Here’s the thing: you are God. But here’s the other thing: so am I. So is everyone. Some of us are simply more aware of it than others. The more aware you become of this fact, the better god you will become. Sound simple? It’s not.
It takes a riot of the imagination, a tempest of the spirit, a hurricane of the heart. It takes an insurgence of the soul that recapitulates the history of the human condition itself and then dares to reinterpret it. In short, it takes remapping the human spirit in order to balance it with the greater map of the planet.
Here are five ways to become more aware of your divine godhood, and thus, how to become a better god.
1.) Understand that the mind through which you perceive the Great Mystery is the same mind through which the Great Mystery perceives you
“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me.” ~ Meister Eckhart
The Great Mystery is the grand, all-consuming, everything-nothingness of Reality. It’s the dancing, bouncing, hungry, almighty void of all things moving inside and out, inverted and outverted, micro and macro; going through the motions of being interdependently infinite within finite chunks of infinite timelines within a greater capital “I” Infinity that is also a capital “N” Nothingness. And here’s the really cool part: you are a vital part of this magnificence.
Indeed, this is actually who you are. This is who you have always been. This is who you will always be. Since the beginning of there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-beginning you have been a force of nature that can neither be destroyed nor created only transformed. This is neither science nor magic, it’s both: a sacred resonance.
The sooner you come to terms with the absolute fact that you are a mind-bogglingly unique aspect of this universe going through infinite change, the sooner you will become a balancing agent for the redistribution of healthy energy. The sooner you will learn how to transform in healthier ways.
The less aware you are of this fact, the more likely you are to become an unbalanced agent for the spreading of unhealthy energy. All gods have the power to use their power in either healthy or unhealthy ways. It’s a great power that requires an even greater responsibility.
2.) Pay attention to how the divine within you resonates with the divine within others
“There is only one core issue for all psychology: Where does the ‘me’ begin? Where does the ‘me’ end? Where does the ‘other’ begin?” ~ James Hillman
An important part of becoming a better god is recognizing and honoring the existence of other divine beings going through similarly unique manifestations of the universal construct. Being mindful of other gods will give you the vital ability of compassion. One simply cannot be an efficient god if one does not have the ability to place oneself in another god’s shoes, and to feel the fitted (or ill-fitted) dimensions of being “other-than-oneself.”
Empathy is a healthy god’s modus operandi for higher consciousness, as it directly taps one into the collective unconscious. You want to become a better god? Become more adept at adapting to others. Become a force of loving kindness and tolerance, especially in the face of hateful resentment and intolerance.
Be a force of ruthless love as opposed to a force of passive indifference. Your courage will have a resonating effect on those who are open to it, while keeping those who are closed to it on their toes.
3.) Recondition the precondition to become unconditional
“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment in which you first find yourself.” ~ Mark Caine
All gods begin as tiny godlings conditioned by a godless world. We overcome such conditioning by reconditioning the original condition, so as to become an unconditional force of nature. We transcend codependency and independency by focusing more on being an interdependent being in a relationship with an interconnected cosmos.
Being mindful of how everything is connected is essential to becoming a better god, especially in a universe where everything is attached to everything else. Being a better god is being in tune with this invisible connection. The more in tune we become, the more adept we get at listening to the “language older than words” that’s reverberating between all things.
Listening to this sacred language launches us into a higher state of consciousness where we are able to “feel” our way between the elusive cracks of the right-wrong/moral-immoral/healthy-unhealthy paradox of being a seemingly independent god in an interdependent universe.
But it’s in this higher state of cosmic consciousness where we realize that independence is an illusion and our unconditional powers of courage and love ultimately manifest.
4.) Transform ego-centrism into eco-centrism
“Humility is as much the opposite of self-abasement as it is of self-exaltation. To be humble is not to make comparisons. It is in this sense that humility is absolute self-effacement.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Focus more on being a force of nature than on being an individual. Understand that being human is secondary to the primary experience of being a vital aspect of the cosmos. Doing so all at once humbles the ego while it also magnifies your self-worth. It expands your spiritual power while also contracting your tendency toward egoism.
