Have the idea that "problems" of various kinds
are "chosen" by us before incarnating, to "advance
faster" as it were.
I don't understand this.
For instance, I have pretty bad nearsightedness, which has brought me nothing but grief since I
was ten years old. Now...
One of my dreams as a kid was to be a Navy pilot.
That dream got trounced by my eyesight... not to
mention, all the trouble futzing around with contact
lenses, fears about someday going blind, ect.
I've had some other problems too, which I won't
elaborate... enough to say, that they are DISHONORABLE.
Now... to me, the idea of "advancing" and "becoming one with 'God'" are SO uninspiring... SO
uninteresting... SO insipid...
Why would someone like me, who values PRIDE far, far, far more than happiness... have chosen to take a "fast track" to being an ant in an anthill... a "Bug" from "Starship Troopers"... a stupefied, semi-concious (but presumably "blissed out") "cell" in "God"'s big toe or whatnot?
To completely lose my individuality? I never wanted that!
If I have a "higher self" that chose the "fast track"... well, it had better be worried, because I'm coming for its head after I die...
Does not the fact that "advancing faster" via problems is utterly FOREIGN to what I really value, cast
some serious doubt on this theory as a whole? I NEVER WANTED "bliss" in some static, inane, unchanging, every-day's-the-same "heaven"! Makes me wonder who dreamed the idea up in the first place...

B-man
P.S. I wonder if it might be possible to "declare rebellion" from your "higher self" if you will... to
make your conscious self its "enemy", and thusly
break free of its tyranny? To become your OWN "higher self"? Just a thought...

Hi Brendan-
Well, let's see what can be learned by having your dreams dashed. Could it be that patience is one of your goals in this life? Or, instad of getting into Naval Air, possibly you had a prior lifetime in which you observed that war was a very low yield activity, so you made certain that you wouldn't have to be in one. Who knows, it might have saved your life. Actually, so long as you have vision correctable to 20:20 by artificial means you can take flying lessons and get a pilot's license, and progress to IFR flying through the same muck and sleazy weather that a military pilot would face. (However, I understand your frustration. My application to the USAF was denied due to an irregular heart, so I went private pilot. And the Flight Surgeon just recently cancelled my medical, so I'm permanantly grounded. I soloed in 1958, so I almost had 50 years of experience in the air. I guess that I'm learning to accept fate too.)

The stuff we've set ourselves up to learn is generally hard to see because we haven't learned it yet. This business of living is kinda like the business of running any other enterprise. We all want to do the good stuff and get all the perks, but what we get is the grunt work, and usually there's darned little thanks along with it. However, as you doubtless are well aware, a boss who has never done the grunt work is never competent to do the other stuff either.

If you eally want to understand who set this mess up, look deeply into the mirror and ask that person about the areas of life in which there remain imperfections. It's not that some Big Mean Guy-In-The-Sky wants to make you sit on an ant hill and smile. To the contrary, if you knew how to do it better, I suspect that you would.

There are only three basic things to master: (1) Be joyful, enthusiastic and creative in what you do. (2) Be contact with your situation, and loving of those around you who are part of it. (3) Be logical, truthful, rational, and as aware as you can be of the actual nature of what's going on. When you master those, you stop creating negative karma, and you can concentrate on positive aspects of existing.

For example, the idea of becoming one with God is not a case of fading into a blissed out whisp of purple smoke that dissipates into the Great Bottomless Void. It turns out to be a case of recognizing that you are part of the biggest batch of joy, enthusiasm and creativity that is happening, and that it is happening with love and acceptance of everything, even those of us who screw the pooch and can't sell the pups, as well as being the focus of all logic, wisdom, understanding and insight. That can be seen in this world as he foremost wave of development on our planet. Throughout the rest of the universe, it's the wavefront of all newness. It's one heck of a fun ride, and you even get to be the driver! BUT - first ya gotta get those three basics under control. (In Sanskrit that's called development of sat-chit-ananda.)

