My Soul – My Spiritual Connection To The Universe

Last time, we talked about our body being part of this world. Even though we feel separate from everything else in this world, in reality we are not. The bunch of matter, that makes up my body is still part of this earth, even while it is part of my body.

When I think about my soul, I see a great similarity. I believe that there is this great source of wisdom, love and knowledge, which one could picture as the Spiritual Center of the Universe. What is currently my soul, comes from that spiritual entity. But just like the material that makes up my body is at the same time still part of this earth, the spiritual energy that makes up my soul is at the same time still part of that great spiritual entity.

My body is exchanging matter as part of normal daily living. My soul is my connection to the source of wisdom. It can provide all the answers that I need. It can guide me toward my destiny. It can help me make sense of my existence.

My body tells me when it is hungry, when it needs sleep, or when it has any other needs. My soul does so too. It tells me what it needs. I find, that it is just much easier to not-hear the soul, than to not-hear the body. Just as I can get very good at delaying the fulfillment of what my body wants and needs, I can also get into the habit of delaying the fulfillment of my souls needs. I can ignore what my soul is trying to tell me, and focus on something else – usually what my body wants, or my ego.

If I ignore my body's needs long enough, it will get sick. If I ignore my soul's needs for too long, I will get unhappy and unfulfilled.

I find, the key to a happy and healthy life is to take good care of my body, and to take good care of my soul.;To listen to both of them, and fulfill the needs of both of them.

It is very clear what my body needs. I learn about that from early childhood on. Unfortunately, I have never been taught to listen to my soul, to try to figure out what it's needs are.

I am trying to learn now. Accepting that there is a soul, that it does have needs, and understanding that my soul is part of the Great Spiritual Source of Wisdom, Love and Knowledge were the first steps for me to reconnect to my soul.

Reconnecting allowed me to listen, which allows me to follow its lead...

What am I? What is me?

The first definition of “I”, usually points at my body. I can feel when something touches my body, I can see my body.

Looking at it intellectually, my body is basically a collection of matter. A bunch of atoms, hanging together to form molecules, cells, organs. Interestingly, my body was a different bunch of atoms yesterday than today. How? Well, since yesterday I ate some food and drank some water. So new atoms where added to my body. Also, I went to the bathroom. So some of what used to be my body went down the drain.
What happens to my body when I die? All the material, that makes up my body at the time of death is going to get recycled. Smaller and larger organisms are using my body as source for food, integrating what used to be me, in what is them now.
When I think this through, I am not so sure anymore about what materially is really me. Am I really so separate from everything else?

Imagine, we're looking at my elbow under a strong microscope. We could see the atoms that make up my bone, the tendons, the skin. When we move the focus-point of the microscope little by little, we would at some point end up looking at the arm-rest of the chair. We wouldn't even notice where my body ends and the arm-rest begins. All we can see is just a bunch of atoms interlocked with each other in various ways.

Imagine now, you're flying in an airplane, and you look down on good old Tobago. You'd know that I am somewhere in Signal Hill. But you couldn't see me. You'd see the island. And from your vantage point, I am part of the island.

Imagine you were to go out in a space-ship, and look back at the Earth. Clearly, I would be part of Earth. I am not separate from it.

Although I feel separate, I am part of this world, and this world is part of me.

Approaches to Assembling a Puzzle

When playing Jigsaw Puzzles there are two approaches, players usually follow. One is, to look for the border-pieces, and build the frame of the picture first, then fill in the rest. The other approach is to find pieces that fit together and build little segments,adding to them until they inter-connect, and finally all the pieces are in their place.
When I look at the approaches that are applied when assembling a picture about this world, I see a great similarity.
Some people start with a frame. Then they try to fit every piece presented to them into the established frame. If the piece doesn't fit inside the frame, it is discarded.
Other people take any piece, and try to see if it fits with other pieces they already have. They try to create little segments, where several pieces fit together, and add new pieces to those segments, or start new segments, if necessary.
When playing a regular jigsaw puzzle, either approach works well. It is just a matter of personal preference.
Our understanding of this world and life is a little different, however. There is no frame per se. The “whole picture” about our world, everything that is to know about it, is rather infinite – at least in relation to our limited ability to understand and learn.
If I create a frame and discard everything that doesn't fit inside, I am limiting myself very much. I am risking to remain ignorant of many ideas and topics, that would be helpful to me to know about.
One dimension of being open-minded is to not use frames to evaluate the relevance or appropriateness of a piece.

