THE ABYSS OF FEAR

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OUR IMAGINATION'S DARKSIDE 

 

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about the importance of our imagination and how it can be used to inspire us. You may view this post here, https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/just-imagine  

As wonderful as our imagination might be, it’s important we remain aware of how easy it can be used to serve the downside of our reality.  Imagination can be very powerful in creating the life we experience. What we project onto the canvas of our world will bring us exquisite visions or cause us to dread, defeat and despair. Either way, we end up with the world it creates.

When the imagination is in service to fear, it makes life unpleasant since fright is not a happy emotion. When faced with danger, it's easy for our imaginations to embellish whatever we dwell upon until we become paralysed by fear, often rendering us powerless. As Franklin Roosevelt stated: Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear… is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. 

Let’s look at the root of imagination: Image. So, what images are we projecting onto the screen of our lives that play out in our daily experiences? If it’s the filter of fear that we’re projecting, the images can be frightening indeed. Suffering, deprivation, pain and death; it’s all easy to experience if we allow ourselves to ‘image’ it.  As Nietzsche suggested, if we gaze into the abyss long enough, it will gaze back and very likely frighten us. 

That’s how disease has its way with us. Dis-ease. We are not at ease and so our bodies become weak, losing the ability to fight off what we normally overcome. Many chase cancer into remission while others give up and die. Often, it’s the imagination that makes the difference. If we see ourselves as doomed, we probably are.  The imagination will make it happen even more quickly because it will debilitate the body’s natural defences.

The same applies to financial worries. If a few things go wrong at work, we might imagine being unemployed, or worse yet, losing our family and becoming homeless on the streets. If that’s what we choose to believe and therefore ‘image,’ our imagination can help make this our new reality The good news, is that the imagination can also work for us by reversing itself to inspire us to new horizons and achievements.

So, what’s the trick in getting our imagination to work for us rather than against us? First, we need to know that it projects out of our heart and soul, and therefore we need to protect our imagination from whatever the mind may do. The scriptures say, in effect, guard your heart more than any treasure for it is the source of all life. See the post on this topic: Guard Your Heart https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/guard-your-heart 

This is how we can avoid falling into Nietzsche’s abyss. Once we realize this, we can accept that we are the masters of our destiny and that we live in a benevolent universe. Then, if we allow, our imagination can take us to a happy place.

However, if we imagine we live in a malevolent universe where everything is destined to go wrong, then our imagination will create an unhappy world to make sure we’re not wrong. Understanding this is what will help get us through these times of stress, coercion and deception.

Having faith in what’s highest and best will make it our reality, regardless of our life’s current circumstances. Then, our imagination will cause us to see the silver-lined clouds rather than the dark storm clouds billowing on the horizon. If this all sounds too good to be true, it's because we haven’t allowed our imagination to paint us a picture of what happens after the clouds pass and the sun becomes visible again. If we can imagine the sun breaking through even before it does, it will be easier to weather the storms of life. But if our imagination sees only perpetual darkness, then we will become discouraged and disempowered, robbing us of all hope and resilience.

If we imagine ourselves passing through the shadows and valleys of life, our consciousness will rise to what we have projected. If we don’t have faith but believe we’re at the mercy of the vicissitudes of nature and chance that work against us, then our imagination will likely find several ways to make us right. 

What, then, can we do practically to make sure our imagination is working for us and our happiness rather than the contrary? To begin with, we need to avoid mainstream television news and programming which tends to tilt towards bad news narratives and opinions, seemingly to make us feel like we’re living out the drama of a horror movie… often of our creation. Cutting out much of social media's toxicity is also a good idea.

Our separate ego-mind, which never has our best interest in mind loves to wallow in the negativity of our undefineddark side. That’s how it derives its existence and why we need to avoid its darkness like the plague… a plague that exists in our mind where we imagine everything ten times worse than it is with little hope for the future.

Also, we need to avoid toxic people who delight in perpetrating their ego’s perverse negativity. Let them attract their own; we deserve better. Hang out with people who wish to remain in a good vibe, and they will bring us into their happy space.

While we’re at it, we need to look out for whatever else that will feed our imagination with positive images. You might find some suggestions in this blog that I posted last year. https://digitalbloggers.com/book-reviews/a-higher-vibe  

For example, there are many uplifting novels and movies that lift our imagination out of its negative stupor by making our hearts soar in gratitude. Once we are inspired, our ego won’t be able to conscript our imagination to serve its nefarious ends. There’s no room for it. So, it's up to us whether we wish to feed our imagination with inspiration or with fear.