It transforms us from ego-unconscious individuals into eco-conscious beings who are capable of resonating with an interconnected world. You want to become a better god? Trump small-mind with big-mind. Outmaneuver small-picture thinking with big-picture thinking.
Connect the dots instead of merely being a whiny, woe-is-me dot lost in the bigger picture. Better yet, use your ego –the magnificent tool that it is– to leverage eco-centric thinking against the ego-centric world. Use the instrument of your ego as a cataclysmic catalyst of healthy sustainable change in an otherwise unhealthy unsustainable world.
5.) Get in touch with your vast array of sub-selves
“Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.” ~ Carl Sandburg
An important part of becoming a better god is being able to dance between opposites: between shadow and light, finite and infinite, ignorance and wisdom. Being a healthy god requires balance, and not only between self and other, or self and cosmos, but between self and self. Confused? Good. Being a better god means being more and more confused, as the more you learn, the more you realize how much there is still to learn.
But I digress, balancing self with self is coming to terms with the fact that the self is made up of a plethora of sub-selves, and is ultimately an illusion in its self (pun intended). But that’s okay.
That’s part of why being a god is so much fun. Illusion of self aside, these multiple sub-selves are constantly at play with or against each other, sometimes conscious, sometimes subconscious, but mostly unconscious (also blending in and out of the collective unconscious), they weave in and out of different states of self-reflection, echoing eternally through the never-ending Cave of Selfhood and eventually coming out the “other side” in the form of the universe itself.
You are probably only aware of a precious few of these sub-selves, and you probably cling to them with much eagerness and earnestness, impatient and fearful of having them contested. But contest them you must, in order to become a better god.
One of the most effective ways of contesting them is to get in touch with your inner-feminine or inner-masculine (anima/animus), arguably the most important sub-selves of them all.
At the end of the day, being a better god is simply having fun with the illusion while also not losing sight of the overall interdependent dance. Namaste: the god within me recognizes and honors the god within you.
Wouldn’t life be wonderful if everyone just behaved exactly like we wanted them to? Our friends, co-workers, partners and family just did exactly what we told them to and behaved exactly how we expected them to?
Ok, so that probably has about as much of a chance of happening as pigs flying does.
Even though most of us know that we cannot expect people in our lives to behave exactly like we wish they would, so many of us waste much of our precious energy and time trying to force our own agenda on the people in our lives.
“Surrender is not giving up, but a giving over to what is true in this present moment. And the moment I accept what is, something begins to shift within me.” ~ Unknown
And when they don’t comply, we waste even more time and energy being sad, angry, or frustrated by the fact that they are not acting exactly as we thought they should. Not only does this constant struggle to make people be who we want them to be leave us feeling unhappy and unfulfilled, but it also causes problems in our relationships with them.
When people feel controlled or manipulated into changing, it is most likely that they will get defensive and upset and do exactly the opposite of what we want them to.
Isn’t that how we would act if someone were doing the same to us?
Anytime we feel hurt or upset by someone else’s behavior not being what we ourselves would have done, it is assured that we are taking their behavior personally.
Maybe a stranger forgot to say “Excuse me” when they walked by, or maybe a friend forgot about a lunch date we had with them, or our spouse didn’t remember to make the bed before they went to work in the morning.
Whatever the case may be, when we impose our idea on others and allow it to upset us when they don’t behave according to our idea, we are not only letting our ego take over and convince us that they are in the “wrong”, but we are also sitting in complete resistance to the “what is.”
Here are reasons why accepting others as they are is taking care of yourselves
This means we are upset and offended by something that was most likely not intended to be a personal attack, and we are allowing ourselves to be victims. Anytime we let the actions of another person control our emotions to the point that we are offended, angry, etc, we have given them the power to disturb our peace.
What we are really saying is, “Your behavior has the power to upset me. Therefore, my happiness is dependent upon you behaving a certain way. Unless you act like I want you to, I am not happy, therefore I am always at your mercy.”
Anytime our own happiness is left in the hands of another person, no matter how great we get along with that person, it is never a good idea. There will always be a time when they don’t act exactly according to our own agenda, and therefore it is almost assured that we will get upset by them at some point.
Now with all this being said, there are going to be people we meet in life who ARE intentionally trying to push our buttons. It may be in a more deliberate way by doing something like calling us names, or physically trying to attack us.
