Wednesday, August 26, 2015

There is No Way out, there is Only a Way In.

Dog Poet Transmitting.......

Granlund Cartoon


There are so many mysteries in life and it seems to me that the most impressive mysteries are the one's right in front of our face that we bypass every day because we think we get it but we don't get it because if we got it... what we learned would be in operation all of the time, simply because of the inescapable truth contained in the understanding of it. For instance, one of the mysteries is that of the existence of an all powerful divine presence that not only permeates all of existence but which composes it out of the substance of its own being and is at the same time every living thing in some fashion or another because all life is an expression of the divine life force.

99% of the time when false-self important intellectuals attack or denigrate the existence of a divine being, it is about religion, as if this sort of apples and oranges argument were scientifically valid, which it is not ...but those who argue about most anything because their objective is argument to begin with, could care less about false premises even as they argue about how sound their principles are. The truth is that they can imagine nothing more important or worthy than themselves and the idea of any force greater than themselves is anathema to them. It always amuses me to see those with the dimmest understanding of the totality of it all, holding in contempt the mind of the grand architect who formed everything including them.

It is not with these scoffers and self felating egotists that I am concerned. They will discover the truth at some point, across the massive reach of life and lifetimes at that time and place where illumination finally descends on them. My concern is with those of us who KNOW there is a God and yet who do not spend every waking moment in search of communion with it. My concern is with those who know there is a god but who prefer to argue with those of other faiths about the composition of the almighty and what the almighty wants and prefers as if they were privy to these informations which, of course, they are not. These things should not be my concerns because my capacity to do anything is completely in the hands of the one who decides whether anything is successful or not. If the almighty forbids something, it doesn't happen. If the almighty permits something it does happen, for the purpose of demonstration. Are there myriad and uncountable exceptions and contradictions to all of this? Yes. Does any one of us know more than a fragment about any of it? No.

Another mystery is that though we see men and women dying all around us, for some reason we do not think that we shall die. I think a stork told one of the Pandavas this but I am not absolutely sure. The stork, if memory serves, was an expression of Dharma.

All through our lives we war against ourselves. We remember selectively. We err and regret and then we go forth and err again. There is something in us that tells us we will get it right the next time as we go about it in the same fashion and we do not get it right and we regret and then set out to repeat the action yet again. I have spent my life reflecting on these things and on the meaning of life and I have come to one inescapable conclusion; one cannot know. It is impossible to know and one only understands when one has effectively managed to surrender to the higher self within and ceases forever to contend with it again. Here is what Lao Tzu had to say on the matter-


“Be utterly humble
And you shall hold to the foundation of peace.
Be at one with all these living things which, having arisen and flourished,Return to the quiet whence they came,
Like a healthy growth of vegetation
Falling back upon the root.
Acceptance of this return to the root has been called 'quietism,'
Acceptance of quietism has been condemned as 'fatalism.'
But fatalism is acceptance of destiny
And to accept destiny is to face life with open eyes,
Whereas not to accept destiny is to face death blindfold.

He who is open-eyed is open-minded-
He who is open-minded is open-hearted,
He who is open-hearted is kingly,
He who is kingly is godly,
He who is godly is useful,
He who is useful is infinite,
He who is infinite is immune,
He who is immune is immortal.”



You will note what has been highlighted in bold text. If you want more of Lao Tzu, all that we have of what he said is to be found here.

Another mystery is how we can fear the unknown, while possessing a certitude of the existence of a profound awareness that interpenetrates all life and without which there would be no life and which is fundamentally aware of even the slightest alteration in our state and is aware of us beyond any capacity we possess ourselves and yet... we doubt and we fear. I suspect it is because we measure the benevolence and mercy of the almighty against our own. We attribute to the almighty a facsimile of our own nature and expect the almighty to behave as we do. This is not how it works. What is it in us that causes us to reason and project in this manner?

One of the cardinal objectives of self inquiry is to find the enemy within and to recognize it. Far more important is to find the master of all things, for this force will instantaneously deal with the enemy within. However, finding the master within is consistently hindered by the enemy within and that is why recognition is so very important. There is an old phrase that I am very fond of; “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” It ties in with this concept- we become like that which we emulate. We cannot know the ineffable and there are sound metaphysical reasons for this. That which we aspire after should forever be beyond our reach in its entirety so that we are always approaching and never arriving. Like they say, 'it's the journey that counts'. We do encounter stages of completeness and that which we pursue leaves a trail and we acquire particles as if we were being pulled along in the tail of a comet. Eventually we become fully magnetized to the comet or the star we rotate around. Some seek total immersion in the ineffable and a complete loss of personal identity and some seek to be filled with the presence of the ineffable but to allow the light of it to flow unhindered through the stained glass windows of the personality. I am of the second order and I believe there is a choice involved here and we have our reasons for making that choice and we are made a certain way that inclines us toward that choice; by what?

Perhaps one final mystery will serve for the conclusion of this entry. How is it that a seeker after a particular path can find illumination and a seeker after a very different path can find illumination and their approach, their tactics and their scripture be significantly different from the other? The truth is that they are both right and that is why the wise do not argue. There is one mountain and many paths. It is, faith, certitude and determination that lead us up the path. The paths each have a particular degree of difficulty. One might say that the path is ourselves and we are the path the ineffable walks in a course that resolves in mutual recognition, although we were known and recognized long before. Once this recognition takes place, all arguments and inconsistencies of spiritual variables as expressed in different faiths, dissolve into a primary understanding. There is no longer a 'this' and a 'that'. It is what it is.

We have one responsibility and that is to maintain our commitment to the one we aspire to emulate and.. as our intensity grows and our sincerity is deepened and refined we are given more of the qualities of the ineffable to express. It troubles some that I say that it doesn't matter what we go through if we arrive at the intended objective. It troubles some when I talk about utter surrender to the inner light and a complete submission to the inner voice but that is what I have discovered as the result of all of my efforts and errors. I know that I do not know, as I know that I can be given what I need to know when I need to know it. I am not reliant on my own devices. I have repeatedly failed at this. Perhaps others have been and will be more successful. I can only speak for myself and so this is the path that I follow and this is the message that I preach.


End Transmission.......

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

via Homer..

Srila Prabhupada ... So mind is the basic principle of another form of body.

Death: Passing Life's Final Examination

Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me

Ray B. said...

(Vis, I left a comment for you back at the last SM, in case you have 'moved on'.)

Vis: "The truth is that they can imagine nothing more important or worthy than themselves and the idea of any force greater than themselves is anathema to them."

Boy, do they have an awakening to happen! When I did my England/Scotland trips, there were more 'higher being' types than you could shake a stick at. One 'species' even regarded humans as the equivalent of a 'thoughtform', because they were so low. Most would have nothing to do with current-humans, which accounts for plenty of ancient 'encounters' but few in modern times. Some of them can even 'plant' uneasiness feelings in potential human visitors, in order to 'guide' them away. We are far from the 'dominant' species on this planet. Just the most visible one...
---
Vis: "My concern is with those of us who KNOW there is a God and yet who do not spend every waking moment in search of communion with it."

In my take, that is because of the 'gulf' between modern renditions of all-God and those of more-ancient civilizations. The modern view is of all-God as some impossibly-vague something and/or of some immanent unstated quality in everything/everyone. (Discarding the 'old man with a beard' scenario, for this analysis.) This leads to a 'disconnect' between human experience and all-God.

To me, the old cultures - with their 'household gods' and innumerable 'higher beings' - had an advantage which has been neglected in this 'modern' age. All these 'god-parts' lent an approachability to all-God that modern life lacks. Simply 'reminding' oneself that all-God is present is half the battle. Everything in modern life neglects that crucial aspect. A minority of us can self-remind through the day, but most cannot/do-not. Hence, the modern culture. I believe something has been 'missed' (if not intentionally 'stripped out') in how standard-humanity 'cues in' to all-God...
---
Vis: "Another mystery is that though we see men and women dying all around us, for some reason we do not think that we shall die."

I am one of those that strongly-suspects there is another 'path' out of here...

(continued below)

Ray B. said...

(continued from above)

Vis: "There is something in us that tells us we will get it right the next time as we go about it in the same fashion and we do not get it right and we regret and then set out to repeat the action yet again."

In my training, the above is 'evidence' of old held-stuff. If we 'punch-out' of body before feeling an experience all the way through (including the raw pain), the Soul does not know an experience has been completed. (Signal out, no signal back.) So, the Soul programs another lifetime (or experiences within a lifetime) to get the needed 'data'. Unfortunately, the current-experience usually runs up against the 'blockage' of the unfelt original-experience and does not make its way back to the Soul. So, one more time, as the expression goes...

Depth psychology or emotional processing can get one back to the original-experience. (Or a past-life regression, if one lucks onto the appropriate lifetime - and feels it through, including the underlying pain.) If the experience is 'completed' (again, including the underlying pain), the 'data' goes back to the Soul, and the experience will never happen again. I have done this, and it works.
---
Vis: "One of the cardinal objectives of self inquiry is to find the enemy within and to recognize it. Far more important is to find the master of all things, for this force will instantaneously deal with the enemy within. However, finding the master within is consistently hindered by the enemy within..."

This was one of the original, valid reasons for the 'guru'. The guru/facilitator for a given 'enemy within' must have had a form of this 'disability' and successfully worked-through it. This gives an 'energy-base' that is available for the 'student' to draw on. Once you get a sense of energy-flows and intention, this aspect is clearly important. It may be possible to work-through an 'enemy within' without having this help, but it is certainly higher-probability-of-success with this 'assistance'. (All-God can do this instantly, of course, via 'Grace'. But maybe, all-God wants a person to achieve the 'victory' him/herself, if at all possible.)
---
Vis: "Some seek total immersion in the ineffable and a complete loss of personal identity, and some seek to be filled with the presence of the ineffable but to allow the light of it to flow unhindered through the stained glass windows of the personality."

Currently, I am also of the second order. I suspect that all-God 'perpetrated' us down-here in order to learn empathy and such. This results in hard-earned changes at the deepest 'roots' of each personality. When 'done', we become 'co-creators' of a compassionate future, in a certain manner of speaking. Otherwise, why bother? (Subject to future 'learning', of course...)

Good column, Vis! Top form.

Best Wishes,
Ray B.

katy said...

I know that I am under your gaze oh Lord. I do not examine with fear your plans regarding me; my task is to accept everything from your hand. I do not fear anything, although the storm is raging, and frightful bolts strike all around me, and I then feel quite alone. Yet, my heart senses You, and my trust grows, & I see all your omnipotence which upholds me.
I will not stop singing my song of love until the choir of Angels picks it up. There is no power that can stop me in my flight toward God.
Divine Mercy in my soul

Anonymous said...

Thank you dearest Les for your latest offering. Your pieces, one after the other are getting more radiant and more magnificent than ever and carrying us closer and closer to the kernel of divine truths. Ya Allah! Thanking Him daily for your existence in this world. You are definitely in the service of The Ineffable and you are helping us so much.

Les, I have a topic of reflection for you that you may or may not chose to comment on at a later point. I am sure what I will say is on your mind. Like yourself and many of your readers I have been experiencing many years of hardship and at points it's been utter despair and gruel. There have been joyous points too. Many of them. And indeed so much to be thankful for. Yet the pervasive pattern for me (and I dare say most if I'm reading it correctly) is that the Ineffable/God/Allah feels closer at times of adversity and gruelling hardship than in the lighter, easier times. At Least my God-consciousness appears to be greater in those times and I reach out and try harder to get closer to the Divine. When I consult the sages of my faith (It happens to be Islam but its same across the board. And what is religion? At best a language to articulate the Divine and at worst, yes we know at worst what organised religion can be) Anyway when I consult the sages of Islam and even the Quran directly myself the answer seems to be in area of ..... our desire to reach out to the divine seems to get sharpened at times of desperate need... that somehow in states of ease or prolonged let up we, dare I say it, forgetful of the Ineffable or at least our God Consciousness weakens. It seems the wisdom is that when we "normalise" or "routinise" materisl ease and comfort & divine spark goes. We may live in notional gratitude in times of ease but that which burns within for the Ineffable sharply in times of crises and results in us making growth and learning is more or less extinguished in times of ease. This thinking is so pervasive in Islam that many believe God punishes those he choses with great wealth (think those despicable Petrol Station Sheikhs like the Saudi royals, the Pharoahs, the Bushes, the Trump, The Brit Royals, the Banksters et al) and those who He loves he puts on trial, like the Palestinians (and here is where "We are all Palestinian" comes into it, coz we are to varying extents under the assault of the criminal order of wherever happens to be our locale ) It is pointed out that all the Abrahamic prophets from Adam to Jesus and Mohammad were put thru the most gruelling trials on this earthly realm but relentlessly kept faith despite ongoing assaults by the Bibi Satanyahu's of their day. Ok so I understand this. My question to you is this, am I to take my not being tried with enough money to keep the hounds at bay and have a bit more ease potentially harmful to my relationship with the Ineffible. Why must our relationship with the Ineffable come under so much challenge by the material realm 's demands. Why must there be do much pain keeping life and limb together and interfering with our worship. Is it impudent for me to ask the divine to get me out of the knife edge financial stress I find myself in constantly for fear of me becoming a mini baddie. Am I not capable of worshipping and aligning myself in surrender with Ineffable if I wasn't under constant economic and mental stress. What I am saying is does the path to the Divine have to be littered with difficulty as the only way.

I am deeply indebted to you for your daily wisdom brother Les. May you be blessed.
Best of the Best

Visible said...

a new Smoking Mirrors is up now-

Some are Sicker than Others.

Visible said...

A new Petri Dish is up now-

The Living Scriptures that are Written in the Secret Chambers of the Heart.

Visible said...

Here is the latest radio transmission.

Anonymous said...

Yes, there are many paths up the mountain. Many of the Christians are aware of this. Just yesterday I was talking to an 89 year old Methodist woman, who spoke very highly of the Sikhs. She understood that we Christians, the Sikhs, the Buddhists and Muslims revered the very same God Almighty of Mercy, Forgiveness, and Love. Love will get you there. Give me love, give me love, give me peace on earth.

-beggar

Anonymous said...

via Homer..

Varieties must be there





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