The Pagan Path

Those who wonder are not lost; they are trying to awaken! 'The Sleeper must awaken!'

Saturday, May 22, 2021

................A Place that Is Higher Than 'I'

When my heart is overwhelmed;
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Psalm 61:2 b & c

'I do not like him/her/it!' Whatever our complaint may be & against whomever, it always seems to begin with 'I'. Why do we not like him/her/it? What is it about them that we don't like? Is it not ultimately, in most cases ( I must give the 'caveat' ), because they don't want the same things, or do what we want/think they should? Where does this feeling come from? Does it not come from the same place? It is the Person/Ego that feels likes or dislikes, loves or hates, that fears or is fearless. Our Spirit, our Essence does not know Fear, It does not know Love or Hate ( We ARE Love ); It knows nothing of Likes or Dislikes, for, in our Spirit, we are of the same Essence, the same Essence, or Energy that hung the Stars so many eons ago!

Before we go much farther, we should note the difference between the Person that is known as 'I', the Individual & the real 'We', the Collective, the real 'Us'. 'As above, so below', 'We' do not have likes & dislikes, 'We' do not fear or love ( for we ARE Love ). The Individual, however, the Person, the 'I', feels all these things, being separate ( by definition ) from 'others'. Now, this is not necessarily to say there is anything wrong with Individuality, with being your own Person; in some sense, that's what makes the world go round! The problem presents itself when 'We' allow the Person to control us. When we as Individuals cling to our separateness to the point where we forget that 'We' are not simply our 'Self'. 'We' are More than the Person, 'We' are More than the 'I', the Individual; 'We' ARE, in the Greatest sense, in this together. Even as Individuals, what affects one affects all, however minutely. When we allow ourselves to focus on our individuality ( again; nothing necessarily wrong with Individuality - 'it is what it is' ), 'We' tend to forget that it's not just about us, even humanly speaking, the 'I' is NOT all-important, the Individual ( Person ) is NOT what its all about! 'We', in Essence, forget Who & What we really ARE!

'Who ARE 'We', then, REALLY?!' Yes, Yes, if you're a follower of my 'wanderings', this is probably all-too-familiar territory, but here goes. Yes, in this iteration, in this Life, 'We' rely on the Person, the Individual, in order to manifest ourselves in this realm, this dimension. 'We', however, must realize ( not to sound like a broken record ) that we are More than either of these. 'We' are part of the Collective, One with ALL, including the Source of All! As such, then, when we focus on our separateness, our Individuality, it is only natural to let our differences divide us, as in 'us & them'. In this realm, there is a very real truth to this distinction, but too often, 'us & them' becomes 'us versus them'! In the Greater Reality, however, 'We' know that this only hurts us ALL, for, 'as above, so below', what affects one affects ALL!

The passage above, though admittedly only part of a verse from the Hebrew Bible ( verses are a relatively new construct & NOT original ), however portrays what is known as a 'Universal Truth'. This 'Universal Truth' is self-evident; whether, as a Christian ( of whatever denomination ), one believes that 'God' is an omnipotent Being, separated from us by our 'sin' ( ? ) who must save us from ourselves, or whether one accepts the fact our salvation is up to us, that simply by connecting to & becoming familiar with our Higher Nature, we may Journey to that 'Place that is Higher than 'I'.

'Heaven' is not a 'Place'; It is a state of Mind. In this Realm, this earthly manifestation, our choices determine whether we abide in 'Heaven' or 'Hell' ( to use the biblical imagery ). When we, as human beings, as Individuals, focus on our differences to the point of division, our existence tends to become rather 'hellish', even though our Mind usually tries to convince us that we're better off in our duality, or separateness. This brings to mind the old adage, 'no man is an island'. We're not alone in this existence;: in fact, we cannot, as human beings, exist on our own. Just as the lowest part of this Biology, plants, cannot exist without the necessary constituent elements, so we too, are Elemental Beings. We will not simply fail to thrive on our own: without the necessary nutrients, we will die!

Through Meditation, or Intentional Living, we may abide in 'Heaven', though we are surrounded by 'hellish' beings, or conditions. By quieting the Mind, we realize that there is More to Life than this drudgery to which we have become so accustomed. When we look Beyond the Mind's Eye, we will begin to see that we are indeed in 'Heaven', that, in Reality, 'We' ARE that 'Place that is Higher than I'! We need not 'assume the position', so to speak, in order to acquire this peace of mind, for, even in the midst of the business of the day-to-day, if we keep our inner focus on the glorious fact of Who & What we are, in Reality, we will experience that Inner Peace & radiate it outwardly to the world around us.

