“The eyes are the mirror of the soul and reflect everything that seems to be hidden; and like a mirror, they also reflect the person looking into them.”

― Paulo Coelho

Sometimes when I'm grounded in traffic on Guadalupe St. headed towards downtown, my mind wanders as I stare off into the windows of the buildings around me. I see myself looking back at me through the mirrored reflection and I think of what it must be like to be able to see beyond the physical limitations of human sight. Within the mirrored hallway of buildings on either side of the street, I can perceive the flow of traffic much farther ahead. I can see the sun light reflected back onto a walkway that has already seen the rise and fall of the sun earlier in the day. With the catalogue of fantasy books and films made on extraordinary superpowers, I too wonder what it must be like to be capable of accurately seeing the information contained within the reflected light. Everything is contained within the reflection of a reflection! It's like peering into an abyss....

On a Sunday afternoon, I found myself reading in a coffee shop about the Buddha. Buddhism began nearly 2500 years ago in Asia near India, Nepal, and China. The man who would become the Buddha or "enlightened one", was born a prince who was prophesied to become either a great king or a holy person. His path was unclear, but his father had hoped for him to ascend to the throne. The prince grew up with all the advantages of privilege, pleasure, and education; however, he felt an unquenchable calling in his soul to seek enlightenment. His desire to understand had led him to discover the nature of the world. He saw that most do not live within the confines of wealth and abundance. He vowed to conquer suffering and death as well as share this information with his fellow man. He left his life of family and attachments to seek enlightenment. He studied under various spiritual gurus until he mastered their abilities to temporarily tune out the distractions of the world, yet he was still unsatisfied with this stop-gap measure. He reasoned that despite reaching the highest levels of meditation and self discipline, one could not quiet the stirring pangs of desire in their mind. In his years of travel and contemplation, he discovered enlightenment while resting under the Bodhi tree. He concluded that life itself was a state of suffering, and that this suffering was the result of desire. The Buddha was a compassionate man and could feel the energy and thoughts of others. He could peer into their souls and see the root of their suffering and offer solutions to help them become free. He discovered that he was the incarnate of the many Buddhas (enlightened ones) before him and of those to come (like the laughing Buddha).

He reasoned that each person was attached to the illusion that their life and their perception of the world was as it truly is, when in fact reality is closer to the intersection of perception from every life. In other words, when two people argue their version of the truth, each believes themselves to be right when the truth is most likely closer to the overlap of both people's perceptions. The Buddha further reasoned that all things are temporal and connected to this illusion. He reasoned that life is more than simply you and me, the past or future; He believed we are connected empathically to all things in the here and now present. "There is no inhale, no exhale, just breath."

After reading about the Buddha, I decided to walk to church. I ran into homeless people begging for money. I acknowledged and prayed with them as I made my way to the cathedral. In the gospel, John the baptist spoke of how he had seen Jesus coming to be baptized and yet he "did not know him". Only through fulfilling his life's mission was John able to finally see Christ for who he truly was. The priest giving the homily commented that even at times some of the Apostles could not tell Christ by his physical form, indicating that His Spirit was the only way to truly know Him. They would question and Christ would answer, "I have been with you all and yet you do not know me?" He continued to address Phillip, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." Christ told his disciples that he would be going away for a while, but that God would send a Helper, who will stay with them forever.

"He is the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God. The world cannot receive him, because it cannot see him or know him. But you know him, because he remains with you and is in you."
John 14:17

The priest talked of the Spirit of Christ capable of existing within everyone and how Christ comes to us sometimes in forms that we do not recognize. He cited the mysterious case of St Martin of Tours, who was approached by a beggar and used his sword to shear half of his cloak to clothe the naked man. Later in a dream he witnessed Christ telling his angels that Martin had clothed him. Dreams are difficult to interpret and psychologists have their theories, but it was enough to convince Martin to change from being a soldier into a man of God.

It's almost typical of God to work this way. One encounter changes everything. We come across dozens of people everyday. Each person capable of carrying the light of truth within them. Each person capable of reflecting that light onto others and they onto those of whom they will meet. It's a veritable hall of mirrors but instead of illusion, the light being reflected carries the Truth.

