Raptured By The Sacred

The concept of God is a pointer toward a reality that contains no separation.

Toward a reality united in all of its parts that are not really parts.

A flower pretending to be a flower when really it's God.

A bird pretending to be a bird when really it's God.

A tree pretending to be a tree when really it is the sacred.

In all of these things,

In their pretending to be something separate,

They are actually expressions of the same thing.

Yet we can give them different names.

The confusion lies in believing the names rather than seeing what they really are.

And to see what they really are,

You cannot help but recognize them as sacred.

Raptured?

Yes.

To be fully consumed by an overwhelmingly loving presence that transcends all comprehension.

No words can adequately describe it.

So maybe just say we evaporate into the heavens.

Raptured can have such a,

Let's just say negative connotation.

And what I mean by negative is we can associate it with religion.

We can associate it with misguided teachings that are used to control and manipulate others.

However,

For myself,

The concept of rapture to be taken and then in the context of religion,

Where the story goes,

You get raptured by God and he takes you up into heaven.

It reminds me so much of the sincerity of experience when one touches upon a sacred truth,

A sacred discovery.

There is a extraordinary depth to life and being human that in a playfully tragic way goes untouched by many,

Many,

Many human beings.

Where we maybe have very brief encounters with something called the sacred in our lives.

And it doesn't really have the opportunity to take root and completely alter the way we live.

And not the way we live in the context of doing what you're supposed to do.

But in the context of some sort of foundational understanding that this whole life and being human thing is about love.

And it's seen so deeply that you can never get away from it.

Sure,

You have moments of forgetting,

But it's not far behind.

We find our way back quite frequently.

And this is because we've been touched by this sacred something.

And I guess before we get too far into it,

Let's speak to the nature of the sacred.

To ask the question,

What is sacred?

And in the most direct and playful way,

I will say everything that is real is sacred.

And maybe the mind hears that and then thinks,

Well,

Then that means the sacred isn't very special.

And then I propose maybe you haven't seen what's real.

I guess a great starting point is looking at the failure in talking about the sacred.

Because the word itself,

Like every other word,

Is a pointer.

It points to something that cannot be described with words.

I mean,

You can attempt,

But it fails every time.

Just like in the example of taking a photograph of the sunset.

Taking a photograph of the sunset.

It doesn't matter what kind of camera you use,

How many photos you take.

Your photograph pales in comparison to the reality of the sunset.

It's not even close.

The photograph will forever not be alive.

The photograph is a pointer.

And the word sacred is a pointer.

The point is not the concept called sacred.

The point is not the word.

The word is pointing to something that will be seen by a few.

Which is kind of funny because a hundred people will hear someone talk about the sacred.

And a hundred people will say,

Yeah,

I understand what you're saying.

And three people will say,

Oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

Oh my goodness.

I love all of the images that might arise as we explore this ancient concept.

And it inspires lots of images of deep reverence for life.

I love the statement that I mentioned that the answer to what is sacred is everything that's real.

In another way,

I can say that there's only one thing that's sacred.

And that doesn't contradict the other statement at all.

Because everything that is real is actually one thing.

And naturally those words miss the mark a little bit because it's not a thing.

But it's pointing.

There's something called separation.

And there's something that's called wholeness.

And these words have been used for thousands of years attempting to illustrate something profound.

Pointing in a way that says we see ourselves as separate and we long to return to wholeness.

Separation isn't real.

There is nothing that exists in reality that is separate from something else.

Everything that is,

Is the one thing.

And the one thing is sacred.

To really recognize this,

Everything you see becomes sacred.

From the tea you might be drinking to the person you see crossing the street.

It's as if all of life becomes more vibrantly alive and held in the heart of God.

This points towards the magnitude of the gift waiting to be discovered within the human experience.

The concept of God is a pointer toward a reality that contains no separation.

Toward a reality that is united in all of its parts that are not really parts.

But are playful expressions of the one pretending not to be the one.

A flower pretending to be a flower when really it's God.

A bird pretending to be a bird when really it's God.

A tree pretending to be a tree when really it is the sacred.

In all of these things,

The flower,

The bird,

And the tree,

In their pretending to be something separate,

They are actually expressions of the same thing.

Yet we can give them different names.

The confusion lies in believing the names rather than seeing what they really are.

And to see what they really are,

You cannot help but recognize them as sacred.

Of course,

This speaks to a profound depth of what you really are,

Not your name,

And what other people are,

And what all of life is.

