I was in the bookstore the other day, trying to find some writings by William Godwin--I've taken an interest an anarchist writings, and thought that might be a good place to start. Anyways, they had nothing, but I did take a look over at the "Religion" and "New Age" section of the book store. I started browsing through the titles--each author had their own take on "enlightenment" and how to get there, espousing various doctrines and I swear to you, I SWEAR I saw a title that said "Enlightenment in 30 Days!"
I wanted to grab the bookshelf and topple the whole thing. I wanted to grab each and every book and toss it out of the room. I wanted to scream, "Divinity is our birthright! It's not a commodity!"
Perhaps I'm being unfair. But when I see these authors who have written book after book of spiritual material--a lot of which repeats the same concepts over and over--just in different ways--and who go on and on about transcending the ego and not being concerned about personal gain, yet their names and faces and resumes and accomplishments are plastered all over each book, I feel like something is getting lost.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Che and the Kingdom
Haven't gotten to post too much recently. My computer was out of commission for a good while, but now it's up and working in proper condition. Have a lot on my plate and on my mind right now. I just finished reading Jon Anderson's wonderful biography on Che Guevara. If you're at all interested in this man's life, pick the book up as soon as you can.
What I admire most about Che was his immeasurable passion, his willingness to meet fear head on and not shrink back...that he believed in his cause so strongly that he was willing to give his life for it. Ultimately, I disagree with his conviction that true revolution requires violence. I turn to the teachings of Jesus (as well as the headlines of our newspaper) and remember that those who live by the sword do indeed die by the sword.
If it is a world of peace that we want, there is an fundamental problem with using violence; we inevitably teach the lesson to ourselves and others that violence is what makes the world go round. When a government is overthrown through violence, violence must then be used by the revolutionaries to remain in power (crushing loyalists from the past government, suppressing future rebellions, etc.). History has consistently shown that what you eventually end up with is a system that's just as bad, if not worse, than the one that preceded it.
Lately, I'm taking my inspiration from Leo Tolstoy's "The Kingdom of God" is within you. Here's a section of it that I found to be very powerful and compelling. It was written by William Lloyd Garrison; although it's very heavy in Christian tone, I think it's message is equally applicable to believers of ALL faiths, or even those who believe in nothing at all:
http://www.kingdomnow.org/w-inyou01.html
"DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS ADOPTED BY PEACE CONVENTION. "Boston, 1838.
"We the undersigned, regard it as due to ourselves, to the cause which we love, to the country in which we live, to publish a declaration expressive of the purposes we aim to accomplish and the measures we shall adopt to carry forward the work of peaceful universal reformation.
"We do not acknowledge allegiance to any human government. We recognize but one King and Lawgiver, one Judge and Ruler of mankind. Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands. The interests and rights of American citizens are not dearer to us than those of the whole human race. Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism to revenge any national insult or injury...
"We conceive that a nation has no right to defend itself against foreign enemies or to punish its invaders, and no individual possesses that right in his own case, and the unit cannot be of greater importance than the aggregate. If soldiers thronging from abroad with intent to commit rapine and destroy life may not be resisted by the people or the magistracy, then ought no resistance to be offered to domestic troublers of the public peace or of private security.
"The dogma that all the governments of the world are approvingly ordained of God, and that the powers that be in the United States, in Russia, in Turkey, are in accordance with his will, is no less absurd than impious. It makes the impartial Author of our existence unequal and tyrannical. It cannot be affirmed that the powers that be in any nation are actuated by the spirit or guided by the example of Christ in the treatment of enemies; therefore they cannot be agreeable to the will of God, and therefore their overthrow by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects is inevitable.
"We regard as unchristian and unlawful not only all wars, whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification, we regard as unchristian and unlawful; the existence of any kind of standing army, all military chieftains, all monuments commemorative of victory over a fallen foe, all trophies won in battle, all celebrations in honor of military exploits, all appropriations for defense by arms; we regard as unchristian and unlawful every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service.
"Hence we deem it unlawful to bear arms, and we cannot hold any office which imposes on its incumbent the obligation to compel men to do right on pain of imprisonment or death. We therefore voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legislative and judicial body, and repudiate all human politics, worldly honors, and stations of authority. If we cannot occupy a seat in the legislature or on the bench, neither can we elect others to act as our substitutes in any such capacity. It follows that we cannot sue any man at law to force him to return anything he may have wrongly taken from us; if he has seized our coat, we shall surrender him our cloak also rather than subject him to punishment.
"We believe that the penal code of the old covenant--an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth--has been abrogated by Jesus Christ, and that under the new covenant the forgiveness instead of the punishment of enemies has been enjoined on all his disciples in all cases whatsoever. To extort money from enemies, cast them into prison, exile or execute them, is obviously not to forgive but to take retribution.
"The history of mankind is crowded with evidences proving that physical coercion is not adapted to moral regeneration, and that the sinful dispositions of men can be subdued only by love; that evil can be exterminated only by good; that it is not safe to rely upon the strength of an arm to preserve us from harm; that there is great security in being gentle, long- suffering, and abundant in mercy; that it is only the meek who shall inherit the earth; for those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.
"Hence as a measure of sound policy--of safety to property, life, and liberty--of public quietude and private enjoyment--as well as on the ground of allegiance to Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords, we cordially adopt the non-resistance principle, being confident that it provides for all possible consequences, is armed with omnipotent power, and must ultimately triumph over every assailing force.
"We advocate no Jacobinical doctrines. The spirit of Jacobinism is the spirit of retaliation, violence, and murder. It neither fears God nor regards man. We would be filled with the spirit of Christ. If we abide evil by our fundamental principle of not opposing evil by evil we cannot participate in sedition, treason, or violence. We shall submit to every ordinance and every requirement of government, except such as are contrary to the commands of the Gospel, and in no case resist the operation of law, except by meekly submitting to the penalty of disobedience.
"But while we shall adhere to the doctrine of non-resistance and passive submission to enemies, we purpose, in a moral and spiritual sense, to assail iniquity in high places and in low places, to apply our principles to all existing evil, political, legal, and ecclesiastical institutions, and to hasten the time when the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. It appears to us a self-evident truth that whatever the Gospel is designed to destroy at any period of the world, being contrary to it, ought now to be abandoned. If, then, the time is predicted when swords shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, and men shall not learn the art of war any more, it follows that all who manufacture, sell, or wield these deadly weapons do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion of the Son of God on earth.
"Having thus stated our principles, we proceed to specify the measures we propose to adopt in carrying our object into effect.
"We expect to prevail through the Foolishness of Preaching. We shall endeavor to promulgate our views among all persons, to whatever nation, sect, or grade of society they may belong. Hence we shall organize public lectures, circulate tracts and publications, form societies, and petition every governing body. It will be our leading object to devise ways and means for effecting a radical change in the views, feelings, and practices of society respecting the sinfulness of war and the treatment of enemies.
"In entering upon the great work before us, we are not unmindful that in its prosecution we may be called to test our sincerity even as in a fiery ordeal. It may subject us to insult, outrage, suffering, yea, even death itself. We anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and calumny. Tumults may arise against us. The proud and pharisaical, the ambitious and tyrannical, principalities and powers, may combine to crush us. So they treated the Messiah whose example we are humbly striving to imitate. We shall not be afraid of their terror. Our confidence is in the Lord Almighty and not in man. Having withdrawn from human protection, what can sustain us but that faith which overcomes the world? We shall not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us, but rejoice inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ's sufferings.
"Wherefore we commit the keeping of our souls to God. For every one that forsakes houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for Christ's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
"Firmly relying upon the certain and universal triumph of the sentiments contained in this declaration, however formidable may be the opposition arrayed against them, we hereby affix our signatures to it; commending it to the reason and conscience of mankind, and resolving, in the strength of the Lord God, to calmly and meekly abide the issue."
What I admire most about Che was his immeasurable passion, his willingness to meet fear head on and not shrink back...that he believed in his cause so strongly that he was willing to give his life for it. Ultimately, I disagree with his conviction that true revolution requires violence. I turn to the teachings of Jesus (as well as the headlines of our newspaper) and remember that those who live by the sword do indeed die by the sword.
If it is a world of peace that we want, there is an fundamental problem with using violence; we inevitably teach the lesson to ourselves and others that violence is what makes the world go round. When a government is overthrown through violence, violence must then be used by the revolutionaries to remain in power (crushing loyalists from the past government, suppressing future rebellions, etc.). History has consistently shown that what you eventually end up with is a system that's just as bad, if not worse, than the one that preceded it.
Lately, I'm taking my inspiration from Leo Tolstoy's "The Kingdom of God" is within you. Here's a section of it that I found to be very powerful and compelling. It was written by William Lloyd Garrison; although it's very heavy in Christian tone, I think it's message is equally applicable to believers of ALL faiths, or even those who believe in nothing at all:
http://www.kingdomnow.org/w-inyou01.html
"DECLARATION OF SENTIMENTS ADOPTED BY PEACE CONVENTION. "Boston, 1838.
"We the undersigned, regard it as due to ourselves, to the cause which we love, to the country in which we live, to publish a declaration expressive of the purposes we aim to accomplish and the measures we shall adopt to carry forward the work of peaceful universal reformation.
"We do not acknowledge allegiance to any human government. We recognize but one King and Lawgiver, one Judge and Ruler of mankind. Our country is the world, our countrymen are all mankind. We love the land of our nativity only as we love all other lands. The interests and rights of American citizens are not dearer to us than those of the whole human race. Hence we can allow no appeal to patriotism to revenge any national insult or injury...
"We conceive that a nation has no right to defend itself against foreign enemies or to punish its invaders, and no individual possesses that right in his own case, and the unit cannot be of greater importance than the aggregate. If soldiers thronging from abroad with intent to commit rapine and destroy life may not be resisted by the people or the magistracy, then ought no resistance to be offered to domestic troublers of the public peace or of private security.
"The dogma that all the governments of the world are approvingly ordained of God, and that the powers that be in the United States, in Russia, in Turkey, are in accordance with his will, is no less absurd than impious. It makes the impartial Author of our existence unequal and tyrannical. It cannot be affirmed that the powers that be in any nation are actuated by the spirit or guided by the example of Christ in the treatment of enemies; therefore they cannot be agreeable to the will of God, and therefore their overthrow by a spiritual regeneration of their subjects is inevitable.
"We regard as unchristian and unlawful not only all wars, whether offensive or defensive, but all preparations for war; every naval ship, every arsenal, every fortification, we regard as unchristian and unlawful; the existence of any kind of standing army, all military chieftains, all monuments commemorative of victory over a fallen foe, all trophies won in battle, all celebrations in honor of military exploits, all appropriations for defense by arms; we regard as unchristian and unlawful every edict of government requiring of its subjects military service.
"Hence we deem it unlawful to bear arms, and we cannot hold any office which imposes on its incumbent the obligation to compel men to do right on pain of imprisonment or death. We therefore voluntarily exclude ourselves from every legislative and judicial body, and repudiate all human politics, worldly honors, and stations of authority. If we cannot occupy a seat in the legislature or on the bench, neither can we elect others to act as our substitutes in any such capacity. It follows that we cannot sue any man at law to force him to return anything he may have wrongly taken from us; if he has seized our coat, we shall surrender him our cloak also rather than subject him to punishment.
"We believe that the penal code of the old covenant--an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth--has been abrogated by Jesus Christ, and that under the new covenant the forgiveness instead of the punishment of enemies has been enjoined on all his disciples in all cases whatsoever. To extort money from enemies, cast them into prison, exile or execute them, is obviously not to forgive but to take retribution.
"The history of mankind is crowded with evidences proving that physical coercion is not adapted to moral regeneration, and that the sinful dispositions of men can be subdued only by love; that evil can be exterminated only by good; that it is not safe to rely upon the strength of an arm to preserve us from harm; that there is great security in being gentle, long- suffering, and abundant in mercy; that it is only the meek who shall inherit the earth; for those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.
"Hence as a measure of sound policy--of safety to property, life, and liberty--of public quietude and private enjoyment--as well as on the ground of allegiance to Him who is King of kings and Lord of lords, we cordially adopt the non-resistance principle, being confident that it provides for all possible consequences, is armed with omnipotent power, and must ultimately triumph over every assailing force.
"We advocate no Jacobinical doctrines. The spirit of Jacobinism is the spirit of retaliation, violence, and murder. It neither fears God nor regards man. We would be filled with the spirit of Christ. If we abide evil by our fundamental principle of not opposing evil by evil we cannot participate in sedition, treason, or violence. We shall submit to every ordinance and every requirement of government, except such as are contrary to the commands of the Gospel, and in no case resist the operation of law, except by meekly submitting to the penalty of disobedience.
"But while we shall adhere to the doctrine of non-resistance and passive submission to enemies, we purpose, in a moral and spiritual sense, to assail iniquity in high places and in low places, to apply our principles to all existing evil, political, legal, and ecclesiastical institutions, and to hasten the time when the kingdoms of this world will have become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. It appears to us a self-evident truth that whatever the Gospel is designed to destroy at any period of the world, being contrary to it, ought now to be abandoned. If, then, the time is predicted when swords shall be beaten into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, and men shall not learn the art of war any more, it follows that all who manufacture, sell, or wield these deadly weapons do thus array themselves against the peaceful dominion of the Son of God on earth.
"Having thus stated our principles, we proceed to specify the measures we propose to adopt in carrying our object into effect.
"We expect to prevail through the Foolishness of Preaching. We shall endeavor to promulgate our views among all persons, to whatever nation, sect, or grade of society they may belong. Hence we shall organize public lectures, circulate tracts and publications, form societies, and petition every governing body. It will be our leading object to devise ways and means for effecting a radical change in the views, feelings, and practices of society respecting the sinfulness of war and the treatment of enemies.
"In entering upon the great work before us, we are not unmindful that in its prosecution we may be called to test our sincerity even as in a fiery ordeal. It may subject us to insult, outrage, suffering, yea, even death itself. We anticipate no small amount of misconception, misrepresentation, and calumny. Tumults may arise against us. The proud and pharisaical, the ambitious and tyrannical, principalities and powers, may combine to crush us. So they treated the Messiah whose example we are humbly striving to imitate. We shall not be afraid of their terror. Our confidence is in the Lord Almighty and not in man. Having withdrawn from human protection, what can sustain us but that faith which overcomes the world? We shall not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try us, but rejoice inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ's sufferings.
