LOVELIGHT

Magazine

 

 

*****

December 2009***Vol. 5, no. 12

*****

Managing Editors: Adamaria Francis and a Franciscan Taoist

*****

Special thanks, public acknowledgment of, and loads of good karma, to the contributors to this issue, our “staff,” who are: Barbara Baty, Jim and Maureen Dwyer, the Funny Times.

*****

*****

HAPPY SEASON OF LOVE AND LIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOVELIGHT MAGAZINE: WHAT WE'RE ALL ABOUT

Lovelight magazine is free, coming to your inboxscreen monthly, to announce the beauty of Love! And we love to laugh!:) So, if you discover any good chuckles, please send them along!:) But no bigoted, prejudiced, scatological, geruntological, low-quality, or poor-taste humor, please.

Still, life is not all laughs. So, we hope also to share pleasant and happy thoughts. Lovelight wants to promote peace and harmony, all over the world, and to aid you to feel good!:) If you are working on any religious, psychological, or spiritual issues, we encourage you to read the ezine, and to write to us at rmfrancis@juno.com

Also, if you come across any wise or touching pieces, not copyrighted, fairly short, please share them with us! Also welcome are practical tips, short pieces on personal philosophies, interesting facts, wordplays, and general spirituality (but no religion or "preachy" dogma, please.:). We reserve the right to make whatever changes we deem necessary or desirable before inclusion in Lovelight.

A subscription is free. As a subscriber, your email name/address will not be shared. Please share, send, or copy, this magazine, or any parts of it. Share it as widely as possible, with all your friends, and all others. Please use it on your websites and bulletinboards. Please photocopy, email, or snailmail any parts of it to others. Also, please have friends send us their emailaddresses and subscribe. Subscriptions are free.

This is "light" reading. And it is also great, fun reading. A collection of magazines is produced once a year, in a single paperback book. We have published three volumes, and this would make a sweet gift for a loved one. Happy reading!:)

*****

*****

 

GOOD ADVICE FOR SWINE FLU, sent in by Jim Dwyer

THIS MIGHT NOT PREVENT IT, BUT IT MIGHT JUST SAVE SOMEONE.

The only portals of entry for the swine flu are the nostrils and mouth/throat. It's almost impossible to avoid coming into contact with the “h1n1” virus. While you are still healthy, to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms, and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps: 1. Gargle twice a day with warm salt water or Listerine. H1n1 takes two to three days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. Gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't underestimate this simple, inexpensive, and powerful preventative method.***2. Blow the nose hard once a day, and swab both nostrils with cotton buds dipped in warm salt water. This is very effective in bringing down viral population.***3. Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in vitamin c. If you have to supplement with vitamin c tablets, make sure that they also have Zinc to boost absorption.***4. Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate, or do any harm.

***
        I suggest that you pass this on to your entire elist. You never know who might pay attention to it-- and STAY ALIVE because of it.

*****

*****

 

LICENSE LATE FEE, sent in by Barbara Baty

 

Effective October 1, 2009. Ohio has added a late fee to all vehicle registrations and driver’s licenses that are expired more than seven days! This means that, on the eighth day past your expiration you will be charged an additional late fee of $20 per transaction. This is in addition to your regular transaction fees. EXAMPLE: sticker is $54.50. Your birthday is October 1. You come in on the 10^th of October of twenty-oh-nine. You will pay the $54.50 plus $20, which equals $74.50.

Another example: Drivers license is $25.75 and your birthday was September 22. You come in December of twenty-oh-nine to renew it. You are already late. You will pay the $25.75, plus the $20 late fee which will be $45.75 to renew your license.

You are allowed to renew 90 days before your sticker and license expire!

*****

*****

 

PASS THE BUTTER, sent in by Jim Dwyer

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback, so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product. It was a white substance with no food appeal; so, they added yellow coloring and sold it to replace butter. They have come out with some clever new flavorings. DO YOU KNOW the difference between margarine and butter? Please read on to the end. Both have the same amount of calories. Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams  compared  to 5 grams. Eating margarine can increase  heart disease in women by 53%  over  eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent  Harvard  Medical Study. Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods. Butter has many nutritional benefits, while margarine has a few only because they are added. Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods. Butter has been around for centuries, while margarine has been around for less than100 years. And now, for Margarine: It is very high in Transfatty acids. With margarine, you have triple the risk of coronary heart disease. Margarine increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol). Margarine also increases the risk of cancers up to five fold. Margarine also lowers the quality of breast milk. It also decreases immune-response, and it decreases insulin-response. And here's the most disturbing fact. HERE IS THE PART THAT IS  VERY INTERESTING: Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC. This fact alone was enough to have me a voiding margarine for life—together with anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance). You can try this yourself: Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days, you will note a couple of   things: The margarine has attracted no flies; not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it! (That should tell you something). It does not rot or smell different, because it has no nutritional value; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast? Please share This With Your Friends. (If you want to 'butter them up'). *****  ***** CHINESE PROVERB, REFLECTING WISDOM, sent in by Jim Dwyer  “When someone shares something of value with you, and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.” ***** *****

 

WORDS FROM “THE LORD,” sent in by Barbara Baty

 

"Others follow the path of jnana, spiritual wisdom:  they see that where there is One, that One is Me;  where there are two, they both are Me; they see my face everywhere".” --the Bhagavad-Gita, chapter 9, verse 15,

translation by Eknath Easwarank.

