A number of people have written and asked me how we can try to make some sense out of all that has occurred with the horrifying events of Sept 11. Rather than try to carry on so many individual dialogues about it, I have decided to offer some comments here, some of which are stimulated by comments we've heard on the news coverage.

From the perspective of the world, there is not a great deal of sense that can be made of the tragedy. So we must look at it from the higher cosmic perspective. Most who have read the various articles on this website understand that all attack is motivated by fear and that fanaticism is the ultimate expression of fear and thus represents the greatest potential for violent attack.

The Universe is all about evolution (or expansion) of consciousness. All of our souls are involved in a process of expansion. The evolution steadily progresses toward more compassion, more tolerance, greater love. From the spiritual perspective, we are aware that our individual souls are on a mission of healing that will move us toward love. Events that we call tragic, whether in our individual lives or on a larger scale such as this one, provide opportunities for us to recognize our attachment to fear and our resistance to love. Such events are powerful calls for us to take notice and make the choice to become more compassionate, less self-centered and more kind, tolerant and generous. There is nothing more essential in this whole scheme than our total freedom to choose healing or to choose fear. Freedom to choose is the essence of this whole earthly experience.

In the wake of this horrifying event, we witnessed a monumental response of love? We see this in all devastating events such as earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc -- Television reports are filled with countless examples of heroic acts--people overlooking their own injuries and exhaustion to help others. Unity with all is the intent of the Universe. It is undeniable that this event too brought about a flood of love expression. There is no greater expression of love from the cosmic perspective than to place others needs above one's own. Compassion! Kindness! Selflessness! Everyone talks of nothing else. The urge to help in any way possible is irresistible. People are surrendering their fear and suspicion of others, putting aside their us vs them attitudes and ignoring their ego's tendency to insist that I'm better than you are. All petty differences are set aside in a momentous flow of cooperation. While the intensity of this love tide will subside, it will settle at a level that will be substantially higher than prior to this event. This demonstrates the intent of the universe.

Meanwhile, we are witnessing a unity amongst nations never before thought possible. Granted, it is a unity of nations to eradicate terror, to push against. And pushing against is not consistent with love. Alas this is the point we are at along our evolutionary path. We don't recognize the alternatives yet. We don't yet have faith that terrorists can be changed by love. But there is hope. When we look back, we recognize that after WW II, our fierce enemies (Germany and Japan) became our allies. After this next wave of bloodshed runs its course, can it result in the same sort of healing? That remains to be seen. But at this time, on a collective level, war and revenge seems to be how we go about it.

Of Those Who perished

Now, what of those who perished? From our worldly perspective, it is virtually impossible for us to grasp how the intent of the universe could play out at such a high price in terms of the incomprehensible life toll and the suffering of survivors and loved ones.

Others whom I have read, who write more specifically about the journey of the soul than I do, have talked about the intertwining relationships with other souls and the desire to heal these relationships through incarnations. The point is that though we cannot perceive it from our worldly perspective, from the higher perspective of the soul, it is all part of an agreement to be a participant in all of the things that the being experiences. As we know, from the higher perspective, there are no accidents. The teachings tell us this in a zillion different ways. Viewing it in this way, we might consider whether this event is really any different from the holocaust or any of the other countless savage and inhumane acts that man has perpetrated against his fellow beings throughout history anywhere on the planet. The "victims" were somehow where they needed to be to keep their appointment to play their role in this vibrational dance. And of course that also goes for those who survived the terror including the families and loved ones. How many will have found that this experience has taught them about surrender? How many will be moved toward healing wounds that they were ignoring their whole lives?

Of course all of this does not mean that the individuals on the planes and in the towers had "consciously" chosen to leave their loved ones in this way any more than another family member has consciously chosen to have a terminal disease or the kid down the block who is in a wheel chair due to a car accident, had consciously chosen the event leading to his circumstance. We are taught that the souls of those who perished agreed to be the so-called "victim" of those souls that are still at a level of consciousness where hate and violence seem the best way to deal with their fear. And as the karmic dance continues, the latter will by steps evolve and eventually also come to choose compassion and sacrifice over violence. Just as the heroic souls who perished sacrificing themselves for their fellow beings (as "heroes" and "heroines" have been doing forever), the violent too, as they evolve through their various incarnations on the physical plane, will soften, learn compassion and will prefer love over attack.

But since any event presents an opportunity for choice, many will also choose to become more hateful and angry. On the scale of consciousness at this stage of our evolutionary progress, the average is at a level where fear is still quite prevalent. While there is unity amongst the attacked, there is still the need for retribution. The perpetrators, choosing brutal and bloody attacks, will by the incontrovertible dynamics of the universe, themselves be the recipients of such attacks.

I have written much about the thinking patterns of "certainists" and their determination to be "right" at all costs. Fanaticism is the result of unyielding certainty, the ultimate expression of fear of others and other opinions. Fanaticism is all too often a perversion of established principled beliefs. As pointed out by many, this particular act is a result, not of principled Islamic beliefs, but rather of a distorted fanatical perversion of them.