The Loving Soul

Anonymous
The Loving Soul
Copyright © 2014, 2019
A. Truth Publishing
Anonymous95221@gmail.com
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Anonymous
The Loving Soul
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1. Spirituality. 2. Philosophy

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For those who seek their true Soul Mate
 Table of Contents
___________________________________________

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1

THE HOLE .......................................................................................... 7

WHAT IS LOVE?.............................................................................. 21

THE ULTIMATE MYSTERY ......................................................... 47

A LOVING HOME............................................................................ 59

THE PERFECT LOVE..................................................................... 75

THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE........................................................ 95

THE ATTRACTION OF BEAUTY............................................... 115

THE EYES OF LOVE..................................................................... 135

FAITH IN LOVE............................................................................. 155

LOVE AND PAIN............................................................................ 177

LOVE VERSUS HELL ................................................................... 193

THE PATH TO LOVE.................................................................... 225

THE SOURCE OF LOVE .............................................................. 245

INDEX .............................................................................................. 267

 Introduction
Today our society throws the word “love” around as
if it were a flag or emblem. We might invoke this “love” to
communicate our dedication or our commitment to some-
thing or someone. “I just love that,” we might say about an
activity or material object. “I would love to go,” we might
blurt as we suggest our inclination for an activity. Often
people say, “I love you” to our family members as a matter
of responsibility— feeling we are communicating the need
to respect our genetic connections. We might also proclaim
our love to our spouses or mates as an obligatory state-
ment— professing our allegiance to them only.
What exactly is love? What is the true meaning of
love? Where does it come from? Why do we all have this
common need for love?
Certainly, love is not just a word. It is one of most
important aspects of being alive. We all need it. We need it
from the time our bodies are born to the time of their de-
mise. All of our family members need it. All of our friends
need. Every politician needs it. Every famous person has
needed it. Every king has needed it. Every slave has
needed it. Every poor person and every rich person needs
it. No one has been able to escape the need for love.
Love is not just needed by every human either.
Every animal needs it. This is quickly observed among pets
and their masters. The pet wants to be stroked and cared
for. If it is a dog, for example, the dog wants to run and get
the ball or bone we throw and bring it back to us. If it is a
cat, it wants to cuddle up to its master and be stroked. We
can also easily see that animals need love as they go about
their lives in the wild. Even the most vicious of animals—

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 THE LOVING SOUL

such as the tiger—needs the stroking, fondling and play-

fulness of their mothers and fathers as they are reared.
Even fish perform dancingly swim to impress their mates
and find union with another fish. Even insects perform
mating ceremonies, as the males or females attract the other
sex. Every living being needs some form of love and atten-
tion from others. As we travel up the scale of
consciousness, from plants to animals, we find the activities
of love between living organisms become clearer and ex-
pressive.
In the human form of life, we are able to more com-
pletely express love. Because of our refined evolution,
intelligence, mind and brain, we have the ability to discern
between the physical aspects of mating rituals and the feel-
ing of true love that has no physical boundaries in its finest
and purest manner: That is, if we come to understand it.
While many scientists are proposing love is merely a
biochemical or animalistic sexual urge, most of us know
better. Must of us know better because we feel love when
there is no sex at issue. We feel love when there is no ge-
netic qualification. This inner feeling tells us love is a
deeper part of us.

This collection of essays covers some of the finer as-

pects of love, as they relate to the self—the living being.
Here we emphasize the self as distinguished from the
physical body: The real person within the temporary
physical body. This personality—our self—is the central
character of the discussions of love. This is because only the
self is able to exchange love. The physical body is simply a
temporary vehicle of the self. One physical body may touch

2
 INTRODUCTION

another physically, but touching hardly defines love. We

might see two sets of couples walking down the street,
both holding hands. One couple might be exchanging love
while the other is not, however. Although handholding
might be an expression of loving feelings, it could also be
done without the feelings. This is because love comes from
the self, not from the physical body.
We should further clarify the difference between the
physical body and the self before we delve further into the
topic of love. We have done this more specifically and sci-
entifically in The Science of Truth. To summarize the points
made there, we can explain that while the self is changeless
and eternal, the physical body is temporary—undergoing
dramatic change throughout its short lifetime. We can see
this when we notice that our body as a baby was quite dif-
ferent from our adult body. Yet the same person inhabited
both bodies. The person looking at a picture of the baby
body is the same person who was in the baby body years
earlier. We also instinctively accept this when we look in
the mirror as we age. We are surprised at the amount of
wrinkles and grey hair growing on our bodies. For this rea-
son, many people strive to make their bodies look younger
than they really are. Here the self—the real person—is feel-
ing an incongruity between the body and our real identity.
This identity is confirmed by science. Researchers
have determined that every cell of the body has a limited
lifetime, whereupon it is replaced through mitosis. While
intestinal cells may only last a day or two, skin cells will be
replaced within a week. Blood cells will be replaced within
a month. Brain cells will be replaced within a few years.
Nearly every cell in our body is replaced within five years.

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 THE LOVING SOUL

Furthermore, the molecules within those cells are re-

placed even more readily. As we breathe in and out; eat
and defecate; drink and urinate; we exchange billions of
molecules and atoms in a free flow exchange of matter. Just
as a waterfall might look in a photograph, our bodies ap-
pear to be unchanging, yet the components are changing by
the second.
It is our self—the living being—who is the constant.
The living self is the entity that drives the body. Each of us
is an individual living being. Each of us is non-material in
essence. While some have referred to this non-material self
as the soul, the soul has also been used to describe the per-
sonality or character of a person. The soul of something is
also often considered the center or its source. Here as we
discuss the individual self or the soul, we refer to the non-
material being—each of us spiritual beings.
The essays here discuss some of the heavier lessons
we are being taught to us during our embodied physical
existence. Each topic relates to a different issue we face, as
we travel through the relationships of this world and
struggle with inner conflicts. For this reason, we might
suggest the reader read no more than one essay per sitting.
We also give a gentle warning: In some cases, these
discussions are not accommodating to certain sensitivities.
They may address the ugliness and sadness of the human
existence along with the beauty of its design and process.
They may also question our own integrity and motives.
They may dig at our pride.
In the end, however, we also provide viable solu-
tions to many of the dilemmas facing us as we struggle
with love and faith. We note these discussions are not sec-

4
 INTRODUCTION

tarian. They are not denominational. They do not promote

a particular group to join. They do not promote a particular
sect of religion to change to.
The potential solutions provided here should be
easy to understand, yet may be difficult to master. They
require a determination to dedicate oneself. They require
us to probe our hearts critically and honestly. Whatever the
result, we must know that any progress made on the path
towards real love is beneficial. There are no vain attempts
on the journey towards the Loving Soul.
The information presented has descended from a
long line of devoted Teachers who have lovingly passed on
knowledge as given. I thank these Teachers, and hope this
writing continues that tradition of giving and love.

5
 Essay One

The Hole
As the woman drove through the desert, she was capti-
vated by its mid-day beauty. The golden sand and green
cacti set against the layered pastel colors of the desert
hills quieted her busy mind for a few minutes. Frus-
trated about her money problems, she was grateful for
the distraction a little scenery brought her.
Just then her car’s engine stopped. After trying to re-
start the car, she decided to hitchhike. After waiting a
full afternoon in the hot sun on this lonely desert road
for someone to drive by, she figured she had better start
walking. She thought there might be a small town or
market nearby.
For three long hot days, she walked a barren, treeless
road without seeing any signs of humanity. By the third
day, her body was completely dehydrated, and she felt
close to death. Her feet were on fire. Her tongue was
swollen. Her body was dying of thirst. She began to see
mirages of water where there was only sand. She could
hardly walk any further.
Just as she was ready to lie down and give up, she heard
the rumble of an automobile in the distance. She looked
up the road to see a fast-approaching car. She stepped
out onto the road, waving in distress to stop the car.
This is the only car she’d seen in three days! The man
driving the car stopped. He rolled down his window,
and asked, “you okay?”
“No,” she said. “My car broke down 3 days ago and I
am dying of thirst. Can you give me some water and
take me to the nearest town please?”
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 THE LOVING SOUL

The man slumped in his seat, dropped his head for a

moment and suddenly reached under his seat. “Take
this. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” He handed her a small pa-
per bag, rolled up his window quickly, and sped off
without saying good-bye.
She watched in horror as the car shrank in the distance.
She slowly opened the bag and looked inside. It was a
wad of cash rolled up in a rubber band. It looked to be
about $200 in small bills. Angrily she tossed the bag and
the money onto the ground. “A lot of good money will
do me right now,” she muttered, as she dropped to her
knees in desperation.
Why do we feel empty inside?
Consider some of the most wealthy and famous mu-
sicians and movie stars over the last fifty years who have
either committed suicide or died of drug overdose. What
happened? Why did these successful people, some with
just about everything a person could desire—fame, fortune,
sex and success—become so miserable? Why did they re-
sort to the most desperate measures? How could they be
miserable when they had millions of dollars and millions of
adoring fans?
There is one common thread amongst these famous
and wealthy people: They each complained that despite all
their fame, despite all their wealth; despite the millions of
adoring fans; and despite being able to get just about any-
thing material they desired, they felt a hole or inner
emptiness they couldn’t seem to fill. They were lonely.
They were depressed. They were unhappy and miserable.
Nothing seemed to fill the hole.

8
 THE HOLE

Our society is driven by consumption.

Most of us in modern society have an abundance of
physical objects to consume. Most of us have plenty of
food, clothes, comfortable houses and apartments, cars,
TVs, DVD players, computers, large malls where we can
buy any number of objects: We have an over-abundance of
things. Despite having so much, most of us live our lives
looking for the next thing to consume. We seek that next
something. The thing can be a type of food or toy. It can be a
show on television, or a movie at the theatre. It can be a
computer game or a video game. It can be a new mystery
novel. It can be a baseball or football game. It can be sex. It
can be a date with a new person. It can be a new hobby or
sporting match. There are so many choices for entertain-
ment and leisure time in today’s modern society. Someone
from a third world country or tribe living in poverty might
look at our culture and be shocked by all this excess.
The problem is these things aren’t making us happy.
Most of modern society is miserable, lonely, and desper-
ately seeking happiness. We simply haven’t found
happiness within the physical luxuries we’ve attained. As a
result, suicide rates and drug abuse rates are increasingly
high. Alcoholism and other addictions are also common—
most adults in modern society think nothing of drinking to
escape reality for a while. Why would we need to escape
reality if all these things were making us happy? Why
would we want to escape the comfort and excess we’ve
created for ourselves?
Instead of solving this puzzle most of us simply look
for more, new luxuries to consume. As we move through
our day we move from thing to thing, we’re continually

9
 THE LOVING SOUL

thinking the next thing will do it. We invent new, more ex-
travagant things: More elaborate dishes of food; more
kinky sex; more extreme sports; more thrilling movies;
more exciting video games. We push the limits on our con-
sumption because consuming them is not enough—we
must consume them to an extreme degree. This is because
we have put so much hope in these things satisfying us,
that when they don’t, we figure it is because we haven’t
consumed enough of the thing, or we haven’t consumed the
thing perfectly yet.
We look for happiness in success.
Most of us live our lives in this physical dimension
trying to achieve some sort of success. We may see success
as wealth, because with wealth we can buy various physi-
cal comforts and pleasures. We might even see success as
the adoration and respect of others. Some of us might even
see success as being surrounded by a happy family. Some
may only feel successful if we have accumulated all of
these things in combination. Success is typically just
around the corner for most of us. The prevailing attitude in
modern society is that we will feel successful if we have
achieved recognition and material wealth. We yearn to ac-
complish these achievements because we feel that by
accomplishing them we will become happy. However, we
must logically ask ourselves: Why are the most successful
people—who have achieved these things to the ultimate
extent—still not happy?
Some of the superstars who committed suicide or
died of drug-overdose achieved cult-like success rivaling
historical figures and religious leaders. People throughout

10
 THE HOLE

the world would read and watch every detail of these su-
perstars’ lives, collecting even their most trivial possessions
as objects of great value. These superstars had more atten-
tion and admiration than most of us could even imagine.
Still they remained unhappy. Not only were they not
happy; they were miserable, succumbing to chemical de-
pendencies to escape their depression. Considering these
successful mega-failures, is it logical that the smaller de-
grees of success most of us seek in modern society—just a
portion of this wealth and recognition—would bring us
happiness?
Indeed, there are numerous people over the last 100
years who have simply obtained wealth beyond our imagi-
nation: Billionaires who accumulated enough wealth to
buy just about anything or do just about anything in mod-
ern society. Despite these people’s incredible wealth, they
also complained of the hole. They too complained of the
emptiness inside. As a result, many of these billionaires
sank into locked-up lives of miserable paranoia and seclu-
sion.
We haven’t been learning from
the experience of others.
Because wealthy and famous people appear in the
news media so often, their problems with substance abuse,
divorce, etc. are on daily display. It is thus easy to see so
many cases of misery and loneliness despite great wealth,
admiration and material success. Although we could easily
learn from these people who have ‘made it’ that physical
success does not bring happiness, most of us are so en-
trenched in our own plans for success we hardly notice.
Despite seeing misery amongst success all around us, we

11
 THE LOVING SOUL

continue to work hard for this success, as if we were being

led by a rope tied to a ring through our nose. Every day we
see successful people who have enough money for several
lifetimes of comfortable living continuing to work hard for
the next success. Achieving wealth or success simply isn’t
enough for us. We must achieve more success; more wealth.
One must do the next thing successfully.
As we look around us at our society, so many of us
are increasingly struggling and toiling for material wealth
and the admiration of others. Even when all the physical
needs of our bodies are met, we keep pushing, endlessly
wanting more. Despite seeing the misery among those who
already have what we want, we choose to push on, sacrific-
ing our time and efforts to achieve these things. As a result,
our endeavors can be arduous and sometimes punishing.
We will struggle with competitors and rivals, dealing with
so many difficulties in order to achieve more. In this way,
the hole seems bottomless—huge and gaping.
All this stuff doesn’t bring us happiness.
No matter how much material wealth and adoration
from others we have, it does not bring us happiness. Not
only will it not bring us happiness, but we are tricked into
continuing to work for more of it, trapped in the continued
illusion that the next achievement will make us happy. Like
the mirage of water in the desert, happiness from physical
consumption and achievement is an illusion.
Why don’t physical things satisfy us? If we were
merely physical bodies, wouldn’t consuming physical
goodies make us satisfied?
Assuming we are intelligent, we might jump to the

12
 THE HOLE

conclusion that we need something else besides physical

goodies or name and fame to bring us fulfillment. The end-
less parade of material toys and goodies teaches us the
same lesson the thirsty woman was taught in the desert:
That won’t do it.
The logical reason why physical things don’t satisfy
us is simply because we need something else. This is be-
cause we are not physical. We are not the physical body we
dwell within. The physical body is a temporary vehicle. A
person who is starving for physical things should be satis-
fied with physical things. Like money to a thirsty person in
the desert, a person starving for something will not be sat-
isfied until they get what they are starving for. Since we
continue to crave for more while having an abundance of
physical things, the emptiness we feel—our hole—indicates
we need something outside of the physical world.
It is rooted in understanding our identity.
How could a physical person want something out-
side the physical world? This would be a contradiction. In
order to utilize something outside of the physical world
one must have the ability to exist outside of the physical
world. In order to be able to exist outside the physical
world a person would need to have a nonphysical exis-
tence. In other words, the existence of our perpetual hole
amongst physical consumption indicates that we are non-
physical living beings by nature, and we are starving for
what our nonphysical nature needs. Because our real exis-
tence is outside the physical body, our happiness lies
outside the physical body. This is because the physical
body is not us, but rather a temporary vehicle we occupy

13
 THE LOVING SOUL

for a specific period of time. We are not these physical

forms:
Just as a driver of a car is not made of the metal in his car, the
living being is not physical.
The admiration of others doesn’t touch us.
Most of us feel that if we received the respect and
admiration of others we should be happy. Many of us
strive to achieve success because we think that this admira-
tion will somehow make us feel complete. Superstars have
achieved the ultimate in admiration. With millions of ador-
ing fans struggling to see them, touch them or get close to
them, it is easy to see that they receive admiration at an
extreme level.
Yet it is also easy to see that this admiration doesn’t
actually touch them, nor does it fill their hole. After a few
years of adoring fans, most superstars, instead of attention,
strive for privacy. They want to hide away from the ador-
ing fans. The adoring fans have become a burden and a
nuisance. This is because this sort of admiration does not
satisfy the self. Someone who gives us attention just be-
cause we are famous has ulterior motives.
A person’s motives for adoring a superstar are not
connected to love. If they don’t know them they certainly
don’t care about them. They might be attached to the fact
that they liked their music or feel that they are physically
attractive, together with the fact that they have many fans.
Some may feel that other fellow fans might be impressed
with our adoration or closeness to the superstar, or feel a
sense of belonging with other fans. Mostly ones motives for
adoring a superstar stem from the same hole of loneliness

14
 THE HOLE

the superstar is trying to fill with his or her quest for star-
dom. Both the adoration of the fans and the star’s
superstardom are thus façades. Both are simply seeking to
fill their lonely holes. After awhile, most superstars realize
the fans are not delivering the expected fulfillment, and
become jaded by the attention, seeing the adoration as in-
sincere. It just wasn’t the love they were seeking.
Meanwhile, most fans will eventually outgrow their super-
star adoration.
We are lonely—and looking for a friend.
When we look around us, we see so many lonely
people, including ourselves. We see dramatic loneliness
amongst crowds of people. One of the most common places
we see loneliness is amongst people in a big city. How
could this be? Where reaching out to someone else would
be as easy as extending ones little finger or hand, crowded
cities tend to amplify loneliness. Amongst these crowds of
people we can literally look into the blankness of people’s
eyes and peer right into the hole. In such a sea of loneli-
ness, we can see that we are all looking for a true friend.
We all look for a true and reliable friend: We look
for a constant companion. We look for someone who will
listen and care for us. We look for someone who under-
stands us, and won’t question what we do. We look for a
person whom we can trust. Someone who is will some-
times sacrifice a little to come to our aid. We look for
someone whom we can share things with. We look for
someone to fool around with and play games with. Mostly
we look for someone to exchange a true friendship with.
Many of us have friends with whom we can ex-

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 THE LOVING SOUL

change some sort of relationship. We are not usually satis-

fied with these friends however. Most of our “friends” are
too busy with their own lives to really give us the kind of
focused friendship we desire. Sometimes a person will
come to the realization that all of the “friends” they think
they have are really not true friends, but rather, they are
convenient friends. Their relationship with us is one of con-
venience. They spend time with us because they have
nothing better to do. Or we do things that they like to do
because they don’t want to do those things alone. We can
easily see these types of “friends” because they will often
fade away from our lives when they move or they change
hobbies. We usually do not put a lot of stake in these types
of friendships, although we often dream of having such a
complete friendship. When we look around us and see all
these convenient friends, most of us begin to see our gap-
ing hole quite dramatically. As a result, many of us feel
lonely, with no true friend to turn to.
Some feel that a loving family will fill the hole.
What about the love and friendship we receive from
our family? Won’t this fill the hole? What about exchang-
ing relationships with family members who seem to truly
care for us? Won’t this make us happy?
Most people in modern society—including super-
stars after losing faith in the fans—feel the family unit
offers a more promising opportunity for filling the hole.
Family members know us well, and seem to express more
sincere feelings than do adoring fans who don’t know us.
The family unit also promises us an exchange of something
we critically need: Unconditional love.

16
 THE HOLE

Although the family unit can provide tender

relationships, which give us a glimpse of love, unfortu-
nately the family unit doesn’t last, and its love is not
unconditional. Many marriages break up in divorce, with
each person feeling the other didn’t bring them the happi-
ness or unconditional love each partner needed. Children
will grow up and leave the nest, many unhappily rebelling
against their parents and fighting with siblings along the
way. Parent-teenager hostilities and screaming matches are
prominent in the modern-day family. Those remaining
family relationships, even lifetimes of marriage, will also
end, as death causes the ultimate heartbreak. One of the
spouses will die first, leaving the other distressed and
lonely. A family death, whether a parent or spouse, brings
great sadness and distress, regardless of how poor the rela-
tionship was. Many people stay depressed for many years
after a parent or spouse dies. Some will say that it was the
saddest event of their lives.
It is safe to say that eventually all family relation-
ships break up, leaving emptiness and sadness in their
wake. We can also say that family relationships do not ul-
timately bring us happiness, or fill that hole. They may
bring us a glimpse of loving relationships, but what little
love is there is conditional, and thus shrivels up, leaving
that gaping hole even wider.
The hole is revealed through relationships.
As mentioned, when those we share a relationship
with in this world die, change or go away, there is usually
a residual depression and empty feeling. This is the result
of the loss of that relationship. This feeling of loss following

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 THE LOVING SOUL

such an event is usually described as an empty feeling, or

hole. In commercial love songs and love stories, the empti-
ness a forlorn lover feels is often referred to as an empty
heart or a hole in my heart.
All of us seek to love and be loved. When we ex-
change a little love in this material dimension we
experience a temporary, partial filling of that hole. The
hunger to fill the hole remains, but for awhile at least, we
taste the type of thing we’re hungering for. For this reason,
we will often keep returning to that person we shared a
relationship with, even if we know the relationship is de-
structive. This is why women often return to abusing
husbands, and men keep dating hurtful women. We need
some kind of love. Unlike physical things, which we will
discard quickly for the next thing, exchanging even a little
love with another person hooks us. The taste we experience
when we exchange love with another person is an indica-
tion of the nature of the hole. If a loving relationship fills
part of the hole better than physical things or the adoration
by others, and the emptiness increases exponentially when
a loved-one dies or leaves, this shows us that the hole we
all perpetually feel in life is due to the loss of a deeper,
permanent loving relationship.
When we experience the loss of someone near to us
or a breakup of a relationship, we usually will experience
an even greater hole than we might have if we had never
had the relationship. Similarly, superstars often relate that
the more famous they get, the larger the hole feels. These
experiences are because temporary relationships in this
world serve to remind us of our hole. They put a micro-
scope over the problem, and we become more aware of it.

18
 THE HOLE

Seeing the many lonely people in the city also will remind
us of our hole. Events such as holidays, and anniversaries
also serve to remind us of the hole.
One reason why conditional, temporary relation-
ships in this world only serve to remind us of our hole is
that these temporary relationships are not deep enough to fill
it. We can quite quickly see that they are not the loving re-
lationships we need. These relationships will not last
because they are usually based upon convenience or ex-
change. If we base that exchange upon identifying the
person as their body, that body will eventually die or go
away and the exchange will cease. It is inevitable. We need
a much deeper relationship in order to fill that hole.
We’ve experienced a deep relationship in the past.
Since we are trying desperately to fill this hole, we
must accept that this hole wasn’t always there. Why else
would we try so hard to fill it? If we were used to it there
would be no problem. At some point in the past we didn’t
have this hole, because at some point we experienced the
permanent loving and friendship relationship we are
searching for. When we lose a temporary relationship, we
can see a glimpse of how devastating it would be to be
separated from an even deeper permanent relationship.
If we consider that true love exists on a permanent
basis, and temporary relationships only remind us of our
need for them, then it makes sense that we need to recon-
nect to whatever permanent relationship we lost.
Permanent loving relationships require a permanent per-
son though. A permanent person is one who does not die
or go away. A permanent person is someone who will not

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 THE LOVING SOUL

change suddenly, deciding they don’t like us anymore. A

permanent person is someone who we can rely upon—
forever.
We had a supremely deep relationship.
The hole we feel is deep because the Supreme Being
runs deep. When we think of the Grand Canyon and how
deep it is, we can reflect on how powerful the water had to
be to make that canyon so deep. Our very being is designed
for a deep unconditional relationship with the Supreme
Being, and the size of the hole we experience is due to our
forgetting this very deep relationship. At one time, each of
us enjoyed a deep and loving relationship with the Su-
preme Being, and at some point or another we lost this
deep relationship.
Like water to a thirsty person in the desert, we need
a true and loving friend we can trust: Someone who loves
us unconditionally. We once had such a relationship, and
took it for granted. At some point we lost that deep rela-
tionship with our Best Friend. Ever since that time, we’ve
carried around this deep hole, trying to fill it with other
things.
***
Conclusion: The emptiness we experience throughout
our lives cannot be filled with the temporary, condi-
tional things and relationships of this world. The hole
we feel throughout our lives is due to having lost and
forgotten our relationship with our Supreme Friend. By
ignoring this essential relationship, we leave a deep hole
we cannot fill with anything else.

20
 Essay Two

What is Love?
As they stared up at the twinkling stars on a clear
moonless night, the boy considered saying those three
special words. After three years of dating, the boy’s
fondness of his girlfriend had grown, and he felt it was
finally time to express his feelings.
“I love you,” he softly said, his voice dropping off in ex-
pectation of a quick reply.
A long silence followed. “I don’t believe in love,” she fi-
nally blurted. “I believe that love is an evolutionary
mistake—a form of insanity. I believe that love is a noth-
ing but a chemical: a genetic mutation.”
Stunned at this statement, he quickly changed the topic,
face beet red: He was thankful it was at least dark.
Through the rest of their talk that night, he could not get
her statement out of his mind. He silently concluded to
himself as they parted that evening that he’d be looking
for a new girlfriend.
Modern science proposes that love is chemical.
Modern chemistry and physics theory tells us that
life is the variegated composition of smaller and smaller
units: Cells, molecules, atoms, neutrons, electrons, sub-
atomic particles, photons, quarks, strings, etc. These ‘units’
are assumed to be the sum and substance of our existence.
Where then does love come from? Which units con-
tain this substance? Modern scientists theorize that love is
simply the result of certain chemical reactions combined
with neural events within the brain—an accidental twist of
evolution. While some of these scientists propose that love

21
 THE LOVING SOUL

is a product of the brain, others propose that since certain

neurochemicals are present in certain tissues such as the
brain during times of emotional response, the emotion of
love must be come from these neurochemicals. Does this
make sense? Can the emotion of love be captured within
the physical tissues or neurochemistry of the body?
Emotions do not come from the brain.
Brain surgeons have been able to for instance, pro-
voke certain emotions by stimulating particular areas of the
brain. We may have also seen brain images with PET and
other types of scanners showing us how the various brain
cells and areas will signal with specific thought patterns.
From these observations, it has been assumed that emo-
tions come from these brain tissues.
However we must question this logic, because
stimulating other body parts will also stimulate emotions;
and we don’t say those emotions are contained in that body
part. For example, tickling someone under the armpit will
provoke laughter. Does this mean that the emotion of hu-
mor is contained in the armpit?
Although a stimulation of that body part can evoke
a particular emotion, the body part isn’t the source of the
emotion itself. Consider how the eyes are sensitive to cer-
tain wavelengths of light and color. Certain images will
strike the back of the retina and travel through the optic
nerve to the cerebrum. These images can provoke a variety
of emotional responses including anger, envy, fear or even
attraction, but only after the images were flashed onto the
mind and observed by the living being. The responses took
place as a result of the observation. Would it make sense to

22
 WHAT IS LOVE?

say that these emotions were contained in the eyeball or the

optic nerve? How about within the actual object, or radi-
ated energy from the object which struck the retina? Or
could the emotions be contained in the impulses traveling
from the retina through the optic nerve?
Many doctors and other observers are swayed by
the scenes of the brain being stimulated by an electrode,
causing a subject to recall memories, or trigger specific
thoughts and emotions. However, medical doctors have
also long observed that many people who experience a
stroke will continue experiencing emotions even though
parts of the brain known to control particular emotional
responses were damaged and not functioning. The subject
will continue to communicate those emotions and emo-
tional memories without that brain area functioning at all.
The brain is not the source of the emotions. Rather, the
various brain cells and neural networks form a bridge be-
tween the gross physical body and the mind. The brain is
therefore simply a relay facility of emotional signals from
the living being via the mind, and a relay facility of feedback
and sensory signals from the physical body to the mind
and living being. The brain cells do not contain the emo-
tions, including love, any more than the armpit contains
humor. If they did we could transplant emotional identities
and memories from one person to another by transplanting
brain cells. If they did we could remove a love chip from the
brain, put it in another person’s brain, and the other person
would start caring for the same people the donor had. Al-
though we can certainly damage or remove the ability of a
person to express love through their physical body, we can-
not take the emotion of love from the living being.

23
 THE LOVING SOUL

Love comes from the living.

Research has shown that particular neurochemicals
will saturate certain tissue and nerve sites following or dur-
ing an emotional response. These chemicals are released
either in response to external stimuli or from an internal
emotion. Vasopressin, dopamine and oxytocin are the neuro-
chemicals most associated with emotions of love, although
more recently a neurochemical called nerve growth factor
(NGF) has been linked with these emotional feelings.
Does this mean those emotions are coming from the
chemicals? Or perhaps, as some scientists purport, do the
chemicals contain the emotions?
Since the mid-twentieth century, neuroscientists
have been toying with areas involving cellular receptors for
these neurochemicals in an attempt to connect emotions to
chemicals. The primary research method was to inject par-
ticular body tissues with radioactive isotopes, which bind
to these neurochemicals. This allows the neurochemicals to
be seen by radioactive imaging cameras. By tracking the
occurrences of particular neurochemicals and their recep-
tors, these scientists have been able to connect certain
emotional states with specific neurochemicals. They have
also been able to isolate which cells in the body and cells
typically release or receive these neurochemicals. A num-
ber of organs and tissues have been identified as
neurochemical releasing agents, while specific cell mem-
brane areas have been identified as their ‘receptors.’
Biochemicals are messengers.
The eyes, optic nerve, the brain cells, the muscles
and the neurochemicals are all tools the living being util-

24
 WHAT IS LOVE?

izes to transmit emotions and desires. The self or living

being, a creature of a substance beyond the physical di-
mension, operates the physical body as a person might
operate a machine. These tissues and chemicals are there-
fore merely messengers of the self. They receive and
transmit messages. The process the self utilizes with the
mind and the body might be compared to the operations of
computer and computer operator:
Once the computer operator enters typed-in commands, the
computer’s programming performs the appropriate functions,
and sends the resulting feedback to the screen for the operator
to interact with.
In the same way, the self sends commands through
the mind to the physical body, and using the programming
of the mind, the body is stimulated into activity. After and
during this process feedback from the body is sent to the
screen of the mind where the self can view that feedback
and respond to it if necessary.
We could compare the sending of emotions from the
mind through the body to sounds from a radio:
Talk-radio plays from a radio in someone’s house. The radio
picks up broadcast signals from a nearby radio station. The
radio station sends the impulses through a broadcast tower.
The impulses travel through space and are picked up by the
radio’s antenna. The impulses are then converted to sounds
representing the voice of the announcer. Although the sound
comes out of the radio, its source is the announcer at the dis-
tant radio station.
We would probably laugh if someone were to say
that the radio talk show host was in the radio. The radio
and the station are only instruments used to transmit the

25
 THE LOVING SOUL

voice of the talk show host. His voice is being beamed

through these instruments in order to communicate his
opinion. In the same way, all of the body parts and chemi-
cals involved in emotional responses are also instruments.
They convey the emotions of the original sender—the self.
Just as the sound impulses are carried to the speaker cone,
emotions coming from the self through the mind are sent
through specific parts of the body trained to reflect the
emotion (e.g., tear ducts for crying; legs for a quick get-
away, etc.). Just as the radio speaker reflects the voice of the
talk show host, the human body reflects the emotions of the
self.
Love runs beneath the physical.
While at a public aquarium, a woman walks over to the shark
tank to watch a shark being fed. The first thing she notices
when she gets to the tank is that there is blood in the water
and the shark is in a feeding frenzy. She erroneously thinks
that the shark became hungry because of the blood in the wa-
ter. She didn’t see that the aquarium staff fed the shark clean
fish and the bleeding followed the shark’s feeding frenzy.
There are many instances where we might put to-
gether two observations (such as the shark eating and the
presence of blood) and think we can associate the events in
a cause-and-effect relationship. It is possible this associa-
tion will even be correct. However, especially in cases
where we do not have the ability to see all the processes
going on beneath the obvious, the possibility of being
wrong is great. In the case of neurochemicals and emotions,
there is a whole lot of guessing going on. Because these
well-intentioned neuroscientists don’t see the process of
exchange between the self and the physical body, they are

26
 WHAT IS LOVE?

making assumptions based upon limited information. Just

because we can see a few chemicals during an emotional
response doesn’t mean we know where the seat of emo-
tions is, just as taking apart a radio won’t tell us who or
where the radio announcer is.
The self utilizes a subtle response-feedback loop
with the physical body. Utilizing the mind, intelligence,
and false ego as translating mechanisms, the self receives
feedback from the physical environment through the
senses of the body. Once the self receives feedback, the self,
typically seeking enjoyment from the physical body, initi-
ates a particular response:
A person is told that a parent died. The sound of being told,
moving through the ears, will affect a part of the brain, which
relays the message onto the screen of the mind. The self, mis-
identifying as a physical body through the influence of the
false ego, hears that someone “related” has gone away. Un-
derstanding this, the self, feeling sad, will send that sad
emotion back to the mind. Through the neural network, the
mind will stimulate glands such as the hypothalamus and pi-
tuitary to secrete neurochemicals, which, among other things
initiates the physical action of crying.
This emotional response is initiated by the living be-
ing who is feeling sadness due to hearing of the loss of
someone close. Certainly, the living being is the entity that
feels sad, not some brain cell or chemical. Who else would
be able to initiate such an emotional response other than a
living, feeling person?
In this way, not only is the body a messenger for the
emotion of sadness, but the mind is a tool used to translate
that message into a physical response. The mind stimulates
the physical system to affect the release of neurochemicals.

27
 THE LOVING SOUL

These transmit the message through cell receptors to initi-

ate physical responses. The neurochemicals are merely
carriers of the emotion coming from the self.
Sometimes the response by the body to stimuli is re-
flexive rather than directly from the self. This response is
set-up by the self using a pre-programming feature of the
mind. The mind is designed to be programmed to do many
functions, including automatic responses to certain stimuli.
This programming is done through the facility whereby the
living being’s desires set up a sensual/mental feedback-
and-response operation. One might compare this to a com-
puter ‘if-then’ statement. An emergency-response program
might be developed from the living being’s desire to pro-
tect the body to assure continued attempts at physical
enjoyment, for example. The mind will be programmed to
respond automatically to any threat to survival by instantly
sending neurochemical and nervous system commands to
the muscles and heart to run or defend itself. Or a similar
program might be set up as: If the hand touches something
hot, then the hand will quickly pull away before the skin gets
burnt. When the actual event—such as heat— is received
through sensory input, the response is initiated without the
living being’s conscious participation. The mind’s pro-
gramming takes over. The living being's initial desires to
enjoy through the body initiate the mind to program the
neural network to react automatically to certain stimuli.
This might be compared to how a commanding officer ini-
tiates objectives and commands for lower officers to
complete without his further involvement:
A commanding general determines the objectives of the troop
and the operations of a troop by orchestrating certain policies

28
 WHAT IS LOVE?

and activities. Then he delegates the oversight of those opera-

tions to the lieutenants. The lieutenants will pass on specific
orders and design the work of the sergeants, who shout spe-
cific commands to each private in the troop.
In the same way, regardless of whether it is via a di-
rect response or a programmed response, the living being
is at the root of all physical emotional responses. Some
stimuli will initiate only an immediate, automatic (or ‘auto-
nomic’) response to an emotion, while stimuli considered
more important to the living being will typically sink in
directly to the living being who will react directly, much
like the general might consider larger strategic issues and
issue direct orders. Either way, the self is involved because
without the living being’s existence within the body, and
without the living being’s desires to enjoy the physical
body and thus keep the body intact, there would be no
physical response. The mind and the rest of the body are
mere messengers and signal carriers, just as the lieutenants
and sergeants are messengers for the commands of the gen-
eral.
When neurochemicals are extracted from a person
during an emotional response, that neurochemical may still
carry the message of the response, but this message will be
a coded message intended specifically for that tissue or cell
stimulation. If the neurochemical was injected into another
person, the injected person could not experience the same
emotions the first person had because the coding wasn’t
specific. The injected person’s tissues might still be stimu-
lated with a non-specific instruction of the neurochemical
such as “stimulate this particular organ or cell,” but again,
the neurochemical doesn’t carry the entire emotional re-

29
 THE LOVING SOUL

sponse. For example, a person eating meat will ingest the

neurochemical adrenaline produced by the animal when it
was slaughtered. This can make the person feel overly anx-
ious. The person won’t actually experience the animal’s
slaughter when he eats the meat, however. (He will have to
experience that later.) Rather than being random chemicals,
neurochemicals should be more appropriately considered
specific messengers, as their transmission is specific to that
particular organism. This would be consistent with the ser-
geants performing only the specific instructions from
commanding officers. Those same commands would not
necessarily have the same results in another troop and cir-
cumstance.
The physical body and all its functions are simply
tools for the self to utilize. The actual functions of the body,
however, are narrowed by the design of the body. The self
can dictate the operations of the body through desires and
objectives, which set up programming for specific re-
sponses:
A doll is designed to smile when its hair is pulled. The doll
may not be alive, but the child who pulls the hair to make the
doll smile is. The doll has thus become a surrogate of the
child, and its smiling response reflects the intent of the hair-
puller.
Though the smile may reflect some emotional intent
of the child to make a smile, the smile doesn’t necessarily
relay the exact emotion of the child. The doll can only re-
flect an intention to express something within a limited
range of possible expressions. In the same way, a person
might cry when sad or cry when happy. It might even be
difficult to tell the difference. The crying is not the emotion

30
 WHAT IS LOVE?

itself, but a response triggered by the emotion. The specific

neurochemicals, which stimulate the lacrimal tear glands,
were initiated through a complex neural network, which
can be traced back to the emotion. If we extracted some of
those chemicals out of this person’s body and injected them
into another’s body, they might cause the other body to
tear, but the specific emotion that caused it (happy or sad)
could not be communicated through the neurochemicals.
Emotions originate from the self.
The emotions elicited from a response to an observa-
tion or other stimuli would logically have come from
someone who was able to make an interpretation of and se-
lect a resulting response to the interpretation. For example,
visual radiation is received by retinal cells, initiating a
pulse that travels through the cells of the optic nerve. Once
these impulses are carried to the neural network, the image
is then reflected onto the mind of the self. If the neural
network is pre-programmed to react to the image, the body
will be stimulated automatically. If the self wants to inter-
pret the image and respond to it using the intelligence and
false ego, then that response will be ushered back through
the mind, which will direct the appropriate physical re-
sponse. Even in this case, the mind will respond in a
manner consistent with how it has been designed and
trained by the self and the world around it. In the physical
world the living being is limited to interacting with the
mind’s images, which come from external sensory input
and feedback from the body. This could be compared to a
person playing the video game through the computer and
computer screen. The player responds to only what images

31
 THE LOVING SOUL

are seen on the screen. The computer is programmed to

convert the 0s and 1s into graphic display, and the person
responds only to the converted graphic display.
The programming of the mind is ultimately directed
by the self. The living being projects its desires onto the
mind, where they are mixed with sense perception in an
attempt to achieve those desires. In most cases, the self de-
sires to enjoy the world, and thus a concoction or formula to
achieve those goals will be created by the mind and living
being using the catalog of sensory input. Once the mind is
programmed with this concoction, it will be able to direct
the flow of neurochemicals through the body, responding
to events and sensory input in particular ways. In some
cases the self can control the response of the mind, but
most of the time the mind is functioning on cruise-
control—following programs determined by prior concoc-
tions. It is designed to respond automatically to these
programmed concoctions. The decision directing the
mind’s response was already made prior to the event or
sensory input. Just as proper training will prompt a person
to perform a particular task, the mind is trained by the self,
blending its desires with sensory input.
These cruise-control responses reflect the mind’s
ability to not only record and retain sensory input from the
outside world, but to respond to it through programming
created by the desires of the self. The living being may not
be aware of a current automatic mental response because
the mind is able to work on subtle levels (some call these
subconscious levels). Thus, while its operations are often
out of grasp of the living being’s immediate control, the
mind’s automatic activities will typically reflect former de-

32
 WHAT IS LOVE?

sires and concoctions. This would be compared to hearing

an echo long after the words were spoken.
The self can of course directly stimulate physical re-
sponses as well. Should the living being have a particular
emotion regarding something, that emotion is sent through
the mind to the body. Frustration is an example of an emo-
tion sent to the mind from the self. This will result in the
appropriate physical action. The type of response may well
be blocked or negotiated somehow by the mind due to
other desires of the living being, however. For example, if a
person desires to keep the respect of others, the mind may
hold the body back from physically expressing that frustra-
tion. As a result, the body may be instructed to bite the lip in
order to block the complete expression of the emotion. This
process allows the self to express certain feelings translated
into physical responses and actions, utilizing the training of
the mind to negotiate those expressions.
Both pre-programmed response and direct emo-
tional expression utilize the mind, which not only
stimulates the nervous system to initiate muscular re-
sponse, but also stimulates certain neural centers to release
specific neurochemicals. The release of these specific neuro-
chemicals—hormones like endorphins, growth hormones,
ACTH, LH, FSH, estrogens, testosterone, thyroid hor-
mones; and neurotransmitters like adrenaline, serotonin,
dopamine and acetylcholine—all drive secondary physical
responses initiated either by direct or indirect emotions of
the living person present within the body.

33
 THE LOVING SOUL

Emotions stimulate chemicals that stimulate action.

