fragments of reality

Up to you

2010-11-11T21:47:00.000-08:00

To him who asks, give. Do not turn away the beggar. Give freely as you have been given freely. Then you will find that no matter how much you give, there will always be a need. No matter how much you sacrifice, there will always be more asked of you. No matter what you do, it may not be returned. For to him who is asked, more will be asked. To him who sacrifices, more will be demanded. To him who surrenders all, even more will be taken away. No one said it would be easy. No one said it would be just. Human notions of justice are the last refuge of those who have not fully committed. How fortunate the ones who have not done so, for they may live their lives in self satisfying comfort, never fully risking anything and always able to stand on their own accomplishments.
Lincoln freed the slaves, and for it he was shot dead.
Moses brought his people out of bondage, and for it they rebelled.
Jesus accepted all the brokenness of the world, and for it died like a criminal.
How fortunate the man who gives nothing. And so enjoy your lives of comfort. Enjoy your world of positions and objects. Enjoy the people you have, just stop trying to own them. You have your reward. You have your time.
For those who ask for more the path is narrow and the gate is hidden. Some say it looks like submission and obedience. But doesn’t everyone know about that? Doesn’t everyone feel guilt? At east those who take the path of vanity have some enjoyment with their guilt before they die.
The other path is much harder to find even though it is all around us. It is much harder to follow even though it is always calling us. It calls us to give up far more than our earthly pleasures. It asks for far more than our worldly positions. It calls us to give up even our identities. But to those who have done this you already know that all I have said is only a riddle and an illusion. Dust and shadows. That is what all you have amounts to. I’m looking for something far more real. I am looking forward to never passing away. I’m looking into eternity.
I don’t look for detachment. I don’t want to escape samsara. My Dharma is to continue on. The wheel keeps turning and I turn with it. But a Light shines on my course and I cannot turn away. Follow this Light and remember the darkness no more. This leads to the world beyond illusions.
The comforts and pleasures of this world are their own reward, but look beyond them to something that will never pass. Then you know that regardless of what sacrifice you are to make, what offering you are to give and what blessing becomes a curse, you have the choice to let your actions stop here, or echo in eternity.

Always forgiven

2010-11-09T14:44:00.001-08:00

It doesn’t matter how many times you fall. You can transgress 100,000 times over and it still won’t leave you.
It doesn’t matter how many times you turn away. You can run as for as you want and it will always follow you.
It doesn’t matter how much you don’t know. You can never have heard the name and it has still always known you.
All these actions come from the conscious mind. This is only a small part of who we are. The Lord is beyond this and embraces all that we are as He transforms the most lowly and twisted elements into the corner stones of glory.
His work is so complete that when you look back on your failures, they are as only small distractions on a course that was ever leading to the Light. For as it is the valley of the shadow of death for some, it will be remembered as the valley of the shadow of life for us when we step fully into such life as awaits even beyond our dreams.
The designs of eternal love are beyond the small perspective of deceit spoken by this world. Thus know that to the Divine, all your sins are as nothing. How could Light be troubled by a small shadow, which its shining glory causes to be no more? How can compassion turn away from brokenness? How can a mother ignore her child?
All these is the Lord, and infinitely more. So again embrace the beloved as it has always done so to you. Find safety and hope in that comfort and draw strength for eternity to come.

Empire to come

2010-11-07T12:57:00.001-08:00

It has been evident throughout history that religion is power. Moses lead his people to the promised land by the call of God. The teachings of Buddha informed empires. The followers of Mohammad carved out an empire.

Many wars have been fought in the name of a god or the God or some other spiritual truth. Many good things have been done also in the name of the same truths. However all such actions have only been pail attempts at reaching the divine at best and shallow and even evil power plays at worst. But none the less, such religion brought power to the hands of those who could effectively use it.

There was another who was so blessed with power. He, however never called his people to war or brought fame to himself in any way. Instead he died, but in so doing won a greater victory than any prophet or god kind before or after ever did, will or could. The empire set in motion of expansion at his death is not one that will pass. It's not one that can pass. The twisted and broken cannot fight against something so real.

The real embraces all regardless of past loyalty. Every good thing you did was in his name. His memory is pervasive and his spirit promiscuous. So shall it be for here to come. He isn't dead anymore. And he didn't leave. He lives in you and me.

The dreams

2010-10-31T08:54:00.000-07:00

You can fall, but you can never die. You can fall back, but you can never retreat. You can be lost, but you are never alone. The Divine flows through all. No one knows where it comes from. No one sees where it goes. Without beginning or end this ring surrounds all. Who can run from such power? Who can stand before such glory? Who can look at such beauty?

Such is the nature of overwhelming holiness, and yet it turns to look upon us. And when we are taken into the gaze of the divine lord, we are lost in light and found in love. You can't question it for it silences you with comfort. You can't fight it for your power fades like an extinguished flame. You can't look away even though it destroys everything you were. So be embraced by love and overcome by grace.

In my dreams the world is created again, and I am there as the stars are set. But it is as nothing when the truths unspeakable when I awake are spoken unto me by the Divine itself. I rise and realize it wasn't only a dream.

The vision begins again. I am lost at the head of the congregation. I am overpowered by the light and love. I open my arms like the Christ crucified to embrace all the weak, lost, orphaned, sick, suffering and broken. I hope it is not only a vision. I pray it is not only a dream.

The Greatest Victory

2010-04-03T15:12:00.000-07:00

The penitents rise and undulate as one mass in the ecstasy of worship to their god. Lost in divine union, they throw themselves relentlessly into the mass with divine passion. As a mandala the energy radiates from their center and out in all directions. Then a climax is reached. The old is cast off and light and living water flow forth to wash the worshipers. They are overcome as the old dies and they pass into new reality. Such passion and ecstasy to lose one's self in worship for one's god. Under and to the same sun all such rites are conducted.

But the sun is not God.

The sun is only a representation for the divine power that has no fixed location and no such limitation. It has no beginning and no end. It has no form and is in all form. It has nothing because it is beyond anything, and everything has its shape and meaning within its enveloping and compassionate manifestation. The root, the spring and the genesis of all responses to this compassion is beyond the scope of the limitations of those responses. No mater what sun the penitents lose themselves in holy ecstasy to, this service was done in the name of the divine.

Beyond illusion living water washes all.

And so I too am lost in light and found in love as I remember our greatest victory. Sacrifice and truly committed endurance borne of divine love brought forth battle unto death of our greatest prophet and God himself. Triumphant unto death and victorious unto life, that which gives all things shape and meaning committed the sacred rite of destruction against the subversion of reality. And his resurrection echoed across all eternity in the moment that united past present and future, and unleashed unrelenting power, bringing resurrection to all reality.

Divine Chaos, holy fire, lost in light, found in love.

All sun worshipers and even all subverters will be as well. This is our greatest victory. He is risen.

Darkness

2010-03-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

The valley of the shadow of death is not to be feared. Suffering is not to be avoided. Pain is not to be denied. Under threat of total collapse, our greatest power and most overwhelming transformations arise. Suffering is finite. Victory is forever. Embrace the darkness and let it wash over you. From the deepest point of that darkness, the light that shines across eternity shall be set free. All your pain will be transformed. All your brokenness shall be resurrected.

Darkness gives way to light. The divine is in all.

When your own voice is a weapon turned against you, turn again to strands of truth and hold on as you are dragged deeper. When you are cut and crushed with your guts in you hands not knowing what to do look deeper still and give way.
When you are brought down on one knee and ready to submit to the oppression on all sides, step off the edge and into the abyss.

Darkness gives way to light. The divine is in all.

Fear and loathing mixed with shame and sorrow. Torn apart by regret and failure. Disemboweled. Run through. Fallen.
It is here in deepest darkness we embrace our final solice because it is here we look in and then up and in holy vision see our final victory. Ever shining in eternal radiance salvation carries us to our resting place as we hold fast.

Darkness gives way to light. The divine is in all.

Surrender only to glory and you will have never surrendered at all.

Vision

2010-03-12T21:43:00.000-08:00

I was again staying in that place where reason is replaced by determination and determination is assaulted by despair. But despair can not be victorious even in the valley of the shadow of death for one who is actually in the valley of the shadow of life. And thus, by divine power, I was released of the weight that had gathered. The essential self was set free and light shown forth. I walked forth into the light and became one with it.

In divine passion, I saw the divine become real. I saw the light shine on all life. I saw the living water flowing through all things. I saw sacred power brake from all corruption. I saw the divine spark burning in all life. I saw all humanity lost in light. I saw all people found in love. I saw holy fire bringing forth new creation. I saw the sun rising. I saw the redemption of reality progressing.

And I found peace and contentment as I too was lost in light and found in love. I walked out in power and authority and spoke from the depths of eternity and the hights of divinity and said "be free".

Realization

2010-03-12T21:30:00.001-08:00

Pushed to the edge again. When I look over it this time I hold on to strands of reason and faith that have run the course of my life to date. I hook in and shuffle to the edge, then jump on over into the reality that awaits. I come from a place before this and that will be here when this is all gone. A place more real than any corruption, which completes for the right to call itself the truth. In the deepest darkness I am lost in light. In the harshest pain I am found in love. No shadow can compare and no illusion can contain the beauty of the moment in which all is made manifest as all that was before is made new. Here again, perception fades as understanding takes its place. No more sight. Only vision. No more dreams. Only realization. Ultimate power and ultimate humility become the same. From suffering comes love and death gives way to life. Holy fire, divine chaos, lost in light, found in love.

