Living a life of peace and serenity is a goal shared by more and more people today.   While the overall impression you get from the media as well as from society in general is that they are nowhere to be found…

A life of peace and serenity is available to each and every one of us though with certain principles operating in our lives.  In previous articles I have written about the role of Don Miguel Ruiz Toltec teachings of The Four Agreements contribute to this pursuit, and for me they are a vital piece of the puzzle.

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle gives us ever more powerful tools allowing us to get closer and closer to this aim.  Just as Don Miguel taught us from his Toltoc background, Mr Tolle brings together information from far ranging sources and ties them together into a fabric that also allows us to get closer still.

These two aspects of our being are quite important, and can get us closer to living in peaceful bliss all by themselves than most people ever will.  One of the final pieces to this puzzle requires us to examine a very seminal part of our lives, backgrounds and the nature of our existence as it relates to our creator.

Whatever our level of faith, few of us are ignorant of the details of the Eden story.  And just about all are profoundly affected by it's implications, for good – peace and serenity,  or for bad – isolation and conflict preventing our attaining that same peaceful serenity..

Stop now and consider the Eden story.

What was the one limitation that God gave to Adam and Eve governing their life in the garden?  

• GEN 2:16,17 And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.      

So the one rule set by the creator for humans to live in paradise (assumably a peaceful and serene existence) was tied to the knowledge of good and evil:

• GEN 3:1-5 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Jehovah God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?  And the woman said unto the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:  but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.

In the Eden account our creator thought it so important to our wellbeing that we not decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong but to accept his own judgement that he equates it with death.  

A great deal of emphasis is placed today in deciding for ourselves what is right and what is wrong.  A great deal of controversy also surrounds exactly what it is that our creator considers to be good and evil!

So how do we go about this?

We can only really be guided by this if we seek to connect to our creator on a continuous basis.  So for us Good is equated with anything that aids in our connection to Our creator, the universe and our fellow humans.  Conversely, anything that hinders or even seeks to limit that connection is Evil…

We "Lay Down The Fruit" of the Tree of Knowledge by making that connection our chief aim.  

What is more, the greater the number of people that are seeking to establish this connection, the easier it becomes as well as the more powerful it is.  

The only path to a life of peace and serenity is through connection to the creator, the universe and the rest of humanity.  Seeking to live our lives by "The Four Agreements" and living "In The Now"  will only make this easier.  And that connection is how we show our creator that we accept that it is NOT up to us to decipher Good & Evil.

The message of the Eden story is clear to me.  If I want to live a life of peace and serenity.  This is the road to it…

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Many people struggle with this, even while trying to embrace that very path.  Getting past it means coming to grips with a fundamental misunderstanding of Cause and Effect reasoning.

This is no small thing!

Cause and Effect reasoning is a fundamental principle without which we simply cannot understand and function in the world we live in.  And yet the the laws of Cause and  Effect work exactly the opposite way that most people believe.

How could such a basic bit of reasoning become so confused?

First let’s explore how most people understand this to work in their personal lives at a very basic level.  The perception is that if if a person has a bad day ( the understood cause) then  they will experience sadness, depression or other “negative” emotions (the understood effect).  In the world today, this bit of “logic” is so pervasive that if we could wipe it out with a wave of the hand it would eliminate the need for over 75% of the AntiDepressant medications being taken daily!

The problem is getting people to understand that their perception of Cause and Effect reasoning is reversed in this case.  Most of you reading this are also holding this belief even while you read this and say to yourself:  “I know!  Our mental state is the cause, and the “Bad Day” is the effect!”

But do you really “know” this to be true?  Can you explain it in terms other than: If I maintain a “Positive” mental attitude then “good” things will happen for me.

To really root out this misunderstanding, you have to be able to grasp the basic fact that thought, whether of a positive or a negative nature is always the root cause of any effect we encounter.  This may be  an  immutable law.  I say may be since I can only speak from my own experience.  If anyone can submit an instance otherwise, then I will amend my statement. For our purposed though, understand this to mean that at root, thought (which includes emotion) is the cause of all things.

You are reading this article right now on a computer.  The computer is an effect.  Before it was built, someone had to think about the schematics in the design.  Even before that someone had thoughts before they developed the design.  Nobody could reasonably conclude that the computer sitting before you was the cause of the thought process that designed it, but that is exactly what it means when someone says that they are sad, depressed or angry because of  having a bad day.

Thoughts and feelings are the architects of our lives.  The choice that we have is whether we will take ownership of our own role in this or ride the waves of the thoughts and feelings of others and the resulting reactions from ourselves.  Remember, most people are tied into thoughts and emotions that are the random product of events.  Your life is far too important for you to trust it’s causes to something so unreliable.

This does not mean that nothing of a negative nature will ever happen within our lives.  Understanding and applying the basic principle of Cause and Effect will however allow us to experience an appropriate level of sadness, or even anger in response to an event and then to move on.  This allows you to experience these feelings in a way that is not really negative, but as the part of a rich emotional life that they were designed to be.

My mother passed from this life three years ago next month after an illness lasting over twelve years.   The sadness I felt at her passing was deep, and carried with it all of the wonderful things that our relationship entailed.  The memory of that sadness is now a cherished part of the whole memory that I carry with me at all times of my mother and all that she means to me.

I would no more want to  have missed experiencing that sadness than I would want to be consumed by it ongoing.  The mourning I went through three years ago was therefore not something that could (or should) become a Cause and Effect trigger for ongoing “bad” events.  Being aware of this at a basic level even while experiencing this type of deep sadness allows you to welcome the richness of it in a way that changes it from a negative to something of value to you in a way that nothing else can.

Some would say to this that they were just too close to a departed family member to be able to attain this type of experience from mourning their loss.  That is the ego saying “My pain is bigger than yours!” It is fighting for the life of your pain body, and for it’s place in Cause and Effect.

As always, Awareness is key…

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Many that have found their own spiritual awakening by seeking to live in the present moment feel that the concept of manifesting their desires is a denial of the present moment and therefore not harmonious to a life firmly planted in The Now.  Likewise, LOA devotees frequently state that  living in that same now doesn’t allow for their own desires to be manifested…

Is this really an either or proposition?

It needn’t be…

Eckhart Tolle referred to the manifestation process as “a fine thing to do” in his book “A New Earth: Awakening To Life’s Purpose”.  And Dr Wayne Dyer has frequently made statements to the effect that the movie “The Secret” gave a slightly skewed view of  the LOA and how it works.  This is why he was not involved in the project, although he was asked to be very early on.

Resolving these types of issues, as well as just plain exploring the principles found in both the LOA and Mr. Tolle’s work is what this blog is about, with plenty of room to delve a bit into Lao-Tzu. I may even stretch back a bit to someone like Leo Buscaglia and see if he works within today’s ideas…

Of course, everyone’s spiritual journey is their own and must be traveled at the speed of their own understanding and path.  Hopefully you will find these posts as thought provoking to read as I do writing them.  Feel free to dive in and post a comment challenging or questioning my assertions, and I will do my best to respond.

Having neither all of the answers, nor even most of the questions, all I can promise is an interesting exchange of ideas that could be useful on your own spiritual journey to enlightenment…

Jim

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