So what is it about love that stimulates the flow of
certain neurochemicals? Modern scientists have said that
during feelings of love or compassion certain chemicals like
serotonin will be released into the body from certain endo-
crine centers, sparking feelings of relaxation. They also
correlate feelings of anger with the release of certain other
neurochemicals such as adrenaline. What is going on here?
In a healthy physical body of a conscious, aware
person, direct emotions from the self spark clear physical
responses. This is normal. In some cases the emotion of
caring for someone else may stimulate certain activity such
as hugging or stroking. This is a natural physical response
to the living being’s direct emotion of love. However a per-
son covered by greed and lust may convert this basic need
for loving relationships into an attempt for sexual satisfac-
tion—which in the end frustrates the person. In most cases
among physical organisms, the need for loving relation-
ships is translated into a desire for physical relationships.
The reason our bodies are designed for relationships
and emotional expressions in sharing relationships is be-
cause of our very nature—we are geared to connect with
others in the exchange of loving relationships, and thus we
treasure relationships. The mind or body doesn’t need ini-
tial training in releasing emotions related to the hope for
loving relationships because love is an inseparable part of
the living being. The physical body of the self reflects not
only our desire to enjoy the world, but reflects an even
deeper desire to love and care for others. The mind and the
physical body will thus instinctively reflect this emotion
because this is our very nature. We cannot be separated

34
 WHAT IS LOVE?

from love. Every organism is thus designed to facilitate and

attempt to form loving relationships in some way, depend-
ing upon the level of self-absorption covering the living
being. This is why it is instinctive for animals to care for
and respond to their mothers, their mates and their off-
spring.
We all need loving relationships.
A few decades ago, psychologists studied relation-
ships between monkeys and their mothers, or in many
cases, surrogate mothers. Some baby monkeys were cruelly
pulled away from their mothers at birth and put in isolated
cages. The scientists observed that these monkeys quickly
became hostile, depressed, and unstable as compared with
caged monkeys united with their mothers. Some of the
baby monkeys were left alone with wire-built frames made
to look like the shape of a monkey. Some of these frames
were even built with milk bottle-breasts so the monkey
could feed from a pair of fake nipples. Although the baby
monkeys would try to hug the fake monkeys and suck milk
from the fake breasts, they also became hostile, depressed,
and unstable. Some of the monkeys isolated or caged with
wire surrogates were introduced to live monkey surrogates
who were not their mothers. These monkeys immediately
began to hug the surrogates, and these stressed and hostile
monkeys gradually became “normal” (for being cruelly
imprisoned in cages).
The instinctive exchange of a loving relationship
with another living being is critical to our existence. Once
baby monkeys were allowed to exchange a relationship
with a living being, they normalized. This is because every

35
 THE LOVING SOUL

living being needs to exchange loving relationships. Con-

tact with a physical form without a living being inside of it
(like the monkey wire frames) will not replace our need for
a relationship with a living being.
The case of instinctively needing relationships is also
made as we’ve observed human babies. Preemie babies
who were held more often and stroked or massaged, grew
as much as 50% faster; were significantly more alert; and
were more responsive to the world around them than
preemies who were more isolated during incubation. The
touched babies were shown to also be calmer and better
adjusted later in their childhood than babies who were not
touched as often.
Real love has several key characteristics.
Here are a few commonly accepted characteristics of
love and loving relationships that illustrate love’s real exis-
tence within each of us:
• Loving relationships are our foremost focus
from the time we are born into this physical
body through to our leaving the body. As ba-
bies, we seek the attention and admiration of the
people around us through physical contact, ap-
proval, and acceptance with other living beings.
This drive for loving relationships via these ex-
ternal attempts continues throughout life,
becoming the central rationale for our choices of
mates, houses, cars, sports, careers, etc.
• People will sometimes endanger themselves to
achieve loving relationships. Some may climb
mountains or perform other death-defying feats

36
 WHAT IS LOVE?

to gain the attention and admiration (thought of

as love) from others. Due to the quest to achieve
or maintain particular relationships, a person
may put themselves in harm’s way. Some may
sacrifice their lives in a war while others may
sacrifice money, an organ, or other material pos-
sessions on behalf of or in search of a loving
relationship.
• Love is held up in society as an aspiration every
person should seek—the key to happiness. It is
assumed that a successful loving relationship is
the ultimate success in life. No one really under-
stands why love has such a high priority, but
most agree that those who love the most are also
the happiest.
• Love requires a lover and a beloved; the acknowl-
edgement of two distinct individuals. For love
to exist there must be a loving relationship be-
tween at least two living beings.
• True love is selfless and unconditional. It is the
caring of another without any expectation of a
return. Loving someone is the act of humbly
giving oneself to ones beloved. True love will
overwhelm all other aspects of ones life—
minimizing one’s self-regard.
• Love is connected to service. Service is thus the
ongoing expression of love. Service is performed
both as a means to accomplish love along with a
natural activity of love.
• True love brings joy to both the beloved and the
lover. True love is the food of the living being.

37
 THE LOVING SOUL

We all need it because it is part of our constitu-

tional nature: it is our actuality.
These points reflect a few of the characteristics of
love and the living being. Every living being has an innate
need to give oneself to another and to have the uncondi-
tional love of another upon oneself. That exchange of love;
to serve and sacrifice oneself for a loved one, is aspired to
throughout our society as the highest form of fulfillment.
Each of us has tasted the joy of love in one respect or an-
other. Our acceptance of the importance of love in real life
contradicts any chemical or evolutionary theories of love.
Even the scientists who propound these theories of chemi-
cal and evolutionary love still at the end of the day seek out
love in their own personal lives. They admit by their own
lives that love is part of our nature. Their theories may say
we are but chemicals, but their actions say we are living
beings who share the common aspiration of true love.
All living organisms aspire to loving relationships.
All living beings need to exchange a loving and car-
ing relationship with another living being. This is
expressed among birds that care for their chicks; elephants
that fend off for their fellow mates; dogs that pine to be
stroked; and monkeys who struggle to hug other monkeys.
Living beings have a fundamental, instinctual desire to
love and serve a beloved, and to be loved and cared for by
another. This is the common universal trait of the living
being. Regardless of race, creed, gender, or species, love is
at the very core of our being.
Although love is often characterized as an emotion,
actually emotions stem from love. Love—like the living be-

38
 WHAT IS LOVE?

ing— comes from the realm outside of the gross physical

dimension. Love transcends the temporary nature of the
physical dimension because it is the very nature of the liv-
ing being. The living being cannot be separated from love.
This is why people need other people to love. Without
other living beings to exchange love with, we whither
away in loneliness. We seek to exchange loving relation-
ships with other living beings because love is a part of our
constitutional nature. We are creatures of love.
Love is a transcendental activity.
Love exists outside of the physical world. Since love
is only expressed when one gives of oneself to another,
love is not distinguishable from ones self. When someone
truly gives their love to another, they are giving the only
thing they truly own—their decision to give of themselves.
Every other possession is temporary to the living being.
The Supreme Being is the only Person with the ability to
possess anything else. We living beings were all imbedded
with this one transcendental possession by the Supreme
Person: The ability to love; and with that, the ability to
choose where to put that love.
Lust, greed, and self-love are perverted forms of love.
True love can only be expressed between two or
more living beings. Some people talk about self-love but this
is a perversion of real love. Self-love is simply selfishness,
and it is diametrically opposed to love. Real love is the act
of humbly giving oneself to another living being. Note that
giving requires a giver, a gift (in this case love), and a re-
ceiver. The same person cannot be both the giver and the
receiver because the gift has to change hands to be given.

39
 THE LOVING SOUL

Therefore, self-love is merely selfishness and greed dressed

up in fancy words.
When ones natural inclination to love is directed at
oneself, this creates the perverted form of love—lust. When
love is inwardly focused, a fog or mist covers the humble
loving nature of the living being, and a vacuum created by
this perverted, inwardly projected love begins sucking into
a bottomless pit of self-absorption. This fog and vacuum
covering the living being’s natural propensity to love fo-
cuses us onto our physical bodies, and then drives us to
consumption, followed by utilizing others in the physical
world in our progressively desperate attempts to be self-
satisfied.
Once this bottomless lust-vacuum has begun, it is
very difficult to stop. It swirls us together with the things
we attempt to consume around like a whirlwind. We lose
any understanding of our identity and priorities in its
wake. As we seek to take advantage of others to fulfill our
bottomless lust, two things happen: First, we become frus-
trated because the consumption doesn’t make us happy.
Second, we can become angry due to our continued frustra-
tions of not being fulfilled.
‘Physical love’ does not satisfy us.
We are never completely satisfied with the ‘love’ we
find within the physical dimension. We see and experience
so many relationships that were supposedly based upon
love ending in break up or divorce, sometimes with great
bitterness. Why, if love is such a part of us and is so
needed, do these relationships end up broken and frustrat-
ing?

40
 WHAT IS LOVE?

The main consideration is whether the ‘love’ that

many of us exchange in the physical world is actual love.
Usually it is perverted by greed. As a result, in many rela-
tionships in this physical dimension, expressions of love are
given in order to receive something in return. This type of
exchange is not love. These expressions might appear lov-
ing but they are simply lust. They are grounded in our
desire to receive or consume something for ourselves.
These are simply expressions of lust masquerading as love.
They might sound and look like love but they aren’t. They
might even be motivated by our inner desire to exchange
love but they are not love. There may even be a small tinge
of real love mixed in, but the desire to get something in
return will quickly drown out that tinge. Even service per-
formed in the name of this physical love/lust exchange is
typically performed to receive some benefit. These types of
exchanges would be better described as business than love.
They could give us fleeting glimpses of our real nature, but
not for long. The exchange of one thing for another is con-
sidered business. It subtly squelches any real love that may
be felt initially.
The primary symptom of this physical love/lust is
when a person becomes angry with the one they ‘love’
when their ‘love’ is not returned. If one part of the bargain
isn’t met or seen as equal, the other party won’t feel there is
fairness, and will become angry or upset. Since real love is
the giving of oneself selflessly—a business deal does not
qualify. In the physical world, a truly selfless person is a
rare find indeed. The physical world is the world where the
greedy and selfish beings come to exercise our desires.
Another reason most of us are not satisfied with this

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 THE LOVING SOUL

type of love/lust relationship is that the ‘love’ between two

living beings who identify each other as physical bodies is
built upon the model of consumption. This is why a seem-
ingly loving relationship will begin with some real feelings,
and end up spiraling into failure. Because our identification
with this body is caused by our desire to enjoy, it is very
difficult to express love on a physical level without desir-
ing some ultimate consumption for our physical body.
Sincere love will only occur in connection with our tran-
scendental existence.
True love has a source.
If we accept that love is the deeper and necessary
aspect of our being, and we agree that our ultimate identity
lies beyond the physical dimension, we must realize that
there is a Source of love beyond this physical dimension.
After all, how could an emotion that is specifically ex-
changed between living beings not originate from a living
being? Since love requires a lover and beloved, the Source
of love must also be able to exchange love. Moreover, since
the Source of something must contain its ultimate nature,
we must realize that the Source of love is the ultimate
Lover and Beloved. Remember the energy equation: all or-
ganized energy must have an outside organizing force.
Nothing comes from nothing. The ideals of love in this
universe have an outside Source for their existence, as they
arise not from the physical world, but from a Source out-
side of the physical dimension.
The very fact that we search throughout our lives for
the ultimate loving relationship to complete ourselves indi-
cates we know deep within us the Ultimate Lover and

42
 WHAT IS LOVE?

Beloved exists. Since we are constantly seeking to place our

love somewhere, seeking others (who primarily care for
themselves) to exchange love with us, love is at the very
core of our being. It is the essence of our existence. We can-
not deny this either scientifically or practically. Since love
and loving service are at the core of our existence, yet we
remain unfulfilled when we apply it in the physical dimen-
sion, we must realize that a more appropriate Lover and
Beloved exists outside of this physical dimension.
In considering that we all seek a true loving rela-
tionship to become complete, and that love comes from
outside the physical, it should be easy to realize that there
exists a Person beyond the physical world who has the abil-
ity to ultimately love us and exchange the ultimate loving
relationship with us. Such a relationship would be com-
pletely satisfying to the living being because this is why we
exist.
Love cannot be disconnected from its source.
The central problem with our attempted love in the
physical world is that it is disconnected from the Supreme
Person. The reason why our lust is such a bottomless pit is
because the source of this lust—love—only truly exists in
connection with the unlimited Supreme Person. This is be-
cause the Supreme Person Himself is a limitless, bottomless
lovable Person. Loving Him is an ever-deepening experi-
ence, which brings the living being complete joy and
fulfillment. When this nature is perverted into lust, our
endless attempts at satisfaction through consumption be-
come endlessly disappointing.
Since the Supreme Person is the reservoir of true

43
 THE LOVING SOUL

love, our ability to express and experience actual love is

connected to our innate relationship with Him. If we are
trying to enjoy without Him, or trying to be Him, we can
hardly expect to connect with our natural ability to love. If
we are trying to enjoy the world—attempting to consume it
for our own satisfaction—we will not be able to relate with
the Supreme Being because the Supreme Person is a Being
of pure love—His love is pure and unconditional. His love
is kind and tender. His love is forgiving and complete. Liv-
ing beings in physical bodies pretending to love through
relationships of exchange are simply not prepared to enter
this world of selfless, precious love:
Like a bull in a china shop, a selfish person cannot relate in
the world of transcendental love.
Since we are not relating with Him and His world of
love now, we cannot truly relate with other living beings
with real love. When we are covered by selfishness, we see
everyone in connection with what we can get from them.
We are not able to see other living beings as they are, sim-
ply because we are covered by this cloud of lust. If,
however, we become reconnected with the Supreme Person
and are able to enter His world of love, our ability to see
others as they truly are will allow us to truly love others.
True love is unconditional.
When we speak of the ultimate love, we usually re-
fer to a scenario where the lover gives 100% of themselves,
without any conditions. Has this ever happened to us in
this world? Have we ever met another human who didn’t
have any conditions upon the love that was given? If we
have, we are extremely fortunate. With just about every

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 WHAT IS LOVE?

human there are conditions for which love will be ex-

tended. For some it might be one’s gender. For others it
might be one’s race. For still others it might be age, or sex-
ual preference. For still others it might be conditional on
reciprocation, or at least acknowledgement. Would we be
prepared to love someone who wanted to hurt us?
We can easily observe that the Supreme Being loves
us unconditionally. How? Simply because He loves us even
if we do not love Him back or even acknowledge Him. He
loves us even though our activities are hurtful to Him. This
is illustrated by the fact that we are away from Him now.
Many of us in this physical world are ignoring Him now.
Many of us who are not ignoring Him are trying to use
Him to get something else. In either case, these kinds of
actions would be considered hurtful to anyone who loved
us.
He could easily force us to serve Him and pay atten-
tion to Him if He wanted. But this would not be love
though, since love requires the freedom to love or not to
love. Because the Supreme Person loves us uncondition-
ally, He not only continues to love us despite our hurtful
activities, but He has even given us a place where we can
continue to ignore Him. Through all this, He is always
ready to take us back when we are ready. Now that is true
love.
***

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 THE LOVING SOUL

Conclusion: From birth to death, we seek love through-

out our physical lives. We see love as the source of
ultimate happiness in our lives. Yet we are always
stumbling into relationships that are not satisfying,
seeking perfect love ‘in all the wrong places.’ We are un-
satisfied because the ‘love’ we are exchanging is
conditional—it is based upon getting something in re-
turn. The ultimate loving relationship comes from the
Supreme Person. His love is not conditional. For us to
be truly happy, we need to learn to love the Supreme
Person and His children in the same way—without
condition. Only this will satisfy us.

46
 Essay Three

The Ultimate Mystery

The little brown sparrow circled above the yard looking for
seeds, crumbs or worms. She wasn’t finding much food these
days amongst the barren concrete slab of her new yard. The
sparrow was thankful to have her own space though. She was
chased off her last yard by some heavyweight blue jays. That
last yard had a plentiful supply of worms and breadcrumbs
thrown out by the humans, but she had to outmaneuver the
muscular blue jays if she wanted to eat. Now she happily cir-
cled her new concrete yard, scouting its small-interspersed
planter boxes, ready to swoop for anything moving or being
thrown. After a hungry week went by, the sparrow was frus-
trated by the lack of food she had found in her new yard. She
wondered by she couldn’t find any food. She wondered why
the humans didn’t throw out food like they did in her last
yard. As she flew from one fence post to another, resting be-
tween circles, she discovered a new perch. She’d found a
wonderful blue box, set on a post in the middle of yard, di-
rectly overlooking the entire yard. She was thankful for this
comfortable perch, and she announced her perch to all her
neighbors with a beautiful song. She could sit atop the box
and see almost the whole yard now, including the soil boxes.
However, she still couldn’t find much to eat. For the next few
days, she hungrily continued her circling and swooping, find-
ing only the rare morsel here and there. She was obviously
unaware that the wonderful blue birdhouse she’d been sitting
on had a full tray of fresh birdseed attached at the bottom.
We are all stimulated by mysteries.
For this reason, we make up mysteries to solve.
Some of us do crossword puzzles and or other games in an
attempt to unfold a created mystery. Many of us read mys-
tery novels or watch murder mysteries on television. Many

47
 THE LOVING SOUL

best selling books are mystery novels, and many successful

movies are suspense mysteries. Millions of people read
books written by authors who have created some mysteri-
ous problem, only to unfold a hopefully surprising solution
at the end. Movies also build suspense in order to deliver a
surprising solution, keeping the viewer in rapt attention
until the very end.
While astrophysicists search the skies in hopes of
solving the mysteries of the universe, archeologists and
historians dig for decades to find a few pieces of clay,
stones, or bones for the sake of unraveling mysteries of the
past. Curiously, such a scientist may spend an entire life-
time trying to unravel the mystery of only one event that
took place thousands or millions of years ago. While some
might say this particular historical mystery will never help
us with any tangible part of our lives, others might say we
could learn from our mistakes. Regardless, these types of
mysteries haunt scientists incessantly. As a result, millions
of dollars and entire lifetimes may be devoted to solving
puzzles about humankind’s past.
Our yearning for historical mysteries underscores
our need to understand our identity. To most archeologists
the underlying questions are or should be: where do we come
from? How old are we? Who are we?
Then there is the ultimate mystery.
However, by far the largest and most pervasive
mystery surrounding our lives and our human race—the
biggest mystery of all—is: Does the Supreme Being exist?
And if so, Who is the Supreme Being?
These mysteries are the most pondered and talked-

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 THE ULTIMATE MYSTERY

about mysteries in all of civilization—in all of history in

fact. In this physical world, the Supreme Being is a constant
and pervading mystery. Despite widespread religious or-
ganizations with vast membership throughout the world;
despite the writings and scriptures pertaining to the Su-
preme Being’s existence; the mystery continues.
Most of us in modern society consider religious
opinion to be extremely controversial. People have their
most intense discussions regarding religion. As a result,
many religious discussions easily lead to heated argu-
ments. For this reason many of us avoid religious
discussion because most of us feel ardent about this topic,
and there are so many diverse opinions regarding the exis-
tence of the Supreme Being. Everyone seems to have a very
rigid opinion, and most everyone is stubbornly confident
that their own view is correct. For this reason, we are often
offended when someone else questions our views on the
subject. Yet we are usually quick to question another’s
views.
We can easily conclude that our stance regarding the
Supreme Being’s existence is our most guarded and impor-
tant issue. We are extremely protective of it. Our position
regarding the Supreme Being is sometimes the one thing
we will fight over and even die over. As a result, huge and
disastrous wars are often fought over differences in reli-
gious thought.
Even with such a hard stance, most of us are still in
constant search of the Supreme Being. Many in our society
question His existence altogether. Some keep this question-
ing private, while others announce it, even sometimes in
the media. In polls, a good segment of our society has ag-

49
 THE LOVING SOUL

nostic, or unsure views: They have concluded that the Su-

preme Being’s existence is a mystery. For others who have
more confident views of the Supreme Being’s existence, He
is still very mysterious, and they really don’t know much
about Him.
As a result, though most of us may seem confident
about our position on the Supreme Being, we still may
have many doubts and questions. While many of us act
extremely protective about our stance, most of us may be
unsure deep inside. This is often reflected in fanatical ac-
tivities that take place in the name of religion, as these
kinds of doubts can result in a person feeling that they
have to do something drastic to take control over the situa-
tion, not realizing Who is actually in control.
The Supreme Being’s existence is the most contro-
versial mystery of our existence. This only makes sense
because if the Supreme Being’s existence was not a mys-
tery, why would there be so much fighting and intensity
over the subject?
These physical eyes perpetuate the mystery.
When one thinks of seeing the Supreme Being, the
initial consideration to be made is whether our eyes were
designed to see Him. The reality is that since our eyes and
other senses do not perceive the Supreme Being, they must
not have been intended to perceive His existence. After all,
our senses can only perceive limited wavelengths of light,
sound and tactile vibration. Outside of these, we are deaf,
numb and blind.
Our sense organs and even their extensions—
technical equipment such as microscopes and telescopes—

50
 THE ULTIMATE MYSTERY

are designed to pick up only a particular range of informa-

tion. Moreover, we must recognize something before we
can perceive it. Our range of vision is not only limited by
physical restriction, but also by our limited range of recog-
nition and perception. We cannot see what we are not
prepared or designed to see.
What is the purpose of our vision then? Why are
these eyes so severely limited, and not equipped for seeing
anything beyond a certain physical range? As any good
detective or mystery writer would understand, in order to
solve a mystery we must look beneath the obvious of not
seeing, and try to understand why we don’t see. In other
words, is our not seeing intentional?
If a crime suspect had a great alibi, and was nowhere near the
crime scene at the apparent time of a murder, the detective
might consider whether there was an intentional reason for
the alibi. Did the suspect specifically intend to be seen in a
place away from the crime scene while the crime was taking
place in order to provide this alibi?
If we took a dead body and compared it to a live
body, we would see no physical element missing. Our
senses were not built to pick up this dimension of life. The
spark of life is out of range of our eyes and ears. So herein
is a clue about the mystery: life is not perceivable by the
senses.
If the senses were not built to perceive life then it
would only be logical that the senses aren’t made of life. It
makes sense to conclude that if we cannot see a substance,
the tool we use to see may not be made of that substance. It
also makes sense that an instrument made of one type of
substance may only be able to perceive another type of

51
 THE LOVING SOUL

substance if it is specifically designed and calibrated to per-

ceive that substance. Our eyes and ears are made of
physical matter: water, protein, etc. in particular molecular
structures with particular densities. The eyes can see into
these elements, but have not been designed or calibrated
for seeing much else.
One might ask why our physical senses are designed
to not see life, especially since we are alive. However, a
skilled detective might ask another question along with
this: Do we want to see life? Could it be that we don’t want
to see into the dimension of life for some reason? What if
by seeing into this dimension of life we become disap-
pointed in what we see? Would we want to see into this
dimension if it meant that it would smash all our hopes
and dreams of achieving something in this physical life-
time? Would we want to see this dimension if it ruined our
attempts to attain our goals? Would we want to see into
this dimension if it meant that we’d lose possession of all
the things we worked hard all our lives for? In other
words, would we be willing to give up all our hopes and
dreams in order to see into this dimension of life?
We prefer to live illusory lives.
We typically try to ignore what we do not want to
see, especially if it interferes with our possible enjoyment.
For example, many seek to view the naked physical body
of the opposite sex. Many especially seek a view of the but-
tocks. Yet how many want to see the excrement that lies
just inside the buttocks? Most do not. Most will try to ig-
nore that part. Most choose to ignore it because it might
interfere with the fantasy.

52
 THE ULTIMATE MYSTERY

For the same reason, we are not sexually attracted to

our own bodies—we are used to them and cannot ignore
their defects. There is no mystery involved, because we see
our own bodies every day. We see our own bodies in the
grittiest of circumstances: complete with boils, pimples,
and just after waking up the morning. Indeed, our own
bodies are not attractive to us because there is no fantasy.
We know all about them. They not only have many faults,
but they are not us.
Illusions do not last too long, however.
Often we see two people attracted to each other
come together. After a few years they no longer have the
same attraction because they get to see each other every
day. The mystery is gone. They are now seeing more
physical defects, and possibly even noticing that the other
person is actually not that nice after all. Many of us may
refer to this as “familiarity breeds contempt.”
How about aging? When we think about a young
beautiful physical body, most of us do not contemplate
how in just a few years, that same body will become old
and wrinkled. Would one still be attracted to their wrin-
kled face covered with moles? We would prefer to not
consider this eventuality. We would prefer to see the body
in the younger years, with a smooth face, or at least—in the
case of many women’s faces—covered with makeup and
lipstick to hide the defects. In this way, most of us in this
physical world prefer fantasy to reality. Because the physi-
cal world does not yield the kind of perfection we expect,
we prefer to ignore the defects and fill in the blanks with
fantasy.

53
 THE LOVING SOUL

Fantasy makes it easy to escape reality.

As a bird has feathers to fly, we have these temporary physical
bodies to try to enjoy the physical world.
It is no accident that we prefer to live in a mani-
cured, false reality, avoiding any hint of defects. These
“defects” are actually symptoms of temporary existence.
The things we identify in the world as ugly repulse us be-
cause they are decomposing or aging in some way.
However, decomposition or aging is not actually ugly in
itself. Someone could just as well see the beauty of how the
physical world continually recycles itself. We could also
perceive the aging of the human body as beautiful, repre-
senting experience and possibly even wisdom.
Rather, we interpret and filter our perception of the
objects in the physical world based on their usefulness to
achieving our desires:
A lonely person who wants to find another person for mating
or friendship may see a crowded train station as an opportu-
nity to meet someone. Another person, who may be in a hurry
to get home to see his or her family, might see the crowded
train station as a hindrance to getting home. A thief might
see the crowd as an opportunity to steal some money. Each of
these people will not only perceive the situation differently,
but due to their desires, they will see certain aspects of the
situation and not others. A person who sees the crowd as a
hindrance will probably notice a lot of other people crowding
in one way or another, jostling for position on the train. The
person looking for a mate may notice groups of people min-
gling in a bar, or around a lunch counter. Meanwhile the
thief is noticing well-dressed people, especially those with
fancy purses or thick wallets.

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 THE ULTIMATE MYSTERY

How could such an important reality be a mystery?

Put another way, if the Supreme Being exists, why is
His Existence such a mystery and such an unknown to us?
If one were to compare the situation to a ruler of a country,
would such a king leave any doubt in anyone’s mind as to
who was in charge? Would such a king hide himself away?
As such, the more logical question would be: Why has the
Supreme Being hidden Himself?
Hiding someone as important as the Creator
throughout an entire physical world and field of vision is
quite a huge undertaking. Logically speaking, if we accept
the ascription of the Supreme Being as having created the
universe and being all-powerful, there is no question that
His hidden nature must be intentional. To assume otherwise
would assume that somehow the universe the Supreme
Being created was outside of His control.
The purloined letter concept, put forth by one nineteenth cen-
tury mystery writer illustrates how something important can
be hidden in plain sight.
Reality can be hidden in plain view.
Like the purloined letter, something can easily be
hidden in plain view and not be seen because the focus of
attention is typically in the direction we see as advanta-
geous to us. Our vision is thus clouded by our hopes,
dreams and fantasies of the things we want to accomplish
or obtain. Like the sparrow perched on the birdhouse, we
already have our vision of what will make us happy. We
are focused upon ourselves, seeing the world around us as
a means to achieve our goals of happiness. However, this
view will overlook the big picture of reality. Because we

55
 THE LOVING SOUL

are focused upon the minutia of the world, judging and

sorting through life according to our own desires, the lar-
ger reality goes unnoticed:
As a person sorts through the clothes racks of a clothing store
looking for the right color and size clothing, so we sort
through life focused upon our own desires.
We must question our desires.
Before we question the Supreme Being’s existence,
we must ask ourselves whether His existence threatens our
hopes and dreams of becoming happy in this world. As we
look at ourselves and those around us, we see everyone in
a frantic pace to gain some enjoyment. Either we seek en-
joyment in consuming things, or we somehow seek to gain
others’ admiration or rule over others. As a result, our
goals centralize around our own enjoyment one way or
another. Every one of us wants to be a king in one way or
another.
A real acceptance of the Supreme Person’s existence
requires the realization that He is the King and we are not. It
requires accepting that He is the Master and we are His
subordinates. The problem with being a subordinate is that
we cannot be the master. If we were to accept that the Su-
preme Being is superior and we are inferior, then this
might burst our bubble of self-esteem. We might be forced
to consider a reality where everything doesn’t revolve
around me. If we were to accept that the Supreme Person is
the source of beauty and knowledge, then we would have
to be prepared to be humble about our own good quali-
ties—especially since all of our good qualities come from
Him. If we were to accept that the Supreme Person is wor-
thy of our worship and respect, then we would have a

56
 THE ULTIMATE MYSTERY

conflict with wanting others to respect us. We would need

to be prepared to leave behind the concept that we are
‘masters of all we purvey.’ We would have to see the world as
His domain rather than our domain.
Mystery has reason.
It makes sense that the Supreme Person’s existence
is a mystery to us because we want to avoid Him. His exis-
tence is a mystery because it might wreck our ability to
accomplish the self-centered dreams and goals we have for
our lives in this physical world. His existence is a mystery
because His existence threatens our ability to enjoy our
lives of fantasy and illusion. While some may be prepared
to acknowledge His existence, we may still see Him as our
order-supplier, waiting to answer our prayers and take
care of our business for us. In this way we avoid seeing
Him clearly to keep from having to understand that we are
His servants.
The Supreme Being is all-powerful. He is also right
here, next to each of us. He could at anytime force us to see
Him as He really is, and comply with His wishes. How-
ever, He is allowing us to avoid Him. He is allowing us to
ignore Him while we seek out our desires for personal
happiness and fulfillment. He is allowing us to conclude
His existence is a mystery because He is fulfilling our de-
sire not to see Him. Since we do not desire to see Him—
and are not ready to see Him even if we have an occasional
inclination to do so—He hides Himself from us based on
our desire. Though His presence is all around us—we pre-
fer to keep His existence a mystery. With sadness and
disappointment, He faithfully complies with our wishes, as

57
 THE LOVING SOUL

any friend would. As the feeding tray awaited the sparrow

under the birdhouse, the Supreme Person has been here for
us all this time, patiently awaiting our return.
***
Conclusion: Our Creator has hidden Himself and His
love from us because we do not desire to see Him. This is
because seeing and loving the Supreme Being will inter-
fere with our plans to enjoy life independently. He thus
gives us our space. He leaves us with a mystery regard-
ing Himself, hinting everywhere of His existence. He
never forces Himself upon us, because love is based on
freedom.

58
 Essay Four

A Loving Home
As the eagle soared above the deep-green forest of redwoods,
he saw some movement below. In search of his daily meal, he
began to circle the target. Finding the opportune time, he
swooped in for the kill. As he came in for his snatch, he sud-
denly found himself netted. Instead of catching something,
the eagle had been caught. After some rough handling by his
captors, he found himself traveling in a car far from his forest.
He was brought inside a house among many other houses,
and put in a large cage. There he was kept warm and given a
variety of different foods, including wild game. In the cage
was a soft pillow to rest upon and an exercise wheel to spin
around on. There was a wooden perch and a chipper in one
corner so he could sit and sharpen its beak. There were several
other interesting gadgets also in the cage to toy with. Cool
water awaited the eagle in one tray, while delicious bird food
awaited him in the next tray. The eagle was depressed, how-
ever. Regardless of the luxuries of the cage, the eagle could
not get out and be in his element. He could no longer fly over
the green forest, gliding off the thermals of the cool evergreen
air.
Where is our home?
We are all looking for the perfect home. What is
home? We might consider home the place where we feel at
home. We might figure home the place where our family
resides: the place where we can be comforted, and feel
comfortable. We might consider home the place where we
are accepted; regardless of our job, income, looks, or per-
sonality. We might figure home that place we yearn for
when we are away from it.
All creatures have an innate need to be accepted,
loved, nurtured, and to belong—a place to call home. Ani-
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 THE LOVING SOUL

mals, birds, even insects will diligently endeavor to make a

comfortable nest. Home is considered a place to rest. It is
also the place where the family resides. For humans, we
endeavor for a comfortable home in a nice area, preferably
with good weather and convenient to schools and shops.
The family is typically the most important aspect of our
homes, as we seek to provide a good environment in which
to raise the children.
Do any of us really feel at home though? Do we feel
that we are truly safe, loved, and cared for in our current
homes? If we do feel at home, will it last? No. We all can
look around what we consider our current home and see
multiple problems, or if we miraculously do not have any
problems, we have one blaring problem: it will not last for
long. We may have problems with family members: squab-
bling or tension. We may have a problem with the size of
our house: it may not be big enough for us. The house
could also be too large for us: the kids may have grown
and moved away and we are stuck in a big lonely house.
The weather may be miserable: too cold in the winter and
too hot in the summer. We may have problems with the
neighbors: they may be too noisy or even too nosey. Many
dream of the “island home” that offers cool ocean breezes
and warm weather all year long. However, those who live
on an island will undoubtedly tell us about various prob-
lems, maybe even wishing to be off the island themselves,
as they may be experiencing ‘island fever.’ We might even
have most of the ingredients such as a nice-sized house,
good weather, good kids and a good neighborhood. Still
we may want to make home improvements or move up to
a better house. “If only ______, then we’d have our perfect

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home.” This is the symptom of not being home.

Home is where our family is.
People who have no cohesive family unit will strive
to establish a home and family. Then we will work hard for
our family, spending time and energy devoting our lives to
making everyone comfortable. Typically this is an endless,
thankless duty, however, because none of the family seems
to appreciate the hard work, and most family time in mod-
ern society seems to be spent putting out the various fires of
family life.
Home is where we feel we belong. Those of us who
feel separated from our family may travel many miles to
see our family each year, often attending large family get-
togethers. These holiday gatherings are known for bringing
together parents, grandparents and siblings, each arriving
with expectations of a day or two of belonging in a loving
home and family. While many of these occasions come
with many heartfelt times, unfortunately these holiday
gatherings are also notorious for bringing out unresolved
hostilities and disagreements. Arguments and tantrums are
known to overwhelm these holiday occasions, leaving fam-
ily members stressed and tense while they try to digest
their holiday meals. As a result, for some holiday get-
togethers often result in depression as our expectations are
denied. For those who do not have family or friends to be
with during the holidays however, the loneliness can also
result in depression. Is there any coincidence that suicides
peak during the holidays?
Our yearning for a loving family and a good home
remains strong throughout our lives. Our earliest and

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fondest memories in these bodies are usually among family

members, where we were hopefully cared for as children.
As a result, our childhood is usually a special time for us.
Even kids who were abused will remember the tender
moments with their parents. When we remember our
childhood we usually remember the fun times, forgetting
the times of pain and hostility. We might just forget the
fights with our siblings, the discipline from our parents,
and the restrictions we may have felt at one time or another
through our childhood. We probably also forget how des-
perate we were to get out of the house as a teenager.
Our positive childhood memories stick with us
through adulthood, motivating us to parent our own chil-
dren. We want to once again feel that exchange and
bonding that take place between parent and child. As
adults, many of us will carefully plan a family, looking
forward to the exchange of relationships and bonding be-
tween family members. We usually don’t anticipate the
many hardships a family demands, however. Many years
of stress can accompany being a parent: The pressures of
earning enough to keep the family fed and housed; the
stress of managing disciplinary measures and keeping the
children under control; and the stress of protecting the fam-
ily from outside threats. It is often because of these types of
stresses that many in our society—only a few years after
they started a family with so many positive aspirations—
become disillusioned and begin to look for love outside
their new family.

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We all need a happy home.

The need for a happy home follows us throughout
our lives. From babies to children to adults we seek to live
in a happy home. The nest building process is a strong in-
stinct among all living beings, simply because a happy
home is where we all feel most loved. We belong in a
happy home. Our ideal happy home involves exchanging
various loving relationships; exchanging fun times; per-
forming service on behalf of the family; and sacrificing
oneself for the sake of our family. All of these activities re-
mind us of our real selves. The feeling of belonging only
comes when we have a chance to give love and work on
behalf of our family. Love and the performance of loving
service is a necessary part of a happy home because these
faculties are a natural part of our real identity.
Nonetheless, these attempts at achieving a happy
home in the physical world are always frustrated. Rarely is
there a real exchange of selfless love. There is rarely an ex-
change of selfless loving service. Rarely does one truly
sacrifice oneself because here in the physical world most of
us are here to try to enjoy for ourselves. We aim to become
the ‘king of the jungle.’ Hence, we tend to get in the way of
each other’s plans for receiving love. We might have a
great concept of a happy family, and how all our family
members will completely satisfy us, but the other members
also have the same goal. The result is a clashing of objec-
tives. Even in families where one or both of the parents
make sacrifices and work hard to serve the family, frustra-
tion ends up being a result because this ‘love’ is not
unconditional. In other words, the parent will become up-
set when their ‘love’ is not reciprocated or acknowledged

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at some point or another. In some families, the kids simply

take the parents’ ‘love’ for granted. Some kids will say stuff
like “I hate you mom and dad.” This kind of behavior can
hurt, and make parents angry and frustrated. Their hopes
for appreciation and reciprocation fade like the sky after
sunset.
Friction and hostility between family members illus-
trate how we have expectations of other members
returning the service that we perform on their behalf. Many
family members of the physical world will feel that the
load is not carried evenly. Both parents can easily feel this
way. The man may work hard every day, toiling to bring
home money while his children want to throw the money
away on plastic toys or fashionable clothes. When he comes
home, they do not seem to appreciate his efforts to earn the
money—they just want some of it. In today’s modern soci-
ety a mother is also expected to go to work and earn a
living along with provide the cooking and cleaning moth-
ers traditionally provided before they worked outside the
home. The pressures of working an eight-to-five job plus
raising children may become difficult for such mothers to
deal with. Without appreciation and support from their
family, both the husband and wife may feel that the family
is no longer a happy home. They both expected more from
their family.
Though we expect love and devotion amongst our
family, the family of our physical body is often a source of
frustration and tension. The bickering and hostility that can
break out amongst family members can cause tremendous
pain, bitterness, and anxiety for everyone involved. Being
unsatisfied with the quality of love in our physical homes,

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we might join a club, church, or another social group in an

effort to achieve that feeling of home. Within these groups,
we can gain acceptance through shared ideals or hobbies
with others.
This is usually when intimate relationships outside
the home begin. As people search for the happy home out-
side of the stresses of their current homes, they may
become dishonorable. However, outside relationships
rarely bring any happiness. They typically only cause addi-
tional stress and tension, requiring dishonesty and
ultimately creating friction and heartache all around. While
extramarital sexual relations are common in modern soci-
ety, they come with a heavy price; causing pain and years
of trauma amongst the family members.
Physical families can get ugly.
Cheating on ones spouse has become more preva-
lent in modern society, along with divorce. As a result, the
institution of marriage has become weaker and families are
less likely to stay together. This trend reflects the reality
that marriage and family of the physical body do not ulti-
mately satisfy the living being’s need for a happy and
permanent home. Marriage and family may initially appear
to offer love and fulfillment, but this does not precipitate.
Divorce is merely a symptom of the fact that physical lov-
ing relationships are not fulfilling.
Divorces can get messy. As parents begin to fight
and tear each other apart emotionally, kids can easily get
stuck in the middle. Divorce usually scars both the adults
and their kids. The child is usually scarred for the remain-
der of their physical life and even possibly into future ones.

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This scaring can result in psychological trauma and per-

petual paranoia regarding relationships. One might ask
why divorce is so traumatic and painful. After all, doesn’t
it resolve the problem of a bad relationship? It is not the
divorce that directly causes the trauma, however. It is the
damage to our expectation of a happy home here that cre-
ates the trauma. A person who is left thinking that a happy
home might not exist will feel devastated, because we all
originate from—and are trying to return to—our real home.
We expect a happy family and home.
We expect the physical family unit to supply us with
the love, acceptance, comfort, and protection we innately
require within our being. Despite our experiences of seeing
so many hostilities among other families, we still put
enormous expectations upon our own physical families.
We convince ourselves, even if we have seen messy family
breakups elsewhere, that our family will be immune to such
disaster. As a result, when hostility and trauma do hit our
own family, we are typically in shock, not believing that
this is happening to my family.
When that trauma does hit our childhood family,
most of us will deny it one way or another. One way that
many of us try to heal our trauma is to attempt to create
our own family as adults. We thus may marry and parent
our own kids, vowing that those traumatic things won’t
happen to our new families. We may feel that despite the
fact that our own childhood family could not supply us
with a happy home and family, somehow we will become
successful at establishing a happy home. Our family will be
different. Our family will be happy, we may think.

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Once we start our family, after a few years and hard

knocks, most of us realize that our new family unit is not
perfect. It has various problems. Blame is usually passed
around to the other members of the family for these prob-
lems. Try as we may; the love, affection, comfort and
protection that we expected did not materialize so well be-
cause our husband or wife or kids—someone, but not us—
wrecked it for everyone else. In rare cases, we might take
the responsibility, blaming ourselves for the miserable fam-
ily. We may cite our childhood family trauma as the reason
for our current family’s problems. In either instance, we
become disappointed, traumatized, and often depressed by
the failure of our families to deliver our expectations of
home. Because the expectations of a happy family unit are
so great, such a trauma is extremely tough, possibly lead-
ing to depression, suicide, substance abuse, and other
problems. Even parents who end up with nice and respon-
sible children become regretful for some reason or another.
It is never enough. Because of our naturally high expecta-
tions of family happiness, the realization of anything less in
our physical family can have disastrous effects.
Furthermore, those adults who do not have the
physical opportunity to have kids may feel they have
missed out on the happy home. They may be tormented
with regrets, feeling that they missed their chance. These
adults fail to see that those with physical families and chil-
dren also feel from some other reason that they have
missed their chances for a happy home. In other words, the
happy home in physical life is simply a mirage.

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Broken families can create broken lives.

