A Prayer for Artistry- 2010

Dearest Christ,

Every morn you paint the sunrise,

Illumining a different landscape each time,

Inspiring the day before us.

We are in awe at the ineffable beauty,

Lighting the hills and the plains.

Show me such grand celebration,

That I may have a hand in this Creation;

Please teach me this artistry,

From You, the Master Himself,

That with divine technique becomes,

The expression of Pure Love.

Painting Mythic- 17th September 2010

PAINTING is the concordance of similarities, the confluence of imagery committed to form. The hieroglyphic mythic dance with mind and Soul. The portrait of God and deity of nature.

Paintings encapsulate the humors, by such comedic gesture and sweeping line.

The intent of the artist is paramount to the subsequent delivery of his creation.

In this way a painting can deliver a concept or an emotion or a chaos, defined by the heart, enabled with purpose, driving the work.

Two colors emit nature whereas one color gives way to introspection. Many colors become as light. No color turns pictures into words - for it can deliver a spirit window, as it has a veil removed as it were, as it was.

The photograph does not convey intent as the painting does, nor character either.

The muse to all great artwork arrives in the Silence and brings many friends whose merriment is in watching the brushes sweep and line.

Suffering Pain, & Medication- 30th May 2010

THERE is a wry irony known sometimes, that spiritual pursuits aggravate our physical pain all the more harder. For the forces that conspire within the 'awakened' or the consciously striving-to-be-conscious man, are intensely energetic - and the nerves can become so ferociously impinged upon, as piano wires are to an zealous infant pianist. 

Whilst palsy is of itself a cold condition, the pain experienced within and about its confinement is very hot. There are excessive energetic forces still trying to drive into corrupted pathways and insinuating themselves in regions that they do not belong in, causing aggravation.

Pain medication (with the exception of alcohol) can bring the heat from this overactivity to be nulled for a time - literally damping down this frenzied chaos within.

Our physical bodies are not who we are, but are beloved and cherished companions who serve us lifelong. Subjugated not only to our wills and spirit, and karmic interplay, they are also still evolving their own paths of experience and development; suffering and enjoying our emotional journey with them; and in constant hardship due to aging, pollutants, deformities and the imperfect condition (within and without) that is physical necessity today.

However, firstly and foremostly, the innate nature of our own body is rapturous in our presence. And when we return more fully into them after departing during sleep, they have all the excitement of that puppy at the door to see us - and the devotion besides!

The character of one's own body is generally very good, subservient, and 'connected' to the soul within. It is a profound partnership and one which is over overlooked - for largely good reasons.

It can become a disturbance to the fine knit of the relationship to think of this for too long and hard divisively, about the soul and the anima it resides in separately. Yet having said this, if one is ill or injured and the 'fit' is incomplete or with physical hardship, then that individual's soul is constantly aware of this reality and does not need to be informed of the sovereignty his being has over his dear physical frame.

This world, at this time, is still very much in stages of development. The way a man of the future will eat, breathe, be and age in the body, will all become quite different in the systems that we work with right now. And of course, both mind and will shall also become advanced of this and more enduring.

At present we have developed warmth, we have cooperation, we have the heavenly breath within us flowing down through every level of being and back up into the highest part we can know. If an individual takes pain relief medication, yet has no pain experienced at that time of receiving it, then the warmth that he has will leave him - either temporarily or forever (meaning death will ensue) - depending on the dosage.

And yes, not only does this affect the warmth of his own body into coldness, and the forces that inspire the physical heat, but numbness can take hold, life forces will recoil, and out-of-body experiences can happen, because he is out of his body - and the warmth from the personality can be inhibited as well. Furthermore it is true that there are some who go down to the threshold of death in this cold state and vacate their own bodies, leaving them to entities who can come into them and inhabit thereafter, preventing their own return.

Now when examining the individual who takes medication and is experiencing pain, the very opposite is true. For the pain itself causes and is caused by, a condition of excessive heat - the fiery life forces becoming frustrated and being blocked from the ordinary pathways. And so, to the point of normalcy, the pain relief can quieten the angst of vitality, bringing one back to the threshold of life, as it was.

Pain of itself is debilitating and wearing to the general wellbeing of the whole. Medication can overtax the organs, yet so can the overly persistent vitalities, and because of this, from a spiritual and physical perspective we would suggest that pain relief be the preferred option if possible. This is why context is so very important - and one would have to be very careful as to how much becomes too much.

