To be able to read comments and to add content you need to register
Sponsor Links
Teaching
31 May 2013 - 9:52am
One-Shot Mind
by Chögyam Trungpa
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3389&Itemid=0
In his seminal teaching on the four foundations of mindfulness, the late Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche explained how to practice mindfulness of mind.
Mindfulness of mind means being with one's mind. When you sit and meditate, you are there: you are being with your body, with your sense of life or survival, with your sense of effort, and at the same time, you are being with your mind. You are being there. Mindfulness of mind suggests a sense of presence and a sense of accuracy in terms of being there. You are there, therefore you can't miss yourself. If you are not there, then you might miss yourself. But that also would be a double take: if you realize you are not there, that means you are there. That brings you back to where you are—back to square one.
Really we operate on a very small basis. We think we are great, broadly significant, and that we cover a whole large area. We see ourselves as having a history and a future, and here we are in our big-deal present. But if we look at ourselves clearly in this very moment, we see we are just grains of sand—just little people concerned only with this little dot which is called newness.
We can only operate on one dot at a time, and mindfulness of mind approaches our experience in that way. We are there, and we approach ourselves on the very simple basis of that. That does not particularly have many dimensions, many perspectives; it is just a simple thing. Relating directly to this little dot of nowness is the right understanding of austerity. And if we work on this basis, it is possible to begin to see the truth of the matter, so to speak—to begin to see what nowness really means.
In sitting practice, or in the awareness practice of everyday life, for that matter, you are not trying to solve a wide array of problems. You are looking at one situation that is very limited. It is so limited that there is not even room to be claustrophobic. If it is not there, it is not there. You missed it. If it is there, it is there. That is the pinpoint of mindfulness of mind, that simplicity of total up-to-dateness, total directness. Mind functions singly. Once. And once. One thing at a time. The practice of mindfulness of mind is to be there with that one-shot perception, constantly. You get a complete picture from which nothing is missing: that is happening, now that is happening, now that is happening. There is no escape. Even if you focus yourself on escaping, that is also a one-shot movement of which you could be mindful. You can be mindful of your escape—of your sexual fantasy or your aggression fantasy.
Things always happen one at a time, in a direct, simple movement of mind. Therefore, in the technique of mindfulness of mind, it is traditionally recommended that you be aware of each single-shot perception of mind as thinking: "I am thinking I hear a sound." "I am thinking I smell a scent." "I am thinking I feel hot." "I am thinking I feel cold." Each one of these is a total approach to experience—very precise, very direct, one single movement of mind. Things always happen in that direct way.
Story
28 May 2013 - 11:54pm
What's Up? 26 May MMXIII Hilarion
.
The fullfillment of un separation is oneness with your being.
.
This is the giant hunk that is missing.
.
This is what must be distilled, alchemized.
.
Fancy words and great claims to self or others has no relationship to this inherent reality.
.
This present 'what faces you'.
.
Along time ago someone said to the effect of 'god will not be mocked'.
.
The spiritual understanding is that no matter what you tell yourself,
.
great or small,
.
that has no bearing on the reality of your solving the dilemna of 'separation'.
.
It will appear that the fulfillment or undoing of your feeling of separation lies outside of you .
.
As you appear to be separate from things outside you.
.
This is an illusory construct,
.
And this is the illusion of the teachers also,
.
well, of course now you will see these words repeated, so use your discernment.
.
All based on illusion.
.
Your 'great' teachers will tell you this,
.
well maybe not now,
.
but it is all being made up .
.
Saying it is inside of you so you will go to god or source or whatever ,
.
is distorted thinking,,
.
as is illusion that your separation is outside.
.
It only exists within you.
.
Now many certain types of humans will proclaim , at least to themselves, and beyond,
.
how amazed they are at their experiences.
.
They most often automatically extrapolate that they are getting closer to spirit or some high level,
.
or any grand name even that they might assign to it, or be fed.
.
True masters never do this, for it is based on an illusion,
.
from which illusory solutions are conceived,
.
and of course seem attractive and appropriate.
.
Having achieved sonme spiritual stimulation,
.
the ego, or illusory self, to say,... imagines great things are happening.
.
Un separation really goes indescribibly further than anything as banal in its vibration as that.
.
If you go towards god , even source, so to speak,.... you have moved away from your self.
.
This is the beginning and end of delusion.
.
In the deepeset realities,.... nothing else exists.
.
So, that kind of path can never lead you home.
.
That is why we say if you are impressed with your self,
.
either your knowledge or your stupidity,
.
you will never approach the entrance to the perceptions that grant you vision.
.
Without that, at that degree, ...you will always fall prey to low teachings which appear high.
.
You will estimate and guestimate, and you will now be told you are being
.
led to wholeness and some sort of reparartion,
.
what you call and will be told is oneness with source.
.
and it willl look and sound wonderful,....
.
but you will surely die.
.
Die of the sameness of death , death and more of the same.
.
Under any name it is the same.
.
Under any claim it is the same.
.
Led away by others or illusion of grandeur or humility,
.
then die then you must,
.
for you loved illusion more than 'god'.
.
Therefore you did not know who god really was,
.
neither where 'god' really is.
.
And please when people start repeating these things, please do not assume that that means that
.
has anything to do with the actualization we are referring to.
.
It is very rare, but often claimed. We are trying to teach you to begin the steps of understanding
.
to begin to open your own eyes, so to speak, of discernment.
.
So you can get to the place where you can receive your signals independently,
.
from your own being, free of any distortions of you,
.
and free of any influence from others opinions , any 'others'.
.
That's how you get out of mass deludion.
.
And we will work on this.
.
I Am Hilarion.
The Full Moon of May 26
In the Year Of The Snake
.
( Hilarion says the snake represents the river.
The River within You.)
.
hilarion channeling- please share this , Namaste
Teaching
21 May 2013 - 9:45am
The Buddhist Perception of Humility
Chen Yu-Hsi, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Religious Studies
Fo Guang University, Taiwan
Like other spiritual traditions, Buddhism sees humility as a virtue. In the Buddhist text on Maha-karuna (great compassion), humility is one of the ten sacred qualities attributed to Avalokite Bodhisattva, or Buddha of Compassion. Within that context, it appears to be a natural by-product of supreme spiritual attainments that transcends the ego, just as are the four noble states of mind -- love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity.
However, Mahayana Buddhism also advocates humility as a moral precept. As such it is often expressed in terms of exhortation against an arrogant or haughty attitude. Being a sign of ego-centeredness, pride is seen as impeding acceptance of the Buddha's teachings and progress towards spiritual liberation. Buddhist practitioners believe that only a humble mind can readily recognize its own defilements of craving (or greed), aversion (or hatred) and ignorance, thereby embarking on the path of enlightenment and liberation.
The Platform Sutra tells a story about how the Sixth Patriarch, Master Hui Neng, of the Chinese Zen Sect reprimanded a follower for his arrogant attitude. That follower felt self-conceited about his knowledge of a major Buddhist sutra and knowingly or unknowingly kept his head above the ground while bowing to the master. At that point the master gave him a lecture that his lack of humility suggested that having a great knowledge of the sutra fettered his mind rather than liberating it. In other words, when religious knowledge, like other knowledge, adds to "intellectual arrogance" and self-conceit, it becomes an impediment to what religious practice is supposed to attain. Elsewhere in the Platform Sutra, the Sixth Patriarch teaches that behaving humbly and according to propriety is a merit and a desirable moral quality that comes from insight into the spiritual reality. Humility in this sense is both a prerequisite for liberation and salvation from the deluded ego and a manifestation thereof.
The quintessence of humility is manifested in a practitioner's realization that he is nobody or nothing. This state of enlightenment comes when he transcends all worldly desires, illusions and mental constructs and labels associated with the ego. Buddhism refers to this as "emptiness" - empty of the contents of an illusory ego. On an in-depth psychological level, when one realizes that one is nothing, one is also everything. That means that through unconditioned love and compassion, one is now connected with all things and all beings. There is no more "I" and "mine." We are all one.
Some Buddhist practitioners place so great an emphasis on humility that they are prepared to yield to others in any situation that involves a dispute or contention. A Buddhist master writes that he always considers himself to be the least knowledgeable and capable as compared with other people. This approach is seen as a way to "humble" the ego so that spiritual liberation can be facilitated. Whether this is the right way of practice is open to questions. Within the Chinese cultural milieu, such a humble attitude is doubtless regarded as a virtue commensurate with the Confucian ethics of social order. Chinese Buddhism accepts it as a norm rather than an anomaly.
In fact, the Buddhist principle of "no contention" (wu-cheng) requires that a practitioner refrain from quarreling or contending for personal interests, including intellectual interests. "No contention" implies a humbled ego through which the light of enlightenment may shine. In this connection, a parallel can be drawn between the Buddhist approach and the Christian teaching that one who is humble before God is exalted by Him.
Outsiders, however, may dispute the validity of such an approach. For instance, a junior lama from Tibet once told me that it was wrong to behave humbly because humility suggests that one is "smaller" than he/she really is. He thought that self-depreciation was as counter-productive as self-aggrandizement when it came to mental cultivation. He did not touch upon psychological repression, but I think that would be a relevant point to make if humility becomes a moral norm superimposed by social institutions, whether religious or otherwise.
Some spiritual masters such as Osho argue that a repressed ego makes it difficult for a practitioner to be liberated from the ego. Psychologist and Buddhist meditation teacher Jack Kornfield makes the point that only when one develops a healthy self along with a deep realization of the empty nature of the self identity can one fully discover "true self," which shines through our whole being with all its divine spiritual qualities.
Humility or modesty as practiced in traditional Chinese society is often criticized as being less than honest or even bordering on hypocrisy. A morally cultivated person is supposed to refrain from talking about his/her own merits and strengths, or to talk about them in a round-about way that suggests modesty. Furthermore, the norm of humility demands that one use stereotyped language that depicts oneself as being worthless but is nevertheless understood to be mere ceremonial courtesy. Even today, a scholar is supposed to refer to his/her publications as "my clumsy works", and an entertainer would beg "excuse" for a "homely and plain" feast and "less than satisfactory hospitality," even though deep down he feels very proud of what he has offered to the guests. Such superficial courtesy appears to be a strong value in societies on which Confucianism has left its mark, including Japan and Korea.
Although humility is important to Buddhism, ultimately spiritual attainments are associated with such personal qualities as the "middle way," a balanced personality that is neither arrogant nor "humble" in the sense of self-abasement. Thus a semantic question may be raised as to exactly what we mean by humility. Does it necessarily imply an under-evaluation of one's own worth and merits that led the Tibetan lama to reject humility as a virtue for practitioners? From a true Buddhist perspective, the answer is "No." And we may add the following criteria to define genuine humility:
Behave without arrogance, self-conceit and other egoist tendencies such as jealousy and an impulse to show off.
Respect others and show a genuine human interest in them without a desire to please or to impress.
Come up with an objective and honest understanding of our own strengths and weaknesses, with a realization that we are far from perfect and have a lot more to learn, to improve and to accomplish.
While we do not recognize self-depreciation or self-effacement as part of humility, we must recognize that our biological self is fraught with frailties and ignorance and that a true self characterized by such divine qualities as love, compassion, joy and wisdom is innate in everyone of us.
With the above understanding, it is safe for Buddhists to speak of humility as a norm of personal conduct and a mark of supreme attainments that is consistent with the Buddhist "middle way."
Reference
Jack Kornfield, A Path With Heart. New York: Bantam Books, 1993.
Sharon Salzburg, Loving-kindness: A Revolutionary Art of Happiness. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1995.
Pema Chodron, The Wisdom of No Escape. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1991.
William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Random House,1994.
The Sutra of Hui Neng (Platform Sutra). Hong Kong: Buddhist Youth Association Ltd., 1994.
Mahayana Buddhism is a major school of Buddhism being practiced in China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
Teaching
18 May 2013 - 7:22pm
Fohat–The Great Transformer
[Reprinted from THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT, March 1964.]
http://www.teosofia.com/Mumbai/7208fohat.html
Fohat is a Tibetan term for the energic or motion aspect of the Supreme Spirit. It is usually considered in its metaphysical aspect, which is rather difficult to understand; therefore, side by side with the metaphysical, the ethical and practical-application aspect should also be understood.
Every form of life is made up of a certain grade of matter expressing a certain degree of intelligence or consciousness, and the connecting link between the two is the vital force of Fohat. It links spirit and matter, subject to object, as explained in the First Fundamental Proposition of The Secret Doctrine. It is the "bridge" by which the Eternal Thought in the Eternal Mind is objectivized as univeral Nature. The process is from within without. The slumbering energy awakes and a gradual transformation takes place from the spiritual to the ethereal, the semi-ethereal, until gross forms of matter come into existence. Primordial matter is formless and colourless. It is Fohat which translates or rather transforms the universal, archetypal ideas into various forms at various levels and becomes the guiding force. The Laws of Nature exist because of the impression of Divine Ideas on Divine Substance. It is interesting to note that some thinkers have, unconsciously to themselves, admitted the existence of the propelling force of manifestation, as stated by Madame Blavatsky in a footnote on page 649 of Volume II of The Secret Doctrine:
The "principle of perfectibility" of Nägeli; von de Baer's "striving towards the purpose"; Braun's "Divine breath as the inward impulse in the evolutionary history of Nature"; Professor Owen's "tendency to perfectibility," etc., are all veiled manifestations of the universal guiding Fohat, rich with the Divine and Dhyan-Chohanic thought.
Fohat is the constructive power that causes the formation of planetary systems, of earth chains, of nature and of man. In the second verse of the Fifth Stanza from the Book of Dzyan it is stated: "Fohat is the steed and thought is the rider." Not only does it serve, like the steed, as a means of transportation from one place to another, from one plane to another, but it also has the power to change and transform that which was subjective into the objective, that which was noumenal into the phenomenal. Thus, an ideal image in the mind of man may be reproduced as a concrete form.
This can be understood by taking a simple illustration—that of a potter and his pot. He may have an image or images of various types of pots in his own mind. He may have the clay, the water and all the necessary ingredients in front of him, but unless and until he wills to use his own energy and with his hands moulds and shapes the clay according to the image formed in his mind, there will be no objective formation of an earthen pot. This illustration should enable the student to have a clearer understanding of what Fohat is, and how it functions at various stages of evolution. The Will of man is one aspect of Fohat in the human kingdom, on the plane of mind; the potter's use of the energic force to create a pot with his own hands and make of it an objective reality is another aspect of the vital force on another plane.
In Nature, the Fohatic principle is working all the time. A continuous transformation of forms from one state into another is taking place. What transforms water into ice or steam, its two opposite aspects? Heat and cold, rooted in Fohat, the energy of the One Life. What makes vapour gather into clouds in the sky, and the clouds to burst into rain, and the rain to fructify the seeds under the ground and bring about the growth of plants and trees, flowers and fruits, in all their changing forms? The motion aspect of the Divine Life. Motion conquers cold, rest conquers heat. When the body is cold, the mind passive, hands inactive, then motion on all planes is needed. When the body is restless, when the heat of anger rages in the mind and in the heart, a change of polarity becomes necessary to bring about calm and quiet, and this change of polarity is yet another aspect of life.
In The Theosophical Glossary Fohat is defined as Daiviprakriti, Primordial Light, the essence of Cosmic Electricity, and in the manifested universe it is "the ever-present electrical energy and ceaseless destructive and formative power." This indicates how from the one homogeneous substance-principle differentiation takes place and grosser and grosser forms of life come into manifestation through the stairway of the seven worlds or planes. It is the same vital power which creates and destroys, to re-create once more. Fohat is "the universal propelling Vital Force, at once the propeller and resultant." Attraction and repulsion, levitation and gravitation, are all caused by this universal propelling force.
What brings atoms and molecules together, what separates them? The opposing forces of cohesion and of dispersion both spring from Fohat. What but the dynamic energy of life turns a germ into a foetus in the mother's womb, and later on into a baby which becomes a man or a woman? What brings about old age, decay and death? The destructive aspect of that same energic force. What brings the body daily from the waking to the sleeping state and from the sleeping to the waking state? The unbalance caused by the impact of the universal life-energy upon individual energy. When the equilibrium is restored, it wakes up the individual for another day of work. So all growth and expansion, all decay and destruction, the play of opposing forces through a change of polarity, are brought about through one or another aspect of Fohat—the great Transformer. Thus, naturally, life is looked upon as a drama, a dance, or a song, where each being is expected to play his part, to dance or to sing in tune with the Infinite. This can only be done through a clear understanding of Deity in its triple aspect of Creator-Preserver-Destroyer, or Spirit-Matter with the connecting link of Fohat.
Human beings dissipate their energy in a thousand ways, through the avenues of thought-word-deed, because they are bound down by a hundred cords of desire. Therefore the practical lesson is to conserve one's energy for the highest work on the physical, mental, moral and spiritual planes, and, instead of following impulses from without, to follow the right principles and act from within. Krishna defines Yoga as equanimity of mind and skill in the performance of action. This can only be achieved through constant vigilance and self-control.
The way winds up-hill all the way, from the valley of mire to summits of glorious light Nirvanic, and it is necessary to use one's energy in the cultivation of virtues. One of the paramitas is "VIRYA, the dauntless energy that fights its way to the Supernal TRUTH, out of the mire of lies terrestrial." This will transform man into a god, enabling him not only to enjoy Nirvanic peace and bliss, but also to use his energy on all planes to elevate his fellow pilgrims and relieve their suffering. Thus, to propel life from the unmanifested to manifestation, from the atom to man and man to god, is the work of Fohat, the great Transformer, at first through natural impulse and then through the self-conscious effort of man.
Karma may not be acquired like money in a bank; it cannot be deposited; but a store of merit may be laid up to the account of anyone who acts so as to lay it up. If the law is looked at from the selfish side as something that one may lay up for himself, of course it will tend to self-seeking; but it is hardly possible for one to believe in and act under the law and fail at the same time to see that if he does so selfishly he limits his store and sometime will nullify all its effects. It is not good karma to act selfishly; hence he makes bad karma by so acting from a self-seeking of benefit under the law.
Good karma is that act and thought which is pleasing to the Higher Self. Hence sorrow and pain and discipline may be good karma. Bad karma is that act and thought which displeases the Higher Self. Hence all self-seeking acts, no matter how high and outwardly virtuous they are, are bad karma, since the Higher Self desires no such acts for its sake.
—W. Q. Judge
Blog entry
14 May 2013 - 11:58am
Via a process, where I was guided to check 13 (Thanks: sensipeter, the presence and omnisience ) and suddenly awakening to play with golden ratio 1,62 (162% of expanding the size of a triangle). I sow a picture of expanding my drawing yesterday and realized the oneness in the form of geometry and numbers. Not claiming this is the complete and only truth nor even correct - simply one expression done by desire to seek the truth, understand the universe, and play with the drawing. Enjoyed the process of doing this a lot and enjoying sharing the inspiration that was such intensive that it had to be completed on a middle of a customer meeting in China – lol...
Dimensions: Onness, space and eventually time and physical realms. See how beautifully oneness, the creator is in all dimensions with us!
Love
T
Teaching
10 May 2013 - 9:40am
How to Handle Sexual Energy Wisely
http://www.drukpa-canaria.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=140&Itemid=206&lang=en
H.E. Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche, scholar and charismatic Master of the Drukpa Lineage, talks about love, sexuality and relationships from the Buddhist point of view. The interview was given to Jigme Karma on Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche´s visit to Europe while he was staying at Drukpa Hamburg.
Jigme Karma: Many people associate intense emotions with their romantic attachments and sexuality. Dharma however proposes, not to identify oneself with your emotions. For many couples this seems to be a contradiction in itself and very difficult to achieve. Many do fear a loss in not identifying with emotions. Is this a valid concern?
Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche: Buddhist philosophy is very profound. Mostly, when people are talking about love, they truly speak about attachment instead. Attachment and sexual desire can create many problems in our lives. These are troublesome emotions, even obsessions and therefore cannot bring real happiness into our lives. On the contrary: Many people get themselves into big trouble because of these emotions. They might even kill or get killed. Desire and longing should not be mistaken for love, kindness and compassion in the Buddhist sense of the word. Love, kindness and compassion will bring us happiness and peace of mind. Attachment, lust and craving will stir up our mind instead.
Jigme Karma: Devotion is looked upon as a central spiritual accomplishment. What is the difference between devotion in a relationship and devotion in the Dharma?
Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche: For ordinary beings like us, it is often not enough to rely on our inner wisdom and on our intelligence. We often bring about the exact contrary of what we hoped would be the outcome of our efforts and desires. When we engage in a sexual relationship, sexual desire is naturally linked to the wish for happiness. But often enough suffering will be the result of our desires instead of real happiness. We create even more difficulties through attachment, delusion and interfering emotions. Thus Buddhism encourages us to develop love and compassion between men and women and for all sentient beings as well. Attachment and sexual lust are very different from compassion and loving kindness, especially with regard to the motivation of our actions and to the result of our actions.
Jigme Karma: The act of love between a man and a woman or more specifically between male and female principle is considered to be a particularly advanced spiritual practice in Buddhism. What is the benefit of sexuality as a spiritual practice? What are the important requirements for a practitioner with this regard?
Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche: Indeed, this kind of practice of taking delusions and mental poisons into the spiritual path exists. This practice is not for everyone however. One of the key requirements for such a practice is the insight into the true nature of attachments and desires. We need the wisdom of discrimination which allows us to see into the primordial pure nature of an attachment. A delusion is impure as it creates suffering. In Vajrayana or in the Secret Mantra we speak of taking the fruit, or the result into the spiritual path. In apprehending the nature of the pure essence of delusion, we can set it free. Men and women normally the enjoy happiness and joy during sexual intercourse, but at the same time both partners are distracted as well. A Yogi or a Yogini however would instantly realize the true nature of this state of bliss and would understand that the nature of this state of bliss is emptiness and the nature of emptiness is happiness. This way a high realization can be reached. Very special skills are needed for this kind of advanced practice. Once enabled to such practice, there is no need to get rid of the mental poisons any longer, we will then be able to take them into the path and transform them.
Jigme Karma: Sexuality is a vital and powerful energy. In the western hemisphere it is believed that a subdued sexuality might lead to diseases of mind and body. Should we therefore act on our desire for sexuality as a means to maintain our health?
Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche: Happiness created through sexual unification does not necessarily depend upon the unification of two bodies. You can achieve this happiness without sexual intercourse as in the secret mantra, in Vajrayana. This is a secret practice though, which is why I cannot talk about it in more detail. It is a basic principle that we all have the white element in our bodies we received from our fathers and the red element we received from our mothers. Usually the white element can be found in our crown, while the red element is located in our navel. When these two drops (Tibetan: Thigle) or spheres, meet in our hearts, where the white element will float upwards and the red element downwards, we can experience the same happiness as we would feel in sexual unification. The unification of the two drops does not serve only to experience such bliss. As a premise we need the acquired skill to perceive this happiness as empty. In this mental state it is possible to recognize the emptiness of all phenomena very clearly. For this aim we use the Yoga of Chandali (Tibetan: Tummo), which we practice in our tradition as well. I cannot discuss this in more detail right now. It is important however to clarify that the aim in Buddhism is not to become unemotional. Buddhism aims to deal and work appropriately with feelings through certain practices.
Jigme Karma: Those are means for very advanced practitioners. How can we who are not that advanced yet, live our sexuality and what kind of conduct is important? Where are the limits in this approach?
Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche: Sexuality is not prohibited for lay practitioners in Buddhism. Ethics however should be the parameter for all lovers. It is important to trust one another, to be loyal and honest. Ethical discipline implies also to respect the appropriate times and situations when to share sexuality with each other. It is also important that sexual intercourse should only take place when both consent. It is good to be very cautious at those times because women are much more vulnerable. Ultimately a desire for sex arises out of sheer lust. Lust always generates suffering. A mind that is constantly craving for lust, will be agitated and has lost its capacity for inner peace. The motivation behind the desire to have sex is always lust, even when we believe the motivation to be a desire for happiness. Ideally the motivation for sex with happiness as its result should be used as a means to realize the nature of the mind. Normally this aim is not achieved. Even if we experience short-lived happiness through sexual intercourse, we will also always experience suffering because of it. So very much depends on the mindset in a sexual relationship between men and women. A western friend of mine works as a masseur. She told me about an elderly male client who got aroused during her treatment and wanted to have sex with her. Out of compassion and because she knew this man to be old and his difficulties to have sexuality at all, she agreed. Afterwards she told him that what they had done was absolutely okay for this session but that she would not treat him again. When I heard about it I was very surprised. This woman really is like a Bodhisattva. Her motivation to have sex with this man was not her own sexual desire but her compassion for him. This made me realize something: Even if western people might not understand all which Buddhism teaches, many of them are very intelligent and have a good common sense which helps to cope with certain situations. The right motivation makes all the difference.
Jigme Karma: Relationship issues can be very stressful for Buddhist practitioners. Out of an inner attitude to take difficulties as an assignment, they won’t easily consider a separation because this would be seen as a failure. When is the right time for letting go? And what do you personally think about divorce or separation?
Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche: The central viewpoint In Buddhism, especially in Mahayana is the importance of the other. From this viewpoint it is essential to develop an inner gratitude for the other and for what she or he might have given us. We do experience the joy through our partner. Often enough we forget all the good things we got from them and cannot stop listing up all the bad things. That is how we create our problems. Let us leave the negative things aside and concentrate on the good things and let us emphasize on the resulting gratefulness. This way we could thoroughly avoid many problems all together. Let us also realize that nobody forced us to be with our chosen partner. We made this decision ourselves. Many animals stay together and raise their cubs together. They do not need a priest or laws to keep them together. They just adhere to an ethical discipline. It is in their nature to do so and nobody has to instruct them about it. When you are with someone you should be aware of the fact that you alone have chosen this someone. Even in case that a separation is unavoidable the above-mentioned attitude will be helpful in the process. It is important that neither hatred nor ill intend or negative thoughts are created against the former partner. Normally that is working out quite all right here in the western hemisphere. We should realize that in the end it is not very important if we stay together or not. Compared to all the problems that exist in this world we are talking merely about a side issue here.
Thank you, Khenpo Rinpoche La!
Biography of Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche
Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche is a major scholar of Tibetan Buddhism and belongs to the Drukpa and Kagyu Lineage. He was born in the Tibetan province of Kham and fled to India where he was ordained in Darjeeling by the first Thuksey Rinpoche. He was taught by H.H. the 14. Dalai Lama, H.H. the 12. Gyalwang Drukpa, Je Khenpo Drukpa, Je Khenpo Yönten Ö. Gyen Khentse and a wide range of other great Teachers. Khenpo Rinpoche studied Buddhist philosophy and Logic at the University of Varanasi (Benares), India for over nine years.
The title "Khenpo" was given to him by H.H. the 16. Karmapa and H.H. the 12. Gyalwang Drukpa. This title refers to his profound knowledge and his great wisdom.
For the last 35 years Khenpo Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche has been teaching Buddhist philosophy and logic at the Central Institute for Tibetan Academic Studies in Benares.
He is a regular guest speaker at international congresses. Many people worldwide were able to benefit from his great realization, compassion and wisdom. Last year, on request of H.H. the 12. Gyalwang Drukpa, he visited the European Drukpa Centers in Germany in Kassel, Frankfurt and Hamburg and in Spain on La Palma among other countries and gave teachings.
Blog entry
9 May 2013 - 1:51am
The Existence of Nothingness Favourably for A Greater Creation? Limitations of being something Vs being favourably nothing?
What has magnified your interest in the true fullness of life?
if it is simply the becoming of your true being of state without your journey to realization of such potential-ill !?!
Is this a limited perception of normality of many dualities or individual forces of your own existing well established individuality that has an additional factor of a perspective of energy realization that has singled you out by all universal forces of external existence of the each individual force potential of energy opposing to you and has made you ill? Would science explain this as the Net force, that does not have the same effect on the movement of the object as the original system forces.
“An established energy at zero point has no realization of force for energy formation outcomes or desired potentials.”
At zero – point or vacuum the Zero-point energy, also called quantum vacuum zero-point energy, is the lowest possible energy that a quantum mechanical physical system may have introduction of a Net force or other universal forces i.e. gravitational force Newton’s law of universal gravitation states that every point mass in the universe attracts every other point mass with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them i.e. the realization of energy formation potential of energy attraction to create an opposing force renders you powerless and at zero-point begins the creation of energy path and its purpose of formation of selective energy attraction according to universal law criteria that singularity forces to your opposing energy force have formed in consciousness in comparison to forces equal in strength and non differentiative of your energy by maintaining equilibrium (A system of particles is in static equilibrium when all the particles of the system are at rest and the total force on each particle is permanently zero) for selective of attraction of overall favourable energy formation for a complete system of energy formation (realization) ultimately becoming a collectively formation of greater individual energy and choice.
“The state of nothingness and the realization of energy formation from zero point at equilibrium will create a potential that is always greater and favourably desire of infinite freedom”
Key aspect of the philosophy of science in question in favour of being nothingness;
1- Energy that does not exist, over exceeds potential of any energy formation i.e. “If Energy was not formed? and forms”
2- Energy that does not exist, Creation of energy potential or realization is greater i.e. “If Energy was not formed? and forms? Then when it forms it will then has greater potential of creation”.
However the argument is if to involve the realizing of energy formation of existing energy your outcome or potential of desirable outcomes are of limited perceptions or each fragment rendering you limited in your choices of energy formation and the energy of reality of matrix that the individual energy establishes due to fragmentation of oneself by other energy fragments that some are opposing to attracting fragments for the outcome of favorable energy formations to begin to fully absorb towards the wholeness of your potential of energy constant (state of natural energy being) as this ultimately renders you powerless to maintain a complete state of being with unprocessed rendered knowledge (Energy void) for greater creativity.
The existence of nothingness and its power of creativity of nothingness?
Vs
“Existence & its potential creation!
The reality of the greatest illusion of perception and belief in a quantified state that matter has shifted in all states to form a consciousness of illusions of shifted states of reality in the wisdom of the knowingness of such state has been able to preserve a life cycle of thought and formation of survival in duality.”
– Are we as limited as our creations? can science, philosophy and belief be limitless to think out of nothingness.
Teaching
2 May 2013 - 2:42pm
Self-Atma: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi Part One & Two
http://www.adishakti.org/_/self-atma_the_teachings_of_sri_ramana_maharshi_part_one.htm
"That state which transcends speech and thought is mouna. That which is, is mouna. How can mouna be explained in words? Sages say that the state in which the thought "I" (the ego) does not rise even in the least, alone is Self (swarupa) which is silence (mouna). That silent Self alone is God; Self alone is the jiva (individual soul). Self alone is this ancient world. All other kinds of knowledge are only petty and trivial knowledge; the experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge. Know that the many objective differences are not real but are mere superimpositions on Self, which is the form of true knowledge." - Sri Ramana Maharshi
>
> The evidence is nailed on the front door of www.sahajayoga.org/
>
> The collective claim of the SY organization that Self Realization is
> Kundalini awakening is so simplistic that it defies logic and common
> sense. This ignorance is the very reason they believe that all they
> need is awaken the kundalini, thus instantly making the person self-
> realized!!! Despite that claim, hundreds of thousands have walked
> away from Sahaja Yoga despite the so-called bestowing of 'self-
> realization'; despite having attained the same self-realization that
> SYs have; despite feeling the same Cool Breeze. Only SYs think they
> are self-realized all the time, the proof being the Cool Breeze.
>
> But the Cool Breeze is evidence of second birth by the Spirit, not
> realization of that Spirit! This was only realized by me after years
> away from the collective, away from all their ignorance and rituals.
> You cannot realize your Spirit (Self) in Sahaja Yoga because of the
> collective mindset--chakras, kundalini, nadis, etc., (SYSSR)--and
> the constant, compulsive need of treatments to keep them clean.
>
> Without the many tributaries, streams and rivers of the Blossom
> Time it will be almost impossible for humanity to know/realize
> what the Ocean of Self is all about
>
Part One
Self-Atma
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
Edited by David Godman
Question: What is Reality?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Reality must be always real. It is not with forms and names. That which underlies these is the Reality. It underlies limitations, being itself limitless. It is not bound. It underlies unrealities, itself being real. Reality is that which is. It is as it is. It transcends speech. It is beyond the expressions `existence, non-existence', etc.
The reality which is the mere consciousness that remains when ignorance is destroyed along with knowledge of objects, alone is the Self (Atma). In that Brahma-swarupa (real form of Brahman), which is abundant Self-awareness, there is not the least ignorance.
The reality which shines fully, without misery and without a body, not only when the world is known but also when the world is not known, is your real form (nija-swarupa).
The radiance of consciousness-bliss, in the form of one awareness shining equally within and without, is the supreme and blissful primal reality. Its form is silence and it is declared by Jnanis (Self-realised) to be the final and unobstructable state of true knowledge (jnana).
Know that jnana alone is non-attachment; jnana alone is purity; jnana is the attainment of God; jnana which is devoid of forgetfulness of Self alone is immortality; jnana alone is everything.
Question: What is this awareness and how can one obtain and cultivate it?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: You are awareness. Awareness is another name for you. Since you are awareness there is no need to attain or cultivate it. All that you have to do is to give up being aware of other things, that is of the not-self. If one gives up being aware of them then pure awareness alone remains, and that is the Self.
Question: If the Self is itself aware, why am I not aware of it even now?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: There is no duality. Your present knowledge is due to the ego and is only relative. Relative knowledge requires a subject and an object, whereas the awareness of the Self is absolute and requires no object.
Remembrance also is similarly relative, requiring an object to be remembered and a subject to remember. When there is no duality, who is to remember whom?
The Self is ever present. Each one wants to know the Self. What kind of help does one require to know oneself? People want to see the Self as something new. But it is eternal and remains the same all along. They desire to see it as a blazing light etc. How can it be so? It is not light, not darkness. It is only as it is. It cannot be defined. The best definition is `I am that I am'. The Srutis (scriptures) speak of the Self as being the size of one's thumb, the tip of the hair, an electric spark, vast, subtler than the subtlest, etc. These descriptions have no foundation in fact. It is only being, but different from the real and the unreal; it is knowledge, but different from knowledge and ignorance. How can it be defined at all? It is simply being.
Question: When a man realises the Self, what will he see?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: There is no seeing. Seeing is only being. The state of Self-realisation, as we call it, is not attaining something new or reaching some goal which is far away, but simply being that which you always are and which you always have been. All that is needed is that you give up your realisation of the not-true as true. All of us are regarding as real that which is not real. We have only to give up this practice on our part. Then we shall realise the Self as the Self, in other words, `Be the Self.' At one stage you will laugh at yourself for trying to discover the Self which is not self-evident. So, what can we say to this question?
That stage transcends the seer and the seen. There is no seer there to see anything. The seer who is seeing all this now ceases to exist and the Self alone remains.
Question: How to know this by direct experience?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: If we talk of knowing the Self, there must be two selves, one a knowing self, another the self which is known, and the process of knowing. The state we call realisation is simply being oneself, not knowing anything or becoming anything. If one has realised, one is that which alone is and which alone has always been. One cannot describe that state. One can only be that. Of course, we loosely talk of Self-realisation, for want of a better term. How to `real-ise' or make the real that which alone is real?
Part Two
Self-Atma
The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi
Edited by David Godman
Question: You some times say the Self is silence. Why is this?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: For those who live in Self as the beauty devoid of thought, there is nothing, which should be thought of. That which should be adhered to is only the experience of silence, because in that supreme state nothing exists to be attained other than oneself.
Question: What is Mouna (silence)?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: That state which transcends speech and thought is mouna. That which is, is mouna. How can mouna be explained in words?
Sages say that the state in which the thought "I" (the ego) does not rise even in the least, alone is Self (swarupa) which is silence (mouna). That silent Self alone is God; Self alone is the jiva (individual soul). Self alone is this ancient world.
All other kinds of knowledge are only petty and trivial knowledge; the experience of silence alone is the real and perfect knowledge. Know that the many objective differences are not real but are mere superimpositions on Self, which is the form of true knowledge.
Question: As the bodies and the selves animating them are everywhere actually observed to be innumerable how can it be said that the Self is only one?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: If the idea `I am the body' is accepted, the selves are multiple. The state in which this idea vanishes is the Self since in that state there are no other objects. It is for this reason that the Self is regarded as one only.
Since the body itself does not exist in the natural outlook of the real Self, but only in the extroverted outlook of the mind which is deluded by the power of illusion, to call Self, the space of consciousness, Dehi (the possessor of the body) is wrong.
The world does not exist without the body, the body never exists without the mind, the mind never exists without consciousness, and consciousness never exists without the Reality.
For the wise one who has known Self by diving within himself, there is nothing other than Self to be known. Why? Because since the ego, which identifies the form of a body as "I" has perished, he (the wise one) is the formless existence–consciousness.
The jnani (one who has realised the Self) knows he is the Self and that nothing, neither his body nor anything else, exists but the Self. To such a one what difference could the presence or absence of a body make?
It is false to speak of realisation. What is there to realise? The Real is as it always is. We are not creating anything new, or achieving something, which we did not have before.
The illustration given in books is this. We dig a well and create a huge pit. The space in the pit or the well has not been created by us. We have just removed the earth, which was filling the space there. The space was there then and is also there now. Similarly we have simply to throw out all the age-long Samskaras (innate tendencies) which are inside us. When all of them have been given up, the Self will shine alone.
Question: But how to do this and attain liberation?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Liberation is our very nature. We are that. The very fact that we wish for liberation shows that freedom from all bondage is our real nature. It is not to be freshly acquired. All that is necessary is to get rid of the false notion that we are bound. When we achieve that, there will be no desire or thought of any sort. So long as one desires liberation, so long, you may take it, one is in bondage.
Question: For one who has realised his Self, it is said that he will not have the three states of wakefulness, dream and deep sleep. Is that a fact?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: What makes you say that they do not have the three states? In saying, `I had a dream; I was in deep sleep; I am awake', you must admit that you were there in all three states. That makes it clear that you were there all the time. If you remain as you are now, you are in the wakeful state; this becomes hidden in the dream state; and the dream state disappears when you are in deep sleep. You were there then, you are there now, and you are there at all times. The three states come and go, but you are always there.
It is like a cinema. The screen is always there but several types of pictures appear on the screen and then disappear. Nothing sticks to the screen, it remains a screen. Similarly, you remain your own Self in all the three states. If you know that, the three states will not trouble you, just as the pictures which appear on the screen do not stick to it. On the screen, you sometimes see a huge ocean with endless waves; that disappears. Another time, you see fire spreading all around; that too disappears. The screen is there on both occasions. Did the screen get wet with the water or was it burnt by fire? Nothing affected the screen. In the same way, the things that happen during the wakeful, dream and sleep states do not affect you at all; you remain your own Self.
Question: Brahman (the Supreme Reality) is said to be sat-chit-ananda. What does that mean?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Yes. That is so. That which is, in only Sat. That is called Brahman. The lustre of Sat is Chit and its nature is Ananda. These are not different from Sat. All the three together are known as Sat-Chit-Ananda.
Question: As the Self is existence (Sat) and consciousness (Chit) what is the reason for describing it as different from the existent and the non-existent, the sentient and the insentient?
Sri Ramana Maharshi: Although the Self is real, as it comprises everything, it does not give room for questions involving duality about its reality or unreality. Therefore it is said to be different from the real and the unreal. Similarly, even though it is consciousness, since there is nothing for it to know or to make itself known to, it is said to be different from the sentient and the insentient.
Sat-Chit-Ananda is said to indicate that the Supreme is not asat (different from being), not achit (different from consciousness) and not an ananda (different from bliss). Because we are in the phenomenal world we speak of the Self as Sat-Chit-Ananda.
www.hinduism.co.za/self-.htm
Blog entry
30 Apr 2013 - 11:42am
1. When it comes to Darkness and Light, do you feel one is inferior in power to the other? (Please explain your answer to the best of your ability.)
2. Do you view dualism as two separate forces caught within an divinely orchestrated polarization of an mysterious power or do you feel dualism is the result of two entirely separate forces that are constantly engaged in an enigmatic mystery that is neverending? (Please explain your answer to the best of your ability.)
Teaching
24 Apr 2013 - 10:14am
Odinist beliefs about life after death
by Osred Jameson
http://www.oocities.org/odinistlibrary/OLArticles/Articles/Odinistbeliefsaboutlifeafterdeath.htm
Most religions hold that individual life survives the death of the body. (Perhaps ancient Judaism is unique in identifying sheol merely as the grave and discounting any future life.)
Yet modern Christian theology is increasingly shying away from the concept of the soul, largely due to increasing recognition that the idea owes more to Greek thinking than to Biblical revelation.
It is appropriate that Christianity should begin to drop the concept of the soul. After all, Christians have always been very confused about the idea of continuity from one life to the next. Souls in the Christian heaven have usually been depicted as incorporeal spirits, while those in the Christian hell have been described as undergoing bodily torments.
The Indo-European religious tradition, on the other hand, has highly developed concepts of life after death. Being part of that tradition, our Odinist ancestors also had a far greater understanding of the after-life than those who imposed their primitive Judeo-Christian ideas on the rest of us.
The trouble is that we cannot be certain of exactly what our ancestors believed. Only a few of our sacred texts have survived, and that small proportion was sifted by Christians. Not a single one of our texts has come down to us without Christians having played a role in its survival. Much has been lost altogether, and much has been mutilated and confused. Unfortunately archaeology and folklore can only go a certain way in restoring the original beliefs.
This confusion allows an otherwise admirable scholar, M.I. Steblin-Kamenskij, to claim rather comically that in heathen belief: "After death, a man continued to exist either as a disembodied soul (named and imagined in various ways), or – and this is found most often – as a completely corporeal ‘living corpse'; and his abode was Óðinn's palace Valholl, or Hel, the kingdom of the dead (it is not clear where it was situated) or inside a mountain in which all his dead ancestors lived, or, if he had drowned, in the abode of Rán the sea goddess, or simply in his grave, or finally in one of his descendants in whom he continued to live."
It is possible to clear up much, although certainly not all, of this confusion.
The first step is to acknowledge that our ancestors believed in life after death. There may be some apparent contradiction in surviving accounts of how this takes place, but with one exception (to which we will return later) there is no evidence of a belief that personal identity ceases with bodily death.
Second, if we examine the sagas, we find not a single instance of fear of death. The warrior's last words are usually matter-of-fact and often laconic or grimly humorous. The people of the sagas had no concept of spiritual extinction, or of an afterworld of sadistic maltreatment similar to the Christian hell.
Before going on to consider Odinist concepts of the after-life, we need to pause briefly and examine the Odinist doctrine of the soul. This is very unlike the simplistic "ghost-in-the-machine" concept of pre-Cartesian Christianity.
Several words have survived that allow us to consider different aspects of how the soul was perceived.
One of these terms is the Old English Æðm, usually glossed as "vapour, breath", but which is related to the Sanskrit word ãtman – "breath of life", used in roughly the way we say that a cat has nine lives.
Then there is Old English Fæcce, modern "fetch", meaning an apparition or double of a living person. People are often said to meet their fetch at momentous stages of their lives, or just before death. The fetch is clearly a semi-independent part of the soul, and has been viewed as the embodiment of all that we have ever been.
Closely related to the soul are two words from Old Norse, Fylgja and Hamingja. Both refer to aspects of human afterbirth, but both had separate spiritual meanings.
Even in modern Icelandic fylgja means "attendant spirit, guardian spirit". This is an aspect of the soul that accompanies people throughout their lives. It can take the form of a personal reserve of spiritual power, and can be used to attack one's enemies – as happened to Gunnar of Hlíðarendi. Before the fight at Knafahólar he was attacked in his dreams by a pack of wolves, the form taken by the fylgjur of his opponents.
Hamingja, which is also used in modern Icelandic, means "destiny, fortune, mana". We have trouble with this word in modern English because we have largely forgotten its original meaning. It can be seen as that aspect of the soul which commits us to the great task in this life for which every individual is incarnated.
Then there is the Kynfylgja, a part of the soul that has been conferred by one's family or ancestry. This word usually refers to family traits, but we get a sense of its earlier power in the Morris/Magnússon translation of Volsunga Saga: "I wot, by my fore-knowledge, and from the fetch of our kin [kynfylgju], that from this counsel will great evil fall on us …"
The Odinist soul, then, was seen as having many parts, or aspects, or dimensions. (Any reader who may have thought the earlier description of the Christian soul-concept as "primitive" and "simplistic" could do well to meditate on the few aspects of the Odinist soul touched on above.)
In life, as we have seen, different aspects of the soul did not have to be present in the same space – and in some cases they couldn't be. There is no reason to assume this to be otherwise in the after-life, either.
But now, having glanced at some dimensions of the soul, it is time to return to the list of possible after-lives given by M.I. Steblin-Kamenskij and quoted above.
Much evidence survives of the belief that devotees of Odin who die heroic deaths will be his guests in Valhalla. The death-song of Ragnar Lodbrók exults in this certainty. So, too, does the poet of Eiríksmál .
In Ynglinga Saga it is further said that all those who are cremated with their possessions after death will also go to Odin. This need not be a contradiction. Odin is the god of warriors, but also of poets and intellectuals.
Valkyries
Is there room in Valhalla for women? The literary accounts hint at this idea, and archaeology seems to confirm it. Many Viking-age women had splendid burials of the sort associated with devotion to Odin, accompanied by rich grave goods. Several were also admired poets.
Other honourable women who die become guests of the radiant goddess Freya. Even suicides can expect to join her. For instance, when threatening to kill herself, Egil's daughter said "I shall take no food until I sup with Freya".
It is also claimed in Grímnismál that half of the heroic slain also go to Freya. This confuses academic scholars. Jens Peter Schødt tried to explain it by arguing that physical death is linked with fertility under Freya's care, while Odin links death and intellectual fruitfulness. This is only partly correct – "intellectual fruitfulness" has little bearing on the after-life of the einherjar.
Another destination for some souls is hel, a place, or state, which is similar to the heathen Greek Hades. The word hel is linked to the verb hylja , "to cover", and applies both to the place and to its female guardian. According to Gylfaginning Hel was given "authority over nine worlds, such that she has to administer board and lodging to those sent to her, and that is those who die of sickness or old age". Elsewhere we are told that "sinners" are also looked after by Hel.
There are many points of comparison between Hel and the Greek goddess of the underworld, Persephone. Most significantly the story of the attempts to save Persephone from her fate parallels the doomed quest to release from Hel her most illustrious guest, Balder. Odin's son, the Shining God, will remain a guest of Hel until Ragnarok, after which he will return to rule a rejuvenated world. Since Balder did not die of sickness or old age, and was and is not a sinner, we have to assume that much information about the northern Hades has either become garbled or has not survived.
Hel is not a terrible place. The Greek hero Achilles said he would rather be a lowly person on earth than king in Hades. Times change. There are worse lives to be lived in places like New York than after-lives in hel.
After-life within a burial mound is particularly associated with followers of the god Frey. Frey is said to live in Alfheim, and the burial mounds on which some saga characters confer with the dead are presumably portals to that world.
Living on in mountains, to which Steblin-Kamenskij referred, is linked to followers of Thor. This is said to have been the case with Thorolf of Most. In Eyrbyggja Saga a shepherd sees the sacred mountain Holyfell, behind Thor's Ness, gaping open. Within, Thorolf was welcoming Thorstein and his crew with great rejoicing. We shouldn't be too literal here. Mountains are associated with Jotunheim, where Thor does so much of his work, and a local mountain might in certain circumstances allow us to glimpse those who have found haven with their patron, Thor.
There is no uncontaminated evidence about what an after-life with Ran might involve. The whole concept is suspiciously poetic. Only an unlikely archaeological discovery could assist us here.
Nevertheless, even in the case of Ran, a clear pattern has emerged. The Odinist concept of the after-life involves people either going to their patron god or else following a course dictated by the hamingja part of their souls.
Sea Goddess Ran
There are two exceptions to this pattern.
First, those who have not been committed to the after-life appropriately, or whose hamingja has been thwarted, can return to haunt the living as harmful, powerful Draugar. There are many examples of these in the surviving literature, together with tips on how to deal with them. Sometimes draugar can even be endearing. In Eyrbyggja saga the Hebridean woman Þórgunna comes back from the dead because a farming family refused to prepare a meal for the people carrying her corpse to its resting place. She shamed them by making the meal herself – in the nude, because her shroud hadn't been stitched up properly.
The second exception is the idea of reincarnation. This is a constant across the Indo-European religious spectrum, and the fact that it is only lightly reflected in the surviving Odinist literature no doubt reflects the priorities of those Christians who chose to record or preserve - or not to preserve - our ancestors' works.
Two out of the three Helgi poems of the Elder Edda refer to the reincarnation of both the valkyries and their male lovers. Helgi and Sigrun, for example, are specifically said to have lived on this earth more than once.
The Christian tyrant-king Olaf the Holy was descended from an earlier, much-loved monarch of the same name. Flateyjarbók gives us a revealing impression of the thoughtful, enquiring Odinist belief in reincarnation, and its contrast in Christian fear of the concept:
Olaf's Odinist bodyguard once rode past the burial mound of the elder Olaf. One of the bodyguards asked, "Tell me, lord … were you buried here?" Olaf replied that his soul "has never had two bodies, it cannot have them, either now or on the Resurrection Day". The Odinist persisted, saying that when Olaf had ridden by here in his previous life he was meant to have said […]. The narrative resumes: "And the king was much moved, and clapped spurs to his horse immediately, and fled from the place as swiftly as he might."
Poetic Edda
.
A few other examples of belief in individual reincarnation can be teased out of the surviving literature, but there's little point. The entire Odinist cosmology involves great cycles of time, with age succeeding age, and with the process beginning again after Ragnarok. This dovetails well enough with the surviving Eastern versions of our original Indo-European religion, and within this larger cosmology it is obvious that the fate of some soul-complexes would be to be re-born.
Significantly, the aim of reincarnation in the eastern versions of our once-common faith was to acquire enough wisdom to avoid the need to be re-born. Perhaps the most touching – and telling – reference to this concept in the surviving Odinist literature is found in the Poetic Edda , when Brynhild determines to be buried along with the dead Sigurd, and it is said:
Delay her not longer from dying,
That born again she never may be.
Some gaps still remain in our knowledge of the Odinist after-life, but the apparent confusion highlighted by academics has been largely dispelled. Generally speaking, the self-aware parts of the souls of our illustrious dead go to spend time with their patron gods and goddesses, or else with those gods and goddesses to whom they are destined. A very few are thwarted in this aim and become, at least for a while, draugar. Some go to hel, whose guardian perhaps releases them with Balder after Ragnarok. Some are doomed to be reborn in this world, where lover will again find lover, and again suffer the tribulations of mortal existence. Of these, some can hope, like Brynhild, "that born again they never may be".
Even though an article of this length can only expound it in the starkest terms, the Odinist view of the after-life is beautiful, consoling and innately moral. Small wonder that our ancestors objected to exchanging it for the banal, immoral and intimidating heaven and hell of Judeo-Christianity.
Blog entry
21 Apr 2013 - 12:22am
An illusion it will be, so large, so vast it will escape their perception. Those who will see it will be thought of as insane. We will create separate fronts to prevent them from seeing the connection between us. We will behave as if we are not connected to keep the illusion alive. Our goal will be accomplished one drop at a time so as to never bring suspicion upon ourselves. This will also prevent them from seeing the changes as they occur.
We will always stand above the relative field of their experience for we know the secrets of the absolute. We will work together always and will remain bound by blood and secrecy. Death will come to he who speaks.
We will keep their lifespan short and their minds weak while pretending to do the opposite. We will use our knowledge of science and technology in subtle ways so they will never see what is happening. We will use soft metals, aging accelerators and sedatives in food and water, also in the air. They will be blanketed by poisons everywhere they turn. The soft metals will cause them to lose their minds. We will promise to find a cure from our many fronts, yet we will feed them more poison. The poisons will be absorbed through their skin and mouths, they will destroy their minds and reproductive systems. From all this, their children will be born dead, and we will conceal this information. The poisons will be hidden in everything that surrounds them, in what they drink, eat, breathe and wear. We must be ingenious in dispensing the poisons for they can see far. We will teach them that the poisons are good, with fun images and musical tones. Those they look up to will help. We will enlist them to push our poisons.
They will see our products being used in film and will grow accustomed to them and will never know their true effect. When they give birth we will inject poisons into the blood of their children and convince them its for their help. We will start early on, when their minds are young, we will target their children with what children love most, sweet things. When their teeth decay we will fill them with metals that will kill their mind and steal their future. When their ability to learn has been affected, we will create medicine that will make them sicker and cause other diseases for which we will create yet more medicine. We will render them docile and weak before us by our power. They will grow depressed, slow and obese, and when they come to us for help, we will give them more poison.
We will focus their attention toward money and material goods so they many never connect with their inner self. We will distract them with fornication, external pleasures and games so they may never be one with the oneness of it all. Their minds will belong to us and they will do as we say. If they refuse we shall find ways to implement mind-altering technology into their lives. We will use fear as our weapon. We will establish their governments and establish opposites within. We will own both sides. We will always hide our objective but carry out our plan. They will perform the labor for us and we shall prosper from their toil.
Our families will never mix with theirs. Our blood must be pure always, for it is the way. We will make them kill each other when it suits us. We will keep them separated from the oneness by dogma and religion. We will control all aspects of their lives and tell them what to think and how. We will guide them kindly and gently letting them think they are guiding themselves. We will foment animosity between them through our factions. When a light shall shine among them, we shall extinguish it by ridicule, or death, whichever suits us best. We will make them rip each other’s hearts apart and kill their own children. We will accomplish this by using hate as our ally, anger as our friend. The hate will blind them totally, and never shall they see that from their conflicts we emerge as their rulers. They will be busy killing each other. They will bathe in their own blood and kill their neighbors for as long as we see fit.
We will benefit greatly from this, for they will not see us, for they cannot see us. We will continue to prosper from their wars and their deaths. We shall repeat this over and over until our ultimate goal is accomplished. We will continue to make them live in fear and anger though images and sounds. We will use all the tools we have to accomplish this. The tools will be provided by their labor. We will make them hate themselves and their neighbors.
We will always hide the divine truth from them, that we are all one. This they must never know! They must never know that color is an illusion, they must always think they are not equal. Drop by drop, drop by drop we will advance our goal. We will take over their land, resources and wealth to exercise total control over them. We will deceive them into accepting laws that will steal the little freedom they will have. We will establish a money system that will imprison them forever, keeping them and their children in debt.
When they shall ban together, we shall accuse them of crimes and present a different story to the world for we shall own all the media. We will use our media to control the flow of information and their sentiment in our favor. When they shall rise up against us we will crush them like insects, for they are less than that. They will be helpless to do anything for they will have no weapons.
We will recruit some of their own to carry out our plans, we will promise them eternal life, but eternal life they will never have for they are not of us. The recruits will be called “initiates” and will be indoctrinated to believe false rites of passage to higher realms. Members of these groups will think they are one with us never knowing the truth. They must never learn this truth for they will turn against us. For their work they will be rewarded with earthly things and great titles, but never will they become immortal and join us, never will they receive the light and travel the stars. They will never reach the higher realms, for the killing of their own kind will prevent passage to the realm of enlightenment. This they will never know. The truth will be hidden in their face, so close they will not be able to focus on it until its too late. Oh yes, so grand the illusion of freedom will be, that they will never know they are our slaves.
When all is in place, the reality we will have created for them will own them. This reality will be their prison. They will live in self-delusion. When our goal is accomplished a new era of domination will begin. Their minds will be bound by their beliefs, the beliefs we have established from time immemorial.
But if they ever find out they are our equal, we shall perish then. THIS THEY MUST NEVER KNOW. If they ever find out that together they can vanquish us, they will take action. They must never, ever find out what we have done, for if they do, we shall have no place to run, for it will be easy to see who we are once the veil has fallen. Our actions will have revealed who we are and they will hunt us down and no person shall give us shelter.
This is the secret covenant by which we shall live the rest of our present and future lives, for this reality will transcend many generations and life spans. This covenant is sealed by blood, our blood. We, the ones who from heaven to earth came. This covenant must NEVER, EVER be known to exist. It must NEVER, EVER be written or spoken of for if it is, the consciousness it will spawn will release the fury of the PRIME CREATOR upon us and we shall be cast to the depths from whence we came and remain there until the end time of infinity itself brings about the One True Power.
Blog entry
20 Apr 2013 - 9:53pm
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Firstly, I want to thank you for your time. It means a lot to me and I value each and everyone's opinion.
I've been contemplating on whether or not to include a photo of myself in my profile. The trend on Lightworkers is that most people don't use photos of themselves. I know that many like to represent themselves with beautiful artwork and symbolic imagery. Which is currently the case for me, but my primary intention is to protect my identity. I've been debating whether or not this is an unnecessary precaution that stems from fear-based belief.
At the beginning, I gave little thought to my decision, but as I progress on my journey I find myself questioning everything in a much more deeper manner and discovered many hidden kernels of wisdom embedded deeply into the esoteric nature of consciousness.
I've even come to entertain the belief that this perspective is enigmatic dance mostly meant to emphasize the experiences within the journey more so then being a means to an end, but I also believe it reveals itself as an means to an end by displaying the majesty of embracing the unknown. Therefore making the unknownable knowable and making the invisible visible.
Enough of my ranting though, lets get to my question I have for you, that being:
Are you comfortable revealing your appearance on Lightworkers? If so(or not) what is(are) your belief(s) and/or opinion(s) that bring life to this thoughtform?
I've just started thinking about this dilemma and have my own preconceived notion on this subject, but I'm always open to different perspectives. Which help and have helped refine my opinions on a great many things.
Bless you all and I send my Love to you all!
Teaching
18 Apr 2013 - 4:01pm
The Nature of Time as a Temporal Interval
Alexander Berzin,
http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/sutra/level4_deepening_understanding_path/time/nature_time_temporal_interval.html
Definition of Time
Buddhism does not regard time as an absolute container in which events occur, and which exists independently of those events. Thus, Buddhism does not assert space and time as a background grid that provides the space/time coordinates of objects located in it. Time (dus, Skt. kala) is a noncongruent affecting variable (ldan-min ‘du-byed) – in other words, it is a nonstatic phenomenon that is neither a form of physical phenomenon nor a way of being aware of something, and which is conceptually imputable on a nonstatic continuum.
Specifically, time is an interval imputed or measured in the continuum of the occurrence of a sequence of cause and effect. Since time is conceptually imputable, time is a function of and therefore relative to the mind that conceptually imputes it.
That does not mean that if we stop conceptually imputing time and enter into a totally nonconceptual state, time no longer exists, either objectively or subjectively. Time is conceptually imputable, but that does not mean that it exists only when someone imputes it. Nor does it mean that time or a temporal interval can only be cognized conceptually. We certainly do cognize time nonconceptually. When we see a glass fall from the table and break on the floor, we do not see just a sequence of still frames, like a strip of movie film, and conceptually synthesize them into the event. Simultaneously with seeing the glass in its various locations, we see the falling of the glass, the impermanence of the glass, and the moment of its falling.
Impermanence, nonstaticness, or change implies cause and effect, and cause and effect implies time as the measurable interval between a cause and an effect. Although voidness (emptiness), as a static phenomenon and the deepest truth (don-dam bden-pa, ultimate truth) about everything, is not subject to cause and effect, this does not mean that the deepest truth about everything is that everything actually exists independently of time. If everything did exist in that way, there would be no cause and effect.
Likewise, if we approach deepest truth in terms of it being beyond the categories of truly existent, truly nonexistent, both, and neither, and that it is inexpressible, that still does not render time totally nonexistent. We must understand that time, like all validly knowable phenomena, exists devoid of impossible ways of existing. It does exist, but its existence is only established by the words or concepts for it – it is the referent object (btags-chos) of the words or concepts for it, imputable on a sequence of cause and effect.
There are several views about time in the different Indo-Tibetan traditions of Buddhism. In all Buddhist systems, however, time is a nonstatic phenomenon conceptually imputable on a mental continuum. In other words, time is a mentally constructed measurement of changes occurring in the continuum of an individual being’s experience. More specifically, time is defined as an amount or length of an interval, measured along an individual mental continuum, between the occurrence of a causal action committed by that individual and the experience of its result by that same individual. In a sense, it is a distance, measured in the dimension of “time,” between two points on a specific individual’s mental continuum.
Temporal Intervals
Buddhism is not speaking about “time,” then, as a thing that passes, but rather it is talking about “temporal intervals.” Temporal intervals are nonstatic, since we can experience them – like a year – from moment to moment, and each moment that we experience of “the year” is different. But, they are not forms of physical phenomena and are not ways of being aware of something.
A temporal interval is measurable in terms of sequences of karmic experience, such as the interval between someone’s acting destructively and that same person’s experiencing unhappiness and suffering as the result that ripens from it.
It is also measurable in terms of cognitive sequences, such as the interval between someone’s seeing a leaf falling from a tree and then that same person’s seeing that leaf on the ground.
Further, time is measurable in terms of a continuum of forms of physical phenomena changing according to the physical laws of cause and effect, such as the continuum of the leaf just mentioned or the continuum of a pot of milk transforming into a pot of yoghurt.
Thus, since time is something measurable or imputable on an interval within a continuum or sequence of mental or physical events, it is clear that time is relative to and dependent on the observer. This is the case both from the point of view of the observer’s experience of two events and an observer’s mentally labeling both the events and the interval between them.
But, please keep in mind, time is a nonstatic phenomenon that is neither a form of physical phenomenon nor a way of being aware of something.
A period of time is not the same as a person’s subjective perception and conceptualization of a period of time, which is a way of being aware of something.
For most people, the interval of a year, for instance, seems much shorter as they grow older. A year seems to pass more quickly at age forty than at age four. This is because one year is only 2.5 % of the life of a forty-year-old, but 25 % of the life of a four-year-old. From an objective point of view, however, since time is not a “thing” that passes, then to speak of different speeds at which time is passing, accelerating as we grow older, makes no sense. It is like speaking of different speeds at which the son of a barren woman drives his car.
Units of Time
Since time is an interval mentally labeled or measured on a nonstatic mental or physical continuum, the units with which time is measured
are relative and merely conventions.
A “Year”
A specific interval can be labeled by one individual in many different ways, depending on the conventions he or she follows. Take, for example, the label “year.” A “year” is usually measured in terms of the spatial movement and position, either of heavenly bodies or of the persons measuring a year. This, of course, raises the topic of the relation of time and space, but let us leave that aside.
A solar year is the temporal interval measured according to one revolution of the earth around the sun. Traditionally, this was measured from the perspective of the earth according to the passage of the sun through either twelve signs (khyim) or twenty-seven lunar constellations (zla-skar, lunar mansions) of the zodiac (‘ khor-lo). These signs or lunar constellations are galaxies other than our own Milky Way. But because the sun orbits around the center of the Milky Way galaxy, while the other galaxies are moving in different ways and appear relatively stationary from our point of view on the earth, the interval between successive times a certain galaxy appears in the background behind the rising sun will differ each year. Because of this phenomenon, we have leap years and leap days. Thus, the length of solar years is variable.
A lunar year is measured according to twelve cycles of phases of the moon – for instance, from new moon to new moon or full moon to full moon. This interval also varies from year to year, since new and full moons depend on the position of the sun relative to the position of the moon. When the moon is between the earth and the sun, it is new moon (zla-stong), and when the moon is on the other side of the earth, it is full moon (zla-gang). And, since the interval varies between when the sun is at the start of a specific galaxy, such as Aries (lug), two successive times, the interval will also vary between two successive times the new moon occurs when the sun is at the start of Aries. Because of this phenomenon, intercalary months (zla-bzhol, leap months) are periodically added in the Buddhist and Hindu calendars to correlate lunar and solar new years.
Moreover, one person can label twelve cycles of phases of the moon “a year,” but that same person or someone else could also label it “less than a year” if the same period is measured with solar years. And the interval will be different depending on when the person measures it.
From a relativistic point of view, the interval of a year is also relative to the speed at which the person is traveling on whose mental continuum it is measured, and the speed at which the person measuring it is traveling. The closer the person travels to the speed of light, the longer the duration between the person’s 29th and 30th birthdays will be, when measured by the observation of someone traveling at a slower speed. Again, recall that we are not talking here about the experiencing of the two birthdays by the two people traveling at different speeds, which is a way of being aware of a year, but about the interval between the two birthdays itself, which can be labeled “a year.”
A “Day”
If we consider only one interval called a “year,” is there an objective interval that is being labeled differently here by one person or by two
different persons, even if they are at the same location and traveling at the same speed relative to each other? If there were such an objective
interval of time, it would have to be something labeled on parts, such as a certain number of days. The label “day,” however, can have different
definitions depending on how it is measured: For example, there are three types of days discussed in Tibetan and Hindu astrology. Depending
on how someone defines and measures a day, a day could be:
a solar day (nyin-zhag) – the temporal interval from one dawn to the next dawn. This interval is relative to the persons’ position on the
planet and will vary over the course of a year, as dawn occurs later each day after the summer solstice and earlier each day after the winter
solstice.
a zodiac day (khyim-zhag) – the temporal interval between the sun being located, from the perspective of the earth, at one degree and
then the next degree in the course of its movement around the 360 degrees (dbyug) of the zodiac. These intervals also vary over the course
of a year, since the orbit of the earth around the sun is elliptical and thus the speed of the earth varies as it orbits the sun.
a lunar date day (tshes-zhag), which is correlated with the phases of the moon. If we divide into thirty equal portions the distance,
relative to the zodiac, between the position of the moon at one new moon and the next new moon, then a lunar date day is the temporal
interval between the moon being located at one thirtieth-portion and then the next. These too vary over the course of a month and a year,
due to the elliptical orbit of the moon around the earth and the elliptical orbit of the earth around the sun.
a clock day – in the West, the temporal interval from the halfway point between one sunset and sunrise to the halfway point between
the next sunset and sunrise. Sunrise and sunset, of course, are labeled in terms of the position of the sun relative to the east and west
horizons of the person observing them. These halfway points do not vary over the course of a year, but are relative to one’s location.
An “Hour”
Is there a certain absolute number of hours that are being measured by these different labels of days?
The twenty-four-hour day was an Egyptian invention, from which it went to the Jews, the Greeks and the Romans. For all of them, however, such a day was a division of a solar day. The day and night were each divided into twelve hours, from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn, so that the length of an hour, being one-twelfth of the day or night, varied according to the season and length of daylight, whether it was an hour of the day or an hour of the night, and also according to one’s position on the planet. Hindu and Buddhist astrology divides the day and night, from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn, each into six hours (dus-tshan, dus-sbyor). A standard-length clock hour (lag-‘khor chu-tsod), with twenty-four such hours in a day, was not adopted in Western Europe until the end of the thirteenth century CE with the invention of mechanical clocks.
Both zodiac and lunar days in Hindu and Buddhist astrology are divided into sixty hours (dbyug-gu) of equal length.
We can apply the same type of analysis for minutes and seconds. What about atomic clocks that use as a standard of measurement the intervals in the atomic resonance frequency of cesium? This interval will also vary depending on the speed at which the cesium atoms are moving, for instance, on a star ship, and on the gravitational pull to which the atoms are subjected.
Is There a Common-Locus Temporal Interval?
The question, then, is, “Is there a common-locus temporal interval that serves as the basis for labeling by different persons and with many
different labels of temporal units?" A common locus (gzhi-mthun, common denominator) of two phenomena is something that is an example
of both phenomena, such as a loaf of bread being a common locus of a food and something baked in an oven.
There are several Buddhist opinions concerning this question of a common locus. They fall within the orb of the Chittamatra and Prasangika
debate concerning the existence of external phenomena (phyi-don).
The Chittamatra Position According to Tsongkhapa’s Earlier View
In the Chittamatra tenet system of Indian Buddhism, according to Tsongkhapa’s interpretation of it during the earlier part of his life, there is
conventionally a common-locus clay pot involved when several people all validly see a clay pot at the same time, but each from a different
angle and distance. The same would be true of two different people traveling at different speeds and observing a temporal interval, such as
the year 2006. Each would experience a year 2006 and, conventionally, it would be the year 2006 for both of them. Ultimately, however, there
is no common-locus clay pot or year 2006 coming from a different natal source (rdzas) than someone’s cognition of it. A common-locus clay
pot or year 2006 could not be an object cognized by an arya’s total absorption (mnyam-bzhag, meditative equipoise).
