Babel

Category: Religion

  • Creation told by Wintley Phipps

    A beautiful, powerful and masterful telling of  Biblical Creation by Wintley Phipps, ordained Seventh-day Adventist minister and  world-renowned vocal artist.

    ~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

  • Who am I?

    OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA This week I’ve had a series of thoughts and concepts present for a revisit. A friend mentioned Tolle’s book ‘A New Earth’ and said I might want to watch the review at Oprah.com. While there I surfed around a bit and came upon Dr. Wayne Dyer on Oprah’s Soul Series. Then one day on Twitter Paulo Coelho tweeted the quote below so I visited his blog. All week I’ve been pondering the concepts of ego, personality, pain body and now. And working  with present moment. It has been an interesting week. Thought I’d share with you some of my outer and inner workings.

     So I begin… When asked who are you? We often reply with a series of socially acceptable identifiers like, "I am ‘name’, I work for ’employer’, I live in ‘town’, I am ‘relationship status’." Are we that? A name? A job? A town? A relationship?

    No of course not. These are identifiers…. name, job, location, relationship. They are current points in time which can change. We get married/divorced, move, change our name and jobs all the time these days.  But if we aren’t these… what are we? 

    We also say, ‘I am a ‘man or woman’, ‘I’m ‘age’,’I’m ‘sexual preference’ . We look in the mirror and see ourselves. We think, "That’s me." But we can alter our body too. Change hair color, lose or gain weight, have plastic surgery and not look the same at all. We can even change our sex. If we make any or all of these changes are we still the same? We look different. No one may recognize us. But are we still the same?

    We describe ourselves as, "I’m ‘outgoing or introverted or other’. I’m a ‘habit (smoker, drinker, etc.)’. I’m ‘emotional state (happy, sad, thankful, etc.)’. " And other descriptive phases which talk about our emotional state or ego/personality. Are we how we feel or even what we think?

    Dr. Wayne Dyer gives this collection of ideas about ego…

    I am what I do

    I am what I have

    I am what others think of me

    I am separate from you

    I am separate from what is missing in my life

    I am separate from God

    "We are not our ego. When we see ourselves and the world from these ideas we are ‘Edging God Out’ (EGO).  We are already connected to all… have all, we just need to align and surrender. Become empty."

    "Oh Krishna, The stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace? " ~Bhagavad Gita

    If not egoic thought, who are we? What is at the core? How can we know who we are? Where do we begin?

    "Not as I will, but as thou wilt." ~2 Corinthians 3:4,5

    "We need to forget what we think we are, so that we can really become what we are." ~ Paulo Coelho

    So ‘I will’ is akin to ego. Forget or surrender ‘I will’ or ‘what we think we are’. Give up beliefs about self which come from ego or personality. The concept is clear enough but how?

    "Be still, and know that I am God." ~Psalms 46:10

    "True self essence comes out of stillness. Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness. This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.

    To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe. I call it stillness, but it is a jewel with many facets: that stillness is also joy, and it is love."~Eckhart Tolle

    ‘Be still’. In the stillness we begin to understand ‘what we are’.  But we have a life to live, things to accomplish. How can we become still or empty and have a life?

    "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." ~Buddha

    "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life." ~Eckhart Tolle

    Life can only be experienced Now. Not in past or future. Aligning self with the present moment aligns self with Life (God). But then how do we know our purpose? What we are to do?

    "At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want." ~Lao Tzu

    Being is focusing self on something other then brain grinding or mindless doing. It is Life. Breathe. Follow the breath. Still self inward by following stillness into through and around a flower, tree, plant. Becoming that stillness, quiet, peace. It enlivens. Follow it into the body, feel the buzz, hum or vibration of Life within you. Feel the Peace. Stillness. Joy. Bliss. Then you are fully present… NOW.  The fullness of Life can truly only be experienced now… end.

    The photo above of the glorious rose was taken by my beloved friend Light who made his transition. Now he works in Spirit.

    Hope you enjoyed my pondering.

    ~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

    For more on Eckhart Tolle see eckharttolle.com or oprah.com  to watch ‘A New Earth’ book review with he and Oprah.

    For more on Paulo Coelho see paulocoelho.com.br or read his blog.

    For more on Dr. Wayne Dyer see drwaynedyer.com

  • Co-creatorship, Mind and Now…

    I wrote this in response to a question I received asking about soul and co-creation. The photo is a pink water lily in my pond.

    Thought you might enjoy them.pond-lily-sm

    Soul is fully conscious (aware) and non-conditional (absolute, without imperfection). Co-creation happens through Soul (as Thought) utilizing a polarity of sorts. Thought… not as in the physical brain mental functioning: but rather Thought through Mind (Buddhist: ‘diamantine mind’ or ‘clear-light mind’) and beyond. Mind in this reference is also Higher Mind (an ethereal energy field that brings knowledge and information of a higher source). Soul works through ‘Mind’. There is a doing by Soul during creation that resembles thought (intention or perfect intention) and is never unconscious (without awareness).