The drug abuser often begins medicating because of a congregate of forces within his head rather than force causing pain in his body - which he seeks to nullify. And for many, the out-of-body experience is taken to be profoundly blissful all on its own. Sadly and rapidly, the medications themselves can cause an abundance of chaotic forces to come in-spilling without more relief to manage quietening them down. A dive pattern is set in motion aggrieving the restless soul for which there is no relieving, no exit, no answer - other than to give up, suffer or die.

Alcohol, plainly put, is an evil both to the ego and to the body. In relation to the individual who is in pain, its nature is actually stimulating and fiery and whilst it appears to be 'cold', by its paralyzing of the head forces. It will behave as coals to the fire in general, very quickly inflaming the astrality of emotions, nerves and forces overall.

The natures of the opiates and synthesized opiates rapidly pull one heavenwards, flying over the astral terrain but very quickly - glancing as it were without inviting the same astral frenzy.

Acupuncture can unblock heated aggregates, but it can be frustrated where physical injury has created the blockages and they are occurring there on that level first and foremostly. 

Nothing in Nature desires hardship, suffering or pain, and yet conditions within our World can be unspeakably morose at times. The difficulties and suffering within any life literally translate into remarkable rewards of the spirit thereafter. It would seem far too cruel to assign pain for this purpose, and we do not - however compensation does become an outcome of its experience nonetheless.

We are creatures of contrast - we gather experience and measure all things by it. Long after you walk out of this lifetime you will carry with you that 'badge of honor', which is every sting from every spearhead of twinge, stab and ache; and although you cannot feel any of that torment anymore, what you can and do feel is everything else in contrast to that pain once known - and it is wonderful. It becomes a point of reference that will never leave you - and forever enhances the consciousness you carry, wherever you are within the spiritual planes.

Even dreams may reflect this elation referring to the 'now' pure joy - at the 'not-pain' experienced moment by moment - which will remain with you spiritually for all times to follow.

Some things done in one's life cannot be redone, re-said or retraced, or turned back upon - and regret can bear down upon the mind as it frantically tries to make fit the situation. Panic attacks occur when the will itself is in the midst of trying to make components fit where they can't. It can be as simple as trying to motivate a leg that cannot move, to a mind that can't accept; to endeavor to control the uncontrollable; to be content with something that is unthinkable ... many times situations and the mind cannot be reconciled, and the individual who knows this trauma becomes doubly depressed believing that somehow (unreasonably) that they should be 'on top' or 'in control' of this situation.

Trying to placate self or others is superficial only and evasive. For this experience of alarm generally comes from very real problems at hand.

Often folk berate themselves at not being able to cope better, when in point of fact they are living a hero's quest - in hope, in breath, in struggles so borne.

The friction of forces which is anxiety itself is literally a mental pain which is not dissimilar to the physical pain as described earlier. The mind and will are overstimulated, energetically summoning vitality to assist in making right an unponderable - it is a sphinxy kind of bind, for the riddle of anxiety is not how can I make this all fit together, but rather "how can I desist from something so important?".

Prayer is incredibly potent in this regard (apart from the Divine supplication it can bring also) - for in prayer we are not desisting but rather persisting with deferring. Our forces may move out from our heads, our minds, and our own will to that which is further than ourselves ... and we are immeasurably relieved of not only the chaos of the excessive forces, but also the answer is there in the prayer itself.

The immediate solution to the Sphinx relay riddle that can entrap one's courage into a static chaos, is by deferring it onto prayer. It may be a specific prayer, the Lord's Prayer, or a prayer which is pertinent to the problem of the moment. 

The spiritual life is truly lived in the moment, and the heart of a man succeeds all of his actions past. It is that which he is known by - no more and no less.

Although when briefly visited these topics may appear merely platitudinous - they are not. There are golden standards which can be explored and reasoned to the very deepest of understandings. The good man who is committed to this path before him, implores the world by that of his very being. And he can live goodness and goodness will know him. 

One last word on the subject of pain: Your brother in pain, Beloved Christ, knows the hardships that it causes. Trial, dilemma, conflict and contrast - He sees and feels your pain. Our most mortal God weeps for better days. You can go to Him in your prayers and in your sleep. And in like to Him, your strength and your courage builds up the future worlds. For the substance of Mankind is not fabricated by luxury, nor made sound and given permanence by holidays and acquiescence - it is won at the coalface of terror, faith, sincerity, and an earnest belief in life itself - with an intuitive sensing, and deliberate enquiry, with a heart to the whole, and a long reaching vision withstanding.

