Flow Is All There Is
Someone emailed me with a list of questions about Flow and the role of government in life. I responded generally and then with specific answers to their questions:
I will say a bit to start with. But please know that the answers are not as important as any direct sense you may gain of the bigger presence that is holding you and everything else in its loving embrace.
Everything is a part of and an expression of Flow or divine intelligence, and yes some things are more complete expressions and other things are less complete expressions. And the divine intelligence is so good at what it does, that it also allows parts of itself to have an experience of free will. This free will means that we can sometimes make choices that are against the flow. However, the flow is so good at what it does that it can easily adjust and create a new flow that still achieves the intended outcome. So at the level of human experience, there is a kind of dance going on between our individual will and the will of God or Being. Since consciousness itself cannot be harmed, Being enjoys this dynamic play.
It is profoundly different when we become aware of the flow and start to use our individual will to make choices in alignment with the flow. It is like the difference between paddling upstream on a very fast moving river, and turning and paddling downstream. In both cases, we are likely to end up at the same place, but the experience of paddling downstream is going to be much more pleasurable and involve much less effort.
So it matters whether we can discriminate the Flow of Being or not, but it also does not matter that much. Even if we appear to make a mistake or struggle unnecessarily, we still end up in the same place eventually!
Q- I have three groups of questions. First, I would like to ask about characteristics of the Flow. Is the heart of the Flow located in the heart of humans or is it an outside force that people must awaken and connect to?
A-Flow is located both inside and outside of us. In fact that is what we are made of. And yes you can become more aware of it and therefore make choices more in alignment with it.
Q- Are humans responsible for taking care of the Flow and guiding it to where it is intended to go?
A-It is more correct to say that Flow is responsible for us and is guiding us where we need to go!
Q- Is one of the purposes of the Flow to pull people forward, that is, to help them grow and mature to be the best they can be and be the most they can be? Put another way, is the Flow about reaching a maximum or is its priority a minimum, a least level possible?
A-There is an inherent optimizing quality to life and Flow. But it is in no hurry since it is eternal and so is actually glad for all of the distractions and detours. Its overall direction is towards a greater and greater recognition of and also expression of its limitless potential.
Q- How big a part does government play in the Flow?
A-Government is just one of the many expressions of this dance between our egos and essence or Flow. So it sometimes plays a part in interfering with Flow and other times government plays a part in carrying forward the Flow.
Q- Who or what plays the biggest part in determining where the Flow goes?
A-Everything plays a part, and there is no greater value to any part of Being. Every expression of being is equally sacred and precious beyond measure. With all of these different expressions that are all playing a valuable part, it is then the combined intelligence of everything that exists that plays the biggest part.
Q-Can the Flow be likened to the current in the ocean?
A-The entire ocean is constantly in movement. That is a fundamental quality of all existence. And the Flow is this dynamic movement of all life and all existence. So the Flow is the currents, the waves, the fish, the atoms and molecules of water spinning and dancing around, and every movement of all existence.
Q- Like a powerful ocean current, will the Flow displace or go around somebody or something that tries to impede it or stop it?
A-Yes, it always eventually gets where it is going. But remember, everything that stops or impedes it is also part of the Flow! So maybe a better metaphor is that within the flow there are eddies that form and spin in place for a while, but eventually the bigger Flow swallows the eddy again and carries it along to the next moment's experience.
Q- Is the Flow flowing to a predetermined destination? I wonder if the Flow comes out of its Source and is going full circle back to where it came from.
A-That is one possibility. My sense is that it is going to try flowing everywhere and every way possible and so it may never really be done. As for it being predetermined, my sense is that it is so profoundly intelligent that it does not need a predetermined outcome. Instead it might be improvising like a jazz musician and making this all up as it goes along. But like a really good improvising musician, the results sound like a song that was planned all along.
Q-I would like to ask some general questions about government in the United States or in any country. Does Endless Satsang have a view of government and what its role in society is supposed to be?
A-I hold all viewpoints very lightly. We are here to try out all of the viewpoints and to eventually also try living without viewpoints altogether. So like the musician, we are discovering as we go what roles government, organized religion, and all other societal structures can play in our lives. There is no one right way, but endless possibilities to try out.
Q- If government goes too far in telling people how to live their lives, is that government going with the Flow or against it?
A-Strangely enough, sometimes it would be going with the Flow and sometimes it would be going against the Flow. Life is so complex and multi-dimensional, that there is no simple formula for the correct amount of government involvement in individual lives. The good news is that even the apparent mistakes we make through our governments are learned from and then incorporated into the Divine Intelligence of Being. Again the movements against the Flow are like an eddy in the river. It turns out that there is nothing really but the river, and so the eddy is just an appearance of something other than Flow that is actually made up of the Flow itself! And all of the experiences add to the richness and fullness of Being itself, even the difficult or misguided experiences.
Q- If some people have concluded that a government has grossly exceeded its boundaries, how does Endless Satsang recommend that people respond?
A-I would never presume to recommend any specific response. I would invite you to follow your own Heart. For much more info about how to follow your own Heart, you can download part 2 of Living from the Heart here
Q-Lastly, these two questions are about premeditated and random violence we read about and see on television. No one is asking to be attacked, molested, murdered or robbed on any given day, but, unfortunately, it is going to happen. I am curious to know the Endless Satsang view of this. How is premeditated and random violence interpreted or viewed in relation to the Flow?
A-Any act of random or premeditated violence by an adult person is an extreme "eddy" or misunderstanding of the deeper nature of life. And yet once it occurs, it becomes a part of life and is eventually learned from.
Q-Is premeditated or random violence part of the Flow or is it an aberration?
A-There are different levels to this question. At a certain level of evolution and spiritual development, violence is as natural as stormy weather. When a lion kills its prey, that is its true nature being expressed. And when a young child strikes his or her playmate, there is nothing wrong given their level of development, even if there is an opportunity to learn and grow from that experience. And yet, when there is greater awareness and intelligence such as in an adult human being, then there is an even greater opportunity to learn and grow, and to move beyond the need for violence. Even then, we do not need to see ourselves or another person acting violently as wrong or bad, to take the opportunity to evolve into a more appropriate and also more effective way of responding to situations. In this way, all aberrations are eventually incorporated back into the flow.
Here are two other blog posts that relate to your question:
Defending Yourself vs Acceptance
Q-Again, thank you for doing this.
A-My pleasure!
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