This forgetting is not necessarily a mistake. In many ways,
it may be part of the adventure itself. If consciousness is truly infinite,
then experience requires limitation. To know joy, there must be sorrow. To know
peace, there must be conflict. To know love, there must be the possibility of
fear. The soul enters into the world of experience and becomes so identified
with the temporary that it forgets the eternal. We begin to believe that we are
merely our bodies, our histories, our successes, our failures, our beliefs, our
political affiliations, our religions, and our cultures. We mistake the costume
for the actor and the wave for the ocean.
The ancient wisdom traditions have spoken of this
forgetfulness in different ways. The Gospel of Truth speaks of ignorance and
forgetfulness. The Hermetic writings speak of humanity descending into matter
and becoming captivated by the experience. Vedanta speaks of ignorance of our
true nature. Christian mystics speak of union with God being obscured by the
ego. Though the language differs, the underlying theme is remarkably similar.
We have become so focused on the surface of reality that we have forgotten the
depth from which it arises.
In my own journey, I have come to see Jesus not primarily as
the founder of a religion, but as one who came to awaken humanity to its true
identity. His message was not simply about securing a place in heaven after
death. It was about opening our eyes to the kingdom already present, both
within us and among us. The Logos that was in Christ is not absent from
humanity. It is the light that enlightens every person coming into the world.
The tragedy is not that God has hidden Himself from us. The tragedy is that we
have become distracted by the noise of life and forgotten to recognize the
divine presence that has never left us.
When we forget who we are, fear becomes our constant
companion. We fear loss because we believe we are defined by what we possess.
We fear rejection because we believe we are defined by the opinions of others.
We fear death because we believe we are only these temporary forms. Much of
human suffering arises from these mistaken identifications. We spend our lives
defending an image of ourselves that was never our deepest identity in the
first place.
The path of awakening is therefore not about becoming
something new. It is about remembering what has always been true. It is a
recovery of vision. It is the gradual realization that beneath all the layers
of personality, culture, religion, and ego lies a deeper self connected to the
very ground of being. This realization does not make us less human. Instead, it
allows us to become fully human. We stop living from fear and begin living from
trust. We stop seeking validation and begin expressing authenticity. We stop
trying to prove our worth and begin recognizing the worth already present
within ourselves and others.
One of the great misunderstandings of religion is the idea
that God is somewhere else and must be persuaded to come near. I have
increasingly come to believe that the divine presence is already here. The
challenge is not getting God to show up. The challenge is learning to perceive
what has always been present. Like a fish searching for water, we often
overlook the very reality in which we are immersed. The kingdom, the Logos, the
divine life, the sacred presence—these are not distant realities waiting beyond
the clouds. They are woven into the fabric of existence itself.
This remembrance changes the way we see other people. If the
same divine source lives within all beings, then every person carries a hidden
sacredness. Beneath the masks, wounds, and limitations of life resides a spark
of the same reality that sustains the universe. This does not mean everyone
behaves wisely or lovingly. It means that behind every expression of humanity
lies a deeper identity waiting to be remembered. Compassion becomes easier when
we realize that every person is on the same journey of forgetting and
remembering.
I also believe that experience itself plays an essential
role in this process. We are not here merely to escape the world. We are here
to participate in it. The joys and sorrows, victories and defeats, loves and
losses all contribute to the expansion of consciousness. Life is not simply a
test to be passed. It is an opportunity to experience, learn, create, and grow.
Through these experiences, consciousness comes to know itself more deeply. The
soul gradually awakens to dimensions of love, wisdom, and understanding that
could not be developed in abstraction alone.
Love, in my view, is the clearest sign that remembrance is
occurring. Whenever we move beyond fear, beyond selfishness, beyond separation,
and genuinely care for another being, we are expressing our deeper nature. Love
is not merely an emotion. It is the recognition of unity beneath apparent
division. It is the realization that what we do to others, we ultimately do to
ourselves because we participate in a shared reality.
The journey of spiritual growth is therefore a journey of
remembrance. We remember that we are more than our fears. We remember that we
are more than our temporary identities. We remember that the divine has never
been absent. We remember that life itself is sacred. We remember that love is
our deepest calling. And as this remembrance deepens, we begin to live with
greater peace, greater compassion, and greater joy.
Perhaps salvation, enlightenment, awakening, and
transformation are all pointing toward the same truth. They are different names
for the gradual recovery of our forgotten identity. The goal is not to become
something we are not. The goal is to awaken to what we have always been. In
that awakening, we discover that we have never truly been separate from the
Source, and we find ourselves participating consciously in the great adventure
of existence with gratitude, wonder, and love.
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