Hello my friends,
I'm afraid my blogs will be spasmodic over the next few weeks because I am on a teaching tour in the USA. If any of you would like to know where I am going to be and when, pleae visit my website www.spiritteach.net and click on the Seminars/Workshops page
May your God do with you,
Lionel
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Monday, 27 July 2009
Love and Judgement
It is true to say, I believe, that although we are quick to make excuses to ourselves for our own shortcomings, no-one judges us more harshly. Our judgement of our selves and our own actions is often much too severe and is one of the things that can lead to depression.
The problem at the root of all this is a failure to love ourselves. By that I do not mean we should become vain and full of conceit but we should try harder to understand who and what we are. Before really being able to love yourself, you must get to know yourself and you cannot do that properly by focussing just on the physical you. When you look into a mirror, the reflection you see is not really you, but only a small part of you. Most of you remains hidden where physical eyes cannot penetrate. There is only one way to access this vital part of you and that is by learning to be still. The real you whilst being in this world, is not of this world and you must adapt your approach accordingly.
It is important to spend some time alone and it is during these periods you should try to be really still, so that you can look with your inner eyes at the being who only reveals a small part of itself in physical life. The real you is a wonderful person and becoming familiar with her or him in the stillness is the beginning of true self-knowledge. The regular act of becoming acquainted with your true self in this way has remarkable and beneficial effects. Your true persona is released more and more into you physical self, you become calmer and more self-assured and other people begin to notice the change in you and seek your company. You become less impatient, time seems to open up for you in a mysterious way and whereas before, you never seemed to have enough time to do all you wanted, now you seem to have ‘all the time in the world’.
Once you know, then you can love. When you learn to love yourself two things happen. First you are kinder in your self-judgement and second you find it easier to love and understand others. Loving others does not mean you then approve of all they do. No, it is a matter of understanding that nobody is perfect, yet loving them despite their weaknesses. You do not have to condone a rash, foolish or unwholesome act because you love someone. You do not even have to like someone in order to love them. But you do need to understand the operation of universal law. It is so arranged that payment will be extracted in one form or another for all negative acts or thoughts. Those who truly love, instead of condemning, try to support the individual so they have the strength to deal successfully with what is demanded of them.
One of the most difficult tasks we are set in our lives is that of avoiding the temptation to be judgemental. The Native Americans say that until we have walked a mile in another’s moccasins, we cannot know them. It is a very wise observation and one we do well to recognise. Because the yardstick we use to measure the behaviour of others, is limited and greatly influenced by our own, very imperfect experience, we cannot possibly be objective. Therefore we cannot possibly be fair because there is no way we can take into account all the relevant factors that went into bringing the individual concerned to the point in life they have reached. Even if we know a great many details about their background, upbringing and the circumstances of their birth, it is still an incomplete picture.
Were it in some magical way possible to know every thing, every person and every experience on earth that has shaped the person concerned, your knowledge would still only be partial. You see we have lived before - all of us. We came to our earthly bodies from elsewhere, bringing with us the accumulated experiences that earlier went into making us as individuals. So though we may think we know all about what has happened to them on earth, we can never know what happened to them before they got here.
The problem at the root of all this is a failure to love ourselves. By that I do not mean we should become vain and full of conceit but we should try harder to understand who and what we are. Before really being able to love yourself, you must get to know yourself and you cannot do that properly by focussing just on the physical you. When you look into a mirror, the reflection you see is not really you, but only a small part of you. Most of you remains hidden where physical eyes cannot penetrate. There is only one way to access this vital part of you and that is by learning to be still. The real you whilst being in this world, is not of this world and you must adapt your approach accordingly.
It is important to spend some time alone and it is during these periods you should try to be really still, so that you can look with your inner eyes at the being who only reveals a small part of itself in physical life. The real you is a wonderful person and becoming familiar with her or him in the stillness is the beginning of true self-knowledge. The regular act of becoming acquainted with your true self in this way has remarkable and beneficial effects. Your true persona is released more and more into you physical self, you become calmer and more self-assured and other people begin to notice the change in you and seek your company. You become less impatient, time seems to open up for you in a mysterious way and whereas before, you never seemed to have enough time to do all you wanted, now you seem to have ‘all the time in the world’.
Once you know, then you can love. When you learn to love yourself two things happen. First you are kinder in your self-judgement and second you find it easier to love and understand others. Loving others does not mean you then approve of all they do. No, it is a matter of understanding that nobody is perfect, yet loving them despite their weaknesses. You do not have to condone a rash, foolish or unwholesome act because you love someone. You do not even have to like someone in order to love them. But you do need to understand the operation of universal law. It is so arranged that payment will be extracted in one form or another for all negative acts or thoughts. Those who truly love, instead of condemning, try to support the individual so they have the strength to deal successfully with what is demanded of them.
One of the most difficult tasks we are set in our lives is that of avoiding the temptation to be judgemental. The Native Americans say that until we have walked a mile in another’s moccasins, we cannot know them. It is a very wise observation and one we do well to recognise. Because the yardstick we use to measure the behaviour of others, is limited and greatly influenced by our own, very imperfect experience, we cannot possibly be objective. Therefore we cannot possibly be fair because there is no way we can take into account all the relevant factors that went into bringing the individual concerned to the point in life they have reached. Even if we know a great many details about their background, upbringing and the circumstances of their birth, it is still an incomplete picture.
Were it in some magical way possible to know every thing, every person and every experience on earth that has shaped the person concerned, your knowledge would still only be partial. You see we have lived before - all of us. We came to our earthly bodies from elsewhere, bringing with us the accumulated experiences that earlier went into making us as individuals. So though we may think we know all about what has happened to them on earth, we can never know what happened to them before they got here.
Saturday, 25 July 2009
Words
“In the beginning the word was with God and the word was God …”
Why should the Christian bible begin like this? Are words important? Is the children’s saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me,” really true? Do certain words have power? If so, what sort of power?
Words are the chief form of communication between human beings, whether it is the spoken or the written word. Indeed, other forms of communication, which I think were widely used by the initiated in ancient times, have fallen into disuse, so that words are virtually the only official form of communication today. Why do I say official? What possible ‘unofficial’ forms of communication are there? What about music and painting? Does not a piece of music become a favourite because it “speaks” to us in some special, hidden way? Great painting communicates emotions and feelings that have nothing whatever to do with the pigments used to paint the picture. In ancient times, it is clear that the great Neolithic structures such as Cargnac in France or Stonehenge and Avebury, in England were not merely used for predicting eclipses or as religious centres. I think they were built on special lines of earthly force, called Ley Lines and they were used for transmitting telepathic communication from the initiates in one place, to those in another. I think the Ley Lines were chosen with great care for certain of them aid telepathy more than others.
Feelings! They are the key to all communication. Whatever form communication takes, it evokes a response from the listener, reader or observer. It might be boredom, excitement, joy, love, annoyance, interest, anticipation, the list is endless. The thing is, all these are feelings and our feelings are aroused by many forms of communication, of which words are only one. That does not make words unimportant however, for they are almost the only way in which we communicate our thoughts to one another. You might say, “The fact that words evoke emotional responses means that of course they have power,” and of course you would be right. However, that is not the power I am thinking of.
The writers of Genesis were not the first, nor the last to imply that certain words had great power. Esoteric teachers of all backgrounds have always taught that and consequently those words are a closely guarded secret. Can that be true? I think so and in order to understand why, we need to examine what happens when we speak. As I said earlier, words express thoughts, so one thing that happens when we speak is that thought waves are sent out. The second is sound is created. This means that sound waves move through the air as well. This is how we hear the words of course but we don’t just hear the sound waves, we also feel them as we do the thought waves. The reason music evokes emotional responses is because of the way in which it creates sound waves that either attract or repel us. Words do the same, although, because they are in such common use we think less about the feelings being evoked. We know though, that the same word can have totally different effects depending upon the way it is said. As the old song puts it, “It ain’t what you say it’s the way that you say it.”
Thought waves are much more subtle, but because of this, their effects can be more insidious. We absorb their vibrations subconsciously and whilst our individual minds are normally strong enough to ignore their calls to action, that is not true of everyone and I believe many is the act committed on the instigation of another’s thoughts, without the individual being aware why he or she acted like they did. However, in the instance we are discussing it is sufficient to recognise that every word uttered or written is preceded by a thought. Therefore, we feel the vibration of spoken words in two ways, with our ears, as the sound waves vibrate the air and with our minds, as the thought waves are picked up by that ultra-sensitive instrument. It is for this reason that esoteric teachers have always claimed the spoken word to be the more powerful.
It is interesting to examine also the effect the structure of a language can have on its speakers’ brains. I have read that many scientists believe the reason the Japanese are so good at exploiting other people’s inventions but poor at inventing things themselves, is due to their language. The language contains far more vowels than do European languages, for instance, and it seems that because of this, certain areas of the brain remain undeveloped and they include areas that are used in the inventive process. If speaking a certain language can affect the brain in such a way, it is not surely stretching credulity too far to suggest that words can have other powerful properties.
I believe that such ‘power words’ are such, not because of what they might mean, if indeed they mean anything at all, but due to the sound made in pronouncing them. The way the sound produced vibrates the air, also impacts upon the ultra-sensitivity of the mind and because the mind is part of the eternal us, the spirit, rather than part of the physical body, like the brain, the word possesses what appear to be magical properties. We call something magic because we cannot understand it or how it works. We do the same with unaccountable occurrences or anything that seems to defy the rules we have invented as a result of our imperfect examination and understanding of the natural world and its laws. We call them miracles! Nothing can defy natural law, it is all encompassing and its laws cannot be ignored without serious consequences, but there are also many natural laws about which humanity has not the slightest idea. Magic and miracle tend to be dismissive words, meant to indicate that what has happened is pure chance and the likelihood of it happening again is remote. Nothing happens by chance. As Alexander Pope so perceptively observes in his “Essay on Man,” “All chance is direction which we cannot see.”
I do believe that certain words, pronounced in a particular way, do have great power and because of this should be used with enormous discretion. Most of these words have been lost from the vocabulary with the onset of materialism and the relegation of our inner selves to be mere bystanders in our physical lives. I think it is likely that the word “God,” in its original Hebrew, is one such power word. Hence it’s use in the opening sentence of the bible. It translates into English as Jehovah but I believe there are few if any people around today who know how to pronounce it in its form as a power word. If there are any, then they do well to keep their knowledge to themselves because this world of ours is in enough trouble due to the misuse of power, without adding to it.
Why should the Christian bible begin like this? Are words important? Is the children’s saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me,” really true? Do certain words have power? If so, what sort of power?
Words are the chief form of communication between human beings, whether it is the spoken or the written word. Indeed, other forms of communication, which I think were widely used by the initiated in ancient times, have fallen into disuse, so that words are virtually the only official form of communication today. Why do I say official? What possible ‘unofficial’ forms of communication are there? What about music and painting? Does not a piece of music become a favourite because it “speaks” to us in some special, hidden way? Great painting communicates emotions and feelings that have nothing whatever to do with the pigments used to paint the picture. In ancient times, it is clear that the great Neolithic structures such as Cargnac in France or Stonehenge and Avebury, in England were not merely used for predicting eclipses or as religious centres. I think they were built on special lines of earthly force, called Ley Lines and they were used for transmitting telepathic communication from the initiates in one place, to those in another. I think the Ley Lines were chosen with great care for certain of them aid telepathy more than others.
Feelings! They are the key to all communication. Whatever form communication takes, it evokes a response from the listener, reader or observer. It might be boredom, excitement, joy, love, annoyance, interest, anticipation, the list is endless. The thing is, all these are feelings and our feelings are aroused by many forms of communication, of which words are only one. That does not make words unimportant however, for they are almost the only way in which we communicate our thoughts to one another. You might say, “The fact that words evoke emotional responses means that of course they have power,” and of course you would be right. However, that is not the power I am thinking of.
The writers of Genesis were not the first, nor the last to imply that certain words had great power. Esoteric teachers of all backgrounds have always taught that and consequently those words are a closely guarded secret. Can that be true? I think so and in order to understand why, we need to examine what happens when we speak. As I said earlier, words express thoughts, so one thing that happens when we speak is that thought waves are sent out. The second is sound is created. This means that sound waves move through the air as well. This is how we hear the words of course but we don’t just hear the sound waves, we also feel them as we do the thought waves. The reason music evokes emotional responses is because of the way in which it creates sound waves that either attract or repel us. Words do the same, although, because they are in such common use we think less about the feelings being evoked. We know though, that the same word can have totally different effects depending upon the way it is said. As the old song puts it, “It ain’t what you say it’s the way that you say it.”
