Living Your Life in Joy: Through Understanding Oneness

By Gordon Bruce Waldie

How can you begin to live your life joyfully each and every day? How can you identify within yourself thoughts and feelings that prevent you from being joyful? From the beginning to end, this book provides insights into these and other questions. These may arise from the present or past and expose the deepest yearnings of your spirit. Have you ever wondered, Why did I do that? or How in the world did I get into this? Many of us have asked these questions and many more. Through insightful commentary and the sharing of his own spiritual journey, the author invites you to examine your own life experiences. You will come to understand what the unification of mind, body, and spirit truly means. Along the way you will find reunion with God. You will begin living your life in joy through understanding oneness.

In that life should be a fascinating voyage of discovery, the author has long been intrigued by why we seem to respond to lifes circumstances in very similar ways. From an early age, he sought to find answers to the reasons behind our actions. Why did events, in many instances, come in repetitive cycles? Why do many of us emit preprogrammed responses to the simplest of questions we encounter on a daily basis? The responses often appeared to be automatic and devoid of conscious thought. What was the underlying cause? Did people really stop and think about what they said and why? Did people really take notice of the world around them, or were they just going through a daily routine on automatic pilot? Coupled with these questions was the search for spiritual truth.

His early exposure to spirituality was not gained through organized faith. Principles of living, that is, the way to conduct your life, was taught by his family. His one experience with organized religion at the age of six is revealed within the narrative as well as the search that followed for many years. This culminated in an event at thirty-seven that was to change his life. Over the next twenty years, he gradually began to put together each event that had occurred to form a cohesive picture of all life experiences. A series of challenges that followed was the key to unlock the door to a heightened awareness and expanded consciousness. These events reached their climax when he had to face the thing he feared most. That was surgery. This was another milestone in spiritual growth.

The experience transformed his life. It was as if a door was opened to previously unknown levels of awareness. Inspiration flowed. The dots were connected. Life suddenly made perfect sense, not only within himself but on a universal level as well. That which he had been searching for all his life became manifested. He had come to understand and live oneness.

Throughout this book, the author shares with you the steps that outline and explain the process of awakening as he experienced them. They may serve to assist the reader not only to attain an in-depth understanding but also to provide a benchmark to help you assess your own spiritual growth. This enables the contents to be practically applied in terms of your actual life experiences, not just in a theoretical manner. It is the authors intent to afford the reader with practical knowledge to accelerate your spiritual advancement along the path to oneness by pointing out the misconceptions he had to work through and their often-discomforting results. Perhaps these will be of benefit to you in your own spiritual development. If so, then the authors intent will have been achieved. The following is an excerpt from the book.

Our purpose throughout these pages is to become aware of who we are, why we are here, and what we came here to do. To understand that no matter what our circumstances in life may be, we can live our lives in happiness and joy. We reach this level of consciousness by understanding oneness. Oneness, simply stated, is the unification of all life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 10, 2008
• ISBN: 9781462837151

Gordon Bruce Waldie

A native of British Columbia, Gordon Bruce Waldie has spent most of his life in Western Canada and the Pacific Northwest. He is the author of Living Your Life in Joy and Now That You Are Awake. He is a Reiki Master Teacher and a Master Practitioner of The Light Alliance Energy Centers Openings and Healing Modality. He and his wife, Sandy, divide their time between southern Nevada and west-central Arizona.

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Copyright © 2008 by Gordon Bruce Waldie.

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This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

A WORLD DIVIDED

CHAPTER TWO

THE COLLECTIVE

CONSCIOUSNESS

CHAPTER THREE

THE SEVEN WALLS

OF HUMANITY

CHAPTER FOUR

THE AWAKENING

OF HUMANITY

CHAPTER FIVE

WALKING THE PATH

CHAPTER SIX

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

CHAPTER SEVEN

LIVING YOUR LIFE IN JOY

POSTSCRIPT

For

Zeilia and Astoria,

our dear ones,

for

Astrid and Shiloh,

our beloved,

for their inspiration and guidance

PREFACE

OUR PURPOSE, THROUGHOUT these pages, is to become aware of who we are, why we are here, and what we came here to do. To understand that no matter what our circumstances in life may be, we can live our lives in happiness and joy. We reach this level of consciousness by understanding oneness. Oneness, simply stated, is the unification of all life. There is only one God, the one Source of All Life, whether visible, or invisible. The Source that unites all of creation in oneness.

