Jehovah's Witnesses - or - The Truth

I found a letter in my mailbox, addressed to a person I don't know, but at my address - "or current resident" it said. It was an invitation to a bible study at the local Jehovah's Witnesses Kingdom Hall...


I often get asked why I started searching myself, why I don't belong to any of the christian churches, nor follow any other religion. The short answer is, that none of the teachings I learned about offer satisfactory answers.


The flyer enclosed with the letter is entitled "Would you like to know the truth?"

Among the questions listed are: Does God really care about us? Will war and suffering ever end? How can I find happiness in life?

Hm. All very important questions.


When trying to understand, to find out what to believe, I came to conclude, that nobody can "know" anything about what is beyond this physical world that we live in, that we can observe, measure and experience. No theory can be proven correct or incorrect. Some may appear a little more likely, others a little less. With all the searching and reasoning and pondering, all we can do is to choose to believe one idea or another.


The flyer goes on to declare that the bible is god's word and true. Unfortunately, all the citations intended to provide the "true" answer to each of the questions, are interpreted and explained from a particular world-view's perspective. The only "proof" for the statements are more bible verses, interpreted in the same way.


I was searching for a spirituality that helps me make better decisions on all the topics that come up in my daily life. But I never liked the notion of blind faith. Of course, what I don't know, I have to augment with a believe. And faith is nothing but a believe. So, I tried to apply all I do know and used logic to rule out unlikely scenarios. The result is the realization that we humans are not here for our own sake, but that we are here to support the development of this creation. This purpose of the world and everybody else around you is not so that you can grow, but you are motivated, guided, and allowed to grow so you can better support the development of this world. And following this completely changed basis there's a belief-system, which is described on this site.

I can not prove that this is true, and that I do not claim it is. I do state, though, that it makes sense to me and that it provides answers for otherwise difficult to answer questions.

And, interestingly, I found that much of what is described in the bible, when seen from this "we are the tools of the Universe" perspective, actually does make sense. However, it is interpreted very differently.


The bible quotations in the flyer mean something totally different than explained there, once the underlying framework is different. And the conclusions and resulting actions are very different, then, too.


With that in mind, I encourage you again, not to simply believe anything I (or somebody else) says about these topics (or any other topic, for that matter), but instead to listen carefully and try to understand what is meant and what it would mean to you, then reflect and ponder with an open mind and curiosity, and find your own answer.

This site is intended to help you with this task.

Super Hero

Imagine your favorite Super Hero really exists. Then imagine further, that everybody in the world has the same special super-natural powers as your Super Hero. Now, suddenly, these special powers are not so special anymore, are they?

What happened? Your Super Hero still can fly, bend steel, stop trains, use x-ray vision. Still, it's now normal, usual, nothing special anymore! So your Super Hero is not so special anymore, even though he/she continues to fly, to bend steel, stop trains and use x-ray vision.



I think with us humans it is the same situation: we have super natural powers, but since everybody has them, we don't see them as such anymore. We take them for granted. We don't even see them as powers anymore. Some of us even see their special powers as nuisance!

Let's just take our mind: we can understand so much of our world, the laws of physics and chemistry, the weather patterns, or how our body works. We invented computers, built the space-shuttle, and found cures for many diseases.

Or, think about our body: if we scratch the skin, it heals all by itself. If we eat something spoiled, our body takes care of it - either we throw up, get diarrhea, or our liver and kidney filter the toxins out of our blood. We have the best time in our lives making love, and as a result a new human starts growing! I mean, how awesome is that! If that is not Super Powers, I don't know what would be!

We are just used to our powers, and since everybody has them, we don't recognize them as such anymore. And we invent Vampires, X-Men, Ghost Whisperers and more...



There is another interesting aspect: most of us are not using our powers for the same purpose as most of our Super Heros. Think about it: Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Kick-Ass, Hulk, and so on - they all use their powers for the good of their city, society, humanity, even the world. We? We use it solely to promote our own personal vanity and comfort! We don't give a flying fig about the person next to us, not to talk about the next generation, or the people in a different country, and we definitely are not looking out for creation.

You think we care about this world? Give me a break! Listen to the news: when talking about a war or unrest, all we hear about are human casualties. Not a single word about the impact "our" mess has on animals or plants. In a natural disaster, again hardly a word about the fish, the birds, the trees - no everything is about humans.

We don't care that nuclear power-plants are polluting the environment for the next 100 million years (plus minus a few billion more) - we want to be able to use our remote to turn on and off the TV! The energy needed to power solely the remotely turned off entertainment appliances and chargers in the USA is larger than the output of the largest nuclear power-plant, larger than the largest water power-plant (the infamous Hoover dam). There are millions of other examples, where we - each one of us - is contributing to the slow demise of this world.

It doesn't make sense to ask for the elimination of electricity, or cars, to stop using machines and so on. Of course not! However, it would make a lot of sense to think about what we are doing, and what the long-term impact of it is - not just on humanity, but on creation as a whole.



But, let me get back to my original point - Super-Heros...

So, we have special powers and we use them mostly with our own benefit in mind. That's pretty sad.

But, the really, really sad part is, that many of our super powers are being used way to little. How much do we use our brain? Spiritually we are still repeating the same stuff that was said 100s of years ago. Mostly, we're vegetating on auto-pilot. Go to work, come home and watch TV, go to sleep. In between, we get drunk or high to quiescent our feeling hopeless, useless and frustrated. We believe and repeat unreflected whatever we're being told in church, by TV Gossip (often dressed up as news), even by coworkers around the water-cooler, or by spam email. Man, it's depressing! Why did we get such a great brain, if we're not using it? Why did we get such a great body, if we're just abusing it? Why did we get such an inquisitive and capable mind, if we're shutting it down, closing it up, and loosing it?



Final thought: back to imagining things: Imagine there is something like "your maker", and you'll meet her/him/it. What would you answer if you were asked "How did you use your special powers? What did you get done with them?"

Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

At the Decatur Book Fair there was a booth of the "Muslims for Peace". Of course, I had to check them out! Well, a quite interesting conversation ensued. I learned some more about Islam. And, I hope, the man who talked with me, took away some seeds for thought as well.

The most interesting bit of new information to me was that "Islam" means "Peace". He explained, that at the core the prophet's message is about Love.

It seems to me, though, that there's a contradiction: How can a teaching of love demand a death sentence? How can a group that is treating women as second class humans expect to find peace?

Now, throwing out everything, just because there is some nonsense among it, holds the risk of missing real wisdom and insights contained as well.

Why do we tend to swing from one extreme to the other?

Either we follow something to the letter - without reflection, consideration, logical and rational thinking - or we discard everything - without seeing what we can learn from it.



