Give a little, take a little- the Breathing Principle- 26th September 1993

AS we wait and prepare we may drive against our very selves in the contest of certainty and divination. How often the inner realities appear to disparage the known and surmounted. How often also, the meaning of the present has become decided way before that long awaited time. Actualities come and go, but that which is longstanding is of the inner reality, the core of a man, from whence all knowledge is married explicitly.

If we are overeager, overexcited, and with good reason, we may make such zestful vitalities useful to ourselves and to the world. At times a man may be hurled into great and magnificent happiness. The tender soul inspired, thrills to the status of wondrous comprehension, and the pathway one is ushered down ever encourages further vivid expectation with each advancement, each progressive finding. We learn to be inspired with the breath of joy and the breath of gladness, and in the respiratory context we shall suckle the palaver of our soul with each dilation.

Breathing, our breathing, is afforded us because of that principle which maintains the organically inclined - namely, philo-stratus. [From the Latin ‘stratus’, past participle of sternere: to stretch, extend.] The breathing has a 'mind' and it is of the one mind. All that breathes are together in this the breathing; and the 'mind' becomes the very 'pneuma' of divine breath. HE breathes that we breathe.

In the terrain of the spirit it is imagined that there is no breath, because the cessation hereof is the very signature of physical death. And quite rightly, even though the principle is carried over, the organic action, be it in tree or man, does cease usefulness in that particular way. Having said that, it may also be explained that the entire starry frontier expands and contracts, committed to a rhythm which pulses and heaves steadily breathing. (There is also an equivalent to olfaction & fragrance.)

Our beings breathe- just as not only may we inhale and exhale pulmonarily, by the lungs, but we do also inhale and expire via the organ of the skin. Our totality comprises the breath also of fluids: the primal inborn reflex of expansion and contraction and the 'taking up' of such nourishment as brought in, circulated and later expelled.

Quite rightly! Our intentions, narrowed, fixed and focused and then relaxed, are the veritable breathing of the will and intellect or will and desire.

• We may submit or we may stand fast.

• We may cry happily or cry with sorrow.

• We may know with surety or know that we doubt.

• We may pursue activity or welcome rest.

• We may give over to the Divine Will or we may will divinely, in active passion.

• We may adhere to foreknowledge or we may defy the dictates of an otherwise-fate.

• We may make choice or deliberate.

• We may give counsel or take counsel.

• We may be satisfied or be ill-satisfied.

• We may give graciously or may receive graciously.

This too is breathing, and both need be exercised for a wholesome comprehension of the world. As with the physical conjunction it becomes imperative that relay continues from one to the other. It is not a matter of aspects and opposites; it is the qualifying usefulness, only received by the equal ability of the 'letting go' of the previous.

For example: we may be satisfied or we may be ill-satisfied. This remark may hold good for almost any application. It is an essential statement. Proceed ...we are satisfied. Now if one were to always be satisfied or always be ill-satisfied it would be to no advantage. The opposing factor here does, of course, complement one another - i.e. we know satisfaction because of those periods in which we have known dissatisfaction and vice versa.

However, further than that, I may become satisfied, and the experience which has provoked me to this stimulation is received by me and taken to me. Now I may not come to differing experience of satisfaction until I have totally, completely refused the current one - until it is expelled and I have taken into myself deeply the 'grains that remained' and passed the rest. Only then in the passing, in the ensuing dissatisfaction, may I come to know a different satisfaction, which after being incorporated shall become intrinsic to my being.

The truly peaceful man shall know also his attitude to pain and may make terms with both. We must surely endeavor to be strengthened in all times, in all phases of experience, and astute enough to recognize the gentle motion of 'breathing' and our own variations.

Everything bleeds emanations which are inspired by those closest in locality. Further to this, we may attract to ourselves inhalations, inspirations from such other emanations as we do call upon in heart or mind.

Yes again, one may view the heart and the mind in this context. It is not a question of balance however, as specified before, emotions injected (higher or lower) do not, comprehensively weigh against the divinations of the intellect (higher or lower). And in connection to the heart and its mind, it does always correspond with the track which leads up and into the soul, the spirit - that piece of God which is mindful also - and the associated hierarchies who have designated all preferred good and named it so. The phrase 'listen to your heart' is so because the true speak of one's heart is inarguable - always true and correct - for it contains sympathetic links to all that is, really is.

The true meaning of illusion, as in Maya - as in 'transitory and changeable' etc. - is that it is deceptive. It pretends to be a reinforced reality, when it has only a modicum of real 'grit and grain'. Again, with the principle of breathing we can understand the usefulness of those realities as played out in time which are not as divine realities: they enable the absorption of the divine realities by the experience thereof.

The transitory, in the epics of old, were as the undecided fates cast out of High Heaven, because of an immaturity, because they were compelled to err. When the 'err' is shorn from the fates, and realities of men and brute, then the prize of perfection is gleaned and won forever. Yet one would expect some other motivation to yet follow to make way for new progressive steps, in ceaseless variety. Or at least, that's what we are led to expect!

