by Mark Pitstick, MA, DC
Life can be grim at times if you think you are only a physical being who is separate from others and God. But, as many documented near-death experiencers report—we each are actually one with the One and part of Source Energy right now! Not maybe, someday, if you live or believe a certain way. You are an integral and infinite part of All That Is. Further, you are interconnected with all beings and Life Itself. In this article, I hope to help you more deeply internalize this great news. For those seeking more clinical and scientific information on the subject, visit my website and www.eternea.org.
As humans, we each are lofty creations imbued with a spark—and the potential for a flaming torch—of the Divine within. This message is difficult for some to hear so I will quote a number of wise wisdom teachers. The very first chapter of the Bible conveys scriptural proof of humanity’s spiritual nature; Genesis 1: 27 states, “So ‘God’ created man in his own image… ”
Psalms 82:6 states, “I have said, ye are Gods; and all of you are children of the most High.”
The apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 3:16 asked, “Know ye not that ye are a temple of ‘God,’ and that the spirit of ‘God’ dwelleth in you?” In Ephesians 4:6 he says, “One ‘God’ and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” Now, I’m pretty sure that St. Paul wasn’t a southerner, so emphasizing the word ‘all’ four times in one sentence makes it pretty clear: Infinite Intelligence resides within each one of us.
O. Lazarus, in Liberal Judaism and Its Standpoint, summarizes a Reform Jewish attitude toward ‘death’: “There is that within us which is immortal and it is not bounded by time and space. It is this, man’s soul, as it is called, which continues, so we believe, to live after the ‘death’ of the body. To it, ‘death’ is but an incident of life.” Kabbalistic or Mystical Judaism also believes in the immortality of the soul of all people.
In Discover The Power Within You, Unity minister Eric Butterworth stated, “You can never be separated from ‘God’ because you are an expression of ‘God,’ the self-livingness of ‘God.’” Speaking of “God,” Alfred Tennyson wrote: “Closer is He than breathing and nearer than hands and feet.” Meher Baba said, “To attain union with ‘God’ is so impossibly difficult because it is impossible to become what you already are!”
In Wisdom of the Ages, Wayne Dyer, Ed.D., states, “Imagine being fully aware that you carry ‘God’ about with you. If ‘God’ is everywhere, then there is no place that ‘God’ is not. And this includes you. Once you connect to this understanding, you regain the power of your very source. Rather than seeing yourself as separate from the miraculous power of ‘God,’ you claim your divinity and reclaim all the potency that ‘God’ is…you are a principal work, a fragment of ‘God’ Himself.”
Joseph Campbell said in his wonderful book An Open Life that humanity’s search for the Supreme is encumbered by conceiving the Absolute as a personality. One important mystic who broke past this orthodoxy was Meister Eckhart who stated, “The ultimate leave-taking is the leaving of ‘God’ for ‘God.’” Campbell comments, “As soon as you smash the local provincial ‘God-form,’ ‘God’ comes back. And that’s what Nietzsche meant when he wrote that ‘God’ is dead. Nietzsche was himself not an atheist in the crude sense; he was a man of enormous religious spirit and power. What he meant was that the ‘God’ who’s fixed and defined in terms appropriate for 2,000 years ago is no longer so today…The divine lives within you…And what is ‘God?’ ‘God’ is a personification of that world-creative energy and mystery which is beyond thinking and beyond naming.”
The Christian mystic St. John of the Cross said: “Oh, then, soul most beautiful among all the creatures, so anxious to know the dwelling place of your Beloved that you may go in quest of Him and be united with Him, now we are telling you that you yourself are his dwelling…his secret chamber and hiding place.”
Enlightened denominations from every religion teach our essential oneness with the Creator.
In Sufism, it is said: “I looked into myself and saw that I am He.” Referring to the One, the Hindu Upanishads proclaim, “I am everywhere, shining forth from all beings.” Christianity says, “The Father and I are One.” Islam states, “All is Allah.” ‘Isness Is, ‘God’ is One, I Am That I Am’—these are various ways of stating there is no separation or duality in life. As Joel Goldsmith wrote in The Infinite Way, “That which I am seeking, I am.” Any other understanding is an illusion that limits our perceptions of what humans really are.
In To Know Your Self, Sri Swami Satchidananda wrote, “Know that it’s not the Self that needs Yoga. It’s always tranquil. But the limited mind goes through these practices to expand and see the Self clearly. Then, when the Seer sees his Self and rests in his true nature, he sees the real face which is never disturbed. You are the image of ‘God.’ You are the Infinite by yourself…Remember the goal: Aim at something great. All of you can be Buddhas, Christs, Mohammeds, great sages, and saints.”
In Prayers of the Cosmos, Douglas-Klotz relates varied Aramaic meanings of the first line of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father which art in ‘heaven,’ Hallowed be thy name.” These include: “Radiant One: You shine within us, outside us—even darkness shines—when we remember. Focus your light within us—make it useful: as the rays of a beacon show the way. O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos, you create all that moves in light.”
Many viewpoints agree that the Light exists within each one of us. In Matthew 5:13, Jesus, speaking to the multitudes at the Sermon on the Mount, said, “Ye are the light of the world.” He encouraged them to let their lights shine to glorify Oneness.
Finally, some comments on our essential soul natures from eminent theologian, philosopher and psychologist Dr. William James who stated: “Only when I become as nothing can ‘God’ enter in and no difference between his life and mine remain outstanding. This overcoming of all the usual barriers between the individual and the Absolute is the great mystic achievement. In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness.”
I hope this information helps you remember that your earth experience is a totally safe, meaningful, and magnificent adventure amidst eternity. Let me know if I can assist you in serving others more powerfully and enjoying your earth-journey.
Mark Pitstick, MA, DC is an author, holistic chiropractic physician, clinical psychologist, frequent media guest, and workshop leader who helps you know and show your magnificence in body, mind, and spirit—no matter what is going on around you. Visit his websites at www.soulproof.com and www.radiantwellness.com for free radio shows, e-mail newsletters, and articles. Contact him at mark@soulproof.com to schedule Soul Proof Experience workshops for your church/group and ask him your toughest questions.