Unrelenting

2010-02-04T17:35:00.000-08:00

On the journey to a far off land, hope and passion go hand in hand with pain and long suffering. When the darkness of that pain and long suffering are transformed by the light of hope and passion into brilliance of joy and courage, you know you are on the right path. Travel on and see how far that path goes. Pain becomes power and suffering is subverted by joy.

In the tension between unrelenting suffering and truly committed endurance, unending love is born. The power to shine in all darkness and to destroy every wall. Like water we flow from her and into all things.

Living water. Unrelenting compassion. True power.

Holy fever, divine chaos, lost in light, found in love

Until all is filled........

And what about those who who fall out, and what about those lost sheep in the darkness? It is not for the well, but the sick that this message of divine light is made flesh. And it is not for some contented golem that this message is made manifest. For into your own pit you will fall, and in your own traps you will be caught. Content in unrealities, you languish, and in your vanities you are destroyed. But divine light knows no darkness and threatens your festering enclave with unrelenting waves of living water.

Holy fever, divine chaos, lost in light, found in love

Light that shines across the universe and consumes the past, present and future. Unrelenting storm of sacred power from the very foundations of your suffering and deepest fears of your oppressors will strike with unrelenting transformation of all you were told you believe, and your deepest depths will resonate..... with sound that can consecrate...you all a new creation. heavenly fire consumes all and shines on a new course, and from now until forever we will burn.

Holy fever, divine chaos, lost in light, found in love

Found in love are all drained of strength, broken hearted, cut down, far away, near at hand. Children in darkness. Slaves of hatred. Sons of shame. Daughters of pain. Long suffering and now lost in light. It is unto these we are come and unto these the saints will be martyred. We spill our blood for such as these and are consumed for such as these. We are torn apart for such as these and left to die for such as these. Nailed to crosses we were for these and burned alive for such as these.

Holy fever, divine chaos, lost in light, found in love

Look to the horizon and you will see. Search in the sky and you will be free. Ever deeper we go, and forever we know.
It is coming closer and closer. And I know you feel it. It's coming nearer and nearer and I know you see it. Darkness fell and now it will be destroyed. look to the horizon. Here it comes. Relentlessly closer and I know I have won.
The Sun, the Sun. It rises. Here it is. THE SUN RISE!

Holy fever, divine chaos, lost in light and found in love

As living water from here and into eternity.

Men of violence

2010-01-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

It is men of violence, and women of violence for that mater who will take hold of the message of the kingdom and spread it forth in all directions. We reject shame and the selfishness that comes of it. We reject ego and self sufficiency also. We stray from the middle path at every turn because we know that balance is not the answer. Instead, we seek the truth. We explore and embrace reality in all its forms and search for the deepest expression of it in all things.

We have role models, but we always strive to be avatars of our own deepest longings and expressions, for it is in these that the truth of the divine is found. It is the divine that we take hold of and emulate. It is holiness that first sought us out and shown with the light of eternal compassion upon our deepest brokenness, transforming our twistedness into a holy prayer and causing us to pore forth the same divine love.

It is this divine love that motivates and moves us because we can no longer be moved by revenge of craving or brokenness. We have been raised to a new place and can never go back. We see with new eyes and can never look away from the beauty of the divine in all things. We will not rest except in the grace of The Master until all things have been restored to their original holiness.

We have been consecrated as high priests and priestesses, warriors and champions, princes and princesses. We walk proudly, but never looking to our selves. We walk strong, but never in our own strength.

We start from here and expand across the Universe. We can run from one end of reality to the other and not faint. We can sleep on a frozen lake for a thousand years and not freeze. We can bite and hold until we die. But we will never die.

When our current form passes, we will remain on the verge of true immortality. We build no monuments except our songs of worship. We leave no legacy except our true love. We run the race and finish the fight. We are more than survivors. We are kings and queens.

As the light of the divine shines upon us, we are transfigured into our true forms and we too shine with the brilliance of 10,000 suns. The hosts of the heavens array themselves in parade lines on either side as we walk our triumph and beet their shields as the give the resounding battle cry. We command 100,000 legions in service to our Emperor.
The nations would bow before us if they did not see the glory of eternity behind us. The Emperor of reality stands in our presence and we fall as we say our holy holy hollies.

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY,

IS THE GLORY OF ETERNITY

But the sun is not God. It is only a representation, as we are only images of the divine. The light shines in the darkness, but the light is not God. Only God is God.

It is unto this we look and unto this we return. Unto this we pray and unto this we give all adoration. And as the the thunder causes all the cymbals to ring, so we resound with songs of victory.

And as we shine in glory, so the all around us are illuminated.

Divine love lives in us and we are its Prophet.

There is no God, but God and He gave himself away to us.
So we take hold with all the violence we have and fight with all our power, and take our rightful places in the kingdom of divine light.

Darkness and light will become one and all that is broken will be made new and the redemption of all eternity will expand forth until all of time is as it should be.

Violence

2010-01-07T20:33:00.000-08:00

For most, violence is a thing to fear and avoid. For a few, it is glorified and exalted as a rite of passage. For others, it is a thing of hatred and scorn. At the same time such individuals violently appose violence and don't seem to realize the joke is on them. For nearly all though, those who partake in violence are idealized as heroes because the do what others can not do. They stand against fear of pain and lose and enter battle wholeheartedly. This is why we idealize mixed martial artist, soldiers, police officers, action stars, etc. They go where others cannot and do what most fear. But, why is this? Why does conflict so enchant us? Why is the warier so highly regarded even in the modern age?

One could point to the central role the warier has played throughout human history. In the earliest societies, everyone was engaged at one point or another in violence to protect the family, clan and tribe. As the division of labor was established with ever larger and more complex societies, a distinct warier class began to develop. It was the responsibility of this group to insure the safety of the society and that safety was often challenged. Latter as societies became ever larger and more divers, the role of the warier class was directed in many cases towards expanding and enriching the state. The age of empire was born and violence for violence's own sake was also born, or so it would seam. Gladiators, death matches, duels, cage fights. All of these may appear to be nothing more than brutal entertainment. Indeed, in part they are. However, these are also ways of returning to and tapping into the older tradition of the warier in single combat. A trait that had been lost as warfare became, not clan against clan, but standing army against standing army. The prevalence of such traditions throughout the world suggests at something more than a limited phenomena. Rather it appear that it is the innate human need to live whether vicariously or directly, the path of the hero into violence and conflict.

We would do well to recognize this and attempt to understand it. The gods of war live on today and threaten to tear us apart if they are not given their proper due. Rather than repress and fear our violent instinct, they must be recognized and honored. We are a predatory species To hunt and to fight remains ever a deep drive for us all. All that differs is the expression of it. The rise of full humanity will require nothing less than acceptance and embrace of this nature and its harnessing to whatever good and productive end it can be put to.

Firts steps in solving a problem

2010-01-06T02:33:00.000-08:00

As has been explained, human trafficking functions in the same way as any other elicit product supply chain. To go beyond base line efforts at confronting the problem with by arresting the perpetrators and rescuing the victims, as important as this is, the beginning links in the chain must be addressed. As explained in the preceding story, these links go back to the hometowns and villages of people at risk of enslavement. However, this is not where they begin. They begin with the officials taking bribes to look the other way when brothels continue to illegally operate. They begin with the cost benefits analysis sheets that demonstrate it is more profitable to continue to ignore forced labor in the supply chains of everyday necessities than it is to do the ethical thing and intervene. They begin with bad economic policies that do not properly protect at risk populations. However, if evil really does exist because good people do nothing then this is not the true starting point. These chains begin in the government offices responsible for resource management and with the officials tasked with formulating plans for confronting poverty. They begin with local police officers too afraid to report how their superiors are taking bribes. They begin with people too compassion fatigued to move away from the assumption that the problems of the world are too large to really confront, and towards logical steps to begin that confrontation.
This is where the story really begins with those willing to take the first steps needed, not just to save the oppressed, but also to keep them from being oppressed in the first place. But what does this look like? What does it mean to stand up and confront such evil? Indeed it can take many forms. The falling story is a true account of one such form.

I was traveling in Thailand for much of 2008 trying to remain occupied until returning to the US to continue my education. With no concrete plan in mind other than to do what I could to help hill tribe minorities and survivors of the Burmese civil war, I traveled around the north of the country for quite some time becoming accounted with various ethnic groups in the region. On a visit to a Lahu village, I happened to meet a man how was taking care of a number of Burmese orphans. He was trustworthy as far as I could tell and was not asking for money, but rather for help in facilitation opportunities to make what he was doing, saving refugee children, sustainable. I jumped at the opportunity to do what I could and contacted my connections in the US as soon as possible. I found a lot of interest in the possibility and began to plan with my new friend how to set up a sustainable home, making us of social business models for the children in his care. The plans continued to grow and new possibilities continued to open. However, a critical element of protecting these children needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. This was their citizenship status. There are several levels of citizenship in Thailand, and being on the lower levels can be very limiting as it makes one more susceptible to not being protected by law enforcement and being forced into disadvantageous economic situations. These children had no status.