Or it may be in a more manipulative manner by saying or doing things “jokingly” that they know will hurt our feelings or get us upset.
Either way, in order to move through the situation in a healthier and more productive manner, we must do probably the last thing we would think would make a situation go more smoothly… accept others exactly as they are.
Accepting another person’s behavior fully is usually a lot easier said than done, but it is the only thing that truly frees us from being prisoners of their actions. Technically, it is no one else’s responsibility to make sure we are happy and satisfied at all times.
The world doesn’t revolve around how we expect every situation to go. We can’t force someone to do, say or act exactly how we want them to. We do however, have complete power and control over our own actions and behavior.
So if we find in personal relationships that a person has consistently made us feel sad, or angry, or abused even, we have complete control on whether or not we choose to continue to put up with their behavior or whether or not we choose to cut off the relationship with that person, but we have zero control on whether or not they will ever become the person we want them to be.
By only focusing on our own behavior and our own reactions, we always remain captain of our own ship. We remain in complete control over our own choices and therefore are not helpless puppets, waiting for their behavior to tell us whether we can be happy or sad.
“My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.” ~ Michael J. Fox
Accepting others as they are has nothing to do with allowing ourselves to be mistreated and walked all over. It only means that we stop resisting “what is” of the present moment by wishing it were different.
Instead of wasting precious time in the “You should have done…, “ or “You could have acted like this…” and “If I were you, I would have…”, we deal with what actually DID happen. We cannot force the past to have been different, we can only deal with life as it is presented to us in that particular moment.
By dealing with “what is” only, we actually learn the art of responding vs reacting. When we respond, we give ourselves space to deal with a situation in a “what part of this situation do I have the power to change?” manner.
When we react, we immediately jump to yelling or another form of defense because we are imposing our preconceived beliefs on how they “should” have acted, which proves to be a futile effort.
There will be times when we choose to walk away from a relationship, and there will be times when we choose to work it out with that person, but it is always OUR choice.
With some practice in the art of accepting, we soon realize that not blaming anyone for anything actually proves to be the most empowering thing we have ever done for ourselves.
At this point we take full responsibility for our lives and stop insisting that others change to meet our “standards” of how we think things should go. We literally take back our own happiness by not leaving it in the hands of another person.
“The one thing over which you have absolute control is your own thoughts. It is this that puts you in a position to control your own destiny” ~ Paul G. Thomas
It is estimated that we have anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 thoughts per day.
On any given day our brains are susceptible to thousands upon thousands of “personalities” popping up in our thought patterns.
One thought may say “I feel terrible today, I look horrible, today is going to be a bad day,” and then two hours later another thought pops up, “today has turned out to be a pretty good day, I feel great.”
And these are just examples of thoughts we have about ourselves, there are also the thoughts we have that are sitting in judgment of people and situations, “she’s in a bad mood today,” or “that man looks suspicious, he must be up to something.”
For an unaware person this could wreak havoc on their psyche. One day one personality is prevalent and the next day a different personality has taken over.
However, all of this happens so automatically that most people don’t even realize that their perspective on things is shifting constantly day to day even minute to minute sometimes.
But, what most people don’t realize is that we are not our thoughts. Not only that, but our thoughts are not even OUR thoughts.
As Dean Jackson said, “If you can watch your thoughts, you are the watcher, not the thoughts.”
So the mere fact that we can observe whether we are having a sad thought, or an angry thought, or a pessimistic thought means that are not the thoughts themselves. All thought is happening automatically.
There is an illusion that we are the one generating all of our thought patterns, and that the little commentator in our mind is our own personality and therefore we must believe everything it says as truth. But if this was true, then which personality would we be?
Since we have our “pessimistic” thoughts and our “optimistic” thoughts then wouldn’t it be safe to say that we are not one personality all of the time?
Once we realize that thoughts are not our own and are happening automatically, a major shift in awareness comes. Firstly we can stop judging ourselves for our supposed “bad” thoughts, which means we no longer have to feel guilty or hate ourselves for having a thought that we have deemed less than desirable.