Thought waves are much more subtle, but because of this, their effects can be more insidious. We absorb their vibrations subconsciously and whilst our individual minds are normally strong enough to ignore their calls to action, that is not true of everyone and I believe many is the act committed on the instigation of another’s thoughts, without the individual being aware why he or she acted like they did. However, in the instance we are discussing it is sufficient to recognise that every word uttered or written is preceded by a thought. Therefore, we feel the vibration of spoken words in two ways, with our ears, as the sound waves vibrate the air and with our minds, as the thought waves are picked up by that ultra-sensitive instrument. It is for this reason that esoteric teachers have always claimed the spoken word to be the more powerful.
It is interesting to examine also the effect the structure of a language can have on its speakers’ brains. I have read that many scientists believe the reason the Japanese are so good at exploiting other people’s inventions but poor at inventing things themselves, is due to their language. The language contains far more vowels than do European languages, for instance, and it seems that because of this, certain areas of the brain remain undeveloped and they include areas that are used in the inventive process. If speaking a certain language can affect the brain in such a way, it is not surely stretching credulity too far to suggest that words can have other powerful properties.
I believe that such ‘power words’ are such, not because of what they might mean, if indeed they mean anything at all, but due to the sound made in pronouncing them. The way the sound produced vibrates the air, also impacts upon the ultra-sensitivity of the mind and because the mind is part of the eternal us, the spirit, rather than part of the physical body, like the brain, the word possesses what appear to be magical properties. We call something magic because we cannot understand it or how it works. We do the same with unaccountable occurrences or anything that seems to defy the rules we have invented as a result of our imperfect examination and understanding of the natural world and its laws. We call them miracles! Nothing can defy natural law, it is all encompassing and its laws cannot be ignored without serious consequences, but there are also many natural laws about which humanity has not the slightest idea. Magic and miracle tend to be dismissive words, meant to indicate that what has happened is pure chance and the likelihood of it happening again is remote. Nothing happens by chance. As Alexander Pope so perceptively observes in his “Essay on Man,” “All chance is direction which we cannot see.”
I do believe that certain words, pronounced in a particular way, do have great power and because of this should be used with enormous discretion. Most of these words have been lost from the vocabulary with the onset of materialism and the relegation of our inner selves to be mere bystanders in our physical lives. I think it is likely that the word “God,” in its original Hebrew, is one such power word. Hence it’s use in the opening sentence of the bible. It translates into English as Jehovah but I believe there are few if any people around today who know how to pronounce it in its form as a power word. If there are any, then they do well to keep their knowledge to themselves because this world of ours is in enough trouble due to the misuse of power, without adding to it.
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
“Now We See …”
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: Now, I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
This famous quotation from St. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and how it is generally understood by Christians, is yet another example of how his words have been twisted by theologians. Paul knew more about the nature of spirit, our structure of mind, body and spirit and the spirit world after death, than any of the disciples of the Nazarene. Yet his words have been used to prop up the fallacy that a) the physical body is resurrected into heaven and b) every one of us must wait in our graves until some imaginary trumpet sounds and we all go to spirit together. That is if we are all Christians!
The “see through a glass darkly” letter has been used to uphold the idea of a vengeful God who punishes us ‘miserable sinners’ when we arrive in spirit eventually. How we are supposed to equate this with a God of love has always been beyond my power to understand. Read with an open mind, unsullied by Christian dogma, this letter is an explanation that while we are here on earth, our spirit, which is our true self, is unable to operate freely because of the restrictions imposed by a material world and a material body and there are sound reasons for this.
We have inklings of the power and love of spirit at certain times in our lives but most things about spirit, what we are and what eventually becomes of us are shrouded by these restrictions I mentioned. We only see part of the picture. It is like looking through a darkened mirror, which is exactly what Paul is saying. He goes on however, to say that “then shall I know even as I am known.” In other words when we lose the constriction of a physical body and can be our true, free, spirit selves in a world of the spirit, we shall understand the reasons why we chose to come to earth, why we ended up living the life we did, what spiritual lessons we learned from it and the fact that all are eternal spirits, part of the Great Spirit. In addition, others will be able to know and understand us as we really are. Here on earth, we are able to hide certain aspects of our character from other people but there we can hide nothing – all is revealed.
“By your light shall you be known” and that light is bright or dim dependent upon the way we have lived our lives on earth. It matters not whether we have been what the world considers good or bad, what matters is how we have used the opportunities life has presented us with to be of service to our fellow creatures, human and animal. Have we given service to others or have we been totally selfish? Of course we are human and none of us can be good all the time. There will be occasions when we have erred, done what we shouldn’t have done or failed to do what we should. The occurrence itself is less important than the outcome. Have we learned from the error? Are we trying harder to avoid making the same mistake? Sometimes when we realise our mistakes, we are filled with remorse and become depressed and withdrawn. This is unfortunate, for rather than being so, we should be asking God to give us the opportunity to make amends so that we can show that we have truly learned our lesson. There is no point in depressing ourselves because that drives us within and makes us introverted. Then it is all the more difficult to recognise an opportunity to make amends when it appears. Do not fear that you may not be given another opportunity or that God will desert you. You are eternal, you are part of the Great Spirit and as such will never be abandoned, will always be forgiven and always presented with opportunities to make up for your transgressions.
Time is part of the magic of life. Today is of itself; tomorrow is a new day, with new opportunities and new challenges. We should try hard not to carry into the new day the rubbish from yesterday. What happened yesterday, try to leave with yesterday and rejoice in the dawn of a new day with all its promise and excitement. Don’t spoil the dawn with regrets. Look forward to tomorrow in that spirit and the ‘problems’ of today will assume their true perspective. You will find, as a result, you are more relaxed and in that relaxation ideas will come to you, ideas to take you forward, that you would never have when you are tense, anxious and worried.
Part of the challenge of physical life is that we can only see with partial sight. Our spiritual eyes are clouded deliberately in order to force us to work harder to break through the dimness, even just a little, and espy the glory from which we came and to which we will inevitably return.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Impossible?
Whether physically, mentally or spiritually, we can only grow and progress if we reach beyond our grasp. We need to extend ourselves. A good starting place is to remind ourselves that anything we can imagine is possible. The imagination is what has transformed our world and transformed the lives of everybody living in it. No matter how impossible a dream you imagine might seem, you have the ability to realise it if only you will understand nothing is impossible. Impossible is a word associated purely with physical life. The spirit knows of no such word. As the great Albert Einstein once said, “Unless your first idea is impossible you will achieve nothing new.”
Impossibility is in the mind. We place unnecessary restrictions upon ourselves because we listen too closely to the voice of the ego instead of to the ‘still small voice’ from our inner self. Just think for a moment about what our lives would be like now had individuals not defied their ego when it whispered “impossible”. We would have no fires in our homes, no running water, no glass in the windows, certainly not telephone, radio, TV or computer. There would be no motor cars or aeroplanes, buses or taxis. In other words we would still be living in caves.
Just imagine if Alexander Graham Bell had given up after ninety-nine unsuccessful experiments and not moved on to number one hundred that gave us the telephone. What if the Wright brothers had refused the challenge to build a machine that could fly? What if NASA had told President Kennedy that putting a man on the moon was just a wild dream and quite beyond human ingenuity? In his great poem “If”, Rudyard Kipling says, “… If you can stand quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail in monumental mockery … Then you’ll be a man my son.” Conventional wisdom or fashion has held back human progress in all fields, including the spiritual. Only when an individual has been courageous enough to defy it has the next stride forward been made.
How has conventional wisdom restricted spiritual progress? In this field, conventional wisdom is the established churches, temples and monasteries throughout the world. For differing reasons, each of the established religions refuses to encourage people to believe that they are eternal spiritual beings WITHOUT EXCEPTION. They always hedge their claims for immortality around their desire to increase and or retain members of their particular faith. Consequently it is only when an individual appears who is blessed with exceptional powers of the spirit, that the misleading nature of the claims of those religions is exposed. What happens then? Fear! In their fear, partly of the unknown but chiefly of losing their power and control over people, the religions condemn the person concerned and eventually succeed in having him or her killed.
Fear is another tool of the ego. It is one of the strongest ways in which it exerts its control over each one of us. When Franklyn Roosevelt said “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” he was stating a truism. Refuse to be cowed by fear or “the impossible” and we set ourselves free of the cloying attentions of the ego. We become, as we should be, spiritual beings living temporarily in a physical world but with all the enormous powers of the spirit at our finger tips: Power to co-create with the Great Spirit Himself, because there is a portion of Him within us all. Our centre, our true self, is pure spirit and is indistinguishable in the power it can access, from God or the Great Spirit, Infinite Intelligence, or any one of a hundred names we have given the Creator over millennia. We are not only immortal we can be all powerful too but in the highest sense of that word. Restrictions on our access to that incredible power are only those imposed by love and concern for its effects on other people. Only when we are sure others will be adversely affected should we pause in our pursuit of new knowledge. Even then, the wider view urges us to continue.
We all know the arguments put forward against the use of atomic energy in warfare and many roundly condemn those scientists involved in the Manhattan Project. However, remember Hitler had also embarked upon the same project and how far should we blame the inventor for the use to which others put his invention? One person or a group of people should surely not be held responsible for the immoral actions of others in the way their invention is used. Humanity has always looked at ways to use new inventions as weapons first because we have not evolved far enough beyond our animal beginnings. We have listened too much to the siren voice of the ego. The invention of gunpowder produced the firearm and the bullet but it also produced the beautiful spectacle of the firework display. Atomic energy has produced many medical benefits that would not have been possible had Einstein foreseen earlier the use to which his discovery of relativity would be put or Oppenheimer refused to invent the bomb. The internal combustion engine was responsible for the tank and the bomber but also for the motor car and the airliner. The use of gas, both manufactured and natural, gave birth to the unspeakable horrors of Belsen but also to preparation of our Sunday lunch.
No, we should accept no restrictions on the power of the human mind to invent and imagine but we should insist upon the same freedom where spiritual knowledge is concerned. Those having religious power, mostly know of the great power of the spirit but refuse to speak about it openly because they say people are too undeveloped to use such knowledge wisely. This in my view is pure humbug. Without the opportunity to extend our spiritual grasp by learning of these powers, how will we ever develop the moral responsibility to use all Gods gifts wisely? That our spiritual evolution as human beings lags so far behind our physical and mental evolution is not only a tragedy but also a condemnation of generations of manipulators who called themselves ‘spiritual leaders’. Restriction is negative and negativity produces darkness. Only when we are allowed to see the positive benefits of freedom, true freedom with responsibility, will we progress spiritually beyond the primitive stage we are at and release the light of the spirit into the world in its full glory.
Impossibility is in the mind. We place unnecessary restrictions upon ourselves because we listen too closely to the voice of the ego instead of to the ‘still small voice’ from our inner self. Just think for a moment about what our lives would be like now had individuals not defied their ego when it whispered “impossible”. We would have no fires in our homes, no running water, no glass in the windows, certainly not telephone, radio, TV or computer. There would be no motor cars or aeroplanes, buses or taxis. In other words we would still be living in caves.
Just imagine if Alexander Graham Bell had given up after ninety-nine unsuccessful experiments and not moved on to number one hundred that gave us the telephone. What if the Wright brothers had refused the challenge to build a machine that could fly? What if NASA had told President Kennedy that putting a man on the moon was just a wild dream and quite beyond human ingenuity? In his great poem “If”, Rudyard Kipling says, “… If you can stand quite out of fashion, like a rusty mail in monumental mockery … Then you’ll be a man my son.” Conventional wisdom or fashion has held back human progress in all fields, including the spiritual. Only when an individual has been courageous enough to defy it has the next stride forward been made.
How has conventional wisdom restricted spiritual progress? In this field, conventional wisdom is the established churches, temples and monasteries throughout the world. For differing reasons, each of the established religions refuses to encourage people to believe that they are eternal spiritual beings WITHOUT EXCEPTION. They always hedge their claims for immortality around their desire to increase and or retain members of their particular faith. Consequently it is only when an individual appears who is blessed with exceptional powers of the spirit, that the misleading nature of the claims of those religions is exposed. What happens then? Fear! In their fear, partly of the unknown but chiefly of losing their power and control over people, the religions condemn the person concerned and eventually succeed in having him or her killed.
