I want to present to you an alternative to the frantic kinds of coping with life we engage in from moment to moment. It is a simple concept, but one that is contrary to most of what we have been taught or have otherwise have come to believe in. I call this alternative living in your heart’s desire. Right now most of us live in the shadow of others’ projections onto us – all those images we have taken on from others’ expectations of us – as well as those self-imposed images we have engraved into our fiber to avoid the pain of guilt and shame from not meeting all those demands. This alternative of living from the heart eliminates all guilt, all shame and blame, for it places all responsibility and accountability for our lives right where it belongs: with us, for living true to our inner promptings and none else, for being aware of our innermost desires that come from our oneness with their source, and for obeying this and only this as our purpose in life. Thus life becomes quite simple, rather than the burdensome form it is when we are yoked to the egocentricity which is at the basis of most of our planet’s teachings at the moment.

Let us begin our look at this alternative – living by our heart’s desires – by first examining what the heart and desire actually can be, rather than what they have been glamorized to be. First of all, we need to look at these terms in a spiritual context. Truth of the heart is our real form of prayer. It is a longing to be with the secret intention or design of life: the purpose which gives meaning out of creating from the basis of life itself – from the divine essence we ourselves are. Thus, anything that connects us to this central thread is what gives us character. It is what builds a sense of courage and spirit, that which disposes our mind to that which is good, with both a consciousness and a conscience that creates good and only good. Our heart’s desires – Truth – are those things that connect us with the divine Creator in ways that resonate with that likeness within us, that which we are to manifest if we are to have spiritual integrity. It is only by living in harmony with our heart’s desires – this resonance, these sacred connections, Truth – that we are fulfilled and that we contribute to the quality of life in ways we were created to demonstrate.

When we connect with our heart’s desires, then – not in a frivolous or superficial self-indulgent way, but rather by listening carefully to what our heart tells us in any given situation and then being obedient to that secret voice within – we are in harmony with our destiny, fulfilling our purpose. Our desires thus become the true definition of prayer, not a whimpering supplicant cry for help. Our desires become a simple listening to our heart’s cries for integrity – allowing our inner Truth speak to us in ways that quicken our spirit, that command us to harmony with all of life. No longer do we say, “Is this all there is to life?” No longer do we feel separate from our divine Source, for we are tapping into that very Source each time we listen for our heart’s desire.

We don’t have to work at this practice. We only need to accept it as our Truth and we suddenly begin living by it. It is tantamount to going with the flow of life itself – instead of always swimming against the flow – and thus accessing all life’s gifts that accrue to living in this fashion in our most natural way.

Seeing life in this light is vastly different from the ways we normally live it, driven by competitive agendas such as our drive to get ahead, to be better than, brighter than, have more goods than those we consciously or unconsciously compete with. When we live by the directives of our heart instead of the drives of our ego our lives change dramatically. No longer do we live in the world of criticism, false expectations, or being judgmental. Neither are we debilitated by guilt and shame. Nor do we live in a world determined by personal whim, self-indulgence, or a vision of life in which we take ourselves all too seriously. All of a sudden our world changes to one of simplicity. All we live by is our heart’s desire. We follow that and only that, no matter what the condition or circumstance might present. No matter who or what else tugs at us. We all know what answer to give to any issue or concern when someone says to us: “In your heart you know what is the right thing to do.” The answer to this admonition is always the same: the right thing to do is the Loving thing, and its description comes clearly to the fore simply for the asking.

That’s what takes courage: the asking. From then on, it takes only obedience to the answer received, no matter how unusual the answer may seem. The most loving thing may not always be what we think it is. But our heart cannot lie to us. Whatever comes from within can only be the absolute Truth for us. It may not be the same Truth for anyone else – or even for a similar issue or concern – for that particular answer from the silence of our inner voice of Authority is the only right answer for us to demonstrate. In doing so, this right answer brings the very grace we need in the situation. With it comes the added grace for all who are touched by it, whether it appears that way or not. This marvelous way of living validates Loving itself. Truth demonstrated is the grace that heals the Soul and uplifts Spirit. It is that which connects us with the divine and the Souls of those affected. It is what converts separation into oneness – I dare say Oneness – in order to convey the sacred nature of the dignity it brings to one and all. This itself is glory to God in the highest.

