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The Federation Flash Issue 36
The FEDERATION FLASH
Exploring the Frontiers of Miraculous Probability
Issue #36; Spring 1997
Published by:
Starbuilders
P.O. Box 220964
Hollywood, FL 33022-0964
USA
Fax: (954) 927-7659
Internet e-mail: starbldr@gate.net
http://www.lightwork.dk/Starbuilders
........................................................
What's in This One:
* Masthead
* Introduction
* A Couple Short Quotes
* Levels of Immortality
* Transcending "I Can"
* The Ego
* The Higher Dimensions
* The Spiritualization of Matter - The Next Regeneration
* Being "Special"
* The Individual Soul
................................................
Starbuilders publishes The Federation Flash quarterly. Evin writes the
articles, Katrina edits them. The periodical is a service for those
interested in living a miraculous life and exploring the nature of Truth,
consciousness, and practical ways to be more loving.
Our view is that everyone is a point of conscious Light living in a human
body. We support those on the quest for happiness and to live miraculous
lives.
We believe that living a miraculous life is the most effective way to
serve God, the Force of Evolution, or whatever you choose to call the
Creator.
Subscriptions: Send email saying "subscribe." Send snail mail (and a
donation is you can handle it) to receive a hard-copy subscription.
Starbuilders is an outreach project of the ULC.
Counseling sessions available by phone or in person.
.......................................................
Greetings to all! Everyone believes in someone. Usually, we have a
hierarchical setup of those in who we believe.
At the top of my list, I believe in God. Although I can't prove that He
exists, no one can prove that He doesn't. I choose to believe, because the
existence of God makes more sense to me than His non-existence.
Next in my hierarchy system is me; after God, I believe in myself. I am
not a True Believer in myself, though, because I change. Next comes my
family and loved ones, then my friends, acquaintances, and then everyone
else.
I'm not attached to this order: A stranger may tell me something that I
find true, while my loved ones may take a view with which I don't agree.
I'm at a point in my life where it's more impotant to discard false
beliefs than it is to find new ones. I have virtual libraries of inform-
ation in my head. As I dust off each volume, I see if it is still has
value.
What I share with you is my perspective; I don't claim to have The Truth
and I don't think anyone has it. At best, the Truth can use us (and I
don't claim that I'm being used, either).
Life is an experiment. Find ways to make life more miraculous. Remember
that happiness and kindness are more important than beliefs.
Love to all.
Evin, and the Starbuilders Team
.......................................................
It is aid, "We should become like children. You know, children get
angry, then they forget it; they hate someone, then they forget it. All
that is so short-lived, but their love is long lived. If you do anything
for them, they will remember it forever. Their love will always be there."
Gurumayi Chidvilasananda
........................................................................
"This man said, 'We al want to change the world.' I want to change the
world. I like the world the way that it is."
Kayla (4yrs.), while listening to the song "Revolution" by The Beatles.
.........................................................................
Levels of Immortality
Immortality - to live forever. This sounds straightforward enough. Yet,
religious groups and cultures have different ideas about this.
The ancient Egyptians spent millenniums exploring this probability. They
focused on the resurrection of the physical body. This belief was a
dominant theme of their culture. No mummies, however, are yet reborn - not
even those of the Pharaohs, the God-Kings.
Here's a more current version. After the Rapture, Christ will resurrect
the faithful dead, restoring century-old corpses to their previous glory.
The Saved, all in perfect health, inherit the earth. The Unsaved, who
never fare well in religious sagas, are treated to another kind of
immortality. God throws them into hell where demons torture them forever.
In this story, the number of Saved is 144,000. It wouldn't take long,
however, before the 144,000 would increase to 144,000,000. (Babies are
born [unless everyone is sterilized or sex is forbidden], and nobody
dies.) Then, in a blink of the cosmic eye, that number would leap to
144,000,000,000. Soon, the Saved would be piling themselves 50 high (and
growing) all over the planet. And what about sanitation? To me, this would
be hell.
Another story exists. It describes immortality from a different
perspective. This story is based on two assumptions.
The first assumption is that the planetary consciousness designed the
physical body to be a temporary vehicle. Spirit uses it to explore form.
When we attach to and identify with our body (or any form), we invite the
experience of grief and anxiety.
The second assumption is that spirit is our true identity, that our
Essence is immortal. We can't die, because we were never born. We can only
change our face for a moment. (Paradoxically, our face never changes.)
Faith in an outside God, religion, or ceremony won't guarantee that your
body will live forever. Faith in spirit won't guarantee that you are an
immortal spirit. Some are happy to believe in neither probability.
Whatever the truth is, be thankful for physical death. If you think
over-population haunts humanity now, try to imagine the nightmare of a
deathless earth. This image alone should be enough to discourage that
wish.
............................
Transcending "I Can"
During the first week of August, a major hurricane approached the shores
of North Carolina. These storms are nobody's friend. As a Lightworker, my
impulse was to help somehow. Ideas streamed through my mind.
Should I use Personal Will and try to detour the storm? I've always shied
away from this option, though. White magic, however good the intent,
suffers from the limitations of the magician. What if the Force of
Evolution *wants* the storm to make landfall there?
