The conditioned content of consciousness comes from judging by appearances, education and experience.This is referred to as the “sea of mental garbage” in Metapsychiatry.

Infinite consciousness(also known as God) is recognized as Love-Intelligence, the omni-active non-dimensional substance of existence. It is not perceptible through sensory perception. It can only be realized through awakened conscious awareness. PAGL (Peace, Assurance, Gratitude, Love) describes and defines the qualities of consciousness that we are aware of when awareness is spiritually awakened.

The problems that come from living, such as those involving finances, health and relationships, can provide the motivation to unlock our reactions enough to see the mental garbage we are living within.

In Metapsychiatry this is facilitated with the First Intelligent Question: “What is the meaning of my experience?” In other words, what is the false/conditioned thought about life that this specific problem is expressing?

The Second Intelligent question then asks: “What is what really Is?” This directs our attention to infinite Love-Intelligence.

Conditioned human life is like walking in a fog so thick there is only disorientation and confusion.  As we begin to awaken, we are still walking in fog, but now we’ve glimpsed the sunny skies and know that every step brings us closer to being fully in the sun.

We cannot make fog go away. We can, however, know that fog is a phenomenon of climatic circumstances and that it is temporary and harmless, if we are carefully aware of the dangers while moving through it.

Similarly, on the spiritual journey of awakening, we cannot get rid of the sea of mental garbage, but we can know that it is not the reality of existence. 

Metapsychiatry teaches us to use the difficulties encountered in life as stepping-stones to enlightenment. Each problem is expressing a specific mental thought, conditioned image or adaptation to circumstances that is not in harmony with the underlying spiritual reality. We learn to move carefully and mindfully through them, seeking to see the false messages they are conveying about life.

Just as fog appears when the temperatures of the ground and the air are in contrast, we live in a mental “fog” when our conditioned ideas about life are in conflict with what really Is.

What lifts the mental fog is the harmonizing of individual consciousness with Divine Consciousness. First we need to see what it is that we are thinking that is so out of harmony with what Is. Once we see how ignorant it is to live a conditioned life, we humbly open our consciousness to what really Is. Gradually the fog lifts, and we see increasingly clearly what it is to live in PAGL.

“What could be misdirected about wanting to be better?” You might ask.

It is not the desired thing or state that determines the outcome of a resolution, it is the  “wanting” itself.

“Wanting” expresses the state of “lack.” Something or someone is needed to fill what currently seems lacking: better job, more money, more love, less weight, more simplicity, etc.

How can one give up wanting? Isn’t it just another “want” to want to stop wanting?

Yes, that’s right. It is not possible to stop wanting when there is something we want.

Yet, it is possible to recognize that our true identity is not a personality that needs something..

When we want something, our attention is focused on what we are lacking. What seems necessary is out there somewhere.

It is possible to turn our attention toward the substance of being. Instead of looking to fill ourselves up with something external, we can become interested in asking, “Who are we? and what is the purpose of our lives?” Suddenly the focus of attention is on discovering what constitutes what already is – our being. While we may not be  aware of answers  right away, whatever it is is not lacking, and it’s not “out there” somewhere.

Metapsychiatry suggests that our substance is the qualities of being that constitute the wholeness of reality, such as: harmony, clarity, inspired wisdom, integrity, joy.

And, the purpose of our life is to be the best expression of these eternal qualities that is possible at any moment.  This is an Every-Moment-Resolution that flows from the awareness that we are aspects of what is perfectly whole already. We just don’t see it all the time.

The interesting “side-effect” of this commitment is that as we turn to these qualities as guides for living, these qualities begin to express themselves in the circumstances of our lives, and our lives become inspired.

Singing, decorating, gathering with others and celebrating can be fun and beautiful, yet can also host uncomfortable, underside feelings of loneliness, depression and inadequacy.

Metapsychiatry tells us that while we have been taught to think that happy experiences will make us happy, this is not true.

