Jesus said to them: "When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside, and the outside like the inside, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, then you will enter the kingdom (of heaven)."
The Gospel of Thomas
All spiritual wisdom warns us to be wary of, and not be fooled by the duality of this world, for it belongs only to this world of matter.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
The Gift of Air
Oh look!
The trees are waving at me!
They're dancing in the air!
Billions of bits of air racing each other
Toward nowhere in particular,
Bombarding every solid in their path.
The trees,
Animated yet immobile,
Actually growing, yet appearing still,
Exchanging molecules to help us,
The mobile species,
To breathe and act
In a dimension
Which is illusion,
At best.
agd 8.25.2013
Four months 'til Christmas!
The trees are waving at me!
They're dancing in the air!
Billions of bits of air racing each other
Toward nowhere in particular,
Bombarding every solid in their path.
The trees,
Animated yet immobile,
Actually growing, yet appearing still,
Exchanging molecules to help us,
The mobile species,
To breathe and act
In a dimension
Which is illusion,
At best.
agd 8.25.2013
Four months 'til Christmas!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Gender Confusion
I just happened to watch a devotional message on the BYU (Brigham Young U. - Mormon) channel, "Quorum of the Twelve Apostles", given by Elder M. Russell Ballard. I thought I would learn something about the Mormon perspective -- and yup, I sure did. I quote:
"Our heavenly Father created women and men who are His Spirit daughters and sons. This means that gender is eternal." (my emphasis)
I'm sorry, gender is not "eternal" - it is a manifestation of the world of matter, of the outcome of the blending of both parents' DNA into a new and unique individual. And the soul which incarnates is neither male nor femaile. Yes, we are "children" - offspring of the Most High - God is Spirit - our Father-Mother-Parent, and therefore we are spirit and share the divine nature of God. Those souls who have had many incarnations might have a "soul-tendency" toward being male or female, but in spirit, we the soul is neither female nor male. Gender is a product of this material, Earthly world. The strength of gender identity lies in a combination of the hormones in the physical body with the soul memory of past lives. Both play a role in the understanding of gender identity.
For example, a soul with many female incarnations, when born into a male body, may manifest more female tendencies and even identify with a strong feminine side because of its many female incarnations. He may have effeminate behavior, be drawn to males for intimacy, or even manifest the urge to dress and "look" like a woman, even thought he is materially, biologically a male. And vice versa for a material, biological female tending toward male behavior and identity.
The material body is a vehicle for the soul to experience this Earthly, material reality. The design of the species to procreate requires DNA from a male (sperm) and DNA from a female (ovum) in order to create a new physical form, and by now, our own scientific history reveals the infinite variety of possibilities, most acceptable, and some aberrations which are culturally unacceptable (and this happens in every species - "broken" or incomplete or abnormal bodies are often left to die off) because of the physical challenges to live a productive life.
But to understand the possibilities of gender identity, one must take many factors into consideration. Before entering into this life, we choose the body and life we are incarnating into - for its challenges and its blessings. Once blended with the body, the soul has to act in this world according to both its spiritual AND its physical nature. We are what we choose to be. And I might add, if we had the possibility of choosing an asexual body (no genitals), there are many souls who would do so.
The success of any life does not lie with the boundaries of gender and the limited understanding of a culture. The success of any life is all about how we deal with each moment - making decisions which beneift others, while trying to eke out joy in this challenging world. Love, love, love is all there is.
So, are you a male ALWAYS and forever? Are you a female ALWAYS and forever? Wake up people -- the answer is NO. And promulgating a teaching as quoted above will onlystifle the creativity which God is manifesting through the human condition. We should be building bridges, not walls.
"Our heavenly Father created women and men who are His Spirit daughters and sons. This means that gender is eternal." (my emphasis)
I'm sorry, gender is not "eternal" - it is a manifestation of the world of matter, of the outcome of the blending of both parents' DNA into a new and unique individual. And the soul which incarnates is neither male nor femaile. Yes, we are "children" - offspring of the Most High - God is Spirit - our Father-Mother-Parent, and therefore we are spirit and share the divine nature of God. Those souls who have had many incarnations might have a "soul-tendency" toward being male or female, but in spirit, we the soul is neither female nor male. Gender is a product of this material, Earthly world. The strength of gender identity lies in a combination of the hormones in the physical body with the soul memory of past lives. Both play a role in the understanding of gender identity.