As an aside, if anyone wishes to listen to some extraordinary music of a high vibe that will inspire the imagination, I would recommend Dimash’s singing performances. If interested, see my posts on him and view some of the videos. https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/beauty-splendor-and-truth 

However, if we prefer to entertain ourselves with low conscious energy that expresses hate and victimhood, there is plenty of music out there (if that’s what you call it) such as some rap or heavy metal anger ‘noise’ can bring you down. These also ignite the imagination, but with nothing that uplifts our spirit. Using discernment with what we subject ourselves to is an important exercise in self-awareness. If it makes us feel uplifted or if it causes us to feel diminished, then that’s all we need to know. Our imagination will take it from there.  

In recent posts, I’ve touched on intuition and inspiration. Our imagination is the best means to inspire our visions and intuition. Fear, however, will use our imagination to douse these rarified qualities like a bucket of water cast on the flames. Fear ruins so much fun in life.

So, more than ever, in today’s psychosis of global fear, we should remain vigilant to counter the negativity with happy thoughts and smiles, although our smiles probably don’t do much good if we hide them behind a mask. Speaking of which, nowhere on earth has there been a peer review study that has shown masks to be a practical deterrent to viruses that can enter through the eyes, ears and skin. With the microbe so minuscule, masks are about as effective as a chain-linked fence keeping sand out in a sand storm. See the reports from OSHA. https://digitalbloggers.com/relationships/just-say-no-to-masks  

Therefore, rather than trampling each other in panic, let’s courage everyone to find ways to counter these imaginings with life-enhancing images and sounds. Much of what’s out there is toxic because it promotes fear in telling us why we should be fearful. These are beliefs, not truths, especially when they project images of doom. I have several blog posts that encouraging us not to fear. These scare tactics, I believe, are contrivances of governments, corporations and the media to promote mass ego flares of hysteria.

https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/nothing-to-fear-but-fear   
https://digitalbloggers.com/book-reviews/fear-posts  
https://digitalbloggers.com/relationships/ego-fear-phantom   

Another thing to watch for is feeling overwhelmed. This is often not the case, but what we imagine. Yes, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when too much is going on. There are many challenges in life that put us in a tailspin, and yet after the fact, we often see how trivial most of these ‘crises’ were. At the time, however, our imagination made them bigger than life.

If, for example, we run out of gas on the highway or have a flat tire in a snowstorm, we can feel overwhelmed because our imagination tells us this is the end of the world… at least, our world. What will come of us? However, when we imagine a positive outcome, we’re often surprised how easily solutions come.

Speaking of running out of gas, I remember running out of gas in New Mexico one night at about midnight when no service stations along the way were open. Before we could imagine anything, the first vehicle that came along, not only stopped but just happened to have a barrel of gas loaded on his pick-up. He pumped our car with lots of gas, didn’t charge us, and we were happily on our way to find a motel.

Having said, that, I should mention this was back in my youthful days and it probably didn’t hurt that I happened to be standing on the road with a couple of young women who were travelling with me to Canada by way of California. Still, what are the odds the first vehicle that came by would have a barrel of gas with a young man eager to help? Maybe he was an angel… sure felt like it. (I could write several books of such vignettes that have occurred in my life).  

Anyway, I don’t wish to minimize more serious concerns or saying there aren’t significant challenges we are sometimes confronted with health, finances and relationship, etc. issues. Yet, even in these situations, the intuition of our imagination might provide us with whatever inspiration we need to solve the problems rather than continuing to dwell in hopelessness and despair.

So, when feeling overwhelmed, I recommend taking 30 deep breaths; exhale and hold for a minute or longer. Then inhale one big breath for 5 seconds, exhale and meditate. That might help you reset the emotions. (This is called the Win Hoff Method as explained by Wim Hoff on YouTube).

I conclude with a short excerpt from Book Five of Elysium’s Passage novel series. This incident illustrates how defeated our imagination can cause us to feel when we fall into the grip of fear. Though there was light to show him the way forward, James, the protagonist, doesn’t open himself to the hope it offered. Rather, his imagination causes him to fall further into despair… all too human.

Fortunately, a time comes when he does ‘awaken.’ Hopefully, humanity will soon do the same in this current world of fear and despair.

Chapter 1, Mystical Romance

As I continued to shuffle ahead aimlessly in the dark, all at once something happened that changed everything. Suddenly, there was nothing under my feet and once again I felt myself plunging into an abyss, this time a long dark shaft.

