1! of 228 !
CONSOLIDATED QUOTES BY IAN GARDNER 2016
2! of 228 ! My Body, My Soul and I.
15
The Journey up the Mountain.
15
Choices and Ripples.
15
Time and "Now".
15
The Illusion in Context.
15
Controlling the Mind.
15
Perception and the Truth.
15
Civilization. (1)
16
The Voice of Conscience & The Voice of Mind.
16
The Nature of Mind.
16
Litigation and Karma.
16
Acting According to Your Conscience.
16
The 'World'.
16
Sublime Patience.
16
The Seed of Truth.
17
Love and Relationship.
17
Pleasure and Rewards.
17
Blind Eyes & Ignorant Minds.
17
The Body as a Vehicle.
17
A Dream.
18
Life's Events.
18
Knowledge and Knowing.
18
Success & Failure. (1)
18
Creation - the Big Bang.
18
The Mind and Enlightenment.
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On The Path To Enlightenment.
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Expressing One's Creativity.
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Love - The Three Kinds.
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3! of 228 ! A Startling and Uncomfortable Awareness.
20
Ί
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Attachments and Enlightenment.
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Mind and Thought.
20
Observe, Observe, Observe.
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Meditation. (1)
20
Telepathy/Thought Transference.
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Thought.
21
Seeing & Evaluating in Context.
22
Meditation. (2)
22
Enlightenment. (1)
22
The Purpose of Life.
22
Carnivores, Herbivores & Omnivores.
22
Ί
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Money. (1)
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Regarding Yourself.
23
Life is a Stage.
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Enlightenment. (2)
23
Fighting Wars Is Only Natural.
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Joy, happiness, fun, laughter etc. and Reality.
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An Unsustainable Civilization.
24
Killing.
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Knowing the Truth.
24
Menting, Thinking & Emotion.
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Mind & Conscience.
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Enlightenment. (3)
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Forgiveness.
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Karma - the Gender Blender.
25
4! of 228 ! The “unbearable” Truth of Non-violence.
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The Illusion that is all things.
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The Sunbeam and Sunlight.
26
Blowing Bubbles.
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Synchronicity.
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Civilization. (2)
26
Joy.
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Enjoy.
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Understanding the bud.
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Human Gender Differences.
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Science & Psychological Illness.
27
The Wise Mariner.
27
Perceived Elitism in Enlightenment.
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On Loving God.
27
Spiritual Growth and Attitude.
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Spare thoughts of compassion and joy.
28
Finding the Truth.
28
The Pilgrims’ Way.
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Without Emotion.
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Circling the Truth.
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Rivers, Streams and Oceans.
29
Love and Liberty.
29
Hanging the Thread in a Solution.
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If we are all ‘one’?
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The World Is Your Oyster.
30
Karma at Work – an example.
30
The Search for Happiness.
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Nirvana - The Pleasant and the Unpleasant.
31
5! of 228 ! Past Lives – Remembering.
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Attaining Nirvana.
32
Speaking.
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Emotional Self-sufficiency.
32
The Jellyfish.
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The Bubble of Thought.
32
Animal Instincts.
32
Comprehension & The Truth.
32
Stilling the Surface.
32
Freedom of Expression.
33
Arrogance.
33
Don't give - give up!
33
The Purpose of Human Life.
33
Nationalism and the “I”.
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Nationalism and the Spirit.
33
An Interesting Prediction.
33
The Human Condition.
34
Thought and Menting.
34
How is the illusion of colour created?
34
Emotions.
35
The Sterility of Hyperbole.
35
Ω
35
Ignorance causing obsession.
35
The “I am” quotation/affirmation – a visualization.
35
Split Souls.
36
The Bible and books.
36
Inner Poverty.
37
Impractical Spiritual Fundamentals.
37
6! of 228 ! The Tale of Prodi Galson.
37
Karma. (1)
37
The Submerged Life.
37
The Option of Being Still.
37
A foot in each camp.
38
What is that essential which we call love?
38
Acceptance of the Manifest Body.
38
Money. (2)
38
Time.
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Our Bodies – our creation.
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The Truth. (1)
39
Memory, Mind & the Brain.
39
A Sound Maxim by which to live.
39
The View from the Mountain.
39
The Philosophy of Life – like the ocean.
40
Unable to make a decision?
40
Success & Failure. (2)
40
The Ways of the World.
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Avoiding Reaction to The Ways of the World.
40
The Truth/Reality.
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One’s Independence.
41
Insults and other hurts.
41
About being One.
41
A Truth Is a Truth.
41
Creating Our Future.
41
Love – further clarifying its non-existence.
41
Life.
41
The Experiences of Life.
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7! of 228 ! Anger & Love.
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The Pilgrim’s Progress.
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Upheaval and Growth.
42
The Paradox of Soul Growth.
42
The Advent of “Messengers”.
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Hurt Feelings.
42
Blisstasy.
42
Our Cyclical Habitation of Earth etc.
43
The Curtain That Is The Mind.
43
Love is a Manifestation.
43
Two Perspectives.
44
What is Spiritual Growth?
44
Truth. (1)
44
Creation of Disease.
44
Opposing Forces.
44
Mind/Soul. (1)
44
Mind/Soul. (2)
45
Quo Vadis?
45
Mind/Soul. (3)
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The Road.
45
Mind/Soul = Moul.
45
Birth and Death.
45
Apologies.
45
Wonder Full.
45
Being Content As Well As Not Satisfied.
45
After discovering the Truth, what?
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The Now.
46
Words of Value.
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8! of 228 ! Futile Pursuits and “Escape”.
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Separation of Spirit and the Moul [or Observation of Self].
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The Moul and Attachment/Non-attachment.
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Wealth.
47
Why? & How? – the Important Questions.
47
Karma. (2)
47
Offence.
47
Spiritual Growth.
47
Non–attachment – the Key.
47
Love. (1)
47
No Thing Matters.
48
You.
48
Enlightenment. (4)
48
Science and the Illusion.
48
The Oyster and the Moul.
48
The Human Body & Electrical Fields.
48
Mind – Negative, Positive or not at all?
49
For the Greater Good.
49
Enlightenment. (5)
49
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
49
Civilized & Uncivilized.
49
Jealousy.
50
The Truth, the Reality.
50
Crutches & Chains.
50
Invest to Divest.
50
Action and Reaction.
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Detaching from, but living, life.
51
Minor Details.
51
9! of 228 ! Non-attachment.
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The Reality.
51
The Moul and Animal Instincts.
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Organization Exuding Perfection.
52
The Buddha and the Atman.
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Universal Balance.
52
Contentment – a metaphor.
53
Oddities and Aberrations.
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Love – and that other.
53
Co-creators of the Universe.
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Time and the Teacher.
54
Hope.
54
Resonate.
54
Parallel Paths.
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Quo Vadis?
54
Deification.
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Imaging the Great Spirit.
55
Karma. (3)
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Bad and Good. (1)
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The Truth and The Conveyor.
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Bad and Good. (2)
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Creativity and Arrogance.
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Free Will and Its Consequence.
55
A Succession of Choices.
56
Casting Stones.
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What One Can Lose.
56
The “Garden of Eden”.
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The Religion of Civilization.
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! of 228 10 ! The Illusion and Emotion.
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Origin of the Species.
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Cessation of Karma.
57
Ω
57
Enlightenment. (6)
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Words of Wisdom.
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Riches.
57
Evil.
57
Suicide and Its Opposite.
58
The Perils of Rainbow Chasing.
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Technological Progress.
58
The Suffering of Animals.
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Questions About “Thought”.
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Experiencing Knowledge.
59
Freedom from Belief.
59
Was it Jesus That Was Crucified?
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Despair of Life.
60
Love. (2)
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Seeing One’s Reflection in Another.
60
Words and Meanings. (1)
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Old Age, the Body and Vanity.
61
Demise of the Moul.
61
Life Is A Succession of Choices.
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Why the increased incarnation on Earth now?
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Enlightenment - progressive.
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Reality and the definable.
61
A Cause of Global Disturbance.
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Karma - a case in point?
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! of 228 11 ! The Reality - a constant.
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The Ladder.
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Spiritual Progress and Observing Life.
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Earthly “love” & Spiritual Oneness.
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The Illusion - an aid to understanding it.
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Oneness and Love.
63
Oneness?
63
Science and the Reality.
64
Hope.
64
The Pendulum Swings!
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Created in “God’s” Image?
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A Step on the Way.
64
Genesis.
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The Illusion and Spiritual Growth.
65
God.
65
Karma. (4)
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Nirvana.
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IT - the indescribable and undefinable.
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Thought Manifests.
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Two Perceptions of Dreams.
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General Spiritual Progress.
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The Oneness & the Illusion.
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The Mind & the Conscience.
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The Illusion.
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OM
66
Success.
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Your Life’s Compass.
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Negative Motivation.
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! of 228 12 ! Your Body.
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Words and Meanings. (2)
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Civilization. (3)
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Spiritual Evolution.
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Our Most Critical Earthly Problems.
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We Creators.
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Trapped in a mindset.
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IT.
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The Illusion - similar processes.
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I AM.
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Friendship.
68
Pointless Pointing.
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Realisation.
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Cause and Effect.
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A Pleasing View.
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The Illusion - Everything.
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Refinement of the Truth.
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One’s Philosophy.
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Would you?
69
Xenophobia.
70
Insult.
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The Unnatural.
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The Metaphysical Reality.
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The Truth. (2)
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Ideas.
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Everything Is As It Should Be.
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The Purpose of Earthly Life.
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Spirituality.
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! of 228 13 ! Perception.
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Spiritual Progress.
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The Truth/Reality.
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Enlightenment. (7)
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Karma. (5)
71
The Gestation Room.
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Disappointment.
72
Clarifying Spirit/Soul/Mind/Moul.
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The Reality/Truth.
73
Tools.
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What Others Think Of You.
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To Love.
73
Corrections to life’s course.
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Karma - a distinct probability.
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Making things happen.
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IN CONCLUSION.
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! of 228 14 !
! of 228 15 ! My Body, My Soul and I. My body is mine, but my body is not me, My body is an expression of my soul. My soul is mine, but my soul is not me, My soul is an expression of me for I am. Ω The Journey up the Mountain. There are those who, having found a spring on the lower reaches of the mountainside, shout to those climbing past, "Stay! for we have found the spring. You need climb no more." Some cease their search and stay, whilst others continue upwards and, reaching the top, find that there is no water there - for none is needed. Ω Choices and Ripples. When we toss a pebble into a still pond it creates ripples which move out from the source and affect the surface and all objects in their path. At times, they rebound to the source. In life, we are constantly making choices (tossing pebbles into the pond) and, where these affect others, they, like the ripples, have an affect. So, be mindful of your choices. Ω Time and "Now". Using approximate times, let us say that it is noon in Maleny. It is then 3 a.m. in London, 6 a.m. in Johannesburg, 8 a.m. in Colombo, 10 a.m. in Singapore and 10 a.m. the previous day in Washington DC, and so on anywhere in the universe. Yet, although the time varies, it is "now" everywhere. Ponder this. Ω The Illusion in Context. When one focuses totally on one's true identity, the "I am", worldly life is but a faint and shallow mirage on the distant horizon. In troubled times this awakens one to the Reality and soothes the troubled mind. Ω Controlling the Mind. Being aware of what the mind is doing helps you control it. Therefore, observe the mind in action, observe what it is doing and what it is saying. You then see it as something apart from yourself and can treat it accordingly. Ω Perception and the Truth. One's perception is one's truth until the arrival of wisdom. Ω
! of 228 16 ! Civilization. (1) Civilization is not necessary for the spiritual progress of the individual. However, it does provide the opportunity to learn that the empty pleasures and apparent benefits that civilization brings are actually worthless - mere illusion - and the opportunity to eliminate the desire for (the attachment to) these. The only progress that matters in the long run is spiritual progress. Historically, all civilizations have collapsed as a result of their own excesses; they are impermanent. Ω The Voice of Conscience & The Voice of Mind. The voice of one's conscience is often eclipsed by the voice of emotion, or the voice of emotion comes into play first and is followed by the surfacing of the voice of conscience after one has reacted to the voice of emotion. The voice of conscience is of the Spirit and the voice of emotion is of the mind, hence the importance of cultivating the ability to subjugate the mind to make it one's servant instead of one's master. Ω The Nature of Mind. The mind is acquired "human nature". The conscience is inherent "spiritual nature". Ω Litigation and Karma. To resort to litigation is to deny or avoid karma. Ω Acting According to Your Conscience. Act according to your conscience and disregard possible consequences to yourself. The mind will feed you with all sorts of things, but it is surprising how often the consequences are quite unexpected and quite unlike the often fearful warnings of the mind. Be aware that the results of acting according to your conscience are precisely what you need. These can be postponed but not avoided (in the normal course of life, that is). Ω The 'World'. The 'World' at any time accurately reflects the collective human consciousness, and is in harmony with it. Ω Sublime Patience. This is the patience with life as it unfolds for one, not the patience of waiting for some thing. Sublime patience comes from the understanding of the purpose of life as we know it and accepting our responsibility for that life. To hand over this responsibility to 'God', or anything or anyone else, is to duck one's own culpability.
! of 228 17 ! Sublime patience comes from acceptance of one's self as the cause - and, therefore, one's self as the 'cure' - and acceptance of what life brings, whilst being aware that the remedy lies with one. Hence, the Edgar Cayce Reading, "Be content, but be not satisfied." Ω The Seed of Truth. The seed of the Truth (Reality) lies within every one. All that is required is to cultivate the soil, sow the seed and nurture its growth. The harvest follows. Hence, one aspect of "As you sow, so shall you reap." Ω Love and Relationship. The emotion generated by love i.e. the emotion of love, depends for its existence on there being a relationship of one kind or another. However, a relationship is not dependent on love. By understanding relationship itself one is aware that, whereas the emotion of love requires relationship, relationship does not require either love or emotion because love and emotion are merely aberrations, or overlays, of relationship. Hence, without love and emotion, relationship acquires it’s true value: that of being only the foundation, the basis, on which either emotion or love stand either alone or combined. N.B. The same applies for any other emotion. Ω Pleasure and Rewards. Far superior to the pleasures and rewards of the illusion that is Earthly life are the pleasures and rewards of the Reality. Ω Blind Eyes & Ignorant Minds. In 'time', as blind eyes will regain sight so will ignorant minds regain wisdom. Ω The Body as a Vehicle. This was written on Feb. 25 2006 at a time when I had cancer of the tongue with possible metastasis elsewhere and had decided, in line with my philosophical understanding, to either cure it myself or succumb to it. "Not surprisingly, I am detached from what is happening to my body. Yes, I do feel the pain and discomfort but there is no emotional reaction to them or the situation as such. Taking the analogy in "The Milk Is White" of the body being as a vehicle, it is now as if I were driving my car which has developed rust that is weakening its structure. As the driver, I am aware of the effect of this but I accept it for what it is and what it means, without emotional reaction - that is, with detachment. When the car falls apart I will scrap it and get a new one - one more suitable to me, should that be necessary." Ω
! of 228 18 ! A Dream. Following the entry The Body as a Vehicle I decided to attend the meeting referred to below. Yesterday I was due to be at the hospital at 8 a.m. for examination by the team of "Head & Neck" surgeons and consultants and before I awoke I had this dream: Note:In Australia we drive on the left side of the road. I was driving on a two-way, two lane street, approaching a T intersection at which I was going to turn right. I 'knew' that the road I was approaching was clear. However, I was approaching the intersection in the right lane instead of in the regulation left lane and was a little uncomfortable with this. Interpretation: 1. In dreams, right = the 'correct' way. 2. The road ahead was clear. 3. I was approaching 'illegally' = not according to required practice or standard principles (in this case, my spiritual guidelines). So, I was approaching a decision/choice, the road ahead was clear and I would make the right choice although it was against 'my principles'. After the examinations and deliberations the surgeon gave me the diagnosis, the proposed surgical procedure and the prognosis; the last mentioned subject to post surgical pathology. I immediately gave him the "go ahead" and a week later the surgery was carried out with complete success, the pathology was clear and no follow-up chemo/radio therapy was required. 立 Life's Events. In each life there are things that will happen, things that will not happen and things that are optional. 立 Knowledge and Knowing. To have knowledge and to know are two different things, and one is possible without the other. 立 Success & Failure. (1) There are no successes and failures in life, only achievements - stepping stones. 立 Creation - the Big Bang. There was no Big Bang. The Big Bang theory stems from the fact that the human mind thinks in terms of time and space. As a consequence, for the dispersal of energy/matter around the universe of time and space it requires an impelling force - in this case an explosion, a big bang. However, Creation is soundless and occurred/occurs 'outside' time and space. It, therefore, does
! of 228 19 ! not require "dispersal" and, therefore, does not require a big bang. The Big Bang is a misconception. 立 The Mind and Enlightenment. The chatter of the mind blocks enlightenment. Many seekers of enlightenment set the mind to a myriad of tasks and the only result of this is 'ments'* like flies in a bottle - a lot of noise and activity going nowhere. Remember that the path to enlightenment involves subduing the mind, subjugating it. *My word for thoughts. To differentiate between Thought and mental activity I use these words: Thinking/mental activity = mentivity; think = ment; thinking = menting. 立 On The Path To Enlightenment. This could be you. Imagine an actor who is wearing all the costumes he has worn on stage in the past looking at himself in the mirror and trying to decide who or what he is. If he goes to the dressing room and strips down to his skin he will see himself clearly. 立 Expressing One's Creativity. Far too many of us get so caught up in the whys and wherefores of things that we get all knotted up, with the result that the creativity lacks the freedom which is essential for creative expression. Just go with the flow! As a teenager I drew and painted and continued this expression till my late twenties when drawing and painting was replaced by poetry. This continued for about twenty years although accompanied by landscape design for the last five years or so. Finally, all this ended and I started writing, and have written two books since. At no stage did I do anything other than just let it happen. If we cut open the bud of a beautiful rose in order to see how it is 'packed' and what it is going to look like, what sort of a bloom will we get? 立 Love - The Three Kinds. One kind of love is affection - normally considered to be love in a less intense form. Affection is variable according to the factors influencing it - it is a 'worldly' phenomenon and impermanent. The second kind is that which stems from the emotions and/or the sensations. Thus, at times it may seem to be sensational, but it is still emotional because it is an emotional reaction to one's sensations. This we can term emotional love. Emotional love is variable according to the factors influencing it - it is a 'worldly' phenomenon and impermanent.
! of 228 20 ! The third kind of love is undefinable; it is an 'aspect' of the Great Spirit or Thought - and, therefore, an 'aspect' of us as Spirit. In us it is our subconscious awareness of our Oneness with our absolute state - the Great Spirit. This we can call fundamental love and fundamental love is a constant - it is not a 'worldly' phenomenon but has a worldly influence and is permanent. Affection and emotional love are universal phenomena whereas fundamental love just is. Ω A Startling and Uncomfortable Awareness. Accompanying the awareness of the reality of karma can be the difficulty of coping with the awareness that there is no such thing as a "tragedy", an "innocent", an "accident" etcetera; of coping with the necessity of saying to oneself, "These people have brought these things upon themselves." Fortunately, we can express sadness that this is so, to empathise, to sympathise and to help in any way we can. Ω Attachments and Enlightenment. In our normal state we Spirits have no attachments. It is only when we entered the Phenomenal World, or Earth Plane, that we developed the numerous emotional attachments, and those of other types if there are any, that burden us and without which we feel naked and incomplete. These we guard zealously. However, in order to end the cycle of death and rebirth we have to eliminate these attachments - and that is what spiritual growth and full enlightenment is about. Ω Mind and Thought. As the mind shrinks at the will of the initiate, thought flows in to fill the spaces so created. Ω Observe, Observe, Observe. Observe others and learn, observe nature and learn but, above all, observe self and learn, for this is one of the main keys to spiritual perfection. Ω Meditation. (1) One cannot “meditate on something”. This is because to “meditate on something” is to focus the mind on something, whereas meditation is the process by which the mind is stilled, not activated. However, one can focus the mind on something in a state of quiet contemplation or, as a means to achieving a state of meditation, concentrate on one's breathing or, for instance, a spot on the wall or the flame of a candle. Ω
! of 228 21 ! Telepathy/Thought Transference. Be it from human to human, animal to animal or human to animal how does telepathy [thought transference] work? We all know that we sometimes feel something when we meet or see someone, or even, sometimes, hear of someone. We call this feeling “vibes”. We also know, for instance, that animals are sometimes aware of danger even though this danger is outside the spectrum of their senses. On many occasions I have talked gently to houseflies that have found their way into my house, told them that I did not intend to harm them but only put them outside; then told them to move to my open hand which I held near them, and when they did this took them to the fly wire screen door, opened it, and released them from my still open hand. We talk of “feeling vibes” of “giving off vibes” etcetera but there are no discernible vibrations. So what is happening? To understand this we need to understand that this is telepathy or thought transference and we have to know what thought is. So, what is thought, or as I refer to it in this context, Thought? The answer to that lies in what I have written and will have to be sought by the reader by reading all I have written, for a proper appreciation, or using a computer's Search facility for bits and pieces. For the present I will quote the encapsulation of what Thought is i.e. “Thought creates, creation manifests, (therefore) Thought manifests.” Thought (an Intelligence if you like) is the cause, the first cause, the creator, of all energy - that of which the entire universe is comprised. It follows, therefore, that everything 'on Earth', whatever it's form, is a manifestation of Thought. At the same time everything is Thought itself. To illustrate this to some extent we can use the example of water, ice and water vapour co-existing in one place - the one substance is present as a liquid, a solid and a gas. Now, thought is known to exist as an entity; it is also known that it 'travels' from one point to another instantaneously, irrespective of distance - in other words, it transfers but does not travel; it does not travel because travel takes time, even a minute distance of travel. Thought does not have to travel because it exists everywhere or, to put it simply, it exists. Since it exists in this way it is where you are, where I am and where anything and everything is. Also, being you, me and everything else, what each feels everything else can feel. I say “can feel” because to feel requires being 'tuned in', and if the tuning in is askew there is either poor communication or no communication. And since it exists in this way there are no 'waves' or other phenomena involved. Hence, telepathy is communication within something (Thought) without the presence of any phenomenon. Ω Thought. Thought is still - there is no motion. Thought acts but there is no activity.
! of 228 22 ! Thought is the Great Spirit, the First Cause, the Creative Force, God; and, whatever name it is given, the Great Spirit, the First Cause, the Creative Force, God is Thought. Ω Seeing & Evaluating in Context. Most commonly we see events in a superficial context and the evaluation that follows is, therefore, also superficial. This is because our common mindset is superficial i.e. Earthly, three-dimensional etc. To view and evaluate events in their true context we have to view and evaluate them in the context of life being continuous i.e. involving thousands of lives. Where people, particularly children, are concerned it pays to reflect on the fact that they are souls in a human body, with the former being the predominant influence. It takes practice to eliminate the mindset and clear the vision. Ω Meditation. (2) There are no shortcuts to enlightenment but meditation could reduce the time it takes by many lifetimes. Ω Enlightenment. (1) As long as one desires enlightenment one will not achieve it, for one of the qualities of the enlightened state is that of being without desire. Ω The Purpose of Life. What started with my wanting to comment about “The essence of all spiritual wisdom.” led me to want to define “The essence of all spiritual wisdom.” and the result, after a bit of sorting out, is: We are all Spirit experiencing a process set up to facilitate its (each Spirit's) understanding of its true identity and, through that understanding, to revert to its pristine state. This seems to me to be “The purpose of life.” in one simple sentence. Ω Carnivores, Herbivores & Omnivores. It is a normal and natural tendency for a spiritual teacher, or the followers of a particular teacher or teaching, to feel or claim that theirs is the truest truth and, therefore, make its instruction exclusive. From the point of view of teaching, this exclusivity is understandable, even necessary, as to do otherwise would create confusion in the 'classroom'. However, it is best to include in the instruction that the pupil has the freedom of seeking elsewhere because the truth comes in different packages and all paths lead to the top of
! of 228 23 ! the mountain.The fact is that, irrespective of the path taken, enlightenment remains the same - it cannot be otherwise; the path itself is merely the means to the end. Take the analogy of animals. There are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores yet, despite their varied diet, they each grow well, mature and die and, on death, return to that from which they came. So, should we be a carnivore, a herbivore or an omnivore? We can choose any one or all. Ω Money. (1) Thought sees money for what it is. Mind sees money as a means to happiness. Hence, when we think about money we see just money and when we ment* about money we see Utopia. Ω Regarding Yourself. [Refer to next topic: Life is a Stage.]
Regarding yourself, who do you see living your day to day life? Is it the actor or the character in the play? If it is the character you see it helps to remind yourself, as often as possible, that you are really the actor, and you can do this by a quick reminder like "I am!" or "I am Spirit!" - or whatever suits you. When it is the actor you see, or see most often, you are well on your way to the top of the mountain. Ω Life is a Stage. “Life is a stage ……………” said Shakespeare. Well, it really is. On a stage people get dressed in costumes, change their appearance, suppress their true character and take on the part of another character. They then act the stage part using what they learned and practiced in preparation for the play. So it is in spiritual life because each life is a play wherein we dress as a character, change appearance, suppress our true character, take on the part of a new character and act out what we learned in the period/s between other lives. Ω Enlightenment. (2) 1. Enlightenment is stopping the rainbow from moving away as you approach. 2. Enlightenment is when all one's insights have completed the jigsaw. Ω Fighting Wars Is Only Natural. It seems as if there is more fighting in the world today than there has been in known history, and a large proportion of us agree with this or go along with
! of 228 24 ! it. But why do we fight so much? We fight so much because it is natural. In nature, animals fight to defend their territories, their nests and their homes - it is natural; and we are animals, or rather, we have taken on the physical and mental characteristics of an animal - hu-man, and are in the process of jettisoning these characteristics. However, we are Spirit, and it is spiritual not to fight or defend anything*. Behaving spiritually, if another comes to take our home or territory, we would gladly hand it over and there would be no fight. There would also be karma accruing to one party only. So, we fight because our animal instincts are still stronger than our inherent spiritual qualities. *We defend things because of attachment to the things, and attachment is not of the Spirit. Ω Joy, happiness, fun, laughter etc. and Reality. Joy, happiness, fun, laughter etc. are all of the mind; the equivalent - and I use the term loosely - of these emotions in spiritual terms is very difficult to describe; it is a stillness yet it is not still, it is like an indescribably beautiful understanding that is the very substance flowing in the 'blood vessels' of the Spirit - circulating, but still, for there is no motion in Spirit. This is not to denigrate joy, happiness, fun, laughter etc. They are what make life here worthwhile and, therefore, worth pursuing until one comes to the Realisation of what surpasses them. Ω An Unsustainable Civilization. Western civilization is driven by economics dependent on consumerism and materialism. Both consumerism and materialism are created by craving. Because spiritual progress is dependent upon the elimination of craving, any civilization dependent on craving is not sustainable. Ω Killing. It matters not what side you are on when you kill or cause killing - death is death; there are no degrees of death. Make no mistake about it, “As you sow, so shall you reap.” Ω Knowing the Truth. Student monk: How do I know that what you tell me is the Truth? Teacher: As long as you ask, “Is it the Truth?” you do not know. Student monk: When will I stop asking? Teacher: When you see it yourself. Ω
! of 228 25 ! Menting, Thinking & Emotion. Regarding something one does, menting creates a perception of good, bad or neutral and a corresponding emotion, whereas with thinking it simply is, and there is no emotion, only clarity. Ω Mind & Conscience. Mind is the Soul speaking and Conscience is the Spirit speaking. Ω Enlightenment. (3) Enlightenment is knowing what one is and behaving accordingly. Ω Forgiveness. It is beneficial to forgive but better not to condemn in the first place. Ω Karma - the Gender Blender. Some years ago I had been talking a lot to a friend and co-worker of mine about the philosophy of Life. One day he told me that the night before he had been having an argument with his wife when he suddenly realised that, if he did not change his attitude in the argument, he could reincarnate as a woman and be in the position he was putting his wife in at that moment. He stopped the argument! Note: It is worthy of note that we seldom think outside our 'gender mindset'. Just walking in the shoes of another is often enhanced by walking in the requisite 'gender shoes' of the other - and to my female friends I say, “Hold the cheers girls, this applies both ways!” Ω The “unbearable” Truth of Non-violence. “Non-violence,” says an Indian proverb, “is the supreme law of life.” This is absolutely true and, believe it or not, deny it or not, this even applies to “defending” that which we hold dearest. However, we do have freedom of choice [and until we come to the realisation of the Truth in the proverb, and act accordingly, we will not attain enlightenment]. Ω The Illusion that is all things. To say that life and all that comprises it is an illusion is easy to say but extremely hard to comprehend. This is to assist that comprehension. Look around you. Look at anything that you can smell, taste, touch, see or hear and be mindful of it. In your mind reduce it, step by step, to its smaller and smaller components until you come to sub-atomic particles and then energy. What next? You are now at the point of creation of that thing which
! of 228 26 ! you are aware of - on 'your side' of the point of creation is the energy whilst on the 'other side' is nothing. Be aware that at the very moment that you are mindful of this thing you see, it is actually nothing. If something is nothing, it is an illusion. Ω The Sunbeam and Sunlight. “As the sunbeam is to sunlight, I am.” (from The Milk Is White.)
The sunbeam is there because one or more things are blocking the sunlight. Remove what is doing the blocking and all you have is sunlight. The Soul is there because one or more things are blocking the Spirit. Remove what is doing the blocking and all you have is Spirit. Ω Blowing Bubbles. Have you seen children in a garden having fun blowing beautifully coloured bubbles and chasing them to catch them? If you look carefully you will see, sitting at the side somewhere, a beautiful child, happier than the others, with a serene look of perfect joy on its face. This is the one who knows. Ω Synchronicity. The word 'synchronicity' is generally used in the context of two things/ events occurring at the same time (coincidence). Carl Jung used it in a slightly different, spiritual context for which I would like to suggest a brief and simple definition viz. Synchronicity is the coincidence of a need and an event. Note: Often the term/word 'serendipity' is used when what is meant is 'synchronicity' and the above should clarify that. Ω Civilization. (2) Our civilization is like a snake which, being unaware of its tail, has got hold of it and is devouring itself obsessively. Ω Joy. There is the joy that is one's state of being and there is the joy that is one's state of mind. The first is permanent and the second is impermanent. Ω Enjoy. Enjoy the necessities of life but eschew the excesses. Ω Understanding the bud. To fully understand a bud on a tree one needs to first understand the tree. So it is with life. Ω
! of 228 27 ! Human Gender Differences. In response to a joke about the difference in human male and female idiosyncrasies: So, like all of us, we are female in some lives and have to experience the idiosyncrasies of males, we are male in some lives and have to experience the idiosyncrasies of females and, throughout all this, in Reality, we are Spirit which is neither female nor male! Beautiful, is it not? Ω Science & Psychological Illness. Scientists are increasingly claiming to discover connections between brain function and psychological problems. This is erroneous because all psychological problems are rooted in the psyche (the Soul). Hence, because all psychological problems are rooted in the psyche that is where they have to be treated. The brain is merely the organ that is designed to 'connect' the physical 'person' with the psyche, the conduit, and all its magnificent capability and versatility are purely mechanical - the “servant of the soul”. To correct something in the brain perceived to be the cause of something in the person/ persona is like repairing a part of a car and pronouncing the job done when the malfunction is with the driver! Ω The Wise Mariner. While you live your life aboard the ship of life be mindful of the sea of life on which it floats and on which it moves forward; be aware of the prevailing winds and currents that influence your progress as the master of the ship. Ω Perceived Elitism in Enlightenment. A lot of us suffer from the delusion that only a select elite amongst us, like the Buddha and the Christ, can attain enlightenment. We idolise or put on a pedestal those who have done so and thereby paint ourselves out of the picture where this is concerned, waiting perhaps for the time when we will don holy robes and other perceived symbols of holiness and be candidates for this, to our minds, hitherto unattainable goal. It is time now for those of us thus deluded to wake up to the fact that anyone can attain enlightenment and that everyone will. Ω On Loving God. On television one night I was watching individuals with various religious and philosophical beliefs talking about God and trying to define God when they started talking about loving God. At this point I found myself saying, “But you cannot love that which you are!”. I then started to try to explain this impromptu statement of mine in words and this is the result some considerable time later; it is not easy to put into
! of 228 28 ! words: One can love another only if the two are separate, because to love another is to project the love from one to the other. For this there have to be two entities, in this case there is one's self and God. However, when two entities are one and the same thing nothing is, or can be, projected - but there can be an ‘awareness' of oneness and this ‘awareness' may be termed “fundamental love” - if we wish to use the term love - as opposed to “human love” in all its manifestations. This human love is an emotion and an emotion is a creation of the mind and, since the mind does not exist in Reality, this love does not exist except as a figment of the imagination [the non-existent mind]. Ω Spiritual Growth and Attitude. The only thing involved in one’s spiritual growth is one’s attitude – the continual improvement of one’s attitude. Knowledge of material things is irrelevant, merely of intellectual interest to some. Ω Spare thoughts of compassion and joy. Where karma is concerned many of us are keen to be mindful of what we are doing but how many of us are mindful of what others are doing? Spare thoughts of compassion for the vast number of us who are daily creating terrible negative karma for themselves by their inhumanity to their fellows, by designing, manufacturing and distributing arms, by fighting wars (often whilst asking for “God's” blessing!!), by condoning the exploitation of the disadvantaged (often in “the national interests”) etcetera. Spare thoughts of joy, and raise a cheer, for those of us who in their own ways care for others and all things - who love others and all things. Be mindful. Note: The karma attracted by soldiers is not necessarily negative. What affects their karma is their attitude to what they are doing. For many it is an opportunity to demonstrate many positive attributes. Ω Finding the Truth. The Truth is really very simple but cannot be described in its fullness with the tools of human communication. Often, aspects of it can only be experienced. This is why so much is written by so many, in so many different ways, presenting a complex and confusing spectrum. In such an environment we can only seek the Truth on what are called “higher levels”, or outer 'levels', those that are 'outside' the confines of the mind. Despite this it is surprising that the majority of seekers seek through the mind only and are not even surprised that they get nowhere! Ω
! of 228 29 ! The Pilgrims’ Way. All things on the pilgrims' Way are the same yet each one of us smells these things differently, tastes these things differently, feels these things differently, hears these things differently and sees these things differently - until that is, we find enlightenment! Ω Without Emotion. Emotion is a creation of the mind, and the mind is not a reality; however: Without the emotion of compassion One can be compassionate. Without the emotion of love One can be loving. Without the emotion of joy One can be joyous. Ω Circling the Truth. Many souls circle the Truth happy to enjoy its periphery, until suddenly the circle breaks and they are drawn to the Centre to see the Truth, to be the Truth - and they are still at last! Ω Rivers, Streams and Oceans. Beneath each river and stream another flows; Below the ocean waves are currents. The one who seeks at the top finds knowledge; The one who seeks at the top and below Finds wisdom; For the mind cannot find what thought can. Ω Love and Liberty. Q: Are we meant to be with one person our entire lives, or are we meant to share the love? Many people, many religions and many societies believe we should each find a mate and stay together “'till death do us part”. However, is this outlook being true to our human nature? A: I start with the contention that the institution of marriage and consequently the accepted, perhaps subconsciously, 'institution' of partnership in modern times, devolve from man made - yes, man made - religio/social standards of the past. As I see it, each soul is different and has different experiences to meet in each life with different people, with each experience requiring a different time factor as well as a multitude of other lessons. This is all karma and it has of necessity to take its course, and by take its course I mean just that, as its course varies in each situation. Therefore, to adhere rigidly to a man made time frame is interfering with what is needed.
! of 228 30 ! However, and this is very important, in all relationships the underlying value is love - love of another in every way that love manifests in Earthly life - the testing ground of our spirituality. In all relationships, including those created for the continuation of the human race, it is important that one does one's very best. This may, on the surface, seem easy but we cannot fool ourselves because “doing one's best” means just that - and best does not come in shades! I have tried to encapsulate a vast reservoir of possibilities into a fundamental concept from which various situations may be viewed. Ω Hanging the Thread in a Solution. When a thread is hung in a salt solution the salt gradually and increasingly crystallises on the thread if the thread and solution are kept still. If the 'salt' in the solution is the Truth, or Reality, and we hang our thread in the solution the Truth crystallises on our thread if the thread and the solution are kept still. So, hang your thread in the solution and keep the thread and solution still… … . and patiently watch the crystal grow. Ω If we are all ‘one’? Q. If we are all one, that is one with one another, with the Great Spirit and with all life etc., why is it that the most prominent thing in evidence in the human race today, individually and collectively, is the “I” in all its diverse manifestations? A. Many say that we are ‘one’, but as individuals, families, races, nations and religio/spiritual groups we clearly demonstrate the opposite. As Spirit, we are one, and we are one in terms of body and its composition, but as souls we are still unable to conceptualise ‘oneness’ let alone be ‘one’. Therefore, to all intents and purposes we are separate and inhabit the dimensions of duality on Earth and in between sojourns on Earth until such time as we learn, and from this learning become aware, of our oneness with all things and all Spirit – and ‘be one’. Note: I have here used my terminology wherein there is the Spirit (Spirit Self), and the Soul which is the Imperfect Spirit. In the Earth dimension the Soul is manifest as the personality and the body. Ω The World Is Your Oyster. The world is your oyster. Yes, but in that oyster is the pearl; and to get to the pearl one has to first discard the shell and the flesh. Ω Karma at Work – an example. One who is not guilty of a murder is convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
! of 228 31 ! Those in the know are aware that the person did not commit the crime and vehemently declare his innocence. They are correct in saying that there has been a miscarriage of justice because in the Earthly justice system that is correct. However, karmic justice is being played out; the person has done something in the past which created the karma of life in prison and this miscarriage of human justice is the means to that end. There would also be karma involved where the miscarriage of justice itself is concerned – that too has to be experienced. Ω The Search for Happiness. As humans, in our search for happiness, we are like drowning people, clutching at straws instead of learning to swim. To appreciate this all we have to do is observe ourselves and ask ourselves the question, “Am I really progressing?” As Spirit there is no water in which to drown. Ω Nirvana - The Pleasant and the Unpleasant. Nirvana is the state of being achieved after one has overcome the cycle of birth and death. In this state there is no “unpleasantness” (See dukkha below). This is all well and good and we are happy to accept it, but it also means a state of being without all the ‘goodies’, the “pleasantness”, which so many crave, and raises the question, “How many of us are happy to – can, in fact, be without this?” The above reveals the realm of duality where we cannot have one without the other – there has to be non-attachment to the “unpleasant” and the “pleasant”! Note: In the glossary of his definitive book What the Buddha Taught Walpola Rahula lists the following as meanings for dukkha: suffering, conflict, unsatisfactoriness, unsubstantiality, emptiness. Ω Past Lives – Remembering. As a rule we do not remember our past lives. This is because remembering them can interfere with our choices in the present life. In spiritual terms only the now exists, hence a previous life has no significance where the present life is concerned; all that matters is what we learned in a previous life. In the whole process of repeated embodiment the thousands of lives we experience are, in themselves, irrelevant; what is relevant is only the experiences, and these add to or subtract from what constitutes our soul. Ω
! of 228 32 ! Attaining Nirvana. To attain the cessation of Earthly life, that is to attain Nirvana, one has to cut all Earthly ties – attachments – because any ties bind one to the Earthly cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. No bird can soar into the blue of the sky if there is a string tied to its leg and a stone on the ground. Ω Speaking. Quoting only the words of others is parrot-like; Quoting what you know, is wise; Quoting what you are, is enlightened. Ω Emotional Self-sufficiency. Emotional self-sufficiency is that state of non-attachment where one has eliminated emotional needs; where one has emotional equilibrium; where emotional reaction is precluded but not emotional expression. Ω The Jellyfish. Observe the jellyfish swimming in the ocean. Compared to the drift of the current its efforts are minuscule. So it is with the efforts of the Soul – despite its efforts it goes with the flow. Ω The Bubble of Thought. If awareness is a pond, a Thought* is the bubble that rises from the depths and bursts at the surface. (*For my definition see Ian’s Dictionary.)