The attempt to detour a hurricane by using white magic causes a clash of
astral powers. Here are the players: I'm a point of conscious Light in a
human body wanting to divert the hurricane. The planetary consciousness, a
point of conscious Light in a planetary body, created and is directing the
hurricane. It's my good-intentioned Personal Will against the (apparently)
random Impersonal Will of the planetary consciousness. I passed on this
option.
My next thought was to open myself to higher-dimensional beings. If they
desired, they could use me to redirect the hurricane. I immediately
realized that these beings (and the Force of Evolution) didn't need my
help. Sure, I'm a point through which other-dimensional energies can enter
into the material earth plane. But in a pinch, they can use anything as an
entry point. A Barbie (tm) doll, the Great Pyramid, a mountain or a tree,
even the space between molecules of air will do. They don't need me for
this. We live in a miraculous universe. All points are sacred and
accessible.
My focus shifted to my life's work. I realized that nothing I could do,
say, think, or feel would have any eternal significance. Only an ego
thinks that it's "helping" the Force of Evolution. Everyone and everything
are heading back to the Source. (Paradoxically, we're already there.)
Nothing in the universe can stop this. In the big picture, my effort is
futile. Is there anything I can do that will stop the universe from
completing its course? Conversely, is there anything I can fail to do that
would stop it? I think not.
I realize that our essence is miraculous, and that we live in a miraculous
universe. At the deepest level, our essence and the universe are the same.
The universe will unfold without our Personal Wills helping it. As divine
essences, we've already written the script of our lives and of the life of
the universe. (Or, perhaps we ad lib.) The script is the Divine Plan. The
Force of Evolution is the active force that carries out the Plan.
Transcending the "I can," we land in the middle of the "I Am." We can't
*help* the Force of Evolution; we *are* the Force of Evolution.
.........................................
Ego Briefs
What's an ego, anyway? Some say that it's an illusion while others say
that it's the cause of all our problems. Let's define ego as *the combined
pictures of reality that our mental, emotional, physical, and astral
bodies produce.* Unbalanced egos, however, don't include the pictures of
the spiritual body (although they can use spiritual information to inflate
itself). The ego is our mortal consciousness.
(A picture of reality is a belief about what is real. We develop these
beliefs from our experiences, social training, and religious dogma. Also,
we inherit them from our human-animal instincts and past life lessons.)
We need an ego to relate to others and to make sense of our lives. It's
part of our human equipment. Some groups recommend "ego death" as a way to
reach God or become enlightened. The logic is that the ego keeps you bound
to a material perspective. If you kill it, then you become free from the
vanities of humanity. The catch, however, is that you can't divorce your
body from its pictures. You can transcend its pictures, but you can't
eliminate them.
Because egos are part of the human package, a more positive way of
relating to them is this: treat them as a friend. If you, as spirit, are
the master, you can train spiritualize it. If you, as ego, are master, you
must struggle to gain spiritual enlightenment.
Size
Egos come in three sizes: under-inflated, over-inflated and balanced.
Under-inflated egos are introverted and yin. They are intimidated easily.
Over-inflated egos are extroverted and yang. They have huge blind spots
and hemorrhage when someone tells them what to do. When an ego becomes too
under- or over-inflated, it becomes dysfunctional.
Conversely, balanced egos use the yin and yang qualities appropriately.
They appreciate themselves, know the importance of integrity, and
understand that they aren't perfect. Balanced egos are flexible and
porous. They can incorporate spiritual principles and can exhibit the
finer qualities of mortal consciousness. (Astral implants carry pictures
of reality, however, and can be removed.)
Seekers and Deniers
We can further sort egos into two categories: Seekers and Deniers. Seekers
crave love and acceptance. Love and acceptance motivate them. Deniers are
dry and withhold love and acceptance, using denial as a control tool. Both
groups manipulate and have unspoken demands. You can see this interplay
between Seekers and Deniers everyday.
Defense
Egos must defend themselves, and the more extreme or entrenched the
picture of reality, the greater the need to defend the picture. By
identifying with our mortal consciousness, we mistakenly believe that we
are defending ourselves rather than our pictures.
Offense
Egos take events personally and need to prove themselves right: They
fight, and behave self-righteously. And they're critical and cynical, to
boot. Mostly, egos are nobody's friend. They have a high need to control
everything. Astrological archetypes shape how they express this control. A
mortal consciousness feels secure when everything is predictable. That's
why if you present them with something new - try to force it on them - you
become the enemy.
Battle
Each picture of reality that our bodies produce is an identity in itself.
We have hundreds of these self-contained fragments, and each fragment
insists that its view is real. At times, these pictures of reality clash;
internal conflicts arise.
Moving On
When we officially die, our ego dies. The astral body, a time-based
entity, keeps the ego's memories, and it carries them into other lives.
Eventually, however, the astral body with its lifetimes of experience dies
as well. But if time is an illusion, then ego is no more than memories.
Timeless spirit collects these memories and keeps them on file. ("There is
nowhere to go and nothing to do but collect experience.")
