Love and Being (in a physical body)

Hello readers,

I suppose I am moderately obsessed with trying to understand my purpose in life.  This nagging feeling that I have something important that I must contribute keeps me from being contented at simply functioning as an employee.  Currently, I am reading a book about astral projection – or being in the real through the mind, temporarily by-passing the limitations of the physical body.  I have never personally been aware of experiencing astral projection.  Have my dreams taken me to dimensions outside my body? Perhaps…  For now, I am content to try to understand exactly what this means.  The mind and being are inextricably intertwined.

Photo by Man Ray

One of the many questions that comes to my mind is that if we, as humans, can be infinitely free creators of being without our bodies, what is the point and purpose of being in a body?  The gift of being physically bound – at least in appearance or sentiment – must be either a test or a gift of some kind.  If only more lowly or less spiritually evolved souls incarnated into human form, it might be understandable – if indeed being human is restricted to being limited.

  I guess I love literature so much because it gives  form, shape, meaning, and pattern to lives as they intertwine and unfold.  As I live my own life, it seems more as if I have been groping through fog, picking my way across a tricky minefield.  It is a relief to lift oneself above the horizon and observe the intricate designs of lives, passions, choices.  Reading fiction is an out of body experience, in my opinion.

Photo by Man Ray

Reading about astral projection and other ways of deciphering reality is quite refreshing.  Perhaps I have approached my life backwards all along, my angle of sight blinding me from the creative possibilities that have been here all along.  Many spiritual writers bemoan the endless conditioning that blocks humans from achieving their true potential.  We mindlessly teach our children how to live based on what we have learned from others or gleaned from our own experiences.  Generally, this leads us at some point or another to feeling reduced.  Life happens to us rather than us acting on life and realizing that we are in fact creating all that exists each moment.  Collectively, we are making humanity happen – reinventing it.

It is exciting to think about what a collective heart and mind could accomplish(especially one that has dealt with its subconscious issues so that they no longer lurk and sabotage).  The loving and creative possibilities are endless.  Perhaps this is the true goal of the human experiment.  To see if we can achieve loving mindfulness – a true state of playful, joyful being – by all joining together and consciously making this happen.  Each person would employ their own talents, and the play spontaneously interconnecting all of us would constantly evolve.  Because the shadow issues would have come to awareness, all that would be left would be light, love, and play.

The mind (awareness) and love (emotion) are the two primary tools of being outside of pursuing physical survival.  With these two tools, we can create entire worlds. Being and seeing the world from the limitations of the physical by choice, we can also choose to set aside fear and experience being human for what it is.  I think the roots of compassion come from the human experience of being vulnerable, limited in so many ways, and the ability to love or at least the desire to love and be loved.

The photographs by Man Ray, I feel, seem especially appropriate to the subject of exploring the nature of reality and the mind.  Feel free to explore his wonderful work!