Chapter Seven —– Troubleshooting and Repairing a Broken System

Three methods by which we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; And third, by experience, which is bitterest. ——Confucious

All historical and personal writings are epitaphs, symbolic memorials to times that are dead or never existed in the first place. Such is the nature of the individual’s sense of self, prior to the resurrection gained through awakening or enlightenment. —-Bruce Paullin

Whenever we drive by a junkyard, we may witness hundreds of carcasses of old, worn out or collision damaged vehicles. When we witness the fallen warriors of the road, do we ever consider what might have been, had each automobile had a more skilled driver, or a more loving and respectful owner? What if the vehicle started with only the need for minor maintenance, and because of the neglect over time, the engine failed? What about the driver who just did not pay attention to the rules of the road, and ran a red light and totaled his car by crashing into others in an intersection? Or, what about the unfortunate driver and his vehicle which ran off of the road in the middle of the night and hit a tree? How about our own vehicles, are we passionate about keeping them running properly, and obeying the rules of the road so as to keep our own vehicles’ condition optimal while making life’s journey safer for all?

Can we get more excited about our own life than we do about our cars? What gets us all fired up, what is our life’s work, and does our own internal engines continue to run strong and efficient for us? Are we too tired to face the difficult truth about our own life, or the life that we share with the rest of humanity? If our ignition switch is on, but the gas tank is empty, our minds will not accelerate into the fullness of spiritual awareness. The point of this chapter is to pump spiritual fuel into the collective gas tank of mankind. Our spiritual engines run most efficiently when they can run in harmony with others, and we can all enjoy the roads of life together happily and with purpose… My human body, or “vehicle of consciousness” was once parked in humanity’s spiritual equivalent of a junkyard, with no hope for a renewal of life. And, I had a lot of company in that collective pile of wreckage, as well, with many people that you know seemingly permanently parked there with me. Had I not been introduced to my internal mechanic of the spirit, I would have died in 1986 due to suicidal despair, I am now passionate about sharing both what I learned on the pothole filled road to life’s junkyard, as well as what I am now learning on the roadways to healthier, happier spirit inspired life experiences.

At all of the intersections of the roadways of life, between the “I” streets and “you” streets, is the source for most of our greatest joys in life, as well as for our greatest sorrows. These intersections with life are where we learn through relationships with each other, and develop our own unique sense of wisdom, and what is right, proper, loving, and helpful for us and for those we care about. We are not born with wisdom, nor are we all born with the predispositions towards having great personalities, and the consistent experiencing of happiness, joy, popularity and success as human beings. Those who are able to develop a healthy measure of good self-esteem, loving relationships with others, and success within the popular culture tend to be valued as neighbors, friends, and teachers and examples to follow. Common knowledge paradigms offered by our society’s laws, spiritual traditions, and religions, and automatically adopted by most citizens tends to keep us from constantly colliding with each others’ vehicles of consciousness, especially for those whose loving connection with all of life, and innate, intuitive abilities have not yet been fully developed. Collisions are inevitable, and, cumulatively, can become quite painful, and appear as the source of human suffering and the enhanced potential for bodily disease and dysfunction.

In the absolute, if the real relationship between “I” and “you” and the planet Earth which sustains us can first be discerned, then the individual has found the functional area within consciousness where the potential for the greatest positive, life affirming changes in life can be made. The ground of consciousness where this insight arises from has been called “our original nature”, the “Garden Of Eden”, and even “Aladdin’s Lamp”, and is philosophically considered to be the foundation for or pointing to the nature of our original being. The natural desires for peace, beauty, and for security in society and in life, and for happiness in relationships and one’s sexuality are mental vibrations coming from our “original nature”, and need not come into conflict with others’ expectations, once necessary adjustments have been made to the courses that one’s own mind tends to drive along. It remains important not to angrily take a blow torch to our internal driver’s manual and destroy it because of its errors, but instead to apply more sensitive, loving tools of exploration, such as the equivalents of a jeweler’s screw driver, and learn how to fine tune our sophisticated mental hardware and software..

To repair a broken system, we first have to realize that the system is not functioning properly, or according to the original designer’s intention. In that recognition, there must be an awareness of what “properly” means, and how the system was designed to be operated. It is of primary importance to understand the context whereby we try to understand the healthy state and differentiate it from the “unhealthy” state. When it comes to mechanical equipment presently in use, there are designs and schematics available to help in the understanding of the functional relationships between all of the components of the system. And, there are suggested maintenance schedules for susceptible components or systems, so as to extend the functional life of all equipment.

Yet what about human beings and the minds and understanding that we cultivate to help us in our journeys through life? Are there schematics and designs available to reference as we attempt to bring positive change to our own unique systems? What speculation are we referencing when we attempt to understand the “original designer’s intention”? In the absence of direct evidence for a spiritual foundation to our existence, are we just mechanical systems subject to the same principles of operation, friction damage, reduced functionality and excess wear from aging, and obsolescence as our automobiles or home plumbing or electrical systems? What does it mean to accept as a function of faith or belief that there is an optimal state of being we can achieve or return back to, if we follow the right path? How does one make a change within an infinitely complex, dynamic system of energy, without introducing more uncertainties and imbalances?

When we look at the human life and all of its complexities, with our history, our genetics, our bodies, and our minds, we can easily feel powerless and become overwhelmed by the potentially daunting prospect of bringing repair to ourselves. To what state are we attempting to return ourselves to, if our past shows that we have never appeared to be healthy, loving, and successful? If we have recognized that repair is necessary, that is the beginning to the process of healing. But, tragically, the beginning of internal recognition of a problem becomes the end point for discovery and change for far too many suffering human beings. If the suffering person refuses to open new doors to alternative realities with healthier possibilities for being, then that resistance becomes yet another log thrown onto the fires of despair and heartbreak.

We are not given complete tool packages at birth or while we are growing up for troubleshooting and repairing our lives, should they become damaged and broken. There are a lot of opinions in the book store or in common knowledge aphorisms for “self-help”, many of which are contradictory to each other. There are many paths to healing pointed to by the world’s religions, psychologists, sociologists, politicians, shamans, mystics, and twelve-step recovery groups, and these facilitators for healing have brought great benefit to much of our world, though they may also appear to be conflicted and contradictory to each other, as well.

If we are “Christians”, their theologians try to tell us that we all suffer from “original sin”, and that Jesus’s life was sacrificed to God to collectively atone for our “sins” or brokenness. Jesus is offered up as the “Son of God” and perfection incarnate, and thus somebody to imitate or to ask questions of or talk to through prayer or wishful thinking. But, through believing in the power of Jesus and/or some sort of magic or the “mystery of Grace”, we can be born again into another possibility for existence. If we can be “resurrected” or “reborn”, our burdens won’t destroy us, but through our new spiritual empowerment we can continue to “carry our own crosses” and persevere and prove the power of our “saving Grace” and overcome more of life’s challenges, unlike those who are bereft of such spirit.

One of the catch phrases is to ask “what would Jesus do?”, and then try to adjust our behavior by imitating what others have said about Jesus and his historical activities, and thus acting accordingly. This beginner’s level question is a form of mindfulness, yet it can direct the unconscious person into more imitative and socially conforming behavior, while not necessarily imparting the necessary insight and wisdom to find true freedom. If we don’t buy the roadmap that Christianity provides for its adherents, our brokenness will not respond positively to the path that this dogma indicates is appropriate for healing..

