Aul The Creator

Aul saw to the end of Its senses, and there observed was Nothing. Aul moved over Nothing to the frontier, observed a second time, and again encountered Nothing. 

Aul, limitless in power, created Everything. There was land, water, planets, stars, people, animals... Everything accepted all except Nothing. 

Everything was a product of Aul and maintained a link to Aul.

Aul's existence is without challenge, for one with limitless power encounters no obstacles. Could Aul's existence be interesting without challenge? Could there be motivation when there's no resistance? Yes, but it depends on Aul's ability to imagine and care. 

To understand Aul's world, we can imagine something ourselves.

Imagine that Aul is a human child playing make believe with dolls. Change it in your imagination a little such that Aul created the dolls. Then, alter it further by imagining that Aul placed within these dolls the power of Free Will. Suddenly, Aul is watching the dolls interact together. They use the tools It creates, such as a motorcycle or a bed, and the dolls "live their lives." There is nothing that Aul can learn from these dolls. Aul knows Everything.

As true as that is, Aul takes the responsibility of caring for and motivating these dolls. Aul watches them live, inspires within them ideas, but for all things, the dolls have Free Will. Aul derives entertainment from the dolls, yes, but it is more than this. Those dolls are Aul, and whatever the dolls experience, Aul also feels in a very real sense. Aul experiences their lives both vicariously and firsthand. 

Though Aul is timeless, limitless, and omniscient, Aul is concerned with the lives and experiences of those which It created. It is even more amazing and exciting for Aul when one of the dolls "awakens" to its own spirituality and oneness with Aul.

Thus, Aul, whom encountered no challenge that wasn't created by Its imagination, gains a sense of fulfillment of experiencing Itself in a way It could not have done if there was no creative expression, imagination, or sense of compassion.

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As a writer and citizen of Earth, I was contemplating this today. If a being had limitless power and infinite in body, could their existence be interesting? The above is the conclusion I came to. It very much reflects the predicament humans find themselves in on Earth. Could we be Aul?

Spiritual and Physical Dimensions

Recently, a friend of mine asked me what I thought of the 5th dimension. I hadn't really considered it beforehand, so I thought I would feel it out and get an impression. Some of the graphics used here have no credit to the original author because they were designed by me.

The Physical Dimensions

In this blog, I'll take a look at first the physical definition of dimension, then the spiritual definition. As it is now, these two disciplines of thought, science and spirituality, see things very differently in regard to dimensions themselves. Spirituality makes the claim that there is no beginning to the universe and there is no end. Scientists explain that the 0-2 dimensions don't actually exist, but those dimensions work together to make something from nothing: the third dimension.

Right there is the rub! Scientists, who have no evidence for a deity creating something from nothing, purport that their model of physics is correct even though, at the very simplest level of physics, they admit that the non-existing dimensions 0, 1, and 2 combine to create real objects. Something from nothing. Scientists cannot make the leap to believe in some governing spiritual force, yet they accept that make-believe dimensions, basically ideas, contribute meaningfully to matter.

The exact purpose for creating these first three dimensions is to simply illustrate mathematical equations with more ease; therefore, let's agree that these first three dimensions are simply ideas. Nassim Haramein, theoretical physicist, explains this concept very well in this video (3:12-10:00). His conclusion, and it is quite convincing if you watch the whole video, is that only dimension 0 exists. He goes on to show you how that is possible in the video.

Physical Dimensions 

Before we understand the physical 5D, we have to understand the physical dimensions zero through four. As shown above, the zero dimension is simply a point that doesn't exist. It is not a physical location, you cannot sense it; it is just a point in space. The first dimension, then, is simply a line between two points. Neither does this line exist in space; it's intangible and insensible. The second dimension is a plane which consists of a mixture of at least three points and lines. Neither is a plane tangible, nor is it sensible. Thus, dimensions zero through two are phantoms in the world of physics. When we get to the third dimension, suddenly, there springs something from nothing. The third dimension is the first dimension directly observable by the human being.

