Patrick after struggling through what you have to say, I realize the importance of the little pebbles I use for meditation and remembering. I am definitely a simple man and can be confused easily. I have little use for the Rumsfeldian way of terror and domination.Personally I am glad what you wrote is copyrighted , .o) that way no one can use it or quote it. Allan
On Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 11:16 AM, Pat <[email protected]>wrote: > > Over the past few days, as I’ve returned to this forum and responded > to various statements from my own viewpoint, it seems that I’ve caused > a bit of a stir. That’s fine, but I think many have found my > statements confusing in certain ways, particularly in the area of > morality, which seems to be a popular topic on the forum based on the > recent posting titled ‘More morality’. In particular, Lee’s reticence > to accept that a decent morality can be derived from my viewpoint, > especially in light of the proposed loss of free will. So, I feel > compelled to reveal a few of the cards I’ve been holding in this > regard. The following is an excerpt from my book from the chapter > called ‘Sin and Damnation’. This part comes AFTER I’ve described my > theoretical monistic model of which only some of the older members > here are reasonably aware (Essentially, it uses string theory to > describe the universe as a function of one entity of stringy energy > and explains that this one entity, the only entity that really exists > is, in fact, God.). Note: I don’t go into the ‘damnation’ topic in > this excerpt; I’ll retain that card for a moment. > Now, of course, I don’t expect everyone will agree with my > theory, as no one, yet, has come up with a theory to which everyone > subscribes. But I expect that the following excerpt will allay some > fears people have when they realise that the NEW morality that is > derivable from my theory is the old morality. The difference being > that, now, rather than relying solely on faith, we can practice it in > the knowledge that it is based on logic and a scientific view of > reality (given that I work from a premiss that my theory is > correct). > So, to paraphrase The Who, “Meet the new morality. Same as the > old morality.” As always, let me know what you think!! ;-) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > What is sin if there is only one actor in the system? Wise > King Solomon had the answer to that when he told us, in the book of > Ecclesiastes, of the woes begotten of vanity: “Vanity of vanities; all > is vanity.” (Eccl. 1:2) > When a soul thinks “I”, he separates himself from the one that > is. Vanity is when we think “I”. This fundamental grasping of our own > identity is completely counter to the concept of the oneness (rather > than ‘unity’, ‘oneness’ describes God as One without unity) of God. > In Ecclesiastes 1:9, Solomon says, “The thing that hath been, it is > that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be > done; and there is no new thing under the sun.” The first clause of > Eccl. 1:9 is another declaration of the oneness of God, saying that > God (the thing that hath been) is the only thing that exists and is, > thus, that which shall be. The second clause pertains to the argument > of fate vs. free will. In our space-time continuum, all events are > extant in the whole of space-time. The future is just as much “there > and then” as is the past. That which is (to be) done is that which > shall be done. The concept of obligation inherent in the concept > “shall” is also relevant because God is obliged by His very nature to > perform every act at the right time and at the right place everywhere > always. The third clause is saying that there is no new thing under > the sun (a metaphor for God) because there can be nothing other than > the one thing, which IS God. It is also a metaphor for understanding > that energy is neither created nor destroyed, only transformed from > one form to another; because ‘that which exists’ is energy that has > always existed and always will, there can be nothing ‘new’. > In the Torah, eight of the Ten Commandments are negative > commandments, i.e., those that prohibit behaviours. The first > negative commandment is, “I AM the Lord thy God…thou shalt have no > other gods before me”. God states that it is a sin to acknowledge the > existence of Gods OTHER than Him. It would be impossible for a > monistic God to acknowledge an entity other than itself. After all, > He’s omniscient; He would know there was no other. So, too, it is > wrong and vain for man to acknowledge any other. > The second negative commandment is, “Thou shalt not make unto > thee any graven image…of anything that is in Heaven or on the Earth… > for I AM a jealous God.” In this commandment, God gives His reasoning > for the prohibition. Jealous, in THIS usage, means demanding of > complete loyalty. One is not permitted to try to depict God as any > one thing because He demands complete loyalty and, in order to be > completely true to the concept of a monistic God, one would have to > depict the entirety of space-time in order to be comprehensive. > Anything less is a vain attempt. To think that one could, in any > item, truly depict God “in toto” is vain. > The third negative commandment is, “Thou shalt not take the Lord > thy God’s name in vain.” Here, it’s plainly stated. Again, to think > that one could change destiny by calling out the name of God is simply > vain. Remember that all events are extant in the whole of space-time > and it is God that drives them all. There is nothing any of us can do > to alter the will of God and to think we can is to be vain; rather, > that which we do is an enactment of God’s will, as there is no other. > The fourth negative commandment is, “Thou shalt not murder.” To > think that we are as powerful as to be able to snuff out life is > vain. To an object of energy, all events can be boiled down to > various transformations of