Messages

[The church was never intended to build esteem or be the unconditional love that so many think they have been cheated out of. There is duality in christianity.However, there are better sources outside this area to study duality. There are many people who think as you on this metaphor on nudity. Is there a clash, in finding these same ones who also delve into duality?Clothing is about protection if that's what you associate it with. Believe it or not, clothes are more commonly seen as a person's perception. To say it represents your protective layers speaks more about the fact that you yourself have built your own protective layers. Interpretation of something is important. Learning of oneself helps you to understand more.I study metaphors. Interesting that you should bring up marriage. My latest notion seems to fit that it's about those things in our life that we cannot undo.Questions about Satan? Start by looking at it on a smaller scale. I think you have to be able to identify what is man's nature and what is not man's nature. What is earth energy and what is spirit? Sometimes you have to look within yourself, then expand out your search. Sometimes it is not found in a book or a tribe.]

The church was never intended to build esteem or be the unconditional love that so many think they have been cheated out of.

There is duality in christianity.However, there are better sources outside this area to study duality.


There are many people who think as you on this metaphor on nudity. Is there a clash, in finding these same ones who also delve into duality?

Clothing is about protection if that's what you associate it with. Believe it or not, clothes are more commonly seen as a person's perception. To say it represents your protective layers speaks more about the fact that you yourself have built your own protective layers. Interpretation of something is important. Learning of oneself helps you to understand more.

I study metaphors. Interesting that you should bring up marriage. My latest notion seems to fit that it's about those things in our life that we cannot undo.

Questions about Satan? Start by looking at it on a smaller scale.

I think you have to be able to identify what is man's nature and what is not man's nature. What is earth energy and what is spirit?

Sometimes you have to look within yourself, then expand out your search. Sometimes it is not found in a book or a tribe.

That's all true, and I believe it all ties into hiding yourself from God and the world, and protecting yourself from hurt (you project a certain image so that people will like you, do things for you, etc..).

But you're absolutely right.


Paul

I had meant to comment on the idea of reward and punishment, Heaven and Hell, but I forgot to.  I'll continue here.

Going further with the idea that YHVH manifests what is in a person's heart, be it Good or Evil, we'll want to talk about those concepts themselves.  It can be said that any experience we want to have will motivations that fit into the categories of either Selfless or Selfish.  Every possible experience already exists on higher planes, in the form of potential.  It must exist there first for us to experience it.  All potential for Good forms Heaven, and all potential for Evil forms Hell.

Now, Good and Evil, Selfless and Selfish, Heaven and Hell, are two ends of a spiritual pole.  They are a duality, and are as far from one another as east is from west.  The only reason that we can see Good and Evil side by side is because of the properties of physical 3d space.  In the spiritual world, 3d space does not exist, and Heaven and Hell are literally worlds apart.

(Aside:  The Age of Grace, which is what Jesus ushered in, works differently from the Age of Judgement (Old Testament).  Judgement works based on what you've done in the past, and what you've failed to do because of flaws in your character.  The idea of Grace means that we don't have to be strong and free from sin in order to be Judged righteously, because we are freely given the choice to submit to Christ and let him change us from the inside out.)

As I believe I said, Love is the force that binds one thing to another thing, and human beings to each other, and human beings to God.  When we bind ourselves to the Word of God, i.e. Christ, via love and devotion, we allow Christ to rule our hearts, and by his very nature we let the content of our heart turn to the potential for Good and Selflessness, and Heaven.  

When we bind ourselves to the inherently Selfish, self-gratifying, evil part of ourselves, i.e. the flesh, by identifying with and showing devotion to it, we bind ourselves to the part of us that dies, and not the part of us that lives.  We bind ourselves to the potential for Evil that exists in the world, and become a part of it, i.e. Hell

The comment was made that when we die, we end up on the astral plane, which is generally true.  In Kabballah, the astral is referred to as Yetzirah, which is the plane directly above Assiah (physical and etheric plane).  There are, however, two planes above the astral (actually 3, with subplanes in all of them, but again this is not the place for that discussion.)  These are Briah, the world of the archangels, and Atziluth, the world of archetypes.  At times called the mental and spiritual planes, respectively (also corresponding to Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh, Atziluth-Briah-Yetzirah-Assiah).  

