Laurence’s Corner, September 7, 2009
Laurence’s Corner,
September 7, 2009








There is no God that you have not seen. His reflection is everywhere
and in everything. There is nowhere, nothing, where there is not a
reflection of the Beloved. Leave aside feelings of being religious.
Some people are wary of becoming “religious” if they pray a lot. That
is a misperception. It is based on the false impression that prayer is
something different from life, in other words, that one stops living in
order to have a moment of religious devotion. The way to go to
prayer is this: go to prayer as you go to greet your friend at the front
door.

Prayer is an intensification of your relationship with the Real. It is not
different from your relationship with your best friend or wife, husband,
boyfriend, or girlfriend. A great pitfall lies in thinking that God is
different or “religious” or stealing your time from other more
meaningful activities for you. You have all sorts of paradigms
connected with the word “God” running around in your heads. Think
of God as ordinary. Submit yourself to the ordinary. It is only your lack
of awareness of the “ordinary” that keeps you from achieving
enlightenment. God is seeing with your eyes and hearing with your
ears.

God is the natural conclusion to everything in your life. That is why
we call Him the Ultimate Reality. This is what Majnun and Layla
recognized when they realized that their love for each other was
nothing else than a glimpse of their love for Allah. Do you want love?
Come to the author of Love.

It is difficult to have faith in difficult times. One problem lies in putting
too much emphasis on our feelings. Feelings are not faith. You
should not gauge your spiritual condition by whether or not you feel
good or in a spiritual mood. Spirituality is not about feelings, moods or
emotions. Those are secondary effects which come and go. Your
faith is the ground of your being. The ground of your being IS the
True Self. Find what is changeless behind the tides of your emotions.
Find the Presence that transcends daily affairs.

Closely related to the misconception that if you embrace the spiritual
path you will feel good, are the misconceptions that embracing the
spiritual path will cause all of your desires to manifest, and that you
will be protected from harm. We need a new form of spiritual
education that starts with the education of our children. This new
education will include an emphasis on the importance of caring for
oneself, for one cannot truly love, unless one truly has compassion
for oneself.

This new form of spiritual education will not present God as a kind of
“Santa Claus” bestowing upon us all our hearts desires, nor as an
Insurance Policy designed to protect us from unpleasant events such
as sickness, heart attacks, foreclosures, strokes, divorce, and so on.
Yes, on one level God protects us. That is certain. We pray and
frequently we have better lives in all respects. Nevertheless, on
another level, the Wisdom Teachers have always taught that God
sends challenges, tests, trials, and suffering upon those He loves for
their ultimate spiritual welfare. Everyone will be tested in some way.

So the question becomes, how does God protect us? Is He protecting
our bodies or our Souls? Ultimately, God is expressing His Mercy to
us. Whatever happens is an expression of mercy. God alone acts in
the 18,000 universes (the Sufi term for the millions of dimensions of
existence). There is only the One Divine Reality, so finally all is
subsumed in that Oneness. That Oneness is Ultimate Mercy.
Accordingly, anything that happens is for the ultimate dedicated
purpose of serving the cause of Mercy. This “bigger picture” may be
hidden to us, since our perspective is often very limited by our “reality-
tunnels” or “paradigms”.

Human beings are multi-dimensional beings. We exist on many levels
(and in many places and times) simultaneously. Thus your “Work” on
this Earth may have little to do with a long, wealthy & healthy life, free
from sickness or heartbreak. Some individuals, for example, can
assume part of the karma or destiny of another individual.

We also imagine that our experience or understanding of time is
correct. For example, if a baby only lives one day, and then makes
his transition, we say that his life was brief. Yet, time (while in one
sense is something that we experience in a linear or “horizontal” way)
is also something that has depth. Some lakes are only a few feet
deep, while others are enormously deep. Some people may live a
very long lifetime, but use up their precious life in shallow egoic
pursuits. Other people may live a very short life, but use those
precious moments to give to others a profound experience of love!

Hurt is not evil when viewed as part of a wider panorama. In a large
sense, hurt is a gauge, a friend that tells you where you will find your
greatest healing. Many people feel no compassion for themselves.
Their hearts are like rocks. Oh yes, they want to stimulate, feed and
decorate their most basic animal natures, gorging themselves on
entertainment, alcohol, loveless sex, and so forth. However, what is
needed so badly by people to heal themselves, is first, to feel true
gratitude and appreciation to God for all the blessings of God. This
gratitude and appreciate must be expressed for “the small things”
such as quenching your thirst with a cool glass of lemonade, as for
“the great things” like gratitude for your very life. This appreciation
and gratitude should extend to true love for your bodies and your
selves. For example, most people speak to themselves (often silently
but sometimes aloud if they are sitting alone in their car) in the most
disparaging and cruel ways. People say to themselves, “You’re fat.
You’re ugly. You’re stupid. How could you be such an idiot?” These
people would never talk to their friend in such a cruel manner. Many
people use the excuse “Loving myself is vanity and narcissistic,” only
so that they can continue berating and beating themselves up!

It is easy to get caught up in the rules and regulations of religion.
Those of us who are attracted to the religious life, are also often
simultaneously, deterred by the barrage of do’s and don’ts that come
with any given religion. However, the religious mystical masters teach
us that the basis of a true mystical journey is very simple. All that God
(the All-Pervading Reality) asks of us is that we believe in Its
Existence. Do you have any doubt that the exquisiteness of existence
could only be fashioned by the Greatest of Architects? Secondly, God
asks that we be grateful. Is that so hard to do? Is it difficult to thank
God for the sky above your head and the earth upon which you
stand? Finally, God asks us to be doers of Good. Remembering the
existence of God, doing good, and being thankful, are ways that
require constant practice until they become a deeply ingrained habit
within you. These three simple tasks will transform your life. These
three simple tasks will provide the platform and basis upon which you
can build a truly mystical life.


© 2009 Laurence Galian. All rights reserved.