So far we have connected the heart’s desire with simple moment by moment entries into the world of Oneness. What about the ultimate heart’s desire? That for which we long with all we are, with all our strength, with all our heart, with all our mind and soul? Recently I asked two friends what their deepest heart’s desire was. The husband didn’t hesitate a nanosecond. He responded by saying: “That’s simple – to be connected with God.” His wife agreed immediately, saying, “Yes, to be united with God, that’s it, without question.” That’s an answer I didn’t expect, even hope for, even though I have a similar view. After I collected myself, I asked, “What if we already are united with God – already connected with our Source – what then would you say?” That simple penetrating question was all I needed to ask, for the response rang out from this couple as if in barbershop harmony: “Yes, yes, that’s right. We already are in harmony with God, but we forget that all too often – all too easily.” All in a sentence, we find the heart of the issue: the problem is our forgetfulness, our failure to remember to re-member with God – moment by moment, no matter what, throughout life no matter what the circumstances or conditions.

Remembering is a difficult thing for humans to do on a regular basis. If they did, the world would be a much different place. Maybe that’s a title for a work in progress. Remembering to re-member is the treatise – and life’s way. Re-membering with one’s natural loving ways is something to remember over and over, until such means always validate the ends of loving. When these match, the world – all of it – will surely be Heaven as in Earth. Always taking the high road is this. Being a good listener is this. Being compassionate is this. The list is endless, and all have the capacity. We all are created to be only Loving in full bloom, thus relieving ourselves of the weeds of the ego-driven stresses that go with coping: continually striving to reach the top of some illusional ladder or being better than others. Ego’s ways all disappear in the Oneness of being in Loving. After all, we can’t be in two places at once. Surely, then, we can’t be in Loving and in our egoic nature at the same time. We cannot serve both God and mammon. To do so would be to place ourselves in the world of spiritual schizophrenia.

Ahhh, remembering to re-member with Oneness, knowing that we all are created in God’s image and thus are to express ourSelves as the Loving beings we are. Taken in this context we just have to remember what we already are, rather than working laboriously at trying to become who we think we’re not. Remembering to re-member with our absolute Truth eventually becomes as natural as breathing. And breathing is that which God has installed in all. So each can breathe Loving into life throughout eternity.

In this larger scale of things, remembering is not something to do with one’s past. In its highest form, remembering is not for connecting with what one had for breakfast yesterday or carrying useless facts or fictions around, “just in case” someone asks about them, or when you want to impress someone with them. Actually, one doesn’t need to carry any memories forward, for all is only in the present, and present is all there is. Past and future are ego’s illusions perpetrated to keep one in fear of certain yesterdays repeating themselves in the so-called future. The Truth is that there are no yesterdays or tomorrows. There is only the present moment repeating itself as and in the present.

Besides, when one needs to know something of importance – and not everything is, contrary to popular belief – all one needs to do is inquire within for the Truth of the matter, nullifying the need to remember the fiction of ego’s turnings. From this is where the expression comes that one finds real answers strictly on a “need to know” basis, and not ahead of the need to know. Most of what humans think they need to know they grind themselves up with: intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. Who really needs to know why everything happens, for example? Something happens simply because it does is all one really needs to know about most anything. Most of what happens in life isn’t about us anyhow. We only think most everything is about us. Actually, most everything that comes from a human being is usually a projection looking for a human screen upon which to land. Who needs to know what will happen in the future when future doesn’t exist?

The only thing one really needs to remember is to be Loving in all circumstances, no matter what. Look for the Loving in whatever It Is, wherever the opportunity presents itself, and that is your answer to any question worth raising. Besides, living this way makes life very simple, complete in all aspects worth living. Reuniting – re-membering with Loving – is all there is to life. All the rest is a cosmic joke, perpetrated and perpetuated just to keep the ego in business.

Yes, remembering to re-member with the present moment as the Loving beings we are is all that is necessary. All the rest is nothing but details that make others happy with themselves – but not really happy with themselves. They only think this is happiness, and the illusional figment lasts only momentarily. Thus, the perceived need to involve oneself in an endless array of such details – so one can delude oneself into thinking they are happy, when all they really are is barely satisfied. When the next empty moment arrives they repeat their habitual search for meaning, and do so in the coping ways ego teaches, like engaging in endless mental masturbation, accumulating material, engaging in addictive behaviors, being codependent to the point of distraction, and competing with everyone for every thing… as though things actually make us happy.

