Greater Power

It seems that stress has overtaken me in some form, possibly subconsciously, because tonight I'm battling a flare up with my Crohn's disease. I was "diagnosed" with this as an eleven year old, but as I get older I wonder if it could possibly be IBS or some other closely related issue. No matter, whenever I have not been eating right, sleeping well, or allowing stress to overtake me, I end up in bed, with pain, barely able to walk and drown myself with lots of water and red tea. I know several others who have more severe cases and so I consider myself very lucky to be able to control my symptoms with diet, exercise and rest.

As this episode has allowed me more time resting, I've made progress with my book A New Earth. Before I discuss the ideas I've read in this book, I'd like to illustrate some of my thoughts from past blogs and a few of the ideas I've read in Tolle's book.

Many people have probably seen this photo. Each time I see this picture, I see myself in the reflection. I know that most times, I see only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my potential, my looks, my reality. However, there is so much more to all of us than just the "tip of the iceberg." We have so much more power within us below the surface and some of us go our whole lives without ever tapping into that part of ourselves.

Here are some things I've been reading and meditating on tonight:

• To sin means to live unskillfully, blindly, and thus to suffer or cause suffering.

• The more you make your thoughts/beliefs into your identity, the more cut off you are from the spiritual dimension within yourself. Many "religious" people are stuck at this level. Through their "beliefs" they can make themselves "right" and others "wrong" and so religions, to a large extent become divisive rather than unifying forces.

• Could heaven possibly not be a location but rather an inner realm of consciousness?
  

• Words, no matter whether they are vocalized and made into sounds or remain unspoken as thoughts, can cast an almost hypnotic spell upon you.
  

• Life isn't as serious as my mind makes it out to be.

• The egoic mind allows us to identify ourselves with things: my car, my house, my clothes; instead of realizing that we will have to let go of these things at some point, perhaps soon. Will we become less when we let go of these things? Has who I am become diminished by the loss?

• "If someone takes your shirt, let him have your coat as well." Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.

• How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at this moment.
  

All of that and I'm not even finished with Chapter 2. . . .