{"id":45,"date":"2007-08-18T00:01:01","date_gmt":"2007-08-18T00:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/conversationswithgod\/2007\/08\/being-vs-thinking.html"},"modified":"2007-08-18T00:01:01","modified_gmt":"2007-08-18T00:01:01","slug":"being-vs-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/conversationswithgod\/2007\/08\/being-vs-thinking.html","title":{"rendered":"Being vs Thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saturday is Prose & Poetry Day here on the blog, a time to take a moment once a week to relax the mind, open the heart, and access the soul through the gift of prose from one of the many books of The New Spirituality, and through the poetry of m. Claire, author of the forthcoming volume, Come As You Are.<\/em>
\nThis week’s prose…an excerpt from Friendship with God<\/em>…
\nWhen I step back far enough to see the design, to see the beauty of the intricate and delicate weavings in the fabric of my life, I am filled with gratitude.<\/p>\n

That is the final step, the Seventh Step, in creating a friendship with God: Thank God.
\nAll your life you have not known God as God really is. Now you can.
\nAll your life you have not trusted God as you wished you could. Now you can.
\nAll your life you have not loved God as you\u2019ve wanted to. Now you can.
\nAll your life you have not embraced God with a closeness that made God a very real part of your experience. Now you can.
\nAll your life you have not used God as you would use your best friend. Yet now, being as close as you are, you know that you can.
\nAll your life you have not helped God in a conscious way, because you did not know that God wanted any help, and even if you did, you did not know how to give it. Now you do.
\nIt is not your fault that you did not know God. How can you know one thing when everyone is telling you another?
\nIt is not your fault that you did not trust God. How can you trust that which you do not know?
\nIt is not your fault that you did not love God. How can you love that which you do not trust?
\nIt is not your fault that you did not embrace God. How can you embrace that which you do not love?
\nIt is not your fault that you did not use God. How can you use that which you do not hold?
\nIt is not your fault that you did not help God. How can you be helpful with that for which you have no use?
\nAnd it is not your fault that you did not thank God. How can you be thankful for that which cannot be helped?
\nYet today is a new day. Now is a new time. And yours is a new choice. It is a choice to create anew your personal relationship with Me. It is a choice to experience, at last, a friendship with God.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


\nEverybody in the world wants that. Everybody who believes in God, anyway. We\u2019ve tried our whole lives to have a friendship with You. We\u2019ve tried to please You, to not offend You, to find the Real You, to have You find us \u2013 we\u2019ve tried everything. But we haven\u2019t followed these Seven Steps. At least, I certainly haven\u2019t. Not the way You\u2019ve got them laid them out here. So, thank You. But may I ask You a pointed question?<\/p>\n

Certainly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Why is gratitude necessary? Why is it so important that we thank You? Why is it one of the Seven Steps? Are You a God with such ego needs that if we do not show You our gratitude, You will take away all good things?<\/p>\n

On the contrary, I am a God of such love that by showing your gratitude, you will receive all good things.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That sounds like a backward way of saying the same thing. I have to show my gratitude in order to receive good things.<\/p>\n

You do not have to, it is not a requirement. Many people who seem not the least bit grateful enjoy goodness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, then I am totally confused.<\/p>\n

Gratitude is not something I require. It is not an ego salve, a greaser of the skids, an oiler of the wheels. It does not make God more likely to be good to you \u201cnext time.\u201d Life sends you good things whether you are grateful or not. But with gratitude, Life sends them to you faster. That is because gratitude is a State of Being.
\nRemember when I said, \u201cThinking is the slowest method of creation?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes. I was very surprised by that.<\/p>\n

You shouldn\u2019t be. You perform all of your body\u2019s most important functions without thinking about it. You don\u2019t think about blinking an eye, or taking a breath, or beating your heart. You don\u2019t think about perspiring, or saying \u201couch.\u201d These things just happen, because you are a human being. That is, a human, comma, being.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, I remember. You said earlier that some life functions and experiences are created automatically, without any effort, at the level of experience called Subconscious. Is this where we create most effectively?<\/p>\n

No. You create most effectively, most efficiently, and most rapidly when you create not from the Subconscious, but from the Supra\u00acconscious.
\nThe Supraconscious is the name given to that level of experience reached when the Superconscious, Conscious, and Subconscious, are all rolled into One\u2014and then transcended. This is a place above thought. It is your True State of Being, and this True State is Who You Really Are. It is unperturbed, unmoved, unaffected by your thoughts. Thought is not First Cause. True Being is.
\nWe are exploring now, very deeply, the most complex esoteric understandings. The differences here, the nuances, become very delicate. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s okay, I think I\u2019m ready for it. Go.<\/p>\n