If there is no separation,

Then why do things appear to be separate?

Because that's how they're seen.

We believe in our idea about them that puts them in their own separate box,

Disconnecting them from everything else.

You wander through a field and you stumble upon a gorgeous flower.

And this flower's beauty captures time from you.

You discover a profound gratitude for this flower.

You say,

My goodness,

You're so amazing.

And you think you're talking to the flower,

Not realizing that you're talking to life.

In your gratitude for the flower,

Unseen is a gratitude for the soil that holds space for that flower.

If it wasn't for the soil,

There would be no flower.

In your gratitude for the flower is gratitude for the rain,

A rain that has nurtured this flower.

Without the rain,

There would be no flower.

In your gratitude for the flower is a gratitude for every single star.

For if the stars were not as they are,

There would be no flower.

Your gratitude for the flower is a gratitude for everything,

Which is gratitude for the sacredness within it all.

It's only the misunderstanding that thinks the flower is separate that limits the flow of gratitude.

I think I'm only grateful for the flower.

And yet,

There's an infinite well of gratitude waiting to touch everything that you see.

A gratitude extended to the flower,

Which then extends itself to the soil,

And then to the rain,

And then to the stars,

Eventually comes right back to you.

My sharing of gratitude with the flower is a sharing of gratitude for what I am,

Because I,

Too,

Am this.

The flower and I are one.

This speaks so directly to the sacred.

And I hope for many watching,

There's a silent whisper in your heart that says,

Holy shit.

How often do we go about our lives thinking the flower is just a flower?

How often are we perceiving and believing in a separation not really there?

And consequently,

How deep is the separation we see in ourselves as disconnected from the whole damn thing?

The separation that says this is not also that is only a thought believed in.

Yet to be still and to see things from a space way before the mind even moves,

This wholeness is incredibly easy to see.

It's as easy to see as observing a tree with a thousand leaves.

And even though those leaves might have different names,

You know they are part of the tree.

Even if they fall,

They are still the tree.

You see,

My friends,

There's the life,

The world,

The you that we think is separate from everything else.

10,

000 pieces.

And then there is the one.

Many human beings struggling in their lives are trying to manage the 10,

000 pieces that don't really exist,

Rearranging characters in their dream,

Asleep to the sacredness where all is intimately tied together and nothing could possibly ever go wrong.

But you're allowed to tell a story about something going wrong in the same way that a tree could fall on a flower and think something's going wrong.

But yet this is life falling on life.

So that life can be life.

Is life concerned?

Only that which sees itself as separate from life is concerned.

And this speaks again so directly to the human struggle where the human being sees him or herself as separate from the whole damn thing.

And in seeing itself as separate,

It feels like it must control it in order to make sure something doesn't go wrong.

Which underneath all of that is really trying to control it to protect its own imaginary separateness.

Directly,

This is the ego.

More directly,

It's an ego believed in.

Which is to say,

An imaginary character believed to be real.

Which is also believed to be real and separate.

And if it's real and separate,

There's a whole lot of threats out there.

And so it has to stay super guarded,

Super defensive,

Super ready to strike just in case anything threatens its imaginary sense of self-importance.

And this creates all the resistance,

All the tension,

All the suffering.

As I sit here,

You can't hear it,

But there's the sound of rain outside on the window.

And in one aspect,

There is the thinking about the rain.

And then there is the being the rain.

In the same way that when you hear a bird song,

There's the thinking about the bird song.

And then there is becoming the bird song.

There is a recognition of just how sacred the bird song is as it invites you into presence,

Into now,

Into a reality where there is no worry,

No fear,

No agitation,

No disturbance whatsoever.

Where all of life is doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing so that this miracle of life can continue being the miracle of life.

So that the sacred can be the sacred.

If I find myself identified with this imaginary character,

We call the ego,

The one that is imagined to be separate from everything.

This character finds no value in the sacred,

Unless the character can use it as some sort of accessory to make itself look important.

But then that's not a sincere recognition of the sacred.

The ego finds no value in reality for its existence is entirely in the imagination,

Which is often why human beings have such a difficult time just being still.

Because as one rests in the stillness of life,

The ego starts to disappear,

Which is like an ego that's dying.

And to revive its existence,

It must chase thought and race into an imaginary future in order to complete itself,

Which never arrives because it's imaginary.

To recognize the sacred,

To let it touch you,

Is the best medicine I've ever found.

It's where all healing happens.

Because that which seems unhealed is only appearing as so through a belief in separation.