I find, we havee been created with a brain, that can think logically and rationally. I take it as our responsibility to use it. It is our choice, though. If we choose not to use it we find ourselves (even in the 21st century) in the dark-ages, where a lot of people are suffering and where, instead of peace and happiness, there is war and mayhem.



Here's another example:

In the movie "Rabbithole" a couple, who had lost a child, was trying to cope with the loss by saying: "Maybe God needed another little angel. That's why he took our baby." "Why didn't he just make one?" the other woman blurted out. "He's God! Why couldn't he just make one?"

Exactly! It just doesn't make sense!

"My life's purpose is to praise the Lord!" Is another one of these illogical ideas.

Would you create a device, whose sole purpose is to utter "You are the greatest!", and if it doesn't, destroy it in anger? Of course not! And you are just a fallible little human, and not the almighty, all-knowing God!

It just doesn't make sense!

To me these are typical examples of people just reciting what they've heard, without using their brain.

Does that mean all of the teachings about God are to be discarded. I don't think so. That, again, would be to go from one extreme to the other.



I am suggesting to use our brain to think through our spiritual believes. To retain and build upon content that is congruent and fits reality as we can observe. To identify and discard content that makes no sense, and to try to replace it with something that - at least - is not impossible. And each one of us can and should do this her/himself.

Again, you can choose. Do you want to get ahead, to grow, to find peace and happiness in your life? If you stay as and where you are, you stay as and where you are. It's that simple!

I do not suggest you quit being a Muslim, a Christian, Jew, Atheist, or whatever spiritual direction you like to follow. I do recommend, though, to think things through, to question and double-check; and to dare to discard parts that do not jive.

If we want to get ahead we have to continuously work on separating the wheat from the chaff!



This blog and the website www.toolOfTheUniverse.org are all about helping you in this process, and about providing seeds for different, new strains of thought. I hope it fulfills this purpose. Please, do drop me a line and let me know what you think... Thank you! And much success in your spiritual growth...

Time Travel

Yesterday a friend was musing about time-travel into the future. If you were to return to earth after traveling for some time at close to speed of light, you might have aged only a few months or years, on Earth however hundreds of years would have passed. In essence, you'd have traveled into the future. "How about that?" he asked...

I was pondering this idea for a while and came to the conclusion, that even if it was possible, I wouldn't want to do it!

I find this is an amazing time right now. There is a fundamental change about to happen and I want to be part of it.



Up until the 1200s the prevalent word-view was that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around the earth. Then a few people realized that this word-view does not meet their observations. It just didn't fit. They slowly realized, that it was the earth that is rotating around the sun. This change in perception caused the creation of the sciences. It was the first step towards the world of knowledge that we have available to us today, and that allows us to live as comfortably and secure as we do.

Right now, there is a similar change in perception about to happen. I think, its consequences will be even greater than those of the one 800 years ago! I love to live in this time, and be part of this change, contribute to it!



Up until today our spiritual world-view revolves around the individual. We pray for God to do stuff for us, to make things happen for us. In the Judeo-Christian and Islamic world-view I try to do good so that "I" get to heaven. Hinduism teaches us, that "I" am reincarnating until "I" reach the point to enter nirvana. Everything is centered around the "I". The creation is there to support me in my quest to reach something or the other. "I" am the reason, the purpose, the center. Everything is revolving around the "I".

However, this does not meet my observations. It seems more likely and more logical that "I" am there to support the creation on its quest to reach some state or another. It is not about me - I am about it!



This is the time now, where this awareness is starting to reach the consciousness of us humans. This is a most exciting time. I don't want to travel into the future, thereby ridding myself of the once in a millennium opportunity to contribute to such an important change. No Way!



We won in the jackpot! Of all the times available, we were born right now, right here - at the eve of a new era, at the beginning of the age of enlightenment! Hey, time traveling away from the now would be like throwing away the winning lottery ticket... You an go on that trip, if you like. I just hang around here, and be part of the greatest development in history!

Return Favor

Here's a thought: I looked around in my life and found that there are so many beautiful things happening with me and to me. I am allowed to meet great people (like yourself - even though this was only very briefly), I am allowed to see much of the world - all kinds of beautiful places; and I am allowed to experience love, happiness, beautiful music, inspiring movies and so much more... One day I realized: well, the Universe is doing sooooooo much for me. Maybe I could look a little bit at what I could do for the Universe?

George Carlin Says: "Religion is Bullshit!"

I stumbled across a YouTube clip of George Carlin talking about religion. He's pointing out in a fun and a bit rude way a few of the many logical contradictions and inconsistencies in how Judeo-Christian religions describe the concepts of God, praying and more. I included the clip below. He's quite entertaining and makes a lot of sense.

I have to leave him behind, though, when, after realizing the explanations are flawed, he stops at the conclusion that there is no God.

500 years ago clergy told us that the earth is flat. Well, just because their description was wrong, it doesn't mean that there is no earth.

I don't know what dope the people were smoking when they came up with the idea that the stork brings the babies. However, I do know, that although that "explanation" is also total nonsense, both babies and storks do exist.

Now, if George finds his purpose, fulfillment and relieve in the believe that there is nothing beyond what we can see and understand, that is his right. I, for one, choose to go further. I, too, do not believe in that illogical, contradictory "explanation" of God as preached by Christian, Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim doctrines. However, I like to believe that there is something beyond of what we can see and know. This website is full of suggestions about what this could be and how we could fit into it.

The book "You Are The Change", in its attempt to help the reader understand her/his role in this world, also touches upon this topic.

I hope that you are able to make the first step with George Carlin. And I hope that you are also able to go beyond where he stops, and make the second step: finding your own spirituality in alignment with a grander scheme of the Universe.

Here's the video-clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o

Because I Care...

Today, a dear friend forwarded an email joke. “Because I care” reads the subject. ”When I asked myself who might need an angel today I thought of you!!!” it says. Then, after a picture, the text continues: “They didn't want her, so they sent her to me... I don't want her, so I'm sending her to you! The rules are simple: You can send her anywhere, but you can't send her back!” The picture shows a quite overweight 50-something woman with big white feathery wings on her back, dressed only in black hiking boots, black and white striped stockings up to her knees, and a blue skimpy bikini bottom.
The initial reaction, of course, is a chuckle, induced by the ironic contrast, the stab at some of those typical religious angel-emails, that we all find so often in our in-boxes.
However, something about the picture touched me, and got me thinking.
I can imagine what this woman was trying to accomplish, standing on the street (almost un-)dressed like this. And I can just imagine what kind of abuse she must have encountered in her life, and still encounter! I can also imagine what kind of daemons a person must be struggling with, who would respond to that woman's offer.
This picture points at so much suffering and pain. It reminds us of how much a struggle life still can be for people in this world; people, not just in a poor countries far away, but also right here, close to our homes.

