The Five Faces of Freedom: Freedom to Manifest Heaven on Earth

Editor’s note: This is Part 4 of a five-part series, the Five Faces of Freedom, recounting the author’s reflections on turning 70. Part 1 focused on Freedom from the Past, Part 2, on Freedom from the Future, Part 3, Freedom from the World and Part 4, Freedom from the Self.

We conclude our series by restating our function, what we were born to do.  In the words of Eckhart Tolle, “You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold.”  In the words of “A Course in Miracles”, (Manual for Teachers, final benediction)…”it is given you to be the means through which his Voice is heard around the world, to close all things of time, to end the sight of all things visible, and to undo all things that change. Through you is ushered in a world unseen, unheard, yet truly there.” This is the kingdom of heaven on earth, nothing more and nothing less. Most will find this radiant truth unbelievable, but I can assure you that this is true. My life has born clear testimony to this shimmering reality.

So the “work” involved is simple, removing the interference patterns that would keep one from awakening to the clear purpose of life. I quoted from the last page of “A Course in Miracles”, but the promise was made of the very first page: “The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance.” I was baffled in my youth by the obvious lack of love surrounding me. I never found love in my family, only abuse and betrayal. Likewise my search for love in the world came up empty. And yet somehow I trusted this Voice, which guided me from a very young age.

I remember first hearing this Voice as a seemingly crazy thought in my head, “You cannot die.” Skiing with my family in Vermont, I remember thinking that I could defy natural law, risking broken bones and possible death, by “bombing” down the lift line. I started higher and higher up, guaranteeing a violent crash. Each time I did lose control and crashed I felt a wave of peace wash over me, relaxing my body. Much to the certain horror of those in the chairlift above me my body was assaulted, but always I broke nothing but my skis. The clerk in the ski shop where I had bought the new technology of the Hart Javelin, which carried a lifetime guarantee against breakage, was aghast when I walked in with two broken skis.

The next clear encounter with this Voice was when I was studying late one night for a statistics exam at the University of Connecticut. I was totally alone, totally sober, and the Voice spoke clearly in the dead silence of the study hall. “You are to break your engagement, quit the university, let go all of your possessions, and head west.”  I had no belief in any god, nor trust in any sort of authority, but this Voice I knew could not be dismissed.

Crazy as it seemed to everyone, especially my fiancee, 3 weeks later I was on the road heading west. Where west? I had no idea, but starting in Connecticut, there were plenty of options. It would turn out that this blind trust, my willingness to follow the Voice’s directive, made all the difference in my life. It became clear about 2 years later that the purpose of this guidance was to bring me into the orbit of a very powerful spiritual teacher in San Francisco. Again, naturally a skeptic, I held no belief in this woman, a teacher of Buddhism, who attracted a circle of devotees, who claimed that Rina had healing powers.

My meeting with Rina came shortly after I woke up one morning with a strange vision, a vision of some future Oasis, and my role as some sort of spiritual teacher.  In my class in Buddhist studies with Rina she asked me after the class that week to come and see her in private.  When I showed up early Saturday morning to her small room in the main academic building she opened her door and reached up and touched my forehead with her tiny fingers. I collapsed in a heap at her feet, weeping uncontrollably; I knew in this instant the full power of divine love. Rina told me about my vision, that it would all come true, that I would one day fulfill my destiny.

Now my disbelief and my trust were at odds and would engage in a battle for my “soul” for the next dozen years. It wasn’t until my collapse, at 33, after the car crash I mentioned previously, that the battle was over. I remember distinctly the morning that I completely surrendered, crying out to what seemed an uncaring universe, “I give up! I can’t fight anymore.” The same warm embrace that I had felt during the violent crash embraced me now, and the Voice, clear as ever, whispered to me, “As long as you are able to do this you will never have to worry ever again.” I knew for the very first time what appeared as a loving Father, and my relationship with this god would go through a series of changes over the next 20 years. But one thing was clear, that I would never be “alone and friendless” again.

So here I am at age 70, my personal expression of paradise, a true heaven on earth, is fully evident. I have a true home surrounded by natural beauty. I have a true family, knowing human love in a way totally unexpected, the love of my 7-year old daughter. This was my bonus for 5 decades of patience and perseverance. And these same 5 decades of spiritual study and life experience gives me the opportunity to share an expression of mastery that I sense completes the destiny I was called to fulfill. In a world that desperately cries for masters, 1000 points of light as Carolyn Myss would say, our evolution as a species, the birth of our new earth, is in our hands.
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Louis Bourgeois lives outside of Cuenca with his wife and young daughter. He teaches courses in Conscious Living and Conscious Dying. If you would like to participate, he can be contacted at louisb333@hotmail.com