Preferences

The universe is always giving us something in every moment. What makes the difference between being happy and being unhappy is that we have preferences. The world offers pain and pleasure, joy and sadness. We cannot escape what we are given. We cannot change the way the world is in any given moment. Our having preferences only adds suffering on top of our experience of what is given. When we get what we prefer we suffer that we may lose it. When we get what we do not prefer we suffer over what we believe we should have gotten.

The truth is that we can experience pain without suffering and pleasure without worry that it may end. But we must be willing to live in the moment. We must be willing to fully experience what we are given without thoughts of the past or future. It is only then that we can truly experience being alive.

Living in the moment is a practice that we take on so that we can fully experience being alive. The past is gone there is no life there. There are only fleeting memories of moments that are no longer real. The future is yet to be created. What we seek to create in the future is given by how we are in the present moment. It makes no sense to live in the future. It makes no sense to live for the future.

The Phenomena of Religion & Spirituality

Religion & spirituality
are a phenomena.
They must be making
a living at it;
they're still going!

I learned more about spirituality
digging a septic-tank hole, 9' X 16',
at 15 years of age
in the Outback of Australia.

Knowing nothing
creates wonderment.

I live a wonderful life.
My world is
full of mySelf.
Good fortune to me
that I love mySelf.

I understand
you might want
to help people.
Better to help
yourself.

There is Only Oneness, Tao

Enlightenment is the acceptance that there is no one to be enlightened and as the seeker dissolves so too that which was sought is no longer separate. There is only oneness, Tao.

• Biologically it could be the time delay that the front brain requires to perform its operations that causes humans to be so self conscious and to feel strong separation.
• Linguistically it could be that as we grew up everything we learned was in a language of duality and so we can not think in concepts or explain idea that are not dual.
• Culturally it could be that generations before us have lived in suffering believing they must fear an almighty, that life is preparation for afterlife, that choices are made and reward or punishment ensue.
• Socially it could be that we act in hierarchies, groups, pairs or alone and in all of these roles we reaffirm the false belief that we are a separate part in the greater whole.
• Philosophically it could be that we echo ideas that "I think therefore I am" but fail to question how there seem to be two I's in the same sentence. We trap ourselves in Noun does Verb even when the active and the passive are one.
• Politically we are told that you can drag a cart with two opposing horses and make valuable progress.

For whatever reason they feel it, feeling separate, people will seek reconnection. There is only oneness, there is only Tao, appearing as whatever it appears to be and it is nothing more than an appearance seeming to happen. All that comes goes, nothing that arises in mind has any permanence or reality. All arising will dissolve as the the source is an apparent arising too.

~Tawan

The Compassionate Model of Happiness

Compassion is proven scientifically and in real world cases to be the root of true happiness. All other sources of happiness, such as material goods, activities or relationships, can be taken away and the result is sadness. Compassion cannot be taken away, but it can be ignored. It can be ignored and replaced by selfishness - but we can be compassionate to selfishness too.

A lady sits home alone and the door-bell rings. She is not expecting visitors so she ignores the bell. From the window she sees a man she does not know and she decided for safety to ignore the bell for 20 minutes of ongoing ringing as she selfishly protects herself. Compassion may say that she should answer the call as this person may need help. Compassion for her says she may well be right to ignore the bell as he may have other plans. Compassion for him, even if he has evil intentions, would see that he has a past leading him to such behavior.

Beyond Imagination

Turn away
from the world
& have a look.

You can't make a word
out of one letter.

What is coming
is beyond man's
imagination.

When you are looking
for something
you need a world
to look for it in.

Staying open to the unknown
in life
is the formula
for living life to
its fullest.

Once you fill up
all your time,
you're out of it.

In my life,
anything that
isn't positive
has to go.

God's Plan

I had a friend named Ernie, when I was 20, who was several years older than me. I enjoyed Ernie because he often asked philosophical questions of me that really made me think. One afternoon I had dropped over to talk and he said. “Michael, what is it you really want to do with your life? Do you have a plan for your life?” I thought for a minute and I said, “I want to be able to go anywhere, and do anything with anybody.

After a few seconds Ernie looked at me and said “It sounds like you want to be like a sailor who sails the world with a girl in every port.” His response was not a surprise because Ernie and I often talked about girls. “No Ernie”, I said, “It’s bigger than that, I meant it exactly as I said.”