As mentioned in other texts, I believe that a soul comes to this world with a mission. It wants to contribute to making this world a better place. To do so, it chooses carefully the body it incarnates into. Hoping that the family and environment, in which it's human host grows up, will provide the experiences necessary and teach the lessons required for the person to accomplish the soul's mission. The goal is, that through this person change can be initiated, affected or brought about.
Pondering this picture, it makes me wonder, what is the mission or this woman's soul? Was that life part of that mission? What kind of change is affected by this kind of life? What is it, that we have to learn, have to realize, through her?
I do not know the answers to these questions.
I do know, though, that she inspired me to ponder these thoughts. I can honor her life, her suffering, her pain, by using it to re-evaluate my attitude towards other people – especially towards people, who are doing things that I was brought up to think is morally questionable. 
Her picture provided for me another example of how my new spirituality totally changes my perspective. My belief that we all are one, that our souls are connected, and that we all are here to help this world to grow, encourages me to look at this woman and not laugh at her, or judge her, or delight in her blight, but to look beyond the initial impressions and try to see the beautiful idea of her person and her life.
Also, I see this picture as a stark reminder, that our current approach to teach our children what life is all about – what their life may be all about – is not effective. We are still focusing solely on the “food-shelter-clothing” topics. Big house, status, power, career – these all are nothing but low-level instinctual strives, hiding behind glamor and pomp. Who cares how big your house was, 200 years from now? No matter how powerful you may think you are today, when you are about to die, you are no better off than anybody else. Yes, we “say” these kind of things – especially in the very few reflective moments around Christmas. But it is really all to often just lip-service. There seems to be no feasible, worthwhile alternative.
Well, for me there is, now.
Since I started seeing myself – and every other person in this world, too – as tool of the Universe, this void was filled. The questions “What am I supposed to do with my life? What should I strive for, if not money, power, fun and comfort?” were answered. 
There are so many aspects in this world that need improvement. Only people can impact them. The Universe does not change them for us, by strike of lightning, or supernatural magic. The only interference of the Universe that I can notice in this world is the inspiring of people to grow beyond their animal heritage, the planting of ideas into the minds of people who are asking questions, searching for answers.
The Universe sent the picture of this woman to me. Its arrival triggered thoughts, spun ideas, raised questions. I don't know if having this effect is her souls mission – but it may well be...

Next week we'll switch to 2010. Let me take this opportunity to wish for you, my dear reader and friend, that this next year may bring many great experiences and insights, that will help you grow and progress towards your life's purpose and towards finding happiness and fulfillment.
At the same time, let me invite you to send me an email with a question, a thought, a revelation, or anything you would like to share with me. My inspiration gets triggered by the interactions with the world around me. I depend on your emails and communications to be inspired to think about new topics, or re-view old topics from a new angle. Thank you for your contributions, and all my best
Thomas, December 2009

The Center of The Universe

Since I am alive, my brain receives signals about what is happening around me, and how it impacts me. The first natural attitude is, that I am the center of the Universe. There is me, and then there is everything around me. What ever happens around me affects me. I feel it. I enjoy it, or suffer it. It is impacting me. I experience everything from my standpoint outward; I am the center.
After a while, as I matured, I came to understand that although I am at the center of MY universe, I am not the center of THE Universe.
This is an important step in the personal development. Once I understand this, my attitude towards the rest of the world changes. What I wanted or needed used to be the highest priority to me. Nothing else really mattered. I wanted what I wanted, and I wanted it now! With the realization that I am just one of many actors in this whole play, that this play is not about me, but I am about this play, my priorities change. I can accept something that has a less positive effect on me, when I see that it has a much more positive effect on somebody else.
I think, one could call this attitude Love. The first time I realized intellectually what Love really is, was, when my daughter was just a baby. She had contracted the cold and was suffering a lot. She didn't now what was happening with her; the congested sinuses and the running nose made her just really miserable. When I saw her suffering like this, I noticed, that I was thinking to myself, I would trade having a cold myself for ten times the duration she would have it, if that would relief her misery. I would trade feeling bad myself to help somebody else feel bad. I was no longer the center of the Universe, but had stepped aside and allowed something outside of me become it – at least for a moment.
There was another observation, I experienced a few times: Whenever I did not put myself first, but stepped back, and sacrificed my comfort for somebody else, it made me happy. And that happiness seemed to come from deep inside of me. It was a warm, strong, fulfilling feeling. At other times in my life, I have tried to make myself feel happy through other means: shopping, relationships, travel, sex, anything. But, I had to realize, that although these things made me feel good for the moment, that feeling good didn't last for long after the actual experience had ended. Also, it was just a superficial feeling. It was only skin-deep; where as the happiness from having been able to do something nice for somebody else came from inside, and radiated its warmth through the whole me.
OK. So in short, in the beginning I saw myself as the center of the universe. Later, I realized that I wasn't but one of many participants.
I think, we as a species need to go through the same developmental steps. We believe that we humans are the reason for everything, we are crown of the creation, the rest is there just to support us. I think that is not so. I think we are part of this creation just like everything else. We are not the center, nor the most important thing. I don't even think we are any more important than any other element in this world.
While we still think of ourselves as being the sole purpose of this world, we treat everything else with no respect, no appreciation. We pollute our environment. We take material out of the natural cycle, and create stuff that nature can not recycle anymore. We raid the planet of all its natural resources, clear-cut forests, drain rivers, over-fish our oceans, and so much more!
We, as a species, are at the developmental stage of a toddler.
I think, it is important for us to grow up and mature. We need to realize, that the human species is not the center of the Universe, but just an element in it.
For me personal, that means, that I do not just try to look out for other people, but for the creation as a whole. F I have to choose between my comfort, another person's comfort, and the creations well-being, I need to keep all three parties in mind. Just as I might prefer to be sick myself, instead of my daughter, I might prefer to be a little warm and not burn the energy it would require to cool down the place. I might choose to hang the clothes on the line, instead of sticking it in the dryer. Or I might choose to live close to work, and drive a bicycle or scooter rather than a big car.
Still, it always is my choice. I do not let anybody else dictate what I should do; but I try to listen to what others have to say, and learn from them. Neither do I want to tell anybody else what they should do. But I am trying to explain my thought-processes and ideas, so others may inspired by them...

To summarize, I observed that we humans tend to first see ourselves as the center of the Universe. Later we widen the circle to allow our family and friends to be in the center too. Often, the one or other group we feel to be part of is next. Perceived class, religious affiliation, race, region or country are typical examples for such groups. Eventually, we might get to the point where we see all of humanity to be at the center of the Universe. But we should not stop there, but continue on, and accept, that if there is some such thing as a center of the Universe, it might only be the whole creation.
Real happiness comes from within, and fulfillment can only be achieved by not putting myself first. This is true for me as an individual, as well, as for us as a species...

