I used to wonder why no one wrote a simple book or paper describing the steps one must take to achieve human enlightenment. There are a lot of good books out there, but few explain in simple terms what it takes to achieve enlightenment. The best of the best is the Bhagavad Gita. If you understand the Gita, you can understand more about enlightenment than from any other source.
Until now, that is. With the following I am going to make it easy for everyone to understand enlightenment and why such a state of mind is beneficial to our species. Ignore it at your own peril.
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The Road to Enlightenment
Preface
The Road to Enlightenment includes a series of seven sermons written over a seven-day span (March 17-23, 2024). The writer of the sermons had just finished a “ten-day fasting period”, which is used as a lead into the material herein.
March 15, 2024
I believe some of you know that i left to go on sabbatical last week (Tuesday, March 5, 2024, 5:53 am--being particular). Well, this post is an update on how things are going.
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I fasted the first ten days of my sabbatical. I fasted away from television, the internet, the phone, everything. As far as the world goes, i know nothing more about the world than i did ten-days ago. The only news or noise i heard this last week came from my three dogs, Sophie, Winston, and Cooper.
As far as food went, i allowed myself a half cup of coffee, two hamburger buns, eight crackers with cheese, three tablespoons of trail mix, and two glasses of grapefruit juice a day. And i followed that routine faithfully. It may seem like a lot for someone who is fasting, but it is not. It is good enough, however, to go through the fast without hunger pains.
I went for my three-mile walk each day, at least the days when it didn't rain all day (that is why i added 3 tablespoons of trail mix to my diet).
And i meditated and read my spiritual books, especially the Bhagavad Gita and Cosmos Consciousness.
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Well, how has it worked out so far?
Better than i could have imagined. By the seventh or eighth day, i knew i was in new territory--a territory much more vast than what i already thought was pretty vast.
In truth, in the back of my mind i thought my goal was: "to see the light of God"--something that others have seen, but not me. Actually, i had been giving that issue quite a bit of consideration lately. Why others? Why not me?
I know i have what some would call "sinned" in my life, but that is behind me now. Let bygones, be bygones. I know that i have already paid the karmic price, so why not show me the "light"? That was my question heading into this early fasting period.
Maybe, however, just important to me was to try to "shut all world events from my mind".
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Well, like i said, i did not succeed in seeing the light. Although i do believe that i substantially broadened by understanding while fortifying the foundation of that understanding. And for that i am most grateful. It provides me with a sense of calm and peace.
I was absolutely 100% successful in blocking anything relating to outside events--local, national, international. And that really made my mind peaceful.
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So, what is next on my sabbatical agenda?
Well, just about the same time things started "opening" up for me (i.e. the 7-8 day), i decided that i would stop my fasting after the ten days are up--during the early days i was actually think of canceling my cable and continuing the fast. But like i said, that attitude changed around the period above mentioned.
I have decided that i wanted "spirits" (alcohol) in my life (from a temperate standpoint). I want to watch television. I kind of miss some of my old friends--like the Moonshiners. I think March Madness must be starting up soon. I like movies.
And then, i intend to crack the door open a bit when it comes to so-called "breaking news". I intend to turn on my television for the first time since last Tuesday to see what Nicole Wallace has for breaking news today. I will be able to tell within "five minutes" (less than that really) if there really is any "breaking news" and whether i missed anything while i was "away". If i haven't missed anything, i think the world news door will just continue to stay shut or me (with an occasional peak again down the road, etc. etc. etc.)
All in all, I feel free of the world. I feel free from myself. And someday i believe i am going to see the "light". All is Good!
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ps. It is very well known in all of the spiritual spheres that it is only through God's grace that one sees the "light" and i just don't think God wants to grace me yet, which is something i can live with for the time being. When you come to think about it, i don't really have much choice, do i?
ps1. I recommend a "ten day fast period" for everyone. I must warn you, however, that i did not "poop" until about the "eighth day" and that is after taking a couple of my cascara sagrada pills the previous days. All's well, that end's well, however. I almost died on the pot like Elvis when it came to deliver, but i managed to survive, holding my breath as long as i could.
ps2. As to where i go from here, i will soon discover. If nothing has changed all that much, i think i will just continue to blank out the news until after the election (or until a trial if they ever have one). I will check in occasionally for a status update.
ps3. Outside of that i don't have much more to offer right now. I might write an occasional sermon and post it, if i think it is warranted, but right now i am just not worrying about such things. Spring is coming. I have plenty of outside work that i have to do and pretty much enjoy doing. And it won't be all that long before i get open up the pool again.
ps4. So, no one needs to worry about me.
ps5. Many of the people who have progressed to the point that they gained cosmic consciousness have been considered insane and that is why they are put on the back shelf. Go figure.
ps6. I lost about "ten pounds" during the fast. I am back at my "Washington DC playing weight" for the first time since i left the city that i once loved but came to dislike.
ps7. I wrote this the "morning of my last day" (i.e. yesterday, Thursday). In all honesty, i don't expect to gain much more today in line with what i have gained up to this point. And i really am looking forward to tomorrow when i start letting things back into my life--with control. Just the same, i will take whatever i can get today--i just doubt if it will be worth reporting.
ps8. It was kind of funny to me when i discovered two days had gone by before i realized that i had "lost an hour" of my life last weekend when they moved the clocks ahead. One time, i told Alexa to set the alarm for noon, and it went off about five minutes later--and that is how i discovered the time change. Along those same lines, all during my "seventh day", i actually was thinking it was the "eighth day". I was getting to the point that i was looking forward to getting over the fast and that is when i discovered i was ready to come back.
ps. (Friday morning). Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, Free at last!
It feels good to be back, even if it is only halfway.
March, 15, 2024
Kind of enjoying my "new life", although i am going slow. I checked out Nicole Wallace and after about two-minutes i went to the tapes. Just got done watching last week's Saturday Night Live with Broden, and the girl singer, who i also think is good.
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Anyway, that is not why i popped back on right now. Instead i wanted to talk about Jose Marti, someone who i don't know much about, other than the fact that he was some kind of "peoples' revolutionary" during the Cuban revolutionary period.
I am sure that some of you know more about Jose Marti than i do, but as i was taking a pee tonight, Jose Marti popped back into my life. And that is about the third time that has happened to me.
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I first learned about Jose Marti from Pete Seeger who sang Marti's Quantanamara song. And in all honesty, that is about all i know about Marti, however, there were a few lines of Marti's poetry that always "rang true to me", and that has continued throughout my life.
1. When i applied to the Peace Corp (at the time i was applying to the Navy), i used a Marti quote from Quantanamera in my application, which ended up being accepted, but turned down, because of the Navy alternative (only god wonders how i came to that choice)
2. When i wrote my first novel, The Sower's Seeds, i buried all kinds within the text, including reversing the application of the phrase that struck me with so power from Marti's voice--and i am one who generally doesn't like poetry--generally poetry gets to confusing for me, either that, or i need to concentrate more, or even better, someone tells me beforehand that there really is truth that can be found within the poetry.
3. When now, i was just taking a pee, i thought of Jose Marti again, and i thought again the lines of his poetry than for some reason has stuck through me all of my lines.
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Now, here are the lines from Jose Marti, that i hope does justice to what he said.
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With the poor people of the earth
I want to share my fate.
The streams of the mountain
Pleases me more than the sea.
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Con los pobres de la tierra
Quiero yo mi suerte echar
El arroyo de la sierra
Me complace mas que el mar
March 16, 2024
So, in effect, i really don't know much more about the world than i did ten days ago. Just as well. I think i will just keep it that way.
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But then that leaves me with a new mission in life--to spread the concept of Bucke's "cosmic consciousness" because i do believe it is the real deal. What that means for me is this:
Over the next "seven days" i am going to try to explain to myself, and you (if you are interested), what it takes to get to the point where cosmos consciousness (i.e., Nirvana, enlightenment) can be envisioned and obtained. When i was younger, i always wondered why there wasn't some "simple book" out there which would explain the process.
Well, after looking at and reading a whole lot of enlightenment like material for nearly fifty-years to get to where i am today, i think i can simplify things, so someone after me would not have to spend "fifty-sixty"-years getting to this place if they wanted to.
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So, starting tomorrow, i am going to begin a 7-day (one post a day) explanation as to what it takes to reach the state of cosmos consciousness. If anyone wants to get a head start, here is the "complete" list of reading material that will get you to where you may want to be. Four books in total.