But also, it means we can start controlling our thought patterns. We can literally start changing our entire perspective on life which will also change our life experience. In order to start picking and choosing higher quality thought patterns we only need to ask ourselves this: Which thoughts are we giving our attention to and which thoughts are we actually believing?
“Don’t believe everything that you think” ~ Unknown
We’ve already established that thoughts are happening automatically. They are coming whether we want them to or not. So now we can start establishing how we will train our minds to start feeding us thought that make us feel good. If we look at training our minds like we would be training a child or training a pet we can see that using positive reinforcement with our mind is going to be the most effective method.
When we give a child or a pet more attention when it is acting bad or unruly than we do when it is behaving well, it learns to seek out attention by acting up. He or she realizes that attention comes as a result of acting “bad” so it puts out more of that behavior in hopes that he will receive more attention as a result.
Translate this to our thoughts, if our mind is spitting out negative, pessimistic, stress-filled thoughts and these are the ones that we entertain and give our attention to, guess which ones it will start giving us more of?
If we believe every thought that we have that things are bad, or not going well, or life is terrible, then we will start giving our attention and awareness to thoughts of this nature and when a thought comes in that tries to say otherwise, we probably will discard it and not believe it.
But, if we start only entertaining thoughts that are telling us that everything is ok, things are working out, we are worthy and deserving of happiness, then it is these types of thoughts that will amplify. Since all thought is energy, and energy will go where the attention is placed, we can assume that all of our energy will be focused on the higher vibration thought patterns (based more in love rather than fear).
Also, since like attracts like with energy we see that the more attention we give to these types of thought will attract more of the same type. Without bringing some level of awareness to what is going on inside of our heads, we run the risk of our thoughts running amuck and consequently amplifying feelings and experiences that we may not want more of.
In order to bring some awareness and space between what our thoughts are saying and what we choose to believe we must start practicing inner stillness. In this inner stillness we give ourselves a chance to choose whether we believe a thought or not.
If we don’t do this, we start running on auto-pilot, meaning that thoughts are being thrown at us, and we become slaves to our minds instead of being its master. The best way we can practice inner stillness is through meditation.
The more we meditate we actually will start to have times with no thought at all, and soon we start experiencing longer and longer periods of time with no thought. These periods of no thought will give us even more conscious control over which thoughts we allow into our awareness and which we choose to discard.
It has been said that we don’t attract to us what we think, but we attract to us what we BELIEVE.
If we can pick and choose what we believe by bringing awareness to our thought patterns and retraining our minds, then why WOULDN’T we choose to believe that all is well, and that the universe is always supporting us? Wouldn’t these types of beliefs allow for a more enjoyable life experience??
In Greek mythology, Narcissus, a young man renowned for his beauty, sees his reflection in a body of water and falls in love with his own image. Unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus fell to his death. That’s how the word “narcissism” came about.
Narcissism is a term used to describe a focus on the self and self-admiration that is taken to an extreme. It involves admiration of one’s own physical or mental attributes, often defined as excessive self-love.
Does that mean narcissism is bad or is there a healthy dose of narcissism that can be used to thrive? Lets find out more…
Healthy Narcissism
The concept of excessive self-admiration has also been explored by various philosophers and thinkers throughout history. Sigmund Freud in his paper titled ‘On Narcissism: An Introduction’ – in 1914 – suggested that narcissism is actually a normal part of the human psyche, referred by him as primary narcissism.
The mythological Narcissus depicted by the artist Michelangelo Caravaggio
In Freud’s theory of personality, people are born without a basic sense of self, and its only through the experiences that occur during early childhood that people gain what is known as ego, or a sense of self.
As a child interacts with the outside world and is conditioned to adhere to the social and cultural expectations, he develops a perfect image of himself that the ego strives to attain.
Another psychologist Alfred Adler believed that it was natural to strive for a sense of superiority and perfection – its the need for approval driven by the ego to feel loved and important. This is healthy narcissism or a normal defense that protects us from failures and keeps us away from feelings of helplessness.
Its seen more as a morale-boosting (Healthy Narcissism) activity to keep our motivation levels up in life. In healthy narcissism, one is aware of their strengths and weaknesses and is able to have realistic expectations of their self.
