Although all problems seem unique, each also has within it the solution. Let me explain...

I received an e-mail from a reader recently. She is a lovely woman who, because of her alcoholism, has lost most of what she holds dear in her life. She is doing all she can to become free of the addiction. And she is scared. She is worried about her health, her treatments, her family, her friends, her financial well-being, and her ability to overcome her addiction. She feels surrounded by a seemingly insurmountable number of problems, all needing her immediate attention. Every one of these problems seems to be connected to another, forming a complex web that completely imprisons her. She feels full of problems and empty of solutions.

Many of us have felt overwhelmed at some time in our lives. Maybe its a divorce, losing a job, an illness, some dilemma that comes because of a serious life challenge. It seems we are stuck between a rock and a hard place and that life is very difficult. Any choice we make when we are in this position leads to us a no-win situation. Although her problem is specific, her challenges are universal: how do we transcend lifes problems and the fear and loss that are the companions of problems? The approach to this particular womans circumstances can be applied to all our problems.

When we come face to face with a problem, one of the first things we do is reach out for help. Sometimes we can see help; sometimes we cant. We want to deal with problems on a physical level and come up physical solutions. When a problem is specific like a divorce, we know to go to a divorce lawyer. If its a job loss, we go to a career counselor. If we have an illness, we go to a doctor. Which is great, I think it is important that we do that. When we are sick, its important we seek a doctors help. But this is a world of cause and effect. If we only deal with problems at the level of effects, then we only find solutions for the effects. As long as the cause still exists, we are sure to re-experience the problems again and again. For example, if we have a hole in our boat and all we do is bail out the water (the effect), we may stay afloat for a while but until we fix the hole (the cause), water will continue to seep in. As soon as we fix the hole (the cause), bailing (the effect) becomes unnecessary. The same is true of all of lifes problems: When we heal the cause, the effects look after themselves.

As important as it is to find solutions to problems on the physical level, we need to go beyond the physical aspects of problems and their physical solutions to a deeper level. We need to look at our soul level so that we can find spiritual solutions. When we find a spiritual solution, we are dealing with the problem at the level of its cause. And by healing the cause, the effects dont reoccur. For example, if we have a headache and we only deal with it at a physical level by taking a pain reliever then we may be cured for a while, but chances are that it is going to reoccur. In addition to paying attention to the cures at the physical levels, it benefits us to attend to the spiritual solution as well. Healing at both levels provides short term relief and guarantees that the problem will not reoccur.

On the physical level it really looks like problems come in many different forms, shapes, and sizes; with luck, each has its own physical cure. On the spiritual level, there is one problem and therefore there is one solution. Because the one problem is our belief in our separation from God, the one solution is our belief that we are one with God.

There are many things that almost all spiritual traditions agree on and I am going to speak of two of them here. The first is the universal belief, "God is infinite." By definition, something that is infinite can have no opposite. Anything that encompasses everything can have no opposite; there really is no other place for anything to be. In the physical world, everything has an opposite. When there is an illness, it has its opposite health. When there is a broken marriage, there is its opposite a happy marriage. When there is unemployment, it has its opposite - employment. Or even when there is unhappy employment there is an opposite - happy employment. In duality there is always an opposite. In the idea that God is infinite, there can be no opposite. So if we believe that God is infinite, as almost every spirituality suggests, there can be no place where God isnt.

The second nearly universal belief that I want to offer is, "God is perfect." In my picture of the perfect world (and I think youll agree), there is no illness, there is no poverty, there couldnt be anything that is considered painful or imperfect. In my perfect world if Im married, Im happily married. If Im single, Im happily single. If I have an occupation, I love my occupation. So in perfection, it is impossible for there to be pain, illness, poverty, etc.

So lets put those two truths together. If we agree that God is infinite (He is everywhere, there is nothing outside of God), and we also agree (as almost all religions do) that God is perfect, then there is no place in God that illness can exist or that pain or fear of any kind can exist. Using illness as the example, in the world of duality, there is illness and there is health. So when we are ill, we seek an expert, a health professional who brings us back to health. In the world of God (the world of unity where everything is one and everything is perfect), there can only be perfect health. There can be no place for illness in Infinite Perfection.

So yes, it is important for us to pay attention to the physical cures on the physical level to the physical problems. But in order to be free of those aches, pains, and imperfections, we have to spend as much time and energy on the spiritual solution as we do on the physical solutions. Remember, from the spiritual perspective there is only one problem my belief that I am separate from God.

Here is an exercise to help you with the one spiritual solution: Take 5 minutes in the morning before your mind and your day have a chance to become busy and 5 minutes at night just before you drift off to sleep. First, take a few deep breaths to make sure your body is relaxed and your mind is quiet. Then use all five senses to experience the possibility of being inside Infinity. It might be helpful to picture yourself cradled in the arms of the Perfection of Infinity, or bathed in a golden light that reinforces your connection to everyone and everything. Use whatever pictures, sounds, and feelings help remind you that the only possibility is you are included in Infinite and Perfect Love. Thoughts may come up that try to give you reasons why this isnt possible for you. Remind yourself that it is impossible for you to be left out of the perfection of God no matter what wrongs you perceive you have done in your life or what mistakes you have made. Use each five minute exercise to remember you are not forgotten, you are not shunned, and you are not ostracized no matter what. Remember that there is no reason great enough that can rewrite the laws that make it physically impossible to be forced outside of Infinity. No matter what you have done or havent done, you are comforted in the embrace of the Perfect Infinite and it is impossible for it to be any other way for you.

To your easier life!
Wesley