Fear is another tool of the ego. It is one of the strongest ways in which it exerts its control over each one of us. When Franklyn Roosevelt said “We have nothing to fear but fear itself,” he was stating a truism. Refuse to be cowed by fear or “the impossible” and we set ourselves free of the cloying attentions of the ego. We become, as we should be, spiritual beings living temporarily in a physical world but with all the enormous powers of the spirit at our finger tips: Power to co-create with the Great Spirit Himself, because there is a portion of Him within us all. Our centre, our true self, is pure spirit and is indistinguishable in the power it can access, from God or the Great Spirit, Infinite Intelligence, or any one of a hundred names we have given the Creator over millennia. We are not only immortal we can be all powerful too but in the highest sense of that word. Restrictions on our access to that incredible power are only those imposed by love and concern for its effects on other people. Only when we are sure others will be adversely affected should we pause in our pursuit of new knowledge. Even then, the wider view urges us to continue.
We all know the arguments put forward against the use of atomic energy in warfare and many roundly condemn those scientists involved in the Manhattan Project. However, remember Hitler had also embarked upon the same project and how far should we blame the inventor for the use to which others put his invention? One person or a group of people should surely not be held responsible for the immoral actions of others in the way their invention is used. Humanity has always looked at ways to use new inventions as weapons first because we have not evolved far enough beyond our animal beginnings. We have listened too much to the siren voice of the ego. The invention of gunpowder produced the firearm and the bullet but it also produced the beautiful spectacle of the firework display. Atomic energy has produced many medical benefits that would not have been possible had Einstein foreseen earlier the use to which his discovery of relativity would be put or Oppenheimer refused to invent the bomb. The internal combustion engine was responsible for the tank and the bomber but also for the motor car and the airliner. The use of gas, both manufactured and natural, gave birth to the unspeakable horrors of Belsen but also to preparation of our Sunday lunch.
No, we should accept no restrictions on the power of the human mind to invent and imagine but we should insist upon the same freedom where spiritual knowledge is concerned. Those having religious power, mostly know of the great power of the spirit but refuse to speak about it openly because they say people are too undeveloped to use such knowledge wisely. This in my view is pure humbug. Without the opportunity to extend our spiritual grasp by learning of these powers, how will we ever develop the moral responsibility to use all Gods gifts wisely? That our spiritual evolution as human beings lags so far behind our physical and mental evolution is not only a tragedy but also a condemnation of generations of manipulators who called themselves ‘spiritual leaders’. Restriction is negative and negativity produces darkness. Only when we are allowed to see the positive benefits of freedom, true freedom with responsibility, will we progress spiritually beyond the primitive stage we are at and release the light of the spirit into the world in its full glory.
Monday, 20 July 2009
Be at Peace
Try to be still for a while today. Make a pact with yourself that for 15 minutes or so you are not going to allow anything or anyone to disturb you. Turn off the phones, sit somewhere in the house where you know you won’t be interrupted and prepare to enjoy the peace which is at the heart of you.Prepare to link with that pure light that is at the heart of every individual, the light that surely is the ‘light of the world,’ if only we did not hide it so effectively. At your centre, you are pure spirit, pure light and the imperfections you have convinced yourself you have are God’s way of teaching us to make our light even brighter. We all have outer imperfections and when we deal with and overcome them we become spiritually stronger. Just as we need physical exercise to develop strong muscles and a healthy body, so we need spiritual exercise to develop stronger spiritual muscles and a healthy spiritual body. Stronger spiritual muscles are reflected in the light we project from our inner core and it grows brighter the more we fight to overcome our imperfections by helping others in whatever way our gifts allow us to.
By linking regularly with that inner light, you become more aware of your total being – mind, body and spirit. The peace that comes when you are truly still enables the light to manifest itself to you and also provides you with added spiritual strength. It seems anomalous I know but it is true nonetheless. Stillness creates great inner strength. It also helps to reinforce your physical organs and enables you to cope with stress. If you are particularly stressed in your job or your relationship, by regularly seeking inner stillness you will find the stress affects you less and less. After all, what is stress but a tightening of the nerves because there appears to be no time to sort out problems; stillness helps you find all the time in the world. You will also find other people begin to notice a change in you. The stillness you seek regularly is reflected in an aura of great peace around you and people sense it. They want to share it and so they seek out your company more than previously. Their inner light is responding to the peace it senses emanating from you. That is why they want to spend more time with you.
There are many good reasons therefore why we should seek to be still on a regular basis. In this modern world there is so much noise and hassle which in themselves create stress without many being aware of its cause. If you want to be healthier, to discover more about you as a holistic being, be able to cope with stress more easily and to help others do the same, then be still. Move out of the cacophony of modern life for just a few minutes and you will never regret it.
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Angels
Are there such things as angels? What are they? What about ‘fallen angels’? Do we all have guardian angels? Will an angel really help me if I’m in trouble? Do they really have wings?Yes, angels are real, they do exist and we should each be grateful that it is so. Were it not for their devotion to humanity, our world would be in an even worse state than it is, for they use their brilliant light to offset the power of darkness. Darkness brought about through humanity’s ignorance of the truth about life. Because so many over the centuries have allowed their egos to dominate their lives and determine their actions, things of the earth have assumed an importance out of all proportion to what their role should be in the eternal life of the spirit. Angels have dedicated themselves to saving us from ourselves.
Unlike our loved ones in spirit, who wish to help individuals in their family, angels are spirits devoted to helping mankind in general. Of course in helping mankind, it is inevitable that they help individuals too, for what is humanity but the sum total of individuals. Angels sacrifice a great deal in order to carry out their chosen service to us. They are highly evolved spirit beings who have attained great advancement in the spiritual world. Their bodies vibrate at a frequency way in excess of our own and the light they emit would blind us were we able to gaze upon it as it really is. The light they bring with them to earth has been modified so as not to harm us. In coming to help us, they willingly give up the delightful surroundings of their homes in spirit and subject themselves to the gross, cloying atmosphere of this physical planet. In order to draw close to us they must slow down the vibration of their bodies to match that of the earth, as well modify their light and this is a painful experience for them. This is a measure of their devotion.
Fallen angels are a figment of the overactive imaginations of medieval religious zealots and the term is, I believe, an insult to those dear blessed ones who so selflessly offer to help us extricate ourselves from the mess we have created on this beautiful planet of ours. If one is kind to those who invented the term, it is their way of pointing out that throughout God’s kingdom, for every positive power there is also a negative one. It is their description of the powers of darkness. Viewed from that angle, it is a warning to us that spiritual darkness is a fact of which we should be fully aware. The saving grace is that when light is focussed on darkness of any description, it just dissolves and this is exactly what angels have devoted themselves to achieving.
Do I have a guardian angel? You, as we all do, have a guardian; someone devoted to serving and protecting you who has been with you since before you were born. In their devotion and commitment to service, they are very similar to angels but theirs is a role involving a single human being. I do not believe they therefore place themselves in the same category as angels. It was your guardian with whom you discussed your reason and purpose in coming to earth and they try, throughout our earthly lives, to prompt us to fulfil those. It is your guardian who will help you review your life on earth when you have returned once more to the spirit world. They are very important people to us and they love us with a devotion beyond our imagining. Theirs truly is unconditional love.
Will an angel help us if we are in trouble? It depends upon the trouble. Our loved ones in spirit and our guardian will be the first to bring help when we are in trouble and they can help us a great deal if only we will listen to their counsel with our inner ears. Occasionally, it seems that we become mired in an ever deepening morass of trouble. We appear to be surrounded with darkness, into which it seems no light can penetrate. We feel utterly deserted and at our wits end. When we are truly desperate in this way and in our desperation look outwards, forgetting self just for a little while, when we cry out in our pain and anguish that is when angels come to help. They will never stand by and let us fall deeper into the quagmire and their light and power is much stronger than that of our loved ones or our guardian. When it seems we have been deserted by everyone and everything and have nowhere to turn; that is when angels come to our aid as individuals. They truly are messengers of God, carrying out His loving wishes.
Do they have wings? I don’t believe so. For those who have been privileged to gaze upon them, their light is so bright, even in its modified state, that no clear outline of their shape is discernable. They clearly can move effortlessly from place to place without walking or any of the normal human ways of moving. These I believe, are what has led people to presume angels have wings. In spirit each of us can move from place to place merely by an act of will, for it is a world of the mind, a world of thought. We just think about a certain place and, hey presto, there we are! It is small wonder therefore that this ability has been assumed by ignorant humanity to require wings.
Saturday, 18 July 2009
Thought for Today
When there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, there's a reason. It is time to let your own light shine.
Friday, 17 July 2009
All Around Us
“All around us, though unseen, the dear, eternal spirits soar”
These words from an old hymn should be amongst the most comforting we can hear. It means we can never be alone, even when all our earthly family, friends and acquaintances have deserted us. Yet so many people have been made to fear the presence of those dear eternal spirits.
We have imbibed almost with our mothers milk, the idea that the only ‘spirits’ that are around us are those who are ‘earthbound’ or are bent on mischief. We are afraid to walk through a churchyard or cemetery in the dark because we have been indoctrinated into thinking the spirits of all those buried there are just waiting, waiting for the last trump. Only those who are ‘unquiet’ and aim to frighten us make their presence known. It makes us fear their presence, for so many have accepted that the spirit of the person who has died remains in and around their grave. For this reason many think that cremation is wrong because no physical body remains for the spirit to stay around.
How sad! The truth is so different and so liberating. Those dear spirits are all around us because they love us, the two worlds, spirit and earth, interpenetrate and the spirit world is on a different level of vibration than the earth. This means spirits can be in the same room without us being physically conscious of their presence, in the same way as radio and television waves fill the room we are in but without a radio or TV receiver, we are unaware of them. This means, if only we would unlearn the negative teachings of those more interested in temporal power than in recognising the eternal spirit in humanity, we could receive help, support and guidance from our loved ones in spirit whenever we need it. Whilst those loved ones have not suddenly developed wisdom they did not possess on earth, their love is real and tangible and love can work wonders.
They live in a world of thought and light and because of where they are, they can sometimes see a little further along our pathway of life than we can ourselves. This enables them to give helpful suggestions if only we knew how to hear them. Instead of frightening people with tales of ghosts and ghouls, of evil spirits and possession, the great religions should be teaching everyone about how close the two worlds are and what wonderful benefits that can bring to people. They are afraid of course, because such knowledge will demonstrate that everyone survives the change we call death and therefore undermines their claim that in order to reach ‘heaven’, ‘nirvanah’ or whatever, people need to accept unquestioningly their particular dogmas.
How frustrating it is for our loved ones in spirit to know they can help or comfort us but are unable to make us listen to them. Of course we must live our own lives and cannot expect others, whether here or in spirit, to take our decisions for us. However, to have the comfort of knowing they are there, available, ever loving and anxious to help would be so liberating to everyone at difficult times in our lives. To paraphrase a well known line of poetry, they have not even gone to the next room; they are still in this one with us. Stretch out your hand and they will grasp it in love and together you can gently move towards the light of spiritual understanding.
These words from an old hymn should be amongst the most comforting we can hear. It means we can never be alone, even when all our earthly family, friends and acquaintances have deserted us. Yet so many people have been made to fear the presence of those dear eternal spirits.
We have imbibed almost with our mothers milk, the idea that the only ‘spirits’ that are around us are those who are ‘earthbound’ or are bent on mischief. We are afraid to walk through a churchyard or cemetery in the dark because we have been indoctrinated into thinking the spirits of all those buried there are just waiting, waiting for the last trump. Only those who are ‘unquiet’ and aim to frighten us make their presence known. It makes us fear their presence, for so many have accepted that the spirit of the person who has died remains in and around their grave. For this reason many think that cremation is wrong because no physical body remains for the spirit to stay around.
How sad! The truth is so different and so liberating. Those dear spirits are all around us because they love us, the two worlds, spirit and earth, interpenetrate and the spirit world is on a different level of vibration than the earth. This means spirits can be in the same room without us being physically conscious of their presence, in the same way as radio and television waves fill the room we are in but without a radio or TV receiver, we are unaware of them. This means, if only we would unlearn the negative teachings of those more interested in temporal power than in recognising the eternal spirit in humanity, we could receive help, support and guidance from our loved ones in spirit whenever we need it. Whilst those loved ones have not suddenly developed wisdom they did not possess on earth, their love is real and tangible and love can work wonders.