There is no need for any “one-up-manship” or “one-down-manship” in the relationship. While unhealthy narcissism on the other hand is in complete contrast.
Extreme side of Narcissism
Many times, people tend to confuse self-love with narcissism but there is a clear distinction between the two. Self-love is important to evolve mentally, physically and spiritually, whereas self-obsession is confined to our outward perception of self, position, power and status.
Self-love is triggered by sense of oneness but self-obsession is a constant struggle to fight low self-esteem, insecurity and other complex issues. Extreme Narcissism can lead to Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).
The disorder is caused by a severe case of egocentrism. They believe that they’re superior to others and have little regard for other people’s feelings, derived from arrogant pride and lack of empathy. Narcissists spend a good deal of their time and energy doing things to make themselves look and feel good and pumping up their egos.
More than others, a narcissistic individual is causing damage to their own mind and body. He sticks to feelings of self-grandiosity and lives under the impression that they are not prone to vulnerability.
But behind the mask of this over-confidence lies this fragile self-esteem, vulnerable to the slightest criticism. The disorder interferes with the development of healthy relationships with others.
The cause may be linked to a dysfunctional childhood, such as excessive pampering, extremely high expectations, abuse or neglect.
Narcissism on the Rise
Much research has been done to prove that narcissism has been on the rise during the last 30 years, especially among young people. People are paying more heed to entitlement instead of enlightenment.
A new study showed that Narcissists have no problem admitting they are narcissists. Even the word ‘selfie’ and what it stands for has a rather narcissistic implication, don’t you think?
People suffering from extreme narcissism need healing. More than anything, working on their thought patterns is a necessity, since that distorts their self-image and to help them create a more healthy and realistic self-image.
All human beings crave intimacy and love and to experience the same one has to be vulnerable and free. Narcissistic leaders and corporate owners rule us. Being profit-oriented and pragmatic is easy to achieve but being selfless to help one another takes some courage and is rewarding in ways that is good for the soul and mind.
If you identify yourself as a narcissistic or if you know someone who shows these traits, few things can help you deal with it.
Be compassionate
Be compassionate towards oneself and others. Understand that everyone makes mistakes, and in those mistakes lies valuable lessons of life. Learn from them and evolve.
Understand Emotions
Understand your feelings which are driving you crazy and then tell yourself that it’s momentary and you are capable of converting that feeling into something positive. For example – If you fear that you will fail and it has left you feeling anxious, encourage yourself into believing that you won’t fail.
Narcissistic have the need to be constantly admired. Here, it is a good idea to remind yourself that your existence is a beautiful creation in itself and you don’t need laurels to prove your worth constantly.
“There is a universal urge for intimacy, for trading subjectivities, in communication. For Telepathy. Our desire for it tells us about what we wish to be: truly intersubjective beings.” ~ David Porush
Embrace nature
Nature heals the body and mind in more ways than one. It expands our thinking and teaches us to appreciate it’s natural beauty. When you are too absorbed in yourself, you fail to enjoy the simple joys of life. Observe your surrounding. Go to beautiful places not with the idea of vacation but to unravel the unknown that lies within.
“The first act of awe, when man was struck with the beauty or wonder of nature, was the first spiritual experience.” ~ Henryk Skolimowsk
Let go of insecurities
Having insecurities blocks your flow of energy in the mind and body as few muscles and nerves always remain tensed. Insecurities won’t help, it will only worsen the problem. In fact, insecurities attract more negative energy and successfully execute Murphy’s Law. So, just breathe and take one day at a time.
“To put is still more plainly: the desire for security and the feeling of insecurity are the same thing. To hold your breath is to lose your breath. A society based on the quest for security is nothing but a breath-retention contest in which everyone is as taut as a drum and as purple as a beet.” ~ Alan Watts
“The more real you get the more unreal the world gets” ~ John Lennon
We’ve often heard people say that this world is just an illusion, a dream of sorts that we are all dreaming up together.
John Lennon said it best when he said, “A dream you dream alone is only a dream, a dream you dream together is reality”.
So if this is true, if our life on earth is just a dream of sorts that we are all dreaming up together until we die and travel to the afterlife or to a higher dimension or whatever it is you believe happens after this physical body dies, is it possible to use the concepts of lucid dreaming in our waking life?
