The Force of Life
The Force of Love
Love, the Essence of All Life
Another Step Higher
About the Author
Preface
Growing up, I wondered about life. I was in search of something beyond the usual humdrum life we seem to go through, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. I thought I had a sense of what it was, yet not quite. It seemed real and palpable yet intangible and elusive.
It seemed far yet as near as my heartbeat. I knew with curious certainty that it was something that could show me the way. The way to a new and brighter tomorrow with a promise of freedom from the shackles of this world. I felt that I wasn’t going to rest till I found it. I hoped that finding it would help unravel the mystery of my unfulfilled life.
I had a deeper, unquenchable desire to understand life in general and my life at a deeper level. Questions about who I was, where I was coming from, where I was going to and why I was here taunted me.
I often felt I was at the mercy of life—a life that seemed random. The paradox was that I felt I was alive, yet at the same time I was asleep—spiritually. Deep down within me was a yearning to wake up—spiritually. Hoping that by waking up from my apparent spiritual slumber I would begin to live a life with meaning and purpose. Not forgetting to be cognizant of the fact that life has unending traps that come in different subtle but enticing and well-packaged guises designed to lead one astray. Not forgetting how temptations constantly dog us, trying to trip us so we can yield to them. Should I yield to temptations, get trapped and fall, as I often have, I would fail in my quest for deeper truth about life. But if I had an awakened consciousness, I could muster up enough strength and courage to rise and continue on my life journey, stronger, wiser, and with clearer sight. With clearer sight, I could sidestep life’s unnecessary traps that serve to cause unnecessary pain and suffering. With clearer sight, I could select to endure the pains only which are necessary for my growth.
Questions upon questions, my search for the unknown seemed unending. Finally, at the height of my long apparent futile search, feeling worn, tired, frustrated, driven to the brink of giving up the quest for the call of unknown truth, an epiphany hit me. It felt like a sharp ray of light pierced through my hardened and closed consciousness, lighting up my inner world. I caught a glimpse of a new world, at the same time I experienced a much-needed reprieve from the pressures of my daily grind, if only for a fleeting moment. Momentarily, I enjoyed a brief foretaste of heavenly joy, beyond words, that would await me should I fully awaken to this higher unknown inner reality. Suddenly, it became apparent that it’s Light I have been searching for. Light emanating from a higher source I understood to be God. The Light of God to guide me along my apparent random and uncertain journey of my life. In the Light, I can awaken to higher truth, love, freedom, wisdom, and joy. In the Light, I can begin to move, live, and experience life in its fullness. Is there more to life than Light? Is Light an aspect of love, I began to wonder. A deep desire to understand love, its nature, its role, its reality, its source, and all things God began to gnaw at me. I felt that Light will lead me to higher truth. And in Light, my ardent quest for spiritual truth about life, love, and God began.
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my friend and former co-worker, Edwil Barquin, for having asked me a seemingly simple question, out of the blue, while at work. “When are you going to write your book?” he casually asked me, catching me off guard as I had not thought of writing a book at that time, though I had been privately writing in my journal my perceptions and insights about life for years without any plan to write a book. His question triggered an idea I had not thought of until that moment.
I can’t fully express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Charles Malata, MD, FRSCS, MRCS for introducing me to the path of Spiritual Freedom
I also want to express my eternal gratitude to Sri Harold Klemp, my teacher, my friend, my mentor, whose teaching has inspired me beyond words.
I owe Michele Bluestone a debt of gratitude for her helpful suggestion about the book format in the early stage of the manuscript.
I would be remiss not to express my grateful thanks to my good friend, Isabel Chuang, for her unflagging support and encouragement.
A special word of thanks also belongs to Bobbi Hicks for her helpful, expert guidance and suggestions that were given so generously while I was revising this book. Additionally, my heartfelt thanks again to Bobbi for inviting me to one of her great seminars which underscored the importance of setting goals with timelines which helped me in my timely completion of the manuscript.
My heartfelt thanks also goes to Linda Anderson, whom through a chance encounter at a seminar answered some questions I had about book publishing which helped set me on the right course.
Life
What Is Life?
Life is what you make it, is a common refrain. True but not so simplistic. The truth of the matter is that there are two aspects to life: the visible outer day to day life and secondly the nonphysical, hidden, limitless, spiritual side, where night dreams appear and beyond, the one we know less about to which we pay barest attention. To understand the depth and truth about life, we need to plumb its depth.
Life is sacred as it is sustained by the life force, Divine Spirit, the essence of God. Life is designed to lead Soul back to God whence it came from. Life should progressively lead one to greater awareness and greater love for God. In the beginning, Soul, was undeveloped, untested, therefore immature. The process of growth through a variety of life experiences gradually raises Soul to a level of maturity in its conscious knowingness of its mission and relationship with God.
In the initial stage, life may seem unconnected to learning about love for God, but that of living it at a basic human level centered on one’s basic physical level. The awakening of consciousness leads one to gradually, through life experiences, expand one’s awareness to the point of living a life of serving others instead of self only.
Despite all the pains and joys in our life journey, as one expands in consciousness and understanding, one begins to realize that life is intended to lead one to God via love. And the difficulties we face along the way are designed to temper Soul, awaken us to our true spiritual nature—a side of us that is indestructible. This realization of our eternal nature changes the way we view life; therefore, how we live our lives.
With awakened consciousness, we are able to see that life, and our physical surroundings are not static. Though they may appear fixed, they are fluid and can be molded to our choosing to make our lives better. Despite all the pains in life, we begin to view life as not something to run away from, but to be fully lived and embraced. Such is life, such is its simplicity yet complex, and to understand it and enjoy it greatly, one must learn to recognize its profound hidden meaning which can be facilitated by awakening one’s consciousness.
Answers to Life
There is a spiritual answer to every question. However, life does not come with a manual to guide us toward all the answers we need. During periods of turmoil, doubt, anxiety, adversity, trials, or when at crossroads, we wish God could give us easy clear answers about what to do or the right direction to go. Why doesn’t God give us easy clear messages? Could it be that the messages are clear except our hearing and sight are faulty? Could it be that divine spirit is always trying to guide us in the right direction but we are either not aware, or we refuse to follow? Could it be that we hold on to old ways tenaciously that we resist new and right ways that may come about? Could it be that we have not purified our hearts enough to hear the guiding voice of God? Could it be that God is always present with us, but we are not always available to God through our own ignorance, pride, or stubbornness? As the Christian bible aptly states something to the effect that we have eyes, but we