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Is the invisible world the real world? 

How many do you see when you look at this picture?

In most of my classes I hold up my hand and ask this question: “How many do you see?”

I always get one of two answers: “five fingers” or “one hand.”

But a traditional Native American might say, “nine,” because they count the spaces in between.

To them, the invisible world is as real as the visible. And it’s the invisible world we want to connect with in order to maintain the magic in life.

What’s in the invisible world?

What we cannot see is usually depicted in Western society as the stuff of horror stories or science fiction, but that doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with reality.

And, yes, the invisible world is real.

A scientist would answer that it’s full of “energy.” And that would be correct.

But what I’m talking about is the spiritual realm which is full of energy, spirits, ancestors . . . and answers.

Some call them spirit guides. Others call them angels. Native Americans might refer to them as ancestors. To me, they’re all of that.

Regardless of the name, the world we cannot see is full of life.

This is the place where intuition reigns, where our emotions connect us to one another.

There’s so much we don’t yet understand about how the world works – and the answers lie in the invisible world which traditional Native American’s have long understood.

A look at the visible world

It’s so very easy to think this material world is all that there is:

• get up,
• eat,
• go to work,
• eat,
• come home,
• eat,
• watch TV,
• go to sleep,
• Buy stuff in between,
• Repeat.

That’s the limited life of a limited mind. When we understand our true power, which traditional indigenous people always have, then the daily grind described above becomes:

• Wake up each morning to the miracle of a sunrise. And at night the sun goes to sleep, too. How awesome is that?

• Eat amazing, nutritious food from Mother Earth that we can actually grow ourselves, if we so choose.

• And if we follow our passion, we get to do work which not only allows us to meet our obligations, but also inspires and fulfills us and adds value to the planet.

• At night, the amazing invention of the television can entertain and educate.

• And then we get to do it all again the next day, with some variation thrown in whenever we wish.

• We can travel to far off places by flying in amazing ships that sail the skies!

• We can talk to people anywhere in the world using the miracle that fits in the palm of our hands. [I’m talking smart phones here].

• We are in charge of our own lives; we are always at choice.

And then there’s fine tuning accomplished through other things that are invisible.

The invisible world

The invisible world includes:

• Creating our own reality through using visualization and goal setting.
• Healing ourselves and others.
• Communicating
• Learning to be happy with fewer material possessions.
• Practicing forgiveness — the key to a healed life.
• Connecting with nature on a daily basis.
• Connecting to the divine through prayer and meditation.
• Practicing compassion and kindness.
• Loving other human beings and animals.
• Ancestors, spirit guides and angels watching over us, and our communicating with them.

When asked by Oprah Winfrey what  happens when we die, Eckhart Tolle replied that the essence of who we are is indestructible. When someone dies, the essence of that being merely inhabited that form – the life within the form was always invisible.

And that invisible life is what’s in between the spaces.

My first Native American teacher, Sun Bear, taught that there are beneficial spirits on every square inch of Mother Earth, just waiting to help us.

These spirits would be mostly people who used to live in a physical body but are now in the spiritual realm, in their indestructible spirit form. Native Americans call them “ancestors” or “spirit guides.”

Westerners might call them “angels.”

Whatever you call them, they are good and want to help us when we ask.

How many times have you called upon a deceased relative for guidance or help? Sometimes we can feel the presence of those relatives, watching over us and still loving us.

Next week I’ll write more about the indigenous teachings about ancestors and what we can learn from them.

So, is the invisible world the real world? Hard to say, but I think it’s what makes the visible world worth living in.

In the meanwhile, remember that,

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

 

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