Ω Animal Instincts. Observe the tracks people make through flower beds, lawns etc. although there are walkways provided nearby. This behaviour is like that of sheep, one of blindly following instinct, an animal instinct we picked up with the animal body in the dim, distant past; and an instinct we have to surmount on the Way to enlightenment. Ω Comprehension & The Truth. That one does not comprehend or accept the Truth does not negate its validity. Ω Stilling the Surface. If one stills the surface of a body of water one can see clearly beneath the surface. For the same reason be Still. Ω
! of 228 33 ! Freedom of Expression. In recent times we have been creating an environment of greater freedom of expression in respect of the physical, mental and emotional, and therein lies the test; the test of us individually and collectively. With greater freedom comes greater responsibility. Ω Arrogance. Pause, if you will, and visualize this Earth as we can now see it; consider the movement of the oceans, the air and the land masses, and note the awesome power inherent in this movement. Consider also that all earthlings can pit against this awesome power is its puny arrogance, doing this continuously while it destroys its very home in the pitiful belief that its mind can rectify the destruction it creates. Such is the attitude that one day has to be brought to account. Ω Don't give - give up! Giving tends to be spasmodic and without total commitment. Giving up tends to be permanent. If the haves give up, there will be material equity on Earth with all the benefits that will bring. Ω The Purpose of Human Life. The purpose of human life is the dissolution of the soul and the revelation of the Spirit. Ω Nationalism and the “I”. According to the Bible 'The greatest sin* is the “I” '. Nationalism is the “I” of a large group of people, a nation. *I prefer the word “mistake” to the word “sin”. Note: This is a subtle manifestation of the herd or pack instinct of the soul that includes safety in numbers and group comfort. Ω Nationalism and the Spirit. With reference to our Spirit selves, how can something that has lived, and will live, in many different countries be nationalistic? If you are, reassess your attitude. Ω An Interesting Prediction. Gleaned last night from a documentary on the Indus civilization of some 4000 years ago and attributed to one of the sages of that time, this snippet from the Mahabharata (I think it was.): " . . . . . .the future of all things material will be cut short by the lack of virtue."
! of 228 34 ! What is interesting here is the implication that the non-material would continue. Ί The Human Condition. The human condition, the human state, is merely the means to the end and not the end in itself. {Remember this as often as you can.}
Ί Thought and Menting. Regarding other references to menting, ment, mentivity etc. try this: For Thought manifesting one might best refer to the common expressions "It dawned on me." and "It occurred to me." in which is implied the absence of mental activity; in other words no menting or mentivity. Ί How is the illusion of colour created? If we are shown a green leaf and asked what its colour is, we will reply that it is green. However, it is not green. It only appears to be green because it absorbs all but that part of the light spectrum that makes green, and that is the part that is reflected to our eyes. A beautiful butterfly wing is not beautiful at all; it only looks that way because the tiny scales on the wings are angled in different ways to create different colours. Above is an extract from The Milk Is White [Chapter 8, page 37, The Illusion - 2, See Note.] Today I had a neoption in which I saw exactly how the illusion of colour is created and it is interesting that, if I let the mind get active while I was seeing this, what I was seeing disappeared. The mind intruded once and I had to remove it to regain the picture. I saw that both the object - in this case a leaf - and the light hitting it are essentially energy in vibration at different levels. These are called wavelengths. White light is composed light of the colours of the spectrum combined, and each colour is energy vibrating at a different level or wavelength. Likewise, the various parts of the leaf are energy vibrating at different levels or wavelengths according to the density of the part. There is no colour of which we are aware. [Up to this point I was covering what I already knew.] To help understand what happens just imagine all these wavelengths as bits of string in uniform squiggles of differing undulations. Some are in the light and the others are in the leaf. When those from the light hit those from the leaf those of the leaf get entangled with some of those of the light whilst the remaining light threads bounce off the leaf toward where the came from. These that bounce back are of the wavelengths that give us the colour/s of the leaf.
! of 228 35 ! When we are told that the leaf absorbs some of the light and reflects that which makes green (blue and yellow) we now know what actually happens. Note: For autumn colours or blemishes the principle is the same. Ω Emotions. Often, emotions stifle the mind, loosen the tongue and harden the heart. Ω The Sterility of Hyperbole. In ‘Westernised’ societies we are in a time of rampant hyperbole. It is hurled at us at every opportunity supposedly to make us feel good, or because the hurler hopes to gain from making us feel good. We too embrace hyperbole in the hope of feeling good. However, in reality this is a fruitless, if fleeting, embrace because this feeling is as fickle as a breeze on a still day. In these times we search madly for ‘fun’, we are inundated by smiling, laughing faces and contrived laughter – all exaggerated; we are attracted to what once were ‘stars’ but are now ‘superstars’ and there are thousand of living ‘icons’ who are worshipped more than ancient religious icons and just about everything is described in superlatives that have improved upon previous superlatives! This is the massive con of hyperbole that we both accept and enjoy in the mistaken belief that it makes us happier. This is self-delusion. There are many who will perceive what I have said here as negative, for a variety of reasons, but perception does not alter reality. Discounting physics, reality is neither negative nor positive – only the perception of it is one or the other. Rather than succumb to the pursuit of the ephemeral ‘feel good’ feeling one would do well to pursue a course that brings true, permanent happiness – and that cannot be found in worldly things. Ω Ignorance causing obsession. Our obsession, in the western world, with the prolongation of human life can be likened to manipulating a long train journey, which starts at station A and ends at station Z, so that the distance between any two stations, say L and M, is unnaturally prolonged as much as is scientifically possible, even to the extent where the train is in need of continuous maintenance; our obsession stemming from ignorance of the fact that segment L to M is not the whole journey. Ω The “I am” quotation/affirmation – a visualization. A Quotation from The Milk Is White (This is you too, dear reader, so visualise each line carefully): As the droplet is to the ocean,
! of 228 36 ! I am. As the lick of flame is to the fire, I am. As the sunbeam is to sunlight, I am. As the Great Spirit is, I am. Here is a visualisation: re. line 1. Visualise a drop of water dropped into a glass of water; it is one with the water but still exists in its own right. re. line 2. Visualise a fire and a lick of its flame; the lick is often separate from the fire but is still part of it. Without the fire it does not exist. re. line 3. Visualise sunlight and a sunbeam. The sunbeam exists only because something has blocked out part of the ambient sunlight. Remove the block, and the sunbeam merges with the ambient sunlight. What appeared to be separate is now all one - yet the sunbeam still exists as it was. re. line 4. Visualise, therefore, the relationship of “I am” (you) to the Great Spirit which is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient - the Creative Force, God. Hence, “I am” is all these things. Ω Split Souls. Below is an extract of an entry in my Zaadz pod The Milk Is White - the book, an entry which raises a very interesting point. “When writing the second sentence above I had a brief, mild neoption which prompted me to the fact that this may be a case of what I shall now call a 'split soul'. This can come about because not all of one's soul incarnates in one life and, therefore, another part can incarnate as a different person. Whether this is the same as 'twin souls' I cannot say but sense that in certain instances it may be whilst in others it may not be. In this regard here is an extract from The Milk Is White.” Ω The Bible and books. To the discerning the Bible is a highly questionable book but what is important is the message, the message common to all major teachings as well as the message which resonates within each one of us. It is this inherent knowledge (insight) that is important and books are best used to trigger this insight rather than as crutches on which to lean. Clear strides take us further than limps with a crutch. Ω Souls and Spirits. The end of the human race will not be the end of Souls, and the eventual end
! of 228 37 ! of Souls will be the uncovering of all Spirits as one, as it is our soul state that separates us. Ω Inner Poverty. Trappings of wealth are symptoms of inner poverty. Ω Impractical Spiritual Fundamentals. From a letter to a friend: "I say/write a number of things that, whilst being spiritual fundamentals, are largely impractical in the world as it is today but they can act as beacons for each one of us for it is by the light of such beacons that we slowly change ourselves and, in turn, life itself." Ω The Tale of Prodi Galson. Prodi Galson was like all the other Spirits who came down to Earth on a visit. With others s/he came down more and more because they got very interested in things on Earth. Ultimately, s/he got so close to the ground on Earth that s/he got covered in mud. In the wind and the heat this mud hardened and although s/he was happy to be on Earth s/he felt discomfort and pain from the hard mud all over and in the eyes. Next, some of the mud started to break off and fall away from the skin, thus reducing the suffering. Later, it started to rain and the rain was cooling. It also began to wash off the mud and s/he was able to see more clearly. Finally, perfect vision was restored, s/he regained all original powers, reverted to the state of being s/he had at the start and went home, wiser for the experience! Ω Karma. (1) Your very presence on Earth is karma - the result of your past mentivity (mental activity) and actions. So is every characteristic of your body. The physical you and its state of mind are manifestations of you - your creation within the broader blueprint. Throughout your life, with every ment and action, you are creating karma, erasing karma or being karma neutral. Ω The Submerged Life. When the waters are muddied by creations of the mind such as cravings and emotions one cannot see and understand the beauty of the submerged life. Ω The Option of Being Still. If you let your vehicle take you to your destination you can enjoy the ride
! of 228 38 ! and the view. If, instead, you run ahead you may take an incorrect road or get ill. Ω A foot in each camp. If I remember correctly there is a term like "With a foot in either camp." Well, we know that we are "In this world, not of this world." so I have associated my left leg with the Reality and my right leg with the Earthly world* and when I have wished to move away from menting** and to thought I have actually transferred my weight to my left foot with the desired result. I pass this on for what it is worth to anyone. * This is probably due to my being right handed. It may be that, in the case of left handers, the association is reversed. Let us know. ** Menting? See entry in Ian’s Dictionary.
Ω What is that essential which we call love? That essential which we call love, unlike so many other kinds of love we experience, is like compassion and empathy or mindfulness, sympathy even, an expression of our affiliation, of our inherent awareness of our oneness with the Great Spirit and all others. Ω Acceptance of the Manifest Body. The body is the manifestation of the soul. It therefore represents every aspect of the soul and all physical karma needed for the soul. Every feature, every strength and weakness of the body is a karmic manifestation present for the experience of the soul in the current life. Therefore, to not accept, to hide, or to alter any aspect of the body for the sake of appearance is to defeat its purpose and postpone the necessary experience it was designed to create. Accept and live as happily as possible with what are perceived as negatives and live modestly with what are perceived as positives. Ω Money. (2) Extract from The Milk Is White: What is Money? What really is money? In one form it is merely something dug from the ground, a piece of paper or a number, or series of numbers in a register. In the other form (sic) it is merely an idea - a figment of the mind - no more. This idea gives it a value that creates self-aggrandisement manifesting as pride, power, profligacy, greed, and other states of mind that underpin structured societies and perpetuate inequality. Money has no intrinsic value. With reference to the above extract a reader said in effect that, as she perceived it, money did have a value because it could be used for all sorts of
! of 228 39 ! things and enabled people to help others etc. This is true but it is only a tool devised by us for use in Earthly life. To illustrate that money has no intrinsic value let us look at an example: If one wanted to buy food to feed the hungry one would need money but, if money did not exist, if we had no knowledge of money, there would be no money yet the food would still be there to be used to feed the hungry. On the other hand, if there was no food the money would be valueless. Ω Time. If we dream about something in the future, that something must exist now, correct? If that something in the future exists now the future must exist now, correct? Therefore, now and the future co-exist, correct? Therefore, since the same also applies where the past is concerned, there is no such things as time, there is only 'now', correct? NB. This is one way to understand the Truth that time is an illusion and the only Reality is the Now.
Ω Our Bodies – our creation. Since we create our own bodies one may ask how we do this when it is two other bodies, the parents’, which provide the raw material. The answer is that we create the blueprint and the parents’ bodies the raw materials (now called genes). However, it should be remembered that the parents have to meet other requirements such as personalities, circumstances and a virtually endless set of factors all of which are necessary for the experience of the Spirit entity in the life ahead. Ω The Truth. (1) The fact that one may not understand, believe, or accept an aspect of the Truth does not negate its validity. Ω Memory, Mind & the Brain. Memory and mind exist before and after the death of the physical body whereas the brain dies with it. Ω A Sound Maxim by which to live. With reference to what you have or receive ponder “Who needs this more than I do?” Ω The View from the Mountain. To see from the top of the mountain one has to make the climb. Ω
! of 228 40 ! The Philosophy of Life – like the ocean. When presented with the philosophy of life some people brush it aside as irrelevant: these are disinterested and not yet ready; others read it as one rides a jet ski and skim the surface: these are interested but are not yet ready; others dive below the surface and absorb the beauty of the corals and the fishes – even cavort with the seals and dolphins: these are the seekers after Truth; yet others devise the means to delve the depths in search of what is unknown and are the sages. Ω Unable to make a decision? Choose an option – and do it! The experience you need will come, so you cannot lose! Ω Success & Failure. (2) To make a modest living from one’s knowledge and ability is success; to use one’s knowledge and ability to exploit others is failure. Ω The Ways of the World. If the ways of the world torment your mind try to understand this which I repeat. To understand this is not easy but it may help: The thought is the reality, the act only an illusion.* Hence, what one perceives to be happening is not happening although people are thinking it. *Note: This is like a cherry from a fruit cake whose true quality can often only be appreciated in the context of the taste and texture of the whole cake. The Milk Is White is such a 'cake'. Ω Avoiding Reaction to The Ways of the World. I have previously stated that the Mind and the Soul are the same thing and defined them (it) as being the sum total of the Spirit’s experiences in thousands of lives. I have also stated that what we perceive as reality is, in fact, an illusion, dreamlike. If we combine what we know the mind to be with the fact of perceived reality we can understand two things: 1. That each of us, when using the mind, has an individual perception of every thing and 2. That the perception is, in any case, simply that – a perception, a mental picture. Hence, every thing we perceive as happening in the world today, particularly where our reaction is emotionally adverse, is a creation of the mind, a mental activity, and is only real in so far as it is the way an individual visualises it. In fact, none of it is actually happening! This is extremely difficult to grasp – and cannot be grasped by the mind which is, of course, the creator of the illusion – but when one can do this one
! of 228 41 ! becomes unaffected by, and non reactive to, “life as we see it” or, if we do react initially, we are able to dismiss the mind and its creations for what they are and revert to the true Reality and, thus, peace of mind. It is, therefore, true to say, “It is the thought that counts.” Although I would substitute the word ment or mentivity for ‘thought’. [See “Ian’s Dictionary”.]
Ω The Truth/Reality. We may each perceive any aspect of the Truth/Reality differently because we each look “through a glass darkly” but when the glass clears we all see exactly. Ω One’s Independence. One is beholden to no one and no thing, and one is only responsible to one’s Self. Ω Insults and other hurts. If someone insults you, or otherwise hurts you, that is their problem; if you feel insulted, or hurt, that is your problem. Ω About being One. In essence, as Spirit we are One – whilst retaining an ‘identity’. In effect, as Souls and people we are individuals whilst retaining our Spirit ‘identity’. Ω A Truth Is a Truth. Whether stated by a Christ, a Buddha or a five-year-old child a Truth is a Truth, so ignore the human source. Ω Creating Our Future. The mistakes we make do not come back to haunt us, they lie ahead – waiting! Waiting for us to face the same choices again, but then with greater wisdom. Ω Love – further clarifying its non-existence. So much poetry and song lyrics are created by the emotion of love yet it is an illusion too! Albeit an illusion which, like time - another illusion - serves a purpose in this plane, a means of expressing the inexpressible essence of the "God within". Ω Life. When life itself is a pleasure whatever one’s circumstances, there is no need to look elsewhere for pleasure.
! of 228 42 ! Ω The Experiences of Life. It is not one's experiences in life that are important but how one's mentality is affected by them. Ω Anger & Love. Now and again Ian gets angry with people because of what they say or do but I love them for what they are despite what they say or do. Ω The Pilgrim’s Progress. When the pilgrim is aware of what is and why it is, he or she needs no crutch, walks tall and without fear. Ω Upheaval and Growth. The upheaval of the ground by ploughing in preparation for the sowing of the seeds of growth is like the upheaval in the lives of many souls on Earth. Ω The Paradox of Soul Growth. Paradoxically, the growth of the Soul results in its elimination but with the fruition of the Spirit in all its glory. Ω The Advent of “Messengers”. If we assume that in their time the Buddha and the Christ were the only “messengers” on Earth, that the population of the Earth at that time was one million, and that such “messengers” appeared thereafter in proportion to the population, we would have on Earth today six thousand “messengers”. There certainly are a large number at present. Ω Hurt Feelings. When our feelings are hurt we are inclined to ment or say, “You hurt my feelings”. That would be incorrect as what we should say is, “My feelings got hurt”. We cannot blame another for our doing. Ω Blisstasy. For a long time I had been dissatisfied with the words joy, bliss, love etc. as a description of what really exists at a spiritual level. One morning, when lying in bed in the hynopompic state of being between sleep and wakefulness, thought started flowing to resolve this search and I let it flow. I saw clues like that state of serene being which is non-emotional joy, bliss, love etc., and therefore pure or unaffected by the vagaries of emotion, and was aware that I had to search for a suitable term.The result of this was that I
! of 228 43 ! looked up a dictionary for “serene”, the various meanings of bliss, and the origin of both bliss and ecstasy, and came up with the phrase "a quality of being" – that quality of being which, when considered by the mind (mented), creates emotion but, when experienced, is without emotion. I found that serene means peaceful, blissful, clear, bright; that one meaning of bliss is “ecstatic joy of heaven” and that ecstasy derives from the Greek existanai = to displace. This in turn led me to look for a single word to encapsulate what is described in Earthly terms as joy, bliss, love etc. I finally came up with a combination of bliss and ecstasy - that is blisstasy. There is no verb for blisstasy because it is something one ‘is’ – a quality or state of being – not something one does. However, one can use the word blisstatic (adj.) to describe the spiritual, or thought, state but not the mental state. This is because the spiritual state cannot be the mental state and vice versa. So now, as I see it, joy, bliss, love etc. are earthly soul experiences, or emotions, and blisstasy is that permanent state we seek through enlightenment and I will use the words accordingly in future. In conclusion: Blisstasy means “That spiritual ‘quality of being’ or ‘state of being’ which is beyond the physical/mental (emotional) experience and surpasses joy, bliss, love etc. Ω Our Cyclical Habitation of Earth etc. The vibrational ‘descent’ of Spirit, us spirits, into matter, which I have allegorically described in The Milk Is White, is cyclical in the sense that after the initial descent, termed the fall of man by some, most of us as souls persist with the pursuit of sensory and mental pleasure and therefore return to Earth to unlearn this persistence while those who have achieved enlightenment cease to do so. The consequence of this is the destruction and/or pollution of the Earth - and even this universe - which then necessitates a new environment for our destructive and polluting spiritual education. This process continues cyclically until there are no unenlightened souls left and may include other universes and/or dimensions. Note: I can only state this as a probability because it is the result of a combination of mentivity and neoption and not neoption alone. Ω The Curtain That Is The Mind. What is hidden by the mind one cannot see. One cannot learn what one cannot see. So, draw back the curtain that is the mind. Ω Love is a Manifestation. Love is a manifestation of that selfless state of being that is the state of Spirit or blisstasy. It is an emotional image of the selfless state which we give and receive etc. when on Earth and in the slower vibrations in between Earthly
! of 228 44 ! sojourns. It is a tool of the Soul but not of Spirit. Ω Two Perspectives. By way of menting, blisstasy is the state of being of Spirit or its attributes. By way of neoption Spirit, or its attributes, is blisstasy. Ω What is Spiritual Growth? Spiritual growth is not about knowledge; it is about becoming a better person. There are many who have acquired great knowledge yet use or used it to exploit others: this is not spiritual growth. Ω Truth. (1) If we intuitively accept the truth of something does it matter by whom it was said or when? Ω Creation of Disease. Disease, the result of dis-ease, is created by us from our state of mind or mentality and this happens in many ways of which here are two: 1. Through the influence of the “Thought Field” (our mentality) on the “Life Field” (the energy field, or blueprint, controlling the body) and 2. Through the effect of all the unnatural products and scientific devices which interfere with the “Life Field”. Some may see #2 above as not having anything to do with our mentality or attitude but it is worth remembering that it is this which is behind both #1 and #2. Note: 1. For fuller information on the above mentioned “Fields” please refer to The Milk Is White. 2. Instead of “Thought Field” I would now use the term “Mind Field” (for which the term ‘mine field’ would be more appropriate!).
Ω Opposing Forces. Spiritual progress is to do with the reduction, and eventual elimination, of self-gratification whilst human effort in science and technology is to do with the perpetuation and increase of self-gratification. Ω Mind/Soul. (1) The mind, which is the part of the soul active in each Earth life, creates the Earth experiences of the spirit entity. Thus, it creates the individual experience as well as the collective experience. Note: This is the cause of everything from climate change, to profligacy, to suffering etc.
Ω
! of 228 45 ! Mind/Soul. (2) The mind/soul is a conglomeration of experiences that alters with the passage of each moment. Spirit is unchanging. Ω Quo Vadis? The Apostle, Peter, is said to have asked Jesus, “Whither goest thou, Lord?” and this question in Latin is “Quo vadis, Domini?”. However, the language used by Jesus and Peter would have been Aramaic, hence neither of the above is strictly correct. Ω Mind/Soul. (3) The mind/soul is like a box that is full of possessions which we have acquired and, as we get enlightened, the six sides of the box disappear so that the possessions fall out and away and we are able to see out. Ω The Road. When the road gets rough the wise want to know why and, having heard, seek confirmation within. When the road is smooth the wiser want to know why and, having heard, seek confirmation within. Whether the road is rough or smooth the ignorant await wisdom. Ω Mind/Soul = Moul. Since I neopt the mind and the soul as one and the same thing it is time for me to coin a word to take the place of both. For the sake of easier identification and/or association by the reader I have chosen “moul”. Ω Birth and Death. Why do we celebrate birth and mourn death? When we embark on a journey do we not celebrate the completion not the embarkation? Ω Apologies. Repeated apologies for one thing, where the cause is not brain dysfunction, are merely excuses for not caring enough to remedy the cause, and thus an indication of selfishness. Ω Wonder Full. If whilst living life you can be detached from it you will feel wonderful and, yes, be wonder full! Ω Being Content As Well As Not Satisfied. Being content is contentedly accepting one’s present state of being, and not
! of 228 46 ! being satisfied is accepting that there is more to be accomplished and allowing that to happen in its own time. Ω After discovering the Truth, what? After discovering the Truth, and recognizing it as such, live it! As you live it, it becomes you and you become it – that is enlightenment. Ω The Now. In the “now” there is no expectation, regret, fear or guilt: there is simply “being”, simply “I am”. Ω Words of Value. Whether words are written or stated by king, scholar, sage or unknown peasant is not important. What is important is the value we see in them. Ω Futile Pursuits and “Escape”. The pursuit by many of “fun” and excitement in all their manifestations is a subconscious attempt to escape the challenges of Earthly life. This is delusion as the only “escape” is to avoid birth. Ω Life, Death and Birth. Avoiding life and death is impossible. Avoiding birth is possible. Ω Separation of Spirit and the Moul [or Observation of Self]. When one is able to separate Spirit from the Moul one can do these things: 1. Observe the menting of the moul and if necessary check the moul before the menting becomes action. 2. Observe the menting of the moul but be unable to check the moul before the menting becomes action. 3. Observe the menting and consequent action of the moul and resolve to check or foster the menting and/or action in the future depending on whether it is negative or positive menting and action. Note: menting = mental activity. moul = mind/soul.
Ω The Moul and Attachment/Non-attachment. The Moul is like a patchwork fabric of attachments. When it loses someone or some thing to which it has a close attachment a patch is torn out with the rent leaving both a tear and a space: both the tear and the empty space are painful although the pain and feeling of loss diminish over time as the space covers over. The degree of attachment is dependent on the degree of
! of 228 47 ! non-attachment, the degree of enlightenment, attained by the moul. The degree of pain and feeling of loss, therefore, is dependent on the degree of nonattachment attained. It will be noted from this that the pain and feeling of loss have little, if anything, to do with the one or thing lost. Ω Wealth. Wealth used for self-indulgence is a karmic burden. Wealth used for the benefit of others is a karmic liberation. Ω Why? & How? – the Important Questions. When you are really interested in delving into the truth of something ask yourself either “Why?” or “How?” and having got the answer continue to ask yourself one of these questions until you can answer no more. At this point you will have reached the limit of your ability and may have the answer, or reached your inherent capacity and do have the answer. In this context your ability is dependent on your degree of enlightenment whilst your capacity remains unlimited – a feature of your creation. Ω Karma. (2) The fact of karma cannot be accepted selectively. Ω Offence. Offence belongs to its creator and not to the target so be non-attached to offence aimed at you in the realisation that it is not yours. Ω Spiritual Growth. What is important for spiritual growth is “process” not “substance”. The first is necessary and the second is interesting. Full enlightenment can be attained by process without substance. Process = Living: attitude and action. Substance = Acquisition: knowledge. Ω Non–attachment – the Key. Non-attachment is the key to contentment and inner peace. Ω Love. (1) Love is the means to the end not the end in itself. Love, true love, is part of the duality of which selfishness, the “I”, is the other part. Thus, love, when cultivated as the antidote to selfishness, aids in one’s passage to full enlightenment without being full enlightenment or part of it. A more suitable word, one standing on its own, is mindfulness.
! of 228 48 ! Ω No Thing Matters. No thing matters. What matters is what one does with any thing and what any thing does to one. Ω You. Beneath the dust of time you lie, Not on Earth or in blue sky But in the timelessness of IT Which creates us all plus quite a bit. Ω Enlightenment. (4) Sunshine breaking through a cloud is like enlightenment breaking through the moul. Ω Science and the Illusion. Not many years ago scientists started observing that the results of an experiment were affected by the observer; they found that the same experiment conducted by different people produced slightly different results. To the nonscientist mystic this is to be expected because of their awareness of the reality that the subject of the experiment is an illusion [as is all else] and any illusion is subject to the perception of its creator/observer. Ω The Oyster and the Moul. As over many years the oyster casts its shell so, over many lives, the Spirit casts its Moul. Ω The Human Body & Electrical Fields. All objects in the universe have an electromagnetic field – a blueprint - which controls their characteristics and if we deconstruct the body to a certain point we find this electromagnetic blueprint. The body, as is every living thing, is a complex mass of highly organized energy delicately balanced to function specifically and efficiently in the natural environment for which it evolved. When exposed to unnatural energy fields the body’s governing field is liable to alter with such alteration manifesting in the body tissue, in certain conditions of exposure, with potentially disastrous effects. Note: We in the ‘civilized’ world have been increasingly subjecting the body to unnatural electric fields for longer and longer periods so the appearance of detrimental physical conditions is to be expected. [See page 16, Chapter 3 - Body/Personality, The Milk Is White.]
Ω
! of 228 49 ! Mind – Negative, Positive or not at all? Background: Recently, after putting aside reserves for emergencies, I donated the equivalent of about three weeks of my pension to a family in need. I use the criterion, “Who needs this more than I do?” Entry: Last night when I lay down in bed and relaxed prior to sleeping I neopted that as a result of my donation I felt neither happy nor unhappy and that I could, at will, switch my mind - my moul - to negative or positive or detachment. This neoption, though unsurprising, was enlightening and clearly illustrates non-attachment to a deed and the resulting balance and harmony. I was aware that to switch to the negative all I had to do was ment about one or more of the “What if?” questions, that to switch to the positive all I had to do was to ment about the act and its results and, the third option was to remain non-attached and in that unique state of being stemming from the simple fact that something needed doing and was done. Note: Dear Reader, you can do this too! Ω For the Greater Good. To desist from making a statement or pronouncement of fact due to a reluctance to hurt the sensibilities of someone could be doing a disservice to many. Ω Enlightenment. (5) Enlightenment is illumination from the inner source rather than from an external source seeping inwards. Ω “Be still, and know that I am God.” This statement from the Bible is a profound one; view it according to your concept of ‘God’. In dreams, when the dreamer is in a house, the house often symbolizes the dreamer’s body or persona. Likewise, let “Be still” be a room in your house and go there often. Note: The occurrence of the above was a very clear example of a neoption. The time was about 5.30 a.m., I had awakened and was trying to return to sleep but was potentially being thwarted by mind chatter so I repeated my usual remedy for this which is, “I still this moul and put this body to rest”. No sooner had the mind been stilled than Thought surfaced and I neopted the above as clear as day. Ω Civilized & Uncivilized. If we look in a good dictionary at the definition of ‘civilize’ we find that very few who claim to be civilized are, in fact, civilized! In fact, after critical
! of 228 50 ! scrutiny, we find that it is the so-called uncivilized who are the truly civilized ones - the so-called civilized ones being simply technologically advanced. Note: From The 21st. Century Chambers Dictionary. civilize or civilise verb (civilized, civilizing) 1. to lead out of a state of barbarity to a more advanced stage of social development. 2. to educate and enlighten morally, intellectually and spiritually.
Ω Jealousy. Q: What is jealousy, what is its purpose and what are its antidotes? A: Jealousy is an emotion, a creation of the mind, stemming from the “I”. It has no purpose but it is a challenge. Like the mind it does not exist in Reality. The solution is to achieve the elimination of the “I” by non-attachment to the “I” - something achievable by all, and something all will achieve! Understand this and half the battle is over! Ω The Truth, the Reality. The Truth, the Reality, is constant; it is only one’s perception of it which may vary until one arrives at it. Note:– Below are the opening paragraphs of Chapter 1 of The Milk Is White:
“The Truth, with reference to the purpose of human life on Earth, is like a pyramidal mountain. As we seek the truth we climb this mountain on all sides, on varying paths, with each path suiting our individual needs and this is not an easy trek because we are wearing lead soled boots and heavy clothing acquired in the past that we will gradually shed as we ascend. This trek is like one we would encounter in a tropical jungle which is full of clinging vines, protruding roots, is sometimes slippery underfoot, and has gullies and cliffs we can fall down, as well as beautiful birds, flowers and scenery. Often we have to hack our way through obstacles, toil up and down slopes and may suffer cuts, sprains, bruises and broken bones. At times we may have to stop to rest or we may feel like giving up. Along the way there are many springs for us to quench our thirst for knowledge and all are from the same source within the mountain. As we climb we experience the Truth from our peculiar standpoint at the time. However, since there can be only one ultimate truth, when we reach the top we all come to the same pinnacle of knowledge and state of being.” Ω Crutches & Chains. There is the Truth and there are the crutches and the chains made from the Truth. Ω Invest to Divest. Invest in that knowledge which divests one of the vestments that are one’s
! of 228 51 ! Moul. Ω Action and Reaction. For my purposes: 1. “Action” is where there is menting between a stimulus and any resulting activity and 2.“Reaction” is where there is no menting between a stimulus and any resulting activity. Ω Detaching from, but living, life. The Buddhist monk is detached from worldly life by living in a monastery and, when outside the monastery, walking with bowed head whilst focusing on walking, or doing other simple things whilst always focusing on the now. The lay person, to achieve such detachment from what is going on around them in the microcosm and the macrocosm, has to rely upon acquiring the awareness that the microcosm and the macrocosm are merely creations of the mind - virtual reality – and that it is the mentivity, or attitude, individual and collective, that counts. This awareness brings the further awareness that “It is the thought that counts”. In other words it is the attitude of one that counts; the attitude of each moul and, therefore, the collective human psyche which, being the cause, is also the solution. Ω Minor Details. The human creations of the state of the economy and of the state of the environment are minor details compared to the state of the mentality or attitude of humans. Ω Non-attachment. Non-attachment is that state of being where one is detached from something but where, at will, one can connect with it, assess one’s human feelings etcetera toward it, and then disconnect with it. Ω The Reality. Paradoxically, the Reality is so simple yet so complex. The ‘complexity’ is an illusion because the simplicity of the fact is made complex by the limitations of the mind [Moul]. The complexity arises from the vast number of the examples of the Reality in operation, and the simplicity from the simple reason/cause which is karma; it is the mind that creates the complexity and the subjugation of the mind that provides the clarity. As so often happens, the mind tries to consider all examples and collapses
! of 228 52 ! into confusion as a result, whereas if we apply the law of karma to each example individually as it arises, we get clarity. Ω The Moul and Animal Instincts. In the case of most animals the territorial instinct is confined to the physical environment whereas in humans this instinct extends to the abstract in that, in the moul, the “mental territory” of the ‘I’ exists. Hence, we find feelings to do with ‘invasion of my space’ – that is, feelings of possession or attachment. This is another example of an animal instinct manifesting as an aspect of the moul; an acquisition of the Spirit when it “entered” the physical world. In essence, Spirit is without attachments and therefore without this animal instinct. Ω Organization Exuding Perfection. My response to posts in The Dream Garden at Gaia in a thread highlighting the fact that many people seem to have similar recurring dreams when they are young: ‘It certainly seems as if just about everyone has such dreams when young, thus illustrating a common spiritual purpose being fulfilled by dreams. If we overlook the physical age and focus on the fact that what we see as a child is, in fact, an ageless embodied spirit entity needing guidance at a time when it is still (perhaps) getting used to the body, life and environment it has taken on for the current life, we become aware of how nurturing and caring is the way this whole business of life actually is; despite the harshness of what we have to experience at times - all of our own making, mind you - the way things are organized exudes perfection in every sense!’ Ω The Buddha and the Atman. The Buddha stated categorically that the atman does not exist [although this is adhered to only by the Theravada Buddhists] but I have never acquiesced with this. However, not long ago I neopted that the moul is the sum total of a spirit’s experiences in many lives*. The atman is, generally speaking, synonymous with the soul. With the moul being the sum total of experiences it is no more than an aspect of the mind, or moul, and hence does not really exist. Therefore, could it be that this is what the Buddha meant when he said what he did? * Search here for moul, soul and mind.
Ω Universal Balance. The universe is in a state of intricate balance, or harmony; that is why for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction [1]. The universe includes
! of 228 53 ! Earth. Footnote. [1] Just 24 words - but of great significance; because what would happen if that intricate balance is disturbed?
Ω Contentment – a metaphor. When in life the sun appears not to shine on you, remember that above the clouds it shines day and night. Ω Oddities and Aberrations. According to the Cayce readings, when some of us spirits were in the process of getting enmeshed in the Earthly dimension we interfered with the structure of physical things by the use of our creative ability. The result of this was, for example, trees with arms and anatomically mixed animal forms some of which included aberrations of the then human form which we had created for our use on Earth. The Cayce readings further stated that in Atlantean times scientists had developed methods of surgically correcting such aberrations which, by then, had become inherent in humans, and were applying them as a matter of course in special institutions. It does not take much to equate the motivation behind the initial interference with that of scientists of modern times in their work in genetic engineering, stem cell use and the like. Similarly it does not take much to equate the results in the past with possible results in the future. Ω Love – and that other. There is love, the emotion, and there is that which is commonly termed love but which is actually an expression of selflessness manifesting as what appears to be love. Emotional love has degrees of self, ranging from extreme selfishness to human selflessness whilst what is commonly termed love, but is not love as such, is a spiritual state of being whose qualities manifest in instances of selflessness, devoid of emotion, that manifest despite the presence of the moul. Of course, with full enlightenment the spirit has divested itself of emotional love, and the moul, leaving only the state of being. Mindfulness is a word describing what is not emotional love but is a positive state of mind. Ω Co-creators of the Universe. The Great Spirit created the universe, we are part of the Great Spirit ["one with God" is one expression], hence we are co-creators and we, therefore, created the universe* . . . . . and perhaps more! * see also We as Co-creators (with God) in The Milk is White.