    We become true co-creators when we are fully conscious. What that means is have the complete awareness of ‘Who We Truly Are’… as Soul, with full knowing of ‘All That Is’… ‘Being in this world but not of it’ also called ‘Enlightenment’ (knowledge of Universal Truths and the ability to live them; realization of the ‘I AM’ within, resulting in perfect harmonious function). Enlightenment is not way beyond our reach it is opening to the awareness of ‘All That Is’ (including inner and outer worlds) and as a result becoming peaceful, harmonious and unconditionally loving.

    There truly is no time… all is NOW. So co-creatorship occurs in the Now.‘Linear time’ is a construct of our collective consciousness, is what we chose to experience during our earthly incarnations… but it is changing to ‘Now’ as we ALL begin to become aware… conscious… enlightened.

    In co-creation, there is an understanding of polarity (possessing of negative (yin) and positive (yang) poles), which is utilized. Polarity is not the same as duality. The polarity utilized by Soul is the harmony and interpenetration of Light (vibration, matter, yang) and Darklight (void, dark matter (makes up 90% of the Universe), yin). One cannot exist without the other.

    When one is unconsciousness (without awareness), there is a duality (being twofold, usually contradictory; in disagreement) of thought functioning. The brain not knowing or believing itself a Soul and unlimited… believes it is limited and proves that to itself by trying on various societal constructs. It believes itself to be limited by the beliefs of the group it aligns itself with… and so creates limitation for itself. A limitless Soul in a vehicle that believes itself limited… this is duality… a twofold contradiction; in disagreement. As long as there is this disagreement there cannot be Higher-level creation while in a physical body.

    So the duality of Soul in an unconscious (walking dead, without awareness) vehicle creates unconsciously. And brings to itself all manor of things, relationships and experiences which trigger emotions, thoughts and wonderings to help itself remember. And as it begins to remember the experiences, relationships and things change to show it that it is a creator. But it still limits itself saying, “I AM this but not that”… this is separation. Until brain comes to the realization of Oneness of ‘All That Is’, which is the integration of Soul (knowing) within body… and brain no longer limits itself in any way… there cannot be true co-creation.

    In italic I have defined words from various dictionaries (including Oxford American Dictionary, The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary and http://dictionary.reference.com/) for the sake of clarity.

    ~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

  • Oneness and the Heart of the World

    Father Thomas Keating talks about God’s dynamic nature and the Divine Oneness of ‘All That Is’ in this wonderful inspirational video. He is wise, speaks from the heart and is sure to bring a smile. He says this about Oneness…

    “We’re (human beings) moving into Oneness. In other words a Oneness that we already have but at various levels of our being; and hence we’re aware of the Oneness in different ways, and in different intensities, and in different levels and able to respond as our awareness of this presence keeps evolving. The presence keeps expanding and becoming more penetrating, more enveloping, more involved with each of our bodily, mental, physical and spiritual activities or capacities. So we’re always experiencing this Oneness, but when does it become that, which is described as there being ‘No other’? This is something that maybe we could talk about tomorrow after a good nights sleep.

    That’s really very advanced and has few (as far as we know about it from reports) people who actually experience it as a permanent state of awareness or consciousness. Who have become not only ‘the Other’, but are ‘the Other’ in a way. Now this doesn’t in anyway deny the distinction between God and us which is infinite. It does deny the separation…”

    Hope you enjoy watching the video and listening to his wisdom as much as I did. It wouldn’t embed so follow the link to watch the video if you like. Enjoy!

    ~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

    Oneness and the Heart of the World from Global Oneness Project.

    The Global Oneness Project: http://globalonenessproject.org/              Father Keating’s works: http://www.snowmass.org/keating.htm

  • Ten Commandments of Life

    I wrote this in 1990 as a reminder to myself. I was sitting on the beach in Kauai, Hawaii contemplating my life. Would it apply universally?

    Ten Commandments of Life by Bonnee Klein Gilligan

    • FIRST – Fully and unconditionally love yourself. Recognize your Divinity. Honor yourself.
    • SECOND – Unconditionally love and accept others. Recognize their Divinity and honor them.
    • THIRD – Take responsibility for your actions. You always have a choice; how you feel, act or what you say. Act, don’t react.
    • FOURTH – Be a Master of Divine expression. Live the Universal Laws of Love, Peace, Truth.
    • FIFTH – You create your life (by your choices, feelings and actions). Live in joy.
    • SIXTH – Let go and allow (let God). Listen to and follow, unconditionally, your small quiet voice; your spirit (God).
    • SEVENTH – Be thankful and humble. Give thanks for what you have and receive. Be grateful.
    • EIGHT – Your sustenance comes from inside you (God). Trust. You will always be provided for.
    • NINTH – Your body is the temple of your soul. Nurture and care for yourself.
    • TENTH – Live in the present moment. Life can only be experienced NOW.