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Ericka's Bench 10/24/97

Rikkity: “It’s Ericka’s Bench. Today, 3 nobodies and a has-been. So the initials won’t mean much, but one is good for a laugh, one is an acronym, and one is a number, and one is nothing. So here goes. First, let’s welcome ESP.”

ESP:

"We all vie for this honor... or bribe for this honor... or whine for this honor. I did all three. We are all friends of Rikkity. She has so many. She has asked me to speak about what I learned and remembered.

“It is said that God is in the details, but I want to suggest that the devil is also in the details. You see, the spiritual energy of All is contained in All, but an obsession with detail as if it were the All is not good. So when we listen and hear only the grammar but not the message, it's the devil not God who is our leader. Just like the people who find fault so they can feel hurt, when there is overall much that is faultless, detail thinking can plague us.

"One of the signs that a person is making progress of the spirit is that they can let go of details--not to get sloppy or let them slide, but to know them only as elements of a grander and more important picture.

"As she would say, and often does, ponder this.” (10/24/97 - W#75)

Rikkity: “And now, my good friend NBC.”

NBC:

"Are you laughing at my initials. Always gets a laugh.

“So, I want to talk about vision--not eyeglasses. But this is it: Vision is never true when it is objectified. To say, 'I envision the wall by the highway,' that is not vision; to say, 'I envision peace and quiet,' that is vision. You envision fuzzy things, not discrete ones. So when the politicians speak of vision but fill their talk with specifics, there is no vision. Vision always--and only--invites one to glimpse what is beyond the horizon of sight and then suggest a direction to take, along which the unseen but hoped for becomes visible. It is always about daring to leave, not about arriving. And your world sorely lacks vision at this time--but not for long, as you know.

"But to build on ESP, don't think in details; don't give in to discussing them. There are always arguments against any detail but no arguments against a compelling vision. If it can be persuasive only after debate it ain't vision, babes. So as you spin out the visions you have and will have, remember the people need leaders with the courage to start out without the assurance of all the details, and they need leaders willing to head for what is compelling, not just what is logical or factual or completely safe because it is known. If you can supply all the details then nothing is visionary because it all already is. Big point: if you seek the 'not-yet' but use the 'already,' you get nowhere other than where you've been. When I first realized this, it was like wham... duh.

"Vision is all about faith, and requires a leap of faith. And it requires a belief that what is yet to be is good and desirable. But if it flows from the source of all being, which is synonymous with us and All and goodness, then faith should give us hope--and love of course, love. So get down by that pond. Bye." (10/24/97 - W#76)

Rikkity: “And now, TWO.”

TWO:

"Greetings. Here's another insight into what you are calling Spiritual Persistence. As an entity becomes more filled and fulfilled it not only changes in the whole but also in its parts. So, think of yourselves. You are an amalgam of other spiritual energies of less complex nature. As you pass through your lives you change, you learn and remember, and so do each and all of your constituent parts. By the time you will be ready to combine into a new entity of greater complexity, your constituent parts will not be the same as when you started, and the bonds between them will be more solid. That's why a first-timer can be disassembled, and sometimes a second or maybe third, but by then the parts have changed and the bonds become intense, and the new entity is not just a proposal but a reality.

"So, as you go back in lives you will not always recognize parts of you because that's not you anymore and, except at the basic level of entity creation, spiritual matter is not interchangeable. 'Unique' is the word for it, until all the unique paths over all the levels become one in the One That is All. Without that uniqueness the All would end up with many duplicate parts... and we can't have that, can we!

"So I’m going, as she says.” (10/24/97 - W#77)

Rikkity: “And now our last guest, NIL.”

NIL:

"Hello. If I said I had nothing to say, what would you say. But no, I have something very important to say. Actually, NIL is just my nickname.

"One of the greatest learnings we can remember is this: It's ok to not know everything; it's ok to have gaps in the development of your vision; it's ok to say, 'I don't know.' Better to have gaps than false fake fillers. People seem to want to have it all explained beforehand, but so often the details can't be separated from the doing.

"I give you an analogy: Daniel Boone--a good friend, by the way--talked to people about heading West. Some people heard his vision and said ok, but some wanted all the details of what the trip would be like. Now, he had a choice. He could have spun out a tale about what it would be like, or he could just say, 'I don't know.' A tale could have produced disappointment and frustration if reality had been different, so he said, 'I don't know.' But he added, 'I know we bring skills to the journey, and courage and ingenuity and creativity and perseverance, so it doesn't matter what we encounter.' And some went with him and some didn't. So it goes. But if he had tried to give them all the details it wouldn't have worked, for some would have gone and rebelled at the first obstacle uncharted, and others wouldn't have been up to the challenges.

