Our past haunts us, dogs our every step. Our past is always there. Some say our past catches up with us. I would say our past travels with us because every decision we make, on a daily basis, is tempered by what we have known in the past or indeed experienced in the past. Society is guilt ridden. Guilt is foisted upon us by societal norms in order for us to follow the structures that have been established ostensibly for our own good. But it is these very structures that inhibit our growth in our spiritual self.
For the longest time,I held on to guilt about what I had done to others and to myself in this life. This guilt almost crippled me. It hamstrung my own development and I lived in this miserable state with the guilt weighing me down. Yes I had failed as a husband(more than once), I had failed as a father(hopelessly) and I had failed myself. But I was so busy trying to BE that entity that I had lost sight of the true me,the one who could simply BE. And learning to BE doesnt make all those issues go away. Not at all. They will always be there because they have already been done. But what BEING does, is to change the perception that although I may regret things of the past, I dont need to feel the societal guilt of the circumstance. And the choices I made will directly influence the outcomes. But in all of this I can still BE. The gods have known long before what was to pass and they let us think we are controlling our lives when in fact, all we are controlling is EACH OTHERS lives because it is in the nature of humans to focus anywhere BUT on their own imperfections. This in essence, prevents us from being in control of the most important thing. Our mission in this life.
Guilt is also a handy tool to divert attention from ourselves and onto others. Sadly, it is a tool used by religion all too often. Guilt should be seen as responsibility. Or caution. We make choices. If we dont get the outcome we desire are we guilty? Or responsible? Life is all about choices.
Guilt is about the here and now. BEING is about eternity. Do we live for everything we are in this life,fleeting though it may be, or do we look beyond that and leave a spiritual legacy for others to follow?
Monday, February 15, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Being is a bummer
Over the last couple of months, I have had many people approaching me to ask me to "teach" them or "guide" them to be. Now I am neither teacher nor leader...and yet I battle to understand why the simplest of tenets with regard to being are so monumentally difficult to grasp.
To "be" means to let go of the constraints, doctrines, brainwashing or whatever you wish to call it, that society has fed you for so long. The last time we could ever "be" was the day we were born, because from that day, the process of programming began. In order to understand this, it is necessary to understand the spiritual aspect of who we are. We are all spirit beings. If we look at established religions, much is made of the spititual nature of who we are. Even in primitive tribal cultures the spirit is always present in rituals. Its almost as if man depends on the spirit for some sort of validation for his existence.
And the spirit is eternal. I once saw this demonstrated by a Buddhist monk who held a cup of tea in his hand and asked the student what it was. When the student correctly answered it was a cup of tea, the monk let it fall to the ground. Naturally, it broke. When the student was asked the same question, he said it was no longer a cup of tea. The teacher pointed out that although the cup was no longer a cup, the tea remained tea and would evaporate and become part of the air. But still retain its integrity as tea. Thus it is with our spirits. Once this body dies, we, as spirits, become released into the cosmos.
Now certain mainstream religions would have us believe, that this spirit goes into hibernation until a judgement day when it will be called to answer for actions. But we ARE the spirit of the gods who created us. In the Bible, the word used for the creation of Adam in the greek, is pneuma, which means SPIRIT BREATHED. Ergo we are, by definition. spiritual beings.
And the spirit is eternal. So are we to believe that the gods take the spirits and put them in a closet somewhere until a "judgement day"? Or do we accept that our spirits belong to the gods who can choose to send them back as they please? SO the cycle of life begins again. We are given the opportunity, with the knowledge of past lives to BE again.
People who ask me to help them to "be" get frustrated because it takes "so long" and that all this learning tho "be" is a bummer. Perhaps there are spirits that need to learn before they are in the correct place to "be". Once we attain this first step, we can release our spirits and discover who we truly are.
To "be" means to let go of the constraints, doctrines, brainwashing or whatever you wish to call it, that society has fed you for so long. The last time we could ever "be" was the day we were born, because from that day, the process of programming began. In order to understand this, it is necessary to understand the spiritual aspect of who we are. We are all spirit beings. If we look at established religions, much is made of the spititual nature of who we are. Even in primitive tribal cultures the spirit is always present in rituals. Its almost as if man depends on the spirit for some sort of validation for his existence.
And the spirit is eternal. I once saw this demonstrated by a Buddhist monk who held a cup of tea in his hand and asked the student what it was. When the student correctly answered it was a cup of tea, the monk let it fall to the ground. Naturally, it broke. When the student was asked the same question, he said it was no longer a cup of tea. The teacher pointed out that although the cup was no longer a cup, the tea remained tea and would evaporate and become part of the air. But still retain its integrity as tea. Thus it is with our spirits. Once this body dies, we, as spirits, become released into the cosmos.
Now certain mainstream religions would have us believe, that this spirit goes into hibernation until a judgement day when it will be called to answer for actions. But we ARE the spirit of the gods who created us. In the Bible, the word used for the creation of Adam in the greek, is pneuma, which means SPIRIT BREATHED. Ergo we are, by definition. spiritual beings.
And the spirit is eternal. So are we to believe that the gods take the spirits and put them in a closet somewhere until a "judgement day"? Or do we accept that our spirits belong to the gods who can choose to send them back as they please? SO the cycle of life begins again. We are given the opportunity, with the knowledge of past lives to BE again.
People who ask me to help them to "be" get frustrated because it takes "so long" and that all this learning tho "be" is a bummer. Perhaps there are spirits that need to learn before they are in the correct place to "be". Once we attain this first step, we can release our spirits and discover who we truly are.
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