In order to begin confronting this issue, he proposed to move them to a district in which he was friends with a caring official who would do what he could to get citizenship papers for them. This cost much and put us in debt however, it was the only way open.
In Thailand, dealing with local government can be somewhat interesting to someone raised with western notions of respect for the written law and adherence to standards of due process. In the US, getting the government to do something can take months if not years. The bureaucratic maze must be respected. In Thailand knowing the rite people and getting on their good side can get citizenship papers over night.

I got invited to a gathering of the local officials to do just that. As mentioned, getting on an official’s good side can open a world of possibilities. At this gathering, getting on one’s good side consisted primarily of accepting as many drinks as possible in order to demonstrate gratitude and open the door for greater honesty. This is exactly what happened.

In a haze all the next day, I continued to wonder why I had so taxed my liver in the name of cultural recognition. That was until I was told that the officials decided to grant citizenship papers to all the children. I felt victorious in as my head continued to spin.

Perhaps it could have happened some other way, but in this way my caring friend, the ethical official who invited us and the sacrifice of my liver all contributed to securing the protection of several at risk children.
What remained to be dealt with was securing their economic protection and that of their brothers and sisters still at risk. How is they supply chain broken on the supply side?

Stay tuned for next time as we explore strategies for full spectrum human security.

Introduction to human trafficking

2010-01-06T02:32:00.000-08:00

Much of the time, policy makers and activists put a lot of focus on getting people out of slavery. Considering the number of people who are in slavery, which again is conservatively put at 27 million and is likely quite higher, this is absolutely critical. However, surprisingly little consideration and focus is given to stopping people from going into slavery in the first place. Thus we will consider the supply side. But instead of talking about this in theoretical terms, let me tell you a story.
Consider Dara. Dara is from a tribal group called the Akha. She and her people live in the mountains of Burma. They have always been marginalized by the dominant lowland civilizations because they are thought of as primitive and backwards. Likewise, most of them can’t speak the national language of the country that has drawn borders around them. This makes education and employment difficult, but it has never really been a problem for them because they have always been able to grow enough food to stay alive. Until now. There is a war in Burma and many Akha are moving to Thailand to avoid being used as human minesweepers. Dara and her family are among them. They live in a small village with no running water or electricity and don’t seem to be able to get enough food anymore. This is because the Thai government frowns on their slash and burn agriculture because it is destroying the rainforest. So Dara’s family resorted to growing and selling opium.

This went well for a while until the Thai government cracked down on opium growing. To their credit, they tried to introduce new cash crops like coffee and fruit trees, but these have a slow turnaround and those in the village need money to buy food now. They scrimp and save and do the best they can. But then Dara’s father died in a traffic accident while trying to transport some of the coffee they grow to market. In addition to growing coffee he also worked seasonally on construction sights in the city, when it wasn’t planting or harvest time. This brought in some extra cash for the family–enough to send Dara to school a few days a week. Since her father died this is no longer possible. Getting enough money for food is no longer possible either.
Things become really complicated when Dara’s little sister contracts a major infection from bad drinking water. Mother borrows what money she can to pay for the medicine. Little sister is safe for now. But the family is in serious debt, with not much hope. Mother does what is normal in the tribe and remarries with the hope that a new man will be able to bring in more income. Unfortunately, the man she marries already has a plan for getting more income. “That girl of yours is getting old enough. It’s time to put her to work in the Karaoke bars down in the city”, he says.

All the older people know what working in the karaoke bars means and everyone expects Dara to do it. After all, it is her duty to do whatever she has to do to support the family. It is every daughter’s obligation to do whatever she can when she is old enough. At 11, she is old enough. The next time the recruiter comes to the village, Dara is handed off to her. She doesn’t know what awaits her in the big city. She also doesn’t know she will never see her family again. After being “broken in” in the city, she is sent to Bangkok for a while and is then sold to a criminal organization that exports her. She ends up in Japan servicing those with a taste for “fresh meat”. She passes away not long after, beaten to death as an “example” to the other children.
This doesn’t need to happen. It wouldn’t have happened if the new stepfather actually cared about her. But it also wouldn’t have happened if the family hadn’t gone into debt paying for medicine to cure water born disease that would not exist if the village had running water. It wouldn’t have happened if her father didn’t have to travel on unsafe roads to get his produce to market. It wouldn’t have happened if there were better agricultural practices in place to provide enough food in the first place. It wouldn’t have happened if education were available to her village so people could learn the national language and get better paying jobs if they wanted. It wouldn’t have happened if there actually were alternative jobs to extremely low wage manual labor or prostitution. It wouldn’t have happened if villagers could have a safe place to bank what little money they have and to get low interest loans in order to start new enterprises. It wouldn’t have happened if the “recruiter” had been restricted from so easily going from place to place. It wouldn’t have happened if her family hadn’t moved from Burma. That wouldn’t have happened if the war were brought to an end in the first place.

This story plays itself out every day in various ways, in millions of lives, all over the world. It will continue to do so until all these the factors contributing to end “product” are dealt with. Stay tuned as we examine how to remedy these contributing factors.

2010-01-02T22:06:00.000-08:00

On the brink of a new decade. Behind us is ten years of fear and loathing, shame and scandal, war and terror. But these things happen all the time. The only thing that really changed was the level of involvement on the part of America in global conflict and crisis, as well as confronting domestic issues of greed and corruption. In that way it was a time of new beginnings. Polluted with short comings of course, but none the less real steps towards responsibility.

With regard to the decade to come, these beginnings have several possible trajectories. On the one hand, these new steps could lead nowhere. Constant military involvement in in the Middle East and ongoing mindless corruption at home may just continue in a holding pattern. On the other hand, fatigue from the fighting, or more accurately fear and close mindedness, and a lack of willingness to take responsibility could bring us to a tipping point of a shift inwards. We could become self absorbed and try to forget our sins. However, regardless of what seams likely, the question not of what is, but of what can and should be must be asked.

To continue as is in the Middles East would be foolish and counter productive. To allow the corruption that lead to the collapse to continue would be equally so. But to rage against the wars and demand sudden withdrawal would be heartless and irresponsible. Instead we must end put an end to passivity and complacency if it be in allowing things to remain as they are or in going with the crowd in demanding immediate withdrawal. We must take responsibility for our actions. More over we must take responsibility for our abilities. Corrections to the path of travel, which will direct this ship to highest way will not be made if good men and women do nothing.

It is time to act on the full spectrum of possibilities to bring forth the final objective of ultimate victory.

It is time to challenge ignorance and fear and take the steps needed to wine lasting positive peace.

A start

2010-01-01T20:48:00.000-08:00

The sun rises over the hill of the skull.

The blood sinks into the darkness of the earth.

It is the place where heaven and earth became the same.

Transformation of all reality expands in all direction

Even the past is transformed.

The sacred flame of the divine consumes all darkness. The holy fire burns in all shadows. The light reveals all truth and that which is bent is forged strait.

To the redemption of all reality is added the genesis of new life.

That which can not be contained and does not stop. In all directions redemption expands.

Sinners are sainted. Sick become phisitions. The weak become champions. True nature is revealed and extremes are reached and passed, as the divine wind passes on by.

Divine wind blow on by. Take my as you fly. Divine light shine on me. Holy fire consume me as I am lost in eternity.

The sun rises on skull hill and shines on love.

New beginnings to new reality

2009-12-31T18:58:00.001-08:00

As 2009 was a year of new beginnings so let 2010 be a year of new realities. Pushed to the braking point in every way and still not bent. Down on one knee and still not bowing. Completely drained and still not finished. Such was my reality at the mid point of 2009. After that the divine came in force and carried me to a new place completely. Power beyond what was possible. Strength beyond ever giving in. Love beyond failing. It was a new beginning in a new world. From the desert to the river of life.

Now that river flows to the sea. I embrace the new reality and sink into the depths. I am lost in a cloud of unknowing as I am enveloped in the light divine love.

All that has gone before is lost in freedom. New beginnings transform into new reality. The seed becomes the great tree. The river flows into the sea.

My prayer for you

2009-12-02T21:46:00.001-08:00

Nothing is impossible. This too will pass. You will get through it. Even in the deepest part of the valley of the shadow of death, the storm passes and pools of blessing remain. The race only gets harder the closer to the finish you get. I pray that you find those pools of blessing. I pray that you find the power to win every race.
I have come to see that all the hardship in my life has only prepared me to be stronger now than ever before. I pray you learn the same. Only through suffering can truly great things be accomplished. There is no way around it. I pray that you learn to embrace it. I pray that your suffering becomes meaningful to you because it is already meaningful to God. He lives in you and knows all your pain. It is not wasted. It is not wrong. Jesus cried out too. Read the psalms and you will see nothing but crying out. Feel free to do the same. It's not wrong to complain to God. He is the only one you should complain to. In fact it is only right. He is the only one who can understand. He is the only one who will love you for it all the more.
You are not weak and you are not a failure. I can say it all I want and I will say it as much as I can, but I pray that it becomes real for you. You are not judged by God, so don't judge yourself. Embrace the freedom that he brings. Freedom even to be depressed. In your depression, fall into his embrace. Accept that love and surrender. This too will pass. You will see freedom and love at the end like you never knew before. let it come to you. let God show you how much he really cares. If anyone ever says otherwise forgive them because they don't know what they are talking about.
Let go of all the things that are in your way. Feel free to cut away and give up from your life things that are not you. It's not weakness. It's God showing you who you are. Let all things become new. The sun rises and the darkness is no mo more. God's love shines and your darkness will be no more.

Friends

2009-10-16T00:30:00.000-07:00

Even in the valley of total darkness, after the storm passes, pools of mercy remain. Shining into the deepest places, divine love brings redemption. Divine love shine on me.

I must say that it has shined on me quite a lot. And for that I am truly. What I find my self being thankful for more than anything though is the current realization of just how much it is time to move beyond just basking in divine love, but to more and more let that divine love shine through me. Fortunately, I have many people who I truly. However, I find my self more and more wondering how I can love them even more. I find that in my slightly more than empathic state, I am well versed in understanding the pain and suffering they go through. However, the step between knowing and doing remains unmade far more than I am pleased to admit. Thus I suffer. But I do not go down into darkness anymore.

Instead, I look to those pools of mercy and constantly call to all the world, but most especially those who I have been given in the world, to join me as I dive in and lose myself once again.

Equilibrium

2009-10-05T16:34:00.000-07:00

In pushing harder and going farther, I have encountered my common tendency to go just a little too hard at times. This time it was sleep deprivation. I was in fact seeing things at the end of last week. Still though, I went to work and did school and all that, but I felt more and more like a machine with less emotions than usual. I am comfortable with that state of mind, but having been exposed to other realities of freedom and joy, it just didn't cut it anymore. I had to get out.

Sleep was the only option. Now, this has been a complicated subject for me before as I have some level of disorder when it comes to sleep. Insomnia runs in the family. But more than anything, it was legalism. From reading all my other work, you will know that I profess a spirituality of freedom and grace and shun legalism whenever it raises its ugly and ultimately dejected and sorry head. However, making the link between what I believe and every aspect of my life is a work in progress. You will also know from reading my work that I believe our spirituality informs every aspect of our lives without us even knowing it at times. This makes it all the more apparently strange that I would be so effected by legalism in this aspect, but I just am obsessed with self denial in many ways.

I think this is problematic in the long run. When it came to my sleeping patterns, I did brake down and force my self to rest. It was good. Afterwards, I felt fully ready to go at it full force. And so I am now. This realization though that accepting and embracing every aspect of ourselves, including our weakness as biological beings is truly needed is what I am still coming to grips with though. I don't want to be weak. I don't want to have limitations. I want to do anything and everything. But then, I there is loss of sight of the binary relationship between my and the divine and I fall back on mere humanism. It is written that in our weakness, his strength is made perfect. Even though I have seen this many times, it is a lesson I continue to learn.

For now, I begin to embrace weakness and find my strength in the process of rest and renewal. Maybe this will lead to new realizations and greater freedom. It must, as it is a brake from slavery to legalism. May the divine inform and transform this too.

I find equilibrium in dependence on that greater power.

Moving along

2009-09-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

Going through the days, I begin to wonder why I can't wait to get through this day and start the next one. I come to realize that each day takes me closer to the ultimate end of my days, which, admittedly, is probably a long way off. However, it raises the question for me of how best to approach each and every day considering the number is finite. If you know anything about me and you can if you read what I write, you know I don't believe they day of our physical death is the end of our existence, for I fully accept the reality of no end to who and what we essentially are.

The fact is, I'm never really going to end. I know this because I have seen it. I don't really blame anyone who disagrees as long as they have not seen the same. If they have, they are deluded, or deceived, or astoundingly foolish. When the divine speaks to and even through you and you have been taken to Heaven itself, it is a little hard to ignore, and so I don't.

Still though, we are here and it is meaningful and we aren't going anywhere anytime soon for the most part. Thus what do we do? Waiting to get through it is no longer an option for me and loathing the days as they go by, taking each one as an assignment to fulfil, from which rest can not be had until it is finished. That's slavery. I am no slave. Thus I recommit my self to fully accepting and embracing the reality I find myself in for every moment I find myself in it. Why not? The divine does the same.

In freedom we go forth to live out all there is to live and do all there is to do.

No where to hide

2009-09-29T12:18:00.001-07:00

The more you know, the more you don't know the wise say. That is, until the divine metamorphosis really takes hold. Then you begin to realize that there is quite a lot you don't know that you know. As you become more aware of new realities, and your consciousness expands out to include more than you could have ever imagined, you come to having to make some serious choices. Even within these choices though, the transformation keeps going on. Such is the case when the Master of such a transformation controls the beginning and the end and fully involves it self in the middle, such that there is never possibly any chance of getting away from it. This gets a lot more complicated when you realize, and you would have had to to ever get to this point, that the divine personality is love it self and will do nothing less that accept all things and involve itself in all things and transform all things. Some would say this limits free will. If it does, divinity is no more free, for it is restricted by the limits of its own personality, which is that divine love that can not help but be expressed. Thus with this understanding, there is not much that can be done. It can be accepted in the short term or accepted later. No level of resistance can hold it off forever. It controls the beginning and the end remember. If one keeps resisting it, paralysis of ultimate knowledge combined with despair at being surrounded by utterly consuming divine love will set in. This is hell. It doesn't last forever. It can't. No one can resist forever. In the end, the only thing that can be done is to embrace that divine love and lose yourself in it. Then you really know. Then you really become your true self. Then you are truly free.

Seeing possibilities

2009-09-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

In this time of economic turmoil, a lot of us think towards what sort of job prospects there are after graduation. Most seem to take a pessimistic view toward this, thinking in terms of what normal career paths are getting harder and harder to enter. This is understandable. However, I always wonder why, gifted as we are with such opportunity and potential, we don’t stop thinking in terms of working for others and start instead to make our own careers in service to what we truly care about. For those who truly care about changing the world, the problems of hunger, poverty, disease, war, economic turbulence and human trafficking call for those willing to find opportunity in the brokenness of the world and bring transforming solutions.

A man who did see this opportunity was Muhammad Yunus, when in 1976, he founded the Grameen Bank in response to the crushing levels of poverty he saw in rural Bangladesh. This was the first serious and large scale attempt to reduce poverty through what has come to be known as social business. Unlike for-profit enterprises, social businesses reinvest all profits in expanding the business it self, rather than distributing them to the shareholders. There can, however be some diversity to this, as some such organizations do focus to some extent on making profits. The common factor is the shared focus on deriving maximum social benefit rather than maximum profits. This model has proved very successful. The Grameen Bank is now one of the leading companies in Bangladesh and has expanded its model to several other countries, including the US. It is also credited with being one of the main agents in reducing poverty in Bangladesh. This success, as well as that of many other such organizations throughout the world demonstrates that there are truly viable and sustainable economic solutions beyond charity to many of the problems we see around us today. We find these solutions when we take advantage of our God given skills and creativity and look for opportunities rather than problems.

This is exactly what I was led to do while in Thailand in the fall of 2008. I had become involved with a former Burmese refugee named Chala Chakeh. Having no money, but having what he describes as a divine call, he took in and is caring for 30 Burmese orphans. Seeing their difficult material situation and knowing that fundraising would be difficult because we were not affiliated with any organization, I looked for possible strengths. It turned out they all knew how to grow vegetables and raise pigs and chickens, as well as work rice fields. I considered the gains, which could be made from selling the surplus of these products, and found that, not only could the orphanage feed it self, it could turn a profit and pay for better education for the children. The only thing lacking was initial investment, which was and is in the process of being accumulated. We still do fundraising, but the house is slowly gaining full self-sufficiency. Even the fundraising we do helps make new connections and open new possibilities through new people and organizations. All it took was to see the opportunity and move. This is the critical thing.

So much we only see the suffering and evil and fail to realize that the bad things in the world really aren’t too big to confront. There truly are long lasting solutions. To reach them, we must let the divine transform our perspective from one of limitation to one of possibility. Only then can we go out and take dominion.

Honesty

2009-09-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

In my relentless drive for more and more and greater and greater power and ability, I have come far. Mostly though, I have become more aware of how far I have to go. Is there actually ever a final destination? I think not anymore. But we can always be better. We can always advance. We can always be more. I actually believed this you know. Finally though, my pride was broken. Burning at both ends, I burnt out. I crashed. I got to a level place and could not go higher. This expressed itself in many ways. In the physical arena, I have been accumulating injuries that have caused me to have to slow down. In the mental arena, I have been getting more and more depleted as a result of constant overdrive. Fortunately and thankfully, none of these things is more or less than it must be to remind me of what is important, namely, my true identity and source of power, which is as a child of the divine just as surely as you are. From this source of unshakable power I make my recovery and go back out to embrace being truly human in all things.

Modern slavery

2009-09-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

If you don't already know, there are an estimated 27 million slaves in the world today. This does not refer to low wage workers or people in sweatshops. This refers to people who are physically possessed by others. This is also a conservative estimate. It is probably closer to 50 million. While most of the slaves in the world today are debt bonded laborers in the Indian sub-Continent, there are an unknown, but definitely large number of sex slaves and domestic slaves in the western world. Don't think the US gets of free either. 10s of thousands of slaves come across both the southern and northern border, as well as through airport customs and major ports every year. An estimated one forth of all of them come through San Diego alone. Other major ports of entry are New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and all along the Texas/Mexico border. Suffice it to say, this is a big issue.

Naturally it is illegal everywhere. The wording of the law from place to place differs. Having a concrete definition across the board would help. So would having good law enforcement, as in it doesn't actually benefit from it, as is the case in many places, including the US.

The real issue that has to be dealt with however, goes directly to the root of the problem. This is the actual motivation to sell someone into slavery in the first place. After all, the vast majority of the slaves in the world were sold, or soled themselves to pay off debts. A lot of times it is families selling a child in order to eat. When it comes rite down to it, it tends, as it has throughout history to be a solution to immediate economic need. Thus finding another way or eliminating the need all together is the ultimate answer we must focus on in conjunction with the mid-level goals of better enforcement and direct intervention.

What needs to happen is for the core of injustice that continues to deny people food, even though the world over produces by 10% to the eliminated. What needs to happen is a serious effort to make things we take for granted, like clean water, medical care and even affordable transportation available to those who have no such access. We already all know this. We already all want to change the world. We also already know it is a lot easier said than done. The cynical tendencies this has nurtured in so many has closed off the imaginations that may actually devise solutions to such problems. If we think in terms of the problems of the world being too big for me, so I will accept selfishness and ignore them, then we deny any possibility of being able to contribute, if only a small amount to developing the needed solutions. We will never know if we could have invented the cheep water purification system that will eliminate all water born illness in the world. We will never know if we could have been the tipping point in the campaign to pass needed laws to support harsher punishment of companies that employ forced labor in their supply chains. We will never know if we could develop a drug that is tasteless, colorless, and completely harmless that perfectly mimics the effects of heroin and crack-cocaine and is dirt cheap, thus eliminating the drug trade and all the issues of oppression relating to it over night. We will never know if we really can't solve the worlds problems if we keep assuming we can't. By assuming we can't, we sell our self into a mental slavery, which will support and encourage the physical slavery. If, however, we accept responsibility for being at least a little able to do at least something, we emancipate our minds and create a environment in which full physical emancipation becomes possible.

Therefore, step out and take charge. Make useful that which is useless. Embrace freedom and advance it in every aspect of your life. What else is there to do? Work, get rich and live a safe and thus boring life? Maybe for some, but not for me and I think not for you either if you are still with me. So keep going with me and let us be the change we want to see in this world. Let the light shine. Trust me, the darkness will not overcome it.

Passing

2009-09-23T14:41:00.000-07:00

Did you know we are not, nor is any part of us in the physical sense, permanent? Not even the atoms that make us up appear to have always been in there present state. And naturally all the elements that make us up have been circulating in the universe for quite some time. Additionally, the very form we take now, and the forms of all other organisms for that matter, appear to not be fixed at all on the long scale. Looking at things from the long term and disaggregated from the notion of individuality of any life form separate from the rest, the vast and complex, process of evolution, transformation, reorganization, and metamorphosis that effects all things, living and inanimate, casts all things in the light of not really being singular and essential.

Taking things from the long view, every object is an event. Mountains are geological events. Stars are astronomical events. Humans are biological events. All these events are non-static and connected from one to the next. All are processes. All are passing.

In this light, unless one really takes the punishment and reward model of divinity seriously, which is ridiculous, as it is completely inconsistent with a G-d who claims to be love and demonstrates to, in fact, be so, time and time again, all the reference points of supposed permanence in our existence fall away. From such a perspective, things really don't matter.

Thus, lost as we are in vastness, let us lose our selves more completely in the freedom that comes from such understanding. Let us take as our only guide in all things that which does not change above all else, an this is the divine personality it self. May it shine ever more through us.

Light of the world

2009-09-22T18:00:00.001-07:00

Today, I was challenged. Challenged to reassess what is actually meaningful. Challenged, not just to talk and write about life and light and transformation, but to fully actualize it. It may have been the best thing all week.

Walking down the street, I am confronted by a homeless woman, not asking for spare change, not asking for someone to give her a helping hand, but something much simpler and more direct. All she asked was that I pay attention. So I did. Not knowing at first what was going on, but then realizing that I was being asked by her and G-d himself at the same time to be the light of the world and shine in a little bit of the darkness.

All she said was how she lived in the park and had no friends and had been abused and wanted to move in with someone, but no one would allow it until she could pay and how she gets hope from seeing young people around and how she is so happy to see so much possibility and how she can't keep going on like this.

"What's your name?", she asked. "Way", I said. "Can I pray for you?", I asked. Didn't even have to do the whole silver and gold have I none bit. Humbling. She didn't even have to answer. So I prayed and prayed. The words don't matter much, only that The Divine Personality wanted to come through and shine rite then and there. And so it did. Arms outstretched like the Christ on the cross him self, we embraced before the whole world and the world had no idea. How could it? It is more interested in complaining about this or that midterm or about who dumped who, and how so and so is so self centered, and if any of you are thinking the same thing as you read this, you don't deserve such consideration on my part as to have written this for you. OK, so I am being harsh. I can because I don't care. So shove it!

Anyway, divine love needed to be expressed. It needed a host. It needed to shine. Right place, right time I guess. Thanks is all I can really give. Thanks to be a part of the kingdom then and there. Thanks to be carried by that holy wind into the cave of suffering and blow out the dust a little. Life and light and freedom. Freedom to live. Living to shine that light. This is our rite and more than than, it is who we are. So shine in the darkness. Make that love known. This is what we do.

Unkowing

2009-09-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Looking out on the world I see quite a few things. Not as much as I want to, but more than I did. And always more than before. The constant trend upward can not be ignored. But in this place, I begin to be forced to accept more and more that bridges have been burned and I can't go back to what I was before no matter how much I may want to. I don't want to go back, but there is a little grief at times.

Then again I am optimistic for what is ahead and over the new horizon, if there even is one anymore. The river flows and is coming closer to the sea where we will lose our selves and find ourselves in divine light as is our true form.

What about the clouded vision we suffer from now though? Some times I think that we see things and know things as less than they are. And we do. But is this wrong in any way? In my more doctrinal days, I would have had a problem with this. Now though, as I actually embrace love more and more, the cloud of unknowing becomes a comfortable home, in which the only guide is faith in the divine personality.

Strangely, it is in this place and from the freedom we have here that our greatest creative expressions are possible, as we touch the heart of eternity it self.

And so I look out over the world and and take heart knowing I know more than I did, but always learning to embrace the learning it self, as I am lost in unknowing faith, leading to eternal truth.

A core concept

2009-09-19T19:35:00.000-07:00

Christianity is not magic. This really has to be emphasised. Christianity is NOT magic. By magic I mean the mechanistic, scheming and ultimately dependent approach to paying spiritual and supernatural powers to do what you want.

At first glance, one would not think of Christianity and shamanism as having that much in common. In one you are smoking ganja and climbing mystical ladders, among other things, in your pursuits and manipulations on the spirit world. In the other you are living a good life, getting baptized, staying clean and passing judgments of being "unbiblical" on certain actions. But what do these two approaches have in common? They are both fully allowing the individual to be subverted by the system and consumed, to varying degrees, in service to it.

Granted, the Christian practice of systematically approaching the divine and fallowing all the right formulas to get it to do what the believer wants, "I can't live in sin or I will be punished. We just have to live good lives. We can't do that. It's unbiblical.", is not really quite as bad as child sacrifice to insure good harvests, but the underlying practice looks quite disturbingly the same.

Again I say it is not magic! It is time to start taking what Paul said, "all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial" seriously. However, lets focus on the first part and not be afraid for once. Let us fearlessly accept the fact that nothing is out of bounds. Nothing is off limits. All thing truly are permissible. ALL things. It matters not how bad they are. Works are not EVER the basis for salvation. Accepting this as fact and relentlessly embracing the true scope of what we are allowed to do, let us now embrace the fact that we are not going to lose our minds in orgies of evil with this knowledge. This is because, even with the whole world open to us, all we truly want to do at our deepest core is influenced by the divine personality we accepted when we first believed. It is unto such that our life and actions are conformed and through such that our actions can be expanded into all the dark cracks and shining expanses of reality when we fully embrace that all things are permissible and that the only guiding force is the personality of God, which is fully contextual to the setting in which it wishes to express perfect love.

Embracing this, who knows where we will go and what we will do? Through our freedom the light shines to all and in the way it must to reach them as they are, for G-d is merciful enough to meet people as they are. Why else would he have become human in the first place?

New places

2009-09-19T19:14:00.000-07:00

Relentlessly, at times, stuck in a rut of hard-ass discipline, I find that doing everything it takes to responsibly keep doing better at everything I wish to excel at can get a little boring. In the past, I would have been consumed with something a little like guilt though at doing exactly what it would take to get out of that stagnation and into something like a different level. This was a real problem for some time. I just have not been able to do what it takes to step back and relax when it is time to relax and make room for new growth.

Thankfully, just like everything else that is influenced by the metamorphosis brought on by the Spirit, this too can change. And it has changed. The Master, knowing exactly what the best course of action is in such situations, leads me to a new locations out side of the normal environment. Last night, I spent all my time in a relentless pub crawl, not getting too drunk, but getting as close to the working of the spirit in such conditions as led. And I was led. I loved it and in my love, I let go of the old patterns.

The next day, having nothing to do, but wonder, I did just that and was yet again reminded of the central importance of wonder in the life of one who is undergoing such transformation. Why would we not wonder? G-d him self is in wounder at what he has created and what it is becoming. How can be I be anything less if I allow my eyes to be truly opened? So I do, and in so doing, allow my self to be transported to yet another new place in which I wonder yet again at that divine love that shines in all darkness.

Spiritual Transformation

2009-09-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

To understand the Christian perspective of spiritual transformation, it is critical to understand that such transformation is what the Christian path is all about. From the earliest times of Christianity, the goal of Christian practice, as well as the expected effects of accepting the path, have been transformations of the spiritual life that extend to every aspect of the individual and the community.

However, this goes beyond normal notions of transformation as a process focused on, and effected by the individual. In Christian understanding, the agent of transformative power is outside of the self, with its own personality and directives. We refer to this being as the Holy Spirit and understand it as the essence and power of God.

As stated, we believe this being to be possessed of its own will and directive, which are one and the same as those of God, for this being is God. To understand its goals, we must understand the personality of God. Many things can be said about this. However, the words of Paul are sufficient to artfully capture the core of that personality from which all else flows. God is love, love that does not fail, and does not keep records of wrongs, and perfect love that casts out all fear.

As the spirit of God is the agent of communicating this reality to us, it reveals to us the divine personality. In conjunction, the transformation it accomplishes in us happens when we allow it to enter our existence. When the spirit is received, not only is this divine nature of love exposed to the individual, the Spirit begins to act on the individual to transform behavior and even personality. It is the objective of the Spirit to reshape and resurrect every aspect of the human person. Those who have accepted this gift know of such effects. Love, patience, kindness, peace, joy, power. All these things are gifts developed through the metamorphosis that is begun when we accept the divine power and allow it to work its spiritual transformation in us.

Passing on

2009-09-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

As my recent writing suggests, I have been rather happy with the progression of events and have wanted to share this with others, as well as what I see as the underlying causes. These of course all revolve around acceptance of divine love and allowing for the transformation The Master will effect. It isn't all easy though.

Over the last few days, I have tended towards a rather lethargic mood. I have been accomplishing the same amount of work day to day, if not more. However, this mental state has remained. Upon further analysis of events, I think it is mostly cause by too much caffeine, leading to serotonin over drive along with spending too much time by me self, which has let me turn my spiritual gaze just a little bit too much inward. Such mistakes will be dealt with, but in this state, I have been lead to think on the nature and causes of unhappiness and other complicating factors to my condition.

I am finding my self realizing that many of my thoughts are turning towards feelings of grief. As to why was a bit of a mystery until I fully embraced the fact that I rally have been going through a lot of changes over the last little while. I took an active part in my transformation by asking for more of it. And my prayer was and is being granted. But as new spiritual vistas are opened, the old view of things becomes so dull and small. It forces me deeper into a new world from which I can not go back to the old. I learned and lived a lot in that old world, and can't really go back now. naturally I grieve for the lose. And I accept that, by embracing this grief, I allow it to run its course and pass over me so that only I remain. It will take some time, but I accept it while it lasts. Not for long though. I am dying, or part of me is anyway. As this death takes place, it is then resurrected and integrated into the new paradigm. There is still lose. Again though, I can't dwell on it. All I have really lost is any semblance of being normal.

I look forward and outward. I glimpse what comes next, but trust that when it comes there will be wonder. I pass over what I thought was the horizon and ever more into eternity.

Metamorphosis

2009-09-16T14:36:00.000-07:00

I look at the stream and the flowers releasing clouds of spores to be carried on the wind and fertilize a new generation of their kind and the dragon flies as the search out and couple with mates, producing a new generation of their kind. And all throughout, the stream flows, carrying along those creatures that call it home as they go about their lives. I see these things and the details between these things. My consciousness expands to see the patterns at work here as they flow through all things.

We inhabitants of this place go about our lives, coupling and creating new life. We see the transformations and new variations in that life. We see the work of our hands and evolution at work on it as our skills increase and our ability expands. But an even deeper evolution is at work.

In present time and now, with new eye, backwards in time and most definitely forwards in time, a transformation is in progress. As you would guess, divine love is the motivator for this. And the setting is the world in which we find ourselves. Aggregated reality knows no limit to interconnectedness, and divine love knows no limit to the the level of transformation it wishes to accomplish. Every facet approaches a fuller state as it expands. Backwards and forwards and evermore now and in the now, the Spirit fills, causing all things to awaken.

From the ground in which the seed died, the suffering of all things, and from the thawing the snows of this time, new life, and in states never before seen, comes forth. Through divine love, a metamorphosis takes place.

Manifesto

2009-09-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

Enveloped in joy and embraced by love, I come to realize deeper elements of and beyond the self. In new light of compassion, self fades away and is subverted by the true nature of love and real humanity. It is this state of being truly human I am drown to in the divine flow of deeper compassion. It is this deeper compassion that infuses and motivates the true and divinely transformed human nature and form. And it is form, as well as nature, for our bodies can not be separated from our hearts when our hearts have been made into something beyond the vale of accepted reality. Call it preternatural. Call it supernatural. I call it normal when divine light is allowed into the darkest corners of the self and allowed to do its work. From new eyes and with new hands, I perceive and communicate such love. It is only right. It is only natural. It is only human. So embrace your humanity, for it is a gift. Invite G-d into it and let The Master do with it as he will. It will be better than anything you could have possibly imagined when before you thought you would lose yourself. Sing it forth. Let it be a prayer. let your life be an act of worship. Let the divine language of praise pore forth forth and through every action in reality. Even the bad ones. The Master works all things together for good and will do so with even the worst of things, for it is all just twisted truth. Let the transformation of love do its work as, artfully, it works our greatest evils to our greatest strengths. Such is the will and the mandate of the Divine. So let it in and let it go. Let it be what it is and make you more fully into what you are. We work for inclusion. We work for expansion out in all directions through that inclusion. We work for redemption in and of all things. We are the empire of true reality. We are the body. We are the divine family. We are your family. So let us go and make useful that which is useless. Let the kingdom come and the will be done. Let all things awaken as the sun rises for eternity.

Sunday

2009-09-14T00:44:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day. I am thankful today for the opportunity to rediscover religion in the corporate context. I say this because I went to church for the first time in months today. It is not because I have not been religious or spiritual. Far from it. I have only grown in my religion and spiritual practice as I explore, experiment with and develop any number of spiritual traditions in my attempt to redeem and retake all that is, at its core, good. But I have neglected to share this development with others and have not sought out the company of others in my search. But today all of that changed. I was lead to the place ordained and can only be thankful for it. Through this experience, my eyes have been opened ever wider and my reality has been ever more expanded. Such is but only one example of the constant development to be expected in suffering and in joy when such divine love is allowed to shine its light into every dark place.

2009-09-12T20:16:00.001-07:00

Carrying on with all the tasks I have given my self, I keep on pushing relentlessly to further develop and expand every aspect of myself. I find all sorts of new doors opening in my reality in the process. Also though, I find that information can become intoxicating. Too much of it and I become drunk and lose my way as I try to make sense of everything. In response to this, I have tended to let my mind go and keep burning at my expense. This would lead to days of not really resting and eventually ended up with my mind getting truly tired, something I did not before hand realize as a possibility. After the fact, I though I would have to cut back and take it all easy for a change. This lead to incredible boredom and could not be kept up for long. Afterwords, I learned that constantly driving myself to greater depth of knowledge and new levels of development was and is simply part of my very personality and must be indulged. When I began to more freely do this after having stepped back, I found it was possible to change my perspective on the whole affair and, through a paradigm shift, increase the pace and level of development tremendously. The shift was to think in terms of all the drive being the same as hunger, which must be satiated. Once I allowed my self to be hungry for more rather than force feeding and cramming more in, my hunger only grew. My ability to consume and digest also became more efficient to the point where I have progressed now and seem fully capable of surpassing in time. All of this came from a fundamental acceptance of my nature and a change to work with it rather than force anything. I now find myself in a flow, which makes things much easier and more natural and, at the same time, allows for far more work to be done.

This acceptance, like all such great leaps I have described and will, comes out of an older and greater acceptance of divine love from which all things become what they are fully made to be.

Possibilities

2009-09-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

When it comes to doing things, it is a common tendency for many to often plan big, but always think in terms of limitations. Understandably, this is coming out of the human tendency to assume scarcity. This assumption becomes problematic when the possibility that scarcity is not found in all things is taken into account. I say possibility because, as of now, we don't, or, at least, I don't know. However, I assume based on experience that some things have no normal limits as we know them.

Love, not in the biological human sense, but in the cosmological divine sense, is one such category I trust has no limits. Interesting theorizing becomes possible based on this.

What if it is from acceptance of this love that transformation away from the normal scarcity model of human perspective is effected? If such a transformation is possible is open to question. All I know is that I can not deny that such a transformation seams to be befalling me at times. Now, based on this transformed perspective, what if human actions start simply ignoring normal assumptions of limitations and and begin to open new paradigms? The possibility of this seams to depend on normal assumptions of limitations being artificially based on the imposed limits of imagination. If this is so, may our imaginations expand so that the true limits of possibility, if any, will be revealed. If there indeed are none, may we continue to expand ever outward in all directions as a function of our acceptance of such divine love.

May we go out and make useful that which is useless. May the Kingdom come.

2009-09-10T22:55:00.000-07:00

Last night, I saw my blessings turn to curses. A devil and his minions came into my room and slithered down the wall. I was not afraid, just sad. Sad for failing when I didn't have to. Sad that things had to happen like this. A little bit apprehensive about knowing all of this is not even close to ending and also slightly curious as to how it will progress. But the shame and the guilt were dominant. I had to rest. I needed a good sleep. I finally got it. But that devil was still there. It couldn't hurt me, but it disturbed me none the less, if for nothing else but that I opened the door for it. Anger at my self. Shame again. I wanted it out! More so, I wanted me out and clean again. I thought only time would cure this. I did not want to wait around for that though. I felt my self dying and after such success. Then the ultimate fall came. I realized I thought I didn't deserve it. The blessings were something I had earned and now I forfeited them. Then the Master came to me and said, "I give this to you because I can. You wrote yourself that you didn't earn this. You already know. Now the question is not if you are going to forgive them. You already have, or more correctly, I have through you. Will you now forgive your self again as I always do"? "But I want this devil out of here", I said. "Don't focus on that. You know it can't hurt you. You know it has no power. You know all these things have no power and that you have grown beyond them regardless of your small and temporary actions. Remember they are just temporary. What I did lasts forever. And what did I tell you about changing the past? I can do that and have!". Now will I take it seriously? "Yes". "Go and sin no more". "OK" All I can do is say yes again. I repented of the witchcraft of trying to manipulate G-d into blessing me again. I forgave my self for the fall. When I awoke, the devil had shrunk. It had no power. I dragged it out and cast it away, then I decided to trust once again. From then on, I saw and see things beginning to change once more. All my curses become blessings. All my pain becomes joy. I am lost away from myself and myself becomes something lost in light. The light shines into the darkness and the darkness is no more again.

Chaos and what we can do

2009-09-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

As per my last post, the constant blessing that I have been going through and then the realization that even my suffering has been blessing has thrown me rather out of control as to where I stand.

Coming to terms with the fact that you have to learn how to have faith as much when everything is going your way as when it isn't gets easier with time, but the realizations that come along with this only make things more complicated and thus interesting. These realizations for me have been linked to doubts as to the nature and staying power of my current condition, as well as out rite malicious attacks from the past, as it tries to exact its pound of flesh from me.

This very morning I was attacked by guilt at my recent lack of ability to handle money. Now of course this is not an issue now, nor was it legitimately back then as my lack of ability with money stemmed from my lack of ability to secure employment, which everyone was dealing with back then anyway. It did not change the fact that it crept up in the waking moments to whisper fool little nothings in my ear. I drove it away with the power that has been given to me and also with simple reasoning. Even if my past mistakes were bad, and they have been distressingly not so, they are past and can not be changed. Regret, however real an emotion is a waste of time. Now all the learning that can come from the past is good, but that is the only benefit from such reflections. Protracted shame is a demonic waste of time.

But where does that leave me now? I can learn from the past, but G-d can change even that to make it good. I don't mean to say that all things are good, just that G-d can and does turn all things to good. One would think that this leads to a happy state of being in which everything is bright and wonderful. Not so. The evil becomes more noticeable. The suffering of others becomes more real. The desire to love becomes stronger. In short, there is a whole new perspective and state of being with its own issues, but the fundamental reference points for so much of human existence, suffering, pain, rewards, death, aren't quite they way they were before. Death has lost its power here and is never coming back to full force.

Once the realization of this sets in, at least for me, up is no longer up and down is no longer down. Things tend to get a little out of control and chaos sets in. Trying to control it only sets me back a little more than I want to be in the world of death. Not all the way mind you. Just enough of my thoughts go back there that it gets uncomfortable. Instead, I find it best to embrace this chaos and go full force with love and power in every way I can. let it seep into every crack. Everything good that can be got away with should be. This is not a normal state of being, and people who experience it should not try to be something they aren't. Namely, normal.

Its in this chaos, that G-d seams to be expanding out in all direction and into all things until his kingdom comes and his will is done, and then he will go further. We are part of this and have the opportunity to do the same.

Taking and giving

2009-09-08T21:26:00.001-07:00

I have been forced to realize of late how much I have been given. At the same time, the realization of just how little I did to get what I have began to set in. Now, it is one thing to learn to trust and accept not being in control when all kinds of bad is going on. It is quite another to do this when it is all good and you have no control over it. That is where I am rite now.

At first, I thought to my self, I am slightly fearful that this will not last, that I will lose all this good, that all that suffering is just around the corner. Then I realized that this was a complete wast of time and a disease in and of itself.

These things don't really work like that. God is not about to drop the other foot. If good is going to happen, it is going to happen. Freedom was embraced and now there is security in that freedom. Even if it was to all fall apart, whatever. It was good while it lasted and it is all dust and shadows in the end. So what next?

All I could really say was, if I really have been given all this and I really did nothing for it and it is here to last, I had better do something to contribute to everyone around me however I can. Freely I have been given to the point of not having to worry. Freely I had better give to justify all this to me self at least. But that is arrogance in its own way. Without love I am nothing.

So how can I love? How can I give? How can I keep the blessing circulating and growing into reality? These are the questions I ask, and I expect interesting answers.

Level up

2009-09-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

Not really knowing when this will stop, I have to ask, where does all this new power come from? As I have written before, it comes from a greater power. Call it G-d if you will. More that you may think there is more than is easily imagined in the Universe. It is not a closes system. There is room an a way to expand ever to new levels.

Here and now

2009-09-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Present time. Here and now.

From time to time we look back and feel bound to the past and our actions. Burdened by our failure and even by our success, we find it difficult to innovate and evolve. We do not realize we can expand. The system is not closed. New development is always possible.

Other times we look forward. Into the future and to all we dream and fantasise about. We make plans based on this. We bind our selves to them and worship them. Again we fail to see ourselves in our entirety. We fail to see our selves here and now. In so doing we sacrifice our humanity.

To look back or forward is not wrong, only to be slave to it is limiting. We may take from these times, but not be bound to them. These times are made for us and not the other way around. These only control us if we allow them to.

In reality we are free. Learn from the past and look forward to the future. Live here and now.

Servant

2009-09-02T21:16:00.000-07:00

I wish to be servant to all and slave to none! Some may think that the world's problems are too big to salve. Even too big to think or care about. I disagree. This comes from a different perspective on things. I want freedom more than security. I find freedom in love and the outcome of this love is action. Actions to serve and help those around me. I wish to give that I may be full. I wish to bring more in that the Great Family will be complete. I wish to see the kingdom here and now.

Doing more to do more

2009-09-01T12:29:00.000-07:00

I decided to take as many classes as I could get away with this semester and to work as much as I could also. I ended up volunteering for quite a few things as well, and lets not forget the parting that is almost mandatory for people like me. When it comes rite down to it, it could be said that I am being extremely fooling because of the amount of work I am subjecting my self to. All I have to say is my detractors know what they are talking about. When I think of the gallons of coffee that will pass through my system and the days of now sleep I will suffer, I cringe. But then I am also faintly curious. I wonder how much I can take. I wonder where my limit is and I am determined to understand it. I also find that the more I do, the better my time management becomes. the more I do, the more I can do. But still I wonder and fear the late night insane blog entries my readers may see. I hope you enjoy. It will be writing under the influence taken to new levels.
I hope everyone is entertained by the part I am about to play in the comedy of life.

Suffering

2009-08-31T17:36:00.001-07:00

This last weekend, I worked 20 hours, partied every night, worked out everyday, and did my homework. Looking back on it and after sleeping in as much as I could get away with this morning, I have to say that, although it was painful at times, it was good. Much of it was suffering. Much of it was fun. I valued both. However, I am coming to value the suffering much more than I have in the past because I am finding that it truly is important.

Everyone suffers. Everyone feels pain. Form the starving orphan in Sudan, to the sex slave in Cambodia to the freshmen at Berkeley during finals week. Some suffer more, but there is no reason to feel sorry for the fact you suffer even if your are privileged. It is inescapable.

Because of its unpleasantness and its universality, there have been many different methods developed to cope with it. Some, perhaps most, try to avoid it. A few think they deserve it and wallow in it. A few more try to redirect it, which is still just trying to avoid it. A few others try to detach themselves from it.

All of these responses are fully understandable. However, I hold that they all fall short of taking into account the full reality of human development. As I said, everyone suffers. The approaches I have described to this fact are all attempts to escape or limit this. Even those who feel it is their lot in life are trying to make it easier by making sense of there situation. But still no one gets out of it. A different approach all together is needed to take into account the fullness of reality. To turn it all on its head, accept it and press into it. Do not run from it and do not think you deserve it. Do not Detach you self from experience to escape it. Doing this is like selling your soul. Do not try to side step it or just role with it and pretend it doesn't matter. It does. Or it can. The experience it self can be redeemed if the person experiencing it is redeemed. This redemption can expand out from this person to encompass all of reality. I will say it again.

Everyone suffers. What makes us different is that our suffering is meaningful. We accept it and in so doing accept humanity. As we are redeemed, so we can transform the experience and further redemption. We bring life into death. We resurrect reality. We transform all negative and positive energy and render it as a prayer to the divine.

By this we accept our true selves and our true places. We bring order to chaos. We make useful that which is useless.

Acknowledge, welcome and surrender all things.

Let your life be your prayer.

