Quote from archimedes:
Most people do not want to view the world as it is. They do not want to face the reality of who they are, or where they are.
So true.
I was once criticized for dropping the valuation that my particular society had sought to implant within me, the valuation that said that a son should follow in the footsteps of the father. That if the father is a carpenter, then you have got to take over the family business.
Instead, I said, "I must be about my Father's business." And I spoke, of course, of my heavenly Father. I had to know the Truth of who I was, and my purpose was to awaken Christ.
I broke the traditions, the rules of the family structure within that community, within that time frame. Like many of you, I was a bit of a rebel. And where other children were conforming to the pressures of society, I went off to study with the rabbis and teachers, to sit in the desert at night, often not to return. Even at the age of twelve I separated myself form my parents at the time of a great festival, and went to hang out in my Father's house and talk with the spiritual leaders.
Archimedes might call this a "hobby".
Are
you willing to break the conventions of the world in which you live?
Beloved friends, look well, then, to see:
Where am I perceiving myself as a victim of the world I see?
Is it your job that you hate? No one forces you to drive your car upon the freeway to arrive at your place of employment - no one. And you reply, "Oh, but I must survive!" Then you have made yourself a victim of the perception of the need to survive. Any one of you at any time is perfectly free to drop the valuation you have placed upon the world.
There is an acceleration of the healing process
only when you completely release any valuation on victimhood, that is, the belief that, "Somehow, in some way, someone or something has done something to me."
Now, that is a simple thought to hear, and one can nod their head (even
hcour). It is another thing to look
honestly upon your reactions in life to make sure that you are not, at any time, perceiving yourself as a victim. Friends, you
must discover any corner of the mind that is yet holding out the view that life is something which happens
to you, and that there is something you are helpless to change.
The position of being a victim is a position of loss of power. And Christ is not about loss of power. In any situation, it is
you with all power under Heaven and Earth to teach only love. But that requires that you let the world off the hook - that no one and no thing is any longer responsible for your joy, your happiness, and your peace.
You
can look out with equanimity upon a
neutral world. You are awake and you are free - all because once you made a decision to give up victimhood, and to assume responsibility for learning how, in all situations, to be only the presence of love. I cannot make this decision for you. I can only walk with you on the way that you choose.
The ultimate state of consciousness in not an aversion of this world, but the
embracing of this world...even it if IS insane!
Ultimately, forgiveness is forgiveness of one's self for ever allowing delusion to settle into one's own mind, whereby one perceived one's self as separate from God, separate from brothers and sisters, capable of being victimized. Forgiveness, when completed, is the establishment of Love.
That is why the practice of forgiveness is so extraordinarily valuable. In fact, you could say that, ultimately, the practice of forgiveness is the whole of spirituality. Why? Because forgiveness means to let the world off the hook, to step out of any sense of victim consciousness, and then even beyond that, to
forgive one's self for the perceptions they have made in error - perceptions of one's brothers and sisters, of the world,
and of God.
Remember always that all events are
neutral. In large measure, the process of awakening is a process whereby you dissolve the value you have placed upon certain ideas and perceptions of what life is and what life is for. Yes, there are times you will be troubled, as you come to realize that what you
thought the world was for, and everything you have been putting your energy into, means
nothing. Often, this precipitates a period of what has been called by certain mystics the "dark night of the soul". It is really not the dark night of the soul. It is the dark night of the ego, and the healing of the soul.
No one can make the decision for you. And the patterns you feel weighed down by, the fears that are yet within the mind will remain with you for all of eternity - until you decide to
heal them. From that desire, you will attract the situations, the teachers, the books, and the experiences that provide for you the opportunity to do so.
Jesus