There is Here
In the library at the end of time, spirit has recorded the experiences of
all creatures that have ever lived. When this universe has run its course
- the library is full - we leap back into the Source. In this place, we
rest and wait to begin another adventure. The drama of today is but one
poignant, distant memory. From a divine (and paradoxical) perspective,
we're at that resting and waiting place, now.
.......................................
Tenth-, Eleventh-, and Twelfth-Dimensional Entities.
You can view a dimension as an entity. For instance, in one cosmology, you
can see the Tenth Dimension as the living spirit of the universe.
(In part, we can merge Catholic theology with this model. The "Holy
Spirit" is equivalent to the Tenth Dimension. The "Father" is equivalent
to the Eleventh Dimension. Similarities between the models end here,
though, because Catholic theology lacks an equivalent for the Twelfth
Dimension.)
Viewing other dimensions as entities and attributing being-like qualities
to them help us fathom how they function. Because they are riddled with
paradox, however, the odds of our rational mind understanding their true
nature is about 1 to infinity.
Life Cycle of a Universe
Let's describe the life cycle of a universe using the above example of the
Tenth Dimension (the spirit of this universe). We also can give the spirit
of this universe a name, like "Sandy." (For clarity, I don't use the name
"God." Any of these higher dimensions would qualify for that name.)
The Big Bang, as science calls it, marked Sandy's birth. Because this
entity was born, it must die. Where did this being come from, and where
will it go after it dies? (Or, where is its source?) The source of the
Tenth Dimension is The Eleventh Dimension.
More than a place, however, the Eleventh Dimension is an entity who we'll
call "Pat."
Imagine that this entity, Pat, could breathe. For every breath that it
took, it gave birth to a universe. Cosmologically, the first moment of
inhaling represents the Big Bang. As the entity's lungs fill, the universe
expands. At the half-way point, when its lungs are full, a short pause
takes place. The creatures who live in the universe grow silent.
(Apprehensive, they wonder, "What's happening?") Then the exhaling begins.
Sandy (the universe) begins to fly back to the Source. After that breath
is complete, eleventh-dimensional Pat rests for a moment.
Pat, however, is more than human. Let's count . . . one, two, three, ten,
ninety-six . . . this entity has more than 5.2 gazillion metaphorical
lungs, all operating simultaneously. This capacity allows a countless
number of Sandys (universes) to exist, rushing around at once.
Beyond Universes
What is the source of eleventh-dimensional Pat? In this story, Pat's
source is the twelfth-dimensional entity, "The-All-That-Is-And-Isn't
-And-Then-Some" or "Chris" for short. (Note: The only "Isn't" that exists
is "Isn't.")
Twelfth-dimensional Chris doesn't have lungs and doesn't breathe out Pats
(although an untold number of Pat-like beings exist. No one knows,
however, how Chris produces them.) This twelfth-dimensional entity is
mind-boggling unknowable. The more we talk about it, the more we blabber,
moving us further from the Truth. Here, in Chris' Twelfth Eye, all
infinities meet and become hopelessly tangled in knots. Then, like
fireworks, they burst into countless sparkling pink and green, iridescent
patterns.
Behind the Beyond
The human tendency is to think that this cosmic-scale creative action
takes place somewhere "up there" past our receding sky ceiling. The
barriers between dimensions, however, are in our cells, emotions, and
thoughts. The whole Brobdingnagian drama happens right here. From this
perspective, only one dimension exists. And right now, Pat, Chris, and
Sandy are within your heart, waving. Welcome to eternity.
.............................................
The Spiritualization of Matter: The Next Regeneration - and Then Some
The model "The Spiritualization of Matter" portrays spirit as totally
evolved. Further, it says that matter "needs work." Spirit does this work
by pouring spiritual energy into the material plane, enlightening matter.
To call this process "spiritual evolution" is a misnomer, because spirit
is already totally evolved. If it evolved any further - if it went back to
the Source - the universe would disappear. Instead, "material evolution"
more accurately describes the process. (For details about the Spiritual
ization of Matter, see Issues 32 and 33 of "The Federation Flash.")
In the original model, spirit uses Lightworkers as instruments to evolve
matter. It pours spiritual energy through them, allowing them to serve in
a divine capacity. Yet, you can look deeper and see a different reality
operating, as well: Spirit doesn't need our help to enlighten matter. The
composition of the universe is porous, allowing spirit to do the work by
itself. It can flood transformational energies into the material plane
through any point it wishes, not limited to Lightworkers.
This presents a paradox: Are Lightworkers enlightening matter? At one
level, they are. Spirit, however, doesn't need their help, right? That
depends.
To say that spirit can do the job by itself implies that someone *needs*
to enlighten matter. Yet, from an even deeper perspective, this isn't true
either: *Matter has always been spiritualized.* It's our senses and mental
body that make us believe otherwise.
If we know that the world is already spiritualized, then we struggle less
and live more effectively. We see unity in the apparent chaos. We under-
stand the multidimensional character of the One dimension.