In shock, my mind relapsed to tumbling down the Summit’s chasm. This plunge, however, felt different, as though I was suspended in time, floated into oblivion as I fended off, real or not, taunting demons, ghosts, dragons and monsters that I had encountered on the island.

At some point, I must have hit bottom, but by then there was nothing left to me… no dream, nothing at all, just as my spirit remained unconscious at the bottom of the Summit’s chasm.

Terror gripped me. I would die. Not just my body, but my soul… alone and abandoned, I would die trapped in this tomb of everlasting darkness. Words echoed in my mind from long ago: Das Nichts Nichte.[1] Nothingness, nothingness, nothingness. My first fall stripped me of my earthly body, but now it seemed I had been stripped of what little spirit was left of me. I had been laid bare; an empty shell. 

I tried to get up, but with these thoughts terrorizing me, I collapsed to the ground, gripped by a swirling paralysis of fear. Was this a dream I fell into or was I in a dream falling? It didn’t matter; I had lost my soul in the darkness. Death was upon me; I would soon be no more.

There’s no way of telling how long it might have been; was it three days? I don’t know, but somehow it felt it might have been. As I awakened, I noticed a faint glow of light shining from somewhere beyond my sepulchre.

Then, out of nowhere, I heard footsteps approaching me, and with that, a soft glow of light faintly shined through a wedge in my tomb. I felt its presence within a silhouette of light.

A man entered, and stood before me in silence. With a gentle smile, he greeted me as though I had met him before; still, I had no idea from where he came. He didn’t say a word but spoke to me with his thoughts.

‘Fear not, James,’ he said, ‘you are not alone. This has never been revealed to you before, but I’m telling you now that you are never alone. In confronting your final fears of death, you have laid them aside and they are no more. You came here to conquer, and so have you conquered your final fear, the death of death. Had you not, you wouldn’t have awoken. You may now arise… a new man to walk the earth.

He offered his hand, just as Eli had offered his while rescuing me off the ledge where I was trapped. I grabbed his outstretched hand and rose to my feet, as though risen from the dead.

‘Whether you ascend to the heavens or descend into the hells, he said, my spirit is always with you. There’s nothing to fear. If you believe what I say, you will follow me. If you don’t, you will remain here as you are until you are ready. It is your choice. It’s always your choice.’

He then turned and walked back through the tunnel. As he disappeared, my dazed and blurry mind tried to convince me this was just an apparition of my addled imagination. I was mistaken; it wasn’t real. None of this was happening; I was delusional… I was insane. Worse, I was alone. More alone than ever.

 [1] Translated from German as The Nothing nothings, a phrase imputed with profound meaning by Martin Heidegger, a seminal philosopher of the Continental tradition.  

             

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SUMMARY OF ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE NOVEL SERIES


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This is the first in a series of five Elysium narrations regarding a young British philosopher named James Phillips, who finds himself living in an altered state of reality while still remaining on earth.  

After experiencing a near-fatal fall while climbing to the summit of a remote mountain in the Andes, James awakens in a new dimension. He soon encounters two mysterious beings who provide him with a very different perspective on the nature of his existence. Over the next year, before his body recovers from the coma, he is challenged to re-examine his understanding of life’s meaning and purpose far beyond anything he previously believed or could believe.

An engaging and sometimes surreal adventure with intimations of impending romance, the narrative explores the most important questions about life, death, reality, and our ultimate destiny. 

The Plains of Elysium (Champs-Élysées) was described by Homer, Hesiod, Virgil, and many other poets as the paradisiac afterlife realm reserved for heroes. As the title suggests, this is about a journey through a passage that leads towards Elysium’s exciting realm of adventures.

To read a sample press review at https://www.prweb.com/releases/2018/05/prweb15515775.htm   

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The following comments are excerpts from among the first readers, including a number of Amazon five star reviews. To read the full reviews, go to READER REVIEWS on www.elysiumspassage.com or directly at https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/reader-reviews 

"A delightful mix of fantasy, reality, conjecture, and humour; Mr Meyers draws the reader into the story with a gentle narrative that captures the imagination, leaving one anxious to get to the next page drawing you into his exceptional world.”

"Quietly, gently, and without imposition, the Author unfolds the pages, creating an intricate, interlocking bridge spanning the chasm between mind and heart. Renewing, refreshing, restoring. In my bereavement, it was vigil and light…."

“Excellently written with an exceedingly deep understanding of this world and the next. The characters are very well written and engaging. I can't wait to complete this book!"

“Takes the reader on both a philosophical and spiritual journey, a journey that at times is both disquieting and tranquil. James, a British Philosopher, can be irreverent and caustic, traits that should have left me cringing but instead made me laugh out loud. Elysium’s Passage is a fun, enlightening and remarkable book.”

