 In recent years, a tumultuous period of change in my personal life slowly led to a profound shift in consciousness.* I came to understand what unconditional love really means. I began to live from that cosmology, and see how it can transform our lives. And I still feel like a butterfly which has emerged from a dark cocoon, fluttering my brightly coloured wings in a warm summer garden.
Our cosmology is the foundation stone of our lives personally and globally. It shapes our personal relationships, our mental and physical health, and our sociopolitical systems. In Life is a Gift, I explore three worldviews which govern our lives: namely that life is a trial, life is an accident, or life is a gift. I've been battling with these inner cosmologies for decades and seeing them mirrored in other people while aiming to live from the only cosmology which supports our health and well-being, loving relationships and world peace, which is seeing life as a gift.
Love vs judgment
When you see life as a trial a view promoted by patriarchal religion and much New Age philosophy you believe that the purpose of life is to perfect' yourself. That you are here to prove yourself worthy (often through self-sacrifice), to learn lessons and to grow. And if something bad happens, you're being tested, have bad karma or somehow messed up' as a reality-creator. The underlying message is that there is something wrong with you (or the world) that needs to be fixed. This cosmology is based upon judgment, or conditional love. It means that your priority becomes being good and perfect in the eyes of others. Or expecting others to be good in your eyes. You develop an inner critic who keeps you (and others) in check. You are vulnerable to workaholism, codependency and other addictions. You feel guilt-ridden or insecure or at best, self-righteous and inner peace is almost impossible.
My training as a clinical psychologist encouraged me to focus on what is bad or wrong' faulty dynamics, personal issues and traumas, or dysfunctional systems and to seek growth and change. In other words, to see life as a trial. But while we blame, criticise or point a finger at what we see as wrong or inadequate however well-intentioned we are we are stuck in judgment. We're at the same level of consciousness as those who invade countries and drop bombs, who invariably see themselves as in the right'. We are not seeing through the eyes of Love.
Make your heart sing
When your cosmology reflects a Universe based upon unconditional love when you see life as a gift it is a powerful tool for liberation. It beckons you through a sunlit gateway into a new and expansive world. You deeply know that your goodness and worthiness are never in question, and that this is a planet of free will. This means there are no right or wrong choices. And that the purpose of life is not growth or even world service but joy. Then you choose whatever makes your heart sing and spirit dance.
I believe that this age of awakening is primarily about shifting towards unconditional love. This means reclaiming our power and responsibility as co-creators. It means realising that your happiness and inner peace never depend upon what happens out there' since that is conditional love. You have to change how you feel from the inside out. Once you really get' this, you are much nicer to be around. You are more loving, appreciative, inspiring and joyful. You see solutions rather than problems. You think like the Universe. Then what happens out there' changes. What is more, you naturally make a loving contribution to the planet.
Life is an eternal journey
Seeing life as a gift also means knowing that the Universe/God is forever evolving. Life is an eternal journey, so we can never reach our destination. The world will never be perfect, or it would become a stagnant pond. We will always have new dreams to reach for, and fresh challenges to face. And that is perfect in itself. Contrasting experiences are essential in an evolving Universe even when they seem dark and troubling and are helping us to fulfil our personal and global dreams. In a loving Universe, everything is always unfolding perfectly.
Earlier this year, I was sitting at the foot of Mount Sinai where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments in a state of incredible joy and bliss, when I heard an inner voice speak: Two thousand years ago, Jesus came with a message of unconditional love but few were ready to hear it. Humanity is now ready to receive that message. As a wayshower for this new era, you will now be offered Ten Invitations to humanity as an alternative to the Ten Commandments invitations based upon a spirituality of unconditional love, which restores the divine feminine. This period marks the dawning of a new heaven and a new earth.'** Afterwards I was in such rapture that I felt like an angelic being. As I returned home to the Lake District with the Ten Invitations, that extraordinary joy stayed with me, along with a thrilling sense of anticipation for what lies ahead for me, for you and for our world.
© Gill Edwards 2007
*See my book Wild Love, published in 2006 by Piatkus.
** The Ten Invitations are in my latest book, Life is a Gift, published in 2007 by Piatkus.
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