"It is clearly foolish to describe a path never taken before as if one knew the realities. There is more you can say about driving to Richmond on I-64 than you can say about transversing the surface of Mars, or any part of the future. Nothing is not the absence of possibility; it is the absence of certainty and experience--and the fountain of possibility. There is much more possibility in what is not yet known than what is already known. So why tie yourself to the limits of the known for fear of the gaps. And so I embrace my moniker, NIL. Goodbye." (10/24/97 - W#78)

Rikkity: “And that’s the show. We’re running a little late. But just these words: ‘hang by,’ ‘write.’ Papa’s in the audience. He said it was too ponderous for him. UTV.”

"A few thoughts for today about energy. It is true that we can energize others, and we need to be careful and discriminating about how and where to send our energy. Black holes can suck us dry. But if we retreat and send none, then those in need will be left bereft. So it's almost like electricity. If you take a wire with electricity from your home and touch it to ground, it will let vast quantities of energy flow into the earth (and you'll get a big bill) until all your resources are gone... bye-bye, sayonara, ta-ta, brokeski. But if you put a fuse on the line, that can't happen. But it also means any contact with earth will cut the circuit. With some situations you need a fuse; if the energy flow is too much, just shut down. But in most cases you have an option: put something between you and ground that will use the energy to good effect. When you turn on a light, that's what you do.

"So, between people you need to establish what will be energized; and it won't be them, but something between you and them. And it has to be of sufficient load that it uses the energy before it gets through to them. All good relationships have this feature--that what flows creates something between the two, appropriate to the intensity and power of what goes in. You can't light a regular bulb with a C-cell, and if you try to light the same bulb with a high-tension line, POOF. The relationship and the energy need to be in an equal relationship.

"Fuses keep you from giving too much, and even receiving too much. And they also serve to keep you from amassing too many little relationships whose sum total exceeds your capacity to give or deal with. Fuses are the boundaries we choose in relationships. Without them we are either fried or enervated. There is no one standard of emotional fuses. Each relationship requires its own ongoing calculation. If you fear black holes you will create inappropriate fuses. Life is about using and controlling energy, not about abusing or denying it. That's all." (11/17/97 - R#18)

"Only when you give up previous notions can new ones take their place, and the drugs of the '60s didn't open up anything new--just distortions of previous reality. And that's why it never really went anywhere--looking backwards again, not forward. A stitch in time only saves 7.4. The essence of freedom is vision, not choice. Liberty is only a relative concept." (11/28/97 - Y#20)

"Let's talk about conjunction of the planets. They are in the same area of the sky, so you can concentrate on them together. It's your perception that is heightened, not anything in them. Mystical moments are more about heightened awareness than concentrated energy. We perceive them as special, but it's really us... or we... who are special in those moments.

"There is nothing special really; it all just is. But when we open ourselves, WHAM there it is." (12/3/97 - I#12)

Ericka's Bench 12/5/97

Announcer: “And so, that ends today’s show. Bye. Stay tuned for Ericka’s Bench. Da da da da da da UTV.

Rikkity: “Hi, it’s my Bench. And hi to all our listeners, and the few viewers. But they need the deluxe converter brain.

“So, today, an action-packed thriller of the old West... no, that’s the movie. How about a meaning-packed dullard of the old times. So, let’s get rolling. Here’s a person who needs no introduction.”

GW:

"Hello, good friends. I am well, and vexed. It is the problem of image as opposed to personality. Now, I will be the first to admit that I, humble person, did make mistakes and err. I was no more or less human than any of my time. When later they honored me with my name on this or that, I took it as a symbol of that which I represented--not of myself. People wanted to remember the spirit of revolution, of beginnings, of courage; I was just a convenient figure-head of such. But now they want to take down my name because I wasn't perfect; but what that naming stood for was visionary. And what they do is substitute another name, now viewed as more perfect; but what of another century, when time and society shall view those in their imperfection. Do we abandon Socrates, Jesus, the Buddha, or any because they were products of their time. Better to call it 'P.S. 34' than to make a succession of names once glorious and now tarnished in hindsight.

"And there is also the fallacious notion that to focus on the present and reject the past is the same as envisioning the future. But what if we leave my friend Mr. Jefferson with all his monuments, but acknowledge that he was human--made choices we have learned not to make. Can't he serve as historic example as well as testament to our human growth. You have no God, so you create gods--but you know they aren't.

"And I also suggest this to those who wish to rename: don't build through destruction. If you want something that bears honor to one of your choosing, then build it yourself. What is happening here is no better than what happened in Russia at the Revolution, when great art was destroyed. Don't tear down, build up. I would be proud to have a school named for me with a brand new auditorium attached named for Malcolm X. Such synthesis would tell the real American story. So I take leave of the good company." (12/5/97 - W#79)

Rikkity: “And now, here’s someone who needs lots of introduction.”

