PLEASURE AND PAIN

PLEASURE AND PAIN 

We all have ONE central nervous system, running through the spine (the serpent/snake). 12 cranial nerves (12 apostles) leading to the brain. Notice the side of our skull is called "the temple" because this is where God/Source sits upon the throne. The place in the New Testament story where Jesus was crucified is called "Golgotha." This translates to "place of the skull." Within us lie two opposing forces - God, and Satan. This is Divine Higher-Self consciousness, and ego-based lower-self consciousness. Stay with me.

The central network for the nervous system is the solar plexus. The word origins of "solar plexus" is a reference to resemblance between the radial network of nerves and ganglia, and the rays of the sun. This sun, is the Sun of God, and all that we are, radiates FROM here. It is there, within the Mind where our self-centered ego will crucify Jesus (the old nature man), and where upon illumination, we come to the reality that the Christ Consciousness is within us, and then resurrects as the Divine Christ (the new Divine nature Son of God). 

So in order for us to learn and discern the difference between our opposing powers of God (Divine Self) and Satan (ego-self), we are presented with duality. But these TWO things are actually ONE thing presented in a range of polarity so that we know the fruits from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (bad). Duality exists in everything, but is in reality a range of one principle. Such as cold and hot, day and night, smooth and rough, bright and dim, soft and hard, tall and short, and pleasure and pain.

Both pleasure and pain are sourced in our one central nervous system. Electrically. kinetically, and as far as energy and information, they are delivered to us exactly the same ... from ONE system and are exactly the same except for the range of polarity in which we sense them. Pleasure feels good, pain does not. But they are both a feeling.

If we did not have pain, we would not know pleasure. If we did not have darkness, we would not know light. We need them both, we need to eat from both trees, to find our way back to the Tree of Life. The goodness, righteousness, and pleasure that Life can bring. The serpent in the garden (the Mind) is the catalyst for us to appreciate goodness and pleasure. If everyday was sunny, we would not know what a rainy day was like. 

Even energy and all things around us in the realm of the unseen function and operate based on positive and negative charges. Electrons, protons, neurons, molecules, atoms, everything that comprises all things including sound waves, light waves, radio waves, all are in flux and moving up and down all the time. Even the waves of the ocean are up and down. Everything experience is our life is either up or down. They cannot be both at the same time. But we can handle the ups and downs spiritually and emotionally with our free will and perception. 

You've never truly seen yourself. You can't. Because your eyes are in your face/head, and the visual center of perception is located within the darkness of your brain. To see an image of your entire self, you would need a reflection. Once you have seen the reflection, you learn and know that the reflection is nothing but an illusion, but it is there to show you ... YOU. We need TWO so that we can see there is ONE. 

Therefore, both pleasure and pain are the same ... just varying degrees of polarity. On one end of the spectrum there is the positive pleasure, and on the opposite end is the negative pain. Same line of reference, same system of delivery, so the two are one. This was also the teaching of Adam (positive/masculine) having Eve (negative/feminine) taken from his "side" (rib was the wrong word translation). It was Adam finding Eve and creating one union. We are each masculine and feminine. We are all Creators of our reality. The two become as one, and there is Love. The begotten of God/Source.

I hope you got something out of this one. It is a very long and deep teaching that is difficult to present in one short chapter. More will come in later writings. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM.

AZAZEL ABD THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM SCAPEGOAT

AZAZEL AND THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM SCAPEGOAT

“Azazel” or “the scapegoat” is mentioned in Leviticus:16 in the Old Testament Bible, as part of the Israelites belief in God’s instructions to the them regarding the Day of Atonement. On this day, the high priest would first offer a sacrifice for his sins and those of his household; then he would perform sacrifices for the nation. 

“From the Israelite community, the high priest was instructed to take two male goats for a sin offering, and a ram for a burnt offering” (v. 5). The priest would bring the animals before God, and cast lots between the two goats – one to be a sacrifice, and the other to be the scapegoat. 

The first goat was then slaughtered for the sins of the people, and its blood used to cleanse the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting, and the altar. 

After the cleansing, the live goat was brought to the high priest. Laying his hands on the scapegoat, the high priest was to confess over it "all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites – all their sins" – and then symbolically placed them on the goat’s head. 

He then sent away the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat would carry - on itself - all their sins to a remote place; "and the man shall release it in the wilderness.” Symbolically, the scapegoat took on the sins of the Israelites, and removed them. For Christians, this is the ritual of the Christ story, to take upon the "sins of the world." 