Manifesting this True Nature, the Love that We ARE, often proves to be easier said than done, especially due to the fact that so many have forgotten Who & What THEY really are. Though we must be careful to take this saddening fact into account, we must also realize the startling, but glorious reason we are here. We are here, not just to rectify the mistakes of our own past, but to be a Light, shining in the Darkness! Speaking of the mistakes of the past, while we only bear the responsibility for our own mistakes, we must also acknowledge that those mistakes, even the ones we currently make, or have made in this lifetime, cannot fail but have contributed to the current situation, to a greater or lesser extent.

This, of course, is by no means to instill guilt in my readers; this is simply a timely reminder of the responsibility we all bear. Admittedly, it IS rather a fine line, for the responsibility can bear so greatly upon us that we begin to lose sight of that Inner Peace. On the other hand though, it can drive us to seek 'The Rock That is Higher Than I', which Rock is our True Nature, our Higher Nature, which is part of the Collective. With the Collective, of course, comes the Wisdom of the Ages! With this Wisdom comes, not feelings of guilt, but the Peace that passes understanding. Acknowledging that, though we bear a part, again, however great or small, we are not responsible for the choices of others.

'It is what it is', yes, but our responsibility lies in how we choose to respond to 'what is'. When we respond in a positive way, the results cannot help but be positive, no matter how negative the situation may look, or feel. However, if we respond negatively to a situation that is already negative, THAT, on the other hand, cannot but escalate the problem! That then, is where OUR responsibility lies. As the saying goes, 'you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink'. We can only do our best to make positive decisions ourselves & thus influence others to join us, but it is not OUR responsibility to pay for their mistakes, nor is it our responsibility to force them to make better, more positive decisions!

Even as Individuals, the choices we all make WILL have a lesser or greater effect on our world! What that Effect is rests solely upon OUR shoulders; we cannot blame it on our environment, the choices of others, or any other outside factor. Even though it often seems we have no choice but to do one thing or the other, we ALWAYS have a choice, even if it IS 'one thing or the other'! If we choose to do nothing ( sometimes the best option ), we still have made a choice & thus bear the responsibility!\

Getting back to the subject at hand; 'as above, so below': realizing that We are More than simply human beings, that the way we manifest this is in our ability to choose ( else we'd be no 'higher' than the animals ) & thus to influence others, while placing a greater weight of respons'a'bility on our own shoulders, also brings Freedom ( for with Freedom MUST come responsibility )! This Freedom, then, in the Great Circle of Life, leads right back to Choice, which again, is how we manifest our own Divinity, or Godhood.

As Spirits living in a material world, we are blessed with the ability to live Beyond the confines of this limited Space in Time! We do not have to rely on our humanity in order to survive this experience ( if that was the case, we would most likely not be long for this world ). Some rely on religion & look for their salvation outside themselves, in Essence, 'God', or some other form of Divinity. Such bear no condemnation from this blogger, though they will be encouraged ( vociferously ) to look Wthin, to the choices ONLY they can make & which will be either their downfall or salvation!

So, 'As above, so below'; 'why do we like or dislike this or that Person?' IS it as simple as that? Is it because we rely on the Person/Ego, or our humanity, to make our decisions for us? Can we not simply choose to change our feelings about any given individual? Well, yes & no; personally speaking, some people just give off good vibes while others don't. Can't we just choose to accept the Person, though maybe not liking, or agreeing with their actions? ( sounds a bit like 'love the sinner, not the sin' ). Accepting the fact that we're not required to 'like' everybody brings its own Freedom. We can be ourselves, make the choices we want to make ( as long as we don't harm anyone in the process ), vibe with the people we vibe with & trust that others will be so attracted to our Vibe that they will want to join us in that same ( positive ) Vibe; or not, it's YOUR choice!

Namaste' & Blessed Be

Sage Charles

Wednesday, May 05, 2021

Unconditional Love; Pure Magick

'If you can't love yourself, how can you love anyone else?' I was raised Christian & so, am quite familiar with one of the first of the so-called 'Ten Words', or 'Ten Commandments'; 'Love your neighbor as yourself'. Simple, right? But isn't that the main problem?! Usually, because we DO love our neighbor as ourselves, even though we may say we love them, even feel ( intermittently ) that we love them, we only really love them as much as we love ourselves, which often isn't much, if indeed we don't actually hate ourselves. When this is the case; guess what happens to 'Love your neighbor'?! 

Words not only have meaning, they have Great Power; the Power to Create & the Power to Destroy, the Power to Harm & the Power to Heal! Recently, I wrote a blogpost based on the old axiom, 'Sticks & Stones may break my bones, but Words can never hurt me'. While this Truth appears to be Self-Evident, as we discovered, these Words are not necessarily True! Growing up Christian, as I did, we were taught that, as physical beings, mere words could not harm us, unless, of course, we're talking about being 'butt-hurt', ie, having our feelings hurt. Experience, however, teaches us that Words can indeed cause physical harm. What we feel on the inside because of another's careless ( or vengeful ) Word usually manifests, sooner or later, outwardly, or in our physiology. This is to say nothing of the physical harm that can occur to us when we're careless ( or vengeful ) with our Word!

The Power of the Word not only affects others, It affects us as well! We might spitefully cause ham to another with our Word, but when we do, it's usually because we've already done much damage to ourselves through the misuse of the Power of the Word. The three major religions of the world have taught us to hate ourselves! Beginning from early on, the Power of the Word has been misused to teach us that we are not as we should be; not only that, but we must agree that our only salvation is outside of us, that only by placing our faith in some omnipotent being can we have any hope of obtaining the perfection we were created with. Since then, the majority of people that were taught thusly have castigated themselves to the point where they believe it themselves & no longer need anyone to convince them of their own unworthiness. 

It is our Agreement that is at fault! Both with our self-loathing & the harm which stems from it, when we agree with those who tell us that we are unworthy ( of love, forgiveness, acceptance, etc ) we do harm to ourselves through the Power of our own Word. Because we are continually reminded of our own disabilities, we begin to believe it ourselves; thus the process of our own self-destruction, which was already well underway, takes on a life of its own. Rather than believing what everyone else says about Who & What we are, we must discern that Truth for ourselves; then & only then, will we truly be able to love our neighbor, for then, we will have learned to love ourselves!

It's only natural, especially in this day & age ( need I say, 'this culture'? ) to blame everyone but oneself for our problems. 'He/She really knows how to push my buttons', 'Look what YOU made me do!' are just a couple of the ways which we use to divert the blame from where it really lies; with US! I say 'natural', not in the biblical sense, whereas most Christians would blame it on humankind's 'sin' or 'fallen nature', but in the egoic, human sense, in that the Ego does not like to admit when It's wrong. Speaking of agreement; when we agree with our Ego that it can't be OUR fault, we end up on the wrong side of the Law ( of Love )!

Learning to love ourselves is where True, or Unconditional Love MUST begin! Unconditional Love, by definition, means ( to me, anyway ) Love that is not conditional, in Essence, that Love is not dependent on certain feelings or actions, but is simply there, Present. For instance, a father or mother does not love their child only when the child loves them back, or does what they want. They love their child unconditionally, in the sense that, whether the child obeys them or loves them back, they will love their child, simply because he or she is their child. In some sense, one might insist that this is conditional on the child being theirs, but 'Really'!?

Some might question, at this juncture, 'is it even possible, then, for a human being to love unconditionally?!' You must be the Judge in this matter, but as far as I'm concerned, the true love we see every day, whether it be acts of compassion, the enigmatic affinity between total strangers, or the love of a mother for her child comes the closest to unconditional love on this earthly plane of existence!

Simply saying those three little words, 'I love you', though it is good & well to remind people every once in awhile, will have its effect, for sure, though, if not followed by the corresponding actions, will not have the desired effect, but rather, an adverse one! While hearing the Word may make them feel all warm & fuzzy inside, the feeling will not last & in fact, will quickly dissipate, especially if ones actions contradict that Word. 

In order to love unconditionally, it is necessary to realize that we are More than our Biology, More than Human, for that matter!  You've read this on my blog before, but seriously, It cannot be stressed enough, the gloriously freeing fact that We are not simply human beings who live once, die once, then go to one of two places ( for Eternity? ). Our Consciousness, our very Being, extends Beyond this Biology ( even this dimension ). Being More than Human, then, We bear the Greater Responsibility to show forth in this Biology that We ARE More than Human, Greater than this Biology, much as the biblical Israel was tasked with having the dominion, or ascendancy, over those who were acting as mere human beings, even 'animals'. 

( Speaking of 'animals'; while they definitely have a 'wild' side; observing them in their natural environment often shows us a greater example, or definition of true love than many humans seem capable of exhibiting. Also, ask pretty much any pet 'owner' about the unconditional love of 'their' pet! )

True Love IS unconditional, for a very simple reason; It is the Essence of US! Our Being is not conditioned upon anything; We just ARE. I AM, of course, speaking of our Spiritual, or True Nature, NOT our humanity, for our humanity IS based on conditions; if certain conditions ( food, water, sleep, etc ) are not met, our body, along with our humanity, will perish. However, our Spirit, our very Being, is not conditioned upon anything, but like the Energetic Force from which we came, we simply ARE. ( I realize I just repeated myself, but it bears repeating ) 'As above, so below', however; as we are 'top down' individuals, if We are led by the Spirit ( rather than the Ego ), Love WILL win the day!

Namaste' & Blessed Be,

Sage Charles