He loves you this much...

The other day, I was driving eastbound on GA138 through Jonesboro Ga, when I noticed this billboard:





It made me very thoughtful.

Today, I'd like to focus on the little picture on the left side of the billboard. It shows Jesus on the cross, and its capture reads: “Jesus loved you this much.”

The story, in short, is this: there is a guy who is at loggerheads with the church establishment, so they get him to be crucified. The typical message about it is, that through his death on the cross, God has forgiven us the sin, which we inherited from Adam & Eve, and now allows us entry into the heavens.

Ok. So in other words, by us humans torturing his son to death, God is now so happy with us that he allows us to go to heaven? Or, God was so upset with us before, but now, since somebody died, God feels revenged and finally forgives us for what Adam and Eve have done – which is, they ate an apple from the one tree they were supposed to not touch. That the guy who died happened to have been his son, is a little detail on the side...

I don't know, but that all sounds quite weird to me.

How about this: This guy comes and tries to help us develop spiritually. He points out where we are going wrong, explains how old scriptures can be interpreted differently, and shows through his life how one can live differently and have a positive impact on humans and the world. The religious leaders at that time, the Pharisees, are so set in their ways and view-points, that they decide to get rid of him. Luckily for them, the romans were quite sensitive about potential rebellions, so they were easily coaxed into performing the dirty job.

Hm. There is nothing mystic about this way of telling the story. One doesn't have to be a “Christian” to still be able to accept the content, as it is closer to the objectively researchable facts. It's not quite the way the story is being told to us in church. However, one can see how this could really have happen.

Well, if we look at it this way, obviously, Jesus on the Cross is not so much a statement about how much he loves us, but more about how much we hate him. It could be a reminder to us, that fundamentalist interpretations and approaches lead to disaster. That when we are closed-minded, judgmental and ignorant we are very destructive.
Suddenly, just by looking at it in a new way, we immediately receive actionable, relevant messages; we are given the opportunity to grow, to improve, to learn...

Let me go a little further. Let's suppose, Jesus were be born again today.
Would I be one of his opponents, demanding his removal, or would I be one of his followers, seeing the light, understanding the messages?
2000 years ago, he was having discussions with the Pharisees. With whom would he have discussions today?
Then, he was standing up for Maria Magdalene. People were about to stone her to death for not abiding to their religious morality. Who would he stand up for today? Who do we torture, scold and outcast, because they do not fit our religious believes, our interpretations of our spiritual scriptures?
Would it be easier or safer for him to do today, what he did then?

Or is Kris Kristofferson's assessment accurate, when he sings in his song Jesus was a Capricorn: “... reckon they'd just nail him up, if he comes down again!”

So why do I think that this is a good example for a jigsaw Puzzle piece, that needs to be quarantined?
I think, looking at the story from a different angle, allows us to ask different questions. Questions lead to answers, and answers lead to deeper understanding and wisdom.
The crucification can be a constant, grim reminder of how narrow-minded, resistant to change, and self righteous we are, especially when it comes to religion. I think, “This is what we do when we hate!” might have been a sentence, that could have helped the passing people to re-evaluate their attitude and behavior. It could have inspired people to be more loving, and less hateful, more tolerant and less judgmental...

My review of this Jigsaw Puzzle piece has helped me to see a whole new picture, where before there was only an empty, rather meaningless template. It helped me grow spiritually. My goal for this website is to foster spiritual growth and renewal by suggesting new pieces for your puzzle, and by revisiting existing pieces...

This site is still under development...

This page is still under development. Please come back again, I'll soon have hopfully interesting ideas discussed here...

Please review About the Puzzle or Spiritual Revolution pages. They already have ideas and thoughts discussed.

Mission

As we grow up and continue living our life, we are confronted with a tremendous amount of information. Some of the information is valid and accurate, some is incomplete, or taken out of context, and some is just plain old wife's tale.
This site is dedicated to providing new ideas and perspectives, which are good seeds for thought. Also, some of the jigsaw puzzle pieces that are often handed out and perpetuated but that might need to be quarantined, are brought up and discussed too.
The hope is, that these discussions will help identify issues that need to be revisited, and provide new pieces for your puzzle, so you may see the world and yourself in it with new eyes and in a better, more hopeful light.
Please participate in the discussion by commenting to the various topics, and also by yourself bringing up new pieces or pieces for the quarantine.
Enjoy the site, and thank you for your interest, your ideas, and your support...

