No, solving all our problems is not so easy as sitting on a couch and thinking positive thoughts.

The Law of Attraction does work. Like always attracts like, as we can see in nature all around us. Skunks don’t hang out with geese and fish don’t fraternize with sparrows. But it is not so simple as just being a positive source of energy and opening yourself up to the abundance of the Universe. All the goodies are not going to fall into our laps automatically.

The way it is designed, which many people would not like to face because they think it is easier to just wish and hope, is that we must meet the Universe at least halfway with action. It sounds like such a wonderful fairy tale to think that all we have to do to lose weight is to think about being thin. No, sorry, we must also stop eating fattening and non-nourishing foods and do some form of exercise.

And if we want to be wealthy, all we have to do is stop our negative vibes about cash flow and money. But again, this is wishing and hoping. It is not the whole picture. Yes, we can be unobstructed conduits for all the good of the Universe, but we must put in the effort. Not the struggle, not the grueling slavery, but the effort that shows our intentions.
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The goal of “solving all our problems” is unrealistic and not the reason for our existence on this planet. Our problems are instigation for growth. And once they are “solved,” opportunities for new growth appear. It is never solved. It never gets done. and our opportunities for growth are endless.

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No, it is not possible to get everything we desire. And this is a good thing. Many of our desires are selfish and unconscious of the rest of the people on this planet. Criminals desire to kill and destroy. Sexual predators desire to dominate a frightened victim. Therefore, what we desire is not even desirable for many people who are led astray by their ego-minds.

The Universe is not designed to pamper our every whim just because that is what we want. We need to calm down with our demands as well as with our expectations of how we can bend the Universe to our will. People living in abundance are miserable because they still haven’t fulfilled all of their desires. Like spoiled children, they bang on their highchairs and cry because the world isn’t living up to their fairy tale dreams.
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They would love to believe that if they said enough affirmations and think positively enough, they will get all the goodies they crave and climb Mount Everest too without training. But that is not how it is designed. Yes, we may think positively and emit positive vibrations to attract good into our lives. But we are not in control of how or when that good comes to us. And we must put in the work. It is not enough to desire and think it will all happen. If that were true, everyone would win the lottery.

Feelings from ego are based in fear—even the happy feelings have a fearful component to them because we worry about how and when they are going to end. Ego-feelings are also based on external circumstances and are not generated from within.

Something happens and it makes us happy. The next minute something happens and it makes us sad. These feelings are all based on what our ego wants and how the world is bending to our demands at the moment. We want the perfect life for ourselves according to some definition we have in our heads and we will not allow ourselves to be happy until we have attained it.

Feelings from Soul are based in an underlying joy, regardless of the cards that are dealt to us by the Universe. The Soul is already complete and is not seeking completion in something else. It sees that the Universe is well-put-together and we don’t need to strive to bend it to our wills. Therefore, the Soul abides in peace while the ego-world goes on in its turmoil and strife.
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The ego-based emotions are perfect for survival tactics, reproducing our species, and creating social structures. The Soul-based emotions of love, peace, and joy are perfect for understanding the meaning and purpose of our lives.

As humans, our brains have enabled us to rise to the top of the food chain. Therefore, we have become brain-centered when we think of consciousness. But consciousness, our ability to perceive the world around us, is not just located in the brain. It is in the gut, the heart, and in every cell of our bodies. It is even beyond our bodies, in a field that is not physical.

The brain interprets the sensory input of our physical world. We register our awareness of our environment through our constant stream of thought. But each being can have a different sensory experience, depending on the condition of their physical senses and how they have evolved. A human sees a completely different world than a bee. Bees see ultraviolet colors that humans cannot see, yet they are both conscious beings. A blind person is conscious of the world in a completely different way than a sighted person.

Consciousness does reside in the body wherever our perceptions are felt or acknowledged. It is not solely centered in the brain. We may have gut feelings, feelings in our hearts, or a combination of heart, gut, and brain. We are aware of the presence of our soul mate through our gut and heart. Sometimes our brains don’t agree but we go with our hearts and guts anyway. A loving mothers’s heart goes out to her children or people can die of a broken heart. When we walk into a room and something doesn’t “feel right” we go with our gut, regardless of what our brain says.

And so it is a combination of brain, heart, and gut that comprises consciousness. Yet there is someone behind all these perceptual organs, where eternal consciousness lives. It is not dependent on blood flow or nourishment. It is the infinite intelligence of the Universe that never goes unconscious.

Western Philosophy, with some exceptions, is a temple to the rational mind. Reasoning and figuring out why things are the way they are, are the main focus. For example, the Philosopher Kant, formulated reasons for why we need to behave altruistically towards others. Even Descartes, with his, “I think, therefore I am,” emphasizes the rational mind. He does not say: “I feel therefore I am,” or “I witness, therefore I am.”
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Eastern philosophy is more concerned with going within to find who we are as an Eternal reflection of cosmic consciousness. To do this, we must bypass the rational mind and forget about the “why’s” of things. They are the way they are and no matter how bright we are, we will never get to the bottom of it all—but Who and What is it that wants to understand?

