The Living Bridge

If we think about it, we really do live in a world of “optical illusions” and in the widening prevalence of “virtual” exchange and communication it is becoming the basis of how we interact with one another and our world. The manipulation of perspective in art, architecture or gardens is sometimes called trompe-l’œil (deceive the eye) when designed to evoke something more beautiful or expansive. Even our physical eyes have their “blind spot” (punctum caecum) of which we’re normally quite unaware because our mind “fills in” the missing area of vision. We rely on this inherent, creative power of the mind for connection, completion and wholeness, as it constantly constructs appearances, meaning, and significance – all based on partial glimpses of the whole it believes it is seeing.

Our world, which we may experience as relatively solid, predictable and unchanging, is in effect an ephemeral creation of our own point of view which has become so habitual and familiar that we may cease to be open to what more there may be. The compass of this view of life can revolve around the survival and comfort of the individual whose world view is created through its own unique small lens. But it soon finds itself in conflict with the world view of other individual, habitual survival views until the heart expands out to understand another’s perspective and love streams forth to bridge the divide and create something greater than the separate ends of the connecting span – a bridge across which a way, a path, is created for others to likewise know, understand and extend their sense of being beyond previous limitations.

With so many individuals being born into the world (see: http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/) opportunities are rapidly multiplying for expanding understanding and broadening our experience of the world. The increased number of interactions are highlighting what appear to be conflicting views, and so are creating the tension needed to resolve them into an expanded, more inclusive understanding of our world. Some of these conflicting views are obvious and some are more covert where opposing self-interests may subtly permeate situations and distort appearances. Yet the tension is building, and much that was hidden in the past, through sleight of hand, verbal spin and false presentation, is now rising to the surface to be seen within a greater context of truth and of values that are becoming human-wide.

Old unresolved issues are constantly coming to light – are being raised above the dark and murky waters of counter-claim and corruption in which they’ve been hidden. An increasing number of people are demanding these hidden issues be brought into the light of day, into that clear, cold light of a more essential, pervasive and inherent sense of truth where all eyes can see. And the most powerful effect of this may not be the redress of the identified wrongs so much as that we are learning to truly SEE. Human consciousness is becoming enlightened – it is seeing through to the soul of things, that which irradiates and enlivens rather than contains and separates.

With these newly opened eyes we can see through the surface spin of self-interest and penetrate to the human needs and hidden beauty which extend beyond parochial or national borders. Any issue experienced by any one human being becomes a world issue. And anything experienced by any part of the natural world – mineral, plant or animal – is an issue of global relevance. We are learning that each and every atom is of deep, intrinsic value for the Great Life in Which it lives and moves and has its being because it is an essential part of the bridge of light and life which connects it with every other atom. Through these connections the One Life flows, greater than all, yet requiring each and every part to complete the system of life-sharing which sustains it in all its manifest and interconnected parts.

The virtual and ephemeral nature of our experience of the world can either clarify or deceive, connect or disconnect, depending on the scope of our vision and understanding, and how commensurate that is with the whole of the greater Life. Computer games, special effects and 3D imaging arise through the human mind’s creative power – sparked by our imagination which is limitless if we are open to what more there may be. (e.g. see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4JQGar8I08) Our creative mind has the capacity to put us in touch with every part of our world, with the universe of which it is a part, and with any of the subtle realms that substand their outer appearance. We have the ability to probe through the material layers and tap the mind of God from which inspiration and intuitive ideas flow.

Wonders manifest when the living bridge connects through the dimensions and brings forth appearances that more truly reflect the subtle, deeply interconnected and shared source of our being. And our expanding, reach takes us to those realms where it may be perceived. Our minds and hearts are clarifying and refining, are beginning to resonate and respond, and to apprehend what is truly intended for our Earth. We begin to sense the reality of our oneness which is ever present all around us – if our eyes are tuned to see and our ears to hear.

The world to us is as we perceive it. The kingdom of Souls is already present to the degree that we are aware of it, experience it and live it into our reality. This is the “reappearance”, the appearance of the true human potential radiating through incarnated form. As we see through past limitations, so we come to see what is ever gloriously present everywhere, behind all outer seeming and flickering reflections. Just imagine how the world appears when one sees the light of the soul in all things and knows oneself to be at one with its solar essence and that which gives it being!

The ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ is a condition of the heart – not something that comes ‘upon the earth’ or ‘after death’….The ‘kingdom of God is not something one waits for; it has no yesterday or tomorrow; it does not come ‘in a thousand years’ – it is an experience within a heart; it is everywhere; it is nowhere.”
Friedrich Nietzsche Twilight of the Idols and the Antichrist (trans RJ Hollingdale) Penguin 1968 p147

Having refined our hearts to resonate with the Kingdom of Heaven, its light then reflects through into the outer dimensions even if not immediately apparent to those yet blinkered by convention. The Master Jesus stood silent before Pilate and the false questioning of the establishment. He had challenged them by the breadth of his loving understanding and it took time for it to inspire human hearts to flower in the light of His presence in the world. The Buddha demonstrated the noble middle path which avoided the detours of partisan attachment and steered towards that which is universally true. Their notes have sounded together through time and, resonating with the music of grace, have opened our eyes and ears to the song of the Heart through which we realise the Kingdom.

Each one of us in our own place and time is part of a great symphony of light and life and is an essential note in the fabric of that mighty sound. We know that each separate note in isolation has a sound of its own. But when two or more notes are sounded in sequence and rhythm music is created. It emerges from between them where the vibrations mingle harmoniously. They contribute to it but are not it – because it does not express when they are sounded separately. Just so, two words in isolation each may have a degree of intrinsic meaning but they create something more when connected in sequence and rhythm.

And, at the same time, it is not until things have been separated that they can then be brought together to create a greater beauty and significance through their interrelationship. Some of the most inspiring poets connect words to express what sings beyond words, some musicians relate notes to bring us something of the great music of the spheres. They have found the relationship that is so evocative that it opens up new vistas for all.

As we approach the commemoration of ANZAC Day we remember afresh the sacrifice of earthly life which has brought individuals and nations through conflict and across the bridge into brotherhood. And as our heart turns to them, we enter the rarefied presence of the souls who served to bring us to this finer point of connection, completion and wholeness.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of –Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

~ High Flight by John Gillespie Magee Jr, Spitfire pilot and poet, died 1941 aged 19.