This Current Experience

 "It's electrifyin'!"

Yes, a bit of a play on words, but seriously; it IS all about the Life that we are presently, at this point in Time, choosing to participate in ( or not ). Of course, many of us WERE brought up to look forward to what is often called 'the Afterlife', usually involving some form of 'Heaven' or other. A signature statement for this condition might be, "Where are you going when you die?" For this question, there are but two choices, 'Heaven' or 'Hell'!

A wise man once said, in other words, maybe, "Everything is Energy!" This being the case ( ask any present-day scientist or physician if you have doubts ), would it seem strange to call the signals that travel in great, almost incalculable bursts from any given point on our body to our brain 'electricity'? Electricity was 'discovered', one might say, when Benjamin Franklin, according to the story, sent a kite aloft during a lightning storm. Most if not all my readers know the rest of the story; the key that he'd attached to the kite string before sending it into the storm gave him what must have been one of the most shocking experiences of his life!

My father, as some of you may know, has recently passed into the next experience. His body, or 'meat vehicle', which had threatened to shut down on him before, finally decided that it was not going to allow any more of these electrical signals to pass through it. I say this, not because I'm looking for words of comfort, but because these processes are alive in me right now & this is a good outlet ( pun intended )! As I've admitted ( freely ) before, I am NOT a scientist & so do not know the lingo, though I AM more or less familiar with what keeps us tickin'!

Because therefore, we ARE Energy, it is electricity that keeps us alive, humanly speaking! Once those neurons stop firing, the Spirit, or Essence tends to leave the physical body. No Electricity, No 'Energy in Motion', so to speak & this husk returns to its Mother Earth, to the Elements of which it's composed.  But, enough about all that; "What I REALLY came here to talk about is the Now!"

There is a lot of talk going around these days concerning living in the moment. To a point I agree, though I can understand the tendency, both to forget ( the lessons of ) the past, or to be unconcerned about ( the possible dangers of ) the future. Though I can understand this, there is at least as much danger of over-correcting & going into the opposite ditch by letting the past dictate your future, in essence, not forgiving yourself & others for the past ( mistakes ) while at the same time worrying about the future because of that same past! 

Living in the moment DOES tend to alleviate both conditions, though it can also serve as a sort of crutch! By 'crutch', of course, I'm simply referring to self-medication, not necessarily with drugs, prescription or otherwise, but basically throwing yourself into the latest extreme sport or whatever strikes your fancy at the time. This is not to say that these sorts of activities are without merit, though it COULD be argued..................just that these sorts of activities often serve simply as a mask for the storms raging under the surface!

Living in the moment would almost seem to be synonymous with living FOR the moment & indeed, at first glance there may not be a lot of difference, but there is a subtle difference. Living FOR the moment implies heavily that one is actually using this lifestyle as a crutch, whereas living IN the moment simply means that one is approaching their life one day at a time, celebrating the 'Now', rather than yearning for a hopeful future, or dwelling on a tattered past.

According to this published article from the University of Maine, "At birth, a baby’s brain contains 100 billion neurons, roughly as many nerve cells as there are stars in the Milky Way, and almost all the neurons the brain will ever have." "As above, so below"! The synapses that occur, for instance when one takes a simple breath are themselves astronomical. It might seem strange, though maybe not so much in this modern day & age, to think of ourselves, physically anyway, as being full of electricity, but one might have cause to ponder exactly how much power we could generate if only we could figure out how to harness it. "Wait a minute...................."

Electricity IS what keeps this 'biological clock' ticking; once that flow stops & those neurons cease to form synapses, 'that's all she wrote' for this body, although, as we know, that's not the end of Us, being Infinite Beings & all! The Electricity that keeps this biology moving, while it IS a form of the same Energy that forms the Universe & indeed our own Divinity, our Higher Self, is however a lower form, operating at a lower, or slower frequency. Again, not being a Scientist, I'm not trying to awe you with my knowledge of all the technicalities, but this resonates with me! It may not with all my readers & that's fine; 'It is what It is!

