Not pretty, but True

So many people involved in the new age, or really almost any spiritual path, seem to ignore the harsh, or the dirty, or the ugly. They want everything to be pretty, and smell sweet, and be about love and goodness.

My experiences, both in this life and in others, has been that the best truth is one you don't want to hear. The most harsh, even destructive truth, is the one you most need to be exposed to. I think that this applies to spirituality as well.

Sometimes in this world, you CANNOT have what you want. No amount of positive thinking or affirmations or willpower or magic can get it for you. You can effect reality with positive or negative thinking, yes. But you don't ever have the power to dictate it. In fact, you have no power. No one does. Ever.

Oh. Except for one. Choice. It's all you get. Time and choice. Allotted Life and Free Will. Guess what? Most of us don't use our free will. We never make conscious choices, we merely follow others, or wander around smashing into things lost, until we figure it out. Or not. Some people are lost all their lives.

That is lesson 2. Not everyone can be saved. Not everyone can be redeemed. Some don't even seek, or deserve such. I'm not saying that to try is a bad idea, just know that it doesn't always work.

Lesson 3. You shouldn't expect a thank you any time soon for the good that you do in this life. Because life doesn't offer a reward. In fact, it punishes good behavior. Ever meet a REAL hero? They aint happy people. They usually die young and after a lot of pain. The thing that makes them heroes is that they do it anyway. Because somebody has to.

Final truth of the day. In this world, in this life, there is Evil. It is not stupid and it sometimes can be organized and work together. It rarely self destructs. Sometimes it must be fought, not only with visualizations of soft white light and positive vibes, but with fist and blade and gun. Evil is often beautiful and clean and smells like vanilla faerie farts. It might call itself Friend, Lover, Sheppard, or even Parent or Child. Or Brother or Sister.

You will suffer. You will know pain. You will lose...everything in the end. You will go unrecognized and even be vilified. Sometimes, to do what is right, or what must be done, you will have blood on your hands. You will be lonely. Poor. Sick. You will Break. Life is NOT fair. It can be brutal as a bare knuckle boxing match with a Heavyweight contender.

But if you try. If you keep picking yourself back up, patching yourself back together, and never give up. If you do what you must and what is right according to each ever changing situation you face...

Then someone else MIGHT live. Or discover happiness. Or just know peace and plenty. And when you finally pass beyond this life, you will go out knowing you did it the right way and you die clean.

If I have offended, forgive. Or ignore. If you understand, then stay silent. If you have questions and really seek to understand...ask. Thanks for reading.

[psychoslice]

I expect nothing out of life except what life gives me.

NarranKor - your OP comes across as being quite angry about lots of issues that you have made up your mind as being how it is - ain't necessarily so!

For instance, you say we ignore the harsh, dirty and ugly - a sweeping statement that may have some truth to it. Whilst there is a lesson in a harsh truth, there's a difference between learning what you need to and then moving on and between dwelling on negativity, i.e. remaining there.

You state that we have no power! Really? Clearly you don't believe in and haven't tried creative manifestation. All you prove here is that our beliefs limit us....lots of members here have found they can co-create their reality.

You say that we never make conscious choices. That assumes we are not aware and a lot of us here ARE! With awareness, comes the ability to make conscious choices.

Yes there is evil - there is also beauty. Beauty is also just as true. The choice is ours what we focus on. That's why you are seeing people choose positivity/pleasing images etc rather than be tainted by the all too prevalent ugliness of life/society. The law of attraction has it that what we focus on will grow, i.e. we will get more of....but I guess you don't believe in that?

Originally Posted by amy green

NarranKor - your OP comes across as being quite angry about lots of issues that you have made up your mind as being how it is - ain't necessarily so!

For instance, you say we ignore the harsh, dirty and ugly - a sweeping statement that may have some truth to it. Whilst there is a lesson in a harsh truth, there's a difference between learning what you need to and then moving on and between dwelling on negativity, i.e. remaining there.

You state that we have no power! Really? Clearly you don't believe in and haven't tried creative manifestation. All you prove here is that our beliefs limit us....lots of members here have found they can co-create their reality.

You say that we never make conscious choices. That assumes we are not aware and a lot of us here ARE! With awareness, comes the ability to make conscious choices.

Yes there is evil - there is also beauty. The choice is ours what we focus on. That's why you are seeing people choose positivity/pleasing images etc rather than be tainted by the all too prevalent ugliness of life/society. The law of attraction has it that what we focus on will grow, i.e. we will get more of....but I guess you don't believe in that?

Angry? I think so. Probably for a long time. These are the lessons I've learned in my life Green. Do I have hope? Yes. If I didn't I would have killed myself by now and with major depression and social anxiety and a host of other illnesses, thats not just something I say to shock or elicit response. I do not hold to these laws of yours. I've come across them for many years and they have proven to be false assumptions. I'm sorry if things I said touched sore spots for you or made you feel defensive. I suppose I did post it rath antagonistically. None-the-less it is how I see things.