There is a creation myth that tells us how before there was anything, there was only Oneness. In the myth Oneness is alone. There was nowhere to go, nothing to do and no one to do it with? So Oneness thought, I will make a plan, I will create an endless universe of infinite wonder and fill it with beings of infinite curiosity. I will endow each of those beings with the power to create unlimited possibility. I will create a game of hide and seek and hide myself in every corner of the universe and in every being in the universe. I will pretend that each of those beings is not me. I will make love and connectedness the goal of the game. And to make the game seem absolutely real I will forget where I have hidden myself. The game will play out through eternity until all the pieces, through seeking love and connectedness, have again found that they are all just me playing a game of separateness with myself. Then I will not feel alone.

Several eons passed and Oneness thought, what if I make a mistake?

Several eons passed and Oneness thought, if all is Oneness and Love there cannot be a mistake.

Several eons passed and Oneness declared, "Let there be a universe where I can go anywhere, and do anything with anybody."

Several eons passed and it was so.

 

~Michael Jenkins

Path with a Heart

I was re-reading several of my Carlos Castaneda books from the ‘70’s and I came across the passage below:

Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question. This question is one that only a very old man asks.

My benefactor told me about it once when I was young, and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it. I will tell you what it is: Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long, long paths, but I am not anywhere. My benefactor’s question has meaning now. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it does not, it is of no use.

Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart the other does not. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path.

Guru Om - The Catalyst

The Destroyer of Ignorance

If you don't want to resist
then you'll have to trust.
If you don't know
where you are going
you have 2 options.
Resist/Trust.

I do not need
another signpost.
You only need signposts
if you've left home.
They help you
find your way back.

You are either responsible for everything
or you are responsible for nothing.
Once you have made your decision
you will not be in need of help.

Only True
Human Beings
will survive.

What use is love
without lovers?

Shower me with love &
you'll get everything.
Inflict violence on me &
you will get nothing.

Letting Go

Hanging on is a painful process.
Letting go alleviates suffering.

All conversations
are with the Self.
Imaging otherwise
is delusion.

Everyone lives
in a world
of their
own making.

Victims are controlled
by their creations.

Go back to your first memory & then take one more step backwards and you will know what you are & where you come from. That's if you're interested. If not, dream on.

A projector projects
lights onto a screen.
When the light is intense
it burns out the screen.

Nothing
to project
pictures on;
That is I.

Wanting What?

The worldly man knows what he wants & gets it. I don't know what I want, therefore,
there's nothing to get, otherwise,
it would be nagging me to manifest.

All want
derives from
a sense of lack.

Trying to
fill the hole
with an abundance
of desires
is endless.

Any idiot can
live in the world
with desires;
try living
in your world
with no desires.

The desire to live
is the messenger
of death,
Longing to be happy
is the outline
of sorrow.

Next time a desire
starts nagging at you
ask yourself,
"Would I be prepared
to die for it?"

The Times

We are at a time of great change within our consciousness. People are beginning to see the illusion for what it is, which is control. Many of you are beginning to finally shed the ego which controls you, and live in your heart center. When you begin to live within the heart, the communication of 'divine thought-forms' will become easier and easier. Fear is the companion of the ego. When we live in the heart, and WE ARE controlling the ego, our possibilities become limitless.

There will be many changes in the next few months. Those who are heart centered will have the ability to go within and ask for guidance. You will be able to discern what is Love and what is Deception. You will be able to see cleansing, where others see disaster. Being within your heart center is what is needed the most at this time. It will allow you to see things as they are, not what you are told by another. Your heart center is your connection with the divine, and therefore will never lead you astray.

How do we get there? First we must accept we are far greater than we were told. You are an infinite amount of energy with limitless possibilities. It is up to you to fine-tune your personal awareness in the universe. You are the writer, the actor, and the producer of your life. Nothing would have been brought upon you in this life without your divine permission. It is never a 'curse' when things go wrong. God gives us what we need, not what we desire. The two (needs and desires) are almost never compatible while living in the ego. You are a divine being with a divine purpose.... Accept it.

The Man of Peace

The Man of Peace is the most dangerous.
The Man of Peace can stop wars.
Wars cannot disturb the Man of Peace
So Sayeth I
The Man of Peace.

It's a disaster to be born.
Living is the challenge.
Live the simplest way possible.
You will never be the loser.
Losers are losers because
they have lost their simplicity.

If you really
want to help them,
leave them alone.

The only man who can help
is the one who has destroyed
all his concepts about helping.

The only one who can love
is the one who has destroyed
all his concepts of love.

'Lead me
not into
temptation'.

Leaving them alone
goes beyond do and don't.

God helps those
who help themselves
is absolutely true.

Awakening

~Irish Indian

Electric Cities

When the electricity goes out
there will be no more electric cities.

The world
is God's
Grace.

The rot & corruption
come out
of a Society that's had it
too easy.

In society,
that's one of
the obsessions;
shape & form.