- Whatever your "own" religious text is. If you are a Christian, then it is the New Testament or just the Sermon on the Mount; similarly if you are Muslim, then its the Koran, etc. etc. etc.
- the Bhagavad Gita (a must)
- Cosmos Consciousness by Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke (a must)
- Globanomics (not a must, but it does show a practical application of cosmos consciousness)
With that material alone you can save a lot of time without reading a whole, whole bunch of "supporting material".
I have not laid out my sermon plan yet, so i'll just have to see how it goes. I am allowing for "seven sermons" in total. I do know the subject material for tomorrow's first sermon. That sermon is going to be the on the "enlightened view of God Almighty (the Greatest Indescribable Abstract)", the creator of the universe.
So, stay tuned in, if you want. But, let me rest assure you, i do not really care what you do. If nothing else, i am doing it for myself, just to see if i can explain essentially the basis behind my entire thought process in seven short sermons.
Today: November 27, 2024
I am fully aware that this document contains many typing and format errors. Please forgive the writer for this oversight. The writer felt that it was more important to keep the sermons intact, as written at the time, than to spend time word-smithing something that does not require word-smithing.
And that is all I have to say on that subject.
THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT—SERMON 1
(March 17, 2024)
Alright folks, today we are going to talk about the first step that you have to make on the road to enlightenment. This is actually, probably for most of you, the easiest step to take on your road. So, if you have trouble or are having trouble with this first step, all i can say is this--the road gets much, much more difficult (but still not hard), after this first step, but if you cannot get over this first step you might as well stop right now.
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Okay, so what is this first step, Mr. Know It All?
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The first step that you have to make on the road to enlightenment is your acknowledgement that there really, truly is a "Creator" for everything that your mind has conceived (e.g., yourself, the trees, the moon, galaxies, the atom, etc. etc.).
If you believe world statistics, approximately 84% of the world's population already feels some sense of this. Based, upon world statistics, only about 16% of the population is agnostic. But on that figure, you also have to consider that it is easier to feel agnostic the further you are away from death, itself. Sometimes, an agnostic's view can change, later on his or her life.
By the way, i will mention it here (and it might not make much sense now), but it might when you reflect back on it as we move forward with more steps. And here is what that something is. The 16% number (source U.S. CIA world statistics) was actually lower than i might have felt otherwise, and the fact that 84% of humans already have this sense as part of their coming to "cosmic consciousness". That is a good sign! I just mention now, for later consideration.
Anyway, that is an aside.
Bishop (Master) Albert said it well of the agnostics: "A poor man is one who cannot be satisfied by all things God created." i agree, but i would say it differently. I would say, "a poor man is one who does not see the Goodness in the creation."
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Okay, we are not done yet with the first step. Also part of this first step is to set the foundation for all the further steps along the way, so pay attention carefully here.
The Creator comes by many different names, God, Krishna, Allah, etc. etc. etc. And what i am telling you to do now is to throw out every preconceived consideration that you have attached to that God of yours. I am telling you this because that is not the God who Is. "The God who Is" is beyond description, beyond thought, beyond anything even close to being conceivable."
Period. Although there truly are many names attributed to the Creator, the best name of them all is "Pure Spirit". There is nothing material associated with the "Pure Spirit". The "Pure Spirit" is something that was never born and never will die. And here is the definition of Pure: "to be free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind. The definition of Spirit: "the nonphysical part of a person (or God, i might add) which is the seat of emotions and character; the soul. In effect, Pure Spirit is God's Soul.
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Moving now on just a little more. It is from the "Pure Spirit" that all of creation, as we know it, was born. But here is something else that you "must know" about "Pure Spirit": The "Pure Spirit" can create, but the "Pure Spirit" cannot "Act". The Pure Spirit must be free from contamination. Remember?
The "Pure Spirit" observes, but does not act! Get any sense of action on behalf of the "Pure Spirit" out of your head because the "Pure Spirit" does not have to act. After all, think about it, how could Pure Spirit act within an impure creation and remain Pure Spirit?
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And that about does it for this first sermon. I am sure it easier for some of my followers to follow than some of my other followers. I wrote this yesterday, and yesterday, i thought it was a good start, but when i read it this morning, i felt like i was let down at the end, because i wanted more. Well, all i can say is if that is how you feel, too, just wait, there is more coming, and it will all end up tying together.
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Summarizing the key points in this sermon follow:
- Their is a Creator;
- The Creator is Indescribable, best thought of in terms as Pure Spirit (PS)
- Pure Spirit was never born, but Pure Spirit will never die.
- It's from Pure Spirit that creation was created
- The Pure Spirit is an Observor rather than an Actor in the creation.
- The Pure Spirit is Goodness Beyond Description (but always keep in mind the Pure Spirit does not act--the Pure Spirit, only observes).
THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT—SERMON 2
(March 18, 2024)
Well, first of all, i will have to say that i am a little disappointed with the turnout for my seven post series on "cosmos consciousness", better known as enlightenment or Nirvana. But i continue on, just like i have in the past--like many crazy and insane people do.
Just the same, it's time for lesson two in this series that i have called "The Road to Enlightenment". But before we get started with lesson two, i wanted to clear up a few issues before we continue forward.
And the starting point is this: What do i mean by the term "Enlightenment"? What am i professing to mean with this so-called enlightenment bullshit of mine? Why would it even be worth considering?
Okay, please do not get frustrated. Let me offer you several synonyms for what enlightenment means: enlightenment means the Buddha mind, the Jesus mind, the Mother Teresa mind, the Sir Frances Bacon mind, the Nirvana-mind, and the ever-growing number of similar-like minds as the human mind continues to expand its capabilities, leading itself towards "Pure Spirit".
I think actually, in the end, i do think that they will refer to the "enlightenened mind" as having what Dr. Burke called the "Cosmos Consciousness" mind and who wrote about (in an extremely well written book with documentation, i might add) the traits associated with "Cosmos Consciousness"--something that seems to building, building and building within in our own human race.
It's reachable, do not fool yourself. I do not care whether you are twenty, thirty, forty, or a hundred-years old, the "Cosmic Consciousness" of which i talk is actually not that far away and reachable probably by most human minds at this point in "our human mind development". Scoff, if you want, but "Cosmic Consciousness" will soon become a "naturally inherited trait" for the "human species".
World Peace among all human beings is just the first step. After that, it will be time to reap the benefits from those who already have the "cosmic consciouness" because they will be the leaders that assure "moral clarity".
Hopefully then, that addresses the issue as to why one might want to discover enlightenment in their lifetime.
Now moving on from there i would like to make a second point before we move on further.
- I want everyone who is following this series to understand a couple of things before we move forward:i am writing this series on the fly--or in other words, i have not sat down and laid out an outline for the series. All i know is that i am limiting myself to "seven" only sermons to accomplish the goal that i have set out for myself. It's always more comfortable to write with an outline, but because i have limited myself to seven, i just figure that the best way to start is at the top, then work my way down from there. You can always find details associated with the details above, but there comes a point in time that is just isn't worth getting down that low in the matter of things.
- Now, this point is even more important than the point that i just made above and it is this. "If at any time (immediately, an hour later, a day later) after you read one of my sermons and you feel worse about "yourself" than you did before then you should stop taking further lessons because you must have missed something rather critical to the understanding that is required from here on out. This statement should hold true after every sermon in the seven.
But even before we get to Sermon Number Two, i want to rehash the essential lesson that we learned in Sermon Number One.
"Out of nothing but Pure Spirit the Universe of Matter was created and it was Good. And Pure Spirit was satisfied with what It created"
That is the first lesson (and the first level) to learn about in the road to Enlightenment--The "Pure Spirit".
Okay, now with all the above said, we can finally move forward to today's Sermon Number Two. This sermon is as easy to achieve as the first sermon was to achieve. The thing is this: if you have not achieved a "full understanding" of the first lesson in enlightenment, you will never understand the second lesson. As we move forward you will encounter one main enemy that you cannot avoid and that enemy is called: Doubt. Doubt is not the devil, but it might as well be that.
Sermon Number Two:
Pure Spirit created the "universe" as we have come to know it, which includes essentially everything in the universe (of which we know little).