Dimensions zero through three make up everything you need to have a physical world in which one could experience things. The fourth physical dimension is that of time. Like dimensions zero through two, it is imperceptible except to measure the effects of change. For example, change could be catalyzed by an action from moving object, a minutely imperceptible action (such as age), or through other means. Thus, it is suggested that time is simply the observance of change.

The combination of the physical dimensions of zero through three and the abstract fourth dimension is what scientists call "spacetime," 3D space plus time. Or is it?

According to this article written in 2011, some physicists are suggesting that time has no dimension at all. Their argument is that in experiments, scientists never actually measure time. Instead, they measure velocity, frequencies, etc. Therefore, the scientists featured in this article consider time to be relative, as they are quoting Einstein, "Time has no independent existence apart from the order of events by which we measure it." Physicist Amrit Sorli continues by saying, “Time is exactly the order of events: this is my conclusion.”

This is something I can appreciate, time being just the measurement of the passing of events. My problem with Sorli's assessment is that his proposed model to replace time as a dimension is based on the smallest unit of measurement observed by man, the Planck. What of the smaller particles that we have yet to observe? If there are smaller particles, does this make his model null?

Let's move on and offer another point of view for discussion. Enter the fifth dimension of history?

The Physical 5D

The physical fifth dimension is not easy to picture, but John A. Gowan figures it to look something like this. Gowan is the son of one John Curtis Gowan, a psychologist. Gowan, Jr. was a support staff member for Biological Sciences at Cornell University. There, he wrote many papers concerning the way he perceives the universe to work. On his webpage, he freely admits that his papers are speculation, so take from his writings what you will.

The Spacetime Map (Source)

In his writings, Gowan, Jr. explains that the fifth dimension acts like history. It records events, registers them, and stores them in the past. It is the binding membrane around the 4 dimensions previously discussed. He suggests that, as beings travel through the physical fifth dimension, we leave a trail behind us, which is our particular history of recorded events. He calls this line the "light line," as he seems to regard beings themselves as lights.

What is visible to us and directly (rather than indirectly) influential today is the bounding surface of this historic causal domain, our "light line", which is a 4-dimensional volume consisting of 3 spatial dimensions and one temporal historic sequence, visible as a whole, cohesive unit in each successive instant of the observer's eternally moving "Present Moment".  - John A. Gowan

 He claims that following this light line can take us all the way back to the "Big Bang." I have seen this logic used in a similar way elsewhere. This whole thing smacks of the Seed of Life pattern as well.

Fibonacci Spiral > Vesica Piscis > Seed of Life > Flower of Life

What follows is a is based off of the Spirit Science “Flower of Life” informative video. Take from it what resonates with you.

Math is the language of the universe. I’m not very practiced in the vibrations of mathematics, but I can appreciate the patterns that can be found there. One such pattern of numbers comes from the “Fibonacci series” of numbers, which themselves originate from ancient Indian mathematics. These series of numbers gave rise to the so called “golden ratio” or “Fibonacci spiral.” It is infinitely repeatable both increasing and decreasing in size. It naturally occurs in the nautilus shell.

Fibonacci Spiral (Source) 

lower left:
Complete Circle of Awareness (Source) 

From the Fibonacci spiral, we can complete the outer arc back to the top and get a full circle. Let us then say that at the center of this circle is a being and that the perimeter of the circle represents the distance of their awareness. When the being in the center of the awareness circle becomes aware of the things within the circle, the being will wish to travel to the edge of their awareness. In doing so, the being creates two circles of awareness. Where those two circles intersect is called the “vesica piscis.”

The vesica piscis is representative of many operations and calculations in mathematics, such as the square root of 3. It is a shape that is used throughout history a symbol meaning various things, such as the IXOYE symbol in Christianity and the central portion of a Venn Diagram.

Circle of Awareness

If the being keeps doing this at all angles, traveling from the center of the first circle of awareness to the intersection of two circles, the Seed of Life shape is formed. From the Seed of Life, if you repeat the process in the above “awareness circle” chart, you get the Flower of Life. This is said to be the pattern, building instructions, from which everything is physically created: elements, molecules, etc. Drunvalo Melchizedek, author, is attributed with the modern day usage of the ancient Flower of Life. He describes in detail his theories on this pattern in his book “The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life” (1999).

