The Only Thing That Matters (17 page)

Completion of the
entire
process of Divine Experience Through Expression in the Realm of the Physical is impossible due to the limitation of physicality itself—a point made in
Chapter 14
discussing the finite nature of our lives. Yet in the Totality of the three-part Kingdom of God (the Realm of
Physicality
plus the Realm of the
Spirituality
plus the Realm of
Pure Being
) the Totality of Divinity
can
be known, expressed, and experienced by the Totality of You.

This impossibility of Completion of The Sacred Journey
in its entirety
during one physical lifetime is what standard theology has correctly understood, but incorrectly taught. It has attempted in good faith to teach it, but it has done so in an inaccurate and damaging way. It has done so by sharing as dogma a doctrine of Separation from God, rather than by sharing as a celebration the truth of the Magnificence of God.

It is because we are all united with a Divinity so utterly
magnificent
and
limitless
that we need more than one lifetime to experience it! It is
not
because all things physical are separate from God, but exactly the opposite.

As we've already explained, using our stage-play illustration, it may take many passes through a single lifetime (sometimes producing, as we discussed a bit ago, the experience of
déjà vu
), and passages through hundreds of separate lifetimes (does
reincarnation
sound familiar?) for a Soul to be “completely” Complete! All of which brings us back down to you, the individual expression of the Divine that is undertaking this self-exploration by reading this book right now. What does any of this have to do with helping you to focus, on this day of your life, on The Only Thing That Matters?

Well, we have made the point from the outset that it's important to understand how something
works
before you can understand why it is
not
working. The narrative here has been leading you, step-by-step, through the blueprint of Life, reminding your Mind of what your Soul knows about how things were designed to work. In summary then, here is that data, condensed.

The Grand Design is this:
God created physicality as the means by which to express Its Totality in relative terms, so that It might experience Divinity in all of Its aspects.

The Blueprint of Physical Human Life is this:
You are a three-part being, made up of Body, Mind, and Soul. There is no separation within this triad, which has here been called “The Totality of You.” The Totality of You is, in fact, an individuation of Divinity Itself. Even as Divinity is a Triune (BEING, KNOWING, EXPERIENCING), so, too, are you (SOUL, MIND, BODY). You
are
, just as it has been said in many theological circles, made in the image and likeness of God.

The Agenda of the Soul is this:
To express and experience every aspect of its True Identity as an Individuation of Divinity by reaching Completion of The Sacred Journey in moment-to-moment expressions of Life; to collaboratively create, with other souls, the right and perfect conditions, situations, and circumstances within which it becomes possible to experience this.

The Sacred Journey is this:
an ongoing, eternal expression by the Soul of the Essential or Primal Energy called Life, in specific and particular forms, fulfilling The Divine Purpose by means of physicalizations, which are referred to in human terms as “lifetimes.”

The Divine Purpose is this:
Continual Completion. That is, the complete experience of Divinity in any and every one of its aspects through ongoing physical expressions reflecting the Nature of the Divine insofar as any physical manifestation is capable of doing so at any particular evolutionary stage.

When a flower blooms, Divine Purpose (the expression and experience of any aspect of Divinity) has been fulfilled—and The Sacred Journey of the life form called “flower” has reached Completion at that stage. It does not reach what would be called “total” Completion, because the life form called “flower” does not and cannot ever “die” or “go away.” Its energy simply changes form, moving to the next stage in its expression and manifestation.

When a tree grows to its highest point, ultimately falling of its own weight, Divine Purpose (the expression and experience of any aspect of Divinity) has been fulfilled—and The Sacred Journey of the life form called “tree” has reached Completion at that stage. It does not reach what would be called “total” Completion, because the life form called “tree” does not and cannot ever “die” or “go away.” Its energy simply changes form, moving to the next stage in its expression and manifestation.

When a human being expresses fully, Divine Purpose (the expression and experience of any aspect of Divinity) has been fulfilled—and The Sacred Journey of the life form called “human” has reached Completion at that stage. It does not reach what would be called “total” Completion, because the life form called “human” does not and cannot ever “die” or “go away.” When a particular life span is over, a human being does exactly the same thing that other Life Forms do: Its energy changes form, moving to the next stage in its expression and manifestation.

Unlike flowers or trees or other less developed biological Life Forms, the Life Expression called human beings is capable of expressing and experiencing wisdom—specifically, the Wisdom of the Soul—through which, when added to the Experience held in the Mind, a state of “partial Completion” may be reached many, many times, during many moments, across one physical life span.

To finish the moment, to find
the journey's end in every step of the road,
to live the greatest number of good hours,
is wisdom
.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Humans have reached a level of Awareness that may be the highest of any Life Form on the Earth. (We imagine ourselves to be more advanced than dolphins or whales and most other Life Forms—but this is by no means certain.)

As explained early in this exploration, your Life Form is now reaching a new level of Consciousness as a result of the Mind now paying much more attention to the Awareness of the Soul—even as a primitive human at some point became aware that the reflection seen in the water was the Self.

Through the process in which you have engaged right here on these pages, you have seen your own reflection and recognized it as your Self.

To use the Life Path Metaphor one last time: It is when your Mind and your Body deviate from The Path of the Soul that the Mind forgets. And the Body and the Mind are not
required
to follow the Path of the Soul, as has been explained, and so can be lured by other attractions. Yet, now expanding on the metaphor, there is a safety device built into this process—a device that guarantees that you will eventually make it safely to the top of the mountain. Like all good mountain climbers, the three parts of The Totality of You are tethered. (Some spiritual teachers call this connection a “silver cord.”)

The connecting cord is very long, so the Mind and the Body can stray far, far from the Soul before the line becomes taut. (It could be said that God has given you “plenty of rope.”) But at some point, the line becomes stretched and tight. It is then that you begin to feel that You are being pulled in three different directions.

Everyone has experienced this feeling. You may be feeling this way right now. If you are, it is because you have left The Path of the Soul. But don't worry. You're on your way back to the path. And this time, you'll have a map showing you how to
stay on the path
.

Because this time you are going to know about The Only Thing That Matters.

18
The Map

A
ND SO WE COME TO THE BOTTOM LINE
. Having looked at Life and its Divine Purpose, having described in metaphor The Sacred Journey, having explained in detail The Agenda of the Soul, and having defined the very nature of The Totality of You, we arrive at the question with which our exploration began: What
is
The Only Thing That Matters?

The answer will form the foundation of every day, every hour, every minute of your life. This answer will impact everything you think and say and do. This answer will affect the quality of your life from morning til night.

This answer will determine how successful you are—and what you define as “success.” This answer will determine how healthy you are—and what you define as “health.” This answer will determine how loved and loving you are—and what you define as “love.”

This answer will literally create your relationships—both your intimate, romantic relationships and your relationships with family, friends, and everybody in your exterior world. This answer will produce what you do to make a living and what you do to make a life. This answer will affect how you spend time with those you care for, and what you do when you are alone.

This answer will affect
everything
, your entire life, from this moment until the moment you die. It will even affect
how
you die.

The Only Thing That Matters is so important that everything else pales by comparison to it, shrinks to irrelevance in the face of it, and is probably only in place to
begin
with because of it.

Your entire past is a reflection of The Only Thing That Matters, and your entire future will be created by it.

So here it is. In this life on Earth, this is The Only Thing That Matters:

W
HAT
O
NE
D
ESIRES