The Chittamatra Position According to Tsongkhapa’s Later View
In his later writings on Chittamatra, Tsongkhapa reinterprets Chittamatra as asserting that there is no common-locus clay pot or year 2006
even conventionally existent. This is the generally accepted Gelug Chittamatra view. When two people validly see a clay pot at the same time
or experience the interval they label the year 2006, each person is experiencing the ripening of tendencies (sa-bon, seeds) of shared or collective
karma (thun-mong-gi las) on his or her own mental continuum. It is not that each person is validly seeing a common-locus clay pot or
experiencing a common-locus year 2006.
Nevertheless, according to Chittamatra, the clay pot or year 2006 is findable – both persons can point to a clay pot, in terms of what each person
validly sees. In fact, when both of them are asked to point to a clay pot that they see on a table, for instance, each will validly see the other pointing
to the same clay pot that he or she validly sees there. Similarly, both persons traveling at different speeds can point to the change in their bodies
due to aging that occurred over the year 2006, and which they validly experience, and both can validly label that the change occurred in the interval
called “year 2006.” And if the person who was traveling near the speed of light and who experienced the change in his body over the year 2006
were to meet the person who experienced the year 2006 while traveling at a much slower speed and who somehow was still alive, the slower speed person could also point to the change that occurred on the faster speed person’s body and correctly label that change as having occurred in the
interval called “year 2006” of the faster speed person. He wouldn’t label it, however, as the interval called “year 2006” measured in terms of the
changes of his own body.
The Gelug Prasangika Position
Gelug Prasangika agrees with Tsongkhapa’s later interpretation of Chittamatra concerning there being no common-locus clay pot or year 2006,
either from the viewpoint of superficial truth or deepest truth, experienced by two different persons, either at different locations or traveling at
different speeds. However, the understanding of this is different.
Prasangika agrees with Chittamatra that the appearance of something, such as a “clay pot” or “ year 2006,” cannot be established from the side
of that validly knowable object, but depends on the mind that cognizes the appearance. But, for Prasangika, this is because there is no findable
referent “thing” (btags-don) on the side of a validly knowable object that corresponds to the names or labels for it. Thus, the year 2006
experienced by the person traveling at faster speed and the year 2006 experienced by the slower speed person are neither the same nor
different – neither one nor many. This is because there is no such thing as a truly existent findable “year 2006.” However, unlike Chittamatra,
Prasangika asserts that there are external objects – validly knowable objects, such as a clay pot and the year 2006, that have a different natal
sources and different essential natures from those of the cognitions of them.
Gelug Prasangika also asserts that the existence of a clay pot or the year 2006 cannot be established by a common-locus defining characteristic
mark (mtshan-nyid) on the side of the clay pot or the year 2006. This is because there is no such thing as a findable common-locus defining
characteristic that has the power from its own side to establish the existence of anything as what it conventionally is. Thus, there is no such
thing as one or more bases having or sharing a findable defining characteristic mark (mtshan-gzhi) on their own sides that establishes or makes
them what they conventionally are. The existence of an “interval of time,” such as the year 2006, is established only in terms of what a valid mental
label for it refers to – whether there is just one valid mental label or many valid labels, and whether the many valid labels are labeled by one individual
or many different ones. Remember, according to Chandrakirti’s explanation, a valid label is one
· established by a convention (tha-snyed),
· not contradicted by others validly measuring and labeling the same label in terms of superficial truth,
· not contradicted by others validly measuring and labeling the same label in terms of deepest truth.
Teaching
18 Apr 2013 - 10:15am
The Concept of Kala or Time in Hinduism
by Jayaram V
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_time.asp
The ancient Indians were not aware of the theory of relativity. But they were familiar with the concept of space and relative time. They believed that the duration of time changed from world to world and that our time was not the absolute. They distinguished between the cosmic time of the gods and the earthly time of ours. According to them, the gods were immortal, who lived longer and more intense lives. They were subject to a different time frame and had their own periods of activity and rest. These constituted their days and nights. When the highest Supreme Self was awake, they believed, He would expand outwardly and manifest his objective worlds, and when it was time for rest, He would withdraw into Himself and bring the worlds and the entire creation to a temporary halt. This is similar to the expansion and contraction of the material universe according to the modern theories of the origin of the universe.
In Hinduism time is known as kala. Kala means both time and death. Time is personified as the god of death, Yama, because death is a limiting factor in human life. Kala as god of death determines how long a person should live upon earth. So death and time are associated together. An individual's time upon earth begins with his birth and ends with his death. However for the soul, there is no death. It has no time because it is without a beginning and without an end.
The concept of time in Hinduism is based on our own experience of time as recurring and predictable phenomena measurable in terms of units such as days and nights, or months and years. Just as there is regularity to our days and nights, there is regularity to the days and nights of gods. This regularity is perceived as the Rta (rita) or the cosmic rhythm manifested by God. Rta is inherent in every aspect of creation. In the human body it is the biorhythm as well as the beat of the heart and the breath of the lungs. In the universe it is inherent in the configuration of the planetary bodies and their fixed movements. What protects this regularity of rhythm is Dharma, the eternal law, which is but an aspect of God Himself.
Mentioned below are some important beliefs of Hinduism associated with time as an aspect of creation. Some of these beliefs are also common to Buddhism and Jainism. However, in Buddhism and Jainism there is no creator. Time is an aspect of this illusory world and it exists as long as we are subject to the process of becoming or change.
1. Hinduism perceives time as cyclical. This is based on our own experience of time in terms of days and nights. We see this cyclical pattern in days, weeks, months, years, seasons and yugas or epochs. So from this perspective, time is a never-ending cyclical process, which is both repetitive and exhaustive. In a sense it is limited. In another it is eternal. From a spiritual perspective, time exists when we are in a state of duality but disappears when we enter into the state of unity or samadhi.
2. Each time-cycle has three components, srishti, sthithi and laya. Srishthi means creation. Sthithi means continuation and laya means dissolution. Each time cycle begins with creation, continues for certain duration of time and then dissolves into nothingness. After a brief respite, the cycle begins all over again. These three aspects of time are under the control of the Trinity, Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. Brahma is responsible for creation, Vishnu for existence and Siva for dissolution. We can see the same divisions in a day also. Each day is created in the early hours, continues throughout the day and then finally dissolves into darkness. We can see the same pattern in life also, as childhood, adulthood and old age.
3. The Hindu calculation of time comes to us from sage Ganita who is mentioned in the Manusmriti and the Mahabharata. He calculated the duration of each cycle of creation in human years. He divided the cosmic time into kalpas, which is a day and night in the time and space of Brahman. It is considered to be equal to 8.64 trillion years (Vishnu Purana). A kalpa consists of two artha kalpas of 4.32 trillion years each. They are the day and night of Brahman. Each artha kalpa is further divided into 1000 maha yugas. Each maha yuga is again divided into four yugas, namely krita yuga, treat yuga, dvapara yuga and kali yuga. Their duration varies. Krita yuga the first in the series has the longest duration of 1.728 million years and kali yuga, which is the last and the current, has a duration of only 432000 years. The durations of other divisions are mentioned in the table at the bottom of this article.
4. A day in the life of gods is equal to one year upon earth. It is divided into day and night. The day is known as uttarayana and the night as dakshinayana. They are equal to 180 days each.
5. In Hindu tradition there is another division of time called manvantara. A manavantara is the period during which the earth is ruled by a particular Manu, the father of man. The word 'man' comes from the Sanskrit word Manu. According to tradition, a new Manu manifests at the beginning of each manvantara to produce a new race of human beings. Each manvantara lasts for about 71 mahayugas or approximately 308 million years. In each manvantara along with Manu appear seven seers or rishis and one Indra. In all 14 Manus appear in each Kalpa over a period of 1000 mahayugas in succession. The current Manu is 7th in the line and is known as Vaivasvata Manu.
6. The current yuga or epoch is known as Kaliyuga. It is the last in the cycle of the current mahayuga or great epoch. Its calculated duration is 432000 years. We are not sure presently whether we are at the beginning, in the middle or near the end of Kaliyuga. If we accept the theory that Kaliyuga began with the passing away of Lord Krishna some 6000 or 7000 years ago, then probably we are in the early phase of Kaliyuga and have a long way to go.
7. Hindu Purunas contain several narrative accounts in which celestial events span over longer durations of time. They describe gods waging wars, or practicing meditation or making love for hundreds and thousands of years.
Is Time Real Or Illusory?
In Hinduism time is regarded as an aspect of creation. It exists only so long as we are bound to the things of this world through our senses. Time is a mental concept created by the movement of our senses, the celestial objects and our perceptions. It is part of the illusion in which we live and which we take for real. In God's consciousness there are no divisions of time. There is only the present moment, one continuous, indivisible and indistinguishable state of existence.
Time is also regarded as an aspect of Prakriti or Nature. It is one of the 36 tattvas or principles of creation recognized in Saivism. Prakriti subjects the boundless individual souls of pure consciousness to the limitations of time (kaala), space (niyathi), knowledge (vidya), passion (raga) and power (kala) and binds them to the cycle of births and rebirths. When beings transcend these five limitations through the grace of Siva, they regain their pure consciousness (chit) and become free.
The Hindu view time is responsible for absence of accurate historical records of the Indian subcontinent. The ancient Indians did not deem it necessary to record events of a world they believed was illusory. Besides, they believed the events by themselves were of no significance unless they had some relevance to the gods and the percepts of Dharma.
Table Showing Different Division of Time
Divisions of Cosmic Time
Divisions of Earth Time
Hindu Months
Hindu Seasons
60 Year Cycles
Hindus also follow a 60 year cycle in which each year is given a specific name which repeat after every 60 years.
Nakshatras or Daily Stars
According to Hindu mythology, there are 27 stars or nakshatras who are the daughters of either Daksha or Kashyapa, but wives of Chandra, the moon god. The moon god spends each night with one particular star, with whom he appears in the sky. According to Hindu astronomy, the sky is divided into 27 divisions. During its monthly cycle, the moon passes through each division roughly one per day. According to another tradition the 27 nakshatras are associated with the nine planets or navagrahas, with each planetary deity ruling over three particular stars. During the 27 day lunar cycle, the planetary gods enter into their respective star mansions and spend nine days with each of their three stars. The names of the 27 stars along with their controlling planets are mentioned below.
Blog entry
17 Apr 2013 - 3:40am
`Mad World` by Tears For Fears is such a great song. I felt like I wanted to write that down tonite for some reason. I love music and what it can do for your life... your thoughts.
Went for a walk today and it was clouded over so I didn't get to look for UFO's. What a strange thing it is that I do... look for UFO's.. anyone else do that? I have seen 2 in my life... maybe a month apart from each other. I find it interesting and scary at the same time. I like this town because I always feel I am the only one alive during the day... everyones's at work I guess and it's great. My dog can run around without a leash and no one cares... he feels free and loves every minute of it.
Side Note: I randomly played "Lovin Every Minute of It" today on youtube... by Loverboy I think. Love 70s and 80s music. Love Weird Al.
Another Side Note: I saw Weird Al live this past Christmas. He looked like a normal guy and for some reason I thought that was weird.. I thought he`d be freakishly tall or short or something. Anyway...
Sometimes I feel I want a huge global change to happen one morning when I get up and have my coffee.. that life won't be the same anymore but I wonder if it's a case of "be careful what u wish for". It really kindof freaks me out when I think about it. I've eased up on the meditating too because it scared me. Then I got scared looking into mirrors... oh god what a life, eh? And now here I am on the computer admiting I like Weird Al. I think he`s creative and smart and I think in another life I may want to be his wife.
Well, looking back at my post I see it was pointless. But, if anyone else has any pointless banter to add, be my guest.
jen.
Blog entry
15 Apr 2013 - 11:38pm
DEEPLY AWAKE – ALL GOOD THINGS
So, here goes, letting me, and you, know that I see a pattern emerging with all the inner work I find myself compelled to do.
But before I tell you how I see the waves breaking, I wanted to tell you of a few miracles and observations.
Last Thursday, things shifted for me rather dramatically. On Wednesday night I had gone to bed not discouraged, but ready for a change. I felt that my work around fear and money had come to an end. I was beginning to imagine that it might be possible for me to have some relief in. I felt complete with the whole thing, and I felt done with stuff. But, I know far too well from my slog through 2012 that when littlemind thinks I am complete, I am sometimes just being set up for a big lesson of clearing.
On Thursday morning, I felt fantastic, and knew that this was the day that things were to resolve. I was ready. We cleaned the house last week, and I removed every ill-fitting thing I own. All my fat clothes are gone. My clothing is clean and hanging on hangers. The kitchen is clean. So is the front room. So I woke up Thursday feeling like a world champion.
And then, as I was exiting my bed to begin my day, something shiny glinted from my sheet. There, where my shins had been, was a gold dollar coin.
What?!
Of course, I took it in my hand, and I laughed and I laughed and I laughed. I understood that I had, now, tangible proof, a miracle, that money would now be coming to me in unexpected ways, and I would finally start feeling, really feeling supported. I could expect support. I could expect ease. I could expect fun.
It is such a treat to have a moment to piece this together, because it is a rather exquisite construct. Let me continue.
Thursday I made a decision. It was a simple one, and an obvious one, and a sainted one. I was inspired to consider the possibility that I could now help people with Tarot. I got my coffee and went to my newly fixed desk, and I cam up with a very nice business card.
Nearly thirty years ago I learned divination through simple playing cards, from Diane. I then studied Tarot daily for two years under a master numerologist and astrologer, who was a whiz at the cards. Until the early nineties, my friend and I would do readings for strangers at restaurants, because we'd come with our cars, to read for ourselves, but we'd always wind up with a crowd.
Finally, on Thursday, it dawned on me that I could make actual money reading Tarot, and I'd be expected to be paid by actually speaking my very own language!
I pick up my business cards this Wednesday. I have decided to sprinkle cards all over town, for Deeply Awake Tarot.
This is the beginning of all good things.
Here is why.
This sainted energy followed me into Friday, and I had a great night. I went to my favorite metaphysical bookstore and bought a great book on numerology, two on tarot, and some more Kryon.
Then Saturday happened.
I worked with someone who was so full of sadness, resentment and hatred. She walked around with murder in her eyes, and she sabotaged me again and again and again, and I just had a miserable shift. Every old thought I ever had about how stupid and unacceptable and awful I am, yes me, not the creep, came back to cut me and bruise me.
I think I cried more Saturday and Sunday than I have in months. I was so miserable, so uncomfortable that shift, and so ashamed that I got mad, that I was affected, oh, I had such pain. Such pain. Ugh. I was ashamed that I couldn't transmute that junk in the moment, angry that I was feeling anything at all.
And now, things have cleared. I say that like no work got done. Ha!
But there are many gifts from that turbulent shift. So many I cannot count them all. But here is the thing. I appreciate their elusive reality. Identifying these things, these constructs or feeling states, that is so necessary. Identifying the place where the blossom was planted, that is important too.
I know that I will test myself again with this energy. It is the energy of resentment and hatred, the vibration of fear and being small. It poisons everything.
So I have decided that I need to set the intention, and speak the truth at the start of each shift, even if it is just internally. The gift I have been given is the courage and the wisdom to have a different awareness toward the aides.
This is what I will say from now on that the beginning of the shift to the aides who work as my subordinates:
I think it is a telling thing that the people here at this hospital tonight, of all the people here, the ones who will actually touch the patient, who will give the most eye contact and who will have the most face time, are the aides. And it is sick, but the reality is that the ones who do the most intimate work with the patient we, as a society, have decided to pay the least respect and money to. I want you to know how false I know this to be. And all the things I am responsible for and can get in trouble for, none of it really even matters if the star of our show, the reason we've shown up, the patient, is riding his bed discouraged, neglected, sad, wanting something simple and not having it. See? That is how I see it. And I cannot and will not answer as many call lights as you tonight, because we have different masters, different expectations, but I want to start this shift by telling you that I see you. I honor you and I respect you and I see you. I will act in a way that shows this honor and respect and trust. And although I do not know if you can return these things, all I ask is that you assume I am on your side. That is all. Assume I am a friend and not your enemy.
So, that is the miracle from working with that horribly sad person.
Let me just pause to tell you something. I just took a break to go get some coffee from the kitchen, and I walked away from this piece you are reading wanting to bag it and start over, because it is not clear and I am not getting to the meat of it. It feels chaotic, this telling, although it really is not. The thing is, all of these miracles are intertwined, and I know that now, and so I will show that I love the integrity of this beauty by telling it as whole but as enjoyably as I can.
So much of this pain, this original pain I have, was there on display of Saturday night. I had a subordinate who was completely out of control. She was checking up on my work, (that would be like me approaching a doctor and openly criticizing him for an omission. Not as a partner, but as someone with a sharp stick I then proceed to stick in the doctor's eye. It is not done nurse on doctor, but it is done ALL THE TIME aide to nurse. All the time.)
See, here is the thing. I have lived my whole, whole, whole life programmed with this weirdness: If you are uncomfortable, it is my fault. The fault is organic, so it cannot be fixed. The situation is: one with the fault fucks things up and can be punished in ANY way seen fit, and the one who finds the fault gets to act superior and hatefully condescending.
That's it. That was what my childhood WAS, and that is how nursing has been for me.
If someone does not like me or my behavior, it is simply because I am flawed. I am the reason. And I cannot undo what is broken. I just have to live with it.
This is why I have always tried to be so damned good! Because I understood that if there is a disturbance in the field, it's because of me, and I can't help it, but I am hated for it.
Um, can I just say, that sentence pretty much explains my social and interpersonal posture for the last 52 years of my life?!
And now we are drilling deep, team, and now we are mining the big nuggets, the ones that surprise your arm with their weight and heft. Now comes the good stuff.
How about being placed in an automatic posture of a soul apology for 52 years? How would that be? What might I learn about myself if I set it up that there is no warmth, or very very little warmth between me and others for a very very long time, almost like an isolation tank that I wear.
I have talked about it before, my lack of compassion.
And I want to really discuss this because I think at some level this is my soul lesson.
I have always been in love with nature, with living things. I would have been very happy on a farm. I know who I am and how and where I belong when I been think about nature. It is an instant, instant head clearer. I can think about moss on a rock, or a slab of granite buried into the side of a mountain, or a pine tree, and I am fine. Set. Clear once again. It is weird how easy that is. I just did it.
But I have never, ever, not even once, felt that around a human. No human. Never. Sorry. Not ever. Not even once.
It's like I have this sheath around me, and the palette of feelings is not available to me. And I have really been mean to myself about this. I know I am weird, because I can love someone so very completely, and be so utterly moved, just moved to beyond words, by someone, but not always and usually at great price.
It is not that I don't like people, it's just that I really do not understand their motivations, a lot of them. I don't like how they think, what they say, what they focus on. I find most people really absent of spark and life. Most people are very very afraid, and in their terror they smash anyone who isn't.
Please know that this writing is as close to stream of consciousness as I have ever done online, so forgive the lack of structure. What I find with these things is that in the middle of such seeming chaos, a pattern emerges, a theme, a message. I am not feeling it yet, so I will continue.
So here we are, with a bitchy woman-child at work set off gongs in me. I wept and I wept and I wept. In the bathroom. In the hallway. In the car. In my bed. Weeping. Can't really tell the specifics because I don't remember them. But it had to do with being hated. Being hated. Being hated.
How do I reconcile this? How do I find peace with this? How do I do that? And why oh why must this be an issue?
It's because I had asked for, begged and demanded GENTLENESS.
That's the cosmic joke, my love.
I had decided that my weekend would be one practicing, living, knowing gentleness. I had been shown that gentleness in action and thought leads to compassion and that this mechanism is under the auspices of knowing peace.
Seemed real simple.
I can be gentle. I can do that.
Except that is not my way. Never has been. Never has been.
I gravitate toward chaos. My head clears when I am in crisis. I think it speaks to the end-times portion of me, the extreme portion of me who came in to just DO THIS THING. I am not particularly gentle. I love change. Chaos. Upset. I thrive on it. I don't like creating it, although I am good at that, but I just find I enjoy extremes. There truly is nothing else like having someone try to die on you, someone who has told you that they would prefer that particular thing not happen. It is a peaceful, tranquil, loving, beautiful energy, that extreme. I love it. It's like being in a cathedral in the woods, being at the bedside as someone is dying, or trying to. And it is within the extreme, within the chaos, that everything becomes so easy, so clear, so simple.
So, no, gentleness, assuming a posture of gentleness this lifetime would have made it impossible for me to live to this age. I had to develop ways to cope. And losing that sweetness, that vulnerability, that was job one. I was not raised in a gentle home. I did not have gentle formative experiences. Gentleness has not been the walk of The Others I contracted with.
It still comes out, and does so more now than ever before. But gentleness, that is a state of grace, something to work toward, as far as I am concerned.
See, I realized after that meditation that gentleness is not such a strong attribute with me. I got through the first part of my life really knowing, utterly believing the following:
I am born in alone. I will die alone. Each of us is a universe unknowable between birth and death. Lying creates pain. Honesty creates isolation. No one comes close to me, but when they try, inevitably, something really shitty happens, and they reject me because I am not good enough. No one has ever really loved me, and I really doubt anyone can, in the end, honestly love anyone else, because everyone is so dishonest with themselves and each other. No one wants to be real, no one wants to be exposed, and no one wants to talk. And if I break this rule of silence, I am punished even worse than if I am just seen as a dolt.
Yeah. That's pretty much it. In a nutshell.
But although that has been my interpersonal reality for 52 years, I think it can change now. Because I see now that it is based on a false premise! A number of them actually.
Now, understand, that statement above, that was my manifesto. But it is built on the false notion that we come in alone. That we die alone. That is such nonsense.
And then there is the other stuff, a lot of which is true.
I think the sheath thing is real. I think it is my protection. It stops me from feeling any interest whatsoever in most of the nonsense that could knock me off my path. Maybe it was a help at one time, and I do feel that it was a gift given to me to help me cope. But it has caused a rift, a chasm, that I want to cross now.
I saw The Other as more powerful than me. Literally able, with a glance, a word, an edict, to dismiss me as offal.
If you do not approve of something about me, maybe it's my clothes or my weight or my posture or my words or my face, my soul purpose, my dinner selection, anything, if you disliked it even mildly, then I would feel pain. Really. I hate to admit this shit, but it's true. Between two people, there is a space that is afforded when someone creates something new, a coffee or a break or a radio dial change. And in that moment when something new is introduced, that is indeed a good moment. Because The Other has an opportunity to then comment on the new addition to the construct.
And when that happens, if the person shows displeasure or discomfort, then that is when I take the ball and run with it.
Oh my, what fun I have had then!
This is my jumping off point, into the abyss of self loathing. It is a choice. It is always there. If in the space of having introduced something new, an idea or a suggestion or a treat, the other person must then decide if it is good or bad for them, right? “Would you like some treats?” In that moment, The Other makes a decision.
Now, if I am The Other, I really need my companion to be strong, and to deal with the fact that I may or may not want a treat. If I say no, I am hoping The Other will understand I am rejecting the treat and not him or her. But most are not strong, and most, when rejected, start feeling like they themselves are rejected. Come on, when you get right down to it, when I say “no “ to an offer, I am rejecting the energy of that other person, a probability they are offering. I have the right and responsibility to say yes or no.
And here is the kicker.
Here is the love, the gratitude, the grace and the gentleness.
I understand now that the mechanics will always be fascinating to a girl like me. I love that I am so analytical on this interpersonal stuff. I don't really have a choice, since this is how I was built, but still, I like that I examine everything so much.
But I had been missing a key ingredient. That is why I allowed that girl at work to treat me so awfully and why we did that horrible lurching dance for twelve truly macabre hours on Saturday. She was a master teacher. She was also a stone cold bitch.
I had been thinking “Ooh I want gentleness. I want to be the sage who dances through her shift. I want peace and lightness and gentleness and love.”
Yeah, great to aim high, but how is it possible to radiate something that I refuse to bathe in myself?
So let me return to the timeline.
An aside, if you will allow it, about my boy. I told him, very briefly, about the first dispensation, that of peace through compassion via gentleness. And that sage sat on his couch, smiled and said, “Yeah, mom, you aren't very gentle. You need more of that.”
Yeah.
I will now say, just for the record, that if you do not live with my son, you are not in a good position to judge him. He's bullet proof and wiser than most, good humored, self-assured and completely honest. Yikes.
So, on Sunday afternoon, I woke up after having cried bucketfuls, and I felt pretty good. The air was clearer, that is for sure.
Sam and I, we gave each other ease that day. We did things that were sure to give us peace and joy. One of them was to go to a movie. He decided to go to a werewolf or zombie thing, and I decided to go see Silver Linings Playbook.
That movie is a gem. It is about ascension, guys. I needed to know what I was missing, I needed to crack this koan. And then came that movie. It demonstrated a thickness of love that nearly made my throat close up. It was so THICK with THICK love. It was a sparkly movie. I cried through it too.
And then, Sunday night, I realize something, as I was clearing the dishes from the sink.
There is a moment in the movie when Bradley Cooper's character has just had it, and declares “You know, maybe Tiffany and I are on to something! Maybe we aren't like you but that isn't a bad thing! Maybe you should pay attention to how we are doing this, because we aren't doing it 'wrong'!” (I'm paraphrasing. Forgive me, please.)
You see, I have walked around feeling like The Other, being put down and misunderstood my whole life. I am seen as awkward, too open, too deep, and I have a hard time modulating my frequency, or at least I did. I was lost most of the time, and I made stupid choices. I painted with all the colors available to me, and I did it in a way that seemed to guarantee raised eyebrows and judgment. And I am SICK OF IT.
I am sick of all the judgment.
And here came that movie, right there, of two ascending masters, loving on each other creatively, with abandon and with great precision, with love thick and straight and true, and it was delicate and moving and right.
At the sink, I laughed out loud, because the voices finally are back, and what they said was that I had got it, finally. The missing ingredient is not love for The Other. Often The Other is not appreciative. And yes, I know that everyone travels with big angels and a higher self they are beginning to tap into, but come on, we are all NOT there yet, ans some people are pretty fucked up still.
So, here's the thing I learned at the sink. Gentleness is not to be given to others without first being run through my own body. See? It is not possible to give it unless I have it. Of course, it is available, because I have dreamed up the possibility.
Gentleness is compassion. And it is to be given first to myself, then to others. See? See how it works? The people in the movie, they understood, in the end, and they had gentleness. But first they had to realize it internally.
In the movie, this realization occurred when the characters allowed themselves to be loved and supported by others. There it is. The willingness to see something as a loving act. Something that could be seen as an act of betrayal, or selfishness or manipulation. All through that movie, folks made good choices. They made choices biased in LOVE.
There was always love there, but there was pain and unhappiness too. These peoples' issues were not mine, their stories not mine, but their struggle was as real as it gets, and I have to tell you, it was a very powerful thing, seeing two people like me on that movie screen. Two people who were not understood, not appreciated, two individuals who were wrestling particularly mean monsters, but in the end, the monsters only had one name, at that name was fear.
And everyone was, in the beginning, bouncing off everyone else's fear. Quite a symphony of pain at the start, but by movie's end, there was peace in the valley.
The peace was released, for me, with that line of Bradley Coopers. MAYBE I AM ON TO SOMETHING.
See, this spiritual quest of mine has led me down bind alleys and box canyons, but I have enjoyed the ride. I have done this life weirdly, and I have chosen to be a pebble in people's shoes. I know it and they know it.
I know now that I have to admit and work with the obvious: I effect people. I am here, and I am part of it, and I matter, and the very things for which others have put me down my whole life, I now feel are my most precious attributes: my willingness to consider the fact that I might not be seeing things as clearly as I could being my best one.
What if I did something revolutionary, and stopped hating my own self when others are uncomfortable with me? What about that?
Maybe my job is not to create peace, but to create love.
I am beginning to think that peace is a by product, or a sister of love. I think Love is the engine, and it is the context, and then the variations start to emerge from it, the patterns of peace, self worth, self acceptance, forbearance, gratitude, humor, all those good things. But it comes from love.
Love is word we have bastardized, and I like instead to describe it sometimes, because then I realize I am a bit more loving than I think. Love to me, love is this: Love is
Strong. Patient. Smiling. Permission. Allowance. Tolerance. Forbearance. Inclusion. Expansion. Answers. Truth. Symmetry. Recognition. Forgiveness.
What if all these years, I have been put down for the very things that are what we, as humans, ultimately strive for? Why is it that my meditating and loving God cost me so many relationships? Why is it that I have not yet found someone who is like me?
I think maybe it has a lot to do with me. Where I stand with me.
I think I am all of that with a bag of chips, but then along comes a spider, who checks up on my work, finds ways to get me into trouble and shame me...... and once again I FELL APART.
But then the reconstruction begins again. Sainted work, this.
And I was ready.
At the sink, and all night long, and into this morning, here is what I have been told:
I allowed people to walk all over me and be shitty to me because I did not feel I was worthy of better treatment. I thought that what people give me I need to take, and if they are mean to me, I deserve it. There must be something wrong with me I have yet to discover, the old thinking went.
But I know now that I am complete and intact.
It is no longer something I am ashamed of, that these understandings are not whole at the outset. It was a daunting and embarrassing thing to me that I did not understand so much, and that I was always in pain. I see now that I am built in a way that requires others exert a bit of effort, and sometimes they don't feel like it.
I know I effect people, and I know that sometimes people react to me in ugly ways. I challenge people. I always have. And it is not like I want to, but I just seem to. This effect used to lead to a lot of weirdness, and it still does. I am working on making the weirdness more sparkly, that's all.
This is where the gentleness comes in, and this is how the circuitry is supposed to go, I think.
In a situation where someone is not acting very nicely, I have a choice. In that moment, that sweet golden moment where I say yes or no to an offer. The offer is sometimes to play the game of “Better than/less than.” Sometimes the offer is to play the game “They are all so dumb.”
And in the golden moment, of one person reaching out across the divide to me verbally, that is the moment of choice. Do I play along? Or do I find a way to elevate the whole stupid mess? Sometimes distraction works. Sometimes just leaving the area is best. And sometimes introducing a different game is best. A game of “Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?” or “Do you have any kids?”
But sometimes that magic just doesn't catch on.
And then the games begin.
So if I meet another warrior tonight who is there, ready to challenge me and help me sink into small thoughts and delusions of self-loathing, I will use something which just came to me, one of the many new gifts I have been given.
It is simply A WAY OUT. I have not given myself many of those. I stay too long at the fair sometimes, as The Teachers used to say. I am stubborn and want to move energy and sometimes the energy doesn't want to be moved. My way out will be waiting for me on Wednesday. They are simple business cards. But it is a way out.
I saw writing as my ticket out, and of course it is, but it is also laden with desperation and fear, this task I set before myself. I was so convinced that I could never escape nursing that I charged writing so much, it is not a surprise I have not had more tangible success. I mean, look at this stuff. I deserve national exposure, and I know my words will help many. I know that. If you're paying attention how could you not know that?
But I cannot go directly from my jammies and a laptop to rocking Rockefeller Center. I need intermediary steps. I need contacts. I need friends.
So this is my way out.
Funny, but the idea of doing readings has spurred a lot of other ideas. I love aroma and used to have a perfumers kit as a kid. I am going to learn how to make bath salts, and I am going to present each of the people I read for a lovely gift. I have a feeling that the gifts of aromatherapy and numerology will play a large part in all of this, but for now, these remain interests, idle thoughts, hopes and dreams.
Things are happening, they are popping, and I now want to tell you the punch line.
Ever since Sunday afternoon I have felt peace. It is CONSTANT. It is STURDY. I can rely on it. It is there, baby. I can't shake it.
It is an eery thing, this peace. It is constant. It is new. But it feels like it is in the weave and not a color about to be introduced to the loom, if you know what I mean. I feel, I know, peace. That is what I was laughing about at the kitchen sink on Sunday night. I was laughing because now, without working for it or “calling it in,” there it stands, helping me do the dishes, quieting my heart, calming every nerve. There it is, a part of the weave, whispering against my skin with softness and strength and protection. There it is.
So today, I work again. Pouring coffee this morning, I was told that I would indeed be giving myself another test, another check, to see if I am going to fall apart if someone doesn't like me and starts acting like an asshole because of it. But I am giving this to myself. There is no enemy, just mysterious tests of which I know very little, except I know what they are now when they are in my reality.
Sn aside: I have come to believe that my natural state is one of expansive balance. As such, when lies come into this spin, the spin is knocked off kilter a little. That's the pain. That's the misery. And that's the challenge, the test.
I know I call these people and these experiences to me, and I thank that person who acted like a creep. I am certain that my displeasure will be lodged in her awareness until she has her aha moment, and then maybe she'll understand why I just, by the end of the shift, rebuffed her insincere and angry assistance in disgust. I hated to do it, but she was so awful towards me. I know now that yes, of course, I will test myself to see if I am still willing to abdicate all my good things, just lay them down at the feet of anyone who expresses discomfort with me.
Guess what? If I make you uncomfortable, deal with it. I come in peace. I come in love. And I mean no ill will. I am not a mean or angry person. I expect and deserve respect. I will always give it, and it is my expectation that, around me, it be given back.
What happens when I don't get it?
Isn't that at the crux of this thing?
I said I can't feel compassion, and I hope you know that this is a lie. But there is a deep dichotomy within me, one which made me feel as close to madness as I ever will.
When Sam was born and we'd moved to our new house, I remember I'd go to his room and hold him, rock him, just to get a way and be with him. And yet, as I held him, I felt a weird sensation which I interpreted as me being broken, way down deep.
I would hold him and rock him and feel him, and I was clearly devoted to him and fully aware on most levels of what he meant to me, but I would hold him and rock him and look down on his little body and this is what I thought, a thought which I have never ever admitted until now. I would get very panicky as I thought to myself: I don't understand this.
I would look down at him and just say, “I don't understand.”
And I took that for “I don't love you.”
But that was a wrong interpretation. I love my son. I am a very loving entity. But I remember so well feeling about 30 feet tall, and I would have the sensation of holding the tiniest most precious most most precious substance in the universe in my hand, looking at it, dumbfounded, thinking, “I don't get this.”
I have had many metaphysicians tell me that thinking is not the answer. That beliefs are unimportant and thoughts are not the way to God.
That words are weak and meaningless.
Tell me, please, if that is the case, how a kid's life will go if the mother has a strong feeling and encodes it to mean that she, the mother, is unable to love her child, versus the mother who encodes this strong feeling as one of a mysteriously deep and rich love to which she has not yet had access?
Tell me.
Tell me how a life will go if a child is regularly told and shown it is defective, and the child comes to believe there is no better interpretation that that for her woes. That she is broken and can never be fixed, that her brokenness breaks those she touches, and her way will therefore be one of suffering. Tell me.
What if that little girl had been taken aside and told this: You are surrounded by people you have chosen to challenge your innate sense of self worth. No one around you is going to mirror you back whole, because no one here can see things whole. So when they start telling you that you are the cause of trouble and strife, and when they tell you that the only explanation for their intolerable pain is that it is and will always be all your fault, you will understand that they have missed the point. Just don't take their horseshit as gospel.
Jesus Henry Christ, things would have been different for me.
It is how things are for Sam, and he is flourishing.
So, there It is. It is a multi-layered cake I have baked for you, full of flavor and surprising delight.
Some people have a bad day at work, come home, kick the dog, and go to bed.
This is why, loved ones, after a fight or a disturbance in the field, when next I meet some of the people I have encountered, they feel shame and don't want to interact. And I have to remember that, because I have literally lived years since then. I have transmuted their gift to gifts of wonder and depth. I have used their pain and it is no longer that which it was, so I feel no shame, particularly, when I reunite with the dorks I have to deal with. They tend to walk around like scolded puppies on any subsequent encounters. So I have learned to let them know (non verbally, sometimes verbally, but very very rarely) that all is forgotten and I am in gratitude for their help.
So I will begin my shifts with that little spiel I wrote at the beginning of this piece. I will take my son to that movie. And the coolest thing of all, the biggest most awesomest gift of all is that from now on, I get to be gentle with myself.
See, that's the punch line, and that's what had me laughing at the sink. Here I was thinking I was going to go to work and just somehow distribute this amazing peace. Ha! Yeah. Good intentions, and that's nice, but hey, it's a two way street.
So from here on out, here's the deal if you work with me.
I already think you are awesome. I used to be afraid of people, because I was convinced they could hurt me. But really, most of that is just nonsense. I can't be hurt. And in my back pocket now is my way out.
I couldn't escape my family. I couldn't escape nursing. Now I have a way out. And it's not an escape at all. It's a natural extension, but it is indeed the next step. And having the next step is nice, because it takes the sting out of the creep factor.
I know that there will come a time when none of this will be salient. We will look back on these machinations we used to do avoid interpersonal pain. It might be seen as a quaint read of how things once were, when most everyone was just waking up to their awesomeness, and what it was like for the ancient ones as this occurred on the planet.
All I know is that I can't live as previously expected, and breaking behaviors is fun but scary.
I am on an upward spiral which has no end, and it is ok to have these understandings come in steps. I no longer feel shame that I didn't have it whole, and I now feel such gratitude for having been willing to expose myself as I have.
I am grateful for the movie Silver Linings Playbook. I needed it. I needed to see two lightworkers spin so beautifully. I needed to see the reality that a movie that is in your face about ascension and profound love won Academy Awards, was backed by big names, and starred luminaries.
This shit is as real as it gets, and our time is now. The freaks, the ones who have never fit in. Guess what? I think that living 52 years as an apology is enough. And I am not going off half cocked because I saw a movie. No. I understand now, through an artistry and grace which speaks of the godhead, that which I did not before. And I honor them, aspire to do what they have done, and live life more whole as a result.
I know I should have been writing more frequently, because then this would not have been so long, but I think that it makes a lot of sense why I have not been writing recently. It's been balls to the wall learning mode.
I know that is is ascension. I know that I am nearly there. And I know to be true what was told me several weeks ago, and that is how I will end this thing.
I remember just a few weeks ago, waking up after a deep sleep with only one thought. The thought had color, depth, sound and smell. It was an understanding, not an idle waking musing. And this is what it was:
Things will never be that bad again. Things will never be how they were, and you are not ever going to go back into that pain. The worst is over. The worst is over The worst is over.
And it's true. I knew it to be true as it rang form me that morning, and I knew that I could actually trust that understanding. And now I have proof. I spent maybe, at most, 16 hours in true pain, but the truth is, that before 2012, I was in that level of pain pretty much ALL THE TIME. There was no surcease and all relief was temporary.
Not anymore.
I am never going back there to live. It is not possible.
And yet, the siren song of fear is so seductive, so powerful, even now. But, as I have continually been coaching myself through these hours, my message has been, and is to you as I leave, simply this: The pain I feel is so painful now because it is no longer native to me. It is revisiting me. I am releasing it. It's ok. It wants to go home. I am miserable because these things are not truthful, not whole, not satisfying. I am in pain because I am believing lies. And it's temporary.
It only gets better from here.
There is a pattern and a purpose to everything.
I look forward to spinning with love so thick that we all, each of us,l feel like our chests are supernovas. That is all I want, all I have ever wanted. And I can get there through love. Making choices in that golden sigh of a moment between yes and no. I can err on the side of love, imaging that someone could find something good in me. That because their eyesight is improving and my behavior more congruent, we can have peace. I like not being afraid of people, especially the jerks. I am unplugging from fear. If it no longer applies to me, if I have lots of ways out, and I have lots of ways to find inner peace, then do I need to see The Other as anything but friend? If I trust my own inner strength, how can I be in relationship afraid of The Other?! Maybe my clue to entering the chapel of pain I visited on Saturday has to do with not puffing up The Other. Reminding myself of my own intactness.
If I see myself as intact and inviolate, a gentle gift that sometimes knocks people off their axis, then can I really have a bad shift?
You see, that is the test. That is the challenge. And that is why now, 36 hours I had that crappy shift, I am going to do it again, and I have a happy heart, and excited countenance, and certainty that this thing I carry with me, this effect I give without knowing I am doing it, is a gift that can heal, and it is how I apply it that determines its impact. If I take a posture of fear, things go into the crapper. If I believe the fear thoughts, the lies, I am sunk.
So I will think thoughts that are true and straight and clean. Pure and joyful and funny and happy. And I will get through it somehow, not fully comprehending the miracles that made the shift even occur... this alchemy I participate in for twelve hours a day three days a week is WORK. Make no mistake. But it is not really the work of changing bandages and passing pills. It is the work of self realization. I will remind myself of these good things I have come to know, of the great gifts I have given myself and been handed by my family, this legion of guides and angels all here to support and love me.
This, this great love, this quiet happy peace earned through introspection and trust and faith and hope, this love, this peace, is the origin of all good things.
Blog entry
15 Apr 2013 - 5:16pm
i am that what i am
im everywhere and nowhere
i am that what i am
im nor good nor evil
i am that what i am
i am god but godless
i am that what i am
here and there where there may be
i am that what i am
strong and weak at the same time
i am that what i am
the unknown and the known
i am that what i am
just a ordinary boy with no dreams
i am that what i am
that what i dream and that what i live
i am that what i am
Blog entry
12 Apr 2013 - 3:04pm
Realizing my own school
Residing in a tree
In disguise
All that I despise
In everybody’s eyes,
Lives inside
Hating what I hate
Is what make my relate,
To this life
Feeling full of nothing
Turns me into something
Full of Fire
Believing night and day
Because of yesterday
Goes away
Reality’s not fate
It’s all that you create
From inside
If all you say see its---
Something wrong with me
You’re a liar
You got to find a way
To hear what people say
To survive
NOT A POEM. A SONG.
*LYRICS FOR "ALARM CLOCKS" BY THE VINDICTIVES.
Blog entry
10 Apr 2013 - 3:50pm
DEEPLY AWAKE – A GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR
******************************************
I being today by celebrating the great Eddie Vedder. He has nailed it.
No Ceiling
Comes the morning when I can feel
That there's nothing left to be concealed
Moving on a scene surreal
No, my heart will never, never be far from here
Sure as I'm breathing, sure as I'm sad
I'll keep this wisdom in my flesh
I leave here believing more than I had
And there's a reason I'll be back
As I walk the hemisphere
I got my wish to up and disappear
I've been wounded, I've been healed
Now for landing I've been, landing I've been cleared
Sure as I'm breathing, sure as I'm sad
I'll keep this wisdom in my flesh
I leave here believing more than I had
This love has got no ceiling.
***************************************
What I find so fascinating about this process is that I am continually surprising and delighting myself. Many of my greatest breakthroughs have been accompanied by belly laughs. Tears-in-the-eyes-pee-your-pants funny.
This has been the time of coming home, coming into myself, a reorganization is afoot, and it feels really good. Everything is feeling really good. I want to explain how this came about.
First, I want to say that maybe the biggest joke I played on myself was this one, this writing one.
Here I'd spent my whole sentient life completely convinced that someone had stopped me from pursuing my heart's desire, and that this heart's desire is the only thing I am built for. It is my only avenue of good, my only salvation, and it was kept from me. My heart's desire was “to be a writer.”
Yeah, I am aware this is just over-the-top drama, but these were the contents of my head. I felt like a rebel, like a naughty teenager as I seduced writing, and writing seduced me right back, whenever I did it, but I was in full on hippie-rebel-teenager mode this past bit of time, playing writer. We have had a very sweaty, very sexy reunion, writing and I, for about a year now. The passion keeps me coming back for me. I just can't quit it. And I don't want to. But it was such a silly device, an affectation.
I understand that this whole blog thing was to have in written form the real-time ascension of a human. There it is for your review. It is complex and it is beautiful and it is heartbreaking and it is liberating. It is a story of my own creation. It's actually my creation story. It's my cosmology. It is not for everyone. Obviously. And each of us have such a tale. Each of us is an author of a Deeply Awake. Each of us who chooses can ascend.
Here's the bigger joke. Here is the one that has me shaking my head, chuckling while in line at the grocery store or while on hold.
I have been ascending this whole time. My ascension was always assured. It's really just isn't possible to need and want and know something as I need and want and know this, and not achieve it.
Further, I had bookends in place that I did not remember. Although The Teachers were my first bookends, their way was made true and straight by other teachers who'd come before, readying me.
Their love awakened me in brand new ways, and set off longings and assurances within the older parts of me. It was settling and unsettling to finally have with me entities who spoke my language. It was a relief to be completely understood, to be shepherded, and to be guided. To be allowed to ask the questions that cut very close to the quick.
To understand the significance and importance of this group of entities to me, imagine, if you will, your favorite spiritual teacher. Is it Deepak Chopra? Gandhi? Kryon? Image, then, contracting with this person, that for two of the weirdest years of your life, you will walk with them, daily, bring everything you learn on your daily journeys to them for discussion, exploration, resolution. Imagine that.
That's what I had with The Teachers. Sitting there, session after session, being reminded of home, hearing our old language, feeling its meaning wash over me and make me whole, reminding me I never was broke,n.....
So I grieved their leaving intensely. I experienced two episode of soul abandonment, one at birth, and one when the Teachers ascended. There I was, walking the earth after they ascended, completely clueless how to translate what I had learned, what I had become.
Writing become a metaphor for a life unrestricted by the rule-bound pettiness I have always resented. Writing became my symbol of freedom, of integration, of maturity. Of course, I decided to use the device of someone from the outside withholding this endeavor from me. Of course. Because that is the way of it here.
But the truth is that no one withheld me my writing life. The device was intact just as long as it was necessary.
Things have broken apart for me now, and I am no longer the iceberg I was, going unnoticed, knowing I am a bit dangerous, so I glided through my days hoping no one would encounter me in full. Making certain no one ever did. Afraid of my own power, my destiny, my purpose.
But it was not fear.
I was just as ready as I could be.
I have been poised for the last three weeks since 1993.
It could not have been timed better. This morning, before rising, I reviewed my time line, and I have to say, the timing turned out even better than anticipated. Born in 1961, done with nursing school by '85, settled in with my first guide 1987-1992. OK, that makes sense. Harmonic Convergence forward, I had help.
Then there were adjustments, and I met the Teachers in '92.
The intervening desert years I still have to come to terms with, but in that time I turned away from my roots, married, had a kid, and then the wheels really just came off.
Once Sam was here the final deconstruction could get under way. I couldn't do the last bit without him holding a space for it, urging me into the world, participating in a brand new way, with better, more significant priorities, answering to a higher authority, my family.
And then, in 2011, it started in earnest.
I woke up in fits and starts.
But I will tell you of a sweet experience which I'd forgotten until just recently. It happened, now, two years ago. I was unemployed, and in crisis. I was lost. My last time.
I got myself to Mile Hi Church of Religious Science. It is an awesome group of souls there. They are family too. They have a meditation time before the service, and the chimes rang out, and then, something happened. As the congregation sang what they always sang, I had my first vision of my final awakening. I will tell it to you now.
The song that we sing starts with, “Surely the presence of God is in this place...” and speaks of how the angels wings are beating with our hearts. And in that moment I was transfigured. I physically felt about 120 feet tall. My presence WAS that huge church, and as I came from and loomed over and within that sainted space, something happened.
I could feel, and I could hear, my wings. It felt good, like a release, a relief, because it was like something that has always needed to … unfurl … did so that morning.
In front of me was a ribbon of white. The reality I experienced was expansive, but specific. I then saw a glowing arm c0me up from my body and it extended outward. I remember clamoring, frantically nagging about my lack of money. And the hand of this extended glowing arm flicked away the lack of money issue. Flick. No job? Flick. Feeling all alone? Flick. Feeling under recognized? Flick.
One by one, these things were seen for what they are: annoyances, situations, but weirdly irrelevant. Not applicable. Not applicable. Not an issue. Not a worry. Over and over and over and over and over it went.
And so I finally, while suspended within the words of this beautiful song, I surrendered to that white path. I decided that I liked feeling so powerful, and I would do what I could to align myself with that feeling.
Two years have passed.
I am that angel.
These problems that once defined and consumed me, they are not that anymore. Not anymore.
And you, my love, my reader, my true friend, you watched it all happen. You have watched as this deconstructed angel put herself together again, redefine herself, allowed herself to be undone and remade in an image at once so benevolent I know it must be mine.
I understand many truths, now, from the last few days, and the best one is that this entity that I call Kathy has a wicked sense of humor.
But then, I think we all do. Humor speaks to a plasticity in reality, in perception. It relies on our innate love of joy. It is where we are meant to dwell, within a cosmic joke so light, so loving, so sweet, that the only congruent response to much of this is a big belly laugh. What else, after all, can be done?
I know now that I had to come in to this life set up to be broken. I had to go through what I did. I had to. Why would I have signed up for what I know to be true of men and women, the perversity that passes for love between us, the utter alienation available in a room full of friend sand family... I think many of we lightworkers have walked this path. Why?
For me, I did it in part because I am a very old and a very powerful soul. I have always known this to be true, and it is what caused the last of this discomfort. “How could they treat ME this way?” I thought while in handcuffs, being jailed for not paying a traffic ticket. “If they knew who I was, they wouldn't be doing this, and once they know, they will feel bad about having done this.” That is what I was told that day, over and over and over again. I was told this was, in part, a lesson in identity, of being completely unseen, unappreciated.
And I am done with it.
I lacked compassion. After all of it. I lacked compassion. I felt none. I hate to admit it, but this is something I just could not feel, and it is something I must call in, because it is a lesson for me. I have intellect, I have that piece that makes everything come together, but I really did lack organic, cellular compassion.
I have learned compassion. I understand that which I did not before.
I guess I want to end on that. I wasn't sure if I would share this next part, but it fits, so I will.
I didn't even really know that it was indeed compassion which I lacked. I mean, look at my life. No one watching me practice my art would call me cold or without compassion. But it was a show. It was me doing what was natural, but not understanding what it was I was doing.
I end by telling you the story that flows from Kryon's suggestion. This is a very big joke, a funny one and a good one, too. The Teachers were one book end. Kryon is the other.
How weird and almost maddening, making my laugh out loud often and much, that Kryon speaks the same language as The Teachers, holds the same mysteries as The Teachers, has the same sort of energetic signature as The Teachers, in a generic way, and Kryon has been cranking out books ABOUT ASCENSION all of these years.
The greatest thirst I have had has been to hear, feel, know The Teachers again. I miss them like an amputee misses her limb. I miss them. Always have.
And there sat Kryon, all this time, there to give me every single answer I needed. I needed to hear more about the whales, about the dark ones I have personally encountered and know to be mischief makers, all the nuances. And I needed to be reminded how to draw myself into a quantum state. I had forgotten. I had forgotten. I had forgotten.
And now I spin with The Teachers once again, through Kryon. I understand they are different entities, but I have no doubt they consulted each other, and they all know they can now rest, because the messages embedded in there for me have been received. Loud and clear. Finally.
One of the things Kryon suggests is so radical, and so simple, that I just can't believe we aren't doing this daily. You sit, not in meditation, but just relaxed, just quiet, and you sit with the intention of letting your family, your guides and angels and your higher self to LOVE ON YOU. Kryon suggests just allowing us to be loved. What a wonderful idea. I go into meditation to understand, to play, to relax, but always to DO something, to BE something. To take a less active, less formative role and instead to allow others to communicate with me.... oh, this was revolutionary for me. Kudos if you already do this! I love it. But I found it to be a truly powerful thing, a big surprise full of love and homecoming.
I will end by telling you what I was made aware of. It relates to how it is that I taught myself the lessons I did. I knew I needed to come into weakness. I chose to be broken apart and to then put myself back together. It's all fine, it's all understood, it's all blessings.
I quieted, and I let them love on me. I did. I just surrendered, willing to be surprised. I found that it was in that place that I could finally think clearly. And I asked for my heart's desire. In my heart of hearts, when I distill and distill, drilling down, exploring within, the beat of my heart says, “Peace.” Peace. I want peace.
And in that cathedral of my own soul, I stated my intention to know peace. To know peace. To be peace. To be peace.
Peace.
Peace.
Peace.
To be peace.
I am peace.
I am peace.
I am the peace of a mountain. I am mountain. I am a mountain. I am mountain.
In meditation, what came next was that I WAS a mountain. I understood then what I am in relation to those who come to me and are perhaps unskilled, unkind, or even violent. It does not harm the mountain. It does not redefine the mountain. It is something that once occurred upon the mountain. I had caves that no one ever took the time to explore, and I found that this was good, because there are some treasures that not everyone is fit to see.
I understood that I do not change, but I appear to change. I understand that I am so much a part of the scenery that I can indeed go unnoticed, but I am never unappreciated. That I am powerful. I am an amalgam of elements and entities and desires and pleasures. I am patient and I know things that others may not, those who are not mountains, and that, too, is good.
I felt whole and complete in a brand new way. In a way that I understand, and a way that I can easily translate to every man woman and child I encounter. I know the peace of the mountain. I am the mountain. I am the peace of the mountain.
And then I was aware of an orbit of white that was around me like I was Jupiter. And in this weird light mist that was orbiting around me, through this mist, came the twelve.
I could not see all their faces, but I can see them in my head as I write this. I know them well. At the time, in meditation, I had to quiet, and I had to allow them to lead me. Is it the council of the twelve or the council of the nine? Both seem right, somehow. But I think twelve is more accurate. Because I saw the twelve, and me in the middle, and they are spokes, but not spokes, because no one is bigger or more important or more central. I am connected to them. I was, indeed, the center of their circled.
And one came to me.
I understood him to be Kuthumi, although since that time the name Dwajl Kuhl keeps inserting itself into my awareness. Maybe that is because the name is unimportant. I don't know. It doesn't matter. What does matter is what comes next, what I end with.
One of them came forward. I was told it was number one. And, outstretched toward me was an understanding. I was told this was the magenta ray, the magenta flame. It came into my heart, but it needed to immediately expand,. It felt right to draw it to below my base chakra all the way up to above my head. It flamed within me, consumed me but left me whole. The magenta was beautiful.
Then the instructions came. This is what I was told. I don't feel like using quotation marks...
This is the first dispensation. This is the magenta ray.
The gift it bestows is compassion. Compassion is your gift.
It is implemented by using gentleness in all things. You are gentleness in action, in word in deed, to all creatures, to self, to all. You are gentleness. Compassion is the gift. Gentleness is its action.
This is a true and real gift, I have to say. It is an amplification of that which I have come to know, but it is SUCH an amplification.
It has literally changed everything.
Gentleness.
I can do that.
I can be gentle.
This is a RELIEF. Such a relief, knowing that the way to peace is through gentleness, and that compassion is the gift I receive by its practice.
THANK YOU. Such a dispensation.
And I could not have had this gift had I not read Kryon. And Kryon would not have completed me so entirely had I not loved The Teachers with my whole heart. And I could not have loved them, needed them as I did, had I not been nearly mortally wounded, deep, and often, and far too early, this lifetime. Had I not been desperately unhappy here, I would not have even begun to look.
So I thank every bad experience I ever had. I would not know this peace, the peace of a mountain, had I not had these things occur. It was well planned, well choreographed, well executed, and well received.
And now it is done.
I will write, separately, the bedtime story I told my son last night. It is about two light houses, a young one and an old one. And the line that took me off guard and moved me to tears as I told the story is when the ancient lighthouse tells this twitterpated youth, “It is the way of our kind, that when we are nearly done, we choose someone to whom we impart our knowledge. You are that lighthouse. And the storm you and I feel approaching? This, my friend, is my last storm.”
And so too this is, indeed, my last storm. I have seen enough of them, and now I am knowing them, I can remember them. I am gaining access to so much of it now. And I am hear as a lone voice on a hillside, you remember the one, the one we have rehearsed around, the one we will be gathering upon to watch the sun rise after our final storm, and we will, after these waves get even bigger, and we are all convinced, during the darkest night of the storm that this is the big one we were just not built to withstand, we will come through it, and we will laugh.
The biggest joke of all is that we are unprepared. We are over prepared and chomping at the bit, many of us. I am relieved it is all finally happening, and that I have come as far as I have. I have a long way to go, but the rest of the walk will be a good one. I know now how to make the way smooth. I am a simple, gentle soul. I assume the posture of gentleness in all ways, and I am set.
And that was just the first dispensation.
If you don't want this, don't look inside. Stay hooked into fear. It is a lullabye that is enchanting and beautiful and mesmerizing, but it is now just too out of joint for me to enjoy. I listen to more harmonious melodies now. And even though it does sound like angel's voices, I can't help but notice that there, in the background, no, right, yes, right there, there it is again.
I hear laughter.
********************************
I end with Eddie's meditation called Long Nights. Balance in all things. Namaste.
Have no fear, for when I'm alone
I'll be better off than I was before
I 've got this light I'll be around to grow
Who I was before I cannot recall
Long nights allow me to feel I m falling
I am falling
The lights go out
And I feel I'm falling
I am falling
Safely to
The ground
I'll take this soul that's inside me now
Like a brand new friend I'll forever know
I've got this light and the will to show
I will always be better than before
Long nights allow me to feel I m falling
I am falling
The lights go out
And I feel I'm falling
I am falling
Safely to
The ground
Blog entry
29 Mar 2013 - 7:11pm
It is the Headmaster who decides who are assigned places within His school - as both teachers and pupils :-)...
The way into school is through a doorway labelled 'Birth' :-)...
The way out of school is through a doorway labelled 'Death'... :-)
Blog entry
25 Mar 2013 - 2:37am
/b]Susan discovered 17 DEC 2013 - The Last Full Moon for change in Grand Cycle in 1984.
The Bermanseder-Schwenger Discovery proves all calendars are inter-connected...
Aztec, Inca, Maya, Native American, Metis, First Nations, Inuit, Maori, Aboriginal Calenders, Egyptian, 10 Stem Chinese (60 year), etc.,
Proof we live in a 12 level universe.
http://www.thuban.spruz.com/forums/?page=post&id=716B3150-CCF7-487D-8EBA-D2AEB16801A0&fid=F3D0C39E-7270-4160-80DE-61A397C1A98
Teaching
24 Mar 2013 - 10:03am
Attachment Non-Attachment and Detachment
http://www.freedominlove.com
If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely, you will discover complete peace.
~ Achaan Chah
Perhaps some of the biggest challenges we face in cultivating equanimity are the practice of non-attachment, and understanding the difference between detachment and non-attachment.
Attachment and detachment are two sides of the same coin; they are both active principles, things we do. Whereas non-attachment arises spontaneously when we let go of attachment and detachment.
Pull and Push
If we think of attachment as pull, the act of being drawn towards something, and detachment as push, the act of pushing something away, then non-attachment can be seen as stillness, neither pulling nor pushing.
The dictionary definition of detachment is: standing aloof from, selfish isolation, to disengage, to withdraw, to disconnect. The implication of this is separation and indifference. In the words of Buddhist nun Ayya Khema: “Indifference is cold, rejecting. It has no love in it, no loving kindness. We just want to protect ourself, and to accomplish that we become disinterested.”
Non-attachment has not a trace of dull indifference or disinterest, least of all coldness or rejection. Where could be the joy in a life of dull indifference and coldness?
Non-attachment encompasses stillness, equanimity, compassion, altruism, empathy and loving kindness. It arises when we let go of our attachment to some things, and resistance to others; when we stop needing things to conform to our desires, whether that be a desire that something should be a certain way, or that it shouldn’t. It does not mean letting go of love or joie de vivre, that would be a route to depression, not liberation. In fact love is our ally in cultivating non-attachment, when our actions are motivated by pure love this helps us let go of ego desire.
“When you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to.”
A useful antidote to attachment is the realization that nothing is permanent. Lao Tzu wrote in the Tao Te Ching: “When you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to.” Everything in the universe is subject to change. When we accept that nothing lasts forever we are closer to letting go, and letting go brings inner peace.
Detachment can make us feel as if we have mastered our attachments because, to some extent, we no longer feel the pull of attachment and therefore believe we can no longer be disturbed by it. We perceive this as a sort of calmness. But we have not let go of attachment, we have only suppressed it; the calmness we feel is a dead sort of calmness. In times of crisis it is of no help, all the suppressed emotions rise up with increased strength. Detachment takes the form of aversion; aversion to attachment. In eastern philosophy aversion is an enemy to be watched with mindful attention and eliminated. Detachment is a stealthy enemy. It can be particularly difficult to detect because the ego-mind convinces us that it is the opposite of attachment and therefore good. In Buddhism the path to liberation is referred to as the middle way; the middle way can never be attained by adopting opposites.
Equanimity, Warmth and Compassion
Genuine non-attachment appears suffused with stillness, equanimity, warmth, compassion and loving kindness. Awareness of impermanence and the inherent suffering of resistance brings us calmness and serenity. Opening our hearts to compassion infuses this calmness with warmth and aliveness. This is the route to true happiness. As the Dalai Lama reminds us, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”
If we are to experience non-attachment we must be patient. Non-attachment enters our lives in stages and increases with practice. It is often compared with learning to play a musical instrument; we cannot expect to play a masterpiece on our first attempt, but the more we practice the more melodious and harmonious our music becomes. In the same way, the more awareness we can bring to our attachments and detachment strategies the weaker becomes their hold on us and the greater the experience of harmony and liberation in our life.
Blog entry
23 Mar 2013 - 8:37am
I'm here at work, so I don't have long (a collective sigh of relief goes up through the readership), but I have a couple of remarks, in response to the adjustments I am aware of, after having written "Peace In The Valley."
First, I have to say that "Peace..." is the finest thing I have ever written. It was as intimate and true, as honest and courageous as a thing has ever been written, and for that I am immensely proud. To be honest. To say exactly what you mean, these are the things I am constantly aware of while I write. Writer's block is nothing but junking up the truth, holding ambivalence towrad honest expression. But here, in this forum, I know of nothing but honesty, nothing but freedom. I sometimes grapple with the length of these things, that perhaps they are so long because I am just being a big wimp about being honest. Getting to the point. I don't know. I am going to edit these things one by one, and in pretty short order I'll know if they are long because I enjoy hearing myself think out loud. We'll see.
For now, I am pressed for time, so I will just let you know that the reason I bring up and crow about "Peace..." is that, as has happened time and time again, it seems that by the act of writing it, just getting it out of me, I then come to appreciate brand new understandings. It seems the act of expression allows for new connections of the same old data, but also seems to clear my head. These examined prisons turn out to have walls of paper.
So, the main dilemma, I think, that I explained concern about, was that I have come to believe that I don't fit in at work because I am super weird, and I am surrounded by uptight, compulsive, boring types. In essence, right? Also, that I am so different that I am off-putting, and so totally amazing that no one could, really, ever get to know me (these are inferred thoughts, but, come on, how could you not get that impression!)
So, here is the thing.
I have come to believe that I am sort of off-putting, but I really don't know why. I get weird reactions from people, reactions I don't expect sometimes. And how people behave and how they really think/really feel, oh my god, they are so often at such great variance. And I can tell these things, and I know that some people react really stronmgly to me for no reason.
So, upon rising today, it dawned on me that maybe I need to just use this differently. First, this whole set-apart thing, alot of that is my own doing. I feel awkward socially. Actually, I have been awkward until about a year ago. Now, I surprise myself with how I behave, how optomistic and chipper and cool I am. I have no idea how all this happened. But I enjoy how I beehave, even through it surprises me. So, this old stuff, about people not liking me and being unpredictably mean, you know what, I am sick to death of it. So I decided to change the belief.
There in my jammies, no coffee in me or anything, I just simmered myself down and closed my eyes. I felt the grids that emanate from me, something that I have been able to do when clear, for a few days. And here is what I saw. I was lit up bright. I just saw a blob of light, walking onto the medical floor. And all around me I saw other lights. Most weren't very bright, but it was clear to me that ithis is becuase these people are convinced they have no light at all. How bright you are is proportinate with how bright you want to be, need to be.
And so I saw me walking around the unit, walking into and out of patient rooms, all lit up, and my light sort of bumped into and then joined the grids of others, and I decided, there in my jammies, that my light is now a gentle one. It is now a soothing one. It maybe needed to be harsh sometmes, and maybe I just didn't know how to use it before, but now I know that I can make it/me do anything it/I want, and I want to be a blessing to people now. I no longer want to alarm or shake up or annoy or rattle anybody (I used to enjoy doing that, I have to admit...) Now I am gentle, I use this whatever-it-is gently. Indulgently. Mellowly happily. Just like thje old fat Buddha, just like the slightly mad Merlin, just a tree that understands a few things, in a forest with trees just as majestic, just as breathtaking as me, it's just that I know how cool we all are. It used to anger me that people didn't understand that. No I think it's best to look at it all like a tree.
Which brings me to my second, and final, point. I sent my last blog to my dad, to whom it was dedicated. He wrote, saying thank you. And then I reread it with his eyes, my imagination of his eyes. And it dawned on me that we all are a very cheeky bunch. Really. We have got a hell of a lot of soemthing... courage? delusion? stubbornness?
I mean, we have decided or imagined or both that the time has come for people to start being decent to each other for a change. Decent to themselves, first and foremost. It think our message is that the time has come for there to be equasl respect among all things, that everything is consciousness, that we are ultimately responsile for ourselves, and we must know ourselves and love ourselves in order to honetly know and love another.
But we have taken it so far. WE have decided that our agenda should be everyone's agenda. We have decided that the world needs saving, it needs to be reset somehow. We have come to believe that there is a source of power beyond that which we can appreciate with our physcial senses which is intervening on our behalf, to awaken all of humanity to their worth.
I don't think that these are bad beliefs. I think they might actually be in line with reality, actually. I believe that the gates have swung open to a new method of perception, one that is more in line with how reality functions when unimpeded by interfering programs, interfering patterns of being. But that's just me.
So, that's all I know. I do have to tell you that i am having one of those cardiac things, and I am at work, so this could get interesting. I am very light headed, woozy, my heart is not quite right, and pounding. I get this way when things are really popping, really brewing. I love the sensation, but usually these episodes conclude with me emptying all of my stomach contents. So we'll see. I pray now to the vomit gods, and seek favor and benevolence.
I did this entry while on the site, so I had no opportunity to spell check. Please forgive the gnerous typos.
Blog entry
21 Mar 2013 - 6:01pm
REALIZED – PEACE IN THE VALLEY
This piece is dedicated to my dad, from a heart of gratitude and love.
Everything has changed.
It is easier to breathe now.
It is easier to think now.
My thoughts are coming in blocks now, instead of in sentences. Years can be lived now in a few hours.
You can feel it, can't you? Can you appreciate that the air is sparklier?
Please understand that this is not in reaction to any blogger's peer pressure, my telling you these things. After these changes became undeniable, I caught wind of how magnificent the equinox was to be for all of us. It's nice, now and then, having confirmation. Things have been very different for six days now. I am counting them, now. I want to see how long this thing goes. I want to see if it is just How Things Are Now, or if this is just another incremental adjustment.
I don't know the ins and the outs. I just know that things are very different inside my head and heart now.
And here's the thing. I worked through the Equinox. And it was a tilty shift.
Early in the shift I took a mental health toilet break. I took my hair down and looked in the mirror. Really studied myself. And it just came to me clear as day, What are you playing at? You do realize you are a grown up, right? You aren't fifteen. You don't have to do this if you don't want to. What exactly are you playing at?
Then I put my hair up and went back to work.
It was a weird shift. It was teaching me, they all do, but it had a grinding quality to it. I wanted it to be over. It was dawning on me that the last two shifts have been about me not being seen as having even one whisper of authority. I had nurses treating me like I was a new grad. It's like I gave off a gripless vibe. It was weird, the last two shifts, how very much like a mentally handicapped child I have been treated.
The truth is I have completely abdicated my interest, and am doing only the bare minimum to scrape by. I have been stunningly lazy. Really. But lazy to me and lazy to the average nurse are two different things. I am efficient, never avoid doing the most unpleasant of things, and I hustle up. I like work, I am no stranger to physical labor. Because of that, doing more than my spidey-senses tell me is needed is bad practice... it's me doing TO the patient so that I'll feel more competent, so I can be seen as involved, a “good nurse.” I really don't need to play that particular game anymore. Lots of nurses retire playing that one.
