Question on Breathing Exercises- 9th March 2004

Question:

I gathered today that the system of inbreathing and outbreathing together with the intonement of the word AUM was an ancient method used to reach knowledge of the universe (the brain being an image of the universe) but for our age, is replaced by thought and will.

Can knowledge of the universe still be reached thru the science of breath?

- M.

Dear M,

The Brothers have referred to the lungs as being the organ of the Ego. What a wonderful thought! - that we can reach knowledge of the universe through our egoic relationship, which implies also, a self-conscious effort and participation in the knowing. There is a huge paradox therefore, in relation to seeking out 'knowings' via breathing exercises alone, rather than the firsthand knowledge of self-consciously earned experience! I am just commenting (perhaps the obvious) because I still feel that we overlook true knowing when we turn to methodology in our esoteric and primal beingness. 

Abstract learning is not the same as sympathetic learning. 

Sympathetic learning comes from the soulic understanding of all life. At any time we can and do respond with an intelligence that ‘communes’ and interacts in ways that occur subconsciously. However, we cannot induce this form of learning in the same way through repetition and exercise. Exercises can reinforce etheric and astral learnings and beings, and moreover lead to more of the same, whereas sympathetic learnings are responsive to the moment but can actually teach the soul in many-levelled planes all at the one time. It is the higher knowledge through the Father, rather than the ‘captured’ knowledge, which is given a permanent place, but not plastic to the divine. 

With the knowledge now won by the ego’s effort and divining, there can be a sympathetic relay as well as the ‘permanence’ now residing in the consciousness (rather than being housed in the stomach or groin for example). It is free also to come and to go - the relationship of the entire being is different, stronger, free-er and alive.

The Alchemy of Autonomy (Alleluia)- 26th December 2003

The Ordination of Nature, & the Submission of Submission to the Divine

THE first glimpses of the fresh and erratic Christ Impulse came into the world through artistic endeavor, followed by the comedians, and then manifest in the priests. Beginning in the smallest of stirrings, moving from this one to that, hearkening inner ears and eyes to the imaginings of yet a greater Divine, this Impulse became now as second-nature to us all.

Then with swift aptitude and stern resolve came the great entitlement, whereupon every living creature (in Man and out of Man) became free. And so Freedom began with Art, Humor and then (mysteriously) within the true Priesthood; to become a given (a given-given).

'

No longer just a philosophy, this Freedom has relaxed into every couplet of being-

The Earth revolves,

To now resolve,

The mystery of the ethers.

The skies about,

Do laugh and shout,

Because they know it pleases!

For example: something we take for granted daily, the very freedom to think and question creatively, what does this mean for ourselves and the world that we are enabled thus? For those that read this passage there is a great experience and knowledge of this - we know the cranial excitement of not only new thought, but liberating thought; ideas which of themselves are so full of life we sense their concurrence with boundless aptitude.

Although we take this non-process for granted (our very ability to explore creative thought, to receive and even for ourselves to become co-creators also), although we are but partly conscious, the actual right and occurrence of this Freedom is won within us (all of us) now and forevermore. Whether or not recognized, formalized or homogenized, this Freedom is here to stay!

This is no mean celebration of paradoxical anarchy to perversity, to simply maintain the right to unravel the threads of supportive life and its base wisdoms. In coming to this notion of living Freedom respectfully, we come with a deeper and yet more innocent keynote, from the highest of souls…

Here is a solid and interesting insightful truth, one of those huge truths, the kind that you might search the paragraphs for, and that is: as much as it has been said that the wars in Heaven do win victories here on Earth, more importantly at times it is this World of Christ itself that will change the routines of Heaven and resolve wars which were once given to be eternal repeaters.

If you can for just a time commit to this notion, then you may witness within a deep gravity of meaning here, that not only is Man circumspect to Nature the Lesser, but profoundly liable to Nature the Greater also.

Rephrased it goes like this: Christ cracked the code (so to speak), and furthermore from now on it is His. No usurper from small to large can control this key to the Freedom He has enabled.

From the Old Spheres, prior to this Freedom, Evility interrupted the opportunities of New Life. For Evility operates the deadlock, the stalemate; it lives in static and thrives in lifeless repetition.

Evility up until now, has thwarted the higher impulses from greater realization through its legionary 'ghosts' - ghosts which secure themselves in amongst old memory. Although having outworn all proper usefulness, they endure to blanch the colors of all that are submitting around them.

All throughout, Evility has maintained its own rights way too loudly. Rights through past merit rather than present doing, are always the issue. Such rights are contended of course everywhere, we can look at global issues and realize that here also it is a difficult discernment - the rights which are 'right' but not right at the core, at the heart in the now. Always the same struggle: the 'rights' of the old world, as it would strangle the new in order to survive and sustain but itself only. Hardened and with only a self-fulfilling purpose, evility strains to keep itself in existence with a conscious determination to persist at all costs.

The claiming of prior rights began before land rights and before politicking, before spousal ownerships and parental controllings, before the papal tree and royal line, before tribe upon tribe protested their right to continue and remain past their due time. Once again, we can look to the leagues of spiritual beings that also stand in line requesting and demanding their rights. 

Once upon a time all of these claims to prior existence and prior right, prior ownership and implied control, all of these definitive demands did have in some essence much cooperation from the supporting laws - the laws of the world, the laws of the Divine. Yet with all of this came in consequence a kind of sub-death - a deathliness below death itself, not even a fruitful death with hope of a resurrection, but rather a perpetual and ongoing death - when that which is truly to dissolve maintains to survive and negate the life around it by that persistence; a stifling compromise to what is real and expressive. A repetition of what was - and that is all.

A repetition of what was - and that is all.

A repetition of what was - and that is all.

A facade of an impression of what once was.

Not even a good representation of what had been.

This is important to know and to live, because as critical as it may sound there is a distinction to be made within ourselves continually that can assist us within the realms of our own spiritual battles tremendously.

Often the very sin we live with abides with us also because of these 'prior rights', and although it is not necessarily brought down to this alone, this is usually the argument for our putting up with their cohabitation in our residence of selfhood. How quickly we can disassociate from the aggravator when we simply disassociate from this concept of their having any holding rights upon our soul and ego also. Everything is affected with a freedom, our identity of what has become in us is released now with new meaning - especially if we do not feel obedient to what we were in the past.

Evility now can only ever distract us out from ourselves temporarily, or live an illusion of life which we can now at any time decide out from.

If you ever listen to a sin that has traveled long with a man, speak to him, it is often to maintain over and over again, just how faithful it has been for how long to this person (who should be grateful, it would also point out). The theme is longevity. It really does not come down to many good products of the moment, present or future. Sin does not ask the man to ask himself of this, or speak for himself either. Sin wants control, wants the 'I am' to be frozen (remember how sin has an attribute of being static) and returns time again to this theme of longevity.

But were we not to break from this theme there could be no more experience gathered by changing races, for example, from incarnation to incarnation. And for too long, as is to be evidenced before this Christly Impulse, this is exactly what has happened. The results of course are disastrous for our beloved Humanity, who would have shared and learned great empathies with their racial brothers had they broken free from the constant of one racial tie that has now saturated their logic.

Evility sadly, had won its foothold within the greater Cosmos through this reasoning in the past, but now through the Impulse of Freedom, Christ has changed the perpetual innuendo so that it can no longer reign supremo.

Continuing anything simply for the sake of continuing is not in itself good enough reason for continuing, furthermore it is damaging to the unborn future ahead. Still the old guard cry "But why the need for change at all?" as they are fearful also that no good will come to replace it. Stagnant water or fresh? Is this truly a difficult discernment?

It began with the humblest of births - it truly did - not only the significant and living lesson to Man and a catalyst for change within all egos of Humankind, but also as an expedient to change in the higher Heavens as well. Not just a small event, nor a simple social comment. The fact that our beloved Christ is not identified as being Incarnate into the inherited position of entitlement was Evil's loss completely. Entitlement through prior right has now been dispensed to its respective place, and in the stead of this successor came a new way of being, releasing us all - once and for all!

Merry Christmas!

The Grand Faux Pas- 29th June 2003

Dancing with Clay Feet

TIME and time again one can see a man lose what pride he has, only to become a far nobler soul because of pride's defeat. Whether it is because the pride is disproportionate to gratitude or unkind to others, or unreal in its whole evaluation, pride is quite detrimental to the individual consciousness and unproductive. So very quickly vanity would allow us to become both smug and slothful should we believe ourselves to be already quite perfect and spiritually virulent beings.

Eagerness to believe in ourselves pridefully comes without a doubt, from the great truths uncovered about ourselves. These great truths are of course very real, and are commensurate with our origins and Maker. However, in practical terms all folk present here today in the world, without fear or favor, are diminished; diminished temporarily, out from that former godly likeness explicit to them.

It would then be yet another flaw to hold a perception that this wonderfulness (which spiritually is all long-term) carries through to every breath and action as we live and conduct our lives today. By the very currency that is the world, even the great Masters themselves are habitually flawed- not to any huge distraction, but even in possibility and measure enough to have to believe themselves at all times vulnerable to the complexities this reality involves.

Also, if we look carefully at what pride and false pride conjure within the personality, we find that all too soon a person who has been indulgent in this will take on a harsh ugliness, an unempathetic demeanor and an arrogant air. These attributes do not savor the world or its fellows. They are restricting to the healthy soul within, that by contrast is still relatively free of the superficiality pride recommends and promises.

One principle is very certain across the globe, and that is that folk do suffer all kinds of dereliction and deposition that invariably brings all pride to a halt. Spiritually this is a kind gift to everyone. As terrible it may seem, it truly saves the individual from a much more frightening consequence of becoming. 