Email to a Muslim Friend

Tonight, I received an email form a Muslim friend. In it, she mentioned, she had watched a documentary on the crusades. This little note triggered the following email to her:

Dear Fatima,

  I am so embarrassed about the crusades! These were the the most horrible slaughtering wars in western history! And totally unprovoked! What amazes me is, how enlightened the Muslims of that time where. Tolerant, understanding, peace-loving. The "Christians" of that time were savages! Ignorant, blind, and ... well, just an embarrassment to human race!
  What makes me sad, though, is, that so many Muslims today are behaving like the Christians from then! Where has all the enlightenment gone, where is the love, the tolerance?

  Well, to be honest, it is not there in the hard-core "Christian" community either. If you just look at the intolerance towards gays and lesbians, the attitude towards women, or toward followers of other belief-systems, or at the prejudices they perpetuate and re-iterate!

  I think, the only hope for our planet is, that people in all parts of the world, make a transition from being "religious" to being "spiritual".

  Religiosity is full of threats, brain-washing, inconsistencies... and generally a doctrinal approach: you do what I tell you, or you'll roast in hell all eternity! Religion is applied, sometimes forced, from the outside. 

  Spirituality, on the other hand, is a very personal affair. It is about me pondering the question "What is my life all about?". Asking this question does not provide an excuse to kill anybody else! Pondering this topic does not provide anybody with a "right" to judge anybody else, or to force anybody else to do anything.

  Spirituality is built on enlightenment. Somebody, who understands what all the options are, and the consequences of these options, will make a good decision. I find, once we get to that point, where it is about sharing information, not proselytizing, suppressing, judging and pressuring others - that's when we shall start making progress. This progress first shows up in a widespread improvement of awareness of our role here (both as the human race, and as individual). Based on better understanding, there will be changes in priorities, and approaches.

  My Father once told me:

The result of any action that is motivated by love is always better
 than the result of an action motivated by hate or anger.

Heinz Hutegger

  I can see, that more understanding will help more of us to approach this creation and everything in it with love. Our approach towards other humans will be focused instead of dividing and separating, more on including and embracing. We shall understand it is not "me against the world", or "my [group] against the world" - where you can replace [group] with family, race, country, tribe, religious following, or any other kind of division of humanity. Instead we shall realize that it is "Me together with the world" and "the world together with me"!

  Also, there will me more concern about the rest of creation. Our current focus on "human" will widen to include all of creation. It is not anymore "Love your neighbor", but "Love creation"!

  Oh, Alia, let me stop ranting and raving... I get all excited when I see the potential of a "Spiritual Revolution" - the first revolution in humanity's history, that is not marred with bloodshed, does not include fighting at all, but that is happening peacefully, from within each individual person - brought forward only through inspired information and open-minded, non-judgmental pondering. 

A Revolution of Love!

Doesn't that sound just beautiful?

In that sense, all my love to you and yours! May life treat you kindly, and may you treat the creation kindly in return...

Rethinking Spirituality

Traditionally, spirituality had much to do with mysticism, esoteric, and unexplainable things. I think, though, it is possible to use logic and rational thinking when defining one's spiritual system, too. Usually, if we do not understand something, we tend to find mystical explanations. Thunder and lightnings were considered to be a sign for God to be angry. Today we know it is just a natural phenomena, and we understand why it is happening. I think, the same is happening for most of our mystical explanations: once we learn more, we can start to understand what is happening and why.
In my quest to find my own spiritual frame-work, I observed that too. There are many instances, where we choose to believe a mystical explanation, but after thinking things through carefully, a logical, rational explanation can be found.
There are always aspects that can not explained, where we have to just decide to believe something. Anything about this physical world that we live in, has the potential of being explainable – some of it we already are able to understand, much of it we still have to figure out. Anything that goes beyond our physical existence will never be provable, but remain a matter of personal belief. I find, though, that for anything we can explain, we shouldn't continue to use a mystical concept. Just because we can understand what is happening, doesn't make it any less miraculous, any less wonder-full. It is actually even more amazing.
However, the idea of replacing mystical tales with the real explanations when possible, is a major break from the traditional spiritual teachings of our religions. Changes are always met with resistance. People always try to fight new ideas, new perspectives. Especially, when it comes to spiritual topics. Eventually, though, we adapt and embrace these new concepts.
This website (www.toolOfTheUniverse.org) is dedicated to rethink traditional spiritual approaches, replace out-dated mystical tales with logical, rational explanations. What struck me by surprise first, and excitement and happiness later, was the fact, that many of these new ideas actually meet exactly much of what is described in many of the old spiritual scriptures like the Bible, the Qu'ran, the Bhagavad Gītā, and others. They are just different ways of looking at the analogies, different interpretations of the models. Once we allow ourselves to put aside traditional interpretations, which are so colored by the culture and limited understanding of the world from the time when they were formulated, we can see the actual message. Once we remove the packaging, we can get a glimpse of the real content – and that content is amazing, beautiful, and hope-inspiring!
I am excited about these new perspectives for two reasons:
first, so many analogies and stories from the old scriptures make so much more sense now, and are so much more relevant and applicable to my life in the 21st century, than with the traditional interpretations.
And secondly, a world is now much more feasible, where all humans are living in peace with each other and the environment. The traditional spiritual guidelines try to force peace onto us from the outside. There are rules; must-do's and don't do's, judgment and punishment. The new perspective works from the inside. It is based on understanding. Peace results as a logical consequence of the inner attitude towards this world and all humans. It is no longer our fear for punishment, that prevents us from doing something we ought not to do. It is our understanding of our role, and our eagerness to fulfill this role, that makes us want to do what needs to be done.
There is no longer a disconnect between what is going on in my life and in my spirituality. No more contradictions, or unexplainable rules. Things start to make sense! My spirituality now is clear, easy to understand, very relevant and applicable to my life as “spirited animal” of this world. It turns into a life-style, it permeates everything that I do: my work, my personal life, my relationships, the way I deal with my kids, my siblings, parents and everybody else. It gives me direction and purpose.
I am eternally thankful for having been allowed to learn about this new approach. I am tremendously hopeful, that we humans will be able to turn around and stop destroying each other and the world we live in. And I am excited to be part of the generation where this new understanding is starting to crystallize and the long awaited Spiritual (R)evolution is happening!