***

 

"The Lord dwells in the womb of the cosmos, The creator who is in all creatures.

He is that which is born and to be born; His face is everywhere."-- Shvetashvatara Upanishad translation taken from Eknath Easwaran's book, The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, Like a Thousand Suns.

*****

 *******

 

LAUGHINGHEALING: HUMORTHERAPY

 

 

STAY ALERT! They walk among  us... and they  VOTE  and they REPRODUCE!, sent in by Jim Dwyer

When my husband and I arrived at an automobile dealership to pick up our car,

we were told the keys had been locked in it.  We went to the service department

and  found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver side door.

As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and

discovered that it was unlocked.  “Hey,” I announced to the technician, “it’s open!”

     His reply: “I know.  I already got that side.”  This was at the Ford dealership in Canton, MS

***

I work with an individual who plugged her power strip back into itself and

for the sake of her life, couldn't understand why her system would not turn on. 

A deputy with the Dallas County Sheriffs office, no less.

***

SHOPPING DISHARMONY, sent in by Jim Dwyer

 

A husband and wife were shopping. The husband picked up a case of Bud and put it in the cart.

“What do you think you're doing?” asked the wife.

“They're on sale, only $10 for 24 cans,” he replied.

“Put them back. We can't afford them,” demanded the wife. The husband complied, and they continued shopping.

A few aisles down the woman picked up a $20 jar of face cream and put it in the basket.

“What do you think you're doing?” asked the husband.

“It makes me look beautiful,” replied the wife.

Her husband retorted: “So do 24 cans of Budweiser, and its half the price.”

Soon thereafter on the PA system: “Cleanup needed on aisle 25, we have a husband down.”

***

A ReligiousRacket?, sent in by Jim Dwyer

 

A pastor's wife was expecting, so he asked for a raise. They passed a rule that whenever the preacher's family expanded, so would his paycheck. But after six children, this started to get expensive, and the congregation decided to hold another meeting.

A great deal of yelling and bickering ensued, as to how much the clergyman's additional children were costing, and how much more it could potentially cost. After listening to them for about an hour, the pastor spoke: "Children are a gift from God, and we will take as many gifts as He gives us".  Silence fell on the congregation.  In the back pew, a little old lady struggled to stand, and finally said in her frail voice, "Rain is also a gift from God, but when we get too much of it, we wear rubbers.” The entire congregation said, "Amen!"

***

 

From the Funny Times

 

Curmudgeons and Religion:

 

If the kind of God exists who would damn me for not working out a deal with him, then that is unfortunate. I should not care to spend eternity in the company of such a person. – Mary McCarthy

 

Born again? No, I’m not. Excuse me for getting it right the first time. – Dennis Miller

 

I have as much authority as the Pope. I just don’t have as many people who believe it. – George Carlin

 

When I was a kid, I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized that the Lord, in His wisdom, didn’t work that way. So I stole one, and asked Him to forgive me. – Emo Phillips

 

When you go to war over religion, you’re basically killing each other to see who has the better imaginary friend. – Richard Jeni

 

Every day people are straying from the church and going back to God. – Lenny Bruce

 

Ah! What a divine religion might be found out if charity were really made the principle of it instead of faith. – Percy Bysshe Shelley

 

It is impossible to imagine the universe run by a wise, just and omnipotent God, but it is quite easy to imagine it run by a board of gods. If such a board actually exists, it operates precisely like the board of a corporation that is losing money. – H. L. Mencken

*****

*****

 

CREDITCARD SAFETY, sent in by Jim Dwyer

 

Be sure to read Scene 3; it is quite interesting!

SCENE 1: People sure stay busy trying to cheat us, don't they? A friend went to the local gym and placed his belongings in the locker. After the workout and a shower, he came out, saw the locker open, and thought to himself, “Funny, I thought I locked the locker. Hmm,” He dressed and just flipped the wallet to make sure all was in order.

Everything looked okay; all cards were in place.

A few weeks later his credit card bill came - a whopping $14,000! He called the credit card company and started yelling at them, saying that he had not made the transactions. Customer care personnel verified that there was no mistake in the system; they asked whether his card had been stolen.

“No,” he said, but then took out his wallet, pulled out the credit card, and

yep a switch had been made: An expired credit card from the same bank was in the wallet. The thief had broken into his locker at the gym and switched cards.

Verdict: The credit card issuer said since he did not report the card missing

earlier, he would have to pay the amount owed to them. How much did he have to pay for items he did not buy? $9,000! Why were there no calls made to verify the amount swiped? Small amounts rarely trigger a 'warning bell' with some credit card companies. But it just so happens that all the small amounts added up to big one!

SCENE 2: A man at a local restaurant paid for his meal with his credit card. The bill for the meal came, he signed it, and the waitress folded the receipt and passed the credit card along. Usually, he would just take it and place it in his wallet or pocket. Funny

enough, though, he actually took a look at the card and, lo and behold, it was

the expired card of another person. He called the waitress and she looked perplexed. She took it back, apologized, and hurried back to the counter under the watchful eye of the man.

All the waitress did while walking to the counter was wave the wrong expired

card to the counter cashier, and the counter cashier immediately took out the real card.

No exchange of words-- nothing! She took it and came back to the man with an apology.

Verdict: Make sure the credit cards in your wallet are yours.

Check the name on the card every time you sign for something and/or the card

is taken away for even a short period of time. Many people just take back the credit card without even looking at it, assuming that it has to be theirs.

FOR YOUR OWN SAKE, DEVELOP THE HABIT OF CHECKING YOUR CREDIT CARD EACH TIME IT IS RETURNED TO YOU AFTER A TRANSACTION!

SCENE 3: Yesterday I went into a pizza restaurant to pick up an order that I had called

in. I paid by using my Visa Check Card which, of course, is linked directly to my

checking account. The young man behind the counter took my card, swiped it, then laid it on the counter as he waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure.

While he waited, he picked up his cell phone and started dialing. I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then I heard a click that sounded like my phone sounds when I take a picture.

He then gave me back my card but kept the phone in his hand as if he was still

pressing buttons. Meanwhile, I'm thinking: I wonder what he is taking a picture of, oblivious to what was really going on.

It then dawned on me: the only thing there was my credit card, so now I'm

paying close attention to what he is doing: He set his phone on the counter, leaving it open. About five seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the picture

has been saved. Now I'm standing there struggling with the fact that this boy just took a

picture of my credit card. Yes, he played it off well, because had we not had the same kind of phone, I probably would never have known what happened.

Needless to say, I immediately canceled that card as I was walking out of the

pizza parlor. All I am saying is, be aware of your surroundings at all times. Whenever you are using your credit card, take caution; and don't be careless. Specifically, notice who is standing near you and what they are doing when you use your card. Be aware of phones, because many have a camera phone these days.

FORWARD THIS TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN THINK OF. LET'S GET THE WORD OUT! JUST BE AWARE Never let your card out of your sight-- check and check again!

*****

*****

GREAT IDEA, sent in by Barbara Baty

 

This is a great idea.  

Only need 3/4 of the State Legislatures to pass this to become law. AND IT IS VETO PROOF including no appeal to the Supreme Court. Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:

"Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives, and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States ".

Let's get this passed around - Congress has brought this upon themselves!

*****

*****                                                                                    

 

 

MEANING OF THE FOLDS OF THE FLAG, sent in by Jim Dwyer

 

All Americans and others would benefit by being given this lesson. Those who think that America is an arrogant nation should really reconsider that thought. Our founding fathers used the Bible to establish our nation and I think it's high time that Americans get re-educated about its history. Please pass it along and be proud of the country in which we live. I hope you take the time to read this. Please take time to understand what the flag draped coffin really means. Here is how to understand the flag that laid upon it and is surrendered to so many widows & widowers: At military funerals, the 21-gun salute stands for the sum of the numbers in the year 1776. Have you ever noticed that the honor guard pays meticulous attention correctly to folding the United States Flag 13 times? You probably thought it was to symbolize the original 13 colonies, but we learn something new every day!  Here is what the individual folds of the flag signify: The 1st fold of the flag is a symbol of life.***The second is a symbol of the belief in eternal life.***The third is made in honor and remembrance of the veterans departing the ranks who gave a portion of their lives for the defense of the country to attain peace throughout the world.***The fourth represents the weaker [animal or lower] nature, for as American citizens trusting in God, it is to Him/Her that we turn in times of peace as well as in times of war for Her/His divine guidance.***The fifth is a tribute to the country. for in the words of Stephen Decatur, “Our Country, in dealing with other countries, may she always be right.”***The sixth is for where people's hearts lie. It is with their heart that They pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States.***The seventh is a tribute to its Armed Forces, for it is through the Armed Forces that they protect their country and their flag against all her enemies. ***The eighth is a tribute to the one who entered into the valley of the shadow of death, that we might see the light of day.***The ninth is a tribute to womanhood, and Mothers. For it has been through their faith, their love, loyalty, and devotion that the character of the men and women who have made this country great has been molded.***The tenth is a tribute to the father, for he, too, has given his sons and daughters for the defense of their country since they were first born.***The eleventh represents the lower portion of the seal of King David and King Solomon and glorifies in the Hebrews eyes, the Jehovah-myth of the Hebrew Scriptures, mistaken for “God.”  ***The twelfth represents an emblem of eternity and glorifies, in the Christians eyes, God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.***The thirteenth; when the flag is completely folded, the stars are uppermost, reminding them of their nations motto, “In God We Trust.” After the flag is completely folded and tucked in, it takes on the appearance of a cocked hat, ever reminding us of the soldiers who served under General George Washington, and the Sailors and Marines who served under Captain John Paul Jones, who were followed by their comrades and shipmates in the modern Armed Forces, preserving for them the rights, privileges and freedoms they enjoy today. There are some traditions that have deep meaning. In the future, you'll see flags folded; and now you will know why. So, please share this with the children you love and all others who love what is referred to above-- the symbols of 'Liberty and Freedom.' ***** *****

 

Quotable Quotes

 

You guys will like this.

 

Someone once asked Gandhi:  "What do you think of civilization?"

Gandhi replied: "I think it's a good idea."

***

Although we have not yet entered true “civilization” as a planet, we proudly call our history that of “civilization.” We are quite premature if we assume that we have had anything like a “civilized” history!

*****

*****

The following is an excerpt from Journey to the Center of the Soul, Part I

 

 

Chapter 7/ Welcome to Hell, or Heaven: Your Choice

***

 

 

Hell boils and sizzles, all its mad fury fulminating just below the surface of your own mind. But sweet serene heaven also lies only millipsychons in the other direction, also just below the level of your conscious mind. Which you choose as home is entirely up to you.

A good definition of inner heaven is to be surrounded by things that you like or love. Inner hell, by the same criterion, is to be surrounded by things that you dislike or hate. So, the more things that you love, the closer you are to bliss, inner "heaven." The more things, situations, or people that you choose to dislike, the closer you move to inner hell.

Heaven or hell? The decision is yours every minute of every day. And whether you live in heaven or hell is not dependent upon the environment.

Whether you live in inner "heaven" or "hell" depends upon your chosen response to the environment.

Positive, happy states can exist only in a mind. They do not exist in the world. The psychologist Frankl was amazed to watch people reach the highest peaks of spiritual experience in a concentration camp.

A parable that illustrates this: Two kids are given candy-bars of rich dark chocolate. One hates chocolate, the other loves it. So, standing side by side, being touched by the same environmental stimuli, one kid is in heaven, while the other is in hell.

Heaven and hell do not lie in world-conditions themselves. We have all read stories of people born in terrible poverty, or with broken, dysfunctional bodies, who lived lives of great courage, happiness, and peace.

Conversely, it is a modern stereotype that a person born into great wealth, with all the advantages, youth, education, and perfect health, finds her life to be a "living hell."

Tommy Johnson was born to an unwed mother who was fourteen when he made his unwelcome earth-debut. She was alcoholic and drug-addicted, and in fact, Tommy was born with cocaine in his veins. When he was six, she was carted off to a recovery farm, and he never saw her again. Tommy was forced, against his will, to attend bottomline schools. But, finally, he adapted to the harness, and really began to apply himself. Soon, he became a straight-A student. In high school, he did a number of partime "gigs," picking up much experience in many occupations. In time, thanks to a scholarship, he graduated from medical school. Now, he does volunteer work in a third-world country. He is happily married, very deeply in love with his wife, and she with him. He calls himself the "happiest man alive."

Mercedes Smith was born to a family whose income alternated between stratospheric and astronomical. By the time that she was fourteen, she complained of chronic boredom. She owned her own car, and a number of horses. Her jewelry overflowed its velvet cases, and consisted of only the finest rubies, emeralds, diamonds, and sapphires. She also had her own cd library, and a studio with a number of keyboards and complex sound-systems. (She wanted to be a rockstar.) By the time she was twenty, her father's connections in the musicworld got her a couple of diamondtracts to record her music. She became an overnight sensation, and her name was a household word. Her picture appeared on the covers of most major mags, and her phone never stopped ringing with offers. Within a year, three of her albums went platinum. But deep inside, she grew restless. Something was not right. She felt a kind of letdown. Friends were starting to say that she had "peaked too early." The world sucked! It seemed like an anticlimax. She felt alone, bored, and somehow, mysteriously, terrified. She started doing a number of drugs—at first, legally—just to "hold it all together." She became engaged to a very popular and famous moviestar, but that somehow made her feel only more isolated. She became anorexic, and grew steadily worse. At the age of twenty-two, she took her own life. Her hopeless suicide-note said, "I just couldn't take it anymore."

This is the paradox of an "inner world" opposite in quality to the outer. When the outer is horrific, but the inner serene, there is peace, happiness, and success. This is "heaven." (It was this paradox that marked Tommy's life. This was also the situation described by Frankl, in discovering meaning in the concentration camps.[1]) On the other hand, when the outer is perfect, but the inner horrendous, we find pain, misery, and relentless horror. That was the story of Mercedes' life. This is hell.

This belies the story told by our militaristically materialistic culture that a good life arises from ownership of new "stuff." And it has to be the "right stuff." New toys and material abundance, however, do not make for happy campers.

This strengthens the truth told by mystics:

*****

Real happiness is an “inside job”. It is to find contentment within.

*****

The relationship between your heartmind and your inner Self is much more crucial than your finances. Only owning the inner treasures of tranquility and compassion can add riches to your interior world. And this is where you must always live. No matter what, you must always return there. So, if it is heaven, it is a very sweet place to live; but if hell, a relentless nightmare.

Material things can never move you a micropsychon closer to inner joy, contentment, peace, or happiness.

To invest in yourself, or through Love, in people, is the real treasure. Jesus used a similar parable: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where rust and moth consume, and thieves break in and steal. But rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven..." (REF)

These spiritual treasures are the intangible diamonds of inner hope, the emeralds of inner tranquility, the rubies of inner goodness, the sapphires of inner compassion.

So, when the mystics say that it is Love that "lifts us above the world," they state the great truth that life is often a choice between Love and money (material things). If we do opt for Love, we will be rich. We will also have found the very highest spiritual path, the intercultural Way of Love.

Love is the only shortcut to heaven.

*****

*****

 

 

Chapter 8/ Your “Secret Identity”

***

"I love you." These words are often cheapened and weakened by overuse, or by insincerity. But the mystic utters them with her whole heart. She speaks them to her Self, and to all others.

For it is the mystic's mission to come to love all the universe.

There are many power-levels and types of Love. You don't "love" a new idea as you "love" a puppy, nor do you love the dog as you would a little girl. The girl, in turn, would be loved very differently from a mother, whose love would vary very much from a brother's, or best friend's, Love. And the lover's Love is incomparably sweet, tender, exciting, and bright.

Still, "lovers of the universe and humanity" might be the best name for the spiritual giants of mysticism. They have known that they were, in their "secret identities," the Loveprinciple. Each was Love Itself. It was also a part of their "secret identity" to identify with the earth-self: “I'm also Mary Smith." (But she was never mistaken for the whole Self.)

This reidentification of the Self with the Spirit of Love is essential to spiritual completion. It must follow a process called "deidentification with the ego." One must stop being only Mary Smith before one can become anything else, anything more or better. So, you cannot simultaneously be ego and the "incarnation" of Love.

Since identity is total (you can't be fully two persons), a choice must be made. Are you going to see yourself as merely a human being, the result of random molecular arrangements in a genome? Or, is your true Self a mind? Or are you going to change the course of your lifedesign by daring to claim that you are a temporary mask of a timeless soul? Then, will you complete that inner soul-journey by recognizing that the soul is a similar mask for Spirit?

Your answer will alter your thoughtpatterns. And those patterns will still further alter you. This is not to say, like those off the deep end, that you are Jesus Christ. But it is to claim that you are more than molecules, more than cells, more than an animal. You are not just __________________________________ (insert here your own egoname.) A good, effective mantra or reidentity is "I'm not____________ (again, insert your first name).

You partake of Mind, and so you can choose to identify with any level or sector of mind. But this immense inner freedom is possible only after a long, arduous inner journey to the Center of your soul, the Spirit.

How do you complete the death of all those levels of the unconscious Mind that lie between your aware mind and the deepest Coremind? (See "Chart of Mind.") How do you make those billions of layers crystalclear so that the Spiritmind can shine through? This would literally require eons. Fortunately, there is a shortcut. It is Love. Every act of Love draws you automatically, and instantly, towards, closer to, this Core of Mind. So, Love is a mystical accelerator. It is the Light and glory, the best, of Heartmind. It is supreme. In fact, "God is Love," say mystics, implying that Love is God.

The sage, after having identified her Self with the inner Lovenature, often says, "I am God." This is not arrogance or self-centeredness: it is a recognition of her deeper Self or Mind. This is not God in totality, but God in nature. She becomes God in nature only. She is a tiny part of Lovemind. She caught a glimpse of her higher Self or soul. She saw it as a pure, dustfree mirror of divine Love.

*****

*****

 

Chapter 9 Lifemind Dreams: Self and World

***

Infinity invades your mind at this very moment. Eternity rests within your heart. The very highest good is concentrating your attention on the activities of infinite Love. This burns deeply in your soul, as a heartflame of light and warmth. Inside every unloving person is a lover striving to get out. This Love acts through behaviors, thoughts, words, and attitudes.

Love is also the cosmic Creator/Dreamer. We have within us unlimited Mind, and so we are infinite. We are gifted with "intuition of eternity," or "intimations of immortality." We unconsciously long for the Infinite. We will never be filled, never content, with anything less. Who has not felt this vague sense of poignant longing, and even a kind of moving emptiness, when looking into the nightsky?

*****

Eternity calls to us; it alone can fill our hunger.

Only Infinity can fill an infinite inner space.

*****

This psychospiritual hunger arises from an eternal Mind deep within. The “fall” from grace into matter is illustrated by the old tale of the "fall from Eden”.

So, we are all "psychonauts"—explorers of inner space, driven relentlessly by a passionate hunger. It teeters on the precipice of starvation. Its satisfaction: to be filled by infinite Love.

Its infinity implies that the Fountain of Love within is equally so. All our earthly quests to be filled with Love, to find Love, are petals from this one Loveflower. This is the root of our need to unify with, to melt into, pure Lovemind. We are compelled to Mindmeld with the inner Lovegod. This explains the deep need of higher lifeforms to create the strongest friendships possible. It also explains the powers of sexuality among human beings.

The sexual urge can be so overwhelmingly supercognitive because its origins are not simply biological. In this equation, Spiritpower must be added to animalpower. So, good sex can be incomprehensibly satisfying because it pushes buttons so deep in the Unconscious. It reaches all the Way to the Center. It satisfies the hunger for Love.

*****

Good sex is Love.

*****

What is “good” sex? It is not just “animal,” for that can describe rape. No, “good” sex must involve mutual affection, tenderness—in a word, Love. It must include mutual respect and commitment. It cannot be merely a joy-ride, floating away on the soft psychotropic “high” of hormones. It fills, at least for the moment, our infinite hunger for eternity. When we find this kind of microtaste of Reality, we catch a snapshot of our deepest identity. This is Lovemind—explosively Mindboggling.

This is the utter sweetness of Love. In “tasting” interior Love, we savor the Splendor that is the Ultimate. And, astonishingly, when we finally touch It, we find that It is part of ourselves! It is part of us, and we of It. We are “that which we behold," said a medieval mystic named Ruysbroeck (1293-1381).