BT:

"I will speak about myself. I was an adventurer. I left St. Louis in '48 for California. I hoped for gold. And then I caught a clipper for the Orient. I lived 20 years among the Asians. I was short and fit in.

"That was amazing. I learned more about myself than about them. And this is what I learned: that some cultures invite you to learn about yourself, and others about them. And it is strange that in America, where the emphasis is on the individual, the ethos is on learning the culture--there is a constant tension. And yet in communal societies there is often a drive to self-awareness. In seeking balance we humans often glorify the opposites of the prevailing ethos. But I ask you to envision a culture that invites both and all. It is already but not yet. I leave you this assignment." (12/5/97 - W#80)

Rikkity: “And here’s someone who can’t be introduced because you know him.”

Papa:

"Hi, babe. I want you to hear about something I learned. Don't get caught in patterns like Hazel and I did. I'm not saying just one of us could change it, but don't get stuck. And remember, your thumbs are your best assets. Try doing things without them.

"What I mean is this: that a little friendly opposition is necessary to progress. Without opposing thumbs we couldn't do a lot we have. They are part of a set. And is it the thumb that opposes, or the fingers. Doesn't matter. You need both...and a beach chair."

“She says, ‘Bye, Papa. Now. I mean it.’ " (12/5/97 - W#81)

Rikkity: “And just one more word: ‘With or without.’ And she’s out of here.

"So, that’s the show. Keep a stiff upper lip and when you pout no one will tell. UTV”

Ericka's Bench 12/12/97

Announcer: “And hi to all those just joining us. Today we discuss artichokes: appetizers or main dish. Plus wine choices for use with candy. Those of you expecting Ericka’s Bench should tune to Channel 475. Now, the Artichoke Lady.”

Rikkity: “And welcome to the Bench. Technical problems... don’t ask. Grubby cooking woman took over. So I said to her, ‘How come if you can cook so good, you’ve been single for 3 lives,’ and POOF I’m on 475. Must have friends in high places. How strange is it?

“Today we welcome a person and a person and another person, and then goodbye. Let’s put our wings together for our great friend, TJ.”

TJ:

"And a good morning to you all. Rikkity has asked me to speak about community and vision. You wondered about how the colonies could arise as one mass against the yoke of Britain. We had two powerful agents: community and vision.

"Too often people believe that community is based on proximity. We are in community, they say, with those around us. But I ask you to consider your own experience. Have you not seen a Greek, for example, who meets for the first time another Greek. They live miles apart, but they sense community. This is because community is different from society and culture. Community is that circle in which we eat or partake in common, but it need not be just those at our table. My brothers in Connecticut tasted the same meal of fraud and oppression as I. If I were to travel as a blind man within these colonies, I would scarce know where I was but for the accents--the meat of the conversations being so much in common. We always need to sense the largest community of which we are a part; and if we look only to those at our table, we will have neglected the larger good.

"But no community ever really exists without vision. A group going nowhere or backwards is but a mob; a group going forward is a community, for a real community is always about growth, development, and ideals. Communities that seek the status quo, they are prisons, not communities--prisons of souls.

"And I am told I am done. But I say ‘I may be done but I am rare.’ Even she is laughing. And a good holiday season to you, whatever be your holiday or season." (12/12/97 - W#82)

Rikkity: “And now, moving right along, it’s PP... or MK... or nutso. Make that peanutso with butter.”

Papa:

"So, what do you think of that TJ. I think his genius is that he says big words and big thoughts but even little people in little lives can understand. That's always the way with vision. It is almost self-evident, just needing a little illumination. I always thought that about Judaism. The first 2 books of the Torah stated some big ideas in ways for little people. They should have stopped there. Then they began to deal with little ideas, and poof--it's all nothing. It was no longer visionary.

"So, too, with what our darling Ericka is sharing. It is elegant and grand and o so simple, even little thinkers can get it. So a word of advice from your Dad--if you are not too old to take it. Don't make it fancy or complicated. Its beauty is in its elegant simplicity.

“She says to say goodbye and go. So I will. Write if you get work. 10-4." (12/12/97 - W#83)

Rikkity: “And now, a final guest and new to the Bench, VY.”

VY:

"Hello. I was involved with music once. I was an organist many years ago--or will you understand, many lives ago. And I had the honor of premiering one work for organ by Mr. Bach. Not one of his biggest hits, a simple choral prelude. Never met him. It was a commission work.

