What happened was such a life-changing experience, it made me rethink what this life was all about.
Specifically, I wanted to believe in something greater than just me and the thoughts that were running around my head. Something that would make me feel at peace with what had happened.
My new belief had to make sense not just for me but for everyone. It had to be based on the facts we know and not just taking a huge leap of faith.
I also started exploring religions. I saw that many happy people who believed their god exists seemed to find inner strength and peace of mind.
I was excited by the latter but the issue I had with those who say they found "God" was many (not all) described their deity as being a different form to themselves, something they were subservient to. Plus, many mainstream religions appeared to require a leap of faith that their god exists.
To be clear, this post is not about disproving other religions or taking anything away from people who believe in them. It is wonderful to maintain a strong belief, one that involves goodness and no harm to others.
Realising religion was not entirely for me - I also looked at atheism and being agnostic. However, again, every part of my being told me it was wrong to think that this physical life was all there was and that nothing "greater" than ourselves existed.
Finally, I tried not overthinking things and just asked myself the following basic question: What one word from the human language can be used to group something truly great, a word that captures all that we know and do not know, and all we cannot possibly ever know?
Instantly I came up with the word "Everything".
Next, I brainstormed how "Everything" could be something that gave me a sense of purpose and happiness. Blending the word with "God" suddenly made the thought of God less separate.
It was like dominoes falling over one after the other, I was very quickly able to unravel the facts around our existence and the meaning (or I should say the possible un-meaning) of life.
I started seeing GOD as an acronym for GREAT-ONENESS-DEFINED as well as a shortened term for GOOD. That made much more sense to me and felt right. Instead of a separate being it now felt like I was God and God was me - all of us.
It felt right that we each have the power of God (Good) within and if unified that power is amplified.
Through much research and reflection I realised that nature holds the answers to many questions.
For example, we know a skin cell is a smaller part of the human body. We also know that the human body is a smaller part of the solar system. If you keep zooming out you eventually realise that everything is connected and with the right perspective it appears (metaphorically) as one body of Everything (God / The Way).
Watch this short video to get a sense of what I mean:
Then I came across the 2,600-year-old Tao Te Ching. Wow! I mean WOW!!
All this was discovered thousands of years ago. Why hadn't I been taught this at school!?
For those who have not read the ancient Chinese text, it describes the same conclusion that everything is one. It reveals that we should all treat each other as one family and flow with the Way. It teaches how the "Way" cannot actually be named and is another word that only begins to describe "Everything". It is a book that has 81 verses of text which each try and lever open the reader's mind to all that is and is not.
I loved it so much I rewrote it! Here is my version if you are interested, it is called The Way of Everything.
Let me pause here...
Take a deep breath...
The wonderful thing is, humans are now at a point in their
evolution where they can finally understand that they are not
individuals, but instead, they are all part of one great
everything.
Most importantly, humans can also now understand that everything around them is also part of their real body. The body of everything.
Sorry if I am losing some of you, the human mind tends to overcomplicate things and the ego rejects anything that threatens its power over the true you (the one witnessing your thoughts).
I realise most people reading this will click away, if they haven't already, and will let their ego and identity continue ruling their life.
This is fine, as long as they feel happy and are good people. It doesn't matter.
This post is not about dictating and forcing anyone to do or think anything they are not ready for.
However, at some stage, usually later in life, those people will feel something is missing in their understanding of life. At that point they will hopefully come back here, re-read this post and finally understand what I am (we are) trying to say.
Let's hope you are different, and you get it, you're feeling enlightened and will let this be your rebirth into a new way of living.
Photo by Bobby Johnson
Photo by Brooke Cagle