The path to oneness can be traveled upon in two ways, consciously or unconsciously. You will either be aware or unaware of the journey you are making and the significance of all the events that you experience in life while upon it. Everyone travels this path. All will eventually arrive at the same destination. It is how you travel it that will enable you to live this path in conscious awareness, or as one who is fast asleep, having no awareness or consciousness of where you are going. Let us make a further distinction between walking and living the path.

Walking the path means that you are simply moving in a variety of directions. You may be aware or unaware of the movement, or direction, which you are walking. However, there isn’t a unified direction to the course you are following. You can have moments of clarity, but for the most part, you are in a mist. You are sleepwalking at first, completely unaware of the path. At this stage, you are living your life on automatic pilot. As you begin to awaken, you understand that the path exists. You know little about it, why you are on it, and where you are going, at this stage. You can move forward, or slide backward, quite easily, as you are vulnerable to the opinions of others. As you become more awake, you begin to shift your awareness from walking to living the path. This can take years to accomplish or can occur in a short period. It all depends upon you. As such, when references are made to walking the path, we are talking about this process of going from being totally unaware, or asleep, to totally aware, or fully awake. This changes as you advance on the path. With each step, your awareness grows. You have taken one more step toward living the path to oneness.

Living the path means that you are consciously aware of your movement and direction. You choose each step you make and know where this journey is taking you. You understand that full reunion with the Divine is your destination. You proceed from strength to strength, moving deliberately forward, no matter what you are experiencing. You understand your purpose in life. Everything you do reflects this consciousness. Your life is one of constant joy and happiness.

As an example, two people are traveling on a train to the same destination. One person is in the observation car. He is interacting with the people around him, watching the landscape go by, and feeling the warmth of the sun come through the windows. He is a part of his environment. The other person is back in a sleeper car. The blinds are pulled, so he sees nothing that passes by outside. He interacts with no one. In essence, he is sound asleep. Both people will reach their destination at the same time. The person who was in the observation car will have great memories and stories to share about their trip. The one who remained in the sleeper car will have nothing to share and no real memory of the trip. This is the difference between traveling on the path in awareness and remaining asleep. It is the distinction between living the path and just walking upon it.

At the end of the journey, the one who has lived the path will look back and see the glory of his life along it. He not only sees but also understands everything he did, all the people he touched, those who touched him, and all he accomplished. His life will make perfect sense to him. He will have consciously lived the purpose for which he came into this world. He will know who he is, why he came here, and what he came to do. He will be fulfilled.

The one who was asleep will also come to the end of his journey. He will arrive as one who has just walked into a brick wall. He did not see the wall coming. He will look back upon the path and not understand how he got to where he is. He will not understand the process, nor will he even know that the path existed. He will not understand who he is, why he came here, and what he came here to do. He was asleep all of his life. He will wonder what life was all about.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

IEXPRESS MY profound gratitude to Richard Kelm, Dave and Linda Beatson, Joe and Brenda Matejka, John and Heidi Shoemaker, Gary and Gayle Kelsay, and Douglas and Diane Thorndike for their constant support and encouragement during the writing of this book. Special thanks are extended to Ann Mary Smith and Teresa Cordova for their love, and suggestions, as each chapter of the book unfolded. Their enthusiasm, concern, and energy were very uplifting. In particular I am so grateful to my wife, Sandy, and Ann Mary Smith for the many hours they spent reviewing the manuscript. The comments received not only were timely but also resulted in substantial improvements to the text. I am so very thankful for Sandy’s encouragement, inspiration, and support as the manuscript evolved from concept to completion. Her shared vision of this work was instrumental in its manifestation.

Speak from your heart

As if you were face-to-face

With the one you love.

Share your knowledge

With all who will receive it.

Live in harmony

With humanity and every living thing.

Be happy and joyful

In everything you do.

Walk in unity

Through the power of your Spirit.

Your journey to oneness

Will inspire multitudes.