Or, if you prefer, there are lotsof other people willing to join you in resentment, hatred and rage, and in pride and self-pity.

Here's the good news: If you don't get it right this time around, you get to come back and do it all again.
Here's the bad news: If you don't get it right this time around, you get to come back and do it all again.

dave

For "be contact" read "be content" - sorry
d

wrote on Aug 10^th, 2005 at 7:07pm:

Or, instad of getting into Naval Air, possibly you had a prior lifetime in which you observed that war was a very low yield activity, so you made certain that you wouldn't have to be in one. Who knows, it might have saved your life. dave

I second that thought. I wasn't drafted because I wear glasses, even though I'm not particularly near-sighted. The rigid system of the military would run completely contrary to my nature, plus I think I may have already participated in war on some other planet. ;D Been there, done that

-nrgstream  

Hey Brendan.....pride is good. No doubt...
But it's better to be happy rather than to survive on pride alone. Maybe try happiness first and then placing pride as second in your life?
You might feel better for it.....just my 2cents worth... 8)

Brendan,

Our bodies are often the reflections of our soul. If you are short-sighted and fear to become blind, it is a sign.

Even your soul fears to become blind clearly, otherwise you wouldn't try to wake yourself up to reality, to see something you feel escapes your eyesight, on this message board.

You say you think advancing and becoming one with God is insipid. Have you ever been one with God? How do you know it is insipid? How do you know if heaven is boring? Have you ever felt close to it?

I think you are being hard on heaven and I think you are being hard on yourself.

Yet, you confirm yourself that you want to go higher, but you feel like you are a bug. You say you wanted more but did not obtain it.

You expect God to give you self-esteem, but you do not give it yourself, therefore you do not see how much God loves you. You do not know how to esteem yourself, you always want more, you remind me of myself at some stage.

There is no fast-track to reach your higher self. If you declare rebellion with your higher self, it means your mind is at war with your heart. If this is the case you are not even one with yourself. Who is suppose to end your own war? God?

Might God love you more than you love yourself?


With love,

Traveller no more.

I should want to add to that :

without self-esteem the love for yourself is incomplete, because it is conditional.

You love yourself only if you reach high, thus you give yourself love on condition.

When one gives himself such love on condition, it is because one fears, that if one accepts oneself entirely, he/she will loose his/hers motivation to improve oneself.

Do you fear that if you esteem yourself, you will loose your motivation to improve yourself? Have you tried it already? If you ever feel you need to try, give yourself time. Some souls are like spunges, the stuff needs to penetrate for a while.

That fear might stop yourself from loving yourself, which is the cause of your lack of esteem. (it is a vicious circle)

Love and fear cannot live together (as written on this site).

All this is just a suggestion.

With love,

Traveller no more

By the way, Brendan -

If you still want to fly, you still have three choices: (1) private pilot, takes about 40 hours and gives full priviledges; (2) Sport Pilot, about 1/3 of the training, most  of the same capabilities, VFR only, self certified medical only needs a driving license; (3) Ultralight Pilot, no license needed, but limited abilities. Google up a few of the Ultralight associations and see if that grabs you.  God has wings for you if you want them. You don't have to trash your Higher Self to find them. All you gotta do is do it.

If you're like me, the problem is not so much with what we can or can't do, but with the ability to recognize the richness of opportunities.  Maybe that's what we're here to learn, hum?

dave

Hi Brendan,

Seems like you generated a lot of interest here, as always.

If you are not ready to become one with a greater reality, that is just where you are.  You have stated many times that you like where you are and value your own special point of view from your own vantage point.  You don't want to lose that.

Well then, you are resting on your journey and the view must look relatively good from where you are.  If so, then that is a moment of happiness.

You express your happiness in a way most of us don't, but that doesn't make it less valid.  Even with your "angst" you seem to feel a great deal of as you call it "pride" which may be your code word for happiness.

