Pain and Pleasure Paradigms

Pain and Pleasure Paradigms

It is a fact that almost all of the choices we make in our daily life are motivated by one of two very powerful forces.  The most powerful of these two forces is the desire to avoid pain ... and the second is the desire to achieve pleasure.

Everything that we desire to do is something that we have emotionally linked to pleasure. Everything that we try to avoid doing is something that we have linked to pain. These are the two main paradigms in our life, and we have emotional associations for everything attached to one of these two categories. In essence, our experience in life is linked to either  pleasure ... or pain.

It’s all a matter of perspective

Sometimes our willpower and our logic try to battle with these two powerful forces, but any victory is usually short-lived.  Here’s an example. Almost every cigarette smoker I’ve ever met knows that smoking is bad for him. His logical mind knows that he would be better off if he stopped smoking. So why does he keep smoking? Because emotionally, smoking represents pleasure and quitting represents pain.

The only way for a smoker to stop smoking is to anchor pain to his habit and pleasure to quitting. This requires having a long-term point of view, rather than a short-term viewpoint. The irony about smoking, or any other harmful habit, is that the very thing that brings pleasure in the short term will bring pain in the long term. That means we can change how we represent that activity by switching our emotional point of reference. In short, we can change our pleasure and pain paradigms.

Consciously or subconsciously, we make a choice

I use smoking as an example because the harmful effects are universally recognized, but we could apply the same analogy to a wide variety of choices that we make every day. We can anchor pleasure to instant gratification without regard for long term consequences, or we can do the exact opposite.

Exercise could be considered painful in the short term but the long-term benefits are very desirable. If eating represents one of your greatest pleasures, then the very thought of dieting would represent pain. So, for some people, exercising and dieting is a double dose of pain, and yet logically they realize that this is the fastest path to physical fitness. In this ongoing tug of emotions and logic, the mind is usually no match for the emotional need to avoid anything that may be perceived as pain.

Using mental leverage to change our paradigms

Understanding how pain and pleasure exert their influence in our own lives is the first step toward taking control. We all have the ability to use our mental leverage to change our pleasure and pain paradigms and reset our emotional anchors. In other words, we can choose what is painful ... and what is pleasurable.

Many things in our lives influence what we view as painful and what we view as pleasurable, but paradigms are about association, they’re about internal interpretations. Learning how to use our minds to harness the power of our emotions is an extremely powerful tool for anyone who wants to make positive changes in their life.

More Pleasure – Less Pain 

There are a couple of things that need clarification regarding our emotional desire to seek pleasure, and to avoid pain. It’s not the actual pain or pleasure that drives us, it is really something else.

Our desire to avoid pain is really based on fear. What fear? The fear of taking any action that feels like it might lead to painful situation or experience.

Likewise, it’s not the actual pleasure that motivates us to take action, but our "belief" that a certain action will lead to a pleasurable experience. So, our movement in either direction is a response to our perception of where that action will lead.

The power of anticipation and anxiety

Have you ever noticed that the anticipation of the pain we think might result from a certain action is generally much worse than the actual experience?  Here’s an example ... if you’ve ever done any public speaking it’s usually the 10 or 15 minutes just before you get on stage that create the greatest anxiety.

You may experience all kinds of symptoms like an increased heart rate, a rise in body temperature and even a nauseous feeling in your stomach. At this point are any of these symptoms the result of actual public speaking? No ... they are caused by your estimation of what the experience might be like ... not by the actual activity itself.

Judging from the personal experiences of most public speakers, everyone seems to agree that the anxiety that comes before hand generally vanishes as soon as they begin speaking. Anxiety of course, is a form of fear.

Where does the fear come from?

There are so many different kinds of fear that it is impossible to label them all, but it is possible to identify where they all come from. The reason we can do that is because fear is always related to one or more of these three primary human desires.

1) A desire for approval

2) A desire for control

3) A desire to feel secure

If you examine any fear, whether it’s the fear of rejection, of failure, or of loss, you will discover that - on an emotional level - it represents a perceived threat to your sense of approval, sense of control, or sense of security.

