May Musings

This post is more of a journal-stroke-musing entry, as I reflect on where I'm at currently.

For a long time I've really struggled to find either suitable or even just ongoing work, not just with the economic climate but really throughout my life since university. I have a lot of interests and fields of study that I engage in, but my biggest theme has been trying to integrate my passions and interests into some kind of meaning and also into work.

I'm glad to say I have an interview today for a job and I feel my prospects are good. To try to cover my bills I've been doing a lot of temp work but boy am I tired of that. When you temp you never know from week to week if you'll have an assignment, and therefore an income. The job I'm going for today is a 9 month contract to fill a role vacated by secondment. It would be great, if the role seems suitable, to have that kind of rare stability at this time!

I find that parallel with my economic situation, my inner world is just as active and in a process of flux. Right through my life and especially now I find I am really continuing to question what is real and what is true, in terms of the world of spirit and how it applies to actually living your life. The Buddhists say, before enlightenment, chop wood carry water - after enlightenment, chop wood carry water. This is so true! Its the human condition to carry on living one's life even while undertaking an internal spiritual quest. It doesn't make the inner world any less meaningful - in fact I consider it a blessing to have the external world in which to anchor my senses and my perception of reality even while I search my inner self for meaning.

One thing that frustrates me about the "modern" world of ours is the materialist interpretation of reality. So many so-called "experts" peddle the line that all things - including our consciousness - have emerged from matter. As well as this being philosophically absurd, to me its a deliberate insult to the human spirit. I feel grateful that I carry a knowing within that the spirit world is very real - the realm of clear knowing that we all originate from exists, and it has no need to justify itself to the world. I can't help but feel angry when the militant, scientific materialists deliberately downplay the importance of the clear light of the spirit world because right now I believe as humans in a materialistic age we need to be connected to our spirit more than ever. I know it's silly of me to take it personally but occasionally I can't help feel that way.

There are so many thoughts, theories, and unnecessary diversions today clouding the knowing of spirit. Just as our cities are being clogged with physical pollution, the mindstream of human consciousness is logjammed with extraneous thought. Fortunately I am of the conviction that most people have a deep-down sense of what is true and right ~ it may be only a whisper within their souls, but I am convinced that it is there. To me it's vital to maintain this kind of tentative optimism even in the face of a seemingly heedless march into a technologically-based false ecstasy. Personally I look forward to a time when this orgy of technology is replaced by a more sensitive, receptive and thoughtful outlook, based on a knowing that something higher and more "true" is there, just outside our noisy, rushing lifestyles, waiting for us to simply tune in and acknowledge it is there.

So while we chop wood and carry water, we can at least carry an inner joy, an inner peace, content that the true reason we are here is to grow in wisdom, to refine our inner knowing, and to bring more of that quiet joy and peace into our world. That way, no matter where we are or what we do for a career, we can infuse this world with more of the spirit of consciousness that flows from the finer realms. And to me that is the reason we are here ~ to help gently uplift and refine this material world, and our very being.

Peace be

Anthony

Transformation with consciousness

I want to mention two more books I've read lately, which are Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now and A New Earth.

These books are so useful because they define the main dilemma we have today, namely, the mind-ego and its machinations. Tolle elegantly but insightfully points out that the main cause of our suffering is our mind, which, being largely cut off from the main source of life-energy, thinks itself weak and insecure. Thus is born the existential terror most of us face ~ the fear of death.

I had a mini-revelation yesterday when I realised some of the truth that I am not the mind-ego that fears its death. I am the "I" who is beyond the death of the ego. In that moment I saw clearly that the fear of death is really just from the ego, which is an insecure structure of mental energy, made of of thoughts and fears, that must one day dissolve. I suddenly felt liberated, in some way, from the fear of personal death.

I have always believed in a spiritual reality beyond this world that we perceive with our five senses. Yet this was a new thing for me, to have a moment where I could clearly see the illusory nature of ego. I guess my reading paid off. Thank you, Mr Tolle!

Now for anyone who is also on a spiritual-seeking path, do not be put off by all this high-falutin' jargon. Tolle is very much in tune with the teachings of Jesus, and much of what Tolle says is in perfect alignment with the Master. For me, Jesus has always been number 1 in wisdom and in spiritual truth ~ what Tolle does is give this wisdom a refresh for our times. It's the same wisdom, it's just being given a new and contemporary airing.

I highly recommend these two titles, The Power of Now and A New Earth, for anyone who wants to get to grips directly with the cause of their own suffering, and who wants to take practical steps towards gaining their own enlightenment-moment.

Site refresh ~ Journey through Spirit

From being a simple journal I have now devoted this blog to writing about my main passion in life - which is expanding our knowledge of that which is spiritual.

As you can see I have added a widget that links to www.insideoutthinking.co.uk, the online journal of Jonathan Black. Black is the author of my favourite book of the moment, The Secret History of the World.

For a relative novice seeker like me, Black's book was what I had yearned for; a straight-forward, yet complex look into the teachings of secret societies throughout history. What I love is that it's not a dry, dusty, and detached look at history; no, Black's history is alive with passion, intrigue, strange beings and stranger historical figures. Some obviously deride his approach but I for one celebrate it; today's attitudes of materialism can't hold a candle to this wonderful book.

This is a book for people who have passion; passion for history, for spirituality, and for seeking truth. Not that Black's book is the last word; in true opposite-thinking it is more like a primer for those seeking, as Black says, "the real thing". It's the most excellent starting point for those on the quest for knowledge.

And so I have finally nailed my colours to the mast and re-dedicated this blog to my own seeking; hopefully others can share the journey and enjoy what I have to offer, while contributing their own views as well. Can I be very clear though ~ I prefer to connect with genuine seekers, people who examine their own beliefs as well as everything they encounter. I don't appreciate people whom I term "nutjobs" ~ conspiracy theorists, people with some agenda or political axe to grind. In short, those with a doomsday or other negative attitude, keep away, please. Lively and positive contributors only!

Having said that, please enjoy this Journey through Spirit.