Glad you are still here with us and sure you are well on your way in your journey,

blink

Also, you know, regarding your higher self.  It loves you absolutely, just as you are.  

The fact is, in your writings you do acknowledge this higher self, and you do admit to possibilities which you do not yet understand.  Who of us does better than that?

You are like the woman or man with a lover who is the "gardener" in the relationship.  The gardener tends you and watches over you and never leaves your side.  Occasionally there is a beautiful blossom hidden in the leaves.  The gardner is so delighted it does not even remove the blossom.  The gardner invites all his/her friends to come and admire it.  It is so beautiful.

love, blink

Brendan,

I am sorry.  

I really hope I did not hurt your feelings, because it is not you that was hard, it was me.

Very very sorry,

With love,

Traveller

Brendan,

I would rather see this point with a little different overview...

We do not choose problems just to “grow up” faster.  The game is, our imperfections make us vulnerable and very often it make us feel bad, so once an imperfection is noticed we start to work on it in order to be able to control some thing that we were unable to control until now.
So due that live seems to be always bringing us exactly the problem we are afraid of  get in touch with.  But this is the very right ting that will make us free from such fear.

So once you feel a great fear about some situation in one of your lifetimes you will certainly decide to go through that situation in order to win it and feel free.

Thanks for being here

PS: Sorry for my English I’ve never studied it.

Hi Kardec-
I think that's exactly to the point. We focus on what bugs us because of what we were focussing on when we made a mistake so we get into the place least desirable and focus on the fact that it bugs us, etc around and around. I recall a hamster on one of those exerise wheels, lots of running, but not much moving.

Your English is better than my Portugese! (Actually, since I'm in California, where about half the people speak Spanish, for some obscure reason I learned French instead. My Spanish is really bad.)

Hey Brendan - after generating all this talk, where did you go? I'd be interested in hearing your opinion. Incidently, I'm interested in ultralights (if my wife will let me) - if you pick up a copy of KitPlanes magazine you can get an idea of the field.

dave

If you thought you insulted me, I missed it...
Anyway, maybe that's a good sign for me. If
I am so fortunate as to get another physical incarnation as a human male, I want to be a iron-man...
nerves of steel, with a will and body to match!
I frankly worship hardness, and admire it in others.
Maybe the fact that I didn't see how what you
said might "hurt my feelings", shows I'm on my
way to becoming something WORTHIER than the over-
sensitive loser I let myself become...
Anyhow, don't lose any sleep over it. ;)
About "Heaven"... in a place with no competition
and no "evil" as it were... where would be the
VICTORIES of life... (and my friend, there is NO
feeling quite like that of humbling an arrogant
a-hole. But you'd NEVER get to do this in what
most people imagine as "Heaven"! In fact, I'd have
to LOVE certain people I'd like to spend a couple
of decades personally torturing, followed by banishing them from my presence FOREVER, if I had my
way. At least I'd hope I'd never have to see them
again...) Anyhow,

Don't sweat it.
B-man

Why is this ANCIENT post of mine showing up???
I wrote this thing MONTHS ago.
WTF is going on here? I DIDN'T repost it...

B-man

Well, let's consider just one example, the earthquake in Pakistan.  At last count, 78,000 people were killed but that is bound to go much higher as more bodies are found.  And once those who did survive but will die of starvation and/or freezing, who knows how many.

One aspect of this tragedy is the high number of children killed when their school houses collapsed.  They had zero chance.  But they are better off than the many thousands who are undergoing agony with no one to care for them, no food, shelter etc.

Terrible huh?  Well, not really, thanks to the new age nonsense perpetrated by Seth and others that we write our own script before incarnation.  It seems that we determine not only when we will die but how as well.  Pretty neat.

Why do you suppose this theory has gained so much acceptance?  Do you think it's maybe because life is such a crapshoot and *hit happens all the time, even to little children who didn't even have a chance at life?  

Somehow we have to explain all of this, otherwise we end up feeling hopeless and maybe even seriously depressed.

