"It's not the same for
everyone. For some it is given and for others it is
assumed and for some decreed. But all who are called Ruth
are Ruths. If you answer to it then you are Ruth, get it.
And the same for truth. If you answer to it, it is truth
for you. It's a 2-way street... or 3-way, but you
couldn't understand that... or 4-way or 5-way... but
stick with 2, it's more than enough." (3/5/2000 -
Y#44)
At a chat session on Truth:
"Hey guys! I was dancing through the neighborhood
and saw how swirly the energy here was... or was it my
dancing that made it so swirly, ha. So here's
the deal. Who has the truth. Sharon has Sharon's truth,
the preacher dude has preacher dude's truth, cathyjo has
cathyjo's truth, Dancing Leaves has Dancing Leaves'
truth, fang has fang's truth, JudithG has JudithG's
truth, Nixie has Nixie's truth, suwan has suwan's truth,
TF has TF's truth, Mommy has Mommy's truth, I know
everything... not, ha. But
seriously folks, truth is all about from where you sit
and are, it's about your being and what calls you at your
deepest core, it's about the path you are on and not
anyone else's, it's about what it's about to you.
"We waste so much energy trying to convince others
that we have the answers, and when we do that we often
find that we have invested so much in that process that
we build our own traps. We cannot move out of the
structure, the fortress we have built, because to do that
would be to admit defeat (we think) and to negate all the
energy we have put into building that structure. Crash
through those walls! Blow it all to bits! We have no need
of it, for it imprisons our souls and enslaves our
hearts. Keep the doors open. Rest inside in the coolness
of protection for a while if you must, but remember it is
a choice.
"That choice to rest is one that you can make
consciously and with awareness if you understand that
those walls are of your own doing. Move out of them, move
back into them... move forward and backward and around
and through and do-si-do your partner, but always
remember it is your choice. When it ceases to become--or
when you do not recognize it as--your own choice, you
will find yourself mired in your own life. At those
times, ask yourself what is holding you back, and then
move anyway. Any way. Movement is always
preferable to stuckness... yes, so I made that word up.
And now I go, with love and with eternal and perpetual
and o so spiritual motion of the dance. Goodnight."
(3/5/2000 - Y#45)
"So, I foresee we will talk about prophecy. I think
I will have three things to say:
"1. In a web of probable realities, as long as the
prophecy is related to some piece of central reality,
then it will come true somewhere in the web. If you hear
something predicted and say, 'no way,' then it probably
won't happen. But if it sounds at all possible, then
don't think it is wrong if it doesn't happen in your
present perceptual reality. Hey, if it's in your field,
it is still true. Ok, like I say I am going to hit a
triple into right field, but I hit one into left. Still
in your field, ha... not at all coming from left
field. So, that's 1. Prophecy must relate to your field,
but not necessarily your current perspective. Ok...
"2. Many prophecies, once they are in your field,
become self-fulfilling. Why. Because you look for signs
and signals, and unconsciously shape choices in their
direction, and also because you stop looking for further
outcomes once the predicted occurs. So maybe the prophecy
is only a minor step, but you take it as a total omen.
And...
"3. And this could be the hardest of all. The
introduction of an idea into your system alters the
system. 1812: If someone said you could someday travel at
100 mph, that would be a prediction. But the very notion
made its reality possible, so by 1900 it was possible,
and trains could go that fast. It may take time, but that
which is predictable is then possible, but not before.
And now we have many railroad prophecies. They call them
timetables, but they are nothing more than prophecies of
what will occur on any given day, more or less. Once the
field of being admits the possibility, then prophecy
becomes predictive reality. And that's
all I have to say about that.
"Prophets are just people better tuned to the
reality in which they exist, so their visions are more
likely to become realised. Prophets are not connected to
a higher plane, but more connected to this one. And I
mean this one as in, the one in which a
person is. Actually, prophets are specialists
because they can focus the probable here without
the interferences of there. Wackos can't do
that, and they then give off visions that are just wacky.
Their prophecies may be true, but not here. But again,
the test is: Does it become even a little possible in
your thinking, or is it just wacko. It could be possible
in some people's thinking and wacko to others. Aha.
It has to do with your field... or his field or her field
or its field or our field or their field. You think the
Jewish prophets made sense to the Canaanites. I
don't theeenk so.
"And it's not relative. If it were relative, it
would have some relation, but we're talking separation of
specific areas of field here. It is all part of one
field, but not as we can know and understand yet. We
still have separation because we still have gaps of
understanding, and will until our entity is one
with everything. Hold
the mustard." (3/12/2000 - B#31)
Papa:
"You know with all the time in the world, I don't
have time for everything. So I guess there is more for me
to learn. Just a tidbit from us." (3/25/2000 -
W#167)
Elissa and Randy: "Happy Birthday, Papa!
Papa:
"For me? Thanks, I could use more pj's. Light blue
with dark blue piping, and on the pocket, 'Papa.' Of
course, we don't wear them here. We don't wear anything.
We just are. But we can appear to you as if in clothes
because who wants to look at a bunch of naked dead
people. It's not the same kind of naked--spiritual, but
since most of the living don't do spiritual we have to
translate into physical terms. I am no more than an idea,
or a thought, but I do wear pants for you.
"Remember, it is a different way of being... and
how. Sort of like energy, but energy is a physical
concept. Ok, 'engineer Papa' talks. The concept of matter
is clearly physical, but that Einstein guy showed us...
by the way, he was Jewish... that matter and energy are
the same. E = mc˛. So if matter is physical and matter
is energy, then energy is physical. Plus we use physical
means to measure energy. Ok. So what is all this talk
about spirit being of different energy or of different
frequencies. That's still physical talk. People keep
trying to explain the spiritual in physical terms because
they think they understand physical and so then they
would understand spiritual. But noooooo.