Our jobs: our opportunity to make a difference!

I find, if I want to be a spiritual person, it does not mean that I have to quit my job, and start the process to become ordained or spend my life volunteering. Well, yes, volunteering is noble and good. However, I think, it is neither the only way to live a spiritual life, nor by itself sufficient.
When I listen to what people complain about the most, to what many of us think is a problem in our community, our country, it always is something like “the government”, “the big corporations”, “the school system”, “the churches”, “the politicians”, or a similar entity.
Interestingly, these entities are not things from outer space, nor some kind of natural disaster. No, most of the time, when we complain about something it is about a group of people! Just as we complain about them, some other people complain about the groups of people that you and I belong to.
You have a profession, a job. And there are many people who blame these for the one or other bad situation.
Hm. Simple reasoning would then require me to do something about exactly these situations. Either change what I am doing, and no longer contribute to that bad thing happening. Or, help educate people in my surrounding about why I and my colleagues are doing what we are doing, even though people are complaining about it.
So, for example, when I hear somebody complaining about “programmers” (which happens to be how I make a living), I first try to listen and understand what they are really complaining about. More often than not, it is a real problem that they are lamenting of. If, instead, I were to get defensive immediately, I'd surely miss the point. If I listen, I have a chance to understand. Once I understand, I can ponder ways how I can adjust my actions as programmer to reduce the likelihood that I am producing cause for just that lament. I can also discuss that issue with colleagues, and provide an opportunity for them to realize the problem too, and adjust their actions, too.
At the same time, after I listened to the person, who is hurting due to what “programmers” do, and after having made sure, that she/he feels heard and understood, I can try to provide some information that shows all the choices and their consequences. Sometimes, understanding the why, helps tolerate the what, even if it is uncomfortable. And sometimes, having a better picture allows him/her to understand that the status quo is actually the best of the available options.
However, most often it really is an issue, that I didn't see, or didn't think was such a nuisance. Listening and trying to understand, instead of trying to defend, allows me to identify and work on issues, that are in need for improvement.
Imagine how much better this world would be already, if we all would go and try to improve what we are doing as part of our regular job, our regular life. This has nothing to do with spirituality – it is just plain common sense.
Now, if I add the spirituality aspect to this, can you imagine, how big my positive impact can be, if I not just go and react to complaints I hear, but actually proactively try to re-evaluate each one of my actions and inactions, behaviors and attitude? I am an expert in my field. I know what approaches and tools are available, what could be done differently. By identifying issues myself, before anybody is negatively impacted, I can save others from experiencing displeasure.
Imagine if we all were doing this! Hot-water pipes from the boiler to the shower would be insulated. There would be no more inefficient, wasteful top-loading washing machines. Car owners could take their cars to be fixed at car-dealership without being ripped off. There would be no more lines in front of ladies rooms, as there would be sufficient numbers of stalls. No more sweat shops, as nobody would take advantage of their services. No more office-building doors that don't close well, wasting energy and causing receptionists to freeze to death in the winter...
I think, half of all the misery in this world would automatically disappear!
I think there is a third step possible, that would help us make this world a better place. The first step is to listen for complaints about what I do. The second step is to try to act more according to what I think is good.
The third step is to try to improve my spiritual understanding, so that “what I think is good” really is good. As long as I think spanking my child is a good way of teaching her/him, I won't be able to stop the abuse. As long as I think it is cool to drive a big SUV, I won't opt for a fuel-efficient car. As long as I think it is the right of a supervisor to control and manipulate my employees, I won't be able to be a good manager.
To summarize, I suggest, that this world will be a much better place, if each one of us works on:

1. improving my behavior based on feedback from others, instead of defending my actions
   
2. improving my impact by behaving in the way I know I should, instead of how I think others want me to (traditions, customs, habits, peer-pressure, group-thinking....)
   
3. improving my behavior by improving my spiritual understanding, by putting more focus on searching, learning, and understanding my impact on this creation and my purpose here on this world
   

To make this word a better place, I don't need to do anything special. All I need to do is to use my job and my everyday regular life to create the changes I would like to see in this world...