Tugging at the Veil

 

“The real men of Science are in absolute agreement that the advance in our knowledge, great as it has been, leaves us as ignorant of ultimate truth and reality as we were ten thousand years ago. The universe guards its secret: Isis can still boast that no man hath lifted her veil!”
— Aleister Crowley

 

Yet so many are so sure they know it all. I know that I’ve discussed this before yet in the last year I have discovered so many who believe that they know it all Why do so many believe the universe so small that they can have their own personal key to the truth. At most we can only get glimpses through Isis’s veil and those glimpses are always filled with error. We can only invoke the deities both within and without and gain just that much more gnosis and thus thin the veil if never fully uncover it. I find that there is always more awareness to be found a heartening prospect and hope that others do the same while realizing that these are but teasers.
AVE, G

 

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cave-awakeningCave Awakening by G A Rosenberg

 

twisted-landscapeTwisted Landscape by G A Rosenberg

Open to Interpretation

 

“The incipient magician will confess his faith to a universal religion. He will find out that every religion has good points as well as bad ones. He will therefore keep the best of it for himself and ignore the weak points, which does not necessarily mean that he must profess a religion, but he shall express awe to each for of worship, for each religion has its proper principle of God, whether the point in question be Christianity, Buddhism, Islam or any other kind of religion. But he will not be satisfied with the official doctrine of his Church, and will try to pentetrate deeper into god’s workshop. And such is the purpose of our initiation. According to the universal laws, the magician will form his own point of view about the universe which henceforth will be his true religion”
— Franz Bardon

 

Do you seek answers or do you accept the answers given to you by others? If the latter, do you realize that no matter how authoritative they may be and what holy books they subscribe to, you are merely getting that person’s interpretation which is at best an approximation of their understanding. It is rare for even two fundamentalist preachers to agree on every single line in the Testaments both Old and New. If you read any translation from cover to cover, the chances are you will find places where they contradict themselves. If Truth was that easy, wouldn’t they all agree? If it is not that easy then why would you accept another’s interpretation rather than studying and forming your own opinion? Are you sacrificing understanding and realization for security or is it just laziness? “Rev. Johnson tells me how God works. Now I can focus on the things I consider important. Don’t spoil the new Star Wars movie for me, kay”? While I used Christianity as an example, this is equally true of any religion I have come across and I have studied most of the majors including Atheism.
We all interpret truth according to what we hear anyway. Isn’t it time we take responsibility for our own understanding? Don’t take my word for it tho. I don’t even begin to feel I am an authority on anything.
Blessings, G

 

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Sailing on Strange WatersSailing on Strange Waters by G A Rosenberg

 

Dynamics of CreationDynamics of Creation by G A Rosenberg

 

I Offer My Confusion

 

“In my experience, everyone will say they want to discover the Truth, right up until they realize that the Truth will rob them of their deepest held ideas, beliefs, hopes, and dreams. The freedom of enlightenment means much more than the experience of love and peace. It means discovering a Truth that will turn your view of self and life upside-down. For one who is truly ready, this will be unimaginably liberating. But for one who is still clinging in any way, this will be extremely challenging indeed. How does one know if they are ready? One is ready when they are willing to be absolutely consumed, when they are willing to be fuel for a fire without end.”
— Adyashanti

 

Once again I offer you my authentic confusion. I’ve been somewhat obsessively watching the news from the U.S. and I feel dismay, anger and frustration. I am not surprised that Donald Trump revealed himself to be a bigot who would take the United States down a draconian path but that so many people would read and hear his ideas about immigration and not only find them reasonable but agree with them? Wow! A victory has been won for fear, uncertainty and doubt.
For those of us that fear the other, the internet must come as an cultural shock. Constantly we are bombarded with people who follow different religious beliefs and or lifestyles. If I lived happily in a rural area and never wished to travel and interact with different demographics I would find it difficult to be online at all. If I believed that my way of life was the only ‘correct’ one I would find myself beaten down by the realization that so many others had ‘gotten it wrong’.
Instead I have always had this intense need to understand others and try to see life from their point of view. I don’t believe that there is a wrong way except perhaps to limit myself to one viewpoint at a time.
Yet I don’t have answers and I keep discovering more questions and paradoxes as I go. I might find it comforting to stick to one point of view and eschew all others and the people who hold them. Yet that would not be being my authentic self.
Blessings, G

 

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Shaping StarsShaping Stars by G A Rosenberg

 

VigilVigil by G A Rosenberg

 

Night Phoenix AbstractNight Phoenix Abstract by G A Rosenberg

 

I’m a Construct of all the Mistaken Truths of My Past

 

“Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.”
— Carl Gustav Jung

 

My cup of truth overflows
My certainty knows no bounds
Nothing enters no one leaves
when I start to expound
There may be fools who differ
well let them they’re wrong
What I have to offer
is not a madman’s song

 

Could it be
I’ve been mistaken?
Has my worldview
been forsaken?
A perceptual error
A faulty premise
shakes my foundations
Have I been remiss?