Pure Spirit was proud with what It had created. Pure Spirit was even surprised Itself. Out of Pure Spirit came matter, physical things, atoms, neutrons, protrons, all kinds of things that all seemed pretty "fucking cool". Heck, early on, there were "fireworks every night" from Pure Spirit's creation, who could not have failed in their enjoyment of such a site?
Moving on. The thing that you have to know about Pure Spirit is this: Pure Spirit does not "demand" praise for Its creation, but instead, Pure Spirit "expects" praise for Its creation. Pure Spirit knows that what It created was Good. Pure Spirit does not need some "low level rookie" telling it whether it did was good or not. Pure Spirit knows Its Creation was Good! All Pure Spirits wants is to see Its Creation get better! That's all that Pure Spirit would like to see--things getting better. And that is why Pure Spirit left It's sweat, fingerprints, and dna on It's creation--to make things better.
We are getting there, hang on. Well, what we have to realize in this Sermon Number Two is that Pure Spirit left a lot of Its perspiration, fingerprints, DNA on its creation. It is this sweat, fingerprints, and DNA of the Pure Spirit that takes us to the Second "leveL" (there are only three levels) on the Road to Enlightenment--the God level, the Soul level, and the ever-important "you level".
Now here it is. All that sweat, fingerprints, DNA that i talked about above is what in spiritual terms is generally referred to as the "soul". The Atman, if you are Hindu. It's "cosmic consciousness".
Now understand this about the soul: "the soul is essentially a mini, mini, mini pure spirit". Like i say, consider the soul to contain a "speck" or "microdot" of Pure Spirit's DNA. Keep in mind, however, that the soul (i.e., the speck of Pure Spirit's DNA) as Good as it will ever be will still never be as good as the Pure Spirit, Itself. The soul understands everything that the Pure Spirit does and the Soul (big letters "S" now being used intentionally) has similar creative and restrictive traits associated with it, just like the Pure Spirit had on Itself.
Pure Spirit's sweat (the Soul Spirit) creates "living out of the non-living"--not too much, differently than the way the Pure Spirit created the "material universe" out of "nothing". Pure Spirit's DNA (our soul) is within every "living creature" (and here i mean everything living, plants--insects, grass, trees, everything that lives, every fish in the sea, etc. etc. etc). Essentially, it comes down to this. The only way that there can become a "truly living entity" is if it that entity has a soul that allowed its living creation. Without a soul, no living. The Soul provides the "pulse of life", but then it stops there, just like Pure Spirit stopped after Its creation. Get this straight. Both Pure Spirit and the Soul are creators of sorts, but neither one can take a single "Action"
Acting comes next when we look at the person who seems to do the most action in your life--and that is you.
Get this through your head. Everything living has a "mini, mini, mini, microscopic, pure spirit" somewhere within it, and for that reason alone one should respect the living (regardless of what form it takes) because that living being has a "mini, mini, mini, microscopic, pure spirit" that deserves at least some consideration before any "action" is taken.
That does not mean, however, that you cannot go out and mow your lawn some Saturday morning.
(Now i am going to add something here in parenthesis that i would just as soon not have to address, but i will. Abortion. The Pure Spirit remains neutral on the subject--and we will get to the reasons why, in later issues without addressing the subject further. The Pure Spirit expects, essentially demands, that Its creation be better tomorrow than it is today--and that is without the Pure Spirit doing anything.
If circumstances are such that the parents of a potential child do not think that they have the where-with-wall or capability to pass that "positive trait of making things better than the way things are found" on to their child, then abortion should be a viable option. Life, good lives, require cultural grooming. Careful, kind, and loving grooming. If one is unable to give such grooming to its own offspring, then not only is the individual hurt, so is the offspring. Such situations, reflect "bad karma", but we will get to that a little further down the road).
So really, i think that is about all there is to Sermon Number Two. Summarizing as follows:
- Pure Spirit left Its Fingerprints on Its Creation--and Intentionally
- So.Pure Spirit expects praise for Its Action, but does not demand it.
- Pure Spirit's fingerprints are found throughout Pure Spirit's creation, not just Earth, and these fingerprints are called "souls", "Atman", etc.,
- The Soul can create like the Pure Spirit created, but on a more refined level.
- Whereas the Pure Spirit created everything out of nothing; the Soul creates the "living" from the "non-living".The Soul can create "life" from "the non-living".
- Without the a "soul" there would be no life from the "material"
- The Soul, like the Pure Spirit, has restrictions, and like Pure Spirit, the "mini, mini, mini, microscopic, soul", too, "cannot Act".
And that is where i think i will leave things today. Think of it this way. Sermon One--the top level, introducing the Pure Spirit. Sermon Two--the second level, introducing the "mini, mini, mini, microscopic, pure spirit" referred to as one's Soul.
Personally, i think the first two sermons should be the two easiest sermons to comprehend, so again, if you are having problems following, my advice would be to go back and re-read the first two sermons before moving on.
The reason i say this is because things get much more difficult from here on out because from here on out, we drop down to the third level (player) in the road to enlightenment, which is called the "self" (or you) the person you try to exemplify on your Facebook page. When we start looking at that, that is when the "real fun" begins.
THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT—SERMON 3
(March 19, 2024)
Again, before we begin today's sermon, i would like to add some more clarification to the earlier material.
One, i have noticed that my audience did not "go down or slip" (i could not spell the word i was trying to use) after the first sermon. And i can interpret that one of three ways:
- All of my followers are die-hards and believe everything that i say is the "truth";
- All of my followers think that i am the "craziest fucking son-of-a-bitch" they have ever come across--and they simply are curious as to what may happen to me; or
- Some mixture of both 1 and 2.
Regardless, i am still writing for all three groups, but primarily for the group Number 1 (the so-called believers). Before we begin this second sermon, however, i think there are a few other things that we should touch upon as we move forward.
First of all, it is very possible (and more likely possible if you are a Group 1 person) that you are already starting to get a sense of enlightenment. My advice is to those of you who feel that way:
Do not ignore that feeling. Any sense or feeling in that direction means that you are making progress and "cosmos consciousness" might be well at hand. Because that feeling in spiritual terms is called "Intuition".
Sorry to say, but in my own current way of thinking, it might mean that the "enlightened mind" is open more to the "intuitive mind" than it is to the "sensing mind", which i surmise means the "intuitive mind" has moved further forward on the "Consciousness Range" than the less "intuitive mind". We will get to the reason and rationale for this in the upcoming sermon. But, don't worry, right now, because "everyone" can reach "cosmos consciousness" regardless of what kind of "mind" that they have.
And now with all of that said, i think that sets the table for Sermon 3 (at least i hope so).
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Sermon-wise, today is when the "fun" really begins because we drop down to the Third Level of Enlightenment, the "you" part of enlightenment. The first two levels: (1) The Pure Spirit and (2) the Soul (a mini, mini, microscopic pure spirit) are behind us now. Today, we want to begin talking about, in terms of the spirit, is called not "you", but the "self".
Now what i am about to tell you is so extremely important to understand from a spiritual standpoint that if you cannot understand it, then you might has well go back to whatever else you were doing because nothing further that i will make any sense to you.
What is that something?
The "spiritual world" sees two "yous". In the "spiritual world" one of those yous is called the "self" and the other you is called the "Self". That is all the difference there is between the two yous--one is spelled with "a small s" and the other is spelled with "a big S".
But, the small and the large "s-thing" doesn't do the metaphor (or whatever you want to call the small s and large s thing) justice because there is a big, big fucking "vast" difference between the small "s-self" and the large "S-self" in this case.
Why? Because in spiritual terms the small s "self" pretty much reflects the self that you try to emulate on your facebook page (please forgive the metaphor, knowing that no ill is meant by that statement). But, in a way it is true. In spiritual terms the consciousness of the "self" can be seen pretty much what seems important to the "self" (e.g., wealth, happiness, connections, influence, all kinds of things--too many to mention) by simply looking at one's real or fictious facebook page.
The spiritual world can see some value in people wanting facebook pages; however, such a thing would be abhorrent in the world of the larger S self. And here is the rub.
Compared to the facebook image of the smaller "self", the spiritual world sees the larger "Self" to be the "mini, mini, microdot of DNA from the Pure Spirit--in other words, the Self is the "soul that gave birth to your existence).
And with that said, it sure makes it is easy to begin to understand how a large "gap" can develop between the so-called enlightened mind of the Self, and the so-called non-enlightened mind of the self.