The complement to 'adopting all men' is to actually become at the same time, refined in one's own sense of individual determination. It is not that the ego of a man must inhale the pneuma of all men and then cast them out in order to know them again. Rather, that he becomes more self-evident to his own self; and in many ways certainties and sureties will follow. 

We are not required to relinquish our will to anyone or anything, but that we prefer to exercise our strengths from our ego in those ways which flow only along with the current of the heart; which also as pointed to, coincides with all hearts concurrently. The inner language may be experienced from one unfurling heart to another. When I go to a man, meet with a bird, sit with a tree, we really may appeal to the inner nature, the great reality, and converse upon that within that exchange. However it requires a certain peacefulness to achieve this - without aggravation, for aggravation invites the external realities to overfill the senses. The refuge of the heart does not invite into it impure extrapolations. How could it make room for anything that brings death to the spirit?

Once again, we may become intimate spiritually within the world, in splendid rapport. But also too, we are to have worldly talents which enable us to move about and amongst people in worldly terms, making static, neither nor.

During prayer we release our burdens, whether for ourselves or on behalf of our brothers, and submit the conflicts into the care and domain of higher authority. Although this is by no means the only consequence of prayer, it is one that such issue provides 'space' for that which we are calling for. 

Upon the breathing principle, we cannot become stationary in relation to the exercise- we may exert our willfulness and then give over to the meaningful prayer, aligning our 'willingness' with the will as experienced by the ego-divinity of the heart. By this is referenced the 'higher-self' and the 'master' we may call upon for knowledge of the heart - though not to be phrased in words as this is - for the imperfect word is the vehicle for an expired thought, cherished and used by imperfect men. The Higher Self does more of a mime - supposing you could call it that.

Another example:-

• Severity of tension, i.e. questing for perfection (inhalation)

• Relaxation of exacting severity - recreation, time-out to project out from self and into ... (exhalation)

Because in this sense of the words, if one maintains it to be 'all or nothing' they invariably get nothing.

We simply cannot contain and contain, and keep to ourselves those things we harbor indefinitely and amass more. Spiritual 'bloat' is derived from the driving intentions focusing purely upon self at the exclusion of becoming 'heart-conversant' or 'soul-conversant' with corresponding empathies.

When the inhalation of the forces of the Sun are giving over to the expiry of another day, we may contrast this evening with the next, as the tranquil night extends into the parcels of the calendar, reminding us to take nothing for granted, even darkness; for it is only by the invasion of darkness, the permeation of darkness and the surrender of darkness, that our Sun does dominate and prevail at will.

Obliging & Obligations- 20th September 1993

TWO harmonies may concur simultaneously when we meet with people. Bending towards their judgment and their will, in a direction which is other than our own, we have obligingly submitted and are duty-bound to that we are therefore tied to, by action or design. Should we allow the determination of another to abide, then we have chosen that, and that is our choice. The harmony is that of obliging full-heartedly - if there is reluctance then there is conflict.

Obligations are determined and set by self. We are often called upon to fulfill certain duties dictated by the inner-knowledge and authority of the Higher Self (or higher man), who acknowledges all ongoing responsibilities. In this instance there may be the harmony of self, when rather than in the case of obliging another's will we are stimulated to oblige our own personal commitments and adhere well to all demands. If not, then there is conflict also.

Some obligations may never be fully fulfilled as they would endure anon, long after one's own will and breath was expired to the last. The charitable man does know this, and constantly attempts quite often, the impossible. It is a conflict from which he may work, because he may never oblige enough. However he can come to the security within of knowing that he does the best he can and therefore answers his commitment to self.

It is true that one may never please all men by conduct and personage, by offering, by presentation; and truthfully, would one want to? We may live according to higher harmonies which inspire the greatest conduct, and oblige, seek to oblige, our God and our Christ firstly, leaving ourselves and our answerable duties second, followed by the considerations and asking of our brothers thirdly.

Here is the distinction you asked for: serving men does not necessarily mean obliging their wants or their will; it may be to the contrary. Obviously needs will call upon us directly and it is satisfying - as well it should be - that we may prove useful in assistance when needed so.

Our judgments, at best, shall be shortsighted and narrow, as the complete condition and circumstance is always veiled from view. Therefore before we submit to obligations within the world, we are obliged moreover to submit to the Will of Christ.

If one man tells you that he believes that he knows your duty and accompanying decisions, and tells you he is better conversant with such inner wisdoms of your heart and ability, sovereign him not!

Remembering Lines- 11th September 1993

THERE used to be much talk about ley-lines, grid-lines, fields of force and so forth - the invisible magnetic currents, the path of flight and of watercourses, underground ravines and corresponding influences. Every road which was given a beginning and an end, that was designated a linear path to repeatedly follow, every such road brought about a line of magnetism which corresponded to its draft. Not only was there then the natural vein and plot, but also now all of those intersections and divisions upon the land, every one actually making a difference.