The fact we are unhappy when we attempt to be “happy” by partaking in “happy holiday festivities” points to our mental health. Within our awareness is the uncomfortable realization that we are participating in a fantasy.

So, what is one to do? To partake in the fantasy leaves us with unhappiness, and to reject holiday spirit with a “bah, humbug” approach is also filled with unhappiness.

The truth is that partying, socializing and holiday celebrating cannot make us happy because happiness cannot be created. Goodness and happiness do not come from what we do or from what happens to us, but flows through us with the awareness of the wholeness that already is and of the living soul we already are.

Happiness is a quality of being we can become increasingly aware of.

Celebrating is something we experience. It will come and go, and be both good and bad.

Each day, each moment is a “holy day,” a real moment, when it is possible to awaken to the underlying reality that the fantasy is merely seeking to imitate.

The path of intuition has an end. Like the runway that allows the airplane to build up enough speed to take flight, intuition speeds perception to a point where we are lifted beyond the limits of the road. There is a point of awareness when the end of intuition is recognized – where intuitive insights have completed their job.

While intuition bridges the analytic world of facts and data with the subjective world of hunches and good guesses, they share a common purpose. Analytics and Intuition are both seeking an answer to a specific problem. The problem, whether involving people, places or things, needs a solution.

The circumstance that made the “end of intuition” clear to me was an unsolvable problem.

The details of the situation are not important but the gist of it was that my husband and I lost all of our material wealth and were so in debt that there was no way it could ever be paid back within our lifetimes.  To find a way through this was impossible. There was no solution.

Previous to the onset of the above unbearable problem I had been introduced to the study of Metapsychiatry – a helpful guide to understanding the truth of our being and the purpose of our lives.

With the help of this study, I grew to understand that it was not the “problem” that was in the way.  The “problem” exposed the breakdown of all my misconceptions about life. There were a host of thoughts that had conditioned my view of life that I was not even aware of. One by one, each came to the surface of awareness to be confronted and seen clearly for what is was.

This is beyond intuition, as this holy healing process can only occur when the main interest is not in solutions to problems, but in understanding the spiritual nature of who we are.

Who we are has a double-reflecting capacity. We can reflect through our experiences and ambitions what we have learned and absorbed through others. We can also become aware of and reflect the infinite Wholeness of what Is.

Intuition bridges these two reflections and allows glimpses of wisdom, insight and clarity to come into our awareness when our minds are open to it. Most often this is when we confront problems.  But, sooner or later the awareness that looks to intuitive insights for solutions to our problems will evolve and turn it’s attention toward full receptivity to what really IS, and to the realization of the spiritual essence of our being.

The Whole is not concerned with problems. The Whole is continually revealing what IS.  What already and eternally IS, by definition, is never a problem.

Of course we are grateful for all the insights that have led us to the place where we are no longer contained by the problems of life, but lifted into the infinite expanse where “problems” seem smaller and smaller until they disappear altogether.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil. . .

The media is filled with frightening information. The economy is tanking. Social security is threatened. Jobs are not being created at the rate we need, and our leaders seem to be dysfunctional. It is easy to become frightened. Fear is uncomfortable. And, with the amount of fearful events reported every day an underlying fearful state of being seems normal. “Be frightened about your money, your health, your family,” seems to be the constant mantra of the news and advertising media.

To recognize that we are experiencing fear is to know that we are walking “through a valley of dangerous shadows” and this is the first step – the beginning of wisdom.

While it is not possible to just stop being frightened, it is possible to stop being frightened of fear. After all, it is just a very uncomfortable feeling – not the real stuff of life.

. . . I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

Who or what is the “Thou” that is “with me” and not frightened of fear or evil?

Thou preparest a table before me in the midst of mine enemies.

Fear, the emotional and physiological reaction to being threatened, is the “enemy,” as living a frightened life is self-destructive. When frightened we cannot be aware of the “table of good” laid before us. We cannot see the “green pastures” we are being led to.

It is not panic that will safely guide us through difficult situations – it is creative inspiration that flows from Thou into us, just as the river feeds the trees.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This capacity to see real choices, to know the difference between what is fearful and what is good is wisdom – the real stuff of life.

