Monkey & the Pole

There was once an old farmer who had many chores to do, and was dismayed at not being able to manage very well. He prayed to God to help him, and no sooner than he had done this there appeared a helpful monkey, sent to him by God - God explained, that he would do as he was asked and serve him well.

The old farmer was delighted and asked Monkey to go and plough the fields. Because this monkey had been sent by God he was a very fast worker, and before the farmer could sit back down upon his chair the monkey had returned at the door, asking for another chore. This time the old farmer asked him to mend and build the fences around the farm. Before he could put his coffee-cup to his lips, the monkey had returned having fulfilled this job as well.

The old farmer then asked the monkey to paint the outside of the house and barn, and once again, before the coffee was half drunk, the monkey had finished his work.

All day this continued until the Farmer was too exhausted and pleaded with God to show him what to do with the monkey, who kept returning with speedy enterprise. God said to the farmer to ask Monkey to go outside and build a pole. The farmer did this; the monkey then too. Then God told the farmer he could ask the monkey to climb up and down the pole until the farmer called him. 

Tradition is, that the monkey here represents the active thinking mind. Sometimes we are well served by our thinking and sometimes it can become too busy, and like the farmer we become run by it, rather than have it serve us conveniently!

Here we have depicted the heavenly monkey who from great labor has achieved the fruits now that have come to him. He represents inspiration from an active mind that also knows the wisdom in stillness.

Modern Ailments & their Sacred Causal Effects- August 7th 2005

Budhi & the Nagging Wife

THERE is a phenomenon recognized by most men, which at its best is the mothering from a woman, and at its worst is the attempt at controlling all around them. Generally speaking, the state of the soul of a man around such persuasiveness is one of forlorn enigma, resulting in either a bewildered apathy or retaliative denial then given.

The women themselves, from an early age, frustrate themselves also in almost all attempts to shape or mold their fellows that they love; and with a superior knowing and sadness, tend to suffer their correctness before they would tolerate that which they would have had changed.

Almost immutable, a woman's sense of self-certainty bears the very life force itself. This is not meant cynically either, but to convey the force and quality of nature working through her, in this tendency to try to reform others.

What is it and where does it come from, this instinct to try to reshape another for their own betterment? What is the working principle we can find, that not only manifests in womankind, but throughout all of the mentor/pupil relationships, parental and romantic, social and religious, and even to that of our own inner attitudes concerning our own self reckoning and development to be had -a powerful would-be motivator that seeks to redefine the subject before them, with an assured presence of knowing better, what is the name for this ultimate caring? Today we shall call it Budhi.

Why does plant accommodate seed? Plants are exceptionally organized; they do all of their work from the beginning. In all other species of being the elder tend to care and be concerned with their young during the process of growing, however the plant does these things before its young takes hold in the world, acting as a living ghost upon their life long after their own life has gone.

And plants do have individual characteristics passed on, so that even though they may share many attributes which are of their class and place in which they are born, they are also imparted with much from their parent before.

Gardeners learn much from the plants in respect to the Budhi-nature they have. The gardener will lovingly prepare much in anticipation for his wards, even before planting, up to and past maturation. The gardener's joy and striving is very plantlike in its disposition, in the positioning, in the envisioning, in the happy melody of consciousness with an act well done even before its purpose has become manifest.

Within the Animal Kingdom the Budhi nature takes being after the birth, with add-ons which go beyond their biological characteristics. Social behaviors, implicit fears and later wooing, certain acts and discriminations are taught and furthered from older to young as well, as nurturing to enable their survival in the World.

Whilst these creatures exhibit very few understandings outside of their own kind, and charities fewer still, it has to be said that for many of the animal world, their caring and their schooling is relentless. The egoic considerations that we might have are not there to encourage these behaviors - their self-reflection does not come into it. However, much like us, they do see themselves (literally) in they who they care for. In the animal mind their young are themselves, and although abstracted from the main they are perceived as same - not similar, but same. Interestingly however, the young do not perceive them likewise.

The powers of Budhi are essential to compassion, to Humanity, to Brotherhood and to Christ. If the elements of Budhi are deplete or non-existent, there becomes little to save the individual or demon from evility. A man or a being with no sense of this power (as power it is) is necessarily self-determined and self-interested, acquisitive, maligned (good to remember, those that malign are mal-lined), and there becomes only room for these beings in the spaces between life, because life itself comes to not tolerate them.

It is difficult to imagine a realm where the grace and gift of the Budhi did not exist, for truly the Heavens have to operate with a Divine Kindness, as the eternal dance would become but a shove.