Ω
! of 228 54 ! Time and the Teacher. “When the time is right the teacher arrives” is the saying but the “teacher” is information, and this information “arrives” by divers means; means such a book, a person, hearing, sight, neoption and so on, but we should not honour the means because to honour the means is to risk focusing on the means instead of the objective. For instance we can focus on the book, or the words in the book, and thus lose our focus on the purpose of the words or book; we can focus on the person and lose focus on the information that person provides. So, take the true teacher, the information, and make it your objective, your state of being, provided that you have subjected it to critical analysis and/or you instinctively recognise it as Truth. Ω Hope. Hope can be a positive state of mind, when it is maintained as a general attitude to life; or a grasping at straws, when it is aimed at a specific want or perceived need. The former results in a degree of peace of mind and the latter in doubt and possibly disappointment. The Buddha is quoted as saying, “Hope causes pain.” This is quite true in the context of mental pain and highlights the wisdom of acquiring the ability to live in the now – and have use for hope. Ω Resonate. The suitability of the word resonate in the context in which it is used in spiritual circles is profound, keeping in mind that everything is energy (spirit) in vibration. Superficially anyway, a person resonating with the meaning of words implies a vibration of unison, of harmony; thus a oneness wherein the existence of the one reality is recognised separately – or seems to be recognised separately. Ω Parallel Paths. In the final analysis all our paths are parallel, and like all parallel lines they merge on the horizon. Ω Quo Vadis? If aspects of your life are more important than people and all living things you have made unwise priority choices along the Way. Examine your ways very carefully and ask your self, “Quo vadis?” Ω Deification. The deification of people and objects is a throw-back to the deification of the sun engendered by ignorance and/or the need of a psychological crutch. Ω
! of 228 55 ! Imaging the Great Spirit. The fact that, in a spiritual context, one is made in the image of the Great Spirit does not mean that one is correct in imagining the Great Spirit as something like one’s Earthly self. To do this accurately one has firstly to be able to imagine one’s own spiritual image. Ω Karma. (3) The Law of Karma is very simple but its application is as varied as the menting* of the individuals which activate it. * See “Ians Dictionary”
Ω Bad and Good. (1) In Earthly life there is nothing really “bad” for the Spirit you because negative mentality only delays full enlightenment and the cessation of the cycle of birth and death. However, for the physical you - in all the possible states of physicalness - “bad” things can result in pain or suffering or unhappiness or all of these. Likewise, the opposite applies. Ω The Truth and The Conveyor. Where the Truth is concerned an individual is unimportant as their purpose is to convey. Note: For example, it is said that when the Buddha was nearing the time of his death his disciples pleaded with him to stay longer but his response was, “You do not need me.” Ω Bad and Good. (2) Mental activity (menting) is negative, positive or neutral and creates energy vibrations accordingly. Its effect on all things is negative, positive or neutral and these three attributes are commonly called "good", "bad", "right", "wrong" etcetera. Ω Creativity and Arrogance. From the dawn of time we have been obsessed with improving all aspects of nature - a state that is the epitome of perfection. This obsession is neither humble nor achievable. Ω Free Will and Its Consequence. We have been given free will and the creative ability of the Great Spirit. We create our future, so when we face that future there is no purpose in pleading for the Great Spirit’s help for “As you sow, so you shall reap!” applies. However, the field is ploughed and fertile so sow! Ω
! of 228 56 ! A Succession of Choices. One’s life is the consequence of a succession of choices; the major, minor, conscious and unconscious choices. These consequences do not manifest in a single lifetime so, if one’s life is pleasant and trouble free it is very likely that the opposite is still to be experienced to bring experience as a whole into a state of balance. Be not fooled! Ω Casting Stones. Where the biblical ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’ is concerned it is wise to be aware, and remember, that “being without sin” applies to our previous lives as well as the present one. Thus, the statement takes on a different dimension. Ω What One Can Lose. What one can lose is illusion, is perception, is impermanent. One can never lose what is. Ω The “Garden of Eden”. All things, and all things acted out therein or therewith, are a creation of the individual Spirit, and therefore the collective Spirit, and are an illusion. It is this illusion that is perceived as reality yet it is no more real than the reality of a dream. However, it is within this perception that we ment and act on the path to the final realisation. Note 1. An ancient quote, predating Shakespeare: the world is a "wide and universal theatre," Note 2. Extract from The Milk Is White: When we leave our body our life here becomes the 'dream' and where we then are becomes the reality. When we reach full enlightenment, Christhood or full realisation, call it what we will, that is the only reality, and there is no dream of any sort. From our physical mindset, therefore, we create both the dream 'reality' and the virtual 'reality' with the latter more approximating the reality of the former when technology is refined. In the manner in which the dream and the technologically created 'reality' are similar but not the same so is the similarity between "life in the physical" and our existence when not in the physical.
Ω The Religion of Civilization. The religion of civilization has failed many times over. It fails because its seed is human values and not the values of Spirit. Ω The Illusion and Emotion. Although all that happens is an illusion the suffering and pleasure are, to all intents and purposes, real. Ω Origin of the Species. If you wanted to study a plant would you go to the origin of the species or a
! of 228 57 ! hybrid? Similarly, where would you go to study a particular spiritual teaching? Ω Cessation of Karma. The fundamental law of physics is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Karma, literally, means action and action is caused by mental activity or, as I call it, menting. The fundamental law of Karma is that for every ment there is an equal and opposite reaction. So, every time our mind (moul) generates a ment the opposite is also generated and this continues until we cease to generate ments. We cease to generate ments when the mind is finally stilled, when the moul has finally been eliminated, when all attachment is nullified and we have total non-attachment, and all that is left is the Spirit Self - that which was created in the image of the Great Spirit. This is the cessation of Karma, the cessation of birth and death. This is Buddhahood, this is Christhood! Ω Levels of Consciousness of the Spirit & Moul. The conscious and the subconscious are attributes of the moul; the superconscious is Spirit, or thought. Ω Enlightenment. (6) As the darkness that is the “I” lifts, all else becomes lit. Ω Words of Wisdom. Words of wisdom stand in their own right without attribution to anyone. Ω Riches. In the autumn of my life I am richer than any amount of riches could have made me. Ω Evil. Robert McNamara, having participated at the highest level of the United States government in the debacle of Vietnam, posed this question, "How much evil must we do to do good?" The answer is, of course, ‘“Evil” begets “evil”, there is no good in “evil"’ or, in other words, ‘Negative creates negative and there is no positive in negative.’ As an analogy take the a pond in which the water is dirty. Can one clean the water by stirring it up and raising sediment from the bottom? However, let nature take its course and purification occurs naturally. Ω
! of 228 58 ! Suicide and Its Opposite. Some say that the unnatural termination of one’s life is a sin. It follows, therefore, that the unnatural prolongation of one’s life, by self or others, is also a sin. Ω The Perils of Rainbow Chasing. When one is chasing a rainbow one cannot see where one is putting one’s feet. Ω Technological Progress. The true value of technological progress is the answer to this question, ‘To what extent does it increase the spiritual quality of human beings?’ Ω The Suffering of Animals. [A letter dated 26.07.09. in response to a question from a friend.]
Let me tell you something which may fall into the category of what Jesus and the Buddha said, viz. ‘There are things I can tell you but you will not understand.’ For a long time I have wondered why animals have to suffer. When some are killed by other animals I have noticed that they show no signs of pain e.g. an insect being eaten by a praying mantis. While the mantis eats from the rear end of the insect the front end seems to be unaffected and, if it had one, would read the newspaper!! Although I have long known, and written, that all we perceive as real is, in fact, an illusion (dreamlike) - a creation of the collective mind, the link to the answer to my question was not forged until recently when I had a clear neoption that, despite appearances, it was only happening "in the mind". NB. Some may use this as an excuse to do what they will to the detriment of others but those who even consider such action should realise that the law of karma applies in the mental state and that suffering is as valid and "painful" in that state because, in any case, it is there that it is acted out! Ω Questions About “Thought”. Questions from an inquiring mind and my answers to them.
Question: I have a query and it is about the thinker and thought. Is the thought different from the thinker or thinker itself is thought. What is the role of words in thinking, can we think without words? Q 1: Is the thought different from the thinker or thinker itself is thought. A 1: Since "God" is "Thought" as I have described IT, and each Spirit (entity) is "God", the thinker is thought. Therefore there is no difference. Q 2: What is the role of words in thinking? A 2: Words are simply a means of communication in the phenomenal, or physical, world. They are only an expression of the mind. Telepathy is
! of 228 59 ! communication of mind to mind without words. Q 3: Can we think without words? A 3: If by "think" you mean ment (mental activity) the answer is 'Yes'. If by "think" your refer to thought, the answer is 'No' because thought is still there is no activity. It cannot be described because, like the Great Spirit, it is not of this world. Remember the my use of the word Thought is specific to what I have written and I have used it because it best describes the Reality as I see it. These are abstract things, hence often indescribable although understandable to some. Acknowledgment: Thank you for your answer it really helped me to understand the “thought” more clearly, before I was confused between the thought and the thinker.
Ω Experiencing Knowledge. Knowledge, though a means to an end, is of itself insufficient because the end is achieved by experiencing the knowledge. For example, one may know how to put together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle but one has to do it to completion to gain the experience of the knowledge. Similarly, one may know how to drive a vehicle but one needs the experience of driving it for the knowledge to become one. Therefore, after the experience theory becomes practice.In the case of driving the vehicle of life, however, most of us drive without the knowledge. Ω Freedom from Belief. It is only when one is free from the tyranny of belief that one is free to learn and understand the truth about the Reality. Ω Was it Jesus That Was Crucified? Whilst I was doing something mundane the cogs of my mind were slowly turning on something unrelated to this I suddenly neopted this: The “Word” is the “Logos”, is the Christ, is Jesus. . . . . . . . . . Jesus was crucified . . . . . . . the “Word”, the “Logos” was crucified . . . . . Next was probably a mental deduction from the preceding neoption - but perhaps even the continuation of the neoption - which proceeded thus: It was not Jesus that was crucified, it was the Word, the message; crucified by the people. Jesus was the central character in a myth symbolising the message because a character is more easily understood than something abstract like the “Word” or “Logos”. Thus, it was the message that was abused, denied, forgotten, (crucified) and, as Jesus resurrected himself, the message would. Hence, salvation. For the first time ever I was very much affected by the enormous negative effect this would have in the world but I have not hesitated in committing it to words for the consideration of all people.
! of 228 60 ! As an essential truth there is, of course, no harm in this because the essential truth remains unchanged. The repercussions will stem from the loss of an emotional crutch - the proverbial pulling out of the carpet from under someone’s feet - and an emotional reaction to this loss. For my part, I am very much aware of the far greater probity this will instill into Christian theology in particular and spirituality in general. Ω Despair of Life. Not surprisingly, many despair of life as they see and experience it because they see life in terms of a single life, a single opportunity. In this context they see selfishness in all its manifestations occurring and often being rewarded or at least condoned. They see mans’ inhumanity to man rampant in a world where attempts to kerb it are at best largely ineffective or, at worst, tokenistic; and they see injustice everywhere. However, were they to be aware of the Reality they would see a world where all is geared to the glory of spiritual progress through the law of karma and where the only thing one might be sad about is the fact that some have earned, or are earning, painful or uncomfortable karma; but even this sadness is ameliorated by the awareness that the final result of this is positive. Ω Love. (2) Love is very much glorified, but remember this: there is love of self (selfish love), self-aggrandisement, love of money, position, power and so many more unethical and immoral things. Love is a thing of this world of duality. Ω Seeing One’s Reflection in Another. It is often said that when we see something in another person we are seeing a reflection of ourselves; that we are seeing ourselves - or words to this effect. The fact is that our existence as earthlings necessitates the latent existence in us of all human qualities and traits. However, it is only those of these qualities and traits that are active in us, or that we choose to activate, that we can see as reflections of ourselves. Hence, not all that we see in others is a true reflection of ourselves. Ω Words and Meanings. (1) The language of Spirit is wordless. Hence, to express the language of Spirit in words is fraught with difficulty. Similarly fraught with difficulty is the interpretation of the words of one by another where nuances of meaning vary with the individual. Therefore, be cautious in ascribing meaning to the words of another and be tolerant of any perceived variance with what you hold to be the meaning.
! of 228 61 ! Ω Old Age, the Body and Vanity. In the self-designated First World of the so-called civilized peoples our vanity is such that we even have to find a euphemism for “old” in reference to the human body although, paradoxically, we make every effort to extend its life across the entire spectrum of possibilities. The underlying flaw in all this is our excessive identification with our body as our main identity instead of viewing it for what it is - a temporary vehicle serving a temporary purpose; a vehicle we should accept, respect and nurture but not worship vaingloriously. What is required for spiritual progress is non-attachment to the body in the course of attaining non-attachment to all things. Ω Demise of the Moul. The moul is the Spirit acting out the feelings created by all its previous experiences. When the moul stops feeling it is free of the consequences of all its experiences. When the moul is free of all feeling it is that created in the image of The Great Spirit - the unadulterated ‘godself’, the ‘I am’, in all its glory. Note: 1. Feelings are attachments. 2. The ‘I am’ (non-attached) + the moul (attachments) = earthling.
Ω Life Is A Succession of Choices. When all is said and done we are like farmers: as we sow we reap. The seed is present and we have to feed, weed and water. Life is a succession of choices in a succession of Earthly sojourns until the cycle of birth and death ceases. Ω Why the increased incarnation on Earth now? What better way is there, with so many mouls being of the same mentality, than that they be born in sufficient numbers to do the Earth and its environs great damage and from that experience learn the error of their ways and aspirations? Ω Enlightenment - progressive. Beneath the bed of the apparently dry stream water flows down to its source. So it is in life as we see it. Ω Reality and the definable. What is definable is non-existent, what is undefinable is Reality. Ω A Cause of Global Disturbance. In the physical realm of the universe, in relative terms, all of us are sitting at
! of 228 62 ! the one small table yet some have nothing while others indulge themselves. Why is this? It is simply because we are unable to share. Ω Karma - a case in point? Usually, we can only speculate on the evidence of karma in action but here is a true case strongly indicative of this. A young woman who, since about the age of eighteen years, was very interested in the female body and its sexual functions and had read about them. As she became aware of her sexual power she began to exploit it and one of her pastimes was enticing men; this to the extent that by the time she turned twenty one she had had indiscriminate sexual relations with over forty males of all ages. Curiously, she was completely frigid. On the other hand, this young woman suffered from clinical depression as well as a number of other mental disorders that thwarted her wish to follow a musical career and/or get a job. When she was twenty-four or twenty-five a clairvoyant told her that in a previous life [she might have specified the immediately previous one] she, the young woman, had grossly misused her sexual powers. I was told no more. So, here we apparently have a case of misuse of physical attributes and power which, in a later life, creates a life situation in which sexual pleasure is denied and an opportunity provided for balancing behaviour. The denial of sexual pleasure would be the way the law of karma works to balance experiences: in this case an excess of pleasure in one life being balanced by no pleasure in another. Where the mentality is concerned, a selfish one in a previous life is countered by an opportunity for an unselfish one in the current life - an opportunity, it seems, not fully embraced. However, if there is any change for the better there is progress. As for the mental state one can only speculate - there could be a conflict between the spiritual “pull” and the physical/mental “pull” [conflict between spirit and moul] which manifests as mental disorders, or mental disorders manifesting to create a situation in life that creates a desired environment for a particular purpose such as limiting something; the possibilities are numerous. Ω The Reality - a constant. The Reality, the Truth, is a constant but its perception varies according to the perceiver. This constancy is epitomised by the fundamental teachings of the major Masters. In other words, as the unknown, ancient Indian sage declared, ‘The milk of cows of any hue is white . . . . . .’ Ω
! of 228 63 ! The Ladder. Knowledge and awareness of the Reality are but rungs on the ladder leading to the top. When the top is reached, and one steps off, the ladder being merely a means to an end, is no longer necessary and therefore becomes irrelevant. When one steps off the ladder at the top all that exists is one’s identity: there is no ladder - just One. Ω Spiritual Progress and Observing Life. With spiritual progress one is able, in time, to walk alongside life looking in with non-attachment. This brings peace of mind. Ω Earthly “love” & Spiritual Oneness. The seeker of the Truth will at some time discover that although in Reality “love” does not exist it, like “time” which also does not exist in Reality, is an Earthly tool, as is time, to be used judiciously and is responsible for spiritual growth or spiritual stalling. However, in this realm of duality, with love comes its opposites - as many opposites as its nuances. Seek, then, the difference between Earthly “love” and the spiritual oneness. Ω The Illusion - an aid to understanding it. “Thought creates, Creation manifests, Thought manifests.” [from The Milk Is White.]
Computer generated reality Thought ⟾ Mind ⟾ Programmed 1s + 0s ⟾ Pixels ⟾ Virtual Reality. Mind generated reality Thought ⟾ Mind ⟾ Thought forms ⟾ Perceived Reality. Ω Oneness and Love. In the state of oneness there is no differentiation. In love, there is more love for family and less for non family; more for people of one’s country and less for people from another country; more for friends and less for others . . . . . . . . and so it goes on. Furthermore, love is variable according to how one feels mentally and/or physically, how one feels emotionally, and so on. There is almost endless differentiation. Ω Oneness? See The “I am” quotation/affirmation - a visualization on page 78.
Oneness is as the droplet is to the ocean; Oneness is as the lick of flame in the fire;
! of 228 64 ! Oneness is as the sunbeam in sunlight; Oneness is as the “I am” in the Great Spirit. The very act of attempting to describe oneness separates one from it. Ω Science and the Reality. Science is the study of physics (the physical) and the Reality is not physical. Ω Hope. Hope is an attachment. If reading this makes you feel negative it illustrates the truth of this. Therefore, let go and win! Let go and be free! Ω The Pendulum Swings! Do not be fooled by a pleasant life. Just observe the lives of others and be mindful of what you can create for yourself . . . . . . . . for the pendulum swings until you bring it to rest. Ω Created in “God’s” Image? From the ocean water evaporates and condenses in the atmosphere around particles of matter to form tiny droplets.Similarly, from that abstract entity of which we are part and which we may call The Great Spirit, we separated and “condensed” “around” the attachment we can call individuality - the “I”. So, instead of having something which creates, by whatever means, identical images of itself which manifest as mouls and humans, we have a separation and re-forming as described above.Instead of us being created, we created ourselves. What then of us being “created in the image of God”? Fundamentally, there is no change to our original, non-dimensional form: it has merely re-formed around an attachment (perhaps “the original sin”) thus metaphorically separating itself whilst remaining, essentially, the “image” of The Great Spirit. Ω A Step on the Way. Let your needs be little. . . . and your wants even less. Ω Genesis. In the beginning dissatisfaction arose in part of the “whole” - part of the Oneness, The Great Spirit. This part, in fragments, created the thought form that is the phenomenal “world”- the world of energy and matter. However, the dissatisfaction had its own momentum and this momentum caused excess which increased until, today, it is evident in most aspects of
! of 228 65 ! life and is still increasing because the dissatisfaction is insatiable and selfperpetuating. So it continues until the lesson of futility is learned and the errant spirit reverts to its inherent stillness and harmony. Ω The Illusion and Spiritual Growth. Since the phenomenal world is an illusion some may conclude, perhaps conveniently, that spiritual growth too is an illusion and that, therefore, there is no need for spiritual self-improvement. However, although the perceived world is an illusion one’s mentality is not - spiritual growth remains as necessary as it is inevitable. Ω God. At various times I have given an idea as to what The Great Spirit is. To further this assistance here is an extract from the Edgar Cayce Readings; a source “beyond” the mind. From reading 3579-1 Jan. 20 1944. “ . . . . . When they became aware of the relationships of the individual entity to the universal consciousness or God . . . . . . “ Ω Karma. (4) The law of karma does not compensate a negative ment, or the resulting act, with a negative ment, or resulting act. In other words, a negative ment, or the resultant negative act, is not weighed against a positive ment, or resulting act. As an example let us take the case of someone who kills another in order to save the life of yet another. Does the act of saving a life equalise the act taking a life and, therefore negate karma? The answer is that it does not, and the reason for this is that the law, to be beneficial to us, has to provide us with the exact experience we created for another to experience so that we can learn from it. Hence, in this example, whilst getting the karmic benefit of saving a life we get the karmic benefit, unpleasant as it may be, of learning how it is to be killed in the manner we killed. Ω Nirvana. Nirvana is the stillness between opposites. In this state one is neither happy nor unhappy; neither loving nor unloving; neither agitated nor calm; neither expectant nor non-expectant; neither passionate nor apathetic and so on! Ω
IT - the indescribable and undefinable. Although it is commonly conceived as such IT is not light, yet IT is not dark or darkness - IT is simply without light. IT is neither light nor darkness. The biblical, ‘ . . . and the Lord said, “Let there be light and there was light.”’ applies to the creation of energy and thence light. Obviously, therefore
! of 228 66 ! the “Lord” is not the light. The common conception of IT [The Great Spirit, God, Allah etc] as something approximating human form; a crutch for us to lean on, and light in various forms and manifestations, probably stems from the early earthling experience where we saw the sun as “God” and worshipped it in awe. Note: Until very recently, I have conceptualised IT as a form of light but, today, my awareness of it has consolidated as above. Ω Thought Manifests. There are things I can tell you but you will not understand, things one has to neopt on one’s own if one has not already done so. Thought creates, Creation manifest, Thought manifests. In these three lines is the answer to all questions about all things. Ω Two Perceptions of Dreams. When one awakens from a dream one perceives it as a dream. When one’s body dies, and one awakens from life, one perceives life as a dream. Ω General Spiritual Progress. Contrary to appearances spiritual progress is occurring. What is occurring is like a long play: the story and stage remain the same whilst the actors change constantly and, having polished their performance, move on. Ω The Oneness & the Illusion. From the Oneness one looks out upon the Illusion. Ω The Mind & the Conscience. To the mind the conscience is often a nuisance which is heeded reluctantly or not at all. Ω The Illusion. In the illusion the stage is created by the collective superconscious* whilst the characters are created by the individual superconscious. * The Great Spirit or Oneness. Ω OM O - o - o - o - o - o - m - m - m - m - m - m* is the earthly “sound” of The Great Spirit, The Oneness, The Creative Force, The First Cause; utter it and
! of 228 67 ! you get the earthly image of The Great Spirit. Expand that image to infinity and you have the unearthly “image” of The Great Spirit . . . . . . . Incomprehensible to the “mind”. *The ‘o’ is similar to ø = the French eu
Ω Success. Achieving material success in earthly life which perpetuates death and rebirth into lives of pleasantness and unpleasantness is not success. Success is achieving the spiritual growth which ceases death and rebirth into lives of pleasantness and unpleasantness. Ω Your Life’s Compass. Measure your ments* and actions against your self. There is no other compass. *See Ians Dictionary.
Ω Negative Motivation. Any motivation that is for one’s own gain is selfish no matter how the result of that motivation appears to be, and anything with a selfish motive is spiritually negative and generates negative karma. Ω Your Body. Look after your body for it is not only your vehicle in this life but also a representation of your mentality. Ω Words and Meanings. (2) In the present words and meanings are not what they were in the past so beware of their transcription, translation and interpretation. However, searching within is going to the source direct - so do it. Let it be your ultimate reliance. Ω Civilization. (3) Our civilization, much touted as a great achievement, is a human and spiritual failure. A human failure because it has created great inequality to its peoples and great damage to its environment, and a spiritual failure because its motivation has been incorrect. However, all failure eventually leads to success even if this success is at a high price. Ω Spiritual Evolution. Self-discipline is an integral part of spiritual growth and as the rules and regulations applied to us in our Earthly testing ground decrease our need to apply self-discipline increases. Ω
! of 228 68 ! Our Most Critical Earthly Problems. The most critical problems facing us on Earth at present are overpopulation, ill health and the environmental degradation we have caused in recent times. Had we remained in the wild where stress was minimal, families small, the average lifespan enough for spiritual needs and where we lived in harmony with the Earth we would not be facing either these problems or our huge spiritual challenges. Where the reaction to this reality is to point to the “benefits” of civilization the reactor is advised to wisely contemplate what is stated above. Ω We Creators. I am, you are, we are all IT - as droplets are to the ocean or sunbeams to sunlight. As IT, we, individually and collectively, imagined and imagine what we perceive to be reality. We exercised our creative imagination. Hence, the statement that we are “Co-creators with God”. In this fantasy we play out our fantastic experiences and lessons, in lifetime after lifetime on the treadmill of the fruitless cycle of birth and death, in imaginary bodies, until we relearn our real status and end this self-imposed, tedious cycle. We then find the immeasurable tranquility of our pristine state. Ω Trapped in a mindset. Most of us are trapped in the mindset that leads to the realisation of failure until we become aware if this and opt to change. Ω IT. As long as IT is sought through the mind (moul) it is perceived as an object. When IT is sought by bypassing the mind (moul) it is perceived as nebulous. Ω The Illusion - similar processes. Moul Brain Perception Film Projector Picture Program Computer Picture Ω I AM. I am; and Ian is my creation for this life of mine on Earth. Ω Friendship. True friendship needs no nurture. Ω
! of 228 69 ! Pointless Pointing. The “mind” does not grasp the abstract reality. Hence, the moul does not understand. Therefore, pointing to the abstract reality is pointless. It is best that the entity discovers it for itself. Ω Realisation. We come to realise: 1. What IT is. 2. What we are. 3. The reality of the Illusion. With this realisation comes calm. Ω Cause and Effect. The mentality of earthlings has been, and is, having a negative effect on their Earth and its surrounds. The wise will see that it is the common failing of earthlings to treat symptoms as if they are the cause and disregard the cause itself. What is required is a spiritual change not a material one. The remedy is not to be clever with finding material solutions but to be wise and change the mentality which is the cause. Ω A Pleasing View. From the vantage point of IT I am aware of billions of spirit entities, who once lost their way, make their tortuous way back through enlightenment and refinement of spirit. Ω The Illusion - Everything. Everything reduces to the individual and collective menting of those of us trapped in the cycle of birth and death, the individual and collective mentality. Ω Refinement of the Truth. What one distills from information gleaned becomes one’s truth and this truth is progressively refined by one until it corresponds with the Reality. Ω One’s Philosophy. One’s philosophy is not one’s belief system but one’s way of life - one’s state of being. Ω Would you? Would you venerate yourself? Would you worship yourself? Would you idolise yourself?
! of 228 70 ! Would you bow down to yourself? Would you glorify yourself? Being mindful that you are IT Would you venerate IT? Would you worship IT? Would you idolise IT? Would you bow down to IT? Would you glorify IT? Ω Xenophobia. Xenophobia is the dislike or fear of dissimilar people in, or coming in to, one’s territory. Xenophobia washes away with the awareness that we are all identical spirits on the same fundamental journey whose characteristics and situation in one life may be the same as someone else’s in another life. Ω Insult. From The Milk Is White: “An insult is only an insult if it meant to be one - the rest is just perception.” Of course, anyone can judge something to be an insult but that becomes that judge’s responsibility whilst the originator remains free of responsibility. Ω The Unnatural. The more we absorb the unnatural into body and moul the more we become unnatural in body and moul. The natural state of the body is perfection and the moul has no natural state. Ω The Metaphysical Reality. The metaphysical reality is only for those who can neopt it; for the rest concentration on the knowable and the doable is sufficient. Ω The Truth. (2) The Truth is the Reality; its only variation is in its perception. Perception is an activity of the mind, or moul. The moul does not exist: it is an aberration of the spirit. Hence the Truth is inviolate. Ω Ideas. Ideas are positive or negative depending on their motivation, implementation and consequence. Ω
! of 228 71 ! Everything Is As It Should Be. Everything is exactly as it should be and everyone is learning from the experience. Life is serving its purpose. Ω The Purpose of Earthly Life. Since by our imagination we created senses and sensations and got attached to them life is a sequence of experiences designed to rid ourselves of our attachment to senses and sensations. Ω Spirituality. Spirituality is the thread from which we have woven, cut and sewn the divers garments that are religion. Ω Perception. Perception, peculiar to each individual, is a creation of each mind (moul) which in turn is the sum of the individual’s experiences in life, over thousands of lives, to the moment. Ω Spiritual Progress. Scrutinise your attitude towards all other fellow beings and all other things; the honest result indicates where you are on the spiritual path. Ω The Truth/Reality. In The Milk Is White I stated, “Another analogy of the Truth is that of a multifaceted diamond. Imagine one hanging in the middle of a group of people. Each person has a different perspective depending on such things as light intensity, angle of reflection, the height of the person, their distance from the diamond and so on. If they choose to move around they will encounter varying aspects of the stone as well as varying aspects of the light. Yet, the stone and the light essentially are unchanged.” In due course each one no longer sees the facets; each one only sees the diamond. Ω Enlightenment. (7) Enlightenment is not dependent on what one knows but upon what one is. Ω Karma. (5) Karma is an inflexible law simply because it is absolutely precise: every nuance of motive and consequence applies. Ω
! of 228 72 ! The Gestation Room. Create a gestation room and place in it your unanswered and uncomprehended questions. In due course the answers will emerge into your consciousness. Ω Disappointment. Disappointment is the result of expectation. It follows that where there is no expectation there is no disappointment. However, this is no excuse for mentivity or action because they can be done without expectation by only having a motive. Ω Clarifying Spirit/Soul/Mind/Moul. Firstly, here is an extract from The Milk Is White: The Soul's "Wardrobe". When a soul enters a life it consists of two aspects built on to, or in to, it's Spirit 'self'. One is the combined pattern of countless experiences acquired over many lifetimes, and the other is expressed as a specific body required to fulfil the needs specific to the particular life. In the case of the former, only that part of the whole that is useful in the particular life is to the fore and forms the personality. The personality can be compared to a wardrobe of garments in which there is a wide range to cater to divers situations, climactic conditions etc. A garment, or set of garments, is an expression of the personality in any given condition. For example, when we are in a situation of confrontation we put on certain garments (display certain traits), when we are in a situation of peace we put on others, in a situation of fear yet others and so on. In this context the expression "The clothes maketh the man1" is correct. However, as with any wardrobe one can discard, darn, patch, change colours, acquire new ones etc. 12.04.11 note: I am somewhat surprised by the concise clarity of this 1996 description but will take this literary attempt further. Secondly, let us simply call the “a wardrobe of garments” analogy above “clothes”. So, initially, in our primary state of spirit, we get progressively involved in Earthly phenomena (energy/matter). We can equate this progressive involvement in matter to dressing in clothes: as we progress we put on more clothes and also add to our wardrobe of clothes which we call upon as needs be for the various earthling experiences. What we wear affects the way we look, feel, move and act. We now have a combination of sorts: spirit wearing clothing, and we will call this combination “soul”. The clothing affects the way the spirit (now soul) appears, feels psychologically, feels physically and acts. It also affects the spirit’s mentality - the way its mind works or ments (“thinks” as it is commonly termed). As a result of our experiences in each of our numerous lives our
! of 228 73 ! clothes change; we add some and discard some and, when we start getting enlightened we start to discard more than we add. Thus, our clothes reflect our experiences over many lifetimes and what we have learned from them. Consequently, the soul is the sum total of its experiences over many lifetimes. Eventually, we have no more clothes - the wardrobe is bare! If the soul is the sum total of the spirit’s experiences over many lifetimes what is the “mind”? The mind too is the sum total of the spirit’s experiences over many lifetimes. Hence, what we call “soul” and what we call “mind” are the same. Hence also, my word “moul”, for mind + soul, for the purpose of clarity of communication. 1 For
man substitute 'human'.
Ω The Reality/Truth. Many an uncut diamond is discarded as stone and many a stone is religiously clutched as diamond. Ω Tools. All sensations that have an opposite are of this illusory plane of duality and are but tools for your use in this plane. You are not of this plane and when you finally leave it all tools cease to exist. Ω What Others Think Of You. What others think of you does not make you: it makes them. Ω To Love. To love people is to understand that there is a purpose in the existence of each on Earth and to respect, without reservation, their inalienable right to make decisions and choices whatever the motive or consequences. Ω Corrections to life’s course. If one voluntarily diverges from one’s destined course in a life and adheres to that course there will be an involuntary correction at the appropriate time. Ω Karma - a distinct probability. It is very probable that karma can be expiated, or mitigated, by one genuinely visualising an event where one mented or committed something which caused mental and/or physical pain to another and, by this visualisation, experiencing the physical and/or mental pain experienced by the other. Furthermore, a genuine surfacing of conscience, empathy and sympathy would be necessary. This probability arise because, as we know by now, all that happens is an illusion taking place in the individual and collective imagination. Thus, karma, manifesting in the hitherto described manner, is only occurring “in the mind” and it follows that one could create the same result by mentally
! of 228 74 ! re-enacting an event to re-experience it and do so in its true light: that is, without bias. Note: I state this as a probability because I am not sure that it manifested, in its essence, as a neoption. It is true, however, that I did get the essential “picture” this time as I have done many times before, but I have yet to get that usual sense of certainty which has prompted my inclusion of them in this File. Perhaps, the absence of this sense of absolute certainty is due to the extent of mental effort it has taken to put this into words. Ω Making things happen. There is no need for anyone to make anything happen on Earth: individual and/or collective thought will do what is needed by one and all. Ω IN CONCLUSION. *Thought creates, Creation manifest, Thought manifests. *In these three lines is the answer to all questions about all things.
So, what is going on? What is Thought? What are we? Why are we here? The answer is IT. *IT - the indescribable and undefinable. Although it is commonly conceived as such IT is not light, yet IT is not dark or darkness - IT is simply without light. IT is neither light nor darkness. *As IT, we, individually and collectively, imagined and imagine what we perceive to be reality. We exercised and exercise our creative imagination and in this fantasy we play out our fantastic experiences and lessons, in lifetime after lifetime on the treadmill of the fruitless cycle of birth and death, in imaginary bodies, until we relearn our real status and end this self-imposed, tedious cycle. We then find the immeasurable tranquility. Ω Spending Money. After spending money on your needs (not wants), before or during subsequent possible self-indulgence ask yourself, ‘Who needs this money more than I do?’. However, do not feel guilty – just be mindful. Ω Being Mindful. When you open a water tap be mindful of the woman squatting by a basin of water in a dry part of this world and adjust your water use. It matters not
! of 228 75 ! whether your part of the world has plenty of water; this mindfulness and conscious change will be another step up the mountain. Ω Karma (1). To admire attracts neutral karma; to lust after attracts negative karma. Your choice! . . . . . . and the best choices are the wise ones. Ω The Herd Instinct & the Free Spirit. In this civilization, as we develop our way of living we, like a flock of sheep, head towards the “slaughter house” one can stand aside - a free spirit. Of course, one has to remain in the same paddock and feed on the same grass but one can be discerning. Ω Life Is a Duality. The Australian outback is like our cycle of life: a cycle of drought and flood. So, when in a drought phase lay the foundation for a lesser flood and, when in a flood phase lay the foundation for a lesser drought, whilst always being aware of the goal of absolute balance. Ω Self-discipline. Self-discipline is fundamental to spiritual growth so, with self-discipline, live and ment frugally and discerningly. Let your needs be few and your wants even less. Soon you will automatically live this way with satisfaction and contentment. Ω Release brings relief. Release yourself from your cycle of vicissitudes - particularly if your current cycle is pleasant. Refine your moul by adopting a mindful attitude to all things. Ω Punishment. As much as you may feel like punishing someone, or feel that someone should be punished, always remember that karma takes care of it. You do not have the burden of being judge and jury. Ω
!76 of 228 ! Habits. Because wastefulness is a spiritual negative check your habits; many of them are wasteful; especially in the “developed” societies where wastefulness is highly developed. Ω Spiritual Progress (1). After a tadpole becomes a frog it can be comfortable in water or on land. However, after a caterpillar becomes a butterfly it cannot return to eating leaves and flightlessness. Ω Earth/Universe Pollution – the solution. The pollution of the Earth and the universe – we have only recently started the latter – is due to over population and the self-indulgence of the majority of that population. The solution is spiritual growth to reduce self-indulgence and the speedy and widespread attainment of Nirvana to reduce future populations. Ω Mind and Spirit. The mind, which is the moul, often prompts negative actions but the conscience, which is the spirit, often prompts against them. May the latter be so for you who read this! Ω Spiritual Growth. Chalk absorbs moisture but remains unchanged. A plant absorbs moisture and grows. If spiritual awareness is water which will you be - chalk or plant? Ω What on Earth for? To be born, to live a life extremely pleasant or extremely unpleasant, or somewhere in between, and to die; is that all there is? If so, what on Earth is it for? Ω Interesting Reactions. Telling a person that one can sense the impending death of another usually elicits a negative reaction from that person whilst telling a person that one
! of 228 77 ! can sense the impending acquisition of riches by another usually elicits a positive reaction from that person. Why? Ω A Bleak Period Ahead. When I observe what people are doing to themselves, to others and to all things I foresee a bleak period of learning ahead. This learning is necessary for those who, directly or indirectly, caused the necessity for this learning. Therefore, these individuals will return to experience the consequences of their earlier mentality and actions and, from this experience, learn the hard way. Ω Macrocosm and Microcosm. An accurate reflection of two hundred years of western civilization is the last twenty years of China. Ω Speed and Waste. We have been increasing, and are increasing, the speed of living progressively in many ways: travel, communication, food preparation, horticulture, agriculture and much more . . . . . . . .and there is the expression, ‘Haste makes waste.’ N.B. Waste is a broad fabric of many threads! Ω “In the national interest.” The expression, “In the national interest” signifies collective selfishness and selfishness is spiritually self-retarding. Ω Hedonism. Our adoption of hedonism has corresponded to the upward movement of the lower extremities of female attire. Ω The Herd Instinct. Since, as earthlings, we are an animal we have the inherent animal trait of herding. Do you follow the herd or are you a free spirit? If you follow the herd are you aware of where it is taking you? If you are a free spirit are you aware of where that is taking you?
! of 228 78 ! Ω Creating. Since we created all things we started to recreate things and create more things to exercise our creativity. Whether this activity is positive or negative depends on the motives and the consequences. Ω Threats to humanity. With global warming gas production, food and water shortage and other factors threatening humanity we seem to be sticking to our perennial solution of treating the symptoms and not the cause and, the cause being human mentality, most humans are loath to tackle the cause. Ω Humanly created atomic energy & waste disposal. Can anyone state that the Earth’s tectonic plates and the fault lines of the Earths crust will remain as they are forever; that they have always been as they are and that their number and size will remain unchanged? The answer to this being obvious why do we persist in planning to build nuclear fission plants in “safe” places and stow the waste generated by our profligate habits underground in “safe” places? Ω The two sides to the coin of events. Accompanying every earthly scenario is a spiritual scenario so, before you allow your moul to jump to a habitual conclusion, consider this fact and its implications. Ω Our Mentality. With reference to us in the “first world”, judging by our apparently almost all-consuming need for “fun”, laughter and smiling faces we must be extremely unhappy people. When we are hungry we eat, and when we are starving we overeat. There is no nourishment in this “fun”, laughter and smiling faces! Ω A Cause of Global Disturbance. In the physical realm of the universe, in relative terms, all of us are sitting at the one small table yet some have nothing while others indulge themselves. Why is this? It is simply because we are unable to share.
! of 228 79 ! Ω The Odd Man Out. About three weeks ago a young man told me, ‘I was told that man is the only animal whose presence on Earth is unnecessary.’ I soon became aware of how accurate this was. It is perfectly true that “man”is the only animal whose presence on Earth is unnecessary. This is so because all other life forms on Earth are part of the whole and form an entity in perfect balance. This being so, if any one form is removed, imbalance results in the whole. On the other hand if “man” is removed from the Earth balance will be restored. “Man” is the odd man out simply because “man”, collectively, is the creator of Earth and all things. Thus “man” stands outside creation and, in turn, the Earth. This Reality applies not only to the Earth but to the entire universe of matter. Ω The Spiritual Path. If the ocean were the spiritual path some of us are flying, some water skiing, some floating and some swimming. Ω
Choices. If, as may happen in many public places, you find yourself separated from where you want to be by a flower or plant bed would you walk through the bed or walk around it? Ω Earthly Life. Our earthling experience has taught us that earthly life has upsides and downsides. If your life is without downsides you are doing very well. Ω The Two Sides of The Coin. When things happen to us in life we can look at them in two main ways: negatively and positively. This is often described by the analogy of the half empty or half full glass.
