spirit – Time is Art

What is the difference between the mind and the ego? The ego could be described as a movement of thought in the mind that has a limited perception of reality, it actually clouds it completely. It’s the false sense of self.

When the identification to that false self vanishes (through experiences of spiritual awakening and self inquiry), then Spirit (our true nature) uses the mind instead and that’s when inspired thoughts happen for example.

That’s when we experience that we are not the doers in life, but that which the actions are being done through.

When the mind is used by ego (will-power; “I want this, I don’t want that” etc) there’s strain and struggle, suffering and frustration, and an occasional moment of accomplishments and happiness, but it is always shallow and fleeting, the ego is never satisfied with the present moment, even if it is really great, it always want more, so there’s always a sense of unsatisfactory present, even if it’s very subtle.

There’s never really true presence in the Now-moment, because the mind is always projecting.

It’s always on the search for more experiences, more success, more happiness, more more more. The ego looks for completeness outside, in the world, oblivious of the true reality that already is complete in itself. Nothing needs to be added to the true self.

When the mind is used by consciousness there’s flow and natural unfolding, spontaneousness (if that’s a word) and we are grounded in the here and now without projecting into the future (which doesn’t exist) or doing anything for the sake of getting somewhere; things just happen and they happen naturally.

We in turn respond to the movement of Life that moves through and as us by listening to our intuitive knowing in every moment.

If things needs to get done they will, but there will be no figuring out and planning and plotting involved in the way that the ego does things.

Actions happens as a direct result of us responding to the intuitive knowing, and they happen simultaneously.

We no longer go to our minds for a second opinion but are instead trusting our intuition and going with it, without the need to understand why it leads us in a certain direction.

The ego-mind divides and makes everything and ourselves as separate from the One/divine consciousness; there’s a sense of being a person who lives in a world and they are separate.

So that belief (or any beliefs for that matter) is what keeps us in bondage of the ego, but when realization happens, the veil is lifted and the mind is freed to be used by Spirit.

All beliefs crumble and we see very clearly that none of them are valid or true in any way.

It’s the identification that changes, and we see clearly that ego is only a movement of thoughts and beliefs in the mind and nothing more. Now thoughts can come and go, but we don’t get stuck in them.

We know they are not the Truth, so they are allowed to come and go, and by the allowing of that, peace and stillness is present where there before were strings of endless thoughts that we believed in an got attached to.

The ego might still be there after a clear seeing into who we really are, but we see it as it is (an illusion) and our identity is no longer attached to it; we have realized we are not the person we thought we were.

by Maria Erving

Life moves around you, to serve you. Your goals, ambitions, desires, curiosity, mood, and state of mind. “Law of Attraction”, they call it. Reality revolves around you, like if you are the center of the Universe. Because you are.

The Universe around you moves with your passions. Your choices and decisions, your bold moves, your actions. Your curiosity. Your will to live.

When you stop, when you lose your passions, the Universe also stops.

You may still be living. You may go about your daily routines, walk in the street, go to your job, do your stuff. Days still rise and nights still fall. The clock keeps turning.

But that aspect that rejuvenates reality, that which refreshes things, keeps things fresh and vibrant, moves stuff around, brings new things and removes old ones (metaphorically speaking, situations, people, circumstances) stops working. Everything stalls. Things carry on, but they just repeat. There is no new. There is no growth. Days go by being always the same.

At this point, if you try to change a little, explore a little, try something new, it doesn’t work. It’s all jammed. The Universe is stopped.

This is what is meant by “time is an illusion”

Linear time (clock time) is. To Spirit, time exists, but it’s a matter of experience, of growth, or better said, evolution. It’s the succession of states that you move through, emotionally, spiritually, that “go forward” as spiritual curiosity is satisfied and meaningful experience is taken.

If there are no new things, if spiritually and emotionally everything is the same, clock time keeps moving forward, but spiritual time is halted. And you could grow into old age and die, without ever growing past the child internally.

This is why only your passions in life matter, including for professional and sustenance purposes. Whatever you consider logically about living through your passion, being easy or hard, practical or impossible, theoretical or pragmatic, passion is the only thing that moves the Universe for you. By passion I mean your most heartfelt inner interests and curiosity.

$fractals, time is art$ Why? Because it’s spiritual. It transmits to you what your Spirit wants to go next. And that’s what you are meant to be doing. Nothing else.

And by spiritual I don’t mean religious, or even spiritually awakened. Let’s say you have no spiritual beliefs or interests whatsoever, but you happen to have a heartfelt passion about becoming a lawyer. To me that’s spiritual. That’s the passion you should follow.

Does that mean that following your passions is going to be super easy? Does the lawyer not have to go to law school first? Does he not have classes to attend and exams to pass? Maybe success is not immediate. Maybe there are lessons along the way. But maybe those are exactly the lessons you need, and seek. And maybe it’s passion that will carry you through, it’s what will pick you up when things go sour, to try one more time. “Happiness is the path”, they say. Success is how many times you fail and you can still get back up. They say.

If the Universe is stopped, maybe it’s because you’re stuck

If you think the Universe has stopped evolving, it’s because you’ve probably spent and lot of time doing things, but without much spiritual (or inner) significance. So now it has crawled to a standstill.

If the Universe is stalled for you, then you need to jump start it. Maybe you’ll need to put in a lot of extra effort. Maybe you’ll spend a great amount of time producing things along the line of your passion, but without much sense of going forward, without much acknowledgment or results. The machine has gained cobwebs and rust. So you may need to start pushing the boulder up the mountain, push yourself past disheartening odds, for it to become functioning again. Emotional laziness accumulates.

But you need to do it. You need to make the bold decisions, make experiments with your life, maybe step a little out of the comfort zone. You don’t necessarily need a boot camp or a military drill. But maybe testing those murky waters you were always afraid to go in, but never left your mind. Maybe going where you always wanted to go.

Maybe that’s what the Universe will respond to.

by Nuno Alves