MEANING OF THE WORD LIFE

MEANING OF THE WORD LIFE

What is the meaning and etymology of the word: "Life?" The answer to this question is almost five thousand years old and leads us to the Proto-Indo-European word "lip" meaning, "to remain, persevere, and continue." When this word was adopted into the English language as "lif" about 1500 years ago, it stayed true to its original meaning, but still closely resembled its Germanic predecessors meaning of "body."

Root Meaning of Life

Before we delve further into English, let's look back at the Greek word for "Life" which is translated in English as "ZOE." This is the root of the English words "zoo," "zoology," and even "zodiac." Zoe is used for the state of existing and being animate which is common to all living things. From early times, "ZOE" ( as a living soul) was adopted by Hellenized Hebrews as a translation of the Ancient Hebrew name/word translated into English as "EVE." 

Now, this word EVE is from the Hebrew name חַוָּה (Chawwah), which was derived from the Hebrew word חוה (chawah) meaning "to breathe" or the related word חיה (chayah) meaning "to live". I once had a white German Shepard that I named "Chaia" for the same reason. Hence, Eve is described as the "Mother of ALL living" when looking at the Biblical allegory of creation in the Book of Genesis. This statement makes perfect sense when understanding the meaning of the word, rather than being associated with a merely literal person. 

The New Testament Bible, which was originally penned in Greek before being translated, and uses the word "ZOE" 134 times as an indication of eternal Life ... the actual eternal Life-Force. "LIFE" ... therefore, is the force which animates all living things. This force is what many would call God, or Source Energy. 

Old English Use Of Life

Since Old English times, the word "Life" has meant: "the condition, quality, or fact of being a living organism." This includes the capacity for growth and development characterized by continued functional activity. It is natural then that from its very beginnings "Life" has been used as the opposite meaning of "death" (or the cessation of animate existence). The word Life also meant to describe the existence of an individual in respects of its physical duration, as in: "the period from birth to death, from birth to a particular time, or from a particular time to death." It becomes clearly evident that the meaning of the word "Life," has not changed much in over 1500 years of use.

Middle English Use Of Life

There were however added meanings that were attached to "Life" during the Middle English period. Life began to mean not only the living organism itself, but the causation or the source of living, as in: "the animating principle which keeps a thing alive." The natural extension to this meaning was that people began to believe that Life was a possession which was deprived by death - a meaning that can be constantly witnessed in many writings and the News Media.

From the mid 16th century, "Life" was used to describe the chance to live after a narrowly escaped death - this originated from the myth of cats having nine lives. From the late 16th century, the word began to mean the vitality embodied in an individual person who was very energetic and animated. From this later meaning the sport of cricket adopted the word to describe the quality in the pitch which causes the ball to rise abruptly or unevenly after pitching. From the early 18th century ‘Life’ included the activity and presence of living things as well.

Life Today

By the 19th century the term "lifer" or "Life sentence" was used for a number of different things ... sporting events, battery duration, a person who was imprisoned for the rest of his existence, and even the term "get a life" used for someone with not much to do but cause trouble. 

The bottom line is easily discerned as being descriptive of the force and Source of that which animates all living creatures. Even down to a cellular level. Remember, we raise a glass and toast to "LIFE" ... not yours or mine ... but LIFE itself. It is that which gives us consciousness, the very breath we take in and out with each moment. All that exists in this physical realm in which we are animated is powered by that same singular energy source, or Source Energy that all are dependent on for our very being. 

The New Testament Book of Acts scripture summed it up quite nicely in it's esoteric and metaphorical presentation:

" ... for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children."

~Acts 17:28

We are all a living part of this great single organism called the universe (You-niverse). We share all things in this Life. Down to the very breath within you and within me. We truly are ONE in this LIFE. There is ONE LIFE. We are collectively connected to all that is. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM.

WHAT EXACTLY IS NOTHINGNESS

WHAT EXACTLY IS NOTHINGNESS?

God/Source Energy creates from Nothing because Nothingness, "ayin" in Hebrew, actually means absolute, infinite possibility. No limitations. No restrictions. None at all. Boundless ... and you and I are co-creators of this infinite potential.

When you don’t need to be any particular something, you’re free to be anything. Kabbalah calls this infinite potential "nothingness" – not because there’s nothing there, but because there are absolutely no limitations that define or restrict this infinite possibility in any way. It is the place where all potential begins. 

Remember as we talk on this subject, think of the number Zero. It is a whole entire number ... it is something ... not nothing as is assumed. Just like Infinity is also a number. In fact, most everything in the digital world operates on zero's and one's. Zero, does not mean nothing. It stores the potentiality of numbers just like all the rest. 

You’re Already Creating Something from Nothing. As a human being created in the image of the All There Is, you are also empowered to create something from nothing. And you do, all the time. Thoughts, are things (thinks) and will manifest into physical reality every single time. Thoughts are energy and cannot be destroyed. They will manifest in like kind. What you think, you become. What you think about, your feelings, your emotions ... will bring forth the exact circumstances. 

Unfortunately, most of the time what we create from nothing are the stories about what we can’t do, aren’t capable of, will never have – together with all the reasons why. This is ego blocking our natural spirit-led default program of abundance and endless potentiality. 

These stories are continuously being recreated from nothing in each of our lives. But unlike Source Energy, who creates consciously, we create this reality unconsciously. It’s a sort of default programming. Yes, I understand that you have reasons for what you believe, but those reasons, while they may help to explain your past, do not have the power to limit your future. Unless you think they do, and act accordingly.

Most of us don’t wake up in the morning in awe of our own potential, in touch with our Divine purpose, filled with the joy of Life, and ready to create. More often we wake up all-too-conscious of our illusory limitations, disappointments, frustrations, unfulfilled needs, and the burdensome problems we need to solve. No wonder so many of us are worn out before we even get out of bed.

Change your perception and the way you think, and you will change your reality. When everyone understands the power of this ancient Truth, the world will become a better place. We will be able to create love, compassion, understanding, peace, and tranquility for all creatures. Mind the gate of your Mind ... you are the Watchman, you are the Observer, the Witness, and you ... are the Creator.

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM.

WHAT EXACTLY IS NOTHINGNESS?

WHAT EXACTLY IS NOTHINGNESS?

God/Source Energy creates from nothing because nothingness, “ayin” in Hebrew, actually means absolute, infinite possibility and potentiality. No limitations. No restrictions. None at all. Boundless ... and you and I are co-creators of this infinite potential.

When you don’t need to be any particular something, you’re free to be anything. Kabbalah calls this infinite potential “nothingness,” but not because there’s nothing there, but because there are absolutely no limitations that define or restrict this infinite possibility in any way. It is the place where all potential begins. 

Remember as we talk on this subject, think of the number Zero. It is a whole entire number ... it is something ... not nothing as is assumed. Just like Infinity is also a number. In fact, most everything in the digital world operates on zero's and one's. Zero, does not mean nothing. It stores the potentiality of numbers just like all the rest. 

You’re Already Creating Something from Nothing, and as human beings created in the image of God/The All), you are also empowered to do so. And you do, all the time. Thoughts, are things (thinks) and will manifest into physical reality every single time. Thoughts are energy and cannot be destroyed. Nothing means: “no-thing” ... from the unsee, to the seen. From thought, to manifestation in form.

Unfortunately, most of the time what we create from nothing are the stories about what we can’t do, aren’t capable of, and will never have ... together with all the reasons why. This is ego blocking our natural Spirit-led default program of abundance and unlimited potentiality. 

These stories are continuously being recreated from nothing in each of our lives. But unlike Source Energy, who creates consciously, we create this reality unconsciously. It’s a sort of default programming. Yes, I understand that you have reasons for what you believe, but those reasons, while they may help to explain your past, do not have the power to limit your future. Unless you think they do, and act accordingly.

Most of us don’t wake up in the morning in awe of our own potential, in touch with our Divine purpose, filled with the joy of life, ready to create. More often we wake up conscious of our limitations, our disappointments, our frustrations, our unfulfilled needs, and the burdensome problems we need to solve. No wonder so many of us are exhausted, before we even get out of bed.