There has been quite a bit of social research done on
the family unit and the impact losing it can have upon a
child. For years, social scientists have been studying the
lives of foster kids—children who have been abandoned by
their families or removed because of neglect or abuse. Re-
search shows the majority of these kids will have extremely
troubled lives; many ending up in jail or mental institu-
tions. A life without a good family foundation can be
devastating to a child. Sometimes an adequate foster family
or a relationship with a member of the opposite sex fol-
lowed by the creation of a new family unit can prevent the
child from “going off the deep end.” Whatever small
amount of love, affection, acceptance, comfort and protec-
tion a surrogate family can provide will have positive
affects. Foster research has found that the vital issue is not
necessarily the original parents breaking up or abandoning
the child. The vital issue appears to be whether the child is
able to exchange a meaningful relationship with an adult or
siblings during their childhood. This is because meaningful
relationships create adjusted lives. We all thrive from rela-
tionships.
Our physical home seems permanent.
Even if we finally configure a peaceful large home
full of some physical ‘love’ without the hostilities typical of
most families in the modern world, with nice weather and
a great neighborhood, we would still have one basic ingre-
dient missing: permanency. The family unit and the house
simply will not last. The situation—no matter how great—
will be temporary. The kids will grow up and leave. Our

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bodies will get old and will not be able to maintain the
house. Soon the house will have to be sold to finance our
body’s retirement home or funeral.
As our parents age and the health of their bodies de-
cline, the rest of the family is often traumatized. The family
will be distressed by the various sicknesses and difficulties
their elderly parents experience as they age. Death in the
family is especially traumatic, as the family members con-
nect their parents to their need for a happy home. The
entire family will become mournful, regretting the loss of
the parents or grandparents. This mourning can sometimes
turn into depression, as the children of dead parents strug-
gle to handle the loss of the false foundation these physical
family members provided.
This trauma of death and disease usually strikes a
family with stronger bonds harder than a family who was
strife with hostility and infighting. The hostile family can
say goodbye easier than the stronger family unit because
death conveniently ends the trauma associated with the
family hostilities. Either way, all families experience
trauma in one form or another. Traumas may exist con-
tinuously during the relationship or take place all at once
when a family member or spouse dies. Regardless of how
happy one’s physical family and physical home might ap-
pear; as long as its members rest their need for a permanent
home onto temporary physical relationships, there will be
trauma.
Our real home is not here.
After the various family traumas have been experi-
enced, many will attribute ‘home’ to be a place ‘within.’ This

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is typically hard to grasp because there is no ‘place,’ to envi-

sion when we think of ‘within.’ This within concept, though
it might be attractive when we have been traumatized, is
simply not tangible, and thus it quickly wears thin. The
deeper home within eludes us, and after pondering it a bit
we head back for another dose of physical trauma.
However, since we spend so much of our lives try-
ing to configure the perfect home in this dimension, we
should realize that our true home exists somewhere.
Somewhere there is a place where we can practice our in-
nate needs to give and receive permanent true love: A
place where the love we give is received and exchanged
and the people we care about don’t disappear on us. In
other words, there exists a place where we truly are at
home.
Furthermore, it would make sense that since we are
not our physical body; our permanent home must exist on
a dimension or existence beyond the physical plane. Since
we are transcendental in essence—not physical—regardless
of what kind of arrangement we may concoct to make the
perfect home and family in this physical dimension, we
will always be unfulfilled. This is because the substance of
this world does not match our substance. Like the eagle, we
too are caged in an environment that is not natural to us.
Even if we have all the amenities like the eagle had in his
cage, we will be frustrated because we are not within our
element. We will only be frustrated if we work to become
fulfilled by things of the wrong element. The dimension of
our physical bodies is also a caged, temporary residence. It
is not our permanent home. We are all like the soaring ea-
gle trapped in a temporary cage. This can also be compared

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to the contrast between our working lives and our ‘home’

lives:
A doctor works at a hospital as a surgeon. When he goes to
work, he must wear the right gear for the job. He must wear a
hospital gown; protective gear such as a mask, gloves, hat,
and special shoes. He puts on this layer of special clothing to
protect himself and others within the environment of the hos-
pital. At the hospital, the doctor is called “doctor so-and-so”
rather than by his first name. His activities and responsibili-
ties are regulated by the hospital and his profession, and he
must perform particular tasks in ways that are acceptable by
the hospital. After his shift is over, he can take off his gown,
hat, mask, and shoes and go ‘home.’ Once ‘home,’ his family
greets him with either ‘Dad’ or by his first name. He eases
into his comfortable chair at ‘home’ and relaxes. As he plays
with his kids, his hospital identity is very far away.
As in most professions, the doctor working in the
hospital does not consider the hospital and his job as
‘home.’ It is an occupation held for a few hours each day, in
a particular place away from ‘home.’ This is why we are
paid for working: Work is something we would rather not
be doing, and/or at a place we would rather not be.
Like the surgeon, we also wear temporary uniforms:
these physical bodies. These bodies do not reflect our ac-
tual identities, although these bodies reflect the prior
decisions we have made. Since we are only here on this
planet for a few years, each of us certainly has a particular
task to perform while we are here.
The problem is that while we are in this temporary
place, we spend our precious time seeking permanence
where there is none. The fact that we can never seem to
find a truly happy home in this world is a symptom that

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the home we seek is not in this physical world. Our contin-

ued restless search for a perfect home indicates that each of
us has a permanent home and a happy family outside of the
physical world. This is the transcendental world—our ac-
tual, permanent home.
We have another home with a permanent family.
The physical world is a perverted reflection of the
transcendental world. The transcendental world is not a
void. It is a tangible location. It is a place of various forms,
identities, events, groups, and tasks—just as is the physical
world appears. However, the transcendental world is a
place where we don’t have an identity—it is where we are
our identity. It is a place where we don’t have a body. In the
transcendental world, we are our forms. There is no dual-
ity—no separation between our self and our body as we
find here in the physical world. Here in this physical world
of duality we find a temporary perverted reflection of the
real world: This real world is our home, and the Supreme
Being and other living beings are our real family.
The transcendental world is a place full of pure love,
tenderness, joyfulness, playfulness, and fun. It is a world
where we feel at home all the time. It is a place where we
strive in ways intended to bring others joy—which in turn
brings us joy. It is a place where we are surrounded by the
beings we love and we exchange love with selfless loving
service. The work we do is part of us, and our service
brings us real pleasure because it pleases those whom we
love. Here we find our true happy home and real family.
There is no need for a vacation in the transcendental world.
The transcendental world is a constant vacation.

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In the transcendental world, just as in the physical

world, there are a number of different realms, each housing
particular types of activities and cultures. Each of us has a
particular type of home in one of the transcendental
realms. Each realm has its own culture, with particular ac-
tivities as part of our individual identity and function. This
function and identity is who we are. It is what we are made
of. The reason each of us has a unique personality (re-
flected by the unique fingerprints, DNA and other
reflections of our physical body) is because each of us has a
uniquely particular role in the transcendental world.
We each have a unique role in our real family.
Our transcendental home and our unique role can-
not be separated from our relationship with our
transcendental Best Friend and Companion. It is our
unique relationship with Him that defines our unique role
and function in our transcendental home: We each relate
with Him in uniquely different roles. He also happens to be
the head of our transcendental family, constantly bringing
His steady hand of permanent care, grace, love, comfort,
and protection to all His family. This Person is the ultimate
happy Person—gently maintaining His big happy family
without difficulty. Juggling the various responsibilities re-
quired by so large a family is no big deal for the Supreme
Being. He can do this while simultaneously relating with
each of us uniquely on an individual basis: Such is the po-
tency of the Supreme Person!
We should realize the happy permanent home each
of us strives for revolves around the Supreme Person, our
Best Friend and Companion. This is why we instinctively

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serve our family—service is part of our identity. Since the

Supreme Person is the loving Source of all living beings, all
living beings are our family members. The exchange of
love between the Supreme Person and His family members
is a permanent activity, and every part of this exchange is
blissful and perfect—even when one of His family mem-
bers wants to try to enjoy away from home. (In other
words, run away from home.)
The ability to return home and resume our life with
our happy family is always awaiting our decision to par-
ticipate. At any time—even while still temporarily encaged
in our physical bodies—we can re-join our real family by
re-establishing our loving relationship with the Supreme
Being. The process is quite simple: We can call on Him,
pray to Him and serve Him immediately. As we re-unite
with the Head of our family, our re-introduction to our
family members will shortly follow thereafter, as we will
begin to see fellow family members as they are—and un-
fortunately trapped in their own cages. Once we decide to
emerge from the trappings of our physical cages, we can
once again soar to our permanent home in the transcenden-
tal world, back to our Best Friend and Lover.
***
Conclusion: We each are searching for the place we can
call home because we have ‘run away’ from our real
homes. The temporary physical homes and families in
this dimension do not satisfy our need for a truly happy
home. Our transcendental home is a place where we en-
gage in activities of transcendental love and service with
our Best Friend and Companion the Supreme Person
and the rest of our transcendental family.

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 Essay Five

The Perfect Love

A woman walked alone from the subway through a crowded
street to work. Every day she took this route along with the
millions of others who work in the tall office buildings in the
financial district of the big city. As she walked, she fixed her
gaze upon the ground. She was married, with two teenage
children.
She was weary today, as her and her husband had been fight-
ing lately. A bad fight that morning had left her exhausted.
Just as she was wondering whether the marriage would last,
she rounded a corner and ran headlong into a tall, well-
dressed man. They collided, and she fell to the ground. He
quickly reached to help her up, apologizing repeatedly. As she
rose to her feet, she was stunned that the tall, attractive man
had stopped for a minute to make sure she was all right. Si-
lently she wondered if ‘this is the one,’ as she stared into his
blue eye. She wondered if this was her ‘soulmate’ she had
been waiting for all these years.
Why do we look for our soulmate?
We are constantly and persistently looking for
someone special to love. We seek that person who delivers
‘the whole package.’ We look for an attractive person; a per-
son who is kind and considerate; a person who is sensitive
to our needs; someone strong and brave; a person who will
be faithful; a person who is humble and resourceful—we
seek the all-around perfect person. Regardless of whether we
have a current spouse or mate, all of us seek the perfect
person in one way or another.
For many of us this search for the perfect person
comes in the form of looking for our ‘soulmate.’ When it
comes to our soulmate we seek someone we consider perfect

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for us. During our physical lifetime, however, whom we

settle for may be a different story. Most of us end up set-
tling for someone we can trust; someone who is kind; or in
some cases, just someone….. anyone! As reality sets in, we
usually redefine ‘soulmate’ to mean someone who will put
up with us for the long haul.
In those cases where we find someone we feel is our
perfect mate, or even in situations where we might ‘fall in
love,’ we eventually find out later that this person is far
from being perfect. We gradually discover they have many
faults. We may even—once we spend some time with
them—realize that this person is actually not that nice of a
person at all. Sometimes we may even discover that we
don’t even get along with this person—that our original
feelings for them were more fantasy than reality. This hap-
pens quite often, evidenced by the many breakups that
occur in our society. When we gradually discover they
don’t measure up to this ideal, we have to decide whether
we should just settle with this person or deal with the usu-
ally traumatic breakup.
Should we find someone who will suffice as a long-
term mate; most people do not really give up the ultimate
search. A husband or wife will oftentimes be on the search
for someone new even though they have made a long-term
commitment to each other. This search can take many
forms. It may be a fantasy. A secret fantasy crush on a
handsome or beautiful movie star is a common scenario
among adults with long-term commitments, for example.
Occasionally, however, the fantasy will become reality. We
see many instances of married persons leaving their current
wives or husbands because they feel they have found a bet-

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ter person. In most modern societies today, well over half

of marriages end in divorce, many because one of the part-
ners has found someone new.
What is going on here? Why are we so often wrong
about the people we choose to have intimate relationships
with? One part of this problem is our misidentification of
ourselves and others as the physical body. With this mis-
identification we assume another physical body-person
will bring us happiness. This mistaken identity tricks us
into thinking that possessing another person’s physical
body by marriage will guarantee sexual satisfaction along
with our other needs for satisfaction. This backfires even-
tually because either the novelty of our partner’s physical
body wears off. Or their bodies get old and eventually die.
Either way, such a relationship based upon lust for the
physical body is doomed. Both parties will end up miser-
able and unsatisfied, and will end up looking for
something or someone else to satisfy them.
Some relationships may not be based on an initial
urge for sex; but may be based upon a coming together of
two lonely people each looking for the perfect person in
each other. In order to attract the other person, each person
may pretend to be perfect: I am so strong, or I am so courteous
and thoughtful, we might try to convince the other person.
In this way, we may fool the other person into thinking that
we are perfect or close to it for a while, but it doesn’t last.
Although this is a different scenario than simple lust, it will
still be doomed. When either or both parties see each other
as perfect, and try to pretend being perfect, they will inevi-
tably find out otherwise. If their relationship was based
upon seeing each other in that way, the result will be frus-

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tration and contempt.

This process is different in more traditional societies.
‘Dating around’ is considered immoral in some societies,
while the marriage of a boy and a girl are considered fam-
ily matters for the parents’ ultimate approval. However,
even in many arranged marriages today, the desires of the
two children and their attempts to find a perfect mate are
accommodated to one degree or another.
In modern societies where relationships can turn
faster than a season of the year, a battle-weary veteran of
relationships may conclude theoretically that it is just not
possible to find a perfect mate. We may thus settle for
someone who simply comes as close as possible to our idea
of the perfect mate. In other words, none of us finds the
perfect person in this physical world despite many years of
intense searching.
We each want to fall in love.
Upon finding someone we really connect to who
seems to fulfill many of our expectations for a perfect per-
son, we may ‘fall in love.’ Falling in love is a predictable
scenario in most instances. In fact, in the physical dimen-
sion its cycle is predictable in its origin and outcome. The
first event is usually an initial intimate exchange, where
each person finds a connection with someone new. This
first contact can be thrilling because we have so few real
exchanges between people in modern society outside of
family relationships. Most of us walk the planet with our
guards up. Most of us are afraid of frank, honest communi-
cations. Most of us are afraid of the consequences—either
what others will think of us, or getting hurt—if we were to

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communicate openly with others.

As a result, when we do encounter a person with
whom we can connect with open and honest communica-
tion, we are often a bit stunned. Now should this occur
during a time we happen to be looking for a mate we are
doubly stunned. And should these two things take place
while the other person happens to look physically attrac-
tive to us in some way, a type of “perfect storm” may
assemble, and we become amazed at the dynamic of all
three occurring at the same time—wondering if this was
‘meant to be’. (Which of course it was—as all things are.)
At this time, something very telling takes place: we
project upon that other person our ideal of the perfect person.
This is the critical moment; the moment most of us pro-
claim that we have “fallen in love.” It is this very moment—
the moment we truly believe that we have found the one
perfect person meant for us—that we surrender to the no-
tion of falling in love.
In some instances, we might experience ‘falling in
love at first sight.’ This occurs when we immediately project
our ideal of the perfect person onto someone we have just
seen for the first time. It is usually triggered by the person
being extremely physically attractive, or showing some
extraordinary character that reminds us of our ideal of the
perfect person. Note that this reminder may occur because
of our concocted image of what the perfect person might
look like for us in the physical world.
We could literally fall in love with any living being
under this scenario: Occasionally we’ll connect with others
in relatively open communication. However, the rest of the
perfect storm didn’t hit at the same time for us to make our

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projection. This may have occurred because perhaps that

person was the wrong gender, was not attractive physically
to us, or perhaps we or they weren’t ‘available’ at the time.
Or perhaps they didn’t fulfill our expectations for the per-
fect person for some other reason. Perhaps we were already
projecting the perfect person onto someone else at the time.
For one reason or another, we didn’t bother projecting any-
thing onto them—though we easily could have under the
right circumstances. We can probably count hundreds of
contacts during our physical life that might have resulted
in falling in love if a few circumstances had been different.
Sometimes we will even hear things like “where were you ten
years ago?” when a person finds someone they connect with
long after either or both have been married.
Who should we fall in love with?
When we first meet someone in that ‘falling in love’
scenario, we may see many positive aspects of the person.
We project upon them our expectations of fulfilling these
positive characteristics on an ongoing basis. Some people
will even use words such as ‘forever’ in their communica-
tions with their projected perfect person. In the beginning,
we tend to overlook or downplay the weaknesses of such a
person, being blinded by our positive expectations and
projections. Over a few years, unfortunately the expecta-
tions about the other person are replaced by experience.
We become familiar with the reality of the person’s imper-
fections. We may begin to see their many faults and
incongruities. We may see mannerisms that irritate us. We
may begin to see new habits form, some because of our
own behavior, which may irritate us further. We may begin

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to see selfish and egotistic characteristics we overlooked in

the beginning of the relationship, decreasing our respect
towards the person. In other words, we begin to realize
that the person is not the perfect person we projected onto
them.
In this way, the falling in love scenario is easily fol-
lowed by falling out of love within the first few years of
marriage or being together. Many in modern society speak
of the ‘seven year itch.’ This itch occurs when one or both
people have become irritated with each other and are itch-
ing for someone new. Seven years is talked about only
because by this time the two people have had ample time
to get to know the other person’s imperfections. In the be-
ginning of a relationship, differences with the other person
may excite us. As time goes on, the differences may become
irritating factors and barriers to open communication. Our
similarities with the other person may also become too fa-
miliar and boring. We can also become irritated by the
things in the other person that remind us of ourselves. In-
terestingly enough, in the beginning of the relationship we
may project the perfect person onto them, but as time goes
by we begin to project our own faults and failings onto the
other person. Either projection is unfair to the other person,
as neither sees the other person as who they actually are.
In rare cases, two people may be a bit more realistic.
Even after the itch, the relationship may continue as a part-
nership of sorts. Both parties may even continue a mutual
appreciation of each other if they have similar goals and
ideals for life. In some of these instances, there may be an
exchange of love between the parties, as they realize their
identities are deeper than merely physical. This sort of mar-

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riage is often considered a healthy one, as it is grounded in

common goals and an understanding that the other person
may just be a mere living being, rather than the perfect per-
son they might want to project onto each other.
Finding our mate is not a biological urge.
Many of us might speculate that the locating of a
mate is merely an instinctual experience: merely a biologi-
cal urge to procreate. Biologists have discovered that our
olfactory senses and other subtle sensory energies can be
involved with finding a mate to procreate with. In many
species, this process involves subtle chemicals such as
pheromones. For one looking to enjoy the physical world
however, the physical urge to procreate leads to lust for
another’s physical body. This same physical lust occurs in
the animal kingdom just as it does in human society.
This is not the same thing as looking for our soul-
mate. Procreation is not the root of our search for the perfect
person. This is evidenced by the simple fact that after we
have exchanged sexual fluid with another, we are still un-
satisfied with that person. If the search for our perfect
soulmate was our biological search for a sexual partner, then
our search would be over with the achievement of the sex-
ual act. We would be completely satisfied with the other
person upon obtaining what we needed.
This is not the case however. Our search for the per-
fect person in one respect or another does not cease once
we have found a sexual partner, even one we have a family
with. Like many animals, humans will continue roaming
the planet in search for another person to satisfy this need
for love. In the case of humans, since we have the ability to

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probe deeper and find a deeper meaning to existence, our

criteria for a mate will typically run deeper than merely the
physical makeup and biological function of their physical
body. This is where we project our expectations of the per-
fect person. After all, if we were not looking for perfection,
we would simply be satisfied with continuing to have sex
with our current partner, or any partner for that matter. We
would not bother looking for anyone specific.
In fact, the converse is often the case: many married
partners report that what stimulates their ongoing sexual
activities with their current spouse is fantasizing about
having another person. Another person’s body provides
fantasy because it is not the physical body itself that results
in pleasure. It is the possibility of getting something new
that might fulfill us. It is the potential of obtaining some-
thing we currently do not have which excites us—not the
physical body-person we are currently with. We’re already
used to the physical body-person we are currently with.
Therefore, while the fantasy of enjoying another’s seem-
ingly attractive physical body might seem exciting,
obtaining relations with that seemingly attractive physical
body never accomplishes the perfection of the fantasy.
Being drawn outside of the physical relationships
we have is a symptom that someone perfect outside of our
physical relationships does exist. Why would we instinc-
tively seek something that didn’t exist?
If it were all simply biological machines, there
would be no ongoing search for that special someone. We
would find a person with a healthy body and the project
would be completed. We would not forsake a sexual part-
ner we currently have to go searching for another we might

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not find. That would not make biological sense.

Consider what happens when the body’s sexual
functions cease. Does our desire for friendship, compan-
ionship and intimacy cease when our body’s biological
parts fail? Hardly. In our modern society, we see many past
their biological sexual functioning separating from their
spouses or families to find new mates. This indicates that
our search for the perfect person runs deeper than simply
procreation and sexual satisfaction.
Dissolving the illusion that somehow the other per-
son will satisfy our need for the perfect person usually
occurs gradually. Sometimes it can also occur with a single
event or moment. We may continue to hope the other per-
son will satisfy our need for the perfect person, but
eventually reality catches up to us. And if it isn’t realized
during the relationship it will be realized at our body’s
death or the death of our mate’s body. This is because the
other person is limited while our needs are unlimited.
We look for that perfect relationship.
After this eventual dissolving of illusion, a person
may try to establish other relationships in an attempt to
satisfy these needs. Many will turn their focus on having
children. Partners will often focus their search for the per-
fect loving relationship onto having children, thinking that
the children will make our relationship perfect. Some may
even get a pet to place their love upon instead or in addi-
tion to children. Pets can easily emulate the perfect loving
relationship because they cannot talk back and thus cannot
irritate us with words and easily disappoint our expecta-
tions. Recent research and common observation shows

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many pets are manipulative rather than loving. This is only

logical. Meals without work and petting without any re-
sponsibility is an inviting scenario for any living being.
Although some affection may be mixed in, most human-pet
relationships go one way—the humans give, and the pets
take (along with running for a ball now and again). Never-
theless, some people become extremely attached to their
pets, and most pets will return this attachment in some re-
spects because after all, the pet may have projected an
expectation of the perfect person onto the human.
As we begin to realize others’ imperfections, we may
put our hopes in a combination of friends to satisfy our need
for the perfect person: As if each friend will provide a por-
tion of our expectations for having a perfect relationship. If
we add all the pieces up, we may find the complete perfect
person, so to speak. To generate new friends a person may
join a club or sports team. Relationships can be derived
from our places of employment as well. Relationships with
common interests are usually sought out, but common in-
terests can also be confused with common experiences,
which working together can too easily supply. Through
one means or another, either we will attempt to find the
one perfect person for us or a combination of people we
hope will collectively supply our need for a perfect person.
Projecting perfection often leads to trouble.
In any relationship we project even a partial perfect
person ideal upon, we become vulnerable. This is because
during this sort of relationship we extend ourselves, trust-
ing the other person will not take advantage of us. Because
of this projected trust, we are easily hurt by others. We live

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in a world where most everyone is out for himself or her-

self. This perpetually surprises us because we are not from
this world. This should not surprise us however: This is the
world where the selfish people reside. In this physical
world of selfishness, one’s trust is often misplaced. People
can utilize our trust, seeking to satisfy their own desires at
our expense. Some might be downright dishonest or decep-
tive in order to gain and retain our confidence—pretending
to be friends. They may fake their feelings—knowingly or
not—in order to gain what they seek from us. In such cases
we will eventually find out that our trust has been taken
advantage of. When that happens it hurts; and our projec-
tion of trust upon this potentially perfect person is replaced
by sadness.
So many relationships; so much sadness.
Consider the number of relationships each of us has
had in modern society during our lifetimes. By the time
most people in modern society marry, we have already had
dozens of boyfriend/girlfriend relationships and likely
hundreds of “dates” or “hook-ups.” Based upon this un-
derstanding, together with the fact that about half of
marriages fail in the U.S. now, we can safely conclude that
most relationships in this physical world break up for one
reason or another. Why is this traumatic event such a
common occurrence? As most of us know, to be rejected by
someone we care for or to be replaced by someone new is
extremely hurtful. No one handles this rejection well. We
may not express it, but the scar created by being rejected by
someone we care for can be tremendously enduring. Why
would anyone want to undergo such a trauma?

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The answer to this lies in the simple fact that finding

our perfect soulmate is an incredibly strong urge for us. It is
a basic part of our being. We must find our perfect mate so
badly that we will risk undergoing the most traumatic form
of pain—rejection.
In fact, in modern societies, and increasingly in more
traditional societies, people will go from relationship to
relationship looking for their perfect mate, enduring one
breakup after another. Some breakups we might initiate,
while others may be initiated by the other party. Of course
initiating the breakup is usually less traumatic than some-
one rejecting us. Often to protect ourselves, we prepare for
the breakup well into the future of its eventuality to pre-
clude some of the pain and trauma.
We can get hurt in the relationships of this world.
When we extend ourselves in a trusting way, we do
not expect our trust to be betrayed. If we did, we wouldn’t
extend our trust in the first place. Those who have been
hurt numerous times or even once or twice very badly may
stop extending their trust to others. Or they may become
extremely guarded. Often these people are accused as be-
ing cold-hearted or jaded. We usually consider that such an
existence (not trusting others) as a lonely one. We might
even feel sorry for such a person: feeling their trust issues
will prevent them from establishing future meaningful re-
lationships. In fact, most of us have become cold-hearted to
one degree or another after being taken advantage of a few
times. We will be careful about extending our trust because
we have been hurt by people we projected our perfect-
person trust upon. It is inevitable. This is the world where

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most of us pretend to be trustworthy. With so many of us

pretending to be trustworthy, how can we not be fooled
when we are searching for someone we can trust?
We may be fortunate enough to find a person who is
somewhat reliable during our physical lifetimes—one who
tries hard to be sincerely trustworthy. However, this still
will not be enough because they may still hurt us uninten-
tionally. This is because they are not perfect. Like everyone
in this physical dimension, they will leave their body even-
tually. They will eventually leave us physically behind or
we will leave them behind when our body dies. This situa-
tion also causes great hurt, as we will mourn the loss of the
person—just as we might mourn the loss of our trust after
someone cheats or lies to us somehow. In some cases of
loss, we can become angry at the other person for dying, as
if it was somehow their fault their body died. This type of
illogical anger is a symptom of the tremendous pain we
experience when our trust is broken by an imperfect living
being.
The bottom line is that when we project our expecta-
tions of the perfect person upon someone other than the
real Perfect Person, we will inevitably be hurt. This is be-
cause our expectation of the perfect person is of someone
we can always trust: Someone who will never let us down.
We should remember that this perfect expectation of trust
is being unfairly thrust upon the other person. Once we
trust them, we will inevitably share confidential things
with them. This trust and sharing of ourselves sets us up
for the inevitable fall. At some point or another, they will
reveal their imperfection and we will get hurt. We should
consider that what hurts us is not the other person, but

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rather our projected expectation. We are hurt that the other

person did not live up to our expectation of perfection or
love. This can even result in trauma and depression, as we
consider the possibility that there might not even be a per-
fect loving person out there upon which we can rely.
Being hurt can also teach us.
Regardless of whether our beloved cheats on us or
their body dies on us, the loss of a relationship can be very
painful. A cheating relationship can cause distrust and dis-
gust, but a relationship separated by death can be equally
as damaging upon us, when someone we thought would
be around forever suddenly dies. We have all seen situa-
tions where the remaining spouse becomes depressed and
traumatized following such a death.
Prior to being hurt a person is naive in extending
their trust and love to a person of this temporary world.
Learning where not to put ones trust can be a valuable les-
son. We can learn that our instinctive need to trust
someone means there is someone we can trust, somewhere.
In other words, the deep-seated feeling that we should be
able to trust someone comes from the fact that at some
point in our existence we have previously experienced a
trusting relationship with a perfect person. We experience
surprise and hurt when our beloved’s body dies because
somewhere we have previously experienced a permanent
loving relationship. Why would we otherwise be surprised
and traumatized by the ending of a physical-person rela-
tionship? Why else would we have such high expectations
of our physical relationships, unless we had prior experi-
ence of a higher, unconditional loving relationship?

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Why else would we stubbornly keep projecting our

trust upon others? Why else would we be determined to
trust and love others in a world known for dishonesty and
betrayal? Why else would we expect our beloved to be
around forever? We have obviously experienced a prior
relationship that created this expectation. We have obvi-
ously experienced a prior relationship with someone who
did not betray us or die on us. It would be irrational for us
to continue looking for someone perfect to love unless we
felt deep down inside that this person exists. Are all living
organisms so irrational? Somewhere we have experienced
the perfect loving relationship. Why would we all look so
hard for a permanent soulmate if one did not exist?
We come from another realm.
Prior to our coming into this physical body, we ex-
isted. Following the death of this physical body, we will
continue to exist. We can tell this because during the life-
time of this body, cells have died and molecules have been
replaced yet we are still our selves. We still exist as an in-
dividual with the same personality despite the fact that
within five years every molecule and atom in our body has
been replaced by a new on.
Prior to descending into the realm of the physical,
we existed, albeit in a different realm. This is the realm of
honesty and trust. This is the realm where instead of trying
to dominate our surroundings and take advantage of oth-
ers, its inhabitants live lives of loving service. This is the
realm where there resides a Person upon whom we can
each place our natural inclination to love and trust. This is
the realm where there exists our Perfect Soulmate, with

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whom we can exchange the perfect loving relationship.

Our perfect love is found in that realm.
All the energy and life of this physical world must
have an ultimate source. As with any source, an ultimate
source will naturally contain all the qualities emerging
from it. Thus, the Source of us and everything around us
must also have at a minimum, these same qualities to the
ultimate degree—to perfection. Among these components
would include characteristics such as personality, indi-
viduality and the ability to exchange love. In other words,
since the Supreme Person created the ability to exchange
love, He has that ability to its perfection. Similarly, since the
Supreme Person created beauty, then He is the most beauti-
ful. The Source of love is the Perfect Lover and Beloved.
The Source of humility is the perfect humble Person. The
Source of power is the most Powerful. The Source of
strength is the Strongest. The Source of our being in every
sense of the word is the Perfect Being, comprised of every
characteristic that exists to its ultimate perfection.
Since we search for a perfect person throughout our
lives, and we expect our beloved to be perfect, and since
the Perfect Being exists with every quality to its perfection,
we must realize that our search for our soulmate is our
search to re-establish our original perfect relationship with
this Perfect Being. Since we qualify our soulmate as being
someone who is perfect for us, we can know it is the Su-
preme Person who is our real Soulmate.
Real love has purpose.
A soulmate relationship has distinct characteristics
and creates real purpose. It is not a vague relationship. A

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relationship between soulmates involves each person being

attracted to the other intimately and deeply. A soulmate
relationship thus naturally results in each person acting in
practical ways to please the other. In such a loving soulmate
relationship, each person strives for the satisfaction of the
other by performing activities that make the other person
happy. In a loving soulmate relationship, each party also
gives the other complete freedom to express their love,
without demands or conditions. Each person in a loving
soulmate relationship is thus focused upon the needs and
wants of the other. Each person focuses their energies upon
providing practical service on behalf of their soulmate.
Such a relationship with the Perfect Person is the
perfection of the soulmate relationship. Therefore, it is natu-
rally filled with activities of loving service. A soulmate
relationship with the Perfect Person is full of activity and
emotion. It is the perfect and ultimate falling in love scenario
for the living being. In fact, a loving soulmate relationship
with the Perfect Person brings the living being the endless
falling in love scenario, because He is perfectly endless: The
living being never gets tired of the Perfect Person. Reclaim-
ing our original loving soulmate relationship with the
Perfect Person is the perfection of our existence. This is
why we are always looking for Him in others.
***

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Conclusion: We focus much of our existence upon

searching for the perfect mate because intuitively we
know that a perfect person does exist. We expect our per-
fect beloved and soulmate to be perfectly trustworthy,
reliable, and permanent (and not die on us). This type of
perfection can only exist in the Supreme Person. Only
He only can satisfy our need for the perfect eternal lov-
ing relationship.

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 Essay Six

The Pleasure Principle

The leaf of a tall tree sat on the end of its branch, soaking up
the warm rays of the sun. As it bathed in the rays, it also took
in carbon dioxide from the air and, with water and nutrients
gotten from the tree, did a little dance called photosynthesis.
From the dance, sugar was created. The leaf gave the sugar to
the tree branch, which helped spread it throughout the tree.
Using this sugar, along with water and other nutrients from
the roots, the tree supplied the leaf with the energy it needed
to keep dancing. The tree was thankful for the leaf’s sugar,
and the leaf lived a happy life dancing in the sun.
Then one day the leaf wondered why the tree got all the sugar
and why the leaf could not be on the ground standing tall like
the tree. It began to think that maybe, if it could just get sepa-
rated from the tree and fall to the ground, the leaf could enjoy
all the sugar and stand tall on the ground just like the tree
did.
Sensing the leaf wanted to leave; the tree stopped sending en-
ergy to the leaf. The leaf began to brown, and it dropped to the
ground just as it wished. The leaf was so excited about being
able to be on the ground just like the tree. It thought about all
the sugar, water, and nutrients it was going to get, and how
tall it was going to grow.
After the fall, the leaf did not have any roots or any other
means to bring in water or nutrients. It quickly found that it
could not live separated from the tree. The poor leaf just sat
on the ground, frustrated in its attempts to grow tall, slowly
withering away.
Why do we seek pleasure?
Psychologists and behaviorists throughout modern
history have factually established that living organisms are
pleasure-seeking creatures. We all seek pleasure in one
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form or another, struggling throughout our lives to achieve

it. We struggle for physical satisfaction: Through the senses
of touch, sight, hearing, taste, and smell. We seek pleasure
through these senses by attempting to consume physical
objects directly or by accumulating physical things such as
wealth and material possessions as means to consume
through our senses. We also may seek pleasure through the
consumption of living sense objects as well. This will in-
clude attempting to consume the physical bodies of
humans in the form of sexual satisfaction, or consuming
animals by way of eating meat. Further consumption can
take place as these attempts are frustrated, leading to ef-
forts to control others. Often we see the achievement of
wealth and power as a means to accumulate sense objects
to consume, while exerting control over others.
All living creatures have a basic need to achieve
pleasure and avoid pain. Animals, insects, fish, and all
other living organisms carry the same desire to enjoy the
objects of the senses—relative to whatever senses their bod-
ies provide. In research, we have seen that animals will
overeat beyond their needs or eat sweet substances that are
obviously unhealthy because of a common desire to feel
pleasure. In fact, living creatures will sometimes risk sur-
vival in order to obtain pleasure. Cruel studies on animals
have shown that once given a pleasurable substance such
as cocaine, an animal will risk starvation in order to repeat
the pleasurable feelings cocaine will bring.
Aversion to pain is probably the easiest trait to iden-
tify pleasure seeking among lower living organisms.
Through cruel experiments on many types of animals,
plants and even bacteria, modern science has consistently

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observed that even the most insignificant living creatures

seek to avoid pain. Sensitivity testing on plants and simple
observation shows their affinity to the sun, along with their
aversion to pain. We have all seen insects scurrying away
under the threat of being squashed or hurt. They seek to
avoid pain. They seek freedom from pain. This fear of be-
ing harmed is part and parcel of the quest for physical
pleasure. Pain and pleasure are opposite yet connected
elements. Their distinction is merely blurred by their rela-
tive assembly. An organism under the constant thumb of
pain will feel pleasure with the simple cessation of pain,
even if temporary. This type of pleasure is typically called
comfort.
These observations illustrate that the drive for con-
stant pleasure is not unique among humans. Rather, it is a
common characteristic among all living beings. Whether or
not we are conscious of it, every living being innately seeks
pleasure.
Our modern society has gone pleasure-crazy.
Humans in modern society have developed elabo-
rate methods in our determination to obtain pleasure.
Restaurants bustle with business as we seek the pleasure of
extravagant tastes and foods. Our markets are full of so
many various recipes and formulas, catering to every de-
sire for different tastes. Meanwhile, our attempts at sexual
pleasure have led to so many different extremes and per-
versions. We have also developed so many complex
devices that cool, heat or massage our bodies. We have de-
veloped many other entertainment facilities as well: Many
different media and high-tech equipment are now available

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to us as we attempt to obtain pleasure. These include com-

puter video games, satellite music, high-definition
television, and so many other electronic devices. We have
also learned to stimulate the pleasure centers within our
bodies with various drugs. Morphine, cocaine, and other
opiates have been refined over the years to maximize at-
tempts at physical comfort and pleasure. Over recent times,
we have invented so many devices in search for pleasure.
The government patent files are jammed full of applica-
tions for new devices, as we maximize our attempts for
pleasure and comfort.
Together with developing new devices, we also
maximize whatever facility we have, as we become desper-
ate to achieve real pleasure. As soon as we begin to see that
a certain facility or device does not fulfill our need for
pleasure, we turn the dial up. As we turn the dial up we
continue to be unfulfilled. Then we turn to the next thing,
repeating the process.
It is never enough.
Today we can easily observe that our modern soci-
ety is spinning with the effects of this seemingly endless
search for pleasure. Thanks to modern media, we are also
seeing among our society a host of negative consequences
of these maximized efforts. Famous people are seen strug-
gling for more and better extravagance, sex, success and
food, often followed by depression, drug and alcohol
abuse, and sometimes even suicide. Wealthy people are
seen struggling to acquire more wealth, though the amount
of wealth they have is enough to retire and live without
working for multiple lifetimes. Meanwhile obesity has be-

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come a major problem in modern society. Many of us have

become severely overweight as we consume well beyond
our needs. This is all in the name of pleasure because after
all, that next meal just might bring us the pleasure we’re seeking.
For the purposes of this essay, we will call this end-
less search for fulfillment through the achievement of
pleasure the pleasure principle.
Pleasure is not chemical.
Modern science has focused on the chemical aspect
of pleasure and pain for the past few decades. The way
modern science explains it, the human body introduces
certain substances into the bloodstream and nerve net-
works in response to particular events. These
neurochemicals are supposedly responsible for feelings of
pleasure. If a person’s body eats good-tasting food or has
sex, for example, certain neurochemicals such as dopamine
and endorphins are found increased in the blood and tis-
sues. These neurochemicals apparently impact—or bind
with—certain nerve and brain cell membranes (called re-
ceptors), sending what we interpret as a pleasurable
response surging through the body. Many modern scien-
tists will thus connect our search for pleasure with a
theoretical physiological need to attain these neurochemi-
cals.
In reality, these neurochemicals are merely messen-
gers for instructions and feedback between the mind of the
living being and the gross body—signaling devices if you
will. The living being is connected to the physical body
through an intricate system of the mind, chakras, meridi-
ans, and the nervous system. This system, coordinated

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through the facility of the mind, allows the living being to

instruct the body to function in certain ways while receiv-
ing feedback from it. Once sensual functions are underway,
neurochemicals and nerves vibrate responses from the
gross body to communicate feedback onto the mind’s
screen. The living being views and interacts with the mind.
Via this facility of the mind, the self is receiving sensual
input through various messenger or relay systems, which
include the optic nerves, vestibulocochlear nerves, the cen-
tral nervous system, etc. All these systems utilize
vibrational neurochemicals to relay messages from the
senses to the brain cells and through to the mind.
Once these various sensual input vibrations have
been reflected onto the screen of the mind they are viewed
by the living being. The living being can then respond to
these sense inputs, and use the mind to send vibrational re-
sponses back through the various messenger systems to
parts of the body that are appropriate. These messenger
systems will stimulate the production of other neurochemi-
cals, which in turn effectively trigger various physical
responses. Emotions of the living being such as depression,
sadness, or elation for example, are relayed through this
system to elicit the release of neurochemicals, which will in
turn cause tears, laughter, nervousness or any number of
other physical/emotional responses.
Neurotransmitters can also relay sensual feedback
from various other tissues of the body onto the mind. This
feedback system allows the living being via the mind to
respond to things like hunger, thirst, fatigue, etc. These
survival-feedback responses by the body can also be misin-
terpreted as potentially pleasurable by a living being

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desperately looking for fulfillment within the physical di-

mension. The feeling of hunger is not directly seen as
potentially pleasurable. However, once a person eats after
feeling hungry, the digestive system will signal back to the
mind that the body is satiated. This neurochemical-relayed
feedback can easily be misconstrued as potentially pleasure
to a desperate, unfulfilled living being.
The living being will utilize the mind to concoct vari-
ous other activities in attempts to gain pleasure from the
physical body. By initiating neurochemical feedback re-
sponses from the body then responding to those with
immediate action, the living being can use the mind to ef-
fectively jolt the body with neurochemicals. Such activities
can become extreme. For example, a person might jump
out of an airplane in an attempt to achieve a neurochemical
pleasure response. In the beginning of the jump, the state of
fear of falling to death will surge a number of fear-response
neurochemicals into the body such as adrenaline and nor
adrenaline. After the active physical response to jumping
out of a plane, these fear-response neurochemicals are con-
trasted with the release of endorphins and enkephalins
after the jump is over. The contrasting effects of the two
adrenaline neurochemicals give the physical body a jolt,
followed by the numbing effects of the morphine-like en-
dorphins and enkephalins. From these and other activity-
stimulated neurochemical jolts, the self attempts to achieve
pleasure through the physical body.
The feedback response of the physical body onto the
mind using the nervous system and neurochemical mes-
sages might be compared to the instrument panel on an
automobile:

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An automobile will typically be equipped with a gas gauge,

an oil gauge, an RPM gauge, a speedometer, and an engine
temperature gauge. These various gauges are all designed to
indicate how well the engine is running, and whether there is
any specific problem. Once assured that all systems are opera-
tional, the driver can start the car and drive. While
underway, the driver checks the instrument panel often to
make sure that the automobile is operating correctly, often re-
sponding to the gauges with different actions. If the
speedometer shows too high of a speed, the driver will slow
down. If the fuel gauge gets low, the driver stops to get some
gasoline.
Now if the driver is really thinking that he will gain
some pleasure through the operation of the car, he might
try to get some gauges to indicate high levels. A driver
might think that if he can get the RPM gauge or the speed-
ometer to higher levels, he might experience some
pleasure. When that doesn’t work, the driver might concoct
a way to get the gauges way up by going real fast, and then
slam on the brakes in an attempt to jolt some pleasure out
of it. Of course, the passenger might also interpret the high
gauge levels and the jolted activities differently, fearing the
car might crash.
Here we seek pleasure through concoction.
The living being, wishing to gain pleasure through
the physical body, utilizes a system of complex mental con-
coctions. Concoctions are created by the living being by
utilizing the cataloged images of the mind to develop
methods for attaining pleasure. Once a concoction is de-
signed and visualized, the mind develops a formula to
manage and operate the particular sense organs and brain

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centers to capture this concoction. Throughout our physical

lives, each of us has formulated innumerable pleasure-
seeking concoctions through this process. An example of a
concoction: I will watch the sunset in a lawn chair on a tropical
island sipping a cool drink. Or: I will make a million dollars and
use it to buy all kinds of expensive toys. Another common con-
coction: I will have sex with a person with an attractive body. In
this way, the living being stacks one concoction after an-
other onto the mind in hopes of connecting with the elusive
pleasure principle. Once these concoctions are created and
formulated by the mind; through the illusory energy of the
physical realm, we become subject to the enslavement of the
concoction. This enslavement pushes us to complete the
concoction, even if doing so is against our better judgment.
Just before a concoction is realized, the mind and
neural network will often trigger the release of various
neurochemicals in anticipation of accomplishing the con-
coction. These neurochemicals can create a physical
response of excitement. They include cortisol, lectins, and
insulin among others. For example, the neurochemical
stimulation of the salivary glands will create the “mouth-
watering” effect, and the neurochemical stimulation of the
vagus nerve and gastric cells will create the well-known
“butterflies” effect. Interestingly, these anticipation neuro-
chemical effects often provide our body with a greater jolt
than the achievement of the concocted event does. As a
result, these anticipatory neurochemical effects boost our
hope that the event will be satisfying, followed by the typi-
cal let down effect at the completion of the concoction. This
let down effect is instructive in that it confirms to the living
being that the concoction was not fulfilling.