Miracles

Every so often I receive an email forwarded from this friend or another, where some super-natural miracle is described. The last of these emails was about the spirit of a dead father having taken his young children out of the car of their mother just before a bad accident and placed them into the police-car that came to the scene of the accident.
Such emails always make me ponder the topic of miracles. When I look at my own life, my own experiences, I have never witnessed any super-natural occurrence. However, I am witnessing many miracles on a daily basis. And, really, these miracles are much more wonder-ful and miraculous than any super-natural happening could ever be. It is just that we are so used to these miracles, that we don't notice them as such any more. We take them for granted. We don't see it as a reminder of how beautiful the Universe is, and how wonderful it all works – without the need for super-natural intervention. In our quest to find God, hope, and fulfillment we are inventing and enjoying made-up miracles, missing all the real miracles that are all around us.
I thought, I list here a few of the ones I see, in the hope it will help you start seeing those and many more again as what they are: the great miracles in our lives!
Imagine, if we could build a car, that starts of as a matchbox car. Over time it grows and gets bigger and bigger, until it reaches the size of a regular full-size car, which provides transportation services for people and their goods. Imagine, further, that whenever this car gets a scratch or a dent, it fixes itself – totally without our help and intervention. Well, even the tires don't wear off! Instead, while the outer layers of the tread is wearing off, the lower layers of the tire rebuild it, on the fly! No tire-rotating necessary. No changing of tires needed. But now, the best of all: Imagine, this car has a mini factory integrated into it, where little matchbox cars are produced, which over time themselves become fully grown regular-sized cars! Now how miraculous would such a car be? Well, obviously, you are such a car. And I am. Just still much more magical. So amazingly full of wonder, that even the most knowledgeable researchers and doctors will never be able to completely understand how all our features and functionality works.
I travel a lot. And sometimes, I am lost, or I find myself in a tough spot. The prayer for God to help me is usually always answered. Not by a blond woman in a long white nighty floating down from the clouds (this is how angels were depicted in my religious education books at primary school). Not by some thing or myself just disappearing into thin air. Neither by a lightning out of the blue sky, that would make stuff go away, or fix a situation. Usually, what ends up providing help to me are other people. Sometimes, they choose to offer their help, sometimes they help without even noticing or intending it. The Universe is using us people to help each other out. What a wonderful miracle, that the right persons are in the right place at the right time to fulfill the prayer of another person!
Often, too, it is things I learned previously in my life, that provides the ideas, knowledge, and wisdom to solve a problem. In other words, the Universe had placed me into situations where I was able to learn what I now need. Now, how magical is that?!?!
Another thought: Imagine, if you wanted to provide a toy for your little kids that is easy enough to use, that they can use it even when they don't know much at all of it. And, as they grow, that toy can be used in more and more complex ways to accomplish more and more complex tasks. So, that same toy can be a simple spoon that allows the kid to eat, and it can be a starship, that allows the kid to fly to the moon and back home. Well, such a toy surely is a miracle, isn't it? Well, this world is just such a toy! It provided for us what we needed while we where still cave-people. And it allows us to build a remote-controlled dune-buggy to collect rock-samples from Mars.
Alright. How about that: If there was a rock that rises into the air, and without falling down moves around, and later comes back down right in your front-yard. Now that surely must be a miracle! Right? Especially if this item is taller than your house, hundreds of feet long, and can hold people inside, safely carrying them around! Hm. The Universe not just makes this miracle happen every day hundreds of times. It gets even more miraculous! This all is not just done by super-natural force by the Universe itself, through outside intervention. No, the Universe has given us enough brain to understand some of the rules in this world well enough, that WE can make this miracle happen!
One final thought: if I was God, and I created this world – making things disappear into thin air and reappear somewhere else would be no difficulty at all. Making everything work by itself, without my crude intervention, now that I find is real greatness! A system, that does not need outside intervention, that, to me, is the greatest miracle of all!
I hope, these thoughts help you realize again that live as it is, is full of miracles. And I hope that you will be inspired to be a miracle yourself – the best miracle you can be! Mahatma Gandhi said: “Let us become the change we would like to see in the world!” It is really up to us alone to cause the change we would like to see. There is no super-natural power fixing the mess we are making. We have been given the talent and ability to fix it, if we want to. But we have to do it ourselves. We have to be the miracles that make this world a better place...

The tools of the Universe

Changes are not happening by things appearing or disappearing magically. We humans are the change-agents in this system, who make things happen. We are God's Angels – at least, we have the potential to be; But it is always our choice.
The Universe guides us through intuitions and coincidences. It helps us by bringing the right people into each of our lives, which allows us to learn what we need to learn, to ask ourselves the questions we need to ponder to make a next step, and to provide hints and ideas to find the answers for these questions.
So often a person comes into my life right at the moment when I am able to hear their message, when I am ready for the ideas they spark in me. The Universe is using them to help me develop.
And just as often, I find myself in a situation where I can observe how, through me, a person was able to overcome an obstacle, realize more of their potential, or get a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. The Universe is using me to help them develop.
After observing this happening to me and through me, I soon became aware of the methods the Universe uses to influence my changing in a particular direction. I realized that the Universe is not directly shaping me, but it uses the folks in my life as the tools to shape me! It is helping me choose to change myself in the way it needs me to develop. It is still my choice; I am not forced. But I am being allowed to see the beauty, and I can't help but choose to change toward it.
In a way, the Universe is using us as tools to help each other develop and get ahead! It is using us humans to implement changes to the system! I love this notion: I am the Tool of the Universe! To see myself as such makes me happy, provides meaning and purpose to my life, and makes me feel important and connected.

I am a tool of the Universe

Once this insight crystallized that we are the tools of the Universe, I started to look at myself and all the other people differently. Here are some topics, where I am looking at myself differently now:
I am capable!
I am the best tool available to accomplish this task at hand. My talents, skills, understanding, attitude, personality, experience – my total self is best suited to cause the change that is needed to happen. Of all the people in the world, I am it! If it wasn't me, if there was somebody else better suited, the Universe would have sent that person into this situation – just like you choose the best tools for the various tasks you want to accomplish.
I am important!
The Universe needs me to help nudge the creation into a good direction. Just like a cook needs a good knife, the Universe needs me. If I were not around, the second best tool would have to be used to compensate.
I am powerful!
The Universe uses me to effect change! I can influence the course of the whole creation! I may not see what the ripple-effects of my little contribution are, but they can be very, very big. My little drop of water, could cause the seedling to stay alive and grow, and eventually turn into the big tree that provides habitat for so many other plants and animals, shade from the sun, and oxygen for all of us!
I am loved and well taken care of!
A good cook takes good care of her tools. The Universe takes care of its tools too. It needs our help, as only through us it can help shape this creation toward a better world. It makes sure we have everything we need. It assists us to be in the best shape we can be, to accomplish the tasks we're here to accomplish.
I am not alone. I am assisted!
Just like a good cook lovingly sharpens her knifes, the Universe sends us into situations to help us learn, grow, and become better more effective tools. Just like we are assisting other people to learn and grow, other people are providing the opportunities for us to develop our skills, hone our talents, come to realizations, and have insights crystallize.
I am how I am supposed to be!
The Universe has created me. It has endowed me with my talents. These talents are what are important to accomplish the tasks it needs my help with. If I don't understand what my talents are, it doesn't mean I have none. Instead, it means I am not looking for them, not allowing myself to see what they are. Just because I WANT to be a painter, doesn't mean the Universe needs me to BE a painter. I learned, that instead of looking for what I want, it is more effective to look for what I have.
I am where I am supposed to be!
It has arranged for me to grow up in the family and environment I grew up I, so I could have the experiences I need, to learn what I need to learn, so I am best prepared for my tasks.
Hard times are “Tool Sharpening” sessions!
When I find myself in hard times, I see it as a “tool sharpening”. This allows me to focus less on my discomfort and pain, but more on what I can learn from it. The main effect of this shift in focus is, that I am learning much more through my experiences. A nice side-effect is that the hard times are less painful.

