New Years Resolution

New years is seen as a beginning point for change. Sometimes it is a re-commitment to a healthier life style.

I made the resolution:
1. To Cherish the Rose.
2. To distance myself from the Ivy.

To cherish the rose means to count my blessings. In embracing my children and grandchildren and those that are in my inner circle. This includes friends that have encouraged me over the years and showing them how much they are appreciated.  Embracing life in general whether good or bad times , taking the entire rose soft petals , fragrance or even the thorns as all a part of life.

To distance myself from the Ivy means not to become strangled by those that require constant attention and time. We all need time for ourselves and many will be over demanding to the point of strangling us like a vine that grows in places we do not want them. There is another aspect of itching , discomfort or even poison to the Ivy. An Ivy has no flower or fruit or enjoyment.

We can not always avoid the Ivy , we can keep our distance.

Peace,

Earl.

Caution and Cowardice

We often associate bravery with the lion. Usually brave and strong are linked together. Yet there is a character we find in the famed story of the wizard of OZ that seems out of place - the cowardly lion. The cowardly lion looks like a lion however cringes at the first sign of adversity.

Then we learn about being wise and cautious before leaping into a situation. When we are perceived as being overly cautious it can be viewed as cowardice.

So how do we remain as a lion and not appear cowardly when exercising caution.

First realize that all battles , yes ALL BATTLES are not ours. Take your personal vendettas, anger all those feelings and put them aside - it is not your battle. 2 Corinthians 20 Says the battle is not yours but Gods. There is also another metaphor used in the charge of the last brigade,  "Ours is not to reason why , ours is just to do or die. "

We are sometimes faced with acting out of duty and not personal feelings. When this is the case duty should always prevail. It is also the lesson in the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna points out that duty prevails even over feelings for family. That puts a twist in the old thought of family first. No , family is not first when it comes to right or wrong. Family can sometimes hinder our relationship with God.

Mark 3:31-35 Then Jesus' mother and brothers came. They stood outside and sent a person in to tell Jesus to come out. Many people were sitting around Jesus. They said to him, "Your mother and brothers are waiting for you outside." Jesus asked, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" Then Jesus looked at those people sitting around him. He said, "These people are my mother and my brothers! My true brother and sister and mother are those people that do the things God wants."

We can see it is often taken even further when we take on a personal battle. ALL BATTLES are Gods, not my will but thine. The Hindus have taken this one step further and to realize this is one of the lessons in enlightenment . God in Hinduism is living in each of us acting out our lives. In Christianity the enlightened Christian says the same thing, Galatians 2:20 it is not me who lives but the Christ in me.
The enlightened Hindu realizes also that God lives out our lives. Our identity is merely a mask we wear and perhaps may just easily pick up another mask. In Buddhism to be become nothing is an enlightened state. In essence we find that nothingness is to put aside the mask and show our true self.

The cowardly lion is the one who forgets that he or she is a lion. The overly cautious person is one that is merely lacking experience in the life of faith. It is not a weakness to be over cautious, it is merely a matter of practice and experience.

Pride often is evoked to overcome cowardice , where this ego response may seem to work, it only causes more ripples. The best way to overcome a battle is to not own it at all. The lion that seeks to devour you , would love to see the person with the mask enter the ring rather than the lion which is Christ.

Whether you are in the position of a soldier or a general everyone has a duty to perform - cowardice only comes when we forget we are lions.

Peace ,

Earl

The holes and the holy

We hear a lot about holy this or holy that. I can tell you what is holy ground to one sect is not always holy to another. What you consider holy may not be important at all to another religion. Because we pervade through religion what holiness is. It is more of a respect for a belief that holiness arise it has nothing whatsoever to do with the truth.

What is more important and what you should be focusing on is the holes.

Holier than though is a bad attitude.... Holy, holier and holiest -- most holy where does this end its all nonsense.

The hole is important , the need.

