Telling the truth and always doing the right thing are essential for aligning with our true selves. Righteousness is the inner quality we need. Being virtuous and truthful to ourselves and others will reveal areas where we are not entirely honest and where we fall short.
When we examine religious and philosophical texts—including the Bible, the Koran, Hindu scriptures, and the works of many philosophers—they advise us to be virtuous and morally upright. Supposedly, a virtuous and morally good life leads to fulfillment, happiness, and alignment with God's will.
The concept of God creates many dogmatic beliefs and unanswered questions. Who is God? Is God like us humans, a being with wants and needs? Why would God want us to be virtuous and morally good? Phrases such as "love your neighbor as yourself" are not mere clichés. Virtue is love; righteousness is the quality we seek when we seek love. This inner quality is something we should seek in ourselves and in others.
Being righteous brings fulfillment because this inner quality is divine. I AM that I AM. You need to see the higher perspective—that you are one with everything. You need to be conscious of this quality within yourself.
You can't deny the divine within yourself, nor can you deny the divine essence in others. Many religious beliefs consider harming others the greatest sin, as it is akin to harming oneself. The lesson is one of love. We are all divine beings, sharing this same inner essence. While you cannot see the interconnectedness of all things with your own eyes, it exists. This inner essence holds space and allows everything to exist as one.
From this, we know that God did not create laws that govern our universe because God's essence is the law itself. The Law of One operates under the same condition: not harming any other sentient being in the universe.
The Law of One
The Law of One, also known as the Ra Material, is a series of channeled texts emphasizing the unity of all. The Law of One I am mentioning here is based on a similar principle. The core principle of The Law of One is that all beings and creation are interconnected and originate from the one infinite Creator. In the Law of One, "service to others" and "service to self" represent two fundamental paths of spiritual evolution. These two paths represent a polarity that will help us graduate as third-density beings. The Law of One does not judge either path as inherently "good" or "bad," but sees them as one.
The primary concern of the "service-to-self" path is seeking to control others, manipulating situations for personal gain, and valuing power and status above all else. One can be of service to self and even be unaware of it. This often manifests as isolating oneself from the world—in other words, from other people. One might constantly meditate, serving primarily oneself, or blindly follow spiritual guidance, believing it serves a greater purpose. It's important not to be taken advantage of, as this violates the Law of One. The problem lies in the individual serving the self instead of recognizing their oneness. Therefore, it doesn't necessarily mean only hurting others for personal benefit. One might also pursue it for the greater good, believing their actions benefit humanity. Many situations could justify such a path. For example, some people act inhumanely in our three-dimensional world, treating others unfairly and disrespectfully. These individuals are almost impossible to change due to their stubbornness, unless some form of harm is inflicted upon them. From a service-to-self perspective, this could be considered the greater good. To even begin considering these two paths, we need to be in a state of consciousness that resonates with the concept.
Another path, "service to others," prioritizes the well-being and growth of others. This involves compassion and empathy. This path involves cultivating love, wisdom, and understanding, and using these qualities to serve the greater good. The goal is to achieve unity with the Creator through love and service to all beings. If we want to be of service to others, we need to become one with life, the outer world, and other selves—not in a sense of conquering them, but by becoming one with them. We need to mirror their attitudes and see the world as an extension of ourselves.
The Law of One states that we are all the same being. Why, then, would you want to hurt or harm another—another self? The problem is that we don't see it this way. From our individual perspective, we perceive other people as separate entities competing for limited resources, forcing us to fight for our place in the world. The perceived separation we see in our three-dimensional world is an illusion.
Our bodies contain millions of cells that function individually yet also in a coordinated manner, much like the individuals within a society working together as a single organism. If some cells attack others, an internal conflict arises, potentially leading to disease. Our body then responds, striving to restore balance. This process is driven by our subconscious—a kind of "divine self"—that seeks homeostasis and regulates bodily functions to maintain health and life.