\nAll right. But remember, here is where we get into some languaging problems. What I\u2019m going to have to do here is cross over into a Larger Context, and speak from a standpoint of Ultimate Reality, and then cross back over into The Illusion, which is the Reality in which you are now living, and hope you can make the translation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I understand. Let\u2019s give it a whirl.<\/p>\n

Are you sure? This is going to be rough going here. This is going to be tough sledding; the toughest part of our dialogue so far. You may want to skip over this, just take My word for all this, and go right on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I want to understand it. At least, I want to try.<\/p>\n

Okay. Here we go.
\nTry on this statement:
\nBeingness is<\/em>, thought does<\/em>.
\nWhat does that say to you?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It says that \u201cbeingness\u201d is not an action, it is not an undertaking, it is not something that \u201coccurs.\u201d Rather, it is an \u201cis-ness.\u201d It is \u201cwhat is.\u201d It is a \u201cso-ness\u201d \u2013 it is \u201cwhat is so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good. And what about thought?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It says that thought is a process, a \u201cdoingness,\u201d something that happens.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s very good. So what are the implications of that?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anything that \u201chappens\u201d takes \u201ctime.\u201d It may happen very \u201cfast,\u201d like thought, but it still takes what we call \u201ctime.\u201d Something that \u201cis,\u201d however, simply is. It is right now. It\u2019s not \u201cgoing to be\u201d is-ing. It IS \u201cis-ing,\u201d right here, right now.
\nIn short, \u201cis-ing\u201d is faster than \u201cdoing,\u201d and \u201cbeing\u201d is therefore faster than \u201cthinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

You know what? I should have hired you as My interpreter.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I thought You did.<\/p>\n

Ah, good one. Okay, now try this statement:
\nBeing is First Cause.
\nWhat does that say to you?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It says that Being causes everything. What you are \u201cbeing,\u201d you experience.<\/p>\n

Excellent. Yet does Being cause Thought? <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes. If the proposition is correct, then yes, Being would cause Thought.<\/p>\n

So, what you are being affects how you think.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, you could say that.<\/p>\n

Yet I have said that \u201cthought is creative.\u201d Is this true?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is if You say that it is.<\/p>\n

Good. I\u2019m glad you have come to trust Me. Now, if \u201cthought is creative,\u201d can thought create a State of Being?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You mean, which comes first, the chicken or the egg?<\/em><\/p>\n

Exactly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know. I suppose if I am \u201cbeing\u201d sad, I can change my mind about that, decide to think happy thoughts, to dwell on positive things, and suddenly, I can \u201cbe\u201d happy. You have told me that I can do this. You have said that my thought creates my reality.<\/p>\n

So I have.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Is it true?<\/p>\n

Yes, it is. Yet, let Me ask you this. Do your thoughts create your True Being?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know. I\u2019ve never heard You use that phrase before. I don\u2019t know what my True Being is.<\/p>\n

Your True Being is All Of It. It is Everything. It is The All-in-All. The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the Oneness. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In other words, God.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one other word, yes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So You\u2019re asking me if my thought creates God?<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

Then let Me pick it up from here, and unravel it for you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Please.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re limited here by language and context, as I have explained now several times.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I understand that.<\/p>\n

Okay. Your thought about God does not create God. It merely creates your experience of God.
\nGod IS.
\nGod is the All-in-All. The Everything. All that ever was, is now, and ever will be.
\nSo far, so good?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So far, so good.<\/p>\n

When you \u201cthink,\u201d you do not create THE ALL. You reach INTO The All to create whatever experience OF The All that you choose.
\nAll Of It is already there. You are not placing it there by thinking about it. Yet by thinking about it, you are placing in your experience that Part Of The All about which you are thinking.
\nDid you follow that?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think I did. Go slowly. Go very slowly. I\u2019m trying to keep up.<\/p>\n

\nYour True Being, which is Who You Really Are, precedes everything. When you think about who you wish to now BE, you are reaching into your True Being, into your Total Self, and focusing on a part of your Total Self that you now wish to experience.
\nYour TOTAL Self is ALL OF IT. It is the happiness AND the sadness.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, yes! You have said this before! You have said of me, \u201cYou are the up and the down of it, the left and the right of it, there here and the there of it, the before and the after of it. You are the \u2018fast\u2019 and the \u2018slow\u2019 of it, \u2018big\u2019 and the \u2018small\u2019 of it, the \u2018male\u2019 and the \u2018female,\u2019 and what you call the \u2018good\u2019 and the \u2018bad.\u2019 You are all of it, and there is none of it that you are not.\u201d
\nI have heard You say that to me before!<\/p>\n