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Moving ahead. Tres importante (if there is such a word)! All of us have two selves: (1) a smaller self, who we usually attach a name to (like Jim) in my case; and (2) a Pure Spirited piece of DNA Self, who we usually do not give a name to, but refer to by most as the Soul (or similar meaning entity).
Again, here is the rub. The larger Self cannot Act, only the smaller self can act. And when you come down and think about it, isn't that what everything is really about? Should you act or not? If you act, what kind of action should i take. Etc. Etc. Etc. etc. etc. etc. forever. And that is why, it is so important to know "who is controlling the action" and why the action is being taken because it makes a big, big fucking difference.
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Now here is a good time to stop a minute and take a pause. Here is another thing you should know about from a spiritual standpoint. The small self includes the material body and the mind. Now don't take this lightly because it is important. The Self has nothing to do with the mind or the body. The Self is attached to the body and mind, but the Self cannot act, the Self can only "observe".
And the only way the Self can try to control the "action" while not taking the action itself (which it cannot do), is to "intuit". Thus, that is why Intuition pops up big time in the spiritual world. You will hear that term used quite often in the spiritual realm without actually telling you what it is. Intuition is the Soul's perspective and that is all it is. This intuition is based upon all kinds of buried knowledge in the Soul that the "self" is not aware of. As you should already know, the Soul has been around a lot longer than the self. Like Pure Spirit, the Soul has always been and It was never born and it will never die.
Intuition can be misinterpreted, so don't get carried away with what i have just said. Simply pay more attention as to often how your intuition comes into play in your life. I think you will find that exercise worthwhile. The next time you enter a room filled with people just stop for one moment and think what all your intuitive mind is thinking--that would be a good exercise for you. Because you are intuiting all the f----- time and most of the time you don't even know it or pay attention to it. Now how silly does that sound?
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That was a nice, but necessary break. Now i want to move on to what i wanted to accomplish in the second half of today's sermon. And that is with Action.
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Every religious doctrine on earth (and there are plenty) must deal with the question of Action. Should i act? When should i act? How should i act? Do i need to act. on and on. Without addressing these types of questions, think about it, what good is the religious doctrine if it doesn't help guide you in your actions?
And the Titanium Rule as set forth in the spiritual world (higher even than Ethic of Reciprocity, or Golden Rule) is the following:
- Right action is better than no action; and
- No action is better than wrong action.
Period. That is all there is. It differs from the Golden Rule in a significant way. The Titanium Rule tells you to "be a passers-by; see, sense, and feel everything their is within your surroundings. And from there, that is, if you want good "karma" (we will get to that later), it comes down to one of two choices: (1) act in a way that betters the situation; or (2) don't act at all. Because "wrong action" creates "bad karma". Right action creates "good karma". (Again, we will get to "karma" later in this series).
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Now, i am going to try and end this sermon with the biggest "topper of them all", so i hope you have hung in there with me so far along. And here it is.
The only way that you can be "pretty much damn sure that you are taking the right action" is to turn over the control of "action" to your "intuitive" larger Self. It may seem hard, but it really isn't. What you have to do is this. You have to flip one's normal way of thinking, such that everything that the mind and senses are seeing, feeling, smelling, etc. its not being seen and felt by the self, but the larger Self.
When you take the smaller "self" out of the equations with all of the smaller self's wants and desires and laughs and giggles, then Action takes on an entirely different perspective. Many times in the spiritual literature, they talk about the body and mind, as though it is no more than a set of clothes that you hang over your soul and carry around with you. You can actually gain that same sense of things when you turn from the self to the Self.
And now finally, that brings us to some really key words in the spiritual realm that you also need to understand.
These words include: Detachment, Poverty of Spirit, Renunciation. All three of these words you will find in some shape or form in all the religious dialogue. And they all mean essentially the same thing--Let Go of Your Actions.
What the above terms mean is this: It means detachment or renunciation of "every action" you take. Which means, never ever should you take an action looking to reap a reward of any kind for your action. None. Zilch. The only action that should be taken is one that "benefits the whole" without harming others without due compensation.
Call that the "Karma Rule". The only action that should be taken is one that "benefits the whole" without harming others without due compensation.
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And that is where i think we will start tomorrow.
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Now, here are the major take-aways from today's sermon:
- There are two selves--one is the larger Soul, the other is you (me) with all of our wants.
- The larger Self knows what is best, but It cannot act; only the smaller self can act.
- Setting up the big internal dilemma between the self and the Self--how, when etc. to act
- The dilemma rises because the Purity of the larger Self sometimes conflicts with the wants of the self when it comes to Action; Left on its own the smaller self can get lead astray quite easily (there are many, many things to enjoy in life, as well as one should--that is what creation is supposed to be about--enjoyment and happiness), but just the same one can get astray with the wrong kind of enjoyment and happiness.
- So, the only thing the larger Self (Soul) can do is "intuit". Intuition is the Self's messenger to the "mind" within the body which makes up the entire thing we call the self (i.e., self = body + mind). Bigger Self is separate, by itself, still maintaining its purity.
- Then we raised the terms of: Detachment; Poverty of Spirit; and Renunciation.
- Those terms represent the best way out of the dilemma, and that is for the smaller self to only act if it is right action, bringing benefit without hurting any other factor in the whole situation. In some cases an action may have to be taken and used as a teaching tool, in which case the benefit should be expected to show up later. And if such a benefit never shows up, it tells you there has been a breakdown in either the individual or the system, but i would look first at the system before i looked at the individual.
- And finally (sighing), the only way for the self to act in the manner of the Soul is with complete detachment, poverty of spirit, and renunciation of every action "you" take.
- Renounce everything, but the Goodness of the Pure Spirit, and you are pretty much on your way to "cosmic consciousness" and enlightenment without going any further.
But just the same, we still have four more sermons to go. And i am wearing down. Hopefully, i can clean up any errors or fuzziness in the things i have posted before. In one way what i am talking about is really quite simple and elegant, it's just sometimes hard to remember what role you are playing when you are thinking on things. That's essentially it. Who is controlling the Action and why is that so?
THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT—SERMON 4
(March 20, 2024)
Glad to see everyone back for "round four" of seven, if you are in fact back. In all honesty, we are much further ahead after three sermons than i thought it was going to take to explain enlightenment and explain the way to enlightenment.
Earlier this morning i thought that this might be a good time to take a break, like an intermission or interlude,
The reason i felt that way is because i have already given the "punch line" away--something that i didn't think we would get to until we got closer to the ending of the series. And if you don't know the punch line, then let me make it clear:
A living entity (created by a Soul) should follow the intuition of that "creating Soul" rather than the desires, wishes, hopes, and hatreds of the "extra baggage self". Essentially, the Greater Self knows better than the lesser self and the control of Action should shift controllers from the self to the Self if control isn't already there.
And in all honesty, that is really all that you need to know to reach enlightenment, which i think the term (coined by Dr. Bucke) of "cosmic consciousness" provides a better conceptual view of what the term is rather than enlightenment does by itself. So, let's just say "cosmos consciousness", the Jesus and Buddha mind, and enlightenment--are one and the same.
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What i am about to begin to tell you now is extremely important to understand and it is extremely useful in helping you on your path to "cosmic consciousness". I give all and full credit to Dr. Bucke, the writer of the book entitled Cosmic Consciousness, for recognizing what "cosmic consciousness" is and the traits that you will find in those people who have "cosmic consciousness".
Dr. Bucke explains it this way. He claims that there are three levels of consciousness: (1) simple consciousness; (2) self-consciousness; and (3) cosmic consciousness. In the Earth realm, Bucke rightfully claims that the human species is the only living enitity that has passed the first level into a self-conscious level. All other animals still rely solely on their "simple consciousness".
History, shows that the human species made this shift about 300,000 years ago. Up until that period, humans were pretty much pure animals with "simple consciousness" and nothing more.
Now, come on, think about it. You know this conversion did not take place over night, but over a series of nights. First one, then another, then another, and the conversion from a "simple mind" consciousness to a "self-mind" consciousness kept building until the "entire population of human beings" had "self-consciousness" as an inherited species trait.
But what makes Dr. Bucke's study so unbelievably important is this: he tracked the state of human mind development from 300,000 years ago up to the present day, which was like 1901 when this "extremely overlooked man" wrote his "extremely overlooked book" called "Cosmos Consciousness".