We describe electrons flowing to produce electricity. Then when electronics came into being , solid state devices were created the science discovered the electrons were not flowing ... the holes were moving. Outside forces may be moving as energy , where in our own sensitive structure we find our needs or holes are moving.

What we should understand is the need or hole  moving. The universe is made up of matter and more importantly holes. Once a void is created , it will be filled for certain and perhaps another void will be created. In Genesis the whole purpose of the created universe was a void existed darkness and emptiness , the there was light and life began filling all the holes, God saw it was good.

If you believe you know everything , there will be no room for anything. The energy comes and goes some is static and is released, some dynamic in motion. When we find the need within ourselves and others the spirit will move to fill the need.

What is more important the question or the answer? I would say the question is more important, the answer is already there. Answers are everywhere , you may only ask one question and perhaps 20 students will give an answer, some may be different answers ha ha. The question remains and is consistent.

We can take a theory and it may work for many years , perhaps until a better one comes along. Answers can change even over time , so the answer is not the truth. The truth is in the question, the void.  Look for a need a hole and fill it, God will bless you.

So where does creative power come from? the Question. The question sends you on a quest. The quest causes you to create a path, the path becomes a way. When you follow the way to the truth , you have created. To be or not to be that is the question. Or we can look at this algebraically and say the question is the state of being.

We have opinions and we have answers and we have the truth. How do we filter through all the bullshit to get to the truth. With better questions , ask the right questions. Unfortunately a person is often graded on the answers , they can memorize them and get good grades. The real creative intelligence comes from the better questions.

The method Buddha used to practice is to give different answers to the same question to different students. Sounds inconsistent however the Buddha was more concerned with the need than the answer. Jesus said "ask and you shall receive".

? is the most important character on the keyboard.

Peace,

Earl.





 

Balance

Our body needs balance, our mind needs balance and we need to balance the two together - this is spirituality. The buddha taught that we are to have our lives in balance. The Tao taught this as a central teaching. The Quran teaches God helps those who help themselves.

So it is not enough to just believe in something , we need to have balance.

It can be hard to achieve balance in a bad economy or when the persons in power are full of greed and lust. It can be hard to achieve balance when our neighborhood is over run with crime and drugs. It can be hard to achieve balance when we are born poor or have a disability. However we must try it is our spiritual journey.

When we look around us we can see that most of our personal problems and with our family is because of an imbalance. Sometimes we view it as an unfairness and that can lead to anger. we should merely view all things as having balance or imbalance. Making at first a major adjustment as needed then smaller adjustments along the way, we can bring ourselves back into balance.

What we don't want to do is to try and bring others back into balance before making those needed adjustments to our own lives. Everything must first start within our own being or temple.

Balance between our own body and mind is spirituality. How we achieve this balance may differ from each of us. All of our needs are different, some may need food or shelter others may just need a hug. Something we all must consider once our lives are in balance is to help others achieve balance.

It is not really  journey of rights and wrongs - it is one of balance. That is why we are told to cast out the mote in our own eye first, and also not to judge lest we be judged.

We can seem overly religious or overly absorbed in our desires. Even a man that reads the bible or the quran each day and prays all the time must also take into consideration his own daily needs and those of his family. A need may be food or shelter or a simple hug to his children.

We can see lately that most terrorism is caused by religious fervor where instead of viewing life as being fair or unfair , right or wrong it should have been viewed in regards to balance.

We can also say that in a capitalist society balance can be achieved only by working to change the government or corporate structure to allow for a balance. Of course we see the executives having their own perks , washrooms, allowances and special options where the worker at the bottom seems to be neglected. There are some companies that do take care of their workers and they have no problem finding good ones to attain overall success. Those that do treat employees poorly usually end up out of business or create an environment of distrust.

Good balance brings trust.. Brings joy to our lives.

Bad balance causes distrust, lies and brings unhappiness to all.