Vesica Piscis (Source)

It seems hard to believe that everything that contains molecules is patterned after the Flower of Life. It all revolves around mathematics, the language of the universe. I cannot teach much about mathematics, but if this resonates with you, it may be prudent to research “sacred geometry” and find out more about the Flower of Life in your personal journey. Nassim Haramein, a theoretical physicist, expands on this idea using the Tree of Life in the Kabbalah of Judaism. Here’s a short video to explain what I mean.

Seed of Life (Source)

Flower of Life (Source)

Minkowski Space

According to this article by James Overduin, Hermann Minkowski, a German mathematician and professor, had a problem with Einstein's theory of special relativity, which did not see space and time as individual components and that they could rather be converted from one to the other but whereby light is the basic piece of both of them. In 1908, Minkowski argued that there need be a binding field that holds space and time together for it to ever be able to preserve any kind of independent reality.

Could this be Gowan's idea of the fifth dimension of history?

Overduin gives us an insight into Minkowski's model, which is pictured below. If you don't have time to read his article, let me do my best to summarize what he says in his article.

According to the article, time is labeled as the Y-axis, and Space is the X-axis in this chart. The center point of this chart reflects the present time. The light cone in this diagram represents a "flash of light" moving through time, from the past to the future. The space outside of the cone is labeled as "elsewhere" because it is not possible to reach unless one travels faster than light. The central red line, "worldline," is explained as "the trajectories of all real objects," meaning other objects that the observer encounters as a result of movement through time. Overduin states that the below chart seems static in nature and that "in which history does not seem to 'happen' but is rather 'already there'".

This gives me insight to three questions:

1. Does this mean that what we observe as lights moving through spacetime is a matrix of still images? 
2. By making decisions relative to our position in the matrix of events, do we then change our reality through the virtue of our willpower alone? 
3. Is it then possible to jump to any position in the matrix by willing ourselves there, and by the movement of time, arrive?

In my observation, the light cone around the present time looks, to me, reminiscent of an object traveling at or near the speed of light using time compression and dilation, as if traveling through a wormhole, for example.

The Unified Field Theory

Theoretical physicist Nassim Haramein has been enlightening many about his contemplations on the Unified Field Theory (UFT), which is itself a theory in particle physics built from the decades-long refinement of theories of physicists ranging from James Maxwell to Albert Einstein (source). The UFT, according to Britannica.com, is "an attempt to describe all fundamental forces and the relationships between elementary particles in terms of a single theoretical framework." From the microscopic world of cells to the macroscopic universe of galaxies, UFT aims to bridge the gap and combine them together into one plausible theory. As it exists in science today, relative mechanics (Einstein's) and quantum mechanics follow different rules. If you haven't already, I urge you to watch this video, referred to earlier, in full. Haramein reveals his methods of determining that the mass of the entire universe can fit into a proton, proportionately, through the concepts the Seed of Life demonstrates. This is the first time, in my view, that spirituality meets science.

I believe this sums up the energy I have spent thus far in trying to understand the physical dimensions. Take with you what resonates.

Spiritual Dimensions

There are some people who believe in the idea of "spiritual dimensions." These, perhaps, are companions to the physical dimensions in the same way the metaphysical senses (clairvoyance, etc.) are companions to the physical senses (feel, touch, etc.). We must define the first four spiritual dimensions before we attempt to understand the fifth dimension.

Below is a diagram from Dr. Suzanne Lie's website, Multidimensions. Dr. Lie is a Ph. D. in Clinical Psychology. She claims to have spiritual insights from beings called "Arcturians," so named because of the central star, Arcturus, in their solar system located in the constellation Boötes. Her website contains loads of information she claims to be given to her through beings from this star system.

Dr. Lie's views heavily depend on the idea that life is a massively detailed hologram, a virtual experience that is not physically real and is only a "game" that our souls, or higher dimensional selves, agreed to participate in. In doing so, she claims, our souls have forgotten their original power as creators; thus, it is our task to remember and to raise the vibration of Earth and its inhabitants in order to achieve this on a planetary scale such that every living being remembers their original power.