Bucke explains the growth of the mind over the last 300,000 years and shows how the mind overtime grew like the branches and limbs from a tree. The mind had very little at first to work with, then little by little by little, the mind started to expand its capabilities and branch out. And the human mind has been doing this over and over and over again these past 300,000 years to the point everything is coming together to the point that essentially "every human being" should have or be close to having "cosmos consciousness".
If so, it would not be surprising to see such "consciousness" slowly develop within our species. Just as i tried to explain earlier about the conversion from "simple consciousness" to "self-consciousness". Like i meant to say or imply--the day the first human gained "self-conscious" did not mean "everyone like that human in all other regards" gained self-consciousness at the same time. It is better to think more in slower evolutionary terms as to how that development developed. First there is one, then two, then four, then eight, etc.
Think of growth in "exponential terms" because that is what growth is expected to be--exponetial in shape. It's part of "exponential reality".
One thing to keep in mind is this: I think it is only about 12,000 to 15,000 years ago that we discovered agriculture; about 8,000 years ago we began civilizing in groups with rules; it is not even all that long ago that the human mind learned to comprehend color and fragrance (think on that)--both of these abilities have only recently been developed through the expanding human mind..
There is no getting around the fact that the human mind is "growing and expanding". There is simply no way to ignore the fact. Why Bucke is not recognized for his theory and findings at the level of Darwin will be one for the history books to settle out. But i will tell you why Darwin got the publicity and Bucke did not, and because Bucke's work was based upon the so-called "Spiritual World" which is a bit taboo for the Science Realm of things.
Anyway, the thing to take away from Bucke's work is this: consciousness on the human level can be sliced in all kinds of different ways (e.g., simple, self, cosmos), but regardless however you want to slice the dice, so to speak, you cannot refute the fact the human is one whose consciousness is growing greater in every generation). Bucke talks about three levels of consciousness. If you recall, i wrote a piece called Pure Consciousness--the Fifth Dimension, where i had five different levels of conscious, ending with Pure Consciousness, which is again, really nothing but the same thing as Cosmos Consciousness. Three or five conscious levels, it does not matter, how many levels you give human consciousness. What matters is, regardless off how you look at consciousness, in the end you have to end with up with "cosmic consciousness".
Let me make it clear. "Cosmos consciousness (enlightenment) is much more available to the brain of a human being born in the year 2024 than in the brain of a human being 2000 years ago. That is why people like Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad, etc. stood out so much. They were the front runners for "cosmic consciousness".
Today, there are probably millions of people running around the Earth with "cosmos consciousness" and they don't even know it because they don't even have a fucking clue what "cosmos consciousness" even is. Tell me, the truth. How many of you had heard even heard the term, cosmos consciousness, and associated it with Dr. Bucke before i told you about it? So if you didn't know, then how could you even think about having "cosmos consciousness" yourself?
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But let's us cut the rub. If "cosmos consciousness" was really all that difficult to achieve, then my question is this. Why do i have it. I am no one special. I have not accomplished great things. Am i so arrogant to think that i am "alone" in my thinking "Christ-like or Buddha-like"? Strike me down, if that is the case. But i know better. I know there are others. I have talked with them. Shit, i think probably 84% of the world's population is not only ripe for "cosmos consciousness", but "cosmos consciousness" is ready or them, if not already within them.
Think about a world where essentially everyone maintains a Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad, etc.-like mind. Every human being on the planet. The reason you should think that way is because that day is coming, and probably sooner than you think. My prediction: less than two hundred years--four or five more generations. It's just simple evolution as long as we don't fuck with "natural evolution".
Are you starting to get the picture yet? Because if you are, then you are either there, or getting pretty blessedly close.
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Now, i want to shift our discussion a little bit and address the why "cosmos consciousness" is riper for consumption today than it was say 2000-years or 6,000 years ago. I will try and list several;
- the capabilities of the human mind have expanded over time;
- there is no comparison between the capabilities of a 2000 AD mind than a 2000 BC mind. The 2000 BC mind may have had started branches on its tree, but there were no limbs, twigs, or leaves in comparison to the 2000 AD mind.
- this opens up new ways or methods to "express" what it is that we are all talking about; ways of expressing things that were not available to express in early periods of humankind--thus, in turn, making it easier to describe and understand what "cosmos consciousness" is.
- Cosmos consciousness is in line with "evolutionary tendencies".
- you cannot only see "cosmos consciousness" growing within the world's population, you can even "feel it" if you pay close attention.
- Cosmos consciousness is a good thing and whenever the entire human race inherits that nature, both the Earth and the human race can take a sigh of relief, because all should be good from then on out.
Now i am going to stop here for a moment to gather my thoughts. The intended purpose of this particular sermon was to get over the point that most of you that actually believe or understand what i am saying probably either have "cosmic consciousness" or you are less than a bch from obtaining "cosmic consciousness".
How would you know? You would know it, let me tell you. As Dr. Bucke says the person with a "cosmic conscious" mind is as different from the person with a "self-conscious" mind, as that person's "self-conscious" mind is different from a "simple consciousness" mind of an animal.
The "self-conscious" mind has leaps and bounds the capability over the "simple-conscious" mind. But just in the same way, the "cosmos conscious" mind has leaps and bounds the capability over the "self-conscious" mind. These are not linear differences, but large step differences. Just another point the ignored Dr. Bucke made clear. You can be on the "edge" of cosmos conscious, but the benefits don't arrive, until you make a clear breakthrough. Up until the time you make your breakthrough, you pretty much are sitting on the same level as most other people--the self-conscious level.
Along these lines i want to make something else clear. If on any occasion, as we move along, you feel a "switch flip" in your mind where you begin to see "clarity" like you have never seen it before, you probably have reached "cosmos consciousness". Don't worry about losing it because you, yourself, will not let yourself lose it.
If you have yet to feel that sense of a large-step in your consciousness, you are not there yet. Don't quit, it takes time for certain new ways of thinking to sink in. And "cosmos consciousness" will be a new way of thinking for most of us.
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Now i am going to try and end this particular sermon with a little bit of reality. Or my view of reality.
The human race is an amazing species with capabilities that far exceed that of any other creature or living entity on the planet Earth. That is a given.
But over time, because there is no natural threat to our survival than the threat of ourselves alone, we have more than likely already overpopulated the Earth. I am not necessarily saying that is the case, and i really won't have any say in the matter, but let me leave you with this thought from a "cosmos conscious" mind.
Wouldn't the Earth be a better place for everyone and everything, if there were 3-4 billion humans running around all with "cosmic consciousness" (i.e., the Buddha-Jesus) tending to the Earth's and everyone else's needs, rather than an Earth that has 8 - 16 billion human beings running around with nothing but their "self consciousness" to fulfill their needs?
Now that is what we are talking about here, folks. Pick your future because you are establishing that future right now.
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Tomorrow we are going to talk "karma" and "reincarnation" for sermon number five.
THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT—SERMON 5
(March 21, 2024)
I was pleased when i read sermon 4. If sermon 4 did not inspire you or give you an incentive to go for "cosmic consciousness" (that is, if you don't already have it), then i would advise you to drop the rest of the sermons. Hecklers from the grandstands will do us no good.
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Okay, today we are going to try and tackle two main subjects: (1) karma; and (2) reincarnation. Although many of you associate these terms with only so-called "eastern" religions that is false, false, false. All religions deal with cause and effect and what happens to the soul when one dies. Ask yourself, if you were creating a religion don't you think someone might ask you what you think about such things? Of course, you would, and that is why all religions have to deal with karma and reincarnation issues. Period.
Here is a good example of what i mean relating to the above and then i will leave it there. It is Saying Number 18 from the Gospel of Thomas.
The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us how our end will be." Jesus said, "Have you discovered, then, the beginning, That you look for the end? For where the beginning is, There will the end be. Blessed is he who will take His place in the beginning he will know the End and will not experience death."
Sounds a little like Jesus was talking a little about the never been born, never dying, little "mini, mini, microdot of DNA from Pure Spirit. And so that is where we are going to start today's sermon. We are going to talk about the Soul and what happens to it through the living and dying process.
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As i write, i write thinking that i am writing to skeptics, but that is not my intended audience. I write just the same.
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If you are up-to-date on this sermon series, you should remember (in fact, if you don't remember you just failed the course) a couple of traits associated with the Pure Spirit and its mini, mini pure spirit.
