Sometimes when I sit down to write this column, I find that I really don’t have much to say. This was one of those times. I looked back on my past writing and it seemed to me that I’d already said all that I have to say. I look back and see that there is much information and, if I may say so, some little bit of knowledge. But then it hit me, once again, that while knowledge is a good thing, a very important thing, it will only carry us so far. To make any real progress on the path, we have not only to know some things but also to live them.

We all carry our wounds and scars from childhood and adolescence. They range in severity, but we all play the cards we were dealt. One of the issues I was left with is a mistrust of the universe. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are all children of God. I know that I sit in the center of my universe and am alone responsible for my personal reality. Prosperity is my birthright and my hand is on the spigot, either opening it wide or choking it off. But knowing that intellectually is easy. Living it can be hard. The world we live in most of the time is a consensual reality and it is quite convincing. As I’ve said many times, the physical plane may be Maya, but when we stub our toe, it really hurts. So often the world looms large and we can feel helpless to change it.

We can know all the secrets of the universe, but if that knowledge remains at the level of intellect, it can oftentimes avail us little. A person wise way beyond her years once said to me, “the way to do is to be.” That sounds like it must be from one or the other translations of the Tao Te Ching. It was said to me when I was only eighteen years old, and I still fall back on it now, more than thirty years later. It is a major key to dealing with whatever challenges we have placed in our way. Sometimes I see the world as a theme park, and I am continually upgrading my ticket. Sometimes the world can seem a much darker and scarier place. But it is in my hands to create more light or more dark. So it is with us all.