"But this is what I have to say: Don't think that all learning and remembering is about ideas. It is also about people. We take into our vision of self those others who we learn from. Over many lives we do indeed become more fully ourselves, and we also become others in this sense. When we can finally connect and evolve, it is because we have become whole as ourselves and complex as an image of those who have given us the wisdom we remember. The most highly evolved people not yet gone on are always those who seem startlingly themselves and also universally appealing or open. Many feel they can connect to them for this reason. And that's all I have to say." (12/12/97 - W#84)

Rikkity: “And so that’s the show. UTV.”

"Now about Saddam Hussein. Take the guy out to lunch at the Yale Club. That's enough. Stop making him into a villain and a martyr. Be good to his people and undermine him. Focus on them, not him. They aren't bad. He can't preach about their oppression if they ain't oppressed." (12/16/97 - R#19)

"You keep wanting to know where the road leads, but the road only leads somewhere for those in transit, not those in arrival. If you found out the ending, you'd be there, and where you were would be the end. So don't seek that, unless you are ready to stop and let all Creation pass you by on its flow to its evolved self. Hint: Fossils know exactly what they are and where they are." (12/30/97 - V#26)

"Do spirits have to have a physical existence in order to evolve? Sure. There is something to be learned and remembered about being physical in this way in this level... or not." (1/5/98 - Y#21)

"First-timers take up more room. They are like the psychic equivalent of fat people who have no body sense; it just hangs out all over. Tuck that ego in. By the time we are filled and filed and fulfilled, we take up little psychic space, but are dense cores of meaning, polished like a psychic gem." (1/9/98 - V#27)

LD:

"What I want to talk about today is fashion--as in things coming into and going out of fashion. By the end of my life, I was out of fashion in Italy. Too often we measure an idea or tradition by how fashionable it is. One of your religious leaders spoke of the transient and the permanent; that is an apt phrase, and it has nothing to do with fashion. The test we need to take is one of permanence, even as we know that true permanence is eternally fleeting. But in our own small time it is not, and so we ask about what endures. For example, there are new experiences that transcend the ages. They are permanent. There are others which have reign for a span of years and are transient.

"Always look for what endures beneath, beyond, within the present moment. I speak as well to now as then because I did this. And it cost me favor and temporal permanence, but that is not a worry. When you travel with the permanent there are no real problems, just what she calls 'hassles.' If you travel the contemporary road only, you will have many troubles which will seemingly have no permanent relief. In other words, if you want to be in this for the long haul, then choose a path that has longevity. And, I must add, Christianity does not yet have longevity. It is as much about current fashion as about permanence.

"The universality of the human experience tells of permanence. That's the best measure. Talk to a bushman about contemporary art and you two will have little to say to each other. Talk with him about dreams and the conversation has no end." (1/9/98 - W#85)

Papa:

"Wait, LD is trying to say something. Huh. Ok. He says, 'First-timers have no sense of which is which. It takes time to understand time; and when you do, you realize it has no intrinsic value but it carries within its strands continuity, and hence permanence.' I hope you know what he meant.

"Time: it's about 11 inches by 9 inches and comes out weekly. But in its pages everything is there at the same time at the time you read it. So when do those events happen for you. Say there is an article on hummm...coin dealing. One person reads the article and the next day uses the insights in a deal. Another completes a deal, then reads the article and has a better understanding of what went on. Which is the real sequence in time. It's different for everyone, and our collective notion of time is just a majority agreement. 30 seconds or 18 hours--who decides. And she does, so I leave." (1/9/98 - W#86)

"One of the problems of most education is that it demands accumulation of fact, but little time to digest. If one is to learn and remember, one must have time to digest and assimilate and incorporate." (1/13/98 - Y#22)

"People want spiritual insights, but not what they see as weirdness. A solid base in the mainstream is the best place to broach revolution; you are one of them. He was just a carpenter. If he had been a seer or the like, he would have been dismissed. Buddha had to go and be common before he could be heard. And I had to go to Yale before I could be herd (the many faces of Moo). So, that's it." (1/17/98 - I#13)

"That vision you had about us in France. Secret... shhhh... they will find out. Do you remember how Alphonse had us working 20 hours a day for weeks to get our hands as rough as workers' would be. Talk about blood, sweat, and tears. It was worth it.

"You were nicer after brother left. I think you were jealous of him. Thinking about it makes me sad. Tragedy. When you go back, you will be able to remove the veil of tears and redeem our joy. The secrets will be revealed." (2/1/98 - W#87)

Ericka's Bench 2/19/98

Rikkity: “UTV. Hi and welcome to my Bench. And what a show we’ve got for you: 4 visitors from the Great Beyond. So, let’s start off with a man who needs no introduction.”