In her articles, she constantly refers to parts of our reality as being analogous to parts in the information technology field. For instance, she refers to Earth as our "motherboard," and our state of consciousness as our "operating system." For me personally, her themes are catchy. It is fun to think of life as a holographic simulation, where different animals and plants may be considered to be "modifications" to the original game content. Whether or not you find this true or not, the theme is clever.

Dr. Lie's map of Dimensions 1-5 (Source)

According to this map, the five dimensions we are concerning ourselves with can be separated by levels of consciousness: unconscious, conscious, superconscious.

Unconscious dimensions categorize beings that have no real level of consciousness. Their presence and habits are resultant of their programmed functions within the hologram game of  Earth. Conscious dimensions categorize beings that are aware of themselves and the other levels of consciousness. This is also called "ego consciousness." Finally, superconscious dimensions are consciousnesses aware of the metaphysical, or spiritual, beings or places.

The first dimension represents the land, water, and so on of our mother Earth, as well as beings on a cellular level. This associates with the physical zero dimension because it focuses on consciousness at a point. On her website, Dr. Lie says that if we could connect to this consciousness as a human, we can connect with the rest of the physical world because it is the dimension that everyone shares. Similar to Haramein's assessment that the dot is the only thing that exists in the physical dimensions.

The second dimension is representative of groups of cells that together make the organs of our bodies. It relates to the first dimension of physical dimensions in that it is a line. Animals and plants are associated with this dimension of consciousness.

The third dimension represents the consciousness that is aware of themselves, their bodies, and especially their own consciousness. This associates with the same third dimension in physical dimensions, able to observe point, line, and depth. In line with the physical third dimension as well, third dimension consciousness is not able to see time, but they experience it. Beings in this category are the higher order of plants/animals. According the Dr. Lie, the third dimension is locked by time as a function of its purpose, which is to allow beings to learn through the process of tracking changes of things held in our consciousness at any given time. For example, if we want to feel grief, we hold the idea in our consciousness, time passes, we document our experiences through learning. Now we have experienced grief and have grown as a result of it.

The fourth dimension is representative of astral bodies, higher than human consciousness, imperceptible to humans without psychic abilities. Beings with this consciousness can perceive point, line, depth, and time. This relates to perhaps the fourth dimension of physical dimensions if we agree that this dimension represents time. Examples of beings in this dimension are "astral bodies," dream states, visions, or past lives. This dimension is accessible by third dimensional consciousness if the being remembers their multidimensional self, according to Dr. Lie. The outlook of the fourth dimension consciousness, she says, is like a person standing at the top of a mountain and directing parties below.

The fifth dimension is said to be aware of length, depth, time, and spirit. This is where one realizes everything is one being. All actions are love-based here, having ascended third dimensional concepts based on fear. In a fifth dimensional consciousness, one has applied, to all aspects, the lessons learned from their third dimensional consciousness. Human beings are able to access this consciousness in their form.

Do you see the irony here? The physical dimensions claimed that the zero - second dimensions, as well as the "fourth dimension of time," to be insensible. One cannot sense them. Here, spirituality seems to be making the same statement about the spiritual dimensions one, two, and four.

Aspects of Spiritual Dimensions

From another perspective, this article delineates how humans think from different levels of consciousness. I took it upon myself to make a summary, which I have shared below.

Third Dimensional Thinkers

These individuals approach life as a very grounded individual. They are fully convinced that the life they have is the only one they have. They are fear-based, materialistic, believe they are separate from others, seek after societal "success," and only use their five senses (as opposed to the metaphysical senses).

Fourth Dimensional Thinkers

These individuals perceive that there is something beyond the every day events of life. They believe in some kind of higher power than themselves because they are aware of some kind of "connectedness" but are unsure as to why. Individuals experience duality-based thoughts, often meditate, consider diet, seek to find a purpose in life, experience coincidences called "synchronicities" (which are defined as hints from the universe to assist them in awakening), and that their actions affect the environment in both harmless and harmful ways.

Fifth Dimensional Thinkers

The idea of duality falls away. While the fifth dimensional thinkers are still aware of the concept of duality, they no longer see things as either good or bad; things just are. Individuals in this dimension of thinking don't pass judgment, don't seek to use labels, sees other beings as equals, understands one's life purpose, feels connected with everything and everyone, feel no sense of competition for materials as there is plenty for all, and one's intention is at its peak ability.

Conclusion

As I come to a close on this topic, it's taken me years understand any of this stuff. I've had some parts of it researched for some time, tried writing about it in the past, but eventually, I got too busy. Apart from that, it has taken me hours to type all this stuff up. However, please don't think that this is all my "evidence." I can't fit it all in and remember my sources.

My position on this topic might be clear, but if not, let me make it so. There is something inside me that points out the similarities of all these ideas and finds a central theme in all of them. I don't necessarily believe all the ideas presented here as solid truth. I don't presume to be so bold. All I can say is that as I live my life, I come across things that hit a certain heart-string, which sends my being into this sense of knowing something is pretty close to true. Truth is a relative, subjective topic, but for me, there's a core belief in here somewhere, and if you don't believe any of it, that's fine by me. I am not here to convert anyone; I just want to present my ideas for my own benefit and to help anyone I can to come to their own conclusions through their own research.

Madonna sang about life being a mystery. Well, that's for sure, but as it is, I stand here at 39 years old in my most confident stance on how the mystery of life is put together and how it unfolds. There is no measure of truth by which I can simply prove it. I must confess that the power to decide what is true is a right for every individual, and each individual will believe in a separate truth than mine. I only hope that they put a great deal amount of sincere thought into what they choose to believe and give power to, rather than to heft the responsibility of their own power on the shoulders of some one else who claims to be socially and spiritually above them. There is no greater lie than someone else having the ability to have any kind of power, but especially spiritual power, over anyone.  

May you all be blessed in your lives. If you feel the need to ask for help, I would love to hear your story. 

The One-Finned Fish

By Brandon Kelly

There was once a fish with one fin, called You, who swam in a sea, called Life. The Sea of Life was very deep. You became more and more curious about how deep. You knew that it must take a lot of effort to swim deeper because, for You, going even a few feet was tiresome. Having only one fin limited how fast and deep You could go. 

You was not alone, though. He had to think about his friends, family, and how You could survive deep in the sea all alone. In the school of fish, You's life was very comfortable. As a child, You's parents watched out for predators or fishing humans. They let nothing happen to You. Parents always warned their children about the fishing boat, called Difficulty. "When Difficulty comes sailing in, you had better come close, or they will scoop you up and eat you," they would say. 

But You always dreamed of going deeper in the Sea of Life. You didn't know how to do it, or if it was possible to do at all. One day, You was swimming with Loved Ones, and they all saw something amazing. It was a three-finned fish close to the surface of the sea.

This three-finned fish was very famous and was called They. Well, after seeing They, You became very emboldened and excited to start an adventure, but turning to look at the Loved Ones, they looked afraid. The Loved Ones said that they should all return to the surface and back to the school of fish immediately. No one wants to be separated from the group because then Difficulty may snatch them out of the water. As it was, they were already far away from safety. You was torn and didn't know what to do. 

Meanwhile, They swam by lazily, too big to be worried about Difficulty, and They's many fins helped glide through the Sea of Life with ease. That big fish didn't really seem to care about anything. They hardly noticed You at all. Regardless, You couldn't stop watching They. Inspiration, bravery, and determination each built up inside of You till bursting point, and each time You thought of the Loved Ones, those feelings deflated. You felt hopeless; the Loved Ones always talked You into going back to the school.

You did swim back to the school, but this time was different than all the other times. You thought about why the Loved Ones may not want to use effort to swim deeper in the Sea of Life. Why wouldn't the Loved Ones want to go into unknown spaces, learn new things, experience exciting details about Life? The Sea of Life is so big, perhaps even They doesn't know every inch of it. Perhaps one day, You could teach They a thing or two. 

You thought that the Loved Ones were concerned for You's safety. This was the obvious answer, the one that You thought of every time. You had a different thought that day: the Loved Ones did not want You to leave. They loved You, wanted to keep You around, and to lose You would make them very sad indeed.  You thought of You's feelings on the issue: if You stayed, then You would be the one who was sad. It seemed as though the game had no winner.