"And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the Image that we reflect." (2 Cor. 3:18)

Human nature is very interesting.  Each human being is born with an innate sense of nature or proclivity towards behavior.  We inherit these characteristics from our parents and ancestors.  The offspring of athletes often develop into great athletes themselves such as Kobe Bryant or Floyd Mayweather Jr.  Our environments shape our attitudes on morality and affect our thought processes; however, our genetic lineage is somewhat predetermined.  Our ancestors may have given us a clue into one of life's great mysteries with the creation story of Adam and Eve...

The cradle of civilization is believed to have come from the middle east (Iraq, Iran, Israel, Syria, and Jordan) near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.  Even still to this day there seems to be some sort of residual spiritual magnetism that causes intense feuding dating back as far as historical records can indicate.  The Book of Genesis, one of the founding works of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam dates back nearly 3500 years.

The Book describes, in poetic detail, the creation of the earth and all the creatures that live on it.  Its story is told in amazing simplicity that even children may hear it and in time come to understand its wisdom with maturity.  In the creation story, God produced man in His likeness and gave him dominion over the earth much like a father would bestow an inheritance unto his son.  The Creator of the world is said to have existed before time itself and in creating Time and the Universe, He made Angels to help him.  Angels are spiritual beings (as opposed to human beings) which are not bound to flesh and blood bodies.  After the Creator had made man, He called him Adam and saw that he was lonely so He created a companion for him and called her Eve.  Adam and Eve lived in a paradise called the Garden of Eden under the condition that they do not eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. God had warned them that if they consumed from it that they would die. 

Some of the Angels were jealous of the Creator's love for man and chose to go their own way.  The leader of the fallen angels, sometimes called Satan, is said to have assumed the form of a snake and tempted Eve in the Garden.  The story does not explicitly say that sex was involved (which makes the story safe for children); however, it implies that the devil seduced Eve and told her that she would not die from disobeying God but instead would gain the wisdom that God had kept from her and Adam (much like Adultery doesn't usually kill the committer but does bring about spiritual decline especially if pregnancy and abortion is involved).

Some believe that Satan had assumed a human form and after he seduced Eve into sin she became pregnant with the seed that begot Cain.  In her new awareness Eve convinced Adam to sin by also eating the forbidden fruit to cover her shame and became pregnant with Cain's brother, Abel.  In the creation story, after both had sinned, Adam and Eve became aware of their nakedness and covered themselves with fig leaves which is how God knew of their disobedience.

After their fall from grace, Adam and Eve were fractured and could no longer live as they were.  Their everlasting shame of disobedience and sin stained their conscience and souls.  Cain grew jealous of his brother and murdered him.  He was cast out of the family and left to create his own legacy in another land.  Adam and Eve begot another child, Seth, who would become the replacement for their lost son.  It sounds incredibly dysfunctional because it is.  Satan poisoned human nature and corrupted the human family because he was jealous of God's love for mankind.

To this day, our nature is affected by man's fear of being deceived by an adulterous woman and the risk of raising another man's seed.  Women themselves are temped and deceived by snakes of men who seduce and destroy wives, girlfriends, mothers, and households.  Temptation slithers into our minds when we are weak and plants the seed of doubt or faithlessness.  It tells us to partake and that no harm will come to us.  It wants us to stray from the path of truth.  It wants us to sin and disobey God.

Today our society is composed of fractured households.  It is common to hear of affairs, step-families, and divorced parents.  In school, children are taught about sex with the anticipation of puberty.  Some of them are too young to understand the gravity of such behavior, yet this discussion is necessary as most parents themselves are not properly addressing these concerns.  Like our young ancestors, Adam and Eve, we simply do not have the maturity at such a young age to understand the graveness of sex either before, during, or outside of marriage.  We mostly rely upon the models our parents set for us.

Young women tend to develop faster than their male counterparts and as a result discover their powers of sexuality as older and higher status men begin to pay attention (much like Eve receiving awareness before Adam).  Youth represents fertility and in this limited window of fecundity, men are drawn to women who can produce multiple healthy offspring.  To the frustration of young men (who receive their awareness later), they must learn to compete with other male suitors in order to win the favor of fertile women.  Men must develop themselves in fitness, skill, wealth, and character (read: Power) in order to attract and maintain spousal appeal lest she be seduced by a snake.