Communism became popular when the royals and those in power where not concerned with the balance of those who had given them their power. The thing we should note is someone gave up something so they could be in the position they are in. Always be considerate of others sacrifices.
In communism we find that balance is achieved by affiliating everyone into the same party , putting the workers first. In capitalism we find the corporations are all in competition this creates a greater variety and quality of products. Competition is healthy as it helps to balance out the quality. Even in communism there can be a reward system to achieve a higher quality.

Quality is sometimes preferred over quantity. So there is a fine adjustment is you want quality called competition. If we want to compete we must have balance within and around us. Balance is not always a fair distribution , or right or wrong it may just be improving the way of doing things, actions. Balance by actions or change, balance by fine tuning later.

In the lesson of the chariot , we see that there are (2) horses that make up our nature a dark horse and a white horse. This same scenario was spoke about by Plato which he speaks of a dark horse being more the nature of desires and the white horse the heart , honor , victory and can be angry when they see a wrong being done. In both cases the mind must decide which horse will take the lead which is represented by the chariot driver. If the Lord of our mind is wise and leads us to make good decisions we will make better choices.

There are times when the dark horse may lead , it is another part of our nature. Sometimes the dark horse will represent a personal survival which is necessary. To balance our desires with the heart would involve an equal distribution of work. The three parts of our soul are the dark horse, the white horse and the chariot. Regardless of what we may think the chariot will always represent who we allow in the driver seat with us. In the case of the Bhagavad Gita Krishna was the driver and the one giving advise to the commander. We remain the commander , the Lord always gives us the free will to make the final choices. In the case of the Christian, Jesus is the one behind the wheel , we still make the final decision. Having the mind of Christ is having the one whose is in your chariot in the character of Jesus.

We are still limited by our own nature , the horses and the chariot driver. What if we had someone that did not give good advice , where would we be, perhaps in a ditch. In the story of the chariot in Buddhism Nagasena tries to tell the king he arrived on a chariot and is questioned about the existence of the chariot by identifying each piece as not being the chariot. Then tries do deny his existence in the same fashion. "Or is "Nagasena" a form, or feelings, or perceptions, or impulses, or consciousness?" Finally it was rationalized he could exist as the chariot did by having all the parts identified and named as a single entity or "being". We are merely the sum of all parts identified by a sound.

 So if we are traveling to a destination and someone asks where are your wheels we may point to our feet. What do we do when someone says who is your driver? Do we say no driver in the seat? These horses drive themselves like a runaway buggy. What buddha is saying the chariot does not exist at all without all the parts intact you are going nowhere.



Peace,
Earl.

The Gift

One question that often comes up is did God create the world for himself or for us?

Are we here for the pleasure of a divine being like fish in an aquarium? Are we merely pawns in a game?

First after many years found out that creation is an act of love. Creation and life itself is not a game - it is a gift. We can say life is a gift of love. We may choose to experience this life as a gift of love or make it into a game. I do not believe it was intended to be a game where there are winners and losers. Are some are here for the benefit of an elite group? These type of conspiracy theories, UFO's , Aliens can seem to say humanity is a controlled environment like an aquarium. That we are controlled by alien beings or ghosts or any power outside our own minds is just fear mongering.

We have been given this gift called life and also the gift of the power of change. I would not be selfish to say we are just receivers of gifts. The gift is to be returned with gratitude. It is a life of receiving and giving. As freely as you have received also do give.

Does evil exist? Is it a struggle between angels and demons? I found that this type of fear is often imposed by religious archetypes. I have experienced spiritual forces and overcome them , simply put that we are to overcome such beliefs. When first in my journey such things did exist as no longer allowed evil to exist it did not. We let evil exist as a concept, we allow dark forces to be present. My reality evolved to going toward light not trying to escape darkness.

Are they the same thing escaping darkness and going toward light. No - they are different escaping from darkness is a life of fear. Going toward the light is a life of love.

Enlightenment is being in the light of love , accepting the gift of creation and being in harmony with that gift. I believe the Christian path can lead to enlightenment ,  is there also elements of fear in the dogma. I think there is both fear and love in the christian elements. It bothers me to say this that some are only moved by fear. I would reason that eventually it will lead to love.