Emotions- May 8th 2010

EMOTIONS are stronger now than ever before; or more correctly put, they are consciously experienced more intensely than they were in the past.

Can you imagine sitting in a cave with your back to the entrance and facing a convex wall, and at a certain point the light floods into the entrance and you experience the entire wall light up in front of you in broad space. This vision is large and almost overwhelming, and the wall itself appears to be made of light, emanating the very light that is broadcast upon it.

When we experience emotion, either from the realm of our soul or life of desire, it is with this interpretive glamor - an exaggeration of experience - literally a projection of our own self before us, so that we may perceive ourselves through this process. A man may divine himself, his knowings, his obligations, his commitments, his opinions, via referencing his ego or by witnessing the display of the emotions that he carries.

Not all individuals have a ready access to their egoic consciousness. Having said that, we are through Christ's design upon us, always with the ability to truly know both Him and that of ourselves and of the higher portents… yet certain conducts can make it difficult for many, who are still splaying amongst the numerous realities that are upon them daily.

Interceptions to this egoic knowing occur, and as we have discussed in the past, there are poisons to this knowing (such as intoxicants) which persuade a man all too easily away from his true self and egoic consciousness.

In time, as the being of Man gathers experiences and confidence navigating this experience, there will be a natural perception of self that is so clear and immediate that happiness streams from this knowing. To just exist is an immediate experience of profound happiness. Birds know this experience.

We all have this happiness, but until our egoic consciousness is clearly linked to our awareness in the present, we do not 'feel' it so. Angels have it ordinarily.

It truly is most sought after and the topic of many fair societies - how can a man find true happiness? And yet this answer is not a fast catch - it is simple, yet to be thoroughly obtained and won.

By refining one's ego through honesty and good conduct, by strength of character, will come the strength of self and an open heart that knows also the true self within. You see if we go against what we know to be correct, or if we assault or insult ourselves with behaviors or practices that demean or demoralize our own selves, then we are so distracted from this happiness of simply being - it is as though our life's light has gone from us.

Masters know this because they themselves have felt the oppressive darkness too - both in former conditions of their own life's mistakes and also with the sadness of so many today. This sadness is of course one of the emotions which is broadcast out from the soul and desire body.

If you are in a movie theater and you see the light projector through a comparatively small window of film - frame by frame - and see how largely it appears on the blank wall before the viewer - this truly is the picture of emotion. The frames are so much smaller than the image broadcast, aren't they?

Our minds are so complex it often requires a full sized projection to get through to our perceptions - and especially within these times of confluency and mental noise.

Dogs are walking emotion. These creatures suffer, and experience happiness too, to Imax levels of emotional proportion. They are sensitive also to their human friend's emotional life as well - often displaying an animated production directly from their carers. Of course also, the emotions can quickly traverse one to another in perpetual relay when a man loves dog and dog loves man - it becomes a theater of romance and ever-strong affection.

On the whole all animals in general are developing their senses of emotion and perception of it. This development of the Animal Kingdom is very similar to that of our own discerning and display. It is interesting to note that the actions of egoic knowing are internal, whilst the knowing and perceiving through the emotions is gained through the means of projecting them out from ourselves so that we can view our own experience of them. One difficulty with this means to experience, is that they are palpable to others as well - not only to ourselves - and can have a range of effects on others by their action.

Emotions can also be so strong in some, that folk who are not competent with ego referencing may interpret the emotions of others within their own vicinity, as being their own experience.

Children, especially those under the age of seven, will directly feel the impression of the emotions around them and once again believe them to be that of their own. These impressions conveyed and received will go on to last into adulthood.

They are difficult to address because they are not defined as clear happenings, and may come from almost anywhere. Many adults often try to invoke suitable memories to go with these hovering emotions - but inaccurately so. It really need not have come from a trauma of one's own, to have lent the experience of such.

Because you see, the important thing to know about the emotions is that they are nine parts subjective. Their fabric is of our own conjecture and they enlarge so quickly as to gather a pulse, that you can see all kinds of emotional creation begin from almost nothing.

