There are two value systems by which we can live our life, they are the realm of the lower values and the realm of the Higher Values. At the present moment in our spiritual evolution, most of mankind is functioning in the realm of the lower values. The collective society and those who are the nearest to us, form and shape our personalities by instilling within us the ideology of the lower values. Lower values have their existence in a horizontal realm which is comprised of space, form and time. The foundation of the lower values is duality, which means that all lower values have opposites. Each lower value has a negative and a positive force and it is the combination of both of these forces which gives rise to cause and effect. It is in this arena that we can say that we have free will, for we alone are responsible for how we use these forces within us.

The centrifugal force of duality establishes a negative and positive energy along a horizontal pole, which registers the degree of both of the forces and whichever of the two registers the highest, that is the one which dominates the personality. It is these two opposing vibrations which war against each other and cause most of human kind's turmoil. The center for the lower values is the mind. The mind's innate structure is to be selective - it likes to dissect and divide and views everything as "either or"; it does not think in wholes. Mind is a computer and contains only the information which has been fed into it and because the mind is host to the ego, lower values are mainly ego oriented; rife with judgments, discriminations, fluctuating emotions and "one-upmanship".

Lower values are not fixed nor constant and they are always subject to the changing degree of force between both of their opposites according to the intensity of a person's will and desires. For instance, love and hate belong on the same pole and if love occupies 90% of the pole then hate will occupy 10%, therefore love will dominate but the hate is still there; it has to be for the lower value of love can only exist because of its opposite, hate, and given the right circumstances, love and hate can quickly reverse themselves. Mind is in a constant state of flux, for it is easily influenced by our emotions and outside forces.

Such is the human condition when functioning within the lower value system. The good news is that by exercising our free will, we can change the course and quality of our lives at any moment, for we are capable of changing our negative outlooks into positives ones whenever we decide to do so - it is up to each and everyone of us to decide how we want to live our lives and even when we cannot control what happens outside of us, we can be in control of our interior life.

Another characteristic of the lower values is that they always need an object. For instance - in order to "feel" love, an "other" is needed to bring that love into existence. In contrast, the Higher Value Love needs no "other" to activate it, for it is always present and active in full potency within the person who has acquired it - for now Love has become a permanent ingredient within every cell of that person. Unlike the lower value love, which functions in various fluctuating degrees, the Higher Value Love is whole and contains no duality or degrees, for it is pure and complete within itself.

The foundation of the Higher Values is Oneness and they have their life in vertical space. They come from essence - that which is the immortal inner core of our Beingness. Higher Values are unconditional, free from ego, judgments and fluctuation. They are universal, crossing the boundaries of all civilizations, cultures and races. Higher Values are a composite of neutralized values. The center for the Higher Values is the heart.

There is no need to acquire Higher Values, for they already exist within us in seed form. These seeds are inborn and lie imbedded within the core of our essence and are innate within the DNA of our Beingness. The need is for us to sprout these seeds and we do that whenever we opt to use a Higher Value instead of a lower one and then by continuing to cultivate them through active usage in our daily life, they will eventually flower and become fixed within the DNA structure of our essence.

Like any tender seedlings, the first few Higher Values that we choose to try and live by will take constant nurturing. There will even be occasional returns to the lower values, as that pull is yet habitual but with a strong desire and the determination to transform our consciousness to spiritual purity, we will become that Higher Value, once it has become deep-rooted and a set force within our essence; the lower value will simply wither away and die to us. Now the growth of other Higher Values will follow much easier, for the path has been established.

One cannot acquire Higher Values through the preachings or influences of others or simply through the wish to have them because we would like to become saintly, for no outside force can penetrate our essence - it is sacrosanct and only available to our self; unlike our personality which can easily be penetrated and influenced. There is one exception which overrides our self for entry to our essence that is the Power of Grace.

What is important, while we are still immersed and functioning within lower values, is to read, hear or meet others who are living their life within the Higher Values realm. Through this exposure, we begin to get our first "taste" of Higher Values and that in turn, begins to stir the Higher Value's seed within us.

However, it is only through each person's aspiration and will power alone, that the decision to follow the path of the Higher Values can be made and adopted. Once done, then the doorway to one's essence stays open for longer and longer periods - until that moment comes when the personality will be left behind forever and our essence will have become the center for our Awareness and our Beingness, even while we are still here on this earth.

A strong and firm aspiration to live within the realm of Higher Values will gradually turn into a hunger that one can no longer deny and then it becomes no longer an option but a soul felt call. When that point arrives, one will automatically reject lower values as they arise, for they have now become an alien force. Many of the earlier values once condoned and lived by, will now appear barren or even repugnant.

That feeling of repugnance must be overcome, for the ego can easily turn these feelings into self-importance or arrogance. All negative feelings towards lower values must be shifted into a neutral mode and gradually they will die their own death. One must never forget that we are all climbing the same ladder and that all of us started on the bottom rung. We have all had to struggle long and hard on each rung before we could graduate and move up to the next one.

When we begin to start living the life of Higher Values, we will go against the current of society and its many rules, moral values and many of the beliefs which we have been programmed to believe in. In other words, we must now swim against the normal current of the establishment in order to follow the call of our Higher Values and to act on them in our daily life. We will no longer want to play any roles or mind games but to engage and communicate with others, without pretense or subterfuge. Living within Higher Values often makes it more difficult to associate peacefully with those near us and with society at large.

A culture where the lower values predominate often sees someone who lives by Higher Values with suspicion and will often misunderstand their words and actions, for most of those who live in the realm of lower values have two different dialogues going on at the same time, inner roof brain chatter thoughts and an outward speech, which often goes counter to their true thoughts. This is because their ego still rules much of the time, in other words, they speak "with a forked tongue". Those who speak from Higher Values have only once voice, for the inner and the outer is the same.

Higher Value people are often seen as being idealistic , impractical, who have "their head in the clouds" or as "do-gooders" who are trying to tell others how to live; some perceive them as being arrogant. There is some truth in this, for in the beginning when the Higher Values have not yet taken root in essence, a person's ego can take over and try to teach others about what they have learned, before they themselves have matured into their newfound understanding. This only shows that the Higher Values have not yet become rooted in essence and are still only ideas in the intellect.

It is only after our Higher Values have become centered and fixed within the core of our Beingness, that we will have cultivated the strength to overcome almost all adversities and those which we cannot overcome, we will find the strength to accept. We will also accept with generosity of spirit, those who are still living within a fast changing and out of date value system and who meet us with skepticism or derision.

We are now able to put all obstacles, those from without and even from within our self, into proper perspective, for we are now no longer dependent for our sense of self or sense of worth from without. We need no more approvals from others, as we now find our strength, solace and sustenance from within. All our motivations now come directly from the core of our essence, with the personality having dimmed and become secondary. This means that the ego no longer holds sway and has been driven to near extinction.

Higher Values are transformative - bringing the beauty and power of our Higher Self to the forefront and shining a spotlight deep within the interior of our Beingness and illuminating the many unused potentials within. The power of the Higher Values will also unearth the darkness which is still present in the hidden caverns of our interior. We need to keep digging to uncover and to overcome the last dregs of negativity which are leftover from the old value system.

Only those living within the consciousness of Higher Values can lay claim to being a member of the species called Man, for the majority of this present species of homo sapiens who live by lower values are still only an animal-man. But surely and slowly as the material body, intellect and emotions are transformed by everyone's own efforts through determination, persistence and a firm will, the new man, Cosmic Man, will emerge step by hard-won step.