So, after crying my eyes out once the shift ended once I was safely back in my vehicle, the truth began to be revealed. I think these are the end-thoughts to the authority-at-work koan for a little while, so I would like to share them with you.
The koan “My reflection says her name is not Kathy,” well, that one might go on for a while longer. But I have gotten a good distance, and while I am catching my breath, I want to list for you, in no real order, the core concepts I have found a tiny bit of peace with. I will conclude by telling you how I want the world to be.
If I could know that there are more than a handful of other people across the globe who lived like this, thought like this, longed like this, I would sleep, breathe, smile easier, or at least walk the Earth with a little less caution.
1 - I am on fire to KNOW, to learn more, to become self actualized, illuminated, to be literally lit up from the inside out every minute of every day. I have experienced knowing that everything is pure consciousness, that this is a universe made entirely of love and benevolence, that I really am more than capable of anything. To go further, this is my passion, this is my quest and this is my only priority. When it wasn't, I lived a life of suffering and grief. I live in this light now, and refuse to walk out of it ever again. Thankfully, I know now that the only way to be disconnected from it is to pretend it is not there.
2 – Work, relationships, commerce, all of these things are my laboratory. It's where I work out which thoughts and beliefs look like what. It's my time to connect again to the world of illusion, the world of symbol, as immediate and implications-rich as a heart attack. I take what I come across back to my self in my quiet times, reflect, smile, write. My work on the outside is in proportion with the work I am willing to do on the inside. Lately, that's been quite a lot.
3 - I have tried to make peace with this thought of other people being a reflection of me, but I just can't tolerate the thought. I began to see everyone as I see the people I work with. Now, I know I am making sweeping generalizations, but I also say to you now, when you have practiced nearly thirty years as an R.N., you are cordially invited to dispute my observations...
Within the places I have practiced, I have found that the bandwidth of permission for self expression is incredibly narrow as a nurse. Nurses get it from everybody. Doctors. The lab. Family members. Bosses. Aides. There is lots and lots of blame making in the field, because everyone practicing is pretty much convinced that death is the ultimate failure, but that the air is thick with dangers that could lead to death. In nursing, appearances and how things are perceived is central. CENTRAL. As a group, I find nurses highly ritualistic and compulsive, acutely sensitive to the feelings of others (yes, I said it, I think most nurses are highly psychic), very earthy and coarse, highly intelligent, but incredibly shallow.
Now, if you want, from that statement, to deduce that I, the writer, am ritualistic, compulsive, sensitive, psychic, earthy, coarse, intelligent and shallow, go right ahead. Not inaccurate but hardly prescient. You see, here, the basic wobble in the way the law of reflectivity has been laid out for us thus far? Read on... this leads me to points 4 and 5.
4 – Because I have misinterpreted the data, I have really hated myself for not fitting in at work. I know that I have a motif, a theme, that has to do with separation and identity, and this is a wonderful set of circumstances within which to work out the koan. But, can you appreciate the difficulty, when I spend twelve hours at a time with strangers whose only conversation is about romances and relationships and buying stuff? And don't think I haven't tried. There's sort of a resigned heart cry that goes up out of me when I peek out a little, talk a little bit about any non-boring topic, and am not met with recognition. Usually I am met with slightly hostile disinterest, or benign disinterest. Either way it is disinterest. If there is permission, I will speak, and I have met a couple of interesting, off-beat people that way, so I am not saying that everyone I work with is not my type. Neither am I saying that I am incapable of getting along with anyone who doesn't believe as I do.
You see, I could give a crap what you believe, who you believe in. I really do not care, meaning, I am fascinated and want to know everything about how a person thinks about any topic at all, especially on such topics as why are we here and who is this god person, anyway. I love to hear other people’s impressions. Just love it. And I love all religions, I am their student. I think all of them are perfect and all of them are flawed, and all of them are valid. And I do mean all of them. What I am getting at is, there are still a whole lot of people out there who don't know what they believe. They really haven't given much thought to it. And I guess I prefer the company of those who have least been put in positions where they've had to think about life and death. But so few strive to go very far with it all. And that is my point.
This is that narrow band of expression I was referring to. It matters down to my toenails that I am right with myself, right with God, that I know myself and I know God. Of course, this requires that I am a student. Unceasingly ambitious in learning, trying out new ideas, discovering new thinkers, new constructs, new agreement fields. That is what drives me. Always has.
As I finally admit that to myself without shame, I begin to realize that this right and noble pursuit of mine, my heart's desire, this is a pursuit which is openly ridiculed by many people. Few honor the modern mystic, the latter day shaman, the nun-without-cloister. And in a hospital? Praying for others is out of vogue, talking about spiritual matters and natural alternatives is still risky and awkward, and, in my experience, unfortunately, my colleagues would rather talk about clothes and boys.
What if my pursuit is as valid as theirs? I've made a very uncomfortable uniform fit for thirty years. When will I finally stop hating the body that can't squeeze into the clothes? When will I finally stop resenting the clothes for being so small? When will I see that those clothes are perfect for somebody, or a whole lot of somebodys, but they just don't fit me? And when will the day finally dawn when I really GET that I am not at fault for the bad fit, it's just a bad fit and there is no fault.
I think I have been trying to make extremely ill-fitting clothes look good for thirty years. I think these clothes fit the bill while I was so uncomfortable inside. I didn't even recognize the clothes as ill-fitting. It's only now, when I have peace at times and know what true comfort is, that I find myself nearly going mad with discomfort when once again donning the old garb.
What if I am not to blame, and they are not to blame, but it is just time to move on? What would make someone stay at anything so long that they SAY fits them so awfully?
That is a question best answered in private, although there is not one shade of meaning not exposed, oiled up, getting some sun on the hot slabs of these paragraphs.
5 – Here's the deal. I could hang in with the nursing if a few things could change a bit. I am a dreamer, and I love to consider it possible that one day soon people will just loosen the hell up a little. It's the judgments, the fear and the caution that drags on me the most in society. I find that most people, in conversation, are actively seeking ways to evade. I think conversation is best when its intent is to reveal. I love the act of revealing, being revealed, revelation. But most folks I meet are not seeking this. They are seeking shelter. They do not want to be disturbed, they do not look for dissonance. They do not welcome change. I am not speaking for myself. I welcome internal chaos with both arms wide open. It is the way of the Wild Man. It is my way. Absolute and utter surrender to one's process. Radical trust. Leaning and laughing hysterically, leaning right into change. But within this framework that DOESN”T BUDGE.
From the outside, without asking me a question, you'd probably see a distracted, disinterested career nurse who could do most of the things asked of her in her sleep. But you couldn't be more mistaken. And I hold out hope that the next person I meet will also speak in tongues like this, will also see things differently, but they don't. I want to work with folks who are willing to entertain the notion of reincarnation, say, or oh, I don't know, the concept of a “higher self.” Simple things that are a place to launch from. And maybe all of you work in offices with the self-actualized, but I have to tell you, from the looks of it down here in the trenches, we have a way to go in educating “the masses.” Or rather, in supporting them while they educated themselves.
So this is where I conclude. I keep hearing from blogging channels that this is the time to set intentions. This is the time to order up our universe. So I am going to end by painting a picture of how I would like my own world to look. And some of it involves other people.
** In my world, every single person finds great excitement and joy in the fact that they are whole, intact, complete, inviolate and clean. Everyone understands that they are good people. Everyone gets that they are decent. And in my world everyone knows and acts as if everybody else also is whole, intact, complete, inviolate, clean, good and decent. The implications are staggering. Imagine a world where everyone not only has good intentions, but everyone gives everyone else the “benefit of the doubt” in all circumstances.
**Everyone in my world profoundly respects themselves. In my world, everyone knows and acts as if everyone else is also deserving of profound respect. Imagine a world where everyone acts from a still center of respect.
Everyone honors their own workings, and respects the movements their inner workings make upon their outer world. They accept their inner seasons, hear their inner guidance, and always obey their inner master, They know and demonstrate self-mastery, self authority, sovereignty. They have taken the time to know their own story, to divine the meaning of their own tale. Here, no one tries to tell your story. No one tries to guess your story. Here, everyone invites you, instead, to TELL your story, and they urge you to not leave anything out. But here, the motivation is simply to create a safe, human place to share, and to meet the Self. Here there is no compulsion to tell or guess at or belittle anothers' story. Here there is only support, encouragement, perspective, good humor. Imagine a world where the highest value is to live one's truth as well as one can. To be one's one authority, while honoring your fellow traveler as his or her own authority. Imagine a world where everyone is expected to and honored for being one's own ultimate authority.
Because of these facts, society is a little different where I want to live.
Everyone is accustomed to their own sound, and their own inner workings. Because of that, everyone is just naturally more aware of others' conditions. The thoughts (“vibrations”) of others are easily identifiable. Everyone, therefore, finally appreciates how powerful thought propelled by intent is, and so people are even THINKING gentler thoughts!
It no longer makes sense to be unkind to someone. If you don't like what they are doing, you say so in a nice way, and the other person more than likely says, oh yes, I could have been more mindful, thank you. There are no tears. There are no punishments. There are no scenes. There are no rages. There are no depressions. There are no attacks. There are no insults. There are no rumors. It might go something like this:
Bob is cutting his fingernails, one, by, one, piece, by, piece, and you find that annoying and kind of gross. (Yes, in my world, some things just can't honestly be called anything but gross.)
“Hey, Bob?”
“Yeah?”
“Could you do that somewhere else? I don't like it.”
“Oh. OK. Sure.”
No dirty look. No sigh. No stifling yourself. No keeping it in and finding a way to cope with the grossness. Just simple statements.
If you already live in such a world, that is so awesome. I envy you a little bit. But, see, in my world, you can do it with anybody. Anybody. Anybody. With never a punishment. Never a repercussion.
In my world, no one takes away from anyone else in any way. It is all about giving, and in my world, it is unimportant if the giving is received or rejected. Doesn't matter. There is no way to feel rejection, because no one feels incomplete. Therefore, it no longer makes any sense at all to feel the need to compete for love, attention, sexual advances, our daily bread.
Once again, back to the daily bread.
In my world, there is no want for food, shelter, fuel, clothing. But even the nice stuff, that is in abundant supply. But that is not because we figured out a way to manufacture TV’s on the super cheap. No. It's a combination of learning how to do things differently and having different priorities. There are no locks in my world. There are no “closed” signs. If you need a sewing machine at 3am, you can find one, and it won't cost you a red cent. What is needed is provided. And not by some archangel. By YOU. By being in the flow, by calling that which would delight you the most to you, all in divine timing, always miraculously, easily, lovely every time.
We live in communities, and they are not big ones. Maybe twenty, maybe more, maybe less. We live in circles, our residences on grids which feel right. The structures can move. The people can move. The geometry we make with our endeavors and our dream time and our teaching and all of the other endeavors each little tribe does, it is all quite beautiful and intricate and almost heartbreakingly dear after all the separation and dissolution we'd come to consider normal.
Because everyone tends to their own gardens, spiritually speaking, there is no need for a national government. The logistic needs are met by a high council. But all councils in my world are made up of the purest of heart, seen in everyday life, at home, in their community. Only the selfless serve, in my world, and because everyone has gotten out of littlemind's way, the purest of the pure find their way to the highest councils, not out of ambition but just because it makes sense to have someone who loves you truly offering you advice s/he'd offer him/herself if asked. Councils, in my world, do not legislate, micro-manage or punish. They are our esteemed advisers, our elders, ones only a fool would ignore.
In my world, it is understood that mistakes are made, but something can only be called a mistake BY THE PERCEIVER, and all mistakes good. They aren't a goal, mind you, but they are perfectly fine. The thinking in my world goes like this: mistakes are just missed opportunities, and missed opportunities that are explored are not mistakes. We give ourselves opportunities to match an ideal we have within. We meet the ideal, or we don't. If we do, we explore. If we don't, we explore.
So, that's where I live when I am not at work. And then I get on shift and it's all (and I am taking this verbatim from my long and illustrious career)
You go ahead and get him started with that (god-awful) procedure... I'll be there in a minute (and help never arrives)
This is the third time in your twelve month annual review cycle that you have been more than seven minutes late to the start of your shift, so here is your written warning for signature, and please note, if you are late again, there will be further disciplinary action
We understand that Bill wanted to talk to you about his thoughts on God, and we have to remind you, this is a secular organization. We really cannot permit the staff discussing things like God with these patients (psych ward)
Every keystroke is monitored. We can read your deleted entries.
These cameras keep everyone honest
These computers are to eliminate mistakes
She's 100 years old, has multiple organ failure, she failed her vent wean, she's febrile and the daughter wants an MRI in case there's a stroke going on
“That makes me sick,” says the terminal patient in response to a televised call for moderation in our national political discourse (happened last night)
That's my dissonance. That's my cross. That's my koan.
On my off days I am actively imagining this other world, beginning to imagine it might just be possible, really. Especially the last few days. And then I have a couple rough shifts and I feel like I am back to square one.
But I know that when I go to sleep thinking about this peaceful world I've been creating that last year, that place gets closer.
And here is the truth.
The people who have nursed me all these years, my colleagues, my nemeses, my brick walls, my moments of truth, these people and I cooperatively created every shift I ever had. And my beautiful, beautiful patients, ahh, my greatest teachers, how I love you. You guys have held me up, not held me back, and I fight against a very worthy opponent breaking free of you.
The new age world doesn't have a lot of kind things to say about the sick. A little bit of projection, if you ask me. I love the sick. In many ways, I've loved the sick far better, far more than I have thus far loved the well.
I understand then, lying alone in their simple white beds, wrestling their own meaningless and mortality. I prefer the company of the kept over the company of their keepers. There are very few rules among the sick and dying. There is a greater governance, one which cannot be contained or explained by a progress note or diagnosis code.
I want that new world. I want a world where everyone is as tenderhearted as the dying woman who wants, knows of no other need than for this one thing: “Pillow. Fix. Pillow.”
I just want a world where there can be only love, because we have all come to our senses enough to know that anything else is just shadow play and metaphor, a rousing game we took a hand in, a feat of barbarism and mindlessness, brutality and disinterest, a weird combination of disregard and hypervigilance, where Abraham's God is now acquisition, love relationships and The Boss.
My world is lived outdoors, in the sunlight, one of inner suns, outer smiles and simple kindnesses. It is a world where we know no shame, and we know no fear. Instead, we know tranquility, excitement, joy, union, safety, respect, honor, sovereignty, peace. Here, in my world, or maybe in my little patch of world, there is peace. There is peace in this valley.
I know that this peace is best experienced shared.
I want to share something more than facebook posts, edited parable-ized memories, plans.
Tell me we can get there from here.
I am hopeful, never more so, but I am getting a little tired.
I think now that I have written this, I know why.
Blog entry
18 Mar 2013 - 4:34pm
REALIZED – ALTOGETHER DIFFERENT
The last four days have been nothing short of miraculous. I sing a song today celebrating how very far I have come, how far we are all coming, and oh! The view from here is spectacular, humbling, unnerving, magnificent, knowing all this while holding such great gratitude for knowing there is more. There is only more from here. It only gets better from here.
This has been a heart-pounding journey, this whole awakening. I remember daily a dream I had last year... me and Sam coming up from a concrete bunker onto a concrete, grey world. No vegetation. Very few people, but I had the feeling the place was in fact vast, and well-populated. I wore a turban, and flowing robes. I told Sam we were to sit on the bench. I understood that to sit was an honor.
Sam fidgeted. I chastised him. I pointed to the sky. I told him to settle down and look up. That it was about to happen. I told him that a couple of times. And then, as if on cue, it did.
The heavens opened into a square, a rectangle. Flames shot out of the mouth of this geometry, and with it, a terrible, deep, resonant sound.
(I have since only heard that sound, felt it as I did in my dream, when I have published these blogs.)
And then it was as if the sky switched, and was full of spaceships. They were all white, but the sizes and varieties was boggling.
And then the games began. The chases, the extremity, the fear, the wars, just scenes of darkness, extremity, difficulty, on a city, country, world scale.
And then came the conclusion.
Suddenly it was like breaking through clouds, and everything was suddenly clear. Everything just suddenly made so much sense and was so beautiful. And we had WON. There had been this great sense of fear because it had been so uncertain if the good would triumph over the bad, because in the dream, the bad was very, very bad, and they were clever, and mean. And that was the roller coaster effect, this dance of mischief and mayhem and disorder and chaos.
And then we all just broke free. I can remember laughing and laughing, realizing that there had never been a doubt. This outcome of purity and love was never in question. I can remember being pretty mad about it momentarily, because I would have preferred to not have done the roller coaster ride. It sucked, as far as I was concerned. It was scary, unnecessarily so. But I was just seen as being a little grumpy, and the celebrations continued, all of us laughing at our great cleverness, but that it, in the end, it really hadn't been much of a contest.
So that was my dream about a year ago, and it is funny that it is a place I travel often. I like to daydream there sometimes, because the emotional palette is so varied. There was terror and outrage, abandonment and desolation, and then so much joy. Wild abandonment! Bliss!
I bring this dream up because that is what is happening to me now.
This thinking is different than before. It is altogether different.
It has to do with hooking everything up to my heart, somehow.
Yesterday I went to my women's group, and was just probably far too abstracted to have been in company. I sat there in meditation and could feel each of we crones as trees, our leaves touching each other, the wind whispering through us, influenced as we are by the moon, the sun, the soil, each enduring, sturdy.
A bird started to sing as the imagery got more lush.
And then I remembered that an entity, a “soul” can perhaps be thought of as a tree, each of their lives a manifestation of a thought of love, each leaf perfect and individual, each with its own awareness and consciousness, its own story. I sat there big and small, a tree, a forest, a leaf, a life, a soul.
And then came this light. I called in a light I read about in EARTH by Barbara Marciaiak. It was gold and white and fuchsia. It felt very nice.
And then the funniest thing happened.
The trees sort of lit up, but not with light. They lit up with a beautiful compassion. I felt infused with compassion for all of us, striving as we are to be the best we can be. This circle of women, always seeking, shamans each, powerful creators just bending in our chrysalises.
I felt so much compassion for how hard it is here, and could really appreciate the different perspectives, understanding that what we do on the physical is very very important, but it is a shadow for what we really are, where the day to day stuff comes from.
That is a distancing thought. It is a true thought, but one which leads to abstraction in the physical. That is a big struggle for me, having these exalted thoughts, but not feeling it, not getting it in the physical. But this light really helped.
What a relief to now know such compassion.
And I really couldn't have gotten there had I not had a really revolting morning. Mid morning, having felt neutral but relaxed upon awakening, I was suddenly gripped by a foul mood. My heart was suddenly black with hate for the world. And I really mean that. I could have spit venom. I knew such hate, or maybe it was grand disdain and being completely and utterly and hopelessly fed up with how retarded everything is here. How blissfully we are all missing the point, and my fellow travelers are so very thoughtless, and it just made me full of sadness and bitterness and rage.
I thought, if I was one of those creator gods who are rumored to be embedded in the Earth, this would be a very, very good day for this world to die.
And then, hours later, I sat transfixed, in such tender love with every living creature, connected to it all through a living web of respect and love.
You know by now that comparing such states to mental illness is, in itself, a mental illness, right?
But wait, because it gets better.
Here is what I thought as I drove away from Sam's school. I think this whole time line merge stuff might be, perhaps, a reality merge. And these realities may just be feeling states, large portions of our psyche we have cordoned off and left unexamined, the parts plugged into something which feeds our very cells with divine purpose and joy, as well as the warped realities we have agreed to enact to understand more.
So, I thought, as I drove, I used to think I was going mad because I would inhabit a certain feeling state, or thought construction. I would sort of tinker with how I was fitting into the culture through the eyes of, say, Seth, or many of the channels on the blogosphere. I explored the Illuminati stuff, got way way deep into conspiracy theories. I love them all. Did the Ancient Aliens thing, delved as deep as I could into Ufology, and then moved onto Dolores Cannon, who blew my mind right open. Welcome, Grandmother of the Golden Age. I believe she should be our first New Saint, and I think our world is absolutely littered with these giants, these saints whose work elevates, uplifts, opens, opens opens.
But anyway, each of these places open up new avenues of memory, of access to our heritage and our potential. Crop circles help a lot, especially if you feel just a constant itch you can't scratch, a deep dissatisfaction with “life.” I think the need to physical balance, for recognizing the physical as the temple, these are, at this point the tritest of words.
But these feeling states have been zooming in and out of my reality lately. I can go from thinking about an old childhood memory, to feeling as if I am sitting on top of the mountain I am looking at while drawing up meds at 5 in the morning, to being mad at my son for not cleaning up, to being in a state of bliss because I am eating a fig newton.
It is happening faster now, and this is, I think why our dear friend Jesus admonished us to KNOW THYSELF. If realities themselves are beginning to merge, if “time lines” or probabilities are indeed not without us but are in fact within us, then our reality could get pretty weird. Without establishing, reconnecting with, being quiet and listening to our own vibration, then we have our center when true north shifts. We must realize that there is indeed an observer to all these realities, all these time lines. This thought is the stabilizing one. It is the quieting one. And its message is contained in the two words, “know thyself.”
I see myself and everyone with our big, crazy, seemingly unsolvable problems, and it's all metaphor, and none of it is real, but it is so fine to think it's real. It's fine. I do it all the time! And sometime I am shut down tight to it all. But not today.
It is nice to finally feel some integration of all this theoretical stuff with flesh and bone. That is what I was missing. I needed to humanize, personalize, the ideas of probabilities and multidimensionality (versus the thoughts of past/present/future, instead it's all layered and infused with itself, sort of holographic, I guess), and have it make sense in a way that is somehow applicable.
I end by saying that I used to put myself down when I realized that something I once thought was true turned out not to be. It sort of knocks you down a peg while lifting you up more permanently. And it makes you real cautious about discussing these sorts of things. I have been wrong so many times before, and have watched as what I knew to be true crumbled to ash. That's why I did not write until now. I had to be sure. I had to be sure. And, of course, I am only sure for myself, for this moment. Let’s get that straight.
At this point, I feel a power, a recognition, a rhythm, coming through me that is different. It is more primal, more earth driven, and it is full of love, of support. And it is in this space that I know I am much bigger than I imagine, and each of us are powerful sovereigns, each of us creative giants, watching this shadow play, delighting in these sudden contrasts, knowing that this show is only the beginning.
I think upon being a creature, of embracing my creaturehood, and beginning to feel a great joy in this. I am very much enjoying talking with nature, all its representatives. Today, driving from the grocery store to home, I began to think about how to maintain the idea of interconnectedness while maintaining something of a functioning ego.
By the way, I think it a valid topic, because we think of an ego as a pushy bully. I think of an ego as my pilot. This pilot is only there for his piloting skills. Everybody got lazy and let him start navigating and doing the tune ups, and now he thinks he's the boss, but he isn't. H is a very valuable and skilled pilot who often needs to be told to sit down and fly.
I have never felt pain when in relationship with myself, or with God. I am comfortable with myself and with God, with nature. That is not in dispute. But for me, being around people is unpleasant. It sets off bombs of awareness and some of the things that occur stick for a while. That is mainly because I have magnetized some memories with the propellant of guilt. Those memories lie thickest, are the most constricting. That's because that are the falsest.
I thought about the birds as I was driving home, thinking about how to translate this big love into the physical. I thought about how birds are always there, but they are unconcerned. When my very person was falling apart, when I have had my moment of terror and near death, my moments of suffering and extremity, the birds were there. They were always there.
They told me this on the way home:
We visit you always. We are your friends. We are messengers, and we bring you tidings, reminding you of your strength. That is our message. Great strength, great miracles, are not contained in forms you might expect. Expect the unexpected! That is our message. And see that when you felt broken, we did not crowd around you like Snow White. We did not peck at you. We flew and sang, and we were unconcerned, because we know you as you are, and honor you. We are all unconcerned and yet connected, aware yet no one consciousness is able to take over another, each consciousness inviolate, each part of the whole. How could we doubt your ability to heal a bone or pay a bill?
Every problem you have set in front of you you cherish and think is a grand puzzle, so stop fretting. Stop taking things so seriously. Fly above these things, all of them connected and therefore valid and worthy of the attention you deem they are, but my goodness, lighten the perspective, see the problems smaller and yourselves bigger.
As I was putting the groceries away, I tickled myself with this thought. The Mayans, in all their wisdom and trickery, got many of us to expect annihilation. Some imagined gamma ray bursts that burn the planet to cinder. Some imagined global war and nuclear catastrophe. Others imagined that on a certain date we would all be taken into space ships. Others went the illumination route, ascension. Lots of others believe in the Rapture, Armageddon, the Apocalypse.
Can we just cut to the heart of it?
The Mayans gave all of us a giant gift of imagination. Each of us, unless it just really is not on the conscious agenda, entertained, to some degree or another, some annihilation scenario. And if you say you didn't, well, maybe you didn't on 12-21-12, but I'll bet you've seen a disaster movie. Well, lots of we lightworkers, we really did LIVE a disaster movie of sorts. I think many of us have been through similar civilization milestones, and there are hits and there are misses, so I think we were all having deep and sacred, ancient memories stirred, as well as having a totally socially acceptable avenue in which to imagine STARTING OVER. I think that's what the Mayans gave us (among many other things!).
More than once I have heard the words, “A hard reset is necessary.” Read my post called half a year. I think we, as a tribe, really needed, really required, a reset. I think the work we did on the solstice will be giving us hard resets for a long time. We are hard resetting, rebooting, reality after reality.
And there, at the center, there, having the thought about...what might be good next, and wow, the refrigerator is loud when it runs, and I wonder where I am going to work tonight, to things within really have broken wide open, what does that mean?... there is where the joy in creation, the well of courage and strength, and the self-given sense to rise above when you've finally had enough, it's from that center the thoughts come, quieting and disquieting me all at once.
I am willing now. I am cooperative now. I am no longer afraid, but, more than that, to consider fear is incorrect, because fear is a symptom of misunderstanding something, misinterpreting something. Usually seeing yourself as unable to cope with your problems, knowing silently and secretly that these are amazing and fun problems that you yourself chose.
The thing is, the game is over when you say it is over. If I no longer want lessons using the framework of crime and punishment, if that no longer interests me, then I won't experience such scenarios, unless I want to. There is no better than/less than, there is no holier/naughtier. A lot of the new age stuff is so glittery and fragile and delicate, but the work here makes one muscular and coarse sometimes.
I just know that now is not the time to worship anyone, anything, myself included. I am enough, here and now, and any limitation I have in my life, and believe me, I have a whole smorgasbord of them, I am dancing with to remind myself of its utter meaninglessness.
It is how it is because you have created it to be there. Don't like it? Concentrate on something else, something you do want. Let thoughts running through your heart build your house, not thoughts propelled through the mind, through fear. Let fear thoughts, thoughts of calamity and comparison and anything which constricts, cheapens, denigrates your person, let it all go.
It really makes no sense at all for me to prattle on now for six pages on all the techniques to bust fear, blah blah blah. You want to know how to break those paradigms, make peace with that which you find most offensive?
Stop paying attention to it.
That has been a core realization, one on which the rest of these is founded.
I really do think that's as easy as it is. I like that my focus has been and remains, on learning more about who and what I am and what the heck is going on. It remains my one true love. I finally feel like I have a living breathing relationship with a bigger part of me, who is more involved than before, or maybe always was so hands on, but I wasn't aware.
I remain an older single mom, a nurse by trade, no person of letters, a lonely traveler with a few priceless friends, a tattered and odd tribe of golden hearts. I have no idea what comes next, and that's part of the whole riddle, the joke, of being here. It's a study in the art, the silence within that moment when you fall into not knowing, surrendering completely to ones own amnesia, and finding oneself has tumbled through meaning into a place known only to those who emote, who are raw. These, my family, our tribe, we have varying exteriors, and some of us are more switched on than others, but it is time to stop harming each other for our varied states of consciousness.
The only pain I have had is with others, feeling I am letting them down, feeling responsible for their anger, their unhappiness. This is such warped thinking. The birds told me so, and every time I see one, that lesson will be remembered. There are lessons everywhere, in our house cats, in our plants, trees, our water.
A magnificent and creative a place as this is, I can no longer sing the dirge of the homesick. I am fine here. I am here. I no longer deny this experience, making it seem dirty or small or insignificant. This is not correct. Physical life is how we actualize all the work we've been doing.
I apologize. I am saying we, not I, which is presumptuous, arrogant. I feel the need to ring the bell and tell everyone. Maybe it's still midnight your time. Forgive my exuberance.
You're gonna love what comes next. I'm over here eating fig newtons, listening to the radio, thinking about my next nursing shift, and then in comes, like a gentle tumbling of snow down a mountain, comforting thoughts, real thoughts, thoughts that ring true, and that make me laugh right out loud. I amuse myself always, and am here to enjoy my ride. I hope you are enjoying your ride. And if you aren't I am as unconcerned, and as confident as the birds in your own competence, your sturdiness, your own sovereignty. All is well. Be at peace.
Blog entry
13 Mar 2013 - 6:26pm
REALIZED – PAST LIVES, GUARDIAN ANGELS AND MULTIPLICITY
I was doing some reading on a www.lightworkers.org, and came across a blog that really got my attention. The writer had been thinking a lot about past lives and how she had absolutely no recall, and then she had a spontaneous awareness, when listening to a song, of having just shot someone dead. She is left with this disembodied experience, sort of still clinging to her. A bleedthrough. And from her writing about it, it was a potent bleedthrough at that.
It got me thinking again about past lives, and my foray into three of them about four months ago. I had one regression, and the reverberations continued for weeks. Lately, I've been studying Seth, and his discussion of our true multidimensional nature has struck right to the heart of me.
Please let me tell you my thoughts. Oh, they are wonderful thoughts.
After the regression, I was spent. I didn't really give it much thought at first. I knew it was good, but I wasn't sure if it had been anything but an exercise in imagination.
Then the connections started flooding in.
And I began to see that these three lives, their themes, their struggles, were tied up in this one. My issues with insanity and reality, my profound love of and need to travel, my distrust and avoidance of anyone who does not act congruently, openly.
Seth, and my freaking obsessive mind, finally helped me frame past lives and guardian angels in a way that lives and breathes for me.
I believe our inner existence gives order to our external existence, by means of what we find significant, meaningful, relevant, containing within it that spark, that divinity, that joy, love, recognition, honor, that added element which creates an alchemical lump of gold, which I often find lodged in my throat. What the regression, and subsequent experiences taught me is that all of my lives are so structured. I am structured that way.
And that has been the plus side of waking up.
I find meaning, significance, relevance and recognition in such simple things now. Every day is just full of this experience, because I now actively seek out those experiences I feel are the most meaningful.
The added bonus is that there is nothing I become aware of that doesn't wind up having some significance! I sat just blown away while watching Finding Nemo, Rise of the Guardians and Wreck It Ralph. These movies are the first wave of 5d entertainment. I sat stunned at the messages, so in your face, so obvious.
What I am just beginning to get is that some of these messages may not in fact be obvious to many. We can operate with the ego, the mind, the heart, the soul. Each of these areas of focus, these lenses, create a discrete vibrational signature, in which certain thoughts and feelings are more natural. I think that it is a choice to move from ego to mind to heart to soul, each progression a choice, but the end point self-assigned birth. Each of us hoping we will do it this time, wake up and, though challenging, live as big a life as we can.
But, you know, that's the thing.
Past life regression has taught me that the act of negatively or out-of-hand judging the worth or significance of anything, myself included, is surely a sign of ignorance. It indicates I'm unable to read the whole picture. I'm not greeting the person by his or her soul. We are shaking hands, playing on the surface, judging appearances.
This is part and parcel of the lesson factory here, I think.
But there comes a time when it is less about lessons and more about proving to oneself that, through any situation or experience, the Self does not, cannot, will never be extinguished, is eternally intact and valid and complete, while ever evolving, experiencing, growing. And there are as many reasons for a soul to show up here as there are personalities in this world.
The shoe clerks, long ago when there were such things, would probably pay each other off not to wait on me. As a child, I could not find a comfortable pair of shoes. It was horribly frustrating, for everyone involved. And I was embarrassed by it. I really wasn't trying to be a trouble. I just couldn't make friends with my feet. This is, in fact, a problem that has persisted. Not to such an extent as when I was a kid, but I refuse to spend more that $25 on a pair of shoes, and often get them second-hand. I think of shoes as an encumbrance, and I have called them torture devices more than once.
My first psychic counselor, do a past life reading on me. I was 16. She did not know of my embarrassing foot thing. She told me that I had problems finding shoes that fit,and that this was because I had been a girl in the Far East, long ago. I had been royalty, and my feet had been bound. Actually, I have full access to that life, the emotions and the theme. But I kind of like my foot thing, so I kept it around.
The point that I am getting at is that these lives, these experiences, really any experience, is as important and meaningful as we make it. We assign a meaning to something, some event, and, you know what? The kicker to all of this is that sometimes, yes indeed, sometimes, we interpret things incorrectly. We assign a meaning to an event which is neither accurate nor exalted. This definition, this explanation of an event, it can taint a whole life. A whole series of lives.
May I give you an example? I think it might help.
I had a life of a traveler. My mother, God bless her, allowed me to leave the village, where I was sorely needed. She had raised me on stories of travel and adventure, because she had seen I had the heart of a traveler, a story teller and teacher. I left home with my only goal, really, to return to her and live out the end of her life telling her my stories of real life adventure. I wanted to give back to her. I wanted that so bad. She had a hard life, and if she'd been a smaller person, she'd have left me to tend to responsibility and she would have taken off.
In my travels I had many adventures, and began to teach people as I went along. I saw scenes of that. And then came the desert.
I died in the desert because I didn't bring enough water. I did not anticipate disaster.
I didn't get to tell my stories to my mother.
That was the lifetime I could not seem to resolve while under. I could not see my mother's face, when it came time to meet again, in meditation. I was able to hug her and tell her how much I loved her, how much I wanted to come home. I asked her to forgive me for not having returned, for not anticipating things better. She told me that my guilt was no longer necessary. Her gift of freedom, the sacrifice she made for me, came with no expectation of return. She let me leave because she loved me. And we never had been apart, not really. I felt such absolution. It's really the only word for the experience. To have released from me a burden I didn't even know I' d been carrying.
And that is what this past life regression thing is all about I think. Recognizing ourselves in our totality, or as bigger than our current focus allows anyway, and identifying the false beliefs and incorrect assumptions which have caused grief. I think that is the cause of all dysfunction, really, at its base. Not understanding that it is all love. Not understanding the core. Settling for the surface explanation, connecting the dots, but never getting right in there, into that which imagined the game of connecting the dots.
The mother and I, we hugged, we cried, we smiled, and we parted. Everything was alright, but I still couldn't see her face.
On the drive home, I understood. I pulled over. I wept.
The mother of that traveler, that teacher, that devoted son whose only wish was reunion with his beloved mother, she lives in my house. She is my son. My first words to him, my silent prayer to him, from the first time I layed eyes on him, was, “Thank you for showing up,” and I never knew why. I say this to no one else. I can remember holding him and just repeating that and repeating that, rocking him, feeding him, and feeling such a sense of wholeness.
That was a particularly rich experience. It is only one of many I have had as a result of experiencing that lifetime in regression.
Funny how one little thing can set it all off too. Physical triggers which act as catalysts, inviting us to enter into the many rooms within our very own mansions.
There were three other lives just as vivid, just as lyrical. All starring people in my life now. Different roles, different lines, different circumstances, but the same purpose. Always the same purpose. To experience. To bloom in the garden of forgetfulness into the full flower of knowing. To love. To strive. To express my beliefs and thoughts within a lifetime's activities. And there can be no greater gift than the exchange of love, one to another. It is the most incredible gift of all.
I used to think this sort of sanctified love was saved only for those who hook up with their soul mates. That's a lot of pish posh.
I think it is entirely possible that we, in the presence of the other, any other, on some level are having an almost orgiastic experience with energy exchange and soulic interconnectedness. And I mean the conflicts, too. The bad times. The icky stuff. There is a part of us always that fully recognizes that we are in a wonderful, engaging immersive play with one another, and that around here, you only engage in play with those you love. And everyone you are playing with loves you. We do each other favors, because we love one another.
I heard that in a past life regression, I think this is in a Dolores Cannon book, that the subject had gotten beaten up really severely, in an alleyway. This beating changed many things for the subject. And it turns out that the ones who gave the beat down were in that person's family, soul family, or were very very good friends. It was the subject himself who'd asked his buddies to rough him up, to get him back on track. It was no random act of violence.
I reject that phrase as outright craziness, “a random act of violence.” There is no such thing. There never has been such a thing. It's poppy-cock. Untrue. Silly. False.
Now, I ask you, doesn't that just make your day?
How willing are you, yes, I am talking directly to you now, how willing are you today to see everyone and everything (including The Government, Monsanto, the divorce judge, your b-hole of a boss, your insane and inconvenient family) as a friendly?
Could you do it? Just for one day?
Everybody?
It's a tall order.
You know, I could go on for a book about just this topic, because, as I write, this topic naturally morphs into others. But what makes sense is a meditation on the idea of guardian angels. I really am looking for a little help on this one. I know I don’t have it all. I'm missing the capstone, energetically, on this monster of a concept.
I am beginning to think a lot about the idea of each of us being assigned a guardian angel for life. I am convinced that I have a soul family who are more involved with my life than my bio family is. I know there are others around me, assisting and helping. But there is something more, something else, that underlies my physical earth time here.
I believe that this physical life, this “3D” experience is not as crappy as most new agers say. I know they throw around a lot of talk about light and peace and stuff, but overall, I find the thinking escapist.
What if this 3D experience is, in fact, a valid one. What if there are no enemies, not even our own egos, something that New Agers seem to hate quite a lot.
What if we are, as physical beings, here in “3D” experiencing ourselves symbolically? What if the point is to realize that it's all coming from within us. We are all agreeing to this. The silly politics, the croaked economy, the weirdness, just all the weirdness, the police state, all of it. These are symbols, gestalts, they are lessons we are learning in real time about our true nature. But the truth cannot be found on a picket sign or on the blogosphere. The beginning and ending, the start and finish of it, the originator, planner, player, critic, they are all within ourselves.
If that is true, if this is a symbolic place, then everything is perhaps an echo of a different, a more expansive place, a more expanded self, with less amnesia, and much longer attention span.
If this is true, if I am a personality, fully realized and totally responsible for my own thoughts and actions, but just one bloom on a rose bush, then who is the rose bush? What is the rose bush? What feeds and waters this rose bush? Why is it even here?
Do you see where I am headed with this?
I know you have had an experience where you just know, you just must conclude, that someone or something is watching out for you. You dodge a bullet somehow, you catch a break, whatever.
What if it's actually YOU looking out for YOU?
What about that?
I really don't think there is a better explanation than that to some of the stuff that has happened to me internally, externally. The timing is just too impeccable. The precision of when to give me this versus when to disclose that, it's mysterious, mystical.
I've come to the conclusion that a bigger or more expanded or more realized entity spawned me, feeds and waters me, looks out for me in every way. So, that must mean that, on some level, I am looking after myself.
Now, I know that these connections with others, with friends and family and readers (!), these move the story along. It wouldn't be very challenging to enter physicality and have no one to bump up against, whether in love or lust or rage.
That's a lot of the fun, and most of the hassle. Each of us, each and every one of us, from a spontaneously aborted 8 week old fetuses to a serial sexual sadist to Gandhi, each and every one of them comes into their experience with THEIR OWN AGENDA. Have you noticed that there is a lot of that going around these days, other people wanting to fix your agenda?
Well, it's stinking thinking. It belies a misinterpretation of the data.
I will end on this note.
I went to a website's chat room yesterday, thinking it would be good to commune with others of like mind. I've had great experiences there in the past, and I was missing the people I used to love on.
There was one woman on the screen, lecturing. She was saying things that I found to be untrue, thoughts which lead to distress and disconnection. When I raised my hand and said my piece, I was asked if I was trolling. And then I was told, basically, that there were no errors to her thinking, and further, that there is no right and there is no wrong in 5D because here, everyone has risen above duality. Then she asked again if I was a “troller”.
Remember what I said about the various layers from which we can focus our attention, ego or mind or heart or soul (and I am sure there are many others!)? Well, I hit the logout button, and found my hands were shaking. It troubles me when folks who ought to know better, who have access to the general public, use their platform to badger people into retaining the old ways.
There are new ways to think and feel about everything, more comprehensive ways, which absorb and radiate joy, meaning and significance, and all the other stuff that goes into a fine moment.
I do not know where this is headed. I fully expected to be half way done with my laundry by now. But it hit me real hard that this talk of past lives, it needs to be broadened.
I felt bad for the girl having the bleedthrough. Thinking how I'd been stuck in so many echo chambers, and wanting really hard to help her.
If we could perhaps bench the whole idea of past, present and future, and instead just think of these lives as coexisting, it would make us feel as if the data, the emotions, and the understandings of our other selves, our other aspects of self, are all connected. The girl who was struggling with the bleedthrough, I hope she can ride it, travel along the spine of the thing, get up the head. Look that beast in the eye.
The beast is self. In all its magnitude, fortitude, creativity, joy, freedom and abandon.
I think it is time to not be timid, to instead embrace all of life. I think the antiseptic version of “5D” is just a cheap knock off of a disappointed 3D. There are truths, realities, abilities and whole awarenesses of which we are only now glimpsing the hem. The garment has been hanging in the closet since we started this whole thing up. I have lost some weight. I want to try it on. Don't you? There's one for each of us.
I wonder if it could be as easy as just getting to a place where you just have to, without doubt or restraint, accept, love, cherish, marvel at and explore our own selves. I guess that is why my visit to that chat room effected me so strongly. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, when it was all over, “Surely you guys understand that everyone's reality is valid, right?”
No. Good God, no. Opposite! I heard nothing but judgment and rule review. “You should think this, you shouldn’t think this, it's bad for you (inference, “It's not evolved. It's SOOOO 3d”)”
What if someone came along and said: THE ONLY THING THAT IS BAD FOR YOU IS BELIEVING THAT ANYTHING OR ANYONE AT ALL IS BAD.
Here is the kicker. I did not like how those folks were acting. I don't like the way a lot of people act. But I really do understand the difference between actor and action, and I really like actors. They come up with some wild stuff. I get that someone who demands I act in a certain way, think and express in a certain way, is the one who is at the disadvantage. Folks who have closed their doors to me will not get frantic knocks on the door. Fine. Good. I'll just move on...
I know that people can be jerks. God knows I have been a big, huge jerk from time to time. But I don't hate myself for it. I use the discomfort which comes from being a jerk, I follow it, I look at what I did, what they did, what happened, and really look at the distress. Feel it, evaluate it, and love it right into me. Understanding is an absorptive process. Love is an absorptive process. The judgments pass, the pain passes, the incompletion cries for someone, anyone to relieve its distress, and the cry is answered by a tottering old gardener, someone who has done everything under the sun, who loves a good story, loves the sunshine and the fruits of the garden.
The gardener is always around, pruning, fertilizing, watering, and loving. Always walking through the garden with eyes of absolute love, complete and utter gratitude and wonder. This rose is full and round. This rose is paler than the others, and that one smells so sweet. Each rose different. Each fed by the same roots, each a part of the whole, but whole unto itself.
How wondrous that, in my mind, in my soul, I am rose, shrub, gardener, watering can, sky, sun and earth. How wonderful.
The rose analogy can only go so far. But it points out an interesting thought, a thought about multiplicity and personalities. How many personalities, do you think the bigger you contains? Is only one of them alive in 2013?
Are you sure?
Blog entry
12 Mar 2013 - 4:55pm
REALIZED – AND THE FREAKS SHALL INHERIT THE NEW EARTH
I find that there are many things occurring, sort of a procession of miracles, synchronicities, happy accidents and ease in my life now. It has all gotten very easy and enjoyable, and I find that there are moments that I am unable to do anything but just shake my head and grin, because there is just nothing at all to be upset about, fear, be anxious about, or dislike very intensely.
That is not to say that I have one of those bizarre lives where I deny strife or pretend that “negative” emotions have been purged from my “lower body.”
That is dualistic, mechanistic and undisciplined thinking.
This physical life, this is all just a drama, and the first two acts of my play are complete. I have been backstage just twiddling my thumbs for quite a while now, wondering what is going to happen next.
It has finally dawned on me that I am what is going to happen next.
Although I have, up to this point, done a great job at disowning the process I just put myself through, it is now time to own just what it is that I have created. I had been, I think, knee deep in the creating of the thing, and finally gave myself a moment or two to just gawk at this, to try to really GET it, and now it is time to once again engage in this game, but in a much different way.
I excused myself from myself last January, January 25, 2012, to be exact. That is the day I walked away from my old life. That was the day act two ended.
I have spent the intervening time being unashamedly self absorbed.
I make absolutely no apologies for this choice.
I unhooked from the general agreement field. One does NOT have to walk away from their lives as they recognize them to go COMPLETELY off the grid. I have always been “different,” and this palpable weirdness has made for an awkward go. I now understand that I just am built in a way that allows for the sensing and understanding of subtleties many of my peers do not notice. I used to kick myself for that. I used to hate myself for it, this weird difference I carried in me. Not anymore. I sidled right up to it for a year, let it whisper and scream at me, let it wipe my slate clean, clear a hundred pounds off my frame, re-order my work, family and home lives..... I left the agreement field I'd been plugged into my whole life and engaged in free fall. The results have been highly gratifying.
And I will tell you, in no particular order, the things I think that have taken me off the grid. Maybe you are also walking in this nether space, this place of waiting for the rest of your friends to catch the fuck up. Here are some of the things that I actually KNOW, and each and every one of them make me weird, a freak. If anything, in this year, I have learned to unfurl and let my freak flag fly. Everybody's got one. That's the punch line. Every single one of us. So, lemme hoist up a few of my freak flags and let them fly. Maybe you'll recognize them.
1 – I am here, and I presume all of us are here, because I LIKE IT HERE. It is awesome and beautiful and complex and dizzying and overwhelmingly stimulating. All the talk I have done about not wanting to be here is a metaphor for wanting to be conscious of the love that imagines, innervates and breathes me. That is a terrible and complete loneliness. Nothing else compares to that isolation. I am glad that it is over. I no longer miss home, though. I understand that this is one of my homes. One of them.
2 – I really do see a time when locks and gates and things like that are just obsolete. When it just doesn't make sense to not feed someone who is hungry or shelter someone who is without. And I can see a time when the energy exchanged for goods and even services is actually energy based, not token based. This speaks to the idea of absolute deserving, and how warped our token economy has become.
3 – Twice now I have been aware, in the wee hours once, and once in meditation, of an awareness asking me, “Do you really think that it's air you are breathing?” Now, I know this is from The Matrix movie, but it was so immediate and real, this voice, this awareness. Because as the voice asked that, it's as if the air turned into this thick substance that was hypothetical. Does that makes sense? I realized that even the air we breathe, apart or beneath or within its chemical composition and physical properties, is a thought. It's an idea. And if the very air I breathe is a thought, What does that make the “me” “breathing” it?
4 – I believe that what I am made of, the essence which give structure and purpose to my cellular integrity, is pure love, pure thought, pure energy. I refuse to use the word “God” anymore, although it would be fitting here. I may substitute “God” with “All That Is,” but in my travels, I have come to understand that there is so much to discover and hold holy in one's own consciousness, and there is so much room in one's own psyche, that the concepts of gods and angels and ascension and all that stuff just falls away. Of course there is a reason for this amazing adventure. But it is not to please some god, it is not to reach a state of absorption WITHIN that god. I think it is something else all together. We have been taught that everything is outside, and we were created with an unholy apology burning in our mouths. I think that is horsehit. Everything is inside, gods and angles included.
5 – My relationship with money is not my parents' or my sisters' or my neighbors'. I have grappled with it, and I have made peace with it. It has something to do with putting my worth outside, and misunderstanding outer worth for inner worth. When I am doing that, and judging my progress of goodness in dollars, then I am playing a little game with myself, and making sure that having very little is part of the ground rules. If I want to believe that having money means I am good, and being poor means I am bad, then I will need to be spending some hard time poor, to really get the message. There are many messages in poverty. That one needs very little to be content. That in the physical, it is enjoyable but not mandatory to have a back up plan. That this is not a lifetime about survival. I see money now less a or enemy than I have in the past. I enjoy going to work, and find that I have money in my account each Friday. So for the moment things are not tortured. They are not healthy, but I am not tortured about the unhealthiness, and that's a start. Having enough has a lot to do with believing that I am enough, but it's at a bone level, not an airy-fairy coffee book or facebook poster level.
6 – I have found great value in walking away from my fellow man. I have bosom buddies, deeply cherished friends, but I have not enjoyed to company of others very much. It is painful being around some people for me, just really painful, sometimes physically so. And I really did not know, until this last year, what that was all about. I now know that I didn't think my sensitivity, my impressions were valid previously. When I felt anothers' reality, not really knowing what mine was, I would just take on the energy of whoever was around me. I picked this up in childhood, and at the time it served as an exquisitely clever coping mechanism. One cannot be harmed if one is able to be fully aware of the consciousness of the one doing the harm. You see? But this turned into a bad habit. So I took a year off, finally, when I was really just this side of a heart attack, and took it upon myself to figure out what the hell is ME and what the hell is the OTHER. I had lived 50 years AS the other. It was time to figure out just who had been observing all of this nonsense. So walking away was a good choice for me. I still worked, but sporadically and at only when I felt up to it. I layed fallow. I took two trips. I wrote a book and I read voraciously. I made myself the highest priority known to man. And it worked. Now, in a room of people of varying awareness, I can hold my own. I now know how I feel, how I think, what thoughts are mine, what thoughts I know to be true, and most of the stuff I am then exposed to myself has begun to look like just sheer and utter nonsense, the stuff holding the attention of my peers these days.
7 – I do not value an acquisitive lifestyle. I do enjoy shopping, I really do. But I don't think you will ever see me in a car, outfit or house which will engender envy. Sure, physical ease and sumptuousness are awesome, not to be missed, but geez, living in opulence, behind a guarded fence, squirreling cash away and refusing to assist those who could benefit form a little cash bomb, well, that is not my path. I like my Goodwill clothing and cheap smokes. I come from wealth, so it is not as if I do not know of the finer things in life. But they are a sideshow, a distraction. Nice, fun, but not a source of self love or soul affirmation. That's a trick of the light, a little device placed in the mix to rise above, I think. I have no animosity toward those who value money more than I, but I no longer allow those sorts to put me down for my own values. Have you noticed, though, that for some reason, acquisitive people are pretty insistent that their way is the only way. They are a little pushy. This crap has even made its way into religion, the idea that if God loves you, he'll gift you, and if you are poor, you're not doing God right. Those words, those thoughts, are highly blasphemous, and most frequently spouted by “New Agers”. It's a sickness, really.
8 – I think we have actually made a physical grid of energy. I see it as gold, and it is all lit up. It wasn't glowing so hard a few months earlier. I can feel you now in a way I couldn't before. I know that we are connected, and that we are doing great things on the other side, bringing them back, and gaining speed. I don't know who all is on the grid. I can feel myself on a grid though, a node on a round gold grid, and this grid has instantaneous communication, instantaneous communication and aid. Everything is available all the time. How much do you want? A lot? Then you are REALLY going to get out of your own way.
9 – This psychical life is a a shadow play, a drama that we create in real time as a great lark. Yes, death is real, because it removes your playing piece, but death does not destroy the hand that was moving the piece around. You see, my concept of God has largely been replaced with the concept of Self. That my greater self is so stunning, so incomprehensible, that getting to know ME, just ME, is more than enough for the remainder of this lifetime. If I just keep this focus, ahh, all is well.
10 – While I am blaspheming all over myself, telling you how I think that the totality of me is far more interesting than any human-construct of God, I may as well tell you that I think all this talk of UFO's and Galactic Federations and Ashtar Commands is largely silliness. Although I find great truths buried in the channelings from folks who feel these energies, I really do think that ascribing identity to these beings as someone other than Self might be stretching it.
I think these beings are “future” projections of consciousness, future aspects of ourselves. We can access their knowledge. I really do think they are just our generation's version of angels. That is not a bad thing and does not invalidate the experience, but I think the definition we have given these experiences and idle thoughts are incorrect, or not as broad as they could/should be. I think the answers are much more astounding than the mechanistic explanation of reverse magnetics and quantum transference of energy. If we are here on this blue planet, thinking and eating and eliminating and ignoring the divinity and beauty right under our own noses, then I think it well within reason to assume that there are other poor bastards on some other star trying to get a grip on what it means to be Saturnian or Venusian or Betelgeusian. Hell, it's possible. But I think that to consider theses entities as foreign or alien is really dumb. They are about as alien as my left thumb is to my hand. I think we need to change the verbiage. UFO's and Aliens... lump 'em all together and call them ELFE's, Entities Largely Focused Elsewhere.
To translate non-physical, or barely-physical phenomena is natural. The definitions tell you more about the receiver of the vision than the vision itself. I'm just sayin'.
That's all I have for today.
Maybe you will consider none of these thoughts outrageous at all. What a relief that would be! But even if you see me as a madwoman, I have been pushed to tell you of things that are very rarely discussed in new age journals. Blasphemies, some of them. I know. Indulge me.
Maybe the freaks will inherit the earth. That'd probably not be a bad idea, actually. We are a peaceful tribe, well-adjusted, easy going, permissive, but just so very tired of the nonsense. Let's see about cutting down on that. Maybe this epistle will help.
Blog entry
10 Mar 2013 - 2:59am
The sky grows angry as it covers with gray
Seemingly unpleased with thoughts of yesterday.
Wind screams, clouds shift as they sway
Making promises to stay yet another day.
Bursting at the seams it releases its rain,
Too much sorrow to attempt to contain
Flowing from its center liquid lifetimes of pain.
To carry such grief would be far off from sane.
With its own intent the sky sets itself right
Offering the horizon the warmth of its light
Just as a star shines bright in the night
Graciously guiding ones pure of sight.
Some say its darkest just before dawn
And even the dove will sing a sad song.
What if what they say is wrong?
The storm is as beautiful as it is long...
Callyope C.
March 9, 2013
Blog entry
9 Mar 2013 - 2:09pm
The universe is made of water and the Earth of air.
We are simply tiny fish caught in a bubble...
Blog entry
8 Mar 2013 - 9:10am
Positive emotion depth
∆
Highest good for all --- Balance and Harmony
Positive emotion depth (Love, Passion, etc): 0-3
Highest good for all (from all perspectives): 0-3
Balance and Harmony (Mind and body): 0-3
Joy = positive emotion x highest good x balance
Using points of 0-3 in each corner of ∆. The highest possible score in this with points of 3 (3x3x3) is 27. When we take cube root of the maximum result (27) we got number 3, that is the greatest balance for joy for the present case under consideration.
If any of the variables got points of 0, the joy result is 0. Understanding, that in this formula approach, we cannot get joy for without a harmony of three elements in ∆.
Positive emotion depth: Seeking and reaching the positive emotion such as love and passion. Focusing on the bright side and seeing the opportunity to be happy will eventually lead the increased emotional ability. Emotion is the key in manifestation – without emotion we do not activate energies. The extreme negative emotion can overrun the positive emotion temporarily. For this reason seeking positive state of mind is good way to go.
Highest good for all: Universe is one. One cannot find solid joy by without seeking highest good for all from all perspectives. Our personal selfish highest good, example purely maximizing everything for a self, does not make the universe to sing with us. Having a thought for highest good for all is the key in manifestation.
Balance and Harmony: Our body and its abilities need to be functioning and balanced. Body health effects on our mind, mind effects on our body. Seeking harmony at on holistic vessel is needed. This does not mean we look like a model and have optimum weight profile. This means that we care of ourselves by the conditions we have and we seek better balance all the time. Once our experience is perceived via this body – it needs to be in good condition in order us to be able to function. For this reason emotion or thought is not enough to have perfectly functioning formula.
Manifesting joy is not a state, when reached once, it would remain. Having joy is constant work and requires constant awareness and constant adaptation. Once we all evolve and our life conditions change, the formula parameters are in constant change. For this reason seeking joy is actually a daily practice, daily task we could do. Manifesting joy happens now in this present moment.
Also I have found out that emotion depth – how deep emotions we believe we can have, is in constant change. More we progress, more we find deepness in emotions. The highest good for all is the most difficult part – because we do not always know what is the highest good from all perspectives. For this I have realized that setting our intention for highest good for all and constantly being conscious of this and constantly seeking this is good practice. Finding body and mind balance and harmony is lifetime job. Just even being aware of that this is important is so much itself.
We can also think that this formula has a size of the triangle ∆. We can manifest certain size of the triangle in certain moments. Realizing that the size of the triangle is not really set and in this way the maximum of three points is limiting, but it just gives us a way to play with this fascinating concept.
Thank you for pondering on this with me. Kindly note that this is just me playing with an idea how to seek joy. I am sure there are many other aspects on this. This pondering also leads me to think of concepts around more advanced geometry such as simplex, pyramids and circles. Finding this pondering being lots of fun and it gives us a tool to structure the abstract concepts of metaphysics much related on creation.
With love
T
Blog entry
6 Mar 2013 - 12:29am
REALIZED – SACRILEGE AHEAD
I heard that the Essenes in particular were experts at forgery. They would make three or four seemingly authentic and legitimate religious texts, and only one would be 100% accurate, the others just varying shades of bogus.
I have thought a lot about that lately. After several months of everything being highly significant and relevant, some things have finally begun to fall away from my awareness.
It is as if I have gone through a long period of trying on everything in my closet. Every trend and fashion, from, “Without you, I am nothing,” to “A woman needs to have a career before she settles down,” to “Death is the end of my imagination.” I have twirled and sashayed in these old outfits, some for the last time. Many have disintegrated since I last tried them on. Some are lying in my dresser drawer, waiting for me to need them again. Others I wear daily, but only as accent pieces.
I mention this because there are certain conditions, certain situations, which simply no longer trigger me. I watch people react as they always do to these situations, and the emotions accompanying the phenomena just seem like an exhausting exercise in self discovery. Indeed it is.
Take death, for instance. Do you ever think, when watching a popular movie, or listening to a sick friend, that if they understood that death was just another step, just another change, the next big adventure, why then would people behave as they do? If they really GOT that death does not obliterate, but instead liberates? People pay a lot of lip service to this idea, but I see little evidence that people believe it.
What the gnostics failed demonstrate that truth is indeed self evident. The truth sits on the counter, next to the keys and the roll of stamps and paperclips. It sits and waits to be picked up and held, felt. You don't have to hide the truth, mar it with clever brushstrokes or slidy interpretations. You just have to state it, naked and simple, and it will just go unrecognized, undisturbed, unbelieved, avoided.
The thing is, truth has no shelf life. It just is. I kind of think of it like I do reincarnation or any other “out-of-mainstream” belief. You do not have to believe it for it to be real. Even reincarnation, which some of us think is pretty weird, or culturally unacknowledged, is but a metaphor, a shadow of the truth.
So I want to tell you of a few things that I think may be true. They deserve my attention because it is where my thinking ends up, and when I get to these cul-de-sacs, they are far more satisfying than currently available explanations.
I will tell you of only a few things that I think may be true. Truer than what we have chosen to believe thus far, let's put it that way. I have a few of them, and I'll introduce you to a few here, now.
If you are upset by any of these ideas, I encourage you to feel the upset, the rage, the whatever other feeling come up, and then please proceed directly to owning those feelings as your own. Maybe my words provoked your thinking, but your thoughts and feelings are all yours.
At the end of every statement and discussion, it would be totally appropriate to say the following, so I say it now, and you can refer to it after each section, ok? The statement is: I know this sounds really weird, but, to me, it feels kinda good, even though it's weird. I don't know if it's true. I know it's possible, because anything is. What do YOU think?
CAUTION: SACRILEGE AHEAD
1 – An agreement was made between men and women for this most recent experiment. The idea was that men would largely choose to integrate only the first three chakras. Their challenge would be to activate and then expand into the heart chakra. Women, on the other hand, agreed to develop only into the heart chakra. Woman’s challenge would be to engage their throat chakra.
Imagine. Half a native population agrees to act without a concrete frame of love, but instead agreed to operate from the framework of survival, primal forces, without really engaging the whole self. As per the agreement, the group who was the most shut down would be the ones we agreed to put in many, most positions of authority, of power. And there are the women, sitting on the sidelines, watching the guys duke it out, unwilling to whisper a word of criticism or caution.
Of course, the antidote to this hot mess is self discovery, self acceptance, and giving oneself permission to feel, think and be ANYTHING that comes to mind, without judgment. Moving into, activating, becoming, the higher chakra centers.
2 – Atlantis is a group memory of our future.
Enough said there.
3 – Some of the weird little personality things you have, the eccentricities which may even get in your way, the stuff psychologists or psychics would call “resistance” or “fear,” well, some of this weirdness is stuff we take on so that we will be more believable. If we came in too crystal clear, we'd be suspicious. So love your weirdness. Let your freak flag fly. It keeps you normal, keeps you under the radar, and makes it absolutely impossible to throw shade on anyone else, when you are your most honest.
4 – The sun is maybe a reflection of our group reality. Maybe the sun really is some sort of plasmic recorder, pulling into and pushing out energy which is cosmic, soulic, at its source. What if these solar flares and other anomalies are just the physical evidence of our work, our changes? What if the sun is more effected by us than we are affected by the sun? Would this mean that the theories of an extinction level radiation burst that Andov and others purport is simply metaphor?
5 – What of ascension, this thing we are all focused upon but don't really even understand, what if ascension is such a big deal because the way we are going to manage this energetic shift has never been tried before?
This is where I wish to end this discussion, with an earnest attempt at playing with the ascension concept some more.
I used to think that ascension would occur in a moment, a glittering, infinite moment of final reconnection with what is true. I would all at once be “taken up” or consumed in an energy which would then unlock or transform me into my totality. This earth illusion is a particularly dense one. There are less dense states. It makes sense that less dense states would be associated with light, and that purer, clearer thoughts would also have that association.
I have heard that ascension is when the physical, meaty body somehow switches on or activates, and turns into light. I've heard this has something to do with turning into silicon, or becoming silicon based, like crystals. And the acceptance of all this light, this has always implied that a death, or a transition, or a transmutation occurs, where death is not so much short circuited as absorbed.
OK, so I have struggled with this one.
Because my fear of death is nearly gone, I am less and less convinced that turning into a light body is such a great alternative. Ascension itself is a rebellious concept: do enough inner work and you don't have to die.
And that is why I now shy from this idea. Because I do not think that death is to be run from. Maybe it is optional. Maybe so. And maybe that is indeed what we are about to explore. But death, in and of itself, is an exhalation. It is the other half to just one equation. Being afraid of it, hating it, fearing, avoiding, bargaining with it, getting bummed about it, all super ok, but it is sort of like a child's response to a boogey man, not a realized person's response to a thought construct.
I would rather not have my loved ones die, because I like having them around physically to talk to and take vacations with. But, if a loved one dies, then I get to see them in other ways. It is so not the end. Remember that old poem, “and death shall have no dominion” ? All last night at work, the phrase I kept hearing, at the oddest times, was “And death has no dominion.” Again and again.
With that mind-set, switching on and turning into a beam of light seems highly avoidant.
I think the reason that no one can tell us why this ascension stuff is so unpredictable is because this sort of ascension has not been attempted before.
What I am sensing, what I think I know now, is that sort of burning through the illusion, moving from one reality into another with zeal and abandon, I am not convinced that can be done in a physical mechanism. I am not convinced it has been done before.
And I have to tell you, I must confess, I have thought many times that perhaps ascension is nothing more than a very benevolent way to get us all comfortable with an extinction level event. To get us all in a place where we know, we really know, that we are ok, regardless. Could all this light transmutation, all that stuff, be a memory of obliteration and rebirth?
I am going to write the next part without editorializing, and with as little conscious interference as possible. I believe it will be disjointed, but I can find no other way to access this next information.
All reality is personal. There is a mass reality which we all equally contribute to, and we are all engaging in the creation of this revolution.
Physical cells have within them a very high light capacity. It is possible for cells to glow, independently, and this glow can be seen as clear or pure light. This light also has a sound quality, an emotional quality, and a band of thinking within which there is comfort, and without which there is pain.
Movement from lower light quotients to higher light quotients require increasing levels of joy, unity, integration, acceptance, honor, freedom, respect of the individual and deep love for the whole.
We, each of us is a leaf on this tree. The tree is rooted in ancient magic, and is the ultimate alchemist. The leaves exist because of the tree. The tree exists because of the leaves. If each leaf on a tree begins to transform into something they have never been before, but for which they have always had the capacity, does this not transform the tree? What will the tree look like? I had a vision this morning while driving, of every tree's leaves sprouting miniature trees.
It was quite a site.
How can we know what will happen? “The outcome is assured,” we hear from any modern prophet with access to the internet. “The outcome is assured.”
Well, of course it is. Of course the outcome is assured. I mean, in the middle of the transition, those words kept me alive. But now, it just seems like the most obvious declaration. Of COURSE the outcome is assured.
But what it is we are doing? I think that ascension has happened again and again in other systems. It is just a word that is used to describe an energetic shift. A change of focus. That's all.
I hear of dimensions, and that one dimension is invisible to another. We label one dimension “lower”, one “higher.” Maybe each dimension can be looked at as valid, no better or worse than any other. Maybe each has a different set of sense organs, I don't know.
I think this is a time of great plasticity, and I think there are many masters afoot. I know of no spiritual warrior who is satisfied with being told, “there are just some things we cannot understand.”
I, for one, take great issue with that dismissive comment.
Who is anyone to tell me what I can and cannot understand?
Would that be the organized religions which so perverted Jesus' teachings as to render him a caricature? The community which tells me we are here on this planet through a series of impersonal, random accidents? The people who tell me I am nothing without a mortgage, a spouse, a miserable little life and happy creditors? The ones who put dead people on ventilators and IV chemicals in order to say that someone is alive?
Really?
Those folks are doing the very best they can, but their understandings fall too short of the mark to be taken seriously. How can I take seriously some of the stuff I see people accept hook, line and sinker? It's a study in abstraction, in mutation, in adaptation, and , dare I say it, evolution, to move past these old beliefs, move beyond old agreements, breaking them, discarding them. Actually, we don't have to go around breaking them. They are breaking apart all on their own.
So, I think this ascension process is just one of transformation, opening ourselves to more truth, more possibility, more freedom of thought and emotion, complete love and acceptance for self, which then can only but extend to other-love. And I don't think any of us are going to turn into crystals, or light balls, or anything like that. No.
And that is the revolutionary part, the cheeky part.
I think we have decided to do the never-done-before part by stretching the ability of the physical cells, stretching their capacity, tapping into ancient knowledge and rhythms, from which inner space can finally be revealed. And not within a spaced out, primitive, totally tapped in creature. No. This is an evolution into a physical person with all the attributes, all the abilities of any dimension desired, because the physical being has actualized, hooked in, become one with source. I am not convinced that particular trick has been done before. That is what is so amazing about what we are doing, and that is why I think we are all such awesome rebels and crazies.
The next part is an inside job, and whether we do it looking like light bulbs or like Homer Simpson, I think it is irrelevant.
I know that I have decided to stay on. And I understand that this is now that time. I think the ascension threshold was breached, and those light injections are much more plentiful now, more palpable, and we will become this light from the inside out.
I think that's the part about ascension that always stumped me, and this misinterpretation kept me at arms length from further realizations.
Ascension, becoming light, becoming consciously aware of how tapped into source we are to begin with, that is ascension. Becoming filled with light in one's mind, this illuminates everything, elucidates everything, validates all.
Knowing we see through eyes made of light, that is ascension.
And I think the process will continue, with gradual breakthroughs and thrilling, all-of-a-sudden miracles. All is incremental right now, but even the increments don't have to be maddeningly slow anymore, because if you are paying attention to just a sliver of your reality, really pay attention, you can see the while thing. Within one part is the whole.
