A Dualistic View of God Creates Suffering
Many people have inner conflicts that creates suffering and confusion and one particular question that I get more frequently than others is that people are trying to find their purpose in life by looking without, by looking towards a God outside of them to give them the answer.
One question I recently got was ”I’m struggling to find His intention for me” and so in this article I want to help you understand your true nature better and maybe even create an inner shift that changes your perspective and thus frees you from the bondage of your limiting beliefs.
A dualistic view of God doesn’t have to be about you and God as separate beings, but it can also mean that you believe in two opposing powers—good and evil—and maybe you have even been brought up to believe that you are the evil one, the sinner.
I want to help you see and experience God differently and this can be a challenging thing to do depending on how ingrained your beliefs are and how open you are to see through them.
It’s always healthy to investigate the deeper questions in life and to question our assumptions.
I am is the name of God
Every human being is an agent to express the qualities of I AM, and every definition you give yourself, you give to God, so think highly of yourself!
I am is the name of God, and however you define yourself, you define God.
Not in an ego way obviously, but in a healthy way, because we are all individualized expressions of the One, so when you know who you are, you also know who everybody else is.
There is no other God than I AM, and that’s what you should trust. In your own divinity if you will, and all things are possible to God so whatever you say God is, that’s what God is – to you.
If you believe that God is like a judge that keeps score of how many good deeds versus bad things you have done and gets angry at you if you don’t obey ”Him” and so on, then that is what God is for you and that is what is possible for you.
If you believe there’s a God that holds a book in his hands called Your Life that you desperately want to have a peek into but your prayers don’t seem to be answered, then that is what you have projected God to be and so obviously you will feel confused and discouraged because you have not realized that the ‘book’ is within your own being.
You have now created God in that image; As The One With The Key To Your Life (but who doesn’t seem to hear your prayers).
And when you limit the unlimited you don’t get full access to your own divinity, and the deeper part of you that is God can not be fully expressed through you and in your life, because we all live out our beliefs.
If you do however accept that God is a product of your own imagination as you have created an image of ”Him” in order to provide yourself with a more “substantial” presence of something you can’t see, a personified ”God” with attributes you have given to ”Him”, then you will be able to lift the veil of the illusion you have created and see the Truth of who you really are.
All you have done is to place an image within your mind of what God is, but have you ever thought about where that image came from and how those characteristics were created in the first place?
When someone believes in a God that is separated from them, there will undoubtedly come times when they will feel as victims of the universe, they will long for answers to be revealed to them from this God that they have created, all the while the real God, which is their own inner being, is waiting to be acknowledged and seen – and listened to.
We can never be separated from the Source – because we are One with it, and the more people who realize this truth about themselves the more the world is blessed, and that leads to more lives being transformed by the light that shines through each and every one of us when we’re not dimming it by all our superstitious beliefs in other powers than the God-within.
What is God’s intent for you?
Your dreams and desires are God’s dreams and desires that “he” wants to experience through you, so whatever brings you meaning and purpose, that is what you should do if you wish to live a life of fulfillment.
This doesn’t have to be a huge vision that is crystal clear right away.
Sometimes we need to grow and evolve before something gets really clear for us and in those times what we do right now is the whole purpose of our life. (So invest your time, energy and money wisely towards things that are life-affirming.)
Right now is a part of a bigger picture, and if that means you’re guided to pursuit different kinds of teachings or to learn something intellectually, then that is the purpose of your life right now.
As you move with your own life flow, as you follow the breadcrumbs so to speak and you do the work that is presented to you by your inclinations, synchronicities, signs and insights and so on then you will always be shown the next step along your own individual path.
There will always be practical steps involved and maybe something like de-cluttering your life is what needs to be done now before you can see the larger picture emerge before you.
This is usually the case; we need to release the old, come to certain conclusions and endings in our life and then a natural unfolding towards the new (purpose) comes as a result of that.
Maybe you need to get order (organize) in your life, maybe you need to get clear on your priorities or values, maybe you need to focus on your health; there are many things that you will see in retrospect how they served you and had to do with the greater vision for your life after you have gone through a transformational process.
We can’t move into a different state of consciousness by staying the same within.
We need to evolve into it, grow into it (expand in consciousness), we can’t live from a new state of mind unless we let go of the old self first.
Many people don’t understand how important it is to take the small steps (what’s right in front of you or on your mind/heart right now) which are absolutely necessary to take, instead they are looking for a big, huge vision or life purpose that they think is what God wants them to do.
Nothing wrong with that (to have a huge vision), it is absolutely important to have an aim in life, but what I have noticed is that either people are aimless because they want to be, they choose that by saying that “God knows what’s best” and then they just kind of float through life but they don’t really share their talents and gifts with the world at all.
Or, they seek a huge, revolutionary answer that they think will give them their life purpose on a silver platter and thus liberate them.
The questions they have about their life purpose is usually projected towards a God that they are waiting for to give them the answers, and this creates nothing but suffering.
