Spirit

For this website, Spirit means a conscious, intelligent, wise, unconditionally loving, formless, invulnerable, eternal, energy, which serves as the creator of all love and wisdom by the extension of itself, of which we are a part.

Reality

For this website, Reality is one thought system founded on Spirit as spirit is defined above. Reality is that which is eternal and cannot be changed. Reality is one thought system we can choose to accept to define the truth of who we are.

The temporal world is that which can be, and ultimately will be, destroyed.

A body living in a temporal world is a belief system we can choose to make about the truth of who we are.

Ego

For this website, Ego is a thought system based on vulnerability, lack, fear, and the possibility of death as a permanent end of life. It is a thought system that fears Spirit, since Spirit embodies the non-existence of the ego.

All pain, sorrow, fear, anger, frustration, disappointment, and all other experiences perceived to be negative in nature, come from the thought system of the ego.

Anytime we are experiencing anything other than complete peace and joy, we are living in the thought system of the ego.

Divine/Unconditional Love

For this website,
Unconditional Love (Divine Love) is:
Thought that is without condemnation,
founded on faith that is without doubt,
fueled by emotion that is without fear,
fused with kindness that is without boundary.

Misperceptions about unconditional love. People often think that if they love unconditionally it means that all consequences of someone’s behavior are not to be considered; that to love unconditionally is to become a door mat; that to love unconditionally means to have no boundaries for one’s self. All of these ideas are misperceptions of the concept of unconditional love.

If you are familiar with the Christian philosophy, then you may be aware of what Jesus said to the Pharisees who were trying to trap him by asking should Jews pay taxes to the Roman Government if God is their King. Jesus responded with: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's."

The same concept is true with regard to unconditional love. Someone once said to me that they would not want me on a jury for someone who had committed murder because they thought I would not vote to find him guilty and sentence him to life in prison since I believe in unconditional love.

I shared with the person that I can believe in unconditional love and still find someone guilty of murder and sentence him to life in prison. I believe that in the secular world, there are consequences to our actions, and that in the world of spirit, there are consequences to our actions; in the world of spirit, love begets love – a natural consequence of living the truth of who we are.

If someone is guilty of committing murder, then they are subject to the laws of the community in which they live, but I do not have to, nor should I, condemn the person; I just need to assess the facts and make a determination as to the legal consequences the facts dictate.

I can still believe that the core of the person is love, and I can hope that the consequences of his actions will ultimately bring him to a situation that will provide the perfect opportunity for him to awaken to the truth of who he is.

There are many cases to indicate that spiritual awakening can happen under the most extreme of circumstances. So, I can continue to love the person as a spiritual brother or sister without having that love interfere with the consequences this world places upon someone who breaks the law.

Now, if someone “wrongs” me in a way that does not require legal action – in other words, the person has not broken any laws of the land, then I may choose to forgive and relinquish all judgment, condemnation and consequences. That takes us to a different place, which becomes clearer in the definition of forgiveness below.

Fear

For this website, Fear is the absence of love, just as darkness is the absence of light. Fear is responsible for all our pain, sorrow, anger, and any other perceived negative experience in our lives. When we conquer our fears, all that is left for us to experience is peace, joy, love, and freedom!

Forgiveness

For this website, Forgiveness is not something we can do; forgiveness is the result of what we stop doing. When we stop condemning, forgiveness happens.

It is vital for us to realize, if we find ourselves in a position of needing or wanting to forgive, that we, first, must have condemned.

Condemnation is the founded on fear, and fear is foundation for all our pain.

It is futile to attempt to forgive while still condemning.

The way to stop condemning is to see the person or the situation differently.

The way to see things differently is to adopt a belief system that has no fear.

If we choose to believe that all things – ALL THINGS – work together for our spiritual well-being; if we choose to believe that all experiences – ALL EXPERIENCES - provide us the opportunity to awaken to the truth of who we are which will then allow us to live the peace and the joy and the love and the freedom that we are, then we will not condemn, we will feel tremendous gratitude for the person or the situation that brought to our awareness that we have a fear to conquer.

And if we do not condemn, we do not need forgiveness, for there is nothing to forgive.

Understanding and choosing to incorporate these terms, their definitions, and the belief system of which they are a part, will serve you well in your search for peace, joy, love, and freedom.