INTRODUCTION

WE LIVE IN a time of constant change. For many of us, these are times of unrest, of uneasiness about the present, as well as the future. These are times of concern for ourselves and for our planet. We search for answers, for explanations, for solutions to life’s unfolding events. We feel as though some invisible force has set in motion circumstances that despite our best efforts, we are powerless to resist. We seek to understand what is happening around us. We attempt to gain awareness of underlying causes and attain some degree of assurance and comfort that we, and our world, are going to be all right.

As we continue to experience life’s events, deep down inside we know that change is an inescapable facet of our existence on the earth plane. It is a fact of life, no matter if we are comfortable with it or not. We learn to cope with much of the circumstances in our lives. Ones that are primarily due to the repetitive nature of individual and collective events. This familiarity enables us to establish response patterns in terms of our own personal perspectives and the degree to which we respond to occurrences as they unfold around us. However, what is oftentimes most personally discomforting is the frequency and intensity of changes as they challenge our ability to cope.

All of us, in our own special way, have struggled with unexpected life events. For many, our first encounter came all too soon in life. Mine came just three weeks before my ninth birthday. My mother died after her long bout with cancer. This event changed my life forever. I still remember the bewilderment and pain felt and my inability to understand why she had to die. I was angry with God for allowing my mother to die. I was uneasy about what my life was now to become. The memory of her lying on a small red cot in her bedroom just before she was taken to the hospital is still vivid in my mind. I never saw my mother again.

In that moment, I lost not only my mother but also my childhood as I had known it came to an end. I found myself in a position of helping to care for my six-year-old sister. My father went into a prolonged period of mourning that lasted for years. He did the best he could. It became evident that my mother’s parents had to provide a stable home for us to grow up in. In love, they willingly responded. In time, my father again resumed an active role in our lives.

Subsequent years brought numerous and unexpected changes that significantly influenced my life. Despite my best attempts to protect myself from unforeseen circumstances, events continued to unfold. One day, in my late teens, I made a decision that was to alter my worldview, and attitude, about the things that had so significantly shaped my life. I began earnestly to seek answers to why these events had manifested and to discover for what purpose they were directed. I became a seeker of truth, willing to set aside anything I currently believed. In the light of new understanding, I allowed myself to see the true nature of the world I lived in, and my place within it. I came to understand that change is purposeful. It is the order of life in our universe, manifested for our ultimate good, even though we may not understand it for years.

Later in life I came to understand more fully the universal role of change, both at the individual and cosmic levels. Not only was it the underlying principle of our evolution as human beings, but also its pervasiveness affected all life around us. This was not just of planetary significance alone. It encompassed all creation, that which is seen and unseen.

In looking back, the benefit of hindsight is that we can evaluate life’s events as a progressive and beneficent continuum. Provided, of course, that we view our life experiences with honesty and objectivity, devoid of judgments or other ego-based paradigms. What emerges is a carefully orchestrated series of events. Each one provides both explanation and meaning to our lives, if we are bold enough to travel this road. We begin to understand why every event occurred and what we were meant to learn from them. We recognize how they interrelate to form a cohesive whole. This enables us to understand who we are and why we are here. As our awareness grows, we gain insight into the realm of conscious and unconscious creation. Each creation shapes our individual lives and the lives of all humanity.

As you are becoming more aware, you will see that your creations are manifestations of your consciousness. They shape not only your life events but those of humanity and the earth as well. The energy that sets into motion events in our personal lives, and the lives of others, also affects us on a planetary and cosmic scale. Individually, we are a microcosm on the earth plane within the macrocosm of the universe. Each is inescapably wedded to the other. That which transpires in our lives has universal ramifications, and vice versa.

Events on the earth plane are beginning to accelerate. These earth changes appear in our time with increased intensity and regularity. They herald an appointed time for earth’s renewal and mankind’s evolutionary advancement. Such events witnessed around the world have as their purpose one goal, to awaken mankind.

The awakening is twofold. First, it is to awaken mankind to the senseless destruction of the earth. Second, it is to awaken mankind from countless centuries of separation from ourselves and from the Source of All Life. We are called to reconnect with ourselves, with all humanity, with all life, and with the Divine Source.