For example, a soul with many female incarnations, when born into a male body, may manifest more female tendencies and even identify with a strong feminine side because of its many female incarnations. He may have effeminate behavior, be drawn to males for intimacy, or even manifest the urge to dress and "look" like a woman, even thought he is materially, biologically a male. And vice versa for a material, biological female tending toward male behavior and identity.
The material body is a vehicle for the soul to experience this Earthly, material reality. The design of the species to procreate requires DNA from a male (sperm) and DNA from a female (ovum) in order to create a new physical form, and by now, our own scientific history reveals the infinite variety of possibilities, most acceptable, and some aberrations which are culturally unacceptable (and this happens in every species - "broken" or incomplete or abnormal bodies are often left to die off) because of the physical challenges to live a productive life.
But to understand the possibilities of gender identity, one must take many factors into consideration. Before entering into this life, we choose the body and life we are incarnating into - for its challenges and its blessings. Once blended with the body, the soul has to act in this world according to both its spiritual AND its physical nature. We are what we choose to be. And I might add, if we had the possibility of choosing an asexual body (no genitals), there are many souls who would do so.
The success of any life does not lie with the boundaries of gender and the limited understanding of a culture. The success of any life is all about how we deal with each moment - making decisions which beneift others, while trying to eke out joy in this challenging world. Love, love, love is all there is.
So, are you a male ALWAYS and forever? Are you a female ALWAYS and forever? Wake up people -- the answer is NO. And promulgating a teaching as quoted above will onlystifle the creativity which God is manifesting through the human condition. We should be building bridges, not walls.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
The Illusion of Perfecton
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Soul memory
After all these years, I've stopped labeling myself or others for that matter. It's such a foolish system we have - once declared, always the same - not! I have made my own the words of a mid-east mystic, Hafiz -
"... The truth has shared so much of itself with me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman, an angel or even a pure soul....."
Every human is a mix of male and female, some more male, some more female. Many factors play a part, and part of it comes from many lives in this material dimension as both male and female. This I believe. It's why some men feel "like a woman" inside, and some women feel "like a man" - from a sense or "memory" of past lives as the opposite sex. Genetics and chemical balance play a part also, but we cannot leave out the reality of multi-incarnations. Strong soul-memories of opposite sex experiences can inform the present incarnation, and sometimes override the "norm."
"... The truth has shared so much of itself with me that I can no longer call myself a man, a woman, an angel or even a pure soul....."
Every human is a mix of male and female, some more male, some more female. Many factors play a part, and part of it comes from many lives in this material dimension as both male and female. This I believe. It's why some men feel "like a woman" inside, and some women feel "like a man" - from a sense or "memory" of past lives as the opposite sex. Genetics and chemical balance play a part also, but we cannot leave out the reality of multi-incarnations. Strong soul-memories of opposite sex experiences can inform the present incarnation, and sometimes override the "norm."
Friday, April 26, 2013
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Evolution and original sin
Do you believe that people ( I won't use "beings" or "aliens") from other planets or dimensions have been instrumental in guiding the human race's evolution?
If this is a truth, a recurring question is: "Where are they? - Why don't they come by and continue to teach us the technologies they have fashioned?" Basically, the human race has not evolved in the way they thought it might. Their intercourse with humans tens of thousands of years ago did not produce physical bodies which were any better than theirs. Our "wiring" still contains the propensity for violence which they themselves experienced. Their DNA is flawed, and so is ours.
Over the years, they have inspired and interceded to teach humanity how to overcome this propensity toward violence -- teachers, masters, gurus in every age have reiterated the dictum: "Love one another - forgive one another - love your enemy - do no harm to another living being - walk the extra mile - do to one another as you would have others do to you, etc., infinitum" - words of encouragement offered by thousands more souls than the ones we have put on a pedestal - Buddha, Jesus, Francis of Assisi, Confucius, Lao Tsu, Lincoln, Gandhi, Cayce, MLK, etc. And still, our violent animal nature tends to override the efforts we make to change and allow our divine nature to shine through.