You are right. I have. Many times have I said this to you. And now you understand it better than you ever have before.
\nAnd so, does \u201cthinking\u201d affect \u201cbeing?\u201d No. Not in the largest sense. You are What You Are, no matter what you think about it.
\nYet can \u201cthinking\u201d create an immediately different experience of your \u201cbeing\u201d? Yes. What you think about, what you focus on, will be made manifest in your individual present reality. Thus, if you are \u201cbeing\u201d sad, and you think positive, joyful thoughts, you will very easily \u201cthink your way\u201d to \u201cbeing\u201d happy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You are simply moving from one part of your Self to another!<\/p>\n

Yet there is a \u201cshortcut\u201d \u2013 and this is what we have been trying to get at here. This is what we\u2019ve been talking about.
\nYou can move to any State of Being you wish \u2013 that is, you can call forth any part of your True Being \u2013 at any moment, instantly, by simply knowing it to be so, and declaring it to be so.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You once said to me, \u201cWhat you Know is what is So.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, I did. And this is exactly what I meant by that. What you know of your True Being is what will be so of your State of Being right now. When you declare what you know, you make it so.
\nDeclarations are made most powerfully with \u201cI Am\u201d statements. One of the most famous of these was a statement made by Jesus, \u201cI Am the way and the life.\u201d The most sweeping such statement ever made was one made by Me: I Am That I Am.
\nYou can make \u201cI Am\u201d Declarations, too. In fact, you do so every day. \u201cI am sick and tired,\u201d \u201cI am up to my ears,\u201d and so forth. These are Statements of Being. When you make these Statements of Being consciously, rather than unconsciously, you live from Intention; you live Deliberately. Remember, I have suggested that you live\u2026
\n\u2022\tDeliberately
\n\u2022\tHarmoniously
\n\u2022\tBeneficially
\nYour whole life is a message, did you know that? Every act is an act of Self-definition. Every thought is a silent film on the movie screen of your mind. Every word is voice-mail for God.
\nEverything you think, say and do sends a message about you.
\nThink of your I Am Declarations, therefore, as a sort of State of the Union Message. This is your \u201cState of the Being Message.\u201d You are making a statement of how it is with you. You are saying \u201cwhat is so.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hey, wait a minute! I just thought of something! We\u2019re all One anyway, so it really IS a \u201cState of the Union\u201d message!<\/p>\n

That\u2019s good. That\u2019s very good.
\nNow, when you make a declaration, that is the short route to your State of Being. Declarations are a calling forth of Who You Really Are \u2013 or, more accurately, of that portion of Who You Really Are that you wish to experience right now.
\nThis is Beingness being creative, rather than Thought being creative. Beingness is the fastest method of creation. That is because what IS, is right now.
\nA true Declaration of Being is made without thinking about it. If you think about it, you will, at best, delay it, and, at worst, deny it.
\nDelay will occur simply because thinking takes times, and being takes no time at all.
\nDenial could occur because thinking about what you choose to be, often convinces you that you aren\u2019t that \u2013 and can\u2019t ever become that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If that\u2019s true, then the worst thing I can do is to think!<\/p>\n

In a sense, that is correct. All spiritual masters are out of their minds. That is, they do not consciously think about what they are being. They simply ARE it. The moment you think about it, you can\u2019t be it. You can only delay being it, or deny being it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To use a very \u201cdown home\u201d illustration, you can only \u201cbe\u201d in love when you are in love. You cannot be in love if you are thinking about it. If someone who loves you asks, \u201cAre you in love with me?\u201d, and you say, \u201cI\u2019m thinking about it,\u201d that will probably not go over very well.<\/p>\n

Excellent! You are understanding very well.
\nNow, if time is not critical, if it\u2019s not a matter of inches and seconds (and few things are), if it isn\u2019t important how long it takes before you are experiencing what you choose (such as \u201cbeing in love\u201d), then you can take all the time you want to \u201cthink about it.\u201d
\nAnd thinking is a very powerful tool. It is one of the Three Tools of Creation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thought, word, and deed.<\/p>\n

Precisely. Yet today I have given you another method by which you can experience life. This is not a tool of creation, this is a new understanding of creation: that it is not a process by which things occur, but by which you become aware of what already has occurred \u2013 an awareness of what is, always was, and always will be, world without end.
\nDo you understand?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am beginning to, yes. I am beginning to see the whole cosmology, the whole construction.<\/p>\n

Good. I know this has not been simple. Or rather, it has been simple, but it has not been easy.
\nJust remember this: Being is instant. Compared to that, your thought is very slow. As fast as thought is, it is very slow compared to \u201cbeing.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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