Fear grows or shrinks with focus

Take the example of the public speaker. Once he gets on stage and focuses on his topic, he can settle down and enjoy the experience. But during the 10 to 15 minutes before he gets on stage, he is not thinking about his topic, instead he is focused on himself. He is wondering if he’ll have the approval of his audience, if he’ll have control of his voice and body language, and the anxiety is making him feel insecure.

The solution is to focus on the pleasure attached to a favorable outcome. For example, the feelings of satisfaction and approval that will come from a job well done. By visualizing a pleasurable outcome there is a complete shift the focus. Excitement replaces anxiety and the expectation of pleasure replaces fear. Moving toward a pleasurable outcome is an experience attached to pleasure ... so it is one we can look forward to.

Choosing less pain and more pleasure

Now we can see that one way to avoid pain and move toward pleasure is simply to change our focus. In our example, a short-term focus created pain in the form of fear and anxiety, while a long-term focus turned the whole experience into one that is anchored in pleasure.

Once we understand the relationship between focus - pain or pleasure - we can easily change our perception of any experience.  By controlling your focus you give yourself the ability to decide whether an experience will be painful or pleasurable. Then you can choose pleasure over pain.

Creating Your own Pain and Pleasure Paradigms

We would all like to think that we make up our own minds as to what is pleasurable and what is painful. In reality we are constantly being conditioned by our environment to link certain things with pain or pleasure.

Can you think of any environmental influences that are conditioning your feelings about what is pleasurable and what is painful? Learning to recognize these influences is an important step toward seizing control of your personal pleasure and pain paradigms.

5 sources of external pain and pleasure programming

1. Advertisers. The entire advertising industry is based on the idea that they can influence our internal references to pain and pleasure. As a whole, this industry spends billions of dollars each year to study human behavior. They do this because their goal is to link their products to our emotions. Their advertising campaigns are specifically designed to create subconscious emotional associations (anchors) in us without our being aware of it.

2. Friends and associates. The attitude of our close friends and associates also has a powerful influence on our personal pleasure and pain paradigms. Their opinions can actually precondition us to view things the way that they do. We may value someone else’s opinion so much that we subconsciously adopt their viewpoint without any personal experience.

3. Experts. So called experts carry incredible weight when it comes to overriding our opinions about a wide variety of things. By positioning themselves as the voice of authority, it psychologically downgrades the validity of our own thoughts and feelings. This positioning is designed so that we will adopt the attitude of “they’re the expert, so who am I to question them.” Is it any wonder that advertisers like pharmaceutical companies love this approach?

4. Groups. Trying to gain the approval of, or fit in with, a group can also shape and reshape our preferences. In such cases, acceptance often hinges on our ability to conform to the group opinion. It’s the old "majority rules" mentality that has been ingrained in us since childhood. It is hard to avoid slipping into the thought pattern of “If all these people agree then they must be right, so I better get onboard or I’ll look like a fool.” Conformity can cause otherwise rational people to abandon their standards and go with the crowd. Pushed to the extreme it becomes mob mentality.

5. Stereotypes. Forming stereotypes is one of the tools our mind uses so we don’t need to continually reconsider the same thing over and over again. Our minds tend to group similar experiences into general categories. If we encounter a new experience that seems to fit into one of these categories it saves us the time and energy involved in evaluation. So, if something fits into a category that has always resulted in pain, we will naturally assume that this similar something will cause pain as well.

For example, if every time you try to go on vacation you wind up having car trouble, in the future you will probably expect more of the same. The very thought of vacation may conjure up an image of being stuck on the side of the road, waiting for a tow truck. As a result, an activity designed to bring you pleasure now represents pain.

Take control of this process

The important point to remember here is that we need to develop the ability to decide for ourselves what we will view as pleasurable and what we will view as painful. If we don’t take control of this process, then the world around us will take over our internal programming.

If we allow that to happen, then instead of controlling our environment, we will end up being controlled by it. Because the pain and pleasure dynamic has such a powerful influence on our lives, we owe it to ourselves to take personal responsibility for how we choose to view things.

Your answers create your paradigms

Whenever something happens in your life, your brain will ask two questions. First, “Is this going to bring me pain or pleasure?” Second, “What must I do now to avoid the pain and/or gain the pleasure?”

How you choose to interpret the situation will determine your answers. But more than that, it will also form the foundation for your future expectations. If you want less pain and more pleasure in your life, this is a good place to start. Remember ... perception is everything. 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

Special thanks to Advanced Life Skills. 

Who Am I And Why Am I Here?

Who Am I And Why Am I Here?

Who Am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life? These are three very powerful questions and have been asked by perhaps billions of people over thousands of years. It has been said that if these questions are answered we’ll reach  the destination of our lives, and all the inner and outer conflicts will be resolved. For most of us will say, I am the body which we see in the mirror. However, the body is made up of matter and hence, it is perishable. It eventually dies. What, then, separates a living body from a dead one? It is, ‘I’ the soul. The soul is a subtle entity that cannot be measured by any physical process or instrumentation. The non-material part of each one of us existing ... which we simply call the ‘I’.

The word "human-being" is derived from two words-one is humus (soil) which refers to the body and the other is being which means the soul or consciousness. The body is temporary and the soul is not just immortal, but eternal. It is an infinitesimal point of non-physical light (photon) surrounded by an oval shaped aura. It is as a tiny star shining in the middle of our foreheads. It has no physical size or mass. The seat of the soul is within us ... utilizing the hypothalamus, thalamus, pituitary glands and pineal glands. The soul controls and operates the body through the medium of thought energy.

When the soul is in the physical body, it manifest as three faculties. Although each faculty can be given a different name, it is actually the same energy - the soul - functioning on three different levels simultaneously. These are the mind, the intellect (3rd eye) and the memory of the Soul (sanskaras). 

Mind is the thinking faculty of the soul. It is the mind that imagines, thinks and form ideas. The thought process is the basis of ALL emotions, feelings, desires and sensations. Intellect is used to ASSESS thoughts. It is the faculty of understanding and decision making. 

Sanskaras describes, what we call impressions (memories), in either sub-conscious or unconscious mind. They are the record of all the soul’s past experiences and actions. Sanskaras can take the form of habits, talents, emotional temperaments, personality traits, beliefs, values or instincts.

It is as if the soul (which is the ‘I’) is the DRIVER, the mind, intellect, and sanskaras make up the engine, and the body is the car. You know that if the driver of the car is sleeping (unaware that he is the Soul) then it would only result in terrible accidents. 

Be sure that you are the awakened driver ... and take charge of you vehicle so that you can use the power of your engine to steer the car to the destination you want. Remember another form of transportation ... the train. A train has an Engineer (Driver/I), a locomotive (engine/mind, intellect, sanskara), that pulls a series of rail cars (the body) behind it. The locomotive Engineer determines where all the tag-along cars will go and uses the engine to do the job. The rail cars are all interconnected and follow the head of the train to the intended destination. Use your maps, and charts ... and beware of obstacles. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

Keys To The Hidden Meaning

Keys To The Hidden Meaning

Imagine a time long ago on the North American continent. A Native American tribe and a posse of marauding cowboys come together on common ground. A line is drawn, and the native tribe meets the posse face to face and presents an object of great importance to them. Without any expression of thanks, the cowboy and his posse secure the gift, and begin to take off running. At once, the tribe gives chase. This leads to multiple confrontations on what has become a dangerous battlefield. Ultimately, a sacrifice is offered and accepted. Then, as quickly as it had come to a stop, it began again. This time, the tables are turned. The natives take back the sacred object and begin their own journey of enduring faith that they could reach a safe place, and ultimately conquer the posse. This ability to achieve what they had faith in was not known to them ... only time would tell if they win, or if they lose. 

Now let me further explain. What I just described in masked form ... was a surface story with a deeper hidden meaning. This description was a football game ... between the Washington Redskins, and the Dallas Cowboys. But you wouldn't know that from the story would you? Unless you had the keys to decode the hidden meaning ... after which you could understand all of the story much better. In this tale above, there was more drama, and held the audience's attention much better than an open Truth. It also kept the true hidden meaning and esoteric lesson from being accessible to just anyone. 

Now apply this type of allegorical and metaphorical style of writing to ancient scripture. Whether it be Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or any other mainstream religion ... the deeper meanings have been lost to the literal and historical translations. Whether or not the events that are described actually took place is irrelevant. Whether or not the people and geographic locations existed at that time is also irrelevant. It is the deeper esoteric meaning being conveyed under the exoteric veil that was of great importance. The names, places, and stories are Mythical and contain deep spiritual Truths that affect all of mankind. The Mystics and Sages as well as Ancient Mystery School initiates and graduates knew these Truths and protected them from being revealed to the general public. 

Every single scripture from every belief system has it's foundation in ancient Pagan spirituality, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, and celestial astrotheology. As above, so below ... as within, so without. Study and research that which you believe. Chances are ... there is much more that you have not been told about. This deeper Truth, can change your life profoundly. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM. 

Change Your Perception And Your Reality Will Change

Change Your Perception And Your Reality Will Change

How many times have we heard the question "is the glass half full, or half empty?" The reality is ... it is FULL, regardless of what you can see or not see. The liquid or solid content is obviously visible to us, but the rest of the "space" is not. This does not mean it isn't there, it just means your senses can't see it. Air ... oxygen, atoms, molecules, quarks, cells, mitochondria, energy vortices, and yes even the void from which all things are created. 

Just because we can't see something, doesn't mean it isn't there. And it is this invisible world of energy particles and Source Essence that tie all of us together as ONE in this grand organism called the universe. We all share the same life-force ... we breath the same air ... we stand on the same terra-firma, Earth, and are interconnected through Spirit/Source Energy. We are all bulbs on one string of Holiday lights ... plugged in and sharing the electrical and magnetic energies of the Source connection. 

The only thing that separates us and divides us is our beliefs, and our perception of those beliefs. Everything that exists in manifest form, was created by mind/thought and all have the same Source. All things came from one point of origin. This is science, and immutable. All is one, and One is all. 

Now a brief look at how we form these beliefs. We make a decision - from the French "decidre" meaning to cut-off - and we only use that portion that we cut off ... what we feel that we needed. Just as we pull off 4 or 6 inches of tape to seal a package, but we are leaving the rest of the roll. We only used a small piece of the tape ... just as we only use a small piece of information. This decision, then leads to an opinion, which then becomes our belief. But ... it is incomplete ... it isn't the whole roll. We have shorted ourselves of the necessary "total" package of information. We do not receive the whole puzzle ... only a few pieces. 

Based upon this incomplete information, we then use our belief system to make judgments and cast labels upon people ann things. This is like trying to paint your house with water ... and wondering why it doesn't work. You are missing the rest of the elements that comprise the paint. So why would you continue painting with water when there is something missing? Because ... you have convinced yourself that you have all the materials needed to complete the job. You are under an illusion ... a spell of ignorance ... but you simply don't consider other options because of your belief. You have convinced yourself that you are right, and everyone else is wrong. But, in the end, your paint job will fail due to this way of thinking, and you will wonder why it didn't work. Your ego has told you that you're right and that's where it stops. Unless ... you bypass your ego, and go to the Source of your Higher Power for the rest of the information. 

Once you have become better informed, more awakened, you will have a better understanding of all things. So many things have poisoned your mind since birth. Religion, media, government, medicine, and everything else you can conceive of, all offer half-truths. It is up to you to investigate thoroughly, and discern what is Truth, and what is illusion. It is up to you to use to whole roll of tape before making a "decision/decidre" that will become the foundation for your beliefs. Seek the evidence. Seek the Truth. This will allow you to have a much better perception, and in the process ... will help to change your reality. Remember, thoughts are things ... unseen forces of energy that must manifest in form. This is immutable Universal Law. The ancients knew it ... it is time for us to open our eyes to the awareness of Truth and move this civilization into a future of love and compassion. 

