a school system with paid teachers and administrators who might be tempted to do a job for pay. It doesn’t need theological seminaries to train representatives.

What does it have? It has people all over the world who believe in the Infinite Spirit of life and who do their sincere best to live up to the Golden Rule of behavior. These people may or may not be a part of an external religion, but internally they seek the Kingdom of God within their own consciousness. If they don’t live up to the Golden Rule, they don’t bring shame on the eternal Gospel of Oneness. A person does not have to be a perfect example all the time. We all make mistakes.

If we profess to believe in the oneness of all life, and yet fall back into the habit of thinking or feeling in terms of separation, we can correct ourselves. The illusion of duality is quite strong. Living in oneness with all life is an ideal to reach for. If people form small groups to reinforce and encourage one another, that is a good thing to do. However, we need to be aware of the problems with declaring official rules and regulations about the Gospel of Oneness. Anyone who thinks he has the absolute truth is already in a false position.

The Gospel of Oneness has no official doctrines or set of rituals. It is open to the flow of Spirit. The cream will rise to the top. The ones who live in the Spirit of Oneness are the ones who know within their own consciousness.

“We all are so deeply interconnected; we have no option but to love all. Be kind and do good for anyone and that will be reflected. The ripples of the kind heart are the highest blessings of the Universe.”
― Amit Ray

“You and I are all as much continuous with the physical universe as a wave is continuous with the ocean.”
―   Alan Watts

“There is only one all-pervading God. It has only one message – Love all, encompass all and transcend the limits of the selfish gene.”
―   Amit Ray

“It’s important that meditation is not seen as something that only happens when you are seated in a quiet place. Otherwise, spirituality and our daily life become two separate things. That’s the primary illusion—that there is something called “my spiritual life,” and something called “my daily life.” When we wake up to reality, we find they are all one thing. It’s all one seamless expression of spirit.”
― Adyashanti, 

Question 188: About Preventing Genocide

Question 188: How does the Gospel of Oneness help prevent genocide?

Genocide is the deliberate attempt to annihilate a racial, ethnic or cultural group of people. Some of the cases of attempts at genocide have been the Nazi’s program against Jews, the Khmer Rouge’s war against the educated classes in Cambodia, the Turkish campaign against Armenians, and the Hutus assault against the Tutsis in Rwanda. Those are well-known examples, but genocide is not a thing of the past. Around the world, there are potential genocides. Genocidewatch.com is a website that keeps track of current attempts at genocide,

Genocide breaks every tenet in the Gospel of Oneness. People are divided into “us” and “them.” People are dehumanized. Stories and rumors are spread against the target group. Special laws are passed that make it easier to identify the target group. National ID cards may require that people list their religion or ethnic origin. Blasphemy laws may be passed that restrict the freedom of speech. All such laws serve to magnify the illusion that people on earth are divided by outer conditions.

The Gospel of Oneness teaches that all life, indeed, all creation is a manifestation of Spirit. The main spiritual law we follow is the golden rule: Whatever we do unto others we do unto ourselves. This law has been known for ages, yet it is not emphasized in the schools, cultures, and religions of the world. The two biggest religions in the world divide people into believers and non-believers. This has led to conflict for centuries.

Political and economic pressures have also led to genocides because the people in power have felt threatened by other people with different political and economic ideas. A government that is secular, materialistic, and maybe atheistic is not restrained by religious ideas of morality. Examples of this are Stalin’s purge against the middle classes in the USSR in the 1930s and Mao’s purge against the nationalists in China. They had no consideration for the Golden Rule of how to treat people,

To summarize, the way for the Gospel of Oneness to stop or greatly reduce genocide on earth is to emphasize in every way the reality of the Golden Rule of behavior. This law of natural consequences needs to be put at the top of all creeds, dogmas, rituals, holy days, and guidelines for living. All ideas that promote the superiority or inferiority of one or more types of people need to be challenged immediately.

The Gospel of Oneness is not an organized institution or group of people who can lobby for changes; it is an idea whose time is coming as more and more people abandon the outdated ideas of outer ways of human identifications. Changes in societies will happen gradually as people awaken to their inner identities as immortal souls.

