DAILY MESSAGE ARCHIVES JUNE 2020

For more Elysium's Passage Blog Posts, go to
https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/ep-blog-posts to access post links or
https://digitalbloggers.com/articles/elysiumspassage  for the host blogsite.

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June 28, 2020                       

   CONTEMPLATION

Auguste Rodin, the French sculpturer, is quoted in this very profound statement describing art is contemplation. This seems true in the sense that it is not possible to appreciate art without contemplation. This is especially obvious, as he suggests when we contemplate nature and divine “the spirit of which nature herself is animated.”

It may also be said that true contemplation is an art. On to itself, contemplation is much different than the chatter (and clatter) in our minds where the ‘voices’ have little to say except to express annoying, ego-driven fears and desires.

True, inward contemplation, however, is about going inward to find the still waters of our soul’s most inward being.

James, the hero/protagonist of the Elysium’s Passage novel series is a thinker and intellect but has never learned to fully engage with his heart in quiet contemplation. In the first book of the series, The Ascent, he discovers how to peacefully contemplate life, rather than just figure it out. While doing this he senses a Presence within he was never aware of before, but has yet to come to terms with what this is.

To see the full blog post go to THE ART OF CONTEMPLATION
 
https://digitalbloggers.com/preview/art-of-contemplation   
 

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June 22, 2020

                   

RISING ABOVE JUDGEMENT
 

Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged
                                                     Matthew 7:1,2 (KJV)

I’m not sure if this admonishment from 2,000 years ago has done much in preventing us from judging others. Unfortunately, we seem to be hopelessly entrenched in this human condition. But at least this quote gives a bit of heads-up on what happens when we fall into judgementalism... and it’s not good.

The verse plainly states that we don't get by unscathed when judging others. If we don't wish to be judged, then we shouldn’t judge. After all, how often do we know everything about others and their circumstances? We don’t. Many of our judgements are lies and distortions of the facts, based jealousy, envy or cultural prejudice. Has anyone listened to the mainstream media recently?

As G.I. Gurdjieff once stated: Don't judge a man by the tales of others.

Once we get into the habit of judging everything in sight, we become judgemental towards ourselves. That’s because it's an act that brings us into a state of low consciousness. If we pay attention to how we feel when we judge, we sense how we fall into self-loathing. All in all… it's not a happy gig.

As Lao Tzu stated eight thousand years ago, what you judge in others, you judge in yourself. When a powerful leader (not saying who), evokes hatred in some, what does that say about those who hate? To paraphrase Lao Tzu: He is not who you say he is, you are what you say he is. This might take some honest introspection, but we'll find that what we loath in others, we loath in ourselves.

Further to this, the New Testament states: "For on whatever grounds you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things." Roman 2:1 (KJV)

My observation is that those who judge most harshly, are often the most disempowered. They think they need to lash against others who disagree with their beliefs or values since their confidence and self-esteem aren’t strong enough to tolerate contrary opinions.

And so, when their overly sensitized ego is threatened, they attack all who don't agree or respect their perspectives. That's always evidence of the ego's presence. And since violence begets violence, attack turns into a vicious cycle of vengeance and no one wins.

However, for those rare beings who remain confident and secure in themselves, there is no desire to attack anyone. Even when their enemies judge them, they remain unmoved. They know who and what they are. They remain strong and empowered even when unjustly persecuted, and can say to their accusers, as Jesus did: Father forgive them; they know not what they do.’(Luke 23:34).

Conscious beings are aware of their own consciousness, just as they remain aware of how unconsciousness are those who ‘know not what they do.’ Because they are conscious, they don’t judge, they love.

Of course, being the imperfect mortals we are, things are never just one way. Sometimes we win and sometimes our ego phantom wins, but when it wins, we lose. But at least we get to decide which realm of consciousness to spend our time – the domain of the ego-self or the domain of the divine Self. And yet the consequences of our choice soon becomes evident.

If we go around judging everyone, we become weak, fearful and unhappy. As the saying goes; ‘would you rather be right, or would you rather be happy? If we rise above the petty hubris of our ego, we won’t need to win the argument because we remain open-minded, secure in who we are.

Whether we’re right or wrong, it doesn't matter. If we're wrong, we remain content in learning something new. If we're right, it doesn't matter if others recognize how right we are. Our happiness is not dependent on their acceptance.

