Post by Sowelu on Sept 23, 2004 4:09:53 GMT -5
I’m sorry if my response sounded callous to your pain. It’s not meant to be, but I appreciate that it may feel so. What goes on in this world is horrific and seems so meaningless and violent, I understand.
And just because I might understand all the motivations that make a leader wage war, the intoxication felt from the power to command others to kill, and righteously claim dominion over others, my awareness doesn’t make it stop. My compassion for the victims and the perpetrators, based in deep understanding of what drives each to find themselves in the situations they are in, doesn’t end it for them.
But that’s the thing about this world. It doesn’t stop until the one involved makes the choice to stop it for themselves. Each participant in any conflict must make that decision before all conflict ends. And the overwhelming forces to keep them from making that sovereign choice are great. The programmed urge to comply with those in power, for so many in this world, is almost impossible to battle in themselves. So it plays out externally through horror and bloodshed. And the overwhelming force of righteousness and power lust in those who lead others to war, is almost impossible to battle in themselves, as well. I understand this.
Fear is at the root of all of these motivations, and is the torque of the compelling force to conform and comply. And facing fear is the one great avoidance training we all receive here. We're entrained to believe our fear to be so many other things than what it is, in order to avoid it head on. We're armed against ourselves, essentially.
The development of will within oneself takes great effort. The power to use that will freely takes great effort. To choose to act in a manner that does not align with the beliefs and indoctrination one is raised with in this world is a monumental feat. At first one learns to go against the training, so to speak. And power is felt in that.
And then with time, one learns to accept all choices as valid for the level of consciousness that makes the choice. Understanding and compassion grows. As does unconditional love. But it takes effort and time and practice and the intention to achieve it. And as long as we're here, we'll face situations where we need to choose how we will align our will. Over and over. A willingness to learn rather than judge, hate, fight or reject is a constant requirement. These things don't come easy when we're constantly bombarded with a need to act for survival.
It takes a willingness to feel the very feelings so many keep at bay. Daring to feel vulnerable for any amount of time in this world, takes courage. And through feeling those feelings, one gains the opportunity to understand their origins. It takes a willingness to look at one's own unpleasant urges and desires, as well. There is great fear of facing these things, let alone facing the things themselves, and all of this requires willingness. When life is in your face each day, that willingness is hard to come by. I understand these things. So it is a great effort, with great rewards. But those rewards seem meaningless before the effort is put in, so it does indeed take faith to start. And to continue.
What does it take to refuse to lift a gun or order a bombing for any cause, any nation? And what does it take to face your society in this action, and accept a label of deserter or whatever others would feel the need to label you in order to remain comfortable with their beliefs and order of life? And if a being somehow finds themselves with a gun in their hand facing someone else with a gun in theirs, what would it take to see themselves in the other and have no desire to kill? Would they know that other as a brother, sister, neighbor, mother, father, son or daughter of their own true family? As themselves, truly, in another form? And not as something “other than”, not as an object of any negative emotion they can’t handle in themselves? Could they possibly prefer their own death to perpetrating violence toward another?
If so, would they die without anger or insult, knowing there's been no true injury to Who They Truly Are? Would they feel compassion for the one who lived from a place where needing to kill in order to maintain the world they understand makes sense, and is more compelling than "love thine enemy" for them?
So yes, it takes a whole lot of inner work before one can truly choose not to participate. And until you do that work, you can't choose not to participate. Because we are compelled to experience what we do not understand. It's part and parcel of this world, this kind of life existence. Part of the design. Before we can truly choose, however, we can use the wisdom as a guiding light. A beacon for the direction to intend while we deal with our experiences of pain and suffering, injustice, trauma and vicarious horror.
And through it all, self-forgiveness will keep us in line with the goal. For every error we make, self-love over self-hate will take us closer to our core of truth. And when we master self-forgiveness, it is a very small matter to extend it to others. We do because we know.
It’s a helluva thing, I agree, and its service to the learning for souls must have played itself out by now. It’s looping experiences at this point, and it’s time for it to end. But who has the power to enlighten the ones giving orders, following orders, or towing the line? If that be their choice, I support their right to make it. I understand how they could, I appreciate the motivations, and I don’t judge them because of this.
And perhaps it takes a leap of faith to appreciate this, but having been a victim of violence many times in this life and learning from the experiences, I understand that we choose these types of experiences, from a soul level at least at first, in order to learn from them and gain the very compassion and understanding I just mentioned.
So that eventually (and life is eternal, so eventually can be a very long time), the soul who has victimized becomes victim and understands both sides of the equation well enough to finally choose something else. It takes a whole lot of experiences and self-exploration before this point is reached, but that’s ok. In the end and in truth, we are eternal, cannot be annihilated and our journey is fully supported every step of the way.
Again it may take faith at first, but death is a part of life, not a horror to be avoided at all costs. I sometimes sense that if human beings en masse could face that one fear, the fear of death, all of this would end. Because killing another is not a true victory. And dying is not a true end. We live again. We love again. We experience again. Physical human life is harsh and difficult, filled with constant stimuli for lessons and growth, and requires all of our faculties, both inner and “outer”, to face and get through it with any kind of love intact.
And how much of a leap would it be for the majority to understand that love is the basis of all of these experiences to begin with? How difficult for most to realize that we do these things to ourselves until we know better, and it’s supported with love because that’s really all we’re doing; learning? How difficult to grasp that we designed and then invested in this school of learning for the purpose of playing all of this out because before we did, it hadn’t been done? And now that it’s known and experienced, it can be left behind?
But for those who have yet to awaken to the idea that there is something else to choose… love still supports their choices completely. There is a place in Creation for every idea, every need for every experience, and there is no judgment for any of it.
How do I give another what’s in my heart so that they understand, and their pain is eased? I have sought out this deep understanding of life in all its forms because I yearned to. If you do not, if you choose to rail against it and judge it as wrong instead, I support you in that choice. I understand. It hurts, lord knows it feels wrong, and if that’s as far as you choose to take the matter within you, I find that completely acceptable.
And yet I can also say there is a desire to express to you that there is light at the end of the tunnel of pain and darkness here. But that’s my desire, and has nothing to do with you, unless you’re interested. Truly interested. And even then, I can tell you anything and everything with words, and it means nothing. The impact is very slight.
Your own experiences, your own path of learning, your own inner exploration… these are the things that will teach you what you need to know. Within you is where the answers lie that will assist you in making sense of life. It’s always been that way, and it always will be.
Because in the end, we’re sovereign beings here on a sojourn, and when we finally wake up and remember this life isn’t the whole of who we are, when we remember who WE truly are, we get to go home and relax. Fondly remembering the richness of experience we had here, and letting go of the juice of conflict, suffering and pain. They were learning tools, not real in the sense of lasting permanence.
The only lasting permanence is love, which is light, which is knowledge. And we go to every length to experience the truth of that.
But don't take my word for it. And toss this if you choose.
With much love, compassion and gratitude,
Sowelu
And just because I might understand all the motivations that make a leader wage war, the intoxication felt from the power to command others to kill, and righteously claim dominion over others, my awareness doesn’t make it stop. My compassion for the victims and the perpetrators, based in deep understanding of what drives each to find themselves in the situations they are in, doesn’t end it for them.
But that’s the thing about this world. It doesn’t stop until the one involved makes the choice to stop it for themselves. Each participant in any conflict must make that decision before all conflict ends. And the overwhelming forces to keep them from making that sovereign choice are great. The programmed urge to comply with those in power, for so many in this world, is almost impossible to battle in themselves. So it plays out externally through horror and bloodshed. And the overwhelming force of righteousness and power lust in those who lead others to war, is almost impossible to battle in themselves, as well. I understand this.
Fear is at the root of all of these motivations, and is the torque of the compelling force to conform and comply. And facing fear is the one great avoidance training we all receive here. We're entrained to believe our fear to be so many other things than what it is, in order to avoid it head on. We're armed against ourselves, essentially.
The development of will within oneself takes great effort. The power to use that will freely takes great effort. To choose to act in a manner that does not align with the beliefs and indoctrination one is raised with in this world is a monumental feat. At first one learns to go against the training, so to speak. And power is felt in that.
And then with time, one learns to accept all choices as valid for the level of consciousness that makes the choice. Understanding and compassion grows. As does unconditional love. But it takes effort and time and practice and the intention to achieve it. And as long as we're here, we'll face situations where we need to choose how we will align our will. Over and over. A willingness to learn rather than judge, hate, fight or reject is a constant requirement. These things don't come easy when we're constantly bombarded with a need to act for survival.
It takes a willingness to feel the very feelings so many keep at bay. Daring to feel vulnerable for any amount of time in this world, takes courage. And through feeling those feelings, one gains the opportunity to understand their origins. It takes a willingness to look at one's own unpleasant urges and desires, as well. There is great fear of facing these things, let alone facing the things themselves, and all of this requires willingness. When life is in your face each day, that willingness is hard to come by. I understand these things. So it is a great effort, with great rewards. But those rewards seem meaningless before the effort is put in, so it does indeed take faith to start. And to continue.
What does it take to refuse to lift a gun or order a bombing for any cause, any nation? And what does it take to face your society in this action, and accept a label of deserter or whatever others would feel the need to label you in order to remain comfortable with their beliefs and order of life? And if a being somehow finds themselves with a gun in their hand facing someone else with a gun in theirs, what would it take to see themselves in the other and have no desire to kill? Would they know that other as a brother, sister, neighbor, mother, father, son or daughter of their own true family? As themselves, truly, in another form? And not as something “other than”, not as an object of any negative emotion they can’t handle in themselves? Could they possibly prefer their own death to perpetrating violence toward another?
If so, would they die without anger or insult, knowing there's been no true injury to Who They Truly Are? Would they feel compassion for the one who lived from a place where needing to kill in order to maintain the world they understand makes sense, and is more compelling than "love thine enemy" for them?
So yes, it takes a whole lot of inner work before one can truly choose not to participate. And until you do that work, you can't choose not to participate. Because we are compelled to experience what we do not understand. It's part and parcel of this world, this kind of life existence. Part of the design. Before we can truly choose, however, we can use the wisdom as a guiding light. A beacon for the direction to intend while we deal with our experiences of pain and suffering, injustice, trauma and vicarious horror.
And through it all, self-forgiveness will keep us in line with the goal. For every error we make, self-love over self-hate will take us closer to our core of truth. And when we master self-forgiveness, it is a very small matter to extend it to others. We do because we know.
It’s a helluva thing, I agree, and its service to the learning for souls must have played itself out by now. It’s looping experiences at this point, and it’s time for it to end. But who has the power to enlighten the ones giving orders, following orders, or towing the line? If that be their choice, I support their right to make it. I understand how they could, I appreciate the motivations, and I don’t judge them because of this.
And perhaps it takes a leap of faith to appreciate this, but having been a victim of violence many times in this life and learning from the experiences, I understand that we choose these types of experiences, from a soul level at least at first, in order to learn from them and gain the very compassion and understanding I just mentioned.
So that eventually (and life is eternal, so eventually can be a very long time), the soul who has victimized becomes victim and understands both sides of the equation well enough to finally choose something else. It takes a whole lot of experiences and self-exploration before this point is reached, but that’s ok. In the end and in truth, we are eternal, cannot be annihilated and our journey is fully supported every step of the way.
Again it may take faith at first, but death is a part of life, not a horror to be avoided at all costs. I sometimes sense that if human beings en masse could face that one fear, the fear of death, all of this would end. Because killing another is not a true victory. And dying is not a true end. We live again. We love again. We experience again. Physical human life is harsh and difficult, filled with constant stimuli for lessons and growth, and requires all of our faculties, both inner and “outer”, to face and get through it with any kind of love intact.
And how much of a leap would it be for the majority to understand that love is the basis of all of these experiences to begin with? How difficult for most to realize that we do these things to ourselves until we know better, and it’s supported with love because that’s really all we’re doing; learning? How difficult to grasp that we designed and then invested in this school of learning for the purpose of playing all of this out because before we did, it hadn’t been done? And now that it’s known and experienced, it can be left behind?
But for those who have yet to awaken to the idea that there is something else to choose… love still supports their choices completely. There is a place in Creation for every idea, every need for every experience, and there is no judgment for any of it.
How do I give another what’s in my heart so that they understand, and their pain is eased? I have sought out this deep understanding of life in all its forms because I yearned to. If you do not, if you choose to rail against it and judge it as wrong instead, I support you in that choice. I understand. It hurts, lord knows it feels wrong, and if that’s as far as you choose to take the matter within you, I find that completely acceptable.
And yet I can also say there is a desire to express to you that there is light at the end of the tunnel of pain and darkness here. But that’s my desire, and has nothing to do with you, unless you’re interested. Truly interested. And even then, I can tell you anything and everything with words, and it means nothing. The impact is very slight.
Your own experiences, your own path of learning, your own inner exploration… these are the things that will teach you what you need to know. Within you is where the answers lie that will assist you in making sense of life. It’s always been that way, and it always will be.
Because in the end, we’re sovereign beings here on a sojourn, and when we finally wake up and remember this life isn’t the whole of who we are, when we remember who WE truly are, we get to go home and relax. Fondly remembering the richness of experience we had here, and letting go of the juice of conflict, suffering and pain. They were learning tools, not real in the sense of lasting permanence.
The only lasting permanence is love, which is light, which is knowledge. And we go to every length to experience the truth of that.
But don't take my word for it. And toss this if you choose.
With much love, compassion and gratitude,
Sowelu