For instance, at one level, we need to fix the world. ("I'm on a
mission.") If reality was a democracy, this model would be The Truth. On
another level, spirit effortlessly fixes everything. ("Use me if you need
me.") At a deeper level still, nothing has ever been, or will ever be,
broken. ("I AM.")
"All Aboard!"
However, the universe rearranges itself to accommodate your picture of
reality. Within the logic of each paradigm, each version is true. The
reality that you are living is real for you.
Similarly, you can say that each version is false. You know that the
universe is energy. At the sub-minuscule level, probability waves or
"Maybe Dots" link hands and dance. As they do the Subatomic Shuffle, they
believe that they are a person reading these words. They dance so well,
they have forgotten that their hands are linked: separate readers are
illusions.
And their forgetfulness continues. Entranced, they convince themselves
that a past and future exist. They can even think that they're cool,
lonely, or limited!
This dancing miracle, however, isn't true either. Gods dream this
universe, dancing Dots and all. But, wait, there's more! We *are* the
dreaming gods . . . no, God! Oops . . . no, we're not. We're not dreaming,
but wide awake. We've fooled ourselves into thinking we're dreaming!
Yikes! Where do you get off this train?!
"Next, stop, Article's Point," shouts the conductor.
("Phew!")
We have an identity as *points of conscious Light in human bodies.* From
this state of cosmic consciousness we send light, grace, and awareness
into chaos, organizing it. Also, we have an identity as *spirit.* From
this state of unity consciousness we *are* the Truth and Light. We act in,
watch, and *are* the drama of the Spiritualization of Matter.
The Greatest Show on Earth
Arranged on the table before the cloaked magician, a group of nut shells
rests. The magician gracefully holds an orb of the purest Light between
his slender left forefinger and thumb. With the slightest smile, he
clearly says, "I'm placing the Orb of Truth under one of these shells." He
does so, and effortlessly rearranges them. The audience fixes its eyes on
the shell covering the Truth. They are sure that they know which form
contains the precious Light. The magician's hand, however, is always
quicker than the eye.
.................................................
Being Special
Everyone needs to be. Whether it's a function or a desire of the ego,
everyone needs to feel special. Perhaps this compensates for a belief that
we are unworthy or incapable of love. Whatever the reason, we derive our
"specialness" from belonging to a certain group. One group's relationship
to another is what establishes this kind of specialness. Specialness,
therefore, is relative. (In this model, "special" is different from
"unique.")
For instance, say you are a Christian. You believe in Jesus. You are
saved. What makes you special, though, is that unsaved non-Christians
exist. Without them, you can't think, "I'm doing it right, and they're
not. [Therefore, I'm special.]" This polarity is evident in all cases of
specialitis.
Specialitis, a normal mental disorder, is epidemic. (Some say that it
can't be cured, only kept somewhat in remission.) God picked the Jews to
be the Chosen People. If you're not a Moslem, you're the infidel. Hindus
are enlightened, while everyone else is dipped in Maya. New Agers proclaim
the truth about e.t.s, ascension, and earth changes; disbelievers need not
apply. Even loners think they're cool, because they don't belong to a
group. (They do, however; they belong to the loner group.)
Some scientists are smug with their "I know the facts, and I can prove it"
attitude. Also, we have political activists, artists, racists, and masters
of all kinds. And there's more: lightworkers, vegans, body builders, old
souls, truth tellers, atheists, channellers, walk-ins, criminals, the
rich, and the beautiful. Members of each club may imagine that they are
special, because what they are doing is, well, special. Infighting, of
course, takes place within each club - some members are more special than
others.
We must be careful; a multi-horned dilemma awaits to gorge us. Each group
claims to be superior in some way. (Some are overt about it, while others
imply it.) This means that other groups are inferior - either damned,
dumb, out-of-touch, or useless. Or, the others may be The Problem. We must
ask, then, which of these groups is *really* the right and true one?
Groups can be vehement about how right they are. Some say that God's Word
makes them right. Others point to philosophical systems, moral tenets,
scientific method, or genetic theories to support their claims. To some
degree, groups may pressure you to join them. They say that if you don't,
something bad - maybe even eternal damnation - will happen to you. You
must decide. With any luck, you will choose the "True Belief System."
With these threats pricking our brain, no wonder people give up and become
True Believers. Yet, *all* belief systems are relative. There is no
prefabricated True Path.
What if you don't have to find "The Real and True Religion" (or God,
political movement, diet, philosophy)? How about relaxing and discovering
what *your* beliefs and preferences are, instead? Maybe life is an
experiment. (Some would call this "creating your own reality." More
accurately, however, you would be "creating your own picture of reality.")
Because the group identity that we take on is relative, so is the
specialness that goes with it. We are only relatively special; it's only
brain deep. (What would happen if everyone believed the same as you? The
world would be a better place, right? And then you would be happy?) But,
uh oh; we're only special in our minds. Because most identify with their
ego, the idea of being just another human is unacceptable. Consider,
though, the idea of not being special. If it's true, eventually you'll
have to come to terms with it if you want to be whole.
Coming to terms with not being special has its rewards. First, you become
free from the barriers that most True Believers impose on themselves. You
become free to explore areas of life that previously were off limits.