! of 228 80 ! We know that things can happen to any of us at any time. It happens, for instance, to many students around the world that their studies are disrupted partially or finally for one reason or another. Now, IF, and I repeat, IF this were to happen to you you can take it to be a disaster and see it as a failure of all your aspirations and plans, this and that and everything else your mind will put to you negatively. On the other had you could realise that you are a person who has increased in stature; one who ventured out of the confines of a small and poor country after a determined effort and with the help of a loving family; one who travelled to, and adjusted to, a completely foreign country and way of life, and one who is so much richer for the experience. This, and so much more, is all positive. Your mind may still try to tell you, ‘Yes, it seems positive but look at all the things you wanted to do and now cannot do! This is failure!’ and so on. The fact is that at this time, if it ever happens, you are not what you were when you started on your journey in life; you have moved forward! Ω Impractical Spiritual Fundamentals. From a letter to a friend: "I say/write a number of things that, whilst being spiritual fundamentals, are largely impractical in the world as it is today but they can act as beacons for each one of us for it is by the light of such beacons that we slowly change ourselves and, in turn, life itself." Ω The New Akashic Records. When we created all things we created the Akashic Records and of late we have been creating the virtualAkashic Records by way of the Internet. Hence, our inherent creativity now manifests in the present. Ω Lack of Reasoning. A lack of incisive reasoning often results in a childlike acceptance and a consequent delay in spiritual growth. Ω Other universes? Why not? Who is to say, ‘No’? After all, Thought is without limit and: Thought creates, Creation manifests,
! of 228 81 ! Thought manifests. â„Ś The Breeding Season. Why is Homo sapiens the only animal not to have a breeding season? It is probably because we have free will - the freedom of choice; a freedom for whose consequences we have to take responsibility and from whose consequences we have to learn. â„Ś Dying Children. When most lose a child through death they feel great loss; when a child dies somewhere reasonably close many rush to place flowers at the site; but when 340 children are dying every minute through starvation what do we do? Note: This is but one of numerous such questions that can be posed regarding a variety of subjects. â„Ś The Killing of Osama bin Laden. The Osama incident is but a symptom of a huge malaise. The only way to put an end to horrors of "man's inhumanity to man" such as we see around the world at any given time is to eliminate the cause and the cause is our individual and collective mentality. Of course, this elimination is happening slowly as a tiny proportion of the population changes its mentality day by day. However, look at the mentality and resultant actions of terrorists, warlords, security forces, armed forces, politicians, rulers etc. etc., almost ad infinitum, who abuse people; all these individuals will at some time require a situation, circumstances, by which they can experience the experiences they inflicted of others - the expiation of karma. They number in their hundreds of thousands and will all require their war, insurgency, act of terrorism, Twin Towers, Bali bombing, Afghanistan, Iraq etcetera for this expiation of karma: so there is more to come, many times over, until we change the way we think - until we change our mentality. There is also the matter of collective responsibility, or collective karma. A nation is a collective of many individuals who collectively are responsible for the mentality and actions of their government - whatever form that government may take - by the extent to which they acquiesce to its mentality and/or actions. In a karmic context this relates to the attitude of the individual; and it is commensurate with this attitude that karma accrues. Thus, it may be that all
! of 228 82 ! that is required of an individual is presence in the same country later, or in a similar situation elsewhere. Ω Let go - and win! On 05.05.11 Barack Obama, the President of the U.S.A., stood on Ground Zero, New York, and declared words to this effect, ‘We will never forget!’ apparently to project to the the nation’s people and to the world a national image of strength, bravery and defiance. The traumatic events in the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were caused by the 300 year old inability of the people of this region to forget. This is but one example of the difficulty we have with letting go despite all the spiritual exhortations to do so. Ω Creating our bodies. The fact that we are creating bodies increasingly susceptible to disease is masked by the use of pharmaceuticals which treat the symptoms and not the cause. As the enlightened know, we are the cause - and the remedy lies “within” [in the mind]. Ω Climate Change. The long drawn out debate about what action to take about climate change is a challenge to selfishness. Ω Being Rich. Since the emergence of civilization, being materially rich has been an idea and ideal for earthlings exposed to civilization. Now, when a country or its people are referred to as rich it does not mean rich in mentality, principles and non-material values. This is one of the misfortunes of the modern mind. Ω Riches. The real and lasting benefits of material riches only accrue when the riches are given to those in need. Ω
!83 of 228 ! The Purpose of Life. The purpose of life for each one of us is the same although the experiences in any one life differ. We are all governed by the same spiritual laws and will attain the same spiritual goal. Ω Curious Justice. As we increasingly create judicial processes for the prosecution of war criminals we increasingly create more sophisticated killing tools for such people to use. Ω Progress? (1) When we find that “progress” is causing damage to the human body we seek to treat the body instead of treating the cause. Rather than forsake the activity that is the cause we cling to the activity and look for a remedy elsewhere. Ω Progress. Progress on Earth has developed such momentum that we are unable to stop it despite the damage it causes to the material as well as the spiritual being. Ω ‘What a waste!’ When one dies earlier in life than expected we most often hear the lament, ‘What a waste!’. This lament is a statement of ignorance and is completely untrue because we all have a predetermined, defined time on Earth in each life and a specific purpose and/or mission. When we accomplish what we have to do we depart the body. Therefore, instead of a lament like ‘What a waste!’ there ought to be something positive and celebratory as there is reason for rejoicing. Ω Menting & Acting. Because we have free will there is no compulsion to ment or act in any way. However, it is wise to ment* and act honourably and, equally, it is foolish not to do so. *Ment, menting etc. > Ian’s Dictionary > Google search. Ω Truth. It is correctly said that truth is the first casualty of war. It is also true that truth is a casualty of “progress” because, in the world today, truth exists more as an absence than as a presence.
!84 of 228 ! Truth exists, if at all, across the spectrum of qualities ranging from outright truth to outright lies through disinformation, misinformation, spin and other forms of devious manipulation as well as simple inaccuracy due to ineptitude or laziness, with a view to financial profit and/or power. Truth is perverted on a grand scale and with grand sophistication! Ω The Christian Church. The history of the hierarchy of the Christian Church is replete with examples of ubiquitous selfishness and greed for wealth and power amongst its elite - the antithesis of the teachings of the founder whose title it carries. The existing monuments to these failings are today used as places of worship of the faith so abused. Ω The Paranormal. Since the paranormal, where it is not simply a creation of the mind, is, in fact, the reality or the normal, it is time a new word is coined for “the normal” or the perceived reality. Ω Opinion. It is unwise to form an opinion from a position of ignorance and/or prejudice or bias. Ω
The Power of Thought. I am reminded of two extremely powerful experiences I had many years ago to do with awareness - even neoption - of the power of expectation. 1. The lioness and cubs. Today I had a spontaneous recall of what I remember as a dream but accept that it could have been a neoption. I was walking along a cliff edge of a wadi, close to the edge, when I noticed a lioness and two cubs on the floor of the wadi. They were starving and the cubs were on the brink of death. I felt deeply for them in their plight and then had a powerful feeling that I should jump down, and a similar feeling, a powerful awareness, that I would not be harmed either by the jump or the lioness. I do not recall there being any awareness of what could be done to help them. Implicit in the episode seemed to be, and still seems to be, the conviction that if one acts with the highest motive despite danger to one’s self no harm results. 2.Walking on water. In the same circumstances as the above example I neopted Jesus stepping out of a small wooden, sailing boat on to the sea and had the powerful feeling that I could do
!85 of 228 ! what he did, which was walk on the water, and that it was simply a matter of overcoming the expectation of the mind, the mental conditioning, that one would sink. On reflection it does not seem that either of these experiences was a challenge for me but, rather, a means of informing me. The message and the simple practicability of the actions in both cases was obvious to me but I never put it to the test and neither have I ever felt the need to do so. I have since neopted that all we perceive as reality is two things: • Illusion • The creation of the individual and collective mind. The two realities above are, of course, two expressions of the same thing. As it happens, there is nothing new in this because for a couple of thousand of years at least, Hindu ceremonies like fire walking and the significant though painless piercing of flesh have been practiced without pain of physical damage. I have observed both at close quarters. Ω God took my son. When, to save his children, a starving man is forced to leave his sick and starving wife at home to die; to trek for days with his children to obtain food and then to lose his son to starvation and say, ‘God took my son.’ something is very wrong with the way religion is taught by some. Ω Stilling the Mind (Moul). I have often written and spoken, as have so many others, about the necessity to still the mind in order to neopt the Reality - what is real. Also, we often say to ourselves or others, when we cannot recall something, that if we stop thinking about it the recall will come; and this most often works. In the above, the latter is a practical illustration of the former. Ω Wreaking Vengeance. Often people become hell bent on wreaking vengeance on someone and pursue this with missionary zeal whilst ignoring, being unaware of or not being mindful of the Christian, “Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord!” and the corresponding fact of karma. In pursuing their perceived mission people also, sadly, demonstrate a range of negative traits and actions which generate, for them, negative karma. The whole exercise is self-indulgent and spiritually counter productive so we would do well to observe self as we too are liable to behave in a similar manner, even if to a lesser extent, as this behaviour would attract negative karma to ourselves.
! of 228 86 ! Ω The Collective Human Consciousness. Q. Why is the world the way it is today? A. Because, with regard to those at present* on Earth, the negative energy (“vibes” or vibrations) generated by the many are far greater than the positive energy generated by the few. * 24.09.2001. Ω Reflections on a Spiritual Odyssey* It is twenty five years since my vision of the ‘Quo Vadis?’ mandala and the concurrent start of the neoptions which comprise The ‘Quo Vadis? File. It is fifty five years since I first read Dr. Gina Cerminara’s book Many Mansions and recognised the existence of karma. It is sixty three years since I bought my first “spiritual” book which was The Life Of The Buddha by Christopher Isherwood and an Indian scholar whose name I cannot recall - or find. It is sixty eight years since I eschewed Christianity and went in search of the Truth. * At 5.30 a.m. on 26.09.2011 in a hypnopompic state. Ω
Justice. (1) Is it just if irresponsible acts result in pain or “death”? Is it just that helping another results in one being helped by another? If the answer is ‘Yes’ to both why do we lament the former whilst condoning the latter? Ω Inevitable collapse. The self-indulgence of the majority in the “developed and developing world” funded by politically expedient tax reduction or minimisation, results in the non maintenance of essential infrastructure and services with the ultimate consequence of the need for huge and unavailable expenditure resulting in chaos and collapse. Ω
!87 of 228 ! The Consequence of Blind Self-gratification. In many countries the people demand from their governments increased income to fund ever increasing self-gratification whilst they baulk at the need for them to fund this or essential government services. Scant attention is paid to the fact that the governments’ source of income is the very people who do not want to pay and will vote out any government that attempts to force the issue. Where does this lead? Ω We will never forget! [Attachment.] For peace of mind we have to let go of negative attachments but, so often, our mentality calls for us not to let go, not to forget, often in a way which indicates that to let go is a bad thing. This is an example of emotion overriding wisdom. Ω Taking Responsibility. Terrorists were responsible for the demolition of the Twin Towers on 07.11.2001 but who was responsible for the toxic materials in the building which were to affect the health of so many? Ω Giving and Opportunity. A material or monetary gift, once given, may be recovered in time but an opportunity to give, once lost, is lost for ever. Ω Fairness. In business or professionally one is at liberty to charge at will but if such charge is unfair and morally indefensible one will face the appropriate karmic consequences at the appropriate time. Ω A New Pantheon of Gods. When money is not our main focus climate change may be. When the consequences of climate change are stated and the call is for action to at least mitigate its effects for the sake of those to come, we say we cannot take action because economies will be
!88 of 228 ! adversely affected even though, if the stated consequences of climate change do occur, jobs and economies will be irrelevant because they will not exist to any worthwhile extent! This is what happens when money is God. Add to this the vast variety and quantity of toxins and waste we knowingly and unknowingly introduce into earth, water and air each year in ever increasing quantities and we see what happens when science and consumerism are God and Goddess. Thus, we are well on our way to creating another pantheon of Gods and Goddesses! Ω Money & Wealth. Whatever the amount of money or wealth one has is a test of what it does to one and how one uses it. They have no other real value. Ω Success. Do the best you can and be content with that. That is success! Ω Interfering & Intervening. If no one interfered or intervened in the affairs of another person or another nation the purpose of life will still be fulfilled. Ω Killjoys. People like me are killjoys until the pleasure seekers realise where the real pleasure is. Ω The Dreaming. The spiritual foundation of the Australian aboriginal peoples is The Dreaming or Dreamtime. Is it possible, even probable, that the origin of this belief is the now forgotten awareness that what is perceived as reality is, in fact, an illusion - dreamlike? Ω Karma (2). The law of karma cannot be casually accepted. It can only be accepted in its full context and considering its ramifications insofar as they affect individuals and groups;
!89 of 228 ! the latter irrespective of size and, therefore, ranging from family to nation to race and so on. N.B. The law is very simple yet, paradoxically, its ramifications are vast. Ω Information (1). Created by us as spirit: The Akashic Records. Created by us as mouls on Earth: Cloud computing. Ω Attachment & Non-attachment. If anything we lose causes us an emotional reaction we are attached to that thing. Such things include liberty, country, rights, property, friends, family, government, job, source of income . . . . . the list almost endless. An example is that of a political election: if we like or dislike the government elected we have an attachment of like or dislike (positive or negative) to one or both of the options. If we are non-attached we are neutral and, therefore, there is no emotional reaction - we remain calm and at peace. The “mechanics” of the above is that the mind (moul) creates the illusion which we perceive as the reality. It also creates, or has, the attachments which perpetuate the illusion which we perceive as the reality. Hence, we have the cycle of a non-existent mind creating a non-existent reality perpetuated by non-existent attachments ad infinitum unless broken by enlightenment. Note: This is a classic example of the difficulty in putting a neoption into words but some readers may “get the picture”. Ω Communism and Capitalism. Communism and capitalism are both failures because of the human trait of selfishness. In both systems a few prospered at the expense of many. Remember that negative behaviour is, essentially, selfish. Ω Hold your head high! You are the equal of anyone! Be it prince or pauper you are their equal. The only difference may be that their experience in life this time is not the same as yours is this time. So, hold your head high! Ω
!90 of 228 ! Capitalism. The fact that, as a result of the global financial crisis, it is the lower income earners who have to bear a disproportionately large burden in rectifying the failure of the system is, in itself, an indictment of the system. Ω The Global Financial Crisis - 2008. How can those complicit in the failure of a system remedy its failure? Ω
Trafficking in drugs, ivory, animals etc. The cause of trafficking of anything is the end user. Ω Global Priorities. If your house is on fire do you scrabble for your cash or work to put out the flames? Ω The Future of Gaia. If the Earth cannot now cope with the negative effects of the consumption of 3.5 billion* people how will it cope with that of 9 billion+* or so in 2050? * Assuming that approximately 50% and 70% respectively of the total population on Earth is “developed”. Ω Information (2). Our refusal, often arbitrary, to accept information is often caused by our unwillingness to confront the reason for our refusal. Ω The Biblical Resurrection. Since “resurrection” means, amongst other similar things, awaken, reawaken, rekindle, renew, restore and revivify, could it be that the biblical story of Jesus’ resurrection is an allegory symbolising the inevitable resurrection in all of us of the awareness of our spiritual reality? Ω
!91 of 228 ! Ethics. If the standard of ethics on Earth had increased at the same rate as the development of technology the world would be a far more decent place today. Ω Our Current Problem. Our current problem, and therefore our current challenge, is to focus on what we need on Earth and not what we want. The cause of our problem is, and always has been, discontent with life; a mentality that drives us on the endless and futile path of or creating what we believe will bring us the happiness we crave whilst craving brings not happiness but discontent; so we have the perpetuation of the endless circle! This is like the dog chasing its tail - something we laugh at because we are aware of how silly it is. However, we see ourselves as clever when we chase our own tail. Ω
Our obsession with food. In the “developed world” is the apparent obsession with cooking and eating food a case of the glutton who subconsciously fears impending starvation and indulges itself? Ω Progress? (2) Q: What happened to the humble, quiet broom which collected dirt and gave its user exercise? A: It was replaced with the extremely noisy, polluting motor blower which disturbs the peace, does not give its user any worthwhile exercise and spreads dirt around. Ω The Spiritual Truth. The spiritual truth is not something to fall back on but something by which to live. Ω Universal Duality. Watching the Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2010 reminded me forcefully of our innate capacity to create, through high discipline, great beauty of spectacle and sound; a capacity sadly only equalled by our capacity to inflict misery, pain and physical death on our fellow earthlings. Ω
!92 of 228 ! Excesses. Does the explosion of excesses across the spectrum of our lives over the last fifty years - excesses in adjectives, waste, noise, self-indulgence and so on - generate its own implosion? Ω Burning tonnes and tonnes of food. Money buys food yet for many decades at the beginning of each year the “haves” burn millions of dollars worth of fireworks for “FUN” while millions of “have nots” starve. Ω Degrees of awareness. I believe = 1. To accept (a statement, supposition, or opinion) as true; 2. To accept the statement or opinion of (a person) as true; 3. To be convinced of the truth or existence (of); 4. To have religious faith. I know =
1. To be or feel certain of the truth or accuracy of (a fact, etc); 2. To have a familiarity or grasp of, as through study or experience; 3. To understand, be aware of, or perceive (facts, etc);
I recognise =
1. To identify as something previously seen, known, etc. 2. To perceive to be the same as or belong to the same class as something previously seen or known; to know again.
N.B. I have hitherto used the word aware as the third level but that word is too close in meaning and association to know and is, therefore, unsatisfactory.
Ω
Shine! The sun’s fuel lies within; it shines during the day and at night be the sky cloudy or clear, whether we appreciate it or not and whether we like it or not. Be the sun! Ω Free Will. We all have free will and we can use it negatively, positively or neutrally. Be careful. Ω
!93 of 228 ! The Path To Enlightenment. The path to enlightenment is really quite simple: just one law, the law of karma, no rules and endless choices until final success. Ω Doing. One of the things one can do with something is do without it. Ω Worship. Worship is respect taken to excess. Ω Marketing Morality. When the insidious artifice of pricing such as 3.99, 12.99, 16990.00, 30999.00, etc. becomes 4.00, 13.00, 17000.00, 31000.00 etc. the practice of marketing will have attained a commendable increase in morality. Ω Modern Neros. As Nero fiddled while Rome burned we play without a care about the spiritual and material consequences of our play although the damage this has caused is evident to all who care to see. However, this human trait is not new: what we are doing we have done before with disastrous results. Ω The Enormously Heavy Key. The spiritually awakened will be aware of the burden of wealth but may not be aware that non-attachment is the key to release from the burden. However, it is an enormously heavy key. Ω The Cost Of Physical Immunity. Our phobia* of infection, to germs, to “bugs” etc. is adversely affecting the human immune system otherwise naturally maintained at high efficiency by exposure to such influences as these from childhood as well as genetic inheritance to some degree. The consequence of this effect is more illness necessitating the increasing ingestion of pharmaceuticals, many with harmful side effects at least, surgical intervention, more unhappiness, more cost to the community at large and yet more.
!94 of 228 ! *Much of this is created by advertising to increase profit from the sale of products. Ω Future food production. As the predicted future problem of feeding the world nears we continue to build on good agricultural land and seafood breeding grounds. We also cut down forests for food production although forests are vital for the rainfall that sustains food production. One of the main causes of this apparent madness is that uncontrolled aspect of the “free” market - greed. Ω Logic, Reasoning and The Mind. At some point along a line of logic and reasoning the mind boggles and at his point the mind has to be put aside to further the line of enquiry. Ω Proof. When seeking something abstract the line of reasoning sometimes passes the point of creation and, after this point, no proof is possible because proof is only available where space and time exist. This is the stumbling block that faces scientists as, habitually, they require proof. Ω We Do Not Die. We do not die; we simply switch off material perception. Reality, as perceived by us all, is unreal, an illusion - and when we “die” all we do is switch off that perception as we so often do, or try to do, when we cannot face something in life and “switch off”. Hence my new word: somp [switch off material perception]. Ω Neoption. Neoption is involuntary. For me it manifests mostly between 3 a.m. and 3.30 a.m. But can, and does, at any time, whether I am active or inactive. Ω
!95 of 228 ! Personal Responsibility. You are not responsible for the ments and actions of another. All you can do, and need to do, is ment and act responsibly. There is no need to fret over what goes on outside you; in fact, it does you only harm. Ω Jobs. Jobs going “offshore” is the cost of the good life “onshore”. We create our world. Ω World Peace. ‘I/We want world peace (as long as we can do what we can do what we want).’ is the common catch phrase (and unspoken qualification) of those in power. Ω Gravity, coconuts and humans. Gravity is a natural phenomenon and a coconut is a natural fruit which falls when mature. This is nature at work in the natural habitat of the coconut yet modern humans deem it is necessary to protect tourists, modern humans too, from falling coconuts. Ω Bitter Fruits & Vegetables etc. As many of us reject bitter fruits and vegetables to the detriment of our bodies many of us reject bitter spiritual truths to the detriment of our spiritual growth. Ω The United Nations Organization. Efforts of the U.N.O. will always be hindered or stymied by the self-interest of one or more of its members and if self-interest did not exist the organization would not be needed. Ω Abnormal Genes. Scientists are using the term “abnormal genes” with reference to some genes they discover. This term is erroneous because all genes are purpose specific spiritually and physically. There may be some genes which are unusual but none which is abnormal in this sense. Ω
!96 of 228 ! Motivation. If the motivation behind an apparently negative statement is to positively motivate the reader or hearer is the statement positive or negative? Ω The Demise Of Truth. The perceived need for outwardly positive thinking or positive spin - not positive thinking itself - has resulted in our option to express the truth being severely curtailed if not obstructed completely. Ω Wasted Food. In the so called first world a huge quantity of perfectly good fresh food never reaches the shop shelves because it is discarded for aesthetic reasons - a market dictated requirement for visual perfection which we have been inculcated with. Ω Economic Growth. The present world economy is based on growth - growth and more growth, with no mention of an end point. What happens when something grows without limit? Bubbles burst, trees fall over and most things die. Ω In The Dark. If we submerge ourselves in the ocean the deeper we go the less light we see until, beyond a certain point, we cease to see the light. So it is with the Earthly experience: the more we are submerged in it the less we see, and the less we can see, of the Reality. Ω Time and Money. When time is money it is time to make wise choices. Ω Breeding. Firstly, we bred, by natural means, domesticated animals to suit our needs; then we bred further, by the same means, these animals to suit our fancy, and now we seek to breed, by unnatural means, our bodies to suit our convenience.
! of 228 97 ! Ω State of Mind (state of moul). In the materially developed world we spend time and money living in the past celebrating and/or commemorating occurrences of decades or centuries past. It would be more productive and responsible to visualise living in the decades and centuries ahead in the the society and environment we have created. Ω Standing Alone Barefaced. “We have pushed tigers to the brink of extinction.” are the words of a research scientist in the jungles of Bhutan. For the word “tiger” we can substitute the names of thousands of other species of life but, where the “We” is concerned, there are no substitutes . . . . . . and we think we are the clever species! Ω Crusade. There is no need for one to crusade: it suffices to make the change in oneself that one would wish to make in others, for as each one changes so changes the collective conscientiousness. Ω Spiritual Progress (2). One of the factors retarding spiritual growth is that with those spiritual truths which do create an initial impression on the mind that impression, most often, only lasts as long as does the memory of the beautiful song of a sky lark in the early morn. Ω Conscience. Many a conscience resides in the purse. Ω The Ocean and the Reality. The ocean affects the five senses and there are many who have not experienced this and, therefore, if they are aware of its existence, do not comment on it except as something not experienced. The Reality does not affect the five senses and there are many who do not experience it yet comment on it.
! of 228 98 ! Ω Contentment. (1) True, unassailable contentment comes from state of mind not belief. Ω Burrowers. There is a multitude of life forms which burrow in the surface of the Earth and benefit the earth thereby yet there is one life form, human, which burrows deep and pollutes the earth, water and air thereby. This life form sees itself as clever. Ω Problems in Life. We create problems out of challenges and challenges are a matter of choices with choices often encumbered by attachments. Ω Age - our anomalous view. We admire, even venerate, ancient things like a tree, building or antique but, in the Western world, we are unable to venerate the ageing or old human body. Ω The Two Laws. Depending on one’s mentality one may wish to circumvent “man’s law”, and even accomplish this wish, but this is not possible with the moral law, the spiritual law, because this law is absolute - under it one confronts oneself with excruciating accuracy. Thus self-improvement can occur. Ω Homosexual Partnership. Re. “marriage”, “civil union” et cetera. What matters is not what a relationship is termed or perceived to be but the the contribution and motivation invested in the relationship by the partners, and that it is equal in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of all people. Ω
!99 of 228 ! Finding The Truth. If one looks to books one will find what one wants but if one looks behind the mind to one’s conscience one finds the Truth. Ω Human Intelligence. Human intelligence is good enough to bend nature to its will but not good enough to foresee the consequences. Ω Passionate & Dispassionate. In the modern, westernised world - a world increasingly of exaggeration, induced excitement, excess and titillation - it is common for people to be encouraged to be passionate about something. Such encouragement is misplaced because passion is an excessive emotion. What may be intended is not passion but enthusiasm (which should be tempered by moderation). The opposite of passionate is dispassionate and, whilst the former is a hindrance to spiritual growth, the latter is a help. The reason for this, as explained fully by me elsewhere, is that emotion is a state of mind and that the mind is a hindrance to spiritual understanding and, therefore, spiritual growth. Being dispassionate, on the other hand, is more a state of being than a state of mind: it is on the cusp as it were, with the greater part of it being a state of being. Being dispassionate is akin to being non-attached which is a state of being - the spiritual state. Below are definitions from dictionary.com:
pas·sion·ate [pash-uh-nit] Show IPA adjective 1. having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid: a passionate advocate of socialism. 2. easily aroused to or influenced by sexual desire; ardently sensual. 3. expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling; emotional: passionate language. 4. intense or vehement, as emotions or feelings: passionate grief. 5. easily moved to anger; quick-tempered; irascible.
dis·pas·sion·ate [dis-pash-uh-nit] Show IPA
! 100 of 228 ! adjective free from or unaffected by passion; devoid of personal feeling or bias; impartial; calm.
Ω
The Pinball Machine. Life is like a pinball machine. We start at a point and head for the end bouncing off pins on the way. The pins are like choices, they represent, depending on the player, the positive or negative menting (mentality) determining the choices. At the end we have a positive or negative score which goes into the tally bank as we return to start again and again . . . and again . . . and again . . . . . . . . . . . . almost endlessly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . till the tally is all positive. So let the pins be your conscience and principles and not your selfish needs and wants on this long, long journey - a journey sometimes happy, sometimes bearable and sometimes unbearable. Ω Self-defence and Laws. The biblical statements, “Thou shalt not kill.”, “As you sow, so shall you reap.”, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” etc. all refer to the law that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is the law of karma and, in relation to all matter, the fundamental law of physics. The exhortation, advice or command of major religious teachings is simply, and unequivocally, that one should not kill. As an example; if our space, be it home or country or something else perceived by us to belong to us, is challenged or invaded it is because we have created, individually or collectively, at some time in the past, the situation we find ourselves in and the attended choices we have. Hence, to kill, or otherwise treat negatively, the invader is to create even more negative karma for ourselves. To suit himself man created man’s law which permits even killing, in “self-defence”, in these circumstances but man’s law is ignorant of the overarching, and immutable, law of karma [though not the law of physics because the law of physics only applies to matter.]. Perhaps it is necessary to remind the reader that the law of karma applies negatively and positively precisely in accordance with the thinking or act which activated it and that there is no retribution in the process. The process itself is benign: it is only the cause which determines the result. - and all to the ultimate benefit of the individual! Ω Doing One’s Best. The only time when one can do one’s best is in the present.
! 101 of 228 ! To do one’s best one can learn from past experience and/or plan for future action but this activity is about the past and the future respectively. Learning from past experience and implementing what is planned can only be done in the present at some time. Ω Lifestyle and Contentment. Observe how all forms of life are content with their lives; with the exception, that is, of Homo sapiens which for many thousands of years has been discontented or, where content, has been lured away from contentment by the temptations put before them. Even in recent times the contented in the deep forests and wildernesses - even in some areas of acute poverty - have been misled in this way. However, there is always choice - conscious or unconscious choice . . . . . . . . . and life is a succession of choices. Ω Thwarting Idealism. When something needing self-sacrifice from us needs to be done we tend to react by adopting the mentality of, or stating, why it cannot be done instead of how it can be done. Ω Humility and Arrogance. The humble are unaffected by criticism or perceived criticism but the arrogant are affected by criticism or perceived criticism. Arrogance is the inflated ego (moul) of the arrogant and, like all inflated balloons, it makes a noise and collapses when pricked hard enough. In the humble there is nothing to make a noise or collapse but there is dignity. Ω Do or Try? From the way the English language is now constructed in both writing and speech it seems that people no longer do things but only try to do things: a definite intention or prospect is qualified by an indefinite verb or adverb. Is this a “cop out” of some sort, a reflection of a reluctance to act or just plain bad English? Note: When I drafted this I could not recall examples. Some of these I now have and give below in case they help:
! 102 of 228 ! •
The word possible followed later in a sentence by may. [The indefinite word possible means the indefinite word may.] • The word expect followed later in a sentence by might. [ as above] • Example of a sentence: It is likely that his departure may lead to trouble. • The example used to be written or spoken as, 'It is likely that his departure will lead to trouble.' Thus, an indefinite word is followed by a definite, qualifying word - and makes sense. N.B. The question posed in my primary post was to do with where we are going mentally and questioning whether the human species is losing its capacity to reason logically. Ω
Health. Where people have not been exposed to “civilization” their bodies are superb examples of good health although their lifespan is considered by “civilized” peoples to be short. On the other hand “civilized” people are actually, mostly, in poor health and have a relatively long lifespan often attained by artificial means. From a spiritual perspective the length of lifespan is of little importance essentially. Ω Creation. To create objects by perception is infinitely easier than to create them physically having first created energy and, from that, matter. Consider my previous direct or indirect references to creation in this context. Ω Easter Commemoration. The Easter commemoration of Jesus the Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection could symbolise the often extremely difficult lives of some earthlings and their eventual and inevitable attainment of nirvana and full enlightenment. Ω Teachers. We are all teachers: Every day we all teach by example at least. Hence, be mindful of what you teach. This reminds me of the biblical saying, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” Ω
!103 of 228 ! Copyright. The application of a copyright is caused by a sense of possession and a fear of loss. It also restricts availability. Ω The Two Illusions. I have, as have others before, written about “the illusion” that is seen as reality. Let me now add to the confusion by stating that the body we see as solid is, in fact, simply a “thought form” - a projection of our Thought into the perception that is our body (within the perception that is the universe and all that is in it). Thus each body is simply part of the whole perceived picture. To assist with the comprehension of this here are some relevant definitions of our English verb project: 1. to throw or cause to fall upon a surface or into space, as a ray of light or a shadow. 2. to cause (a figure or image) to appear, as on a background. 3. to send forth or transport in the imagination: to project oneself into the future 4 to cause an image to appear (on a surface). 5. to externalise, externalize.
On page 102 of The Milk Is White, under the heading “The Body - It’s Making” is the diagram below which is an illustration describing, inadequately, how we create the image, through the moul [here termed the soul], perceived as the body. From this illustration we can see how the body image is affected, or influenced, by the moul - our mentality or state of mind/being.
Spirit Self The Body
The Soul
Ω Love. (1) It is understandable that most people baulk at what I say about love.
!104 of 228 ! This is because we have a very deep-seated need of it and seek it constantly: We are, in fact, addicted to it - we are attached to it. Consider this in the context of drug or alcohol addition where those addicted have a very deep-seated need of it and seek it constantly. The attachment to love has been inculcated in us to such an extent that even God is said to be not only loving but love itself; to many of us love and God are inseparable. Furthermore, because religious and spiritual teachings have love as there foundation, or a fundamental part thereof, it is difficult, if not impossible, for teachers thus orientated to comprehend that love is an emotion and, therefore, a thing of the mind (moul) - and, as I have said before, the mind does not exist. It follows that love does not exist. For such teachers to jettison the concept of love as presented would be to pull the rug out from under their and their pupils’ feet and, as those who have literally experienced such an event, this is extremely alarming. So, what, in Reality, is akin to love? Mindfulness? - a word attributed to the Buddha in translation into Sanskrit and Pali but what word in what language did the Buddha actually use? Unfortunately, the word mindful seems to refer to the mind, a more suitable word would be aware which, as I see it, is consistent with our core state of being, Thought. Therefore, this awareness can be termed empathy which has all the qualities of love but none of the attachment love engenders. However, the word sympathy is unsuitable because it implies the presence of emotion. In the final analysis, as in the case of any attachment, we have to attain non-attachment to be free of the bondage that love creates - the addiction of its highs and lows. Ω Large Scale Bloodshed. With all the large scale bloodshed taking place around the world we tend to dwell on what is happening rather than the mentality of those perpetrating it. For a deeper insight take time to consider the possible thoughts motivating the the perpetrator/s. Ω Saints. It is surely the height of arrogance for anyone to create a category of person called Saint and arbitrarily bestow, on the basis of selective criteria, this title on people who are not even present to give their consent? This is a greater step than stating that a marriage is not valid unless it is blessed by a man. Ω Disturbance. This civilization has conditioned, and is continuing to condition, most of us to almost constant background sound and visual stimulation with the result that they cannot cope with stillness and silence - prerequisites for contemplation
! 105 of 228 ! and introspection. This state of unnatural disturbance causes, in the long term, dis-ease which manifests in the body and brain as disease. Ω The Cost Of Progress. Considering the financial, ethical, environmental, health and other costs of what is deemed to be progress in this civilization is it worth it? Ω What Is Taught. For the original message of the teacher one has to go to the original words and, if these are not available, to the Source itself. The reliance on translations is unwise and deeming translations to be infallible is foolish. Ω First Principles. When considering spiritual truths always return to first principles. Ω Corruption. Is it just selective media reporting or is corruption rampant almost everywhere - particularly amongst those controlling the affairs of the world? Ω Karma. (3) With karma one can create a painful patch of thorns or a garden of beautiful flowers. Ω Preparation. Before one harvests one has to till the field. Before one tills the field one has to know agriculture. Before one knows agriculture one has to want to know agriculture. So it is with growing awareness of the Reality. Ω Through a glass darkly. Dust is Earthly debris; it settles on window panes and, over time, clouds or obliterates vision and even a rainstorm does not fully clear the glass. So it is with one’s fascination with the dust of trivialities that are Earthly life; it clouds the vision to what really is.
! 106 of 228 ! Ω Puzzling Mentality. We spend billions to prolong human life beyond natural dictates, then spend ten times more searching for and implementing ways and means of solving the immense problems this creates. Ω Peace of Mind. Find a place where people live, and have lived, a self-sufficient, fully contented life with general peace of mind; put a road into that place - because, of course, you know best - and watch what happens to the self-sufficiency, contentment and general peace of mind. Ω Disturbed? Disturbance is the absence of stillness. Ω Inflation (monetary). People living self-sufficient and fully contented lives in places unaffected by civilization have no monetary inflation. This is because they need nothing. In the civilized world there is a constant desire for more and it is this that creates inflation. Ω Obsession. Obsession with illnesses and their causes, because of an illness one has, can cause more damage than the existing illness. Ω Escape. In advertising, and perhaps the media, there is a preoccupation with “Escape”: We are urged to escape through this television program or that, this film or that, or escape to this place or that or via some music or other and so on. For this theme to be so prevalent we must seek release from something! . . . . . And, if we seek release from something we must be stressed by that something. Ω
!107 of 228 ! Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is a replication of the original means by which we created things out of energy: Thought ➡ energy ➡ matter ➡ things. N.B. From my previous writings: “Thought creates, Creation manifests, Thought manifests.”
Ω
Personal Integrity. No matter how successful one’s Earthly life is deemed to be one is a failure if one is without personal integrity. Ω Meditation. Meditation is “time” spent with one’s self, one’s spiritual self, the I AM, Spirit, or whatever one may term it, detached from the Earthly experience - a “period” of rest and reconnection. Ω Foolhardy Zealotry. Countries like Iraq and Afghanistan have a very long history of established customs and social structures, loosely knit to form a whole, and it is foolhardy for zealots with delusions of grandeur to assume the power, indeed the ability and the right, to change this in a short time, if at all. Furthermore, the mentality promoting the gun as the first option and thus creating a train of quicksands in a country with a long history of efficiency in war in extreme conditions adds to the foolhardiness. Any change in these countries will come at its own integrated pace and interference only delays this. Ω Killing Is Killing. Killing is killing whether by remote control or by one’s hands and the law says unequivocally, ‘As you sow so shall you reap.’ - the immutable law of karma. There is no escape for those responsible, either individually or collectively, through promoting or condoning this for, in some way, some perfectly appropriate way, they will “meet themselves”. Attempting to create the illusion of reduced culpability by devising and using remotely controlled devices may assuage the mind but does not assuage the law. Ω
!108 of 228 ! Global Economic System. (1) When a structure is beyond repair there is no point in its creators trying to repair it. The structure will collapse and a new structure needs to be designed and built by those with new, commendable ideas, values and goals. Ω IT. (1) It is said that we were/are created in the image of God (IT) yet most of us, as Earthlings, create God (IT) in our image! Ω IT. (2) The use of different terms such as God, Allah and Yahweh for what we pay fealty to and/or worship creates schisms and confusion in the multitudes paying fealty to and/ or worshiping the one nebulous entity. It is to eliminate the schisms and confusion that I now use the term IT. Many will be uncomfortable with IT because a) they are used to and are conditioned to another term, b) they see it lacking dignity - again the result of conditioning and c) it is commonplace: “it” is everywhere; it is not special. However, if we reflect beyond an initial negative reaction we will note that IT - my unifying term - is acknowledged, under the various other terms, to be omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent . . . . just like the humble “it” and just like IT. Ω Caring, Sharing and Honour. The rich spend billions on saving the economies and lifestyles of the rich and spend more billions on entertainment of various kinds but withhold pledged donations to save the very lives of the poor, destitute and/or starving. The swing of a pendulum does not last - it eventually comes to rest in balance . . . . . but this only happens after all have experienced every measure of the swing. Ω Resistance. The meniscus is the resistant outer layer of water formed by atmospheric pressure and the moul is the resistant outer layer of Spirit formed by worldly pressure. Ω Spiritual Burden. Pupil. Who carries the greater spiritual burden, the rich or the poor? Teacher. The rich, because they have more to relinquish but cannot.
!109 of 228 ! Pupil. But some have. Teacher. Yes, but they are no longer rich. Ω Courtesy or Profit? Would it be correct to say that whereas in the past people acknowledged or replied to communications as a matter of courtesy they nowadays only do so if they profit in some way? Ω Learning by Experience. At any given time on Earth there is a number of people learning by experience. At present that number exceeds 7 billion. Ω Earth’s Excessive Population. Prior to the advent of civilization localised self-sufficiency, a natural lifespan, natural population control, minimal demands on the land and what it sustained, resulted in a limited population; but civilization altered all that and created the present situation of over-population, shortages and environmental degradation. Ω Human Intelligence & Reason. Two of the qualities said, often with a degree of superiority, to define humans are intelligence and the ability to reason, yet neither of these nor their combination has enabled humans to live with one another with tolerance and in peace. Instead we have, consistently, vigourously called upon our animal instincts of territorial defence to do the opposite. We have also adopted a similar reaction to the defence of our religious beliefs - often, sadly, at the behest of the religious hierarchy. This is neither intelligent nor reasonable. Ω Human Noise. When the noise of human mentality gets uncomfortable one can withdraw from it without entering a monastery or convent. A prerequisite is the ability to shed virtually all attachments. Ω
!110 of 228 ! Non-attachment. Non-attachment is that wherein one has neither a negative nor a positive reaction to or feeling towards something. Ω Thinkers. There are those who make no effort to think, the thinkers, the lateral thinkers and, yes, the omni-dimensional thinkers. You have the capacity to be the last mentioned so cultivate the ability to be this. Ω Global Economic System. (2) The global economic system operating to date has failed the majority of people. What is required is a fundamentally different system - one that benefits all. Formulation of a new system requires clear vision, just objectives and wisdom which are not possessed by responsible for the failed system - vision through heavily tinted glasses will not do. Ω Other Universes Other Dimensions. Since we create what we perceive as reality is there any reason why we have not created other such “parallel” realities? None whatsoever. Ω Killing or Death of children. Both the media and individuals make a bigger fuss when children are killed, or otherwise die, than when others are killed or die. This is simply an emotional reaction because killing of anyone has the same rating and anyone dying is of equal significance in the scheme of things. Ω Choices. (2) Life certainly is a succession of choices but none is irrevocable - not even that made on the death bed - for life is continuos and other choices lie ahead. Ω
!111 of 228 ! Coming Down To Earth. The heads of the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church may not be aware of it but, as it is for anyone not fully enlightened, for the Queen of England and the Pope the pendulum of life swings. Ω What We Are Today. We are all what we are today because of what we have been, whether any of that seems to us to have been good or bad. Ω Opinion. In the final analysis the only opinion of you that counts is your own, but this opinion has to be the result of wise and unemotional evaluation. Ω Diversity Of Food Sources. The progressive contraction of the gene pool of food and meat products due to commercial imperatives spells possible disaster for future food supplies. Ω Ending Cigarette Smoking. If in a country, as of a given future date, the smoking of cigarettes and associated products was made illegal for those born on or after that date, the habit of smoking will be eliminated gradually with no added inconvenience to existing smokers to whom every encouragement to give up the habit should continue. Associated laws would be needed to prevent possible infringements of the new law. The eventual elimination of legal smoking will be predictable for planning purposes. There will be some degree of evasion of the laws but this is not likely to be a major problem. Ω Science and Nature. If the city of Dhaka is in fact sinking as a result of extraction of subterranean water for human use it is another example of our mindless use of science and technology our inventive capacity - to exploit the Earth’s resources whilst being ignorant of the consequences of these actions. We seem incapable of seeing these consequences, or even accepting that consequences do exist, and bungle along in the delusion of our
!112 of 228 ! self-declared intelligence and superiority seemingly oblivious to the fact that other will follow us here - others to whom we have a responsibility. Ω The Path That Leads Nowhere. Beware the path that leads nowhere, the illusive rainbow, the “American Dream”: This has become the holy grail of the developed world and is swiftly becoming the dream of the rest of the world. Ω Unnatural Evolution. Natural viruses are known to jump species by spontaneous mutation so who is to say that humanly genetically modified organisms will not do the same? Ω Sustaining Life On Earth. In regard to eco-sustainability policies, when actions taken by governments to rectify errors of our past policies adversely affect people, those thus affected must be fully compensated, financially and as otherwise necessary, to the extent that they maintain at least an average lifestyle. Such compensation has to come from the people via the government. Ω No Need For Negative Feelings. If, despite one’s best efforts, something one starts fails, it was not meant to succeed one only needed the particular experience and the need is fulfilled. Ω Miracles. There are no miracles: They exist only in the context of ignorance. Ω A System Doomed To Failure. Anyone able to see past the superficial can see that any system which is dependent on consumerism for success must fail because consumerism corrupts the environment, the body, the mind and the spirit. Ω
!113 of 228 ! Should We? If only our minds were free its there for us to see how nature does our world adorn. Just look, behold the dew drop on a fine and crispy morn; kissed by the sun, like a jewel it hangs suspended … … … shimm'ring, as if alive, with each caress of early breeze it quivers … … . it stops … … . it quivers again as if to fall. Will it crash hard to the ground, or is there more to be found in the arms of the sun which gives it light and gives it warmth? That, fate will decide. But what of us? Do we care to pause for nature's wonders, or rush around and fail to hear and see what is ours and free? We could, if we but tried. Should we? Ω Failure. If, despite one’s best efforts, something one attempted to achieve failed to meet one’s expectations it was not meant to succeed. Therefore, to have negative feelings about the failure is unnecessary. Simply accept it, let go and move on whilst taking with you what you have learned from the experience. Ω Mirrors and Vanity. Mirror surfaces of varying quality have existed in nature for most of time but could the invention of the man-made mirror have heralded the advent of vanity? No, although it may have facilitated the expression of latent vanity in the moul. Ω Human Negativity. It appears that negative human mentality and behaviour has been on the increase and is now at an all time high but is this simply appearance or is it that, whilst there has been a great increase, the increase is due to the great increase in the population: that in relative terms, the increase is minimal or nil? If, on the other hand, the increase is actual it means that more spirits have come to Earth for self-improvement or that more spirits have come to Earth to face the test of implementing what they have learned and are failing
! 114 of 228 ! to do so. Eventually, of course, all will succeed and, since time is non-existent in fact, it will not take “long”. So it is! Ω Attention To Detail. Lost in the vast canvas of mans’ inhumanity to man are the many details portraying mans’ humanity to man. Ω Unaccountable Profligacy. Not many years ago people travelled frequently by car too and fro over short distances in their local area and this contributed massively to the pollution of Earth’s environment. Now, in addition to that, they travel by plane too and fro over short distances frequently in their, now greater, local area with increasing frequency although the pollution caused by these flights is about four times greater than that of cars. Ω The Illusion - further elucidation. (Part 1) Go somewhere quiet, relax and imagine a stage; imagine that you are observing the stage; arrange the set, the various objects - touch things, feel them . . . . . . . . . . . . . be there! See yourself on the stage. Introduce other characters . . . . even pets. Think of a life situation for your self on the stage and let your mind go with acting out that situation. Include a small test or challenge for your self and work through it to its end. Imagine whatever comes to mind. What happened? Contemplate and then Go to The Illusion - further elucidation. (Part 2)
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!115 of 228 ! The Illusion - further elucidation. (Part 2) Provided that you were able to create that set and situation effectively you acted out the illusion which is life. It is in this sort of way that we, individually and collectively, create the illusion that we take to be the reality. “Thought creates, Creation manifests, Thought manifests.” Ω Thinking Ill Of Someone. One is not thinking ill of someone when one is simply acknowledging what that one is. Being critical of what someone is is thinking ill of that one. Ω Justice. (2) There is nothing more just than someone experiencing the experience to which they subjected another and learning from it. Ω Parental Example. It is often said that parents set the example for their children. This is so but it must be stressed also that the children have freedom of choice to imitate or not. Those unaware of the spiritual reality will assert that a child is unable to make such decisions but those aware know that it is precisely for that challenge that the spirit which is the child is in that family. Ω Global Economic System. (3) When the system fails, the measures adopted in the attempts to recover it seem to be austerity. Before these measures affect the poorer people they should apply to those wealthier until they earn as much, and are worth as much, as the poorer people. Only at this point should the measures start to include the poorer. That is equality, but the way the system works is the wealthy take the gains in the good times and the poorer take the losses in the bad times! Ω
! 116 of 228 ! This Civilization. This civilization needs to continue for the time being. Collectively we cannot go back to our old ways because we have to continue as we are doing so as to realise the error of our ways. However, individually, those who have realised the error of our ways, and adjusted to this realisation, may not return until conditions prevail for their further enlightenment. Ω Profligacy. Wastefulness has nothing to do with availability: It is a state of mind. Ω Science and Physics. In time, when the boundaries of physics have been reached, science and scientists will discover that there is more to all existence than matter; and that the mind, rather than being the key, has been the lock. Ω Semantics. Logical and lexical semantics are in a rapid state of flux with a minority of changes, possibly initially made intentionally, beneficial and a majority detrimental to clear communication. Examples are rife amongst individuals and in the media and are obvious to the “thinking” person. Are we heading for a breakdown in clear communication, with its attendant, possibly, serious, consequences or is this a sub-conscious means to an end currently unknown? Ω
Human Mentality. Is the collective human mentality (psyche) worse now than it has been or does it just seem so because the population has increased? Ω
! 117 of 228 ! Fashion or Titillation? Who in recent years decided that it was de riguer for the display of cleavage in women’s dresses and why was this not accompanied by a similar lowering of the zip puller in mens’ trousers? Ω Quantum Leaps. In our spiritual progress two quantum leaps we make are the realisations that life is continuous and that what we perceive as real is an illusion. Ω The Snowball. As the snowball rolls down the slope it gathers momentum as well as mass. So it is with our wants: we want more, bigger and better at the same time that there are more and more of us aspiring to the mirage of happiness. To fully appreciate this one needs to extrapolate this momentum to its conclusion. Ω Certain Questions. There are certain questions to which the answer has to be, ‘If you need to ask this question you will not understand the answer.’ Ω The Truth. The Truth is not some body’s perception, opinion or reality it is the Reality: it is the purpose of life. N.B. The separation of the two words some and body is intentional. Ω Idolatry. The reason why the wise ones advocate against the creation of idols, be they statues or pictures, and idolatry is that, firstly, those represented in the idols are only messengers and, secondly, because what starts as respect of the idolized becomes a dependency, and responsibility for menting and actions is handed over to the idolized by the idolizer - thus abdicating responsibility.
! 118 of 228 ! Ω Future Archeology. In archeological digs of recent and present times discoveries have consisted of simple finds and signs of habitation and way of life. When the time comes for our archeological history to be unearthed the mind boggles at what will emerge and what precautions archeologists will have to take against toxic pollution. Ω Indulgence. In the developed and developing “worlds” why is the cost of living continually increasing in leaps and bounds? Because it keeps pace with our continually increasing indulgences - mostly involving things created by our indulgence of our creative ability. Thus one indulgence creates and perpetuates another. Ω Temporary & Perceived Difference. If all the peoples of the world are to unite for mutual benefit each has to see past the physical differences in the other to the spiritual likeness - oneness, in fact. However, to achieve this we have to overcome the self and the limitations of the “mind” . . . . . . a monumental task (with the emphasis on “mental”). Ω All The Time In The World. Do as you please in a negative way, exercise your free will in a negative way; if that is your wish, for you have all the time in the world, and as many times as are needed, to undo the consequences. Ω Duplicity. According to the Oxford English Dictionary: 2. (of food) recently made or obtained; not tinned, frozen, or otherwise preserved.
! 119 of 228 ! Due to the duplicity of those employed in marketing and those who employ them we are continuously and systematically conned into believing that what is not fresh is fresh and we are inured to this deception. Ω What Is Happening? Q. When we feel that nothing is happening would it be correct to say, ‘Nothing is happening.’ ? A. When nothing is happening something is happening - and that something is “nothing”! P.S. When I wrote this I could not help smiling at the curiosity of the answer: be it correct or not it certainly activates the mind! Ω Karma. (4) Because of the law of karma there are no loses and winners: everyone is a winner. Ω Justice. (3) When you are on the side of justice you are on the side of no one, whatever you do. Ω Tragedy. The term tragedy, once selectively used but now freely used with less discrimination, is applied to a range of situations and occurrences but the real “tragedy” is that these situations and occurrences will continue for millennia to come because billions of us spirit entities have still to experience these time and again on their long journey to enlightenment. Of course, the length of the journey and the severity of the situations and occurrences is what we create for ourselves. Ω Country Of Birth. There are those who, when talking about their country of birth, speak of it as “An accident of birth.” If only they knew how incorrect that is!
! 120 of 228 ! Ω Argument and the Reality. Argument about the reality is easy but realising it is not, because realising it takes time and effort and, above all, the removal of the mind from the process. Ω Democracy. The democratic process, defined as being for the people by the people, will only work ideally when money is not a factor in the electoral process. Until then the people are hostage to the power of money wielded by the unscrupulous. The power to change this lies with the voters and it lies unused. Ω Stress. Any type of stress indicates an attachment which needs to be converted to non-attachment. Ω Religion. Does religion, as a system, change human nature or is it too often just a pious veneer loudly proclaimed by an individual or by individuals on behalf of a nation? Ω Hard Lessons. On Earth we have created, and are now bringing to a conclusion, possibly extreme conditions conducive to the numerous and diverse learning experiences of many billions of spirit entities and this creation must run its course. Ω Priorities. All the enormous, and enormously expensive, sporting events staged in the world in recent decades are an indictment of all of us because there is, and has been, a colossal need for money for humanitarian relief at the same time; a need left unfulfilled. Yet we show absolutely no sign of regret. Ω
!121 of 228 ! Hijacking the Truth. Preconceived notions and suspicions lodged in the mind often result in us misconstruing information received and jumping to erroneous conclusions. Ω Life and the Game of Patience. In the game of Solitaire (Patience) one has no control over the fall of the cards but has choices regarding what to do with the cards that fall. So it is in life. However, in life, one’s choices are always arranging the fall of the cards later in the life or in the lives to follow. [See Patience/Solitaire. In The Milk Is White p55] Ω Freedom. If you are a slave to your senses and your mind, free yourself for not only are chains a burden but shackles are painful. Ω Horses and Water. It is true that, as the saying goes, one can take a horse to water but cannot make it drink. However, the thirsty horse will drink so keep that horse in mind. Ω Genetic Modification. Scientists may be slowly learning genetic modification but we all have been modifying genes for eons because: “Thought creates, Creation manifests, Thought manifests.” Ω Excess. Excess devalues appreciation of that which is in excess. Note: In the modern “developed world” excess is rampant across the board: it is, in fact, a way of life. Ω
!122 of 228 ! Detachment and non-attachment. In my spiritual writings I almost exclusive use the term non-attachment instead of the word detachment and some readers may wonder why I do not use the latter which is more commonly used. The reason is that whereas non-attachment has only one meaning and is generally accepted as being used in a spiritual/religious context, detachment has diverse meanings and contexts; some of which are listed below to illustrate the point. Note that, in # 5, detachment is classed as a feeling whereas what I refer to is a state of mind - not necessarily the same or understood as the same. Furthermore, the verb detach also has diverse meanings whereas a verb for non-attachment does not exist in use. Detachment n 1. The state of being objective or aloof. 2. A group of troops, aircraft, or ships sent away on a separate mission. 3. A party of people separated from a larger group. 4. The action or process of detaching; separation. 5. A feeling of not being involved with someone or something in a close or emotional way. 6. A group of soldiers sent to perform a special job separately from the rest of their group. Note: Contextually there is a similarity in meaning between non-attachment and the alternative # 4 above. [I am posting this in my Ian’s Dictionary posts on the Internet and it is posted here for the immediate information of those who may read it.] ℌ Balanced Diet. For a balanced diet guide study the food types ingested per day by hunter-gatherers unaffected by modern civilization. ℌ The Driving Force. Our civilization is driven by the manufacture and consumption of things which we want but do not need and the driving force is discontent; a discontent which originated at the start of time and is immortalised in the myths of creation and of Adam and Eve.
!123 of 228 ! This discontent is temporary and, as we overcome it, there will be nothing to sustain the priorities created by it and the civilization will cease or its purpose will change or both. Ω Fate Sealed. A dictator who ill-treats his or her people has sealed his or her fate long before any uprising appears to seal it. Ω Stimulation. In the modern developed (affluent) world we have a want for constant stimulation an indication of a void needing to be filled. This void is within and, instead of filling it from within, we attempt to do so from without with vacuous indulgences and meaningless activities: all amounting to spiritual triviality. This preoccupation appears to be affecting our intellect adversely. Ω White Supremacy. With the large number of dark skinned people now amongst the athletic elite of the world are the surviving white supremacists still searching for excuses by which to perpetuate their self aggrandisement? Ω Advertising. This has become the art of seduction. How many unthinkingly succumb? Ω Allergies. In the last two decades or so human allergic susceptibility has increased greatly and this is attributed to our “progressive” lifestyle and what it produces in the name of progress and to satisfy our constant wants. We, or most of us in the parts of the world primarily responsible for this, are aware of what we are doing, or what others are doing at our subconscious behest, yet there is hardly an effective protest. It is as if the human race is hell bent on mass suicide! The problem is that it is not suicide but murder because the effects will not be met* by those now living. [*N.B. The spiritually enlightened will be aware that the above, whilst being true enough for the vast majority of humans, does not represent the true reality whilst being true enough to has devastating consequences.]
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! 124 of 228 ! What Attracts Us. Observe or analyse what attracts most of us where the full range of entertainment is concerned and from this assess our mentality - our state of being. The wise will only ponder the words, “Quo vadis?” . . . . sadly. Ω The Term “Within”. Since, generally speaking, our perception of ourselves is primarily a physical one, when it comes to referring to or conceptualizing our spiritual self, which of course is our real self, we fall back on the term “within”. But there is no “within”: the fact, as I have described elsewhere, is that the spirit self is our only, true, identity; the body being a perception and the mind or soul being non-existent in that they constitute what I call the moul which is the sum total of the individual spirit’s experiences over many lifetimes to date - memory if you like. Hence, when we use expressions like “Awakening within,” we would do better to say “Awakening the spirit.” or for “Healing comes from within”, “ Healing comes from the spirit.” i.e. substituting the words “the spirit” for the words “within”. Ω Inventions & Technology. Are humans losing control of the consequences of their inventions and technology losing it to immorality and/or the weaknesses of the human character? Ω Economists. Economists abound in the world today and are constantly analysing, advising and speculating but how many of them have been correct and how many of those have got it correct consistently? Their problem is that economics, as it exists today, is really controlled by the vagaries of the minds of millions of people and the mind of one is impossible to read! Ω
Indulgences - New and Old. There are a variety of fads on the Internet; amongst them the social networks which, in large part, only serve to be time consuming whilst purporting to be creative or socially beneficial. The extent to which these fads exist in the world today, as well as their popularity, is an indication of the empty, and finally unproductive, path chosen by so many.
! 125 of 228 ! There are also fads - some long lasting, often entrenched in a culture and given an imprimatur of religious veneer - akin to initiation, bullying, hazing or some outlet for the negative mentality of one or more individuals. These often needing a group mentality to be effective, even to survive. All this is the wasteful indulgence a base mentality. Ω Choices. (2) Life certainly is a succession of choices but freedom of choice is an integral part of choosing. Of course, there are consequences - pleasant and unpleasant - in our exercise of this freedom and we need to accept responsibility. On the other hand there are so many people worldwide who have no qualms about their selfish determination to obstruct the choices of others. Ω One’s Body. One’s body is a representation of one’s state of being and, therefore, mentality and the body looks, acts and reacts accordingly. Ω
Non-attachment. Non-attachment is the non-existence of emotional dependence on any thing or anyone. Therefore the elimination of all dependence leads to non-attachment and emotional self-sufficiency. Ω Are We Getting Smarter? We are now often told that we are getting smarter but are we; or is it just tunnel vision that makes people say this? Ω Trial and Error. Collectively we use the learning method of trial and error, and use it in a blinkered and foolish way which brings pain and suffering. It also takes us decades, even centuries or more, to learn the error of our ways. Remember, however - and this is not an excuse - that we are learning - even if in a blinkered and foolish way. Ω
!126 of 228 ! Loss Of Brain Function. With the way we have been, and are, handing over to machines what we normally do in our brains - take medical diagnosis and arithmetic as examples - are we losing, or likely to lose, some of our brain function through neglect? Ω
Politician’s Weakness. Often the party and the person seem to be the means to attaining the cause but too often the means supersedes the cause. Ω Celebratory Milestones. Each of our lives is an achievement and the conclusion of each is, therefore, a milestone worthy of celebration. Ω Lacking in Intelligence? Are we developing a world for those with intellect but lacking in intelligence? We seem to be fostering the former whilst allowing the intelligence to stagnate under a preoccupation with the self; a preoccupation with the superficial? Ω Progress or Regress? The historical benefit of the natural, rotational and seasonal variation in diet items to which the human body has adapted over millennia has to be adversely affected by the continuous availability of such items in the developed world as a result of developments in transport. Ω Spontaneous healing. What is meant by the terms "spontaneous healing" and "mind over matter"? How does "spontaneous healing" occur? Some medical doctors use these terms but most, if not all, are unable (or unwilling) to answer these questions! ☼ Parking for the disabled. Assuming you are not disabled would you, do you, park in a car parking spot reserved for the disabled?
! 127 of 228 ! ☼ Helium balloons. If you knew that helium balloons of the type usually used by people for enjoyment and/or celebration, by releasing them singly or by the hundred or thousand, cause death and suffering to many species of marine life would you use them? ☼
Fair trade products. If you buy a fair trade product, e.g. Tea or coffee, when you drink it do you think about how much it cost you or about the poor grower in the Third World you have helped? ☼ Equality. Below is an extract from “The Milk Is White” and dates back, therefore, to c. 1996. “What would the situation be if the world society were so structured, willingly by all, so that each person had an income of, say, $25,000 p.a.*? To achieve this, entrepreneurs would limit net profits to this goal, doctors, lawyers etc. would be able to practice a calling, a vocation, as opposed to a business, and be happier doing it as the prime motive would be the use of their skills. *This figure is arbitrary but, no doubt, a suitably accurate one can be calculated.” The question now is: Could you, or would you, do this for the greater good of all? ☼ Caring. Would you put your shod or dirty feet on something others are meant to sit, sleep or eat on? ☼ Nature’s exception. Why is Homo sapiens the only animal not to have a breeding season?
! 128 of 228 ! ☼ Sport. If and when you watch a non team sport do you cheer the mistakes of the opponent of your favourite? As a stadium spectator of a sport, at a time when a player needs maximum concentration on his own to achieve something vital to his team - and his team is not your preferred team, are you one of those who do their best to disturb the player so as to derive benefit for your preferred team? ☼
At the dentist’s. If you were in a busy dentist’s waiting room for attention to a filling in a slightly painful tooth and you overheard the receptionist talking to someone on the phone who obviously needed urgent attention but did not have an appointment, would you tell the receptionist to give the person your place and make another appointment for you even though you had no idea when she would be able to fit you in? ☼
Advertising. If you were paid a lot of money to promote, by advertising or other means, a product you did not use or did not sincerely believe in would you do so? ☼
Genius. How does the quality of genius manifest; particularly in very young people? The answer would apply equally to exceptional ability. ☼ Memory recall. When you recall an occurrence, place etc. for the purpose, say, of writing or relating it, how do you effect the recall; what is the “mechanism”? [To give clues could be counter-productive.] Please think this through carefully before answering - better still, try it and ob-
! 129 of 228 ! serve what you do. I am very interested in how others do this. ☼ Intelligence. How do we acquire intelligence? Please read the note below before answering.
NOTE: It seems evident that, in people, the degree of intelligence varies with the individual and, also, there is a difference between intellect and intelligence. I have explained this difference in the extract from The Milk Is White below. "Let us here differentiate between intelligence and intellect. Intelligence is an innate ability to perceive, comprehend, reason and understand whereas intellect is to do with the acquisition of knowledge of an academic nature. Intellect is dependent on intelligence but intelligence is not dependent on intellect. Many highly intelligent people are not intellectual, mostly because they have not had the opportunity of education and some because they have not had the inclination to study, and many highly intellectual people are not intelligent outside their specific sphere of intellectual study. Those with intellectual deficiency are actually highly intelligent. The proverbial "absentminded professor" would be an extreme example of this. Therefore, no one need feel unqualified to seek, or at a disadvantage in seeking the spiritual Truth. If anything, the intellectual has a greater tendency to experience mental blocks or tunnel vision than the purely intelligent person." ☼ Stockpiling. Sometimes, it happens that events create, or are likely to create, shortages in commodities which are, or are perceived to be, important to people e.g. petrol food and water. In these circumstances do you rush out and buy to stockpile or do you just stick to your usual routine? ☼
Human nature. List improvements* in human nature (human mentality) that have occurred in, say, the last two thousand years. * Disregard quantitative improvements due to population increase. ☼
!130 of 228 ! The noisy physical trainer. This is about the activities of a physical trainer (personal trainer?) from about 5.45 a.m. to 7.00 a.m. most mornings on show-grounds also used a lot by itinerant caravaners, walkers and those seeking the quiet of this time of day. Below is a written dialogue between two people about this and the question is: Would you have adopted the attitude of the trainer? Message 1. Dear Xxxx, with reference to the article in the latest Xxxxxxxxxx Times it is good note you beneficial work but, sadly, there is one big black mark - being a public nuisance. You may not be aware of this but your loud music and shouts of encouragement and instruction to your tribe are a disturbance to residents in the area, caravaners, walkers and others who cherish the peace and tranquility of the early morning. I sincerely hope this motivates you to happily make a change. Good luck. Reply 1. Dear Xxxxx, I am happy to meet with you to discuss the points you raise and invite you to call me on xxxxxxxxxx to make a time. This is the first email I have received making such claims and I have been operating in that location for over 2 years. I appreciate your email but do note that you have commented on me affecting quite a few different groups. Are your their spokesperson? Look forward to hearing from you if you wish. In the meantime I will certainly keep the music levels much lower , that is something I can control. Regards Message 2. Dear Xxxx, There is nothing to talk about as it is simply a matter of conscience. One does not need to be told what the effects of one's actions are on others; a little lateral thinking, and caring, is all that is needed. Life is a succession of choices determined, often, by one's conscience. With respect. Reply 2. Please then do not contact me again, especially as I have not given you express right to do so via this business email address of mine. if you do so from this point onwards I shall advance the matter as one of personal
!131 of 228 ! harassment. You have been given the right to front up personally with your allegations and have chosen not to accept my invitation.Like you say, choices. Regards ☼ What is help? This question was put to me by a sixteen year old boy from a Himalayan country about four years ago. “I know the owner of a small shop. One day, the owner was busy when a customer who had bought a cigarette was looking for the lighter. I knew where the lighter was and went to get it for him but I was in two minds because by giving him the lighter I was helping the owner and the customer but, at the same time, I was helping the customer damage his health. What should I have done?” Over to you, dear reader! ☼ Courtesy on a bus. This question was also put to me by the sixteen year old boy from a Himalayan country about four years ago. “Every morning I go to school by bus and go to the bus stop early to get a good seat. However, it most often happens that very soon on the journey and old person or a pregnant woman boards the bus where, because the bus is crowded, they have nowhere to sit and I give them my seat. Should I go early for the bus when all I seem to have to do is give up my seat?” Over to you, dear reader! ☼ On a foot path. When you walk on a foot path do you respect, and defer to, the needs of others using the same space? ☼
!132 of 228 ! Karma. (1) 1. If you meet someone who has a positive effect on you do you say it is your karma? 2. If you meet with an accident and become paralysed do you say it is your karma? 3. If someone breaks into your home and threatens your family would you kill him? ☼ Choice. If, because of action taken against you by someone, you have taken legal action, and this legal action is distressing you for one or more reasons, would you persist with it or let go? ☼ Armaments. Armament manufacturers must be rubbing their hands with glee at what is going on in the world whilst raking in the profits from the bloodshed - profits which are passed on to shareholders. 1. Are you one of these shareholders? 2. If you are would you sell your shares? 3. Would you sell them at a loss? ☼ Responsibility. (1) If you are an employee in charge of the work and welfare of a group of workers does your moral responsibility lie with the workers or the Company? ☼ Self-esteem. Provided that you have a reasonably accurate assessment of yourself the question is: Is your self-esteem affected by what others think of you? ☼ The Ballpoint Pen. Arriving at your home after permanently leaving a job you find you have unwittingly brought with you an ordinary ballpoint pen issued by the Company. What would you do? ☼
!133 of 228 ! Jury Service - Court of Law. There is a saying which goes something like this: “ Everyone has the right to their own opinion but no one has the right to not know the truth.” Considered very carefully this means that to know the truth: 4. You had to have witnessed the event and also know what was in the minds of those involved. 5. Were not a witness but know what was in the mind of the perpetrator. However, bearing in mind that, often, even the perpetrator is unaware of why, at the precise moment, he or she acted as they did, it is not possible to know the truth. Now, having carefully considered the above and even added to what I have said, would you serve on a jury in a court of law? ☼ Choices of Lives. Given freedom of choice which of the following lives would you choose for your next five lives? • Billionaire. • Millionaire. • An average person in the developed world. • One living in the slums of India. • One of the women amongst the displaced people in Africa. ☼ Escape. In advertising, and perhaps the media, there is a preoccupation with “Escape”: We are urged to escape through this television program or that, this film or that, or escape to this place or that or via some music or other and so on. For this theme to be so prevalent we must seek release from something! . . . . . And, if we seek release from something we must be stressed by that something. What could it be? ☼ A matter of small change. You purchase an item from a shop for $10 and at the checkout find you are 50￠short of the price. You mention this to the shopkeeper who says, ‘Do not worry about it!’
!134 of 228 ! and you say, ‘No, it is only right that I pay the correct amount; I will bring it in soon!’. Would you stick to your word no matter when? ☼ Life Experiences. In the case of people experiencing the physical condition of Down’s syndrome or anything similar would you support sterilisation or other means of preventing descendants? ☼ The plot of land. If you were comparatively well off and owned a plot of land, tended by a few comparatively poor people, in a poor country, would you gift that plot to those poor people? ☼ A good deed. Your housebound neighbour’s son and his daughter arrive for a few days by plane and have no car. Although your finances are in a delicate state you offer the use of your car for a day so that they can do something with regard to horses in which the daughter has a great interest.They accept gratefully and on their return offer to fill the tank with petrol. Would you: 1. Accept their offer? 2. Thank them for their offer and say something like, ‘There is no need. When you get the chance to do something similar for someone, do so.’ 3. Act in some other way? If so, how? ☼ Close neighbours. If you live where your neighbours can easily hear the noises you make are you always aware of the noise you create and do you, or would you, take care not to disturb them? ☼ Occupying a hospital bed. Would you book yourself into a busy hospital for a week or so simply to get free meals? ☼
! 135 of 228 ! Who goes first? You are one of a small group of people, similar in all respects, trapped in a car which has just met with an accident. There is an opening in the mangled body through which one person can wriggle with difficulty but the car is in imminent danger of exploding in flames and incinerating all inside. Assuming that all present are capable of leaving by this opening, given the time, how would you, if it were left to you, decide who goes first? ☼ Responsibility. (2) If the collective human psyche - the collective human mentality - is the cause of the world being what it is today to what extent have you contributed, and are you contributing, to it? ☼ You as a book. Shame prevents most people from being open about themselves. Are you an open book or a closed one? ☼ Addiction. If you own a mobile phone are you uncomfortable without it? Are you uncomfortable without sound? ☼ Others before self. Would you ride, particularly late at night or early in the morning, a very noisy vehicle like a Harley Davidson which is a severe disturbance to people and animals? ☼ Shopping. (1) When shopping, if you discover that you do not need something in your trolley or basket, do you take it out and leave it on a shelf where you are at the moment or do you return it to the spot from which you took it? ☼ Self-image. Do you need designer wear and/or accessories to boost your self image?
! 136 of 228 ! If you wear such, think carefully before answering. ☼ Building a house. If you built yourself a house to live in would you design it to please yourself or to impress others? ☼ The cost of human health. If you knew that animals had been tortured and killed in the production of a pharmaceutical would you, perhaps out of fear of being tortured by pain or fear of death, take it for your own benefit? ☼ Libraries & books. Most private libraries, large or small, are kept for the purpose of ostentation and are unavailable to the reading public. Do you have such a library at home, even if it is only a shelf or two, a library doing nothing except, perhaps, making a statement for you? If, yes, would you give it away for some useful purpose? ☼ Respecting someone’s wishes. If someone needs help, you offer to help and they turn down your offer, do you persist with your offer? ☼
At the mailbox bank. At the single traffic lane entrance to the housing complex where you live is the bank of residents’ mailboxes. To collect your mail would you, or do you, park in the way of other traffic in front of the bank of mailboxes? ☼ Bad moods. If someone or something has upset you are you brusque with others or in any way negative towards other people or other things?
! 137 of 228 ! ☼ Contentment. (1) At times during a day do you smile to yourself in true contentment because of your awareness of your true self; your true identity? ☼ The worries of the world. “The worries of the world.” is an often heard expression but we continue to persist with the causes of these worries - why? ☼ Haste makes waste. This old adage is more true today than it has ever been: the lifestyle in the “developed world” is rush rush, with the result that people get forgetful, careless, clumsy, wasteful and stressed - all contributing to dis-ease (illness) and wasted human endeavour. Is your lifestyle one of haste? ☼ Contentment. (2) Given all the worldly wherewithal do you think you could find permanent, continuous, complete contentment on Earth? ☼ Ageing of the body. 1. When your hair started to turn grey did you do anything to maintain the original colour or when your hair starts to turn grey will you do anything to maintain the original colour? 2. If “Yes” why? Note: Before considering the answer to #2 above please apply the advice given HERE ☼
!138 of 228 ! Wants. Is there anything emotional or material without which you will feel deprived, discontented or unhappy? ☼ Perception. What colour is usual, or common, grass? ☼ Shopping. (2) Do you shop because something is necessary or as a pastime? ☼ Hidebound. As earthlings we tend to be hidebound - confined by our physical state; some more than others. 1. Have you liberated yourself? 2. Do you want to? Below are two meanings of hidebound which are pertinent here. World English Dictionary hidebound (ˈhaɪdˌbaʊnd) — adj 1. restricted by petty rules, a conservative attitude, etc. 2. (of trees) having a very tight bark that impairs growth
☼ Giving. You have $100 to give to a charity and you favour charities A and B. You feel that A is slightly more deserving and see that B will give you a 30% tax benefit. Which do you choose? ☼ The Gift. You give someone a gift and that someone, not having a use for such, gives it to someone and you find out. What do you feel? ☼
! 139 of 228 ! Late night taxi. It is late at night/early in the morning and you have called for a taxi to pick you up near an intersection. It is a very busy time for taxis so you were told that you may have to wait forty minutes or more for your taxi. Knowing that this is not unusual you agree and, after 30 or 40 minutes, a taxi from another company pulls up and the driver asks whether you need a taxi. You tell him that you do but that you have already booked one and he says, ‘That’s OK, you can come with me, he will be alright.’ Do you honour your booking or take this taxi? Note: You have no mobile phone. ☼ Shaving. Prior to the late twentieth century men used a cup of water and a rinse of water for shaving their face. Since then many men shave whilst under the shower. Are you one of the latter? ☼ Blood is thicker than water. “Blood is thicker than water” is a German proverb which according to Wikipedia: “ . . generally means that the bonds of family and common ancestry are stronger than those bonds between unrelated people (such as friendship). In a dispute between a friend and a member of your family would you lie to the benefit of your family member? ☼ Principle. You live in a small town where shopping needs are well met by local shops and a large supermarket chain wants to put a store in town despite the objections of 80% of the population. On principle you too are against the proposal and decide that, if it does eventuate, you would not use the new store. When the campaign was on and commitments avowed, a local was heard to say, ‘Given time, principle will succumb to convenience!’ The townspeople lose the battle and the new store is established. Will your principle stand the test of time especially if, at some time, the new store has something you want and it is not available elsewhere in town? ☼
!140 of 228 ! Killer flesh. To test whether a certain flesh would kill you would you: 1. Feed it to your pet dog or cat? 2. Feed it to a dog or cat in a laboratory? ☼ An advanced civilisation. We refer to our current civilisation as advanced yet in our “First World”, in approximate figures, in one country the average weekly wage is $1,000 which is what some people in the “Third World” earn in three years whilst still others have no income, no food - nothing! Is our’s an advanced civilisation? Note: Remember that, because of the law of karma, everyone is where they are in life for a very good reason but this does not mean that we condone a cavalier attitude or be indifferent to the plight of these people. Unselfish compassion is the essence of our true nature although most do not demonstrate it even in mentality. ☼ That tomato. When doing your grocery shopping and selecting some tomatoes for yourself you cause one to drop to the floor. Do you put this tomato with your selection or put it back and take another unbruised one? Do you even leave it on the floor or kick it out of sight under a counter or some such place? ☼ Trust. This is an example only and the reader should apply the principle to their own possible situation, actual or imagined. Your daughter’s partner has a secret bank account for the purpose of gambling on the races about which your daughter is unaware. One day he mentions this to you in the course of a relevant conversation and asks you to keep it secret. Some time later the relationship disintegrates and remains that way. For how long do you maintain the secret entrusted to you? ☼
!141 of 228 ! Karma. (2) Do you attribute occurrences in your life to karma and, if so, is the attribution to the “good” or “bad” occurrences or both? ☼ Duplicated order. (1) You buy, and pay for, a $60 item online and it is delivered on two consecutive days an obvious duplication of the order. What would you do? ☼ Duplicated order. (2) You buy, and pay for, a $60 item online from a business with a bad record for you and for others. You have to use them because what you need is not available anywhere else the item is a medicine. It is delivered on two consecutive days - an obvious duplication of the order. What would you do? ☼ The backpack. If in a shop you were asked by one of the staff to open your backpack for examination for stolen goods would you consider it to be an insult and, if so, why? ☼ A matter of principle. Would you risk your job by speaking out for the better treatment of your fellow workers? ☼ Giving credit where credit is due. You take charge of a division of the company for which you work and the Board of Directors asks you to write a feasibility report on the division. Although you have some experience with the manufacturing aspect of the product involved you have only a limited knowledge of the marketing aspect so the Board ask that you consult a contemporary manager of another division who has extensive experience in the marketing aspect. In due course you submit your report and are complemented by the Board on the quality of the report.
! 142 of 228 ! Since the part of the report dealing with marketing was drafted by your contemporary would you take the credit for the report or advise the Board of your contemporary’s contribution? ☼ Hijacking the truth. Preconceived notions and suspicions lodged in the mind often result in us misconstruing information received and jumping to erroneous conclusions. Do you permit yourself such liberties? ☼ Artificial. Assuming that you do not, and would not, eat artificial* vegetables do you, or would you, take artificial medication when natural ones are available? * e.g. Plastic, paper. ☼ Ruminating. Ruminants ruminate their cud but do not ruminate as we can. You do not chew the cud but do you ruminate on what you receive via your senses? ☼ The business of caring enough. You run a business, or work in one, and are involved in customer service. China coffee cups and mugs is one of your product lines. The cups and mugs have no cubic capacity marked on them so a customer asks you what the capacity of the mugs is. You are surprised by the question, have no answer and it is the customer who takes the initiative in an attempt to find an answer. What would you have done, or do, in this situation? (There are quite a few things.) ☼ Losing. In sports, games and the like can you take defeat with equanimity? ☼ Appointments. You have an appointment at a specific time with someone and are, or will, possibly be a few minutes late. Would you advise the other party if it is possible to do so? ☼
!143 of 228 ! Sport and the needy. What is more important to you, your country’s sporting prowess or the way it cares for its needy? ☼ The fall of man. Has the “Fall of man”, symbolised by the apple in the myth of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, reached its lowest point or is the curve to continue downward with the fall even greater and, therefore, even more painful? ☼ Communication. When going away from your home or business do you, to inform anyone who calls, leave a message like this in a suitable place? BACK IN 15 MINUTES Comment on what, if anything, is wrong with such a message. ☼ Spring. For vegetation, and all life forms, spring commences on the equinox which occurs on or about the 22nd September or March each year, depending on the latitude. “Civilised” man, however, has determined that it should start on the first day of the the month and we foolishly follow this highly unnatural edict which is not many decades old! Even farmers - admittedly in the 1st World - seem to ignore the true commencement day! What has happened to our values that we value an artificial day over a natural one when our bodies and all life, of which they are a part, react to the natural? ☼ Ethnicity, race and and violence. In many countries tensions exist or arise between groups, usually with one being in a minority, differing in race and/or ethnicity. When internal conflict arises in such a country it invariably happens that one group, usually that in the minority, will take up arms against the other purely out of fear of “losing their ethnicity and/or race”. Would you react in this way? If so, why? ☼
!144 of 228 ! Unjustified ill-feelings. If you have a disagreement with someone does your attitude to that person’s relatives also change without justification? ☼ Upset by others? Does it upset you if someone you feel should be visiting/communication with you, particularly someone “close” to you, does not do so for no apparent reason? If yes, why? ☼ Ethical Investment. If you invest in the share market do you confine yourself to ethical investment or if you were to invest in the share market would you confine your investments to ethical investments? ☼ Conscientious objection. If your country went to war would you: 1. Volunteer to fight: that is be willing to kill or facilitate killing in any way? 2. If there was conscription would you be a conscientious objector? ☼ Wasteful mentality. In these days of a worsening global shortage of natural, fresh water, requiring a change of awareness and attitude in all people, do you have a daily shower or bath: 3. Out of habit? 4. Because you need it? 5. Because habit make you feel that you need it? ☼ Borrowing. Borrowing something with every intention of returning it as soon as it has served its purpose and then forgetting to do everything possible to return it without delay and, finally, forgetting altogether is a common occurrence with many people. Are you one of those? ☼
!145 of 228 ! Disposable paper tissues. Some sixty years ago it was probably these “tissues”, omnipresent in the “civilised” world today, whose advent signalled the start of the throwaway culture and opened the door to the latent mindlessness awaiting release. 1. Except when there is no alternative are you a user of “tissues” and one of the throwaway culture? 2. More importantly, if the answer is “yes”, would you change your mentality for altruistic reasons? ☼ Global warming. If you are one who does not believe that humans are responsible for, or contribute to, global warming would you write a letter to be handed to your descendants that you had this belief and, therefore, did nothing to mitigate matters? ☼ Living life. When you discover an insect in your house do you go for the insect spray or find a way to put the insect outside to live its life? ☼ What is the Mind? Surely the brain is not the mind! True, the brain is a highly complex organ of the body responsible for the unconscious functions of the body as well as the more abstract functions we need for our mental/ physical bodies. In the latter respect it is more like a computer which consists of the screen, registering thoughts, experiences etc., the disc/s storing these and the system that effects this as well as recall for re-use in many ways. Both the brain and the computer utilise energy for power. Both are 'mechanical' in their function, and both need external input to function fully. This input comes from the Mind except where the autonomous activity is concerned. Both need the 'human element' to function and, when 'the plug is pulled' or 'half pulled' function ceases or goes on standby. The Mind consists of three intermingled elements v.i.z. the conscious, subconscious and superconscious. This terminology implies levels or layers but that is not the reality. To, by description, approximate the reality we can take the analogy of water vapour in the atmosphere which, depending on varying conditions influenced by local and global factors, forms clouds of varying density, colour and potential whilst still being water. The result of what is formed creates shade, darkness of varying density, storms, clear skies or
! 146 of 228 ! rain. Similarly, the Mind creates peace and placidity, gloom, fear and turmoil, happiness or emotions. The structure, so to speak, of the Mind is formless and in a continual state of flux, responding to the interaction between existing 'data' and the constant influx of new 'data', and underscoring this is the innate 'data' of the soul or, responding to the interaction of the conscious, subconscious and the superconscious. Hence, the brain is not the Mind but a tool of the Mind, and is free to function independently of the mind whereas the converse is not the case. The Mind is a reflection of the soul. The body and the personality of an entity incarnate are not the Mind but only a creation of that part of the soul relevant to the soul's purpose and/or mission in any given life. Like the Great Spirit the Mind is beyond description - it just is. Mental Drift. This is the condition where we, individually or collectively, drift through life without thought; we just go with the flow created by society and culture. Sometimes, thought kicks in and we become aware of our thoughtless drift and, sometimes, with this awareness we realise that we are on the wrong road and do something about changing direction. Mind/Thought. The mind is that state of Thought which is limited to the five senses. Thinking - where the brain is the transformer to the physical (plane) - is an activity of the mind and is Thought in action. Thought itself is a constant. The Soul, Thought & Thinking. When the Buddha said that there is no such thing as the atman or soul he was correct. The soul is merely the sum total of past experiences and is, therefore, not an entity in itself; it is merely an "attachment" to the Spirit entity or, figuratively speaking, the "garments" of the Spirit entity. It is these attachments or garments that are shed in the process of enlightenment. The Buddha posed the question, "What is it that thinks?" and answered it by saying, "It is thought that thinks." The Great Spirit, God, The Creative Force is Thought and we are created in It's image. Hence, although there is no soul as
! 147 of 228 ! such, we are Spirit, which is Thought; and as humans we are Thought manifest in human form or Thought manifest "in the flesh" (from the Latin in + carno, with carno meaning flesh.) Does the brain think? No, it is only a mechanical organ, a transformer between the soul and the physical being, and a device programmed to perform autonomic physical functions. Does the mind think? Yes, if we consider this activity in terms of mental "thinking", but it is only mental activity which we term thinking. Does the soul think? No, as it is only a bank of experiences. Thus, we arrive at the question "What thinks?" Thinking is not Thought because Thought does not involve activity - it just is, but Thought creates, and one thing it creates is the activity of thinking - it is the origin of thinking but is not, of itself, thinking. If we coined new words such as ment (mental) for 'think' or a 'thought', and menting (mental activity) for 'thinking', we remove the confusion with Thought caused by our use of the words 'think' and 'thinking'. Thought and Thinking. There is thinking and there is Thought. Thinking is a mental process, Thought just is - it is still, it is all-encompassing, limitless, indescribable and all-powerful. Thinking is a soul activity, Thought is Spirit, and from it all knowledge flows. Mind and Thought. As the mind shrinks at the will of the initiate, thought flows in to fill the spaces so created. The Bubble of Thought. If awareness is a pond, a Thought* is the bubble that rises from the depths and bursts at the surface. (*For my definition see Ian’s Dictionary.) Thought and Menting.
! 148 of 228 ! Regarding other references to menting, ment, mentivity etc. try this: For Thought manifesting one might best refer to the common expressions "It dawned on me." and "It occurred to me." in which is implied the absence of mental activity; in other words no menting or mentivity. NOTE The inquiring mind will wonder why we are the way we are and the wise will read my writings which set out the answers - the same answers which others have set out over at least 2500 years. Quo vadis, my friends?
MO-MENTS or IDLE THOUGHTS Almost like hens’ teeth! They may be almost as rare as hens’ teeth but there are some who do not blindly follow the “American Dream” so intensely aspired to by the majority of earthlings and so loaded with negative consequences. ☺ Education and ethics. Worldwide the panacea for all ills is maximum improvement in intellectual education (as opposed to experiential education) whilst there is no mention of ethical/moral improvement. ☺ The cost of time. When time became a cost and convenience was measured in time we became enslaved by both the cost of time and convenience which now are now major drivers of technological innovation. ☺ The cost of fear. When a country is motivated by fear the cost is the loss of moral fibre and the manipulation of declared, moral, legal and spiritual laws in a futile attempt to eliminate such fear whilst only aggravating the consequences of such actions. ☺
!149 of 228 ! Communication - language. (1) When the language we use changes in a way that adversely affects clear communication and we mindlessly adopt the changes we are jeopardising our ability to communicate clearly: something which can cause all sorts of problems. ☺ Environment and mentality. The wilful or unthinking damaging of our environment is not primarily a matter of the environment but one of mentality and attitude. ☺ Self-justification. When, in a country, self-justification, particularly at the highest levels, is entrenched that country is on a slippery slide. ☺ Nuclear weapons. It seems that there is an “I am holier than thou!” attitude prevailing in the countries currently armed with nuclear weapons and it is pertinent to ask on what basis is it decided that a country is allowed to have them or not - even those countries which deny having them but do? ☺ Technology. (1) Boon or scourge? Think fully, laterally and widely. ☺ The rainbow. The aspirational rainbow painted by modern culture is just that - a rainbow. ☺ Communication - language. (2) Structuring of the English language is rapidly breaking down due to the absence of a standard. What the ultimate consequences of this are is unforeseeable. ☺ The chosen path. There are, and probably always have been, those who by inclination or wisdom have eschewed the chosen path of the majority. ☺ Migration and opportunity. Around the world, as people increasingly migrate to cities and, therefore, greater exposure to television and advertising, the scope increases for predatory organizations
!150 of 228 ! to inculcate, by any means and with callous disregard for health and other consequences, still more ignorant people to further increase the profits of their organizations. ☺ Vegetation. The plants of today were, or are derived from, the weeds of yesterday and the plants of tomorrow are the plants and the weeds of today. Hence, be mindful of this when creating the next weed eradication mindset. ☺ Positive change. Very often it is the awareness of the negative that is the catalyst for a change to the positive. ☺ News media. The news media loses its validity and credibility when it starts to manufacture sensation to attract attention to itself rather than the news. It started this some years ago and the habit is now well entrenched. ☺ Boundaries, flags and conflict. First there were animals with territorial boundaries, then there were humans with territorial boundaries who later added national flags. Both territorial boundaries and national flags create the mentality which makes the weakness of conflict flourish. ☺ Unemployment. If over the last few decades the mean level of unemployment is, say, 5% it amounts to some 300,000,000 employable people being unemployed today. What does this say about our much vaunted system of world management and way of life either lived or aspired to? ☺ Modern youth. More freedom = more choices = more responsibility to self, others and the Earth. ☺ Prudent saving. In China today we see the official discouragement of the prevalent prudent peoples’ habit of saving money for the sake of the imprudent government policy of spending to sustain growth although even a child knows that bubbles burst. ☺
!151 of 228 ! A concept of success doomed to failure. The world controllers are mired in the quicksand of a concept of success, and a system designed to achieve and maintain this concept, which is unachievable because its foundations are fundamentally flawed from a practical as well as spiritual point of view. Practically, because no system can succeed which is based on consumption of goods (A bit of lateral thinking extrapolating this illustrates this point) and spiritually, because it is based on a spiritual negative - desire/craving. ☺ Jewellery and religion. Throughout the years the colossal expenditure on gold and jewels etc. On and in religious buildings is a colossal waste and something that the founders of these religions or philosophies would certainly of deprecated. It was not something even remotely suggested in their teachings. ☺ An in-depth view. When you next see a coastline take a different perspective, mentally remove the water from what you see to expose the land beneath and you will see what is. ☺ Little things mean a lot. We see or hear about so little genuine goodness - positivity - in the world. Are we humans, as a whole, so devoid of “goodness”? We have to stop and think to find genuine goodness but it is there . . . . and that is uplifting to the spirit. ☺ Patience and self-control. Patience and self-control achieve far more than impatience and self-gratification. ☺ Seedless fruit. We find seeds in fruit we eat inconvenient so we breed them out of the fruit. This is our mentality but what are the long term consequences of such foolishness? ☺ Love. Love, that enigma which is almost universally considered to be essential and important to us, the reason, in fact, for our very existence is ephemeral and in various situations it is highly variable: depending on the objects and/or people it is directed at, it lasts for varying periods, exists with varying intensity, and is unpredictable. It is also the cause of anger and hatred. ☺
!152 of 228 ! Out of site, out of mind. How often, if at all, do we stop to consider what is happening to the billions of organisms, vital to the functioning of our world, beneath our feet and the grinding wheels of our vehicles? ☺ Circulation booster. For sale in a pharmacy: Circulation Booster $ 299.95. In other words pay $300 for what you can do by a short walk! ☺ Artificial life. In the not too distant future some 33% of the population of the developed world will be kept alive by pharmaceuticals much to the glee of the shareholders of pharmaceutical companies although many of them will simply be recouping expenditure. ☺ Machines and people. About 32 years ago I heard a Christian priest talking on radio say, “In the past we loved people and used machines. Now, we love machines and use people.” ☺ World politics. To support a child because of family ties despite its belligerence, paranoia and intransigence neither helps the child nor its classmates who feel the brunt of its negativity. ☺ The title “God”. What is described as “God”, by any name, is a simplification of the reality, or just simplistic, intentionally or through ignorance. ☺ Waste - the world economic system. The world’s economic system is based on waste; waste because it depends on people consuming what they do not need. What people actually need is simply the essentials for fitness, mental and physical health and contentment. ☺ Ethical advertising. Wasn’t there a time when it was a legal requirement that advertising be truthful? ☺ Betting and gambling. In Australia two things are happening simultaneously:
!153 of 228 ! • Some politicians and sections of the community are trying to limit gambling because of it’s serious adverse affect on some people and society. • Advertising of gambling and other facilitations of gambling are increasing vastly. ☺ Housing and land. In many countries, particularly the Middle East, people have lived happily and proudly in one house for centuries whereas in the developed world we are not only using up our prime agricultural land for housing but building houses twice as big as those we built fifty years ago. ☺ Toys. As children we played with toys we made or bought and some of us grew up and played with grown ups’ toys like guns for sport, cars, motorcycles etc. Now, for young and old we have Information Technology toys which young and old use - often to excess. ☺ Technology. (2) We have made huge strides in technology but have we made even a small step in improving our mentality? ☺ Speculation. The section of the world which is exposed to the media seems to be fixated on speculation. Essentially, this is living in the future which does not make for peace of mind and, therefore, wellness. ☺ Cleverness and wisdom. Clever we may be but are we wise? ☺ Deaths. If we are truly concerned about the number of deaths, discounting those from natural causes, we would prevent the design and manufacture of the causes. ☺ Health of the body. Whilst we are manufacturing and consuming large quantities of unhealthy and processed foods thereby damaging our bodies, where good health is a major factor and attained, we are damaging the body by excessive activity. ☺
!154 of 228 ! Gaia. If what we have already done to cause climate change does not wreck Gaia the other things we have done and continue to do will. ☺ Baby vegetables. Eating baby vegetables is an indulgence of the rich whilst the poor starve. Will this continue when, in the future, there is a world shortage of food - as is predicted? ☺ White tea. Black tea contained silver tips which were the result of the apical bud of the two leaves and a bud traditionally picked. These added a special taste to the brew. However, in relatively recent times it became the practice to extract these tips, call them white tea, and market them at exorbitant prices with no reduction in price of the black tea which is degraded. Only the wealthy can afford white tea. ☺ Energy fields. The human body, like any object, is, essentially, energy as in all matter. Energy exists in fields and these fields interact with one another. The consequences, therefore, of the almost continuous exposure of the body to man-made energy fields so common today - fields to which the body is possibly naturally unused - are unknown. ☺ The mega rich. The mega rich must have a type of insanity involving ego mania which isolates them from others not having the save psychological needs. ☺ The giving people. Around the world there are people, generally ignored by us and, therefore, the media, because they or their activities lack the component/s that titillate us, giving freely of their skills and/or money and/or time towards helping others who are in need.
☺ The United Nations. As long as the United Nations has members with the power of veto, an elitist and self-elevated few, it will be dysfunctional and undemocratic. ☺ Records in sport. With the evolution over the years of sports laws, equipment, venues etc. the comparison of performances is largely a waste of time. ☺
!155 of 228 ! The mountain builders. Unlike the mound builders of pre-history we in the “civilised” world are mountain builders but, unlike the mound builders, we build mountains of our rubbish in the oceans, under ground, on the ground and in the sky and, not satisfied with that “progress”, we want to colonise the moon, Mars and possibly other planets! We are fiddling while Rome burns! ☺ Cooking and food. In the developed world celebrity chefs have been sprouting like mushrooms and television is replete with their programs as well as other programs about cooking; all this while obesity is rampant and others are dying of starvation. ☺ Communication - language. (3) Circa 1992 a Time Magazine’s Essay was titled “The Demise Of The Humble Comma” and, although the demise of the comma has not been complete its minimal, or incorrect, use has adversely affected clarity of communication. Meanwhile, the subsequent dropping of the word “that”, used as a relative pronoun, and, more recently, prepositions, has had a cumulative effect the results of which are evident everywhere. ☺ Aggression and violence. These days aggression and violence are manifest almost everywhere: in the news, perhaps because we are attracted to it, in sport, in politics and more. These emotions seem to accompany the intensity with which life is now led by so many. This is a sad indictment of our spiritual state - individually and collectively. ☺ Tourism. Tourism is productive, and often necessary, for the economy but destructive for the environment and native culture. ☺ National donations. We plan eight years ahead and invest billions for lavish sporting events but constantly fail to deliver on our promises of emergency aid to suffering refugees from crises. In democratic countries it is the people who have to take responsibility because it is they who vote for the government. ☺ Posting on the Web. How many of us post on the Web with the conscious or subconscious wish for recognition?
! 156 of 228 ! ☺ The Holocaust. The past event of the Holocaust does not justify the later continuos persecution of another peoples. It should have created the opposite mentality. However, fear is no diplomat. ☺ Animal behavioural research. Too many theories about animal behaviour are too often biased towards the way humans would behave. Thus, there exists not science but the proclivity of the scientist to subconsciously apply this bias. ☺ The law of cause and effect. It is much easier for us to believe in a God who forgives our sins than in a law of cause and effect which brings about spiritual growth. ☺ The camel and the rope. 1. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. 2. It is easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Note: In Aramaic, the language of the Essenes, the word for rope and camel is the same. Take your pick! ☺ Aphorisms. An aphorism, where it relates to a spiritual truth and where it does not appear to fully explain something, can be the wrapping of a precious gift. ☺ The body. When the body gets old, as it must, and starts presenting the painful symptoms of ageing we should happily acknowledge the reality and let nature take its course with only natural amelioration of pain and discomfort as much as possible. ☺ No quick fix. In this life alone my spiritual discoveries took 54 years to coalesce and another 15 years to crystallise.
! 157 of 228 ! ☺ World improvement. If this world is to become a better place, even one conducive to living in, there has to be a change in the mentality of the collective human psyche. This has to start with each individual and, thereby, to the collective - a change from the inward focus to the outward focus - that is, a change from selfishness to unselfishness. Pie in the sky? Flying pigs? Anything is possible . . . Although not probable. ☺ The field of dandelions. In a field of dandelions there are billions of seeds. They get blown away in the breeze to go about their business - and they do this without a murmur. Why no murmur? No emotions. Why no emotions? No mind! Neither happy nor unhappy - peace. ☺ A special day. A special day for goodwill to others implies a lack of goodwill to others on other days. But then, in modern times we have a plethora of special days which seem to make little difference to us. ☺ The Nobel Peace Prize 2012 ceremony. Here we see illustrated the farce that our world system is: in one nation the glitterati, including world leaders, gather at an extravagant banquet and ceremony in connection with the presentation of this prize whilst elsewhere, unseen and out of mind, are the millions starving and sick without a morsel to eat or clean water to drink in conditions of acute deprivation. ☺ Exploitation of labour. So, we have it again; big name garment producers demanding, to maximise their profits, unfairly low manufacturing costs from low labour cost countries and thus encouraging, even necessitating, the exploitation of labour, and then purporting to be unaware of the exploitation etc. ☺ Titles. The adjective “millionaire” has almost been supplanted by the adjective “billionaire” but now these adjectives are used as titles such as Doctor, Father, Sir, Count etc. This is how important money is to us - no matter how it was earned. ☺
!158 of 228 ! Mass shootings - U.S.A. “If you live by the sword you die by the sword.” This quote is from the Bible so “Christian prayers” in particular are no remedy. ☺ Stephen Hawking: “There is no God.” Stephen Hawking was correct when he recently said, “There is no God.” but his conclusion would be incomplete if it stems from reasoning, logic and scientific theory. ☺ The English language and communication. Whilst a lot of words have been, and are being, dropped - some with benefit - many words have been, or are being, added that are incorrect or unnecessary - very often simply tautology. ☺ Moral and statutory law. Where a moral law exists it is not good enough for someone to say, with only statutory law in mind, ‘I/We did nothing illegal.’ ☺ Human failings. Paedophilia and sexual misconduct in the Christian Church is not the fault of the essential Christian teachings but a matter of human failings both in respect of the thoughts and acts as well as the institutionalised cover up due to a misguided defence of the Church. A reference to the teachings would have made this defence untenable. ☺ The world. It is now being said that obesity is a bigger problem than hunger - what an irony . . . . and what an indictment of our constantly much vaunted “progress”. ☺ 12,000 toys. In Australia yesterday, a body connected with children in care announced that in response to a request for donations of toys, with a target of 8,000, the number of toys received, in just the main place, was 12,000. ☺ Game hunting. Normally this term starts with the word “Big” - but let us generalise. This game, called hunting, involves a human animal going into the wild with weapons it has invented, to kill a fellow animal purely for pleasure, whilst ignoring the pain and suffering it can cause to that animal or other animals that escaped wounded - perhaps mortally.
! 159 of 228 ! ☺ Compensation for life. Ancient aborigines learned from their life experiences. If one of them died from eating a berry they learned that it was poisonous and did not eat it thereafter. They did not sue the tree or God. When an unwell person was being treated by a shaman and died they did not sue the shaman. They sought no compensation for life. ☺ Household pesticides. What the advertisements do not tell us, and what we do not read, is that these products are poisonous to us and that, therefore, as we kill the insects we slowly kill ourselves in small cumulative ways. N.B. On the label, under First Aid, it may say, “If poisoning occurs etc. etc.” ☺ The vacuum in our mentality. People might denigrate religious or spiritual teachings but it is the absence of them from the mentality of the majority of us that is the cause of man’s inhumanity to man that is so prevalent in recent history and today. ☺ Political nomenclature. In political nomenclature the second largest group of members after the governing group is termed “The opposition”. This designation is fundamentally inappropriate because it fosters, in selfish individuals and groups, unnecessary and/or irresponsible opposition to the Government. Perhaps the term “The Alternative” would be more appropriate and more conducive to high moral standards. ☺ Boasting. Boasting is an indication of a lack of self-esteem. ☺ Feel good. Many people dress up to feel good yet, if their spiritual state is elevated, they will feel good no matter what they wear . . . . . and think of the savings! ☺ Contentment with life. People are often quite content with life until someone comes along and tell them that they are missing things. ☺
!160 of 228 ! The media. Because of the increasing unreliability of the information given us via the media, due to a large part to the influences imposed on it, combined with the vast amount of uncontrolled information, of varying degrees of veracity, available at the click of a button, the need for discernment ranks high. Unfortunately, many people are either unable to be discerning or are disinterested whilst a large segment of the young in the developed world has switched off completely. ☺ Scientific speculation. Scientific speculation (theory) far too frequently becomes fact although a discerning listener to comments made on, say, a documentary by a scientist will be aware of this fact. A case in point is anthropological discourse. ☺ Words and meaning. Many words which are now disparaging, or are considered to be disparaging, did not have this quality initially but acquired it over time for various reasons. ☺ The ubiquitous, advertising “Now”. The ubiquitous “Now”, an advertising mantra, is now largely ignored because we are inured to it and because very often, when exposed to it in this context, we can take no such action even if we wished to. However, the advertising industry cannot let go of it - such is its power. ☺ A politicians declaration. What does a politician declare loudly but silently about himself or herself when they put their political life ahead of the loss to others of life itself - perhaps very painfully? ☺ New inventions. How many new inventions are of genuine benefit, directly or indirectly, and how many are merely gimmicks and gadgets which people take to in droves? ☺ Global unemployment. The current global population is estimated at just over 7,000,000,000 and the unemployment rate, according to the current methodology, is just about 7%. This equates to some 490,000,000 who want work but are unemployed. By 2020, as more countries become “developed” and more people become “developed”, can the world’s current “system” provide employment for at least another 140,000,000 - based on a projected global population of 9000,000,000 people wanting work?
! 161 of 228 ! ☺ Superior attitude. The imperialism and colonialism of the last few centuries is characterised by the arrogance of superiority of Europeans in assuming the superiority of their short civilizations over those of the conquered which preceded theirs by centuries and even millennia. This arrogance still exists, even if only subliminally, in people, and therefore governments, of the “First World”. ☺ The unchristian christian. Although I am aware of the stupidity and extremism of some religious fundamentalists I was appalled to see an American evangelical priest in Africa vehemently recommending the legally putting to death of homosexuals. Insanity exists in religious circles too! ☺ Our pursuit of unnecessary standards. Washing, sorting and grading fruits and vegetables for uniformity, perceived perfection etc. is both unnecessary and costly - a waste of money. ☺ Cash lotteries. Huge lottery prizes are unproductive and the prizes would do far more good if they are broken down into many smaller ones. Unfortunately, however, this is not likely to happen because common desire blocks common sense. ☺ A matter of priorities. Pensioner defers non-essential dental work for two or three years to enable his periodic contribution of $2,000 towards the education abroad of a poor young man from the East. He told his dentist, “His need is greater than mine.” ☺ The value of gold. In the Christmas Eve Mass at the vatican the predominant single colour was gold almost flaunted. ☺ Fourfold success. To attempt something positive is success. To persist in that attempt is success. To complete it unsuccessfully is success. To complete it successfully is success. ☺
!162 of 228 ! Walled in rivers. When we wall in rivers and streams, or any body of water, we set back, if not kill, all life that would normally live in and around the banks. ☺ Women’s equality at law. The persistent inequality of women at law in most countries stems from the fact that the laws were originally written by men for men and, to date, most governments are comprised mostly of men. ☺ The rules of cricket. For some years the width of the webbing between the thumb and fore finger of wicket keepers’ gloves has been gradually reduced from the liberal width it had attained. This reduction was effected because the extra width was deemed to be advantageous to the fielding side. However, whilst this was being done, no action was taken to limit the modifications to bats which have been to the advantage of the batting side. ☺ Very clever children. Parents creating celebrities of their very clever children are not only creating spectacles of them for their, the parents’, vicarious pleasure and/or self-esteem but exposing them to psychological damage. ☺ Food and drink advertisements. The volume of advertisements for food and drink are an indication of the susceptibility of our minds to the stimulation of our palates and the degree to which it is exploited - too often very efficiently and to our detriment. ☺ Gladiatorial mentality. In the spectators in sports stadiums across the world we are re-experiencing the gladiatorial mentality of the spectators in the Roman arenas of some two thousand years ago. ☺ War. War is the instrument of the weak. ☺ Money and war. Money and war; we just cannot do without them, can we? Specks of wasteland, hitherto lying waste in the ocean, are found to have immense mining benefits so we start a race to claim ownership and threaten war!
!163 of 228 ! This is a disgrace, although the mentality is not new, but who will admit it? No government will . . . . . . but will people? ☺ Moral decay. Are so many countries becoming virtually dysfunctional due to a preponderance of crime and/or other moral decay that the world, as a whole, is on the path to becoming dysfunctional? ☺ Education the solution? Education is said to be the answer to everyones future but what happens when all are educated and are then unwilling to accept the menial, but necessary, jobs? ☺ Chuck it! Considering the rapidity with which technology now develops we could be producing for the throw away mentality and the scrap heap thus stimulating, or pandering to, a fast, costly and wasteful “buy, lose interest and chuck it” civilization. ☺ Exploitation of farmers. The unconscionable exploitation of farmers by large companies, many having the power of large market share, is putting the world’s food producers out of business. Whilst this is going on the profits of these companies benefit their shareholders, who should, themselves, be more responsible. In the long term their attitude endangers the food supply of all human beings.
☺ Mass delusion. All the “fun” and “good life” we are fed constantly in all media is simply a recycling of mass delusion which the great majority of us cling to - at least subconsciously. ☺ Those expensive garments. A $5000 suit or dress is no indication of what hides within the wearer. ☺ Addicted governments. Governments too get addicted to addictive products but in their case the addiction is to the revenue from the excise they apply to the product. ☺
!164 of 228 ! Spiritual values. Religious values, except where they correspond with spiritual values, in Scandinavian and some northern European countries seem to have no great affect on the people but spiritual values certainly have. ☺ Sportsmanship in tennis. In great contrast to some of his predecessors and contemporaries Andre Agassi was a true gentleman on the professional tennis circuit and his gestures of thanks to the spectators at matches have been adopted as their own by so many current players of both sexes. This fact is both significant and pleasing. ☺ Advertising and station breaks. Although I rarely watch commercial television and limit my watching of the national channels as much as possible to watching without sound, I am, at times, compelled to watch the former for some sports, and my experience makes me wonder whether the extremely frequent program breaks that occur are causing, or have already caused, a shortened attention span in juvenile and adult humans i.e. causing limited extended concentration. ☺ Pink or magenta? Red + white = pink [or used to be]. Red + white + blue = magenta [or used to be]. Yet many now call magenta pink! So, since magenta is now pink what is magenta? ☺ Earth security. To prevent the invasion of our planet by aliens all we have to do is broadcast into space the daily news of our world. This would deter the most determined aliens! On second thoughts, however, this may not work: it may result in the destruction of Earth by aliens to eliminate possible moral and environmental pollution of the universe as we attempt to further expand our interference in space. ☺ Entertainment. All indications are that we need a large amount of entertainment and it is probable that this is subconscious escapism; perhaps escape from the need to change our spiritual direction. ☺
!165 of 228 ! World order. Our world systems are unsustainable because they have grown from our unsustainable ideals and aspirations. If the systems are to change, as they must and will, our ideals and aspirations have to change. This being unlikely, there has to be a complete collapse of the existing order and a completely new order established: one with more elevated ideals and aspirations. ☺ Speeches and statements. Speeches and statements of politicians et al are no longer sincere and/or subjective. Instead they are insincere and often scripted and expedient. The truth is not the purpose of the exercise. ☺ As soon as possible or soon? All and sundry now use the phrase “As soon as possible.” when they mean “Soon” This indicates a lack of thought about what is coming out of their mouths: a lack of a connection between what the speaker wishes to say and does. “As soon as possible” means just that and the possibilities are varied and numerous between immediate and infinite whilst “Soon” means, “in the immediate future.” Apparently intelligent people, who should know better, are guilty of this absence of ability to co-ordinate intention with outcome and it seems to stem from a fear of offending some vague someone or something. It points to character weakness. ☺ Half the world’s food going to waste. A news headline this morning : “Half the world’s food going to waste.” and, no doubt, 90% of it is in the so-called “developed world” where we humans have developed some very wasteful and destructive habits. All other animal and life forms waste virtually nothing. ☺ Evolution. As science and technology influences all life on Earth Darwin’s theory of evolution will become inapplicable - if it ever did apply. ☺ The humble palaces. With humbleness being a virtue in Christian teachings what inspired bishops of old to call their abodes palaces - and those of the present to continue to do so? ☺ Death by guns. The U.S.A. declares itself to be staunchly Christian so it should be aware of the Christian principle, “If you live by the sword you die by the sword.”
! 166 of 228 ! ☺ Religious groups. Religious groups around the world are creating violence but if they were following the teachings of their religion this behaviour would no occur. Too often they are misled by clergy, or pseudo clergy, who are ignorant or have a selfish agenda. ☺ Sun glasses and communication. Human communication is not limited to audio, as we all know, and the eyes communicate in many ways. It is for this reason that, until the latter part of the twentieth century, people wearing sun glasses removed them when talking to someone. This was also a gesture of courtesy. ☺ Emotion in sport. There is something wrong when the emotional reaction of players on the field, in reaction to a success, reaches the levels it now does. These levels often border on the limits of self control. ☺ Climate change and enjoyment. Since those individuals whose huge need for enjoyment is contributing to climate change are enjoying themselves so much doing it, and with so many others aspiring to the same enjoyment, what chance is there for catastrophic change to be averted? ☺ Rare commodities. Customer service and courtesy are rare commodities these days so it was very pleasing to get a call at 8 a.m., from a company whose technician had an appointment with me between 7.30 and 8.30 a.m., to advise me that the technician was delayed on his last job and would be about ten minutes late. ☺
Good deeds. Most good deeds remain unsung and that is how most of the doers of the deeds would have it. ☺ From natural to unnatural. We have forgotten how to pick a fruit off a tree and eat it - we were hunter-gatherers then; now we first process it - we are civilised. The body was designed for fresh food so civilisation has brought us ill health. ☺
!167 of 228 ! One’s homeland. Would those countries that have sovereignty over Kurdish lands as a result of the arbitrary division of those lands last century feel and behave as they do if it had been their lands that had been divided? Of course not! ☺ Graphene. So, here comes another magic discovery from which thousands of fantastic things can be made. This discovery, it is said, opens up huge potential but I simply see yet another pointless exercise. All such actions are driven by our inherent discontent with the status quo - all the way back to the beginning! ☺ Inefficiency and slackness. There seems to be a widespread, conscious or unconscious, desire or need for people to make excuses for the inefficiency or slackness of others that adversely affects an organization rather than take action to improve standards. ☺ The free market. Economic rationalists have, over the past half century or so, advocated free market forces as the panacea for all economic ills but the free market is neither free nor a market: it is fettered by the self-interest of the rich and a closed shop for such interests. ☺ Physical well being. Recent and current aspirations of governments and/or the people of the so-called advanced countries, and those in other countries attracted to their principles, consist of good education, health, longevity, employment, comfort etc. But these are worthless if they do not make us better people. We are in much greater need of spiritual growth than in physical well-being; the latter being of spiritual importance in a completely different way than perceived by most. ☺ The purpose of human life. What a waste it would be, and how pointless, if the purpose of human life was merely that some are born to indulge themselves at the expense of others born to be deprived. ☺ Ancient wisdom. Ancient uncivilised peoples learned from their mistakes and changed their ways. We persist with our waywardness whilst, if we think that far, leaving it to science and technology to solve the problems we create - a vain hope.
! 168 of 228 ! ☺ Body size and sport. Concurrent with the increase in the size of the human body over the last decades there have been developments in science and technology which, in some sports, has resulted in brawn taking over from brain. Guile and skill, which were previous vital to success, are being superseded by sheer power abetted by technological developments in equipment etc. Since guile and skill require more intelligence than brawn we could be losing another positive quality as we develop. ☺ Sacrifice and indulgence. The feeling one gets from giving up something one likes is deeper and longer lasting than the feeling one gets from indulgence. ☺ Cruelty to animals - human prey. The days of the Neanderthal are long since gone but the mentality lingers on. ☺ Food waste. The waste of fresh food resulting from unnecessary selectivity of produce by supermarkets around the world is astonishing yet governments of the world do nothing. ☺ Carnivores and meat eaters. If Homo sapiens was meant to be carnivorous it would have evolved with the physical characteristics of carnivora. We have chosen to be meat eaters. ☺ The cost of artificial longevity. If we wish to be kept alive on a costly diet of pills and expensive medical procedures plus institutional and/or palliative care towards the end we have to pay for it through taxes or other means. ☺ Moral and ethical standards. In the second half of the twentieth century to date there has been a progressive fall in moral and ethical standards in the developed and developing world - that part of the world which has been affected by what is called progress. ☺ The drift of modern culture. The culture of the U.S.A., with all its flaws, is suffusing the world and the U.S.A. Language, with all its flaws, is doing the same . . . . . and the cumulative effect is negative to the spirit.
! 169 of 228 ! ☺ Sporting behaviour. Earlier in my post titled “Sportsmanship in tennis” I touched on negative sporting behaviour but recently, while watching the Australian Open tennis matches, I was reminded of the high standard of sporting behaviour on display in recent years. In the last decade or so to date there have been, and are, many exemplary players. ☺ The spiritual war. The most intense war currently being fought is a subconscious war; a war between self-interest and the conflicting interests of compassion and peace. ☺ Sports commentary on TV. The commentators on live TV commentary on sports match play seem to feel the necessity to maintain an incessant stream of comment most of which is obvious or irrelevant. This interferes with the connoisseurs’ concentration and enjoyment of the game. ☺ Bottled health. According to the advertisements good health is all there, in bottles and packs, on the shelves. ☺ Changing the world. It is said that if you wish to change the world you have to change yourself: this is how it works. As in the 100th monkey syndrome the act, influence or thought first spreads within the immediate group, thence to the larger group and then across space to other groups and so on because thought is a “thing” which moves in time and space without hindrance* In modern times we have the added tool of the Internet. *Extract from “The Milk Is White” Chapter 3: However," thoughts are things" as the Cayce Readings say. Thought is a force, energy, a field, as evidenced by experiments conducted by Russian scientist in the early half of the twentieth century. It 'travels' instantaneously **and is not impeded by distance or any known substance. **
'Travel' and 'instantaneous' are a contradiction in terms.
