Mainstream Christianity, along with other popular religions—if you leave aside their mystic fringes, looks at equality with God as heresy and blasphemy. Culturally, claiming “I am God” is one of the defining characteristics of being crazy. On the surface, this is self-apparent. How can a feeble, simple, temporary human being claim to be infinite, eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent? Pure nonsense.
Beneath the surface, things get more interesting. Where does the claim of being one with God come from and who is making it? Does its substance exist in the sound vibrations emanating from the vocal cords, the words and language those vibrations represent, or the ideas those words point to? Does it come from somewhere else entirely, such as a direct awareness and knowing via personal direct experience as an eternal spiritual being? Is it Source saying “I AM” through spiritual (non-physical) vibrations represented as physical matter we experience as a human? Are all the people who have had these direct experiences of existing as dissociated, individuated units of the absolute unbounded oneness crazy?
For me, these authentic “multi-dimensional thinkers” are not crazy. Time in their presence makes it clear to me they have an abundance of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The soul that looks out from their eyes soothes. The rhythm of their heartbeat connects with my own, creating a smile that can’t be put into concepts, words, and sound vibrations. It just… is.
To the extent religious dogma keeps people from pursuing this direct experience is the extent I don’t personally want to be associated with religious labels. Those who identify with religious labels often see this as an existential threat to the continued existence of their egoic self. The response can be quite energetic. That’s okay. I was that person for more than a few decades, and I honor the value their identity provides them. I also hope they will never stop their own journey towards greater awareness, to die to self, be reborn, and “pick up their cross daily” as it were. Why? Because the alternative is suffering, the opposite of fundamental wellbeing. If there is no identification with the separation that is the body, who is it that suffers? How can suffering exist?
It’s natural not to want to see those you love suffer. Natural to plead, “Come on in, the water’s great! You’ll love it!” But it doesn’t work that way as no amount of convincing will move the unmovable. Everyone is on their own journey and the journeys are perfect in that they create the story, complete with drama and hardship and overcoming. Everything is perfect.
Enjoy the ride.
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If your own journey has you seeking a deeper experience of existence, here’s a resource you may find useful.
In 2022, I started building a friendship with Jeffery Martin that I now deeply cherish. His work over the past 17 or so years is, to me, so important for humanity.
This 7 and half minute video is a good place to start to feel into what he's saying energetically and decide if this interests you at all:
At about 4:30 he mentions using the methods while discarding the religious and spiritual dogmas, so that may be a bit triggering to hear if you currently identify with religious labels and consider these practices sacred and specific to your religion.
This is the book I read after meeting Jeffery: https://www.amazon.com/Finders-Dr-Jeffery-Martin/dp/1572425563?nodl=1&dplnkId=f50aeaa5-9e1a-4cdc-954a-4f783de99be9
It's on Audible as well.
I took the 45 day course (the evolution of the Finder's Protocol mentioned in the video above) here: https://45daystoawakening.com
If you want to see exactly what's in the course, someone outlined it all here: https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/s/6ptXHFWqk4
I had been doing an hour a day of meditation in the beginning of 2022 before I met Jeffery and did the course. It's great stuff.
If you want to see more from Jeffery to get a better feel for him and the content, here's an interview I watched a long time ago from a really great channel with tons of useful interviews:
If you really want to get into the weeds of the "Martin Matrix" of locations and layers of PNSE, this video gets into it:
I’ve greatly enjoyed the times I’ve been able to spend time and meditate with Jeffery and his colleagues. I do think meeting him and becoming friends with him has influenced my excitement about his work (judge the fruit!), especially the week and a half retreat I did with their team in Rincon last year. He's an amazing resource for anything I want to ask related to people or ideas in the consciousness / awakening space. His research site is here: https://www.nonsymbolic.org/
Please know there are tools available to you right now that can provide a deep down sense of okayness, a persistent wellbeing that is not dependent on your external circumstances. It’s all ready for you as soon as you are done with the phase you’re currently experiencing.
🙏❤️