For Those Who "ponder" the Purpose of Life... If life has a purpose?

 Let us begin with this question?   Is the Soul of Man immortal... and if it is, is the reason we can't find the Soul the fact that it is other than physical?    And if it is both immortal, and not physical... then what is it, and how does one go about finding that which is not physical?   Or do we simply ignore the Soul?  ...and at what cost?

If life has a purpose, could the reason we don't know what that purpose is possibly be the fact that one's brain is a physical muscle located in one's skull?  And one's Soul is composed of Pure Spiritual Energy, which is entirely Invisible to one's brain and one's physical senses... and we have no idea where the Soul is located? 

Second question... more or less.   How much of oneself is Invisible to one's brain?  Would it surprise you to learn that three-quarters of oneself are energy realms or dimensions which are invisible to one's brain and physical senses?  See sketch:

Note please that the whole of oneself comprises four entirely separate realms or dimensions, each with its own range of vibrations.  The only one we can see and think about is the physical dimension, which includes one's brain, with which we think.  It's  circle #1.

This means that regardless how much intelligence you have, your brain is always incapable of perceiving #2, #3, or #4.  So, how does one investigate these three parts of oneself that are Invisible to #1?  You obviously must use something capable of perceiving the otherwise Invisible energy of #2, #3, or #4.  What could that be?

I suggest that what is capable of perceiving #2, #3, and #4 is a faculty of one's Soul called "Intuition".  And Intuition is associated with one's level of Consciousness, which is a special kind of Knowledge, which is another name for Consciousness. And still another name for Intuition would be "Attention," which is a special part of one's Soul... which incorporates one's MIND [which is responsible for the overall administration of the Law of Karma relative to every Soul [regardless what life form a Soul happens to possess in this lifetime]?

 I also suggest that the Purpose of Life is for each Soul to slowly work its way up the Ladder of Life (evolutionary growth) by acquiring Consciousness [Knowledge] by Completing Karma.  And think of "Intuition" as becoming active when a Soul has acquired a sufficient amount of Consciousness (Knowledge or Experience) so that the Soul acquires "discretion and understanding" by way of experience.

So,when you come across a person who seems to be more Enlightened than the average person... the reason is that person's Soul has acquired more Consciousness than other people one meets.  But most people who are Enlightened do not realize they are "different" that other people. At least not during the first few lifetimes of being Enlightened, because becoming Enlightened requires a great many lifetimes in which one has struggled to engage in more positive Karma than negative Karma.

A great book about this topic is "The Path of the Masters," by Julian Johnson, and this is available in many libraries.

Peace, 1 Brother James

RELIGION VS SPIRITUALIY...What's the difference?

 The difference between Spirituality and religion is the same exact difference as between Reality and Illusion.  That is, Spirituality deals with Reality, while religion deals with the Illusion.  But, you may ask... how does one know what is Real, as opposed to that which is part of an illusion?   Well, that which is Real is permanent, and it does not change... ever.

We have relative truth, and we have Absolute Truth.  What's the difference?

Relative truth changes, and Absolute Truth is an absolute and never changes... and we don't have to worry about Truth... since Mystics tell us that Truth does not exist on the physical plane of existence.  If Truth does not exist on the physical plane, how then does anyone "Know" if Truth actually exists?  How does one know if what one believes to be true is true or not?  Again, if what you believe to be  True does not apply to every situation to which you apply it... then it is  either not the Truth, or... your understanding of Reality is lacking in some respects?

A simple test for Truth is this:  If what you think is Truth is not always applicable to  every situation,  then what you think is true is either not the Truth, or your lacking in your understanding of Reality?  Because the essential definition of Truth is that is is an absolute and it is always True in every situation.

Finally, at least to put an end to the question of Reality or Truth...  If what you believe to be the Truth is always True, then it is the Truth. On the other hand, if what you believe to be Truth does not "fit" certain things, then what you have is relative truth, which is part of the Illusion of life.

The person who believes in God is not necessarily a person who KNOWS that God is Real, and  may simply be someone who believes in God ... since we cannot prove that God does not exist.   Such a belief is an "intellectual" belief.  It is the really rare person who believes in God because God is Real, and that person has access to Truth from "Within" him or herself which convinces him or her of his or her Truth. 