When the Unknown
becomes aware
of the Known
it makes it
as itself.

When the Impersonal
becomes aware
of the Personal,
the Personal
becomes Impersonal.

What are people working for? Are they not slaves to their desires? Can you imagine how much free time you would have for yourself if 50% of your desires just fell away?

The Sweet Mystery of Life

To solve the Mystery of Life
one has to be interested in it.

Without interest
there is no solution.

The solution
dissolves
ignorance.

Like it or lump it
I AM THAT.
I had to get used to it,
now you get used to it.

Thinking includes the mind,
contemplation excludes it.

If you want to find out
what the nature of something is,
look at it without thought.

Thoughts are waves.
Waves distort Reality.

Asbestos Head Chapter 7 - Kindness of Strangers

Joseph Head
-Kindness of Strangers-

Asbestos leaves the trailer park and proceeds toward Main street. He passes a large animal farm and from out of nowhere is caught in the jovial farmer's enthusiastic embrace. He squeezes the bejesus out of Asbestos and immediately apologizes:

"I'm Sorry. I have an overwhelming impulse to hug everyone I see. Please don't take it personally unless that makes you happy."

"No problem." Asbestos smiles and continues.

“Problems. You know son, problems that can be understood beforehand lose their ability to be problematic. So I always consider the worst in order to weed out potential mishaps before they happen.”

Asbestos stops. “That sounds depressing and pessimistic.”

“It’s not pessimism. It’s far-sighted optimism. Intentional cogitation on negativity eventually neutralizes its ability to affect you, so simply pondering potential problems like broken trust, loss of love, death, jealousy, guilt, disappointment and all other negative emotions you're able to vanquish without the anguish of experiencing their gut-wrenching depths. When I was your age, I rode an emotional roller coaster that dragged me up and dropped me down from great heights. Then there was a mid-life plateau in my ride until I realized: Strong minds change one’s emotions whereas weak minds allow emotions to change their ideologies. If you want to understand yourself and experience clearer, more intense emotions, you have to examine all that is unconscious about your changes in emotional states. By examining your own behavior and refining your reactions, emotions become a playground, not a roller coaster."

"Are you saying you’re just happy all the time?"

"I’m not happy all the time, but whenever I’m not, I know it’s my own damn fault. I used to blame other people, events and situations for my subtle discomforts and unhappiness. Blame the cook for bad food, the waiter for serving it slowly, blame the other people in line, blame the other cars in traffic, blame the government for not reading my mind, blame my friends and family for the shortcomings I created: blame my father for being so aggressive, my mother for being so passive, my whole extended family for being so sheltered. It’s so embarrassingly easy to find reasons why others cause your unhappiness. The real challenge is accepting the truth - the truth that every time you feel anything but utter bliss, it’s your own damn fault. Every single time I feel any emotion other than happiness, I see a deeper problem about myself."

Free Society?

If we live in a free society,
then why do we need police?

There is no
such thing as
urgency in death.

Once one has that power of feeding someone you had better be very cordial to them. If you bite the hand that feeds you, then it won't feed you! It's always good to know who controls the food & water supply.

Actions
will always
give you away.

The easiest way to find out
what you are is to
negate everything
you are not.

From the Source

If you want
a relationship
with someone,
use their name.

It's all practice.
No matter what
happens in life,
maintain stability
or else you'll sink.

There is only a need
for man-made laws
when one doesn't
follow God's laws.

When politics
divide people,
they are conquered.

You are your own last hope.
If you live in hope
then you will die in hope.

The Harvest of Souls

Basil Stewart in the 1929 publication of the "Mystery of the Great Pyramid," suggested that a very, very ancient “common source” (a person, group, culture, etc.) before the Egyptian culture was responsible for the building of the Great Pyramid. The purpose of building the Great Pyramid was to enshrine their knowledge and understanding of the mysteries they knew for future generations. The structure like the Great Pyramid was chosen since it would remain unchanged and uncorrupted over the generations. Written and oral records would not be satisfactory since they can be changed and edited very easily over time. It would be more difficult to corrupt a large brick structure. This knowledge now finally being unlocked is mentioned in The Law of One transcripts. The only accompanying text (with what modern researchers would state ) to the pyramid would be the Egyptian book of the Dead. In this book it states that the pyramids were built by the "sun gods". According to the Law of One these were built by Ra and company who were 4D beings from Venus that were here to help their "brothers and sisters" (us) along. This was prior to the cycle we are in now. We were different from the former experiments. We (being pieces of the creator) decided to try out what 3D would be like but with an extreme "dualistic view". Each incarnation is intended to be a course in the Creator knowing Itself.