“But history does matter. There is a line connecting the Armenians and the Jews and the Cambodians and the Bosnians and the Rwandans. There are obviously more, but, really, how much genocide can one sentence handle?” ~ Chris Bohjalian

“The 20th century taught us how far unbridled evil can and will go when the world fails to confront it. It is time that we heed the lessons of the 20th century and stand up to these murderers. It is time that we end genocide in the 21st century.” ~ Allyson Schwartz

“When I was very young, biology, the diversity of life, was one of my main interests. I know there’s this image people have that I’m this spoiled, cocky punk of an actor. Honestly, that’s not who I am. I really care that so many species have been wiped out, like the genocide of entire races. I believe in the divine right of all species to survive on this planet. So I decided I want to be active as an environmentalist. I learned. I asked experts. I got active.” ~ Leonardo DiCaprio , 

“An ideology that divides the world into those who are worth more and those who are worth less, into superior and inferior beings, does not have to reach the dimensions of the German genocide to be wrong.” ~ Amira Hass

“Historically, the most terrible things – war, genocide, and slavery – have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience.” ~ Howard Zinn

“As much as the world has an instinct for evil and is a breeding ground for genocide, holocaust, slavery, racism, war, oppression, and injustice, the world has an even greater instinct for goodness, rebirth, mercy, beauty, truth, freedom and love.” ~ Desmond Tutu

Question 187: About self-improvement

Question 187: How does the Gospel of Oneness help with self-improvement?

As the old saying goes, “The biggest room is the room for self-improvement.”  The Gospel of Oneness can help people improve themselves because it teaches that we are all immortal souls who have vast potential to transform ourselves into ever higher versions of our identities in Spirit while leaving the ego behind.

In any one human lifetime, we can only accomplish so much within the limitations of our physical forms. However, once we learn that we have the willpower to change ourselves, then many possibilities open for us. The Gospel of Oneness encourages people to ask questions about everything. It encourages cooperation with other people who are seeking to improve themselves. It encourages people to get out of thoughts of unworthiness and low self-esteem. It encourages people to get rid of such thoughts as being a “sinner” or as someone who is stuck in habits and limitations.

The religions of the world have often shaped the views people have of themselves. For example, in Christianity, people are taught they are born as sinners and can never rise to be equal to Jesus. In Islam, people are taught that Muhammed was the perfect example and no one else can match him. These are false concepts that inhibit the drive to excel.

Jesus and Muhammed are still improving themselves. No being stands still in the evolution of their potential. We can keep on improving in this life and on into the next life. Perhaps we will move on to eventually be spiritual guides to planetary systems, or maybe we will become musicians or athletes of the highest order. We have the power to choose what we want to become. We don’t need to be super ambitious; we just need to be open to our own potential.

Most experts and great leaders agree that leaders are made, not born and that they are made through their own drive for learning and self-improvement. Carol S. Dweck

Practice self-awareness, self-evaluation, and self-improvement. If we are aware that our manners – language, behavior, and actions – are measured against our values and principles, we are able to more easily embody the philosophy, leadership is a matter of how to be, not how to do. Frances Hesselbein

“No matter who you are, no matter what you did, no matter where you’ve come from, you can always change, become a better version of yourself.”
― Madonna

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Question 186: About receiving divine guidance.

Question 186: How do we truly know if we are receiving divine guidance?

People who believe in higher spiritual powers such as God, Jesus, Krishna or other saints and gurus, often ask for guidance. How do they know if they are picking up on the right guidance?

For example, I read about a man who asked Christ to guide him, and he thought Christ was guiding him to follow Calvinist theology and that the Bible was inerrant. However, after several years he gave up on those ideas and asked for new guidance. Why didn’t he know how to discern true guidance? Why are sincere people misled?

Here is a way to evaluate the guidance we think we are receiving: Oneness in the Infinite Spirit is reality; the sense of separation from the Infinite Spirit produces the illusion of separation. So, any religion, doctrine, dogma, or belief that teaches separation from Spirit and all other life will be false.

Take Calvinism, for example. It teaches separation from the Creator and from others. It says only an “elect” will be saved. Yet, that would mean some people are or will be separated from the Creator. That is impossible, so Calvinism is a false doctrine.

The other issue was the inerrancy of the Bible. No written words can possibly be inerrant. Absolute truth cannot be conveyed through written words. Words are separate bits of information that can be misunderstood, mistranslated, and misinterpreted.

Truth can be discerned through intuition, which goes beyond words. It comes through as whole ideas and concepts of soul-realizations. True intuition taps into the unconditional love and wisdom of the Infinite Spirit.

Using this guideline of the oneness of all life and unconditional love, we can evaluate all teachings of religions and their denominations, sects, variations, and off-shoots.

Any religion that says people can be killed for their wrong beliefs about God or lack of belief in God is obviously a false religion. Yet, millions of people cling to such religions because they don’t know how to discern the truth.

Any religion that claims its followers are special and deserve a privileged place in heaven, and also says that non-believers will be consigned to hell, is also a false religion. Yet, many people cling to such ideas.  It makes no sense for a person to pray for guidance to bring someone else into the same delusion he is in.

To summarize, when looking for guidance, not only in religion but also in politics and social life, consider the whole picture and think of the golden rule of behavior: Whatever we do to others we do to ourselves. It cannot be any other way.

The main reason intuition is so important is this: It is a clear sign that you are connecting with your inner spiritual guidance system. Intuition is a direct signal from your deepest self that you are navigating from your true center. – Gay Hendricks

To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of wisdom. –Gautama Buddha

Question 185: About the Gospel of Oneness removing the threats on your life.

Question 185: How can the Gospel of Oneness remove the threats on our lives?

Consider where the threats come from: 1) Religious intolerance, 2) political intolerance, 3) racial and ethnic intolerance, 4) disease, and 5) natural disasters.

First, religious intolerance is a threat to our lives. Fanatical believers in their religion are so convinced they have the absolute truth that everyone else must be converted to their beliefs or die. Religious terrorists have killed many people with bombs and other weapons.

Second, political intolerance is a threat to our lives. Think about what people have done to push their political ideology on others. The communists and fascists who believed their system was the best for everyone have killed millions of people.

Third, people who believe their race or ethnic group is the superior one have massacred millions in the name of racial or ethnic cleansing.

Fourth, disease, especially pandemic ones are a threat to everyone’s life. The recent co-vid 19 pandemic is responsible for millions of deaths.

Fifth, natural disasters are a threat to everyone because of the wide range of possibilities such as hurricanes, tornados, floods, fires, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, asteroids and meteorites.

The Gospel of Oneness could remove or reduce all these threats if people followed it. Religious intolerance will be overcome after enough people realize no religion has the absolute truth. Everyone on earth is an expression of the Infinite Spirit and we are all related in Spirit. Everything we do to others and the environment; we do to ourselves.  The golden rule is a cornerstone of the Gospel of Oneness.

People have heated arguments over politics. In the Gospel of Oneness people would consider all the evidence for what policies work best for the good of all. The wealth and benefits of society would be balanced out to include a decent standard of living for everyone.

The ideas of racial and ethnic superiority have no place in the Gospel of Oneness. The color of a person’s skin or their origin within a tribal or national group does not confer any special privileges on them. To identify yourself according to an external appearance is to diminish yourself from your infinite soul nature.

The Gospel of Oneness teaches you the importance of taking care of your body, mind, and soul. Disease is less likely to affect people who have learned the guidelines for healthy and well-balanced lifestyles.

Natural disasters are a reflection of the mass consciousness. Everyone contributes to the mass consciousness. People who follow the golden rule are doing a great service to the whole world, but it cannot be measured in any scientific way. We do have anecdotes about how saintly people have saved whole communities from natural disasters.

To summarize, the more people we have who follow the golden rule and the Gospel of Oneness, the less danger we will have from the various threats on our lives.

“The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around. Throughout history, ‘tender loving care’ has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing.” –  Larry Dossey “The human body has been designed to resist an infinite number of changes and attacks brought about by its environment. The secret of good health lies in successful adjustment to changing stresses on the body.” –  Harry J. Johnson “To insure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.” –  William Londen

Question 184: About the “elect” in the Gospel of Oneness

Question 184:  What is the meaning of “the Elect” in the gospel of oneness?

