Sunday, April 09, 2006

Thoughts

Thoughts
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I am delighted that you have shared the sharings between me and [your wife Donna (pseudonym).]. From my side, you are always welcome to these sharings, so that, when I write to her, I also write to you.

Your letter was anything but simple. It contained many parts and subparts, so this response must also be a little complex. I apologize for this in advance. A few syllables simply will not suffice to explore all the mysteries suggested by, and in, your fascinating letter. But here goes:

You start with an important, even crucial, inquiry: How does it serve The One for us to wake up? To answer this, we must remember that the One is Love. It enhances and enriches the expression of theOne, as Her many vessels, whenever a person finds enlightenment. The One finds endless delight-- bliss or ecstasy-- in expressing Love through the many parts of her Mind. The more that beings become enlightened, the greater is Her sense of fulfillment, peace, and tranquility. She touches ecstasy and total contentment by loving through us, and the more that we are enlightened, the more, and the more fully, can She love through us. When She takes over a mind, that by no means "ends the game," for the game is infinite. That only begins the most enjoyable and fascinating part of the game. It has just begun! To see the "end of the game" is simple myopia, a pitiably finite and limited view.

It is also myopic to say that awakening does not serve the One at all. For, indeed, it does. All masters of all traditions disagree that "awakening does not serve the One" [Mind]. They all-- Jesus, the Buddha, Lao Tzu, Patanjali, Al Hallaj, Solomon, and all the rest, stand united in voicing the reality (truth) that awakening is a viable Way to serve the Mind of Love.

How spiritually dull to conclude "game over." That is absurd microvision, since the "game" cannot be exhausted by all the resources of such a tiny planet, in such a nanoscopic lifetime, as earthlife. The "game over" response is that of a shortsighted and ignorant perspective. It is true that the Mind does not want us to run the whole course and end the game of life, but there is no possibility that this can occur on a dustmote of a planet such as earth in the mere eyeblink of a human life. Someone [in the quotation in your letter] has way overestimated the potential of human consciousness.

Also, "What good does it do The One to watch us suffer and personally flop around like this.[?]" It does the Mind no good at all, but it is not the Infinite who is growing because of our experience; it is we who are growing. I do not know who wrote the stuff quoted in your letter, but it seems to blend pure cynicism with ignorance in a harmful and countergrowth fashion.

Your letter continues with a quoted question: "Why are we allowed to demand anything from The One?" We are not supposed to demand anything at all from the Lovemind. Our only appropriate response is to yield or surrender, not to demand.

The next question quoted is this: "Do we have that much influence on The One?" We do indeed influence the Lovemind, in much the same way that a newborn influences its mother, or a beloved creature her beloved companion. Our goal is not mere "influence," but a deep Love-relationship. We love; and Lovemind is influenced by Love, not by our possession of any "personal power," or not due to any weakness on Her/His part.

"A: It is told that at some point we collectively decided that we demanded our "freewill." What is this "it is told..."? Is this writer discussing mythology, legend, scripture? This is totally unclear. At any rate, he has it all wrong: We did not "demand" free will; it was a gift of grace. God, in His/Her abundant compassion, decided to give us free will as a matter of Love or generosity. God's alternative was to create a cosmos of puppets, robots, or "programmed" creatures. Freedom is an odd thing, in that it is a very rare "all or nothing" proposition. If you are "partly free," you are not free at all.

The next quotation says, "We are born without any knowledge of the truth." No way. We are born, and created, with a full understanding of all truth deep within the Mind. For the soul exists deeply within the Mind, and the Spirit exists deeply within the soul. Those who find an adequate spiritual path start to recover and reclaim these memories from the deep Unconscious. (The "higher Self" is soul, and the "highest" Self is Spirit.) So, if we go deeply enough into the Mind, we find that we are not intellectually naked, but that we contain an amazing and varied knowledge, wisdom, and understanding.

"No manual to help us." Actually, we do have several "manuals" or "maps" in the form of the records of hundreds of enlightened mystics since the beginning of recorded history. Some of these have evolved into "scripture," and some have not. But, besides the wealth of the Scriptures of Christianity, very rich in mysticism, we also have the Sutras of Buddhism and Hinduism, the writings of many sages from native American, Taoist, and other traditions. We have entire libraries of guidebooks or "manuals"!

The next quotation says, "Our truth is exactly what we make up in our own minds." This is a disastrous error. It is called, in philosophy, the "personal relativity of truth." It is a major error in both philosophy and spirituality. It implies that truth is an insubstantial, vague, and relative concept. Mystics often call God "Reality" or "Truth." This denies fully, rejects, the simplism and shallowness that each "makes up" her "truth" as she goes along. All mystics reject this unsophisticated notion. Truth is nuclear, core, to all spiritual exploration. So, truth=reality=God=Love=Mind.

"Q: It almost looks like The One can't be hurt by anything we do here at all. Can this be the case?
A: We just might be The One's, or someones giant science experiment. Hey, Mom look what I made. Wow, are these life forms on Earth ever fun to watch. I set up just a few ground rules and it's off to the races. They can do whatever they want but are in reality just reawakening to the fact that they are just me rediscovering myself."

This is a crude and shallow representation of what the cosmos is all about. It is also quite childish and unwise. The great masters have implied that we are more analogous to the "children" of the One than to a "science experiment." What good mother would ever view her children as a "science project"? This writer is cynical because of ignorance, and ignorant because of the absence of Love. This "spiritual" writer does not even mention Love. And Love is spirituality. And as for affecting the Lovemind, yes, we can affect Her/Him, but it is only because She/He wills it to be so, for Love's sake. God is affected deeply by your every tear.

"Q: Could The One be bored out here in the middle of nowhere?
A: The One is thinking, "I'll play a vast and complicated game!" We may just be little parts of The One playing. This thing called "all of life" might just be The One."

This comment is true insofar as it goes. But it does not go very deeply. It makes magnificent, illimitable Mind into a bored adolescent on a sunday afternoon. Actually, Mind is stunningly exciting, thrillingly sensuous, mindbogglingly smart, and is also so many things that we cannot even imagine. Most importantlly, it is a bottomless pool of sheer Love, which never, in its billions of billions of forms and powerlevels, gets boring! This writer has a very superficial, even dull, view of the depths and passions of the Mind.

"Q: Could there be other "The One's" in our universe?
A: Maybe ours is just now at Creator Milky Way High School level."

The form of the question is silly and counter-logical, for the "One" is called that precisely because it is internal unity, unified with all. A "second One" is an oxymoron, impossible, and self-contradictory. The other part of this [the "answer"] is unclear and obscure.

"Q: Why has consciousness on the human level taken so long to develop on planet Earth?
A: Life forms have been here for millions of years, most of the time in dinosaur-like bodies. It's interesting to note that human consciousness has only been around for a cosmic "blink of an eye". What happened all of the sudden, why the giant leap? Maybe we got genetically engineered by some advanced alien life form? Why would they help us? What could be in it for them?"

This answer is inaccurate and a bit absurd. Life has been on earth, not for millions, but billions, of years. And life did not express long, or much, in "dinosaur-like bodies." Much longer, life expressed as unicellular or primitive polycellular forms of various kinds. It is true that human consciousness is a relative new-comer to the scene. It is also probable that our earth was indeed a colony of higher beings, extraterrestrials of enormous wisdom. But it is neanderthalic to assume that these elevated beings are "trying to get something" personal out of life. They simply create life-forms for the sheer joy and fulfillment of creativity. (These beings are the elohim of Genesis.)

"Q: It seems that sometimes we are saved by "a guide" of some type. We sometimes escape disaster by the skin of our teeth. It seems like we get help. Is there such a thing as a "spirit guide" or personal angel?
A: Why would The One make this so? What's the point of "saving us"? If the laws of the universe are at work, shouldn't karma just play out? There should never be a reason to get a "spirit guide saving". The law is the law. Doesn't The One have control of all of this stuff? (I have personally been saved three times in my life and there is no other explanation then I got help, none!) Why didn't the 7 year old kid playing on the beach during a tidal wave get help?"

Obviously, the Mind can "save" a person from death or tragedy whenever It chooses. Sometimes, very exciting events are dreamed up by the Mind; but without changes, these would lead to death. If death at a certain time is not within your karmic pattern, you cannot be allowed to die at that time. Here is the principle: When it is your karmic time to leave the earth, nothing can or will prevent it. But until it is your appointed time, nothing can or must be allowed to kill you. We do not need "spirit guides" or ""guardian angels" to explain this function of Mind, but, if we find these concepts useful, there is certainly nothing "wrong" with seeing Mind in this way. So, contrary to the skeptical perspective of this writer, "God" often does have reasons to "save," or alter the dream of, a person. But, if it is within the karmic pattern (the kid and the tidal wave) God will not intervene at that time.

"Q: Then there's the predestination issue. Can anything we experience here be an accident?
A: No. There can't be any accidents. The universal is in perfect balance. Everything happens for a reason, a lesson. Yes, this is a giant school."

Most of your life is not predestined. You are not predestined in the microevents of your life. The decision to eat a peanut instead of a strawberry is not carved in cosmic granite as a cosmic law. It is the result of free-will choices, as are ninety-plus percent of the decisions of your life. But that which is karmic, like that which is genetic, is predestined. So, there are certain karmic lessons that you must learn, and certain cosmic and karmic teachers that you must meet.

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Yes, a part of this mind is still very human. This part of the mind-nature was even stronger, much stronger, when young and still very confused. Wisdom does not blossom overnight; and it is normal and natural for a person to get angry at the Incomprehensible.

You know, I just want the whole thing to fit. I want not to be confused about reality? I hate left hanging.
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"Reality" (truth) is what the spiritual path is all about. Mystics have discovered that Reality is Mind, and Mind Reality. And all that is truly real within the galaxy of Mind is Love. So, again, God=Love=Mind=Reality=Truth.

But, aren't you the least bite worried that The One might get mad at YOU since you are trying your hardest to end His game?
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That game is infinite and bottomless, and even when everyone is fully enlightened, that game will only change, never end. It is endless and limitless, without boundaries. If we worry about the game's final state or nature, that is like an ant worried about an event in the most distant galaxy-- a waste of time. We are here to play as well as we can. We are here to surrender to Love, to turn our minds over to Love. Love can never be threatened by anyone who wants to give her life to Love. Love is thus made only stronger. To think that the Lovemind is ever threatened or disturbed by anything that we do (except rejecting Love) is to think as a clown, without a clue.
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