What better way than to come up with a theory that says we planned all of this?  Hey, in that case we don't feel as bad.  And then life perhaps takes on meaning and purpose.  No more crapshoot.

The theory of Karma is similar.  Why take pity on that poor guy begging for food in the gutter, when after all, he is only getting what he deserves.  He probably refused food to others in his past life.  Serves him right.  It's a mistake he sure won't make again!  So folks in India can saunter right by him with no regret.

Reincarnation is not new age stuff, but it can result in equal amounts of sillliness.  In another thread, we read of someone who says she used to be St Peter, and walked with Jesus.

In fact, she tells us she talked with St Peter and he told her (conveniently I might add) that she was under no obligation to prove it.  Well, doesn't that mean she is in effect talking to herself?  The implications of that I'll leave for others to ponder.

I'd much rather be the reincarnation of George Washington than one of his man servants, but that's just me.

The human mind is endlessly fascinating.  The one thing it cannot and will not entertain is the possibility of its extinction upon death.  As a result, it will conjure up all sorts of things to assure itself that it is immortal.  And if a person suffers from low self esteem, he or she will proclaim a past life of someone who was famous or dearly loved.  

And finally, while some posters on this board spend countless hours contemplating what lies beyond the grave, the days of their lives go slipping by unnoticed, until one day they realize what other far more useful things they could have done with their time.  

I bet that spending a few hours a week doing some volunteer work that involves helping others is worth oh I don't know.....maybe 100 years of posting nonstop on internet conversation boards.

And I also bet that even St Peter would agree with that!

Quote:

I bet that spending a few hours a week doing some volunteer work that involves helping others is worth oh I don't know.....maybe 100 years of posting nonstop on internet conversation boards. And I also bet that even St Peter would agree with that!

 Lol very much agree with that!  Though i do think its a bit relative to each person.   I used to volunteer and want to get back into after i get the scooter i ordered--i need transportation, cause this little po-dunk town has very little in the way of public trans.

 As far as the rest of your post, i see what you are getting at though i don't think its so black and white as you are painting it.

 And, while i personally believe in Karma, i don't think it should an excuse not to care about and try to help others.   If i saw a man or woman being beaten on the street, i would be there in a heartbeat and wouldn't think, "Oh well, its probably their karma, they probably deserve it"

 But, and the recent tragedies and scandals surrounding same in LO, and in the Tsunami regions, shows how corrupt our society is, and how little the common person can really help in a direct material way, even if they give of their money....and think it will actually go to what it is supposed too...

 I think this immense, controlling greed in the world, is part of the reason why some extreme changes will happen... A leverler in many respects, cause apparently, we just can't get our crap together without some outside intervention.

 At the same time, most of humanities problems relate back to spiritual 'causes', looking at it from a collective viewpoint.   If many, many more had more spiritual beliefs, and more of these were in power, then the world materially would be in much better shape, i believe.

 Its like with Jesus and that time period.  The supressed Jews then thought and wanted Jesus to lead a rebellion against the Romans, and to vanquish them with his mighty spiritual powers, and some had read this into the prophecies about him.

  They totally misunderstood what he came here for, that he wasn't basically political (though he occasionally made comments on the corruptness of the various leaders and groups then), and he told people that true and lasting changes must happen within self from a spiritual perspective, and then it would branch out, effect others, and gradually lead to better material changes...

 Unfortunately because of the denseness of the energy of physicality, there is a huge "lag effect" when talking about the collective changes materially from the spiritual/consciousness changes which is becoming ever increasing within the individual now...

 Basically, if life originated from pure energy, or what some call "spirit", and if it it going back to that, then the material while it has its relative importantce, is not so much what needs to be "healed" since the material is just a reflection of densified soul energies.

  We need to heal the Soul first, and the only way this will happen, is through spiritual teachings, which also teach a responsibility to others on all levels materially, mentally, and spiritually.  

