Smoothly in Tune with the Great Mystery

By James D. Anderson

The concepts in this book are meant to be put into practice as a guide for one on a path to personal freedom with the devotee’s conception of awareness not being intellectual but rather experiential. You are truly aware when you are liberated from the perceptions and ideas of reality wanting to be different than what it already is. Awareness is a state of being that has always been within you, but that has been covered up with made up stories, false concepts, and dogmatic beliefs that muddy our perceptions of what being awakened is really all about. A useful method is not so much a teaching of a set of beliefs, but rather a set of practices, and ways of living. Instead of relying on dogmatic beliefs, it would be wise to have a philosophy of living ethically. Rather than focusing our energy on irrelevant details that are conditioned by society like whether a particular belief system has control over our soul. we should be focusing our energy on finding peace and contentment in the present moment. —Which is, after all, the only moment we’ll ever have.
The precepts in this book are not at odds with any religions, and the practices should only be used to become a better whatever you are. Additionally, we must embrace the fact and recognize that life in general, is not personal, and that difficulties will arise. It’s simply a part of experiencing life. Another important concept that this book employs, is that spirituality is a solitary search for truth, driven neither by greed nor by fear, and relies only on the individual’s own efforts and sense of direction. No two people’s paths can be the same, because as individuals we are as unique as our own search.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Nov 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9781663246899

James D. Anderson

James Anderson is professor of the history of education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and coeditor of New Perspectives on Black Educational History.

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Copyright © 2022 James D. Anderson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-4688-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4689-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022919639

iUniverse rev. date: 10/31/2022

Contents

Introduction

The Path

Knowledge from experience

Overcoming life’s obstacles

The ego

this invisible intelligence

Harmony

Cause and effect

Selfhood

Spiritual growth

Understanding others

Finding peace

Loving others

The desire for happiness

Advancement

Worry

Summary

Deep in the heart of humanity there is an inner drive towards reaching out and wanting to align with the divine. A deep spiritual urge to become one with the whole. It is an integral part of every spiritual tradition’s vision. A deep desire to meet that which is beyond the confines of time and space. The science within this book is a deep look into the art of self-realization that when applied with the right techniques, may become the process of awakening on a path to realizing your own true self, which is the highest state of awareness one may attain.

You can understand many things but realize practically nothing, and realization is what leads to wisdom, which only comes from direct experiences. In other words, no one can just walk up to you and tell you the secrets of life. It takes a lifetime of experience, stumbling through adversity, climbing obstacles, and making changes. Realization is the key secret in dealing with life’s difficulties and then turning them around for a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom. We must face the fact that the perplexing questions of humankind and the world we inhabit become more understood in the process of living a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.

Once you realize everything you need to know is already present within you, you may then realize that the happiness and fulfilment you seek are not found in external sources or material things. The antidote to ignorance is wisdom, and the most dangerous manifestation of ignorance is believing that you exist independent from other people and the rest of the world. This ignorance gives rise to greed and hatred and will manifest insecurity and emotional pain, destroying any possibilities of finding enlightenment. Clinging to such emotions causes unnecessary suffering for ourselves and others.

The concepts in this book are meant to be put into practice as a guide for one on a path to personal freedom with the devotee’s conception of awareness not being intellectual but rather experiential. You are truly aware when you are liberated from the perceptions and ideas of reality wanting to be different then what it already is. Awareness is a state of being that has always been within you but has been covered up with made up stories, false concepts, and dogmatic beliefs that muddy your perceptions of what being awakened is really all about.

A useful method is not so much a teaching of a set of beliefs but rather a set of practices and ways of living. Instead of relying on dogmatic beliefs, it would be wise to have a philosophy of living ethically. Rather than focusing our energy on irrelevant details that are conditioned by society—such as whether a particular belief system has control over our soul—we should be focusing our energy on finding peace and contentment in the present moment.—which is, after all, the only moment we’ll ever have.

The precepts in this book are not at odds with any religions, and the practices should only be used to become a better whatever you are. Additionally, one must embrace the fact and recognize that life in general is not personal, and that difficulties will arise. They are simply a part of experiencing life. Another important concept that this book employs is that spirituality is a solitary search for truth, driven neither by greed nor by fear, and relies only on the individual’s own efforts and sense of direction. No two people’s paths can be the same, because as individuals we are as unique as our own search.

These practices add up to a search that relates to all with no presupposed ideas on tradition, in the confidence that the search itself will reveal the truth. In other words, these practices can be applied with whatever religion or spiritual practice one might have. I have found what is also required is a strategic application of techniques with the methods of understanding the process of growth that is relevant and valuable for self-awareness and spiritual growth. This is only a guide to help in elevating one’s consciousness through the realization of one’s spiritual search for self-discovery. The purpose of this book therefore is neither to convince nor persuade. These affirmations I share are what has helped me in my own spiritual growth and will bring a deeper awareness to those who use them as a tool in their own life as well. I hope you find some type of liberation in this book from the mistaken perceptions of reality to which we are all so susceptible to. There is actually a melody being played, and as long as you leave each person, and each place a little better for having been there, you will eventually feel you are dancing smoothly in tune with a great mystery.

We are now at the time to unveil the unseen mysteries to a point where the limitations and illusions in life begin to disappear, and humanity can then understand our divine nature. The time is soon coming when the limitations of the physical world are falling short of just being a mere spark of light. If we were to look at it from the eternal side of the spectrum, we would simply wonder how something so complex could be so simple. A mere flip of the switch can fill a dark room with light, and when the light comes on, unseen discoveries are noticed. With a sound realization we will then understand that they were there all this time; we just could not see them in the darkness.

Introduction

The reason humanity is in such disarray is because, for one thing, the spiritual side of our nature is largely disconnected from humanity as a whole. Since we are so deeply absorbed in this superficial worldly reality, we are unable to reach the wonders that lie elsewhere, which are infinitely greater in revealing the startling revelation of truth. Therefore millions live each day without knowing their unlimited potential.

The spiritual development of humanity lies only within our hands with sudden insights and full-blown epiphanies confronting the conventional expectations of what life really has in store. The established principle upon which our societies’ intentions