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Prophet or Madman

You Must Become A Fool To The World

Last updated on: February 28, 2012 at 7:12 pm   by chrisjohnson

You Must Become A Fool To The World 2012-02-28T19:12:16+00:00 chrisjohnson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Bruce Adams

In order to prepare myself for the transformation from my human life to that of Spirit, I have had to experience being a fool to not only the world but also my personality self on more than one occasion. For those who have been following along, you may recall, I said, as part of my journey, I have gone through a business breakup, a divorce, and a bankruptcy. On their own, each could be viewed as an individual and separate event and yet somehow they seemed to gel into one wholistic experience.

Before going through such an array of experiences, it would have been hard for me to imagine the devastation or impact each would have on my life. Collectively they were enough to shatter the picture of what I always believed life in this world to be.

Looking through the lens of my human eye, the feelings of loss were so intense, at times I wondered if life was worth even living. I remember asking God during those moments, why? Why did I have to go through so much? The answer that I received was, “Because you were so strong”. It was then, that the following words Jesus spoke took on a new meaning.

Matthew 6:24

“No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

Being that it has been over 13 years since I had gone through what some have called, the “dark night of the soul”, you would think, any fear based thoughts coming from a human view were long gone. To that, I would say, in some ways it seems that the releasing of my perceived reality is ancient history and at the same time, there are moments when the past thoughts and beliefs can once again resurface. What history has demonstrated to me is, not only can our past beliefs resurface but when they do, many times they masquerade or take on a slightly different form.

In retrospect, whenever I look at the past, I can honestly say, I have played and replayed aspects of erroneous or false beliefs that I thought were long forgotten. This purging process could be compared to pealing an onion. Just when you are finished pealing away one layer, under its’ surface, you find another one you did not know was there.

When you discover that there is something within that you believed was not there, you have uncovered yet another gift. Just last week, I had another one of those moments when I was called to go against my logical mind and play the fool to those who are closest to me.

Knowing my financial situation, my son has expressed his concerns and has often suggested I get a job that will supply enough income to live beyond merely surviving. As luck would have it, his boss asked him if he knew of anyone that was qualified to fill a very lucrative sales position that had just opened. He immediately thought of me. When he called me, he assured me that if I wanted the job, it was mine for the taking.

Once again, I got to show myself as a fool when I responded by saying no but Thank You! I must admit the human side of me thought having financial security would definitely make my life easier. The Spiritual side however, felt that I would be giving into an old belief rooted in fear and abandoning my commitment to God to continue on the path I am on.

For the sake of clarity, I wish to state something for the record. I am in no way saying that accepting a job that offers security is wrong. I am just saying that regardless of what you are considering, if you are promoted or motivated by fear, you are not hearing Spirit speak but rather your ego.

Getting back to the concept of which choice is the right and which one is wrong, I am reminded of the words spoken by the Apostle Paul, “in and of themselves nothing is impure they only become impure when we eat with an impure mind.” It is not doing or not doing or having or not having that is the problem. It is whether you have an attachment to something or not that presents the problem. For example, having an attachment to money or the things money can buy will always remain as a potential obstacle to living fully awakened. On the other side of that coin, having a poverty consciousness can be just as detrimental.

That is why, I believe when the time is right and it serves the highest good for me to be financially comfortable, it will happen and I welcome that experience. Until that day arrives, I guess, I will continue to be a fool to the world. While that may sound crazy to some, the concept of shifting attention and focus from the human view to the spiritual can be found in many traditions and teachings.

“The secret of happiness lies in the mind’s release from worldly ties.”

Buddha

From the Bible

“Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.”

1 Corinthians 3:18

“One must learn to give up lust, anger, greed, and establish mastery over the six senses (hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell, and mind) by the purified intellect. One should always remember that all works are done by the energy of nature and that he or she is not the doer but only an instrument. One must strive for excellence in all undertakings but maintain equanimity in success and failure, gain and loss, and pain and pleasure.”

Bhagavad-Gita

Regardless of your path or what religion you practice, if you wish to awaken yourself and live awakened in this world you may find yourself reinterpreting your view of reality itself!

More to come…

Love and Light,

Brother Bruce

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