Another thought occurred to You: what if other one-finned fish had the same idea as You, but were staying with Loved Ones because they needed them? Or maybe they were themselves afraid to leave the school and if You showed bravery and courage to leave the school alone, You's actions made them feel inadequate about themselves. If You left, then You would show them strength, true passion, and bravery. When they looked inwardly, they found that they were too afraid to try going deeper in the Sea of Life themselves. It was too much effort. The one-finned fish only had one fin, after all. In a way, these two things that made the school and Loved Ones want You to stay by their side was only serving themselves in the end.

They were Self-Fish. 

A shadow moved above You. It was Difficulty, and You's Loved Ones were shouting. "Swim, You! Come with us!" Though it pained You immensely, You decided to be happy. 

You swam deeper and deeper, tumbled about by the currents They was making in passing. You flicked that little tail as fast as possible in order to get deeper. You lost balance, twirled upside down, got whacked by They's big tail fin, but You kept up the effort to achieve a deeper position in the Sea of Life. Finally, You found a position under They where the current wasn't so strong. You observed the surroundings for a while and was very keen to notice even small details. You learned how to be a fish that dove deeper. You learned by doing, by observing, and by self correcting through humility. Before You knew it, another fin started to grow on top. You became happy after all.

You realized that in Life, You really is a small thing. 

Curtain, Oh Curtain

This is a poem I thought of whilst getting acupuncture. I was sitting across from a curtain as I waited 15 minutes with needles in my hands. There was a wind blowing the curtain around gently.


Curtain, oh curtain, won't you touch me please?
I don't care how, by whim or by breeze.

Curtain, oh curtain, won't you touch my hand?
Help me remember a soft reprimand.

Curtain, oh curtain, our time is nearly done.
It's OK you didn't touch me, my hand's already numb.

Truth

What is Truth?

I was inspired to write this by reading the article, In Search of Truth, after I had a question pop into my head: what is the difference between personal reality and collective reality? I suppose in order to answer that question, I have to first look at what Truth means. The answer I ultimately came to is that the Truth (yes, with a capital T) is unknowable to us in this flesh and blood form. This is because there are no words to express what Truth is. The author of the above article said that a stone may mean something to one person but mean something slightly different to another. In this way, our personal truth is also relative or, at least, subjective. What I write now is kind of a reflection/summary/example of what I learned through reading his article.

After having read the article, I summarized the process of filtering our perceptions in the following way:

First, consciousness perceives countless things but is limited to focusing on only a few at a time.

Next, we must decide what perceptions are important by attaching emotional significance.

Finally, we attempt to understand what we perceive by add meaning.

These three steps facilitate what it means to survive in the physical world.

Let’s say that you live in a desert, and you want for nothing; you’re mostly happy but alone. As you make your journey on Earth, you pick up things that ring as “true” for you. To appease the analogy, let’s say that these personal truths, in this example, are evidenced by materialistic objects, like a leaf or a twig. So as you go along in your desert-life journey, you pick up a cactus. This idea of a cactus or the object itself means something to you. Perhaps the cactus makes you happy because it reminds you of someone you loved who is gone and who hated them. Perhaps this cactus represents a virtue, such as striving for perfection. Whatever it is, this cactus represents a truth for you because you recognize it as important and you attach principles or emotions to it. This helps you survive in the world because it assists you in managing the multitudinous things we perceive. Whatever truth you associate to your perceptions, you carry it with you. These become your personal belief systems. 

One day, you come to a beach, and you encounter another person on their journey. They also carry objects, their truths, but they are much different than your truths. That person carries a fossilized starfish, a piece of driftwood, and a crab shell. However, after talking with them, you realize the truths are very similar if not the same, you just chose different ways to define them. What he believes to represent the idea of “loyalty,” you mostly agree with, but there are slight differences. You find getting along with this person is quite easy. 

The second day, you encounter a forest in which lives another person. The objects they carry and the truths they represent do not match your truths at all. What he defines as evil, you define as good, and then his good is your evil. You might then decide this person is not compatible with you and that you might quarrel. These truths are still true to him, and your truths are true to you. So which truth is “correct”?

