Chapter 10

Closing the File

“Is humanity ready for a transformation of consciousness, an inner flowering so radical and profound that compared to it the flowering of plants, no matter how beautiful, is only a pale reflection?”

Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

So let’s bring this to a close. Let’s recap, but also add a little more content. Long ago ancient minds believed the earth was a stationary landmass that was completely surrounded by water, even above and below. They believed the sky was a dome holding back an ocean of water above the earth. They believed the sun, moon, and stars were attached to the dome, and they believed God was a king-like being who lived up above the dome, up above the sky, up in heaven ruling over the earth below. These beliefs were written down about twenty-five hundred years ago and then those writings were joined with other writings that eventually became our Bibles. Down through the ages those ancient beliefs about our universe gradually yielded to scientific evidence when necessary. We no longer believe that the sky is a dome and God is sitting on a throne up above it. But here in Western Culture we still tend to perceive God as being up above, which comes directly from those ancient beliefs.

But times are changing. Technology is changing us. We now have spacecraft that travel far beyond the earth’s atmosphere and telescopes that see much farther than that, so we now know for certain that the sky is an illusion and God isn’t up there above it. God isn’t up there and God doesn’t seem to be out there either, at least not in the traditional sense. There’s no specific being we can point to and say— that is God. There’s no specific being out in space. No specific being out in the physical universe.

But there is another place where God could be. There is another possibility. There are two realms of existence that we humans know of, the physical and the mental, so if God isn’t in one of them, then God must be in the other. That’s logical. That’s reasonable. If God isn’t in the physical realm then God must be in the mental realm. If God isn’t out in space, then God must be in our mind. God must be within us. In the subconscious mind.

But God doesn’t seem to be there. God doesn’t seem to be in my mind and I suspect you can say the same. However, there are levels of our mind that we’re not aware of. There are levels that are hidden from us. Therefore if God is in our mind then God must be in a deeper level. God must be in a deeper realm. God must be in the subconscious realm. God must be within us.

And if that’s true, then it’s true of all people. If it’s true, then God is in every one of us. God is our essence. God is who we are, ultimately, regardless of our many differences. Regardless of who we are on the outside. Regardless of our race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, abilities, disabilities, or any other differences we may have. In this view of reality, our conscious mind emanates from the subconscious mind, which emanates from the mind of God, the universal mind, so in this way, we’re all created by God. We’re all children of God.

Although some children are misbehaving. Although some children are making poor choices. Some are being cruel. Some are being deceitful. Some are making poor choices due to primitive mindsets. Some are making poor choices for the sake of power and greed. And so our world is in chaos right now, but hopefully this will change. Soon. But how? How’s that gonna happen? What can we do? How can we make the world a better place? Pray? Visualize? Have faith? Work for social change? Run for public office? Spread the gospel of love? All of the above? Probably. And perhaps most importantly— come to the realization that God is within. Within all people.

We’re all in this together, you and I. We’re all livin’ this life. We’re all conscious minds residing in these physical bodies, and the mind and body are two separate things, or at least that’s how they appear. The mind is mental. Like thoughts and emotions. The body is physical. Like arms and my legs. The mental and the physical are different substances, although they’re connected. They’re interactive. Our conscious mind interacts with the physical world, or our perception of it. But our experience of the physical world actually occurs in our mind, so there seems to be a certain illusion to it. At the time of death, however, the illusion is clarified, the connection is severed, and our conscious mind merges back unto the subconscious realm. We return unto our source.

But there are accounts of persons who have experienced that realm prior to death. There are near-death experiences. There are accounts of persons who have been immersed in that realm unexpectedly. There are accounts of persons intentionally seeking and finding the realm through meditation. I once visited that realm through meditation and sleep, coupled with circumstances I was experiencing at the time. I know that realm exists. Within me. That spiritual realm that I once glimpsed, and where a voice once said to me— “This is what it’s like to be dead.”

We human beings have our various beliefs about what occurs after death, after a day or after a decade, but no one knows for sure. Our religions don’t know for sure. I don’t know for sure. The philosopher, Descartes, claimed that the only thing we know for sure is that we exist. “I think therefore I am,” were his famous words, and perhaps he was correct. Traditional Christianity believes that people either go to heaven or hell, and maybe there is some truth to that belief, maybe it’s based on truth, but it’s been distorted over the years. It’s not as taught by traditional Christian doctrine. It’s not eternal damnation. What’s the purpose in that? Why would a God allow it? Why would God, the creator of all things, create it? It makes no sense. What makes more sense to me is that we all go to the same place (but not a physical place), the same realm (the subconscious realm), but we all experience it differently. We experience it according to who we are. It’s unique, like our personality. This appears to be true of near-death experiences. One person may see the gates of heaven. Another person may see a horizon, or someone who has passed on before them. But then for persons, the near-death experience is unpleasant. It may be considered hell, for some. According to the individual. Karma is real. We reap what we sow, says the Bible. But surely this experience doesn’t last forever. Surely not for all of time. Again, what’s the purpose? And so it seems logical to me, that even the soul who experiences hell, shall pass through that phase of life and death and continue on its orbit. (Unless a defiant soul might possibly, eventually simply go out of existence.) And so it seems the process continues in some way.

And simply being in that alternate reality may be considered being in heaven, in my experience of it, if it’s a good experience. My own experience was heavenly. Yet there is an even deeper experience than my own, I believe—the union with our source, our essence, the union with the eternal. Some call it heaven, some call it jannah, some call it nirvana. It’s our conscious mind merging with the mind of God.

And striving for this experience would be the ultimate striving, since it’s the ultimate experience. It’s spirituality, truly. And it takes effort. It’s a discipline. Work it out. Be a disciple. But in my view, it’s not necessarily a strict religious code. We can still enjoy life. Joy is what it’s all about. And the experience of God is the ultimate enjoyment, but cultivating that experience involves a certain struggle, especially in the beginning. It’s like learning to play a musical instrument. At first, the student has to think about every movement, but gradually the movement becomes more natural and eventually it becomes second nature. Controlling the movement of the mind is a comparable process. You’ve got to focus on it. I’ve been at it for quite a while. Still don’t have it mastered, but I’ve made progress. It’s learning to be aware. It’s the conscious selection of our thoughts. It’s controlling our emotions. It’s positive thinking. It’s positive prayer. It’s the growth of our mind, the evolution of our soul. It’s the blossoming of the divine. It’s the flowering of the soul. And it’s a slow process. One that appears to take longer than one lifetime here on the planet Earth, in my observation. But we don’t know for certain. We don’t know for sure. We don’t know how the process works. We don’t know the works of God. No, we can’t say much about who God is or what God is, but we can say something about where God is. We can come to a realistic conclusion about that, which is the purpose of this little book. If God isn’t out there then God must be in here. In the subconscious.

“When the day comes we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Amanda Gorman, The Hill We Climb

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