From time to time I forgot my central place in the cosmos.  I got caught up in the dramas, contradictions, angst and pain of the physical world and couldn’t see myself as one of the expanded, magnificent, infinite beings we all truly are.

Luckily I realized at those times that we never really become disconnected from the centre.  Rather, we temporarily lose sight of it and don’t feel the sense of peace and joy that comes from it.  We get caught up in the illusion of separation and can’t see that happiness and sadness go hand in hand — the light and dark, yin and yang.  Our sense of disconnection is simply part of the illusion of duality that makes it difficult to see oneness forming out of perceived separation.  But getting centred means seeing through this and once again feeling our infinite place at the centre of it all — at the centre of oneness.

I still had the visceral knowledge that we’re all one with the universe. Therefore I knew that even while I’m in my physical body,  whether I am aware of it or not,  I am the centre of the great cosmic web that is the universe.  This is the same as realizing my magnificence and my connection to the Infinite.

All of the above is a direct quote from Anita Moorjani’s inspirational memoir, Dying To Be Me.  She experienced a Near Death Experience (NDE) while in hospital in the final stages of lymphoma, after which her cancer disappeared and she was discharged within weeks without a trace of disease, leaving the medical staff stunned.   

Anita learned that she was meant to bring to the world her extraordinary experience and the wisdom that she received from her NDE.   This was, without a doubt, her ‘hero’s journey’,  and the ‘boon’ that she was instructed to bring back to the world is precious and sparkling like a diamond of wisdom for humanity in our moment of need.

Have you noticed the craziness, the despair, desperation, and trauma that hangs in the air?   I do not tune in to the ‘daily news’ on mainstream media but even without that source I am intensely aware of this zeitgeist.  Even when it seems like everyone but you has it all together, scratch the surface and you find it’s not true.   We are all running madly off in all directions, trying to find our ‘somewhere over the rainbow’. 

Peace of mind.  How does that phrase fall for you?  For me it feels like a warm, soft blanket being wrapped around me.   Tranquility.  Joy.  Beauty.   Grace.   These are not just words that appear in a meditation manual.  These qualities are the foundation of Life, that is if we wish to enjoy it.   And they are there for us just beneath the surface of the noise.   

Often it takes a life-threatening or at least a life-changing event to bring us to our ‘senses’, and yet it is not our three dimensional senses that will lead the way.  For Anita Moorjani it was the vision she had in her NDE.  

“Love yourself unconditionally and be yourself fearlessly!”  This is her passionate advice for us, and she feels that if she had always known this she would not have succumbed to cancer.   Sounds so simple, but we have been conditioned from childhood to eschew our own needs and to compare our emerging self to others.  A crowning disservice!  Comparison takes the joy from life.   

By being true to myself,  I become an instrument of truth for the planet.  Why? Because we are all intrinsically connected.  When you hurt,  I hurt.  When I am happy it bubbles out of me and spills all over you.

Anita has another, just as important and every bit as passionate, piece of wisdom for us: Don’t take life so seriously!   (I first heard this from Bugs Bunny — Don’t take life too seriously or you’ll never get out alive!  I have never forgotten it).   Laugh as often as possible throughout every single day,  is her wise advice.  In fact she believes that the world’s spiritual traditions are much too serious and should include laughing  — a lot.  Especially at yourself. 

Does not this just make sense?  When we laugh it releases endorphins that wash over us and relax tension build up.  It heals us.  This is a proven fact.  I can actually get high on laughing.  After all, what could be more gratifying than spreading joy?  Our gift to the world.  The legacy we leave could be love and laughter.  Priceless!

This book was given to me two or three years ago, along with the sequel, What If This Is Heaven?  by a dear friend.  She didn’t say why.  She just handed me the books one day.   I read both and enjoyed them.   Now, fast forward to spring 2023.  I just received my own medical diagnosis.  Whoopsie!  

I had passed on the book, but retrieved it and re-read it.   This time I paid more attention.  This time the words leaped off the pages and imprinted my soul in a way that very few books have ever done.  The truth of it resonated so deeply.   It felt holy.

Now I am on my own ‘hero’s journey’.   I am testing the principles I have mentioned here and adding some of my own.  It will be custom made for me but there for others to follow,  because of course we are all one.  What’s possible for me is possible for you.

Living the mystery that is Life takes us around so many twists and turns, ups and downs,  and occasional messy spills.  I believe I am here in this final decade to learn to love the world better.  What could be more necessary? What mission more critical?

Mary Oliver said it first:   My work is loving the world.