Enter inside of the Grand Design

Always travel beyond the bounds of expectation. Remember that your highest thought has yet to arrive on the scene. It awaits merely the next moment of contemplation. This next moment is the point of power which allows you the freedom to enter into advancing states of consciousness. The boundaries of thought are produced by the status quo, the expected answers, the usual given responses. What you are learning how to do is to press on past limitation. It is the greatest discovery that you can make when you know without doubt that you can move your mind into perfection by the efforts of your will to exceed these limitations.

Align yourself with purpose and become the center inside of the grand design. Think about this. When the clouds disappear from the sky and all that you can see is an infinite horizon full of piercing blue your memory of those clouds disappears as well for they are as if they never were. The same is true about any doubts that are in your mind. The piercingblue horizon of calm and peace are always there waiting for only one thing; it is only your attention and your focus that are called for.

Your attention is the act of remembering the clarity of vision that you are capable of. Your focus occurs when you follow through with that attention and allow the jazz chords of your inspiration substitute for the status quo. Then in keeping with this metaphor you play a new melody which enlivens the status quo allowing you to see everything in a new light. This new light shines by virtue again of your attention which not only keeps its focus but ameliorates your position in the grand design so that you move ever closer to the center. At the center there is unity. Unity in heart and mind, thought and word and action combined with experience. There at the center you are made in the image of all that you have ever aspired to be. When you act from the center all of your actions are impeccable.

Imagine now with me the perfection of such a state of being. There at the center thoughts and actions are not separate. You get to experience the whole you. Nothing is left out and there cannot ever be any regrets. I point out this kind of conceptual center because the map needs to have a distinct marker placed upon it. If you tell me you are going to somewhere and you don't know the name of the town or even how to get there, chances are you will never reach your destination. Let's say for example you really want to go to Cleveland (It's always Cleveland. Don't ask me why:) Now with adistinct destination in mind (you remembered and have placed your attention upon Cleveland) you can focus on what waits for you there and obtain directions from Mapquest to get there. You continue to focus make all of your connections and soon you arriveat your destination. The same exact series of events are played out when your destination in the center of all or the center of the Grand Design. Everything that we have been leading up to has been about taking you where you want to go. First we had to determine the place and then the directions. Then we move by inspiration.

Inspiration is the quality of letting go and allowing the inner voice to clearly show the way. In the Torah this Inner Voice is in evidence in this remarkable passage from Number 14:1414 they will say to the inhabitants of this land, who have heard that Thou LORD art in the midst of this people; in as much as Thou LORD art seen face to face, and Thy cloud standeth over them, and Thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day, and in a pillar of fire by night;

Let's look at this passage and see how it relates to what we have been talking about.

Commentary: First of all consider yourself to be an inhabitant of this land that is described here. Then the Inner Voice appears as in 'heard that Thou Lord.' The Lord of your consciousness cannot be other than your own Inner Voice which you choose to hear in the midst of the land which is actually your body. This Inner Voice is in the midst of this people. The Inner Voice is in the center ofthis people because in the midst of means that it is surrounded by this people. People in this case refers to the myriad of other lesser voices that emanate not from the center but from the periphery. Call these the voices of doubt or refer to these lesser voices as imperfect aural images within. The next part of the verse is curious for it says, 'Thou Lord art seen face to face.' Lord is translated from YHVH. This gives us an insight into this tetragrammaton. YHVH as a name for God refers to an inner perception that we can see philosophically 'face to face.'

Jacob says in Genesis 32-31

31 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: 'for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.'

Contrast this with Exodus 33:20

20 And He said: 'Thou canst not see My face, for man shall not see Me and live.'

And then further on it says Ex: 32-21-23

21 And the LORD said: 'Behold, there is a place by Me, and thou shalt stand upon the rock. 22 And it shall come to pass, while My glory passeth by, thatI will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand until I have passed by. 23 And I will take away My hand, and thou shalt see My back; but My face shall not be seen.'

