Opening to the Self in Christ

Beloved: Can you share more about opening to the Self in Christ?

Dylan: Initially, for me, I was always skeptical about God. It was always a word thrown around by people, in my judgement at the time, who were not showing the Fruits of the Spirit. So, from this I had an aversion to God. Yet, there was always a niggling feeling within me that there was more to the status quo life and systems we live out. I would say to myself, “We, as humans, think we are so much more advanced than nature, but they are the ones living freely without wars and banks.”

It was this niggling feeling that would eventually lead me towards a renewal of mind. My focus started out being solely focused on the world. When God is overlooked, one’s focus or attention seems to be solely based on the specifics of the world. All of the problems I think I have to solve, as well as the peace, love, happiness and fulfilment I think I have to attain myself are seen as specific-based: to be gained in the world. When I get this particular outcome or situation only then I will be happy, peaceful and fulfilled. Through that partner I will get love, through this thing of the world I will get approval from others, and from this job I will gain security.

When the teachings of Jesus Christ fell into my lap, it wasn’t until I started applying them—making no exceptions—and transferring the ‘mind training’ that my focus or attention was brought back inwards. The practical application would shift my attention off of the world to what was arising mentally: to what thoughts and beliefs were arising in my mind that I was valuing.

It was through prayer, along with the Wisdom of the Holy Spirit, that the recognition dawned that everything that was seen in the world was just a projection of what was happening in my mind. My “bad days” became “errors in mindset”. Just like in a night time dream, all the meaning and interpretation of the dream is all stemming from the mind. Like smoke and mirrors, if I am dealing with what is going on in the world, then I am totally distracted away from who is pulling the strings and influencing me on the mind level.

Through the prayer of my heart to experience God, this turning of my attention from the world to the mind level—mind-watching with the Holy Spirit—was for the purpose of sorting out what was true and what was false. What is true, being of God and what is false, being of the devil.

I came to the experience that I was either valuing the voice of the devil in mind or I was valuing the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit, I had to get clear on His Discernment and purpose of forgiveness. Forgiveness, in this sense, means reeling back the objects of projection seen in the world back to its source on the level of mind: the voice and influence of the devil in my mind. With the Help of the Holy Spirit, I was shown the fruits of the devil in contrast to the Fruits of the Spirit. This really helps to show someone what is of value and what is not, when you have smelly garbage next to an all you can eat buffet of Divine Manna.

When you get clear on what is of all value and what has no value, you naturally withdraw value in what is not valuable. When you withdraw value in the voice of the devil and its self of sin, you naturally and completely place value in God, Who is of all value, and accept the Self in Christ, Who is rooted in God.

All of the seeming choices of the world, that are not really choices at all, are but the projection of the meaningful choice where it truly lies, between God or the devil in mind. And then, from this decision for one or the other, the thoughts, emotions, perceptions and actions happen involuntarily.

When the voice of the devil and its fruitless self is seen as totally meaningless, the Self in God is accepted right here and right now, and is left shining in the wordless and indescribable Magnificence that It Is. It is always a present experience. Yet, the devil projects this present experience into a future goal to be achieved, to keep you distracted away from God: only when my partner’s behaviour changes will I then be peaceful and happy. See how it is a future goal. It influences you to believe that your peace and fulfilment come from the world, rather than from God, Whose Peace is with you in every event of the world.

The knowledge that God is of value and only God is of value is experienced as the unshakable Peace that “surpasses human understanding,” as stated in Philippians 4:7. It surpasses the intellect because God is devil-proof. Heaven is ego-proof. This is the same as saying, “I no longer value all of the devil’s split desires for future happiness, peace and salvation in the world. I now value the singular desire for the God and His Peace and Love. I want Him over anything else.” Matthew 6:22 says, “Let thine eye be single.” If your desire is singular for peace, you will experience only that.

If you are choosing between valuing the voice of the devil and the voice of the Holy Spirit, and you completely withdraw value in the voice of the devil there is nothing else to desire, nothing else to choose between now! Choiceless awareness is known, as there is no “other” to choose between. Peace, the radiant swirl of Love, and the Aliveness of the Spirit is the only experience.

The whole spiritual journey of “surrendering a self” onto Christ is seen as just as metaphor, as the self in Christ is a rebirth or renewal of mind. There is no past self of sin, but a rebirth into Life. No personality self or personal person can be reborn, as the personal false sense of self was the seeming problem. There is only Christ now, for what do you have without Him? Therefore, He is fool-proof or ego-proof because it cannot be intellectualised by a personality self, which is why spiritual teachings seem to be so complicated to understand, they are all pointing beyond intellectual understanding to an actual experience.

What an absolute Joy! The Kingdom is at hand! Rejoice.