Due to physical differences between the sexes, women learn to advertise their sexual availability through covert mechanisms.  Humans have a hidden ovulation as opposed to our primate cousins whose genitalia swell and redden to indicate a fertility window.  Barely perceptible scent pheromones are really the only unmasked clue to a woman's estrus cycle.  Other signs might include wearing revealing clothing or certain colors such as red to indicate sexual receptiveness.  Studies have shown that women tend to subscribe to dual mating instincts also known as hypergamy.  This sexual strategy is possibly the reason why women are drawn to the bad boy during ovulation and the nice guy at other times of their cycle.  The bad boy possesses the attractive genetics for strong and healthy offspring, while the nice guy is more likely to be kind and caring as both a parent and husband through difficult times like pregnancy.  In the creation story, Satan was the first bad boy, while Adam was the first nice guy.

The nature of attraction between men and women is quite different.  Men are wired to be attracted to youth and beauty and to spread their seed far and wide without a 9 month lag in reproductive capability (ie. billions of sperm = greater chances of genetic propagation).  Women are wired to be sexually drawn to the most attractive male within their environment as displayed by competitive attention from other women (ie finite supply of eggs = missed opportunity costs of breeding with superior genes).  When paired in monogamy, both partners must sacrifice their biological predilections in order to remain faithful to the relationship and their family.  Men must suppress their instinct to engage with other sexually available women.  Women must suppress their instinct to act on sexual attraction with other men who they feel is a stronger more desireable mate.

Satan poisoned humanity by cuckolding Adam and defiling his wife, not through force, but by her willful succumbing into temptation.  In doing so, he introduced the world to the knowledge of infidelity, the forbidden fruit our Creator tried to protect us from eating.  Eve slept with another, became pregnant, and tried to cover her sinful conception by seducing Adam into becoming her bastard offspring's illegitimate father.  In such a wicked manner, Satan had fractured human nature to such an extent that we still suffer from this trauma today.

Humankind carried on for hundreds of generations with the stain of our ancestor's sin upon our souls.  Like any rational human, we came to accept our fallen state and did our best to live with our nature.  We developed codes of conduct, societies, and religion to help instill a sense of right and wrong so that we could teach our children to learn from our mistakes and help guide them onto a righteous path.  We learned that sin is inevitable after a child grows past a certain age, but through love we came to understand and offer forgiveness.  Ancient prophets began to speculate on the birth of a savior.  Their spiritual antennae picked up broadcasts of a miraculous virgin birth.  A woman of a pure and chaste spirit was born without the stain of original sin who we call Mary.  She along with her husband-to-be both submitted to the news delivered by an angel that God had planned on planting His righteous seed in Mary to redeem the sins of both Adam and Eve.  This child was special and was to be called Jesus.  Rather than being born as an earthly prince, His kingdom would not be of this world.  He would grow and become a man with supernatural abilities to heal corrupted minds, bodies, and souls.  He would teach others to harness these gifts through the development of faith and obedience to God the Father.  He would restore the corruption in our souls by serving as a leader, teacher, healer, and sacrificial offering.

The mysteries of genetic predisposition to cheat, lie, and sin might rest within our blood, but the good news is that we ourselves or even our children don't have to suffer the same fate.  Christ came into this world as proof of God's love who willingly died because mankind had reached the tipping point of corruption.  Our family tree no longer bore viable fruit.  The heirs of corrupt parents had led to generations of corrupt children and no matter how hard we tried to fix ourselves, we needed divine grace.

Today when contemplating marriage as a spiritual union between husband and wife, many people enter this sacrament with sexual histories of past partners.  Understanding that we have been forgiven by our Creator, we are faced with the choice to forgive our spouses of past transgressions; however, marriage is not without condition or consequence.  Besides natural attraction, one should weigh the choice to enter into holy matrimony with how much faith each partner has.  Faith is like self esteem as opposed to ego.  Narcissists derive material and emotional validation from external sources the way an adulterer enters into commitment; whereas, individuals who have faith in themselves do not need this illusion to achieve inner happiness or make lasting commitment. 

People of sincere faith tend to be faithful people and worthy of commitment.

The risks of marital infidelity, producing insidious offspring, and emotional damages that come from unholy unions is worth the extra due diligence in making sure one's marriage (and family) will have the greatest chance of success and prosperity.

