In a previous post, I wrote about the oldest solution to stress, loss, anxiety, and pain of all sorts—access to the two fields of life. One is the “relative world,” which we all live in, but there is also the transcendent, which we can all experience—some of us easily, some with practice. The alleviation of suffering through access to these two fields is, in a way, the basis of all spirituality. Buddha spoke of nirvana as beyond all suffering. Krisha in the Bhagavad Gita said, “Established in Being, perform action.” Jesus said the Kingdom of God is within (a kingdom totally unaffected by the relative suffering caused by Roman domination). Muhammad said to handle difficulties by staying close to Allah, the transcendent field of God, through prayer and supplication.

However, I realize that the transcendent—Pure Being, God-as-the-Absolute–may seem a bit inaccessible. I am going to look at these two fields in another, more practical way, as something we can always access. Let’s start by seeing all of the relative world in terms of contraction. Matter is just a contraction or concentration or condensation of stuff—atoms, etc. Air is not as contracted as water, water........

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