The Bible talks about the “elect’ as the people who are in the vanguard of society. They are supposedly the ones who are assured of salvation, and perhaps they have been chosen to their favored positions. In Matthew 24:22 Jesus talks about a bad time coming that will endanger everyone, but the days of the catastrophe will be shortened because of the presence of the “elect.”

That would mean the “elect” play a beneficial role in society. In the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham asked if the towns could be spared if 50 righteous people could be found therein. The answer was yes. How about 40 people? Yes. How about ten people? Yes. Evidently, no righteous person (very saintly) could be found, and so Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.  This story shows that if righteous people dwell in a city, their good karma helps to protect everyone else. Highly advanced souls are a blessing to any community. They don’t even have to be in prominent positions, their very existence is a blessing because of the healing vibrations they send out.

The question is: Are the “elect” chosen by God or are they self-chosen by dint of their own efforts? Since God does not play favorites, the elect must have worked their way up the ladder of spiritual success. Once they have reached exalted positions, it may seem like they must have been chosen by God because they are so good. People cannot see all the effort they put in during this lifetime as well as in past lifetimes. People don’t know what Jesus and other highly evolved souls struggled with in previous lifetimes.

This also explains how the elect can be deceived. In Matthew 24:24, Jesus says that false Christs and false prophets will arise that can mislead even the elect. Consider the degrees of sainthood. Some of them may be fully liberated, in which case they won’t be fooled, but some of the saints may still be caught in the web of cosmic delusion with its dualities of good and evil and its relativity of consciousness which sees everything in separate forms. Also, the ego does not give up its hold so easily. It will struggle to hold on as long as possible.

Everyone in embodiment is tested, and the elect must not slip up when it comes time for the final exam. Even Jesus could have slipped up at the very end. It wasn’t a slam dunk or an automatic reaction to cement his case. The Bible says he prayed hard and even sweat blood as the time for his crucifixion drew near.  He needed to surrender everything and love his persecutors and not hold an ounce of resentment or bitterness toward them. He couldn’t leave anything on the plate of duality that might retain a hold on him.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says that out of a thousand people who diligently search for the ultimate truth, only one finds it. This is an approximation, but it reveals how difficult the path may be. Nobody is automatically “elected” to a high position.

The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“People with a strong will power will always have the bigger picture in mind. They will be able to forgo small pleasures in order to help attain bigger goals.” — Brian Adams

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” — Pele

“Persistence and determination are incredibly important. But sometimes you need to analyze the situation and understand when you’re wrong. You need to be able to cop to being wrong, learn to change, and continue to grow as a human being.” —  Sasha Grey

Question 183: About the best type of government

Question 183: What system of government is most compatible with the Gospel of Oneness?

Let’s look at the possibilities: 1) A one-man dictatorship such as Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, Kim Jong Un, Putin and others. 2) One-party dictatorships such as in China. 3) Theocratic dictatorships such as in Iran and Saudi Arabia. 4) Elected dictators who have seized power such as Maduro in Venezuela. 5) Democracies such as the United States, England, France, India and many others.

A government should match up as closely as possible to the nature of the universe. The Infinite Creative Spirit is not a dictator. We have free will to make our own choices and deal with the consequences. We have freedom of speech and freedom of expression in art, music and every field of endeavor. We are only limited by the laws of Nature and our own self-imposed limitations.

Our freedom to choose can lead to chaos and tragedy or to magnificent accomplishments. Either way, we learn what works and what doesn’t work. We can learn from our mistakes and push on to get better results.

A dictatorship will seek to impose all kinds of restrictions on freedom of expression. A dictatorship will not allow dissent or criticism of its policies. It will try to impose its worldview on all of its citizens. It rules by fear rather than by love and freedom of expression. It doesn’t trust the people to have enough wisdom to govern the country.

Some people prefer to live under a dictator because they feel more secure and safe with a strong leader who imposes restrictions on troublemakers and social deviants. Some people prefer a theocracy because they would rather feel “holy and righteous” than be free to believe anything they want to.

