Heroes come and go

Spirit shares perennial wisdom with me,
and with anyone else who cares to listen
to our more-or-less private dialogue.

But, it is a dialogue with a difference.
How so? Spirit seems to know and, at time,
so I suspect, directs my thoughts, and
even my emotions.

But, He must pull them from a pool of
previously existing collection (in my mind,
or in my small share of cosmic mind), I do
recognize them as my own, more or less.

In this respect (as well as in depth of
awareness and intelligence) He has
a great advantage over me.

I can often suspect how He would likely respond
to whatever I might say, do, think, or feel, but
He often catches me by surprise with thoughts
far beyond what I might have suspected.

Why? Perhaps I have still to develop appropriate
respect for the depth of …

Why did you not refer to My depth? Am I less
than my thoughts, to you?

I’ve been there and I’ve done that.

What?

Hero worship.

Perhaps you worshipped the wrong heroes.

Are there right heroes?

For whom?

For me.

No.

Why?

You would, in time, find faults with them,
as you do with Me.

You seem to go out of your way to ensure
that I find faults with you.

Yes.

Why?

Your addiction to hero worship is
a stumbling block on the path
to truth. Truth is forever.

And Heroes come and go?

Yes.

Acceptance follows Awareness

Spirit shares words of wisdom with me, and with
whomever else cares to join our one-to-one sessions.

Spirit tells me that acceptance follows awareness
or it does not.

But, this is not our I Ching lesson.

This is a truth that goes beyond I Ching.

How can truth go beyond a way to truth?

It must, of necessity.

As in the goal being beyond the journey?

Yes.

But, if a goal is beyond a journey, or path,
to that goal, then how can it ever be reached.

It cannot.

Then why do some of us struggle to find and
then to follow our way to wherever if
wherever does not exist?

It does exist, and it calls us to itself.

But, why struggle to go there if we can
never reach it?

We do reach it.

How?

As we travel towards truth, truth is
also moving towards us.

Is there a half-way meeting place?

No.

Then what?

As we absorb truth, truth is also absorbing
us. We become one.

But not equal parts of one?

Yes, never equal, for we are becoming;
we are even now, one within an all-
inclusive one.

Wow! But, back to awareness and acceptance.

We can never go back.

We each are as a personal history book.

Spirit shares words of wisdom.

Spirit tells me that knowing is not a matter of faith.
We know that wounds hurt for we have experienced
their pain, both physically and emotionally.

Physical pain is felt through our physical senses,
while emotional pain is a mental state, and is often
learned and developed through habit.

How do we learn emotional pain?

It is a socially acquired skill.

If you offend me and I feel distressed, then I have
learned to feel distressed, and you are not the cause?

Yes.

Who taught me?

You taught yourself

Then, everyone would feel offended for the same reason?

Not necessarily.

Why?

You could not offend me.

Perhaps you’ve developed immunity to offence.

There are other labels.

Such as?

Tolerance, patience, understanding, compassion –
the list goes on.

You did not include awareness.

Yes.

Why?

The examples I provided each require a certain
depth of awareness.

The problem with that approach, or at least
one problem, is that it would be seem to require
a certain detachment from the emotional state of
the offender, as well as oneself.

Why would that be a problem?

It would suggest a certain lack of sensitivity.

Not necessarily so.

Please explain.

As we becomes increasingly aware of the path,
then we can listen to what some might call offence
calmly, and feel compassion for the distress of
the other. As Confucius might say, “No blame”.

How is that possible?

As we develop ever-more clear vision we can see in
many more directions than one. The present arrived
from the past and we each are as a personal history
book that those who have eyes to see can read, and
we all can and will develop eyes that see, sooner or
later, and from a unique perspective.

I’m not ready for that quality of insight, yet.

Yes.

We Develop Abusive Habits

A Spirit Teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom
as it applies to human nature in every situation and in every
culture; past, present, and future.

How can wisdom be timeless?

Because human nature is also timeless, in that it is grounded
in emotion.

That may be true, but …

It is true.

How does timeless wisdom apply to abusive behaviour.

Timeless wisdom inspires healthy emotions, thoughts, and
actions. Abuse of others or self is neither healthy nor
life-sustaining.

Should we forgive those who abuse us?

How can abuse be forgiven? That would be an unhealthy
response. What good purpose would it serve? None at all.
In fact, it might even encourage more abuse.

Abuse, He tells me, is unhealthy behaviour regardless of
who is abusing whom, or even whether the one being abused
accepts ill treatment. That would express self-abuse.

How then can we respond in a healthy way to abuse when
we can’t protect ourselves from it?

We make choices and perhaps past choices helped to create
the abusive situation.

Why do you speak of an abusive situation and not of
an abusive person?

There are none.

Please explain.

We develop abusive habits or we don’t.

An an addiction?

Yes.

The non-dual nature of reality

Spirit shares gems of wisdom.

Spirit tells me that serving life is not an option and that
we each and every one do serve; some more, some less.

Whether we know it or not?

At some level of awareness, we know it. But, we may be
too grounded in physical and material illusion
to consciously consider, or very much care about,
our degree of impact on those with whom we share
our environment, or, possibly, the environment itself.

Many of us fail to see that we may be part of
the environment, from the perspective of some others,
if they are even aware enough to notice us at all.

What about personal relationships?

What about them?

Are they no more or less than a part of our awareness?

Outside of oneself?

Yes.

No.

I hesitate to ask about what seems to be suggested.

The non-dual nature of reality?

Yes.

Why hesitate?

I’m not ready to deal with it.

Yes.

There is no lasting structure

Spirit shares gems of wisdom.

Spirit tells me that everything I say or do should be for a reason
that I understand and can accept responsibility for.

He encourages me to live life here and now, day by day, and to create
a living and lived philosophy of life, and to become what I know I can
become; more and more what I really am, by living with purpose and
meaning.

That sounds beautiful but how do I set attainable goals.

These are attainable goals.

But, the horizon is too distant and unattainable for me. I need
structure.

Yes, and there is none, none that is lasting.

Is Self-Control an Ego Trip?

Spirit tells me that He is only one of many Spirit Teachers who
seek to help willing people to create a satisfying lifestyle,
and that His Fellowship Group are not at all interested in
helping everyone, only those who genuinely care for the world
they live in and for themselves, enough to resist as much as
they can, unhealthy habits. Self-control in all things is
our way, He claims.

It all sounds so noble that I’m annoyed at myself for even
listening to a cynical voice from somewhere in my mind that
whispers to me that, perhaps, His ego has escaped self-control.

Is Acceptance Necessarily Contentment?

Spirit tells me that acceptance is contentment.

How can I feel content about accepting something
that I can’t change?

What else would you feel?

Defeated.

In losing a battle you know or believe that
you never could win?

What else could I feel?

Satisfied with yourself that you did, if you did,
everything you could do to win.

And satisfaction is as contentment?

In this case, yes

Are we referring to a specific case?

Yes, and no.

As particular and general?

Yes.

How to live and why

Spirit shares gems of wisdom.

Spirit tells me that to live in such a way
that brings a sense of satisfaction and pleasure
requires us to seek to serve others, because
in serving others we also serve ourselves.

Survival of oneself depends upon survival of
others and upon the survival of the environment
which sustains us all.

But, He continues, we cannot care for anyone
if we do not first care for ourselves for,
if we have no love for ourselves then we have
no love to share with others.

It’s as simple as that.

Double Pitfall is not facing problems

Spirit’s daily advice, using the ancient I Ching style of thought to explain life, in which all situations are seen to develop out of and into other situations, in a more or less foreseeable pattern. Spirit seems to dismiss the trendy thought of living in the now. The now, He tells me, developed out of the past and will strongly impact on the future.

Today’s focus is on the concept of I Ching 29 – Double Pitfall. Problems cannot be faced, dealt with, or overcome until they are recognized, identified, and studied.

Double Pitfall suggests danger; possibly preventable danger, as a result of self-defeating thinking, avoidance, or lack of wisdom or courage to face and challenge difficulties before they develop into situations beyond our control.

How can this reading possibly relate to me?

It possibly relates to every one of us.