Who knows if these ramblings upset or up-lifted you?
I know they seem right to me right now. And that is about the best I can do at this time. I used to muzzle myself if I thought I did not fully understand a concept. I think that was partly because there were few to discuss these esoterics with without there being some sort of visceral pulling back from my audience. But also, I think a part of me always knew the answers, and was embarrassed or downhearted for not remembering. It is this part of me that picked and poked at me, nearly driving me insane, making me explore and try out thoughts that brought about happy fascination and much needed relief from the oppression I knew physicality to be.
I feel there is more, but have no idea how to end. I like to think writing these things helps someone like me, living in obscurity, thinking great and powerful thoughts, feeling oddly abstracted in a world of absolutes and Other People's Feelings.
I know that it is time to engage. This traveling into abstraction has been a study in balance if nothing else. I know how much thinking I need, but am not as tuned into what else I might need. So, for the rest of this day, I will carry these cherished, weird thoughts with me. I'll smile a knowing smile while walking through the aisles and rooms of the rest of my day. I will think of this blog entry. I will be think about you.
I will feel your eyes, your heart, scanning my words, and I will know that I am connecting with others, while I am purchasing a book at the Goodwill, making supper for my son, starting in on my laundry.
And through the remainder of my day, I will change focus as often as I can, remembering that everything comes from the inside, inside out, Kathy, inside out.
And everyone is inside out. No one, no matter how hard they cry and how vehemently they disagree, the outside is symbolic for the inside. Everything comes from the inside out. Not the other way around.
Anyone who tries to tell me that my peace, my worth, my purpose or my validity is due to what I own or what I have done, said or left undone, unsaid, is functioning from a gross misinterpretation of the data. That's all. They are misguided. They are misinformed. And usually, they are utterly convinced that their misunderstandings are the only valid explanation there is. That's fine. We are coming to the end of their time. They are misguided. Not mean or evil. Misinformed. And nearly done throwing their considerable weight around.
There are reams, volumes, of information I need to share with you, stuff that really begs to be kicked around, discussed, tried out, felt and experienced and then either discarded or embraced. As a group, after having individual adventures with these thoughts.
I know we all have mighty and rousing discussions about this stuff at night, but I am so looking forward to having these sort of discussions out in the open and IN CONTEXT with others, with situations.
We have embraced eons of functioning within agreements which no longer serve. They served, and they were valid, but they no longer are.
There is no need to rail against the system.
Here is where I will end it. Perfect. Perfect.
Although I believe that women are, on every level and in every way, endowed with the very same abilities and qualities as men, and men are endowed with the very same abilities and qualities as women, I do not call myself a feminist. This is simply because there is no such thing as an androgynist. A feminist is still working within a paradigm which accepts the female as less than. How can I be a feminist? I prefer to be a humanist. It just makes more sense.
Now think on the new wave of atheism occurring culturally. Why would there not be an upsurge in atheism, when modern religions are just no longer equipped to address us honestly or as inviolate individuals, becoming instead just another bloc of tax evading fat cats? Of course atheism would become attractive to many. But it is a reaction within a system to a system which is itself broken. I am not an atheist, but my beliefs about God are not held by many. I'll tell you about them some time, if you want me to. I'd have to have some sort of request though, because I think I'd probably make a lot of you very uncomfortable. Or maybe not. Who knows. But it is a discussion best saved for another day.
I don't like that this thing is so long, but there are concepts in here which are alive on many levels, and I think that I will be quite pleased that I took the time this Tuesday afternoon, in my jammies, recovering from a 12 hour shift, to obey instructions and engage in some dictation. I am certain when I re-read this I will be surprised.
And although it is my deepest desire to stay on this computer all night and crack code after code with you, mount heated discussion after heartfelt, homesick rendition of some ancient tunes we have known since birth, instead I fully acknowledge that there is plenty of time to have these talks with you, and to hear what you think. I am so excited to hear what YOU think. And I know we'll be seeing each other on the other side tonight to discuss these things. You will point out my areas of understanding, and give me knowledge where I lack it. I will give you my enthusiasm and my great will. We will dance in our love of the dance, and as the sun rises, we will collapse onto the hill we take sometimes, all of our freak flags fluttering in the gentle breeze of anticipation, all of us, just watching, just quietly watching everything wake up.
Blog entry
3 Mar 2013 - 1:54pm
~ CUHP hold first convocation, confers honorary DPhil degree on Dalai Lama ~
March 1st 2013
Dharamsala, HP, India, 1 March 2013 (By Naresh K. Thakur, Hindustan Times) – The Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP) conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil honoris causa) on Nobel laureate for peace and Tibetan Spiritual Leader, the Dalai Lama on its first convocation ceremony held at Temporary Academic Block (TAB), Shahpur here on Thursday.
Member of Planning Commission and Chancellor of CUHP, Arun Maira, presented the degree to the Dalai Lama, who was also the chief guest on the occasion.
Delivering his convocation address, the Dalai Lama called upon the students to preserve India’s ancient treasure of knowledge and combine it with modern education for a better future.
“Though modern education is essential for development, you should also treasure your traditional knowledge which is thousands of years old,“ the Dalai Lama said adding that modern education is oriented towards materialistic values and could only provide physical comfort instead of mental peace.
Maintaining that everyone on earth wants to lead a happy and sensible life, the Dalai Lama said there was a big difference in appearance and reality and the very purpose of education was to reduce ignorance and lead us towards reality.
“I do pray and do analytical meditation everyday but I think the affect must come from action not just from desire,” the Dalai Lama said.
Addressing students who were awarded degrees, the Dalai Lama said that they have reached a crucial level in their life and that it was now time to face the real world.
“Life is not easy and it depends on yourself how you want to live it. Things will be more complicated now onwards and you will have to prepare yourself. If you take things for granted there will be a lot of disturbance in life,” the spiritual leader said.
Terming India as Tibet’s guru, the spiritual leader said that this country – the Aryabhoomi has given the world some of the great philosophers and thinkers and some extremely sophisticated philosophical thoughts developed in this part of the world.
Giving an example, the Dalai Lama said that the concept of quantum physics, which the western world came to know in the last century had been described in the text of Nagarjuna which is almost two thousand years old.
He said Buddhism was introduced in Tibet by great masters from Nalanda University of India in the 8th and 9th century.
Concerned over the prevailing corruption in India, the spiritual leader said Indians were known for their values before independence.
“After independence we gradually started losing our values such as truth and honesty. The symptoms are not good,” the Dalai Lama expressed adding that the younger generation especially the 21st century generation and their teachers should pay more attention towards this.
“You are the 21st century people and should make this a century of peace, love and compassion,” he said.
Expressing gratitude for the degree conferred on him, the elderly monk said he didn’t like too much formalities (referring to the long process of the convocation function) as it creates additional barriers.
http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/914-cuhp-hold-first-convocation-confers-honorary-dphil-degree-on-dalai-lama
Blog entry
2 Mar 2013 - 12:10am
REALIZED – TEN HAPPY THOUGHTS
It came to me today that this peace which is so real and sturdy for me anymore, this clean place internally has everything to do with thinking and believing in brand new ways. These thoughts used to only swirl and dance and become active when I was reading them on a page or hearing them in meditation. But then I'd have to engage in reality and my peace would crumble, just blow away like toothpicks.
And that happens less and less now. And I really feel a need to let others know about the thoughts which have righted a few things for me. So I am going to do that in this blog, as economically as possible.
TEN HAPPY THOUGHTS , IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
1 - Every time I go to sleep, I am switching focus to my bigger reality, my bigger self. The bigger part of me which I always envisioned was in charge, I used to imagine was only active long ago, in planning things out of me here, putting people and situations in my path to help me, activate me. Well, now I understand that this is not a one-time, only-done-before-you're-born type of thing. We do it every night. We are so plugged into Source, but there is a disconnect, and that disconnect is worked around when I sleep.
2 – Everything, absolutely everything has consciousness, and the degree of magic my life and heart contains is directly proportionate to how well I am paying attention to the aliveness of my physical reality.
3 – Men and women, male and female, boy and girl, there is absolutely no true difference, except for the assignation of who has the egg and who has the seed. Everything cultural rule regarding male and female abilities is a human construct. It isn't real. This brings me so much peace. Any such rule is from someone's imagination as to How Things Should Be. Many expectations, roles, and bs behavior are distortions and Other People's Understandings.
4 – At first, it is absolutely helpful to imagine that everything and everyone and anything you are now aware of is neutral. Nothing is inherently bad or wrong or evil. Sit with that one. It really changes one's life. But it is a bit of a mind-f because some things that happen in this world are so very, very bent.
So, then comes the next bit of information, the next upgrade: everything is not, indeed neutral. Everything, absolutely everything is BENEVOLENT. Everything is positive, and the world bends to meet you.
Without taking the trip to everything-is-neutral land, I wonder if it's possible to get to the next phase, when you know, just in your gut and in your soul that you are covered. That you are loved. That you are safe. Maybe so, but it wasn't that way for me.
5 – So, everything is baseline benevolent. If that is true, then it follows that I am also made of this benevolence. And that includes the ickier, dumber, more unskilled parts of this personality I currently use to explore my world.
6 – If it is true that everything is made out of love, god, spirit, divinity, whatever you want to call it, then that means that even the most awful villain I can remember or conjure is also made of goodness.
7 - Perhaps what separates the jerks from the non-jerks in this world is that the non-jerks just have remembered that they are not and never had been jerks. Maybe jerks are people who just don't know/remember just what it is they are really up to here.
8 – When I intensely dislike a person, or their behavior, I am not reacting to a part of me that is hidden somehow from my awareness, a boogeyman lurking around, who pounces on me when I encounter someone whose issues are similar to mine.
No.
When I intensely dislike a person, or their behavior, I am reacting to perhaps a piece of me which I fear I possess in spades, something I find ugly or unpleasant or bad. This is a very important point.
I think this philosophy that if someone pisses you off it's because you are reacting to something rotten inside of you, no, that is not only inaccurate, but so distorted that it can really be damaging. Anytime we align with a false belief, there are grand adventures. This false belief, that if I hate you it's because I hate myself, and this hate is valid, I reject that outright, and invite you to go a day suspending that belief structure.
The real question is, when someone does something that you have discerned as inappropriate or unacceptable or gross or dumb, can you still think of them in high regard? I think that can only be authentically done when one understands that each of us is our own reality. Each of us are our own sovereign. As such, we are all responsible ONLY for ourselves, for our own reality, our own experience.
9 – Time is an illusion best side stepped in physical reality by shifting focus from a temporal framework to a framework which honors meaning, significance and relevance. I think that our lives are actually organized by these three guides.
Of course, things that are joyous, deeply loving, tender, these are the moments we crave. If we focus on seeing meaning, significance and relevance right NOW, in this moment, we tap into source. Simple as that. Look up right now. Look around. There is not one thing you are looking at or thinking about right now you have not conjured.
I think this is how all “past” lives are organized, and I think that it is through awareness of our reality's personal meaning, significance and relevance that we can touch the larger part of ourselves, the one who is actually a member of the board.
10 – Any answer I want I can have. If I am really stumped, I just need to ask. In dreams, in meditation, in waking moments, the answers come. I want them. What is in front of me is a result of my thoughts, beliefs, and actions. My feelings. My assignations of meaning, significance and relevance. What is in front of me is a shadow of its origins.
I create my reality, in part, by assigning meaning, significance and relevance to the (seemingly) neutral events I encounter or choose not to encounter.
The next part of this is going to be the manifestation part. I know I am manifesting right now. That's pretty obvious. But I have been doing so in an unconscious, or rather an unskilled way. I am still doing the interior work, but the exterior stuff will follow.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I will leave you with this little teaser, this anecdote:
We got hit with a doozy of a blizzard last weekend. Sam and I went to the store on the way home from collecting him from his Dad's. I was stressed, because it was truly dangerous to be on the roads. I left the store without two bags of groceries. Spaced them. Already slipping and sliding on those roads as I was collecting our bags.
I got home and realized we didn't have some staples. I called the store and let them know of my error. The guy said he was aware of the four items, and I could pick them up any time.
I was not able to get back to the store for two days. At the store, I went to the front and told the lady my situation. She smiled an old, indulgent, kind of angry smile. She said, “Oh, they lie about that kind of thing all the time.” There was no list of my items. There was no record of my call. I stood there and raised my hands, smiled, and sputtered. What do I do now? What I thought was, I am broke, and I need these four items. They were all generic items, butter, chips, eggs, milk. What do I do now?
She nodded. She let me sputter. And then she shook her head slowly and said, “Go get them. Just go ahead and get 'em.” She told me I didn't have to check in with her when I was done. She let me go.
Now, I want you to really get this. I had driven to the store having some very queer thoughts. I have lately begun to realize that this love affair that I have had with poverty is nearly at its end. It has served many wonderful purposes, and it was necessary on every level.
Before getting to the store, I had had some thinking about being so poor for so long, this whole year, being so broke. My thinking went, I think I have explored most of the things that poverty can teach me. I feel this is a lesson that is nearly complete. And the next phase, then, is to become more comfortable with more. With ease. With peace.
And, then the thinking went, yes, things will need to start slow, and just like the incremental way my other understandings have come about, this too will be a stair-step thing. There will be some wild cards, some surprises, but now, this next part, this is about getting comfortable with receiving, with allowing, with surrendering to all of the support I have around and within me.
And then the grocery store thing happened.
I walked through that store feeling about twelve feet tall, highly physically distorted, feeling tall (I'm 5'2”, and feeling tall is a great feeling). I was grinning from ear to ear. I understood right then and there, in the aisles of that grocery store, that I am just fine, and that this is indeed the fun part.
See, there have been no tirades, no political or economic treatises. I can happily go off on such a tangent, but these are all sideshows.
I think on these happy thoughts and I am feeling better. I am intact. I am on my way. And if I can help you, with explaining my happy thoughts, that is a good thing. It is far more constructive than bitching about the status quo.
I hope these helped you.
Teaching
28 Feb 2013 - 10:54am
What are the main teachings of Confucius?
www.confucius-1.com/teachings/index.html
Confucius expounded a system of social and political philosophy which he conveyed to a group of disciples. His teachings and sayings were later collected by the disciples of Confucius in a book known in the West as the Analects. Confucius was also traditionally believed to have been the author or at least the editor of the classic Confucian texts called the Five Classics.
The Teachings of Confucius
Confucius said that he was not an innovator and that all of his teachings were merely rediscoveries of what had been true in the past. Society was said to have deviated from an earlier Golden Age, and it was his task to guide it back to its proper condition. Appeals to ancient authority were probably customary at the time, and it is not true that Confucius was merely relating ideas which had existed before. In fact, there is reason to believe that much of what Confucius taught was revolutionary at the time, as witnessed by the fact that after his death Chinese emperors attempted to suppress the spread of Confucianism by burning his books and executing Confucian scholars. However Confucianism and the teachings of Confucius eventually prevailed, and Confucianism eventually received Imperial sanction and came to be adopted as the state "religion" (the word religion is in quotes because there is debate whether Confucianism is actually a religion or is simply a system of philosophy.) The privileged position of Confucianism within Chinese society lasted for many centuries, until the Communist takeover, and had a profound influence on the development of China.
The teachings of Confucius are focused on two interrelated areas: Social Teachings, which deal with the proper behaviour of the individual in society and to his fellow men, and Political Teachings, which deal with the art of governance and the proper relationship of the Ruler to the ruled. He viewed education as central to achieving proper conduct both within Society and in Government.
Social Teachings of Confucius
Confucius taught that people should have compassion for one an other, and to avoid treating others in ways that they themselves would not wish to be treated: “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.” (Analects 12.2)
In order to be compassionate, people should avoid self-aggrandizement and be “simple in manner and slow of speech.” They should practice altruism and self restraint.
Confucian Symbol
Confucius taught that the key to achieving proper self-mastery was adherence to correct ritual. In Counfucius' teachings, ritual encompassed both quasi religious practices as veneration of dead ancestors, as well as the broader concept of etiquette and correct social interaction. Confucius taught that there were mutual obligations arising between members of social relationships, for example as between Husband and Wife, Parents and Children, Older Brother and Younger Brother, and so on. Adherence to the proper conduct expected between members of these groupings would guarantee an harmonious relationship between them and also serve as the foundation of a just a stable society.
Although the subordinate members of a relationship (children to their parents, wives to their husbands) were required to be obedient, their obedience was not absolute and depended upon the superior member of the relationship (parent, husband for example) acting in accordance with his own obligations.
Confucius's teachings strongly emphasized the importance of following ritual. He said: "Look at nothing in defiance of ritual, listen to nothing in defiance of ritual, speak of nothing in defiance or ritual, never stir hand or foot in defiance of ritual." (Analects 12.1)
Filial Piety: In this Chinese print from 1848 a noted Song Dynasty calligrapher is protrayed as an example of filial piety because he loved his mother so much that he emptied her chamber pot himself.
Within society, Confucius prescribed the following main ceremonies or rituals: Capping ( a joyous occasion when a son achieved manhood on his twentieth birthday - analogous to a Bar Mitzvah), marriage, mourning rites, sacrifices, feasts, and interviews. These ceremonies were quite complex and highly ritualized.
While to Westerners the emphasis on ritual may seem stultifying and oppressive, it must be remembered that the guiding principal in Confucius's social teachings is that people should follow the Five Virtues and love one another and treat each other with kindness, which is a concept shared by all great religions and humanistic philosophies.
Political Teachings
Much of Confucius's teachings focused on the art of governance and how a ruler should act. Unlike Machiavelli, who expounded a concept of amoral statecraft in which he counseled the ruler on how to appear just in order to gain the trust of the people, while at the same time engaging in oppression and stratagems, Confucius advocated for true justice and compassion on the part of the ruler and the ruled. Only by being a just ruler would the ruler enjoy the Mandate of Heaven and continue to have the right to rule.
As with his social teachings, Confucius believed that the key to good governance lay in each man carrying out his duties as prescribed by his position within the hierarchy. He stated: “Good government consists in the ruler being a ruler, the minister being a minister, the father being a father, and the son being a son.” (Analects 12.11)
It was essential that the ruler possess virtue. Virtue would enable the ruler to retain the supreme position. “He who governs by means of his virtue is, to use an analogy, like the pole-star: it remains in its place while all the lesser stars do homage to it.” (Analects 2.1) Remarkably, given the violent nature of his times, Confucius believed that rulers should not have to resort to force or the threat of punishment to maintain power. He stated: "Your job is to govern, not to kill" (Analects XII:19)
As in the case of social relationships such as those between parents and children, husbands and wives, Confucius believed that the rulers should observe proper ritual in order to maintain their position and right to rule. These rituals included giving proper sacrifices to the ancestors at the ancestral temples, the exchange of gifts between members of the nobility which bound them together in a web of obligation and indebtedness, and acts of etiquette and decorum such as bowing.
Confucius Teachings on Education
Palace Examination at Kaifeng, Song Dynasty, China.
Confucius taught that one the key to self mastery was through scholarship and study. He stated "He who learns but does not think is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great danger." (Analects 2.15) In his own teachings, Confucius did not expound, but rather used asked questions of his pupils and used analogies to classic texts. According to Confucius “I only instruct the eager and enlighten the fervent. If I hold up one corner and a student cannot come back to me with the other three, I do not go on with the lesson.” (Analects 7.8).
In exhorting men to become gentlemen or Superior Men, Confucius recommended diligent study under a master familiar with the rules of correct behaviour. He recommended learning from the classics. In time, Confucius's emphasis on education and his belief that position and rank should be based on merit, led to the establishment of an imperial bureaucracy in which admission was based not on birth but on how well the applicant did on the imperial examinations. This was an admirable system which in theory at least rewarded merit and therefore recruited the best candidates; however in practice, the school curriculum, which was based on meeting the requirements of the state examinations became stultified. Too great an emphasis was placed on knowing and being able to quote classical authors while science and economics were neglected. Although this had not been Confucius's intent, the result was that China's education system produced a traditionalist bureaucracy which was ill equipped to deal with military and economic problems.
China was eventually conquered by neighboring barbarians, who established their own dynasties, though they maintained the educational and examination system. When the rapidly rising European powers came to China, China was slow to adopt Western technological innovations and as a result China suffered further humiliations as it was partitioned among spheres of influence by Germany, England and other European powers from the 1800s to World War 2.
Blog entry
28 Feb 2013 - 1:58am
REALIZED – PLEASED TO MEET YOU
The writer has changed, so too the voice.
Once meek and mild, full of equivocation, doing my level best to sneak up on things rather than call them out by name, stating a truth bluntly. What lovely poetry did it make, but it is too much work to continue to approach myself and writing that way.
So, the voice is sparser, more blunt, to the point. Hopefully funnier.
And I have decided that for this blog, I am going to be a little bossy. I have decided to try on, not an authoritative or pedantic air, but the air of an elder who really should be listened to, so sit down, be quiet, drink your cocoa and let me talk. You might learn a thing or two.
Now, this is brand new for me. I am not someone who has ever felt that I have any right to tell anyone how to think or feel or act. Somehow I made it to 52 thus shackled. But, this is what I know. I know that I spend more time and effort and imagination trying to figure things, the big things, out than most people expend on their most cherished pastimes. My passion is to understand life and God and myself and my place within this whole thing. I think that is a very reasonable thing to be obsessed with. I am cool with you thinking it's batshit insane. Most people do. They don't use that term. They've always preferred “weird.”
This need in me to know, to understand, to think and see as clearly and as wholly and as honestly as possible, to get down to the heart of the mysteries, to know the real reason behind it all, just all of it. Oh this thirst! This curiosity! This innate stubbornness of spirit which has made it impossible for me to be satisfied with life on the surface. I'm OK with the extra work now, but it's been a real pain in the ass, overall.
But I have learned a lot because I chose a profession which allowed me deep access to people's interiors, and I have, then, played in many fields of varying extremity, until I was satisfied that I knew what it was to be human and completely, utterly broken. The edges of where things are tolerable, and when they no longer are, that has been my home for these years of mine. I am grateful for it, and understand that this privilege that I have known, to be part of the nursing community, this has fed the part of me which kept the lights on when I fell down and had trouble, the bigger part of me that always knew that a time would come when it all gets pulled together and everything finally, and rather suddenly, makes sense.
It has been worth the wait. It was a lot of years in the dark, but of course that's just my style, always the extremist, the one dancing on the ledge, if not physically, then imaginatively. I have no idea what my life looks like to others. I imagine it is much like everything else in this world, it looks like how the viewer needs it to look like, prefers it to look like, within the confines of the viewer's belief structure and imagination and native personality.
So I am going to start a new blog, and begin expressing myself with just a little bit more confidence. Take or leave what I have to say. I'm just one person. But I am on to something. I know it. I just know it. There is something here that is real and true and current, and there are many things to explain to those who may not have been as freaking obsessed as me all these years.
I will tell you, some of what I have to say will not be entirely comfortable to hear. I see things sort of differently, I think, but mainly I just like trying on new ideas. It is so freeing to break free of mental constructs that you don't even fully appreciate so limit you until they are removed. And some of those mental constructs can only be tossed aside. Some of the stuff we have believed is just so distorted, it's not worth keeping going with it. Other stuff needs to just be tweaked. And then there is all this new information, all these new ways of considering things which bring weirdly sustainable peace.
So I may not tickle you with the stuff I say. I am not here to placate you. I am not here to keep lying to you if you. But, and this is quite a rotund butt, I speak only for myself. Forever and a day. It's the only way I know to buck the system without coming off like an embittered old crazy grandpa type to hollers at children and kicks dogs. Speak only for myself, keep things neutral, and for God's sake, always, always, always maintain a sense of humor. This is my life stance anymore, because otherwise I just freak people out, make them really uncomfortable, or come off oddly haughty.
So, I may throw around a “you” or two, but let me assure you, I have as little interest in what you do with this stuff as I want you to have in my business. Your path is your path, your “lessons” are your own. The only one who has true authority over you is you. And no one is the authority on me. No one has earned that right. No one worth their salt would presume.
I think that is where I want to leave my first entry. Short, sweet and to the point. I cannot guarantee such brevity in future, as any of my stalwart readers know, but through all of that writing I learned the thrill of getting to the point. REALIZED will be all about getting to the point. You know I love me my Leonard Cohen-tinged prose, but I enjoy a new economy of thought, and of expression.
So here we go.
Blog entry
23 Feb 2013 - 7:31pm
I was browsing through an old blog of Sensipeters ,
Enjoying reading it all, and i came across a little gem hidden amongst responses,
Written by Peter himself
Hope you dont mind me putting this here Sensi,but its soooo good
Like so many of the best things,its just pure and simple...
THE TEN TOP THINGS ABOUT TIME AND SPACE
10 You chose to be here and you knew what you were doing.
9. There are no "tests" and you're not being judged.
8. Everyone's doing their best, with what they know.
7. You already have whatever you're looking for.
6. You are of the Divine, pure God, and so is everyone else.
5. Religion needs spirituality; spirituality does not need religion.
4. You're naturally inclined to succeed - at everything you do.
3. You happen to life, life does not happen to you.
2. Order, healing, and love belie every moment of chaos, pain, and fear.
1. Following your heart is the best way to help others.
The truth shall set you free
The Universe
*copied from "The Imaginal Cell Story " posted by Sensipeter on 24th September 2012 * ~
Namaste dear Peter x x
Teaching
19 Feb 2013 - 11:01am
Dzogchen is an ancient teaching that explains both who we are in the world as in our essence, and how we can make our essence manifest again. It has always been a secret teaching, not because there is anything to hide, but because its teaching can be easily misinterpreted by those who have not gained enough understanding in the mind and the divine essence. Then it easily can lead the practitioner astray. But times have changed. The traditional Tibetan culture has been dispersed all over the globe; and many people are now ready to receive various spiritual teachings. Several books about Dzogchen have been and are still published that explain in detail this wonderful teaching. Here you will find a summary of Dzogchen.
Dzogchen is considered to be both the final and ultimate teaching, and the heart of the teachings of all the Buddhist teachings. Dzogchen has been practiced throughout the centuries by masters of all the different schools as their innermost practice. Its origins reach back to before human history, and neither is it limited to Buddhism, nor to Tibet, nor indeed even to this world of ours, as it is recorded that it has existed in thirteen different world systems.
Dzogchen is widely translated as “Great Perfection”, but this may imply a perfection that we strive to attain, and this is not the meaning of Dzogchen. Dzogchen is explained as Ground, Path and Fruition, and from the point of view of the Ground, it is the already self-perfected state of our primordial nature, which needs no ‘perfecting’, for it has always been perfect from the very beginning, just like the sky. It is uncreated, yet spontaneously accomplished.
The Founder of Dzogchen
Garab Dorje "was the first master of Dzogchen, who himself received transmission through direct visionary contact with the Sambhogakaya. Dzogchen teachings were taught for the first time on this planet in this time cycle by Garab Dorje, who manifested a birth in a Nirmanakaya form as a human being in the third century B.C.E., in the country of Ogyen, which was situated to the north west of India. He spent his life there teaching to both human beings and the dakinis. His final teaching before he entered the Body of Light was to summarize the teachings in Three Principles, sometimes known as "The Three Last Statements of Garab Dorje."
He left behind this testament for all the Dzogchen practitioners of the future. The Three Statements of Garab Dorje are:
"Introduce in the state directly" refers to the transmission by the master, who, in various ways, introduces and brings the disciple to understand the condition of "what is", the individual's primordial state. This is the Base.
"Do not remain in doubt" means that one must have a precise knowledge of this state, finding the state of the presence of contemplation which is one and the same in all the thousands of possible experiences. This is the Path.
"Continue in the profound knowledge of self-liberation" is the Fruit. That means, the complete and unchangeable knowledge of self-liberation is totally integrated with one's daily life and in all circumstances one continues in that state. All the hundreds and hundreds of original texts of Dzogchen can be considered to be an explanation of these three verses of Garab Dorje." (from "The Crystal and the Way of Light" and "Dzogchen, the Self-Perfected State" by Chögyal Namkhai Norbu )
Overview of Dzogchen Teachings
Our essential being, that what we were, what we are and what we always will be, is a state of awareness that is primordial pure. Our normal mind and consciousness is always obscured by impurities of emotions and thoughts.; but our essence is total purity. This is also called the Natural State of our being.
This primordial purity is empty. Emptiness has no obscurations whatsoever, nor by emotions, nor by thoughts. Dzogchen uses the image of a mirror which has the capacity to reflect whatever is in front of it, but is not obscured by it. The mirror always remains the same.
We all are this primordial purity or emptiness. But our everyday consciousness is so clouded by emotions and thoughts that we are not aware of it, and thus we don't recognize it.
When our awareness is in the Natural State, then there are no restrictions or limitations to the expression of our being. The appearances we perceive are are just reflections in the mirror of the mind. They are manifestations of the mind. As such they are perfect and as they should be. Manifestations come and go. They are recognized as just reflections, or 'illusions', and are enjoyed as such. Awareness remains in its pure state.
As ordinary beings on this earth, our awareness identifies itself with the manifestations and takes them to be real. There is no awareness of the pure state. One's consciousness is clouded by the constant activity of emotions and thoughts, which also has a tendency to narrow our perception.
Most of us have never experienced their true pure essence in our lives, so how do we know what it is? In Dzogchen one first needs a direct introduction to one's Natural State, usually from someone who has directly experienced it himself. By this one knows the difference between one's Natural State and one's daily clouded consciousness. Then one has to practice to make this Natural State to happen again, even for brief periods, and then to make it more permanent. In meditation one will find that the mind continuously produces thoughts. Thus, thoughts are looked at. They are observed to arise and to flow away. By this, one discover that thoughts actually do not exist by themselves; they are insubstantial waves that come and go and cease to exist. They are just waves or movement in the mind. It is important not to identify or to follow the thoughts, as they lead your awareness away. Thoughts can be, but do not have to be, eliminated. The point is to keep one's awareness on one's true essence, and let the thought go by. It's like a watching a train go by, instead of jumping on the train and ending up elsewhere. A lot of thoughts are just ramblings, automatic programs that just keep your mind busy all day. Once these have been quieted, one is able to really think what one wants, and not allow thoughts that are not wanted. Of course, the purpose is eventually to stay aware of one's Natural State. The more the thought process slows down, the clearer consciousness becomes. Our mind becomes very clear and alert; and aware that beyond those thoughts there is an ever present state of clearness and emptiness (empty of the obscurations). One becomes more and more aware of oneself. In our everyday awareness we are not aware of ourselves, we are aware of emotions, of thoughts, of what is around us. By practicing Dzogchen we become aware of our true self, pure, clear awareness of self.
The Natural State possesses the qualities of emptiness and clarity. These are of course concepts of our mind. Anything we think of, including what the terms emptiness and clarity means, is a construct of the mind, and not the true Natural State. But in our human world we need words and concepts to communicate, and as such these terms are approximations. The natural state is just itself, beyond the mind and all its constructions. When one is in the Natural State, one just is. One cannot describe it accurately.
The Natural State is permanent, but Dzogchen does not hold the view that a separate, independent self exists on its own and is self-sufficient. No eternal, independent, separate, concrete entity or identity such as an eternal soul or self can be found. In normal life we constantly create a sense of self. This grasping at a self is done by ignorance because we lack real knowledge and awareness of our true state of being. During practice we cannot find this self. It is just not there. When we search the mind it is not there. What is this "I" that we so desperately cling to? The self is not a single unified entity or substance, but it is a process occurring in time. It is a succession of states of consciousness having varied mental contents. It is like a river that changes from moment to moment. it is never the same.
When practicing Dzogchen one can arrive at a state of mind, where there are little or even no thoughts. One experiences profound stillness, or calmness. But this does not mean one has attained the Natural state. One can get fixated on a state with no thoughts, but this is still a state of mind, and thus a reflection or creation of the mind. One needs to look at the source of thoughts. Who is thinking, who is watching the thoughts? As we don't find either a watcher or what is being watched, both of them dissolve. Then a state of clear emptiness arises. Emptiness of thoughts, and clarity of awareness. In this state we are not thinking nor do we make an analysis, or interpretation. We find ourselves in our Natural State, beyond conception by the intellect.
In the beginning, being in this Natural State is short lived, because of our habit of residing in a consciousness that dominated by continuous thoughts and concepts. With practice we enter in this state again and again, and try to stay in it longer. Again, it does not mean that thoughts do not arise anymore. The diminishing of elimination of thoughts are just a means. The goal is to stay in the Natural State when thoughts come and go. Then one is not subject to thoughts, thoughts are subject to the state of clear awareness.
During practice, there are three obstacles which can disturb our meditation. The body easily becomes drowsy. Dullness makes us loose our clarity. Agitation happens when thoughts take us for a ride. When these happen, it is best to take a break, refresh oneself, and start over again.
The Base, the Path and the Fruit
The Dzogchen teachings are often structured threefold: the Base, the Path and the Fruit.
The Base
Usually a realized master introduce the Natural State to the student. He is able to directly transfer that state of awareness to his student. The student who now has experienced his Natural State of being, even if it is only briefly, then has to practice in order to enter the natural state again and again. This constitutes the Path. But first the student has to have had a direct experience of the Natural State.
The Base is the experience of identity with the Natural State. It is the fundamental ground of existence, both at the universal level and at the level of the individual. The base has always been there, has always been pure and perfect. It is present in every living being. It is non-dual. Once the being enters duality the experience of the Natural State is lost. This means that is temporary obscured by attachment and aversion arisen from ignorance of dualistic vision. A normal person is ignorant and thus his Natural State is only latent; but for a realized person it is manifest. The goal of practice is to make the Natural State manifest again. From the moment we enter into dualistic vision, we leave the primordial Base, and transmigration begins. Transmigration is the continuous movement of going from one body to the next because of karmic causes. One has become subject to cause and effect.
The primordial state is beyond space and time, beyond creation and destruction. But its nature is to manifest itself as light, as the elements, as energy and all the interactions that end up what we experience and enjoy as the cosmos. Entering into duality we become caught up with all these projections which we mistakenly take as external reality. Thus we perceive the individual as made up of Body, Voice and Mind. The Body is the entire physical manifestation of the person. Voice is the vital energy (prana) of the Body. The Mind is that what reasons.
The Natural state is permanent, all the rest is impermanent or temporal. Why is everything we experience, including ourselves impermanent and temporal? All phenomena lack inherent existence; nothing exists by itself as a permanent something. If something existed permanently, it would have its own inherent existence, and nothing else could affect or change it. It would be immutable and unchanging. There would be no causality, no cause would be able to change it into something else. Experience tells us otherwise. Everything is changing all the time, thus everything lacks inherent existence. It is our perception that makes us think that phenomena are somehow solid and permanent.
The Base, or Natural State, has a threefold condition: Essence, Nature and Energy.
The Essence of the Base is fundamental voidness. Voidness means that when one examine thoughts, one will find that they come and go, but do not have any real, independent existence. It is a phenomenon that only temporarily exists. Before and after a thought there is only emptiness, voidness. This emptiness is fundamentally pure and clear, and it is compared to a mirror. A mirror reflects whatever is put in front of it, but the mirror itself is never changed, nor made impure or obscured. It always remains empty and clear. Thoughts come and go, but they are just reflections, they do not change the purity and emptiness of the Natural State.
The Nature of the Base is the manifest phenomena. Although phenomena coma and go, and at their essence they are void and empty, nevertheless phenomena do exist and continue to manifest. This is compared to the nature of a mirror. Although the mirror remains empty and pure, it is its nature to continuously reflect what is in front of it.
The Energy of the Base is the way the Base, or the Natural State, manifests itself. This is compared to the reflections themselves in the mirror.
Essence, Nature and Energy are all interdependent. One cannot exist without the other two.
The last one Energy manifests itself threefold: Zal, Rolba and Dan (untranslatable terms)
Zal (the appearance of a seemingly external world): is the energy of the individual that appears as a seemingly external world. The individual sees himself as a separate entity that lives in outer world of objects. But these outer objects/world are actually projections from his own energy. This compared to a crystal. Light (energy) enters the crystal (the individual) and projects into rays and patterns of colors which are seen as separate from the crystal, but in fact they are functions of the crystal's nature. In reality there are no external independent or separate phenomena; they are manifestations of the energy of the individual.
Rolba (the way in which the energy of an individual manifests): In the individual the energy is experienced as an internal image. The image might appear as very vivid and real. But it is just a manifestation of his energy. This is compared to the image of an object that is seen inside a crystal ball.
Dan (infinite and formless quality of the energy): the energy of an individual can take any form whatsoever. Because of the individual karmic vision, its energy will shape itself into a Body, Voice and Mind with an external environment; life after life. This is compared to a crystal ball that will take the color of whatever colored cloth it is put on.
The Path
After the student has been introduced to the Natural State of being, he need to practice the Path in order to get out of his dualistic view and condition, and to realize again his true Natural state. The Path has three aspects:View, Practice and Attitude.
View means that one has to observe oneself and discover what one's own condition is in regards to his body, voice and mind. In this way one will find that one is conditioned by a lot of things, and stuck in many 'programs'. The body is conditioned by its living conditions, external influences, nutrients and so on. The vital body has problems with energy being stuck, not flowing freely, causing both emotional problems and physical ailments over time. The mental body has its own imbalances, like a distorted view of the world, mental fixations, unhealthy thought processes... Here we have the image of the mirror again: the practitioner needs to look in the mirror of his own being.
Practice strictly means contemplation, that is, one strives to enter the state of non-duality, the Natural State, and tries to stay in it for longer and longer periods. Thoughts can come and go, but when properly centered in the Natural State, the practitioner will not be affected by those thoughts. The mind itself is not engaged in doing any effort or work, as it is the case in meditation. Meditation engages the mind to do something with for example visualization to bring about a state of calm that is inductive to enter contemplation. Once in contemplation one is totally present ad aware, and one neither rejects nor follows any thought. Because we are all different, and our energies are all different, one has to look inside to find one's own kind of obstacles (=View), and then one has to choose and employ a meditation technique(s) that will help him to dissolve those obstacles. Meditation techniques are a help to overcome one's problems, but they should not be a goal by itself. The focus in Dzogchen is always on contemplation.
Conduct means that once the practitioner is able to stay in contemplation, in the Natural State of clear awareness, during his practice, then he needs to continue, being in this Natural State, into his daily life. Then he brings his present clear awareness into every moment of his life. He avoids all distractions that could bring him out of the Natural State. His mind doesn't wander about the past or future, but he can actively plan something for the future while remaining clear and aware of the present. For this he needs to cultivate constant clear awareness of his entire being. It is an attitude or conduct that will allow him to gain mastery over the karmic causes in his life. Karmic causes are twofold: primary and secondary. Primary causes come from the past and can be experienced as good or bad. But the primary causes need the right conditions in this life time to be able to manifest themselves, thus they need secondary karmic causes. When the practitioner has continuous clear awareness of the Natural State, he is able to recognize when the secondary karmic causes are arising and prevent the negative ones to develop, while stimulating the positive ones. Eventually he is not conditioned at all by any experience, good or bad. Thus he becomes completely liberated from conditioned existence. He is not limited by the actions of the manifested world. He can act completely free from all limitations, rules and causes/effects. Such a person may be seen acting in strange and unexpected ways. A master of himself, he is free to do what he wants, but he remains aware of the needs and limitations of other people, and he will always try to help them to observe themselves and to make their own decisions.
The Fruit
The fruit is Realization. Realization means that one has made manifest in his awareness that which he in essence always has been, that is, a state of pure, clear awareness that we call the Natural State. Through the process of ever deepening awareness of this state one self-liberates from from the dualistic vision. All passions and all karmic causes that condition a person to a dualistic world have dissolved. This person has no attachments to these plays of energies. There is no separation of subject and object, which is merely a habitual vision of unrealized beings.
A practitioner who remains continuously in the Natural State does not expect any virtuous qualities to arise or fear bad consequences of wrong actions. The Natural State is beyond all karmic causality and its effects. Such a practitioner is not subject to causality or karma. Our existence as a human being is the result of our impure karmic vision brought about by causes. It is impure because it is caused by ignorance and the passions or emotional defilements.
Ultimately, the practitioner dissolves his personal reality into the Reality of the Natural State. This also means that the physical body dissolves because it is just one manifestation of our impure karmic vision. It returns to the primordial energetic essence of the Five Pure Lights of the Rainbow Body or Light Body. This is not a symbolic thing. There are a number of documented cases where the practitioner dissolved his physical body, leaving only hair or nails behind.
Tibetan letter "A", the symbol of body of light.
The letter A also symbolizes symbolizing the concept of "infinite space".
The remaining well written article can be found here: http://www.soul-guidance.com/houseofthesun/dzogchen.htm
Teaching
18 Feb 2013 - 11:54am
Archangel Michael: The Fiery Thought King of the Universe
By: Bill Trusiewicz
September 28, 2012
How Can We Know Him? Part II
Margareta Woloschina
William Blake
Raphael
Michaelmas is September 29th and continues traditionally as a harvest season.
The Stars once Spoke to Humanity.
It is World Destiny that they are Silent now.
To be aware of this Silence
Can become Pain for Earthly Humanity.
But in the Deepening Silence
There Grows and Ripens
What Humanity Speaks to the Stars…
Rudolf Steiner, Christmas 1923
In a previous article, Part I of Archangel Michael: How Can We Know Him, we examined various aspects of the being sometimes called The Fiery Thought King of the Universe, in an attempt to grasp his nature and know him ourselves. Our discussions were aimed at bringing abstract definitions and descriptions down to earth showing how we might recognize the working of this lofty being in everyday life. In Part II we will continue our investigation with the question: why is it in our time that Archangel Michael remains silent? We will be inquiring into what we might call the word-less aspect of the activity of the being of Michael. Contrary to what we might think, addressing the word-less requires a rather convoluted path of words since we must overcome what is ordinary in our language, a language that is best suited to the sense world around us, to arrive at a spiritual understanding. Although a more direct path can be taken through Art—such as what is expressed so succinctly in the poem above, in taking a scientific approach to what typically defies definition one must deal with the convolutions of the human thinking process, in order to become aware of and by-pass the many obstacles that lie on the path to spiritual knowledge, so that we may reach our goal.
The object of our inquiry here in these articles, to learn to know Archangel Michael, does not refer to knowing him in the ordinary sense. Our aim is to develop not just a knowing-thought connection with him but also a knowing-feeling and a knowing-will connection. In so doing we can move from a youthful and imitative connection, to a fully collaborative and mature relationship with him. To do so we must enter fully into his gestures so that we feel ourselves to be part of him and he part of us. Nevertheless, what we know of him, purely from the standpoint of thought, is, not surprisingly, the perfect place to start.
We have already mentioned that Michael is taciturn. There is perhaps nothing more important to “knowing him” than to understand this key fact. I mentioned in the previous article that “the only way to see him is through his gaze upon us.” Saying this intimated that we must follow his gestures, in this case the gesture of his “eyes,” his seeing. If we are to find our way into Michael’s silent nature, we may follow his movements, not imitatively—as if alongside him—but participating in his very being. Developing this thought, let us think about what uniquely occurs in language and in speech. To do so it will be helpful if we first think of what can be known without the benefit of speech, without the advantage of communication that comes through conversation, for instance. If we imagine carefully observing a person walking to work, for several days or even weeks, without talking to them, much can be learned or surmised about them. But, when once we speak to them, we will discover information about which we could never have known or inferred from our careful observation.
With this in mind (if you will forgive the grotesqueness of the idea) let us consider the Archangel Michael as if he were a person with whom we could converse at length. Imagine what limitless knowledge he could grant us? What might we not be able to learn from him if he would speak to us? This most noble and resolute Sun Archangel, a leader among the Sun beings—who bears Christ in his bosom, a being whose capacity for knowledge and speech is present to the highest degree, this ruler of the Cosmic Intelligence—how is it that he surrenders his capacity for speech? How is it that the Fiery Thought King does not speak his fiery thoughts? Why is it that Archangel Michael denies us his knowledge through speech?
Firstly, he knows that human beings have reached adequate inner strength, in terms of spirit self-awareness, and that to continue to disseminate the cosmic intelligence would no longer benefit us. Humanity has depended on inspiration (divine speech) from the spiritual world since primeval times when thoughts streamed through us instinctively without our having to exercise our thinking capacity. Since the Golden Age of Greece, reflective thinking, as we experience it today, began to replace inspiration from the spiritual worlds. This is the reason materialistic thinking is as natural to human beings today as the spirituality evident in mythology was natural to humanity the further one looks into the past.
Since the regency of Archangel Michael began in 1879 (and it will last about 350 years)[1], it is no longer necessary to spoon feed humanity with cosmic wisdom. Humanity has come of age to be able to transform what was cosmic intelligence, and was formerly given to humanity as divine inspiration, into human intelligence. What occurred in the spiritual world immediately bordering our sense world, having been accomplished by Michael in 1879, made it possible for the greater part of humanity to work with the “Grail Knowledge” of the stream of Parzival, which was initiated in the 9th century for a select group of individuals who were prepared to receive it at that time. Modern spiritual science in all of its forms is a direct continuation of the Parzival stream or what Rudolf Steiner called the New Grail Mysteries. What exactly occurred in 1879 and what makes the New Grail Mysteries available to a greater portion of humanity?
Rudolf Steiner has indicated the fact that in 1879 Michael succeeded in casting Ahriman (the being often called Satan), down from heaven, after a long battle in the spiritual world that began after the middle of the 19th century. What does this mean? It means that since that time humanity has become free of the influence of Ahrimanic spiritual beings on their thinking. If we understand this event we see that from that time forward the influence of these beings was restricted to the earthly realm; their sway in the spiritual world of thought was ended. The Ahrimanic beings could no longer inspire and corrupt the thoughts of those who would rise to pure thinking.
This fact would not be so significant except that correspondingly, the cosmic intelligence, which was also being disseminated by inspiration from the spiritual world up to that point—was also restricted to the earthly realm. With this momentous event the last remnants of direct spiritual guidance for humanity were expurgated leaving humanity completely free from the influence of spiritual beings. This means that Michael simultaneously cleared ALL spiritual influences, both good and evil, that were formerly available to humanity from the spiritual world of human thinking. Both Ahrimanic and Michaelic inspirations virtually ceased. This is another way of saying that at this point in human spiritual evolution, Michael, in order to fulfill a special need in humanity—became taciturn. From then on, we might say he refused to speak his cosmic thoughts directly to us. Why?
We have begun to answer this question, so far in a rather abstract way; let us continue to ask it until we can grasp it more concretely.
One reason why he denies us his knowledge is because Michael knows his limitations. Although the intelligence he possesses encompasses the whole of the mystery wisdom of all ages and thereby authorizes him to be the Guardian or Ruler of the Cosmic Intelligence, he knows that human beings must reclaim their cosmic connection, and to do so they themselves must resurrect the cosmic intelligence, of their own free will; he cannot do it for them. The divine plan is that human beings would become creators like their original divine creator. Mystery wisdom must live in each one of us in a unique way. We are all highly individual beings, each a unique “fingerprint” of the creator. We each are a gift to the world because we bring something no other can bring; the cosmic wisdom must express itself through each one of us distinctively. What is needed in our world is for each one of us to rise up with the inner strength that we alone possess—bearing the unique cosmic wisdom of the creative being that we are, as an offspring of the Creator. This, Michael cannot do for us.
Having begun to explore the idea that cosmic intelligence must be transformed into human intelligence and having introduced the idea that this process was initiated in the ninth century by Parzival, who became “king of the Grail”—with Parzival as our guide, let us attempt to further unveil the difference between what we call cosmic intelligence and human intelligence. It is not enough to have vague ideas about what this means; we must be clear about it to adequately understand the work of Archangel Michael in our time. The story of Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach has been written, essentially, to clarify this difficult question. As we proceed, let us bear in mind the fact that Rudolf Steiner has said on many occasions that the character represented by Parzival was an initiate of very high standing having an importance even exceeding that of Christian Rosenkreuz, for instance, and whose part in world evolution will only be realized in the distant future.
The Parzival story is, of course, open to interpretation. But, even modern scholars who are not versed in mystery wisdom recognize in these stories a very modern point of view. Nevertheless, only if we approach this story with the right questions and persevere with them will it yield the answers relative to the New Grail Mysteries that we are looking for. Concretely speaking, the question remains: what is the difference between “human intelligence” and “cosmic intelligence?” We know from what we have discussed so far that the one comes from the other. How are they the same and how are they different?
It is quite clear from the very beginning of the story of Parzival that the destiny of this individual was a peculiar one. We can see that his path would differ dramatically from his contemporaries; he was, we might say, piloting a paradigm shift. He entered uniquely into the world of knighthood, the world that surrounded the Knights of King Arthur as it existed in the ninth century. If I might remind our readers, many of whom will be familiar with this story, that from his earliest youth any knowledge of Knighthood or of the outer world, for that matter, except for the natural world of his simple home, and the woods that surrounded it, was withheld from Parzival. His mother protected him from knowledge, which she feared would lead to his death as had befallen his father. Those of us who have some familiarity with this epic poem, universally regarded as among the greatest works of literature of its time, know that there is wonderful significance in every word and that the symbolism is rich with meaning. Early in the story, the young Parzival does become attracted to the world of Knighthood, as his mother feared, when he first meets a small band of knights passing down a path on a mountain slope near his home. He mistakes the knights in their shining armor, for gods. Before she knows it, Parzival is ready to leave her protection to meet King Arthur, and join the community of knights.
A most significant fact in the telling of this story is that Parzival does not follow the prescribed method; he does not go through the usual training to become a knight. He did not enter into Knighthood like his contemporaries, but was initiated through his LIFE experiences. He was, most ignorant of the simplest facts and rules not only of Knighthood but of human relations in general. This detail becomes even more pointed when we realize that the code of ethics of knighthood, which was the code of conduct of the times, was very well developed, complex and rigid. It consisted of rules of behavior that developed over several generations in connection with the cosmic wisdom (whose guardian was Archangel Michael), observed by those who sat at the round table of King Arthur.
“Not in earthly script but in the script of the stars is written the original book from which Wolfram von Eschenbach draws the tradition [of the Parzival story] which he uses,” says, Walter Johannes Stein.[2] Stein is referring to Flegetanis, whom a certain Kyot uses as his source which he then passed on to Wolfram. Flegetanis was well versed in the wisdom of the stars and is said to have read the name of the Grail in the constellations. We see here an early development of Michaelic, cosmic intelligence. Rudolf Steiner tells us that the round table of King Arthur itself is a picture of the twelve-fold wisdom of the Zodiacal round. This cosmic wisdom, as they knew it, determined the education and life of the Knights. Everything they did was a reflection of their connection to this wisdom, which was a form of Cosmic Christianity peculiar to the Celtic British Isles where Christ was recognized as the Lord of the Elements. In keeping with the exceptional spiritual character of pre-Christian Britain, the wisdom of the Knights of King Arthur developed into a combination of the message of Jesus, intricately interwoven with the wisdom of the cosmic Christ—a transformed nature-wisdom—for which the island people had a special affinity. This stood in contrast to Roman Christianity that clung to the person of Jesus often to the exclusion of the being of the Cosmic Christ. The stream of Cosmic Christianity that was taken up by the Arthurian knights emphasized the resurrection, in contrast to Rome which stressed the death of Jesus. In any case, an elaborate code of ethics developed in relation to this cosmic wisdom that served as an outer rule of law by which the knights lived and ruled in their lands. Much can be said in favor of this development, which had a powerful effect on European culture serving a vital purpose for its time and far into the future.
The ignorance or we might say the innocence with which Parzival entered into Knighthood is illustrated by the fact that when he sets off from his secluded home to enter the world of Knighthood, as Wolfram tells us, he was dressed like a fool in rough sack-cloth and ungainly boots. The allusion here is especially significant as we compare his clothing to the bright and refined armor of the knights he had met and was planning to join. Clothing often refers to the astral body, but even from an everyday perspective, the contrast between the different sorts of clothing speaks volumes. The knights were outfitted to serve the Cosmic Christ in so much bright, gleaming, impressive, stiff, outer furnishing; while what Parzival brought, though unimpressive in outward form, was the essential warmth and brilliance of his inner life, which shone forth in his profound enthusiasm and stunning acts of bravery. The rough clothing of a fool that Parzival wore cannot appear in greater contrast to the bright, shining armor of the knights. Despite Parzival’s natural good looks, for it was said of him that “he was a garland of all the flowers of manly beauty,” his lack of manners and his rough outer garments show him to be seriously at odds with the “outer world” of knighthood with its polished exterior and refined code of ethics.
On the other hand, the inner aspect presented by the knights, who to Parzival appeared outwardly “as gods,” does not inspire any more confidence than Parzival’s outward looks and manner. The first four knights he meets (described as a “rich prince” with his three vassals) were on a mission to intercept two other knights who had passed by earlier and who were in the process of perpetrating rape in the abduction a maiden—grievously breaking the knightly code of honor. How can we not see in this picture that Wolfram is painting for us in such vivid strokes: Parzival, a “diamond in the rough” at the untamed beginning of ego development, over against Knighthood, refined and pure of manner on the outside but terribly flawed in its inner life. Parzival represents the New Grail Mysteries in its infancy meeting the age-old order of chivalry in decline.
The more we look into this story the more we realize how meaningful it is. This long tale hardly leaves any stone unturned, as they say. In it Wolfram illustrates for us all the pitfalls one encounters on the path of the consciousness soul towards spirit self, with its inevitable injuries and remedies. Much can be learned from it, only a few points of which we have time to go into here.
Let us reiterate the broadest gestures indicated so far that fall naturally into a polarity as seen in the contrast between the old order that sparkles with refinement on the outside, but is inwardly corrupt; and the new order that appears chaotic, but turns out to be diamantine within. We shall see here, as we progress, the order of Cosmic Intelligence being superseded by Human Intelligence. Parzival’s trials show us the path of inner development, in which the “diamond in the rough” ego forces within the human being are cut and polished, on a path that presages our own paths—inevitably strewn with blunders—highlighting our need to hone and shine our inner impulses and make them conscious intentions that reflect the many-faceted brilliance that might shine through our connection with higher worlds.
Let us go a step further in applying the symbolism of von Eschenbach’s story to our own lives in an effort to further flesh out the difference between cosmic and human intelligence.
Let me explain, first, that Parzival soon acquires his own armor, and through a long series of adventures, in which one blunder follows the next he eventually learns steadfastness and eventually comes to stand favorably in relation to the Holy Grail, having earned its blessing. Each person he meets, each situation he encounters is significant. He gets bad advice; meets good and bad people; he learns the ways of knighthood; he denounces God and then 4½ years later he surrenders himself to the will of God; in the process, and through much suffering, he discovers that the initially inhospitable greater world is richly peopled with his own relatives and that it becomes his home as he discovers his unique place in it.
On the path of ego development we each confront the “world of Knighthood” as Parzival did. From a spiritual perspective the story is accurate. We cannot come to our own “world of knighthood” other than “as fools.” It is allowable to have enthusiasm for the path of spiritual development but it is not acceptable to be knowledgeable or wise. This means that we cannot carry over our worldly wisdom into spiritual affairs. We must be what we truly are as spiritual seekers on the early stages of the path—children and novices. To be eager “to wear the armor of the knight” as Parzival was, is permissible if one’s intentions are pure. Rudolf Steiner once said, in defense of the so-called “unwise” young people in the Anthroposophical Society, in whom he held great hope: “If you are honest in what you want to do the spiritual world accepts your enthusiasm for wisdom.” It is a mistake to think that by mastering spiritual teachings or practices that we are wise and spiritual. That all can be done without enthusiasm. But lacking inner warmth it is of no avail—in fact, it often becomes the worst hindrance.
The rest of the article can be found here: www.anthroposophy.org/nc/articles/article-detail/archive/2012/09//article/archangel-michael-the-fiery-thought-king-of-the-universe-1042.html
[1] According to esoteric teaching and verified by the spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner.
[2] The Ninth Century and the Holy Grail, Walter Johannes Stein, Temple Lodge, London, 2001, p. 137
[3] This is one possible translation of the name Parzival: “Pierce through the middle.”
**
both Part I & II were found here: www.anthroposophy.org
Teaching
18 Feb 2013 - 11:27am
Archangel Michael: The Fiery Thought King of the Universe
By: Bill Trusiewicz
October 06, 2011
How Can We Know Him? Part I
Raphael
William Blake
On the one hand we might think it presumptuous to recommend a conscious relationship with such an exalted being as an Archangel like the title suggests. But on the other hand our own thoughts are something with which we are intimately familiar and the fact that the being who has been called The Fiery Thought King of the Universe weaves in and out of our thought-world might make it not quite so difficult to imagine. As is often the case, once we begin to explore something new and start to gather concepts or inner pictures connected to it, we discover facts with which we already have a certain familiarity, and are thus able to find a certain “foothold” on our new path of exploration. So the natural thing would be to investigate some of the facts that spiritual science presents us with concerning the being we usually call Archangel Michael in an effort to begin, or to further, our conscious connection with him. My intention in writing this article is not to be comprehensive, dealing in depth with the multitude of aspects that might be noted in connection with the being of Michael, (that would take many books) but to explore just a few salient points, each in a series of articles on the subject, in a lively manner that may stimulate us to a fresh awareness and further exploration. I expect much of this to be familiar to those who are students of spiritual science and offer it simply as a reflection aimed to stimulate and enliven our thinking.
Especially in our present world crisis it is essential to align ourselves with Michael/St. George to enable us to overcome all that is of “the demon” or “the dragon” that would rear its head in our time. [footnote: St. George is a legendary character that has aptly captured the spirit of Michael. He has been depicted countless times in Christian churches, and is venerated as a saint in many traditions including the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican and Oriental Orthodox churches. In one of the most popular portrayals of St. George, he is mounted on a horse and slaying a dragon with a spear, often with a young virgin in the background.] We can come to know Michael in truth and in reality by taking into our hearts what we have in our heads concerning him and tenderly nourishing those warm, wisdom-filled thoughts. If we do this we will soon see the light of his wisdom mount into fiery flames of will that can allow us to fulfill the tasks that are incumbent upon us in concert with our friends and co-workers in the work of Michael/Christ at this crucial time when the Mystery of Evil unfolds together with the Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric. It is my fervent hope that these words may enkindle in us a renewed hope, an unshakeable faith and a sure strength, empowering us by the will of Michael-Sophia in the name of Christ to “stand fast in the liberty” that has been granted to us as our inalienable right and to share with the world the blessings of that freedom.
____________________
I always like to begin with names. There is much in a name that bears looking into. And the name Michael gives us a good point of departure to deepen our investigation beyond the pale of ordinary thoughts. Michael is a Hebrew name that essentially consists of three separate words that correspond to the three syllables of the name—Mi-cha-el. Not to get too technical, the Hebrew word mi, pronounced like MY, is the inquisitive particle meaning “who?” Ke, pronounced like KAY, is the common particle meaning “like” or “as.” And El is the abbreviated form of Elohim (pronounced simply as “L”) meaning God in the plural and referring to the Spirits of Form or the creator gods referred to in Genesis: “In the beginning God [Elohim] created heaven and earth…” Put these three word-syllables together and you get Mi-cha-el: “Who is like God?”
The first clue that may strike us here is in the “mi” that is an “inquisitive particle”—which means that it poses a question. We can reasonably assume, and it almost goes without saying, that there is something about our “Thought King” here concealed (or revealed) that gives us the opportunity to penetrate beyond everyday thinking in the posing of the question “Who is like God?” This question is not meant to be answered with a simple piece of information like: “Jesus” or “one of the prophets”—and into which we fail to inquire further. We could answer the question that way and we would be correct but we would miss the point. It is instructive to realize that we play this game with ourselves continually when we ask questions—the game of question and answer. If you think about it you realize that it is a childish game. You ask a question and you get an answer and then you go on to another question, etc., etc. We live in a time when this game is played all too often and where you would least hope it would be played—in education, science and in politics—where deeper answers which are sorely needed are not often countenanced, where superficialities pass as wisdom in the popular mind. “Jesus,” “Buddha” or “Elijah” may be “like God” but these are not the kind of answers that can lead us to a reasonable meaning of what the first syllable in the name Mi-cha-el denotes.
None of us is immune from this criticism. We have all been immersed in a climate of superficiality that stands quite securely before the student of spiritual science, as much as anyone—and that often goes quite unnoticed. We memorize spiritual scientific information, often without forming a real inner connection to it. We carry a great deal of information that we only possess by memory and we carry on a social life in connection to such memorized information. We ought to ask ourselves what part of that information we truly connect with spiritually—what part of our knowledge is “living?” And what part do we truly possess as our own? Do we rely too often on quoting authorities? Or can we speak with authority as true “knowers” ourselves? Of such things we ought to be very clear because they point us to the only true foundation within that justifies thinking of ourselves as serious students of spiritual science.
So, to get back to the “inquisitive particle” subject, we could say that, technically, the name Michael should be written with a question mark after it—Michael? Although most of us would likely forego the somewhat odd written technicality of using the question mark, it would serve us well to remember that if we use the name correctly, it does in fact appear written there in invisible cosmic script whether we write it or not.
One of the most basic principles of spiritual science is found in the recognition of thinking in its higher form—what we often call “living thinking.” To arrive at living thinking, we might consider the question posed by the inquisitive particle “mi?,” which is translated as “who?,” (the first syllable of Mi-cha-el) as a prod to our ordinary thinking, to enliven it to a more attentive state. Right down into the construction of the name Michael, we are pointed away from what might become “a dead fact” to rather—a living activity. His name itself is a question and not an answer—not a thing but a deed. What if we applied this question to all of our knowledge as I began to suggest above in the quest to our becoming true “knowers?” What I mean by this is: who? or what? is it that lies behind the words, the factual representations that we gather in our studies and that we memorize in our search for knowledge? Or we might ask: Why do we seek at all? What is it that we seek in all of our questing for wisdom and knowledge? Essentially, it is “to know God,” or perhaps better stated—“to know the spiritual foundation of things.” This is not an oversimplification; it is a profound truth—an ideal. As spiritual seekers we should not be looking for answers in the ordinary sense—becoming satisfied with bits of fact. Facts are dead if they are not stepping-stones to more penetrating questions and further answers. So, we can reasonably imagine that if we apply this question in all of our thinking we will reach the understanding of God or the spiritual foundation of things. Such declarations will inevitably sound absurd from the perspective of everyday thinking, but they are true nevertheless. What I suggest is not so dissimilar to what Rudolf Steiner suggested with regard to thinking when he said: “Every idea we hold that does not become an ideal slays a power within us.” We can guess what power it slays: “The Michael Power.” When our thoughts rise to the ideal they have a force that is timeless and universal. And if they are living, they will be imbued with will and will burn with a fiery force within us that is indomitable. Here, perhaps, we can begin to see what thoughts rise up to God, what thoughts are Michaelic, what thoughts answer the question “Who is like God?"
With these ideas we can begin to have a sense of what to be looking for in terms of a relationship with Michael. When referring to Michael we are always referred to ways of thinking and perceiving that have this “inquisitive” character, that don’t stop at terms and facts but press on to essences and beings, the “ideals” of thinking that can be experienced only by living thinking.
Thus far, we have explored something of what is in the name Michael through a simple look at the Hebrew words that constitute his name, to draw out a spiritual meaning applicable to our way of knowing, and which, I hope, challenges us to better know ourselves. Another significant word that has been used in connection with Michael’s mission in our present, 5th cultural epoch, of which Michael is currently regent in his Archangelic function, following Archangel Gabriel who preceded him—is Universality. Michael is a proponent of universality. In his role as the ruler of Cosmic Intelligence, during the period immediately preceding the Mystery of Golgotha, Michael brought about an unprecedented fusion of cultures. He seeded Southern Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa with Aristotelianism, largely as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. And he subsequently facilitated the unification of the cultures of Rome, Greece and the Hebrews to provide a platform of receptivity for the monumental evolutionary events of the Mystery of Golgotha. This was done to prepare for the universal culture of the future that began with the Christ event and was to blossom in the far distant future with the so-called Philadelphia culture of “brotherly love” and finally with the New Jerusalem ideal community.
In the term universality, we have to get to the back of a great deal of abstraction. Yes, Michael could guide world events from his heavenly perspective to have the effect of uniting cultures so that the Christ might find fertile soil for body, soul and spirit amongst the Romans, Hebrews and Greeks respectively. But what does this tell us about our time? What does his activity mean, in everyday terms, for our lives? How might an Archangel, who is actually qualified for work as an Archai or Time Spirit, work with us and in us today? In other words, as my title puts it: How can we know him?
Universality in respect to the work of Michael in our time is sometimes referred to as “cosmopolitanism,” at term that has certain social connotations. According to the Free Dictionary that one can access online, cosmopolitan is defined as: Pertinent or common to the whole world. This is close to the Oxford English Dictionary definition: Belonging to all parts of the world. Wikipedia actually offers a good alternative: Cosmopolitanism is the ideology that all kinds of human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality. These are good but I also like the simple idea of the universal human being with which we are familiar in Rudolf Steiner’s writings and lectures and also in his, and Edith Marion’s well-known sculpture, by that name—“The Universal Human Being,” also referred to as “The Representative of Humanity.” Michael, the ruler of cosmic intelligence, always relates to the universal human being. We could say that outside of this reference point there is no Michael intelligence. Every thought or activity that applies to humanity and relates only to individuals or groups or nations and nationalism is sub-Michaelic. Philosophically this is a fairly palatable idea—we rise in love and understanding as “one world being” out of the many. Idealistically, we rise above nations and peoples and we “war no more” as the followers of Martin Luther King Jr. were wont to say in the 1960s. We embrace and forgive all peoples and nations seeing them as important, essential facets of our picture of humanity. That means Islamic nations as well as so-called “Christian” nations. It means dictatorships and socialist nations. It means the so-called third world and developing countries. But in this broad framework we are, of course, nevertheless, looking at individual human beings.
Interestingly enough, when a Michaelic perspective is being embraced and we are holding all nations and peoples in mind we discover the paradox of finding the universal not in terms of the great masses of humanity but in terms of individuals—of seeing every human being as an individual. We must embrace the whole to see the individual. Until we can embrace all, accept all, love all—as Christ loved us—we have not arrived at universal individualism, we have not got the universal in us. The scripture says that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” When the pain of the world becomes our pain and when our pain is lifted up to the divine then we can begin to pray a Michaelic prayer. We can begin to think Michaelic thoughts. Our individual uniqueness, our God-given self is the gift to all of humanity; and humanity in all of its sufferings and successes is the gift to our unique selves. Our individuality is not for us alone but for the whole. What is universal goes completely beyond groups, beyond divisions to the One—to the “All as One” and to the “One within us.” The root of the word unique is “one.” The One that we are speaking of is the universal One. I capitalize “One” in this case because we have arrived at the “ideal” of the idea—the being behind the concept. Here we arrive at the center by taking in the outermost periphery, so to speak. Only by embracing all can we arrive at the center point in the individual “I.” Here we arrive at the universal individual—the “I” that embraces all. A capitol idea.
Now, we have a slightly less abstract picture—embracing the All to arrive at the One. I have mentioned love and pain but even these are abstract ideas. How do we arrive at the universal individual through love and pain? “Individual” has that word “divide” in its midst we might say. Our natural tendency is to think of individualism as self-interested egoism—a force that divides and separates into nations and peoples and groups of countless sorts. This being the case, how does the universal get inside of the individual? Michael can help us here. Christ could see the potential in every human being; he could see the budding, blossoming gift of God in us. He was and is able to see the spark of divinity that is our human birthright as children of God—inherent in us. Christ could see our spirit self that is incorruptible, in our nature; it is this within us that he came to redeem—to “cash in,” so to speak. While we live out our wayward nature in large part, “doing that which we would not” as St. Paul says, Christ is able to see us nevertheless. He is able to connect with our “unfallen” part. Our divine nature has to be redeemed since it has been “captured” within our earthly nature and remains imprisoned there—aside from his intervention. This divine spark is what we have in common with all of humanity: it is universal. Together we all are “one new man” in the consciousness of our divine humanity, as St. Paul reminded the Ephesians, by the “breaking down [of] the wall of partition between us,” which Christ accomplished on the cross.