There becomes an 'echo' directly above the segment chartered, an echo of ground impression, a wall in the ethers mirroring the continuum. This phenomenon does not interfere with sound or with light, but rather the sense of touch and of 'feelings' beyond ordinary gravitation. If one were to hover above the line of road they would 'feel' the line, and be so inclined to pursue it. Of course one is usually with feet on the ground and it is natural to follow the road, even if it is possible to wander haphazardly off and around.

At intersections we experience differently. Our consciousness is focused to the point of choice and where we are, and the inclination now being optional is less persuading. Instead of forward there becomes the call from the left, right and now behind, and the actual 'feeling' is of centeredness.

It is by no mistaken fantasy that the magician makes lines on the ground or in the air. A small child will take a toy car and be pleased to drive it, pushing it from the beginning of his line in the dirt to the end, over and over again. This motion, this application, is effecting an invisible edifice which becomes reinforced with the repetitive motion along its line, and the man or boy can instinctively feel the resistance it holds.

Lines have a definite presence whether curved, angular or straight, they are form within a physical world that is stuck together with a cosmic gum; but may if worked (physically), appeal to the subtle realms and dictate some authority.

The game of hopscotch is a good example of the lines - as of impression, to which the child responds. Hopscotch without lines or boxes, with just numbers or pebbles, would be contrary to the reality of the game, which is the feeling of oneself in relation to the lines and intersections and the invisible rails directly above.

We proceed in a direction and move on from a given beginning - propulsion occurs because of the line, whether mapped and located physically or otherwise. We are transported, we have mobility, we go from beginning to end (as in travel) because of a line which must preexist beforehand. There are configurations of circulation everywhere. And there are larger routes to follow once outside the film of this planet - and, no road, no go!

Now with this basic law of trigonometry we may come to realize similar correlations we hold for bearings in relation to objectivity versus subjectivity. As a being, I am more used to expanding out and into where my interest takes me. My narrowing of definitive consciousness is not natural to a soul who seeks to incorporate with loving interest and inquiry. My self-consciousness draws those distinctions which keenly separate myself from that which I perceive, and progressively comes to all experience from a set beginning; exacting and digesting, endeavoring to apportion specific details laid down by the charter of self.

Internally I have two poles: a veritable north and south, which provide me with the firsthand recognition of corresponding set points 'without' my being. Furthermore, I share a north/south relationship with all that have shared signature-keys; i.e. they have a north to my south; I, a north to their south, and when so stimulated these set points run a gossamer-like thread from one to the other - a line from one to the other, negotiating distance and space through such connection. It is an umbilical convening.

Lines adhere in fixed relation to each other and once formed in matter or in air they remain, until forcibly dissolved. Here too we may touch upon the influence of the written word. The living thought experienced or expressed, is confined to the perimeters of a language and its associated concepts. This in itself becomes the 'flavor' of the thought, coupled with the individual who has appropriated it thus. Now when we come to the formation of written language, we find that the magic of such combinations hold two characteristics distinct from the spoken format, namely:

1. Written words remain in the ether, as with all lines. The succession of squiggles - if you will - once formed, if only once, remains; and the words talk repetitiously, as though an audible recording.
2. There is a binding quality of author to word or painter to art, whereby the writer is perpetually associated with what he has written. In this way it is entirely plausible that one becomes linked with a favorite author and may step inside the vision they held at the time of condensing it into a spill of written words.
   

The formulas as sequenced are all unique - unless of course one were to copy word for word another piece. However it must be noted, that translations do lose the original implications and one is introduced to the first or second translator, rather than to the originator of the formula as first put down. It can be enough to have a script placed before you (may we suggest facsimiles of true Biblical text) that one may acknowledge the author and his experience recalled, by the very power and presence of the invocation of formulated characters. Entrance into the Akashic Records is investigated in precisely this manner.

There is a point to be had also about this definitive record: that unlike truth it becomes sedentary and 'lifeless' and for this reason there has been much speculation about the value of the written impression. It is obviously a potent mediator, and yet not all are in a position to commit themselves in the very way it requires.

Just as we may experience natural pleasure pursuing lines - following a winding track, exploring a maze, following lines with a pen, carving our lines in the sand (not so transitory as first imagined), charting a map or design etc.- we also know of the experience of crossing a line; as in the literal sense of crossing over. The tennis ball passes to and fro over the designated line, we cross over the threshold from outside to inside, we interject in discussion and cross over the 'line of thought' put before us. The child's skipping over the turning rope, is perhaps the best example of this. 

So we have two movements thus defined: that of pursuing a course, acknowledging a set start and a continuance defined, whilst also, the unbroken line before us being vertically negotiated. If we have (diagram: straight line) there is movement, if there is (diagram: a cross), we have an obstruction which will withhold us until crossed.