Second, you have less "buttons" that others can push. ("I'm angry with
you, because you acted in a way contrary to my [True] beliefs.") Third,
you join the human race.
If specialness is an ego need, then you should be glad to transcend it. To
do this, however, you must be willing to search within and closely examine
even your most treasured beliefs. Doing this, you may find greater
treasures: you are special, but not in the hollow way that you once
imagined.
.....................................
The Individual Soul: The Ego's Best Friend?
or - Understanding the "I AM Universe"
We usually don't scrutinize our most basic beliefs. Picking them up as we
journey through life, they become woven into our picture of "how it is."
We take them for granted. These programs run continuously in the
background of consciousness, coloring our experience in subtle ways.
Let's look at one of these beliefs, the belief in the soul. We'll look at
the soul's functions, its relationship to ego, and the realities that it
implies. We'll consider some questions that the soul's existence answers
and the paradoxes that it creates.
Most religions believe in the existence of the personal soul. Two notable
exceptions are the Jehova's Witnesses and, in a sense, the Buddhists. The
Jehova's Witnesses say that the Savior will return and restore the
physical bodies of the saved dead. You don't need a soul for this to
happen.
The Buddha was an Impersonalist. He didn't believe in a personal soul.
Yet, he included it in his cosmology, because his parents raised him as a
Hindu. The influence of our time and culture shapes us all.
Some Hindus tidied up this Impersonalist glitch, at least in their own
minds. Buddha, they explained, was an incarnation of God, trying to save
the Impersonalist's souls by tricking them into worshiping a personal God.
We know that the idea of the soul existed long before the birth of Buddha.
How did it develop?
Soul as a Mechanism
We have unanswered questions about life, death, justice, and our
relationship to God. Pondering this, our Neanderthal ancestors probably
developed the notion of soul. (They performed religious-like burial
rites.)
As different cultures developed, religions pinpointed where in the body
the soul lived. For example, Western Christianity figured that the soul
lived in the heart. Others, like the Druids, decided that it lived in the
head. Modern science, too, believes that the soul exists in our heads, but
as an hallucination, not as anything real.
The soul, besides being a spiritual idea, developed sentimental and even
romantic connotations. "She's a kind soul" and "Pray for her soul" reflect
its blue, sentimental side. Emotionally, we want our loved ones to live
forever. The idea of a soul makes this possible. "Soul mates" are an
example of its romantic side. Traveling through nobody-knows-how-many
lifetimes together adds a cosmic dimension to a relationship. Some soul
mates consider themselves "old souls."
Old Souls; Learning
An old soul is one that has existed for many ages, learning lessons. It
has attained a fair degree of wisdom. Reincarnation is an integral part of
this process. Pythagoras subscribed to this evocative notion of the
transmigration of souls, as did most religions sharing a common
Indo-European root.
Much New Age thought (borrowed from Hinduism) says that learning, over
many lifetimes, equals soul growth. The logic is that you don't have
enough time in one life to learn it all. (Learning it all is impossible,
despite the number of lifetimes that you live.)
You discover the practical value of learning in everyday life. When you're
an infant, you find that crying brings you milk. In school, teachers
praise you for knowing the right answers. (The report card.) On the job,
the more you learn, the better your chances of advancing. In church, you
earn the respect of your peers by your knowledge of Scripture. And unless
you buy into the "dumbing down" movement, the more you know, the more rich
your social and inner lives become.
Nature itself favors species that learn (how to adapt to their
environment). Those who don't, join the dinosaur parade.
Because learning is so important, it's natural to apply this principle to
spiritual progress. You have to learn your way out of here. Consider,
however, that as spirit - your true identity - you already know it all.
Spirit is already fully developed. Besides, learning is a natural process.
It happens.
In this model, learning applies to mundane affairs, but not to the soul.
Old souls don't fit into this model.
[Western Koan #537: Did God create the universe so we can suffer in order
to learn? And learn what? That we are one?]
Speculating like this invites a thorny question: "If there are no old
souls, why are some people masters while others die as students?" Western
esoteric tradition provides the idea of Providence: God "made it that way"
- made some people masters and others students - and that's the way that
it is. Arthur Edward Waite in "The Pictorial Key of the Tarot" states:
"[In] a mysterious order of Providence . . . it is possible for certain
men to conceive the idea of dedication to the highest things. The
operation of this is like the breathing of the spirit where it wills, and
we have no cannon or criticism or ground of explanation concerning it. It
is analogous to the possession of . . . the high gifts and the gracious
gifts of the poet: we have them or not, and their presence is as much a
mystery as their absence."
Providence answers related questions, too. "Why is there common grass and
mighty oaks or breathtaking crystals and lackluster rocks?" (Sure, we can
defend the beauty of grass and rock by saying that you can find beauty in
everything. And you can. But would you rather have a sparkling blue-white
diamond or a piece of gravel? Even if you didn't consider the monetary
value, you'd probably choose the diamond.)
Some consider Providence a cheap attempt to explain away old souls.
Perhaps, though, you don't have to learn Beingness, which is eternal.