One day, however – and many are in that very space now – people will come to a higher vibration level that awakens them to a feeling of being empty inside, asking “Is this all there is to life?” or “What’s my purpose, anyhow?” This is God’s opening to send the band of angels, you among them, into their midst. To awaken them to reality. To the gifts of Loving as one’s life purpose.

So here we are once again at revelation’s doorstep. Lead others to the threshold of their own Loving selves, so they come to know that they need not strive to be what they already are. Or accumulate what they already have and think they need. In its stead, show your light of joy and peace and they will be attracted to them like a boat in the foggy harbor to the beacon’s beckoning.

Relax in offering this to any and all, for it is one that awakens, enlivens the Spirit. One that extends the boundaries into the universe which is free from limitation. Infinite and immortal in its character. This is the story of life and its real substance. Such stories are repeated in all of life, for they are all constituted by the same essence: that which can only be infinite, immortal and perfect. Because it is the essence – that is, divine – it is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and omniactive. It never ceases to expand, to grow out of its natural state of creation. All is that: creation creating Lovingly. When mankind takes on this imagery as its own premise for being, a new way or paradigm is formed in the ways those who understand it most naturally demonstrate it. The new paradigm demands that we do what our nature commands: creating lovingly. On and on the same, through eternity. Thus we and our creations take on their own form of immortality and are perfect in being what they are: loving creations.

Simply being created is the perfection, not being formed without some flaw that humans use to criticize or judge the creation, making it something less than they might create. This act only says they have a need to press others and things down so they can feel higher in their own self-judgment. Such behavior only says that they have a need to criticize or judge. It says nothing at all about what or who they are criticizing or judging.

When one comes to see that all creations are perfections of the creative Spirit simply for the creating act itself being demonstrated – and that each person is of that same Spirit, as their creations must also thus be – then we will come to see ourselves and what is created as perfection personified. Simultaneously, we will come to the end of the critical, judgmental journey – a lesson learned and no longer in need of perpetuation.

Commend this process to others, so that they, too, may be conscious of their own innate connection with Spirit: the Spirit of Creation of which all are One in being. Then they will come to the divine understanding that they and all they demonstrate are the very same: One in being Loving creations, sacred beings. Their entire life will change before their eyes when they can finally see this as the absolute reality, and themselves as the same. When they can come to envision themselves in this light, what they see will change. And all they demonstrate, likewise.

You, truly, are a bridge, one that affords the opportunity for others to come into their Loving selves so they can come to be the same kind of bridge for others. This is the path of unity that is escalating so rapidly now, with more and more taking on the role of bridgeship, sharing what Loving is as the example to be replicated. As this understanding gathers steam, the wrongs of this world will be corrected. The earth ship will float aright once again, becoming the absolute model of Loving creation for other universal beings to emulate. So the purpose becomes clearer and clearer, and more and more powerful: Loving beings demonstrating how to be Loving beings creating Lovingly. So others are inspired to emulate this same Truth: Loving creation, creating Lovingly.

Bond with this concept of referral, referring others to ideas and creations that uplift them. That open their eyes to what they already are. Accepting this and living only this. If you think about it, in one way or another you have been doing this all your life. Sometimes you think it has hurt you, but hurt you it has not. It has only worked to your benefit, building character and demonstrating that character. Character that has inspired more than you could ever imagine. Not a bad way to serve your purpose, is it?

You have learned the path of inspiration very well, indeed, and do so most naturally. Recognizing this as your nature has served you and all you touch the very same. Just stay the path. Perhaps you feel there is too much to do and that you may not be up to it. Indeed you are. What else have you undertaken that you knew was absolutely right for you to do that you were unable to do – in an exemplary way even? Nothing. In each instance you heard the clarion call clearly and followed it. Yes, you were somewhat apprehensive at first, but each time this apprehension turned you to your faith in Oneness. You then walked only in this Oneness, no matter how else it looked to you or others. Inspiration you are, and you continue to serve inspiration well. All you need to do is to remember to re-member with this Truth for you and all of life.

