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             You Can Remember Love; Contemplations on Science and Spirituality

Audrey had come to the workshop wearing a T-shirt that hung all the way down to her feet. A pink velvet bow was tied in her long, dark hair. Crystal earrings captured the lighting in the room and hurled it back in rainbow rays. A Native-American-style necklace gave the impression that she wanted to be perceived as connected to the spirit of indigenous peoples, if not the Great Spirit. Audrey was projecting a spirit of her own, one of independence, of wanting more than what the world had hitherto provided for her. Occasionally, she allowed her big, dark eyes to stop scanning the room and rest beneath her well-shaped lids in a meditative state. Audrey was serious about her commitment to her higher self.

"I noticed that you referred to the world of forgiveness as part of the Holy Spirit," she said seriously. "I still don't understand how the Holy Spirit is part of a dream and illusion, and therefore not eternal. I also thought we had to forgive forever."

"Let me say that I, too, was troubled the first time I read about this concept. Let me share some ideas. In this world, we cannot help but be surrounded by illusions. What we can do is simply deal with them. We do not have to forgive forever; we have to forgive only as long as we keep following the wrong guidance, and therefore, see ourselves separate from our Source. Furthermore, even forgiveness is an illusion, but an illusion that helps to end all illusions.

"The Holy Spirit, also known as the Comforter, the Translator, and so on, is Truth's helper. When we do not need any more help, the Holy Spirit will no longer be called upon to help us, so its function as our helper is not eternal. Our Translator is a bridge connected to the Ultimate Truth. This connection is eternal; its job with our illusory thought system is not. The Holy Spirit may also be called Voice for Love or Bridge to our Higher Self, if we prefer. It works hand-in-hand with our ultimate truth as long as we need help realizing our true identity. Its mission is necessary only as long as we believe in space and time.

"In my spiritual quest, I've learned to use the image of a ladder when referring to the separation. We came down the ladder the instant we thought of separation, while the Holy Spirit helped us to go up in that same instant. Only the little self keeps convincing us that the instant of separation is ongoing. We keep going down the ladder, so our Comforter stayed always to guide us. This learning process of forgiveness is very different from what we are used to think of as forgiveness, because it teaches that even a return to our Source is unnecessary, because we never left! That's why our journey is without distance. In reality, the journey is not needed; in the dream of time and space it is proceeding, as we remember again and again who we really are and learn to forgive ourselves for having forgotten. And this is where mankind is at this stage of history. And this is also where modern science can help us. Now we've more tools, that can help us understand that space and time are illusions.

"When we no longer need the world of forgiveness because we have gone into a state that is beyond all of these thoughts—a state beyond words, a state of grace and truth—then, we can throw away the ladder. No dream lasts forever.

"The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s mission is to help us to turn all our experiences into an interesting learning process. Right now, it is very important that we understand we are working with a dual mind, and that one part of the mind (light) is gently undoing the other (false ego, darkness). As we proceed, we will understand this concept better. Otherwise, we might even think that some of the quotations are harsh or unintelligible. As I shift from topics of peace to war or vice versa, you may not like some of the things I say. For instance, I once had a student who did not like to hear the word enemy."

"That's true of me, too," interjected Audrey. "I came to a workshop to find out about peace and love, not war and enemies."

"That is exactly what is meant by ‘working from the bottom up,’" I replied. If we had thoughts only of love, then we would be at the top of the ladder and would no longer need help. Since we are not there yet, we should not dismiss thoughts about war and enemies as illusions—they can help us remember the conflicts going on in our mind and try to find help.

"I had a truly devoted student who had been having many problems with her office supervisor. She finally transferred to another department, and the day she was leaving, her coworkers gave her a farewell party. The supervisor did not attend. Before she left the office that day, the student felt she had to say goodbye to her supervisor. As she arrived at the door, she asked for help from within regarding what to say and how to say it. She immediately ‘received’ a message, which surprised her: ‘Thank you for allowing me to grow.’ She said it to her supervisor. With a smile, the supervisor answered, ‘I thank you, too!’ Enemies became friends almost effortlessly. This is what learning from within means. This is true communication, the road to forgiveness. It can happen only when a student is receptive to the true voice within. Yes, this voice is the teacher. We are all students of life. I am sharing my experiences so that we can reacquaint with that power within. By helping remind others of who we really are, I'm also reminding myself."

"Why do you make the false ego such an unlikable creature?" Audrey asked. "Isn't the false ego also part of God's creation, and isn't it also associated with change? Can't that be made creative and helpful? Doesn't the false ego ask questions?"

"First, let me again affirm to you," I said, "that false ego was not created; it was invented by our erroneous thoughts, as previously noted. God does not create what is false and not eternal. Yes, the false ego is associated with change, but the change can be made creative and helpful only if we ask for inner guidance. We are all part of God's creations, but that does not mean that God created parts. The unified thought system could not have created anything that is broken into parts. As we proceed, we will see that it creates only wholeness. God created us after His own image, says the Bible. That image is whole and complete. Our wrong interpretation of His creation tries to change even God. The false ego sees things so divisively that it insists on there being only one Beethoven, one Einstein, one Newton, one Madame Curie, one Mother Teresa, one Picasso, and so forth. We see such persons as exceptional, then we separate ourselves from them. We forget about our own greatness. We block our creativity, which is really part of our birthright since God created us in His own image and likeness.

"We are all Beethovens because we are all music, art, and science. Beethoven was tuned into music. Einstein was tuned into science. Go ahead, appreciate Beethoven, Einstein, Mother Teresa and others, but don't forget there is a part of our thought system that is unified, herein lies our only chance to co-create.

"What the thought of separation does is warp the laws of eternity and keeps us going in circles. It keeps us fantasizing that we are different from one another, rather than underscoring the truth that our thoughts are shared in a loving and unified way. Our true essence, our true identity, will have to be rediscovered sooner or later. This is what freedom of thought is for, so that we can discover that our true thoughts are free of fear, guilt, hate, and other negative ideas.

"Audrey was correct in that a part of the false ego does ask questions and wants to change and get out of the messy dream it got us into. But by itself, without inner guidance, our thought of separation cannot come to rightful conclusions about life and the afterlife. In fact, when it hears the truth and right answers, the little self often distorts what it hears for its own aggrandizement. Above all, our separated self does not want to hear that its powers are meaningless in terms of eternity—the big picture.

"The Buddha, like other enlightened souls, concluded that the false ego is not a part of the Eternal because it lives and moves and has its being in a world that is merely a play of shadows. In The Republic, Plato imagines a long cave, and at the entrance, there is a light. Inside the cave are people whose heads and necks have been chained since childhood. They look like prisoners. They can look ahead only and cannot turn. Behind them is a fire, and figures are projected on the wall in front of the prisoners. The figures are nothing but shadows, yet the prisoners, who cannot turn to see what is behind them, think that the figures are reality.

"The message of this analogy is that as long as we allow ourselves to be chained, we see nothing but shadows and believe that what we see is real. We have to let go of our chains so that we can see the light at the entrance of the cave. Understanding the false ego as an unhappy dream is a necessary step toward removing the blocks to the awareness of our true self, and the remembrance of Love."