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A programmed concoction typically moves the body

and the senses to “capture” an object of the senses. (Capture
as in the type of capture a camera might do.) The sensual
capture is then flashed onto the screen of the mind. The self
gets to observe that mental reflection immediately thereaf-
ter. Note that the sense object is not actually really captured,
but rather its image or sensation was flashed onto the
mind’s screen. Even when we eat something, the taste sen-
sation is still a flash onto the mind of the screen. Thus, the
living being never actually connects with the sense object.
Instead of feeling pleasure, because there is no actual unit-
ing with the sense object, the living being will feel let down.
This is a result of the living being not being fulfilled with a
sense object capture expected to be fulfilling.
Again, the physical consumption or capture of a
sense object does not actually touch the self. The fact that
the anticipation of it brings more response than the actual
event is one symptom of this. Another is the fact that there
is a diminished response when the sense object capture is
repeated, as the level of anticipation decreases. However,
the most telling indication is the fact that the living being is
not only let down rather than fulfilled from the capture,
but the living being immediately begins to look for a new
sense object to capture onto the mind’s screen.
The first concoction did not connect to the living be-
ing, so the living being uses the mind to quickly move to
the next concoction. The lack of connection is because the
living being is of a different substance from the mind and
the gross body. This might be compared to viewing a re-
flection of something:

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A person sees a reflection of a tree in a mirrored window. The

person walks up to the reflection and tries to pick an apple off
the tree reflection. Instead of connecting with an apple, the
person simply collides into the hard glass.
We must understand that the realm of the living be-
ing—the transcendental realm—is the realm of life. The
temporary physical world is merely a reflection of the ac-
tual world. Though it is real in the sense that it truly exists,
the physical realm is not real in the sense that it is perma-
nent and consistent with our true identity. As a result, the
physical realm does not touch the living being. The living
being cannot become fulfilled by interacting with the
physical world because it is not the same substance as the
living being. This might also be compared to a person fill-
ing his car with fuel:
Even if a hungry driver fills his car with a real good oil and
high-octane gasoline, none of the added fuels will feed the
driver. Although the gas gauge may show full, because the
driver is separate from the car and made of another substance,
the driver will still be hungry following the fill-up of the car.
Just as a person is not filled up when the car is filled
up, the signaling of pain or pleasure through these neuro-
chemicals does not touch the living being. Rather, they
leave the hopeful living being with a persistent feeling of
emptiness.
“I can’t get no….”
The symptoms of physical pleasures not bringing
the living being satisfaction are obvious everywhere
around us: Crime, divorce, obesity, depression, suicide,
drug abuse—these are all manifestations of emptiness in a
society where the facilities for attempted physical pleasures

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are immediately available. This emptiness throughout our

modern society is complete and continuous. We see a per-
petual parade of desperate, unfulfilled people walking this
world. A simple walk down a downtown city block or a
crowded mall will reveal this to any casual observer.
Consider just one of these symptoms: suicide. Why
would anyone commit suicide if physical pleasures
brought fulfillment? Once a person has gotten to a point of
suicide, they must have completely run out of ideas for
fulfillment. They must have tried enough different concoc-
tions for attempted pleasure to realize that none of these
will bring any real fulfillment. A suicidal person has con-
cluded that there is no happiness in the physical world. That is
why they are prepared to leave the physical realm so
quickly by killing their bodies. Drug abuse and alcoholism
are the same efforts to escape this dimension. Numbing
ones body is a bit less immediate and tragic. We might con-
sider drug and alcohol addiction as a gradual form of
suicide.
As attempts at sensual pleasure leave us empty, we
may begin to target our search for pleasure towards others.
We may use the mind to concoct new attempts at pleasure
beyond simple sensual input, attempting to use other liv-
ing organisms in some way. We might initially feel that
gaining the attention of others will give us satisfaction. Not
being satisfied with mere attention, we may feel that con-
trolling others in some way might deliver the means to
other sensual pleasures or satisfaction in itself. These ef-
forts however lead to a very dark place because we can
never actually control or possess others. When such a con-
trolling person sees others acting outside of their control,

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they can easily become frustrated and angry. This can eas-
ily lead to violence.
The pleasure principle has several characteristics:
All living beings are designed for and addicted to
the continual seeking of pleasure.
Those living beings who misidentify with the
physical body seek pleasure through the physical
means of the physical world.
Physical means for attempted pleasure include the
five perceptive senses for hearing, touch, sight,
taste and smell; the five action senses of the hands,
legs, speech, evacuation, and reproduction; and
the three subtle senses of the mind, intelligence
and false ego.
The objects we attempt to consume with these
senses (the sense objects) are captured by these
senses and reflected onto the screen of the mind
for the living being to view. They are not actually
consumed by the self. It is like trying to touch an
object in a mirror by touching the mirror.
In an attempt to establish a means for future con-
cocted sensual enjoyment, we may endeavor to
accumulate wealth and possessions.
In an attempt to gain further future pleasures, we
may seek to control other living organisms
through the misuse of power and governance.
None of these physical attempts for gaining pleas-
ure provide fulfillment. They do not satisfy the
transcendental living being.

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There are different varieties of physical pleasure.

The type of pleasure we seek in the physical world
depends upon our state of consciousness and thus the type
of physical body we have embodied. Passionate people will
seek pleasures associated with immediate sense objects
such as eating and sex. Others, being more ignorant of the
pain they cause, might seek pleasure at the physical ex-
pense of others. In contrast, those who are oriented
towards goodness may seek the more subtle pleasures of
music, art, and physical fitness—possibly even seeking
peacefulness and purity as they evolve further. Each living
organism seeks physical pleasure in primarily one or a mix-
ture of these ways. Most of us can easily see a unique
mixture of these types among others. The saying ‘different
strokes for different folks’ would probably apply within the
context of our common search for pleasure.
“’Tis better to give than to receive.”
This is a popular expression; accepted amongst most
societies and most individuals because it is a real experi-
ence. Although it seems diametrically opposed to gaining
pleasure, for some reason people will experience a greater
sense of fulfillment from giving than they do from at-
tempted pleasure seeking. We can personally experience
this quickly and easily, simply by helping or giving some-
thing to another person. Most humans have all felt this at
some point in our lives. In fact, it can be done as an ex-
periment, and has been done by many a wealthy person
throughout recent history. We often see a wealthy person
who has accumulated an excess of wealth being miserable
until he or she begins to help people with that wealth. They

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actually experience a glimpse of joy with this turnaround.

This is also something many of us have experienced dra-
matically during the holiday season. As we give and
receive gifts, we can compare the feeling between getting
and giving quite easily. Giving a gift will simply feel better
than receiving a gift because this is a trait common
amongst all living beings.
Another indication to consider is how we each feel
when exchanging feelings of affection and caring. These
feelings can be compared to say, beating someone in a
competition of some sort, for example. When we give
someone affection and care we typically feel a little joy.
When we hurt someone we typically feel bad and remorse-
ful. When caring for another living being, we feel a deeper
sense of joy, while hurting someone brings us sadness.
What does this mean about our constitution? Why
would we feel better giving than receiving? Why would we
feel joy from caring about another and feel empty in our
various attempts to accomplish sensual pleasure?
Our actual nature—or constitutional position—is re-
lated to serving and giving rather than attempting to enjoy
in a self-centered way. Our actual nature is related to giv-
ing and loving rather than consuming things for ourselves.
We can easily see in our everyday lives that our core being
needs the exchange of love with another. Since we feel alive
when we care for someone, and empty when we are self-
ishly consuming or hurting someone, we should realize
that our natural condition and identity is one of giving and
caring.

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Why is our need for pleasure so strong?

Some wonder why the pleasure principle is so
strong that it will sometimes lead us to do things we do not
want to do. It has been known to lead people to cheat on
their spouses. It has been known to lead people to steal
from others. It has been known to lead people to perform
all sorts of violence against others. Through a tremendous
mechanism of pleasure seeking, we will sometimes forgo
our moral principles as we strive to get something we de-
sire for ourselves. Why is pleasure so strong of a need that
it can drive us to do things we know are wrong and ulti-
mately may regret?
This takes place because selfish pleasure seeking, or
lust, is love perverted. Love is a part of each and every one
of us. We all need to give love and exchange love. However
when we direct this tendency to love inward towards our-
selves a vacuum forms. When we focus our love upon
another, we feel joy, but when our love is focused upon
ourselves, we become empty: not just empty—vacant. Our
search for pleasure is simply our tendency to love turned
inside out.
The reason the pleasure principle is so strong is be-
cause in our natural state our love is focused on the
Supreme Being. This brings us each the deepness of real
pleasure. Our actual love is naturally directed at the most
powerful, deep Being in existence, and our love for others
is centered around Him. To say our natural love for Him
runs deep would be an understatement. Now when we
direct this deep need to love Him towards our shallow tiny
selves, a powerful vacuum is created. We just do not have
enough depth to fill our tremendous need for His deep-

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ness. Once we direct our natural tendency to maintain that

deep loving relationship with the Supreme Person onto our
shallow selves; attempting to gain satisfaction through ob-
taining physical self-pleasure, the vacuum effect sucks us
into a tremendous emptiness we cannot fill: No matter how
many things our physical body may capture.
It is because we are not enjoyers by nature.
We are not enjoyers by nature. Rather, we are lovers
and givers by nature. If we accept the existence of the Su-
preme Being then we must also accept that the Supreme
Person is the Ultimate Master. If we accept the Supreme
Being as the Ultimate Master then we must accept His con-
stitutional position of being in control. If He is in control,
and He produced us living beings, we must realize we are
under His domination. That makes His constitution the
Enjoyer.
Since we are not actually enjoyers, we are frustrated
in our attempts to enjoy the world. It is not our constitu-
tional position. This is only practical, noting that we feel
happier when we give, love and serve. Our natural position
is that of servitor rather than enjoyer. Our pleasure comes
when we give loving service. The Supreme Being is the ac-
tual Enjoyer. In order to achieve ultimate happiness, our
inclination to give, love and serve is most appropriately
directed at the Supreme Enjoyer. Real pleasure for the liv-
ing being comes from serving our Best Friend.
Like the leaf that could not survive without being
connected to the tree, we need to be connected with the
Supreme Being to be fulfilled. Our true pleasure is obtained
only when we are connected with Him in our constitu-

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tional position as His loving servant. Just as the leaf wanted

to stand tall like the tree, we are prone to becoming jealous
of the Supreme Being. Once we become jealous, we may
desire to enjoy as He does. As we fall away from Him, we
shrivel up as the leaf did. Being the master is just not our
real position.
What about our physical senses? The appropriate
use of the senses is to utilize them in the service of the Su-
preme Person. Should these physical senses be used
appropriately in His service, gradually our actual tran-
scendental senses will begin to re-emerge into our view,
and we will be able to exchange a loving relationship with
our Best Friend as was originally intended for us even
while we wear these bodies. These actual senses are the
senses that will bring us real pleasure because they are the
senses of love.
When we hear the concept of “master” or “servant,”
we may automatically think of slavery. We might imagine
a cruel master who forces his slave into service. This is
what our minds have captured in our physical world, so it
is all our minds know. Yet if we analyze carefully our ac-
tual situation as living beings, we can logically see that we
are being given the choice to love and serve the Ultimate
Master or not. We are not being forced. Since He is the Su-
preme Person, He could certainly force us if He wanted to.
We can know from this that He gives us choice. Should we
choose it, He will allow us to live away from Him. Should
we choose it, He will even allow us to pretend He does not
exist.
The type of love and service the Supreme Person
wants from us is voluntary: Done with a free will and out

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of our own volition. This is because, along with our consti-

tutional position of being servant rather than master, we
also have another strong constitutional position: Love.
Love requires freedom. Love requires a free exchange be-
tween two lovers. Since our highest aim is to love, and
loving service is our most satisfying activity, we will only
achieve the pleasure principle once we return to our loving
relationship with the Supreme Person. This brings the only
pleasure that will truly touch us.
***
Conclusion: As we have directed our natural tendency
to love Him inward towards ourselves, and because we
misidentify ourselves as physical bodies, we think that
physical sensual pleasures will bring us happiness. We
need a deeper form of pleasure—one that is of the same
quality we are: transcendental. Transcendental pleasure
lies within the context of loving service: The living being
is only satisfied when rendering loving service to the
Supreme Being.

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 Essay Seven

The Attraction of Beauty

A family of four decided to go on a weeklong summer camp-
ing trip in the mountains. They all cleared their busy
schedules for a week and prepared for the seven-hour drive
from the city to the retreat. The retreat surrounded a large
crystal-clear blue lake at the base of a stunning snow-capped
mountain. On one of the hiking trails, there was a beautiful
waterfall as well. As they drove towards the mountain, the
family gazed out the car windows at the evergreen scenery.
The family had been to the retreat before; and they were each
looking forward to swimming, hiking, relaxing, and most of
all, camping next to the backdrop of the scenery of the big
mountain.
As they entered the camp, they were a bit disappointed that
the campground was nearly full. They proceeded to drive
through the campgrounds looking for the right site to set up
camp. As they drove, they compared the few available camp-
sites: “This one looks pretty flat,” the wife said. “But it is
right next to several other campers and you can’t see the
mountain,” the husband responded. “This one is near the
bathrooms,” one of the kids piped in. “The bathrooms are too
noisy and it is too close to the road,” quipped dad.
As they circled the grounds for the third time they discussed
the pros and cons of the available campsites they had looked
at. They finally agreed on a site that had some uneven ground
and was fairly close to the road. However, this site had a spec-
tacular view of the lake. Although the pine trees covered the
view of the mountain, they could see the mountain beautifully
reflected on the surface of the lake.
Why is beauty so attractive to us?
Like magnets to metal, we are perpetually drawn to
beauty. Whether it is a beautiful spring day, a beautiful

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view of the ocean, a beautiful full moon or a beautiful man

or woman, we are seeking beauty throughout our exis-
tence. Humans will endeavor through years of difficulty
and toil to achieve a home in a beautiful location. People
will sometimes set up their entire existence around the goal
of attaining the hand of a physically beautiful mate. Some
dedicate their lives to the acquisition of beautiful objects
such as artwork or photography.
In these ways and many others, we are constantly
hankering for beauty. It is as if by achieving beauty even
for a moment, we achieve a moment of perfection. Once we
obtain a little glimpse of beauty, we aspire to capture it. It
is as if by capturing that which is beautiful, we somehow
feel that we will become complete.
What is it about beauty that is so strong a draw that
we will sacrifice so much for its capture? What is it about a
picture or painting that is so attractive to us that we will
spend thousands of dollars on it, put an expensive frame
around it and display it on our wall where we have to look
at it every day? What is it about a mountain retreat or
tropical island that makes us endeavor so hard to get there,
sometimes spending thousands of dollars on plane fares
and/or fuel to get there? What is it about a beautiful person
that we would endeavor so hard to get close to that body?
Do we actually physically consume any of these? Are they
tangible at all?
Certainly a week in the mountains will have physi-
cal benefits such as fresh air and possibly some peaceful
moments amongst nature. Yet often these elements are ig-
nored by campers who bring their boom boxes and
televisions, ruining the peace and solitude of nature. For

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many campers it is only a matter of driving up with their

RV and parking, whilst their RV is stocked with all the
comforts of home. In these cases, being out in nature is
somewhat muted, although there is still the stunning scen-
ery to gaze at. Indeed, the big draw to traveling and
vacationing is to find a place close to the beauty of nature,
even if it means “roughing it” in a tent, eating not-so-
home-cooked meals and risking getting bit by ticks or at-
tacked by bears. We will endure these things all in order to
be in close proximity to that beautiful setting for a few
days.
What is the physical benefit of beauty?
Some of us will struggle for many years, and spend
our entire life savings in order to live in a house located in
a beautiful setting such as a beach or mountaintop. Again,
can one actually consume these beautiful settings? Outside
of being close to nature, which has an obvious physical
benefit, there is no physical element being consumed from
the beauty itself. Examples more obvious are pictures and
paintings we hang on our walls for many years. The same
painting hung ten years ago is still hanging. There is no
physical element missing. Has anyone absorbed any paint
while marveling at the beauty of the painting?
On the physical level, a beautiful image is being re-
versed onto the retinal cells of the eyes and sent flipped-
upright through the optic nerve into specific brain cells.
Resonating through brain neurons, the image is flashed
onto the screen of the mind. The living being can then ob-
serve the image, differentiating it from other images in the
mind’s memory banks. Sorting through the images of the

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mind’s memory, the self utilizes intelligence as a sorting

device, cataloging the image together with a beauty rating.
This rating prioritizes and compares it with other images.
The self can thus recognize how this particular image com-
pares with others stored within the mind. “This is the most
beautiful lake I have ever seen,” the person may say after cata-
loging and comparing the image with others.
Using this sorting method, a person could also com-
pare a beautiful sunny day with a dreary cloudy one with
the same landscape. Certainly, the mental image of the
sunny landscape will be more attractive to the living being
than the dreary landscape. Why is that? The only difference
between the two landscape views, assuming the same
landscape on two different days, would be that the sunny
landscape reflected more light onto the scenery, resulting
in a greater variety of colors and greater vibrations of light.
One might conclude based on this that greater light
vibration and particular wavelengths of light or sound are
more attractive to the living being. Although this is true,
they are not the only characteristics for recognizing beauty.
Research on people of various ages, genders and races have
studied relative attractiveness among faces flashed upon a
screen in the same light. These revealed, as we might ex-
pect, that some faces were attractive to most everyone,
while others were not. Research on beauty recognition has
led modern scientists to observe that people—from infants
to teenagers to adults—will be attracted to faces that are
more symmetrical and balanced with regard to face size
and shape, eye position, nose size, etc. Faces closest to flaw-
less—healthy teeth, no blemishes, clear eyes, full lips, etc.—
were also seen as more attractive. In fact, this research illus-

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trated that there is a common ideal of beauty. Rather than

each of us having dramatically different perspectives, we
trend towards recognizing beauty from certain types of
faces with particular characteristics. It is as if certain faces
more closely remind us of a beauty we recognize: A beauty
we have experienced before.
One of the basic faults in these studies is that in or-
der to provide control, these scientists showed test subjects
only photographs of people, rather than the actual living
people. As we all recognize when we look around us, there
are various other features that attract us about others, in-
cluding the color and radiance of a person’s eyes, the way
they may move their bodies, or the way they handle them-
selves. These features appeal to us because they express a
living force—life within the body. Furthermore, the consis-
tency among what appeals to different people—even
infants—indicates a common standard of beauty with
which we all aspire to connect.
Indeed, when sound or vision frequencies vibrate
certain cells or organelles in our eyes or ears, it is not the
actual object that is vibrating our body parts, but it is a vi-
brational byproduct of the object—a reflection of the object.
In the same way that an object is reflected by its photo-
graph, we receive a mere snapshot coming from the
reflection of the object onto the screen of our mind. A face
or beautiful scene we look at is not actually consumed by
our eyes. The scene is still there. Its reflection is simply
flashed across the screen of our mind.

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What makes something beautiful?

While there is a standard of beauty amongst images
of nature and faces that most people agree upon, there are
also some rather glaring differences between individual
recognition of beauty. In other words, in some cases one
person may interpret something as beautiful while another
person may not. This fact highlights the role of the observer
in the recognition of beauty. Rather than having a linear
quality, beauty has a relative quality. That object being
beautiful is relative to the observer. Living beings typically
agree that pristine nature is beautiful. Almost with no ex-
ception, most everyone accepts that the ocean and the
mountains are beautiful. This is because these scenes por-
tray a consistency between nature’s origin and our origin.
Beauty can easily be separated from the object
stimulating our sense of beauty with a simple experiment:
We can think of several words that sound beautiful or bring
beauty to mind. A few examples of words considered beautiful
include: “tender,” “soft,” “supple,” “graceful,” “blooming,”
“lovely,” “delicate,” and “harmony.” Used in the context of
poetry or discourse, one might even say that writings con-
taining such words were beautiful; or a poem was beautiful.
What makes these words more beautiful than words like “ag-
gressive,” “repulsive” or “hateful?”
Between the two word groups mentioned above the
alphabet and the type of lettering used is no different. In
some cases, a word conjuring up our sense of beauty can
simply be achieved by replacing, changing, or even adding
a few letters. This indicates that our sense of beauty does
not come from the physical object itself. It is rather the ref-
erence to an object considered beautiful which promotes our

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sense of beauty. The conjuring of beauty reflects something

from within—reminding us of something already per-
ceived. The external object simply reminds us of that sense
of beauty. In the case of words referencing beautiful ob-
jects, they too would be reminding us of a sense of beauty
we have perceived before.
Another example of this effect is when we hear
about activities of people considered selfless, giving or
merciful. We will often describe these types of activities as
beautiful. In other words, a person’s activities can reflect
beauty as well. We may become attracted to that selfless
person even without seeing their body—rather simply by
hearing about their activities. We may even refer to the ac-
tual activities as being beautiful. On a physical basis, the
person may be helping people with leprosy, for example.
The act of aiding leprosy victims is hardly pleasing to the
eyes, yet we see this activity as beautiful because it reminds
us of something beautiful: A beauty we have experienced
before.
Thoughts can also be beautiful. A person can be sit-
ting in a concrete jail with no window and yet have
thoughts most of us would consider beautiful. For exam-
ple, the prisoner may be thinking of a quiet place in the
forest by a trickling stream. He may imagine himself offer-
ing something of value to a dear friend there, exchanging
feelings with that person. Here not only would the thought
of the scenery be beautiful. The thought of giving some-
thing special to a friend would touch us as beautiful. This
would strike most of us as beautiful because again, it re-
flects something beautiful we have experienced.
Often we might see a person who appears physically

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beautiful, but then when we hear them speak, our attrac-

tion to their physical beauty is erased or greatly
diminished: they do not seem beautiful to us anymore. This
effect illustrates several points about beauty: First, it shows
that the person actually did not possess that physical
beauty after all. Second, it illustrates how instead of our
being attracted by the person’s physical beauty, we were
reminded of something beautiful we had experienced prior
to seeing them. Third, it shows us how beauty is connected
with character. Once we understood that the person did
not have a nice character, they no longer reminded us of
what we have experienced before: A beautiful Person
whose appearance and character is both beautiful and at-
tractive.
Beauty comes from a permanent world.
Since each of us living beings are independently ob-
serving, thinking, or hearing about beautiful things
throughout our lives, the question remains: Where is this
beauty coming from? If we are simply reflecting beauty
from an inner source, what is this source? And why do
some objects remind us of more beauty than others?
When one considers the molecular nature of life, we
can easily see that theoretically there is no structural differ-
ence between a supposedly ugly body and a body
appearing beautiful. The molecules are lined up in struc-
tured arrangements, with slight differences in the total
symmetry of the arrangement. On a molecular basis, there
is no difference between one form and another. Thus, the
source of its beauty cannot be coming from the actual mo-
lecular structure of the object. In terms of the shape of those

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molecules, just as a shadow might remind us of a living

person, the molecular structure only stimulates a reminder
of beauty we recognize from elsewhere.
Consider how we will become adapted to or accus-
tomed to someone, after initially being captured by the
beauty we saw in him or her. Typically, this takes place
after we spend a great deal of time with the person. This
has often been described as ‘familiarity breeds contempt.’
With repeated views of the physical body, we notice all its
imperfections and gradually these physical reflections will
not stimulate the same beauty reminders. We may see their
body’s physical idiosyncrasies, like their wrinkled skin, or
flat nose, for example. Or we may see various details about
their body, which specifically remind us of the temporary
nature of this world. Their body might smell or look funky
now and again, reminding us of their body’s temporary,
mundane nature.
In addition, our beauty reminder may also slowly be
replaced with negativity, as they begin to remind us of our-
selves. They might begin to remind us of our selfishness
and all of our other character flaws that have been ex-
pressed as we’ve spent time with that person. As we are
reminded of our selfish character, we become disgusted.
Instead of reflecting that we are the cause of that disgust,
we prefer to find fault in the other person. These combined
effects gradually replace the feelings of beauty the image of
their body first reminded us of.
The reality is that although the physical vision might
have initially reflected beauty, the body in itself was not
the beauty we were feeling. The body initially only re-
minded us of a deeper beautiful nature we’ve experienced

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sometime in the past. This is instantly proven as we get

close enough to this body to touch or try otherwise to con-
nect to its supposed beauty. Upon getting closer, the
feeling of beauty evaporates. The physical object never con-
tained the beauty we were initially reminded of.
The familiarity model also applies to beautiful natu-
ral scenery. During the first few weeks after we travel to a
natural site with gorgeous scenery, we may be captivated
by its beauty. Should we spend months or years there, this
beauty gradually wears off as we become familiar with the
scenery. Gradually over more time and experiences around
the scenery, it will begin to remind us of whatever experi-
ences we’ve had while living there. It may begin to remind
us of a disappointing family life or a lost love for example.
This is why we always see houses for sale on the beaches
and mountaintops. The sellers are now all to familiar with
the scenery and are seeking beauty elsewhere.
An interesting personal experiment is to contrast
people we know who live in either more or less scenic sur-
roundings. Typically the people living in the less scenic
locations will be somewhat envious of the people who live
in the more scenic locations (such as on a beach or moun-
tain). Yet the people in the more scenic surroundings will
not necessarily display happier or more fulfilled lives. They
may even be more stressed because of the higher payments
needed to afford those scenic homes.
This effect can be observed among those who live in
“enviable” tropical places such as Rio in Brazil, the Virgin
Islands, or Southern California. In these locations, we find
high crime rates, destitution, hate, greed, and violence de-
spite the natural scenery surrounding the population. The

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crime rates can be just as high if not higher than cities

without such spectacular scenery to offer. Outside of a
greater possibility for solitude and peaceful meditation,
living in a scenic location does not deliver any special state
of fulfillment in itself. This is because there is no physical
acquisition of that beauty.
Similarly, while a mundane sound vibration may
initially conjure up beauty, it will become familiar after we
hear it enough times. This is why songs and movies get old.
Music also has a reflective quality. When we hear a song as
we are rehearsing our various concocted desires, we begin
to associate that song with those desires. Thus, when we
hear an old song again that we heard ten years ago we are
usually reminded of the activities and desires we were fo-
cused on during those times. The music is captured onto
our mind’s screen alongside those desires and activities of
those times. With current songs however, we will quickly
become disgusted as we hear them too much, because these
songs begin to reflect our current activities and consciousness.
Just as our voice or photograph will typically disgust us
because they remind us of our not-so-good-selves, over-
played music will be connected to our current selfish
thoughts and behavior, resulting in our eventual contemp-
tuousness for them.
The physical world is a place of temporary vibra-
tional structures. The beauty that we are reminded of by
these various vibrational structures, on the other hand, is
actually constant and permanent.

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Beauty comes from the world of the living.

As we have pointed out, the beauty we feel when we
look at some scenery is not contained by the scenery. It is a
reminder of previous beautiful experiences. Since the mind
is an instrument the living being uses to record sensory
inputs and physical feedback, beauty also cannot be com-
ing from the mind. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” is oft
said. A screen or recording device cannot be the original
source of something, however. It would be like saying that
a movie actor is inside the television set. The television re-
flects the actor’s image, but does not contain it. The mind
can also reflect an image, but again it is not the source of
that image.
These points clarify that the experience of beauty felt
by the living being is coming from a previous experience of
beauty. The temporary physical object is merely a reminder
of this beauty. Now we might ask just where was this
beauty experienced before?
Permanent beauty—beauty we can actually connect
to—exists only within the permanence of the transcenden-
tal realm: our actual world. The reason we say that the
transcendental realm is our actual world is because this is
the realm where there exists no duality—we are ourselves
in this realm. There is also no separation between beauty
and the object of beauty in the transcendental realm. There
is no death in the transcendental realm. There is no ugli-
ness in the transcendental realm. In the transcendental
realm, everything is beautiful. Everything is alive in the
transcendental realm. Parts of the physical world merely
remind us of this realm.

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The physical realm is a reflection

of the realm of the living.
In order to remind the living being of this previously
experienced beauty, a physical object must itself have some
features that somehow reflect the beauty of the transcen-
dental. After all, if the object did not reflect this beauty
somehow, it could not remind the living being of that
beauty. Reflections of actual beauty are seen all around us,
just as a conversation can reflect an actual event:
A woman and her friends gather and talk about a ceremony
they attended the day before. They discuss various events,
which took place at the ceremony. “Do you remember what
happened when….?” They each successively ask each other as
they narrate those events.
The talk about the ceremony is not the actual cere-
mony, yet it reflects the ceremony. The conversation
reminds everyone about the ceremony, and by talking
about it, they are effectively reflecting on the events of the
ceremony. By listening to their gossipy conversation, one
might conclude that their conversation didn’t reflect the
ceremony very well however, because instead of focusing
objectively on the events of the ceremony, they talk about
who wore what, and who came with whom. Thus we
might conclude that the conversation about the ceremony
was subjective—it was a perverted reflection of the cere-
mony.
The physical realm also reflects the transcendental
realm with a perverted reflection in much the same way.
This might be compared to looking at a mountain reflecting
on the surface of a lake:

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The lake reflection isn’t the mountain itself, yet reminds us of

the mountain because of its reflection. We can partially see
the details of the mountain from its reflection off the lake. Be-
cause the lake has many ripples, we cannot see many of the
details of the mountain clearly. More importantly, the moun-
tain is pointing downward rather than upward. While the
lake perverts the mountain image drastically, it nonetheless
still reminds us of the actual mountain.
In the same way, beauty is reflected yet distorted
through this dimension because this dimension is a per-
verted reflection of the transcendental dimension. This
physical dimension is a temporary place driven by living
forces, but it is not actually alive in itself. It merely reflects
the living dimension, in the same way that a television
show might reflect real-life events. The living dimension,
on the other hand, is a dimension that is alive. Every tran-
scendental form is alive, and everything in the
transcendental realm contains permanent, actual beauty.
We are from this permanent dimension.
We are born with the ability to recognize beauty.
Experiments with newborn babies done over recent
years confirm that we are all born with an innate sense of
beauty. This conflicts with any notion that beauty is taught
to us through media and repeated impressions. Research
on infants has shown that a baby’s ideas of beauty are not
much different from most adults. Basic symmetry, light,
and colors are commonly seen as beautiful. In addition,
softness, eye color, posture, and facial expression were
noted in these studies to be commonly attractive among all
infants.
The reason we are born with an innate sense of

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beauty is that we have each experienced beauty previously:

we have each experienced the beauty of the transcendental
world.
In nature, we find a clearer reflection of the tran-
scendental dimension, thus a greater reminder of beauty.
For thousands of years, scientists have identified precise
symmetry existing in nature. Nature’s symmetry is seen in
the golden rectangle; the golden spiral; the sine wave and
so on. Our sense of beauty is provoked by these symmetri-
cal designs of life because they reflect their Designer.
Beauty is easily conjured from the living vibrancy of na-
ture, whether it is a green forest, or a translucent blue
ocean. These are all surroundings that reflect life in the
transcendental world more clearly, because they are less
tainted with the greed reflected by modern human civiliza-
tion. A clear-cut forest or a polluted lake is hardly seen as
beautiful because these things remind us of our society’s
shortsighted view of nature as our place to exploit rather
than respect and sustain. These actions reflect a dishar-
mony with the living nature.
A dead body is rarely considered beautiful because
it is devoid of life. It no longer reflects the living being who
once operated it. For this reason, dead people are usually
quickly covered, gathered up, taken away to be buried or
burned.
The singing of birds and the chirping of crickets are
considered beautiful sounds, as their melodies and beats
reflect their melodious Maker. The trickle of a mountain
stream or the pulse of the ocean’s waters rushing onto the
shore appeal to our general sense of beauty because these
sounds oscillate to the tempo of their living Source. Typi-

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cally, the more natural look and clearer complexion a per-

son has, the more attractive they are to others. This is
because they simply reflect their Creator more accurately.
This is why we are enthralled by the beauty of a baby—
attracted by the beauty of their bright, clear eyes. Those
clear eyes reflect the Source of life more clearly.
The reason why certain activities remind us of
beauty is that activities of giving and loving come from the
dimension of life. They come from the home of our Best
Friend. Actions that relate to greed or lust, on the other
hand, are not attractive because they remind us someone
who does not live in harmony with the Supreme Being.
They also remind us of us. For example, no one would con-
sider stealing to be a beautiful act. The reason why is
because in the dimension of life there is no greed; no lust;
no stealing. These things occur in the physical dimension
because this is where those who want to enjoy selfishly
come to play. In the dimension of life—the dimension of
beauty—there is an abundance of love, humility and ser-
vice. Therefore, activities that reflect those sentiments are
considered beautiful.
The unavoidable reality is that both the observer of
beauty and the object observed which conjures beauty are
reflecting the living dimension. Otherwise, there would be
no acknowledgement of the beauty. Certainly, there can be
no recognition of beauty by the observer without the ob-
server being from the dimension of life. The vibrations that
conjure the images of beauty within us are ultimately tied
to reminding us of the living Source of beauty—the Source
of the dimension of life.

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Perfect beauty exists.

Since the living being is constantly drawn to images
reflecting beauty and remind us of a beauty we have ex-
perienced before, we should focus on when and where we
experienced this. The dimension of life is not an inanimate
structure like a stadium or tall building. The transcendental
dimension of life is alive. It is inseparable from the life of
the Supreme Person. This Beautiful Being is the most at-
tractive person, and the life and beauty of His dimension is
emanating from Him. He is therefore distinct yet connected
to all of life. It is His beauty we are constantly being re-
minded of when we perceive beauty around us. The
Beautiful Living Person attracts every living being: Other-
wise why would we seek something beautiful outside of
ourselves? Some might conjecture that that we are simply
looking for ourselves when we seek beauty. This is not
logical. We look for a source of beauty outside of ourselves
because the Source of Beauty is distinct from us, and we
wish to reconnect with this Source. Furthermore, since we
incessantly seek for boundless beauty, we can understand
that the Source of beauty is boundless. We need to connect
with this Boundless Beautiful Person to feel complete.
The beauty we ourselves contain and reflect is
merely a fragmented reflection of the Great Beauty of the
Supreme Person. Our incessant need for beauty is our need
to reconnect with the Supreme Person. Otherwise, we
would be complete once we reflected upon ourselves—and
there is plenty of that going on around here in this selfish
dimension. We can see this again with the mountain re-
flecting on the lake:

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As we observe the mountain reflecting off the lake, we see how

the reflected mountaintop points downward rather than up-
ward.
This is very analogous to the difference between the
physical and the transcendental worlds. Not only does the
physical realm perversely reflect the transcendental realm,
instead of its inhabitants being focused (upward and out-
ward) upon the Supreme Being and His living beings with
love, the inhabitants of the physical realm are focused
(downward and inward) upon ourselves in greed.
We are able to connect to true beauty when we each
re-establish our loving relationship with the Supreme Per-
son. This loving reconnection with the Supreme Person will
allow us to finally latch on to the beauty we perpetually
seek.
The source of beauty is the most beautiful.
The Supreme Being is the Source of beauty because
He Himself is the most beautiful Person. The beauty we see
around us—the lush green forests; the crest of a breaking
wave; the sparkling stars and moon in the night sky—are
all merely reflections of His Personal beauty pulsing
through the physical dimension. The reason we pine for
beauty throughout our lives is that without realizing it, we
miss the Supreme Person: We miss His deep beauty. We miss
His graciousness. We miss His tender caring for us. We
miss the joy of sharing time with Him.
Let’s reflect upon just how great is His beauty! Al-
though the mind cannot comprehend such beauty, we can
consider the beauty of this little planet: It pales in compari-
son to the unlimited beauty of the Supreme Person. This is
the beauty we yearn for. It is the Beautiful Person we are

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ultimately attracted to. It is the Beautiful Person we need to

re-establish our eternal relationship with in order to be-
come whole again.
***
Conclusion: The Supreme Being is the most beautiful
Being. He is not only the Source of beauty, but He is the
most beautiful. We have an insatiable and endless need
for beauty because we are ultimately seeking to recon-
nect with the Supreme Being. We seek beauty because
we have become separate from Him, and the beauty we
see around us are fleeting reflections of Him. Ultimately,
we seek beauty because we seek to reconnect and re-
establish our eternal relationship of loving service with
this Beautiful Person.

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 Essay Eight

The Eyes of Love

The baby’s body was blind at birth. Out of the womb she
came, in pitch-blackness. Through her first year she listened
carefully to the voices and felt the touching of her mother and
friends. As she nursed from her mommy she felt cared for and
protected. Feeling connected, she trusted her mommy. Some-
times her mommy would hand her to other people who would
hold her. Some were friends she could tell, so she usually felt
somewhat comfortable. But there was one different person
who picked her up from time to time. She didn’t know this
person but mommy apparently knew this person well. This
person had very big hands and a deep voice. Although the
voice and touch were assuring and comfortable, she didn’t
know him. Thus whenever he would hold her, she would
struggle to return to mommy’s arms.
One day the person with the big hands and deep voice picked
her up, and her mommy said, “this is your daddy.” The baby
was confused. She was not even sure what a daddy was. The
baby squished her face with confusion. She wondered what
those words “daddy” meant. Seeing her curiosity, her
mommy sat down with her and lovingly tried to explain who
daddy was: How he loves her and supports everyone in the
family; and how he gave mommy the baby’s seed. Of course,
the baby didn’t understand this very well. She’d obviously
never seen her daddy and didn’t know him. She trusted her
mother though. She trusted that her mommy would never lie
to her. From that day forward whenever daddy picked her up,
she would snuggle up close to him, remembering how
mommy had lovingly described him. Soon she found herself
calling him “da-da.”

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Someone else is the center of existence.

The definition of God, according to The New Web-
ster’s Dictionary, is “the Supreme Being, seen as the
Omnipotent Creator and Ruler of the universe” and “the object
of worship.” This definition would allow us to include He
who is in control, along with He who is the center of attention.
But we want to be the center.
Currently, however, most of us consider ourselves
the center of attention. Our thoughts regarding life usually
centers around ourselves and our own happiness. We usu-
ally are focused upon accomplishing goals for ourselves; be
it more money, a better car, a bigger house, looking better
or simply having more pleasure. We are also usually fo-
cused upon gaining things that will make us happy. If not,
we are focused upon the extended us: our family; our team-
s; or maybe even our country or state. We may focus our
efforts upon these extensions of ourselves as we work to
please our family members, teammates, or fellow citizens.
The group goal becomes our goal in an effort to remain at
the center somehow. Our focus remains self-centered—self-
serving.
Even when some of us consider the Supreme Being’s
existence, His existence is still a self-centered proposition
for us. Many will see the Supreme Being as a means to get
us what we want, when we want it. For these people,
prayers are often “please make this happen,” or “please do
that for me.” Thus we remain the center of our focus—the
most important person.
Modern science has in effect given us the rationale to
remain at the center of our lives. Modern science’s proposi-

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tion that life is a random accident and we (humans) have

evolved to become the strongest and smartest creatures in
existence allows us to claim we are the grand culmination
of the evolutionary process. We feel all-important, as if we
are rulers, and all of evolution has now concluded with the
wonderful arrival of humankind. These speculative theo-
ries allow us to ignore the Supreme Being and take center
stage.
So we try hard to be the center.
Some philosophical speculators even go to the ex-
treme of saying that we are ourselves the Supreme Being.
These confused commentators speculate that we have cre-
ated the universe, and we are playing in our own creation.
Does this argument make any sense though? Could
we be the rulers and creators of the universe? If we ruled
over something we created, could we then become over-
whelmed and controlled by that very creation? Could we
lose control over what we have created? This simply does
not make sense. If we created something, and its survival
required our energies to maintain it, it could not suddenly
gain control over us. If we maintained it, we could easily
just shut it down if it did not comply with our wishes.
We cannot control nature. We cannot control the
weather. We cannot control the movements of the earth.
We cannot control the movements of the sun. We cannot
even control each other—though some of us try pretty
hard. We simply are not in control. Though we try repeat-
edly hard to gain control over our environment, we are not
successful. We may even play word games to pretend that
maybe we have just forgotten that we were in control. Yet

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this would mean that the power of forgetfulness now con-

trols us. How could the Supreme Being forget He was the
Supreme Being? How could the Supreme Being be over-
whelmed with a mechanism that He created—forget-
fulness?
If this were true, then the Supreme Being would be
controlled by another power—the power of forgetfulness.
If the Supreme Being were controlled by forgetfulness, He
would not be the Supreme Being.
We simply are not in control. About the only thing
we can control are our decisions. Decisions can influence
events in the physical realm through an arrangement ulti-
mately controlled by the Supreme Being. In this way, we
can influence events to some degree. Influence and control
are two different matters altogether. We can influence cer-
tain behaviors and these behaviors will have particular
results. While we can influence our behavior, we cannot
control the results. We surely cannot say, “I am going to do
something and I will control the results.” The results will be
out of our hands. We simply are not—and cannot be—the
Supreme Being. We are not in control. We can certainly use
a lot of mumbo-jumbo to try to pretend we are the Supreme
Being, but this hardly makes us the Supreme Being.
We want to pretend we are the center.
Ultimately, whether it is through the speculation
that we have accidentally evolved into the greatest crea-
ture, or whether it is through bluntly proclaiming we are
the Supreme Being, our goal is to play the Supreme Being.
Those living in this physical plane are here because we
want to enjoy as if we were the Supreme Being. We want to

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have power and authority, even if we have to fantasize to

experience it. We want to enjoy the pleasures of life though
these pleasures do not satisfy us. We want to forget the Su-
preme Being, though our hearts scream for Him. We want
to play the Supreme Being but we cannot.
Our desire to play the Supreme Being—to be the
center of attention—directly conflicts with our ability to
perceive the Supreme Being. If we are focused upon pre-
tending we are the center and our enjoyment comes first,
our ability to see Him will be naturally blocked:
A boy stands up amongst a classroom full of students to ask a
question while the teacher is still speaking. While the boy is
asking the question, he cannot hear what the teacher is say-
ing.
Whether it is in the form of saying that we ourselves
are the Supreme Being, or that we are simply the most im-
portant person in our lives, we are putting ourselves at the
top of the heap. An appropriate expression to describe this
might be when someone becomes “blinded by ambition.”
Most living beings in the physical realm have become
blinded by our ambition to enjoy the world.
We cannot really see with these senses.
The limitations of our physical bodies exist for a rea-
son. They are no accident. Because our physical bodies are
designed around our desires and past behavior, the limita-
tions of our senses reflect our consciousness. Our limited
sense organs allow us to attempt to enjoy separately from
the Supreme Being because that is our desire:
During a movie, a public theatre house will shut off the lights
inside the theatre. With the lights off, moviegoers can pretend
that they are not surrounded by a crowd of popcorn-eating,

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gum-smacking, soda-slurping people. With the lights off

moviegoers can escape reality for a while, as they focus in on
the movie plot.
If our physical eyes were able to see the Supreme Be-
ing how could we ignore Him? If our physical ears were
able to hear the Supreme Being how could we pretend to
be Him? If our physical bodies were designed to live in the
Supreme Being’s personal realm—where He is the center—
then how could we possibly pretend we were the center?
A boy had a date at the bowling alley with some friends. In-
stead of casual clothes, however, he put on his football
uniform with a full set of pads, cleats, and helmet. His bowl-
ing date was a disaster because he was not properly dressed.
He could hardly bowl or sit down because his pads were in
the way. His cleats scratched and slid around the floor. His
football uniform simply was not suited for the bowling alley.
Our physical eyes were not designed to see life.
Consider that these bodies were designed for a pur-
pose other than to see and be with the Supreme Being. More
specifically, they were designed to avoid His existence.
Why would we be wearing such bodies otherwise? Did we
inherit bodies that could not see Him by accident?
Certainly not: We desired to escape from the Su-
preme Being. We wanted to ignore the Supreme Being’s
existence for a while. We may not have specifically chosen
the actual body we are in, though. We probably would
have preferred a more glorious, perfect body. Nonetheless,
since we are not in control, its final selection and design
was outside our control. Because the Supreme Being un-
conditionally loves us, and because He gave us the
freedom to love and serve Him out of our own volition, He

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designed for us this virtual suit of armor which, when

wearing it, shields us from seeing Him. Not only is the ar-
mor perfectly set up to not see Him, but the environment
surrounding the armor is perfectly set up to allow enough
darkness for us to ignore His existence on an ongoing basis.
Our eyes see what we want to see.
In the human form of life we are given just enough
intelligence to probe deeper into our existence and decide
whether we want out of the material dimension or not. At
the same time, the physical world has been set up to taunt
us; inviting us to stay and forget about our search for
Truth. Why does this happen? Why is it so difficult to get
beyond our physical existence and refocus upon the Su-
preme Being? The basic reason is that most of us who live
in the physical world do so because we want to avoid the
Supreme Being. Those of us who want to continue to avoid
Him also want to remain here in this realm. This is why
people struggle so hard to stay alive, despite the fact that
their body has become virtually useless. This is why our
society spends billions of dollars devising ways to heroi-
cally extend the body’s life: we want to stay here, avoiding
Him. We often will use the term “meet your Maker” when
we refer to death. Instinctively we realize that upon death,
we will encounter the Supreme Being directly or indirectly.
So why, if we wanted to see Him so badly, would we want
to delay death? If we wanted to see the Supreme Being,
why would we struggle so hard to extend our lives? The
simple answer is that most of us want to stay here in this
physical world where we can continue to avoid the Su-
preme Being.

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Some may ask: Why, if the Supreme Person wants

us back, would He put so many temptations and diversions
in front of us? We may not want to admit this, but it was us
who caused this situation. We wanted to be away from the
Supreme Being. Now should we want to return home all of
a sudden, maybe just because things got a little rough down
here, He does not want us to be making a flimsy, equivocal
decision: one that we might regret later.
He wants us to make a firm, resolute decision. Tempta-
tions of the world are simply tests to see if we are serious
about returning home to Him. If we are not serious then we
will surrender to the temptation. Again, we were the ones
who decided to leave Him. He wants a resolute determina-
tion from us to return home. He wants us to be sure we
want to return to our relationship with Him:
The boy now wants to join the ice hockey team. He has been
playing football and basketball for years. Now he wants to
learn this new sport. He inquires, and the hockey coach tells
him to come to the next practice with ice skates on, ready to
work out hard in order to learn the sport.
The boy instead shows up to practice late, in his football cleats
and pads instead of ice skates as the coach had requested. The
coach sends the boy home, telling him that if he is serious
about playing hockey he had better get some skates and come
to practice on time, ready to play hockey. Instead, the next
day he again shows up late to the rink, and again in his foot-
ball pads, jersey and cleats. Should the coach let him play?
Should we not be determined to regain our relation-
ship with the Supreme Being, the world will tease us and
tempt us until we either become determined, or give in and
return to forgetting Him. After all, maybe we would rather
remain in our fantasy world where we can continue to pre-

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tend to be the center of things.

Many of us struggle with doubts as we try to ap-
proach the Supreme Person. Doubt is a perverted reflection
of freedom. We were manifested by Him with complete
freedom of choice. This freedom of choice is part of love,
and it is necessary for love. Without choice, there can be no
love. Doubt is that very same freedom perverted by our
choosing to ignore Him. Once we choose to ignore Him,
what was granted as freedom translates into doubt. He has
moved further away from us, covering our eyes with
doubt. Doubt is that covering that guarantees our contin-
ued choice without prejudice.
Continuing to strive in this world; focused on our-
selves, struggling for wealth, sensual pleasures, and the
attention of others keeps us here, distracted and thor-
oughly avoiding our Best Friend. Striving for the various
carrots dangling around the physical world do not keep us
here—we keep us here.
The physical world is designed to reflect our con-
sciousness: as long as we maintain our desire not to see the
Supreme Being, we will hang out here, away from Him. As
long as we bathe in our doubts, questioning Him in one
way or another, we will stay covered.
Now should we whimsically demand to see Him
while not being very serious and openly doubting Him:
Why should He grant this wish? Who would want to put
effort into resuming a relationship if one party wasn’t sure?
Consider whether we are determined to return to our
Friend. Are we showing much determination with our life?
How about our demand to see Him: some will even chal-
lenge Him. Some will state or think that if He does exist,

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He should prove it. Who would want to show up after that

sort of challenge?
We do have the eyes to really see.
Consider the inability of these physical eyes to per-
ceive into the dimension of the transcendental universe. If
we accept that the transcendental world is beyond the per-
ception of the physical shells we are caged within, and we
accept that the Supreme Being and His living beings exist
on that same transcendental plane—our actual plane of exis-
tence—we should realize that we do have eyes for seeing
into the transcendental dimension.
These eyes, however, have a specific purpose of see-
ing and serving the Supreme Person. Their purpose is tied
to our relationship with Him. Since the Supreme Being is in
control of our eyes, just as He is in control of our relation-
ship, our eyes will naturally be closed if we are not
interested in returning to our relationship with Him. As a
result, as long as we continue to desire to be away from
Him, and are thus focused on trying to enjoy in the tempo-
rary physical plane; our real eyes are shuttered:
A front door will be locked to prevent thieves or the uninvited
from coming in the house.
Just as a door is locked to prevent intruders, the ac-
tual eyes of those of us who choose to avoid the Supreme
Person are covered. In the physical world we are not our
bodies. In the transcendental realm each of us is our tran-
scendental body. Beneath this gross physical shell, and
beneath the mind and the false ego exists our transcenden-
tal form. In the transcendental plane there is no duality of
existence. Each of us has a unique transcendental identity,

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complete with transcendental senses. These transcendental

senses are our actual senses, and they are equipped to see
the Supreme Person and all living beings as they actually
are. Unlike the physical senses, these senses are specifically
calibrated for seeing the Supreme Person.
Just as the movie theatre lights are turned off so that
the moviegoer can focus on the movie, our transcendental
eyes are closed to enable us to pretend we are our tempo-
rary physical body and the center of everything.
Those eyes can be opened.
Consider the tremendous focus each of us living be-
ings have upon our temporary physical identities: Our
focus on our physical body’s age, looks, gender, health,
etc.; our focus on our physical body’s family and its various
needs; our focus upon the goals we have established in an
attempt to become happy in the physical world. These are
all tremendous forces we have applied to our conscious-
ness. How can we redirect our focus away from these
forces for long enough to focus upon our real nature and
our Real Friend?
During our dreams, we forget our waking identity. We forget
our position in society, our occupation, our family—
everything. In our dreams, we may be flying or even doing
things we would consider shameful during our waking lives.
During our dreams, we cannot remember our responsibilities,
as we are captivated by our dreamscape.
Our physical lives have many similarities with our
sleeping dreams. They are both temporary. While dreams
may last minutes or an hour at the most, our physical lives
might last a few decades. In both, we will take on occupa-
tions or relationships that have nothing to do with our real

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or waking lives. In both, we will identify with a temporary

body and a temporary situation. Both allow also allow us
to forget our waking identities.
Then there is the problem of waking up on time.
When we go to bed, most of us will set an alarm clock to
wake us from our dreams at a certain hour. This particular
trick sets up a signal outside of the dream to remind us in
our sleep that we should awaken immediately because
there are other things to attend to in our waking lives. In
order to accomplish this, we choose something to wake us;
we might set an alarm bell or music. We essentially train
ourselves that this is what will wake us.
This is why we can sleep through an even louder
sound like the telephone, yet awaken immediately to the
alarm bell. This is the same strategy hypnotists use to
awaken a hypnotized subject. Prior to putting the subject
under, the hypnotist will tell the subject what signal will
awaken them from hypnosis. The subject will agree. Often
a snap of the fingers is agreed upon.
When the subject hears the snap during their hyp-
notic state, they awaken as suggested. Many of us can also
accomplish this during sleep as well. We can awaken at a
particular time by suggesting to ourselves what time we
will wake up. If we suggest this just to ourselves prior to
falling asleep if usually works. This is a form of program-
ming but is also a result of determination: As long as the
self makes a determination to wake up with that signal or
time, we prepare our physical selves for that signal to
pierce through whatever is taking place.
In the same way, our pure consciousness is buried
under these physical layers, covering us from our actual

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nature—and from our actual Friend and Companion.

Therefore, we must link onto a process that wakes us from
our dreaming state. We must coordinate with an alarm to
jolt us from our slumber, awakening us to our actual tran-
scendental state. Just as the alarm bell or hypnotic snap
requires our determined consent, we also need to make a
determination to be woken up.
If we become determined to be awakened from the
temporary fantasy lives we live—pretending to be the cen-
ter of existence—the transcendental alarm bell will begin
ringing to awaken our pure consciousness. It is this alarm,
stemming from the Supreme Being and proportionate to
our determination that will eventually open our transcen-
dental eyes.
We can see if we were to wake up.
We might ask: How do we know we have this True
Friend and Companion? This is where introspection, trust,
and prayer come in. Often the word faith is misunderstood.
In the personal context, faith is the same as trust. By putting
our trust in someone, we put our faith in them. To have
faith in something we do not trust would be contradictory.
This trust requires some insight. Insight is something that
is given. We can therefore simply ask for insight.
Through insight, we can receive a signal or under-
standing regarding the basic existence of the Supreme
Being. Most humans have already had this insight at some
point in our lives. This insight signal can echo from deep
within us, while being reflected in our physical environ-
ment. It does not matter whether this insight feels like it
comes from “within” or through external events. Regard-

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less of its delivery, we know it because it gives us some

realization regarding the Supreme Being’s existence.
The origin of this signal of insight is not our physical
eyes, ears, nose, or brain. It does not come from our physi-
cal database—the mind. It does not come from our
imagination. It comes from a deeper place—the transcen-
dental place. Like an alarm clock echoing from outside of
the dream state, it comes from another realm, piercing
through the layers of this world, sometimes at the oddest of
moments.
Once we have this internal signal from our Friend
we must trust and follow it. This is where faith plays a role.
Surely we could doubt the insight, thinking it an aberration
of some sort. Surely we could try to ignore it if we want:
Then of course we’d stay asleep—unconscious to its signal.
We can surely wash it in with our self-centered existence,
just as a dreaming person might imagine the alarm bell is a
doorbell occurring within the dream—and we answer the
door in our dream. By washing the alarm in with our
dream we can easily ignore it, as we imagine it is some-
thing else. This is called illusion.
Having faith in such an inner vision or insight is the
same as trusting in Him. Do we trust that the Supreme Be-
ing has the ability to communicate to us? Do we not believe
the Supreme Controller has that kind of authority and
power? If we do, then why would we deny Him the ability
open communications with us? The choice we have in this
area reflects the freedom He has given us to continue to
ignore Him if we wish.
The Supreme Being gives us the freedom to continue
sleeping in our dreamland. If we deny Him the ability to

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remind us—by using various mental theories to conclude it

is impossible—we are in effect washing the alarm bell into
our dreamscape to allow us to continue sleeping.
The best and most certain way to wake up is to ask
our Best Friend and Companion to wake us up. If we have
not received a signal already, we can sincerely ask Him for
such a signal. This can be done easily through prayer, or
simply through sincere thoughts. Since His senses are not
limited as our physical senses are, He can hear even the
slightest of thoughts, especially when they concern our re-
lationship with Him. In fact, it is these thoughts that He
particularly likes to tune into. Like any reliable friend, He
is always awaiting our request to renew our relationship.
We must want to wake up though.
Our desire to awaken must be sincere. Like the boy
wanting to play ice hockey, a whimsical approach will not
cut it. A request to be awakened while still wanting to stay
in the dream is simply not convincing. In the same way, a
focus upon ourselves—struggling to enjoy the world and
continue to ignore His existence—will naturally block our
re-awakening to His and our actual transcendental exis-
tence.
As we focus upon a television show, we cannot be focused
upon what may be going on elsewhere in the room, even
though it is within plain view.
This is the same relationship between our waking
and sleep dream states. While our waking environment is
all around the bed of our sleeping body, we instead are
focused upon our dreamscape. There can be all kinds of
household activities going on around the house while we

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sleep, but we will be oblivious to them when sleeping.

Similarly, our focus on our physical existence with our day-
to-day struggles to be the center of our existence blocks our
ability to focus on our transcendental existence. In the tran-
scendental realm the Supreme Being—not ourselves—is the
object of loving worship and the center of attention. A clear
understanding of this is the starting point toward admis-
sion into the transcendental world.
Once we sincerely desire real love,
our eyes will be opened.
A key requirement of seeing the Supreme Person is
realizing that He has the ability to choose when and
whether we are ready to see Him. This prerogative natu-
rally belongs to the person in control. However, the nature
of transcendental love is that He also determines when it is
in our best interests to see Him. Once we truly desire to see
Him, He will ultimately pick the most perfect moment for
our reuniting. If we are not currently seeing the Supreme
Person, we can know that the perfect time has not come.
We are either not ready to see Him or we are not yet truly
desirous to see Him.
Thus, once we decide we want to return to our rela-
tionship with the Supreme Being, and that desire is sincere,
it is then up to the Supreme Person to reveal Himself as He
determines we are ready. Seeing Him is not some kind of
automatic response, as if we were the order givers and the
Supreme Being was our order taker. “Come out where I can
see you,” is a statement that a superior might make to an
inferior, not the other way around.
The superior always has the prerogative when it
comes to the showing. The inferior may ask the superior,

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but never is it a demand. Also, a friend would never make

a demand like that upon another friend. A further under-
standing includes knowing the nature of our actual
relationship:
A loving friend would not come around if they knew we
wished not to see them. A loving friend would accommo-
date our wishes and stay away.
This is also the nature of love—a true lover will
never force himself upon his beloved. He might occasion-
ally call or send a gentle note indicating a desire to be with
us—but he would never force himself. What kind of a
friend would force himself or herself upon us? If an old
friend did that, we would probably question their motives.
We would probably feel that they had an ulterior motive
for wanting to reunite with us so badly. At the same time, a
friend who sincerely cared for us would gently try to get
together with us. Yet they would never force themselves.
They would be courteous—maybe even a little shy—in ask-
ing if we wanted to get back together.
On the other hand, if we suddenly called a friend
we’ve been ignoring out of the blue, wanting to see them
immediately, the reunion may not be as motivated. Our old
friend (especially a wealthy and famous one) may want to
be sure we were sincere and not whimsical before they will
commit fully. This is natural in any severed relationship.
It only makes sense that we need to be sincere and
honest in our wish to return to our Best Friend, the Su-
preme Being: Certainly before we expect that He would
automatically accommodate our request to immediately see
Him. After we rejected Him and ignored Him for so long, it
might be appropriate for us to first check our own objec-

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tives. We ought to examine our own motives and inten-

tions a bit closer. We should check our own sincerity before
we hastily blame Him for any lack of communication.
Transcendental eyes see transcendental forms.
Some speculate that we cannot see the Supreme Be-
ing because He is formless. This speculation may also be
something of a semantic nature, because the Supreme Per-
son may not have the kind of gross physical form our minds
might expect to perceive. The fact is, He has transcendental
Form, and He is a unique, individual personality. His Form
certainly has arms and legs. Yet at the same time, His Form
and Personality is transcendental to the physical universe.
Although He has one original form, He can also as-
sume many different forms—all of which are also
transcendental. The Supreme Being has numerous Expan-
sions to accomplish His different activities and pastimes.
There are many direct Expansions of the Supreme Person
in different aspects of the transcendental realm, where He
relates with His family of living beings in various kinds of
loving relationships. His relationships—as He is—are com-
plex and multifarious. He relates with each of us in a
unique way: each of us has a slightly different relationship
flavor with Him.
Regardless of how many Expansions the Supreme
Being has, He is still an Individual Being. He is a unique
Personality, though unlimitedly complex and varied in at-
tributes. He indeed is the greatest of Personalities—deeper
than any ocean, and sweeter than the sweetest of sugars.
Real vision comes only from the eyes of love.
The bottom line is that if we want to see the Su-

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preme Person we each need to sincerely desire to re-

establish our innate relationship with Him. We need to re-
develop our love for Him. This means we must first accept
that He is the center of everything—including our lives.
This means we depend upon Him. This also means we
need to sincerely ask Him to wake us up from our slumber
of selfishness. It means we need to trust Him, rely upon
Him, serve Him, and dedicate our lives to Him. As our
commitment to these activities becomes stronger, He will
gradually re-awaken our relationship with Him as our love
for Him gradually increases. With our growing love for
Him comes a natural opening of our actual transcendental
eyes. These are the eyes of love—our actual eyes. These
eyes allow us to see the Supreme Being as He is: A loving,
caring, and gentle Being who cares deeply about each of us.
***
Conclusion: We are unable to focus upon and see the
Supreme Being’s existence while we are focused upon
our own efforts to enjoy this physical world. Seeing the
Supreme Being requires us to awaken from our fantasy
wherein we are the center. Waking up requires a sincere
desire to renew our relationship with Him. The opening
of our transcendental eyes is ultimately His gift, as He
is in control, and He is looking out for our best interests.
By re-establishing our loving relationship with Him
through sincerity and loving service, our actual eyes
will be re-opened.

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 Essay Nine

Faith in Love
A young man won a major sporting event and became imme-
diately famous. Soon old childhood friends he hadn’t heard
from for years were contacting him, requesting to see him.
Some of these “friends” came to visit the young man at his
house, and began squabbling amongst themselves at his front
door. Some claimed to know him better than others did. Some
criticized others, saying they hadn’t known him as long as
they themselves had known him. Some claimed they were bet-
ter friends, and the others didn’t have a real connection like
they had. Disappointed in these “friends,” the young man
avoided visiting with them. He didn’t answer the door. He
pretended not to be home.
Why are we fighting over religion?
Many in modern society have become disillusioned
with organized religion. They have become frustrated and
confused by the bitter ideological power struggles between
the various religious organizations and their proponents. It
seems the situation is not getting any better either.
Sect against sect, faith against faith: we see so many
of different faiths expressing hostility towards those who
worship differently. Violence between faiths has become so
dangerous over recent years that it even threatens the very
existence of humanity on this planet.
This trend is very similar to the widespread dividing
of countries that has taken place around the world over the
past few centuries. More cultures and territories have felt
the need to differentiate and divide themselves from other
cultures and territories. The result has been the establish-
ment of so many new independent or sovereign countries.
The central theme in this territorially divisive behavior is

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the need some of us have to differentiate ourselves from

others by finding points of difference.
We are focused on our differences.
The desire to separate and create independence from
other groups—whether religious or territorial—is a symp-
tom of a larger disease: A disease resulting from a lack of
understanding of who we each are; who ultimately is in
control; and what ultimately is the purpose of our exis-
tence.
If we accept that the Supreme Being is all-powerful,
and is the Creator, then we have to realize that the Su-
preme Person must own and control everything. Since He
owns and controls everything, we are, and everything else
is, dependent upon Him. By recognizing this fact we can ac-
cept that He is in full control.
If we are confident that He is in full control there
will be no need for any of us to fear that another method of
worship will threaten Him or us in any way. It is He who
ultimately allows everyone the freedom to love Him or not.
It is He who ultimately provides the path to return to Him.
It is He who ultimately establishes religious activities and
sacrifices.
Furthermore, if we are confident of His ultimate
control, there is no need to discredit others who may wor-
ship Him otherwise. There is no need to argue over who
might have the best connection to Him or worship Him
with the best method. As any friend would feel about such
behavior, such efforts serve only to offend Him. While we
are focused upon judging others, our own relationship
with Him withers.

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There is but one Supreme Being.

In looking at the arguments put forth by the various
sectarian faiths around the world today that condemn
other faiths, the most relevant question would be: Could
there be more than one Supreme Being? There could be no ul-
timate control if there were more than one Supreme Being.
As the reference to the Supreme Being or God means the
Master and Ruler of Everything, there could only be one
Supreme Being. With regard to which faith is right, we
should first consider whether a person can have more than
one means of contact:
A man drives into a strange town, goes into the library and
asks the librarian “who is the mayor and where can I find
him?”
The librarian says to the man: “The mayor is the guy in the
big office in the large building on Main Street.”
The man drives to the large building and goes into the lobby
and asks the security guard where the mayor is. “Oh, he just
left to go to the restaurant across the street. His name is
Mayor Smith and he’s wearing a blue suit and red tie.”
The man walks across the street and goes into the restaurant.
He asks a waitress if she could direct him to the mayor. “You
mean “Johnny?” she asks. “Johnny already ate and left. He
went to the drugstore to buy an umbrella I think.”
The man then walks over to the drugstore. He looks around
the store for a man in a blue suit and red tie but finds no one.
He asks the cashier if she has seen the mayor. “Oh that’s my
husband—my sweetie-pie,” she says. “What do you want
with him? He’s using the bathroom.”
Are any of these people wrong about how they re-
ferred to the mayor? They all certainly referred to the same

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person. They each referred to the mayor in a different set-

ting. Each had a different name for him, and each had a
different relationship, depending upon their situation; their
occupation; or their particular dealings with him.
While it was correct that the mayor was the person
who holds a particular office in the government and works
in a particular office building, he is also the person who
would sit in a particular restaurant at lunchtime. Since
there was only one mayor in the town, it would be pretty
hard for any of them to have been mistaken about who the
mayor was. There can only be one mayor.
What is religion anyway?
The word religion actually comes from Latin ligare,
meaning, “that which binds.” Thus, religion can be directly
translated as being the act of connecting or binding oneself
to the Supreme Being. Religious activity then, is the process
of establishing our natural relationship with the Supreme
Person. It is the process of coming to know and love the
Supreme Person.
If we accept that we have been created by the Su-
preme Being, then it only makes sense that He has at least
the same capabilities that we, His offspring have, and
more. As each of us is an individual living being, the Su-
preme Being too is an individual Being.
Since all living beings share the desire to be loved
and to exchange love, it should be easy for us to under-
stand that the Supreme Person also has that same capacity.
If the Supreme Person wants to exchange love with us, and
yet gives us the choice to love Him or not, then we must
allow Him the capability of providing to us a method of

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resuming our lost relationship with Him. Just as we can try

to contact a former love, inviting them back into our lives,
the Supreme Person too can try to contact us using various
means to invite us back into His life. This is typical of any
loving relationship.
The exchange of loving relationships between living
beings is the most basic, fundamental quality we all in-
nately possess. From the time we enter our bodies to the
time we leave our bodies, we are constantly absorbed with
attempts to establish loving relationships.
Whether it is reaching out to a family member,
struggling to get attention amongst our peers, going out on
dates, marrying our spouses, or striving for accomplish-
ments to impress and gain respect from the people around
us—we all seek loving relationships with others.
Everyone needs a loving relationship.
There is no question that we all seek the attention,
admiration and ultimately the love of others. We seek to
receive, and give love. The question is: Where do we put
our love and who do we want to love us? As we travel
through physical life, we all experience other living beings
sometimes giving us attention, sometimes but rarely, admi-
ration, and sometimes but even more rarely, love.
Real love is somewhat scarce among the living be-
ings who have taken physical bodies. Nonetheless, we have
all experienced receiving attention, admiration and even a
little care from others during our lifetimes in this body.
Does this satisfy us? As we can see from our own
experiences along with the many suicides and drug abuse
occurrences among famous people—who received atten-

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tion and admiration from millions—the answer has to be

no. The attention and admiration, even care from fellow
living beings—though we struggle for it—is simply not
satisfying.
Why do we struggle to achieve these things if they
don’t satisfy us? The answer lies hidden within our real
identities—we are loving creatures: We live to love and
love to serve. By nature, we want to love our Best Friend
and Companion, the Supreme Being.
By nature, we want to serve the Supreme Person. By
nature, we want to receive love from our Best Friend and
Companion. Beneath our envy and quest for enjoyment, He
is what we ultimately seek. Each of us has an innate form
and relationship with Him. It is our innate nature to love
and serve Him.
Our constant need for loving relationships is part of
our actual nature. This is because our actual position is
based upon our original loving relationship with the Su-
preme Person.
Religion is the process of regaining that relationship.
Once regained, the living being is truly satisfied living
within this revived relationship to the Supreme Person.
This is our constitutional activity. Loving the Supreme Be-
ing is the living being’s heritage and original condition.
This is why we spend our lives going from one relationship
to another—because we are seeking one particular relation-
ship, and cannot find it here in this physical world.
We chose to leave love and live in this place.
Unfortunately, we forsook our actual nature to come
to this physical world. We chose to leave His world. Be-

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cause we became envious, and wanted to enjoy as He does,

we needed to get away from Him in order to try to accom-
plish that. So He granted us these physical bodies to
attempt this separate enjoyment and ignore His existence
for awhile. As any true friend would do, He continually
gives us the freedom to either stay here—away from
Him—or return back to Him.
If we choose to not re-establish our relationship with
Him, we can continue our struggle to exchange physical
relationships with other living beings who are also trying
to be enjoyers. The problem with choosing the relationships
of this physical dimension is that they will not satisfy us—
because we are not physical. We can continue to strive for
satisfying relationships, but relationships of this world will
never satisfy the transcendental living being.
We can continue to avoid love if we wish.
Since the Supreme Being is in control and we have a
choice whether or not to reconnect with Him; should we
desire not to reconnect, He will provide us with the means.
This is one reason for the many philosophies and science
theories that ignore or deny His existence. He provides us
with a physical body, an environment to live where we do
not have to see Him, and even the rationale to deny His
existence.
Once we have rationalized away His existence, He
arranges for us all the tools to continue to pretend He does
not exist. He also allows an arrangement where we can
achieve our desires with obvious limits: He cannot allow us
to be the Supreme Being because we aren’t, but He can put
us in situations where we can pretend to be Him. Should

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we desire to become respected by others; that can be ar-

ranged. Should we desire to become wealthy; that can be
arranged. Should we desire to become a ruler of some sort
or have large followings; that can be arranged as well. Of
course there are always costs of accomplishing these goals,
and there will be accompanying lessons to help us under-
stand why these positions do not satisfy us.
We may or may not heed those lessons. Nonetheless,
He allows us an arrangement where we can be away from
Him. He will allow us the ability to rationalize away His
existence. He will even allow us to pretend we are Him in
one respect or another for awhile. This is called uncondi-
tional love.
We will use anything to avoid love.
Some of us may concoct at some point that if we ap-
pear religious, others will respect and honor us—even
worship us. Though it makes Him unhappy to do so, the
Supreme Being will even allow us to use His Names and
teachings to attempt to find fulfillment through achieving
the respect and attention of others.
Meanwhile, some of us may simply join a particular
religious group or faith to simply be accepted by our fami-
lies, friends or others. Some of us may join to share in the
church bake-offs and other community activities. Some of
us may join to simply feel we belong.
Of course none of this is wrong. It simply may not
be giving us the result we think it might. The Supreme Be-
ing may well be included to some extent, which is good.
The group may honor Him once a week together, for ex-
ample. He certainly sees and appreciates the efforts each of

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the individuals of that group make. We may also fall into

groupthink, forgetting our personal need to embrace the
Supreme Being as we cozy up to the group consciousness.
We may also fall into a relationship that sees the Su-
preme Being as our order-supplier. This makes the focus of
our worship upon asking the Supreme Being for physical
benefits like health, wealth, and/or success. Certainly, the
Supreme Person is our ultimate provider and we can bring
Him our concerns. He certainly does and will always take
care of all of us. The question is whether a good use of our
precious relationship with Him should be asking Him for
temporary physical stuff.
Meanwhile, some of us may join an organized relig-
ion because of guilt, or because we are afraid of going to
hell. Should we feel guilty for doing things we know are
not right, the focus of our worship may be to be cleansed of
our sins. Some of us may join an organization feeling that if
we declare our allegiance we will be ‘saved,’ and thus avoid
going to hell.
There are a number of reasons one may initially seek
out the Supreme Person. None of them is particularly
wrong. As long as our sincerity eventually redirects our
focus toward re-establishing our love for Him, we make
progress.
However, if our continued intent is a focus on ob-
taining things from Him in order to increase our enjoyment
of the world, we may also offend Him. It is also easy to be-
come proud of our religiosity, which will offend Him. Just
as offending a friend by trying to use them will damage
our ability to renew that relationship, offending our Best
Friend by attempting to take advantage of Him in the name

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of religion can have similar consequences. The bottom line

is that the Supreme Being is not an inanimate object or ma-
chine. He is a Person: A Person who has feelings and
emotions. He is a Person we can care for, not just use.
Still, prior to committing to any group, we should be
cautious, as it is easy to fall in to a group led by a teacher or
philosophy not empowered to help us grow. It is easy to be
misled by large followings. We should carefully and per-
sonally check the teachings of any particular teacher before
we jump in. We have seen many instances of teachers lead-
ing students to tragic or otherwise unfortunate conclusions.
We should realize that the potency of the teacher is not
granted by groups of people or the status quo:
The Teacher’s potency is granted by the Supreme Being.
We are directed according to our sincerity.
It is ultimately the Supreme Being who directs each
of us when it comes to developing our transcendental love
for Him. He directs us exactly to the level we desire to go,
aligned perfectly to our level of sincerity and our stage of
growth. He provides just the organization or situation to fit
our objectives, yet gives us enough messages to help direct
us towards Him further should we want to go in that direc-
tion. Should we want to appear religious to others, He will
sadly give us the opportunity.
If we want to feel saved, He will give us the ability
to feel that way. If we feel guilty and want to be forgiven,
He will naturally give us that because He is a gracious, for-
giving Person and He loves us unconditionally. Though
some activities may not directly increase our love for the
Supreme Being, they may increase our focus upon Him and

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lead us towards desiring a true relationship. However, any

activity aimed at self-centered gain in the name of religion
has an inborn risk of offending the Supreme Being, making
it harder to regain our relationship with Him. Self-centered
activities in the name of religion can also lead to the sour
fruits of insecurity, intolerance, and fanaticism.
All of these aspects are focused at the personal level:
between the individual self and the Supreme Person. It is
the sincerity of the person and their approach towards the
Supreme Being that counts. The group or organization they
may have joined is secondary. Note also that selfish objec-
tives can be practiced while dressed in any a number of
garbs. Indeed, we can also serve and learn to love the Su-
preme Person within various bona fide teachings—as long
as we are sincere and working to honestly connect with
Him.
True religion has a core message.
Should we be sincere in our desire to reconnect with
our Supreme Friend, He will give us the opportunity. He
has thus set up specific methods to enable us to re-establish
our relationship with Him. These methods are communi-
cated both directly and through those who already have an
established relationship with Him. He will communicate to
us through His trusted messengers because they will pass
on His instructions without altering its meaning, while
showing us the meaning of that message by example.
Despite the fact that various religious proponents
argue that their teachings are superior to others; all bona
fide religious teachings descend from the Supreme Person
either directly or through one of His loving servants. Cer-

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tainly, there are various differences between them. Each

was introduced into a particular culture at a particular time
and place. Naturally, we will find practical, cultural and
methodology difference. The teachings of the bona fide
master who revealed the transcendental path into that cul-
ture had a particular purpose of educating those particular
people in ways they could apply to their then-current life-
styles. As a result, there are minor cultural and ceremonial
differences among many of the specific rituals or language
of these faiths. These minor differences do not change the
intent or message.
As we review the common threads of these various
teachings, we must build a larger perspective. This per-
spective requires an understanding of the core message of
the teachings brought forth from the various scriptures and
messengers. The messenger may deliver the message ac-
cording to the time, culture, circumstance, and the degree
of transcendental awareness among the audience—just as a
coach might tailor his coaching to the playing level and age
of the players:
A baseball coach coaches three baseball teams of different ages.
The players on the youngest team are playing baseball for the
first time. During practice, the coach shows them how to
catch and throw the ball, and he runs them through basic
drills to teach them other fundamentals of baseball. His next
oldest team contains players who have learned most of the
fundamentals, but they still need basic drills to increase their
proficiency. The oldest team is made up of players who are
proficient in most of the fundamentals of baseball. Their prac-
tices, although still including basic drills, will teach more
technical skills to further increase the players’ proficiency and
skill refinement.

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In fact, since a master’s teachings are often targeted

to particular individuals or groups of individuals, each
teaching contains topics tailored to the level and culture of
that particular student or group of students. In other
words, the specific lecture may often accommodate the au-
dience to attain the best possible comprehension. Because
of this, teachings of the masters will have numerous cul-
tural differences and ranges of depth when compared
historically.
Furthermore, different societies use different lan-
guages, and have various degrees of education among the
population. These will also yield differences in how the
master’s teachings were recorded and practiced. Some-
times masters have revealed teachings specifically meant to
counteract certain popular practices during the time, which
displeased our Friend.
These teachings again were meant for that time and
circumstance, and thus may be difficult for a person in an-
other culture and time to understand them fully. As a
result, ancient teachings may seem difficult to practically
apply to our lives today. It is for this reason a living
Teacher is necessary.
A humble and prayerful approach to the lives and
teachings of each of these actual masters; paying close at-
tention to the core messages of their teachings, with a
careful examination of what they said, to whom they said it,
and what they themselves did (teaching by example) should
reveal the essence of their teachings. When considered in
context with the time and circumstances surrounding their
teachings, the conclusion should be the same. A trusted
translation of the spoken words of these various masters

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should be combined with the history of their activities in

the service of the Supreme Being, because a true master
speaks not only with words, but by example.
Direct guidance on these issues will be necessary. A
living guide and master will not only differentiate cultural
issues from the central message of past Teachers, but will
show us how to apply the core message to our current
lives, disclosing the essential elements of that core.
What is the core message?
The basic tenet, common to all the masters, is boiled
down to a request for each of us to put our attention, focus, love,
service, and dedication towards the Supreme Being. This basi-
cally boils down to a request for each of us to re-establish
our loving relationship with Him.
A careful analysis of the lives of these masters re-
veals that each of these masters themselves focused upon
living their lives for the Supreme Being—loving and serv-
ing Him—and thus practiced what they taught. To teach
others to give their lives and focus their love and attention
on the Supreme Person would simply have no meaning
without performing activities pleasing to the Supreme Be-
ing. Quite simply, they lived their lives in loving servitude
to the Supreme Person.
The core or essence of the message is consistent:
Someone with a confidential relationship with the Supreme
Person is requesting us to re-establish our own personal
loving relationship with the Supreme Person. They have
asked us to serve the Supreme Person, learn to love the Su-
preme Person, pray to Him, sing and repeat His Names as
much as possible, and give our lives to Him. This teaching

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is accompanied by the Teacher also following these instruc-

tions—leading the way by example. Furthermore, this
message reveals an intimate relationship between the mes-
senger and the Supreme Person.
The message of love is worth passing on.
Since these masters all performed acts pleasing to
the Supreme Person, it would only make sense that the ac-
tions and teachings they taught represented the will of the
Supreme Being. Since their teachings are immersed with
requests for us to give our love, attention and service to the
Supreme Person, we must realize that this is the Supreme
Being’s prime directive because He knows only such a lov-
ing relationship will also make us happy.
It is evident by these various faiths throughout the
world that the Supreme Person has made numerous at-
tempts throughout the ages to invite us to exchange love
with Him. Over and over, in each age and in each culture
we see His servants working diligently to pass on this sin-
gle message. In many cases we see these Teachers
sacrificing everything—even their very lives—to spread
this key message.
All the bona fide faiths that accept the Supreme Be-
ing in one Name or another are each founded in the
documented messages of lovers of the Supreme Being. If
we explore the lives of those Teachers central to that faith,
we discover a common characteristic: They each displayed
an apparent confidential relationship with the Supreme
Being, and they put a lot of energy towards pleasing and
worshipping the Supreme Being.
In a loving relationship, one performs the wishes of

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his beloved. Like the statements of a foreign diplomat rep-

resenting the wishes of the leader of the government, the
teachings of these various masters throughout the ages re-
flect the wishes and desires of the Supreme Person.
The efforts of these Teachers reflect their confiden-
tial relationship with Him. The efforts of these Teachers
also illustrate how love for the Supreme Being expands to
others. This is the concept of saving. These messengers are
in effect saving us from our continued ignorance of what
will ultimately make us happy.
There have been many debates regarding the con-
cept of oneness between the Teacher and the Supreme
Being as referenced from historical teachings. For some this
has created confusion regarding the individuality of the
Teacher and the Supreme Being.
A clear understanding of this concept requires see-
ing the nature of the loving relationship between the
Teacher and the Supreme Being: The Teacher is a devoted
and loving servant of the Supreme Being and thus becomes
linked with the will of the Supreme Being. Aligning ones
will with another merges their purpose and objectives.
The loving servant of the Supreme Being assumes
the same will as the Supreme Being because the loving ser-
vant desires whatever the Supreme Being desires. They
become linked through common desire. They become one
in their love and compassion upon us. This does not mean
they do not remain individuals, exchanging love. The Su-
preme Being remains separate. Otherwise, love and
choice—love’s prerequisite—become moot.
Our minds rather focus on petty details.

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It is the trap of our minds—coming from a desire to

ignore the Supreme Being—to focus on the differences pre-
sented by the time and circumstances surrounding of these
great Teachers and their teachings. This is the same desire
that causes us to focus on the faults of others around us in
our everyday lives. It is the desire to have superiority over
others. This desire for superiority is part of our central dis-
ease of envying the superiority of the Supreme Person.
Surely, we can find so many differences between the
cultures and ceremonies of various societies throughout
history with respect to their ceremonies of worship. Who
are we to sit in judgment?
The purpose of the various forms of worship of the
Supreme Person is the same: To re-focus our life upon the
Supreme Person and re-develop our love for Him. Some-
one who represents the Supreme Person will never steer us
wrong as long as they truly represent Him and maintain
their relationship with Him.
Different times, different places, same message.
One over-riding message these various Teachers
make with their lives is that we can re-establish our relation-
ship with the Supreme Being in any culture, in any society and
at any time.
This communication emphasizes how important it is
that we re-focus our lives toward the Supreme Being now.
It is a message that tells us that we do not have to be born
in a particular region of the world to have access to Him.
He brings the facility to reconnect to Him to where ever we
might be. There are no physical or territorial barriers to
reaching Him.

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Some of us may fight because we disagree about the

specifics of who the Teacher of a particular teaching was.
We may disagree on a Teacher’s position, rank, level, or
birthright. We may disagree on trivial historical specifics.
All of these disagreements distract us from the es-
sence of this Teacher’s teachings. They focus on issues that
are not relevant to the actual message. The only relevant
issue we have to be concerned about is whether the
Teacher was representing the Supreme Being in his teach-
ings and life. The only relevant matter about the Teacher’s
history is whether he was surrendered to and lived his life
for the Supreme Person. The only relevant matter regard-
ing the Teacher’s teaching—their actual message—was
whether they communicated the need for us to give our
hearts, our love and our lives to the Supreme Being. All the
rest is trivia.
A pertinent question to ask would be: Do we think
that this Teacher would be pleased to find that instead of
us using our precious time to learn to love and focus upon
the Supreme Being, we chose to spend our efforts arguing
and fighting over the specifics of their position, rank, or per-
sonal details?
The authentic Teacher teaches by example.
Today many teachers teach various things in the
name of religion. We may wonder which teacher and
teaching is correct. Which one we would want to listen to
and follow.
There are certain signs of a true Teacher. These are
evident from the lives of the great Teachers from the past
and present. A true Teacher is not interested in teaching in

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order to gain his or her own glorification, wealth or follow-

ing. On the contrary, the actual Teacher may be discredited
by society. The actual Teacher will be consistent in follow-
ing previous Teachers who represented the Supreme
Person. The actual Teacher will be a student before they are
a Teacher, and the teaching of the Teacher should be con-
sistent with the teachings of the Teacher’s Teacher. A
teacher who says we need them as a teacher but they never
needed a teacher is a living contradiction.
It should be noted again that a Teacher’s potency to
personally guide us on our path towards fulfillment is
granted by the Supreme Person. He ultimately chooses His
representative. The central qualification of a representative
of the Supreme Being is whether this person (and their
Teacher, and their Teacher’s Teacher, and so on) has an
established personal relationship with the Supreme Being.
After all, one cannot introduce someone they do not know.
The quality of the teacher reflects
the sincerity of the student.
This might beg the question of why, if the Supreme
Person wants us to come back to Him, do sincere Teachers
seem so rare? Why do there seem to be so many teachers
with ulterior motives? A close examination would reveal
that this situation reflects our own sincerity. The Supreme
Being is in control. He gives us the option of deciding to
return to Him. Many may choose not to. Some may choose
to use Him in order to accomplish selfish objectives. Mean-
while, there may be those who sincerely want to re-
establish their relationship with Him.
Those of us who want to use Him will be directed to
those that teach how we can use Him, while those of us

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who want to truly return to Him are directed to those who

teach how to re-establish our relationship with Him. In this
way, we are attracted to the teachers who reflect our sincer-
ity. Therefore, the quality of the teacher reflects the
sincerity of the student.
The method of love is glorification.
Although various cultures practice with different
ceremonies, the common feature among all bona fide prac-
tices for accomplishing the goal of love for the Supreme
Person is the same: Communicating with the Supreme Be-
ing; Praying to Him; Calling out His Names; Singing His
Names; serving Him; thinking of Him and Glorifying Him.
It is conclusive from all these bona fide practices that the
Supreme Person responds when we call His Names out in
song or prayer. He wants us to communicate with Him. It
is as if He has established a personal hot line between us
and Him, and anytime we want to open communications,
we can humbly and respectfully call His Name and talk
with Him.
In any relationship, calling out the other person’s
name is considered an expression of love: to call out a be-
loved’s name or sing it in song is a universal activity when
one is seeking or involved in a loving relationship with
another person. Although some may argue that their form
of the Supreme Being’s Name is right and others’ are
wrong:
Each of us typically has more than one name. We usually
have two or three basic given names; a first, a last and a mid-
dle name. Then we may have nicknames. Someone named
“Robert” might be called “Bobbie” by some people for exam-
ple. Or maybe “Robert” might be called nicknames like

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“squirt” or “speedy” because of certain characteristics. We

may also be greeted with endearing names by people close to
us. We may be called “sweetie” or “buttercup” by our
spouses, for example.
We also each have different methods people can use to ap-
proach us and communicate with us. People may call us on
the phone, come visit us at our house, or meet us at a restau-
rant. People may also write us a letter, or even send an email
to communicate with us.
We must ask ourselves: If each of us can have more
than one name, and more than one way to approach us,
why should the Supreme Being be limited to only one
Name, and one method of communicating with Him?
Therefore, any number of Names revealed by one of His
representatives would certainly be acceptable Names to
call out, as long as they are called out with sincerity and
respect. We can call the Supreme Being the Father, the
Creator, our Friend, the Supreme Person, and many other
references. We can also use scripturally revealed Names of
the Supreme Being such as God, Eloi, Jehovah, Allah,
Vishnu, Yahweh, and many others, each referring to differ-
ent features and aspects of the same Supreme Being.
True love is spread by love.
These points should illustrate that the basic tenets of
the many bona fide teachings boil religion down to a
method of re-establishing our loving relationship with the
Supreme Person. Each of these various teachings through-
out the ages show us that the Supreme Being is attempting
to exchange love with us by extending Himself through the
words and writings of His representatives. There is but one
religion: the religion of re-establishing and acting upon our

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individual relationship with the Supreme Person. Regard-

less of the specifics of culture, time and circumstance, the
message has remained the same.
When we step back with this vision we can see that
the various faiths and religions throughout our history il-
lustrate clearly to us that the same Supreme Being is
reaching out to us, wanting us to return to Him. They tell
us that He wants us to love Him and that He loves us
enough to reach out not just once or twice, but through in-
numerable communications; through various scriptures;
through various representatives; along with messages
emerging deep within our own being. The fact that He does
not force Himself upon us, giving us so many opportuni-
ties to ignore Him together with so many opportunities to
approach Him, shows that He is our Ultimate Friend. They
tell us that He wants us to decide with a completely free
will whether we want to love Him and return to Him, or
whether we’d just rather squabble amongst ourselves at
His doorstep while continuing to ignore our actual rela-
tionship with Him awhile longer.
***
Conclusion: There is one Supreme Being. He has been
trying to bring us home through innumerable attempts
delivered by so many personal messengers through the
ages. A focus on the purpose and intent of each message
uncovers the ultimate desire of the Supreme Being to in-
vite us to re-establish our relationship with Him.
Attempts to discredit other faiths are simply ways to
keep ignoring this basic message.

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 Essay Ten

Love and Pain

A man entered a demolition derby. Into the derby, he brought
an old car—dented and beat up, yet still running. He put on
a crash helmet, buckled up, and he was off. Other cars imme-
diately began to bang into his car, and he banged into others.
It quickly became a free-for-all, with cars banging into each
other from all angles. This went on for a couple of hours.
Once a car stopped running it was out of the contest. The
man’s car eventually got pretty badly smashed up by the
other cars. The car’s fenders, doors, bumpers, and engine
were all severely damaged. Finally, the car’s motor stopped
running. The man got out, took off his helmet, and walked
away, leaving the car to be towed off the derby track. He
never saw or drove that car again.
“If the Supreme Being loves us, why is there so much
pain and suffering in the world?”
Many ask this question at one time or another in
their search for the Supreme Being. Unfortunately, the an-
swer to this question is rarely adequately explained. This is
due to a lack of understanding of the living being and the
nature of the physical dimension.
Life in this physical dimension is very similar to a
demolition derby. Like drivers in demolition derby cars, we
are temporarily embodied. In actuality, we are transcen-
dental to these bodies. We are of a different nature. At
some point—just as in the demolition derby—we also have
to walk away from our bodies. A dead body is lifeless be-
cause the living being—the actual personality operating the
body—has walked away.
Being inside of a body is very similar to a person
driving an automobile for a number of reasons. When we

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are inside our cars, we utilize them as if they are external

extensions of our selves. Many of us identify with the cars
that we own and drive. We will also judge others by the
cars they drive. We might think a person driving a smaller
car is an unsuccessful person, or one who drives a big car
as an important person, for example.
The demolition derby as an analogy is also appro-
priate for other reasons. It illustrates how people get into
cars that serve as their extensions. By the nature of the
derby, their cars will quickly get smashed up until they
won’t drive anymore. This is analogous to our physical
body. Once it stops running, the driver will get out of the
car and leave it, just as we leave our bodies at death. Of
course, we can eliminate the derby winner from the anal-
ogy. In the physical world, there are no winners. Every
body dies.
Now if the derby driver was emotionally attached to
his car he would have a rough time in the derby. His prized
car would constantly be getting crashed into. For this rea-
son, a person usually does not take a valued car into the
derby. It would undoubtedly have an early exit to the junk
heap. Instead, derby drivers bring in their heaps with big
bumpers. They will also wear protective gear to help keep
them from getting hurt, so they can smash up their car and
safely get out.
We value our bodies.
Our bodies start getting banged up the moment we
are born into them. They get diseased or injured and die
after just a few decades. Some get diseased, some get in
accidents, some are purposely destroyed as in suicide.

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These vehicles are designed to be broken. Like the demoli-

tion derby cars, no body makes it out alive.
The logical question we must pose is why—if we
know our bodies will simply be demolished—are we so
attached to them? Why do we hang onto them so desper-
ately, even when their destruction is certain? The answer
lies in the fact that when we arrive in our bodies we begin
to identify with them and become attached to them, just as a
person might with a new car.
If we realized the body will become a pile of decom-
posing flesh one day and we would walk away unhurt,
then we might not be so attached. In the physical realm we
try to ignore the fact that our bodies will be smashed up
and disposed of. We are simply too busy trying to enjoy
them to ponder their future.
Tolerance to pain and suffering can vary greatly.
Dentists and anesthesiologists understand that there
is a huge range of pain tolerance between different people.
Some people are very tolerant and can withstand lots of it.
Boxers or rugby players, for example, can tolerate a lot
more pain than the average person might. At the dentist’s
office, some people don’t even need Novocain while others
want to be knocked out with nitrous oxide. Some people
cannot tolerate even the faintest feelings of pain, and they
exert great effort to avoid it. Others will approach life head
on—colliding with painful experiences on their way to-
wards accomplishing their goals. This is because we all
have relative degrees of pain sensitivity.
Around the world we see huge variances between
the tolerance for suffering among different societies. While

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some societies will consider a small percentage of the

population being homeless and cold as great suffering,
other societies deal with massive starvation, dehydration,
and even mass genocide. Although none of these situations
is acceptable in a world where some live in excess, it is easy
to see a range of tolerance when it comes to human suffer-
ing around the world.
Indeed, many cultures have varying acceptable no-
tions of pain. While some cultures have undertaken such
traditions as fire walking and body piercing, other cultures
have pampered their bodies with hot baths, whimpering
with the slightest of temperature deviation. Meanwhile
soldiers have been known historically to endure extreme
pain, while their rulers may have been sensitive to the
slightest of discomforts.
Why such a large difference in tolerance to pain and
suffering? If we were simply chemical machines and pain
was strictly a biological issue, then the same amount of
pain would affect each of us the same. Yet this is not the
reality. Such a variance in pain sensitivity can only indicate
that some of us feel more connected or attached to our body
than others.
This can be illustrated by measuring physical con-
sciousness and pain tolerance together. Anesthesiologists
widely agree that the less conscious a person is, the less
sensitive they will be to pain. This is why invasive surgical
anesthesia will usually consist of knocking a person uncon-
scious. Physical consciousness is the level of focus we
might have upon our physical body. We must be conscious
of something in order to be connected or attached to it. This
attachment to our body is thus the key element associated

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with pain sensitivity and tolerance.

Our pain is relative to our attachments.
If we accept that each of us is a living being and not
our physical body, then we must accept that the pain and
suffering that our body experiences is not actually happen-
ing to me. If the pain is not happening to us, the only way
we will experience it is through misidentification and at-
tachment with the body. In the same way, if we brought a
new car we identified with into the demolition derby we
would be more sensitive to each bang to our valued car.
By being more sensitive, we are focusing upon the
car and what it means to us, increasing our attachment to
the future of the car and how it will affect our image (mis-
identification). It is this focus—pondering how it might
affect our image and how it might affect our future enjoy-
ment of it—that creates our sensitivity to it. This sensitivity
leads to our focus upon our experience of pain.
Now if we knew the old banged up car was a
clunker, and we kept it locked in the garage, we would not
care how badly it got banged up. It did not affect our image
because we hardly drove it. Each bang in the derby would
not be associated with such a negative response and if we
were prepared for it, unattached to the car.
The purpose we hold for the physical body is also
one of the keys to pain sensitivity. If we have concocted
various plans for using our body in ways we think will
give us pleasure, we will naturally be very concerned about
any contact that might prevent those concocted plans from
taking place. For example, losing our eyesight would be
extremely damaging to our ability to enjoy visual sensa-

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tions. In the same way, if we had plans to drive our car

across the country, we would be very concerned about it
getting smashed up in the derby. Therefore, any potential
threat will be met with increased focus and concern.
Physical pain by itself is simply a signal that our
body may be in danger. We can simply respond to each
pain as just our vehicle’s signals, or we can dwell on each
and every pain, dreading anything that might cause future
pain. We dread future pain because we fear that it may in-
terfere with our concoctions for the future enjoyment of our
body. This attachment to future concoctions for physical
pleasure causes this attachment to our physical body.
We can see the relativity of pain sensitivity else-
where in our lives. For example, the more attached we are
to a particular event or person, the more something affect-
ing that event or person can cause us pain, trauma,
frustration, etc. We can see this when people become
wrapped up in sporting events and attached to certain
teams. Because of this attachment, a loss for the home team
can leave the person significantly affected. We have seen
disappointment even turn to anger in some cases.
Meanwhile, the same loss wouldn’t affect the person
not following or involved in that team whatsoever. With-
out the focus and attention, there is no disappointment.
Becoming attached to another person can become a
source of pain as well. The more attached we become to
that person, the more a breakup or death will cause us
pain. The bottom line is that the level of pain we experience
is relative to the amount of attachment we have for that
specific person or event. Gross physical pain works the
same way: pain is relative to the attachment we have to our

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physical bodies.

Our goals are reflected in our pain.

An example of the relativity of pain sensitivity is an
athlete who will endure tremendous pain for the sake of
winning a contest. A competitive long distance cyclist, for
example, will cycle several hundred miles per week for
many years for the sake of winning one big race. During
this time, not to speak of the race itself, the athlete is bring-
ing upon himself or herself the kind of pain that we might
compare to a torture chamber. Yet the athlete, because he
or she is attached to the goal rather than the body’s comfort,
will endure that pain as though it were a mere byproduct
of the contest. Their attachment to the body’s comfort is
minimized by the purpose created for the use of their body.
On the other hand, a competitive cyclist who was
determined to avoid pain would not do so well in the race.
As soon as feelings of pain or discomfort arose, this biker
will slow down or stop to avoid the pain. While the win-
ning cyclist accepts pain as part of the race and thus
doesn’t focus on it, the slower cyclist is focused upon
avoiding pain due to being more attached to their physical
body’s comfort. Although the winner’s body might feed
back more pain signals, the winning cyclist will not focus
on these because of their stronger attachment to winning
the race, and their subsequent unattachment to the physical
pain.
Another example of the relative effect of pain is self-
mutilation. In modern society, there are now millions of
kids who self-inflict their bodies. They do this with razors,

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knives, pins and other painful tools. Surveys on self-

mutilation reveal that kids do this in response to their feel-
ings of frustration and emptiness with the world around
them. Many sense a feeling of numbness, and through mu-
tilation, they hope to achieve a connection to reality (which
does not work of course).
In reviewing many of these cases, we discover that
kids will say when they self-inflict they do not feel much
pain. They are more attached to filling their emptiness than
they are to their bodies at that moment. Proving this point,
many of these same kids will say that if they were to have
an accident or minor injury, they will feel more pain—
unlike the muted pain they felt during their self-mutilating.
When they return to their more “normal” attachment to
their bodies, they return to being more sensitive to pain.
It is surely an absurdity to most adults who can’t
understand why someone would inflict pain upon them-
selves, as most of us normally avoid physical pain. Some
people feel the same about athletes like long-distance run-
ners, cyclists, rugby players, or boxers. Some would feel
that these people are insane to inflict such pain upon their
bodies. However, these athletes and self-mutilators are
simply focused upon achieving objectives they have be-
come attached to, so their attachment to their physical
bodies during these contests or episodes decreases.
The bottom line is that pain is relative to our at-
tachment to our body and the specific goals we set up for
using our body. Physical pain does not actually touch the living
being, who is nonphysical and transcendental to the body. Just as
the demolition derby car driver can disconnect and walk
away from his crashed-up car without a scratch, the actual

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living being can disconnect with the physical body and its
various pains and sufferings. This disconnection can be
partially achieved through the attachment to certain goals
outside the comfort of our bodies. It can also take place at
death, when we are forcibly detached from our body. Or it
can be accomplished more completely through transcen-
dental activities of our actual identity. In other words, we
are only affected by the pains of our physical body relative
to our attachment and practical application to it.
Attachment to the physical body is due to our intent
to be the enjoyer of it. As we desire to enjoy through a par-
ticular body, we become attached to it. With this
attachment, we begin to identify with the body—confusing
it with our self. In the same way, if a person wants to use
their car for a long road trip or to impress their friends,
then they will become more attached to the car and thus
sensitive to any little scratch or damage to the engine.
There is a deeper reason for pain.
Our constitutional position is related to the Supreme
Person and this physical world is His creation. We all strive
to exchange loving relationships and so does the Supreme
Person. Loving relationships require choice. For those of us
who choose not to engage in a loving relationship with the
Supreme Person, He has created a facility enabling us to be
away from Him. How else could we get away from Some-
one like the Supreme Being?
A child becomes angry at one of his parents. He says that he
wants the parent to go away. Since it is the parent’s house,
the parent is not going away. Yet the parent must find a way
to accommodate the child’s desire for independence. So the
parent builds a tree house in the back yard, and explains to

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the child that this fort is the child’s private area. The fort is a
space the parent created to give the child his own little world
to play in. This gives the child the perception of independ-
ence, though the fort is still part of the parent’s property.
This is a typical response of any loving parent, be-
cause no one feels comfortable forcing themselves upon
another person while expecting to exchange a meaningful
relationship. This is an innate, widely accepted practice in
any true relationship. Love cannot be slavery, and slavery
cannot be love.
In the same way this parent wanted the child to
have a feeling of independence; the Supreme Being has
given us a temporary world in which we can play while
ignoring His existence. Not only does He give us this virtu-
ally independent world, but he also gives us the freedom to
make our own choice about whether we want to come back
and love Him again.
Our Friend allows us this perception of independ-
ence, but this is not our constitutional position. We simply
are not happy being away from Him. This is the actual pain
and suffering of the living being. We get a chance to try so
many different concoctions in different physical bodies, all
in an attempt to enjoy separately from Him. Unfortunately,
these all end in disaster: We fail miserably at becoming in-
dependently happy.
Our Best Friend does not want us to suffer like this.
He wants us to be happy—not shriveling as we are in lone-
liness, away from Him. So not only has He given us this
place of independence to act out our desires, but He has
rigged it in such a way to allow us to learn (but only if we
want to) that we cannot be happy without Him. Thus,

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while we might consider the pain and suffering of the

world to be errors in the design of creation, they are in fact,
perfectly designed to help us to grow and evolve towards
our constitutional state of happiness.
Consider that discipline creates a learning experi-
ence. When we teach children, we notice that usually both
positive reinforcement and negative experiences create
learning scenarios. Both positive feedback and negative
feedback are natural teaching tools to any living being, and
that is why parents utilize this approach with children.
Disciplinary measures like timeout, being grounded, losing
privileges, and logical consequences are used by parents to
show a child that certain actions are simply not acceptable.
At the same time, however, positive actions are reinforced
with praises and rewards. Positive and negative experi-
ences can teach us which decisions are good for us and
which decisions may not be good for us. If we only had
positive feedback, we could never realize how bad deci-
sions were harmful for us.
There is a definite difference between punishment
and discipline. In punishment, a person may be forced to
pay for an action, without regard to any redemption or
learning experience. The punishment for the action is also
often arbitrary and unrelated to the actual action, and it
thus is considered unfair:
A child was caught throwing food at the dinner table. His fa-
ther punished him with a painful spanking. The spanking
was unrelated to the activity of throwing food. It was also ar-
bitrary, and probably didn’t teach the child anything other
than the fact that there will be violent punishment for doing
this action.

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Discipline on the other hand, is an intentional process

of specifically enabling a clear understanding of the conse-
quences of taking that particular action, allowing the
person to truly learn why that action should not be taken:
Another child at another dinner table also was caught throw-
ing food. His father made the boy pick up all the food, wash
all the walls, and wash the floors. This consequence is related
to the damage the boy made when he threw the food. This en-
ables the boy to experience the direct result of what happens
when food is thrown, increasing the likelihood of the boy
learning from the discipline.
The system in this world is discipline, not punishment.
If we look around us at the various consequences related to
the decisions we make while in this physical world, it is
obvious that the facility of cause and effect is perfectly
tuned to enable us to specifically experience and correct the
various decisions we made and actions we took. We can
see this day-to-day system working all around us. We are
constantly being put into the situations we cause; allowing
us to experience the results of our prior actions. Although
some of us may not be able to see why some suffer more
than others during their lot in physical life, once we open
the picture up to multiple physical embodiments, we can
understand how one lifetime can be set up to perfectly re-
flect and discipline us for prior decisions made in prior
physical lifetimes.
Again, painful events are not actually touching the
transcendental person. They may certainly affect the living
being who is attached to their body. This effect might be
compared to a video game character:

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A child’s video game character is attacked by some giant

video creatures during a video game quest. The assault re-
sults in the video game character getting his head chopped off.
The child loses some game points. When the child’s mother
calls her for dinner, she turns off the game and heads for the
dinner table.
Though they do not actually touch us, the pains we
feel physically are created by our desire to enjoy independ-
ently. The temporary physical pains and sufferings in the
world are caused by the decisions each one of us has made
and the actions each one of us has taken which continue
our need for learning. When we, seeking to enjoy inde-
pendently, cause pain to other living organisms in some
way, our virtual physical bodies in turn will experience—at
some point in the future if not immediately—that very
same temporary physical pain.
That enables us to learn through these virtual selves.
Using the analogy of the tree house, we might build the
tree house for our child but if they damaged it—especially
if they did something they know would damage it—then
the parents would probably establish the rule that the child
had to make this repair himself. This will help the child
understand the consequences of breaking something. Al-
though the parent may not think that the tree house was in
itself such a big deal, they would consider the situation an
important learning experience. They would feel that the
child’s fixing it would teach the child the principle of the
event: the moral.
If we carefully analyze the world we live in, we can
see particular consequences for our every decision and ac-
tion. Sometimes the consequences are positive. When we

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help someone, it creates an atmosphere of helping others.

Others will readily help us when needed as a result. On the
other hand, some consequences are negative. If we steal,
for example, we will have to suffer jail time. If we murder,
our own body may be executed as a result.
If we create painful experiences for others, we will
receive painful experiences at some point in the future.
Once we begin connecting our actions and decisions with
their consequences, we learn. This is the powerful and in-
telligent aspect of the Supreme Being’s perfect yet
temporary physical realm of learning.
We all experience relative amounts of pain and suf-
fering because of our attachment to our physical bodies
and our mistaken goal of being enjoyers. Other circum-
stances of the physical world—death, disease, old age, and
so on—are also functional, fundamental aspects of our tem-
porary world. Why?
We are wanted back.
If this temporary physical dimension was nothing
but fun and pleasure, we could play all day with His stuff
without learning anything. We would eventually forget
Him altogether and be lost in the cycle of birth and death
forever, shriveling away in loneliness and emptiness.
We would never get a chance to reclaim our real
identities, and never again experience the joy of our loving
relationship with our Best Friend. Without pain, we would
never be prompted to remember our actual transcendental
existence, the world where we exchange love with the Su-
preme Person and His other playmates—our fellow living
beings. Why would the Supreme Person, who wants to ex-

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change a relationship with us, create a world where we

would permanently forget His existence? If our child
wanted a little independence, would we send him away to
a foreign country and forget him for the rest of our lives?
Of course not. We would want him back in the house after
he has played in his fort for the afternoon.
Pain and suffering exist in this virtual world as sig-
nals to teach us that this place is not our home. We must
remember that physical pain and suffering do not happen
to me, which is why we can so easily forget physical pains
of the past.
It is not that the Supreme Person wants us to suffer.
Rather, the physical pains that irritate our physical attach-
ments serve to teach us that this physical shell is not our
real identity. The arrangement of painful responses to self-
ish activities is set up by Our Friend to encourage us to re-
examine our existence, and consider starting the journey
back home to Him. He wants us home because He knows
that is the only way we will be happy.
***
Conclusion: Pain and suffering do not actually touch
the living being, who is transcendental to the physical
body. The living being’s attachment to the body and the
desire to enjoy fleeting pleasures separately from the Su-
preme Being is the cause of pain and suffering.
Ultimately, the reason for the existence of all the discom-
forts and complications of the physical world are to
signal to us that this is not our home. The Supreme Per-
son has set up this system to remind us of our true
nature and that we will only be happy once we assume
our actual identity as His loving servants.

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 Essay Eleven

Love versus Hell

A young man was hired as a camp counselor for the summer.
He arrived by car at the camp deep in the woods, and was
greeted by the camp’s owner. The owner was a mild-
mannered, polite yet warm and smiling gentleman. “Have a
good night’s rest in our guest cabin for the night and we’ll
give you the grand tour tomorrow. Then we’ll give you the
choice of where you want to work this summer,” he said cour-
teously.
The next morning the young man walked with the owner
around the campgrounds. He discovered that there was not
one camp, but actually two. They decided to tour one camp
that day and the other the next day. During the morning they
began the tour of the first camp. This was a large camp with
beautiful and well-maintained cabins, a large swimming hole,
a waterfall with various streams, a playground with baseball
field, tennis courts, basketball courts and a host of recrea-
tional equipment. The young man found this camp full of
happy kids and happy counselors. The kids seemed to be play-
ing most of the day, moving from one fun recreation to
another. They were laughing, hooting, playing tag, telling
jokes and every one of them seemed to wear a huge grin. The
owner and the counselors all joined in the fun, engaging in
water fights, pickup stickball and other games. When it was
time to eat, everyone was very comfortable eating together at
the picnic tables. They laughed it up and had fun, all the
while keeping good manners. He noticed distinctly how they
passed around the food, checking to see that everyone got
enough to eat. No one went hungry here, and they were all in
good health and spirits. In the evening they sat together
around the campfire telling stories and laughing. The owner
played guitar and they performed sing-a-longs. As the owner
took the young man through the camp that day he explained

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how he loves to take part in the activities. The kids all adored
him and he was usually one of the first to be it when they
played tag. The kids didn’t relate to the owner as an adult.
They played with him as though he was one of them.
After another deep sleep in the guest cabin, the young man
was awakened by the owner at dawn. “Are you ready to see
the other camp today?” he courteously asked, as the young
man rubbed the sleet from his eyes.
“Yes, I’m ready” the young man said. “Yesterday was so
much fun, I can’t wait to start.”
“Today will unfortunately not be as fun,” the owner said
sadly.
As they walked through the woods over to the second camp,
one of the first things the young man noticed was that the
cabins didn’t look so nice. Some look blackened, as though
they had caught fire and been put out before being burnt
down. Others looked ransacked, with gaping holes, missing
doors and broken windows. He saw paths scattered around
these unsightly cabins, and they had a smell of rotting flesh.
He felt immediately sickened by the smells and sights of parts
of the camp. There was disarray everywhere—old toys, rusty
bikes and other trash strewn all over the grounds. Neverthe-
less it was breakfast time and the young man was hungry for
a good meal.
As they entered the mess hall of the second camp the young
man quickly lost his appetite. He was repulsed by the rioting
and chaos inside. Kids were screaming at the top of their
lungs; fighting; jumping on tables; cursing at one another;
throwing food at each other and acting completely out of con-
trol. Camp counselors were trying to control the kids, but the
kids didn’t seem to be listening. They were angry at each
other and the camp counselors. Screeching, screaming
matches overwhelmed the noise. He saw kids even screaming

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at the counselors. He noticed that while a few kids were over-

weight, many kids were not getting enough food. There
seemed to be plenty of food to go around, but a few of the
stronger and heavier kids seemed to be controlling the food
distribution. They sat together in a corner of the mess hall,
surrounded by a row of kids to guard them, chomping and
slurping down their over-stacked plates of food. Outside of
this group, the kids were all fairly skinny, and a few even
looked as though they were starving.
When breakfast was over, the kids burst out of the mess hall
doors and ran out onto the play area. The young man and the
owner followed them. The camp counselors were screaming
instructions, but no one seemed to be listening to or following
them. The young man was repulsed at how trashed the play
yard was. It looked more like a junk yard. He also couldn’t
help noticing that instead of playing fun games, these kids
were mostly fighting each other. They formed sides—the big-
ger kids against the skinnier ones—and they held violent
fights. Around these fights, crowds of kids gathered, some
cheering the skinny side, but most cheering the big ones. The
counselors weren’t able to break any of this up because the
kids formed organized barriers between them and the coun-
selors.
After seeing all this, the young man asked to leave the second
camp. He’d had enough. As they walked back through the
woods to the first camp, the young man asked the owner how
this camp became that way and why it was so out of control.
“First of all it is not out of control,” the owner said with a
humble smile. “There are very strict rules that we enforce,
which the kids may not be aware of. Then many of the rules
are established by the kids themselves, but we watch those
carefully and disband them when they get out of hand. Even
the big kids are under control. We’ve set it up as an auto-

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matic process. Those that beat up on others or take advantage

of others will get their privileges taken away, which put them
into a less-protected situation, leading to their eventually be-
ing punished by the kids they had beat up on. Since there is
always this changeover, the kids themselves exert the pun-
ishment. The appearance of the cabins is a result of the kids’
actions themselves. Fixing the cabins is their responsibility. I
supply enough materials for them to easily repair everything.
We will demolish and rebuild every so often, but they only
destroy everything again. The trashiness of the play area is
their doing. They destroy it with their various fights and bat-
tles over turf. Most of the kids are angry at each other most of
the time, and I can’t do anything about that. We try to give
them enough food to eat and a good place to sleep, but they
prefer to rip things apart. The way we set up the rules, they
have to maintain the camp. We will help them, but we’re not
going to do it for them.”
“How and why are these kids here?” the young man asked as
they walked.
“Each of these kids originally came to the first camp,” the
owner explained. “In the first camp I have a personal rela-
tionship with each child, and we enjoy sharing, giving and
having fun. But sometimes, because I like to play with the
kids personally, a kid will get jealous of me and want to take
control and act like the owner. They may start ordering oth-
ers around; maybe even start fights, steal, or do other things
that offend everyone. They will eventually get to a point
where they want privileges that only I have as the owner. Of
course I am saddened by this, but they want it their way. So
they are put into the second camp, as they don’t belong here
with us. There they can play owner all they want, because
they won’t see me around. The can act out being the boss all
they want in the second camp. They don’t have me around to
remind them that they aren’t the boss either. But I’ve set it up

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so they learn as well. They hopefully learn how to act right

and be part of a loving, giving group again.”
“How do kids in second camp get back to the first camp?”
asked the young man as they neared the entrance of the first
camp.
“Any kid can come back if he learns from his or her mistakes
and wants to come back and join us again. If a kid wants to
share and have fun without hurting others, and decides to ac-
cept that I am the camp owner and they are not, they are on
the right track. Usually a kid will need to prove to me or one
of my counselors that they truly want to change before I be-
gin to help them personally,” he said. “If they show me that
they are serious about coming back to the first camp, I and
my counselors will spend time with them and show them how
they can learn to come back. If they are serious, I make sure
they make it back to our fun-loving camp again.”
“Do you ever spend time in the second camp?” the young
man said as they finally re-entered the first camp.
“Occasionally I will disguise myself and go over there to see
if I can influence some of the kids to come back to the first
camp,” he said. “I will also go over there to spend time with
my counselors. And I’m always sending over counselors and
kids from the first camp to try to persuade the kids to come
back. As for my preference, I really like engaging in the first
camp’s activities because we always have fun and everyone
shares everything. The kids in the second camp are always
fighting over everything. They don’t like to share, and they
think that everything belongs to them. They are jealous of me.
They are too greedy to have fun with. So I leave them over
there to hopefully learn their lessons, yet am always eager for
them to decide they want to come back.”
By this time they had returned to the first camp office. Of
course it was now time for the young man to indicate where

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he wanted to work for the summer. After listening to all this

and sitting down thoughtfully, the young man made his
choice. “I would like to work in the second camp this sum-
mer," the young man firmly stated. “Maybe I can help those
kids somehow.”
Hell is a big concern in our society.
There are so many references to the existence of hell
among various writings and discussions. Many teachers
discuss the possibility of going to hell should one not act
‘good’ in this life. As a result, the fear and avoidance of hell
is oftentimes the reason a person begins to attend a church,
mosque or temple. A person threatened with eternal suffer-
ing in a hellish atmosphere will often react with fear and
repentance. Not many of us want to end up in such a place.
It is taught that hell is a place of suffering: a place of
anguish and unhappiness. It is taught that hell is a place
where misery, sadness, pain, and suffering exist. Hell is
said to be a place of heat and fire. Popular depictions of
hell show people chained up in red-hot, fiery dungeons
with monstrous horned devils, usually red in color, tortur-
ing those who are chained up. There is usually a lot of
screaming going on, and the people there are enduring in-
tense pain.
We think we are in a good place now.
As many of us consider the hellish regions, we dis-
tinguish hell from our current state of existence. Most of us
consider that now we are in a good place, and if we don’t
play our cards right, we’ll end up in that bad place.
But what about the various miseries, pain, and emp-
tiness existing here on this planet? Are these parts of the

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good place? What should we call the state of existence

where one is dying of starvation in a remote third world
country? What is the state where someone lives in a barren
desert, scratching for every drop of water? What should we
call it when someone is locked up in a closet by lunatic
parents and beaten or raped throughout their childhood?
What shall we call the situation when one is condemned as
insane and locked up in a mental institution—tied down to
their bed and given drugs that cause horrendous ghoulish
nightmares? What shall we call it when someone is jailed in
a small cell as a criminal in a place dominated by violence
and rape? What would we call the situation where a person
is locked in a dark cell and tortured as a political prisoner
by a violent regime?
Would not it make sense to consider that these states
of painful existence might be described as being hellish?
Most of us don’t relate with these states as actually being
hell however. It would seem that these sufferings are not in
the right physical location to be called hell. Possibly each of
these tortures did not occur in a hot-enough or red-enough
place to be called hell. Perhaps because we don’t see any
horned people or fiery dungeons around these situations,
we can’t identify them as hell.
How about the rest of us, living more average lives
here in our modern society?
Our sufferings begin in the womb.
The reality is that the physical body each of us wears
is designed to continually feed back discomfort and pain.
Our bodies begin by forming in a hostile environment—the
womb. We find ourselves trapped inside this dark womb

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for many months. Research and various types of observa-

tion have revealed that not only do babies feel pain in the
womb, but they are extremely sensitive to physical sensa-
tion. The slightest of jolts can create a painful experience
that can only be expressed by recoiling or trying to adjust,
as babies in the womb will do. It has also been explained
that various organisms like bacteria and yeasts will come in
contact with the baby, irritating the baby’s new skin.
When our bodies are pushed out of the womb at
birth we immediately cry because of the harshness of the
physical environment both inside and outside the womb.
Yes, our bodies are born in pain, expressed by the scream-
ing cries of a newborn baby. Of course, most of us do not
remember this excruciating experience.
We suffer within the childhood body.
Throughout childhood, we must adapt to a harsh
physical reality. Our bodies undergo various physical
aches, pains, and diseases, with a few hugs and positive
neurochemical spurts in between. There is even a common
expression—‘growing pains’—which refer to some of this.
Feelings of intense hunger alternate with teething, bloating,
gas, fever, nausea, mumps, measles, and other childhood
maladies. A dose or two of laughter and a few games only
provide us short breathers. Even innocent games can easily
turn competitive and hostile however, as children can often
be hurtful and callous towards one another. In between a
few doses of “fun” games like dodge ball, our childhood suf-
fers more physical pain combined with mental anguish
caused by siblings, other playmates, and parents, over
which we have little or no control.

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We often cry as children because we are either in

some kind of pain, or simply feeling frustrated with our
situation. Crying seems to do little to alleviate the pain and
frustration we feel. It might bring us a little attention—
which we crave—but not always the type of attention we
were looking for. We are not able to do much to change
things, though we desperately try, winning a few slight
victories here and there as we throw a few tantrums. Many
of us will learn to cry for affection as we strive to be loved.
Our parents may figure this means we want another toy or
bottle of milk. After being given these things often enough,
we may start to think that perhaps this physical stuff is
what we need too.
Once our bodies grow a little, we are thrust into
school, which feels more like prison. This experience re-
sults in new kinds of pain. Most of the other kids are as
miserable as we are, and as a result we struggle with each
other, fighting for pecking order and attention. Some kids
might want to physically fight with us or want to compete
over petty disagreements. Our childhood soon becomes a
race of which kid can get others to like or even fear them
the most. Or we may struggle just to fit in. Meanwhile we
must deal with strict or even seemingly unfair teachers
who may get angry with us if we talk out of turn or other-
wise act out our frustrations.
As our bodies grow older, we are introduced to new
types of pain. Middle and high school opens an entirely
new level of greed among our classmates. Sports and other
activities, which bring attention to successful children,
bring out stiff competition, often leading to violence and
discrimination as kids jostle to win. As we age, new

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stresses are added: The pressure to get good grades, qualify

for a good college, and choose a career is added onto our
list of things to do. As a result, we are forced to spend
many hours each day memorizing facts and figures in or-
der to pass exams (not that these aren’t good learning
experiences).
Meanwhile we experience so many heartaches,
bouts of loneliness, growing pains and the feeling of being
trapped. Fights with parents can get worse, as our parents
don’t seem to understand us. Between the pressures of fit-
ting in with our schoolmates and pleasing our parents, we
find ourselves strung between two worlds, as we attempt
to figure out our place in society. “What do you want to be
when you grow up?” is the common question we’re sup-
posed to have an instant answer for. These various
pressures combine, leading to various physical and emo-
tional anxieties. On top of this, we must deal with various
forms of discipline from our parents. Some parents may be
worse than others. For those who escape physical and men-
tal parental abuse, there is a host of other types of bullying;
with siblings or schoolyard bullies ready to inflict physical
and mental punishment upon us. It is no wonder many
teenagers in western society are on various medications;
are depressed and/or suicidal; or are developing perver-
sions such as self-mutilation.
We suffer within the adult body.
As we graduate into adulthood, another level of suf-
fering emerges. We now must figure out how to survive on
our own in a competitive adult world. In the world of
physical survival, there are so many people who make a

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living out of scamming or otherwise taking advantage of

us. The free market system is set up to allow the bullies of
society to con or otherwise take advantage of the weaker,
nicer people. In some places, we see wealthy corporations
capitalizing on the efforts of children and poor adults to
make clothing and other goods for wealthier people. We
also still see people being bought and sold as though they
were commodities in some parts of the world. Active slav-
ery isn’t as prevalent as it was just a half-century ago, but
there are still subtle forms of it in many societies. While
wealthy people can make one million dollars during one
phone call, others may make a few cents or a few dollars
per day toiling in drastic factory conditions, or laboring on
industrial sized farms choked with pesticides. While some
gorge themselves on super-sized meals, people in many
parts of the third world are lucky if they can get a bowl of
rice for the entire day. Oh, what a wonderful world we live
in?
Regardless of where we live, and upon which eco-
nomic level we stand, we experience an increasing level of
discomfort and pain as our bodies get older. None of us
makes it through adulthood without our bodies repeatedly
getting extremely sick. Most adult bodies get multiple
colds and/or flu viruses each year. No one—not even those
with the healthiest of bodies—is spared from illness at
some point. The hospitals are constantly lined with sick
people, suffering in pain and agony from either disease or
injury.
Almost everyone ends up in the hospital at some
point in their physical lives. There are thousands of differ-
ent illnesses we can contract in our lifetimes. Medical books

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are thick with the various illnesses, and each sickness cre-
ates its own special form of misery. Illnesses are directly
related to our past or recent past activities, and there is lit-
tle a person with a physical body can do to avoid some of
them. Escaping illness in our physical lifetime—though
modern medicine tries heroically—is not possible. Our
physical body is designed to be inflicted.
We face physical and environmental stresses.
In addition to the various pains associated with ill-
ness, there are many other stressors that affect us
throughout our lives, causing us various degrees of dis-
comfort and pain. The environmental stress brought on by
the transcendental living being in the physical dimension—
outside of its natural condition—is stressful alone. Is there
any place on the planet we are truly comfortable? Some of
us think that a tropical island is a perfect location for our
body. However even tropical places have their environ-
mental problems: Mosquitoes; horrible rainy seasons which
can result in floods or hurricanes; and hot, humid jungles
that cause the body to sweat through the day and night are
just a few issues tropical regions deal with. Meanwhile the
rest of the world deals with varying degrees of frigid win-
tertime temperatures rotating with muggy hot summers,
and two short-lived breaks of moderate weather between
these two extremes. Add to this various human-created
environmental problems including air pollution, water pol-
lution, overcrowding, noise pollution and so many other
stressful conditions we’ve created in our modern society.

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We face psychological stresses too.

Meanwhile most of us deal with many psychological
stresses of living in a materialistic society: Stresses associ-
ated with hassles from our bosses or people we work with
or people who may want to outmaneuver us or gain au-
thority over us. Stresses associated with competing with
other businesspeople who wish that we were out of busi-
ness. Stresses associated with neighbors who disturb us.
Stresses associated with disagreements or controversies
between friends or family members. Stresses related to
crime and violence, which occur around us on a daily basis.
It seems the physical world delivers an unending parade of
one stress after another. As soon as we think we have es-
caped one kind of stress, another arises. Then when we are
exhausted from all the stress, other forms of suffering will
arrive to break the monotony.
Intermittent relief is only fleeting.
In between so many of these pains and stresses are
short bursts of positive neurochemical vibrations; so brief
that we are not even sure if they are truly pleasurable. They
may better be described as relief than pleasure. These brief
episodes of neurochemistry allow us to temporarily forget
all the stresses and pains for a minute or two. Once forget-
ting pain and stress shortly, our focus becomes repeating
and maximizing these brief neurochemical flashes. A good
example of this is the sexual orgasm. The orgasm is some-
thing that many humans live for. Many humans strive for
the sexual orgasm throughout their sexually active lives,
continually seeking that momentary rush of neurochemis-
try. Humans will struggle for many years—enduring many

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hardships—to arrange their lives in such a way that will

attract the opposite sex. Humans may even sacrifice their
reputations and the health of their bodies to achieve this
momentary urge.
Getting to the orgasm with a partner is not an easy
task either. First one must find a willing partner, which can
take years if not months or weeks of determined searching
and dating. Through the process of finding a willing part-
ner, we may endure painful confrontations, the pains of
breakup, and many other forms of rejection. Then to get to
the organism—assuming we have found a willing part-
ner—we must partake in various forms of ritual and
foreplay. These rituals and foreplay can take time, and if
not done just so, the whole thing can be ruined. It is a tight-
rope scenario. One slip-up—a bad joke, ill-timed flatulence,
or the wrong moves—could easily ruin the whole occasion
and lead to embarrassment and pain. After all of this effort,
the culmination—the actual orgasm—will only last for a
few seconds, and for some it may not happen at all. Should
the orgasm come, all the built-up expectations and antici-
pation will immediately be over—leaving an experience of
letdown due to our expectation of fulfillment. Afterwards,
the flow of neurochemistry might surge through the body
for a few minutes as the bodies collapse with fatigue. This
is typically followed by physical drowsiness and a nap, a
smoke or something to eat. Why so quick to move on to
another attempted fleeting pleasure? Isn’t the most sought
after part of physical life satisfying? No. This is because the
sexual organism is: 1) only fleeting; and 2) not satisfying to
the transcendental living being.
Often this entire effort only leads to additional suf-

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fering. Should the man not perform well, he will be embar-

rassed and anxious, as his reputation becomes damaged.
Should one of the partners have a sexual disease, the other
partner will suffer from an often excruciating experience
requiring drugs and possibly even resulting in protracted
diseases such as AIDS or herpes. The event can also result
in an unwanted child. This can lead to a whole new array of
pain and suffering with unwanted children in the mix.
Our attempts at other physical pleasures can be even
more fleeting. The pleasures of eating good tasting foods,
getting toys or other physical possessions will only bring
brief sensual/neurochemical flashes. They may be antici-
pated for many hours, days, or weeks in advance, but they
will often be accompanied by struggle and frustration.
They will usually be preceded by hard work, planning,
anxieties, and other struggles. Typically our plan for the
acquisition is never what we envisioned, causing frustra-
tion in itself. Then once the brief capture is over, we are
usually surprised that it did not deliver any fulfillment.
Then we are stuck having to clean up the mess—the fallout.
This stage can often be the most miserable, because not
only does it require work with nothing to look forward to,
but by this time we usually regret the whole acquisition
because it wasn’t satisfying and thus was a waste of time.
All this work and anxiety is in vain, as these anxious at-
tempts to acquire pleasure do not actually deliver any.
We live in constant fear and anxiety.
Most of us live our lives in constant fear. As chil-
dren, we may be afraid of the bogeyman. Then we may be
afraid of schoolyard bullies. Then we may be afraid of

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gangsters. Then we may be afraid of being embarrassed.

Then we may be afraid of losing money. Then we may be
afraid of getting sick or injured. Then we may be afraid of
dying. Fear drives so many of our actions and conscious-
ness during our physical lifetimes. Fear can easily
overwhelm someone with anxiety, as we may ponder our
temporary, frail physical situation.
We typically alternate between three key anxieties in
physical life: First, we are anxious about getting something
we desire. Once obtaining it, we are anxious that we might
lose it. Then, once we lose it—which we inevitably will—
we are anxious with regret over having lost it.
Consider the other bodies that fellow living beings
occupy on this planet such as animals, insects, birds and
fish. Most live in a constant and desperate state of fear for
their lives, evidenced by their quick motions of the head
and constant watchful eyes. Most organisms deal with mul-
tiple threats from various other organisms. Many are faced
with terrifying situations: A bug is faced with monstrous
creatures of all kinds that can immediately crush it. A
mouse is faced with gigantic cats with sharp teeth that can
chase it down and devour its body on the spot. A rabbit is
faced with giant hawks, wolves, foxes and other beasts that
can ambush it, ravishing its body within minutes.
We face similar frightening scenarios, many caused
not by other animals, but caused by our own technology.
Machines humans have made have become extremely
frightening, for example. An automobile, plane, or train
will move so fast that we are literally on the edge of death,
and the simplest of interruptions—such as a deer in the
road—can instantly cause a nightmarish and disfiguring

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accident if not death. Other threats we can thank our mod-

ern scientists for include various dangerous medications,
genetic mutation, electromagnetic radiation, pesticides,
toxic waste, air pollution and global warming. These cre-
ated threats of ours more than replace any of the protection
technology may have afforded us from natural predators
like bears or lions (which still threaten us after all our tech-
nology).
Then there is the loneliness.
The most brutal part of living in this physical envi-
ronment is the loneliness. As we pretend to enjoy relating
to all our friends and relatives, underneath we all experi-
ence a tremendous amount of pain. Why? Because we are
lonely. We feel alone here in this physical world, where
everyone is out for themselves. We feel alone in this place
where others seem to be doing just fine while inside we feel
empty. We feel alone in this world even when we are sur-
rounded by friends. We feel alone when we discover that
our friends are not real friends, but merely are convenient
acquaintances. We feel alone when the family we de-
pended upon either breaks up, goes away, or bickers all the
time. We feel alone when we see others, who seem to be
surrounded by family and friends, commit suicide.
Then death comes knocking.
Just as we may start to figure out how to adapt to
this hostile environment and become attached to the things
and people around us, we are yanked away from it all
forcefully by death. Death rages in without notice to re-
move all of our attachments: our family, our house, our car,
our wealth or lack thereof—everything—is taken like a

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thief in the night.

Death not only creates a dread within every living
being who has become attached to their physical body, but
it causes tremendous misery associated with others dying
and leaving us. We may become attached to family mem-
bers, friends or spouse during our lives, and regardless of
these attachments—regardless of how tight we try to hold
onto them—they will be snatched from us by death. Either
death will snatch us away first, or death will snatch them
away first. Regardless, it is a miserable experience for all
who become attached. Some like to pretend to have joyous
burials and wakes full of remembrance for the living being
that passed. Regardless of these masquerades, we cannot
deny that death delivers a brutal punch, creating the ulti-
mate in sorrows and regrets. This event serves to cap off
our “wonderful” life within our physical body.
Where is the line between hell and not hell?
The logical question is not only whether this is hell,
but which of these miseries is not hellish? Is the constant
state of alternating anxiety, illness, injury, sadness, anger,
frustration, hate, loneliness, violence, and fear bad enough
to be considered hell? What should we call the state of be-
ing where one feels that he or she doesn’t have a real friend
in the world? What is the state where everyone around us
seems to only want to use us or even hurt us? Are these
physical and psychological scenarios, experienced over the
length of a physical lifetime, somehow not hellish enough
to classify this lifetime as hell?
When all of the various pains are looked at one after
another, with the added bonus of possible extreme physical

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pain from torture, violence, or starvation, wouldn’t it make

sense to describe this planet and the physical bodies that
occupy it as part of hell? Or does the fleeting absence of
physical pain or brief neurochemical surge now and again
qualify this world as being better than hell? And if it is
above hell, how far above hell is it?
Sorry, but this is hell.
Yes, we are in hell now. To varying degrees, each of
us is suffering in hell. Some of us live in a worse hell than
others, however. Some of us—especially those living in
lower forms of life—are living in a brutally more hellish
hell than we are. A living being subjected to living inside of
a physical body designed to constantly experience various
levels of pain mixed with fleeting physical relief is most
certainly hellish. The level of pain and attachment may
vary from person to person or species to species, but suffer-
ing is a constant of this physical planet. In fact, “burning” is
a good description of the various sufferings of this world.
We’ve all heard someone describe a particular pain as a
“burning pain.” We have also heard of situations where
someone is “burning with anger,” or “burning with de-
sire.” The “burning fire” of material existence can range
from these physical pains to the suffering related to the
various stresses of the world and the heated nature of self-
ish competition, violence, and psychological torture.
Although there are hellish planets worse than ours we are,
to one degree or another, ‘burning in hell’ right here on this
planet.
There is no way the body can escape physical pain.
Pain can be lessened, however. We can decide to try not to

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cause as much pain, which will result in less pain coming

back to us. A simple display of this effect is when we cause
others pain, others tend to defend themselves against us;
an act that is sure to inflict pain on our own bodies. Thus,
by being less aggressive and more caring we will receive
less pain. This is the way the physical world has been de-
signed. There is a price for any selfish action. If we decide
we want to try to control others for example—utilizing
some sort of governorship or business ownership: this will
require us to pay a price for the opportunity and the results
of such leadership. If we want to become comfortable at the
expense of others’ comforts, there will be an eventual cost
for that, too.
Increased pain follows increased desires. If we do
not desire much, we will not have as much pain. We sim-
ply are not out there overcoming difficulties to reach so
many physical aspirations. A person satisfied with the cur-
rent physical situation will experience less complication
because there is less effort put out to get more. Though it is
impossible not to create reaction to keep the body going,
we can surely minimize the complications of life by keep-
ing things as simple as possible.
Withdrawing is only a temporary fix.
A practice some propose to transcend this painful
world is for us to withdraw our attachments to the world
by not desiring anything. However, methods that attempt
to eliminate desire will not solve the problem permanently.
The living being is perpetually active, and must be attached
to something (or stated more correctly, someone). The living
being cannot simply disconnect from desire.

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Rather than try to withdraw and disconnect from

everything, our solution is to become re-attached to the
Supreme Person. This is our natural constitution, and the
only way that we can permanently become detached from
this hellish environment. Becoming attached to the Su-
preme Person solves a number of problems: Because He
will protect and deliver us from suffering we can depend
upon Him. Because He is our Best Friend, we no longer
need to experience the distress of loneliness. Because He is
always there for us to console us, we do not have to be con-
cerned with any future stresses of the physical world.
Because He is from the transcendental world, we can tran-
scend our various physical miseries by focusing our senses,
efforts, and results towards Him simply by giving our lives
to Him. By becoming attached to the Supreme Person, the
various anxieties caused by being attached to these physi-
cal bodies will evaporate.
Our situation is a reflection of ourselves.
The physical body is a vehicle for the living being. It
becomes an attachment because the living being wanted to
be separated from the Supreme Person—and try to enjoy
the way He does. The reason a living being wants to be
separate from the Supreme Being is because we’ve become
envious of Him. Due to this enviousness—combined with
our constitutional need to be attached to something—we
became attached to a temporary physical body. This at-
tachment leads us to identify with this temporary body.
The result is our attempt to enjoy an existence away from
the Supreme Person. The physical body is simply a tool
designed for that purpose. It is the vehicle we use to at-

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tempt to set up a virtual universe under our command—

where we could play lord and have others respect and
serve us.
Although we attempt to adjust this perfect virtual
world for our enjoyment, it is designed to reflect our de-
sires to enjoy right back at us: Like a grand mirror, all of
our greed, lust and selfishness are reflected right back at us
with our bodies and our circumstances. It is easy to see that
without the selfish activities of its inhabitants, this physical
environment could be a lot more hospitable. If the living
beings who occupied bodies were kind and giving, many
of the hells of the planet would not exist. But then again, if
we weren’t selfish and greedy, we wouldn’t be here in the
first place. We wouldn’t have a need to scramble with the
other selfish people for crumbs of emptiness. We would
have no need to take on physical bodies and struggle with
the rest of the inhabitants of hell. We would not have
wanted to be away from the Supreme Person.
Selfishness never brings happiness for a reason.
If we accept that we are all ultimately seeking hap-
piness and yet we are not happy because of living selfishly,
we can realize that living in an unselfish manner is our ac-
tual nature. In fact, most of us feel happiest when we care
for and do something for someone else, whether it is for
someone close to us or simply a charitable act for someone
we do not know.
The deep-seated sense of joy we feel when we help
or care for others indicates that our natural identity is tied
to service rather than selfish behavior. It is not a coinci-
dence that unselfish behavior often relieves pain for our

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fellow living beings. What we probably don’t see is that

unselfish behavior also relieves our own pain, replacing it
with a subtle state of joy. The fact that unselfish acts benefit
not only us but others reveals that our natural constitution
is more related to being a servant and a giver than a self-
centered, greedy enjoyer. It is actually this drive for selfish
enjoyment that is at the root of the “place” called hell.
We have created our own hell.
We may not have intended to live in the type of
world we live in now. We may not have intended to live
selfish lives within a world of selfish people, some willing
to kill one another in order to get what we want. We are
often shocked at finding out that some third world regime
is causing the starvation and suffering of its own citizens.
We wince when we discover that a fellow human has tor-
tured another, or has blown up a building with innocent
people inside. These things are shocking to us, but those
people who did those horrors do not share our opinion.
They do not look too much different than we do. They also
eat and sleep just as we do. They also perform their brutal
acts feeling justified in some way. They feel they have a
valid reason to cause the suffering of others.
Research on criminals has discovered that the over-
whelming majority of criminals feel somehow justified in
their crimes. They felt they were somehow forced to com-
mit suffering upon other humans. Why is this? Are these
people evil while we are not? Are we completely innocent
of ever causing the suffering of another, even unintention-
ally? Quite simply, progressive selfishness causes increased
insensitivity for others, maturing at a point where ones

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selfish concerns outweigh the suffering of others.

We have each created the hell we are in. The world
we live in is a reflection of our own past selfishness, which
is rooted in our original enviousness of the Supreme Being.
The original enviousness of our Best Friend is the cause for
our fall into this hellish physical world. The root feeding
this hellish tree is our desire to enjoy as the Supreme Being
enjoys. This act of ‘eating the fruit’ of this particular tree of
envy can also be referred to this as “the original sin.”
This world was designed for our hopeful recovery
from this disease. It was designed perfectly to allow us to
hopefully grow and learn that selfishness and enviousness
do not make us happy. This world is designed to teach us
that only love will satisfy us. To get to that goal, the world
is designed to precisely mirror our past behavior and our
past consciousness. The extent of our cruelty upon others
in turn puts us in precisely the same scenario: In other
words, we each reap what we have sown. The reaping
hopefully shows us what to sow in the future. When we
sow love, we receive love. When we sow hatred, we receive
hatred. We may not always receive what we sow immedi-
ately; but we do sooner or later. It is a perfect system.
If this diseased root of enviousness were to be cut
off, and we were to decide to throw off our enviousness in
exchange for a renewed relationship of loving service with
the Supreme Person, we might still temporarily physically
live in this hell, but it would not matter which body or
which world we lived within. The hell within us would be
cured. Whatever physical place our body was dwelling in
would become surcharged with our new purpose of pleas-
ing our loving Friend. We would effectively transform our

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current ‘space’ from hell to heaven, wherever we may be.

So who is the devil?
Those of us who live in the physical world trying to
enjoy life without the Supreme Being—who remain envi-
ous of the Supreme Person’s position as Enjoyer—are each
little ‘devils.’ We don’t have to bother looking around us for
some other culprit: we are the culprit. It is our enviousness
and lust for enjoyment that drives the evil that is done in
this world. Oh, but we aren’t feeling that we do anything
evil or sinful? We might clarify what evil is: Evil is the na-
ture of acting in a selfish manner. Selfish acts are defined as
activities meant to please us. Are we so unselfish that we
commit no evil?
Consider the situation in its entirety. Each of us is
here in this dimension because we wanted to enjoy sepa-
rately from Him. This mood established our envy of Him
and His enjoyment, and we immediately became subject to
illusion. Now that we have become embodied in this
physical environment, some now doubt His existence.
Some even outwardly proclaim His non-existence, teaching
philosophies that deny Him or claim to be Him. Now
where again is the devil? As most of us understand, the
devil is considered as one who stands against the Supreme
Being. How about becoming envious of Him, getting
evicted from His kingdom, then questioning His very exis-
tence and even proclaiming this to others: Would this not
well enough be considered standing against Him?
Once a living being becomes envious and revolts
against the will of the Supreme Being, that living being is
evicted from the transcendental world of the Supreme Per-

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son’s inner kingdom. Once we decide that we would rather

not lovingly serve Him—wanting to enjoy as He does—we
are by that decision removed from the transcendental
world and placed into the temporary physical kingdom.
We then are allowed to play out our futile desires to enjoy
separately, hopefully learning that our true enjoyment is
connected to our natural condition of loving service.
The devil/satan is often depicted as a being who
tempts or tortures us. As we look around us, we can cer-
tainly see that there are many who play these roles quite
well in this physical world. In fact, many of us play may
play these roles from time to time, knowingly or not. Some
may suggest to others—by our dress, actions or communi-
cations—things that encourage selfish behavior. Or we may
simply wave others on to our selfish behaviors: “Come to
my party and have a great time,” a person might say. “Come
have sex with me,” another person might say. These are
clearly temptations. So what is at the root of these tempta-
tions? Are we just innocent players being tossed back and
forth between the devil and the Supreme Being? Have we
just gotten suckered into some kind of contract with the
devil?
In a symbolic way, yes: But we are the root of these
temptations and selfish contracts. An example of such a
symbolic contract might occur if we were to commit our-
selves to achieving a certain selfish goal at a certain price or
sacrifice. By sacrificing something to attain that goal, we
are establishing a selfish contract, or exchange. At the end
of the day, it is us who desire to achieve that selfish goal. It
is us who are willing to make the sacrifice to achieve the
goal. We are the ones writing the contract.

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We are the ones who are trying to enjoy at the ex-

pense of others. We are the ones who became envious. If we
were not envious, there would be no temptation because
we would be putting everything within the context of our
relationship with Him.
Temptation cannot touch us if we were focused on
our relationship with the Supreme Person because our de-
sires would be connected to His enjoyment. We would
recognize that everything in the physical and transcenden-
tal world is meant for His enjoyment.
Our hellish world only mirrors us.
The physical world and the physical mind are de-
signed to mirror our enviousness. Our Friend built into this
world various systems, which allow us to believe that we
are the physical forms we temporarily occupy in order to
act out our desires. Therefore, we are given the appropriate
facilities to act out these desires: these facilities—our mind,
our physical body, and our environment—simply mirror
those desires.
Through these facilities and through the design of
cause and effect, our desire to enjoy leads us further and
further into embodied forms that continue to reflect our
desires and previous choices. At the end of the day, all of
these forms and facilities reflect who we are, and what we
have become. Our body, family, country, groups, and envi-
ronment all reflect the state of our personal consciousness.
They reflect the kind of person we have become.
The facility is also set up to deceive us into believing
that this physical world will satisfy us due to our identifi-
cation with this physical body. Many relate this facility as

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‘satan’ or the ‘devil’ because this facility serves to keep us in

the illusion that we will be happy without our Supreme
Friend. Through the forces of this facility, we are led into
believing that the next physical thing will satisfy us. Once
we get to that next thing, it tells us that the next thing will
do it. Repeatedly this facility binds us, as we live out the
duration of the prisons our enviousness built around us.
However hard we may try to put the blame on the facility,
this facility is only acting in response to our desire to try to
enjoy the physical world separately from our Best Friend.
The facility was set up to facilitate our selfishness.
We may try to appoint another cause for this situa-
tion other than us. We may want to pass the blame onto the
very system we brought upon ourselves. We might blame
this facility—not realizing that our Friend also designed it
to help teach us how to get out of it and come home. We
should know that we will never graduate out of hell until
we realize that we are the cause for our situation. Would
we hate someone who handed us a mirror?
Consider simply what we would do if our young
child became envious of us and wanted to get away from
us. We would probably want to establish a facility where
our child could have some independence, but at the same
time teach the child to reflect upon him or herself and un-
derstand why they are doing what they are doing.
We might say something like “go to your room and re-
flect upon what you just said and did.” We would know that at
the end of the day, it is the child who must take a hard look
at himself or herself and decide whether that is who they
want to be, and whether that activity is truly what they
want to be doing. In the same way, we are the ones respon-

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sible for being here, and our environment merely mirrors

our choices, reflecting the kinds of decisions we have
made. Our own rebellion got us here. No one else is at
fault. At the end of the day, it is our decision whether we
want to turn things around, and resume our actual tran-
scendental condition; or stay in our hell and reflect some
more on our choices.
Deep within, we are loving and unselfish.
One of the central lessons of the physical world is
that that beneath our temporary illness of envy, we are es-
sentially unselfish and caring at heart. The reason we each
have uncertainty, doubt, pain, anxiety, loneliness and suf-
fering is because our actual identities are not selfish and
greedy—we are each caring, giving living beings under-
neath this selfish covering.
Enviousness and selfishness is not our real nature.
He knows that. Just as a parent knows a child is only ‘acting
out’ while having a tantrum and this is not the child’s true
nature; the Supreme Person knows that this selfishness is
not really us. He knows that our actual existence is to be
involved in a unique loving and joyous relationship with
Him. However, once we had our tantrum and each strayed
from our joyous nature, we set up our fall into self-centered
existence. From there we created our own living hell by our
continued choices.
Consider that the Source of our actual existence is
the Perfect Loving Person—always caring, always giving.
Since our nature is to be attached, our pure attachment is to
our Best Friend. Since our nature is to desire, our actual
desire is to please our Best Friend, the Supreme Person.

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Since our nature is to exchange love, our pure love is to be

exchanged with our Best Friend, together with all of His
other children.
In our heart of hearts, each of us aims to please
someone special with loving service. Who is this someone
special? Who ever heard of a loving servant without a be-
loved master? Who would we lovingly serve if we didn’t
have a loving Master? A master does not have to be a ruth-
less dictator. What kind of dictator would offer us a way to
escape him and forget him for so long?
This Master of ours is a kind, loving Person who ca-
res for us, and only wants the best for us. We are here only
because we wanted to live away from Him. He helped us
get away from Him with this temporary physical universe,
one which He also designed to teach us that we’d be hap-
pier coming back home. It is we who have made this
physical world hellish with our selfishness.
Here in this physical world we all live feeling we are
round pegs trying to fit into square holes. We are lonely,
frustrated; sad much of the time, bored a lot of the time,
and unhappy all of the time, regardless of how much stuff
we have. Deep inside of all this frustrated self-
centeredness, we have a truly unselfish nature. Even
though we may perform evil actions out of selfishness, we
are still each a saint in our core being.
If we were to focus our naturally unselfish nature
towards living with the purpose of loving and serving our
Perfect Friend, we would immediately fit the round peg (of
our need to love and serve) into the round hole (of tran-
scendental love for our Best Friend). Today, even from this
hellish physical world, we can immediately decide to re-

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establish our original relationship with our Supreme

Friend. All we have to do is ask.
Just as the campground owner played with the kids
in the first camp, the Supreme Person shares a confidential,
transcendental relationship with each of us. Why wouldn’t
the Supreme Person want to have close relationships with
His family? We all love to play and have fun, sharing, and
playing games with our family. It is part of our nature. It is
part of the Supreme Person’s nature too. Loving relation-
ships are truly fun when the Supreme Person is involved.
Noting that the Supreme Person has a deep loving
relationship with each of us, yet gives us the choice to de-
cide to leave, we should realize that He does not want us to
stay away for long. What kind of friend or lover would not
want his friend or lover to return soon?
This hellish physical world is intended to urge us to
return home to our Best Friend as quickly as possible so
that we can resume our actual existence. The funny thing
is, once we resume this joyous relationship, we can be any-
where. We can even still be within the physical world.
When we redevelop our love for God we will be
home, because we will have transported the transcendental
realm right down here with us through our loving relation-
ship and service to the Supreme Person.

***
Conclusion: Hell is oftentimes referred to as a place
down below, full of fire and brimstone. Hell more accu-
rately describes the situation where the living being has
rejected our innate loving relationship with the Supreme
Being, being envious of His position. Once the living be-

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ing makes this decision, the world we occupy simply re-

flects that original choice, combined with our ongoing
choices as we strive to achieve our self-centered agenda.
Our hellish situation mirrors our consciousness because
it is designed to help us to grow and hopefully return
home to our natural constitution. We belong back home
with our Eternal Friend and Beloved, the Supreme Be-
ing, in a relationship of loving service. By recognizing
our actual transcendental nature, and by realizing that
we are empty and alone without our True Friend, we
can begin our journey out of our hell of selfishness and
find our way back to the world of love.

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 Essay Twelve

The Path to Love

The young boy and his father trudged through the melting
mountain snow. They were lost. They had survived a plane
crash high on a mountain range. They were now faced with
the prospects of icy snow-bound mountains, wild animals,
starvation, and frostbite as they attempted to walk the hun-
dreds of miles to the nearest town. They had been walking for
two months.
For the first two weeks, they walked together, westward.
From his navigation recollection, the man estimated that the
closest town was west of where they crashed. So each day for
two weeks they followed the sun as it moved into the western
sky. After two weeks of walking, the boy became upset at his
father. The boy felt that they should be walking the other way.
They argued. Then the boy cursed his father and began to run
eastward, yelling to his father that he never wanted to see him
again. The man, knowing his son would never survive the
cold and rugged conditions alone, turned to follow him.
For six weeks, the father followed his son, staying just far
enough behind so the son didn’t see him. The father carefully
walked behind the rocks in the near distance, close enough to
fight off a bear or save the boy from falling, but far enough
away to stay hidden. At night, the man would sleep behind a
rock near where the boy slept, staying awake to protect him
from animals. He would also put out food for his son to find.
Twice he had to silently kill an approaching animal on behalf
of the boy.
By the sixth week, the boy was exhausted and lonely. He re-
gretted getting upset at his father, and wished that his father
were still around. He realized too that his father was right:
they would have surely found a town by now had they con-
tinued westward. After a few more days of loneliness, the boy
began to cry out for his father. He even turned and began to
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walk westward in an attempt to possibly catch up with his

dad. The man, remembering his son’s curses at him before he
took off eastward, stayed hidden but always watching to make
sure his son was safe. The man had already forgiven his son;
he just wanted to be sure that the boy was ready to reunite
with him.
After several days of hearing his son crying out for him, the
father became convinced that his son sincerely wanted to be
with him again. The man came out from behind a rock and
greeted his son. The son and his father hugged long and deep.
The son, grateful that his father remained by his side all that
time, humbly apologized. Hand in hand, they walked west-
ward together.
All paths do not lead to the same place.
Sometimes we will hear that all paths lead to the
same place. Does this make sense though? If we wanted to
wind up in Florida and we lived in California, should we
head north? If we did, we would end up in Canada or even
the North Pole. Despite this obvious point, people still
make this statement regarding their transcendental path.
The central issue is whether the path we embark on
will ultimately give us the fulfillment we strive for. To
travel towards a goal, we must be sure that the path heads
in the right direction and ends up at the desired goal.
The first step of the path is to realize our identity.
An understanding of our actual identity is necessary
to begin the journey towards fulfillment. If we want to be-
come fulfilled, we should first know who is it that needs to
be fulfilled. Understanding our identity is the key to gain-
ing the context of what will make each of us fulfilled.
Each of us is transcendental to the physical body we

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wear. We are each individual, transcendental living beings

temporarily encaged in physical bodies. Like vehicles, we
get in and drive them around for a while. Our actual iden-
tity is transcendental.
Once we come to understand that we are transcen-
dental, it becomes essential that we must travel in a
transcendental direction, rather than a material direction.
Many of us are currently seeking happiness from the
physical point of view—we are seeking happiness from
money, fame, and sensual pleasures. Unfortunately, none
of these leads to real happiness. They result in fleeting,
temporary bursts of tingling neurochemical sensations,
followed by disappointment and emptiness. Repeated at-
tempts eventually result in frustration, depression, anger,
resentment, and sometimes, even violence.
Speculation will stray us off the path.
From this point, it is tempting to speculate about our
actual identity using the mind. The mind is a subtle re-
cording instrument, which can be programmed for
retrieval and concoction. (A concoction is a mental plan to
complete a sensual or active experience.) Over lifetimes of
use, our minds have become filled with so many recordings
of sensual experiences, concoctions for pleasure and vari-
ous speculations about the physical world.
As a result, speculation using these recordings of the
mind will not reveal our transcendental direction. The
rumbling rewinds of the mind and the various pro-
grammed concoctions might be tempting to listen to, but
they will merely repeat varied scripts of previously re-
corded concepts and images. Have any of these images and

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ideas brought us actual happiness in the past? No.

Throughout our physical lives, our minds have been fed
ideas from the physical world such as “if you eat this deli-
cious food you’ll be satisfied,” or “if you become rich and famous
you’ll be content.” More complex concepts fed to the mind
have included “love yourself and you’ll be happy.”
With all these various messages and physical input
over the years and physical lifetimes, the mind will mix
them all together, creating whatever speculation appeals to
the living being at the moment. Listening to the specula-
tions of the mind together with the various ideas input into
it over the years only increases our blindness to our actual-
ity—they serve to cover our identity further. Some may tell
us that if we ponder the universe long enough, we should
be able to figure it all out. This too is speculative. On the
other hand, a humble realization that our speculations are
not reliable will automatically reduce the roadblocks and
detours that block the opening of the transcendental path.
The path is a single track.
A single track is a path, which permits one traveler
at a time. Similarly, real transcendental growth is a per-
sonal affair: It is one on One. Regardless of any organ-
ization or group we may become a member of, we still
have to travel the path personally.
No one will travel the path for us, and although be-
ing amongst those who share the same goals is very helpful
and even recommended, at the end of the day it is up to
each of us to make our own choices and make our own de-
cisions about which direction we want to go. No matter
how many people we have surrounding us, each of us

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journeys through the death of this body alone. This ar-

rangement has been specially designed for a reason. The
reason is that each of us is an individual and we each have
our own distinct relationship with the Supreme Person.
Therefore, our path is a private one: there is no hier-
archy to climb, nor any recognition to achieve. There is no
sainthood to reach, nor a public position to be elected for. It
is simply a question of whether we want to personally
reach the ultimate destination. Thus, neither uniforms, pos-
tures, public acknowledgements, votes, elections, stamps of
approval nor respect from others will help one to achieve
the actual goal of life. Rather, the goal is attained through
sincerity, proper guidance, loving service and commitment.
Humility is the footwear for traveling the path.
Beginning the path, traveling the path, arriving at
the destination, and staying at the destination all require
humility. When we speak of humility we do not mean the
act of humility, we mean a realization of humility. When
many of us think of humility, we think about acting meek.
One can surely act meek without feeling meek, however.
Meekness itself must be truly realized in order for it
to be real. If it isn’t realized, meek actions have no meaning.
In fact, true realization of transcendental humility may
sometimes not even translate into physical acts of meek-
ness. It could be that a physical act of meekness would be
an unnecessary display, which brings attention to the real-
ized humble person. A person who stands before the
Supreme Being with realized humility does not need that
sort of display.
Why is humility important and how can we realize

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it? The first step in realizing humility is when we admit

that I don’t have all the answers. The natural progression of
this humble realization is when we realize that I need assis-
tance. Humility is realized more completely when we reach
out to the Supreme Being and ask Him to please help me.
Please guide me.
As we progress on the path, we learn that humility
is also the medium of transcendental love. Humility is the
vehicle for love between the Supreme Being and the living
being. Humility is required for us to appreciate our current
position with respect to the exalted position of the Supreme
Person. Humility is required to realize how beautiful the
Supreme Person is. Humility is required for us to realize
that even though we are each tiny living beings, the Su-
preme Person pays close attention to each and every one of
us, loving each of us uniquely and unconditionally.
Consider how many living organisms there are, just
on this one planet. Now consider our relative importance
amongst the sheer numbers: A humbling experience in it-
self.
Humility is the atmosphere of the transcendental world, as all
living beings are humbled and awed by the Supreme Person’s
beauty, kindness, strength, and personal character.
As our transcendental growth develops further, we
may realize the pure humility of feeling oneself the lowest
of the lowest. In the transcendental world, this feeling of
the lowest is actually the most exalted position.
In the physical world, pride and self-esteem are ex-
alted. In the physical world we are encouraged to have
pride in ourselves. We are taught to maintain our self-
esteem. However, these are facades masking the reality of

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our situation: we are dependent upon the Supreme Person.

Pride and self-esteem in the physical world are simply per-
verted reflections of the pure humility existing in the
transcendental world: The living being struggles to deal
with appropriate feelings of inadequacy and dependency
in the physical world. This is a result of our forgetfulness of
the Supreme Person. We thus compensate with a masquer-
ade of self-sufficiency and self-esteem.
In some scriptures, this feeling of being humbled by
greatness is often translated into the English word ‘fear.’
Although this may be correct from a grammatical context,
fear and love are not always very compatible. One rarely
loves the one he or she is afraid of. However, if we can un-
derstand fear as humbled by greatness or awed, then we can
see how humble love for the Supreme Person can become
manifest as the living being realizes the awesome greatness
of the Supreme Being.
A guide is needed to illuminate the path.
Once we realize that the physical world will not de-
liver fulfillment, and we are ready to learn from an expert,
progressing further on the path requires the humble seek-
ing of guidance. Every difficult path requires an expert
guide, especially paths outside of the visible, physical
plane. There are three essential types of expert guides for
us to draw upon: (1) written transcendental works (scrip-
ture); (2) the living Teacher; and (3) the Supreme Being
within, residing next to each and every one of us (and not
to be confused with the mind). This trilogy of communica-
tion allows us progressive guidance proportional to our
sincerity and focus. Although each of these expert guides

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ultimately originates with the Supreme Being, they appear

to us separately, thus giving us the ability to confirm each
independently. This allows us to check for authenticity.
For example, when we read scripture we can receive
guidance from the Supreme Being within to give us under-
standing of it. We can also check the Supreme Being from
within when we are choosing the appropriate teacher to
learn from. We can confirm the teacher by checking scrip-
ture as well, as their message should be consistent.
We can check what the teacher is saying with both
scripture and the Supreme Being from within. If we do not
do these checks, we could easily be cheated by those who
pretend or speculate, or be misled by fraudulent scriptural
translations or quotes out of context. While we are check-
ing these guides, we must be cautious by humbly checking
our own sincerity. If we are fraudulent in our desire to re-
establish our relationship with the Supreme Person, we
will be attracting fraudulent guidance.
The more advanced our teacher,
the further our path will go.
Considering the nature of the transcendental path,
one who has traveled such a path successfully can certainly
lead us appropriately. By taking guidance from such a
Teacher, we will be escorted in the proper direction. We
will be escorted with the proper speed and progression. A
master Teacher will know our present status, and will be
able to determine what is needed for us to continue to
make progress on the path.
There are certain key characteristics of an authentic
Teacher. One major characteristic is that the Teacher must
have also taken an authentic Teacher. Any person who wants

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to become an expert at something must first become an

apprentice of an already established expert in that field.
Likewise, a bona fide transcendental guide will themselves
have taken apprenticeship under a bona fide transcenden-
tal guide who themselves took apprenticeship. Such
persons are rare. Today there are an abundance of “teach-
ers” who have invented their own speculative inter-
pretations about the Supreme Being, simply because there
are people who want to hear speculation about the Su-
preme Being. These “teachers” are to be avoided. They
encourage continued speculation amongst their students
and a loss of the Truth among our society.
We must be introduced.
The bottom line is that if we seek true fulfillment, we
need to find the Supreme Person. We need to locate, ap-
proach, and establish a loving, serving relationship with
Him. If we should be fortunate enough to find a transcen-
dental guide on this planet who truly knows the Supreme
Person and has a relationship with Him, we need to hum-
bly establish a relationship with this guide, follow this
guide’s instructions, and render service to that Teacher.
This exalted process has been followed throughout time.
The most logical means to meet someone unknown
or estranged is by being introduced by a person who is a
friend of that person. If one wants to know the Supreme
Person, the recommended way is to be introduced to Him
by someone who knows Him well. Being introduced by a
friend is common among all relationships. A person who is
introduced by a trusted friend is naturally accepted. This is
a traditional custom in all cultures because relationships

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are our nature, and the rules of relationships are universal.

This Teacher-student introduction process is well
documented throughout religious history. It is also ac-
cepted among every institution of knowledge. All of our
famous saintly persons throughout the ages have docu-
mented a confidential relationship with their Teacher as an
apprentice or student. Sometimes we will find in history
that a Teacher’s Teacher was also the father to their physi-
cal body, but this of course is not required—but suggested
should we be fortunate enough to have a transcendentally
advanced father willing to teach us. In some scriptures, a
Teacher’s Teacher may not be so obvious, but further re-
search usually reveals that every bona fide Teacher
humbled themselves to a Teacher prior to their taking on
the role as the Teacher.
Real love requires a relationship.
A relationship is necessary before confidential
knowledge can be passed on. A relationship with ones
transcendental Teacher will allow the guide to direct the
path of the student. A bona fide Teacher will not desire the
student to worship him, but will motivate the student to
establish the student’s own relationship with the Supreme
Person. A Teacher who is not continually pushing the stu-
dent to re-establish their own relationship with the
Supreme Being must be questioned. A bona fide Teacher is
one who represents the Supreme Person’s desire to re-
establish our unique relationship with Him. As a result, the
Teacher is to be appropriately honored as such.
While we might imagine finding the Supreme Per-
son requires some mystical experience, the key element in

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establishing a relationship is simply hearing. Students who

wish to progress on the transcendental path can humbly
open our ears and minds to the sound vibrations coming
from the Teacher. These sound vibrations pass the tran-
scendental message to us, allowing us access to the Truth.
Through these sound vibrations, the Teacher connects us to
the transcendental world. From the Teacher comes not only
the message, but our Friend’s Holy Names, vibrating from
a loving, devoted heart.
Like a rope to a drowning person, the sound vibrations of the
Teacher can pull us from our ocean of misery.
The loving path is paved with service.
Any loving relationship will naturally include lov-
ing service. In fact, loving relationships are founded upon
loving service. A person who loves another will naturally
want to perform actions that please the person they love.
Even prior to establishing a loving relationship, a person
will serve someone who attracts them—someone they
would someday like to have a relationship with. The tran-
scendental path is no different. The transcendental path
requires that we establish and maintain our relationship
with the Supreme Being by serving Him with devotion.
This includes serving the Teacher—often referred to
as ‘serving the servant of the servant of the servant of the Su-
preme Person.’ In the physical world, serving a servant may
not seem that special. In the transcendental world, the
world where humility reigns, serving the servant is an ex-
alted position. In fact, serving the Teacher and serving the
Supreme Being are one and the same, because a master
Teacher only desires what the Supreme Being desires. As a

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result, serving one will be serving both.

Ultimately, the basis for knowing and loving the
Supreme Person is through this service of devotion. It is
ultimately the Supreme Being who reveals Himself to the
seeker. The seeker cannot, with a snap of the fingers, order
the Supreme Being to reveal Himself. The Supreme Being
must be satisfied with the seeker’s sincerity. The Supreme
Being must see that we are ready to exchange a loving rela-
tionship. Loving service is the method of achieving such a
state of consciousness. Serving the Supreme Person
through the service of ones Teacher is thus standard
method for achieving this transcendental consciousness of
love.
Holy Names light the path of love.
One may ask: “Does serving the Supreme Being
mean I must perform slave labor?” Although menial labor
on behalf of the Teacher and the Supreme Being is an ex-
alted practice, it is not necessarily the service preferred.
After all, true service in devotion focuses not upon appear-
ing to serve, but upon performing activities that please the
one being served.
The most exalted and pleasing service, sanctioned,
and requested by every bona fide Teacher and every scrip-
ture is the glorification of the Supreme Person. This activity
of praising the Supreme Person and His Names—done
with song, done with prayer, done with meditation, done
with writing, and done with humility and sincerity—is the
light of the transcendental path. It is the heart of service,
because it is an activity pleasing to the Supreme Being,
helpful to others, and directly beneficial for building ones

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relationship with the Supreme Person.

Consider how the physical world is saturated with
various vibrations, originating the various levels of con-
sciousness. Consciousness is transmitted through
vibrational frequencies. Above and beyond the transmis-
sion of physical consciousness exists a higher level of
transcendental vibrations. These vibrations extend directly
from the Supreme Person, containing His personal potency.
These vibrations are His Holy Names. The Supreme Being
has revealed either directly or through His representatives
these Holy Names, each one endowed with His essence
and personal potency. The vibration of the transcendental
Holy Name is the easiest and most direct way of connect-
ing directly to the Supreme Person.
These Holy Names, when vibrated with sincerity
and humility, effectively purify the mind and the living
being of lifetimes of accumulated activities and concoc-
tions. They allow the living being to rise above the physical
coverings that blind our vision. The vibration of the Su-
preme Person’s Names delivers to the physical world the
transcendental existence of the Supreme Being.
Singing the Supreme Being’s Names, repeating His
Names in prayer, and speaking in praise of Him—done
without envy or need for reward—unfolds ones flower of
love for Him. Singing and glorifying the Supreme Being’s
Names with humility reveals His Nature and our individ-
ual relationship with Him. Singing and repeating His
Names is the traveling of the transcendental path. It is both
the means for achieving the destination and the destination
itself, because within such glorification lies the soul’s goal
of life: a loving relationship with the Supreme Person.

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Along with singing His Names, an exalted and

beautiful process of connecting with Him can be done by
repeating His Names in meditation. This can be done while
sitting in a peaceful place or walking in a peaceful area.
The process is simple: After breathing deeply in through
the nose we can repeat His Holy Name while exhaling out
the mouth. By doing this meditation, we will be focusing
our self increasingly upon the Personality of the Supreme
Being; connecting with Him via His Name as we re-
develop our relationship with Him.
This process also makes sense from a practical basis.
By repeating the Supreme Person’s Names in meditative
prayer and song and speaking in praise of Him, we can
naturally re-direct our focus and our interests from our-
selves towards the interests of the Supreme Person. We can
also re-program the mind to help us remember Him and
think of Him. In this way, the mind can gradually be con-
verted from a disturbance to an assistant, reminding us of
our permanent relationship with Him.
Put another way: To re-establish a relationship with
someone there must be a way to get in touch with them. As
the boy in the mountains cried to his father, we must also
call and cry out our Best Friend’s Name. We must reach out
to Him:
To reach an old friend a person we will typically pick up the
telephone and call them. The first thing done upon making
the connection is to call out the friend’s name, praising the
friend’s virtues and how much the friend has been missed.
Our True Love is waiting for our call.
We all use various means to relate to our friends.
Regardless of the method, in the final analysis we approach

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each other by calling out the other person’s name. This is

universal. Calling out our friend’s name is a sign of respect;
a sign of our interest; and a sign that we want to exchange
or renew a relationship with that person.
If we want to show the Supreme Person that we are
serious about re-establishing our relationship with Him,
then we need to communicate with Him. An occasional
letter or card hardly shows an old friend we are very seri-
ous to re-establish our relationship.
However, frequent, consistent and sincere attempts
to communicate indicate to that person we are serious
about rekindling our relationship. In the same way, if we
are serious about re-establishing our relationship with the
Supreme Person, it is necessary to communicate with Him
through calling His Names as often as possible. We can
communicate with the Supreme Being in so many ways:
We can pray to Him any time, with outward expression or
inwardly.
We can talk to God at any time. We can sing His
names anytime and anywhere. We can cry to Him. We can
discuss our problems with Him. We can write to Him. He
is here for us—any time we wish to reach out to Him, He
will be here. Whether we address Him as God, Father,
Abba, Creator, Yahweh, Shen, Om, Jehovah, Vishnu, Allah,
Yah, Elohim or simply Dear Lord, we can immediately
reach Him by calling, singing and repeating His Holy
Names.
The real path has bends and bumpy spots.
The transcendental path may be simple but it is not
necessarily easy. During our physical lifetimes, we are met

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with various challenges and temptations that can easily

take us off the path of focusing our attention onto the Su-
preme Being. These challenges include the distractions of
physical possessions, sensual pleasures, wealth, and the
desire to be respected by others. These challenges can not
only distract us from the Supreme Person, but may become
addictive by their association and lead us into complicating
factors that pull us further from our focus upon our
Friend—further covering us with the selfish behavior
which got us into this mess in the first place.
It would be nice to be able to withdraw ourselves
from living within this physical world, but this is not prac-
tical. Every physical organism has particular tendencies
according to the type of body and talents we have been
given. We have to use these talents and tendencies to help
us learn and re-develop our relationship with Him. It will
thus be necessary to keep the body healthy and the mind
clear to enable it to help us continue on the path. In other
words, until we are able to transcend this school of tempo-
rary physical existence, we have to utilize the physical
body and mind for a while. The question is; how do we
maintain them without being pulled down by them?
One rule of thumb is that we should try to live lives
that inflict as little pain as possible onto our fellow embod-
ied living beings. This includes harshly dealing with others
or taking advantage of others such as cheating or stealing
from them. Noting that the Supreme Person is pleased with
kindness, we should try to be kind and respectful towards
others, and avoid harming others to the extent practical.
This includes our activities that affect living beings in other
species of bodies as well. Causing as little pain as possible

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to other living organisms when deciding what business to

conduct, what to eat or what to wear has the affect of in-
creasing our own consciousness and awareness while we
maintain the body. Of course, we have to be practical. But
we can still be practical and always look for ways to inflict
as little harm as possible onto others. Even if in the begin-
ning we merely do this outwardly, eventually the effect
will be that as our consciousness grows we begin to actu-
ally care about others.
The central process of raising our consciousness and
purifying our mind is done through a combination of re-
ducing the sensual inputs that can pull our focus away
from the Supreme Being to whatever extent we can, while
adding or increasing activities that remind and focus us on
the Supreme Person.
As we remember the Supreme Being increasingly in
our daily lives, we will automatically become more at-
tracted to Him because He is the most Attractive and
Beautiful Being. As our focus on Him grows through our
efforts to connect with Him, we will be gradually less at-
tracted to the temporary attractions of the physical world.
In other words, as we become more attracted to the Su-
preme Person we’ll naturally become less attracted to the
physical world, and our bad habits will gradually fall
away.
Central activities that remind us and connect us to
the Supreme Person include repeating His Names and glo-
ries in song, prayer, etc. In addition, we can offer the fruits
of our labors to the Supreme Person. The Supreme Being
will accept so many other things we may offer. He will ac-
cept simple gifts such as water, gems, flowers, leaves, and

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even fruits, vegetables, grains and milk products before we

eat them. He will accept the results of practical efforts as
well. We can offer our house to the Supreme Person and
use it as a place to glorify Him. We can donate money to
projects that spread His glory. We can offer the fruits of our
labors to the Supreme Person in so many practical ways.
We can also ask Him to let us know how we can please
Him. We can also simply pick a flower and spontaneously
offer it to Him, saying His Name with sincerity.
It is the love we extend that He appreciates. He does
not need the thing. “It’s the thought that counts,” as the say-
ing goes. These offerings and acts of devotion, if done with
sincerity, love and humility; will not only be graciously
appreciated by Him, but will increase our remembrance of
Him. This remembrance will gradually allow us to experi-
ence our own personal and unique relationship with Him.
We can simply incorporate these personal methods
into our lives without extraordinary change in our occupa-
tion, family ties or lifestyle. We can gradually add new
activities as we are comfortable. We can also maintain pri-
vacy in these activities, as they do not require we join any
sect or organized group. We can also partake in these ac-
tivities together, sharing our common bond with the
Supreme Person with others in gatherings of song, praise,
and offerings.
As we walk this path, using these practical methods,
we will see an increasing amount of joy in our lives as we
begin to see everything in relation to Him. We will see all
of the physical things around us as things to offer Him
rather than objects to try to own and enjoy. We will see
every talent we have as coming from Him and want to use

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them to please Him. We will see the children of our bodies

and all the rest of the family of our body as His children
rather than belonging to us. We will see our actual family
grow, as we start to see every living being related to Him.
Gradually we will see our function as being a caretaker and
servant rather than owner and master. We begin to live our
lives desiring to do His will rather than our own will.
And the secret to transcendental fulfillment? As we
strive for our own fulfillment, we remain empty. Should
we strive for the Supreme Being’s pleasure, we become
satisfied. This is our actual loving nature: we are happy
when we work to make Him happy. And what makes Him
happy is when we are happy. It is a joyous cycle of love.
By using these practical and natural methods of
reaching out to Him, we can travel the transcendental path
of refocusing our lives towards living for the Supreme Be-
ing, eventually leading us to the ultimate destination of
true love for the Supreme Person.
***
Conclusion: Understanding one’s identity as transcen-
dental is the first step onto the path towards the goal of
life. Finding a guide who has accomplished a loving rela-
tionship with the Supreme Being, and humbly taking
guidance from such a Teacher is the time-honored
method for being re-introduced to the Supreme Being.
Rendering loving service and calling the Supreme Be-
ing’s Names is the vehicle and destination of the path
because His essence travels through His Names. The ul-
timate goal is true, selfless love of the Supreme Being,
and it is in establishing this loving relationship that we
find our complete fulfillment, and ultimate success.

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The Source of Love

As she walked down the hallway all the lights went off. Pitch-
blackness ensued. Stepping lightly and slowly, she felt the
walls to guide her. As she walked carefully, running her
hands down the hall, she had hope that once she reached the
end of the hallway she’d feel safer. At the end of the hallway
was her bedroom, where she could take refuge in her bed to
ride out the power outage.
As she felt her way to the doorway to her bedroom, her sense
of panic decreased. She was almost there, she thought. The
hallway felt so dark and lonely that it had brought her doubt
and uncertainty, turning to worry and anxiety.
Once she reached her bedroom she began to relax a bit, but
her anxiety did not reside. The room was still pitch black. She
felt for the bed, remembering the corner it was in. As she
found it she lay on her back staring into the darkness. She
soon understood that her bed didn’t relieve the uncertainty
created by the pitch blackness: She still felt alone and afraid.
Just then she heard a familiar voice. A very close friend had
entered the room. She took great comfort that her friend was
present. She breathed a true sigh of relief as her friend assured
her that she was safe, and that the power outage was only
temporary. She trusted this good friend.
As she approached him to make contact, she could not see him
in the pitch blackness. This didn’t matter however, because
the assuring nature of his voice and their tender conversation
reminded her of their close relationship. The darkness didn’t
bother her now. As they hugged, she became immersed in the
feelings of being with him. Her anxieties about the darkness
were quickly forgotten in the presence of her friend.
Every living being on this planet walks with loneli-
ness and anxiety due to the pitch-blackness of this world.

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This world is dark because our physical bodies are not

equipped to see reality. Without the trust and exchange of
a relationship with the Supreme Being, we are stuck feeling
our way through a frighteningly dark house. We may think
that we will find comfort in one of the objects of this dark
world, and we will confidently feel our way towards them,
but once finding them we are only reminded that they do
not relieve our loneliness nor do they bring true light to our
world.
Should we come into contact with our Best Friend or
one of His loving servants however, we may begin the
process of resuming our lost relationship with Him. Once
reunited with our Best Friend the darkness of this world
will no longer be a problem because the relationship itself
will bring light to our world.
Until we make real contact, we may be tempted to
imagine who the Supreme Being is. For this reason, many
speculate regarding the Supreme Person’s identity.
Some, as the classical painters have done, depict the
Supreme Being as an old man with a long white beard, sit-
ting on a big golden thrown. Some have depicted the
Supreme Person as flying through the air with angels, with
long grey hair and flowing robes, while some depictions
have had Him wearing nothing but a leaf. By far, the old
man with the long white beard sitting on the golden
thrown is probably the most prevalent depiction amongst
western civilization and modern society.
Some have even depicted the Supreme Being as just
a normal person walking the planet undisclosed. There
have been movies that have depicted the Supreme Being as
an older gentleman living amongst us, playing jokes. He is

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shown moving around stiffly in a suit and tie, smoking a

cigar. Again, in this depiction He is assumed to look old,
with grey hair. The assumption is that since the Supreme
Being has been around for eternity, He must look old.
Others have speculated that the Supreme Being is
impersonal. They speculate that He is a vague “force,”
without form or individuality. They imagine the Supreme
Being as a cloud or energy moving throughout the uni-
verse, coordinating things and flowing through everything.
This speculation has led some to a theory that we are
all the Supreme Being yet somehow forgot. Somehow, the
Supreme Being was stuck in a physical body, and if we just
meditate a little then maybe we can remember, and regain
our control. In other words, it is proposed that the Supreme
Being is spread out amongst all of us, forgetting His true
identity as the Supreme Being.
Still others, desiring to further deny His personal ex-
istence, prefer the Supreme Being to be a void, or a state of
nothingness. It is imagined that we might reach our own
personal state of nothingness some day and merge into that
great void.
Each of these speculations is the result of a combina-
tion of a lack of information and a confidence in one’s own
mental prowess. Unfortunately, these concoctions will not
relieve us of our darkness because they are imaginary.
They are not based upon reality and thus do not bring us
any true comfort or fulfillment.
There are reasons for the Supreme Being’s mysteri-
ous identity: like maybe us. Though His presence is near,
we prefer that He remain mysterious. This enables us to
maintain our illusion that we are the masters of our do-

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main. To be aware of a governor would interfere with our

own attempted governance. This only makes sense:
A plant supervisor at a work site would feel compromised
should the owner of the business walk in and begin ordering
him around in front of his workers. The workers would realize
that the plant supervisor wasn’t really the boss.
As a result of our determination to be the boss, some
of us will fashion the Supreme Being’s identity to accom-
modate our self-image. Those of us who prefer to pretend
to be the center must maintain a concocted theory of the
Supreme Being that will allow the pretense to continue. It
makes sense that those who want freedom without respon-
sibility will fashion themselves as the top dog.
As a result, they are compelled to declare that they
are the Supreme Being while the rest of us are figments of
their imagination. This is often added to the teaching that
we too are the Supreme Being but we just need to realize it.
While they claim that we too are the Supreme Being, we
have to listen to them teach us this before we can realize it.
Presumably, it was because they discovered this be-
fore we did. We would have to question this: If we were all
the Supreme Being, why did some of us remember before
the others did? When they realized it why didn’t we realize
it? Certainly if we were “all one,” as many assert, we
would at least realize it when they did. Lastly, we ask: If
we are the all-powerful Supreme Being, why is forgetful-
ness more powerful than we are?
We are each individuals, active by nature.
The speculation that the Supreme Person is some
sort of void or nothingness is absurd. Can nothing logically

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exist? If nothing exists, then something does not exist. Any-

thing ascribed to be nothing could not logically exist.
Nothing comes from nothing and something comes from
something. Let us be reasonable here: All of the energy,
activity, personality, events, and purpose arising from each
living being are actual realities. If we were nothing, we
would not exist.
When we consider something as void, we speak of a
state where there is no action, no thought, and no indi-
viduality. Currently we are all individuals, and part of our
natural constitution is activity. We each exist separate from
each other, acting in unique ways. Each of us has unique
thoughts and actions, expressed by our unique facial ex-
pressions, unique choices of words, and many unique
activities.
This uniqueness indicates that we are individuals. If
we accept a speculation that after we die we merge into a
void, then we are contemplating a time when we cease our
individual existence and activity. The characteristics of our
current existence conflict with this. A person is born active,
with a distinct personality, distinct talents and a distinct
disposition. This indicates a prior active, individual exis-
tence. A person born with a talent to play the piano like an
expert obviously picked up that skill in a prior active exis-
tence.
If a living being has an active existence prior to be-
ing born into this body, and an active existence while the
physical body undergoes its constant recycling of physical
matter, it is only logical that an active existence will follow
the death of this body. Since no one is born with the exact
same talents, we obviously were uniquely distinct before

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birth. We learned those talents through distinct activities. If

we all merged into the void when we died, then we would
all have the same voided, inactive personalities and empty
heads when we were born.
This is not to say that a person cannot develop the
discipline to pull away from their senses, temporarily merg-
ing into a peaceful, non-active state for a while. This
practice has been documented. From the Supreme Person
emanates an effulgence—an ocean of light—which will
temporarily support living beings who through great aus-
terity purify themselves enough to merge into this
effulgence state.
However, this state of inactivity, though it may
bring one some peace for a while, will not last. Such a liv-
ing being will once again fall back to activity, and unless
they have established a loving relationship with the Su-
preme Person, they will be sucked right back to the
physical world of sensual emptiness.
Sorry, but we are not supreme.
Individuality also conflicts with the notion that we
are all the Supreme Being. One might speculate that the
Supreme Being spread Himself as a number of different
people, each being born with separate personalities.
The plausibility of this fails when we observe that all
of these separate personalities—each of us within separate
physical bodies—are individually and distinctly bound and
controlled by the laws of nature. We do not have authority
over the laws of nature either individually or collectively.
In other words, when it rains, our bodies get wet. When it
snows, our bodies get cold. When we cannot obtain food,

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our bodies starve. We may be able to change our situation

slightly, but we have no authority over nature. We cannot
make it rain or shine, or otherwise control nature. The Su-
preme Being means all-powerful.
To say the Supreme Being would remove Himself
from power and be controlled by the very nature He cre-
ated is simply not logical. If this happened, could he still be
called the Supreme Being? Absolutely not. A being who
became controlled by nature could not at the same time
control that nature.
Maintaining that the Supreme Person would forget
He was the Supreme Being would be saying that the Su-
preme Being could come under illusion and thus become
forgetful. Is it reasonable that the Supreme Being could be-
come forgetful? Is it rational that the creation He controls
would control Him?
Some might get into semantics around this area, de-
claring that we are pretending to be controlled by nature
for a while so that we can enjoy a pastime. The problem
here is that again this would imply that this pastime has
severely gotten out of our control. We might ask a mother
in Somalia whose babies are starving if she is the Supreme
Being.
With this said, it is a fact that everything is mani-
fested from the Supreme Being. He can also personally
expand Himself. He can also create individual, separated
expansions—the living beings like us. Though the physical
world and the living beings are separate from Him, they
are still from Him. Therefore, there is a oneness about every-
thing: everything manifests only from Him. Yet there is
also differentiation and individuality: There is oneness yet

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differentiation. The sun, sunshine and the effects of sunshine

(like photosynthesis and vision) all come from the sun so
there is oneness there. Yet the sun itself is separate from the
sunshine and its effects. There is oneness, yet individuality:
The Supreme Being is an Individual who has created indi-
viduals inherent with certain freedoms.
Anything produced reflects its producer.
In the case of the Supreme Being there is no doubt
that He has dominion over His creation. His creation re-
flects His ultimate authority. His creation is also an
expression of Himself. It is only logical that a creation will
reflect its creator and the purpose of its creator. Anything
produced is a reflection of its producer, just as a statue re-
flects the talent of the sculptor.
Because the Supreme Person is the Producer, we can
understand that He possesses individuality since He pro-
duced individuality. The reason we each have distinct
individuality is because we were produced by Someone
who wanted to distinguish each of us from each other and
distinguish ourselves from Him. By producing individual-
ity and distinction, the Producer reveals a distinct purpose
for each of us other than as simply extensions of Himself.
Herein we find the difference between an extension and an
individual: free will.
The living being has a separate identity and free
will. A free will distinguishes a tool or a slave from an in-
dividual. A free will gives someone the choice to perform a
function or not. A free will distinguishes one person from
another person because they each will make different deci-
sions. In the eyes of the Supreme Being, the ability to make

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different decisions gives His kingdom diversity.

As we look around us at the individuality existing in
even a small population of the human race, we see indi-
viduality to extremes. The Producer is also an individual.
Not only is He an Individual, but He is the Ultimate Indi-
vidual. He is not a follower—He is the Leader. He is the
ultimate Alpha-Male. For this reason, the Supreme Being is
typically referred to as “He.”
At the same time, the Supreme Person also contains
feminine expression. While we would not go so far as to
refer to the Supreme Person as “She,” the Supreme Being’s
feminine expansion has been scripturally documented. Cer-
tainly, the Supreme Being contains all the elements of
strength and creativity, along with the ultimate ability to
nurture and care for each of us. He is the reservoir of all we
have experienced, and our ultimate shelter.
The Supreme Being is His own Person. He is com-
pletely independent. He is involved, yet independent. He is
caring, yet aloof. He is always with us, yet He is in His own
abode. He is the maintainer of everything, yet He has no
obligations to anyone. He is the ultimate perfection of indi-
viduality and leadership. He is the Source of love, and the
ultimate Lover.
The Supreme Being can display and has every dif-
ferent characteristic and emotion we can display to its
perfection. Why? Because He is the origin and reservoir of
our emotions and characteristics. He has these characteris-
tics to utter perfection. His emotions and characteristics are
not tainted and perverted as ours can be as we twist them
towards self-interest at the cost of others. For example, we
may display anger when we are selfishly frustrated with

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someone, and cause him or her distress with that anger.

This anger has benefited no one: It may even harm our-
selves along with those around us. The Supreme Being’s
anger however, is perfect and beneficial. He will become
angry only out of love, and His anger will manifest itself
only into situations that ultimately benefit those He may be
angry with. His anger is a loving, caring anger. This is an-
ger to its transcendental perfection.
A kind person likes kindness.
We must also consider that since the Supreme Per-
son is an individual, with particular likes and dislikes, He
can communicate those preferences. These preferences are
also beneficial to others, since the Supreme Being is a being
of love. It is logical that many of these loving preferences
would naturally be displayed among bona fide teachings
regarding the Supreme Being.
It would be logical that these same preferences are
also echoed through everyday life. In other words, we
should not only be able to hear His preferences through
scripture and the teachings of our guide, but we should see
those preferences reflecting evident in our practical lives.
For example, it is common among all scriptures and
bona fide teachings that killing, causing pain to one an-
other, and in general disrespecting each other are not
condoned. Not only do we see these commands docu-
mented throughout the scriptures: we can see these
working within our everyday lives. If we hurt others, we
ourselves will be hurt. We can see that disrespecting others
will result in ourselves being disrespected. A disrespectful
person is rarely be respected. These types of basic instruc-

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tions have not only been taught by bona fide Teachers and
scripture, but they echo through our physical lives. It is
thus easy to realize that the Supreme Being lovingly prefers
us to be kind to each other, and to care for one another. He
is happier when we are loving each other. He is happier
when we are caring for each other.
This same type of confirmation is evident in the case
of renewing our loving relationship with Him: As multiple
scriptures and Teachers teach this conclusion, our lonely
state of affairs without love and without Him in our lives
confirm these teachings. This ultimate request to direct our
love towards the Supreme Person also tells us a great deal
about His personality.
The fact that He likes to exchange love, and prefers
kindness and caring amongst His children tells us that ul-
timately the Supreme Person is a kind and caring Person.
He is a Person who values kindness, compassion, and for-
giveness. For this reason, we can confidently conclude that
the Supreme Being is ultimately kind, compassionate, for-
giving, and loving.
Life is composed of relationships.
As we look around us, we find that life is full of rela-
tionships. From the largest to the smallest of organisms,
relationships are to be found. Almost every living organ-
ism is involved in relating with other living organisms
during their physical lifetimes. It is no accident that most
procreation requires developing some sort of relationship
with another living organism. From the smallest of insects
to the largest of mammals, each living organism focuses
much of their energy towards establishing relationships

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with others. Modern science has discovered that even sepa-

rated plants relate with each other through the
disbursement and reception of pollen and pheromones. As
the level of consciousness grows among species, relation-
ships become more obvious and more focused. As we rise
to the consciousness of the human organism, we find that
relationships among families, friends, and spouses become
a major focus. From the day we are born into the physical
body to the day we leave the body, we pine for loving rela-
tionships with and from others. Relationships are simply
part of our natural constitution.
Relationships are held in the highest esteem because
our natural function is designed to exchange relationships.
Our functions are wrapped around relationships. Each of
us has many different kinds of relationships. In the physi-
cal world, we each have relationships with parents, mates,
spouses, children, work-mates, and so on. As our con-
sciousness becomes more purified, we find that these
relationships all stem from our unique relationship with
the Supreme Person.
The characteristics of relationships reflect our Crea-
tor. The Supreme Being enjoys so many relationships. His
relationships are multifaceted, and He enjoys these simul-
taneously with various living beings. He will be playing
with one living being somewhere while He is dancing with
another elsewhere. He will be nurtured by one living being
while He is tricking another. He will be laughing and jok-
ing with one living being while He is lovingly fighting with
another. In this way, His relationships all give Him loving
pleasure, which gives those He is relating with loving
pleasure as well.

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He is also happy to see living beings exchange sin-

cere loving relationships amongst themselves. Of course,
real loving relationships require those living beings to rec-
ognize each other truthfully—as children of the Supreme
Being rather than physical bodies. He is particularly
pleased when living beings lovingly share discussions of
Him or glorify Him together. This increases His pleasure
exponentially because He knows this ultimately makes us
happy. This is the perfection of love.
The Supreme Being’s abilities are beyond our physi-
cal sense perception and beyond our ability to mentally
comprehend. They exist outside of the physical dimension,
and thus do not have the same limitations we experience in
this physical world. However, the Supreme Being is not
outside of our loving sense perception. We can all relate
with these loving senses because these loving senses are
part of us.
Is judging the core activity of a relationship?
Many of us relate to the Supreme Being as though
He sits on a golden throne all day doing nothing but judg-
ing us. We imagine Him just sitting, yet we see around us a
variety of activity. The Supreme Being is not a voyeur, en-
joying life by simply watching us. In the physical world,
we have access to parks, entertainment and so many activi-
ties and recreational opportunities. We have mountains to
climb, oceans to surf and sail, snow to ski and streams and
waterfalls to play in. We have food to taste and share, and
we have comedy to laugh at. All of these elements have
been ultimately produced by the Supreme Person. Why
would the Producer not have at least these facilities? Why

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should He be forced to merely watch over us while we do

all these activities?
Without diminishing the Supreme Person’s ability to
watch over each of us, the Supreme Being has His own
world. This is the transcendental dimension, wherein He
dwells personally, performing His various pastimes. In
fact, He is the ultimate active Person. The Supreme Being
partakes in the most extreme activities. He also partakes in
the most relaxing activities. The Supreme Being can eat
good food, play in streams, climb (or even lift) mountains,
and do all of the activities that we can do and more within
His transcendental world. He enjoys mixing it up with His
various relationships with living beings. He is, after all, the
Supreme Enjoyer.
Beauty comes from the beautiful.
All the beauty of nature we see around us reflects
just a glimmer of the beauty of its Producer. From the
shimmering of the blue ocean to the sparkling of a dia-
mond and everything in between, we should know that all
of this spectacular beauty is only a dim reflection of His maj-
esty and beauty. If we consider the expansiveness of outer
space, the beauty of the stars, and the bounty of sights such
as the Grand Canyon or the Himalaya mountains, we can
see that not only is our Precious Friend beautiful, but He is
strong and bountiful.
Not only is His beauty bountiful, but He is ever
changing and ever fresh. Just as every day brings new
beauty—never is a day exactly like another day—His
beauty is always unfolding and endlessly new. As a result,
we could never tire of His beauty. Whether we are seeing

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Him directly or simply thinking about Him, His beauty is

always shining, always fresh.
The Supreme Being is also the Ultimate Comedian.
He is the funniest Prankster, having the ultimate in dry wit
along with drollery and tom-foolery. We can see His hu-
mor all around us. This is why comedians can be so funny
when they talk about everyday existence. Everyday exis-
tence is funny because all of these comical situations have
ultimately been designed by the Supreme Person.
This is why natural functions such as flatulence are
comedic. Assuming we have a bit of humility, we can eas-
ily see how the Supreme Person’s humor plays into our
everyday lives. While we try to take ourselves so seriously,
our Friend is constantly introducing hilarious scenarios as
subtle reminders of the reality of our existence. All this is a
mere dim reflection of the fantastically humorous and
happy nature of the Supreme Person.
The Supreme Person is also supremely tender and
delicate. The tenderness displayed by babies and chil-
dren—how they are easily hurt; or quickly become shy or
embarrassed—is a reflection of the Supreme Person’s ulti-
mate tenderness. While His awesome strength and power
is certain, most of us do not realize that His Personality also
contains the ultimate in tenderness and shyness. It is for
this reason that He does not push Himself upon us. He lov-
ing nature is complete in its softness and gentleness.
Intentions reveal character.
Consider the purpose of caring about someone we
love. This purpose would naturally be held in higher es-
teem than a hurtful or vengeful one. When we look around

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us in this temporary dimension, we see a multitude of con-

tinuous and simultaneous learning experiences, all
pointing to lessons of love. We see people searching to love
someone special. We see people helping others in different
ways, and being helped by others. We see people needing
others to love and respect them. We see people toiling day
after day, exceeding their need to keep their body alive, to
prove to others that they are worthwhile and loveable.
When we see others helping someone or caring for
someone, we often reflect those emotions and wish to par-
ticipate. In contrast, when we see someone hurting
someone else we often feel upset and angry. Meanwhile we
see that they eventually receive an appropriate reflective
negative response. Likewise, when we see someone doing
something nice we feel better. When we give something to
someone, we typically feel better.
When we help someone, we feel better and they feel
cared for. By all of this response, we should realize that
there is a system in place pointing us towards loving and
caring for each other. Like a pinball machine, one can sim-
ply follow the point scoring system to understand which
things are intended to be good for us and which things are
intended to be not so good for us.
Within these lessons is an intention. Schools are set
up to educate people for specific purposes. Some schools
are set up to teach technical skills, others focus on acade-
mia, while still others might teach scientific theory or
military operations. The school of life is structured toward
learning how to love and properly exchange loving rela-
tionships. Our school of the physical world is set up to
teach us that we are unhappy without our loving relation-

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ship with our Best Friend, the Supreme Person.

The Supreme Being’s purpose with us is to exchange
a unique relationship with each of us. Any true relationship
requires freedom, however. Because we have been granted
this sort of freedom, some of us may choose to avoid our
relationship with Him—instead wishing to enjoy sepa-
rately. For this reason we have been given this place of
virtual independence to act out our desires.
At the same time—knowing that we will never be
happy separate from Him—He has set up a facility to re-
establish our unique relationship with Him. He knows this
is only way we will be truly happy because this was the
original purpose for our existence. All of this is done out of
love and care for us. He could easily let us go, never to re-
turn. Real love, however, is something else altogether. Real
love provides a constant method for return, yet without
any force or obligation.
We can certainly continue to choose not to exchange
a relationship with the Supreme Person. It is His intention
to give us continual freedom out of love. However, He is
trying to guide us back to a loving relationship with Him
because He knows this will make us happy. He never
forces us. It is His unconditional loving and forgiving na-
ture to want us back.
Consider for a moment how we have snubbed the
Supreme Being during our lifetimes. How we have been
ignoring Him as we seek our selfish desires, while He has
patiently awaited our decision to return. This tells us that
the Supreme Person is a softhearted, forgiving Person. He
is quick to love and quick to forgive. Why should we want
to stay away from this Person?

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Like a fish out of water, we are unhappy

without a true loving relationship.
The Supreme Being is our Best Friend. He is the Per-
son we are always seeking. He is the Person we can depend
upon. He is the Person we can have the ultimate fun with.
He is the Ultimate Comedian. He is always personally with
each of us, despite the fact that He is simultaneously with
everyone else. He is here, yet He is hidden by the veil of
material nature. He is also aloof and independent. He does
not need us.
Despite His independence, the Supreme Being ac-
tively pursues a continued loving relationship with each of
us. This is Who He is. The transcendental dimension is the
place where He resides. The activities in this transcendental
dimension are what we all always pine for and what He
truly enjoys: fun-loving activities involving tenderhearted
exchanges and pure loving emotions.
Unfortunately, most of us are stuck in this tempo-
rary realm as the result of our envy of the Supreme Being.
We wanted to eat the forbidden fruit: we wanted to be the
Supreme Being rather than to be with the Supreme Being.
So within this temporary physical dimension He created
temporary bodies for us to pretend we are independent
enjoyers for a while.
He also created a number of levels, with various
types of bodies and various types of environments, to be
able to provide rewards and incentives in our learning
program. All of this was designed as a facility to enable us
to return to the loving relationship that ultimately will ful-
fill us.
Like any loving parent or friend, He has established

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lesson plans for us to learn during our lifetimes in this

temporary dimension. They are set up for us to realize our
transcendental identities built upon love. These lessons are
set up out of love, and set up for us to re-learn how to love.
The lessons we learn here are akin to a virtual reality game:
We score points when we take actions that benefit others
somehow, and lose points when our selfish actions hurt
others.
Gaining points will usually result in material or
physical improvements, while losing points will include
receiving what we have doled out. The process may result
in temporary physical pleasure or may inflict pain upon
our physical virtual personas.
At the same time, we should know that physical
pain does not actually directly hurt the self. We can still
walk away from this temporary virtual realm unscathed, hav-
ing learned its essential lessons. We should realize that the
Supreme Person does not cause us pain. The physical pain
of the body is only a momentary blip to the virtual body. It
is only our attachment to and identification with these vir-
tual bodies that creates discomfort.
The ultimate lesson we hopefully take away from
this virtual realm is the ability to love again: The ability to
truly care for our Friend and all His children. The ability to
devote ourselves to Him and give of our selves. The ability
to serve our Friend with love. These are the ultimate goals
of life. If we step out of the body having truly learnt these
lessons, we will go back to our loving home.
Those who imagine the Supreme Being’s existence
with mental concoctions are sadly cheating themselves. The
Supreme Being has a real Form. His Form is more real than

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the temporary bodies we wear now. Sorry, but He is not

old with a white beard. Rather He is ever-youthful and vi-
brant. He is illuminated, colorful and beautiful. He also
walks, talks and plays individually with each of us in a va-
riety of ways. At the same time, He can travel and
communicate instantly whenever and where ever He
pleases.
Like any individual, God has distinct likes and dis-
likes. He is also the Individual we can depend upon, take
refuge in and exchange a unique, loving relationship with.
He enjoys many activities and multifarious pastimes. Most
of His activities revolve around His loving relationships
with His children—each of us.
One can know the Supreme Person personally, but
one must first sincerely and humbly desire to know Him—
and then be invited. The rules of love the Supreme Person
maintains both here in this dimension and in His personal
dimension are similar: to be introduced we approach
someone who already has a loving relationship with Him.
This is the concept of family.
Those who have relationships with Him are around.
They may seem difficult to find, but that is only because we
may not sincerely be looking for them. Once we truly seek,
they will become available to us. The Supreme Person can
easily arrange that, should we sincerely desire it. Once we
discover this relationship, it is loving service that fully de-
velops the relationship. Love without service is simply a
contradiction.
As long as we want to ignore the Supreme Person’s
existence He will graciously allow us to live in this lonely
physical world ignoring Him. However, this is not His de-

264
 THE SOURCE OF LOVE

sire, nor is it what will lead to our ultimate fulfillment. He

wants us back. He wants us to regain our original loving
relationship with Him. He knows this is the only thing that
will give us actual fulfillment. This is because He is, after
all, the Source of Love.
***

Conclusion: The Supreme Person is not a void or a

vague force or someone who has forgotten that he is the
Supreme Being. The Supreme Being is a beautiful, fun,
gracious, ever kind and loving Individual with form,
personality, character, and activities. We were sepa-
rately manifested by Him to exchange a relationship of
loving service with Him out of our own free will. He is
the Ultimate Loving Person who loves us each uncondi-
tionally. Therefore, we can give our lives to Him,
trusting that He will protect us and care for us. We can
truly love Him and depend upon Him. With Him, we
have nothing to fear. With Him, we can live happily ever
after within a fulfilling relationship of love and loving
service.

265
 Index
accidents, 178 biochemical, 2
accomplishments, 159 birds, 38, 60, 129, 208
acetylcholine, 33 birth, 35, 46, 135, 190, 200,
addiction, 106 249
adoration, 10, 12, 14, 18 blame, 151, 220
adrenaline, 30, 33, 34, 101 blindness, 228
aging, 53, 54 bloodstream, 99
alcoholism, 106 bones, 48
anesthesia, 180 breakups, 66, 76, 87
angels, 246 breasts, 35
anger, 22, 34, 88, 182, 210, breathing, 238
211, 227, 253 cages, 35, 74
anxiety, 64, 207, 208, 210, care, 14, 15, 16, 34, 38, 42,
221, 245 57, 70, 73, 86, 109, 159,
appetite, 194 160, 163, 181, 214, 253,
athletes, 183 254, 261, 263, 265
atmosphere, 189, 198, 230 caretaker, 243
atoms, 90 cause-and-effect, 26
attitude, 10 cerebrum, 22
attraction, 22, 53, 121 chakras, 99
attractiveness, 118 cheating, 89, 240, 263
austerity, 250 chemicals, 24, 25, 26, 27,
automobiles, 7, 101, 102, 30, 31, 33, 34, 38, 82
177, 208 chemistry, 21
awareness, 166, 240 childhood, 36, 62, 66, 67,
behavior, 64, 80, 125, 138, 68, 155, 199, 200, 201
139, 155, 156, 214, 218, children, 46, 60, 62, 63, 64,
240 67, 68, 69, 75, 78, 84,
belonging, 14, 61, 63, 242 187, 200, 201, 203, 207,
betrayal, 90 221, 242, 255, 256, 259,
billionaires, 11 263

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 THE LOVING SOUL

classroom, 139 crowds, 15, 195

coach, 142, 166
cocaine, 96, 98
cold-hearted, 87
color, 22, 56, 119, 128, 198
comical, 259
commitment, 1, 76, 153,
229
community, 162
companion, 15
companionship, 84
compassion, 34, 170, 255
competition, 109, 201, 211
concoction, 32, 102, 103,
104, 227
confidence, 86, 247
confusion, 135, 170
consciousness, 2, 108, 125,
139, 143, 145, 146, 162,
180, 208, 219, 236, 237,
240, 241, 255, 256
consequence, 188
consideration, 40, 50
consistency, 119, 120
consumption, 9, 10, 12, 13,
40, 42, 43, 96, 104
contemptuousness, 125
convenience, 16, 19
cortisol, 103
couples, 3
creativity, 253
cyclist, 183
danger, 182
darkness, 141, 245, 246,
247
dating, 18, 21, 206
death, 7, 17, 36, 46, 69, 84,
89, 90, 101, 126, 141,
178, 182, 185, 190, 208,
209, 210, 228, 249
decomposition, 54
dependency, 231
depression, 11, 17, 61, 67,
69, 89, 98, 100, 105, 227
desire, 8, 16, 28, 34, 38, 41,
42, 57, 58, 84, 96, 97,
110, 112, 139, 143, 144,
149, 150, 151, 152, 153,
156, 158, 161, 164, 165,
170, 176, 185, 189, 191,
208, 211, 212, 218, 219,
220, 221, 232, 234, 240,
264
desperation, 8
destitution, 124
destruction, 179
determination, 5, 97, 142,
143, 146, 147, 248
devotion, 64, 235, 236, 242
disappointment, 57, 182,
227

268
 INDEX

disbursement, 255 emotion, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27,

discipline, 62, 187, 188, 29, 30, 33, 34, 38, 42, 92,
202, 250 253
discomfort, 183, 199, 203, emptiness, 8, 11, 13, 17,
204, 263 18, 20, 105, 111, 183,
discrimination, 201 190, 198, 214
disharmony, 129 endocrine, 34
dishonesty, 65, 90 endorphins, 33, 99, 101
disrespectful, 254 energy, 23, 42, 61, 91, 95,
dopamine, 24, 33, 99 103, 169, 247, 249, 255
doubt, 55, 143, 148, 217, enjoyment, 27, 28, 52, 56,
221, 245, 252 107, 139, 160, 161, 163,
dreaming, 146, 148 181, 182, 214, 215, 217,
dreamscape, 145, 148, 149 218, 219
drowning, 235 enkephalins, 101
drowsiness, 206 enslavement, 103
drug-overdose, 10 entertainment, 9, 97, 257
drugs, 98, 199, 207 envy, 22, 160, 217, 221,
dying, 7, 88, 199, 208, 210 237, 262
eating, 26, 30, 96, 108, 117, evolution, 2, 21, 137
139, 193, 207 excitement, 103
education, 167 excrement, 52
effulgence, 250 exercise, 41, 59
ego, 27, 31, 107, 144 expression, 3, 33, 37, 108,
elections, 229 128, 139, 174, 200, 239,
electrode, 23 252, 253
electromagnetic, 209 failure, 42, 67
electrons, 21 fairness, 41
elephants, 38 faith, 4, 16, 57, 147, 148,
embarrassment, 206 155, 157, 162
embodiments, 188

269
 THE LOVING SOUL

falling, 79, 80, 81, 92, 101, 108, 125, 162, 172, 206,
146, 225 207, 226, 231, 233, 243,
fanaticism, 165 247, 264
fantasy, 52, 53, 57, 76, 83, genocide, 180
142, 147, 153 gentleness, 259
fatigue, 100, 206 girlfriend, 21, 86
fault, 88, 123, 220 giver, 39, 215
feedback, 23, 25, 27, 28, glorification, 172, 173, 236,
31, 99, 100, 101, 126, 187 237
fingerprints, 73 goals, 32, 52, 55, 56, 57, 81,
fire, 7, 180, 194, 198, 211, 136, 145, 162, 179, 183,
224 184, 228, 263
fish, 2, 26, 96, 208, 261 governance, 107, 248
flatulence, 206, 259 graciousness, 132
flavor, 152 grateful, 7, 226
fluid, 82 growth, 24, 33, 164, 228,
flying, 145, 246 230
fondness, 21 guilt, 163
forbidden, 262 happiness, 9, 10, 11, 12,
force, 42, 45, 57, 112, 119, 13, 17, 37, 46, 55, 57, 65,
151, 176, 247, 261, 265 67, 77, 106, 111, 113,
forgetfulness, 137, 138, 136, 187, 214, 227
231, 248 harmony, 120, 130
forgiveness, 255 health, 69, 145, 163, 193,
friendship, 15, 16, 19, 54, 206
84 hearing, 27, 33, 96, 107,
frustration, 33, 63, 64, 78, 121, 122, 226, 234
182, 183, 201, 207, 210, heartache, 65
227 hobbies, 16, 65
fulfillment, 13, 15, 38, 43, homeless, 180
57, 65, 99, 101, 106, 107, honesty, 90

270
 INDEX

honor, 162 intention, 30, 260, 261

hope, 5, 10, 34, 84, 85, 103,
184, 245
hormones, 33
hospitals, 203
humanity, 7, 155
humility, 91, 130, 229, 230,
231, 235, 236, 237, 242,
259
humor, 22, 23, 259
hypnotist, 146
hypothalamus, 27
identity, 3, 13, 40, 42, 48,
63, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77,
105, 109, 144, 145, 185,
191, 214, 226, 227, 228,
243, 246, 247, 248, 252
illness, 203, 204, 210, 221
illusion, 12, 57, 84, 148,
217, 219, 247, 251
imagination, 11, 148, 248
incubation, 36
independence, 156, 185,
186, 190, 220, 261, 262
individuality, 91, 170, 247,
249, 251, 252, 253
infants, 118, 119, 128
insulin, 103
integrity, 4
intelligence, 2, 27, 31, 107,
118, 141
intimacy, 84
journey, 5, 191, 224, 226
joy, 37, 38, 43, 72, 109, 110,
132, 190, 214, 242
judgment, 103, 171
kindness, 230, 240, 254,
255
laughter, 22, 100, 200
leadership, 212, 253
lectins, 103
leprosy, 121
lesson, 13, 89, 262, 263
lifestyle, 242
loneliness, 11, 14, 15, 39,
61, 186, 190, 202, 209,
210, 213, 221, 225, 245
losing, 16, 67, 181, 187,
208, 263
lust, 34, 40, 41, 43, 44, 77,
82, 110, 130, 214, 217
luxuries, 9, 59
marriage, 17, 65, 75, 77,
78, 81, 82
masquerade, 231
media, 11, 49, 97, 98, 128
memory, 117
mind, 2, 7, 21, 22, 23, 25,
26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33,
34, 55, 99, 100, 101, 102,
103, 104, 106, 107, 117,

271
 THE LOVING SOUL

119, 120, 125, 132, 144, organelles, 119

147, 219, 227, 228, 231, organism, 30, 34, 97, 108,
237, 238, 240, 241 206, 240, 255
mirage, 12, 67 orgasm, 205, 206
misidentification, 77, 181 ownership, 212
mitosis, 3 oxytocin, 24
money, 7, 8, 12, 13, 37, 54, panic, 245
64, 136, 208, 227, 242 paranoia, 11, 65
mood, 217 peacefulness, 108
morphine, 101 perception, 32, 51, 54, 144,
motive, 151 186, 257
murder, 47, 51, 189 permanence, 71, 126
muscles, 24, 28 perversion, 39
music, 14, 98, 108, 125, 146 pesticides, 203, 209
nausea, 200 pheromones, 82, 255
negativity, 123 photography, 116
nerve, 22, 24, 31, 99, 103, photons, 21
117 photosynthesis, 95, 251
nervousness, 100 pituitary, 27
neurochemicals, 22, 24, 26, playfulness, 2, 72
27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 99, possession, 39, 52
100, 101, 103, 105 power, 91, 96, 107, 137,
neutrons, 21 138, 148, 155, 245, 251,
noradrenaline, 101 259
nothingness, 72, 247, 248 praise, 237, 238, 242
numbness, 184 prayer, 147, 149, 174, 236,
obesity, 98, 105 237, 238, 241
olfactory, 82 pride, 4, 230
oneness, 170, 251 protection, 66, 67, 68, 73,
opiates, 98 209
organ, 29, 37 protein, 52

272
 INDEX

prowess, 247 salivary, 103

purity, 108 satisfaction, 34, 43, 44, 77,
purpose, 51, 140, 144, 156, 84, 92, 96, 105, 106, 111
166, 170, 171, 176, 181, seclusion, 11
183, 213, 222, 249, 252, sectarian, 5, 157
259, 260 self, 2, 3, 4, 14, 25, 26, 27,
radiance, 119 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34,
realization, 16, 56, 67, 147, 37, 39, 40, 56, 57, 72,
228, 229, 230 100, 101, 104, 109, 111,
re-awakening, 149 118, 136, 146, 148, 164,
rebellion, 220 165, 183, 184, 185, 202,
receptors, 24, 28, 99 215, 221, 222, 224, 230,
reciprocation, 45, 64 238, 248, 253, 263
recognition, 10, 11, 51, selfishness, 39, 44, 86, 123,
118, 120, 130, 229 153, 214, 220, 221, 222
recreation, 193 selfless, 37, 41, 44, 63, 72,
regret, 110, 142, 207, 208 121, 243
rejection, 86, 87, 206 self-love, 39
relaxation, 34 senses, 27, 50, 51, 52, 82,
reputation, 206 96, 100, 104, 107, 112,
resentment, 227 139, 144, 149, 213, 250,
respect, 1, 10, 14, 33, 38, 257
56, 81, 82, 85, 129, 159, sentiments, 130
162, 171, 175, 214, 229, serotonin, 33, 34
230, 239, 260 servitude, 168
retirement, 68 sex, 2, 8, 9, 10, 52, 68, 77,
ritual, 206 83, 98, 99, 103, 108, 205,
sacrifice, 15, 37, 38, 63, 218
116, 205, 218 shock, 66
sadness, 4, 17, 27, 57, 86, shyness, 259
100, 109, 198, 210

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 THE LOVING SOUL

siblings, 17, 61, 62, 68, 200, survival, 28, 96, 100, 137,
202 202
sickness, 204 suspense, 48
sincerity, 151, 153, 163, talent, 242, 249, 252
164, 165, 173, 175, 229, taste, 18, 96, 104, 107, 257
231, 232, 236, 237, 242 teenagers, 17, 62
softness, 128, 259 teeth, 118, 208
solitude, 116, 125 telephone, 146, 238
soul, 4, 237 television, 9, 47, 98, 126,
soulmate, 75, 82, 87, 90, 128, 149
91, 92, 93 temperature, 102, 180
sounds, 25, 129 temptation, 142, 219
squabbling, 60, 155 tenderhearted, 262
stardom, 15 tension, 60, 64, 65
starvation, 96, 180, 199, testosterone, 33
210, 225 thankfulness, 21, 47, 95
stimulation, 22, 29, 103 thirst, 7, 100
strength, 91, 230, 253, 259 thyroid, 33
stress, 62, 65, 204, 205 timeout, 187
success, 8, 10, 11, 14, 37, tolerance, 179, 180
98, 163, 243 touching, 3, 135, 188
suffering, 177, 179, 180, trauma, 65, 66, 67, 69, 70,
181, 186, 190, 191, 198, 86, 87, 89, 182
202, 203, 205, 206, 211, travel, 2, 4, 22, 25, 61, 124,
213, 221 159, 226, 227, 228, 243,
suicide, 8, 9, 10, 67, 98, 263
105, 106, 178, 209 trust, 15, 20, 76, 85, 87, 88,
superiority, 170 89, 90, 147, 148, 153, 246
superstardom, 15 ugliness, 4, 126
surrogate, 30, 35, 68 uncertainty, 221, 245

274
 INDEX

unfulfillment, 105, 227, voidness, 72

250 voyeur, 257
unhappiness, 198 waterfall, 4, 115, 193
uniqueness, 249 wavelengths, 22, 50, 118
universe, 42, 48, 55, 136, wealth, 8, 10, 11, 12, 96,
137, 144, 152, 213, 222, 98, 107, 108, 143, 163,
228, 247 172, 209, 240
unselfishness, 214, 217, wife, 64, 67, 76, 115
221, 222 winning, 183, 201
vacation, 72 wisdom, 54
vestibulocochlear, 100 womb, 135, 199, 200
vibration, 50, 118, 125, 237 worry, 245
violence, 107, 110, 124, worship, 56, 136, 150, 155,
199, 201, 205, 210, 211, 156, 162, 163, 169, 171,
227 234
vision, 51, 55, 119, 123, yearning, 48, 61
148, 152, 175, 237, 251 yelling, 225

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