We are already "one" with this Lovenature. For if we were not, we could not behold It through the introspective journey into our own minds. The larger goal is to increase our identification with It. The endgoal is full Union with It. To get there, we must be willing to drop our egoidentities. We must abandon our egonames. They are just conveniences, to be used only symbolically in the human community. For, after transformation, the egoname becomes a lie. That is why so many mystics, after their enlightenment, change their names.

Minds are ultracomplex. In Mind, many orders, kinds, planes, dimensions, worlds, or universes of reality converse and converge, deeper in the Unconscious. This is so true that the words "world," "dimension," and "universe" are here synonymous with "state of consciousness." So, when we alter our consciousness, we actually enter a different experiential universe. It is, in fact, precisely because the mystic does not recognize any hard and fast barriers between "mind" and "world," that she can say that Reality is Mind, and vice-versa.

If "world" be defined as the sum of experience, then the human mind is the TWM or "transworld mechanism," of the soul. It is dynamic, diverse, and versatile. With this "ultracomputer," we can feed in any software program, from "day at the ballpark," or, "evening at the symphony," or, "Day at work," to "taste of infinity," and each will be equally "real."

A powerful recognition of the "virtual" nature of "external reality" is at the heart of mystical truth. Note that "reality," with a small r, means experience, while "cap R" Reality means the deepest inner Mind or Spirit.

*****

"Illimitable Power [was] in the Light to form an infinite world." —Hermes

*****

*****

*****

Chapter 10/ The Journey Begins: Horror and Ecstasy

***

None of this is "real." The book you hold, the letters of these words, hands that hold, the eyes that look, the ego that plays a part in the play, on this stage—all are a hypersophisticated "virtuality." All has been set up, not by a crude computer, but by the Ultramind deep within. All the events of your life are being "played" or "run," like software programs, in the form of waking dreams. All is but "virtual reality”. This was earlier presented as Mind to mind. So, you are not even aware that you are dreaming all during your "waking" life. These dreams are dreamed up to provide you with exactly the learning and teaching environments that you need. This concept of dancing through life with a friendly, educating Mind is a hallmark teaching of mysticism.

Mysticism is being understood today as never before. Slowly and rather microscopically, and microincrementally, it is entering the mainstream. It emerges, though, not through the portals of regular religion. Instead, especially since the sixties, it has arrived wrapped in the foil of psychology, rock music, and the still alive-and-well Lovemovement. This social activity did not die with the demise of the hippies. It simply mutated, matured, and became wiser. Now it is reemerging as a new guiding philosophy that includes much more than cheap, ready, available sex. The huge Lovemovement is, at this moment, mutating and reincarnating as mysticism.

Looking back on those good ol' days, it was, in fact, one of the greatest and most catastrophic losses that, in hippy culture, Love became reduced to sex only. The other great disaster was that altered states became reduced to drug-uses. This component—the search for bliss through altered states—is also mutating and being reborn, right now, as mysticism. For the hippies were, as a whole, on the very threshold of entering into the ultrabeautiful universe—mysticism.

Above all things, mysticism is the platinum thread that interweaves itself into the fabric of all religions. It binds together experience, reason, and faith. The deepest meaning of mysticism lies in its inner Target—perfect Love.

Mystics share realities due to common experience. But they have no dogma, no economic institutions, no hierarchy, no organization, no administration, no exclusive church, or exclusive scriptures. For Mysticism is not a religion.

It is not a "way of the book," not a legalistic or mechanical path. Instead, it is a Way of direct knowing (gnosis). All, and only those, who have gnosis are Mindmystics.

This mystical (entheognostic) event occurs when one is plunged dramatically into the "ocean" of the deep unconscious mind, touched by its ineffable Light of Love. Mystics are unified not by shared doctrinal affiliations, but by their having had this mystical moment. They usually describe it in terms of perfect, flawless, universal, unconditional Love.

Mysticism rests on the certain knowledge that Spirit (the Absolute) lives deep within each of us, and that He/She is accessible. The highest goal of the mystic is to become a pure crystalclear heartmind through which Love can shine unimpeded. This is the state called "Crystalmind." To alter the analogy just a touch, the mystic wants to become a "clear mirror" of perfect Love.

She recognizes two selves: 1) the superficial, socially defined self, or ego, which has been called by the Latin animus. 2) a higher Self, which is largely unconscious, which is more authentic, and which has been called anima. It is the "soul" of Western religious tradition. It is both the "higher Self" of metaphysics and the "deeper Self" of mysticism.

Mystical truth is revealed to the conscious mind, but is produced by the Unconscious. So, the conscious mind must train its senses to feel the subtle higher Self. This sensitivity is not "natural." But it is this subtle, almost undetectable Self that initiates entheognosis (knowing the Absolute within). The mystic can only wait for the "Lovetrain" to "pick her up." She cannot voluntarily trigger the illumination-moment. So, it can never successfully occur unless the conscious mind integrates/communicates with this deeper Self.

This deeper Self is always sending forth mystical impulses, but only when it is in synch can the conscious mind discern that anything is even happening. You can be bathed in a sea of radiowaves, but unless you have a tuned receiver, all the music and talk are totally absent from your reality. The goal of mystical training is precisely this mindtuning. Subtle energies carry impulses of Spirit (Love), within the physical cells.

One of the first steps in enlightenment is realizing that Light already fills your innermost Being.