"Wherefore we commit the keeping of our souls to God. For every one that forsakes houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for Christ's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
"Firmly relying upon the certain and universal triumph of the sentiments contained in this declaration, however formidable may be the opposition arrayed against them, we hereby affix our signatures to it; commending it to the reason and conscience of mankind, and resolving, in the strength of the Lord God, to calmly and meekly abide the issue."
Monday, January 15, 2007
"They Are Still Our Slaves": A Rebuttal
A friend of mine sent me the following article:
*************************************************************************************
For those of you who heard it, this is the article Dee Lee was reading
this morning on a New York radio station. For those of you who didn't
hear it, this is very deep. This is a heavy piece and a Caucasian wrote
it.
Dee Lee, CFP
Harvard Financial Educators
Dee Lee
THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES We can continue to reap profits from the
Blacks without the effort of physical slavery Look at the current
methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED,
and SELFISHNESS.
Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once
said, "The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book." We now live in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com, not to mention their own Black Bookstores that provide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along),
but few read consistently, if at all.
GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%).
Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it. Being ! primari ly a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing.
They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business. Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU, And they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives them
"Status" or that they have achieved their Dream.
They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty
because their greed holds them back from collectively making better
communities.
With the help of BET, and the rest of their black media that often
broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to
see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even
jeered them, saying he doesn't want their money, and look at how the
fools spend more with him than ever before!). They'll continue to show
off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits
from our businesses that we market to them.
SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the
major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, Dubois
said that there was an innate division in their culture. A "Talented
Tenth" he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are
segments of their culture that has achieved some "form" of success.
However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn't read
that the "Talented Tenth" was then responsible to aid The Non-Talented
Ninety Percent in achieving a better life. Instead, that segment has
created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people
or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we
have. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together
on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together,
their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of their goal. Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community.
They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels,
and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best
speakers, not to the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness?
They steadfastly refuse to see that TOGETHER EACH ACHIEVES MORE (TEAM)
They do not understand that they are no better than each other because
of what they own, as a matter of fact, most of those Buppies are but
one or two pay checks away from poverty. All of which is under the
control of our pens in our offices and our rooms.
Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to re ad,
continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are "helping"
their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other
than hold lavish conventions in our! hotels . By the way, don't worry
about any of them reading this letter, remember, 'THEY DON'T READ!!!!
(Prove them wrong. Please pass this on! After Reading it.
*************************************************************************************
When I first read this, I was deeply insulted by the letter's condescending, self-righteous tone, but, as that simply may have been a device to enrage "black folk" into action, I'll set that aside. I'd rather focus on the main assumptions of this article--assumptions that, though were meant well, only perpetuate the very problems the author is railing against.
According to the author, the reason black people are "still slaves" is largely their own fault. We get three reasons for this: ignorance, greed and selfishness. And we could easily solve all these problems if we (A) read books on how to create successful businesses, (B) saved and invested money in black businesses and (C)helped "less fortunate black folk" reach "economic prosperity" as well.
I understand and appreciate the author's intentions, but this article is racist, not because it begins by saying, "THEY are still our slaves," not because it points out faults within the black community, but because it identifies ignorance, greed and selfishness as specifically BLACK problems.
These are not just "black problems." They're not even American problems. They are HUMAN problems. People of all races are systematically oppressed and economically exploited in ALL parts of the world.
My question to the author is this: "What of the poverty-stricken 'white people' who are just barely scraping by? What of the 'white people' whose own ignorance, greed and selfishness keeps them stuck in a never-ending cycle of self-destruction? Are they your slaves as well? Are you sending out chastising letters to them? There's this assumption that all "white people" are living in the lap of luxury, which is absurd. This whole "race struggle" in America has never really been about race; it's about CLASS. Obviously, a large percentage of black people in America are on the short end of the economic stick, but to call it a "black problem" is a red herring, distracting us from the truth.
During the 1700s, the upper-class was terrified that black slaves and white indentured servants (who were essentially slaves) would join forces and stage a rebellion (it had already happened during Bacon's Rebellion)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon%27s_rebellion
The solution? More rights and privilleges and land were granted by the states to these indentured servants, and they made the point that the reason these servants were getting these privilleges was because they were superior to their African-descended counterparts. This marked the beginning of what we now know as "middle class America."(For more info, check out "A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn). The middle class then began to serve as an efficient buffer between the have-nots and the have-a-whole-LOTS.
In other words, we are all in this TOGETHER. We got a lot of "history"--some good, some bad...actually A LOT bad. But as long as we allow ourselves to be distracted into thinking this is a "black thing" or a "white thing" or an "us versus them" thing instead of realizing that we ALL are sharing the same living space, this is never going to end. This is not to say that our cultural heritage is not important, but to the extent that our heritage obscures the fact that the most fundamental truth about all of us is that we are HUMAN, it's an impediment.
It's for this reason that I don't believe that creating and investing solely in "black businesses" is any kind of real solution. What the author is suggesting is that our loftiest goal is economic empowerment. Now, at first glance, this makes sense. After all, if you want to get things done in this world, you need money, right? In fact, the U.S.A. provides a pretty good example of how you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as you have the dollars and resources to back it up. That's why it invades other countries, overthrows governments (either in secret or out in the open) and sets up U.S. friendly dictators in their stead. For the resources and dollars that those countries provide. It subjugates as many people as it can through economics, even--an especially--its own citizens. Playing into the "American Dream" of being an entrepreneur in order "to get ahead" feeds into that very system. Sure, we may get a few scraps from the table...just enough to keep us pacified so that we don't get outraged by the fact that we and millions of other people are getting royally screwed.
I don't see economically powerful black people as being any more advantageous than economically powerful white people. It's the system of economics itself--the absurd belief that value can be put on a piece of green paper and that someone must lose in order for someone else to gain--that I find to be the problem. And this is not to suggest that people shouldn't start businesses or make a livelihood for themselves. Far from it. But whatever you do in this world, it should be an expression of what you truly desire, of what you truly wish to be, with no thought to the "power" it will bring you.
If we really want to change this world, it's not going to be through businesses, and it's not going to be through legislation, unfortunately. People must change from within. I think it's important that we understand who we are and what we're doing here. We walk around constantly in a daze, in a dream world, accepting what's put in front of us, not questioning anything, living mostly by reflex. We've carved up the earth into these nation-states, giving each other labels, raising borders, trying to do everything we can to keep ourselves separate from each other.
These are artificial constructs. They mean nothing. We come from the same Source. This is not mere mysticism, but fact. We are made of the building blocks of the Universe itself--stuff that has been in existence since before the beginning of time. This is what it means to be a "child of God." And as my siblings, I believe that everyone on this planet has as much right to freedom, health and happiness as I do. So I'm not content with one race within the human family being free and happy. I am content with nothing less than the human race ITSELF lifting itself out of ignorance and oppression, and into the full realization of its glorious Self. This is our true destiny, and we deserve nothing less than that.
Any thoughts? Obviously, I don't have all the answers. I'm still searching too. But this article struck me, and I needed to respond. Let me know what you think.
*************************************************************************************
For those of you who heard it, this is the article Dee Lee was reading
this morning on a New York radio station. For those of you who didn't
hear it, this is very deep. This is a heavy piece and a Caucasian wrote
it.
Dee Lee, CFP
Harvard Financial Educators
Dee Lee
THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES We can continue to reap profits from the
Blacks without the effort of physical slavery Look at the current
methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED,
and SELFISHNESS.
Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once
said, "The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book." We now live in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com, not to mention their own Black Bookstores that provide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along),
but few read consistently, if at all.
GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%).
Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it. Being ! primari ly a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing.
They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business. Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU, And they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives them
"Status" or that they have achieved their Dream.
They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty
because their greed holds them back from collectively making better
communities.
With the help of BET, and the rest of their black media that often
broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to
see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even
jeered them, saying he doesn't want their money, and look at how the
fools spend more with him than ever before!). They'll continue to show
off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits
from our businesses that we market to them.
SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the
major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, Dubois
said that there was an innate division in their culture. A "Talented
Tenth" he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are
segments of their culture that has achieved some "form" of success.
However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn't read
that the "Talented Tenth" was then responsible to aid The Non-Talented
Ninety Percent in achieving a better life. Instead, that segment has
created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people
or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we
have. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together
on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together,
their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of their goal. Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community.
They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels,
and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best
speakers, not to the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness?
They steadfastly refuse to see that TOGETHER EACH ACHIEVES MORE (TEAM)
They do not understand that they are no better than each other because
of what they own, as a matter of fact, most of those Buppies are but
one or two pay checks away from poverty. All of which is under the
control of our pens in our offices and our rooms.
Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to re ad,
continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are "helping"
their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other
than hold lavish conventions in our! hotels . By the way, don't worry
about any of them reading this letter, remember, 'THEY DON'T READ!!!!
(Prove them wrong. Please pass this on! After Reading it.
*************************************************************************************
When I first read this, I was deeply insulted by the letter's condescending, self-righteous tone, but, as that simply may have been a device to enrage "black folk" into action, I'll set that aside. I'd rather focus on the main assumptions of this article--assumptions that, though were meant well, only perpetuate the very problems the author is railing against.
According to the author, the reason black people are "still slaves" is largely their own fault. We get three reasons for this: ignorance, greed and selfishness. And we could easily solve all these problems if we (A) read books on how to create successful businesses, (B) saved and invested money in black businesses and (C)helped "less fortunate black folk" reach "economic prosperity" as well.
I understand and appreciate the author's intentions, but this article is racist, not because it begins by saying, "THEY are still our slaves," not because it points out faults within the black community, but because it identifies ignorance, greed and selfishness as specifically BLACK problems.
These are not just "black problems." They're not even American problems. They are HUMAN problems. People of all races are systematically oppressed and economically exploited in ALL parts of the world.
My question to the author is this: "What of the poverty-stricken 'white people' who are just barely scraping by? What of the 'white people' whose own ignorance, greed and selfishness keeps them stuck in a never-ending cycle of self-destruction? Are they your slaves as well? Are you sending out chastising letters to them? There's this assumption that all "white people" are living in the lap of luxury, which is absurd. This whole "race struggle" in America has never really been about race; it's about CLASS. Obviously, a large percentage of black people in America are on the short end of the economic stick, but to call it a "black problem" is a red herring, distracting us from the truth.
During the 1700s, the upper-class was terrified that black slaves and white indentured servants (who were essentially slaves) would join forces and stage a rebellion (it had already happened during Bacon's Rebellion)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacon%27s_rebellion
The solution? More rights and privilleges and land were granted by the states to these indentured servants, and they made the point that the reason these servants were getting these privilleges was because they were superior to their African-descended counterparts. This marked the beginning of what we now know as "middle class America."(For more info, check out "A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn). The middle class then began to serve as an efficient buffer between the have-nots and the have-a-whole-LOTS.
In other words, we are all in this TOGETHER. We got a lot of "history"--some good, some bad...actually A LOT bad. But as long as we allow ourselves to be distracted into thinking this is a "black thing" or a "white thing" or an "us versus them" thing instead of realizing that we ALL are sharing the same living space, this is never going to end. This is not to say that our cultural heritage is not important, but to the extent that our heritage obscures the fact that the most fundamental truth about all of us is that we are HUMAN, it's an impediment.
It's for this reason that I don't believe that creating and investing solely in "black businesses" is any kind of real solution. What the author is suggesting is that our loftiest goal is economic empowerment. Now, at first glance, this makes sense. After all, if you want to get things done in this world, you need money, right? In fact, the U.S.A. provides a pretty good example of how you can pretty much do whatever you want as long as you have the dollars and resources to back it up. That's why it invades other countries, overthrows governments (either in secret or out in the open) and sets up U.S. friendly dictators in their stead. For the resources and dollars that those countries provide. It subjugates as many people as it can through economics, even--an especially--its own citizens. Playing into the "American Dream" of being an entrepreneur in order "to get ahead" feeds into that very system. Sure, we may get a few scraps from the table...just enough to keep us pacified so that we don't get outraged by the fact that we and millions of other people are getting royally screwed.
I don't see economically powerful black people as being any more advantageous than economically powerful white people. It's the system of economics itself--the absurd belief that value can be put on a piece of green paper and that someone must lose in order for someone else to gain--that I find to be the problem. And this is not to suggest that people shouldn't start businesses or make a livelihood for themselves. Far from it. But whatever you do in this world, it should be an expression of what you truly desire, of what you truly wish to be, with no thought to the "power" it will bring you.
If we really want to change this world, it's not going to be through businesses, and it's not going to be through legislation, unfortunately. People must change from within. I think it's important that we understand who we are and what we're doing here. We walk around constantly in a daze, in a dream world, accepting what's put in front of us, not questioning anything, living mostly by reflex. We've carved up the earth into these nation-states, giving each other labels, raising borders, trying to do everything we can to keep ourselves separate from each other.
These are artificial constructs. They mean nothing. We come from the same Source. This is not mere mysticism, but fact. We are made of the building blocks of the Universe itself--stuff that has been in existence since before the beginning of time. This is what it means to be a "child of God." And as my siblings, I believe that everyone on this planet has as much right to freedom, health and happiness as I do. So I'm not content with one race within the human family being free and happy. I am content with nothing less than the human race ITSELF lifting itself out of ignorance and oppression, and into the full realization of its glorious Self. This is our true destiny, and we deserve nothing less than that.
Any thoughts? Obviously, I don't have all the answers. I'm still searching too. But this article struck me, and I needed to respond. Let me know what you think.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Unfortunately, I'm never completely certain...
"One of the most important signs of the existence of a democracy is that when there is a knock at the door at 5 in the morning, one is completely certain that it is the milkman." -- Winston Churchill
Rise, Prophet...
The Gospel of Thomas has Jesus saying that that which lies within us has the power to save us or destroy us. I am also reminded of a Hindi quote to the affect of, "It is impossible to break God's law, but it is possible to break one's self against it."
I feel something swelling up within me, a rising tide of sorts. No longer content to hold back the calling of my Self, I have opened the door, and now I feel myself growing into something else...may be even someone else. I'm like a child in a river being swept along rapidly by the current, and whenever I brace myself against the rocks to stop my passage, the river slams into me, trying to force me forward again.
My bones crack and muscles ache, and finally I can't take it anymore and I let go once again. And as I am swept along, I see God in everything and I am, for one moment, not afraid. I am afraid of my destiny, but my curiousity is much too overwhelming. I must see this through to the end, come what may. And as I move forward and backwards in time, I shall remember the following:
Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours.
"Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and of service to your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."
-- Tecumseh
(1768-1813) Shawnee Chief
I feel something swelling up within me, a rising tide of sorts. No longer content to hold back the calling of my Self, I have opened the door, and now I feel myself growing into something else...may be even someone else. I'm like a child in a river being swept along rapidly by the current, and whenever I brace myself against the rocks to stop my passage, the river slams into me, trying to force me forward again.
My bones crack and muscles ache, and finally I can't take it anymore and I let go once again. And as I am swept along, I see God in everything and I am, for one moment, not afraid. I am afraid of my destiny, but my curiousity is much too overwhelming. I must see this through to the end, come what may. And as I move forward and backwards in time, I shall remember the following:
Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about his religion. Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours.
"Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long and of service to your people.
Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people, but grovel to none.
When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.
When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home."
-- Tecumseh
(1768-1813) Shawnee Chief
Words From the Self: The Mind
You are the Will of the Father. The mind is the Sword of the Will, the Sword of Life that brings all things good and beautiful into being. But you have allowed your sword to grow dull and flat, heavy and uncontrollable, so that it is a danger to the wielder. Indeed, the Wielder--being the Will of God--has forgotten that it is he who wields the Sword, for he thinks it is the Sword who wields him.
Would you give a sword to an untrained boy, trusting him to use it for a righteous purpose? No you would not, for fear that the boy would harm both himself and those around him. But your Father has given you a Sword, because He trusts you, and knows you cannot be harmed, neither can you truly harm your brothers, for they are as eternal as he is.
But you have tried to use your Sword while forgetting who you are, forgetting that you are the Will of the Father. And the world you see testifies to your power, for it is a world of suffering, of anguish, of separation and of loss. Could this really be the creation of the Father? Is it not rather an illusion of your making, having forgotten that you are from the Father?
Let not your Sword grow dull, but remember your identity as the Will of the Divine Mother, and let the Sword of Mind be sharpened in meditation. For it is in meditation that you will learn peace, and when the part of your mind that remembers peace springs forth, the ego will follow quickly behind and assail you with thoughts and distractions. Fear not the attacks of the ego, for they are nothing. You are called merely to stand by as a holy witness and observe its meaningless screeches. And as you, the holy observer, witness the so-called machinations of the ego without judgement and without fear, you will see that the ego's source is none other than your own mind. It is you who calls it forth and gives it power.
You are not at the whim of your thoughts, but you have believed this in error, and used your own Sword to wreak havoc on yourself. Cease this insanity and use your mind for good, for that is why it was created. With your mind, you have the power to call down the power of the Father, for you are his Power and His Will. In this knowledge, find peace everlasting, for you are His peace and His joy.
Would you give a sword to an untrained boy, trusting him to use it for a righteous purpose? No you would not, for fear that the boy would harm both himself and those around him. But your Father has given you a Sword, because He trusts you, and knows you cannot be harmed, neither can you truly harm your brothers, for they are as eternal as he is.
But you have tried to use your Sword while forgetting who you are, forgetting that you are the Will of the Father. And the world you see testifies to your power, for it is a world of suffering, of anguish, of separation and of loss. Could this really be the creation of the Father? Is it not rather an illusion of your making, having forgotten that you are from the Father?
Let not your Sword grow dull, but remember your identity as the Will of the Divine Mother, and let the Sword of Mind be sharpened in meditation. For it is in meditation that you will learn peace, and when the part of your mind that remembers peace springs forth, the ego will follow quickly behind and assail you with thoughts and distractions. Fear not the attacks of the ego, for they are nothing. You are called merely to stand by as a holy witness and observe its meaningless screeches. And as you, the holy observer, witness the so-called machinations of the ego without judgement and without fear, you will see that the ego's source is none other than your own mind. It is you who calls it forth and gives it power.
You are not at the whim of your thoughts, but you have believed this in error, and used your own Sword to wreak havoc on yourself. Cease this insanity and use your mind for good, for that is why it was created. With your mind, you have the power to call down the power of the Father, for you are his Power and His Will. In this knowledge, find peace everlasting, for you are His peace and His joy.
The Story So Far...
So over the last few months, I've been downloading as much metaphyiscal/religious/spiritual texts as I can. The following is what I've read since this past Decemeber that got me down this path:
The Artist's Way
The War of Art
The "Conversations With God" series
The Bhagavad Gita (sp?)
The Dhammapada
The Upanishads
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Holy Bible
Living Buddha, Living Christ
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
The Hero of a Thousand Faces
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior
That's all that's coming to mind so far. These are all good books. Right now, I'm going through a huge shift and finding myself increasingly interested in gnosticism ("gnosis" comes from the Greek, which means "knowledge"). The principle is, in my understanding, synonymous with enlightenment.
I've realized that I'm very much attached to symbols, and though, hopefully, one day I will see the need to know longer use them, they serve a useful purpose presently. So I've decided to return to Christian symbols, but not to orthodox Christianity. I'm very much interested in the Elaine Pagel's writings, the Gnostic scriptures and mysticism. Part of me is terrified of exploring this stuff, because my past learning focus heavily on the Christian path being the only path and anything else being of the devil, which is utter hogwash, but fear has a funny way of sticking with you. Either way, I'm pressing forward, with my heart open before the Self, asking for guidance as I go along, while reciting Psalm 23:
The "I AM" is my sheperd
I shall not want
He makes me lie down in green pastures
He leads me to still waters
He restores my soul
He leads me to the path of righteous for his name's sake
Yea, though I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death
You are with me
Your rod and your staff
They comfort
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
My cup runs over
Sure goodness and mercy
Shall follow me all the days of my life
And I shall dwell in the house of the "I AM"
forever.
Amen.
Ever notice how "amen" is so simiar to "aum," the most holy of utterances in Hinduism?
The Artist's Way
The War of Art
The "Conversations With God" series
The Bhagavad Gita (sp?)
The Dhammapada
The Upanishads
The Last Temptation of Christ
The Holy Bible
Living Buddha, Living Christ
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
The Hero of a Thousand Faces
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior
That's all that's coming to mind so far. These are all good books. Right now, I'm going through a huge shift and finding myself increasingly interested in gnosticism ("gnosis" comes from the Greek, which means "knowledge"). The principle is, in my understanding, synonymous with enlightenment.
I've realized that I'm very much attached to symbols, and though, hopefully, one day I will see the need to know longer use them, they serve a useful purpose presently. So I've decided to return to Christian symbols, but not to orthodox Christianity. I'm very much interested in the Elaine Pagel's writings, the Gnostic scriptures and mysticism. Part of me is terrified of exploring this stuff, because my past learning focus heavily on the Christian path being the only path and anything else being of the devil, which is utter hogwash, but fear has a funny way of sticking with you. Either way, I'm pressing forward, with my heart open before the Self, asking for guidance as I go along, while reciting Psalm 23:
The "I AM" is my sheperd
I shall not want
He makes me lie down in green pastures
He leads me to still waters
He restores my soul
He leads me to the path of righteous for his name's sake
Yea, though I may walk through the valley of the shadow of death
You are with me
Your rod and your staff
They comfort
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
My cup runs over
Sure goodness and mercy
Shall follow me all the days of my life
And I shall dwell in the house of the "I AM"
forever.
Amen.
Ever notice how "amen" is so simiar to "aum," the most holy of utterances in Hinduism?
A gnostic quote
"Speak concerning the truth to those who seek it and of knowledge to those who, in their error, have committed sin. Make sure-footed those who stumble and stretch forth your hands to the sick. Nourish the hungry and set at ease those who are troubled. Foster men who love. Raise up and awaken those who sleep. For you are this understanding which encourages. If the strong follow this course, they are even stronger. Turn your attention to yourselves. Do not be concerned with other things, namely, that which you have cast forth from yourselves, that which you have dismissed. Do not return to them to eat them. Do not be moth-eaten. Do not be worm-eaten, for you have already shaken it off. Do not be a place of the devil, for you have already destroyed him. Do not strengthen your last obstacles, because that is reprehensible. For the lawless one is nothing. He harms himself more than the law. For that one does his works because he is a lawless person. But this one, because he is a righteous person, does his works among others. Do the will of the Father, then, for you are from him."
from "The Gospel of Truth"
from "The Gospel of Truth"
Over the Threshold
Is this the dark night of the soul?
The world is now inverted
I stumble about on feet that are not my own.
There are demons that lurk within
haunting my waking life
and terrorizing me in dreams
But when I stop running and stand before them,
they kneel before me and call me, "Lord!"
"Have pity on us, for we but do your bidding."
And so I lay my hands on them, these snarling fallen angels
"I love you," I tell them softly. "You are forgiven. Come and enter the joy of your Lord."
And where there were once monsters
there are now angels that lift me up in times of trial.
Now my role becomes clear.
I am the Light
that must descend into the darkness of the shadow mind
I am the Redeemer
that must offer salvation to my lost self
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life
My path is set before me.
The call to adventure has begun.
The Christ
The Anointed One
The Buddha
The Awakened One
The Lord Krishna
The Enlightened
This seed burns within my consciousness
It is consciousness itself
longing to be manifested
longing to know itself
as it was in the beginning
From God all things spring forth
and back to God to all things return.
There is no emotion; there is only peace.
There is no ignorance; there is only knowledge.
There is no passion; there is only serenity.
There is no chaos: there is only harmony.
There is no death; there is only the Force.
Praise be to the Mother, the Comforter and Provider
Praise be to the Father, the Unshakeable and the Immanent
Praise be to the Son, my holy Self
Praise be to Sophia, my true Bride.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And all shall be well.
And all shall be well.
And all manner of things shall be well.
The world is now inverted
I stumble about on feet that are not my own.
There are demons that lurk within
haunting my waking life
and terrorizing me in dreams
But when I stop running and stand before them,
they kneel before me and call me, "Lord!"
"Have pity on us, for we but do your bidding."
And so I lay my hands on them, these snarling fallen angels
"I love you," I tell them softly. "You are forgiven. Come and enter the joy of your Lord."
And where there were once monsters
there are now angels that lift me up in times of trial.
Now my role becomes clear.
I am the Light
that must descend into the darkness of the shadow mind
I am the Redeemer
that must offer salvation to my lost self
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life
My path is set before me.
The call to adventure has begun.
The Christ
The Anointed One
The Buddha
The Awakened One
The Lord Krishna
The Enlightened
This seed burns within my consciousness
It is consciousness itself
longing to be manifested
longing to know itself
as it was in the beginning
From God all things spring forth
and back to God to all things return.
There is no emotion; there is only peace.
There is no ignorance; there is only knowledge.
There is no passion; there is only serenity.
There is no chaos: there is only harmony.
There is no death; there is only the Force.
Praise be to the Mother, the Comforter and Provider
Praise be to the Father, the Unshakeable and the Immanent
Praise be to the Son, my holy Self
Praise be to Sophia, my true Bride.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And all shall be well.
And all shall be well.
And all manner of things shall be well.
Temptation in the Wilderness: Part 2
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit unto the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.
Matthew 4:1-3
There are three primary forms of attack that the ego uses to draw us out of the belief that we are perfect, sinless, spiritual beings. We should not be deceived by the manner of illusion that the ego throws at us; they all are rooted in fear. And that is really all temptation is: the ego trying to convince us that we are something that we are not. Many religions, much to their own detriment, have labeled certain acts as the source of "temptations"; they're preoccupation seems to be not with cause, but with effect. The sin (or mistake) is never in the action; the mistake is in the cause, which is the belief that you are CAPABLE of sin, that you can somehow escape being the perfect Child of Light that you are.
******
The man from Nazareth suddenly regained consciousness. He was not sure how long he had been unconscious; it could have been minutes. It could have been hours. Time had lost all meaning for him out in the desert. He had come there because the Call had been pounding in the back of his head for far too long, and he was determined to have it out. No longer could he stay at home, busying himself with unbuilt tables, and shelves, support beams and crosses (yes, he made crosses too, if you can believe it). Despite his resistance, the Spirit stayed with him, pulling at him, tugging at him, pushing him out into the open. Finally, he'd had enough. He would make war with this Spirit, whatever it was, and the desert would be his battleground.
The first week was the most difficult. The hunger gnawed at his stomach like a rabid dog, eating its way through his whole body. He wept for many nights, screaming at the heavens for an answer. But none would come, except the one Answer.
"You and I are One."
That was his mantra for the second week. You and I are One. He used it as a weapon against the hunger, to steel himself against it, but finally, one day, as he said, You and I are One, he heard another voice.
"Are you?'
He blinked. It was the voice within his own mind. The challenger, he called it. It challenged everything everyone said to him, yea, it challenged everything he said to himself. He'd grown use to its mutterings and scorn over time, and more often than not, he obeyed its commands without question.
"Yes," he said.
"Are we REALLY one?"
"Yes," said the man of Nazareth, more confidently. "We are."
If this is true, why are you so hungry?
The man blinked; he could think of no other response aside from the obvious: Because I have not eaten.
And you think God wills that you go hungry?
The man closed his eyes, squeezing them hard. Why was he questioning himself? His stomach, glad to finally have an ally, snarled viciously. The man began to feel weak and dizzy. The voice continued.
"And if you are to do the work of the Father and the Mother, do you honestly think they would have you do it on an empty stomach?" There was silence. Then the voice said, "You have not eaten for weeks. Aren't you in pain? Dont you think it was a little crazy of you to come all the way out here and not bring anything to eat? Wasnt that a bit foolish?"
Yes, the man whispered.
"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," said the voice. "You are nothing without your flesh; any wise man will tell you that. If you do not eat, you will die.
But I have nothing to eat! cried the man from Nazareth.
