by Zen Gardner
March 26, 2016

from ZenGardner Website

Spanish version





 

It's human nature to look for resting places.

Naturally there's a time to rest in many aspects of life, but when it comes to the pursuit of truth and increased awareness and conscious activation there really is no stopping place.

Awakening has its own form of peace and rest by its very nature as we're tapping into other wondrous realms of empowerment and inspiration. Nevertheless, like swimming, our challenges to learn and grow are ever present and cannot be ignored without serious consequences.

While there's a mistaken idea that once awakened, always awakened, and everything is clear sailing from then on, the truth is that awakening is a continual process, one which we're only just embarking upon.

Crossroads and Off Ramps

It's interesting watching the alternative research community evolve.

Many are talking about the increased infighting and the apparent new belief system adherence that's distracting so many. These things are bound to arise I suppose, especially with those that want to see the community implode, but it's also endemic to the very nature of truth pursuit.

The closer one gets to the summit of any climb, the more intense the external conditions. Even the air is thinner up high, and the temptation to find an off-ramp to a road side place of comfort is strong.

However not all are simple side tracks.

Some are cleverly devised and very appealing distractions. Some appear as very plausible alternatives that we think might be worth exploring, even just out of curiosity, but sometimes become a lifelong diversion. Look at any belief or religion, including materialism and scientism.

The soul is aspiring to find answers and solutions and here are ready-made closed systems with seemingly all the answers.

"Ah, peace at last. Now we can lay down and camp out with no more serious worries or climbing to do, especially in that increasingly harsh weather further up the mountain. Besides, here are all these other people who feel the same as I do.

 

"What a comfort - this must be right. After all, we're endorsed and accepted by the system. Peace at last."

To Go On, or Not Go On

Most of life's serious choices aren't easy.

That's why so many avoid the conditions that may bring them on. However, life has a habit of getting in the way of our gravitating towards safety and security. Things go "wrong", or so it seems. Our plans get thwarted for one reason or another, or our stability is rocked by some event or life change.

While we're programmed to think of these as bad turns of events, they invariably lead to greater opportunities to develop what really matters in life regarding our true purpose here and our soul's progress.

However, most fight these changes or spend countless years in unnecessary anger, denial, remorse and bitterness, never getting the point life was trying to hand them.

It's not easy in a world engineered to halter human spiritual development. But this too brings out the fighter within us and checks our determination to really progress, not just for ourselves but for the good of those around us.

It's a sifting process. We can go on and keep learning and growing and letting go of the old, or hang on to what we find comfortable and convenient.

This usually takes the form of a nice, easily justified place of compromise, with just enough truth wound in our new found chosen life fabric to keep our conscience at bay.

Or so we think...

Again, life has a way of reaching into every corner of existence and testing us regardless.

Take the Challenge

Wherever we find ourselves, and in this rapidly shifting world that will be a lot of "places" and circumstances, whether brought on by our own actions or resulting from external factors, that will continue to evolve.

As I've often said, not only is this a continually shifting landscape we're living in, our very perspective is continually shifting as well.

All of this is ours to interpret and integrate into our lives. If we so choose. We can take the bunker mentality and try to close it all off but in the long run that won't work, just as the death of our physical bodies is inevitable.

The challenge we're each presented with is a beautiful one. It's fear that freezes people into a defensive stance rather than taking life on as the challenge that it is.

And as we know, that is why fear is incessantly pumped into the body politic in any and every form possible, to paralyze humanity and keep it from waking up to its true nature.

Follow the Questions

A simple remedy to stagnation is asking questions - continually...

Don't take anything at face value.

• Why are you feeling the way you are?

• What caused you to make that last decision or set some goal?

• Why do you value this over that, or have the attitude you do that makes you take the course of action you've chosen in your life, immediately or overall?

Then there's the external world.

• Why is all this happening?

• Who or what is causing it?

• What information is reliable and how do I find it and discern right from wrong?

And most of all,

• What's my real place in all of this?

• Why am I here and who or what am I?

• What is my true purpose for being here?

It's in the question - and our determination to pursue meaningful answers.

With courage. Then act on it. Make the sacrifices needed to do the right thing. Screw the consequences to your former paradigm.

As more do so, we'll continue to see a major shift here and now, not just later. Don't judge by all the zombies running around - look for the awakening. It's alive and growing. We may not see the ultimate fulfillment of our heart's desires for humanity and our planet in this lifetime, but this is all part of the process.

Ours is simply to fulfill our rightful role.

Yes, it's few compared to the many, but how much light does it take to light the darkness? Because the task seems so great at times, is that reason to not keep advancing? To hell with the naysayers and downers who can't see this. They're clearly not looking in the right places, never mind being in the right frame of mind.

Light your torch and that of as many others as you can. I'll be there with you.

Bonfire or bust! Let that be our motto - but it happens one lit candle at a time, starting with ours. The numbers don't really matter.

It's the intention and commitment - all else follows...

"We must remember

that one determined person

can make a significant difference,

and that a small group of determined people

can change the course of history."

Sonia Johnson