I use the "Within" label to indicate that the only source for something that is TRUE can only be found  "Within" a person... via his or her faculty of "Intuition".   In other words, Truth Only exists "Within" a person... and  is Invisible to one's brain and physical senses.  And one's faculty of Intuition is a part of one's Soul, or what the term Consciousness refers to. Check out the sketch...

 The brain is directed by the MIND, and is unaware of the Spiritual dimension of oneself, and is confined to the physical dimension.  Intuition is unique in that it can perceive all dimensions of Man, and it is an aspect of one's Soul.  Attention is an aspect of one's Soul, and out of habit... tends to operation from one's brain.

The difference between religion and Spirituality?  Religion is of the brain, orchestrated by the MIND, and is purely intellectual [the brain].  On the other hand, Spirituality is an aspect of one's Consciousness, operating as an aspect of one's Soul, based on the level of one's Consciousness, and is KNOWN by one's faculty of Intuition.  Intuition might be thought of as one's level of Enlightenment.  As one's Soul acquires Consciousness [by Completing bits of Karma], this is converted into Knowledge, and this Knowledge is available to one via one's 'Conscious Awareness' or what Philosophy refers to as the "Self".  And one's level of Knowledge is known as Enlightenment... which enables one's faculty of Intuition.

So, does Truth actually exist on this physical plane? Well, it more resides "Within" a person whose level of Enlightenment is sufficient to provide that person with an active faculty of Intuition.  Enlightenment is a great deal more important than what we in the West imagine it to be.

Peace, 1 Brother James

WHAT IS PREJUDICE, RACISM AND HATE... and where do these conditions COME FROM?

 These grossly negative emotions are elements that make a person's life a most painful and discouraging trip throughout one's lifetime... although what causes these ugly conditions are hidden "Within" one's MIND as deeply repressed emotional traumata [plural of trauma].   But where do these elements come from is the question of this blog... if, as I say, they are repressed deep "Within" one's MIND [which is quite invisible to oneself]?

And since what causes these 'conditions' are repressed emotions hidden "Within" one's MIND [or what I refer to as one's "I-MIND"(... and the Capital "I" stands for Invisible). That is, your I-MIND  consists of two subtle bodies of energy, one is referred to as the "Astral" realm - Lower MIND,  and the other is called the "Causal" realm - Higher MIND,  and neither of these subtle energy realms is physical.  Note the sketch:

#2 and #3 are both invisible to the brain and one's physical senses, represented by #1.

 

 

 But let me begin this blog by sharing a strange thing I remembered this morning during my meditation.  In High School, my two best friends were both named Sam.  One was a Jew, Sam S., whose Father was a psychologist [divorced from Sam's mother, a lovely lady named Sally], and the other Sam, Sam T., was a combination of half American Indian [ his mother], and half German, [his father] who was in Construction.  And each Sam was as different from the other as you can imagine.  And each Sam was a friend for different reasons.  Sam S. was a friend because he didn't have many friends, and Sam T. was a friend because he took pity on how naive I was regarding football.  Sam T. was a tackle on the football team, which I joined a week late, in my bathing suit... while all the other players all had their uniforms.  Sam T. stepped forward and volunteered to work with me on the  "warm up exercise scheduled for that day":   A player would run at another player and be tackled. Sam T. saved my butt by going through the motion... 

And Sam S. was a photographer, and didn't have many friends, so he kind of befriended me as a way of relating to the people I knew.  But back to the negative emotions of Prejudice, Racism and Hate.  What is an emotion and where does it come from?

An emotion is a repressed bit of trauma, hidden

"Within" one's MIND [which means invisible to] one's brain or conscious memory.  When stimulated, the energy of that repressed emotion is "vented" by the MIND in some habitual  physical behavior that is designed to not reveal the repressed trauma. And the behavior tends to become "habituated".  And the trauma [ or actual source of the behavior] remains unknown to a person... until it is time to be discovered via Gestalt Psychotherapy or by natural means.