Music transcends the progressive line because each note is a linear extremity belonging to its own plane. The grouping of notes becomes not as one line in reality, but rather the set formula of lines, each extending outwardly. For example: the lines of the music sheet are explanatory to this happening. The written word (not spoken) is a formula of one plane, whereas the melody (performed) extends over as many planes as there are notes harmonizing; and all are conjoined sympathetically by the composer and the performer. This is why we can foresee a future - as with a past - where creativity is effected through song. For there is a counter-dependence of clusters of realms; and not only in the immediate but also raying out and repeating the recipe of harmonies in higher levels again. 

There is a divine working in properly ordered harmonies and vice versa - original cognition of manifestation already brought into being by song, may be interpreted through song. Just as the author of the original sequence may be encountered, we may be transported into higher realms by the right music, which is but a very ancient tune; as old as witness to that part of Creation which it helped to form.

To the 'muse'-ician: Do not try purposefully for the beginning or the end of the melody or for arranging around words for this type of 'accordance' (a-chord-dance - Lexi-grammar!), you will feel it, and might be better served by recording it as it comes the first time, that you may later note it down in those passages you believe worthy.

There becomes a release from lines and obstructing lines, in the experience of interweaving melodies which run the scale up and down from the highest to the lowest etc., building and resting upon each other and perpetuating infinitely.

The complexity of sound in relation to ether is an exciting realm for which much will be developed. Our voices will be melodic as Heaven enters into our thinking and our expression; and we will combine many corresponding levels of sympathy all at the one time. Some have just begun to acknowledge the possibilities of this form of awareness, rich and warm - the true art of conversation has just begun!

The Temple of St. John- 8th September 1993

IF one could bring before them the sadness as known by all good men, then they should come to understand quite plainly, what drives the workers, the lovers, of the Christ: the Pristine Order of the Holy Tears. If we could but instill that same seriousness which alerts the inner call. . . if we might appeal and appeal again for the cessation of all sufferance.

There was no stipulation to say that men must be so utterly confounded that they are insensitive to their brother's agonies. Yet, of all the insolentries this becomes the one in which the sufferer himself is shattered within. There is no protection given from this form of idiocy. The man who condemns his brother to be beneath him, the man who scorns the ugly and the poor, the man who jests at their brother's expense, the man who flinches from good souls because of their hatreds within, the man to whom life has provided many blessings and yet there has been no tardiness, gratefulness or guilt in the taking, the man whose sight is beguiling, who is quick to mistake the preferred for the true - this man has wrought his own suffering, for he, by this insolentry of false judgment, shall become all that he loathes and everything he has turned away. For this is the impelling law of experience.

Wickedness appears in many forms, and in no less than in the haughty. We are soon given great opportunities, opportunities to realize the angel which stands beside each man and find the faith that angel has for the resolution of all imperfections.

Either a man knowingly commits himself to Christ or he does not; and for he that is with Him, he is also for all men.

St. John was a maverick and today he pales for he has counted too few. Even though the numbers rise, the beans on the scale of issue are not enough to his liking. For there are deep mysteries and profound mysteries which only good men may penetrate - atavistic, the muse of the ascetic guides him in - and it is important that such penetrations are met.

Can you imagine the countless passages within the Astral Realm of which the occultly adept may travel? Too numerous, they are real, but also surreal - they are distortions, as a hall of mirrors, and the 'playground' described of the insane. When men leave their earthly consciousness they are immediately propelled into realms of lower dream, the carnival which idles beside life. And here the predators are illusive, here they are equipped and waiting and the naive traveler may mistake this ‘imitation’ - for astral substance in truth, is grandly imitative - for higher spiritual worlds.

The adoption of the whole world of all men, is the first prerequisite to beginning a higher development. In no way is this to be taken as a privilege-seeking undertaking, however it is fact that those who cannot adopt all men lovingly are excluded from the Temple of St. John until such time that they are so prepared.

There are reasons for this, and they pertain to the total development of an encompassing ego. Those who have indulged in the extreme evil associations, occultly precipitated, have not the same constitution of ego as, say for example, the Christian Mystic. For the 'black' path surrenders all those constituents which maketh a man and eventually, by divorcing himself from his pneuma and from his Angel - who flees in disgust - he is so vilely corrupted he does waste away to bare soul. The lower soul is taken up by the awaiting relevant demons, whilst the greater soul is flung from mainstream humanity, reckless, awaiting the mercy of laboring Archai.

Extreme desolation is the reward for cold-heartedness. The astral light mimics life, but of itself may form nothing. The etheric world enters in the actual rapture which is life - Mystery No. 1 LIFE. May we search out and contain the expression, the feeling for this abundance of life?

It is much more than change. To the undiscerning it appears as a continuance with no drive or impetus, with no heavenly connection. . . . life pours into the Globe (the chalice) and activates actuality, it is the 'positive and the negative', it becomes called in and it pulses its way despite of the previous determinations of matter and of ether. It is not as a vitality: perhaps as a higher vitality - and yet it is not. For it is the essence of God, His Blood, His Being and His Saturation.