 

I order my thoughts
I rebuild stronger
I accept that this truth
won’t last any longer
than past misconceptions
Ah well it’s true
Older conclusions must
give way to the new.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

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Stargazing Within the PatternStargazing Within the Pattern by G A Rosenberg

 

PrecisionPrecision by G A Rosenberg

 

Hazy Mirrors

 

“…even a mirror will not show you yourself, if you do not wish to see.”
― Roger Zelazny

 

Mirrors all around me
in every stranger’s eyes
amidst my lover’s thighs
in between truth and lies
and I realize
the reflection has grown dim
How can I see clearly
the parts of me I rarely
interact with sincerely
when it is masked by another
Could it be I’ve grown lazy
or my vision a bit hazy
out of fear that I’ll go crazy
upon gazing at my soul
I maybe somewhat shy
from my self I might hide
calm myself with the lie
that I don’t need to know
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

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Rising GloryRising Glory by G A Rosenberg

 

After the Tower, Before the StarAfter the Tower, Before the Stary by G A Rosenberg

 

Mythic Vocabulary

 

“A mythological order is a system of images that gives consciousness a sense of meaning in existence, which, my dear friend, has no meaning––it simply is. But the mind goes asking for meanings; it can’t play unless it knows (or makes up) the rules. Mythologies present games to play: how to make believe you’re doing thus and so. Ultimately, through the game, you experience that positive thing which is the experience of being-in-being, of living meaningfully. That’s the first function of a mythology, to evoke in the individual a sense of grateful affirmative awe before the monstrous mystery that is existence.”
— Joseph Campbell

 

Mythology gives us a language. We hold these archetypes in our heads and dream of them. We imagine kingdoms won and lost and the spirit power behind all natural and unnatural phenomenon personified and named. If we can give these form and tell true stories about them than we have gone a long way towards the visceral understanding of deep truths. Myths and stories provide the vocabulary to express truth. Of course what we do with the truth and where it takes us is up to us.
Blessings, G

 

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A New Place I VisitA New Place I Visit by G A Rosenberg

 

In Strange TunnelsIn Strange Tunnels I Travel by G A Rosenberg

The Loyal Opposition

 

“Balance every thought with its opposition because the marriage of them is the destruction of illusion”
— Aleister Crowley

 

Neils Bohr said the opposite of a fact is a falsehood but the opposite of a profound truth is another profound truth. R Buckminster Fuller said that the universe can only be apprehended asynchronously. In other words there is no way that we can understand the complete universe at any one time. Therefore at any given time we can only have a partial understanding of the truth. How then do we go about getting closer to the truth. The way that Aleister Crowley suggests above is a good one.
Testing what we think and believe with their opposite is extremely useful tho for some people challenging. Many of us identify so strongly with our thoughts and beliefs that when they are challenged by someone, we take it as being a challenge to our very being itself. Instead we should welcome it and yes, challenge ourselves. If we are correct, than the opposing view will obviously fall apart. If we are mistaken than the opposite thought will enlighten us. Far more often tho, the truth lies somewhere in between and it is by synthesizing the two that we can reach a higher understanding. Of course than occurring to Hegel, we should then look at the opposite of our synthesized view and keep on going until we reach a total breakthrough beyond thought.
Blessings, G

 

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Sky Dragon (Re)Sky Dragon (Redux) by G A Rosenberg

 

Hanging Out in the Garden AgainHanging Out in the Garden Again by G A Rosenberg

 

Changing Viewpoints

 

“Most of us are only willing to call 5% of our present information into question any one point.”
― Ken Wilber

 

What if everything we know is wrong? What if the universe is very different than we have always believed it to be? Why is it so difficult to change our viewpoints? Indeed it seems at times that we go out of our way to avoid stating what our viewpoints are. I know that I have been guilty of this. Despite this reluctance, we so identify with our points of view that we defend them as if they were something precious, a bedrock to stand on rather than a coin to be paid for something clearer and closer to visceral truth. I will trade any viewpoint I have for one that makes more sense. If that makes me sound wishy-washy than so be it. I am more than my ideas and stances and more and more I learn what that is.
Blessings, G

 

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Field StudyField Study by G A Rosenberg

 

A Glimpse Through Purple CloudsA Glimpse Through Purple Clouds by G A Rosenberg

 

Time Served Truly – Word Play and Consciousness Stream

 

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”
― Ernest Hemingway

 

My sentence was commuted. Shortened in that way no one could say whether it was true or false. It wasn’t so much that I got time off for good behaviour or bad. Indeed it seems I lacked conviction. Still I will get off with time served in another 25 years or so. I serve time tho I am not sure it returns the favour and why should it? For quite awhile I defied it, refusing to show the maturity that it tried so hard to thrust upon me. I parried the thrust and behaved much as a child or one of younger years. Then the dice rolled and I found myself a parent and all my past came back to heal and to haunt and thus I became time’s hostage. Still its not so bad, time and I have enchained each other..time takes from me my youth and I make it do tricks, slowing down or speeding up and occasionally in my head it runs backwards bringing memories.
Blessings, G

 

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In My BelfryIn My Belfry by G A Rosenberg

 

Green Sun's DayGreen Sun’s Day By G A Rosenberg