Freedom; Goodness & Love

This is our knowing, Our moral compass. Our inner-most reality: There is no separation. We are One.

Neale Donald Walsch in his latest book: The Only Thing That Matters, skillfully shows that the deep longing in the soul of every human being is our longing for completion.  Another helpful way to say this is that we long to grow into maturity.  Maturity is that place where we have risen to the highest expression of ourselves. It is that place where we live as our authentic selves.  It is always a place of freedom, goodness, and love, where we express this love in creativity that reflects our full self.  This is a theme that has woven itself through the greatest wisdom literature of the ages.  Our yearning is for completion – for full maturity.  My reading of this great book by Mr. Walsch combined with readings of the greatest wisdom literature – has led me to the strong impression that full expression of our truest self (maturity) cannot be achieved in isolation. Our completion is found in union – In Oneness . . .

We seem to have an inherent knowledge of this.  Not only do we carry this longing for completion; we carry this in the context of our longing for each other.

Consider how we grieve at the loss of a loved one.  Consider how we respond when we are under great strain.  Consider how we long for connection during times of great joy.  Consider how the pain and suffering of the other deeply affects us.

  • When we are overwhelmed by the death of a loved one, we feel our separation and are devastated to the point of great anguish.
  • When we feel deep stress, we long for comfort and a physical presence that soothes our aloneness.
  • When we experience heightened pleasure, we long for someone to share the joy filled and the meaningful experiences of life.

We have this inborn knowledge that our completion is only found in significant union.  Our longing is for our union – to somehow taste our oneness . . .  we need the presence of the other.

This is also our greatest challenge. Because of the shape of our greatest yearning
and the massive potential for pain in this most vulnerable part, we have
learned to hide and present a false self.  This false self -called our ego is wrapped in all manner of addictions.

The Synthetic Compromise (Ego and Addiction)
While union is our great longing; authentic union opens us right up – it makes us awfully vulnerable.  Most of us have experienced so much pain in our vulnerability that we easily descend into any place where we can hide, comfort and protect ourselves. we easily become addicted. We use addiction to anesthetize our pain and to hide. This hiding place creates an unholy union between addictions and ego stilting all manner of authentic life.

Our journey to maturity and completion is severely hampered and by the great addictions of our lives. (The heartrending power of addictions is that they stop us in the tacks of our maturing). They dull our senses – they steal our consciousness.  They do promise momentary comfort and pleasure but in reality they are thieves that steal our greatest treasure – our deepest enjoyment and fulfilment. There are countless forms of addiction, but they all have the same basic anatomy and outcome – Separation from and the death of our truest self.  This is the sad outcome of life under the tyranny of the ego.

Yet our determination to love well never completely dies.  In many moments throughout our lives this spark, this knowledge of our true-self is fanned into a flame.  The challenge that we face each time we come alive is that once again we are confronted by our deep fear. Am I loved as my authentic self.  Is it safe to be seen as my truest self.

The cycle continues as again we retreat into false-self and present the ego image with fierce determination.  This is hard for us because the ego image is always reflected back to us as we engage with another. Even though we cannot fully see, our knowing is that this is not our place of truth or love.  The ego is a lie and love cannot, will not flourish in a lie.   True courage is required for us to grieve and let go of the false so that we are enabled to embrace the true.  The reward is great as the realization dawns – The true self is always significant and magnificent in every way. 

Love beyond us calls; invites us to live with an awareness and authentic connection where the ego cannot survive.  The joy and the challenge of Love Filled Union is the power that bring us back to our true self.  Love at this level is always open; mindful; conscious and connected. Love at this level is our Melting Pot.  It is the cauldron where the false self is burned away and the true self is allowed to emerge.

Our experiences may differ, but the outcome will be the same – Our journey might require negotiation of challenges and opportunities in different ways, but we will come to know the same freedom; freedom from our false selves, freedom from ego, freedom from fear. . . . 

All of our fears, all of our insecurities stem from the great original fear; the great universal question: Am I loved???

The simple truth is – yes you are.  You were profoundly lovable when you were born.  That same beauty is still very much you; that unique and very wonderful you.  This presence of you might be somewhat jaded – and a little altered by the years of bending into your original fear, “Am I really Loved?”  The truth is simply this: You are profoundly loved.  And, there is nothing to Fear

The best work in all of your life is to know this and to know this deeply.  My hope is that you are enabled to immerse yourself in this knowledge and to have its rich and warm benefits overflow into all areas of your life and those in your sphere of influence: YOU ARE LOVED.

When we act in harmony with this knowledge, we act in the flow of ultimate truth.  This is where we find the great release; the joy and power of a freed up life.

So:

Freedom is the Knowledge and overflow of Deep Immersion in Love.  

This freedom is our power to choose well. The more we are immersed into the reality of love, the more resource we have to choose well.  Conversely, the more resource we have to choose well, the freer we are.

Here are some questions for us, to assess our levels of freedom.  These also reflect our determination to live purely.  They reflect back to us our courage to live in goodness and love.  These questions also help us to asses our capacity to let go of fear for the sake of a life of love:

  • When your career choice or part of your career forces you to compromise your reality of goodness and love, are you able to choose a better way?
  • Are you able to sacrifice your independence for intimacy?  Are you able to open yourself so that you are known in all of your goodness and struggles, your courage and fears?
  • Are you able to sacrifice your resentment for forgiveness, your old wounds for new beginnings?
  • Are you able to sacrifice your self definition as victim for your true courageous, overcoming and deeply loving self?
  • Are you able to forgive yourself; to lay down your title as  . . .? (Put your own title in here.  The one that you use for yourself that brings on your specific sense of shame).  Do you have the courage to see your true self as you really are and to step into that reality?
  • Are you able to stop giving your self away and give more of your true self?  (More of this in another blog . . .)

The greatest joy here is this: The more we exercise this power of our freedom to choose well, the freer we are. This is the one resource that defies the laws of consumption.  The more we use it, the more we have.

To top it all: Our joy at the end of each day is; when we chose goodness and love, we chose to partake in the Divine Nature.

AND – We move toward our Maturity –our own Completion . . .

Nigel Levings

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