The Holy Man's Trials 16

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16. Spiritual pain experienced (unconsciously, but effectively) when perceptions bring us to the incomplete, the out-of-place, the un-beautiful, the out-of-tune, the almost-but-not-quite; the untruth; the terrible fit, out-of-whack, the off-balance and the moral dilemma.

This aspect of our day-to-day disquiet is not about complaint or shortcomings as they were discussed before, but rather to explain a spiritual reality we all live with in fractional perception. In this instance our sensory organs do not quite keep step with their spiritual counterparts, however for the spiritually attuned the miniscule becomes quite obvious and when something is understood to be 'off' 'out' or unbeautiful, it actually offends our sense of morality. 

There is actually a moral context to the inept that we come to know. Added to this there is a spiritual pain which is subliminal but there (all of the time) in relation to all of the incongruities. Our spiritual senses are jarred continuously; our 'wisdom teeth' are set on edge!

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The Holy Man's Trials 15

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15. Repulsion and upset on behalf of Christ and humanity as all of this is reacted to.

We do not always react merely out from the sense of ourselves and causal danger and distaste, but with the righteous indignation which is also very real. In this instance we are rehearsed in trying to identify with Christ and with humanity, and begin to act in the third person, so to speak.

Essentially we do have Christ within us, and within Him we do incorporate the whole of Humanity as well, however this indignation we experience does not come exactly from the corporate suffering, but more from what we perceive it might be. Sometimes it is easier to express our upsets in larger terms with greater causes, to minimize the personal application. Once again this appears to be a mechanism of the good man, who not only begins to translate small principles into greater ones, but also, in defense of himself, goes out to defend the world at large. This is understandable and part of the deal.

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The Holy Man's Trials 14

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 14. Repulsion for self when devils are sensed and disturb the consciousness with their untoward interjections.

Conversational devils flex our decidings daily, many, many, times over. As further along the man becomes, the more he begins to differentiate these voices which interrupt his thinking with dastardly remarks. Pointy-nosed, spindly and lean, they probably do not mean the harm that they cause. 

These elemental beings believe themselves to be authorities on all matters, but with characteristically bitter tongues. They crowd around the goodly man for they take a certain pleasure in the light he creates, yet as their own natures are contested they impinge upon the thinking with a provoking criticism which is hard, unkind and insensitive to the human condition.

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The Holy Man's Trials 13

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13. Repulsion for individuals who invite devils into themselves and forsake their higher natures by such terrible compromise.

This repulsion is instinctual yet often compromised by those who imbibe certain devils themselves (such as with alcohol). It does not mean to say that the folk around us are possessed by demons to the point of losing all self-consciousness, however and disturbingly, one would be surprised to know the number of the population who are not given marginally to one devil or another which suppresses their Christ-given nature. 

The more sensitive and 'open' a man becomes by living cleanly, the greater his difficulty is with the presence of those who do not, for it pains him on behalf of the afflicted, and is causal to a collective physical sickness in the world which intuitively he picks up upon.

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