"The spiritual is not just an extension of the
physical, or vice versa. It is a different thing
altogether. So, if you are speaking of spirit in physical
terms you are serving your own needs for control but not
getting with the program. Rikkity told you: yes, you can
get it, and when you get it you're out of here. So get
hints yes, glimpses yes, pieces in your experience, and
savor them but don't rationalise them (she said it was
with an 's' because her tommy boyfriends say so). But
don't rationalise it to your physical terms. What is
called 'mystical' is the closest you will get. And that
cannot be described in physical terms, except by the weak
of mind and fright-filled of heart.
"So, when people try to link physical and spiritual
it is always off the mark. Even here we don't get it. But
at least we have the sense not to try that. Here's a
puzzler: In your physical world, holism implies
connection. But there is a holism of spiritual existence
which is based on something other than connection. I have
a sense of it being 'being' in itself, but I don't know.
If I did, I would be out of here.
"Remember, connection is a physical notion, ha.
Every notion you have you translate to physical terms.
Ta-da. That most insightful and complete interpretation
of the spiritual by a group of people living and learning
about being physical and spiritual will necessarily be
wrong... horribly wrong... until they can separate
physical and spiritual, and then who wants physical and
they move on, letting others misexperience this
transition point. When Rikkity talked of us being
infinitely in the middle of the process from aloneness
and total complexity, she meant middle. Here is where the
former emphasis on physical starts to fade before an
emphasis on the spiritual. I gotta go. Here she is with
candles." (4/11/2000 - W#168 )
Rikkity: "Let's all not sing for Papa."
Papa: "Thanks."
Rikkity: "Someday ask a desert dweller to
describe the seashore and she or he will do well with the
beach but not even come close with the sea, and will
mistake the sea bed of sand for the sea--missing the
water's essence completely. O you nomads of the physical
desert who wish to bathe in the sea of a spiritual. With
that, I go to the beach with Papa... his universal beach.
Goodbye." (4/11/2000 - W#169)
"Let's separate brains from spirit. Take a scalpel.
Pull back the anterior lobe and lop it off. Now you have
a brain working at your speed, Mom, blech. But
seriously, does anyone believe that spiritual wholeness
is related to intellect. If so, they can leave now. And
boy, are they in for a surprise in a future life. So, we
know that the spirit is neither a product nor a function
of the brain. Then why the hell do we use brains to try
to describe spirits. All we can do is impose the linear
thought patterns inherent in brains, on something that is
not in the brain.
"There are many concepts that are beyond our
thinking, and to try to think about them with our brains
is stupid. A poor and limited example: Take out an Atlas.
Show him a good time... no no no. But watch out if he
shrugs it all off... aayyeeee,
Earth as yo-yo. Anymoo, take out an atlas, and find the
name of a place you've never heard of. Try not to notice
its country or continent. Ok, now use your brain to try
to describe it... buzzzzz, wrong. If you have
not cognitively experienced it by visit or story or
whatever, you might just as well be guessing. Same with
brain and spirit. And remember, when you've been
somewhere, and come home and try to explain it to someone
who has never been there, you can't really do it. So too,
with brain explanations of spiritual experiences. And in
fact, you do great violence to the spiritual essence to
try to reduce the sublime to the mundane. It's like
describing God with human attributes; easy to do, but
highly demeaning to God, of course, and highly
flattering, but inaccurate, to humans. So hear what
people experience and what it means to them, but don't
make the details physical or intellectual. Brains were
made to think, not to feel in a spiritual way. So that's
that.
"There is a relationship, not connection. There are
always connections, but that word is too simplistic. Connections,
for most, imply physical--like invisible lines
between them. But what if A is related to B, and B is
related to R, and T is related to B. Is A connected to T,
or just related one time removed. Ok, here's a quiz. Your
brother has kids. Your kids and his kids are cousins. But
his wife's brother has kids. Are they cousins to your
kids. Are they related without a genetic connection. Yes,
if you define family to include them. Related, but not
connected. Relationship is spiritual; connection
is physical. And when I first spoke about connections,
you were not ready to sense the difference.
"These concepts will continue to expand, for even
this is a poor version of what will be apparent at a
greater complexity. For example, while life seems very
diverse on Earth, it is still all based on cellular
existence... and I don't mean phones. But what of life
beyond cellular existence. Hey, it's a big universe out
there.
"We use our spirits to understand spirit. Recognize
that you won't get it while you are at this
physically-based level. You are moving there, but not
there yet. Me, neither. Ok, enough. Look, if you take
that atlas place, you know your words don't do it
justice. But if then you say, 'I will give up on it,' you
will never get there. And know you'd have to start
somewhere and be aimed somewhere. The aim may be
inaccurate, but intra-journey course corrections can be
done. You'll never get to the fork 100 miles down the
road unless you start down the road, see. But but but
BUT, remember that whatever symbols or
words you use do not contain the essence. In this
spiritual level, we always see as through
a glass dimly, but that is true of all
spiritual levels until reunion in All That Is. So, don't
give up on trying to express the inexpressible. It points
you in a probable direction. But don't make those
expressions dogma that keep you from seeing new paths and
choices and opportunities along the way. I would be
pissed if someone said 'Rikkity has the truth.' I would
be happy if someone said 'Rikkity opened me to my own
wider vision.' And since you are losing it, I better
go." (4/15/2000 - V#48)
"Hey, let's talk clay. Do you remember playing with
clay. What were the steps... hmmm. Take a small
piece and knead it and massage it and soften it. Then
fashion it and refashion it and refashion it, etc...
always trying to move closer to a real representation of
what you wanted. And in the process, you got very
familiar with both the clay and the object. And then when
you thought it was perfect, you left it to dry. And when
you had stopped working it, it dried and became horribly
hard, or it cracked. It was never as resilient as the
object of the mind.
"Ok. Here we don't do clay, but we do ideas. And you
do, too. And you follow the same process. But clay should
remind you that when you think it is finished or perfect
and you stop working on it, it either hardens or cracks. Hmmm...
ponder that. An idea that is not being kneaded, massaged,
and shaped constantly is like a brittle cracked lump of
dry clay--made viable again only with the waters of life
added to it." (4/19/2000 - Y#46)
Ericka's Bench 5/5/2000
MOP:
"Hello. We have met in another lifetime. Singing and
dancing... in Denmark. It was a great time for singing,
the sky was bright and clear, clear, clear... and all the
stars shone brightly, seeming so near, so near, near...
pirouette.
"I was nobody's mother, and everybody's. In every
social unit there is somebody who does not have children
but is parent to the community. Children are not the
measure of motherhood. Many with children are not
mothers. But I loved all children. I would remember
birthdays and special honors, and even their favorite
songs and dances. When they were small they would come to
me with their cuts and scrapes if home was afar; and
later with problems to solve; and still later with
bravado, and with bits of the heart that needed telling
to one who never spoke against pride. They laughed with
me and cried with me, and I became godparent to many of
their children. At my funeral there were friends from 1
to 90. You see, it is not about age but about caring; and
never seeing oneself as unworthy of respect, but also
never seeing oneself as the center of the world.
"And here's a hint: Those who claim to be selfless
in their devotions are actually the most selfish and
self-centered. You have to be there in selfhood to not
demand the center stage. Good mothering is not about it
being about you... but neither is it an absence of you,
but a relationship. I never gave them anything; just was
myself. They never gave me anything; they were just
themselves. And we were fabulously wealthy. Why do you
think we could sing and dance all day. And by the way, I
was a man. Goodbye." (5/5/2000 - W#170)
Rikkity: "Motherhood is about biology.
Mothering is about being human. And that was not Papa.
This is Papa:
Papa:
"Hi, babe. Let me tell you about mothers. Ouweeee,
what I could say. But as a general rule, this is what I
say, and you can draw your own conclusions... or
contusions. If someone can say of their mother, 'She's a
great person' or 'She's a friend,' that's great. But when
they feel compelled to brag about what a great mother
they are, watch out: incoming bullshit. The given
accolade or the assumed title of 'good mother' is a
warning sign. Now take your mother... please... and her
mother, and her mother's mother and her mother's mother's
mother. All the saints of the Earth... yeah... right. So,
if they were, why did they and their children have to say
so so often. It should have been evident. You only
proclaim what is not evident, and probably not so true.
"So, look, I won't say that I have a great daughter
or a great grandspirit or that I was the world's best
dad... only that we had fun and love and mistakes and
forgiveness. And as for her [your mother], she can keep
on proclaiming her status as 'mother saint, martyr of all
time.' It won't stick, so it has to be reapplied over and
over. Happy M-Day in advance and happy other day <wink
wink>10. She's coming at me with a dog, a mop, and a
bill for school supplies. Goodbye." (5/5/2000 -
W#171)
MW:
"Gracious good day. And I am not a man. But MOP is!
O yes. He's no G, but he's good. Nothing naughty, just
appreciative.
"We have spoken of loss before. There is no one who
has borne a child who does not know loss. Many hide it,
deny it, sanctify it, rationalize it; but it is the
reality. We lose them from womb to world, from
tit--excuse me, but we might have said teat--to table,
from crib to tavern, from childhood to adult. Some to
death and some to distance and some to marriage. And some
we lose by holding so close that we won't lose them, that
we then lose them as growing spirits.
"The lesson of being human and a mother is the
lesson of loss, and still the lesson of life. And even
those without children have a loss--the loss of children
not being. To be the bringers of life means to be the
vessels of loss as well. And how well one deals with one
is how well they deal with the other. Loss and life
intertwine within all women. Gracious good day to you
all. Goodbye." (5/5/2000 - W#172)
Rikkity: "And now, straight from Bournemouth,
here's FS."
FS:
"Allo. Good day. A cuppa? You look like a mother.
Here, sit down. Let me tell you a thing or 2. Hey, quiet
up. I'm speaking to this 'ere lady. Madam, I have 3 wee
ones of my own, though by now they are probably grown
tall and, if lucky, fat.
"I grew up in a home of 11 children. Neither mom nor
dad could say no, so 11. And so I got some schooling, but
not much, and then I began to work. So you see, no fine
education. No manners but no airs. I am just me. And my 3
and I, their father gone in a mine accident, we 4 do ok.
We fight and love and hug, and I am working so they will
finish school and not be trapped behind this 'ere
counter. But I can tell you this: Into this shop come
people of all types--rich, poor, educated, ignorant,
titled, and common. And none of that matters. For the act
of caring is a matter of character, not of station. It is
in you, not learned this time around... like she says,
learned and remembered.
So, don't take the things of your world to be the measure
of a mom. Look into their hearts of hearts, there it will
be. I need say no more. I got other customers. Cream? Of
course, dear. Ta-ta." (5/5/2000 - W#173)
Rikkity: "So there they are... squeak...
not them. So, sing and dance. Don't brag or proclaim.
Know that motherhood is about loss, and living to meaning
beyond it, and that nothing of the world is a measure of
knowing this. Goodbye." (5/5/2000 - W#174)
"Let's talk truth, ok. If this isn't the
Truth with a big T, then is
there a Truth with a big T. Ok, let's unpack
this. If All That Is is made up of all that is, then the
Whole Truth is the sum of all the little truths of all
the little ises. But wait, all the little ises
are in motion spiritually--changing, becoming more
complex. So what was the sum total an hour ago, is not
now. Yet if the process is infinite, then the sum total
is infinite--which is a way of saying it is discrete.