GW:

"Hello, fellow citizens. Now I must become a bit contemporary. We were vexed as subjects for many years, and we attempted to deal with the situation on a peaceful level. I would rather have continued that way, but our brothers in the Bay Colonies would not have it so. So the tide was turned, but there was not a night from then on that I did not consider how many lives on both sides were lost that might have been saved if we had been resolute in our quiet resolution.

"In your own time, do not too hastily move to violence lest your sleep be as disturbed as mine. I have made my peace with it, but I think there is an issue for the nation. Shall we be a nation of war or of peace. In times of peace it is easily done, but in times of conflict the ease drops away and real courage is needed; and real courage is the courage of peace, not arms--especially as you have arms today."

"I have little else to say, but I commend your attention to this kind companion of mine.” (2/19/98 - W#88)

MW:

"Hello. GW is quite the talker, is he not. Like all men. They have many words, but only a few have any that matter. So, better to have those worthless words kept in the company of ale than in the parlor of kind affection. But I would say to him, 'Talk all you want with all you desire at the inn, but in this house let them be just the genteel folks with manners of talk and custom.' He said he did. But this I learned: that the quiet words of privacy are often that much deeper than those said in public. So I do believe the general and I heard more wisdom over tea than was ever spoken in either the inn or tavern or Congress--unless Mr. Jefferson was speaking.

"But I tell you this sincerely, that the truest conversations were those in my own heart. Encouraged by the Gospels, I found my own counsel as worthy as any I heard elsewhere. It was a necessity in a time when everyone was shouting. I am now aware of an even quieter communication.

“She is making those gestures, so I bid you adieu." (2/19/98 - W#89)

Rikkity: “And now we move to the great warrior of North Africa.”

Papa:

"Hi, babe. Hi, Randy. They are graced by my presence. Here, we who are not first- or second- or third-timers are all equals. Makes it easier.

"You know, it can be wonderful when it's dull. People mistake activity for pleasure; you mistake pleasure for activity. Everyone here is well and dead.

“And now I get to introduce another guest. She said I could if I kept it short, which reminds me.... You should see her face. Here’s WH." (2/19/98 - W#90)

WH:

"Hello. I never was educated much or had a position, but I learned and remembered this: Everyone must have a sense of connection, and also a sense of becoming, and also a sense of hope. Then, whatever is achieved is fulfillment because it is a link between Earth and Heaven and all the spirits therein. So, if you do not feel connected and hopeful and grounded and full of dreams, why not. It's that simple. She says you should ponder that, and that I should go. So ponder and bye-bye." (2/19/98 - W#91)

Rikkity: “Well, that’s the show, folks. And have fun. UTV.”

"There is a great human penchant for jumping to the most recent or advanced, and not attending to the basics." (2/26/98 - Y#23)

"You always see through a glass darkly. You can't be sure, but if you think you are absolutely right, that's a good sign you're not. Questions, not answers. And don't forget to dance." (3/1/98 - I#14)

"Pondering takes your time. Call it a Point to Ponder, so it's not given as truth, but as a point to ponder. You know, truth never has to be proven and/or forced. Just reveal it and they will come. If you toss out enough tasty tidbits, they will eventually want a whole meal." (3/1/98 - V#28)

"Let people find their own channels. Will it really help if they can't or won't connect on their own. It's universal, not special--even if the openness is not universal. Which is better, a 10-year-old who can read, or one who is read to. Ponder that. In proper spiritual development they can, so maybe it's not their time yet." (3/23/98 - I#15)

"About this fashionable spiritual crap. People find it compelling because it's simple, like many of them. So they use the least common denominator terms that they hope will speak to many but confuse or trouble few. But that's not the path to growth.

"You know, in the middle of the night you want an easy and clear path to the bathroom. But if you want to explore and grow, you have to break away from easy and simple. So don't condemn them, but offer a larger vision. That's all. And remember, ice cream is better than mush." (3/27/98 - Y#24)

"How sharp the cutting edge is. For lo, it shall cut away the fat and lay bare the truth and cause the known to be forgotten and the unseen seen... as in, if you aren't cutting a path to the future, you're history. The basic question is always the same: Was fulfillment in the past from which we have dissembled, or is fulfillment in the future which is yet to be assembled. Hey, the parts are in stock; just put them together." (4/19/98 - V#29)

"About the world peace prayer experiment. It's worth a try if it gets people off the streets. Look, the sum total of energy is always the same. So, if you want to think you can focus it, ok, but it's more about you doing your thing than about the universe doing your thing. And do you think that the concerted spiritual efforts of less than 1% of these middling spiritual beings will make more than a ripple. But hey, who knows. You've gotta start somewhere. But remember, the point is to fulfill these universal destinies, or to bring to fulfillment these streams of meaning, not manipulate the system.

