Before the universe exploded from nothingness into a big bang of expansion, there was only nothing. Then there was both nothing and something. All the while, nothingness was never threatened, never altered, never harmed or destroyed even by this primordial explosion.

Nothingness is the source, the creator of all things. Where was a baby before it was conceived, but in the vast nothingness—the unmanifested? Where was all the things in the universe before it existed? Everything arises from nothing.

If we do not know God, it is because we have not stopped to think about nothingness. We have not yet recognized all form as ultimately unstable, impermanent, and therefore meaningless. With this knowledge, the world of form loses its grip, fear dissolves, and our God-essence within is given the freedom to love and to create.

Religion will not teach you that God is in the nothingness. Instead, the Church claims that God is in its own restrictive structures and rituals. But it is impossible for any entity or institution to grasp at or possess God because nothingness cannot be possessed. God is the vast empty space around us and within us. There is an eternal and infinite void that gives birth to all things and is the essence of all things.

“Nothing can exist without no thing.” The Power of Now

The universe contains billions or trillions of stars and even more planets, but between all these things is nothingness. The vast majority of the universe is nothingness, yet science is only concerned with the small fragment of reality comprised of things. Even your body is mostly empty space because inside every atom is empty space.

When you withdraw attention from things, you withdraw yourself from the constant stream of thought. Notice the silence, the stillness, the nothingness. Here, you enter the realm of the unmanifested, pure consciousness, being.

Consider the room you are in right now. The floor, walls, and ceiling define the boundary; but the room is just empty space. It is in the nothingness, in the stillness, in the silence you become aware of your true identity. Your fundamental needs originate from this invisible realm—here where you experience love, where you feel, where you connect with inspiration and intuition.

But don’t try to grasp it or you lose it. The concept of “no thing” cannot be understood by the mind as an object. It must be experienced beyond the mind, by you, the being. Today we consider the nothingness—the only realm that is eternally true because it is the only realm that cannot be threatened, destroyed, or changed. Herein lies your soul, your eternal self, your safety. We continue tomorrow and each day after that.

We all want love, comfort, freedom to be ourselves, to be respected and understood, and to do something meaningful in life. On the most fundamental level, we just want to feel good. While our fundamental needs may be the same, the way we go about fulfilling those needs differs.

In the egoic or unawakened state, it is common to use dishonesty, sacrifice, manipulation, rules, rewards and punishments as strategies to meet our needs. In truth, none of this ever works to fulfill our fundamental needs. Needs can only be fulfilled in perfect honesty and openness.

Your honest expression of a need or want allows me to easily fulfill it. My expression of a need may be an opportunity for you to form a mutually beneficial relationship with me. Just tell me what you need, nothing more, and if there is a good fit then I will naturally do my best to fulfill it.

The fulfillment of each other’s needs flows effortlessly from the energy of inspiration. There is a natural call within to connect, to give and receive, and to nurture enjoyable relationships. In complete honesty and unconditional acceptance, we no longer need coercion, manipulation, rules, rewards, or punishments. We can let go of ego altogether to live in honesty so that life is enjoyed and all our needs are met.

A common misconception about the spiritual path is that it is only attainable if we remove ourselves from “the real world”. The cliché is that consciousness is found in isolation, where we practice yoga and meditate in the mountaintops. That may work for some, but there is a different spiritual path that is far more accessible and practical—the spiritual practice of Karma Yoga.

Karma Yoga is selfless action and service. It means giving, doing and creating without calculation of what you get in return. Those who practice Karma Yoga (myself included) know that the value of what we give, do and create will be returned in some way—but that part doesn’t really matter. Our purpose, meaning, and happiness is found in the unconditional giving part.

In truth, giving and receiving are the same act. Creating something valuable, beautiful or useful will naturally result in financial benefit and other rewards—but that isn’t the goal. The goal is to focus only on the quality of doing within an ongoing, conscious state of presence.

Karma Yoga really means acting in love. You don’t need a different set of circumstances and you don’t need to remove yourself from this place and time. Your only opportunity to practice love exists right where you are, right now. Enjoy it.

The Beatles said that all you need is love. Skeptics might respond that love doesn’t pay the rent. To that, I say hell yes it does!

Love isn’t something limited to a romantic relationship. We aren’t talking just about holding hands and walking into the sunset (though that kind of love is nice too). We’re talking about love as a guiding force in everything you do.

At work, respond to challenges lovingly, patiently, and with care. Who do you think will have more success? The negative, selfish person or the one lifting everyone’s mood with kindness and presence while solving every problem and handling every challenge without any stress, struggle or conflict? Love wins easily. There is no competition.

Nothing is more practical and effective as a guiding force than love. What is the alternative? Egoic manipulation, competition and attack? This will ultimately end relationships, isolate you, and remove opportunity from your life.

Love—the energy of creation—is the source of all value. Here you are unstoppable. Love is all you need, and it even pays the rent.

Awaken to love and discover that you are not vulnerable, not afraid, not desperate, not lacking or in need of anything. You are not too much, not too little, not right and not wrong.

