the most important concept on the Word Gems site

At the time of this writing, the Word Gems site conceals 2000 documents; if printed, 10,000 sheets might ensue.

I no longer feel the need to add anything to this corpus of information. Especially, with this final chapter of the "small room" book, I ask myself: if required to choose one most important concept from the many gold-nuggets I’ve been privileged to see, what would it be?

It’s is the “mind the gap” principle - introduced in the “Surrender and Acceptance” page, and further discussed in the “Zen” article, along with the “Just Sitting” writing.

“Mind the gap” means that one perceives the great existential separation between “true self” and “false self.” It allows one to say, “I am here, the real me, reveling in a quietude of peace, and over there, across the divide, is the emotional chaos which, for so long, has been masquerading as my essential self but, in fact, is an imposter.”

I feel there is no more important precept that one might possess to prepare one’s spirit for life in the next dimensions. Why is this? It is so because “mind the gap” means that you’ve not only accessed, but have crossed over the threshold into, the domain of the sacred soul.

In that celestial realm of certainty, wherein one is linked to Universal Consciousness, all mysteries will yet bow the neck and bend the knee to one’s investigations. In time, the hidden regularities of the universe will disgorge themselves as you come to understand more and more and more… and not even some of those on the other side for thousands of years, who have not yet perceived the efficacy of “mind the gap,” will be able to stand against you.

Some may ask, shouldn’t love have something to do with a “most important concept”? And I would say, yes, of course, as mystics, poets, and saints instruct of its highest expression of the human spirit. However, unless we access the “true self,” we will never experience authentic love, but only its ersatz counterpart, mere egoic wanting and needing. When we do find ourselves in this way, true love, a perception of oneness, automatically and naturally rises to the surface of consciousness. It was there all the time, in the silent reaches of the soul, inaccessible however, due to “static on the line” from the “false self.”

Editor’s note: Recently, I've come to view all of the above as "second most important." See on the "ultimate reality" page.

refusing to become someone’s enemy

My favorite scene in the whole Stargate series was Lya of "The Nox," like a Spirit Guide, coming to offer wisdom and protection.

Don't let the unsolved hairdos of The Nox fool you. Ultra-sophisticated, The Nox's schtick, just to throw you off, is to pose as primitive forest-dwellers.

But, in fact, they're one of the most advanced civilizations across the cosmos, with not only floating cities but cloaked floating cities.

Lya's pretty good at making a lot of things disappear -- weapons of soldiers, entire spaceships, turning people invisible and transporting them; and she'll help anyone. The Nox live by a strict code of nonviolence. When push-comes-to-shove, however, it's true they will help the "good guys," but, the annoying part is, they'll also help "the bad guys."

Little wonder then that even the battle-hardened Col. Jack O'Neill found himself gushing before the high-order morality and sentience of The Nox: "God, I love those people!"

READ MORE 

Can personal change, human evolvement, be effected by will-power, sheer force of effort, or does it come in a natural way, like the effortless germination of a seed that naturally blossoms?

I’ve discovered a contradiction in my writings.

Sometimes I’ve said that human development is like a weight-lifter developing muscle by exertion. There seems to be a “potential benefit in pushing back against the difficulties of this world.” For a very long time, people have called this “character-building.”

But I also frequently say that the perfection of the human spirit “is not obtained by trying very hard, by religious rituals, prayer, fasting, vow, or pilgrimage - but simply by quietly observing the inner disorder.” The developing human potential “is like planting an acorn; within, lies dormant a towering, mighty oak.”

Both of these views have merit. How can we reconcile this apparent paradox?

READ MORE 

from the book, “The Power Of Myth,”
a discussion with Dr. Joseph Campbell 

Moyers: I remember a lecture in which you drew a circle, and you said, "That's your soul."

