I look around and see the “spiritual” people in doubt and fear, anxious and depressed. Not to mention those who have not yet begun or are new to the journey. How can this be? Perhaps we need a context in which to view external events and a larger context in which we can hold our personal life events. We need the “BIG PICTURE.”

The goal of any spiritual practice is the Realization of Oneness. This means the end of the duality: the gulf we feel between the human mind (self) and the Mind of God (Self). We express this in many different ways: the way it ought to be vs. the way it is; theory vs. practice; ideally vs. really; them vs. us; heaven vs. Earth. Spiritually we seek to close that gap. That’s what following a spiritual path is about: living heaven on Earth.

Practices like yoga, meditation, and positive thinking are means to that end: Self-realization, Self being the God of each of us Realized - made Real within our own consciousness. In my writing, I discern the difference by employing small letters for the earthly, human mind and Capital Letters for the Diving Mind: i.e. real, Real; self, Self; love, Love, so accepted as reality is the illusion of duality.

It is because of our belief in this duality that we forget that we are not alone, not humanoids adrift on planet Earth. Rather, we are part of the Universe, the Cosmic Forces, Nature and Evolution.

Look up into the skies. You see the vast blue, or the clouds, or the night skies. There is Life going on, physics if you will. The sun rises every day on schedule. The moon pulls and tugs at the tides of our earth. There are myriad Life events happening in the Universe all the time. This same Life operates here on Earth, as well as in each of us. All this Life is interconnected and One. What goes on “out there” affects what goes on “down here” and “in here.” And vice versa.

So whilst each of us struggles, thrives, fails, then tries again in our individual and unique spiritual journeys and ordinary lives, known or perhaps unbeknownst to us, we are being aided and assisted by the larger Universal Life that is eternally pulsing on duty 24/7. We are not disconnected, left out or forgotten from All Life; rather, we are part and parcel of these larger events as well.

One of the things I noticed when I lived in a State Park was that visitors coming to the park seemed disconnected from Nature. They would proceed to hike the trails without water, a map, a hat, or a jacket. These same people would often become the object of a search when they could not find their way out and found themselves at the mercies of the elements. Without their connection to Nature, they had no picture or feeling for what was down that trail: cougars, rattlesnakes, sink holes, drastic temperature changes. My point here is to simply note that modern, Western man has experienced a great “gap,” a duality, and an acute sense of separation/disconnect from Nature. We live in our minds, intellect and reason, rather than from the Innate, our Source at our center.

The truth is, however, that we are a part of all Life and all Nature. Man is a species just as the cougar and the snake. We, too, are subject to evolution. Just as other species on the planet go extinct as a part of the Natural Cycle of Life, other new species come into view. This Life is eternal and infinite. There are plenty more (infinitely more) to come from where that came from; and there are plenty that will return to whence they came from (eternity). It’s all perfectly worked out, no mistakes. Death and rebirth are inherent in the life cycle of the planet as seen in the seasons just as this same theme plays out eternally in the course of a human life.

Humans are part and parcel of Life, God, the Universal Design. I like to say that we are also in the Eternal Tractor Beam which is inexorably pulling us – earth, humans, consciousness – ever Upward, ever Homeward, ever Expanding. There is the Big Plan. It is a very loose plan with lots of room for loop–de-loops and even reversals (retrograde), but since time is, well, eternal…it requires us to take huge giant steps back in order to get even a glimpse of the perspective required. This perspective is one of perfection. There is nothing wrong. We have never been out of the Tractor Beam. We are always being pulled Upward and Homeward no matter what the daily or momentary appearances might be. We are included in the One, always and in all ways. As the day turns to night, as spring moves into fall, as the seeds turn to fruits and flowers, as the compost turns to humus, we are completely in the Natural Flow of Life. It is Perfect. It is Complete. It is Replete…despite appearances perceived by human mind and intellect. All is perfectly well.

This Tractor Beam has us always in tow, also assists us in our daily spiritual practices on an individual level, of course, but is always affecting everything and everybody on a larger scale. There is, in fact, the Evolution of Planet Earth: the Plan. And as in every “business plan.” there are scheduled events to bring the project to its benchmark goals one by one. In other words, we have lots of help and support. There are beings that are channeling information to us: Abraham (www.abraham-hicks.com), the Kryon (www.kryon.com); Solara (www.nvisible.com). These energies inform us of the activities of the Universe as they relate to us here on Earth. It is important to take the information and apply it to your everyday life, for these Cosmic Energies are impacting our earthly activities. Most important, though, is to remember there is way more happening in the process of getting that job, improving your financial situation or finding your mate. Earth is being raised up to Light and Life. Anything that does not serve that - ideas, situations, beliefs, jobs, people, and attitudes - will go away. And clinging to any of those will make your personal process (and our collective process) much bumpier.

This “help” has been personalized in all cultures as angels, guides, menahunes, elves, faeries, hosts, masters, etc. They have been given “human” concepts for us to get our wee minds around. However, they are Energies. They are Cosmic, Universal Energies that are a part of Us, as well as seeing to it that the sun comes up tomorrow. And they are part and parcel of this BIG PLAN to raise planet Earth consciousness out of the loneliness of duality. We are in that Tractor Beam; these Energies are the Travel Stewards. It has only ever been the belief in duality that has made it seem so bleak, personally and collectively.

Looking back over the past 40 years (which has got to be nothing but a nanosecond in eternality), we can see lots of consciousness progress. In just these last 40 years an up-stepping of consciousness (congruent with the up-stepping Energies) can be witnessed in the advancement of civil rights, women’s issues, and now gay issues. There is a coming home to the idea of stewardship of planet earth. There are vast numbers now who practice “spirituality” rather than a religion. Physics and spirituality are literally merging. The Dow Jones Average in 1960 was below $1000. Today the Dow is flirting with $14,000. And within recent months, there is a grass roots awakening happening right here in America. People are reclaiming their own power. There is an expansion of Energy on the planet more than ever before, but you must be looking in that direction to see it.

We each steadfastly soldier on to “awaken” and live our “purpose.” It is easy to see how we loose faith, get depressed, wonder indeed if we are nuts pursuing this spiritually-driven existence sometimes at the price of everything else. Yet, I know, indeed you do too, that we have no real choice in the matter. The core of us is Truth, Love, Beauty and Life (Energy). Our very essence is that of Up-lifters and teachers. That is why we persevere. Indeed, it is our Intention – our purpose – to express this Truth, Love, Beauty and Life.

But we can get so caught up in thinking that there is something to fix here on planet Earth, making this “spirituality” a cause, thus taking it all much too seriously. I would like to suggest that we would get where we want to go faster if we would but, Lighten Up. In Truth, there is nothing at all to fix. It is NOT broken. We are in the Tractor Beam, know it or not. We cannot be lost.

Let me ask you a question. Does it serve you to be in the muck with everyone else? Does it serve the “cause” of Life to have the Light Beings dispirited and sad? Does it serve the cause of peace for the Light Beings to be angry?
But we look out into the world and see this wrong-headed thought, that war, those politics, this injustice, that horror. “They” are spinning the next worst thing, then that thing. But we are paying attention there! We are stepping out of our Well Being and into their darkness: doubt, fear and uncertainty. In fact, now we are helping them to create THAT reality. My mother used to say, “Don’t sink to someone else’s level; raise them up to yours.” Sometimes we fight so hard against something we hate, we become that very thing; but worse, oh so much worse, is that our own creations are left un-attended.

Attended, applied attention – applied focus – applied energy – applied spirituality. Where are you applying your spirit? Where are you applying your focus? For where you are focused is what you are creating or helping to create.

This is a planet of great and infinite diversity – a veritable buffet of the infinite needs, wants, desires, ideas, and ideologies. It all gets to be here. That’s what makes it so fun and, by the way, America is the Great Experiment in Democracy.

Let’s stay with the buffet idea for a moment to give you a more benign image. You go to a Buffet and there laden on endless miles of tables are acres of dishes. There’s a two-mile-long table just for pastas, and a ten-mile-long table for chocolate desserts. On these tables are infinite recipes prepared for you from which you get to choose. Beef succotash, steak tartar, liver (ugh), sushi, fish eyes… get the picture? Which do you choose? You choose the ones that please you, of course. The ones that you – oh dear - en-Joy. You aren’t saying, “Heap my plate with that fish-eye or liver stuff, please.” We choose from Self what we prefer, we choose from Self what we ought to and should; but always we choose. This freedom to choose is our single most powerful point of free will, self-mastery and power. So who is choosing when we make a “cause” out of war and neglect our mission of joy? If you’re choosing the fish eyes dish and not the chocolate, Self is definitely doing the choosing for You.

Your Self knows nothing of fear. It came to play in the physical. We came to create with a body equipped with five physical senses and our sixth sense, our emotions. We stood in long lines at the Cosmic Travel Agency to get to come to planet Earth. Where else could we enjoy the physicality? Where else could we have our ideas, then thought forms, then make them manifest into a physical reality? How utterly cool is that? Where else could we delight in the physics of the creation process but here?

