{"id":1960,"date":"2020-07-31T16:11:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T16:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ezilon.com\/topics\/?p=1960"},"modified":"2021-12-08T08:51:14","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T08:51:14","slug":"finding-peace-and-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ezilon.com\/topics\/finding-peace-and-joy\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Peace And Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How does one find peace and joy in the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I will begin by\ntelling you a story . . .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once upon a time, there was a man who desired to hammer a nail into a wall. The man picked up the nail with his left hand and the hammer in his right. He swung the hammer with a mighty swing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, not being experienced in such matters, he missed the hail, hitting his left thumb with the mighty blow intended for the nail. The skin of the left thumb was broken and blood began to stream out everywhere, pooling on the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the heck did you\ndo that for? screamed the left thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do what for? asked the\nright hand, acting rather sheepish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hit me with the\nhammer! exclaimed the left thumb, bleeding profusely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t, lied the\nright hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, you did, stated\nthe left thumb forcefully. You were trying to kill me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was not!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was so!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hey, yelled the right\nhand, looking down at the right foot, did you see me try to kill him?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uh, well, uhno replied\nthe right foot, knowing that he had best stick with the program, as he was on\nthe right side after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bull! exclaimed the\nleft thumb, growing weaker from the loss of blood by the minute. Somebody\nbetter help meI feel really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We better get to a\nhospital, said the left leg. Let’s go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not me, replied the\nright leg, I, for one, am tired of all you lefties trying to run things all the\ntime. The right leg turned a bit to the right, staring off into the distance,\nattempting to bar any further contact with the left siders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Come on, urged the left leg and made a move toward the front door.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trip to the hospital was a rough one, as the right hand refused to open the car door and would not help steer the car. This forced our poor man to steer using his left wrist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the right leg would not press on the gas pedal at all. This forced the man to run both the gas and the brake with his left foot, switching back and forth, back and forth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The walk to the emergency room door took forever, with the right arm hanging down limply and the right leg just dragging along, refusing to take any steps at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The required forms never got filled out as the right handed man could not use his right hand to write and could barely see the forms anyway, as the right eye was closed and refused to open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nonetheless the left\nthumb was bandaged, sutured and splinted and everyone somehow managed to make\nit home in one piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We demand a trial for\nattempted murder, shouted the left knee-cap and the entire left side joined in.\nThe head must be the judge, as it is wisest and is impartial in matters such as\nattempted murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Very well, stated the\nhead, somewhat reluctantly. The head considered itself to be unbiased and\nimpartial but preferred not to participate in such matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial took many\ndays, as there was much arguing, the body being split right down the middle on\nmany issues. The debate raged on and on. But, as these things go, the right\nhand was eventually convicted of attempted murder with a deadly hammer. The\ndeciding vote was cast by the right knee, who was known to be a turncoat\nanyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally the Day of\nJudgment arrived. It is the decision of this court, pronounced the head\nsolemnly, that the right hand is guilty of attempted murder. The sentence is.\nsurgical removal from the body and permanent exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entire left side\nof the body cheered, as the four faithful finger-brothers of the left hand\ngleefully reached for the butcher knife on the nearby table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, this is a ridiculous story. If you were to hit your own left thumb with a mighty blow from a hammer, causing it to split and bleed, you would most certainly grab it with your right hand and apply pressure to stem the flow of blood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both sets of legs and feet would hustle off to the nearest sink. You would turn on the water with the right hand, apply some form of ointment perhaps, bandage it up and head to the hospital, both sets of hands, arms, legs, feet and eyes working in unison to stop the flow of blood and repair the damage. You would do this because, you know something very important<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the left thumb were to continue to bleed unchecked, you might die.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This silly story, though, is a perfect example of how you live your own life in this world. You believe that everything IS separate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You believe everything has just its own interests at heart and protects and defends these selfish interests accordingly. You see divisions everywhere you look and perceive walls around everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you steadfastly\nrefuse to accept is that, in reality, everything is completely connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you love your left\nthumb? Your first instinct is to say no. But I tell you; you love your left\nthumb more than you love any other person, place or object in the world. This\nseems rather strange when verbalized. But the fact of the matter is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see your left thumb as a part of you. It is you. If it is injured, you are injured. If it dies, you die. You see no difference between that thumb and yourself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that is the highest and purest form of perfect love imaginable. There is a wall between you and your spouse. You perceive a distance between you and your children. Yet there is no division perceived between you and your thumb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet you see everything\nelse that exists as being separate from you and your beloved thumb. In your\nperception, your thumb IS a part of you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you might call Your Creator loves you in just this perfect way. It sees you as Itself, not as separate entity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It draws no distinctions between you and Itself. It could no more condemn you for your mistakes than you could condemn your own right hand for its mistakes. The mistakes of your right hand are considered by you to be your mistakes. It sees you in this same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you bleed, Your\nCreator bleeds. If you are in pain, Your Creator is in pain. It is you and you\nare It.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hear this. All your brothers everywhere are one with you. In reality, this is no separation between you and all of them. We are but parts of one body. If your brother bleeds, you bleed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your brother is in pain, you are in pain. The walls you have built in illusion do not exist in reality. They are but illusions that you protect. It is your ego that is the guardian of this thought system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of the human\nbrain. The brain is comprised of millions upon millions of cells, each\ndistinct. Yet, nonetheless each one IS a brain cell and is a part of the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, if but one cell\nin the brain contracts cancer, does the brain have cancer? Yes it does. The\nwhole thing must be healed or risk death. This is the relationship you have\nwith all of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your brother, that\nsingle cell, is sick, then you are sick, as is the whole. The insane choice is\nto condemn that single cell for its sickness. The sane choice is to help it to\nheal, thereby healing you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like our thumbs in the\nstory, it is only your condemnation and judgment that allows you to risk\nkilling yourself for the perverse joy that condemning another brings to you.\nThis IS the thought system of the ego. This is what you have come to believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this is lunacy.\nThe walls you imagine are not there! This is why you are out of accord with the\nuniverse and need correction. The universe, your Creator, being known by\nwhatever name you wish to call it, knows that none of this separation is true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you want peace? Do\nyou want joy? Then you must understand that forgiveness in regards to this\nprocess IS the key to all peace and all joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forgive the universe.\nForgive the world. Forgive your brother. For they are you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How does one find peace and joy in the world? I will begin by telling you a story . . . Once upon a time, there was a man who desired to hammer a nail into a wall. The man picked up the nail with his left hand and the hammer in his right. 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