If we are involved in a twelve step recovery program, we are given community support through group meetings, where we can listen to others’ experiences of nearly drowning in the bitter rivers of life, and, hopefully, their emergence, or intent to emerge, from its heartbreaking currents. The intention always remains to overcome self-destructive and self-defeating behaviors, and their negative impacts upon others. We are given twelve steps to try to understand our problems and how our errant fears and desires caused them, apply our new insight, and thus enhance our spiritual awareness leading to our continued evolution and healing over an indeterminate period of time.. The fundamental idea behind spiritual healing is that we are spiritual beings having a troubled human experience. By providing techniques for enhanced spiritual awareness, we can reduce the pain of a problematic human condition, and enhance joy by recognizing and overcoming fear and inappropriate desire that has diverted our attention away from our spiritual growth potential. The obvious implication is that through spiritual awakening, we are spiritually empowered to manage virtually all of life, and overcome our self-destructive and other-destructive tendencies when faced with stress and disease.

There is a similarity between the foundational principles behind the twelve steps and aspects of the philosophy within Christianity. it is by design and intention that the twelve steps are morally consistent with Christianity as has been practiced by its sincere adherents. God, or higher power, has a decidedly masculine or patriarchal flavor, and the twelve steps literally arose from a reinterpretation of Christian religious understanding, by reducing the ancient teaching into easy to apply steps for “moral reformation”. Jesus’s name is removed from the steps, substituted by other names such as “higher power” or “God”, or “He”. In effect, the Twelve Steps is a condensed form of Christianity without the name of Jesus confusing those who seek generic or agnostic healing versus Christian religious healing.

The Buddhists come at the problem of the human condition from a unique perspective, yet the philosophy also establishes the primacy of human suffering, and all of the questionable desires that entraps mankind and forces it to continue in less than noble pursuits. Buddhists have lots of differing beliefs and practices, but there are a few shared principles; these are the fundamental discoveries the Buddha made. Thich Nhat Hanh describes them this way: impermanence, (everything is always changing), no self (nothing has a solid core or soul), and nirvana (peace is freedom from fixed concepts). These are known as the “three marks of existence.”

By exposing the blocks to the awareness of the “Buddha mind”, the follower learns to watch their thoughts and actions, and “see” from which source their experience is to arise from. Through following the path the Buddha has set, which all have access to through insight, meditation, and mindfulness, the follower can find bliss, healing, and their own basic, noble nature. The Buddhist practitioner sees that his own sense of self, with its fears and attachments, is the source of all problems, and in the release from self is the transformation into an enlightened experience where a higher potential for life can be experienced and lived. There may be “reincarnation” after death of the body, but there is not a “heaven” in an afterlife to chase after, as the whole point of this pursuit is to reveal the good that life can be right NOW.

Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism, Sikhism, and other major religions supply a diversity of training and other avenues for enhancing spiritual experience in this world of form. They all try to address the reality of death, and what, if anything, happens with our life energy after death. They also exist to supply mankind theories about our original design, and about our potential for wisdom, love and compassion. They all supply their unique approaches to healing and their hope for mankind’s final transcendence over fear, hatred and unreasonable desire.

When affirming a truth, or practicing 3, 5, 7, or 12 steps to achieve a goal, or change a behavior, these practices initially occur within a time limited, corrupted environment for awareness, and in the first stages of our spiritual unfoldment we are only changing the furniture around within our unique prison cells. As is said in twelve step recovery groups, “we must fake it until we make it”. In the initial stages of change, only the potential or possibilities for change exist in our minds,. Even though we might be aware of what changes others have experienced, we really don’t know where we are headed, but we hope for something better. We can affirm the truth all we want, but if the conditions for the birth and nurturing of dysfunction have not been altered, then we are only treating symptoms, and not causes, and the cycle of fix and failure may continue. Until the hope for, and then the experience of, change becomes our “higher power” we will not begin to wake up from our dullness of mind and spirit..

Have you ever painted a house right before it was to be demolished and rebuilt? Have you ever put new tires onto a car whose engine is near failure, and that may need to be junked out? Would you “put lipstick on a pig” ? (Remember, pigs are not inherently ugly, especially if another pig is making the assessment). Have you ever put new wine into old wine skins, to use an ancient expression? People, and writers, who promise you a “quick fix” are road signs along the way to healing, yet they are not the destination. Quick fix artists can become part of the problem, for they make promises in the world of effect. We must reach back into the source or cause for our lives, which is our consciousness. This is where the real roots to our problems exists as well the opportunities for making lasting changes to self through healing and growth.

Over the past many years, the countless people who have pointed out the ills of society, and/or of the powerful individuals within that society, are rarely held in high esteem by others unwilling or incapable of making a similar sort of statement. Those making accusations against the integrity of the society are advised to try to fit in better, and to just blend in. But those who keep giving unwelcome feedback to the world can end up being pilloried, imprisoned in jails, having their homes firebombed, their reputations impugned in the newspapers (or now, on Facebook or other media forums), or judged against, ignored or shunned. That is similar to the fate of many “prophets” over the preceding thousands of years, who were often regarded as insane, as well.

I have no problem pointing out the ills of society, or the ills of the unconscious, sick people within that society that stubbornly hold onto worn out ideas for how to live.  When I witness the injustice, inequality, and diseases of the minds of those entrenched people in positions of power and influence, I get really warmed up. My internal fire burns hot, and brightly, and will not be put out until my life’s work has been completed. I no longer have any problem speaking truth to power, in whatever form that “power” may now appear, including some of the “enlightened” among us.  If we as a culture, and me as an individual, don’t speak out, and affirm to ourselves, and to others, what the truth really is to us, then eventually the hypnosis and propaganda of others may become our own collective reality, and continue to overtly influence our personal integrity, community relationships and overall spirituality. We all must become maintenance mechanics for our personal vehicles of consciousness, and learn how to troubleshoot and bring repairs to our damaged or broken systems of human understanding.

Mankind has reached the stage of evolution and relative stability whereby the capacity for contribution to the human race’s evolution by “co-creating with God” is an expanding reality for the present, and future generations of mankind. Science continues to show the way, exploring, then defining, new methodologies for tuning up humanity’s genetic code for better health and higher intelligence. Science has discovered that the introduction of human stem cells into a diseased human body gives our medical profession the capability to return life and function to dying or diseased aspects of the human body, as well. Technology now provides to each human citizen the capacity to receive information at the speed of light, and access it anywhere on our planet by their own hand-held phone.. Science and technology continues to improve artificial intelligence and robotics, to assist mankind in its search for higher levels of efficiency and productivity as we manage planetary resources to be utilized for the betterment of humanity. And, some billionaires, and elements within certain computer chip development research departments, are studying potential methods for transferring or merging human consciousness with a new generation of computers, such as the newer quantum computers presently being developed. Science now considers immortality a possibility through the merging of our soul with our technology.

It is fair to assert than the possibilities for science and technology are infinite, and have the potential to ultimately work directly in tandem with the concept of “God” whose creative and healing potential once solely dominated mankind’s expression of hope and faith for its continuing prosperity and survival. Due to global warming, as well as diminishing resources, a new world order is coming into view. It is now strongly encouraged by reputable scientific experts that all cultures, all nations, and all peoples come together into an agreement to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions, as well as protect rainforests and other natural resources so as to best serve the continuing health of the planet, and all of its diverse population, be it human, animal, insect, or plant. So, science is now a most important part of our collective global awareness, providing data and insight for better ways to co-exist, and co-create, with all life upon our sacred planet Earth.