There is nothing which could be and be enspirited, without Life, and this is no simple statement. Hold the thought: - Even if you had all of the relevant substance to form matter and it would coagulate and bind together, even if you transfused it with essence vitality and proportioned those qualities as remain within the 'living' memory, and all of the 'plans' were laid down, the laws in place, and the nuance established, the forms characterized and ordered and the interdependence formulated, the provision for water, for ether, for anti-ether (the repellent in matter); even if the palette was comparable, the brush exact - without Life you would still have nothing, it would not, could not, be.

'Be-ing' is owed to Life. We may find and experience Life by searching for it in our contemplations and then rejoicing in it daily. Our injection of consciousness in this regard quickens the impending relationship. One seeks to welcome Life (in evil, others attempt to stifle it). Try to hold the thought.

The mysteries of St. John are simple but great. As with the symbol and its associated family, the simpler it is, the greater its implication - the right doorway is narrow! It is needed that Men should experience these divine realities of which we are guardians of. The first reason being that it does lead the way for other men, and similarly and so on; and that there shall be more marvelous findings to follow.
Everyone of us has arrived with assistance. It took very strong swimmers and then it takes boat builders, that Mankind may make passage definitely. It is the interim between that invokes concern, as the waters rise and the ship-builders choose to sail alone.

* * *

There is an accuracy one can find in those inner meditations: the 'knowing' in the chest as it streams down the arms, the correctness of a truth and the perseverance of that truth into thinking and correlation and in experience (which will follow immediately). 

To be courageous and oppose the deceit of all untruth, to contest the malicious and defend the righteous, and pray for the sweet balm of supplication for the souls of all Men - this is essential and first, to the would-be initiate's predisposition.

The ages have brought about varying requirements. One may 'work from home' as easily and as best as trek the outposts of the Globe. We are advised to summon our better attributes and employ them well, and not to ignore our true selves. Although each man determines many of the outward detailing of his closest associates, every individual must be rightfully afforded expression as true to his nature, his being. So long as it brings no injury to another, of course.

The golden mane of the Sun bears the Light,
Which is the carrier of Life,
As Son carries His Father into His World.

Invested Vestments, & the Immortals- 6th September 1993

IN Medieval times a man would usually have but one coat of which he was known by; for invested in and about this apparel was the denotation of character, occupation and wealth, or lack of. A man's coat would be well-loved. Stitched and re-stitched, it was there between him and the harshest of elements; with his scent and his familiarity, it was as his outer armor.

Of course all of this could be well said for all time, with no particular oddity remarkable to this earlier period, except to say that it was at this era of which the favored overcoat or jacket was prized beyond all other garments, being not only an extra necessity, but also a vehicle of sorts, of worldly identity. In this way, in like manner we may glean an impression of the 'looseness' of thought and aspect as experienced by those folk in the world, who for any number of reasons do not clothe or contain themselves according to one favored article.

The vestments (or more correctly: in-vestments) - the garb of the priestly service actually draws into the fabric as worn, many, many influences as do ray out and shower down from such ordinances as conducted. One should not contemplate dry-cleaning with such an investiture! From some it is known to shimmer a faint halo of gold, that the robes or the cassock, the stole and associated adornments, would be endowed with the emmanatory force accredited to the divining, the prayer or the ritual-majestic.

Similarly, lovers would wear an article each which was especial to their communion, and such pieces were often buried alongside the beloved upon passing.

You see, we have discussed ones street-clothes from the viewpoint of collective refuse: of unseemly, inharmonious recollections speaking as loudly by emanating back those impressions of the day as spent; and too of casual meetings, yet with influence also. However today, the directive emphasis expounds this thought that we may look to the particulars and be generally enlightened.

For example: we may set aside favored garments for a certain purpose, and each time return to these garments to the exclusion of others. The sports shoes are a good example of this as they are most likely to be employed exclusively in a particular occupation repeatedly. A man may be responsive at once to the impressions his shoes now hold for him, that they by contrast, speak to him of him, and the experience one to the other have realized together. 

Of course we do not mean by this that the shoe is in any way conscious, it is merely a term regarding the memory of matter and its adopted persona. Now then, one does suggest that the favored sports shoe is worn and rubbed in all of the suitable places, this making it uniquely comfortable to the wearer, but also one knows that another's sports shoe, even being extremely plastic to the foot, would not share the qualities of the familiar.

Now we may apply this similarly to that which is worn during personal prayer, night attire, recreation, even whilst singing - as an aid to that which we are fully involving ourselves in at that time, we may do this. And it may be a simple piece of cloth for instance - a handkerchief one takes on long and contemplative walks, another for chapel or temple, another for discourse, and so forth.

Often a hobo who has only the one set of clothing, with only rare occasion to disrobe and wash himself or his costume - quite often he survives the conditions of his lifestyle because of his 'personal armor' which ritualistically accompanies him everywhere- self-absorbed and self-absorbed. Take the man out of the clothing and exchange them for new and instantly he shall have a fresh aspect of perspective also.

From this one may gauge that the uniform which either binds or empowers men is doubly effective, that the repetitive wearing to a purpose enforces that purpose with the aura of the garment, and is enhanced with every such application thereafter.