As a side note, the name “Azazel” shows up in some ancient Hebrew mythology. While there are different versions in the Book of Enoch, the Book of the Giants, and other pseudepigraphal books, the story is essentially that Azazel was the name of one of the "fallen angels" who sinned in the Book of Genesis story. As a curse on his sin, Azazel was forced to take the form of a goat-like demon.

Keep in mind there were two types of "sins" in their ancient beliefs. One was INTENTIONAL, the other UNINTENTIONAL. For the unintentional, a fine would be paid. The difference between an intentional and an unintentional sin is that in the former case, both the body and the soul were at fault. In the case of an unintentional sin only the body was at fault, not the soul. 

Therefore, in their eyes, a physical sacrifice was needed since it was only the physical act of the body that was in the wrong. A physical sacrifice cannot atone for a deliberate sin, because it cannot rectify a wrong in the soul. So now you know why someone who takes on the fault for someone else, is called a scapegoat.

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT

INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT

Let's begin with a Bible verse that describes the words spoken at the crucifixion at the moment when Jesus "gave up his Spirit":

"Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit ..."

~Luke 23:45-46

Jesus uses the same phrase found in Psalm 31: “You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Into your hands I commit my spirit."

In the original King James translation, the word commend is used, rather than commit. Let's go to these words for a moment. To commend means to “entrust someone to the care or protection of someone” within the broader meaning of “to entrust for safekeeping.” Entrust means “to commit, to give for safe keeping.” 

For a moment, set aside the literal and historical story of this event, and go deeper into the metaphysical and esoteric message veiled from within. When you surrender spiritually, you stop forcing solutions on situations you can't control, and instead trust and have knowingness that there is a Divine force taking care of everything in a perfectly orchestrated manner.

Within this "surrender," you can connect fully with God/Source where the whole (holy) universe conspires to support you. You can become timeless, eternal, infinite, filled with joy, and fearless. Your aspirations and desires are surrendered to a higher power. Your individual desires dissolve into “Thy will be done.”

We crucify the concept of letting our ego lead us, and we accept the transition towards following Christ ... the Divine Spark within mankind. We let the Divine lead us, instead of our base nature man. We listen for that still small voice within, to be our internal guidance system. 

In the verse from Luke, it also speaks of the temple, and of the veil being torn (rent) in two. The "temple" is on both sides of the skull. The crucifixion took place at Golgotha (also called Calvary), which literally means "place of the skull." Great suffering takes place within the Mind of man. 

Our brains are divided into two hemispheres. The left brain handles reading, writing, and calculations ... the logical side of the brain. The right brain is more visual and deals in images more than words ... the creative. It processes information in an intuitive and simultaneous manner. It is the place of our Divine connection. The corpus callosum connects the two brain hemispheres, permitting communication between the right and left sides of the brain. Science calls it, the veil. It functions much in the same way an Ethernet would work in a computer environment. 

"The veil was torn in two" (Luke 23:45) is the merging of both right and left ... The unification of  man and God. This is the moment we commit our Spirit to God, the Divine Spark of Christ Consciousness within us. Preceding this verse, it says: "It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon." It is in our darkness moments that we find the Light of God. It is from the darkness that the Light will shine. Here, is where we will find our True Self. Our Higher Self. The Witness, the Observer. We trust and KNOW there is a Divine Architect that aligns the stars, the planets, and everything within and without us. And we come to the realization that we simply allow all that we experience. 

That which you resist, will continue to persist. Scriptures say: "do not resist evil." The more we push against illusion, the stronger is becomes. When we allow the default of all that is, all the pieces of the great puzzle begin to fall into place. We stop swimming upstream, and just float in the current. We "commit our Spirit into the hands of God." We release the ego from its false leadership, and through the Spirit within, we trust in the Father of all that is. 

The observable and expanding Universe has been in motion for over 14 billion years, with Mother Earth in motion for 4.5 billion years. Man, as we are today, has been here for 200,000 years. Trust in the process. We are but a blip on the map of physical creation and form, and yet ... we are eternal in Spirit through the energy of our Source/God. For ever, and ever, amen. Enjoy the ride.

Just a thought … 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

SYMBOLISM OF THE TEMPLE

SYMBOLISM OF THE TEMPLE

In the Old and New Testaments of the Bible we read reference after reference about temples. AND among the ancients in earlier times, more temples. So what then, is the deeper meaning of this temple? We've seen physical structures in matter form, but in the esoteric Inner Mysteries, taught among the initiates in the “Hidden Mysteries,” there is more than just a well-designed construct of concrete and marble. There are deep metaphysical messages, with apocalyptic (revealed/unveiled) symbolism.