Michael—as the “Who is like God?”—carries out this Christ initiated and enlivened “way of seeing” in us. As we recognize the divine spark in each individual and grasp it in our thinking, not just theoretically, but in actual daily life—acting on that knowledge—we participate in Michaelic activity and in thought that is imbued with will forces—God’s will forces. Michael is sometimes also called “the countenance of God.” His Christ-like countenance sees us—sees into us to the ideal, universal, individual in our deepest nature. The only way to see him is through his gaze upon us. Spiritual knowing is like that: “We shall know him even as we are known by him…face to face…” as St. Paul told the Corinthians. We can only know him through his seeing us, through his knowing us; this is how we are initiated into the Michael school.
This brings us to the next, what we might call, imperative incumbent on everyone who is a student in the school of Michael. As students of the Michaelic intelligence we are called to “mirror the highest in the other.” To avoid again the inevitably abstract nature of such pronouncements let us consider for a moment the potential impact of “mirroring the highest in the other.” We all are so unique as individuals and as such there is a great deal of suffering we each endure just for being “who we are.” That might sound like a trite saying but it is actually a profound reality one that seldom gets the attention it deserves. There is, of course, much superficial talk these days in the realm of psychology in the social sciences and even in education about “self esteem” and such, which falls far short of doing justice to the profundity of the self-pain of the human individual who is a species unto him/herself. We might ask ourselves: Who has really recognized us? Who has seen us in our deepest nature? By whom have we been truly acknowledged?
Naturally speaking, we would expect our parents to be able to “mirror our highest self” but rare is the parent who is also the “spiritual parent” of his or her child and able to recognize the true spiritual self of their offspring—only a self-realized person of the Michael School can do this. In our age we are left quite alone to discover ourselves. Consider how difficult it is for us as individuals to “fit in” to modern society. As spiritual evolution progresses, increasingly, we will find individuals who don’t feel comfortable or perhaps I should say “at home” in the panorama of jobs, for instance, that is generally available in today’s “job market.” As we individuate, to use Jung’s term for incarnating the self, the job market looks less and less attractive and offers less and less what we might call “a sense of fulfillment” to the individual. Apart from a minority of individuals who choose careers in the arts pursuing a highly unique “vision,” or through special types of research grants are able to do pioneering work, we struggle to be creative in a marketplace that is not generally hospitable to our own unique form of creativity. A great deal of suffering is the lot of the individual in society. What is required in our time is for each individual to carve out his or her own niche in the market and in the world. Even self-employment is little consolation although it does offer more freedom to choose and express oneself as an individual but a business remains within the context of a largely unenlightened greater business world. The world does not offer “a home” for the soul of the individual seeking self-realization in the sense of birthing their unique gift to humanity out of themselves.
And what of the spiritual researcher? Anyone who has made any progress along the path of personal spiritual research knows that it is an arduous path and the loneliest of all paths. This is where the suffering and pain reaches the deepest levels within the human being, where the loneliness is not for lack of human soul contact but for spirit recognition or spirit acknowledgement. The spiritual researcher encounters the most arid desert and has to wait for years, or decades or even until another lifetime for acknowledgement—to see the just fruits of their efforts. This is true especially in an era like ours when the greatest souls are the least understood and what reigns in the public sphere is the most banal and base “least common denominator”—what has the most appeal in the marketplace. Great souls like Rudolf Steiner, for instance, for all of their apparent outward success, inevitably have great misgivings about their effectiveness. Who can doubt that Rudolf Steiner would be greatly disappointed with the meager growth—to date—of the spiritual fruits he seeded in the world? Even given a certain outward success, it is little consolation to a discerning spiritual vision when inner spiritual fruits turn out so spare.
And let us not be elitist in terms of spiritual researchers—in a sense every seeking soul is to some extent a spiritual researcher and suffers as such. I know that I am stretching the meaning here but bear with me. Continuing in the “inquisitive” spirit, let us ask some more questions: Can you or I see the “spiritual researcher” in our neighbor? From a broad evolutionary perspective we understand that every soul is on the same path—this is what we come to understand in the school of Michael. Can you see and feel the cry of the spirit, the seeking soul within your family members, your classmates or co-workers? Can you see beyond the soul sicknesses in those around you to the hungering individual who is, in his or her more-or-less enlightened way, seeking for the fulfillment that only the spirit can bring? Can you have compassion for souls in diverse conditions of soul and spirit sickness? If you can then you are working with Michael, you are a co-worker with him and you know what it means to “mirror the highest in the other.”
To be “seen” by another, in the sense that I am seeking to express, is monumental in a human life. When we are recognized by another on the level of spirit we naturally awaken to our latent potential and connect more surely with our unique life-purposes. We all know if and when we have been “seen” by others. Perhaps there was one teacher who saw us, who believed in us when others did not. Perhaps there was a wise and quiet friend by whom we felt acknowledged in being ourselves and by whom we felt understood and affirmed? Or a lover who saw to the core of our being and reverenced what he or she discovered there and found some way of expressing it? Perhaps we have encountered a soul who has advanced further that we have along the path of spiritual development and who draws out of us untold treasures, through our contact with him or her, which caused us to light up with hope and faith in ourselves and to be fired up with enthusiasm. I am speaking now of the rare and monumental experiences of being acknowledged on a spiritual level.
Let us think now in smaller terms asking another question: Do you or I believe in our neighbor? Do we acknowledge the Buddha nature or the Christ within them? Or do we hold the individuals around us captive to their past? We have seen them fail perhaps countless times. Do we think of them as hopeless and never able to progress or change? By doing so we ally ourselves with the adversary of our soul’s progress and theirs. This is probably not the case with those whom we choose to associate with most. But, how about those who live in the other neighborhoods in our town or city that are not as affluent as ours? Or the ones that are living “up on the hill” who are more affluent than we can even imagine? Or how about those of different races that we meet? Do we unconsciously cast judgment on any of them? Is there a subtle condescension in us when we speak to them or of them to others? How about those who ascribe to a different social philosophy or support a different political party—do we judge them as inferior for their beliefs and unworthy of our help or support? If we see the Buddha nature, what is sometimes called “the beginner” in our neighbors and friends and coworkers and in those who live across town or on the other side of the world, we will not lose hope for them—we will not hold them to their past “sins.” We will forgive them and be the person in their life that helps them to see the next step forward on their path. If you are able to do this, then you are working with Michael as a mirror to the divine nature within others.
What does it mean to us to be “seen” either in the monumental sense I first spoke of or in the everyday sense I outlined in the last paragraph? We shouldn’t be too quick to answer. It is hard to even think of hope or of a future for ourselves as individuals, or for our world as a whole without this essential activity of The Fiery Thought King—Michael! There would be very little spiritual progress in the world without this essential element to affirm us as individuals. Reflecting upon this, perhaps now we have a sense of the regal majesty of the being we have sought to discover expressed by this exalted moniker for Archangel Michael—The Fiery Thought King of the Universe— which otherwise in our time, might tend to elicit condescending smiles of skepticism and visions of an antiquated, naïve and sentimental culture laden with superstition. But not to those who know him.
So, we have explored a few characteristics of the working of Archangel Michael by which we might learn to know him—through profound questioning, through living thinking, through discovering the universal in the individual and through reflecting the highest in the other. In Part II of this article we will answer a new set of questions for those who are in the Michael School and who are devoted students of this sublime being. Why is it that Michael is taciturn? Why does the fact that he seldom speaks lead us to wordless thinking, to real meaning and to “iron” courage and confidence? In his last address, Rudolf Steiner spoke to those in the Michael Stream, of concerns about the “great crisis” that humankind would pass through after the end of the twentieth century. In this context, he spoke of the necessity that “the Michael Power and the Michael Will penetrate the whole of life” and that these “are none other than the Christ Power and the Christ Will.” We will explore how it is that humanity can, and must, in our time, through the Michael Power, transform the human predisposition to view all things in a materialistic way, as a result of its peculiar knowledge of space. How can Michael help us to spiritualize space and thus “penetrate the whole of life” to meet the challenges of our time?
Bill Trusiewicz describes himself as a perpetual student of Life. He lives with his wife in the beautiful Litchfield Hills of Northwestern Connecticut.
Teaching
17 Feb 2013 - 12:40pm
SEVEN PLANES OF CONSCIOUSNESS...
http://frcmh.tripod.com/sevenplanesofconsciousnes.htm
as portrayed in The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky
as portrayed in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-conception by Max Heindel
as portrayed in The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune
as portrayed in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A. Bailey
as portrayed in The Secret Doctrine by H.P. Blavatsky.
The following comparative diagram shows the identity between the two systems, the Kabalistic and the Eastern. The three upper are the three higher planes of consciousness, revealed and explained in both schools only to the Initiates, the lower ones represent the four lower planes — the lowest being our plane, or the visible Universe.
These seven planes correspond to the seven states of consciousness in man. It remains with him to attune the three higher states in himself to the three higher planes in Kosmos. But before he can attempt to attune, he must awaken the three "seats" to life and activity. And how many are capable of bringing themselves to even a superficial comprehension of Atma-Vidya (Spirit-Knowledge), or what is called by the Sufis, Rohanee! ...................
* The Arupa or "formless," there where form ceases to exist, on the objective plane.
† The word "Archetypal" must not be taken here in the sense that the Platonists gave to it, i.e., the world as it existed in the Mind of the Deity; but in that of a world made as a first model, to be followed and improved upon by the worlds which succeed it physically — though deteriorating in purity.
‡ These are the four lower planes of Cosmic Consciousness, the three higher planes being inaccessible to human intellect as developed at present. The seven states of human consciousness pertain to quite another question.
as portrayed in The Rosicrucian Cosmo-conception by Max Heindel
Diagram 2 will give a comprehensive idea of the seven Worlds which are the sphere of our development, but we must carefully keep in mind that these Worlds are not placed one above another, as shown in the diagram. They inter-penetrate - that is to say, that as in the case where the relation of the Physical World and the Desire World was compared, where we likened the Desire World to the lines for force in freezing water and the water itself to the Physical World, in the same way we may think of the lines of force as being any of the seven Worlds, and the water, as in our illustration, would correspond to the next denser World in the scale.
as portrayed in The Mystical Qabalah by Dion Fortune.
The Ten Sephiroth are also conformed into Seven Palaces. In the First Palace are the Three Supernals; in the Seventh Palace are Yesod and Malkuth; and the rest of the Sephiroth each has a Palace to itself. The grouping is of interest as revealing the intimate relationship of Yesod and Malkuth, and enabling the tenfold scale of the Qabalah to be equated with the sevenfold scale of Theosophy.
as portrayed in A Treatise on Cosmic Fire by Alice A. Bailey.
For the sake of those who read this treatise, and because the sequential repetition of fact makes for clarity, let us here briefly tabulate certain fundamental hypotheses that have a definite bearing upon the matter in hand, and which may serve to clear up the present existing confusion concerning the matter of the solar system. Some of the facts stated are already well known, others are inferential, while some are the expression of old and true correspondences couched in a more modern form.
a. The lowest cosmic plane is the cosmic physical, and it is the only one which the finite mind of man can in any way comprehend.
b. This cosmic physical plane exists in matter differentiated into seven qualities, groups, grades, or vibrations.
c. These seven differentiations are the seven major planes of our solar system.
For purposes of clarity, we might here tabulate under the headings physical, systemic, and cosmic, so that the relationship and the correspondences may be apparent, and the connection to that which is above, and to that which is below, or included, may be plainly seen.
d. These major seven planes of our solar system being but the seven subplanes of the cosmic physical plane, we can consequently see the reason for the emphasis laid by H. P. B. upon the fact that matter and ether are synonymous terms and that this ether is found in some form or other on all the planes, and is but a gradation of cosmic atomic matter, called when undifferentiated mulaprakriti or primordial pre-genetic substance, and when differentiated by Fohat (or the energising Life, the third Logos or Brahma) it is termed prakriti, or matter.
e. Our solar system is what is called a system of the fourth order; that is, it has its location on the fourth cosmic etheric plane, counting, as always, from above downwards.
f. Hence this fourth cosmic etheric plane forms the meeting ground for the past and the future, and is the present.
g. Therefore, also, the buddhic or intuitional plane (the correspondence in the system of this fourth cosmic ether) is the meeting ground, or plane of union, for that which is man and for that which will be superman, and links the past with that which is to be.
h. The following correspondences in time would repay careful meditation. They are based on a realisation of the relationship between this fourth cosmic ether, the buddhic plane, and the fourth physical etheric subplane.
The fourth subplane of mind, the correspondence on the mental plane of the physical etheric, is likewise a point of transition from out of a lower into a higher, and is the transferring locality into a higher body.
The fourth subplane of the monadic plane is in a very real sense the place of transition from off the egoic ray (whichever that ray may be) on to the monadic ray; these three major rays are organised on the three higher subplanes of the monadic plane in the same way that the three abstract subplanes of the mental are the group of transference from off the personality ray on to the egoic.
The four lesser rays blend with the third major ray of active intelligence on the mental plane and on the atmic plane. The four Logoi or planetary Spirits work as one, on the atmic plane.
i. Another synthesis takes place on the synthetic second ray on the second subplane of the buddhic plane and the monadic plane, while the comparatively few Monads of will or power are synthesised on the atomic subplane of the atmic. All three groups of Monads work in triple form on the mental plane under the Mahachohan, the Manu, and the Bodhisattva, or the Christ; on the second or monadic plane they work as a unit, only demonstrating their dual work on the atmic plane, and their essential triplicity on the buddhic plane.
The fourth etheric plane holds the key to the dominance of matter, and it might be noted that:
On the fourth physical ether man begins to co-ordinate his astral, or emotional body, and to escape at ever more frequent intervals into that vehicle. Continuity of consciousness is achieved when a man has mastered the four ethers.
On the fourth subplane of the mental plane, man begins to control his causal or egoic body, and to polarise his consciousness therein until the polarisation is complete. He functions then consciously on it when he has mastered the correspondences to the ethers on the mental plane.
On the buddhic plane (the fourth cosmic ether) the Heavenly Men (or the grouped consciousness of the human and deva Monads) begin to function, and to escape eventually from the cosmic etheric planes. When these three cosmic ethers are mastered, the functioning is perfected, polarisation is centred in the monadic vehicles, and the seven Heavenly Men have achieved Their goal.
j. On these etheric levels, therefore, the Logos of our system repeats, as a grand totality, the experiences of His tiny reflections on the physical planes; He co-ordinates His cosmic astral body, and attains continuity of consciousness when He has mastered the three cosmic ethers.
k. It is to be observed that just as in man the dense physical body in its three grades—dense, liquid and gaseous—is not recognised as a principle, so in the cosmic sense the physical (dense) astral (liquid) and mental (gaseous) levels are likewise regarded as non-existing, and the solar system has its location on the fourth ether. The seven sacred planets are composed of matter of this fourth ether, and the seven Heavenly Men, whose bodies they are, function normally on the fourth plane of the system, the buddhic or the fourth cosmic ether. When man has attained the consciousness of the buddhic plane, he has raised his consciousness to that of the Heavenly Man in whose body he is a cell. This is achieved at the fourth Initiation, the liberating initiation. At the fifth Initiation he ascends with the Heavenly Man on to the fifth plane (from the human standpoint), the atmic, and at the sixth he has dominated the second cosmic ether and has monadic consciousness and continuity of function. At the seventh Initiation he dominates the entire sphere of matter contained in the lowest cosmic plane, escapes from all etheric contact, and functions on the cosmic astral plane.
The past solar system saw the surmounting of the three lowest cosmic physical planes viewed from the matter standpoint and the co-ordination of the dense threefold physical form in which all life is found, dense matter, liquid matter, gaseous matter. A correspondence may be seen here in the work achieved in the first three rootraces.
video
16 Feb 2013 - 3:30pm
This is my newest slideshow. It is designed as a project/experiment for those who will listen with an open mind. Nothing in this video is intended to be political, as I have not one political bone in this body. :) It's to make you think...sorry, Re-Think. Enjoy. Peace.
Blog entry
16 Feb 2013 - 2:11pm
Presented here is a chapter from William LePar's book Spiritual Harvest.
Just as we are drawn to the light of God,
as moths to a flame, so is God drawn
to where love is, as a moth to a flame.
Since the beginning of mankind, we have always been drawn naturally to a light, whether it be a physical light or the light of some lost remembrance of a greater state. See how the butterfly is drawn to the light of a beautiful flower. Once landing on its petals, bathed in the reflective glow of its brilliant host, it is served the sweet nectar that is the sustenance of its life. We who are more like the moth, traveling in a land of darkness, instantaneously are attracted by the distant glow. We seek that brilliant light so that it may illuminate the darkness through which we must travel. We seek that warmth so that it may comfort us in our flight.
Is it not so that the light is provided as an act of love to guide us to a safer place? Is it not an act of love that the light provides us with a warmth? Is it not an act of love that the light illuminates the dark place in which we flutter? Is it by accident that man's conception of light is the symbol for the Giver of all that is necessary and meaningful to man? Have we not realized yet that there are no such things as accidents? That certain symbols, certain concepts, are a part of our inner being, our outer reality, so that that Love that is represented by the Light is always before us, if we choose to see it, if we choose to accept it? Is it possible that we can even begin to conceive of the light, of the flame, if there were not at least a modicum of love within us?
If there is even a small spark of love within us, then the ultimate is unavoidable. It is only a matter of time before that spark of love is drawn back into the original Source of that love. Regardless of how far distantly removed that spark has become the spark and the source are of a oneness, thus they must be drawn and once again united. And if that spark is lost in despair and darkness, then the truth will reign in this: that the Source of the light will also reach out to that spark in the distance.
Do these things just happen? Coincidence? No, like will be drawn to like because the whole cannot be whole unless all parts are present. The light cannot be as brilliant as its greatest potential if one spark is absent. The spark itself, lost in its situation, calls out for help, calls out for reuniting with its whole. Man can fight that natural urge to be drawn to his God, but it is to no avail because he was conceived in love, therefore the love of God is present in him whether he chooses to utilize it or not. This being fact then it is also fact that God will be drawn to him as he is drawn to his Maker.
What is the impelling force of these actions? Nothing short of love. The same love that we can have for each other. The love that we have for each other is the same love that the Divine has for us as individuals. The inescapable fate of man: the uniting of his soul with the Great Soul of His Creator.
Everything in life or creation, whether it is the material aspects or spiritual aspects, is connected. Nothing is isolated. In this fact of reality, that all things are connected, there are bridges or pathways or avenues, which unite all of creation, that we can travel that can bring us to different points or opportunities. Some of these avenues are simple little actions or thoughts, attitudes, or frames of mind. These are for us to use. These are not necessary for the Divine. They are necessary for us. To reach the point of having these attitudes or approaches, we have to achieve a specific understanding, a specific insight, a specific awareness, and the faith to trust in such a child-like action and belief. Remember, it is the child that the Divine encompasses in His Arms and will hold to His Bosom. The rays of God's love reach out to the simple little actions or thoughts or attitudes that carry that small spark of light from ourselves. And as the rays of God's Love connect with us through those simple little actions that we are responsible for, they act as a magnetic draw that levels out our path towards Him. And in this symbiotic connection man is carried to his crowning glory.
For more on William LePar see www.WilliamLePar.com
E-book versions of Spiritual Harvest are available at Amazon.com
and Smashwords.com
Blog entry
12 Feb 2013 - 9:27am
I feel the need to say that i often choose not to read certain bloggers/contributors offerings...
This is because, through experience, i have learned that certain energies can be somewhat unpleasant in nature - and that such energies tend to have a dampening/distorting effect on one's own vibrations...
It is important to realise that we each have the free-will choice of which energies we choose to entertain/engage - personally, i have found it beneficial, only to engage the more uplifting energies that certain bloggers/contributors offer...
Blog entry
12 Feb 2013 - 7:36am
If you find that i do not reply to any of your comments, please know that there is always a reason for it - some reasons may be obvious, and some may be less obvious, but there IS always a reason...
Teaching
11 Feb 2013 - 10:45am
THE COSMIC METABOLISM OF FORM
by Christian Wertenbaker
from Parabola Magazine
A meditation on a “great cosmic ecology of consciousness.”
It is fairly obvious by now that life on earth forms a vast interconnected and interdependent network. Organic molecules are recycled over and over, those of one organism providing food for another. Bacteria transform our waste into soil. Carbon dioxide is taken in by plants and oxygen released; in animals the reverse process occurs, in an endless cycle of energy exchange, ultimately fueled by the sun.
Ecosystems depend on a delicate balance of mutually supportive interactions, forming a greater organism. For that matter, any given organism is itself an ecosystem: birds keep the hippopotamus clean, our intestinal bacteria help us digest. Even the subcellular organelles that power our cells, the mitochondria, were, it is thought, once independent organisms. The boundaries of selfhood become blurred and somewhat arbitrary.
These interrelations extend out to the entire universe. The Sun, besides providing the energy that fuels life on Earth and keeping the Solar System in place with its gravity, also interacts with the Earth and other planets through the solar wind, shaping the Earth’s own magnetic body and influencing the weather, which in turn affects all Earth’s creatures. There are certainly other crucial interactions at this electromagnetic level; the more we look, the more we find a complex and delicate order. And the basic elemental building blocks of our world and of organic life—carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and the rest—were formed in the nuclear furnaces of stars and distributed by the explosions of supernovae, as part of vast cosmic cycles of stellar formation, growth, and death.
In considering these things, we generally think in terms of substances being endlessly recycled and transformed, in large and small metabolic cycles. But the consequence of all these transformations is to preserve form. An organism or an ecosystem is a form, whose elements are constantly changing while its structure is preserved for a time: its lifetime. It is estimated that every single atom in the human body is replaced in at most seven years. Most cells, with the exception of many of the cells of the nervous system, are also replaced during the lifetime of the body, some more rapidly, like skin and intestinal cells, and others more slowly. Similarly, the organisms in an ecosystem live and die, to be replaced by others, but the ecosystem has a longer lifespan.
A subtler, often unacknowledged, materialistic bias in our thinking appears in the assumption that form is simply the result of the properties of matter. Atoms form molecules, molecules cells, cells organisms, etc., because the basic properties of the smaller constituents determine how they organize themselves into the larger assemblies. Given the physical laws that govern the fundamental particles and forces, and time for evolutionary processes to work, everything has become what it is now, culminating in self-aware organisms that happen to be able to contemplate these matters. It is certainly true that quarks and the strong nuclear force must have the properties they have in order to form nuclei, and that oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen can join in the molecules they form only because of their specific chemical properties, and so on at every level. But fundamentally, what is matter? Physics has long since reached an impasse in defining it with any kind of bricks and mortar, or even whirling particles. Picture: atoms are mostly empty space, and the subatomic constituents of everything are both waves and particles, but not both at the same time, or perhaps neither, but with properties of both. Ultimately, the only reliable descriptors of the constituents of matter are mathematical equations, the abstract mathematical forms of group theory. So form underlies substance, as Plato taught, rather than the reverse.
If this is so, perhaps intelligent beings such as ourselves, who are capable of resonating with (and therefore discovering) the mathematical forms that govern external reality, do not have these capacities merely as an accidental byproduct of being the fittest organisms in the evolutionary struggle, but have a more fundamental role in the universe. Just as our bodies transform substances in metabolic cycles of varying complexity, and take part in the larger ecological metabolic cycles of organic life on earth, our minds take in and manipulate, transform, break down and build up, in short metabolize, forms—as impressions, perceptions, concepts, memories, and plans. And we take part in a larger ecology of form: culture, literature, art, science.
One could say that everything in the universe has three aspects: a physical or material aspect, an energetic aspect, and a form. We share with other creatures the ability to participate in the metabolism of matter and energy, but seem uniquely endowed by our consciousness to participate in the metabolism of form.
In the view of the traditional religious teachings, human beings have a special place in the cosmos:
“And God said, let us make men in our own image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth…. And God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.”1
One of the main concerns of the ecologically minded is that humanity is despoiling the Earth and disrupting the web of life. But even this capacity implies its converse: “to replenish the earth.” This is not simply to populate it, but to care for it, and maintain it, by virtue of our understanding, in ways that are obvious and perhaps in other ways that we now only dimly perceive.
Human intelligence provides us with a unique relationship to time: we are not confined to the relentless march of our bodies through linear time, but are able to remember the past, foresee the future, and contemplate all of their possibilities. We can look at a tree and see planks and beams and a bridge, look at mud and see adobe bricks and a house. We can create, repair, and maintain to a degree and with a flexibility unknown to other creatures. We are, at our best, anti-entropy machines.
This capacity of our consciousness is evident in all our artifacts, and whether ultimately it will serve to replenish the earth or to destroy it is still in the balance. But it is possible that our awareness has a purpose on another level as well. Some religious and mystical teachings hold that human consciousness, in reflecting reality, also helps to bring it into being. According to the Islamic mystic Ibn ‘Arabi, man acts “as the eye through which God can see His own creation:”2
“He praises me (by manifesting my perfections and creating me in His form),
And I praise Him (by manifesting His perfections and obeying Him).
How can He be independent when I help and aid Him (Because the Divine attributes derive the possibility of manifestation from their human correlates)?
For that cause God brought me into existence.
And I know Him and bring Him into existence (in my knowledge and contemplation of Him).”3
A similar concept, though with a less hierarchical emphasis, appears in Hindu teaching as Indra’s net:
“In the Heaven of Indra, there is said to be a network of pearls, so arranged that if you look at one you see all the others reflected in it. In the same way, each object in the world is not merely itself but involves every other object and in fact IS everything else.”4
Perhaps the most detailed, though still incomplete, elaboration of this idea is contained in the writings of G.I. Gurdjieff. According to Gurdjieff, humans take in three kinds, or levels, of food: ordinary food, air, and impressions. These consist of substances of increasing fineness, but each is metabolized according to the same general laws. The three foods and their metabolites interact with each other, helping each other’s digestion: the clearest example is the necessity of oxygen for the complete metabolism of ordinary food, which is well known to ordinary physiology and biochemistry. On first encountering this idea, the analogy between the metabolism of ordinary food and the taking in and processing of impressions by the brain may seem far-fetched, but there are clear parallels. The food we eat consists mostly of macromolecules—proteins, carbohydrates, and fats—which themselves are compounds of smaller molecules: amino acids, sugars, and fatty acids. These in turn are made up of different configurations of atoms, mostly carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen. The process of digestion is a progressive breakdown of these large macromolecules, which contain energy stored in their atomic arrangements, into much smaller molecules, primarily water and carbon dioxide, the atomic arrangements of which are in a much lower energy state, thus releasing the energy of food for use by the body. Some of the molecular constituents of food are also recycled by the body and built up again into the proteins, carbohydrates, and fats of the body itself. So the metabolism of food has at least two results: one on the same level, which is the maintenance of the body by producing substances, just like those in food, which make up our flesh; and one on a “higher” level, which is the production of energy to maintain the life of the body.
Impressions also consist of larger configurations of smaller elements. A visual scene is made up of many shapes and colors, which in turn are made up of lines and boundaries between patches of differing contrast and hue. Colors themselves can be thought of as consisting of mixtures of primary colors and different amounts of white, gray, and black, and ultimately different combinations of wavelengths of light. Complex sounds are ultimately combinations of fundamental frequencies varying over time. In processing impressions, the brain breaks them down into more fundamental components. In the visual cortex, individual cells are activated by the elementary components of the visual scene: oriented lines and edges, spatial frequencies, binocular disparity conveying depth, basic colors. A wealth of information is known about these processes (and a great deal remains to be known), which I cannot go into here, but the analogy is clear: impressions are also metabolized via a process of breakdown into smaller and simpler elements.
Subsequently, impressions are, so to speak, reconstituted into our perceptions. Something has been added, our awareness and our interpretations, based on experience. The capacity to perceive depends on a long process of learning in early childhood. Our brains are partly formed, or tuned, by our environment of impressions. People born blind whose sight is restored later in life typically do not learn to see properly, although the eye is transmitting all the information to the brain; at best they are like people using a dictionary to speak in a foreign language, painfully correlating their visual impressions with their learned perceptions in other sensory modalities.
The reconstituted perceptions are internal representations of the external stimuli, analogous to the reconstituted macromolecules that make up our bodies. What do these internal representations consist of, in material terms? This is an as yet unresolved question scientifically, but evidence suggests that their physical correlates may be complex patterns of electromagnetic vibrations in the brain. Visual configurations are conveyed to us via patterns of electromagnetic vibrations—light—and our internal perceptions may be of the same materiality.
According to Gurdjieff, our impressions are not fully metabolized in our ordinary state of relative unawareness. For metabolism to proceed further, we must be conscious of ourselves in the act of receiving impressions, just as oxygen is necessary for the full metabolism of food. The full metabolism of food releases much more energy than that released in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic metabolism). What kind of energy is released by the full metabolism of impressions? Perhaps the energy of consciousness. Although consciousness is required for this process to take place, acting like a catalyst, the result is the production of even more consciousness. Or more precisely, it is the addition of consciousness to the impressions, just as the energy of life is added to the macromolecules of our bodies.
This vivification of impressions feeds our inner life, which needs conscious impressions to grow, and may also serve a larger purpose, enabling God to “see” his own creation through us and other conscious observers throughout the universe.
The great paradox of quantum theory is that the form of what we observe in looking at the smallest constituents of matter, for instance whether they consist of waves or particles, depends on the kind of observation that is conducted. Some argue that the “decision” is made when a conscious observer appears, others that a measuring apparatus is sufficient, but in any case, the measuring apparatus was made by a human being.5 Perceptions have a similar property, for when we see something we are making decisions. This is made evident in the perception of ambiguous figures such as the Necker cube (Fig.1), but is going on all the time.
So perhaps, in an as yet unclear fashion, we are, or can be, part of a great cosmic ecology of consciousness, maintaining the form of the universe against the entropy of linear time, because of our potential capacity for metabolizing form, made possible by our flexible and encompassing relationship to time itself. In this process, we become part of everything on a conscious level, just as we are part of everything on the level of gross materiality. Just as our bodies are made up of atoms that once were created in supernovae, and passed through a variety of inorganic and organic entities, the material of our inner lives consists of all our perceptions—of other beings, of earth, sea, sky, and stars, and of the fundamental laws that govern it all—and we are thereby connected to everything on both levels, and to the Whole.
“He through Whom we see, taste, smell, feel, hear, enjoy, know everything, He is that Self.
“Knowing That by Which one perceives both dream states and waking states, the great, omnipresent Self, the wise man goes beyond sorrow.
“Knowing that the individual Self, eater of the fruit of action, is the universal Self, maker of past and future, he knows he has nothing to fear.
“Born in the beginning from meditation, born from the waters, having entered the secret place of the heart, He looks forth through beings. That is Self.
“That boundless power, source of every power, manifesting itself as life, entering every heart, born with the beings, that is Self.”6
________________
1 The Holy Bible, King James Version, Genesis 1:26–28.
2 R. Landau, The Philosophy of Ibn ‘Arabi (London, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd., 1959), p. 74.
3 Ibn ‘Arabi, with commentary in parentheses by ‘Abdu ‘l-Razzaq al-Kashani, quoted in ref. 2, p. 74.
4 Charles Eliot, quoted at www.cs.kent.ac.uk/people/staff/saf/networks/networking-networkers/indras-net.html.
5 There are other theories, and the question of how the wavefunction “collapses” is not really resolved.
6 Katha Upanishad, edited by the author based on multiple translations.
Blog entry
9 Feb 2013 - 4:38pm
The Spiritual World is the Home of 'The Guardians' - as it is to many other souls, of various levels of Spiritual attainment, of course...
There are Guardians of all Disciplines, such as golf, football, music, and many, many others...
And whenever they Observe anything that attracts their attention, here on Earth, they spring into Action...
video
1 Feb 2013 - 11:10pm
Excellent advice from Percy Sledge :-) :-) :-)
Blog entry
30 Jan 2013 - 12:42pm
I don't subscribe to the point of view that souls 'contractually agree' to experience dreadful suffering, as part of an agreed 'contract/mission'...
Suffering such as was experienced during 'the holocaust', for example...
From my perspective, such beliefs constitute Spiritual insanity...
Blog entry
18 Jan 2013 - 10:46pm
It is said that when we each pass into the 'next life', we undertake a Review of the life we have just completed on planet Earth - aptly labelled a 'life Review'...
Part of that Review entails sitting within the energies of suffering that our unskillful actions, speech and thoughts have caused to others - thus we revisit each individual suffering we have brought about...
Firstly we may sit within the energies of suffering we have caused each human being; next we may sit within the energies of suffering we have caused to each within the animal Kingdom; next we may sit within the energies of suffering we have caused to each within the plant Kingdom; and next we may sit within the energies of suffering we have caused within the mineral Kingdom...
The more suffering we have caused, the longer it takes to sit within our Review of that suffering we have caused / contributed towards...
Thus we sit within the 'hells of our own making' until all aspects of our 'life Review' have come to completion...
Thus one can get an impression of how much 'Earth-life time' will pass by before we have the opportunity to continue our Spiritual evolution in the form of further incarnations on planet Earth...
The greater the 'power' we have, and the greater the number of incarnated souls such 'power' affects, the greater the karma - both good and bad - we potentially attract to ourselves...
It is important that we try to educate such 'people of power' as to the potential consequences of their actions - it can be seen as acts of compassion...
If such attempts are seen to have no effect, then we should Pray for the Health of such peoples individual soul's...
Teaching
3 Jan 2013 - 11:57am
What is Home?
Written by, Sankara Saranam
http://www.godwithoutreligion.com
Thinking of home, images of one's house or apartment might come to mind. For some, home isn't the abode, but a feeling evoked from engagement in a certain ritual, which takes place in the home and gives it a homey atmosphere. Such individuals might perform that ritual wherever they travel to help them relax in an unfamiliar environment.
Home might not be where one lives, such as in a college dormitory, but where one's parents live. It may be one's vehicle, camper, or RV, wherever it may geographically be. Home may be a good friend's house, or wherever one can settle in and be comfortable, if let's say one's actual house is full of stress. Home could also be where someone works, if working entails long days and sleepless nights.
For someone who frequently travels abroad, home might not be any one house or hotel, but an association with one's country. Feeling like being home might be elicited by the sight of a customs officer.
Astronomers or astronauts might think of home as planet earth. Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clark used to address the audience of his ego-grams with a salutation to his fellow earthlings, and whoever E.T.'s might be reading.
If travel to the stars were possible and colonization of Mars had taken place, returning to this solar system might come with a sense of returning home. Further, if travel between galaxies were possible, any space port in the Milky Way might feel like home.
Those seeking home rely upon familiar triggers, and against them is the idea of home measured and sensed. Through it all, home ends up for them being the body, wherever it roams or rests. But if one's awareness could travel between bodies, identify with the lives of others, a return to the body of origination would not feel like a return home. Instead, awareness itself would be home and the body of origin would feel like foreign land.
The process of expanding the sense of self implies a changing sense of home and an ascetic sacrifice of closed-in homes. Nationalism, provincialism, and territorial impulses all speak to a narrow home and self bound by the divisions of time.
In this same way is it easy to narrowly identify with a particular time or era. Though how, after all, could a human being's self encompass a time wherein humans did not exist?
Expanding a sense of time, and space, does not require the presence of human beings in all parts of the universe, or all times of existence. It means, rather, ceasing to identify with the narrow parts of being human and focusing on that which is not divided. That cosmopolitan expansion comes naturally with travel, and it comes with embracing larger time-frames as well.
Awareness is divided into bodies. Minds fragment awareness into the flow of time. Movement through space gives credence to these divisions. Memory augments our conclusions. Limitations are considered natural and matter-of-fact.
But it is easier to stop this entire process, and involute it, than most human beings alive today realize. The entire process hinges on flows of energy and awareness; and, like the tap at the faucet, there is a bottleneck wherein the flow is most easily regulated.
Imagine the entire process of fragmentation as a state of being opposed not to a mystical state that's indeterminable, but to an opposite of calmness. Imagine it to be a violence done to one's peace or calm. Imagine it's going on all the time; and while, yes, it is in fact happening all the time, imagine that that matter-of-fact process is continually violating a calm, undivided, nonfinite awareness lying just prior to open eyes, open ears, and open mouth and senses.
The homes with which we identify are, in fact, impositions on that home.
For the yogi, the practitioner of pranayama and asceticism, home is superconsciousness, the breathless state, a perfect peace, an indescribable joy. Travel in the world for an ascetic who has renounced territory is not from home and back, but from duty to duty. Travel is out to divide the awareness as it flows down and through the faculties, with stillness being the harbinger of homecoming.
The practices of pranayama and asceticism have been designed for students to acquaint them with this road less traveled. In this regard, teachers ask no more of students than to go home.
Sankara Saranam is a writer, philosopher, lecturer, poet, and tireless proponent of pranayama (sense introversion). He has traveled extensively in India and Israel researching and writing on spiritual and ethical issues. His first book, Yoga and Judaism (Astrologue, 1997), shows that the early Hebrews were practitioners of various systems of asceticism and pranayama. His major work, the multiaward winning God Without Religion, seeks to balance the world's divergent and divisive cultural views of God with a scientific method of personal introspection and pranayama.
Teaching
16 Dec 2012 - 12:11pm
The Wisdom of The Lotus Sutra
http://www.sgi.org/sgi-president/writings-by-sgi-president-ikeda/the-wisdom-of-the-lotus-sutra.html
A facsimile copy of an ancient Lotus Sutra manuscript
.
.
With the collapse of communism and a pervasive absence of philosophy in our age, humanity is now directing its gaze beyond the present in search of a powerful new philosophy. In other words, people are looking for something that will satisfy the spiritual emptiness they feel, something that will revive their weary, battered lives and fill them once again with hope and vigor. Humanity is searching for a wisdom that will provide true direction and purpose to the individual and society.
Some people say that the prevailing mood in the world today is one of powerlessness . . . Decisions about political, economic and environmental issues all seem to be made somewhere beyond our reach. What can the individual accomplish in the face of the huge institutions that run our world? This feeling of powerlessness fuels a vicious cycle that only worsens the situation and people's sense of futility.
At the opposite extreme of this sense of powerlessness lies the Lotus Sutra's philosophy of a single life-moment encompassing three thousand realms--known as ichinen sanzen--and the application of this teaching to our daily lives. The principle of one life-moment containing three thousand realms teaches us that the inner determination, or ichinen, of one individual can transform everything. It is a teaching that gives ultimate expression to the infinite potential and dignity inherent in the life of each human being.
Today, after the end of the Cold War, we are living in a "Great Interregnum of Philosophy," an era in which there is an absence of any guiding philosophy. That is why this is precisely the time to speak of the Lotus Sutra, long known as the king of sutras.
Religion must always be for the people. People do not exist for the sake of religion. This must be the fundamental rule of religion. To place supreme value on the human being is the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. It is the humanism of the Buddhist Law.
Wherever we are, it is necessary to begin with the revitalization, the revolution of each individual human being, one at a time. That is what we mean by the revolution of society and the world through the human revolution. That is the teaching of the Lotus Sutra. And actions directed toward that end represent the wisdom of the Lotus Sutra.
The Lotus Sutra is a scripture that shows its true brilliance in periods of great transition . . . In India in Shakyamuni's time, the growth of cities was leading to a transcendence of old tribal divisions and to a new age in which people would live together in new, symbiotic relationships. It was a time of great intellectual confusion, with people teaching everything from pure materialism to hedonism, to asceticism. Against that background,
Shakyamuni taught new principles of integration to unify humanity in this period of great change, and the Lotus Sutra is the living essence of that teaching.
Later, in China and Japan, when religion was in a state of chaos and people didn't know what to believe in, the Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai and Nichiren advocated the teachings of the Lotus Sutra and with this Sutra boldly confronted the issues of their respective eras and societies. The Lotus Sutra, one might say, represented the banner of unity with which they charged ahead in their struggles amid periods of great spiritual turbulence.
The Lotus Sutra--expounding the very essence of the Law--is the king of sutras. A king does not negate the existence of others; his role is to bring out the full potential of all.
The Lotus Sutra teaches of the great "hidden treasure of the heart," as vast as the universe itself, which dispels any feelings of powerlessness. It teaches a vigorous way of living, in which we breathe the immense life of the universe itself. It teaches the true great adventure of self-reformation.
The Lotus Sutra has the breadth and scope to embrace all people on the way to peace. It has the fragrance of magnificent culture and art. It leads us to an unsurpassed state of life imbued with the qualities of eternity, happiness, true self and purity, so that wherever we are, we may say, "This, my land, remains safe and tranquil."
The Lotus Sutra has the drama of fighting for justice against evil. It has a warmth that comforts the weary. It has a vibrant, pulsing courage that drives away fear. It has a chorus of joy at attaining absolute freedom throughout the three existences of past, present and future. It has the soaring flight of liberty. It has brilliant light, flowers, greenery, music, paintings, vivid stories. It offers unsurpassed lessons on psychology, the workings of the human heart, lessons on life, lessons on happiness and lessons on peace. It maps out the basic rules for good health. It awakens us to the universal truth that a change in our heart, or attitude, can transform everything. It is neither the parched desert of individualism nor the prison of totalitarianism; it has the power to manifest a pure land of compassion, in which people complement and encourage each other.
Both communism and capitalism have used people as means for their own ends. But in the Lotus Sutra--the king of sutras--we find a fundamental humanism in which people are the goal and purpose, in which they are both protagonist and sovereign. Perhaps we could call this teaching of the Lotus Sutra a "cosmic humanism"?
Each passage and phrase of the Lotus Sutra is teaching about oneself, the entity of the Mystic Law. The sutra is not discussing something far removed from our own lives. I would like to explore the "wisdom of the Lotus Sutra" for the coming age. It is a journey to the truth that we ourselves are Buddhas. Life is an endless odyssey into the innermost sanctum of our own lives.
--SGI President Daisaku Ikeda
Excerpted from a translation of comments made by Ikeda in a discussion with members of the Soka Gakkai study department in the February 1995 issue of the Daibyakurenge, the Soka Gakkai study journal. The discussion was later published as The Wisdom of the Lotus Sutra (World Tribune Press, 2000).
Teaching
15 Dec 2012 - 12:12pm
The Ten Living Principles - Yamas And Niyamas
By, Donna Farhi
http://www.healthy.net
Practicing shaucha, meaning "that and nothing else," involves making choices about what you want and don't want in your life. Far from self-deprivation or dry piety, the practice of shaucha allows you to experience life more vividly. A clean plate enjoys the sweetness of an apple and the taste of pure water; a clear mind can appreciate the beauty of poetry and the wisdom imparted in a story; a polished table reveals the deep grain of the wood. This practice both generates beauty and allows us to appreciate it in all its many forms.
Santosha--Contentment
Santosha, or the practice of contentment, is the ability to feel satisfied within the container of one's immediate experience. Contentment shouldn't be confused with happiness, for we can be in difficult, even painful circumstances and still find some semblance of contentment if we are able to see things as they are without the conflictual pull of our expectations. Contentment also should not be confused with complacency, in which we allow ourselves to stagnate in our growth. Rather it is a sign that we are at peace with whatever stage of growth we are in and the circumstances we find ourselves in. This doesn't mean that we accept or tolerate unhealthy relationships or working conditions. But it may mean that we practice patience and attempt to live as best we can within our situation until we are able to better our conditions.
Contentment not only implies acceptance of the present but tends to generate the capacity for hopefulness. This may seem contradictory but is not. When you are equanimous within any situation, this strengthens your faith that there is the possibility of living even more fully. This possibility is not held out as something to look forward to, nor does it have the negative effect of making you feel dissatisfied until those hopes are gratified. Rather, the ability to sustain one's spirits even in dire situations, is proof that a central sense of balance is rarely contingent on circumstances. And, sustaining hopefulness, even when there are few signs that things win improve, is one very good way of fostering contentment.
Tapas--Burning Enthusiasm
Literally translated as "fire" or "heat," tapas is the disciplined use of our energy. Because the word discipline has the negative connotation of self-coercion, I take the liberty here of translating this central precept as "burning enthusiasm." When we can generate an attitude of burning ardor, the strength of our convictions generates a momentum that carries us forward. We all know how even a seemingly boring or unpleasant task like cleaning the house can be transformed when we work with vigor and impulsion. Suddenly cleaning the toilet becomes fun, hauling heavy loads invigorating, and dusting the furniture absorbing. Tapas is a way of directing our energy. Like a focused beam of light cutting through the dark, tapas keeps us on track so that we don't waste our time and energy on superfluous or trivial matters. When this energy is strong, so also are the processes of transmutation and metamorphism.
We are not all equally possessed of the disciplined energy of tapas. Some people need to work more earnestly to kindle the flames of tapas, and it is at these times that it is helpful to have a kind of parental consciousness coupled with a good sense of humor. Our actions are then guided by a part of the self that knows what's good for it, which is aided by the ability to laugh in the face of one's neuroses, lethargy, or addictions. Even the laser minds among us have days when it takes a sheer act of will to get out of bed, turn to our studies, or withdraw the hand that reaches for a second slice of cake. If you have little enthusiasm yourself, it can be enormously helpful to seek the company of those who have this quality in abundance. Attending a class with an inspiring teacher or practicing yoga with a friend who has already established a strong practice can help to stimulate tapas within yourself. Once activated, however, the embers of tapas tend to generate more and more heat and momentum, which makes each subsequent effort less difficult. The analogy of a fire is fitting for this precept. Once a fire has completely died out it can take a great deal of effort to start it up again. When you do get a fire to light, the tentative embers must be fed at regular intervals or the fire dies out again. But once the fire is roaring, it is easy to sustain.
For what greater purpose do we need tapas, or discipline? Pema Ch�dr�n, the Abbot of Gampo Abbey in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and the author of many books on Tibetan Buddhism, tells us that "what we discipline is not our 'badness' or our 'wrongness.' What we discipline is any form of potential escape from reality" (italics added). When we're not living in this disciplined awareness, our willing tactics of avoidance create an endless cycle of more suffering for ourselves. These avoidance tactics may temporarily placate our senses, but they create a deep form of unhappiness. On some level we know we're not being true to ourselves or our potential. Discipline is having enough respect for yourself to make choices that truly nourish your well-being and provide opportunities for expansive growth. Far from being a kind of medicinal punishment, tapas allows us to direct our energy toward a fulfilled life of meaning and one that is exciting and pleasurable.
Swadhyaya--Self-Study
Any activity that cultivates self-reflective consciousness can be considered swadhyaya.The soul tends to be lured by those activities that will best illuminate it. Because people are so different in their proclivities, one person may be drawn to write, while another will discover herself through painting or athletics. Another person may come to know himself through mastering an instrument, or through service at a hospice. Still another may learn hidden aspects of herself through the practice of meditation. The form that this self-study takes is inconsequential. Whatever the practice, as long as there is an intention to know yourself through it, and the commitment to see the process through, almost any activity can become an opportunity for learning about yourself. Swadhyaya means staying with our process through thick and thin because it's usually when the going gets rough that we have the greatest opportunity to learn about ourselves.
While self-study uncovers our strengths, authentic swadhyaya also ruthlessly uncovers our weakness, foibles, addictions, habit patterns, and negative tendencies. This isn't always the most cheering news. The worst thing we can do at these times is give ourselves the double whammy of both uncovering a soft spot and beating ourselves up for what we perceive as a fatal flaw. At these times, it's important actually to welcome and accept our limitations. When we welcome a limitation, we can get close enough to ourselves to see the roots of our anger, impatience, or self-loathing. We can have a little compassion, for the forces and conditions that molded our behaviors and beliefs, and in so doing develop more skill in handling, containing, and redirecting previously self-destructive tendencies. The degree to which we can do this for ourselves is the degree to which we will be tolerant of other people's weaknesses and flaws. Self-study is a big task.
Self-study also can become psychically incestuous when the same self that may be confused and fragmented attempts to see itself. This is why it can be so helpful (not to mention expedient) to secure the help of a mentor, teacher, or close friend to support your self-study. If you've ever said that someone "just doesn't see himself" and watched him enact the same self-destructive behaviors again and again, just consider how likely it is that you too are blind to your own faults. A skillful mentor, and that can be anyone from a wise aunt to a therapist to a bona fide guru, can find loving ways to help you see yourself as you really are.
Ishvarapranidhana--Celebration of the Spiritual
Life is not inherently meaningful. We make meaning happen through the attention and care we express through our actions. We make meaning happen when we set a table with care, when we light a candle before practicing, or when we remove our shoes before entering a temple. Yoga tells us that the spiritual suffuses everything it is simply that we are too busy, too distracted, or too insensitive to notice the extraordinary omnipresence that dwells in all things. So one of the first ways that we can practice ishvarapranidhana is by putting aside some time each day, even a fewminutes, to avail ourselves of an intelligence larger than our own. This might take the form of communing with your garden at dawn, taking a few moments on the bus to breathe slowly and clear your mind, or engaging in a more formal practice such as a daily reading, prayer, ritual, or meditation. This practice requires that we have recognized that there is some omnipresent force larger than ourselves that is guiding and directing the course of our lives. We all have had the experience of looking back at some event in our life that at the time may have seemed painful, confusing and disruptive, but later, in retrospect, made perfect sense in the context of our personal destiny. We recognize that the change that occurred during that time was necessary for our growth, and that we are happier for it. The catch is that it's hard to see the bigger picture when you think you are the great controller of your life. When you are the great controller, you fail to recognize that supposed coincidences, accidents and chance meetings all have some greater significance i the larger scheme of your destiny. When you are the master of your universe, it's hard to trust anything but your own self-made plans. When we don't have this recognition that there's a bigger story going on, we get caught up in our personal drama and a frustrating cycle of resistance to change. Ishvarapranidhana asks us to go quietly, even when it's not possible to see exactly where things are headed. At first this can be frightening, like being suspended in the air between one trapeze bar and another, but, over time, this not knowing exactly how life is going to unfold and the giving up of our frantic attempts to manipulate and control makes each day an adventure. It makes our life a horse race right up until the very finish!
Ultimately, ishvarapranidhana means surrendering our personal will to this intelligence so we can fulfill our destiny. The first step in this practice is attuning ourselves to perceive a larger perspective. By setting aside enough time to get quiet and clear, we can begin to differentiate between the cluttered thoughts of our ordinary mind and the resonant intelligence that comes through as intuition. Rather than trying to unravel the mystery, we start to embody the mystery of life. When we embody the mystery, we begin to experience meaning. Where before we experienced numbness. When we drink a glass of water, we taste it; when a cool breeze brushes our bare skin, we feel it; and when a stranger speaks to us, we listen. Everything and anything can become a sign of this intelligence. Eventually we are spontaneously drawn to look at the purpose of our life with a new eye. One starts to ask, How can my life be useful to others? Living the insurance nor a guarantee but it is neither spiritual rain against living a meaningless life, a life that at its end we regret.
Teaching
15 Dec 2012 - 12:03pm
The Ten Living Principles - Yamas And Niyamas
By, donna Farhi
http://www.healthy.net
The Ten Living Principles
The first limb, or the yamas, consists of characteristics observed and codified by wise people since the beginning of time as being central to any life lived in freedom. They are mostly concerned with how we use our energy in relationship to others and in a subtler sense, our relationship to ourselves. The sages recognized that stealing from your neighbor was likely to promote discord, lying to your wife would cause suffering, and violence begets more violence; the results are hardly conducive to living a peaceful life. The second limb, the niyamas, constitutes a code for living in a way that fosters the soulfulness of the individual and has to do with the choices we make. The yamasand niyamas are emphatic descriptions of what we are when we are connected to our source. Rather than a list of dos and don'ts, they tell us that our fundamental nature is compassionate, generous, honest, and, peaceful.
In the West we are taught from an early age that what we do and what we own sole components for measuring whether we are "successful." We measure our success and that of others through this limited vantage point, judging and dismissing anything that falls outside these narrow parameters. What yoga teaches us is that who we are and how we are constitute the ultimate proof of a life lived in freedom. If you do not truly believe this, it is likely that you will measure success in your yoga practice through the achievement of external forms. This tendency has produced a whole subculture of yoga in the West that is nothing more than sophisticated calisthenics, with those who can bend the farthest or do the most extraordinary yoga postures being deemed masters. Because it's easy to measure physical prowess, we may compare ourselves to others who are more flexible, or more "advanced" in their yoga postures, getting trapped in the belief that the forms of the practice are the goal. These outward feats do not necessarily constitute any evidence of a balanced practice or a balanced life. What these first central precepts the yamas and niyamas ask us to remember is that the techniques and forms are not goals in themselves but vehicles for getting to the essence of who we are.
One of our greatest challenges as Westerners practicing yoga is to learn to perceive progress through "invisible" signs, signs that are quite often unacknowledged by the culture at large. Are we moving toward greater kindness, patience, or tolerance toward others? Are we able to remain calm and centered even when others around us become agitated and angry? How we speak, how we treat others, and how we live are more subjective qualities and attributes we need to learn to recognize in ourselves as a testament to our own progress and as gauges of authenticity in our potential teachers. When we remain committed to our most deeply held values we can begin to discern the difference between the appearance of achievement and the true experience of transformation, and thereby free ourselves to pursue those things of real value.
As you read through the precepts that follow, take the time to dwell upon their relevance to your life and to consider your own personal experiences both past and present in reference to them. You can take almost any situation that arises in your life and consider it from the vantage point of one or more of these precepts. It can also be valuable consciously to choose a precept that you'd like to explore in depth for a month or even a year at a time investigating how the precept works in all aspects of your life. And last, the way in which you approach the practices that follow in this book, and your underlying intentions, will ultimately determine whether your practice bears fruit. As you progress in your yoga practice, take the time to pause frequently and ask
"Who am I becoming through this practice? Am I becoming the kind of person I would like to have as a friend?"
Yamas--Wise Characteristics
Ahimsa--Compassion for All Living Things
Ahimsa is usually translated as nonviolence, but this precept goes far and beyond the limited penal sense of not killing others. First and foremost we have to learn how to be nonviolent toward ourselves. If we were able to play back the often unkind, unhelpful, and destructive comments and judgments silently made toward our self in any given day, this may give us some idea of the enormity of the challenge of self-acceptance. If we were to speak these thoughts out loud to another person, we would realize how truly devastating violence to the self can be. In truth, few of us would dare to be as unkind to others as we are to ourselves. This can be as subtle as the criticism of our body when we look in the mirror in the morning, or when we denigrate our best efforts. Any thought, word, or action that prevents us (or someone else) from growing and living freely is one that is harmful.
Extending this compassion to all living creatures is dependent on our recognition of the underlying unity of all sentient beings. When we begin to recognize that the streams and rivers of the earth are no different from the blood coursing through our arteries, it becomes difficult to remain indifferent to the plight of the world. We naturally find ourselves wanting to protect all living things. It becomes difficult to toss a can into a stream or carve our names in the bark of a tree, for each act would be an act of violence toward ourselves as well. Cultivating an attitude and mode of behavior of harmlessness does not mean that we no longer feel strong emotions such as anger, jealously, or hatred. Learning to see everything through the eyes of compassion demands that we look at even these aspects of our self with acceptance. Paradoxically, when we welcome our feelings of anger, jealousy, or rage rather than see them as signs of our spiritual failure, we can begin to understand the root causes of these feelings and move beyond them. By getting close enough to our own violent tendencies we can begin to understand the root causes of them and learn to contain these energies for our own well-being and for the protection of others. Underneath these feelings we discover a much stronger desire that we all share--to be loved. It is impossible to come to this deeper understanding if we bypass the tough work of facing our inner demons.
In considering ahimsa it's helpful to ask, Are my thoughts, actions, and deeds fostering the growth and well-being of all beings?
Satya--Commitment to the Truth
This precept is based on the understanding that honest communication and action form the bedrock of any healthy relationship, community, or government, and that deliberate deception, exaggerations, and mistruths harm others. One of the best ways we can develop this capacity is to practice right speech. This means that when we say something, we are sure of its truth. If we were to follow this precept with commitment, many of us would have a great deal less to say each day! A large part of our everyday comments and conversations are not based upon what we know to be true but are based on our imagination, suppositions, erroneous conclusions, and sometimes out-and-out exaggerations. Gossip is probably the worst form of this miscommunication.
Commitment to the truth isn't always easy, but with practice, it's a great deal less complicated and ultimately less painful than avoidance and self-deception.
Proper communication allows us to deal with immediate concerns taking care of little matters before they become big ones.
Probably the hardest form of this practice is being true to our own heart and inner destiny. Confusion and mistrust of our inner values can make it difficult to know the nature of our heart's desire, but even when we become clear enough to recognize what truth means for us, we may lack the courage and conviction to live our truth. Following what we know to be essential for our growth may mean leaving unhealthy relationships or jobs and taking risks that jeopardize our own comfortable position. It may mean making choices that are not supported by consensual reality or ratified by the outer culture. The truth is rarely convenient. One way we can know we are living the truth is that while our choices may not be easy, at the end of the day we feel at peace with ourselves.
Asteya--Not Stealing
Asteya arises out of the understanding that all misappropriation is an expression of a feeling of lack. And this feeling of lack usually comes from a belief that our happiness is contingent on external circumstances and material possessions. Within Western industrialized countries satisfaction can be contingent upon so many improbable conditions and terms that it is not uncommon to spend all of one's time hoping for some better life, and imagining that others (who possess what we do not) have that better life. In constantly looking outside of ourselves for satisfaction, we are less able to appreciate the abundance that already exists. That is what really matters--our health and the riches of our inner life and the joy and love we are able to give and receive from others. It becomes difficult to appreciate that we have hot running water when all we can think about is whether our towels are color-coordinated. How can we appreciate our good fortune in having enough food to eat when we wish we could afford to eat out more often?
The practice of asteya asks us to be careful not to take anything that has not been freely given. This can be as subtle as inquiring whether someone is free to speak with us on the phone before we launch into a tirade about our problems. Or reserving our questions after a class for another time, rather than hoarding a teacher's attention long after the official class time has ended. In taking someone's time that may not have been freely given, we are, in effect, stealing. The paradox of practicing asteya is that when we relate to others from the vantage point of abundance rather than neediness, we find that others are more generous with us and that life's real treasures begin to flow our way.
This may seem unlikely, so let me share an example. Paul was a medical student and past acquaintance who seemed always to be helping others and sharing his seemingly limited resources. One evening when it became too late for a commute home, I offered Paul my guest room for the night. On awakening in the morning I discovered he had cleaned my refrigerator ("It looked like you'd been busy"). Paul had few financial resources but always seemed to be having wonderful dinner feasts to share with his friends. Later, I found out that he worked late at a local health-food restaurant, and, thankful for the extra hours Paul spent helping out, the owner gave him many of the leftover vegetables, breads, and prepared dishes to take home. When a number of friends joined Paul at a holiday home for a week, Paul initiated a special "clean-up and dust" party that lasted all day ("Just think how great it will be for the owner when he comes back after his trip overseas . . !"). Paul rarely asked for anything but was always surprising his friends with his new acquisitions. People gave things to Paul all the time--even large items like cars and washing machines--not because they felt sorry for him but because his own sense of intrinsic abundance and his own generosity tended to make you feel that, like him, you had a lot to give.
Not stealing demands that we cultivate a certain level of self-sufficiency so that we do not demand more of others, our family, or our community than we need. It means that we don�t take any more than we need, because that would be taking from others. A helpful way of practicing asteya when you find yourself dwelling on the "not enoughs" of your life is to ask: "How is this attitude preventing me from enjoying the things I already have?" Another way of fostering this sense of abundance is to take a moment before going to sleep to dwell on at least one gift in your life. This can be as simple as the gift of having a loving partner or loyal pet, the grace of having good health, or the pleasure of having a garden.
Brahmacharya--Merging with the One
Of all the precepts, the call to brahmacharya is the least understood and the mostfeared by Westerners. Commonly translated as celibacy, this precept wreaks havoc in the minds and lives of those who interpret brahmacharya as a necessary act of sexual suppression or sublimation. All spiritual traditions and religions have wrestled with the dilemma of how to use sexual energy wisely. Practicing brahmacharya means that we use our sexual energy to regenerate our connection to our spiritual self. It also means that we don't use this energy in any way that might harm another. It doesn't take a genius to recognize that manipulating and using others sexually creates a host of bad feelings, with the top contenders being pain, jealousy, attachment, resentment, and blinding hatred. This is one realm of human experience that is guaranteed to bring out the best and worst in people, so the ancient Yogis went to great lengths to observe and experiment with this particular form of energy. It may be easier to understandbrahmacharya if we remove the sexual designation and look at it purely as energy.Brahmacharya means merging one's energy with God. While the communion we may experience through making love with another gives us one of the clearest experiences of this meshing of energies, this experience is meant to be extended beyond discrete events into a way of life--a kind of omnidimensional celebration of Eros in all its forms. Whether we achieve this through feeling our breath as it caresses our lungs, through orgasm, or through celibacy is not important.
Given the pragmatism of the ancient yogis, it is hard to believe that Patanjali would have put forth a precept that would be so undeniably unsuccessful as selfwined denial. The fall from grace of countless gurus who, while admonishing their devotees to practice celibacy, have wantonly misused their own sexual power gives cause to consider more deeply the appropriateness of such an interpretation. When any energy is sublimated or suppressed, it has the tendency to backfire, expressing itself in life-negating ways. This is not to say that celibacy in and of itself is an unsound practice. When embraced joyfully the containment of sexual energy can be enormously self-nourishing and vitalizing and, at the very least, can provide an opportunity to learn how to use this energy wisely. When celibacy is practiced in this way, there is no sense of stopping oneself from doing or having what one really wants. Ultimately it is not a matter of whether we use our sexual energy but how we use it.
In looking at your own relationship to sexual energy, consider whether the ways you express that energy bring you closer to or farther away from your spiritual self.
Aparigraha--Not Grasping
Holding on to things and being free are two mutually exclusive states. The ordinary mind is constantly manipulating reality to get ground underneath it, building more and more concretized images of how things are and how others are, as a way of generating confidence and security. We build self-images and construct concepts and paradigms that feed our sense of certainty, and we then defend this edifice by bending every situation to reinforce our certainty. This would be fine if life were indeed a homogeneous event in which nothing ever changed; but life does change, and it demands that we adapt and change with it. The resistance to change, and tenaciously holding on to things, causes great suffering and prevents us from growing and living life in a more vital and pleasurable way. What yoga philosophy and all the great Buddhist teachings tells us is that solidity is a creation of the ordinary mind and that there never was anything permanent to begin with that we could hold on to. Life would be much easier and substantially less painful if we lived with the knowledge of impermanence as the only constant. As we all have discovered at some time in our lives, whenever we have tried to hold on too tightly to anything, whether it be possessiveness of our partner or our youthful identity, this has only led to the destruction of those very things we most value. Our best security lies in taking down our fences and barricades and allowing ourselves to grow, and through that growth becoming stronger and yet more resilient.
The practice of aparigraha also requires that we look at the way we use things to reinforce our sense of identity. The executive ego loves to believe in its own power but unfortunately requires a retinue of foot soldiers in the way of external objects such as the right clothes, car, house, job, or image to maintain this illusion. Because this executive ego is but an illusion created by our sense of separateness, it requires ever greater and more elaborate strategies to keep it clothed. Although the practice of not grasping may first begin as consciously withdrawing our hand from reaching for external things, eventually the need to reach outward at all diminishes until there is a recognition that that which is essential to us is already at hand.
Teaching
15 Dec 2012 - 11:56am
The Ten Living Principles - Yamas And Niyamas
By, Donna Farhi
http://www.healthy.net
Although there are many branches to the tree of yoga, from devotional methods to more intellectual approaches, from schools that emphasize service toward others to those that focus on physical purification, Patanjali Sutras, clearly defines an eight-limbed path (ashtanga) that forms the structural framework for whatever emphasis upon which an individual wishes to concentrate. The Yoga Sutras, or "threads," consist of four books produced sometime in the third century before Christ. Such was the clarity of Patanjali's vision of wholeness that he consolidated the entirety of yoga philosophy in a series of 196 lucid aphorisms. Each thread of the Yoga Sutras is revealed as a part of a woven fabric, with each aphorism merely a mark or color within the whole pattern. The threads, however, begin to make sense only through a direct experience of their meaning. This is not a linear process but rather an organic one in which colors and markings gradually become more clear until a pattern forms. And this pattern that Patanjali weaves for us is a description of the process of unbinding our limited ideas about ourselves and becoming free.
The eight limbs of yoga are traditionally presented as a hierarchical progression, but this linear progression toward an idealized goal tends only to reinforce the dualistic idea that yoga is something to "get." It may be more helpful to imagine the eight limbs as the arms and legs of a body--connected to one another through the central body of yoga just as a child's limbs grow in proportion to one another, whatever limb of practice we focus upon inevitably causes the other limbs to grow as well. People who begin yoga through the limb of meditation are often later drawn to practice more physical postures. Those who are drawn to vigorous physical practice later find themselves being drawn into the quieter, more meditative practices just as each limb is essential for the optimal functioning of your body, every limb of yoga practice is important. Growth in practice happens naturally when a person is sincere in her wish to grow.
The eight limbs emanating from a central core consist of the following:
Yamas and Niyamas: Ten ethical precepts that allow us to be at peace withourselves, our family, and our community.
Asanas: Dynarmic internal dances in the form of postures. These help to keep the body strong, flexible, and relaxed. Their practice strengthens the nervous system and refines our process of inner perception.
Pranayama: Roughly defined as breathing practices, and more specifically defined as practices that help us to develop constancy in the movement of prana, or life force.
Pratyahara: The drawing of one's attention toward silence rather than toward things.
Dharana: Focusing attention and cultivating inner perceptual awareness.
Dhyana: Sustaining awareness under all conditions.
Samadhi: The return of the mind into original silence.
The greater part of this book on yoga will focus on the most down-to-earth practices--the asanas and the practices of breathing and meditation. These form an embodied approach to spiritual practice, where we use the body and all our sensual capacities in the service of regeneration and transformation. This is contrasted to many approaches in which the body is seen as an obstacle that must be transcended. Let us first look at the core principles for living, the yamas and niyamas that form the central vein from which all other yoga practices spring.
Blog entry
6 Dec 2012 - 12:29pm
Just woke up and have an interesting vision about human consciousness. It came on me when I was asking about its size and how it is in relation to my human body. I was a bit amazed how logical this vision actually is, when I ponder on it.
- See you being the sun. This is your universal consciousness. This is truly who you are.
- See you being at earth. The rays from you, from the sun, illuminates the earth. The light in the surface of earth, that is your earth consciousness, but is not your full consciousness it is just few rays of it. Your consciousness at your human body is projected into you, and it is only part of the whole you.
Now you are illuminating also other celestial bodies, ie other places of existence. But you are not those planets either. You still are the sun and the only permanent source of you.
I realized when I thought of this it actually bring forward some nice toughs about the darkness but I let you to play with this vision if you pick up some interesting pieces from it.
Much love dear fellow suns.
