With Appreciation.
Moira Gardener
PS May I post this quote on my blog.

Sometimes, I wonder if I have my writer’s voice yet. Sometimes, I worry about it.

Then I get back to writing, figuring that if there’s a voice in me, it’s going to have to find it’s own way out. Because I’m too busy writing to worry about it.

Excellent post, Steven. One of the best posts I’ve seen on the subject.

My image of being alive is that we’re like radio receivers/transmitters. We were born with genetic filters–and new filters shaped by our unfolding experiences–that process this ocean of thought forms and other formless energies we’re living in. We see, feel and respond each in our own way. We’re like the endless variety of plants, each one complex and unique, conceived and nurtured by the sun and other more distant radiant energy centers. It seems like we are nothing but individualized extensions of the physical sun and the invisible sun of infinite energy. The only “I” possible is the one Source, the Great Spirit, God, Yahweh, the Primal One—or whatever you name you have for the instigator of the Big Bang and the perpetrator of this wild parade of beings entering and exiting the stage ever since.

Truth is, I have no life of my own. The little “i” I thought I was is only an illusion fabricated by my human mind. The Big Gardener actually is living through me. “i” will be gone in a flash when the Source had no further use for my bio-chemical body unit and pulls out of this human form. It’s like the plants and animals who melt back into the sod when their time is up. We call it death, and we create all kinds of soap operas about it. But only illusions die, and life moves on to new forms created for new purposes. If we identify ourselves with the human “i” we die. If we see ourselves as life energy, we’re alive forever in the ever-changing experience of boundless adventures that will never end.

I believe every thought we think, every word we speak and action we take is orchestrated by our soul, our real identity. Even when we pray or summon our Muse, it’s our own soul placing its order with the universe for the next step in our lives. If one accepts this notion as true, it can take a lot of heat off our running concerns about who we are, the justice and injustices of the world, the nagging questions that cling to us like barnacles. It can free us up to be who we are and follow our own unique flow of inspirations and ideas with confidence and no worries.

We experience, as souls, the laws of cause and effect, the law of attraction, and all the other constants of this world. Our souls move us to do this and that, as we experience what it’s like to live on this planet of polarities–good and bad, light and dark, up and down, etc. We can willingly participate in the unfolding soul-directed expression of our lives, or fight it by blaming others for the condition we’re in. Arjuna’s illuminating conversation with Krishna in the “Bhagavad Gita” shines a light on the subject of why we are compelled to do what we do. (Check it out–it’s a classic battlefield story from God’s point of view.) That’s also the theme running through “The Legend of Bagger Vance” written by the instigator of this blog. Even if you’re not a golfer, you’ll find it an absorbing tale (I’ve read it four times), way more interesting than the movie.

If this all sounds like a bit of blather, I must hold Mr. Pressfield responsible for creating such an interesting, inspiring web site. From the daily grind of battling insurgents in Afghanistan to questions of who and why we are . . . it’s a helluva fascinating gamut of information and ideas to ponder. Thanks for keeping the lights on, Mr. P!