My understanding (which is imperfect) of the placement of Heaven and Hell is Heaven is the highest regions of Yetzirah, the astral, and Hell is the lowest regions.  In the spiritual, Will is communicated via thought and feeling, and cannot be hidden from the rest of the world.  What is in your heart is apparent to all those around you, and you go where your heart takes you.  Whether that place is Heaven or Hell, it's where you want to be.


Paul

[Something that ALWAYS bothered me. A belief system that allows for ultimate punishment or ultimate perfection to be based on a simple insignificant admittance of a deity, or forgiveness for mere words, without reguard to intent. Someone can at death suddenly say "Christ is my savior" and be forgiven instantaneously. No. No no no. Nonsense. That's one of the reason enlightened religion makes so much more sense. You must devote yourself and progress spiritually, with REAL intent, to achieve spiritual harmony. That is so much more right and sensible than any religion of mere words and symbols.]

I'll attempt to respond to some of the complaints here about Christianity and the Bible, to the best of my ability.  This will most likely be long and involved, but I'll try my best to keep it brief.


Something that ALWAYS bothered me. A belief system that allows for ultimate punishment or ultimate perfection to be based on a simple insignificant admittance of a deity, or forgiveness for mere words, without reguard to intent. Someone can at death suddenly say "Christ is my savior" and be forgiven instantaneously. No. No no no. Nonsense. That's one of the reason enlightened religion makes so much more sense. You must devote yourself and progress spiritually, with REAL intent, to achieve spiritual harmony. That is so much more right and sensible than any religion of mere words and symbols.

The idea that someone can turn to Christ with mere words is a widespread misconception about the concept of repentance.  It's true that anyone may repent at any time in his life, but to repent is to sincerely have it in your heart to turn back to God and away from the things you've done.  Just saying "Christ is my saviour" has about as much impact on your life as saying "Superman is my saviour."  Empty words are just breaths of air, but meaning behind the words gives them power.

The Hebrews of the Old Testament (Jews) were told through their prophet Moses to follow a specific set of Laws, and if they did so, they would be blessed by YHVH, and if they did not, they would be cursed.  They were to follow the Laws on their own willpower, and when every one of them was followed, the pious Jew was thought to be as perfect a human being is as possible.  Think of a sculptor chipping away at a block of stone until all the unnecessary (evil) pieces are gone, and a perfect statue of a man is left.  This is the approach of Judaism to creating a holy individual.

To some, it may sound unfair of YHVH to bless those who do His will and curse those who don't, but this covenant is more of a gift than one might at first think.  I will briefly explain, but remember, it's very complex and can hardley be explained and understood completely in a single post.

Each of the Hebrew letters represents a specific state of change, which are the building blocks of reality.  Combinations of the letters represent concepts that can be applied to the universe in order to bring about change in accordance with Will.  The most powerful of these are the names of God, and YHVH at the top of that list.  YHVH is the name spelled with the letters Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh.

Yod means seed, and is infinite potential.  Like how the potential for a tree is contained in its seed.

Heh means window, and is a receptive and restricting force -- it receives the infinite potential from Yod, and singles out one potentiality to pass on to Vau.

Vau is a ray of light, and connects spirit with matter.  The concept of "life" is innately spiritual, but LIGHT turns the spiritual concept of life into the physical reality (i.e. light is necessary for all life).  Vau turns the spiritual potentiality of Yod that Heh has singled out, and turns it into physical power for creation.

Heh, again is a receptive force, but this time it is receiving physical power for creation, and grounding it into the material world.

The letters of Yod-Heh-Vau-Heh correspond to Fire-Water-Air-Earth, respectively... some Jewish Kabbalists switch Fire and Water, but this isn't the place to go into that type of a discussion.

So, essentially, YHVH is the formula for manifesting what is in a person's heart - which, for the sake of simplicity, we'll call Good and Evil, or Selflessness and Selfishness respectively.  The Israelites, by carrying out the covenant with YHVH, were given the power to manifest whatever kind of life they wanted for themselves.  

By obeying the Law (which in its simplicity is to love one another) they manifested loving forces acting on them, in the form of God's blessing.  By straying from the Law, and going after idols, they manifested forces of judgment on themselves, because their hearts were impure.

Now, why would God give this blessing to one race of people and not others?  Well, since we're viewing the OT in a literal way for this purpose, we'll look at it literally.  The nation of Israel were descendants of Abraham, who the covenant was initially made with.  It was because of Abraham's loving and giving nature, and faith in God, that this blessing was bestowed upon him and his descendants.  Once a God bestows a blessing, it can never be revoked.