This disharmony is not in alignment with the harmony of life.

And all disharmony will become manifest so it can be seen,

Which is a pointer to return to wholeness.

So such things are not bad,

Are not wrong,

Are not in a situation of should not be.

Such things are perfectly placed to point us home to the sacred.

It seems like my primary intention in sharing these sessions,

This podcast,

Holding Space for Love to be Seen,

Is really to ignite the potential for devotion,

Or a deeper devotion,

To inspire a remembrance of what life and being human is actually about.

So that you can come home,

Recognize your wholeness,

Recognize other people's wholeness and life's wholeness,

And then go play.

And allow your play,

In whatever way resonates and excites your heart,

To honor the sacred.

And in a direct way,

This is the same as discovering something beautiful within what you are,

And then sharing that beauty with the world.

You are not in this life to get something,

Because that would imply you're separate from something,

And there is no separation.

And if you're not in this life to get something,

Because you're not missing anything,

Then you're in this life to share something.

And what you share is what you already have.

And what you have is some creative expression of an infinite supply of love.

And the farther we are removed from this point and opportunity,

The more sufferable our experience.

Because in a way,

This suffering is like a painful rejection of what you really are.

Craving some facade of yourself that wants the world to like you,

Because you don't see what you really are.

And if you saw what you really are,

It would be extraordinarily irrelevant if anybody else liked their projection of how they saw you,

Which has nothing to do with you.

We find ourselves trying to accomplish something that is impossible,

That is not for you to do.

Go play.

All right,

We're gonna switch gears for the Q&R and maybe the incredibly short guided meditation.

If you do have questions or something you'd like me to quickly speak to,

Now would be the time to write the comment.

If not,

Then we'll continue to hang out and do the meditation here in just a little bit.

That's a big comment coming in from Alan.

There's a big difficulty when accessing wholeness.

There's this construct of me,

Which has a very strong belief attached to it.

And it seems to be trying nonstop to achieve wholeness,

Using all sorts of strategies and never running out of them apparently.

Trying to get rid of itself because it is understanding that that's how it will achieve wholeness.

It's just madness.

And with all this trying and wanting and forcing it seems impossible to just dissolve.

Since this me is such a strong force,

And it's also the default mode of mind,

I want to ask how to overcome this.

But it would be the very construct talking.

How can we dissolve this without providing a new useless strategy to it?

It is so scared and so desperate for solutions and relief.

It just won't stop desperately trying and forcing things.

Beautiful.

And in your description,

You describe so many people's experience,

Especially on the spiritual journey.

If you've paid attention to my sharing and pointing over the years,

You'll recognize that I don't mention many different methods or practices for this very reason.

Because so often what engages in the practice is that which is in the way.

And so it simply finds a new creative but spiritual way to be in the way.

Thinking it's making progress because it appears to be more spiritual.

But you said something there.

I want to ask how to overcome this.

But it would be the very construct talking.

The construct that's talking cannot overcome it,

Which is what you're discovering.

No matter what this construct tries to do,

It only appears to be successful temporarily.

And with that comes a whole host of expectations that it then lays upon itself,

Which quickly becomes a chain around its neck.

And all of these words of dissolving,

Wholeness.

These are just pointers.

There's not really a dissolving.

There's not an achieving.

The ego really wants to achieve.

And in order for it to play the achieving game,

It has to put the prize in the future,

Which creates something to do.

There's nothing to overcome.

It's already done.

How do you overcome a separation that's only imaginary?

Everything you try to do to overcome it enforces the idea that it's real.

In a very beautiful way,

Invites you into a very deep self-honesty.

A deep self-sincerity about what the real issue is.

And in so many ways,

That real issue is,

I'm scared.

I'm swimming in a huge miracle and I get really confused.

Dear life,

Please help.

I often point in such a way that says,

Let your prayer transform from,

Dear God,

Give me what I want to dear God,

Help me see what's true.

And in order to really say that with a depth of honesty,

One has to be willing to give up what they want and be totally open to see what's true.

Michelle asks,

I know in my soul that I must convey,

Express,

Share,

But my ego and humanness gets in the way so often.

How do you step through into brave expression and not self-doubt?

Oh,

That's a good one.

Well,

My friend,

I invite you to be open to see that your humanness is never in the way.

Your ego also is never in the way.

There is actually nothing in the way.

Something in the way would imply two,

And there's only one.

As such,

Your humanness is the way.

The embrace of your humanity in all of its parts.