Perhaps one of the most remarkable insights that science has brought to humanity is the theory, and actuality of the “observer effect”. In quantum physics, the observer effect is the unanticipated action that the act of observing a situation or phenomenon necessarily changes that phenomenon. This is often the result of instruments that, by necessity, alter the state of what they measure in some manner. The most famous example of this is the experiment of trying to determine whether a photon is a wave or a particle. When a quantum “observer” is watching, quantum mechanics states that particles can also behave as waves. In other words, when under observation, electrons are being “forced” to behave like particles and not like waves, if the observer expects to witness particles. Thus the mere act of human observation affects the outcome of any process being studied. This “observer effect” has been now extrapolated upon to include virtually all observable phenomenon, both on the quantum level, and on our plane of three-dimensional existence.

Evolutionary growth is the action of creative insight upon previous knowledge, with the intention for systemic improvement. The human mind is the most powerful instrument in human existence for observing phenomenon, and developing insight into its basic nature. And the human mind is the creator of the measuring instruments where quantum changes through observation have been witnessed, thus showing the actual origin for the “observer effect”.. And this is a most important support principle for the spiritual principle, and potential future hope for humanity, that “when mankind finally opens its mind far enough to see truly, all that we will ever see, unto eternity is our self”. In mankind’s search for truth, it is of ultimate importance to note that the person seeking the truth may only find projections of expectations, unless the mind is first cleansed of its hopes, expectations, and perceptions from the past. The logical corollary to this is if mankind does not consciously and carefully observe itself, it CANNOT BRING CHANGE TO ITSELF.

It is important to mention that the observer must find a place of peace and quiet within the mind to make as accurate of observations as is possible. A mind burdened by fear, haste, anger, or despair is incapable of dissecting the complexities of the human experience, and is prone to projecting its own misperceptions unto the phenomenon under observation. In the case of our shared human experience, humanity is a diverse, though fragmented and broken, expression of human consciousness. If the damaged or unhealed aspects of society are being observed, with the hope for change, by damaged observers, only the projections of a damaged mind, with its damaged perspective, and resultant perceptions, will arise from the observer. In truth, our problems cannot be accurately witnessed from the level of the problem itself, and the damaged perceiver only adds new layers of incongruities to the issues being observed. A silent mind, characterized by love and compassion for that being witnessed, provides the optimum platform for observation for positive, healing change.

To observe the world clearly today is to note that humankind, through its unconscious patterns of ignoring its basic responsibility to and relationship with nature and the environment, has created dangerous, potentially lethal conditions, which indeed threatens the survival not only of 1000’s of species of animals, insects, and plants, but humanity itself. Modern world society is an amazingly diverse blend of humanity, with its human populations assembled together into unique blocks of cultural, geographic, and, in some cases, spiritual identities. .Yet, with the shared threat against all of humanity from the effects of global warming, the entire planet is coming together, regardless of their differences, to work towards planetary salvation. We need not either fight or run away and hide from each other, if we can keep the channels open to dialogue between all impacted parties, and all work together towards implementing a world-wide solution to the threats against all of us. It is imperative that the blocks to change are examined by all of the human race, and the resistances to positive, healing change are addressed and ameliorated, both within all of the diverse regions of the world, as well as within their political ideologies and religious belief systems. Some religious communities are out of touch with the natural world and its problems, even disbelieving or disregarding reputable science, like the backward elements of American Christianity. These superstitious, ignorant supporters of their “faith” continue to support the wayward American president’s intentions to ignore the Paris climate agreement, and real world threats that global warming presents to all nations of planet Earth.

World society, collectively, spends millions of hours every year observing itself, and developing better ideas for ways to manage the human resources that it is comprised of. Society continues to work towards more efficient and equitable distribution of resources, to the extent that the most powerful of that culture, as well as the prevailing political agendas will allow such activity. Religion continues to work towards the “saving or redemption of the soul”, especially within the Judeo-Christian based philosophies, yet this body of thought spends insufficient time in introspection and examination of itself and its historical, collective beliefs in the ways and manners that modern society is forced to do.

There are many religious and spiritual traditions present in the world today, and I now again mention the practice of Buddhism as a reminder that there are other productive paths to the spiritual goals that humanity sets for itself. Most Buddhist traditions create lives that are characterized by the study of sacred texts, meditation, prayer, group rituals, and heightening self-awareness, especially of the limitations of the human mind and the false sense of self it creates for us. Buddhists embark on the path towards enlightenment, or enhancing the awareness of the life beyond the limitations of the human self. Buddhist practices have the intention and effect of eliminating most blocks to the revelation of man’s most fundamental, noble nature. Yet Buddhism, Christianity, or the rest of the religious beliefs, must remain aware of and give attention to the reality that is revealing itself RIGHT NOW. The present CANNOT clearly be intelligently looked at solely through a clouded lens from the distant past, and religion needs to work in close conjunction with the most recent developments that science and technology has revealed, or risk the continuing the loss of relevancy to all sincere seekers of truth.

Society and religion both play to humankind’s basic fear of chaos and death, and their need to find some sort of protection from that which is beyond their individual control.. Yet they also play to the needs to not only be part of a social group or network, but, for many, to feel connected to a greater vision for life and expressing it in a more loving, meaningful manner.. For the religiously inclined, there may even be an intense interest in the possibility for transcending death, or for the continuation of life beyond the grave in some sort of life in a “heavenly realm” or through the experience of reincarnation (but not through technology!). Both structures of human creation continue to exist to help facilitate the need for protection and care for oneself, one’s family, and all others within the group, while the individual’s within the group develop their own human potentials.. With this kind of stability, each member of the society is enabled to wrestle with the historical challenge of finding one’s own unique place in both the “civilized” world, as well as their place in the infinitely more mysterious, complex and vast, unexplored portions of our exterior, and interior, universe

There can be an enormous disconnect between becoming civilized and acculturated within any social group, and thus following the particular educational, political and religious path(s) sanctioned by that society, and that of sensing, addressing, and attempting to meet our own or our entire planet Earth’s evolving physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.. The “letter of the law” as stated by the Ten Commandments has a specific intention to keep the herd from self-destructing through trampling itself by the chaos created by “uncivilized” behavior. Yet, there are those who seek a higher law, or order, to bring to their lives and to the lives of all others, the order that their experience of the “love” that is revealed through the eruption of truth and healing within consciousness. For that “spiritual” desire or inclination to come to fruition within the supporting community, there must be at least the minimal adherence to the established order and laws by self and others within the community. Otherwise, the evolving person may face indifference, abuse, retribution, persecution, prosecution, excommunication and/or exile for not “fitting in” with the status quo…

Society has its need for order, and minimal chaos, and sets up its own rules and laws to help maintain stability. Religions also have their own understandings and agendas for establishing and maintaining order within their limited understanding of “God’s kingdom”, though in American society and Christian religion there are many commonalities and overlaps of intentions. The historical overlap of Hammurabi of Babylon’s law code of ethics (supposed channeled to Hammurabi from his culture’s God Shamash) and the Ten Commandments of the Jewish Torah or Christian bible (supposedly channeled through Moses from his understanding and connection with his culture’s God, Yahweh) of around five hundred years later is a fundamental case in point, and indicates that humanity has the capacity to share in a “common knowledge”, while not being required to share the same language..

