Love or Attachment?

It's easy to mindfully distinguish love from attachment.  Love unselfishly desires the happiness of others.  Attachment desires the attention of others to gratify one's own perceived needs.  Ego is not capable of love, but ego is all about attachment.  Spirit knows that it is Love and, being aware of its Oneness with All That Is, understands the futility of attachment. When you allow yourself to be controlled by ego, you find yourself grasping at objects of desire whether they are people, things, or ideas. The more of your consciousness that you devote to Spirit, the more you will manifest unconditional Love. The two forms of consciousness cannot exist simultaneously, though sometimes we vacillate so rapidly between Love and attachment that we find it difficult to distinguish between them, and even believe that they are two names for the same thing.  We can escape this confusion by being aware of their very different consequences.  Attachment is associated with anxiety, fear, jealousy, and discomfort; Love is associated with calmness, confidence, generosity and bliss.  To focus on Love is to dwell in Spirit and, therefore, in harmony with All That Is. 

Ego and the News

Contemporary spiritual teachers advise against paying too much attention to the news media because they appeal pruriently to the ego, which is obsessed with self-preservation yet drawn paradoxically to the adrenaline rush of danger.  Maybe the co-existence of those two factors explains the popularity of horror and violence in entertainment media -- we are able to feel the physical/emotional reaction without being in any real danger.  The simulation of imminent danger also promotes ego's agenda to focus consciousness on personal survival rather than on Oneness. I wouldn't discount either the grotesque satisfaction ego draws from the experience of remaining safe while watching others endure hideous suffering.

You Will Call, I Will Answer

Harvard Law professor William Stuntz discusses his impending death. He describes his feelings about issues that most of us are not forced to confront on a daily basis. His thoughts deserve a place in your consciousness.


You Will Call, I Will Answer

Surrender

Surrendering the belief in good and evil means it is no longer necessary to look for the good in evil people or circumstances. Surrendering personal will means abandoning the need to impose your own conceptions of good and evil on your surroundings. Acceptance of the Universe as it is allows you to surrender to the Spirit within and let God's will manifest through you; and ultimately to dissolve that ego-imposed sense of separation that denies you access to Oneness with All that Is.‏