So we can say that in a relative way there has been truth put forward. What Buddha taught directly to his students was truth, what Jesus taught to his disciples was truth, what Mohammed taught to his followers was truth. The poetry of Rumi expressed truth. What my teacher, Oscar Ichazo has taught me is truth, what I am learning from Abraham/Terah through Nina Ferrell and Eva Gregory is truth. But all of these wonderful teachings are also all belief systems, because they are still trying to describe something that is beyond words. Whenever you mold the experience of ultimate truth to fit into language and thoughts it will not be the whole truth. As the saying goes – it is like pointing at the moon with your finger and then mistaking your finger for the moon.

This is where tolerance must come into play. We need to let go of the idea that we have the answer. That our system is the one true way of describing absolute truth – because in reality there is no way and there are many ways. When we start to see that there are many “truths” out there then we become free to embrace more, to open ourselves to the wonder of more human experience. And that is ultimately what we are here to do, play the fascinating game of – I am a human being on this planet at this moment.

Now the tricky part comes in because it is also possible to have a belief system that does not even touch on the nature of absolute truth. As spiritual seekers we need to be able to discern those belief systems (or truths) which are based on a real and experiential understanding of the Divine and are trying their best to point to that truth, versus those systems of belief which are 100% man made and have no idea of the true Divine Nature of our existence. Many religions have taken the original teachings that created their particular version of the truth and layered on lots of human structures and new ego based belief systems that bear no resemblance to the original message.

So while in absolute terms all belief systems are just that, and none are “better” than others, it is still true that as a spiritual seeker you will find it more productive and ultimately more satisfying to follow a system that is “pointing at the moon” versus one that is pointing at the ground but thinks it is pointing at the moon.

Luckily it is not that difficult to be able to make the distinction between a system that is still pointing to Divine Truth and one that has become strictly a product of human egos. This is true because all the people who have had the experience of absolute truth teach one thing in common, they all teach that God is Love and Compassion. So we can simply see if a religion or belief system is oriented in that direction. Does this system teach love and compassion for all beings? Is it open to all? Does it teach of God as pure Love and Compassion – which means God does not judge you and God does not make rules that you must obey or be punished? And, because love and compassion are tied to a lightness of being, does it embrace humor and lightheartedness? Does it teach tolerance of others and understanding that their system is not the only way? If so then that belief system, or truth, is on the right path, it is pointing toward the Divine Nature of All and it will do no harm to those who decide it resonates with them.

So find your path – the one that sings to you and that embraces the unending love and compassion that is the source of all life and all that is. And then open yourself to the wondrous idea that there are many versions of that same truth and experience as much of it as you can. And then the love, light and compassion will grow in you and shine to all of those around you.

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For me this ultimate question really came down to
something fairly simple, which is that this universe that we are in is
either a creation or an accident. It is either something that has a
conscious creation behind it or it is something that just came together
out of basically random coincidences.

Now some would argue that the universe and nature began to order
itself and that then order was created out of chaos, but there was no
original force or intelligence behind the resulting order.
However, that is really just a variation on the random chance
argument since it would be just as likely that no order was created –
without any guiding principle behind it the fact that the universe was
able to order itself would still be just dumb luck. If order was
inevitable then there was something else going on that made that
order inevitable.

If in fact the entire creation including life itself is an accident, if the
formation of galaxies upon galaxies and universes upon universes is
just an accident, and if the formation of life itself is just a random
event of some cells that came together and created life and then
evolved all the way up to human beings, then that is it. In that case
you don’t really need to look any further. There is no need for any
spiritual seeking; we live in a random universe. We live and then we
die – end of story.

That would also mean that human consciousness is nothing more than
an effect of our brains which have also evolved over time, because
there would be no reason or sense for consciousness to exist apart
from the physical aspect of the brain.

On the other hand if it does not seem like life and all of existence is
simply accidental, what are the implications of that conclusion? Is
there any proof to support that position? It is beyond the scope of this
book to cover all the areas in science that have shown us the
incredible connections and synchronicities that exist in our world and
our universe. But we can see some very clear cases that support this
idea.

For example – we know the conditions necessary for life to form are so
amazingly narrow that for life to have actually happened seems to be
more than just a random coincidence. We know that scientists have
not been able to recreate any conditions that allow a group of
chemicals to jump the gap into being alive – so how did that happen?
We also see patterns in nature repeated over and over. Connections
in the way stars and galaxies are formed and evolve repeat
themselves over and over. And some of these patterns occur all the
way from the macro level of stars and galaxies down to the micro level
of atoms.

Even more than that it seems obvious to me that our consciousness is
greater than just what could be explained by mental activity. As
stated before, no one has a clear picture on consciousness and the
brain, but there are certainly many examples, such as out of body
experiences, where consciousness seems to go beyond the limits of
the physical.

Then if you come to the conclusion – as I have – that this is a creation,
then there has to be a creator, some energy and intelligence that
made the creation. So, to me, the ultimate proof of God’s existence is
simply that everything points to the fact that we live in a creation
which means there must be a Creator.

If you come down on that side of the argument – that we live in a
wonderful creation and that everything is working together in some
way – then you have to believe in God, whatever way you want that to
be. Then the question becomes the one we are exploring – what is the
nature of that God that has created all?

So as a teenager I was leaning toward a belief in God but was still
questioning and had no real spiritual practice or understanding. I then
went off to school at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. And it
was during this period of my life when I awakened to my true spiritual
nature.

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Everyone forms an image of others around them. It is built, over time, of shared experiences and shared stories. Our natural tendency is to retain that image and to re-enforce that image of the person we know. The more we know them the stronger this tendency can be. There is comfort to our ego process with “familiar faces”.

This can clearly be seen in the process between parents and children. At some point the child has to become an adult, however in the parent’s mind they are still their child. A necessary split has to happen for the child to go out on their own. This dynamic can also be true with others we know and love.

That is why often, in ancient days, when a student approached a Sufi Master and asked to become their pupil one of the first things the Sufi Master would do is to command the new student to move to a new town and to take up a new line of work. The Master knew that the forces of family and friends would be too strong to allow the new student to grow and to start on the path to awareness. Even keeping the same line of work could put them in a familiar routine – the idea was to start the teaching with a clean slate.

Of course in our day and age this is not practical nor even desirable. It thus becomes very important for those who wish to grow and evolve to surround themselves as much as possible with like minded individuals. If those who know you the most and love you the best are also on a path of self discovery then it will be much easier for them to give you the space to grow and to accept you as you do so. Then when you interact with others who may still see you in an old and limited way you can just smile and think of the fortune cookie and take great pleasure in doing what they think you can’t.

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