“The spiritual life is a call to action. But it is a call to ... action without any selfish attachment to the results.” — Eknath Easwaran
I love the idea that life itself is a call to action.
However, two pitfalls often cause us to fail at this idea, do the opposite, and take no action.
Not the action of conscious non-action, but no action.
The first pitfall is that humans think they “know better” than the infinite, which is Life itself. The second pitfall happens when we think we are humans and that, as humans, we are co-creators and creators.
Taking action without being attached to the outcome is both a science and an art.
It is a scientific fact that there is no intelligence in matter, and the only intelligence is in the Infinite Mind, as physicists have proven.
The art of it comes into play as we attempt to live what appears to be a human life while knowing that we aren’t human. Instead, we are spiritual ideas.
This surely is an art, isn’t it? Isn’t this a portion of what Henry David Thoreau meant when he said,
“It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so to make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look. To affect the quality of the day—that is the highest of arts.”
The part of this quote, “to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look,” carries a significant message.
This is a statement about perception.
Suppose we begin with the perception that we are human and “better” than Life itself or that we control Life Itself—well, we all know the amount of pressure and stress resulting from this perspective. It is inescapable.
No matter how many pressure and stress reduction techniques we learn, they will only dampen down the underlying fear this point of view produces.
How can we affect the quality of our day if we have not been an artist with our own perception?
Choosing the perception of being human, it may appear that we create a life that we love. However, there is an immeasurable difference when we choose instead the perception that we are Life Living Itself.
There is a huge difference between these two points of view.
One causes stress and guilt, and the other produces relief.
Our thinking does not make it so. It is our perception of a subject that makes it so.
We can shift our perceptions every moment, thereby affecting the quality of the day.
We can be artists with our perception and choose the highest understanding we have at this moment of what it means that all that there is is “Life Living Itself and Love Loving Itself.
Imagine that. Just imagine it.
I implemented this type of shift in perception as we searched for and bought a home.
Most of the time, I could stay with “I Am statements,” like I AM Home Itself, and therefore, there is no need to worry about this outcome or try to make it happen.
Sometimes, I could feel the fear and stress rush in and tell myself it would never work.
However, even when it started to work, I still had to stay in the I AM Home point of view, or the fear of “oh my gosh, what have we gotten ourselves into?” would rush in.
That human habit is always waiting at the door of our minds.
It may hide in the bushes, but it is there, and at the first crack in the doorway, it will push its way in and try to settle into every corner of our consciousness.
However, a perception shift can immediately remove it, and Truth can fill the spaces of our consciousness, so there is no room for fear to sit down or hang out.
Being an artist of perception takes practice, just as being an artist of anything takes practice.
But one day we will all witness that the artist is actually Love, Life, Mind, Soul, Spirit, Principle, Truth living and loving Itself and that we are the consequences of that action.
Action is the movement of the spiritual essence we call God.
Therefore, action is what we are, too.
It’s easy to allow ourselves to take action when we know that the outcome is not ours to decide and that it will be better than we imagined.
If you are interested in points of view, my book Living In Grace discusses the two modes of perception in depth.
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