So, it’s usually for most people either “God knows best, so I’m just gonna sit here and watch some TV in the meantime until He reveals his plans for me”, or it’s “I have waited so long for God to give me my purpose, why is He not hearing my prayers?”.
None of them asked Within, and Within is the only place to look.
So instead of waiting for a God to hand over to you what you believe is your purpose or gift or talent and so on, ask yourself:
“What wants to emerge from within my own heart? What is my true self-expression?”
Look at your life right now and choose a direction based on your own inclinations and desires and in doing so you are honoring the God within you as it wants to express itself through and as you in this world to bless others.
It may not be apparent right away how you will do that but as you take one step in the right direction (your heart) then the rest will be shown to you as you follow that path.
Here’s a couple of my free e-books that can help you clarify a few things for yourself: mariaerving.com/receive-free-ebooks
Challenge your beliefs
Feel the difference within you;
Connect emotionally to a God and then connect emotionally to God-within-you and feel what feels better, and what the difference is.
How does it feel to direct the questions you have about your life purpose towards your own inner self instead of a God out there?
And please don’t just read this, but say the words out loud to yourself and really feel the difference within you.
Feel the difference between these words and sentences:
“I am (is) the Source of all my good”
“God is the Source of all my good”
“My Soul is the Source of all my good”
Just do this with the intent to investigate your beliefs, because all beliefs are limiting and when we questions our assumptions and ideas of life and who we are we will see through that which is not true and in that process Truth reveals itself to us.
But we have to dare look deeply into ourselves.
Even notice how it feels to do that. Is there guilt involved? Do you feel guilt when you oppose or question the beliefs you hold about God?
Most people have given God a place ‘out there’, outside of themselves, and even if we don’t consciously think that we have, just to do this simple exercise because it will shine some light into where you are in actuality in your level of consciousness.
And try this as well:
Feel the difference when you remove the word “God” and instead you address the all-knowing presence as the Power and Wisdom within you, or God-within.
Resist the urge to call it ”my higher self” or something similar because even those words creates a you-and-me type of relationship and when in a dualistic frame of mind there’s always a risk for suffering, because you are projecting your own power towards someone/something else and thus you’re giving away you power to that instead of embracing your own greatness.
We all live out our beliefs
In any kind of mental or emotional suffering you can rest assured that you have created an image of duality in your mind and you are simply living out those beliefs.
Duality always creates suffering, it easily leads to self-pity and makes victims of us, when in reality there’s not an outside force that pulls the strings and that we have to answer to.
Now, there undoubtedly is a higher knowing, but that too is within each and every one of us and we can tap into that intelligence and wisdom by meditation and prayer.
It’s not absent from us, ever, but most people don’t look within to connect with their own innate power and wisdom.
Most people are praying to somebody, a God out there, but what I speak about is to speak directly to the all-knowing part of us that knows things that our conscious mind does not know or see.
To break the dualistic feel and the sense of being a victim (like you’re waiting for the big answers to come from a God out there), simply shift how you use the words when you speak to the deeper part of you called “God” and with that shift your whole perspective will change too in regards to who you are and who God is in all this.
And as we go deeper into ourselves, we realize it is not the word “God” that is the actual problem, but our inner association with the word (the meaning we have given it) and as we get a better understanding on why we suffer emotionally and mentally, then we are able to release the baggage of limiting beliefs that we are carrying.
Through becoming aware of your own reactions and thoughts as you change your perspective through the use of words then the possibility to clear your past associations with the word itself will becomes apparent and you will see the Truth which is beyond all beliefs.
In the transformational process we need to see who we are not in order to see who we are, we have to see through our own illusions before we can see the Truth.
To be a free thinker and to dare to think in unlimited terms helps us get in touch with the larger picture of life and that then automatically links us with our vision, or whatever ‘purpose’ that you might have right now, so stop asking what God wants you to do and start asking yourself what you want to do, because your dreams and aspirations are God’s desires through you.
If that feels too challenging or difficult for you, then simply ask (yourself) “What’s next?” and then listen for the answers to emerge from within.
The God-within always moves Life-wards, it always goes in a direction of more Life, more Light, so by asking that question you will be shown the next step on your individual path and that will be a path of your liking, that you can be sure of.
Every time you’re thinking of the future you’re creating a possible direction for yourself and there are unlimited choices and paths that you can follow, so the important question is; where is your attention and what beliefs holds you back from daring to listen to your own heart and to obey its calling?
Join me in my month long transformational program here:
mariaerving.com/transform-your-life-2015 (Begins in January.)
If you live in Costa del Sol, then join me in my Spiritual Transformation classes here in Nerja:
mariaerving.com/spiritual-transformation-nerja (Begins in January.)
My Christmas Gift to all members of mariaerving.com:
mariaerving.com/power-of-aligned-thought
(Be sure to download and save on your computer as I will remove the free link on January 1, 2015).
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