Friday, June 25, 2010

Preparation for Re-Creation

This essay is included in the Introduction to my book "Vision - We are Re-Creating the World", which outlines a variety of strategies for revitalization of regions and empowerment of individuals, stimulated through grass-roots initiatives and the utilization of technologies but protecting the natural environment.

Preparation for Re-Creation
I don´t think it is any mistake that we call our leisure time recreation, “re-creation”. The way that we come to transform our lives is through fun, laughter, enjoyment. We have become as adults to take things so seriously. But the Truth is that the pleasure of existence and experience is our greater purpose. The serious issues are just a story. A fabrication. 

We have an opportunity to re-create the world. And we do that with our relationship with the “present”. Do you think it is just coincidence that these words that are used for these things? “Recreation”, “Present”. And we are not supposed to spend the majority of our time serious, stodgy, miserable to get a few moments of joy or a week or two per year of paid vacation. Jesus said we will BE in the new earth if we become like children again. This is partially what it means to be “born again”.

What if we could start all over again, creating the world of our dreams?

Experience is a pointer, something to be learned from. Don´t regret mistakes, take them as lessons learned. 

No regrets! Guilt from past events is a prison.

Have Fun!!!!
Be like a child!
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1 

“Let me spring up from the ashes of your ignorance like the flame that burned brightly in the simplicity of your childhood. Look to the bible of love, my living presence in your heart, rather than to the wordy debates of little minds on the written word of old.” – Ken Carey, Starseed Transmissions.

“All who receive their impressions of the world as a small child receives them, without judgment, with love and acceptance, will receive my awareness. And all who receive me, receive as well, the consciousness of the one who sent me, the consciousness of the Creator himself. This is the greatest gift.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions. p. 83

“I will come to you first with the consciousness of a child, for it is thus that you will learn again of your world. Whoever receives this child-consciousness for my sake, will receive he who has sent me later when the child is grown in spirit. Receive as little children and enter my life.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions.

Being vs Doing

This book gives a plethora of ideas that show different ways that we can come together and “Be the change you want to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi), but it starts with you.

This book is the result of experiential education. Extension education, which you will learn more about later in this book, has the motto “Learning by doing”. This is a wonderful idea and really is a better model for education than sitting in a classroom learning from books about obscure topics. But I had a realization while preparing this Prelude.

I think we have gotten the cart before the horse in much of our philosophies and understandings. Before we can “Do”, upon an adequate basis, we have to know who we are and how to “BE”. Thus, a new learning model might be “Being” then “Doing”.

We´ve somehow gotten to the place where “doing” has taken the place of “being”. It´s kind of like running around in a hamster wheel. What are we really doing with all of this work we are doing? Have you ever thought about your work? Who benefits? Does it make you happy? Are there negative repercussions? Do you experience joy with your work? Do you feel alive?

Then the important question arises, how can you “BE” if you don´t know who or what you are? By the way, you are not your name, nor your job title, nor even a human – we made all this stuff up, these are just words, and you are more than a word, and even the ideas of these things are minuscule compared to who and what we really are.

We are limited by our thoughts. We can only go as high as our beliefs about ourselves allow. Our fears, thoughts, beliefs are like the walls of the building that we exist within. If we are to experience a new life, or re-create the world we have to start here.

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."
Benjamin Disraeli
1804-1881, British Prime Minister

“I am not doing any work”, thinks the man who is in harmony, who sees the truth. For in seeing or hearing, smelling or touching, in eating or walking, or sleeping, or breathing, in talking or grasping or relaxing, and even in opening or closing his eyes, he remembers: “It is the servants of my soul that are working”,
Bhagavad Gita 5: 8, 9.

Know Thyself
Gnothi Seauton—"Know Thyself". These words were inscribed above the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, site of the sacred Oracle.

The first Thinking Rule from “When Love Guides Your Thoughts” is “Know Thyself”. This would merge nicely with Shakespeare´s famous quote “To thine own self be true”. But do we really know who and what we are? That is an important part of this process, as preparation for this book. We have to be willing to ask the big questions, and really desire to get the answers.

One, truth, that is at least relative to this planet, is that human beings are not a separate organism from the Earth. If you think this is the case consider this. If you went out in space, without a space suit or ship, how long do you think you would survive?

And it is up to each individual to go on this discovery process themselves. A few books to help in the process have been recommended to achieve that end, but these are just suggestions, there are innumerable sources that will help people find their way along this path. One way to describe this path is the pursuit of “Truth”. The following provides an introduction to possibly the most important process that we could ever endeavor upon, to discover who and what we are, and to learn how to think.

“Only if you know who you are, your biases, etc., can you apply equal emphasis in an opposite direction when you know you are dealing with an area you tend to be biased in so that a balanced perspective can be attained. But this is only a temporary solution, you must rid yourself of all biases, prejudices, complexes, and emotionally immature motivations. You did not get the way you are in a single day, nor can you undo the person you are in a single day. Nevertheless you can get where you want to go much quicker if you know where you want to go and are not hindered by false conceptions of the world. Your life thinking up to now has been mostly haphazard and undirected. Start directing your thoughts toward the person you wish to be and you will see as the years pass you have become that person. You are what you think. The cumulative effort is great but the rewards are even greater. I say with the greatest intensity of my being that it is well worth the effort to know thyself.”
Skadberg, When Love Guides Your Thoughts p. 25
Thinking Rule #I. To think correctly the first step is to KNOW THYSELF (44).

