You’ve heard that quote: “The greatest trick the Devil pulled of was to convince us he didn’t exist.” The greatest trick the Devil pulled off wasn’t to convince you he didn’t exist, it was that he convinced you Paradise didn’t exist. That is, that in the best case, Paradise is somewhere else and that you had to die to get there. That automatically makes this place, this Earth, here and now, not good enough to be Paradise, when in fact, it is not only good enough, it is actually also Paradise. It is the root cause of suffering to believe that happiness lies elsewhere at any given moment. Paradise is a state of mind. Shifting your mind shifts the way you see reality. You can shift your mind to see Paradise, and it will appear to you, genuinely. It requires being present, aware of being aware, seeing the emptiness of all thoughts and things, including yourself, witnessing the miracle of everything arising with you, how everything moves and changes, arousing great compassion—warm heartedness—towards yourself and others, and a continual sense of awe and joy. There is Nothing but the present moment, and it is so full of love and grace, it is Paradise.

Remain vigilant of your mind, because whatever that force is that has convinced us to not see Paradise—causes us to actually create dystopia. Indeed, that force also tricked us into thinking that that force doesn’t exist, that it is some sort of invisible normality. It is not. Whether you want to ascribe and personify this force as the Devil, or call it human nature, or simply some attribute it to some contagious unfortunate meme, none of them can withstand the force of choosing Paradise, here and now. That’s the way we create it here, now, and into the future, for ourselves, our children and all the creatures on this extraordinary planet, solar system, universe, that gave us life, sustains us, supports us, no matter what we do. Talk about unconditional love.

There is Nothing but the present moment, and it is so full of love and grace, it is Paradise.