We have laws of course, but even these laws are unarguably generous to all. And in the vast progression of aspiring souls, there is always the conviction that furtherance furthers all.

The mysteries surrounding parenthood strike at the font of not only material existence, but also the existence of All. Our Father, has taught us a love and a way of loving, which by His Example, is unquestionably senior to that whom He Loves. And by His Love, that which He loves does flourish. This appears to be the very first principle one could cite and savor.

So in contemplation of this Principle, it is no small thing - this same Principle which we are naming Budhi, whereupon a greater betokens their caring and nurturing upon a lesser.

For humankind the experience of parenthood is documentary to His Love. Although one might think it easy to define the love of the parent, and we certainly can know the experience of it, there are elements nonetheless which are mysterious in their composite. On the face of it the parental love is self-evident. The little child is quite helpless and needy, the parents' charge is largely perfunctory however; their gushing and magnetic love, the adoration of the tiny person, is much more than a pity for a need or an attraction from the vulnerable.

In addition to this, as with the animal fellows, there becomes an aspect of us literally perceiving our own natures and selfhood extended within the child. This is not to say so much in the abstract: i.e. that the parent necessarily expects a repeat of their own life, or aspirations to manifest, or even a physical benediction to carry on, no it is much more subtle in relation the astral investments that the child themselves does bear.

In the very early years, up until the age of seven to eight, the child will incur many tendencies and attributes imparted by their parents, items that they were not born with but are inheriting due to proximity at that time. Just as a pet dog can receive astrally many characteristics of its owner and bear some of the owner's astrality within that of its own so the two become the one, so also can the little child in the formative years bear much of the nature of the parent, for good and for ill. Not only the mind is receptive to the moral and cognitive surroundings of the elders, but also the subtle bodies of that being will soak in the happenings and attitudes of that time.

This will then go on to affect the child into adulthood, and many times there are behaviors which occur that the adult cannot reconcile to being that of their own, and in point of fact they are not. This will be addressed further as we go along as to how a person can try to separate the skin of their parents from themselves.

Now whilst all of the above occurs, it is still not reckoning the experience of the great love which the parent experiences. Not the compassion for frailty or the continuum of self invested, denotes this love in its entirety.

And here is the surprise. It is really quite profound. Father God Loves us, this is true. Caring and charity abound. Universally there is a whole host of loving, here there and everywhere. But here is the thing: the parent loves their child because they are to be loved, worthy of love and most lovable.

This is and isn't about goodness also; what it means is that sometimes we are privy to experiencing the true nature of an individual, and when we do know them as they are, we experience the truth that there is so much to be revered and respected and loved about them. If you could see into the soul through to the spirit, if you could witness the trials and conquests of the egoic striving, if you could map the journey thus far through the gates of eternity into the same, you would know of the cherished love that this person before you qualifies for most dearly. That in essence is the surprise factor to this mystery, and one most folk seldom reflect upon.

[Unfinished]

Seeing Reason- 25th March 2005

IN the eyes of our Lord it was never shameful to be seen to be heavy laden. He did not ask that men and women quieten their woes around Him, but in opposite to that, He asked them to bring their tribulations out, that they be obvious before Him, that He might help.

There can be an expectation and hope of an almost instantaneous miraculous healing with our divinity at best. Even though this is the case, it has often done a turnabout, and given cause to those whose problems continue or remain (and are not so easily blamed), to feel that somewhere it should have been otherwise and therefore best not evermore admit to them, speak of them, and ask again of Him for remedy.

This calamity is apparent on a psychological level but also reaches with deeper roots with a somewhat differing causal meaning. Firstly, there is a certain truth which says that all men and women are essentially well and whole. In the Spirit, in the ineffable Future, intact and in every important way, we are hardy souls whose very life is God's Life and therefore blessed in the extreme. Added to this there is the notion of purpose, that is holy and good, which feels its way through even the darker situations to find eventual persuasions of useful interpretation - and better still, moulds a character of fine determination and virtue throughout.

Yes and there are countless sayings which point to that adage of there always being folk worse off than oneself - therefore (by implication) do not be disheartened, but rather, persist without complaint or self-pity.

In summation, there is the final truth to say that such self-pity is largely and for the main unhelpful - unless it is but a springboard to deciding for a better change, a certain action, and if possible, a positive motivation regardless, to drive that change.

There are times when we can project to a future date (like a special birthday for example) and the expectation of that eventual day is larger than the experience moment by moment leading up to its arrival. What is meant here, is that we would hurry through the preceding days to get to it, and in our thinking it becomes the 'important' day; the others are almost in the way of it, in a manner of speaking. We know that feeling, of being so intent upon something that our focus has narrowed upon it and it alone.

