A Cosmic Question......

From: Anand
Hi Steve,

Question for you. I am trying to reconcile coming into a recognition of I-am in moments of stillness and silence, even walking down the street and dawning on me that it really is ever present ... as all the worlds mystics maintain ...

and at the same time, it currently feels to me like all this work on abundance stuff flying around at the moment IS in a nutshell reduced to 'I'll be happy when' and always having to feel good about one's image of oneself as moving away from / or built on a base of 'there's something missing' which I have had moments of realising is the single thing that arises in awareness that seems to be the most compelling illusion that there is actually something wrong ??? I guess as Byron Katie would say ... Can you absolutely know etc. etc.

Anyway, not sure if that is even a question,

If there is a question, it's how do I integrate/reconcile these two seemingly (to me) oppositional view points? My mortgage advisor said having nothing is the happiest he's ever been, or as he put it "I've never been more wealthy than when I have absolutely nothing"

any thoughts are welcome, all the best,
Anand

From Steve:
Hi Anand,

A cosmic question indeed!

I will do my best to answer. In my experience mystical moments come to help us break through our everyday consciousness into a deeper and more expansive understanding and experience of reality. We may have been living a very ordinary life and then suddenly we are hit by a new awareness, perhaps through a meditation or silent retreat or some other extra-ordinary happening. Spirit breaks through and suddenly touches our consciousness. This is of course wonderful and blissful. Here we start to lose our concerns about mundane reality. This is something to be savored and integrated as much as possible. This is usually a matter of years rather than months. It is something that cannot be rushed. It is a precious and important time. This can be a time of shedding and letting go of material things that no longer feel important. We may feel like retreating from the world for a while.

Sometime during this process may begin a period of integration and bridging between the spiritual and ordinary worlds. Here a new relationship with the material can be forged. The material no longer dominates the senses. There may be an inner impulse towards starting something meaningful, making a difference, or serving some higher purpose in a tangible and practical way. Inner and outer resources are awakened for this work. Here we engage with the world rather than retreat from the world.

These processes are not completely distinct but overlap.
Anyway that is how I have experienced it thus far.
Ask me next week and you might get a different answer.
Hope it helps.
Blessings
Steve