Happy Birthday!

It is after midnight of December 24/25 and I am now officially in my 71st year, yesterday was my 70th birthday. One could ask how I feel about this and the answer is simple, no differently. This is the same answer that one would hear from just about anyone telling the truth about it. A better question would be how do you feel now compared to when you were 40, or 50, or 60. That is a more difficult answer to give.

One difference is in the quickness of wit; I am a lot slower now than before. I listen to/watch Conan O’Brien interviewing another young person, just for an example, and I notice how rapidly the exchanges are made. This is true not only of him but many others who are under say 50 years old.

 Another difference is an increase in my sensitivity towards others, especially in what I say. Earlier years would have had me making observations that I may have considered astute, honest, and constructive but in fact could easily have caused hurt feelings and hard feelings.

 A third is the level of understanding to which I have come when I observe the behavior of others. I can see/understand from where some people are coming and tolerate, even accept the different point of view, the different thinking, the different set of standards they are using to guide their actions/thoughts. There are other differences as well but these are the main.

One of my responsibilities now is to maintain this brain-body so that I can continue to fulfill the purpose of the being, who is the “my” in this sentence. The brain-body is the vehicle for development of the being. At some point in the lifetime of this brain-body, an eternal being entered it and took his place within; it could have been at any time in the lifetime from first breath to now.

 For a long time I thought it was first breath, and it may well be; but now I think it could be later, almost any age. I became aware of him somewhere in the mid nineteen nineties but he could have been lurking within from a much earlier time.

 The major portion of my development started during long walks but the antecedent activities were important as well; being introduced to the ideas of the 4th way; my short time with the Georgetown group; my readings all during the intervening times even up until now; and the exposure throughout my life to people who had an influence on me that went beyond the mundane. So, I don’t know when in-habitation took place but it may have come later than previously thought.

It could have happened after college, or maybe during same, or maybe much earlier in the younger years of this lifetime. My imagining as a boy included many of the scenes that came to pass later in my lifetime. There have been attractions to locations where we lived and visited; an attraction to Newport News, to the Chesapeake Bay, to Sydney Australia, to Chantilly France, to “the North” in England, to Louisville, to San Francisco, to Hawaii, and a much earlier attraction to sailing.

There are attractions to horses, cooking, French, and on and on. All of this could be coincidence or it could be permanent personae who simply enjoy seeing these locations in their current state and who enjoy continuing some satisfying activities that went on in their lifetime(s).

 In-habitation is much like any other set of circumstances in which we find ourselves, when it happens is not important, that it happened— is.  Just like when it happened is not so important, also not is what has happened to date. Important is what happens from this date forward in this lifetime. When one considers a person like Jesus Christ, and there were more than one like him in history, who reaches a point of development that transcends physical existence; one realizes that this won’t be the last lifetime for this being.

In a big way, as I sit here and ponder the possibility of living another lifetime in the circumstances that are shaping up for the future now, I am not all that enthused about it. But then, I won’t be the one who will make the decision, it is the being within that continues to exist after the death of this brain-body.

 There has been a great deal of development taking place over the past 15 or so years, not nearly enough to expect being accepted into the ranks of the purely spiritual world, where a being can continue to develop without a brain-body in-habitation.

 So the being that continues, with perhaps the old and some newly made permanent personae, may look upon another lifetime with enthusiasm and the anticipation of making the most of it regardless of the situation that may exist in the world at that time.

The reluctance felt is caused by what are seen as the projection of the current set of conditions and extrapolating them into the future. The experiences of this lifetime are such that the conditions that can be projected to exist are frightening.

 But this is why the fabled drinking from the river of forgetfulness was invented. It is a way of accepting a new lifetime; it is also an indication that memories, pegged to emotions, die along with the brain –body; and yet, there are some memories that have come through from previous lifetimes. These are usually snippets and not extensive emotional experiences. These little memories are candy to the permanent personae.

 I, the all inclusive self, don’t necessarily want to have to cope with ever expanding technology that can distract one from his development; but if presented with a new, fresh brain-body, unaware of the experiences of this lifetime or any previous, I may look at, for example, holographic projections of sporting events or theatrical productions with excitement. The master function, who is totally concerned with getting to the next level, is not phased by what happened, for good or ill, in previous lifetimes. He is moving on from here as soon as he is ready.