Either we are at one with our Source or we are not. We can’t be both or only partly so. We either are – or we are not. This understanding simplifies life considerably. It’s like breaking loving into unconditional loving and all else: it doesn’t work that way. One is either loving or one is not. Anything that is not loving isn’t conditional. It simply is not loving – period. The same is True with placing ourselves in Oneness: either we do or we don’t. Either we are or we are not. We can’t live in both worlds at the same time. Either we live in the world of Spirit, our Essence, or we live in the material, egocentric world. The choice is a simple one, but perhaps not an easy one. For we have lived under the tutelage of those who would rather have us be and do what they actually want for themselves, but project onto us. Our choice becomes one of living True to our own heart’s desires or someone else’s. It simply doesn’t make sense to live by someone else’s desires for themselves projected onto us when the only desires that can fulfill us are those that come from within our very own heart.

Thus the choice becomes one of living true to our own internal integrity, or the illusions of another being placed upon the screen of our rather opaque egocentricity. When we instead come to the view that our mind really has its seat in our heart and not our ego, we come to understand that Spirit – the only vehicle for transmitting Truth – can flow only through our heart. Indeed, it is heart that conveys our life’s Truth, and nowhere else. All the rest we say is nothing but the figment of our imagination. All the rest really is nothing but the figment, or the illusion, or our ego-driven capacity to want to be better than we think we are. How crazy is this, when, as a matter of fact, we already are and always have been all we need to be: a perfect creation of God’s making? There is thus nothing to be better than. Nothing to compete with or about. Nothing to desire on any front except those moment to moment desires from deep within our own hearts. Their ultimate fulfillment comes from living in the silent knowing that we already are our deepest desire: One with God.

When we find ourselves in this capacity, this sacred reality, we are suddenly filled with light. The enlightenment that takes us far beyond the trivia and details of life as we formerly saw them. Indeed, everything but our heart’s desires, taken in the context of our being One and only One, places everything else in the category of being nothing but a detail. Living in this understanding, we are relieved of figuring out our lives and working arduously to make them happen to our, or someone else’s, satisfaction. Our yoke is lifted in favor of letting life just flow from within our heart’s desires and going with that flow. This requires one of two things: either listening in the stillness of one’s heart in something like sitting meditation, or coming to presence; meaning here presence with God, in all, always. Each of us has witnessed the special moments that come to us in one particular form of meditation or another. Or simply “being there” for someone else, fully present, the key being fully present in our heart. Creating that condition, that response to others’ needs, enlightens all involved. Spirits are uplifted, quickened to the point of simply profound ecstasy. Why would anyone want anything else? And this is available every moment of every day. Each time we connect with, open up to, the essence we know and feel by going to our heart’s desire for its leadership in our lives. Indeed, it is leadership personified.

Does the capacity of our brain leave us when we change over to this new way of living? Of course not. When the self-constructed ego and brain get the idea that they can serve the path of righteousness, the high road if you will – with much less energy consumed and with much better results – there is no difficulty with them serving in the capacity they were created to serve: in service of Truth, peace, and justice for all levels of being, human or otherwise. It is then that mankind reaches its full capacity. When all of its mental, physical, emotional and spiritual faculties come fully into harmony. For it is only out of one’s Truth that harmony can be achieved, arrived at. Will and mental manipulation simply do not do the trick. Only one’s own Truth can. This is the secret of a long, actually eternal, life. One that is rich in harmony. Fulfilled as an immortal, infinite being. With Loving as its only purpose. This makes it safe and inSpirational for others who witness such creative genius to likewise manifest their very own.

Each thus creates the opportunities to influence the planet Lovingly in one’s own unique capacity to do so. Everyone does not respond to the same cues and clues. Rather, each of us needs to see, hear and feel through how Spirit feels, sounds and appears to us exactly where we are at a particular moment. Therefore, we need the different capacities in each of us to speak to those who need to hear, feel or see their own Truth in a particular way. Each of us leads others who resonate with us in a particular way, and naturally draw those people to us for that purpose. e e Cummins had it right when he said so poetically: “God lends us to each other this way.” Eventually each of us comes to pursue our Truth totally within, but holds others in the wings “just in case.” Because we are such fragile, vulnerable beings, it is perfectly all right to take this position, relying on others to be the bridge of Loving with and for us until we become the fully Loving bridge ourselves. And when we arrive at that point, we will most naturally serve in that same capacity for others. As is our purpose.

SPIRIT NOODLES