Blog entry
4 Dec 2012 - 10:59pm
Those little things, micro-organisms & even smaller. The stuff that keeps us all alive in our macro world, well, bigger than those little things. Oh we don't like to think about bacteria or fungi, but without them, we wouldnt be, well, at least this version of life form, shell thingy. I guess I thinkabout it a lot cause I love to garden. Nothing like a big heap of compost to make my ground fertile. Cause without all that death, & bacteria & fungi to break it down, the ground would be sterile & I would really miss those tomatoes. Culture, the style of life a comunity lives. Gots all kinds of culture living inside us too, most are good, but every now & then the bad guys come in to see how strong your culture is, if not, then our cellular structure has to deal with it. Oh & how cool is the DNA that activates our cellular structure. This is the nitty gritty of creating, & we get to choose what we want. Yes those thought waves activate emotion, then the emotion activates the energy, that activates our DNA. When ya get good at that, then you can activate any possibility within yourself. The whole universe is in us all, so if you can get the micro down pat, then you can create anything outside of yourself, because it is an extention of you. Kinda like, count the pennies & the dollars will take care of themself, a wise business owner told me that. I know you've heard the term micro managing, its kinda like that, except you only have to do this for yourself. When we are in control of our thoughts & emotions, life is just chok full of options that are as wide open as space. Its the little things, like a hug, a smile, a kind word & a heart that is full of love, that really mean the most. Happy Microsm All! Blazin Love, Sherry
Blog entry
4 Dec 2012 - 10:23pm
Hello Ya'll! Been awhile, been a busy bee as usual, squeezing every moment for all its worth & have a Nice juice to share. Have had lots of experiences talking with spirit, we seem to have alot yo say to each other these days. Some very wonderful feeling tied to those discussions. I wish I could just share the feelings, that would certainly express the truth & wealth of information better, for words are limited. So I'll do my best to express what I've been thinking on. Funny how epiphanies come to us. One minute were workin away at something, then one little question comes to mind......then, WOOSH! In flows more information than I can digest in one meal. One of those woooshes was about this infinate void & the fire fueled by it. Pretty simple really, but the infinate possibilities that came with blew me away. I see a lot of folks obsessing over fear, death, disaster, & all manner of negative stuff, that if they knew how many lives they had to live, all that stuf is sooooo trivial. So many paths, so many options, infinate amount of time to get em all done & then some. It would seem the better you know this, the
Easier it is to create them. It also helps a whole lot to by kind & respectful to all life forms. I could see all these possibilities from the infinate micro, to the infinite macro, who knows how many times we've been them all. Makes me wonder how we forgot all that, probably because of information being twisted by someone who forgot you don't have to lie, cheat, steal or kill to create. For someone to think the only way to live is to control ones surroundings, is really strange, because life teaches us differntly. To study nature is to understand the workings of creation. Every niche is filled with life. Everything has a cycle, law, code. And of course they are there to be broken so infinate possibilities of life can exist. How can we be racist, judgemental, & fixed on one way of living or being? Just live & let live. And squeeze every moment for all its worth. You will love what comes from never wasting one drop. Abundance is being content with the life you created. Doesn't matter if you think you've screwed it up, all paths lead to LIFE. I promise I will live like Love on fire. Blazin Love, Sherry
Teaching
3 Dec 2012 - 3:30pm
Spiritual Mysticism ~ God-Consciousness
By, John Van Auken
edgarcayce.org/ps2/mysticism_god_conscousness.html
Stages for Regaining God-Consciousness
Thus as ye take hold of the thought of God Consciousness, it may be just as pregnant a concept in mind as a baby in our body (2823-1).
In order to identify the stages of resurrection or rebirth in the spirit, let’s enumerate the stages of our fall, and see how they can be turned around to bring resurrection. There are three major changes that brought on our loss of God-consciousness and all three can be turned around to regain it.
1) The death of the influence of the Elohiym Spirit and the rise of self.
2) The reverse of the flow of the Life Force.
3) The witness against us.
Let’s examine these in detail.
1. We died to the spirit and gave birth to the self. The spirit and the universal consciousness of God is the true source and nature of Life, so when we died to it, we lost immortality and wisdom. And, since God is spirit, we also lost consciousness of God. This is symbolized by the name changes for God and by our being denied access to the Tree of Life (Gen. 3:22-24). We became mortal. We also began to develop an even stronger sense of self, to the point that we lost awareness of self’s connectedness to the Whole -- God and other souls. This mounting sense of self separated us from direct contact with God, and is symbolized by our emergence into a single physical body, with singular gender. What was collective and united is now singular and separated. In order to regain God-consciousness, this movement from the spirit to the self must be turned around.
Jesus says to Nicodemus, "Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kindgom of God. ... That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:3,6). In this teaching we are given a great insight. We have been born of flesh and, using the old terms, that makes us "sons and daughters of man." However, we must also be born of the Spirit, making us "sons and daughters of God." During our physical lives, we should strive to experience the second birth, the birth of the spirit. This is spoken of and symbolized many times in both Testaments, beginnning in the Garden itself. (Remember now, we are to consider physical activities as metaphors of what happens within consciousness. All the characters in these stories are also elements of our own soul development.)
At the time of the loss of the Garden, God prophesies that Eve, and all women after her, will give birth only through much effort and pain, but that her line will one day give birth to the savior, to the one who will subdue (or reverse) the serpent’s influence (Gen. 3:15). In our personal experience, that translates to this: our feminine, inner, deeper self -- with all its unseen forces and spiritual powers -- will conceive, gestate and deliver a new consciousness which will raise the serpent up, be "born anew," and regain what was lost. This will be our spiritual selves.
The story of Mary’s conception and delivery of a new child is perhaps the fullest expression of this idea. Let’s review the angel Gabriel’s description of what will happen to her:
"Behold, you will conceive in your womb [the womb of our inner consciousness], and bear a child.... He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give him the throne ... and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and his kingdom will have no end." And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" [From the earthly perspective, as a daughter of man, how can this be done? Almost the same reaction Nicodemus had to Jesus’ teaching about spiritual birth.] And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the son of God"(Luke 1:31-35),
The description of this conception is reminiscent of deep, meditative, mystical experience -- "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you." It also calls to mind other wonderful expressions of this experience:
"And it shall come to pass that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old shall dream dreams, and your young shall see visions" (Joel 2:28).
"...suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind [spirit], and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..."(Acts 2:2-4).
"How precious is thy steadfast love, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of thy wings. They feast on the abundance of thy inner place, and thou givest them drink from the river of thy delights. For within thee is the fountain of life; in thy light do we see light"(Ps. 36:7-9).
Another important expression of this idea comes as Jesus nears the end of his physical ministry. At the last Passover dinner, Jesus says that his soul has become troubled. Later, as he sought to calm the troubled spirits of his disciples -- they were beginning to realize he would soon be leaving them -- he compared their feelings to those of a woman in labor: She has sorrow because her hour of pain and struggle are upon her, but when she is delivered of the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for the joy that a child is born. (John 12:27)
So it is with us in our hour of delivery of our spiritual child. Each of us has conceived this spiritual being within our hearts and minds. We have nourished it in the wombs of our consciousnesses. Now it is time for us to deliver it, and the pain and struggle of this is upon us. However, once delivered of it, we will rejoice that a child is born -- not a child of man, but a child of God. Our spirit will be present, and will be able to attune to God directly, which is the purpose of spiritual breakthrough.
In the Revelation we also see a woman in labor, a heavenly woman:
"And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the Sun, with the Moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery"(Rev. 12:1-2).
She, as well as Mary, symbolizes the fulfillment of God’s promise to Eve. Out of her will come the savior, who will overcome selfishness and reunite us with the Whole. Like Mary, she also represents for us the process of spiritual breakthrough:
We have already conceived our redeemer, our messiah, our spiritual being within our hearts and minds -- or we wouldn’t even be studying these things. Now we must fully realize it by giving birth to it, letting it become fully alive and present. This requires that we lay down our outer selves and give birth to our inner selves. We must subjugate the flesh, the earthly portion of our being, to the Higher Forces, and give place or space in our consciousness and life for our reborn spiritual being. As Jesus expresses it, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life"(John 12:24-25).
We must yield to the will of the spirit within us, allowing it to have expression in our lives. If we will seek its way more than our own, eventually it will be fully manifest. We will be, once again, spiritual beings, even while in the physical world. As Jesus states it, "When you have lifted up the son of man, then you will know..."(John 8:28). When we have raised our earthly selves to the level of consciousness of our heavenly selves, then we will know what it’s all about and who we really are.
2. We reversed the flow of the Life Force. Our kundalini energy was used to physically manifest and breed. It flows down our spines and out to the world, mostly in gratification and self-exaltation. This is, literally, the fall of the serpent.
Moses (literally means "drawn out." As the story goes, he was drawn out of the Nile river by Pharaoh's daughter -- symbolizing Pharaoh's developing feminine aspect. Therefore, meaning drawn out of the unconscious by the awakening consciousness) leads the seekers out of material captivity (symbolized by Egypt) and away from the control of Pharaoh (symbolic of the ego self), across the wilderness to the Mount of God, where we reconnect with God and eventually enter the Promised Land. (Ex. 13). One of the great signs that Moses performs, following God’s guidance, is to raise the serpent, and all who look upon it are healed from its bite. (Num. 21:8) While teaching Nicodemus about "heavenly things," Jesus refers to this great sign saying, "No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, even the Son of man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes may in him have eternal life."( John 3:13-15). If we interpret this teaching for us as individuals, it shows that through misuse of the life-force (kundalini, serpent power) and self-consciousness (the serpent, dragon, Satan, etc.), we descended from heaven and lost consciousness of our nature as sons and daughters of God, believing ourselves to be no more than sons and daughters of other humans. If we wish to ascend to heaven and regain our heritage as children of God, then we must raise the life-force (raise the serpent) and raise the consciousness of our physical selves (raise the son of man) so that we may once again have the glory that was ours before the world was, and live eternally with God.
3. We are a witness against ourselves. Our conscience knows what we have done. The resulting guilt, self-condemation, and self-doubt holds us from fully entering into God’s all-knowing presence. This is expressed in the story of Job. Let’s take a moment to review key parts of this story.
The story of Job begins, "Now there was a day when the sons [and daughters] of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them."(Job 1:6) As a result of our movement into selfness and the flesh, we are not able to come into the presence of God, even though we are "the sons [and daugthers] of God."
We therefore present ourselves to "the Lord" (the Hebrew is "Yahweh"). Even then, because of our changes, when we come before the Lord, we bring Satan with us. Satan here symbolizes our growing self-centered nature, in opposition to God and the Collective. Literally, the name Satan means "the accuser." The Lord asks Satan, our selfness, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?"(Job 1:8) Our selfness then witnesses against the goodness symbolized in Job, saying that if the Lord puts forth His hand and touches anything of Job’s possessions or Job’s flesh, he will curse the Lord to His face. Is Job righteous because his physical life is comfortable, or is he righteous because he loves God, loves the spirit, more than the temporary pleasures of the physical, self-centered life? The Lord tells Satan to test him. Satan tries Job terribly, but Job does not curse the Lord for his physical pain and loss. Job’s friends also accuse him of sin, since otherwise these bad things would not have come upon him and his family. But Job searches his heart and finds no evil in himself. Then, Job crys to the Lord and the Lord comes to him. They engage in a dynamic conversation, coming to know one another directly. All that Job lost is restored a hundredfold. But, better than that, Job has come to know the Lord directly, and the Lord has come to know Job.
Satan, our self-centered selves, is a witness against us. When we come before the Lord, the all-knowing consciousness, we bring this accuser with us.
Another example of this is found in the Old Testament Book of Zechariah, when Joshua is presented to the Lord. "... Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?’ Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments, and the angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Remove the filthy garments from him.’ And to him he said, ‘Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with festal robes.’"(Zech. 3:1-4) Later, the Lord says, "I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day."(Zech. 3:9) And a little later, the Lord says this is accomplished "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit."(Zech. 4:6) The garments of our consciousness are soiled from our self-centered activities and thoughts, but the spirit can and will cleanse them in a moment, and rebuke the accuser in our minds.
Perhaps the clearest example of the need to rid our consciousness of the accuser is found in the Revelation. The Revelation is more than a book of prophecy; it is an insight into the very nature of our inner passage into full God-consciousness. As the Cayce readings put it: "The Revelation ... is a description of ... thy own consciousness...."(#1473-1) "Why, then, is it presented, ye ask, in the form of symbols? These are for those that were, or will be, or may become, through the seeking, those initiated into an understanding of the glories that may be theirs if they will but put into work, into activity, that they know in the present. ... These [the symbols] represent self; self’s body-physical, self’s body-mental, self’s body-spiritual...."(#281-16)
Earlier in this study, a scene from the Revelation was described in which the divine pregnant woman is striving to be delivered of her heavenly baby. Swirling about her is a red dragon.(Rev. 12:3-4) This dragon is the full grown serpent of the Garden, Satan, the accuser (Rev. 20:2, "...the dragon, the serpent of old, which is the devil and Satan."). It is the self-seeking aspect of our being. It is ready to devour our new consciousness in a belly of self-doubt and self-condemnation. But the archangel Michael, the Lord and Protector of the Way (also an aspect of our being), fights with this dragon and drives it out of heaven, out of our higher consciousness. Then, a loud voice from heaven (our higher consciousness) cries out,
"Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed One have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"(Rev. 12:10-12)
We must drive out of our minds this accuser, this self-doubt, this self-condemning influence, if we are to fully regain God-consciousness. Our consciousness will rejoice when it is done, for now our divine feminine can safely deliver our spiritual nature.
Jesus and God-Consciousness
The life of Jesus connects deeply with these stages in the regaining of God-consciousness, and it wouldn’t be going too far to say that he initiated them.
Perhaps the main contribution of his life was to serve as the pattern for being connected with God-consciousness. Having lost that connection ourselves, we were very weak in the area of spirit, but growing strong in the areas of the physical and the mental. We needed help regaining the spiritual influences and consciousness. Cayce puts it this way:
"One finds self a body, a mind, a soul; each with its own attributes and its activity in the earth. An entity, then, is a pattern of that which is also a spiritual fact; Father, Son, Holy Spirit. These are one, just as an individual entity is one. An entity, then, is the pattern of divinity in materiality, or in the earth. As man found himself out of touch with that complete consciousness of the oneness of God, it became necessary that the will of God, the Father, be made manifested, that a pattern be introduced into man’s consciousness. Thus the son of man came into the earth..."(#3357-2)
Jesus taught us much about the way of spirit in responding to others and to situations that arise. In relation to casting out the witness against us, he showed us that to be free of that influence, we need only cease doing any accusing ourselves. Coming into a society that held only negative feelings towards lepers, prostitutes, foreign soldiers, and tax-collectors, he accepted and loved them all. He showed us that the way of spirit lies not in trying to eliminate in ourselves (and others!) whatever the accuser might point to. Instead, he taught us to love one another and ourselves and to subdue the accuser’s voice of condemning judgment.
Even at the end of his life, Jesus was teaching us about strengthening our connection with spirit. The crucifixion is symbolic of much more than restitution for sin. In its deepest meaning it is the way to resurrection. Let’s take a closer look at the significant activities and discussions leading up to and following the crucifixion.
It begins at the Last Supper. That Passover night and meal has its origins in ancient Egypt on the night the Angel of Death came upon all incarnate beings in Egypt, exempting only those who had the blood of the lamb upon the doorpost of their house (Ex. 12:12-13 -- symbolic of the doorpost of their consciousness). This freed the seekers from bondage to the ruler of Earth, allowing them to go to the Mount of God and the Promised Land.
So, now, Jesus and his disciples relive this moment, breaking bread and sharing wine together -- symbols of breaking flesh and shedding blood. As the evening unfolds, Jesus becomes troubled. He says, "And now my soul is troubled because my hour has come upon me. And what should I do? Call to my Father in heaven and ask Him to deliver me from this hour? No, for this hour have I come."(John 12:27-28) Yet, a few hours later in the garden he is troubled again, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death... Abba (literally, "Papa"), Father, all things are possible to Thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what Thou wilt."(Mark 14:34-36) This is the outer man wrestling with the great transition from self-determined, physical man to God-centered, spiritual man. The physical, outer, earthy self does not inherit the kingdom of heaven.(1 Cor. 15:50)
The spiritual, inner, heavenly self inherits the kingdom. Thus, the deep meaning behind the ancient Hebrew concept of the blood-sacrifice relates directly to the subjugation of flesh to the spirit. Breaking through the flesh encasement (shedding the blood) yields the spirit and gives it its rightful place as the dominant, true self. As the process is completed, the physical self cries, "Why hast thou foresaken me?"(Matt. 27:46) But the intuitive soul says, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit,"(Luke 23:46) and gives up the flesh life for the spirit life. Now we enter into the tomb, the cave, the coffin -- death, sleep and the dark unconscious. Then, by the unseen powers of the Spirit, we rise again, reborn. Only now we are predominantly spiritual beings manifesting physically, rather than physical beings with spiritual attributes.
As Job was restored a hundredfold, as Jesus came again to eat fish and honey with his disciples on the beach after his resurrection, and all that was lost in the Genesis Garden was regained in the "new heaven and new earth"(Rev. 21:1) of the Revelation. So will we be restored. The Tree of Life, the Water of Life, and the new dwelling will be given to us to "take freely."(Rev. 22:1-5 and 22:17)
In the ancient Egyptian temple of the Great Pyramid, the coffin in the upper chamber is empty. When the women came to anoint Jesus’ body, they found that the tomb held no decaying body. All initiates of the ancient mystery schools were taught there is no death. That is, there is no death when the spirit is present and predominant.
When we lay aside our personal, earthly, physical interests -- even though we feel "forsaken" -- and commend ourselves into God’s hands (the Spirit’s life-giving and wisdom-giving power), we rise up again, a new person, one with God, God-conscious again -- fully integrating body, mind, soul and spirit and attuning them to the Great Spirit, the Elohiym, God. Now what was separated is rejoined. What was lost is found. What was dead, lives. This is spiritual breakthrough.
"Dost thou seek to enter into the glories of the Father? Whosoever will may come, may take of the water of life freely -- even as flows from the throne of the Lamb. ...If ye will accept, the blood cleanses from all unrighteousness. Saves self from what? To what are ye called? To know that only from the falling away of self may ye be saved -- unto the glorifying of self in Him may ye be saved. Then, whosoever will, come!"(#281-16)
-END
Teaching
3 Dec 2012 - 3:25pm
Spiritual Mysticism ~ God-Consciousness
By, John Van Auken
edgarcayce.org/ps2/mysticism_god_conscousness.html
OUR NATURE
Spirit and Soul
There is a subtle but significant distinction between spirit and soul. Spirit, as we have just reviewed, is associated with the wind, while soul corresponds to the breath. The spirit, like the wind, is universal and free; whereas the soul, like the breath, is more individual and contained. They are similar, both being air. As the wind moves by one’s nostrils, it can be inhaled and become personal breath. In the first chapter of Genesis, we read that God created adam in Its image (spirit). In chapter two, the "Lord God" (Yewah Elohiym) creates adam again by breathing the breath of life into him/her, and he becomes "a living being [soul]" (Gen. 2:7). Notice how the "spirit [wind] of God" first created us in Its image, and later, we became living souls by the "breath" of the Lord God. Spirit is the wind; soul is the breath. One is more universal, the other is more individual. In the Cayce readings, the spirit is the life force, while the soul is that unique portion of each entity that is the sum total of all the entity has done with its gift of life. Soul is our unique story, our individualness.
Additionally, spirit is considered unchanging, whereas soul is developmental. The soul grows, learns, and becomes the companion to God. The spirit is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. It is life -- eternal, unchanging life. Spirit is also considered the source of wisdom. When St. John says he is "in the spirit," he is referring to a process whereby he awakens to and attunes to the more spiritual aspect of his being; then, in turn, attunes that to the essence of all life, the Collective Spirit (Elohiym). Understanding this is helps us breakthrough to the spiritual.
Flesh
As we enter the earth realm, another quality is added to our composition -- flesh. This adds blood to the metaphor of wind and breath. Now blood must permeate the lungs to get life from the breath, soul, which, in turn, gets its life from the wind, spirit.
Flesh (or our identification with it) is that portion of our being that separates us most from God. At one point during the great fall in Genesis, God says, "My spirit will not always be with man, for he is flesh" (Gen. 6:3). God is not flesh. God is spirit. In order to fully know God, one must break through to the spirit. And, when "the great and terrible day of the Lord" comes (Joel 2:31), it is terrible precisely because unspiritualized flesh will have little part in it. Those who have not regained some sense of their spiritual selves will be in anguish over their fleshness. Jesus described it to his disciples as, "weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 24:51).
Let’s review the story of creation, our beginnings.
Our Genesis
In the beginning God creates us in Its own image, "Let us make man [adam] in our image, after our likeness.... So God created man [adam] in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."Gen. 1:26-27 In this verse the Hebrew word for man is "adam." This word is often translated as "reddish" or "ruddy," but it also means "persons" or "people" collectively, and can mean an "indefinite someone." It is important to note in this verse that adam is male and female in one, androgynous. It is not until later when the "Lord God" creates adam "out of the dust of the earth," in other words, in the flesh, that these parts are separated. When this occurs, the name "adam" takes on the meaning we most commonly associate with this word, "ruddy" or "red," resulting from the blood in flesh.
It is important to realize that adam was first made in the image of God, which we know is not flesh, but spirit, female and male in oneness, unconscious and conscious united. Then, symbolized by the changing of the name of the creator from "God" to "Lord God" and, subsequently, to simply "Lord," we see the descent from direct God-consciousness to self-consciousness ("God" is the name in Chapter 1 of Genesis, "Lord God" begins in Chapter 2 and carries on until the name is changed to "Lord" in Chapter 4.). This is the descent from pure spirit to spiritualized flesh to disconnected flesh, at which time death takes hold. Understanding this helps us breakthrough to the original consciousness and condition.
Another important point about this creation is that it is a group creation, not just the creation of one famous person. "Adam" at this stage of the creation is referring to an original group of souls created by God in God’s image, and subsequently made in spiritualized flesh by the Lord God, then into mortal flesh by the Lord. According to the Cayce readings, the souls, those godlings within the One God, entered the earth in five places, five nations, five races; in one they were called "Adam," and this is the story of those souls, (#900-227, 364-9 & -13).
At this point in Genesis, God has created everything in thought, in the mind of God, but not physically -- all existed in God’s consciousness. This is symbolized in the passage that comes after the seven days of creation: "Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth [physically], and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God [note the name change] had not sent rain upon the earth; and there was no man [in flesh] to cultivate the ground" (Gen. 2:4-15). Yet, we know the heaven, earth and Adam had been created. The author is trying to convey to us that they had been created only in the mind of God not in form.
The original creation occurred in God’s infinite consciousness. This was our natural home before entering the flesh. It is what is spoken of in Jesus’ prayer to God, "And now, glorify Thou me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was" (John 17:5). And it is that realm spoken of when Jesus says to us, "I go to prepare a place for you ... that where I am there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going" ( John 14:2-4). Now, like many of us who are so much into physical consciousness, the disciple Thomas challenges this statement, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How do we know the way?" But we do know the way. Deep within us is our true nature.
Deep within us we remember the original home, and we know the way. Each of us was there in the beginning. Each of us was originally created in the image and likeness of God. Within us that original nature lives and intuitively knows its way home. As Jesus said, "No one ascend to heaven but he who has already descended from it, even the Son of Man."
Female and Male
As we touched on earlier, ancient teachings hold that the One is composed of two aspects: that of the dark -- meaning unseen, deep, and from out of which comes the other aspect, light -- meaning seen, present and active. In the Eastern philosophies the terms "yin" and "yang" are used to express these characteristics. Yin is a feminine principle, yang a masculine one.
If we simply look objectively at the physical bodies of a female and male (the ultimate manifestation of these two aspects), we see the reflection of their innate qualities. A female’s sexual organs are deep within her torso, a male’s outside his. A female body has more inner processes than a male, such as menstrual cycles, conception, gestation, and milk production. The female reflects the characteristics of the inner aspect of God. Thus she is a reflection of the dark, unknown, unseen, unmanifested God, the yin. She represents the unconscious, sleep, and "Night" in Genesis, thus, "the Moon and the Stars." This would also imply that the feminine is the wind, the spirit, especially since she is the conceiver, the "life-giver" (Hebrew: "Chavvah"). On the other side, the male reflects the characteristics of the outer, manifested God. Thus, he is a reflection of the active, changing, personal, present God. He represents the conscious, wakefulness; "Day" in Genesis, thus the Sun. He is the "tiller of the soil," the doer, the conquerer. This would also imply that he is then the reflection of the breath, the soul, especially since he is the changing, developing "doer." Our original nature was composed of both these aspects in one being, but soon these were to be separated.
Separation of the Sexes
Our fall from the original place of being is allegorically presented as the separation of the sexes and the eating of the "Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," (Gen. 2:17) which symbolizes consuming knowledge without understanding. The Cayce readings state it this way, "...seek not for knowledge alone. For, look -- LOOK -- what it brought Eve. Look rather for that wisdom which was eventually founded in she [Mary] that was addressed as ‘the handmaid of the Lord’..."
Because of our continued pull toward self-consciousness, we lose God-consciousness and descend into the narrow realm of the physical world. In Genesis 2:7, not God, but the "Lord God" creates us again, after the seven days of creation. This time we are created in spiritualized, physical form. "Then the Lord God formed man [adam, still male and female in one] of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being [physically]"(Gen. 2:7).
The author of Genesis tells us that now that man became flesh, he/she was so separated from the spiritual realm and God, that he/she was lonely. As the Lord God observes, "It is not good that the man [adam] should be alone; I shall make him a helper fit for him"(Gen. 2:18-20). Lord God brought all the creatures of the earth before Adam, but there was none found companionable with this god-man in flesh. We were truly out of our natural element; as Jesus said, we are "not of this world"(John 15:19). But, having made the descent from heaven, we now had to find a better way to live in the physical realm.
Therefore, the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the androgynous man, and while he slept took one of his ribs (The Hebrew word for "rib" could also be translated "side," as in "a side of beef," "a rib of beef." "Side" is the more correct word for this passage.) and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man"(Gen. 2:21-23).
In this deep sleep, the Lord God went into the inner places of the god-man and separated the two parts, bringing out one side of the whole being. These two sides could now be true help-meets one to the other. In Adam’s poetic verse, the word "Man" is no longer "adam" but "ish," meaning male. The word "Woman" is "ishshah," meaning female. They that were one in "adam" are now separated into "ish" and "ishshah," man and woman. The male retained the name "Adam" and the female was called "Chavvah," meaning "life-giver." Eventually, she was named "Eve," meaning "mother of all."
As the great depth psychologist Carl Jung noted, we are only expressions of part of ourselves. If we project the masculine, then the feminine is in the unconscious. If we project the feminine, then the masculine is in the unconscious. To be whole, we must all get in touch with our other portion.
Separation from God
In the beginning, adam represented the spirit-soul entity. This entity was, and remains, that portion of our being that is the companion to God. It is both male and female, and is in the image of God. We were composed of spirit (God), individualness (soul), and free-will (the gift of God). However, as we children of God used free-will to experience the infinite realms of the Cosmos, we became increasingly self-conscious, losing much of our God-consciousness. Eventually, some of us, not all, descended into the earth, the third dimension, and entered flesh. This required that we be made again in the flesh. Thus, we were formed out of the dust of the earth and our twin aspects were divided into yin and yang, male and female. We were naked, but at first our nakedness was not known to us and the Lord God did not call it our attention (Gen. 2:25).
The Fall
The Lord God had commanded adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, saying "for in the day you eat from it, you shall surely die"(Gen. 2:17). Up to this point, we were immortal beings, in the image of the immortal God. However, the further we moved from consciousness of our connectedness with the Eternal One, the more we lost connectedness to the source of Life. Adam and Eve began to live too completely in the flesh, losing touch with the life-giving Spirit. They began to reverse the flow of the Life Force, the élan vital, bringing it further into self-consciousness. This became so acute that, according to the Cayce readings, we actually experienced a death of the spirit (#281-33). To put it another way, we died to the spiritual influence.
Another significant piece to this puzzling death was the growth of something other than God.
Self and the Serpent
The serpent in the Garden represents SELF. It is self without regard for the Whole or for other beings. It is the self that seeks self-gratification, self-glorification, self-aggrandizement, self-centeredness. But in order for the potential companions of God to be true companions, they had to have a strong sense of self. As the Cayce readings state it: "That he may know himself to be himself and yet one with the Father [the Creator]"(#815-7). Therefore, despite the dangers inherent in the development of self-consciousness, it was allowed because it was and remains the way to full realization of our role as divine companions. Yet, it often becomes a stumbling block.
The serpent, "more subtle than any other creature the Lord God had made,"(Gen. 3:1) symbolizes two aspects of our being: 1) the life force, the kundalini; and, 2) the self (especially when it is not cooperating with the Whole).
In the Garden, our selfness (the serpent) convinces the two other aspects of our consciousness (Adam and Eve) that they could safely ignore God’s guidance, and would not die, as God had stated. This resulted, though, in a further turning of consciousness and, with it, the life force was moved downward and outward -- symbolized by the serpent’s coming out of the tree and crawling on the ground.
Adam, Eve and the serpent (all aspects of ourselves) fall from grace and lose the comfort of the garden. The Tree of Life, symbolizing immortality, is now protected from us, so we don’t become eternal terrestrial beings when we are meant to be eternal celestial beings. Now we enter the cycle of life and death.
This is further symbolized in Eve’s conception of two beings: Cain and Able. Cain literally means the "acquired" one (our forming egos). Abel means "a breath," or soul -- our spiritually aware selves (Gen. 4). Of course, God favors the offerings of our souls more than our egos, as symbolized in Abel’s offering as opposed to Cain’s. However, Cain (ego) is angered by this and kills Abel (soul). Yet, when the Lord comes to Cain, He says, "Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is couching at the door [of your consciousness]; its desire is for you, but you must master it"(Gen. 4:6-7).
This is the great call to us. Yes, self-consciousness is dangerous. It may lead to self-centeredness and loss of union with the Whole. But it is such a wonderful gift that it is worth the trials. We simply must, as the Lord God said in the Garden, "Subdue the earth [i.e., our self-centered urges]"(Gen. 1:28). And, as the Lord said to our Cain-self, "You must master it (self will)." By gaining control over this powerful gift, we will come to know ourselves to be ourselves and yet one with the Whole.
Teaching
3 Dec 2012 - 3:15pm
Spiritual Mysticism ~ God-Consciousness
By, John Van Auken
edgarcayce.org/ps2/mysticism_god_conscousness.html
.
.
Spiritual breakthrough is about God-consciousness. The goal is to reach a level of consciousness that allows us to be as aware of God as of ourselves. Imagine being as aware of God as we are of ourselves. This is the breakthrough we seek. But it is a difficult goal to realize. One of the greatest seekers of God-consciousness, the late Edgar Cayce teaches: "Remember there is no shortcut to a consciousness of the God-force. It is part of your own consciousness, but it cannot be realized by the simple desire to do so. Too often there is the tendency to want it and expect it without applying spiritual truth through the medium of mental processes. This is the only way to reach the gate. There are no shortcuts in metaphysics. Life is learned within self. You don’t profess it, you learn it" (8092-1).
Spiritual breakthrough is about God-consciousness. The goal is to reach a level of consciousness that allows us to be as aware of God as of ourselves. Imagine being as aware of God as we are of ourselves. This is the breakthrough we seek. But it is a difficult goal to realize. One of the greatest seekers of God-consciousness, the late Edgar Cayce teaches: "Remember there is no shortcut to a consciousness of the God-force. It is part of your own consciousness, but it cannot be realized by the simple desire to do so. Too often there is the tendency to want it and expect it without applying spiritual truth through the medium of mental processes. This is the only way to reach the gate. There are no shortcuts in metaphysics. Life is learned within self. You don’t profess it, you learn it" (8092-1).
Seekers of God-consciousness may include many more people than we imagine. Edgar Cayce considered people from many different backgrounds as true seekers of God-consciousness. He actually identifies certain biblical names and terms as codes for something much broader than we normally consider. As in the following quote: "This is the meaning, this should be the understanding to all: Those that seek are Israel. ‘Think not to call thyselves the promise in Abraham. Know ye not that the Lord is able to raise up children of Abraham from the very stones?’ So Abraham means call; so Israel means those who seek. How obtained the supplanter [Jacob] the name Israel? He wrestled with the angel, and he was face to face with seeking to know His way. So it is with us that are called and seek His face -- We are Israel!" (#262-28; also, #5377-1)
In order to understand the nature of this breakthrough, we need to be familiar with our god-seeking heritage. Jews, Christians and Moslems all trace their heritage to Abraham and include the biblical stories in their religious literature. Let’s review some great Bible stories and teachings, using Edgar Cayce’s insights to help us gain a deeper understanding of the grand vista of God, man and woman, and God-consciousness.
Two Keys to Understanding Biblical Stories
In order to understand the mystical messages in the Bible, we need to keep two principles in mind as we read it.
First, the Bible is not only a historical record of a specific group of people, but is also an allegory for each individual soul’s journey. It is a vision into the passages that each soul goes through in its quest for full enlightenment and eternal life. Therefore, when we read we should try to receive the stories as though they were personal insights and messages for ourselves, recalling our own past and foreshadowing our future. How can this be our past when we have only lived a short while? Because our souls have been alive from the beginning. As Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:56-58). So too were we alive. In the Cayce discourses we find many supporting examples of this truth. Here are a few examples:
"The entity was in the beginning, when the Sons of God came together to announce to Matter a way being opened for the souls of men, the souls of God’s creation..."(#2156-2).
"In the beginning ... when the morning stars sang together, and the whispering winds brought the news of the coming of man’s indwelling ... and man became the living soul -- the entity came into being with this multitude" (#294-8 (#294 is Edgar himself).
"For in the beginning, God said, ‘Let there be light.’ You are one of those sparks of light, with all the ability of Creation, with all the knowledge of God" (#5367-1).
The Bible stories are our stories. We should read them as personal stories.
Second, the Bible contains not only the records of physical activities, it also contains metaphors of inner-life passages that occur as one awakens to "the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). When a seemingly outer physical activity is described in a Bible story, let’s consider what it might mean to our inner process of spiritual breakthrough -- as though it were a dream, carrying a message behind the outer story. The physical becomes symbolic of something deeper and, as a dream or parabole, it requires intuitive interpretation.
With these concepts in mind -- namely, that the stories and teachings are personal and about inner-life processes -- let’s review some of the key stories in the Old and New Testaments. This background is important to our fuller understanding of the spiritual breakthrough process.
THE NATURE OF GOD
The Collective
Genesis begins, "In the beginning God ("Elohiym") created the heavens and the earth. The Hebrew word "Elohiym" is a plural noun for "Deity." The use of the plural form reflects the collective, wholistic nature of God. When Elohiym speak, "they" refer to themselves in the plural, such as: "Let us make him in our image, according to our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). Thus, Elohiym is not a singular, supreme entity separate from the creation. God is the Collective, composed of the created ones while at the same time their source. We actually contribute to the composition of God. That is not to say that we compose all of God’s being, but simply to say that a portion of God’s being is us.
This truth is expressed in many of the Cayce readings. In one example, Cayce encourages one seeker to come to know that not only God is God but self is a portion of that Oneness (#900-181).
As Jesus explained to Philip, "He who has seen me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does His works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me; or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves" (John 14:8-11). There was simply no way that Jesus could show the Father separate from himself. We and God are one. Again, we are not all of God’s being, but we compose a portion of God and are ourselves composed of God. This is why the author of Genesis had to use the word "Elohiym."
Some modern religious people do not like this concept and criticize as a chief characteristic of the New Age movement. The same criticism was leveled as Jesus during His time. The religious authorities could not accept that any man was so closely connected with God. It simply gave everyone their own direct line to God, requiring little of the authorities. But, as the Lord said in Jeramiah, He does not want anyone between Him and His created, no priest, no teachers. The Lord wants to teach each one of us directly. As Jesus asked, "Why do you get angry with me because I say that I am the son of God? Do not the scriptures say that you are gods?" Which of course psalm 46 does state. We are gods within the great God.
Obviously, we are not fully conscious of this, and through this study we will discover why. Let’s continue with the nature of God and the Beginning.
The Dark and the Light
In ancient teachings, God is composed of two aspects, a passive, impersonal quality and a dynamic, personal quality. The Genesis verse, "darkness was upon the face of the deep,"(Gen. 1:2) refers to the first aspect of God. It is passive, quiet, impersonal, never changing and vast beyond imagining. "The deep" is a beautiful term to use for this aspect of God. Imagine was God’s consciousness is like, and then select words to describe it. I don’t think we could come up with a much better term than "the deep." The Genesis author also associates it with "darkness." But this is not in darkness in the sense of evil, rather in the sense of unknown, unseen, unmanifested.
This line is then followed by, "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters"(Gen. 1:2; but no water had been created yet, so this may be interpreted as the "waters" of the deep, dark, infinite consciousness). The "Spirit of God," especially when it’s moving, refers to a dynamic aspect of God. This is the Creator. It is personal, conscious, present and knowable. It communicates with man throughout the scriptures.
This dynamic aspect of God says, "Let there be light,"(Gen. 1:3, EC #1947-3) a metaphor for consciousness. It is the Logos. And the light, or consciousness, was good, and was separated from the darkness, or unconsciousness. The darkness is subsequently called "Night," symbolizing the deep stillness of the unconscious. The light is called "Day,"(Gen. 1:4-5) symbolizing the seen and the active. Following this pattern, an ancient Hebrew day began at sundown, recalling that darkness was before light, unconsciousness before consciousness, night before day, sleep before wakefulness.
When we are too much in the life of the Day, we are out of balance. Unconsciousness and the stillness of the Night are equally important to our health and well-being. Sleep, rest, the inward nature of prayer and meditation, and our stillness while listening are as important to us as wakefulness, activity and speaking. This is expressed by the Psalmist as, "Day unto day pours forth speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge"(Psa. 19:2). Our going in to our inner consciousness and our coming out to our outer consciousness is the balance of the inner places and unseen forces with the outer places and seen forces. We, as portions of God, are composed of both, and need to have these in balance.
Spirit
It’s important that we understand "spirit" since it is key to our breakthrough. "Ruwach" is the Hebrew word used here. It literally means "wind," as in "the spirit [wind] of God moved upon the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2 ). Wind is a poetic expression for the unseen force behind a manifested condition. We see the leaves and branches of a tree move and we know the unseen wind is the cause. As Jesus says to Nicodemus, "the wind blows where it will, and you hear the sound of it but do not know from where it comes or to where it goes; so is everyone who is born of the spirit"(John 3:8).
In Jesus’ discussion with the woman at the well, he says "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit...."[John 4:24 (The New Testament was originally written in Greek. The Greek word for spirit is "pneuma," which primarily indicates the wind or air, as does the Hebrew word of the Old Testament, "ruwach.")] The one, great Spirit is composed of our spirits, and true worship, or attunement, is achieved by "moving" into the spirit, as opposed to being predominantly conscious in the body and the mind. The disciple John begins his recording of the Revelation with, "I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day..." (Rev. 1:10). The Cayce discourses also speak to this important principle, "For the image in which man was created is spiritual, as He thy Maker is spiritual."
Throughout the Old Testament, the Spirit of God brings two great gifts: life and wisdom. In Job, Elihu acknowledges that the Spirit has given life to us when he says, "the Spirit of God hath made me" (Job 33:4). God’s Spirit gives life to all, including minerals, plants and animals. Where there is Spirit, there is life.
The Spirit’s wisdom-giving power is expressed again by Elihu when he says to Job, "It is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand" (Job 32:8-9). We also see how the spirit is known to bring wisdom when Pharaoh, after being astonished by Joseph’s wisdom, asks his counsellors, "Can we find such a man as this, in whom is the spirit of God? Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are" (Gen. 41:38-39). And in Jesus’ hours before the crucifixion, he teaches that when he departs from the earth, the Holy Spirit will come and "teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance" ( John 14:26, 16:13). Where there is spirit, there is wisdom.
God, therefore, is collective, containing all and within all. It is unconscious and conscious. It is spirit and, as such, gives life and wisdom.
By the way, when I use the neutral pronoun "It" for God, it is because I simply cannot convey the correct impression of God by using either of the other two pronouns in our language, "he" or "she." God contains both the feminine and masculine. God is both Mother and Father. Further, God is not nearly so personal as the he/she pronouns imply. God is not a person, as we would think of a person. Therefore, "It" is, to my mind, the best pronoun. Of course, if I were true to the author of Genesis, I’d use "They," in keeping with the plural noun Elohiym. And though I truly believe "They" is an excellent pronoun for God, it does at times become awkward and tends to cause us to think of God as many, when God is one. "Hear, Oh Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 6:4). Therefore, "It" will have to do.
Blog entry
2 Dec 2012 - 10:10pm
In the bible Jesus says that many spirits have gone into the earth and to beware of deception.I believe Jesus or Yeshua or Yeshia, or Emmanuel was one of us, and by us I mean a light worker. I believe he was human but was born at a very high vibrational level and so he was without "sin" meaning he was powerful and disciplined enough from birth to aviod human temptation,counteract negative emotion and things of that sort. I believe he was sent here on a mission, to spread truth, and also on a deeper mission that most do not fully understand, to farther the divine plan for our planet.
In my opinion the bible, among other ancient text, are all full of truth; Historically, philosophicaly, and otherwise. From my own experience the bible is a "book of God". It has everything in it:accurate history, personally relatable stories and verses, prophecy that is actual being fulfilled, Spiritual truth, sacred knowledge about early history, creation, and even earth cycles, cycles in history that are repeating themselves, specific days and months to observe certain activities that align with the earth, numerology, not to mention very secret very revealing codes, and even syncroncities that reveal a deeper truth about our earth reality.
I believe that the bible was not written and put together by accident or by humans with an evil plan but by the universe itself through its infintely dynamic organizational power using humans, along with other beings, and influence of the higher realms. I believe it was given to us as a guide and we really should take another, much deeper look at it, and intergrate what it teaches.
Now, having said that. I have been experiening some very interesting phenomena lately, that I would like to get you guys' opinion on. (If you have a differing or like opinion on Yeshia, or the bible please feel free to message me or comment) So, about three years ago I had my awakening moments and began seeking truth. 6 months after that I had my first encounter with my higher self, and about 4 months later I was introduced to lightworkers.org. After calling on very many spiritual guides and exepting them into my life to assist me in guidance, I experienced fairly extensive trials, gaining knowledge, wisdom, and much inner strength emotionaly, and mentaly.
During the first part of this journey I had sort of gotten away from the church, and from the bible a little. Eventualy though I was led to a much deeper knowledge of some aspects of the bible and began going to church again to hear the sermons and take in the parts that I felt truth in. For whatever reason, since awakening, I have felt a very strong connection to Yeshia(A name for "Jesus" that I have recently discovered to be more accurate and then "Jesus") and sometimes when things were a struggle, i'd go down to the alter during the alter call. I'd pray to the spirit of Jesus, and accept him into my heart,only with a slightly different intent than the believers around me.
I did this a over the years, and since then, overtime, it seems like my guidance and my guides have changed drastically. All of the sudden everything went from, new age unconditional love, be yourself, explore you lifes desires, be a unique co creator, to... love is conditional, super tight knit, be what we say you can be, and YOU HAVE NO POWER. They've begun saying things like, I'll be cut off from the grape vine if i'm not "fruitful". And that there will be some sort of judgment on me if i'm not fruitful and continue doing what they say.In church they teach that the "Holy spirit" is the only way to gain peace, wisdom, and to learn to aviod temptation.
I'm sure that the word "Holy spirit" can these days be subsituted with the higher realms,and the beings of those realms. I feel that having No Power means simply that we can't do anything on our own because we are not alone, and that it is only through the energy we share with the One that anything is possible. (What do you think? By the way I should explain that I dont believe that the bible has been mistranlated or tampered with in anyway. I think it is misinterpreted, and misunderstood, but the words have been placed divinely exactly where they need be through the all pervasive, and perfectly intelligent power of Source.)
I believe that we ourselves do have the power to aviod temptation, have peace, and gain wisdom, it's just we have to be shown first how to do so, and secondly, draw WILLINGLY from the uncondtionally loving beings 'above' guidance to renew our strength. (What do you think) I know that we have chosen to come here for certain experiences and that sometimes, when we are in a bind, our guides stand by and allow us to figure things out ourselves. And I think this is happening now.
I've read in a very informative Astral Projection book that all of our thoughts, individualy and collectively, are filtered and organized into the astral realms and become living energy there. It would seem the "spirit" of the church, and of the bible have entered into me experience somehow, and is now attempting to cause me to feel submissive and powerless, like some of the people of the church. The holy spirit of the bible is decribed to some extent, but I noticed it isn't given any sort of personality, or other "colorful" characteristics. This seems to be the spirit that the collective church mind set has created. It is numb, it has one directive and sticks to it no matter what. For some months now I've felt as though I'm walking a path with two walls on either side, with almost no room to turn or other passage ways.
This spirit doesnt seem to share the same respect, care, mercy or remorse, that you would expect from the higher beings we think of today. No matter what I say, ask, plead, or reason, or what the situation, it won't bend. In the New testament Yeshia describes the Holy Spirit as a comforter of sorts. This certainly fits the description of light beings we speak of now. But what I am experiencing brings discomfort far to much to be a comforter. I will say, that through this energetic experience I have gain much strength in many ways, and truly appreciate it. But it certainly has gotten to the point of being ridiculous. I want it gone! I would have called it off long ago but I did'nt know if it was my own guides or not. This energy, whatever it is seems to be some how meshed in with my guides so I cant tell whats what. Anyways enough is enough! What do you all think about this. Has any else heard of or experienced something like this in any way. What should i do to remove this energy from my life experience.
I would Love to here your opinions and what share your insights. Peace and Blessings. Thank you. -Jared
Teaching
2 Dec 2012 - 1:25pm
The Dogon, the Nommos and Sirius B
www.unmuseum.org/siriusb.htm
.
.
Artist's conception of the Dogon's legendary Nommos.
In Mali, West Africa, lives a tribe of people called the Dogon. The Dogon are believed to be of Egyptian decent and their astronomical lore goes back thousands of years to 3200 BC. According to their traditions, the star Sirius has a companion star which is invisible to the human eye. This companion star has a 50 year elliptical orbit around the visible Sirius and is extremely heavy. It also rotates on its axis.
This legend might be of little interest to anybody but the two French anthropologists, Marcel Griaule and Germain Dieterlen, who recorded it from four Dogon priests in the 1930's. Of little interest except that it is exactly true. How did a people who lacked any kind of astronomical devices know so much about an invisible star? The star, which scientists call Sirius B, wasn't even photographed until it was done by a large telescope in 1970.
The Dogon stories explain that also. According to their oral traditions, a race people from the Sirius system called the Nommos visited Earth thousands of years ago. The Nommos were ugly, amphibious beings that resembled mermen and mermaids. They also appear in Babylonian, Accadian, and Sumerian myths. The Egyptian Goddess Isis, who is sometimes depicted as a mermaid, is also linked with the star Sirius.
The Nommos, according to the Dogon legend, lived on a planet that orbits another star in the Sirius system. They landed on Earth in an "ark" that made a spinning decent to the ground with great noise and wind. It was the Nommos that gave the Dogon the knowledge about Sirius B.
The legend goes on to say the Nommos also furnished the Dogon's with some interesting information about our own solar system: That the planet Jupiter has four major moons, that Saturn has rings and that the planets orbit the sun. These were all facts discovered by Westerners only after Galileo invented the telescope.
The story of the Dogon and their legend was first brought to popular attention by Robert K.G. Temple in a book published in 1977 called The Sirius Mystery. Science writer Ian Ridpath and astronomer Carl Sagan made a reply to Temple's book, suggesting that this modern knowledge about Sirius must have come from Westerners who discussed astronomy with the Dogon priests. The priests then included this new information into the older traditions. This, in turn, mislead the anthropologists.
This is a possibility considering Sirius B's existence was suspected as early as 1844 and seen was through a telescope in 1862. It doesn't seem to explain a 400-year old Dogon artifact that apparently depicts the Sirius configuration nor the ceremonies held by the Dogon since the 13th century to celebrate the cycle of Sirius A and B. It also doesn't explain how the Dogons knew about the super-density of Sirius B, a fact only discovered a few years before the anthropologists recorded the Dogon stories.
It is also important to remember that although many parts of the Dogon legends seem to ring true, other portions are clearly mistaken. One of the Dogon's beliefs is that Sirius B occupied the place where our Sun is now. Physics clearly prohibits this. Also, if the Dogon believe that Sirius B orbits Sirius A every 50 years, why do they hold their celebrations every 60 years?
Sirius A is the brightest star in our sky and can easily be seen in the winter months in the northern hemisphere. Look for the constellation Orion. Orion's belt are the three bright stars in a row. Follow an imaginary line through the three stars to Sirius which is just above the horizon. It is bluish in color.
Sirius is only 8.6 light years from Earth. Astronomer W.Bessel was the first to suspect that Sirius had an invisible companion when he observed that the path of the star wobbled. In the 1920's it was determined that Sirius B, the companion of Sirius, was a "white dwarf" star. The pull of its gravity caused Sirius's wavy movement.
White dwarfs are small, dense stars that burn dimly. Sirius B is, in fact, smaller than the planet Earth. One teaspoon of Sirius B is so dense that it weighs 5 tons.
So did alien fish-men pay a visit to ancient Earth and give the Dogon their knowledge? Or was the Dogon's culture contaminated by western visitors? Or could the Dogon's have had ancient technical or non-technical means to find this information out? Or is the whole thing just a matter of coincidence?
The question maybe settled as larger and more powerful telescopes take a look at the Sirius system. According to the legend there is a third star: Sirius C, and it is around Sirius C that the home planet of the Nommos orbits. Most scientists do not consider any part of the Sirius system a prime candidate for life, though.
When Temple first issued his book in the 1970's there was no solid evidence of a Sirius C. In 1995, however, two French researchers, Daniel Benest and J.L. Duvent, authored an article in the prestigious journal Astronomy and Astrophysics with the title Is Sirius a Triple Star? and suggested (based on observations of motions in the Sirius system) there is a small third star there. They thought the star was probably of a type known as a "red dwarf" and only had about .05 the mass of Sirius B.
Book: The Sirius Mystery: New Scientific Evidence
book is aged, but holds relevant information
Teaching
1 Dec 2012 - 11:41am
Dialectical Monism
By Naturyl
naturyl.humanists.net/diamon.html
Overview
"Dialectical monism" is a synthesis of Eastern and Western metaphysical concepts. Like other ontological systems, it attempts to describe the world at a fundamental level. It is based on the idea that duality and unity are identical - unity always appears as duality, and duality is always reducible to unity.
The Heart Sutra, an important Buddhist text, offers a perspective which summarizes the view:
...Form Does not Differ From the Void, And the Void Does Not Differ From Form. Form is Void and Void is Form...
Varieties of Monism
In the parlance of philosophy, dialectical monism (hereafter referred to as "DM") is a neutral monism. In this sense, it is somewhat different from the two prevailing monisms of philosophical history - materialism and idealism. Materialism attempts to reduce all phenomena to matter and its properties, while idealism tends to view phenomena as some sort of mental constructs. Neutral monism, on the other hand, reduces phenomena to something else, a basic substrate thought to be more fundamental than either mind or matter, and giving rise to both. Neutral monism has taken a variety of forms and has been subject to a number of interpretations since its advent, but here we will talk about only those which are consistent with dialectical monism.
Problems With Other Monisms
When considering the need for something like dialectical monism, we must first briefly establish why the materialistic and idealistic monisms are unsatisfactory. For this purpose, a thorough study of the two is recommended, although such a task is well beyond the scope of this essay. At the risk of oversimplifying, we will only say here that the most critical flaw of traditional materialism is the incontrovertible fact that matter is not fundamental even in physical reality. Energy is prerequisite to matter, just as the "quantum field" or vacuum-potentiality is prerequisite to energy. Ultimately, matter reduces to a sort of "special nothingness," so a consistent materialism is not the common-sense position it is often imagined to be. The critical flaw can be summarized in the understanding that a modern (scientific) materialism fails to establish matter as fundamental.
It is generally agreed that idealism, on the other hand, suffers from even more grevious problems, none of which we will be able to give adequate treatment here. However, we might touch upon the most serious problems by asking "If all things reduce to mental constructs, what is the nature of the consciousness which gives rise to them?" All attempts to define "mind" meaningfully at this level of abstraction end in the appearance of another nebulous sort of "nothingness" not much different from the ultimate void of materialism, or else they require that we posit a "supreme being" of a conscious sort - i.e. "God." For reasons which should be clear to casual students of philosophy, both outcomes are commonly seen as unsatisfactory. For many emerging thinkers as well as a certain number of historical philosophers, neither materalism nor idealism will suffice.
Neutral Monism - A Middle Way
So what, then, are the advantages of a neutral monism? First and foremost among them must be the fact that such a view accords with reality as we observe it. Matter is not fundamental and reduces to still more diffuse states of being. Nor can mind be reasonably seen as fundamental, for if it were so, we would expect our reality to behave quite differently. If "mind" were the basis of existence, we would have to assume that a presumably unlimited consciousness inexplicably behaves precisely as if unthinking matter were the cause of its own arising. This "cosmic trick" would be an extraordinary assumption for which there is no extraordinary evidence. In truth, common materialism is a somewhat more attractive position than is traditional idealism, for it is in much greater accord with what we observe. Its primary flaw is that it does not dig deep enough. Materialism is a 19th century understanding of reality which ignores the fact that modern physics dissolves matter and even energy into a formless vacuum which is indistinguishable from nothingness, except that it has the potential to bring matter/energy into existence uncaused and unbidden. This quantum truth, although strange and surprising (at least to Westerners), demands consideration.
Sunyata
A neutral monism based on our modern understanding of reality must take into account the fact that the "potential-filled nothingness" described not only by Eastern philosophy but also by quantum mechanics is the bedrock of the world and is prerequisite to both matter and mind. Interestingly, we find that Buddhism has an ancient term for just such a concept -Sunyata - meaning "pregnant void." Please note that in recent years, it has been common to establish various connections between quantum mechanics and Eastern philosophy, and although we have continued that trend here, we are well aware of the excesses and distortions that have occured in past efforts of this nature. As far as we are able, we will be careful not to to overstretch analogies or suggest conclusions which are not in evidence. Although dialectical monism is a philosophical rather than a scientific position, is based on a deep respect for the methodological rigor of modern science. Being partially inspired by interpretations of modern physics, it stands to reason that if dialectical monism is not compatible with scientific knowledge, it is without lasting value. With that cautionary note in mind, let us proceed to elaborate the core argument.
In an earlier essay entitled Existential/Dialectical Principles, the author wrote:
"An infinite whole cannot possess finite qualities in and of itself. It may contain or encompass finite aspects within itself, but when taken as a totality, no finite qualities can be assigned to it. As a result, the only form which existence can take (in the ultimate sense) is the form of pure potential. Potential, unrealized, is infinite by nature - it is all possibilities with no defined outcomes. This unlimited potential, by necessity, brings about the constant change in form and structure we observe around us. This occurs due to the fact that the infinite must produce finite manifestations (such as our universe and its myriad forms), for if it were not so, there would be no true potential. Potential must be capable of actualizing, or it is not potential at all. If the ultimate sense of existence does not consist of pure potential, it consists of nothing at all, which constitutes non-existence, a violation of the second existential principle [establishing that non-existence cannot, by definition, exist]. Therefore, existence in the ultimate sense is not physical (for 'potential' is the opposite of 'actual'), but physicality must necessarily flow from it. This can be somewhat difficult to understand at first glance, but with due contemplation, the meaning becomes clear. The nature of existence is, by necessity, such that the infinite will always produce finite (physical) manifestations which are subject to the overriding principle of physicality, which can best be described as 'constant change.' This principle is most fundamental because if the finite (physical) were not subject to change, it would posess a quality of infinity and could no longer be called finite at all."
In the following paragraphs, we will explore the implications of these ideas.
The Creative Principle
Here we see why it should be that this Sunyata or "potential-filled nothingness" should bring forth anything at all. If it did not, it would not be pure potentiality but actual non-existence, which cannot exist (by definition). If this seems circular or trivial at first glance, consider the idea that we cannot call a state of undifferentiated potentiality "being," for nothing yet exists, and yet we cannot call it "non-being," for existence flows from it. We can only call it "becoming." Additionally, we can see the basis of dialectical monism outlined in full in the selected excerpt, which is interesting in light of the fact that that the author wrote the Existential/Dialectical Principles many months before independently conceiving of the terms "dialectical monism" and "universal dialectic." This may be taken as evidence that thought which is focused along similar lines will tend to proceed in a logical, sequential manner to arrive at certain eventual conclusions, which we will discuss in greater depth below.
In the quoted selection and its explanation above, it is suggested that the infinite must bring forth the finite, and in that sense is the finite. The absolute must bring forth the relative, and in that sense is the relative. In Eastern terms, the Tao must bring forth the Taiji (the union of yin and yang or "Universal Dialectic"), and in that sense the Tao is the Taiji. Readers who are sympathetic to this view may feel a certain sense of relief at this point, for a substantial measure of reality has been restored to the phenomenal world. The world of form we see around us is not maya (illusion), it is not a dream, it is not something to be escaped in favor of a "more real reality," and it is not a thing to be despised or rejected for religious or philosophical reasons. Nor is it, as the physical reductionists might maintain, nothing more than a collection of independent particles bumping about. Instead, it is the Infinite in the only form the Infinite can logically take. It is the Absolute expressed absolutely. It is "Nature Naturing," or, if you prefer, "Tao Taoing." The ultimate is not different from the mundane; they are a single reality seen from either perspective.
Reality Is What It Is
At first glance, one might worry that dialectical monism is yet another attempt to establish a metaphysical "Ultimate Reality" of the sort which somehow transcends the realm of everyday experience. Upon closer examination, however, it should become clear that dialectical monism actually establishes the opposite position. There is no "Ultimate Reality" that is not everyday reality, or (if one prefers), there is no everyday reality that is not "Ultimate Reality." The distinction is meaningless within the context of dialectical monism. There is One Reality, One Nature; we lose sight of this only because the monistic nature of reality can be perceived only in dualistic terms. Dialectical monism is a perspective which restores simplicity to ontology. In the spirit of Nagarjuna and his ruthless negative dialectic, it is a metaphysical system which does away with metaphysical systems.
"Universal Dialectic"
The concept of Universal Dialectic is an important element in our formulation of dialectical monism. It is formally defined as follows:
"The infinite, essential, and fundamental principle of evolutionary and/or progressive creation/change which actualizes all potential states of being through the self-organizing integration of complementary polarities. The process of Becoming, or existence."
In simpler terms, the Universal Dialectic is a term for the creative principle of existence. In this view, reality is neither "being" or "non-being" alone, but a process of Becoming which synthesizes both concepts. So, Universal Dialectic is a description of "how existence becomes." In this sense, it is simply an observation of how Nature works in the broadest sense. It is not a static, conceptual "Ultimate Reality" - rather, it is a description of the world's dynamic process.
Historical Roots
The concept of a Universal Dialectic is very old, although this particular terminology has not been widely used. The ancient Taoists called it Taiji, which translates to "Supreme Ultimate." It can be convincingly argued that philosophical Taoism is in fact a simple form of dialectical monism, ontologically speaking. All of the essential elements are present in the Taoist conception of yin and yang and the idea of Taiji. In addition, some forms of Buddhism, including the Mahayana and Zen traditions, appear to incorporate elements of dialectical monism, as indicated by our earlier excerpt from the Heart Sutra and by considerably more evidence available to the inquisitive researcher.
The Process of Nature
Universal Dialectic is a simple concept. It holds that because unity is expressed as duality, there is contradiction in nature, and that this contradiction produces complementary opposites which interact with each other, creating various new syntheses as a result of the interaction. One notable departure from most tradition Eastern thought (and an affirmation of Western influences) is seen in the idea that this process of creation is progressive, or "spiral shaped." This helps to explain why we seem to percieve a teleology (a direction of advancement or progression, or seemingly goal-directed behavior) in nature, even though there is no evidence of any conscious intent guiding the process. This concept of "naturalistic teleology" readily lends itself to contemporary progressive views, for it restores a satisfying sense of direction to history without reintroducing the various superstitious, faith-based elements long associated with such efforts. It also serves to remedy a chief objection to traditional Eastern views - that they offer only a vision of a cyclic, non-progressive universe with no concept analogous to evolution.
There is unity in all opposition or duality, due to the fact that all opposing polarities are ultimately united in the Universal Dialectic. The term itself gives evidence of what it is intended to mean - in all things there is a dialectic (a pairing of opposites), but this dialectic is itself universal (singular and infinite in scope). Again, we find that the essential theme is "unity in duality, duality in unity."
Conclusions
In light of the Universal Dialectic concept, we see that the problem of reconciling duality (expressed in dualism and pluralism) with oneness (expressed in monism) can be meaningfully resolved within the context of dialectical monism. The majority of metaphysical systems throughout history have found themselves forced to affirm the reality of one frame of reference at the expense of considering the other illusionary or ill-conceived. Some traditional ontologies (those of Indian and Oriental origin in particular) favor oneness, considering unity to be the "real reality," and duality to be illusory. Others consider the common-sense world of duality to be the only reality and reject any talk of unity or oneness as a case of overly-enthusiastic metaphysical abstraction. Dialectical monism shows that both positions settle for a half-truth. The solution offered is the recognition that unity is experienced as duality. There is no unity which does not manifest as duality, and there is no duality which does not reduce to unity. "Ultimate Reality" in the metaphysical sense is not different from "everday reality" in the pragmatic sense, and perhaps this is why the Zen master and the sage are said to spend their days "chopping wood and carrying water."
Teaching
1 Dec 2012 - 11:04am
The Ajah Warrior
ajahdharma.wordpress.com
AJAH IS ONE WHO IS ONE WITH THE SELF
Ignorance is an illusion, there is knowledge.
Passion is an illusion , there is serenity.
Chaos is an illusion, there is harmony.
Life, death, this is an illusion , there is truelly only Ajah.
Ajah is the silent hum of the om.
“he who seeks god finds himself, he who seeks the self finds god” -guru mooji
a liberated human being has realised ajah as his or her own true self .
beyond the senses, beyond the mind, beyond intelligence, beyond imagination.
“WHO HATH EARS,LET HIM HEAR” -JESUS the CHRIST
“IT IS TIME FOR US TO RISE FROM OUR SLEEP”
-ST. BENEDICT
“THE JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES BEGINNES WITH ONE STEP”
-LAO TZU
“ENLIGHTENMENT IS FREEDOM FROM THE EGO,NOT FOR THE EGO”
-GURU MOOJI
“HE WHO SEES ME, SEES THE TEACHING.
HE WHO SEES THE TEACHING, SEES ME.”
-BUDDHA
“TRUELY I SAY UNTO YOU, WHOSO EVER DOES NOT RECIEVE THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE A CHILD SHALL NOT ENTER IT”
-LUKE 18:12
“TRUTH IS ONE, SAGES KNOW IT BY MANY NAMES”
-RIG-VEDA
Aummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………
“DROWN ALL SOUND IN MY SILENCE,
TO HERE MY WORD OF WORDS.”
-MEHER BABA
Just remember it’s a grand illusion
And deep inside we’re all the same.
-Styx wisdom
What is it to be an Ajah? what is Ajah dharma?
The way of Ajah is the way of wisdom
Ajah Dharma
Namaste’
Ajah Dharma is a tradition which holds the view of Dialectal Monism. A principal cause of suffering in Ajah is the ego , the delusion of identifying oneself as an individual separate from the surroundings. From the ego arises the desires, pride, emotional attachments, anger, lust, etc., thus putting humans on the path of destruction. According to Ajah, the true nature of all humans is the same as God(Ajah), and everything that originates with God. The goal of a Ajah is to conquer the ego and realize one’s true nature or self, which is the same as God’s.
Everything is God the unborn, the ajah, the homogenous energy of entirety of everything. The realm of the one love.
Because of false association with ego-identity, us and them is percieved, and duality is seen. In this realm spirit(yang) and matter(yin) are percieved as seperate… we must reunite them through sacred knowledge. The realm of duality
the realm of all things, with no purpose and a percieved aloneness, arising from the ego confusing the sense of one-ness with alone-ness. This is a sad place to be and leads to desperation, depression, and spiritual decay
the Ajah is one who knows his oneness with God he roams the world like a deity
Ajah believe in one God. Which is the basis of all reality
Ajah teaches equality of all people. Ajah teaches that people of different races, religions, of sex or sexual orientation are all equal in the eyes of God, no matter what their dharma, whether they are a worker or a king. Ajah teaches the full equality of men and women.
Ajah emphasizes daily devotion to the remembrance of God. One should remember God at all times.
Ajah teaches religious freedom. All people have the right to follow their own path to God-realization without condemnation or coercion from others.
Ajah emphasizes a moral and ethical life. A Ajah should represent moral responsibility and righteousness.
Ajah teaches love & good will towards all beings
Ajah are supposed to practice wisdom, morality, and concentration.
Ajah is a name for God meaning “never born” or “unborn”
since everything is God, those who know this truth adopt the name Ajah,
for they know there oneness with God and of there inherent immortality.
Ajah constantly see the beauty of nature and the natural ways of mankind. To achieve a realization of Unity, they often reject modern western “society”, calling it Babylon, which is often understood as entirely corrupt, however it is also understood that this a duality of the mind. Babylon is considered to be a rebellion against Nature whom is one with Ajah or God..
Those who are asleep think they are dieing, because there bodies& minds are failing, but you are truelly spirit, the eternal. The one soul shared by all.
Ajah constantly see the beauty of nature and the natural ways of mankind. To achieve a realization of Unity, they often reject modern western “society”, calling it Babylon, which is often understood as entirely corrupt, however it is also understood that this a duality of the mind. Babylon is considered to be a rebellion against Nature whom is one with Ajah or God..
The Soul is likened to a drop of water, God is likened to a vast ocean, yet they are both water.
The Ajah is devoid of unreal pleasures. The real heart of this philosophy is the true love for Ajah- the cosmic spirit, whom is the highest joy. Ajah loves everything with the same intensity like his/her love for God. It is like unconditional love to all beings equally as he/she sees the world as the manifestation of the cosmic spirit. Nothing is seperate from Ajah. Every things around is Ajah in one form or other and he should passionately embrace it.
Ajah has always been, for all beings are Ajah, although absolute he is to be meditated on as dwelling within the center of your being. Ajah is also the name given to a spiritual warrior, one who combats the universal enemy: self-ignorance(ego) ultimate source of suffering, Those who are awake. The Spiritual Warrior is a person who challenges the dreams of fear, lies, false beliefs, and judgments that create suffering and unhappiness in his or her life. It is a war that takes place in the heart and mind of a man or woman. The quest of the Spiritual Warrior is the same as spiritual seekers around the world. The Spiritual Warrior faces this challenge with the clarity and awareness that this war is fought within himself and that Truth and unconditional love are on the other side of these battles.The Ajah, the spiritual warrior’s only complete and right practice is to compassionately teach the ways of wisdom, peace &understanding. The Ajah is one who studys, worships, serves, and use the mystical energy that is Ajah. To win the war against fear requires awareness, courage, discipline, and commitment to transform the emotional body. These are some of the characteristics of a Ajah warrior.
As a spiritual warrior the Ajah is, of course willing to fight for peace and justice when the goodness & peace is threatened, but remember, The Ajah fights only as a last resort. The Ajah trusts in God first and seeks other ways to resolve a situation: patience, logic, tolerance, attentive listening, negotiation, persuasion, calming techniques. The first and most vital tool of the Ajah warrior is awareness. It is easy to we think we are aware, but pure awareness has no thinking involved. It has no thinking because it has no interpretation. Awareness is to perceive with clarity the truth of what is happening without interpretation or opinion. In a moment of awareness the dialogue in the mind stops. We are “seeing” from a point or view separate from the reasoning part of our mind. This could be described as an epiphany. Practiced seer’s live in this awareness in every moment. Awareness is essential because it is the state of consciousness that allows us to discern between the facts and the Truth. Self awareness is the clarity to know who and what you are, and not get caught up in self important images of ourselves. These self important images in our mind distort our sense of who we are. False images can lead us to low self esteem and self confidence, or they can take us into being self centered. If you have an idea of who you are, then consider that you are not that idea in your mind. You are the one creating the idea, and observing it. Self awareness that you are not any of those images in your mind is essential to becoming free of self importance.
The Ajah warrior has the courage to question challenge his or her own beliefs. By challenging our own beliefs we can dissolve the lies that cause our suffering. To challenge our own beliefs requires courage because it means the end of our illusion of safety. Ajah warrior must have the discipline to practice deal with their own mind without someone else providing the motivation. An Ajah must exercise their own will at the command of their heart, not an outside authority figure. This often means going against the fearful opinions in our mind that tempt us with illusions of punishment and rewards. We must always have the discipline to follow our own heart.
.
