by Barry Kerr and Kristine Gay

In everyone, there is a mystic who is longing to return to the essence and oneness of divine, unconditional love, or to put it in religious terms, come home to God. Some people experience temporary moments of such bliss. Some maintain it day to day. Some only feel the longing, not realizing the actual experience. And then there are those who deny even feeling the longing or dismiss it as a mere biological phenomenon.

Entire religions have been built around this longing, offering doctrines of belief, rules of behavior, and devotional practices to ensure one attains eternal peace. Yet, even though millions of people have submitted to such religious authority over millennia, experiences of mystical transcendence and conscious unification with spirit have been fleeting for most. Many have an awakening, followed by occasional moments of holy presence. Yet, it seems only a small minority of humans have gained the ability to incorporate this transcendent reality into their daily, moment-to-moment existence. Some consider them saints, gurus and mystic heroes.

Why is this? Why so difficult? In this physical world of time and space, we are overwhelmed with illusions of separateness: from each other, from spirit, from our own soul. This creates fear in us, and it is the fear that turns into greed, prejudice, hate, war, jealousy, envy, etc. We forget that this world is an illusion, and that death is an illusion. When we can remember that, then we can begin to access our goodness, our compassion, our generosity and our unconditional love and bring it to the forefront of our daily life perceptions and choices. It is by doing so that we create inner peace and joy and increasingly experience ourselves as spiritual beings, souls, unified as one with each other and with all that is.

When one studies the history of religions and the experiences of mystics, a few common beliefs emerge that have played a powerful role in suppressing humanity’s spiritual progress.

• Believing that the divine (God) is out there somewhere, above us, apart from us or different than us directs our attention away from the most easily accessible avenue to it: within ourselves. This creates the ultimate illusion of separation in this physical world of illusions, and thus magnifies our fears of judgment and abandonment. Death becomes a fearful threat instead of the loving passage from one divine existence to another.
• Believing that we are dependent on outer authorities to determine our relationship with the divine disempowers us from using our inherent and innate abilities to establish our own relationship with the divine. Such beliefs have worked pretty well for those who’ve wanted to manipulate and control us through shame, guilt and fear.
• Believing we are inherently evil sinners or being punished by bad karma generally blocks our ability to embrace our internal expression of divine essence, as if we are unworthy. In truth, we are all inherently good. We are love. We are the divine. We are part of God, the creator, or whatever term works for you.

Getting past these old beliefs is not as easy as it sounds. We hold our beliefs at many levels of our being, not just mentally. That is why so many people who think they are beyond these limiting ideas still struggle to find real, ongoing joy in their lives. It requires healing or releasing of deep emotional patterns and energies. Historically, few have had access to teachers and tools to do this. Instead, most people have turned to alcohol, drugs, dogmas and other addictions that substitute for real spiritual joy or repress the pain of the longing.

Fortunately, we live in a time of freedom, when masses of people have learned to heal and grow in self-empowered ways and can teach others to do the same. It’s become a worldwide phenomenon. Many psychotherapists have joined with energy healers, astrologers, yogis, transformational coaches and others in offering services to those who are ready to learn, heal and grow. It’s what we are all here to do. It’s what we’ve always been longing for, even when we didn’t know it. Mystical union with the divine while still in human form is not only real; it’s our destiny. We need only let go of the illusions. Are you ready?

Barry Kerr, an evolutionary astrologer and certified life and relationship coach, and Kristine Gay, a licensed psychotherapist, own Choose Conscious Living in Madison. Both have extensive training in soul-guided healing of mind, body, heart and spiritual systems. They offer healing, coaching, therapy, mindfulness and astrology services for singles, couples and groups. For more information, visit www.ChooseConsciousLiving.com.  Call for a free consultation and questions.