I often struggled with the idea of "original sin", the sin we are told we are born with (in the Catholic tradition). How can a newborn carry any sin at all? But yes, we are born with a "sin" - the propensity toward violence and behavior which breaks our connection with one another. And every spiritual master, teacher, guru has taught us how to overcome it - by learning to Love - by practicing Compassion. It is Compassionate Loving which reconnects us with one another, which establishes peace in one's own heart, and which can transform another heart to love and be compassionate. The more we learn how to connect, the more we can truly bring what Jesus calls "The Kingdom of God" into this material experience. (The Kingdom of God is already here among us - we have lost the ability to "see" and experience it.)
The best mantra to learn and to repeat in our minds, is: "Everything is connected." Because in truth, everthing IS connected, on the level of Being, in the heart of hearts of Limitless Being, from which everything, ALL of Life, springs. If we can only learn that we are really all the same, with variations, we would not decide to harm one another. For then we would understand that in harming others, we only harm ourselves. And when we harm ourselves, we limit the expression of Being, who only wishes to create new and wonderful ways to be.
I certainly recognize all the good which is done in the world. Without it, we would be cannibalistic animals. But it seems that not everyone in the world sees the good which can be done through even a minimal practice of compassion. Perhaps if they did, their hearts could change, too.
So, why don't our ancestral "teachers" come back to help us? Why don't they show themselves and teach us more? Because we have not learned to love. Our ethics - as a species - is terribly flawed, and there would be those who through egoistic and misguided faith would misuse the gift of knowledge these people could share with us. Namaste.
If this is a truth, a recurring question is: "Where are they? - Why don't they come by and continue to teach us the technologies they have fashioned?" Basically, the human race has not evolved in the way they thought it might. Their intercourse with humans tens of thousands of years ago did not produce physical bodies which were any better than theirs. Our "wiring" still contains the propensity for violence which they themselves experienced. Their DNA is flawed, and so is ours.
Over the years, they have inspired and interceded to teach humanity how to overcome this propensity toward violence -- teachers, masters, gurus in every age have reiterated the dictum: "Love one another - forgive one another - love your enemy - do no harm to another living being - walk the extra mile - do to one another as you would have others do to you, etc., infinitum" - words of encouragement offered by thousands more souls than the ones we have put on a pedestal - Buddha, Jesus, Francis of Assisi, Confucius, Lao Tsu, Lincoln, Gandhi, Cayce, MLK, etc. And still, our violent animal nature tends to override the efforts we make to change and allow our divine nature to shine through.
I often struggled with the idea of "original sin", the sin we are told we are born with (in the Catholic tradition). How can a newborn carry any sin at all? But yes, we are born with a "sin" - the propensity toward violence and behavior which breaks our connection with one another. And every spiritual master, teacher, guru has taught us how to overcome it - by learning to Love - by practicing Compassion. It is Compassionate Loving which reconnects us with one another, which establishes peace in one's own heart, and which can transform another heart to love and be compassionate. The more we learn how to connect, the more we can truly bring what Jesus calls "The Kingdom of God" into this material experience. (The Kingdom of God is already here among us - we have lost the ability to "see" and experience it.)
The best mantra to learn and to repeat in our minds, is: "Everything is connected." Because in truth, everthing IS connected, on the level of Being, in the heart of hearts of Limitless Being, from which everything, ALL of Life, springs. If we can only learn that we are really all the same, with variations, we would not decide to harm one another. For then we would understand that in harming others, we only harm ourselves. And when we harm ourselves, we limit the expression of Being, who only wishes to create new and wonderful ways to be.
I certainly recognize all the good which is done in the world. Without it, we would be cannibalistic animals. But it seems that not everyone in the world sees the good which can be done through even a minimal practice of compassion. Perhaps if they did, their hearts could change, too.
So, why don't our ancestral "teachers" come back to help us? Why don't they show themselves and teach us more? Because we have not learned to love. Our ethics - as a species - is terribly flawed, and there would be those who through egoistic and misguided faith would misuse the gift of knowledge these people could share with us. Namaste.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Is this hell?