The stones, said the voice, mockingly. The stones about you. Ask God to turn them into bread for you, as he did for the children of Israel when they wandered in the wildness.
The man from Nazareth reached his hand out towards a stone and picked it up, holding it in his hand. God will turn this stone into bread for me. Surely he would not let me starve.
Gripping the stone firmly in his hand, he asked the Spirit for guidance. Heavenly Mother, he said, If you will it, turn this stone into bread, so that your servant might be filled. My hunger is more than I can bear.
He waited. Nothing happened. Once more, he prayed, Heavenly Mother, I beseech you, have pity on your servant. Turn these stones into bread.
Again nothing.
Mother . . . Father . . . Creator . . . Spirit . . . I came out here to find you, so that might you tell me what your will is. I cannot do your will without strength. Please, help me.
Again nothing.
The man stared silently at the stone, then flung it away from him in fury. He collapsed to the ground, while the challenging voice in his mind whispered, You see? Is this the God that you would serve? One that cannot grant the simple request for food? I suggest you give up this mad quest and go back home. Perhaps your mother will take you back in.
No, said the man to himself. I cannot go back. Not after all Ive said and done, and what Ive taught. I would like a fool.
Yes, the voice agreed. Better to lay here and die.
The man nodded and closed his eyes. Yes. Death was much more preferable to the shame he would feel upon returning back home with nothing to show for his efforts. He was tired of struggling. He wanted peace. Mother, he prayed, if you are out there, I commend my spirit into your hands. I have failed you in some way. Was it that I lacked faith, or did you wish not to give me what I asked for? Either way, I am yours . . .
I am yours.
I am yours.
The words repeated themselves over and over in his mind.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Then . . .
I belong to the Mother and the Father.
Then . . .
I have always belonged to Them, because are were IN me
Then . . .
My very existence is sustained by Them.
Then . . .
Theirs is the power that holds the very Universe together.
They are in EVERYTHING.
Then . . .
They are in Me. They and I were One.
I am the Father and the Mother.
I am the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End.
I am Eternal Life.
Then . . .
So why would I think for a second that I could ever truly die?
He looked about himself in a daze, his eyes resting on the stone he had cast from himself not minutes ago. With deliberate calmness, he said to himself, Man is not sustained by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
And it came to pass that he stayed in the wilderness.
Matthew 4:1-3
There are three primary forms of attack that the ego uses to draw us out of the belief that we are perfect, sinless, spiritual beings. We should not be deceived by the manner of illusion that the ego throws at us; they all are rooted in fear. And that is really all temptation is: the ego trying to convince us that we are something that we are not. Many religions, much to their own detriment, have labeled certain acts as the source of "temptations"; they're preoccupation seems to be not with cause, but with effect. The sin (or mistake) is never in the action; the mistake is in the cause, which is the belief that you are CAPABLE of sin, that you can somehow escape being the perfect Child of Light that you are.
******
The man from Nazareth suddenly regained consciousness. He was not sure how long he had been unconscious; it could have been minutes. It could have been hours. Time had lost all meaning for him out in the desert. He had come there because the Call had been pounding in the back of his head for far too long, and he was determined to have it out. No longer could he stay at home, busying himself with unbuilt tables, and shelves, support beams and crosses (yes, he made crosses too, if you can believe it). Despite his resistance, the Spirit stayed with him, pulling at him, tugging at him, pushing him out into the open. Finally, he'd had enough. He would make war with this Spirit, whatever it was, and the desert would be his battleground.
The first week was the most difficult. The hunger gnawed at his stomach like a rabid dog, eating its way through his whole body. He wept for many nights, screaming at the heavens for an answer. But none would come, except the one Answer.
"You and I are One."
That was his mantra for the second week. You and I are One. He used it as a weapon against the hunger, to steel himself against it, but finally, one day, as he said, You and I are One, he heard another voice.
"Are you?'
He blinked. It was the voice within his own mind. The challenger, he called it. It challenged everything everyone said to him, yea, it challenged everything he said to himself. He'd grown use to its mutterings and scorn over time, and more often than not, he obeyed its commands without question.
"Yes," he said.
"Are we REALLY one?"
"Yes," said the man of Nazareth, more confidently. "We are."
If this is true, why are you so hungry?
The man blinked; he could think of no other response aside from the obvious: Because I have not eaten.
And you think God wills that you go hungry?
The man closed his eyes, squeezing them hard. Why was he questioning himself? His stomach, glad to finally have an ally, snarled viciously. The man began to feel weak and dizzy. The voice continued.
"And if you are to do the work of the Father and the Mother, do you honestly think they would have you do it on an empty stomach?" There was silence. Then the voice said, "You have not eaten for weeks. Aren't you in pain? Dont you think it was a little crazy of you to come all the way out here and not bring anything to eat? Wasnt that a bit foolish?"
Yes, the man whispered.
"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak," said the voice. "You are nothing without your flesh; any wise man will tell you that. If you do not eat, you will die.
But I have nothing to eat! cried the man from Nazareth.
The stones, said the voice, mockingly. The stones about you. Ask God to turn them into bread for you, as he did for the children of Israel when they wandered in the wildness.
The man from Nazareth reached his hand out towards a stone and picked it up, holding it in his hand. God will turn this stone into bread for me. Surely he would not let me starve.
Gripping the stone firmly in his hand, he asked the Spirit for guidance. Heavenly Mother, he said, If you will it, turn this stone into bread, so that your servant might be filled. My hunger is more than I can bear.
He waited. Nothing happened. Once more, he prayed, Heavenly Mother, I beseech you, have pity on your servant. Turn these stones into bread.
Again nothing.
Mother . . . Father . . . Creator . . . Spirit . . . I came out here to find you, so that might you tell me what your will is. I cannot do your will without strength. Please, help me.
Again nothing.
The man stared silently at the stone, then flung it away from him in fury. He collapsed to the ground, while the challenging voice in his mind whispered, You see? Is this the God that you would serve? One that cannot grant the simple request for food? I suggest you give up this mad quest and go back home. Perhaps your mother will take you back in.
No, said the man to himself. I cannot go back. Not after all Ive said and done, and what Ive taught. I would like a fool.
Yes, the voice agreed. Better to lay here and die.
The man nodded and closed his eyes. Yes. Death was much more preferable to the shame he would feel upon returning back home with nothing to show for his efforts. He was tired of struggling. He wanted peace. Mother, he prayed, if you are out there, I commend my spirit into your hands. I have failed you in some way. Was it that I lacked faith, or did you wish not to give me what I asked for? Either way, I am yours . . .
I am yours.
I am yours.
The words repeated themselves over and over in his mind.
I am yours.
I am yours.
Then . . .
I belong to the Mother and the Father.
Then . . .
I have always belonged to Them, because are were IN me
Then . . .
My very existence is sustained by Them.
Then . . .
Theirs is the power that holds the very Universe together.
They are in EVERYTHING.
Then . . .
They are in Me. They and I were One.
I am the Father and the Mother.
I am the Alpha and the Omega. The Beginning and the End.
I am Eternal Life.
Then . . .
So why would I think for a second that I could ever truly die?
He looked about himself in a daze, his eyes resting on the stone he had cast from himself not minutes ago. With deliberate calmness, he said to himself, Man is not sustained by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
And it came to pass that he stayed in the wilderness.
Temptation in the Wilderness: Part 1
According to the New Testament, before Jesus started his ministry, he fasted in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights; it was then that the devil came and tempted him.
I am beginning to see with what regularity the ego tempts us; it often seems non-stop. The paradox is that the source of the ego's power is the mind itself. As I said in an earlier post, if I but saw that the ego's efforts are designed to reinforce my feeling of separation from the Great All, I would give it up immediately. The trouble is that I too often identify with the ego.
When I say "ego", however, I'm not referring to the "ego" of traditional Freudian psychology. I perceive the ego as the part of the mind that believes that it is separated from everything else. It identifies itself as a being which did not exist before the date of its birth (or conception), and will cease to be at the moment of its death. It often mitigates its fear of death through the belief in a soul, viewing death as an escape from the troubles of the world. This is as equally illusive because the troubles of the world are really the troubles of the mind. Death will not end our suffering because that which is eternal (i.e. a Child of the Light:) cannot die. It merely changes form. The content however, remains.
The ego is literally a fearful thought. Every time I have a fearful thought, I am identifying with it. Now because God is Love, and love and fear cannot co-exist, whenever I identify with the ego, I always feel a lack, a sense of something missing. I can no longer feel the peace and joy and love that is the inheritance of a Child of God, not because I am being punished, because I've chosen AGAINST it. But I can just as easily choose against the ego. This is what the Mother would have us learn; in truth, that there is no ego. There was only one choice that was made, that CAN be made in eternity, and that we have already made it. We have chosen the Light, and now, slowly but surely, with the Spirit of God and time as our ally, we are making our way back.
Theology is not important, nor is philosophy, nor is a perfect understanding of the universe and all it contains. Nothing in the world of form means anything aside from the purpose that we put to it. An atheist can (and will) attain enlightenment as easily as a yogi. There are many forms of the Universal Path that we all take; who can say or judge why one chooses one as opposed to another? Such differences are not our concern; our only concern is the path that we are on.
The ego sees nothing but difference. It must see difference, as a prerequisite to administering judgment. It says, "This good," and "This is bad," completely unaware that it has made both.
The mind of God sees that all things stand in the Light. It judges not, knowing that nothing CAN be judged.
I am beginning to see with what regularity the ego tempts us; it often seems non-stop. The paradox is that the source of the ego's power is the mind itself. As I said in an earlier post, if I but saw that the ego's efforts are designed to reinforce my feeling of separation from the Great All, I would give it up immediately. The trouble is that I too often identify with the ego.
When I say "ego", however, I'm not referring to the "ego" of traditional Freudian psychology. I perceive the ego as the part of the mind that believes that it is separated from everything else. It identifies itself as a being which did not exist before the date of its birth (or conception), and will cease to be at the moment of its death. It often mitigates its fear of death through the belief in a soul, viewing death as an escape from the troubles of the world. This is as equally illusive because the troubles of the world are really the troubles of the mind. Death will not end our suffering because that which is eternal (i.e. a Child of the Light:) cannot die. It merely changes form. The content however, remains.
The ego is literally a fearful thought. Every time I have a fearful thought, I am identifying with it. Now because God is Love, and love and fear cannot co-exist, whenever I identify with the ego, I always feel a lack, a sense of something missing. I can no longer feel the peace and joy and love that is the inheritance of a Child of God, not because I am being punished, because I've chosen AGAINST it. But I can just as easily choose against the ego. This is what the Mother would have us learn; in truth, that there is no ego. There was only one choice that was made, that CAN be made in eternity, and that we have already made it. We have chosen the Light, and now, slowly but surely, with the Spirit of God and time as our ally, we are making our way back.
Theology is not important, nor is philosophy, nor is a perfect understanding of the universe and all it contains. Nothing in the world of form means anything aside from the purpose that we put to it. An atheist can (and will) attain enlightenment as easily as a yogi. There are many forms of the Universal Path that we all take; who can say or judge why one chooses one as opposed to another? Such differences are not our concern; our only concern is the path that we are on.
The ego sees nothing but difference. It must see difference, as a prerequisite to administering judgment. It says, "This good," and "This is bad," completely unaware that it has made both.
The mind of God sees that all things stand in the Light. It judges not, knowing that nothing CAN be judged.
Poem by a yogi
Vanished the veils of light and shade,
Lifted every vapor of sorrow,
Sailed away all dawns of fleeting joy,
Gone the dim sensory mirage,
Love, hate, health, disease, life, death:
Perished these false shadows on the screen of duality.
The storm of MAYA stilled
By magic wand of intuition deep.
Present, past, future, no more for me,
But ever-present, all-flowing I, I, everywhere.
Planets, stars, stardust, earth,
Volcanic bursts of doomsday cataclysms,
Creation's molding furnace,
Glaciers of silent X-rays, burning electron floods,
Thoughts of all men, past, present, to come
Every blade of grass, myself, mankind,
Each particle of universal dust,
Anger, greed, good, bad, salvation, lust,
I swallowed, transmuted all
Into a vast ocean of blood of my own one Being
Smoldering joy, oft-puffed by meditation
Blinding my tearful eyes,
Burst into immortal flames of bliss,
Consumed my tears, my frame, my all,
Thou art I, I am Thou
Knowing, Knower, Known, as One!
Tranquilled, unbroken thrill, eternally living, ever-new
peace.
Enjoyable beyond imagination of expectancy, samadhi
bliss!
Not an unconscious state
Or mental chloroform without willful return,
SAMADHI but extends my conscious realm
Beyond limits of the mortal frame
To farthest boundary of eternity
Where I, the Cosmic Sea,
Watch the little ego floating in Me.
Mobile murmurs of atoms are heard,
The dark earth, mountains, vales, lo! molten liquid!
Flowing seas change into vapors of nebulae!
AUM blows upon vapors, opening wondrously their veils,
Oceans stand revealed, shining electrons,
Till, at the last sound of the cosmic drum,
Vanish the grosser lights into eternal rays
Of all-pervading bliss,
From joy I came, for joy I I live, in sacred joy I melt.
Ocean of mind, I drink all creation's waves.
Four veils of solid, liquid, vapor, light,
Lift aright.
I, in everything, enter the Great Myself.
Gone forever: fitful, flickering shadows of mortal
memory;
Spotless is my mental sky--below, ahead, and high above;
Eternity and I, one united ray,
A tiny bubble of laughter, I
Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself.
by Paramahansa Yogananda
Lifted every vapor of sorrow,
Sailed away all dawns of fleeting joy,
Gone the dim sensory mirage,
Love, hate, health, disease, life, death:
Perished these false shadows on the screen of duality.
The storm of MAYA stilled
By magic wand of intuition deep.
Present, past, future, no more for me,
But ever-present, all-flowing I, I, everywhere.