Faith itself can be like that - in respect to one becoming a master or an angel or enlightened or resurrected - the projecting through to the happy or happiest of expected events, actually helps in the context of woes, reducing them from the perception, working through them to get to the 'end' so envisioned. The problem with that of course is with what can be missed along the way...

It can be said here also, that hardship and incongruity is by its own nature, irreconcilable. There is no real way the ego of a person can accept what is to them the unacceptable. In heart also, you simply cannot reconcile or make balanced, that which should not be made balanced, but rather should be made right. 

As small gods we feel obliged to often correct or accept that which is not to be corrected, and to make peace with the unacceptable. From aging to insult, the imperfect world bears down around the struggling novitiate; all the while he is working to prop up the falsehoods often causing the demise.

Universally there is a phenomenon where the entities who make up the convoy of Life, manifest quite perfectly for what and who they are. This is to be deduced insofar as there is no going back or traveling to some other level of perfection - they are who they are with what talents they have, and are defined and limited by them for perpetuity. There is not the one huge onward movement towards achieving a greater this or higher that, because there is no capacity for change, let alone enhancement. There can be improvement however - becoming better at what they are, but that is working from what they are to begin with.

Man, on the other hand, is curiously placed, because he has so many possibilities given to him, and is not what he appears to be in actuality at all. The complexities are both beautiful and dazzling, the depths of sorrow all the more deep, the tasks a'many, and the results uncertain.

If an elemental being is infused with experience it will go back to what it was before the influence that inspired the experience leaves it. For it has no capacity to retain and learn, but is impressionable without qualification or discernment past, present or future.

However with a man having Ego, he is entitled to keep that which he earns, and does so in a very lasting way. This wakeful acquiring in itself has the potential for a multitude of talents. Alongside this ability to learn, we also have imagination and empathy, both given to us directly from Christ Himself.

Once again, elemental beings cannot of themselves 'imagine' anything other than what is to them, is. They are confined to a more reality-based perception than the materialist is here in the physical world. This is a great paradoxical thought! That there are scurries of beings (God bless them) that are so fixed in their spiritual thinking and perception, that they are relatively far more bound to their environment than Man is to his.

Free within his imagination, Man has been given the spiritual insights that most of the spiritual terrains cannot even perceive! Even as he is when incarnate in the physical realm, seemingly barred and abandoned from the direct spiritual realms in perception, his sense and sensibility outweighs and outreaches the comprehension of many, many, beings that fill the spaces without and beyond.

By contrast we can examine some truths that we know of Christ, but are little considered. For as to the Presence that He is, there can be incongruities appearing in what is spoken of as His Story.

What is known is that He is at all times considered and with Reason. Christ is no mere soldier of fortune or happenstance - no fool, no puppet, but rather energetic, Mindful and completely in control of both Himself and everything else here besides. Those last few words rarely go out to describe Him, and for whatever understanding, could be offensive to both Christians and non-Christians alike; but if contemplated in the positive spirit they have been offered, one can see the sense and safety of this.

As Creator of this World, Giver of all Talents, bringer of Repentance (which qualifies change - the very change other creatures cannot self-determine).... as the primary and secondary Being of our Lives, Manifestation and all supporting Kingdoms (i.e. the word 'Man' incorporates all of the associated kingdoms seen and unseen around him), our beloved Christ is very, very, very much in control. He does not (thank Goodness) miss a heartbeat.

Everywhere and nowhere He is to be found.

Control implies a fixed nature being determined. Control over the world also implies power over the world. If you think about it, how could this not be so? His Power as is His Conveyance is Absolute. What on Earth would become of us if Christ were to withdraw His Power and Cease his Control in this World? It would be unthinkable.

The conjoining of all things (meaning spiritual beings etc.), occurs only through Him and our Father, and because of Him all things are to us and remain in us and go on in the way that they do.

This is both a great and good medicine to contemplate. Should we seek out a pattern for self-order, this richly imbued truth is of itself most enlightening.

Pictorially, we are so used to feeling the greatest of sorrows for He who suffers for us and with us, that at times we forget His Strength, Joy and Majesty that truly vanquishes the evility that threatens.

Within His Control there was a moment during the Crucifixion that changed everything - or more properly put, created a special doorway allowing for change to pass through. Change itself walked through the earthly door, somewhere between Heaven and Hell itself - at some time, as the tensions of a God moved every atom to an earthquake and shot an ethereal light through to each hidden shadow.

Change - in small, and change in all. Change in possibility, change to the inertia that had become the consciousness of Man. Change to the audacities that spoke on behalf of the integrity of Man, and just enough, so as not to collapse this, the mighty frame.