There are naturally strong emotions that directly offspring from major events that warrant their exclaim - both cheerful and horrendous - and are proportionate to the firsthand experience of that time. However most emotion experienced day-to-day is fantastical and projected from afar - born from daydreams, desire, past emotion, ill health, wants and needs; and others in influence upon us as well.

So whilst it is true to say that emotions are a way of perceiving ourselves and our own condition and needs of soul and body, they can also be very confusing; especially to the egoic knowing that requires a quiet place to work out from.

Emotion provokes emotion. Even if it is a merely perceived emotion - for example: watching an actor cry… knowing it to be an actor… can still cause the viewer to have tears via a perceived empathy. It is not a real empathetic resonance - at least not in a direct way - but here is the very nature of the emotion, for it is not the purpose of its experience to be of real substance but to convey something to us. This is why we can respond to a perceived emotion and also to emotion which is not of our own making.

Emotion is a primal language which preceded words.

The sharing of thoughts and ideas through the communication of words comes from the egoic knowing and egoic capability. However an older language, before we projected words, was that of emotion; and it was somewhat different to what it is today.

There was a time, before words, when things were plain and even the most enchanting of stories had substance. Men and women were incapable of lying or pretence or posture; they were simply and plainly living a natural existence. This form of living still carries through to our beings in the spiritual worlds after death today.

In a similar fashion, we are who we are and it is self-evident. Words as we use them are not needed to convey a communication at all. However the emotional realm today in the world is unreliable to us now. Once it was a true representative of how we felt, our interior and exterior life, but over time became exaggerated and infected and muddied, therefore confusing to everyone.

Words also can exaggerate and distort the truth - contaminating it and confusing all who are tenacious to their meaning.

St Francis communicated to the animals (and to his Community) with the emotion of the old language.

Is love an emotion? No. If we are to understand that the emotions themselves are a form of language, one for self and for others to be known by, then we can begin to see that just as words are not that which they represent, neither are bare and blatant emotions the very thing they represent.

Just as the word 'love' is not love itself, neither is the emotion of love the true source and essence of the love it may convey or depict in part.

This goes for all of the emotions as well –

• courage exists within the soul's attitude before becoming energized and realized in emotion;

• lust begins in longing, far before it exhibits the passions that prevail;

• piety bleeds from the soul state of natural reverence;

• hatred always comes from self loathing and evaluation, becoming a distortion of criticism which was begot by judgment;

• affection can come from self loving as well as the memories that the soul carries;

• gratitude is awash with rejoicing and is very close to the expression of the true condition of happiness which we mentioned earlier;

• mirth and joviality come from the spirit of beginnings and birth (all things new). It is an attitude of soul which has experienced wonder and renewal countless times during its existence.

We each have a catalog of emotional hieroglyphs, whilst also our own dictionary of interpretation to go with them.

Nature itself is full of emotion, and in terms of the 'old speak' there was also the bubbly ecstatic emotion of the lively nature spirits to be felt; and so one could likely say that the forest or the countryside was literally at times speaking to you. And of course this was the experience before words came to us.

Infants under the age of two will perceive the countryside and animals with a far greater clarity and impressioning than we can arrive at now.

Sometimes meditation will take an indirect course into a pre-word condition and the emotions experienced will be stronger and often interpreted as a 'spiritual' experience. This is not to say that mediation can't take you into a higher perception, if your character is prepared and receptive to the finer percepts. Yet it is also to point out that the persuasive emotions can also drift in and conjure all kinds of desires and experiences which might be mistaken for being real or wanted.

In a sense plain words can be far more reliable to deal with. Emotional exchanges can very quickly make creations all of their own that begin with little or no fundamental reality whatsoever. The very minute two people are engaged in such an interchange you will see how rapidly this emotional energy can take them both miles down roads unplanned for.

Today we have discussed the language of words and also that of the emotions, yet there is one more to examine, namely that of the inner dialogue which is profoundly resonant with all of Creation.

Our very spirits are imbibed with heavenly attributes and knowing. More natural to us than any language of world or starry plane is that essential cord we all have, which connects us to our very beginnings. And by that cord, back through to an eternity that keeps us safely placed within it, we hold the keys to all of the fellow souls around us and the beings that uphold us and the Creation that does nurture us. Amongst, beneath, and within… when we, for a time, can hush the words and calm the emotions, we can feel it.

This blessing of the Divine Presence will never leave you. Doubt is just another emotion, and if words sound empty at times, they are. Divinity is real and will always support you, now and forever - you are.