Planets, stars, stardust, earth,
Volcanic bursts of doomsday cataclysms,
Creation's molding furnace,
Glaciers of silent X-rays, burning electron floods,
Thoughts of all men, past, present, to come
Every blade of grass, myself, mankind,
Each particle of universal dust,
Anger, greed, good, bad, salvation, lust,
I swallowed, transmuted all
Into a vast ocean of blood of my own one Being
Smoldering joy, oft-puffed by meditation
Blinding my tearful eyes,
Burst into immortal flames of bliss,
Consumed my tears, my frame, my all,
Thou art I, I am Thou
Knowing, Knower, Known, as One!
Tranquilled, unbroken thrill, eternally living, ever-new
peace.
Enjoyable beyond imagination of expectancy, samadhi
bliss!
Not an unconscious state
Or mental chloroform without willful return,
SAMADHI but extends my conscious realm
Beyond limits of the mortal frame
To farthest boundary of eternity
Where I, the Cosmic Sea,
Watch the little ego floating in Me.
Mobile murmurs of atoms are heard,
The dark earth, mountains, vales, lo! molten liquid!
Flowing seas change into vapors of nebulae!
AUM blows upon vapors, opening wondrously their veils,
Oceans stand revealed, shining electrons,
Till, at the last sound of the cosmic drum,
Vanish the grosser lights into eternal rays
Of all-pervading bliss,
From joy I came, for joy I I live, in sacred joy I melt.
Ocean of mind, I drink all creation's waves.
Four veils of solid, liquid, vapor, light,
Lift aright.
I, in everything, enter the Great Myself.
Gone forever: fitful, flickering shadows of mortal
memory;
Spotless is my mental sky--below, ahead, and high above;
Eternity and I, one united ray,
A tiny bubble of laughter, I
Am become the Sea of Mirth Itself.
by Paramahansa Yogananda
Words From the Self: Relationships
The purpose of all your relationships is to learn and practice forgiveness. A point of clarification is in order. In this context, forgiveness does not mean looking at the sin of another, and making the decision to then ignore the sin, often under the condition that the offender display guilt and repentance. This is denial in the worst form, because the sin you hold against your brother becomes the sin you hold against yourself. And so you and your brother pretend to forget about this sin without ever really letting it go. If you but search your heart, and remember all the times you offered conditional forgiveness to your brothers and sisters, you will see that this is so. If there is even a slight hint of annoyance or irritation or anger felt upon remembering an injustice being done to you, it is because the sin was never forgiven. This, however, should not be a source of guilt, for, as always, guilt works against our purposes. The more honest thing to do is to acknowledge the truth of what you are experiencing and ask for guidance in release. Remember: all condemnation (whether it is upon another or upon the self) ALWAYS comes from the ego, never from God, who's love is unconditional.
All this being said, true forgiveness is choosing to see nothing but the Light in your brother. Indeed, there is no greater gift you can offer another than to say to him, "Brother, I see the Christ in you. Your Light is not hidden from me. I see it shine within you, and it is the Light by which I see my own." If your relationships are founded on forgiveness, they are blessed indeed.
Does this sound impossible? It is not impossible to you, but it is impossible to the ego, because the ego sees only error and separation. The ego relishes attacking the sins in others, because that it is the method by which it distracts you from the fact that it is also attacking YOU. If you were conscious of its attacks on you, there is little doubt that you would cease to tolerate it and withdraw your belief in it. But the ego would have you believe that to attack another is to save yourself. Furthermore, it believes that offering forgiveness to your brother would leave you open to attacks from all side.
The problem here is the ego's insane assumption that you can be attacked in the first place. To believe in attack is to believe that the separation is real. There is no compromise on this point. Either the separation is real, or it isn't. Either all is One or it isn't. If the separation is real then attack is possible, and you would have great reason to fear it, as well as to defend yoursel against it. But if all is One, and Love is all there is, then when you attack, you attack your Self, and when you defend, you again attack your Self by believing that the Self is vulnerable and capable of being attacked.
Ask yourself this: Has attack ever brought you peace? And even in its "noblest" form (such as in defense), is not the peace it brings but temporary, and soon replaced by fear of further attack? Perhaps a better question is this: has attack ever released you from fear? To this, one may respond, "Fear is the way of the world." Indeed, it is, and so the last question then becomes, "Do I wish to walk the way of the world?"
This, does not mean, that you should allow yourself to become a doormat for abuse. If you are being attacked, the most loving thing you can do for youself and your attacker is to remove your Self from the situation in whatever way seems fit. It is not helpful to either of you to reinforce attack by allowing it to continue. What is helpful is to remember that even when he attacks you, your brother is seeing what is not there and is calling out for your love. Answer him, so that you might both be saved.
Your task is to remain awake, take your sibling's hand and see the savior in her. For verily, verily I say unto you, you do not enter Heaven without your brother and sister, for the Kingdom of Heaven is within all of you. Can a kingdom divided stand? Or is it not doomed to fall? But there is but one Mind, and for each one that attains the salvation of enlightenment, they become the Light in the world that serves as beacons for other Lights. It is in this manner that the salvation of enlightenment has already been accomplished, and you, the children of humanity, are now but witnessing the effects of the First Cause.
Rejoice, for Gods will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. Heaven and earth have been made one, and the Last Miracle has closed the book of death and opened the Book of Life. All names have been written in, and none will be lost. None CAN be lost, because God is in all of you.
All this being said, true forgiveness is choosing to see nothing but the Light in your brother. Indeed, there is no greater gift you can offer another than to say to him, "Brother, I see the Christ in you. Your Light is not hidden from me. I see it shine within you, and it is the Light by which I see my own." If your relationships are founded on forgiveness, they are blessed indeed.
Does this sound impossible? It is not impossible to you, but it is impossible to the ego, because the ego sees only error and separation. The ego relishes attacking the sins in others, because that it is the method by which it distracts you from the fact that it is also attacking YOU. If you were conscious of its attacks on you, there is little doubt that you would cease to tolerate it and withdraw your belief in it. But the ego would have you believe that to attack another is to save yourself. Furthermore, it believes that offering forgiveness to your brother would leave you open to attacks from all side.
The problem here is the ego's insane assumption that you can be attacked in the first place. To believe in attack is to believe that the separation is real. There is no compromise on this point. Either the separation is real, or it isn't. Either all is One or it isn't. If the separation is real then attack is possible, and you would have great reason to fear it, as well as to defend yoursel against it. But if all is One, and Love is all there is, then when you attack, you attack your Self, and when you defend, you again attack your Self by believing that the Self is vulnerable and capable of being attacked.
Ask yourself this: Has attack ever brought you peace? And even in its "noblest" form (such as in defense), is not the peace it brings but temporary, and soon replaced by fear of further attack? Perhaps a better question is this: has attack ever released you from fear? To this, one may respond, "Fear is the way of the world." Indeed, it is, and so the last question then becomes, "Do I wish to walk the way of the world?"
This, does not mean, that you should allow yourself to become a doormat for abuse. If you are being attacked, the most loving thing you can do for youself and your attacker is to remove your Self from the situation in whatever way seems fit. It is not helpful to either of you to reinforce attack by allowing it to continue. What is helpful is to remember that even when he attacks you, your brother is seeing what is not there and is calling out for your love. Answer him, so that you might both be saved.
Your task is to remain awake, take your sibling's hand and see the savior in her. For verily, verily I say unto you, you do not enter Heaven without your brother and sister, for the Kingdom of Heaven is within all of you. Can a kingdom divided stand? Or is it not doomed to fall? But there is but one Mind, and for each one that attains the salvation of enlightenment, they become the Light in the world that serves as beacons for other Lights. It is in this manner that the salvation of enlightenment has already been accomplished, and you, the children of humanity, are now but witnessing the effects of the First Cause.
Rejoice, for Gods will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. Heaven and earth have been made one, and the Last Miracle has closed the book of death and opened the Book of Life. All names have been written in, and none will be lost. None CAN be lost, because God is in all of you.
Words From the Self: Relationships
The purpose of all your relationships is to learn and practice forgiveness. A point of clarification is in order. In this context, forgiveness does not mean looking at the sin of another, and making the decision to then ignore the sin, often under the condition that the offender display guilt and repentance. This is denial in the worst form, because the sin you hold against your brother becomes the sin you hold against yourself. And so you and your brother pretend to forget about this sin without ever really letting it go. If you but search your heart, and remember all the times you offered conditional forgiveness to your brothers and sisters, you will see that this is so. If there is even a slight hint of annoyance or irritation or anger felt upon remembering an injustice being done to you, it is because the sin was never forgiven. This, however, should not be a source of guilt, for, as always, guilt works against our purposes. The more honest thing to do is to acknowledge the truth of what you are experiencing and ask for guidance in release. Remember: all condemnation (whether it is upon another or upon the self) ALWAYS comes from the ego, never from God, who's love is unconditional.
All this being said, true forgiveness is choosing to see nothing but the Light in your brother. Indeed, there is no greater gift you can offer another than to say to him, "Brother, I see the Christ in you. Your Light is not hidden from me. I see it shine within you, and it is the Light by which I see my own." If your relationships are founded on forgiveness, they are blessed indeed.
Does this sound impossible? It is not impossible to you, but it is impossible to the ego, because the ego sees only error and separation. The ego relishes attacking the sins in others, because that it is the method by which it distracts you from the fact that it is also attacking YOU. If you were conscious of its attacks on you, there is little doubt that you would cease to tolerate it and withdraw your belief in it. But the ego would have you believe that to attack another is to save yourself. Furthermore, it believes that offering forgiveness to your brother would leave you open to attacks from all side.
The problem here is the ego's insane assumption that you can be attacked in the first place. To believe in attack is to believe that the separation is real. There is no compromise on this point. Either the separation is real, or it isn't. Either all is One or it isn't. If the separation is real then attack is possible, and you would have great reason to fear it, as well as to defend yoursel against it. But if all is One, and Love is all there is, then when you attack, you attack your Self, and when you defend, you again attack your Self by believing that the Self is vulnerable and capable of being attacked.
Ask yourself this: Has attack ever brought you peace? And even in its "noblest" form (such as in defense), is not the peace it brings but temporary, and soon replaced by fear of further attack? Perhaps a better question is this: has attack ever released you from fear? To this, one may respond, "Fear is the way of the world." Indeed, it is, and so the last question then becomes, "Do I wish to walk the way of the world?"
This, does not mean, that you should allow yourself to become a doormat for abuse. If you are being attacked, the most loving thing you can do for youself and your attacker is to remove your Self from the situation in whatever way seems fit. It is not helpful to either of you to reinforce attack by allowing it to continue. What is helpful is to remember that even when he attacks you, your brother is seeing what is not there and is calling out for your love. Answer him, so that you might both be saved.
Your task is to remain awake, take your sibling's hand and see the savior in her. For verily, verily I say unto you, you do not enter Heaven without your brother and sister, for the Kingdom of Heaven is within all of you. Can a kingdom divided stand? Or is it not doomed to fall? But there is but one Mind, and for each one that attains the salvation of enlightenment, they become the Light in the world that serves as beacons for other Lights. It is in this manner that the salvation of enlightenment has already been accomplished, and you, the children of humanity, are now but witnessing the effects of the First Cause.
Rejoice, for Gods will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. Heaven and earth have been made one, and the Last Miracle has closed the book of death and opened the Book of Life. All names have been written in, and none will be lost. None CAN be lost, because God is in all of you.
All this being said, true forgiveness is choosing to see nothing but the Light in your brother. Indeed, there is no greater gift you can offer another than to say to him, "Brother, I see the Christ in you. Your Light is not hidden from me. I see it shine within you, and it is the Light by which I see my own." If your relationships are founded on forgiveness, they are blessed indeed.
Does this sound impossible? It is not impossible to you, but it is impossible to the ego, because the ego sees only error and separation. The ego relishes attacking the sins in others, because that it is the method by which it distracts you from the fact that it is also attacking YOU. If you were conscious of its attacks on you, there is little doubt that you would cease to tolerate it and withdraw your belief in it. But the ego would have you believe that to attack another is to save yourself. Furthermore, it believes that offering forgiveness to your brother would leave you open to attacks from all side.
The problem here is the ego's insane assumption that you can be attacked in the first place. To believe in attack is to believe that the separation is real. There is no compromise on this point. Either the separation is real, or it isn't. Either all is One or it isn't. If the separation is real then attack is possible, and you would have great reason to fear it, as well as to defend yoursel against it. But if all is One, and Love is all there is, then when you attack, you attack your Self, and when you defend, you again attack your Self by believing that the Self is vulnerable and capable of being attacked.
Ask yourself this: Has attack ever brought you peace? And even in its "noblest" form (such as in defense), is not the peace it brings but temporary, and soon replaced by fear of further attack? Perhaps a better question is this: has attack ever released you from fear? To this, one may respond, "Fear is the way of the world." Indeed, it is, and so the last question then becomes, "Do I wish to walk the way of the world?"
This, does not mean, that you should allow yourself to become a doormat for abuse. If you are being attacked, the most loving thing you can do for youself and your attacker is to remove your Self from the situation in whatever way seems fit. It is not helpful to either of you to reinforce attack by allowing it to continue. What is helpful is to remember that even when he attacks you, your brother is seeing what is not there and is calling out for your love. Answer him, so that you might both be saved.
Your task is to remain awake, take your sibling's hand and see the savior in her. For verily, verily I say unto you, you do not enter Heaven without your brother and sister, for the Kingdom of Heaven is within all of you. Can a kingdom divided stand? Or is it not doomed to fall? But there is but one Mind, and for each one that attains the salvation of enlightenment, they become the Light in the world that serves as beacons for other Lights. It is in this manner that the salvation of enlightenment has already been accomplished, and you, the children of humanity, are now but witnessing the effects of the First Cause.
Rejoice, for Gods will is done on earth as it is in Heaven. Heaven and earth have been made one, and the Last Miracle has closed the book of death and opened the Book of Life. All names have been written in, and none will be lost. None CAN be lost, because God is in all of you.
Words from the Self: The Only Requirement
"Now you are learning the ways of the ego, and the function you are to fulfill. You are to find the barriers between yourself and love and pull them down, one by one. That is all. I will help you in locating them, so do not think you undertake this effort on your own.
It seems impossible to you that this is really all that is required of you: "There is nothing I must do but remove the false? Surely I must do something."
No, you must not, because, remember you did not create your Self. You were created by Love, and Love creates only that which functions like Itself. When the last block has been removed, Love will shine forth from you so briliantly, you will be amazed at how long you chose to stand in darkness.
Only the ego places the condition of salvation in deeds, for that is how it maintains guilt over you. All that is really required of you is willingness. Once you have felt the peace of the Holy Spirit enter you, the work is accomplished. Accept Her accomplishment as yours and rest in peace."
It seems impossible to you that this is really all that is required of you: "There is nothing I must do but remove the false? Surely I must do something."
No, you must not, because, remember you did not create your Self. You were created by Love, and Love creates only that which functions like Itself. When the last block has been removed, Love will shine forth from you so briliantly, you will be amazed at how long you chose to stand in darkness.
Only the ego places the condition of salvation in deeds, for that is how it maintains guilt over you. All that is really required of you is willingness. Once you have felt the peace of the Holy Spirit enter you, the work is accomplished. Accept Her accomplishment as yours and rest in peace."
Meditation
"And it has always come to pass that what you have wished upon your brother and sister, you have wished on yourself."
The Light within me feels but a flicker of its true nature. And so I have committed my Self to seeing the Light in my siblings, hoping that seeing their Light will bring about recognition of my own.
The fear comes in waves now, but my mind has grown accustomed to its presence, and I hear the gentle Voice of Truth showing me which thoughts are loving and which are fearful. There have been breakthroughs the last couple of days, when I, in one holy instant, believed that where was nothing to fear, and, against all reason, reached for the horizon of the mind and hit a breakthrough and suddenly felt myself overwhelmed with a feeling that is indescribable: all I can say is that there was so much peace and so much love that immediately my heart grew fearful and I retreated back into the darkness. There, the guilt set in, as I felt both hatred towards myself for withdrawing, thereby making myself an enemy of peace, as well as deep longing to experiecing it again, the moment when my mind was one with that which was an even greater, GREATER mind. The Great Mind.
And still, I hear the Voice say, "You are not asked to seek for love, but to seek all the barriers within yourself that would keep love out. For Love is Truth, and how can the Truth be sought, when Truth is all there is? Truth stands alone and needs no witness because it is its own witness. You must identify the areas of your learning that you are trying to control and LET THEM GO. Do you not understand that the very "you" that you think is in control is the grandest illusion of all? Illusions cannot control illusions, but Truth can reveal an illusion for what it is."
The Light within me feels but a flicker of its true nature. And so I have committed my Self to seeing the Light in my siblings, hoping that seeing their Light will bring about recognition of my own.
The fear comes in waves now, but my mind has grown accustomed to its presence, and I hear the gentle Voice of Truth showing me which thoughts are loving and which are fearful. There have been breakthroughs the last couple of days, when I, in one holy instant, believed that where was nothing to fear, and, against all reason, reached for the horizon of the mind and hit a breakthrough and suddenly felt myself overwhelmed with a feeling that is indescribable: all I can say is that there was so much peace and so much love that immediately my heart grew fearful and I retreated back into the darkness. There, the guilt set in, as I felt both hatred towards myself for withdrawing, thereby making myself an enemy of peace, as well as deep longing to experiecing it again, the moment when my mind was one with that which was an even greater, GREATER mind. The Great Mind.
And still, I hear the Voice say, "You are not asked to seek for love, but to seek all the barriers within yourself that would keep love out. For Love is Truth, and how can the Truth be sought, when Truth is all there is? Truth stands alone and needs no witness because it is its own witness. You must identify the areas of your learning that you are trying to control and LET THEM GO. Do you not understand that the very "you" that you think is in control is the grandest illusion of all? Illusions cannot control illusions, but Truth can reveal an illusion for what it is."
The Parable of the Way
The Anointed One had four disciples, and the day came when she had revealed to them the last of her teachings. So she took the first disciple aside and said to him, "Beloved, the time has come for you to continue your journey on your own. Rejoice, for God has chosen you as His Son. Heaven and all it contains is yours. The only thing you must decide now is the path you will choose in the world of form. Your choices are three. You may live as an ascetic, forever in solitude, resting blissfully in Nirvana. Or you may become a savior of the world, giving up all your possessions and preaching the good news to the oppressed, though at the end of your life, you will be crucified by your enemies. Or you may become a leader of the world and fame, peace, prosperity and good fortune will follow you wherever you go. Choose."
"All roads lead to God?" said the disciple
"Yes."
"This is no trick."
"No trick."
"Then I choose to be a leader of the world, Master. With such power as my tool, I can bring the gospel of peace and enlightenment to everyone without needless suffering. I choose that road."
The Master took him by the head and kissed his forehead. "Go in peace, disciple of the Light, and beware the ego. You have just given way to temptation; but fear not! Within you is the power to transcend it." And the first disciple left in anger.
Then the Master took aside the second disciple and told him the very same thing, presenting him with the same choice: to be an ascetic, to be a savior of the world, or to be a leader of the world.
"All roads lead to God?" said the disciple
"Yes," said the Master.
"This is no trick."
"No trick."
"Then I choose to be an ascetic," said the disciple. "The world is an illusion, so what need I anything to do with it? God is my one thought and one desire."
The Master took him by the head and kissed his forehead. "Go in peace, disciple of the Light, and beware the ego. You have just given way to temptation; but fear not! Within you is the power to transcend it." And the second disciple left in confusion.
Then the Master took aside the third disciple and told him the very same thing, presenting him with the same choice: to be an ascetic, to be a savior of the world, or to be a leader of the world.
"All roads lead to God?" said the disciple
"Yes," said the Master.
"This is no trick."
"No trick."
"Then I choose to be a savior of the world," said the disciple. The world is an illusion, but I cannot leave my brothers and sisters in darkness. They must be saved, no matter what the cost, even if it means my life is forfeit."
The Master took him by the head and kissed his forehead. "Go in peace, disciple of the Light, and beware the ego. You have just given way to temptation; but fear not! Within you is the power to transcend it." And the third disciple left in sorrow.
Then the Master took aside the fourth disciple and told him the very same thing, presenting him with the same choice: to be an ascetic, to be a savior of the world, or to be a leader of the world.
"All roads lead to God?" said the disciple
"Yes," said the Master.
"This is no trick."
"No trick."
The disciple was quiet for a very long time, and the Master waited patiently. He sat down, and she sat down beside him. Many hours passed, the sun set, night fell and still the disciple said nothing, and the Master waited. Early the next morning, as the sun began to rise, the Master finally said with a laugh, "Disciple, as much as I have enjoyed your company over these many years, you have taken quite enough time. The choices are simple. Choose now."
"Choose what, Master?" said the disciple sadly. "You have just told Me that God has chosen Me to be His Son, and that the Kingdom of Heaven and all it contains is Mine. When I think of this, My heart is exceedingly glad! But when I think about the choices you have laid before Me, the awareness of this truth is suddenly lost to Me, and uncertaintly fills My heart again. In truth, master, who is now My sister, there is no rhyme or reason to Your choices. They all concern My future in the world of form, which is an illusion. How can one be better than the other, when all of them are untrue? No, sister, I cannot choose. It matters not to Me. Our Mother guides Me along My path in the One Eternal Moment, and She does so according to what seems fit to Her and Me."
The Master took her brother's face in her hands, kissed him on the forehead and said to him, "Blessed are You, Son of God, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to You, but our Mother and Father, who is in heaven. Now rise, My Beloved brother, and step into the glory of our inheritance."
"All roads lead to God?" said the disciple
"Yes."
"This is no trick."
"No trick."
"Then I choose to be a leader of the world, Master. With such power as my tool, I can bring the gospel of peace and enlightenment to everyone without needless suffering. I choose that road."
The Master took him by the head and kissed his forehead. "Go in peace, disciple of the Light, and beware the ego. You have just given way to temptation; but fear not! Within you is the power to transcend it." And the first disciple left in anger.
Then the Master took aside the second disciple and told him the very same thing, presenting him with the same choice: to be an ascetic, to be a savior of the world, or to be a leader of the world.
"All roads lead to God?" said the disciple
"Yes," said the Master.
"This is no trick."
"No trick."
"Then I choose to be an ascetic," said the disciple. "The world is an illusion, so what need I anything to do with it? God is my one thought and one desire."
The Master took him by the head and kissed his forehead. "Go in peace, disciple of the Light, and beware the ego. You have just given way to temptation; but fear not! Within you is the power to transcend it." And the second disciple left in confusion.
Then the Master took aside the third disciple and told him the very same thing, presenting him with the same choice: to be an ascetic, to be a savior of the world, or to be a leader of the world.
"All roads lead to God?" said the disciple
"Yes," said the Master.
"This is no trick."
"No trick."
"Then I choose to be a savior of the world," said the disciple. The world is an illusion, but I cannot leave my brothers and sisters in darkness. They must be saved, no matter what the cost, even if it means my life is forfeit."
The Master took him by the head and kissed his forehead. "Go in peace, disciple of the Light, and beware the ego. You have just given way to temptation; but fear not! Within you is the power to transcend it." And the third disciple left in sorrow.
Then the Master took aside the fourth disciple and told him the very same thing, presenting him with the same choice: to be an ascetic, to be a savior of the world, or to be a leader of the world.
"All roads lead to God?" said the disciple
"Yes," said the Master.
"This is no trick."
"No trick."
The disciple was quiet for a very long time, and the Master waited patiently. He sat down, and she sat down beside him. Many hours passed, the sun set, night fell and still the disciple said nothing, and the Master waited. Early the next morning, as the sun began to rise, the Master finally said with a laugh, "Disciple, as much as I have enjoyed your company over these many years, you have taken quite enough time. The choices are simple. Choose now."
"Choose what, Master?" said the disciple sadly. "You have just told Me that God has chosen Me to be His Son, and that the Kingdom of Heaven and all it contains is Mine. When I think of this, My heart is exceedingly glad! But when I think about the choices you have laid before Me, the awareness of this truth is suddenly lost to Me, and uncertaintly fills My heart again. In truth, master, who is now My sister, there is no rhyme or reason to Your choices. They all concern My future in the world of form, which is an illusion. How can one be better than the other, when all of them are untrue? No, sister, I cannot choose. It matters not to Me. Our Mother guides Me along My path in the One Eternal Moment, and She does so according to what seems fit to Her and Me."
The Master took her brother's face in her hands, kissed him on the forehead and said to him, "Blessed are You, Son of God, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to You, but our Mother and Father, who is in heaven. Now rise, My Beloved brother, and step into the glory of our inheritance."
The Parable of the Great Problem
One day, as the Anointed One and her disciple were walking along a desert road together, he said to her, "Master, there are many religions and philosophies in the world, all claiming to be the path to which God is realized. My question is, which of them is the true path and how can we know for sure?"
The Master thought for a second, then she knelt down on the ground, placed a finger in the earth and drew the following:
3 + 4 =
"Write down the answer, beloved," she said to her disciple.
The disciple knelt down beside her and drew the following:
7
The Master nodded, pleased. Then she began to pick up small rocks from off the ground and place them in his hand. The disciple, still unsure of her purpose, was unable to hide his puzzled look. She smiled at him and said jokingly, "You are a rich man. You have fourteen rocks, and I have none."
The disciple smiled. "I am more than willing to share my bounty with you, Master."
"Give me what seems fair to you," she replied.
So he divided the rocks among them equally. The Messiah thanked him and placed them in her pocket; he did the same. Then she said, "There was once a man who had nine children, and one day a great wind came and toppled his house, killing one of his sons and one of his daughters. The father wept for many days after their passing, but at the same time, he gave thanks to God. Tell me, beloved, why would he do such a thing?"
"Because seven of his children had been spared," said the discipled.
"Well done," said the Messiah, and started walking again, "Now in what way are these three problems the same?
"The answer seven," replied the disciple. "It joins them all together."
"Well done, disciple of the Light," said the Master, "With this knowledge in your heart, may you find peace in the path you have chosen."
The disciple thought for a moment, then began to protest, "But Master, you chose "seven" even before you chose your problems, so that they would fit your purpose and prove your point. Is it not true that different problems lead to different answers?"
"God is the only Answer," said the Master. "Who or what is it that precedes her? She has been the Answer before the problem of human suffering every existed. Men and women hold Her in their hearts and forge their paths to Her, and verily and verily I say unto you, anyone who knows God as the finally Answer will never taste death."
The Master thought for a second, then she knelt down on the ground, placed a finger in the earth and drew the following:
3 + 4 =
"Write down the answer, beloved," she said to her disciple.
The disciple knelt down beside her and drew the following:
7
The Master nodded, pleased. Then she began to pick up small rocks from off the ground and place them in his hand. The disciple, still unsure of her purpose, was unable to hide his puzzled look. She smiled at him and said jokingly, "You are a rich man. You have fourteen rocks, and I have none."
The disciple smiled. "I am more than willing to share my bounty with you, Master."
"Give me what seems fair to you," she replied.
So he divided the rocks among them equally. The Messiah thanked him and placed them in her pocket; he did the same. Then she said, "There was once a man who had nine children, and one day a great wind came and toppled his house, killing one of his sons and one of his daughters. The father wept for many days after their passing, but at the same time, he gave thanks to God. Tell me, beloved, why would he do such a thing?"
"Because seven of his children had been spared," said the discipled.
"Well done," said the Messiah, and started walking again, "Now in what way are these three problems the same?
"The answer seven," replied the disciple. "It joins them all together."
"Well done, disciple of the Light," said the Master, "With this knowledge in your heart, may you find peace in the path you have chosen."
The disciple thought for a moment, then began to protest, "But Master, you chose "seven" even before you chose your problems, so that they would fit your purpose and prove your point. Is it not true that different problems lead to different answers?"
"God is the only Answer," said the Master. "Who or what is it that precedes her? She has been the Answer before the problem of human suffering every existed. Men and women hold Her in their hearts and forge their paths to Her, and verily and verily I say unto you, anyone who knows God as the finally Answer will never taste death."
The Parable of the Parable
One day, she who called herself "The Anointed One" taught a huge crowd the mysteries of life. A woman in the crowd raised her hand and said, "Master, what is the kingdom of heaven like?"