Clothing which has been impressed by deleterious circumstances would be better burnt in most cases.
Repetition is the key word here. Potency is increased by repetitive action. So, if we apply this to 'articles of association', then we acknowledge an extraneous factor which may alter or assist our wellbeing.

Obsessive behavior deters good instinct. We must be careful at all times to prefer to exercise personal judgment, discernment and intuition, rather than try for such rules which cannot be sustained. It becomes difficult for most to cease their chatter and come to counsel with specialist guidance.

Many preconceive the advised instruction and thereby negate the incoming wisdoms, upon a tandem of will, want and levy. Of course, experience is paramount to all good learning and by this no exercise in daily life is lost. However for those who genuinely implore the heavens for substantiation, it is recommended that they allow the heavens time to reply. That they give their day or their week or whatever time it may take, to prepare for the blessings that they seek.

***

The term 'immortal' is a dubious one. It once referred to the 'undead': the 'zombie' variety of specter-flesh which was animated after the soul had divorced and separated, and the flesh was compelled to appear whole without decay or great rot. Such individuals were the product of certain magicians - happily, the art seems to have been forgotten along the way, and more than uncommon.

The Immortals of the good Greeks were never Men to begin with, and decided such fates with interfering design as was invited.

The notion of ongoing is valuable and relevant and undoubtedly (presumably) true. And yet, to qualify this in the context to which it is hoped for, there becomes an expectation of the cessation of re-embodiment.

Usually when one is within the confines of worldly self-consciousness, one is content to be within the realm of the Earth and all that is natural to it. Manifestation is not to be spat upon or held to contempt; rebirth and renewal afford true triumph and redemption over death, and we cannot come to the end of this passage if we are imperfect, for the very reason we should then be bound to the inadequacies forevermore.

Our beings are eternal, yes, and could not contemplate compromise to this. At times the personality overrides the whispered cries of the soul and arrogantly contests the necessity for self-improvement. It assumes worth and self-importance and may be so well developed and rehearsed that after death, the personality itself is immortalized - continuing on long after the soul of the man has departed. This is not unusual. However, we wear our personality as we do our favorite coat; whilst the naked soul beneath is sensitive moreover to the chaffing of the coarser material, but sheathed protectively by its coverment.

If we can occasionally exercise abstractions, objective or philosophical thinking, then we may wrest ourselves from our personality long enough to gain a soul's perspective. In prayer we come to know of our 'truer' self also; whilst also of our Beloved, through whose eyes we may exchange our own, for a time.

There is always a provision for growth, and for rest. Rest is not unproductive, rest provides for the upcoming growth as the afterlife provides for the impelling processes of subsequent lives and so forth.

If we choose to seek something - viz. in this instance to become immortal - we must call upon our true desires and come to realize what exactly it is we hope for, and why; and then question the reality of such propositions and their desirability.

One thing may be said about 'the system' to date: not a better one has been found! And there is proof of this, for should a better one have been established it would have clearly overwhelmed the one we currently enjoy.

And so we suggest candidly and with persuasive humor, that one is best to sit back and prepare for the longer journey, because though eternity is inconceivable, it is conceivably a very long time. Better to rather goodness than perpetuality, for even if the holy is transient it is sublime. . . and a day of Heaven is worth an eternity of shit-shoveling.

The Kernel of the Heart- 30th August 1993

Dearest _ ,
Upon your brow is written, of the immediate woes and strife, the weighted decisions, the challenges set before you, the urgings, the comparisons, the cautions and the concealed – nonetheless you are expectant of receiving great and powerful truths, believing yourself coherent and able to withstand their potent draught.

So many of the cares of today are inconsiderate to the gravity of our destinies, whilst our future paths are clearly marked by this our conduct. Therefore we are immediately required to set about sorting our preferences of concerns and acknowledge them thus. For worries unattended to are as unpredictable as Pompeii in a red fog - we are best advised to address all concerns, meeting them before they meet us.

What of those fretful issues to which there is little resolve? This we may make peace with. If a man contains upsets, deep upsets which contrast his happiness, he may consciously accept the sting of it, as it once again hovers in close to him, and de-power this centre of aggravation by forgiveness. We either come to forgive ourselves, others or even circumstance, and thereby reduce the tension and disarm the embattlement.

Now to maladies within the cavity of the chest: With love restrained, there are 'cold spots', frozen and aching, where the children of the heart have hidden, afraid to come out. For all of those expressions never imparted, for tears and happinesses withheld, for love unaccomplished and love unfulfilled, for misplaced trusts and ideals quashed, grim niceties that deterred a true word, denial of self and denial of Providence in turning from God and the space that remains - the inner altar of Him, to wit the fount of life, your life, all life - the insolentries and unsympathies, the residual of acidic cruelties, sarcasm, blame, vengeance, false pride, arrogance, intolerance etc. These are some of the contributing aspects to such 'cold spots' as suffered within.