- Pure Spirit is beyond anything anyone will ever be able to comprehend
- Both Pure Spirit and Its Mini were never born and will never die--they are "pure" "spirit".
- Purity means uncontaminated in any way
- Both Pure Spirit and Its Mini are creators
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- Pure Spirit created "everything" out of "nothing"
- Mini Spirit created "the living" from out of the "non-living"
- Neither Pure Spirit nor Its Mini can Act.
Okay, starting from there, and moving forward, let's ask the question right now: What happens to "me" when I die?
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Here is the answer: Your material body wastes or wilts away to ashes and dust, but your spiritual body (the soul) lives on. That is what happens to the "two different selves" that we talked about in the previous sermon. The small-self dies and the larger-Self continues forward (in something called reincarnation).
What this means is this: the Soul or Self has lived many lives, picking up tid-bits of experience along the way that enables the Soul when it starts life again that it doesn't have to start from scratch. Think about it in terms of the "collective consciousness" if you want, but it is only your own particular soul's "collective conscious".
Now, if you remember the Titanium Rule which implies that Pure Spirit is Goodness in the Extreme and Pure Spirit only wants Its creation to get better, then don't you think Pure Spirit would hold his many Mini Spirits accountable for doing just that. Even though, neither one of them can act.
The Soul is Pure Spirit's watchdog in a way. And when a "self" starts going a stray, Pure Spirit expects the Soul to try and set the "self" straight.
And that is where "karma" comes in. Bad actions create "bad karma". Good actions create "good karma". Overall, in the universe there is more "good karma" than "bad"--a lot more and that is something to always keep in your mind.
My Soul is different than your Soul in one significant way. Our previous life experiences have been different and that somewhat determines how easy or how hard it is to achieve "cosmic consciousness". You must also remember that the life of your Soul did not begin with the first "self-conscious" humanoid 300,000 years ago, but much, much, much earlier than that. Because of the numerous number of lives both our Souls have experienced, we are pretty much both on the same plain when it comes to consciousness.
However, what is not clear from that, is that all human Souls are probably sitting on the edge of going from a "self-conscious" level of consciousness to a "cosmos conscious" level of consciousness.
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The differences in my Soul and your Soul are due to what is called "karma" (essentially, cause and effect). If you do this, then you can expect this outcome--that is essentially karma. Well as you can imagine that since our two different Souls, although pretty much on the same plain, might still be different. Why? Because good karma causes good things to happen; bad karma causes bad things to happen. And if either one of our Souls is carrying around a lot more bad karma than the other, then blame it on your past life experiences because that is the basis for it.
In creating life out of the non-living there has to be a connection between the Soul spirit and the material non-living. Good karma souls tend to get easier rides than bad karma souls. Meaning this: part of the reward for "promoting good karma" is to get first picks at where you want to start your next reincarnated life.
Between one reincarnated life and the next reincarnated life, the Soul does get some time to sort things out, or in other words to begin integrating what it learned in the last life with all lives that it had before it. And when the Soul is ready to try again, that's when it gets right back into the game again with a new body in a new time period.
Kind of circular isn't it. And that is the rut we are in--going from one life to another to another to another. For some of you, that might sound comforting, but the sad thing is--it should not be comforting--because you have an alternative choice.
You can get off the circular tread mill. Instead of constantly going through the karmic tread mill of time, you, your larger Self, the Soul can get off the tread mill and go back and sit with Pure Spirit (in all Its Glorious Splendor) and watch how all the rest of eternity plays out.
And that is kind of it and the choice is yours. The tread-mill-of-life or Glorious Splendor. Both are acceptable, but you have to "live" with your pick.
How is such a feat accomplished? You gain the Buddha-Jesus mind. You gain the Pure Consciousness mind. You gain the Cosmos Consciousness mind. Because that is the mind of the Pure Spirit!
And once a Soul has reached the point of gaining "cosmos consciousness" in "living form", that Soul has nothing else to prove.
And you should know it when that day arrives!
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Now i am going to add an addendum to what i said above. Most religion doctrines imply that the only "true way" to get to sit on the same plane of Pure Spirit is to have Pure Spirit be the last thing on your mind at the time of the body's death.
Personally, i hope that is not true, but i believe it is true. There is little doubt in my mind that many Souls are already with Pure Spirit It doesn't really matter that you know that you have cosmos conscioiusness, the key is to having it. I am not saying it is the case, but i am not surprised when i hear that some people say they saw a "glorious white light that made them completely peaceful and ease" when they thought they had passed over to the dead.
Yeah, that might just be the way the mind shuts itself down--that is a white light, and there may be a scientific explanation for such a thing, but i would like to think that is a Soul returning to Pure Spirit--and getting off the future tread mill of life.
I have thought about my own dying, and i am pretty damn sure if i have that choice to make that my last thought will be one of two things: (1) Linda--truly my Soul-Mate; or (2) Pure Spirit. And as i sit here right now, i hate to think of having to make such a decision, but in the end i think or hope that Linda made it to Pure Spirit before me--and rightfully so.
Because Linda was truly a better person than me, and she had to put up with a lot of both good and bad karma, i think she is already with Pure Spirit. Personally, i want off the tread mill, i don't want to come back to deal with life's issues again. And that is where i sit, myself, today.
THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT—SERMON 6
(March 22, 2024)
I don't know what to tell you, folks, but there is not much more to tell you.
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In our earlier sermons we talked about what "cosmos consciousness" is, what it took to get there, and what happens when you get there (at least to some degree). What i plan to do with this sermon is give you "three different perspectives" that i think will help you as you "live with yourself in this new consciousness level of thinking. The three different perspectives are: (1) a Hindu perspective; (2) a Buddhist perspective; and finally, of course, (3) my own perspective.
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Let's start out with the Hindu perspective that comes from the Bhagavad Gita. From that perspective essentially everything has "three qualities". The three qualities are mutually exclusive of each other, but by these three qualities alone, everything can be explained. Got it? Everything can essentially be described using these three "Qualities" alone.
So, what are these three qualities? Here is your answer:
- Purity
- Passion
- Ignorance
From these three "qualities" all action springs. And then the question becomes, which one is leading the parade?
Purity is essentially "Soul-like" or "Self-like" while Passion and Ignorance are essentially "self-like". I believe that way of thinking provides another fairly easy way to understand the difference between "cosmos consciousness" and "self-consciousness" because with "cosmos consciousness", Purity is in control! With only "self-consciousness" control ends up being a mixture of compromises made by all three qualities.
Think on that. And think about how significantly different (step jump like difference) the two different mindsets are from each other.
So, my point in making this point is this: Watch out for passion and ignorance. If you ever sense them creeping in again, and they will, shake them off as fast as you can. Purity of Soul does not mean that you are giving up anything, it means you are gaining happiness as a reward for your effort.
And don't fool yourself into thinking that you only have to overcome passion because, we all know from experience, that we have done some pretty fucking "stupid and ignorant" things in our lives--even sometimes when passion wasn't even involved.
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Now switching from the Hindu perspective of Purity, Passion, and Ignorance--here is a Buddhist perspective that puts a little different spin on things.
Buddha compared the enlightened (cosmos consciousness) mind to a "crystal clear pond of water". So perfectly clear such that you could see every pebble on the bottom and all the wildlife (fish, turtles, frogs) that were in it.
Buddha said that there were "five hindrances" that could cloud that enlightenment mind--each hindrance stifles or contaminates the crystal-clear pond. Now, stop right there and think about what we just said the Hindu's thought because they only mentioned two "hindrances", which they called qualities. The Hindu's said Passion and Ignorance could explain all the hindrances to enlightenment. And now Buddha is saying there are "five" hindrances instead of two--and Buddha came after Hinduism, so what is going on here.
Okay, there is an easy explanation for this rather small conundrum. Let's take a look at what Buddha says the "five hindrances" to enlightenment. They follow:
- Desire (passion)
- Anger (passion)
- Sloth, laziness (ignorance)
- Doubt (ignorance)
- Restlessness (passion/ignorance)
Anyway, as you can see it simply comes down to how many watchdog signs you want to set for yourself. You could surely take any one of Buddha's five hindrances and break it down into further layers, but why make life so hard, when everything can be somewhat characterized as falling within one, two, or seven categories. In this way, things are much easier to decipher because your mind doesn't have to filter through umpteen thousand thoughts, it only has to think in terms of two or six or seven.