The Master said, "There was once a man who was renowned for writing the greatest parables that the world had ever seen. They were full of wisdom and truth, so that when people heard them, they laughed and wept, for their minds were enlightened as to the true meaning of joy and sorrow--some were even inspired to write parables of their own. On the eve of his death, this man wrote all his parables down in a book, which was passed on from generation to generation, so that even when he had finally passed on to the next world, his essence remained on the earth till the end of time. Anyone who has ears to hear, let them hear."
When the Master left the crowd, one of her disciples came to her and said, "Master, explain to me the meaning of your parable. The scent of truth is in it; let me taste it, so that I may be filled."
So the Messiah said, "The parable teller is God and the book written near the end of his life is the Universe. As the words of a parable are the form through which the mind of the author extends itself, so is the universe the form through which the Mind of God lives and breathes. It is in this way that you are the living Word of God made flesh."
The disciple grew fearful and said, "Master, surely this is blasphemy. There is only one God, and he is in heaven. And there is only one living Word, and he is called Jesus Christ of Nazareth!"
"I seek not to do my own will," responded the Master, "but to do the will of She who sent me. I have given you the key to the door. Call it blasphemy and cast it from you. Or call it truth and open the door to see what lies inside.The matter is between you and the One who dwells within you. I shall not interfere."
The Master continued walking as the disciple stood still, watching her disappear into the distance. After a moment, he began to follow her once again.
The Master said, "There was once a man who was renowned for writing the greatest parables that the world had ever seen. They were full of wisdom and truth, so that when people heard them, they laughed and wept, for their minds were enlightened as to the true meaning of joy and sorrow--some were even inspired to write parables of their own. On the eve of his death, this man wrote all his parables down in a book, which was passed on from generation to generation, so that even when he had finally passed on to the next world, his essence remained on the earth till the end of time. Anyone who has ears to hear, let them hear."
When the Master left the crowd, one of her disciples came to her and said, "Master, explain to me the meaning of your parable. The scent of truth is in it; let me taste it, so that I may be filled."
So the Messiah said, "The parable teller is God and the book written near the end of his life is the Universe. As the words of a parable are the form through which the mind of the author extends itself, so is the universe the form through which the Mind of God lives and breathes. It is in this way that you are the living Word of God made flesh."
The disciple grew fearful and said, "Master, surely this is blasphemy. There is only one God, and he is in heaven. And there is only one living Word, and he is called Jesus Christ of Nazareth!"
"I seek not to do my own will," responded the Master, "but to do the will of She who sent me. I have given you the key to the door. Call it blasphemy and cast it from you. Or call it truth and open the door to see what lies inside.The matter is between you and the One who dwells within you. I shall not interfere."
The Master continued walking as the disciple stood still, watching her disappear into the distance. After a moment, he began to follow her once again.
Not over yet
Back in June, I read a poem at the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe's open mike. It was the one in my blog called "Leaving the Battlefield." There were a few revisions I made, but ultimately it stayed the same.
I didn't want to do it, mostly out of fear. And since fear is something in my life I wish to--if not eliminate--learn to see past and through, I felt like I had to do it if only to see what exactly I am afraid of.
When I did it, I realized how much I enjoy communicating with others. It doesn't matter if people agree with me or not--all I feel is important is that I'm at least heard. And last night, I was. It wasn't that bad--there weren't that many people there, which was a lot easier to manage mentally, everyone was mad supportive and the two drinks I had certainly helped. So I did it, and was like, "Whew! Great! Now I can say I did it! I'm free! I'm off the hook!"
"You mean you AREN'T going to perform those other poems you're already thinking about performing?" my Self whispers seemingly out of no where.
I sigh, partly out of exhaustion, partly out of fear, and partly out of relief. I guess it's not over yet . .
I didn't want to do it, mostly out of fear. And since fear is something in my life I wish to--if not eliminate--learn to see past and through, I felt like I had to do it if only to see what exactly I am afraid of.
When I did it, I realized how much I enjoy communicating with others. It doesn't matter if people agree with me or not--all I feel is important is that I'm at least heard. And last night, I was. It wasn't that bad--there weren't that many people there, which was a lot easier to manage mentally, everyone was mad supportive and the two drinks I had certainly helped. So I did it, and was like, "Whew! Great! Now I can say I did it! I'm free! I'm off the hook!"
"You mean you AREN'T going to perform those other poems you're already thinking about performing?" my Self whispers seemingly out of no where.
I sigh, partly out of exhaustion, partly out of fear, and partly out of relief. I guess it's not over yet . .
Buddha says...
"One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand men on the battlefield. Be victorious over yourself and not over others. When you attain victory over yourself, not even the gods can turn it into defeat."
--from "The Dhammapada"
--from "The Dhammapada"
Words from the Self: The Power of Thought
There is no such thing as an idle thought. All of your thoughts, no matter how seemingly insignificant, are CREATIVE, and they begin creating the moment you think them. The development of the atomic bomb is a perfect example of humankind using the power of thought to harness the forces of the universe. It is, quite literally, the "mountain-moving" faith that Jesus of Nazareth spoke of.
Because each thought arises out of either love or fear, the Self or the ego, what that thought manifests will be a reflection of one of the two. In other words, thoughts of love will manifest love. Thoughts of fear will manifest fear.
When a child is young, he fears the dark. He imagines monsters under his bed, hiding in his closet and dressers. Every noise he hears he attributes to the creatures that lay in wait to devour him. And his terror is very real. His belief has given it this power.
You think what you believe. And you believe what you think. This is the cycle of thought within the mind. It is why so many remain imprisoned by the mind for entire lifetimes. You assume that you are not in control of the thoughts that you think. You believe that they just "pop" into your head--from where, one can only guess, you say, never realizing that the "where from" is staring you right in the mirror.. Each thought originates from a decision on your part to make that thought. It only seems as if you are helpless because you are creating so many thoughts so quickly--based usually on preconceived notions of what you are experiencing in life--that you feel helpless to stop the onslaught.
You think you are in hell, and so you live in hell. You think you are condemmned, and so you feel condemnation upon you. You think others have done you harm, and indeed you experience harm being done to you. The path to freedom from this cycle is realizing that this is happening to you as it is happening. Then you will no longer be a prisoner, for when you understand the process of thought, it will cease to be the source of conflict and will quickly become the source of peace, of understanding, of clarity and of love.
So before you judge, before you condemn, before you give in to fearful thoughts, take a step back. Relax. Breathe. And wait. Your mind and heart work at their best when they are open and in the moment. Release yourself from the past. Thinking nothing of the future, for it IS nothing. There is only the present. The one moment. The Eternal Moment of Now.
And you will call on love, and love shall fly to you. You will meditate on peace, and peace will be yours. You will seek harmony, and harmony shall bind itself to you in every way, for all prayers of the mind are answered, no matter what their nature be.
Free your mind, for all power in heaven is yours.
Namaste.
Because each thought arises out of either love or fear, the Self or the ego, what that thought manifests will be a reflection of one of the two. In other words, thoughts of love will manifest love. Thoughts of fear will manifest fear.
When a child is young, he fears the dark. He imagines monsters under his bed, hiding in his closet and dressers. Every noise he hears he attributes to the creatures that lay in wait to devour him. And his terror is very real. His belief has given it this power.
You think what you believe. And you believe what you think. This is the cycle of thought within the mind. It is why so many remain imprisoned by the mind for entire lifetimes. You assume that you are not in control of the thoughts that you think. You believe that they just "pop" into your head--from where, one can only guess, you say, never realizing that the "where from" is staring you right in the mirror.. Each thought originates from a decision on your part to make that thought. It only seems as if you are helpless because you are creating so many thoughts so quickly--based usually on preconceived notions of what you are experiencing in life--that you feel helpless to stop the onslaught.
You think you are in hell, and so you live in hell. You think you are condemmned, and so you feel condemnation upon you. You think others have done you harm, and indeed you experience harm being done to you. The path to freedom from this cycle is realizing that this is happening to you as it is happening. Then you will no longer be a prisoner, for when you understand the process of thought, it will cease to be the source of conflict and will quickly become the source of peace, of understanding, of clarity and of love.
So before you judge, before you condemn, before you give in to fearful thoughts, take a step back. Relax. Breathe. And wait. Your mind and heart work at their best when they are open and in the moment. Release yourself from the past. Thinking nothing of the future, for it IS nothing. There is only the present. The one moment. The Eternal Moment of Now.
And you will call on love, and love shall fly to you. You will meditate on peace, and peace will be yours. You will seek harmony, and harmony shall bind itself to you in every way, for all prayers of the mind are answered, no matter what their nature be.
Free your mind, for all power in heaven is yours.
Namaste.
Quote from my tea bag
"It is impossible to enjoy idling thorougly unless one has plenty of work to do."
--Jerome K. Jerome
--Jerome K. Jerome
My MySpace postings
I don't know if anyone who's read my blog on MySpace visits "Rise, Prophet!", but if you have, you may have noticed that I'm slowly transferring my posts there over to here. I'm going to try to finish all of them tonight, but I'm doing this because I want to have all my blog postings (at least, the one's I like) in one place so that I can categorize them later: poems, parables, essays, Words From the Self, etc.
Anyways, that's what I'm doing. :) So there ya go.
Anyways, that's what I'm doing. :) So there ya go.
Leaving the Battlefield
If fear is the adversary
and love is all there is
then there can be
no adversary
And all injuries I have
believed were done unto
me were but dreams
Calls for love
hidden in the form of attack
With a heavy heart, I lay down
my weapon and announce
the end of all conflict
There is only peace.
There can BE only peace.
All is forgiven
for none of it ever happened
What holds my sins against me
is but the memory of them
not the sins themselves
and so I serve as my own
judge and executioner
Shall I not set the gavel down as well?
Have I not attacked my brother
and my sister
long enough to know that
my weapons were made of nothing?
Blessed be the peacemakers
For they are the children of God
They see Their Oneness in Her
and find Him in Their holy Selves
Behold the dawning of a new age
Where humankind lays down
the slings and arrows of guilt,
lowering the bloody fingers
pointed at one another.
Let us see the true Self
the Christ
the Buddha
the Awakened One
the Saint
in one another
So that we might see that
same Self
the Christ
the Buddha
the Awakened One
the Saint
in ourselves.
and love is all there is
then there can be
no adversary
And all injuries I have
believed were done unto
me were but dreams
Calls for love
hidden in the form of attack
With a heavy heart, I lay down
my weapon and announce
the end of all conflict
There is only peace.
There can BE only peace.
All is forgiven
for none of it ever happened
What holds my sins against me
is but the memory of them
not the sins themselves
and so I serve as my own
judge and executioner
Shall I not set the gavel down as well?
Have I not attacked my brother
and my sister
long enough to know that
my weapons were made of nothing?
Blessed be the peacemakers
For they are the children of God
They see Their Oneness in Her
and find Him in Their holy Selves
Behold the dawning of a new age
Where humankind lays down
the slings and arrows of guilt,
lowering the bloody fingers
pointed at one another.
Let us see the true Self
the Christ
the Buddha
the Awakened One
the Saint
in one another
So that we might see that
same Self
the Christ
the Buddha
the Awakened One
the Saint
in ourselves.
Words From the Self: On the subject of sin
"You are perfect.
There is no sin, save the belief IN sin, which holds that you and I can be thrust apart. And even this is not sin, but an error. Verily, verily I say unto you, there is no error you can make that would warrant you being "cast out of Eden." To punish you for your mistakes would be like a parent punishing a child for tumbling to the ground while it is learning how to walk. The child will have mastered walking when it ceases to fall. And you will have attained Selfhood when you cease to make errors.
This may sound as if it is the height of all arrogance to proclaim your perfection. You may liken it to the sin of Lucifer ("Lucifer" being one of many symbols you have made upon which to project your self-hate so that you may bear it more easily). "How vain," you may cry, "To assert humanity's perfection when the whole world bears witness to the contrary!"
But I tell you this: all the so-called "evils" of the world occur precisely because humanity will not see that My perfection is in it. The things over which you fight, steal, maim, manipulate and murder in order to "get" arise out of fear, the belief that there is something within you that you lack, whether it be fame, fortune, love . . . it matters not what the idol is. That you believe posessing something outside of yourself will be the catalyst for your completion is truly the root of all error..
To the contrary, it is arrogance to believe that you are NOT perfect! If you or your brother or sister have sinned then I have failed, for I created the both of you. Thus, you make mock of Me and all my creation. The world of despair that you now perceive is your statement to Me that you have stolen power away from Me and created something unlike what I am. Only in the eyes of the fearful can your brothers and sisters "commit" sin. Only in the eyes of the fearful is hell even a possibility. And only in the eyes of the fearful can My greatest gift to you--your perfection--be sacrilege to accept.
I know the truth about who and what you are. I know that you are holy. I know that you are Love Manifest. I know that My will is your will. Right now, you are as one who staggers blindly through a nightmare. It is only in nightmares that your worst imaginings about yourself are possible. But when you wake up, you breathe a sigh of a relief, knowing it was all a dream.
Any view you hold of yourself that is anything but that of pure grandeur and complete perfection is a nightmare come true. The choice to end the nightmare is in your hands. I will not interfere with you, because to do so would be to teach you that your choices do not matter. But I stand at the ready, for I am able to assist you in bringing you out of the nightmare and into waking life. Merely make the choice for Selfhood, and I will fly to you in an instant--or rather, it will have seem that I have "flown" to you, for in truth, I am always with you.
Always, and in all ways."
There is no sin, save the belief IN sin, which holds that you and I can be thrust apart. And even this is not sin, but an error. Verily, verily I say unto you, there is no error you can make that would warrant you being "cast out of Eden." To punish you for your mistakes would be like a parent punishing a child for tumbling to the ground while it is learning how to walk. The child will have mastered walking when it ceases to fall. And you will have attained Selfhood when you cease to make errors.
This may sound as if it is the height of all arrogance to proclaim your perfection. You may liken it to the sin of Lucifer ("Lucifer" being one of many symbols you have made upon which to project your self-hate so that you may bear it more easily). "How vain," you may cry, "To assert humanity's perfection when the whole world bears witness to the contrary!"