In contrast to the "many lives" view of reality, Western religions don't
believe in old souls. They preach that you have only one lifetime to prove
yourself. At best, you can be a saint. Sainthood requires that you perform
miracles, (usually) suffer, and serve Christ and others selflessly. You do
this in *this* life.
War
Besides religious applications, the idea of a soul has practical uses.
Say that a man is charging at you. He's screaming. He has a spear. You,
too, are screaming and have a spear. Both of you are probably *afraid* (or
possibly crazed). It doesn't take a genius to understand that this is a
life threatening situation. If death means the end of the individual,
generals need to be very charismatic. They have to charm and inspire their
soldiers into risking their lives. (For added encouragement, deserters
were usually put to death.)
Military leaders also found that soldiers, when "fighting for God," fought
more valiantly. Additionally, soldiers fought more fiercely when they
believed "dying in the service of God" bought them a ticket to paradise.
Obviously, the physical body of the fallen warrior didn't go to Heaven.
It's lying there, hacked up. The survivors would burn or bury it. The
soul, however, served as the mechanism to make this reward-in-heaven
promise possible.
As a motivating tool, heavenly reward was more effective than the threat
of capital punishment (at least for True Believers). Julius Caesar noted
that the Celts understood this principle:
"A lesson which . . . [the Celts] take particular pains to inculcate is
that the soul does not perish, but after death passes from one body to
another; they think that this is the best incentive to bravery, because it
teaches men to disregard the terrors of death."
The Gundestrup Cauldron, a Celtic silver-plated bowl dated to the first
century AD, confirms Caesar's comment. This bowl shows fallen soldiers
reincarnating to fight again.
Later in history, Christian soldiers would try to liberate the Holy Land.
The cry of "jihad" - Holy War - still echoes today.
Other Forms of Authorized Killing
Priests used the mechanism of the soul to justify human sacrifice.
The Ritual Scene:
A priest is poised to cut open a young woman - the Lucky One - lying on
the "altar." His helpers have given the victim the sacred "drink of the
gods" - they drugged her.
The Dialogue:
Priest: "The soul of the Lucky One will fly to Heaven. She will sit beside
the illustrious god Xyzerlikbot for eternity. How fortunate she is!"
Through elaborate dress and ritual, practitioners and supporters tried to
elevate this slaughter of the innocents to something noble. (If they were
True Believers, then they were sincere.) Having someone tear out your
heart is an honor? Why, then, didn't they sacrifice a priest, a general,
or a king (who are all usually males)? Oh, they have to be virgin girls.
Authorities tortured and murdered countless thousands of alleged witches.
These horrendous acts made the rites of pagans look like a picnic in the
park. Men dutifully performed these atrocities to "save the poor women's
souls."
Justice
"There are no court rooms in the wild." I. M. Sertin
You've heard the phrase, "It just isn't fair." It's true. *Life on earth
isn't fair.* Only those blinded by glaring idealism refuse to notice.
The rich live in opulence, the poor in squalor. Some babies are born with
disabilities. The strong bully the weak. Famous or politically powerful
people commit crimes, but rarely receive just punishment. Sometimes, the
little sister receives more toys than the big sister. The innocent suffer,
and the guilty go free. Although an oversimplification, this drama plays
itself out every day. Existentially, God doesn't intercede in these cases.
How do you explain this injustice?
Explanations
Western religions provide Heaven and hell to balance the scales. They use
the Bible as the law book. If you obey the laws, then you go to Heaven and
live in bliss forever. Don't obey, and it's hell for eternity. Because we
have souls, God administers justice in the afterlife.
Eastern religions offer karma and reincarnation to explain injustice. If
you're good, you'll reincarnate into a better life. Behave badly, and
you'll land in a future life filled with unsavory circumstance.
Eventually, over many lifetimes, you'll balance your karmic debt and go to
(the Eastern version of) Heaven.
Religions, both East and West, base these rewards and punishments on the
mechanism of the soul. Without a soul, God can't cast you into hell or
force you to reincarnate into some miserable life. Without this mechanism,
religions can't explain injustice. This leaves us with existential
solutions.
[Western Koan #318: Did God create the universe so we can balance
injustice or karma? And what injustice or karma? The injustice or karma of
having forgotten who we are?]
Death, Immortality, Paradise
The soul provides an answer to a question even greater than injustice: our
mortality. Although some have made claims to the contrary, the death of
the body is inevitable. It dies. (If the planetary consciousness ascends
unconditionally or some other miracle occurs, then death won't be an
issue.)
You wonder, "Hmm. . . . I'm going to die. Does this mean that I won't
exist anymore? What a waste!" (The ego is fearful and vain.) Most
religions will tell you, "When you die, your immortal soul continues to
live forever."
Each religion has its own version of where the soul goes after death.
These paradises usually resemble what the culture (that the religion
developed in) worships or what they are lacking. For instance, the
Aistians held oak trees sacred. For them, the soul of the deceased would
live in an oak tree. Some religions in the sun-baked Middle East picture
paradise as a cool land with rivers flowing with milk and honey. Available
young, beautiful women abound. (This version is decidedly male.) Some
Christian sects present a family version: Heaven is a glorified earth. The
entire family is outdoors, smiling. The sun is shining, and lions benignly
eye nearby sheep, a former snack.