Campbell: Well, that was simply a pedagogical stunt. Plato said somewhere that the soul is a circle. I took this idea to suggest on the blackboard the whole sphere of the psyche. Then I drew a horizontal line across the circle to represent the line of separation of the conscious and unconscious. The center from which all our energy comes I represented as a dot in the center of the circle, below the horizontal line… Now, above the horizontal line there is the ego, which I represent as a square: that aspect of our consciousness that we identify as our center. But, you see, it’s very much off center. We think that this is what’s running the show, but it isn’t.

Moyers: What’s running the show?

Campbell: What’s running the show is what’s coming up from way down below…

The Dazzling Darkness is a concept representing a frame of mind untrammeled by the dysfunctional ego. Therein, freed from base-alloy lower-nature inclinations, one might apprehend not only the identity of one’s true mate but also a realization of the living presence of God in one’s life. READ MORE

he's smiling, looks mild-mannered enough, but do not be deceived

In the movie Man Of Steel, Clark’s mother asks him: “What are you going to do when you're not saving the world?”

We would bring to the attention of the “insane 500” teachers what he did not say. He did not say,

“I’m going to spend my time far away, in my aloof Fortress Of Solitude. I must do this, of course, as it's much too appalling distasteful to mingle with the weakling-rabble on the streets. Securing for myself, evolved person as I am, a circumscribed and sequestered residence is but right and proper. One of my noble rank ought to live in a manner commensurate with high standing. I will, however, on rare occasion, deign to make appearance in the world of mere mortals. They will benefit by my pearls of wisdom as I lecture that they needn’t bother attempting to scrutinize life on a high plane; my ways are past finding out for plebeians. After all, I really know, because I'm here, and you are not - and that's all you need to know.”

But this is how Clark did respond to his mother:

Allow me to paraphrase and offer the sense of Clark’s remarks:

“I want to live a life of service and help where I can. Yes, I have abilities, but I don’t want this to be a barrier. I want to live among the people in a nondescript way. I don’t want to attract attention to myself. I want to be ready and easily available, to help anyone in an expedited manner when opportunity arises.”

There are advanced Spirit Guides, far more powerful than Superman, who live this kind of quiet and unassuming life in Summerland. They may appear to be "meek and mild-mannered" as Clark, but let us not be deceived concerning their potentially world-shattering abilities.

On the Word Gems homepage I spoke of Kierkegaard's "knight of faith." Those identified with such make a home among the people, as a friend and neighbor, so as to be available to those willing to be aided. This is the unpretentious, unaffected, unambitious mind of God, on display and in action.

See the “afterlife #31 main-page” and the "Summerland 1.minute” writings for testimonies from and about these self-effacing servants who live as “ordinary” citizens in Summerland; in residence, in some cases, for thousands of years, with no egoic craving to “move up the ladder to the seventh heaven.” Also see this article, from the missionary work of Franchezzo, on the “super-powers” of the advanced Guides.

We might fantasize ourselves, someday, in the next world, assuming the role of a super-hero; however, living as Clark Kent might be the more advanced modus vivendi.

Our materialistic society values a spirit of competition, someone who can “win” and be “number one.” Nothing wrong with winning and, if appropriate, being number one, but, if that’s all you have, then, as Art Mokarow used to say to us ministerial students, “there’s something wrong with you.”

We extol Superman, and rightly so, for all of his man-of-action virtues, but, let’s think about it, Clark, in his own way, was a true man of strength. He knew himself, on the deep inside, well enough, such that he didn’t have to prove himself as the macho-man at every turn. He allowed others to think that he was overly "meek and mild-mannered" if it served a greater good. This non-flashiness would have been even tuffer for Clark as Superboy, not being able to play sports and impress the girls.