How Do We Stack Up

If one can imagine a population of 6 billion people on the globe; distributed on continents, which are mostly geographic, and then within cultures, which are somewhat geographic on those continents, and then try to establish one’s position, rank, or place in that population, one would have to admit that there isn’t anything very special about any one individual. And yet, when we think of our family, when we regard people we know, we think of some as important and constantly compare ourselves to a wide range of others.

There are some notable characters alive today in our presence to which we pay a sort of homage. These are people in the news, in positions that affect our lives for good or ill, and people that behave in such a manner as to call attention to them. There is a curiosity about what all of these are doing and that curiosity is slaked by public media including Internet sites, TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and books. A significant portion of our economy is engaged in attempting to satisfy our curiosity about these others.

Then there are those which we know personally, with whom we interact, and these too are the object of our curiosity. We note what happens in their lives and make comparisons and judgments about them, with some we would like to have closer relationships because they represent or have something that we like or lack. We watch in awe, amusement, general interest, envy, pity, and regret; and the view changes from time to time as we observe their ever changing behavior. As we observe, we are being observed and so it goes.

There are great divides among public, acquaintance, friendship, and family. The interest level changes along a continuum from occasional, i.e. whenever we see, hear or read something, to constant, when we make inquiries to keep current in the know. There is the constant feeling that we are missing out on something interesting or important.

While we are doing all of this, we are comparing what we are doing to what we see and hear. This comparison is often what causes dissatisfaction with our personal image, possessions, perceived status, and social group. This dissatisfaction springs from a lack of certainty that what we are doing, as a being, is not in the interest of developing into a totally spiritual being. Relieving this dissatisfaction causes us to take action.

In here there are many personae, if you’ve been following my thinking you’ll know what I mean, and each of these is seeking developmental experiences that would lead to permanence, i.e. becoming one with Master as a totally spiritual being. Comparing where he is to where he thinks he should be is what causes him to imagine ways to get there. When the feelings are strong enough or when enough personae feel the same way, then the being is caused to take action that will move him towards the desired end. Once setting off in that direction, other personae can see that it is not beneficial to them in achieving their more parochial ends and create what is known as cognitive dissonance, or internal second guessing.

It could be that Master knows what is to be done across many lifetimes to get there, and that personae think they know what has to be done in this lifetime to be part of that, so Master guides and personae strive. When these are synchronized, there is a sort of bliss. When personae are trying to satisfy something not along that line, then Master backs off and we see excesses in the form of narcissistic attempts at satisfaction, a sort of emotional gluttony. This could be the genesis of saying, “Thy will be done in heaven and on earth,” meaning we (personae) are willing to subordinate the satisfaction of our individual desires to that/those of Master.

Imagination is the friend and foe of development. On the one hand, being able to see, to imagine what one would be, is a good thing if it is consistent with what Master wants, on the other is can lead to excesses that satisfy one or another persona’s temporal desires to the detriment of the longer term goal of Master. Imagination is a tool of the brain-body to be used by the stronger influence. When certain personae get strong enough to work their will on the being, then imagination is the foe of development. When personae maintain their commitment to development of the being as a whole, then imagination can be a friend. So imagination is not a distraction unless it is inappropriately applied, just like any other tool. A hammer is fine when driving nails but not for brushing one’s teeth. The same can be said of decision-making, which is another of the brain-body tools. As with all of our tools, they are neutral until used, useful to development if used appropriately and detrimental if not.

Beings among us who are developing quietly are not necessarily noticed. This is one of the paradoxes of our temporal existence. It isn’t even important to look for them, their development in no way impacts ours. They may be an example but then our circumstances are different and our personae are not the same so there isn’t a direct correlation. Our development is our own task. The paradox is that those in the public eye are not usually those on a developmental course but more involved in the excessive satisfaction of appetites, the aforementioned emotional gluttony. These are held up to us as examples and curiosities. If we see them in their proper light, we see them as an example of what not to do.

It is a “cut and try” existence that we have. It is necessary that we always look for courses of action that are consistent with development. It is likewise necessary that we always be willing to give up some course of action when we find it not. I will persist until I succeed, I persevere.