Enlightenment: what is it? There really are only two definitions, etymologically speaking. One is the setting down of something and becoming lighter, and the other is shining light upon something. I know that many will say it is an inner light shining forth, but consider this: YOU must be the one to shine that light. I have been very blessed in my life to witness miracles. The interesting thing is each miracle I witness is the person's choosing something new in faith. They each in some way step into the role of creator in their lives.

If you look back at some of the Avatars of the past, you will very quickly and easily find that each said that the path to enlightenment (or "the kingdom" in Christianity) is within. People search and search for an outer path to enlightenment and each of the "enlightened" ones told us to it was an inward journey. I find that when I choose to meditate more often, my thoughts are clearer and my contentment and relaxation are more visceral. 

So what is enlightenment? I have found in my experience that in setting down the fear-driven emotions for a love-based contentment, the world seems brighter. A light is shined on my experience. My conscious decision to relax and feel the love makes my outer world more brilliant. Buddha said, "What we think we become." That being said, let's look at one of the realizations one must make to find enlightenment.

If indeed what we think we become, then we must come to the realization that we are the creator of our experience. You are the creator. In seeing this as truth, the real-ization of enlightenment comes in our thought. Find within self the awareness that you are the creator. Choose wisely the path that makes you feel joyful.. Joy is the loving representation of a loving state. In choosing Love over fear and releasing the fear in our lives, we automatically set down the burdens and become enlightened.

Take a moment and take stock of your current life or situation. Is your current life joyful or fearful? Does it feel good or bad? If Love is the positive state and fear is the negative state, then if indeed you are feeling negative about a certain area in your life, there must be a fear associated with it. In choosing to focus  that area in a loving positive outcome, your thoughts will create for you that experience. As your life becomes less dense with the weight of fear then you are in essence enlightening your world. Thus your outer experience is the direct result of your inner experience.

The mere realization that you are responsible for the world in which you live is a profound and humbling experience. This is true because you have to take credit for the good and the bad. But to compound the bad by responding negatively to the negative aspects of that realization is counterproductive. Take stock and accept that is how it is. It just is. No judgment of self must occur. The very thought of judgment is indeed creating another negative that you would have to purge. Realize where you are and then real-ize the different experience if you so choose.

The "path" that everyone is seeking is thought.  Choose the thought of a joyful enlightened life, and so the outer world will shine brightly back at you as a reflection of your soul. Then you are enlightened.

 Apocalypse

         Origin:
1125–75; ME < LL apocalypsis < Gk apokálypsis revelation, equiv. to apokalýp(tein) to uncover, reveal (apo- apo- + kalýptein to cover, conceal) + -sis -sis

Are we headed to disaster? Are we looking at the catastrophic ending of all? Are we about to face the most fearful event that has happened to humanity? Is that what was said in Revelations? No. Let’s start with the words. As you see from above, apocalypse means revelation.  What does revelation mean?

 Revelation 

c.1303, "disclosure of information to man by a divine or supernatural agency," from O.Fr. revelacion, from L. revelationem (nom. revelatio), from revelatus, pp. of revelare (see reveal). General meaning "disclosure of facts" is attested from c.1375; meaning "striking disclosure" is from 1862. As the name of the last book of the New Testament (Revelation of St. John), it is first attested c.1400 (see apocalypse); as simply Revelations, it is first recorded 1691.

So ‘Apocalypse’ means “Revelation’ and revelation means basically, a revealing of information from the divine. So is the revelation of St. John a prophecy for the end of the world? There is a lot in the revelation, and it has been interpreted so many times and ways. Edgar Cayce, the most famous psychic ever known, while in trance, stated, ". . . it was a road map for enlightenment." That each of the “churches” represented a chakra center. Others have interpreted it meaning things from history that have already passed, citing Nero and Napoleon. The words are mystical and are from someone trying to decipher visions of future events with a mind that had no knowledge of future technologies. Imagine if you had a dream where you saw your body disintegrate to particles and disappear. Wouldn’t that scare you? Now imagine you live in Star Trek world. It is only the transporter, something you would use frequently. The vision of it would be scary but the reality of it is not. St. John talks of Armageddon. What does that word mean?.

  Ar·ma·ged·don   (är'mə-gěd'n)    

[Late Latin Armagedōn, from Greek, from Hebrew har məgiddô, the mountain region of Megiddo : har, mountain; see hrr in Semitic roots + məgiddô, Megiddo.]

So Armageddon means the mountain of Megiddo. So the very word implies the specific place of a cataclysm.  The mountain of Megiddo overlooks a valley. I have stood on the very mountain spoken of, and looked down in that valley. The valley is one of the most fought over pieces of land on earth. Generation after generation has fought on the battle field of Megiddo, including Napoleon himself. So If there were to be a fearful event in the world, the place of that event would be centralized on the mountain of Megiddo in Israel. There is a battle going on in that region today, as there has been for millenia.

So here is my question to you: If the Apocalypse is a Revelation and the Revelation is a revealing of information, and the information is a catastrophe at Har Megiddo, and it has already been happening for generations, and you are still here. . . What is there to be afraid of? Make your personal experience joyful.  Create a loving place, and have your own apocalypse by realizing that you are creating your experience. It is only a revelation away. Where you are is probably not Har Megiddo, so keep creating from the place within that is not focused on fearful events and prophecies that are difficult to understand because of interpretation.

In the Words of my friend ,”Love one Another”

Just a thought.