The older mystics called the concept of enlightenment, which already pre-exists in the universe, the "boundless original idea."

*****

"The boundless original Idea... was before the beginning."—Hermes

*****

So, the cosmos began with an idea. Everything started with Mind. Everything is still Mind!

Nothing but the great Mind exists anywhere in the universe.

 

To elucidate mysticism, it must be distinguished from the paranormal research of psychism. Mysticism has nothing to do with the paranormal, or with "occultism." In fact, most authors who are infatuated with the word "occult" are nonmystical. Mystics are almost never occultists. Still, all mystics speak the same "strange language," with a fascination for Mind, especially the Core. This is about some really deep stuff, unknown to most, and so, it naturally seems "occult" to outsiders.

Mysticism coalesces from the lucid discovery that the Ultimate is not outside your Self.

*****

The bugaboo word "God" is redefined as process and state of mind, or simply as active Love.

*****

So, mystics universally reject the primitive, childish god of most Western religions—a god of anger, brutality, violence, and damnation. Their God is infinitely higher—unstained, uncontaminated Love. The only function of this God is to love and to forgive. Forgiveness is God's great delight! The Absolute, being Love, is actually eager to forgive. For It can do nothing else.

Built into the innate structure of the soulmind is a need to harmonize with a transcendental order. In the mystic, this need borders on obsession. It dominates her life, as a passion, consuming virtually all her timenergy.

What is it, exactly, for which she so hungers? It is falling in Love with the Mind behind the cosmos. It is a feeling of being at home in, a deep comfort with, the universe. It is like being wrapped in the warm arms, and drawn to the breast, of the Goddess. The goal is "Union."

The mystic "falls in Love" with Love—the deepest level of the Unconscious. When she has discovered and Mindmelded with this "inner Other," she is permanently unified with It. This deepest Self (Spirit) is the Christnature (Lovenature; Buddhanature). Spirit links conscious egomind to the Superconscious.

*****

Dogmas have no valid place in the Way of Love.

*****

Intellectual teachings are irrelevant. Instead, mystical rebirth is a Heartmindprocess that quietly tears you apart and puts you back together again. It explodes the person you thought you were, and reconstructs you into Who You really are. It inflames your whole life with its passion, and sucks in, and turns inside-out, every nanopsychon in your mind. This can feel like hell; it is sheer agony, often described by the mystic as the “dark night” of the Soul.

Mysticism is a living Way. (Both early Christianity and Taoism were called "the Way.") It can never accurately be reduced to, fit into the thimble of, religion, for it is infinitely transcendental and intimately personal. It is no "gang pursuit."

Once there was a castle. A path led to it from the forest. One day, the king called his ministers to a crucial conference. He said that it was very important that they all attend, for they were to receive, that evening, their salaries in pure gold. A group of ministers gathered in the forest, and began discussing the path. They analyzed its dust, measured the hardness of the ground, determined water-content of the soil, etc. Meanwhile, a tiny group of ministers actually "hit" the trail. At the beginning of evening, the second group had already arrived at the castle, and were holding in their hands gold coins. But the majority were still back in the forest, discussing strategies. Soon, night fell. By the time that this group arrived at the castle, it was already midnight. The drawbridges were already locked away. They received no gold.

The castle is the Absolute. It is within the personal mind of the mystic. So are the buildings, roads, bodies, and the rest of the landscape—ordinary reality. Logic does not always apply to the metalogical—as the laws of physics might not always apply to the metaphysical.

Mysticism is the study of the "Real." It has also been called the "science of the Absolute." This attempt to define the spiritual as "science" was an older ploy in the play. It was a desperate attempt to gain respectability. Mysticism is, of course, not just a "science." (It can be studied objectively, however, creating a science of "mystopsychology.")

Instead, under almost all conditions, mysticism is a soulchurning, dramatic inner adventure. Unlike science, as viewed traditionally, it concerns itself not with things of the "outer" world, but with only the inner. With its need for creative response, and the subjectivity of its data, it is more art than science. More accurately, it blends the best of both, creating an "artscience."

*****

"The elements of nature were born as reflections of original Thought." —Hermes

*****

*****

*****

Chapter 11/ Extraordinary Fantastic Spiritual Oddities: Types of Mystic

***     

 

As the cosmic Mind has produced different varieties of flowers, birds, and stars, so she has also given birth to many kinds of mystic. Animals cannot be mystics. Indeed, mysticism marks a very advanced, relatively rare, state among human beings. It also alerts us to the existence and growth of an action history; for this planet has produced a vast throng of mystics. This is, in fact, the criterion, for any company of human beings might be viewed as one of "natural" or potential mystics.

All forms of mystic are advanced but natural human types. They are marked by several factors: 1) an indefinable and passionate longing for some Mystery beyond this world. It has something to do with Love, goodness, beauty, truth, and perfection. 2) Many types of mystic begin life with an interest in formal or organized religion, but, as they mature, might lose this. 3) They are strongly individualistic, and do not fear to be what Emerson called "a majority of one." 4) They are often dreamy, romantic, idealistic, and/or introspective by nature. 5) Dissatisfied with the material world, they are unconsciously driven to find a "way out," or "way back." This is so, even though it might not be clear to what exactly they are returning. 6) They are driven by an inner sense of incompleteness, as if their souls have "holes" in them, and they must be "filled." 7) They are dominated by a vague craving for absolute truth, or, at least, something Absolute—allsatisfying, allfulfilling, allencompassing, and allconsuming. 8) They then need to turn their minds and lives over to the control of this mysterious and unknown, undefined Absolute.