What's your version?
Getting There: Really Dying
Doctors pronounce a person dead when they diagnose the person "clinically
dead" (no pulse, no breath, etc.). Cases are not rare, however, in which a
clinically dead person comes back to life. Many of these survivors report
leaving their body and traveling up a tunnel. The tunnel ends in the
brightest light they've ever seen. An entity, usually of golden or white
light, loving greets them. It bathes them in divine peace. (Rest In
Peace.) These luminous beings tell them that they must return to earth.
Depre ssed, the survivors reenter the body and come back to life.
None, however, had entered the Light. If they had, the body would not come
back to life. The body dies when the astral body passes into the Light.
(Some mistake the astral body for the soul. The former is our mortal,
fourth-dimensional "subtle" body. The latter is said to be our immortal,
personal body.)
Into the Light: The I AM Universe
What is this Light at the end of the tunnel? Some have said that it's the
entrance into the Fifth Dimension - Heaven. Others agree that it is
Heaven, but not the Fifth Dimension. Instead, the entrance leads to the
Tenth Dimension - the Holy Spirit (of the Universe). In this model, when
your astral body enters the Light you merge with the One. You find
ecstasy, because you are home. Here, our separate, individual identity is
an illusion. "We" and "I" don't exist, except as experiments in
probability. Only the "I AM Universe" exists.
An Analogy
Here is an analogy of how the I AM Universe works. Imagine a large
inflated balloon with a person inside it. Each time that this person pokes
her finger outward into the skin of the balloon, she creates a bump on its
outer surface. Each bump will be different, depending on which finger and
how much pressure she uses.
The woman in the balloon represents the formless I AM. The balloon
represents the multidimensional palette of the world of form. Whenever the
I AM pushes into the world of form, it creates something: You, me, a rock
- sometimes a hard place. It's the same "person" making all of these
fanciful bumps. Behind all forms is a finger of God. (Some say "the Eye of
God" is behind all forms. Although this describes the phenomenon
accurately, it doesn't fit the balloon analogy too well.)
"Formless?"
We can't imagine something formless. Our linear minds don't have that
capability. Science rules out the formless, because they have no tool with
which to measure it. Besides, if you can't see, feel, taste, smell, hear,
or conceive of it, even if it exists, what good is it?
Leading edge science does know that at the subatomic level,
energy/waves-matter/particles fade in and out of existence. At this level,
reality has a "tendency to exist." This tendency is the tenuous foundation
on which our material reality stands. What the scientists don't address is
this: From where do these fundamental particle/waves fade in and out? In
the I AM Universe model, they appear from and fade into the formless I AM.
Everyone and everything does.
The Real Illusion
If everything in the universe is a manifestation of the formless One,
where does the sense of personal self develop? Using the world of form to
disguise itself, the formless I AM creates many separate "I's." It allows
the *ego to create the impression of a personal self*. (Personal self is
as real as our instincts to survive, mate, control territory, and maintain
or improve our position in the social hierarchy.)
No Time like Today
Time is an illusion. Yet, we see our children grow and our parents age.
It's easy to extrapolate and see past and future generations making
history. The paradox, though, is that it's never tomorrow or yesterday.
It's always now.
This shows us that existence is seamless. Although we are unfolding in the
ever-present now, we break it up into convenient, non-seamless cycles
(minute/hour, day/night, spring/summer). We stitch history together using
the mysterious faculty of memory. Nature has set up our mortal
consciousness that way, allowing us to experience the timespace phenomenon
of cause and effect.
Because both past and future events happen in the eternal and seamless
now, from a transtimespace view, all of history is taking place now. With
a single breath, the One Soul gives life to all creation in the Eternal
Now.
Personal and Impersonal
Humans can tap into the I AM universe and receive information. When the
ego gets involved, however, it distorts things. The problem of
interpreting information from this infinite data base lies in the limited
capacity of the mental body. It must fit transdimensional data within the
bounds of its own paradigms. It must make it reasonable. Even when sharing
information with other humans, we can only understand each other when our
models overlap.
Sometimes the mental body can mistake an impersonal expression of the I AM
as an aspect of itself. Take "past lives" for an example. Many have had
past life experiences. You need a personal soul (as a mechanism) plus a
knowledge of reincarnation (as a model) to understand this phenomenon.
Otherwise, it does not compute. So, you've had a past life experience. You
think, "Wow! *My* past life." This means that you have a soul, right?
That depends on your paradigm. When you connect with the I AM, you have
access to every experience in the universe - past, present, and future.
When you tuned into this other lifetime, what if you were receiving the
image from the I AM, not from your soul? It wasn't *your* past life, nor
was it anyone else's! Instead, it was *just another life* - another
impersonal expression of the One. In this paradigm, *all forms are
impersonal expressions of the One. None have personal souls*.
