How Do We Simplify This Model

[Andy Skadberg]

When one looks at all of life´s situations they look so complex. Even
this one message seems very long, with many pieces, and if taken as a
complete seems overwhelming. The key is to take things one step at a
time.

The best analogy is that of a mountain climber. He doesn´t take the
whole trip in his head before he starts, otherwise he wouldn´t do it.
He makes up his mind to go, takes the right tools, adapts, makes
adjustments, in process, and step by step, one foothold and handhold at
a time makes his way to the peak.

But what is our guide for our metaphorical journey to some desired
destination. We have gotten so far off track, or down a dead-end road,
that it is difficult to know what tools we have at our disposal to
guide us toward a more harmonious world. Even our thinking is skewed.
The knowledge, or what we know that we are, and what All That Is (the
ONE, or God) is, is quite skewed. So how do we get out of this
culdesac, this dead-end situation?

I think it is a matter of finding a principle by which we can guide our
thinking and actions and move toward improvement of our situation on a
day by day basis. As we look at the various systems that we have
created, they do not work. The evidence is all around us.

Now we may envision a new reality, one that we might call perfect, but
we are so far away from that reality that we lose all hope which we
have seen is another obstacle for progress. We must not work against
ourselves. We must not allow ourselves to create barriers for us to
achieve what our desired outcomes are. So how we accomplish this is to
develop ways by which we can move progressively out of our collective
conundrum, but this only happens on an individual basis! So, by what
principle can we guide ourselves? I believe it is the Golden Rule – but
what I believe is actually the most important law of the Universe.

A digression might be to talk about how just using the Word “rule”,
(very likely it was supposed to be law) has made us forget, or
comprehend the true importance of this. The ten commandments were
described as “rules” to live by. But as Emmett Fox wrote about in his
book “The Ten Commandments” was the fact that they are actually laws.
People have been inclined to break rules, because they really don´t
understand that by doing things against rules they are really mostly
hurting themselves. ¨Rules are meant to be broken” is a tongue in cheek
saying, but who of us does not secretly believe this to be true. This
may be a case where all of the things that we aren´t supposed to do,
actually become very attractive and we secretly do these things but
pretend that we are not. We then begin to hide from ourselves,
dishonesty sets in, and then we are down the slippery slope of how can
a person base a life on lying to oneself. We can see the results of
this erroneous thinking by what we see in the world, and in our
respective individual lives.

So, back to the Golden Law. It is a law. If I hurt you, I hurt me—and
you. But likely more me, because in the end, the universe cannot
operate on “fuzzy”, happenstance, fickle, occasional, or alternating
principles, or “laws”. For every action there will be a reaction. So if
I steal something from you, at some time in the future I will pay that
price (if not in this life, then in a future life). Most of us do not
really understand the Golden Law. And it is not the point that a person
follow this principle for selfish purposes, because if I am being
considerate of others just to serve myself, not concerned about the
impacts on others, that is another trap.

To move out of this “far from the desired situation” in the world, I believe the Golden Law is the foundation.

Let us continue with our analogy, and imagine that our collective being
has truly taken a trip down a street and we took a wrong turn and found
ourselves in a culdesac, or dead-end. And for several milennia we have
been walking in circles in the cul-de-sac. The wrong turn in this
analogy represents an error in our individual and collective thoughts,
beliefs and subsequent actions. Some call this the “original sin” or
the “fall of man” which is what we are addressing. However, the
innumerable interpretations, and manipulation of the message, are a
significant contributing factor to our confusion.

How do we get out?

The only way to get out of a dead end is to turn around and walk back
out. We start to walk step by step out. But we need some sort of guide.
How will we know if we have turned back around, and started to go back
to the dead-end?

It is the Golden Law.

Albert Schweitzer called it reverence for life. This idea is that we do
not harm any form of life. This includes other people, insects, plants,
animals, the world. This also very much relates to Free Will. If we
impose our Will, on another person´s Free Will, in the end, we are
going to have to rectify, or deal with the repercussions.

But as one looks at the world, most of what we do ends up affecting
something. This is the evidence of how far off track we have gotten. It
seems that all of our “systems” hurt sombody or something.

As we come to really appreciate this situation we could become totally
discouraged and not even want to start the journey back. But this is
the wrong perspective. We must be like the mountain climber. Take the
tools, how to think, common sense, our connection to the ONE and the
Golden Law and begin the journey step by step.

In essence the Golden Rule becomes our measuring stick, our guide in
the process. We can measure each of our steps, thoughts, actions
against this Universal principle which was given to us by Jesus, and
step by step, day by day begin the journey back to create the new
world. This New World is the one based on Love, and aligns with the
message of all the great teachers who have and were been trying to show
us the way. All that is required is the honest and sincere desire to
take the journey. The Journey is the one, the metaphorical mountain,
that takes us toward and existence and experience offered to us by the
ONE infinite creator, which will fulfill all of our wildest dreams. It
is the TRUE path to God—and it happens on an individual basis, and the
guidance comes from our own hearts. As we go along we can know, that in
fact we are being guided by the perfect “program” – our feelings. Also
circumstance, or repercussions are a guide.

They have always been here, but this is evidence of how misinformed we
have been. We have not even known that the ONE (or God) had installed
an operating system that guides us perfectly, constantly providing
feedback in the form of “good” or “bad” feelings, or vibrational
reactions showing us whether or not we are moving in the direction of
what is in our best interest.

Self reflection is another key tool. We have to be able to look back on
what we do and evaluate whether or not we are making progress. This
should be a continual, on-going process.

Also, we need to be aware that our “knowledge base” and what we have to
work with will be continually improving as we go along in this process.
We will gain new insights, better understanding, better skills as we
continually seek improvement and progress. We essentially tap into the
Divine power of Love, and Infinite Intelligence, that will continually
endow more of what we need to continue on our journey toward the
perfect expression of the Golden Law. This is Law. And we cannot
attempt to do something, with an honest and sincere desire to do good,
and not be given, directly from ONE (Source or God) the tools,
education, resources, motivation, etc. to move toward our goal—which is
really the only goal, to return consciously into the ONE.

One of the most difficult issues in this Little world and “reality” is
the principle of measuring, or judging our progress based upon the
existing thinking and dualistic system that currently operates in our
“human” thinking system. We have to be astute to watch ourselves from
not beating ourselves up for not learning the lessons “we think” we
should have learned. Feeling guilty, getting angry at ourselves, or
others, again, is a huge sign that we are heading in the wrong
direction. The key to the success of this process is to be gentle with
ourselves and others as almost all of us have been battered by our own
judgement of ourselves. We have become masters with a whip, constantly
beating our own backs, having the mistaken belief that this might be an
effective way to motívate ourselves, pushing ourselves along our
journey in constant oppressive judgement of our progress. We are not
pack animals (in fact this is not how we should treat animals either).
This is the same method that was used to submit the slaves. If we are
to become loving and kind to others, we must practice it first and
foremost with ourselves. Of course, we must always practice this with
others, the world, and animals as well. For all really is just ONE.
This is the great truth contained in the Golden Law. What we do to
others we do to ourselves, the others, to the ONE, or to God.

But we need not become discouraged when we see how far off the track we
have gotten. This, apparently, is the whole point of the journey. This
is what God wanted. Rome was not built in a day. A 1000 mile journey
starts with one step. And with the powerful, and all present ONE,
guiding us, and loving us while we utilize the Golden Law as our guide,
we will find ourselves on a joyous journey, day by day to our vision.
Our destination. But the point is not about getting somewhere, but the
journey.