 Seth speaks against this and so Seth is very, very dangerous to the Oneness, and healing movement, and this the reason why i speak out against these beliefs.  

 Basically they say to only worry about yourself, that you have no responsibility to worry about others in the caring sense...  Only "your" "creating" "matters" type of spiritual baloney.  

 Other, much more verified and reputable Sources like E.C., Bruce Moen, Rosiland McKnight,etc., seem to stress a very different way, that we should be active on many levels for the benefit of others, but again these sources also seem to stress the spiritual attitude changes more so....

 Basically it seems that on average, those with strong selfishness and ego tendencies are strongly attracted to Seth's Teachings cause it supports their selfish, ego ways of being.   These teachings very much keep the ego well fed, and work against the manifestation of the Collective, Universal, helpful to all type of energy which we so desperately need at this very important and critical cycle.

 Normally, i tend to be 'live and let live' and that people's belief systems shouldn't be criticized no matter how much i disagree with them, yet i have a very strong inner urge to speak out against these particular teachings.  While this is not politically correct in this ultra p.c. country, i am reminded of Jesus's powerful and biting criticisms of the spiritually and materially corrupt Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, etc. and more so their insidious and misleading "teachings".   I would completely understand if Bruce bans me for these comments, as i understand his position and what he is trying to accomplish with this board.

 But, when tuning into Seth, i am very, very strongly reminded of the account in Bruce's book of the "guide" called Shawn, and the channelers deep but attached unhappiness, because of her ego needs to be known as a channel (she did have some very "real" psychic abilities but she wasn't very "intune")....  Anybody who had worked on themselves and had some measure of spiritual discrimination who tapped into this "guide" Shawn, realized how filled with darkness and how sick and destructive this spirit guide was.   Not to be hated, or even disliked, but to be spoken out against, while having compassion for those who are suffering so much and so attached to ego.  

 The time draws near for some very, very intense changes on many levels, and people need to be as prepared as possible, and a part of that is logically debating the validity and helpfullness of psychic info and their sources.  In some cases i have impersonally stuck up for the Seth material, but only for teaching/relative purposes.

 Being very Universal and looking to many sources, any which promote the Oneness movement in a practical everyday living manner no matter what name it goes under (Buddhism, Christianianity, Taoism, Cayce speak, Moen speak, McKnight speak, etc.) and what source talks about it, it is very important if it stresses the concept of Oneness yet the "sources" which go against it need to be spoken out against rationally and without strong emotion.

B-man,

That is very strange, isn't it.  How does a thread show up months and months later for no reason? It is totally out of context, isn't it.  

It annoys me sometimes when old threads are brought back much much later and new postings are added.

Kind of like group deja-vu?  Only not everyone experienced it the first time so their impressions can be confused as well.

Oh, well, live and learn.

love, blink

wrote on Aug 10^th, 2005 at 5:42pm:

Have the idea that "problems" of various kinds are "chosen" by us before incarnating, to "advance faster" as it were. I don't understand this.

I believe we incarnate on the earth, to learn lessons. We can only learn negativity by incarnating, rather than spending eternity in the spirit world and learning slowly. You said that you wouldn't incarnate as an ant or spider, ect, well, you're right, ants and spiders don't dream, and so they don't have astral bodies. If they have spirits, it's another kind.

In short, I believe we advance faster with our spirit by living physical lives on the earth. I think it helps us reach higher levels of understanding and uplifts our spirits to higher levels of Godliness.

wrote on Jan 4^th, 2006 at 11:12am:

Terrible huh?  Well, not really, thanks to the new age nonsense perpetrated by Seth and others that we write our own script before incarnation.

If you'll notice, time doesn't exist in the astral plane. Or rather, an hour in the astral is like two minutes in the physical. When you dream it feels like hours went by, whereas you wake up in the physical and two minutes went by. Different dimensions, my friend.

Yes, I believe we astral spirits planned our incarnation and events going to take place on earth. Afterall, dreams predict the future a lot. So everything is probably planned by God.