You are not an imperfect body, nor a bank account, nor any of your possessions. On the deepest level, you are neither attractive nor ugly—because your identity is in the beauty of your truth.

Awakened to love, you are not depressed, not bored, not anxious and not tired. You are not lazy and not ambitious. You are not particularly talented or unique—yet perfectly capable of doing something that everyone will recognize as beautiful and perfect.

Awaken to love and forget what you are not. There is nothing you need to do except choose the loving response with 100% faith in every situation and circumstance. Choose the loving response with your partner, with your kids, with your parents and family. Now watch your relationships heal. Choose the loving response in your work and watch your earnings grow and stress dissolve. Choose the loving response even when others are trying to teach you a lesson or diminish you in some way. Watch the problem dissolve.

Love is seeing past what is unreal to recognize the same truth in others that you recognize in yourself. Communicate in an honest way that makes this dimension real, not all the mind-chatter on the surface. Forgive, accept, open your mind, open your heart, serve and create. Feel your energy shift in love.

Some are waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ—the man worshiped as spirit made flesh. But what can they possibly be waiting for?

Jesus was a man who recognized his formless soul as his eternal identity. Millions of us around the world have also recognized the same truth he taught. I believe that this collective awakening we are experiencing is the second coming and that the word “antichrist” or “devil” is just another word for ego. The “second coming” happens when the majority of people transcend ego and live in truth.

Eckhart Tolle writes, “If Christ were to return tomorrow in some externalized form, what could he or she possibly say to you other than this: I am the truth, divine presence, eternal life within you, here and now.”

I Am is the most powerful, profound religious or spiritual statement because it removes time and conditions—recognizing the eternal and formless as what is real. “I am” is awareness of the eternal soul within you here and now.

Eternity does not mean that time goes on forever. It means that time isn’t real—that only the now is. What humans call time is only the movement of form in the eternal present. All form is unstable, impermanent, ultimately meaningless and unreal. Now we sense that which is real—the realm where words and perception fall short.

In John 8:58, Jesus declared, “Before Abraham was born, I am!” We are the soul, the timeless essence. There is something invisible within us that is life, that makes us human, that connects us with all other forms of life and removes all differences. The energy of this realm is love. In love, you are divine, and you are eternal.

Today we can celebrate the second coming that is us.  

So much of our attention is usually focused on what we think we are lacking. Minds racing and bodies stressed, we wonder “How will I ever get there? Why is it taking so long? What’s wrong with me? Why is the world against me?”

Ambitions are wonderful. We naturally want to strive toward our full potential in life and of course this includes external success. But this urge can no longer overshadow the fact that everything real is already ours and, to access it, we need only look within.

The longing, the striving, the sacrificing, the sickness and fear inside—it only exists when we get ahead of ourselves. We strive for external success before becoming aware of the perfectly complete internal dimension.

Everything we most deeply desire is experienced within: a feeling, happiness, love, beauty, bliss, safety, wisdom, peace, inspiration, excitement, and fun. Other people and particular life situations can help you get there, but the source of these energies is always within.
The ultimate destination you seek is what you already have inside. This can be accessed now by undoing perspectives and thought systems that have blocked it. This requires an unshakable desire for truth and honesty as well as a bit of practice.

Perhaps the priorities have been all wrong. Rather than seeking externally as the source of what we desire internally, now we learn to access it all internally and then effortlessly extend it externally. Outer success flows from inner abundance.

Even as the world today is entirely dominated by ego, most people don’t really know what it is. The ego disguises itself by convincing you that it is you and you are it. Only by looking at what the ego really is can you recognize that it is not you.

According to the ego’s self-serving thought system, you are nothing more than your fearful and selfish thoughts. Fear everyone and everything. Look out for yourself. Be normal, fit in, yet somehow show that you are special and unique. Fear the world’s institutions, which you believe have real power.

According to the ego, happiness will come in the future when you are successful, respected, rich, famous, and when you get all the people around you to do what they are supposed to do. Happiness requires that you withhold truth, manipulate, lie—do whatever it takes. Set goals. Reach toward your destination. Work harder. Fight for it. Stand up for yourself. The story of your past defines you. Trust only yourself, even as you continue to blow with the wind.

The ego is nothing more than an insane, desperate and confused mind racing—a tree without roots or a ship without a rudder. Most people don’t know that it is possible to let all of this go while sacrificing nothing. Sacrifice is only to be found in ego, not beyond it. This sacrifice causes many problems—physical suffering, illness, conflict, fear, exhaustion, depression and others. This is the body’s reaction to the ego’s insane, panicked thoughts.

The ego’s selfish drive to seek happiness at any cost is the cause of human misery, poverty, war and environmental disaster. This sick thought system would have us sacrifice other humans, the planet, our own health and anything or anyone that gets in the way of our thoughts. While they may pretend, no person has ever found true and lasting happiness this way. This is insanity and it is time for change.

Let go of ego and gain everything. You can enjoy life now, in the present moment, if you align with the awareness that you are consciousness, you are love, here, now. Here we are, right? Honor the present moment—where all the universe exists and always has—by being honest, open, and accepting. Without ego, it is easy to live here now and eternally.