Yet Another Ramble

As I've been meditating, I've noticed that, while the practice itself is relatively simple, understanding and actually fighting my way through it each day is not. Truth is, I come away with feeling a little fried by the end of it. It however hasn't been fruitless, just difficult. This is something I gleaned from it recently;

We will either die now, or we will die later. Either we suffer the loss of our selves now, or we will suffer it later.

Our intelligence, our experiences, our fears, our desires and appetites, our wealth and possessions, our family and friends -- when we die we lose all of these things, because when the physical brain dies, so dies everything housed within it, and all that remains is the sense of distinction, the "I and you," between myself and God and all other people. Some of this can be seen with Alzheimer's patients, for example.

This will happen whether we choose to cooperate or not. The Path of Jesus Christ is the choice to cooperate with the release of these things now, in this life, in surrender and abandonment to God.

The pain of death comes with the loss of everything we are attached to. In death, these things are consumed before our eyes, and we are drawn back into the love and life of God, retaining the distinction between He and us, but losing all else.

For the worldly person, this process is terrifying. Because of his attachments, as he is drawn into union with God, he goes into Eternal Misery because he refuses to let go. He doesn't want to be united with God, he wants to be an individual ego, and burns with craving for things he can no longer experience. The love of God becomes an eternal torment for that person, as he refuses to accept it.

For the Godly person, this process is welcome, and rest, and returning home as he accepts and enjoys the love and being of God.

Living the Eternal Life is seeking this release in the here and now by abandoning attachments to one's ego, possessions, and relationships -- becoming one with Christ in His death -- and as the obstacles to the love of God and union with Him are removed, we realize and experience that we are surrounded and filled with Him, wrapped and full of His love. And as this occurs, then His love pours out and through us.

No one comes to the Father without first voluntarily making the Cross of Jesus Christ his or her own. No one. No one experiences the life of Jesus Christ, without first experiencing His death within themselves; and as His death becomes more and more manifest within us, so then His life becomes more and more manifest within us.

Ultimately, we will die, one way or the other. This is the reality of human existence. We can choose to begin the process of letting go of everything now, and welcoming the full experience of God when it comes; or we can choose to lie to ourselves, hang on to everything we can, and then have it all ripped away in eternal misery. It's our choice.