Different Angles

2009-08-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday was my first day of class this semester. However, class was not the highlight. No, the highlight had to be going dumpster diving in a pin-stripe pimp suit and tie for a fully legitimate reason. I found that a very large check had been sent to me. Also, because my current accommodations are as they are, mail sometimes gets thrown away. This is exactly what seamed to have happened to this large check. Being the first day of class, I thought it a day to dress extravagantly, thus the suit. I ran outside to the dumpster to retrieve the check, looked over the edge and took the plunge. All I could think of at the time was that this was an incredible event. For a serious reason, I had to go dumpster diving in a good suit. Eventually, I located the check, but I would not help but be equally thankful for the opportunity to perform such an out of the ordinary act. I said a prayer of thanks to G-d for this gift. This along with many other experience, leads me to believe that life is much better lived when all that we go through, both good and bad, are put in their proper context, not as to be controlled or avoided, or striven for , but as opportunities for stories to tell in eternity. Towards all things as attitude of gratitude is possible.

2009-08-28T21:18:00.000-07:00

Getting back to the subject at hand, I have been wondering for long time why people are drawn to think of themselves in limited ways. I believe much of it comes down to the assumption that we exist in a closed system, where there is scarcity and thus a limit to what we can do and thus who we are. I find this to be incorrect from my own experience. As my readers will remember, I talk about something from somewhere else (G-d). By this power, there are more resources than we realize. In fact the system is not closed. Realisation of this leads to a change in perspective. A change in perspective leads to a change in life it self. I encourage any one and everyone to try it.

Some Solutions to Poverty

2009-08-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

To every problem there is a solution. For the problem of poverty, many solutions have been attempted. The answer to these problems have often been non governmental organizations and charities that address a specific goal, such as providing cheep medical care or clean water. Also they often depend on donations. A lot of good comes out of these organizations and they have been responsible for serious positive developments throughout the world. However, these organizations appear to have structural limitations that preclude them from fully addressing the magnitude and diversity of the problem. Being dependent on donations, much time and resources must be spent on raising more funds. Also, the amount of good an organization can do will always be limited by the generosity of others, which, unfortunately fluctuates.

For lasting, continuously increasing gains to be made, the communities that are being helped must become independent and self sustaining. Also, the humanitarian organizations themselves can become independent of outside funding and self sustaining if creative approaches to social business are taken. What is needed is a paradigm shift away from the old fundraising charity model of non-profit organizations toward a more self sufficient social entrepreneurial model. For example, an organization that wanted to provide education about sustainable agriculture could invest in farm land and raise produce to sell for profit that would then be reinvested in more development. All along, the land can be used as laboratory to teach the community about innovative farming techniques as well as providing employment.
Organizations that are built on this model could expand much more readily than organizations that depend on handouts.

There will always be a place for hand outs when there really isn’t any other way of providing the resources for a community to sustain itself. If there were no resources at all there would be nothing for a social business to work with. However, it is desirable for the future of humanitarian operations to be shaped by those who make use of entrepreneurial skills, not for profit, but for, massive, lasting social change.

A Time of Favor

2009-08-26T21:08:00.000-07:00

Death and suffering. Pain and misery. Laughter and joy. Change and transformation. Constant evolution.

I pray that all my suffering is meaningful. My prayers are answered! Be careful what you pray for. it will be answered. I dreamed of forgiveness and found I was not dreaming. I dreamed of suffering and found it would pass. I awake now and see light all around me.

In the final analysis, even the most evil are forgiven. G-d keeps no books. G-d knows what he is doing.

If we know or do not know, it does not matter. Even our ignorance is meaningful. G-d is on the move. Light shines into the deepest darkness. The Master takes on human form and his flesh brakes down the gates of Hell it self. This is always happening.

Look now to all the world around you. It is all a matter of perspective. Change your perspective. Allow it to be transformed to that of the Master. Look and see that all things fallow the divine plan. This plan is painted with dark colors at times, but fear not. The whole is greater than the parts. Much greater. Look and see the light. look and see that Love. Love passes into all things. it expands out in all directions. Fear not I say and be whole!

Times of peace are not forever. Neither or times of suffering. But this is a time of favor! Know, embrace and surrender it. let it be a prayer.

A time for life and love. A time to make useful that which is useless. A time of favor.

Fear not what you see. Look to what is on the horizon and coming fast. The sun is rising.

A time of favor is upon us.

Living in this world, thinking of another.

2009-08-21T19:42:00.000-07:00

Often I find my self thinking, not about a place far away, but about what is all around me, and what it could become, or is, depending on your sense of perspective. I look about and learn to look deeper, farther, into the details, and the things that are rite before us. Then I look back. Far back to the beginning. And then I look forward. Far forward, but not to the end. Who knows when that is? Maybe G-d does. But then maybe he doesn't know.

All I can know is that more is going on than meets most eyes. To him who has eyes to see, see. to him who has ears to hear, hear.

We live here, but we are not from hear. but we are not out of place. No where to go and no where to be. I find my self living in this work and dreaming of another.

2009-08-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

Not by might and not by power, but by my Spirit says the lord. I hear this and often have I thought, what? I found that my initial lack of trust in the sanity of this statement really did come down to that. A lack of trust. Now, trust is not something that I have found I can logic my way into. But at the vary end of my inquiry, I found that my ability to trust did not have that much to do with me after all. It just happened. It just came over me. And it was from outside that this happened. It was something greater and grander than anything I could have easily explained away. Looking back I see that trust is actually a very logical and very intelligent strategy. It is the dominant strategy when you are gone and don't know how to cross the gap. It comes down to letting go and letting your self expand into whatever else there is. But again I say it did not come from me. Perfect love casts out all fear. Perfect love makes it possible for us to trust. This is why it is so important to love, to nurture, to give into others. It makes it possible for them to trust. To become something else. Something more. In so doing, we take part in the process of creation. But really, it is not and never will be about us. Humility paves the way to greatness. Give more freely. Maybe you will get something back, but you WILL be taking part in a creative act of your own. Trust, and watch as you are created a creator.

2009-08-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

Too much time. Too much power. And only a few realize it. To those who do know that this is not a closed system; this is not a linear, one way track to getting rich; this is not the end, there is still conflict. It comes when the question of what direction you really want to go in truly hits. Will you settle for your world, your way, your own control? Or will you allow yourself to surrender, and move towards becoming more fully who you are? They way is narrow and few will pass. But that is not because it takes so much strength to subvert yourself. On the contrary. You must surrender your self--let your self by what it is and welcome that power from outside. Form beyond all else and still in all things. It knows what it wants. It knows what it is doing. It has a plan. Or maybe it doesn't. But all that I can say from my own small view of this world is that I will never turn back.

A few thoughts

2008-10-05T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hello there. I am new here and to introduce my self, let me share a few thoughts with you.

The demonstration of sincerity to God seams to be the objective of organized religion. Not just during the sacred times and in the sacred spaces of the various great religions is this attempt to show God something evident, but throughout the lives of the faithful there are rituals by which one shows sincerity to the divine being or higher power or whatever one may call it. Normally this all takes the form of trying to live cleanly and perfectly as well as fallowing the rites and traditions of whatever religion one fallows. For some this is a vary real concern. Indeed, for some it is a matter of salvation or damnation. Such great power do they put in their own ability to convince the divine being of their true commitment that a failure on their part can not be pardoned as they see it. At least, not by them. The real problem comes when they start applying their own logic to God. For them, salvation becomes wrapped up entirely in human effort and striving, and for what?

What is the real purpose of showing God you are serious? If we start from the assumption that it is to guaranty God’s favor on us and to influence him to grant us salvation, than what kind of God do we worship? To approach it from a logical perspective and fallow the train of reasoning, we must ultimately come to the conclusion that the God we worship is, in fact extremely selfish and self centered, even more so that most humans. Even in a human relationship, both parties normally try to contribute and show sincerity to each other. In the relationship that is cast by those who adhere to the idea that we must strive to win God’s favor by showing him how sincere we are, it is, in a way, rather one sided. It puts the ability to obtain salvation by way of influencing God through our works and thus the responsibility to do so firmly in our human hands. Do more and God will accept you. Try harder and He will receive you. Put on a better show of you sincerity and he will bless you. When looking upon this conceptual frame work, I can not help but notice how similar it is to another religious tradition that is much older and much more historically wide spread that the modern “great” religions. Animism and Spirit worship. Witch craft and attempts to please the spirits so that they won’t hurt you. Fear and the striving to serve it. Is that not what this whole concept of doing more and trying harder to please God really is? It is truly nothing more than a glorified form of building a spirit house or sacrificing an animal to please an angry god, only the angry god has been replaced with the idea of God him self. Does anyone actually love those oppressive spirits or angry gods? No. But they are sincere to them.

When sincerity is built on this framework, it is nothing more that a sick attempt at manipulating the divine into doing something for you. But the real problem with it is that it casts the whole relationship as being a one way effort and thus distorts the actual reality. The real question people need to ask is not how important it is to show sincerity to God but what if it is God who has been trying to show us how sincere to us He is and how dedicated he has been all this time? Have we just not been paying attention? What if it is not a matter of us going up and banging on the door to heaven to get him to notice us? What if it is He who comes down and bangs on the door to our hearts and minds as He patiently waits for us to accept or reject him. What if it is him who has been fallowing us this whole time, pleading, maybe even begging for us to notice how sincere he is? The religious leaders can not tell you the answers to these questions. Only God can. You will have to ask him your self. If you find the answer to be a resounding yes, will this not cause you to stop and see that reality is better than you could have ever imagined? Will not the only response you can give be to return His holy commitment and sincerity with your own?