"Does it make sense that people with admittedly poor vision of spiritual reality should be the ones to shape the outcome. It would be like McDonald's gourmets designing the menu and recipes for the Jules Verne. If all of them got together at the same moment and place, all they'd get would be burgers and fries. Very good burgers and fries, but burgers and fries nonetheless. It's like the best French restaurants in Iowa. So have fun. Have fun storming reality. And it'll keep you off the street.

"People always want to trade in personal change and responsibility for mass movements. But it's not about masses, it's about molding and shaping and filling your own self. The strongest structures are always built of the strongest individual elements. Otherwise, their structure's compromised for the weaknesses. Compensation is not a good way to build, as any first-timer who could understand this would know... but they can't. They find a way to hold it together, but at what price. Thought for the day. That's it." (4/23/98 - V#30)

Papa:

"I was looking good [when you saw me at the beach], was I not--and younger. If only we could turn back time. We can play act at reliving events, but not real. We come back over to do it again, and hopefully better. Who knows. When we play act it seems real, but we know everyone else is acting." (4/28/98 - W#92)

"Think of it like this: You have one wastebasket, and when you look in you see there is some trash and also some garbage. So you yell, 'Who put this garbage in here.' But wait... the can is not labeled. But if it were labeled Trash, No Garbage, then probably you would get only trash. And if you got garbage, you would have no trouble dealing with it and the offender." (5/13/98 - R#20)

"Clarify, think, cajole, but not argue or debate or defend. If someone says they doubt it, just say, 'Well, maybe you are right... or not.' We have nothing to prove, lots to give. This is not... I repeat, not... a crusade. It's a loving offer. And such an approach will be startlingly new to many--scary, off-putting. But that's the paradigm we are sharing, so we better be it, too." (5/13/98 - Y#25)

"Don't reduce it to words. One of the problems of many people is they feel they have to put words to insights, visions, and feelings. And if they do, they reduce the insights, visions, and feelings to words, and lose something in the translation. So maybe they should be tools, not answers." (5/13/98 - I#16)

"One thing about Korea and Vietnam is that we have generally let go of it; but WWII we had to keep hearing about. It was because it so focused on negative energies, and those people are still feeding it. They don't know any positive direction that is as compelling. And they got their rewards in the '50s from surviving the '40s. And now we have to hear it all here... but not for long." (5/16/98 - R#21)

Marky:

"Those stupid British soldiers with those beavers for heads. Short blokes with rodent brains. Stout not wine, gristle not meat, juices not sauces, and no candies... pies and fruitcakes. The national symbol: fruitcakes. Full of nuts. Tea they call 'cuppa' and dinner they call 'tea.' But wait, we have 'lunch,' but before that we have a 'little lunch.' Go figure. So who knows. But their biggest problem is not that they have quirks, but that they believe that their quirks are norms--not just for them, but everyone.

"One should always remember it is alright to have one's own peculiarities if one knows them as one's own, not as universals. Here's the point: matters of taste are never universal; customs neither. The definition of each is their lack of universality. So, we French want France to be French, but who cares about the rest of the barbarians. When we travel we enjoy what we find, while others enjoy what they take along. Can't learn or remember much from the latter.

"And so I take leave of you, your humble and always wise servant. Beware any who ask you to be spiritual in earthly ways. Get it. Here you play by our rules or you don't play. Au revoir." (6/6/98 - W#93)

Celeste:

"Good afternoon, or morning, or evening. I've lost track of time. And you know I was a tea lady, but what you don't know is why. Actually, I was a professor at a women's college when the war broke out. Soon I was finding myself too often at the depot with one of my young ladies who was there to receive her young man again on stretcher or crutches or bier. I held their hands and took them in for tea. And then I looked around and saw the tearoom filled with strangers, and I knew they all needed to connect. So when my own Willie didn't come home, I signed on part-time at the tearoom. I found too many who ordered tea but wanted life, so I was there to speak of life and trust and understanding and faith. I spoke of half-filled cups overflowing with memories and love. Many a cup turned salty with our tears. And I learned so much and remember it so well. I was blessed.

"Here's my point: we all have much we can do and something we must do and, often, something we have to do. Do what you have to and do what you can, but never--no, never--forsake that which you must. It is the stuff of heart and soul, of saint and seer, of universal and eternal. And often it's over a cup of tea or a quiet drink or a sit at sundown. It often is in the ordinary, not the therapeutic or the counsel or the solemn. I have said enough. Goodbye."