They live in a world of thought and light and because of where they are, they can sometimes see a little further along our pathway of life than we can ourselves. This enables them to give helpful suggestions if only we knew how to hear them. Instead of frightening people with tales of ghosts and ghouls, of evil spirits and possession, the great religions should be teaching everyone about how close the two worlds are and what wonderful benefits that can bring to people. They are afraid of course, because such knowledge will demonstrate that everyone survives the change we call death and therefore undermines their claim that in order to reach ‘heaven’, ‘nirvanah’ or whatever, people need to accept unquestioningly their particular dogmas.
How frustrating it is for our loved ones in spirit to know they can help or comfort us but are unable to make us listen to them. Of course we must live our own lives and cannot expect others, whether here or in spirit, to take our decisions for us. However, to have the comfort of knowing they are there, available, ever loving and anxious to help would be so liberating to everyone at difficult times in our lives. To paraphrase a well known line of poetry, they have not even gone to the next room; they are still in this one with us. Stretch out your hand and they will grasp it in love and together you can gently move towards the light of spiritual understanding.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
What Awaits?
What will we find when our time comes to return to our homes in the spirit world? Do we have anything to fear? Why do so many fear death?
I will try to answer these questions in reverse order.
There are several reasons why we fear death. First and foremost, I believe there is an inbuilt mechanism that promotes this fear in order that we will not be tempted to return to the spirit world early when things get too difficult here. Then there is the long term impact of misleading theology. Many of the most influential religions have created taboos about death in order to bolster their membership. Christianity for instance, has long peddled the misinformation that everyone must wait for the last trumpet to sound before they can take up life in the world of the spirit. This is a deliberate and cynical misinterpretation of the words of St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. What Paul meant when he wrote his words, was that because the spirit is immortal, when we die, it is as if a trumpet sounds to call us to the eternal life of the spirit. The theologians, instead of explaining the trumpet sounds separately for each person, have decided to teach that the trumpet sounds just once and we all must wait for that moment, irrespective of when we die. This coupled with the equally ridiculous idea that only Christians will obtain eternal life in spirit, has led to many wealthy people trying to buy their place in eternity by giving vast monetary donations to the church. Finally, we fear the actual process of dying because sometimes it is painful and it is understandable that we wish to avoid experiencing pain.
Do we have anything to fear? I believe not, although each of us must go through a period in spirit where we review the events of our life and see our actions through the eyes of those who shared those events with us. People who were affected both in good and bad ways by what we did or did not do. This is not something to fear, even if you believe you have led a bad life. The review, which we undertake ourselves incidentally; there is no third party there judging us – that we do for ourselves – contains many surprises. We will be surprised by how often actions or words that to us meant very little at the time, had a huge impact upon another person. A small act of kindness on our part may have resulted in a life-changing experience for the recipient. Of course the reverse is true also. A thoughtless word or action may have had a devastating effect upon another. The sum total of our words and actions (our thoughts too) whilst on earth will be a little like the ‘Curate’s Egg’ – good in parts. Having had the review we are then rewarded for the good we have done and that is not always good in terms that the world of matter sees good, and have to make up to those we have injured in any way. Injury is not just physical or emotional injury but can be a matter of misleading a person into believing something false concerning the spirit. Perhaps about survival of death, the role of the spirit in this life and after or, convincing individuals they can only enjoy eternal life by believing certain creeds or dogmas. Each person we mislead in this way we have to apologise to and try to make up to them what they have lost or suffered as a result. However, how much we have to do is determined by our motives at the time we gave the injury. Suffering by others resulting form innocent actions or words of ours are less heinous than those done or said in the full knowledge they were wrong.
None of this need be cause for fear, rather the reverse. We are eternal beings and our objective is to perfect our spirit selves throughout eternity by giving service in many different ways. The chance to make up for any earthly actions that may have advertently or inadvertently hurt another is an opportunity to move a step closer to the light, to purify our spirit selves. The pleasant surprise of learning that some things we had long forgotten had helped another significantly is certainly something to anticipate with pleasure. The bible punching, tub thumping zealots may predict dire things for us when we get to spirit if we fail to follow their narrow and bigoted dogmas but the reality is very different. We are meant to live life on earth as physical beings, with all that means in terms of human weakness and error. Indeed error is often the way we learn best. The vast majority of people can hold their heads high when it comes to their earthly life and how it has been lived. It is true that our lives here would be much easier and more meaningful were we able to live them in the full knowledge that we are spirit beings who inherit eternal life in our true element which is the spiritual world. However, living our lives without that knowledge does not mean we are going to make a mess of things. Always remember, it is impossible for any of us to know everything that has brought another person to the point in life where our paths may cross. Therefore follow the excellent biblical advice to first remove the beam from your own eye before concerning yourself with the splinter in another’s.
What awaits us when we arrive in spirit? Joy!! The joy of reunion with friends and family we may have thought we had lost forever. All those who arrived there before we did will know about our impending arrival and many will have gathered to help us through the physical process of dying. One of the blessings God has given us is the ability to see these friends and loved ones when we are in the process of passing from this world to the next. Those unable to come to us at that time will make a big effort to join us in spirit once we arrive there. There is always a big celebration on the arrival ‘home’ a soul following their sojourn on earth. The spirit world itself is made up of many different levels, spheres or even ‘mansions’ as the Nazarene put it. Which of these becomes our ultimate dwelling place is determined by the brightness of our spiritual light. At first we go to a part of the spirit world known as ‘The Astral World’ which is the closest to the earth and virtually indistinguishable from it. No matter on what level our loved ones and friends are in the spiritual world, they will all come to visit us on the Astral when we arrive. Many will also continue to visit us at times later when we have moved from the Astral World. Lest you think that heaven or the spirit world is a dull, far too serious place, be assured all the things you find fun to do in your earthly life, you will be able to enjoy there too and I do mean ALL. Think also of the many things you can learn, do or enjoy once you no longer have to clothe or feed a physical body or keep a roof over your head with all that it entails. The freedom is marvellous and we will all be able to enjoy that freedom to our heart’s content.
I hope when you have read the foregoing, that any fears or anxieties you may have about ‘passing over’ will be assuaged. Yes, you and I will miss those we leave behind on earth when our time comes but it won’t be long, in spirit world time, before they are there with us too. Trust in the love of God and look forward with quiet joy to your transition when the time comes.
I will try to answer these questions in reverse order.
There are several reasons why we fear death. First and foremost, I believe there is an inbuilt mechanism that promotes this fear in order that we will not be tempted to return to the spirit world early when things get too difficult here. Then there is the long term impact of misleading theology. Many of the most influential religions have created taboos about death in order to bolster their membership. Christianity for instance, has long peddled the misinformation that everyone must wait for the last trumpet to sound before they can take up life in the world of the spirit. This is a deliberate and cynical misinterpretation of the words of St Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. What Paul meant when he wrote his words, was that because the spirit is immortal, when we die, it is as if a trumpet sounds to call us to the eternal life of the spirit. The theologians, instead of explaining the trumpet sounds separately for each person, have decided to teach that the trumpet sounds just once and we all must wait for that moment, irrespective of when we die. This coupled with the equally ridiculous idea that only Christians will obtain eternal life in spirit, has led to many wealthy people trying to buy their place in eternity by giving vast monetary donations to the church. Finally, we fear the actual process of dying because sometimes it is painful and it is understandable that we wish to avoid experiencing pain.
Do we have anything to fear? I believe not, although each of us must go through a period in spirit where we review the events of our life and see our actions through the eyes of those who shared those events with us. People who were affected both in good and bad ways by what we did or did not do. This is not something to fear, even if you believe you have led a bad life. The review, which we undertake ourselves incidentally; there is no third party there judging us – that we do for ourselves – contains many surprises. We will be surprised by how often actions or words that to us meant very little at the time, had a huge impact upon another person. A small act of kindness on our part may have resulted in a life-changing experience for the recipient. Of course the reverse is true also. A thoughtless word or action may have had a devastating effect upon another. The sum total of our words and actions (our thoughts too) whilst on earth will be a little like the ‘Curate’s Egg’ – good in parts. Having had the review we are then rewarded for the good we have done and that is not always good in terms that the world of matter sees good, and have to make up to those we have injured in any way. Injury is not just physical or emotional injury but can be a matter of misleading a person into believing something false concerning the spirit. Perhaps about survival of death, the role of the spirit in this life and after or, convincing individuals they can only enjoy eternal life by believing certain creeds or dogmas. Each person we mislead in this way we have to apologise to and try to make up to them what they have lost or suffered as a result. However, how much we have to do is determined by our motives at the time we gave the injury. Suffering by others resulting form innocent actions or words of ours are less heinous than those done or said in the full knowledge they were wrong.
None of this need be cause for fear, rather the reverse. We are eternal beings and our objective is to perfect our spirit selves throughout eternity by giving service in many different ways. The chance to make up for any earthly actions that may have advertently or inadvertently hurt another is an opportunity to move a step closer to the light, to purify our spirit selves. The pleasant surprise of learning that some things we had long forgotten had helped another significantly is certainly something to anticipate with pleasure. The bible punching, tub thumping zealots may predict dire things for us when we get to spirit if we fail to follow their narrow and bigoted dogmas but the reality is very different. We are meant to live life on earth as physical beings, with all that means in terms of human weakness and error. Indeed error is often the way we learn best. The vast majority of people can hold their heads high when it comes to their earthly life and how it has been lived. It is true that our lives here would be much easier and more meaningful were we able to live them in the full knowledge that we are spirit beings who inherit eternal life in our true element which is the spiritual world. However, living our lives without that knowledge does not mean we are going to make a mess of things. Always remember, it is impossible for any of us to know everything that has brought another person to the point in life where our paths may cross. Therefore follow the excellent biblical advice to first remove the beam from your own eye before concerning yourself with the splinter in another’s.
What awaits us when we arrive in spirit? Joy!! The joy of reunion with friends and family we may have thought we had lost forever. All those who arrived there before we did will know about our impending arrival and many will have gathered to help us through the physical process of dying. One of the blessings God has given us is the ability to see these friends and loved ones when we are in the process of passing from this world to the next. Those unable to come to us at that time will make a big effort to join us in spirit once we arrive there. There is always a big celebration on the arrival ‘home’ a soul following their sojourn on earth. The spirit world itself is made up of many different levels, spheres or even ‘mansions’ as the Nazarene put it. Which of these becomes our ultimate dwelling place is determined by the brightness of our spiritual light. At first we go to a part of the spirit world known as ‘The Astral World’ which is the closest to the earth and virtually indistinguishable from it. No matter on what level our loved ones and friends are in the spiritual world, they will all come to visit us on the Astral when we arrive. Many will also continue to visit us at times later when we have moved from the Astral World. Lest you think that heaven or the spirit world is a dull, far too serious place, be assured all the things you find fun to do in your earthly life, you will be able to enjoy there too and I do mean ALL. Think also of the many things you can learn, do or enjoy once you no longer have to clothe or feed a physical body or keep a roof over your head with all that it entails. The freedom is marvellous and we will all be able to enjoy that freedom to our heart’s content.
I hope when you have read the foregoing, that any fears or anxieties you may have about ‘passing over’ will be assuaged. Yes, you and I will miss those we leave behind on earth when our time comes but it won’t be long, in spirit world time, before they are there with us too. Trust in the love of God and look forward with quiet joy to your transition when the time comes.
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Bastille Day
This should have been posted yesterday but my server has been down for over 24 hours so it's a day late, sorry. Lionel
Yesterday the French celebrated the storming of a prison in Paris called the Bastille. It signalled the beginning of the French Revolution. A revolution that began with noble sentiments of equality, fraternity and liberty, only to subside into one of the bloodiest revolutions there has ever been.
The effects of this revolution are still being felt to this day, even though it took place in the eighteenth century. It is no exaggeration to say that the bloodthirsty events of the French Revolution caused such instability and released such powerful emotions throughout the whole of Europe, that all the conflicts which have followed, including the first and second world wars, can be traced back to it. Such a torrent of violence, class hatred and sheer bestiality was released that it has proved impossible to return public and private morality to their pre-French Revolution state, even though in Britain the Victorians tried hard to do so. The regime that was replaced by the revolution was admittedly, corrupt but its excesses were nothing compared to those of Citizen Robespierre and his colleagues. I suppose it can be said that Napoleon was the culmination of the revolution and certainly without it, he would never have risen to power. He took the European bloodlust that the revolution created, a step further forward. He is a hero to the French but Europe would be a more settled continent in my view, had he never existed.