But I tell you this: all the so-called "evils" of the world occur precisely because humanity will not see that My perfection is in it. The things over which you fight, steal, maim, manipulate and murder in order to "get" arise out of fear, the belief that there is something within you that you lack, whether it be fame, fortune, love . . . it matters not what the idol is. That you believe posessing something outside of yourself will be the catalyst for your completion is truly the root of all error..
To the contrary, it is arrogance to believe that you are NOT perfect! If you or your brother or sister have sinned then I have failed, for I created the both of you. Thus, you make mock of Me and all my creation. The world of despair that you now perceive is your statement to Me that you have stolen power away from Me and created something unlike what I am. Only in the eyes of the fearful can your brothers and sisters "commit" sin. Only in the eyes of the fearful is hell even a possibility. And only in the eyes of the fearful can My greatest gift to you--your perfection--be sacrilege to accept.
I know the truth about who and what you are. I know that you are holy. I know that you are Love Manifest. I know that My will is your will. Right now, you are as one who staggers blindly through a nightmare. It is only in nightmares that your worst imaginings about yourself are possible. But when you wake up, you breathe a sigh of a relief, knowing it was all a dream.
Any view you hold of yourself that is anything but that of pure grandeur and complete perfection is a nightmare come true. The choice to end the nightmare is in your hands. I will not interfere with you, because to do so would be to teach you that your choices do not matter. But I stand at the ready, for I am able to assist you in bringing you out of the nightmare and into waking life. Merely make the choice for Selfhood, and I will fly to you in an instant--or rather, it will have seem that I have "flown" to you, for in truth, I am always with you.
Always, and in all ways."
Saturday, January 6, 2007
Blaise Pascal
"Can anything be stupider than that a man has the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and his ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with him?"
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
On Madness
"A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.” --Nikos Kazantzakis
Friday, January 5, 2007
Words from the Self: Love Versus Condemnation
"I am the Alpha and the Omega. The First and the Last. The Beginning and the End. I was, am, and forever shall be.
Herein lies all the peace you shall ever need. For you are in Me, as I am in You. It is not your obedience that I require, for what need have I of servants, when I am EVERYTHING? It is not your worship that satisfies Me, because what I am is Love, which 'requireth nothing.' Love is infinite, and when Love gives of itself, then it is able to know the joy of experiencing itself. For this reason, the only way to receive love is to give it. For when you give love to your brothers and sisters, they become the witness by which you see that love was truly in you. For how can you give something away unless you first possessed it?
So love one another. In doing so, you will know that love has always been yours.
There are those that would make me out to be a jealous avenger, mighty in wrath and eager to punish. And in the same breath, they would speak of the "love" I bestow on those that would keep my commandments. But never do they ask why I would find it necessary to issue commandments in the first place. If I wanted something specifically done, would I not simply make it so? That aside, if I did find it necessary to give commandments, why would I then make it possible for you to break them, and then punish you for it? The whole idea is laughable, and you would see it as such if it were not for the fact that so many of you cling to this madness with such ferocity that you have tried to destroy yourself and others in order to defend it.
You cannot oppose My will because you ARE My will. When I say that I am in You, and that You are in Me, I am not being sentimental. This is the nature of Our relationship. For you to oppose Me is to oppose yourself. For Me to punish you is to punish Myself.
There is only Me.
But do not condemn those who fear Me in such a manner. Instead, recognize their call for love, and answer it in My name. And when you show them that you are capable of loving Me without fearing Me, you will truly be a light unto the world, and those that see you shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life."
Herein lies all the peace you shall ever need. For you are in Me, as I am in You. It is not your obedience that I require, for what need have I of servants, when I am EVERYTHING? It is not your worship that satisfies Me, because what I am is Love, which 'requireth nothing.' Love is infinite, and when Love gives of itself, then it is able to know the joy of experiencing itself. For this reason, the only way to receive love is to give it. For when you give love to your brothers and sisters, they become the witness by which you see that love was truly in you. For how can you give something away unless you first possessed it?
So love one another. In doing so, you will know that love has always been yours.
There are those that would make me out to be a jealous avenger, mighty in wrath and eager to punish. And in the same breath, they would speak of the "love" I bestow on those that would keep my commandments. But never do they ask why I would find it necessary to issue commandments in the first place. If I wanted something specifically done, would I not simply make it so? That aside, if I did find it necessary to give commandments, why would I then make it possible for you to break them, and then punish you for it? The whole idea is laughable, and you would see it as such if it were not for the fact that so many of you cling to this madness with such ferocity that you have tried to destroy yourself and others in order to defend it.
You cannot oppose My will because you ARE My will. When I say that I am in You, and that You are in Me, I am not being sentimental. This is the nature of Our relationship. For you to oppose Me is to oppose yourself. For Me to punish you is to punish Myself.
There is only Me.
But do not condemn those who fear Me in such a manner. Instead, recognize their call for love, and answer it in My name. And when you show them that you are capable of loving Me without fearing Me, you will truly be a light unto the world, and those that see you shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life."
"Your task is not to seek for love...
". . . but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. It is not necessary to seek for what is true, but it is necessary to seek for what is false."
from "A Course In Miracles"
from "A Course In Miracles"
The Parable of the Poisoned Well
There was once a wise king who ruled over a vast city. He was feared for his might and loved for his wisdom. Now in the heart of the city, there was a well whose waters were pure and crystalline from which the king and all the inhabitants drank. When all were asleep, an enemy entered the city and poured seven drops of a strange liquid into the well. And he said that henceforth all who drink this water shall become mad.
All the people drank of the water, but not the king. And the people began to say, "The king is mad and has lost his reason. Look how strangely he behaves. We cannot be ruled by a madman, so he must be dethroned."
The king grew very fearful, for his subjects were preparing to rise against him. So one evening, he ordered a golden goblet to be filled from the well, and he drank deeply. The next day, there was great rejoicing among the people, for their beloved king had finally regained his reason.
--Author Unknown
All the people drank of the water, but not the king. And the people began to say, "The king is mad and has lost his reason. Look how strangely he behaves. We cannot be ruled by a madman, so he must be dethroned."
The king grew very fearful, for his subjects were preparing to rise against him. So one evening, he ordered a golden goblet to be filled from the well, and he drank deeply. The next day, there was great rejoicing among the people, for their beloved king had finally regained his reason.
--Author Unknown
The Gnostic Vow
The boundless forms cannot be awakened:
I vow to help awaken them .
The infinite chain of attainment cannot be escaped:
I vow to escape it.
The limitless questions cannot be asked:
I vow to ask all of them.
The knowledge of self and God (gnosis) cannot be attained:
I vow to attain it.
from The School of Allogenes (http://www.snant.com/allogenes/)
I vow to help awaken them .
The infinite chain of attainment cannot be escaped:
I vow to escape it.
The limitless questions cannot be asked:
I vow to ask all of them.
The knowledge of self and God (gnosis) cannot be attained:
I vow to attain it.
from The School of Allogenes (http://www.snant.com/allogenes/)
The Prayer of the Doubting Thomas
To Whatever May Be Out There,
When I'm lacking in strength, lend me Your hand
When I am clouded in ignorance, guide me to wisdom
When I am taken over by fear, lead me towards love
And when I doubt that You are there, send me reminders
Thank you.
When I'm lacking in strength, lend me Your hand
When I am clouded in ignorance, guide me to wisdom
When I am taken over by fear, lead me towards love
And when I doubt that You are there, send me reminders
Thank you.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
God is dog poop?
"I'd like to say we are in the shift to the place where everything is God, pantheism. The understanding that has come from mysticism and from people on the cusp of periods moving from past to present, people talking about primary experience, is that the body and the soul cannot be separated. It shouldn't be that they should be fighting one another, that you have too get rid of one in order to get the other. We want Wholeness, a holistic understanding, now. I believe that people are moving from theism to pantheism. There are some who don't like the word pantheism, the idea that God is everything. They prefer the word panentheism, which means that God is in everything. I, however, don't think that the distinction is real. What was the objection that people had to pantheism, God is everything? "Are you going to tell me that the excrement of a dog is also God?" And the answer to this would be "Yes." What is wrong with that? It is only from the human perspective that we see a difference between that and challah. On the sub molecular level, on the atomic level, they all look the same. And if you look from a galactic perspective, what difference is there between one and the other? So if "God is everything," why are you and I here? Because we are the appearance of God in this particular form. And God likes to appear in countless forms and experience countless lives. If you would have mentioned this point of view when theism was dominant, you might have been killed. The theists would complain, "What you are saying is that there are no differences anymore? Does that mean that everything is right, everything is kosher? Where are the differences?" And those are good questions. We are not so far advanced yet that we can explain all these things, but deep down, the deepest level of the pattern is that God is everything. So it's not that God created the world but that God became the world."
--quote from the book WRAPPED IN A HOLY FLAME, by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi and founder of Jewish Renewal.
--quote from the book WRAPPED IN A HOLY FLAME, by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a Lubavitch Hasidic rabbi and founder of Jewish Renewal.
On the ego
“For it is the ego's fundamental doctrine that what you do to others you have escaped. The ego wishes no one well. Yet its survival depends on your belief that you are exempt from its intentions. It counsels, therefore, that if you are host to it, it will enable you to direct its anger outward, thus protecting you. . . . the more anger you invest outside yourself, the safer you become."
--A Course In Miracles
--A Course In Miracles
From Brother Che
"It is a profound error...to believe that it is out of 'moderation' or 'moderate self-interest' that great inventions or artful masterpieces come about. For all great tasks, passion is needed, and for the revolution, passion and audacity are needed in large doses, things we have as a human group."
--Ernesto "Che" Guevara
--Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Words From the Self: The Call
Thus spoke the great "I AM" to the sons and daughters of humankind:
Rise, prophets! Rise, soothsayers! Rise, leaders and visionaries! Your time is now. Step into the inheritance that belongs rightfully to you, and all that you will shall be accomplished. The world tells you that your Voice is too small to be heard, but within you is a Light so grand and magnificent in strength that not even the gates of hell can stand against it. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.
There is no great Enemy, no Satan, no deceiver. Your only "enemy"is the darkness within your own heart, which you have thrown a veil over and tried to deny, transforming it into the demons that now haunt you. Your worst nightmares, your deepest fears, these are the things that you believe stand between you and the Light. But these fears are but illusions, dreams within a dream. Nothing can stand between you and the Light, for verily, verily I say unto you, you ARE the Light. And the Light is eternal, because Its Source is eternal. The Source of the Light and the Light itself cannot be separated, because they are One.
All forgiveness is yours. All love is yours. All perfection, all holiness, all beauty, all strength, all wisdom, all knowledge, all hope, all joy, all faith . . .these things are yours, because they are what you ARE.
I AM in you. In this knowledge, find peace and rejoice.
Rise, prophets! Rise, soothsayers! Rise, leaders and visionaries! Your time is now. Step into the inheritance that belongs rightfully to you, and all that you will shall be accomplished. The world tells you that your Voice is too small to be heard, but within you is a Light so grand and magnificent in strength that not even the gates of hell can stand against it. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ask, and you shall receive. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.
There is no great Enemy, no Satan, no deceiver. Your only "enemy"is the darkness within your own heart, which you have thrown a veil over and tried to deny, transforming it into the demons that now haunt you. Your worst nightmares, your deepest fears, these are the things that you believe stand between you and the Light. But these fears are but illusions, dreams within a dream. Nothing can stand between you and the Light, for verily, verily I say unto you, you ARE the Light. And the Light is eternal, because Its Source is eternal. The Source of the Light and the Light itself cannot be separated, because they are One.
All forgiveness is yours. All love is yours. All perfection, all holiness, all beauty, all strength, all wisdom, all knowledge, all hope, all joy, all faith . . .these things are yours, because they are what you ARE.
I AM in you. In this knowledge, find peace and rejoice.
Relative Truth?
People argue this point all the time. That truth is a subjective notion, that there is no such thing as an absolute.
Yet, by uttering the statement, "Truth is subjective" haven't I just uttered an ABSOLUTE concerning the nature of truth? Haven't I basically said, "Without exception, truth is ALWAYS changing, depending on the beholder." Which makes one wonder how what we call "truth" can actually BE truth, if truth, by its very nature, is that which does not change (otherwise, how could it be the truth?). I'll sooner say "truth does not exist" before I'll say it's "relative."
However, I will say that our PERCEPTIONS of truth are relative. And it is for this reason that we must be careful in declaring what we "know to be true" and what we "know not to be." It has been said over and over again by wiser folks than I that it behooves us to examine what we, as human beings, have in common amongst our differences. It will be those things that guide us down the path towards better understanding.
I believe in absolute truth. There are certain things that just ARE, whether I want them to be true or not. But the scope of this truth is very small. Everything else is colored by my perception, my memories, my current belief system--which are all tools through which I can access the truth.
LOVE and FEAR. Those are absolute truths as I see it. Love and fear is something that we all have experienced deeply in one form or another. They are the most universal aspects of the human condition, as far as I can tell.
The choices we make in life are either rooted in love or rooted in fear. Everything else is just decoration.
Yet, by uttering the statement, "Truth is subjective" haven't I just uttered an ABSOLUTE concerning the nature of truth? Haven't I basically said, "Without exception, truth is ALWAYS changing, depending on the beholder." Which makes one wonder how what we call "truth" can actually BE truth, if truth, by its very nature, is that which does not change (otherwise, how could it be the truth?). I'll sooner say "truth does not exist" before I'll say it's "relative."
However, I will say that our PERCEPTIONS of truth are relative. And it is for this reason that we must be careful in declaring what we "know to be true" and what we "know not to be." It has been said over and over again by wiser folks than I that it behooves us to examine what we, as human beings, have in common amongst our differences. It will be those things that guide us down the path towards better understanding.
I believe in absolute truth. There are certain things that just ARE, whether I want them to be true or not. But the scope of this truth is very small. Everything else is colored by my perception, my memories, my current belief system--which are all tools through which I can access the truth.
LOVE and FEAR. Those are absolute truths as I see it. Love and fear is something that we all have experienced deeply in one form or another. They are the most universal aspects of the human condition, as far as I can tell.
The choices we make in life are either rooted in love or rooted in fear. Everything else is just decoration.
Cool Quote I Heard From the Phone Repair Guy
"Nobody wins a pissing contest. All you do is get wet."
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