Every person on this planet must personally choose good or evil. It is a personal decision that is made. They are personally responsible for the outcome ... be it positive or negative. We are all co-creators of reality. My reality affects yours, and yours affects mine simply because we are not separate. We are all fish in the ocean of life. "As a man thinks, it is done unto him." Guard your thoughts ... use your inherent Divine Powers to create a world that can qualify as "Paradise." 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

The Carpenter

The Carpenter

The Greek word used to describe Jesus and Joseph as a “carpenter” in the New Testament is τέκτων or tekton (Strong’s G5045), which is defined as:

1) a worker in wood, a carpenter, joiner, builder

a) a ship’s carpenter or builder

2) any craftsman, or workman

a) the art of poetry, maker of songs

3) a planner, contriver, plotter

a) an author

As we can see, the designation in English of this word as “carpenter” is arbitrary, and there is little reason to suspect that it is more accurate than these other renderings. Jesus, therefore, could have been any sort of craftsman, including one who works with stone, making of him a mason. In this same regard, the word tekton in modern Greek oddly enough can also mean “Freemason.”

Christ as the TEKTON represents the builder of the temple. The temple as you should know ... is us ... our bodies. Paul states in scripture that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is also the temple of God, or God/Source within us ... that Divine Spark waiting to be released. Christ, as the master builder, is also responsible for sending the Holy Spirit (breath/life-force), and represents "the builder." The power that helps man build a temple of higher knowledge and spiritual Truth ... our Higher-Self. 

So now we see that the carpenter/builder is the only logical choice for the first-born God that is to LIVE through us ... as it was for many earlier saviour figures and sages. In other words, it is the only logical spiritual choice. 

Remember also that Gaskell's Dictionary of Scripture And Myth informs us that a carpenter is a symbol of the Divine Artificer, the One Life which constructs all things. He further instructs us that Spirit (heaven) and matter (earth) are the “artificers pair” from which all things are produced. More importantly, “from them, aspiration for growth arises.”

Spiritually speaking, aspiration is an important word. It signifies the yearning in the soul for something beyond physical life. Something beyond the physical. Wake up, go to work, come home and then get ready to do it all over again tomorrow. Caught up in the lower ego, we can find this process to be depressing. Often we have many other responsibilities that can weigh us down. 

In the wrong frame of mind, these daily duties become a struggle. But it doesn’t have to be that way. We need to have a renewed mind where our everyday lives become a stream of spontaneous moments where we learn and grow spiritually. 

This process becomes activated when we learn to change our perspective and engage in the process of becoming through present moment awareness and learning about the true inner Self ... the Christ, which is the latent potential always there waiting to be activated ... a present reality that all of us on the spiritual path aspire to tap into. This is the spiritual road some of us choose to undertake with this life we are experiencing.

The Christ, or Higher Self, is the Divine life that manifests from Source Energy/God, or primordial consciousness, that is the power to create. According to ancient scripture ... not only among Christianity but among other world belief systems ... the Christ (Divine Consciousness) is to be born within us. 

Simply put ... this is the process whereby higher consciousness is raised from the lower mind to the Higher ... from ego to Divine. This process commences through the death of the lower ego ... our base animal nature. Our aspirations are the source for this process to begin, and, if you are reading this article, you are most likely on the path, as I have been for many years ... and will continue to be. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

My thanks to Joshua Tilghman for his insight and knowledge. 

Why Are We Here?

Why Are We Here?

Religions have ruled mankind all over the world for centuries. Belief systems that place some greater construct as an originator and creator of ourselves and nature around us. Even Atheism, itself a belief system and religion, proclaims the religion of nothingness and an accidental universe.  

However, none of these belief systems at their root necessarily hold viable answers as to how we really got here. The issue is that we are indeed here, there is something ... not nothing. All are faced with the same problem and issue of explaining how we got here, how and why do we exist? The "how" however ... has serious holes in most belief systems.

Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and other sects and branches of religion, claim that a supernatural being they call "God" made us and the universe around us. This, however then leaves us with the problem of “Who made God?” This could go round and round like "Groundhog Day" with Bill Murray. If there was a higher god that made God, then who made THAT god? It is endless loop.