Change your perception and the way you think, and you will change your reality. When everyone understands the power of this ancient Truth, the world will become a better place. We will be able to create love, compassion, understanding, peace, and tranquility for all creatures. Mind the gate of your Mind ... you are the Watchman, you are the Observer, and you ... are the Creator.

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

SOUND OF THE VOID

SOUND OF THE VOID

This subject is going to take some deep thought and concentration on your part. It might get a bit confusing, but it will all fall together I promise you. 

The illusion is powerful, but not total. If we were completely cut off from an awareness of what lies beyond, chances are we would be perfectly content. Think about that for just a moment. There would be no reason to question ourselves or our existence ... no drive to continuously experience more. No conscious concept of something beyond ... something MORE than just this. 

But we are NOT cut off completely. That spark burns inside. A glimmer of the Infinite light from before Creation surrounds and permeates each person who walks this earth. This light is what gives us the profound sense that there is something else out there ... and in here. Only the something doesn’t always feel like an actual ... “something.” It often feels like .... “something missing” - more like a void. This was what I personally experienced during a major surgery that I had. 

I was in pre-op, 55 degrees in room, covered in a sheet on a stainless steel gurney; and waiting for my surgeon who was delayed. I got to lay there and listen to everyone else's legal rights be explained. Should they not survive through the procedure, etc. In those moments ... I entered the VOID. I felt abandoned and helpless. At the mercy of “something.” I was then overcome with a feeling of aloneness ... or was it all-oneness? In the silence, and before the pre-op cocktail, I found God/Source ... there ... in the VOID. The nothing ... that is something. The “Ayin,” the place of total beginning. Where emptiness, nothingness, and a place of what seemed the land of all that is not ... yet ... this is the place where limitless and boundless possibilities are formed. It's like the number Zero. It isn't “nothing,” it's a whole number with value. So ... is the void. 

I began to think deeply about it this event ... since after I had completed the procedure, I had plenty of recovery and rehab time. I was in ICU, experiencing intense unimaginable pain for 15 days and nights. I kept thinking about this void. In some ways I imagined it as total abandonment from God/Source. Having just bailed and left me on my own to fend for myself and the others that had been trusted with my care. But then, this missing element in my Mind, began to go from left brain logic to right brain limitlessness possibilities ... and I understood that what hovers at the edge of our consciousness, threatening our comfortable sense of solidity and bringing with it an essential longing for…. well, for something. Something more. Something more than this. 

This sensation of something missing is actually the glimmer of something that is there, but too vast and amazing to be perceived by our ordinary senses. But as physical beings in a physical world, we are not naturally inclined to relate to it in this esoteric way. In fact, the non-physical all too often makes us feel vulnerable and uncomfortable. So, instead of slowly allowing our eyes to adjust to this more subtle light, we choose to avoid the experience altogether, or seek to fill the void with physical things. Things that never amount to “enough.”

The subtle awareness of the void pulls us relentlessly toward the next high, the next success, the more exciting relationship, the bigger, flashier toy. The feelings it triggers - like sadness, depression, anxiety or dissatisfaction – drive us to eat too much, drink too much, work too much, spend too much, need too much; in short, whatever it takes to avoid facing the threatening insubstantiality of it all.

But, as uncomfortable and threatening as it can feel, if you are willing to face the discomfort, to stop running and listen, you can begin to explore the secret of the void, to expand your ability to see and hear things that lie outside your normal range. In that void ... in that uncomfortable place of darkness, is where you will find the light. This VOID is a place of limitless possibility ... unbounded creativity ... and the origin of all that is. 

Like a beautiful dream whose impression lingers, like a song that stirs memories and feelings from long ago, like a perfume that lingers faintly in the air, the music of the void can stir forgotten memories and open your heart. It can speak to you of where you came from, where you are destined to go and who you are destined to be. Step out of your comfortable awareness, and venture beyond ... go to those places where you find uncomfortable. Face your fears ... and they will dissolve into the illusion that they really are. 

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM.