Author: Susan Hawkins

As we consistently let go of resisting our fears and allow them to be surrendered, the energy that was tied up in the fear is relinquished and now becomes available to shine forth as the energy of love. Therefore, unconditional love has the greatest power of all, and that love is the power of the celebrated saints.

from Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender pg 95

“Beneath thinkingness, beneath feelingness, beneath all ideology, beneath all form, there’s that which is non-form, that which you call “me”, the Self. If I take off one leg you’re still me, if I take off another leg you’re still me, if I take off an ear, you’re still me. The “me” is not the physical body, because we can remove it piece by piece and you’ll still say, “I’m me”. Donovan’s brain sitting there thinks I’m still me. The sense of self then is independent of physicality. To know that, you know you’re not the physical body. The sense of self does not change with thinkingness. Certainly as one gets older one’s thinkingness can totally change about just about everything, and yet the sense of I, the Self, is not changed, the Atman, the Self, Self with a capital S.

It seems strange to Christian tradition to call the presence of God within, Self with a capital S. Sounds strange and somewhat foreign. To those who are familiar with foreign spiritual literature it is not strange, but to people with a Christian background it seems strange to call the center, the core of one’s existence, Self with a capital S. Soul is more acceptable. To experience one’s soul then, one’s eternal soul, as one’s reality would become closer to common Christian thinking. As the awareness, as the reality unfolds, there is no difference between that which you are, there is no difference between God immanent and God transcendent. Those are just styles of languaging. That which is the source of one’s own existence is not different than that which is the source and the essence of all of the universe throughout all of time. That’s the first stunning awareness, that one ever even worried about life seems like the ultimate joke. How one could have forgotten such a stunning and obvious reality is rather startling. That which shines forth, that which shines forth and gives one a sense of reality, you see, you accept a sense of reality of your experience without question. Why should you experience that which you experience as reality? Is there something out there that would give a special sense of reality? You see how you just assume that as a given. That which you’re looking for is that which you overlooked because you assume it as a given. That which you assume as a given is exactly that which you’re trying to find.

It’s like you’re so used to living in space that you fail to recognize space anymore, you just take space for granted. It’s miraculous that one can experience anything. It’s miraculous to have the capacity to experience. Does a rock experience? To be conscious, to be aware, to experience one’s own existence, is already a rather incredible event, but we take it for granted. But once one grasps the significance of that, you realize to exist and be aware that you exist is miraculous. The miracle of one’s existence, of thee O’Lord, I am. Without God you would not exist, and the source of one’s existence is not different than the core of that which you are. So the soul cannot be “not-God”, it can only be part and parcel of all that exists in a particular expression.”

from “God: Transcendent and Immanent” Nov 2002 dvd set

 

Fear is a level of consciousness to be addressed where it is, not in its expression and extension into the world-fear of this, fear of that-and not trying to handle it on the level of the particular but handling it instead as a level of consciousness. This is done by becoming aware of that which we are, which is greater than the fear, and learning to disidentify with the emotion so we are not that. We are an overall field in which fear is being experienced. It becomes a small thing occurring within the greater context in which we become aware of ourselves as that which we really are.

from Healing and Recovery pg 267

Meaning is defined by context, which determines motive. It is the motive that establishes spiritual value.  To dedicate one’s actions as a service of love to life is to sanctify them and transform them from self-seeking motives to unselfish gifts.  We define excellence as dedication to the highest standards.  Every act can then be held as an opportunity to glorify God by sheer purity of endeavor.  All physical tasks and labor can be ingredients in one’s contribution to the world.  Even the smallest task can be seen as serving the common good, and if viewed in that light, work becomes ennobled.

How life is contextualized can bring either joy or resentment.  Begrudging is replaced by generosity.  If others benefit from one’s efforts, so much the better.  Everyone has the opportunity to contribute to harmony and beauty by kindness to others and thereby support the human spirit.  That which is freely given to life flows back to us because we are equally part of that life.  Like ripples on the water, every gift returns to the giver.  What we affirm in others, we actually affirm in ourselves.

from The Eye of the I, ch. 5, pg. 106-107

The substrate of all existence and creation is the state of subjectivity. God is the very essence of subjectivity. What is aware of existence is the awareness of the presence of God within us. With this realization, we resolve the spiritual conundrum of that which is seeking is that which is sought; in essence, it is the subjective searching for the subjective. The illusion that there is a dualistic set of opposites called subjective versus objective dissolves. It is the ultimate human paradox that man’s dependence on perception precludes his being able to know his own identity.

from The Eye of the I, ch. 15, pg. 289