How can it be that something which began on such a wave of popular enthusiasm, high hopes and high ideals, subsided into one of the worst tyrannies there has ever been? The answer to that illuminates the darkest corners of the human personality. The people who led the revolution and assumed command once the royal family were murdered, became corrupted, indeed they became far more morally corrupt than the royalty they replaced. The value of life became meaningless. Anyone who opposed the ruling elite was ruthlessly hunted down and killed and this did not just apply to the aristocracy whose heads became victim to ‘madame guillotine’ right from the start. Events in Moscow over a century later mirrored the events in Paris but minus the guillotine. Would the Russian revolution have gone the way it did without the French example? This is an interesting but unanswerable question.
Human beings are spirit encased in a body of flesh, flesh that has evolved over countless ages from the amoeba, through vegetable and animal to human. There are traces of our ancient physical ancestry in all of us. The spirit is pure but once it becomes subjected to the domination of the ego through our five senses, it is all too easy to strip away those thin layers of civilisation and reveal the beast beneath that drowns out the voice of reason which is the spirit. Once that happens then human morality is turned on its head and self interest is in control. Lord North was the wise man who put into words this terrible human tendency. He said memorably: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Unfortunately, few have heeded his warning and there has been no shortage of those wanting to exercise absolute power over their fellows and whose corruption has followed inevitably.
I believe we choose to live an earthly life in order to gain various spiritual benefits that are not always apparent while we are on earth. I believe one of these is the need to face and overcome the temptation to assume power and then be corrupted by it. Few set out seeking to be corrupted of course and many are the individuals who have entered politics for instance, fired with a desire to right the wrongs of generations and fight for the rights of the downtrodden. Not many recognise the pitfalls and all too soon the majority become part of the ‘establishment,’ corrupted by the privileges of power.
Is it possible to avoid such corruption? Clearly it is for the great reformers achieved their aims without falling foul of corruption. How? I believe the key is humility. Once one begins to think of one’s own indispensability and the absolute justice of one’s cause, one ceases to listen. Human beings are gregarious and we need each other. However, we do not need each other just so one can use another for his own ends, but in order to work together and be able to see a wider spectrum of events than we can possibly see alone. To achieve a worthwhile aim, we need to listen as well as to promote our own views. We need to have flexibility and to realise nothing is absolute and no individual has a monopoly on wisdom. This is true humility, it is totally divorced from spinelessness, with which it is confused by those who prefer using force rather than reasoned argument to browbeat others into submission to their ideas.
Many, when they see the ghastly results of the abuse of power, turn their faces away from it and refuse to undertake anything that might result in their being tainted by its influence. Just as shutting oneself up in a monastery or becoming a hermit is not a constructive way to deal with life’s temptations, so refusing responsibility because of its possible corrupting effects, is no way to achieve spiritual growth in this world. Only by more and more people successfully resisting the siren and corrupting voices of power can we as a species really begin to take the next step forward in our evolution. We are not only gregarious but also inter-connected and every step in evolution has resulted from one leading the way into a new development, to be closely followed by an increasing number of others, until the entire race is changed. Evolution is a spiritual as well as a physical aspect of human development and the two have to go hand in hand. Unfortunately, this has not happened and our physical evolution has proceeded apace but because it has not been subjected to proper control and supervision by the spirit, a serious imbalance has been created. This has resulted in the all too frequent lapses from what we accept as civilised behaviour.
Let us use the celebration of Bastille Day to remind ourselves of our interconnectedness, of our spiritual inheritance and of our need to successfully learn to use power constructively and not to become corrupted by it. Let us try diligently to use the power of the spirit to further humanity’s evolution. Forewarned is forearmed they say and so it is. Having the knowledge of the downside of power, we are surely better equipped to use its upside, by harnessing the light and power of the spirit to help us.
Yesterday the French celebrated the storming of a prison in Paris called the Bastille. It signalled the beginning of the French Revolution. A revolution that began with noble sentiments of equality, fraternity and liberty, only to subside into one of the bloodiest revolutions there has ever been.
The effects of this revolution are still being felt to this day, even though it took place in the eighteenth century. It is no exaggeration to say that the bloodthirsty events of the French Revolution caused such instability and released such powerful emotions throughout the whole of Europe, that all the conflicts which have followed, including the first and second world wars, can be traced back to it. Such a torrent of violence, class hatred and sheer bestiality was released that it has proved impossible to return public and private morality to their pre-French Revolution state, even though in Britain the Victorians tried hard to do so. The regime that was replaced by the revolution was admittedly, corrupt but its excesses were nothing compared to those of Citizen Robespierre and his colleagues. I suppose it can be said that Napoleon was the culmination of the revolution and certainly without it, he would never have risen to power. He took the European bloodlust that the revolution created, a step further forward. He is a hero to the French but Europe would be a more settled continent in my view, had he never existed.
How can it be that something which began on such a wave of popular enthusiasm, high hopes and high ideals, subsided into one of the worst tyrannies there has ever been? The answer to that illuminates the darkest corners of the human personality. The people who led the revolution and assumed command once the royal family were murdered, became corrupted, indeed they became far more morally corrupt than the royalty they replaced. The value of life became meaningless. Anyone who opposed the ruling elite was ruthlessly hunted down and killed and this did not just apply to the aristocracy whose heads became victim to ‘madame guillotine’ right from the start. Events in Moscow over a century later mirrored the events in Paris but minus the guillotine. Would the Russian revolution have gone the way it did without the French example? This is an interesting but unanswerable question.
Human beings are spirit encased in a body of flesh, flesh that has evolved over countless ages from the amoeba, through vegetable and animal to human. There are traces of our ancient physical ancestry in all of us. The spirit is pure but once it becomes subjected to the domination of the ego through our five senses, it is all too easy to strip away those thin layers of civilisation and reveal the beast beneath that drowns out the voice of reason which is the spirit. Once that happens then human morality is turned on its head and self interest is in control. Lord North was the wise man who put into words this terrible human tendency. He said memorably: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Unfortunately, few have heeded his warning and there has been no shortage of those wanting to exercise absolute power over their fellows and whose corruption has followed inevitably.
I believe we choose to live an earthly life in order to gain various spiritual benefits that are not always apparent while we are on earth. I believe one of these is the need to face and overcome the temptation to assume power and then be corrupted by it. Few set out seeking to be corrupted of course and many are the individuals who have entered politics for instance, fired with a desire to right the wrongs of generations and fight for the rights of the downtrodden. Not many recognise the pitfalls and all too soon the majority become part of the ‘establishment,’ corrupted by the privileges of power.
Is it possible to avoid such corruption? Clearly it is for the great reformers achieved their aims without falling foul of corruption. How? I believe the key is humility. Once one begins to think of one’s own indispensability and the absolute justice of one’s cause, one ceases to listen. Human beings are gregarious and we need each other. However, we do not need each other just so one can use another for his own ends, but in order to work together and be able to see a wider spectrum of events than we can possibly see alone. To achieve a worthwhile aim, we need to listen as well as to promote our own views. We need to have flexibility and to realise nothing is absolute and no individual has a monopoly on wisdom. This is true humility, it is totally divorced from spinelessness, with which it is confused by those who prefer using force rather than reasoned argument to browbeat others into submission to their ideas.
Many, when they see the ghastly results of the abuse of power, turn their faces away from it and refuse to undertake anything that might result in their being tainted by its influence. Just as shutting oneself up in a monastery or becoming a hermit is not a constructive way to deal with life’s temptations, so refusing responsibility because of its possible corrupting effects, is no way to achieve spiritual growth in this world. Only by more and more people successfully resisting the siren and corrupting voices of power can we as a species really begin to take the next step forward in our evolution. We are not only gregarious but also inter-connected and every step in evolution has resulted from one leading the way into a new development, to be closely followed by an increasing number of others, until the entire race is changed. Evolution is a spiritual as well as a physical aspect of human development and the two have to go hand in hand. Unfortunately, this has not happened and our physical evolution has proceeded apace but because it has not been subjected to proper control and supervision by the spirit, a serious imbalance has been created. This has resulted in the all too frequent lapses from what we accept as civilised behaviour.
Let us use the celebration of Bastille Day to remind ourselves of our interconnectedness, of our spiritual inheritance and of our need to successfully learn to use power constructively and not to become corrupted by it. Let us try diligently to use the power of the spirit to further humanity’s evolution. Forewarned is forearmed they say and so it is. Having the knowledge of the downside of power, we are surely better equipped to use its upside, by harnessing the light and power of the spirit to help us.
Monday, 13 July 2009
Colour
Welcome the day with colour! Have you ever thought how important colour is in our lives? Imagine life without colour; everything drab and dull; no bright colours to raise our spirits.
Colour is much more than just something that makes everything look more attractive; colour is living and vibrant, literally. Why is one thing blue, another red and a third yellow? It is because of light. All substances absorb certain wavelengths of light and reflect others. The colour of an object is determined by the wavelengths of light it reflects. Because it is emitting wavelengths of light, the object is vibrating and our bodies can feel that vibration if we try hard enough. It is how blind people are often able to tell you what colour you are wearing. This means that all the brightness and beauty in our world, that is so dependant upon colour, only exists because of the sun! Without the sun we would live in a dark, colourless world.
I want to talk today about using colour rays to help you be healthy and happy. When you arise each morning try this exercise in colour breathing. Stand by an open window and breath in deeply, holding that breath for a while before slowly exhaling.
Breathe in through the nose and slowly out through the mouth, then visualise yourself in a beautiful meadow. Feel your connection with the Earth, your feet are strongly grounded and you are aware of the beauty of nature. Look towards the sky where you will see a rainbow. Study the colours and repeat them in order- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Now begin to link with the rainbow’s colours. Visualise yourself surrounded by red. Draw the red close to you and when you are ready, imagine breathing in red through your nose and then out through your mouth. As you do this, feel the colour flowing in a circuit, in through the nose and out through the mouth. At the same time, try to feel and visualise the colour extending and forming a sphere that covers both your visible and invisible self. After red move onto orange, followed by the other colours and repeat the exercise for each colour. Finally you will reach violet, the colour linked to the crown chakra. Again breathe the colour in through your nose and out through the mouth. At this point look again at the rainbow and then return your focus to the meadow. Feel yourself blending with the Earth.
Gradually return your awareness to the room you are in. Rest for a few minutes and reflect upon any sensations you experienced, such as warmth, tingling, or feelings of energy enhancement. If you practice this exercise regularly you will find that you can tune into it quickly and can use it either as part of a longer meditation exercise or as a small exercise to re-energise you at times during the day when you feel tired, depleted or stressed.
If you find visualising a colour difficult you might like to first try visualising an image with which each colour relates. For example, visualise red as a tomato or a strawberry. Try to relate each colour to a particular visual image and then move onto the colour in its abstract form. Also, if you are a sensory rather than a visually oriented person, begin the exercise by ‘feeling’ each colour. This may sound strange but it is simple to do, particularly if beforehand you handle sheets of paper for each of the rainbow’s colours.
The colour breathing exercise helps to cleanse and re-energise your aura and can also help you reach a deeper level of meditation preparatory to trying other visualised meditations.
A variation of the colour breathing exercise is to visualise the rainbow colours linking into each chakra, beginning with red flowing into the base chakra then orange flowing into the second chakra and so on.
If you prefer, you can visualise the colours as flowers and breathe in their perfume, which is an aspect of their colour. Whichever way you use the colour breathing exercise I am sure you will find it beneficial and energising.
Sunday, 12 July 2009
The Unquiet Mind
A poetic contribution on this summer Sunday (well in the Northern hemisphere anyway!). It explores the problems of the mind that never seem able to still itself.
Lionel
Searching, searching, always searching,
Nothing satisfies your mind,
No sooner does it grasp one thing
When up another pops.
Never happy with the mundane,
It’s always seeking more,
It teases, analyses, reasons,
Not content with what it finds.
This restless nature so confusing,
To one with tranquil aspirations.
It is as though your mind’s decided,
Life’s too short to waste in peace.
You try and try to make it listen
To the heart and take it easy,
But that’s a waste of time.
Why, you ask has God decided
I cannot spend my life at ease?
Is it something in my Karma?
Was I so lazy in the past?
Was my mind so fat and idle
No exercise is now too great?
You’d think that such an active organ,
Would welcome this conjecture,
But no, it is already bored.
It’s off again and flying high,
It really is so tiring.
Your body needs rest, to have some peace,
Or it will end up crazy.
It seeks for rest when fast asleep,
But not the mind, Oh no sir,
It makes you dream so every night,
You wake up quite exhausted.