Darwinism suggests that order comes out of chaos, requiring a faith perhaps even more frivolous than what is required by mainstream religion. Darwinism, which claims nature evolved out of a primordial soup - like other religions - also struggles with the concept of “Who made the soup?”

Everyone seems to want to impose their belief system and ideals on everyone else. They say God provides for everything ... however ... these same folks who say they know God pass 'round the collection plate or ask for funds to support their religious system. Clearly, if God was as they believe, then couldn't he just whip up all the funds needed to pay the bills ... especially if it is in fact ... the House of God. 

Even the most ancient writings and stories from the Sumerian texts that suggest mankind was engineered by extraterrestrials - the Anunnaki - to mine gold, but the same problem is left unanswered. Therefore, if humans were engineered by the Anunnaki,  "who made the Anunnaki?" The problem is circular. 

Order cannot come from chaos in this way. It has to be engineered. This is our job. This is what we do. We are commissioned to bring about order from chaos ... to tame the unbridled fury of nature ... to take lightning from the skies and provide electricity for our lives. We progress ... we evolve and involve by this progress and process. 

If we were, for example, to park a pick up truck and a sports car in a garage and leave them there for a billion or more years ... a high-performance SUV is not going to drive out. All you will have is a pile of rust and rotten plastic. Suggesting a super car would drive out of the garage is preposterous and ridiculous. However, the tiniest little bug running around is vastly more complex and intricate a design than any SUV, pick up truck, sports car, or anything else that humans have engineered.

The answer to all of this is Life. Life itself ... in the human form ... has demonstrated the ability to overcome the forces of nature. The SUV drives out of the garage under the influence of the creative force of human engineers. Life in humans creates the energy and order out of chaos. 

Understand that we are the essence of life and love, manifest as souls in time and space within the physical continuum of the universe. We realize that our essence, our soul, actually also exists outside of time, space and this physical universe. We are built out of love, love is the creative force within us  ... everything that we are, we are thus in the old perspective ... the collective essence of what is called ‘God’.

Once, nothing existed from a physical universe’s perspective, not even time or space. Love formed because love simply is, it exists outside of time and space, a creative force that produced life. Life thus ... is love. Life overcame enthalpy and entropy and created a universe in time and space in which to play, to live, to love and enjoy ... to simply be ... beings. Out of the darkness the light of life shone overcoming the void and giving bloom to the universe cutting out darkness.

Like seeds, we can be full of love and grow as beings of light, or we can be evil and revert back into nothingness and a dark meaningless void. Our walk in life determines how our soul grows and evolves. It’s the walk that counts and determines the direction of the soul that inhabits our body ... the real you. This means you use and choose what determines the very essence of the soul that is you.

Live a life of light and love, shine on all fellow beings, all of nature and the universe around you and bee civilized. Oppose evil and cast out all forms of greed, and self-centeredness.  Remember, the life of the universe is not only built on love ... it expands on love. Celebrate the light of life ... love. Spread some of that.

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.

The Leftovers Are Getting Stale

The Leftovers Are Getting Stale

We are all familiar with the kind of leftovers we gather and save after a big meal. In the fridge they go and ready for re-heat and another meal tomorrow or the next day. The thing about leftovers is that they're never quite as tasty as when they were fresh. Sometimes, we doctor them up a bit, add some spices, maybe mix them together, all in an effort to make them more appealing ... and tasty. But in the end, they're still leftovers, and if you're a restaurant you'll never be able to market leftover food to anyone. It just won't work. People want fresh. 

Now, using this way of thinking, what if our auto makers were still offering leftovers? What if they just re-packaged the old styles and put new labels on them? We would become wise to their ways in a very short time. Imagine ignoring all the modern advances and still offering a Ford Model A as a new car? It wouldn't work. It cant work ... because people have advanced, progressed, and evolved a very long way since the early 1900's and the first offerings of automotive transportation. They demand more for their money. They want plush interiors, air conditioning, and advanced electronics. Imagine a new Cadillac Escalade, or a new Mercedes, next to even a '63 Chevy Impala. Things sure have come a long way in such a short amount of time. This is because we are set to default to advancement ... evolving ... moving forward and improving upon all that is. This is the way the universe was designed. There is no riding a bicycle backwards. 