The question also came up of why Moses was allowed to use magick and the Egyptians and others aren't.  Well, it has to do with where the source of power comes from.  Magick, generally speaking, comes from the power of the individual Will, and magickal powers can be gained through sheer effort and practice, and can be used to any end at all.  The magick employed by Moses, however, came from his advanced spiritual development, and that type of power can only be used when the person is in alignment with God's Will (i.e. Love).  This answer may not be satisfactory for some, but embarking on a path of sincere devotion to God will make clear the distinction between magick and miracles.

Back to the question of reward and punishment, and the accepting of Christ as saviour.  This idea has to do with Christ's role as the Word of God.  Now, you may ask, what exactly is the Word of God?  The Word, in essence, is the vehicle for the Will.  God is infinite, and we cannot conceptualize Him.  Any attempt to describe, or picture, or imagine God will be an utter failure, because God created things like descriptions, pictures, and imagination.  He is beyond our comprehension and completely invisible to us.  

The only way we can come to know and understand God is through his Will, which for human beings can be summed up as Love.  Now, it's said that Christ is God, and that's because they are the same in the sense that if you hear my words, you're hearing me.  If you accept God's Word (love) you're accepting God.  When a person *sincerely* accepts Christ, they are inviting the Word of God, which is the Will to Love, into their heart, to change them from the inside out.  Earlier I used the metaphor of chipping away at a block of stone in order to form a statue as the path of the Law.  The Christian path, on the other hand, is to speak to the statue that is already inside the block, and say "I know you're in there, come on out" and watch as the unnecessary stone falls away, leaving only the perfect human being that was there all along.

All this said, I understand the complaints about various churches and religious organizations, and they're usually very valid complaints.  I admit that most Christian leaders (the visible ones, anyway) don't talk about this stuff, and that's because not every Christian wants to be a mystic (and because a lot of the leaders don't understand it).  

Most of them just want to live their lives and try to do what God wants, and not get into the whys and hows.  Those who want to know more about God and why things are the way they are must seek him out themselves, develop a relationship with him, and ask these questions.  

All religions have their problems, and the more widespread the religion, the more widespread the problems are going to be.  There are abuses of power in every religion and every sect within those religions, but opinions should not be formed based on the lowest common denominator.  We shouldn't look at the worst Christians available and say "Christianity is a farce" any more than we should look out on a desert and say "There's no life on this planet."


Paul

The paragraphs I wrote about Adam and Eve were not a complete discussion about the Fall, and I left the metaphor imperfect for the sake of simplicity.  It was intended only to give background on the duality of Satan's selfishness and Christ's selflessness, in order to explain why they've at times been cast as brothers.  However if you'd like to begin a separate thread on the Fall of Man, I'd be happy to join you in the discussion.


Paul

If you don't feel a need to attend a church or belong to a religion, then that's all good, don't go.  There's nothing wrong with worshipping (or not worshipping) in one's own way.  But, simply because someone doesn't understand the tenets and meaning to a faith, doesn't mean the faith isn't a valid paradigm to approaching God.

In all areas of life in which one can gain esteem, there are going to be people who take advantage of it in order to fulfill selfish goals.  This is true in politics, education, any area of business, and religion, as well as any other area you can think of.  Just because individuals abuse positions of authority, however, doesn't mean a spiritual path is bad or invalid.  There is enormous truth and value to be found in Christianity, as well as other religions, if one so desires to find it.

The "recruiting" of people to a religion is usually (not always) done with good intent.  There are certain sects of Christianity, for example, who believe it's their duty to try to convert everyone they meet.  Yes, it can be annoying, but it's done because they truly believe that something horrible will happen to you if you don't become "saved" and go to their church.  Is it reasonable?  Not really.  But it's what they really believe, and to not try to "save" others that they meet would be living contradictory to their faith, which is never a good thing.

While it's true that some preachers tell their congregations what they should stay away from, but that's their job.  They're speaking to their own flock, the people who go through out of their own free will, and look to that pastor for leadership.  If you don't like the way a particular pastor or denomination in general preaches, there are lots of other churches to go to.  All denominations of Christianity focus on and emphasize different aspects of the same truth, and so people can go to whichever one (or none) fits them the best.