I can imagine us all huddled about the travel brochures. “OHHH, look, we could go the Pleiades! Oh, OH hold on, look here! EARTH!” “I want a body!” “I wonder what sunlight FEELS like.” “I want to taste food!” “I want to make love with a body whilst feeling Love!” “Oh, but look here,” thinks one being to the others, “it says here in the small print:

You will only enjoy the experience of earth if you Remember Who You Really Are: Source having a physical experience. There are no guarantees or warrantees that you will Awaken; so it is strongly recommended that you follow your feelings of joy to have a good experience on Earth.”

Not one of us thought, “Let’s go down there and fix that place. It’s a mess.” You know why? Because we knew we would make a difference just by being Pure Love (realizing our own Oneness). By moving so completely in Connection with Source (following our own bliss), we dazzle others to follow. We knew we could. We never once thought we should come to change it. The motive was for the pure Joy and Delight of creating…anything we wanted. We also knew that like the Etch-A-Sketch, if we didn’t like it, we could rip the page up, erase what we’d created, and create anew. We could choose again and again and again…

Have you seen the movie Hook? It’s about Peter Pan, all grown up with children and now named Peter Banning. He has forgotten Who He Really Is. His children get kidnapped by Captain Hook, and Banning has to go back to Neverland to rescue his two children (oddly enough a boy and a girl). At the very end after he has remembered, he is leaving the Lost Boys and returning to his “real life.” The littlest Lost Boy says to Peter with shining eyes, “That was a great game!” Think of this as the greatest Game going on anywhere.

When we each – individually – are blended with Source, in the Zone, doing what we love and are delighted in the doing, we are adding those thought forms to the planet. When we are focused on “others” and what “they” are up to, sadly, we are adding to those thought forms. So every time we look at ‘them’ and think how bad they are, how wrong-headed “they” are. how sick “they” are, we are adding to “their” strength and giving their thought forms more matter, more substance and ultimately more manifestations. It’s tantamount to giving arms to the enemy. When we participate in “their” workshops, it becomes the Dark Ages. When we make a cause out of fixing something, it is Light Worker folly.

There’s a Grimm’s Fairy Tale, “The Pied Piper of Hamlin.” Link The Piper knows how to create a tune that will summon the rats, and then the children, and they follow. The story makes sense when you see that the pipe is a musical instrument – an instrument of vibrations – which is who we are: more vibration than flesh. We are more effectively creating when our vibrational countenance is humming with our joys and delights. We are to be Pied Pipers. When we are busy creating vibrations so beautiful, or fun or joyful that everyone wants in on it, because it makes US happy first, then we are living out our purpose – our intention for joyous existence.

Let’s look at someone in his Joy. One that comes to mind is the main character in the movie Tincup. Kevin Costner plays a down-and-out golfer who has great talent (hint), but doesn’t apply it (hint, hint). Boy meets girl, Rene Russo, and he wants (hint) to impress. He REALLY WANTS (hint, hint) her. So he begins to marshal his focus (hint) and gets qualified for the US Open Tournament. The ending scenes where he take 6 or 7 strokes to get over the water is the quintessential example of focus, reattempting focus, alignment with Self, reattempting alignment with Self, and then, at last, he’s in the Zone. He casts off all human concern (human mind) for winning or losing the tournament, and goes for it - It being his Oneness with Self. He knows he can do that shot. Not only does he make it over the water trap; he sinks it. It is an immortal moment on planet Earth. He has joined with Self and knows no limitation. He achieves Heaven on Earth and the crowd is ecstatic with him in his slipstream of Source energy. This is it. This is how it might look to be a Pied Piper.

This is what we want to be focused on: what gives us the most joy. It may be in stock trading, but it would be following the trail of the next wonderful idea in which to invest. It might be the environment, and our focus would be all about en-JOYing it and sharing the wonders of it. It might be organics and it would be all about the absolute wonder of growing delicious foods and how fun it is to get to taste the Life in them.

It is always all about your own internal state, your internal vibrational countenance and staying selfishly focused in your Oneness and focusing that Source that is You on what is joyful to you. Now that, folks, is heaven on Earth and mightily Attractive.

Try it. Get busy creating your joy. Individually, then together, we can create such a slipstream of joyous thought forms and creations that, like the Pied Piper, the World will follow us, because it will FEEL like Home. Let’s offer Joy and Delight and all the good stuff now. Let’s remember we’re always in the Tractor Beam and be the Pied Pipers of Life we imagined we would be. We have plenty of help. We have nothing to fear and nothing to worry about. Oh, and we are loved beyond measure. Really!

Kathy Kirk was raised in Ohio and PA and now resides in San Diego. She has a BS degree in hotel and restaurant management from Cornell University in Business. She has authored one book, Well Done, available by request. Her website is www.appliedspirituality.com. Her blog, A New View, is www.appliedspirituality.blogspot.com . She can be reached at appliedspirituality@gmail.com or 619-445-0972.