Any time you are in a situation where you sense one of these hindrances (Hindu or Buddha) come into play, you must do everything possible that you don't "muddy the water". And having said that, i will give you a tool for how Buddha taught people about the "five hindrances".
Buddha said that "Desire" was like someone throwing colored die into the "crystal clear pure lake" to make it more to his/her liking--and the purity is lost;
Buddha said that "Anger" created a "boiling pond" with vaporized bubbles rising from the bottom--and again all the purity is lost;
Buddha said that "Sloth and Laziness" caused the pond to stagnate and grow algae and other undesirables--and again all the purity is lost;
Buddha said that "Restlessness" was like a surface wind that caused all kind of wave action stirring the pond up--and again all the purity is lost;
Buddha said that "Doubt" was like a complete muddied pond--doubt is pretty much the opposite of purity.
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Okay, i provided the above as additional "tools" to put into your bag of tricks, and for no other reason than that. You can take what you want from the above or leave it. It does not matter to me.
Regardless, i wanted to end, giving you my own opinion about a special "hindrance" to enlightenment that is rarely discussed and that is this.
Many people do not believe that they can be god-like. For many people that would require a really big shift in their thinking because as we all know--no one is god-like (except of c
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(I want you to know why i stopped mid-sentence. It was because i was becoming ill, and that illness was coming from stress, so i stopped, chose one of the six donuts that i bought on sale at Walmart yesterday, and went and laid down with the dogs. And now, i am okay. No big deal, right? But then, the question becomes why is someone like me feeling any stress at all? Well, here is why?
This seven-part series on enlightenment feels like it is "my final term paper". When i set out, i gave myself seven days and seven opportunities to write a chapter in my "final term paper", and i had no notes, no outline, and no chance to change the chapter and timeline requirement. And, after 5 plus days, i think i am just feeling the effects of all that thought and work.
But, that raises again another issue. When i get done with this series (immediately, thereafter) i am going back on sabbatical and away from Talkmarkets. I still am "fasting" or "boycotting" the news, and i have no idea what is going on in the world--and i plan on keeping it that way until after the election. So, today's sermon and tomorrow's that is going to be it, our last communication, until after the election (unless of course, el trumpo falls down some stairs and unfortunately breaks his neck). If you have my email address we can communicate further that way. Outside of that if you need me in case of an emergency, give me a call, or you will just have to come down and visit me here in Littleton, NC--my door is always open (at least to most people).
Oh, and here is one final explanation as to why i am going to end my posting on TalkMarkets. I have already provided TalkMarkets with my analysis as to how the U.S. dominates the world's economy. I have already provided TalkMarkets with everything associated with "globanomics". I have already a provided TalkMarkets withh a complete full draft for an America Is Great series. And now I have provided TalkMarkets with my seminal work, a seven-post series explaining the road to enlightenment.
And look around. What gain have i got from that. At the best i have 20 people paying any attention to what i have to say. And I break that 20 people estimate down this way--10 people within TalkMarkets and 10 friends, family, associates--plus or minus two on both numbers. And that is it.
Well, the sad thing to say is this: after i get done with this sermon series, i don't have anything more to offer those twenty people. This series is my "seminal work", i don't intend to try and outdo it down the road. Keep things simple, stupid. Add complexity only as necessary. (KISS + COAN).
But then the way that makes me feel is this. My effort means nothing if no one else keeps the ball rolling. I am worn out. I am an older man. I only have so much to give and that is true with the mind, too. There are many more things i would like to do in my life, but dwelling on matters such as i have these past few days (and years) is not the way i want to spend the rest of the time with my body-mind self.
So, as far as I am concerned, now its up to you fictitious twenty, whomever you may be, to keep the ball rolling down the hill to Pure Spirit because i cannot do it alone.
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I said all the above now, rather than bring up such type of thought, in my last sermon. I hope you understand what i said and why i said it now rather than later. Now, we will get back to where i left off in mid-sentence earlier.
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I believe i was talking about some "hindrances" that i thought kept people from enlightenment. And i was about to say the following: Many people do not believe that they can be god-like. For many people that would require a really big shift in their thinking because as we all know--no one is god-like (except of course Jesus Christ, who was the son of God). I am sorry to inform you, but that type of thinking is wrong. Jesus Christ, who every Hindu guru admires as well as any Christian, was a man--not a god--at least no more god, than your Soul (your mini mini microdot of DNA) lets you be god -- Jesus, himself, said the same thing--he was the way, just do it his way, which means with "cosmos consciousness".
I think one good way that might help you get over the hump (if you haven't) is to recognize that you can be god-like with a small "g" but you cannot be God with a big G. Or in our new language, you can be god-like as the Self with "pure spirit", but you cannot be "Pure Spirit".
Regardless, my point is this. Don't think you are not god-like, or Jesus-like, or Buddha-likw, because "you are like them". Never forget that or you will never, in truth, ever be like them until you come to accept that premise.
The hardest part for most of you who have achieved "cosmos consciousness" won't be having a problem with feeling god-like, it is remembering that every other living thing is god-like, too. That is the real challenge because you cannot be god-like without that understanding.
So, i think i will try to leave things here. If you have understood what i have explained up to this point in this seven-part series, it would be hard for me to believe that you are not enlightened or have a "cosmos consciousness" because it is hard not to think that way if you understand what i have explained (circular logic, but still worth the point). So, right or wrong, i will assume that 10 out of my 20 followers of this series (guessing) do understand what i have explained and ten of you have actually made the leap from "self-consciousness" to "cosmos consciousness". Ten out of twenty. In all honesty, i would be ecstatic with a number like ten.
Well, this is what i have to say to those assumed ten of you who now have "cosmos consciousness": Use it. Explain it to others. It's within reach to everyone and the sooner our human species makes the full leap the better. Turn your one into another ten and let's go from there. You know how a pyramid scheme works. But this pyramid scheme does no harm, but only good. Don't wait for others to act "cosmos consciously" because most of the others are not quite there yet. Only people with "cosmos consciousness" can act "cosmos consciously".
And there is only one-thing that you always have to remember while you are either enjoying or acting "cosmic consciously":
"Never ever should one cause a situation to become worse because of an action that he/she/it took purposefully. Every action taken should be one that betters the situation (long term). If that is not possible, then don't Act. The goal of "life" is to both enjoy the creation of Pure Spirit and to respect the creation of Pure Spirit and to do so without doing undue harm to all of God's other living creatures.
You have "self will". The goal is to turn that into "Self will" so you can be as happy with your part of creation as Pure Spirit is happy with Its entire creation.
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Tomorrow we will end this series. I think i have figured a good way to end it with a very soft landing, so stay tuned.
I cannot wait to be done.
(Oh, i should mention this about Talkmarkets before i leave it again for a while. I want to thank them for the opportunity to essentially keep an on-line diary of my primary thoughts over the past seven years. I had always heard that diary writing was a good thing to do, and i have learned myself that is the case, so for what it is worth--thank you Talkmarkets. I am just sorry that i could not garner you a bigger audience over my time with you. I did the best that i could.)
THE ROAD TO ENLIGHTENMENT—SERMON 7
(March 23, 2024)
Well, this is it, folks. This is my last chance to put a suitable ending to my series on enlightenment and/or cosmic consciousness--the seminal work of my life. I have been giving it some thought and wanted to keep this last chapter (ending) short and simple, and i still hope that is the case, but i also know that there are some things that must be said.
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Let us start out with this one.
If this truly is the seminal series that i think it is, i sure as to hell hope it does not suffer the same fate that all my "other work" (e.g., globanomics, etc. etc. etc.) has had to go through, lying buried deep in the bowels of Talkmarkets where only a few smelly souls who cannot appreciate see it.
Personally, i believe it deserves better than that. And when i say that i am not trying to promote the name used to describe the person who writes this blog, if you understand what i am saying.
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Now, with that having been said, here is what i have come up with for my "last sermon".
Understand this. I started my search for "cosmos consciousness" about 35-years ago at the age of 40 (somewhere around there) and it was only about 2-weeks ago that i actually obtained it. Thirty-five fucking years it took me! And looking back, now that i have obtained it, i think 35-years is absurd. In my mind someone should be able to achieve "almost instantaneously" what took me 35-fucking-years to accomplish.
So, that explains the singular purpose of this entire seven sermon series:, to enable individuals to accomplish in "seconds" what took me 35-years to do without help.