 12/14/15  -  the Austin Chronicle

It's been said never to cut the whiskers off a cat or dog. Animals react in pain when such acts are performed simply for the sake of vanity. These sensory hairs are directly linked to the animal's brain through a specialized series of nerves that help detect 'supernatural' changes in the environment and once cut they never truly recover...

A few nights ago, I turned in my bed to check the clock on my phone; it was a little past 3am. I could hear the sobs of someone in pain through the wall of my apartment bedroom. It was a cry of pain not from physical hurt, but rather the distinct wail of heartache. I couldn't decide whether to ignore the weeping or move to the living room couch to find restful sleep. Instead I said a quiet prayer, the crying stopped, and I fell back to sleep.

The next night, I heard the arguing of yet another neighbor either from below or the other side of the apartment. This time the screams were directed at her tormentor in between painful wails of hurt and sadness. Angry words were thrown through what must have been a phone since no return fire could be heard. Pain, hurt, and suffering was all around.

In the nearly two years that I've lived at my current address, I can't say that I've been able to feel the haunting chill of emotions quite as vividly as it has gotten lately. I live in an upscale apartment complex in East Austin with an active community of friendly residents.

In response to the desperate sadness being broadcast throughout the complex halls, I have found the need to distance myself from people all together. My emotions have always been a source of strength as I have identified myself as an empath, a person with the ability to feel other people's emotions within a field of perception. The problem looming over my head is that I am beginning to feel more empathic each day and this burden may be more than I can endure.

When I was young, I could sometimes feel the emotions of others as if they were my own. I didn't know that this was an uncommon gift. I had difficulty distinguishing my feelings from others. In school I had met a set of identical twin brothers who would often complete each others sentences. It was comical to witness. In response to how they were able to perform this parlor trick, they claimed to feel what the other felt. Years later, one of them tragically suffered a traumatic brain injury while diving into a swimming pool. His twin witnessed the accident and also suffers from a similar cognitive impairment.

Later on as I matured, I began to understand their connection. I became fascinated with astrology as my sign, being a Gemini, offered solace and explanation towards my affinity for twin empathies. I could see both sides to any situation, the object as well as its reflection. With my ability to feel the other person’s proverbial souls resting in their shoes, I quickly made friends with people from all cultures, backgrounds, and walks of life. Being the son of brown skinned immigrant parents allowed me to move from culture to culture seamlessly adapting to the environment wherever I went.

Shortly after joining the workforce straight out of school, I experienced a set of traumas that forced me to recalibrate my emotions. Between the loss of a long-term relationship, and the near loss of an alcoholic brother, I had undergone a personality change that helped me to cope with the new environment. It was impossible for me to remain the old person knowing the realities life was unveiling to me. The change in personality also manifested in physical appearance through my refusal to cut my hair. I felt the strong need to return to the way nature intended for me to be. We are perfect creatures who seek conformity to the social constructs we create for ourselves. I wished to return to the wild original state in which man was created.

Defying society meant dealing with the consequences of standing out. As my hair grew longer every month I received stares from some and lectures from my employer who strongly recommended that I return to business grooming conformity. I practiced hygiene, I shaved my face, and outperformed my peers; while respectfully declining to submit to their requests. Many customers, friends, and co-workers seemed happy with my 'devil may care' attitude in defiance of social norms.

I began to grow stronger and healthier each day. I felt more in tune with my mind, body, and spirit. My mind and body worked together each guiding the other as to what they needed in order for my cells to become healthy. This allowed me to accomplish tasks that freed me from dependence on an employer, unhealthy relationships, poor food choices, and drink. My confidence grew, my body slimmed to an athletic build, my will power soared, and faith in myself and my connection to the Universe was securely established.

After nearly a year, my hair had grown about eight inches long and I was enjoying one of the most prosperous years of my life. I wasn't sure if my newfound gifts of well-being were derived from my outward appearance, which ironically started with the idea of not indulging in vanity. I decided to experiment by cutting off my locks in exchange for a commitment from my younger brother to quit his cigarette habit. I noticed an almost immediate decrease in empathic perception as if my antenna to the universal connection had been severed. In a way I was happy to be given an opportunity to sacrifice a symbol of vanity for love of my brother's well-being, as well as the much needed respite from experiencing a solid year of empathy; however, I resolved to grow my hair back from that very moment. I discovered that the gifts of health in mind, body, and spirit remained, for which I was grateful, but I longed for my close connection to the Creator of the Universe.