It seems there’s nothing else to do,
But learn to grin and bear it,
Although you envy all those souls,
Who claim life is too quiet.
And would gladly swap your mind with theirs,
If only God allowed it.
However, you must accept your fate,
There’s no point in complaining.
This much one’s learned from living life,
You cannot change what’s destined,
For I am me and you are you,
And God always has His reasons.
Lionel
Searching, searching, always searching,
Nothing satisfies your mind,
No sooner does it grasp one thing
When up another pops.
Never happy with the mundane,
It’s always seeking more,
It teases, analyses, reasons,
Not content with what it finds.
This restless nature so confusing,
To one with tranquil aspirations.
It is as though your mind’s decided,
Life’s too short to waste in peace.
You try and try to make it listen
To the heart and take it easy,
But that’s a waste of time.
Why, you ask has God decided
I cannot spend my life at ease?
Is it something in my Karma?
Was I so lazy in the past?
Was my mind so fat and idle
No exercise is now too great?
You’d think that such an active organ,
Would welcome this conjecture,
But no, it is already bored.
It’s off again and flying high,
It really is so tiring.
Your body needs rest, to have some peace,
Or it will end up crazy.
It seeks for rest when fast asleep,
But not the mind, Oh no sir,
It makes you dream so every night,
You wake up quite exhausted.
It seems there’s nothing else to do,
But learn to grin and bear it,
Although you envy all those souls,
Who claim life is too quiet.
And would gladly swap your mind with theirs,
If only God allowed it.
However, you must accept your fate,
There’s no point in complaining.
This much one’s learned from living life,
You cannot change what’s destined,
For I am me and you are you,
And God always has His reasons.
Saturday, 11 July 2009
Pets
Anybody who has ever owned a pet will know what a marvellous example of love and loyalty they are. It doesn’t matter whether it is a dog, cat, budgie, canary, whatever. Even though, for one reason or another, I have to leave my two dogs on their own sometimes for hours, do they complain about the length of my absence on my return? On the contrary, they are so welcoming and so pleased to see me that it makes me feel ashamed of my own inadequacies.
For people who are on their own and especially those who are house bound due to physical incapacity, a pet is a boon. To have a loving cat that curls up on your lap and encourages you to stroke its soft fur is one of the most relaxing experiences possible. When you are alone, conversation is something you miss a great deal and at least with a pet you have someone to talk to. Some may think the pet cannot possibly understand what you say but just ask any pet owner and see what they tell you. They will say their pet understands every word they say and that they have a very sophisticated way of communicating back.
There is scientific support for the idea that pets can understand what humans say. The Russians have carried out a large number of experiments investigating telepathy. As well as proving that telepathy between humans is a fact, they are satisfied that pets understand what their owners say to them. Clearly communication is not just a matter of the spoken word. Pets can feel what we mean, just as sometimes you and I become aware that a dispute has been taking place between two people in a room we’ve just entered because we can feel the atmosphere. Pets are much more responsive to emotion than human beings and this enables them to understand far more than we give them credit for.
No matter what you choose to believe about animal – human intercommunication, there is no doubt at all that the saying “A dog is a man’s best friend,” is not from a work of fiction. Many times pets have used their superior ‘sixth’ sense to warn us of difficulties ahead. For instance, dogs and cats are aware of impending earthquakes well before they happen. They can also spot another human who is a ‘wrong-un’ far more quickly than we can. We do well to pay attention to what our pets tell us but above all we would be so much happier as people if we adopted their attitude of unconditional love. Too often we choose to take affront at some remark made, even by a loved one, and retain that sense of injured pride far too long. What is pride after all? It is usually an inflated view of our own self-importance. The more pride of this kind we have, the more we need to begin taking ourselves less seriously. I am not talking here about justifiable pride in doing a good job or in one’s appearance. There is a fine line between this and overblown self-importance.
Become full of pride and conceit and we will quickly find the truth of the old saying, “Pride comes before a fall.” We should act more spontaneously, just like our pets, not act because of what we believe others might think, or because it is expected of us. Spontaneous action diminishes the risk that cynicism will take over the motivation of our actions. We should literally “do good for goodness sake.” We should give expecting nothing in return and we should try to love all people, even those we do not like. It is only in this way we can prove we really are spirit beings and part of the Great Spirit that created all things perfect. None of this is easy, and try as hard as we might, we will fall short over and over again but since I have begun quoting old proverbs, this is the time when we should remind our selves of another. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again.”
Spontaneity and perseverance are the twin foundations on which to build a better and more fulfilling life, both for individuals and the human race collectively. Love your pets and value them even more because through them and their example, we become better people.
Friday, 10 July 2009
Fearing God
God is love and through that love has fashioned all things. A glance at Wednesday’s blog will show you how to discover the truth of this. One of the most disgraceful religious demands I know of is the injunction to “Fear God.” That any religion can build a following based upon such a misrepresentation of the facts, demonstrates how intellectually lazy many people have become. People who are willing to accept a vengeful, partial God clearly have lost the ability to think for themselves and have handed their mind over to the priests who purvey this travesty. Anyone with a truly open mind can see that the only ones to benefit from such a demand are the priests and the so called religion they represent. It is a transparent attempt to manipulate and control individuals using the threat of God’s vengeance. Such organisations are firmly based in the world of matter and despite calling upon the Almighty fervently, are only interested in power in this world and care nothing for the world of the Spirit. Indeed they are amongst the first to mindlessly condemn those who provide evidence in support of that world.
The power which such organisations and their bigoted preachers have is totally dependent upon their followers not being willing to think for themselves. Why is it that in matters of the spirit in particular, so many of us are willing to surrender our thought processes to others? If only we understood how this complicates our journey as spirit beings in a physical body, we would be more cautious. I am convinced each one of us chose to be born into physical life because we saw a spiritual benefit in having to contend with being incarcerated in a body of matter and therefore would face a great challenge in expressing ourselves as spirit beings. From the rarefied heights of the spiritual world, we saw opportunities to be of service and opportunities to strengthen our soul by living in a world of conflict and playing our part in resolving such conflict.
Upon arrival on Earth, our perspective is dramatically altered. From the spiritual world we were unable to fully comprehend the enormous impact upon our souls of the five physical senses. Once here, those senses progressively supersede our spiritual awareness, unless we make an enormous effort to stop them. Here lies the root of our intellectual laziness where spiritual matters are concerned. For many, the effort to fight the huge impact of the senses is just too much and they prefer to allow others to do their spiritual thinking for them. There may appear to be relief in passing this heavy responsibility to others but the price at which it is bought is very high.
The root cause of much of the violence, unrest, physical and mental illness that is so clearly present and appears to be growing in our world, is the refusal by many, I would even say most, people to acknowledge the existence of their spiritual self. They are ignorant of the fact that we should live in this world in the sure knowledge of the world which is to come. This sets up growing internal conflict between their true self, the spirit and their material or temporary self, the ego. Because the spirit is frustrated in its attempts to make us aware of its presence, our development as complete, rounded human beings is hindered. The frustration of the spirit is reflected in physical and mental illness because a vital element in our makeup is being systematically ignored.
Most people are inherently kind and even though they may not understand the nature of their spiritual inheritance, their kindness is spiritual and gives an outlet for the spirit’s frustration. The problem comes for those individuals, whose numbers seem to be growing, who are so convinced of materialism that every effort of theirs is centred on self and self-gratification. There is little or no thought or respect for others, except for immediate family sometimes and also for those in positions of temporal power over them. That is when the inner conflict is maximised. Such people are only too willing to let others do their spiritual thinking for them and to use such ‘religions’ as a social base through which to further their self interest.
To be fair to those espousing fear of God, I think they originally saw fear as a means to frighten people into becoming more spiritually aware. They are unable to see that two negatives do not produce a positive. By playing on the fears of people completely grounded in the world of the senses, they hope to convince them to change their ways. What happens however is because such people only see with the eyes of the senses, as they grow older they wonder if there may not be some truth in the ‘wrath of God.’ Just in case there is, they try to ‘buy’ a place in heaven by giving large sums of money to the church. This has the effect of making the church leaders more materialistically inclined and so they are being suborned by their own philosophy. There seems little recognition that what is important is not what you believe but the way you live. Giving all the money in the world to the church will not alter one jot the natural law of ‘compensation and retribution,’ which is in some ways the spiritual equivalent of Newton’s Third Law of Motion in physics.
“For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”
Thursday, 9 July 2009
Worry
We worry about so many things don ‘t we? We especially worry about what other people think of us. We also worry about our children, the state of the world, where the next meal is coming from (if we are short of money), our weight, our health, if we’ll mange to catch that bus or this flight. The list appears endless.
What do we achieve by all this worrying? One thing we do not achieve is the resolution of whatever the problem is that is worrying us. Indeed we achieve the reverse. Worrying blocks the normal creative processes of the mind so the solution, which our minds would find if left free eludes us. This piles more worry on top of that we already have. The worry seems to take over everything; we scarcely have time to focus on anything else. That is not all. Worry makes us irritable with those around us, who in their turn become irritable back and so au unwholesome circle of irritability is created merely because we are occupying our minds in a negative way.
Worry is a mental activity and all mental activity creates thought-waves that people around us sense and not always just those in the immediate vicinity. Thought-waves respect no geographical boundaries. Thus, our worry-filled thought waves are bombarding others. Some, but by no means everyone, are mentally strong enough to resist being made negative by them. Those that are not strong enough to resist begin worrying themselves and they have no conscious idea why. We always need to guard our thoughts closely because thoughts precipitate action. Because personal responsibility is a spiritual law applying to all, who do you think is responsible if one person acts upon the thoughts of another, without consciously knowing that?
What can we do to prevent ourselves from worrying? First, try to be thorough in everything we do. Take our time and don’t act hastily. It has been wisely said, “Act in haste and repent at leisure.” Worry is often the result of us knowing subconsciously that we have done something we shouldn’t or left undone something that we should. If we try harder to be as thorough as we can, it will reduce the number of times we will be inclined to worry. In particular try to take care of what needs taking care of today, don’t procrastinate. Despite this, things will still go wrong, that is part of life’s uncertainty. When that happens, we should try to see where this might be leading us, what lessons there might be for us. In any event, it is no good worrying we need to focus our minds on repairing the damage, correcting the wrong or using the new circumstances to further our education.
It may have been Henry Ford I think, who said,
“I always put problems that are referred to me in the pending tray. After several days and sometimes weeks, I look at these ‘problems’. You would be surprised how often I find they don’t exist anymore!”
There is much to be said for this approach and it certainly teaches us that ‘problems’ tend to be ephemeral. Look upon each problem as a challenge, refuse to be worried by it and you will be amazed how much simpler and more enjoyable life becomes. As they say, “Life is too short …” Be kind to yourself, remember “to err is human …” and don’t go berating yourself because you made a mistake. Learn from it and be determined that the same mistake will not happen again. Be kind to your family and friends by not worrying and this will then spare them subconsciously picking up on your worries and worrying themselves. Above all remember the old adage:
“More people die from worry than from old age!”
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Go Wonder!
“Go mark the matchless working of the power,
That shuts within the seed the future flower.”
If you ever want proof that life is not just something that occurred by chance in the primordial swamp, look anywhere – but really look, don’t just glance. Examine the way in which even the simplest form of creation develops. Newspapers may proclaim scientist have found the secret of life in their genetics research. Don’t believe it. What scientists have discovered is another wonderful detail that shows just how incredible the genetic and reproductive process is. Despite all the claims about producing life in the laboratory, no scientist has ever produced life, nor ever will. What they have done is to take advantage of their greater understanding of the mechanism, to enable life to reproduce itself in a different environment.
That anyone can still accept the idea that life was a chance affair, when we are surrounded by such clear evidence of the operation of a power of mind beyond our comprehension, defeats me. Could we, using our finite brains, design a seed that when properly fertilised, fed and watered, will produce an identical plant to the one that produced the seed? Could we ensure that the flowers of that plant are identical to its parent? Could we even ensure that a marigold didn’t produce seeds that grew into lupins? No, it is when we really look and contemplate the world of nature that the severe limits under which our mind operates here on earth are so clearly revealed. We are pygmies in the creation game compared to the matchless power that created all living things and the means for them to ensure their continuation as species.
Human beings who have traditionally worked close to and with nature have always held the creative process in high regard and recognised that balance is an essential feature of the natural world. It is part of the great and wonderful design. Farmers, gardeners, growers, vintners, breeders; all know that without the unbelievable and loving power that created life, their own efforts would come to nothing. Fishermen also realised the vital importance of balance in nature, until they were made mad by greed and the love of money. Then they began systematically to destroy their livelihood and a formerly ample food supply for the rest of us. Albert Einstein was so right about humanity when he said:
“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity – and I’m not sure about the universe!”
There is never any need to be bored in this life. All we need do is to forget self and our own problems, which are usually far less serious than we imagine, and examine the natural world. It will not be long before we are lost in wonder at the beautiful symmetry and simplicity in even the most complex natural structures. Whether we are looking through a microscope at the tiniest works of nature or through a telescope at the teeming worlds in space, the result is the same; order, symmetry and simplicity of form. It has been truly said that “truth is beauty and beauty is truth.” The Hubble space telescope has revealed to us the incredible beauty of the heavens – even where destruction has occurred, the resultant beauty is marvellous. What do we do? We could always create beautiful buildings in which to work and live but do we? No because they cost too much!
Is it any wonder that there is so much poverty of mind in our world when we seem to foster the idea that beauty is wasted upon the poor? Only those the world considers rich can live in beautiful homes. Even our public buildings in the last fifty years seem uglier than in earlier ages. Or has my eye become jaundiced with age? Perhaps there is food for thought in considering why it is that as buildings have become uglier, cars have become prettier!
My friends, we live in a world surrounded by beauty and wonders, yet so often we fail to appreciate it. Our egos, driven by the five senses, have clouded our true vision. We have become blind to the magic; we have analysed away the beauty and even allowed ourselves to become cynical, post-Darwin bigots. Let us restore the spirit to the centre of our lives; allow our feelings to rule our head more; give unconditional love a fair trial. Then shall we truly find that:
“In contemplation of created things; by steps we may ascend to God."
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Can You Sleep When the Wind Blows?
Years ago, a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast of North America. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic . They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops. As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals.
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. 'Are you a good farm hand?' the farmer asked him. 'Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,' answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, 'Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!' The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, 'No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.'
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We can secure ourselves against the storms of life by 'going within' and grounding ourselves in the certainty of the power of the Spirit. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold God’s hand to have peace in the middle of storms.
Someone dear to me sent this to me today and I enjoyed it so much, that I wanted to send it to you. I hope you enjoy your day and you sleep well. May God bless you!
Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. 'Are you a good farm hand?' the farmer asked him. 'Well, I can sleep when the wind blows,' answered the little man.
Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him. The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters. He shook the little man and yelled, 'Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!' The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, 'No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows.'
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.
When you're prepared, spiritually, mentally, and physically, you have nothing to fear. Can you sleep when the wind blows through your life? The hired hand in the story was able to sleep because he had secured the farm against the storm. We can secure ourselves against the storms of life by 'going within' and grounding ourselves in the certainty of the power of the Spirit. We don't need to understand, we just need to hold God’s hand to have peace in the middle of storms.
Someone dear to me sent this to me today and I enjoyed it so much, that I wanted to send it to you. I hope you enjoy your day and you sleep well. May God bless you!
Monday, 6 July 2009
Our World
It seems to me there are two ways to look at our world.
1) What a wonderful place and what a marvellous, miraculous adventure life is.
2) Life is so unfair. Why do I have so many problems?
It is a similar situation to the two men in the story who looked out from behind prison bars. One saw mud and the other saw stars. It all depends upon the way you look at things, literally your point of view! Do you look up at the heavens or do you look down at the ground?
How we choose to approach our life on earth is just that – a matter of choice. Many think their lives are determined by circumstance and heredity. Although both factors influence us, it is a matter of personal choice whether we allow them to dominate. Everyone suffers from adversity, even though many of us think our particular adversity is the worst, it is frequently not so. What differentiates people is our individual reaction to adversity.
Do we see it as a challenge and an opportunity, something to battle against and overcome, whilst learning valuable lessons in the process? Or do we give up? It is a great temptation to wallow in self-pity when things go wrong in our lives. Whilst it is perfectly natural to be discouraged by adversity initially, to continue to feel sorry for one’s self is to waste the opportunity adversity presents us with. There is another aspect to self-pity too. Give in to it and we find everything begins to go wrong, even our friends eventually become tired of it and no longer seek our company. Nothing goes right; it is as though the world is against us. The world of course is not against us, we have turned against ourselves.
Those self-same friends, who become tired of our self-pity and come to see us less often, can be a wonderful support and encouragement if we look at the positive aspects of the problem. “Into every life a little rain must fall,” is an old adage but nonetheless true because of that. Problems are God’s way of challenging us to look at our lives afresh. Look around you with the clear eyes of reason and you will see that change and conflict of one kind or another are the norm. That it is so illustrates the great wisdom inherent in the design of all creation. Let me tell you a story:
“A young man was told by his father that he was grown enough now to begin climbing the local mountains. He was taken to the foot of one of them and his father said, “Off you go then, I’ll meet you at the top.” “Aren’t you coming with me?” “No, this you must do on your own but don’t worry, I will be waiting for you.”
The young man began climbing and soon his legs were aching, occasionally he would lose his footing and cut himself on a sharp rock. His progress was slow and by nightfall he was still only halfway up the mountain. He managed to find a ledge on which to shelter for the night, although he didn’t sleep much because he was so cold and miserable. Next day he forced himself to climb again because he knew his father would be waiting for him. His legs ached terribly, he was cut in several places and under his breath he was cursing his father for forcing him to do this. Gradually he got closer to the summit and eventually, tired almost to the point of exhaustion, he reached it. His father was there and said “Well done my boy but it took you a long time.” “It was so steep and hard to climb Dad, that’s why I took so long. I thought my legs would give out several times.” “You have done well and tomorrow it’s time to tackle that next mountain over there,” he said, pointing at an even steeper mountain.
“But Dad, I need to rest, I can’t climb anymore.” His father would not relent and forced the boy to climb again. It was the same story as yesterday, if anything he fell and cut himself even more this time, but he was determined to show his father that he wasn’t weak. He forced his aching muscles to climb and he reached the summit this time before nightfall. Again his father was waiting and congratulated him on climbing this one quicker. “Can I go home and rest now Dad?” “Not yet son: See that other mountain over there? That is your next challenge.” “But Dad I’m so tired, even by tomorrow morning I’ll still be exhausted, please let me rest longer.” “No son, sleep in the cave at the foot of this mountain, then in the morning off you go again. I’ll be waiting.”
The young man found that this mountain was not as steep as the others and he progressed quickly, didn’t stumble once and was even able to admire the view as he climbed. It was early afternoon when he reached the summit and when his father appeared he thanked him for taking pity on him and choosing an easier mountain for him to climb this time.
“No son, this mountain was even harder to climb than the others. The reason it felt easier was that you had grown stronger in climbing the other two.”
All the challenges we face, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, strengthen us and enable us to meet the next challenge and overcome it more easily. If we can retain a positive attitude, they won’t even seem like challenges, they will appear as they really are; part and parcel of this marvellous, miraculous life we are privileged to live, on this beautiful Earth.
1) What a wonderful place and what a marvellous, miraculous adventure life is.
2) Life is so unfair. Why do I have so many problems?
It is a similar situation to the two men in the story who looked out from behind prison bars. One saw mud and the other saw stars. It all depends upon the way you look at things, literally your point of view! Do you look up at the heavens or do you look down at the ground?
How we choose to approach our life on earth is just that – a matter of choice. Many think their lives are determined by circumstance and heredity. Although both factors influence us, it is a matter of personal choice whether we allow them to dominate. Everyone suffers from adversity, even though many of us think our particular adversity is the worst, it is frequently not so. What differentiates people is our individual reaction to adversity.
Do we see it as a challenge and an opportunity, something to battle against and overcome, whilst learning valuable lessons in the process? Or do we give up? It is a great temptation to wallow in self-pity when things go wrong in our lives. Whilst it is perfectly natural to be discouraged by adversity initially, to continue to feel sorry for one’s self is to waste the opportunity adversity presents us with. There is another aspect to self-pity too. Give in to it and we find everything begins to go wrong, even our friends eventually become tired of it and no longer seek our company. Nothing goes right; it is as though the world is against us. The world of course is not against us, we have turned against ourselves.
Those self-same friends, who become tired of our self-pity and come to see us less often, can be a wonderful support and encouragement if we look at the positive aspects of the problem. “Into every life a little rain must fall,” is an old adage but nonetheless true because of that. Problems are God’s way of challenging us to look at our lives afresh. Look around you with the clear eyes of reason and you will see that change and conflict of one kind or another are the norm. That it is so illustrates the great wisdom inherent in the design of all creation. Let me tell you a story:
“A young man was told by his father that he was grown enough now to begin climbing the local mountains. He was taken to the foot of one of them and his father said, “Off you go then, I’ll meet you at the top.” “Aren’t you coming with me?” “No, this you must do on your own but don’t worry, I will be waiting for you.”
The young man began climbing and soon his legs were aching, occasionally he would lose his footing and cut himself on a sharp rock. His progress was slow and by nightfall he was still only halfway up the mountain. He managed to find a ledge on which to shelter for the night, although he didn’t sleep much because he was so cold and miserable. Next day he forced himself to climb again because he knew his father would be waiting for him. His legs ached terribly, he was cut in several places and under his breath he was cursing his father for forcing him to do this. Gradually he got closer to the summit and eventually, tired almost to the point of exhaustion, he reached it. His father was there and said “Well done my boy but it took you a long time.” “It was so steep and hard to climb Dad, that’s why I took so long. I thought my legs would give out several times.” “You have done well and tomorrow it’s time to tackle that next mountain over there,” he said, pointing at an even steeper mountain.
“But Dad, I need to rest, I can’t climb anymore.” His father would not relent and forced the boy to climb again. It was the same story as yesterday, if anything he fell and cut himself even more this time, but he was determined to show his father that he wasn’t weak. He forced his aching muscles to climb and he reached the summit this time before nightfall. Again his father was waiting and congratulated him on climbing this one quicker. “Can I go home and rest now Dad?” “Not yet son: See that other mountain over there? That is your next challenge.” “But Dad I’m so tired, even by tomorrow morning I’ll still be exhausted, please let me rest longer.” “No son, sleep in the cave at the foot of this mountain, then in the morning off you go again. I’ll be waiting.”
The young man found that this mountain was not as steep as the others and he progressed quickly, didn’t stumble once and was even able to admire the view as he climbed. It was early afternoon when he reached the summit and when his father appeared he thanked him for taking pity on him and choosing an easier mountain for him to climb this time.
“No son, this mountain was even harder to climb than the others. The reason it felt easier was that you had grown stronger in climbing the other two.”
All the challenges we face, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, strengthen us and enable us to meet the next challenge and overcome it more easily. If we can retain a positive attitude, they won’t even seem like challenges, they will appear as they really are; part and parcel of this marvellous, miraculous life we are privileged to live, on this beautiful Earth.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Imagination
The great physicist, Albert Einstein once said, Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”
“Oh it’s just his imagination,” is a dismissive line often used by those with little or no imagination themselves. Using our imagination is, in my opinion, the only way to expand our own and in many cases other people’s understanding. It is one of the greatest gifts we possess and although some will insist it is mere escapism from life’s difficulties, it is in fact one sure way to solve them. All of us when we were children had very active imaginations, imaginations that enabled us to transform our in many cases, humdrum surroundings, into a world of magic and wonder. Adults humoured us but also made it quite clear we would be expected to “grow out of it” as we grew older.
There are exceptions. When we are very young children, we are keenly aware of the presence of people from the spiritual world. I doubt there is a person living who did not have ‘imaginary’ playmates when a child. Instead of encouraging this awareness, what the majority of adults do is to scoff at the idea these playmates may be real children from the spiritual realms and by first patronising and later ridiculing, they persuade the youngsters it is best not to mention their friends anymore. This demonstrates just how little we have bothered to understand our true, inner selves. These childhood experiences are wrongly attributed to imagination but are nothing of the sort. We have become infected with the compulsion to weigh everything using those five poor scales, called the senses.
There are serious consequences for humanity in this attitude. By confusing awareness of the spiritual world with imagination and at the same time feeling guilty about our imagination, we develop an inbuilt reluctance to let it be known that we are using our imagination. As adults, while we read stories of fiction and fantasy with great pleasure, we retain a sneaking suspicion that this is all very childish and we should be feeling guilty about such self indulgence. Most people do not read poetry, listen to ‘good’ music or look at great paintings for the same reason. They do not see that such works of art are not only works of the imagination but they are great because they trigger the imagination in the reader, listener or beholder. Or perhaps they do and their materialistically trained minds rebel at such levity!
The imagination is what makes us truly human. It is the mechanism whereby our soul is freed for a while from its earthly constraints and can exercise its ability to ‘fly’ but it should not be confused with awareness of the spiritual world. Our spirit, soul and mind are not part of our physical bodies, although they are linked to it in such a way that all we experience as physical beings can be converted into growth material for our soul. The same is true of our imagination. Without it we are poor creatures indeed and all the progress humanity has made over millennia has happened due to people using it. It beggars belief that despite all the evidence to the contrary, many still regard imagination as something infantile and not worth taking seriously.
Have you never experienced the almost mystical thrill that comes it seems from nowhere, as you walk or sit in beautiful surroundings, listening to the sounds of nature all around? Have you never felt yourself soaring and ‘walking on air’ when you first realise you are in love? Have you never been so moved by a particular piece of music that you seem to escape from your body? All these wonderful experiences come through the operation of our imagination. Unfortunately so many of us have been so conditioned we have become stunted and find it almost impossible to give free rein to our imagination. We wrap ourselves in concerns – concerns about the past, about the present, about the future; all of which creates fear. Fear is the enemy of the spirit and by inference, of the imagination. If we could only allow ourselves to relax, to be our true selves and give our imagination permission to uplift us, our lives could be transformed and all our fears would retreat for as a rule, they have little basis in fact
Everything that exists has positive and negative aspects and I suppose one could say fear is the negative side of imagination. We ‘see’ problems that we think are bound to arise because of these circumstances or that action and because the imagination is so powerful, we create the very problem that we ‘see’ in our mind’s eye. The imagination is a key part of our mind and the product of the mind is thought. If we allow our imagination to run along positive lines then positive thought results in positive action and of course the reverse is true too - the thought is always the father of the deed. Our starting point is to acknowledge that imagination can be used for positive or negative ends.
Imagination is there to make us happy, not to make us miserable, so let us all try harder to be positive. Accept the wonderful gift of your imagination and use it. Do not discourage the use of imagination by your children and never be afraid to think the absurd. I began with a quotation by Albert Einstein and I shall end with one.
“If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it”
“Oh it’s just his imagination,” is a dismissive line often used by those with little or no imagination themselves. Using our imagination is, in my opinion, the only way to expand our own and in many cases other people’s understanding. It is one of the greatest gifts we possess and although some will insist it is mere escapism from life’s difficulties, it is in fact one sure way to solve them. All of us when we were children had very active imaginations, imaginations that enabled us to transform our in many cases, humdrum surroundings, into a world of magic and wonder. Adults humoured us but also made it quite clear we would be expected to “grow out of it” as we grew older.
There are exceptions. When we are very young children, we are keenly aware of the presence of people from the spiritual world. I doubt there is a person living who did not have ‘imaginary’ playmates when a child. Instead of encouraging this awareness, what the majority of adults do is to scoff at the idea these playmates may be real children from the spiritual realms and by first patronising and later ridiculing, they persuade the youngsters it is best not to mention their friends anymore. This demonstrates just how little we have bothered to understand our true, inner selves. These childhood experiences are wrongly attributed to imagination but are nothing of the sort. We have become infected with the compulsion to weigh everything using those five poor scales, called the senses.
There are serious consequences for humanity in this attitude. By confusing awareness of the spiritual world with imagination and at the same time feeling guilty about our imagination, we develop an inbuilt reluctance to let it be known that we are using our imagination. As adults, while we read stories of fiction and fantasy with great pleasure, we retain a sneaking suspicion that this is all very childish and we should be feeling guilty about such self indulgence. Most people do not read poetry, listen to ‘good’ music or look at great paintings for the same reason. They do not see that such works of art are not only works of the imagination but they are great because they trigger the imagination in the reader, listener or beholder. Or perhaps they do and their materialistically trained minds rebel at such levity!
The imagination is what makes us truly human. It is the mechanism whereby our soul is freed for a while from its earthly constraints and can exercise its ability to ‘fly’ but it should not be confused with awareness of the spiritual world. Our spirit, soul and mind are not part of our physical bodies, although they are linked to it in such a way that all we experience as physical beings can be converted into growth material for our soul. The same is true of our imagination. Without it we are poor creatures indeed and all the progress humanity has made over millennia has happened due to people using it. It beggars belief that despite all the evidence to the contrary, many still regard imagination as something infantile and not worth taking seriously.
Have you never experienced the almost mystical thrill that comes it seems from nowhere, as you walk or sit in beautiful surroundings, listening to the sounds of nature all around? Have you never felt yourself soaring and ‘walking on air’ when you first realise you are in love? Have you never been so moved by a particular piece of music that you seem to escape from your body? All these wonderful experiences come through the operation of our imagination. Unfortunately so many of us have been so conditioned we have become stunted and find it almost impossible to give free rein to our imagination. We wrap ourselves in concerns – concerns about the past, about the present, about the future; all of which creates fear. Fear is the enemy of the spirit and by inference, of the imagination. If we could only allow ourselves to relax, to be our true selves and give our imagination permission to uplift us, our lives could be transformed and all our fears would retreat for as a rule, they have little basis in fact
Everything that exists has positive and negative aspects and I suppose one could say fear is the negative side of imagination. We ‘see’ problems that we think are bound to arise because of these circumstances or that action and because the imagination is so powerful, we create the very problem that we ‘see’ in our mind’s eye. The imagination is a key part of our mind and the product of the mind is thought. If we allow our imagination to run along positive lines then positive thought results in positive action and of course the reverse is true too - the thought is always the father of the deed. Our starting point is to acknowledge that imagination can be used for positive or negative ends.
Imagination is there to make us happy, not to make us miserable, so let us all try harder to be positive. Accept the wonderful gift of your imagination and use it. Do not discourage the use of imagination by your children and never be afraid to think the absurd. I began with a quotation by Albert Einstein and I shall end with one.
“If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it”
Saturday, 4 July 2009
Independence
Today, our friends in the United States celebrate the anniversary of their independence from British colonial rule and it got me to thinking about independence and freedom, two much abused words these days.Like almost all human conditions, freedom and independence are relative terms. To the person incarcerated in total darkness, or a blind person, freedom would be to be the ablity to see the light, even for a little while. For the person suffering under the oppressive yoke of a totalitarian state, freedom would be, not needing to worry that the next knock on his door might be the secret police. For the slave, freedom would be to, just once, have the ability to make up his own mind what to do and where and when to do it.
The American declaration of Independence states that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Much lip service is paid to these excellent sentiments and it would be difficult to find anyone who openly rejects them, but in many human societies, lip service is all it is. In my experience, the more a state trumpets its commitment to freedom, the more likely it is to be repressive. Look at all the totalitarian communist states that call themselves “The People’s Democratic Republic” of this or that. The last thing these states are or where, is democratic, nor are they “the people’s” either.
Even in The United States itself, the application of this section of the Declaration of Independence is varied, to say the least. Look at Guantanamo Bay for instance where, in the interests of ‘national security’, people have been held for years without trial: Look at the Mc Carthy era and the attitude to those suspected of being communists. Look at the origins of prohibition. I am sure you can think of other examples and yet in many ways, the United States is a country whose citizens enjoy a great deal more freedom than most; More freedom for instance than women in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime or the current opposition in Iran.
Individual human life cannot exist in a vacuum; we all are dependent upon one another in some way. It follows therefore that one cannot talk in terms of absolutes which is why compromise is usually the order of the day and why our friends in spirit tell us that we as human beings are not yet ready to use fully the blue light, the ray of truth. They ask us to imagine going through even one day telling the absolute truth. It is virtually impossible not to dilute the truth in some way, either to spare some one else’s feelings or our own. It is why, spirit tells us, we find blue a relatively cold colour, and will continue to do so until we are able to accept absolute truth in all we do.
We have to be careful, because we are so interdependent, to ensure that our individual freedom does not mean another person’s slavery. This means always exercising freedom with responsibility. Freedom without responsibility becomes licence. We must also do our very best to ensure that any freedom we demand for ourselves, we offer equally to all others. We must also accept that if we wish to be critical of another’s way of doing things, we afford the same facility to them in relation to us. It was Voltaire who is reputed to have said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Who can quarrel with this attitude towards tolerance and freedom of speech? Many do quarrel with it in practice however and it is a measure of a person’s or a society’s maturity that they are able to accept criticism without resorting to repression.
When we are each one able to apply the principles of America’s Declaration of Independence freely to all, both as individuals and as societies, then will we have moved a long way from the level of our animal ancestry towards our angelic potential. The altruism that went into the writing of the Declaration of Independence, gives us a glimpse of our spiritual inheritance but we have a great deal of work to do before we can achieve this dream of a relative heaven upon earth. However, the fact that human beings were able to create such a dream of equality and freedom, demonstrates it is far from impossible to achieve it. Yesterday’s dream is tomorrow’s reality if we have trust in the spirit that is the basis of all life.
Friday, 3 July 2009
Lessons from Nature (2)
I was looking at a picture of a rose just now and yesterday I was watering the Orchids in my garden and thinking how wonderful they are going to look in a month from now and I got to thinking. Why can’t we humans accept ourselves as we are? Why do we put ourselves through agonies of envy because we would prefer to have the gifts of another rather than those we have been given. Why are we so concerned about the opinions of others that we try to change ourselves to be what we think others expect us to be?If only we could accept ourselves as we are and realise that the object of life is to do the best we can with what we have and not make ourselves miserable because it seems the contributions made by others appear so much better and more important than ours. When it comes to balancing the account of our lives, there is no absolute measure. All is comparative. The greater the gifts you have been given, the more privileged the life you have been born into, the more you will be expected to contribute. However, in the final analysis, it is not what each of us has done, or the contribution we have made that has been recognised as great in the way the world sees greatness, that is important. It is that each should give according to his ability, no more, no less.
The difference our presence has made in the life of others is the true measure of our lives, I believe. The grand gesture is all very well but it is the hard and dedicated work behind the scenes, out of the public eye that really matters. Look back on the effect certain people have had on your own life. Is it not true that those who made the greatest impact were those who were totally their own person? People who were happy with themselves, how they were and where they were; people unconcerned about making a huge impact upon the world at large; people who wished to be remembered for their role in their own small corner of the world. Good mothers do not put on airs and graces in front of their children. Good teachers are not concerned with impressing their pupils with their intellect or superior knowledge; rather they want to encourage the pupils to make the most of themselves.
What do the rose and the orchid tell us? They demonstrate to us that allowing their light to shine before all is their true destiny. So it should be for us. Their scent is not reserved for those the flowers consider worthy; it is available to all, without exception. There is no judgement and there is no trace of envy. The rose does not envy the orchid or the orchid wish it could grow in cooler climes. The rose does not wish for the kiss of the humming bird when it grows where there are none. The rose is content to be a rose. It gives its all to bring delight to everyone, with its beauty and its scent. So too do the humble forget-me-not and the meadow daisy.
“Be content”, as Alexander Pope said, “To be as blessed as thou canst bear…All are but parts of one stupendous whole… As full, as perfect, in a hair, as heart; As full, as perfect in vile man that mourns, As in the rapt seraph that adores and burns.” I mentioned in a post the other day how important it is to do the best we can but each of us has our limits. The limit for one is much different from that for another because of our circumstances. “Who does the best his circumstance allows, does well, acts nobly; Angels could do no more.”
So remember always, as you stop to smell the rose, or admire the shape, texture and colour of the orchid that they are giving, giving, giving, and they ask nothing in return. They care not for anything except their need to do their best, whether they are a wild dog rose or a cultivated hybrid tea. Their râison d’etre is much closer to, “Ours is not to reason why…,” than it is to “Look at me, aren’t I the best?”
Lack of self confidence and low self esteem are twin causes of vast unhappiness in our world. They are both rooted in a failure to understand the simple truth that each one of us is exactly what we are supposed to be, in the place we are supposed to be and able to contribute to life in our own special and individual way. Dare to be a rose and focus only on the beauty of your petals and the sweetness of your scent. Make them the best that is within your power. Do not waste your energy bemoaning the fact that the colour of this or that flower is more attractive to more people or their scent stronger than yours. So long as you are sure you have done your best, you have no need for reproach or to lower your self-esteem. Your contribution is no less important in the scheme of things for without it, the whole is diminished.
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