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#2461 -
Jenny Munday kicks off this
issue with Part Two of The Conditioning Process and Its
Conclusion. "You can safely validate yourself and honor the
One within by ignoring nearly everything you have been told thus
far."
Jim Dreaver follows with an
article on religious belief: "By insisting on clinging to
beliefs or concepts about reality, people are literally keeping a
lid on consciousness."
Finally an anonymous contributor
sends a letter from Self to Self: "Now I know I cannot
focus on God, because it is God »who« is focusing."
THE CONDITIONING PROCESS AND ITS
CONCLUSION -- Part Two
by Jenny Munday
http://www.centerforawareness.org/Home.html
We take our drugs then (prescribed or
street) but they no longer work or the side affects are worse
than the original problem. The pharmaceutical giants are making
billions on prescribed drugs that
cause permanent biological and psychological damage. All TV ads
say to "ask your doctor" and
unfortunately, more and more doctors are going with the
pharmaceuticals.
Our crisis occurs and possibly for the first
time in our entire life, we finally STOP and start
asking questions. GREAT ! We're headed home now. Because actually
there's no other place to go. We
have discovered that this material realm has not yielded what it
promised to. Thank g o d (whatever
that is). We will soon start wonder if our beliefs about that are
also conditioned and therefore -
false.
From here on in the journey becomes
"eradicating the conditioning" --- or maybe
"changing the
mindset" or maybe "self individuation or
enlightenment" - whatever.
The one thing for certain is: IT WILL NEVER
AGAIN BE WHAT IT ONCE WAS. ACCEPT THE CHANGING
SELF/UNIVERSE/CONSCIOUSNESS - OR STAY AS YOU ARE.
If we face the fact of our conditioning and
come to understand it as something that happened; and
can be changed, then we are in a good place to start some
positive approaching to being different.
If we just become angry at what was apparently "done to
us" we will get nowhere. Those who "did it
to us" had it also done to them. That's how they learned it.
The higher dimension of understanding awaits
our decision., While we have no actual free will - we
each are given "decision making" possibilities.
Although a seeming contradiction on the plane of
logic - it is not a contradiction on the plane of consciousness
or spirit for that plane is of a
different nature than this.
WHAT IS YOUR DECISION ?
If you have read this far you will probably
be a candidate for change. Or you may read this far and
say "I don't believe a word of this. It's all
nonsense". In which case it will be logged somewhere
in your inner library as something to be never thought about
again - or - as something which can be
retrieved after you have tried some more of lower mind's
collective remedies for mind/body/ spirit
illness.
Whatever "your" decision is - it
won't make a lot of difference anyway because we are all going
where we have been programmed to go by the program of the Spirit
or that Causeless Cause that
becomes our salvation and peace-maker. If we follow it's leading
Life can change dramatically
quickly. If we continue to follow our small limited Will and it's
ways, it will be a tough journey.
Even collective mass has come to believe
this to be a time of great evolutionary change where-in
much of the negative forces of greed, hate, force will give way
to a kinder environment. It has
been called the commencement of a higher spiral on the ladder of
evolution - the beginning of the
Fifth Root Race. And that is another story and a fascinating
topic for exploration. If you choose
to go with this great tide of change, just begin by analyzing
your present mind-set; your beliefs,
where you got them from, have they worked for you, what you want
to do with them if they haven't.
In short, realize that you can change no one else - only
yourself. You can receive love best by
giving it out. You can safely validate yourself and honor the One
within by ignoring nearly
everything you have been told thus far. You can make a 180 degree
turn - if you are willing - and
as Life unfolds it's next chapter - you can go with IT or keep
fighting against it. The choice is
(seemingly) yours !
http://www.centerforawareness.org/Home.html
Religious Beliefs
by Jim Dreaver
At the heart of every religion, there is a
core of truth that gave birth to the story, to the
belief system. Most religions are built upon an original
revelation of life’s fundamental unity and
harmony, a revelation that came through a particular prophet or
master. Unfortunately, not all of
those who came after, and who gave form to the religion itself,
who organized it, politicized it,
and endlessly revised the story around it, had the same degree of
insight and compassion. They
didn’t share their founder’s awakening, or
enlightenment.
Much of the time all they had were the
words, the dogmas and, using the mechanisms of guilt,
coercion, and fear, a pervasive need to control other people,
rather than set them free. It is
worth remembering that Jesus was not a “Christian,” and
Buddha was certainly not a “Buddhist.”
Indeed, both individuals held to the big picture, and saw
themselves as being beyond the
limitations and restrictions of any one religion or practice.
Jesus’ essential teaching was
forgiveness and love, and Buddha’s was awakening to the
truth of being, to inner freedom, so that
we could love.
Now, many people of course—in fact, the
vast majority—stop here. They don’t look too deeply
within
themselves, and they don’t really question the religious
beliefs, the stories, that they have been
fed, or that they have chosen. Consciousness, in a very real
sense, is still asleep in them. It has
not evolved, flowered. It can’t. By insisting on clinging to
beliefs or concepts about reality,
people are literally keeping a lid on consciousness.
Now, it is also true that many people find a
certain level of inner peace with religion, especially
if their faith is strong. But, I emphasize again, that faith is
tied to the beliefs they hold. Take
away the beliefs, and their faith doesn’t have ground to
stand on.
Q. What if I am a very religious person, and
do see the futility of relying on money, other people,
the government, and so on for my happiness, but just rely instead
on my inner belief in God, or a
higher Power, or Jesus, if I am a Christian? Surely that would
suffice? I mean, if my belief is
really solid, grounded, firm?
It works well in theory, and is in fact the
basis of all religions. Just believe what we teach you,
and the peace of God, or at least salvation in the afterlife,
will be yours. The problem with
religions, all religions, is that regardless of how long they
have been around, or how many
adherents they have, or how noble or sacred their traditions,
they are essentially just stories
about the origin, meaning, and purpose of life.
If you can believe the story, embrace it
fully, and live according to your particular religion’s
precepts and dogmas, then you probably will have a fairly good
chance of being happy. And some very
devout, sincere people actually do this apparently successfully.
However, in my observation, the
ones that benefit the most from traditional religion are those
who connect with the spirit of the
religion, the essential message of the scriptures, rather than
the rules and the dogmas.
It’s just a fact that most religious
beliefs, whether they are about how we got to be here, or
where we are going when we die, strain credulity, at least in the
minds of those with educated,
inquiring, skeptical minds. That was certainly the case with me,
and it is probably the case with
most who are interested in awakening to the deepest truth
knowable. The bottom-line is that the
majority of people, in this scientific, technologically
sophisticated age we live in, find most
religious beliefs just too un-believable. It is trying to believe
in Santa Claus again—or the
Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy.
That doesn’t meant to say religion can’t
serve us. It does. There is much in all religions that is
good, true, beautiful, but the goodness, truth, and beauty lie in
the common human and spiritual
values most religions espouse. I am talking about such values, or
virtues, as mercy, charity,
kindness, compassion, love, gratitude for the gift of life, and
so on.
©Jim Dreaver, 2006
Anonymous Contributor
Dear Self
The focus or the attention can be directed
towards the stream of information coming from the senses, towards
thoughts, emotions, towards memory and/or immagination.
The attention cannot be directed towards the
Self the same way as one cannot hear its own ear. It is imposible
to focus on the source of the focus. It simply is and it moves
all the time. To become aware of the Self or to become one with
the Self which is the same, it is usefull to »zoom out«. No
effort is needed to do so. You need effort to zoom in, to pay
attention or to concentrate on something particular. To zoom out
from any direction of attention is a completely effortless
process. So, who is the one who is zooming out?
It is the Self it is God. It is nothing
sensational as I was used to expect from the various forms coming
out from immagination or from the books, which I believed to be
God. Now I know I cannot focus on God, because it is God »who«
is focusing.
As the sun is not choisy about what its
countless rays are going to shine on, so is the Self.
Zooming out from any direction, from any
object of attention the Self is. When the Self has zoomed out
from any words and immagination I am the Self.
It is very difficult to say it or write it
down. Nevertheless, I just love to do it. I love to share it. I
know it is not mine so I need to give it to anybody who would
love to read it. From your eyes and from the eyes of any person
the same Self is writing and reading all the words. I think the
Self love to do it because I love to do it.
The Self