Concentration camps in N. Korea,
Guantanamo, Cuba, the Mideast, Asia,
Fanatic Muslims terrorizing whole countries,
Pirates on the seas,
Megalomanica "leaders" in Africa and Indonesia.
Cities of unrelenting poverty in South America,
Haiti, Africa, Indonesia, Central America,
Dominican Republic, the USA.
Mafias in Mexico,
Gangs of hatred in America
and on all continents,
Unscrupulous businesses
and businessmen.
Mentally unstable roaming the streets of the world,
with weapons,
Racists and a variety of bigots,
lack of love.
Delusional loyalists,
Injustices perpetrated by
selfish egoists,
less and less respect for others,
Fears overwhelming
for lack of love.
Forced ignorance
and bullies,
The raping of the planet,
and lack of love.
If not for the beauty of this earth
and the moments of joy --
If not for instances of love and support --
If not for the freedom to be creative
and purposeful --
If not for the faithful
whose works bring balance to the globe --
This would be hell --
Well -- is it?
Guantanamo, Cuba, the Mideast, Asia,
Fanatic Muslims terrorizing whole countries,
Pirates on the seas,
Megalomanica "leaders" in Africa and Indonesia.
Cities of unrelenting poverty in South America,
Haiti, Africa, Indonesia, Central America,
Dominican Republic, the USA.
Mafias in Mexico,
Gangs of hatred in America
and on all continents,
Unscrupulous businesses
and businessmen.
Mentally unstable roaming the streets of the world,
with weapons,
Racists and a variety of bigots,
lack of love.
Delusional loyalists,
Injustices perpetrated by
selfish egoists,
less and less respect for others,
Fears overwhelming
for lack of love.
Forced ignorance
and bullies,
The raping of the planet,
and lack of love.
If not for the beauty of this earth
and the moments of joy --
If not for instances of love and support --
If not for the freedom to be creative
and purposeful --
If not for the faithful
whose works bring balance to the globe --
This would be hell --
Well -- is it?
Friday, April 5, 2013
Volcanic Menstruation
Volcanic Menstruation
From the boiling fire,
rock flows,
then freezes.
First life pioneers paint the gray rock
with a palette of green,
eating the rock,
regurgitating the soil
which lays in wait for the first settlers.
From early soils
royal life takes root,
growing a community skyward,
inviting mobile life to live and flourish,
until the next boiling fire
cleanses all --
and a new world is born.
agd 2013
Written after watching a documentary on the volcanic activity which forms and renews life in the Indonesian Archipelago.
From the boiling fire,
rock flows,
then freezes.
First life pioneers paint the gray rock
with a palette of green,
eating the rock,
regurgitating the soil
which lays in wait for the first settlers.
From early soils
royal life takes root,
growing a community skyward,
inviting mobile life to live and flourish,
until the next boiling fire
cleanses all --
and a new world is born.
agd 2013
Written after watching a documentary on the volcanic activity which forms and renews life in the Indonesian Archipelago.
Wake up!
So many souls are yet asleep -
Should I wake therm?
Will they understand?
Will they rejoice?
Will they grieve?
Will they stand the pain?
I will play my harp
to soothe their minds.
agd 2012
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Gun Control
If anyone in Congress begins a filibuster when voting begins on this most needed bill, he/she ought to be fired and replaced. I think the American public is becoming increasingly impatient with the waste of time and our taxes by Congress. What are they there for?? To serve the interests of the American public they represent, not their own or their lobbyists' agendas.
In The End
"Everything will be all right in the end. If it is not all right, it is not the end." Line from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
I am not alone - I am
Whether I stand in the midst of a crowd,
embedded in a family,
dependent on another,
or dependent on no one,
or hermited and separated from humanity,
I am connected to all that exists,
because the source of my being is God,
and God is the source of all that exists;
knowing God, the Source of All Being,
as the foundation of my soul,
I am always connected with all of Life. Selah.
embedded in a family,
dependent on another,
or dependent on no one,
or hermited and separated from humanity,
I am connected to all that exists,
because the source of my being is God,
and God is the source of all that exists;
knowing God, the Source of All Being,
as the foundation of my soul,
I am always connected with all of Life. Selah.
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