"Would it surprise you to know that everything that we've been taught about both 'Heaven' & 'Hell' is contingent on what we believe about the past & the future?!" Our past, according to most religious dogma, is what condemns us to 'Hell'. The other side of the coin, so to speak, is that if we change our actions for a better future, we may find ourselves in A Better Place, namely 'Heaven'. Of course, it must be noted that, by this reckoning too, it is what we do in the Future, no matter our Past, that determines our Placement. By this time, many of my readers might find themselves nodding in agreement, if only in theory. It IS what we do that matters ( again, "pun intended" ); if we would inherit 'Heaven', we must make the appropriate choices: if 'Hell' ( who in their right mind would make THAT choice?! ), then just keep choosing selfishly, no matter the harm you might be causing. Either way, to focus unduly on the Past OR the Future leads into Fear; fear that if we don't act a certain way, we'll end up in 'Hell' & conversely that if we DO act a certain way, we won't get to go to 'Heaven'! 

In conclusion & on a more personal note ( for those of my readers who have 'lost' loved ones ); my father's 'meat vehicle' went the way of ALL biology, being part of the great Circle of Life! HE, His Essence that is, remains, neither in the 'Heaven' for which he hoped, or the 'Hell' he feared. This may come as a bit of a 'shock' to some of my readers, but much of what we have been taught is not true! 

Finally, to reiterate; NOW is our only chance to do what it right, NOW is when we must make the choices that determine if we will spend our Life in 'Heaven' or Hell'! Also, Now will never come again; it will ALWAYS be Now, so choose wisely. Will you drug yourself up with pharmaceuticals or extreme sports to merely alleviate the pain, or will you acquaint yourself with your Higher Self in order to actually get to the Source of the pain? The latter choice means 'Heaven', the first means 'Hell'!

Namaste' & Blessed Be!

Sage Charles

Ascension: The War Within

There is much talk these days of 'Ascension'; the question might well be asked though, "What is it?" By definition, Ascension would naturally imply a rising up, in essence, moving from a lower place to a higher one, whether metaphorically or literally, whether mentally, emotionally, spiritually or physically. In a metaphysical sense, it might be described as reaching a higher dimension, a higher frequency, if you will. Spiritually, it could be described as being "crucified with Christ", not necessarily in the literal sense, as the Bible seems to portray, but again, in a metaphysical sense, as the journey of the spinal fluid rising from the sacral chakra to the crown chakra. The biblical story of Jesus indeed seems to follow this Journey, particularly with Jesus' '40 day' Temptation in the Wilderness. However one chooses to define 'Ascension', it is generally accepted that it involves some sort of heightened experience, again, whether physically, emotionally or spiritually.

Answering the question, "How does one ascend?" is another matter entirely! Does one achieve Ascension by ignoring certain bodily functions, or simply by embracing those functions? Is 'Ascension' what occurs when, through meditation or by whatever means, we train our bodies to rise above it all, not unlike the Phoenix?! More importantly, especially for the purposes of this short blogpost, is 'Ascension' more akin to Jesus' own fabled Ascension, as chronicled in Mark 16, Luke 19 & the 1st chapter of the book of Acts? Ephesians 4:9 seems to agree with this metaphysical interpretation, wherein "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?".

'Ascension' is something everybody wants, right?! One might think so & for the most part, they may be right, to a point. It's really not all that surprising, once they realize how mentally, emotionally, spiritually & yes, even physically demanding it is, the amount of people who are tempted to back down, maybe even forget the matter entirely! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the pain that comes with Ascension is unbearable, or even that once one has 'achieved' It, your troubles are over. "Not at all!" No, once One has ascended ( whatever that means to you), not only do you still have to deal with those who have not yet ascended ( ? ); you must also continue to struggle with that ever-present trouble-maker, the Ego!

The Ego is unavoidable! One might, in fact, note that it is one of those 'necessary constituents' of our human nature. As previously discussed, the Ego is neither good nor evil, right or wrong; "it just IS". The problem with the Ego is when we allow it to get the better of us, so to speak, allowing it to dictate our actions, or reactions. Some might argue that the Ego is something that can be & indeed should be squelched. To a point, I agree; we can & should, maybe, subdue the Ego to the point where it is barely ( if that ) noticeable, but while we are at home in this 'meat-suit', I would dare to say that it cannot, indeed should not be entirely squelched! "Why?" you may well ask. "As above, so below"; it is a necessary component to our humanity!

The question might be proffered at this point; "Why even bother?" If the Ego is going to constantly oppose us us, "Why shouldn't we just get rid of it entirely?" Another option, however is, rather than view the Ego as something that we must fight against, we learn to live with it, not letting it control us, yet not trying to control it either! Rather, we might look at it as it is, not an adversary, or something that must be defeated, but as a necessary constituent of our humanity that allows us to  be Who We are, which is Divine & yet function as true human beings in a 'Mundane' world!