All that said, I would hope that we're all secure enough in our own beliefs to be able to withstand a little bit of proselytizing from well-meaning individuals.


Paul

Telepathy, basically, is the exchange of energy between two people via connections that develop either naturally or on purpose.  When two people meet and interact, as a relationship develops, there's a kind of pairing of the chakras.  You can think of it as tentacles of energy stringing out from your chakras and meeting their corresponding ones.  We end up taking whatever type of energy we're deficient in from the people around us.  Sometimes it manifests as attempting to get sympathy and attention from them, and sometimes it's more subtle.

Every thought we have is a reaction to an underlying feeling, and every underlying feeling is really a specific frequency of energy.  When a person is adequately in control of their own energy and the energies around them, they can form the connections between chakras purposefully and transmit energy encoded with a certain thought, and/or read and understand energy that's coming from their target.

The trick here is to do what some people refer to as "quieting" your own energy.  That is to say, you calm yourself to a point where you don't have preconceived notions about what you think the other person is feeling or thinking, and you allow yourself to hear what the other person is emitting.

As you work on your chakras and energy body, and your own energy becomes balanced enough so that you're not running around with wild desires and "lust for result" all the time, skills such as telepathy and empathy develop naturally in the form of intuition.  You begin noticing when someone says something, "Hey, I knew they were going to say that" and when you can learn to trust yourself, you've always got the upper hand in any situation.


Paul

The idea of Jesus and Satan being brothers is, in my understanding, a symbolic interpretation of how the two "beings" or "forces" interact, and their standing as far as humanity is concerned.  I'll warn you ahead of time that I'm going to have to get seemingly off track of the topic in order to give the background reasoning for what I'm saying.

Christianity, when broken down to its esoteric symbolism, is represented as the Mystical Marriage, and as the Crucifixion, or death of the Ego.  The Mystical Marriage sets Christ as the bridegroom, and the Church, or devoted Christian, as the bride.  To understand what this union means, we'll have to get into the story of Adam and Eve.

There are lots and lots of interpretations of the story of the Garden of Eden, and man's fall from grace, but I think the most useful way of looking at it is in viewing it as the early developmental stages of every human being.

When we're small children, we're completely innocent, which is represented in the story of Eden as Adam and Eve being naked.  Nudity in this instance refers to innocence.  When we're innocent and spiritually naked, we are ourselves, the people who God created - we don't censor what we think and feel, and we act on the first thing that comes to mind.  We live life in a big happy blur, with no distinction or understanding of time and change because everything is Good.

The first time that something bad happens to us, which is usually at a very young age, we stop living life in a big blur, and we understand the difference between "Good" and "Evil."  By "eating of the tree," we experience something that lets us differentiate between "I'm happy" and "This sucks, when will I be happy again".  
The first thing that happens when we know the difference between good and evil, is we begin to put on layers of psychological and spiritual protection, so that we're never that hurt again.  This is completely necessary, in order that we're not devastated every time we face disappointment.

This is shown in the story as Adam and Eve hiding themselves from God, and making clothes for themselves.  We begin to put on spiritual clothes and protection and hide our True Selves from God and the world, because we must protect our innocence and vulnerability from the harsh world that we've come to understand.

Now, to get to the point of the marriage between Christ and the Church, we must see Christ for what he truly is, which is our True Self that God created - a being of infinite love and mercy.  It's said that we're "saved through faith," and that is true.  We have to peel back the layers of protection that we've built up around ourselves - that is to say, we must spiritually undress.  We let ourselves become open and vulnerable, we let down our defenses, having faith that Christ will not let us be hurt in the process.  We spiritually undress, in order to form a union with Christ, which is our True Self, and become "one flesh" and be "saved for the sake of the husband."

The process of peeling back these defenses is essentially the process of the death of the Ego, which in my opinion can basically be equated with Satan.  It is the inherently selfish, but completely necessary, part of ourselves that exists to ensure our survival in a harsh and hostile world.  The death of the Ego is represented in the Christ story as the Crucifixion.  We must willingly let what we perceive as our "self" die in order to be reborn in glory as our True Self, the ressurrected Christ.

Now, I assure you, this all does relate back to the idea of Jesus and Satan being brothers.  They're represented as brothers at times because they both represent one side of a duality, two ends of a spiritual pole.  Selflessness, represented by Christ, or our True Self, and Selfishness, represented by Satan, or our Ego.  

