by Steve Ray

"Every saint who has pierced the core of reality will testify that there is a divine universal plan that is loving and filled with joy".
[Paramahansa Yogananda]

Let's assume for a moment that those saints who testify to a divine universal plan are right, and that the universe is indeed loving and filled with joy. If that is true, then it makes complete sense that negativity would be removed from us, our environment, life situations, etc., because that is the natural order of things in a loving universe.

And yet, on the surface at least, the evidence is compelling that this is NOT the case; that events ARE random and bad things can and do happen to you at any time and, when they do, you are either lucky or unlucky – depending on what happens to you.

Our long history as humans has certainly built up deep habits which drive us into fight or flight modes at the smallest whiff of something going wrong. It's almost like we are EXPECTING things to go wrong. These habits are in fact our connection to our physical evolution which has helped us to arrive here after more than 2.5 billion years of change.

Fear helped us to get here because it helped us to escape danger. When we were fully part of the animal kingdom, danger was ever-present. Now we are stepping outside that kingdom because something has changed. Now, we are conscious and we have the capacity for loving and being loved, and we can trust, forgive and have faith. These characteristics are lifting us outside of the physical evolution paradigm and into the spiritual evolution reality. As this happens we step beyond the physical laws that have shaped our physical and emotional behaviour to this point in time, and into the laws of love which operate beyond our understanding.

Is it possible that we are keeping alive a reality that is not in fact real, through this innate fear within us – that 'bad stuff happens' and is the natural order?

There are many who testify to a life that changes dramatically when they accept the drama in their lives in such a way that they don't react to it. It's almost as though, by not reacting when things go 'wrong', we can change this deep fight or flight pattern within and in effect create a different reality. When we accept what is happening around us, particularly when it's what we would normally recognise as 'bad', we are surrendering. Part of us is admitting there is nothing we can do about it.

What this means is that the very same situation can be experienced dramatically differently using altered approaches and this seems to relate to the mindset being used. If we 'let go' of the challenging aspects, stop 'resisting' what is happening to us, and start trusting that somehow 'all is as it should be', something truly profound starts to happen.

This becomes even more embedded when we mix in the ingredient of GRATITUDE. Gratitude is the thing which brings in the new reality by saying: 'I like this reality', thereby allowing further erosion of the old bad habit and the false reality of pain and separation that we have created through our choices to follow negative emotions.

If we derive our purpose from what we have and what we don't have, we will stay within the natural selection paradigm that got us to this point. So for example, someone with cunning will be more able to survive where an environment favours cunning. Someone who is beautiful is more likely to get on in a society which favours beauty. The only way that cycle can be broken is when individuals choose to break the habits which reinforce the notion that we are 'in danger' of losing what we have, whatever we consider that to be: status, wealth, fame, importance, beauty, etc. There is truly the most amazing freedom to be found in a state of being that effectively says: "I can't lose anything. I have it all". Fear dies and love flourishes.

The good news is that the cycle IS being broken... constantly. Although it's being reinforced as well, since old habits die hard, the momentum is unstoppable because, every time we choose to surrender, to let go and to love, the impacts are immensely more positive compared with the negatives of maintaining the old patterns.

I believe we are evolving towards the very mechanism that is helping us to become more compassionate, loving and aware beings... and even beyond that. In one way it's all so logical, but at the same time, our brains will never be able to make any sense of it at all.

Steve Ray is the co-ordinator of Open Heart activities in Victoria.

He can be contacted on 0419 005 386 and at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For information about activities around the world and workshops in Australia go to http://www.open-your-heart.org.au/index.do and follow the links to your location. For information about Padmacahaya, go to http://www.padmacahaya.org.au/