I had this very same discussion with someone that I'm working with about getting out of the way as a manner of speaking.

And the concern was,

I have this gift to share,

But I also have a thousand reasons why I won't allow it.

And all of these reasons come back to some conclusion of,

I'm afraid of what other people are going to think,

Which is also a fear that I'm not enough.

And so often the humanness is seen as evidence of not enough.

But once I become enough,

Once I learn enough,

Once I become better skilled,

Then I'll be enough.

And then I can share.

Not realizing the real opportunity is to share through your humanity,

Through your apparent flaws,

Which are not flaws at all,

Through your uncertainty,

Through your doubt,

And simply point toward the beauty you see and embrace the whole damn thing.

One way in this conversation,

Sharing my own experience,

This person had the concern that there's a lot of beauty inside of them that wants to be shared,

But they feel like they can't take responsibility for it or answer enough questions about it or explain it.

Like if they share it,

They're going to be caught in a place of,

I don't know.

And that scares them thinking that if they're going to share it,

Then they have to be all wise and intelligent about what they're sharing.

And from my own experience,

It's so obvious that this human that I am is not doing this.

It's not my sharing.

These aren't my words.

And if you ask me some questions about what I say,

Sometimes I might say,

I don't know.

It's silly to assume that you do what you do and then thinking that you should somehow have the answer rather than just doing what gets done through you,

Which is what is asking to be done through you.

And this love that I share,

These words that I share,

In a manner of speaking,

It's not my love.

It's God's love.

And it wants to flow.

And the only reason I wouldn't allow it to flow is because of a fear of what somebody else might think,

Which is me standing in between God's love and where it wants to flow because I want to protect my ego.

And when I look at it from that perspective,

I say,

Ouch.

And then when I see just how imaginary the ego is,

How unnecessary it is,

Then I get out of the way and just do what is done in a playful way that takes practice,

In a playful way that takes courage.

But the first step is just doing it.

Michelle follows up with,

My humanness is the way.

Wow,

Yes.

I'm not enough is big one.

Of course it is.

You're human.

Thank you,

My friend.

A great opportunity to share through my doubts.

Thank you,

Tiger.

This resonates deeply.

So grateful for your response.

You're welcome.

Oh,

Goodness.

Okay,

Louise.

I'm going to speak to another question here.

I am facing losing my mother middle of the night here and anxiety claws at my stomach.

Anything you can offer to bring some peace would be gratefully received.

I'm sorry.

That sounds tough.

What you're going through,

How it feels in you seems understandable.

And appropriate.

And also you'll get through.

This will pass.

And I imagine that part of the intensity of difficulty is the unknown about when this feeling will go away.

It's the unknown about how long it's going to be here.

But I invite you to recognize that underneath that turmoil and underneath that commotion and underneath those stories about why you feel as you do,

I would suggest that you're just scared.

And that's okay.

I would suggest that there is,

In the most simple and beautiful way,

A little girl inside of you that's just scared.

And that's okay.

And that's understandable.

I would invite you to meet her.

As she's struggling,

As she's scared,

And to hold a space for her to be scared right now.

I also assume that there's a part of you to some degree that recognizes there's nothing to be afraid of.

And in the depth of that truth that there's nothing to be afraid of,

Then you don't need to be afraid of being afraid.

And so you can hold a beautiful space for her as she's going through this time.

And in the process of that is a great healing opportunity to bring you two closer together.

You two being the parts of ourselves that we have not met,

That we have demanded be different,

That we have not allowed to be human.

We can hold a space in this moment that says,

I'm sorry,

I love you.

Let me hold you.

You'll get through.

We always do.

All right,

We're going to do a very,

Just short and sweet guided meditation.

Can we just take a moment and invite ourselves to be open?

Whatever that means for you,

Let's just be here together.

There can be so much commotion in the mind,

And yet there's so much stillness here right now.

Let's come home to the stillness.

We can recognize that the stillness that is here allows for all that is.

It allows for the sound of cars passing by.

It allows for rain.

To fall from the sky.

It allows for all the sensations that might be moving around in the body.

This stillness allows and allows and allows.

Can we be open in such a way?

Can we loosen the resistance?

Can we release our grip?

Can we melt into a beautiful openness that's already here?

We're going to take three deep breaths and really just embrace the subtle softness in this moment.

Maybe we can be open to recognize just how sacred this moment is.

Let's breathe.

I want to thank you for meditating with me today.

Thank you for sharing this space.