We are reminded of Eckhart Tolle’s excellent discourse:

what looks like weakness is the only true strength

"Instead of trying to be the mountain, teaches the ancient Tao Te Ching, 'Be the valley of the universe.' In this way you are restored to wholeness and so 'All things will come to you'."

can you be content quietly living as a 'nobody', true to yourself, until your own burgeoning competence unavoidably elevates you

READ MORE of Eckhart's insightful discussion on the "evil" page.

the tiresome predictability of evil

Will and Ariel Durant: "We shall not follow the record of his [Ptolemy III] wars, for though there is drama in the details of strife, there is a dreary eternity in its causes and results; such history becomes a menial attendance upon the vicissitudes of power, in which victories and defeats cancel one another into a resounding zero."

Kairissi. This is a profound insight by the Durants, who spent many decades surveying world history.

Elenchus. “Dreary eternity.” Somewhere in their writings they also said, to the effect, history is one long reiteration of rise and fall: of conquest, overreach, internal decay, and collapse. Even Professor Unwin called it "monotonous."

K. This bleak and desolate wasteland of the insane ego stands in sharp contrast to the scintillating effulgence of the enlightened spiritual mind.

E. Are we able to state a general rule here?

one-trick pony, one-phrase parrot

K. I think we can. The ways of evil are pedestrian, boring, predictable with all the imagination of a tenured bureaucrat. Evil is like a one-trick pony, like a one-phrase parrot. As we study the ways of evil, I would defy anyone to countermand the following modus operandi: Evil, without fail, ever employs the warn-out tools of either brutality or deception, depending on what it thinks it can get away with at the moment. Evil can’t think outside the box. Though there is plenty of "drama in the details," as the Durants sighed, nothing ever changes. And it always has one fundamental goal: “more.” It needs more to fill up its sense of “I don’t have enough” because “I am not enough.” To accomplish its sordid objective, it must “take.” Victims tend not to cooperate. To overcome this annoying non-compliance, evil must either pilfer by force or by seduction. There is no other way forward for evil.

E. And the enlightened spiritual mind?

a living thing, pulsating with vitality

K. It doesn’t read from a play-book or preprogrammed script. It seeks to work in “the harvest fields of God.” But, to this end, one might say, it awaits instructions. The spiritual mind learns how to “open a channel” to receive insights and directives from Spirit concerning where and what it might contribute. Life in the spirit is a living thing, pulsating with vitality, a creative process – see the many examples on the “creativity” page – it’s different for each person, and it might be a little different even for the same person on a day-to-day basis. Each day, indeed, several times a day, the spiritual mind will receive flash-insights and presentiments concerning one’s assigned duties. Unlike the way of evil, which is banal and paint-by-numbers, the enlightened person, over time, enjoys a splendiferous life of ever-expanding vistas of new perceptions, dazzling wisdom, and augmented well-being.

E. I’m reminded of something, and I’d like your comment. Tolstoy said:

“All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

Does this contradict your general rule?

they're all unhappy in the same way, and for the same reason

K. His statement is open to interpretation, depending on what we emphasize or how we define. However, to address your implied meaning, I think maybe Tolstoy has it wrong. All unhappy families are unhappy in the same way. They’re unhappy because they (1) got what they wanted, or (2) didn’t get what they wanted – either way, they’re unhappy because the ego always wants “more.” It’s never satisfied. And now they’re blaming each other for their unhappiness. This is an old story, playing out, in the same way, in millions of families across the globe.

E. Contrast this with a spiritually minded family.

a happiness based on the individualized success of each unique family member 

K. They’re not materialistic. They’re not insane for "more" and are happy with what they have until they can improve their lot in life. And most of all, they’re happy with each other, are supportive of each other, and see, and encourage, the awesome untapped human potential in each family member. Each of them, as we all do, harbors a unique set of talents and abilities, and therefore each is shepherded toward a unique fulfillment. There is no one-size-fits-all in their interactions. No banality, no predictability. Each family member is cherished and dealt with as a one-in-the-universe individual. They rejoice in each other’s successes, and cheer each other on.

E. I wish I could belong to a family like that.

K. Why don’t we, someday, create one in Summerland?

Editor's last word: