Dissolution Of Self: All You Need Is Love

I've been writing these last weeks about the dissolution of the small, individual identity into the vast, eternal presence of the Divine. As St. John of the Cross wrote in the final stanza of his Dark Night of the Soul, "I remained, lost in oblivion; My face I reclined on the Beloved. All ceased and I abandoned myself, Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies." In our realization of oneness, we must inevitably become emptied of the self - dissolved into nothing, to possess everything.

In recent posts, I have shared personal experiences of this most blessed and intense process of dissolution. From the embers of the ego's burning arises a startling and profound phoenix from the ashes. Love. To simply be Present with whatever is arising, truly and single-pointedly Present, without strategy to distract, deceive oneself, resist or evade...that is Love. To stay Present to the most seemingly shameful or heinous qualities within ourselves or others, without judgment or resistance, is Love.

The love I speak of is not one of common definition. It is not an emotive love, dripping with sentimentality or affection. Nor is it a romantic love, infused with infatuation or adoration of another. It is not familial love, like one would experience through the bond of kinship.

This love is the naked opening into Grace. Unconditioned by any factor. It is vast and eternal, available without reserve in every moment. The Divine Mother holds everything within her bosom - joy and ecstasy abide side by side with pain, anger, jealously and every form of human suffering. There is not a single aspect excluded. There is nothing out of order. She is All That. We are All That.

As I open into Divine Presence, I recognize instantly and with certainty: for every part of "me" that feels lost and lonely and confused, 6 billion people feel the same way. Everything you feel touches my heart, and the tenderness my heart yearns for will also soothe your sorrow. We are not separate. We are one heart in this place of Presence.

For you, then, I love. I choose to stay present to whatever arises. And through Presence I care for all of us. Through meeting my shadow, I meet the shadow of all of humanity. And I stand here. With open arms. Greeting it ALL. I do this for every soul who cries. For every soul who is cold and hungry and alone. For every soul who carries heart sorrow beyond their capacity to hold it. And for every soul who longs to be home but does not feel at home in this world. My heart is stretched so wide that all of creation rests upon my breast and it is no longer heavy. It is as light as a feather.

This Presence is so unfathomably vast that all suffering evaporates like the morning mist, leaving only the radiant light of the Beloved. My Beloved. Our Beloved. OursSelf. In our Divine Love Making every drop of sweat is sacred. Every sigh, every heave. Every scratch of the fingernail and nick of the heart. Every inch of your sacred body is my body and as I love you I become You.

Comments

[Meteor]

Your title, Stacey, Dissolution of self: All You Need Is Love, is a piece of writing that expresses far beyond words that you have indeed touched the Center, that Divine Light that is within everyone; so many don't know it.

That light and love enables a person to survive the dissolution of the self (the finite bound ego) and is the Same that will enable our country to so survive its fears of financial meltdown and even quiet the fears that lead to wars.

Without love, compassion, even common decency, our money can have no value. Warren Buffett recently admitted that the greatest mistake he ever made was letting his wife walk out the door. Thanks for telling us that, Warren, if only more people were listening.

One simple small act of love and kindness perfectly expresses the whole mystery of our existence and gives it meaning. Once in prayer, I asked the Father, "What is heaven like?" The rare answer astounded me. "MY heaven is being with you." I thought, "Wow, God really likes to slum it!" and then realized that God was not just telling me that, He/She was telling everyone that.

The love we can each express today in that simple act of kindness, which may look like patience, a word of confidence or compassion is worth far far more than that 700 billion dollar$ that has fixed our attention. We each have that Source of Wealth within and more.

[OtayPanky]

Stacy: For you, then, I love.

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Thank you SOOO much!!!

[subs99]

Stacy - So close, yet infinitely far away. Clearly "you" believe ego is gone. There is no you. If there is no you, there is no one else. There are NO PEOPLE! There is only EVERYTHING. And everything is perfection, just as it is. "There is nothing out of order." Right. NOTHING!! Do you Wish? Feel? Hope? Soothe? Care? Cry? Yearn? Choose? Who is the YOU to do all this???

There is no you. Now STOP.

There is no 'you' to have any experiences!

There are no qualities within ourselves. There is no self!

There is no part of you, to feel anything! Lost, confused..­...

"Everything you feel" -- there is no you. STOP!

"...tender­ness my heart yearns for..." STOP! No you to have a heart or to yearn!

"soothe your sorrow" -- who has sorrow?!

"For you I love" STOP! No I and no You!!!

"I choose to stay" If there is no you, then who chooses?!

"I care for all of us." There is no you, there is no us, there isn't anyONE!

"I do this for every soul....." There is no one to cry, or be cold, or hungry, there is NO ONE -- how can there be loneliness?

"heart sorrow"-- whose???

"your sacred body is my body" -- there is only EVERYTHING, there are no separate bodies.

"I love you" there is no I, there is no you!

STOP! STOP!! STOP!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!

QUICK! Read "Perfect Brilliant Stillness", David Carse, and let the confusion go....

[GCFrank]

Lately, this love of which you write so ardently manifests here as a quiet gratitude amidst a hurricane of Life. A humble reverence.
From that, as bethinCary writes, true action arises, sometimes in the form of "standing up" for truth. This is what dharma means here. It is the result of living in gratitude.
This love is not understood or learned, but rather experienced. Lived, inconsistently and imperfectly.
If I had never heard of skiing, and you told me I could tie long polished boards to my feet and successfully slide down a snow-covered mountain, I might believe you. It might even sound fun. But believing you wouldn't help me actually do it. Direct experience is necessary. So, too, with living each breath as a prayer for humble, loving gratitude.
These posts have been a blessing, and welcomed with gratitude. Blessings to you on your journey.

[bethinCary]

Great post Stacy. I would add from my own experience, that besides seeing a light in others (or God) and loving others--one has to equally have enough self-respect to recognize that light or God within oneself..
If a person doesn't realize this-they can be prone to getting taken advantage, used, manipulated, controlled, railroaded by others....
So a person needs to realize their own convictions and be able to stand up for them in the face of adversity and still show love.
iow one has to give = (but not more than this) to anothers views/opinions which may contrast ones' own..
Even Jesus did this in His own teachings by turning those adversarial views of Him-into the form of a question or the firm belief and knowledge (many time with proof in the form of healings, miracles, resurrecti­on...).
Recall Thomas and Peter (on the stormy waters).
So love doesn't mean clamping a hand over ones' own mouth or taking abuse-it means giving your viewpoint/beliefs in a way that shows you DO care-and that's why you have the beliefs that you do..