Issue link: https://imageup.uberflip.com/i/1030988
| SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | OCTOBER 2018 | 35 Finding God is not about perfecting yourself. ~ Gina It may seem to be about perfecting yourself at first; we are trying to become a spiritually perfect being in the eyes of God. But God does not judge, does not see imperfection, does not care about so-called imperfection. Well then, what does God care about? Remember, God is not 'out there' somewhere in the sky, but inside, integral to our very being. In fact, God IS our being. God IS Being. God is only ONE Being. And God, the Self, is of the nature of Pure Love, of Freedom, of INNOCENCE. I am borrowing this word from Adyashanti and Mooji. They both use it to describe a mind that has retreated back to a state of innocence, which is now allowing Essential Nature to dominate, not the calculating, strategic mind filled with ideas of "How to…." Mind is great for this world and any number of achievements, but it has very little to do with Spiritual Liberation, although it may think so at first… There is one incident that I recall that says it all. Many years ago, at work, the mind was giving trouble. Its incessant refrain was: "You're not good enough." You just reacted to this person yet again… how in the heck do you think you will get enlightened! From deep within came a soft, velvety understanding that my being translated into words: "You are fine the way you are… you are fine the way you are…" This came as a surprise. How could that be? I had been shaming myself with all the imperfections I saw in my being. One thing I didn't see was that all of these imperfections were of the nature of imagination SUPERIMPOSED on my Being – they were NOT my Being. We hold ourselves back by misidentifying with a string of concepts and conditionings that we think define us. Nothing defines us! This is the truest statement I can ever make and it was determined directly from my own experience. Finding God means becoming very NEUTRAL, not subscribing to any notion about anything with reference to yourself or anyone else. You are perfect as you are. Everyone else is perfect as they are. You hold your allegiance to Spirit and little by little, by God's Grace, you move from ideas about being someone defined to being no one and Infinite. When you are in harmony with all the seeming discordant parts of your being, then you are in harmony with God, and those perfections you seek will naturally be present, will naturally appear. SATSANG (GROUP MEETING WITH A SPIRITUAL AIM) begins with a 30 min. meditation (15 min., if new people are present) followed by a discourse and a short video presentation offered by a teacher adhering to the teaching of Non-Duality. As always questions are warmly encouraged. We meet in the Main Clubhouse Multipurpose Room on Sundays from 11:30 am to 1 pm. This is a FREE offering. My background includes 29 years of formal spiritual practice under the guidance of two masters and nine years of teaching (seven at Sun Lakes). You need not bring anything except an Open Mind. My name is Gina and I can be reached at gina- sat@msn.com or 846-1220 if you have further questions. Meditation: a pathway to truth