We Are All Plastic (In a Very Real Way...)

....................................................................we're all a little bit plastic

Now and then (when we're not being particularly kind) we might refer to a person as being "plastic," meaning that they don't seem to be very authentic, or that they're overly concerned with surface ap-pearances. While we usually mean it in a mildly derisive way, it's really an entirely accurate description, not of just some people, but of everyone, and in fact, of every thing too. As an adjective, as a con-cise description, the whole world is plastic.

It's plenty easy to see in ourselves, these crazy viscous, cellular bodies we ride around in are always changing. Regenerating, re-arranging, building up, breaking down. Aging. Ripening. Come to think of it, I'm getting pretty ripe myself. I'm being rearranged in ways I never really wanted.

"As you think, so you are." The Buddha

The truth is, that like most physical conditions and material cir-cumstances; even life events, attitudes, and emotional states, I can change my state of being. Mold it – like plastic. Our acceptance of this concept is obvious in the language we commonly use, usually when we describe the potential in things. You can "make something of yourself," or "make a mess of your life." You can make a promise to get in shape (promises, promises). No one has much of a problem with this concept of malleability, based on our focus, our intention, our possibilities, and of course, our actions. But what if we take a closer look, beneath that superficial sense of plasticity?

Look at a time-lapse film of a big city the next chance you get, and you'll see a constant flux of matter coming into the picture, coming into being, and then going out of it. Buildings pile up and wear down like sandcastles. People flock and file by, suddenly accumulate, and then vanish, like raindrops evaporating in the sun. Those were important places. They were important people. Where does it all come from, where does it all go?

Past mystics called it "the ether." Buddhists call it emptiness. A physicist might call it the Quantum, or Higgs Field. Whatever you call it, it is an ocean of invisible fluctuating energies from which and into which everything we see and know precipitates, takes form, and exists "here," at least for a little while until it returns back. I plan on doing that very thing myself.

"The fact that the mass of a particle is equivalent to a certain amount of energy means that the particle...has to be conceived as a dynamic pattern, a process involving the energy which manifests itself as the particle's mass."

Fritjof Capra

Before I really get personal with it, let's consider this plasticity on a geological time scale, like an archaeologist might. Over what seem to be great expanses of time in our perception, these energies manifest themselves in broad cultural movements, and massive re-arrangements of man-made stuff. A lot of people all suddenly seek and find the same solutions for their life needs, and they swarm, like those great, organic flocks of birds undulating through the sky. They get busy, like ants. The plastic surface of the planet evolves – waves of biospheric change spread, peeling over the Earth's surface, re-forming entire continents. For example, lots of people once lived in the green region that is now the Sahara Desert. Human actions are adding to these processes as we speak.

If we just allow our evolving consciousness to lift us to an adequate vantage point, where we can gain a perspective on this change, we can see ourselves not just as a part of it, but of even determining it through our participation. So our participation has direction, and creates our constantly shifting state of being. If we can manage this big mind, we can see the direction we want to be going collectively, and focus our own plasticity in accord. Now it's getting more personal.

Have you ever walked into a room or a space, and just not felt right? Or experienced a "weird" day, when you, and everyone you came in contact with all noticed something off. What you're experiencing are real perceptions that our expanding consciousness gives us. An awareness of the invisible fluctuating energies I'm talking about. Tuning in to these energies changes and informs all aspects of your personal life, and reconnects us to the world in a less self-centered way. We engage in a more external way, and by doing so, engage ourselves with that greater underlying energy.

Then you might suddenly see that things aren't going great for anybody. Or that someone isn't really being a jerk – they're suffering. Or, more importantly, that you can contribute to changing those states of being in yourself and others, those plastic attitudes and directions, by just exercising your awareness, adjusting your focus, aiming your intention, and taking the right actions.

Have you ever had a flurry of synchronicitous events take place in your life? Coincidences that really couldn't be completely coincidental, usually guiding you towards positive connections, places you need to be, people you need to meet? Those situations are opportunities to join with this source dimension that you access by accepting this invisible spiritual mechanism. This is the definition of faith as "the evidence of things unseen."

Coincidentally, when you become willing to allow your normally constrained perceptions to expand into the shared "field of being" that lives right under the surface of things, the actions you'll intuitively want to take will contribute to the spiritual evolution of all Life on Earth, and you'll become part of the collective conscious co-creation of a positive, abundant, sustainable future. You'll become part of our greater solution.

"When you make the two into One, you will be a Son of Man,

and when you say: Mountain move! It will move."

Logion 106, The Gospel of Thomas

All you need to recognize, to become fully aware of, is that the two most powerful of all the underlying energies – the ones you want directing all of your important decisions (and unimportant ones),  are Love and Truth. Then try to occupy these two ideals as the medium of your life, the very best way you can.

"Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase "each other"

doesn't make any sense."

Rumi

Read about concepts like these and much more in: How to Get to Heaven (Without Really Dying), Wisdom From a Near-Death Survivor  from Llewellyn Worldwide available direct on this page, or online. The first book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is available the same ways – but ask for it at your local bookstore!

Making Choices Now : Seeking Love In-Form-ation

"The fact that the mass of a particle is equivalent to a certain amount of energy means that the particle...has to be conceived as a dynamic pattern, a process involving the energy which manifests itself as the particle's mass."

Fritjof Capra

'Muhammed says, "God does not look at outward forms,

but at the love within your love."'