Huh.
"One could argue that the infinite total after
infinite progressions is the Truth, but that point is
beyond existence. So, until one reaches--as in, catches
as catch can--reaches the end... but in infinite terms,
there is no end. Thus, QED, therefore, hence, it is shown
that truth is never static nor complete. So the answer is
no. No big T Truth, except at a specific moment,
and poof it's gone. And even then, it is the
integrative sum of truth--not the truth
any one person, group, or complexity level have. Now, how
about that pith." (5/24/2000 -
V#49)
"We don't do much reduction of the miraculous
to the ordinary. To force any experience into a
single system of understanding based on our limited
perceptive abilities, is to deny the majesty of Creation.
You know... and mark this well... you don't have to
choose between the miraculous and the natural. Scientific
explanations can coexist with spiritual ones, if
you think of science and spirit differently than is now
usually the case. And I don't mean using pseudo-science
to prove spirit, nor a meta-spirituality to embrace
science, but something more. Ponder that together."
(6/4/2000 - I#34)
At a chat session on Miracles:
"Hi hi hi. It's me. Hi. Yes, you are all once again
graced by my presence, haha.
"So look, and listen, and ponder well. Think about gears. If
you think about science and spirituality as two separate
gears, you will not see a machine that runs smoothly
toward the future in this millennium. But think of the
gears this way: Each of them has protrusions and
insertion points--not gaps, not holes, not empty spaces,
but insertion points, edges--growing edges, if
you will. The protrusions are that which is meaningful to
each; the edges are where they may be able to find
connection. Without lubrication, they will grate when
they meet; they will feel scratchy and do damage to each
other and become less sure of the meaning they have
found. This is not good. The idea is not to degrade, but
to upgrade. So, with a bit of Oil of
Olay... no, I mean oil for
lubrication (and that oil is understanding and awareness
and openness and possibility), those growing edges can
meet and mesh and meld.
"The meaning that science has found and the meaning
that spirituality has found are not mutually exclusive.
There are edges that are about a stuck point or a
confusion or something that looks incongruous but is not,
and so the frustration makes each side defend its meaning
and discount the other's value. Your assignment is to
look for where the edges meet. Look for where the
insertion points can be filled with meaning. Look for
where the gears can come together. And that combining
will be what drives the new paradigm. Drive the new
Chevrolet Paradigm, now $400
off if you are graduating in the
next 6 months, hahaha.
"So, that's it. Go and look for the connections that
will be fueled with your energy... and I mean, your
energy. Good night." (6/4/2000 - I#35)
"So, let's talk physics. Physics is based on the
idea that there is a here and a there.
Without that, you can't have acceleration, for
that depends on time and distance. So without time and/or
distance you can't have acceleration. Ok. Now force
is mass times acceleration, or
mass is acceleration divided into force. Ok, so if you
don't have here and there, you don't
have acceleration, and then you don't have mass. And if E = mc2 and
there is no mass, then you have no energy. So take
Geritol and get your energy back.
"So, a puzzler: How to have a physical reality of
energy and mass without a differential of here
and there. Ok. You say... or someone says... 'We
know there is a here and there because
it always takes time to get from here to there, even at
the speed of light.' But what about faster. Is there a
limit. If not, eventually here and there
collapse into one, and with that, bye-bye physical
existence--at least at the formula level. So, how to
speak of existence without a here and there.
Parallel doesn't do it, but simultaneous
does. And that's all I have been given to say, because I
wouldn't understand shit beyond that, and neither would
you, until we all move on." (6/7/2000 - B#32)
"Here's a thought many have had: What if the
greatest spirit communication took place with a deaf mute
in an isolated place, and he told no one. Hmmm...
but if he... or she, that is... learned from it and
remembered, it would not be lost. Not all communication
is in language; much of the most important we carry in
spirit. Ponder that." (6/11/2000 - I#36)
"About 6 lives ago, CT was a household word! 'Hey,
ma, get the ratter.' He was big in Germany. Played the
pipe. That's not just a kid's story... Hamlin. Well, the
story didn't follow the truth, but he did drive out the
rats, and after he left some of the teenage girls were
missing... groupies. So the story got started."
(6/27/2000 - W#175)
MCP:
"Hello-a. People thought I lied. They always think
people lie about the unknown--that which is not in their
experience or imagination. They could not believe the
Chinese civilization could be more advanced than the
European. See, no imagination. And who was the biggest
one. Da popa. How could heretics and infidels know more
than we. If Roma was the center of all culture then what
I said was false. Plus, I was so-a young-a in those
days." (8/1/2000 - W#176)
"Now about racism and addiction. All dysfunction is
about energy, and chronic dysfunction is addiction to
some form of energy--hate, booze, drugs, violence,
religion, and sports... not to mention dogs... rrrrr.
It could be anything external to one. Some are addicted
to running and some are addicted to sunning... music,
cigarettes, fruit punch, peanut butter, applause, quiet.
The substance doesn't matter as much, but some also have
a physical claim as well." (8/9/2000 - R#31)
Ericka's Bench 8/11/2000
TJ:
"Hello, dear friends. People think of me in
politics; but I also read much in sciences, and my friend
Ben helped me. There will always be a flow from more to
less--water, air, electricity, and energy in general. But
we must remember that we are thoughtful and decisive
beings, and that which is a law of nature need not be a
law of human habit. So when someone who is lacking
personal energy tries to get you to give some you have a
choice. For example, Cyrano didn't have the energy to
speak for himself; but if you were to speak for him, it
would enervate you but not energize him. Aha.
"This is the way and the test. Let's say you have a
thing you call a light bulb... I hope I get this right...
wait, let me try it my way. You have a candle which
lights your bedchamber. And then someone fumbling in a
dark cavern calls to you, and you take your light there.
Your chamber is dark; and also it is not enough light to
light the cavern, so it is lost. Only if you add energy
to energy is there a gain. If your candle had been added
to one there already, the scene might have become bright
enough. So a test: Do you add your energy to a lack of
energy and lose it, or do you add your energy to energy
and benefit from the sum. Look deeply and truly at what
the energy asked for is." (8/11/2000 - W#177)
WT:
"I was an addict. I am an addict, who is trying to
be honest about my addictions. When I started using,
there was very little of me. I felt very small. And
powerless. I thought the drugs gave me what I didn't
have. They made me feel good and I thought they made me
feel good about myself. There's a big difference there.
"Over time, even the drugs could not make up for
what I thought was missing from inside me. They were all
external. They gave something, but added nothing. And as
the gracious gentleman said, if you add something into a
vast hole it is swallowed up. I began my trip out of
there by not dealing with the drugs, but by trying to
find me. And when I could no longer see me because of the
drugs, I decided I needed help with the drugs. But what
brought me recovery was not to end the drugs, but to
start finding me. And then I saw the equation reverse and
what I had and was and did would get lost in the void of
drugs. I had to stay away from them if the meager little
sense of myself was not going to be swallowed up by their
awful darkness. The only equations in all of life are
those with both sides positive.
"Remember from algebra, if the 2 sides of an
equation are out of balance because one side is negative,
you can add the same quantity to both sides and it will
appear as if the equation no longer has any deficits;
but, actually, the inequality always remains the same no
matter how much more you put into both sides. An infinite
addition to both sides still has one side less than the
other. I think you get the picture and don't need my
candle to show it, haha. Bye." (8/11/2000 - W#178)
KKK:
"Are y'all white. I used to get all fired up with
that question. O yes, I would shout it out and the boys
would call back, 'White as God-given rain.' And then I
would say, 'Let's show the others some of our white rain
till their rain is red.' And we'd go and do our mischief.
"But here's something I discovered: In my hate I
could never do enough. You lynch somebody, and all you
think about is how many more of 'em are out there. You
burn a house, and the next day all you see are the houses
that haven't been burned. Until one day, I woke up and
said to myself, 'How many nights will it take until there
ain't any more of them.' And I realized I didn't have
that many nights. And I thought, 'Wait, what am I doing.
I'm trying the impossible, and so every night I would
waste with something I couldn't do.' I was going down the
tubes. So I stopped. And what I thought gave me power
went away, and I was surprised how much more energy I
felt. My own racism was demanding more than I had to
give. It was a simple thing to get: What I thought I
wanted would take more than I had to give. But, you know
what sustained me for so long. The energy I got from
others--and I don't mean the brothers, but those who were
opposed to me. Man, you can suck on an angry catcall all
day and it sure fires you up for another evening. But you
know what, when I would go off fired up by them catcalls,
whatever I did that night never seemed to equal what them
folks had. The energy I sucked from their words was
always negative.
"The negative consequences to me were not of the
actions themselves, but my feelings about them. Hey, I
gonna use the slick talker's candle, too. Let's say you
are in the dark, and someone comes along with a candle
and shows the light of what you're up to, and you don't
like that so you blow it out. Ok. You use energy to blow
it out, and then you are left in the dark. Use energy to
lose energy... not too damn smart. Sure, they all lose
some energy, too; but the trick is they can always
relight their candles, but you have to keep blowing 'em
out, and they that's got their own energy can outlast
those of us blowing.
"But here's what I found out later: If them same
folks had gotten together with their candles, they could
have done some good--helping some poor soul out of
darkness who wanted out, rather than wasting their light
on the likes of me. So, if you only got one candle don't
waste it where darkness is valued. Use it where other
lights can bring a sunrise. And don't believe that Clorox
takes out blood stains. I go." (8/11/2000 - W#179)
"Unity versus pseudo unity. If you have limits to
your vision of connection, then it's pseudo... like
something can't be very unique. It is either unity or
not." (8/15/2000 - V#50)
"There is always a greater unity available than is
evident, until we reach ultimate oneness with All That
Is. So whenever anyone speaks of division or separation
or difference, they are connecting themselves to the
past, the lesser. A view of life without a glimpse of
future and more inclusive models is always a sign of
backward looking. True, those who look forward cannot
always give details or proof, but in time they will show.
What is proven and shown is past.
"So when a dreamer speaks of vision of unity, and
can't give all the details, that's how it should be. And
if they can give all the details, it's not a vision of
the future. In order to find the unity we don't know yet,
we have to be willing to enter the mystery. So, that's
it." (8/18/2000 - V#51)
"Remember, essentially you're related to
everyone--even those disassembled, because their parts
come back in other entities. 6th cousin twice removed on
some side." (8/27/2000 - V#52)
Ericka's Bench 9/15/2000
ED:
"Hi. And good to meet you. Here's an idea: The
ancients thought the greatest power in the world was the
sun, and so they made the sun god; and then they thought
it was water and worshiped the river. And then fire. And
now you there worship the atom and electrical power. Yet,
you see the ancients as being naive with their sun and
river and fires.
"Now, I wonder what is naive about the electrical
era. You can't see it from within, but time--so to
speak--will tell. Remember that ultimates are all
temporal. So, if you base your future on one thing you
will miss the real future. You could be left sitting on
the banks of the Nile, waiting for the fertility of the
spring floods (it's an analogy). But there have been
trends across all of these understandings. Look for the
trends, not the specifics; and then look for the trend of
the trends, etc., etc. Bye." (9/15/2000 - W#180)
BF:
"Hi. Someone without definite boundaries between
energy states is moving along the spiritual evolutionary
path. One way you know that you are getting closer to
fulfillment is that you sense the receipt of energy from
many different sources and planes, not all understood.
