Wednesday, May 04, 2011

Chapter One; Spiritual Survival in a Temporal World.

Greetings Dear Friends. Inasmuch as the first book is to be released any day now and inasmuch as I have just finished the second book, of which this is the first chapter, I thought I would put this chapter out which was the last part of it missing and so you have it before you today. Two posts in one day... well, well. off we go-



What does that mean exactly; Spiritual Survival in a Temporal World? I suppose there are ways of looking at life that might need to be discussed prior to getting a fix on the title. For instance, there are those that maintain that everything is spiritual. I suppose those would fall into the Advaita category. Then there are those who say that there are spiritual and material worlds and that would be Dvaita. I think if I were to define the difference between spiritual and material, I would simply say, “flesh and not flesh”. It seems that most of the sins or crimes that all of the holy books talk about, are acts of flesh against spirit. Most, if not all of these sins or crimes are motivated by desires of the flesh acting out against dictates of the spirit. You could also say that spiritual is permanent and material is temporary.

According to all of the holy books, they say, one way or another that sin, or crimes against spirit, cause the spiritual being to go to less pleasant spiritual places once material life ends and for the ones that accept reincarnation as being true (it is), must also return to unpleasant places here, as a result of past behaviors. The reverse is true as well. One might speculate whether sin is simply a crime in the mind that is defined so by intent; meaning that sin is not always sin but thinking makes it so. I’m not going to tell you anything in terms of hard and fast or slow and immutable laws being absolute or... that this way is the right way and all other ways are the wrong way. People who know these kinds of things have the luxury of being convinced about what they believe, concerning spiritual and temporal (or material, if you want to call it that) strictures, laws and rules of conduct. I don’t have that luxury because I honestly don’t know.

What gives me the right to author a book such as this, keeping in mind that I may or may not actually be the author? I have been around awhile and I have been through some very difficult moments. The odds say that I should not even be here now but I am. I am in very good shape, physically, emotionally and mentally, given what I’ve experienced and given that I have consumed massive amounts of psychotropic drugs and everything else you can think of. There are not many people around who would be in this kind of shape given the back story.

I am where I am because I am the beneficiary of certain spiritual protections and I have invisible friends. It could be that we all do but only a few of us are actually in contact with then. I am guided and protected at all times. This is something I know and it is my desire to make a similar state available to whoever reads this book.

I am not going to tell you to play by the rules and try to fit in. I am not going to recommend you go to some church and abide by the moral standards of your community. I am not going to tell you one thing is evil and another good because those terms are relative and much that is considered evil is actually good unrecognized and much that is called good is anything but. What I am going to do is ramble about in your mind and try to arrange the furniture in certain ways so that you can get the feel for different states of being; different environments one can exist in and so on and so forth. I am going to tell you what certain things have done for me and you can judge by reason and experience whether such things might work for you.

I want you to listen for a ringing sound. It may not be audible in the same way that ordinary sound is. It is the sound of authenticity and we have all experienced it a time or two under all sorts of circumstances. I want you to see if you can hear that ring when you read this book and I want you to give serious consideration to what you are reading, specifically, when you hear such a ringing because that specific paragraph, sentence, page, or whatever it’s particular length is might have an important connection to you personally. Not everything you read here is going to apply to you. You may not need all of it. You might only need a sentence, a paragraph or a page. If you find that passage and you hear that ring, stop where you are and reflect. It could make all the difference.

There is one thing that I personally want you to connect to and comprehend and that is that there are only a few really important things or conditions that make all the difference. A spiritual life may have many components but there are only a few that are of absolute importance and the cornerstone, bedrock or centerpiece of an evolving spiritual condition. Here are the things I have found to be of critical importance; possessing the qualities of the divine, practicing the presence of the divine and unshakeable consistency of purpose.

Some might ask; what about faith and charity? What about compassion and all the rest of the virtues? Those are some of the qualities of the divine. They are all part of the package. You see, the point and purpose is for you to become like God. To do this, you must first realize and viscerally accept that you are a child of the divine. What does a child of the divine grow up to be? Consistent practice of the presence of the divine leads to the budding of the qualities of the divine. As the divine enters into you and comes alive, in a certain sense, you become like the divine and the qualities of the divine become a part of you.

Most seekers and religious pundits make a big deal out of knowledge. Knowledge has its place but it is of no value whatsoever outside of the mind of the true knower. What this means is that most knowledge is colored by your identification with your false self, the personality. It becomes an extension of the game theory of the personality and ceases to be what it essentially is. Those possessing a true objective reasoning capacity know what I am talking about here.

The spiritual path is brimming with several things. One of them is an effulgent and conscious light. Another is the attendant false light (both contain and operate representative guiding and misguiding entities), often mistaken for the true and conscious light and finally, traps and tests. How can you manage to pass around the traps and through the tests, unless you are in the care of the one who knows the way? Spiritual arrogance has been the downfall of many souls more advanced than you or I. You are never too high to fall. This is why you must remember to stay small and to practice surrender. You cannot surrender without permission. This is another mistake seekers make. They think they can surrender on their own, as if their progress rested upon their own abilities. It does not. You don’t have any. All of your abilities are borrowed from one of two sources, which are two faces of the same eternal being. Besides the qualities of the divine are the shadow qualities of the other side. You must free yourself of these.

There are several things that every seeker must recognize and they are the reason that the true path has so few travelers upon it. First off, it is demanding work. It takes everything you have. You must forget that there is any other life because there is not. Whatever may come to you as another life, in the development of your movement on the path, has to do with duties. You may be sure that all of these are pleasurable and satisfying once you have visceral understanding of their meaning. We seek glamour in our duties without possessing the talents for those particular duties. We need to understand that whatever our role may be as we progress, it is the best place for us and do understand that every secret desire in your heart was placed there by the divine. Desire is the agent of god’s will. Do not fret about whether you will get to do that which you believe to be your heart’s desire. That is a given but it is always a case of having to crawl before you can walk.

The presence of the divine makes one humble. It makes one grateful. It makes one sane and safe. Do not allow the resistant intelligence of the false self to whisper in your ear. Empty yourself of everything but the presence of the divine. If you feel empty and pointless because you can no longer entertain all of the colorful aspects of your false self in this false world, do not despair. That state is like a vacuum calling the divine into presence. Nature, the active and external face of the divine, abhors a vacuum. Everything is under control and everything is perfect. If you cannot see this then that is a part of you that must go. Don’t hold on to the source of your pain. That is all some form of attachment. When attachment is gone, so is the pain. Become attached to the divine, recognize that you are attached. You would have no life otherwise.

A human birth is a remarkable thing and a rare thing. Make the most of it. You cannot achieve except in the embodied state. That is why we always return, whatever we think our reasons are. There are some rare exceptions to this and I will mention them as we go but regardless, you must do it here. Keep in mind that heaven begins where your feet touch the earth. Interested? Then let us be on our way.

28 comments:

Neko Kinoshita said...

"Heaven begins where your feet touch the earth."

I would say more but first I need to figure out where this ringing is coming from...

Meow,

Ok, this is too weird:
WV: singr - Is it you? or me? Or perhaps the divine, and we are just the instruments?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the free chapter. It is just what I needed in terms of validating what I am feeling/"getting" from my insides. "God" is all & "be" who I am; be grateful and do not change my tracks, no matter what they may be if I am communing with the Divine.
Maryanne

Visible said...

Something going on over here that I don't know about?

Chinese Sneakers said...

Hell, ya'--let's go: i have always loved road trips, especially for the stories you get. But, please, promise me we are not bound for vegas and a sell-out (joking, partly).

By the way, will you be taking questions on the content/structure as we go; or, would you like to get there in one, long un-interrupted run?

For example, if i were given a chance, i might want to ask if we may conclude that you see yourself as more Dvaita, than Advaita--?

Anyway, i want to reveal that i'm, A+D+D, and that i can't wait to get this trip underway.

PS. Hope you're going to charge for the first novel. And, when the returns start coming, well, far be it for me to tell you what to do: But, over here in the land of the radio-active rising, we put our women in charge of the money, mostly, and it works out pretty well.

Dammerung said...

We need to understand that whatever our role may be as we progress, it is the best place for us and do understand that every secret desire in your heart was placed there by the divine. Desire is the agent of god’s will. Do not fret about whether you will get to do that which you believe to be your heart’s desire. That is a given but it is always a case of having to crawl before you can walk.

Can you expand on this point? I feel desires that are just as obnoxious as they are unattainable; but I'm stuck wanting them because as much as they feel like a thorn I also want to want them.

Anonymous said...

All these years, I thought it was Tinnitus.

Anonymous said...

thankyou for your teachings
always seem to work
the hold of heavens sky
the learnings of the earth
sometimes I fall down
confused in misidentity
thoughts becoming clouds
dominating true integrity
sometimes through distractions
the heart seems to wander
the mind indecisive
weak instead of stronger
but with the teachings that are great
and the truth that serves within
the heart soon picks up
strolls the skys upon the wind

..peace..

Visible said...

Reflections in a Petri Dish is up-

Bad Ass Bozos on the Downtown, Hellfire Express Train.

Anonymous said...

Fabulous, totally on point. Can't wait to read more.

Anonymous said...

"According to all of the holy books, they say, one way or another that sin, or crimes against spirit"

Patrick says:

Technically...

....."Sin", in Our Scriptures, is defined as "transgression against The Law"...

"those who say that there are spiritual and material worlds"

.....The way I understand it is, the physical is the first level of understanding and the spiritual the second; an amalgam of the two is required for third level understanding... I've always considered today's "Christians", (of the "judeo" variety, of which, there is no such thing), are falsely taught to spiritualize everything into the ethereal, thereby being so Heavenly minded they are of no earthly good; one must study Scripture with it in one hand and an History book in the other... indeed, Scripture is not a "religious" Book, per se, (and Our father finds such abominable), but an History/Racial Book of the Israelites' Heritage, which is to say, the caucasian race; certainly not in a racial superiority sense, but one must understand the players in the show to know the score, and, regrettably, we received no program... History provides the key and the true "Key" to understanding Scripture is Genesis, 3:15, wherein ,b.TWO BLOODLINES,/b. were brought forth, even from the garden...

Anonymous said...

Thank-you for the free chapter...was beginning to march silently in oblivion with a blank stare...this brought me back to source. So did this...I think u will get a always needed giggle. What would we do without art the creator of our souls.
‘Star Wars’ Existential Style (Video)
http://bit.ly/leEyAK
voici le jeur
voici

Anonymous said...

Honestly I Like it. I am interested.

If I read this chapter on the back of a book in a bookstore I would definitely buy this book.

Enlightenment for dummies. How to books are my favs. Perfect for me.

Thanks again for all your Blogs Les
Patrick V1.0

wv: washerin : I'm gonna washerin my coveralls today.

neal said...

That ringing could be Mother Nature's Way in a Song, or just some kind of quantum harmonic resonance, some crazy math there.
There is a place where the two worlds are the same, but you have to be open to communicating in old languages, and willing to be as least as foolish and fearless as the smallest creature.
I just got back from the wilderness in the mountains, I've waited two years to hang old with the albino western squirrel clan, the patriarch showed up finally for the small measure of grace I feared had left with the rest.
The physical may be the first level of understanding, but if the first is last, and the last is first, does not that imply that perception is recursive, and we all go together?
If you go there, your cup of memories will be so full of everything else, you will become like them, and find Heaven, where identities are mostly temporary, and intentions are relevant, in the subtle interactions that make roles and relationships the story.

Cathy from Kamloops said...

Thank you sweety, I always wondered
why the ringing came and went.
Much love to you and all.

Anonymous said...

pierre said...

"When attachment is gone, so is the pain"
That's one rub for me (and it was addresssed by Adyashanti in a Q&A), bad physical pain , rather than the aches and pains or emotional type of maladies. The answer is along the lines of how you experience it, do you label it, do you react to it. (yes, attachment). My bottom line there is that physical pain (or anything) is not the bottom line, there is the core element which is impermeable at some level, and that therein lies the solution. apart from that I do not expect the most divinely attuned sould to be really pain free (excepting perhaps Jesus on the Cross, thank you Mel Gibson). so acceptance at a practicle level (and joy in all else) is enough for now.

re the wall of sound , I said in a previous comment that my tinnitus (severe, always) is akin to the Whine in your (just coming out - not this one in todays post) book. You did have tinnitus also in that book , but the Whine was something else I gathered, with something more like the sound of an approaching train before the earthquake, perhaps like the sound effect in the movie Paranormal Activity (yes, that's it). Its just having fun with the ideas and laughing at annoying things, but I can think of the tinnitus as gods way of giving me a tin foil hat, or a hurdle to overcome (I can do without it though that's for sure). theres a frequency thing in there somewhere, whether by way of damaged microscopic ear 'hairs', or the brains maulfunction that shows how finely tuned the whole shebang is. It could also be a hyped up physical pain area in the insula part of the brain which triggers an adjacent audial area. Im also very pleased/grateful for my disposition in 'coping' with it as it could drive one nuts if one had the temperament (anger,frustration, lack of proportionality) that seems so common.

There's still one particular dillema, and that is the nature of the Desire - noted by Dammerus above - (is this also to be limited). But I get there that this is not egodesire, not clutching straws, but if done with the true spirit of completeness (heart and mind and soul) then that kind of desire, likewise any kind of action, is correct. And you might argue isnt even a matter of choosing, but knowing the right way to be. like animals.

Ill buy it.
...pierre

wv: mischef (easy peasy)
a clumsy chef.

Miriam said...

Ringing comes in my meditations but only after I call on Bodhisattva Kuan Yin.

There is a wealth of ringing in this authentic wisdom to surrender to for me, and I thank you.

Terrance said...

Thanks Visible for helping us pull back the veils and remember who we are and why we are living on planet earth. I consider myself an Earther not an earthling. There are a lot of Earthings( immature humans) living on the planet. Now is the time to decide to continue in this galaxy game on another planet, or blink out for greater spiritual adventures in other more advanced relms...things are not what they seem.....love to all!

Anonymous said...

A ring a ding ding,a highly evolved Soul I see.Mothers little helper,or guardian angle maybe.
No its not the divine.

Visible said...

Of course, you would know.

Anonymous said...

A horse is a horse of course of course, unless the horse is a talking horse.I wonder what made Mr.Ed talk EMRRRRRRRRR?

Visible said...

A new Smoking Mirrors is up-

The Paint House Illusion of Corrupted Light.

Kuan Yin rulz said...

The nature of attachment has always been something of a puzzle for me.

This afternoon I had a walk through one of those Labyrinth meditation things and there was a guy handing out info about it and he asked me before I walked in if I knew how to "set an intention." I had no interest in what he was about to say but I knew he really wanted to express something to me so I asked him if he'd like to say something. He asked me to remember Japan and all the people in southwest USA. He was concerned about what's happening to the Earth.

What came to me in the Labyrinth was that these people are sad for their attachments. Most of the people left behind are sad for the attachment they feel towards what they think they've lost. They think they've lost their love and they haven't. The love didn't go anywhere, but perhaps they distanced themselves from it in their shock. I've never liked cliches sometimes they sound so hollow - but the truth is that once something or someone is truly in your heart they are there to stay. No matter the time or the distance, the one(s) you love remain a part of you in your heart forever. True love never dies. This I know. When someone has a very special way of touching my heart I know it's because I've loved them before...

Why don't we all sit back, acknowledge God for once, and realize that everything is always as it should be o ye of little faith?

wv: quiverys?
too weirdly obvious that one.

Visible said...

Thank you Kuan Yin.

Visible said...

A new Reflections in a Petri Dish is up-

Dreaming of Reptiles under a Skinny Dipping Moon.

Kuan Yin rulz said...

My Dear Dog Poet,

I'm sure I'm not the first and know I won't be the last!! haha

Still, I recognize it as a force majeure (for me anyway); like a deluge in the desert.

Here's to my learning the right harmony to it all as I avoid playing completely straight but still observing the proper precepts.

When I see you on that bridge I'll probably give you the biggest hug ever; it shall be

~~~The King of Hugs~~~

with accompanying deluge-

Anonymous said...

I think it was proven Mr. Ed had a Zionist shrill's head stuck up his bum and the voice was an echo? I think... aye vey, Oogle it of course.

Ghana

Anonymous said...

A ring a ding ding,thats one for the KING.

Anonymous said...

Patrick man I don't even know you but, I do know you. I read your blogs a couple times a month, and love you like a brother. My prayers are for you and your family always. May the sweet scent of those transcend up to heaven and be preserved there then given back to you as a gift at the pre-destined time. Thanks and I hope to see you in the place we were supposed to be but got delayed to learn some lessons. Take Care.





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