In my gratitude I sought to give back to others that which the Universe had given to me, and in doing so I was gifted with a mission. That mission involved helping others climb out from their grief, sadness, slavery, and depression. My task was to help heal others so that the cancers of hate, addiction, suffering, and despair could be defeated.

People were attracted to the light that I radiated. I was at peace with myself, and could tap into the spirit of the Universe. I could show them things about themselves, teach them to have faith, and emancipate themselves from external vice. My energy would deplete from time to time where I found myself stealing away to recharge. I learned to recognize and set effective boundaries when I approached empty on my emotional tank. It was on one of my social sabbaticals that I felt the awakening of what philosopher-psychiatrist, Carl Jung, referred to as the 'collective unconscious', a subconscious telepathic connection shared by all life on this planet.

I would often have these vivid dreams and conversations with people from the past, present, or future. I felt the equivalent of being part of a dream unsure of my role as the dreamer or member of the supporting cast. I could sometimes visit people in their dreams as well (I believe this is called astral projection).

It occurred to me that in my empathy of feeling others pain, suffering, or joy that all were connected together to the source where all life originates. The question of whether all lives were actually independent thinking and feeling cells operating within the same body stuck in my mind like a splinter. All I could understand was a small part of the big picture, but enough to comprehend the interconnectedness of life.

With my swarthy complexion, long hair, and the occasional beard, people would jokingly compare me to Moses, Jesus, or another character from a book. I was happy that people saw these iconic champions of freedom when they looked at me. I've been able to meet and help dozens of people throughout the years. I connected with them through their emotions. I could empathize with them and offer practical solutions to help them on their journey. I could sense their connection to a divine source and remind them of this in a way they could understand. I tried not to preach since I could also feel their point of view and encouraged them to see their own divine nature.

I became aware of the implications of false prophets and cult leaders, so I carefully measured my choices between serving my own ego and the collective soul. I attempted to lead with my actions. I believe in forgiveness, acceptance, and love for oneself before one can offer such gifts to another. I wanted to make a positive difference in the lives of others as I could feel the ripple effect of kindness, which seems to transcend time and distance. It radiates from person to person and farther than one can tell.

As my hair and empathic nature grew more substantial, I became overwhelmed in crowds. It was terrifying and nearly impossible to describe. I felt like a trapped animal in the midst of a packed rock concert. I could sense the feelings of people all around me and this caused deep anxiety and panic. I wanted to dull my senses of perception, which meant cutting my hair and diminishing my spiritual connection. Before I learned to control my emotions, I relied on annual haircuts to dull my empathy for months until the hair had grown back to at least as long as it was before. Since then I've learned to better control my gift of empathy rather than suffer its strain.

As with all belief structures, they are only as strong as the energy supplied to it, so I began to give strength to the notion of the collective soul. I feel a kinship with the ancient prophets of whom it can be said also felt this empathy for their fellow man and through their devotion to changing the self-interested apathetic ways of individual cells caught up in the cycle of egotism, vice, and death.

Eastern religions discuss the concept of re-incarnation, where the death of one life is re-birthed in a new form with a new consciousness in a cycle of death and re-birth until the immortal soul or essence of that being is released back to the source of creation. I believe that this belief structure helps to instill a sense of empathy in its followers since the sins we commit unto others will be the same sins that we experience in this or the next life in order to fulfill the souls karmic experience. This soul journey may transcend time, space, and physical form. The theory of re-incarnation (or religion) doesn't require belief from anyone, but rather serves to explain morality to those who lack the understanding of how to treat their fellow human beings. In other words, whether or not a better "life" exists beyond death shouldn't change how one behaves towards others in this life. Kindness and compassion are universal.

I suspect that every soul on this planet is all that ever was and will be, born again over and over until love collectively exists for every being, until we can empathize and love one another as we love ourselves. If harming or allowing harm to come to your neighbor was equally harmful to oneself, then one might work to create a better environment so that both may profit from a less harmful community. If one leaves the world in a better condition than it was found then the next generation would inherit a brighter future. If we follow the examples set by righteous leaders of the past, then we may become righteous leaders to the future. First shall be last, and last will be first.

"Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world."
― The Talmud