When all you know is always understood, you are firmly
planted in the middle of a complexity level. At first,
you say, 'Wow, where is this energy coming from'
(first-timers). Then, slowly, you figure the level out
and there are fewer mysteries. But then you begin to see
some more unknowns, paradoxes, cundr... conunrdm...
dang... puzzles. And you realise that, no matter how much
you apply your best thinking and knowing, the
understandings will escape you--and likewise.
"You will find, when you are dead centre--or should
I say, live centre--you put your energies here in the
place you are. In the start, you didn't put them
anywhere--scattered, unfocused, amorphous. But with
learning and remembering, you focused. But then you learn
how to direct the focus, and then even multiple foci, and
then what appears as random. People who are single-minded
are at the centre. Those who are clueless are at the
depot having tea. And those who seem eclectic... well,
figure it out.
So, here's a simple activity. But first, a cravat... I
think not... I mispoke... a caveat... ooooo. As you do
this exercise, remember that all outcomes are right. And
wherever you find yourself is ok, because being in the
infinitely middle place of an infinite process what does
it matter. You will still have a path ahead. Hey, why do
so many of us get so competitive about getting through
this level and moving on. It is NOT A RACE! Ok, exercise:
using whatever model, mode, materials you wish, chart,
graph, draw, depict, describe your sources of energy.
Then also draw, etc., etc., how energy flows from you...
whence. Follow the energy and you will discover much. Is
it full of knowing, full of questions, full of certainty,
full of mystery, full of wonder, full of fear... follow
the energy and see where you are and are going. The path
to self-awareness can be questions like this. Most people
think of their lives as a series of places, time, and
people. It looks different when one thinks of it through
the perspective of energy. Ok, I go. Bye-bye,
ta-ta." (9/15/2000 - W#181)
LD:
"Hi. And the big question is: Is there a
conservation of matter and energy. Yes, physical, and so
there is an assumption that this is true in all things...
BUT nooo, human-breath. By definition the universe is a
bounded system, and so there is conservation. But what
about spiritual energy. Ok, you probably won't get this:
yes and no. In one sense, there is conservation of
spiritual energy--in that the sum total at any set of
realities is fixed; and if there are parallel realities,
each will have the same total of spiritual energy. It's
not like one has more than another; but in each of
them--which is an infinite number--the energy
distribution will be different. And I don't mean just at
one spiritual development level. In one reality, much of
it may be dispersed in slightly developed forms or
entities of great profusion; and in another reality, it
may have only a slight presence in simplicity, and great
concentration in complex levels. All expressions of the
same potential spiritual energy. Parallel realities are
just representations of the infinite possibilities of
energy distribution. So, that's the 'yes.' But what about
the 'no.'
"In the progression of things (that's the tech
term), there can be an increase of spiritual energy as
the whole of All That Is continues to be dynamic and
organic. The whole continues to grow, enhance, etc., but
in any particular is limited. So, yes and no. It is
always becoming more in spiritual energy, and it is
always finite in spiritual energy in specifics.
Understand? See, I told you so. Ponder this.
"And one more thingie. If All That Is is not organic
and developmental, etc., then it already has reached its
own conclusion; because with bounded spiritual energy,
then all the possible infinite sets of realities have
already been. So, the whole must be dynamic or it has
already ceased to be. Capiche. It's not your way
of thinking. But, if your little life was finite--without
any dynamism--then there would be no potential for
development, and thus would be over before it started.
So, too, with All That Is... duh." (9/15/2000 -
W#182)
"Think about an existence where what you think about
becomes." (9/23/2000 - I#37)
"Don't mistake the name God for the
reality. Think baseball teams." (9/23/2000 - V#53)
"If we ascribe an
experiential emotion to God, like love, because
we feel it in special intensity, then why not also hate.
Why do humans think they can control the attributes
attributed. But if God then is both love and hate, then
God is all the corollary emotions. But if God is all
emotions, then effectively God is also none
differentially. Try this: A spectrum
is contained in white, but white implies
darkness. So if both exist, then the source of both is
not differentiated.
"So, for humans to attribute a quality to the
undifferentiated All is the height of arrogance or
short-sightedness. And the irony of it is that it is
usually those who claim to be the most spiritually aware
who make such global statements that ignore the totality
that includes All. To say that God includes
love is one thing, but to say God is
love is another, and very delimiting. Ok, enough. Ponder
that. And if you figure it out, take one giant step
toward complexity." (9/26/2000 - V#54)
"Let me make this clear. I'm not here, but I'm here.
A big issue. People say, 'What if, when I die, those I
love have moved on. Then I won't see them.' First, here
we don't see. But if time is only a physical
construct, then it has no meaning here. So, someone who
has moved on will be right here waiting, too. And the
person here or the spirit here or the entity here will
seem to be like how you want it. Want a person just as
they were when they died, that's possible. How about how
they have become. That's possible, too. Any way they have
or will be is available when time is not an
issue.
"There are an infinite number of Moos here; you just
connect to this one. There are also little Brindls and
Rikkis, and also Selenes and peeps you have yet to
know--all existing simultaneously in terms of what you
call time. Is that clear. Did I or did I not
make myself clear. So you get here, and you get the Moo
and you get that sassy 16-year-old and you get the monkey
girl. All time flows. All that has been and will
be exists, so why not. Hi, I'm Ericka's zygote.
Want to meet Rick's sperm. Look, there's someone from the
future. Hi. So it is not just that we appear as you see
us, but that all of each of us is available. But take a
number and wait, she will be out.
