THIS I BELIEVE — AS OF TODAY!
by Paul Von Ward
(February 2010)
Beliefs are like slippery eels; they slither around like threads of luminescence in dark waters, sometimes made more clear and whole when beams of external light pierce the darkness.
Beliefs are like fragments of dreams that stand out so clearly in the fog of sleep, but for only a quick second, then escape our awareness to reappear in a different form as we turn in bed. The same dream on a later night teases us with subtle variations.
One’s consciously expressed beliefs comprise a soup of many ingredients: personal inner experiences, ideas from others that we except as truth, and concrete facts that cannot be denied.
We continue to change beliefs as we experience life and acquire new knowledge. Regardless of social status, formal education or range of life experience, all of us can only “now see through a glass, darkly.” (Corinthians 1:13 in the Christian Bible)
Therefore, what I write today may be expressed differently tomorrow — that is, if I have learned a new thing overnight.
I believe our universe is filled with life — or more accurately, it is the embodiment of life itself. I think this universe is fully self-aware in the midst of a multiverse of unknown characteristics. The majesty of this multiverse is beyond our capacity to know.
In such a big picture, I believe my consciousness is inextricably intertwined with the destiny of the whole shebang, and that my individual life matters in what appears to me a giant cosmic experiment.
In my view, all species — whatever and wherever they are, and regardless of how far along they are on their unique evolutionary path — are products of the Creative Mind that gave birth to our cosmos. This includes all the beings people call gods, angels, ETs, devils, ethereal beings, animals, spirits, and single cells.
To the extent we are aspects of that universal consciousness, we do not die. Like energy cannot be destroyed, but converted from one form to another, consciousness does not disappear, but shifts in form depending on new levels of energy and matter.
I believe that a physical death is only the blinking back into a quantum state, like a proton or photon disappears only to wink back into existence in space/time. Thus, I do not fear “dying” and I believe in reincarnations of that individuated consciousness.
Each organism, from a one-cell virus or bacteria to the most advanced being guiding a galaxy or many constellations, has its own mind. Cosmic Consciousness — a primal plenum “nous” — expresses itself at all levels. Each of us is a physical, energetic, and mental expression of this conscious field.
This means we are “Mind-DNA-Blood Relatives” to all beings — any speck of life in all creation. All beings — from the smallest to the largest self-perceived entities — are continuously and simultaneously connected at some level of communication with all others. While none of us can separate ourselves from this web of life, all life forms, have some degrees of autonomy.
Swirling in the vortex of unfathomable trillions of star systems in an ever increasing amount of space/time, my mind still has its share of self-control. My flexibility in decision making, with some influence in the shaping and direction of the future course of events, makes me feel powerful and humble at the same time.
I understand that for my intentions to be realized, they must gain the support of others. Thus, the success of my aspirations depends on their evolving synchronicity with the aspirations of others. I believe that personal, societal and species progress requires that I find the balance between what I need for my own physical and psychological integrity and what every other being needs for it physical and psychological integrity.
Living constructively requires my learning how to self-evolve, but in harmony with all of those beings with whom I’m related. The principle “Do towards others as I would have them do with me” is
the foundational goal of my exercise of free will. I confess I do not always meet my own standard, but the standard prods me.
This principle applies to my relationships with political opponents, religious antagonists, economic competitors, jealous lovers, neighbors down the street, family members, those more and those less fortunate than I, to future generations, and the legacy others have left behind. It also applies to the creatures in my garden and the woods and oceans beyond.
As my consciousness evolves — and I learn all the lessons that I possible can in this level of physical human or ET existence — I believe it will be able to incorporate its Earth learning and will be capable of maintaining its individual Self in other dimensions.
Cycling back to the beginning of this piece, I know I will continue to change my beliefs in whatever dimension I find myself — as long as my soul evolves and contributes to the ongoing, evolutionary experimentation of this universe and its Origin.
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