Thursday, June 26, 2008

How do I find My Way when I don't know I Am Lost?

I’ve gotten a number of letters from people lately. They tell me how hard it is to develop spiritual practice. They tell me it is very difficult to develop consistency. Yes, this is all true. There are some to whom it comes more easily but these have done some of the work in the past. What I mean by that is ‘past lives’.

When you begin to explore the metaphysical and when you encounter terms like, ‘karma’, ‘past lives’, ‘samskaras’, ‘Maya’ and other words that represent things and conditions outside of mainstream understanding, there is a resistance on the part of the mind/personality to accepting what is unfamiliar or outside of personal experience. These days there is talk about these terms in more enlightened circles. Some of these words have entered into the common parlance. We hear them and we use them but... we don’t completely understand them, nor do we have a visceral apprehension of them.

I’ve had direct experience of all of these terms. That doesn’t mean I know much more about them. These things interest me and that is a big key to gaining understanding. Love can truly intensify interest and with Love comes the power and inspiration to make what seems difficult to many, enjoyable to you; if you have Love.

It is always better to fall in love with something if you want to get very far with it. This applies across the board from money to sexual favors. That may seem a little crass of me but I’m not in the business of flowery constructs in order to create beautiful nonsense, thereby creating more disorder than harmony. It’s always best to face the truth straight on. In fact, you will find it a difficult affair to sidle up to the truth on your own terms. The truth doesn’t work like that. Truth demands that you discard all of your presumptions and illusions before you can even get in the door.

Success in the undertaking is why so many people feign love, especially in areas of sexual favors where... most of us are quite vulnerable. Charming people out of their money or their pants is not a new profession. Have I digressed? Have I wandered off and away from what appeared to be some point I was in the process of making? No... just arranging the scenery.

We often do not see what is right in front of us. We often do not look for the source of our inconsistencies and distress. We like to go along to get along and we like to trust until our trust is so broken that we don’t trust anyone including ourselves. Our faith gets hammered and even when we know that certain eternal verities must be true we can’t see how they apply to us. We think we’re right but we don’t trust our own judgment to begin with. We are a complexity of confused perceptions.

You have to really want something to possess it. A great many people pick up the guitar only to lay it down again because consistency is found wanting. Consistency is wanting because the love is wanting. Discipline is crucial to learning anything beyond the popular dilettantism of this age. Love is crucial to discipline. We’ve a common understanding that parents discipline their children because they love them.

We have a lot of undisciplined children running around inside of us. One might say they show up outside of us too as a consequence of what we understand about love. We don’t understand love or much else. We’ve got the memory of what we’ve run up against and how we managed it. Repetition of habitual reaction has given us what we know of life.

At some point you have to become your own parent, or you must discover who your real parents are. You can’t form new patterns unless you get rid of the old patterns and you can’t embrace the truth when you are riddled with self deceit.

Many of the predators among us who routinely deceive and seduce us are often not even conscious of what they are up to. They’ve just been accommodating to the lies that make it easier to get what they want. They’re going to get a lot of sorrow to go along with it because... everything you practice on others you are practicing on yourself.

Change is not easy. It is never harder to change than when you are trying to change yourself. It seems like everything goes wrong. There is a scientific explanation for this. Patterns, like ruts in the road, are part of the uniformity of flawed existence. The world is accommodating to this. Your patterns are part of the ancient flow of the world. But the world will re-accommodate itself to persistence of effort and the world itself will change.

A seed in the dark and compact earth will break through the greater mass because of its love and yearning for the sun. Our ‘yes’ seems not to really be Yes. Our ‘no’ is equivocal too. We vacillate. We surely do.

In these times it is particularly hard to change when the force of the world is so manifestly en-route to perdition. It is the eternal nature of the world to migrate toward corruption. It starts out small... after whatever the most recent cataclysm might have been and then morphs into a grand orchestra of materialized madness. Our human development never seems able to maintain pace with our technological development.

