“You have to take seriously the notion that understanding the universe is your responsibility, because the only understanding of the universe that will be useful to you is your own understanding.”
― Terence McKenna
In my experience the easiest way to feel ripped off is to give someone else the responsibility of understanding and transmitting how the universe works and yet we do this all the time. When I say this comes from my experience I do not exaggerate. When I was younger I tried to pan this job off on anybody. First on the rabbis, then all of the great atheistic teachers, then the Moonies, the Charismatic Christians, C. S. Lewis and various friends and religious leaders of all stripes. Each time I felt betrayed and finally gave up on anyone else’s interpretation defining reality for me.
Once I did this, the fun truly began. Not beholden to any one person I could learn from all and pick and choose my interpretation and my understanding. This yielded both a wider perspective and appreciation for all but also a greater understanding of the universe as a whole. Never again will any one interpretation do.
Blessings G
“Dwell On The Beauty Of Life. Watch The Stars And See Yourself Running With Them.”
–Marcus Aurelius
Today we danced on clouds
They seemed solid enough
and I bowed took your hand
and slow stepped through sky ribbon
The feel was unimaginable
each movement a new shape
and we were part of it all. </h4
Tonight we’ll run with the stars
Still overcome with beauty bliss
and adventure’s touch upon us
we’ll race for kisses
as meteors streak by
and talk with constellations
as the sky returns towards dawn
Tomorrow the sun awaits
Caught up in joy and laughter
we’ll ride in Apollo’s chariot
and journey through it all
The world’s passing beauty
will return us home
as its siren call rings out…
“Buy the ticket, take the ride…and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well…maybe chalk it off to forced conscious expansion”
— Hunter S. Thompson
Funny how victimized we can feel by our own choices. “He took me home that night and he hurt me. He used me until there was nothing left. It’s no wonder I haven’t been able to find a good relationship since.” No, no and no. No matter how good a line he had you made a choice as an adult to go with him and stay with him even tho you felt drained. You needed the lesson and what you can learn from it. Now you find that you don’t have enough to give to another vampire. Fine, see if you can find someone who can make your heart sing. See if you can do it outside the bar scene. You bought the ticket.
“He screwed me over on that deal. I’m always too trusting and I always get fucked over.” Again, No, I’d agree with you if you were right but in all of those times you have never learned that if you don’t specify terms before hand, the other person may take advantage. How many times do you need that lesson.
“That’s It. I followed another fake guru and found out he’s full of shit. I’m an atheist. All of this spiritual stuff is bullshit.” Sigh, Again you bought the ticket. I hope you enjoyed the ride but there’s no refunds of time or money. Tell me, you spent so long learning from this guy. Are you really saying you learned nothing? I have learned something from ten minutes spent with the dullest people imaginable. There must have been something in what this guy said that made you want to learn from him. Even if the only thing of value said to you was in the first moments you met, you must have gained something to make you think the ticket was worth the cost of the ride. If you spend some time thinking about it, you probably gained a lot more. If the only thing that came out of it was the self-knowledge of what buttons you have that push your spiritual pilgrim button then wow, you learned a lot. Don’t sell the ticket or yourself short.
In the long run, there is little in life that isn’t worth the price of the ride. On some level we know that. It’s why we choose to play in the first place.
Blessings, G
“See I’m Imagination. I’m Real, and I’m the best friend you ever had. Who do you think got you all this cool stuff?
The clothes you’re wearing, the room, the house, the city that you’re in. Everything in it started out in the human imagination”
— Alan Moore, Promethea
Through our imagination we create. Without the ability to imagine a finished result would we do anything volitionally? We imagine each step of the way the results of our actions and then decide our next actions on how well the results matched what we imagined and how we picture the result of our modifications. Our art and our speech are the expressions of our imagination. Everything we do and basically everything we allow ourselves to be. Ultimately we are all magicians using our will to express our imaginations.
Blessings, G
“How to get rid of ego as dictator and turn it into messenger and servant and scout, to be in your service, is the trick.”
― Joseph Campbell
Aleister Crowley in his Liber III vel Jugorum wrote of a whole regiment designed to control the thoughts and train the ego. It involved razor blades and self-flagellation and while it may be effective may be considered a bit much for some people. Still the ego tends to be tricky. Even when we don’t believe that it controls us it can be the most manipulative and passive aggressive of servants. Also, the more we worry and obsess about whether our egos are controlling us or not, the more we can be sure that they are.
Perhaps it is better to just have awareness. Witness our thoughts and witness our actions and emotions and then try to have awareness of who it is that is doing the witnessing. This does not mean that to stop doing things volitionally. It does mean that we can be mindful of our actions and see where that leads us.
Blessings, G
“I’ve always liked reptiles. I used to see the universe as a mammoth snake, and I used to see all the people and objects, landscapes, as little pictures in the facets of their scales. I think peristaltic motion is the basic life movement. Swallowing,”
–Jim Morrison
Ol Matthew the gospel writer had JC telling his apostles “Be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” Indeed there is wisdom in the rising of the coiled snake as we activate our chakras. There is also wisdom in how a snake sheds its skin. May we all be as open to losing that which no longer suits us. May we learn a snake’s sense of timing and understand its rhythm as we awaken.
I’ve never quite understood people’s fear or dislike of reptiles. When I was a kid at summer camp, I would end up bringing frogs and snakes home as hopeful pets. I was fascinated by their movements and their ability to in my mind focus on what they considered essential. Years later when I learned how snakes fed, I gained awareness and understanding of how life fed on life. Funny how lessons from our youth deepen and gain new facets as we get older.
Blessings, G
“There are no wrong turnings. Only paths we had not known we were meant to walk.”
― Guy Gavriel Kay
Different turnings…10 yr old with red wagon delivering newspapers in the rise of the Connecticut sun with his dog walking alongside…the night before he dreamt his parents fought and split up and somehow he ended up first with his mother than with his father…15 yr old in New Jersey kissing his first girl friend, his mother and step-father say they have to have the bedroom door open at all times..17 yr old walking with his buddy down the road to adventure. They want to hitch hike out of Connecticut and see what life there is outside of high school. His parents watch them go and are not particularly surprised when he ends up in a religious cult in California…25 yr old hitchhiking with his lover across the US. In Utah they watch the two kids who gave them a ride wiping their prints off the car and he knows they must move quickly. 28 years old and giving tarot readings in Toronto .. 36, back in CT doing web design and he meets the love of his life online…43, he picks his son up from pre-school and takes him for ice cream. 46, a new spiritual awakening and a new career as an artist in Vancouver.
Funny, how each turn in the path when you look back on it seems inevitable. They have all led to this moment in this place. Yet who could have looked ahead and seen them? Still during the darkest moments, what has always kept me going is wonder. Wondering at how much I’ve come through so far and even more curiosity and wonder at what may come next.
Blessings, G
Her Thoughts Storms and Windtorn by G A Rosenberg 