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My search with regards to "spirituality" was really always inside me, but i (Jim Boswell) really did not start giving "spirituality" much real consideration until about the time that my "first marriage" was breaking up (about 40). I worked hard and i pounded on the door to enlightenment (cosmos consciousness), but no one would answer. And i have proof of that fact in previous writings that had been written before my own enlightenment. (Go figure on that one).
And here is the proof. It comes from something i wrote around twenty-years ago--long, long before the "light switch" actually switched in my head a few weeks ago. It was a short little "diddy" that i called The Fifth Dimension--Pure Consciousness, which was one time actually published out there somewhere on the internet (i do not remember where though). I wrote this particular piece when i was living back in Culver, Indiana and i am guessing here, probably around the 2006 timeframe. I published it, myself, in my book called Before Monarchs Flap Their Wings. And actually, i think i have "posted" it a couple of times before in Talkmarkets. So, in other words, it is out there for consumption (just not much consumption).
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In that earlier piece of work, i talked about five-different levels of consciousness. My first level really starts when "self-consciousness" begins and my fifth level ends with "cosmos consciousness" (which i was calling "pure" consciousness at the time). Here is what i said in that earlier work about "both" those two different consciousness states.
I am going to start by showing where my mind was twenty or so years ago and what i understood about pure or cosmic consciousness at the time. This what i wrote back then.
"The three most important Truths that have been passed down to us from those who have achieved the Fifth Dimension of Consciousness (i.e., cosmos) are the following:
- The Highest Understanding is of the Eternal, Non-Changing Nature of Being;
- Extreme Love and the Highest Knowledge are One; and
- The Eternal, Non-Changing Nature of the "I" Consciousness (i.e., the "self") from the perspective of the "Pure Consciousness" Consciousness is Possibility.
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And now i am going to show you how i pictured twenty-years ago, the first level of my own particular consciousness scheme ( the "self" all by its lonesome). Here is what i said about that consciousness level.
"The First Dimension of Consciousness can be viewed as the "I" Dimension of Consciousness. In this dimension consciousness is raised to the level that one can acknowledge one's own existence. Descartes's famous: "I think, therefore I am" falls with this First Dimension. However, other than a first "Awakening" of an "I", there is little else here to conceive. At this level of consciousness, without expanding consciousness into higher dimensions, one is "alone" and one could possibly and wrongfully believe that he or she is God Supreme.
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Now, if that is not knocking on the door, then i don't know what is. But the sad fact is this: that was 20-years ago and it took me another 20-fucking years to get to "cosmic consciousness". And all i am saying now, looking back on things, it should not take that long. I can teach somebody how to get there in a day. Why should someone spend 35-years doing what could be done in a day?
Talk about a "productivity enhancement"! That's what i am talking here, and meaning so, in many different directions.
I learned how to "switch" on the light a couple of weeks ago during the "first ten days of my current sabbatical". Before then, i was only knocking on the door. But during my fast, someone (god only knows who) finally came to the door and let me in.
Before that i could not have written this seven sermon series.
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Now, think on that for just a second. If i can teach you what took me 35-years to learn, such that you can understand it all within one or two days, just think how fast the "Good News" could spread, if only others new the "True Story About Creation and the Living and Dying".
And that is entirely what this series has been all about. To introduce "cosmos consciousness" in a way that fits within the framework of every spiritual framework (i.e., Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc.).
It's 2024, folks. It's not 2000 BC. Come on, let's get with this new "millennium" which just started and fix the problems that we know are problems.
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And that is all i wanted to say relating to whatever subject that related to, and now i am moving on.
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My book, Globanomics (as well as many of my other written works), all show signs of someone on the "edge" of cosmos consciousness, but not "in" cosmos consciousness yet. Cosmos consciousness was always bubbling at the surface, but i do not have a good explanation as to why it took me so long (call me stupid, if you want) to actually "understand what i had been telling myself with my own thoughts".
Now, if you take that last sentence apart, that somewhat shows the conundrum that we are in. Because in a way, it is asking whether you can believe in the True Meaning of Pure Spirit's Creation and thus the Goodness of our World and the Universe.
If you can believe that way, then you can achieve "cosmic consciousness". If you cannot believe that way, then you are stuck with only "self-consciousness". And that is simply the gist of things.
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Above I mentioned Globanomics and then i went off into a direction that i had not earlier intended, so now i am going back to my thoughts associated with that earlier intention. And that has to do with "Love" and "Understanding".
Although i might not have made the full leap into "cosmic consciousness" before i wrote Globanomics, like i said, i was at the right address and knocking on the door of cosmic consciousness when i did write that book. And at the time of publishment, i subtitled the work "Love, Freedom, and Understanding" with the implication that "love" and "understanding" were the "two pillars" that you had to pass through for an optimal world Government.
It is Meister Eckhart who said that neither "love nor understanding" are "spirit". This is not a big point, but one that you should try to understand from a spiritual sense. "Spirit" really is "Goodness" and "love and understanding" are actually something else. Love and understanding is what flows out from "the Goodness of the Soul" to the self in the form of "intuition", and that is how you should look at both "love" and "understanding".
Every intuition that your soul sends out to the self will be based upon the soul's own knowledge of what "love and understanding" means in terms of all its reincarnated lives, including this current one.
And that is about all you need to know about everything. But now that you know it, you must also know that you should only "intuit" yourself when you know that your knowledge of "love and understanding" (including its source) can better a situation. If you cannot meet that criteria in every action that you take, then you need to work harder because you are not there yet.
But no matter what you do, don't give up. Like an old wise man once said, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step". What i have tried to do with this series is speed up the "one thousand mile trip" and put it in more modern terms. My thousand mile trip is one taken from space (or cosmos), where one can travel long distances much, much faster than in the old days.
We have learned how to describe our "myths" better. And we are heading into a new period of Enlightenment that the "human race" has never seen before. So my advice, is to "jump on the trolley" before there is no more room because it is filling up fast.
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Then, before i go to my finale of my finale, i thought it worthwhile to say something about the virtues associated with the "cosmic consciousness". We talked earlier about "hindrances" to cosmic consciousness, but we never said anything about the "virtues" of cosmic consciousness.
Here are the fourteen virtues associated with "cosmic consciousness" based upon my singular thinking: love; faith; charity; purity; fairness in judgement; friendliness/forgiveness; patience; truthfulness; strength; temperance; prudence; courage; humility; and poverty of spirit.
These fourteen virtues make up what i call the Pyramid of Virtues, which if you want, you can learn more about in Before Monarchs. But just due to the fact, i don't want to stretch this sermon out, i am not going to go into each virtue now. Just know that there are certain "virtues" that every "cosmos conscious" person must meet with the last two virtues (Humility and Poverty of Spirit) being the final two checkout clerks for every action.
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And then finally, i thought it only appropriate that i end my seven-sermon series on enlightenment with two poetic sutras (my term for the pieces) that i also wrote about twenty-years ago. One of the pieces is called Exponential Reality and the other piece is called Perfection. Both poetic sutras can be found in my book called Before Monarchs Flap Their Wings. In addition, I used Perfection as my "upfront statement in Globanomics. Both poems fit closely with everything that we have talked about in this series, so i would like to leave you with the thoughts that these two poems are intended to generate.
Exponential Reality
With the acknowledgement that Love is the constant in Exponential Reality
Then the reality of the Cosmos is exponential Goodness.
What is enlightenment like
It is like looking up at the ceiling, and knowing, that if at that very moment
The ceiling would collapse down on top of you and kill you
That the world and Cosmos would continue towards exponential Goodness.
Happiness is knowing that every moment in time is moving closer to Perfection
Perfection
You can know it.
Perfection is the essence of all.
Perfection without Love is nothingness.
Perfection with Love is everythingness.
Love is the highest knowledge
The argument is more spherical than circular
Every step is one toward Perfection
There are no holes in the argument.
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And with those thoughts i think i will leave you with my best wishes to "yourself", which ever self/Self you choose to be. Thanks for listening.
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This complete seven-sermon series is dedicated to my wife and Soulmate, Linda Barnes Boswell.
Ah, nice.
Linda was very special. Pass it on.
Your welcome. Pass the word on if you like.
I appreciate your comment. And i appreciate even more the fact that you took the time to investigate my "odd ball" ideas, which you need to pass on.
Pass it on if you like.