(This was originally posted on the Universe of Power’s Discussion forum, in response to a member’s two part question: what about the overwhelming input we get from everything around us that getting what you want out of life is always hard, time-consuming and a struggle; and, why do any of us deserve to have happiness or prosperity when so many in the world are suffering from poverty, illness or war.)

It’s certainly true that we were raised and are now surrounded by messages about how hard everything is. I think this is based on the idea of an intact external reality moving along outside us like clockwork, a reality that doesn’t need us to exist, barely notices our existance and has no urge or tendency to provide us with what we need. That seems to be the “science” of the world view we’ve been living under. On the other hand there’s the traditional Christian view that most of us are exposed to in the western world (whether we are Christian or not our culture and social ideas are based on Christian beliefs) which says that there is a judgemental God, again external to us, who is intact, pre-existing and complete without us; a God we have to somehow please or cajole into providing something for us.

With this as our surroundings it’s no wonder everything seems so hard. How can our single psyche and our frail body make an impact on a huge pre-existant universe that has it’s reality so intact and complete that we are just a blip in the dark?

What quantum physics is telling us, though, is that reality isn’t that way. It’s personal. It’s US in a way that we never previously realized. We, our single individual selves, are elements in this larger dynamic design, elements with all the creative power, imagination and actuality of the whole. Thinking in this way makes the idea of “easy and possible” sound truer. If we are directly in touch with, and part of, the source of all reality, we then have our fingers on the inner controls that create worlds–or at least our world.

There is nothing fixed and external “out there” that we have to interact with in order to make things happen; there’s only personal experience–though of course this “personal” includes the consciousnesses of all particles and aspects of the universe.
But I think that the idea that there is something out there independent of the parts is what makes it seem so hard. We have to then beat on the boundaries that divide us from “it”, or somehow make an impact on it to get it to give forth with what we want. But there is no boundary. We are “it”. Everything is it. We are in touch with it all. Granted that together the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, but that’s not to say that there is a whole without the parts. We are the foundation of reality, each one of us. When we can see that, it makes a tremendous difference.

I think that what Eckhart or Byron Katie realize is that the external things just sort of happen naturally if we accept our own completeness and power. If we realize that we already are, already have, already own everything–that our Self is complete and magnificent just as it is– that knowing spawns a reality that reflects its own nature, in whatever individual way is appropriate.

For some it might be a reality full of external material things, for others social engagements, for others artistic creations, for others philosophical advances. The variety is endless. But it’s being created the other way round from what we usually think happens: we become aware of our Completeness and then can easily and effortlessly express it. Usually we think of ourselves as INcomplete, and that we need to acquire things, experiences, designations in order to fill the hole we perceive to be our core. When that is our approach, of course it’s going to be a difficult, hard, demanding, lengthy process. Because nothing can fill a hole that is a perception and not a reality.

As far as worthiness– I understand completely the distress you feel contemplating your friend in the wheelchair, the people in war torn countries, the starving and the ill. However… It’s never a question of worthiness, for anyone. We are all worthy. All of us. No matter what our situation or condition. You no less than anyone else.

This goes with the notion of our being a significant element in the Wholeness that is reality. How could any part not be worthy, if the whole is worthy? That would be like saying that your arm didn’t deserve nutrition, though you would feed the body. We are all One. That means you too. How you express your part of the Divine Oneness is up to you. Perhaps it will be in a way that directly benefits others, but even if it’s not, it benefits the whole in terms of expanding the limits of what is possible.

Personally, I believe that we focus on the wealth, money, material aspect of this new way of thinking in order to practice. It’s so obvious when you create more money or a new car. But then once you have convinced yourself of the power of your own being, you naturally move on to other more creative ways of expressing, which can’t help but be of benefit to the whole.

There’s also the “inspirational” factor too. If you think of people who have inspired you the most, I think you’ll find that they are people who have transcended their beginnings, gone beyond what would have been thought possible. They didn’t hold back from doing what they are doing because it “might not be fair”; they went with it. Eckhart himself for example. When he had his transformational experience, he didn’t say “well who am I to be enlightened or teach people or write about reality? I’m just a guy with a pretty good life already, compared to the starving millions.” No, his experience was that he saw himself for who he was and he went for it. It’s an odd combination of total humility and total exaltation.

We all deserve that. The more of us go for it, the more possible it becomes for everyone. Like the hundredth monkey.