☺ Natural event breakdowns. When a natural weather event causes disruption to power supply there is no refrigeration, food spoils, no eftpos, no cash, no banking no electric trains or buses etc. at present and in the future we can anticipated thousands of patients hitched up to computers in one way or another who will suffer excruciating pain, even death when
!170 of 228 ! power fails. What we call progress comes to a halt in the affected area and the other areas indirectly affected. If this is progress would we not have come up with a solution for such disruption? Or is this inept and irresponsible creation? ☺ War by computer disruption. It is now a recognised fact that the most potent, effective and cheap weapon a country can use upon another is computer disruption. What fools we are - after this surely we are not clever - to create without due care and consideration. Yet we have such an exalted view of ourselves! ☺ Meddling with nature. In the process we call progress we meddle with nature in reckless disregard for possible consequences - without even the precautionary principle applying. Animal cloning and genetic modification are but two examples of this. ☺ Walks in nature. During morning walks one can hear the tumbling of the creek over the rocks, the songs of the birds, the flutter of their wings and all the little sounds of nature yet some people walk with an earplug stuck in one ear, or both, listening to the sounds of man. ☺ None of our business. There is so much we get involved in that is none of our business yet some of us even take umbrage at the reactionNo time for lunch it sometimes causes. ☺ Buying power. Let buying power serve to prevent exploitation of the buyer and not serve to exploit the seller. ☺ No time for lunch. It appears that this has become more of a fact as recent decades have passed. It also seems that the cause is more to do with peoples’ response to an inner demand than pressure at work. Whatever the cause it is not good for body or for mind. ☺ Just a few decades ago. Not that many years ago I used to admire views of the world’s cities at night with their myriads of lights; and in this see signs of progress. Now I am a lot wiser! ☺
!171 of 228 ! Plastics. There is a place for plastics in the modern world but the extent to which it has been foisted upon us - something we have accepted and embraced enthusiastically until relatively recently - by the numerous parties involved in the extraction of the source product, petroleum, and its subsequent conversion into the various plastic products is nothing to be proud of. At present the environment is overburdened by the accumulation of this product in its variety of forms and the situation gets worse. ☺ The lucky country. If this is the lucky country, as so many pronounce it to be, why are so many here either over-weight or obese? What is disturbing them mentally and/or spiritually? It is quite likely that many, at a spirit level [no, that one is a builders’ tool :-) ] are aware of what we humans are doing and, being unhappy about it, are reacting in the flesh. ☺ Spiritual and animal success. Desire, greed, pride, power, physical urges, selfishness, and vanity are the traits needed for animal success and to be eschewed for spiritual success. ☺ Religions. We have the religion, whose god is money, which is more radical than the most radical of the extremely conservative factions of the other religions. ☺ Economics or people? All the talk is about economics and not about people and there is no sense in blinkered commentators and pundits stating that the progress of a country’s economy benefits all its people because this is patently incorrect: the rich benefit at the expense of the poor who are reluctantly dragged along far behind. ☺ Union of same sex couples. The Oxford English Dictionary defines marriage as: The formal union of a man and a woman, typically as recognized by law, by which they become husband and wife. It seems to be the term “marriage” which is the problem in this contentious debate. But why the fuss? Surely it is still possible to coin a new, suitable word such as uniteage for instance? This word contains unity, unite, a bit of the word “marriage”, uni for one sex etc. What more is necessary in a mere word? Surely it is the act that is important and not the word. It is time to let go!
!172 of 228 ! N.B. Where laws now exist where the word, perhaps with some qualification, is inscribed in the law it can easily be changed and exist in its own right. ☺ Mass immorality. The positive side to the widespread immorality in the world today is the opportunity it presents to the billions to change their ways. ☺ Disrespect of sovereignty. Some powerful countries and their satellites countries have, for entirely selfish reasons, assumed the right to invade the sovereign space of other countries with scant regard for accepted diplomacy. A current example of this is the use of “drones” for surveillance and attack. This happens with impunity because those who could censure this are themselves desirous of this freedom. ☺ Feel good fantasy. To gain and/or maintain ratings and, therefore, profits television stations subliminally create a “feel good” sense in the viewer. Thus, the majority of viewers live in a partial fantasy and one which favours mindless spending on advertised goods and services. ☺ Employment. If all those unemployed in the EU, Africa, Asia, the Americas etc. find employment w.hat will they be doing and who is to utilise the result of their work? Is this sustainable or is the “system” stuck with the present state of affairs? ☺ Advertising generates consumption. Advertising, for which we all pay ultimately, is the generator of unnecessary consumption. ☺ Mass lunacy. Since early in the last century human beings have progressively increased their desire to protect themselves, and particularly their children, from all conceivable illness and damage resulting in a corresponding erosion of the immune system. This fear has reached the state of mass lunacy. ☺ Original Milk. Amazing as it may seem, in recent times, something called “Original Milk” has appeared on grocery shelves. That says it all! ☺
!173 of 228 ! Creatures of habit. Humans are creatures of habit and, therefore, conservative. The consequence is that the vast majority go along in life blithely ignorant of, and/or disinterested in, what is happening in the world that adversely affects them. ☺ The English language. The enunciation of and emphasis on words recently introduced into the TV media in the last few years, and now migrating to common speech, is confusing because they appear to be meaningless: for example numbers are emphasised because they are numbers as are certain words emphasised. ☺ Mobile phones and stress. It has long been established that one of the causes of stress is not knowing what will happen next i.e. not being in control of one’s situation and an example sited was that of the job of telephone answering. The mobile phone, if left switched on, keeps the owner in a state of constant expectation - conscious or unconscious - which is stressful whether noticeable or not. Furthermore, having got so used to it being switched on, if it ever has to be turned off the owner is in a situation of deprived expectancy - also stressful whether noticeable or not. This is a lose lose situation. ☺ Fear and anger. Fear pervades Israel and anger pervades the Palestinians. Fear is debilitating and anger destructive. Both can be shed but fear is tenacious. ☺ Language. The proper management of the evolution of language is necessary as the consequence of not doing so is a breakdown in communication which will cause major problems even disastrous ones. ☺ Truth control. It is not possible to control what people think or believe by proscribing information but it is possible to control what they know by proscribing the truth. ☺ The road to success. Apparently, according to the pundits, the road to economic success is “Buy! Buy! Buy!”, “Spend! Spend! Spend!”. Well, if you have vision, extrapolate this and consider what do you see or sense as the result. ☺
!174 of 228 ! A sign of the times. My unit number is the same as that of a resident in the adjacent block of units and for a number of years I have received mail for that person in my mail box. In days gone by this error would have displeased the postie very much as standards were high. Yesterday, all my written complaints over the years to the postal authorities having failed, I had a long chat with the postie with the result being that as my unit was at the end of his motorcycle run he is tired when he reaches my box and does not notice the error. I asked whether the authorities had come up with any suggestions and he replied that they had not. ☺ Just desserts. Because we now choose out politicians from a shallow basis of TV image and staged performances whilst disregarding true performance over a past period when possible, we deserve what we get. ☺ The modern focus of the news media. The focus of the modern media away from informing to selling papers and increasing ratings has made the media largely irrelevant to the thinking person. To a large extent the quality of material now apparently important is what the readers want or because the readers will simply read anything (and believe anything?) or are stuck in the groove of the habit of reading and/or viewing. Discernment appears to have vanished. ☺ People power: cohesive coercion. If properly harnessed people power is more powerful than company power so the only reason for the existence of the unethical activities of companies is people people not acting. Without people most companies would cease to exist so, if they want a change to company culture, all they have to do is act cohesively to coerce the company into changing its culture or go bust. ☺ Education. We have got to the stage where we do not know where our food comes i.e. from cows, farms, soil, trees etc. and this is quite a remarkable achievement: partly due to an education system which decades ago decided to focus on mathematics and engineering at the expense of the humanities and what were considered non essential disciplines. The ideology of the time forsook a rounded education - the myopic view of a culture which was focussed on science and technology as the panacea for all ills. ☺ Consumerism. Everything we need is available in nature. The problem is that there are too many of us using too much and wasting too much of that whilst relying on science and techno-
!175 of 228 ! logy to solve the problems we create - a lazy irresponsible mentality. Well, it should be apparent to us that this reliance is misplaced because science and technology create more problems than they solve. It is we who have to take responsibility. ☺ The physicist and the theologian. Today I watched a question and answer program on the ABC where, as a result of a question posed by a member of the audience, a physicist and a theologian got to discussing what came before creation. In a nutshell it became a matter of there being nothing before creation but that nothing was actually something with the theologian seeing that nothing as something viz. God. I sat watching this, to me, impossible effort at realisation and I kept on saying, ‘You cannot resolve this dilemma by use of the mind! It requires the elimination of the mind!’ The fact is that I had already written about this in my book in 1993 and at various times since then. I had no difficulty with doing this because I had, by then, developed the ability to eliminate the mind and free up “Thought” - what I termed “neoption” or ‘seeing without eyes’. All this is available to anyone by simply reading what I have written where this aspect of the reality is but a small part of the whole. Here is an extract of a page as one example: “Each cell is made up of, and contains, material that consists of molecules that, in turn, consist of atoms, then protons and electrons and so on down to a state of subatomic energy now said by physicists to alternate between a state of existence and non-existence. This is the point of Creation of all 'matter', the point at which Spirit becomes matter or, more correctly, the basics from which matter is formed. The "state of non-existence" is the creative intelligence that is the Great Spirit i.e. "Thought", and the "state of existence" the primary state of all matter and all that is derived from it.” And here, also from the book, an enigmatic explanation of the whole in a nutshell: Thought creates Creation manifests Thought manifests.1 The "Quo Vadis?" File 1
These three lines encapsulate the cause and effect of everything relating to life.
☺ The health of the human body. The human body was designed to be exposed to the elements and derive benefits from them. Consider the lifestyles of the indigenous peoples of the world (with the exception of that of the eskimos where special adaptation is a feature) before exposure to “civilization” and compare that with what this civilization has developed for us and its effect on human health. ☺ 1
These three lines encapsulate the cause and effect of everything relating to life.
!176 of 228 ! Courtesy. It appears to be that the courtesy “Thank you.” has passed out of the vocabulary and minds of people particularly where small courtesies are concerned. By this I do not mean that one should thank all those who send unsolicited jokes, news items etc. by the dozen or everyone who likes a post but the hitherto common courtesy of thanking someone for being helpful to or mindful of one. ☺ The throw away “civilization”. Yesterday there was a news item on the ABC that 30% of the food purchased in this country is thrown away in the home - from cupboard, fridge, cooking, plate etc. What an indictment! What goes on in the minds of so-called advanced people? Almost daily there are news items, accompanied by video, I might add, of horrendous conditions in refugee camps and the like but we, it seems, are too busy care. We deserve what is coming to us. ☺ Farmers. We are putting our farmers out of business by not paying them enough for their produce and this is happening when huge food shortages are predicted for the not too distant future. It is essential that we act to stop this plunder. ☺ The constant battle. The centuries old problem of industry profit at the expense of people and the environment continues unabated to this day . . . . . . . . we do not change, do we? ☺ Secular laws. In the case of secular laws we have, over centuries, made significant progress towards being a civilized society. However, in many countries these are flouted behind the scenes: behind the facade of justice presented to the world and often boasted about. ☺ Saluting guns and guards of honour. Since there is no honour in guns it is time countries discontinued the puerile practice of gun salutes, e.g. the 21 gun salute, and armed guards of honour. ☺ Guns - bearing arms. Anyone claiming that bearing arms is a god given right had better search to infinity and beyond to find that god because none such exists. ☺
!177 of 228 ! The high life. The high life is the froth on a void. ☺ Media behaviour. The reason the media so often behave in a despicable manner is that there is a large number of people who thrive on reading the results - what people crave the media will supply. ☺ Boom, boom, bust. Boom, boom, bust . . . . . so goes the cycle. Constant analysis of this phenomenon keeps millions occupied and millions interested but we persist with this system only because we can do no better . . . . and the rich are the only beneficiaries. ☺ The deep rut. It is anticipated that by 2030 air traffic will increase fivefold and the stated solution to high costs and availability of fuel is biofuels. No mention was made of how much of the world’s food producing land will go to feed the aircraft. We are stuck in a rut so deep that we cannot see out - a bit worse than the ostrich burying its head in the sand which, incidentally, is a myth. ☺ Not good enough. Expressions like, “I have always done it that way.”, “My mother did it this way.”, “My father told me to do it this way.” etc. are not good enough; the wise subject their actions to their own critical scrutiny. ☺ Will power. Will power is one thing; wishing to use it another. ☺ Scientific study. The scientific study of things in isolation when nothing exists in isolation is a fundamental flaw. ☺ Dates - Use By, Best By etc. The purpose of the introduction of this system by governments was well intentioned and a boon to producers. Unfortunately, for all but the producers, to most people these dates came to mean “Discard Date” because they were unable, for whatever reason, to logically think through the purpose of the dating and realise that these dates were a guide and not absolute. They instantly forgot what they did before the
!178 of 228 ! introduction of the system and millions of tonnes of perfectly good food started on its way to the tip. An example of costly and wasteful mental inertia. ☺ Lifestyle. Some people live life on a high of alcohol and/or drugs and/or their business activities and thus make life decisions from a mind state remote from their actual lives - decisions that are prone to failure. ☺ The believer. A friend of mine believes that Moses actually smote the Red Sea to make it part and allow him to take the Israelites through. He does not believe the thousand or so of scientists, including some from the highly regarded Australian CSIRO, who state that humans are responsible for the unnatural climate change which is occurring but, when he talks about how terribly unsafe microwave ovens are, he quotes the CSIRO scientists. ☺ The general state of flux. Just about everything humans do has been in a state of flux from its inception but with little adverse effect. In recent times, however, it has been so fast that there appears to be a pronounced negative effect manifesting across the board; an effect highlighting the full range of human weakness. ☺ Standards. Generally speaking, necessity and mentality have lowered standards and are lowering then further. ☺ Full circle. We have just about come full circle this time around and, on completion, we will return to the spiritual restarting point for our next cycle. The character of the end of the cycle is determined by what we created. With each cycle we achieve some spiritual progress individually and collectively as a result of our experiences. Hence, each cycle is an opportunity. ☺ Equality for women. The efforts being made, though tokenistic in many places where it is in the hands of men, to eliminate archaic attitudes towards women are due to welcome enlightenment - both socially and spiritually. ☺
!179 of 228 ! Obesity. Obesity, that increasingly common state of the human physical condition, is not simply due to lack of exercise and unhealthy diet; there must be subconscious contributory factors such as lack of self-esteem, stress - actual or imagined - and dissatisfaction with life. ☺ Duty of care versus negligence. The defining and/or interpretation of duty of care, as against negligence, by courts has been so absurd that it is farcical at times. It has also led to a massive increase in costs in the community because of the disproportionate penalties awarded in the courts. ☺ Material graveyards. Aircraft graveyards are just small examples, in kind, of what is to come. As the speed of invention, technological advances and innovation increases monuments to our ingenuity, and waste, will blot the Earth at massive expense. This will not be paralleled by corresponding spiritual progress, however. ☺ Rooftop safety. In the arab world old style buildings do not have railings surrounding the flat roofs yet few, if any, people seem to fall over the edges despite the roofs being used frequently. Compare that to the fuss made in the developed world over protecting people. In the former people learn whilst in the latter they have to be protected. ☺ Big is better. In business at one time big was best then, some decades ago, it was not best and many very big companies, like Bell Telephone, were split into many parts. Then, more recently, and since, big again became better. However, big is not better - trying to get bigger and bigger sends many enterprises to the wall. Also, big creates an advantage and advantage of this sort is unfair, although the big companies will not agree with this, and this is the strategy adopted to maximise profits at the expense of smaller businesses. This is called the free market which should be renamed the predators market! ☺ House keys and security. Around the world people hide the keys to their houses in the same one to three places and expect the house to be secure from burglars. ☺
!180 of 228 ! Oratorial words. Oratorial words are often the spur to unspeakable acts like killing and war. ☺ A new Pope. A new Pope? Will anything change or will he live in splendour whilst millions of his flock languish in poverty? ☺ Advice. When advice sought, given and taken brings negative results the only one responsible for the results is the one who took the advice. ☺ Science. Is it correct that an experiment in which one factor is not measurable is not scientific? This is not a rhetorical question - I am looking for an answer. I ask this because, a couple of nights ago, I had a neoption that this was so. I suspect, no more, because I cannot remember, that although the experiment may not be scientific it may be true - that science is not the final arbiter. Now, having written the paragraph immediately above, I am more convinced that although the experiment may not be scientific it may be true. ☺ Existing in isolation. Nothing material exists in isolation so whatever we chuck into the water in one place affects water everywhere. So it is with all pollutants but not enough of us care enough for us to stop this in time. Hence, as we sow so we reap - karma, the immutable law of cause and effect. ☺ Book publishing. If major publishers were truly interested in literature for reasons other than profit, they would publish books of valuable content, but without “best seller” potential, and medium demand. ☺ China - the economy or the environment. Pollution or growth? In the economic environment we have created on Earth, and worship, China has no alternative but to opt for growth. ☺ Super bugs. Apparently, medically dangerous super bugs are on the increase. This is happening at the same time that we are ruining our immune systems in a number of ways including
!181 of 228 ! vaccination/inoculation, excessive use of pharmaceuticals and protection against numerous things previously tackled by the immune system. ☺ Buy “national”. People of many countries are often exhorted to buy things made in their country but where this exhortation occurs in a developed country it is one of limited, moral, vision because there are other countries struggling to develop and feed their people, let alone give them one tenth of what the developed countries provide for their people. ☺ Charity begins at home. This is a common catchphrase. However, from a moral, or spiritual, point of view it is literally shortsighted because true charity goes where it is needed most and that is not necessarily “at home”. Sadly, it is true that the awareness of many people spreads no further than their eyesight. ☺ Belief. No one has to believe anything because, in the end, everyone will know everything. ☺ The GFC and Wall St. The prosecution of those at the top in Wall St, and deemed to be responsible for the GFC in 2008, amounts to nil. What a farce! . . . . . and this is the country claiming to be the world’s saviour. ☺ Evolution and the effect of “man”. It has taken many hundreds of thousands of years, as far as is estimated, for humans to evolve to their present state. Of this period all but the last couple of centuries have been in a environment free of internal and external pollution and the consequences of these factors, past present and future, will only manifest over generations where this has not already done so even slightly either in humans or animals. ☺ The Only Reality. The only reality is that we exist in Spirit as one and project the perceived reality. [Neoption at 5.09 a.m. 23.03.13.]
☺ Timelessness. Today is my dog’s birthday but it makes no difference to him because, like all animals except Homo sapiens, he lives in the reality of timelessness. ☺
!182 of 228 ! What fools we are. What fools we are for the rubbish we buy because of the claims made on the labels etc. by the manufacturers. ☺ It seems so easy. These days it seems so easy for someone to stab another - with anything to hand. Quo vadis? ☺ The evolution of advertising. Advertising started as a means to inform the public of the availability and description of something but, human nature being what it is, it did not take long for us to see how informing could be turned into profiting without ethical inhibitions. ☺ Civilization Z. This civilization could very easily be “Civilization Z”. ☺ Agriculture and weeds. Weeds are an integral part of nature and the soil so their elimination in agriculture is not the solution to the difficulties they cause. Instead of continuing to resort to chemical herbicides that are detrimental to the soil we should be looking for ways to incorporate the green manure that is weeds into the soil as would normally occur naturally. If, as a consequence, land productivity plateaus we will have to find more land or regenerate infertile land biologically. We have to get our priorities right: there is no point in trying to improve agricultural production whilst simultaneously misusing prime agricultural land as we do. ☺ The beauty of nature. The dawn of a bright, sunny day after a period of clouds and rain is announced by the chorus of a multitude of birds loudly singing their happiness at the change and lifting the hearts of the humans still able to notice the beauty of nature. ☺ Illogical logic - anthropology. The anthropological theory of human evolution currently followed is only logical because the fact that the logic relates to an assumed starting point is overlooked. [Neoption at 1.24 a.m. 26.03.13.]
☺ Nature and science. The penis and the uterus of nature are the pipette and test tube of science. [Neoption post 1.41 a.m. 26.03.13.]
! 183 of 228 ! ☺ Dream homes and office blocks. The problem with the huge panels of external glass used in the construction of these edifices is that, to reduce maintenance costs, they are self-cleaning on the outside and that this self-cleaning is achieved by coating the glass with chemical which slowly erode and wash away, taking the dirt with them. These chemicals then find their way into the ground. A matter of a solution creating a problem. ☺ Afghanistan. In Afghanistan the West has presumed, from an assumed position of superiority, to artificially move into another time an ancient culture, but things are not that simple because, like water finding its own level the subdued culture will do the same when freed, whatever its actual or perceived shortcomings, and grow from there in its own way. Everything happens in its own time. ☺ Habits die hard. Habits die hard = It is difficult to still the mind (or moul as I call it). ☺ Principle and convenience. Principle is frequently sacrificed to convenience. ☺ Principles of marketing. The principles of marketing dictate that goods are priced according to the ability to pay. Therefore, in a high income country the profit is greater than in a country where the incomes are lower. However, does it follow that some of these profits are devoted to selling at below cost in a country where the population is largely destitute? ☺ Marketing/business ethics. Worldwide, businesses, with few exceptions, are rapacious, exploitative and unscrupulous where their customers are concerned but are completely blaze′ about it - and the shopper pays for it! Sadly, all this is considered good business. ☺
!184 of 228 ! Mind disorders of returning service personnel. The very high occurrence of these disorders is, in all probability, due to a spiritual, or superconscious, antipathy to war and killing - something well beyond the comprehension of those treating them or sending them to war in the first place. ☺ A sad commentary. It is a sad commentary that the much vaunted system directing the state of things in the world grows from a worsening cesspool of human morality. ☺ Technological innovation. Technological innovation is now occurring for its own sake followed by buying and updating for their own sake. ☺ Mobile phones. The mobile phone, if its use is not wisely controlled by the user, is an infringer of liberty. ☺ Cruelty to animals. For a long time I have suspected that some dairy farmers in Australia have been shortening (“docking”) the tails of dairy cows but yesterday, having seen that, in a 1500 strong herd of Holsteins in China all the tails were “docked”, my suspicions are confirmed not only where Australia is concerned but worldwide. Depriving the animals of a, to them, vital tool - that of fly swatter, is cruel because without a tail they are like humans would be if they, humans, were unable to wave their hand in front of their face to drive off flies. The result is, of course, stress! ☺ Media culpability. The media is culpable, it has a great deal to answer for in respect of the negative way in which the world and its people have developed and are developing. The reason for this is that its focus has not been on promoting positive thinking and actions: it has had, and continues to have, no moral imperatives or impetus and is driven, by the proclivities of the owner/s or, like most everything else, by profit. ☺ Packaging of products. Within the last two decades there was sufficient concern in the world about excessive packaging and its effects and consequential costs that at least one country, Germany, started making the manufacturers responsible for post-purchase disposal of parts and packaging. This, in Australia at least, is not the case and, frequently, in a single item there is more packaging than product and more packaging cost than product cost with the former cost being an imposition on the purchaser by the manufacturer. We have,
!185 of 228 ! therefore, unnecessary cost with negative consequences to the community as well as the environment. ☺ The enemy within. Any person, or body of persons e.g. a nation, constantly fearing attack, needs firstly to seek the primary cause of the animosity and act to eliminate it - not the perceived cause but the root cause - that which lies “within”. ☺ Karma. Karma is the greatest and most perfect teacher. ☺ Honour amongst thieves. It would be gratifying if large companies doing business in a country other than their own, particularly where the country was a poor one, actually contributed honourably to that country. ☺ Company behaviour. No matter what the bean counters say, no customers = no company; so, people have the power to change things - if only they would get up and do what is needed: Which is to work together en masse to act until your demands are met; and that will certainly not take long! These days there is the convenience and power of the Internet. ☺ Belief. Belief without intelligent analysis is foolish. Belief of hearsay, spoken or written, is also foolish but if belief makes one a better person it is a step in the correct direction irrespective of the source. ☺ The right to kill. The human presumption of the right to kill, for sport or food, includes the killing of fish in large and small numbers with scant regard for their suffering from suffocation, either above or below water, and the pain inflicted by gaffs or line hooks. ☺ Respect and value. While respect for, and the value of, paintings, other collectables etc. has increased exponentially over the last many decades the same consideration towards the elderly, especially parents, has decreased correspondingly, thus severely diminishing the quality of the collective human psyche. ☺
!186 of 228 ! The convenience of convenience. The convenience of convenience prevents many people from putting in the effort to help themselves drop bad habits, of diet or something else, that are causing them physical or spiritual harm. ☺ Teachers and teaching. The rapid changes in communication technology mean that more and more of teachers’ time is absorbed in learning how to use the new technology. This raises the question of whether there is a limit to the benefits of such technology, at least in the short term. ☺ Such is life. You cannot polish a silver vessel without abrasion. [Comment: This morning I was talking to an obviously advanced spiritual seeker whose moul is burdened with what she calls the mental suffering she has been through and, listening to her, I neopted the above. When I repeated it to her she smiled knowingly and appreciatively.]
☺
Our world and compassion. It is an indictment of the people in a world when, in that world, some have a billion times more than they need whilst others a billion times less i.e. absolutely nothing. ☺ The art of living. As we get more and more accomplished in living in an artificial world of innovation and invention we are getting less and less accomplished in living in the natural world. ☺ The fool and fighting. It is a fool who fights: The foolish coward from afar and the foolish brave at close quarters. ☺ Spiritual encrustation. Homo sapiens is an animal and encrusted on the human spirit is aeons of animal wants, instincts and habits which will take aeons to rub off - but rub it off we will! ☺ Sounds and gestures. The sounds and gestures of good humour in one last a lifetime and are a pleasure to friends and acquaintances. The sounds and gestures of ill humour in one last a lifetime too and are a burden to friends and acquaintances. Furthermore, the good humour in some falls by the wayside whilst in others it is recovered.
! 187 of 228 ! ☺ Medicine - vocation or job? It is sad commentary that in modern times there are few doctors of medicine who want, or are willing, to go to remote areas to practice their vocation but then, on the other hand, perhaps it is no longer a vocation. ☺ Decibels and dissent. We are more vociferous and noisy about what we disagree with than what we agree with. Hence, the often disproportionate influence of the noisy minority to that of the silent majority. ☺ Fighting wars. One hidden reason for fighting wars is to give employment to the nation’s people. ☺ Conservative governments. When conservative governments do things which disadvantage many people, particularly amongst the middle and lower classes, it is no use telling members of that government the ethical error of their ways because they either know no better or because it is in their doctrine. ☺ Advertising. The current pervasiveness and cost of advertising, to the community, is indicative of an excess of product. ☺ In God we trust. The declaration “In God we trust.” has to be considered in the light of what God has apparently stated viz. ‘As you sow, so shall you reap.’ So be it - Amen. ☺ Peace. There is no peace in revenge. There is no solution in murder. ☺
!188 of 228 ! A fool’s paradise. Spiritually, we live in a fool’s paradise and our ignorance is our bondage. ☺ Customer service par excellence. 15.04.13: Having the previous day found that I had made a $900 mistake in a funds transfer I spoke to my bank where some excellent, courteous, understanding and helpful advice resulted in my finding the company to which I had sent the $900. To this company, Xtreme Herbs{http://www.xtremeherbs.com.au/}, I sent this email on 16.04.13. On 12.03.13 The XXX Bank paid you $900.00 due to an error on my part and this is to request you to return that money to me urgently. It is part of my savings for an important dental procedure. I am a pensioner and such savings are difficult to make. Please let me know how you propose to return this money to me. Thanking you, 16.04.13: Reply from Xtreme Herbs{http://www.xtremeherbs.com.au/}
Thanks for contacting us. We can absolutely transfer the money back to you. Please send us your Account Name, BSB and Account Number and we will process this ASAP. Please let us know if you have any other questions or comments! Best regards,
16.04.13: I replied giving the require details and received notice that the funds had been transferred and to allow two days for the transfer to appear in my account. 16.04.13: $900 was credited to my account. ☺ The truth and blasphemy. The Truth - the description of the Reality - can never be blasphemy. ☺ Spiritual personality cult. When teachings about the spiritual reality create a personality cult of the teacher the value of the teachings is diminished. ☺
!189 of 228 ! Pollution - old and new. Three hundred years ago when we polluted we did so naturally and locally. Now we pollute naturally, unnaturally and globally as well as in space - and we aspire to go further. ☺ Pinnacles of physical achievement. In Australia, with reference to the recent exposure of doping in (human) sport, people are talking in terms of the use of performance enhancing drugs to reach the pinnacle of an individual’s performance. Well, this pinnacle would be the false pinnacle and not the natural pinnacle. ☺ Aspirations of sexual equality. No matter how much we do to correct sexism in societies human nature remains “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus.” until, since “Thought Creates”, the species changes or ceases to exist. ☺ Convenient forgetfulness. Human behaviour is responsible for the extinction of numerous animal species but is such that it forgets that Homo sapiens is a species of animal. ☺ The fundamental cause. The fundamental cause of all that happens is the way we think - our mentality. ☺ Natural beauty. How beautiful the natural beauty of the unspoiled landscapes of the world. ☺ Servility reversed. In the westernized world the practice of richer people employing poorer people ceased some decades ago, except where the very rich were concerned, but has now reappeared in the form of contractors providing these services, thus reducing the scope for exploitation and increasing gainful self-employment. ☺
!190 of 228 ! Armed forces. Over the last few decades the progressive increase in the number of security personnel and the exponential increase in the armaments of both security and military personnel has become necessary due to us, as a whole, having a less civilized mentality. ☺ The “Pearly Gates” - a major conundrum. In westernised countries the eagerness to stay alive for as many years as possible is causing ever increasing huge costs to governments in medical care, pharmaceuticals, housing and other ancillary needs of the elderly. In these same countries the predominant religion is Christianity where the belief is that the after life is heavenly and that all sins are forgiven yet Christians are in no hurry to go there; they are, apparently, mortally afraid to do so. All this is irreconcilable. ☺ Same sex marriage. Provided that equality in all respects exists in law legalizing a ceremony is irrelevant. What matters is the commitment of the individuals involved and tolerance by all others. Any authentic religious or spiritual teaching promotes the latter. ☺ Man’s “Word of God”. There is no place in life for man made “laws” touted as the word of God whether as a result of ignorance or design. ☺ Fashion. Fashion emerged amongst the aristocracy of old as a counter to boredom and still is an indulgence by the rich, or fashion victims, at the expense of the poor. ☺ Progress. Since the advent of progress we have regressed physically and spiritually. ☺ The natural condition. In its natural condition any thing in nature exists in relation to its surrounds and is designed to work in, or from, its natural condition. Hence, to use any thing in any other than its natural condition, that is to first isolate it, is fraught with danger the consequences of which may not manifest for hundreds of years.
! 191 of 228 ! ☺ The greatest musician. The greatest musician is air because it is what creates sound. However, it is also creates other sounds and that is something else! ☺ In the fullness of time. In the fullness of time is a phrase that correctly describes the spiritual schedule, whose events and times are self determined, applying to all human beings. ☺ Education and jobs. To date a good education has meant the choice of a “good” job and now the catchphrase in the western world is “A good education for all means a “good” job for all.” However, when all are educated there will not be “good” jobs for all. Thus, we would have come full circle and, thus, we would have made no progress. ☺ Global mobility. Increased global mobility has facilitated the mass movement of people which, in turn, has facilitated the melding of races and cultures for the spiritual purpose of giving us the opportunity to manifest, in the fullness of time, the inherent positive traits we possess irrespective of the traits we might demonstrate given this challenge. ☺ Feelings and welfare. The feelings of individuals become unimportant when one is considering the welfare of all. ☺
Martyrdom. What motivates one to help others is spiritually very important. Often, people help others in order to help themselves satisfy a psychological need and when this helping is constant, and occurs despite personal hardship, it is martyrdom, not helpfulness. ☺
!192 of 228 ! The age of knowledge. The age of old knowledge of the Reality is thousands of years whilst the age of the new knowledge of the Reality, to the extent that it exists, is a few hundred years and still emerging; yet only a wise few refer to the first. ☺ Attachment and non-attachment. Most humans are so attached to their profligate, unhealthy and damaging ways that they refuse to let go of them despite the obvious daily, visible effects and the most probable dire consequences. One cause of this is self-centredness. ☺ Gun lobbies. Those behind the gun lobby in the U.S.A., and any other such body in the world, simply do not know any better - and that says a multitude of things. ☺ The discontented one. From the beginning all animals were content with their lot; except for one - human kind who, from the start, set out to change things suit themselves. ☺ Childbirth. A great deal of the problems modern westernized women have with childbirth, if they are not given a cesarean by the obstetrician that is, is due to children not being allowed to experience this natural phenomenon throughout their early years as is normal in "less civilized", but infinitely wiser, communities. ☺ Living in the now. In terms of “our world” one day is actually and naturally from one dawn to the next dawn or something similar based on the movement of the sun but the absurdity of our system is the inevitable presence of the date line and the situation on either side of it. Living in the now is the solution but, sadly, this can only be achieved in the abstract! ☺ I told you so! To say, “I told you so!” when something goes wrong is unhelpful and is often the voice of an inflated ego which is best advised that silence is golden.
! 193 of 228 ! ☺ The enquiring mind. The enquiring mind is already halfway to the goal: it is subconsciously aware that there is something it needs, or wants, to know. ☺ Harmony. We appreciate harmony in sound but are unable to live in harmony with too many. ☺ News and communication. At a time when the news is negative worldwide the technical ability to spread it is at its highest and, beneath the surface at least, there is always a positive reason for what happens. ☺ Television. It is either a fact or it is assumed by the television industry that, to hold the interest of viewers, numerous artifices are required. If we do have a short attention span is this because we are frivolous or actually disinterested? ☺ Television and politicians. With the advent of television into politics one wonders how many voters can separate the television actor from the politician and make a sound judgement before voting. ☺ The scientists’ cocoon. Sadly, most scientists think and work in a mental cocoon and it is only when they remove themselves from this mindset that modern science will progress beyond its current limitations. ☺ God is Good. The news was of three girls being imprisoned in a house, by three men, for years and in that time raped and ill treated before being discovered and rescued. Soon after, in the attendant crowds, was a large banner stating in large letters, ‘God is good’. Was
!194 of 228 ! God good for rescuing the girls or for putting them in that situation in the first place or was God good for both acts? Had the authors of that banner been better taught they would have known that God was responsible for neither. ☺ The precipice. It is interesting, to say the least, that people driving headlong towards a precipice attempt to overcome the obstacle instead of stopping the vehicle. ☺ Farming aspirations. Because I watch a weekly program about Australian farming and farmers I see the monstrous machines used on enormous farms and my thoughts go to the farmers in other parts of the world with a single animal on a small patch - and I think of the difference in the aspirations of the two groups; the difference between huge assets and variable but huge profits on the one hand and the difference between subsistence and starvation on the other. . . . . . and I wonder about the much touted success of our system. ☺ Hormones and genes. We now know a lot about hormones and physiologists say that hormones are secreted by the endocrine glands*. What activates these glands? We are told that it is the brain that activates them but what activates the brain? Aha! The same applies with reference to genes. * see chakras anywhere. ☺ Consciousness. Human consciousness is restricted to what is immediate and expresses itself emotionally whilst spiritual consciousness is all-encompassing and if expressed emotionally will result in nervous breakdown because of the sheer volume in existence. ☺ The leeches of longevity. From the shareholders and executives of pharmaceutical companies to doctors of medicine there are millions of people profiting or profiteering from the increased and
!195 of 228 ! increasing longevity of humans in the westernised world or those parts being westernised. ☺ Living and learning. ‘We live and learn’ is an old phrase and most people do but some do not. ☺ Luxury. Five star hotels and similar houses - oh, the THINGS we crave! ☺ Craving. When we crave and get what we crave for, we crave more. When we crave and do not get what we crave for we get dissatisfaction. ☺ Harmony. We relate to harmony deeply because harmony, a state of balance, is our essential spiritual state, our essential state of being, and we relate thus because we recognise the relationship. ☺ Politicians and politics. Except for a few admirable exceptions politicians play politics with other peoples’ money whilst their incomes are virtually guaranteed to increase. ☺ Shooting the messenger. When someone points out that something we like is bad for us it is most often human nature to “shoot the messenger” and do nothing about the message. ☺ The Buddha and Buddhism. The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama*, did not speak about Buddhism; he spoke about the Reality and what he said became Buddhism. *This is the Sanskrit spelling. The later Pali spelling is Siddhattha Gotama.
!196 of 228 ! N.B. “Buddha” and “Christ” are titles denoting enlightenment. There have been, are, and will be, many of these. ☺ Frugality and responsibility. Frugality and responsibility are almost identical states of mind which create a way of life; they are not just things indulged in occasionally for some frivolous or fleeting reason and they are the result of the upwelling of wisdom through the superficiality of the modern way of life in the westernised world. ☺ The way forward. The way forward is never easy when you have to fight your mind! ☺ Pilot and co-pilot. One’s life is like an aircraft with a pilot and a co-pilot. The pilot has a flight schedule but his co-pilot has other ideas and is doing his best to overcome the wishes of his pilot. The aircraft, therefore, does not keep to its scheduled path and responds to whichever of its two pilots has greater influence. However, this aircraft will not crash; it will merely weather many storms before the pilot regains control and brings it to a safe landing. ☺ A culture of prevention. A culture of prevention now pervades this civilization which, in its attempt to prevent illness, death, accident, injury and a plethora of other such possible “calamities”, is bankrupting its governments. Of course, the root cause of all this is fear - the most physiologically damaging of emotions. ☺ Business and jobs. Business is not about jobs; business is about profits. ☺ Airlines and obesity. Airlines and similar organizations are doing obese people no favours when they supply wider seats for these people without a proportionate increase in fare. ☺
! 197 of 228 ! Modest living. Was there ever a time when someone had a beneficial product which was priced at cost plus a margin that would provide them with a modest living? ☺ Environmental damage. In the distant past when we polluted our environment it was localized; now it is not only globalized but spread outside the globe with massive and long lasting adverse effects. Furthermore, the per capita pollution has increased. ☺ Nourishment elitism. Unlike half a century ago when we ate offal because, firstly, it was both palatable and nourishing and, secondly because it was wasteful to throw away something beneficial, today we, in the western world, are too proud or foolishly fussy to eat it; many even spurn it. ☺ News presentation. Too often news presentation is irresponsible whilst, at times, it borders on incitement. ☺ Cost and principle. When cost is the determining factor higher principles are frequently compromised. ☺ Ill-gotten gains. Those giving away ill-gotten gains are not philanthropists and most gains are ill-gotten. ☺ Hatred is a cancer. Hatred is a cancer of the mind that cannot be cured by medical science but can be cured by understanding its primary cause. ☺
!198 of 228 ! Ignorant preaching. If preachings from a standpoint of ignorance make one a better person the preachings have been worthwhile as a means to an end. ☺ Terrorism old and new. The terrorism being perpetrated by errant Muslim believers in the present does not compare with that perpetrated by Christian believers a few hundred years ago when it was officially and openly sanctioned. ☺ Hoarding. In their curious efforts to call everything that is not “normal” an illness psychiatrists have now classified hoarding as an illness; an act that is liable to cause more mental illness. ☺ Lifestyle and religious beliefs. Too often one’s lifestyle does not reflect one’s professed religious beliefs. ☺ Hierarchical spiritual systems. It is noteworthy that the teaching of spiritual beliefs in Europe evolved into a hierarchical system, like the social system extant at the time, whilst elsewhere it evolved into a less controlled system free of the strictures that go with hierarchy although the social system there was hierarchical. ☺ Business culture. Sadly, the business culture we have developed over the years derives from the base instincts of man including those of territoriality, survival, greed, pride etc. ☺ Temperate and polar zone seasons. It is quite ridiculous to persist with the habit we have of officially stating, particularly in an agricultural or horticultural connection, that the seasons start on the first day of a particular calendar month when the actual starting date is determined by the relative positions of the sun and Earth - the solstices and equinoxes. Children grow up to believe the fallacy they are taught by default instead of knowing the facts.