Rumi

Here's a theory about seeing love in everything: We can semi-consciously manifest the real things in our life into being through intention, and the focus of our thoughts and actions. I say semi-consciously because often our egos don't allow us to see the process as part of the larger system of consciousness we fit into, that's constantly creating everything we perceive. That's that damn illusion of separateness again. Our ego insists that we're the sole engineer of our creations, regardless of the uncontrollable circumstances of life's synchronicitous events. Regardless of luck, and karma. Lots of things just happen to us, but if they're good things, we usually want to take credit.

Of course we are responsible for some of it, but often the degree to which our ego takes credit for these otherwise spontaneous acts of creation is the same degree to which we, and the actions we take and things we create, become separated from their positive potential – their actual underlying Source energy – which is Love.

In the way we can "see with our heart," that is, to perceive vibrational energies that constitute people and things (when something doesn't feel right, or resonate), we can simply and directly observe to what degree the energy of ego and fear – the imposition of human will – has influenced those forms. Here, Mother Nature is the constant benchmark.

I'd like to propose that everything comes from Love – like the beautiful wildflower growing through the crack in the blacktop. Those forms that are natural, spontaneous, efficient, and beneficial can be easily discerned from what is forced, unnecessary, wasteful, and destructive. Let's look at the simple examples of architecture, food, and then (God forbid), each other:

The forms of our buildings have always been a direct indication of intent, of the amount of Love expressed in their making. We need shelter. We need purposeful structures, and it's part of our spontaneous creative nature to create them. It's evident in the forms and materials that are used just how much Love has played a part in their construction, in terms of quality and aesthetics, and so to what degree they are beneficial to the world, and to our future.

Some buildings are plain cheap and dangerous. Some display intimidation and institutionality – "Man's Will." Others offer qualities for people to live with and share in. Brick and wood structures, made by hand, crafted from nature's resilient renewables. Buildings with terraces, alcoves, rooms of appropriate sizes for different uses, well-lit and heated or cooled, and done so in an efficient, sustainable way. These could be the rooms in the mansion of the human heart – host to the spiritual energies and exchanges our future depends on.

Buildings made of metal amalgams, glass, and plastic products, whose forms are manifested out of expedient commerciality; or those that offer little or no logical use or comfort and are intended only to stand out as their own statement, or as the statement of their designers, these structures are regressive products of harmful and unnecessary ego and separation – not of Love's evolutionary intention. It's practically impossible for people to function up to their spiritual potential surrounded by so much toxic ego. Better to make your important decisions in the park across the street.

Food is a no-brainer. Everyone knows that Love is the major ingredient in all the tastiest, healthiest food. The forms are pretty obvious. Stick close to nature. This doesn't mean that all prepared or packaged foods are loveless – there's an evolutionary, intuitive trend towards simple natural content. If a prepared food has a shelf-life beyond that of it's natural components, there's little Love in it's making. It's only intended to nourish the bank account of its producer. Don't eat anything that appears to be the result of killing anything – this includes all commercially farmed meat and marine products.

Remember, there's always Love in simple, carefully prepared food. Everything has energy. Food supplies that energy to you. Why not cut out that whole nasty, wasteful process of the corporate dietary hegemony, and just eat food right from the trees, seas, and ground? Cut out the corrupt middlemen. Close that market. It's more enjoyable, and naturally much healthier to be able to eat without the repressed guilt that comes from taking part in a barbaric and destructive system (whether you notice it or not). There's clearly no Love in one approach, and there clearly is a lot in the other.

Lastly, but not leastly, let's look at people. With what the Hindu call sakshi, the non-judgemental witnessing of life, we can see how much Love has gone into the formation of a person from their bearing, expressions, and attitudes. The obstructions to Love that exist in their psyches are reflected in their exterior physical and psychological expressions; as well as in the sometimes destructive, disconnected goals and results of their actions. Some people start out with lots of Love and have no problem showing it in everything they do; others have to find it later, or suffer (and inflict) the consequences. It's no coincidence that the quantity of Love expressed mirrors the level of consciousness attained. That's the spiritual evolution for which Love is the Source.

For those whose separation, self-centeredness, and personal struggle evolves from not having had enough Love in their formation – vain, demanding, withdrawn, or other clearly fearful, damaged people, it is our job to see that they receive enough to help overcome it. Our pets also do this work constantly, providing Love to open our hearts and bring us into balance with The Divine, so why shouldn't we work to assume a similar, transformational grace-in-being to try to aid our fellows return to Source?

Why is all of this so important? Because this world of ours presents us with a very complex set of problems, that won't be easily deconstructed and repaired, so where and how to start is our imperative. At those moments that you are asking The Universe for direction, like right now, The Universe is constantly showing you the path to follow. Follow the outward forms, the evidence, created by Love in all your choices: Where you live and go, in what you eat and wear, in the art and entertainment you take in, and in who you are with and how you behave. And don't worry about anything else. Simplify your life around this most comforting ethos. Follow what makes you feel best – in your heart. Everything else will come from following that lead. Where there is a lack of Love in the forms around you, supply it yourself, or if possible, get help supplying it.

It begins with each of us being where we are, doing what we are doing, and being with who we're with. Ask yourself this: Is this from Love, or is it from Not-Love?...And remember – there's always the gift of being in love...and there's always the power of Love in Being.



Read about concepts like these and much more in: How to Get to Heaven (Without Really Dying), Wisdom From a Near-Death Survivor  from Llewellyn Worldwide available direct on this page, or online. The first book: How to Survive Life (and Death), A Guide To Happiness In This World and Beyond is available the same ways – but ask for it at your local bookstore!