If there is something to be said for our attempts to raise our thoughts and actions in what would be seen as an “upward spiral of consciousness” that propels us to be a participant with universal law, what would that entail, or be? To become an instrument of change, or co-creator with our source. To channel our consciousness and know all that I/we are is God, and as such we become universal. That there is no separation with divine consciousness. I met such a person in my travels in China.

This idea has always been manifested with our connection with nature and the transcendent experiences we share. As we reflect on Easter this past week, it is easy to see how Jesus was an expression of this oneness. How Jesus is seen as connecting us with our own divine potential… as our Christ divinity. This divinity is not exclusionary. He and other figures who have manifested here on earth (Buddha, Lao Tzu, Mohammed, Moses etc.,) appeared here for our awakening. Not just to better define what may be called “salvation”, but to direct us to become who we really are and to become true to whatever this means. This is sometimes referred to as having an “absolute knowing” that brings forth the power within each of us.

It is here where we sometimes get confused as to our role and that our role can be defined for us. It is here that I recall a Christian minister I met in China in 2004. We became good friends as I prepared to publish the Daily Word in China. Over the years, we fell out of touch and while teaching at Jining University we met again at his church in 2013. I learned he had spent four years in prison. Time spent to re-direct or modify his message… He was preaching again at his church. The vibrations I felt from him were a little overwhelming. He seemed to me truly transcendent, as if he knew that we each have power beyond measure. That God, in whatever form, religion, or philosophy we choose, is expressed “as me – through me – then through ourselves and others.” That sometimes it’s not until that faith faces the ultimate challenge that our role can be truly defined. That we are each here to find and be the light that shows the way.

That we are here to “move mountains”. That the healing of our relationships with people and our environment must begin within ourselves. That it is through language we can begin to move people. That it is in this way we can “stand in the knowing” to step into the peace that saves both us and the world. There is a famous story in ancient China about “moving mountains”. It is on my website thekondanfoundation.com under the tab My Travels with Lieh Tzu, number 76…

76.              The Mountains of Tenacious Sincerity 

After a lifetime of going around the mountains to get to a place directly in front of him, an old man decided that this was much too far to come and go.  That the mountains should be leveled and thrown into the surrounding sea. So that a road straight through could be built and travel to places a distance away could be made much closer.  All agreed, except the man’s wife who argued that at the age of ninety he was too weak to raze even the smallest hill.

Soon the work began as he and his sons broke up the stones one at a time and began carrying them to the sea. Those passing by scoffed at the idea. Asking how a man in declining years could damage mountains several thousand feet high, he responded: “Certainly your mind is set to firm for me ever to penetrate it. Even when I die, I shall have sons surviving me. My sons will beget me more grandsons, my grandsons in their turn will have sons, and these will have more sons and grandsons. My descendants will go on forever, but the mountain will get no bigger. Why should there be any difficulty in leveling it?”

All those doubting the old man’s tenacity were at a loss for words. The mountains spirit began to get irritated at those pecking at their feet and upon checking it out, heard about what was going on and were afraid the old man would not give up.

They reported the story to God, who was overwhelmed by the sincerity of the old man and his efforts. God commanded that the mountains be moved, one the Shuo Tung the other to Yung Nan. Since that time, the area where the old man’s descendants remain is as flat as can be and can be traveled across with ease. The forbidding mountains long gone. With the strength of one’s sincerity what task can possibly be too overwhelming.   4/19/95

Moving mountains and standing with this knowing, stepping into the power to create peace in the world as we each overcome obstacles. As we recognize it is through our faith we acknowledge the divinity within us and the ultimate nature of non-resistance. First finding peace within ourselves, then moving outward towards others by standing for what is right. Others soon begin to see your actions, and soon see beyond their own limiting view to what can be done that serves the needs of everyone, nature, and the universe from which we came.