! 199 of 228 ! ☺ Living in a cocoon. Some people live in a cocoon of overt religious platitudes and saintly appearance without the awareness to live accordingly or to monitor their performance against them. ☺ One’s physical death. One’s physical “death” is like one logging out of a virtual reality website where one has been playing at life. ☺ Knowledge. Knowledge alone is not enough: intelligence is needed for it to be digested and/or understood and then applied. ☺ Psychiatric illness. Since psychiatrists have now seen fit to classify a tendency to hoard as an illness would they also similarly classify the obsession they and medical scientists have to find and label human illnesses as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? ☺ Normalcy. What one person considers to be normal does not necessarily correspond with what another considers to be normal. ☺ The weight of excess. Excess eventually tips the scales. ☺ Garbage tips. Those in the garbage tips of the well off, struggling to keep themselves and their children from starvation, are symbols of the abject failure, morally and materially, of our civilization. ☺
!200 of 228 ! Speculation - future. Any speculation about the future is a waste of time and effort. ☺ Compassion and diet. A much bandied about sentiment is compassion but where is it when it comes to all the animals that are slaughtered for human dietary pleasure, including the alleviation of hunger? ☺ Future food. If the diet of humans is not to be compromised in the future the variety of foods, particularly of staples, available in the various parts of the globe has to be maintained at least and protected against the depredations of those hell bent on profits at any cost. ☺ Inflation. The cause of inflation is the demands we make on life by our lifestyle , our wants rather than our needs. These demands are the result of dissatisfaction with the pre-existing state of contentment with life and the potential for inflation was laid when the first barter arrangement was made. ☺ Fear of infection and contamination. In the developed world our high preoccupation with preventing infection and contamination is doing our immune systems no good and will harm those of future generations yet no one seems able to do anything about this foolishness. ☺ Spiritual growth and learning. In spiritual growth one does not learn something but unlearns something else. ☺ History. The general view of history does not include the awareness that it is being created every millisecond and part thereof. ☺
!201 of 228 ! War. War: what a farce - the expression of the basest human instincts. ☺ Humour. The perceived need to humour television viewers almost continuously is perplexing. It is as if we all need a huge, and very regular, dose of this medicine lest we fall in a heap of mental trauma. Is there really such a need or is it something drummed up by psychologists in the marketing field? If there really is a need our civilization has delivered us another malady. ☺ Sports - behaviour. A game is defined as a form of competitive activity or sport played according to rules and a sport as one played to rules for entertainment. Now, in many “sports” rules are flouted openly, the disgraceful spectacle of on-field fights is frequent and the entertainment is that of a blood sport - banned where non-human animals are concerned.
☺
What might have been done. It is not possible to determine what might have been done unless one can perfectly replicate the circumstances and influences, including one’s state of being, existing at the time - and this is impossible. However, to reflect on the possibilities then extant, for the purpose of learning, is beneficial. ☺ What is the mind? What is the mind is a question I have asked, over the years, of many people including a professor of English, a bookshop owner, doctors of medicine as well as other scientifically qualified people and have received no answer, not even an attempt, from any except one: a manager, academically unqualified, who answered correctly in a matter of seconds. ☺ Self interest. Self interest being such a powerful human trait, instinct even, if humans were to be aware of the why and how of the law of karma many would, out of self-interest, change the way they act but not the way they think - their mentality. However, all selfishness creates negative karma. ☺
!202 of 228 ! Seeking closure. Seeking closure is the modern term for a requirement for peace of mind. The equivalent requirement in spiritual terms has been spoken of for at least two and a half thousand years and that requirement is non-attachment, the attainment of which is part of the process of enlightenment. ☺ Ignorance. The prime cause of ignorance in people in general is lack of observing and analytical thinking. ☺ Negativity and positivity. Concurrent with the mass of negative behaviour in the world today is a significant, if small, amount of positivity which, human variability being what it is, always exists. The seeds of a rotten fruit sprout and flourish without the stench of the fruit. ☺ Innovation. Where our innovations are concerned our ultimate test is whether we are able and willing to discard those that turn out to have negative effects on anything worthwhile. ☺ Company power. Many companies are so big, and there are many of these, that governments are unable to control their anti-social behaviour: it would cost a huge amount and taxpayers would not pay for it even though they would be the beneficiaries. ☺ The unscrupulous. If there is the slightest chance the unscrupulous will use unscrupulous means to put anything to unscrupulous ends. ☺ Political charades. One ponders the motivation of political heads of state to make fools of themselves by participating in the charades of them acting in a friendly manner with another of their ilk for the cameras. ☺
!203 of 228 ! The benefit of anti-social behaviour? Perhaps the culture of business justifies anti-social behaviour by the guilty claiming that they are benefitting shareholders. ☺ Christianity and death. According to Christian teachings the soul lives on after death and goes to heaven yet not even the fervently religious Christians seem to accept this considering the attitude of the vast majority to death. Even Pope Benedict XVI used the “popemobile” to protect himself from death by a bullet. Sadly, this appears to indicate a flaw in the way the scriptures are taught. ☺ Physicians and infectious disease. Half a century ago physicians practiced their vocation of tending to the needs of the sick with hardly a thought for their own infection and/or safety and it was very seldom that they got infected even though they used their bare hands and their only prophylactic was to was their hands. This immunity was due to regular and/or gradual exposure to infection and their attitude to their vocation. ☺ Compulsory immunization. The notion that compulsory immunization is a benefit to society is ignorant because, in the short term, and for as long as it exists, it is an infringement of the right of choice and, in the long term, all it does is reduce the efficiency of the natural functioning of the immune system. No doubt, if this blinkered mindset continues, there will be compulsory examinations and tests for all conceivable illnesses because of fear and to reduce the burgeoning cost of health. ☺ The river of no return. The collective human mind is, at times, like a river of no return as exampled by its present state: times when decisions have been made which make the current irreversible despite the portents; the river acquires a self-generating momentum and heads towards the abyss in the ocean. ☺
!204 of 228 ! Mind and memory. One’s memory is a picture bank exclusively and when we recall something we recall a picture of that something or one containing it. If there is an emotion connected to that picture we may feel that emotion but without the picture there is no emotion. Even words are stored as pictures where each letter is a picture and each word, or collection of words, a composite picture. Memory does not fade; what fades is the ability of the brain, the mechanical device we have in the physical state, to access the mind, or memory. ☺ Developing countries. Sadly, these countries are developing into mirror images of the increasingly shameful developed countries where the selfishness of the “haves” rules. ☺ Exemplary spectators. In the rugby test match between the Australian Wallabies and the British Isles and Ireland Lions played in Brisbane, Australia, last Saturday 22nd June there was, apart from the high quality of the game, a high quality of behaviour displayed by the 50,000 spectators: there was no noticeable noise created to distract the player preparing for a conversion of a try or during his lead-up to the kick - a disgraceful practice prevailing world wide in similar situations in similar sports. ☺ The truth will out. The U.S.A. is again acting out of fear and self-righteousness in pursuing Edward Snowden. He was only the means to the end and one is reminded of the saying. ‘The truth will out’ as it always does. If the boot were on the other foot the reaction would have been totally different. Changing one’s values to suit one’s convenience is a demonstration of one’s lack of moral fibre. ☺ Vacuity. When it is not intellect, intelligence or outstanding positive behaviour that creates a celebrity what does? Simply exposure! ☺
!205 of 228 ! Nelson Mandela. Even the biggest trees must fall; unless he wishes otherwise let him die peacefully without the pointless indignities of modern medical practice. ☺ A modern day rarity. A man walking down the town’s main street notices a contractor using a motorised clipper clipping a hedge to perfection. He gets the attention of the contractor, who stops the motor, and says, ‘You know how to use that machine and you obviously take pride in your work!’ making the contractor very pleased. The man was also very moved; not by what he had done but by how it pleased the contractor. ☺ Guantanamo prison. Keep it open. It is needed - the U.S.A. will see to it. ☺ Misrepresented rubbish. If the primary focus had been on retaining the original quality of food of all sorts we would not, today, be consuming so much misrepresented rubbish. ☺ Crass stupidity. If someone suggested that Obama gain a “photo op” with Nelson Mandela in the latter’s dying days it is an indication of how low one can stoop. If Obama refused this crass tastelessness he acted with dignity and respect and if he banished the ignoramus from his sight forever he may have done that person a favour. ☺ The cost of living. Whilst Telcos are laughing all the way to the bank phone users are seeking higher wages because of their increased cost of living caused, in part, by their greatly increased use of mobile phones etc. ☺ Peoples’ tsunamis. The vibration of molecules is the force behind a tsunami. Hence, people can create a tsunami against anything they wish to change - it is called “people power”.
! 206 of 228 ! ☺ Praying for Nelson Mandela. There is no benefit to Nelson Mandela in his continuing to live unless, of course, it is his expressed wish to do so, therefore those praying for him to live are doing it to satisfy their own needs unaware of their selfishness. ☺ External orifices of the human body. There is an old cautionary adage that counsels against putting into one’s ear anything smaller than one’s fist. This applies equally to the five orifices in males and the six in females. In the beautifully designed human body each external orifice is precisely designed for specific purposes so to put any orifice to any other use is both irresponsible and reckless in almost all instances. ☺ Killer balloons. Despite the awareness that exists of the carnage to wildlife in and above the oceans caused by ordinary rubber balloons and their attachments we continue to entertain ourselves, or celebrate, by releasing these singly and in their thousands, often with lethal strings or ribbons attached. The media, of course, give this no publicity because such publicity is not revenue generating. ☺ Racism and anti-people feelings. What is interesting about racism and other anti-people feelings is that they cease to exist when one gets to know the other. Thus, they are unwarranted in the first place. ☺ The spoken English language. Whilst often inexplicable changes in English continue here are two spoken examples I heard from a commentator at the current Wimbledon tennis championships: “ . . . whether he’s got the capability to . . . .” instead of ‘whether he can.’ “ . . . . to get some time to be able to . . . .” instead of ‘to’. ☺
!207 of 228 ! The streams of life. There are two streams of life: the visible, conscious one above and the invisible, unconscious one below. The first empties periodically into pools of experience and the second continues unbroken to its inevitable, superlative destination. ☺ Functionality and aesthetics. Functionality before aesthetics is a good attitude to hold. ☺ Mind readers. After some incident or series of incidents it is surprising how many people, including “experts”, seem to know exactly what went on in the minds of those involved in the incident or series of incidents. ☺ The spoken English language. The word “possibly” is now often replaced by “arguably” - the replacement of a nonconfrontational word with an confrontational word. Is this a reflection of our mentality? ☺ Three words of wisdom. Three words of wisdom too often ignored by the majority of people and most of the bodies they comprise: From The Oxford English Dictionary The precautionary principle noun •
the principle that the introduction of a new product or process whose ultimate effects are disputed or unknown should be resisted.
☺ The protection syndrome. (1) Let us call this sort of mindset the protection syndrome. No doubt ever since dogs were wolves they have been picking up and playing with, amongst other things, sticks. Now, we are being told by veterinarians not to give sticks to dogs to play with because the sticks can damage their mouths! Like so many other things this mindset is becoming a mental tsunami. ☺
! 208 of 228 ! Food - leaving well alone. For millennia humans have survived fit and well but since about sixty years ago the “clever ones” decided that we had to add this or remove that and then put it back again - in other words meddle. Wisdom would have decreed it best to leave well alone. ☺ Fear and reason. Fear dispels reason and, used properly, reason dispels fear. ☺ Online shopping. Five of the benefits of online shopping are: 1. Less buildings because less expensive space and equipment are required for display. 2. Considering that most purchases are from sites away from the home, with one person travelling to and from for even one item at times, online purchase deliveries from the final centre to the purchaser is done by one vehicle making multiple deliveries in the same distance or less. 3. Less time consuming. 4. No travel costs. 5. Less stress. ☺ Blind faith. Blind faith is a seed, faith is a bonsai, knowing is the tallest tree, and enlightenment is that tree dead and reverted to its origins in the earth. ☺ Caring. (1) Today at the supermarket checkout I was joking to the checkout lady about having to pull my trolley up the steep hill to my house when an acquaintance standing close by, having overheard what I said, volunteered to take me in his car. I am always deeply moved by such actions. ☺
!209 of 228 ! Power and corruption. “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” is an old adage but this is true only when corruption is inherent in an individual’s psyche and when that individual lacks the strength of conscience to resist its manifestation. ☺ Obesity, food, ethics and profit. One of the visible causes of obesity and over-weight is the abundance of poor quality food knowingly produced by food manufacturers and excessive weight is, apparently, killing more people than other killers like cigarettes whilst some governments and some businesses are trying ineffectually to tackle this problem. However, in the final analysis the answer is to put ethics before profits and the ultimate responsibility for this lies with all, repeat all, shareholders of the companies responsible. ☺ Castles and cathedrals. There are numerous examples of aesthetically pleasing and architecturally admirable buildings in the world but, when viewing such edifices, it is worth remembering that these were often built, by the privileged few, at great human cost of one kind or another. In the case of cathedrals this was often for their own selfish motives though ostensibly in the glorification of God. ☺ Poverty and wealth. Poverty and wealth are both challenges but wealth is the greater because it offers more opportunity for moral error. ☺ The escalating cost of healthcare. A major factor in the alarmingly escalating cost of healthcare in the developed world is the apparent inability of doctors to diagnose without expensive technological assistance although it must be acknowledged that the propensity of people to sue for perceived negligence and/or fault may also be a factor in the use of this technology. ☺ The car habit. The car habit has become so entrenched that the natural walking habit is often almost non-existent. Now, if we need to drop someone off somewhere we have to get as close as we possibly can to the destination even, in some cases, to the extent of illegally or selfishly parking “at the door”.
! 210 of 228 ! ☺ I can’t give that up. ‘I can’t give that up!’ How many times do we hear this; and often when giving it up has major benefits? However, life is a succession of choices, is it not? . . . . . . . . and we are all free to choose. ☺ Climate change and business. There is no justifiable purpose in businesses bleating about adverse effects on them of measures proposed or taken to mitigate the consequences climate change because the alternative is that the adverse effects of probable climate change will affect all life on Earth. ☺ The headlong rush to failure. The mantra of “Consume or perish!” is live and well: China has been building, and continues to build, cities in order to urbanise many of its people to provide its economy with more consumers as a means to boost its economy. This is like a dog chasing its own tail - something no dog has ever been able to sustain. See: http://themilkiswhitepart2.wordpress.com/2010/08/13/civilization-2/ ☺ Exploiting Earthly resources. The deeper we go below the surface the deeper we go into the spiritual mire. ☺ Peace and reconciliation. It is a great pity that the family of Nelson Mandela, a man responsible for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, cannot find peace and reconciliation amongst themselves. ☺ Knowledge and intellect. Having knowledge available on the Internet is not enough; as much as possible it should be “in one’s head” and available in life at all times for instantaneous use of the mind as and when needed.
! 211 of 228 ! ☺ Athletics and sport. The true athletes are those who performed, or perform, with no technological assistance - either external or internal. ☺ Carnage in Syria. The carnage and suffering in Syria is not only an indication of the abject spiritual failure of all those immediately responsible but also an indication of he abject failure of humanity as a whole and as represented by The United Nations. However, a few will learn from this and that is a measure of success no matter how small: drops of water make up the oceans! ☺ Respect for the land. Aboriginal people respected the land they walked on and it thrived under their stewardship until the current civilization, with its gods, self interest and fixation with tangible wealth, took hold and started exploiting it and the life it sustained so well for millennia. ☺ Caring. (2) I had been looking for Glucosamine tablets or capsules in the shops and had been discussing this with a friend I meet on my morning walks. He said that he would bring a container this morning to illustrate what he was using rather than try to describe the container. This morning he greeted me from a fair distance away by waving something in the air which I took to be the container. Well, it was, but it was also a large one of 200 tablets - AND it was a gift for me! I made the point that it is the thought that counts. ☺ Futurists. Unfortunately, futurists seem to confine themselves to science and technology whilst ignoring, or being unaware of, the spiritual aspect. ☺
!212 of 228 ! Our taste in food. In the developed world how fickle and demanding is our taste in food: gone is simplicity, economy, local and seasonal. ☺ The urge for profit. This urge is so pronounced that industries which damage the Earth and/or the environment do not act to remedy the results of their misdeeds although, to anyone with a modicum of intelligence, humanity - all life - can do without profits but cannot do without its environment. ☺ Animal protectionists. I wonder how many ardent animal protectionists eat animal flesh. ☺ On the birth of a child. I have often wondered why it is customary, in certain parts of the world, to congratulate a couple on the birth of a child to them. ☺ Being civilized. The meanings of the word civilized are all positive as well as its concept so how can we, who consider ourselves to be civilized, be civilized whilst doing the things we are doing and behaving as we do? ☺ For generations to come. The phrase ‘. . . for generations to come . . .’ used often in the past to denote longevity or a permanence of sorts can, sadly, no longer be used with any confidence. ☺ What a lovely day! ‘What a lovely day!’ is an expression often used by us on a dry and sunny day but, for amphibians, worms and creatures of their ilk it is just the opposite! ☺
!213 of 228 ! A royal baby. What is the difference between a baby born to royalty and any other baby? Nothing except people - those caught in an emotional vortex. ☺ Civilizations. Learning about the Australian aborigine some 20,000 years ago I am struck by their profound awareness and culture and the fact that, by comparison, the awareness and culture of modern mankind in the “first world” is puny and shallow. The perceived achievements of the latter pale into insignificance in a comparison. The spiritual test of modern mankind was probably to continue to live with this awareness and culture, at no cost to the Earth, with a massively increased population. ☺ Modern spoken English. It seems, from modern spoken English, that the speaker is never going to do something but always going to try to do something: an intention is expressed as an attempt so how does one express the intention to attempt something? ☺ If something needs to be done. If something needs to be done do it - but remember, whether something needs to be done is a decision fraught with difficulty. ☺ Technology. Technology generates human wants which generate new technology making technology self-perpetuating e.g. the car and computers. ☺ Spiritual attitudes. Numerous spiritual attitudes are, in modern culture, considered negative. ☺ Excessive profit. The drivers of the excessive profits so manifest today are the shareholders and the stock markets. ☺
!214 of 228 ! Motivation. Two motivators of mental or physical action are fear and a sense of essential morality. The first is of no spiritual benefit and the second is. Note: The situation of flight or fight is irrelevant here because it is to do with living and dying which are of no spiritual importance in themselves. ☺ The spoken English language. As the word “exactly” appeared with increasing frequency, and unnecessarily, in spoken English the language itself has become increasingly inexact. ☺ The inheritance mantra. The mantra about parents leaving their children a better life than their own is very short-sighted. Project this idea worldwide into the distant future and what do you get? ☺ The solitary journey. In the final analysis our spiritual journey is solitary - those we meet on the way are pilgrims like us but we encounter them for the specific experience and the opportunity to learn from what the encounter presents. ☺ One-eyed. We applaud and look up to a nation’s material accomplishments but ignore or cannot see its moral turpitude. ☺ The modern white grin. Unnaturally white teeth in a mirthless, insincere arrangement of the mouth is the now fashionable “smile”. Yet another artifice. ☺ Gourmet food. Gourmet food can be considered an entitlement but from a bountifully finite Earth and as long as there is no one starving. ☺
!215 of 228 ! The grand red carpet. The grand red carpet, now, often, a hundred times bigger than it used to be, is an indication of inflated egos and money being wasted. ☺ Intellectual slavery and ignorance. Wittingly or unwittingly religions may hold their followers in intellectual slavery and ignorance but none can contain Spirit. ☺ Out of sight, out of mind. The use of insinkerators is a lazy and costly way of waste disposal. Out of sight, out of mind! Passing the buck! ☺ Communication. People are not thinking about what they are saying and neither are television script writers. This is evidenced by rampant repetition of meaning. In many other respects too the speaker/writer is not reviewing the communication for clarity and definition. Is the brain changing? ☺ Patents and copyright. With increased human mobility came patents and copyright, the products of selfishness. Probably the first invention, the chip of flint, was not patented whilst one of the first messages was the thorn through a leaf saying, “I/we went his way.” and this was unaffected by copyright. ☺ How are you? This common greeting is usually perfunctory and, if answered properly and not monosyllabically, would usually take up far more of the questioners time that he or she had intended. Besides, how often do we really know how we actually are? Even a more sensible question like, ‘How do you feel?’ or ‘How do you think you are?’ would, perhaps, require one to carry around a chair on which to sit while the question is answered. How much simpler, and more sensible, is a single word or sign of greeting. ☺
!216 of 228 ! Vibrational harmony - food. The Cayce readings advised that food grown close by is best for the body because all things in a locality were in vibrational harmony (my words) and, therefore, more compatible than otherwise. To me this makes a lot of sense although I cannot pinpoint my reason for it doing so. The fact that we now transport food for thousands of miles, as well as store it for long periods in artificial conditions, is relevant in this context as is the readings recommendation that fruit and vegetables be cooked or consumed within five hours of picking. ☺ Cities. Cities are the creators of much intellectual ignorance about nature and how it accommodates and entertains us. ☺ The purpose of Earthly life. The purpose of Earthly life is to enable us return to our original, fundamental state of tranquility, of blisstasy, through enlightenment. ☺ Illness paranoia. We are actively cultivating illness paranoia whereas, if we were spiritually aware, we would be acting with the wisdom of awareness. ☺ Speculation. Speculation about aspects of life is a waste of time unless a result is known or is a high probability, in which event one can apply the moul to plan or implement. However, if the moul continues to speculate without conclusion confusion and stress will result and both confusion and stress are non-productive as well as being negative in every respect. ☺ Social and environmental problems. With balancing solutions to social and environmental problems the answer lies not in trying to improve both where both have declined or are declining, but to first improve that which provides long term sustainability for the other and that, in this case, is the environment. ☺
! 217 of 228 ! Statesmen. It is significant that in a world of some seven billion people there is no one who even remotely approaches the stature of Nelson Mandela. This is a sad indictment of the majority of those occupying this Earth during the last century; a period during which morality has plummeted, across the planet, where our civilization has touched the people. ☺ Incredible, wasted billions. Mining and exploration companies are spending colossal amounts of money on projects with an estimated life span of a few decades. This is incredible when one stands at a distance. ☺ Crying - tears. What silly taboo makes people ashamed of crying? ☺ Life taken by mining. For every cubic millimetre of earth mined billions of minute living things are destroyed . . . . and observe the capacity of just one excavator bucket! ☺ Fish farming - ocean. Firstly, the long term adverse effects of having millions of large fish artificially confined and farmed in one comparatively shallow spot close to land are unknown and should not, therefore, be allowed. Where nature’s balance is upset the results are usually negative. Adverse effects could easily outweigh any benefits. Secondly, the mechanisation of the harvesting of the fish is done with absolutely no consideration for the fish and what they experience - another example of human disregard for the suffering they cause to other life forms particularly where the motivation is profit. ☺ Lifestyle aspiration. Unfortunately, in the developed and developing worlds, the standard used for what people need is the aspirational, increasingly costly, seen as de rigueur lifestyle so ar-
!218 of 228 ! dently pursued by so many - those many searching for the literal and metaphorical pot of gold at the bottom of the elusive rainbow. ☺ Leaving the forests. When we left the forests we left sustainability behind. ☺ No need to conform. Where there is someone we know well and, therefore, whose condition we know quite well, we do not, for the sake of “keeping up appearances”, need to enquire of others as to the state of that person’s health, particularly where the person in question keeps us informed of their state of health when they feel it necessary. Here is an extract with a bearing on this from The Milk Is White: On the other hand, if we make any decision based on what others may think, we have sold ourselves by handing our well being to others. We make these decisions because of a lack of self esteem in that we are looking to others for approval instead of approving of ourselves and standing on our own two feet in that regard. ☺ Human health. The human race, or at least the “developed” part of it, is not actually getting healthier. The illusion is created by the use of vast quantities of mainly inorganic pharmaceuticals. ☺
Pointing a gun. In the middle of the twentieth century, and before, one never pointed a gun at anyone. This was drilled into gun users for the obvious reason that there was always the possibility that it was loaded and that it could fire. These days I do not know what the practice actually is but on television promotions and advertisements and the like staring down the barrel of a gun is commonplace for the viewer - something likely to give the wrong impression to the young in particular. ☺ Clear communication. Often, to someone with a low level of literacy the wish for clarity of communication by another is pedantic. ☺
! 219 of 228 ! Thank goodness. A conversation between two people early one clear morning. A: What a lovely day! B: Yes, but everything is getting very dry. A: Good for some life but not for others. B. We are not in control of the weather. A: Thank goodness! ☺ Inventions. Anyone can invent something but everyone decides what to do with it. For example take the wheel and explosives. ☺ Meat farming and consumption. As long as there are Earthlings who are attracted to the taste of meat there will be Earthlings who farm the animals for slaughter. This is necessary for both sets to work towards the spiritual goal of unqualified, total respect for all life. ☺ Time. Attachment to things past is pointless because each “time” has its purpose although “time” itself is a mirage. ☺ What to eat. Unlike humans other animals usually know what to eat for their own good. ☺ Human mentality. Human mentality is at an all time low unless it is proportionately as it always has been. If it is the former we are on a slippery-slide to nowhere and if the latter we have not advanced spiritually in millennia. ☺
!220 of 228 ! Shooting wildlife. Shooting wildlife is egocentricity. ☺ The protection syndrome. (2) Would you believe it: “Anti-Bacterial” rubber gloves of the kind used domestically for washing dishes etc? The best protection we could have is the cessation of birth because, with no more births and the death of all existing people, there will be no danger from all the things we now try to prevent. ☺ The invasion of Tibet 1950-51. One karmic reason for the invasion of Tibet was that the people of the world needed the diaspora of Tibetans, in particular the religious orders, to revitalise the spirituality of the “western world” in particular. There were, of course numerous other karmic reasons - the law of karma being all-encompassing. ☺ Money. The necessity to pay for things creates and fosters an elite which is self perpetuating. ☺ Self interest and voting. When self interest in the undeserving dominates voting motivation in an election in a democracy, as is commonly the case, the end result is not in the interests of the deserving. ☺ Radical medical intervention. Radical medical intervention in a person’s health is counter to that person’s spiritual wellbeing and progress. ☺ Traffic congestion. What is the extreme traffic congestion on the roads in developed and developing countries a sign of - what does this indicate - a juggernaut? ☺
!221 of 228 ! Technological trap. We are in a technological trap: there is so much dangerous, or potentially dangerous, to life and health that is constantly being developed and allowed to be used that we are incapable of monitoring it to make wise choices. In this environment some of us carry on uncaringly, others in blissful ignorance, yet others with aggravation and others still just do their best. ☺ Cheating your government. If you ever feel like cheating your government financially, e.g. tax evasion or fraudulent social security claim, remember that the government is the people and that you are, by this act, depriving the people. ☺ Award winners. It is remarkable how many award winners there are - a veritable plethora of them and it seems that anyone quoted, described or otherwise referred to in the media has to be an award winner to be worth anything. ☺ Stones in rice. Anyone who has had the misfortune to bite a stone whilst eating rice in some form will know the feeling: the crack that sounds as if teeth have broken and reverberates inside the skull, the shock, the feeling of wanting to immediately get rid of the pieces - to spit them out. This is the feeling, though not literally, I get when I come across unwarranted foul language in someone’s writing. ☺ Cost. People in general plus governments, businesses etc. prioritise pecuniary cost although the most important cost is that to Earth without which any costs are irrelevant. ☺ The economy. If one thinks that the economy is more important than people because it provides for people one has to just look at the state of the under privileged in countries with strong, or relatively strong, economies. ☺
!222 of 228 ! Spiritual awareness. Some Earthlings, despite an advanced level of awareness of the Reality, live mundane lives with little or no apparent interest or awareness of spiritual matters. This is often because they have a temporary higher priority of eliminating, through worldly experiences, attachments which are holding back overall spiritual growth. ☺ Assad and chemical weapons. There is the law of karma which never fails and is unaffected by diplomatic or political machinations. ☺ Wise use of objects. When the credo of manufacturers is planned obsolescence and others encourage waste, for their profit, it is wise to put objects to their maximum, efficient use and allow the time to do this. This is sound spiritual training. ☺ Aging. The aging of the body is a part of the spiritual experience and, therefore, spiritual growth so accept and accommodate it. ☺ Robotic intelligence. This simply means the transference of information possessed by humans to a computer in, or controlling, a robot. However, human intelligence includes levels - sub conscious and superconscious - out of reach of the mind. Hence, the information transferred to the robot will remain incomplete because it is subject to the limitations of the mind. ☺ Multicultural or multiracial? Neither of these now much used words correctly describes a society formed of a variety of races and ethnic groups so perhaps we should use the adjective human or global to describe such a society, ethic, aspiration, attitude etc. ☺
!223 of 228 ! Ian’s writings on the Internet. To Earthling eyes the appearance of Ian’s writings on the Internet all started c.2000 when I said to Ian, ‘Buy a computer.’ and Ian said to himself, ‘Why do I need a computer?’ but soon after that realised that he had learned to heed these prompts and that he should buy a computer - which he did although he could barely afford even a used one. Then, he mented, ‘What am I to do with it?’ and later decided to attempt to put The Milk Is White on computer while waiting to see what happened next. His trouble was that no sooner had he started to do this than a veritable flood of quotes, as in The ‘Quo Vadis?’ File I & II, started coming to him and he was saying things like, ‘Good heavens, how can I handle all this?’ Eventually, he did manage and not only fully transcribed the book but also set up, with no previous computer knowledge, its pages in the format required for printing and binding. Additionally, he started The ‘Quo Vadis?’ File III. Thereafter, until c.2007, he was generously given the use of equipment in a printing/binding shop to print, collate and bind the pages of the book, for the cost of materials only, until c.2007 when his daughter and a friend of her’s decided to pay for an Internet subscription for him and it was from this point that he started to put his writings into numerous websites, one at a time. In doing this he was reminded of a thought he had when completing the book, or on its completion, that he had in his hands (metaphorically speaking) a beautiful, white, fantail dove which he launched into the air from his cupped hands to settle where it would. ☺ Animal abnormalities & illnesses. With the exception of Homo sapiens in the “civilized” world all animals living naturally have few naturally occurring abnormalities and illnesses. ☺ Assumptions of product safety by self-interested parties. Examples of irresponsible research, technology, manufacture and marketing where long term effects are definitely unknown are: D.P.A. in plastics, probable leaching of metals into body tissues from prostheses, additives to food, numerous pharmaceuticals as well as a long list of previous such products; all indicating that profit, and/or unwarranted haste, comes before safety. People have been, and are, treated like laboratory animals after the cruelty to those animals is finished with. Furthermore, it is a safe bet that this situation, vis a vis animals generally, is repeated in products made and marketed for them. ☺
!224 of 228 ! Discipline. If one lives where there is no shortage of something it is still beneficial for spiritual growth to use it responsibly whilst reminding oneself that there are those for whom it is scarce or virtually non-existent elsewhere in the world. It is a matter of self discipline. There are numerous instances where this principle applies. ☺ The uncaring and the caring. Amongst the widespread mental and physical destruction people commit on their fellows there is the commitment of some people to help, on site and from afar, those in need. ☺ Future food security. Nature’s remedy for overpopulation and the consequential shortage of food has always been population decimation. Despite the arrogant self-belief of mankind there is no reason to conclude that nature will not act normally. ☺ Language. Today I heard a TV presenter ask someone, ‘What is your decision making for doing that?’ instead of the simple and explicit, ‘Why do you do that?’ - five words instead of one! This sort of speech is now commonplace and seems to demonstrate faulty thought processes because any thinking person would be aware, at the time or in retrospect, of what is coming out of their mouth and would endeavour to keep it clear and simple. Is this progress or is the human brain being adversely affected in some way? ☺ The customer is always right. “The customer is always right” used to be, and is still known by some in business, a dictum of good customer relations. However, these days it seems that when a customer has a legitimate complaint, problem or enquiry it is often the business or its representative that is always right with the customer being wrong or an inconvenience. ☺
!225 of 228 ! Theory. Theory is insufficient as a basis for action. As an example we can see in the current appalling state, in Australia at least, of the English language as it is spoken and even written. However, much of the widespread action we see taken is the result of theory being assumed to be fact and resulting in failure - failure often taking decades to manifest - such as in education. ☺ Investment and interest rates. It seems incredible that so many people rush to make huge investments in real estate when interests rates drop apparently unaware that it is normal for these rates to increase - at times significantly. ☺ Little boxes. When people think of themselves as “a good” Christian or Buddhist or Muslim or Hindu or whatever they are simply compartmentalising themselves; putting themselves into a little box with a label when all they need to do is be a good person. ☺ Prolonging human life. The cause of the obsession with prolonging human life is ignorance - ignorance of the reality and fundamental purpose of life. ☺ The immediate future of life on Earth. In the case of the majority of us the preoccupation with things of little consequence distances them from the catastrophic climatic changes ahead, often affecting their descendants more than themselves, so much so that the sober predictions and warnings of scientists seem to fall on deaf ears. ☺ Environment protection. There are big demonstrations against Russia searching/drilling for oil in the arctic ocean but how many of those protesting have minimised their use of petroleum and plastics? ☺
!226 of 228 ! Experts. As an example: The Pope makes a pronouncement or states something important and so-called experts state, “I think he means . . .” or “He means . . . “ without having access to him or his mind. The opinion of the experts often lodges, even subliminally, in the mind of many as fact and is, therefore, attributed to the Pope. ☺ Goodness and evil. When goodness is pitted against evil it is at a disadvantage because it is restricted by itself whilst evil is unrestricted by itself. However, goodness prevails because of its quality. ☺ Communication - language. (4) Heard on a wildlife TV program, ‘A wart hog can run forty kilometres per hour.’ So, was she referring to endurance or speed? ☺ Skyscrapers. The higher they go the less we have our feet on the ground. ☺ Winning. Where self-worth is dependant on winning there is weakness of character. ☺ Service or greed? In charging for a product or service these days it far too often seems that the criterion is, “How much can I make?’ instead of, “How much is fair?” ☺ The Edgar Cayce readings. These readings, whose source was not the mind or an intellectual one, mentioned numerous crucial facts decades before humans became aware of them and acted upon some or became aware of them through science. Examples are: the benefit of bi-carbonate of soda in cleaning teeth; the disadvantages of using aluminium cooking vessels particularly with acidic fruits and vegetables; the need to maintain a slightly alkaline body pH for good health (The readings stated that this pH maintains the human immune system at maximum efficiency); the need to eat a variety of fruits and veg-
!227 of 228 ! etables and recommended a varied choice of colours and those grown above and below ground to achieve this; the removal of gold - a heavy metal - from teeth as it was toxic; et cetera. ☺ Communication breakdown. The challenge of clear communication. Since it seems that the old standard of the written word, and, therefore, the spoken word, the text of books now having been widely superseded by that of texting we have a challenge to re-establish and maintain clear communication before those in the English speaking areas suffer communication breakdown - something, it seems, the majority of those who matter are not aware of. Such a breakdown could be catastrophic though not as catastrophic as climate change or simply irrelevant in that very probable event. ☺ Permanent mental and physical illness. Is “mentally disadvantaged” and “physically disadvantaged” the correct or most suitable term for those of us permanently afflicted with mental and/or physical illness? Would not “mentally impedimented” or “physical impedimented” be more correct and acceptable? The reason for this question is that, spiritually, there is no disadvantage: The impediment is, in fact, an advantage - an opportunity, an experience. ☺ Climbing the spiritual ladder. Following a casual conversation with me on the subject of my writings, and having been given one of my cards with the URL of the website, a lady said, ‘I will read them with an open mind.’ I observed, ‘This may seem arrogant but it seems to me that all questions one might ask are answered somewhere along the way.’ Some time later we met again and the lady said, ‘I want to have a long chat with you about your website.’ which reminded me of what I had said about all questions being answered and it occurred to me that although this was true it might be necessary for some to climb the spiritual ladder in order to “see” the answers. ☺ Three anecdotes about Reiki & Kahuna. 1. The bus driver on the bus I took into town regularly told me that she had only recently returned to her job after being unable to drive because of an acute shoulder problem. Apparently, she had been out of work when a friend suggested that she accompany her to a talk by a reiki practitioner. She was not particularly interested but eventually decided to go.
! 228 of 228 ! At the talk they were seated in the front row and when the speaker wanted someone on whom to point out various points of relevance of the body he asked her, the driver, to oblige. She did so and, as the talk progressed, he pointed out to the audience various parts of the body using her as the dummy. After the talk the practitioner said the her something like, “There is something wrong with your shoulder. I cannot help you with it but go to a doctor and get it x’rayed and they will then see what is wrong and treat it.” She did this and what he said was correct, she was treated, cured and returned to driving the bus. 2. I got to know a Kahuna Master as he was called and he, one day, attended a spiritual group meeting I held in my home and was seated on a settee next to me. At one point during the morning, when I was bending forward slightly, he put his clenched fist in the middle of my back, it it with his other fist and said to me, ‘Now it will be alright!’ without interrupting proceedings. What no one there knew, and what was of no particular concern to me, was that I had some relatively minor chest problem - nuisance value - which did get better. Whether he cured it or I did I cannot say but it is undeniable that he was aware of it without being told! 3. A couple of months after my total shoulder replacement I was at the veterinary surgeons’ surgery and was introduced to a lady who had qualified as a veterinary surgeon but had found an affinity for reiki (I think it was) and decided to practice as a reiki veterinarian. She put an arm round my shoulders when talking to me and then said, ‘Resistance!’ and smiled. Later I realised that she was instinctively aware that I did not really like the metal in my body - a foreign body in my shoulder although I accepted, superficially anyway, the necessity for it and the circumstances in which it all came about - essentially out of my control! ☺ Sainthood. No religious leader or personality who really knows or understands the spiritual reality would allow themselves to be declared a saint. ☺ The Utopia of sexual equality. When contemplating the Utopia of the equality of the sexes we must not forget the biological differences between the sexes which are designed to maximise the mothering and fathering of the offspring in furtherance of perpetuation of the human race. Because of these fundamental differences total equality is unattainable but this is not to say that any unnatural bias or unfairness should not be eliminated. ☺