The apparent choices seem to be either disgust with the values of our leaders or, ignoring their indiscretions. This puts us in the position of being at the effect of someone else’s behavior. We are forced to accept bad behavior as “normal” and thus lower our expectations of leaders or live in a state of outrage.

The suffering in this situation is plentiful. Yet, the only suffering any of us can address is that which is in our own consciousness: wanting the world situation to be different than it is. And who does not want that? But the truth is that living in a state of wanting has the constant side effect of frustration. And, this frustration hurts us, and does not help the situation.

There is a way out.

When we do not like what we are seeing there is an urge to stop it. Jesus said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” He was addressing this human tendency to blame and punish the person who is offending us. The truth is that it is not the “person” who is offending.

Being offended is our reaction to what we are seeing. We may hate the behavior we are seeing, yet have we not in some way, at some time, done something below our own standard of behavior? In other words, who can throw the first stone?

Metapsychiatry suggests that it is possible to cultivate compassion – the understanding that there is a lack of understanding.

Instead of judging an offending person or accepting bad behavior we can learn something and perhaps heal something.

We can realize that we are all here to learn and grow from our mistakes. This neither condones nor condemns but sees that some behaviors do not lead to good.

The good news is that the purpose of life is to wake up. And, waking up begins when we see that it is possible to have compassion for our selves and others.

Pleasure and pain are life experiences, but they are not the truth of being – and the endeavor to pursue, or avoid them place our attention into the future with the fantasy that there will be “pleasure” or the cessation of “pain.” But, the future never arrives. And the present remains hungry.

Our capacity to be attentive is a great gift of life. Life experiences follow our attention. To give attention to a future fantasy leaves a void in the present moment. This emptiness is experienced as dissatisfaction.

To be attentive to the truth of ones being brings with it the awareness of the source from which existence flows and our oneness with it. This is peace. A peace we are assured of, as it is infinite. And we are grateful for being aware of the love that is so freely available. This awareness is PAGL (Peace, Assurance, Gratitude, Love) – the human awareness of the presence of God.

The “narrow gate” is a phrase used by Jesus to describe the path of attention to full awareness of our Oneness with the All that Is and he juxtaposed it to the “broad way” of existing solely within the human condition that is compelled by social norms, cultural conditioning, current fads and fears.

The “narrow gate” is actually the infinite way to be exactly what we are created to be and not what we want or pretend to be.

The image of the “narrow gate” points to the fact that it is easy to miss the truth of our being. We need to seek it, love it, and be fully attentive to living in it.

It’s good to know that the “narrow gate” is the backdrop of our being, and at any moment when the futility of the “broad way” is seen, we can find ourselves in front of the narrow gate – the glorious infinite joy that far outshines any material or sensual pleasure.

In that moment a glimpse of true being is revealed; without words, without action, without description. Those who know this moment recognize it always, even in these clumsy words.

When the moment passes and ordinary life faces us again, our thirst is both quenched and heightened. The reality of completeness is complete, and, at the same moment, it has disappeared behind the open-mouthed monster mind on the search for something to have or someone to be.

After the glimpse, everything in the ordinary world is tainted with the recognition that it is a sham – a poor second to the glorious ever-present, yet ungraspable truth.

The bottomless pit of wanting is confronted by the infinite wholeness of being.

Albert Einstein described such a moment as “the religious paradise of youth,” as he recalled the recognition of universal harmony when he was first introduced to Hebrew teachings. As a young man, he wrote simple hymns he sang and prayed to himself while walking to school.

When introduced to geometry in math class, his view of God was challenged. While he did outgrow religious ideas, it seems to me that he was fueled by his naïve recognition of universal harmony to search for a mathematical and scientific language to understand it.

All of us are on the same quest through a unique route. For some the original “glimpse” may have been overshadowed by the traumas and tribulations of early life or possibly smothered in comfort and indulgence.
Like looking for lost keys that “we know were left somewhere around here,” universal harmony seems lost just beneath the daily relentless routine.