The Ajah must love him self. The Ajah then extends that love to humanity. The commitment is required because in our journey we will certainly fumble and fall many times. It is in having a strong commitment that we get back up again. Discerning the will of God is often achieved through night-long “reasonings”, part theological debate, study session, & or part prayer meeting and meditation, which lead to a understanding of truth through realization of our union with Ajah. The mission of Ajah is to give people enlightenment for good judgment, personal growth, and self-awareness. May the exposure and immersion into philosophy, holy smoke, and the arts expand your perspectives and lift them beyond the limits of your own perceptions and culture.
Ajah behavior is to uphold self-discipline, responsibility, and love. The Ajah conquers emotions and materialism. The Ajah honor life, the One Force and the master-student relationship. Ajah offer aid to the weak; and compassion to all people. Rules of engagement with the one people include notions as understanding the good & bad in all things, learning to see accurately, opening one’s eyes to what was not evident and exercising caution, even in small, trivial matters. Above all Ajah uphold their duty to the world & embrace the One.
The AJAH OATH
As Sacred Ajah(God) as my witness,
I shall realize my oneness with the eternal spirit.
I shall merge all opposites of duality.
So that I may be a teacher
and protector of the one people.
With true love for Ajah.
I swear this, my holy pledge.
I declare I Am.
OM SHANTI.
Teaching
30 Nov 2012 - 12:48pm
Path of the Spiritual Warrior
By Eloise Hart
www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/51-01-2/xt-elo.htm
The phrase spiritual warrior seems a paradox, for how can a warrior be spiritual? And yet when we consider how warriors fight and often sacrifice their lives to preserve what they believe is right and to protect their family and country, we can understand why those who would advance spiritually are often portrayed as warriors. In India's epicMahabharata, for example, Arjuna was urged by his spiritual preceptor to take up arms against the forces of ignorance and fear. In the West, adventures of knights in shining armor still inspire us, as does the heroism of courageous men and women who, armed with virtue and high resolve, set out to vanquish oppression, protect the weak, and restore righteousness. Their "weapons" — charity, patience, an indomitable will, and an unfailing zeal not only to win their high purpose but to rescue others no matter the risks to themselves — had to be earned by conquering their own weaknesses and by developing their spiritual faculties.
How did they, and how can we, do this? Every religion sets out various rules: abstaining from slander and gossip, from lying, stealing, killing, and from wrong belief — in other words, by filling our minds and hearts with ennobling thoughts, and our days with deeds of kindness and love. Reginald Machell incorporated these ideas in his large (6' x 7-1/2') painting of The Path (reproduced below). In it he portrays with symbolic figures the conflicts and triumphs by which we can attain full spiritual self-consciousness. This condition is suggested by the Christlike figure whose head, in the upper triangle, is lost in the glory of the sun, and whose feet in the Waters of Space, in the lower triangle, indicate the unity of spirit and matter. His wings, filling the middle region, represent the motion or pulsation of cosmic life through which each individual advances to perfect humanhood. Encircling the whole picture, a great serpent of wisdom depicts the continuum of life and life's renewal during vast cycles of time.
Examining the painting in detail, we see that just above the lower triangle a child, standing beneath the wings of its foster mother (material nature), receives the equipment of knighthood: the sword of power, the spear of will, the helmet of knowledge, and the coat of mail whose links are forged of past experience. Near the top of the painting is winged Isis, the Mother or Oversoul of all life. Her outspread wings veil the Supreme from all below. Dimly seen beneath her is a circle of golden figures who welcome with joy the triumph of a pilgrim who reaches the Supreme and then turns back to aid those wandering below. Beneath him is the red ring of Guardians who strike down those who do not have the "password," symbolized by the white flame rising from the heads of purified aspirants. Two children, representing purity, pass up unchallenged. In the center of the painting we see a warrior who has slain the dragon of illusion, or the lower self, advancing by treading upon its body — for we rise on the steps of weaknesses conquered.
On one side two women climb, the one whose robe is white and whose flame burns bright helping her weaker sister. Near them a man ascends from the darkness; moneybags hang from his belt but there is no flame above his head, and already the spear of a Guardian is poised to strike the unworthy in his hour of "success." Not far off a bard, whose flame is veiled by the red cloud of passion, lies prone, struck down by a Guardian's spear; but as he lies dying, a ray from the heart of the Supreme reaches him as a promise of success in a future life.
On the other side of the painting a student of magic, clasping his book of rituals, follows the light from the crown of ambition held aloft by a floating figure who has led him to the edge of a precipice. He thinks the crown's dazzling light comes from the Supreme, but the chasm awaits its victim. By his side his faithful follower falls unnoticed, but a ray from Above shines upon her, the reward of selfless devotion even in a mistaken cause. Summing up his intent, Machell concludes: "It is said in an ancient book: 'The Path is one, the means to reach the goal must vary with the pilgrims.'''
We can understand the distinction between the spiritual path of the average seeker and that of the spiritual warrior by considering these words of G. de Purucker:
There is a path, a sublime pathway of wisdom and illumination which begins, for each human being, in any one incarnation on this earth . . . it is the pathway of consciousness and spiritual realization leading ever inward, more inward, still more inward, toward the mystic East, which is the heart of the universe, and it is the core of you — the rising sun of spiritually divine consciousness within you. — Golden Precepts of Esotericism, p. 4
All will eventually reach their inner self through the slow process of evolution, but
there is another road, steep and thorny, difficult to follow, but which the Great Ones of the human race have trodden. It is the quick road, but the difficult one. It is the road of self-conquest, the road of the giving up of self for the All, the road by which the personal man becomes the impersonal Buddha, the impersonal Christ; the road by which the love for your own is abandoned, and your whole being becomes filled with love for all things both great and small. It is a difficult road to follow, for it is the road of initiation; it is the steep and thorny pathway to the gods; . . . —Ibid., pp. 5-6
Many others have written of these pathways. It is the theme of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, in which Everyman makes his way to the "City of God." On a deeper level Spanish mystic St. John of the Cross tells of it in his "Dark Night of the Soul." Translator Allison Peers considers this poem, written in 1577 while John was imprisoned, to be "the most grandiose and the most melodious spiritual canticle." For the intuitive this Dark Night and its commentary describe the conquest of love. Written in amorous language like the Sufis', it speaks of a lover (the human soul) pursuing and surrendering to the Beloved (God or the divine Self):
Stanzas of the Soul
On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearnings — oh, happy chance!
I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.
In darkness and secure, By the secret ladder, disguised — oh, happy chance!
In darkness and in concealment, My house being now at rest.
In the happy night, In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught, Without light or guide, save that which burned in my heart.
This light guided me More surely than the light of noonday,
To the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me —
A place where none appeared.
Oh, night that guided me, Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover, Lover transformed in the Beloved!
Upon my flowery breast, Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him, And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
The breeze blew from the turret As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand he wounded my neck And caused all my senses to be suspended.
I remained, lost in oblivion; My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself, Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies. — pp. 33-4
The phrase "Dark Night of the Soul" is used today with such a variety of meanings, we need to decide what it means to us. Is the night dark because it lacks light? Or because we are unable to see the Light that would guide us? For many of us, darkness is that unknown land of dreams and imaginings where our pain and anxieties are so intense that we are not able even to glimpse the light that would illumine our problems. But to those whose souls seek that silence which is beyond thought, beyond feeling, who would know that peace which is beyond understanding, darkness is a refuge from daily trauma, a time when shadows dissolve. It is a time, no matter the hour, when they are renewed and suffused with the peace, joy, and love that is Light. This may have been what St. John had in mind when he wrote: "Oh night more lovely than the dawn." In his comments he reminds us that the shadows we create with our minds and senses must melt away, for they cannot contain the Light. Explaining that the brighter the light the darker the shadows, he says: "the brighter and more manifest in themselves are supernatural things the darker are they to our understanding" (p. 117).
If we would behold the Light that dwells in our Darkness (the light of our inner god), we must clear away the shadows our mind and senses create — "leaving our cares forgotten among the lilies," lilies here symbolizing purity and renewal. This is true in the cosmos also, as the ancient Laws of Manu (I, 4-6) explain:
This universe existed only in the first divine idea, yet unexpanded, as if involved in darkness, imperceptible, indefinable, undiscoverable by reason, and undiscovered by revelation, as if it were wholly immersed in sleep; then the sole self-existing Power himself undiscerned, appeared with undiminished glory, expanding his idea, or dispelling the gloom.
From this divine Light then emanates the visible, material light with which we are familiar. It is the same thought expressed in Genesis:
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 1:1-4
{St. John of the Cross}
.
.
Returning to St. John: his poem, written in the first person, begins when
On a dark night, Kindled in love with yearning — oh, happy chance!
I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.
Here our warrior/lover, with faculties, passions, and desires put to sleep, stole forth to find the Beloved — to unite with his divine Self. How closely this language parallels the Buddhist account of Prince Siddhartha leaving his royal palace in the darkness of night when his family, guards, even the animals — that is, his every thought and desire — were sound asleep. Only his spirit was awake. Having recently beheld the three awakening sights — old age, disease, and death — he was torn with anguish and determined to find a way to end the world's pain. He could think of nothing else: all the splendors of his past had ceased to exist, had vanished in the night.
In our poem, the lover crept forth "by secret ladder, disguised." Ladders and stairs signify progress, and "secret ladders" implies stages of spiritual growth by which the soul ascends through the conflicts, temptations, and affections of this sensuous world and then of the mind, stripping off the "clothes" of worldly life to stand pure and radiant before its source. As H. P. Blavatsky explains:
A man cannot perceive, touch, and converse with pure spirit through any of his bodily senses. Only spirit alone can talk to and see spirit; and even our astral soul . . . is too gross, too much tainted yet with earthly matter to trust entirely to its perceptions and insinuations. — Isis Unveiled 2:117
The dangers are great for the untrained and impure, hence the emphasis on cleansing body, mind, and soul, leaving behind all that is earthly.
Those who make progress on the spiritual path may at times be blinded by a light that is "brighter than the midday sun," as Saul was for three days (Acts 9:9). Similarly, Arjuna was blinded when Krishna revealed to him the terrible wonders of his Divinity. After the visions passed, however, their eyes and minds adjusted and they gradually became secure and at peace in their new world. The wisdom that once was hidden and secret became an open book.
I remained, lost in oblivion; My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself, Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.
All worldly desires, affections, and imperfect knowledge have been cast aside, even the memory of their existence has been absorbed or annihilated. The transformation complete, the lover, united with the Beloved, is now more divine than human. Again Blavatsky's words are informative:
Whenever man (the ethereal, inner man) reaches that point when he becomes utterly spiritual, hence, formless, he has reached a state of perfect bliss. Man as an objective being becomes annihilated, but the spiritual entity with its subjective life, will live for ever, for spirit is incorruptible and immortal.
. . . throughout the interminable series of ages we find now and then men who more or less succeed in uniting themselves "with God," as the expression goes, with their own spirit . . . The Buddhists call such men Arhat. . . . and none is equal to him either in infused science, or miraculous powers. — Isis Unveiled 1:291
This union is the climax of lifetimes of conquests, and at the same time it is a complete surrender to divine Love. If this is the goal we seek, what better guidance can we follow than the words Reginald Machell inscribed on his painting of The Path?
If Wisdom thou wouldst gain,
Be Strong, be Bold, be Merciful.
But when thou hast attained
Then let Compassion speak.
Renounce the Goal,
Return to Earth
A Savior of mankind.
Blog entry
28 Nov 2012 - 7:03am
We need to move only 20 years back and nobody believed that almost any human on planet can access information within 15 minutes. Internet changed a lot against dominant opinions - it has become and will become even more the source of information and eventually the enabler of the freedom. Development of internet was the belief of somebody, but not accepted scientific truth. The scientific truth is always reflection from a past – because no science can prove the future, therefore beliefs are always needed.
The human psyche has built up in by the societies that has been organized by political, religious and scientific communities – it been much like this the whole existence of current known civilization on earth. What you have been offered by political, religious or scientific belief-systems has built into minds of many the rock solid truth. When these truths are questioned there is confusion and even fear arcing. The behavior models where we are accepted and where we can have a peace from others, is the one when we match our behavior against these predominant norms. It is much more difficult is to build your own beliefs and start testing those if they are truly correct over long period of time.
Now, the ones who build up a new consciousness have stepped out from the predominant norms into a "forest of beliefs". Can you see yourself being in one? You walked over the line of accepted behaviors and norms. You went alone into this deep enormous forest where you try to figure out the map again. You get lost often just realizing you are doing circles, while knowing that you might never find path back to the place you left. It is scary in the forest at times, but as any forest when you sit down, calm down and have a moment in stillness it actually starts to feel very safe and good place – you feel your freedom and support from all that is around you.
In the forest of beliefs, you know that you do not know precisely where you are at any given point in time. Everything feels fragile at times since it could be that nobody have tested this path before you. The fairies of the forest try to help you and trolls too. You are confused since you do not know either of these – who to trust? Can you take the advice of fairies or trolls and believe them? Why their would help you – you are venturing at their forest. You in a way find out that in the forest of beliefs, things are getting to a direction where you feel you are the Alice in Wonderland. Nothing is making any sense but lots of is happening and you cannot ignore it is happening. While being there long enough, you figure out that some rock in the forest are always on the same place, and some things seems to be always the way they seems to be. It is starting to build up a base for new truths a new map that you are drawing first to yourself but for others too – it might not be spot-on at the beginning, but it has the rough idea how all can be.
Brave you are! You are the Columbus, Jesus and Santa Claus in a single form. You are making your own discoveries and while doing it, you give gifts and path for others. And once we come across in this forest of beliefs I salute you and I will show you my map, but please do not take it to your own map, since it is not ready and it might be I am the only one who can read mine at this point of the time.
Some more thoughts of mine:
Teaching
25 Nov 2012 - 1:31pm
Nature Wisdom
By, Matthew Wood MS (Herbal Medicine)
Registered Herbalist (American Herbalists Guild)
www.naturasophia.com/
From the beginning of life there has been an outward path of evolution and differentiation, but at the same time there has been a path of return to the fountainhead of life. The return path leads to spiritual actualization and freedom. By retracing our psycho-genetic make-up we are able to actualize all that is within ourselves so that we become who we really are, recognizing and manifesting the gifts, talents, and knowledge that are the basis of individuality. These gifts have a magnetic power that attracts people who have not actualized their own talents. Our own ego can become involved in desires for advantage from others if we are not careful. We must also overcome this magnetic power. Otherwise, our egos will make us insufferable beings.
When we have actualized our internal contents and learned not to identify with them in a personal way we have the opportunity to conjoin with the Spirit that hovers over the waters of potentiality at the inception of time and personality. After this we return to the world an actualized vessel through which the spirit works.
This threefold path of self-actualization, egoic death, and rebirth in the Spirit is built into the fabric of our genes and into the natural world. The trail is recorded in the alphabet of Nature, the plants and animals, stones and rivers, each of which tells a story of properties needing actualization, or challenges needing to be overcome, or lives needing rebirth. Nature is a living being filled with Wisdom.
This path has always been with us since the beginning of time and therefore it is called the Old, Old Path. Very few take it now. When I was there I saw a barely visible indentation in the leaves on the forest floor, proclaiming to the trained eye that someone, some time had taken that path.
The Old, Old Path
.
.
The Primordial Waters
The alphabet of Nature is written in the landscape and its inhabitants. In many cultures life is said to have arisen in the primordial waters. Scientists believe that life originated in the primordial waters of ancient earth. In the Bible, the Spirit of God broods over the waters to create.
The primordial waters represent the source of genetic life. We need to retrace our genetic existence back to the origins of creation itself, if we desire to return to the primal waters on the Old, Old Path. We must relive and release attachment to our personal, familial, and racial prejudices. Tracing back through our genes or ancestors we release our unconscious programming. Some of this is worthless, but most constitutes qualities that we need to manifest in our social lives.
Visionary space intersects with practical existence and therefore the primordial waters can be a real place, not just an idea. For me, the primordial waters are a lake I visited several times as a canoe guide in my early twenties. It sits on the international boundary, as it happens. I always felt a mysterious presence in the wind that rustled over the reedy marshes and waters of that lake. Many years latter I returned with a friend of mine, an Indian man whose family had a cabin on the lake. It was also for him a sacred place: the genetic place of origin of his people. This was not because they came down from the stars or up from the underworld on that spot but because they were traders living at the halfway spot on a great inland water highway that transversed the continent. The genes of his people were always changing as new people came and went; only the location stayed the same.
Returning to the primordial waters is not an everyday affair. When I really need to visit that place I am brought there is dreamtime. First I hear a drumming in my ears. I realize it is a pounding sound and see two old native women pounding grain or mahnomin. Then I feel the grinding of the grain in my testicles and I know that the individualized life of myself, my ancestors, and my people is being reduced to undifferentiated genetic material (is there such a thing? It must be pre-genetic material). Then I know that I can go beyond personal attachment to unravel the problem I need help with.
The Three Cranes
Crane is an ancient medicine bird. The motif of the three cranes is found throughout Eurasia. The symbol of the Paris Guild of Physicians down to the early thirteenth century was a shield with three cranes on it, each one holding a sprig of marjoram in its beak. A skinned crane is still used as a medicine bag in Siberia and Crane is a well known medicine bird among the native people of North America.
Crane is the king of the water birds and because of this he brings the Spirit from the other world to this world. That is because spirits arise in the primordial water of the beginning of time. He also brings them back the other way. Therefore, Crane is the friend of shaman, helping him or her on the Old, Old Path.
The reason why there are three cranes is because there are three great journeys to be made between this world and the Spirit world. The first is the journey of the new born infant. This is why we still say that the "stork brings the baby." The second is the journey from life back to the spirit world. Here too, Crane is the messenger. That is why the medicine of the elderly (geriatrics) derives its name from the crane (Greekgeranos,crane). The third journey is from death to life, or the journey of the shaman. Thus, a skinned crane is used as a medicine bag.
In North America Crane is one of the most important dodems, >or clan groups of the Anishinabe Ojibwe. From the Crane Clan are chosen the leaders who speak for the people and treat with outsiders. It is said that Crane Clan people have loud voices, like the bird itself. Crane is also known as Businase, the "echo-maker," because the shrill cry echoes off the rocky shores of the northern lake country where the Anishinabe live. A person who has dreamed of Crane has the right to call the spirits in certain ceremonies.
In Europe the medicine animals became the gods of ancient pagan religion. Crane because Hermes or Mercury, the "messenger of the gods." Thus, Hermes was known as the "psychopomp" or "guide of souls," who brought the soul of the departed one safely back to the spirit world. Hermes was also the god of communication, a Crane function.
In Egypt the connection between the original medicine animal and the god is more evident. Thus, the analog of Hermes is Thoth, the Ibis-headed god. The northern crane is replaced by the great water bird of Africa, the ibis. The crane or the ibis was known in Africa as the medicine animal that brought the people language and dance, because the contortions of the long legs of the water bird looked like an alphabet, or like a dancer.
The Egyptian Hermes or Thoth was known as "Hermes Trismegistos," or "Thrice-Greatest." Supposedly, the reasons for this name have been lost in the shrouds of time, but if we know how to read the universal 'language of Nature' then we realize why Hermes is Thrice-Greatest. Nature Wisdom is universal.
The Hermetic Tradition
As the pagan era drew to an end Hermes became one of the rallying points of the adherents of the Old Religion. Various wisdom writings reflecting pagan spiritual and religious aspirations appeared under the name Hermes. This was the origin of the Hermetic Writings. These Neoplatonic documents reflect a consistent view of the world, in which Nature is seen as a revelator of Wisdom from God. Everything in the natural world is a reflection of some divine attribute. We ourselves are but incarnations of these attributes. They are the gifts we need to awaken or actualize within ourselves. Knowledge of the divine attributes or archetypes constitutes a spiritual teaching, a spiritual path, a way of knowing Nature, and a system of healing based on restoring the attribute or archetype.
The Hermetic Writings survived by a circuitous route. When the eastern Roman provinces were surrendered to Persia in 367 ACE, following the death of the last of the pagan emperors, Julian the Apostate, the city state of Harran was still a bastion of the old pagan religion. When Mesopotamia was overrun by the Muslims in the seventh century Harran, still pagan, fell under their sway.
In the ninth century the Caliph of Baghdad was on his way to fight the Christians of Byzantium when he noticed some people in the crowds along the road that were dressed in an unusual fashion. "Find out who these people are," he demanded of his servants. They came back and told thim they were the "pagans of Harran." The Caliph stopped, gathered some of the people, and told them, "if you are not one of the three protected people guaranteed life by the Holy Koran then, when I return, I will have you all killed."
The pagans of Harran asked a Muslim legal expert what they should do. He told them that Mohammed made peace treaties with the three protected religions, Jews, Christians, and Sabeans. Each of these people all had a scripture or holy book. "Nobody knows who the Sabeans are any more, therefore you should adopt the name Sabean and find a holy scripture and you will be a protected people."
As it happens, the original Sabeans were followers of John the Baptist. Even to this day they live on the remote western frontier of Iraq and continue to follow their old ways. They are called the "Sabean Mandians." However, this was not widely known, so the Harranians adopted the name and the Hermetic Writings became their holy scripture. This is the origin of the so-called "Sabeans of Harran."
Ironically, Harran is the city where Abraham was born and from which he was called to sojourn. Thus, it is the birthplace of Islam and the three protected religions because Abraham was the father of Isaac, the ancestor of the Jews, and also the father of Ishmael, the ancestor of the Muslims. The Christians and the Mandians Sabeans arose from the Jews.
And so, the last bastian of paganism continued to exist. The wise men and women of the city studied their holy scriptures, the writings of Hermes, while the general population worshipped at the age old temple of the moon.
The end of Harran came in a dramatic but unforeseen fashion in the eleventh century, and it was not due to religious persecution, as one might expect. As the Mongols spread across central Asia and parts of the Middle East they obliterated whole cities. In other cases, they wanted cities destroyed for strategic reasons. Thus, the Khan of the Mongols wrote to the citizens of Harran that their city was in a strategic spot that could not be tolerated and they would have to either vacate their home or have it annihilated by the Mongol armies. In the blink of an eye, Harran ceased to exist.
It seems likely that stragglers carrying copies of the Hermetic Writings sought safety in Byzantium and thus brought the texts to the seat of the emperors in Constantinople. Here they were well received by the Greeks.
Byzantium lasted another three or four centuries. Weakened by the Catholic crusaders in the beginning of the thirteenth century, the remnant empire succumbed to invasion by the Ottoman Turks. Constantinople and the great Church of the Hagia Sophia fell in 1457. Stragglers again brought the Hermetic Writings, along with some of the works of Plato, to Cosimo d" Medici, the fabulous Duke of Florence, who valued esoteric knowledge and literature. Here they were translated by Marsilio Ficino, one of the leaders of an Hermetic restoration.
The Hermetic literature was, one again, available to European intelligentsia. It was even thought that Hermes, as a wise man of Egypt, was either a mentor or predecessor of Moses, and was therefore an ancient prophet. His picture appeared in churches.
One of the Hermeticists of the next generation was Trithemius, the abbot of Spanheim, and one of his students was Paracelsus. It was the latter who brought about a general renovation in the Hermetic tradition.
Paracelsus (1493-1542) enunciated a worldview in which the Light of Nature was mentor. The light of the divine world shines through Nature. The archetypes of Nature manifest as different species, types, or individuals in the world. By tracing back through the Light of Nature we can know the alphabet or language of Nature. Through understanding Nature we may be invited to take the Old, Old Path, which none can seek and none can refuse who have been called.
The next great oracle of the path of Nature Wisdom was a humble cobbler from Gorlitz, a German town now on the frontier of Poland and the Czech Republic. Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) was a self-taught visionary who undertook to "justify the ways of God to man." He had a great vision in 1600, in which he saw the origins of God and Nature. He constructed a comprehensive theology that identified the places of God the Father (Creator), God the Son (Redeemer), and God the Holy Spirit (Expander of Understanding). He described how the attributes of God were reflected back to God by Wisdom or Sophia, so that God could see and understand himself. At the same time, Sophia operated as the source-ground of creation, the attributes of God becoming to archetypes of Nature.
In addition to teaching an orthodox Christian theology, Boehme taught several other paths to spiritual knowledge and fulfillment, including the Old, Old Path. He traced one current of energy that started in the abyss of creation and moved outwards, ever-differentiating and evolving into Nature, while another current returned back to the primal source-ground. The first current of energy created individual selfhood and self-will, thus alienating the creatures one from another and from God. The second current created peace and self-understanding. This caused a light that shines from the abyss to illuminate the path of all peoples; also a love to unite them. The light shines through Nature, hence the Wisdom of Nature, or Natura Sophia, which Boehme elaborated upon.
Although Boehme recognized the Wisdom of Nature as a legitimate spiritual path he stated that it was the path of the "Heathen Wise" and that, though they stared on the face of God, they did not know what they were seeing. For this the would have needed a knowledge of the Trinity and the Christian Mysteries of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Boehme was unusually tolerant for a Protestant Christian of his era. Having suffered persecution at the hands of hypocrites and fake Christians he excused the Jews and Muslims for not belonging to a group that was so riddled with hatred and arrogance. He also suggested that the newly discovered American Indians must have a religion of their own, which brings them close to God.
All teachings on Nature Wisdom or Sophia derive from the courageous and profound insights of Jacob Boehme. His two methods, intuition and imagination help us perceive the archetypes of creation, bringing our mind back to their source-ground in Sophia and from thence to peace in the eternal tranquility.
Teaching
15 Nov 2012 - 11:04am
Ubuntu - an African Philosophy (i am because we are)
http://www.peuplesawa.com/fr/bnnews.php?nid=1987
Meaning: An attempt at a longer definition has been made by Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1999):
“ A person with Ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. ”
Louw (1998) suggests that the concept of ubuntu defines the individual in terms of their several relationships with others, and stresses the importance of ubuntu as a religious concept. He states that while the Zulu maxim umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu ("a person is a person through (other) persons") may have no apparent religious connotations in the context of Western society, in an African context it suggests that the person one is to become by behaving with humanity is an ancestor worthy of respect or veneration. Those who uphold the principle of ubuntu throughout their lives will, in death, achieve a unity with those still living.
The Spirit of Ubuntu
.
.
Nelson Mandela explained Ubuntu as follows;
“ A traveller through a country would stop at a village and he didn´t have to ask for food or for water. Once he stops, the people give him food, entertain him. That is one aspect of Ubuntu but it will have various aspects. Ubuntu does not mean that people should not address themselves. The question therefore is: Are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve? ”
Change in South Africa
Ubuntu is seen as one of the founding principles of the new republic of South Africa, and is connected to the idea of an African Renaissance Mellerenimium.[citation needed] In the political sphere, the concept of ubuntu is used to emphasize the need for unity or consensus in decision-making, as well as the need for a suitably humanitarian ethic to inform those decisions.[citation needed]
The concept of ubuntu is illustrated in the film In My Country, about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, starring Samuel L. Jackson and Juliette Binoche. It inspired the title of the documentary film I Am Because We Are directed by Nathan Rissman and produced by Raising Malawi founder Madonna.
Tugire ubuntu! May the practice of humanity last forever - Volunteers work on the construction of a rough road and food store house in Kirondo Province, Burundi
.
.
Zimbabwe
In the Shona language, the majority spoken language in Zimbabwe after English, ubuntu is unhu. The concept of ubuntu is viewed the same in Zimbabwe as in other African cultures, and the Zulu saying is also common in Shona: munhu munhu nekuda kwevanhu.
Stanlake J. W. T. Samkange (1980), highlights the three maxims of Hunhuism or Ubuntuism which shape this philosophy : The first maxim asserts that ´To be human is to affirm one´s humanity by recognizing the humanity of others and, on that basis, establish respectful human relations with them.´ And ´the second maxim means that if and when one is faced with a decisive choice between wealth and the preservation of the life of another human being, then one should opt for the preservation of life´. The third ´maxim´ as a ´principle deeply embedded in traditional African political philosophy´ says ´that the king owed his status, including all the powers associated with it, to the will of the people under him´.
While sharing is incorporated within "unhu" it is only one of the multiplicity of virtues within "unhu". In the "unhu" domain, visitors do not need to burden themselves with carrying provisions — all they need is to dress properly and be on the road. All visitors are provided for and protected in every home they pass through without payment being expected. In fact, every individual should try their best to make visitors comfortable — and this applies to everyone who is aware of the presence of a visitor within a locality. This explains how David Livingstone survived on his journeys in Southern Africa especially among ubuntu-oriented societies of the time.
Other manifestations of ubuntu are that it is taboo to call elderly people by their given names; instead they are called by their surnames. This has the effect of banishing individualism and replacing it with a representative role, in which the individual effectively stands for the people among whom he comes from at all times. The individual identity is replaced with the larger societal identity within the individual. Thus, families are portrayed or reflected in the individual and this phenomenon is extended to villages, districts, provinces and regions being portrayed in the individual. This places high demands on the individual to behave in the highest standards and to portray the highest possible virtues that society strives for. "Unhu" embodies all the invaluable virtues that society strives for towards maintaining harmony and the spirit of sharing among its members.
A key concept associated with "unhu" is how we behave and interact in our various social roles, e.g., daughters-in-law traditionally kneel down when greeting their parents-in-law and serve them food as a sign of respect and maintain the highest standards of behaviour that will be extended or reflected to her family and all the women raised in that family. The daughter-in-law does this as part of the ambassadorial function that she plays and assumes at all times. However, this does not apply only to daughters-in-law but to all women in general, even among friends and equals such as brother and sister, and this does not imply that the woman is subordinate to the man, or sister to brother. Its all essentially considered to be a characteristic of having "unhu" and a social interaction within the context of "unhu". The demands imposed upon men within the context of "unhu" are more physically demanding than that placed upon the woman.
Under "unhu" children are never orphans since the roles of mother and father are by definition not vested in a single individual with respect to a single child. Furthermore, a man or a woman with "unhu" will never allow any child around him to be an orphan.
The concept of "unhu" also constitute the kernel of African Traditional Jurisprudence as well as leadership and governance. In the concept of unhu, crimes committed by one individual on another extend far beyond the two individuals and has far-reaching implications to the people among whom the perpetrator of the crime comes from. Unhu jurisprudence tend to support remedies and punishments that tend to bring people together. For instance, a crime of murder would lead to the creation of a bond of marriage between the victim´s family and the accused´s family in addition to the perpetrator being punished both inside and outside his social circles. The role of "tertiary perpetrator" to the murder crime is extended to the family and the society where the individual perpetrator hails from. However, the punishment of the tertiary perpetrator is a huge fine and a social stigma, which they must shake off after many years of demonstrating "unhu" or "ubuntu". A leader who has "unhu" is selfless and consults widely and listens to his subjects. He or she does not adopt a lifestyle that is different from his subjects and lives among his subjects and shares what he owns. A leader who has "unhu" does not lead but allows the people to lead themselves and cannot impose his will on his people, which is incompatible with "unhu".
Women from the Ubuntu centre Rwanda joined together wearing white to celebrate Internaional Women's Day
.
.
Rwanda and Burundi
In Kinyarwanda, the mother tongue in Rwanda, and In Kirundi, the mother tongue in Burundi, ubuntu means, among other things, ´human generosity´ as well as humanity (as above). In Rwanda and Burundi society it is common for people to exhort or appeal to others to "gira ubuntu" meaning to "have consideration and be humane" towards others.
Obuntu camp in Tanzania
.
.
Uganda and Tanzania
In Runyakitara which is the collection of dialects spoken by the Banyankore, Banyoro, Batooro and Bakiga of Western Uganda and also the Bahaya, Banyambo and others of Northern Tanzania, "obuntu" refers to the human characteristics of generosity, consideration and humane-ness towards others in the community. In Luganda, the dialect of Central Uganda "obuntu-bulamu" refers to the same characteristics.
==================================================
Ubuntu - African Philosophy (i am because we are)
Ubuntu, a Bantu word, defines what it means to be truly human. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others.
Yesterday, I saw a photograph on Yahoo News of young Israeli girls writing messages on war missiles. I assume, given that these same missiles were intended for Lebanon, that the messages weren´t of peace and prosperity for the Lebanese. But I wonder if these girls completely understood the implications of the missiles – that, when launched, they will, in all likelihood, kill or maim other little girls, who just happen to be Lebanese. Empathy seems to be in pretty short order these days, so probably it won´t even matter to them. Equally appalling is that these sentiments are perhaps as, if not more, rabidly reflected in the opposite camp. Spreading hate as adults is vile enough, but to teach it to your own children is unforgivable.
Perhaps half the troubles in this world would be over if parents gave up saying, I don´t want you to talk, play or associate in any way with them, I won´t allow you to get to know them, I don´t want you to like them, because, get this straight, they are not like us - they are gooks or kikes or hajis or huns or niggers and so on – everything except people like us. The emphasis being on ´Not like us and therefore a whole lot less worthy of inhabiting this planet than we are.´
Perhaps the world would be a more peaceful place if more emphasis was placed instead on teaching respect, decency, and tolerance, on teaching Ubuntu.
What is Ubuntu?
The word ´Ubuntu´ originates from one of the Bantu dialects of Africa, and is pronounced as uu-Boon-too.
It is a traditional African philosophy that offers us an understanding of ourselves in relation with the world. According to Ubuntu, there exists a common bond between us all and it is through this bond, through our interaction with our fellow human beings, that we discover our own human qualities. Or as the Zulus would say, "Umuntu Ngumuntu Ngabantu", which means that a person is a person through other persons. We affirm our humanity when we acknowledge that of others.
The South African Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu describes Ubuntu as:
"It is the essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my humanity is caught up and is inextricably bound up in yours. I am human because I belong. It speaks about wholeness, it speaks about compassion. A person with Ubuntu is welcoming, hospitable, warm and generous, willing to share. Such people are open and available to others, willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, do not feel threatened that others are able and good, for they have a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that they belong in a greater whole. They know that they are diminished when others are humiliated, diminished when others are oppressed, diminished when others are treated as if they were less than who they are. The quality of Ubuntu gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them."
Religious Aspect of Ubuntu:
For many Africans, while they may belong to different societies and have different traditions and rituals, Ubuntu usually has a strong religious meaning. In general, the African belief is that your ancestors continue to exist amongst the living in the form of spirits and they are your link to the Divine Spirit. If you are in distress or need, you approach your ancestors´ spirits and it is they who will intercede on your behalf with God. Therefore it is important to not only venerate your ancestors, but to, eventually, yourself become an ancestor worthy of veneration. For this, you agree to respect your community´s rules, you undergo initiation to establish formal ties with both the current community members and those that have passed on, and you ensure harmony by adhering to the Ubuntu principles in the course of your life.
Political Aspect of Ubuntu:
Since the downfall of Apartheid in South Africa, Ubuntu is often mentioned in the political context to bring about a stronger sense of unity.
On 19 February 1997, the South African National Assembly passed the White Paper For Social Welfare, and Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Minister for Welfare and Population Development, announced:
"The passage of the White Paper for Social Welfare through the National Assembly signals the start of a new era in welfare delivery in South Africa. For the first time in our country´s history delivery in the welfare field will be driven by key principles such as democracy, partnership, ubuntu, equity, and inter-sectoral collaboration, among others."
The policy of Ubuntu is explained in the White Paper, published in August 1997, in Point 24 of Chapter 2. National Developmental Social Welfare Strategy -
"The principle of caring for each other’s well-being will be promoted, and a spirit of mutual support fostered. Each individual’s humanity is ideally expressed through his or her relationship with others and theirs in turn through a recognition of the individual’s humanity. Ubuntu means that people are people through other people. It also acknowledges both the rights and the responsibilities of every citizen in promoting individual and societal well-being."
It is not perfect, however. Ubuntu – which stresses on allowing every individual to have their equal say in any discussion and on ultimately reaching an agreement acceptable to all – could lead to conformist behavior in order to achieve solidarity. It seems a trifle ironic that Group Politics and the Herd Mentality – the human qualities common to us all, in fact - could derail the quest for the common goal.
Social Aspect of Ubuntu:
Still, as they say, the good points outweigh the shortcomings.
Given the vast racial, cultural, religious, educational, and socio-economic differences apparent not just in South-African society but the world over currently, the concept of Ubuntu is really rather relevant. It is far too easy to go into the ´us and them´ mode. It is far too easy to fall into the trap of judging a different people by our standards or by sticking to certain established stereotypical notions. If you instead regard someone as a fellow human being, all individual quirks and differences taken into account, there is perhaps a greater chance of achieving understanding.
And, achieving understanding is important and necessary, because, like it or not, we are all interconnected. What hurts you could one day come around and hurt me. What benefits me, if I´m not too selfish about it, could make a crucial difference in your life. And knowing you could bring a world of meaning and interest in mine.
Teaching
4 Nov 2012 - 10:37am
CLEAR-LIGHT MIND
http://viewonbuddhism.org
.
.
In Tibetan Buddhism, often the so-called 'clear-light mind' is mentioned. This is the most subtle level of mind, which we are normally not even aware of. It appears to the very advanced meditator and during the death process, but in this case, also only advanced meditators will be able to notice it. It is a non-conceptual, 'primordial' state of mind.
From a talk given by HH Dalai Lama. Oct. 11-14, 1991 New York City. Path of Compassion teaching preliminary to Kalachakra:
Question: When people hear of luminosity of clear light that dawns at the moment of death they ask why it is called clear light. What has this got to do with light as we know it?
Dalai Lama:
"I don't think that in the term clear light, light should be taken literally. It is sort of metaphoric. This could have its roots in our terminology of mental will. According to Buddhism, all consciousness or all cognitive mental events are said to be in the nature of clarity and luminosity. So it is from that point of view that the choice of the term light is used. Clear light is the most subtle level of mind, which can be seen as the basis or the source from which eventual experience or realisation of Buddhahood, Buddha's wisdom might come about, therefore it is called clear light. Clear light is a state of mind which becomes fully manifest only as a consequence of certain sequences or stages of dissolution, where the mind becomes devoid of certain types of obscurations, which are again metaphorically described in terms of sun-like, moonlike and darkness. These refer to the earlier three stages of dissolution which are technically called, including the clear light stage, the four empties. At the final stage of dissolution the mind is totally free of all these factors of obscuration. Therefore it is called clear light. Sort of a light. It is also possible to understand the usage of the term clear light in terms of the nature of mind itself. Mind or consciousness is a phenomena which lacks any obstructive quality. It is non-obstructed."
A teaching from Venerable Ajahn Chah (Pra Bhodinyana Thera):
"About this mind... In truth there is nothing really wrong with it. It is intrinsically pure. Within itself it's already peaceful. That the mind is not peaceful these days is because it follows moods. The real mind doesn't have anything to it, it is simply (an aspect of) Nature. It becomes peaceful or agitated because moods deceive it. The untrained mind is stupid. Sense impressions come and trick it into happiness, suffering, gladness and sorrow, but the mind's true nature is none of those things. That gladness or sadness is not the mind, but only a mood coming to deceive us. The untrained mind gets lost and follows these things, it forgets itself. Then we think that it is we who are upset or at ease or whatever.
But really this mind of ours is already unmoving and peaceful... really peaceful! Just like a leaf which is still as long as no wind blows. If a wind comes up the leaf flutters. The fluttering is due to the wind -- the 'fluttering' is due to those sense impressions; the mind follows them. If it doesn't follow them, it doesn't 'flutter.' If we know fully the true nature of sense impressions we will be unmoved.
Our practice is simply to see the Original Mind. So we must train the mind to know those sense impressions, and not get lost in them. To make it peaceful. Just this is the aim of all this difficult practice we put ourselves through."
Story
2 Nov 2012 - 3:37am
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them - that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they flow. If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve. Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. By letting go, it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. When you try and try, the world is beyond the winning.
“Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it? The universe is sacred. You cannot improve it. If you try to change it, you will ruin it. If you try to hold it, you will lose it.
“The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world. There is nothing more submissive and weak than water, yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.
“The time of a catastrophic act of God is the time to examine your spiritual commitment. The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into your awareness.
“At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want.
“Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative, to which everything owes its beginning and which permeates all heaven.
“To see things in the seed is genius.
“Be mindful of that with which you feed your deams. Feed them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Feed them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dreams.
“When you strengthen others you fortify yourself. When you nourish others you will be nourished. The more you help others, the more you benefit yourself, and the more you give to others, the more you get for yourself. The Way of Heaven results in good and never does harm. The Way of the superior person is to act but not to compete. Those who know that enough is enough will have enough.
“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.
"You cannot will the happiness and peace of an enlightened mind to overwhelm you; you can only submit to darkness. Darkness within darkness is the gateway to all understanding. When you are totally lost, you will recognize that you are already happy, at peace and enlightened.
“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.”
Blog entry
25 Oct 2012 - 7:29pm
We are not moving through time. We are flying through space. There is neither past nor future. There is only the ETERNAL NOW. Only the mind of separation (ego) can see the flow of the river of life in such separate terms as past, present, and future. The movement of time only seems evident due to the fact that nothing can stand still in space as space is expanding to infinity. Whatever crimes(sins) you have committed can be forgiven simply by removing from your psychology(soul) the mechanisms(ego) that caused you to trespass. Thus, by uprooting the cause in the now, you will conquer your past and master your future.
Teaching
20 Oct 2012 - 12:07pm
The Fruit of the Spirit:
Meekness
by John W. Ritenbaugh
http://www.cgg.org
A popular hymn that received much acclaim several generations ago unintentionally derides our Savior as being "gentle Jesus, meek and mild." Meekness is a fruit of the Spirit that seems very much lost in our aggressive, self-centered culture. Because people associate it with weakness, most today do not admire others for being "meek," but as we shall see, it is not what they assume. It is a quality of character very noticeable in the greatest human being ever to grace this earth—and one that all of us sorely need today.
A modern English dictionary or thesaurus makes it clear why meekness is associated with weakness. Notice its synonyms as listed in the Reader's Digest Oxford Complete Word Finder: tame, timid, mild, bland, unambitious, retiring, weak, docile, acquiescent, repressed, suppressed, spiritless, broken, and wimpish. Not a single one of these words applies to Jesus Christ or even to Moses, who the Bible claims "was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3, KJV). Do these terms describe the warrior-king David, a man greatly beloved by God? Or Paul, the fearless and tireless apostle, who courageously faced his share and more of dangerous, painful persecutions? No, yet once we understand what biblical meekness is, we can easily see that these men were indeed meek.
Surely our understanding of this remarkable characteristic must be askew! Bible commentators generally agree that modern man, living in our Western, Judeo-Christian cultures, lacks this godly attribute. Meekness, being a fruit of the Spirit, is an attribute of God Almighty Himself and important to our being in His image and a true witness. Indeed, this characteristic will largely determine how much peace and contentment are in our lives and how well we do during trials.
Blessed Are the Meek?
Meekness is so important that it is the third characteristic Jesus mentions in His foundational teaching, the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). Obviously, the world's ideal of the perfect man is very different from His. The meek are among those so favored that they will share in Jesus' inheritance of the earth.
He was not the first to state the importance of meekness, but He was the first to collect, in what we call the Beatitudes, a God-authored, organized list of the characteristics of the perfect man. Others have made lists of outstanding virtues, but Jesus' list is unique in that He relates them to the Kingdom of God and in the depth and breadth of what He meant.
How can this be, though? Given how modern man considers those who are meek, His statement about meekness is almost incomprehensible. The world would word this, "Blessed are the strong, who can hold their own." The world favors more conspicuous and so-called heroic virtues. Those who are strongly—almost fiercely—competitive, aggressive and assertive are the ones who receive recognition, admiration and reward. Do they not seem to end up on top of the pile, possessing the most and best despite other obvious and perhaps even offensive flaws in their character?
On the surface, this beatitude seems to have little meaning, and what there is seems to contradict the plain facts of everyday life. No sensible person, looking about the world or studying history, could sincerely accept it at face value. Unfortunately, many Christians have ignored it in practice, perhaps regretting that no doubt it should be true, but that it certainly is not so in the real world. Rather than taking God at His Word, they remain conformed to the world's standard of practice, missing the benefits meekness will produce in their lives. Remember, Jesus Himself says this: Blessed—happy, favored—are the meek.
So we must decide. Jesus either meant what he said, or He did not; He either knew what He was talking about, or He did not. Jesus is either a reliable guide or He is not. We must either take Jesus seriously or not, and if we do not, we should drop His teaching altogether. If we decide to straddle the fence and strive for some characteristics but not others, we become hypocrites. Of course, the true Christian will accept it, learn from it and grow in it.
What Jesus says is a very practical doctrine. It may at first seem impractical, foolish and even wild, but He was no sentimental dreamer who dealt in empty platitudes. He was an unflinching realist who has given us a great key to prosperity and dominion under God's purpose. One commentator, Emmet Fox, author of an entire book on the Sermon on the Mount, states that this beatitude "is among the half dozen most important verses in the Bible."
"The meek shall inherit the earth," and when they do, they will proceed to govern it. Meekness is a virtue God has determined those who will have dominion in His Family must possess. Without it, will we even be there?
What Does Meekness Mean?
We do not stand alone in our perception of this word. The ancient Greeks did not rank it as a virtue either, except in a very narrow circumstance. At best, they used it as we use "condescension" today and by it referred entirely to men's external relations with other men. Jesus, while retaining its reference to men, lifted it from its narrow context and made it refer primarily to our relations with God. In his comments on Galatians 5:22, William Barclay adds that meekness is "the most untranslatable of words in the New Testament" (p. 51).
Some have tried to use "humility" as its equivalent, but both Hebrew and Greek have specific words that are synonyms for humility. Besides, humility does not fully catch its meaning. Another word associated with meekness is "gentleness," but the same is as true for gentleness as humility. Both are part of meekness, but it is not really either. Its characteristics and use are much more involved than either of them.
The Hebrew word translated "meekness" is anav or anaw, meaning "depressed (figuratively), in mind (gentle) or circumstances (needy, especially saintly): humble, lowly, meek, poor" (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, #6035). The translation depends upon the context in which it appears. The Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon adds, "afflicted, miserable . . . ; commonly with the added notion of a lowly, pious, and modest mind, which prefers to bear injuries rather than return them" (p. 643). The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament indicates why this word is so difficult to express as a single term: "anaw expresses the intended outcome of affliction" (p. 1651).
The Greek word, prautes, the one to which Barclay referred, is no easier. James Strong defines it only as "mildness; i.e., (by implication) humility" (#4240). Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament says that "Plato opposes it to fierceness or cruelty" (vol. 1, p. 37). In The Complete Word Study Dictionary New Testament, Spiros Zodhiates writes:
Prautes, according to Aristotle, is the middle standing between two extremes, getting angry without reason, and not getting angry at all. Therefore, prautes is getting angry at the right time, in the right measure, and for the right reason. . . . [I]t is a condition of mind and heart which demonstrates gentleness, not in weakness, but in power. It is a balance born in strength of character. (p. 1209-1210)
We can now begin to see why Barclay considered it the most untranslatable of New Testament words. This is so because Jesus elevated the word's common usage far beyond its normal application. Because men so easily reject the Bible, they have not accepted Jesus' usage of the word into the common languages. To mankind in general, meekness means what its common synonyms illustrate.
Meekness and the Beatitudes
Perhaps the best way to understand meekness is to see the words and contexts the Bible associates it with, how the Bible uses it, and perhaps most importantly, how those who have it act in relation to God and men.
We should recognize that, when Jesus presents meekness in Matthew 5:5 as a highly desirable quality, He prefaces it with "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (verse 3) and "Blessed are those who mourn" (verse 4). He places it within a context that contains qualities that are similar to meekness. Alexander MacLaren writes in his comments on verse 5, "[Meekness] is the conduct and disposition towards God and man which follows from the inward experience described in the two former Beatitudes, which had relation only to ourselves" (Expositions of Holy Scriptures, vol. 6, "St. Matthew," p. 130). In other words, meekness is the active fruit of the other two, but whereas being poor in spirit and mourning are both internal in operation, meekness is both internal and external in its execution in one's life. Though this is not a complete description, it lays a good foundation.
Godly meekness is impossible unless we first learn a just and lowly estimate of ourselves. We must become poor in spirit. We do this by coming before God in deep penitence and with a clear knowledge of the vast difference between ourselves and what He is and what He means us to be. Paul says in Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." While pride destroys self and others, humility serves and builds.
Mourning springs from a sense of sin, from a tender conscience, from a broken heart. It is a godly sorrow over our rebellion against God and hostility to His will. It is the agonizing realization that it was not just sin in general but our own sins that nailed Christ to the stake. Notice that Matthew 5:4 is in the present tense, meaning that mourning is not confined to our initial repentance—it is a continuous experience. The Christian has much to mourn. If his conscience is kept tender by an ever-deepening discovery of human nature's depravity, his sins—both of omission and commission—are a sense of daily grief. Paul writes in Romans 8:23, "[W]e ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body." He adds in Romans 7:24, "O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
At the same time, this does not mean a Christian lives his life with a hang-dog expression and attitude, or that he lives his life feeling that he is a dirtbag or sleazeball who is still mucking around in a moral septic tank. A Christian is also forgiven, cleansed and justified by the blood of Jesus Christ. He has access to God the Father, is the apple of His eye and has an awesome hope before him. In him He has the Holy Spirit. He is a child of the great Creator and looks forward to being resurrected and inheriting God's Kingdom. Christ died for him, and this creation exists for his perfection. A Christian has many reasons to feel a sense of exultation for what has been provided for him. An awareness of sin—as long as it is not allowed to become obsessive—will help him continue in a humble frame of mind by keeping pride in check, tempering his judgments and allowing him to accept the events of life in a spirit that produces great contentment.
These qualities are produced when, with God's help, we rightly measure ourselves against the right standards—God and His law—rather than each other, and discover how much we owe to God's merciful grace. Anyone thus convicted and then forgiven and cleansed by Christ's blood is in the position to produce godly meekness.
Meekness and Lowliness
In Matthew 11:29, Jesus links meekness with lowliness: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle [meek, KJV] and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." Ephesians 4:1-3 states:
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness [meekness, KJV], with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
The King James version is correct, as the Greek text uses prautes. "Gentle" and "gentleness" are incorrect because in this context they are only an aspect of the meekness we should express in our dealings with others.
In Matthew 11:29, Jesus is explaining why we should embrace His way of life. As our Lord and Master, He is not harsh, overbearing and oppressive, but gentle in His government. His laws are also reasonable and easy to obey; neither He nor they enslave. He emphasizes the gentle aspect of meekness toward others. From this, we begin to see why meekness must be a virtue of those who will receive the Kingdom and govern. Because God governs in meekness, His children must also.
Ephesians 4 teaches how to build and maintain unity within a more social context, and here, prautes appears with humility, patience, forbearance and love. Paul demands that, for unity to be built and maintained, we should receive offenses without retaliation, bearing them patiently without a desire for revenge. We are, in short, to have a forgiving spirit. Without it, we will surely promote divisiveness.
The association of humility and meekness is natural, and is yet another facet of meekness. Whereas humility deals with a correct assessment of his merits, meekness covers a correct assessment of personal rights. This does not in any way mean a lowering of the standards of justice or of right and wrong. Meekness can be accompanied by a war to the death against evil, but the meek Christian directs this warfare first against the evil in his own heart. He is a repentant sinner, and his recognition of this state radically alters his relations with fellow man. A sinner forgiven must have a forgiving attitude.
Conflict in Corinth
In addition, godly meekness cannot be divorced from its association with gentleness. However, this gentleness is not usually seen in the situations where the Bible's writers use meekness. Notice II Corinthians 10:1: "Now I, Paul, myself am pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—who in presence am lowly among you, but being absent am bold toward you." Here, meekness appears with gentleness, as though a similarity exists alongside a specific difference.
The reason for this is that Paul is dealing with conflict. In II Corinthians 10, Paul begins a defense of his apostolic authority, showing that he had a right to regard himself as sent from God. He begins his argument by appealing to the gentleness and meekness of Christ to vindicate his own evenhanded approach, entreating them not to give him occasion to display the boldness and severity that he could also use. He had no wish to be so bold and severe in his discipline of them. The contrast between meekness and severity shows starkly here. Meekness is a specific virtue, tool, way or fruit that is excellent in dealing with conflict or potential conflict within relationships.
Some, who had invaded the congregation and claimed to be apostles, accused Paul of being courageous and bold when writing letters from a distance, but timid and weak-kneed when personally present. They were, in effect, accusing him of being all bark and no bite. They had badly misjudged him through a combination of his gentle and reasoned approach when founding the congregation and, apparently, what they considered his weak physical appearance and plain, uncultured speaking. But Paul, though he may have appeared weak to them, was in reality meek, not weak. He was prepared to fight this poisonous, destructive evil within the congregation with all his spiritual power—which was, as the Bible shows, considerable.
Paul did not seek to show himself to the congregation as a flamboyant, charismatic personality. He was not there to showcase himself. He and his presentation were not the centerpiece and spiritual strength of the church. The Father, Jesus Christ and the gospel of the Kingdom were Paul's focus, and he wanted the people to focus their lives there as well. Thus, he presented them in the manner he did.
He is a sterling example of a truly meek Christian. The meek person has ceased to think or care about himself. His pride and self-will have been crucified. He does not measure the importance of events by their relation to his personal comfort or what he will gain from them. He sees everything from God's perspective, seeking only to serve His purpose in the situations life imposes.
Meek, Yet Stern as Steel
This does not mean the meek will take everything "lying down." Notice Moses, who as we have seen, was the meekest man of his time. He did not hesitate to order the execution of about three thousand of the idolaters who worshipped the Golden Calf while he was with God on the mountain (Exodus 32:25-28). Against evil this meek man was as stern as steel. How a meek man reacts depends upon what he discerns God's will is for him within the circumstance. Because the meek man sets his mind on God's purpose and not his own comfort, ambition or reputation, he will offer implacable resistance to evil in defense of God yet react with patience, kindness and gentleness when others attack him.
Jesus set a clear example of this pattern of reaction too. He made a whip of rope, and with stern and vehement energy, overturned the tables and drove the livestock, their sellers and moneychangers from the Temple compound because they had turned God's house into a common bazaar by their sacrilege. With simple, forthright, firm instructive answers and incisive questions, He met the twisted, intellectual, carnal reasoning of the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees. Yet as Matthew 12:19-20 reads, "He will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench." Peter adds:
For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: "who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth"; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. (I Peter 2:21-23)
A meek person will feel the wrong done against him and feel it bitterly. But because he is not thinking of himself, his meekness does not allow his spirit to give vent to a hateful, savage and vindictive anger that seeks to "get even." He will instead be full of pity for the damaged character, attitudes and blindness of the perpetrator. From the stake Jesus uttered, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). This virtue is a strong bulwark against self-righteousness and intolerant and critical judgment of others. Yet neither does it excuse or condone sin. Rather, a meek person understands it more clearly, thus his judgment is tempered, avoiding reacting more harshly than is necessary.
Paul writes in Titus 3:1-2, "Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility [meekness, KJV] to all men." The possibility of conflict is inherent where the subject includes our relationship with governments; it is quite easy to have conflict with those in authority over us. Some in positions of authority take pleasure in wielding their power, as Jesus notes in Matthew 20:25: "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them."
On the flip side are those under authority, and this is where Paul's main emphasis is in Titus 3. Humans, by nature, tend to be very sensitive, critical and harsh in their judgments of those over them. It frequently results in slanderous attacks and quarrels against those in authority—sometimes even in revolutions. Paul advises us to be non-belligerent, considerate, unassertive and meek. If the fruit of meekness has been produced in either or both parties, peace and unity are more possible because a major tool is in place to allow both to perform their responsibilities within the relationship correctly.
A Natural Meekness
What has gradually emerged from these many elements is that meekness is what results when one's spiritual knowledge, understanding and passions are in right balance. A carnal or natural meekness exists, but it is born from a person simply not wanting to become involved, from not understanding what is happening or from a lack of firmness. It is usually timid, conforms readily, and is easily deterred from doing good and persuaded to do evil. It sometimes forms the great defect in religious people's character, as in the cases of Eli and Jehoshaphat.
Eli's spirit should have burned with righteous indignation over the abominations his sons flagrantly committed, but he could not bring himself to correct them:
Then the Lord said to Samuel: "Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever." (I Samuel 3:11-14)
Jehoshaphat's downfall was in his relationship with Ahab, king of Israel, who was one of the most vile kings ever to rule over Israel. He allied himself with Ahab through a marriage. At one point Ahab proposed a military alliance with Judah to defeat the Syrians. Jehoshaphat, Judah's king, was reluctant and requested that they consult a prophet of God. The prophet Micaiah was brought before them, and he made it perfectly clear that the purpose of the alliance was not of God and they would lose the battle. However, Jehoshaphat lacked the will to withdraw his support and went into the battle anyway. Ahab perished, and Jehoshaphat lived only because God intervened.
II Chronicles 19:2-3 shows that this was not the end of the matter:
And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you. Nevertheless good things are found in you, in that you have removed the wooden images from the land, and have prepared your heart to seek God."
Both Eli and Jehoshaphat were what we would call "good men." They were religious, pious men who sought God within the framework of their own interests. God reveals, though, that they also had a serious character weakness that kept them from glorifying God to their highest potential and caused serious punishments and even curses to come upon them.
God desires more of us: "Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him" (Hebrews 10:38). Faith—confidence—is part of meekness, and thus the meek are not timid. Notice Paul's encouragement to Timothy: "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (II Timothy 1:6-7).
Meekness and Trials
As shown earlier, meekness is the by-product of a number of elements, not the least of which are deep, thorough humility and an awareness of the seriousness of what our past conduct produced, especially toward Jesus Christ. These things have tamed the beast, broken our self-will and made our minds receptive to the pure influences of God's Spirit. This is not natural but supernatural, the product of God's grace toward us and His Spirit working and growing in us. It very deeply, sometimes radically, alters our perspective of God, His purpose, the trials of life, the self and other people.
This is very important regarding trials because meekness is the opposite of self-will toward God and of ill-will toward men. In his commentary on Matthew 5:5, Matthew Henry writes, "The meek are those who quietly submit themselves to God, to his word and to his rod, who follow His directions, and comply with His designs, and are gentle towards all men" (p. 1629).
Meekness is the fruit of God by His Spirit working in us. Godly sorrow softens our stiff-necked rebellion and our hearts so that we are made receptive to the workings of the Creator to produce His image in us. Therefore meekness, along with the qualities already mentioned, also includes our becoming pliable, malleable, submissive andteachable. A New Testament term for this condition might be "childlike."
God disciplines every son He loves (Hebrews 12:6), and sometimes the disciplines are very difficult to bear. We have passionate drives within us to flee from them, or at the very least, to grumble and murmur under their burden. But the meek will not do this. They will endure the privation, embarrassment, pain, loss, ignorance or persecution with quiet patience because they know that God is sovereign over all and He is working in their lives.
Aaron's response to God's execution of his two sons is an example:
Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, "This what the Lord spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified.'" So Aaron held his peace. (Leviticus 10:1-3)
This was a shocking, bitter pill to swallow, but Aaron took it properly, meekly. He was growing. In Psalm 39:9, David refers to a difficult situation he was experiencing, leaving us this example: "I was mute, I did not open my mouth, because it was You who did it."
The supreme example of this is Jesus Christ, who endured horrific trials though He was the Son of God's love. John 18:11 says, "Then Jesus said to Peter, ‘Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?'" Acts 8:32 contains more insight on Christ's meek reaction: "He was led [not dragged] as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb silent before its shearer, so He opened not His mouth." He was the very King of meekness.
Meekness enables a person to bear patiently those insults and injuries he receives at the hand of others. It makes him ready to accept instruction from the least of the saints. It allows him to endure provocation without being inflamed by it. He remains cool when others become heated. Meek people seek no private revenge; they leave that to God's sense of justice while they seek to remain true in their calling and meet God's standards.
The spirit of meekness enables its possessor to squeeze great enjoyment from his earthly portion, be it small or great. Delivered from a greedy and grasping disposition, he is satisfied with what he has. Contentment of mind is one of the fruits of meekness. The haughty and covetous do not inherit the earth. As Psalm 37:16 says, "A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked."
A Valuable Fruit
This much misunderstood and maligned virtue is the antidote for most of the nervous anxiety that is greatly intensifying the normal day-to-day stresses of life. God commands us in Zephaniah 2:3:
Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility [meekness, KJV]. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger.
How valuable is that blessing?
There is more:
The poor [meek, KJV] shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek Him will praise the Lord. Let your heart live forever! (Psalm 22:26)
Further, "The Lord lifts up the humble (meek, KJV); He casts the wicked down to the ground" (Psalm 147:6).
Finally:
The humble [meek, KJV] also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 29:19).
This is not a virtue to ignore because carnal men consider it weakness. It may appear to them as weakness, but the spiritual reality is that it is great strength, an attribute of Almighty God and a fruit of His Spirit we greatly need.
Teaching
10 Oct 2012 - 1:48pm
From Continence to Virtue: Cultivation of Moral Character
Sophia Gallant
http://www.fountainmagazine.com
Can people be held accountable for what they feel and wish from a moral point of view or is it only their resulting actions that matter? Is it equally valuable to perform a moral action through forcing oneself with little accompanying desire compared to performing the same action with pleasure?
Let us imagine two people of similar economic status, one of whom donates a considerable amount of money to a charity organization willingly, while the other hesitates but eventually donates the same amount of money with relative difficulty. Which action deserves the real moral praise? Intuitively, the willing donor seems to get our praise and sympathy more than the other; yet, it might require more virtue to choose the right action in the face of adverse inclinations. Acknowledging that this question is more difficult than it first appears lets us go back several millennia to hear what Aristotle, the great philosopher and ethicist, has to say on this issue.
Aristotle use the terms virtue, continence, incontinence, and vice in order to account for diverse attitudes present in individuals when confronted with ethical dilemmas. "Virtue" is an excellence of the soul that helps one to achieve complete harmony between one's reasoning and desires. Whenever the virtuous person chooses an action as the rationally best option, he performs this action pleasurably. Yet this is a pleasure of a higher status, a noble joy, one that stems from appreciating the intrinsic value of the virtuous action and thus coming to love it. In other words, the virtuous person's emotions and reason point at the same direction and there is no inner conflict that haunts his soul. This results in a noble and complete joy; a cultivated ability to see the intrinsic value embedded in the virtuous act through gaining a second nature. This second nature begins with having joy in doing the right thing rather than primarily being after the satisfaction of the bodily desires.
Unlike the state of virtue, the cases of continence, incontinence, and vice all include conflict to some degree between one's reason and desires. Within this spectrum, some people better resist these counter-rational desires than others, and they are able to act in the same manner as a virtuous person, as in our example above. Aristotle calls such individuals "continent" (enkratês) and he distinguishes them from the fully virtuous. Their distinctive characteristic is that they struggle inside, but they end up doing the morally right thing. Yet, unlike the continent, some people are less successful in resisting their inner desires, and they end up doing the wrong action even though they are rationally aware of its wrongness. These individuals are called "incontinent" (akratês). Their reason and appetites drift them in opposite directions, and they find themselves in a miserable position. In the very last category, vice, are the individuals who refuse to do what an ethically virtuous person would do because they have become convinced that justice, temperance, generosity, and the like are of little or no value; Aristotle calls such people evil (kakos). This last category is demarcated from other categories sharply by the lack of any struggle against the dark side of the soul. These people both begin and end up on the negative side. Despite the fact that vicious people might seem to possess an inner harmony since both their wills and acts are in accord, Aristotle portrays them as deeply divided, because they cannot help but become dissatisfied as a result of the over-dominance of the irrational part of their souls. Aristotle assumes that if someone is in the habit of making bad decisions about how to live his life, his failures are caused by psychological forces that are less than fully rational. It is probable that his desires for pleasure, power, or some other external goal have become so strong that they make him care too little or not at all about acting ethically. It can be claimed that the vicious person lacks internal harmony because he cannot implement his rational side properly in making decisions. This reminds us of the famous chariot allegory of Aristotle's teacher, Plato, in which he paints the picture of a charioteer driving a chariot pulled by two winged horses: one of them representing the rational and moral impulses and the other irrational appetites. The charioteer is like the human soul that needs to balance and keep the chariot going in the path towards enlightenment. While it is not easy to keep the two fighting horses in check, a human soul is better off whenever it is guided through reason, the charioteer. Yet, the evil person suffers from an imbalance and is perpetually drifted away by the whims of the bad-behaved horse. This, in the long run, results in unhappiness and sickness of the soul.
Cultivation of dispositions
Now that a brief sketch of Aristotle's four types of ethical subjects is drawn, there is an inevitable question that awaits us. We have seen that all three of these positions involve some lack of integrity; it is only the life of a virtuous person that possesses internal harmony, and all other lives deviate to some degree from this ideal. Yet, one cannot help but wonder how we could attain this ideal state? According to Aristotle, in order to achieve the state of virtue, we need to develop proper habits and emotional responses starting from early childhood. Although full virtue is a rare achievement for human beings, it is only attainable through employment of continence persistently in life. Aristotle divides the virtues into two categories, the natural and the true virtues, and whereas the former comes by nature, the latter is cultivated through habituation. Aristotle's truly virtuous man has cultivated (habituated) emotions rather than possessing immediate impulses to do good. Aristotle famously tells us that "action" leads to the corresponding character states; just as to be a good painter, you have to paint, and to be a good shoemaker you need to make shoes, you need to do virtuous actions to become virtuous. In Aristotle's words, we become "just by doing just actions, and temperate by acting temperately." (NE II.4.)
Virtue is "made perfect by habit and by practical wisdom," and this makes the virtuous person's position superior to that of the merely continent person. This conception of virtue as an ongoing, developmental process implies that individuals cannot typically will to feel certain emotions at a moment's notice, but they can choose to cultivate certain emotions over time as a significant part of developing moral character.
Although Aristotle advises that virtue be our ultimate aim, he still esteems the continent person to some extent. A lack of complete harmony between reason and desires is often inescapable for human beings. We can only want or choose to do the virtuous thing, but we cannot make ourselves take pleasure from doing it. In fact, continence is often the only state we are capable of achieving, even though we might want to do the right thing cheerfully. To make an analogy, Aristotle encourages the cultivation of virtues just like the flourishing of a flower. Growing flowers require time and great care; likewise, virtuousness does not always come by nature but it is gained through cultivation and care.
Reason as the guide
The Aristotelian virtuous person is the one whose rational part overrides and guides the appetitive part. Accordingly, as long as the person is guided by his rational part, his actions are virtuous; whenever the rational side of the person is weaker than his appetitive side, it leads to moral weakness (incontinence). The idea of acting from the rational part of the soul is pivotal in Aristotle's ethics; he ties human arête (virtue) to reasoning. For Aristotle, virtuous action must definitely originate from reasoning since it is the human arête (virtue) to be guided by the rational part of the soul. "Like every other creature in the world, man has a particular nature and the best way to live is to live up to his nature, which is to be directed by a rational soul." Therefore, by "desiring to do the virtuous thing" Aristotle does not claim that this person should have a natural inclination to do the right thing; instead, it requires adoption of rational desires that are in line with virtuous actions.
One-way road to happiness: from continence to virtue
How can we make ourselves enjoy doing the virtuous things according to Aristotle? For instance, how can we "enjoy" giving to charity? As Aristotle proposes, we become just by doing just actions, we become temperate by acting temperately; so, the only way to arrive at true virtue goes from acting in conformity with duty even if we do it with continence. Aristotle assumes every individual begins the journey by continence and tries to arrive at virtuousness, which is a complete harmony of will and reason. In a way, Aristotle's virtuous person is someone who walked up the ladder from continence to virtue. No one ascends to the state of virtue without first being continent. It is important to note that, for Aristotle, doing the better thing willingly is a better position to which we should aspire, but climbing up the ladder of virtue is already sufficient to make someone a good person. Full virtue and complete harmony could only be the destination we reach after a long journey of cultivation of emotions.