Change which enabled yet more change again, but in same, not in all days - for this would be an undoing also - but during the Eastertide, where new Life is initiated and born, the old made new, and change is made possible.

The true New Year is at this time now [Easter]. It is not at January the first, but rather at that time, this time, when change is offered. Our blessed fixedness that keeps us true and stable can make way for something completely different during this sacred time. If ever there was a meaningful resolution, spoken or unspoken, one should wish to commit to, this is the fortuitous and advantageous period to establish that New Self in.

This special time of opportunity is repeated every year on Good Friday. It is both the moment of death for the World and also that of the possibility of New Life to come in, especially in those ways we can excel ourselves.

Greater Mind-15th & 22nd January 2005

THE word 'confusion' implies disorder, disarray, and possibly a form of static in which the thought processes become for a time, paralyzed. 

When we experience this static it may feel as though there is no going back or moving forward. Reviewing our past knowledge from experience is not immediately accessible or sufficient, whilst finding our way to productive new ideas frequently feels blocked.

As well as this there maybe chronic or temporary physiological factors bearing down on our capacity, affecting our convivial wellbeing.

There is Knowledge and Intelligence all around us - a concordance of Genius underlying all things. Once again, as before, we find that mind, Great Mind, lives outside of our beings as well as working within.

It is good to be reminded of this, because the actual effect of this contemplation is relaxing to our own tension of thought. For when we ponder the Mind outside of our own we literally flip inside out; and just as when a computer locks up and the restart button becomes the only option, this inside-out play of process permits the thinker to quit the confusion and begin from a point that better suits their pursuing. Sleep also is a great restart to confusion, and the very same principle applies.

Now having said this we can add further:

In truth we do not always do our 'thinking' inside of ourselves completely. If you were speaking with a brain specialist today, his opinion would be that cognitive thinking manifests electrically within the orbit of the brain cells personally, and not beyond.

Logically speaking, they would have to say that a human being cannot therefore think 'outside' their own personal experience and former accrued knowledge, and that everything which takes us up to this point has evolved from our own personal sequence of building-block wisdom. Yet it can be proven quite easily that all people do more than just this, in the very fact that they can change.

In order for a man to change his thinking on something requires that he disregard his former ways of thought, and in order for him to be able to achieve this, he has to be able to 'see' an alternative before he finds it. He verily 'senses' another way, another wisdom other than his own, and has a capacity to recognize and make it his own if he so chooses. This sophisticated ability has to lie outside of the defining capabilities in order to work.

When people begin to feel confused they often become sleepy. This of course is a most natural and possibly helpful consequence. When they are dozy they are going to do one of two things: 

• either find a thinking outside of their own or

• fall totally asleep and achieve a restart.

You can see from this that very intense thinkers who are quite self-bound, for this reason, may suffer many bouts of sleepiness during the waking hours. Meditation has the same effect, often described as a 'clearing of the mind'; which we can add also, a receiving of the Greater Mind - a referring to the outer and greater wisdoms.

Once again we find with imagination also, that it does not live within ourselves so much as it lives outside ourselves. The place, the realm of imagination, is in fact the spiritual worlds.... all of which are pretty pliable in the immediate, to our input.

Even within the local astral and etheric, the manifest is charged and changed continuously by the occupying inhabitants. The very seeming lack of plasticity within the material world is an exception to most.

So much ordinary thinking comes in from outside the individual thinking it....and not always from a greater mind or source. Many folk are given to repetitive thought and by doing this are cordoning themselves off from the pervading outer thought. It can become a habitual enterprise in trying to be selective, but if the ego is weak the problem with the closed mind is that it is closed to new and higher thought also.

It is perfectly understandable that someone who has difficulty discerning their own mind from the voices of the Greater Mind, would vanguard their thinking processes with constant and repetitive familiar thought. However the implications of this are in the negative, that the individual begins to perceive all things not as they are but through the eyes of limited experience.

Of course once again it gets back to the importance of strengthening the "I am", the Arterial Selfhood, the blessed Ego. Neither can it be advocated that an open faculty is of itself meritorious, for attraction and discernment have come into play. Even the adept is open to ridiculous thought at times.... just as sometimes it is necessary to pace through the alleyway to get to the bridge. Yet no strength of dire and perilous thought can perturb the one who is strong in who they are, and furthermore strengthened again and again with every test before them.

Thinking within this world is a direct preparation for moving about and navigating the spiritual worlds. The effort put in now will accrue immediately, and with what skill that is accomplished, shall determine well the vistas available later.