Rikkity: "So, was that a surprise. Don't judge a tea lady by her job." (6/6/98 - W#94)

"You know, the percentage of tea ladies who are wacko is the same as the bishops who are wacko. And so, too, for teachers and presidents and dog catchers. So it's a universal percentage, since spiritual persistence is not about trade or station, but about character and soul. That's where Hinduism gets it wrong. They think the hierarchy is played out in this life, but this life is just one level. No class is better than others. A lowly slave could have been born a prince.

"So remember that some of the Protestants were right: There are no outward signs of development. What appears to be a simple life could just as easily be a final bit of work on a highly evolved spirit. Is washing the piece of marble the beginning or the end of creating the sculpture--both humble acts. Hey, ya never know, duz you. Which was closer to fulfillment, Pharaoh or Moses. The Egyptians thought Pharaoh was either God or close to it, but was he. Ponder. That's enough, and it's sufficient." (6/9/98 - V#31)

"A question: Certs, breath mint or candy mint; light beer, great taste or less filling; zebra, black stripes or white stripes. If you have something that is beyond your comprehension but it is alluded to by 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 models, which is right. All or none, it doesn't matter. Another way of saying it: John starts from L.A. to walk to the Atlantic, Jimmy starts in San Francisco, and José starts in Seattle. Then one of them arrives in Jacksonville; one in Cape Henry; and one in Portland, Maine. Which took the right route. All or none. When you hear what I say, and think about it, it is still only an approximation and a symbol of the whole. So, often you are both right. But when you seek a single solution, none are right.

"Here's a clue... shhhhh... the next level is more complex than this. If you could understand it, you'd already be there or it wouldn't be more complex. So look for the hints, sense the feelings of meaning, know words as mere guesses, and the truth will appear under the tent of the heavens. God, I sound like Gibran. He's cool. And he's dead. Most people are, except first-timers. Think about it. Only first-timers at this level have not been dead. So, there's some stuff to ponder.

"When people want you to make it concrete, they are asking you to make the next level in this one's terms. Can't do it. Hints, signs, symbols, yes, but not facts, figures, details.

"Here's a theological one for you. Now, if this level is a building block of the next, then some of this is reflected in the next. But, as Einstein taught us, we can't tell which way things are going... and it doesn't take a weatherman to tell which way the wind is blowing. But seriously, looking at two adjacent levels, you can't tell if one is the combination of the other or if one is the dissolution of the other. Are we the previous or future level. You can't tell by looking. That's why you need guides, ha. But in this relativistic sense, we are made in the image of the next level, just as the next level is composed of us. Genesis got it right, but nothing that followed from that has. So ponder this. Go ponder. Go. Ponder. But the clue is that if you see it this way, there is motion toward good, wholeness, and fulfillment; and who wants to embrace the other. Go." (6/13/98 - V#32)

"There are just as many smart people there, too. Think about this. Everyone here will, after being here, be there, so you get the benefits. And when someone is ready to move on from there, they don't come here. So if you take the integral of smartness there and here, it is larger there than here. It's just that we have so many more in total, and we know what we know, while you people don't know what you know... you know... no... huh. It's all there and here." (6/16/98 - V#33)

TL:

"Rikkity hasn't changed, no, but yes. It's the same old story: nothing lost but much enhanced. Remember, almost all of what you think of as bad in your world is a lack of something, not the presence of something. So when the void is filled, you lose nothing--literally--and gain something and are enhanced. And now I will go." (6/16/98 - W#95)

"Question: Evil: Systemic quality or situational reality? I can't tell from the great and mighty Rikkity which it is.

"What appears as a continuity of evil is not. It is not a force. It is the situational occurrence of unstable combinations of spiritual energy. It comes and goes. There are few examples of specific atrocities that are the same. People are as inventive with bad as they are with creativity. If there were a continuity of evil it would be the same... not, as it is said, 'rearing its ugly head' in new and pernicious ways. But there appears to be similarity because in the human sphere there are only so many ways that energy sucking seems to manifest itself. So now we use guns and then we used arrows, but both were used to compensate for a feeling of intense need for energy and power.

"It is actually the opposite. If we think of evil as systemic then we spend and focus energy on something that is not real, and that is a form of evil itself. To use energy that could be positive to fill the energy needs of a phantom energy drain is to waste goodness. Let me be specific: Crusades. There was no evil in the Holy Land. Islam is not evil--no more evil than any religion that has grown beyond its spiritual foundation, but it was not specifically evil. But the Crusades spent a lot of energy against supposed evil, and all the energy was wasted with death and suffering while at home people starved. To treat situational badness as evil is as bad as ignoring the situational badness. Both refocus energy in less than good ways. If energy is not focused on connection and connecting it is no better than what it seeks to address." (7/2/98 - R#22)

"Question: How can you say that spirits come back with all they have learned and remembered, when children seem so helpless, clueless, and needing support to grow up? And the answer is 85... no, that's the speed of the train to Philadelphia. This one is:

"There's a big difference between physical growth and spiritual growth. The bodies that house us do need nurture; they are organisms. But our spirits do not need the same. Yes, some children arrive helpless and clueless spiritually (first-timers), but who has ever been a parent without sensing, almost at birth, that there is already personality there that is not the result of nurture or genetics. Some children are born so-called old beings. Not that they are smarter, but that they are wiser--more focused, more fulfilled, more showing a sense of what and who they are.

"In this life, we can nurture our children's bodies, make a safe and open environment for their spirits, and recognize that we and they alike are traveling our paths. And it is not that we are further along, it is just that this time we got back here first. And that mutual need for and to nurture and support, is one more evidence of our connection. So look deep, and you will sense this truth. And if it were not so, how do you explain child prodigies. It came from somewhere beyond." (7/2/98 - V#34)

Great-grandma Harry:

"So, how you been. Tell me about it--or better don't. I travel and meet the greatest people. I'm dapper. I know how to dress: wingtips, tweed, and the tie and matching handkerchief, and hat--felt, brown with a rakish feather, red. I am happy. It's great, but no market for medical goods. But who needs work.

"I befriend those who are on the road but alone. That is, those who have no contact here nor back there. Some there be who travel the heavens alone but star in their own galaxy, which I help them see. Some recently, and some long dead. And I must go. I go and come." (7/15/98 - W#96)

"Just as in Earthly life, there really are no levels; it is a level, and this place is of the same level. If we had different levels, how would we make the connections we need. We might never meet the one we need. Levels are about differences. And class, all together now, 'You can make it if you focus on connections, not differences.' At the next developmental complexity pattern, it's just one level, too." (7/18/98 - V#35)

"A few thoughts from the eternal Moo. Does meaning increase with the increase of spiritual complexity. No. We always have the potential to find 100% of the daily recommended... no, 100% of the meaning applicable to any level we are in. And while it might seem like a hierarchy, it is not. The meaning that applies at the simplest level unlocks the universe as well as the most sublime. When we reach greater complexity we hold, and have to hold, all that is us.

"It would be like asking, 'Which is more meaningful, 2 + 2 = 4 or a² + 3a - 12 = 15.' They both have equal meaning, and you can't get the more complex without the other. So don't get proud about how much meaning you've discerned. It ain't better than any other level, and it ain't worse. It just is.

"So the question always becomes, 'Do you find this meaningful. If so, how.' And there are no grades. It's like the stupid teachers in middle school who would ask, 'What do you think about this,' and then try to give it a grade. Hey, it's what I was thinking about it. Go for the meaning, and by that I mean personal meaning." (7/28/98 - V#36)

Lenny:

"So how's it going. So look, I got a great deal for you. You could use a new TV. Only $100 for 32-inch. In the original carton. Factory-sealed overstock. No damage. Brand new. I got it at my store at Park and 134th--it's a corner, after 10pm. So maybe $75 and you take 2. So what is it, you don't trust Lenny? She said you fell for everything. So, why do you not trust me and you trust those other dealers and hucks who try to fill your head with garbage. 'Just keep that thought,' she says. I gotta run."

Rikkity: "He's so cute. He's such a dealer. GW will explain. And now, the father of our country--and what a delivery it was." (7/31/98 - W#97)

GW:

"You have met my young acquaintance, Lenny; and you note I don't say friend. But he is full of words, so are so many others. I warn you of this: unless you sanctify your spirit, do not accept the words of such as he.

"Here's what I mean. None of us here would ever suppose to imagine or ordain what the coming age will be like. I can tell you this, however. The coming age will not be built from models that have been or are prescribed, but will arise as the natural consequence of the combined wills of all the beings who shape your world. The human task is to strive for personal fulfillment of spirit, so that the collective spirit may flourish and excel and become fulfilled in itself. If one tries to imagine the forms it will take before they arise naturally, they will be either misled or mistaken or even atrophied. So when a Lenny comes to sell you the future, know that it's not his to give--nor anyone else's--but it is yours and ours and everyone's to create together. Those who have the most complete picture of heaven will probably never see it. So don't be quick to listen to Lenny, or fasten yourself to images and models that do not come from yourself. That is to prejudge.

"But we so long for an answer, we do not hear its eternal chime in the voices of those who join together in the chorus of questions. For the Earth did not spring up from a previous plan, but came forth from the void as the thought-piece of the eternal ones. It was nothing like what had been or been imagined.

"And now I must take a gracious leave of this good company, with warnings that there are Lennys everywhere--even in the spiritual dimension." (7/31/98 - W#98)

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