The "trauma" (singular), or traumata (plural), is virtually always a [misperception], which is my label for a mistaken belief by one's I-MIND taken-on in early childhood.  And it is almost always negative in nature.  A gifted Gestalt therapist can help a person discover a bit of trauma when that trauma is "ready" to be revealed.  This means when the negative Karma associated with that bit of trauma is completed. [As you sow, so shall you reap].

Alas, there is a diminishing number of Gestalt therapists today who are capable of facilitating this process due to the denial of the MIND by modern psychology since the early 1900s.  Soon, it is likely that the practice of actual Psychology will soon be entirely lost.  Yet another reason for Armageddon...  and the start of a new series of Ages, beginning with a new Golden Age.

My point is this... those people who are prejudiced, racist, or hateful are like this because the I-MIND "Within" them holds some traumatic memories picked-up in early childhood.  The I-MIND "Within" them must run its course, so to speak, before the Souls "Within" them are "ready" to rise above the I-MIND with its repressed misperceptions ... to embrace a level of Forgiveness of themselves based on a higher level of Consciousness [Spirituality]. 

I have mentioned in previous blogs that the Soul is immortal, and thus, when we die, we find ourselves in our Astral body, and we are taken to the Astral realm, where we spend some time before being "incarnated" into the physical plane once again.  In the Bible, this process is referred to as "a new Heaven and a new Earth".

I hope this blog will help clarify what "causes" these painful actions by people who are suffering from deeply repressed Misperceptions taken-on by the I-MIND "Within" them in early childhood.  The entire thing is simply part of the Law of Karma, or that which is helping we human beings slowly rise up the latter of maturation as Souls... as we experience what we have done to others in the past, and will hopefully "learn" to avoid doing in the future?

Peace, 1 Brother James   ...seeking God's Forgiveness, and Love.

ABOUT THE SYMBOL "NSgy"...

.... is really important.
  

About a decade ago, while I was attempting to develop a  structure for a Psychology that dealt with the "Whole Human Being," or WHB... I was aimlessly doodling on a piece of paper when I suddenly wrote down three terms:  "Neutral, Spiritual, and Energy".  At that time, I had no idea what these terms meant?

But following a habit I have to symbolize or shorten things, I did this with these three terms... using the first letter of two of the terms, and the last two letters of the third term.  Neutral, Spiritual, and Energy... thus making the symbol "NSgy".  So, I created the symbol "NSgy," which stood for the three terms... which stood for?  I had no idea at the time?

A few months went by, during which I discovered what my new symbol meant, as it provided me with a solution to my problem with my new concept of Psychology. My "problem" was this:  How does a person maintain his or her "Attention" in the brain while simultaneously exploring the MIND, which is invisible to the brain? And the reason a person would want to do this?  It is the only way to reveal deeply repressed bits of trauma hidden deep "Within" one's MIND... that once discovered, a person can then eliminate that bit of trauma from "causing" an unwanted pattern of behavior... [ the behavior is actually the means by which that person's MIND "vents"  the negative energy being stimulated "within" that repressed bit of trauma].

  This "discovery process of a repressed bit of trauma" is a necessary part of effective Psychotherapy that helps a person eliminate unwanted negative behavior.  This is well-known by a competent Gestalt Psychotherapist, by the way.

 My symbol "NSgy" therefore stands for the primordial Energy of Existence, which we in the West call "God".  That is, "NSgy" is the Energy of God, and we Souls.  And "NSgy" is like nothing I knew about at the time.  That is, the concept that something could exist and yet be entirely Invisible to Man [and not even part of the Creation]... did not register with me as an actual possibility.   But I was not alone in my ignorance of NSgy!   Who would imagine that the entire Creation was Created by God using what the Bible refers to in Genesis 1:2 ... And the earth was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.   In other words...God Created the Creation using that which Man refers to as "void," or "darkness," (which would seem to most people as "nothing"). This nothing is often spoken of as "Spirit".  It is Invisible, but it does exist.

So, when a Mystic says that the Spirit of God is "Within" Man, the Mystic is not being euphemistic, the Mystic is referring to something that Man  defines as "void" and "darkness".  Something that many religions refer to as "Spirit"... while not bothering to explain nor define the term "Spirit". 