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.

“Can I do it?” Versus “Should I do it?”

In 2001 I was attending a conference, where Dean Kamen was the keynote speaker. He pointed out, that up until recently the question for us humans was “Can we do it?”. Today, however, we are technologically so advanced, that we can do pretty much anything we put our heads to. In the Sixties, the question was “Can we put a man on the moon?” Today, we know we can. Today, the question is “Of all the millions of things we could spend our time, resources and energy to work on, what should we do?”
I think that this concept applies to me as a person as much as to us as humanity. There are so many professions I could choose, so many tasks I could occupy my time with. The question is not whether I am able do it, but whether it makes sense for me to do it.

I am a pretty good computer programmer. I used to get a lot of happiness and fulfillment out of completing some application, identifying and fixing an issue, figuring out how some process works and how it could be improved. After a while, though, that occupation lost its excitement. Today, I still like to program. However I do not treat it any longer as my life's purpose. When I listened to Dean in 2001, it crystallized for me that this is the question that would help me get ahead in my life: What is my purpose here? Just because I am able to do something, does not mean that I should.
Once I asked myself this question, the answers to my life's questions started to come. Once I looked at it that way, I soon realized, that my own comfort and survival is not good enough a purpose. It all led to where I am today: I see us humans, and myself in particular, as the tools the Universe uses to further this creation.
This new and different view-point is the core of my life-philosophy, my spiritual approach to life. It answered so many questions, helped finding understanding and acceptance, and facilitated my happiness and fulfillment...
Today, I am still programming – it is a great way to sustain myself materially, and it is beautiful and feels good to be creative and helpful on this level too. However, I understand now, that my coming to this world was to fulfill a different reason, not only to write and fix programs...

The concept, Dean explained in his speech, applies to other areas as well.

Here's an example: imagine, there is a person for whom money always was scarce. For that person the question always was, whether he can afford a particular product or service. Does he have enough money to pay for it? Then, one day, he wins a couple million dollars in the lottery. Suddenly, the question, whether he has the money, is no longer relevant.
You can see, if the only guideline that person has to help decide, whether to buy something or not, is whether there is money or not, that person will end up buying a lot of stuff, most of which he won't need. He most likely will go through his millions very quickly and, within a relatively short time, end up as poor as he was before.
Once he wins in the lottery, once scarcity changes to abundance, his guideline has to change. Now, the questions should be, does it make sense to buy this? Would it be better to buy something else? There is so much he could buy, but what, of all of that, should he really buy?

The change in his circumstances necessitated a change in his guiding question.

The same is true for our society, here in the developed countries. All the centuries leading up to today, humanity was living in scarcity. Very limited resources for food, shelter, and clothing; there was much more demand than supply for all of that. Today, however, we live in abundance. We can get pretty much anything we like, at any time, in pretty much any quantity. The circumstances have changed.
And so has the question, that we are supposed to ask ourselves. It is not anymore, whether we can afford something. The question now ought to be, whether it is appropriate to afford it? Or whether it is wise? Or the best course of action?
We drive huge SUVs because “I can afford the gas!” We are not mindful about what we use electricity for, because it is cheap and “I can afford it.”

Let's look at how we use electricity, for a moment: do you know, that any appliance in your house, that can be turned on and off with a remote, is using electricity even when it is turned off? It does. Somewhere between 5 to 15 Watts per hour! Hm. 300 million inhabitants in the US, assuming one such appliance per person at 10 Watts each, makes 3 billion Watt of electricity used for nothing but the comfort of being able to turn this thing off without getting up! BTW, the capacity of the Hoover dam, one of the US largest water power plants, is 2 billion Watts!
You see, we are asking the question: “Can we afford it?” Sure, it costs me a dollar or two a month to have those appliances work that way, I can afford that. The question we should be asking is: Should we use the electricity in that way? Isn't there anything better for which we could use this electricity, than that?

If you look at it that way, you can see, why this planet is in such a mess today! We continue to ask the wrong question. The issue of scarcity had put a lid on our ability to cause damage, Now that the circumstances have changed, now that there is abundance, we have to grow up and make good decisions out of our own motivation. That brings up a whole other topic: “responsibility”... but about that another time...

Let me close by summarizing the two points, that I wanted to ponder today:

• When the circumstances change, the guiding question needs to change too.
  
• Instead of “Can I do it?” it should be “Should I do it?”