They are, in fact, two sides of the same coin, but only as they relate to mankind when we're in the process of transforming ourselves.  The death of the ego is a long and arduous process, and during that time, we see ourselves as separate from both Satan and Christ, but in each decision we make, we can identify with either one of them.  In each decision we make, we can choose an act of Selfishness, or an act of Selflessness, which again, are represented as Satan and Christ, respectively.  Two sides of a duality, or in other words, brothers.


Paul

> So, what do Witches do? How many kinds of witches do you think
> there are? What is the origin of the word "witch?"

First let me state that I'm no authority on witchcraft, nor am I a linguist, and I don't claim to be.  But my understanding of the word "witch" is that it comes from (Greek? not sure) Wikk, which means bendable, or pliable (as in wicker basket).  The application of the term to devil-worshippers would mean someone whose will is too weak to resist Satan.

In African Tribal Religions, a witch is generally considered to be evil, a person who manipulates the underlying forces with ill-intent.  There's a difference, in this paradigm, between a witch and a priest of the various spirits and ancestors that work with the tribal people.  These traditions have been carried over to Vodoun, Voodoo, Hoodoo, and similar faiths.

The idea of a witch being evil is also prevalent in Christianity, especially the Christianity of several hundred years ago.  My personal idea of "witchcraft" is the subtle manipulation of people and circumstances for one's personal gain.  Anyone who has these practices could, in my opinion, be considered a "witch", though on a lower note than one who actively works magick and subconcious tricks.

In recent years, as you took note of in your original post, the term "witch" has become almost interchangeable with "Wiccan," mostly due to New Age writers who don't care about much more than raking in piles of cash.

Throughout history, a witch has been regarded as someone who, as I said above, practices "low magick" for the purpose of causing harm to others.  This idea has nothing to do with Wicca, which is an invention of the 20th century, and from what I understand advises that people shouldn't harm one another at all.

"Witch" has also become a label for anyone who practices any kind of nature magick, which in my opinion is also an incorrect usage.  It's said that it comes from the term "Wise one," which is possible, I suppose, though as I said, I'm no authority on the subject.  I think this phenomenon is mostly a result of early Christian churches labeling any kind of magick as evil and witchcraft.  Though I wasn't around for it, so who really knows.


Paul

Your psychic skills develop as your chakras and energy body do, but don't expect anything extremely dramatic.  They develop over time, and mostly in the form of intuition.  It's not something you can turn on and off; it's more like just knowing the consequences of any given action.  Most people would think you're just extremely insiteful.  I don't know what your preconceptions are, though, so forgive me if I'm telling you things you already know.


Paul

> When using stirring, brushing, wrapping, tearing and sponging are you meant to visualize it happening or just feel it happening?
>

Well, the thing about visualization is that it tends to develop as a skill as you use and develop the tactile imaging techniques in NEW.  When I first started using it, I found it nearly impossible to do the tactile imaging without visualizing as a side-effect.  Prior to starting NEW, I couldn't visualize for excrement, but now it's almost second nature.

So, anyway, to answer your question, go ahead and visualize as well if you're comfortable with it.


Paul

Well, marijuana and energy work is like this... Extreme meditative states are often referred to as "ecstatic" or "ecstasy" and it's because we're the most receptive to influences and forces when we're feeling good.  The extra dopamine that marijuana brings out actives your "pleasure/receptiveness" system, so you can better feel the underlying current of the world.  

Your psychic faculties open up -- you can feel the energy more powerfully, you can receive more creative thoughts and feelings.  The downfall is, of course, one can easily become dependant on it in order to access those states of consciousness.  The benefit of training the mind to enter those states without the use of drugs not only means you're not dependant on anything, but that you can also focus and control the forces you're receiving, instead of just being open to them.

In my opinion, since the topic of ethics is being touched upon, there's nothing wrong with smoking if that's what makes you happy.  It just so happens, though, that generally as one progresses along whatever spiritual path they've chosen, things like drugs and temporary altered states lose their appeal as real happiness and joy are experienced more and more.


Paul

Thank you for the response and the help; I'm sure you get lots of people asking similar questions.  I've been using the NEW system for a couple weeks now, and it's already made all the difference in the world as far as remembering spontaneous projections go.  Anyway, thanks again, and I'll be sure to try to focus on something the next time I catch myself dreaming.

Paul