So given these examples, let's turn for a moment to spirituality and religion. Among the Ancient World ... philosophy, spirituality, metaphysics, were all rapidly advancing. It was understood that humanity is a microcosm of the macrocosm. As above, so below. As within, so without, etc. They understood that the Source Energy of the entire universe was contained not only outside of us, but inside of us. Individually, we create the reality of our lives. Everything that ever was, or ever would be, was already here. We just had to call upon it, rearrange a few things ... and voila! They understood that we are not our bodies. We are spiritual beings having a physical experience. We are the Observer, the Witness, to all that projects upon the screen of life. We are the light in the the back of the theatre ... and not what is seen on the screen. They called this invisible power, this energy and life-force ... God. And this God was inside inside of everything ... and technically, was everything. They determined that all things originated at one central point. And that everything had to be made from, and have the essence of, that source of all there is. The Ancients knew that everything and everyone were not separate and divided, but were actually One thing ... one universal organism ... working together as one great machine. 

Then, the findings were stolen. They were usurped. The scrolls and documents that preserved this ancient Wisdom was being destroyed and hidden away from public access. In a short few decades, and just a few generations, the empires behind this great theft of personal human empowerment, were completely in charge and had presented to the people only that which the powers of the world felt they needed to know. Just enough to hold and keep them in bondage to them. To serve them and support them both financially, and every other conceivable manner. This great power has held people captive for hundreds of years. It was responsible for the destruction of libraries, the eradication of civilizations, the silencing of belief systems, and the murder of millions of lives, both animal and human. This power ... was the church. Specifically, the Holy Roman Universal (Catholic) Church. And today, they still control the population of the world through their church system, secret societies, and financial ties to the Global Elite. 

But there is an awakening taking place ... globally. Why? Because people don't want the same leftovers that have been served for nearly 2,000 years. They have found places that serve fresh, newly found spirituality that had been hidden for decades. They are discovering the Truth behind all the religions of the world and that information has led them back in time to the original teachings of the ancient pagan world. Mankind has evolved, and no longer can maintain faith in a system of control based upon a Saviour outside of themselves. They are learning to Saviour self. The new models are out. More advanced, more functional, and more powerful. No more leftovers from Rome. All of mankind is the begotten sons and daughters of God/Source ... not just one man who walked the hills of the Galilee. 

Spiritual scriptures and teachings were always meant as allegorical and metaphorical. Rome took these ancient pagan teachings and made them literal and historical. They built a dependence on a God outside of man. This has made them the most powerful and wealthy entity on earth. The Vatican and it's Pope are the self-appointed "God on Earth." But that is not where God is ... or what God is. As eyes begin to open worldwide, millions of people will come to the Truth ... and the Truth shall make them free. The Bible is an amazing collection of spiritual allegories that once properly interpreted and understood, contains underneath the surface stories ... the Wisdom of The Ages. But ... this information has been collected, edited, and revised for hundreds of years and hundreds of versions from myths gathered from and contained among the writings of earlier civilizations. It is not the Word of God, but the word of man deeply trying to understand the universe, and the meaning of life. 

How are we to advance as a society and civilization by eating leftovers? Eventually, if we don't cook something more, there won't be anything left and we will starve. Right now, traditional religion is beginning to feel hunger pangs - and unless it changes it's way's and releases what it has known to be Truth all along - it will starve to death. Everywhere we look in the world we see ruins of past civilizations and their Gods. If we are to survive and be different than all the ones preceding us, then we need to bring unity, love, and compassion to ALL the people of the world. We need to unite under the Truth that we are ONE species, ONE race ... ONE God/Source. And that each of us is an individualized essence of the entirety of the universe. Collectively, we are co-creator gods. The power of the All is within. With the exception  of mankind/mind, all of nature knows this to be Truth. And nature never worries about tomorrow ... for it knows there is a plan that has existed for millions of years and every year renews it's eternal cycle. 

Just a thought ... 

~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.