If we take these images personally, then we confirm (to ourselves) that
the ideas of reincarnation, past lives, and the soul are true. By taking
these images impersonally, we confirm (to ourselves) that we are one. You
can say the same about future lives or lives on other planets. More close
to the present, *you can say the same about this life.*
Odds, Odds and Ends, Ends
Odds: How about crystals? Some believe that crystals have souls. Where
does the soul live in a crystal? What if a crystal breaks in half? Does it
then have two souls, or does it die? Some crystals - the gems - are
faceted. How much material can you cut from the rough stone before it
dies? In the I AM Universe, these questions pose no problem: a crystal has
no personal soul. It is an expression of the I AM.
Odds: How about ghosts? Ghosts are not lost souls. They are astral
entities, usually low on the astral food chain. They can project their
image into the material world. As minor minions of the Dark Forces, they
lie. Their job is to scare and fascinate mortals. They get cheap thrills
by using a Ouija (TM) board to play head games with willing humans.
Because they can read mortal minds and emotions, they play this game with
skill and cunning.
Also, they can change their form in a blink and disguise themselves as
departed loved ones, famous people, or anyone. Their convoluted energy
adds dark static to the earth plane.
Ends: You don't need a soul to attain Cosmic Consciousness or divine Unity
Consciousness. Cosmic Consciousness is the state of being the Watcher
(personal yet detached). Divine Unity Consciousness is the state of
Oneness (impersonal and detached).
Ends: Group souls and soul mates travel together through many lives.
That's one way to explain why we feel comfortable, at home, and linked
with others. Yet, other influences explain these feeling as well. If our
genetic and astrological factors are copacetic and we share a common
belief system and have a great sex life, then who needs soul mates? When
our relationships meet some or all of these conditions, *they reflect our
understanding of love*.
Barriers and Beyond
As an extension of ego, the soul is a barrier to oneness. It can keep us
out of the now. It can separate us from the planetary, solar, galactic,
and universal consciousnesses - even from our friends. Still, egos think
impersonality is "crummy," because the ego - mortal consciousness - is
personal. (The ego created the soul in its own image, but made it
immortal. In juxtaposition, immortal God created us in His own image, but
made us mortal.)
We are all points of conscious Light in human bodies. These points of
Light are the same Light - an emanation of the One. From this perspective,
there exists only one immortal soul, the immortal spirit of the universe.
Expressions of the One
Your belief about the soul will influence how you perceive life. It will
color how you behave and react to circumstances. For instance, you can
say, "She's bad, because she doesn't believe in the True God [or
whatever]. She'll burn in hell for that." Or you can think, "She's
behaving in such-and-such a way. That behavior is an expression of the
One."
Noble actions, happiness, lies, lakes, weird thoughts, totem poles,
children, injustice, ideals, doctors, Dark Forces, worse hair, worms,
weather, and anything else that you can imagine, are all expressions of
the One. This understanding is a technology of consciousness.
Seeing everything in this light doesn't mean that you can't take a stand
for, say, justice. This perspective allows you to act with more clarity
and less hate. Killing someone to save their soul just isn't done. You
create less friction. You add less stress to the world. Grudges fade
faster.
Does this make the world a better place? A little. Does the world
situation still "bite?" Sure, but who are you going to sue?
The Free Will vs. Fate Paradox
You can argue forever about this paradox: Which is true, fate or free
will? With bona fide certainty you can say, "I chose to be here." Or, you
can honestly admit, "I didn't choose to be born." However, if the personal
soul doesn't exist and the universal soul does, then the free will vs.
fate debate becomes moot. Think about it for a moment.
The "I" (ego) that chooses either alternative (either fate of free will)
exists as a temporal phenomenon. Some "I's" claim to be the I AM Universe.
At the highest level of our identity, this is true. Unless, though, you
are in the state of Unity Consciousness, this claim is just words, not
experience.
In the fate vs. free will example, we see how we create paradoxes out of
mental energy.
Soooooooooo . . .
You can believe that a soul exists. It lives in your body somewhere - in
your head, heart, on the bottom of your feet, or in your entire body.
After the body dies, the soul will [check one]: move into a tree; migrate
to a future life; ascend into Heaven (the happy hunting ground, nirvana);
tumble into the flaming or frozen pit of hell; cross the river Styx; enter
a parallel Otherworld; become a bothersome (or friendly) ghost; incarnate
on another planet; become enslaved or eaten by hungry, transdimensional
aliens; merge with the One; or any number of other possibilities.
You can believe in old souls and young souls, in great souls and
not-so-great souls, in saved souls and damned souls.
You can believe that neither the soul nor God exists, because we have no
scientific proof of either of them. Or that God exists, but the soul is a
hopeful projection of the mortal ego. From this perspective, you'd say, "I
am a temporal expression of the I AM." This combines the ideas of the
personal life of the ego and the impersonal expression of the One.
We have to live with our beliefs, whatever they are. Although our beliefs
about the soul won't prevent us from suffering, they do provide answers
for many of humanity's pressing concerns. At worst, they separate us from
those who hold different opinions.
Perhaps the best we can hope for is that they contribute to living a
miraculous life.
There is nowhere to go and nothing to do, except collect experience,
because as Light, we are one.
......................................................................
Der Endish
