How difficult it is for one who is rich!
Dear friend, perhaps you have heard the above words before. They are words believed to come from Yeshua, son of Joseph, a great teacher who wandered the towns and villages of the Middle East about 2000 years ago. You might know him better as Jesus. I am not making any judgments now about who that person is or was. I am merely repeating a remarkable teaching that this man is recorded as saying: "How difficult it is for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven!" He is also known to have said, "The kingdom of heaven is within you."
If this man had not uttered another word or thought, these two simple sentences would have been enough. They are enough to show you and I where the door to freedom is. Inside of you and I, in our minds, in our very brain, is the capacity to be free: freedom from all lies, freedom from suffering, freedom from fear, indeed freedom from all thoughts. Yeshua called it the kingdom of heaven; terms culturally understood 2000 years ago, in an age of Empires, slavery and dominance. Yeshua was speaking to a people chained by their own fears, anxieties and desires and as well by the Roman occupation. I offer this same kingdom of peace that he was speaking of, to you now as the same Pure Silence. That which is within you at all times. That which is gentle, loving, understanding, orderly and filled with tranquility itself: the awareness of your own True Self, in silence, which is unfettered and fully free.
The difficulty of seeing that Self, that goodness that you are in the Pure Silence of this moment now lies in a simple fact. Your riches are in the way. In other words, all that around you which you think is you, which you cling to as being necessary to maintain your idea of you, stands in your way of freedom. These riches are many. They include both physical and mental forms. To allow the silence of this moment to be and to meet who you are, to find this kingdom of heaven, you must see this now. You must let go of everything and become completely and psychologically naked, at least for one split second. Here is where you will find that freedom. Here is where you will find your refuge. Please follow me for a second. I have devised a sort of poetic chant to make it easy for you to see this:
You are not your money, capital gains or securities.
You are not your house, car or possessions.
You are not your job, position or salary.
You are not your intelligence, contributions or lack thereof.
You are not your prestige, power or authority.
You are not your memory, dreams or desires.
You are not your sexual preferences, lovemaking skills or fetishes.
You are not your talents, gifts or accomplishments.
You are not your name, address or phone number.
You are not your age, gender or race.
You are not your ego, past and future.
You are not your thoughts, thought or to be thought.
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You are this naked moment of surrender to the Pure Silence, which is within you, around you and beyond you.
You are the kingdom of heaven, right here, right now.
Welcome to your Self.
From your own Self with much love.