As a resident of So CA, and specifically the Santiago/Mokjeska Canyon area, I was a witness to some of the devastation of the fires. I could actually see flames and the red glow in the sky as I drove to my home in Lake Forest. The smoke and ashes were with us for several days and I saw many fire-fighting vehicles pass in all directions during the first few days of the fires. The most impactful thing, however, was watching the evacuations of tens of thousands from their homes, knowing that many would have no home to return to. My comment at the time was, "Welcome to Iraq!" What did I mean by this? This certainly is not as devastating as what is going on there, but I imagine that in relative terms, it may be as shocking to some of the evacuees as what is going on in Iraq. We here in the U.S. have not really had the experience that millions in other parts of the world are having, being displaced permanently from their homes and their communities. We cannot possibly imagine how it feels because there are mechanisms in place, even though not always very efficient, that help cushion the fall from comfort and peace. I think it is a good idea to consider the plight of the displaced in our country and imagine that multiplied 100 fold, and every day, to get a taste of what we, the United States of America, are responsible for across the planet. Also consider that at least one of the fires was arson, according to experts. Arson is a deliberate act of violence perpetrated against, in this case, an unknown group of people, nature and property. Is this similar to what the military attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan are? Many who are affected are not directly engaged in acts against the U.S. military, yet their lives are no less disrupted than those supposedly targeted. What is the opportunity here? Can we now show some compassion for others whom we may not identify with, but who are experiencing something that we now have experienced to some degree here?
FEMA fakes a news conference and there is very little outrage. It is time we were passionate about what is happening around us, and call to account all whom we may view as responsible. Because, in fact, we are all responsible so by turning our passion inward, we are stirred to action in creating a world that works for all of us.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Some Free flowing contemplations on the GAP
For many years, going back to at least when I was introduced to metaphysics through LifeSpring, the question has been about why I am here and what have I to offer? Beyond that, I have always had a fascination for words and learned to use them very well. Now, there is the opportunity to use this curiosity and interest to actually write about it and explore the roots and causes of concepts and entomology of words and phrases. Acronyms seem to come to me easily: the meanings of words may be found in the order of the letters themselves. It is as if the word in English has been devised as a code for its greater meaning. Its meaning has been encoded into the letters which compose the word, and by looking at the letters in the word, its meaning is revealed.
Let’s start with an acronym which came to me while in Bali last year, 2006. And, let's explore its roots and history:
GAP: God’s Ah Place
—from a discussion during Darshan with Jayem in Bali on March 14th, 2006. Talking about the phrase Ah La Ha, in Aramaic, the ancient language of Jeshua/Jesus, meaning roughly the Breath of God-AH, into the Heart-La and out again-Ha. So, the Breath of God, AH, or the Idea in God’s Mind that creates All, is AH. To be in the GAP, as in meditation, is to be between thoughts, in music, between notes, in writing and speaking, the space, the pause, between words. In Aramaic, the space between characters that make up the words is as significant as the characters, themselves. So, I see that space, that GAP, as God’s space. God enters into that space when NoThing is happening and EveryThing is happening. It is the infinite place of all possibility and where creation takes place. When I allow myself to be in the GAP, I am saying to myself that it is safe to be there and that I am receptive to the Creative Force that resides always in me, as my so-called Higher Nature. In reality, there is no higher and lower, but for the sake of communicating on this level, I will take the liberty of speaking in relative terms of space and time. As I write this, is it coming from the GAP, or from my mind? Am I, John, the writer, making up these words from my finite mind, based on beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that have been planted in my conscious and subconscious mind by my associations with other humans and my environment? How am I to know? What are the signs of being in the GAP, and who is the decider of whether I am or am not? Intuition: the great lie detector of consciousness. Now, where did that come from? Intuition? A conundrum: a puzzling question or problem; a paradox. If I am in the Ah Place, then what comes out is of that place and it is apparent to those sensitive to Truth. Those not sensitive to Truth will often find what comes forth confusing, incongruent with their beliefs or downright wrong. Does that change Truth? Do I argue for my position of Truth? It seems to me that if I am accessing God’s Ah Place, there is no reason for me to make an issue of whether others accept what I say or not. In fact, to do so tends to disempower what has come forth. The Truth needs no defending for it stands on Its own merit. Anything other than the Truth cannot be defended without creating chaos and disharmony. Which cannot be created since there is no imbalance in Consciousness…EVER. Every last bit of matter, non-matter and anti-matter is required for the existence of the Universe. As Alan Watts so clearly put it, each living and non-living thing, event, person, possibility and potentiality is essential for the existence of the Universe, and the Universe is absolutely essential for the existence of each living and non-living thing, event, person, possibility and potentiality. The importance of each of us is beyond measure; and none of us is any more important than the meanest of the created universe. Slug, snail, rutabaga, oak or Archangel, we are all the same in significance to the maintenance of the Universe. Take even one speck out of existence and all ceases to exist. There is not even an explosion…just non-existence.
And so, what does this mean to the GAP discussion? That to be able to enter God's Ah Place means to be able to “see”, even if for only a moment, the Source of All and to Know my connection to it. It cannot be forgotten, though the experience can be temporarily buried in old beliefs and assumptions of what once seemed true. In fact, Truth is. There is no Truth about anything; it is just TRUE. All that I see about me are the symptoms of Truth. How I interpret them is up to me; and how others think or feel about what I think or feel is up to them. Now, my interpretations of these symptoms is always subject to review and re-interpretation. As I go deeper into the GAP and access more Truth, what I perceive as reality shifts and changes with the deeper knowledge and wisdom gained in these GAP intervals. And, as the GAP intervals widen, so does my wisdom. And, as my wisdom widens, my need to be right about it and to get others to agree or know what I know, lessens. Truth becomes apparent, and then it becomes a parent to more of its offspring, its symptoms. For instance, an apple is a symptom of an apple tree. When we see an apple, we know that somewhere there is an apple tree; or there was an apple tree. If that apple tree is dead, or has been used for firewood, or mulch or making woodcarvings, that fact of its existence is nonetheless proven. Within that apple are all the elements of that source apple tree. By tracing the origin of that apple, one can define the very essence of the specific apple tree from which that apple came. And going back, one can trace the origin of that particular tree to its parent seed and its parent tree…and so on forever.
There is much more of this discussion, but I'll leave it here for now. If someone out there wants the full article, let me know and I'll be happy to send it.
Let’s start with an acronym which came to me while in Bali last year, 2006. And, let's explore its roots and history:
GAP: God’s Ah Place
—from a discussion during Darshan with Jayem in Bali on March 14th, 2006. Talking about the phrase Ah La Ha, in Aramaic, the ancient language of Jeshua/Jesus, meaning roughly the Breath of God-AH, into the Heart-La and out again-Ha. So, the Breath of God, AH, or the Idea in God’s Mind that creates All, is AH. To be in the GAP, as in meditation, is to be between thoughts, in music, between notes, in writing and speaking, the space, the pause, between words. In Aramaic, the space between characters that make up the words is as significant as the characters, themselves. So, I see that space, that GAP, as God’s space. God enters into that space when NoThing is happening and EveryThing is happening. It is the infinite place of all possibility and where creation takes place. When I allow myself to be in the GAP, I am saying to myself that it is safe to be there and that I am receptive to the Creative Force that resides always in me, as my so-called Higher Nature. In reality, there is no higher and lower, but for the sake of communicating on this level, I will take the liberty of speaking in relative terms of space and time. As I write this, is it coming from the GAP, or from my mind? Am I, John, the writer, making up these words from my finite mind, based on beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that have been planted in my conscious and subconscious mind by my associations with other humans and my environment? How am I to know? What are the signs of being in the GAP, and who is the decider of whether I am or am not? Intuition: the great lie detector of consciousness. Now, where did that come from? Intuition? A conundrum: a puzzling question or problem; a paradox. If I am in the Ah Place, then what comes out is of that place and it is apparent to those sensitive to Truth. Those not sensitive to Truth will often find what comes forth confusing, incongruent with their beliefs or downright wrong. Does that change Truth? Do I argue for my position of Truth? It seems to me that if I am accessing God’s Ah Place, there is no reason for me to make an issue of whether others accept what I say or not. In fact, to do so tends to disempower what has come forth. The Truth needs no defending for it stands on Its own merit. Anything other than the Truth cannot be defended without creating chaos and disharmony. Which cannot be created since there is no imbalance in Consciousness…EVER. Every last bit of matter, non-matter and anti-matter is required for the existence of the Universe. As Alan Watts so clearly put it, each living and non-living thing, event, person, possibility and potentiality is essential for the existence of the Universe, and the Universe is absolutely essential for the existence of each living and non-living thing, event, person, possibility and potentiality. The importance of each of us is beyond measure; and none of us is any more important than the meanest of the created universe. Slug, snail, rutabaga, oak or Archangel, we are all the same in significance to the maintenance of the Universe. Take even one speck out of existence and all ceases to exist. There is not even an explosion…just non-existence.
And so, what does this mean to the GAP discussion? That to be able to enter God's Ah Place means to be able to “see”, even if for only a moment, the Source of All and to Know my connection to it. It cannot be forgotten, though the experience can be temporarily buried in old beliefs and assumptions of what once seemed true. In fact, Truth is. There is no Truth about anything; it is just TRUE. All that I see about me are the symptoms of Truth. How I interpret them is up to me; and how others think or feel about what I think or feel is up to them. Now, my interpretations of these symptoms is always subject to review and re-interpretation. As I go deeper into the GAP and access more Truth, what I perceive as reality shifts and changes with the deeper knowledge and wisdom gained in these GAP intervals. And, as the GAP intervals widen, so does my wisdom. And, as my wisdom widens, my need to be right about it and to get others to agree or know what I know, lessens. Truth becomes apparent, and then it becomes a parent to more of its offspring, its symptoms. For instance, an apple is a symptom of an apple tree. When we see an apple, we know that somewhere there is an apple tree; or there was an apple tree. If that apple tree is dead, or has been used for firewood, or mulch or making woodcarvings, that fact of its existence is nonetheless proven. Within that apple are all the elements of that source apple tree. By tracing the origin of that apple, one can define the very essence of the specific apple tree from which that apple came. And going back, one can trace the origin of that particular tree to its parent seed and its parent tree…and so on forever.
There is much more of this discussion, but I'll leave it here for now. If someone out there wants the full article, let me know and I'll be happy to send it.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Where Have I Been?
It has been awhile since I posted here. This is going to be a short post just to say hi and promise I'll be back with lots to say. There is so much going on in the World and within each of us. Have you noticed? The conscious among us are noticing that there is more than meets the eye(I). Financial shifts are occurring that are way beyond what most of us have ever witnessed. It is not the usual periodic cycles that most economists and historians are telling us; there is a systemic shift and we best be aware of it. The changes that are coming are unprecedented. Please take some time to assess how you will respond, so you don't have to react out of fear and desperation. The Light is pouring into our hearts, and our minds are being challenged as never before to "try" to cope with what they are experiencing. Best to allow the Heart to provide you with what is needed: Love, Compassion and Peace. To show loving kindness to our brothers and sisters is what is called for.
Blessings to all,
John
Blessings to all,
John
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