energy. In our universe, we have > discovered that energy is conserved and not lost. It only changes > from one form to another. At the moment that we call death, there may > well be a series of energy transformations such that the non-corporeal > elements of our existence are separated from the corporeal but that > does not mean that life, which is experienced through our > consciousness, ends. As I’ve mentioned before, once a field of > consciousness has been created, it has an anchor to the Calabi-Yau > space which is outside of time. This field cannot cease to exist. It > stretches outside of time. Energy transforms. That is all. > Consciousness is, if anything, freed from the confinements of the body > at death as much as it is when we dream. In our dreams, we can act > without fear because there is nothing there, truly, but ourselves. To > think otherwise is to deny one’s own being. Life, in this case, more > properly, one’s ability to remain self-aware cannot be ended so long > as there is an extra-spatio-temporal aspect to the field of > consciousness. To think otherwise is vain because it denies the > oneness and the continuity of God’s self-awareness. > The fifth negative commandment is, “Thou shalt not commit > adultery.” This is about internal consistency, loyalty and acting in > good faith. In creating this universe, God has said “These things > will happen”. And those things will happen. There is no changing the > will of God. To act in such a way as to break our will, which is > implied as adultery is an act against a solemn vow to NOT act in a > particular way, is to deny the oneness of God. There is no new thing > under the sun. To think that we have acted in such a way as to break > the will of God, is vain and it is, also, to believe that God is not > omnipotent. If something happens, then it must have been in > accordance with God’s will, otherwise God is less than omnipotent. > And THAT is not the case. Also, we cannot act against our OWN will. > Will is resolute. If it is ones will to do A, A will be done. If A > is not done, it could only have been a desire to perform A, followed > by a desire to not do A. Will is always performed. If adultery is > perceived to occur, a wise man should realise that it was never the > partner’s will to remain faithful but, rather a desire to remain > faithful, followed by a desire to not be faithful. In the Torah, Jews > are entreated to not make vows lightly as vows are a declaration of > will. If a man presumes to declare his will and acts otherwise, he > soon loses the respect of his peers. Simply put, adultery is > seemingly duplicitous behaviour and “One” cannot be duplicitous. That > alone would be enough but God, also, acts ONLY on will, as God has no > desires. Desires are based on a perceived lack of something and God > lacks nothing. When you are all that there is, what could you > possibly desire? > The sixth negative commandment is, “Thou shalt not steal.” The > well-respected Torah commentator Rashi states that this commandment > pertains to kidnapping, i.e., the stealing of other people (The > punishment for breaking any of the Ten Commandments was death and the > Ten Commandments dealt with relationships between man and God and > between man and man. Theft of property was punishable by fines and/or > material compensation. Kidnapping, though, was punishable by > death.). In a broader sense, it deals with the concept of owning an > individual. If you steal someone, you have taken them like you would > take an object. You hold a claim of ownership over the individual. > Slavery is a form of kidnapping where the victim is first stolen and > then forced to work for the captor. To think that one is capable of > owning another is vain. To believe that we are powerful enough to own > another human with a living soul is to deny the oneness of God by way > of thinking that the Creation, or aspects of the Creation, is separate > from God. What can you remove from God? All is all. Even the taking > of items does not remove them from God and to think that you can steal— > to remove anything from the presence of God—is vain. > The seventh negative commandment is, “Thou shalt not bear false > witness.” To think that you can hide the truth from He who is > omniscient is vain. To believe that we are actually capable of > preventing the truth from being known is a logical tautology. We know > the truth, therefore, the truth is known and, through us, God knows > the truth. Our recognition that “others” may not know the truth does > not prevent the truth from being known (by God) and it is vain to > think otherwise. > The eighth negative commandment is, “Thou shalt not covet > anything that is thy neighbour’s.” To desire material things is to > become attached to transient objects. To feel that God has not > provided us with all that we need is vain. We will encounter, in our > lives, everything that we will encounter. There is no part of our > experiences where we can gather more to us than was allotted to us. > To think otherwise is to deny the oneness of God and His Creation. > Our lives are His and there is nothing that is not already God’s. > The negative commandments define actions that cannot be performed > by the One God and oblige us to act godly: > The One God cannot recognise another. (You should have no other.) > The One God cannot make nor create any item that is a subset of the > whole that can fairly represent the whole. (You should not make any > image attempting to depict God.) > The One God cannot change that which will be. (Both taking the Lord’s > Name in vain and committing adultery are derived from this principle, > as you should not ask God for help when YOU can help yourself nor > should you act duplicitously.) > The One God cannot extinguish, at any time, that which has a portion > outside of time. (You should not murder) > The One God cannot remove anything from the whole of space-time. (You > should not steal) > The One God