The term angel simply means messenger of God or Source, which was as aspect of energy sent out to experience a denser vibrational level in physical form. When the message or vibration returns to Source, it helps Source to know itself by reflection. With this example you can see how things can be viewed different ways. Michelle Walling, How To Survive As A Multidimensional Being In A Limited Consciousness
And if this life leaves much to be desired, you be the living life yourself.
Many will be transfixed with your indecipherably glowing winsomeness (winsome comes from the Old English wynn, which means “pleasure, delight”, so etymologically a winning smile is not a facial expression that wins us over, but one exuding such goodness that we are filled with joy; see [here]).
Many more will seem to be rejecting you.
Neither matters all that much.
Stay gently devoted to being this living life. There can be no lack of joy when our mystically open hearts see in all the One we love.
Ὁ δὲ καρπὸς τοῦ Πνεύματός ἐστιν ἀγάπη, χαρά, εἰρήνη, μακροθυμία, χρηστότης, ἀγαθωσύνη, πίστις, πρᾳότης, ἐγκράτεια· κατὰ τῶν τοιούτων οὐκ ἔστι νόμος. – Προς Γαλάτας 5,22-23. The original text in Hellenistic Greek.
But the fruit that the Spirit produces is ripe with unconditional love, joy, peace, longsuffering, virtuous usefulness, kindness, living in accord with faith, gentleness, self-discipline based on sacred awareness. The depth of such behaviours cannot be measured; no law can stand against them. – Galatians 5:22-23. Etymologically analytic translation by Leon Hieros.
Once for all, then, a short precept is given thee: Love, and do what thou wilt: whether thou hold thy peace, through love hold thy peace; whether thou cry out, through love cry out; whether thou correct, through love correct; whether thou spare, through love do thou spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good.
From St. Augustin’s Seventh Homily on the First Epistle of John (1 John IV. 4–12)
Well, first of all, your observation that the teaching seems to be directed towards the ego or separate self… In a way, you’re right, because awareness is not in need of any teaching. [Low, knowing laughter in the audience]
So… the teaching is… is… If there were no separate self, if in other words there were no suffering, there would be no teaching. The teaching arises in response to… basically in response to our suffering. That is, in response to the one who suffers.
So yes, the teaching is directed towards the one who suffers, so what is important, is not whether the teaching is directed to awareness, or to the separate self; it’s “Does the teaching take the apparently separate self directly to its source? Or does it perpetuate the separate self by giving it various activities and practices to do?”
And then your real question, which was about “What is the place of ethics?” … ahm… and, “Does it matter, the way we live our life, or our lifestyle choices?” … or –is that right– “What relation do they have to the non-dual teaching?” …
What is traditionally called “enlightenment” is the recognition of our essential nature, the recognition of our being as it is. But that is not the ultimate goal of the path. It is a step on the path. The ultimate goal –if we can call it a “goal”– is (first to recognize the nature of our essential self, and then) to live the implications of that recognition, in all realms of our life. And our enlightenment, our self-realization, cannot be considered complete, until this recognition is at least stable to a relatively high degree, in all realms of our life.
Now. None of us are perfect, so none of us can say that every aspect of our life has been one hundred percent colonized by this understanding. But a person who claims enlightenment, or claims to have recognized the nature of their own being, but acts unkindly towards others –other people, or animals– I think in that case, the recognition of their own being is… it may have taken place, but it hasn’t yet begun to really permeate their entire bodymind.
So, the answer is, ethics, the way we lead our lives, our lifestyle choices, are important. Kindness… I consider kindness one of the highest virtues. Just kindness; is an inevitable and natural outcome, or consequence, of this understanding. Why? Because we feel, we don’t just understand and know, but we feel, that we share our being. So what we do to another, we literally do to ourselves. Now, who would willingly do something unkind, or unjust, or unloving to themselves?
So… This is why many of you have heard me quote Saint Augustine before. This is why, when somebody asked Saint Augustine exactly the same question that you have me asked me about ethics and morality, he said,
“Love, and do whatever you want”.
By “Love”, of course, as we said earlier, he meant,
Feel that you share your being, with all people, all animals, and all things.
And as long as you act in accordance with that understanding, you can do anything you want. Because anything you do will simply bring that understanding out into the community. You will share that understanding and express it.
So, I would… Whenever you find yourself at a crossroads in your life –either a major crossroads or just a small junction, where you have two options: “Shall I do this? Or shall I do that?”– Pause, and first go to your deepest understanding; go to your deepest… love. Stand there, and then make the decision that best expresses that understanding.
Now. Even if, down the road, you look back and you think, I made the wrong decision, nevertheless your intention to make the decision that is an expression of love and understanding, will be sufficient. Your intention will keep you safe.
And sometimes, it requires courage. Because the decision that we make on behalf of love or understanding, is not always the comfortable decision. Sometimes it may place us in a situation that is difficult, or uncomfortable. And the tendency is always to go for the more comfortable option; and that’s where you have to be really… really established in love and understanding, and to really let that guide your behaviour. Irrespective of the consequences.
I’m going to do this because I feel it is right. It is an expression of truth, and love. And I’m going to do it irrespective of the consequences.
They always do, and here I can testify to that as my own diaphragm expands with their heavenly love, I feel them using you and all of us as instruments of praise, glowing through your golden airways and spreading out and up and up the sweetest scents of spring. –Leon Hieros, responding to dearest Matthew:
I am convinced that angels stood beside us as we recorded this piece. There is hope in this world. –Matthew Paez, tenor of the BYU Singers
bless our joy bless our tears bless our air bless our bread
till lights soar, loving angels instead
I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Las experiencias de los seres en la Luz nos ayudan a vivir con la esperanza de un reencuentro con los seres que amamos. Este caso es incluso poético y bello porque nos habla de amor.
Estaba allí, frente a ella, agotando los últimos momentos que me quedaban por verla, pronto partiría hacia un lugar desconocido para mí del que ella me hablaba con absoluta fe. Quería pensar que algún día volveríamos a encontrarnos, pero no podía estar seguro, por eso mi mirada no se apartaba de ella.
Someone’s wrong, bad, and guilty: This is the virus. If you ever feel any physical or emotional discomfort, this idea is the cause. Someone or something is bad. Some one or some thing is guilty. Some one. A being perceived a separate, while Beingness is One. This is the only sickness, the only problem. Isn’t it nice that you can only have one problem? That simplifies things nicely. Some thing. An aspect perceived as separate. Ego tells you that these separate aspects can threaten you or bring you joy. Believing these thoughts is the cause of all suffering.
When you believe one thought about some one or some thing being bad, wrong, or guilty, you begin to believe a lot more thoughts of the same nature. This explains the world that you are projecting with thought. As you realize that egoic thoughts aren’t true, the world loses its purpose as…
A personal note: For years I have heard my nonphysical friends giving me this advice, and I always thought “copybook” sounded quaint. I thought it was like a blue book for writing down exam responses. Only yesterday did I look it up.
A copybook is not a booklet for recording test answers. It is a booklet that already has everything in it for you. You simply trace over or copy what is already there. Each being has an effortless source of all they need to do right in front of them, and each being is given an effortless path to carry it out. Each being is entirely supported. It’s not a test, and it’s not a struggle.
It’s not that looking at Other Guy’s copybook is a wrongdoing; it’s that it confuses the hell out of you, every time. If you are peeking…
practice meditating, but imagine you observe your daily life on this earth from the moon
you might be far enough away
contemplate the natural world on this spinning ever-evolving blue white brown and green orb
nothing else is seen
then contemplate the clutter and trails of destruction of the manufactured beliefs that separate humanity from one another within this most magnificent home
these beliefs may seem real when we are close
but from afar they shed their form
perhaps they are all imagined
contemplate all of the trials you have ever held
begin with the ones that have provoked deep emotions
over time, with frequent returning to stillness, a wisdom will begin to arise