"Fundamentalism as it is called is not confined to the Muslim world. It is something that we have seen in different parts of the world. Let us hope that a dialogue between the followers of the three great monotheistic religions could help in putting an end to this." ~King Hussein I 

I was recently sent a link by someone who proclaims to have "light worker" status. Unfortunately, the link that was sent was an absolute attempt to spread the fears of militant fundamentalists. I say this because the message sent out was a message that one should fear the Muslims. I have met many Muslims in my travels abroad and found each of them to be the same as you or I. When traveling through Egypt, I went to Mt. Sinai. While there I befriended the manager of the hotel where I was staying. I showed him respect and friendship, and he returned it in kind. The following day after climbing Mt Sinai, I ran into another American. "Are you having any problems here?" he asked. "Not at all," I responded. "Your lucky, everywhere I go they all want to fight me," he continued.  As the conversation went on I began to understand; by the end, I wanted to fight him. He was putting out a fearful lack of respect for the people of Egypt, and they were returning it in kind. The night before as I began climbing Mt. Sinai, The Manager I told you about ran up the path a quarter mile from the hotel to give my traveling companion a coat because he said it would be freezing at the top.

"He who knows not Kindness has no faith" ~the Prophet Mohammed

The individuals who look at others of different faiths in fear are, in fact, amplifying the fear.  That can only lead to an explosive result. There are Muslim fundamentalists just as there are Christian fundamentalists. Our last President told the Saudi prince that,"God told him to invade Iraq." The wielding of religion and God for aggressive actions is a medieval premise that should not be tolerated in a shifting world.

The question is which way do we want to shift our world? Do we want a world based in fearful aggressive actions or of peaceful loving actions. As long as religious fundamentalists create out of fear and we do not take notice, then our world has no choice but to head into a dark valley of fear.  Let us peacefully put out our hands in love, and actively shift the world in a positive direction.  Fulfilling the actual intent in being a light worker.

"Love One Another" ~ Jeshua Ben Joseph

Many will say they do not know how to combat militants with love. I say this, read everything you can about Mahatma Gandhi. Whenever things in his country went violent, he did a nonviolent counter action.  What did he achieve - a free India. The spreading of fear by "lightworkers" should show fully where their truth is. Are they living a life of light while they spread fear? It is impossible to be a light worker if in fact the fruit you bear is darkness. Gandhi said,"Be the change you want to see in the world." If you want a world without fear then don't fear. If you want a world of fear and violence then spread the fear and violence. I find it sad that many on the "spiritual path" are using their religion or spirituality as a means of power or control.

"Be the change you want to see in the world"~ Mahatma Gandhi

Eventually the seeds of love and peace that we spread will burst forth into the representation of the tree of life. The seeds of fear can spread like a parasite, but we can prune them away easily and keep the light on our tree. Christians and Muslims can be friends.  I have seen it with my own eyes. It is all the same Source that we all come from.  When we take the Love out of God, then we turn our backs on him/her fully because "God is Love."

"Love is all you need"~ John Lennon

Last night someone very dear to me lost a close friend to suicide. I don't want to go into names because they like their privacy and don't like to be fawned over. I am also keeping the victim's name to myself because I want to respect who he was in life, not in the tragic end.

When people become so trapped in fear they can't see the way out, they fall into a mindset that is erratic. They can not see that love is all around them, and in performing the terrible feat of suicide they don't realize how much they hurt all those people.  Sometimes, they even feel that they must kill themselves to stop hurting others. The reality of it is, he was afraid. No one caused the fear; he himself allowed the fear to consume him. I feel great sorrow for the desperation that lead to his death.

“As anyone who has been close to someone that has committed suicide knows, there is no other pain like that felt after the incident” ~Peter Greene

Those who knew and cared for him are now playing the "what if" game. "What if I did this," or "I only wish  I saw it coming," become common phrases for the ones trying to cope with the act. Suicide is selfish. It is a direct response to fear. It is the result of completely turning inward and having no regard for those around them. When I hear the stories of this man, they are not of a selfish man. The stories are of a fun-loving, scattered individual who was loved by his family and friends.

      “If you throw someone a life preserver, and they turn around and swim away from it; what can you do but let them drown themselves.” ~anon.

I lost a cousin years ago to suicide. I can remember vividly the last time I saw him before death. He came into the room I was in and said,"I just wanted to say goodbye." He then turned to leave, did a double-take, almost came back, but shook his head in decision and left. His name was Carlos and he suffered the pain of depression. His life was very hard, but when you thought of him, he was fun-loving, sometimes scattered, and loved by his family and friends. Months later, I was staying at my parents' home in the darkest bedroom in the house. In that room I saw a bodiless aura form, and intuituvely, I knew it was Carlos. My mind flooded with the knowledge that I needed to get a message to his mother. The message was, "I am in a better place now." The opportunity presented itself a few weeks later. I began to prepare her for the message by finding out her beliefs and then came my chance. "I saw Carlos," I told her. She paused and then asked, "Is he in a better place?"

He is in a better place, as is my friend's friend. Here, they were both trapped in their fears, struggling with them daily. There they are embraced in unconditional love without fear. They can rest from their pains and feel the ecstacy of the pure God/Universe. The best way to honor them both is to not dwell upon the fear they represented in the end, but focus on the fun, loving, sometimes scattered friend they were in life. Another way to honor them is to live your life as fun, loving, and joyful, because that is how they liked you best.

To my most dear friends in pain today: I love you and always will. Find joy in the times you shared. Don't give power to the fear that took him by reliving what he did.