To find out who we are, behind the labels, masks, and conditioning, we must not be distracted by the constant stream of thoughts that swirl through the mind. It takes discipline to rise above this whirlpool. It takes training to recognize the tricks of the mind. This is what Eastern philosophy aims to do. And it offers pointers to how to move away from the collector’s search for never-ending knowledge.

In general, Western philosophy is about knowing. Eastern philosophy is about finding our unity with an underlying structure of reality that never dies and never changes. It presumes we can never fully know, but we can still unite in peace with All That Is, because, at base, this is who we really are anyway. All knowledge passes away, but the Soul, in its union with the Universe, is eternal.

We can collect as much knowledge as we want, but it does not bring peace or comfort. But once we go within, with a truly quiet mind, all the harmony of the Universe is revealed.

Soul and Spirit are both elements of the Creative Force of the Universe. They are both immortal and unseen with the human eye. But they can be felt with the heart.
Soul is the emanation of all things beautiful and holy about the universe. It is the essence behind all the harmony and exquisiteness of what we experience through our spiritual senses.
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Spirit is the energy behind the Soul. It is the driving force that impels attraction and creativity to be expressed through Soul. When Spirit is unselfishly and fervently invoked, qualities of Soul shine forth as a result.

The combination of Soul and Spirit is what we feel when we hear a great masterpiece, such as Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. He was already deaf when he composed it but was open to divine inspiration. He was a vessel for the complex beauty of the structure of All That Is. Therefore, he allowed the Spirit to move him and became a witness and transcriber of Soul.

Another example is any of the great spiritual teachers whose generous Souls brought them to share their wisdom and comfort with others. They channel the Spirit and express it uniquely and perfectly, being a witness to the ever presence of Soul and its everlasting beauty.

A squid changes colors to show emotions. A chameleon changes colors to camouflage itself. Both are unconsciously channeling the underlying intelligence of the Universe that underlies all of life. Animals don’t consciously decide, “I’m going to turn pink now.” But if it is appropriate for an animal’s survival to turn red, it will do so. It is merely the instrument of a huge chain of actions and reactions that are out of most of our controls.
The same idea applies to humans. We cannot willfully make ourselves turn pale or even blush but if our emotions or physical circumstances call for it, we will blush or look as if all the blood has run out of our faces. So many things are out of our conscious control. We cannot beat our own heart or demand that our pancreas secrete hormones. Most of what we do actually happens to us, as the Universe works through us. We just think we are in control.
The Universe is a huge dance of many mysteries and secrets that humans are always trying to decipher so we will feel that they we are in control. But so many things are out of our control. Squids, chameleons, and humans all are under the sway of the Laws of the Universe and only a few things are within our conscious control. Moral choice is one of them (but could also be unconsciously conditioned by culture and upbringing).
You may say, the squid is consciously deciding to eat that small fish over there and therefore it propels itself towards it to gobble it down. Yes, but what is propelling the squid to do this? It is not saying to itself, “I am going to move all my legs by stimulating their nerves with my ganglia to eat that tasty-looking minnow.” The same is true for humans. If you had to consciously tell each arm, leg, finger, hand, to move towards some food, it would take hours.
We are propelled to perform most of our actions for the sake of our survival, just as with the animals who magically change colors. It is one of the fantastic attributes of the Universe that it doesn't have to be so incredibly colorful and beautiful to continue the dance of survival. It just is.

It takes work, discipline, and practice to overcome the negative bias of the human mind and the fearful projections of “lower” consciousness. Many people are not willing to put themselves through the training it requires to achieve levels of consciousness beyond the mere day-to-day survival.

Many people do not even think it is possible or even care. They are consumed with getting by with the least amount of pain and loss. They have relied on others, such as priests and authority figures to tell them that such states exist but do not think they are capable of such exalted states of being.

To find their way to their inner light and Soul seems too difficult or impractical. They think that higher consciousness would interfere with accomplishing their daily tasks as they bask in the ecstasy of inner bliss. This is a misconception and comes from visions of hermits living in caves meditating in the mountains instead of people actively engaged with life.

Or higher consciousness has been mystified to be like an endless psychedelic trip of colors, lights and disorientation. This false concept of higher consciousness deters people from “going there.” How are they going to get anything done if they are in a constant state of uninterrupted joy and distracting visual effects? But higher consciousness is nothing more or less that realizing that we are one with the Universe and that it is working through us.
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Because of:

• All the untrue ideas about higher consciousness
• Ignorance that it even exists
• The belief it is the special province of anointed religious figures

. . .most humans have not attained the levels of consciousness of which we are all capable.