Reality & Creation

This morning I find my "This Day in History" widget oddly synchronistic. It's entitled Creation of the World, According to Archbishop James Ussher (4004 BCE). Just last night I was listening to a couple of internet radio broadcasts, one about human origins and another about our reality construct. Yeah, I know, kind of monumental topics for humankind.

In one of the segments, the guest expert spoke of the origins of humankind. He cited biblical references that were originally written in Hebrew. Foremost, El is the word for God. This I find fascinating as I've just started a Spanish conversational class, and El is also the article for every masculine word in that language.

Even more fascinating is that the English translation of Genesis in the Bible states "In the beginning God created heaven and earth." In the Hebrew version, which long predates English, the word elohiym, commonly translated as "God" in most modern translations, is a masculine plural word meaning "powers." They also used this when it is written "Let us make man with our image and likeness." The use of personal pronouns us and our is undeniably indicative of more than one.

So what, things get lost in translation all the time. This wouldn't have any global religious or political implications now would it? Nah ...

I'm not necessarily here to dive into religion. I've always been much more of a spiritual person, one who practices tuning into the higher self, vs. religious, one who makes one's self subservient to another's narrow view of spirituality. I only recently became quite clear on that distinction, and I thank my parents for having not immersed me in religion while I was growing up. They always allowed this one particular genre to be my choice, and my choice alone. Now that's poetic justice. Many other people I know in my life have had great struggles freeing themselves from religion's suppressive nature enough to think for themselves.

So this is a really great segway into reality. What is reality? What is real?

According to Mirriam-Websters, it is "the quality or state of being real." OK, that seems just a bit vague. What does "being real" truly mean?

Wikipedia appears to have a much more comprehensive definition: "Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible." OK, that's better.

Well, we know we are real. We think, therefore we are. Thanks, Rene Descartes. In mindfulness practice, there is much emphasis on following one's breath. Such is also the case for the basis of meditation practice. Breathing is a vital source of aliveness within the body. Following the ebbs and flows of one's breath is a very real experience. It's the first step toward being able to look more inward, toward being able to see things as they truly are.

Much of the time we are subjected to the chaos that is our modern world. Everyday we're beamed with electromagnetic radiation, breathe polluted air, drink polluted water and eat foods that have been modified in some way shape or form. Now that's what exists on the physical level. We also fight traffic getting from point A to point B, get into conflicts with fellow humans, our minds absorb hundreds if not thousands of advertised messages daily (positive, negative or neutral) and we're constantly bombarded with the chaos outside our doors through mass (and now also social) media, whether we even step foot outside our doors. We tend not to think about this reality on a daily basis. This is real. This is what it so. I cannot imagine this doesn't adversely affect people and their states of being.

When everyone was a fuss over the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, and I must also admit I had my own uncertainties via media influence, I've also come to realize we may just in fact be entering a new phase of reality. Try on that our collective human consciousness is waking up, and we are embarking on the next stage of our evolutionary journey.

I'm going to wrap up today by sharing an infamous quote I find highly inspiring:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

What you chose to do with this is now up to you ...