There appears in history true “common knowledge” that binds people together in an understanding as to how to best behave to maintain social order in the community. The powerful “common knowledge game” (extensively developed in chapter 8) is practiced to extremes by both society and religion, keeping people thinking and acting in the same socially approved ruts or patterns of behavior. This can be for both an advantage and a disadvantage for all of us who must share in the collective consciousness. Virtually every member of a long-term community share in a “common knowledge”, and this shared information functions to make the community more self-regulating and more self-controlled. which typically serves best the interests of the status quo. A society just can’t have a policeman in every house, or on every corner, and “common knowledge” fulfills that function. Can you imagine the destructive potential of going for a drive in downtown Portland without the other drivers sharing the same understanding of the rules of the road as you do? The internal dialogue and control that the common knowledge game stimulates is quite similar in nature to Freud’s concept of the “super-ego” that is embedded within human psychology.

Some people within the community seem to naturally entertain a “spiritual and material prosperity consciousness”, and are less self-absorbed than average. They have somehow come to know that not only are they alive to serve their own needs, but to be of service to others in need, as well. These people may appear to be better aligned with the statement of 1 Corinthians 3:16. And, based on some interesting studies on human development, they may have had a happier gestation period in their mother’s womb, and/or more emotionally intelligent, conscious parenting during the first several years of childhood. For others, they may entertain a “scarcity consciousness”. Their nature, may also have been heavily influenced by a combination of conditioning of their minds beginning in their gestation period, and, potentially, for early exposure to both the damaging aspects of unconscious parental practices and to a damaged society.. The induced trauma may create a personality that is much more fear-based and “self-conscious” and may not be so inclined to be “service oriented”. They may be better aligned with the “natural man’ referred to in 1 Corinthians 2:14 of the Christian bible. The truth is that both energies are present in all human beings, in unique proportions.

In almost all human beings there exists the “fear of rejection”, which includes rejection by our own self, our families, our culture, our religion or, even, our concept of God, and we all develop our own unique mechanisms for dealing with that fear. There are the “IN” groups, which are usually for the few and the elite, and there are the “OUT” groups, which are for the many and the mediocre, when its comes to social bonding and the circles of relationships that are eventually created and maintained within a community. We tend to associate with like-minded people, and most of us participate in experiences from both grouping categories. How well we conform to expectations of others may determine which group, or on which tier within a group, we will be accepted.

A community member may be motivated to engage people with enhanced people-pleasing attitudes and behaviors thus suspending or hiding beliefs and behaviors that are not acceptable to the group while trying to fit in. There are many who actively engage in some passive/aggressive behavior that helps the individual appear to be conforming to group expectations, while being only grudgingly compliant and internally resistant and judgemental against the expectations and norms of others . This combination of factors may contribute to the development of many of the diseases of the bodies and minds of members of the community, including overeating and obesity, crime of all types, loneliness, suicide, and mental illnesses of all types such as depression, drug addiction and alcoholism.

We try to find security through others’ acceptance of us within a new community, or we maintain connection within a existing one by obeying the established rules for inclusion. Humanity resides on a spectrum of willingness to extend love to others through providing care and service for their fellow man, depending on the individual’s nature and/or family training. Society and religion tends to honor those who appear to care the most about others, or who have not only found a way to bring the most goods and resources to themselves, but who have also found a way to share their resources. Religion really likes the rich members of society who are either naturally philanthropic, or have eventually evolved into that understanding.. Through tithing, religion hopes to encourage those of more limited means, those on the other end of the prosperity spectrum, to share their resources for the common good of the community.

Sometimes, to be a successful member of society, it is acceptable and normal to take the “every man for himself” approach to life. A common refrain from this core group of humanity is that we all must “lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps”, or “save our own asses”. This philosophy of personal empowerment and “rugged individualism” is still alive and well in today’s fractured society. Many of those who are considered “conservative” in their thinking tend to track to this direction. Proponents of this way of thinking tend to reject the social agendas and government programs that serve the poor and disadvantaged, especially those targeted for other races, ethnicity or religious persuasions, and they are not so welcoming to strangers such as immigrants and new community members.

Yet, in the “liberal” tradition of societal thinking, the idea of universal love and service to all, especially those considered “poor” in nature, is readily entertained. Religion tends to honor those who are willing to reach out from themselves, whether they feel spiritually and/or personally empowered or otherwise, and help those who are less fortunate than themselves, and offer assistance, spiritual or material. One could say that the “liberal tradition” parallels Christian theology better than the “conservative tradition”, especially if one is well versed in the message of Jesus of Nazareth.

The majority of members of any religious community, Christian or otherwise, tend to, at least in the first stages of their spiritual unfoldment, cling to the stories and heroes of their tradition, and do not yet have a real, meaningful relationship to the truth of their being, and to the being of all others. Yet, while they wait for their “miracle”, they still have the physical and emotional support of fellow members of their congregation. They have not yet had a personal experience of the truth that exists beyond their limited sense of self, and their concepts of time and space. And, for some, the community will remain the only connection with a “higher power” that is achieved. In the first stages of our spiritual unfoldment, seekers after truth and love tend to look outside of themselves to the religious texts, leaders, mentors, rabbis, ministers, or gurus to help guide them toward that mystery known as “God” or “Love” or “Truth”. A tension arises for those brave souls whose search for truth must, for a period of time, take them outside of the safe confines of their religious group and its history, to find their own pearls of spiritual wisdom..

Problems inevitably come to the person, and to the population cluster the person belongs to, who perceives that the society and the religion in which he/she are now participating in has failed to meet its minimal obligations to their human spirit. Yet, this dissatisfaction is eternally part of the evolutionary, and revolutionary, cycles of life, with its principles and processes which support mankind’s continued existence and the potential for evolution, while hinting at the source for our hope for some form of a healing spiritual or societal transformation. There must be a dynamic tension between what is perceived to be true now, and the eternal unknown, with the unknown being the space that “God” originates within and operates through.

Institutionalized Christian religious understanding remains eternally resistant to evolution, or to change, because change is threatening to its established order, as, according to the bible that they quote from, “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever”. Yet, the people making that association may well be “the natural man” , the very people who we are warned about in first Corinthians. We first have to overcome the ignorant and superstitious traditions of our religion, which opens our minds up to the minimum spiritual discernment necessary to even understand what “God” might be, or how we might access the “powers of God”. Then, we might finally be able to have a “mystical event” or a “spiritual experience” and personally experience what was really meant by that biblical statement “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

One great example of spiritual misinterpretation is within the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis in the Old Testament shows, at length, the process of mindfulness necessary for mankind to bring better order out of the chaos that naturally arises through the evolution of consciousness. Each human being is required to witness the world, and create internal pictures/images, words, and stories to best represent what they witness in the “outer world”. Literally, each of us is responsible for “creating the world” that we witness, at least the internal world, and world view, that becomes our own unique “internal” representation of the “external” universe. And, we will never find peace, or rest, until we have created an optimized, enlightened world view, and act consciously out of that spiritually evolved structure and narrative.