I get it, I recognize someone who has known pain and therefore sees their world as only pain, but that is the crux - its your world, and your right - its your choice how you create and perceive that world. It is not your right to make that choice for others.

That said, I have chosen in my world to use humor. Perhaps a laugh here and there might help? I find its a great pressure reliever and can really change my outlook. Yes, laughing with love, even at the really ugly stuff is sometimes the only choice left that has kept my head from exploding and my spirit from imploding. Laughing at myself - invaluable. Lightness isn't just a word.

I see compassion & laughter as tools which can be used to banish all that it is you seem to hold as "evil" truths.... and a healthy dose of humility, forgiveness, love, acceptance & healing all around before assuming the responsibility of being the one who tells others how their reality is structured. By then, I found I no longer had the desire to tell anyone "the hard truths". Then, and only then, could I be of service to others. Healer - heal thyself as the story goes. Then live my truth and share my experience by example with respect for others paths & strength only found in recognizing the unique in each person I meet and the truth each person has to share....to learn from them; not to give directives.

I wish you well.....may your path always be under your feet and may it lead you to understanding & peace.

Originally Posted by NarranKor

Angry? I think so. Probably for a long time. These are the lessons I've learned in my life Green. Do I have hope? Yes. If I didn't I would have killed myself by now and with major depression and social anxiety and a host of other illnesses, thats not just something I say to shock or elicit response. I do not hold to these laws of yours. I've come across them for many years and they have proven to be false assumptions. I'm sorry if things I said touched sore spots for you or made you feel defensive. I suppose I did post it rath antagonistically. None-the-less it is how I see things.

I am sorry you regard my post as having false assumptions but then that's what I saw in your post too! However now that you disclose that you have major depression and social anxiety it becomes more understandable. I hope you are getting the treatment you need for this, e.g. CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy which uses positive thinking to rewire thought processes and is used successfully to treat those suffering from depression).

I was once clinically depressed and had a fatalistic mindset, i.e. believed that "this is how it is", "nothing can be done" etc. I got myself out of it by taking a leap of faith into positive thinking and exercising freewill. (Not through CBT - didn't know about it; did it myself. I wrote about it here in the form of a short story). So you see no assumptions there, proved and tried experience. Not just a temporary phase either.....some 3 decades on this positive mindset is firmly established and I continue to enjoy the fruits of this philosophy.

No, you didn't touch a sore spot - just concerned by your adamant views of various subjects here which I hope you come to see can be otherwise.

[Tobi]

The way I see it, we are in a kind of Middle World here, where absoutely anything is possible, where precious things are found among dung-heaps...and conversely, where there can be underlying darknesses and pitfalls in things that seem to shine so brightly.
There is paradox, there is suffering, there is love and joy,there is confusion, there is harmony....etc

I don't know for sure but it may be the 3rd dimension is the only "ground" where this melting-pot of absolutely anything is possible. (As it could be so that things are likely to find their own level on other dimensional states, as like is drawn magnetically to like)
Here, that phenomenon gives our Souls chance to experience. I know it is easier to say that than to go through it, where intense suffering happens, and things which do not seem just.
Innocent children or animals that are cruelly treated.....things that make our hearts weep, that hurt those who experience these things, and hurt those who have knowledge of them....
What can we do except our best? What can we give except our compassion and help where we can? And to shine any light we find that our hearts show us is true?

[Baile]

Originally Posted by NarranKor

So many people involved in the new age, or really almost any spiritual path, seem to ignore the harsh, or the dirty, or the ugly. They want everything to be pretty, and smell sweet, and be about love and goodness.

That may have been true a decade ago. But I find it's the opposite now, especially on internet chat sites like this one. New agers and spiritual seekers these days appear to have a facination with dark energy, with apocalpytic thoughts, and with all that is harsh and bad and ugly. They're like the new 21st century evangelical fundamentalists. I learned to see many years ago that the universe is entirely benevolent. Life is a glorious miracle, regardless of how difficult it can be at times. One may choose to see ugliness and focus on the harshness of life, yes. But that's a lower-self response and has nothing to do with the higher spiritual reality.

[Baile]

Originally Posted by NarranKor

Lesson 3. You shouldn't expect a thank you any time soon for the good that you do in this life. Because life doesn't offer a reward. In fact, it punishes good behavior. Ever meet a REAL hero? They aint happy people. They usually die young and after a lot of pain.

Holy cow man... Ouch! Laughed out loud when I read that, there's just so much over-the-top angst here. Not demeaning your comment, just pointing out that things truly are not that serious. We all need to learn to laugh at life.

Well, I agree with a lot of what you posted
You can't always get what you want (thank you, Rolling Stones)
You will experience pain, etc....that's part of life.
And yes, choosing to simply not acknowledge the "darker" aspects of life will not make them go away...

However- that being said - I also believe that we have to find the balance between the dark and the light. I think all of us at times lean more towards one than the other, depending on life circumstances. As long as you maintain that balance, that is the important thing