Finally, there is the Truth. There is that which governs many things but that which remains undetectable to humans and other creatures. These things may be something like how gravity works, how the planets got started, what is good and evil, how many universes are there, the afterlife, etc. These things are usually things that humans don’t fully understand and are trying desperately to grasp. Wittingly or not, in our little scenario, you and the forest dweller and the beach dweller all agree on the Truth that there is gravity, 1 out of 3 believe in an afterlife, and 2 out of 3 believe that we are all connected to each other in some way. These Truths cannot be proven scientifically (yet) or are in the very early stages of discovery. More importantly, the fundamentality of these Truths are not capable of being expressed through words. Thus, until we reach a state where our language goes beyond words, we can never fully understand the Truth. 



Trying to understand the experiment of life is impossible because we are a part of the experiment. 

Segregation, Deflection, and Accountability: Fear

Sitting outside, wandering among nature, wondering about nature, I have time to reflect on the question that is commonplace among humans: who am I? Some might say they are a chef or they are a follower of a deity and move on with their life never again thinking about it. No one is really ever one thing.

There are a few logical fallacies that exist when a person thinks in the above way: segregation, deflection, and a lack of accountability. The question of “Who Am I” is deeper than that. To understand why, let’s think about the fallacies as they are.

Segregation refers to the human tendency to separate things from other things. In my opinion, this comes from the desire to understand the environment in which we live and to have a sense of belonging to and contributing to that environment. Coming along with segregation is the idea of labeling things. These ideas of segregation and labeling seek to separate and estrange things that come from the same stuff. It is not wrong to seek understanding of the environment. It is wrong to be divisive and exclusive in society. It is not wrong to say we are Group A, and we like each other because we have the same beliefs. It is wrong to say that we are Group A, and our group is better than yours.

Deflection, in my use of the term, is when a person who has become close-minded to a fault. Whatever new concept presents itself is immediately deflected away from their core belief system. This comes from the fear that the belief a person has been following for all their life was wrong and that the person is themselves wrong as a result. It is a blow to the ego that drives us so strongly in this world and a blow that is insufferable to people with this mindset. Perhaps it is also fueled by the resulting belief that people have wasted their life believing misinformation. What they typically don’t realize is that they arrived at the final answer after having dedicated the time to the wrong belief. The time was not wasted because they found a better answer, the time was well-served because they took a bite of the cake as opposed to eating the whole cake in one sitting. To understand a concept, it’s easiest to approach the subject piece by piece, as we have done with science the last several hundred years. Deflection occurs when a person does not want to consider new information that may change the way they have been doing things traditionally. They are satisfied by the belief they hold and have held, and that in itself would be a great thing, but only if their traditional belief system doesn’t segregate others to the point of extremism, to the point where others are hurt and will continue to be hurt by the beliefs. For the betterment of human society, it is necessary to move beyond ways that separate others in harmful ways.

Finally, there is the lack of accountability. It would seem that there are people who believe it is not their duty to look inside themselves, but the duties of others. Therefore, they put off looking at themselves and searching for their imperfections, or they delay spiritual growth altogether and not consider it. Why would people do this? I believe it is because they’re afraid of what they might find when they look into the mirror. They’re afraid that they will be wrong, of what others would think, that they have a lot of thinking and changing to do, or they are afraid of fear. That is, they’re afraid of the unknown. The biggest adversary in the world is oneself. The inner self then becomes an indefatigable presence inside of a person that, over time, becomes too large and mysterious to face. What these people should realize is that it is fear that holds them back. There’s nothing to be afraid of, certainly, but tradition blocks even this idea. If a Muslim, for example, believes it is against religious instruction to eat the flesh of a pig, they’ll not do so, and sometimes without questioning why it’s not proper. After believing this for fifty years, they may suddenly be confronted with a Muslim who eats pork, and that Muslim challenges the beliefs they’ve carried all those years. They’re afraid of how Allah would judge them in the afterlife because they are ingrained to fear upsetting their god. The truth would be that Allah (or God, or Yahweh, or whatever) doesn’t care if you eat a pig. Once you get past that limitation humans set upon themselves, you open a door for new considerations and ways of thinking which will eventually lead you back to the idea that we are all one, that we all have our own will, and that there is no need to separate and do violence to one another when we believe differently.