But that’s not the way of the ego. In its miserable state of fear and separation, it continues to judge everyone, especially its host. Unless we become conscious of what it's up to, it will have its way with us. Though we might embrace its judgementalism, none of these makes us feel happy, peaceful, or grateful. Rather, we feel the opposite, just as the ego would have it.

Yet, it seems we are conditioned to judge everything. Whether we know what they're talking about or not, we do it. We allow our minds to become prejudiced by the media's explicit judgements. Added to this, we become polarized with extreme ‘them and us’ judgementalism from our political and religious systems. Perhaps that’s why, even at an early age, we become unconsciously judgemental.

So, what can we do to heal ourselves from this unfortunate psychosis that judges others? Once we give our power over to it, it becomes much bigger than us.

It seems there's little incentive to become more charitable in our attitudes towards others unless we become aware of how unhappy judging makes us feel. It might gratify our ego-mind, but not us; the real us. If we wish to do something about our situation, we must distance ourselves from this temptation. It might not be easy at first, but once we learn to ‘choose again,’ (as stated in A Course in Miracles), we find we have the freedom to love rather than to judge. It’s our call; it’s our choice.

Fortunately, with our divine (Christ) Self, love is not only possible… it's all there is. That's our salvation over fear and judgementalism. By going within, where our divine essence resides, we are empowered with what resources we require to heal and become whole. But first, we need to stop our ego from indulging itself by taking control of our words and actions. Then we can view life with gratitude, love and peace through the eyes of our divine Self, rather than with the ego's judgement

In closing, I wish to clarify that the above is meant to be a brief discussion on the personal qualities of judgmentalism rather than considering the merits of political dissent. I don’t dispute that social inequity and injustice need to be addressed and condemned. Yet, in such situations, if we are to achieve our ends, we must respond by critiquing with wisdom, rather than reacting with anger and hatred

The question is if we can protest and agitate for change without becoming compromised by the scathing bitterness that festers within? I think most would agree that’s not always easy, especially when victimized. Still, we have countless examples of role modes throughout history such as Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandala and Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus who did just this.  

Each had the wisdom to take the high road when addressing right over wrong. Often, they suffered and some even lost their lives. Without wallowing in hate, they brought revolutionary change to their societies by empowering the oppressed. I’m not sure how many could have done this.  

For the full post on this article, go to https://digitalbloggers.com/preview/who-are-you-to-judge 

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June 15, 2020

Seeds of Gratitude -- Harvest of Happiness
 

As Rhonda Byre states above: "Your thoughts are seeds, and the harvest you reap will depend on the seeds you plant."

So then, how do we reap the abundant harvest we wish to have in our lives?

One word: Gratitude!

Thoughts of gratitude are the seeds of happiness. 

For the full post on this article, go to Sowing Happy Seeds of Gratitude
https://digitalbloggers.com/book-reviews/sowing-happy-seeds-of-gratitude    

If you are interested in reading more posts related to this subject, go to

Union of Heart and Mind https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/let-your-light-shine 

Let Your Light Shine. https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/let-your-light-shine  

What is Happiness? https://digitalbloggers.com/book-reviews/what-is-happiness  

Or see all blog links at https://digitalbloggers.com/arts-and-entertainment/ep-blog-posts 

 

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June 8, 2020

 

I agree with Maya that the fear of living for many results from the fear of dying, which is no way to go through life. Likewise, to do so is to become timid and spineless.   

But underlying the fear of dying, which seems to have recently gripped the world as never before, is the fear of being annihilated. This is a result of believing that we are our body and nothing more, and therefore, our life is limited to the existence of our body. This seems to be the view of most scientists. The plot and dialogues in Elysium's Passage novel series argue just the opposite in making its case for our continual immortality. 

But if we are immortal spirits inhabiting a mortal body, then there is no such thing as death when we are constituted of God's divine essence. Of course, all my atheist, agonistic and humanist friends vehemently disagree with me on this since they believe we consist of nothing more than a mortal body. And so, when the body’s gig is up, so is ours. 

Such was the opinion of James, the philosopher and protagonist in the Elysium’s Passage series, who had a fall while mountain climbing in the Andes. He then went into a state of deep, unconscious soul sleep for a couple of weeks before awakening. He didn’t realize he was in a spirit body rather than the biological body which had been airlifted out and was now lying in a coma in a hospital back in London. A very intriguing beginning for the series!