Now all of this is not to say that we should not value ourselves in the true sense of what value means. Taking care of the inner life and identity is respectful to the world, to our beloved Christ, and to those we know. Having an attitude of fortitude and thankfulness for the things we cherish within our own talents, and also therefore of others, is vitally important for their continuance. 

Yet pride of itself is a different matter when it comes to tell us that we are secure, or special. This is and isn't a supreme nonsense in relation to ourselves. We are secure in our Father, we are special to Him entirely, but we are not secure in those things that do not offer security in the first place. Those things which will be given to change and desistence - wealth and beauty, social status and even mental agility, these things will come and go and do not even offer a secure housing for the spirit in the first place. Nor do they indicate how special we are, of course.

Now it can be observed that when it comes to addiction, a contributing element within the addicted is that of pride infesting their being overtly. Not only was pride the originator to the problem, but it is also given further exaggeration because of the addiction. It is the being of Pride manifesting in the fellow, there at the very base root of the compulsion.

Watching the drug addict or the alcoholic, you will find that although they may appear to have problems quite obvious on the outside, it is not apparent enough to themselves, in that they are so prideful that their attitude of self is very demanding. Characterized by acting out kingly or queenly imaginings of superiority, these poor folk are so deeply infested with this pride, that their very doors to self-improvement are completely blocked by it. 

After death, the astrality of a person who has died because of their addiction will still maintain their arrogance and supposition of superiority. Even when the body has long decayed and the ghost is naught more than a mumble, it will not concede that their 'superior' self was actually wrong in choosing the path that it took. 

Simply and humbly wrong. This statement is a very healthy beginning to making change within the poor form which exudes addiction. It is a fine statement, but often overlooked for the more preferred and protracted statements of excuse or whimsical reason, which just color the story and adds more to the pride than to the reality of change that we seek.

We say this in kindness, to urge one to carefully prise apart the story of one's life in a way that is candid, and not more of the same. It is dangerous for a man to believe he was ever a 'good gambler' (an oxymoron in itself in regards to a game of chance) or that their spiritual journey was in any way improved because of the internment given to some narcotic stupor. If addiction is to end, it is to end. The very thoughts which praise it are continuing to it and therefore hazardous in the extreme.

Saying ultimately that we have been completely mistaken, completely wrong about something we have done, about who we have chosen to be and become, is the one and only way we can change. If you have pride infiltrating your recall of that past person, if you have one particle of self-congratulation where it is not due, then you will find it impossible to throw off those characteristics that contribute also to the very clear review needed for ongoing assessment down the track. 

Here we can find one of the blessings of old age. Many dear people are thoroughly prepared to pass into the spiritual worlds and become anew, after they have lost their sense of pride, competitiveness and superiority. For those who depart their lives still in this bind, it does clearly travel into the subsequent life and manifest very obviously. 

Pride is not to be confused with an egoic strength. The individual who is strong in their selfhood knows that our true being lives in the future and that we must make ourselves daily into what we are. We can hope and pray that our Father will be proud of us, but even in this, it is something which is not merely a given, but a striven; and that our own true holy splendor is shared with the family of Man, so that every step to self-betterment brings glory to all as well as ourselves- both lasting and slight, in the eyes of the Eternal winnings. 

A Gentle Blessing

Very quickly we can all go to those things in our memory which have taught us the blessing of the gentle aspect we have experienced, and really appreciated in that very gentleness. Just remembering and visualizing gentle episodes relaxes and slows the push of thought and tension we may otherwise be experiencing, invoking the grace to yet return and become apparent in our sensing and through our being. 

Love, as we know, lives in the moment it is living. It is difficult to exhume love through our memories, although we can continue to love a person without them actually being present with us, and this is a different matter. But the actual experience of love comes and goes.

Yet we can effectively call back into being the experience of gentleness that the love may have brought with it for a time. This may be gentleness we have known from ourselves or from others. It does tell us in that slower moment of time something about the love also that was apparent in it. 

Should we desire to acquire more talent in gentleness concerning our manner, our person, our way, we can bring this blessed condition into our lives more and more simply by bringing before our consciousness those outstanding moments of care and gentle application.

Strange to say, adding to this, that for invoking the experience of further gentleness within us, it will even work in the imagining alone, to impart something of its quality in kind. 

For example:

A picture - open your hand (in your mind if you wish) and hold the palm out. There is a tiny terrapin [a miniature turtle] now perched on your hand, and you dare not drop it, nor squeeze it too tight. There are droplets of water on your hand also. You can admire the perfect look of this little guy. He feels and appears very friendly. He has no teeth, but two black shiny eyes. He has a very small head that is now beginning to fully protrude from the hard shiny shell. You notice around his neck is a shiny gold collar, but also that this collar is too tight and will need removing from him, because it has begun to wear into his skin. 

On the collar is a very tiny lock and beside you is yet a much smaller key. You need to take this key with some tweezers and place it inside the lock of the collar and turn it ever so gently so that the collar springs off. Can you feel it?