Is the Ego, then, NOT something to be overcome?! Well, "yes & no": is it something that CAN be overcome? "Sure". Is it something we must strive to overcome? Again, "yes & no"! It will not be overcome by us sitting on our laurels & throwing our hands up in despair, but, on the other hand, the harder we TRY to overcome It, the harder It's going to fight back! "What CAN we do?" you might ask. Well, for one thing; "STOP!" Stop striving, it's only going to make it worse! The Ego, not unlike our Mind, strong as It is, is a delicate thing, easily wounded. The best, really the only thing we can do, is to quiet them both. I know this is "easier said than done", but it is the most we can do, especially with any hope of success!

"So, 'Ascension'; why would we want to even attempt It if It's only going to cause us more pain?!" Wouldn't it just be easier to just accept the status quo, including the belief that most of us grew up with, that "We have but one life to live, and after that, the Judgement"? It would make Life so much simpler if we could just take things as they come, conforming to the crowd & living 'the American Dream' ( thinking of don Miguel Ruiz & his 'dream of the planet' )! "Why would ANYONE want to mess with Perfection?!

"The Answer, my friends, is blowin' in the wind..............." Yes, I'm referring here to our true nature, that of the Spirit, which means that We are Divine. This, my friends, is "Why" We would want to go to all that trouble, to re-open all those old wounds, to heal our pain! This world is in so much turmoil right now, thanks to us humans & most of us don't even realize that it's our fault! I say 'our' in a very general sense, no woman or man ( not even a fallen spiritual being ) can shoulder the blame; it's a group effort!

There's a saying that goes something like this, "It's taken so long to get to where we are; it's going to take at least as long to get back, if not longer!" Okay, so it's my saying; I said it, but isn't it true? Yes, my words could be proven untrue ( actually, I'm kinda hoping they are ), but that's where 'Ascension' comes in; once a person ascends ( whatever that means to YOU ), there's really no going back. Once One tastes the Freedom that knowing yourself & your true Power brings, that One could never even think of retreating, no matter how painful It is ( believe me, "It hurts like HELL" )! This is the ONLY way that we'll EVER 'get ourselves back to the Garden', so to speak! It is a choice; 'To ascend, or not to ascend", to BE Who we are, or not to BE Who we are!

By now, my readers might be wondering,"Why didn't he just title this 'How to Ascend'?" Well, you may have noticed that I used the phrase "whatever that means to YOU" a lot; Ascension, as we've seen, means different things to different people. There is One Spirit, yes, but We are all different aspects of that One Spirit. So, is there One way to reach that Spirit, to scale that seemingly unscalable height? To posit that there is would be akin to saying that all children should be able to learn at the same pace! 

Jesus' Ascension has been assumed, religiously speaking, for the most part, to be a literal rising of His physical body to 'Realms of Glory' ( AKA 'Heaven' ). I do not believe this to be the case. Whether literal history or not, in most cases the Bible as we have it today is so far from it's intended meaning & audience that it's somewhat surprising that humanity hasn't totally fucked things up! "Oh, wait........" 

But seriously, if Jesus' Ascension was simply a model, a precursor really, of our own, as I, along with many scholars have posited ( even the Bible says as much ), then it stands to reason that it speaks, not of a physical event, but rather to a spiritual, or metaphysical one. 

To rise above it all, One must first descend to the depths of human nature, to face the Shadow that reveals the dark side of that human nature. Once we have experienced the darkness of our deepest desire, we are forced to be honest with ourselves, to face our shadow self , which is as much a part of 'Us' as our Divinity. Knowing ourselves, Who We truly are, not just in our Divinity, but as a true human being, is of utmost importance here!

Quite seriously then, "What IS Ascension?!" Is Ascension something we aspire to achieve; some lofty peak that we hope to some day reach? Or is Ascension more akin to the salvation that the Bible teaches us to work out ( Philippians 2:12 )? Now, admittedly, there are parts of the Bible that seem to tell us that salvation, or atonement come from without, 'from Above' ( 'Heaven' ), so to speak, but in Reality, this is actually just a matter of interpretation/perception. Like biblical salvation & atonement ( at-one-ment ), Ascension is an inside job: It DOES come from Above, though this does not refer to something outside of or separate from ourselves; it is a choice we make within ourselves to, again, rise above it all, to realize that we are More than our Ego, More even than our choices! THIS is what we Ascend TO; not just the realization that We ARE More, but the Ability to Manifest that realization in daily Life! "So mote it Be!"

Namaste' & Blessed Be!

Sage Charles