The angels say . . .

 you come to this place in life where there are fewer people you can talk to about what's most important because what's most important to them in something else, and still you must be kind and polite because that is the hallmark of a spiritual being: to be in the world as harmlessly as possible, without being of the world. 

to be of the world, is to be of the mental, emotional, and spiritual pain that permeates the world. It is to believe you are a mental, emotional, physical being, and nothing more. 

to be in the world, without being of the world, is to accept what is, what you cannot change, and let yourself be changed so that you can come into harmony with what IS. 

to be of the world means you are composed of what the world is composed of - and, no, we do not mean beautiful nature, beautiful Mother Earth -- we mean what man has made of the world. God created man in God's image. Man turned from that image -- turned from the Self, from Truth, Love, Reality -- and turned towards the outer.

the outer was hollow, empty, devoid of the fullness of God, and so the world man created was also empty. It was shallow, without substance. It was a mere image -- a delusion. Man threw a veil of maya over the world and called it good. 

and so separation was born. So ego was born. So the false self was born. God has told us that we should have no false images before God, but man in his arrogance and hubris, turned a deaf ear to all that was truly good, and continued to call bad good, and good bad.

and so confusion was born. And darkness fell upon the face of the earth and this is where man chose to dwell

now this darkness is strong upon the face of the earth -- a dark veil of maya -- through which human beings cannot see

if they could see, they would see that the veil is illusion. It does not exist. It is not there. Man cannot see this because his eyes are closed, even while he believes they are open. He is asleep even while he believes he is awake.

only by admitting, realizing, and eventually knowing -- I am asleep -- can man awaken -- this is a beginning, to say, acknowledge and eventually realize -- I am asleep -- for that is where the awakening can begin.

what does it mean to be asleep? -- to be unconscious and unaware -- to believe one is good when one is bad -- to believe one thinks only of others best interest, when one thinks only of self-interest -- to believe one does good, when one does not. It means the inability to look into one's own darkness and see the selfishness there, the anger and hatred, the fear and anxiety, the total lack of surrender to God.

are these hard words? They are hard only for an ego wanting to hold onto its false image of itself as true, good, and lasting. For the true self, these are soft words. Gentle words. Opening the heart words. Truth always opens the heart.

the ego or false self will use these words to contract, close up, go into itself in suspicion and anger, to go more into darkness. The real self will use these words to SEE - to watch the ego closing up -- the true self will watch carefully -- and learn all the dark ways of the ego -- and it will know . . .

Neti! Neti! Not this! Not that! I am not that. That is not my true nature. That is darkness masquerading as light. That is badness pretending to be good. That is a false invader in my life, trying to persuade me that it is I. It is not I. I am not that. Neti! Neti!

I  AM. Always and forever, before the beginning of time, I AM. Time can cease. Time can come to an end. I never can. Truth IS.  Eternal. Without beginning or end. And so it IS. And it is Good. It is God.