Yet, the question still remains: how can we make our souls come to love and enjoy being virtuous? Aristotle's answer is that when your will and reason are in complete harmony, you do the desirable thing with pleasure. Otherwise, it is continence, which is a state with a lesser degree of moral worth. Let us assume we have cultivated our emotions and habituated ourselves to do the virtuous thing. Now, I always "want" to do the right thing. Still, one cannot help but wonder how we can make ourselves "enjoy" being virtuous. Aristotle's reply would be simple: the virtuous person, upon moral deliberation, rationally chooses the virtuous thing to do, and because he is acting in conformity with his rational part and because his rational part has supremacy over the emotional part, he is expected to perform the action pleasurably. However, this is not totally convincing; no matter how many times we "choose" or "want" to do the right thing, we might still not be able to "take pleasure" from doing the right thing. I might be able to acquire the habit of sleeping less after considerable effort, but I cannot get myself to "enjoy" this. If we define a virtuous person as the one who both "wants" and "does" the virtuous thing, then this is understandable. Yet, when it comes to "enjoying" or "taking pleasure from" the virtuous action, we are usually short of actualizing this at will.
Then, is it ever possible to be truly virtuous? Evidently, Aristotle is optimistic on this issue. He believes true virtue is possible as long as proper cultivation is provided. Nonetheless, virtue does not come without effort; it requires time and tender care -- being virtuous is not possible without persistently doing the right thing and trying to strengthen our rational part so that it will have supremacy over the appetitive part. Only then can people ascend to true virtue rather than staying at the level of continence. And this journey is not something we could afford to overlook, since it harbors true happiness.
Despite Aristotle's invaluable contribution to ethics, he falls short of providing satisfactory answers to many intuitive questions regarding how and why the human soul enjoys being virtuous. His ultimate answer revolves around the happiness of the soul and there is no greater gain other than having the best possible life that is characterized as the eudaimon life. This is not a bad ideal, but its significance is quite negligible compared to the greater ideal of gaining an immortal life of happiness and beauty. Yet, since Aristotle does not believe in an immortal soul, his arguments do not include references to eternal happiness. Given this, no matter how convincing the ethicists' arguments are, there will always remain a question: Why would I care so much about a life that is doomed to end? Why should I take the trouble to fight with my desires and make myself a so-called virtuous person? Moreover, complete happiness is almost impossible to attain in a life that we know to be short. Even though we could lead a happy life through virtue, knowing that it will last merely for this life makes it bittersweet at best. Without immortality, we are like birds that are kept in cages in this finite world, trying to find the best way to lead a good and happy life--a small and finite goal. Instead, finding the real eternal Divine source of why our souls find happiness and peace in virtuous actions and knowing that this joy is to last forever, can grant us true happiness.
Whenever we act virtuously, say, giving to the poor without expecting anything in return, we are actually imitating and aspiring to the character of the Divine who is the most Generous. Similarly, whenever a person forgives another, he would be acting in accordance with the Divine mercy that is exemplified in the name of the All-Merciful. Hence, engaging in such virtuous acts gives the person unprecedented joy of the soul because such participation in the Divine goodness is greater than other sorts of pleasure. Furthermore, with immortality such acts do not merely stay in this life; on the contrary, performing these virtuous acts become the key to eternal happiness. Acting virtuously is good because these acts derive from God's character Who is the source of all goodness, truth, and beauty. As long as a human soul can reflect this beauty as a mirror, his actions gain intrinsic value, and she can reach true happiness, not only in this life but also in the eternal afterlife.
Blog entry
4 Oct 2012 - 5:22am
This sphere is defined as the set of all points in 3D Euclidean Space.
Twice the radius is called the diameter, and pairs of points on the
sphere characterized by an infinite extent along each dimension.
(ball, globe, celestial sphere)
Matter over flow ~ Not mind over matter
Nature (Infinite Sphere) = The center which is everywhere and nowhere
(circumference is nowhere).
Story
30 Sep 2012 - 7:40pm
“Truth is a pathless land.”
---------------------------
“We are too easily satisfied with words and counter-words; we are worldlywise; and, being worldly-wise, all that we can do is to hope that something will happen…Those of us who are really earnest must go beyond the word, must seek this fundamental revolution within ourselves. That is the only remedy which can bring about a lasting, fundamental redemption of mankind...
What do we mean by this deception? I think it is very important, because the more we deceive ourselves the greater is the strength in the deception; for it gives us a certain vitality, a certain energy, a certain capacity which entails the imposing of our deception on others. So gradually we are not only imposing deception on ourselves but on others. It is an interacting process of self-deception...
Is not thought itself a process of search, a seeking of justification, of security, of self-protection, a desire to be well thought of, a desire to have position, prestige and power?...
...We want to know the truth of it. How shall we find it? Certainly not by reading nor through the different explanations.
...First, you must purge your mind completely of every factor that is in the way - every hope, every desire to continue, every desire to find out what is on that other side. Because the mind is constantly seeking security, it has the desire to continue and hopes for a means of fulfilment, for a future existence…
...What is important is the approach to the problem, with what motivation, with what urge, with what desire you come to it. The seeker is always imposing this deception upon himself; no one can impose it upon him; he himself does it. We create deception and then we become slaves to it.
The fundamental factor of self-deception is this constant desire to be something in this world and in the world hereafter...
So we begin to deceive ourselves the moment there is this urge to be, to become or to achieve...
..So long as we deceive ourselves in any form, there can be no love. So long as the mind is capable of creating and imposing upon itself a delusion, it obviously separates itself from collective or integrated understanding....
Surely this process of thinking is very superficial, because through identification we bring about separation - which is so obvious in our everyday life.
Truth is not something to be gained. Love cannot come to those who have a desire to hold on to it, or who like to become identified with it. Surely such things come when the mind does not seek, when the mind is completely quiet, no longer creating movements and beliefs upon which it can depend, or from which it derives a certain strength, which is an indication of self-deception. It is only when the mind understands this whole process of desire that it can be still. Only then is the mind not in movement to be or not to be; then only is there the possibility of a state in which there is no deception of any kind.”
Jiddu Krishnamurti "The First and last Freedom"
Story
26 Sep 2012 - 7:12am
Hi everyone,
I'm The Dragon. My partner is going to help quite a bit in this channeling since he has a connection to earth that will help express the language of this channeling. As normal, he doesn't know where it will go yet, however he will be guiding it more than normal. It is necessary, because in the dragon realm we don't work with energy the way you do. It is not so deterministic for us as you experience it in your short lives, or perceive it in the sciences. There is no right or wrong about this, it was just set up this way by you, for your experience of "what is it like to be human, life to death?". Where you come from is more like our realm.
Ok, so the main topic here is to confront the big question, "How does science and spirituality unify?" Well, the simple answer is "It just does in your reality, in short order". Though, that was said in humor since I imagine you are looking for something more concrete.
So to give more of a background of how two seemingly irreconcilable things come to pass, let's first talk about the history of spirituality and science. In its purest form, spirituality is a philosophical endeavor. Science also has a basis in philosophy. Philosophy is in fact the bridge between the two. Spirituality is interesting because in its purest form, it's about understanding who you were before we entered the veil. Science, on the other hand, is about understanding and mastering the veil while avoiding some of the superstitions that can come from spirituality evolving behind the veil. Interesting, science seems to evolve in a positive way whereas if you go back over 100,000 years spirituality has largely evolved in what could be called a negative way for humanity - it has become more dense and less empowering and used for control. However, science can be frustrating in that it can take centuries to reach what is already intuitively known. Some things can never be reached with science and it suffers from being guided based on practical, logical, physical uses.
For instance, science has not yet defined consciousness, nor would it be useful in science since the entire universe is conscious and an ever-expanding definition would eventually include the entire universe and then it'd seem silly to scientists. Science can show order beyond chance in the universe that implies a universal consciousness or "God" but since there cannot be conceived an experiment to disprove such an existence, then this concept is considered "pseudoscience" no matter how much evidence piles up. This was important to illustrate the complexity of bridging science to spirituality. For, jumping straight to accepting intuitively that a universal consciousness exists is all-to-easy in spiritual endeavors. There is no requirement something be refutable, much like philosophy has no requirement.
So, to recap, some of what makes science useful for progression - albeit slowly - is that it is so structured and meticulous that it is not easily abused the way religion can based on superstitions to manipulate people or manipulate the foundations.
So, for those who are not familiar with science, my partner will help quickly paint a picture of how it works, then we'll get into the fun part. The way science works is that you come up with a hypothesis, you devise an experiment to refute it, then you print a journal article about the results. That journal article is peer-reviewed and others attempt to reproduce your results. If they can, and it is sufficient for explaining a phenomena (e.g. it supports rather than refutes) and this holds up to enough experimentation, then it becomes a theory. A law, on the other hand, predicts results versus tries to explain them. The following example may seem silly because science can seem silly sometimes by exploring the obvious and sometimes coming up with obvious answers. People may wonder why the sky is blue. A hypothesis may be, "I imagine the sky is blue because of a reflection of water". So, you come up with an experiment to test this. Perhaps you determine based on the curvature of the earth that the middle of Eurasia is a good place to see if this is true because it is so far from the ocean. So you do the experiment by going there and you find that the sky is still blue and geometrically, this makes no sense since the ground isn't blue. You put this in a journal and others test in the center of other large continents and find the same results. So you make a new hypothesis that perhaps there are some mirror-like inter-dimensional substances that reflect the light all the way from the ocean to the sky in the middle of the continents. However, someone comes along who was playing with prisms and saw your article and said, "Hey wait, I know..." and they came up with a hypothesis that the sky is blue because of how light is scattered coming in through from certain paths in the atmosphere. Occam's razor tells us that this is the simplest hypothesis since it doesn't involve some complexities like inter-dimensional effects as the cause of blue skies. You then test this by constructing a scale model of the atmosphere and produce the same effects on a small scale. You then publish this, others reproduce your results, and others go a step further and try to find holes in it, so they test certain angles they know will have the least scattering and compare the amount of different colors coming in. That corroborates the results. So now we have a theory of why the sky is blue. Interestingly, this theory also can explain why the sky turns colors at dawn and dusk because different colors get scattered and bent by the prism of the atmosphere. Hundreds of years later it is so engrained in our understanding that it is not thought about much how people may have learned about why the sky is certain colors.
Well, "gosh" you say. That's a lot of work for something that could be just handled by a thought experiment. That is how science works, however, and that can be frustrating. Humanity is moving to a place where this is just not acceptable for a few reasons:
1. With a much more intuitive understanding of things, it will hold people back to constantly have to determine scientifically why something works. For instance, the beginning of the practical use of the radio preceded the understanding of electromagnetic theory (e.g. Maxwell equations) by a matter of a couple decades. What if it had been five millenia? What would our opinion of science be then? Humanity will have things start to occur that would defy the current pace of science, were it to occur without feedback, for at least that long. Things like telepathy. Science may accidentally stumble millenia from now accidentally on telepathic thought exchange without the help of any psychic phenomena, but you can bet that if telepathy is an everyday experience for most people (and it will be very soon) science will rush to understand it. Even the most patient scientists could not wait millenia for an explanation. At least not human beings :-)
2. Scientific realism is too rampant. For instance, everyone things of an atom, proton and electron how they are drawn in chemistry books as point particles that you can know everything about. Atoms, however, are fuzzy probability waves that have been corralled into a limited set of potential locations and states. If you could look inside the atom, one of the things you'd see is a cloud representing what you call electrons. However, if you look closer at this cloud, you will not find the electron. It is in fact in multiple places at once and/or has no definite speed, or an unknown exact mass. It is a wave of multiple potentials with probabilities assigned, not one state or another. And that's what is important, is that this thing we call a point particle "atom" is as they sometimes say in philosophy "a useful fiction" because it is not a particle whatsoever and not a deterministic thing. Sure, you know some things about it, but there are some things in an atom that are in fact just potentials/probabilities and not determined. Yet, scientists sometimes want to trick themselves into thinking of them in ways that is really just an illusion.
Well, here-in lies the problem, because there is only a small part of the universe where everything is defined, and interestingly, only some of your 3d reality. Much more of it is "fuzzy" than you realize. Science has to learn to work in the world of "fuzziness".
3. Science is socially manipulated in a way that actually holds it back. The people who are making the decisions are generally in favor of a gradual progression. They don't realize that science actually progresses through paradigm shifts. Furthermore, science sometimes involves too much ego, too much in the line of preconceived notions based on world views of how things are supposed to work. So when someone comes in who just knows how to build an interstellar spaceship intuitively, and even how to produce the fuel, they are laughed out by those who are unwilling to give it a thought. There are two sides to this coin, since there are also those who bring forth fraudulent or careless evidence of a phenomena.
However, what we can say is that the spirit of science will remain. Curiosity is essential to any evolved being, and discernment is a very important tool. At its very core, science is a technique for building on knowledge curiously through the applied use of a systematic discernment filter.
What if we said discernment will become intuitive and instead of stumbling on things, you'll actually have more of a "push to the future" where you know of some spiritual fact intuitively and just have to figure out how to test it in a way to marry it to an existing foundation of knowledge? Some of you have even tried that already, but the tools just aren't there yet. They will be. We don't want to assign a time, but let's say it will probably be more than a few years and much much less than one hundred and most of you will still be alive to see the shift.
So what will happen to science? The same thing that happens to religion and spirituality. They will transform. Science and spirituality will become much more the same thing than different endeavors. Just like engineering provides a feedback for science, so will spirituality. Science on the other hand will help our spiritual endeavors because it will provide some grounding on it. It will make us more reliable in our abilities, and even gives us ways to train them more efficiently and understand what is happening. However, it won't work the way we can, for instance, understand how rolling a car down the hill will transfer potential energy to kinetic energy to accelerate at a predictable rate. Instead, things will work in a fuzzy, unpredictable but probabilistic way AND a socially-constructed way that science will need to learn to not get tripped up by. Because your realm is starting to become more like ours. So instead of saying, "so-and-so is EITHER a human or dolphin" you may say "so-and-so is both a whale and a dolphin at the same time. He is 76% likely to be a whale and 24% likely to be human AND these probabilities are impacted by person Z and Y as the observers, along with what he believes he is.
Psychic phenomena, especially, is so influenced by peoples thoughts and perceptions that science will need to understand that there is hardly a clean way to do an experiment without influencing the results. Science will also notice the impact of what people are in the room at the time. Science will start to notice energies like the auric fields, souls, telepathic thought transfer, non-corporeal guiding of sentient thought. It will happen while completely working on something else, like playing with inter-dimensional techniques for interstellar space flight as one potential, or possibly while toying with quantum computing (there are other potentials as well). Science will not, however, just stumble on these things without any kind of synergies. Instead, what is the greatest possibility is that science will discover these things at about the same time as most humans start discovering it in every day life, completely independently. That's how synchronicity works. Of course, that's the beginning. Then science will begin to actively explore, as will people in everyday life through playing with their gifts.
You can call this combined science and spirituality whatever you like, but we like the term "pure philosphy". It's hard to really understand how this will all work until you are there. Just know that you'll see a harmony between spirituality and science like you don't expect. It will be a paradigm shift, so everything sort of morphs at once, including even science and religion. It will occur in such a natural way with such a synchronicity that it will be quite startling and unexpected to many of you. However, that's part of the fun and it will be startling in a good way :-)
There are already some examples:
* NASA is working on a practical experiment for inter-dimensional flight.
* DARPA just produced a tool to use low frequency sound to put out fires.
* The medical establishment is actually clinically testing in real hospital situation using sound to target and kill cancer cells.
The last two could be considered Atlantian and Lemurian renaissance. The first is pulling back some of your abilities as what you call ETs, but what we'll call your higher selves.
Hold on tight! This is just the very tip of the iceberg.
Until next time,
The Dragon
Teaching
22 Sep 2012 - 11:41am
Part III: A Brief Recap
Here, in essence, is what I have said in response to these ten misunderstandings/objections from both side.
In response to Christian attacks…
Indians do not worship the Earth. We revere the Earth and treat it with respect because we understand that the Creator commissioned us to do so by placing us upon it. Furthermore, the Earth is the provider of everything we need for living. The Bible itself teaches that mankind was created to care for the Earth, not vice versa. Furthermore, the theme of the importance of the Earth to God is present throughout the scriptures. It is Europeans who have said otherwise.
Indians do not worship our ancestors. We show them respect and honor their memory, knowing that their experiences are available to us to learn from and that their legacy influences our destiny. We know that Creator used them to bring us forth on the earth and therefore we show them proper honor and respect. Our spirituality does not depend upon them anymore than those recorded in the Bible, who similarly respected their ancestors. We do not believe that Creator loves us or rejects us based on who preceded us on this Earth, which also happens to be the teaching of the Bible. Europeans got mixed up about what we were doing, not taking the time to learn but rather jumping to conclusions.
Indians do not worship our Spirit Guides. We consider them to be manifestations of the Creator to us based off of our needs and His desire to bless us, inform us, or mature us. They are images and personalities which the Creator uses to reflect His own and to guide us into higher dimensions of His Spirit. This idea is not foreign to the Bible, which describes the Person of Jesus Christ in exactly these terms. Once more, Europeans cling to ignorance rather than seek to understand and relate.
The Medicine Way is neither pagan babble nor New Age mysticism. It is the fullness of our cultural spirituality. It is a way of thinking that tells us that what is right or wrong in the spiritual eventually manifests itself on the Earth—it teaches us to look for the spiritual root in the problems we face and how to heal them, as well as how to treat physical ailments. The Medicine Way’s ultimate goal is to restore balance where it has been lost, which is, according to Scripture, the goal and desire of God in the work of Jesus Christ. It is the institutional European church and its abundant confusion which thought of the Medicine Way as “pagan babble.”
Indian spirituality does not make room for the person of Jesus Christ, because it does not need to, and because this is not the way to begin with in which Jesus Christ appears within a people. The Spirit of Christ—the God-life of Creator’s spirit infused into the human dimension—has been present and upon our people since before the Europeans arrived. We knew of Jesus, and as I would venture, in the way the Bible presents Him, before ever a white man came along with a book which he pretended to know everything about. The Spirit of Christ fills the whole universe, and just because we did not call him Jesus does not mean we did not know him. It is European exclusivism, not the biblical teaching, that says that Indians must change their ways.
In response to Indian objections…
The Bible does not teach that the Earth should be subjugated according to the European understanding. While it says that man has been given dominion on the Earth, this dominion should be understood in its context, both spiritually and culturally. Spiritually speaking, human beings, by the Bible’s standards, only have authority when they are guided by the Spirit to do something. They may have a purpose or job, but the Spirit’s guidance and presence are the defining marks of that job. Therefore Man’s authority on Earth is intended for selfless service to God’s creation. This service is prompted by the Spirit of God, who, when Man lives in relationship with, keeps man in balance with creation rather than in hierarchical views of himself. In essence, Man has a particular responsibility in regards to the nature he possesses and the power he’s been given.
The Bible does teach the idea of Sin. However, one should understand what that actually means before they reject or confirm it, or, worse yet, apply and preach it. Sin by the Bible’s definition is an action caused by wrong desire which is outside of proper relationship with both the Creator and the Creation. This creates imbalance which leads to death on a spiritual level (unawareness of God through focus on realms other than the spiritual) and physical level. To some degree, Indian spirituality does agree with this idea: all things have been created to live in harmony and right relationship, but man, through acting on wrong desires and pride, has created imbalance and disunity in creation and often creates this by the same method between himself and Creator. This is seen in multiple stories, as well as in the current state of the world in general. While there will most likely be some disagreement between the two theologies on this subject, the ideas of wrong desire and wrong relationship leading to imbalance correlate between the two.
The Bible does teach that the Person of Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and the path to the Father. By this it is meant that the Person of Jesus Christ, who the Bible teaches to be the embodiment of the Creator—the ultimate infusion of divine life into the human dimension—is connection to God, the reality of God, and the ultimate expression of Creator’s life. Essentially, all these things are encompassed in the one person, Jesus. However, this teaching does not mean that one must have heard Jesus’ name to be in God’s good graces, or go through the regular rituals taught by the church world. Rather, it means that wherever these things—connection, truth, and life of God—exist, there the Spirit of Jesus is. While Biblical theology does weigh the anchor on Jesus, it does not in any way imply that connection made to God without knowledge of Jesus is not valid. Rather, it teaches a universality of his person which encompasses and includes peoples and cultures beyond those of the Middle East.
The Bible teaches that women are equal and deserving of the same respect given to men. Men and women, according to the Bible, have been created so that neither can look at the one and consider themselves better than the other. Instead, the first woman came out of a man, and likewise all men have come forth from that woman. Human society and culture, later on, changed the truth of this, and forced ideas of male dominance and supremacy on society. While the Bible does display masculine images of God, this does not mean that God does not possess feminine qualities—in fact, one of his most powerful appearances is as a Mother—but rather that the masculine images spoke more directly to the culture in which the Bible was written.
The Bible does not teach that one should abandon their culture, nor that they should give up on the revelation (understanding) of God that they possess, if it is truly from the Creator. Rather, when one participates in relationship with the Spirit of Christ, that relationship will express itself in the context of and through the features of the culture to which that particular person belongs. When Jesus appeared, He did not seek for Jewish culture to be done away with; rather, the Spirit of God through Him opened up truth that spoke to the people in their cultural identity. Thus there is no biblical reason to advocate the eradication of a specific culture.
Part IV: Conclusion
It is worthy to discuss the difference between Religion and Spirituality.
Religion, I have often heard it said, is Man’s attempts to put God in a box. By the very name “religion,” we know that it is a spirit which attempts to bind, control, box-in. Religions are like snowballs rolled down hills. They begin with a human—a human being who sees fit to create something. He takes some snow from the ground into his hand, and then that human being molds it into a ball (his image for this creation). He then rolls it down a hill—lets it go on its own to become what it will. As he does this, it becomes bigger and bigger, takes on new shape, becomes more concrete and solidified and ultimately, at the end of the hill, is a large, threatening mass of snow.
Religions began because man thought that he could control God. There is not one organized religion in the world which does not teach its followers ways of appeasing whatever power they recognize as divine in order to achieve personal goals. There is not one organized religion in the world which does not teach that its rituals somehow secure divine favor. In man’s religions, it is subservience and doing all the right things that make one right with God.
Now, it should be noted, that all religions began with a genuine divine spark. All peoples retain the Memory of God—they all remember that they, as human beings, have an identity in the Great Spirit, that it is from God that they truly come and it is as a spirit-child of God that they truly are. But over time, and over continents, and over cultural changes, and the appearance of individuals, this memory becomes muddled, marred, complicated, upset. It becomes construed into symbols and images and metaphors, and most of the time some of them do not reflect the original truth at all. But to some degree—to whatever degree you believe it is there—one must admit that it is there in all cultures.
Put simply, God initiated relationship, and man made religion. God gave a revelation, and Man stopped right where he was, built a building, exhausted his own understanding of that Word that he received, and told people to flock to it. The Great Spirit never intended for His Children to memorialize His every word, the very same way He did not intend for any of them to forget any of His words. Instead, there was to be continual conversation, day-to-day relationship, in which the Word for every day (the daily bread, so to speak) came from the Creator and nourished His children, maturing them in whatever way Creator saw fit to in that day and season in their lives.
Every time the words that Creator speaks are put into writing, every time they are put into ink, they are entombed. The life that is in the Creator’s words becomes dormant the minute that man’s hands do anything to it. Why? Because it is at that moment that the Spirit leaves the Word. Creator’s Word energized by His Spirit is the substance of all spiritual life—but when man taints this union, even when attempting to preserve it, this life becomes dormant. That is why those reading the Bible often garner nothing from it—because unless Creator sends His Spirit upon the words that are written there to make them alive to the reader, they are nothing more than words on a page.
I love the story of Enoch in the Bible. It is a very short paragraph in the fifth chapter of Genesis. All we are told is this: “When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became the father of Methuselah. And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.” Whatever you believe about the meaning of this paragraph, however you choose to see the age of Enoch or what it means by “God took him,” I encourage you to simply acknowledge three things.
The first is that Enoch walked with God. Enoch did not stop at any point along the path Creator made for him in order to memorialize what was said to him at that point in his life; he did not think that it was necessary for him to add anything on to the work Creator was doing in his heart and in his walk. Rather, Enoch simply walked with God—he participated in the daily conversation and relationship that his Creator made him to enjoy.
The second is that Enoch began walking with God after he became a father. He appreciated the parental heart of the Creator—he had an in-depth understanding of how the Great Spirit views humanity, and who he was as a child of the Creator. With this understanding, he walked with his Creator day by day. This is the essence of spirituality.
The third is that, whatever you believe specifically about the ending of this paragraph, you must acknowledge that Enoch was eclipsed by the person of Creator. What I mean by this is that the personality, character, and nature of the Great Spirit so filled Enoch that it transformed him, so that it was not Enoch but the Creator who showed in him. He became a living expression of God on earth. That is what true spirituality does—it brings out God’s nature in us.
Spirituality is at one time a very personal and at the same time a very community based thing. God speaks both to individuals and the larger communities they are a part of, often, when doing the latter, through those individuals. Spirituality is primarily the relationship that we participate in with the Creator, but we are admonished to keep in mind that our participating in relationship with the Great Spirit can affect our brothers and sisters in the community. Furthermore, we are reminded that we can turn to them for guidance and support in our personal relationship with the Creator. Lastly, we fellowship with our community in worshipping the Great Spirit, seeking to come together to bring our Creator praise.
It is in this sense that Spirituality is activity. It is more to do with verbs—relating, praising, participating—than with nouns. Spirituality will never stay in one place. It will always move forward.
With this distinction between static religion and active and vibrant spirituality, I turn your attention to the subject of this article. Amerindian people have been collectively suspicious towards Christian teaching and practice for several hundred years, and rightfully so. The sufferings our peoples have met at the hands of Christian invaders is a horrible stain on human history, and is a grievance to both the Indian peoples as well as the Spirit of Christ. And so with this very bloody history in mind, filled with distrust and malice, I have sought to do a few things in order to bring about a little bit of reconciliation (which, I hesitate not to tell you, is the Creator’s ultimate desire in all things.)
I have sought to impress it upon my brothers and sisters who are Amerindian people that our traditional values, ideas, and teachings, despite being discriminated against by the Eurocentric Western social structure, are not in conflict with biblical theology. I have sought to impress it upon my brothers and sisters who profess Jesus that we should not fail to see Jesus outside of the church world—and in fact I would argue that we should see him primarily outside of man’s church world. Amerindian culture and traditional spirituality, I have here argued, expresses and celebrates the Spirit of Jesus Christ in a way which much of the church world fails to do.
I have also sought to impress it upon those who, like me, find themselves of both camps, that they do not have to choose between being Indian and worshipping Jesus. Rather, to truly follow Jesus is to live out the Indian life, and to live out the Indian life is the epitome of everything Jesus taught.
Finally, I have sought in this article to present the true biblical faith as well as I possibly can, in order to differentiate it from the twisted version of it that has been preached by the European church for centuries. As a by-product of this, I’ve had to talk a great deal more about the Christian side of things than the Indian. Though this was not my intention, it is a necessary part of unwinding the very tangled web of the European Christian religion, seeking to get past it that we may see the original faith of Jesus. The Amerindian side, though even more complex and diverse, has done a much better job of coming together to produce a very coherent and unified sound in many areas of spiritual interest, and thus the need to unravel and differentiate and talk about each specific view there is unnecessary for this article.
In seeking to bring out true biblical theology from European darkness, my goal has also been to connect it to Amerindian thoughts about God, and outline the parallels and overlaps of the two. There are obvious areas where there is disagreement, and where it really will come down to the personal opinion of the individual; but I think, on the whole, the two will find they have much more in common than they think if they will simply look at themselves in a very objective manner.
Both Amerindian teaching and the Bible tell us that there is a Creator who is a Spirit. Both tell us that the Creator made everything in the world as a spiritual creation, and then later revealed it in the physical realm. Both tell us that humanity has a special duty to guard the Earth and take care of it, and that we human beings are capable of both good and evil. Both tell us that there are special relationships that we must be careful to maintain between ourselves, the Creator, and the Creation, and that failure to do so will bring about imbalance and destruction. Both remind us that the world is in the state is it in because of man’s actions, and that man lives in an unnatural way when he is separated from the rest of Creator and Creation. Both teach us that all men, women, and children are God’s offspring and that we should live out an active lifestyle of prayer. Both honor the importance of silence before God, living in a way which shows the Creator our love, and which serves our fellow man and the Earth on which we live.
I in no way pretend to believe that this dissertation will clear up all the misunderstandings or difficulties each side has with the other anymore than I have fooled myself into thinking that this will completely end all arguments that either side has concocted. Indeed, there are far more grievances than I listed here, but my desire was to tackle some of the bigger ones, and shoot down some of the more common obstacles. My genuine hope is that this does answer some misunderstanding, and more than that inspires the discussion and debate that will hopefully bring about a more peaceful respect.
I am a follower of Jesus who was born into the Indian people, and I am an Indian who looks to Jesus as my Chief and as the one who carves out my Path ahead of me. My desire in this article is neither to convert nor to condemn; rather, I have done my best to share some of my understanding of how my relationship with Creator has been enriched by my heritage and mediated by Jesus. My goal is not to proselytize, but to share my own story through my own understanding.
Therefore, I have but a few more things to say.
Firstly, to those who are on the same path as I am, who know that Jesus loves the Indian peoples and who believe that His desire is the preservation of their culture, don’t be discouraged if you are still befuddled on some issues. So am I. As I’ve said—spirituality (our spiritual identity) is always moving and we are always maturing in it.
Secondly, to those who, on the Christian side of things, believe that I have descended into heresy or pluralism. I deny both. Rather, I believe that the Spirit of God goes where it has been given the freedom to be Chief (2 Corinthians 3), and that therein it will express itself in ways unique to that community and those individuals. I believe that the Resurrected, Eternal, Ever-living Spirit of Christ has many names in multiple cultures, and that worshipping him in a way which speaks to your heart is part of worshipping in Spirit. I believe that one does not necessarily have to know the name of Jesus to worship him (John 10:16). In the end of things, we are all pursuing our Creator, and if you truly know Jesus, than you will know that so doing is the mark of a heart which He is bringing further into relationship with God. Jesus belongs to us all; there is not a human heart who the Creator is not drawing further into Himself, and to pretend otherwise is prejudice.
Lastly, to those of the Amerindian side who disagree with what I have here written. We can disagree and still know that we are children of the Creator. We don’t have to all believe the same way to be unified in the knowledge of who we are and who the Great Spirit is. I welcome your voice and your mind on this subject; in fact, it is yours I want to hear the most, for it is you who have challenged me the most to grow in the knowledge of God.
Whatever your opinions and responses, please, bring them to the table.
The Spirit is with you.
—Three Dogs
David T’soi Gitli (Three Dogs) Armstrong is a 16 year-old student living in the St. Louis area of Missouri. He is also a student and friend of Lee Standing Bear Moore. "We are proud of David Three Dogs because he accepted the challenge to examine religion and spirituality with an open heart and mind. He also challenges the ideas and proposals of his teachers and reconciles differences respectfully and thoughtfully," said Standing Bear. He began writing short stories and fiction at age nine. He now has a passion for poetry. He also writes literature aimed at communicating spiritual truths. His desire is to see unity among all people who genuinely seek the Spirit of God.
Teaching
22 Sep 2012 - 11:38am
3. Christianity says that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. How can we be true to ourselves and our ancestors, knowing that most of them have never even heard that name, and still believe in Jesus? Doesn’t this teaching claim that our own spiritualities are not real? Doesn’t this make Christianity intolerant? Why should Jesus matter, anyway?
This is another of the more difficult aspects of biblical theology to explain and reconcile with Amerindian spirituality and culture, and that is partially because it stems out of the Sin debate that exists between the two.
John 14:6 (the Bible verse commonly touted to support the idea questioned above) is a passage of scripture that I believe is perhaps one of the most misunderstood, not because people fail to grasp its meaning at all, but because commonly the masses tend to take it at face value and convince themselves that they have mined its treasures. It is one of the most misunderstood primarily because few have taken the time to understand it fully and properly.
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” It should not pain me to read or write those words, but it does. Not because I fail to appreciate the beauty or the value of them in scripture, but precisely because of the way they have been used by Christian missionaries on the whole: with the intentions of hurting, destroying, and condemning. Therefore, it is necessary to restore a proper understanding of this verse and repair its image.
I am going to begin, then, by saying what John 14:6 does not mean.
This verse does not mean that those who have never heard the name of Jesus will not be saved. It in no way implies that someone who has not heard his name or known who he was on the earth doesn’t have legitimate claim to the biblical idea of salvation. Rather, it implies that those who go to God go through Jesus, knowingly or unknowingly. Essentially the Bible teaches that any means by which an individual connects to God is facilitated by Jesus, regardless of the individual’s awareness. (If you disagree with this statement, that is of course fine. I am merely saying what I believe the Bible to suggest in this verse.) This is consistent with the idea that we are to “know Christ no longer after the flesh” but rather, after the Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:16). Our knowledge of Christ’s earthly, flesh-and-blood body identity is unimportant; it is our knowledge and interaction with His Spirit (which is the Spirit of God infused into the dimension of human life) that matters. Therefore, one can know God by the Spirit of Christ without having ever heard the name “Jesus.”
(Coincidentally, “Jesus” is not actually the name Christ Himself would’ve heard, either. The Greek “Iesou” is an attempt at translating the Hebrew “Yeshua” or “Yahshua,” both shortened forms of “Yahushua” or “Yehoshua,” depending on your belief about Hebraic pronunciation. “Iesou” became the common form because the New Testament was written in Greek in order to reach the world around it, in which Greek was the primary language. Some of the Gospels may have been written in Hebrew to begin with, but it is ultimately the Greek language that the majority of the New Testament was written in. Bearing this in mind, those who say that one must have the name “Jesus” declared to them in order to truly know Christ fail to understand not only the mysteries of the Spirit but also the basics of linguistic transliteration.)
John 14:6 also does not mean that Christians have the market cornered on Truth. In fact, I would argue that the Christian religions, for all the truth they possess, have less truth than many others. What I mean to say here is that the Christian religions that find their root in the institutional system of Europe, for all of their doctrine and all of their attempts at having the right dogmas, fail to accurately lay claim to Truth in both idea and practice.
The truth is, Truth has made its way into every nationality, culture, tradition, and religion in some format, and whilst it is often construed to fit the culture that it is in, it is still discernible. That is why there are many great themes among the world religions and why many cultures, though different in detail, often value the same things: we are all descendants of the same race, and we all possess the same Memory of God, though we transfer it to the next generation with different symbols, metaphors, and language. Rather, John 14:6 should be an encouragement to someone who seeks to share Jesus to look for Truth in every culture, as Paul did in Acts 17. If Jesus truly is the Truth, then He will embody the Truth that is in a culture or a tradition and the only way He can appear to them in a way which speaks to their heart is a way which does just that. Truth is recognizable when one sees it. Therefore the only acceptable way to share Jesus is in a way which respects, honors, and works in and through the culture (provided the culture has stuck to its roots and origins and has not departed from the Memory of God it retains.) Unfortunately, this is something the European church system has been notoriously bad at doing.
John 14:6 also does not mean that those who do not know about Jesus have no spiritual life. Consider, readers who are familiar with scripture, Cleophas and his wife (or whoever you believe his companion to be) walking along the Emmaus road in Luke 24. For those of you who don’t know the story, it begins with two men, followers of Jesus, who are disappointed that He was crucified, believing He would start a political uprising in Jerusalem. Whilst they are muttering to themselves about their failed hopes, a stranger comes up alongside them on the road and joins in the conversation. Secretly, this stranger is the Resurrected Jesus, but they are unawares.
Along the road, Jesus begins pointing out to them through their cultural traditions and writings (this being the Torah, the Prophets, and the Poems) that the events which characterized the last week of His life were completely necessary and were in fact signs of His authentic Christhood. By the time they have reached their destination, Cleophas and his companion invite this stranger into their home to eat with them, and the stranger breaks bread. Upon doing this, they realize who He is, and He vanishes.
Without getting too deep into the meaning of the story, this is what I want to emphasize to any Christian who might be reading this: before Cleophas and his wife knew who the stranger was, they possessed spiritual life. They possessed traditions and Truth within their culture. And they had a connection to God.
My purpose in this exposé on John 14:6 is simply to make it clear that within Indian (and any) culture there is connection to God, knowledge of God, and thus life of God. Therefore, the only conclusion any biblically minded Christian can make is that the Spirit of Jesus Christ is and has been upon the Amerindian peoples. Our peoples may not call Him Jesus; they may know Him by many different names and images. The Cherokee, for example, have a story which addresses a Christ-figure called Jiya Unega, or White Otter (see The Daughter of the Sun).
Ultimately, intolerance has become a brand on Christianity due to the dogmas of the institutional church system. Doctrine, or teaching (which is the literal meaning of the word) should not be feared by those who seek Creator, nor should it be shunned as it is, but no one can be blamed for so doing, as the institutional church has used it as a guillotine to weed out its insubordinates. Institutional churches tend to use doctrinal statements or “statements of faith” as ways to bind the people of God and force them into submission, rather than using teaching in a way to connect spiritual principles and realities to everyday life.
Strangely—or perhaps not so much so—the idea of doctrine as we have it today is absent from the New Testament. Modern doctrines are developed often from scripture, sure, but scripture never presents doctrine in the way the institutional church does today. There are no books of catechism in the Bible, and the reason for that is the Bible, like Amerindian spirituality, finds absolutely no use for any teaching or doctrine which does not a) have a practical life application and b) is not lived out by the one who preaches it. All of the “doctrines” of the Bible are things which were lived out by the communities to which the books of the Old Testament and letters of the New were written. They were not dry, stale, static teachings to those communities, but they have become so as they have become sealed in pen and ink, for as Paul warns us, “the letter administers death” (2 Corinthians 3:7, paraphrase).
This is the precise reason why Amerindians often don’t discuss matters of religion as the Western world does: primarily because anything which cannot be lived or experienced in like manner is not really worth talking about by our traditional standards. We inherit this not only from a deep understanding of the everyday-ness of our spirituality but also from the mere facts of life. Unless it contributes in some way to survival, it often has little value to those trying to survive.
The Person of Jesus is a big stumbling block for many Amerindian people. Alternatively, many others have been completely fascinated with Him and what the Bible says about Him, but have found the European ways of doing things and the European disrespect for indigenous cultural and spirituality to be such an insult that their hatred for Europeans to become associated with Christ. There are some who fall into the category of the combination of both, and others who have not stopped to consider him at all.
The best I feel is to lay out what the Bible says, and give my best attempt at connecting it to Indian theological ideas, about the nature and purpose of the Person of Jesus. Scripture says that Jesus was the incarnation of God’s divine expression of Himself within a human being (John 1:1, 14), the divine expression which gives all men who are born knowledge of God (John 1:4, 9). This divine expression, this vibration, was the same one in which the entire Creation was created (John 1:3). The Bible teaches that this happened so that as a human being the divine expression or Word (indicating sound, resonance, vibration) could reveal the full and complete glory of God to human beings (John 1:14, 18, Colossians 2:9), teaching and living out the grace and truth of relationship with God (John 1:14, 17).
I will not tell the entire Gospel story here; rather, I will say quite simply that there are three comings of Jesus listed in the Bible, contrary to the two commonly touted. The first was his earthly appearance, his appearance as a flesh-and-blood man. The second occurred on the day of Pentecost, where he descended on his students as the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). This coming is still going on today as the students of Jesus grow in spiritual life. The third coming is considered future and is not, as most evangelicals tout, a triumphant descent from the sky. Rather, it is the unveiling of Creator’s mature children on the earth (Romans 8:18-22).
Ultimately, I will say this and stop here on this subject. The Bible describes the Spirit of Christ as being universal, and talks about His presence everywhere throughout all history. Christians should take a step back and stop thinking of themselves as “having the market cornered” on Jesus; I guarantee that many people who practice indigenous spirituality know him better than a good number of people who practice Christianity. Jesus as the Bible describes Him—God living as a human being—is far too big to fit into any one denominational or religious box. The Spirit of Christ, Creator’s divinity infused into the human dimension, belongs to us all, not to any one specific group. That’s all I have to say.
4. Christianity subjugates women, which is completely opposed to Indian spirituality, which celebrates and honors women.
This one, I promise, demands a much shorter and easier answer.
Subjugation of women entered Christianity upon the dawn of Constantine’s hybrid religion Catholicism, wherein the harshness of the Roman State was infused into a religious system for the first time. In Rome, though women often had more rights than in other places in the Eastern world at that time, they were nevertheless subjected to the male authorities. In almost every way, women were made to feel inferior to men, from politics to social structure to even sexual practices.
It is not as though this were completely new to the world, however. By this time, women had also received second-class status in Jewish society as well as most Greek societies. (The exception to the latter is Sparta, where women were permitted to speak their minds as well as to choose their own mates.) In short, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern culture tended to put more emphasis on the man than on the woman.
Interestingly, though produced through Middle Eastern culture, the Bible presents women in a very high and elevated light. Women are equals to men: the first woman, according to the Bible, was taken out of the man’s rib, and in turn, all men have come forth from the woman (Genesis 2:22, 3:20). Neither has, therefore, any claim over the other.
Furthermore, when Creator speaks of the people in the Bible, he often refers to them collectively as women. Israel is often referred to as a wife of God, and later on, in the New Testament, the church community is referred to as a Woman or Bride (Revelation 21:2). There is a Woman who is the object of God’s affections, who Creator is focused on and wishes to bring forth.
When God first imagined humanity, he imagined the human being as a corporate entity, consisting of a male and a female (Genesis 1:27). They were, and are, as far as Creator is concerned, one person. We are told in the New Testament that in Christ there “is no male or female” (Galatians 3:28).
I bring all this to the table merely to say that biblically speaking women are the equals of men, and that they should, by the Bible’s standards, be treated as such. There is no reason whatsoever to discriminate based off of gender, and the community which Christ created was intended to function without negative recognition of either gender. That the Christian church system of Europe has gone a different route is unfortunate, but nevertheless unsurprising.
On a broader scale, however, this question also addresses the high number of masculine references to God in the Bible, wondering why it is the Heavenly Father and theSon of God rather than their feminine counterparts. The answer to this lies in Middle Eastern culture.
The role of a father in the Semitic cultures has characteristically been that of the authority figure, the one who lays down the law and takes the disciplinarian role in his children’s upbringing in their early years. This is the father-figure image that we have inherited from the Western world and that is burned into Western psyche. Interestingly, though, in Indian culture, it is primarily the Mother who takes a hand in this. Of course, the Father does have a role to fulfill, but the emphasis on reverence and respect for one’s mother is often the driving force behind good behavior. It should be understood, then, that the Bible’s understanding of God primarily as Father has more to do with the culture in which the Bible was written than anything else. That God is a Father, for the first readers of scripture, meant that God is one who is preparing His children to become full-fledged, spiritual adults.
On a side note, the first revelation of God in the Bible after the Edenic incident is actually that of a mother. When God appears to Abraham, he says “I am El Shaddai” (Genesis 17:1). El Shaddai is a very interesting Hebrew title that it would do anyone who wishes to understand the scriptures good to research. Literally, it means “Big Breasted One,” and carries the thought of an all-nourishing mother. The disciplinarian Father aspect of Creator does not become apparent in the scriptures until the exodus.
That Jesus was a man also connects to this argument. Many have questioned why He was not a She, or even if it could be so. I believe that, were Jesus to have been born in Indian society, He very well could’ve been a She. In the culture in which Jesus lived, however, it was important that He be a Son, for two reasons.
The first is the emphasis on the masculine role we have already discussed. The second is an offshoot of it and has to do with maturity. In Middle Eastern culture, one was a boy or merely an offspring until they had been so taught and disciplined by their father to be able to both take over the family trade as well as run his own household. At this point, the young boy was no longer merely the physical continuation of his father’s line, but was truly and in every way the legacy of the father. He was not just a boy; he was now a man, and as such, he was counted a Son, not merely progeny. Thus the idea of Sonship is connected with the ideas of maturity and obedience, of likeness to the parent, not necessarily maleness.
Thus, once again, we find that European Christianity has disconnected from the theology of the Bible, and it is this which has birthed the discrimination which offends Amerindian spirituality.
5. Christianity calls for us to abandon our traditional ways.
This misunderstanding is unfortunately a trophy in the Hall of Doctrinal Fame for most Christians, and I believe the essence of it lies in the homogenization that European culture advocates.
Europeans, even amongst themselves, discriminate based off of differences in culture. To this day, the British, French, Spanish, Dutch—they all have their own opinions and sayings about one another. Certain European nations, like Russia and the now nonexistent Ottoman Empire, have been shunned by most of Europe simply for retaining some of their cultural identity, rather than mixing into the methodical and monotonous traditions of Western Europe.
I attribute this to be a leftover mindset burned into the European psyche from Rome, where the Imperial goal demanded a certain amount of pretended homogenization. Even in conquered regions, it was best to bother the governors with as little of non-Roman culture as possible. This idea, when mixed into the great melting pot of Catholicism, helped produce the very exclusive nature of European culture.
The early church and the theology of the Bible, I am not hesitant to say, support nothing of this one victorious super-culture. The thing about Spirit—especially God’s Spirit—is that it transcends cultures and revitalizes those that it is not already acting as the heart of. God does not wish for indigenous culture to be wiped out—rather, the Creator’s desire is for His Spirit to move upon the cultures which are already in place, to move from within them and without them, and produce expression of spiritual life.
I would argue that to force an Indian to relate to God in a European way is unbiblical and is against the Christ most who advocate this view claim to know. Furthermore, to tell anyone else that they must relate to the Creator in the way in which someone else does is absurd. This does not mean that there is no place for universal truth or the sharing of what one believes it to be—on the contrary, this factor gives it its truest place. Creator’s truth will always come to an individual in a way which will speak to that individual’s heart, and will always bring the very unique relationship and expression that person has with Creator further into its fullest potential. This means different things for different people, and different things for different peoples as well. As I have stated before: on the whole, God will appear differently through different people groups.
There is no need for a Christian who seeks to share Christ to advocate the total eradication of traditional Indian ways (which, by the way, means the eradication of Indian theology as well.) This is how proselytism comes about. Rather, if a Christian wishes to share Christ, he or she should do so first through taking the time to learn about the culture that they are sharing with, to know it intimately so as to recognize where God already is within it. God is everywhere, especially amongst His children, and to assume that the Creator, the best Mother and the best Father of all time and space, would abandon any of them for even a second, even if they were to be unaware of Him (which is rather difficult,) is ludicrous.
Teaching
22 Sep 2012 - 11:32am
RECONCILIATION
Seeking Dialogue, Parallel, and Understanding between Amerindian and Christian Theologies
By David T’soi Gitli Armstrong
http://www.manataka.org
Introduction
Brothers and Sisters,
Some would read this title and scoff, thinking that this is at best an impossible hope. I am deeply sorry that so many feel that way, and it is exactly why such a thing needs to be attempted.
Let me be very clear in saying that I don’t pretend to believe that I can adequately answer each and every quibble and disagreement between Christian Faith and Amerindian spirituality. I cannot bring reconciliation in every area in which they meet a discord. Here I have only answered those things which I felt the Spirit of God pressing upon my heart to answer and to seek to bring reconciliation in the areas where the Spirit has given me tools to bring it.
In one sense, this is an attempt to explain each to one another. To explain either is intensely difficult: Amerindian spirituality is diverse and highly individualistic, and Christianity is a split between the institutional religion which claims to be authentic and the original Faith of Jesus lived out in relationship with Him. There are misconceptions about both on both sides, essentially, and I am sure there are some whose minds will not change where their opinions are concerned. I respect and honor them the same.
My purpose is also to show that many of the wrongs penned to Christianity and the disagreements that have arisen between Indian peoples and Christians on spirituality find their root in the institutional system of Christianity invented by the Europeans which focuses on dogma and doctrine in theory rather than on relationship with the Person of God in which doctrine is lived out and expressed through a quality of life. By showing this, my intention is to contrast this system with the living faith expressed in the New Testament, which was lived out in the early church, and which has, since the time of the Reformation, been slowly reappearing. The reason for this is that understanding the difference between the man-made system and the community envisioned by the Spirit and written about in the Bible, I believe, will help Amerindian people to be more open to what I have to say here. Such a statement, however, limits the number of Christians who may read this, as the multitudes neither believe nor are cued into the idea that the religion they practice is man-made and is void of biblical or spiritual authority.
This is not an attempt at Proselytism, nor a desire to see people on either side stumble in their pursuit of Creator. Rather, this is an invitation to dialogue. My deep-founded hope is that people of both sides will contribute to this discussion thoughtful and Spirit-borne words which will help us all better understand one another and perhaps grow closer. I repeat: this is intended as the beginning of a discussion. Young men and Grandfathers, young women and Grandmothers, whatever your opinion, whatever your stance, I invite you to speak and I desperately wish to hear what you have to say. Even if we do not agree, and even if we believe differently on some matters, my prayer and hope is that we may still be of one Spirit and one heart, and joined by the unity of who we are in our Creator, and nothing else.
My brothers and sisters, I hope that this blesses your spirit, and my prayer to the Creator, the Great Mystery, our Heavenly Father, the All-Nourishing Mother (El Shaddai,) the God of the Heavens and the Earth, is that the rift be filled.
Yours,
Three Dogs
Part I: Christian Misunderstandings about Indian Spirituality
1. Indians worship the Earth, or at the very least, put far too much emphasis on it.
This attack stems from a very Eurocentric worldview which was inserted into Christianity first by Constantine and later by the barbarian invaders who brought their own mindsets and attitudes towards the world into the faith. European ideologies make no room for respect for the Earth; from Feudalism to the Industrial Revolution, the idea of the Earth as being a sacred thing worthy of respect has been foreign to European thought.
The American Indian has a deep and abiding respect for the Earth, and this connection is a large factor in Amerindian spirituality. Our elders teach us that the Earth is our Mother—not merely in a metaphorical sense, but it in a very real way has provided all of the materials for our bodies (as a true mother does) and has worked meticulously to form us. We are taught that as children of the Earth, we must give her sacred honor as we would our very own mother, taking from her only the things we need and being careful to honor her however we can. We are taught that the heart of the Creator is for the Earth—for its health, benefit, and progress.
Europeans, with their misguided views of worship and lack of understanding concerning their place in the world, mistook our reverence for Mother Earth as a form of Creation worship or what is commonly called “pantheism.” Our Respect for the Earth in no way takes preeminence over our love for the Creator; in everything we are careful to put the Spirit before the Creation.
This line of thought has also given way to the idea that Amerindians practice some form of animism, worshipping nature spirits. This is also a misconception. Nature as a whole—made up of the Rock, Plant, and Animal people in addition to human beings—is looked at as a community which works together to maintain balance and harmony. The traits displayed in some of the members of this community are responded to with awe and, usually, these traits are adopted or reciprocated in the individuals who admire them. For example, an individual may honor the Eagle in a very special way because of a trait they share. (More on this in #3)
This disconnection from the Earth, however, is highly unbiblical. All throughout the Old Testament, the importance of the Earth is shouted from the pages. When Creator finishes the Earth in Genesis 1, He is very pleased with what He has made, and when He makes man, Man’s primary job is to take care of the land in which he has put him. The land which Israel was to inherit is loudly also emphasized, and it is only by living in reverence for Creator and their neighbor (and giving the land peace every seven years from farming, which is a sign of honor) that Israel is permitted to stay in the land. The Bible is in one accord with the teaching of our ancestors that God cares very deeply for the Earth and wishes for us to do the same. In the New Testament, those who destroy the Earth are promised retribution, for it is God’s holy creation (Revelation 11:18). It is safe to infer, then, that the European disconnection from the Earth and lack of deep care for its well-being is not a hallmark of first century Christianity, but a later addition from the Eurocentric worldview.
2. Indians worship their ancestors.
Much like the discrepancy concerning our deep love for our Earth Mother, our reverence for our ancestors is not worship, but rather a respect born out of a connection. The American Indian understands and is taught that his or her ancestors are his or her forerunners on the earth, and that he or she is the embodiment of their legacy. Everything they have worked for, dreamed for, and lived for continues on in the individual. Likewise, it is believed and taught that their experiences and lessons are available to us deep within our person, and that we should seek to model ourselves after their examples (if, of course, they have lived with honor).
European Christians have assumed that ancestor reverence equals the worship of human beings. Such an idea could not be further from the Indian concept of ancestor reverence. We believe that our ancestors lift up prayers and intercessions for us in the Spirit, and that their spirits watch over us while in union with the Creator; in no way, shape, or form do we believe that they are more powerful than the Creator or more able to help us than the Father of all spirits is. If a prayer is lifted up to them, it is known that the plea is not lifted to an earthly man, but to a spirit who is joined as one to the Spirit of the Creator, and that we are appealing to Creator to give us guidance through the individual.
Unfortunately, European Christianity has removed the deeply biblical reverence for our ancestors in an effort to undermine the importance of individual legacy and destiny. (I attribute this to the institutional church’s use of the word ‘father’ for the clergy, pacifying the fathers of the families who were meant to be the guiding voice and passer down of the family legacy). In the Bible, people were known by who their ancestors were, and who their ancestors were often pointed to what they were destined to do. The destiny of Jesus Christ Himself was determined by His ancestry in David, and Jesus honored His ancestor in His life by living in the same way he did as a shepherd (guide, counselor, healer, protector) to His People in His 3 ½ years of ministry. While confidence in ancestry where spiritual status was concerned is discouraged in the New Testament, it is not discouraged to honor one’s ancestry: Paul himself never forgot that he was a “Jew of Jews.” However—and this is in agreement with the Amerindian teaching—one’s physical ancestry in and of itself is not a guarantor of spiritual merit.
3. The Indian concept of Spirit Guides is polytheistic and can in no way be in accordance with the faith of the New Testament.
Once more, the issue here is not with the first century faith preached by Jesus and Paul, but rather an assumption made by the institutional church of the Europeans.
To the American Indian, the concept of a spirit guide can mean different things dependent upon their tribe, personal experience, and relationship to Creator. Ultimately it is clear that the spirit guide is dependent upon two things: Creator’s revelation and the need of the individual. It is clear that one does not choose their spirit guide; rather, the spirit guide chooses the individual. The animal which appears to an individual seeking a guide does so of its own accord and will rather than by the choosing of the seeker. The spirit guide is understood to be a spirit sent by the Creator to assist and lead His children in their spiritual growth. Therefore, it is better understood as a revelation of the Creator himself through the traits and personality of the spirit guide rather than some random animistic entity.
Furthermore, Creator, who is attentive to the needs of his children, will not send a spirit guide to someone who is not seeking one or who is not in need of one. For some tribes, the spirit guide is associated with coming of age, and is a part of their cultural revelation of the Creator; however, even within this context, the nature of and participation in relationship with the spirit guide varies from individual to individual. Ultimately, some need the spirit guide more than others. This in no way makes them weaker or less spiritual than the one who does not need it as much; it merely means that their relationship with Creator is best expressed in this context.
Spirit guides are not as hard for the New Testament to understand. Jesus Christ Himself is considered by the New Testament to be the ultimate version of a spirit guide, being the complete expression of Creator in a human being according to the text. It was not uncommon for the early followers of Jesus to have visions wherein He appeared in the form of different animals and symbols (indeed, the entire Book of Revelation is nothing but such a vision), as well as to speak of him with animal-imagery. The idea of having a connection to the Creator which involves his appearance in or through a personal guide is not disassociated from the New Testament.
4. The so-called ‘Medicine Ways’ are pagan mystical stuff. They in no way reflect the Spirit of Christ.
Actually, there is more mysticism surrounding the idea of Amerindian medicinal practices than there actually are in them.
The Medicine Way is a term used by Amerindians to describe the connection between our medicinal knowledge and our traditional spirituality. It is considered that our relationship to Creator is medicine to our spirits and souls. By extension—and this is the part that is commonly thought of and attacked—the Medicine Way also refers to the interrelationship between the spiritual and the physical as understood, mediated, and maintained by Amerindian practices.
European Christians have never been able to understand this, and much of that stems from their general lack of medicinal knowledge, physically (up until quite recently in human history,) soulishly (mentally,) or spiritually.
To begin with, their attack is mounted from a misunderstanding of the purpose of the Medicine Way. They do not understand that medicine is primarily a SPIRITUAL thing, and secondarily a physical thing. Medicine is understood as anything in either realm which restores balance lost in either realm. In the physical, for example, a certain type of plant can be used as medicine for a certain type of imbalance (called a disease). However, this disease may have a spiritual or a soulish (mental) root, and therefore it is necessary to also treat the spirit and the soul as well.
The Medicine Way is all about the mediation of balance and harmony in whatever realm—spiritual, mental, or physical—that lacks this balance. In European Christianity, the idea of showing the loving care of a doctor to someone who has a spiritual or mental ailment is foreign; rather, threats, guilt trips, and fear tactics must be used (in their minds) to heal this person.
This is totally and completely strange to the Jesus painted to us in the Gospels, who is the “Great Physician come to heal the sick” (paraphrase of Luke 5:31) as well as a far cry from the community which he established to “preach the good news (not bad news or hateful words), to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, and proclaim THE LORD’S FAVOR” (Luke 4:18-19). The Indian Medicine Way is in every way more successful at living up to this anointing which was upon Jesus Christ than the institutional European church has been. The intention of both Jesus and the Medicine Way is to ensure spiritual balance which may be expressed in earthly balance. There is no discord.
5. Indian spirituality makes no room for the person of Jesus Christ.
The above argument, as I’ve heard it from not a few, holds several flaws.
The first is the assumption that European Christianity and the institutional church have done a correct or even semi-adequate job of presenting the person of Jesus Christ to the Amerindian people. For heaven’s sakes, look at what they’ve done in his name! Rape, pillage, murder, attempted genocide, terracide (my new coined word for attempted destruction of the Earth)—things which any child can decipher from the Bible are not things that Jesus, Paul, or any of the apostles or early church advocate! In fact, it would violatethe Spirit of Christ for any Indian man, woman, or child to develop faith in Jesus based off of the example of European missionaries. I repeat: it would be totally and completely offending to the Spirit of Christ if any Indian were to consider it wise to be followers of Christ based off of the actions of those who have come to them preaching his name. Of course, there have undoubtedly been individuals who have been faithful to express Christ in a clear manner consistent with the records of his life and the word of his Spirit.
The overwhelming majority of Christian missionaries, however, have not been so adequate. Their justification is so long as they preach the good news with mere words, they are vindicated in doing whatever they please, thinking they have assumed lordship over their fellow man and over the earth which God has made. It would do them well to look to the example of Jesus, who Himself was a reluctant preacher and desired instead to serve the multitudes with love and teach His disciples in private, rather than to lavish Himself with costly things as a reward for big sermons (which, consequentially, is a culmination of many Indian virtues, such as Silence, Servitude to one’s people and community, and Poverty).
The second flaw in this argument is one which has been prevalent throughout all these attacks, namely, the idea that Indian spirituality is one specific thing. To author a composite Indian spirituality is a tough job which I am not sure that any one man could do, seeing as there are upwards of thousands of tribes, languages, and cultures in which specific individual and national revelations of Creator were cultivated and celebrated throughout long periods of time. To speak of them all as one thing is the same as saying that all the many thousands of sects of Christianity are all the same thing. At the best, there are underlying themes and teachings that pervade all the different Indian spiritualities which make room for dialogue between nations concerning it (which is rare in and of itself; as Grandfather Lee Standing Bear Moore has said, “Indians don’t discuss religion together. It is like the pine tree telling the oak tree what is good for the pine tree.”)
The third flaw is a direct result of the one mentioned above: namely, the idea that Indian spirituality is static. Spirituality by its very nature cannot remain in one place: if the Spirit of God is truly in a people or a place, things will happen, people will be moved, whether in their hearts or outward. This is because the Spirit of God is activity and vibration, not staleness or coldness. The cultural revelations of God in all of the peoples all over the world were developed because the Spirit of God kept moving, kept dealing with those peoples, kept speaking, and kept bringing them forward. At one point in time, to give an example from a different part of the world, the national relationship of Israel to God was through only the Torah (teaching, law), but over time it came to be defined by the words of the Prophets and the Poets as well.
Lastly, this argument ignores a teaching of the New Testament. To paraphrase what a friend and mentor, Elwin Roach, once told me, Christ will express Himself differently in and through individuals and ethnic groups, and He will speak to, in, and through them where they are. As Rob Bell has said, “All Truth belongs to God.” Wherever Truth is, it is of God, no matter where it is. Acts 17 (a chapter I will reference often) is a magnificent example of this. Therein, the Apostle Paul speaks to the Athenian philosophers, dwelling on the understanding of Creator they possess and connecting it to his own.
The simple point of all this is that the Spirit of God will appear differently through one group than it does through another. We have no reason to believe that the way He appears through Jewish culture will be the exact same way He appears through Indian culture. It is a mistake to say, therefore, that Indian spirituality must make room for Jesus. That creates mixture. Rather, the Spirit of Christ expresses Himself from the heart of Indian spirituality and culture, the same way He expressed Himself from the heart of Jewish and Greek culture in the first century.
Amerindian theology tends to affirm the above truth: namely, that Creator has a unique relationship with each of His creations, and that no people or tribe should have an identical relationship to Creator. Certainly, there may be universal themes, or there may be a pervading understanding of certain things about Creator, but no two peoples should celebrate God in the exact same way, because no two peoples are the exact same, because no two individuals are the exact same. To do so is a violation of the infinitely creative Spirit of God who dwells within us and seeks to express Himself in new and diverse ways. The Bible agrees with this idea, bespeaking of how the “glory and honor of the nations” will be brought into the Holy City, which is a symbol for the community of God’s people (Revelation 21:26). Essentially, God’s vision for humanity is one of a multiethnic, multicultural celebration of our harmony with Him and with each other.
Story
14 Sep 2012 - 3:01pm
“God is One, and likes unity.”
“Men will be liars towards the end of the world and will relate such stories as neither you nor your fathers ever heard. Then avoid them, so that they may not lead you astray and throw you into contention and strife.”
“The strong man is not the good wrestler. The strong man is the one who controls himself when he is angry.”
“That man is nearest to God, who pardons when he has in his power he who would have injured him.”
“Shall I not inform you of a better act than fasting, alms, and prayers? It is making peace between one another. Enmity and malice tear up heavenly rewards by the roots.”
“Do not say that if the people do good to us, we will do good to them and if the people oppress us, we will oppress them, but determine that if people do you good, you will do good to them and if they oppress you, you will not oppress them.”
“The greatest enemies of God are those who are entered into Islam, and do acts of infidelity, and who without cause, shed the blood of man.”
“That person is not of us who invites others to aid him in oppression, and he is not of us who fights for his tribe in injustice, and he is not of us who dies in assisting his tribe in tyranny.”
“Verily your deeds will be brought back to you, as if you yourself were the creator of your own punishment.”
“Shedding of blood will be the first matter about which judgment will be given on the Day of Resurrection.”
“All actions are judged by the motive prompting them.”
“No man is a true believer unless he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.”
“One learned man is harder on the devil than a thousand ignorant worshippers.”
“He who knows himself, knows God.”
The Prophet Mohammad
Blog entry
8 Sep 2012 - 2:29am
Hello, I'm going to try out posting blog entries on this site. I even uploaded a profile picture and banner for the occasion! So, I hope you enjoy reading. Also, I have no idea why I'm adding random numbers to my entries. It's just fun. Ok, here goes!
Kennyism #58: avoid the news whenever possible.
I know, I know. "but you have to be informed, you have to know what's going on in the world!" Here's the thing: Contrary to popular belief, you actually DON'T have to be informed. You read that right.
Think about it: What do you actually DO with all that negative information the news gives you anyway? Usually, the only thing that happens is you spend time in a fearful or angry mindset. How exactly does that improve your quality of life?
How many people are jaded toward humankind because of all the wars, the intolerance, the acts of cruelty, etc. that they constantly hear about? How many people have asked "what is wrong with the world today?" I bet most of us have said that at one time or another.
It's because our perspective is skewed. News tends to cherry-pick the worst events in the world and put them under a magnifying glass for everyone to see. Therefore, we end up thinking that things are much worse than they actually are. That college guy who played Call Of Duty all weekend long in his underwear and still aced his final exam on monday? Yeah, you didn't hear about him. You heard about the couple who let their baby starve because they were addicted to 2nd Life. How many MILLIONS of moms and dads play video games in healthy moderation? You heard about the ONE that doesn't. Then you heard about a second, then a third. Then you said "what is wrong with the world today?" Because you were exposed to 3 separate negative incidents, and zero positive ones.
So just remember: when you hear about someone getting shot, someone else is coming home from the hospital to a family that missed them. When you read that divorce rates are up, many people are celebrating their anniversaries. When a company reports that profits are down, another's is just now flourishing. When you hear about someone being left to die, someone else is being talked down from attempting suicide and is going to get the help that they need.
That's why Dr. Kenny says only take in the news in extremely small doses, along with large quantities of things that make you laugh and feel happy.
Blog entry
7 Sep 2012 - 3:47pm
'Welcome Home all Lightworkers, Star Seeds and Divine Multidimensional Beings' :-)...
Hmm...
Don't us Average Joe's merit a mention, also??? :-) :-)
Blog entry
7 Sep 2012 - 5:13am
None of us, here on Mother Earth, Truely Knows what our tomorrow's may bring - unless Told otherwise...
Therefore, would it not be Wiser, to concentrate our thoughts and efforts, on each of our today's, instead???...
For only then, may we be more Assured, of our individual and collective future's, together...
Blog entry
6 Sep 2012 - 6:11pm
A friend shared this with me today. She's including it in a new e-book.
Dear Human: You've got it alllll wrong. You didn't
come here to master unconditional love. That is
where you came from and where you'll return.
You came here to learn personal love. Universal
love. Messy love. Sweaty love. Crazy love.
Broken love. Whole love. Infused with divinity.
Lived through the grace of stumbling.
Demonstrated through the beauty of messing up.
Often.
You didn't come here to be perfect. You already
are. You came here to be gorgeously human.
Flawed and fabulous. And then to rise again into
remembering. But unconditional love? Stop
telling that story. Love, in truth, doesn't need any
other adjectives. It doesn't require modifiers. It
doesn't require the condition of perfection. It only
asks that you show up. And do your best. That
you stay present and feel fully. That you shine
and fly and laugh and cry and hurt and heal and
fall and get back up and play and work and live
and die as YOU. It's enough. It's plenty.
Courtney A. Walsh
video
6 Sep 2012 - 3:48pm
Finally, i have the opportunity to highlight, some George Harrison philosophy :-) :-) :-)
Blog entry
6 Sep 2012 - 6:40am
'We tend to see to things as WE are, rather than as THEY are'...
By Anais Nin - French born author & diarist (1903 - 1977)...
How very True this paraphrased quotation is... :-) :-) :-)
video
3 Sep 2012 - 9:05pm
A man without Faith, is like an Ocean without a Shore...
video
3 Sep 2012 - 8:50pm
What a Singer :-)...
Sandy Denny at her most Inspirational :-)...
How can i not include such a Dame, in my all-time Selections??? :-)
video
2 Sep 2012 - 9:41am
A relevant question for today's world...
However, i feel that the real question, being asked here is...
Where do the Children Play - in a Spiritual Sense???...
video
1 Sep 2012 - 8:23am
This fine tune spoke volumes to me, for a very long time...
And after reading this mornings, 'The Sun', it would seem that it now also applies to U2, Roberto :-)...
You wouldn't happen to be playing mind-games, with Sir Alex, by any chance, would you??? :-) :-)
video
29 Aug 2012 - 5:20pm
I've not played a Sir Paul McCartney tune, yet...
So, as this reflects how i feel about a current, personal and private, family issue...
I thought i would offer to share it, with you all...
video
29 Aug 2012 - 7:36am
The Song of a Happy celebate, perhaps :-) :-) :-)
Blog entry
27 Aug 2012 - 1:55pm
Compassion can only be bestowed unto those whose Hearts are aligned to Love and Peace...
Our Father Knows what is Written in ALL of our hearts, from moment to moment, through time...
So attempting to deceive Him, is impossible - for those of us who Know, this is obvious...