“This is a masterful fantasy, becoming a real possibility, as the reader is drawn into the story. The Summit leaves you anxious for the next book in the series, yet also leaves you totally satisfied with the world you have just visited. Genius! An exciting yet calming experience that is not to be missed."

"There was hardly a page on which I did not find at least one sentence worthy of hi-lighting for future reference. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, James, whose personality and passionate verbal exchanges with the other characters kept me coming back for more. I am reading the book for a second time while I wait for the next one in this series to be made available."

 “N.G. Meyers has clearly put a great deal of research and thought into what the afterlife may look like, and I like his perspective. It’s an altogether welcoming and exciting vision. The book gives one a great deal to think about and a reassuring confidence that the end of our lives is truly the beginning of life in the next. I highly recommend it."

"I am really enjoying your book, it’s fantastic! It is so incredible and diversified that I can’t really explain it to other people, so what I say is just read this book. Thank you so much for the blessings that you’ve given the world!"

“The humour interjected into a serious discussion makes me laugh out loud. Totally unexpected....l may be in the presence of at least a master, if not a genius. A fair ride into reality... seeking that which is unseen, yet absolutely real.”

“An engaging story of adventure embracing man's deepest desire to search for meaning and purpose, N.G. Meyers takes the reader on an adventurous, thought-provoking journey. This book has substance. It is a perfect blend of adventure and fantasy combined with spiritual philosophy. It ignited my imagination. The author magically weaves a good story laced with wit and humour together with deep philosophical wisdom. This book has it all!”

“An evolution in thought is triggered by many fresh philosophical themes which could inspire readers to re-think their reality and former ideologies that have dictated their lives… the author fires readers’ imaginations to view what could be possible when spirit vacates the body.”

“This is the book spiritual seekers have been waiting for. For me, it granted a great read as well as increased inspiration to live every day with a heightened sense of purpose. I highly recommend it.

“The Summit is capable of hooking readers and luring them to search for Book 2 to discover more about Dr Philip’s surreal trek into the mysterious unknown universe. This thick book is well worth the read and to share…”

“Mind-blowing statements and speculation (‘…everyone is a non-physical thought form conceived in the Mind of God, preserved for all eternity because God’s thoughts never die…’). Many will find Meyers’ journey up the Mountain intriguing—and possibly even life-changing.” (BLUEINK REVIEW)

“In its effort to grapple with fundamental questions about the meaning of life, it raises questions that have echoed throughout the ages, including about where we come from, where we are going, who we are.”  (CLARION REVIEW)

 
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PENDING PUBLICATIONS IN THE SERIES

                                        Amazon in 2024

 

THE ASCENT: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE SUMMIT: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

QUANTUM LEAPS: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

SURREAL ADVENTURES: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

MYSTICAL ROMANCE: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE ELIXIR: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

THE RETURN: Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage

 

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1. The Ascent is the first novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage that’s foundational to everything that happens in the following narratives that embark on an adventure that will surprise and delight the reader like no other book.

It all begins with an extreme adventure of climbing a remote and challenging mountain somewhere in the Andean Mountains. Just as James, the protagonist, is about to reach the mountain summit, he falls into an abyss that leaves him in a coma for almost a year.

After being airlifted by a forestry helicopter and flown back to London, where his body remains for almost a year. Eventually, he learns it was not him but his body that was rescued. Several days later, without understanding what happened, he continues to climb to the summit in an alternate dimension of higher consciousness.

Fortuitously, he meets two adventurers on the summit ridge who are no longer of this world. After that, his surreal life leads him to several new adventures in the subsequent chronicles that include a rich mix of adventure, romance, and fantasy, along with profound discussions of philosophy, spirituality and the afterlife.

 
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2. The  Summit, the second novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, carries on where James, the narrator and protagonist, is taught more about a multidimensional reality that he finds difficult to comprehend.

Not only does he find he’s not as clever as he imagined, but his off-world companions on the summit demonstrate that much of what he believed about life was not just parochial but wrong. At first, he finds this difficult to comprehend since their teachings are contrary to his limited understanding of non-material reality.

After being tricked into teleporting off a ledge where he was trapped, James becomes aware of the new reality that makes him capable of far more adventures than could have ever been experienced previously in his physical body back home.

Now, if only he would win over the only woman in this life who matters, the nurse on the other side of the veil, who continually demonstrates her unconditional love toward his healing.