On the post link below, I have included a short excerpt of an argument he was having with a couple of men he met on the mountain where he (his spirit body) remained after the fall. Though he knew Mo and Eli before they departed earth, he has no idea who they are now, nor do they tell him; at least not until the fifth novel. The argument was on life after death. Because of losing his parents at an early age, James still fears death even though he is not yet aware of how much it affected him.

For the full blog post on this subject FEAR OF DEATH, go to:

https://digitalbloggers.com/preview/fear-of-death

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June 1, 2020

I had a dream, which was not at all a dream

Lord Byron, English Poet, taken from Darkness (1816)

In these times of rapid change and uncertainty, its more important than ever that we take care that our dreams inspire the kind of future we all wish to achieve with greater peace, harmony, and prosperity.  

Whatever, we might mean by the word, be it a vision, goal, hope, or enduring desire, our dreams are how we create our future, as Victor Hugo suggests in his quote above.

But, of course, the inverse is also true. As the proverb states: Where there is no vision, the people perish... (Proverbs 29:18)

In the first book of the series, ELYSIUM'S PASSAGE: THE ASCENT, there is a discussion on this subject where James, the protagonist, had been greatly influenced by a dream he had, although he was reluctant to acknowledge this since his life’s outlook and orientation was external rather than inward reflection.

In the below excerpt, taken from chapter four, James is told to take seriously the insights he received in his dream, rather than just react to the outward life he has remained focused on.

This following is a short sample of what was discussed on this subject. 

‘Listen to what we’re saying, James. It’s most important you understand there’s more to your dream than you seem to be willing to acknowledge. If you're honest, you will admit that you didn't risk life and limb just to climb this remote mountain for no other reason than to challenge yourself to greater extremes of physical achievement and survival. When considering the danger, it would have been ill-advised and even foolhardy to attempt this expedition if there wasn't something thrusting you forward.’

‘You might have a point there,’ I said, ‘since it wasn’t the most judicious plan. But I just felt I had to do it, and so I did even if I was impulsive. That’s why I told hardly anyone of my plan to, as you say, steal off into the night.’

‘Yes, because after your dream you began to understand there was more to life than you were experiencing in the Lowlands, although you weren't sure exactly what that might be. You just knew you couldn't bear to live in the swamps anymore since your life had become too low and shallow for your higher aspirations.

In that sense, James, you never did wake up from the dream; the dream woke you up and slowly changed your life. You just knew you had to follow where you were called. And so you did. This is it; the adventure you're now on.'

'Sounds like you have me all figured out with all these metaphors you’ve borrowed from my dream,' I said with a tinge of sarcasm.

'Mo's is speaking the truth,' Eli said. ‘Your dream was a call to take you beyond the mists of the Lowlands, far beyond what you understood. You still don't understand, but that’s about to change… as is your world.’

‘The Mountain represented your quest for what’s higher, and soon you will find it becomes more than just a metaphor, but your emerging reality. Furthermore, you will find it has a more substantial foundation than the bogs you kept building on before.’

‘You don't say,’ I muttered incredulously.  

'Yes, we do say, and a whole lot more. In fact, what we're about to tell you is what’s remained hidden; what you've been waiting to hear, even though you didn't realize it.’

‘Okay, this should be interesting,’ I said incredulously. ‘So, what is it that I’ve been waiting to hear?’

‘Remember the vision you had in your dream? It was a higher-order perspective, even higher than this mountain you find yourself on.’

'That’s splendid, but let's just cut to the chase.’ I said as I sat up in my chair, ready to leave.

‘All that was presented in your spectacularly, vivid dream portended what was to come, and all you still seek to understand was presaged in your dream. Whether you realise it or not, this is becoming your new reality. When you become aware, you will understand.

‘Trust us, James, we're not making any of this up. That's why it's imperative you realise that your dream has merged with all you've experienced here. In recounting your dream, we only wish to remind you of what it was telling you. So do not spurn the gift you gave to yourself.

‘The dream was a revelation from you to you. You earned it, my friend. Therefore, it's all yours: your poetry, your guide to your future. It gave you the vision you needed to find your way here. The directions didn't come from your mind but your heart.'

I had a dream, which was not at all a dream
Lord Byron, English Poet, taken from Darkness (1816)