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.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
No where to hide
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.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Seeing possibilities
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.
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.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Honesty
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.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Modern slavery
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Passing
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Light of the world
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.
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.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Unkowing
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.
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.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
A core concept
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?
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
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.
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.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Spiritual Transformation
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.
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
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Metamorphosis
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.
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.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Manifesto
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
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.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Possibilities
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.
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.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
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.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Chaos and what we can do
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Taking and giving
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.
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.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Level up
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.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Here and now
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Servant
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.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Doing more to do more
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.
I hope everyone is entertained by the part I am about to play in the comedy of life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