The Truth
“It is the author’s very careful observation that only if the Will has as its desire to see the truth above all, can the intelligence of man be used properly.”

After this, and this applies to this book because I have claimed many of the ideas to be based on “common sense”, we move into the area of how we begin to live this process of seeking the truth.

“The above explains the phenomena of common sense. Common sense is intellectually understood by all but the most dense. Yet very few are able to use that common sense because they must make it seep through the subconscious or change the Will in order for it to have any effect. This occurs when a man has chosen as his Will to know the truth above all. Then to understand common sense and apply such is child’s play. To quit smoking can be done overnight, but only if the Will is properly oriented.”

“The Will and ego can be compared to a shark which knowing what it wants will stop at nothing to get it. It has no sophisticated reasoning powers, only crude desire. The sad part of all of this is that if the Will would allow itself to be ruled by the intellect it would in fact get much more gratification than otherwise. It really is in the best interest of the Will to submit to discipline and order so that the whole body can enjoy the benefits of stopping harmful habits. By acting upon common sense and from the higher perspective of restraint, now new possibilities arise heretofore that were not able to be seen. But alas, the Will requires great efforts to tame, but the rewards of such are also great.

Thinking Rule #2. Unless the Will has as its most important desire the desire to know truth above all, then all observances will have as the prime motive the self-gratification of the Will, which always leads to distortions of facts.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”

Another truth, beyond being connected to Mother Earth, we are a collective being. The extent of this really boggles the mind. But for our purposes, and for the context of this book, this relates to humans on this world. In our current status, the following quote points to our collective state of being, but then also points to the only true solution to our dilemma.

“Mankind is like an intelligent beast spiritually undeveloped. Because the intelligence is not balanced by LOVE insanity prevails.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”

Coping with insanity only requires one thing.

“The only really sure way to avoid insanity is to cultivate your LOVE. LOVE in its deeper sense. Related to love you have for a child, a puppy, or flower, or magnificent sunset, remember a time in your life when you were filled with your highest ever aspirations, or your greatest happiness, a moment when life was most wonderful when you were like superman because of your happiness, think of these when you seem defeated. There is no failure, there is only learning, correcting miscalculations. Believe like Abraham Lincoln “I will work, and when I am ready, my time will come.” There is not one of you who cannot make the world better in some way.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”
“He who sees that all work, everywhere, is only the work of nature; and that the Spirit watches this work—he sees the truth.”
Bhagavad Gita 13: 29.

Tap into the Now!

Our lives, and thus the world, change when we step outside of the past and avoid venturing into the future where we really have no business. We live now. We can take all of the lessons learned, from our past experiences, without the drama, trauma, and emotional baggage and they can help guide us, to learn from our “mistakes”, which really don´t exist except to lead us away from the experiences that we might want to avoid. It happens on an individual and collective basis. But we have to share the joy with others.

The Now is where we exist and can tap into the power behind All That Is.
 
“The most important, the primordial relationship in your life is your relationship with the Now, or rather with whatever form the Now takes, that is to say, what is or what happens. If your relationship with the Now is dysfunctional, that dysfunction will be reflected in every relationship and every situation you encounter.”
Tolle, The New Earth p. 200

“It has been said: “Stillness is the language God speaks, and everything else is a bad translation.” Stillness is really another word for space. Becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless and timeless dimension within ourselves, that which is beyond thought, beyond ego. It may be the stillness that pervades the world of nature, or the stillness in your room in the early hours of the morning, or the silent gap between sounds. Stillness has no form—that is why through thinking we cannot become aware of it. Thought is form. Being aware of stillness means to be still. To be still is to be conscious without thought.”
Tolle, A New Earth p. 256

As a preparation for making the most of this book (reference to VISION: We ARE Re-Creating the World, by Andrew Skadberg), and its suggestions I have one recommendation. Spend enough time in nature for it to touch you. At first it might seem boring but that is because most of us are over stimulated, or addicted to “doing” – whether it be watching TV, shopping, working, spending time on the computer, etc., etc.

There is a lot going on in nature but you have to quiet down enough to appreciate.

Finally, a quote that points to the truth of what can be discovered as one communes with the most clear, or unclouded for most people, expression of the One—Nature.

“In times when fear patterns predominate, the laws that humans require are many and complex. But when those patterns are broken up, as is shortly to be, all human laws shall be abolished. In the presence of my spirit, there is but one law, and that is the law of love; love all, love what is, love yourself as you are, and love me as I express through you. No matter how diverse expressions appear to be, realize that they are all differentiations of your own essence in various contexts. Love them all. See the unity of life.”

“The law of love is more than a law, it is the way of life. What do you think causes the sprouts in the spring? What do you think brings fruit to the branch? It is all love, all life, calling out the potential of this planet. Be in and of this love, and the many confusing laws of old will be absorbed in the glorious expression of life on Earth.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions

“Collective human consciousness and life on our planet are intrinsically connected. “A new heaven” is the emergence of a transformed state of human consciousness, and “a new earth” is its reflection in the physical realm. Since human life and human consciousness are intrinsically one with the life of the planet, as the old consciousness dissolves, these are bound to be synchronistic geographic and climatic natural upheavals in many parts of the planet, some which we are already witnessing now." – Tolle, A New Earth p. 23

"And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others: then he goes indeed to the highest path."
Bhagavad Gita 13: 28

1 comment:

  1. Just! Beautiful,Simple,All True, but not always Easy !but the One-ly Way!

    ReplyDelete