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| MY SELF, by Gail Gupton |
| For 45 minutes, once a month, I
would drive to visit a spiritual teacher. Upon entering her home, she would ask me,
"Well now, dear, what's in your consciousness today?" At first this question took me aback, but since that time, over 6 years ago, I've come to realize it's what I carry within my consciousness that manifests in my life. There is only one Consciousness, just as there is only one Life, which is God. On a sub-conscious human level, one carries a myriad of learned information, along with intuitive responses. Consciously, one carries, more often than not, concerns of the world, workplace, family, and financial concerns. One tends to take on the problems as real once accepted into consciousness as real. Even those pushed into the back of the mind and forgotten. The definition of "self" as defined in Funk & Wagnall's Standard Encyclopedic Dictionary is "an individual known or considered as the subject of his own consciousness". Spiritual consciousness is the recognition and understanding of God as the essence of one's inner Self, inner Being. Spiritual consciousness is being aware that God is Being the activity of our lives, our minds, our bodies, our business. The inner Self, once recognized as not separate and apart from God, then becomes harmonious on the human scene. I've discovered my real Self is not a human being with flesh and bones, but an invisible life form, part of the wholeness of life. And, there is no "little" self or "human" self because there is no separateness from God. There are not two selfs (selves). When Jesus stated, "I can of mine own self do nothing," it was because he knew he had no self of his own. The experienced spiritual teacher I visited also emphasized the fleshly form we call body is but a vehicle for our Self to move around in during our earthly existence. "Self" is the same as "I Am". To the average person on the street, these are radical statements. To family members and friends, not awakened to their spiritual christhood, these are foolish statements. To religious denominations, not enlightened with understanding, these are blasphemous statements. Keeping one's consciousness held within, and loving it, tends it to bloom outwardly. When one keeps God in his or her consciousness, consciously, earthly and human concerns become non-concerns. Selfhood is one's true identity, just like Christhood or Godhood. How often we mistake it for a label affixed upon us by others! One has many false labels - positive and negative - and one acts out each, 24-hours a day. People think of their "self" as a personality or as their knowledge based on experiences and upbringing. For accomplishments, one takes credit as doing something "myself". While this appears true on a human level, it is not they who do anything. We have become conditioned, over generations of time, to believe other than the truth. The Truth was forgotten shortly after the crucifixion. "To thine own self, be true" is a statement I've heard from early childhood. Only now I've come to understand being true to God, my real Self, is what the statement really means, spiritually. The more I contemplate things of the Spirit, the more I realize the existence of humanhood is but a mere stage. Identity has nothing to do with what we see in a mirror. As an infant, as a child, as an adolescent, as an adult, we see different images, yet it is "I" looking back. We feel different human emotions, always changing with a different situation, yet it is "I" that differentiates. It is the invisible Presence, individually and collectively expressed in everything we do and everything we are. But not just in the human form - in all form and non-form. Looking out from within this Self, this inner Being, this Identity that I am, I've come to realize I have the same thing in common with everyone. We all share this Identity, the Allness of God. Now, if someone asks me "What is in my consciousness today?" I can say with assuredness, "My Self" All is well. |