Now you have a symbol for the term Spirit.  The symbol is NSgy, or Neutral Spiritual Energy, which is the Energy of God, and one's Soul.  And in Man, the one element in Man that can interact with NSgy is one's faculty of "Intuition," which is an aspect of one's Soul.  And should you have a 'sense' that God is speaking to you, what is likely "hearing" God is your faculty of Intuition.  But in the West, there is very little mention of the faculty of Intuition.  We are taught instead to rely on the brain, which is confined to the physical realm entirely.

I have been meditating for over 40 years, and little did I realize that my meditation is the single best way of developing one's faculty of Intuition!  I didn't realize this until recently, and I now have an added incentive to meditate.  ...another term for meditation is "worship"... perhaps you did not realize this?

Peace, 1 Brother James

WHAT IF WHAT WE THOUGHT WAS REAL... is mistaken?

 How many people in the West know what the Purpose of Life is?  Or that Life has a Purpose?  Or, that the Creation is a really exquisite kind of "finishing school" for Souls?  However ... precious few Souls realize what the Purpose of Life is, or that they are in school, and the principal of this school is a kind of Perfect Robot called the "Law of Karma"?  And of course this sounds like nonsense, right?

Nonetheless, what I am suggesting is what we are all experiencing.   And your MIND, which I refer to as an "I-MIND"... [and the "I" stands for Invisible] in the sense that your brain is incapable of discerning your I-MIND.   Oddly enough, despite how often the MIND is spoken of by people, your I-MIND isn't part of your physical body. And since it isn't part of your physical body, it easily eludes discovery by our physical senses.  Your I-MIND consists of two subtle energy forms, neither of which is physical. The next sketch illustrates the four elements which comprise the Whole Human Being, or WHB:

#1 is what we can see and think about.  #2 and #3 are the two elements of your MIND, and #4 is the Spiritual part of Man, which we call Soul.  #2, #3, and #4 are all Invisible to the physical part of oneself... which is the reason so few people have ever discovered #2,#3, and #4.  Oddly, those people who have discovered #2,#3, and #4 never seem to Reincarnate.  That is, they are not born again on the physical plane?  Where do they go?

So, #1 is quite a bit for us to deal with, and we are to be forgiven for not "knowing" the Whole of ourselves.  And the Mystics tell us that God indeed does forgive us, not because we don't know any better [which is true], but because God is Love, and the Reality of Love is that it  is an absolute... consisting of two important elements:  Acceptance and Forgiveness.  The attainment of these two elements, by the way... is what we Souls are in the Creation to "learn" [among other things, of course].

Therefore...it is great to believe that if one is "good," one will go to Heaven, and live in Heaven forever.  But wait a moment.. Heaven is not where God resides.  Heaven is merely in the Astral Region of Creation, and God resides in the Pure Spiritual Region, which is not part of the Creation.  Check out this sketch:

And please note that #4 is the same as the Primordial Energy of  Existence, which means it is not part of the Creation, which exists as a small part of Existence. Again the only part the brain can perceive is the physical part. This means #2, #3, and #4 are all invisible to #1.  And what we refer to as Heaven is in #2, and it is not a permanent residence.  Reincarnation is a term that means being born again.  Which we all do, except when a person "graduates" from the school none of us realize we are attending...  The Soul is immortal, and only our physical body dies.   And there is more to tell.

Peace, 1 Brother James

There appears to be two types of people in the world...

 TWO TYPES ?  1.  Those who desire to be wealthy so that they can "control people" by use of their wealth as a means to do so.   And the second type are  those people  who love God and thank God for whatever "gifts" he has bestowed upon them... the use of which enables them to help others.

In the "East" [as opposed to the "West"], there are a great many people who are raised to believe in God, and to believe that it is God who is in charge of everything Man can do and know.   In the West, people who live in the East are often thought of as uneducated,  backward, and not as "advanced" as people in the West.  And part of what causes people in the West to believe this is a term called "Ego".  The common characteristics of  Ego are pride, ignorance, and vanity (and vanity is a natural  result of a person whose only belief in God is "intellectual"),  that is, someone who "thinks" that there is a God because others have told this person that  God does exist, and that God has a Son, called Jesus.  So the intellectual in the West,  who is religious, "thinks" that the religion of Christianity is true... because so many people believe it is true.