Should a man believe that harmony may be reintroduced to his temple by a simple inoculation of exterial force? And we are not without Love already! We are not without the reaches of the subtle energies and ethers, of which we may be composite or reflective to.

Dysfunction of the mamilla, though disconcerting, is irreconcilable to the associated problems of a dysfunctional heart. You may suffer argument unto yourself, believing that the pouring from self should be limited, that one must contain love in composure, and at the same time underestimate the value of your prayers. 

For when love goes out from a man, it goes out, and by its very nature it is not, in this process, required to 'give back' a satisfaction in any way. In other words, the experience of love in issue from, may contrast the totality of exaltation experienced and actually stimulate no centre within a man, save to be able to pour out all the more. Affection, contrary to this, may be well satisfying, for this becomes an inspired reveling in favored associations, from the subliminal to the advanced. If I enjoy affection I am rejoicing in the better parts of said relationships and the heart is glad.

However love is like the purest of water to whom we accredit no taste and no color. The receiving of love is all that we live for. It is true that much follows after this fact. The poet's melancholy fears the demise of all true love, and much is fancified according to the popular muse. Regardless of abstractions the reality is ever-present; it is the buoyancy that supports our being and all other beings besides.

The Love of our Father is anything but impersonal. We are because it is.

As for meditations, the image of the lighthouse is an excellent invocation. There we behold the constancy as represented in the outpouring of the light - of the love - significant to the space it reaches into, significant to the penetration of the darkness, whilst ever the great purpose on behalf of those who are in need of its light.

There used to be a story of a crypt which did conceal the seed of an ancient tree. The deceased had been sealed in a leaden case, the seed still contained in his hardened fist. The tree, of which it was but a germ, was to be of great worth as a preventative and as a remedy to many ills: afflictions that caused death and grief to old and young.

It is a rather long tale, but the upshot of it was, that eventually the seed was prised from the corpse and put to the rich soil with vast and hopeful expectation. However it did fail to take. There was no bonded union and the seed remained intact, refusing to sprout.

As the seasons turned over, they did pluck it back out from the ground and replant it in firmer, then looser soil; with water and then without, and so forth; but still the seed remained seed.

Disgusted and with disappointment, it was eventually surmised that there was no value to be had, and that either by corruption or inadequacy this marvel of a tree was not to be brought forth into the world.

And so it became a worthless curiosity which was commissioned to sit upon a plaque within a glass cabinet, along with several hundred other oddities for public display. There became the standard one line joke - "A dead man's remedy that will not subscribe to life!" And it was soon forgotten.

However, as with most famed articles, there was a presence of truth about this tiny seed, which had been invested with much conjecture. For all around the country there became a new variety of tree sprung up, and each and every one of them were ethereally bound to this precious seed. In point of fact, the owner from whose hand it was taken, knew of its remarkable link to life at a distance - dependent on it - and for reasons of security, planned to conceal it with his burial after long provision for care during his life.

However, the trees for which this seed was the parent, did go unnoticed by those who sought their properties, and flourished neglected. Came maturation, pods popped and birds pried, plucked and pecked the precious seed-peas. The birds as a result of this, became so overfull with life that the motion of the wings sweeping across the breast would enliven the currents around them.

You see, there may be mighty activity coming into and through the smallest of beings. These birds fed from the revivifying tree, and in turn gave out all that was not required, for them to be. Their tiny presence would alight at a distance a man, or to a child who was dejected or ailing miserably; and then in a passion of sympathetic understanding their need would be answered by the movement and presence of this empowered friend, for they knew also of the related properties and their purpose of prescription.

This is the nature of Love. It finds its way through mediums that will have it, go to it and give it. The men would not have profited similarly by scalding the leaves or boiling a brew, this was not the case, for the special nature of this tree was in relationships as ethereally supported from one to another, and by such we are suckled and sustained.

The tree would not be owned selectively to this or that community privy to its properties. And the men could not determine which foliage and what bough bore the effervescent vitalities, as the birds did see it a’ blazing, as if on fire.

Now the seed that was in the hand is one and the same which is kernel to the heart. All effort made manifest in the world, Love's efforts, are linked to that kernel. The offspring is always for the greater world and for so many who are as strangers to us, and yet dependent on our safekeeping of love's seed and our tenuous relationships without. Personal maturation does come after death, by which we truly come to eternal life.

The greatest affliction is a loveless life (and in life after death also) - the remedy being the giving freely, cultivating loving itself.

 

Comments on a Dying Friend- 26th August 1993

YOUR friend does not see the world as you do; he is as a man talking in his sleep. Perhaps this is why he does not believe that he ever sleeps, because he is caught in a bevy of preponderances.

Such a soul has shining accompaniments - he is shrouded by attendances of being and worldly relation. There is also a friend who left by way of an accident (male) who has been beside him as his 'light' blazes ever brighter.

It is true that his body is now wasted and so corrupted with a mean and vile disfigurement which mocks this tired man. The diseases did venture in before his emotional collapse. An abundance of sentimentality poured into his daily consciousness and ever pressed him into passages of the past: comforting reminiscences rather than those morbid terrors which were there affronting any gateway-perspective into the present. 