I've taken these apparently contradictory passages to show you that there is definitely a way that God is seen face to face and the discovery of this is where your center of being lies. The central pillar of cloud by day and pillar of fire by night reveals something else along the lines of the inner voice. By day we are conscious. Our conscious mind builds up the witnesses of its own focus. In this case the witness to our continuing attention is liked to a Pillar Cloud. Our focus is pregnant with forms of our imagination that we have been directing for our central purpose in this Grand Design. As we touch the heart of our purpose there is an overflowing of experience symbolized by the constant reminder of the Pillar of Cloud during the day or during our conscious moments. At night when the subconscious mind unfolds the Pillar of Fire represents the raising of our will to the level of brightness meant to influence our actions and provide us with a direct pathway into the central focus that we have been maintaining. This central focus moves with us and brings forth experiences according to our attention during the day. The fire is a purifying flame that relates back to what we were saying the other day about the flaming sword in the Garden of Eden. It shows us the way of return to the Garden of Eden or the place of full consciousness. In so doing our awareness becomes one with this flame and our perceptions are accordingly opened to the level of unity.

Interlude:

I move into the perfection of my being. I am translated by the wind. In movement in mind I set my course and then I am set free and rise to my own reflection.Each new revelation extends the feelings of totality that I am witness to.I become that which I think I am. My thoughts continue to grow in scope and comprehension as if in some way they are threading theirway through form and inside of connection. This is what is taking place for I can feel the subtle changes affecting every part of my being. My connections are building upon themselves and seeking out the light of novel experiences to inspire and to make the status quo malleable.

This central focus within the Grand Design is the only place where you can access immediately the sense of the totality of being. Due to the nature of the Grand Design we usually pass through this point of access without realizing it all the time. By definition we are all a part of this Grand Design so that it must be a part of us eternally. The spirit that is thought raised to its highest level seeks unity with the central core of this Grand Design. Thought or spirit does not seek escape from matter but rather searches for the transformation of matter and its interpenetration. Think of spirit not as residing in matter but as being a part of something larger that permeates all matter. You can also think of spirit as being the intelligence of matter and that this intelligence is singular in its design. The purpose of intelligence is to expand via simulataneous connection with every part of its being. It just so happens that every part of being is a part of intelligence. Notice how we have been using different conceptualizations to describe this Grand Design. This is exactly what Modern Kabbalah recognizes as the reconstituting force.

Remember in the earliest descriptions of Kabbalah the concept of the sparks being cast by the infusion of the divine will or intelligence into matter. These sparks ended up being the souls of living beings and there was postulated the concept that there are some sparks that reside in the shells of this initial bursting forth. These shells are called klippoth which are thought to be devoid of life only simulate to a lesser degree the shadows of life. However this description is based upon the big bang theory of manifestation where there was a bursting forth of creation and everything that comes after is aresult of this bursting forth. If we accept this view for our meditations then we must accept that creation, everything that is is based upon this beginning. The problem with this concept is that we are asked to accept an Infinite God who emerges out of this beginning. Let's see what other ways we can look at this and still keep our thoughts consistent with the information we are constantly receiving.

If we start with Infinity the concept of beginning or ending loses its meaning. There are beginnings of course but how can there be 'a beginning' that supercedes all. Once we identify this beginning Infinity no longer is. This concept of 'the beginning' is something that cannot stand up to Infinity. You see this Grand Design is something that is continuous. It is always seeking connection through expansion. That which is called Spirit is constantly entering the picture. That which is called Soul constantly is emerging from the darkness of the lack of connection and then experiencing this connection of the continous Spirit. The Soul is what we become by virtue of the overflowing of Spirit. Now to explain this in terms of Thought, Will and Infinity.

How is your thinking promoted? This gets us back to beginnings again. Spirit is the continuous energy of the Grand Design that is seeking its expression within the constructs of your thinking feeling being or that which is called Soul. It is this Soul that you are the steward over. The Soul is a kind of collection vehicle that expands when spirit enters and enables the connection apparatus of the Soul to see behind the matter inside of which it is enclosed. Imagine that you spend your life with no thought for others and only live to feed your body. Your opportunities for connection then become very limited indeed. Ifyou decide to help others by seeking a spiritual connection at all times then the opportunites for these kinds of connections will grow. When Soul connects with Spirit it is for the purpose of expanding the energy field and promoting even more opportunities for positive expression. Instead of just the body of your immediate experience being the only relevant source of enlightenment your field or arena of expression may expand through another living being be that another person, your plants, pets, the sea, the earth, the stars, galaxies far beyond, or the Infinite. You get the picture. Connection expands the field of your vision. The more that you can see and the greater perspective you have in your vision the more you are able to chart the course of your own self expression.

All of this is a lead in to the milestone of our study of the Bahir. Verse 100. Stay tuned