How to achieve happiness

When I grew up, it was pretty clear to anybody – there was church and there was life. In church you behaved in one way, in life you behaved in another. But everybody denied that this is the case - which made it even more difficult for me as a child to understand the whole concept of spirituality – at least the kind of spirituality that was attempted to be conveyed in church.
Today, after many years of searching, I understand that in order to be a spiritual person, one does not have to have a multiple-personality tendency. Not at all!
Real spirituality is not about a different world, not even about life after death. It is about this life, our everyday life in this world. The traditionally purported schizophrenic separation occurred as a consequence of misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
I believe, that I as a humans am a temporary union of worldly matter (my body) with spirit (my soul). As such, I have to follow the rules of two systems: my body has to fulfill its tasks in order for me to survive. My soul has to fulfill its tasks, in order for me to feel happy.
Looking around I see so many folks trying to be happy by fulfilling their body's wishes. Good food can't make me happy, if I don't savor the moment of eating it. More good food doesn't make me more happy either. A simple potato with a little butter can make me happy, if I take my time to eat it, and be mindful about how delicious it tastes. Isn't it amazing, how this highly poisonous plant produces in its roots such a nutritious and tasty food for us humans...
A vacation to the islands doesn't make me happy. Only my attitude towards it can.
Only when body and soul are taken care of, I as a human can be healthy and happy!
One does not have to be spiritual at all, to be able to observe this fact. I think, though, once one does observe it, and accepts it, it is highly likely, that one might turn spiritual...
I find, it is important to come to a life-philosophy, that encompasses both my needs and wants as animal on this planet AND my soul's needs and wants. My body cares about survival and survival of the species. It couldn't care less about anything else. My soul, on the other hand, couldn't care less about survival, or survival of the species. It is my belief that my soul is concerned about the positive development of this creation.
If I deny my body what it is designed to do, it gets sick and starts doing crazy things: we've heard about priests abusing young boys. To me that is totally understandable! They have perfected the denial of their bodily functions; anytime a thought about a woman comes up it is immediately extinguished. Sooner or later, the body finds a way around the mental block. There is no big defense built up around young boys – and when suddenly the suppressed sexuality shows up in that corner, it comes with such force and so unexpected that there is no holding up the river anymore. I am not excusing that behavior – but explaining. To me, that whole scandal is one crystal clear example of how a mislead spirituality, built on misunderstandings and misinterpretations, can lead to a person going amok! Denying nature is a very dangerous, often disastrous behavior!
Think about it: a God creating a system and then expecting the elements of that system not to follow it? How schizophrenic is that? Only a human, ignorant and foolish, can come up with something crazy like that!
I belief a healthy spirituality is not denying nature, but providing a guidance. Neither is a good spirituality is about life after death. It is but about life! About life as human here on this planet! As human, which is animal and spirit at the same time! It is about how to work within the parameters of an animal toward the goal of the spirit!
I find my spirituality needs not make promises about later, but provide guidance that leads to happiness now.
Once I accept that happiness is not of my body, but of my soul, I can start listening to my soul and attempt to fulfill its needs – just like I always listen to my body and try to fulfill its needs. And once I follow the lead of my soul, miraculously and immediately, my happiness increases – no matter the circumstances of my life!
Still doubtful? Think about it! If happiness would come from material abundance, rich people would be happy and poor people would be unhappy. If it came from health and wellbeing, a terminally ill person, or a paraplegic person could never be happy, and all healthy persons would be happy. Really look around and try to see why happy people are happy. What made them happy? Look at yourself, your own life and experiences. When you had moments of happiness, what had caused that? What were the real, deep reasons behind your happiness? I guarantee you, it always was because your soul got what it was looking for!
So, if you want to be happy and healthy, here's my advice: give your body what it needs, and follow your soul where it leads!

Two easy steps to leaving a legacy

There are two special times, where I receive really good and clear ideas. Religious people might call these transmissions “God speaking”, but I just call it receiving great ideas, thoughts and insights. These two special times are: just before I fall asleep completely, and just before I wake up completely. It seems, these are the times, where I am conscious enough to actually remember things, but not yet so awake, that my rational thinking over-drones the subtle, quiet messages my soul is trying to convey to my brain. It seems, that this is the way the Universe is directly impacting me; at these times, when I am between being awake and asleep.
For a few days, I was thinking (again!) about the topic of “leaving a legacy”. What is a legacy? How can any simple, ordinary person, like myself, leave a legacy?
Obviously, something, whatever that is, has to be accomplished. But I am not a CEO of a large company, nor a popular politician, a clergy, a famous author, or anything else special, that would allow me to make an easily noticeable, big difference.
I believed strongly, that it does not require a special position to leave a legacy. I just wasn't able to put my finger on it, it hadn't crystallized yet to the point where I'd know how to go about it, where I could formulate a clear, actionable, easy to follow recipe. Still, I had the strong feeling that it is not a complicated matter, and it is possible for normal, everyday persons too.
And then, one evening, just before I completely dosed off, it dawned on me! There are two simple things to keep in mind:
To create a legacy, my actions have to cause some change. Secondly, that change has to be a positive change for the creation, not just for me, my family or my group.
If I look at any person who is still remembered for something good, this something always was something that was new and different, that presented a big change, a development. And it always impacted the creation as a whole. Sometimes, the person became famous, rich or powerful. Often, she/he didn't even benefit from it at all. But always – always – there was a benefit for the whole creation or the society at large!
Look at Vincent van Gogh. He was most likely mentally ill. Yet, he created some of the most beautiful paintings. Today, long after his death, his contributions to this creation are still delighting people all over the world, making their lives more beautiful. You may say he had a special talent. That's true. But life wasn't easy for him. He did not make millions. He received a lot of criticism and ridicule, and hardly any praise during his life-time. And he was suffering, at minimum from sever depression, most likely from something much more serious. If I look at myself, I do not suffer from a debilitating mental illness. It is relatively easy for me to navigate life. Sure, I don't have the talent to create beautiful paintings. But I do have other talents. I think, if I can just focus on my talents, and apply them to the best of my abilities and with a focus on causing positive change in the world, I might be able to have an impact too...
Look at Mother Theresa. She was a simple woman, nobody knew her or about her. She didn't look for what she can do to become famous. She found herself in a situation where she saw a need, and tried to use her talents and skills to ease the pain of the very poor people in Calcutta. Looking at myself again, I have a family to support. I can't go to a slum and try to support orphans. However, I am placed in many other situations – much less dramatic, but as much in need of being eased or solved or changed. If I decide to consciously look out for what the Universe might need to have done in those situations that I find myself in, I believe, I do have a good chance of providing a lot of help too, and of causing a lot of change.
The above are very famous people. There are millions of less famous people, who also left a great legacy. We all can leave a legacy, if we make this our focus, our life's purpose. You see, even if the names of some of these people are forgotten – their names are not really important. What really matters is their legacy itself. Do you know who found Penicillin? If you have a bacterial infection, it doesn't matter who found the antibiotic to help your body rid itself of the bacteria. What matters is, that somebody had found it.
If I can stop focusing on wanting to be famous, rich, powerful, comfortable... If I can stop focusing on myself, and instead start focusing on the world, the creation, I am convinced, that the likelihood of me leaving a legacy will increase dramatically, to the point, where it is not just a possibility, but a certainty!
It is so simple: Cause a change, focus on the creation...

Angels - Do they exist? Who are they?

(The following is an excerpt from my book, which is still a work in progress, as it still needs an agent to believe in it enough to try to excite a publisher about it.)

When I grew up, our religious education books still had a lot of pictures of angels, the devil, and god. Angels were usually depicted as blond women in white long dresses, with big white wings, floating down from clouds. Obviously, these pictures were just visualizations of a spiritual concept, which can't be painted. Even to explain the idea is difficult, as it is a spiritual topic.
Our language has terms for anything we can see, touch, hear, explain, and proof. There are no clearly defined terms for spiritual concepts and ideas. The term “God”, for example, has so many meanings – even though half of the world's population believes that there is only one god, among those believers are a million interpretations and definitions as to what “God” is and what not.
Another such term of a spiritual concept is “Angel”. Many religions, not just Christianity, include this idea, which we call Angels. And again, every religion describes this idea differently.
The way this concept was presented to me in my youth was not fulfilling to me and I discarded it. I didn't replace the explanation – I didn't know any better explanation; instead I discarded the concept as a whole.
Then, one morning – right at the time between still being asleep and really being awake – I received a glorious idea, while pondering these thoughts:

Whenever I was in misery and needed help, or when I had a burning question and couldn't find the answer myself, what came to my rescue was not a super-natural spiritual being. It always was another human!

Sometimes, that person didn't even realize how much they were an Angel to me at that time. Like one day, when I was a young boy, I was followed by a group of boys who wanted to beat me up, and a neighbor happened to come around the corner. I was able to approach her and start a little conversation while walking with her right by my tormentors into safety. She didn't know that she had rescued me. But she did.
Some other times, the person was intent to help, and so became an Angel for me. A good example for this is probably my Math teacher in high school. He recognized my talent and fostered it. He showed me, in his actions and words, that he believed in me. Through his mentorship I was able to choose the path that took me to where I am today. He was a real Angel to me, when I was a teenager.

At that moment, around 4:00 am that morning, it dawned on me that we humans are the Angles in this world. We all have the potential to be Angels!

First, I thought, it is quite arrogant of me to think I might be an Angel too. But, it just made so much sense. I didn't find a kink in the logic, that would have falsified that idea.
After a while, I became more and more convinced, that we really are the Angels, who implement the actions of love.
Today, I have accepted this role. It makes me very happy to think of myself as a potential Angel. And it makes me even more happy to become aware of how I am an Angel in various situations.
Since I like to be happy, and don't want to miss any opportunity, I am now trying to keep that idea in the forefront of my mind. That way I am more alert to situations where I can be an Angel. Consequently, I am finding myself much more frequently in the position where I can be one. Which, as further consequence, allows me to have happy experiences more often.
Of course, we have the free will, and we can choose. We can choose to be an Angel, or we can choose to be a Devil. I try to have a positive impact on people around me, and come to their rescue, and be of assistance or help. As mentioned above, it makes me feel good, and allows me to sleep well at night.

However, there is a second implication that is resulting from my belief of us humans being the Angels.
If it is really the case that we humans are the Angels, it also means, there are no super-natural spiritual beings who would come and help us clean up the mess that we are creating in this world! It is really up to us to deal with that, to fix all the wrongs we have created.
That is a bit scary! All the turmoil and misery in this world, the wars, the ecological situation, global warming, pollution, the extreme range of poverty and wealth, both on individual level, as well as from country to country, the HIV crisis, crime, drugs...
We can't wait for “outside” help, it's all up to us!

Hm. So this part of my spiritual frame-work makes me feel good, but also scares me. Well, I hope, the Universe is helping us along enough to right our wrongs in time, before it is all to late... I guess, me being able to write all these emails to you is a good indication that the “spiritual revolution”, that is needed to save us from self-destruction, is already fully under way...

In that sense, let me express my hope, that our children's generation will be able to grow spiritually, as much as the generations up to now where able to grow intellectually...

What happens TO me vs THROUGH me

The western philosophy is grounded on individualism – I am the center of the Universe. The eastern philosophy is emphasizing the unimportance of the individual - I am irrelevant. Hm. Maybe, there is a way in the middle, where the individual is important to accomplish the greater goal. Here's the idea:

I think my soul incarnated in this body to accomplish something particular in this world. We are here on a mission. I am responsible to fulfill my tasks. Only I, with the sum of my talents, experiences, background, skills, knowledge – all of what makes up me – the individual “me” is in charge to cause certain things to happen.
It is important what I as individual am doing, how I am contributing. But I, as individual, am not important at all. What matters is the whole, the creation.

One of my slogans is:

It doesn't matter so much what happens TO me, it matters much more what happens THROUGH me!

Since I believe this concept, it is much easier for me to understand and accept when bad things are happening to good people. It is also much easier for me to live through my own crisis situations. I do not lament anymore “Why is this happening to me!” Instead, I ask, “What is supposed to happen, what change is supposed to be prepared, initiated or effected, that this is happening to me? What makes me the best person for this to happen to?”
You see, what I am asking is still “Why is this happening to me?”, however, the topic of requested answer is something completely different...

For example: The neighbor's kid threw a stone, which broke my car's windshield.
The original question is focused on me being the poor thing, who has to deal with all the negative consequences of this situation.
My new set of questions puts the focus on something completely different. Now, I am thinking about what makes me the best person to be in this situation, rather than any other neighbor. How come, the Universe chose my car to be around to have the windshield broken?
Maybe, because I can respond differently, less out of anger, but more out of love? Maybe, because I can see that the kid is indirectly asking for help, and I could provide some ideas, thoughts for her to find a better way of living? Maybe, my response to the situation will still be a lesson for the kid, without creating to much suffering for her? Maybe, because without this happening, she might do bigger damage somehow else, but by experiencing this situation she has a chance to learn, and grow?

I find, I can not change the situation. The windshield is broken. No matter what I do. What I can change, what is within my control, is how I react to it. My new set of questions helps me in my attempt to make any situation a learning experience, an opportunity to grow, something that could effect change. In that, even a bad situation has a chance of causing something good.

Amazing, isn't it. It is within MY control, to make a situation be something positive!

It happens, when I do not make myself be to important, but place the importance on the creation. When I say, I am strong enough to be able to deal with this – that's why the Universe chose me – let me make sure the creation becomes a better place because of it!

However, to put the emphasis on the creation, does not mean that my individual contribution is not important. Not at all! If you think about all the positive developments in your life, all the situations, when you were in need of something – how did these situations improve? Usually, through the contribution of other people. It is the acts of individuals, that saved you from your misery, that helped you make the next step, pointed you in the right direction.

I am convinced that whenever you find yourself in a situation, the Universe has chosen you to be in it, because you are the best person around to be there! You are the one, who is most likely able to accomplish the task that needs to be accomplished at that moment. You are the one that needs to learn that lesson, in order to accomplish something later-on. You are the one chosen to go through this, to be able to reach a point, where you will be able to make the contributions you will need to make. The Universe believes in you! If it didn't, if it had any doubts that you might not be the best person, that somebody else might be better, that other person would be in that situation, and not you!

The Universe believes in you! Even when you don't believe in yourself. Even, when you think you are not strong enough, not smart enough, not talented enough! The Universe thinks you are the best person for that task!

However, it is your choice. Do you choose to fulfill your responsibility, or do you chicken out?