"You can see yourself at any point, if you are open
to it. I have glimpsed ahead some, but that does not seem
to help. And going back is not that much help. Look, I
was thinking about how much fun I had as a 7-year-old, but
when I met me, I was a pain. Questions, questions,
questions, that's all I did. Looking in is not the same
as looking out. Ok, that's the heavy stuff."
(10/3/2000 - B#33)
"Ok, how do peeps get to talk to us. Ok, you've
heard of open and shut cases. Well, this is a shut and
open deal. Step 1: Peep dies, bye-bye, on other side (or
disassembled, but forget that). Now dead is doing just
fine (once D&C are
gone), but others not so good... lots of baggage. Dead
forgot to take the bags. So, Step 2: Shut off the past
when it is prescriptive--when it contains expectations
which are physical and worldly. You have to close the
outer door of the airlock or else the space aliens get
in... wait, no... you have to close the inner doors of
yourself to be able to open the outer doors of spirit.
But most people approach the possibility of contact with
the inner doors wide open... and so all the heat leaks
out and the gas bill goes through the ceiling. What, were
you born in a barn. But follow me on
this... if you can.
"How do you get to the future. Not by facing the
past. Where are spirits who pass over. In the so-called future,
even though time doesn't exist. But, if you leave your
past open, how you going to get the future. So, while you
can't shut it completely, you can sort of close it. Then
you can open yourself.
"You two took the big leap early. 8 days, wow. Most
folks are too absorbed in the past at that time, or too
scared of the future with its awesome loss and change.
And some folks in the first stages of loss are so out of
it they shut off, and are therefore radically open. But a
day later, they go back and close off the future. These
are the ones who say, 'I knew she was dead. She came to
me. But then I couldn't get in touch with her later.' So
shut it, and open yourself.
"So that's it. But I have a few leading questions:
Why would you want to be in touch with a dead person. Is
your answer forward or backward looking. Do you believe
that impediments to spirit communication is only on the
physical side. Why or why not. Cite personal experience.
Have you ever experienced a radical breakthrough in
spirit communication. If so, what changed before and
after. If you wish to communicate, but can't or don't,
what do you see as impediments. And the clincher: Why do
you assume that a failure to communicate is about you.
Shut and open is only about one side of the equation. And
also, no one size fits all.
"Ok, one last image: Stupid U.S. tourist in Paris
wants to get a table and a glass of wine. If she speaks
louder or slower or in Portuguese she still won't
communicate. Sometimes you just have to shut the fuck up
and listen and trust the kindness of strange spirits.
Maybe you weren't meant to talk, just to listen. And
maybe the spirit wasn't meant to talk, just to listen.
Communication does not imply conversation. That's
enough." (10/21/2000 - I#38)
"Listen carefully. Whenever
the human plane of consciousness exceeds the potentiality
of the growing awareness of material inadequacy, it will
postpone the inevitable transition of resident energies
concomitant with the progression of spiritual entity
beyond a counterproductive dualism that inhibits the full
completion of the fulfilled self and others in a
progressive and new statement of energy
development." (10/24/2000 - V#55)
Ericka's Bench 10/27/2000
VT:
"Hello. I am more than startled to be here. I had it
on my calendar, so to speak--which is no easy task
without time--for another set of circumstances. But isn't
that what grief is also about--having to deal now with
what you thought was scheduled for some other time or
place or person. Isn't the cry of 'Why me' actually about
that and not about a sense of divine persecution. We say
'Why me,' meaning it wasn't in our plan so therefore how
could it be happening. Look at all the old people who do
not grieve their deaths, because by then it fits the plan
or they've run out of other things to do.
"Grief is a visible expression that we have to
reorder the assumed sequence of our lives. And it is
often easier to do that if we think we are forced beyond
our will than if we choose to do so. Think of grief if
you would take a proactive role--say openly, 'Things have
changed from what I presumed they would be, and now I
choose to presume in this new way.' It would not be grief
as we know it. Grief is the stage of holding onto the old
presumptions while our experience moves on. And the first
sign of moving beyond grief is when we look forward, not
back, and ask not 'Why me' but 'What now.'
"Grief can be a tool of realignment, or a trap. And
you each get to choose which it will be. Can you still
sense your power, or did it die with the lost one; and if
it did die, what does that say about the energy
relationship you had with them. Hmmm. And with that I
go." (10/27/2000 - W#183)
GR:
"Hi. I'm dead. Death, what's it like. Well, there's
white light and small bells and sweet scents and calm
pastures and dark places and ogres and abysses and fear
and love and... hey, wait a minute, that's life and
death. Why do so many think of death as so different from
life. But first, an analysis. Are we talking death or
death. Death, as in the experience of no longer being
alive--as in speaking of one's death, or death as a state
of continuing being--as in being dead.
"Death, as in dying, is about moving in familiar
ways to something unfamiliar. The experience of death
will not be that removed from the experience of life; but
what you get to will be different. Have to learn how not
to be physical. And that isn't easy, which is why so many
recently passed appear physically to the living--mostly
for themselves, as they change over to spirit totally.
"And, at the moment of death, you know what happens.
Nothing. It's a process, not a moment. Ok, I feel an
afterlife coming on. Bye-bye." (10/27/2000 - W#184)
LD:
"Afterlife. I should know, I've had plenty... but so
have you. Is it a time of fulfillment, no. It is a time
of integration. If you would become fulfilled you'd move
on. But it is a time to put into spiritual practice what
you learned in physical ways.
"So, all that money you made might mean nothing if
it did not contribute to your becoming; and one little
incident of awareness might mean the whole thing. To
predict by worldly standards what will be meaningful is a
hopeless task. But religions keep trying to sell keys to
heaven, when the door is never locked. And, if you try
one of those counterfeit and unnecessary keys in an
unlocked door, what happens.
"Here's an experiment. I love experiments. Get a key
for a door. Ok. Make sure the door is unlocked so you
don't need the key. Now put the supposedly needed key in
the lock and turn it. What happens. You lock the door
which was naturally unlocked. Aha. The very key we are
given in life may lock the secrets of afterlife, if they
block the full spectrum of possibility.
"You see, the afterlife is a synonym for
possibility. Here all is possible, but not all will be
true. You, in your integration of life's experiences,
will decide how much possibility you will realise. So,
coming to the afterlife with very clear notions limits
your possibilities--and some downright lock the door. I
think you get the picture. No keys given by me."
(10/27/2000 - W#185)
SD:
"Hi. Where to start. When I died, they grieved for
me sometimes and did not other times. When I died, I
found out much and little different times. When I died,
death was welcomed and despised and feared depending on
which life. I have been many, like most of you. Grief
stops people from living. Death stops people from living.
Afterlife is always possible. So, what is the natural
state of life. It must be afterlife. So I guess we are
living and you guys are the ones in the afterlife.
"But it is all happening at once, so any entity is
simultaneously dead and alive--being born and dying. We
each are closed systems of becoming. And here's the
thought I was coming to: The process of becoming can and
does include both birth and death. When people think of
death as a state of unbecoming and unbeing, they miss the
point.
"I love trees, I love tree trunks, so let's think
about trees. A tree begins as a seed. It must stop being
a seed to be a sprout. And the sprout-ness must give way
to tree-ness. And then--each cycle--the tree is born
again, blooms, and then dies to some extent; and lies in
death to come back another season. And in all the phases
it is becoming itself as it blooms and dies. The
smaller-seeming motions of coming and going have to be
seen in the larger whole. And maybe the whole is about
the tree becoming a large old tree, or maybe it is about
becoming a log on a fire, or maybe about becoming a raft,
or maybe about dropping seeds, or maybe about becoming
the post that holds the temple bell. Maybe each cycle of
life is about nothing, but the whole is everything. I
think the whole is everything. We are becoming
everything, even though we experience what appears to be
nothing in death.
"If there were truly nothingness in death, then
there would also be nothingness in birth; because who can
differentiate the two. But if one admits to even some
portion of meaning and value in either life or death,
then it exists in both.
"I think I have challenged you enough. I know I have
challenged myself for a number of lives, so this time in
death my spirit rests and integrates and is whole. Want
to meet my spirit now. Arrrrrrrf... rrrrf... f [It's
Rikkity's dog, Sandy!]." (10/27/2000 - W#186)
Ericka's Bench 11/10/2000
MW:
"Good morning. Himself would be here but he's
not feeling too interested in talking, what with things
on your side being such a mess. He did say to me, 'Dear
Martha, why is it that they think some things are written
in stone and others in the faintest ink. Did they believe
we were establishing a country that would be 1789
forever. In fact, the Revolution was about abolishing
just such a presumption.'
"Now, as for myself, I am little taken by those
things except as two wives must stand by their husbands
and one will need to tend the feelings of loss and the
other must guard against the excesses of win. Much of
what will happen will depend on them, though few will see
it. One is like a little boy in grade school and the
other is like a bright boy in preparatory academy.
Neither one yet formed. Did you see any real maturity in
either. If you had, you would have heard more questions
than answers, more vision than programs, more ideas than
history. They were both reciting lessons, not teaching.
Your best leaders come to teach, not lead. Ponder that.
And with that, I go back to my tea." (11/10/2000 -
W#187)
CT:
"So look, who said it all has to be verbal. And
who said it was smarts that made the man. Just a quick
interjection. Sometimes care and concern and love are
much more important than words. And smartness does not
guarantee goodness. That's all." (11/10/2000 -
W#188)
Papa:
"Hi babe. Long time no see. So, I'm still doing
the thing with the deaf. It is good, but of course I've
also finished that already. But I just wanted to focus on
that, in light of CT's comments. Not every voice is
voiced. Verbal is not the only way of expression. And I
don't mean just arts. There are as many ways to have
voice as there are people. So in your work, don't make
words the only voice. That's the problem with some
counselors. Just because one can't verbalize it, doesn't
mean that they don't know it and express it. Just keep
that in mind. And now I gotta go." (11/10/2000 -
W#189)
"You know, translating into images you can
understand is not easy. How to portray
weightlessness while still having mass."
(11/21/2000 - I#39)
"Can't have a rainbow
without a clash of water and light. Is it violence or
creativity. Ponder that. All physical matter is the
product of either thought or violence... hmmm.
So, I go... he goes... we go." (11/21/2000 - R#32)
Rikkity: "Here's a question from LD: How come
today the government pays for roads and dams and airports
but not symphonies and paintings. And why is the fish
course second." (11/21/2000 - W#190)
"Let's talk JC. Do not hear what I
say as facts, only as alternatives. The real truth is
beyond your ken... and beyond your Barbie. What
I said is that you will reinterpret the story until you
no longer need the story in any form. But in the absence
of rethinking the story, you will be stuck with
irrelevance, and even irreverence... and even an
elephant.
"Don't, don't, do not ever ever ever
take one version of any event to be true, for all truth
is in motion. Dogma is taking motion as stasis. It is
just as easy for the reformer to do that as the
fundamentalist. Jesus's story should have remained a
story told by people to relate to their
lives, not other lives. The closest we have to true
Christianity today is among the Indians of South America,
and the least in the Vatican.
"And also interesting is the dichotomy of the lunar
planes of meaning with the higher levels of solar
consciousness... or some crap like that. Physics doesn't
know as much as astrology. Astrology doesn't know as much
as physics. Ponder that. If you look for theory
dominance, you just chase your own tail... arf arf
arf arf." (11/29/2000 - V#56)
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