Wikipedia defines lucid dreaming as, “any dream in which one is aware that one is dreaming,” it goes on to say, “in a lucid dream the dreamer has greater chances to exert some degree of control over their participation within the dream or be able to manipulate their imaginary experiences in the dream environment.”
Just like the events in the dream depend on the dreamer’s awareness of them in order to exist, the entire world depends on our perception of it for its survival.
For example, if you are sitting in a forest looking at the trees you must realize that without you sitting there perceiving the trees, they really don’t exist.
Yes they can exist as an idea in your head, for instance if you were home later and thinking back on them, you would be able to recall them in thought, but without your conscious perception of it in the present moment, the tree technically does not tangibly exist.
Quite literally, the world we perceive is completely dependent upon us to exist.
Not only that, but for anyone who has been able to lucid dream in their sleep, they can tell you the most wonderful thing about realizing you are only dreaming inside the dream is that you lose all fear. You can actually behave in ways you wouldn’t normally behave in when you believe the dream was real.
As we all know, fear is a huge reason we hold ourselves back from following the life we truly want to live in our waking existence. However, if we start to see that fear is a part of the dream, we are able to take our fears a little less seriously.
There are many ways that seeing ourselves from the perspective that we are a dreamer who has become conscious within our own dream can not only help us to live our life more uninhibited and free, but also help us relinquish the stress and worry that comes from taking our lives too seriously.
Here are a few tips to think about to help yourself start to exert more power and control of your personal “dream”:
1.) It only has power over you if you BELIEVE it has power over you
Since we are creating our dream, who or what will be able to have power over us is completely dependent upon our belief in it in order to play a part in our dream. This is great news because, if everything that scares us or angers us or makes us stressed is depending on our own belief in it to even exist in our lives, all we have to do in order to take back our own control is stop believing in it!
For instance most people have assigned power to things like the society, money, relationships etc… These are the things that are able to get people, angered, stressed or worried.
All of these emotions stem from fear. When you are worried about money, it’s because there’s a part of you that fears that you will not be able to get it when you need it, when you are angry at another person it stems from the fear that you are weak, that these things or people will be able to exert some sort of control over you and you fear losing control.
But these things are in YOUR dream! YOU can choose whether or not they have power over you in your present moment, and if you are still letting them get you angry they are still exerting control over you.
2.) The person you are in your dream isn’t the real “you”
When we are lucid dreaming we realize that we are our dream selves not our real selves so we take the dream and ourselves way less seriously. We can take this idea to our real life “dream” by realizing that we are not our body.
We are literally playing a part right now kind of like an actor in a movie, so have fun with it! Don’t cling so much to your labels, and realize that just like we are not the part we have chosen to play in this “movie” of our lives, neither is anyone else. Which means we can start taking them less seriously too.
3.) You can’t force yourself or anyone else to become ‘awake’ in the dream
For those who have experienced lucid dreaming in their sleep they will most likely say that when it first happened to them it happened completely by chance. It was just a gift that they were able to experience, but there was nothing they could do to force themselves ‘awake’ inside the dream.
In our waking life we often hear people saying they are ‘awake’, but I dare to say that it is a term that is used a little too loosely these days. To become awake is to literally raise to a higher state of consciousness or a raised vibration which we cannot FORCE to happen, it happens as a result of a divine intervention of sorts.
With that being said, just like a person who was trying to experience a lucid dream in their sleep, there are things we can practice that will help the process along. Things like meditation, prayer, mindfulness, therapy, and energy work are all things that that will help further along the awakening process.
The more we connect with our REAL selves (our awareness) the more our external reality looks and seems trivial and fake. We may start to hear people complaining about things that we no longer take so seriously, or we become conscious that there are so many people still completely caught up in the illusion of fear and we no longer resonate with them.
An important thing to remember is that all of these realizations happen automatically as our consciousness level rises, it is nothing that we can make happen. And just like we can’t force it upon ourselves we cannot force it upon others, we must trust that they will start to experience the world as an illusion as they get in touch with THEIR “real” selves as well.
Until then we can have fun creating our dream instead of living in another’s nightmare.
Embrace nature