What "proof" do they give for this belief?  Well, the shear fact that so many people believe in the religion of Christianity is certainly sufficient to demonstrate the validity of the religion, and thus they are convinced.  The problem of "proof"  still remains for those who are 'hard core' realists, however.  And they tend to be "fence sitters," or people who are no "sure" one way or the other? 

The great benefit of an intellectual belief in God is that a "belief" held "Within" one's brain is "relative".  That is, it can be strongly held, as long as it does not interfere in one's enjoyment of life?  If one's belief interferes with what one desires to do, then one's I-MIND can feed Delusional Thinking to the Left-Hemisphere of one's brain which causes one's brain  to "Think" that what one desires to do is an exception to what one intellectually believes to be true.  Rationalization and justification is a common way of life in the West, and it is based on the "malady of Intellectualism," which refers to the natural overriding of one's brain by one's I-MIND.

 So, the more intellectual a person is [quite commonly], the more that person is like a weather-vane.  That is, capable of shifting his or her beliefs depending upon which way the wind blows?  And being able to shift one's beliefs to accommodate what is beneficial to oneself is thought of as a good thing in the West.  This is, of course a subtle form of lying [at least to oneself]  but then... when no one actually Knows what the Truth is, who is going to call one on one's lies?

so, which type person are you?  One who refuses to alter one's Truths, because to do so is dishonest.  Or are you someone who chooses the truth that is popular at the moment?  It is quite difficult to live an honest life, unless one is "bright" enough to deftly sidestep direct answers that support dishonest statements.  But to do this one must Know the Truth... which is the basic problem, isn't it?

Peace, 1 Brother James

 

The Tragedy of... "Hope Springs Eternal"

 The idea of "Hope Springs Eternal" has a positive ring to it... however, it is unfortunately based on a flawed premise.  One can certainly "hope" for a better future, and many do so.  However...one's hope has precious little to do with what one hopes for!   The future of everyone is entirely based on what each one DOES... not on what one "hopes" for.   All of mankind is subject to the "duality" of life, which is captured quite nicely in the definition of the Law  of Karma:

"As you sow, so shall you reap"!   Which is the definition of the Law of Karma, which is the primary Law Of Creation, which was designed by God, and this Law is simply explained like this:  Whatever you say or do will come back to you at some point,  in some lifetime, and you will be on the receiving end of an exact reproduction of the exact same thing that you did to another person.   And the Law of Karma is an absolute Law that applies to every living thing in the Creation.  And there are no exceptions to this universal law.

So, if you include everything you do as part of what you hope the future will hold for yourself... you are spot on in what you wish for!  Somehow I doubt that this is what we human beings are wishing to happen when we express a hope that the future will be better than one's past!

We can "hope" for a better life, but the wise person will expect the future to be pretty much like one's past... since much of what we do in life is not kind, loving, caring, nor compassionate.  And the one thing we can count on for sure is that what we have done to others will certainly be done to us!  As you sow, so shall you reap.  And there are no exceptions to this, and this law can only  be "paid for" [or Completed]... by "Acceptance" of full responsibility for what happens to oneself in life, and "Forgiveness" of everyone involved in what happens to oneself in this lifetime.

The problem is... to "Complete" a bit of Karma is one of the most difficult things in life for us to do.  And the reason for this difficulty is that to "Complete" a bit of Karma one must [take responsibility for what is taking place, and one must Forgive the person or people involved is what seems to be either an accident, or clearly someone else's fault].  The Law of Karma is a most insidiously subtle operation that causes us to believe that we are always a victim.

But, until you take full responsibility for a bit of Karma, and Forgive entirely all people involved in that bit of Karma, the natural thing to do is to blame others for what is taking place.  And what this does is to send that bit of Karma around again, and in some future lifetime it will come back to oneself.  And guess what happens the next time?  So, Mystics tell us that in each lifetime we live, we create much more Karma than we can possibly "Complete" in that lifetime!

 The result is... we acquire more and more Karma.

Peace, 1 Brother James