Warning: This book may also open the reader’s eyes to a much vaster reality than most might be aware. As with the other Chronicles, there are discussions of philosophy, the spiritual afterlife and what might seem like fantasy.

 
 

3. Quantum Leaps is the third novel in Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, where James, the philosopher-protagonist, teleports back to London to visit his body and make contact with the special nurse taking care of it in his absence. Immediately, he feels an inexplicable spiritual bond with her for reasons he remains unaware of.

Now aroused by a renewed interest in matters of love, the beginnings of a relationship begin to emerge as he attempts to reach across the chasm of their worlds. But it’s not until the fifth novel, Mystical Romance, that he encounters her in a way that he finds difficult to believe.

However, before that can happen, there is much about his failed relationships that must be resolved before he is ready to move forward in his new life in Elysium’s Passage. It is during this time he christens his comatose body as the fall guy since it took the fall for him down the abyss so he could learn the lessons he’s now learning.

That will be the next focus of his life, where in his next Surreal Adventures, he is given virtual lessons to release many of his past beliefs about life.

 
 

4. Surreal Adventures is the fourth novel in the Chronicles of Elysium’s Passage, which finds James, the protagonist and narrator, escorted by his companions to a remote South Pacific Island, where he is left to reflect on what he’s learned.

During the next forty days, he battles the demons of his past as he works through some rather painful issues from his early youth. Here, in a tropical storm, he encounters an eery suspended spectre of the one he loved yet still resents for abandoning him as a child.

After this, he achieves peace of mind and is ready to return to his lodge to join his off-world companions on the Andes summit. However, just when it seemed things couldn’t get any stranger, a sixteenth-century sea captain sails his ancient ‘ghost’ ship onto the beach. Together, they sail off on a mystical ocean voyage to a couple of virtual islands supposedly in the South Pacific, where he witnesses and, at times, participates in several important life lessons.

Near the end, these encounters help prepare him for a new challenge within the interior of a mountain, where he falls deep into a dark tomb of fear. After being rescued by a mysterious stranger wielding his Excaliber, he continues on to where his life is about to be transformed in the following chronicle, Mystical Romance.

 
 

5. Mystical Romance is the fifth chronicle in Elysium’s Passage, which will surprise the reader with a romantic twist of how love is expressed in higher realms. From this lofty perspective, everything about intimacy is understood as within, so without.

After escaping his tomb, James, the narrator and protagonist, makes his way through a maze of tunnels until he arrives at a large oak door, which he opens with the golden key he had been given. There, he steps into Elysium’s Passage’s Great Hall, where his life and recent achievements are celebrated now that his eyes have been opened to perceive a fascinating interior world of wonderment… and romance.

To say more might risk diminishing the multitude of delightful surprises as circumstances begin to open to The Elixir, where James is about to re-enter his earthly body’s existence.

 
 

6. The Elixir is the sixth chronicle of the Elysium’s Passage series that prepares James, the narrator-protagonist, to awaken and return to his body in London. Before that can happen, however, his off-worlder friend presents a mysterious equation enshrouded with a light code frequency that will stimulate multidimensional DNA strands within him.

Much of this narration is centred in London, where his nurse unknowingly becomes involved in how the Elixir’s equation finds its way from a taxi cab driver to higher echelons of science. There are many twists in how she unwittingly brings the Elixir to the attention of mathematicians and physicists, after which they eventually discover how to code the equation into a laser ray to stimulate his fall-guy body into full consciousness.

Ostensibly a new Adam, he is destined to return humanity to a higher multidimensional existence. How this happens is filled with intrigue, as is his shocking return to his earthly body.

 
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7. The Return is the seventh and last chronicle in the series where James, the narrator and protagonist, has re-emerged from Elysium’s Passage as he readjusts to life in the third dimension. Many of the events experienced in the previous novels are tied together in an exciting, fast-moving, action-packed narrative over several countries.

 At first, it seems all memories have been lost, with his fall guy’s brain not being aware of what happened to him while in his coma. As a consequence, it takes a while for him to be convinced he had been out of his earthly body for almost a year.

Through some rather unexpected events and evidence, along with his girlfriend’s urging, he is brought to an awareness of much of what occurred. It takes a while for his mind to catch up with the changes made in his heart during his stay in the alternate realm. But after experiencing several harsh realities, he discovers what he became within while out of his body. Gradually, he comes to understand the many challenges that lie ahead for him in fulfilling his future mission on Earth.

This book is filled with adventure, romance and personal intrigue that ties together all six previous narratives of the Elysium’s Passage series.


 

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CONTACT INFORMATION & SOCIAL MEDIA SITES

 


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