In short, they seek to discover the meaning of life. This Quest is no mere passing interest. It demands everything—all their attention, all their timenergy, all their resources, all their endurance, all the time. In the end, it demands their whole heartminds, their souls. Although they are loathe to "sell" their souls to anyone or anything, they are eager to give them to Love.

All mystics, from every land and century, discover, astonishingly, the same delightful and ecstatogenic (ecstasy-creating) worldview. Even their methods symmetrize. They have discovered the same glittering inner treasures.

But how can we be certain that they are not simply the victims of selfdelusion or mass hallucination? How can we know that they are not just fleeing from a harsh, uncomfortable world?

These mystic masters number in the hundreds. They are often educated. All of them are intelligent, balanced people. This many sages and masters, teachers and wise people, are unlikely all to be sharing a pathological delusion. Further, their writings are still available, and can be studied. An openminded intellectual analysis of these shows, in overview, no pathology. (The present study will reinforce this.) Mystics represent some of the most grounded, practical, realistic, no-nonsense, down-to-earth psychological types. Their shared teachings and experiences form a solid, convincing, consistent body of evidence. Mystics have touched Something real—a veiled "Absolute." They celebrate It, happily, quietly, as the Source of all. It is so blissful, so utterly satisfying, so perfectly loving, that they have, one and all, fallen in love with it. They claim that It is, in fact, nothing less than Love Itself, and so, mystics are the lovers of Love. For them, It is Reality or "truth."

But mystics are also completely open to any and all varieties of "truth," whatever its source. This fearless openmindedness is a major mark of their mental stability and wellness. Some think that "truth" (reality) can best be found in nature, or in the lab. Others seek it in history, or books. Some find it in religion, others in music, songs, or art.

*****

But all mystics ultimately discover the truth (reality) within themselves.

Some look to their dreams. Still others find It in the judicious use of the senses.

*****

God, truth, and Love, say mystics, are identical. This Reality might as easily be found in the kitchen, living room, or back yard as in any cathedral, temple, synagogue, or mosque. In fact, wherever you go, there God is. You cannot help but bring Him/Her along. For God is within your soul. As cosmic Mind, He/She indwells all reality so inextricably that it makes no sense to divide the Mindfountain of Reality from reality.

The Absolute expresses as Love. The mystics define this Love as the ancient Greeks did—they defined eros (“Love”) as a Power that holds the universe together. It is this Power, cosmic Mind, that is commonly referred to as "God." So, when mystics use this much abused word, Reality (Love) is That to which they refer.

Skeptics, by stark contrast, lazily assume that "truth" does not exist at all. They have taken the easy way out, by evading the complex issues of inner discovery. The mystics have, on the other hand, grappled with the toughest dragons. They have plunged up to their necks in the blood, sweat, and tears of courageous, no-nonsense inner discovery. For they have had to explain how Love can be fully in charge of a cosmos glutted with "ghastly and nightmarish" activities, minds, images, feelings, and forces.

They claim to have established communication and rapport between the human mind and the Mind of Reality, in a process which we here call "Interflow” ("Communion") never evaded, avoided, or fled from the scary, complex issues of the spiritual life, but have faced the terrible dragons head-on. They have taken a deep breath, and plunged headlong into the stormy seas of "evil and horror", claiming Love as shield and guide.

They claim to have discovered what they call "final Being." (This is also the "Ground" of being, the "Absolute," the luminous "Lovemind," and the "Coremind.") The inner voyage, they say, brought to them the only truth that ever elicited any contentment from their restless souls. It is, they say, the only truly satisfying goal in anyone's life.

Mystics are valiant discoverers of interior "psychscapes." Their own needs are satisfied by the journey. But they also map out this unexplored terrain for future visitors. This inner space of stainless Love and bottomless peace is their eternal Home, where they will live forever. For no matter how much they and the cosmos change, they will always be “in the Mind.”

Preparation for becoming "psychonauts" involves several steps in the school of earthlife. Among these are a number of subpaths within the great Way. One of these is the "Way of Purgation," a major subsystem of which is "mortification"—death to being controlled by the "outer" world, its comforts, or egodesires. It is also the attempt to "kill" the sensuality of the body—seen as an unavoidable demondragon. Some "mystics" have carried antisomatic (against the body) ideas much too far—striking, burning, starving themselves. But these were actually ascetics, not real mystics. The mystic, because she embraces moderation in all things, and because she actually is a body-lover, could never be an extremist or bodyhater.

All positive states are related to the mystical (pure Love). It influences every action, and we are never far from It. Every person has exactly the same Loveconnection, the same “plug-in, the same Lovemind,” as the mystic.

So, the mystic does not claim to be anything special, or to possess special gifts, but insists that she simply has a specialized focus of concentration. She is clearly related to, and often Mindlinked with, other spiritual types. She might even herself be any of the following: poets, artists, visionaries, sages, teachers, ecstatics, or saints.

But what makes a mystic? It's now time to give deeper consideration to this crucial inquiry.

*****

*****