In many belief systems including Buddhism there are levels of hell. In the Torah I do not find demons emphasized however they were used by Solomon to subdue his enemies. Did Solomon create them as a fear to use against his enemies. Or did Solomon recognize a weakness that could be utilized a tool of fear. I think it was the latter. Yes- fear can be a powerful weapon or a tool of control.

The gift was not fear it was love and creation.

Peace,

Earl.

Abstract versus Logic

The Logical mind is viewed by Plato as being the chariot that oversees the white horse and the dark horse.

In the Abstract mind we find hypothesis where various theories are thought out until a logical conclusion is reached. So really the Abstract mind is a one where new ideas are created. Imagery and art are often used in the abstract thought process.

Where the Logical mind takes preexisting concepts and ideas and utilizes them such as used in engineering. The Abstract mind is more creative than constructive.

Where do we find the source of creativity - it  is often compelled by imagination. As imagery and art are utilized to create new ideas the abstract view may appear to be out of place to the logical mind. Picasso was one of the greatest abstract thinkers of our time and also a catholic. He started out with a pencil and then painting his way to greatness. A typical painting will sell for millions at prestigious art auctions.

Picasso had love affairs and periods of inspiration from Africa. We find some of his most famous paintings were inspired during his African period. We also find that a lot of abstract thinking was found in African art.

So did abstract thought originate in Eastern philosophy or in the continent of Africa. I believe religion originated with the homosapiens in the Sahara Africa.  Though in Africa abstract thought  was more expressed in art than in writing.

I tend to believe all religions originated in Africa and Egypt being a part of Africa not in the middle east. So we can trace abstract or religious thought back to Africa. In fact it was probably spread by the slave trade that went on for thousands of years throughout the ancient world. It is also speculated that voodoo is the worlds oldest religion several thousand years old. The first concept of an invisible world coexisting with a real world.

In China logical thought is embraced they were not importing slaves as in the middle east or other ancient civilizations. In China a person  became a slave voluntarily it was a completely different culture as they had an abundant work force. They mostly and still do today embrace logic. We find a culture based on logical wisdom.

Peace,
Earl

Energy

Energy has a lot to do with religion as the ancient religions of Greece and Rome often viewed energy as gods. The god of lightning Zeus was an example of the immense static energies released that could produce enormous damage deserving respect. The god of the sea Neptune could reduce a small fishing village to rubble. Then we have Odin and Thor from Norse mythology. We find energy has had it's place in mythology throughout history.

Beginning first with the harnessing of fire to keep warm , cook food and for protection. The earth, wind , fire and water all have been attributed to myths explaining energy. We have (2) basic types of energy static and dynamic.

Dynamic energies are often described as angels or demons. They are given similar caricature as gods except in lesser forms. Do angels and demons really exist outside of caricature? As there are natural forces, there are also super natural forces. They often take on caricature as our mind perceives theses forces. Negative energy was harnessed by king Solomon to build his palace we are told. We also see there are positive energies throughout mankind showing up on occasion during major events.

The use and harnessing of energy is what separates us from animals. Are we in control of energy or is energy in control of us?

It appears to be a co-existent relationship.

We are stewards of this power of change called energy. Whether it is wind, fire or at the atomic level. Whether we as stewards realize this gift, it is in fact a gift. The dynamic energy which Solomon utilized could have been electromechanical or magnetic. We only know this energy was referred to as demons. Our understanding always used caricature and put a face on the power of energy. We used caricature to express our emotions , our fears also.

Is energy the same as spirit? We find that new age and esoteric religions use terms such as life force or borrow some of the Hindu teachings in yoga forms. We find in the New Age teachings those similar to Hinduism that energy is channeled through the body through various chakra points.

The difference between just energy and the Spirit is having a teacher that comforts us and empowers us in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit is a more personal than just a force of energy.

Peace,

Earl.