To develop spiritual practice you must swim contrary to the flow of the world. You can’t manage that by yourself and therein is the point. You need help and you have to ask for it. On this, I suspect you will just have to take my word; if not my word then the words of those far more evolved and enlightened than I who have told you the very same thing.

Stop thinking that you are doing it, that it is you that must do it. You can’t do it but... something within you can. You must rely on that. You must strive too. You must strive and surrender and strive and surrender. You must erase from your mind the possibility that you can fail or that you will give up and you will have success.

Go within and ask within. Every time you find that you have missed an opportunity to practice... ask for help. Ask for help as often as you can remember to. I recommend some useful books; “The Impersonal Life” (and every other book by this author), “The Practice of the Presence of God”, “The Door to Everything”, “As a Man Thinketh” and any of the works of Ramana Maharshi, Mikhail Aivanhov, Ramakrishna. There is enough diversity here to appeal to most.

Find someone with whom you naturally agree... whose work vibrates sympathetically with you and follow them. It may be that you prefer Jesus Christ or another avatar. Take what works for you and stick with it. Oft times you will find that one leads to another until you are where you are meant to be.

In every day you can find moments to be still and close your eyes and contemplate or ask. You will be made aware of such a moment today after having read this. See if this is not so. Look at the effort you put into trivial affairs which you seem to muster the strength for with no trouble at all and ponder why this is so.

I think I can leave off here and we shall see if this has caused anyone to come upon new ways of thinking and doing that did not get mentioned here. Anyone who is curious enough to read through something like this has enough interest to keep looking until they find what they seek. Exercise your love. And.....

Visible sings: Then You Let Go by Les Visible♫ Then You Let Go ♫
Lyrics (pops up)

13 comments:

Duke said...

Peace be with the reader.

"How do I find My Way when I don't know
I am lost?"

A person cannot find HIS way when he does not know that he is lost. However he can find THE way.

The ONLY way out of this dilemma is for the person to accept in FAITH that he is lost. This is the message according to the gospel. This is the ONLY way.

We live in a world where the blind is leading the blind, a vicious circle.

Anonymous said...

Abstractionism: Consequence Of Pelagianism, Heresy
(Apollonian, 26 Jun 08)

I'll start off for this dialectic upon general subjects of AESTHETIC and HERESY, and how then such hereticalism afflicts and affects Les Visible, as for aesthetic, substance, and style.

Note I'm not saying there's anything necessarily wrong with such heresy, certainly not "evil." I merely presume Les Visible would appreciate being informed of these perceptions and analysis I submit herewith.

For if such heresy "works" for Les Visible, it's understandable he would adopt it. It's certainly a distinct affectation/characteristic of Les Visible, such hereticalism, this in form of Visible's preference/tendency for abstraction(s).

Thus Christianity, for thematic example, is best understood as aesthetic--rather than religion or worst of all "faith"--as in mysticism.

For problem is "faith" is such buzzword, and should rather be understood as loyalty, Christian "faith" properly meaning LOYALTY to Christ and his aesthetic (or "philosophy") by which one best organizes thought in accord w. truth in accord w. Christian thesis.

Heresy then is best defined generally as a "bad habit" which represents a deviation fm necessary standard/criterion, which then defeats that standard/ideal.

Thus Christian aesthetic (much better word than "faith" or even the over-used "religion") is most important as Christian aesthetic defends TRUTH--against lies, but especially organized, conspiratorial lies, which conspiracy then, according to New Testament (NT) literature, then murdered Christ, etc.

Hence then Christian aesthetic defends OBJECTIVE reality, traditional to Greek/West, which objectivity serves as CRITERION for truth (and science), by which such truth is verified, confirmed.

And I want to introduce Les Visible to idea he's at least somewhat fallen into HERESY, hence then fallen away fm strictest objectivity and truth, as for most solid picture of truth.

Thus Christian aesthetic, hence truth and objectivity, is defeated by heresy in following fashion: (a) Christianity (the aesthetic) is not understood/perceived for the ABSOLUTE ANTI-THESIS it is against preceding thesis of subjectivism, thence lies, thence organized, conspiratorial lies.

(b) Thus Christianity is falsely perceived as MYSTICISM--again, not as proper anti-thesis thereto. One specific, consequent heresy following fm such mysticism then is present, raging "Judeo-Christianity" (JC)--see Whtt.org and TruthTellers.org for expo/ref. I DO NOT say Les Visible has fallen for this specific JC heresy.

(c) Thus and finally, Christianity is falsely (heretically) understood according to "good-evil" which is something utterly subjectivistic, and not founded in proper objective (hence deterministic) reality.

(d) Thus "good-evil" heresy is known to Christian theology and fm history as "Pelagian heresy," fm the British monk, Pelagius, who was denounced by St. Augustine in late 4th, early 5th centuries.

(e) And this Pelagian heresy then affects Les Visible specifically in form of Visible's penchant, inclination, tendency to favor abstractions over concretes--which then presents a barrier to complete, fullest truth.

Note again, I don't say such hereticalism is at all "evil," and indeed, I rather compare Les Visible's hereticalism, specifically Pelagianism, and tendency to abstraction to that of justly famous Pres. candidate, Ron Paul who also is given to such abstractionism--as in his (Paul's) failure to be CONCRETE regarding the COUNTERFEIT nature of Federal Reserve Bank (Fed).

Thus in conclusion I note this hereticalism regarding substance and objectivity reflects itself in style--as of both Ron Paul and Les Visible. And again, I stress this abstracted/abstractionist (also extremely "intellectualistic") hereticalism and style has nothing to do with "good-evil" which is actually non-existent and irrelevant.

Thus to answer thesis question by Les Visible, I submit Visible is simply caught-up in such heresy as I describe (Pelagianism), abstractionism, if u will, and that's why/how he then indicates difficulty for "finding way," assuming I understand Visible's purpose in thesis essay for this blog.

CONCLUSION: Otherwise, I emphasize over-all good and useful work done and produced by Les Visible for his essays and expositions, and I note Visible is instructive even for any failings in his predisposition for such abstractionism/abstractioneering as I describe above. Honest elections and death to the Fed. Apollonian

Anonymous said...

What Is Necessity For Elaboration Of "Faith"?--So Much Mere Buzzword
(Apollonian, 26 Jun 08)

Duke: if u're lost, then u're lost, right?--why do u need "faith" to figure it out?--why not just be rationalistic and matter-of-fact? Honest elections and death to the Fed. Apollonian

kf said...

Thanks for the reminder about patterns and practice.

Apollonian: You remind me of the MBAs who swooped in to the public and private business sectors during the 1980s and 1990s - outside experts on a mission to shape and conform others using hundred-dollar words. I applaud your intellect but I'll be a monkey's uncle if'n I ever understand what you're getting at.

Anonymous said...

Heroes Hacking At Heresy
(Apollonian, 27 Jun 08)

Kathy: This (following) is quite simplified, but simplification often helps:

(a) Conspiratorial criminals (esp. COUNTERFEITERS) rule and ravage the earth, sowing depleted uranium as they proceed. Heroes and soldiers of God must stop these beasts to save humanity.

(b) But victimized people (gentiles) are still divided against one another too effectively--esp. by means of HERESY.

(c) Most insidious, effective heresy is Pelagian heresy ("good-evil"), and its hallmark is indulgence in abstractions in contempt of concretes.

CONCLUSION: Such then is my analysis for Les Visible as I use Ron Paul as case in pt. Thanks for ur comments; I hope above analysis helps; ck also more Apollonian expo at NewNation.org under "commentary" heading. Honest elections and death to the Fed. Apollonian

Anonymous said...

kathy
I (as part of the company I worked for) was on the receiving end of those swooping MBA's.
When the smoke cleared and the millions of dollars spent and they had departed we reverted to what had been and continued on our course.
Nice ideas (difficult to comprehend in a practical world) but absolutely and completely impractical and a waste of time and effort.
Tony

Anonymous said...

re: Apollonian, 27 Jun 08
Let me explain this without all of your word-fill apple
(a) We must stop the wrong that is going on in the world today
(b) To do this we must all pull together
(c) And in the process we must be practical in what we do
Conclusion: Les is helping this come about as is RP
Tony

Anonymous said...