So what is the one answer that will defeat all of these fallibilities of the human race? Release fear. It serves no purpose but to segregate and oppress.

Tradition and Breaking Out

Hello all! No, I have not disappeared, and no, I did not fall into the use of psychedelic drugs. It has been a while since my last post, but I can assure you, the disappearance is not due to a sudden dive into psychedelics. There was one time in during my downtime that I had a friend ask me about ayahuasca, and I was tempted! I was tempted because I believe in fate and chance. When something crosses your path a few times, I think it is someone or something trying to tell you something. I resisted having boiled it down to this basic reason: I want to bring about the change in me, not do so through plants. I don't hold it against anyone who decides to use psychedelics either.

To the topic at hand, I find that tradition is good for somethings, like having cake on your birthday. I feel, though, that we have to be careful with tradition. It has a tendency to lull our minds into a strait of narrow thought. Our thoughts in these times should not be narrowing but expanding. The danger lies in closing your mind to people and ways of thinking. Before you know it, a closed mind is thinking of ways to set limits for society and impose their personal beliefs on structures like law-making and governing. Sometimes it tends to make people believe that what is good for them should be good enough for the rest of us, and that is a dangerous way to think.

I am personally having a difficult time right now.

I am at a crossroads where something big is about to happen. I have started Reiki, but there seem to be few opportunities to perform it, even when I am giving it away. I have had one person, since I started practicing Reiki in January, who approached a friend of mine to inquire about it. I made a mistake about the amount I charged, and I supposed the amount was a bit scary. I since apologized and have reduced the price, but also offered it to the person for free. This person still seems skeptical, and I don't hold that against them at all.

I have started doing some work with dowsing as well. It seems really cool! There is a lot of work that goes into preparing the pendulum for dowsing, but the promise to get real answers that are reliable is there. This is the part of building my own intuition that is most rewarding, in my opinion. I started this with Tarot, but the pendulum seems so much more detailed and specific.

I am in the middle of changing jobs. I live in Taiwan, so it is important for me to get an alien residency card to remain legally. I have one more year to go before I get my permanent ARC, then I can do any job I want. Right now, I am stuck teaching. The school I am leaving has taught me a lot of lessons. I actually really tried to bring about positive change to the school, but the administrators didn't want my help. They didn't want my opinions. They wanted to oppress me, force me into doing silly things, and indirectly declare that they care little for my personal safety. This taught me that no matter how hard I try, there will be obstacles that are clinging to traditional ways of thinking, like materialistic greed. I don't want to be judgmental because everyone comes from different walks, but it really does seems sometimes that people that I am involved with think with backwards logic. It's frustrating.

I am finding it more and more difficult to fit into the mold that we call society. Teaching is a good job when teachers are free to teach what they want, when they are not poked and prodded to do meaningless tasks my administration, when there are students who are interested in learning. I find that there is a particular dogma that is desired to go along with that teaching, and that is to maintain the status quo of the society. Don't adapt, don't change, don't think. Put your head down, go to work, make someone rich with money while your soul is sucked out of you. That is not me, and I refuse to do that any longer than I have to.

There are positive things coming down the pipe for me, and I am anxious to break out of this "matrix" for lack of a better word, this stage where we are meant to perform like marionettes. We set our limits for ourselves, and I am setting mine so high that it's off the surface of the world. It is a lonely walk, it seems, because there are so few that think this way, or at least few who are willing to do something about it. Yet, it is so difficult to break out of the society too. Unfortunately, to live in this world, we still need things like money. How do you get money? Work for someone, or make your own business. The fact is that I am so disconnected from the system in which this world stagnates that I don't care to participate in its economy. It may be that I have so little to offer the world as a monetized service, too. What interest do I have in worldly possessions or effort toward anything that isn't working toward a better lifestyle for me and for everyone? The answer is: no interest.

There is a change that is coming; I can feel it. How prepared will I be?