Universal harmony cannot be lost – it is impossible – but our attention can get focused in other directions. And, as when looking for lost keys, the more agitated and anxious we get about finding them, or universal harmony, the harder it is to find.

Is it possible to find something that isn’t really lost? For that matter, is it possible to lose something that is ever-present?

Perhaps when Albert Einstein was singing his hymns to God someone else was thinking that he was wasting his time.

It reminds me of one of my daughters screaming: “Mom! I can’t find my sweater. . .” or whatever. Within 30 seconds of my coming into the room the “sweater” magically appeared – on the bed, under the bag, or on the floor of the closet. It became a joke as it occurred every time.

It wasn’t that something was lost – it was that she, or you or I, can’t see what is there when our minds are cluttered.

This years PAGL conference is all about asking questions.

When I first heard that there would be an opportunity to ask “anonymous” questions, some personal issues I had been struggling with immediately popped into awareness.

Simultaneous to the full awareness of the issues came the answer, followed closely with release from the heavy burden of the problems I had seemed to be living under.
These were questions I had been asking for some time. So, who asked the question in a way that allowed the answer?

When a question is not anonymous, it’s personal. There is someone who wants to solve the problem, who, at the same time, is self-protective. It seems that there is something “personal” about the question – that both the question and problem “belong” to us.

Consider, for a moment, that what makes a situation a “problem” is the personal identification with it. “There is something going on that is difficult for Me, and I don’t like it!” Paraphrasing a well-known Zen Koan we could say that the “person and the problem are one.”

Metapsychiatry suggests that it is not a person, but the spiritual quality of radical sincerity that is open to hearing truthful answers. “Anonymity” neutralized the “personal” allowing the underlying quality of being to be fully present.

So, what is the difference between a “person” asking a question and the “quality” of radical sincerity?
The “person” asking a question is attached to the problem. While the agitation and suffering experienced from having a problem may bring the “person” to ask the first intelligent question – the answer can only be understood when the person/problem duality is transcended.

Radical sincerity is the quality of being that is committed to seeing the truth, regardless of personal embarrassment and spontaneous new responses to habituated situations that will surely flow.

Radical sincerity already exists as a quality of God, Divine Wholeness. It can be appreciated by each individual being. We can each be committed to being sincere, recognize when we are not quite there yet, and pray for the transcendent moment when the “person” with a “problem” disappears and all that is left is the glorious truth.

Are you interested in supporting those who are demonstrating and standing up for a more democratic government, yet confused and distressed by the potential and actual violence? Are you having difficulty knowing who or what organizations to support?

Do you think you have to take a crash course in Mid-East/North African history to understand enough to be articulate and helpful?

Are you in danger of tuning out the situation from hearing too many opinions and fearful speculations?

Be at peace. There is a truly helpful view that transcends the immediate conflict, and opinion spouting while staying present with the unfolding events.

The truth is that none of us know what individual leaders, spokespeople, and citizens need to do at any moment. But we can be very interested in governance that allows and supports education, expression, and opportunity.

Even though none of us know the best path to freedom for any individual, group or nation, we can know that every individual, group and nation has the capacity and potential to receive intelligent, loving, wise ideas that will be just right for their moment.

Every individual can look for moments of intelligent, loving and wise ideas, no matter how tiny or few. Every time a moment of wisdom is appreciated by even one individual, that attention to the wisdom increases the potential for that wisdom to be seen by others.

This is the transcendent approach – to know that wise ideas are always available, and rejoice when they appear in actual events and watch them as they unfold.

Of course there will be many moments that may be frightening in their ignorance and disregard for real solutions. These can be seen for what they are – ignorant, self-serving, narrow-mindedness. To fight these, or get angry only feeds them. But keep looking – and keep open for the specks of light, seeds of inspired solutions and individual transformations to a more healing and helpful awareness.

The global evolution of consciousness is fed and directed by what we pay attention to.