Call me the success story. There must be others who have not yet come forward, but they will. I actually paid attention. I thought about it all before sleeping until I sat upright and listened to the arguments of the reactive mind intefere. This went on for weeks. But still I sat up concentrating on the spot between my eyebrows until, after enough colorful patterns and winding paths leading to paradisical jungle villages, I opened my eyes and saw Arcturus, my friend the star watching patiently. He was safe and enduring. No funny business or screeching monkies, just hanging out in his universe - agenda free. In no time at all the soft rush of the buzz of all living species hummed and vibrated around and through me and I was, I am, at one with all.
Thank you Les.
Thank you.

"...I’ve gotten a number of letters from people lately. They tell me how hard it is to develop spiritual practice. They tell me it is very difficult to develop consistency. Yes, this is all true. There are some to whom it comes more easily but these have done some of the work in the past. What I mean by that is ‘past lives’..."

I wanted you to know this because of the way you phrased your opening paragraph, even if it doesn't matter at all, to you or to anyone, even if the way we get there isn't a widey recommended way, sometimes it must take only the will, the strength of will which comes from desiring something greater than ourselves which I've noticed happens through great personal suffering, a massive typhoon of compounding misery with a secret silver lining of empathy and identification with all suffering and misery including gratitude, peace and joy in the perfection of nature's system of which we are a but small part.
You could say I was going here anyway the way I was living, the lives I've lived, and in that you would be correct. Even if no one else understands this, that changes nothing, because I do.
Love, Nina

Anonymous said...

A little more please? Things I'd like to say about what you are saying:

...Love can truly intensify interest and with Love comes the power and inspiration to make what seems difficult to many, enjoyable to you; if you have Love...


All things are possible with love. You are presuming here that everyone is already on the plane of conciousness of real love, real love as in support and sacrifice without expecting or seeking return. Real love as in the desire to see someone, maybe ourselves, succeed within themself, be less troubled, less "lost" VS. starring in time consuming romance reruns until all their days and nights are deja vu. Does it not seem that the entire western populations are really mixed up about this? Well, we know they're off in quite a few areas, waaaay off, in fact it isn't a surprise considering media partnering with politics partnering with corporatism.

Peace, Nina

Anonymous said...

Bravo, Visible! I'd say Love wins in the end, but since there is no end, nor a battle to fight to begin with, plus that, there is only Love and all else is an ill-usion. I know it, you know it, I know you know you know it. And even if it sounds childish and naive to the uninitiated one, so be it. Love wins in the end! Peace. There is no end, there is only Love!
PS. Jacque Fresco president of USA 2008!

Ben There said...

Well, this is sure an appropriate one for me at the present time. It is alot easier to talk and read about spiritual practice than it is to actually do it. This has been commented on before. Asking for help is a good suggestion and a good reminder for me.

Anonymous said...

Les,

Thank you for the reading list. I got a copy of "The Impersonal Life." Just a little bit of it goes a long long long way. Maybe it could really be the very last book a person would ever need to read.

I'm doing my Tarot Fundamentals exam this weekend and my ego is pissed because it thinks it doesn't know the all the answers, and it's right, it doesn't. But I think 'I am' going to know the answers as soon as 'I am' actually typing them.

Love to you and all the other gorgeous gentlemen AND gorgeous ladies who post here,

ellis

Anonymous said...

This article comes at the right time for me. Had 4 days without any practice for the first time in years. The excuse was the flu, but that's just karma and the point is to bear it indifferently while continuing on with the task. So I failed this test. But the war with myself continues and I'm glad I have you guarding my flank :P

If anybody wants to start building up their practice I recommend www.aypsite.org
This practice has activated my ajna chakra, among other things..

Goddess bless you all.





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