Democracies are moving toward the ideal of the Natural Order. No democracy on earth is perfect, but they have been improving over the past two hundred years. Consider the United States, which champions democracies. In its beginning, only white men who owned property could vote. Eventually, the property ownership requirement was dropped and all free men who were citizens could vote. After the Civil War, former slaves could vote. In 1920, women gained the right to vote.

Although black-skinned people gained the legal right to vote, restrictions and obstacles were put in their way. This is the kind of problem democracies need to solve.

Another problem in democracies is the unequal influence of wealth and powerful vested interests.  Money can buy votes in many ways such as being in control of media outlets or paying for full-time lobbyists. People can be manipulated in many ways if they do not have the time or ability to think clearly about all the issues that come up.

Democracies put the responsibility on the people to make wise decisions. This is exactly what the universe does. There is no getting away from personal responsibility. To remain ignorant is a choice that has consequences we can’t blame on someone else.

Democracies are a school. We learn what works and what doesn’t. For example, “in freedom of speech, we learn who the idiots are” as someone said. It is sad that some people will follow or parrot the idiots, but that is also part of the learning process. The universe does not step in to save us from our own idiocy. With free will, it is up to every citizen to learn how to use it wisely.

In conclusion, democracy is the most compatible with the Gospel of Oneness because it fosters and encourages its citizens to take personal responsibility for everything they think and do and to see their connection to the whole environment of Nature.

Democracy and freedom are the best revolutions. They can give every individual more power to control their lives. And we can work together to create a just, sustainable world.

— Bill Blackman

Liberty and equality…will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost.

— Aristotle

Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government.

— Thomas Jefferson

The only sure bulwark of continuing liberty is a government strong enough to protect the interests of the people, and a people strong enough and well enough informed to maintain its sovereign control over the government.

— Franklin D. Roosevelt

Question 182: About Psychological Freedom

Question 182: How does believing in the Gospel of Oneness lead to psychological freedom?

Consider all the blocks to having psychological freedom: 1) Low self-esteem. If we don’t value ourselves, then we limit our ability to maximize our talents. If we feel our oneness with the infinite Spirit, then we have no limits.

2) Harmful bad habits that we can’t seem to shake or break. In oneness, we learn to introspect and analyze how bad habits have taken a hold on us. Then we use our willpower to slowly or quickly break away from bad habits. Will power is our savior in a way, and we can control our willpower. We need to look at our unconscious actions and make them conscious.

 3) Addictions to substances. These can be hard to stop because our bodies may have strong cravings. In oneness, we learn the mind can control the body, and a strong spirit can control the mind.

 4) Self-limiting world views. For example, fundamentalist Christians and Muslims may think they already have the absolute truth, so they become locked into doctrines of belief they can’t see objectively. Their beliefs may give them a false sense of superiority and thus limit their mental freedom.  Atheists and secular materialistic-minded people can also limit themselves by thinking they have the only right view of reality. Psychological freedom includes the ability to explore the realms of Spirit.

5) Out of control emotions. If we let our emotions control our behavior then we don’t have freedom. Emotions stem from our ways of thinking. In oneness we enjoy our emotions; we don’t suppress them. However, our emotions come from the way we think about ourselves. In oneness, we value unconditional love above all, so our emotions flow from love.

 6) Limitations due to past karmic results. We have all made mistakes and the consequences have helped shape who we are today. If we say, “I am the way I am, and I can’t help it,” then we are letting our past control us. In oneness we learn, despite past mistakes, from now on we can make a conscious effort to change ourselves.

7) Attachments to people, places, ideas, and things. We all deal with these limiting factors. In oneness, we realize we don’t need to be attached because in the vast realm of infinite Spirit nothing of value can ever be lost to us. Our friends and family, past, present and future will always be available in one way or another.

“Peace may sound simple – one beautiful word – but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, every high ideal.” – Yehudi Menuhin

“There is in this world no such force as the force of a person determined to rise. The human soul cannot be permanently chained.” – W. E. B. DuBois

As I walked out of the cell through the door toward freedom, I knew I had to leave behind my bitterness and hate or I would be imprisoned for life.” (Nelson Mandela)

“Developing intrinsic, emotional sustainability is the key to unlock the chains of emotional addictions… For this you must have tolerance, humility, and a desire to create happiness for yourself-independently…”
― Robin Phipps Woodall