Yet, the “natural man” does not understand the book of Genesis, instead thinking that the story is a factual account of the creation of Earth, when in fact it is both an instruction set and an affirmation of the value and function of insight and mindfulness towards creating our own individual consciousness. Yes, humanity has the innate, though undeveloped capacity to create in the same image or likeness of, or as an identical expression of, a more truthful, love-inspired, reason-inspired “God-centered” consciousness..

It has been said that the Christian bible was written both to entertain the ignorant, while pointing to the truth, in metaphorical form, for those with discernment could understand and apply within their own lives. In our minds, we have created both the categories of the “entertained”, as well as the “enlightened” ones, and it should be noted that both descriptions applies to all of us, with each of us having our own unique proportions of each quality..The stories in the bible, or any religious text, are static in nature, yet we, as human beings, are a dynamic energy manifestation of the universe, and subject to enormous change. And as the individuals change, so must their collective stories eventually change. Ultimately for unity and healing, our collective and personal myths and stories must change, the closer that we get to the truth of being. If love is our compass, our stories have to be continuously updated to reflect the latest messages from the “Great Unknown”, for, by their very nature, ALL OF OUR STORIES SUFFER FROM A LEGION OF FALSEHOODS, and need to be continuously updated to reflect the newly revealed or discovered facts (see the latest scientific advancements and understandings, for example). The “Great Unknown”, and unknowable, not only does not recognize our stories, but also does not hold us prisoner to a static understanding of ourselves and our relationship with God and Truth. Religion is designed to do a fine job of that, however.

There are, literally, millions of victims of religious hubris and evil, and their stories painfully reveal where religion has brought harm, destruction and death to all who do not strictly adhere to their codes, or were innocent victims of patriarchal sexual abuse or white supremacist missionary zeal. Shame mongering and ostracism, excommunications, inquisitions, crusades, witch burning, book burning, incarcerations and other hateful and hurtful behaviors have characterized the church’s response to threats, criticism, or new ideas over their history. There remains sexual perversion institutionalized within the Christian tradition, with legendary failures at attempts to accept, understand and control the sexual activity of humanity. This tradition has wrought predatory and sexual evil upon innocent woman and children by the Christian missionary/ministerial presence in both indigenous and foreign lands and now even within our own country, and is now well documented, and continues unto this day. The present-day Christian attitudes towards homosexuality are not supported by any of Jesus of Nazareth’s teachings, and instead reflect back to Old Testament times when it was acceptable to harshly judge against many types of human sexual behavior and, thus the seed story for ignorant Christians was created that allows their tribe to persecute LGBTQ’s. I only hope that the Christian church has benefited more people than it has harmed over the two thousand years of its existence.

Too much of American Christianity or “religion” in general, appears to be only the elevator music playing in the background while their bad boys and girls continue to misbehave, justify each other’s bad behavior and “forgive it” if it serves their immediate needs to affirm some sort of intention for unity. They tend to celebrate their special, if not imaginary, tribal relationships and connections with their “Santa Claus God”, while judging against others not of their mindset, and lording their pseudo-truths over all others not presently included in their minds, and lives. What unrepentant boy or girl would not want to belong to a club like that? It sounds like their spiritual house could use a different leader, or a different understanding of the present leader, to help in its evolution towards a more loving, spiritual order.

All manners of illusion can be created with the marriage of religion with society’s need to stabilize and govern itself. This is a historical problem, with similar aspects occurring in other religious offerings from other cultures, and it dates back to prehistoric times. Humanity resides on a spectrum of understanding, with the vast majority of “religious adherents” living in relative measures of ignorance and superstition, while engaging with others as part of their social/spiritual community. One of the functions of any community is to provide a measure of safety and identity, while giving people an opportunity to share in an enhanced vision for life, even if they are so spiritually, morally and ethically undeveloped that they choose not to fully adopt it. Because of the stage of consciousness that they presently occupy, too many “followers” seek only the safety and security in their own, or their tribes’ misunderstandings. All too often, the adherents are both victims and enforcers of the Common Knowledge Game, a phenomenon describing how our culture and our desire to fit-in and win approval can nudge us into accepting as fact those ideas that should have required more examination and potentially, wholesale rejection of.

There is no shortage of “fundamentalists” who abide by this mind-numbing, old wayward saw::

“God said it, I believe it, and that is all there is to it”.

There is no greater block to spiritual evolution and understanding than cultivating a closed mind, but structured religion shuns the “unknown” and tends to create and promote the acceptable verbal pathways for communication and “understanding” for their “God”, or that which remains incomprehensible by most human beings. Yet, to question the church’s, or the religion’s, authority to define that which remains undefinable, opens one up to extra scrutiny, and the potential for adverse judgement, rejection, and exile from the religious community. Conform, or be shunned, become driving forces for those seeking enhanced social/spiritual connections not presently being promoted from within the tribe. And, one’s sexuality better be expressed through acceptable avenues, or watch out! Tow the line on that one, or be the victim of spiritual abuse like sexual orientation conversion therapy, or become the object of judgement, hate, derision, and exclusion..

Christian religion, in addition to giving hope for transcending death and the human condition, has been used as a form of state sponsored propaganda and control for nearly 1700 years. It is an interesting inverse relationship that exists between human curiosity and its potential for revealing the individual’s innate potential for spiritual healing and freedom, and religious indoctrination, with its superstitious reasoning, dogma, propaganda, and mind control. The latter tends to produce lives dominated by fear and guilt-based attitudes, negative judgements against all others unlike themselves, herd-like behavior, and reduced levels of individual freedoms, resulting in an unwillingness or inability to search for and find one’s own unique answers to the questions of life.

Christianity began to flourish through the actions of a Roman leader, Constantine, and his spiritual seeking mother, Helena, in the fourth century AD. An interesting experiment to perform, for the curious ones, is to interview a diverse blend of Christian adherents and see if they are interested in understanding the process by which the “present version” of Christian religion was created and became a state-sanctioned religion. I remain amazed and enlightened by the resistance I have encountered over the years of Christian religious “fundamentalists” to this line of questioning. One would think that everybody would want to understand the very history and ground of consciousness that is fundamental to their particular religious philosophy, but many do not. The truth is threatening to those whose unconscious minds remain married to a lie.

“Why, then, does truth generate hatred, and why does thy servant who preaches the truth come to be an enemy to them who also love the happy life, which is nothing else than joy in the truth—unless it be that truth is loved in such a way that those who love something else besides her wish that to be the truth which they do love. Since they are unwilling to be deceived, they are unwilling to be convinced that they have been deceived. Therefore, they hate the truth for the sake of whatever it is that they love in place of the truth. They love truth when she shines on them; and hate her when she rebukes them”.—-Augustine

In the fourth century, the mass murderer and evil Roman ruler Constantine saw the need for a drastic change in the way that Rome was philosophically structured, and proposed the establishment of a state-sponsored religion. Yes, this Constantine was the same criminal that was to become Saint Constantine. Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. Although he lived much of his life as a pagan, and later as a catechumen, he joined the Christian faith on his deathbed, being baptized by Eusebius of Nicomedia. He is venerated as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches. This shows, how a person can have his life and image “rehabilitated” even after death, and create more idols to worship, more superheroes of the faith around which understanding of their religion can be further wound. If a human being is “sainted” or worshiped as a savior, their status is no longer open to being questioned, and any who dare to ask questions are subject to severe punishment, and, in some cases, death.

In third and fourth century Rome, there was a wealth of diverse pagan, religious and spiritual inclinations and traditions practiced by Constantine’s citizens, with none apparently providing any collective cultural healing/unifying message. He was to eventually organize and convene a “religious convention” He literally forced thousands of spiritual leaders of that time to help design, accept, and spread a new religion, Christianity, with many new defining dogmas that would help bring his people back under some measure of control. Constantine had feared the further loss of his power, as the Roman empire continued its slow collapse, and he counted on a new state religion, Christianity, to help hold the fraying strands together of his dying civilization.

Of course, the Roman Empire continued its collapse, yet Christianity was to grow exponentially in power and influence over the next several generations.. This was the continuation of an epoch of time when patriarchy remained firmly entrenched in the world’s understanding of itself, though the pagan understanding outside of structured religion balanced some of that out with their more earth friendly/woman centered understanding of life. The concepts of God as “father”, and God’s only begotten son being the ultimate spiritual power helped to carry non-pagan, religious patriarchal understanding forward. It is enlightening to read the religious texts which are used as the vehicles for historical transmission of many of those agendas, as well.

Constantine, a pragmatic leader, knew the power of organized religion to keep people under control, people whose lives tended towards chaos and unconsciousness and who were inspired by fear and awe of powers that they did not yet understand and didn’t believe that they have innately have access to. Constantine was well aware of the message presented by 1 Corinthians 2:14, and knew that the power of the human need for social conformity with its common knowledge game would keep most of the ignorant and disempowered citizens under some continued, and enhanced measure of control by the leaders, which now included the ministers from their old religion, who were now converted to “Christianity”..

Constantine chose Jesus of Nazareth from among 25 different “prophets” known to that era, as Jesus’s teachings encouraged enhanced community connection and the potential for the healing of relationships the most, and his mother was already enamored with the man and his whole philosophy. She had followed Jesus of Nazareth’s teachings for years, and traveled the Mediterranean world seeking sacred artifacts from Jesus’s life. Constantine and Christianity became mutually supporting and sustaining, while providing a new cultural format for the continuation of both the supporting government, the society it ruled, and the new religion.

Constantine knew that it is much harder for the citizens to reject the message of an honored dead person, especially one who fantastic legends had already been created around, than it had been to reject the power and authority of a leader his subjects had already lost some respect for. He needed, in effect, to design a leader with even more authority and power than his own, who would not be threatening to Constantine’s continuation of power. and link himself positively with this new spiritual leader, who just happened to be dead, of course. The stories that were created to enhance Jesus’s standing in relationship to God, or to the ultimate power, by association were now helping Constantine attain a more exalted status with the Roman citizens. This sounds like the modern equivalent of Evangelical Christians associating Donald Trump with Jesus Christ and God’s will, doesn’t it? Trump signing bibles for tornado victims in Alabama in March of 2019 was quite the hubris by Trump, and showed impoverished spiritual understanding by the recipients

Many of the uncorrupted aspects of Jesus’s teachings did survive the Constantine conventions’ editing, manipulation and outright bastardization of facts and history. And, many of the stories written about Jesus were NOT canonized and included in the newly created bible, which indicates that this leader needed to keep a philosophical agenda and form of a cultural control story foremost in the adherents minds, to keep them, more or less, in resonance with Constantine’s underlying intentions, The neglected gospels that reveal the more mundane nature of Jesus’s life, such as him being both a husband and a father, were omitted. There were no great publishing houses to distribute the new bibles, and the common folk were not necessarily great readers and frequent visitors to the library, so minimizing the length of their new religious tome was certainly important, as well as making sure that there was a consistent interpretation from all of the new bearers of the new state-sponsored religion.

One great example of this is the story of the Prodigal Son, which did end up in the bible. Jesus told the story of the “prodigal son”, which happens to be the truth about not only our lives, but of Jesus’s life, as well. As real life human beings, we are born “the natural man” who has no clue about ultimate reality, and the individual’s relationship with it. We all are the “prodigal son”, until a deep desire to find and experience the truth develops within us. This was Jesus’ evolutionary, and revolutionary path, as well. You won’t hear that truth being revealed in church next Sunday though. Many Christian congregations spend too much time adoring and worshiping their “golden calf” rather than doing their life’s real work, and evolving to become the best version of themselves..

To this day, much of Christianity still parrots Constantine’s intentions, and spends too much time promoting and claiming spiritual superiority for their prophet Jesus, while imbuing Jesus with supernatural qualities, and a unique history, MUCH OF WHICH NEVER HAPPENED. Add this to the LIE that Jesus was immaculately conceived, and was born enlightened, and that his body could be revived, or resurrected, after his death on the cross. This creates an IMPOSSIBLE chasm for potential followers to cross. Those who profess to be followers of Jesus, will magically overcome this separation by claiming God’s grace and forgiveness through the “sacrifice” of God’s only Son. Wow, for a God that is One, there is only one “Son/Daughter” anyway, which is the totality of God’s creation, including our planet, and ALL ANIMALS upon it. Can a human being be so self-centered that they think that the human race is the center, and the point, of all creation, and that only the image of a man must represent the truth? Just looking at our present state of world ecology and its affairs gives the tragic and sad answer to this question. Yet, if religious adherents reading this story had “spiritual discernment”, they would see that Jesus’s story is a symbolic/metaphorical representation for the capacity that we all have, when we seek healing and spiritual connection. We all suffer immensely just for being human beings, whether it is from the hands of others, or from our own ignorant, self-defeating choices, though we can rise from the spiritually dead and be “resurrected into a life imbued with love, new meaning and purpose”.

One of several practices of Christianity that are worth continuing in earnest is forgiveness. Understanding what forgiveness entails can be contained within a book to itself. Check out the Liberian war lord “Butt Naked” and his horrific story when you can. Any religion that can allow a former mass murderer and war criminal, who feasted on the live, beating hearts of human babies, to become a Christian minister is an amazing story of transformation. And, his story is more believable than that of Jesus’s, because it is happening in OUR time, with the humanity of NOW being able to witness this “miracle”. If he can give his life story a happier ending than he deserves, what does that say about the power of forgiveness? (I will provide no commentary on potential legal, moral, or ethical questions that “forgiveness” brings up, especially in situations of expressed brutality and evil). Shall we follow the absolute laws of the Ten Commandments, with the historically mandated punishments, or pursue an evolving understanding blanketed in love and compassion, as pointed to in the New Testament of the bible? .

The story of Christianity is an amazing, conflicted story, which, after 2000 years of being told, still brings a measure of hope for a large sector of the human race. .Substantial parts of it’s theology remain out of sync with the laws of nature and modern scientific discoveries, though many of these incongruities and discontinuities can be healed through spiritual discernment. Much of Christianity still resides in the “old days” of superstitious and supernatural reasoning, earning themselves a collectively perceived lack of relevancy by many younger thinkers, as well as maturing pilgrims. No wonder there now are millions of ex-Christians seeking a deeper, more profound personal experience of Love and the truth of being, based on a more evolved understanding that present-day Christianity presently does not encourage or endorse.

There can be philosophical difficulties in the way we encourage each other to improve our outlooks on life.  We have created names to represent states of being that we may not presently occupy, and that which we aspire to achieve. Higher self, Christ consciousness, God consciousness, the proclamation that Jesus Christ lives in me, etc.point to potentialities to be developed within ourselves.  We must build our own consciousness of what really is true, what life reveals to all not paralyzed with fear and massive self doubt  Our Christian culture has created philosophical and psychological problems through its worship of a prophet who is also purported to be the “self” that we have all lost, and are now seeking through our present religious pursuits. This can be quite “crazy-making” and temporarily sets all of their adherents onto a path of a form of culturally sanctioned schizophrenia. Yet, what can Christian religion possibly do about that error now, especially since throughout the history of mankind’s presence on planet Earth we have not fulfilled our potential? If we can’t find our way on our own, we need to find a living example or role model that we can really identify with and thus want to emulate.

Does a consciously aware and evolving human being need the continuing presence of a church or church community? That is the question each of us must ask ourselves. When two or more are gathered together in the name of some greater truth or principle, the extra energy can be palpable, as if it is being generated by the presence of two similar intentions. which can carry enormous potential for power, spiritual or otherwise. The structure that a church or religion provides is not required for an enhanced spiritual evolution, however.

Truth only requires the overcoming of fear, and an innocent heart and open mind to recognize it. Truth, if truth erupts within an individual’s mind, is foreign to our mind and our normal experience of reality and it’s appearance IS an apocalyptic event. If one is not disoriented and shocked by the exposure to the fullness of truth, then one has not really experienced truth. Truth does not need religion to create or support it, but religion needs the truth to bring healing back to itself from the self-generated diseases of its man-made misinterpretations. Without truth, religion will continue to devolve into the tribalistic buffoonery that presently characterizes the political elements of that philosophy..

The truest test for Christianity that there is, is how well do those who profess a belief in “Christ’ adhere to this passage from John?

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.

– 1 John 4:18

In America, we do not have a “national religion”, though to listen to certain Christian propagandists and promoters, our democracy should be infused with more “Christian ideals”, “ideals” which may not support the collective good of humanity. The US Constitution was crafted with the parallel ideas of protecting the citizens from both overzealous governments AND religions. Our American society is presently not under attack from Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Atheists, or Agnostics, but instead by unconscious, wayward Americans, some of which practice with a corrupted form of Christianity, which exposes potentially dangerous issues for all of us. Judging as incomplete, diseased human beings all those who are part of the LGBTQ community is self-defeating and hateful. The now-common pseudo-Christian siren call of saving an unborn baby is NOT EQUIVALENT to saving the planet, PERIOD. Our unborn human babies ARE NO MORE SACRED than the unborn babies of dolphins, whales, elephants, baboons, or other sentient life, and we hear too little from this philosophy about protecting their rights, as well. Their other ignorant, divisive arguments are legion in number, and will not be addressed in this writing.

Those religions who promote fear have failed at their most basic task in life.
Members of these tribes are just more relatively unevolved, ignorant power hungry, fear based broken human beings, though still ONE with the rest of us, which is this eclectic package of damaged goods known as HUMANITY..

Who is responsible for bringing order out of this chaotic scrum of humanity?

Rather than asking the silly, potentially divisive and disempowering question:

“What would Jesus do?”

We should be asking of ourselves, while in community:

“What will we do?”

And we should ask of ourselves, in the privacy of our own mind:

“What will I do?”

My response to that question is to first save the world from aspects of my unevolved self, while encouraging others to do the same, which is the beginning of the opening of the spiritual doors to infinite love, healing, and transcendence. In truth, there is no “you” to attack, or to support, as there is only one life expressing through the many, with billions of human beings looking through their own broken kaleidoscopes of perception, and thus spawning all manners of mistaken judgement of others, those non-unified, scattering parts of their fragmented self. “You” can never be real, but it certainly can be entertained as an incomplete, ignorant concept within one’s own mind, or the collective mind that mankind shares through its conditioning, education, and historical ignorance.’

Throughout my early life, I had a “revolving door relationship” with Christian religion. Now, my personal religion is not an institutionalized understanding of historical or spiritual texts, but it is much more present moment and personal. My adult religion is that I must protect at all costs the sacredness and health of our Mother Earth. I must respect all of life, denying dignity to none. I must bring no conscious harm to self or others, encourage all others to do the same, and to give the love and support for all of life, including all animals, plants, and insects.

To support the planet, and to enhance my search for truth, I practice meditation, mindfulness, insight, and I perform personal inventories, and make amends, according to the needs revealed through honest and integrated self-examination and evolving spiritual intentions. To the best of my ability, I see things as they are, and if certain aspects of myself or my life, and the life that I share with the rest of this planet, needs to be changed, I work towards that transformation. I have seen the toll that human suffering has placed upon our world, and I work to help heal the diseases of the spirit, such as alcoholism and drug addiction, which contribute greatly to the problem of darkness and despair within humanity. I continue to support the indigenous people’s of our continent, who were sexually and culturally abused by Catholic priests and white supremacists in generations past. I celebrate my connection with Mother Earth by spending enormous amounts of time outdoors immersed in nature, and I am a devoted wilderness hiker. I continue to spiritually and financially contribute to many, many ecological and social justice orientated foundations and charities. I feed the birds, squirrels, opossums, and raccoons that frequent our home, and I do not use pesticides or chemicals OF ANY KIND on our plants, including weeds.,

I choose, at this point in my life, not to align myself with any group of practicing Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists, Pagans, Atheists, or Agnostics. I continue to reject exclusivity, which is endemic to tribalism, isolation, bullying, indifference, and false judgements. I continue to embrace inclusivity, which points to the foundation for collective healing. Those whose isolating philosophies motivate them to take up arms against their fellow man, are actually taking up arms against love, and our potential for healing. Those who greedily exploit the planet for its resources and its sacred life are hurting and exploiting all of us, and are the source of a great evil. Too many religions are unfairly critical and/or disempowering of one’s gender, sexuality or place of birth or ethnicity, creating yet more unfortunate opportunities for evil to prosper

“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite”––William Blake

It’s always good to be reminded that all of humanity is still in the middle of a big, never-ending conversation, with many voices and opinions on what both our history was and what our human/spiritual capacities once were, what is possible for us now, what we could become in the distant future, and what we should not be, or should have never been. There are over a billion different possibilities for intelligible sentence construction using all of our words in the English language, as well as over a trillion different possibilities for story creations, so we need not be limited to the stories that now dominate our collective discussions, no matter how worshiped they may now be.

“Have you noticed how little space we have in our brain? It is cluttered up, full with so many thousands of things; it has very little space, if you take a journey into yourself. Empty all of the contents that you have collected and go very, very deeply, then there is that vast space, that so-called emptiness, that is full of energy, and in that state alone there is that which is most sacred“—–J Krishnamurti.

What should be our world’s religion?

“To save your world, first, strive to know your real self and then do it’s unique work”.

Some spiritual theories about our distant past indicate that mankind once enjoyed a pure relationship with Reality and Love. In this telling, mankind fell from grace, and, sensing its loss of true identity, began the eternal search for its lost self, or homeland, its original “Garden of Eden”. Most modern-day thinkers do not buy the theory of mankind’s original “purity” or innocence, or the concept of “original sin”, and instead posit that we all must work hard, and consciously evolve, to find our “spiritual homeland”. They stress the need for insight, meditation, prayer, and acts of conscious service to our fellow man. It is important to note that many Buddhists, Tibetan or otherwise, may spend over 100,000 hours of meditation, prayer, and spiritual practices over the course of their lives. The same can be said about many monks and seekers from the Christian mystical path, who also tend to isolate themselves from the scrum of humanity while they attempt a more complete union with the purity and wholeness (holiness) of their “beloved”.

. It is also important to note that the latest studies on human babies and maternal attachment theory indicates that by the proper and timely exercise of “extended physical presence” in human babies first two years of life, parents can create more stable, less anxious personality matrices in their children. Children could be much less emotionally needy, damaged human minds, thus preparing humans for better physical and mental health, while encouraging a more natural, spontaneous reaction to the Spirit. Perhaps by changing our culture’s haphazard parenting styles to more conform to the latest studies, we can save people from the experience of feeling out of touch with our real self, and instead, to find, and eventually to Be The Health, that a firm relationship with this style of parenting is reputed to provide. Yet, these studies may also be promoting a new variation of the “Garden Of Eden” fantasy, and take energy away from the need for all of humanity to become more conscious and caring in their movement through every moment of their life.

Our world needs a new religious paradigm, a new story that brings hope for the entire planet and its inhabitants. We need a new paradigm that honors planet Earth as the sacred foundation and provider for all our lives and needs. We need a new paradigm that re-establishes mankind as the conscious, loving caretaker of the planet, and loving, caring stewards for ALL of the life upon it. We must reach beyond the limited boundaries of our religions and their belief systems and prophets. It is time to stop fighting about which religion has the greatest prophet, and about the sundry details of a prophet’s life that was lived a thousand or more years ago. It is time for all of us, to search for our life’s truth, and bring a higher measure of healing and love to our world. It is time to convene another spiritual convention akin to the one held in Constantin’s time, to develop a collective theology that is more inclusive, loving, and mutually supporting. We need a new story that recognizes that the story teller, and the listener, are more sacred and precious than the story being told ever could be. This is a nearly impossible task, yet it is REQUIRED that humanity begin to undertake this historic mission. To do nothing is to resign ourselves to living lives solely dependent on historical misunderstanding, and experiencing lives that continue to fall short of our human and spiritual potential, and, collectively, descending into deeper levels of chaos and collective suffering..

We, as a human race, will always have our members clustered in groups along the entire spectrum of spiritual potentiality. We, as a human race, will always have the spiritually and materially poor among us, and it remains our responsibility to reach out and help each other, on this side or, the other side, of the ocean.. We, as a human race, also need a new common knowledge. We can create a new world religion, based on a new world order of inclusivity, sharing of resources, reduction of population, and loving service to our planet Earth and to ALL of its life. To survive as the human race, we must bring peace to our minds, and love and healing to our world. To not do so is to support collective insanity, global destruction and suicide.

All that we will ever see, unto eternity, is ourselves. We will either ascend onto our “God” and explore and actualize our infinite potential, or we will remain tied to the past, stagnate and descend into chaos with the continued destruction of our sacred planet Earth. The truth is that our future will continue to be a tension between both possibilities.

How again, shall we see ourselves today?

Troubleshooting Logic and Techniques

Troubleshooting is a form of problem solving, often applied to repair failed products or processes on a machine or a system or even a human life. It is a logical, systematic search for the source of a problem in order to solve it, and make the product or process or person operational again. The first step in good problem analysis is to describe the problem completely. Without a problem description, we will not know where to start investigating the cause of the problem.

This step includes asking ourselves such basic questions as:

• What are the symptoms?
• Where is the problem happening?
• When does the problem happen?
• Under which conditions does the problem happen?
• Is the problem reproducible?

What Are The Symptoms?

When starting to describe a problem, the most obvious question is “What is the problem?” This might seem like a straightforward question; however, it can be broken down into several other questions to create a more descriptive picture of the problem. These questions can include:

• Who or what is reporting the problem?
• What are the symptoms and feedback messages?
• How do we fail? For example: loop or repetition of unnecessary or unwanted behavior, hang or quitting or stopping before a process is successfully completed, performance degradation, incorrect attitude.
• What is the affect on all relationships?

Where Is The Problem Happening?

Determining where the problem originates is not always easy, but it is one of the most important steps in resolving a problem. Many layers of (mis)understanding can exist between the reporting and failing components of the personal system under review. The supporting society, family, and network of friends are only a few components to be considered when we are investigating problems.

• Is the problem isolated and specific, or common to multiple arenas within life?
• Is the current environment and understanding capable of being supported by a healing intention, or are broader, more encompassing changes necessary?
• Are reports of problems originating within the self, others, or a combination of the two?
• Are there currently cultural power brokers attempting to dictate the way life’s route should be traveled?
• Is the source of the history of the problem purely an individual one, or universal in its expression?

These types of questions will help us isolate the problem layer, and are necessary to determine the problem source. Remember that just because one layer or part of our self is reporting a problem, it does not always mean the root cause exists there.

Part of identifying where a problem is occurring is understanding the environment in which it exists. We should always take some time to completely describe the problem environment, including the historical mindset, its present understanding, all corresponding intentions, and biological health information. Confirm that we are operating within an environment that even can be support us, or that, conversely, we can give support to, as many problems can be explained by discovering understandings and agendas that are not meant to run together, or have not previously been successfully used together.

When Does The Problem Happen?

Developing a detailed time line of events leading up to a failure is another necessary step in problem analysis, especially for those cases that are one-time occurrences. We can most easily do this by working backwards –start at the time an error was reported (as exact as possible, perhaps using the timeline approach), and work backwards through available memory and history. Usually we only have to look as far as the latest event that we have experienced conflict or despair, however, this is not always easy to do and will only come with practice. Knowing when to stop is especially difficult when there are potentially multiple layers of dysfunction, each with its own diagnostic information. The intersection of society with the individual always creates multiple layers of interaction and mutual expectations, with the potential for far more “failures” than “successes”.

• Does the problem only happen at a certain period of one’s life?
• How often does it happen?
• What sequence of events leads up to the time the problem is reported?
• Does the problem happen after an environment change such as after creating new friendships, getting another job, or moving to a new neighborhood?

Responding to questions like this will help us create a detailed time line of events, and will provide us with a frame of reference in which to investigate.

Under Which Conditions Does The Problem Happen?

Knowing what else is happening at the time of a problem is important for any complete problem description. If a problem occurs in a certain environment or under certain conditions, that can be a key indicator of the problem cause.

• Does the problem always occur when performing the same task?
• Does a certain sequence of events need to occur for the problem to surface?
• Do other aspects of our lives fail at the same time?

Answering these types of questions will help us to explain the environment in which the problem occurs, and correlate any dependencies. Remember that just because multiple problems might have occurred around the same time, it does not necessarily mean that they are always related.

Is The Problem Reproducible?

From a problem description and investigation standpoint, the “ideal” problem is one that is reproducible. With reproducible problems we almost always have a larger set of tools or procedures available to use to help our investigation. Consequently, reproducible problems are usually easier to debug and solve. One would assume that with the prevalence of mental illness, alcoholism, toxic masculinity, violence, and racism, and how universally recognized and easily these dysfunctions are reproducible in all other human systems that the solutions would be obvious. Solutions that work on the level of the individual will not necessarily work on the level of the collective, yet the individual’s work has a direct impact upon the collective, which may not be intuitively obvious to all.

Classic troubleshooting techniques

1. Understand the system. …
2. Understand the problem and history. …
3. Eliminate the obvious. …
4. Develop possible causes and theories. …
5. Eliminate causes, start with what is easy, or likely. …
6. Validate and document the solution.