Three demons stood before his eye of consciousness, separating him from rail and barrier, unnerving and disarming, alarming him to fumble and lose footing. These three demons were: Resentment, Death and Irony.

There is a mystery, a further mystery as to why some unfortunates are given to excess with the debilitating aggravations borne by Man. Whilst we can say we are relatively free from overloads of the abovementioned maladies, we may be thankful to be saved from the accompanying agony each one issues. 

So if it is said that a man was given to resentment, and it is implied that he overly does exercise this corruption, then we are to understand that he suffers from the outset and that vanity would prevail to save him, were that it could. However resentment itself does come from an individual who has placed his ego-credibility for a time in those things most disassociated with self. Rather than achieving an accurate self-image and working to improve upon that, the man invests himself in those things - objects, work, even other people - and binds himself with what he can best associate with.

As an attempt for self-improvement such an endeavor is never satisfied, partially because the process is exteriorly contrived and partially because the cunning within the man ever seeks out presumed-to-be 'better' associations. The resentment follows at that point whereupon the man has 'emptied himself out' into those investments, and the remaining feeling within intuitively corresponds - the experience is emptiness. The ego has been dissipated far and wide, given up by the very will and want of this man himself.

Resentment tells us that if things had been quite different then things should have gone 'our' way, and we become ill-satisfied, perturbed and markedly unbalanced, because we seek to combine with the grand and glorious, believing it to be that simple - to become as. This is why there are so many believed affinities with folk of notoriety. Of course it is possible that a worldly soul shares signature keys with large numbers of identifying individuals; however often it is more the case, that as with a catalog, the man or woman chooses quite loosely, the figure which they best should like to become. Were that they sought Christ, in like fashion! (n.b. The name: 'The Imitation of ...') 

But rather there are considerations of beauty and power and desirables which seduce the optimism so, that the underdeveloped ego does eventually frustrate itself entirely. Unless there is a worldly or spiritually binding intimacy shared with the famed object or person there is complete frustration, and the man does turn upon himself with resentment. Outwardly he may make blame on particulars, however it is the disassociative process from self which surrenders to the congestion of resentment. 

Death enters in when the ego has become derelict, he stands opportunistic, delighted by a chaos in identity. Death is ever with us, this is true, but usually does behave himself, submissive to the power as brought by the Divine Will made manifest in Man.

Irony, being the last of the three so named, is very pitiable and twisted, for it contains its own undoing. Irony is one of those properties that invoke more of themselves and hold specific natural laws only unto their own. What is meant by this is, Irony is Humor which as been perverted, no longer of the realm which is Humor. Divine Humor manifest, is the quickening of realization, flashing through to the soul and expired rapidly also. It is a comprehension which enlivens, because it is entirely sympathetic and knowing by very nature. 

Good humor therefore, is an expression of a likeness to God, a nearness to God, inasmuch as there is also a greater relationship between he who is enlightened with the moment and that to which he is sympathetically interacting with, in deep and high communication. Generally speaking it comes and it goes, and the awareness sparks to a maturity of knowing, and then as the humor subsides and the man settles, the experience is difficult to achieve again to such a degree with same knowing. For it is incorporated and having been realized, is usually not repeated. The second time around is less severe but more lasting, and so forth.

Now it becomes difficult indeed when humor has been inverted and touched - contaminated - with such upset; as say for example, resentment. Scorning, mocking, jesting, condemning, humor of cynicism, sour humor and particularly irony - all of these project Man in a way in which he is divorced from true and real sympathy or empathy, and seek rather to elevate the partial humorist in the exchange. It assumes superiority over that which it focuses upon and releases in a laugh, and the act of irony is not elevating to the man or his comprehension as with the laughter of true humor. Moreover it is corruptive to the man and an untrue perception.

Eventually this man shall return to himself, for upon withdrawing out from this world he will be given occasion to re-ensemble and regain his 'I' in identity. Peculiar to this, his soul itself has chosen the 'wind-up' - simply, as the seasons perpetuate, it is natural to the soul, even after an early Winter. The influx of overwhelming impulses have been, in this case in question, dependent largely upon critical weaknesses as laid down at birth. The tendency towards polio worked its way through to the thinking processes and this man suffered refraction and paralysis throughout many centers of his physical/causal constitution.

Reasons affront reasons and each man brings complicated histories into providence. What one may add further however, is that the man before you is an enigma, and just as it may be difficult with eyes of the world to see a lesser god, it is equally difficult to meet the real man who still bears his divinity intact. Fortunately, the souls of men are not so fragile or destructible.

There are men who present well and are coherent, nay, eloquent, and are so morally damaged with but a thin filter between them and savage evil. . . and then there are those unfortunate individuals, unkempt and vague, given to distemper, but wanting also, having lost momentarily, keys, code and cipher.

His dignity shall be reclaimed, his deficits accounted for, and no soul is alone or without, particularly during this transition.