cannot NOT know the truth. (You should not lie) > The One God cannot add anything to the whole of space-time. (You > should not covet) > > These negative commandments tell us that we should not act in a > way that denies the oneness of God and imagining that we have the > power to actually DO these things is the vanity of all vanities to > which Solomon referred when he said, “Vanity of vanities; all is > vanity”. The more absorbed in the physical we get, the less absorbed > we are by the One. Roman Catholicism has contributed greatly to our > understanding of the spiritual harm done by indulging ourselves in > outlining the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Avarice, Vanity, Pride, Sloth, > Anger and Gluttony (For a good monistic, mnemonic, acronymic aphorism > for the 7 Deadlies, try “Look, Acting Vainly Pits Self Against God”). > These desires prey on our sense of self and make us act ungodly, as > God has no desires. So, we should act selflessly. We only have a > sense of self because God has a sense of self. Because THAT self is > the selfsame as our self, we literally owe our selves to God. > The positive commandments are of a different ilk, as they don’t > outline sins. What they do, though, is encourage us to remember our > past by honouring our parents and to encourage us to have hope in the > future by remembering the Sabbath. By honouring our parents, we have > a strong link to our origins and, if they have honoured theirs, our > link extends even further back and we have an even greater sense of > our place in history. This will allow us to learn from our past and > not have to repeat some of the same lessons. The machinery of our > bodies works better, generally, if we have at least some break from > work. So, too, much of the machinery that mankind has created works > better when occasionally rested. And, it’s all too common in today’s > world, on Monday morning, to have our eyes firmly focused on the > weekend (the modern, Western Sabbath). It gives us something to look > forward to. It gives us a reason to continue. Remembering the > Sabbath was not about remembering the previous one or even the concept > OF the Sabbath but remembering that another one is soon to come and > our lives will be better after it. So, very subtly, the Ten > Commandments tell us the things that God can’t do (so we shouldn’t) > and they tell us how to learn from the past and how to have hope for > the future. > In the New Testament, Jesus is asked regarding the greatest > commandments of the Torah. In other words, what is the greatest bit > of advice in the Torah that would help mankind become closer to God? > His response is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all > your soul, and with all your mind”; i.e., think God, feel God, BE > God. And Jesus followed that by saying the second greatest > commandment is, “Love your neighbour as yourself”. The Hebrew (Some > may think, “Why Hebrew? Jesus spoke Aramaic.” But Jesus was quoting > the Torah, so his response would have been in Hebrew.) preposition ‘K’ > translated as “as” does not mean “as much as” but, rather, “as if > equal to” like the “as” in “A is to B as Y is to Z”. Jesus is > teaching that we should love our fellow humans “as if they were” > ourselves. And, of course, love is spiritual gravity, the attractive > spiritual force. We are entreated to fully attract ourselves to God, > gravitate towards Him, and to consider others as no different from > ourselves. > In a monistic system, the focus is the Self. The aim is to > realise that one’s own self is no different than the One Self of God. > When we act selfishly, we increase the difference between us and God, > so vanity or selfishness is sinful. However, when we act selflessly— > the monistic virtue—and put God first in our hearts our minds and our > very being, we lose our transient selves and gain our True Self. > Each of us is here to do that which we will do. So what is it > that you would like to do? Remember the old adage of "God helps those > who help themselves"? God works through His creation. Armed with the > rather dichotomous and Rumsfeldian knowledge that we know we don't > know our own future, irrespective of how fixed it is, you still have > to get there. So we should each be trying to be the very best 'us' we > can be as well as promoting others to do the same. Also realise that, > in a monistic system, the only will is that of the One. We can sit > back and be depressed and think, "Why bother, if my life is fixed?" or > we can work towards doing the things we've always wanted to see done > in the world. Actions cause reactions and that is an overriding > factor. This is a universe where action is important: energy DOES. > So if we want to DO something or see something DONE, we must strive > for it. The knowledge that when we act, it is, in fact, God acting, > should serve to infuse us with great confidence knowing that each and > every one of us is an Ambassador of God's Will. Of course, some > people, who put themselves before the One, could (have and will) use > that to justify horrifying actions; most people, I believe, would like > to be of benefit to the world in some way and would naturally act > ethically, if given the chance to DO so. > Jesus reiterated the importance of the Torah's commandments that > we should put God first and love one another as if there were no > difference between us. With those incredibly monistic guidelines, if > followed, we would act far more empathetically and, if we tried to > understand others more, we'd probably learn a lot more about ourselves > in the process. Imagine a world of people that really cared for one > another. It can only happen, though, one at a time and, as there is > only one, one can only motivate oneself. > > copyright © Patrick D. Harrington 2009 All Rights reserved > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > -- ( ) I_D Allan --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
