How An Atheist Got Into Heaven:
Strange title? Not really, for once you understand that what you are seeking really cannot be put into words, then there are many ways to describe it. After all, what is heaven? A place? Or a feeling? Your biggest error is thinking once you see yourself in heaven, then you will feel happy. But that is not true, heaven is not a place, at least not in this universe. But it can be a feeling. So heaven is the same thing as The Holy Grail of Happiness: its the unconditional feeling of happiness, joy, bliss, love etc that is the very fabric of reality.
Most people are stuck in primitive ways of understanding concepts like God, heaven, good, evil, etc. which for as much joy as they bring, also bring their opposite. These people are ‘of this world’ – the world of love and hate, war and peace, etc etc. But what we all seek is the freedom from all this, to be ‘in this world, but not of it…’ – to be unconditionally happy.
If life itself is inextricably tied to death (it is), then war is required for peace, and love too, is married to hate. So too acceptance creates rejection, and happiness brings with it sadness. This is what reality down here is. Society – the collective ‘ego’ of millions of individuals, tell us otherwise. Just like our own ego lies to us (scientific studies prove this), society is built upon the notion that ‘we all just want peace, love, happiness, etc – all the good stuff. None of the bad stuff. We are after all, good people…’.
But if everyone thinks they are good and righteous, why is the world so full of all the bad stuff too? Oh yea, society tells us “we are good, but other people are ‘bad, etc…’” or the perpetual victim mentality also explains it away. If you still believe all this, then stop reading.
There is the possibility in each and everyone of us, to realize, and live from – another perspective. Free from the pull of opposites in this world, or as I like to say – ‘to be the eye of the hurricane’. (the eye of a hurricane is typically calm and quiet with no danger).
How do you get there? First realize that such a place exists. Yes Dorothy, Oz was real, and yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus – they exist as long as you beleive they do. These places, like heaven, and I might add if you read enough about quantum physics- this world too, are all fabrications of consciousness. Fabrications of mind. Fabrications, or creations, that we relate to through our feelings. So this place you seek is a feeling inside your heart and mind.
How To Walk On Water or Get To Heaven- Right Now: ‘Click your heels three times, saying ‘there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home…’
Just kidding. Well, sort of. There is a grain of truth in that famous line by Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. What she was doing to get home was focusing her attention. Your greatest power is will power, or attention. So great in fact, that you cannot even imagine how great. I believe, in fact, it is so great that contained within this power of yours is the ability to walk on water and to move mountains! The only question is, “How far down the rabbit whole hole can you go Alice” in your quest for Wonderland? The truth is Alice was already (always) in Wonderland, she just needed to go deeper to realize it.
Many great therapists work their magic simply by helping their clients become more present. By using focus, clients are able to become aware of the polarity of the issue causing them pain, and see that both good and bad dwell within the issue. Only their perspective shapes which side they see. With this new awareness, they see they can appreciate both sides and as such neutralize their strong sense of emotional pain and restore harmony to their life.
So on a more practical level by working on your will power, your focus, attention, its all the same thing – you develop the ability to choose happiness in spite of your current emotional feelings. In truth, being negative comes natural – its due to entropy, a natural force in the universe that makes things fall apart. Since this is very threatening to fragile little creatures such as we are, being negative and afraid is how we protect ourselves. But it comes with a high price.
But with practice we can develop our power to overcome this natural way of feeling – and in doing so banish stress, anxiety and all negative emotions from our mind. It’s not easy, but with practice it become possible. As we experience this power on deeper levels, we realize a shift in our awareness of what exactly this world is, and why we are down here. Everything makes sense when we return to innocence. (Innocence by the way refers to ‘In no sense’ for it refers to the awareness that transcends all senses).
Statements like ” What does it profit a man to gain the entire world and lose his soul?” by Jesus, and “Thus she remains serene in the midst of sorrow…because she has given up helping, she is the peoples greatest help…” by Lao Tzu, all make sense on a deeper level. Even statements by the quantum mystic Depak Chopra now make sense “Turning back within myself, I create again and again”.
While understanding this is the first step, the key it to practice it enough so that we live from this power in each and every moment. But we have an enemy dead set against our quest: our very own ego. This is why “most men live lives of quiet desperation and go to their grave the song still in them”.
Practicing Unconditional Happiness:
How do you practice unconditional happiness? Simple – by doing nothing! That’s right, its so easy, all you have to do is nothing! So just get comfortable and sit. Sit and focus your attention on your breath. Yes, it sounds like meditation, but that word is often what holds people back. So lets call this practice: practicing unconditional happiness.
So if, like Bono of U2, you feel you still haven’t found what you’re looking for, or that you are ‘running to stand still…’ (running around doing stuff all day just so you can relax at the end, only to get up the next day and do it all over again) – realize there is a way out of the madness. Committ just 10 minutes a day to sit and do nothing, just practice unconditional happiness and discover the Holy Grail for yourself.
Brian Bio: Brian Cunningham, MS is the founder of Pure Life. With a graduate degree in Epidemiology from New York Medical College that focused on nutrition, he has over 20 years experience in a variety of related fields. This includes environmental health, pharmaceutical & medical research, nutrition and fitness training.
Brians nutritional formulations have been recommended by many health professionals and, not one, but two #1 New York Times Best Selling Authors, including the best selling relationship author of all time, John Gray (‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’).