Striving to have everything our way is not necessarily God's way. We sometimes act like a disease that goes against the divine order. Our will and God's will should work together in alignment. We say God is love because that is his inner essence, which holds our world together. God created man in his image and likeness; that image is not physical, but of a divine being. When God creates a character, his being, spirit, or inner essence is present.
When we act in alignment with our inner being, we are closer to our true nature; we are essentially true to ourselves. You will realize the truth about yourself when you follow your intuition, knowing automatically what to do without relying on logic. It's our instinct, not our thoughts, that guides us, rather than constantly trying to figure out what to do next. The problem is that we don't know who we are and which parts of ourselves we can use to influence our reality.
The one thing that we know is that we are conscious of different aspects of ourselves that make up ourselves. We know that consciousness is present within ourselves.
Finding Clarity through Inner Exploration
When you think about yourself, what do you think of? Do you think about the way you look: your body, form, or appearance? Do you think about your relationships, work, role, and status? Or do you think about your inner qualities and who are you being?
You cannot truly know yourself through intellectual understanding alone; you must experience yourself from your unique perspective of "I AM". You cannot point to a thing or concept and say, "This is who I am". To assign meaning or a label is to define it with the intellect. Labeling something confines it to our relative world. Before knowing our true inner selves, we must introspect on what influences our self-perception and how we, in turn, influence our perception of reality. Begin by asking yourself, "Who am I?" Then, introspect on different aspects of yourself.
Body: Are you your physical body—legs, hands, and head? By paying attention to different parts of your body, you will realize that this is not who you are, but merely what you are aware of and identify with as yourself.
Mind: Are you your mind? By paying attention to your mind, you will realize that there is no singular "mind," but merely thoughts that you are aware of and identify with as yourself.
Thoughts: Are you your thoughts? By paying attention to your thoughts, you will realize that you are not the thoughts themselves; you are merely an observer who identifies them as your own.
Thinker: Are you the conscious thinker? By paying attention to the thinker of your conscious thoughts, you will realize that this is not you; it is your intellect.
Intellect: Are you your intellect? By paying attention to your intellect, you will realize that there is no separate "intellect," but rather you are directing it through the power of your will.
Will: Are you your will? By paying attention to your will, you will realize that it is not you, but rather you possess a will that can direct your attention.
By exploring different aspects of yourself, you will realize you possess the power of will to direct your attention. Willpower can select an intention, and attention can amplify the energy of that intention. Only the energy of your being expands to match the energy of your intention; nothing outside of yourself is affected.
You can also realize that you are not your body, but rather something you possess. You are not your hand, but it is your hand—an essential part of your body with which you identify; this is why it seems to be you. You can also realize that there is no mind in a person, but only thoughts with which we identify. We are merely observers of our thoughts, not the ones responsible for them. We believe we should be in charge of these thoughts, but they merely arise from a higher aspect of ourselves. These thoughts create emotional reactions within our body and feelings we associate with our experience.
All the things we associate with and identify as ourselves constitute a self-concept developed throughout our lives. It's how we perceive ourselves in relation to the external environment. So, where does this identification arise? From memory. Memory is a mental picture or thought associated with past experiences. Our thoughts only reflect what we attend to. When we identify with our thoughts and ego-mind, we attach our sense of self to our identity. Our identity is a self-concept we identify as ourselves. It's our prior self-knowledge and everything we know about ourselves.
Imagination unleashed
Mental images or thoughts that we connect with cannot be found individually in our brains but are universally present in consciousness. Therefore, when we think a thought, it is not actually our own; rather, it is borrowed from the vast database of consciousness that we connect with and identify with in the present moment.
Universal substance reflects these thoughts in our bodies as mental states, and we can direct these thoughts with our intellect. When we give attention to a thought, this direction expands, and we subsequently experience a similar train of thought.
You might remember an experience that reminded you of something from your past. You immediately recalled a thought or mental image associated with that past memory. It's as if we resisted this experience in the past, and now it seeks integration into our present selves.