“The most high dwells not in temples made by hands.”

-Acts 7:48

Now how do we approach this verse? Does this mean that no matter how hard mankind tries to build it's magnificent churches, mosques, cathedrals, and temples; that the most high (God) will not dwell in them? Well, if this were true ... then why build them at all? But this isn't the mystery of the verse. 

What this verse is telling us is that church buildings and temples have absolutely nothing to do with being the dwelling place of God. And for thousands of years men have laboured, died, suffered, fought, been injured, all for something which is not a physical building.

The scriptural reference to the "temple" ... is your head. Where your Mind operates the senses from. Both sides of your head are called “temples” for a reason. It is all symbolism. The great temple made without hands sits atop your shoulders ... attached by the Atlas in Mythology, as he held the world on his shoulders. Even the site of the crucifixion of Jesus was called “Golgotha,” which means “skull, skull hill, place of the skull.”

“The Kingdom of God is within you.”

-Luke 17:21

Does it get any more elementary, or any easier than this? The “Kingdom” is not a religious system or geographic place, or a building designed for worship. It is WITHIN you ... not without you. Inside, not outside. The Bible is filled with allegory and myth via symbolism of the human mind and body. The process of Life ... through which we as Spirit operate, travel, and experience. 

“Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in your midst?”

-1 Corinthians 3:16

Again, plain as black and white. The temple, church, tabernacle, is actually the human Mind, and all of scripture delves deep into the mystical studies and hidden secrets of the journey of Spirit, operating through the Mind (and heart). The way we think, decide, believe - not just individually, but universally and collectively.

Its is our Christ Consciousness that reminds us of our Divinity, and the Bible esoterically takes us through our life's journey. “Follow me” Jesus says. When you get lost, you find a guide who knows the path back home. But first, a wise sage, shaman, or hierophant will ask “where are you?” Before you can receive directions or instructions to further your journey in the right (righteous) (right-thinking) direction, it must first be discovered where you are on your path. Born voyage!

Just a thought ... 

Justin Taylor, ORDM. 

GUARD THE TEMPLE OF YOUR MIND

GUARD THE TEMPLE OF YOUR MIND

What if you were in charge of guarding the King's Palace, or the Temple of the holy? How serious would you take this position?

I think you'd be would be very careful about who is allowed to enter within. You'd also be very careful to make sure that the right people are leaving the building.

While on duty, you wouldn't be texting with friends. You wouldn't be staring into space. You wouldn't be thinking about what you're going to have for your dinner, or how far away the weekend is.

You would be wide awake. Nothing gets in or out without you knowing about it. You need to protect the King. You need to protect the sanctity of the Temple. Thats your job, and your commitment. 

Well then, why not act in the same way with your Mind?

Your eyes and ears are the main doorways into your Mind (including your subconscious). Don't blindly allow anything to enter into them. Don't easily be influenced by outside sources. 

Likewise, be vigilant about what comes out of your mouth. What expressions do you use? How do you react to negative situations? Do you curse and sigh? Or do you take a deep breath, smile; and say something that helps the situation?

Guard everything that enters and leaves your Mind. Guard the Temple. Why do you think the sides of our heads are called temples? The mercy seat of God resides within you. 

Unfortunately, some of the most cunning negative thoughts enter and leave your Mind all the time. They sometimes disguise themselves as friendly thoughts. Or at least “harmless thoughts.” It's easy to think that they are helping you. In truth, they are secretly plotting your fall.

Some of our closest and most trusted subconscious patterns may be out to ruin us. Even more difficult is dealing with all the negative subconscious thinking that has already found a seat in our subconscious Mind. How much of this did you see through your life? 

The point is, self-sabotaging thoughts have already compromised your mental guard. Assassins to your happiness and success already live inside your head.  They moved in a long time ago, and they are constantly renovating. That's why it's essential to know exactly WHICH experiences from your past are driving your innermost thoughts and the resulting actions.

One way to begin, is to sort out which ones are your true friends and allies, and which ones are always ready to stab you in the back.

Identify the Negative Childhood Imprints that have helped create many of the challenges in your life. This is difficult to figure out by ourselves – since the Truth may be the opposite of what we think.

Isn't it time to fill your Mind with the right subconscious thoughts so that you can become the Ruler of your own life? “As a man thinketh, it is done unto him.” Remember these words. They have stood the test of time through proof knowledge. 

Guard the gate to your Mind. 

Just a thought ...